Title: The Foolproof Plan
Author: radcliffe_bass (radcliffe bass)
Beta: clover71
A/N and Warnings: Written for the 2011 DracoTops_Harry fest on LiveJournal based on kamerreon's prompt. Much love to clover71 for the quick beta. This is not britpicked, I apologize for that. Comments and concrits are much welcome and appreciated. Happy reading!
Draco Malfoy thought that the quote 'misery loves company' was incomplete, it should have continued with the phrase, 'although you don't have a choice in your companion' or something like that. As that would be the only reason he could think of why he was sitting on a barstool inside a pub in Muggle London, drinking himself to a stupor with Ron Weasley of all people.
And Draco was feeling miserable at the moment because of his drinking buddy. It actually made him think that the stupid quote could actually go two ways, something like 'your company gives you misery'. Which was what happened when their Head Auror Dawlish, decided to make Draco and the Weasel official and permanent Auror partners.
And damn if they weren't the best team the Ministry of Magic ever had. Although their moniker, the 'Dynamic Rodents', still made both of them cringe.
That was two years ago though. He'd gotten over the shock and at twenty-two, he could safely say that the Weasel and he had become - although he wouldn't say it out loud and the thought still makes him shudder - friends. Of course, stepping in front of your partner's youngest and only sister to save her from a Cruciatus Curse helped as well.
Nope, he could safely conclude that the Weasel's not-entirely-unwanted presence was the reason for his misery. It had more to do with the reason why they were in the pub on a Wednesday night. The reason (who decided to show up just now and situated his hot arse on the barstool at the Weasel's right side) was Harry Potter.
Harry Potter who looked utterly shaggable with his tight fitting ripped jeans and black top. 'Fuck! How can I ignore the prat if he keeps on showing up looking all sexy.' Draco cursed silently as he took a swig of his beer and discreetly gave Harry a once over and was surprised when his eyes met Harry's green ones.
"Liked what you see Draco?" Harry asked, his lips quirking in amusement.
"In your dreams Potter." Draco sneered. Okay so maybe he wasn't as discreet as he thought he was, but damn it! It wasn't his fault he'd fallen prey to the Boy-Who-Grew-Up-to-be-Fuckable's charms. Draco sighed and turned his attention back to his drink half-listening to Ron and Harry talk about Harry's latest case.
Draco hid his smile. Harry was working as a part time curse breaker at Gringotts. It had shocked everyone when Harry quit the Aurors one year after they officially graduated from the training program. The reason that Harry gave was that he wanted to focus on the orphanage he built after the end of the second war. Ron told him in confidence that the real reason was Harry got tired of failing to complete his assignments due to people recognizing him while on duty. Draco couldn't blame him for that. He'd have turned in his badge as well if that happened to him, but he was not as popular as Harry so yeah, he got to keep his badge which was a good thing since he could keep on meeting Harry on the pretext of accompanying Ron.
Ron, who had been deliberately dragging Draco along for his and Harry's meetings because his Auror partner figured out that Draco had been nursing a huge crush on Harry for a year now. Although Draco couldn't, for the life of him, comprehend why.
Draco's musings were broken when Ron tapped his shoulder to get his attention. Draco raised an eyebrow to let Ron know he was listening to him.
"I think that guy's calling you," Ron said, pointing to the guy who was making his way to the bar. Draco turned and smiled when he realized who it was.
"Draco," the man greeted, his blue eyes twinkling in delight, as soon as he reached Draco.
"Tom," Draco acknowledged his friend. "Fancy meeting you here."
"I could say the same for you," Tom replied, running his hand through his light brown hair. "You should have told me you were coming here. I live nearby."
"I had no idea you live here. I was just tagging along, my co-worker's meeting someone here," Draco answered, which made him realize that he hadn't introduced his companions to Tom yet. Draco smiled apologetically and turned to the two men beside him. "By the way, Tom these are Ron Weasley, my co-worker and Harry Potter, Ron's bestfriend. Ron, Harry this is Tom Felton, my golf buddy."
