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EVER AFTER 99

"So what are you suggesting we do about this?" Draco asked, his
tone suspicious.

"Draco ... our binding ... fixes things," Harry said slowly. "You
know it does. I think it would fix you if you were under a Love
Potion. It even makes you immune to the Imperius Curse, and
apparently, it allows you to still love me and at least try to think
normally even under Amortentia, which is something you should not
be able to do."

"You don't think I would still love you without it, do you?"
Draco asked, frowning.

"No, no, that's not what I mean," said Harry. "I mean ... I think
we should use it.... Now. And if not now, then soon at least. We'll
have to anyway."

"Do you think your 'cure' would only work if you fuck me?"
Draco asked.

"That's ... the only way I know how," Harry said quietly, nearly
wincing at Draco's use of the word 'fuck'. It seemed so harsh to him
at that moment. Fucking is what he thought of when they were going
to ... fuck. Really fuck. Not ... this.

Draco was still angry and he knew it. The idea of Harry topping
him after what he had done was so upsetting that he clenched his jaw
and fists. He had to take several deep breaths to get control of
himself again. "I will try it, but on my terms," he said.

Harry looked to the floor. "Whatever you want," he said quietly.
"I bind you and you agree to remain bound until it is done,"
Draco said.
It hurt Harry to think that Draco really didn't trust him that
much, but he nodded. "Whatever you want," he said again.
"Lie on the bed," Draco commanded, Summoning his wand.
Harry took a bit of a deep breath and turned to do so, climbing
atop the mattress and lying on his back.
Draco cast the Rope Spell, tying his husband's hands and feet to
the four posts of the bed. Then he went over to his trunk to look for
something.
Harry took yet another breath, watching Draco with his brows
furrowed.
Draco cast the Gag Spell next, the magical cloth wrapping around

100 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

his lover's mouth.
Harry's heart sped up, but it wasn't with sexual excitement. He

knew he could get out of everything Draco had just done, but it was
the thought of Draco doing this to him period that made him
nervous.

"I know what you are thinking," Draco said quietly. "After all, I
taught you how to get out of bindings in the first place. This isn't
about whether or not you can get out of them. It's about whether or
not you will surrender control to me."

Harry swallowed and nodded.
Draco stood beside the bed, looking at Harry. For a moment, he
felt like his old self, before the binding; as if this was one of his
fantasies of punishing Potter for all he had suffered. Not all his
fantasies before they were together had been nice ones. He had spent
a lot of time being angry at Harry during those last couple years at
Hogwarts. He reached a hand out now and trailed it down Harry's
body, from chest to groin.
Harry swallowed again, his breathing speeding up as Draco
touched him. He would force himself to let Draco do whatever he
wanted – even if it wasn't completely Draco.
Draco was slightly amused to see that Harry wasn't hard yet. The
man must've been scared if being tied up in bed hadn't aroused him.
"You don't trust me now, do you?" he asked quietly, slipping the
cock ring he had retrieved over his husband’s genitals.
Harry's breathing sped up even more, but he nodded. Yes, he
trusted Draco. This other person he wasn't so sure about. But he
didn't make any move to get away from him.
"Get hard now," Draco said.
Harry closed his eyes. After a moment, he willed an erection, but
it felt different than any other time before.
"You can do that no matter what," Draco said, "even when I'm
crying. But you can't get off without me, can you?"
Harry shook his head no. He couldn't get off without Draco.
What had happened earlier had shown him that.
"Good," Draco said. Then he climbed between the other man's
legs. The sight of Harry bound and gagged, cock hard and waiting
still excited Draco. He reached both hands up and then ran his nails

EVER AFTER 101

down Harry's inner thighs – hard enough to be painful but not cut
the skin.

Harry made a strangled sound in his throat and pulled on the
ropes unintentionally, growing even more nervous.

Draco's laugh was deep and harsh. He smiled at the red marks he
had left. "If you want me to stop, I will," he said. "But then I leave.
Do you understand?"

Harry didn't know what his face could possibly look like in that
moment, but he nodded once again, bracing himself.

Draco's eyes narrowed. He was still unsure if Harry would keep
his promise. He reached up and pinched the reddened skin of Harry's
right thigh, twisting it hard.

Harry made another similar sound, squeezing his eyes shut as
they teared up from the sting.

Draco moved closer, the front of his thighs against the inside of
Harry's. He reached up with both hands again and ran his nails over
Harry's chest, missing the nipples but scoring the flesh on either side.

Harry cried out through the gag, arching at the painful feel of the
nails, his heart beating madly as he panted through his nose.

"Fifth year was the year I was the most angry with you. Did you
know that?" Draco asked, continuing with his nails down Harry's
sides.

Harry whimpered in response, his eyes still closed.
"I still wanted you, but I hated you for it," Draco said. "The Dark
Lord had returned, Umbridge was making all her decrees and you,
you still didn't see me. My father ... well, things got a lot worse with
him, too. I blamed you for it all and I wanted to hurt you." Draco's
hands continued down the outside of Harry's hips and thighs now.
Harry was still panting harshly, and listening to Draco's words as
raptly as he could manage in that moment. He wondered if Draco
would've told him these things if it hadn't been for the potion.
Draco began a series of hard pinches back up Harry's body,
almost idly as he continued to talk. "There were three people who
kept me from self destructing that year. Do you have any idea who
they were?"
Harry was wincing and whimpering with every pinch. He almost
didn't want to know what Draco would say next.

102 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

"Severus Snape, Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson," Draco
named. "While you were turning the school upside down, they were
the ones who kept me from losing what sanity I had left. Theo
actually physically stopped me from killing myself twice that year."

Harry teared up again, but not from the pain. Confusing and
conflicting thoughts and images were filling his mind so rapidly that
he felt they might spill out onto the blankets. He didn't truly know
what to think.

"Accio candle," Draco said and caught the lit candle that floated
from the sconce on the wall. "That was the year my father explained
what being a Death Eater's son would mean, the things I would be
expected to do." Draco smiled at the Gryffindor red candle and then
held it out above Harry's chest.

Harry listened to Draco's words with tears in his eyes and then
they widened considerably when Draco held the candle above him.
Was his husband going to pour wax on him? Hot wax?

Draco laughed at the widened eyes and turned the candle
sideways, allowing the wax to drip onto his lover's skin.

Harry cried out at the sting of the burn, writhing as he
automatically tried to get away from it.

"I didn't want to become a Death Eater," Draco continued,
ignoring Harry's cries and allowing the candle to continue dripping as
he talked. "I told Theo I would rather die than become one. He
talked me out of it. Told me we would do it together."

Harry was still writhing beneath Draco, still crying out as Draco
burnt him with the wax. He felt like his brain was going to explode.
Draco wasn't supposed to be like this, and yet he still forced himself
to endure it.

"Then my father was sent to prison and Voldemort put that
damn snake on my arm," Draco hissed. "And I couldn't tell anyone
about it without risking getting them killed, too. Do you have any
idea how alone I felt?"

Harry didn't know what response Draco wanted and the wax still
hurt. He honestly didn't know what was hurting him worse, the
burns, or hearing Draco's words.

Draco looked down then and saw the red wax drips all over
Harry's chest, looking like blood. He sucked in a sharp breath and

EVER AFTER 103

drew the candle back. He held the candle over his own lap now,
drops falling onto his pale thighs. "I pushed them both away and
never told them why," he said. "I knew I was going to die and anyone
who cared about me would be in danger."

Harry's eyes widened again when Draco poured the wax on
himself and he wanted to stop him, and Draco's words were still
making Harry's head spin. He'd never heard about any of this before.
"Draco," he tried to say through the gag, but then shut himself up,
knowing it was no good. He could only sit there and wait for Draco
to allow him into his body.

Draco tilted his head back and brought the candle up so that the
wax fell and ran down his own chest now. "I hadn't planned on you.
On kissing you. Let alone what would happen after. Can you imagine
what that must have been like for them?"

Tears were rolling down Harry's face and into his hair now. He
could hardly watch Draco. And he didn't fucking care about Pansy
and Nott. He was still so angry with both of them. He didn't know
what right they thought they had to try and come in and forcefully
change anything in his and Draco's life, no matter what their previous
relationship was with him. And they should have had the sense and
decency to behave as adults rather than do what they had. Harry
wanted to beg Draco to stop.

Draco sat with wax dripping down his body, covering his chest,
shoulders and even falling into his lap now. It was painful but, as
usual, that was also arousing to him. "I understand why they were
angry with me," he said. "I would have felt betrayed by them if they
had done what I did. Like Severus, they thought you had done a kind
of Love Spell on me as well."

To Harry, it sounded like an excuse. This whole fiasco would not
be easily forgiven. Not in the slightest. Harry was tied to a bed and
gagged as his own husband spilt hot wax on him and his own body
while also telling morbid stories of his suicide attempts and how
utterly like hell his life had been. All because of a potion that Pansy
had slipped Draco. No, it would not be easily forgiven. If ever.

"Blaise is the one who turned us in that night last year," Draco
continued. "He told Theo, at least, that he was trying to free me from
the spell you had put on me."

104 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

Harry didn't care what they had thought. If they'd had any sense
they wouldn't have done what they had. Tears still continued to fall
from his eyes. He wished Draco would just fuck him and come back
to him before he went absolutely mad.

The candle was nearly melted away now, most of it covering
Draco at this point. The red colour stood out in sharp contrast with
his skin. He blew out the candle and tossed it aside. He hadn't been
aware that he was crying but his face was wet with tears again. He
looked at Harry, grey eyes sad. "You may be good at love, Harry, but
you are not a very forgiving person," he said.

Harry closed his eyes, openly sobbing now. Harry didn't know
how Draco could say such a thing. Harry had forgiven many, many
people in his life. Draco, the most important person in the world to
him, was one of them. But all of this was a step too far and he
couldn't find an ounce of forgiveness in him for what he was being
forced to go through at that moment.

Draco looked down at himself then, surprised to find even his
hard cock had red wax on it. He looked back up at Harry. "You still
want me?" he asked.

Harry nodded without hesitation, still crying as he looked up at
his husband.

Draco cast a Lubrication Charm and reached for Harry's cock
then, sliding his fingers along its length.

Harry shivered, knowing that if he closed his eyes, he could
imagine that he was in a different situation. He did, picturing Draco
smiling and panting as he sat atop him, cock hard and leaking as he
prepared to take Harry inside his body.

Draco spent a couple of minutes stroking Harry and then
stopped and climbed up to straddle his lover.

Harry could feel himself aroused and was so grateful he felt
nearly high with it. His heart sped up as he continued the scene in his
mind, seeing his Draco instead of the one the potion had given him.

