Bond

Chapter 21

March 22 - March 23

Day 175, Monday

Snape glanced at the clock, hoping his nervousness wasn't showing on his face. Glanced over at Draco, who was looking slightly ill, for good reason. This meeting...

This was probably one of the trickiest and most delicate positions he'd ever been in, in all of his years working for the Order. Because on the one hand, he was supposed to be a Death Eater who had to help make sure Draco did not do anything foolish to try to save Potter. That's what they all - including Draco - expected him to do.

But on the other hand, he was supposed to be helping the Boy Who Lived maintain his ridiculous title. Giving polyjuice to Granger and Weasley had been distasteful enough, knowing that Draco was going to use it to be with Potter without anybody finding out. Even thinking of trying to nudge Draco towards binding himself to Potter was... quite revolting. No matter how Draco felt about the boy.

Fortunately, his job had been made immeasurably easier by Lucius Malfoy himself, damn him. His heavy-handedness had all but delivered Draco up to Potter in a gift box. All that was missing was the bow, and Snape had a feeling that might be provided today. Snape still shuddered at the memory of Draco's wide grey eyes in the Great Hall, fixed on the Howler as it destroyed him piece by piece. Snape's own heart had been in his mouth the entire time, as Lucius made all of Draco's worst fears come true at once. Shamed him past redemption with his peers, took away almost everything that meant anything to him, and cut him to the bone with his rejection.

And then, the mark he'd put on Draco... Snape felt physically ill when he thought of it. Death Eater though he had been, he could not imagine doing anything like that to another human being. Especially one who trusted and looked up to him, as Draco had trusted and looked up to Lucius, for no good reason Snape could fathom.

'Had' being the operative word. Whatever trust and admiration had been there had been shattered, as far as Snape could tell. And that wasn't all that Lucius had shattered. Draco himself had been... broken ever since then. A non-entity among his fellow Slytherins. Subdued, withdrawn, almost indifferent to the world around him. And he'd gone back to Potter immediately, risking his father's displeasure carelessly. There could be no greater proof of the loss of Draco's filial devotion than that.

And now Draco wanted to help Potter, and was willing to risk Lucius' wrath again, if necessary, to do it. It should be no surprise to anybody. Except Lucius, of course. Lucius would probably never understand, and never understand that his own actions had pushed Draco to where he was now.

Lucius would never understand his own son, never understand that their resemblances were merely skin-deep. Draco would never be as intelligent, shrewd, strong, or heartless as his father, and Lucius would never be able to forgive him for that. Once again, Snape cursed Lucius for not having had the foresight to transfer the boy to Durmstrang, if he was going to use the bond to kill Potter. Because it took exceptional callousness to watch somebody you cared about slowly die while you held their salvation in your hands, and Draco just didn't have what it took.

Snape looked thoughtfully at Draco, sitting nervously on the couch, waiting for his parents to arrive. Observed his quick and shallow breathing, his gaze glued to the floor, and was disturbed to note that he was almost having a panic attack at the thought of facing his own father. And yet he was stubbornly forcing down his fear, steadying himself for the confrontation, for Potter's sake.

This was possibly the one good thing Lucius had done in this whole situation, Snape mused. Forced Draco to show some courage, for the first time in his life.

Draco's breath caught as the fireplace flashed and Lucius came through it, landing gracefully on his feet and stepping away to allow Narcissa to follow. They both dusted themselves off, identical expressions of distaste for the common mode of transportation they were forced to take - the only way to get directly into Hogwarts.

They exchanged minimal greetings with Draco and Snape before Lucius turned directly to the matter at hand.

"I must admit I was surprised to get your owl, Draco. To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"You know that the Aurors have figured out what's going on with Potter, with the bond," Draco said, getting right to the point but unable to meet his father's eyes.

"Yes."

"They don't have all the proof they need yet, about who did it and how, but they will soon."

"And?"

"Father... aren't you worried? You could be arrested for being involved in this."