Harry and Ron shook hands with Tom who seemed happy to meet them. Tom spent a few minutes talking to them and Draco frowned when he noticed that Harry seemed a little too interested in his friend. He was actually relieved when Tom bid them goodbye since he said that he had an appointment.
"So," Harry started although Draco saw that Harry, the pervert, was still ogling Tom's arse as his friend left the pub. Ron coughed and Draco snorted when Harry looked at them sheepishly and continued what he was saying. "I didn't know you play golf and that you knew Tom Felton."
"Am I supposed to tell you? Is it a little weird that I'm friends with a muggle?"
Harry shrugged and took a sip of his beer. "No. It's just surprising but not unwelcome." Harry smiled as he turned to look at him. "It's quite nice actually."
"Glad it met your approval," Draco replied, rolling his eyes.
"Oh it did," Harry leered. "Do you have other muggle friends as hot as him?"
Ron made gagging noises, "Harry you pervert. Not when I'm around. Besides, Draco's far better looking than that Tom guy if you ask me. Not that I'm saying that you're good looking Ferret."
Draco clucked his tongue to hide the smile that Ron's not-a-compliment gave him. "As if your opinion matters Weasel."
"It does, and you know it," Ron retorted, smirking.
"In your dreams," Draco replied smirking back.
"I'm still here," Harry reminded them, making Ron and Draco laugh. "Fine! If you two are going to be like that, I'll just go home and fantasize about Tom."
"Sorry," Ron and Draco apologized with false sincerity, making Harry roll his eyes at them.
"Okay, no need for threats… how did you figure out that counter-curse again?" Ron asked, effectively distracting Harry who started telling them the details of his latest case.
Draco, once again half-listened to Harry's ramblings. The wheels in his head had started turning, an idea slowly forming. One corner of his mouth curled up while his grey eyes glinted mischievously as his plans to get Harry Potter in bed were finalized.
Draco took a deep breath while he waited from one corner of the café in Muggle London where he knew Harry goes to every Friday. It was near the pub they went to last Wednesday. He hoped it wouldn't look too suspicious if 'Tom' accidentally bumps into Harry. Draco smirked as he looked at his reflection on the café's wall mirrors. He was now sporting light brown hair and blue eyes, and looked every inch like his friend Tom. All thanks to his Black family's Metamorphmagus ability.
It was a surprise when he found out about this. It was his twenty-first birthday. He was having a quiet dinner with his mother, Teddy and Aunt Andromeda. Narcissa wanted to reconnect with her remaining living relatives and Lucius was still in Azkaban at that time, completing his five year sentence for housing Voldemort in Malfoy Manor. It was due to Harry's testimonies that lightened his father's sentence and got Draco and Narcissa off the hook.
They were having dessert when Teddy decided to change his appearance and mimicked Draco. He remembered commenting how he envied Teddy's ability and his Aunt Andromeda asked why he wasn't using his ability like Teddy. He was baffled by the question and was further astonished when his mum answered that she had binded that ability after Draco was born to protect him. Needless to say, his mum lifted the bind that day and Draco had honed his skills. It was really stupid of him not to have thought of using it for the purpose of seducing Harry until last Wednesday.
Which kind of explained why he 'borrowed' Tom's face for this day. Of course he made sure that Tom did not frequent this café at all so that Harry wouldn't have the chance of really bumping into the real Tom.
Speaking of which, his prey had just arrived and immediately spotted him. Draco-in-disguise or Tom waved back at Harry in greeting and waited for the man to reach him.
"Hey," Harry greeted. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Same here. Care to join me?" Tom asked gesturing to the empty seat in front of him. Harry nodded and took the seat.
"You're Harry right? Draco with you?" Tom asked, smirking at irony his question posed.
"You got it right. I don't know where Draco is though."
"Okay." Tom took a sip of his tea. "So you come here often?"
"Quite often." Harry shook some pepper on his shepherd's pie, which made Tom sneeze. "Sorry," Harry apologized while looking at Tom in confusion.
Tom unconsciously licked his lips and chewed on his bottom lip nervously at the look Harry gave him and discreetly glanced at the mirror to check if he still had his disguise intact. 'Yup, still Tom's face,' he thought in relief and returned his gaze to Harry who seemed to be in deep thought. "Still with me?"
