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Chapter Text

Draco felt his stomach drop to his feet when his aunt and her lap dog dragged in a boy with a disfigured face. It took every ounce of concentration he possessed not to give away the fact that they had Harry Bloody Potter kneeling on his father's favourite rug. 

Draco’s parents were alive with ecstasy, with Lucius Malfoy convinced that catching Harry Potter would put him back in favour with Lord Voldemort. But Draco, for the first time in his life, was almost speechless. 

"Well, Draco?" asked Lucius Malfoy, expectantly. The avid tone in his voice reminded Draco that his father was less and less the man he’d once admired and  strove to measure up to. "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?" 

"I can’t – I can’t be sure," said Draco, putting every ounce of effort into keeping his voice detached, to keep from giving himself away before he could think . 

To his immense relief, he managed to keep a straight face as he made a show of looking Harry over carefully. He knew that one word from Draco would seal Potter’s fate. And yet... Did he want to? Did he want to be responsible for the downfall of The Boy Who Lived ? His life these days was a living nightmare and he had little hope of it getting better if things continued on this path.

He took his time measuring the miserable heap at his feet as he took a moment to read the room. His mother seemed just as ecstatic as his father, but he knew that she was hardly Narcissa any more. Aunt Bella had delighted in repeatedly hitting her with Crucio after Crucio to punish Lucius at any given opportunity, and he was very well aware that his mother had gone mad. No, his mother was well and truly gone, and only what was left of her body remained.

Did he want the mad man that had destroyed his family and sullied his home to win? 

No.

And so, Draco decided to lie. 

He felt Lucius beside him, leaning over beside Draco, peering down at the mess of a face he knew belonged to Harry Potter. He also knew Harry had a very good vantage point of the Malfoy men from his spot on the floor. The defiant idiot was looking up at them, though his expression was fairly unreadable, instead of cowering, like any other person would have been. They were extraordinarily alike, Lucius and Draco, except that while his father looked beside himself with excitement, Draco’s expression was full of reluctance, even fear. 

"I don’t know," Draco said simply, straightening to his full height next to Lucius, his mother watching on from the fireplace.  

~~~

Harry stood there with his heart pounding. Draco knew it was him. He had to... Right? So why had he lied?

Fortunately, Hermione and Ron had already escaped. They had found Luna, Dean and Mr Olivander in the basement too when they had been captured but Harry had managed to summon Dobby and his friends had all escaped together. 

Harry had planned to go with them but Wormtail had turned up right at the wrong moment so Harry had told Dobby to go without him. He was relieved that the others had managed to escape; it was more important to him that the others got out. He could focus properly now he knew they were safe.

He'd already dealt with Wormtail. It wasn't the way he would have liked to have done it. It had been messy and complicated but in the end Wormtail killed himself and now at least Harry had a wand. A wand which he now raised against Lucius intending to duel him.

Lucius curled his lip, grabbed Draco's arm, and forcefully shoved Draco towards the mess of a boy in front of him. Draco just barely caught himself from stumbling and gave his father a dirty look that went ignored.  

"I have no time for this. Draco, take care of this piece of filth. If it's not Potter, he's at least in league with him. Longbottom, perhaps," he sneered, mistakenly thinking the boy was debilitated at best, idiotic, with false bravado at worst. If it wasn’t Potter, Lucius didn’t want to waste his time.  

Draco took a deep breath and pulled out his wand, making eye contact with Potter.

Harry swallowed thickly. He would have rather duelled Lucius, Draco... Draco he wasn't sure he wanted to hurt. He didn't like the guy, sure but he got the feeling Draco didn't want Harry to be here anymore than Harry did and was somehow trying to help him, even though his hands were tied. 

Still, Harry had to act somehow so he sent a stunner Draco’s way. The spell came out weak though, the wand in his hand felt feeble with no loyalty... Just like its previous owner.

Draco could easily have dodged the spell, and after a year of acting experience, he made a show of attempting to Crucio Harry, but was deliberately half a beat too late. He let the stunner hit his arm, making him drop his wand, and was immediately grateful that the idiot had not used his signature Expelliarmus. No amount of acting on Draco’s part could have covered it if Potter had used the one spell he was known for. 

And then everything happened in a blur of activity - alternating between too fast to process and so painfully slow that images would be burned into Draco’s consciousness for a lifetime. 

Draco saw Harry dive for Draco's dropped wand just as Bellatrix sent an AK his way. The green flash sailed right over Harry's head. With his breath caught in his throat it was as if time had slowed down. 

Draco followed the flash of green with his eyes and then locked eyes with his mother, who was giving him a serene, loving, if slightly glassy-eyed smile. She lifted her wand hand in Draco's direction, as she stepped into the path of the curse, much to Draco’s horror, and was hit with that awful green light, killing her instantly. 

The wand in her hand went flying, flipping end over end in a graceful arc, in Draco's general direction, but no one else seemed to notice. Lucius screamed in fury, fired at Bellatrix, and Bellatrix parried, cackling as if it were all some great game. And to her, it may as well have been. She was as mad as they came and made no apologies for it. Greyback, whom Draco had forgotten, growled and leapt forward, keen to be part of the fray. The noise and magic, predictably, attracted attention. Black robed figures started pouring in from the side door, and...

Harry was running away. 

Harry was running away with Draco's wand . 

Draco pushed down the grief of having seen his mother murdered before his very eyes, snatched her wand off the floor, and gave chase, screaming threats as he ran. He chased Potter down the halls, aiming spells to hit walls and corridors with the intent of herding Potter in the direction he wanted him to run towards… and it seemed to be working. After moving away from the main commotion, he started firing jinxes with a lowered voice until he had Potter where he wanted him.

It was now or never. He concentrated and managed one small tripping jinx that hit Harry in the back, which slowed him down enough for Draco to tackle him towards one of the servant exits, slamming him into the stone wall.

While Harry was seemingly winded, Draco quickly blasted the door open, cast a notice-me-not, turned into his animagus form, and quickly slithered into one of Harry's jacket pockets. RUN he hissed desperately, thinking it futile, having completely forgotten that Harry could understand snakes. 

~~~~

Harry could have sworn he heard parselmouth, a snake telling him to run perhaps, but that couldn't be right... 

He was very dazed and confused, everything was happening too fast and he had no time to think. The flash of green light before had well and truly panicked him but he had seen his opportunity for a better wand and an escape and ran with it, literally. He knew if he didn’t get out then, using the chaos as a distraction, then he never would.

After recovering from being slammed into the wall he started running again. He had no idea what had happened to Draco after they’d crashed through the door. He was turned around after that merry chase and there were figures everywhere now, if the sounds of footprints and spells flying around were any indication.

He had no idea how it had happened, but when he felt pebbles under his hand, he looked up and realized he was outside the house at least. Between his filthy glasses and his disfigured face, it was hard to tell, but he thought he could see the black gates of the Manor at the end of the drive.

So he did the only thing he could: he ran towards them desperately trying to think of a plan. He knew they only opened for people who carried the Dark Mark and he had no idea what he was going to do when he inevitably crashed into them, he was hoping something would come to him in time

He was evidently spotted in his mad dash to the gates. Behind him, he could hear more footsteps and yelling. Spells were being fired at him from the figures running behind him and he was definitely going to get caught, again, but still no other idea had come to mind. 

As he neared the gate, he braced himself, ready for impact, but to his surprise, instead of crashing into the solid wrought iron gates, they fizzled away into smoke and let him through, turning solid again as he passed. He had no idea how or why but he didn't stop to question it. 

When he could feel he was safely out of the anti-apparition jinx that surrounded the Malfoy property, he didn't hesitate for a second before turning on the spot with the first safe destination in mind that he could think of. 

With a thud, he landed in the cave near Hogsmeade, the one that Sirius hid in during third year, and immediately sank to the floor. The world turned as did his stomach, as the events of the last couple of hours came crashing down on him, triggering what could only be described as a panic attack.

Chapter Text

Draco was petrified that he'd be accidentally hit with one of the blasts that he heard landing all around him while he hid in that dark little jacket pocket. And, in light of his predicament and the insane gamble he’d just made, he honest-to-Merlin prayed that Potter's idiot luck held out long enough for them to get out. There was nothing really to hold onto, so he curled up into a tight ball and did his best to keep from falling out while holding his breath that they’d make it through this.

While he’d managed to get Potter out of the Manor proper and into the garden, for a second, he was worried about the gates. He hadn’t the time to warn Potter or think of a way around them, but when he didn't hear (or feel) Potter stopping and the gates creaking open of their own volition, he let out a hiss of relief. Apparently, it wasn’t necessary for him to be human for the gates to respond to him. This was not something he’d tested, despite his desperate preparations and countless hours of fantasizing his escape.

He was still contemplating the gates when he was suddenly jostled around with an apparition he’d not been expecting and then prayed again that Potter didn't splinch him. 

They landed roughly and for a moment, Draco feared he’d be squashed.

There was movement for a moment, then everything stilled. Draco's tiny heart was hammering in his little body, adrenaline coursing through him. He knew he was in shock and he held still as he tried to process what had happened. Where were they? He couldn't hear spells being flung, or angry shouts. He couldn't even feel the hum of magic in the manor he’d known his whole life.

All was silent, save for Potter's ragged breathing. 

“With any luck, Potter will pass out and I can make a run for it…” Draco hissed to himself, momentarily forgetting himself, and Potter. Thinking out loud would have been a potentially fatal lapse in judgement, regardless of his form, but now that he was free of the manor, he blamed the unwilling apparition (and Potter in general) for rattling his brain.

"What the fuck?" Harry muttered through ragged breath as he heard hissing for a second time. He must be going crazy. He pulled himself together enough to cast all the protection charms he needed on the cave and then started searching pockets to take stock of his inventory.

“OW! FUCK! Back OFF! I will bite you!” Draco hissed, panicked as Harry's big, oafish hands patted the pocket he'd been hiding in. He had NOT been expecting to be swatted at and it had left him a bit dizzy. He needed to make a break for it… as soon as Potter’s hand was out of the way. 

Okay... That's the third time. Surely it had to mean... He tentatively reached inside the pocket to see what he would find and sure enough his warm hand touched some cool scales.

"It's okay." He hissed as he carefully tried to take hold of the little snake. "I won't hurt you. Just come out so I can see you."

Draco tensed when he heard Harry hissing at him. Of fucking COURSE Potter could hear him. How did he forget that Potter was a bloody parselmouth?! Actually, no, he hadn’t exactly forgotten, but he didn’t think Potter’s hearing was all that great. He was a dense idiot at the best of times. Since when did he pay attention?!

Draco curled up into a protective little knot as Harry scooped him up gently. Should he flee? He didn't know where he was.

Once he was free of the pocket, Draco tried valiantly to slip through his fingers, but Harry managed to hold onto him without hurting him. And then it was too late. Draco knew his bright scales would give him away in the dark ... cave? Why were they in a cave? He sulked and gave up the fight. Even Potter’s notoriously bad eyesight wouldn’t save him from being seen. His silver scales would practically have the same effect on Potter’s Magpie-like senses as a bloody snitch. Knowing escape to now be futile, he curled up in Harry's palm and managed to look incredibly guilty.

"Aww look at you. You're a gorgeous little creature aren't you?" Harry hissed gently as he very tenderly stroked the little snake in his palm. Somehow he became immediately calmed by the animal. It soothed his panicked mind. 

"I won't hurt you. How did you get in my pocket? Maybe you're my little sidekick. You've come to keep me company, huh? I could use it. I'm in a bit of a pickle.” He chuckled sadly. “I'm glad to have a friend. There are plenty of rats and mice around here for you. Snuffles lived on them when he was here."

Draco thought Potter was going to squash him or squeeze him or bash him against a rock so he was incredibly tense, but instead, Draco was surprised that Potter was petting him gently. And he was being complimented, which made Draco preen. Potter’s immediate friendliness caught Draco entirely off guard. Was he always like this?

And then he mentioned rats, making Draco freeze. Surely that repugnant rat-man wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity.

“ Wh- What is a Snuffles? I don't want to eat vermin,” he hissed, his little tongue sticking out to scent Harry's fingers.

Harry chuckled at the feeling of a soft, barely there, tongue tickling his skin.

"Aww thanks for making me feel better already. I've had a rather shit day. Are you a posh fancy snake who doesn't eat rats? Gosh maybe you are if you were at that bloody manor. You wanted to escape that place too huh?" Harry asked, taking a moment to just talk before having to answer the question. 

" And Snuffles is ... was” he corrected with a sad sigh. “He was my friend. He was a dog. Well, sort of."

Draco’s curiosity was piqued, but he was leery about interrogating Potter, lest the man suss him out too soon. There was still a chance that he could escape both sides, but he’d have to make a decision soon.

“Yes, I am posh,” Draco hissed. “And yes, I wanted to escape. I hate it there now. You are the only one that can rid my home of that monster... or so everyone says.” He was very careful about the way he spoke of the current notorious resident of his home. He was afraid that if he called him by any sort of proper name, he’d be alerted to Draco’s location. He had no proof, of course, but he did possess a sense of self preservation. He was not about to make a needless wager of that magnitude, not when he was finally away from his sphere of influence.  

"I'm doing my very best, ” Harry sighed again, he didn’t realise that even snakes were relying on him and only him to get this giant task done. It was a lot of pressure, pressure that was building daily with every victim of the war he’d come across, every person who had to die because Voldemort was still alive. 

“I'll kill him or I'll die trying. One or the other,” Harry said in a more upbeat decisive tone, trying to be positive. He didn’t want anyone else to have to die or live in fear, even the snakes. And this one, he already had a soft spot for. “I'll help you too little one. I'll look after you and keep you safe don't you worry. Let me work on getting a fire going to keep you warm. I'll find a nice rock for you."

Draco wasn't sure if he wanted Harry to know who he was. For one, he didn’t think Potter would appreciate how Draco stowed away. For two, he didn’t think Potter would believe him if he swore on his magic that he wasn’t a spy. 

“ I... don't think you would want to be friends with me,” Draco hissed at him. At least Potter had a fondness for snakes, so that bought him a little time to make a decision. “But... if I can help, I would like to assist.”

"I could use a friend. And I can definitely use all the help I can get. If you're on my side and willing to help then I'd say we're friends already." Harry chuckled softly. "You already got me out of my panic attack. You're useful, like an emotional support animal."

“So... what happens now? Where are we?” Draco asked, looking around, curling around Harry's thumb as he tried to peer into the darkness. It was obviously a cave, but where that cave was located was a mystery to Draco. 

"We're... Oh fuck. How do I know you're not a spy?”

Damn it, Potter. Did it just now occur to you? Merlin, you’re slow, Draco chided him in his head. 

“ I just realised the one other person in the world who I know can have a conversation with you. I really want to trust you as well..." Harry sighed clearly very torn. "And you're so very cute too."

Despite having expected the accusation, snake-Draco looked offended, because he wasn’t . He’d anticipated it, of course, but he’d thought Potter would only fling the accusation once he knew Draco’s identity. He didn’t expect to still be suspected as a spy while in snake form! The nerve!

“ I am not a spy,” Draco announced, bristling a bit in his little scales. Granted, Potter wasn’t wrong… he could talk to snakes too, but he only ever bothered with Nagini. Considering to whom he was speaking, he (reluctantly) admitted to himself that Potter’s suspicion was, in fact, well placed, no matter how much it irked him. “But... I suppose even asking the question bodes well for your improved sense of self preservation.”  

Draco let out a little annoyed hiss. He really hadn’t had enough time to think about the pros and cons, to weigh whether outing himself was a net benefit or detriment. He didn’t want to have to face Potter or admit the lengths to which he’d gone as far as planning, searching for an opportunity to seize to escape his nightmare. He did not want to give himself away, but Potter had learned to be less trusting and now he was looking at Draco in a way that didn’t sit well with him.

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed Potter, and inversely, Potter needed him.   “ As much as I want to keep my anonymity,” Draco began, steeling himself for what could potentially be a fatal mistake. Not that he thought Potter , of all people, would end him. Not directly. But he had the power to throw him out on his arse, leaving him to fend for himself. If that was the case, Draco wouldn’t last a day without giving himself away and getting caught. Well, maybe a day. But he didn’t like his odds. “I suppose that before you can trust me when I tell you I am not a spy, I must trust you... Can I do that? Can you promise not to attack?”

Harry was very confused and gave the snake a puzzled look. His instinct to be wary apparently hadn’t led him astray. "Unless you turn out to be Voldemort I promise I won't attack."

“I'll hold you to that,” Draco hissed softly. “ Set me down, please. Gently.” 

"Alright..." Harry hissed back, a little anxious now. He thought this was just a snake at first but now he wasn't too sure. Snakes didn’t normally behave like this, and he was quickly running out of the ability to cope with unexpected surprises. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t this just be a cute little snake companion? 

He did what was asked of him though and set the snake down gently on the ground before stepping back anxiously. He just about held off the desire to raise his wand but his hand was twitching ready to reach for it if needed.

Draco slithered away a few feet, silver scales gleaming in the darkness, then took a breath and showed his face. His real face. Every self-preservation instinct told him that this was a bad idea, but Potter had just rescued him from his home-turned prison. He didn’t want to share his secret with Potter, with anyone , really, but he knew that if he didn’t take this moment to put his cards on the table, it would blow up in his face later.  Because Potter had an annoying habit of sussing things out, no matter how dense he was. This was a calculated risk, one that had the potential to pay off for him. Potter and his ilk valued transparency, he reminded himself. 

Slowly, he stood from his crouched position, face pale, wand in hand, but lowered. He didn’t fully trust that Potter wouldn’t raise a wand to him, so he was ready, but he wouldn’t be the one to instigate. Not today. 

"I... appreciate you carrying me out, though I'm sure you don't appreciate me using you to escape," he said quietly, eyeing Harry warily.

"Holy Merlin..." Harry swore. "You! You... You escaped... Wait. You're an animagus? Since when?!" Harry exclaimed loudly. 

His first thought was to be bloody annoyed that Malfoy of all people had secretly managed to become an animagus when it was something he’d always wanted to do but not explored the option at all. His second thought once he got over the initial jealousy was that he was actually rather impressed. 

The whole time wrestling with these conflicting emotions he was still trying to come to terms with the fact that Malfoy had turned himself into a snake and escaped in his pocket, and hadn’t he said he was cute? For Godric’s sake. Thankfully, he was quickly distracted from that thought by Draco answering his question.

"Since I got the idea from that loathsome little man that goes by 'Wormtail'... plus the few months it takes to accomplish," Draco said defensively, crossing his arms. "I just needed the right opportunity. I'm hoping they think I'm dead in a ditch or something." Inside, Draco was telling himself not to pick a fight. He did not want to give the twat a reason to turn him away.

"This is... This is a lot to take in. Fuck. I... I bloody knew you weren't duelling properly. My stunner was fucking pathetic, no way you couldn't have dodged that. And you must have recognised me. I..." Harry thought quickly and then he hesitated before his voice softened. 

"You... wanted to escape? So you're not...? You're not with him, are you?" Although it was less of a question, he was almost just confirming it out loud to himself.

"They killed my mother , Potter. No. I never wanted to be!" Draco looked heartbroken and very awkward when he added, "Aunt Bella severed the last tie I had, and the only shred of loyalty I could muster, about an hour ago when she finished the job."

"Oh... Yeah... Your Mother. I did see... I'm... Fuck, Malfoy I'm really sorry." Harry winced and then sat down heavily, his tired body deciding Draco was no threat.

Draco shifted awkwardly and then moved to sit against the wall, not too far from Harry, but not too close either. He wasn’t sure how much they could trust each other, but the close proximity allowed for quiet conversation.

"She was gone a long time ago," Draco whispered, wiping at his eye (he would not bloody cry in front of Potter ) clutching her wand tightly. "In the end, I saw her throw this in my direction," he said, holding her wand up a little. It felt warm in his hand. 

"Oh... Er... I have yours. Did you, erm... Did you want it back?" He held Draco's wand out sheepishly, suddenly feeling guilty for taking it in his hour of need.

Draco glanced at it and held his mother's wand tighter, bringing it to his chest. 

"You won it fair and square. Whatever one you were using when you flung that useless stinging hex doesn't suit you at all. Give mine a try. I'd rather you use it, as invasive as that feels, than let you use mother's." And it did feel invasive, but he’d be damned if he allowed anyone else to touch his mother’s wand. She’d wanted Draco to have it and Draco would never give it up.

"Thanks... I appreciate that actually. I'd... I'd rather use yours than Wormtail's. It feels so much better in my hand and I don’t like to think of the work Wormtail’s has done. It gave me this scar for one," Harry admitted honestly as he rolled up the sleeve of his arm and showed Draco.

It was a grotesque scar, like it had been doled out carelessly, with the aim of inflicting as much pain and disfigurement as possible. It tracked, really, with what he knew of the snivelling rat-man. Draco winced, but didn’t reply, not sure what to say in light of Potter’s gratitude. The quiet stretched for a few more moments before he asked, "What happens now?"

"I have no clue what happens next,” Harry replied. “It's a lot to take in. Obviously you're free to leave, if you want. I'm not holding you here. But you're as much of a wanted man as I am. If they find you they'll kill you... or worse so… you're welcome to hide out in this cave with me."

"I'd rather not be seen,” Draco agreed. “I can hide, as a snake, maybe have myself mailed across the world if you don't want my help," he offered. Ideally, he wanted to deal some damage to those that had broken his world, but if Potter couldn’t use Draco’s petty spite, then fine. He would get out of the way and save his own hide.

"You really wanna help?" Harry asked seriously.

"I do, yes," Draco said primly, bracing himself for rejection or scorn, or at the very least, scepticism. 

"Then I'll take it." Harry shrugged. "I'm not in the position where I can turn down offers of help and I do believe that you're not a spy so... Stick around if you can stand my company. I'm going to gather some wood for a fire. I won't be long. Then maybe we can work out a way of getting some food."

Well, that was certainly unexpected.

Harry stood up to leave but turned back before getting too far. "Oh, we're in Hogsmeade by the way, or the outskirts of it. In a cave up the mountain. Sirius used this place to hide but be close to Hogwarts at the same time in third year. Sirius… Sirius was Snuffles, that was his codename as a dog."

"What can I do while I wait for you to come back?" Draco asked, wanting to do something. He knew better than to be idle when he was plagued with feelings he wanted to bury.  

"Think about what we can do for food? And... Beds?” Harry suggested. “Sorry, Hermione had all the stuff we used for camping. Your transfiguration has always been better than mine. Anything on you we can make into pillows or something?"

Draco gave Harry a little smirk. "I can do that. Maybe when you come back, you'll see that I've been biding my time to run away, if there’s still any doubt. Perhaps I can prove that I can be useful and that all I needed was an opportunity."

"Alright... Well... Slytherins are supposed to be resourceful. We could use a bit of that." Harry sort of smiled and then pulled at something seemingly invisible around his neck before it came into view through the neck of his t-shirt. 

"My most important possessions in this Mokeskin pouch are all I have. But I have a couple of useful things in there." His smile grew as he pulled out the invisibility cloak and threw it on before heading out of the cave in search of wood.

Chapter Text

By the time Harry came back, Draco had a little campsite set up. 

He had his own Mokeskin pouch attached to his belt that he'd steadily been packing with things he thought he might need. It was rectangular in shape, about the size of a deck of cards with stiff walls, as opposed to the more versatile soft-walled bag varieties. It was compact and had a more limited capacity, but it was very well organized with about a dozen assorted mint and tea tins, numbered and labelled, carefully arranged inside to maximize space. Each of the tins was packed to the brim with different supplies, with the assistance of shrinking and featherlight charms, that Draco had been steadily amassing over the last two years. Ever since the madness began at home.

As soon as Harry was gone, Draco got to work. He pulled out the tin labelled “No. 3”, which was one of the larger tins in his possession. It had once housed chamomile and lavender tea, perfect for calming the nerves, and was now used to store the bedding. He set about making them a place to sleep by pulling from the tin a mattress that Greyback had once shredded. It was going to be discarded so he'd pilfered, mended, cleaned, and shrunk it to fit in the tin. Truthfully, it had taken up most of the space in there, so he’d dedicated Tin 3 to it and all things bed-related. He also had a couple of pillows and several sheets and blankets, because he was a creature that would not give up his comforts. Granted, the mattress and pillows were lesser than he was used to, but they were a damn sight better than sleeping in a cold stone cave.  And, they smelled like his favourite night-time tea. 

Next, he pulled out a second tea tin, labelled “No. 5”, that he'd filled with more odds and ends bits that he'd pilfered from the room of requirement. He pulled out a coffee table, a rug, and a couple of throw pillows to sit on, making a suitable place to eat. And thinking of food, he pulled out one of his food tins and his dishware tin. He pulled out some plates and cups from a mint tin labelled “No. 4”, then pulled out a plate with roast leftovers under stasis as well as a bottle of butter beer from tin “No.8”, which happened to be a cylindrical biscuit tin. He had been planning to run away since year 5 and had been stowing away food in stasis bubbles, shrinking and packing them carefully in mint tins like tiny marbles. He was up to three “Food and Drink” tins, and would have carried on packing them until he’d had a chance to run away, or die, but he’d focused on the former.

When Harry took the cloak off upon his return and had a proper look he was glad he'd already set the wood down as otherwise he'd have definitely dropped it. "Merlin's balls... What the hell Malfoy? Did you rob a furniture store while I was gone?"

