Author's note:

This story is actually a Christmas present to a close friend of mine, Katarina. Merry Christmas, luv! Plus, you know, none of these character's are mine blabla bitty bla, it all belongs to J.K Rowling (The best of luck to her).

I took a lot of inspiration from reading Frizzy's story 'Magnetic Attraction'. There's been a whole lot of that kind of stories going around, but I think Frizzy started it all, so I want to give her/him a hand for an excellent idea. Well, that's about it, people. Enjoy the story!

His poison seeks

Chapter one

Ballerinas that have fins that you'll never find

You thought that you were the bomb yeah well so did I

Say you don't want it

Say you don't want it

Say you don't want it again and again

But you don't really mean it

- Tori Amos

Quickly, with a heart growing lighter by the minute, the dark haired boy got out of the car and watched it drive away so fast it left skid marks on the street. "Bye, Uncle Vernon!" he called, laughter evident in his voice. "See you next summer!" Nobody answered, but he didn't expect it either. He was used to it, and he wasn't going to let it ruin his day. This was "back-to-school-day". Back to Hogwarts. No one could ruin this for him.

"Well hello, Potter. Stylish outfit. Too bad they didn't have it in your size..." The cool drawl made Harry bristle. Malfoy..! He took a deep breath and turned around. "Why thank you, Malfoy. How sweet of you to make my clothes your personal business. I didn't know you cared." he said with a sunny smile.

Malfoy blinked and for a moment lost his composure and backed away. His grey eyes were wide and he stared at Harry in complete shock. Acting on a sudden hunch Harry stepped closer, still smiling that infuriatingly happy smile. For every step he advanced, Malfoy backed away until he finally found himself and sneered at him. "Stay away from me, you queer freak." he said coldly and swept away.

"No problem, Malfoy." Harry whispered under his breath and proceeded to the train. Wow... the Dumbledore method really works. Being aggressively nice against people I hate may be the key to my survival this year.

Hermione and Ron looked worried when they met him on the train. They kept looking at him funny. "What?" he said finally, annoyed and suspicious. They jerked at his tone of voice, making him angrier still. Ron wouldn't look him in the eyes, but Hermione grinned wryly at him. "It's just that, well... last year was... rather bad, hormone wise, remember?"

Harry felt a wave of anger at the accusation, but then a voice in his head piped up. You were bloody unbearable, and you know it. He shut his mouth quickly and smiled shyly at his friends. "Yeah, it was. And you know I promise to behave this year. This will be the year I won't break rules, charge off on a wild goose chase without checking all the facts, or flunk any subjects." he vowed solemnly, hand on his heart. Ron laughed.

"Will this also be the year you study Occlumency and refrain from accusing Professor Snape of being evil?" Hermione asked snidely. Ron and Harry stared blankly at her. "Why Hermione... that's unnatural." Harry said, voice mock shaking. Hermione rolled her eyes as Ron shuddered. "Besides, Snape's evil. The sky's blue, Malfoy's a prick and Snape's evil. That's just how it is. We don't want to change a working concept." Harry answered.

"Don't you think it's time for you two to get over it and get along?" Hermione groused. Harry sighed. "Hermione, he's hated me from day one. I came to hate him right back, and due to a extremely bad incident between us last year, I wouldn't be surprised if he changed sides again just so that he would be allowed to torture me."

"What incident?" Hermione said suspiciously. Harry gulped. He had forgotten that he hadn't told them about the time he dove into Snape's Pensieve and saw his memory. He couldn't now, either. He promised Snape he wouldn't tell anyone, and besides that he was too ashamed to tell them. It had been like reading someone's diary.

"Nothing." he muttered. "Hey, who wants chocolate frogs?" he said as the cart rolled by. Ron let out a whoop and they scampered out, leaving Hermione on her seat, deep in thought.

The next morning they sat happily at the Gryffindor table, chatting away with their friends while stuffing their faces with breakfast. Justin had his face buried in the Daily Prophet. He blanched.

"Bloody hell." he said and turned to Harry, who washed his toast down with pumpkin juice. "Uh, Harry. Bad news... some of the Death Eaters have escaped." he said and thumped Harry on the back as he choked on his juice.

A cold feeling of dread settled in his stomach. And why shouldn't he be worried? The Ministry of Magic had proved time and time again that they were completely useless against Voldemort. At least they didn't try to deny his return anymore, but they sure as hell didn't do anything about it, either. He quickly scanned the article for names on the Death Eaters. Strangely, Malfoy Senior hadn't escaped. He was waiting patiently for his trial. Harry snorted. It wouldn't surprise him if he got himself freed.

Lucius Malfoy wouldn't be convicted if he was caught in bed with Voldemort. He probably owned the Ministry now. Harry sighed. His trial would be held this Tuesday, so tomorrow then. Nobody had asked him to be present, so he expected he wasn't needed. Strange, though, he was really a good witness...

Harry stifled a yawn. He found Potions to be the single most boring subject by far. Even though he had studied hard all summer, determined to prove to Snape that he deserved to pass the subject., he hadn't been able to drag up even the slightest interest for it. At least he was now at the same level as the others. Well, except Hermione maybe, but she's uncanny with her knowledge. And Malfoy, he's good, even if he's Snape's favourite. Well okay, so Justin's good... and even Neville seemed to have studied over the summer.

Still. I'm okay.

He quickly sat to attention when Snape's sharp eyes fixed him with a glare. He tried to look interested, innocent and stable at the same time. He was pretty sure he came off as insane. See? I'm good. Following the rules, studying... Find something to hate, I dare you.

Snape watched him through narrowed eyes and turned his back and ignored him. Harry's heart sank in his chest. Maybe I should apologize... but he's not likely to listen.

He had done a lot of thinking over the summer. About Voldemort and the prophecy. About his behaviour. About Snape and his father. And about Sirius...

He had almost lost it last year. He blew up in Dumbledore's office, screaming at the old man, prepared to tear down the place to make his point. The whole year had been a raging disaster, and as much as he hated to admit it, most of it was his fault.

If he hadn't gone out that night, Sirius would still be alive. It wasn't Snape's fault, it was his. And now Sirius was gone forever. It had forced him to think about death like never before. They could die any day, especially in these times. Ron, Hermione, and the rest of his friends. Dumbledore. McGonnagal. Even Snape. It had been a shock to realise that he didn't want Snape dead at all.

Death could take them all any day, anywhere. It was just a matter of time. And as far as he understood it, he was here to make more time for his friends to live in. And meanwhile, he would try not to let himself take out his frustrations on them. For the first time in his life he wanted to behave. He didn't want anyone else to die because of him. He wanted to study, gossip and go to Hogsmeade and buy candy with the others.

He wanted to be normal.

All I want is a clean slate...

"Ah, Harry! There you are. You are needed at the Ministry of Magic as a witness in the Trial against Mr. Malfoy. We have to leave at once, my boy!"

Dumbledore swept down on him on his way to Transfiguration the next morning, causing him to drop his books. He picked them up with an embarrassed smile.

"Sir? Why wasn't I informed earlier?" he asked. Dumbledore frowned. "They should have sent you a letter... I distinctly remember I told Mr. Fudge to do so." he said, and suddenly looked very serious. "Never mind, sir. I'll come." Harry said, not wanting to stir up trouble. Dumbledore smiled.

"Splendid! Let us hurry, then. I have a feeling they wouldn't mind starting without us."

Harry was very quiet when he entered the dungeon this time. He knew he couldn't afford not to be on his best behaviour here. The last time had almost ended with expulsion, something he really didn't want to face this time. He scanned the rows, recognising a few of the witches and wizards who sat there from the last time. At least he wasn't the one on trial this time.

In the middle of the room stood a chair, and on it sat Mr. Malfoy, looking aloof and imposing as ever. As Harry stared, Lucius turned his head slowly, fixing him with his grey eyes. His thin lips curved into a smirk, causing Harry to shiver. It's just cold down here, that's all, he told himself. He looked at Lucius again, but the man had already turned his attention to the court.

Twenty minutes later the trial was over.

Lucius Malfoy had been freed of all charges, mostly due to his unwavering loyalty to the Ministry of Magic and the fact that the primary witness, Harry, never once had seen his face during the incident.

Harry felt the frustration building again. The Ministry would do nothing! They were bribed and corrupted and many of them would probably join Voldemort out of sheer greed! Once again he felt eyes on him and turned to see Lucius watching him. He had done that quite a lot during the trial. Harry couldn't think of a reason... he figured Lucius had been through a rough time in Azkaban and had come out obsessed with revenge on Harry. He shivered again.

There! He did it again! It's like he's looking for something...

Dumbledore left the trial soon after, but didn't seem concerned about their loss at all. He smiled his usual serene smile and strode out, leaving a confused Harry in his wake. He tried to follow the others out but all of them went in different directions. Sighing, he prepared to stop someone and asked when a cold voice made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Lost, Mr. Potter? Allow me to help you."

Harry turned quickly, unwilling to have his back against Lucius for a longer period of time. Every fibre in his body told him to run, get away, find someone else, just don't stand alone with Lucius "Death Eater" Malfoy in an empty hallway! He looked up at him, determined not to show any weakness, but knowing it was too late for that all the same.

Lucius looked intently at him for a second, and seemed to sniff in the air. What's he doing..? Do I smell bad or something..? Transfixed, Harry stared as Lucius lifted his cane and put it under his chin, tilting his head. Paralysed as a small bird before a snake, he could only stand there, awaiting his next move.

"Curious...How could it be you, after all this time..?" the Death Eater softly whispered. Then he smiled, a small, tight smile that almost made Harry faint dead. "Oh well. I suppose I will have to make do." he purred and struck like the serpent he resembled, sinking his teeth into Harry's lower lip.

The spell was broken and Harry tore himself free, stumbling back, hyperventilating. His eyes were wide and he looked positively panic stricken. His lower lip throbbed painfully and he felt the thin trickle of blood down his chin. He put a trembling hand to his mouth and stared at his assailant in shock.

Lucius stood very still, grey eyes still on him. His thin, curved mouth was now smeared with Harry's blood, making his appearance still more predatory. Something akin to hunger glinted in his eyes. That, and the fact that he was now reaching for him again, sent Harry fleeing down the corridor in full speed, wiping his mouth as he ran.

Nonononono! That didn't happen, he's gone crazy, he has, he used a spell on me, one of those wordless ones, I know he did, I didn't like it and and and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!

He explained about his bloody lip to Hermione and Ron, saying that it was no big deal, he just fell down some stairs, that's all. Ron just shrugged and patted him sympathetically on the back, but Hermione... she frowned, her sharp eyes never leaving his split lip. "Really?" she said sceptically. "Those looks like bite marks to me." she said and touched his lip gently.

Ron looked again, then chortled. "You ran into Cho, didn't you? Quite a welcome back, huh?" Harry blushed and said nothing. Hermione still looked thoughtful, though. "Rough trial?" she said at last. He nodded.

"Yeah." he said quietly. "Something like that."

Lucius sat in his study, a glass of whisky in one hand, a pen in the other. He had been sitting like that for three hours straight, going the incident with Potter over and over in his head. Something very peculiar was happening with him, something which he felt that he should recognize. Yet he knew that he hadn't felt like this before.

He stood abruptly and walked over to the book shelf containing the Malfoy Family History Books. He let his hands wander over them for a few seconds before he settled for "The Malfoy Line 1300- 1500". Inside he found the explanation he was searching for.

One of his ancestors were veela, and if he remembered correctly the veela blood had made itself known several times through the centuries that followed. In some people the blood reacted, forcing them to search for their mate. Others just inherited the animal magnetism that made them irresistible. But the last known case of mating frenzy in their family was in the late 1700, when the young witch Lydia Malfoy practically raped her mate when he refused her.

As the blood always reacted during the person's teenage years, Lucius never thought he had inherited the veela powers. At the thought of Potter he felt his self control slipping. He could still smell him, the sweet, innocent fragrance of the untouched. He could still taste his blood...

The glass shattered in his hand, spilling drops of whisky over the desk and the book. Raising an eyebrow, he carefully pulled out a shard deeply imbedded in the flesh of his palm. Without thinking, he pressed his mouth to the wound, licking up the blood, lost in the memory of his new found mate.

He smiled, the cold smile of a shark. Ah, the irony. That Harry Potter should prove to be his mate... that made certain things difficult. He would have to arrange something... a kidnapping perhaps. Either way time was running short. From the moment one of veela blood finds his mate until the moment the bond is consummated no more than three weeks must pass. Otherwise he would die.

Very well then. I have to pay a visit to Hogwarts. Not to worry, darling. I'm coming for you.