"I would like to see them try. Nothing ties me to McKay or Colchis. I made every effort to have Healer Esposito there for your unbonding."

After making her sick, no doubt, Snape thought to himself.

"You could be arrested," Draco said, his voice low. "Again."

"I'm not particularly worried."

"Why not?"

"Because after the Dark Lord has triumphed, it won't matter any more."

Draco nodded. "I've been asked to be near Potter as much as possible, until they figure out some way to help him. What should I do?"

Lucius shrugged. "Go along with it. It won't make much difference."

Draco nodded and took a deep breath before carefully broaching the next topic. "Just how close are we to the Dark Lord's victory, Father?"

Lucius smiled. "As soon as Potter dies, the Dark Lord will take over."

There was a silence. "That's... it? That's the big plan?" Draco asked slowly. "Killing Harry Potter? That's what's so important?"

"It-"

"That's all the Dark Lord is waiting for, for one person to die - one boy to die?" Draco finally met Lucius' eyes, an incredulous expression on his face.

Lucius raised an eyebrow, but nodded calmly.

"And what's he going to do after that? Is he going to assume control of the Ministry of Magic? Storm Hogwarts? He still has to get past Dumbledore, you know. Not to mention Aurors, and all sorts of other people. What's going to happen after that?" Draco's agitation was rising, and it seemed he was starting to forget his fear of his father for a moment.

A fact that was not lost on Lucius. His eyes narrowed and his tone, when he spoke, was several degrees colder than before. "Draco, this is not truly any of your business. There is a fine line between being understandably interested in these events and meddling where you are not welcome. You have crossed it."

Draco swallowed hard, dropped his eyes to the floor. He took a deep breath, and then another, visibly gathering his courage for what he was about to say next.

"Father. Is there... is there any way to make this... not depend on Potter dying?"

An astonished stillness settled into the room.

"I beg your pardon?" Lucius finally said, his voice very quiet. Draco paled noticeably, but stood firm.

"I... I'm sure there are a lot of detailed plans in place, to take over offices, take control of powerful magical items, all of that. I just... is it absolutely necessary to have all of it depend on Harry's death?"

"It's Harry now, is it?" Lucius said mildly, and Draco's face coloured.

"I... yes." He swallowed nervously. "He - I... you know my loyalty is with our family. That's my first priority. Always," he said firmly. "But. He's... I-I care about him." He gulped and spoke rapidly. "I didn't mean to - I know I failed you, I should've stayed away from him after we were unbonded, and, and I'm not putting him above our family or the Dark Lord or, or anything like that, but, but-" He took a deep breath, forcing himself to slow down. "I don't want to see him die. He doesn't have that much power; he's nothing special. Our side is strong, we can do what needs to be done without killing him."

Lucius seemed stunned into speechlessness, and Draco hadn't looked up from the floor the entire time. He looked for all the world like he desperately wanted to run away, but was refusing to allow himself to do so.

Snape and Narcissa exchanged a worried look, and Snape nodded unobtrusively towards Lucius.

Narcissa pursed her lips and put a hand on Lucius' arm. "Draco, I don't think you understand how much planning has gone into this."

"I, I don't," Draco admitted. "I'm just asking - is there any way to-"

"No, absolutely not," Lucius said, finally finding his voice. "That you even dare to ask-"

"Darling, it's not that difficult to understand," Narcissa said calmly. "Draco did exactly what he was supposed to during his bond, and things progressed as they were supposed to. This is what a bond spell is supposed to do, after all: create commitment between the spouses. As it did with us. Lucius, please. Draco is not doing anything wrong by asking."

Lucius glared at his wife as though he very much wanted to hex her, but managed a tight nod. "You have asked," he said to Draco coldly. "And the answer is no. In any case, there is nothing to be done, even if I wished to do it."