"No, I robbed the Room of Requirement all through year six," Draco said calmly as he pulled out a lamp from his miscellaneous tin, enlarged it, and lit it with magic.

"You did what...? Why?" Harry chuckled. "Not that I'm complaining. You had all this just... Ready to go? On you?"

"Yes. I told you. I've been waiting for my chance," Draco said as he patted the leather case on his belt. "I've been ready since I got off the train at King's Cross. I just needed an opportunity to make my move." He’d been carrying his Mokeskin case on his belt or otherwise on his person, under a disillusionment charm, for two years now. He was not exaggerating when he said he’d been meticulously planning to get away since his home became tainted. 

"Shit. Yeah... You've done well. I'm sort of wishing you were on the run with us before. Ron might have suddenly been best friends with you." He chuckled. "I'm not used to this level of luxury."

"I can't say I'm surprised. You lot don't strike me as planners," Draco said as he started serving up the roast. They may have been leftovers, but they’d come from a time where Draco was hardly eating. There was enough in this particular marble to feed them both. "Can you handle the fire?" he asked as he cast a slight warming charm over the food. Sure, it’d been under stasis, but it had already gone cold by the time he’d stowed it away. 

"We've done our best in very difficult circumstances." Harry said a bit defensively at Draco’s observation about their planning, or lack thereof. "And yes, I have fire-making down now. One thing I can do. I'll just duplicate all this wood a few times so we have a decent supply."

"I meant it as a general statement…” Draco said flippantly, sensing he’d hit a nerve. “But no, it didn't help that you had to be reactive. I've been planning, it was wishful thinking really, since I was given that impossible task. A little before then, actually, when he came into my home, but in earnest when it became obvious that I was being pulled in. I made lists upon lists of what I could possibly need if I needed to get away. I've been making plans for a long time, so yes, I'm prepared. I...don't mind sharing with you if you are really set on freeing us all from him ."

"Of course I am. That's my whole... purpose isn't it?" Harry said determinedly although there was a sense of bitterness there as he focused on setting up the fire. "I'll do it. One way or another I'll do it. So... Well thanks, I guess... For all of this. Sorry that you had the need to do it but... well done for escaping."

"You're the one who carried me out. I just took advantage of the opportunity," Draco said, motioning for Harry to take a seat with him after the fire was going and he'd divided the food he'd enlarged. "What can I do to help? Other than sharing my dinner? I'm afraid I only have the one mattress to share, and I've opted to enlarge rather than duplicate it. Two wouldn't fit here without getting really close to the cave entrance," he said, motioning with his fork towards the mattress’ general direction. 

"Cheers." Harry gratefully sat down before the plate Draco had prepared for him. He looked around before tucking in. "This is really not how I thought today would go. I never thought I'd be happy to share food and share a bloody mattress with you in a cave but... Well it looks so comfortable I'd share it with a troll right now and honestly I'd be kinda screwed if you weren't here. Weird how life goes."

"You would have been screwed if I'd identified you to my father and aunt," Draco said quietly. "You can't kill the monster if you're being tortured and killed."

"Yeah... I was an idiot. I got us captured. I'd never have forgiven myself if Ron and Hermione hadn't escaped." Harry sighed sadly. "I have very little self worth or self preservation but I know I need to prioritise myself too. You're right. I need to stay alive long enough to get the job done. So... Thank you for lying for me. I mean it. I owe you my life."

"Then I guess I have to be the one to provide self preservation for the both of us. It helps that you were so complementary to my animagus form," Draco added, a small smile playing on his thin lips when he remembered how flattering Potter had been. He was admittedly vain and he liked being told he looked good… even if he’d been covered in scales at the time.

Harry blushed fiercely and looked away a bit grumpy. "’S not my fault you make a better snake than a human."

"Fuck off. It was nice to be treated so gently. I wasn't taking the piss. I had been considering letting you think I was a pet... but I didn't want to eat vermin," Draco added, a little sullenly at the end. And, he wouldn’t have been able to use his tins if Potter thought him a snake.

Harry chuckled softly at that. "That's fair. And I wouldn't have a bloody one bedroom flat without you transforming. Reckon we can hide away here together then and not kill each other?"

"Fortunately for you, it's in my best interest for you to live and be as strong as reasonably possible... and you need me for my supplies and Intel," Draco was very careful to remind Potter that he was an asset, and he vowed to continue reminding him as needed. 

"Yeah... Guess that's true enough. Suppose we'll have to learn to get along then." He sighed a little. "I hope the others are all okay."

"Granger and Weasley?" Draco asked curiously.

"Yeah.” Harry nodded. “And Luna, Dean, Mr. Olivander. Ron said he had somewhere safe to take them all but Mr. Olivander looked rough. He's been tortured. I guess I don't have to tell you that."

Draco winced, looking guilty.

"No... you don't. I couldn't help him. He had information and they were hell bent on getting it out of him,” he said, picking at his food. It ate him up that he couldn’t do anything for him, directly. “Luna, however, was mostly unharmed. She... she cared for him. I brought her what I could to help."

"Yeah... Bless her.” Harry smiled fondly. “She held them together I reckon. She's tough. A lot stronger than people think. You were helping them? Down there?” He wracked his brains, today had been a blur but there was something that suddenly stood out in his memory. “Now Luna's message makes sense."

Draco frowned, "What message?"

"She told me quickly before they left that I could rescue another creature... Something about a pale scaly thing that spoke my language.” He recalled, shaking his head a little in amusement. “I had no idea what she meant and now I'm guessing she meant you. She wanted me to rescue you.” He realised, suddenly feeling much better about the whole situation. 

Draco smiled a little, letting out a snort as he cast a quick spell to clean the dishes in front of them. "Trust her to be more insightful than she lets on," he said as he shrunk the dishes, leaving just the cups and butter beer bottle out. He began packing the dishes away in his tin, for something to do. "I looked around while you were gone. There's a spring in the cave... you have to go through a fairly tight spot, but the water is fresh."

"Great thanks.” Harry replied gratefully as he wiped his mouth and passed Draco his empty plate. He felt a lot better now he’d eaten something too. “Honestly the best meal I’ve had in months and I figured there must have been a water source somewhere, appreciate you looking around. I didn't have a lot of time to think of somewhere safe but I didn't have a tent so I was trying to think of somewhere sheltered and Sirius survived in here for the best part of a year so..."

"Are we staying here for a bit? Shall we set up traps or alarms or something?" Draco asked, already thinking about what they’d need to do to secure a long-term hideout.

"Yeah... I think so” Harry nodded slowly, his brain working a bit better now he’d been fed but he still had a lot of thinking to do and he was still very tired. “I... I have a plan. Something I need to do and this is a good location. We could set up traps. I've done all the protection spells we usually do and there is an alarm plus I have a sneakoscope." He pulled it out of his Mokeskin bag and set it by the entrance to the cave. "We can take turns to sleep and keep watch."

"I can take the first watch,” Draco volunteered. “I have a bit of insomnia anyway. Might explore the cave a bit," he added with a shrug. "Care to share what your plan is, or...?"

"I... I suppose I should. A bit. I'd like to find out how much you know too so I guess we need to learn to trust each other and exchange information." He yawned and rubbed his head, suddenly feeling very fuzzy, all the dramatic events of the day were catching up with him. "Tomorrow though... I... I can't tonight. Today has been... Yeah. If you're sure I reckon I'll try and sleep. I don't sleep much either these days truth be told but I'll rest at least... If you're sure."

"Yes, go on," Draco said, waiving towards the bed, leaving the unopened butterbeer on the makeshift table for now, though he had no plans in indulging soon. Really, he planned on it being a bit of a peace offering for Potter, if he’d wanted it. "I'll make myself some tea and keep quiet,” he said, looking for his stash of tea and a teapot. He let out a triumphant sound when he found it. “We've both had a hard day, but at least I am still pretty. I really don't want to know what happened to your face, but it seems to be going back to normal. Slowly."

Draco really couldn’t help taking a verbal swipe at Harry. It was a small one and he’d been really good so far. He felt he earned it, and besides, it felt unnatural to be so nice to Potter. He held his breath and hoped Potter didn’t take real offense to his barb. With Potter’s short fuse, he didn’t know if Potter would take the jest in stride or if it would escalate. 

"Hermione disfigured it when we got captured. Smart really..." Harry mumbled sleepily. "Right, well... Wake me up when you want to swap." He went over to the bed and just carelessly stripped down to his boxers and t-shirt before getting in.

Draco turned away to give him privacy. He quietly made himself some tea using the kettle from his misc. tin and the fire Harry had started, then settled in to read quietly, having selected a book at random from his book tin. He carefully stowed everything he wasn't using away, leaving out tin No. 12, the empty one. In the event that they had to leave in a hurry, he could shove everything into the empty tin and sort out his belongings later. 

He read for a couple of hours until he grew bored, and thirsty, and instead of using up his reserves, Draco decided to carry the kettle to his newfound watering hole. Holding the kettle as he turned into his snake form, he knew it would come with him and still be in his hand when he returned to his human form. 

He slithered through the small gap at the end of their cave and through to the other side. He returned to his human form, cast a lumos to help him navigate, and proceeded his exploration carefully. 

He found the spring easily enough, but he could hear water elsewhere. Looking around, he noticed that after a very short climb, the cave continued. He set the kettle down and went to investigate... and what he found left him speechless. The opening led to a larger cave with a pool of water off to the right and a fire pit, with some tables and seats. Was that the cave that Sirius actually used? Was the one they were in, which was much closer to the cave entrance, just a distraction? 

With this newfound information, Draco kept his eyes peeled for other signs of life and spied what seemed to be a makeshift door in a nook he couldn't see on his way in. He took a moment to look inside and found that it was stacked with boxes and crates. Interesting. He'd have to investigate later... when Potter wasn't asleep and he wasn't meant to be keeping watch. 

Scrambling away from the opening, Draco grabbed the kettle and headed back. He hurried back through the small passage to the front cave, as a snake, to their camp site and settled in. He'd have to talk to Potter about moving soon. 

~~~

Surprisingly Harry did actually sleep. Not that well for sure, he kept waking up, rolling over, grunting and all sorts of other things in his sleep as his mind raced. His mind never rested but his body slept... Mostly. Draco woke him halfway through the night and he grunted a few words to him as they swapped over. 

He didn't do much while he kept watch and Draco slept, not physically anyway, he just sat at the entrance to the cave and looked out onto the view. It was beautiful. He could see Hogwarts from here... his home. It made him think about how Sirius would have sat here and looked at the castle making his plans. Harry had plans of his own to make. He kept the fire going and freshened his clothes and himself but mostly he just sat there and made his plans in his head. 

When Draco woke up they would have to talk.

Chapter Text

Draco woke up a few hours later, feeling better, but still mentally exhausted. He couldn't afford to think about what had transpired at the Manor, so he shoved it away, into a box, to be dealt with later. He was grateful for his occlumency training, which helped. He freshened up as best as he could and went to find Potter, who he found sitting at the mouth of the cave. 

"Are you hungry?" he asked quietly, knowing Potter would hear from where he sat. 

"Starving." Harry admitted as he got up and headed back into the cave by the fire. "I would have got started on breakfast but I didn't know what we had. It didn't feel right to raid through your little tins. It all seems very... organised."

"I don't have a lot of raw ingredients, other than maybe fruit. I don't know how to cook and it'd be suspicious of me to ask for foodstuffs that I don't normally eat, so everything I have is pre-done," Draco said as he took a seat at the coffee table. 

"Grab the kettle, would you?" he asked as he pulled out three marbles from one of his tins. This was tin No. 9, a rectangular shaped, mostly flat, tin that had once housed Christmas biscuits. Of the marbles selected, one was dark brown, the second contained half a dozen strawberries and a banana, and the last had two muffins, a link of sausage, and three strips of bacon in it. 

He enlarged the fruit marble, which was a stasis bubble, and then dispelled the bubble when the fruit was at the right size, then repeated the process with the second. He waited for Harry to hand him the kettle before dropping the brown "marble" in it. After a quick flick of his wand to expand the bubble, he popped it, filling the kettle with hot coffee. 

"Most of my food stores are made up of food I set aside during meals, so they're a bit random, and not usually a full meal in one," he said, almost apologetically. 

"That's unbelievably clever. Shit... You really did think about this and plan it." Harry replied as he watched with fascination, not hiding how impressed he was sitting down near Draco and leaning over to see what was now in the kettle. "You have coffee? Oh sweet Merlin, I could kiss you."

"I'm sure half the dorm thinks I have an eating disorder, but I don't give a shit. Better they think that than think I was putting plans into motion," Draco said with a shrug as he used magic to pour their coffees in mismatched mugs. "I had been planning on running away as soon as I came of age, thereby avoiding being branded... alas..." he sighed, splitting the sausage in half with magic and floating one half onto Harry's plate before nibbling on his own. "It made things more complicated, but I still didn't stop looking for an out. And being the petty shit that I am, I started hoarding intel too."

"Yes... Intel. That's what we need to talk about. And... The plan." Harry nodded along as he tucked into his breakfast. "I had a vague plan anyway but I was thinking it all through this morning and a few things have come together in my head. I'm definitely hoping you have the missing pieces I need though and I'll need your help." 

"I'll be ‘onest.” He mumbled whilst eating his sausage. “I was trying to think about how little I could get away with telling you. Dumbledore told me things... Left me a mission and said I could only tell Ron and Hermione. No one else knows and I wasn't going to tell you but... I realise that if I'm going to ask for your intel and your help then you deserve to know everything. Plus if we're going to work together then we need to trust each other... At least on a basic level."

Draco straightened, Harry having his full attention. "Mutual trust is something we should cultivate. I should probably mention what I want in return for helping you - I'd like to not end up in Azkaban when this is all over. If you give me your word to speak on my behalf, I'll keep your secrets."

"You have my word. I figured you’d say that." Harry agreed seriously without hesitation. "You don't deserve that place anyway. You're many things but you're not a Death Eater and now you've switched sides you'll get protection I promise you... Even if I don't make it."

"No. Stop that. You can't have that outlook," Draco snapped. "You need your head in this game. Be ready to make the sacrifice, but don't expect it as an inevitability. You will not survive this if you don't fight like hell. Above all else, survival, Potter. You can't fix shit if you're dead."

"Alright." Harry agreed a little amused after taking that in and thinking about it for a minute. "You're not wrong. I hear what you're saying and it's the last time I'll mention it but just if ... If I don't make it and you do then Kingsley's your man. Shacklebolt. He'll listen to you. He's a good man, just and fair and I expect the man who'll have the power to help you. Just show him your memories of helping me, show him this conversation and he'll help you if you need it."

Draco made a pinched face, but nodded. "I'll beat some self-preservation into that thick skull one way or another," he huffed. "Do you want to trade information here ... or do you want to do so in the hideout I discovered?" he asked impishly, looking oh so smug about it. 

"You discovered a what now? A hideout? Where?" Harry looked up, immediately interested.

Draco finished his breakfast and cleared their dishes, packing them away. "Come on. I'll show you," he said, standing. He moved over to the end of their cave, wand in hand, then cast a charm to expand the small hole he'd slithered through before. Granted, it was big enough for them to crawl through on hands and knees, but Draco was not about to crawl as a human. 

"I sensed water when I was a snake so I came to investigate while you went looking for firewood yesterday," he said as he squeezed through the bigger, but still small, opening then cast lumos on the other side. He waited for Harry to come through then started walking down the passageway that opened up into a small cave with a natural spring in it. 

"There's a store room back here," he said, motioning around a stalagmite where a makeshift door was propped up, "We can look at that later. Come this way." He led though the cave that contained the spring and then moved toward the back of the cave where the ceiling opened up and climbed the short way to the landing. He stood at the top and held his wand up for Harry to see. "In there,” he said, motioning with his wand as he walked the short way down the passage. “It looks like this is where someone camped long term."

"Woah... This is incredible. I had no idea it went this far back. We just met Sirius in the front cave bit before." Harry gasped as he looked around. "Do you think... Do you think he lived back here?" He frowned, trying to work it out as he continued to take it all in. "This is an incredible hideout and base. I wish I'd thought to come here before instead of just apparating all over Britain with a bloody tent every few days." 

"This must have been a remnant of the first war," Draco said as he stepped in further. "I don't know if Sirius lived here, but it definitely looks like it was used a long time ago. The hole might have been big enough for a dog to squeeze through... or maybe it was sealed off on purpose. For all we know, this could have been from the bloody Goblin Rebellion of 1890!"

"Yeah... I suppose so. Well this combined with all your supplies sets us up rather nicely. Remind me to come on the run with you again should the need ever occur. Wait til Ron finds out." Harry grinned. This was the best he'd felt in months.

"If needed, more of your little army could take shelter here... I'd recommend apparition, unless we figure out a way to make it so that the passage only allows certain people in."

"Not a bad shout. Good to know.” Harry nodded seriously. “Although I'm aiming for stealth rather than a big battle or something so hopefully there won't be any further casualties." Harry said quietly.

"I'm a secretive little snake. I don't want people coming and going, but I'm not opposed to sheltering people that need it," Draco said stiffly. "If they're safely hidden, let them be. The fewer people that know where you are, the better," Draco added, as he started walking back to their first camp. "Let's go get what we left behind and make the place look like we've moved on."

“Agreed.” Harry nodded simply as he gestured for Draco to go first and then followed.

Draco made his way back to their original camp, magicked everything into his empty tea tin (No. 12), then moved back to their new area. He left Harry to deal with the security measures while he set up the sleeping area, a comfortable sitting area, and, using the furniture strewn around, and a proper table and chairs. He pulled out candles and old kerosene lamps that he'd pilfered from the room of requirement, lit them, then began setting them around to light the area, while Harry was out resetting his charms. 

He also found a little tucked away area that ended in a dead end and decided it was private enough to turn into a bathroom, of sorts. He transfigured a rock into a bathtub, a ledge into a water basin to wash hands, and a broken stool into a "toilet" that they would then have to vanish the contents of after each use. It was primitive, but as hygienic as he could muster, given what he had. He left a candle in the area, perched on the basin to be used as a sink, for lighting. He figured they could always call water from the spring to the new "bathroom" when they needed it, so as to not contaminate their water supply.

Harry was pretty happy with all the security measures in place, they were very safe here. He made sure of that. He craned his neck a little to watch what Draco was up to in the alcove, secretly he couldn’t believe how good Draco was at transfiguration but he wasn’t about to tell him that. He felt a bit useless so he did the one other thing he knew how to do and busied himself making another fire.

Once Draco was done with the bathroom area, he headed over to the new camp fire and warmed up the coffee still left in the kettle. Taking a seat at their new table, with a lamp between where he sat and the chair he left for Harry, he waited patiently for Harry to come so they could have their intel exchange.

"This camp really is amazing. Thank you.” Harry observed as he came to sit down with his coffee. “You're extremely useful. I should have known Draco Malfoy would go on the run in style. Not one to camp out with basic necessities are you?" He scoffed in amusement.

"I think you and I have different ideas of what the bare minimum is," Draco said, raising an eyebrow as he sipped his coffee. "I roughed it the first night. Like hell I'll sleep so close to the floor again," he added with a smirk. "So tell me... what do you need to know? He's been chasing you for something or another. How can I help you find... whatever it is you're questing for?"

"We definitely do," Harry muttered under his breath into his coffee mug. Then he took a big sip and set it down. "It's hard to know where to start. Do I assume you know nothing about... Him, let's call him Tom, and his plans?"

Draco frowned, at the name, looking confused. "Tom? Is that a code name? I'm comfortable with a code name..." he mused.

"It's his real name. His Muggle father's name. He hates it." Harry informed Draco with a chuckle, happy to be feeling slightly more useful again. "Does make him seem less threatening doesn't it?"

"Indeed it does. And it feels less taboo to say, though it's arguably more. Still... Tom. I can handle that. I know that he wants you dead. Something to do with a prophecy, and something to do with Dumbledore putting you on a path to... something that could end him." Draco was fervently searching through his memories, anything that could help him ferret out what it was he , Tom was planning. “I recall him being particularly angry when you found something of his. What it was, I’m uncertain, but he was livid when it was destroyed.”

"Yeah that last part is key." Harry nodded seriously. "Dumbledore discovered how to kill Tom. He started work on it but he knew he was dying so he passed the knowledge to me.” Then he took a deep breath, it was now or never. “So... Ever heard of a horcrux?" 

Draco stilled and gave Harry a wary look. "That's... a very dark, very taboo thing. Anathema to pureblood beliefs... Why do you want to know?" Well, that certainly felt like a non sequitur. How did Potter even know about such a thing? Surely he wasn’t alluding to - 

"Because that's what we're doing.” Harry put it bluntly. “If you're joining me, if you want to help, that's the mission. Finding and destroying Tom's horcruxes. If we don't destroy those first then he can't be killed," he blurted, not one to beat around the bush.

Draco gaped. So yes, he had been alluding to Tom having dabbled in the taboo. Why was he shocked? 

"Wait... earlier you said muggle father. He's... a half blood? And he has horcruxes ? Plural?" Draco couldn't help how high his voice had pitched with that revelation. It was anathema to create one and now Potter claimed the madman had made multiple?! He was going to have an aneurysm, he just knew it. "Merlin! How... "

And Professor Snape had to know. Draco couldn’t think of a scenario where he didn’t. How was that man holding it together and playing both sides with the weight of what he knew?

"Yeah... He's half blood and he has seven horcruxes. We think, anyway.” Harry started, trying to catch Draco up quickly and efficiently. “Seven is a magically strong number. It would appeal to him. It's worth pointing out that everything I'm about to tell you is mostly guesswork, we don't know for certain but... It's educated guesswork.”

“Dumbledore spent a long time doing research,” Harry continued. “He spent time getting to know Tom and his past and I... Well, I can't really explain it but I know him. I know his mind. I have a connection with him.” Harry winced a little, not liking how it sounded and struggling to explain it but just willing Draco to believe him. “I can sense his feelings, his emotions and I know the way he works, the way he thinks."

Draco was horrified and he didn’t think he could keep it from his face if he tried. "If that last bit is true... I'm sorry,” he said, genuinely meaning it. “I lived under the same roof. I can't imagine being linked . Have you figured out what the horcruxes could be? I can't believe I'm not even questioning the idea of him having horcruxes. Then again, he's mad. Breaking your soul apart multiple times is just..." he shook his head. "He needs to be stopped." 

"He does.” Harry agreed quietly, glad Draco was taking this seriously. “And it's true. I get visions of what he's doing. People keep telling me I should block them out and I get it, I do but I'm shit at occlumency and to be honest, they've been useful. I've learnt a lot." 

"You should know though, because sometimes my scar hurts so badly that I pass out.” Harry explained. “Particularly if he's really angry or really happy. He was angry this morning. He came back to The Manor and learnt that your father and Bellatrix had me and then let me escape. Yeah... He's not happy about that." He finished awkwardly.

"Good. Let him be angry. He gets sloppy when he's angry," Draco huffed, remembering the handful of times it had happened before. It was dangerous to be around him when he was incensed, but he had poor judgement when things didn’t go to plan. "And I don't give a shit what he does to take his anger out on Father and Aunt Bella. They had it coming. Back to the horcruxes... you said there were seven? Have you found and destroyed any?"

"Yeah, we have. Dumbledore had." Harry nodded and shifted to get more comfortable before starting to tick the horcruxes off on his fingers. 

"So the diary was one, Tom's diary that opened the chamber of secrets back in second year. I destroyed it with a basilisk fang. Luckily one of the things that can destroy them. I had no idea what a horcrux even was at the time but that worked out well." 

"Dumbledore found the old Gaunt family ring,” Harry continued. “Tom's pureblood heritage. He destroyed it with the sword of Gryffindor which is imbued with basilisk venom as I used it to chop the things head off in second year."

"That's two down... five to go," Draco mused. "A diary... a family ring... a pet, perhaps?"

"Yeah, Nagini." Harry confirmed, pleased that Draco was picking this all up so quickly. "Probably anyway. That one will be hard though and will have to be last seeing as she is always with Tom." 

"Tom absolutely loves Hogwarts and he respects it.” Harry continued his explanation, emboldened by the fact Draco hadn’t laughed off his connection to Voldemort or his knowledge. “Much like myself he was an orphan with no proper home until he came to Hogwarts. He used items of great significance to make his horcruxes and we think he wanted something from all four founders to make into horcruxes." 

"Dumbledore collected memories and showed them to me. It's a long story but there was a locket from Salazar Slytherin that we found and destroyed. That was definitely a horcrux, nasty thing. I could… I could sense it. It affected us and it tried to kill me.” Harry chuckled weekly as he showed Draco the scar around his neck.

Draco gaped at the ghastly scar around his neck, feeling bile rise up in the back of his throat. “Merlin…” he hissed. “The artifacts are dark enough and emit enough miasma that they physically harm you when you’re in contact with them?” he asked. He had read about them in their personal library - really, he read anything he could get his hands on. As Professor Snape told him once, all knowledge was worth having, and he took that to heart. But this? He’d never heard of anything so vile that its mere presence caused harm. Not without that being an intentional outcome.

“Yeah.” Harry grimaced. “It wasn’t pleasant. We’ll  try to keep a safe distance from the others when we find them but we’ll worry about that later.” He dismissed the thought. 

The locket must have been the more recent thing that had Him fuming a while back ago, Draco mused, but didn’t interrupt. 

“We also know that when Tom… acquired ,” Harry decided on with a wince. He didn’t particularly feel like retelling the whole murdering of Hepizbah Smith, but Draco needed to know what they were working with. He cleared his throat and began again, “When he acquired the locket, he also found a cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. We don’t know for sure he made it into a horcrux but I think Dumbledore’s theory has merit. If the locket was a horcrux it’s safe to assume the cup is one too but we don’t know where it is.”

“If we’re following the theory of him getting something from all four founders then there should be something from Ravenclaw too but I have no idea what yet. Dumbledore seemingly didn’t get that far." He knew he was dumping a lot on Draco but Draco seemed remarkably calm and was handling it well, taking everything in so Harry carried on. 

"We don't think he ever got anything from Godric Gryffindor as the only known thing is the sword so we think he used Nagini instead as he was running out of time." He finished, looking at Draco expectantly, it was clear Draco was thinking about something.

"This cup... is it a chalice?" Draco asked curiously, musing out loud as he unhooked the case from his belt and idly searched the tins in his pouch, plucking one out. "A... golden one?"

There was something niggling at Draco's memory as he opened the mint tin, No. 6, and rifled through the tiny books. When he found one he was looking for, he pulled it out and enlarged it. It bore the Black Family crest. He put his hand over the crest, watching it glow, the clasp holding it shut falling away. 

"It's a long shot but... I think I remember an entry in the ledger..." he murmured to himself, flipping through pages.

Harry was surprised when Draco started looking through a ledger but part of him also was getting excited and hopeful. 

"Yeah... A golden chalice.” He leaned over Draco’s book too, getting a bit closer to him and hoping to spot something too. “I was going to say to you that I think that is in Bellatrix's vault. She has something important in there for sure the way she panicked yesterday when she thought someone had been in her vault. What could be more important than something that Tom asked her to keep safe?" 

"He gave one to Lucius to keep safe,” Harry reasoned. “I'm sure he'd entrust one to Bellatrix too. I think he probably meant to hide them in more significant locations, significant and personal to him. He wouldn't have liked relying on people to hide them for him but I think he got desperate in the first wizarding war. He was worried about the prophecy so he had to deal with me and my family first. I'm sure he intended to leave as strong as he walked in and then hide them somewhere himself but... My mother weakened him so he never could." 

That information made Draco skip towards the end of the entries. He’d been looking through the Black ledger while Potter slept to pass the time. It had piqued his interest that things, and not galleons, were being moved around. 

"That's right... I saw last night that new deposits had been made into the Black vault recently. A lot of random objects, but I think I remember seeing - here it is. Chalice, Gold, small. Two fine handles. Badger heraldry inscribed. All jewels intact. Magical Artifact, value unknown. ," Draco read aloud.

"That must be it!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "Malfoy you're... Well this doesn't mean I like you but you're bloody brilliant. Now all we have to do is break into Gringotts."

" Break into Gringotts?” Draco screeched. “Are you mad?! There is NO way."

Fig 1. Harry and Draco’s cave, formerly, Sirius’ cave, located outside Hogsmeade

Chapter Text

"Break into Gringotts? Break into Gringotts?" Draco repeated, no longer screeching, but he felt like he was a record player with a skipping needle and couldn’t move past the question. He was still staring at Harry like he’d grown two heads. The man was mad. Clearly. Had he been dropped on his head? Probably. More than once. 

"Well... We have to.” Harry shrugged like it was no big deal. “It's either that or somehow convince Bellatrix to kindly go into her vault and get it for us. Somehow I think breaking into Gringotts will be easier."

"Or you could ask me to go get it," Draco said, as if pointing out the most obvious thing in the world. Which really should have been, if Potter had two bloody brain cells to rub together. Why was Potter such an idiot? Did he actually have a death wish?

"You... What? Do you...? Don't tell me you have access to Bellatrix's vault?” Harry stared at him open mouthed, subconsciously shifting forward a little in his seat as he got excited about this potential development.

"It's not her vault. It's a Black vault," Draco said, closing the ledger and pointing to the crest. "She moved it from, presumably, the Lestrange vault to this one. And, my aunt oh-so-conveniently, removed her sister from this mortal plane. She likely thought mother was her only obstacle, but it gives me, the only male Black descendant, access to it. In her paranoia, she put it on a silver platter for us to take from right under her nose,” he added loftily. “She has no clue that I’m aware of this vault and she’s taking it for granted that it’s MINE more than it is hers. ”

“And I am glad to do it,” Draco continued, feeling very smug and vindictive. “She took someone precious away from me, so I'll take something precious away from her," Draco said darkly. "But if I'm going to steal it... it needs to be soon. Before they start looking for me. The goblins will be automatically alerted by their genealogy spells that Mother passed, but they don’t much care for wizarding politics or news. They won’t know about my going missing. They may be obligated to alert authorities, or others, of my appearance if they learn I’m missing , but they wouldn’t stop me from accessing what is rightfully mine."

Harry raised his eyebrows a little at Draco’s dark tone. He was surprised but he sympathised. If Draco was motivated by revenge then so be it, so was Harry deep down. He knew what it was like to lose people in the war against Voldemort.

“I... Damn.” He swore softly, not quite knowing how to continue. “I'm really sorry about your mother, I am truly but I can't quite believe how well this plan is coming together.”

“You’re right of course,” Harry added. “We definitely need to act on this soon, very soon, but it feels like something is finally going right for a change. Now all we need is for you to have some polyjuice in those little tins of yours and we'll be set." He chuckled

"I appreciate the sentiment, but don't -,” Draco was embarrassed to be choked up. “I don't have time to be sad. Right now, it's fuel to be angry, spiteful and petty. I will mourn when ... when I can afford it," Draco said stiffly. "Why do you need polyjuice?" he asked, changing the subject. "I'm not saying I don't... but... why?"

"I'm not letting you risk your life for it." Harry said stubbornly, having already made his mind up. "I'll go as you and get it."

"You think you could pose as me?" Draco asked, incredulously. "I have my mother's wand, but what if they want blood proof?"

"Erm... Salazar... I dunno.” Harry realised suddenly, wondering if his acting skills were really up to that test and remembering what Draco said about self-preservation. “Yeah... Maybe it is less risky if you do it." Harry admitted reluctantly, still uncertain. "I'll be right there with you though under the cloak."

"... Really?" Draco asked, surprised and suspicious that Harry wasn't putting up a fight.

"I don't trust myself to be able to do your posh voice," Harry admitted, a little bashfully.  

He gave Draco a teasing look, reflecting slightly on the fact it felt nice to be able to banter a bit with him and not have it sound so malicious.

That got a genuine laugh out of Draco, easing his nerves a bit. "When do you want to try and steal it? Now? Today?"

"We have a plan, rough as it may be. It’s high risk of course but it's not going to be any less risky if we wait and if we don’t act now Bellatrix might move the cup again. Today could be our best chance." Harry agreed but seemed worried about it. Any moment they had of levity was fleeting, welcome though it had been. 

"The only thing is, up until now, I'm pretty sure Tom didn't know that we knew about the horcruxes. Once he finds out the cup is missing, he might move to protect the other horcruxes better but... It's a risk we have to take.” Harry sighed decisively. “I'm counting on Bellatrix wanting to delay telling him as long as possible."

Draco looked down at the pewter cup he was drinking coffee from and smirked. "We can leave a decoy. It'll be noted in the ledger as a replica, but Aunt Bella is unlikely to look at ledgers. So long as we don’t destroy it immediately, he won’t know you’ve got your hands on it," Draco reasoned. “And you don’t know that he’s unaware of what you’re doing. He went into a fit of rage a while back ago, seemingly when you destroyed the locket. I presume that he feels pain or something, but whether or not he’s made a connection and is aware of the destruction of his horcruxes is anyone’s guess. Either way, we take the cup into our possession to dispose of it at our leisure” 

"Yeah?" Harry perked up and flashed Draco a rare cheeky grin. "Fucking Salazar Malfoy... I never thought I'd be so bloody grateful to have you as an ally. The decoy is a damn good plan. And you’re not wrong. I did feel his pain then and I wondered but I don’t think he knows we know about the horcruxes as I think I might have seen that in my head but… well I don’t see everything that happens, only snippets.”

“So…” Harry thought for a moment and looked at his wrist watch. “When is it less likely to be busy at Gringotts? We could just go now and get it over with while the streets are quiet? It’s only just 9 o’clock. Or is that foolish? Should we spend more time planning? I don't know if you've noticed but I tend to just wing it... I do my best work on the spot."

"No. The sooner we go, the better. If they're looking for me, it'd be in the forest around the manor. It's best if we do this before they expand their search," Draco agreed. "Normally, I'd like to plan more, but in this case, time is not on our side. If we wait a week, she might spook and move the cup again. It's unlikely that she'd think to move it so soon, but we have to go now. Clean up the coffee mugs. I need to freshen up," he said as he moved over to the alcove he'd designated as the 'bathroom'.

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. He was terrified but this needed to happen and it needed to happen now, there was no time or room to be worried, they just had to get this done. 

Grateful to be given a task to keep a little busy, Harry picked up their coffee cups and went to clean them before setting them on the side by the kettle and putting out the fire. He couldn’t believe it was only their first morning here. Their little camp was looking very well established thanks to Draco and their conversation over their morning coffee felt like it had lasted a lifetime. Still, he supposed they’d both been up and about early, breakfast had been a while ago.

He got himself ready to go while Draco was freshening up, or as ready as he could when he didn't have any other clothes and he'd already done half-a-dozen cleaning charms on them but he didn’t care what he looked like anyway and just focused on the important things. He made sure his Mokeskin bag was secured around his neck and he had everything in it, apart from his cloak which he held ready in his hand. Then he tucked Draco's wand into jeans and waited for him.

Draco came back in a different set of robes, looking very well put together and clean, hair slicked back immaculately, despite them being in a cave. Harry silently wondered how on earth the guy managed it but didn’t voice his thoughts or think too hard about how good Draco looked. Instead he busied himself making sure the cave would remain secured in their absence and they had everything important with them. 

"Shall we apparate?" Draco asked. He quickly shrunk the cups and kettle, depositing them back in their appropriate tins. He packed them away into the case on his belt, just in case they didn’t make it back to the cave, and hoped he was just being paranoid. He forced himself to remain positive and did not pack up their bedding. They would return, he told himself, and no one would be after them when they did. 

Harry took a deep breath, looked around at their little ‘home’ and very much hoped they would be back. Then he wordlessly put on his cloak and took Draco’s arm.