Draco reached behind and spread lube over his entrance. He
didn't even bother to actually prepare himself. "Look at me," he said.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut tighter before he actually opened
them, knowing that he had to do as Draco said. He didn't want to
look at Draco with the red wax all over him and the burns, his face

EVER AFTER 105

wet with tears. He didn't want to, but he did.
"You still want me?" Draco asked. "I haven't told you anything

that wasn't true before."
Harry nodded again, and would have added a yes, but he kept

quiet with the gag in his mouth.
Draco moved back then, Harry's cock pressing against his tight

entrance. "Then look at me and really see me," he said, pushing down
so that Harry's cock breached him.

Harry let out a quiet groan, his eyes still open as Draco moved
onto him. He felt another surge of thankfulness for still being
aroused.

Draco was tight and it hurt more because of that. Which was
what he'd intended. He winced as he pushed himself down, not
giving himself time to adjust.

Harry knew that Draco hadn't given himself enough time and he
tried very hard to ignore it. He tried to imagine that they were playing
a game of theirs, tried to imagine anything that would make him
come.

"You know what really hurts?" Draco asked, his voice a harsh
whisper.

Harry felt a flash of fear at those words as he continued to stare
at Draco.

"That you would ever force me after what Father did," he said,
"and that even after all that, I still want you."

Harry's body went completely still for several moments as tears
and more tears fell from his wide eyes. He began breathing so fast
that it was like he wasn't breathing at all and he couldn't even see
through his tears.

Draco began to rock, slowly sliding his body up and back down
over Harry's cock. He watched Harry cry as he did.

Harry cried and cried as he stared at Draco, though he wasn't
staring at anything. He felt like he was going to be sick again. He
didn't know how he was going to come. He didn't know how he was
possibly going to. All he could do was lay there and let Draco do this
as horrible visions passed through his mind.

Draco looked at his lover. His husband. "Look at me," he
repeated. "See me here with you, no matter what potion was given

106 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

me. No matter what happened in the past."
Harry was still crying as he tried to do as Draco said. He had to

do as Draco said, or Draco wouldn't come back. Harry had to come.
He nodded, sobbing as he did.

Draco Summoned his wand and ended the Gag Spell. "Tell me
you love me," he said. "Tell me none of that matters."

Harry could hardly speak, but he opened his mouth. "I love you,"
he choked out. "N-none of it m-matters. I love you no m-matter w-
what."

Draco released the ropes and cock ring too. "Show me," he said.
Harry reached badly trembling hands for his husband, sliding
them up his thighs and then around to his back as he gently thrust up
into him. "I love you," he whispered. "No matter w-what. I p-
promise. I swear it on a-anything."
"Heal me, cure me, do whatever you want, just make it not hurt
so much inside," Draco gasped.
Harry pulled Draco down to him, grasping his back tightly as he
continued to thrust into him. "I will do anything for you," he
practically growled, feeling nearly insane with the protectiveness that
washed through him. "Anything, Draco. Always. Always, always,
always."
"Claim me, make me feel the way I did before today," the blond
gasped.
Harry held Draco very close in his arms, whispering, "I love you,"
over and over again in his ear as he rocked with him for what felt like
a long time.
Harry's magic began to warm over Draco's skin and spread out
from inside him, seeming to take away the ache. "Yes, please, yes," he
begged as Harry's cock slid in and out.
Harry moaned quietly, grasping Draco tighter as he felt the
pleasure in his body rising. "Yours," he told him. "Completely yours.
Only yours. Always yours." And then he gasped, crying out as he
came inside his husband.
The rush was always intense but this time it seemed to burn
through his blood, making Draco convulse around his lover's body.
He cried out in that way that was both pleasure and pain.
"Oh, Merlin, yes," Harry whispered once he'd caught his breath.

EVER AFTER 107

"Oh, please say it's you," he said, still gripping Draco for dear life.
Draco was still shaking and crying. In fact, he let go of the pain

now, crying even harder than before. "Yes, yours," he said.
Harry let out a very long moan as he tried to sigh, but his feelings

were too strong for that. "Oh, God," he groaned, running his hands
over Draco's skin and through his hair like he hadn't seen him in
ages.

– CHAPTER THIRTEEN –

Forgiveness

The wax still covered Draco, flaking off as Harry touched him. His
face was pressed against Harry's neck, making the other man's skin
wet with tears. "Gods, that hurt," he whispered.

Harry let out something between a laugh and a sob, kissing the
side of Draco's face over and over and over.

Draco concentrated on taking deep breaths to centre himself.
Finally, he lifted his head to look at his husband.

Harry looked back at Draco. He didn't even know what to say to
him besides, "I love you. I love you. I promise I love you."

"You aren't angry with me?" Draco asked, looking into those
green eyes.

"No," Harry said quickly. "No, how could I be?"
"I fucked another man and then tortured you," Draco answered,
voice calmer than he felt. His stomach clenched at the memories of
the last few hours.
Harry winced. "No, you didn't," he said, stroking Draco's face.
"And that was far from torture."
Having experienced torture at the hands of several of his own
relatives, Draco might have agreed. But he didn't like that he had hurt
Harry. He looked down between their bodies. "I gather you don't like
hot wax," he said.
Harry sniffed, his nose stuffy. "I didn't know it was something to
like," he said. "And I don't really think that helped much. But I'm not
angry with you. Merlin, I'm just glad that worked."
"For future reference," Draco said, "I do like hot wax." He sat up
then and Summoned his wand, finding he had to cast two different
Cleaning Charms to get all the wax off them. He hadn't moved his
body off of his lover's. "Stay hard in me," he said.
Harry stared at Draco and nodded to him.
"I want you connected to me while we talk," Draco said. "Can

FORGIVENESS 109

you do that?"
Harry didn't know exactly why Draco wanted it, but he nodded

anyway. "Yes," he said.
"Do you understand that I didn't say anything that wasn't true,

even if I was under the influence of that potion?" he asked.
Harry's face faltered. "Not even – not even the stuff about me?"
"Can you name something that wasn't true in what I said?"
"You said that – that I like ordering you around," Harry said,

voice quieting as he spoke. "That I'm not a forgiving person."
"You never forgave Severus," Draco said.
"Yes I did," Harry protested. "Did I ever like him? No. I can't

help that. But I forgave him for what he did to me." Harry teared up
again and he turned his face from Draco.

"Stay focused on me," Draco said, squeezing his muscles to
remind his lover of how they were still literally connected.

Harry looked at Draco again, but was unable to deny the hurt.
"You never told him. Or even me, that you had," Draco said
softly.
"I didn't want to make you t-think about it," Harry said, his voice
broken.
"I think about him every time I make a potion or walk these halls
or a hundred other moments," Draco admitted. "He was kinder to
me than my father ever was."
"That's part of why I forgave him," Harry whispered. "It's hard to
forget how he ... was, but I know he cared about you. And I know he
cared about our side in the war. And he gave his life for you. I
forgave him, even though he never told me he was sorry."
"I don't think someone has to ask for it to be forgiven," Draco
said. "I never asked Theo or Pansy or my mother to forgive me. And
I did hurt them."
"I did forgive him, Draco," Harry said, not knowing what Draco
didn't understand about that. "I did. And I am sorry that I didn't get a
chance to tell him. I ... used him in my memories to kill Voldemort,"
he said quietly.
Draco smiled at that idea. "He would have found that particularly
ironic," he said.
Harry was silent as he continued to look into Draco's face.

110 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

"I wouldn't have said those things ... in the way that I said them,"
Draco went on. "But it's probably better that you know about my
past and why I can forgive my old friends. Theo, apparently, already
forgave me. Though Pansy is another issue."

Harry's face hardened. "I'm sorry," he said. "I can respect that she
helped you before, but what she did to you today I will not forgive.
She has no excuse that I will call acceptable, and if you think she
does, I don't understand that."

Harry's magic crackled over and inside him and Draco winced.
"So you think she gave me the potion?" he asked.

"Yes," Harry said. "I thought Nott did, but I saw him and I can
tell that he really didn't know what was going on. Though I am not
very happy with him at all either. Pansy was down there ... watching.
She knew. She had to have done it."

"She was?" Draco asked. He hadn't seen that.
"Yes," Harry answered. "In the corridor outside the room."
"I saw her and Theo arguing during potions," Draco said. "I
think they were disagreeing about me."
"I don't care what reason she comes up with, even if it's the true
reason," Harry said. "There's not a single thing I can think of that
justifies it. I – you said I – You said I ... raped you."
Draco's face went still and he looked at Harry. "You did," he said
softly.
"But I – " Harry began, eyes filling with tears again. He wouldn't
be surprised if he ran out of them soon.
"I love you, Harry. But I won't lie to you about this," Draco said
softly. "What Pansy did, if she did it, was wrong. But so was what you
did."
"But I -" Harry said again, letting out a sob. "But you weren't –
you weren't acting like – like you. I would never have done that to
you if-" He couldn't talk anymore. He'd thought Draco was going to
make him feel better, but so far he had only made him feel worse.
Draco really did think all the things he had said about him.
"I think that was part of what was going on. But I also know you
were jealous. Any time anyone else has ever touched me, you have
fucked me as soon after as possible." Draco made a kind of half
grimace, half smile. "My lion," he said.

FORGIVENESS 111

"Part?" Harry spat through his teeth. "You think I would have
done that if you had really not wanted it? If I hadn't thought that I
was doing something to help you?" He was shaking and could not
believe Draco. His husband did not know him as much as he liked to
claim.

Pain crept up Draco's spine again and he winced. He wondered if
keeping connected had been a bad idea. He had hoped it would show
his trust in Harry, despite the difficult things they needed to talk
about.

"You're not going to answer me?" Harry whispered. "You think I
would rape you because I was jealous? That did not enter my mind
once while that was happening, Draco. I swear to you. And I ... can't
believe you would think that of me."

Draco shuddered again, trying to breathe through the pain in
order to answer Harry. "I ... don't think ... you ... thought that's ..." he
gasped, before continuing, "what you ... were doing."

"I don't want to hurt you," Harry said stonily. "And I can tell that
it's hurting you to stay like this."

Draco chuckled weakly then. "Exactly," he said, leaning forward
against Harry's chest. "It’s not always what you mean to do that
happens," he added.

"I don't even know what you mean," Harry said quietly. "I know
exactly what I was trying to do, and it has nothing to do with what
you're saying. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do it at all. I felt
jealous when it was you Nott was flirting with. Not when you'd taken
a potion and then had sex with him. Then I was ready to rip him
apart because I thought he had slipped you the potion. I thought that
he was manipulating your brain with magic and using your body to
get off without your permission. I was not jealous."

