Love them but don't own them.
Thanks so much for bearing with me while I diddle around and indulge my artsy tendencies.
Three's Company: Draco's Obsessions
Draco sighed mournfully as he lifted his hand through the clear water of the large bath tub, in Draco's private rooms, watching the liquid trickle through his long pale fingers. When his frustration reached a level that he deemed impossible to ignore he leaned over the edge of the tub, sloshing water everywhere, and gave Blaise the look. The one that always got him attention, his cutest pout.
Blaise looked up from his writing and gave Draco an exasperated sigh before heaving himself up from the computer chair and following that pouting gaze into the bathroom.
"Draco, you know I have to finish this draft. My editor needs it by Tuesday for revision." Blaise muttered, rolling up the sleeves of his dark blue sweater and placing his glasses on the sink. The young man got to his knees next to the enormous basin in their private chambers. Teaching at the oldest school in history had its perks.
Draco turned his back to Blaise and brushed aside the long blond locks that people had come to identify with the Malfoy family. Blaise slowly began massaging the tense muscles beneath the pale supple skin, digging his thumbs into the muscles until his fingers found purchase on a knot in one of Draco's particularly worrisome places.
The blond let loose a large sigh and his head drooped automatically, baring more area for Blaise's gentle hands to explore.
"Tell me, what's got you so wound up." The Italian inquired softly, in that quiet unobtrusive voice that always made Draco open up and spill the mushy inner feelings that he would never dream of telling anyone else. Draco bit his lip and gave a slight disgruntled sigh.
"It's the same as always… That damn Potter." Draco grumbled out from beneath his curtain of hair, slightly embarrassed. This wasn't the first time this had come up, they had talked about him on rare occasions when the Malfoy heir had become unbearable in his musings and Blaise coerced him into spilling with that soft voice open to anything the smaller man might throw at him.
"What is it this time?" Blaise asked, carefully keeping away any hint of exasperation or jealousy. Draco couldn't help but bury his head in the crook of his arm to hide his pink flushed cheeks.
"He's coming here to work as a teacher!" Draco moaned unhappily, angry with himself for caring. Blaise didn't respond immediately and simply continued knead the flesh beneath his fingers.
"Draco, I think you are being a bit melodramatic love. I know how you feel about him but honestly it will be okay." Blaise soothed gently, finishing his massage with a slight tousle of Draco's long blond locks. The Malfoy heir glared unhappily at him and dunked his head underwater to erase the tangles.
"I don't think you understand Blaise, we can't be in the same building together without it becoming a war zone! It just doesn't work!" Draco moaned quietly, not wanting to try his partner's patience. Blaise donned his reading glasses again and returned to the glowing computer screen.
"Draco, there are times when one must step into his big boy pants and start acting like he isn't a spoiled child. I thought you were past that when your father died." Blaise sniped in his disturbingly soft voice. Draco sometimes thought that one softly spoken comment from Blaise was more stinging than an entire tirade of screams from anyone else.
For a few moments all that could be heard was the quiet tap tap of the keys on Blaise's laptop before he sighed heavily and turned to his lover.
"Draco, I promise things will be okay." He said, the tenderness for the blond apparent in his tone. Draco sank down into the tub so that only his blond hair and grey eyes were visible and blurbled out a response.
"I hope your right…"
"Mister potter, I'm very glad you have decided to return to Hogwarts, it's wonderful that you can return to us in a teaching capacity." McGonagall said stated from behind the large headmaster's desk as she shuffled his paperwork as she spoke.
"Thank you headmistress." Harry said smiling gently and toying with the fraying sleeve of his old robes.
"I don't know what I would be doing without this job." He said quietly, retaining a small smile of appreciation. McGonagall paused and looked up, losing the professional air she held most times.
"Of course Mister Potter, you know you are always welcome at Hogwarts, it's what Professor Dumbledore would have wanted." She said quietly, removing those half moon spectacles that she wore so often nowadays. Harry flinched almost unnoticeably at the mention of the previous headmaster and the smile slid from his face.
"Thank you Headmistress." Harry muttered shortly, obviously uncomfortable with the line of conversation.