"Yeah," Harry nodded slowly, a smile creeping on his face. "Sorry about that. Draco always said I had a bad habit of murdering pepper shakers."
Tom actually smiled at that comment. So Harry remembers his observations. "You and Draco close friends?"
Harry laughed at the question. "Yeah, when pigs fly. Nah, we just tolerate each other 'coz his work partner is my bestfriend."
"I see," Tom nodded emphatically. "So, you doing something later?"
"It depends. Are you asking me out on a date?"
"Maybe I am."
"If that's the case I am free," Harry grinned at him and took out his mobile phone.
Tom took out his mobile phone as well, it was at times like this that he was grateful that Hermione was patient enough to teach him and Ron how to use this Muggle device. "Why don't you give me your number so we can finalize our plans?"
Draco had never felt so happy in his whole twenty-two years of existence. His plan to befriend Harry had worked. They'd been on three dates for the past two weeks and everything went smoothly. If only Harry would stop asking him questions that he did not have any idea how to reply to.
He was currently waiting for Harry near the bloody Muggle death monstrosity masquerading as a tourist attraction - the London Eye. He honestly had no idea what Harry planned for this date, but he hoped to Merlin that the four-eyed git would not force him to ride the Muggle death trap with him. Although he wouldn't oppose to Harry riding him.
Speaking of which, where in Merlin's beard was Harry?
As if sensing Draco's impatience, he saw Harry, carrying a child who looks like his cousin Teddy, approaching him. Tom waved in greeting and waited for the two to reach him.
"Hey," Harry greeted, putting down the child, who, as Draco presumed, was indeed Teddy, on the ground. "Sorry I was late. Andromeda needed to go somewhere and no one can take care of Teddy and since I'm his godfather… I hope its okay with you."
Tom smiled at Harry. "No I don't mind at all." He turned his attention to Teddy who thankfully, was sporting a normal hair and eye color for this day. Although looking like what Harry and Draco's son would have looked if men got pregnant was hilarious. Tom kneeled in front of Teddy. "Hello little guy, I'm Tom."
Teddy looked at Harry first, as if asking for permission, and only when Harry gave a nod did Teddy took Tom's hand in his. "I'm Ted Remus Lupin. You can call me Teddy. Are you Harry's boyfriend?"
"Teddy!" Harry cut in a scandalized voice before turning to Tom. Harry smiled at him apologetically. "Sorry about that."
Tom shrugged although he was trying so hard to control his laughter. Tom took three deep breaths before answering. "It's alright. And no Teddy I'm not Harry's boyfriend."
"Oh good, you look like cousin Draco, only with different hair and eyes," Teddy commented. His green eyes looking so much like Harry's and were studying Tom intently before his face broke into a smile.
Tom unconsciously licked his lips again and bit his bottom lip at the scrutiny. He tried to remember what he read about Metamorphmagus and their abilities to sense another Metamorphmagus but his mind came up with blanks.
It wasn't until Teddy declared, "Uncle Ron's right Uncle Harry. Cousin Draco looks better than Tom," in a voice loud enough for everyone within hearing distance to hear that Draco was able to breath easier. Harry's reaction however…
"That's it! No telly for you tonight young man!" Harry scolded Teddy while looking a bit red in the face because of embarrassment.
Tom for his part was torn between affection and indignation. He was touched by Teddy's loyalty but at the same time he found it insulting for a child not to find his borrowed face charming.
"But Uncle Harry, I was just telling the truth," Teddy complained before pointing an accusing finger at Harry. "You told me it's bad to lie."
"I – uh – yes, but –" Harry stuttered and turned to Tom for help.
Tom rolled his eyes and focused his attention on Teddy. "Lying is bad. But sometimes there are some things that should not be announced in public." When Teddy looked at him in confusion Tom continued, "They're called secrets. Uncle Ron probably told you that in confidence, trusting you to keep it for him." He held up a hand when Teddy seemed ready to retort. "He might not have told you but if he wanted to let me know, he would have told me earlier than today right? But I didn't know."
