Well, here we go. Sorry for the delay, here's Chapter Three. This chapter contains my favourite scene to-date, (bet you can guess which one) plus some added tension. Hope y'all enjoy. :)

Previous chapters:

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two /



Quick Summary: Harry Potter is the wizarding world's hero. But when Voldemort discovers a dark magic that could turn his greatest threat into a valuable asset, will Harry be able to hold onto who he is, or submit to the shadows within?

Set in 7th year, but follows canon only till the end of Goblet of Fire.

Title is a song by Ben Harper

Pairings: Harry/Draco, Sirius/Remus, Hermione/Ron. Implied Voldemort/Draco, Voldemort/Death Eaters

Warnings:

-Spoilers for books (and movies, I guess), 1-4 with occasional 5-6 spoilers for largely irrelevant things like character names and monsters and things. Not plot-related stuff. (I think/hope).

-Rated R-18 (for later chapters) Also known as NC-17 (for Americans.)

-This story contains - obligatory capitals: SLASH! Also known as YAOI, also known as males having sweaty sex with OTHER MALES. If you don't want to read that kind of stuff, don't read the fic. Don't complain to me if you do and it grosses you out, that's just silly on your part. There are also issues of non-consensual sex. Run while you still can.

Endless thanks go to mimei for the beta.


annnnd...






Disclaimer - This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. (this disclaimer was nicked, too.)

-


Harry Potter.

Harry Potter was the Boy Who Lived. The Boy Who Saved Everyone’s Collective Asses (Repetitively). The youngest Seeker in a century. Gryffindor’s Golden Boy. Wonder Boy. Perfect Bloody Potter.

But why?

Harry Potter was also: Seventeen, an Orphan, a Student, a Friend, kinda short and a little thin. He was, really, rather normal.

How?

These questions had been plaguing Draco Malfoy for months.

Once he had figured out that Voldemort was a total git, Draco had (albeit reluctantly) realised that maybe this meant there was more to Harry Potter he had always thought. These conclusions led Draco to begin a systematic study of the person of Harry James Potter, which had resulted in a rather nasty surprise.

Harry Potter was everything his legend made him out to be - and more.

Hearing Blaise giggling (manlyly!) away about something beside him Draco snorted softly: Alright well, maybe not everything. There had, after all, been some rather ridiculous ‘legends’ tossed around about Potter in the last few years -some, of course, created by none other than Draco himself- but that didn’t change the fact that Harry Potter really was a loyal, kind, stupidly brave teenager who had been forcibly thrust into the role of Saviour of the Wizarding World.

Or at least, that was as much as Draco could figure out from a distance; he was, after all, Lucius Malfoy’s son. As a Death Eater in-training (no matter what his personal opinion on the matter was) and he could hardly wander up to the boy and say “Oy! Are you as good as your press makes you out to be?” This was why Draco had developed a near-obsessive habit of watching Harry Potter at every opportunity.

He did, however, have a second, very good excuse for this behaviour. Draco Malfoy knew his limits, so when he was recruited to the Dark Lord’s service at the age of 16, he neither protested nor went behind his father’s back to Dumbledore. At that time he was only vaguely aware of not being entirely in the thrall of Voldemort – those thoughts grew later. As it was, using his age as an excuse Draco had managed to avoid most of the unpleasantness associated with being a Death Eater but now his current assignment was as ‘Senior Potter Watcher’. In theory, Draco was to keep tabs on Harry Potter at all times and make regular reports on his whereabouts and behaviours.

This was why Draco felt he had an excuse for becoming fixated by the sight, as the Great Hall’s doors opened; of a worried looking Ron Weasley entering the room obviously trying to comfort a rather pale Harry Potter.


~..*..~


“C’mon Harry, we’ll have some dinner and you’ll feel heaps better.”

“Huh? Oh, I don’t know Ron, I’m not feeling very hungry right now.” In fact, Harry was feeling more like he had been run over by the Knight bus and the thought of food was making him dizzy.

Ron pulled Harry over until they were seated beside Hermione, who of course had her nose in a book, “Alright mate, just have a glass of water for now, okay?”

Harry just sighed and accepted the goblet that Ron handed him and attempted to forcibly stop his brain from functioning.

This was prevented by Ginny Weasley plonking down next to him and asking cheerfully, “Hey Harry, is it true you had a wacky crystal Vision Quest this morning?”

Harry groaned and hid his head in his arms on the table, trying to ignore the ensuing chaos: Hermione looking up from her book, screeching, “What!?” Neville and Colin Creevey perking up from across the table, heads turning further down...

“Maybe,” he muttered finally.

Ron began to explain while Harry tried to ignore the chatter, however this simply resulted in the thoughts that had been screaming at the back of his mind running to the forefront.

Malfoy. Draco Bloody Malfoy. The Ferret. And... me?

Harry shook his head. No way, it must have been some kind of mistake, he must have moved into a bizarre alternate dimension where he was completely INSANE. I mean, he didn’t even like guys!