Draco sighed, realising that this was not a time or place, if ever, in
which Harry was going to understand what he was trying to tell him.
"Hold me, please," he said, face resting against Harry's shoulder now.

Harry frowned, but wrapped his arms around Draco anyway.
"I love you, Harry," Draco continued. "And I know you love me
– that you thought you were doing the right thing."
"But you weren't you," Harry said, voice growing even quieter as
he closed his eyes. He didn't feel like crying anymore. "There was

112 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

nothing else."
Draco moved up then, allowing the other man's cock to slide

from his body. He moved to lay beside him, head propped up on one
hand. He reached his other hand up to stroke Harry's face. "I wasn't
exactly sane at the time, but I was still me," he tried to explain. "I was
in a lot of pain. Like you guessed, the binding didn't stop because of
the potion, and the two didn't react well together. The conflict was
overwhelming."

"But I didn't do it because I was jealous," Harry said insistently.
"I didn't. And what about the other stuff you said to me? You really
think it all? You really think I like to control you?" He was doing
nothing but whispering now, and even that was broken.

Draco took a deep breath and let it out in a long shuddering sigh.
He was tired, sore and still feeling confused. The true answers were a
lot more complex than he thought Harry could handle then, if ever.
The binding Harry had put on Draco certainly had aspects that were
disturbing to him. But they had saved his life during the war. "I do
not think you like controlling me," Draco said. "And I do believe you
thought you were doing the right thing."

"Then why did you say that?" Harry let out with a dry sob.
"I was angry," Draco said, again feeling like he was only telling
half truths. But he wanted to comfort Harry and he wanted to feel
comforted again. He didn't know how to get past so much pain and it
scared him.
Harry wiped at his face with his hands. He didn't know what he'd
been expecting from Draco when he was himself again, but it hadn't
been this. Not this technical explanation for things he'd said. "Do
you think I'm a horrible person, and love me anyway?" he whispered,
staring ahead instead of at Draco.
Draco winced. "You really don't believe that. You can't possibly
still be thinking so black and white after everything," he complained,
sitting up and looking at his husband. "Harry Potter, my lover and
husband, look at me," he insisted.
Harry slowly turned his eyes to Draco, his entire body aching for
something from his husband, but he didn't know what it was.
Draco moved closer so that he was looking directly into those
green eyes. "Harry, I am in love with you. I was in love with you at

FORGIVENESS 113

eleven when I didn't know your name. I was in love with you at
twelve when I carved your initials on my bed. I was in love with you
at thirteen when you were invisible and throwing snowballs at me. I
was in love with you at fourteen when I made 'Potter Stinks' badges
while secretly terrified that you would get hurt in that bloody contest.
I was in love with you at fifteen when I was so mad at you I nearly
hated you. I was in love with you so much by sixteen that I would
rather have died than become a Death Eater. So fucking in love with
you that I kissed you in that bathroom. I was so in love with you at
seventeen that I married you and died no less than three times to
help you destroy that madman. Now, finally, at eighteen, you no
longer have that damned prophecy hanging over your head and you
think I could be any less in love with you? Do I think you're perfect?
No. Do I think that I would rather be dead than without you? You
know it. You have to know by now that I love you more than
anything."

Harry shook as Draco spoke, eyes gathering tears once again, no
matter that they had been dried up a few minutes ago. He reached for
Draco, unable to think of words to say.

Draco shivered the second Harry reached for him again. "Gods,
yes," he whispered.

Harry pulled Draco into his arms, squeezing him tightly as silent
tears streamed from him. He hadn't even known there was so much
liquid in his body.

"My lion," Draco whispered, kissing his husband's chin and lips.
"I need you and want you.”

Harry nodded, which was the only thing he could manage right
then, because he still couldn't speak.

"Please tell me you love me," Draco begged then.
"I – l-love you," Harry gasped, breathing oddly.
Draco shook then, realising he had been afraid. He rubbed his
face and body against Harry's, needing the physical contact to
reassure himself still.
Harry continued to hold Draco, running hands over his skin. "I
love you," he whispered to him in a strangled sort of way. "I love you
so much. So fucking much." So it wasn't exactly the greatest, most
meaningful thing he could've said, but the word fit his feelings right

114 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

then and he hoped it got across what he'd meant it to convey.
"Yes, please," Draco answered, crying again. He really needed to

hear that right now. Not just the words of love, but Harry sounding
like Harry again. He looked with watery eyes into his husband’s.
"Always," he whispered.

"Merlin, longer than that," Harry answered, holding Draco's face.
Draco smiled, tears still running down his face. "Yes, forever and
always," he answered.
Harry brought his lips to Draco's, kissing him fiercely before he
pulled him into a tight hug, cheek pressed against his husband's as he
squeezed him.
Draco laughed softly, more out of happiness than amusement.
After a minute, he whispered, "Love, I think we need to get Valen
before he destroys your House."
"Valen," Harry said. "Merlin, Valen. Our son. You're my husband,
and he's our son, and I'm your husband, and I never want to hear the
words Love Potion ever again."
Draco was amused then. He kissed his husband's lips quickly.
"Exactly," he said. "Now, I will be right back with our child."
Harry let out another one of his moaning sighs, nodding as he fell
back against the pillows with hands on his stomach. He was
exhausted.
Draco was tired too, but pulled himself out of the bed and found
his dressing gown on the floor. He put it on, belted it and went to the
door. Summoning his wand, he removed the Locking and Silencing
Charms his husband had placed on it. The minute he did, he winced.
The sound of Valen's crying could be heard all the way up the tower.
He gave his husband a kind of pained smile and opened the door.
Harry sighed again. He and Draco would have to give Ron and
Hermione their honeymoon as a wedding gift with as much as they
watched Valen.
Draco took the stairs two at a time and was very aware of the
unhappy stares he was getting from the assembled Gryffindors in the
common room. He wasn't used to coming out in his dressing gown
either, but there was no way he was taking the time to get dressed
after all this. He saw Hermione holding the screaming child and gave
her what he hoped was an apologetic look.

FORGIVENESS 115

She seemed frazzled and looked at Draco warily. "Draco?" she
asked slowly, obviously trying to calm Valen as she rocked him,
which was not easy to do as he was trying to get at Draco.

"Even under the potion, I was still his father," Draco said. He
sighed and held his hands out for his child. Valen was still screaming
but now it was that urgent noise he made when he saw something he
felt he just had to have.

Hermione looked very relieved and handed Valen over to him.
"Is Harry all right?" she asked.

"He will be," Draco said as the child grabbed hold of his robe
with one hand and his hair with the other, pulling both. He winced,
thinking that his husband and child were a lot more alike than they
looked. Valen was making little unhappy squeaking noises but was no
longer howling.

Hermione sighed. "I won't ask now then," she said, looking over
her shoulder at Ron, who was sitting in a chair, looking as frazzled as
she had looked a moment ago.

"We will need to talk about it tomorrow," Draco agreed. "And
when you have twins, you will get payback with us," he added with a
smirk.

Hermione raised her eyebrows, shaking her head at him but
smiling a little.

Draco nodded to both of them and began back up the stairs,
making little cooing sounds to his child, trying to calm him down.

Harry was still lying on his back, but he sat halfway up when he
heard Draco enter with their son.

Draco closed and locked the door, before bringing their now
sniffling, squeaking child to Harry. "He's hungry, scared and tired,"
he said. "Something I guess we both can understand right now."

Harry took Valen from Draco, having already performed a
Cleaning Charm on himself while Draco had gone down to collect
the baby. "Yes, we understand you," he said in a hushed voice to his
little face as he held him to his nipple. He winced when Valen
gummed him.

Draco took his robe off and hung it up, then cast yet another
Cleaning Charm on himself. He came over and sat down on the bed,
watching his family. Valen kept peering at him from where he

116 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

suckled Harry. "Still here," he assured the child, reaching to pat his
back.

Harry sighed, rubbing Valen's head. "I don't like you to be
scared," he whispered to him. "And I really wish you would stop
biting me. Daddy Harry's nipples hurt."

"He does need to grow teeth," Draco said on his son's behalf. He
lay down beside them then. There was no way he would give this up,
for anything.

Harry smiled at Draco. "Yes, he needs to grow teeth," he agreed,
"and I think he's starting to. How long are babies supposed to be
breastfed?"

"As long as you can handle it," Draco said. "Opinion varies a lot
from what I read."

"And aren't we supposed to give him baby food or something?"
Harry asked. "He's six months old."

"Yes, he can start eating soft food now," Draco said. "He will
probably still nurse for a while, though."

Harry nodded. "Maybe when we get home," he said to Valen,
"we'll get you some." He sighed, sitting back with him. "I love you
both so much," he said after a few moments.

Valen had fallen asleep, mouth still on Harry's nipple. Draco
smiled at his exhausted family. "Yes," he said softly. "Do you want to
sleep with him in the bed or should I put him in his cot now?"

"Let's ... sleep with him tonight," Harry said quietly. "If you don't
mind."

Draco smiled, lifting his son so that Harry could lie down and
then placing the baby beside him. He curled around the other side
with his legs against his husband's and his arm over the child and
around Harry. He faced his husband, sleepy but still watching him.

Harry looked into Draco's eyes for several silent moments. He
could feel sleep tugging at him, but kept his eyes open. "We're not
perfect," he said to Draco very quietly, "but this is."

"Yes," Draco agreed, smiling.

– CHAPTER FOURTEEN –

In the Morning

Draco hadn't slept well and found himself awake before the sun was
even up. He lay beside his husband and child, watching them in
slumber. He had never loved anyone like he did Harry. Theo and
Pansy had been his friends. They had been sexual with him, but he
had never been in love with them. It had always been Harry. And yet,
that love had driven him nearly crazy before he had finally told
Harry. Theo had hit a nerve with the accusation that Harry controlled
him. It worried him sometimes how much of himself he had
surrendered to his husband.

Harry dreamt as he slept. He dreamt of horrible words and
feelings and terribleness, but he didn't remember it when he awoke.
He only had a headache and the memories of probably one of the
worst days of his life. He slowly opened his eyes and sighed heavily,
looking automatically at Draco, and then down at Valen nestled
between them, but his eyes moved back to his husband.

"Hi," Draco said softly, as amazed now as he had always been at
that first glimpse of those green eyes every time his husband woke.

"Hi," Harry said back, blinking slowly. His head throbbed and he
used his own magic to soothe himself, closing his eyes again.