"Can... Father, if there was - if the Dark Lord needs him out of the way, he could be incarcerated somewhere, or stripped of his magic, or-"

"Draco-"

"Lucius." Narcissa's hand tightened on her husband's arm as her calm voice cut into what promised to be a rather impressive display of rage. "Please. They were married, it's understandable that he would-"

"Be devastated at the thought of losing his ex-spouse?" Lucius said contemptuously. "Most people would be thrilled."

"He is not most people, Lucius," Snape said quickly. "He's just a boy. This wasn't-"

"Father... I, I was too young to bond," Draco interrupted him, looking up again. "And too young to break the bond. And I didn't mean to - but I was with him for four months, and I thought it was permanent-"

"I told you that I was making every effort."

"Even your best efforts don't always work out," Draco said, and Snape winced as the very plain reference to Azkaban came out. Draco seemed to shrink into an even more defensive stance, trembling as Lucius frowned at him.

"Lucius - please, don't be angry at him," Narcissa said gently, and then pulled Lucius a little bit farther away from Draco and Snape. She leaned closer to him, speaking quietly and urgently into his ear, and Snape slowly released his breath as Lucius' expression went from tightly controlled anger to something resembling understanding and compassion.

Thank god for Narcissa. And thank god that Lucius' arrogance had never permitted him to realize what Snape had figured out a long time ago: that Narcissa's almost magical ability to calm him down at times of great stress was just that, magic. Harmony Charm. It had to be used sparingly so that Lucius wouldn't start to clue in to it, but when she did use it, it was a godsend.

Draco took a deep breath, meeting his father's eyes. "Please, Dad. I can't just watch him die."

Lucius' face was sympathetic, but firm. "Then don't watch," he said calmly.

Draco turned away, rubbing his forehead, and Snape could almost feel his despair. He must have known this was futile. Before ever coming here, he'd known that there was nothing to be done, but he'd had to try.

"I'll - I believe in the Dark Lord's work. You know I do. But isn't there any way of-"

"You know that he has to die. There are sacrifices that need to be made. I sacrificed myself, spent ten months in that prison, for this cause. For you, and for children like you, who deserve a world not polluted by Mudbloods and weakness."

"Father-"

"I am sorry, Draco," Lucius said, his tone imminently reasonable, almost kind. "You are right, you were too young for all of this. But you did not have a choice about what happened then, and you do not have a choice now. Potter will die, and that is unfortunate, and your mother and I will do what we can to make this easier for you, but there is nothing we can do to prevent it."

"I could bond with him," Draco blurted out, and kept talking quickly, averting his eyes from the stunned look on Lucius' face. "I-I don't mean a real marriage, I wouldn't want that, but if - if I bonded with him and nobody but us knew about it, we could get him out of the way somehow, and the Dark Lord would still-"

Narcissa put her hand on Draco's, stopping his words. "Love, that kind of thing couldn't remain secret for long. And if the Dark Lord ever found out-"

"If you allied yourself to Potter, you would be putting yourself in danger," Snape pointed out.

"I'm not talking about being allied to him - I wouldn't even be near him-"

"Absolutely not," Lucius said. "The risks are too great. You already put our entire family in danger with your behaviour once; disowning you was almost the only thing I could do to regain the Dark Lord's trust and appease his anger at you."

"You disowned me to save me from myself?" Draco said softly, a glimmer of anger in his voice.

"Would you rather I had allowed you to conduct yourself in a manner that was almost guaranteed to get you killed?"

"You allowed me to stay bonded to Harry for almost two months after you'd found McKay. I could've died in that time, if the Dark Lord had moved against him."

"Yes. I know. It was not a delay I relished, believe me. But we had to plan for the counter spell, and it was not easy. It involved wandless magic, putting certain people into position to help us, distracting anybody who might stop us, all sorts of charms applied to Potter, to keep him from feeling pain when others touched him, keep him from declining too soon after the unbonding..." Lucius paused. "It was all extremely difficult and precise work. You can imagine my concern when he didn't deteriorate according to plan. He was supposed to decline much faster, once enough time had passed that we thought nobody would connect his illness with the unbonding." His voice hardened. "Then I saw the pictures that were sent to the Prophet."