Teddy tilted his head to the left. An annoying habit he got from Harry. Annoying in the sense that they both looked cute when they have that 'in deep thought' expression on their faces.
"Is Uncle Ron in trouble? I didn't mean to, I promise," Teddy asked after sometime, his voice sounding afraid.
"No, he's not," Tom assured him. "I'll keep it a secret if you promise not to do it again."
Teddy nodded and held out his hand balled into a fist except for his pinkie finger. "I promise, pinky swear?"
Tom returned the gesture and entwined their pinky fingers together. "Pinky swear."
"Me too," Harry butted in, adding his own pinky finger into the mix, making all three of them laugh, and Tom was unable to stop the snort that came out of his laughter at the end.
"Oh that was embarrassing," Tom commented, his face turning red at the gazes Teddy and Harry gave him.
"It's okay." Harry assured him. "I find it cute. It reminds me of someone."
Tom once again did his annoying lick-and-bite nervous habit at Harry's reply. Somehow that comment flashed a lot of warning signs on his head. Like the 'someone' Harry was pertaining to couldn't be anyone else other than him, but Tom chose to ignore it. "So what's the agenda?"
Harry's smile turned into a smirk. "Say Tom, how are you with closed spaces dangling a hundred or more feet from the ground?"
"So how's Jade?"
Tom looked at Harry in confusion at the question. Who the bloody hell was Jade? "Excuse me?"
"I asked how's it going with Jade?" Harry asked again.
"Jade?" Tom asked back.
"Yes, Jade. Pretty girl, black hair, sweet smile."
Draco tried to remember if the real Tom ever mentioned someone named Jade during their conversations. The real Tom might have but Draco can't remember what her relationship to the real Tom was. A friend? A sister? Does the real Tom even have siblings?
Come to think of it, the real Tom did mention he had siblings. So a sister maybe? Yeah probably a sister. Harry wouldn't be interested in knowing this Jade's welfare if she wasn't related to the real Tom. Everyone knows Harry values family above all else.
"Oh, Jade. Yeah my sister's fine." Tom replied nonchalantly.
Harry smiled mischievously making Tom lick and bite his lips nervously again. "Nice to know you have a sister whose doing fine."
"Yeah," Tom agreed, but somewhere deep inside, he felt as if he answered the million galleon question wrong.
Draco was having a bad day. The lead for the potions syndicate he and Ron were tracking turned out to be useless. He had just arrived at his flat and he was tired, hungry and frustrated. It was just his bad luck that his mobile phone rang and he immediately answered it without looking at the caller's name.
"Draco here."
Silence met his greeting. Draco was starting to get annoyed at the lack of response and was about to hang up when he heard Harry's voice on the other line. "Draco? How come you got Tom's phone?"
'Oh shit.' Draco swore in his head. 'Trust Harry to call at a time when I'm not in the mood.'
"Draco?" Harry said once more, probably to call his attention.
"Yeah, I'm with Tom right now," Draco replied. "Yeah, we're having a few drinks since I won't be able to meet him for golf tomorrow. He just went to the loo for a while."
"And he left you his mobile?" Harry asked in a tone that made Draco realized he shouldn't have answered that way.
"He was using it earlier because his mum called." Draco cringed at the blatant and lame lie.
"I see," Harry finally said. "I'm going out for a few drinks as well. Maybe I can join you guys? Just tell me your location."
Draco smacked his forehead with his hand. This side of Harry was so annoying. "We're going home after he returns from the loo. He said, he uh, yeah, that's right, his mum needs him at home right now."
"Oh I see," Harry said in a disappointed voice that made Draco want to take back what he said. "Well, just tell Tom I called okay?"
"Alright," Draco replied. "Got to go now, bye."
"Okay bye," Draco heard Harry say before Draco ended the call.
Draco groaned as he fell back. The dates with Harry were great. He enjoyed the times they were together as he got to know the real person behind the famous name. But he was nowhere near seducing the four eyed git into his bed. The prat was a gentleman at every freakin' second and oblivious to his flirting to even think that they were on a date!