Chapter two

So wander down the ancient hallway

Taking the stairs only one at a time

Follow the sound of my heartbeat now

I'm in the room at the top, you're at the end of the line

Open the door and lay down on the bed

The sun is just a ball of desire

And I wanna take you out of the frying pan and into the fire!

- Meatloaf

Harry noticed with irritation that he had taken up a habit of biting his fingernails. He was down to nibbling at the skin now. He flinched when what little nail he had made contact with his sore lip. Another source of irritation! What was that all about? He knew Lucius was insane, but biting him... that's just wrong somehow. Torture's one thing, semi-kissing quite another.

And I did NOT just think that..! he thought in horror. It wasn't a kiss, it wasn't..!

"Mr. Potter. I assure you there's no need for more grinding. The dried beetles are quite dead." Snape drawled in his ear close enough to make him jump and drop it all in his potion. He looked down on it in misery, noticing the sick yellow colour that according to his new and improved notes were completely wrong. He sighed and waited.

Twenty points from gryffindor for an abysmal lack of first year competence...

"Ten points from gryffindor for an abysmal lack of first year competence." Snape sneered and walked away to terrorise Neville, who promptly hiccupped and lost all confidence in what he was doing. The result was, as usual, quite depressing to witness.

Ten points..? Is he having a good day, or has he forgiven me? Please, let it be the latter, please, please, please...

"Potter! Pay attention to what you're doing! Ten points from gryffindor!" Harry quickly returned to work with a twinge of bitter cynism. He looked over at Ron for support and he grimaced and winked. Harry smiled and made a small gesture behind his cauldron, as if saying: My potion's fucked. How's yours?

Ron hid a smile and made a discreet thumbs-down gesture, then went white and opened his mouth in a silent scream as Hermione kicked him viciously on the small of his leg to keep his attention on their potion. Harry had, as per usual, been forced to work alone. He figured it was part of Snape's petty punishment, but decided to go with it. He deserved it anyway, no need to whine about it.

Besides, it was still better than the detentions with Umbridge the Toad. He still had a scar on the back of his hand that said: "I must not tell lies" At least Snape wasn't actively trying to hurt him. Quite the opposite, when he had to think about it. He felt a twinge of shame. Never once had he thanked him for saving his life... he would have to do that too, when he had worked up the nerve.

He sighed and forced his mind to concentrate on the now ruined potion.

"I must say I was surprised when I got your application." Dumbledore said, his smile still intact. "The position as DADA professor is as of yet unfilled, that is true."

Lucius let his finger play over the snake head on top of his cane and smiled disarmingly. "Yes, so I've heard. And having the greatest interest of the children's safety closest to my heart I volunteer for the position." he stated, his light blue eyes gleaming as a metal blade.

Dumbledore hesitated for a fraction of a second before reaching out his hand to the known Death Eater. "Congratulations, Mr. Malfoy. The job is yours." he said happily, eyes twinkling like mad. The smile he got in return could only have been found on a shark swimming closer to it's prey.

As the door closed after him Dumbledore felt a twinge of doubt. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. he reminded himself. Even so... I wonder if I have made a mistake this time.

Oh... my... god...

He swallowed deeply. Then he leaned in towards Hermione. "Are you seeing him too? Or am I just hallucinating due to the deep and personal trauma I have been going through the last five years?" he whispered in her ear, but didn't get an answer. She was even too shocked to scold him for whispering in the classroom. Mouth agape, she just sat there, bearing the exact same facial expression as Ron, Seamus and the rest of the gryffindors.

Except for Neville, whose eyes showed abject fear, and Harry himself who bore the expression of someone too cynical to be entirely surprised. What the hell, why not? A guy with Voldemort attached to his head, Gilderoy Lockhart, a werewolf (sorry, Remus), an insane Voldemort supporter and Lucius Malfoy. Why not, indeed. Thank you, Dumbledore.

The slytherins shone like candles in delight and Draco's grin were so broad it nearly cut his face in half. Lucius stood and let his presence sink in slowly to his students, making sure they realised who was there. He smirked and picked up a book.

"As you probably already know I am Lucius Malfoy, your new DADA professor. I expect you to read the book at home, because when you are here, we are going to practice the subject." He paused, letting the implications of this strike fear in everyone.

"Defence Against Dark Arts is the key to your survival, but never fear. I will remind you of this constantly." he drawled, watching the pale faces in satisfaction. He let his gaze linger at Harry and noticed that his cheeks turned red.

Good... It's already affecting him...

"Mr. Potter. If you would join me here up front. You will assist me in a little demonstration." he said, not missing a detail on his mate's form as he made his way between the benches.

"Yes, sir." Harry said, determined not to give him a reason to give him a detention. He stood in front of Lucius, not taking his eyes off him. He tried to hide his fear, but he saw in his enemy's cold eyes that it was much too late for that.

"Now, Mr. Potter... defend yourself." he ordered and had his wand outstretched in the blink of an eye. "Constrictus!" he called, making a complex wave with his wand. Harry staggered as black ropes shot out of the shadows and wrapped themselves around him before he could raise the wand that he had managed to get out at least. The ropes yanked him to the floor violently, sending his wand spinning across the floor.

"Serpentsortia." Lucius said lazily, and a white snake shot out of his wand and landed right in front of Harry, who gasped and tried to wriggle away. It fixed him with deadly red eyes and advanced on him.

"Now, Mr. Potter... show me how you will defend yourself from getting bit." he purred, revelling in the way Harry blushed and refused to look at him. My, my... shy and innocent. Almost too good.

* Stop! Stop it right now! * Harry hissed desperately. The snake stopped for a moment.

* You are not my master. * it hissed. * I don't have to obey you.* It stopped for a moment, letting it's tongue taste the air. It hesitated, and Lucius was beginning to look impatient. He made a quick movement with his wand and the snake dissolved into a white mist that settled on the floor and vanished.

Harry exhaled, relieved that the snake was gone. This was the first time a snake had refused to listen to him. He lay absolutely still, watching Lucius warily. They stared at one another for a few, long seconds, and Harry felt a tingling in his body that definatly shouldn't be there. He looked away quickly and Lucius smirked. He had made his point.

With a wave of his hand he was free to return to his seat and the new professor turned to the shocked class again. "Let this be the end of the first lesson. Even the Boy Who Lived does not have to be caught unawares to loose a battle. To the next lesson I want you to bring at least two acceptable counter curses to "Constrictus" and "Serpensortia". We shall train them here. You are dismissed."

As the class left Lucius noted with a tingle of excitement that Harry rubbed his lower lip absentmindedly. Good boy. Remember who you belong to.

"Merlin, Harry, are you alright?" Hermione exclaimed once they were safely outside. Harry nodded weakly. "Pretty much. No, not really. It was horrible down there on the floor, knowing that I was completely at his mercy." he said.

"He wouldn't dare to hurt you, not while Dumbledore's still here." Hermione said firmly. That sparked Ron's infamous temper. "What was Dumbledore thinking, anyhow? Another Death Eater as a teacher? I'm beginning to think the whole "Hogwarts is the safest place to be" thing is just talk."

Hermione looked at him, a clear warning in her eyes. She refused to let them bad talk Snape anymore. "Don't compare Mr. Malfoy to Professor Snape, Ron! There's a vital difference: Mr. Malfoy has always tried to kill us, and Professor Snape has always tried to protect us." she said in her best scholar voice. Ron just shook his head.

"Yes, and he did that out of the goodness of his heart?" he asked sarcastically. "That doesn't matter, Ron. All that matters is that he is on our side, not theirs." she sniffed haughtily.

Harry had zoned out about two sentences ago. He knew the routine. They would bicker and argue all the way to the next class, which was... he groaned. Divination. And professor Trelawny was back at her old teaching position, which meant that they learned absolutely nothing now, not even Firenze's new age stargazing. At least they could more or less fall asleep on his lessons.

As they entered the classroom Trelawny gazed at him through misty eyes and laid a bony hand upon his shoulder. "Poor child." she murmured softly. "This year does not bode well for you." Harry shrugged mentally. He had heard that many times before, but to make her happy he trembled with his lower lip and swallowed noisily. "Do you really think so, Professor?" he said meekly, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Do not trouble yourself. Remember that everything that happens is meant to be." she whispered to him gently and released his shoulder and glided away to her more loyal groupies. How convenient. he thought cynically and took his seat beside Ron. "I wish I could just refuse to go like Hermione." Ron whispered. "You can!" Harry answered. Ron shook his head and grinned. "No way, mate. I won't trade doing nothing for a whole lesson to doing a lot."

Harry sighed and looked down in his crystal ball, a thing that they had to take up again recently, since Trelawny had considered it to be more very hard. He expected to see nothing, but he saw something... a worm, or a snake, writhing... he lifted the ball to see if there was something beneath it, but there was only the tablecloth. He peered into the crystal again and noticed that the snake seemed to have something imbedded in his forehead. A red jewel... a ruby? His heart started to beat faster. He was actually seeing something, for the first time ever! He looked closer and concentrated.

A hare was hopping by quickly but the snake sunk its teeth down on it and it collapsed in a heap. Then a milky, white mist enveloped the glass and the vision was over. Harry blinked.

Wow.

"Ron!" he whispered frantically. "I had a vision! I saw something!" Ron looked at him sceptically. "Are you sure? I've only ever seen the pattern on the tablecloth." But Harry insisted, and in the end of the lesson word had spread around the tables. Parvati's hand flew in the air.

"Professor! Harry had a vision!" she called, ignoring the groans from her fellow classmates. Shit. Harry thought and watched in dismay as the insect like professor beamed at him. He was sure he was going to get another death speech. "Is it true, Harry?" she said softly to him. He nodded.

"I saw a snake, with a red jewel imbedded into it's forehead, and a hare." he said shortly, hoping to get it over with. Oh, poor boy! That's an ancient sign of death! But I will say no more, you shouldn't trouble yourself...

Amazingly, that was not what she said. She stared at him and frowned. "Oh dear." she said. "Did they do anything..?"

"The snake bit the hare and it died." he said, watching her closely. She took off her overly sized glasses and cleaned them with her robes in jerky, nervous movements. Her eyes beneath the glasses were really quite beautiful. "I see." she said at last. "I shall look into it, of course, but there's nothing to worry about, I'm sure."

The rest of the class fell silent. That was the first time Trelawny had ever let them predict anything but death and accidents and misfortune. That she even hinted otherwise was to be taken as a sure sign of danger. Many of them started to squirm in their chairs. Harry forced down a yawn.

A crazy Death Eater for a professor and a mysterious premonition. And so another year at Hogwarts begins...

He was lying on the softest of fabrics. Just the feel of it against him made his skin tingle. He opened his eyes slowly to his surroundings. The bed he was lying on was a huge four poster bed. As he looked around he noticed it was still night time and that he was definitely not at Hogwarts anymore. When he tried to sit up he felt light headed and disoriented as if he had been drinking.

He could see the moon outside the window, pale and thin like a shard of ice. It made him shiver. Suddenly a piece of shadow moved and revealed itself to be a person, a naked man. He gasped and tried to move away, and at the same time get a better look at the man. He couldn't see his face clearly, it was still hidden in the shadows. But the man's long, white blonde hair still hung loosely over his shoulders.

He refused to look further down than the man's chest, feeling nervous enough as it was. His limbs wouldn't obey him! He couldn't move away as the man climbed unto the bed and he closed his eyes.

Something told him that he didn't want to know his face.

As the cold hands touched him he sighed and leaned into the touch. He couldn't do anything about it, so he might as well enjoy it... right? As skin touched skin ha gasped softly and felt a stab of arousal as a set of sharp teeth clamped down on his neck. He tilted his head to give him better access. A rewarding tongue traced his jugular and he moaned and opened his eyes.

He wanted to kiss him so badly...

He turned his head and was ready to meet the tempting lips of... Lucius! A wave of fear and horror made him open his mouth to scream.

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!"

Harry awoke with a start and noticed at once that his throat hurt. He realised he had been screaming and went a bit red. Ron was sitting beside him on the bed and shook him slightly. "I'm up, I'm up..." Harry mumbled and pulled himself free.

"Blimey, what were you dreaming about? Was it You-Know-Who again..? How's your scar?" Ron asked, looking worried. Gratefully, Harry grasped at the life line. "Yeah, it was. Thanks for waking me up, but really, I'm fine now." he said and just couldn't stop blushing.

Ron still looked worried. "Shouldn't we tell Dumbledore? I mean..." Uh oh. He had to strike low here. "Gee, Ron, you sound like Hermione. Lighten up, mate." he said and watched Ron go red around the ears as well. "Sure, no problem... I was only worried, you know." he said, looking a bit hurt, and Harry felt a stab of guilt. Bad friend. Bad.