But, the vision quests are only supposed to be able to tell the truth, aren’t they? And how much of my life at Hogwarts has been affected by Voldemort? Would I have said no to being in Slytherin if I hadn’t met Ron that day? If I had known the wizarding world better?

If he had something to prove to the world and to parents so important they barely had any time to spend on him?

Harry bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut. Don’t think about that.

But more importantly, would he have turned his back on Malfoy if Harry had never lived with the Dursleys? If the wizarding world was as familiar to him as it was to Malfoy? If he hadn’t been sitting with Ron on the train?

If Malfoy hadn’t been raised by an evil sadistic bastard?

How much of Draco Malfoy was influenced by his father anyway? Harry had just accepted Ron’s word that the father was evil and automatically thought so of the son. How could Malfoy help it if he had been raised a spoiled poncy brat - especially at eleven! Harry had been the one who refused the friendship anyway, Harry, really, was the one that began the famous rivalry.

But what if things had been different? Could Harry and Draco have ever been friends?

...Lovers?

Harry twitched and nervously peeked up from where he was resting his head on his arms; he looked over to the Slytherin table and found piercing grey eyes staring right back at him.

Immediately images from the vision flashed though his mind: heated touches, kisses. He blushed furiously as he felt himself grow hard under the table, Oh Sweet Merlin. He ducked his head back deeper into his arms again and groaned.

I’m doomed.


~..*..~


Did Harry Potter just... blush at him!?

Draco blinked. He had been watching Harry all their years at school and all the more avidly over the last two years. He had watched as Harry changed from a child to a young man and seen him overcome many terrors. The two rivals had exchanged glares, sneers, smirks – looks of jealousy, anger, loathing, superiority, smugness and shame, but not ever, not once, had Harry Potter looked at Draco Malfoy and blushed quite like that.

Now that’s an interesting development.


~..*..~


Dripping. Walls that surrounded all with the cold embrace of the earth. Deep, where the Sun has never been seen.

“Master,” that same, pitiful voice again.

“Speak.”

“All is ready.”

“The spell?”

“Yes, my Lord, waiting only on your blood to begin.”

“The potion?”

“Prepared; it only awaits your power and the boy.”

“The other child?”

“We captured a centaur, he confirmed what Lucius’ astrologists suspected. We will summon him at your command. All is in place, we wait only on you to set a date, my lord.”

There was a pause and the pitiful creature tried not to let fear of some small missed failure to overcome him.

“Good Wormtail. This is very, very, good.”

Another pause.

“We shall begin on the new moon. When all is in darkness - we shall bring the Hero to his knees.”


~..*..~


Draco didn’t get it. It was utterly bizarre.

Potter had been avoiding him for almost two weeks; there had been no fights, no screaming, barely even any glares! The only real shared glances had ended with that blush, and Potter looking away.

There was definitely something odd afoot.

He turned to Blaise, who was sitting next to him as they waited for Potions to begin, “Blaise, is it just me, or has Harry Potter gone completely barmy?”

Blaise blinked at him, “Uh, I suspect that according to you Potter has always been barmy.” Blaise turned and looked across the room where Harry was speaking quietly with Granger, “But he seems like your average Wonder-boy from here.”

Draco frowned, Stupid Potter. Going all, ‘mixed signals’ on him.

The door to the classroom crashed open with unusual vigour and all the students settled into their seats hurriedly as Professor Snape stormed into the room, he turned at the front of the classroom to glare at the students.

“Finessence Potion - is what?” he barked.

Draco, Granger and Potter all raised their hands.

Snape looked around until his eyes rested on Potter. He stared at the young man for several moments before snarling the name “Potter.”

“The Finessence Potion is one of the most delicate and difficult to complete Potions sanctioned by the Ministry of Magic.” He said confidently. “It is a medicinal potion that helps humans to control their behaviour.

“In ancient times, it was used by mainly by Pharaohs, Kings, Queens and military leaders to help them be better at their jobs. Unfortunately this potion uses some of the most complex methods of potion brewing, where the slightest mistake causes the potion to fail, this means that though it has many uses within medicine, especially within the area of mental health, it is highly expensive and rarely used.”

There was a pause where the Professor kept staring at Potter, and Draco wondered if Snape could dock points for being right, but eventually the Professor looked away.

“Correct, Potter. Now, can someone else tell me the main ingredients?”

Draco spoke without even raising his hand, “Being a Potion about emotions, control and clarity, its bases are unicorn hair, tears and horn, Starlight-warmed lake water, night-picked pine needles and, as a highly important factor that allows the potion to work with your emotions, rather than being simply a mood suppressant: the claw of a melanistic South-Asian leopard. But this potion is partly known for containing an expansive variety of minor ingredients that are all vital to perfecting it.” He finished, looking over to Potter to give him a lazy, arrogant smile.

Harry seemed to freeze, his eyes wide and his mouth opening slightly, before that now-familiar blush spread up his neck and across his cheeks. He snapped his gaze back to the front of class.