Draco swallowed hard and looked down, and Snape felt a prickle of apprehension at the resentful clench of his jaw, the narrowing of his eyes.

"You put us all in danger. The Dark Lord would never have let you live if not for me."

"What does that tell you about him?" Draco said, his resentment beginning to bubble up.

"I beg your pardon?"

"He was angry at me for spoiling his plans? Angry enough to kill me, even though I'd no idea I was doing anything against him?" He shook his head, meeting his father's eyes defiantly. "He's a raving lunatic, is what he is." Lucius' face quickly went from compassionate to enraged. He made a small movement and Draco gasped, bringing a hand up to the mark on his chest, as Snape and Narcissa started in alarm.

"He is," Draco repeated stubbornly. "How can you follow somebody like him?" He gasped again, his face paling, and Narcissa grabbed Lucius' shoulder. "A man who just kills anybody who gets in his way, whether they mean to or not?"

"We follow him in the hope of a better future for ourselves and our children. Children like you," Lucius pointed out in disgust.

"Children like Cedric Diggory?" Draco shot back.

"Draco!" Snape exclaimed.

Lucius' eyes narrowed dangerously. "Cedric Diggory was an unfortunate casualty of war."

"His blood was as pure as yours or mine. And purer than Voldemort's."

Snape and Narcissa stiffened and glanced at each other in dismay. "Do not say his name," hissed Lucius.

"I'll say his name if I want to!"

"You are an embarrassment to-"

"You're the one who's following a half-blood lunatic!"

"You would rather we rallied behind a stupid half-blood child?"

"Harry's not insane!"

"Harry will lose."

"And if he does, d'you really think the wizarding world will be better off? You know exactly what kind of man Voldemort is. You're afraid of him, but you still serve him."

"I would rather serve him than be killed by him, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe if less people thought that way, he wouldn't be able to hurt anybody."

"Spare me your ridiculous sentimentality. You have clearly spent far too long in the company of Gryffindors." Lucius rose gracefully and took a handful of floo powder. "This discussion is over. You will conduct yourself as befits a member of our family, and you will not do anything to disrupt our plans. And if I hear that you have been near Potter, you will regret it. You will inform Madam Pomfrey and the other authority figures in this school that you will not be available to ease Potter's discomfort from the bond. I do not care how you do it, you will do it. Is that clear?"

Draco glared at him, and Lucius whispered a word that made Draco's face pale and his breath catch in pain as he covered the mark on his chest. He stared at his father a moment longer, his lips pressed together, then let out his breath and bowed his head, giving in.

"Come, Narcissa," Lucius said sternly as he stepped into the floo. "Malfoy Manor," he said, and disappeared.

Draco turned to Narcissa. "Mum..."

"Draco, please-"

"Please... can't you talk to him?"

"I can't. You know that."

"I..."

"Your father is right. This is regrettable, but-"

Draco rubbed his forehead, fighting to maintain his composure. Narcissa gently stroked his hair, exchanging a concerned look with Snape.

"Love... you aren't going to do anything about this, are you?"

"What?"

"Anything to go against your father's wishes," said Snape.

"It would - for one thing it would be terribly dangerous," Narcissa said. "And for another thing it would break his heart."

Draco made a sound of disgust. "Wouldn't he have to have one first?"

"Draco!"

"Break his - don't give me that rubbish!" Draco said angrily. "He's perfectly happy to toss me right out if-"

"He was hurt! You had betrayed him - his own son-"

"He was pissed because I went against him. That wasn't hurt that had him disown me, it was just spite!"

"You don't know what the Dark Lord-"

"He didn't do it for the Dark Lord - he was still supposed to be a sort of double agent for him. It didn't look terribly convincing when he disowned me in public just for being with Voldemort's enemy."

"Draco-" Snape began.

"He could've punished me in any other way, if he was hurt. Instead he did it publicly - I didn't even have a fucking name-"

"He was angry," said Narcissa, "and he did some things he shouldn't have. But he loves you."

