Somnio Salvus

The sun was fully up; it painted the landscape a pale gold, punctuated with the deep shadows of early morning. The bright light burned Draco's tired eyes and he closed them, turning his face to the sun so that its soft Autumnal rays warmed his face against the sharp wind.

He was battling with a most peculiar mix of emotions. Echoes of the conversation with his father still rang in his ears, occasionally causing a painful twisting sensation in his heart. He was vaguely suspicious that the grief of that final parting had not really hit him yet - it had been largely masked by fear at the time, and now he was just so swamped by relief...

He focused on that positive feeling for a moment. Relief...it's all over, he thought, and he wasn't just thinking of the ordeal at the Copernicus. The knots of dread that had slowly been forming inside him over the last few weeks were gone. He no longer needed to worry about announcing his change of faith - it was done. He also no longer needed to agonise over what to do about Harry and the Somnio Salvus potion. That was all out in the open, too.

He yawned contentedly and rested his head against Harry's back, holding him tighter in a brief, but sincere hug. He felt Harry's hand squeezing his own in silent reply, and a comforting glow spread through his insides like hot Butterbeer. He sighed and relaxed, wishing he could give in to the overwhelming tiredness; but it probably wasn't wise to fall asleep on a broomstick, even when somebody else was steering.

He forced his eyes open and squinted into the cloudless sky, watching a few birds gliding across the clear blue backdrop. Then he let his gaze drop to the undulating hills below, mesmerised by his and Harry's shadow racing along over rocks and valleys. He frowned slightly - something bothered him about that.

He sat up abruptly, upsetting the balance of the broom so that it wobbled alarmingly. Harry righted it, then looked over his shoulder in concern.

'What's wrong?' he shouted over the roar of wind.

Draco pointed frantically at the sky. 'There's no cloud cover! We shouldn't be flying; it's broad daylight. We'll be seen!'

Harry's eyes opened wide and he swore emphatically. He gestured to Draco to hold on, then leaned forward and pitched into a steep dive. Draco felt his stomach lurch. He was used to sharp manoeuvres on a broomstick, but only when he was in control. He clung to Harry and held his breath as he watched a sunny, green patch of hillside getting rapidly closer. Then he felt his feet hit the ground hard and he tumbled off the rear end of the broom, landing sprawled on his back.

Harry skidded a few yards along the ground before sliding off sideways and staggering to find his balance. He turned and jogged back to Draco, helping him to his feet with an apologetic smile.

'Sorry - I've never landed a broom with a passenger before. Forgot to compensate. You ok?' he asked sheepishly.

'Yeah. How about next time you let me drive?' suggested Draco brightly, dusting himself down.

Harry giggled and clutched his Firebolt protectively. 'Oh, I don't know about that. Are you insured?'

'What's in-shored?'

'Never mind.' Harry squinted up at the steadily brightening sky. 'So now what?'

Draco shrugged. 'I don't know. I suppose we wait until it's safe to take off again. Maybe it'll cloud over later on,' he said doubtfully.

'So we might have to just hang around here until it gets dark?' moaned Harry.

'Either that or we start walking,' sighed Draco.

Harry gave him a withering look. 'Ah well,' he sighed, 'look on the bright side. At least you realised while we're still in the arse-end of nowhere. Just imagine if we'd started flying over Manchester! It'd spoil our dramatic escape a bit, if we got arrested by the Ministry!'

Draco frowned. 'What if we've already been spotted?'

'We haven't. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement always seems to know straight away if I break a law. We'd be swamped with owls by now if anyone had seen us. Pity, really,' he added wistfully. 'If there's one thing we could really do with it's an owl.'

'I don't know...I think I'd prefer a Portkey to the Great Hall in time for breakfast. His stomach growled in agreement and they both laughed, but suddenly Harry's face froze and he pointed at the sky.

'Oh, hell!' he exclaimed. 'Looks like I spoke too soon. This could be from the Ministry, to tell us that we're under arrest, or at least expelled.'

'I don't think so,' replied Draco, squinting up at the bright sky. 'It looks like a school owl.'

