Decorus Draco

Chapter 5 : Draco's Decision

Harry sat on the cold, hard floor for several minutes, trying to process what he had just heard. He was sure he had heard Snape say that Draco was his soul mate. Was that even possible? As a child, he had heard girls at school talk about true love and soul mates who were destined to be together for all eternity, but he had dismissed that as another silly thing girls say like birthdays have to be remembered, or it's important to be in time for a meeting.

Was it even possible that soul mates existed? Sure, he was feeling an abnormal attraction to the finicky feline at the moment, but he had put that down to weak magical control and strong hormones. Could it be anything more than that? Could there be another reason why he was so attracted to the blond brat?

Harry shook his head and got up slowly. Ron was probably going to kill him when he found out, but being from an old magical family and being one of Harry's best and most trusted friends made Ron the best equipped to answer Harry's questions.

~~~~~

Harry was bombarded with questions the moment he entered the Common Room.

"What did Dumbledore want, Harry?"

"Is everything alright, mate?"

"Calm down, everything's okay," Harry said to Ron and Hermione, who had both jumped off the couch the moment he stepped through the door.

"Was it about your magical weakness?" Hermione asked. "Are your lessons with Snape helping?"

"It was nothing," Harry said impatiently. "Now can we please drop it? I'm tired and I'm going to bed."

He walked quickly towards the dormitory, before either of his friends could stop him. Behind him, Harry could hear Ron and Hermione exchanging quick goodbyes as Ron hurried after him.

"Harry, wait up," Ron called.

Harry walked over to his bed and motioned Ron to join him.

"Is everything alright, mate?" Ron asked, sitting on the Harry's bed beside him. "You look a little off."

Harry laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. "Ron, have you heard of soul mates?"

Ron visibly started, opened and shut his mouth a few times before choking out, "Soul mates?"

"Yeah, what do you know about it?"

Ron started thoughtfully at the ceiling for a few minutes before he replied. "Only the stories I heard from Mum as a child, Harry. Mum used to say that magical creatures can be bound to another for life. Their souls complement each other perfectly and they can find happiness only with each other. In some cases, a magical creature may even die if separated from its soul mate."

Harry, who had been staring intently at Ron, absorbing this information, now said, "But this only happens with magical creatures, not humans?"

"Well, there have been cases where a magical creature has had a wizard or a witch or even a squib as its soul mate. As far as I know, things are a little more complicated then. The magical creature is bound for life to the human, but the human feels no corresponding bond. I mean to say, the human may be drawn to the creature but can still resist, but the creature will be unable to resist the human's touch."

"Really, that's interesting," said Harry, a small smile creeping up his face. "So, theoretically, if I was the soul mate of a magical creature, he would be unable to resist me?"

"He?" asked Ron, aghast.

Harry's smile promptly dropped as a guilty look crossed his face. "Or she," he added.

Ron stared at Harry, his eyes widening in comprehension. "He? Him? Of course! He's a magical creature. He? No, Harry! He's your soul mate?"

"Hermione told you?" asked Harry, annoyed.

"You told Hermione?" Ron yelled back. "You told her and you didn't tell me? Thanks a lot, Harry; I suppose I know who's your best friend now!"

Harry snorted. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you, Ron. I knew you'd get all upset about it and not support me."

"Me get upset?" Ron yelled again. "Why would I do that? Because it's highly inappropriate and it's wrong because of his history with your family? Because he's practically--"

Ron stopped suddenly, seeing Harry's eyes narrow in annoyance, and feeling the temperature in the room drop a few degrees. Ron gulped.

"Oookay, so maybe I might have got a little upset," Ron said, his voice dropping. "But Harry, are you sure? I mean, I know about your history with him, but even then..."

"We're soul mates," Harry said flatly. "I heard it straight from Snape."

"But how? How did this happen so suddenly? You've known him a while. Why hasn't anything happened before this?"

"I suppose this thing between us has always been there, but I've just started to feel the pull towards him. Hermione thinks it's because of what happened to me over the summer. She thinks I'm just too weak right now to resist him."

"But Harry, he could be dangerous. What happens when he transforms? He's not even human then!"

"I've been with him when he changed, and I wasn't hurt," Harry said, defensively.

"But you could have been."

"Well, then, that's a risk I'm willing to take. Look, Ron, we're soul mates, and I don't really care what anyone says or if people think it's inappropriate. I want him and I'm going after him. Now, are you going to help me woo him or not?"

"Woo him?" Ron repeated, dumbly.

"Yeah, it's not like he's going to suddenly agree to be with me. He doesn't exactly want to be with me that way, you know."

"Woo him?"

"Yes, Ron, I plan to woo him. Are you with me on this or not?" Harry's voice had an edge to it.

Ron made a strangled sound and fell back on Harry's bed. "I suppose," he said, finally.

Harry grinned. "Thanks mate! I knew I could count on you."

Ron snorted.