"I know, Ron. Sorry." he said. Ron offered a friendly smile. "S'okay. Are you gonna fine, then?" Harry smiled back reassuringly. "Yes." Ron nodded and crept back into his own bed.

Harry pulled the bed curtains across again and crept as far under the covers as he could to hide his shameful erection. This was insane. He did NOT just have a wet dream about Lucius Malfoy. It was simply impossible. He liked girls, didn't he? And Malfoy is married, for crying out loud! Frustration was eating at him, and he moaned quietly. To dream was one thing, it was more of a nightmare really, but to jerk off while fantasising about him was a strict no-no.

He fought back an urge to cry. What was happening to him? Lips trembling, he reached down in his pants to cares the straining flesh. Nobody would know...

Chapter three

I live among the creatures of the night

I haven't got the will to try and fight

Against a new tomorrow

so I guess I'll just believe that tomorrow'll never come

- Laura Branigan

The next day at breakfast Harry was looking rather worse for wear, but it was nothing compared to Neville. He looked as if though he had spent the whole night counting sheep, and the sheep had bit him. They exchanged glances, and Neville managed a weak smile. Harry somehow twisted his mouth into a smile in return, but somehow his eyes was pulled to the High Table, where the teachers sat.

Lucius Malfoy had gotten a chair between Snape and Sinistra, and he still managed to be the most scary of them all. Snape probably wrote the book on intimidating, no questions there, but the mysterious Sinistra was a legend of her own. She had few students on her lessons, but the ones she had she held in an iron grip. Everybody respected her.

So when the known Death Eater seated himself between the two it was with a certain amount of dread that the students looked forward to the upcoming term. Seamus leaned close to Harry and put his mouth to his ear.

"I hope we can manage to survive whatever bumps him off." he whispered. "What do you mean?" Harry whispered back. "Well, none of the others lasted more than one year, right? Everybody says the job is jinxed." he said. Harry only nodded, stomach clenching at the thought.

Suddenly his and Lucius' eyes met and he blushed furiously and turned his gaze away. Don't think about it, think about something else, anything. And he can't read my mind, it's impossible. Oh, why didn't I pay attention at Snape on the Occlumency lessons? he thought desperately.

Lucius squeezed his glass tightly and felt his lips curl into a sneer. What was Finnigan doing so close to his mate? Did he think he would just sit quietly by while he whispered sweet nothings into Harry's ear? With an enormous amount of self control he pulled himself together and took several deep breaths. He'd better keep his hands to himself, and Harry... he'd better remember who he belonged to.

He smirked. Entering his dream had been delicious. His mate was so responsive, yet so innocent... he couldn't wait to sully that purity. It wouldn't be difficult by the looks of it. It was time to step it up a bit.

After the potion lesson that day Neville stayed behind a bit, hovering uncertainly beside Snape's desk until the snarky professor looked up. "Did you want something, Mr. Longbottom, or are you simply unable to find the door?" he sneered impatiently and rolled his eyes when the boy seemed frozen with fear. After a couple of long seconds Neville found his voice. "I- I was wondering if... if you might possibly have a-a Dreamless Sleep potion t-to spare?" he stuttered and bit his lip to keep them from trembling.

The sneer deepened and he closed his eyes in despair. "I've asked Madam Pomfrey, and she hasn't got any. Sir." he finished quickly.

"I see." came the cold drawl, now from behind him, making him jump. "And I assume you haven't tried to make it yourself..?" he said maliciously. Neville licked his dry lips nervously. "No, sir, I haven't. But I would if I could get the ingredients. I asked Madam Pomfrey and she said I had to be at least eighteen years old to buy some of them in Hogsmeade."

"Well." Snape said at last. "You seem to have thought it through, at least. You understand that you can't take too much or too often, or else you will be addicted.?" Neville nodded earnestly. Snape walked across to his private stock and pulled out a small bottle. He held it out but as Neville's trembling hands reached for it he withdrew it suddenly.

"May I ask why you need it?" Snape asked, a small edge to his voice. Neville wouldn't look at him. "I have bad dreams." he confessed at last and reached for the bottle again. Snape gave it to him. "Very well. You are dismissed." he said and returned to his desk. Neville nodded and headed for the door as quickly as he could. In the door way he hesitated and turned.

"Sir? Thank you." he said simply and closed the door behind him before Snape could say anything.

Harry tried very hard not to think about the dream. The very thought of being attracted to Lucius in any was nauseating to say the least. He dragged his feet on his way to Defense Against Dark Arts this day, not really wanting to go even if it was a subject he excelled at. As he walked into the classroom with the others his eyes were searching for him against his will. And there he stood, white blonde hair carefully tied back in a neat pony tail, grey eyes cold and bored. He fingered his cane and let his eyes wander over the students in search for... there!

He was looking at him with those emerald orbs of his, looking fidgety and nervous. Good. You don't know what awaits you...

Half an hour into the lesson it happened. Harry had been proven wrong in some spell theory he had. "My parents did that!" he said defiantly. Lucius smirked and leaned in close. "Trust me." he whispered. "It didn't work." When the full implication of his comment sunk in Harry very nearly saw red. "You would know, wouldn't you? Bastard!" he snarled, loud enough for the whole class to hear.

Hermione gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth, as if she wished she could have done that with Harry. The class room erupted into frightened whispers and nervous giggles. Lucius straightened up and raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Detention, Mr. Potter." he said coldly, eyes holding so many promises.

Harry swallowed, sick to his stomach with fear. Oh, fuck...

As the door closed after the other students Harry remained, never taking his eyes off Lucius. It seemed safer, somehow, to see exactly what he was doing. At the moment he was arranging a stack of papers neatly, before looking up and meeting Harry's gaze. "So..." he drawled." At last we are alone." He walked up to Harry, who backed away as quickly as he could.

"Now, now..." he said in a deadly whisper. "Don't try to run from me. There's no escape this time, I'm afraid. "

"Get away from me, you sick bastard! I'll scream!" Harry yelled and dived in between the benches, wanting to have at least something more tangible than air between them. Lucius laughed softly. "Oh, I am quite aware of you friends eavesdropping outside the door. They won't hear a thing thanks to the silencing spell I put on the room before class." Harry's eyes widened at the statement and he desperately tried to think of a way to get himself out of this.

"Look..." he said, trying to sound like the Voice of Reason. "You're at Hogwarts. Whatever you're planning to do you won't get away with it. Voldemort never did, why should you?"

Lucius smiled thinly. "I will alert Dumbledore to the situation myself, believe me. It's so much easier when the Ministry's working for you." he said, all the time closing in on the bench in front of Harry with small, discreet steps. He didn't want to make him more jumpy than he already was. "What situation? What are you talking about?" Harry said loudly, losing what little self control he had left.

Suddenly he noticed that Lucius stood right in front of him and he stood rooted to the spot. A big part of him was paralysed with fear, but another, very small part of him was curious. What was he going to do? What did he want, anyway? Lucius smirked and leaned forward. When their lips met it was like an electric shock for both of them. Their lips tingled as they moved.

Harry stood dumbstruck as Lucius kissed him. I thought he would be cold... but he's warm, very warm... he thought dizzily as a strong hand grasped his chin to keep him still. A wet tongue pressed between his lips and claimed his mouth roughly. Their tongues battled for dominance for awhile before Lucius brought his teeth into the play and nibbled at his lower lip seductively. Harry moaned, beside himself with the heavy arousal that settled in his body. He barely felt the gloved hand working on the collar of his robes, undoing the clasps and pulling the fabric down his shoulders gently.

He felt himself harden as the hand travelled across his exposed chest and pinch his nipple viciously. The pain brought him back to his senses and his eyes snapped open. He recoiled at the naked hunger he saw in the grey eyes and stumbled back, drawing the robes together tightly again. He put a shaking hand to his mouth and looked disgusted. "Are you insane?" he said, voice shaking as violently as his hands.

Lucius licked his lips and Harry couldn't help himself from following the pink tip with his eyes as it went across his lower lip, leaving a moist trail... he jerked and stared at him with eyes full of fear. "You cursed me! That's what it is! I'll tell Dumbledore about this, you see if I won't!" he said with tears burning in his eyes. He dried them away with his sleeve quickly, not wanting Lucius to see him cry. Lucius made a clicking noise with his tongue, raising his hand to caress his cheek. "Don't cry, darling." he whispered and Harry felt strangely soothed by the touch. Then he jerked and dodged the hand as if it was a poisonous snake ready to bite.

"Don't touch me!" he snarled and tried to stare him down. Lucius fixed him with a cold glare and grabbed his hair and pulled him closer with one, swift movement. "I'll touch you wherever, whenever and however it pleases me." he hissed and emphasized his words by reaching down with his free hand between Harry's legs and cupping him. He felt him harden through his robes and laughed tauntingly. "Ah... So the Boy-Who-Lived likes it rough, does he?" he said and continued in a conspiratorial whisper. "I don't think that will be a problem."

Harry whimpered when he was released abruptly. He refused to look at Lucius and kept his eyes firmly on the ground. For some reason this bothered Lucius on a strange, emotional level. All of the sudden Harry walked over to the door and turned around to look at Lucius again. "I'll have you fired for this." he said, voice filled with suppressed anger. Then he opened the door and left.

Lucius let him leave with a soft smile playing across his lips. It was time to talk to Dumbledore.

Meanwhile, back at the Malfoy Mansion, Narcissa stood bent over her husband's desk. Is he reading about veelas..? Why, he wouldn't have a reason to do that, if he wasn't... if he hadn't... a cold feeling of dread and hate settled in her stomach. If his veela blood hadn't been searching for a mate! Perhaps he had already found her! That would mean that she would be replaced soon.

Her husband wasn't one for sentimental feelings. She knew that all too well. Her only hope would be to get to his mate first.

Right, let's see... he's at Hogwarts at the moment, teaching of all things. He said that it was for spying, but you never know... his mate must be there, probably a student.

She sneered angrily. She wasn't going to be replaced. No one did that to her!

Harry threw himself on his bed, sobbing wildly. This wasn't fair! Why did everything have to happen to him? And Lucius of all people! He would be happy if a girl or something liked him just a little, for his own sake and not for his fame. Instead what he got was a French kiss from a crazy Death Eater. God, it was disgusting!

A hand on his shoulder made him jump slightly. "Hey... are you alright, mate?" Seamus asked kindly. Harry nodded, not trusting himself enough to speak just yet. He tried to get up, but his foot got tangled in the blanket and he tripped and fell headlong over Seamus, who tried to catch him as best as he could.

"Oof! Easy!" he said and helped him up with a smile. "Are you sure you're okay? 'Cause I can see.. the, you know, tear stains, and if you want to talk, I'm here you know?" he stammered, and Harry smiled despite of himself. "Yeah, I know, thanks. It was a rough detention, is all." Seamus nodded.

"I can imagine. Do you think he's working for our side now, or has Dumbledore really problems with finding people for the job?"

Harry snorted. "I think it's the latter." he said bitterly. There was a careful knock on the door. "come in"" Harry yelled and Hermione entered. "Hi... Harry, Dumbledore wants to see you." she said and looked concerned at Harry's red eyes. "Okay, thanks." Harry mumbled and tried to hide his puffy eyes from her. He hated that his face showed crying so clearly.

Before he went up to Dumbledore's office he made a quick visit to the bathroom, where he spent fifteen minutes cooling his face down with water.

Dumbledore sat calm and serene as Lucius came in. "Good afternoon, Mr. Malfoy. Do sit down." he said kindly. Lucius nodded politely and seated himself. "What brings me the honour of this visit?" he wondered. "Headmaster, " Lucius began in a reasonable tone of voice. "It has come to my attention that the veela blood that runs in my family has been activated." Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly.

"Curious." he said. "That should happen at a rather early age if I'm not mistaken?"

Lucius shook his head no. "You're not mistaken. It came as a surprise to me as well. However, some research told me that it is not uncommon that it does so when the age differs much between the mates." Dumbledore brought his hands together in a thoughtful gesture. "I see." he said at last. "Your mate is a student, then?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact I believe you know him very well." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? Do tell." he insisted. "It is Harry Potter." There was a moment of complete silence while he let this sink in. "You understand of course that it is my legal right to woo my mate."

"Certainly. Young Harry might be opposed to the idea, though. What will you do then?" Dumbledore asked, a concerned frown creasing his brow. Lucius smiled sadly. "If he refuses me I will die, but I am very confident in my skills." he said, the last part with a devilish smirk.

"Ah. Well, I think it's best to inform Harry of this new turn of events. I will send after him at once." he said, doubt still evident in the old Headmaster's voice. Lucius merely nodded and leaned back against the armchair, a satisfied smile playing over his lips.