Sure enough, as the bird flapped its way towards Harry, the Hogwarts crest came into view, on the back of the letter it was carrying. Draco extended his arm for the owl to land on, and Harry opened the letter.

'It's from Lupin!' he exclaimed.

'Lupin? The werewolf?' replied Draco fearfully.

'Yes...but don't say it like that! He's on our side,' scolded Harry. 'Listen to this...

Harry looked at Draco sheepishly. 'Oops. Too late...' he giggled.

Draco grinned, taking the letter from him and turning it blank side up. 'I don't suppose you've got a quill?' he asked doubtfully. Harry was dressed only in a shirt and jeans, having left his mutilated cloak dangling from the hotel window. He didn't look as if he had any useful stationery concealed about his person. However, he shifted uncomfortably at Draco's query, before reaching inside his shirt and producing a swan-feather quill.

Draco stared in surprise, recognising it immediately. 'You've been carrying that around with you? You are just too cute for words,' he said in disbelief.

Harry blushed. 'I just brought it for luck,' he muttered. 'Anyway it's no good to us - we haven't got any ink,' he added, trying to divert the conversation away from his own sentimentality.

Draco winked at him and groped in his pocket, withdrawing a small glass bottle. Harry caught a glimpse of an all-too-familiar logo on the label.

'I don't believe you...you stole the ink-bottle from the hotel room?' gasped Harry.

'I didn't steal it! Look...it says complimentary right there. They expect you to take them! I got the toiletries, too. I would have had the bathrobes if we hadn't been travelling light.'

'In a race against time to escape with our lives...you stopped to steal the soap?'

'I'm a Slytherin! I'm resourceful, okay? Now do you want to write this letter or shall I do it?'

Harry gave him an exasperated look, then chuckled in spite of himself, shaking his head as he accepted the bottle. He scrawled a note to Lupin, giving a rough estimate of their position and reassurances that they were both perfectly fine, then he folded it and gave it to the owl. He stroked its head and it hooted softly, taking off and soaring northwards as Harry and Draco watched.

'How long do you think it'll take to reach the castle?' asked Harry.

'Hours, I expect,' said Draco gloomily. 'I'm starving - do you think there are any Muggle café's around here?'

'Maybe. Got any Muggle money on you?'

'Ah.'

'Me neither.'

***

'I hope that owl doesn't take too long,' murmured Harry with a slight frown. He had been pacing around fretfully ever since the bird had departed. He kept trying to look at his watch, which he wasn't wearing. 'I don't want Lupin and Dumbledore and everyone to worry for no reason - they'll be frantic by now. And there's already a team of Aurors out looking for you.'

'For me? Really?' asked Draco. Somehow it had never occurred to him that anyone other than Harry might try to find him.

'Oh. Of course - you don't know about anything that happened after the Portkey episode...'

Harry lowered himself to the ground and stretched out in the weak sunshine, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he related the discussions following the botched abduction. Draco sank to his knees and listened in silence as he explained about Snape and the Dark Mark, Moody's search party and Professor Flitwick - who was probably still busy trying to design a long-range locating charm from scratch. Draco felt strangely choked.

He struggled to think of something to say, then struggled even more to actually say it.

'So - those Aurors. They've gone out to search Voldemort's known hideouts, where there might still be Death Eaters at large...they're risking their lives...for me?'

Harry gave him a sympathetic smile. 'Well, yeah. That's how it works.'

'That's how it works...on the good side,' added Draco. Harry nodded. He was smiling, but Draco thought it looked like a rather sad smile. 'What is it?' he asked, softly.

Harry sighed deeply and inched closer to Draco. 'I think you ought to know...there's someone else who's risking his life for you. The reason we both got out of there alive is...uh...Well it's your father. He let me go so I could get you out.'

Draco gaped at Harry, stunned into silence. Father let Harry go...to save me...? He began to stammer softly. 'But...but he could have handed you over to Voldemort. Oh, Merlin...Voldemort! When he realises what Father did...'