~~~~~

Harry awoke the next morning after a night filled with unusual dreams. He dreamt of Sirius in his Animagus form, playing with him in an open field at the break of dawn, bounding with joy and barking happily. All of a sudden, Padfoot jumped over a hill and into the veiled archway that had suddenly appeared. Harry cried out, not believing it was happening again, and he sank to his knees and let the grief overwhelm him. He was surprised by a soft nuzzling against his cheek, and looked up to see Draco, in his Cattus form, cuddling up to him. Harry sniffed and hugged the furry creature, who purred contentedly. Soon the Decorus began licking Harry's face and Harry sighed deeply, enjoying the warmth and comfort he suddenly felt. Draco began licking Harry's neck, and somewhere during the dream, he had turned back into his human form. He continued to caress and kiss Harry, sending shivers down the Gryffindor's spine. Harry's dream continued in this fashion, until he awoke, grasping his sheets, his skin still tingling from the amazing dream touches. Harry stretched and clambered out of bed. He smiled to himself as he thought about his plan. He was a man on a mission, and nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted."

~~~~~

Harry stepped out of the shower, doused himself with aftershave and cologne, and carefully picked out clothes which matched and showed off his slightly athletic build. He carefully combed his hair, charming it into a very nice looking style.

A couple of catcalls and whistles greeted Harry as he stepped into the Common Room.

"Hot date today, Harry?" Seamus asked.

Harry smiled and shrugged his shoulders, while Ron scowled from the sofa across the room.

"I'm ready for breakfast," said Harry. "Any of you coming along?"

~~~~~

Harry stepped into the Great Hall in high spirits. Now that he knew that Draco would probably find it difficult to resist him, he was ready to launch a full scale seduction on the unsuspecting Slytherin.

Harry sat at the Gryffindor table and had just begun buttering his toast when the whispers reached him.

"Malfoy will probably be expelled for it. He actually attacked a student!"

"What did you say?" Harry hissed at Dennis Creevey, who was sitting across the table. Dennis had been animatedly talking to Eliot Barnes, a classmate of his.

"Harry, you won't believe this. Looks like you'll finally be rid of Malfoy. He's some kind of freak; he turned into a monster last night and pushed Zabini into his room, and Zabini's screams could be heard for hours after."

"He what?" asked Harry, feeling his anger rise.

"He's done for, Harry. He's gone too far this time, attacking a fellow student. Not even his father will be able to buy his way out of this one if Zabini files a complaint."

"Well, Zabini's not likely to complain, now, is he?" Harry yelled at the startled Gryffindor, getting up from his seat. He stormed over to the Slytherin table, where, surprisingly, Draco and Zabini were morosely picking at their breakfast. Harry really expected them to have been happier after their supposed exploits the previous night.

"Zabini, I warned you," Harry yelled.

Zabini hastily jumped out of his seat. "I can explain, Potter. It wasn't my fault at all. Draco turned into...into the...into that cat thing and he purred, and I couldn't resist. I swear, Potter, I had broken up with him, but I didn't know what I was doing when he came to me and purred."

Harry's face was red with anger, but his voice was icy and hard. "I have one question for you, Zabini," Harry said, loud enough for the entire Hall to hear. "Did you spend the night with Draco?"

There was a silence around the room as the entire student body waited for Zabini's response.

"Yes," Zabini spluttered, but--"

There was a sudden whoosh of wind, and Zabini went flying into the wall with a thump.

"Draco's mine. And if you ever touch him again, I will kill you. And that goes for the rest of you as well," Harry yelled, pointing his wand around the entire hall. "Stay away from Draco, he's MINE!"

The enchanted ceiling above the Great Hall had darkened and chunks of hail now began to fall upon the astounded students. A quick spell from Dumbledore stopped the hail. "Mr. Potter," Dumbledore began, but stopped abruptly.