Chapter four

Don't speak

I know just what you're saying

So please stop explaining

Don't tell me 'cause it hurts

Don't speak

I know what you're thinking

And I don't need your reasons

Don't tell me 'cause it hurts

- No Doubt

Harry made his way up the narrow stairs. It had been hell to get pass the gargoyle, but he had finally figured out the right password. Damn the old man for switching to muggle sweets. He had a bad feeling about this visit. With a hand that shook a lot more than he felt was dignified, he knocked on the door.

At the soft "Enter." he opened the door and did just that. He couldn't help but jerk in surprise at the sight of Lucius Malfoy sitting calmly in front of Dumbledore. With a sinking feeling of desperation, he felt himself blush beet red as he tried to avoid the silver stare with all his might.

It's okay... he can't have told Dumbledore what we did. He'd lose his job. He must have complained about my behaviour, and demanded my expulsion. Yes, that's it. It has to be.

Lucius was watching Harry with rapt fascination. He hadn't seen the boy for over an hour, and the urge to claim him was getting harder and harder to ignore. He was entranced by the way the light was reflected off the dark, unruly curls... his smell... but wait! He had another smell wrapped around him like a blanket. Did he know that he was covered with another man's smell? What had he been doing before now? He clenched his teeth together to stop the sudden wave of possessive jealousy. The Headmaster's voice interrupted his musings. "Come in, Harry. Please sit down." Dumbledore said kindly.

Harry walked over to the chair next to Lucius and sat down. The dreadful knot in his stomach ached. "What's this all about, sir..?" he couldn't help but ask. Dumbledore smiled a bit sadly. "Mr. Malfoy has something to tell you, Harry. Listen carefully." Harry swallowed. He didn't like the sound of this one bit. trying to keep himself from trembling out of sheer nervosity he turned to Lucius, a clear question in his eyes.

Lucius cleared his throat, twirling the head of the cane between his fingers absentmindedly. "Ah, yes. You see, Harry, a long time ago a member of the Malfoy family married a veela. The veela blood affects some of us still, and when it is activated in some of us the blood chooses a mate, a perfect match. That is what legend says." he finished and looked at him intently.

Harry was still in a state of mind where he didn't want to accept what he heard. "What's that got to do with me..?" he asked, completely blocking out all hints. Lucius sighed impatiently. "My veela blood has been activated. It has chosen you, Harry. You're my mate!" he hissed, almost accusingly.

Harry jumped up, as if ready to flee out the door. "That's insane! Sir, you can't believe him, he's lying! He'll hand me over to Voldemort!" Lucius clenched his teeth. How could he convince him otherwise? "I assure you..." he began, but Harry jumped at the sound of his voice and looked at him as if he was a monster. "Shut up! You're lying!" he yelled angrily, all good intentions about his sixth year at Hogwarts flying out the window.

"Calm down, Harry. He is telling you the truth." Dumbledore said calmly and made a gesture towards the chair that Harry completely ignored. "Oh, that's supposed to calm me down, is it?" he said hysterically. "Break it up, then." he said at last, voice still shaking. "Break the bond. It can't be fun for a Death Eater either, being bonded to The-Boy-Who-Lived...what would Voldemort say?"

"The bond can't be broken." Lucius stated, clenching and unclenching his hands in anger of hearing the Dark Lord's name used so... casually. Harry shrugged and looked at him coldly. "Then live with it without me. I'm no one's mate." he said with unusual sharpness. "You don't understand." Lucius hissed, a certain threat in his voice now. "Either you will accept the bond... or you will die. You've already felt it. Two weeks from now the bond will have burned you alive."

Harry stared at him. "You can't be serious..." he whispered. He slumped down in his chair again, looking broken. Lucius reached out a gloved hand and caressed his arm soothingly. "Give in now... and I will be as gentle as possible..." he purred and Harry panicked again. "What? It means I have to sleep with him?" he squeaked, the thought never having entered his mind until now. "But... I'm not gay!"

"And neither am I." Lucius said impatiently. "But the blood never cares for gender and sexual preferences." Harry looked sick with fear. "You're telling me that I'll die if I don't sleep with you..?" he whispered brokenly. "I'm afraid so." Lucius said kindly and caressed his arm once again. Good... give in... let me have you...

"Well now, Lucius, surely you know that the situation is far from that dire." Dumbledore said cheerfully. Lucius flinched and stared at him. No! He's going to ruin everything...

"You won't die, Harry. It affects you, but not nearly as much as it will affect Mr. Malfoy. He will die if you don't bond with him, you will be sick but recover soon enough. "At this new piece of information Harry stared at Lucius. "You lied to me." he said. "But I'm not vengeful. You probably think I'm too much of a gryffindor to let you die. Maybe you're right. Maybe. Meanwhile, I'll explore the fine art of blackmailing. I'm sure you remember our meeting in the secret passages of the Ministry of Magic. You blackmailed me then, but it didn't work, did it?"

He fell silent, staring in front of him for a long while. Lucius inwardly cursed Dumbledore, Harry, the world... what is he going to ask? Information? Money? You little brat. When you're mine, I'll make you pay...

Suddenly Harry lit up and turned to him again. "I'm used to selling myself for the forces of good. All I ever am is a sacrifice. Alright, then. I'm your mate if..." he fell silent again and Lucius wanted to strangle him. Dumbledore looked sad and old as he watched this new development.

"...if you change sides." he said, and Lucius flew up of his chair. "Insolent brat!" he roared. "How dare you? Out of the question!" Harry shrugged calmly and got up himself. "Die, then." he said with a cold finality in his voice and went to the door. "Wait!" Lucius commanded, desire and possessiveness burning in his chest. Harry turned in the door way and gave him a cold look. "Look. I don't want to be your mate. It would be hell. Frankly, I hope you refuse my offer, crawl off and die and deprive Voldemort of one of his most devoted followers. Either way, Voldemort's losing. Your choice. Cheers." he said and walked out the door, leaving a smiling Dumbledore and a desperate Death Eater.

Harry sat by a window in a place of Hogwarts rarely plagued by students. The library. He bit his fingernail nervously, thinking over his offer to Lucius, The truth was that he had absolutely no thought of bonding with him, no matter what he did. He couldn't! So he'd better tell him that the deal was off. No way he was going to bond with Lucius willingly! There was a limit to what he was prepared to sacrifice for the cause.

He wasn't going to become a whore! Dumbledore had no right to pimp him out like that! As usual he blocked out that it was him that made the offer, not Dumbledore. He didn't want to think about it, because that would mean that he had to face another fact. Namely that he was attracted to Lucius Malfoy. He shuddered at the thought. It was sickening.

"What's the matter, Potter? Not finding any books you can read?" a familiar voice drawled behind him. Harry mentally sighed and didn't even turn around. "Go away, Malfoy. I'm not in the mood." he said, hoping against all reason that Draco would really walk away for once. The steps that closed in behind him told him otherwise and he prepared himself for the sharp comments that he knew was coming. Oh no...

"Something is obviously bothering you. You didn't really expect me to abandon a fellow student to misery, did you?" Draco's voice mocked him and Harry turned at last. "I expect you to sell my inner organs on the black market if you get the chance." he stated and was surprised to see a flicker of hurt in those grey depths. His eyes... they were so like his father's...

Okay, do you see where this is going? You're turning into a real pervert here! Harry blushed at his own thoughts and looked away for a moment. Draco took this a sign of shyness and cheered inwardly. Aha! He's not so indifferent to me as he'd like! "Hey, Potter..." he drawled and Harry looked up at him, relieved that the awkward moment seemed to be over. "Can you guess what inner organ I'm going to steal from you..?"

Harry did NOT like the way this was heading! Please, God, let it be my kidneys..! he thought hysterically as Draco moved closer. "I-I don't know..." he stammered as he tried to keep himself from pushing right through the glass window. Draco smirked, moving closer still. When their faces were inches apart Harry closed his eyes. This was not happening. Any minute now he was going to wake up in his bed with spots on his sheet and... suddenly his thoughts scattered like startled mice when a pair of warm lips pressed against his own. A probing tongue shot past his lips to taste him. His eyes shot wide open, and he found himself staring into a pair of steel grey eyes.

A choked scream and a violent shove later Draco was sitting alone on the floor, watching Harry run out of the library as if half of hell were after him. He smirked and licked his lips.

Tease..! Oh, well, no matter. I'll still have him.

Harry ran away , rubbing his mouth with his sleeve. Had every Malfoy suddenly gone insane? Well, they've always been crazy, but really..! He was supposed to be their enemy, and just the thought of kissing him should make their stomachs turn.

He kissed just like Lucius..! He covered his face with his hands and moaned. What was he going to do? He stumbled into the dormitory and threw himself on his bed. Exhausted, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

A loud tapping awoke him. Slowly he opened his eyes, intent on finding the tapping sound and stop it at once. He was trying to sleep... suddenly he flew of the bed and looked around wildly. It was dark outside! That would mean that he had missed dinner, and it was in the middle of the last lesson. He moaned and cursed himself. This was so typical of him! This was exactly the kind of behaviour that he had meant to avoid!

When he shook his head in resignation he saw what made the tapping noise. A very impatient owl tried to beat in the window with it's huge wings. He opened the window and the owl flew inside with an angry hoot. He got nipped when he tied the letter of it's foot and he gave it a dirty look as it flew up to Hedwig, who glared at it. She was clearly not impressed with the big owl.

Muttering, Harry unfolded the letter, hoping that it was a bit of good news at last.

"Dear Harry,

I accept your offer. I look forward to seeing you tonight.

- L"

He dropped the letter and covered his mouth with a hand to keep himself from screaming. This was it. There was no way out for either of them.

Lucius was still seething in his rooms. He, one of Voldemort's most trusted servants, next to Snape, had changed sides! The thought was unbearable, but he knew he had no choice. He had been up to Dumbledore and talked to him about it. The insufferable old man had convinced him to stay at Hogwarts as a safety percussion. But it was going to be worth it. Now Harry was his, he only had to wait until tonight before he sent for him.

His body tingled with excitement. In fact, he was just about to loosen his robes and take care of that particular problem when a knock on the door halted his movements. Sneering at the unwelcome interruption he opened the door.

"Good evening, Lucius." said Narcissa and walked right past him into his private rooms. Lucius closed his eyes for a brief second. Right. He would have to get rid of her. "What are you doing here, darling?" he asked instead in the most pacifying tone he could muster during the circumstances. She smiled and looked at him. "Is it so wrong for a wife to visit her husband..?" she purred and touched his arm in a way that always meant that she felt like receiving him tonight.

The only problem was that he didn't feel even a twinge of arousal now that his mind was... otherwise occupied. Whenever he looked into her icy blue eyes he was seeing a pair of wide green ones. He took his arm away, and her eyes grew even colder. She obviously knew about his search for a mate, but did she know about Harry..? "I see." she said, voice like icicles. "Am I to be replaced now? Who is she? I have the right to know who the little slut is who thinks she can snare my husband!" she said in a deadly whisper.

Lucius thought fast. Who did he want killed of those who surrounded his Harry with their attention. Granger? No, too close a friend. Weasly? No, her crush has long since faded. Cho..? She had been throwing looks at his boy lately. It's possible that she wants him back.

"Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker." he said and watched her take in this new information. "It's a pity she isn't a slytherin, but ravenclaws are good enough." Narcissa only sneered at him. "So am I?" she said in a deadly whisper. "Am I going to be replaced..?" Beneath the threat in her voice laid a deep fear. He sensed that and grasped her face with one hand. She kept her emotions under tight control but he saw the flicker of doubt in her eyes nonetheless.

"Look at me." he said calmly. "How could I ever replace you? I chose you long before this... disease crept into me like a poison. You are my wife, nobody else. Whatever happens you will remain so, always." He kissed her, as if stating his purpose. When he looked at her next she was obviously satisfied with his answer. "Very well." she said softly. "I see I have nothing to worry about. I will leave Hogwarts tonight, Lucius."

Another kiss and she was gone. He fingered his cane thoughtfully. Now how can I rid myself of my troublesome wife... this has bought me only a little time to put things right. No matter. After tonight, I will see to it that Harry is protected from her.

Narcissa descended the stairs to the dungeon with a expression of cool distaste. Inwards, though, she raged against her husband's deception. She was already gone from his mind, she knew that for sure. Her only chance was to kill Cho Chang before they slept together and consummated the bond. That way Lucius would die, and she could remarry someone a lot easier to manipulate.

That is, if he had spoken the truth about his mate... knowing Lucius as she did, he hadn't, but she wasn't going to be taking any chances. Chang would have to die, but who else would?

Chapter five

Be still

Be calm

Be quiet now

My precious little boy

Don't struggle like that

Or I will only love you more

- The Cure

Harry fought to swallow the lump in his throat. He was afraid to speak, in case he would start crying, and he just wouldn't bear that humiliation. Making his way down to Lucius' quarters he couldn't help but feeling as a virgin sacrifice. Well, he was! And he didn't believe for a second that Lucius had been sincere about changing sides! It was just too crazy. He's practically got "Death Eater" written across his face.