"That's not love, that's-"

"Do you think that Potter boy loves you?" Narcissa said shrewdly, and he frowned at her. "He only wants you because he's under a spell. That's not real."

"It's as real as your bond with Father," he shot back. "You taught me that the kind of love that grows out of that is more real than what happens when two people say they're in love but know nothing about what love really means."

"You weren't together long enough. Do you think he'd give up everything to be with you, as you're thinking of doing for him? Do you think he'd sacrifice anything for you? You're the enemy, to him."

"You don't know him at all."

"Draco-"

"Did you know that I went back to him after Father burned his bloody brand on me?" Narcissa's eyes grew wide. "We were together for another week-"

"How could you-"

"-and then Harry broke up with me. Not being around me was making him ill, he had the bond screaming at him that he had to stay close, and even feeling the way he did, he sent me away, because he didn't want me to get hurt again."

His mother stared at him.

"No, I won't go against Father again," Draco said bitterly. "He's spoken and I bloody well have to obey him whether I want to or not. But he can't force me to like it." He grimaced in disgust. "And he can't force me to think he's anything other than... fucking pathetic."

ooooooo

176, Tuesday

Draco stared at the page before him. No idea where he was in this class. He'd missed three days of school, sitting by Harry's bedside, and unfamiliar handwriting stared back at him from his notebooks. Weasley, Longbottom, Finnigan, and Thomas; each boy had left his mark on the pages before him, and Draco idly tried to match the writing to the writers. Weasley's was the easiest, being the most plentiful. And he was fairly sure that Longbottom was the author of the neat but somewhat confusing mental meanderings on page 13. But the spare, beautiful script on page 14, and the untidy loops and doodles on page 17 - he had no idea which was Thomas' and which was Finnigan's. Not that it really mattered.

Harry was recovering from his latest bout of devastating nausea, a new dose of No-Sick potion in him, sleeping comfortably for once, and Draco had needed to get away - from Harry, from the damned hospital that had formed so much of his year so far, from the disorienting lack of familiarity with his own voice and shape. Back to his own body, his own world, back to where he would be soon enough anyway. Granger had come to class as well, Weasley opting to stay with Harry while he slept.

And now Draco sat at the edge of the Slytherin contingent, Pansy beside him and Blaise beside her, and nobody but them and the members of the Gryffindor Polyjuice Squad were even aware that he'd been away.

Snape was somewhat subdued today. As were most of the students. They had all heard that there was something seriously wrong with Harry, and all guessed that it had something to do with the Dark Lord. Queenie and Nott wore looks of barely controlled joy. Millicent's square features were faintly pleased. Crabbe and Goyle just looked vaguely confused, as usual.

Draco idly listed the ingredients to a potion they'd learned in first term as Snape droned on about... whatever the hell the topic was today. His mind still back in the hospital wing, where slowly but surely, Harry was going downhill. Not today, not tomorrow, maybe not even in a week, but soon, the end would come for him - so much sooner than it should. What Draco and his family had wanted to happen for so long was going to happen. Harry was going to die, and then they'd take their rightful places. As Draco had been raised to hope for, to work for.

It was what his world needed, he'd been taught to believe from infancy. So that it would once more be a strong world, where pure blood counted for something, where magical power counted for something. Where strength and cunning and tradition were honoured instead of being shunted aside contemptuously by people like Dumbledore and his minions and Muggle-born pets.

It was a world worthy of his love and admiration - a world of wealth and prestige and power, of culture and refinement. The world of the Manor, the European estates, the halls of his ancestors. The world of his parents, Pansy, Blaise, even Crabbe and Goyle.

And Queenie and Nott, he reminded himself bitterly. And Archer and Edgars and their ilk. A world where he'd disgraced himself almost past redemption. Where his peers were only now beginning to acknowledge his existence again. Where he would never, thanks to Harry and to his father, have the same position as he'd had before. Not unless he decided to fight tooth and nail for it, throw his entire life into the game, and claw his way back to where he'd once been.