Well hell, Draco grinned. I think Potter-baiting just got a whole lot more fun.


~..*..~


Don’tthinkaboutMalfoy. Don’tthinkaboutMalfoy.

Harry was in the ingredients room, desperately trying to concentrate on his potion-making. He’d got quite into potions in the last few years (once he and Ron and figured out that to learn, one actually had to put effort into school). It had become his best subject after Defence Against the Dark Arts and he had been looking forward to attempting this potion which required his complete attention. They were still simply getting their ingredients sorted and studying the potion, as it couldn’t be begun until tomorrow’s New Moon, but Harry still needed to concentrate, which had been difficult ever since Malfoy had looked at him like that earlier, Harry had only been able to think about Malfoy standing up, crossing the room, shoving Harry down on the desks and screwing his brains out.

The bottle in Harry’s hand shattered.

“Fuck!” Harry whispered. This is so unfair! I never even noticed a guy before last week! He paused, well, there was that time with Justin Finch-Fletchly—

“Potter. Snape asked for three drops of Peace Lilly sap, not a handful of bloodied glass.” The snide voice shivered through the air.

Harry turned sharply, “Bugger off, Malfoy.” He snapped, trying not to stare at the gorgeous blond who was leaning casually against the shelves.

What the fuck is wrong with me!?

“Sorry, Potter, that may be your kink, but during class? With Snape just outside? Jech, not my idea of a good time.”

Harry’s head snapped up and he gaped at the other boy.

Malfoy smiled that sexy, almost-grin again and took a few steps towards Harry “However, there is something I need, and if you could just—” He pushed Harry back against the shelves behind him.

Harry momentarily thought that if he died on the spot it would finally prove to everyone that he wasn’t destined to destroy Voldemort. Malfoy reached a hand up and— grabbed a jar off the shelf. “Silver fern,” he said, waggling the jar in front of Harry’s dazed eyes, “Three stems.” He paused long enough for his patented smirk, then swirled away, “Later, Potter.”


~..*..~


“Harry, what on earth is with you today?”

Harry blinked slowly and turned to Hermione where they were sitting at the dining table. He had been staring blankly ahead for most of the meal. “I’m sorry, `Mione, I’m just really distracted,”

Hermione frowned, “Well, I know you’ve been looking forward to the Finessence Potion all year, but don’t get too caught up, we’ve got a lot of other stuff going on right now.”

Harry snorted, “No kidding.”

Before Hermione could reply, a panting, sweaty Ron collapsed onto the bench beside them, “Sorry I’m late guys,” he gasped, “Sirius had me working on those skin-tight shields again and he had me running all over the forest while firing a million curses at me.”

Hermione petted his shoulder, “You okay?”

He grabbed some pumpkin juice, “I’m beat, but I gotta get that Charms assignment done tonight. Voldemort can wait - I face the wrath of my mother if I miss another assignment because of Advanced Dark Defence lessons.”

Harry laughed, probably for the first time in weeks, “Fair enough, mate, I don’t envy you that.”

Ron just moaned and started stuffing mashed potatoes into his mouth.

Lavender Brown, who was sitting across from them with Parvati, spoke up, “I can’t believe Professor Flitwick setting that assignment due tomorrow, everyone knows that Astrology, Divination, and this week, Potions classes, are doing major stuff on the New Moon, sometimes I think teaches do it just to spite each other.”

“Yeah well,” Ron tried to speak around his mouthful, “I’m just glad it’s now, not on the Full. Having to sit with a sleeping werewolf at your feet while doing an essay is not my kind of fun.”

“-not my idea of a good time.” Harry was instantly distracted from the conversation by thoughts of this afternoon’s encounter. Was Malfoy flirting on purpose? Or was this just how he acted to everyone if he wasn’t trying to publicly and painfully destroy them? Harry paused. Or maybe it was all a Death Eater plot, somehow... a trick to get him to—

Nah, even Voldemort doesn’t have a wacky enough imagination to pair Malfoy and me, there’s just no way...

Harry sighed, Quest or no quest, that was a dream-world, here, there is a Voldemort, and even if I wanted to, I couldn’t be with Malfoy.

Feeling rather depressed, he looked at his friends who were still ranting about homework, and stood up from the table. “Hey guys, I’m gonna head to bed, I’ve got training with Sirius in the morning and with starting that potion as well, I’ll need plenty of sleep. I’ll catch you later, okay?”

They all nodded and waved and Harry moved away to start the climb up to the Gryffindor Tower.

There really is no way, He thought to himself, I need to just forget about it and get on with living in reality...

Harry dreamed of Malfoy all night.


-

( Next Chapter )



Yeah, so there we are. Comments appreciated as always. Chapter 4 and 5 are going to be a bit longer - Draft has been finished but final edit is delayed for now. Chapter 6 is in progress. Oh, and I DID finish the EVIL SCENE OF DOOM (for chapter 6) so movement really is being made there. :D