He chewed his lip nervously. What would he expect him to do? He knew bugger all about sex as it was, but between men? What did they do, besides kissing? Would it hurt?

Yes, Harry, it will. Because it's SEX with LUCIUS MALFOY. Of course it will bloody hurt!

Sneering at his own stupid questions he stopped outside the door to the dreaded room, and fell right back into insecurity. With a sniffle of despair and desperation he noticed that he couldn't muster the strength to move his hand up and knock. He stood outside for roughly ten minutes, revelling in the feeling of not being abused before the door opened and he started.

"By all means, come in, Harry." Lucius drawled sarcastically. "Had I known you were too shy to knock I would have come for you instead." He moved aside and let the blushing gryffindor inside. He closed the door and locked it firmly. "Why are you locking?" Harry asked suspiciously. "I don't fancy the idea of lumbering idiots taking the wrong door or a rescue team of gryffindors." Lucius said calmly. "I haven't told anyone." Harry said quietly, not looking at the other man as he removed his robes.

A quiet moment passed as Lucius watched his mate undress. His body was... enticing, to say the least. Creamy skin, with a few scars that he would have to investigate further later. His body was skinny, but slightly built from quidditch. No matter. Under Lucius care he would eat more... he watched in rapt fascination as more and more naked skin was revealed to him.

Harry, feeling his heated gaze, stopped undressing and glanced nervously at him. "Would you stop looking at me like that?" he said, keeping the tremble in his voice to a bare minimum. Lucius advanced on him, twirling his cane between his fingers slowly. "How am I looking at you, Harry..?" he purred, catching the wide eyed gaze with his own. Harry stared at him, like a small bird into the eyes of a serpent. He swallowed.

"Like... like... you want to..." He whispered, his breathing getting heavier by the second. His whole body tingled at Lucius' presence and he felt himself growing hard. Guiltily, he held his robes in front of him, hoping that Lucius wouldn't notice his predicament. He didn't have the word for what his body felt that Lucius wanted to do, and so he faltered, cheeks red with embarrassment. Once again he felt the cold metal of the head of the cane against his chin and he let his head be tilted upwards. Only a hint of a smile went across the thin, cruel lips above him. "Don't worry, darling. I won't bite..." he said and pressed his lip to his. The wet tongue that probed his mouth was rough and demanding, teasing his to join the play.

Absentminded, he felt his robes being tugged away from him, but the heat of the kiss burned all rational thought away. As long as that mouth kept licking and biting his own the hands could go anywhere they wanted too... His arms reached up and curled around his neck by their own will and his fingers played with the silky hair. He tugged at the string keeping it together and was rewarded with a white blonde mane that managed to frame both their faces as he felt himself bending over backwards across the bed.

Agh! Look at yourself! You're spreading for a Death Eater! He's dangerous!

His brain kicked in again and he shoved violently at Lucius' chest, causing the older man to back away for a moment. "S- stop..! I can't do this..." he stammered and tried to cover himself up. Lucius stared at him intently. "A little late for that, isn't it, Mr,. Potter?" he hissed and began to remove his own clothing. Harry blanched. "What are you doing..? Stop it! Put your clothes back on, nothing's going to happen. The deal's off!" he said shrilly and jumped off the bed, only to be pushed down again a second later by a naked Lucius.

Lucius laughed coldly. "A deal is a deal. I've already changed sides, now it's your turn to fulfil your end of the bargain." he said, a clear warning in his voice. The warning was, sadly, not heard by the terrified gryffindor. Harry tried to dive to the side but was swiftly tackled by Lucius. The grown man had no trouble holding him down as he trashed.

During the struggle both of them became aware of their naked skin, now pressed against each other. Both of them stilled, and Harry whimpered softly as he felt himself growing hard again. apparently his body had decided that it wanted Lucius against Harry's will. Lucius breathed heavily as he tried to restrain himself from spreading his legs and taking him right then and there. Instead he leaned in close and fixed him with his silver eyes.

"You want this, darling... there's no point in denying it now." he purred and dragged a wet tongue across Harry's neck and cheek. Harry moaned. He should be disgusted by the act, but he found it incredibly sexy. God, I'm such a pervert..! Lips trembling, he arched up into the wiry body above him. Noticing the submission, revelling in it, Lucius bit down hard and pulled Harry's hands above his head. "Don't move." he ordered and Harry obeyed, scared and excited.

Lucius took his time, exploring every inch of his mate, licking here, biting there. He deliberately avoided the straining erection when he raked his nails across his inner thighs, causing the boy to moan. "Please... please..." he pleaded, not really knowing what he wanted. Lucius stopped. "Yes?" he asked, eyes gleaming with sadistic pleasure. "What do you want, Harry?"

Harry bit his lip in desperation. He didn't know, damn it! "How am I supposed to know? Just touch me!" he grounded out and gasped when Lucius pinched his nipple viciously. "Tsk. I see I have to teach you some manners." he said scornfully. "Haven't Finnegan had the pleasure of showing you this before..?" Harry gaped, shock evident on his face. "Seamus..? No..! I mean he... I mean I've never..." he yelped as he felt the older man's nails dig into his wrists. "Liar." he hissed and kissed him hard and punishing. Harry moaned again, scared because he really, really liked it. All of the sudden Lucius stopped kissing him. "Well?" he said, voice rough with want. "Can you beg properly yet?"

Now wait just a minute! "I'll never beg!" he said defiantly and threw him a challenging stare. Lucius smiled cruelly. "I was hoping you'd say that." he mumbled and went to work again. This time he took his sweet time before he allowed himself to feast his eyes on his mate's erection. The rosy tip was slick with his juices and he longed to have a taste. Not this time though. Not before there was no question in his mate's mind who was the dominant part in this relationship.

He caressed him slowly, enjoying every broken whimper from the boy beneath him. He spread his legs wide, leaving Harry feeling very exposed and vulnerable. "Now stay still. Do as I say, and there might be a very... nice... surprise for the good boy later." he whispered against his ear and felt the answering shiver.

Harry bit his lip. He was so close..! The feeling of those hands playing with the most secret part with him was maddening. and he was much closer to the sweet release than he wanted. He didn't want Lucius to think that he was clumsy and inexperienced, even though it should be blatantly obvious by now that he was. His breathing hitched when he felt a probing finger against his behind. Okay, now THAT'S my most secret place..!

"W-wait..!" he whispered again, not sure if he really wanted to, but all of the sudden he had a sneaking suspicion about what sex between men could entail. And that was something he hadn't even considered! He swallowed and stared into the eyes above him. Lucius was watching him intently, letting his finger circle his opening teasingly. His grin was smaller, tighter and definitly scarier than ever before. Harry felt a surge of ice cold adrenaline hit his veins and his whole body screamed at him to run, run now, far away from the man above him, a man with very little barriers inside his mind. He felt as if he had caught a glimpse of the Death eater, and that wasn't a very trust building exercise.

The message from his brain was, sadly, not received. All his body did was rub itself on the other, completely betraying his wishes. The tight grin uncurled a little. "How long do you want me to wait, then..?" Lucius asked and moved his finger lazily, as if he had all the time in the world. Harry's mind tried to process the question and he felt like he wanted to wait a month, a year, a decade before he EVER wanted to consider having a finger up his arse. Suddenly he gasped and jerked because the teasing finger had slipped inside for just a second and he actually spread his legs wider, as wide as he could, lifted his hips just a little.

He didn't want this, so why was his body reacting in this way, he didn't want this, he really didn't...

Except that he did.

The realisation hit him like a slap in the face and he almost cried. He would if it wasn't for that body, anchoring him to the bed. The finger pushed inside again and this time it didn't leave. He whimpered and closed his eyes. He didn't want to look at Lucius, didn't want to face who was doing this to him... a sharp, punishing jab with that magical finger and his eyes flew open. The momentary clench of muscles made Lucius snarl. Merlin, he wanted him so bad...

"That's it." he snarled. "Keep them open. I want you to see exactly who is making you feel this way." He bit the trembling lips before inserting another finger, stretching him wide... Harry wriggled and bit his lip. It hurt terribly, but it hurt so good. It bothered him how much he liked it. He felt so helpless, trapped and every instinct left in his mind told him that it was wrong. To lie this way in front of Lucius Malfoy.

It would totally serve me right if he killed me now...

Through the red haze he got a mental picture of Lucius between his legs, fucking him mercilessly with hard, vicious thrusts. He drew in a sharp breath at the surge of need. No way that's going to happen! His heart beat madly against his chest at the thought. Then what was the fingers in his arse about?

Lucius worked his fingers roughly. Just as he had suspected, Harry wanted it that way. He watched the young man's inner struggle and smirked. It was truly delightful to watch him like that, face flushed and lips wet and parted... eyes glazed with fear and need... legs spread wantonly, practically begging him to take him. He wanted to. Merlin, he wanted to! It was proving very difficult to restrain himself. A broken whisper made him tilt his head to the side and lean in closer...

"... Let me move my arms..."

Lucius smirked evilly. "Is this begging, darling?" he drawled. "I really can't tell..." Harry moaned in frustration, but his eyes were as defiant as ever. "I'm not going to grant you release until you beg." he whispered in his ear and Harry almost cried. At this point, he would! He was a heartbeat away from promising the man anything as long as he didn't remove the fingers, or stopped touching him...

To hell with it.

He moved his arms suddenly, wrapping them around the older wizard and doing the same with his legs. Acting on pure instinct, he tilted his hips up and placed his legs on Lucius' shoulders instead. For a second, Lucius was beyond surprised, then a slow smile crept over his face. Harry saw a predatory glint in his eyes.

Uh oh.

"Didn't I tell you not to move?" he asked softly and Harry gulped. "Well, a bad boy gets a very... nasty... surprise." With quick movements he unhooked his legs and flipped him over to his stomach. A strong hand on the small of his back prevented him from moving. "Now." came the silky whisper from behind him. "If you can keep yourself from moving this time, there might just be a nice surprise for you still."

Harry shivered slightly at the tone of voice, then yelped as he felt, and heard, the harsh slap of Lucius' palm against his buttocks. He concentrated hard on staying still, but every hit hurt so bad and soon he felt the trickle of tears on his cheeks. When Lucius heard him sobbing he gave a couple of more firm slaps before bending forward and parting the red cheeks with careful fingers.

Harry did a sharp intake of breath as he felt a warm, wet tongue against his aching opening.

The probing tongue pushed inside and he mewled and felt fresh tears spill across his cheeks. Breathing heavily, he tried to keep himself from moving. But what he did..! His tongue..! It was much too intimate to resist. He couldn't.

"Please..!" He rasped and whimpered in disappointment as he felt the tongue withdraw. "Yes..?" came the polite question from behind him. But Harry was too far gone to be worried about pride, much too far...

"Please, I'm begging you... I need..." he sobbed helplessly, and Lucius chuckled. "You need to tell me what you want, darling... otherwise I might get the wrong idea." At the end of the sentence he shoved three fingers inside of him and Harry choked back a scream of pain and delight. "I don't know..!" he gasped. "Whatever you want... just... touch me! Please!"

The desperate plea was like music to Lucius' ears. At last! "Good boy." he purred and caressed his red buttocks tenderly before pushing his fingers inside again. "On your knees now." Harry obeyed and felt extremely exposed, with his head against the pillow and his arse in the air, legs spread. He felt Lucius get off the bed and he fought back the urge to call him back.

Before he knew it he was back and he applied some cold lotion to his opening, causing him to start. He understood the purpose of it suddenly, when the fingers glided in almost effortlessly, and he blushed.

Lucius coated himself with the lubrication potion quickly, wanting to be inside of his mate more than anything now. Biting his lip until a thin trail of blood trickled down his chin, he positioned himself at the virgin opening and pushed. He took a firm hold of the hips in front of him to keep him from moving away.

Harry's eyes widened and he cried out from the pain. It was too much, much too big to fit in any part of him! Surely Lucius would realise that? But he didn't and suddenly, with a violent shove, the whole thing was inside of him and he screamed out loud, instinctly trying to get away, although the hands prevented that. He sobbed. Why didn't he stop..? A few moments later he gasped and pushed back wantonly. Yes, yes, yes, right there, do that again, never stop...

It was utter heaven, absolute hell, and he wanted it to last forever. It didn't, though. Both of them was much too heated to hold back anything. Lucius' hands held him like claws and he pounded him with deep, vicious thrusts. Harry could do nothing but keen and whimper, and he reached down between his legs to touch himself. "Don't you dare..!" came the furious snarl and Harry snatched back his hand guiltily. "You don't need that. When I say so, you will come, isn't that right?" he said softly, deadly and Harry whimpered an affirmation. Lucius licked his lips.