Aside from that, Draco had a nagging feeling that Harry somehow sensed there was something off with Tom. He didn't know why but the way Harry looked at him when disguised as Tom sometimes seemed as if Harry was scrutinizing his very soul and that made Draco nervous.
He couldn't afford to be nervous at the moment, otherwise, he would screw up the plan. And if Harry discovered that Draco had been deceiving him, all chances of having any type of relationship with Harry would be lost.
"So there we were, Draco and I hiding behind the tree, ready to aim the snowballs at Teddy when all of a sudden I was alone. Turns out Draco lost footing and fell to the ground. It was so funny to see him flat on his face on the snow." Harry finished his story which made Tom cringe, his smile probably looked a bit forced.
"Am I boring you?" Harry asked.
'Finally figured it out eh?' Tom shook his head. "It's just that, can't we talk of anything, anyone or anyplace without you talking about Draco?"
Harry looked at Tom sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't realize all I talked about was Draco."
"Really?" Tom arched an eyebrow at Harry. "I can actually count the non-Draco related conversations we had in my hands."
"Sorry, it's just that – Draco's a great guy. We weren't really friends in school. We were both prats, but getting to know him better because of Teddy and Ron made me realize that he's not a bad bloke at all. We're not even close, but knowing Draco was the only one we had in common. And I uh, just found out, I love talking about him. I would like to know him better and maybe if he sees we're getting along just fine, maybe he'll want to try to get to know me as well," Harry explained and Tom was surprised at the sincerity of it.
Harry reached out and squeezed Tom's hand. "I'm sorry if I offended you with my incessant ramblings about Draco. But the truth is I quite like the bloke and I can sense that he wants to get to know me as well. Prat is just so stubborn and proud that he won't admit it to my face directly. He'd probably rather keep his distance or do something stupid just to get my attention."
"Yeah he probably will," Tom replied and Draco coudn't help but feel guilty as that was what he had been doing all along. "I understand what you're going through, really I do, but can we please stop all the Draco topics? I'm getting sick of it."
It was quite weird since this was him they were talking about but damn if he wasn't getting jealous of himself! But with all the things Harry said, he was starting to feel a little remorse. If only he could undo all the deceits.
"Oookay, if you say so," Harry said in a singsong voice. "If I didn't know any better, you're just jealous of Draco."
"In your dreams Potter."
Frustrated and nervous. Those were the two things that Draco felt at the moment. Two days had passed after his date with Harry where he learned how much Harry wants to get to know Draco better. That incident made Draco think of what he was doing at the moment and the more he thought about it, the more he felt guilty about the situation.
Draco desperately wanted to come clean but the thought of Harry being angry at him for the deception was one thing he couldn't bear. He knows that the reason why he started the façade was to seduce Harry but as time passed and he got to know the man, he slowly realized that he was starting to fall in love with him. He was happy that Harry was finally getting closer to him. But he wanted Harry to be close to Draco and not Tom.
Draco sighed as he looked at the photo of Harry's parents. He was in Harry's flat as the other invited him for a nightcap. It should have been exciting for him, but he was freaking upset because it was Tom that Harry invited not Draco. So here he was, finally standing inside the place of the person he liked the most with a face borrowed from a Muggle friend.
Draco reached out and took the picture frame holding Harry's parents photo from the mantel. He smiled when the pictures started moving, Harry was using the charm he taught him on how to put a glamour on the wizarding photos to make it appear as if they were not moving to a Muggle. It was a handy spell, especially for someone who lived in a Muggle neighborhood.
Lily smiled at him while James made rude gestures at him earning James a couple of hand smacks from his wife. Draco laughed at them. "You're so lucky to have a son like him. You must be so proud of Harry."
"So you're talking to photographs too?"
Draco heard Harry speak so close behind him making him drop the picture frame he was holding. The sound of glass and stone breaking was enough to galvanize Draco.
"Oh no!" Tom quickly fell on his knees and took the photo from inside the mess. "I'm so sorry, I was surprised when you spoke. I didn't do it on purpose. I'm so sorry, so sorry."
