The Kiss

The Kiss

They were on the road, Apparation licenses in hand, a week later, much to Ginny's chagrin. She did not want Harry to leave and made that clear when she clung to him for a full five minutes before she was pried away from him so they could leave. Harry and Draco were the only ones to leave without looking back as they set off.

"So we're down to three Horcruxes, right?" Granger asked.

Harry nodded. "Hufflepuff's chalice--which is at Snape's house, Voldemort's snake Nagini, and Voldemort himself."

"What if he made more than seven?"

Harry shook his head. "No, he didn't," he said. "Trust me."

They split up again at the next inn they stayed at. Ron and Hermione, Harry and Draco. Draco couldn't stand being alone with Harry like that any more. He couldn't handle the feelings that were sparked in him every time he was alone with the Boy Who Lived, he couldn't handle the insatiable desire he felt every second of every day, not knowing that the feeling would never be reciprocated.

One-sided love. Such a torture should not exist.

Draco knew that this was his punishment. Maybe if he suffered through it long enough....

That night he watched Harry change again. He watched as the other man sent his heart racing, his pulse thundering, his mind reeling.

And then he watched Harry watch him as he changed for bed.

"What?" he asked as he pulled his shirt over his head.

Harry looked away. "N-nothing," he stuttered, clearly uncomfortable.

Draco walked around his bed, finally giving into the desires Harry caused in him. "I'm sorry," he said softly, "but I can't stand it anymore." He put his hand at the back of Harry's neck and pulled him into a kiss.

The important part here is that Harry kissed him back.

Draco's eyes snapped open and he was shrouded in the darkness of the room. He groaned into his pillow and cursed his body as he dragged himself out of bed and went to the bathroom, not realizing the light was on.

He opened the door and was temporarily blinded before he realized that Harry was currently in the shower.

Draco stared through the glass door at the body on the other side until Harry seemed to realize the door was open. He cracked open the shower door and looked at Draco through squinted eyes. "Yes?" he asked.

Draco swallowed hard. "Sorry," he said roughly, but making no move to leave. He was frozen to the spot, his body screaming at him to throw off his clothes and join Harry in the shower.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head slightly. No, he was not all right, he was torn. He was torn between what he wanted and what he knew should happen. He was ready to pass out, were it not for the fact that he was leaning heavily on the door.

Harry turned off the water and reached for a towel that he wrapped around his waist before going to Draco. He took Draco by the shoulders and guided him to the toilet where he sat him down. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Are you sick?"

Love sick, Draco thought distractedly. He shook his head. "No," he said roughly.

Harry crouched down in front of him. "What is it then?" he asked.

"You," Draco said before he could stop himself. His eyes found Harry's and he found that he couldn't read Harry's thoughts. Normally Harry was like a book, but now...now Draco could see nothing to betray what the Boy Who Lived thought or felt about his words.

That is, until Harry pulled Draco into a kiss.

Draco felt his stomach do flips as he and Harry stood, still kissing. Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's warm, wet body as his tongue slipped into Harry's mouth.

It was Draco who pulled away first, not knowing if this was real or another dream. "What about Ginny?" he asked. The Harry in his dreams would scoff at that and say that Ginny was a thing of the past.

"I broke up with Ginny for a reason," he said, his breathing heavy and his voice rough. "Don't worry about her."

"Is this a dream?" Draco asked, not sure where reality ended any more.

Harry's eyes searched his. "I don't know," he said softly. "I don't think so."

With tears in his eyes, Draco reached up and cupped Harry's face in his hands. He stared at the face that studied him before he leaned in and kissed the perfect man before him.

He woke up the next morning tangled in Harry. He breathed deeply, basking in the feel of Harry lying next to him and knew that it probably wouldn't happen again.

"Are you awake?" Harry asked.

Draco nodded, not sure of where the answer would take him.

"Ron and Hermione could show at any moment," he said. "They can't know."

Draco sighed, somehow knowing that Harry would say something along those lines.

"Where are we?" he asked. "What are we?"

Harry sighed deeply, causing Draco to rise slightly. With his ear on Harry's chest, he could hear the breath and Harry's steadily beating heart. "I don't know," he said.