Which was what his father expected him to do. What everybody who knew him expected him to do, though of course the Gryffindors were hoping he'd choose otherwise.

It all came down to a choice. He could let events proceed as they were proceeding, and help the world he loved, and try to earn his place in it once more; regain his father's love and trust, regain the respect and admiration of his peers. Or he could save Harry's life and live with the consequences, with regrets and might-have-beens. It felt like his heart was being pulled in two different directions, stretched to breaking, and he couldn't see any way of reconciling them.

Because there was no way of reconciling them. Hard as this was, he had to make his choice.

His choice. Not his father's.

He took a deep breath, put down his quill and stood up, making his way out of the Potions classroom, Granger and Pansy immediately scrambling up to join him.

Snape stopped speaking and frowned as the rest of the class turned around. "Where do you three think you're going?"

"Out, sir," Pansy said shortly, and they didn't pause to listen to Snape's indignant exclamations.

"Are you sure about this?" Pansy asked as they approached the hospital.

"Yes."

Pansy swallowed hard and put her hand on his shoulder, stopping him at the hospital door. "If you bond with him, it's for life. The man who cast the spell is gone. He can't undo it. You can't undo it."

"I know."

Granger spoke up hesitantly. "He's... he's not dying yet. He's just sick. He could get better, he's got Healers looking after him, they could find a cure-"

"They won't."

"Draco..." said Pansy.

"Pansy, I can't stay with my father, not after everything that's happened. I have to do this."

Pansy nodded, letting go of him and motioning them into the hospital. "So, still ready to be my contact?" she said with a half-smile.

"Still ready."

They entered the hospital wing and Weasley looked up from the Charms text he was reading, and Draco had the distinct pleasure of seeing Weasley's mouth drop open as he visibly worked out what it meant that Draco was in the hospital without any disguise or concealment.

Harry opened his eyes as Draco approached his bed, and stared at him in slight puzzlement.

"Yeah, it's actually me," Draco said, amused, realizing that Harry was probably confused as hell trying to remember whether it was really Weasley next to him or a polyjuiced Draco.

"What are you doing here?"

"Saving your arse," Draco said grimly.

"But somebody could see you-"

"Yeah, they probably could. Let me connect the dots for you," Draco said briskly. "I'm going to re-enter the bond. So people knowing I'm visiting you in the hospital is actually not my biggest concern right now."

Harry sat up quickly and Draco stepped forward to catch him. "Careful. I don't particularly want you to spew on me on our wedding day."

"Draco, I can't let you-"

"Shut up. I'm assuming you still have the bond book?" Draco asked Granger, and she nodded, scrambling to find it in her schoolbag and flipping it open.

"Do you want - erm, I mean, there's different versions for-"

"Whatever gets this over and done with the fastest."

Harry was shaking his head stubbornly. "I can't let you do this."

"You pillock, I want to."

"You don't have to do this because you feel sorry for-"

"Bloody hell, Harry. D'you think I'm proposing some kind of extended pity-fuck? How long have you known me, d'you really think I'd selflessly sacrifice myself just because I feel bad for you? What kind of Gryffindor do you take me for?"

"You don't want this. If I weren't ill, you wouldn't be thinking of doing it."

"Maybe. But you are. And I want to help. For me, because I like having you around."

Harry looked down. "This isn't... this isn't the way marriage is supposed to be."

"Stop thinking like a bloody Muggle," Draco said impatiently.

Harry rubbed his eyes wearily.

Draco sat back. "You can't believe I'm choosing this, can you?"

"No. Because you're not."

Draco scowled at him, then shook his shoulder in annoyance. "Stupid fucking Gryffindor. You won't believe me, and you won't let me do this, and you'll die because you're too proud to take help that's offered. And even if I do convince you to let me do it, you'll think for the rest of our lives that I only did it to save you." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking for a moment, then turned to Granger.

"Granger. Give that here." He plucked the book from her hands and started flipping through it.