"Draco, it's alright."
"No it's not, it was Teddy's gift to you," Draco replied, his eyes looking for anything to help clean the mess. He saw the door to the kitchen and tried to stand up to get there when he was stopped by Harry taking hold of his wrist.
"Draco, look at me," Harry said with an edge of authority that made Draco whirl around to face him. "It's alright. I can easily fix it."
"No! You don't understand, even if you cast a Reparo on it, it won't be the same!" Draco gasped and covered his mouth with his left hand. 'Oh fuck! I'm not supposed to know that.' Draco shook off Harry's hand from his wrist, stood up and turned around to leave. "I, I need to go, I'll just –"
"Draco," Harry said in a clear voice making Draco stop in his tracks. He felt Harry slowly move towards him and he involuntarily shivered when Harry placed his hand on his shoulder and coaxed him to turn around. "I told you it's alright."
Draco felt his world crash down around him as he saw the look on Harry's face. "You knew."
Harry nodded.
"Right from the start?"
Harry shook his head. "Not really. I had a hunch when Tom showed up out of nowhere on the coffee shop right after we met him. There was something off about him, like he's not really Tom. It's like I don't know, he's giving off a magical aura around him which is really weird. What's more surprising was when he asked me out on a date."
"What's weird about that?"
Harry smirked at him. "Well for one, he's straight and he has a girlfriend."
Draco looked at him in confusion. "How can you be sure he's straight?"
"It's all over the Muggle newspapers," Harry explained. "Tom's a Muggle actor, he's famous in the Muggle world. Jade's his girlfriend."
Draco's jaw dropped. "So that gave me away?"
Harry smiled. "Not really, it was during the date with Teddy that made me realize you're Draco. Your laugh, the one where you have this cute little snort at the end and you have this weird habit when you're nervous of licking and biting your bottom lip. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to control my urge to kiss you?"
"I do not have a cute little snort Potter!" Draco exclaimed indignantly.
Harry laughed. "Yeah, that too. Tom never called me Potter before, but the one time we talked about Jade you called me by my last name. Guess old habits die hard eh? Come to think of it, you were quite jealous of yourself that time. It was funny."
"I wasn't jealous," Draco replied. "I was merely annoyed. I love talking about myself but damn it! That was overkill Potter."
"Harry," Harry corrected. "You've been calling me Harry for the past few weeks. Don't stop now."
Draco smiled and closed the distance between the two of them. He encircled his arms around Harry's waist and pulled Harry closer to him. He smirked when he heard Harry gasp at the contact.
Draco leaned forward and licked the shell of Harry's ear eliciting a moan from the man. "So where do we go from here Harry?"
"Wherever you want."
"I'd say we start with your bed," Draco replied as his lips left a trail of kisses on Harry's jaw.
"That sounds good, but first," Harry encircled his arms around Draco's neck. "How long does this Polyjuice or spell you're using last. I don't want to kiss you using someone else's face."
"Oh, I forgot about that." Draco willed himself to return to his normal appearance. He laughed when he saw the Harry's eyes widen in realization.
"You're a Metamorphmagus!"
"Obviously," Draco deadpanned which earned him a smack on the head. "Ouch! That hurt!"
"You git! You should have told me! Do you have –"
But Harry never got to finish his sentence as Draco kissed him. Draco felt smug when he felt Harry kiss back immediately. He pulled Harry closer to him and tentatively swiped his tongue on Harry's bottom lip. Harry opened his mouth and Draco took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, letting Harry feel his passion through the kiss. He didn't realize how long they were kissing and only stopped when the need for air became unbearable.
"So what happens now?" Draco heard Harry ask once more as he placed butterfly kisses all over Harry's face.
"I say we take this to bed and take it from there?" Draco suggested.
"Have I ever told you, you give great suggestions?"
"Nope, I always give great suggestions."
"Prat."
"Your prat."
Harry smiled at him before burying his face on the crook of Draco's left shoulder. Draco felt Harry inhale deeply before whispering in Draco's ear. "Take me to bed."
"Gladly."
FIN.