"Come for me, Harry. Now." he ordered and Harry stuttered his lust into the night, hiding his face in the pillow. Lucius, feeling the muscles spasming around him, followed shortly after. He gently withdrew his spent sex from Harry's sore opening, hearing the boy's whimper. He caressed his prey possessively, noting with satisfaction that Harry hadn't recovered yet. He turned his mate around and drew him onto his embrace, drawing the covers up around them.

Harry watched him in post-orgasmic haze and rested his head wearily against his shoulder. Lucius smirked and spooned up behind him, wrapping his arms around his mate's skinny body, placing tender kisses on his neck once he was sure the boy was asleep. Such signs of affection were inappropriate and best taken care of when the partner was sleeping.

Revelling in the completion of their bond, Lucius fell asleep himself only seconds later.

Chapter six

There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface

Consuming/Confusing

This lack of self control I fear is never ending

Controlling/I can't seem

To find myself again

This walls are closing in

[Without a sense of confidence I'm convinced

that there's just too much pressure to take]

I've felt this way before

So insecure

- Linkin Park

Harry yawned mightily and stretched out across the bed. He opened a bleary eye and awoke with a start. Where was he? This wasn't the gryffindor dormitory! With a sinking feeling in his stomach he felt the weight on the other side of the bed, not to mention the warm body behind him and the heavy arm draped across his waist. All memories of the previous night suddenly flooded his mind and he went beet red. He had slept with Lucius Malfoy.

He. Had. Slept. With. Lucius. Malfoy.

Well. Actually, he had let Lucius fuck him. He knew that, because he was still sore! The implication of what they had done sunk in quickly and he almost began to hyperventilate. This was going to be the good year, damn it! He had behaved well, he really had, so why was this happening to him? Why couldn't it have happened to, oh say, Ron? He was always complaining about Harry getting all the attention, anyway. Well, I'd like to see how he had handled this kind of attention! he thought crossly. This must be all the bad karma from my other years catching up.

He concentrated on being very quiet as he gently began to ease out of the embrace. He had to get back to his own bed before the others awoke and he would have to come up with explanation! The arm around him tightened when he tried to pull away and he sighed. He wriggled pointedly and blushed as certain parts of them came in contact once again. "Hem hem." he said, in an almost perfect imitation of Umbridge. "Uh... I've got to get back to the others. They'll be wondering. " he whispered, hoping that Lucius would be too tired to hear him.

The grey eyes opened slowly, showing no signs of sleepiness whatsoever. The bastard! He's been awake the whole time! "We're bonded now, Harry. You can't run away from it." Lucius said smugly and leaned in for a kiss. Harry dodged it and tore himself free. "Who's running?" he panted, standing up and looking around wildly for his clothes. Lucius watched him, amused. Harry was so pretty that he could get away with it... this time. "Come back to bed." he purred seductively and reached for him. Harry jerked away and stared at him. "No!" he said. "I'm late already. Besides, why should I?"

A raised eyebrow at the question. "You liked it last night." Harry snorted. "Hah! It wasn't even nice! I won't be able to sit properly for days!" Lucius only smiled lazily. "I should hope so. I did my best, after all." Harry went red again and pulled his robes on with jerky movements, making sure to hide all visible bite marks. Meanwhile Lucius left the bed and pulled his own clothes on. His mate was obviously not up for a rematch just yet. He couldn't blame him really, after all, he had to be very sore. A couple of days with... alternative... games would do him good.

"I have to go up for breakfast." Harry said uncertainly. "This... bond thing. How will it work? I mean, what should we do about it?"

Lucius fastened his collar carefully and didn't answer directly. Harry bit his lip to keep himself from saying something impatiently. "You will be staying with me over the holidays, of course. And needless to say, we're sharing bed. Think of it like a marriage." He said finally, causing Harry to shiver. "You're already married! Remember Narcissa? Remember Draco?" He said angrily, doing his best to keep him mind from thinking of Draco. Gah. Lucius' eyes narrowed and he stared down his nose at the angry gryffindor.

"Don't you ever take that tone with me." he said, the warning and threat crystal clear. Harry just snorted. "Oh, please! Do you think I'm afraid of you? When the big, bad Voldemort himself spends his free time trying to have you killed, his ex- minion suddenly doesn't seem so scary anymore." He said, hands on his hips. He couldn't hold back the shiver, though, at the dangerous glint in the ex-Death Eater's eyes. But all of the sudden, it disappeared and he smirked.

Delightful. If he keeps his spirit he will make an excellent mate. Still... minion..? Insolent brat.

Harry barely kept himself from backing away as Lucius moved closer almost soundlessly. A second later his lips were captured once again, and the tiny scar he had caused after the trial was sliced open again. He yelped and tried to step away, but he was held in a strong embrace. The older man licked way the blood tenderly and began to nibble on his lip a bit more gently. When Harry began to respond to his treatment he brought his tongue into play and explored his mouth thoroughly. A battle for dominance ended with Lucius on top, so to speak, and Harry submitted happily with his arms around the man's neck.

Suddenly they heard the voices of a couple of students, passing the door. Harry broke the kiss almost violently. "What do you think you're doing? I have to go!" he gasped and all but ran out the door. He covered his mouth with the sleeve of his robe to hide the blood which was now smeared across his mouth.

Lucius, on the other hand, looked quite content with the blood on his lips. In fact, he looked like a very happy vampire. Ah yes... Narcissa and Draco. Draco is my son, he will be with me always, but Narcissa... she will have to go.

Ron, Hermione and Neville helped him take his mind of things. They pulled him out of his bed in the early hours of Saturday to see the Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff Quidditch game. He found it funny to actually watch the game without having to play. He clapped his hands enthusiastically as Cho flew past at break neck speed after the Snitch.

It was a cold December day, the sun was shining... it was easily the best day in Harry's life, in a very long time, anyway. He was with his friends, and they were all having a great time. He tried not to think too much about the night two days ago, or that he still had to talk to Lucius again. This day was just too nice for that kind of thoughts. Suddenly, while Harry was looking at the game and silently enjoying himself, something happened that shattered it all.

A Bludger caught Cho in the side of her head at full speed and she fell of her broomstick. Nobody was near enough to stop the thirty feet fall and she hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Harry was shocked. As long as he lived, he knew he would never stop hearing that sound in his head. The silence was deafening, then Dumbledore and the other teachers came running from their seats down to the field.

Harry couldn't stop staring at Cho. Her neck was twisted and the side of her head curved in. A small puddle of blood grew steadily bigger from beneath her head and somewhere else that he couldn't see... Her eyes... they seemed to be staring directly at him, empty and lifeless. A sudden flashback took him back to a certain graveyard two years ago, where a cold voice said 'Avada Kedavra', and the next thing he knew he had been staring into Cedric's glassy eyes. Cedric... Cho had liked him... their eyes, they were exactly the same...

A small hand squeezed his gently and he thought it was Hermione's, but when he looked at her she was covering her mouth with both her hands. A glance up the arm told him that it was Neville, who gave him a sad but comforting look. He managed a small, shaky smile while he was fighting back tears. The Professors below tried to make their best to act as if she could be saved, but they knew she was dead. He thought she was dead when she hit the ground.

Dumbledore looked very sad as he straightened up and called the game off.

From her seat Narcissa silently released her spell on the Bludger.

Despite the tragedy, the Yule ball was still on. It was announced the day after during dinner, and there was a lot of mixed feelings about it. The sixth year Ravenclaws didn't want to attend at all at first, then one after the other decided they would anyway. Harry had decided to go, but was unsure what Lucius would think of it. As he had managed to get an detention in his class yet again, he felt as if he could ask him then. When he stayed behind after the last student had closed the door he turned to him.

"About the Yule ball..." he said hesitantly. Lucius looked at him and gestured to the books. "At this detention you will do a quick summery on the different ways to defend yourself against vampires, should you ever meet one. You will also have to write a short paragraph on how you would recognise one." Harry sighed inwardly and sat himself down and pulled out his ink and a parchment again.

"Would you dislike it if I got a date for the Yule Ball?" he asked casually and glanced at the man. Lucius tensed visibly. "Why? Do you have anyone in mind?" He asked coldly and shot him a piercing stare. Harry looked very innocent. "No." he said and shrugged. "I just thought, if someone asked me... would you mind if I said yes..?" The silver eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Not at all. Just remember who you belong to." came the frosty answer, and Harry felt a cold trickle down his spine. The possessive voice made him feel good in some way, but he was still freaking out over the whole Jesus-Christ-I'm-sleeping-with-Lucius-Malfoy-thing.

So it was okay for him to get a date for the Yule Ball, then. Perfect. Now he wouldn't have to worry about any jealousy scenes. He still hadn't told him that he planned to spend his Christmas at Hogwarts. There was not a chance in Hell that he would spend Christmas Eve sitting between two horny Malfoys and the White Queen of Narnia. Imagine the drama.

Lucius did a fair bit of thinking himself. The bait for Narcissa had worked like a charm. Cho was dead, now he had only Narcissa to worry about. Except... Now his mate had apparently decided that he wasn't enough. A date for the Yule Ball indeed! He would see to it that there would be no improper things happening between Harry and whoever managed to ask him out...

Before the Yule Ball there was a trip to Hogsmeade planned. That wasn't cancelled either, and so they went. The professors assigned to the trip this year was Professor Snape and Professor Malfoy. To say that Snape was displeased with the arrangement was an understatement. Every single year he was assigned to the task of keeping a watchful eye on The Boy Who Lived to see that he indeed stayed alive. By now he was sick and tired of spending his time in the bloody candy shop.

Sure enough, as soon as they arrived to Hogsmeade, Harry, Ron and Hermione dived in to buy candy. Harry felt that he deserved a treat. This term he had done nothing. He had even behaved on Snape's classes, a fact that didn't seem to lower his detention rate, but still. And what did he get? Lucius Malfoy. Fate had a bad sense of humour, and karma obviously didn't exist. So he bought a lot of Chocolate Frogs and he even let Ron talk him into some strange candy as strawberry flavoured 'Screaming Banshee' and 'Manticore Surprise'. Hermione was more sceptical though. She settled for a couple of chocolate bars that looked perfectly normal. Later she would learn that they were charmed to fly.

Lucius had volunteered to the task of watching the troublesome trio, giving Snape the time he needed to purchase some rare Potion ingredients. He went directly to the most well equipped store in Hogsmeade and walked around a bit before he collected what he came for. After all, this was his element. He liked it here, with all the different ingredients that made the place smell... good. He allowed himself to enjoy it for awhile, then began to fill a basket with the things he came for. Absentmindedly he noticed what the young man next to him was taking a lot of the same things... things that together meant the Dreamless Sleep potion. He rolled his eyes. Addicted. Fool.

He paid and left the store, thinking no more of it. When he had walked a bit, deciding to go and see if the brats were behaving, he saw the young man again. He stood in front of someone a lot shorter, giving him the bag of ingredients... A horrible suspicious feeling began to gnaw at him. Don't let it be him. Surely he can't be that stupid..? Sure enough, when the man stepped aside, holding out his hand and receiving his money, the boy was none other than Neville Longbottom. He looked as kind and mild as always, thanking the man politely before he did his best to hide the bag.

Snape stared darkly after the young man, promising himself that he would deal with him later. For now, he was more angry at his student, who he had specifically warned for this sort of thing. He followed him silently for a while and when they happened to pass a dark ally, he grabbed his collar and dragged him in there. Neville yelped and tried clumsily to get his wand out. "Stop that nonsense immediately!" Snape hissed impatiently and swatted his wand away. Neville gasped as he felt the long fingered hand press him up against the stone wall. "Now..." he said dangerously low. "Would you mind telling me what you think you're doing?"

Neville bit his lip guiltily. He really had no answer for that question. His brain did a classic. "I- I don't know what you're talking about." he stuttered, closing his eyes to Snape's furious gaze. "Try again." his most feared teacher said coldly and closed his hand around Neville's wrist, the hand that held the infamous bag. The intimidated gryffindor's lip trembled. "It's only a few ingredients..." he whispered and flinched as he felt the nails digging deeper into his wrist.

"This..." Snape squeezed again. "will last for at least four months. Do you think this will help you? You will need more and more to help you sleep, and in the end, it won't keep the dreams away. But you'll still need the potions, because you can't fall asleep without them anymore. Does that sound like fun? Does it?" The last part was hissed between clenched teeth and by now Neville knew that his wrist would be badly bruised the next day. He shook his head violently, refusing to let his tears spill over. "I'm confiscating this." Snape said and took the bag and released him.