"What-" Harry began.

"You won't believe me unless I have all the right flowery words, so all right. I'll say them. And maybe you'll get it through your thick head that I actually want this."

Harry was looking at him with a faintly stunned expression as Draco glanced over the most appropriate spell, quickly skimming through the words to familiarize himself with them.

"Here. Granger, hold it up - actually, no, Weasley, hold the book, Granger, you're good at Truthspell Charms, aren't you?" Granger nodded uncertainly, and Draco gave her a curt nod, taking Harry's hands in his, and waited for her to cast the spell.

"Lumos Veritas," she said, and a soft glow appeared at the end of her wand, slowly floating itself over to Draco.

"Get that thing out of my face," he said impatiently, and Granger obligingly moved it so that it lit them from above.

"You're really-" Harry began.

"Yes, for God's sake. Now listen up, because I'm only ever going to say this once." He took a deep breath and began, gazing steadily into Harry's eyes.

I bond myself to you. I give you all that I am, for the rest of our lives.
I bond myself to you. I do so freely, and with no regrets.
I bond myself to you, because I wish to spend my life with you.
I bond myself to you, because I love you.
I bond myself to you.

There was a profound stillness as he finished, and he could feel Pansy and Granger and Weasley's incredulous stares, but they didn't matter. What mattered was that Harry was gazing at him in awe, his mouth hanging slightly open and his face gradually losing its unhealthy pallor, and a trickle of his emotions was starting to flow from him to Draco.

"There. D'you believe me now, you stupid git?" But he didn't really need to ask the question, Draco realized, as the trickle of emotions became a torrent - a lot of very strong feelings Draco really couldn't sort out, with his own in such an uproar, but looming large among them was stunned wonder as he realized how Draco felt about him.

"I... I guess so," Harry said unsteadily.

"Granger." Draco nodded at their hands, still clasped together. "Do the-"

"No wait," said Harry, and Draco blew out his breath impatiently. "Ron, can you tilt the book this way?"

"You don't have to say anything, the bond's already become active again-"

"I know, but I'm not going to get married twice without saying a word," Harry said a little waspishly, and nodded at Weasley to hold the book so he could see it. He took a steadying breath, and began the incantation.

I bond myself to you. I give you all that I am, for the rest of our lives.
I bond myself to you. I-

Harry paused, looked up at the Truthlight, gave Draco a rueful smile. "I don't do so freely. But I would if I could, with no regrets." And he grinned, apparently catching Draco's shock as the Truthlight shone on without a flicker.

I bond myself to you, because I wish to spend my life with you.
I bond myself to you, because I love you.
I bond myself to you.

They all let out their breaths, and Draco nodded at Granger. She pointed her wand at their wrists.

"Lux Vinculum," she said softly, and the band of knotwork appeared, shining brightly around both of their wrists. Draco squeezed Harry's hand, a tight feeling in his chest as Harry's eyes filled with tears, and ran his free hand up to Harry's cheek, suddenly at a complete loss for words.

Granger quietly waved her wand and the shining band disappeared, and Draco pulled Harry into his arms, both of them trembling from the emotion and the relief of a bond finally restored. Feeling Harry's heart beating against his, both hearts racing - as if they'd both just caught the Snitch, he thought vaguely, and almost laughed out loud at the image.

They held each other for a long moment, then the profound silence was broken by a very audible sniffle.

"Weasley?" Pansy chuckled, her own voice tight, and Weasley quickly wiped his eyes.

"Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly. "Always cry at weddings."

ooooooo

"All right, well," Esposito said at the end of the day, putting down her wand and making a couple of notations on a scroll. "It seems everything's in order."

"The bond's all right?" Harry asked, sitting up on the hospital bed.

"Yes, fine," she said absently, still writing. "It might have been slightly more prudent to wait until I could help you through it, but it's not actually that difficult a spell to cast, for willing participants." She turned towards Draco, standing at the window. "You did a good job, Mr. Malfoy."