Draco leant forward and kissed Harry's forehead.
Harry sighed again, softly this time. He felt the pain receding – in
his head anyway. There was something else in the rest of him, but it
didn't feel like physical pain.
"I love you," Draco whispered.
"I love you," Harry replied, opening his eyes once again to stare
into Draco's.
"I wish we could just go home," Draco said.
Harry looked at Draco for a long moment. "Maybe we should,"
he said quietly.
"You don't want to finish N.E.W.T.s?" Draco asked.

118 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

Harry was quiet for another moment. "Yes," he said. "I want to
but ... I don't know. I don't feel good." He didn't know how else to
explain it.

Draco opened his mouth to speak several times, but couldn't find
the words. Was he supposed to apologise for doing what he had
done under the influence of the potion? Would talking about it make
it worse? Had he overreacted to what Theo had said, or was the
binding really a problem? He did believe Harry thought he had done
the right thing. What he didn't understand was why it still felt wrong
to him.

Harry didn't speak at all while he waited for Draco to, and not for
a few moments after that either. "I'll stay, though," he said finally, still
very quiet. "If you want to do the tests I'll stay."

"Our problem is what do we do about Theo? And Pansy?" Draco
asked softly. "I don't believe either of them understood what they
were doing the way you do."

"I'm not very concerned with them," Harry said, apparently
unable to talk any louder than he was, because he couldn't even make
his voice sound normal.

"And what do you want, my love?" Draco asked, reaching long
fingers out to stroke the hair off his husband's face.

"Theo and Pansy aren't our problem at all," Harry said, and it was
possible that his voice was growing quieter. "I still ... I'm still thinking
about ...." He went completely silent for almost an entire minute.
"Are you afraid of me?" he asked, his voice a whisper. He was getting
quieter then. "And, if not that, are you afraid of what I could do to
you? If I wanted to?"

Draco was surprised by the question and it showed on his face. "I
have never been afraid of you," he said.

"Do you promise?" Harry asked, tears brimming his eyes. And,
Merlin, he hoped all of this wasn't going to start again.

"I swear I have never been afraid of you," Draco answered. He
realised as he said it that what frightened him most was his own
reactions to Harry.

Harry closed his eyes, his chin trembling as he tried to hold his
sob in. "Draco, I promise," he managed, "I promise I will never –
never force you to do a-anything ever again. I promise. Just please –

IN THE MORNING 119

please don't e-ever be afraid of me."
Draco teared up too, now. He picked up the sleeping infant

between them and set him in his cot beside the bed. Then, rolling
back over, he wrapped his arms around Harry.

Harry sobbed against Draco's skin, trembling. "I promise I-I w-
won't ever again. I s-swear it."

"You were doing what you thought was right," Draco soothed.
"Because you love me."

Harry continued to tremble and sob. "But I promise," he gasped.
"I'll never o-order you to do a-anything again. I don't want you t-to
think th-those things about m-me."

"That's not the problem, Harry," Draco said, whispering against
Harry's hair as he held him.

"Then what i-is?" Harry sobbed, not understanding.
Draco pulled back, lifting his lover's face. "I scare me, Harry," he
whispered. "I scare me because there are times when I really want
you to control me, to order me around and to use me. Everything I
accused you of. Sometimes, that is exactly what I want."
Harry stared at Draco with tears rolling down his face, still not
understanding. "Why?" he asked.
"I don't know," Draco admitted, shivering at the admission.
Harry's chest heaved and he trembled even more, intense fear
flashing through him that this was something unfixable. "Maybe we
should find a way to take the binding off," he said in a terrified
whisper. "I want you more than it."
Draco frowned. He considered lying to Harry then, telling him
that there was no way to do that. "And what would have happened
yesterday without it?" he asked instead.
"But this isn't yesterday, Draco," Harry whispered, speaking
quickly, like it was urgent he get his words out. "This is now.
Everything yesterday happened because of the binding. Zabini sent
Death Eaters because of the binding. Nott and Pansy let him without
saying anything because of the binding. Pansy gave you that Love
Potion because of the binding. And now you're saying you want it for
some ... reason and you don't know why. I want you more than it. I
want to fix this. We have to fix this. I want you more than it."
Draco frowned and looked away. He trembled. "I would be in

120 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

Theo's bed right now, not yours," Draco whispered. "Amortentia is
too powerful to resist."

"I know what you're doing," Harry said. "This is what it all comes
down to. Do we keep the binding or do we take it off? Because you
know me, Draco. You know you wouldn't have been in Theo's bed. I
wouldn't have let it happen, even if I would've had to lock you in our
room for a few days and watch you until the antidote arrived. I
wouldn't have tried to fix it myself if I hadn't thought I could with
the binding. I wouldn't have been able to force you and you not able
to fight back. None of that would have happened. You don't want to
take the binding off, but you don't know why. That's what this is,
isn't it?"

Draco closed his eyes, trembling still. "Yes," he whispered, barely
audible.

Harry held Draco to him tightly. He didn't know what the right
thing to do would be. Should they keep the binding for the weird
unknown reason? Or should they take it off because it was
unhealthy? "I don't understand, Draco," Harry whispered to him. "I
don't understand and I don't know what to do."

Draco was still shaking and holding Harry as if he would
somehow lose him if he let go right then. "Love me," he whispered.

"I couldn't stop doing that if I tried," Harry whispered back,
holding the back of Draco's head.

Harry still felt very tired. He didn't quite understand why, but his
eyelids felt heavy and so did his body; like someone had strapped a
bag onto his back and was steadily filling it.

He and Draco hadn't had sex that morning. Harry thought they
might have if.... But they hadn't. And ... he hadn't felt like it. He
didn't feel like it had anything to do with Draco. It felt like something
else. He'd been content to hold his husband, but he hadn't felt like
making it anything more. He didn't know if it was the sudden
weariness, or ... if it wasn't. He couldn't tell; not right then anyway.
As he'd lain there with Draco, confused, and scared, and unsure
about ... something, he'd tried to think of what to do, but the
problem was he didn't know exactly what to fix. Maybe it was the
binding, but maybe it was something else. He had no idea.

IN THE MORNING 121

Hermione and Ron kept throwing both Harry and Draco worried
glances. Harry was actually very surprised that Hermione hadn't
prodded him more than she had. When they'd come down into the
common room after getting dressed and then feeding Valen,
Hermione had asked Harry if he was okay. He'd said he was fine, and
then she'd fixed him with one of her stern, knowing looks. He'd only
answered it with a blank stare and a dull, "What?" Her face had fallen
and she and Ron had been whispering to each other since.

In fact, Harry thought he could hear Hermione's whisper at that
moment behind him as he walked to the Great Hall with his friends,
child, and husband, but he didn't turn to look. He didn't really feel
much like eating and would've rather gone back to bed, but here he
was. Tired.

Valen was squirming so badly that it was hard to hold on to him.
Draco huffed and disentangled the baby from his hair again. He
knew that Valen was upset by Harry's mood. The child always reacted
to Harry. For his own part, Draco felt tired and scared. Harry hadn't
made love to him that morning and Draco could not remember the
last time that had happened. It was how they started every morning.
Harry said he wasn't angry now but Draco still felt guilty. And now
they had to go to the Great Hall, where Theo and Pansy would be.
Draco had no idea how he was supposed to face Theo after the night
before. And how angry should he be at Pansy? He sighed, closing his
eyes and then wincing when Valen yanked on his tie so hard it hurt.

Harry hadn't even thought about Nott and Pansy at all that
morning besides the one time Draco had mentioned them, well, not
directly at least. He found there was still some sort of anger at them
both, but he also felt like he didn't have enough emotion for them.
They didn't even deserve his emotion, not even his anger. But he did
think of them now, because he didn't know if Draco was going to sit
with them. He didn't know, and he wasn't going to ask, wasn't even
going to say a single thing to him about it. Harry didn't know how he
would feel about any place Draco sat. Literally. It was like the only
thing he could feel was confusion. About everything. There wasn't
any room for anything else.

Draco stopped at the entrance to the Hall. He was tempted to
skip breakfast altogether and go on to class. He looked nervously at

122 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

his husband. "Harry?" he asked.
Hermione and Ron had stopped, too, and were looking at Harry

and Draco in a worried sort of way again, but Harry waved them on
with his hand. They went through the doors after a moment,
Hermione letting out a small sigh with a frown on her face.

"What?" Harry asked Draco quietly.
"I want to be with you," Draco confessed.
Harry frowned, confused, but that wasn't surprising to him.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
Draco winced at the look in his husband's eyes. He hadn’t seen
that kind of despair since before Voldemort was killed. "I don't know
what I'm supposed to do," he admitted.
"About what?" asked Harry. He didn't know what to do either.
About anything.
"I need you," Draco said. "I can't stand that I have done this to
you."
Harry stared at Draco for a moment but then looked away from
him. He didn't know what his face looked like. "You didn't do
anything to me," he said, not even knowing what tone of voice it was
that he had just used.
That flat tone sent a chill of fear down Draco's back. "Wait here,"
he said, and then entered the Hall, heading directly to Hermione and
Ron.
Harry didn't know what Draco was doing and he closed his eyes
as he remained where he stood, letting out a quiet breath.
Ron nudged Hermione when Draco approached them and she
looked up. The frown that had been on her lips when she'd entered
the Hall hadn't left her.
Draco strode up to their friends. "I know we put you through a
lot last night," he said. "But I really need you to watch Valen. We're
starting him on solid food, so give him some of the porridge."
Hermione very much looked like she wanted to know what was
going on, as did Ron. She opened her mouth and let it hang that way
for a moment before she sighed. "Okay," she said quietly in a
resigned tone. "Just...." She shook her head. "Okay."
"Thank you," Draco said and then turned and left the Hall. He
didn't even look to the Slytherin table.

– CHAPTER FIFTEEN –

Reassurance

Once outside the Great Hall, Draco grabbed his husband's hand and
began dragging him up the stairs.

Harry frowned. "What are you doing?" he asked, following, but
not as quickly as he could have.