~~~

Together, they apparated right outside Gringotts. With it being early on a weekday morning, there were few people around, just like they’d hoped.

The goblins didn't question Draco much initially, but offered condolences, and after the basic security protocols, Draco was escorted to his vault. The goblin there was surprisingly chatty, saying that they'd wondered why Lady Lestrange had requested they move items from her vault to the dormant Black one, but now that Draco had come, it made sense that she would want him to have Black heirlooms. The goblin mistakenly assumed that his mother had been struggling with her health for a while, and that had to be what prompted “Madame Lestrange” to make such an unusual deposit, and Draco did not disabuse him of his mistake.

Instead, Draco gave a polite smile and inclined his head in the way he’d been taught, and decided to play along. "She did mention something about passing down family artefacts for safekeeping. I was particularly interested in something I saw deposited in the ledger yesterday and came to see it myself."

The goblin gave Draco an approving grin when he mentioned the ledger as he opened the vault for him, ostensibly pleased that SOMEONE was paying attention to ledgers. Wizards were notorious for neglecting them, relying on Goblins to do all the work. Draco was well aware of this and used the knowledge to ingratiate himself. They were generally notorious for being difficult for the Ministry to work with since goblins didn’t give to knuts about wizards and their laws, but he knew they’d be absolute dicks to anyone questioning them about a favoured client.

And, if nothing else, Lucius Malfoy had taught Draco how to curry favour with goblins and remain in their good graces.

Harry followed on silently under the cloak, pleased to have had a lot of practice at being stealthy at this point. The difficult part was containing his shock at how well Draco was treated in the bank by the usually-peevish inhabitants of it. 

Draco was doing remarkably well and it worked in their favour; the goblins didn’t know he was ‘missing’ yet, and didn’t seem to have a reason to raise any alarm. They clearly trusted his every word, as they should; Draco was the Black and Malfoy heir, after all, and he’d been raised to deal with goblins and finances in a way that Harry could never understand.

Harry watched Draco with admiration as he walked into the vault, found the cup and made the switch seamlessly. Whilst he was there Draco confidently took a few coins, then walked out, as if he owned the place. The goblin minded his own business and stayed out of the vault as Draco conducted his.

And just for theatre, Draco pointed out potential lapses in security. 

To the goblin that had looked onto Draco approvingly for keeping up to date with the ledger, he expressed concerns over who would be able to make withdrawals. It was all well and good that his aunt contributed to his inheritance, but surely, she wouldn’t be able to make withdrawals without his knowledge. Further, it would be unacceptable for just anyone with a passing Black connection, like that uncouth Harry Potter , who was apparently heir to a Black property, to have access to the vault. 

The goblin, Grokin, gasped. “You are very right, Master Malfoy, heir of House Black. We will have the records amended! It is so pleasant to speak to a Wizard who understands how these things work,” he said, looking like Draco was a godsend. “Wizards don’t normally pay attention to such matters.”

“Yes, well, I’ve had the fortuitous circumstance to have been born both a Malfoy and a Black. These things must not be overlooked!” Draco was very good at pandering to goblin sensibilities, and he damn well knew it.

“Very much so, Master Malfoy of house Black,” the goblin said, pride shining in his beady little eyes. 

On their way out, the Goblins informed him that they would update the records, which Draco thanked them for. They assured him that they would also adjust the vaults accordingly. They had kept and examined Narcissa's wand while Draco was in the vault and returned it when he emerged, having confirmed that she was dead and having consulted the genealogy charts agreed that Draco had sole ownership. Any other relations to House Black would require Draco’s permission before access to the vault would be granted. After all, Bellatrix gave up the surname Black when she became a Lestrange and Theodore Tonks was disqualified as heir after his grandmother had been disinherited. He would have had some claim, had Draco not been in the picture.

The goblins issued him a new key for the Black vaults, voiding any pre-existing ones, and congratulated him on claiming his birth right.  After all was settled, they wished him a good day and expressed it had been a pleasure doing business with him. 

 As they walked out, Draco blindly grabbed Harry's arm and apparated back to the cave. 

~~~

"Merlin's balls, Malfoy that was… that was easy! When we do these sorts of things everything usually always goes wrong but... Nothing did." Harry laughed as he pulled off the cloak. He was so excited that he moved to hug Draco in his celebration and then suddenly remembered that he wasn’t Ron or Hermione and awkwardly pulled back again. 

“Can I see it?” He asked instead, trying to deflect from the awkward moment and then cleared his throat. “The cup I mean."

Draco pulled tin No. 12 out of his pouch, dug out the cup, and handed it to Harry after enlarging it. 

It felt good to chat with the goblins. It was almost like it had been before that man entered his life. He was able to pretend that nothing was wrong for a little bit and use the training he’d been given back when he still looked up to his father.

And even better, he had slighted his hateful aunt in a small, petty way. Sure, it would mean little in the grand scheme of things, but Draco revelled in the knowledge that he was making her live just a little bit harder. She had unknowingly locked herself out of having access to the vault and her precious little trinket the moment she hurt Draco. Sure, Draco had needed to team up with Potter to deal such a blow, but he was surprised at how little that hurt his pride.

"And, on top of that successful venture, I just gave Aunt Bella a headache she doesn't know she has," Draco smirked. In fact, it’d been a long time since Draco felt this amount of glee… though the Potter Stinks badges did come to mind.

"Yeah you did.” Harry grinned, almost proudly. It felt very weird having this sort of bond with Draco but they’d just pulled off something great together and it was pulling him towards Draco in a strange way. “She's going to be very worried and Tom will be furious with her when he finds out we have this."

Then, after his initial celebration was over, Harry moved further into the cave to light the fire again and examine the cup closely by the light. Although he didn’t really need the light to confirm his suspicions, it was more in the touch and the sound.

"It's a horcrux alright.” He grimaced. “Can you feel it?" He asked Draco out of genuine interest.

"It feels like any dark object," Draco said with a little shrug. "It makes one's skin crawl, though this one is also coupled with a sour taste in my mouth."

"It feels different to me. Like it has a heartbeat, can't you hear it? It's alive and it has a certain... personality to it. It feels like him. It feels like I have a connection to it. It’s drawing me in." Harry said quietly with disgust, his hands were shaking as he slumped down onto a rock by the fire. Draco was glad he’d chosen a rock. The rickety stool by the fire may have collapsed with the force of his descent. 

"I'll keep it safe until we can destroy it." He sighed as he put it in the Mokeskin pouch around his neck. He spoke quietly to Draco over his shoulder, not wanting to show how vulnerable he was feeling right then. "It's not that I don't trust you. I'm protecting you from it, trust me. Exposure to horcruxes can be... unpleasant at best."

Draco frowned but didn't argue. "I'm an occlumens. I am very good at compartmentalizing, but I'll defer to you, I suppose. Should you really have that thing so close, though? Won't it... affect you?"

"It might.” Harry shrugged simply. "But this pouch is the safest place I can keep it and we can't risk losing it. It will be better this time as it's not touching my skin. At least I’ll have an excuse when I’m being a grouchy git and you start getting sick of my company." He tried feebly for a little humour but wasn’t sure it landed.

Draco pressed his lips into a thin line, clearly not pleased with the solution. "How does one destroy a Horcrux... other than a Basilisk fang and Godric's sword?" he asked instead. "Unless you possess one of those in that little bag of yours?"

"I... I'm not entirely sure." Harry admitted still shaking a little. "Fuck. Sorry I need to calm down. I am still really... tense, adrenaline or something. I was truly ready to attack or be attacked at any moment. I still can’t believe how well that all went and how easily we got another horcrux.” He reflected for a moment about how badly it could have gone, he’d almost expected it to go badly and he realised now that it also could have very easily been a trap. Draco could have been playing him like a fool. He could have still been working for the other side.

“I know that’s a good thing.” Harry continued, not voicing his other thoughts but at least now he knew for sure he could trust Draco. “Especially after the shit show that was yesterday and how I nearly got us all killed, I just… I don’t know. It’s just still… a lot to process."

"Do you need to go for a run, or something? Confer with your associates?” Draco asked, a little annoyed that Potter was shutting him out after he’d just helped him accomplish what Draco thought was a very important goal, but whatever. This was Potter’s fight and maybe he was just bollocks at sorting himself out. Actually… that tracked with what Draco knew of him. “If you need privacy, you can use that storage room we found," he offered. Maybe this is what a person was like when they didn’t have their mind in order. 

"Nah.” Harry shook his head sadly as he sat there hunched over. “I'm too scared to contact them. I could send a patronus but I don't know for definite if they'd be alone. It's tricky as my patronus could attract unwanted attention. Everyone knows it's mine, it’s like a signature.”

“I'll be alright,” Harry said, trying to reassure Draco as he straightened up and conjured a stick before using it to poke the fire for something to do. It didn’t matter that the fire was magical and didn’t need to be tended, he needed the physicality of it. 

"I would offer to send one... but I'm afraid I cannot."

"Oh? Really? I could teach you?" Harry finally looked up at Draco, immediately perking up at the idea of having a fun practical task, something he was good at, something he enjoyed.

"I've read that it requires a happy memory. I'm a bit short on those," Draco said stiffly, crossing his arms over his chest, a bit defensively. 

"Not really. That's actually misleading," Harry informed him, eyes sparkling with the passion that came from teaching. "It requires a happy emotion, but it can be conjured within yourself. Basically it can be made up. Not a true memory. You just have to imagine yourself being happy. Make a fake memory. Works for me. I don't have many happy memories either but I produce a really powerful one when I think about my parents and the love they must have had for me. It’s a scene in my head where I'm the happiest I've ever felt but it's not actually real."

Draco did not do well when someone else was better at something than he was, so his posture remained stiff.

"I'll... think about it," he said quietly as he moved towards one of the chairs to take a seat at the table. It was a blow to his pride to acknowledge that Potter was talented at something Draco couldn’t even begin to accomplish, and though it rankled, the offer of assistance was promising. If the text books were misleading, then it wasn’t necessarily Draco’s failure.  

"I'll teach you if you teach me how to become an animagus." Harry challenged, grinning at his idea and feeling a lot better rather quickly. 

THAT made Draco sit up, interested.

"Are you sure you have what it takes?" he asked, an answering challenge in his voice. "It's not easy, and it's not fast. You may find it too difficult seeing as it takes patience, " he goaded for no reason other than to make himself feel better for entertaining the thought of accepting help. 

"Fuck off. I can do it." Harry replied instantly, puffing his chest out a bit. "My dad did it in fifth year. Bloody Wormtail managed it for Merlin's sake. If he can do it then I definitely can."

"I'm just pointing out that it's hard and you were never particularly good at potions or transfiguration, and you'll need to be skilled enough in both. It's also a bloody lengthy process that you can't rush," Draco cautioned. He didn’t want to waste his time if Potter was going to lose interest. 

"I’ve never really tried in those," Harry replied a bit defensively. As if that helped his case. "I'm bloody determined when I set my mind to it. I can achieve more than people think when I want to, I just have to be motivated enough."

"For starters, you'll need a mandrake root leaf,  a ‘small crystal phial that receives the pure rays of the moon’, the chrysalis of a Death’s-head Hawk Moth, and a silver spoon. I have the silver spoon," Draco said helpfully. "You'll need to keep the leaf in your mouth from full moon to full moon for a whole month before the other stuff starts to come into play."

"What are you talking about? Are you having me on?" Harry frowned, his first thought was that all sounded ridiculous.

"No, not at all. And if you accidentally swallow it or otherwise remove it from your mouth at any point, you have to start over again," Draco told him seriously. "I'm not saying I won't walk you through it... I'm just warning you that it's ridiculously tricky."

"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. A whole month? Bloody hell. Fine. Whatever. I'll do it." Harry replied stubbornly.

"That's only the beginning..." Draco said, amused.

Maybe this would be fun after all. 

Chapter Text

Though Draco had been having fun riling Potter up, he did eventually relent and dropped the subject of becoming an animagus for the time being. He went to put on more casual robes, saving his nicer ones from getting ruined in a cave. 

When Draco emerged from their makeshift bathroom, he found Potter tinkering with his Mokeskin bag, looking a bit fidgety. Perfect. Draco didn’t seem to be the only one with some nervous energy about him.

“Are you okay?” Draco asked, approaching where Potter sat on a rickety stool.

“No, not really.” Harry shrugged a little.

“In that case, get up,” Draco commanded. He plucked his No. 5 miscellaneous tea tin from the case at his belt, then began pulling half-used candles from it. “I still have some anxious energy I need to work out and dueling is out of the question. This cave is large and I want to light it all up. I am not comfortable with dark corners when I don’t know what’s there.” 

Harry was privately wondering why dueling was out of the question, he certainly felt like dueling Malfoy sometimes but he didn’t bother voicing his thoughts, he was too preoccupied at what Malfoy was pulling out of his little tins of wonder this time.

He watched as Draco enlarged what had at first appeared to be ivory birthday candles so that they became pillar candles. Draco spent a few moments casting various charms on them to prolong their life, reduce smoke, and not give off too much heat, then pushed a few in Harry’s direction.

“Here. Help me with these. I want to know where the edges of this cave lie and if there are other secrets to discover. We already know this place was used by others. Maybe we’ll find something useful.”

Harry was quickly getting used to doing whatever Draco told him to do around here but to be honest it took the pressure off him a bit. Ron and Hermione had always looked to him to be the leader and it had been exhausting. It was quite refreshing to be bossed around sometimes so he simply did as Draco bid him do. 

“You start over there,” he instructed, pointing towards the more shadowy side of their cave. “Begin from the side to the left of the entrance. I’ll work from that side,” he motioned towards the side where their bathroom nook began and headed over. “We’ll meet in the middle. Shout if you find anything interesting,” he said over his shoulder. 

“What is it I’m supposed to be looking for?” He called out to Draco over his shoulder as he ventured into a dark corner with a candle wondering if some broken old oak whisky barrels qualified as interesting.

“Anything we can use,” Draco called back. He found an old, rusty lantern hidden behind a stalagmite and pulled it out. He cast a quick reparo on it and lit it, setting it on an outcropping with a sticking charm. 

Well, they could sort of use them but he still wasn’t sure if it qualified as interesting, Harry surmised as he sent some of the bigger bits of wood over to their wood store for the fire and vanished the other bits. He carried on into the darkness and cursed loudly as he stumped his toe on a rock. Then he realised on closer examination with the candle that it wasn’t a rock at all but an old cast iron cooking pot. This they could definitely use.

“Found a cooking pot.” He called over casually. “Someone definitely camped out here like we’re doing at some point.

That caught Draco’s attention. He set down the candle in his hand and wandered over to see what Potter had found.

“That looks old,” he said, watching as Potter pulled it out from where it had been wedged between stalagmites. He lit another candle and climbed onto some of the rocks to get a better look. “There’s … iron? Yes. It looks like there’s some iron items down there.” He reached in and tried yanking up what appeared to be a pole, only to be startled by the fact that it was heavier than it seemed and attached to other iron bars.

“What in Salazar’s name is this?” he asked, confused. “It looks like a giant, ancient, suspended cauldron setup. Like the kind they had in the early days of potioneering.” 

“It’s a camping stove.” Harry replied excitedly. “Like a tripod thing with a hook that you can put this pot on over the fire. This would make cooking a lot easier. Can you see a hook? Just… be careful.” He was a little worried about Draco clambering over the rocks and held a hand out to steady him automatically.

Draco lost his balance as he finally pried the bars free. They’d been in the process of being engulfed by rock formation. “These bloody things have probably been here since the fucking Goblin Rebellion,” he huffed, glad for Potter’s being there to catch him. But he didn’t thank him. He was too fixated on their discovery.

“Here. Take these and cast a lumos to follow me. I can look around better as a snake,” he said, climbing back in and then shifting into his serpentine form. It was a LOT easier to move around like this without pesky things like limbs and hair getting in the way.

“Oh, er, yeah, right you are.” Harry agreed a little awkwardly as he stood there with the iron bars reflecting on the fact that Draco had briefly been in his arms… sort of anyway. That was… strange? Harry supposed he was just helping him avoid a twisted ankle or something but still, here he was dwelling over a moment of fleeting contact between them when he really should be thinking of more practical things.

Draco slithered around, investigating, and then something caught his eye.

“Potter? You know how to cast Bombarda, don’t you?” Draco hissed. “I found a… well, it looks like a grate. It’s round and might have something to do with that tripod thing you’re excited about. And I think I found an iron poker, but the bloody rocks have grown around them.” 

He slithered his way out, not trusting Potter to just cast the bloody spell just to show Draco he could. He did not want to be caught in the blast.

“ Help me down, would you?” Draco said, realizing he’d ended up on a different stone than where he’d started and he was not comfortable shifting from this height. 

Grateful to now have said practical thing to focus on, Harry set the iron bars aside and held out his arm for Draco to slither across. “Here.” He offered, thinking Draco could use his arm as a sort of bridge or ramp to get down. “And yes, I can cast Bombarda as long as you get somewhere safe.”

Draco slithered onto his arm and then launched himself off, transforming in mid-air, landing gracefully. “I appreciate the assistance,” he said, a little formally.

He took a few steps back and motioned to the area that needed to be demolished. “Aim your spell there,” he said. “Aim a little low.” 

Harry however wasn’t remotely ready to cast his spell as he was too busy staring at Draco. “How can you make that look so bloody graceful when I can’t even floo into a fireplace without landing in a heap on the floor?” He grumbled a little

Draco laughed a bit and looked at him incredulously. “Is that a complement? And honestly, Potter, is that what you’re worried about when we’re stuck in a dark cave?”

“Right… yeah.” Harry snapped out of it. Why was he obsessing so much about Draco again? He marched resolutely forward to the right spot and then wordlessly exploded the rocks around the iron grate and then flicked his wand a bit to clear the dust away. “Definitely looks like some sort of cooking fire pit. We should be able to assemble it all back together and use it.”

Draco helped gather the bits that looked usable and dragged them back to their fire pit. It was dirty work and Draco hated that the round grate was so rough on his hands, but didn’t complain. He was sure he had some skin lotion to negate the damage in his gear. “They’re going to need some cleaning and repairing. Do you think you can manage to assemble this thing while I finish setting up the candles?”

“Yeah, I can do that. You should have let me help you with that.” Harry frowned a little although he couldn’t deny it impressed him a bit to see Draco do some manual labour. He came over and set about repairing their findings. He wasn’t sure about cleaning but he was sure he would remember a spell somewhere in the back of mind.

“You had your hands full with that pot and the tripod,” Draco argued, but was happy to be done with it. “You can go back and look for that hook and the iron poker. I’ve done my bit,” he added, brushing his hands of dust. “I’ll finish lighting the place. Are you doing anything with the broken bits of crates and barrels that are littering the place? I saw you moving some around.” 

“I was just saving the good wood for burning and getting rid of the rubbish.” Harry replied as he went to look for the hook and the poker to finish off their new cooking area. “The place is looking better. It’s almost fun setting up home with you, Malfoy.” He added playfully.

Draco snorted, amused. “Don’t let your Gryffindork friends hear you say that. They’ll think you’ve lost the plot,” he said, dusting off his robes. “If you can get this thing mended, I’ll help you with the scouring spells and make sure this contraption is a safe surface for brew- erm - cooking.”

Draco left Harry to his own devices then, determined to light up their area. Save for a drafty area tucked behind some rock formations, he didn’t find many more interesting things. He discovered some broken jars, some candles, remnants of parchment that were impossible to read, and not much else. He’d save exploring the draft for another day. The opening it was coming from was much too small to concern himself with at present.

But the task he’d set for himself, of lighting their environment, gave him some time to think about their earlier conversation, when Draco had been taunting Potter about becoming an animagus.

He returned to their camp and found himself a comfortable place to sit while Potter worked. He seemed to have made good progress, which Draco was impressed by. He pulled his library tin, No. 6, from the case on his belt and cleared his throat, trying to get Potter’s attention. 

"If you're serious about it, I'll let you read what the process is, since you're going to think I'm having you on. It really is ridiculous, but if it were easy, more people would do it," he said, wondering if Potter had the resolve to see it through.  

He rifled through his tin and plucked out the volume he’d been looking for before enlarging it. Once he had it in hand, he opened it to the bookmarked page (clearly, he'd consulted that page over and over again) and pushed the open book across the table towards Harry.

"Go on. Take a look,” Draco said, motioning for Potter to come to the table. 

"What are you on about now?" Harry asked curiously as he took the book. “Oh. That.” He realised as he scanned the page and remembered what they had been talking about before. He had to admit he was interested, very interested. “So how long did it take you then?”

"Three months," Draco admitted. "I had to restart once because I swallowed the leaf."

"Damn. We probably don't have three months. Oh well." Harry sighed and put the book aside for now but already planned to read it later when Draco was sleeping and he was keeping watch. "Guess there's no harm in trying."

"Waiting for the thunderstorm was frustrating as hell,” Draco admitted, huffing a little. “That’s the thing that really made it take so long. One can’t simply control the weather, unfortunately.” 

"You have to-? Eugh." Harry replied very dismayed, he had really been hoping to make it work. Becoming an animagus would be so useful not to mention fun but he really needed it to be a quick and easy process. He very much hoped they wouldn’t still be in this cave waiting things out for the next three months. "Doesn't seem likely then.” He concluded with a frustrated sigh. “But I'll still teach you a patronus if you want? We'll have time for that."

"And you have to add dew from a place where neither sun nor man has touched for seven days with a silver spoon into the phial. Then add the moth. And then you put it in a dark place where it will be undisturbed until an electrical storm. And while you wait, you point your wand at your heart every sunrise and sunset and recite an incantation," Draco said with a smirk.

 "And in spite of all the ridiculous instructions, the fucking storm is what took ages," Draco griped. "If you're lucky, the lightning storm will happen shortly after the full moon. It's spring. It might happen. I'd recommend using a sticking charm to keep the leaf trapped between your gum and cheek so it doesn't get too much in the way. "

"Sounds delightful.” Harry replied with a sarcastic bitterness in his voice. Still he wouldn’t give up that easily. “Have you got one of these bloody leaves? May as well try I suppose. Nothing to lose. Can't believe my dad and Sirius went through all this."

"I might... and I might have that moth chrysalis too... You are going to owe me a LOT, by the way. I'm keeping a log," Draco told him, digging through his tins for the potions one.

"Surely killing the bastard, ending the war and saving the world might cancel out any debt?" Harry replied dryly. 

"Not entirely,” Draco argued. “It cancels out rescuing me, but I'm also keeping you fed. And these are potions supplies. Potions supplies are an entirely different matter and have nothing to do with this strange arrangement we’ve got between us. Plus, I got you your evil cup, which you’d be hard pressed to get on your own," he concluded imperiously. 

"Yeah, yeah... I know. I'd be screwed without you.” Harry sighed again, the weight of his situation and his own failures weighing down on him. “Seriously, I... I would be just a guy stuck in a cave on my own with no food, no supplies... And I could never have got the cup without you. I am well aware of how much I owe you."

Draco stopped hammering his point home at Harry’s admission and blushed. He did like having Potter in his debt. But the way he’d said that made Draco’s chest do something funny. 

 "When did you become so agreeable?" He asked, looking a little wrong-footed.

Harry sort of shrugged a little embarrassed. "I... I dunno I just... I said before, doesn't mean I like you but this is way bigger than me and you, it's a fucking war and I am just realistic. I'm no hero, I'm just muddling through and making things up as I go. I was going to do this all on my own but I realise now that I wouldn't have gotten very far."

"I'm very well aware that you're just a speccy git with stupid luck and an aptitude for defense,” Draco said, unable to hold back the insult. It just came out. “You have the magical strength and finesse of a boulder, but the fates decided that you are the best shot at ending his reign of terror and its precisely because this is bigger than us both that I am willing to set aside our sometimes not-so-petty rivalry and join you in the first place."

"Yep. That about sums it up. Whatever you think I owe you after this is fine. I'll probably be dead anyway so you can help yourself to my vault. Not like I've got any family to leave it to." Harry huffed out.

"Stop that!" Draco snapped, slamming a hand on the table for emphasis. "You will live long enough for me to collect on this debt. Don't you dare think you'll get out of it by conveniently dying." The nerve of that man! How dare he be so fatalistic when they had a war to win? 

Draco gave Harry a dirty look as he dug in his tin and pulled out a bottle that had mandrake leaves in it. He enlarged it, aggressively uncorked it, and pulled out a leaf that he put in Harry's hand.

 "If you're dying anyway, what's the point of being an animagus? You are not wasting my time and supplies, Potter,” Draco barked at him, uncomfortable with Potter’s tone. “If you’re going to do this, commit to living. And I very much hope you become a warty toad."

"I'm not going to be a fucking toad!” Harry screwed his nose up, glaring at the leaf in his hand. “I'll be something big and bold like Dad. Maybe not a stag but maybe a horse or a lion or something," 

And then Potter had to go and be a moody git.

"I... I just wanted to have a connection to my Dad so if I saw him again I could tell him. It's silly, I know," Harry said quietly, and then suddenly realised exactly who he was being vulnerable in front of.

Draco did hear it, and it made his heart pang a little, but he needed Potter angry. He needed Potter to shake himself out of it. An angry Potter was better than a depressed one.

"Put that in your mouth. There's still a few days until the full moon, but you can think of it as practice."

Harry gave him a dirty look but muttered thanks and put it in his mouth.

"I'm... I'm going for a walk. I need to think about the next stage and I want to do some scouting to see how heavily guarded Hogsmeade is. I'll be under the cloak and I'll return within the hour. If I don't then... Well you'll think of something," he shrugged as if his return didn’t even matter.

"Go on," Draco said, waving him off. "I might take a nap. If you're not back by the time I wake up, I'll send out a search party." It really was infuriating the way Potter’s moods were swinging, but he couldn’t say he hadn’t been warned. He attributed Potter’s temperament to the cup in his Mokeskin bag.