Draco sighed and pushed himself into a sitting position. He stared at the floor just under the window. "When will you?" he asked softly. "Because I know what I want, and I'll respect what you want."

"I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out," Harry said softly, reaching up and brushing his fingers along Draco's cheek and jaw. Draco closed his eyes and felt the pain well up inside.
He stood. "I'm going to take a shower," he said.

He didn't cry until the water was running and he was standing under it.

He sat down in the porcelain bathtub and curled in on himself, crying as the water ran over him. He couldn't get Harry out of his mind. He couldn't get rid of the smell of Harry, the taste of Harry, the feel of Harry.... He knew now that it had been the worst thing for him to do, sleeping with Harry.

They say you fall desperately in love with the one you lose your virginity to. Draco now knew what they meant, for Harry had been his first.

He wondered what the story on the other end was.

"Draco?" Harry's voice asked.

"Yeah?" Draco asked, his voice thick from the tears.

The shower door opened and Harry poked his head in. "It can't happen again," he said softly. So softly, in fact, that Draco had to strain to hear him even though they were very close together.

Draco nodded, feeling the agony hit him like a tidal wave.

"Not until after the war," Harry finished.

Draco nodded again, unable to speak. Harry shut the shower door and left the room. Draco felt a sob rise in his throat and he broke down, shattered. He bit down on his arm and screamed, wondering how Harry could do such a thing.

He let go of his arm when he realized he tasted blood.

He forced himself to stand up, to stop crying, and to take his shower so that he could join the rest of the human race and help Harry win the war because he knew he could not stand to be denied for too much longer.

"Snape is the next one, right?" Draco asked, shutting the door to the bathroom as he came out of it. "After him we go straight to Voldemort?"

Harry nodded.

"Then let's go," Draco said in a deadly voice. Something in Harry's eyes changed. "Now," Draco said. "Get Granger and Weasley if you want them to come."

The four of them Apparated to a deserted field a half an hour later. Draco led the way through the thicket to the run down Muggle village. He strode down the roads to Snape's house and pounded on the door.

Snape answered at once. Draco was ready.

He held his wand to his former hero's throat and pushed his way into the house. "The chalice," he said, feeling Snape try to use Legilimens to figure out what was going on. Draco was ready for that too. "Not going to work," he said softly. "The chalice."

"What do you want it for?" Snape demanded.

Draco shoved his wand into Snape's throat. "I'll do it," he said. "I'll do you in just like I did my father and Wormtail."

"It was you then," Snape said in a knowing sort of way. "Fine," he said. "Kill me. I'm not giving you the chalice."

Draco did his best at Legilemency and saw only a tiny glimpse of where the fabled cup of Hufflepuff could be before Snape forced him out. "Fine," he said. Avada Kedavra, he thought. Snape fell over dead.

"You...you killed him?" Granger breathed.

"It was him or us," Draco said roughly. "This way," he said, looking back and meeting Harry's eyes. There was something close to approval in those eyes.

Draco turned away from Harry, the determination to finish the war as soon as possible filling him to burst. He had to have Harry again; there were no two ways about it. He opened a secret passage and led the trio up the hidden stairs to Snape's library. The chalice was still in the same place. Draco shook his head slightly at naiveté and picked up the chalice from the shelf, leaving a ring of clean shelf surrounded by thick dust.

"Here," he said, handing the chalice to Harry.

Harry pulled his wand from his robes and tapped the chalice. It began to glow the same green as the Killing Curse and soon dimmed. He tapped it again and it caught fire in his hands. He dropped it on the floor and the four of them rushed out.

Five down, two to go.

"Do you know the spell for the Dark Mark?" Harry asked, looking at Draco. Draco nodded, knowing what Harry wanted and pointed his wand to the house that was rapidly catching fire.

"Harry wait!" Granger hissed. "What are you doing?"

"We can't have them suspect us," he said. "Cast the Mark, Draco," Harry ordered.

Morsmordre, he thought. The Dark Mark shown faintly in the blue sky. The four of them Disapparated.

"So now what?" Granger asked later that evening after they'd checked out of their rooms. They were heading back to the Weasley's house that night to inform the Order of their success. "Do we go after Voldemort?"