"Are you still mine?" Draco asked.
Harry stared at Draco for a long moment, like he had been doing.
He felt like he needed to think about every single thing that came out
of his mouth, just to make sure it wasn't the wrong thing. "Of course,
I am," he said finally.
"Then come with me," Draco answered.
Harry gave a few small nods after yet another moment and
followed wherever Draco was going.
Draco led them up the stairs to the seventh floor.
As Draco had led him, Harry had known where they were going
to end up before they got there. He stood, looking from the blank
stretch of wall where the door was hiding, to the tapestry across from
it with the ballet-dancing trolls.
Draco let go of Harry's hand and paced back and forth several
times. When a door appeared he opened it and pulled Harry inside. It
was set up with a bed, like it had been when they'd first made love.
Harry took in a quiet breath, holding it in as he just stared at the
bed. He could remember every single second of their first times in
here. Every single second of them. But was it supposed to fix them
now? Now, when he knew something needed fixing but not what it
was?
Draco frowned. He had actually imagined the sofa when he'd
asked the room, but the room apparently had other ideas. He
released Harry's hand and walked over to the fireplace, staring into
the flames.
Harry stood where he was, still staring at the bed. He slowly

124 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

turned his head to Draco. "Are you okay?" he asked him.
"No. No, I'm not," Draco said without turning.
Harry was almost surprised with himself when he didn't know

what to say to that. He walked over to Draco automatically though,
and pulled him against his own body.

Draco wrapped his arms around Harry and began crying. He
hadn't known what to do when he got to the room. He just felt like
he needed to be alone with Harry, and going back to where they'd
started had 'felt right.'

Harry could have walked them over to the bed, but pulled Draco
to the floor with him, holding his head against the place where his
neck met his shoulders.

Draco sobbed against Harry's neck as he brought them to the
floor. He needed his lion back.

"Shhhh," Harry hushed quietly, rocking with Draco from side to
side. He stroked his hair, unsure why exactly Draco was crying and
unsure what he himself was feeling. But he did know that he loved
Draco, more than anything, and what hurt the most was that his
husband was hurting.

"I wouldn't have, I swear it," Draco was murmuring into his
lover's neck. "I need you, Harry."

"Shhh," Harry hushed again. "You wouldn't have what?" he
whispered as he continued to rock Draco gently.

"Hurt you like that, said or did those things," Draco whispered.
Harry was silent for several seconds. "I know," he whispered
finally. He knew that Draco wouldn't have said those things. But
would he have thought them? Harry couldn't help wondering if
everything Draco had said about him was true. Maybe all of it was
and he didn't know it.
"We made it, we survived it," Draco said. "It's supposed to be
better now. No more fear or pain. Right?"
"That's the way it's supposed to be," Harry agreed, closing his
eyes as he held Draco tighter.
"Then why does it hurt?" Draco asked, clutching Harry tighter.
Harry squeezed his eyes shut so tight he shook to shut them
tighter. "I don't know," he whispered. "But I don't want it to."
"I need you, Harry, I have always needed you," Draco said, lifting

REASSURED 125

teary eyes to look at his husband.
Harry opened his eyes to look at Draco, bringing a hand up to

slide it along the side of Draco's head and into his hair. "I need you,"
he told him. "I love you."

"Yes, please," Draco whispered, sighing at his touch.
"What do you want?" Harry asked very softly. "What do you
want, Draco? I'll do anything for you. Anything you tell me. All you
have to do it say it. That's it."
"Show me you love me," Draco whispered, blushing and looking
down.
Harry leant forward and pressed his forehead to Draco's, using it
to lift his face so that he could kiss his flushed cheeks. He breathed
against Draco's lips, just sitting like that on the floor with him before
he brought their mouths together to kiss his husband slowly.
Draco trembled. After all this time, he still trembled at his lover's
touch. He opened his mouth and slid his tongue out to meet the
other man's.
Harry didn't know when he'd begun to press forward, but Draco
ended up on his back with Harry flush against him, petting his hair
and face.
"Yes, please," Draco begged, hands caressing Harry through his
clothing.
"I want you to tell me what I promised you, Draco," Harry
whispered to him as he kissed his lips. "What did I promise I would
do with the rest of my life?"
"Love me, grow old with me," Draco whispered back, kissing his
husband's lips and chin.
"And I will never go back on that," Harry said firmly. "For as
long as you want me, I will never go back on that."
"Always wanted you, always will," Draco answered, right hand
cupping the back of Harry's head.
Harry brought their mouths together again. "And I've wanted you
since you showed me you were what I needed. Merlin, Draco, do you
have any idea where I'd be without you right now? Voldemort would
have won. Our friends would be dead. I would be dead or worse.
Draco, you saved my life as much as I saved yours. I wouldn't be
anywhere without you. I would be nothing without you. I feel like

126 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

nothing without you. I don't want you to think I would ever hurt you.
I don't want you to think I would ever treat you as anything below
my equal. I don't want you to ever think that." He left the word
'again' unsaid.

"Complementary opposites," Draco said, smiling as he stroked
Harry's hair. "The lion and the dragon."

Harry brought his hand to the pendant lying inside his shirt. "The
lion and the dragon," he agreed quietly. "I love you more than
anything, Draco. My dragon. My life."

Draco tugged at Harry's tie, loosening it. "Only you make me feel
this way," he said, looking into Harry's eyes.

"What way?" Harry whispered.
"Like anything is possible," Draco said. "Whole, desired, perfect.
In your eyes, I am everything I want to be."
"That's the way I want you to feel," Harry said. "I want you to
lean on me. I want you to feel safe with me. I want you to feel like
you can depend on me for anything."
"I do, I swear I do," Draco whispered fiercely.
Harry could hear in Draco's voice that he wasn't lying. He could
see it in his eyes. "Please don't let anything ever make you think
otherwise. There's nothing in the world that could change it. I'll
always be here with you."
"I believe in you," Draco said, fervently, eyes watering again as he
looked into his husband’s emerald ones.
Harry let out a shuddering breath. "That means more to me than
you could possibly know," he said, holding Draco's face.
"I know," Draco whispered. "I know more about you, Harry
James Potter, than anyone else. I am part of you."
"And will always be," Harry whispered back. "I believe in you
too, Draco."
"Show me," Draco said, needing the reassurance of more than
words.
Harry kissed Draco yet again, pressing down against him as he
clutched at his clothes.
Draco moaned into his lover's mouth, one leg wrapping around
the back of Harry's as his hand gripped his hair.
Harry kissed Draco firmly. He could feel his husband's erection

REASSURED 127

against him, and for some reason, it was reassuring. He stripped them
both, not moving from Draco on the floor.

Draco gasped as Harry's magic flowed over him and then naked
flesh pressed to him.

Harry slicked his fingers and brought them below as he kissed his
husband, but then he tensed, hesitating and not pushing in.

"Please, Harry," Draco begged, spreading his legs wider.
Harry took a deep breath, nodding as he slid a single finger inside
of Draco. He added another, after a moment, with the first.
"Yes, more," Draco encouraged, his hands running over Harry's
body as if to touch every part of him.
Harry nodded again, pressing his face into Draco's neck as he
prepared him, and then himself. "I love you," he whispered, sliding
his erection against Draco as he grasped it to enter him.
"Yes, yes," Draco whispered, "oh, my lion, claim me, please."
Harry was already panting slightly as he breached Draco, letting
out a quiet moan of pleasure and longing, and ... from the feeling of
being where he was supposed to be.
"Yes, perfect," Draco gasped, legs wrapping around Harry's waist
now.
Harry remained pressed inside Draco for much longer than he
usually did, letting himself feel him. Draco's legs and arms around
him made him feel exactly what he needed to feel. Like Draco
thought of him as his protector, like Draco counted on him. He
wanted to feel the responsibility of being that for someone. He did
for Valen, but he wanted it from Draco, too.
"Yes, Harry," Draco encouraged, his own arousal pressed
between their bodies and his husband's magic crackling over and
inside him. "Oh, yes, I need you."
Harry moaned again as he made his slight withdrawal, picking up
a pace that was difficult to explain. He didn't know if he was going
fast or slow, hard or gentle, but it was perfect, and maybe it was all of
it. That's what he and Draco seemed to be. All of it.
Draco gasped and moved with every thrust, pulling himself up
onto his husband's cock, hands pulling at his hair and sliding over his
skin. "I want this, I want you," Draco whispered. "I was meant for
you. It's what I felt then and what I feel now."

128 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

"Meant for you," Harry responded, moving with Draco rather
than on him or anything else. "Merlin, fuck, yes," he whispered.

"Oh, bring us, love," Draco said, moaning. "I want your magic
and your seed inside me."

Harry gasped, Draco's words alone sending him over the edge.
He closed his eyes, crying out shortly as he came in quick bursts
inside his husband.

Power, love and magic filled Draco and he cried out wordlessly as
he spasmed around his lover's body.

Harry groaned as Draco tightened around his cock, sparks of
intense pleasure making him twitch. He took in deep breaths, face
still pressed to Draco's skin.

"Yes, perfect," Draco sighed, still holding Harry tightly.
"Mmm," Harry moaned, feeling so much better than he had
when he'd woken up that morning.
Draco relaxed, legs sliding down Harry's now and a crooked
smile on his face.
Harry lifted his face to see Draco smiling like he was and it made
his heart clench in a very not-painful way.
Draco looked at Harry then, smile on his face and his eyes soft.
"I am yours and you are mine," Draco said, fingering the pendant
around his husband's neck. "Never doubt it."
"Never," Harry whispered, rubbing their noses.
Draco lay under his husband, relaxed and happy. "Should we
move off the floor?" he asked.
Harry brushed his lips against Draco's. "Sure," he said to him
softly.
"Mmm," Draco responded to the soft caress, forgetting anything
else.
Harry smiled, pressing his lips a little more to Draco's, kissing
him. He didn't particularly feel like moving. He probably would have
been able to do it with his magic, but he wished the floor was softer
below them and the room did it for him.
Draco laughed when he felt the change in the floor. "As you
wish, my love," he whispered. "I am content to be with you
anywhere."
Harry let out a slow breath, lifting his head to stare at Draco. He

REASSURED 129

gave him a barely-there smile, his eyes soft.
Draco reached up, running long fingers through Harry's hair. He

knew they had important things to talk about but he didn't want to
change the mood.

Harry knew the same thing Draco did, but also didn't want to
bring it up. He considered, for the several minutes he lay touching
and being touched by Draco, pretending like none of this had
happened and they were just going about their business, but he knew
that when they left the room that it wouldn't be a reality. It always
seemed so with the Room of Requirement. "Draco," he whispered
after yet another minute had gone by. He didn't know what to say,
but he thought his meaning was evident in his tone.