~~~~~~

Harry came back in a worse mood than he left and then started to panic when he thought the cave was empty but then, after a proper look he found Draco curled up as a snake under the pillow on the bed. The sight was weirdly adorable and Harry couldn't resist reaching out to run his finger softly down Draco's shimmering spine before he knew what he was doing. He’d quite forgotten how cute the little snake was and the strange effect the animal had on him, it really did instantly soothe him and make him forget his bad mood.

Draco woke up with a start when he felt something warm caress his back. 

And then he looked up and saw Potter hovering over him, his hand outstretched. 

“What's going on?” he asked dumbly, blinking sleepily. Was Potter trying to pick him up?

“Sorry.” Harry hissed back and quickly drew his hand away. “ I... I was just letting you know I was back. I'll... I'll get started on dinner if you like.”

“You... were petting me?” Draco asked, still a bit fuzzy from sleep. He stretched a little and slithered to the edge of the bed, but his eyesight got worse the further Potter got. 

“No, I…” Harry began, embarrassed, as he walked back towards the fire trying to think of a good excuse. “I forgot you were you. I just... I really like snakes.”

Draco transformed back to his normal self and climbed off the bed. He went to his tins and began picking out 'marbles' for their meal, trying to parse that before he stuck his foot in his mouth. 

After a few moments of awkward silence, he made his selection, setting the food-marbles in individual bowls before enlarging them and dispelling the stasis charms. He then set the bowls closer to Potter to utilize. 

"You... are really gentle with me when I'm a snake," Draco said quietly. "I can tell you have a soft spot..." He was trying very hard to keep his tone neutral. This was… unfamiliar territory and he wasn’t sure how he felt about Potter taking liberties. 

"A snake was the first living thing in my life who I felt actually listened to me. Best conversation I ever had as a child, until Hogwarts." Harry shrugged.

Well, that was certainly an interesting tidbit. "Is it easier for you to talk to me if I'm a snake?” Draco asked curiously. “Or does that make it weird?" 

"It's probably easier." Harry admitted without making eye contact as he busied himself putting some rice and beans that Draco had smuggled away into the pot suspended over the fire of their reclaimed camp kitchen. It really was a quality of life improvement that they hadn’t counted on, especially after Draco the kinds of cleaning spells he used on his potions equipment, after Harry had repaired and assembled it earlier. It really didn’t matter that it was a little on the small side. Draco honestly couldn’t tell if that’s what it was meant to be, or if it was goblin-sized, and at this point, it didn’t matter. 

"I... I was in a really bad mood when I came back and I panicked a bit too when I thought you'd gone. Then I saw a snake and it just immediately calmed me down. I dunno... It's fine though. Whatever. You're not as bad as you were... You know, when you're you." Harry explained himself poorly.

"If me being a snake helps you... I can do it more often," Draco said quietly. He knew Potter had the stress of the world on his shoulders, and now he knew that the artefact they’d retrieved was not going to do any favors to Potter’s mood. "Why were you upset?"

Draco thought if they could get to the root of why Potter was irked, they could address it. Or avoid the source. 

"Thanks, that's... Surprisingly considerate of you." Harry replied slowly. "I need to do further scouting but initial observation of Hogsmeade isn't good. There are dementors and snatchers everywhere."

Draco paled. "No... that isn't good at all. Are they anywhere near our cave here?"

"No, not really.” Harry replied more easily, grateful to have something else practical to focus the discussion on rather than his own thoughts and feelings. “I don't think anyone knows this cave exists. They haven't made it up the mountainside. They're just in the valley around the village."

"Well... that's one bit of good news, at least," Draco said. He took a seat at the edge of the table and changed back into his snake form. He curled up around himself and watched Harry cook with a sense of practised ease.

 “ I can see why you would want an emotional support snake.”

“Yeah?” Harry questioned a little shyly as he looked through Draco's little seasoning pot. It may only be beans and rice but he wanted it to taste good. Draco had all the food but Harry wanted to feel like he was contributing something and at least he knew how to cook. It made him feel useful and cooking relaxed him a bit too these days.

 “ You don't think I'm... weird? Or broken? I thought you'd laugh at me.” He admitted as he seasoned the pot. It was already easier talking to Draco as a snake.

“I already thought you were weird and broken. And I did laugh at you about the dementor thing already. That's old news and not really productive.” Draco slithered as close as he could get to Harry and laid his head down over one of his coils. “ It's not fun making fun of you for no reason anymore. I'm here to help you now, not wear you down.”

“Yeah... You've been really helpful to be fair. I think I prefer being allies .” Harry smiled slightly.

Draco looked bashful, for a snake. “I do also owe you for getting me out.” He lifted his head a little in Harry's direction and added,  “ You can pet me, if you like. Just... give me some warning.”

“Oh... Okay. Thanks. Maybe... Maybe I will sometime.” Harry replied a bit awkwardly. He wanted to... He just still felt a little weird about it. “Dinner's nearly ready. Not much but I thought I'd cook up the rice and beans while we could and have time. I tried to get as much flavour into them as possible.”

Draco returned to himself and gave Harry a little smile. "Thanks. I... didn't know you could cook. To think you could make something new out of odd leftovers would have been a ridiculous notion before today. Color me impressed."

"I had to cook for my Muggle family. No big deal." Harry shrugged. He wasn't quite ready to tell Draco the extent of his child abuse, so he kept it vague. “I never used to like it but now… well it makes me feel useful. I like doing practical things, it keeps me busy so I don’t dwell on bad things too much. I’m not very good at sitting still and just… waiting. It makes me feel on edge. You of all people probably understand that actually.” He added, thinking about it.

Draco didn’t respond but he gave Harry a look that said yes, he did understand. In fact, that was exactly what had driven him to demand Harry help him light the cave before he had his hissy fit. 

And strangely, knowing that Draco and he had one little coping mechanism in common made Harry feel better.

After dinner Draco took the first watch again so Harry could sleep. Harry seemed to get more tired more quickly than Draco, and Draco didn’t comment. He assumed that their prize from that morning had something to do with Potter’s energy drain.

As for Harry, it was a somewhat regular occurrence for him to tire early; his head went all fuzzy in the evenings and the events of the day caught up with him. And now that he had Draco, it seemed as good a system as any to let him take the first watch.

They swapped halfway through the night, as they had before, giving Harry’s brain the opportunity to parse through and absorb the events of the previous day. He always did his best thinking in the early hours of the morning. 

Chapter Text

It was after breakfast again the next morning that Harry knew he needed to talk to Draco. He did his best thinking and planning in the early hours of the morning and today was no exception.

"I've always thought Tom would hide a horcrux at Hogwarts." He blurted out after they'd finished their small bacon roll.

"Oh?" Draco asked curiously, looking up from his breakfast. "Why is that?"

"It's a place of significant magical and historical importance and it was the place he first felt at home,” Harry explained. “He has so much respect for it and it's somewhere that really means something to him. It's where he discovered who he was, what he wanted to do. It's where he coined his nickname, gathered his first death eaters..."

"I can't really explain it better than that but I just know. I know him.” Harry reiterated stubbornly, willing Draco to take him seriously. “That's what he would do, I know it in my gut. It’s what I would do if I were him. Plus he had the opportunity when he went back for a job interview. I've seen a lot of memories and I've spoken with sixteen year old Tom."

"... I believe you," Draco said carefully. "The castle is a big place, but smaller than the whole country. Alright, I’ll entertain this thought experiment.” Draco bit into his roll and chewed thoughtfully. “So if he were going to hide something in Hogwarts, it would stand to reason that he’d hide a Founder’s artefact,” he murmured, thinking out loud.

"You believe me?” Harry asked surprised, he thought he’d have to work harder to get his point across to Draco and was privately very pleased that Draco had faith in him. “Never mind.” He brushed it off not wanting Draco to know how much that meant to him and focused on the practical things. 

“Anyway, I think so,” he answered Draco. “Like I said, this is mostly guesswork from here. I don't know exactly what we're looking for or where we're going to find it but Dumbledore thought there would be something from Ravenclaw and it makes sense after Slytherin’s locket and Hufflepuff’s cup. You know the history books more than I do. Is there a particular object that’s known to be associated with Ravenclaw?"

“Well, in that case, that’s easy,” Draco said, finishing his roll. “If we're looking for something from Ravenclaw, what else could it possibly be but her diadem?" The way he’d said it made it sound like the obvious answer. “But the problem will be finding it. It’s allegedly missing.” 

Draco didn’t think it was worth dwelling on, since he had no clue that Potter didn’t know about it and was nonchalantly enlarging some cut up fruit from his food tin.

"So let's recap. You suspect seven horcruxes? The diary was one, and then the ring. Something from three of the founders, Godric being the exception... and Nagini. That's six... would the seventh soul fragment be the original that resides in him?" he asked. 

"Well, he split his soul into seven pieces, so six horcruxes. I didn't explain it well the first time.” Harry frowned, still thinking about this diadem thing and wondering what it was but they would circle back to it. It was a relief to know Draco had an idea of what it could be and that would suffice for now. “Two more, one being Nagini but I always thought that we'd need to kill Nagini right before we kill... Him. It’s the hardest one as they’re always together."

"I wonder if he knows how many of these horcruxes have been destroyed to date," Draco said idly.

"I don't think he does. I think I'd have seen it... Felt it... I saw it when he realised that I'd been at Malfoy Manor and I escaped. He was fuming."

"Then he will have no clue that his contingencies were disposed of when you finally face him," Draco mused. “And knowing that destroying horcruxes affects him and his temperament, but doesn’t seem to be aware of the cause, works in our favor,” he added, chewing on a grape.  

"Exactly. He'll probably be feeling cocky knowing even if I managed to hit him an AK it wouldn't stick. His arrogance will be downfall. Hopefully." Harry added, hoping to sound more optimistic than he felt.

"I'd like to throw an AK at that bloody snake of his," Draco grumbled darkly. That beast was a menace and Draco suspected that she was more sentient than a normal snake had any right to be.

"Maybe you will." Harry smiled a little, still going for optimism.

"Would I get Azkaban for AK'ing a snake, you think?" Draco wondered out loud, helping himself to more grapes and a bit of cantaloupe before offering some to Potter. "Or is that something you'd call in a favour for?"

"I doubt you would, once people knew the full story.” Harry pointed out sensibly. “But yes, I wouldn't let you go to Azkaban."

"Do you know what the trick to unforgivable curses is, Potter?" Draco asked. "We learned it in our fourth year, but you were preoccupied. Since we're on the subject of you possibly AK'ing Tom, and all."

"You have to mean them. I know that, Malfoy,” Harry said, rolling his eyes. “I paid attention. I had to fight the Imperius curse and it certainly felt like it was meant... Given it was actually performed by a Death Eater in disguise and all."

"Can you do it? When it comes down to it, do you think you’ll be able to?” Draco asked quietly, eyeing Harry curiously.  “I tried throwing an Unforgivable your way once and that didn't work out well for me."

"Twice." Harry reminded him. "But you clearly didn't mean them. They were weak unlike your usual magic. I could feel the lack of conviction. But yes, I can do it. For Him, I can mean it. I’ve always known that I’ll probably have to one day so I’m prepared."

"Fine, twice,” Draco scoffed, his turn to roll his eyes, not dwelling on Potter’s revelation but inwardly satisfied with his answer. “But who’s counting?” He waved his hand in Harry’s direction, like he was dispelling a bit of smoke. “That said, there was once where I thought I did mean it. Turns out unicorn hair wands are hard to corrupt and they don't like casting Unforgivables. Ironically, I don't have problems with other minor curses or jinxes."

"Unicorn wands are hard to corrupt?" Harry asked with interest. "That's... Interesting. Says a lot about you."

"Shut up," Draco scowled. “No one asked your opinion. It's just some nonsense Mr. Ollivander said. According to that geezer, unicorn hair wands rarely go dark."

"I meant it as a compliment,” Harry said, holding his hands up in a show of surrender. He genuinely wasn’t trying to stir up trouble. “Your family tried to corrupt you, your Father, your circumstances but they failed. Your wand knows you're good. It did at eleven."

Draco blushed a bit, looking uncomfortable. He was sorely tempted to throw a grape in Potter’s direction, but the git would probably catch it.  

"I'm hardly good. You give me too much credit," he said, not looking at Potter in the eye. 

"Well you're not evil." Harry shrugged.

"That... does hold some weight, coming from you. You once told me I was the wrong sort," Draco said, reminding him of that fateful day on the train on their first-ever journey to Hogwarts. But he didn’t let it linger. Instead, he opted to attempt a change of subject as he busied himself with extracting a coffee marble from his tin. He enlarged it, released the stasis spell on it once it was safely in the kettle and nonchalantly added, "I didn't know you put stock in wand lore..."

Mercifully, Potter took the hint. 

"Yeah... I've always been interested in wands.” Harry perked up at the thought of a coffee and was happy to sit and chat over a cup, especially about wandlore. “Mine did some incredible things that I didn't know wands were capable of. I miss it. Using someone else's feels different, although yours actually feels nice to use.” He conceded, wanting to elaborate on a subject he was growing increasingly more passionate about. 

“Wands feel like their owners I think. Don't you? Now that I’ve used a few in my time on the run, that’s my conclusion. Wormtail's one felt weak and feeble; it had no sense of loyalty. Yours... Well, yours doesn't quite feel loyal to me, it's more like accepting but it feels... clever, like it could help me out in a tight spot... I can't explain it."

"Since having the twin cores with Tom I've been wanting to find out more about wands, not unlike him actually, although hopefully for different reasons.” Harry mumbled, still not very comfortable with how many similarities there were between him and Voldemort. “Although that won't help me now that mine is broken. He doesn't know that but he's got a new wand anyway. He's been torturing wand makers trying to get information on wandlore."

That got Draco's attention. "I knew what he was doing, but I didn't know the why of it," he said. It suddenly made sense why Tom and his followers were rounding up wand makers. Information beyond just surface level knowledge was basically trade secret.

Draco made a mental note to find out if a wandmaker’s guild was a thing. Surely there was something akin to a Potions Mastery for the profession. It wasn’t important now, but it has sparked his curiosity since he didn’t recall seeing books on the subject of wands or wand making in any of the libraries he liked to frequent. 

"I admit, I haven't really used anyone else's wand until now that I'm using Mother's. It feels... like it wants to help," Draco said, taking the wand in hand and focusing on how it felt in his hand for a moment. It really did give him the impression of his mother, but he couldn’t afford to dwell on that feeling. Not yet. 

"Like it wants to protect you? As she would have done?" Harry guessed in a soft empathetic tone. 

"Yeah," Draco said quietly. Damn that man’s perceptiveness. "Just like that,” he admitted. “Which is why I'd rather you use my wand than let you touch hers." That was also the reason he didn’t feel he could cast offensive magic with his mother’s wand. She was never very good at those sorts of spells, and he could tell the wand preferred clever charms and protection spells over duelling ones. Potter didn’t need to know that bit. 

