Bond (Drarry)

Epilogue

There! The Snitch! Harry and Draco raced towards it, once more whirling over and under one another, and Smith was going insane trying to keep up with the commentary.

"Potter takes the lead – he's clinch- no, he's lost it – oh, close one! And now Slytherin's Seeker closes in on – Potter attempting a Marlowe Roll – Slytherin Chaser Donohue scores! 10 – 0 for Slytherin, and the Snitch is lost, both Seekers are back to the skies..."

Harry shook his head at the murmur from the stands, as the Slytherin crowd didn't know whether to cheer or jeer. Months after the bonding, they were still conflicted, though less so than they had been at the beginning.

When Draco had gone to Harry's side, it had been a big loss for Voldemort's forces, because if even the son of Voldemort's right-hand man could defy him and side with Harry, it didn't exactly look like a ringing endorsement of Voldemort's power. Made him look just a bit pathetic, actually. Add to that the fact that with Draco's defection, Harry had gained an ally who knew a fair bit about Voldemort's followers and their methods, was a relatively skilled wizard himself, and could provide Harry with the added strength of a bond... and then with Lucius Malfoy gone as well... the political upheaval had been intense, and it had played itself out within Slytherin house as nowhere else in the school. Every day, for weeks, families were deciding their loyalties and affecting their children's school relationships. And, to a lesser extent, their children returned the favour, with more than a few Slytherin students effectively bringing their families over to one side or the other based on their own school alliances.

Snitch sighted again, and he dove for it, reaching it a split second before Draco and needing all of his skill to keep Draco away from it and all his self-discipline to keep himself from grabbing it.

"And Potter lets the Snitch go! Looks like Gryffindor's interested in winning more than just this game! Third placed team, let's see if they have a chance; Potter's going to have some trouble, Black almost had it there-"

Draco pulled up near him, angry. "Trying to win the Cup, are you?" he yelled over the wind.

"We've more of a chance than you do," Harry shouted back.

"Fuck you, you arrogant shit!" Draco yelled, and Harry cheerfully gave him the two-fingered salute and resumed looking for the Snitch.

"Gryffindor Seeker makes rude gesture towards the Slytherin Seeker," Smith said, and a wave of laughter rose from the stands. "Right, gentlemen, let's keep domestic squabbles off the pitch, shall we?"

Slytherin was really playing well, Harry thought as he scanned for the little gold ball. The loss of Millicent Bulstrode as Beater had been tough, but they'd recovered remarkably well from it. One day she had simply not appeared at the dormitory after class, and a day later Aurors were searching for her, to the puzzlement of all. Within days it began to filter out from god only knew where that she had been Parnassus McKay's "inside source" at Hogwarts, the one who had helped him carry out the original bond curse. There was a rumour that McKay was some kind of distant relation or something. Another rumour, even more nebulous than the first two, was that she had also been the one who'd sent the papers the picture of Harry and Draco that had prompted Lucius to disown Draco the first time.

Which was just plain weird, if it was true. Millicent had never seemed all that hostile to Draco – or to Harry, for that matter. She hadn't been terribly friendly either, but when one thought of "inside sources," one usually imagined mysterious, enigmatic figures who, once found out, caused everyone to kick themselves for not having guessed their shady doings. Or one thought of the type of "nobody would have ever suspected" angelic creature who caused complete shock as their nefarious secret identity was revealed.