"Um… Could I get to my rooms soon? I'd really like to settle down and get some rest." He said, shifting his weight uncomfortably. McGonagall seemed to understand and quickly summoned a house elf to show him to his private rooms. To Harry's despair one of Dobby's kin popped into existence almost immediately and he could practically track the recognition that turned to excitement that settled into a kind of dopy adoration.
"Master Harry Potter Sir! Winky is so very honored to serve you!" She proclaimed, big yellow eyes watering up as she bowed low enough so that her long hooked nose brushed the stone floor.
"Please, just Harry… um… my room?" Harry prodded gently, ignoring the behavior for the most part and trying very hard to act normal.
"Oh yes Mister Potter sir, the teacher's rooms are very much like the room of requirement sir. Think of what you want most and that will be your room." Winky recited happily, looking at McGonagall for confirmation. Apparently Winky welcomed all of the new teachers and knew the rules quite well.
Winky took Harry's hand and pulled him along the winding halls, causing him to have to stoop low to keep from lifting the little elf up from the ground and this is the way that Draco and Blaise found him.
Harry looked up and his breath caught a bit in his chest. They were perfectly … together. Both were stopped mid-step on the same foot, matching looks of measured surprise, hands interlaced in a heartbreakingly intimate yet subtle position. Well, heartbreaking to Harry who lacked most normal human connections.
Harry quickly recovered and his occlumency shields slammed into place, heavier than a steel wall. He straightened up and brushed the stray hairs that had fallen into his face behind his ears before taking a deep breath and looking up.
"Malfoy, Zabini, what a surprise seeing you here." Harry said in a polite tone, those green eyes seemed frozen in time as they observed the two men. Harry regretted his petite frame and short stature intensely as time as two pairs of opposite eyes looked down to study him. Silver and obsidian orbs held matching looks of interest and finally it was Draco who spoke.
"Potter, decided to give the teaching a go eh? I wouldn't be too sure about this line of work for you, I always pegged you for the 'risk my life for other people and catch dark wizards' type. The auror type." Draco said, clearly feeling defensive of his own position in the field and not liking Harry's presence in what he felt was his home. Harry looked decidedly ill for a moment before shooting them a weak smile.
"I decided against that line of work." He ground out between clenched teeth. Blaise's hand inconspicuously tightened on Draco's, indicating that he should stop.
"Well Mister Potter, it's been an interesting reunion. We will see you in the great hall. It is almost dinner time." Blaise said solidly, moving his hand to the small of Draco's back to guide him to the great hall. Harry watched, eyes riveted to that hand and the gentle pressure it exerted until he was shaken by a hand pulling on his sleeve.
"Mister Harry Potter Sir, this is the portrait to the teacher's common room. All of the rooms branch off on their own halls and are full sized suites. The password is atrum pardus your own room is through the hallway to the right once you are in the common room, the magic will bind to your signature and you must decide upon a portrait to guard your room." Winky informed him helpfully.
Harry nodded and spoke the password, surveying the large black panther napping on a tree limb in the portrait, slipping in and sealing the passage before Winky could work out a way to wrangle more time with "Mister Harry Potter Sir".
Harry heaved a sigh of relief and drug himself down the short hallway to the teacher commons and was surprised by what he found. The rooms were tastefully decorated in relaxing if nondescript colors. Harry smiled gently, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, however the Slytherins teaching at Hogwarts seemed intent on ruining his hopes for the future.
Harry continued following the directions from Winky until he ended up in front of a portrait of an enormous albino python that swiveled it's head around at him and inspected him with its intelligent pink eyes.
"Hello, I'm Harry Potter. It's a privilege to meet you." Harry hissed out quietly, inconspicuously in case a fellow faculty member happened by. The snake twitched with what Harry supposed was surprise.
"Hello speaker, I hope you will be staying in these rooms, nobody quite so interesting has been here in many years. I will meet you in the main room at your convenience." The great huge snake hissed disinterestedly, obviously the snake's attitude would work to Harry's advantage. He had become a private soul who enjoyed a lack of outside interference, especially after the war.
Harry couldn't help but be taken slightly aback by the room. It was beautiful, elegant but dark, dark enough to be soothing to the eyes but not dark enough to be frightening or resemble anything like what he imagined Snape's personal chambers to look like.
Apparently after the war the older man had become a private researcher for the sake of expanding wizarding knowledge. He lived somewhere in the middle of the forest in Tibet, far from civilization where he, by Harry's opinion belonged.