"I can understand that. I'd probably feel the same," Harry sympathised.

"My wand might feel the same as I do,” Draco said, trying to steer the conversation away from mothers, in general. “I'm not loyal to you, but in the interest of self preservation, I'll join your cause, knowingly and willingly, over the alternative."

"Yeah... Exactly.” Harry smiled. “I feel that. You and your wand think alike."

Feeling like the conversation had gotten heavy, despite Draco’s attempt to steer it, they both fell into a pensive silence while they enjoyed their coffee.

Once their breakfast had been concluded and the coffee consumed, Harry excused himself to go watch the village again. This left Draco alone in the cave, with little to do but tidy up to his standard, and keep himself entertained. 

 ~~~~~~

It became a bit of a routine: they'd eat, Harry would go watch Hogsmeade, they'd regroup for lunch, then it was Draco's turn.

The days came and went, Draco marking the passage of time on the wall, for his own sanity, each day looking for a way to move ahead with their plans, such as they were. Each day, Draco would find something to do to entertain himself. One day, as he was mapping his surroundings as a snake, he went back to the drafty area he’d noted before and transformed to investigate. He had to keep his wits about him, lest he run into another living creature, mercifully he did not, and discovered that there was an alternate exit to their cave. 

The passage was very small and parts of the passage had collapsed, but it was fairly straightforward. There were no forks or further caves or even other animals living in it. He surmised that goblins could have used the passage, heck, it was possible that they’d carved it, seeing how unnaturally bare it was, but it was much too small for a human. Upon reaching the end, Draco discovered that it led to a sheer drop off into the bloody lake .

Slithering back, he decided that the odds of surviving that drop, even with water at the bottom, were unfavourable. It was not a viable exit unless the alternative was certain death, and not just high-odds death.

Not worth it.  

Another evening, Draco took the opportunity, now that they had their camp settled and they were reasonably sure they weren't moving for a while, to check out that storage space he'd first discovered. Why it had taken him so long to do so was beyond him, but if he’d done it before, he’d have nothing to busy himself with now.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that there were food rations stored away. Dried rice and beans and some potted meats under a failing stasis charm. There were some potions ingredients too... mostly first aid potions. There were blankets and a crate full of what appeared to be muggle clothes, as well as a handful of nondescript robes with hoods. There were candles, some pots, and odds and ends.

These supplies looked much newer. A handful of years old, at best, and a far cry from the remnants of supplies they’d discovered when they’d found their camp kitchen. 

Draco took the time to organize the supplies. He cast cleaning charms over the clothes then transfigured some of the broken crates into shelf units.

By the time he was done, they had the makings of a pantry, which he thought Harry would be pleased about. He seemed to favour having ingredients to cook, rather than use up Draco's prepared food, and that suited Draco just fine. He also wondered if Potter could use some of the garments he’d found. Salazar knew Potter needed them. 

He didn't know how long he spent cleaning up and organizing the pantry, but it would now be a good place to put the animagus potion, if they ever got to that stage. It wouldn't be disturbed on the top shelf.

Leaving their newly organized storage room, Draco quickly found himself bored. He made his way to the opening he'd slightly enlarged the first day, shifted into his snake form, then slithered out to the first cave they'd camped in and out towards the mouth of it. 

“Potter?” he hissed as he approached, scenting the air with his tongue, trying to find him before he revealed himself.

“I'm here,” Harry hissed back from his position on a high up rock opposite the mouth of the cave that had a good view of the village below. He waved his foot out from under the cloak so Draco would see him.

Draco looked up and saw the foot a moment before it tucked away under the cloak again. Draco dutifully slithered up. It was a little difficult, but he did need exercise in this form, which kept him from complaining (for now). Eventually, he did make it up onto the ledge.

“So... this... is where... you watch... from,” he hissed, panting slightly.

“Yeah... Mostly.” Harry confirmed. “There are a couple more good spots I've found with different views. I've been looking for patterns, jotting down some key bits of data here and there, anything I think we could use. For example, see those two snatchers by the path that leads to the shrieking shack? They always pop into the pub for dinner at seven.” Harry pointed out with a sense of pride in his finding, glad to have contributed and hopeful that Draco would value this intel. 

“So there's a window of opportunity,” Draco said as he strained to look, but found himself bumping up against something solid. “Oof. Don't knock me off. It was hard enough getting up here the first time!” he complained. 

“Sorry, here.” Before he could stop himself Harry very gently picked the little snake up and put it on his shoulder. He didn’t really stop to think about it too much, it just seemed practical to him.

“ There, can you see now?” He asked, feeling strangely settled now with his snake companion on his shoulder. “There might be a window of opportunity to get to the shrieking shack if we can get past the Dementors without drawing attention to ourselves. There is a passageway from the shack into the Hogwarts grounds. If it's still there anyway.”

Draco instinctively wrapped his tail around Harry's wrist as he was picked up, barely able to let out a little yelp in surprise when suddenly, he was deposited on Harry's warm shoulder. Before he could think about what he was doing, he slithered around behind Harry's neck, his head popping out beside Harry's ear, the rest of his body coiled around Harry's throat to anchor himself.  

Little heart hammering in his tiny body, Draco was about to protest and give Harry a piece of his mind (and maybe even a bite) over being picked up but then he realized something important that made a huge difference to his snakey little form.

“ Oh... this is nice. You’re warm,” he hissed in contentment. It took him a second to remember why he was on Potter’s shoulder in the first place and looked over to where Harry was pointing. He was so pleased by the unexpected benefit to his cold-blooded nature that he'd completely forgotten to be indignant about being manhandled. “ There's a passage to Hogwarts from the shack?”

“Yep. Under the Whomping Willow.” Harry was pleased to have yet more intel to pass on, the settling contented feeling increasing with Draco now round his neck. His snake form was like a cooling presence that calmed his ever racing mind. “That's the one my dad and his friends used every month to sneak out and help Remus with his transformation every full moon. There is a little button that a rat... Or a snake,” He added with a grin “can press to freeze the willow. That could be our best way in... If it hasn't been blocked up. Snape knows about it.”

“I know you hate him, but Snape is a good man,” Draco hissed. Sure, he was far from lovable, but Professor Snape had been there for him, and protected him, when Draco needed it most.

“I'm still not sure what side he's on.” Harry grimaced.

“He is a complicated man,” Draco sighed, knowing it was futile to defend him and that Snape wouldn’t thank him for it if he knew. “He and I are alike in some respects. He was my mentor at school and... and mother trusted him to keep me safe. He hasn’t let me down yet, even if I didn’t always know that I could trust him.” 

“Yeah... There are similarities.” Harry agreed, his mind still on forming a plan. “I'm not sure if anyone else knows about that passage but it's worth a try. There's another one from Honeydukes cellar. That one would get us into the castle itself which is a bonus but it would be much harder to get from here into Honeydukes so... Tricky.”

“We should try the shack if we try anything at all,” Draco hissed. “There's only two guards and they seem to leave at a set time. For Honeydukes, not only do we have to get into Hogsmeade proper, we need to get inside a shop and into its cellar,” he reasoned. "We are bound to come across more guards there.”

“Agreed.” Harry said simply, happy to have his thoughts echoed. “The shack is the best way but getting into the castle from the grounds might be a little challenging. I don't know what the security measures are in the grounds themselves.”

“A snake is less conspicuous in the grass of the grounds than slithering around on the cobbled roads of Hogsmeade,” Draco mused. He was tired of waiting. They’d never leave the cave at this rate. “I can go ahead of you and act as a lookout.”

“That’s true. Good idea.” Harry nodded, he hadn’t thought of that. It really was very handy having a snake around. “Even if we have to do a scouting mission and then come back and go again properly another day. I just... I know normally I'm keen to act but we're so close to going to confront Tom... I don't want to fail at this final hurdle. But at least we have you as a snake, the cloak and the map. The map will help massively.”

“Map? Like the one we get as first years?” Draco asked curiously. He’d only really used his for a week or so before he had the castle mapped out in his head. What was Potter on about?

“No... Oh shit. Have I not told you about the map?” Harry hissed back excitedly. “Come on, let's go back inside and I'll show you properly.”

Draco tightened his hold around Potter’s throat as Harry started moving, but he wasn't big enough as a snake to actually hurt Harry, even if he tried.

“ Don't drop me,” Draco hissed warningly, glad that he was at least long enough to be properly wrapped around Potter’s neck for security, even if he was only just . 

“Don't worry, I got you,” Harry reassured him.

He carried Draco back inside to the seats by the fire and put his hand on one so that Draco could slither down his arm.

“Transform back and I'll show you .”

Draco obliged, slithering down Harry's arm and onto the edge of the table where he transformed back, looking at Harry expectantly. He did not think about how warm Harry was and how comfortable he had been around his neck.

"So... map?" Draco prompted, beyond curious at what had Potter so excited. 

"Map." Harry grinned as he took the seemingly blank parchment out of his Mokeskin pouch and sat down at the table. "You know... It was quite comfortable having you around my neck as a snake. Merlin... There's a sentence I never thought I'd say."

Draco coloured a little, fighting to suppress a smirk. "And a sentence I never thought I'd be agreeing with. It was very comfortable. I had a nice vantage point and you were nice and warm, which makes me more alert than when I'm chilled."

"Hmm. Well... There we go." Harry replied, not really sure what else to say and feeling a tiny bit awkward about how good it had felt now Draco was himself again.  "Map." He said again for a distraction as he pointed to it. "Yet another thing to thank my dad and his friends for, otherwise known as The Marauders."

"I can't say I'm familiar," Draco said skeptically, looking at the parchment with a frown. "It's... blank." Had Potter lost the plot? Again?

"It's blank now." Harry grinned as he unfolded it and got out his wand to tap it. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

Draco rolled his eyes. What an idiotic thing to say. He was about to comment on the inane statement but bit his tongue when lines of ink started appearing. Draco was transfixed as the map of Hogwarts drew itself out in an annoyingly satisfying way.  

"A magical map of Hogwarts that shows where everyone is in real time," Harry presented dramatically, very pleased with himself.

Draco gave Harry an incredulous look at the declaration, but then became very interested in the map blooming to life on the parchment, including some very curious footprints that most certainly had not been on his own copy. 

“Well. This certainly changes things.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

Draco watched the little footprints walk around the parchment for a moment before it dawned on him.

"... Oh for fuck's sake! Is this how you always managed to know where I was?!" Draco asked irritably as he watched footprints moving around the map corridors. How long had Potter had this bloody map? 

"Oh... Erm... Yes," Harry admitted a bit guiltily but couldn’t hold back his smile.

"I want to jinx you so much right now," Draco muttered as he bent over the table to examine the map and the tiny little footprints, each labeled with an individual tag, indicating whose they were. "This is so bloody useful... Have you had this the whole time?"

"Yeah I have.” This time, he felt more genuine guilt. “I've been so obsessed with scouting Hogsmeade I haven't thought much about gathering intel on Hogwarts using this. I've just been worrying about getting from here to the school first. Sorry, I should have shared this with you sooner."

"Then I think we each have a task now," Draco said, dropping into the nearest chair from his perch on the table and leaned back with his arms and long legs crossed thoughtfully. "I presume we're trying to get into someone's office? Or are we aiming for the Ravenclaw dorm?"

"Well... I've been thinking about that. If you needed to hide something in Hogwarts where would you hide it? I did have to hide something once. I know where I hid it and I think Tom would have used the same place," Harry said with a little smile.

"... The room of requirement? Or, more precisely, the Room of Hidden Things where I found the second vanishing cabinet?" Draco guessed, impressed that Potter knew of the Room of Hidden Things.

"Exactly.” Harry felt good about this train of thought and was happy Draco got there so quickly. “I reckon Tom found it and would be arrogant enough to assume not many students would. But also, you've seen it. It's huge and it's a dumping ground for all sorts. Imagine trying to find a small tiara in that mess.”

“I could be way off the mark and going to Hogwarts might be a massive waste of time,” Harry conceded but it lacked conviction. “But... I think I'm right and I don't have any other ideas so... What do you say?"

"I say I guess I'm watching that section of hallway to get an idea of the comings and goings and who is guarding it. More people know about that room now that I let a bunch of people in last year," Draco said, eyeing the map.

"That does work against us,” Harry admitted with a sigh. “And we held DA meetings there too. I'm guessing it might be being used a fair amount by the remaining DA gang there this year as a bit of a hideout or something. Seems like something they would do." 

"But yeah that's a good plan, if I scout Hogsmeade and you watch the map. ” Harry said, referring back to Draco’s earlier point. “Would be useful to know where the Carrows, Snape and Filch spend most of their time."

"Snape won't rat me out, but what he doesn't know gives him plausible deniability. Better that he doesn't catch us so he has one fewer thing to lie about," Draco agreed.

"I wish I could fully share your faith in Snape but I trust you,” Harry said, trying to convince himself. “So we spend the next, what, week? Scouting and planning and then we go for it?"

Draco nodded, "Yes. A week should suffice. We should have a pretty good idea of the comings and goings of people with a week’s worth of observation. Are you planning on meeting up with any of the DA or getting messages across?" he asked, curiously. He assumed that keeping an eye on Gryffindors would be in his immediate future. He didn’t know how the group communicated, but they clearly had a way of tipping each other off in fifth year. It had taken veritaserum to get any of them to crack. 

"I'd love to make sure they're all okay but I'm worried about anyone thinking they're helping me," Harry admitted. "I don't want them to be punished or something if people think they have. I have no idea what it's like at Hogwarts. All I know is the Carrows are 'teachers' there and that can't be pretty."

"I feel like I could be of some use," Draco said with a little frown. "Tom is notorious for having Nagini... what if your side knew to look for me?"

"What do you mean?" Harry frowned a little. "You want to get the word out that I have a pet silver snake?"

"No, I don't want word to get out , in the general sense, but if your people knew that you had a pet snake…” Draco mused. Personally, he thought he was more white than silver, but then again, his eyesight as a snake couldn’t be trusted. 

"We do need to make contact with the students on the inside,” Draco continued. “If nothing else, then to ensure the DA group stays well away from the room when we're going in," Draco said, frowning as he saw what appeared to be some students causing a fuss down one corridor on the map before him so another group of students could access the room of requirement. 

"No one on his side knows that I'm an Animagus. We’d best use their lack of intel against them,” Draco pointed out, which reminded him of Potter’s project. “And speaking of, do you still have the leaf in your mouth, by the way? The sticking charm holding up?"

"Yeah it's still there,” Harry nodded. “It felt weird at first but I got used to it and it doesn’t bother me now. The sticking charm is a great tip, I've kinda forgotten about it. Every now and then I remember and it feels weird, like I’ve got something stuck between my teeth or something but mostly it's fine. Thanks."

"I'll have a think about how I can get in touch with Nev.” He continued, getting back on track with their earlier conversation,“but I can't exactly send a patronus or an owl. I need to guarantee he'd be alone..."

Draco snorted at the thought of Potter thinking . “Longbottom is known for faffing around with plants. As such, he would have ample reason to get close enough to the ground where he might encounter a little garden snake. I could slither up to him with a note in my mouth." He was kidding, but it painted a funny picture in his mind and it supported his earlier suggestion of Potter’s side becoming aware of his new “pet”.

"That's not a bad idea." Harry replied seriously, rubbing his head a little. He thought Voldemort might have just had some good news which didn’t bode well for them. It soured his mood and brought about the beginnings of a headache, but he didn’t want to burden Draco with it. It wasn’t actual intel after all.

OH? Did Potter think his plan was viable? "You could carry me close enough, around the village and near the grounds, under your cloak..." Draco suggested, already thinking about how close he’d need to be and how far he’d need to slither. 

"I'd never let you go into Hogwarts alone,” Harry replied stubbornly, feeling protective. “But if we could get Neville on his own... We'll see. Anyway... Let's leave it there for tonight. My head hurts."

"Do you want something for it?" Draco asked. "Or are you just going to bed? I can go keep watch," he said, to give Potter space and some quiet if he was fighting off a (presumably magical) headache.

"You sure?” Harry still felt a little relieved at Draco offering to take the first watch even though that’s what they did every night. “Thanks, that would be great. I think I just need to go to bed, though. Best save the potions for when we really need them. Wake me up when you want to swap." Harry grumbled a little as he took himself to bed. He knew from past experience that potions didn’t help with this particular form of headache.

"Sure,” Draco agreed easily. He stood to head out, but paused and boldly asked, “Mind if I take the cloak and map?"

Harry hesitated slightly, they were his most prized possessions after all but funnily enough he found that he did trust Draco. He thought his first instinct would have been to say no but interestingly enough that wasn’t the case.

"Yeah sure, go ahead. When you're done with the map just tap it and say 'mischief managed' and it will go back to blank."

Draco had seen Harry hesitate and was about to tell him to fuck off, but when Harry agreed, Draco was honestly floored.

"I'll take care of them,” Draco promised. “I know I normally watch in my snake form, but... I want to try and watch both the castle and village for a bit," he tried to explain, though he wasn’t sure why he was justifying himself to Potter.

 "I... appreciate the show of trust," he added awkwardly. 

"That's alright." Harry said quietly.

Draco gave a little nod of acknowledgement before taking the cloak and map, leaving the cave and Harry to his own devices.

~~~~

Over the next week, Harry was not only really starting to trust Draco with everything, but he also found he was beginning to get on rather well with him. He might even be starting to like him... as a friend. Draco had certainly been very useful to have around, setting up camp and finding supplies, he’d even found Harry some new clothes and gotten them all cleaned up and resized for him. Harry was undeniably grateful to Draco but it was more than gratitude and more than them being simply allies. 

They had essentially set up a home here. They spent a lot of time together and they needed to pass the time in between scouting missions so it was natural that they talked a lot and had even started playing games. Draco had fashioned a makeshift wizard chess set out of some white and black stones he'd collected and had drawn out a chess board on the rough table. He’d even managed to goad Harry into playing! 

Of course he beat Harry every time but then he started actually teaching Harry to play properly and now that Harry was picking up some strategy skills he was at least giving Draco a mild challenge. Not much, mind, but enough that it kept Draco entertained and Harry from being too frustrated.  

Harry had taken over the cooking completely now, always making breakfast and dinner from scratch (or rather, using leftovers to make something entirely new), but they usually had some of Draco's premade sandwiches for lunch. Draco was still in charge of keeping all their supplies neat and organised though, he was good at that. 

It was almost beginning to feel enjoyable... almost. However, as their selected day for the Hogwarts mission drew nearer, Harry found himself predictably getting more nervous. Even though it was officially Draco’s task he found himself obsessively checking the map too that evening after dinner. It would be a week tomorrow of intel gathering, and it had actually been a good week, but now he was getting restless. They needed a plan. 

“Anything interesting happening with the map?” Draco looked over Harry’s shoulder, passing him a butterbeer. He’d just finished putting everything away from dinner and thought they could both indulge in a rare treat.

"Not really.” Harry replied as he took the drink gratefully. “Been trying to see when could be a good time to get a message to Neville but he's literally never alone. He spends a lot of time with Ginny," Harry commented idly.

"Aren't you two dating? And ... would it be a problem if she knew you had a pet snake?" Draco recalled that the Weaselette had been a victim of the Chamber of Secrets back in year two. Draco had now learned that the creature in the castle had been a basilisk. He wouldn’t be surprised if she had a thing against snakes.

"No, we broke up. If she's moved on then good for her," Harry said casually. "I... I thought it would be hard. I thought I'd miss her but... Well I haven't really thought of her as awful as that is to admit. She could do a lot worse than Neville. But no... I suppose it wouldn't be a problem. We can trust Ginny too."

"So... we're not mad that Weaselette is potentially dating one of your allies?" Draco asked curiously. "Was it an amicable break up?"

"Yeah it was amicable, she understood and felt the same,” Harry confirmed easily enough. “I can't exactly date right now, it just isn’t a priority and I wanted her to be safe. I didn't want them to use her to get to me or anything. I didn't want her to wait for me, I made her promise not to so I'm not mad. I have no reason to be."

"Not jealous or annoyed or bitter?" Draco prodded.

"No." Harry shrugged casually again, finding he really was speaking the truth. "If anything it's a relief. I was worried she would wait for me anyway."

Draco raised his eyebrows, rather impressed. 

"Well then. In that case, we have two tasks today,” Draco said, dropping the subject. “One: make contact and Two: check out the passage in the shack."

"Yep. Those are where my focus needs to be,” Harry nodded resolutely. “It's a relief not to have to feel... guilty or whatever about Ginny. It's a relief not to have that pressure on top of everything else."

They discussed the best way to go about getting close to the shack, comparing notes of the comings and goings of the snatchers and what they’d do if things went sideways. Eventually, they needed to stop discussing and take action, but neither was particularly keen.

"Let’s start with the Snatchers, since they’re the most predictable,” Harry said. “We should head out around 6:40. That gives us twenty minutes to get down into the village along the path to the shack when the snatchers go into the pub at seven. I know we'll be invisible but still... makes it easier."

Draco nodded, mulling things over as he looked over his notes. "And when do you plan on making contact with Longbottom?” he asked. “Seven seems to be the curfew right now at Hogwarts, so going there after scouting the shack wouldn’t work.”

"Yeah true…” Harry thought it over. “You've been watching the map more than me, when is our best chance?"

"He is always in or around the greenhouses in the morning, before classes start for the day and stays there until half ten. I presume he has morning double Herbology. Other than that, I’ve seen him around the area between three thirty and four thirty. But that’s only every other day or so. I suspect he visits when he has a free period, but tomorrow is not one of those days,” Draco said confidently. If they were to attempt it on one of Longbottom’s free period days, Draco would need to be in place and ready for him so they didn’t lose time.

“If we can get moving early enough in the morning, you could sneak me close enough to the castle grounds and I can slither the rest of the way there," Draco suggested, wanting to make contact sooner rather than later.

"Then we have our window. Tomorrow morning, before class," Harry replied, feeling a little better now a plan was forming, grateful for Draco’s week of intel gathering. "What do we want the note to say? We need to be careful in case it falls into the wrong hands."

"It also has to be short so that I can carry it," Draco said. “What about... 'Safehouse  established. Will need the RoR soon. Anything to report? Messenger is Silver.' ? Is that too cryptic?"

"No. That sounds perfect. Do you think he'd definitely know it was me? He'd probably recognise my handwriting," Harry pondered but his mind was already growing tired and not functioning as well as was often the case at this time of night.

"You could initial it... but he should know," Draco offered.

"Initials are too risky. I reckon he'll know.” Harry replied simply. “I feel my handwriting is quite distinctive."

"That’s one word for it,” Draco snorted. “So we have a plan. We make contact with Longbottom first thing, come back and regroup with the intent to check out the Shack in the evening. Go on to bed while I take my post. You can write the note in the morning.”