Harry nodded. "Voldemort and Nagini," he said softly. "Nagini first though. If she's really got a part of his soul, we can't kill him until we kill her."

"Do you think you can actually do it?" Draco asked. "I mean, so far everything's been unguarded. This is Nagini we're talking about. This snake is the closest any one or thing can come to being loved by Voldemort. She won't be easy."

"I'm not expecting her to be," Harry confessed. "I just need it to be done. When we get to the Burrow, we'll have an Order meeting called. I'm going to need all the help I can get on this one."

"The Order's moved back to Sirius' house, hasn't it?" Granger asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, but we don't know who the Secret Keeper is anymore."

"You should," Granger said. "It's your house now, isn't it?"

Harry nodded again. "But I haven't been there since before Sirius died."

"MUM?" Weasley called as he entered his house. "DAD?"

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came into the kitchen almost as soon as Weasley finished calling out for them.

"What is it dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, wide-eyed and clearly worried.

"We need to meet with the Order," Ron said. "It's urgent."

Mr. Weasley nodded and went to the fire. Lupin's head soon appeared in the flames.

"What is it Arthur?" he asked.

"We need to call an emergency meeting of the Order," he said. "It's time."

Lupin nodded and turned to the four of them. "Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix are at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London," he said before his head disappeared from the flames.

They arrived five minutes later and quickly rushed to the door.

Harry opened the door and held it there for the three of them to walk in before he walked into his own house for the first time since it had become his.

"In here," Lupin said, holding open a door. The four of them rushed in.

"What's going on?" Mad Eye Moody demanded as they entered. "What happened?"

"Everyone," Lupin said to the group. "Harry has something to say."

"It's time," Harry said, stepping forward slightly. "To go after Voldemort. It's taken me about three months now, but I've finally finished the work Dumbledore and I were doing when he was killed. All except for one thing.

"Voldemort has a pet snake, her name is Nagini. We, that is Dumbledore and I, have reason to believe that Voldemort has placed a part of his soul into this snake."

"You mean a Horcrux?" Tonks asked.

Harry nodded. "It's why he didn't die when he tried to kill me," he said. "We think Voldemort made six Horcruxes, giving him a total of seven when you count him. We're down to two. Nagini and Voldemort."

"What are you saying, Harry?" Lupin asked.

"I'm saying that once we take care of the snake, Voldemort is as mortal as any of us," Harry answered in a soft voice.

"By 'take care of,' you mean 'kill,' don't you?" Mad Eye asked.

Harry nodded.

"How do we find the snake?" McGonagall asked.

"That's where Draco comes in," Harry said, stepping aside and exposing Draco, whom many were noticing for the first time.

"What's he doin' here?" Hagrid demanded.

"He's on our side," Harry said. "He's been helping us for the last two months. He's the one who helped me destroy the last two Horcruxes. He may have been a Death Eater in the past, but he's not any more."

"Where's the proof?" Mad Eye demanded. "Who's to say he's not working on orders?"

"The proof?" Harry asked. "The proof is that I trust him," he said. "The proof is that I have spent two months with him--all day, every day--and nothing has happened. The proof is that I have seen the Death Eaters attempt to kill him. He's not welcome with them and that is all the proof I need. It should be all the proof you need as well."

Draco stared at Harry in awe. Harry was the first person ever to say that he trusted Draco. And he was even lying for him, as Draco had not been attacked by a Death Eater since before he ran into Harry at the inn in the middle of nowhere.

"So where's this snake?" Lupin asked, diverting the conversation from the argument to the task at hand.

"She's with Voldemort at all times," Draco said, doing his part. "There are times he sends her to do something, but those are few and far between. I know for sure that he's not expecting an attack, so if we go to him, he'll be off guard. That's probably the only way to get to Nagini, and it will need to be a Parselmouth. That means you, Harry," he said. "You'll be the only one with any chance of getting her away from him. Once she's away, anyone can kill her. Once she's gone, we can go after Voldemort himself."

"And where is it that we're going?" McGonagall asked.

Draco smiled shyly. "My house," he said. "From there we can get to Voldemort's hideout fairly easily--there's just the matter of my mother not finding out we're there. Now that I'm of age, I've got control over the magic in the manor, so I can turn off the alarms that would be set off otherwise."