Before Harry could wonder why the Headmaster had stopped, he felt himself being lifted right off the ground.

Draco had turned into his Cattus form, and was holding Harry by the collar, about three feet above the ground.

~~~~~

Professor Snape started to get up, but was held back by a signal from the Headmaster. Snape turned to Professor Dumbledore, who was staring at Draco appreciatively. Snape looked around to find the entire Great Hall staring fixedly at the Decorus, love and lust clouding their vision.

"Damn that Decorus," said Snape, closing his eyes tightly so as to avoid getting caught in Draco's charm. "Like father, like son," he grumbled.

~~~~~

"I've had it with you, Potter, I've told you before, leave Blaise and me alone," Draco growled, still holding Harry above the ground.

Harry struggled for a bit, then reached down and covered Draco's hands with his own. Draco promptly released Harry and backed away, a shocked look on his face.

Harry grinned. "Don't try to fight it, Draco," he said softly, walking towards Draco.

"Stop right there," Draco whispered, brandishing his wand.

Harry stopped and looked earnestly at Draco. "Look, Draco, can we talk about it? I know about you and about...about our...about this thing between us."

Draco paled visibly. "How did you--"

"It doesn't matter. Can we just...can we just explore this? Give me a chance to win you over. Let me woo you."

"Did you just say that you wanted to woo me, Potter? Do you even know what the word means? Have you ever wooed anyone before?"

"Of course I have," Harry said quickly.

"Successfully?" asked Draco, appearing genuinely curious.

Harry scowled. He fidgeted for a few minutes before continuing, "So, can I then? Can I woo you?"

A wicked grin crossed Draco's face. "Only if Blaise woos me as well."

"What?" yelled Harry and Zabini at the same time, the latter having just got up off the floor after being slammed into the wall. Harry turned to glare at Zabini.

"I'm not going to...I don't want to woo him Potter," Zabini began, but stopped when Draco turned to glare at him.

"What did you say, Blaise?" Draco asked, his voice icy.

"I mean, I..." Zabini stammered, looking from Harry to Draco as if trying to decide which was the lesser evil. "Oh, for crying out loud, Draco," he snapped, "I'm trapped between a co...I mean a rock and a hard place here. If I stay with you, Potter kills me, if I break up with you, you kill me. What am I supposed to do anyway?"

"I'll tell you exactly what you're supposed to do," Draco replied smugly. "You and Potter both get a chance to woo me, based on certain conditions I set."

"But I--" Harry began, but Draco cut him off.

"No buts, Potter. It's either both of you wooing me or neither of you. Do you accept?"

Harry thought about it for a minute, before sulkily asking, "What are the conditions?"

"First of all, neither of you can kill or even hurt each other. If either of you is hurt even accidentally, you lose."

"Lose?" asked Harry. "Lose what?"

"Lose the chance to woo me, of course," replied Draco, still smug. "If you lose, Blaise gets to be with me."

Blaise seemed interested in Draco's idea. "When you say we aren't allowed to hurt each other, does that include public humiliation?"

"Of course not!" said Draco, shocked. "Every Slytherin knows that public humiliation is perfectly acceptable, no matter what the game or the stakes."

"Good!" said Zabini, his smile fading only after noticing Harry's glare.

"So," said Draco, "Do you both accept?"

"Yes," said Zabini cheerfully, while Harry merely nodded.

"Great!" exclaimed Draco. "Let the wooing begin."

~~~~~

By now, Draco had returned to his human form, and the entire Great Hall slowly came back to its senses. Professor Dumbledore stood up and his eyes swept the room. "Five students down," he said, as he conjured stretchers for the students who had fainted after Harry's initial announcement.

Harry walked thoughtfully back to the Gryffindor table, only to find that Ron was one of the students who had fainted, and had been taken to the hospital wing.

"Ron fainted?" Harry asked Hermione, who had a frown on her face.

"Yes, what did you tell him yesterday?"

"I told him all about Draco, and he agreed to help me woo him," Harry said, feeling annoyed.

"Well, he seemed pretty surprised when you proclaimed that Malfoy was yours. I think his exact words before he fainted were 'What? How? Him?'"

Harry shook his head. "I suppose we'd better go see him in the hospital wing. Coming?"

Hermione nodded, picked up her bag, and left the Great Hall with Harry.

~~~~~