Draco didn’t let Harry argue. He stood, flicked his wand to dim the lights and headed out to the mouth of the cave with the map. He didn’t bother with the cloak. If he heard anything, he had his snake form to hide with. 

~~~~~

Unsurprisingly, on the eve of the mission Harry simply couldn't sleep despite being exhausted. In the end he gave up and went to find Draco on his watch early before Draco woke him up as usual.

"Hey,” he yawned a little. “I can't sleep. You may as well get some hours in if you want.”

"You sure?" Draco asked, dark circles under his eyes. Draco had been watching the horizon when Potter drew near. Nothing much of note was happening in the castle at this time of night either, so Draco was admittedly fighting to stay awake and focused.

When Harry insisted, Draco swapped places with him and went to bed. Hours later, when he awoke, he went to check on Harry and found him asleep, his cloak partially slipped off. Sighing, he nudged him to wake him up.

"Potter? Wake up. Come get something to eat," he whispered, cautiously. They hadn’t had scouts come out this way, but Draco didn’t want to risk calling attention to themselves. It was almost sunrise, after all.

"Huh? What's up? Whose...? Oh." Harry was initially confused at being woken up and wondered what had happened until he realised.

"Oh shit! Fuck! I'm so sorry I... That won't happen again I promise. Sorry." He said a bit panicked as he grabbed the cloak and quickly headed further into the safety of the cave.

"Shh... it's okay," Draco whispered.  "Let's grab a bite and go back to bed... the alarms will wake us if there's a problem. This shift thing isn't good for either of us," he admitted tiredly. Breaking up their sleep had made them both a bit tetchy and they needed to rest. 

"Are you... Are you sure? What if the alarms fail? And-" Harry yawned widely before carrying on. "There's only one bed anyway," he pointed out but he couldn’t deny Draco had a point, this didn’t feel sustainable. 

"The bed is big enough. I went through the trouble of enlarging it, after all. Just stay on your side and I'll stay on mine. The alarms will work. We'll hide the entrance," Draco assured him. He had no idea if the alarms would work, but shrinking the passage that led back to their hideout was easy enough to do. And a disillusionment charm wouldn’t go amiss. 

"Yeah... Alright. I am tired," Harry agreed as he stood up and started to drag his feet back inside. "I'll make breakfast then if you're hungry." He added with another yawn, he needed to do his job and thought he should offer. He wanted to look after Draco but he had to admit he didn’t feel like cooking.

"Let's snack on sandwiches and then get a little more sleep in." Draco offered. He was a little peckish, but really, he’d rather go to bed. They had a big day ahead, and by his calculation, they had another three hours before they needed to head down for their first mission.

"Alright. That's better,” Harry agreed, a little relieved. Draco always had sensible suggestions and good plans, it felt good to just agree with him and go along with it, like a weight off his mind. “Sorry, I was just worrying about today but we’ll have time for a nap when we get back from making contact with Neville."

"Indeed, we have plenty of time," Draco agreed, helping Harry off his ledge. He was also looking forward to a nap later on. 

He led the way back to their cave, unpacked some sandwiches and handed one to Harry.

"We need all the rest we can get," Draco said as he walked over to where the bed was set up. He took off his shoes and sat on the edge of the mattress. He'd transfigured a sturdy frame and box spring under the mattress and cast a charm so that they didn't get crumbs on the bed before putting his wand beside the candle in the "nightstand" stalagmite on his side.

Harry felt a little weird at first, getting into bed with Draco, but Draco was right, the bed was big enough for both of them and they could stick to their own sides easily enough. In the end he was so tired that it didn't matter and he slept soundly for a good few hours.

When he woke up, Draco was still asleep but Harry had too much nervous energy to sleep much more so he moved over to the little table area, still only half dressed and prepared the message for Neville.

Draco woke, not too long after, to the sound of parchment being shuffled. He rubbed his eyes stretched, then reached for his wand to cast a tempus. Good. They were on track. 

"Are you writing the note?" Draco asked, running his hand through his dishevelled hair before shuffling out of bed and to the main table where Draco had left his food tins. After a week to get comfortable, he’d stopped putting them away after every use and just left them out in case Potter wanted to use something from them to make their meals. 

Harry nodded, still a little sleepy as he finished the note and passed it to Draco. “There, want to check if you can hold it in your mouth as a snake? Otherwise I can make it smaller,” he offered as he got up to make a start on breakfast now Draco was awake.

Draco was busy getting their coffee in mis-matched mugs and took a sip of his own before taking the note. “It does look a little big…” he said skeptically. He set his mug down on the rough table, took a seat on the edge and transformed into a snake.

“Give it here,” he hissed from the table, opening his mouth up for it.

Harry paused what he was doing and carefully folded the note and put it in Draco’s mouth in snake form, wondering briefly if this was the weirdest thing he’d done to date. 

Draco bit down on it, and slithered around the table for a moment before dropping it. “‘S too big. It needs to be smaller so we don’t fold it so thick,” he hissed, working his jaw a little, black tongue darting out expectantly.

Harry observed this with a little smile, he still couldn’t help but think how cute Draco was like this but then quickly focused on the task in hand.  “Alright, sorry,” He hissed back. “Let me just get the porridge on and then I’ll re-write it smaller. I never did have your finesse with a quill. I was always so jealous of your poncy little letters and neat drawings.” 

If Draco could have rolled his eyes as a snake, he’d have done so. “Again with the weird compliments at the oddest of times. Are you alright?” Draco hissed. “I’d offer to write it, but Longbottom wouldn’t trust it.”

“I dunno,” Harry laughed, a little amused and a little embarrassed. “Something about you as a snake brings them out in me but enough of that. You’re right, it has to be me.”

He set up the oats in the cast iron cooking pot and poured in the water plus some cinnamon and chopped up apple. Hopefully it would be the makings of a good hearty but tasty breakfast. Then he turned his attention back to the parchments on the table and scribbled the note in his signature messy handwriting but just smaller so he only had to do one fold of the paper. Then he held it to Draco’s mouth expectantly.

Draco took it and then did his experimental slithering around the table. When he was convinced that he wouldn’t have an issue, he returned and set the paper down. “Much better. I am confident that I can carry that a distance,” he confirmed. Slithering up to the edge of the table, he launched himself off and took on his human form to sit down for breakfast.

“Whatever you’re doing, it smells delicious,” Draco praised.

“Thank you, I hope so.” Harry smiled a little, genuinely pleased. “I’m really trying to get as much flavour into our meals with what we’ve got. We’re just lucky you packed some basic seasonings.”

“What you call seasonings, I call potions ingredients,” Draco chuckled. “Some of them, anyway. There’s overlap.” 

“Oh. Damn.” Harry peered into the pot to look at the cinnamon sticks, suddenly a little worried. “Am I misusing your supplies? I was so excited to see cinnamon, it’s one of my favourite flavours. It never occurred to me it might be a potions ingredient.”

“Not at all. I’m just saying that it wasn’t suspicious for me to acquire cooking-grade potions ingredients. I’m fond of cinnamon tea, for example, but it’d be odd for me to stow away loose cinnamon “tea” sachets, whereas my acquiring a dozen or so cinnamon sticks was not suspicious at all, because they were assumed to be potion ingredients. They were in a pot in one of the ‘food and drink’ tins for a reason,” Draco explained. 

“Equally, table salt would be suspicious, but not rock salt. Cardamom as a spice would raise eyebrows, but not cardamom pods or whole vanilla beans. That’s why they’re in their whole form, in case you were wondering.” He patted the Mokeskin case that he still wore on his person, “Don’t worry. I’m keeping my real ingredients away from you.”

“Definitely wise.” Harry chuckled, feeling relieved. “And I don’t mind telling you how impressive your setup is. You’ve really thought about everything and how to explain it all. I’m still sorry you had to do that but I’m definitely seeing the value of having a Slytherin around.”

“I was coping,” Draco admitted. “Even if I thought I’d never have my chance to flee, preparing as though I might do, helped me. It gave me something physical and concrete to spend my energy on, no matter how futile it felt. I needed that. And I needed an outlet for my anxiety. I’m just glad it wasn’t in vain.”

“I can understand that.” Harry sympathised, checking the porridge and speeding up the cooking a little using a cooking spell Hermione had taught him. He tasted it and then served up two bowls, passing Draco his first. “We all have our coping mechanisms. Anyway, eat, we’ve got a big day ahead and we’ll need the energy.”

Draco thanked him for the meal and tucked in. He’d need the fuel for the long slither up to the castle. Hopefully Longbottom wasn’t afraid of (or hostile to) snakes.

Soon they were ready to set off and Harry picked Draco up once he'd transformed and very tenderly put him around his neck, trying to focus on the task at hand and not about how good Draoo felt there but once again his cooling calming presence did wonders to still anxious mind and prepare him to face whatever lay in wait for them beyond the sanctuary of their cave.

Chapter Text

“You okay? How do you feel?” Harry hissed as up to Draco who was currently residing around his neck in snake form. Draco was still squirming around a little so Harry waited until he was still and then put the cloak over both of them, ready for their second proper mission out of the cave. 

“I'm comfortable and secure,” Draco assured Harry, once he was wrapped around Harry's throat. 

“You feel comfortable and secure,” Harry confirmed, repeating Draco’s words, trying to remain calm but for some reason he was really nervous. This mission felt risky but exciting all the same time. Things needed to start happening now.

“Do you have the note?” Draco asked. He would not be pleased if they got to the grounds only to discover it was left behind. “Make sure you hold onto it until we get there.”

“Yeah, I have the note.” Harry nodded, putting his hand in his pocket to double check it was still there. “I'll pass it to you once you’re in place.”

They walked in silence for a little while taking the longer route around the village that Harry had scouted out. There were a few stray Dementors this way but he was able to send his stag out without drawing too much attention, there was only the one snatcher who saw it that he had to quickly confound. They had planned for that if they saw one; so far things were going well.

Once they finally got to the school gates Harry started subtly casting spells at it to see what wards there were. It didn’t seem right that there were no guards on the gates themselves. What if it was a trap?

“How do we even know you can make it through? What if you trigger an alarm or something?” Harry asked, suddenly very worried for Draco’s safety. They had become rather close and he realised it was more than just needing an ally, Draco was a friend now.

“I'm still enrolled as a student,” Draco reminded him. “And even so... I don't think I'll trigger the wards as a snake... unless they were updated since professor Snape took over. The rat never had an issue,” he reasoned.

“Yeah... That's true... I'm just nervous. I don't want anything to happen to you.” Harry admitted easily.

Draco gave his throat a little squeeze. “I appreciate that. Thank you. Meet you here in... thirty minutes?” He was honestly touched that Potter had his safety in mind. When was the last time someone worried for him? Other than his mother? He didn’t want to think of his mother.

“Yeah I'll be here. If... If something goes wrong and you need help then go to Hagrid okay? He'll help you,” Harry whispered, the thought coming to him at the spur of the moment, his mind working quickly. “Tell him... about the time he gave my cousin a pig tail. No one else knows that. He'll know I told you and that you're working with me. He'll help you if needed but I'll be able to see you on the map so I'll see if you're in trouble.”

“Right. Keep an eye on me with the map. You'll see when I've made contact and when I'll be on my way back. Let me down, please, ” Draco asked politely. “And I think I’ll need to know this ridiculous story. You can tell it to me later.”

Harry gently set Draco down on the ground and then held the note in the palm of his hand for him. “Good luck.”

“Thankssss.”  

Draco took the note in his mouth from Harry's palm and disappeared into the grass. It was a very good thing that Potter had that annoying map. Without it, Harry would have lost sight of Draco as soon as he got a couple of feet away. 

Harry watched Draco, very grateful that Draco’s gut had been correct and he’d made it through the gates unharmed. Then Harry sat on a rock near the gates, keeping himself hidden under the cloak. He got the map out and activated it to keep watch on Draco. Now it was just a waiting game.

Draco slithered towards the greenhouses and hoped he could spot Longbottom and get his attention without too much incident. It really was difficult to see after a certain distance, but he did spy a blob of black, which he presumed was Longbottom in garden robes.

Sure enough, as he approached, he identified Longbottom who was bent down clipping some fanged geranium in the flowerbed just outside greenhouse four. Now all Draco needed to do was to get his attention.  

Neville had been having a quiet morning, which he was fond of, tending to his plants. He’d been in the middle of pruning Gerry but he was distracted from his task when he saw the sun reflecting off something shiny slithering towards him in the grass.

"Oh my!" He jumped a little when he realized the snake was coming right at him. He'd never been overly fond of snakes. "Please don't bite me."

Draco appreciated the manners and the fact that Longbottom's first instinct wasn't to come at him with the sharp clippers in his hand. Draco got as close as he dared, dropped the note, then slithered back, away from him a short distance.

Happy with their proximity, Draco got comfortable and looked up at Longbottom, expectantly. When he didn't move right away, Draco looked down at the note pointedly, then up at the wizard.

"What? You - Is that a note? How in the world?" Neville wondered out loud as he picked up the small scrap of paper and looked back at the snake.

Draco nodded a bit and made sure to sit still and look attentive. He knew it wouldn’t be normal behaviour for a snake, but he needed to get across to Longbottom that his presence at the greenhouse was planned and premeditated. This was not a random snake encounter. 

"Did you just...? I'm imagining things. I could have sworn you just nodded at me. And now I'm talking to you like a crazy person," Neville chuckled a little. It wasn’t unusual for him to talk to himself, or rather, his plants. Speaking to snakes was, however, an entirely new experience. 

Then he read the note twice , frowning as he tried to understand the cryptic nature. But when he saw how it’d been delivered, and by whom (or was it what in this situation?) it made sense that the note had to be truncated. 

The handwriting was familiar too but he couldn’t place it at first. “Where have I seen this handwriting before?” he mused. 

And then it dawned on him. 

"Holy... Is this note from - ?" He cut himself off and looked around. Kneeling down, almost as if he were hiding behind the pot he’d been bent over, he dropped his voice to a whisper to address the snake, "Is this from Harry?"

Draco nodded again, his snakey body doing a little bit of a wiggle dance in his excitement. He carefully slithered closer, but not too close. Thank Salazar! Longbottom isn't as dumb as he looks , Draco thought as he inwardly celebrated.

"You just nodded again, didn't you?" Neville frowned as he examined the snake getting a little closer but still a little wary. "Can you understand me?"

Draco nodded, his black tongue slipping out excitedly. He slithered a little closer still, but not enough to startle the Gryffindor. Just enough to show that he was responding to him.

"Wow that's... So... You're his pet? His companion? Is he okay?" Neville asked eagerly, desperate for any good news from Harry to give hope to the others.

Draco decided to nod and let him believe him to be a pet. Then nodded again to the second question. There was no way to explain who he was or that he was an animagus... and he didn't really want that to be known. Plus, it wouldn’t do him any favors with Longbottom anyway, with him having been Draco’s favourite person to bully, after Potter. 

"I knew he'd make contact!" Neville grinned, visibly relieved. They’d been growing concerned since Harry had freed Luna and others, but had himself been caught. "Can I give you a note to take back to him?"

Draco hesitated but nodded. It'd be easier for Longbottom to just verbally give him a message for Draco to relay, but he couldn't really say that to him. He just hoped the man didn't give him a huge message to carry.

"Alright let's see. Better keep it short..." Neville muttered as he reached into his bag and got a bit of parchment before tearing a little bit off. He read the note out loud as he wrote it. 

“Message received. We're all eager to help. DA going strong! Can cause distraction. Use coins for date.” 

He folded up the slip of parchment and tentatively held it out in the palm of his hand for Draco. "Be careful little one. The Carrows mean business," Neville warned him speaking from experience, the number of bruises visible on his skin also backed up his statement. Even if he hadn’t said it, there was no way Draco would have believed those injuries to be self-inflicted from gardening.

Draco bumped Neville's finger with his snout in acknowledgement and took the bit of parchment before quickly slithering off towards the gate. He’d never slithered so fast in his life! Granted, his snake form was still relatively new, but that wasn’t the point! He took off in the general direction from whence he’d come, but it was hard to tell if he was on course with his bad eyesight. Still, he made it. His little heart was beating a mile a minute with adrenaline as he returned to the meeting spot.

Harry was pacing up and down by the gates under the cloak, too nervous to stay still on his rock in the end. He was watching the map and was relieved to see Draco making his way back to him. He was concerned when he noticed Draco didn’t take a direct path, and moved to intercept him as he approached. 

He didn't think he'd feel quite this protective of him or worried about him. It was strange but then again he supposed Draco was all he had at the moment in some ways, maybe it made sense.

He had to see off a couple more Dementors just as Draco was drawing close but when they were gone he crouched down by the gate to look for Draco ready to gently scoop him up.

Draco saw a hand appear near the grass and hurried over, stilling just long enough for Harry to scoop him. He was panting and jittery, but he'd made it! It felt like it’d taken twice as long to get back than it had to find Longbottom.

“Hey, come here. I got you,” Harry hissed softly as he protectively picked Draco up taking great care when putting him back on his neck. “There we are. Safe and sound,” He added, the relief evident in his voice.

Draco wrapped himself around Harry's throat after spitting out the parchment into Harry's hand. He was privately very relieved that he’d made it back without getting lost. “Thanks for waiting for me. He sent back a note. Something about a coin.”

“Of course I'd wait for you,” Harry replied, looking at the path ahead and feeling a bit distracted and on edge. “A coin? Hmm. I'll read it when we're back. I just... I need to get back. Come on, let's just focus on that first.”

Draco nudged Harry's jaw in agreement then settled in for the ride. “The world is a lot bigger when I'm so small.”

“I can imagine. Must be scary,” Harry hissed back immediately feeling more relaxed now Draco was back around his neck. He was a calm cooling presence against Harry's hot flushed skin and he soothed him just by being there. Harry was feeling a little strange about how much he'd missed him in such a short time.

They were making good time back, but Harry had to quickly stop when they saw a couple of snatchers up ahead. Fortunately, they soon moved past, talking amongst themselves, seemingly oblivious to anything suspicious. Harry breathed a sigh of relief under the cloak and carried on stealthily up the path to their cave.

Draco was still and silent the entire trek. He did not want to distract Potter or accidentally do something to give them away. 

The rest of their journey was thankfully without incident and when they were safely back in their cave Harry sighed in relief. 

“Home sweet home,” He hissed happily as he took off the cloak and laid it over the back of a chair.

Draco agreed wholeheartedly. He nudged Harry's chin with his snout and hissed, “Set me down?”  

Once Draco was back in his human form, he let out a breath. "Why the fuck did I volunteer to be brave? That was bloody terrifying! Remind me not to volunteer for things like this again," he complained, knowing full well that he’d do it again if needed.

Harry looked at Draco then and was nearly overwhelmed by the urge to hug him... but he didn't give into it for some reason. "You were really brave. I'm really glad you're okay." He offered instead with a small smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome,” Draco said, albeit begrudgingly. “That was my first big foray into the world as a snake," he admitted. 

"Congratulations on surviving it,” Harry chuckled a little as he relaxed in a nearby chair and then remembered about the mission details. “So you saw Neville? How did he seem?"

"He doesn't like snakes much, but he's smarter than he looks,” Draco said, taking a seat too. It felt like someone had cut his strings once he was off his feet. “He seemed okay, I guess. I'm not a Longbottom expert. But he was glad to hear from you. They were apparently worried."

"No, that's okay, you did well,” Harry reassured him, not wanting Draco to think he was disappointed in his efforts. Although he realised now he was a little jealous, he would have loved to have seen Neville for himself but he brushed it aside. “He's always in high spirits regardless. I just wondered if there were any clues as to how they're all being treated up there."

"He said the Carrows ‘mean business’ and told me not to get caught. He was sporting a few bruises too," Draco reported. “It was disarming to have him warn me… like he cared about a creature he has no affinity for.”

Harry sighed sadly at that but didn’t seem to know what to say so he simply said nothing. He had been worried about them all up there at the castle. He felt useless hiding out here in the cave doing nothing but he had to remind himself that they were doing something, it was just slow progress. Meanwhile people like Neville were out there everyday living the more immediate effects of this war first hand. They had to stop it.

Draco leaned forward, his forearms braced on the table, letting himself come down from the whole experience. He allowed himself a couple of slow breaths to get the adrenaline out of his system.

"So… Can we leave the shack for tomorrow? I know we have a few hours before the guards take a dinner break… If you’re still up for it, we can go scout today, but..." he couldn’t finish that statement. How was he supposed to tell Potter that he was too unsettled to continue with today’s plan?

"Yeah, let’s leave the shack for tomorrow. My emotions can't take it today," Harry found himself saying. It was unlike him, normally he was all about just taking action but he was really struggling with the emotional upheaval of it all. He had a sneaking suspicion that Draco felt the same.

Draco was immediately relieved that he hadn’t been the one forced to say it. But he was surprised that Harry was feeling the emotional toll too. 

"Were you... worried about me? Genuinely?" Draco asked before he could stop himself. He was startled and surprised by the thought. Enough so, that the words completely bypassed his filter.

"Er, yeah, I really was," Harry mumbled, a bit embarrassed.

Draco couldn't hide the surprised look on his face if he’d been paid to. Nor could he hide the blush or the bashful smile that creped up on him. "I... don't think I've ever had a contemporary worry about me. Longbottom doesn’t count. He was worried about your pet snake, not me, Draco."

"Yeah well... I've grown used to you and... You're not as bad as... Well... We're sort of... friends now? Aren’t we?" Harry said awkwardly. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Draco still looked surprised. Would the wonders never cease? For a moment, he had a fleeting thought that his face would get stuck in a perpetual look of shock. 

"I... don't have friends.  Not really.  I have... contemporaries, sycophants, allies... rivals,” Draco said, more honestly than he’d intended. “I don't know what friendship is supposed to be." It was an admission that he hadn’t previously been brave enough to give voice to. He’d known it for a long time, but this was the first time he’d said it out loud.

"Well whatever we are... I don't want to lose an ally and you're actually quite good company as it turns out," Harry admitted, still feeling weirdly out of sorts.

Though it was a relief to not be pressured into elaborating or mocked for his honesty, Draco was also thrown by Potter’s easy acceptance of his statement. 

"Did you... want to be friends?" Draco asked softly, curiously, kicking himself for having completely lost the use of thought-to-mouth filter.

"One can never have too many friends... I... Yeah, guess so," Harry shrugged, trying to act casual even though his heart had started beating fast again, like they were on a mission. "That would be nice," he added more quietly.

"... Like I said... I don't really know what it's like to have a friend,” Draco reminded him, awkwardly. “But if you’re sure that’s what you want… Okay," he said, having to pause before giving his consent.

"Friendship is about companionship and having fun together which I think we have been doing. It's also about loyalty and trust, protecting each other, which is what we do now too.” Harry pointed out simply. “I trust you now to have my back, the same as I would Ron, Hermione or Neville, so... I think we're friends already."

"I don't trust easily... but I trust you," Draco said, admitting reciprocity, at least on that front. And it really did show how far they’d come that Draco could say, without an ounce of hesitation, that he did, in fact, trust Harry Potter to have his back. 

"Well that's something,” Harry was happy with that but he still wasn’t sure he liked the way his heart was beating wildly. He wasn’t sure what that meant. Maybe he should focus on something else. 

“So... Let's see what this note says," Harry said, changing the subject from the odd turn their conversation had taken. He unfolded it to give it a read before passing it to Draco. "I knew he'd want to help, bless him. Sounds like the DA are still active then."

"What's this about a coin?" Draco asked after scanning the missive. Longbottom had better writing than Potter, surprisingly enough, he noted. It was still chicken scratch, but it wasn’t awful. Then again, he’d hurriedly written the note using his knee as something solid to write against. 

"Oh yes! I can't believe I forgot about them!" Harry exclaimed as he dug his own out of the Mokeskin pouch and handed it to Draco. "We used these coins in DA to set the date of the next meeting. The numbers change on the side."

"So in this case, you set the date and time to have them create a diversion?" Draco asked, examining the coin. "This is... pretty genius." He handed it back with a little smile. "And now we know that I can approach him and he'll know who I am."

"Yeah, exactly. I'm so pleased we went to the effort of contacting Neville. You're the genius!” Harry grinned, suddenly feeling a lot better. “That is going to help us out a lot if they can draw the staff away from the Room of Requirement."

"A plan is coming together... I'm impressed, " Draco mused. “This makes the whole ordeal worth it, even though I do need some time to recover from the fright.”

"Yeah... It really does,” Harry let out a deep breath. “I am really pleased at what we achieved today and that we have a plan for tomorrow to check out the passageway but I'm still a bit wound up. Let's play a game and have some Butterbeer. I... I like just chilling out with you. It's nice not to have to think about the war all the time."

"Then let's do that. I have some popcorn kernels... do you know how to make popcorn?"

"You have popcorn? Awesome. You're incredible.” Harry shook his head fondly, a big easy smile on his face. “Yeah we can put it in a pot on the fire along with some butter and sugar. Leave the lid on and they will pop."

"I didn't think I'd ever have it because I didn't know how to cook it," Draco said as he handed Harry a jar of kernels. The jar had come in a gift hamper last Christmas and he knew his parents hated the stuff. Now, he was glad he’d rescued it from being vanished. He blushed and preened at being called amazing, despite thinking he hadn’t done anything to earn the compliment today , and carried on pulling butterbeers from his stash before moving to set up their makeshift chess board.

Harry made a start in the popcorn and as he did so an idea for the game came to mind. He grinned playfully at Draco. "Care to make it a little more… interesting?" 

Chapter Text

Draco looked up from where he was arranging the chess pieces and gave Harry a curious look after Harry suggested making their standard chess game a little more interesting. "Interesting how?" 

"Every time you take one of my pieces off the board you get to ask me a question and I have to answer honestly... and vice versa if I actually manage to take one of your pieces," Harry grinned.

"That is an intriguing proposal. Okay, I'm game," Draco said with a grin. “Though it’s decidedly in my favour, unless I show mercy on you.”

"Alright then. I'll start as white, you can be black," Harry suggested, glad that Draco was playing along. He put the lid on the popcorn pot and came to sit at the table.

“As if going first is going to help you in the slightest,” Draco chuckled, taking his seat and waving at Harry to begin while he sipped on his butterbeer. 

Predictably Draco was the first to take a piece off the board a little while later, one of Harry's pawns, so Harry looked at him expectantly as he grabbed a handful of popcorn. It had turned out very well and they were both enjoying it.

Draco thought about it for a minute. "When did you decide you trusted me?"

"Oh. Interesting one," Harry leaned back in his seat thinking about it as he munched on his popcorn. "It’s been growing since the Manor. I wouldn't say I trusted you then but I knew you weren't one of them anyway. I've known that since I saw you unable to kill Dumbledore that night at the Astronomy Tower. Suspected it before of course but that’s when I knew for sure. At the Manor, I could tell you were helping us in whatever way you could afford to do."

"I suppose I knew when I told you about the horcruxes,” he carried on, working it out as he went. “I wouldn't have told you if I didn't trust you on some level but it wasn't a hundred percent yet. Trust grew as we worked on the plan and then at Gringotts was when I knew for certain. You had a chance to play me or rat me out and you didn’t. We worked together on a mission and it was successful."

Draco let Potter babble, toying with his piece while he waited for him to sort out his thoughts. He could tell that Potter hadn’t really considered it, and it was like he was watching him work it out in real time. And then he mentioned their plan to steal the Hufflepuff cup right out from under his aunt’s nose, making him smile wickedly to himself.

"Wish I could see her face when she finds out she no longer has access to her account,” Draco said spitefully, the smile getting broader at the thought of his dear, insane aunt learning of what had happened. He hoped she threw a fit. He hoped the goblins threw her out of Gringotts. 

"Yeah same," Harry chuckled, it felt good to bond over that image. 

Draco grinned at Harry cheerily and their game continued. The next time Draco took a piece he asked, "Was there ever anything between you and Granger?" It wasn’t exactly a burning question, but he did want to know. After all the press they’d gotten during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, that Draco oh-so-helpfully contributed to, he wanted to know if there was ever any truth to it. 

Harry half spat out the Butterbeer he'd just taken a swig of.

Draco laughed at Harry's reaction. That was entertainment enough to have warranted the question in the first place!

"So the prophet made that all up? Really?" he asked gleefully, grey eyes sparkling with mirth and mischief. 

“Of course!” Harry scoffed. “They were just looking for drama where there was none, as if us risking our lives with bloody dragons wasn’t enough drama for them. But there’s never been anything between me and Hermione. She’s only ever been a friend.”

Draco let Harry, who was still trying to compose himself, make a move before continuing, "I'm surprised you and Weasel are still friends after all that if she was with him."

"She's not been with him, not officially,” Harry informed Draco whilst shaking his head fondly. “They're crazy about each other though, it's only a matter of time. He was a jealous git about those rumours, too blind to see there was no truth to them. Hermione was never interested in me either, she missed Ron like crazy when he left us on the run a little while back. She wasn’t the same without him. They work together, or will do when they finally get their act together."

"Oh. Really?” Draco asked, a little shocked. “I thought... Are they in denial or have they really not noticed? I thought they were kind of obvious," he murmured, glad he’d never taken a bet with Blaise and Pansy about Granger and the Weasel. Not that the bet would still stand. Pansy would likely never forgive him for switching sides, potentially putting her own loyalties into question, and Blaise made himself scarce ever since Draco was given the mark. He didn’t want to dwell on that, so he forced himself to compartmentalize and gave Potter, and the game, his attention again.

"Yeah, they are obvious to everyone but each other," Harry chuckled as he played his next move.

While Draco was distracted, he had set up a sacrificial pawn so that Potter could at least get a question in. He was still trying to put his own friends out of his mind when Potter had to intervene. 

"Ah ha! Finally!'' Harry exclaimed triumphantly, not realising Draco had left a piece open for him to take on purpose. "Hmm. What about you and Pansy? Were you and her... ?"

Damn it. Just when Draco was making an effort to move on, mentally, Potter had to pull him back. He sighed and made his next move. It didn’t do much to change the landscape of the game, not yet, but it did give him a moment to think of his answer. 

"It... was a mutually beneficial agreement," Draco said carefully, not sure how much he wanted to divulge.

"Merlin, you sound more like a solicitor than a teenager," Harry chuckled. "What does that even mean? To help your reputation or something?"

Draco gave him a little glare for asking him follow-up questions, but he supposed that he wasn’t playing to the spirit of this game, even if he had been honest. Potter had given him more and without Draco having to do much to drag it out of him, so he obliged.

"To help hers,” he said, sitting back a bit to sip on his butterbeer. “Offering her a measure of protection, given her family is neutral, was no small thing. And, conveniently, letting people think we were together, in whatever way people chose to imagine, quelled certain rumours that threatened my own reputation."

He thought he’d given enough, but Potter’s blank look told him otherwise, so he capitulated. 

"Strictly speaking, yes, we dated,” Draco said, rolling his eyes. “ Were dating before I ran away, anyway. We are close allies... but we are not romantically involved. I’m hoping that my actions have not put her in danger or subjected her to undue scrutiny, but she’s wiley. I don’t mind if she drags my name through the mud if it helps her stay safe."

“Well that’s decent of you, all of it. I suppose it does make sense when you put it like that, you were allies and you’ve all had to really think carefully about your family's position. I hadn’t appreciated that fully until now. It must have been terrifying knowing that Tom was coming back and he wanted to recruit you all.” Harry sympathised. “I never realised you weren’t actually together but it makes sense now. You could do better anyway."

"I'm not at liberty to, really,” Draco said casually, urging Potter to make a move. No piece was removed from the board, so he allowed the conversation to continue and offered up extra information of his own volition. “We were breaking up at the end of the year," Draco shrugged. “And now that I’ve disappeared, she can have a dramatic fit and save face.” 

"Oh? So you're tied into this... agreement til then? Then what?" Harry was too immersed in the conversation, desperate to learn more about Draco that he’d quite forgotten about the game.

"I'm... engaged," Draco murmured, looking defeated. “You’re really not playing by your rules. Follow-up questions were not discussed,” he complained. “But if you must know, I'm not at liberty to do better . This was an effort to establish to the gossip mongers that I'm... normal."

"You're... what? You're engaged?" Harry asked, surprised, not feeling guilty about the game in the slightest as he was far too distracted by that piece of information to care. "Well, fuck me. Is it... Is it arranged?"

Draco snorted. That’s the part Potter focused on?

"Of course it is, like everything else in my life,” Draco said, a little more bitterly than he expected. It actually surprised him to hear the venom in his own voice. 

"And arranged marriages are fucked up,” Harry screwed his nose up. “Maybe you won't have to do it after this is all over."

“Arranged marriages are not uncommon, Potter. Have you been living under a rock?” Draco asked, then looked around, remembering where they were currently residing. So yes, Potter had been living under a rock, strictly speaking. “Don’t answer that,” he warned. He took one of the discarded pawns and started playing with it as he slumped in his seat. “Dating Pansy was a ploy to make the parents believe that the rumours about me were baseless."

"Rumours about you being gay?" Harry asked quietly and tried to make the lack of judgement evident in his voice.

 "You heard them too," Draco said, his tone flat. If even Potter, who was as dense as the earth was round, had caught wind, the whole world probably suspected. "Figures,” he muttered, waving his hand for Harry to continue.  “Go on, get it out. Rip on me. I'll allow it just this once."

"Yeah I heard them but I'm not going to rip on you. Nothing wrong with being gay," Harry told him seriously.

"I assume you can work out why it would be a problem?" Draco asked, giving Harry a bored look, his defences way up. He was waiting to be mocked, but Potter wasn’t giving that to him. 

"Well, if you were, then yes I suppose so if you're engaged to a woman. That... That would suck," Harry replied awkwardly, not finding the right words and cringing internally as his lack of eloquence. 

"No, not that," Draco said, looking at Harry as if he were incredibly dense, which to be fair, was already well established. Still, the lack of judgement and further, the blindness to the implications of his condition, threw Draco for a loop. "I meant for the Malfoy line... if I, hypothetically, was unattracted to women."

"Oh. Er. Well I guess you wouldn't have a biological child then? But you could adopt. I suppose that wouldn't count as an heir," Harry realised, still distracted by the idea that Draco was gay. He didn’t care obviously, but it was… interesting. All this talk about bloodlines and reputation was rather alien to him though. He felt rather stupid but he was realising that he had misjudged Draco and his family all along, he simply didn’t understand his world.

"So you do understand my quandary,” Draco said, impressed that Potter was actually keeping up. “And you understand why it is imperative that I dispel any such rumors about me if I sought to go ahead with an arranged marriage to preserve the Malfoy bloodline?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Potter was still looking at him as if he was only partially following along. Typical.

Draco took a sip of his butterbeer, looking sullen. "Like everything else... I don't have a choice. And, unless you win and manage to free me... it's magically binding. Either way, it's a problem for Tomorrow Draco," he said. 

"It would only be your father who would enforce it... right? You realise that if we win... If he survives... He'll most likely go to Azkaban," Harry said carefully, not quite sure what Draco’s feelings were towards his father.

"And... Lord Greengrass," Draco said quietly. "I don't know if being a Death Eater, or Death Eater's son tarnished my desirability. Even with Father gone or in prison, it's up to Greengrass whether or not I'm off the hook."

"We'll figure something out," Harry promised seriously. "I’m not sure how yet but you'll be alright. I'll help you. We’ll get you out of this arrangement somehow."

"Like I said, it's a problem for Tomorrow Draco. First we have to live through this war, end Tom's reign of terror, and then I can worry about mundane things like arranged marriages," he said with a little laugh that sounded hollow to his own ears.

"I suppose there is some truth in that," Harry smiled a tight smile, he wasn’t sure if it was working but he really was trying to make Draco feel better. "It will be alright, Malfoy. Everything is going to work out."

"It's fine," Draco said with a little shrug. "I've always known about it. It's not as big a deal as it sounds." He picked at the label on his butterbeer for a moment. "The worst part is that she's pretty nice, despite my being a dick in general," Draco admitted softly, defeated. 

"I guess I'm just a romantic," Harry admitted a little sadly. "I don't like the idea of it. Sounds a big deal to me but... Well like you said, let's get through the war alive first and then we'll see what we can do."

He could tell Potter was probably squirming awkwardly in his seat, so he took pity and broke the silence. 

"For the sake of conversation... what bothers you about it?" Draco asked. "It's just something pureblood families do. It's pragmatic and I don't see anything weird about it, even though I’m not particularly looking forward to it. I'm curious what it looks like from your perspective."

"I dunno,” Harry sighed and looked away. “I just... I think marriage should be about love. My parents looked like they really loved each other and from what I've heard their short marriage was a really happy one. I... I want that. I want someone to look at me the way my mum looks at my dad in all the photos I have. I want to fall in love. I'd hate to be told who to marry."

"As I understand it, you can grow to love someone," Draco said quietly, losing interest in their game. Potter didn’t look like he cared about it either.

"Yeah... That's true enough I suppose. But it's risky isn't it? Committing to spend a life with someone you don't love. I take it Purebloods don't believe in divorce?" Harry asked with interest, genuinely not knowing the answer but realising the muggle world he grew up in was very different to Draco’s.

"No. Divorce is not a thing in my world," Draco said with a little laugh, as though it was ridiculous to even mention it. "The practice is rather novel,” he said, picking at the label on his bottle some more. “It’s a very muggle concept, so no.” 

“I suppose,” Draco continued, really taking the time to consider the tradition, forming conclusions as he went. “For purebloods, marriage is about the continuation of blood and magic and tradition. It isn't about love at all... at least, not in the eros sense. The happier marriages I've seen are where both parties respect each other and support each other, even if they don't love each other in the passionate, romantic sense that you are alluding to. The ones that are miserable are entirely the fault of one or both parties being selfish and cruel."

Draco let Harry digest that when he realized both their butterbeers were empty. He vanished the bottles and got them both a new butterbeer each and then clinked his bottle against Harry's when he reclaimed his seat. 

"It'll work out,” Draco assured him. “Let's live through this shit so we have the luxury of debating love and duty, yeah?"

"Very true. I can't be bothered to finish the game,” Harry took the butterbeer gratefully and tried to relax even though he felt a bit out of sorts. Maybe he needed a distraction. Even though he did feel a little vulnerable right now he did feel a little bad he hadn’t followed the rules of the game. “Let's just say you won, you will anyway. You can ask me a free question if you like."

Draco considered it. The mood was heavy, but the atmosphere was right for introspection. They’d already talked about Draco’s future so why not Potter’s?

"What is it that you want? What's your dream?" Draco asked. "If you had the luxury of knowing you would win and you made it to proper adulthood, what would you want your life to be?"

Harry gave Draco a shy smile, knowing the answer immediately. "A family," He responded quietly. "I've never had one."

"That's a solid goal," Draco said encouragingly, without even the barest hint of cynicism or mocking. "I don't have a family now either... not really. Get me through this war alive and you can be a godfather to whatever progeny I am destined to sire," he offered partially in jest.

"Yeah?” Harry perked up with interest. “I might hold you to that. I think Hermione and Ron will be too career driven to have children. At least for a while and Merlin knows I’m more than a few steps away from it myself."

"Good, because I know fuck all about being nice and warm," Draco said flippantly. “You’ll be needed to provide the,” he waved his hand in Harry’s general direction. “ Fluffy qualities.”

"You have other qualities," Harry smiled tiredly. He then realized it was about that time of day when he started to crash. "You need anything else to eat or shall we call it a night? Another big day tomorrow."

"Let's call it a night," Draco said as he finished his butterbeer. He vanished the empty bottle and stood with a stretch. "Let me go wash my face. I'll be in bed in a minute, then you can have your turn," he said as he stood and made his way to the designated "bathroom" corner.

They shared a bed again that night. It should have been weird but it wasn't really. Neither mentioned it and both continued to act as if it were normal. If they didn’t acknowledge it, it wasn’t an issue.

