Yet Another Protector II

by tir-synni

A/N: Yet another long story. (sigh) One of these days I’m going to stop doing these. Anyway, please review and let me know how the fic is going.

Chapter II: Secrets Hidden in a Kiss

     It was strange, Harry mused, how things can be so similar, and still be so different.

     Harry laid still in his bed, concentrating on the people around him. He could remember doing the same at the Dursleys. The atmosphere was the same, taut with anticipation. In both situations, it was imperative that he not be caught. But he did not fear his roommates as he did the Dursleys.

     Harry remembered once, being caught. It had happened two weeks before Draco had first dropped by. Vernon had not struck him, had not dared to strike him. He knew Harry would fight back, and Aunt Marge had taught Vernon how dangerous his petite nephew could be. However, that had not stopped the large man from shoving him against the wall and threatening him.

     His potions homework had remained untouched for the rest of the night.

     Harry shook his head slightly against the disturbing memory. Like at the Dursley house, he intently listened to the sound of breathing around him. Even tense and wary as he was, however, the familiar sounds of his friends soothed him. They would never harm him.

     How they would react to his lover, though….

     Taking a deep breath, Harry peeked out of the curtains. As before, Ron was his major concern. His friend wavered between looking up to him and protecting him. If he noticed Harry leaving, things would get difficult quickly.

     But Ron was asleep. Silently, Harry swung his legs off the bed and snuck to his trunk. It had been long ago enchanted not to squeak, making such nightly excursions much easier. His invisibility cloak was hidden in its usual spot. Then Harry was off, carefully enshrouded and bare feet light against the cold floor.

     He never noticed one eye watching the door close behind him.

~~~~~

     Draco Malfoy whirled around the moment the door opened. Almost before the classroom door was shut again and his cloak was discarded, Harry Potter found himself in his former rival’s arms. Draco hugged him tightly before abruptly pulling back again.

     “Are you losing weight?” Draco demanded, silver eyes narrowed. “You had gained weight when you were at…the Weasleys. You have been eating this week, haven’t you?”

     Smiling fondly at the taller boy, Harry pecked him on the lips. For him, Draco curbed his serpent tongue. He wondered idly if Draco knew how much that meant to him.

     “I’ve been eating,” Harry informed him, then swiftly changed the subject. “Have you spoken with your godfather yet?”

     When Draco had first told Harry the truth about his godfather, Harry had been both amused and horrified. Severus Snape had been there at Draco’s birth. He had actually been the one to suggest Draco’s name, calling upon the memory of a white dragon he had previously seen in his travels. It had been Snape who had urged Lucius not to make Draco a Junior Death Eater. In Harry’s eyes, Snape would always be a bastard, but at least he was on their side.

     Draco snorted. “Yes. I didn’t tell him about you, though. He’s excellent at keeping secrets, but this isn’t something I can entrust to Voldemort’s Potion Master.”

     Harry looked away. If Snape couldn’t be trusted, no one could. Since Voldemort’s arrival, Snape had worked tirelessly as a spy for the order of the Phoenix. Because of that, even Sirius stopped picking so many fights with him. They weren’t on speaking terms. They simply avoided each other whenever possible.

     However…Draco didn’t know that Snape was a spy. Neither did Ron or Hermione. Harry doubted that even Snape knew that Harry knew the truth. Very few of the Order knew; Harry wasn’t supposed to be one of them.

     Draco’s face softened, and he gently grasped Harry’s chin. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to hear about Voldemort right now.”

     Another thing Harry rejoiced over. He was the only one Draco apologized to.

     “It’s all right,” Harry replied casually. “You kinda get used to it when the guy tried to kill you for most of your life.” Draco cringed, and Harry changed the subject again. Voldemort killing other people haunted Harry like nothing else. His own mortality bothered him naught.

     “I think Hermione’s beginning to wonder about my ring,” Harry continued, his voice dropping. Shyly, Harry began raising his adorned hand, only for it to get snatched by Draco. Tenderly, the older boy kissed his slender fingers. He paused at the finger holding his ring, drawing it slowly into his mouth. Harry froze as Draco calmly suckled on the ring finger of his left hand.

     “Draco—“ Harry choked out.

     Draco only smiled, allowing the shivering digit to slide out of his mouth. “So Granger is beginning to suspect something, hmm?”

     Harry swallowed hard. “Y-yes.” His emerald eyes were riveted on Draco’s parted lips.

     “What does she think of the ring?” Draco continued, dropping a kiss on the glistening ornament. Harry shuddered.

     “She thinks it’s a birthday present,” he gasped. “She thinks it’s from a lover. That’s all she knows.”

     “No,” Draco corrected, kissing gently down the back of Harry’s hand. “What does she think of it on you?”

     Harry couldn’t help but close his eyes at the sweet sensation. “She thinks…it looks right.”

     “So maybe Granger earns her reputation for being intelligent after all,” Draco breathed, before dragging Harry into a hot kiss.

~~~~~

     Their first kiss always stuck in Draco’s mind. However willing Harry was, it was still a quick, stolen thing to Draco. Taken when Harry was weak and feverish.

     Perhaps that explained his fetish with kissing the lovely, raven-haired boy now. When Draco walked away from their rendezvous that night, the taste of Harry’s skin and lips and hot mouth burned on his tongue. Draco licked his lips hungrily, trying to recapture Harry’s divine essence once more.

     More than that…he could taste all the secrets that remained unsaid between them.

     Draco had seen it in Harry’s eyes when Voldemort was brought up. Harry knew many things about the silent war being waged that no one his age should know. Just another reason Draco despised Dumbledore. He took in that Boy-Who-Lived nonsense as much as anyone else. Draco knew Harry was special, but it was of his own merit.

     Still…Draco had his own secrets.

     Draco whispered the password to a shrouded portrait and slipped through the revealed hole. His godfather had allowed him his own private room since third year. Yet another thing Draco was grateful for. It made his life much easier.

     None of the other Slytherins knew either the entrance to his room or the password. As Draco walked through his softly lit bedroom, he mused about showing the room to Harry. Harry deserved a soft bed, candles, and a more romantic setting than an empty classroom. Draco decided that it would be a good surprise for his lover. It was fun to spoil Harry. Harry wasn’t used to it at all.

     Draco walked to his desk and searched for the hidden drawer. Carefully, he withdrew a large book.

     “You seem to understand me so well, Harry,” Draco mused, opening the book. “Would you understand this?”

     Within his hands, the book pulsed.