"Yes, my love?" Draco said, shifting a bit.
Harry lifted his body but pulled Draco with him so that they were
still close as they both sat up. "What now?" he asked, holding his
husband's hand in his and staring at it as he moved his fingers and
touched the skin.
"You love me forever?" Draco asked in a teasing voice and then
sighed. "Where do we begin?"
Harry smiled. Sort of. "Yes, and, I don't know," he said.
Draco tried to pull himself together to focus. "I know we need to
talk with our friends about the magical repercussions of what
happened," he said.
"Hermione's just worried. And Ron. But I guess we can talk to
them about that," Harry said quietly, still playing with Draco's hand.
"What happened ... well, it was an unusual reaction to the
potion," Draco said. "It might teach us more about the nature of our
binding. Information that could be used ..." he took a deep breath,
"to modify it."
Harry looked up then. "Modify it?" he asked.
Draco didn't meet Harry's eyes, watching his lover's hand on his
instead. "My father knew a way to end or transfer the concubine
spell," he said.
Harry frowned. "But that way could have killed you," he said.
"And we don't want to ... transfer it." His frown grew.
Draco nodded. "When he ... was dead, and we took over the
Manor, I went through his desk, including his notes."

130 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

"What was there?" Harry asked slowly.
Draco flushed, his fingers entertaining Harry's. "It can be
removed, with the blood and consent of both those involved," he
whispered.
Harry stared at Draco. "You've known since we moved in?" he
asked.
Draco closed his eyes, hand tightening on Harry's. He nodded.
Harry pulled Draco forward so that he was practically in his lap.
"I never meant to do what I did," he said quietly. "I never meant to
take that much power over you. I never wanted that power over you.
I did want you to be with me, but that night ... that night was ...
intense. This has always been your decision, love. I will keep the
binding if you want to. I will take it off if you want to."
Draco shuddered at being held so close and lovingly. "I know,"
he whispered. "But we complicated the binding when we added the
second one after killing Father."
"What did that one do?" Harry asked. "I thought it meant we
were married. Magically."
"Yes," Draco smiled, looking at Harry's face then. "What do you
think that means?"
"What do I think what means?" Harry asked, raising his
eyebrows.
"What do you think it means to be magically married, to be
blood-bonded like that?" he asked.
Harry frowned again. "That we're ... equal? But that doesn't make
sense, because the first binding gave me the power to compel you."
"Blood-binding means that our magic is connected," Draco said.
"That we can do things together that someone not blood-bound isn't
able to do," he said.
"It connected our magic only because of the first binding?" Harry
asked.
"Partial connection with the first binding," Draco said. "But
adding the marriage vow, you enabled me to respond to your magic
at another level."
"So what does that mean?" Harry asked. "What would it mean for
us if we were to take the first binding off?"
"I don't think we can remove one without removing both,"

REASSURED 131

Draco said, frowning. "They are layered magic. One sealed upon the
other."

Harry's eyes widened. "But I don't want to take our marriage off,"
he said. "That could mess everything up. That could even mess up ...
having another baby."

"Yes," Draco agreed, "now you understand part of why I didn't
tell you."

"But then what do we do?" Harry asked, frowning.
"The only way I can think of would be to end the binding and
then ... make a new one," Draco said.
Harry frowned again. "Make a new one?" he asked. "A new
marriage binding?"
Draco nodded, eyes intent on Harry's. He didn't know why it
frightened him but the idea of ending the binding terrified him.
Harry nodded. "And it would be the same as the first one?" he
asked.
"The point is to choose what we promise this time," Draco said
softly, then blushed. "And it would require all the elements, including
a witness."
Harry flushed too. "We can do that," he said quietly, staring into
Draco's face.
"Who?" Draco whispered, licking his lips and actually becoming
aroused again at the idea of someone watching them.
"I don't know," Harry answered. He didn't know exactly how he
would ask any of their friends, either.
"It's not like you haven't fucked me in front of people before,"
Draco teased him.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Yes," he said, "but I've never asked
either. Excuse me, good friend. Would you like to watch my husband
and I fuck so that we can bind ourselves again?" He rolled his eyes.
"That will be perfectly peachy."
Draco chuckled. "I think some of them rather enjoyed it last
time," he said.
"I hardly think we need a crowd," Harry said, raising an eyebrow
again. "And I still can't believe I did that."
Draco blushed, his body responding to the memory as well. "I
can," he grinned. "You're a pervert, husband of mine."

132 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

Harry let out a small snort. "I guess," he said. "But so are you."
Draco waggled his eyebrows and pressed himself against Harry to
show him how much it excited him. "Never any doubt about that,"
he purred.
Harry smiled, sliding his hands down to grasp the very start of
Draco's arse. "I don't think taking the binding off would be so bad,"
he said. "It would mean I can tell you to fuck me without saying
please."
Draco's eyes widened at the idea and he nodded. He scooted up
so that Harry could better reach his arse. "I still want you to fuck me
every day," he said.
"I'm sure that can be arranged," Harry said with a bit of a sly
smile. "Will we still be able to fuck six times a day? You know, with
the soreness and all."
"You are powerful, Harry," and Draco shivered as he said it, "I
have no doubt that you will be able to keep healing us."
"And no more going cold," Harry said. "We won't have to worry
about forgetting."
"I will worry if you forget," Draco whispered, beginning to rub
himself against Harry's hip.
"Why?" Harry whispered back, gently kissing the edge of Draco's
jaw.
"Because I want you," Draco said. "I still want you all the time."
He punctuated this with kisses over his lover's face.
"You think I don't want you?" Harry asked, a little incredulous in
tone. "Merlin, Draco, all you have to do is say the word to get me in
your trousers."
Draco swallowed hard, so aroused now he was having trouble
talking. "Word," he whispered with a smile.

– CHAPTER SIXTEEN –

Brilliant

Harry grinned, bringing his lips to Draco's as he leant his weight into
his hip and against Draco's cock. "What do you want?" he asked,
getting more and more aroused himself.

"I want to fuck you," Draco said.
"Good," Harry replied, cock twitching.
"On your knees, Potter," Draco whispered, his voice low.
Harry shivered, pulling back from Draco. "Where?" he asked.
"On the bed," Draco said, since he didn't include rug burn in his
long list of kinks.
Harry pushed himself to his feet, crossing to the bed quickly. He
climbed atop the mattress and grasped the headboard, just as Draco
liked him to do, and he certainly didn't mind it himself. He licked his
lips and then looked over his shoulder.
Draco grinned, climbing up behind his lover and sliding his
hands over his arse and thighs.
"Mmm," Harry hummed at the touch, letting his eyes fall shut.
Leaning forward, Draco nipped at the soft flesh of one cheek.
Harry twitched and took in a small breath, not having anticipated
the move.
Draco suddenly got the urge to lick and bite his lover's arse and
proceeded to do so, leaving small red marks in his wake.
Gasping, Harry twitched with each nip, his cock heavy and
leaking.
Draco squeezed and spread his lover's arse with both hands,
sliding his tongue down the cleft.
"Oh, fuck," Harry whispered, arching his back with the feeling.
"Oh, yes, I am going to fuck you," Draco answered, his voice
deep with his desire. "But first, I know what you really want."
Harry nearly whimpered listening to Draco's voice. "Yes," he
moaned.

134 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

Draco worked his way down to his lover's opening, pausing to
breathe over the sensitive tissue.

Harry shivered yet again. "God, Draco, you're so hot," he
groaned. "I'm so fucking hard."

Pointing his tongue, Draco gently teased that puckered opening
with it.

Harry lowered his face to the bed while still hanging onto the
headboard, panting with arousal.

Draco pushed his tongue into the centre of that ring and pressed
his lips to the flesh around it. He slid his right hand down Harry's
thigh and between his legs, gently cupping his lover's balls.

Harry gasped at both touches, swallowing as he gripped the
headboard tighter.

Pressing his tongue deeper, Draco moved it in small circles.
Harry whimpered, his heart beating fast. "Oh, fuck, Draco," he
gasped.
Draco did just that, using his tongue to fuck Harry's hole.
Harry whimpered again, feeling like he needed to press back into
Draco's face to get more of anything, of everything. "Please," he
moaned. "Oh, fuck, please."
Draco withdrew his tongue, licking the quivering opening. "Yes?"
he asked.
Harry lifted his head to look behind him, and the sight of Draco's
face sent him moaning again. "Mmm, fuck me, please," he told him.
"Please, fuck me."
"Yes," Draco said, grinning and then giving a last slow lick before
Summoning his wand and casting the Lube Spell. He slicked his cock
and then pressed fingers inside his lover, quickly preparing him.
"Merlin, yeah," Harry gasped, pushing onto Draco's fingers.
Draco chuckled, withdrawing his fingers and replacing them with
his cock. He grasped Harry's hips with both hands and slid forward
without pausing.
"Fuck," Harry gasped, pressing back against Draco's cock now.
"Your cock belongs here," he told him. "Always fucking will."
"Yes, inside you," Draco growled, pulling back and thrusting in
again. "Going to fuck you hard, hold on."
Harry's entire body trembled with those words and he was almost

BRILLIANT 135

surprised he didn't come. He gripped the headboard until his
knuckles were white, his heart beating even faster. "Yes," he said,
closing his eyes, ready for it.

Draco began to use both his hips and his grip on Harry's hips to
thrust hard, pulling the other man onto his cock as he did. He loved
the sound and feel of his flesh slapping against his lover's.

"Fuck!" Harry cried out, wondering if he might snap the wood
beneath his hands. He took each of Draco's hard thrusts as openly as
he could, letting him fuck the hell out of him and loving every single
second of it.

Sweat poured down his body as Draco slammed into his lover,
the sensation a mix of pain and pleasure which always made him feel
more alive. "Yes, mine," he growled.

"Yours!" Harry shouted, somehow managing to spread his legs
wider in that moment.

Draco was panting, gripping Harry's hips so hard he would bruise
as he felt himself tensing, knowing he would come soon. "Bring us,"
he shouted.

Harry grunted with the thrusts into his body. He reached his
hand down to his own cock, only having to give it a single rough
stroke before he was coming over the bed, arching and crying out
with his release.

Draco thrust hard and held himself buried inside his husband as
he threw back his head, crying out with his release. Magic flowed
over and through him and he wept with it. No way in hell was he
giving that up.

Harry slumped, panting and sweating, his mind still blank from
orgasm.

Draco slid his hands around Harry's waist, holding his lover with
his face pressed to his back.

Harry took in a shaky breath and let it out just as shakily.
"Draco," he whispered. "You're the only one who makes me feel this
way."

"Yes, only me," Draco whispered, kissing his husband's spine.
"You're all I ever want," Harry said. "If I have you, I'm happy."
Draco pulled out slowly, as he kissed his way down Harry's spine,
stopping at the small of his back. He sat back, admiring the view.

136 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

Harry smiled gently and sighed, looking at Draco over his
shoulder again.

Draco ran his hands over Harry's arse and down his crack,
coating them in his own come as it leaked from his lover. "I could
fuck you a million times and still want more," he whispered.