~~~~~

Their venture out the next day was a complete disaster. The shrieking shack passageway was blocked up, because of course it bloody was. Harry returned in an absolutely foul mood but somehow Draco managed to bring him out of it and make him smile.

The next few weeks were full of disasters and failed attempts to get to Hogwarts. Their attempts to get through the passageway in Honeydukes went badly. Everything that could go  wrong, did, and they were almost caught. 

They thought going in the evening when the shop was closed would be better but they hadn’t counted on the alarm that triggered after curfew. They tried again during the day when the shop was open, but when they finally made it, they found that the passageway was blocked too.

They eventually accepted that the only thing to do was to wait until the next Hogsmede trip and try to sneak back in with the students. They knew the gate would let them in as they were still enrolled as students, so that was one thing they didn’t count as a problem. No, the problem was that everyone was looking for them so they couldn’t just turn up at the gate. They needed to blend in and they needed to go in undetected. 

Harry hadn't wanted to wait that long but they didn't really have a choice. It was the best plan they had, so wait they did. And with a timeline in place, they were able to set Harry’s DA coin with the date that they’d make their move.

And, with little to do while they waited, Draco announced that they were close enough to the full moon that it was time to brew Harry’s potion. He gave Harry guidance on collecting dew for the potion, hissing instructions in his ear while Harry collected dew one morning with a silver spoon. Draco would have done the brewing, but the instructions were clear that the person seeking to become an animagus had to do the work.

He supervised as Harry added the chrysalis and examined the state of the concoction before nodding his approval. Once it was ready, it would take at least a week to rest. Draco had Harry bottle, cork, and seal it before taking it from him to place it where it would rest until the next storm.

The days felt endless and the waiting was tortuous. The only thing that kept Harry going some days was Draco. He was the only reason Harry remembered to do the morning and evening Animagus spell, which helped them both keep track of the days.

Draco was very good company and was surprisingly good with coping with Harry's moods. He always seemed to know what to say and how to calm Harry down or cheer him up, using snide humour effectively. Draco was surprisingly funny when he wasn’t purposefully trying to be hurtful. The insults and scathing remarks made Harry laugh when they were aimed at the world at large.

Also, he finally let Harry teach him how to do a patronus too, which gave Harry something to focus on. They worked for hours at a time, Draco getting frustrated from time to time, but determined to get it. Harry reminded him that it didn’t have to be a memory, but a happy fantasy could suffice if it was strong enough. 

Harry thought it was probably only to cheer him up and distract him but he didn’t mention it and it worked a treat. He was sufficiently distracted and he enjoyed teaching Draco.  Unsurprisingly, Draco was a good student and before long, he managed a fully corporeal Patronus. He made Harry promise never to speak of it to anyone under threat of bodily harm. 

Harry reluctantly agreed. Sort of. 

The other thing that kept Harry going was that his quest to become an animagus was going surprisingly well too. At least they had a bit of luck somewhere. He was progressing through the steps rather rapidly and Draco seemed impressed. Draco even joked that he didn’t think Potter was capable of sitting still for any amount of time, let alone do so to meditate.

That earned him an eyeroll, a chuckle, and a softly spoken, “Prat.” 

"Hogsmeade trip tomorrow," Harry sighed as he got into bed with Draco, one night. "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous,” Draco said, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. “But knowing you're doing the sneaking and all I have to do is wrap myself around your neck and not distract you is a comfort. It's surprisingly soothing and I feel very secure there. There's only one thing worrying me, though," he admitted as he got into bed with Harry.

"What's that?" Harry asked, a little concerned as he turned towards Draco in the bed, accidentally scooting a little closer. "For what it’s worth, I feel better with you there too. You comfort me, I'll admit, and keep me calm and focused when you talk in my ear."

Draco blushed a little, but tried to push distracting thoughts away.

"I smell a storm coming,” Draco said. “A literal one. And that's the last part of the process to turn you into an animagus. Are you sure you don't want to wait to sneak in until the next trip? How many of them are left in this school year?"

"Really?" Harry asked, excited by the news of the storm. "I... That's awesome. I could... I could actually do it!"

"But... No," He said in his next breath as he deflated and realised what his priorities should be. "It's... It's not important. Just a silly self indulgence. We don't need me to be an animagus for the plan. We've waited long enough and this is what matters. This is what I need to focus on. People are counting on me. We stick to the plan. We go tomorrow. It will be ages until the next Hogsmeade trip."

Draco nodded in acknowledgement. "We'll go tomorrow. We go in, look for that diadem, and with any luck, we'll figure out how - wait... is the basilisk still down there? Under the bathroom?"

"The basilisk? No, I killed it," Harry frowned, wondering what Draco was on about. He should know that. 

"I mean the body. Or what's left of it," Draco said, impatiently, sitting up a bit.

"Oh, well... Yes... Probably. Why?" Harry frowned, his tired brain not working.

"Because,” Draco said, looking like he’d just had a revelation. “Didn't you say you destroyed the journal with a fang? Could we still use the remains of it to destroy the other horcruxes?"

"Draco!" Harry exclaimed, calling him by his first name for the first time and suddenly not feeling tired at all. "Oh sweet Merlin you are so bloody brilliant I could kiss you."

Draco startled at Harry using his given name, but smiled.

“Don't you dare. I'm spoken for," Draco said with a little laugh. "Besides, that would hardly be fair, given what you now know about me, but I appreciate the sentiment. Now, go to sleep," he said, laying back down beside Potter.

"Fine. I won't kiss you but I do think you're amazing and I think there's no way in hell I would have gotten this far without you," Harry smiled. He tentatively reached out for Draco's hand under the covers and gave it a tiny brief squeeze. "Seriously... Thank you. I'm really glad you're going to be by my side tomorrow."

Draco squeezed his hand back. He did not want to think about what holding another boy’s hand felt like. He did not want to read into it, because these were extenuating circumstances and Potter was just looking for a little bit of physical reassurance in the absence of his normal Gryffindorks. He simply couldn’t afford to dwell on it and so he opted for humour. 

"Someone needs to keep your arse alive," Draco smirked.

Harry chuckled softly as he let Draco's hand go but kept his hand close so it was almost brushing up against Draco's. He hadn't realised how close they'd gotten in bed either but it felt nice, reassuring.

"Goodnight Draco. Whatever happens, I'm glad we're friends. Sleep well," he yawned and closed his eyes

"Goodnight... Harry," Draco whispered, using Potter’s given name for the first time too. He told himself that reciprocity was warranted, and that was all there was to it. "I'm glad we're friends too." 

It didn’t matter if Potter heard it. 

Chapter Text

Draco tried very, very hard not to think about how he was crushing on Potter. That would simply not end well for him. Intrusive thoughts plagued him all night after the idiot had held his hand and threatened to kiss him. He could almost feel his skin tingle from the phantom touch as Potter snored softly beside him, oblivious to Draco’s internal panic.

It meant nothing. It could never mean anything .

With that thought firmly in place, he stuffed those feelings into a box in the recesses of his mind and the ache in his chest subsided.  

The next day, they gathered their wits and their courage and waited for the right time. Draco turned into a snake and made himself comfortable around Harry's neck before Harry put on the cloak. They had a mission to accomplish and there was no room for error or obtrusive thoughts.

And then the storm came.

When Harry first heard the thunder his heart gave a pang of longing. He really did want to become an animagus but he was also desperate for today to go well. They’d had so many setbacks trying to get to Hogwarts they really needed this plan to work and they’d already set up the date with Neville for the distraction using the coins. That had to be the priority but when the lightning came Harry had to admit he hesitated. 

“ First strike of lightning ,” Draco hissed in Harry's ear. “ The potion is ready. You can take it now and say the incantation when we come back. I don't know if it'll work then, but... it's worth a try. So the potion and the effort doesn't go to waste.”

“Really that's...? Holy Merlin. Alright. We have a tiny bit of time. Fuck it, let's do it,” Harry hissed back excitedly, It was a spur of the moment decision but if Draco thought it was worth a shot then Harry was happy to try. He trusted his judgement. “ Where's the potion?”

“Store room. Top shelf, where it wouldn't be disturbed,” Draco hissed back. “I really hope it works, even with the delay. I can't wait to see you turn into a toad,” he added, trying to diffuse Harry's nerves by making a joke at his expense.

Harry half ran into the store room but made sure he wasn't going too fast and that Draco was still secure around his neck. He chuckled a little at Draco's joke and it made him relax a tad. He wondered if Draco could feel how fast his heart was beating. He found the potion, checked with Draco it was the right one, and then downed it all. He really wanted it to work but he didn’t want to get his hopes up.

“Godric I hoped that worked. You're amazing. Once again, thank you. Guess we'll find out later.” He put it out of his mind for now. They had something bigger to achieve today. “Right, hold on tight. I'm going to walk fast, as fast as I can under the cloak but you can squeeze my neck a little to stay secure, I'll be fine. I know you won't hurt me.”

Draco curled up a little tighter around Harry's neck, and kept his head low, which made him feel more secure.  He really hoped the potion would work. When he’d taken his own potion, he’d spent the requisite half hour in meditation before attempting a transformation. He wasn’t sure that what they were doing in the foreseeable future would count as meditation, but he’d seen Potter pull ridiculous feats of magic in his time. Perhaps the rules wouldn’t apply to him. 

“I'm ready. You can move fast. I won't fall off. Having the hood is a good safety net. Good luck. I'm going quiet to let you concentrate,” Draco hissed when he was braced for the jarring movement.  

True to his word Draco kept still and quiet while Harry got them close to Hogsmeade. The thunder started rolling louder, lighting flashing across the sky, but it didn't start raining until they were actually in Hogsmeade. Fortunately, it worked in their favour as the group of snatchers up ahead dived into the nearby pub to stay dry.

Draco kept quiet as Harry walked the path to the school. The rain started falling heavier, soaking them both, but thankfully, the cloak didn't lose its power when wet, and didn’t give them away. 

“There. Catch up to that group,” Draco hissed, spying a group of three students hurrying back to the castle. “The rain is doing a good job of obscuring the snatcher's sight and they're keeping close to the buildings. The rain is giving us good cover.”

“Thank fuck for this storm,” Harry agreed as he picked up the pace to a light jog and caught up with the group just in time.

He slowed down and focused, not wanting his shoes to show under the cloak. The guards were already closing the gate but he managed to slip in sideways through the gap. Once they were safely through he quietly breathed out a sigh of relief.

“First bit done,” He hissed under his breath as he made sure to keep up with the group but not touch anyone. It was hard work but he’d had a lot of experience using the cloak at this point.

The sense of relief grew when they were safely through the front door. Professor Flitwick was there counting the last of the students as they walked in before sealing the door for the night. He wasn't looking well, Harry noted with sadness. This year obviously hadn't been kind to him.

“I can't believe we actually made it.” Harry whispered to Draco as he dried them both fully with his wand.

Draco squeezed Harry's neck a little in appreciation. He’d also noticed the professor’s appearance and it shook him to his core. He’d always been a snob and a brat, but the half-goblin professor was a top-notch educator. That he looked so worn was shameful.

“Dinner should start soon. Let's head up the stairs. The diversion is in thirty minutes,” Draco hissed. Seeing Flitwick in that condition steeled his resolve to get this done. 

Harry nodded and took another deep breath in. He got the map out under his cloak and used it to check where everyone was and navigate their way safely up to the seventh floor.

Draco was tense the entire time. The seventh floor was a long way off, and seemed even more daunting in his current form. They rounded the corner, closing in on their destination when Draco heard a noise, making him flinch. 

Harry ducked into an alcove and checked the map again. The coast had been clear last time he’d looked, but there was always the chance that someone was not where they’d expected them to be. And then he spotted Peeves on the map and had an idea.

“What are you doing?!” Draco hissed in alarm when Potter took a turn that he wasn’t expecting him to take.

“Trust me?” Harry hissed quickly, not really giving Draco a chance to do otherwise before carrying out his quickly thought out plan. "Hey, Peeves," Harry whispered.

"Potty, is that you?" The poltergeist whispered back in delight, looking around and checking behind a tapestry. He looked put out that he couldn’t see him.  

"Yeah." Harry grinned, for once not minding the nickname. "Dinner in the Great Hall is going to be in chaos tonight. Do me a favour and go make it ten times worse?"

"Absolutely Potty sir. Happy to help!" Peeves did a little salute, facing just to the left of Harry, but sounded excited. “It’s been a while since we’ve had some fun around here,” he said to himself rubbing his hands together. 

"Great. Don't tell anyone I'm here except for Neville," Harry told him seriously before leaving him.

Peeves promised no such thing as he did a ghostly flip in mid air before sinking through the floor, aiming for the direct route to the Great Hall.

Harry wasted no more time; he doubled back and resumed course. They were just slipping into the Room of Hidden things when they both heard a loud bang and a few shrieks in the distance. 

"Involving Peeves was genius, if risky. They can't do a bloody thing to him," Draco hissed. On the one hand, chaos was guaranteed, on the other, Peeves could easily rat them out.

Once they were safely through he took the cloak off and gently set Draco down on the floor. 

“Now change back you absolute angel so I can give you a fucking massive hug,” Harry hissed in delight.

Draco slithered off Harry and turned into himself, blushing hard.

“Surely you jest," Draco said with a little smile.

"I'm not joking. Get here now!" Harry laughed as he threw his arms around Draco into a hug whether he liked it or not, it felt good to finally give into the urge. "We bloody did it! Well, the first part anyway."

Draco squeaked indignantly and laughed when Harry accosted him with a hug. He let himself enjoy it, but only for a moment. There was no time to get complacent. 

"Let go of me, you nutter. I haven't done anything. You're the one that got us in. Let's find that bloody diadem."