"Thank you."

"And I don't just mean the spell-casting itself," she added pointedly. Draco nodded, slightly uncomfortable. "It was a good idea for you to repeat the incantation as well, Mr. Potter," she added. "It wasn't necessary, but it probably helped to strengthen and stabilize the bond a little more."

"Oh," Harry said, a bit surprised.

"Not to mention it probably helped the non-magical aspect of all of this." She gave them both a warm smile. "Well. I'll be off, then. Best of luck to you both. You know how to reach me if you need to."

"Thank you, Healer," Harry said.

"You're welcome, gentlemen," she said, grinning at them and shouldering her bag before heading off.

"How do you feel?" Harry asked, getting up and joining Draco at the windowsill, putting his arms around him and pulling Draco back to rest against him. Marvelling at the glory that was being able to move around without needing to puke his guts out.

Draco nodded absently, staring out at the Quidditch pitch.

"No regrets?"

"No. Well... not about what I did. Just that it had to be like this."

"You know if your father activates that mark, it's going to-"

"Yeah, I know."

"Hermione'll help all she can. She's - if anyone can get you through it-"

"I know." He sighed. "How long do you think it'll take Dumbledore to get Aurors in here?"

"Not long. You're still sure you want to go through with that?"

"The sooner I tell everything I know about Voldemort and his followers, the more pointless it'll be for them to kill me."

"But are you sure you can do that without betraying your father?"

Draco heaved a deep breath and shook his head.

"Do you want me there? I might be able to help keep the Aurors from digging where you don't want them to."

"All right."

There was a short pause. "You still believe in your father's cause, though," Harry said quietly.

Draco sighed. "I don't even know any more," he admitted slowly. "If nothing else, it's hard to have a Muggle-born pseudo-officiate at your wedding and not feel a little kindly towards her."

Harry chuckled. "I suppose so."

"I'll never be a big fan of the Muggle-born community, though."

"I know," Harry nodded. "You... you know that I still have to-"

"I know. You'll have to do... what you have to do. Just not right away." He swallowed hard. "I'll help you, when the time comes. I learned a lot from my father. It'll make things more difficult for them."

"Are you sure?"

"I didn't bond to you so I could get killed if you die. I didn't even bond to you in order to wait a few years and have you get killed when it can't affect me any more."

"You're not into this kind of thing, are you? This war and hero thing?"

"Not much, no."

"Neither am I."

Draco gave an offended little huff. "Please. You're the most annoyingly heroic person I know."

Harry laughed and rested his chin on Draco's shoulder, looking out at the pitch, smiling as Draco moved his head to the side in a clear signal to Harry to kiss him.

This felt so right, Draco in his arms like this, he thought as he nuzzled the side of his neck. It wasn't that he thought they were going to live happily ever after; there was no such thing. And it wasn't that Draco had suddenly become convinced of the rightness of Harry's side in this war. He was still reluctant, still ambivalent about the whole thing. But now that winning involved his own welfare, Draco would be a good ally for their side. A good mind, practical, and fairly strong and skilled at magic. He'd also give Harry that extra bonus of the solid base of their bond to steady him. And Harry figured he should probably look up that whole "some magic is stronger with a bond" thing that Pomfrey had mentioned way back in September.

Harry frowned thoughtfully mid-nuzzle. What a... Slytherin way of looking at his new spouse.

He tightened his arms around Draco and smiled as Draco made a vague sound of contentment, and made himself dismiss thoughts of strategy and war and just let himself enjoy the moment. After so much trouble, so much conflict, such a bizarre history between the two of them, being together again like this felt as right as anything ever had. Because somehow, in the most unexpected person, he'd found exactly what he needed. Somebody to love. Somebody to protect, to fight for.

That was a little more Gryffindor-like, he decided, then smiled. Gryffindor and Slytherin impulses. Like Gryffindor and Slytherin people, they didn't necessarily have to be at odds.

And somehow, the future actually didn't seem that daunting any more.