Neville's eyes flew open and he grasped Snape's robe desperately. "No..! Please let me keep it! Please! I'll do anything!" he pleaded and Snape turned slowly and let his fingers trace Neville's chin suggestively. "Anything..?" he purred, and the dark voice sent shivers through Neville's whole body. It scared the life out of him and clearly it showed on his face, for Snape laughed darkly and withdrew his hand. "Good. At least you're not that far gone yet." he said and walked out of the ally, leaving a desperate gryffindor in his wake. Desperate for many reasons...

As the Yule Ball grew closer Harry became more and more agitated. What if nobody asked him? What if someone did? Should he do it? Hermione seemed to think that he should do it. Ron had already asked Hermione, learning his lesson from their fourth year. Hermione was quite a catch, and he had better remember that. Ginny maybe..? Preferably someone that he knew, yet someone that Ron wouldn't beat him up over. He had become insanely protective over his little sister, a fact that she used to the limit.

Maybe Parvati? It had to be a girl, as to not make Lucius overly jealous, and besides, he wasn't going to come out to the entire school on the Yule ball! He had also noticed that Neville seemed to have some trouble sleeping... most of the nights he spent in the common room, staring into the open fire. That only made him more tired during lessons, which drove Snape halfway around the bend. This week he had spent half his lessons yelling at Neville for blowing things up and not paying attention.

Oh well... he supposed he had to talk to him about it...eventually.

Chapter seven

I know all about

yea, about your reputation

But now it's bound to a heart break situation

But I can't help it if I'm helpless

everytime when I'm where your are

You walk in and my strength walks out the door

Say my name and I can't fight it anymore

I know I should go

But I need your touch just too damn much

Loving you

Isn't really something I should do

Shouldn't want to spend my time with you

I should try to be strong

But baby, you're the Right Kind of Wrong!

"O-okay. Sure, I'd love to." Harry stammered and smiled at Padma, Parvati's sister. The dark skinned girl grinned happily. She never thought that Harry was still available for the Ball, but there it was! "Great! I'll meet you outside the Great Hall!" she said and disappeared to her lesson. Harry watched the beautiful ravenclaw walk off with mixed feelings. It was perfect, they had no feelings for each other, but both liked the other one's personality.

The Ball was only two nights away. He had to make Hermione teach him to dance. Suddenly he spotted Neville making his way to the dungeons. "Hey! Neville! Where are you going?" he called, but when he got no answer he ran up to the other boy and grasped his arm. "I said where are you going? Didn't you hear me?" he asked and stared in shock at Neville's face. He looked as if he hadn't slept in two weeks, which seemed to be more or less the case. Neville smiled weakly at him.

"I haven't been sleeping well lately." he said tiredly. "So I'm going down to the dungeons to ask Snape for another potion." Harry nodded, concerned about his friend. "Let me know if I can help somehow..." he said kindly. "I can make the potion for you!" he volunteered. Neville bit his lip. "I don't know... the ingredients are pretty hard to come by..." Harry just grinned mischievously and thumped his back.

"Well... that shouldn't be a problem. We've been through Snape's personal stock before." he whispered and quelled the little voice in his head screaming at him what a horrible, horrible idea it was. It tried to remind him of his promise this year, but Harry ignored it. It's for a good cause. Neville needs it, and I'm willing to help if there's anything I can do!

"Thanks, Harry, but I should probably ask Snape first, don't you think?" Neville said, and Harry had to agree. "Alright. But remember, my offer stands! If you need help, you only have to ask." Neville gave him a quick smile. It felt good to have a friend who didn't hesitate to help him. But he felt as if he had to ask Snape about this. Just imagine what his reaction would be if he found his personal stock ravaged and the precise ingredients for just that potion gone. He would suspect him for sure.

As he knocked on the door to Snape's office he had a big lump in his throat. He had to ask him! He needed to sleep now! "Enter." came the cold voice and Neville flinched. He knew that tone, and it meant that Snape was having a very bad day. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. Snape looked up and sneered at him, as per usual. Neville took a deep breath. he had to get it over with. "Professor Snape, I need a Dreamless Sleep potion, please!" he said in a rush and Snape turned his gaze back to the paper he was grading. "Request denied." he said flatly and Neville became desperate.

"I haven't slept for two weeks! I have to have it!" he pleaded. "I promise I won't take one every night, but I need it at least once a week! Please!" Snape slammed his hands down on his desk, making Neville jump. "I said no! You put yourself in this situation, Longbottom! You have to deal with it yourself!" he snarled and gestured towards the door. "Get out!"

Neville stood his ground. "No, I won't! Not until you give me something that will help me sleep!" he yelled and clenched his hands. Snape shot up and grabbed him by his robes and shook him violently. "Now you listen to me, you stupid brat. This kind of addiction is not a joking matter! You have to deal with your nightmares in another way!" Neville's eyes was red with tears and sleep deprivation. "Don't you think I know it's serious? I could deal with the nightmares, if I could just go to sleep, but I can't! I can't sleep without the potions!" he moaned. Snape released him suddenly. "How many did you take?" he asked calmly. Neville was quiet for a few seconds. "A bottle every night." he finally whispered.

"Foolish boy..." Snape breathed in a lack of stronger words. "We must go to Dumbledore with this. Come with me." All the way to Dumbledore's office, Snape cursed himself. He was to blame for this. He should never have allowed such a dangerous potion to fall into the hands of a student who didn't know better. He should have explained how dangerous it was. If he had only taken the time...

One hour later Snape felt that he had gotten his punishment. not only had he been assigned to the task of watching over Neville himself, meaning that the boy had to sleep in the dungeons, but he had also been informed of the fact that Lucius Malfoy had changed sides and that none other than Harry Potter was his mate! The insanity of it all made him want to drink himself into oblivion, but he couldn't do that because of the boy that was supposed to sleep in his rooms!

Two truly weird nights later Harry met Padma outside the Great Hall. She smiled at him and took his arm. Together with Ron and Hermione they entered and seated themselves at the dinner tables. The dinner itself was fairly calm, although Harry could feel two pairs of grey eyes on him all the while. He could barely eat, which made Lucius all the more annoyed. What was the boy doing? Less food would no doubt make him disappear. He couldn't lose weight, and Lucius would see to that.

When it was time to dance, Harry asked Padma almost immediately. He knew now that it was customary to do so, so that he didn't repeat the mistakes of his fourth year. Hermione ad taught him well, and Padma was mildly impressed. Lucius too, in fact, but he was too busy seething with jealousy. He had been wrong. To see Harry in the arms of another was more than he could stand. He caught the green eyes for a moment and made a discreet sign that he wanted to talk with him.

Then he excused himself and went out in the moonlit garden. When Harry followed a couple of minutes later Snape rolled his eyes.

Harry had to walk quite a while before he was pulled behind a large bush, which was thankfully covered with snow. He was kissed deeply before he knew what was happening and he moaned when he recognised the scent of Lucius. "You can't dance with her anymore." Lucius said firmly when he had Harry dazed and thoroughly kissed in his arms. "Mmmh?" he hummed then blinked and raised his head to meet the others gaze. "Excuse me? You told me that it was okay for me to get a date for the Ball, and then I can't dance with her?"

Lucius gave him a cold stare, which made him shiver. He told himself that it was the December night air. "I've changed my mind. I dislike her." Harry snorted. "We're just dancing, Lucius! it's not like I want to kiss her, or anything!" Lucius eyed him sharply and pulled him closer. "I hope not." he whispered. "If you did, I might have to teach you a lesson..." Harry bit his lip and felt a wave of anticipation. "That's not necessary..." he said with half-lidded eyes. "You know what I want." The grey eyes glittered in the darkness as he pulled them closer together and claimed his lips again. The hands caressing him were rough and hard, but he didn't care.

What had happened to him? When had he begun to crave Lucius' touch..? When had his scent become an addiction?

Both of them started at the shocked gasp. Harry nearly bit Lucius' tongue in half. They turned around quickly and saw Draco standing only a few feet away. "So it was him you wanted..!" he hissed. "Were you thinking of my father when we were kissing, Potter? How long have you been fucking behind my back?"

Lucius stared at Harry. Kissing? KISSING? KISSING?

The words echoed in his head, and he had a sudden urge to kill his son. His mate would suffer a more severe punishment. "Kissing..?" he said softly and Harry stared at him wide eyed and panic stricken. "No! It's not what you think! Draco kissed me in the library!" The silver eyes narrowed suspiciously. Draco laughed coldly. "You liked it, Potter, admit it!" Harry looked insulted. "No, I bloody well didn't! I pushed you away, didn't I?"

"You did... after a while!" Draco said, a manic glint in his eyes. "I was in shock! We're enemies!" Harry said tiredly. Draco drew a breath for another scathing retort. "Be silent, Draco. You will leave, now." came the frosty voice that made them both freeze to the spot. Draco nodded jerkily and threw another hateful glance at them before sweeping away between the trees and bushes.

The silence stretched out between the two left, and finally Harry sighed. "I know you think I've betrayed you with your son, but it's nothing like that at all. I was sitting in the library, he came in, we talked, he kissed me, I pushed him away and ran out of the room. End of story." Lucius hadn't moved. "I see. And when were you planning on telling me this?" he said, voice dangerously low. Harry shrugged. "To be honest I tried not to think about it. Some days I thought I had just dreamt it all."

Lucius finally moved, wrapping his long winter robe around Harry's shoulders. "From now on." he whispered. "I want you to tell me everything. Understood?" Harry leaned back against him, relieved that the storm seemed to be over, and nodded against his chest. "Understood." he replied softly.

Draco stumbled through his snow clad environment, stopping to dry his face on his sleeve. He wasn't crying, he wasn't..! All of the sudden, he heard a very familiar voice. "Trevor! Trevor! Where are you? Come here, you know it's too cold for you out here!" Draco smiled horribly. This was just what he needed. He looked around and spotted the toad sitting shivering in the snow. He lifted his foot in the air above it just as Neville came into sight.

"Stop it, Malfoy! Don't do it!" he said and watched with a sinking feeling as Draco leaned casually on the nearest tree, his foot still in the air. "No? And what do you have to offer me if I don't?" he said maliciously. A number of things that he could demand went through his mind. The password to the gryffindor dormitory. A deed to Harry bloody Potter. "What do you want?" Neville asked helplessly. "Just a kiss." Draco's mouth answered for him before he had time to analyse what he was saying. He only knew that he had been craving a kiss from a very special person the whole night and that person had turned out to be a dirty slut. But he still wanted to kiss...

The expression on Neville's face was priceless. "Have... have you gone mad?" he squeaked. Draco shrugged. "Oh well, if you don't want to..." he said and brought the foot down. Neville screamed, and Draco lifted it again, showing an unharmed, but very confused, Trevor. "Relax. I haven't done anything yet. Well? Are you going to kiss me or not?" Neville stepped closer with trembling lips and tilted his head up to the taller boy. But instead of kissing him, he chose in the last minute to push him off the tree, sending him sprawling on his back a couple of feet away.

Neville scooped up the poor toad quickly and turned to the spluttering slytherin. "That was really low, threatening to kill Trevor. Leave me alone, Malfoy." he said calmly and walked away. Draco got up and brushed himself off, swearing to himself. When had Longbottom grown a spine?

A tall, dark figure was watching the scene silently behind a tree, and he smirked.

Another person was hiding behind the trees, watching Lucius and Harry instead. Narcissa gritted her teeth in frustration. So! It was Harry Potter, then. Chang had only been a diversion. And they had obviously consummated their bond already... this was going to be tricky.

*FLASH*

Draco blinked and turned around. The little fifth year, Colin Creevey, stood there smiling and waved a bit with his camera. "Hi!" he said merrily. "The moon looks great on your hair, and you looked so angry that I couldn't resist." Draco couldn't help himself. he smiled too. This was just too much. The only bloody gryffindor who was insane enough not to care about the different houses, and to have a huge crush on Harry now stood here and took pictures of him. Colin finally noticed that Draco was staring at him. "Uh... can I take more pictures..?" he asked uncertainly and backed away as Draco came closer.

"um... you better stand over there, because it's too dark to take close ups... okay, I'll move, it's okay, you just stand still and umphh!" Before he knew it he had been pushed up against a tree and kissed senseless. He blushed and struggled a little, but it was clearly symbolic. He likes it..! He really likes it! Draco thought victoriously, and revelled in the feeling of the smaller boy against him. He pushed his tongue into the gryffindor's mouth and tasted him, while spreading his legs and pushing in between them, letting them both feel the other's arousal.