Harry placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 'Maybe he won't realise. He was locked in a magic-proof basement the whole time - he had no way of knowing. Plus, when he gets out he'll find one of his disciples dead, and another one calmly droning on about how he hates being a Death Eater and just wants to go home. I think that ought to distract him for a while. Besides, I'm sure he'll be pleased with your dad for letting him out...'

Draco wasn't convinced, but his doubts about his Father's ability to get away with what he had done were nothing compared to the shock that he had done it at all. After the history that he had pieced together from the Daily Prophet archive, he had thought that nothing in the world could ever induce his father to work against the Dark Lord.

Draco stared blindly through rising tears. Harry put his arm around him, murmuring something in a concerned tone, but Draco didn't hear him. It was all too much...the final parting from his father had been bad enough but now there was the possibility that his father would die. For me...because of me...

It had all started with the Somnio Salvus potion, because he had wanted to make his father proud. Finding out about the part Lucius had played in Voldemort's rise to power, deciding to join Dumbledore in the approaching conflict...falling for Harry...everything that had happened...it all came down to the potion. It had seemed like such a cunning idea at the time...

But no matter what was in store for his father, he couldn't bring himself to regret making the potion. Deep down, below the shock and grief, below the confusion, deeper even than the heartfelt wish that he had knocked Harry out with his Herbology textbook to stop him going to Hogsmeade...was the solid warmth of the knowledge that he had done the right thing. It lay firmly in his heart where nobody could touch it, and he felt strangely safe because it was there. Not safe from harm, or from danger, but safe from doubt.

He gazed at Harry through his tears and forced a few words past the lump in his throat. 'This must be how it feels to be you,' he croaked. Harry gave him a puzzled smile. Of course - he couldn't know what he meant, and Draco was in no condition to explain. He rested his head against Harry's shoulder and allowed all the bottled-up emotions of the last few days...no, weeks...to escape as quiet, weary sobs. Harry said nothing, but held him until the grief subsided, and then for a little longer.

***

Some time later, Harry and Draco were trudging to the top of the nearest hill. Harry had decided that it would be easier to spot their rescuers, when they arrived, if they had a good view of the surrounding area. However it was quite a tall hill and they were both very tired. They paused when they reached a part-collapsed old stone wall, and sat down for a rest.

Draco looked longingly at Harry's Firebolt.

'Such a waste - a perfectly good, top-of-the-range broomstick that is absolutely no use to us whatsoever. The cruel irony here is that we haven't seen a soul on these god-forsaken hills. We could have been flying all this time and nobody would have seen,' he moaned.

'Yes, but if we had flown, no doubt the place would have been crawling with Muggles. It's called Murphy's Law,' sighed Harry.

'Who's Murphy?'

'Some complete bastard.'

Draco snorted, then occupied himself by probing gingerly at the bump on the side of his head. 'Ow...that still hurts. That watery eyed little git...I wish I'd had a chance to return the favour before we left,' he growled.

'At least he didn't get you full in the face,' said Harry, carefully prodding at his sore nose. 'I thought my whole head was going to explode.' He turned to face Draco, who appeared to notice for the first time that he had a cut lip and the beginnings of a splendid bruise across one cheek. He winced sympathetically, tracing Harry's abused cheekbone lightly with one finger. Then his expression changed to thoughtful recollection, and he absently touched his own cheekbone for a moment.

'How did you do it?' he asked.

'Do what?' said Harry, confused.

'Keep me out of your dream. You said you'd found a way, and I know it worked - but you didn't exactly give me a chance to enquire further.'

'Oh,' said Harry, taking a moment to adjust to the unexpected topic of conversation. 'It was a spell I found in a journal. I didn't really expect it to work; it was invented by Barnabus Botch.'

Draco gave a short, incredulous laugh. 'You're joking! That old fraud? I wouldn't have thought one of his spells would protect you from so much as a bad smell!'

'I didn't, either,' admitted Harry. 'But it worked only too well...' Thoughts of Occlumency lessons...the Hall of Prophecies...and Sirius...threatened to return, but he pushed them aside. One day he would tell Draco about all that, but this was not the time.