"Haven't done anything?! Draco I'd never have made it without you." Harry said seriously as he pulled back and flashed Draco a soft sappy smile. As he looked at him he felt something stir that he couldn't explain. It wasn't the first time it has happened either.

And then he belatedly heard what Draco had said. "Yeah... The diadem." He agreed softly.

 It took them a while, this place was huge and a complete mess, but just as Harry was about to give up Harry spotted something sparkly right at the back of an old china cabinet hidden behind some dusty books.

"Draco? Do you think this could be... Oh. Holy Merlin." He exclaimed as his fingers ran over the eagle sitting proudly in the middle of the tiara.

So far, Draco had no luck, other than finding a very interesting copy of a potions textbook with all sorts of annotations in the margins. He didn’t think anyone would mind, so he helped himself and put it in the case at his hip. He found a jewellery box with nothing of note, and then a hat box stuffed with a random assortment of threads. How was anyone meant to find anything here? Draco lifted his head from where it’d been buried in a trunk, searching for anything resembling a tiara when he’d heard Harry call out. The tone in Harry’s voice gave him hope.  

"I think this is it," Harry breathed out in awe then he felt it properly. "It's definitely it. There's that heartbeat feeling again."

Draco clambered off the pile of trunks he'd been looking through and picked his way over.

"Let me s- Oh, it's beautiful. Damn it. Why did that rat bastard have to turn that into something to be destroyed?” Draco bemoaned. It was a stunning piece encrusted with sapphires that were set and shaped to give the illusion of feathers on the proud looking eagle.  “Mark my words. I'm making a replica." He took the time to really get a good look. If they lived through this, he’d have a replica made, if only because it was pretty and Draco loved shiny things.

"Yeah, it's a shame. It is beautiful. Well you can have it, once it's been stabbed by the fang anyway." Harry promised him. "You could even do the honours of destroying it. I was definitely going to suggest you do the cup though. You got that one. You should destroy it. Come on."

Draco followed Harry as they picked their way through to the door, wishing he had time to look at more of the hidden things. Some of the objects looked fascinating, but he consoled himself with the thought of his new acquisition.  

"Snake again? Until we get to the Basilisk?" He asked as they reached the door.

"Yeah, better be safe," Harry nodded as he got the cloak ready and checked the map. "Oh fuck," He said loudly. Too loudly, as he saw a figure pacing right outside the door and then pause. "Its-"

"Headmaster Snape." A familiar drawling voice from the outside finished for him calling out through the door. "I know you're in there. I need to speak to you. You... You have to trust me. Dumbledore gave me something to tell you."

Harry looked at Draco speechless while he processed that. "What do we do?" He mouthed.

"... Talk to him," Draco sighed and turned into a snake before slithering closer to Harry. "Carry me with you to his office," he said, hoping Potter would trust him. 

“ Fine ,” Harry muttered in a hiss. “I don't like this. It wasn't part of the plan and I feel... uneasy. But you trust him and I trust you so... fine.”

He put the cloak on over both of them and stepped out. Snape was there, eyes cold, back straight, hands behind his back. He was looking for them blindly, clearly annoyed. 

"I'm under the cloak but I'll follow you to your office where we can talk." Harry mumbled to Snape who nodded and just took off with a sweep of his cloak.

“He's got his own reasons for being against Him... The enemy of my enemy, Harry,” Draco advised. 

“You called me Harry.” He realised with a grin as they walked but he did take in what Draco said to him. It was good advice. 

“Yes I did. You called me Draco last night... I thought I'd return the favour,” Draco hissed back, knowing Harry liked him hissing in his ear when he was wound up.

“I like it. I want to be Harry to you. Just Harry,” Harry told him. He was already feeling a lot better about this situation. Draco was always good at calming him down. 

Draco felt a flutter inside that he did not want to acknowledge. “Concentrate,” he chided. “We have a job to do.”

“Yeah... You're right,” Harry acknowledged as they reached Snape's office. He was beginning to see that Draco was always right.

Snape offered the password and carried on as if he was alone. Harry stepped into the spiral stone staircase quickly behind him and did a very brief scan of the map to survey the office before entering. There was no one lying in wait, so that much was a relief.

"You may take the cloak off now Potter. We are quite alone. I'm sure your map told you that much," Snape said drolly as he turned to face in the general direction of where Harry stood.  

Harry did as he was told and was quite surprised to see Fawkes sitting proudly at Snape's desk. That was interesting. Fawkes clearly trusted Snape too.

Draco tightened around Harry's neck as Harry took off the cloak, trying not to shy away when Snape eyed him.

"Mr. Malfoy... I see you were succes s ful..." Snape said, sounding bored, which Draco knew meant he was impressed. It was a promising reaction, at least.  

“Let me down?” Draco asked Harry. This was one more person who knew what he was. 

Harry gently uncoiled Draco from his neck and set him down on the ground, impressed that Snape knew it was him. But then again Snape seemed to know a lot of things.

Draco transformed and gave Professor Snape a nod. "Thank you for the book, sir... and the moth chrysalis. May we assume He has not been alerted?"

"Indeed."

Snape turned to Harry and held out a small bottle with the tell tale signs of a memory.

"I'm afraid I won't join you. I have things to discuss with Mr. Malfoy."

Harry was puzzled, this hadn't been what he expected but he took the vial with a nod and headed towards the pensive. He gave Draco one last look, a little concerned, but Draco nodded at him and urged him on. Draco trusted Snape so Harry left them to it. He poured the contents of the bottle into the bowl and dove in.

Draco watched Harry disappear into the memory then turned to face his former professor. He accepted Snape's offer of tea and snacks and took a seat on one of the chairs and they quickly shared relevant information.

They were in a safehouse and it was secure. No, they weren't all in one place. Yes, they'd had contact with students. No, information wasn't flowing freely. The questions went on and Draco answered to the best of his ability without giving out too much.  

Then Snape told Draco about the Carrows, and fed him a little information here and there. Draco was presumed dead, but more likely, captured. No one suspected him of fleeing.

Then they did what Slytherins did best: they planned. 

They came up with multiple courses of action should certain things come to fruition. Nothing particularly concrete, but they devised what their reactions would be should this happen, or that happen. 

Snape let Draco know that the sword of Gryffindor was meant to hang over the mantle, but it had been hidden in the blasted Sorting Hat, which was bound to the castle... so Snape couldn't hand it over. And apparently, a Gryffindor could only pull the sword ONCE.

That was a disappointment. Potter couldn’t pull the sword again, so that part went out the window. They’d need another one and Draco didn’t trust them. Or, more accurately, there was only one that he half-way trusted, but he was sure that trust wouldn’t be reciprocated.

They would have to travel to the Chamber of Secrets then. The old Basilisk fang had gone to the Ministry for study. Harry would just LOVE that news, he was sure, but the rest of the remains had not been removed since no one else could get into the chamber.  

Snape was aware of the Horcruxes, and he knew some had been destroyed.

Draco didn't tell him what Horcruxes they did have, but he did say that they hadn't destroyed all the ones in their possession yet.

And that was all that they were able to discuss before Harry returned.

When Harry came out of the pensive he was very quiet and very serious. Snape looked up at him and gave him a challenging look, silently asking if Harry understood. Harry nodded at him once to show that he did and Snape gave a tiny nod of acknowledgement back.

Then Harry gave Draco a tight smile and suddenly felt a pang of sadness shoot through him. He could do this. He'd always known, really, that it would end this way. He found he didn't mind, not truly. This was his purpose and he'd give his life for it bravely, the way his parents gave theirs. He hoped maybe this way he could be reunited with them somehow. At least that was a comfort.

But, looking at Draco made him feel sad. He wanted to live for Draco. Ron and Hermione would be fine. They had each other, but who would Draco have? They'd grown close now and there was something Harry couldn't name bubbling away in his chest. Plus he'd agreed to help Draco.

Suddenly he couldn't help but throw his arms around Draco. He didn't care that Snape was there or that Draco stiffened in his arms, clearly baffled. 

"You'll be alright. You hear me? You're stronger than you know. You'll be fine."

Then Snape cleared his throat and reminded them they needed to get going.

Draco was surprised at the hug, but returned it awkwardly. He gave Snape a questioning look, which went unacknowledged. The whole interaction felt off and Draco didn’t like it, but he had no time to sit there and question it.  

When they parted, Draco turned back into a snake and waited to be scooped up.

Harry scooped Draco up and placed him around his neck but in his distracted mind he left his cloak behind on Snape's desk. 

“Harry? Harry, the cloak,” Draco tried to warn him, but Potter wasn’t listening. He was lost in his own head and Draco’s hisses were too soft to pierce the fog.

In his haze Harry began the journey to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom but cursed himself for not checking the map either when the Carrows spotted him as they made their way up to find Headmaster Snape.

He started to run, holding on tight to Draco with one hand but they were closing in. Spells were shot their way, hitting the stones around them. There was nowhere to run to in this tower, but there was one thing he could try. It was a shot in the dark but...

He did the spell and was absolutely stunned to find himself transforming into an owl. He quickly scooped Draco up into his beak instead gently and flew out of an open window and into the grounds. He flew around a few circles until he was sure he'd lost them and then headed back inside to fly them to the bathroom.

Draco panicked when Harry turned into an owl and then tried to eat him! He squirmed a bit until he realized Harry wasn't biting down. He was grateful for flying them away, terrifying as it was, but it was uncomfortable.

Harry was gliding in through one of the narrow bathroom windows when Harry heard a chilling sound in his head and it hurt so much he almost dropped Draco... But he didn't.

He swooped into the bathroom, landed on the tiles and set Draco down before transforming back into himself. Firstly he locked the door, then he turned to Draco.

"He's coming. I heard him in my head. He knows. He's coming." He panted harshly, he felt like he was going to be sick.

When they landed in the bathroom, Draco was ready to give Harry a piece of his mind, but Harry beat him to it. 

"He's coming here? Now?"

"Yes. Now. You go ahead. You can do this, you don't need me. You destroy the horcruxes and I'll stall him," Harry said determinedly with his hands on Draco's shoulders, his mind racing, plan forming on the spot. It was time to improvise now.

"I... yes. I can do that," Draco said. "Will you trust me with your bag?" he asked, knowing that's where Harry was keeping them. "And what of Nagini? Are we ending this tonight?"

"We're ending this tonight. We can do this. Together, we can do this." Harry replied with a fierce sense of passion and determination. He took the bag off his back without hesitation and gently held it to Draco's chest. "Draco, I'd trust you with anything. I trust you with my life. You've earned it."

Draco put a hand over Harry's and gave a small nod. He squeezed it, feeling his heart skip a beat.

They were really going to do this.

Chapter Text

"Miss Myrtle?" Draco called out. He was standing with Harry in a seemingly empty girl’s bathroom, the one notorious for always being out of order. "I know you don't like to leave your bathroom, but would you be so kind as to summon Neville Longbottom? Failing that, Miss Weasley will do," he said, sounding more steady than he felt.

"Good idea. That's good, then you won't be alone." Harry nodded, feeling relieved that Draco would have help. “Hang on." He frowned as he thought of something. 

He reached into his Mokeskin bag to take out the snitch that Dumbledore left him and put it in his pocket. Then he reached into his other pocket for the map and gave that to Draco too along with the bag that houses all the horcruxes.

"Take the map. Make your way back to me and let me know when the job is done. I'll keep him talking until you’ve destroyed the horcruxes. He loves a good chat, does wonders for his ego. All villains are the same." He smiled tightly trying to diffuse the tension.

Draco took the map, but hesitated. "I... wasn't planning on taking Longbottom with me. If we're doing this tonight... I need a Gryffindor to get the sword of Godric. I am planning to send him after Nagini," he admitted, feeling bad for Harry misinterpreting his request. 

"Oh, right. Yeah... That’s an even better plan," Harry admitted. He was worried about Draco and was very reluctant to leave him, but they had to divide and conquer, it was the only way to get this done. "Right, so... If I... Then you and Neville can..." Harry trailed off awkwardly, unable to say it.

“BOYS should not be in the GIRLS’ room!” Myrtle whined, finally flying out of the pipes of one of the stalls. “Oh. Draco. It’s you… you haven’t been by to visit me,” she pouted. She then looked at Harry, and brightened, “Harry Potter! They all say you’re dead, you know.” 

Harry simply shrugged. Let them think that, he thought, he probably would be soon.

“Please, Miss Myrtle. We need help. There are some bad people coming to the castle and we need Potter’s friends to help,” Draco implored. 

“You want me to bring a boy to my bathroom?” Myrtle asked, scandalized. Draco was never sure if she was honestly this dramatic, or if it was all for show.

“Please?” he asked, trying his best to charm her. “With any luck, this will be the last time any boy bothers you here.” 

“Fiiiiine!” Myrtle huffed, but left them to go find Neville, muttering about dumb boys in the girl's room, but she knew better than to really protest given the events of this last year. 

Even ghosts were feeling the haunting oppression, it seemed. 

Once she was gone, Draco turned to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him a bit. 

"Harry. Stop thinking. You're not good at it. Just do. You're good at thinking on your feet. Leave the fretting to me," Draco told him sternly. "You have the devil's luck, so go with it. I will speak to you again, do you understand me? Don't think about what happens next. Think about what happens now."

"Yeah... Okay. You're right. Don't think, just do," Harry tried to smile but he had to admit Draco was once again right, he was better when he didn’t think so much. "I'll have your voice in my head. I better go. Good luck. Let me know when it's done. I'm going to try to meet Tom on the grounds and get him away from the castle into the open. I don't want anyone or anything getting hurt or damaged."

"Grounds. Got it," Draco said, giving him a nod. "Go. I'll find a way to tell you."

Just then, Myrtle flew in, looking both annoyed at being ordered around and pleased that she’d done her task. "The Longbottom boy is just outside."

Harry gave Draco one last tight hug and then forced himself away. He passed Neville on the way out and gave him a hug too, thanking him and wishing him luck. He trusted Draco and he trusted his plan. He just had to keep Voldemort occupied and away from the school for as long as he could.

Harry knew the moment He'd arrived. The whole school did. There was a booming voice calling him out to the forest, telling him to come alone and face him. That was good. That worked in their favour. The fewer students around, the fewer potential casualties in their exchange. 

Harry would oblige and accept the invitation, such as it were, but he took his time. He sent his patronus ahead of him to tell Voldemort he was coming and that he didn't want anyone else to suffer for him.

Then, he found a quiet place to use the snitch first remembering the words 'I open at the close'. He found the stone and used it to see his parents and Sirius, they walked down with him to the forest.

It was dark, but Harry was far from unfamiliar with a dark forest. He tried to keep his racing heart in check as he followed the footpath. On the way, he bumped into Snape again, coming from a different direction. The headmaster didn't say anything to him. Were it not for the fact that he subtly passed him the cloak Harry had left behind in his office as he overtook him, one would have guessed that Snape hadn’t seen him at all.

When Harry finally arrived, he walked in alone to a semi circle of people. Voldemort stood in the middle with about eight of his closest followers assembled behind him.

As Harry suspected, Voldemort seemed more than happy to talk and gloat and grandstand and Harry was happy to keep him going. He goaded him, chatting him up about this and that and pretended he was more confident than he felt. While Harry talked and kept Voldemort busy, the other half of his brain was thinking. He thought about the stone and the cloak he was holding, then his mind wandered to the Elder wand and things started to click into place.

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back in the girl’s room, Draco braced himself for the confrontation with Longbottom. They had a history, after all, and it wasn’t good. Sure enough, when Longbottom walked into the bathroom and spotted him, he froze. Well, at least he didn’t attack… and when had that dork gotten taller?

"Longbottom," Draco said, watching the other boy pale and back up a step. "We don't have time for this. You need to trust me and do what I say," he said briskly, which, in retrospect, was probably the wrong tone to take.

Longbottom responded by drawing his wand. He looked afraid, but he also looked resolute and ready to fight. Draco would have been impressed by his growth, the squaring of his admittedly broad shoulders, and the straightening of his normally timid posture, but they did not have the luxury of time. 

"Oh for fuck's..." Draco groaned and turned into a snake. He looked up at Longbottom, little snakey tongue peeking out in agitation blinking up at him. He waited for recognition before turning back, and felt vindicated when Neville's jaw dropped. 

"There, now that you know, I need you to listen," Draco snapped.

Draco explained how Longbottom was to go to the headmaster's office and conjure the sword of Godric. He gave him the password and explained what he had to do to conjure it.

“Potter has the utmost trust in your abilities, so your mission is to use the sword and end Nagini,” Draco instructed.

“But -”

“Shut up. You don’t have the luxury of second guessing yourself. It HAS to be you since you’re the only Gryffindor that knows how I’m connected to Potter.” 

“And what are you doing then?” Longbottom had the gall to ask, his now-beefy arms crossed over his chest. Again, when had THAT happened?!

Draco glared at him and held up Harry's little pouch then pointed towards the sinks.

"As a snake, I can open the chamber... I hear there's a basilisk fang down there I can use to carry out the rest of the plan."

Neville's face hardened and he nodded, holding out a hand for Draco to shake, “Alright Malfoy, I’ll believe you, but only because I have reason to trust that you’re working with Harry, not against him.” 

Draco took his hand and gave it a firm shake. It was a truce.

"After this, I'll give you a proper apology, but you have to live through it first," Draco told him, feeling the need to remind a Gryffindor to not be reckless.

They parted ways after that, Neville to get the sword and find Nagini and Draco to dispose of the Horcruxes that resisted being destroyed. It honestly took more effort than he'd realized, but when it was done, he felt a huge weight lifted off him.

He gathered the remnants of the horcruxes and put them back in the mokeskin bag then left the Chamber to go in search of Harry, using a notice-me-not and the map to avoid people.

~~~~~

As Harry talked to Voldemort about their adventures and what they'd been up to all year a few members of the order started to arrive. He had no idea how they knew what was happening here or how they had arrived, but he was grateful for their presence. All he could think of was Draco’s insistence that Snape was on their side and that he had somehow alerted the Order and done something to let them in.

It was nice to have backup. It made Harry feel not so alone, like this wasn’t all on him. It felt right to have Ron and Hermione turn up here, and stand behind him at the end, when they'd helped him through so much. He looked over and loved the grin on Ron's face when he told Voldemort and everyone else present that they knew about the horcruxes and that they'd slowly been destroying them.

Soon, Harry had his own little semi-circle of supporters at his back, facing Voldemort's. Ron and Hermione were to his right with Remus, Tonks and Kingsley. Then to his left stood Molly, Arthur, Fred, George and Bill. The ghostly figures of his parents and Sirius stood behind him. They were for him alone, figures that no one else could see, but their presence gave him strength.

He was just buying time but it was working. Voldemort was hanging off his every word and getting more and more irritated and worried, even if he was trying not to let it show. Just as Harry was getting to the end and running out of things to say he felt a familiar cooling soothing presence on his ankle. He couldn't deny the rush of relief he felt that Draco was okay.

“It is done,” He heard Draco hiss. 

Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw Neville and Ginny sneaking through the trees together, the sword of Gryffindor was firmly in Neville's grasp and he was making his way towards where Nagini was resting on the edge of Voldemort's little group.

"It's no matter," Voldemort laughed. "You may think you've been clever but there is one last crucial thing you missed. And now I think it's time for you to stop talking. It is time for you to die, Harry Potter."

Voldemort raised his wand, but instead of raising his own wand, Harry simply dropped his to the ground.

"Yes. You're right. It is time for me to die. Do it," he said bravely, feeling a pang in his heart for Draco.

Voldemort looked confused for a second but clearly didn't want to waste his opportunity. When the flash of green hit Harry square in the chest he was ready for it. His last thought was of Draco.

Draco was knocked away from Harry's ankle when Harry was hit with a spell.

He was so shocked and rattled by what had just happened that he dropped his animagus form... in front of everyone.

What could he do?

"Mr. Malfoy, I see that you had been captured after all," Snape spoke up in his usual disapproving drawl. "How disappointing. I would have thought you'd learned to avoid being transfigured into a pet after the ferret incident."

Oh thank Merlin!

"I... I'm sorry, professor," Draco said, looking appropriately ashamed. "I had wanted to impress... and bit off more than I could chew."

Inwardly, Draco was panicking.  Harry was dead. He was sprawled out between the Order and the Death Eaters, and he had everyone's, including Voldemort's attention.

What could he do?

And then he saw a flash of metal and heard thrashing in the brush and he knew Neville had carried out his task. Nagini was dead.

~~~~~

After a very odd encounter with Dumbledore somewhere between the land of the living and the land of the dead, Harry had a choice to make. 

He wondered about whether it was best for him to just... move on. He'd fulfilled his purpose, the others could handle the rest of it. Between Draco, Neville, Ron & Hermione they would get the job done.

But he thought of all the chats he'd had with Draco and the promises he'd made him and it was a no brainer. He wanted to go back for Draco. So he did.

When he returned to his body he heard the piercing cry of Voldemort and he knew that meant Nagini was dead. This was it. This was his moment.

He jumped up and everyone gasped. Voldemort turned his attention back to him just as he was moving in front of Draco to shield and protect him.

"What? How? You should be dead!" Voldemort shouted enraged.

"Well Tom," Harry started calmly, picking up his (or rather Draco's) wand from the ground. "In your arrogance you assumed we'd overlooked something, but you never stopped to consider that maybe you had actually made the mistake, not us."

"I should be dead, you're right. But you see, in trying to defeat you, I think I've accidentally done the one thing that you've been trying to do your whole life. You tried so hard and you failed but I did it without meaning to. I've conquered death. I am its master."

Draco scrambled to his feet, but stepped back towards the edge of the circle, keeping behind Potter.  He had seen Harry get hit with the killing curse but he was alive. How?

"I have the elder wand, boy.” Voldemort corrected Harry, not understanding Harry’s meaning. “I am its master... or I will be," he said with deadly intent as he turned to Snape as raised his wand.

"Don't!" Harry said quickly. "Don't kill Snape. It won't do you any good. That's your flaw. All you think about is death but there are other ways to defeat someone and despite your efforts in torturing wand makers for information, you still don't understand wandlore do you? You have learnt nothing." Harry laughed.

"Snape is not the master of the Elder Wand! He never has been! The person who won its allegiance off Dumbledore by disarming him is standing right behind me, but you won't be killing him either. You won't be killing anyone ever again," Harry said protectively with his non-wand arm out still shielding Draco.

Draco was stunned that Harry was protecting him when there were so many hateful looks sent his way from both opposing groups.

"We'll see about that," Voldemort sneered as he once again tried casting the killing curse on Harry.

Harry was quick and shot his signature disarming charm back at Voldemort. Their spells connected with force and he had to fight hard to keep the connection and push it back towards Voldemort. He had no choice but to use the arm that had been shielding Draco on his wand now too. He needed two hands to push the force of the spell away.

"That wand is never going to work for you Tom, especially not against me!" Harry shouted through his effort. "Draco was its Master, but when I disarmed him, I became the Master of the Elder Wand. Keep in mind, I have the cloak and the stone in my possession. I think you know what that makes me... Don't you Tom?"

Voldemort froze and it was enough for Harry to push the force of his spell through. He just about caught the look on Voldemort's face as the Elder Wand slipped out of his grasp and flew towards Harry. Harry caught it just as Voldemort's own killing spell rebounded and hit him square in the chest, knocking him back a step before his body collapsed in a heap. 

He could hear the blood rushing through his ears, his heart pounding as everyone in the clearing seemed to collectively hold their breaths. It was as if time had held still in a fragile moment that lasted until Bellatrix's scream shattered it.

Time started up again and all he could think to do was turn around and throw his arms around Draco.

"We did it," He whispered with a little chuckle. "We fucking did it."

Draco wrapped shaky arms around Harry, feeling absolutely stunned. He couldn't believe it.

"We did it. You did it," he whispered, hardly paying attention to the way the members of the Order leapt into action, capturing the Death Eaters around them.

It was a flurry of activity that neither one heeded until someone cleared their throat behind them.

"I'm afraid I have to take Mr. Malfoy into custody."

It was a pink-haired Auror who had spoken.

"No!" Harry said quickly and immediately latched onto Draco's hand. "No, Tonks you don't. He's with us, on our side. He helped me. You can't!" Harry protested passionately just as Ron and Hermione came up to him to congratulate him. Ron was giving Draco a very odd and confused look.

"Harry, come on... don't make this hard. He is a known Death Eater and I'm just doing my job," the woman, Tonks, sighed.

"He's not. He never was!" Harry protested but Ron and Hermione were already holding him back, pulling him away from Draco, forcing him to drop his hand. Upon hearing the commotion, Kingsley appeared at their side to assist Tonks, having already secured Lucius.

"I'll get you out of this Draco. I promise. I will. I remember everything we said!" Harry called out as he was pulled away, towards his allies, his voice drowned in Weasleys all celebrating.

"It's okay, Harry," Draco said quietly, giving him a tiny quirk of the lip. He didn’t know if Potter heard him and he wasn’t surprised in the slightest that he was being apprehended. He hoped that it would be temporary, but he was under no illusions. He knew the Ministry would want to make an example, he just hoped that he didn’t end up in Azkaban. Surely, his crimes, such as they were, didn’t merit maximum security. 

He allowed himself to be pulled away by Tonks and Kingsley, and politely requested to be placed separately, disclosing that he'd aided Harry and was afraid of retaliation.

Kingsley nodded, said something to the pink haired one, and then Draco was apparated away with a pop after relinquishing his wand.

Harry was still calling out after him.