Harry swallowed, letting out another shaky breath. "I could take
it a million times and still want more," he whispered back.

"As much as I would prefer to stay in here fucking you all day,"
Draco whispered, his spent cock still managing to tingle at the idea.
"I think our son is probably wreaking havoc by now."

"I know," Harry said, lowering his arse to the bed and turning.
"And I feel bad leaving him with Ron and Hermione so much."

Draco picked up his wand and cast Cleaning Charms for both of
them. "To class, my love?" he asked.

Harry nodded, leaning forward to lay a kiss on Draco's lips.

When Harry and Draco had dressed and hurried through the
corridors, everyone else had already cleared out of the Great Hall.
When they approached the Defence Against the Dark Arts
classroom, Harry could hear a baby crying inside and winced,
glancing at Draco before he opened the door and stepped through.

Draco rolled his eyes and prepared to face a room full of their
annoyed peers. He followed his husband inside.

Hermione was sitting, trying to calm Valen, whose face was red
with his screams. Harry guiltily made his way over to her, throwing
Lupin an apologetic look as he did. He reached his arms out for the
baby and Hermione handed him over quickly.

Valen only seemed to cry harder for a minute, as if he was
making sure his daddies knew how unhappy with them he was.
Draco stood behind his husband so that the infant could see them
both.

"I know," Harry said in a soothing tone, holding Valen's head
against his shoulder as he rocked with him. Then he noticed that Ron
seemed to have bits of ... porridge in his hair. Harry gave him a
strange look and Ron only gazed back blankly.

Draco reached up and added his hand to his child's back. "We're
here," he whispered. "Don't worry, we wouldn't leave you."

BRILLIANT 137

Valen seemed to calm with both parents touching him. He
blinked green eyes at Draco, hiccoughing now.

Harry sighed, kissing Valen's hair and then made his way over to
Ron's other side to sit.

Draco joined his husband at the table. He looked around and saw
quite a number of frowns. He noted that Pansy was sitting with a
Ravenclaw woman. He had to look to the back of the room to spot
Theo, who did not look at Draco, staring down at his book instead.
Draco sighed.

Harry didn't look for Nott or Pansy, but his own two best friends
were staring at him and he could feel it. He looked over to see both
of them giving him curious frowns. He sighed. "Later," he said
quietly to Ron, who turned and gave the message to Hermione. She
frowned a little more but then turned her head to face the front
again.

Lupin was standing at the front of the classroom. "Welcome,
Harry and Draco," he said. "Now that things are a bit quieter, let's
proceed. How many of you can cast a Shield Charm?" He seemed
pleased and surprised to find the entire class raised their hands. "I
suppose you have had more experience than most preparing for
N.E.W.T.s," he said with a sigh. "How about a Patronus?"

Not as many raised their hands, but everyone Harry had taught in
the D.A. did. Harry hadn't had to cast a Patronus himself in a very
long time, but he was still very confident he could do one.

Draco blushed then, looking down and not raising his hand.
Harry looked at him and raised his eyebrows. He'd had no idea
Draco couldn't cast a Patronus Charm; he'd always assumed that he
could.
Remus looked surprised as well. "Well, that's an important one to
work on. Let's divide up for it. Anyone who hasn't cast one before
should pair up with someone who has," he instructed.
"Do you want to work with me?" Harry asked his husband as the
rest of the class began to bustle around into partners.
Draco was still blushing. "Will he let you put him down?" he
asked, indicating where their son was still clutching his husband.
Harry looked down at Valen, and at his little hands balled into the
material of his robes. "I don't know," he said quietly. "I think he's

138 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

scared we'll leave again." He rubbed his little back.
Draco nodded. "You want to direct me?" he asked.
Harry looked back up at Draco. "Sure," he said.
Draco was nervous as they moved over to the practise area. "Cast

a Shield Charm on yourself and Valen," he said, worried about a
misplaced spell.

Harry nodded, doing so quickly and smiling as Valen shivered
against him. "The incantation is Expecto Patronum," he said. "But in
order for it to work you have to think really hard about a very happy
memory. One of your happiest."

"I know the theory," Draco said, and smiled. "So many to choose
from, now."

Harry smiled too. "Well, you should be able to pick a good one
then," he said.

Draco's mind flooded with images and sensations. He found it
hard to concentrate. He decided to use their wedding and breathed
deep several times before casting the charm. He felt a rush and his
spine tingled before a glowing image appeared from his wand. He
gasped and laughed at the image – of a lion.

Harry beamed, watching the very large, shining cat stalk around
Draco. "Brilliant," he said happily.

Most of the class had stopped to watch as well and quite a
number of them laughed. "Well," Remus said, voice full of his
amusement, "very good, Draco."

Draco blushed scarlet and rolled his eyes as his own private
image of Harry was made visible for all.

Valen squealed happily and began reaching for the Patronus-
Lion. "Kitty!" he yelled. Draco's eyes went wide as his son spoke his
first real word.

Harry gasped and looked down at Valen, his mouth falling open.
Valen was doing his best to wriggle out of Harry's arms as he
continued to call out to the magical beast.
Harry laughed loudly and happily. "Yes, son, it is a kitty," he said,
kissing his head and then looking over at Draco.
Draco laughed loudly and freely then. Many of the others looked
as shocked by this as they had by the image. Few people had ever
really seen Draco laugh. He reached for his child then, the Patronus-

BRILLIANT 139

Lion still curling around his legs.
Harry handed Valen to Draco, still amazed with their son.

"Absolutely brilliant," he said, kissing Valen's head again. "How did
he know that?"

"He's heard me call Sredni a kitty," Draco said. Valen was
clutching Draco and cooing at the image still.

"You're so smart," Harry said to the baby, smiling and ruffling his
hair. He looked at the lion then and cocked his head. "Hmm," he
hummed before he raised his hand and used the memory of when
Draco had first told him he loved him. It felt odd when the magic
seemed to shoot straight out of his skin rather than a wand, and he
watched the flowing magic erupting into ... most definitely not what it
was supposed to. It was not a stag, but a ... dragon. Not as big as an
actual dragon, but most definitely a dragon. He let out a faint,
amazed-sounding laugh, watching the animal before him.

The room erupted in more gasps. Few people had seen Harry do
wandless magic, let alone something so impressive.

"Amazing," Remus said from where he watched.
Valen squealed and began bouncing excitedly. Draco blushed, not
only at the image, but at what it did to his insides. It made him feel
hot and had him trembling.
Harry blushed too when his dragon approached Draco's lion and
rubbed its head into the lion's mane. He smiled sheepishly, looking
up and meeting Draco's eyes.
Draco was bright red and smiling and he felt his own magic
shiver in response as the lion began rubbing itself against the dragon.
Harry had to hold his laugh in at the look on Draco's face, and
the redness of it, though he wasn't sure if his own face looked any
different. He sidled up to his husband and child and gave them both
kisses, though Draco's was a bit longer and on the lips instead of the
cheek.
There were murmurs and laughter then as the others in the room
watched the Patronus images intertwining at the feet of the two
kissing wizards.
"Um," Remus started, swallowing. "Well, those are very strong
images," he said, attempting to get the attention of the class.
Harry smiled and pulled back from the kiss, trying to ignore the

140 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

embarrassing fact that everyone was staring at them.
Hermione and Ron were watching too as Hermione's Patronus,

in the shape of an otter, was chased around their legs by Ron's Jack
Russell Terrier.

"Well, that's probably enough of that," Remus interjected, turning
slightly red now.

Harry nodded, still sheepish, but happy. "My Patronus used to be
a stag," he told Draco as the dragon began to fade.

Draco grinned even wider. "Really?" he asked, so aroused he was
barely able to think.

"Yes, I shot it at you once, remember?" Harry asked, amused.
Draco closed his eyes, trembling. "Oh, yesss," he answered.
Valen was burbling loudly.
Harry knew that tone. And of course Draco would be aroused
after the powerful magic from Harry, but Harry didn't know what to
do about it.
Draco pushed the baby into Harry's arms. "I'll be back," he
managed and then headed out the door of the classroom.
Harry raised his eyebrows as he watched Draco leave, and then
he looked down at Valen and smiled amusedly. "I think Daddy Draco
liked that magic more than you did," he said, kissing his nose.

– CHAPTER SEVENTEEN –

Understanding Friends

Draco managed to find an empty classroom and leant against the wall
inside, quickly unfastening his trousers and sliding his hand in with a
sigh. This had been an ongoing problem for him during school
before, but the Patronuses had been more intense than he could
handle. He closed his eyes, resting his head against the wall as he
pulled on his erection, trying to bring himself off quickly so he could
return to class.

"You never could control your reaction to magic," a woman's
voice purred beside him.

Draco startled. He eyes flew open and his hand froze.
Pansy laughed. "Want some help with that?" she asked.
"Get away from me," he growled.
She stepped closer, reaching her hand for the front of his
trousers. "You used to have me help when you got this way," she
insisted.
Draco grabbed her wrist with his silver hand. "I said not to touch
me," he hissed.
“You aren’t still mad about yesterday?” she asked.
Draco pulled his hand out and stepped away from her, letting go.
"You mean for nearly destroying both my marriage with Harry and
my friendship with Theo?" he asked.
"Aww, the potion was just a nudge, Draco," she said. "You know
you wanted Theo, I could see it. Hell, even your Potter could see it."
"I will not debate this with you," he hissed. "You are bloody
lucky we didn't report you and have you thrown out."
"Well, why didn't you?" she asked, following him.
"Don't push it anymore, Pansy," Draco warned. "I still could."
"Not very Slytherin, Draco, going to the school like that for an
in-House issue," she complained.
"We aren't students any more," he said, coldly. "Grow up. And

142 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

leave me and my family alone." He'd managed to make his way to the
door and opened it, striding back. His arousal was gone now. And he
didn't realise he hadn't refastened his trousers until he was already
back in the room.

Harry had been trying to get Valen to say 'kitty' again. He looked
to his side when Draco was there and gave him a single eyebrow
waggle. "You good now?" he asked.

Draco glanced around to make sure no one was really looking.
Unfortunately, several people were. He sighed and refastened his
trousers anyway, trying not to blush as he did.

Harry grinned, looking down as Draco did his trousers up.
"Guess so," he said, answering his own question.

Draco rolled his eyes. "So what have I missed?"
"Not much," Harry replied. "Some more tell-me-now-looks from
Hermione and Ron. I guess we probably do look like a couple of mad
people."
Draco nodded, grateful that few people knew of his 'problem’
with Harry's magic. Pansy, Theo and Blaise had known he was a
sensitive. It wasn't something he shared with most people. And the
sexual component of it, even fewer.
Harry nodded too, turning back to face Remus at the front of the
class.