Shaking himself slightly he smiled at Draco and drew his wand. 'Anyway, I only used it because I was angry with you. I didn't know...umm...well, I didn't trust you. But I trust you now...' He pointed his wand at his own chest in demonstration.

'Finite Incantatem.' His eyes never left Draco's as the air around him shimmered like a heat haze, then settled back to normal.

Draco's eyes widened as he asked, 'So now if I were to...I'd be able to...?'

Harry nodded.

'I won't, though! I should never have, in the first place,' Draco added hurriedly.

'I'm glad you did,' said Harry quietly.

Draco seemed to struggle to find his voice. '...Oh?' he choked.

Harry cleared his throat nervously. 'Yeah...I mean, for one thing I wouldn't have been able to find you without it. I, umm...I used the last of it to get into your dream last night. Sorry about that.'

Draco recovered his voice. 'Oh, right. That's ok. I mean that's more than ok - you used it to save my life.' He coughed and ran his fingers through his hair. 'It's fine, I won't need it any more anyway.'

'No...you won't,' confirmed Harry softly, praying that Draco would grasp his meaning. Then there was a heavy silence, loaded with expectation.

Draco stared at him as his words sank in. 'Oh! I uh...I won't?' he gulped.

'No,' murmured Harry, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Draco's amazed stare gave way to a tender smile and Harry smiled back, uncertain what else to do. Draco inched closer until they were almost touching...

Harry's heart began to pound as he realised that Draco was going to kiss him. He began to breathe faster and all his muscles tensed. When Draco put his arm around him he nearly jumped out of his skin. Get a grip, Potter...it's not like you haven't done this before. Just like in the dreams...keep calm...breathe...ok. I can do this...it'll be just the same...He closed his eyes. Oh God it's better! It's much better...it's real...it's...Mmmm...

He ceased to care about the difference between dreams and reality, forgetting every experience he had shared with Draco under the influence of the Somnio Salvus potion. Gloriously intense as it had seemed at the time, it faded into pallid insignificance as Draco slid his fingers into his hair and pulled him closer, lightly touching his lips to Harry's with a sigh.

The world seemed to dissolve around Harry as he wrapped his arms around Draco's waist and pulled him closer. He stroked Draco's mouth more firmly with his own, then gasped with pleasure as Draco planted short, soft kisses over his bottom lip.

Suddenly shy, he parted his lips slightly and wondered if Draco would mind if...ah...no, he doesn't mind...Draco's tongue sought out his own and they met with a burst of arousal that made Harry's breath catch in his throat. He slid his hands down Draco's back, pulling him onto his lap and kissing him desperately. Draco was moaning softly and grinding against him - it was nearly unbearable. Harry had never known urgency like it. He tentatively began to work on Draco's belt buckle, throwing his head back in bliss as Draco licked and sucked at a sensitive spot on his neck.

He fumbled with Draco's zip and managed to get it open at about the same time as Draco yanked his shirt half-off and started biting his shoulder. He tugged at Draco's hair and pulled him close for another kiss, gently sliding his other hand under Draco's waistband as he did so. He felt Draco's hands frantically tug at his own zip and then...

'POP!'

Both boys froze, gazing at each other in horror. Slowly they turned towards the source of the sound...to find Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks gaping at them speechlessly.

Tonks' face began to quiver with suppressed amusement, but Remus was the first to find his voice.

'Well, I'm glad to see you're alright,' he said casually. Tonks gave a faint snort but managed to keep a straight face. Kingsley had to turn away, though.

'When you're ready...we'll just be around the other side of the hill preparing a Portkey,' said Lupin, trying to look anywhere except directly at Harry and Draco. With that they walked away. Harry thought he heard muffled hoots of laughter as soon as they disappeared behind a rocky outcrop.

He swiftly withdrew his hand from Draco's boxers and looked at him sheepishly.

'It must have been an express owl,' he said apologetically.

Draco looked more disappointed than embarrassed as he climbed off Harry's lap and began to reassemble himself. 'Hmm,' he agreed thoughtfully. 'Either that, or this is the work of that Murphy person...'

Their peals of laughter combined with those of the concealed members of the Order of the Phoenix, and rang out across the deserted valley.