Colin moaned and wrapped his arms around Draco tightly. This was incredible! He had harboured a enormous crush on Draco for weeks, taking pictures of him in secret... he was sure Draco wouldn't want him, and here he was, grinding against him! He was in utter heaven. Draco wanted him! He let Draco strip him of his robes, prepared to give him anything he wanted. "Come... let's go back to the castle and find a room." Draco whispered in his ear, nibbling at a blushing earlobe harshly. Colin nodded weakly and pulled his robes together again. They walked back on unsteady legs, Draco licking his lips. He couldn't believe how much he wanted him! It was like a drug, and he was a happy junkie.

As soon as Harry had said goodnight to Padma, he went directly down to Lucius' rooms. He had to talk to him again, he wasn't sure that he Lucius had understood what had happened... and he sure didn't want any nasty surprises later. Figuring he had better make amends while he still could, he knocked softly on the door. "Enter." The voice was cool, but it wasn't as frosty as it had been before. Harry took it as a good sign, and opened the door.

"Hi..." he said with an uncertain smile. Lucius watched him in silence, but Harry sensed no coldness from him at all. He was sitting in bed, comfortably against some pillows and was reading a book. Harry crept under the covers too, snuggling a bit closer. He felt an arm around his shoulders, drawing him even closer. "I... I just want you to know that I'm sorry for not telling you about Draco." He felt the other man nod.

"I want to tell the school about us." Lucius finally said sharply. Harry gaped. "What? It's you and me! We're supposed to be enemies."

"And we're not anymore. It's only fair that the world knows who you belong to." Lucius said sharply and stared down at him. "Excuse me? Belong to? I'm your mate, but I sure as hell don't belong to anyone!" Harry spat angrily and detangled himself from Lucius and the covers. He stood and began to pace around in the room.

"You belong to me, end of story. It's part of the fact that you're my mate. Our bond..." Harry interrupted him. "...does not mean that you own me! And I'm not going to be paraded around the school as your...property!" Though this was secretly what Lucius had wanted to do, he now narrowed his eyes dangerously at the accusation. "Interrupt me one more time and I'll..." he hissed.

"...do what? You can't hurt me. I'm your mate, as you seem so happy to point out." Harry said defiantly and headed for the door. When he pulled the handle, though, he found that it was locked. "Alohomora!" he said sharply, but nothing happened. He turned to the bed and Lucius and gasped.

Lucius looked positively homicidal, with his wand in his right hand and his white hair tumbling freely down his shoulders. Even though he looked extremely dangerous at the moment, Harry had to appreciate his beauty. The grey eyes were spitting flames at him, and his thin lips were curved into a snarl. "You're not going anywhere." he whispered. "Constrictus!" he spat and once again Harry felt himself being bound by the black ropes. He yelled as he hit the ground with a thud and looked up warily at Lucius, who climbed out of the bed to collect him.

"Now, love..." he said almost tenderly. "I'll teach you what it means to be the mate of a Malfoy." Harry gulped and laid absolutely still. He knew Lucius wasn't going to hurt him for real, but he had other forms of torture...

Chapter eight

I know that you're no good for me

That's why I feel I must confess

What's wrong is why it feels so right

I want to feel your sweet caress

Heaven forgive me

Never forbid me

Love should always feel like this

- Madonna

When Harry hurried to breakfast the next morning he was sore all over, but he felt it was a good kind of sore. Sure, he wouldn't be able to sit... and he would have some trouble standing, but he could lean. Him and Lucius hadn't reached any solution to the problem, though. He still didn't want to tell the school, but he felt as if he had learnt a good deal more about manners.

As he neared the Great Hall he spotted Neville, who was unusually early. He smiled when he saw Harry. "'Morning!" he said cheerfully, and Harry waved. "Isn't it? You seem to have slept well." Neville blushed. "Yeah... Dumbledore and I worked out an agreement." he said and Harry shrugged. "As long as it works for you." he replied casually, and Neville felt his cheeks grow warm again.

The truth was that he had been sleeping on a temporary bed in Snape's bedroom. Needless to say, Snape hadn't been happy with the arrangement, but he had still been helpful. The very first night when Neville had managed to go to sleep he woke up from terrible nightmares only a few hours later. Snape woke up as well, and had, albeit sarcastically, talked him back to sleep. Neville was unsure what he felt about Snape now... the man still scared him, but in another way. He also had a sneaking suspicion that he was attracted to him, and he prayed that his professor would never now. He would most likely strangle him if he knew what kind of dreams that were slowly replacing his nightmares.

They entered the Great Hall together and sat themselves down to eat. Harry was feeling unusually hungry this morning, and ate like a horse. Lucius noticed that form his seat and smirked. His little charm had worked.

Harry curled his lip in distaste. His pumpkin juice tasted strange... a glance over at Neville told him that the other boy didn't find his juice particularly good, either. "So... where were you two last night?" Harry's thoughts about the pumpkin juice scattered like mice at Ron's question and he coughed to win some time. He knew his cheeks ought to be flaming red, and Neville seemed to be in the same state. Hadn't Neville slept in the dormitory..? He cursed himself. If neither of them had been there, then it wasn't so strange that they didn't wondered about the other's absence.

"We... uh... we... I- I drank too much. And fell asleep. In the corridor." Neville said quickly, and Hermione eyed his sceptically. "Uh huh. You look very fresh... considering you've been sleeping in the corridor." she said primly and looked at Harry. "I... slept somewhere else." Harry said lamely, and she raised an eyebrow. "I really don't want to talk about it." he said, trying desperately to save what was left of his dignity. Too late. Seamus leaned over the table, grinning wildly.

"Harry's got a guuurrrrrl!" he sing-songed and Harry gave him a dirty look. There was no stopping Seamus, though. Within minutes the whole table was buzzing about the exciting rumour. Where had Harry spent the night, and with whom? Harry put his hands over his head and sighed. All of the sudden, fate smiled at him. Ron poked him in the side, pointing to the front page of "The Daily Prophet". It showed a picture of Narcissa and a dramatic headline:

MRS. NARCISSA MALFOY IN A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT WITH MALFUNCTIONING WAND.

As they read further, they found that she was dead. Her wand had backfired on her and torn her face off. Harry shivered. He didn't want to know.

Way over at the Slytherin table, Draco smirked. Soon the love potion will take effect, and then, my dear Harry, you'll reveal your affections to the entire school. You, Longbottom, are just a bonus. You shouldn't have rejected me, none of you should. You had this coming.

When they left the breakfast table Harry felt strange. His body tingled a bit, and he longed for Lucius... he snapped out of his short reverie when he felt an insistent tug on the sleeve of his robe. "Harry, can I borrow your invisibility cloak..? I have to do something." Neville said with glazed eyes. "Sure. It's under my bed." Harry said easily, having trouble getting his thoughts straight. Neville disappeared towards the dormitory and Harry stood on wobbly legs and headed towards class.

They had Potions now, but he thought about skipping it... he had to see Lucius. He just had to. His body burned and his heart bled for him. As he neared the dungeon his feet made the choice for him and he returned down to the Great Hall, where he knew Lucius would still be sitting. When he came back down only a few more students had left, the rest of the room was packed. Lucius stared suspiciously at him. What was he doing now..?

Harry walked up to the professors' table, head held high, and stopped right in front of his mate. By now he had everyone's attention, and the room vibrated of the whispers. What was he doing? Would he kill professor Malfoy?

To everyone's complete shock, including Lucius', Harry leaned down, grasped his shoulders and kissed him passionately. Lucius felt his body respond immediately and his heart was beating wildly in his chest. The bond was true! They didn't have to hide it anymore! He stood up and grabbed Harry and all but lifted him over the table to press him against him. The kissed for several more seconds before they came up for air and heard the indignant whispers in the huge room.

Snape swept away with his trademark billowing with his black robes. Insane..! Good thing I have a class to teach. But he wasn't quick enough. Just before he left the room he heard a cry that made him shudder.

"I love you, Lucius! I will always love you!"

With a small sense of satisfaction, he noted that Ron Wesley had fainted.

Sighing, he entered his classroom, and found all of his students seated. He greeted them with a sneer and wrote the instructions on the black board. He turned around and fixed them with a firm glare. "This is the potion you will be doing today. Be very careful with steps four and eight. I'm sure Filch won't enjoy cleaning your sorry remains off my walls." he said coldly and a few of the sixth years gulped. When Snape was sure he had gotten their full attention on their work he sat himself down and began to grade papers. He noted with a sneer that Longbottom was absent. Probably late, the fool. Couldn't find his way down here after six years!

Suddenly, he went absolutely still. Something was happening to his robes... there was someone beneath his desk, nestling in between his legs..! Normally he would stand up and reveal the perpetrator, but when he felt his trousers being undone he gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay put and grade papers as if nothing was happening.

As if nobody was touching him intimately. As if there wasn't a moist warmth enveloping him... he bit his lip and exercised a fair bit of self control. It probably was another cruel joke, and he wouldn't give the person that satisfaction! Instead he graded paper's as if nothing happened.

But the hands were very skilled... small and soft, and they mouth threatened to devour him. The tongue played and teased him, and sometimes there were just tiny butterfly kisses... he couldn't help himself. He wriggled a bit in his chair, sending a threatening stare at anyone who dared to look at him. He knew there had to be two flaming red spots on his usually pale cheeks by now.

When he came he clenched his hand violently, crushing his quill. A few students exchanged frightened glances and continued to work, even faster than before. Curiously, this lesson was one of the most effective ever. Snape's threatening silence hung over them like a dark cloud, forcing them to work better, faster. When all of the students had left he locked the door with his wand and shot up.

When he looked beneath the desk there was no one there, but he knew better. A sound to the left of him made his arm shoot out like a whip and grab the thin air. He caught a bit of fabric and pulled violently, making the person under the cloak fall to the floor, the fabric gliding off his shoulders.

Snape gasped as he recognised the rumpled form of Neville, sitting on the floor. His eyes held a fever Snape hadn't seen in a long time. Neville shied away from his burning gaze and licked his lips innocently. A twinge of arousal shot through Snape at the sight and he became utterly furious. He bent down and hauled the dazed boy to his feet. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? he hissed and Neville flinched. He reached up to touch the man's face softly. "Don't be mad at me." he whispered sadly, letting his fingertips ghost over his sharp cheek bones. "I just... had to see you. I can't stop thinking about you, Severus..."

Snape nearly screamed in frustration. For a second there it had felt so tempting, to lean into the touch. Nobody had touch him like that in a very long time. all the suppressed feeling he had about Neville came to the surface, and he didn't like that at all. They had to stay buried. The boy was less than half his age, and his student! He made a serious effort to keep himself under control.

"So. One clumsy blow job under my desk and we're on first name basis..?" he said, keeping his voice as cold and vicious as possible. He noted with satisfaction that Neville's eyes filled with tears. "I only did it because I lov..." he began, but Snape interrupted him quickly, not wanting to hear the word from his lips. "Love me?" Snape said scornfully, hating himself when the first tears spilled across the white cheeks. Neville fell silent, trying desperately to hide his red eyes, to no avail.

"And now you're crying like a child. Do me a favour, Longbottom. The next time you feel amorous, do choose someone your own age. " He finished coldly and unlocked the door. Neville gave him a last pained look, full of hurt and despair, before he fled. Snape watched the empty doorway for a long while before he sighed and closed the door. It had to be done. He couldn't have a relationship with a student. It was just too unethical. He didn't need yet one more thing to make amends for.

While the tragedy unfolded in the dungeon, Harry was as happy as he could be. Even when the potion wore off he felt content. He didn't have to hide anything anymore, and Lucius seemed content as well. For once, for now, there was peace. And in his life, where danger struck left and right, where he never truly expected to survive the next year, that was a rare gift.

Epilogue

During the last battle against Voldemort, which took place during the seventh year, Harry survived, but suffered injuries that shortened his life with several years. Lucius survived as well, and he and Harry moved to the Malfoy Manor where they continued their relationship. It was never easy, and although they never reached a peaceful plateau, it's safe to say that they were never bored with each other.

Draco never changed sides, and took the place of his father in the Death Eater ranks. He killed several of his former class mates, among those Justin Finch-Fletchely and Ron Wesley. He was killed at last by Hermione Granger, who strangled him with a shoe string. Hermione later became Potions Mistress at Hogwarts, and although she never married after the death of her lover and friend, she remained a faithful friend to both Harry and Neville.

Neville bided his time until the end of the seventh year, when he once again proclaimed his love to Severus Snape. His persistent affection eventually won Severus' heart and they moved to Snape Manor together. Both of them managed to survive the final battle without any serious wounds, and Snape resigned his career as a professor, choosing instead to work in the research department at the Ministry of Magic.

Dumbledore died in the last battle, leaving his post as Headmaster at Hogwarts to professor McGonnagal. His portrait hangs in the Great Hall, and his friendly ear and wise counsel is still offered to students in need.