Draco stayed close to Harry the rest of the day and surprised a few
people when he sat with his husband at the Gryffindor table. There
was a lot of whispering going on and from what he caught, most of it
about their Patronus display. He tried to focus his attention on
feeding bits of mashed potato to his son, though Valen did still
mostly need Harry. It was a messy process and Draco was once again
grateful he was good at Cleaning Charms.

Harry could hardly believe Valen. He was teething, had said his
first word, and was eating real food. All at bloody once. He was too
focused on the baby to really worry about what anyone else was
saying and was glad Draco had sat with him, mostly because he didn't
trust Pansy. He didn't trust Nott, either, but mostly her.

"Do you two want to come up in our room and talk?" he asked
Ron and Hermione as they all were making their way up to the tower.

UNDERSTANDING FRIENDS 143

"Well, it would be rather nice to know what's going on,"
Hermione answered, throwing them a sideways look.

"Especially after yesterday," Ron frowned.
Draco nodded, letting Valen teethe on his silver fingers. Drool
dripped onto his sleeve and he made a face at the child.
Harry sighed, nodding as well.
When they had made their way to the common room, Hermione
was the one that led them up the boys' staircase and into Harry and
Draco's room. Harry closed the door behind everyone and then
moved to sit on the bed. Hermione did, too, and crossed her legs
under herself while Ron leant against the near wall.
Draco sat leaning up against the headboard with Harry. He fished
the teething ring out of the baby's cot and tried to switch his fingers
for it. Valen protested with a shriek and Draco relented with a sigh.
Ron and Hermione both looked at Harry and Draco expectantly.
"What do you want to know?" Harry asked.
Hermione frowned at him. "Well, we've been worried," she said.
"This morning you were.... And now you seem...."
"Fine," Ron finished.
"Well, I do feel a lot better than I did this morning," Harry said.
Draco smiled, blushing and not looking up at that.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "So you are fine?" she asked. "Both
of you?"
"I feel okay," Harry answered with a small smile himself.
"It was the potion and Harry was able to burn it out of my
system," Draco said. "And the potion had some strange side effects
when combined with the binding."
Hermione looked to Draco. "I thought something was strange,"
she said. "Under a love potion as strong as Amortentia it was a
wonder you even paid attention to anyone other than Theo Nott."
Draco frowned at the infant gnawing on his silver fingers. Just
because they were silver didn't make it comfortable. "Son, can I have
my fingers back?" he asked the infant who just gnawed harder. Draco
tried to turn his attention back to the discussion. "I think we learnt
something about Harry's magic we didn't know before," he said.
"That it can't be overwhelmed by a potion, even one that powerful.
The two combined and it was ... decidedly uncomfortable."

144 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "It hurt?" she asked.
"It made me angry," Draco answered. "There were conflicting
emotions that were too much like how I felt before Harry and I got
together."
"And that's why you were acting like that," Hermione said,
nodding.
Harry frowned, not mentioning the other things that Draco had
said.
"I wanted to go to Theo, badly," Draco admitted, looking down
at the bed. "But I was also still caught, not only by the compulsion,
but with my feelings toward Harry as well. It was like a war inside."
Hermione glanced at Harry as Draco spoke. He was frowning,
but not angry.
Ron made a strange face from where he stood. "So, was it Nott
that slipped you the potion?" he asked, sounding almost annoyed.
Hermione rolled her eyes at this.
"No," Draco said. "It was Pansy."
Ron seemed disappointed.
"I told you, Ron," said Hermione. "He's been trying to get me to
let him hex Nott all day," she explained.
He scowled at her.
Harry's eyes widened. "Why?" he asked Ron.
"Well – well – because," Ron spluttered.
"It was going to be on your behalf," Hermione said to Harry and
Draco.
Harry couldn't help but be slightly amused at how far they had all
come since they were last at Hogwarts. Ron had gone from trying to
fight Harry for being with 'Malfoy' to protecting and being concerned
about their relationship.
"While I appreciate the sentiment," Draco said, smiling, "I would
rather there was no retaliation for this."
Harry nodded in agreement. "I'm not going to pretend like I'm
not still pissed off," he said, "but it's pointless to start anything. It's
done and Draco and I are fine."
"You're sure?" Hermione said, looking concerned. Harry
wondered just how bad he had looked that morning for his friends to
be so worried.

UNDERSTANDING FRIENDS 145

"Theo was not to blame. And Pansy, well, she has her reasons. I
don't justify her behaviour, but I would rather handle it myself,"
Draco explained.

Ron frowned. "Yeah, well, Theo was-"
Harry shook his head, knowing what Ron was going to say. He
didn't feel like getting into all of that again. And the fact that Nott
had been coming on to Draco still brought a twinge of anger. He
simply couldn't help it.
Draco sighed. "Nott was a close friend and he has lost a lot," he
explained. "He wasn't doing anything in that storeroom that I didn't
ask him to do."
Hermione nodded. "I suppose if Pansy did it, then it's really not
his fault," she said.
"He and I talked last week and had come to an agreement about
things," Draco said. "I think Pansy was angry about that."
Harry looked at Draco. "You didn't tell me that," he said.
Draco didn't look at his husband but nodded.
Harry stared at Draco curiously.
"My only question is: Why did they try to kill us?" said Ron,
eyebrows high on his forehead. "If, you know, they're your friends."
"I ... was wondering about that as well," Hermione said, staring at
Draco.
Draco sighed. "Blaise told them that I was under Harry's control.
He described our binding as something like a cross between a Love
Spell and an Imperius Curse," he explained. "Which, in some ways, it
is."
"Doesn't mean I'm using it that way," Harry muttered.
Draco took a deep breath. "They believed that if Harry was killed,
it would end the binding on me," he said. "Which is also true. They
didn't know how I felt about Harry before the binding. That had
been my secret."
"Well, I think it's rather stupid of them," said Ron bitterly.
Hermione sighed. "It was perhaps rash," she said delicately,
speaking to Ron, "but you and I would've done anything for Harry if
we'd thought he was under something like that. I don't think we
would've tried to get anyone killed, but I can sort of see their
reasoning."

146 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

"Yes," Draco agreed with her. "I had been publicly dating Pansy
and secretly involved with Theo. Then suddenly, at the beginning of
sixth year, I dropped them both. At the end of that year, in which I
had been acting strangely to them, I am suddenly bound by Harry.
Look at it from their viewpoint."

"Like I said," said Hermione, "I can see the reasoning. I don't
agree with what they did, but I understand it."

"The potion is a different thing," said Ron.
There was where Harry agreed. He gave a small nod.
"I explained to Theo some of how I feel about Harry and that I
wanted him to accept it," Draco said. "I hadn't talked with Pansy.
And I don't think Theo would tell Pansy without my permission. She
still didn't know any different from what Blaise had told her."
"At the very least," said Harry, his voice unpleasant even though
he wasn't purposely making it so, "it was the wrong way to handle
things. Both situations were handled the wrong way. Both could've
got Draco hurt. And so I'm angry that it happened." He didn't add
that Nott and Pansy were lucky he wasn't more than that, or that he
wasn't going to act on his feelings.
"I don't blame you for that, Harry," said Hermione. "I agree that
it wasn't handled correctly."
"Only by your ideals of correct," Draco said. "It made sense to
them and from how they were raised."
Harry lifted an eyebrow. "You don't act that way," he said. He
refused to believe that Pansy and Nott could both think that killing
an entire group of people and using an illegal potion was acceptable
behaviour. He didn't care how they'd been raised.
Draco shrugged, remembering doing some pretty awful things
before he'd finally confessed his feelings to Harry. "Not anymore," he
said.
"I think what he means," said Hermione, seeming to get what
Draco was saying, "is that some things would probably affect them a
lot less than they might us. They have to know it's wrong to kill
people, but are perhaps ... more immune to the ... guilt, having been,
well, raised to be Death Eaters. And, like Draco just said, he's not
always been the way he is now."
Harry frowned.

UNDERSTANDING FRIENDS 147

Draco nodded, smiling at her. Odd sometimes that Granger
understood him so well. "Apparently, it upset Pansy and Theo
enough that they didn't join the Death Eaters," he said. "They hadn't
known it could get me killed, too."

Harry was still frowning. "Well, it doesn't mean that I'm ready to
be best mates with either of them." he said.

Ron nodded.
Hermione sighed. "No one said you had to," she said. "I'm just
trying to see the possible motives for their actions. Was it right? No.
But maybe they didn't really think about it. Especially if that's the way
they're used to doing things. Don't take what I'm saying to mean that
you should go and make friends, I'm just trying to see the logical side
of it."
"Thank you," Draco said to her. "I don't think they are beyond
learning, any more than I was."
Hermione nodded. "I don't see why not."
Harry sighed. He couldn't disagree, so he didn't.
Draco looked at the now sleeping child in his arms and then to
his husband, a small smile on his face. "Thank you," he said to him.
Harry looked at Draco and couldn't help but smile at him.
"Anything, love," he said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. He didn't
like Nott and Pansy, but he could tell Draco did, or at least that he
cared about them. He didn't want his husband to have to give that
up.
Draco blushed and then hefted Valen up with his arms and laid
him in the cot.
Hermione smiled at both Harry and Draco and then hopped
lightly of the bed. "I suppose we'll let you get to sleep, or have your
alone time, or whatever it is," she said with a small laugh. She
grabbed Ron by the arm. "Just glad you two are all right."
Harry smiled in return. "We're all right," he confirmed.
Draco nodded and sat on the edge of the bed.
Hermione nodded too and pulled Ron out of the room. He called
a hasty, "Night!" before the door was closed behind them.
Draco sat patiently waiting to see what Harry would say or do
now.
Harry sighed, scooted up behind Draco, and pulled his husband

148 HARRY POTTER AND THE DRAGON’S TREASURE

back so that he was resting against Harry's chest. "It's crazy how she
does that, eh?" he said.

"Yes, pretty remarkable," Draco agreed, sighing happily into
Harry's embrace.

"I think it's how she puts up with Ron," Harry continued in an
amused tone. "She knows how to change people's minds."

"Ah," Draco said, rubbing his head against Harry's chest where
he lay against him, hoping his husband would get the hint and play
with his hair.

Harry smiled and snorted quietly, bringing his hand up to run it
through the silky strands.

"Ahh," Draco sighed at the touch. "You once promised me to
never stop playing with my hair."

"That I did," Harry agreed.
"And you always keep your promises," Draco said, sighing
happily into his husband's caresses.
"Yes," Harry agreed, still smiling.