Harry walked into the bedroom from the spacious reception room and sat gingerly on the bed, unused to such rich surroundings, a far cry from the dank aura of Grimwald Place. Thankfully the wallpaper stayed fully intact in this room as it had not in his room at home, though he hadn't been in a fit state to notice at the time.
Harry shook his head as if to clear it of unsavory memories before brandishing his wand and setting the things from his trunk to dancing about the room and setting themselves as he liked them.
When he was done he looked about and gave a small grin before walking back into the main room and sitting on one of the large couches provided apparently by his subconscious. Well it had good taste anyway.
The snake had migrated to a portrait of a comfortable looking chair and was currently layed out on the high back of it, pink eyes trained on Harry with unusual intensity.
"You are the slayer of the snake man correct?" The snake stated more than asked as he settled on the chair back.
"If you speak of the man called Voldemort then yes." Harry hissed tightly, uncomfortable with the conversation but the snake didn't seem to care. Its eyes took in his obviously defensive body language and seemed to disregard it completely.
"And are you powerful?" The snake inquired again, quickly and coldly.
"Yes." Harry muttered unhappily.
"Then I will be your gatekeeper. Simply inform me of who to allow entrance and who should be denied." The snake hissed and slithered out of frame. Harry was left blinking at the very strange and swift interaction. Perhaps snakes just didn't have a use for courtesy.
Harry was roused from his musings by a soft chiming noise from his watch signaling that it was dinner time. Harry didn't feel hungry at all but still pulled himself from his seat and headed toward the great hall. His feet took him as his mind drifted.
His legs would forever know these halls unquestionably, instinctually skipping the missing step and the one that made an obnoxious screaming noise when stepped upon. It was his home completely and irrefutably . Harry was drawn from his thoughts by the sight of the enormous doors to the great hall.
He dreaded the attention sure to be drawn by entering through those doors but it was the only entrance he knew. The staring eyes and the gaping jaws all because of a scar he did his best to hide. It seemed a bit unnecessary and highly irritating to Harry. Well nothing for it, simply have to grit his teeth and bear it.
Harry was disheartened by the amount of effort it took to open the large doors but slipped through the crack he made and tried to slip through unnoticed. Unfortunately with a hushing of the crowd and a great rustling of robes all heads turned to face him, and then the whispering started, almost deafening when so many people did it.
He frowned unhappily and shook the fringe hanging over his face to cover the scar everyone was so fixated on. Harry became painfully aware of the slight limp in his left leg as the students tracked his uneven progress across the hall to the teacher's table.
McGonagall stood and shook his hand, smiling and offering him the seat to her right. Harry settled down just as the first course disappeared and a floating platter piled high with delicious looking chicken. Finally the whispering died down and the students return to eating sparing only a few glances for Harry between bites.
Harry kept his eyes downcast and directed on the food that he didn't really eat, the sickly feeling in his stomach just wouldn't go away. Draco snuck a glance at Harry and turned to talk to Blaise in the way that purebloods did when they wanted to be private, heads bowed, and lips hardly moving.
"Blaise did you see that limp? What happened there?" He muttered, taking a delicate bite of his chicken and chewing it over thoughtfully. Blaise put his hand on Draco's knee, a warning that he was staring too much.
"Draco, it's not our business unless you are ready to make an honest go at this." He responded, stroking the pale boy's knee with his thumb through the fabric to offset the cruel honesty of his words.
"But you must be curious Blaise, this is Harry Potter." Draco muttered, his grey eyes glinting with a passionate curiosity that Blaise was only ever privy to during adventurous sex or during their rare conversations about the man currently in question.
Blaise frowned unhappily, those thoughts wouldn't get them anywhere at the moment, during dinner. Draco seemed to sense Blaise's wandering thoughts and huffed in irritation, setting his hand over the Italian's larger appendage on his knee and inclining his head slightly closer.
"Blaise, we'll have time for that later. I am honestly curious about Potter, he fell off the map for three years after the defeat of … you know who… where did he go? What happened to him to make him like this?" Draco pondered aloud. He had gripped his arm at the mention of the Dark Lord, which still made his mark sting.
Draco looked at Potter's tense shoulders and the way he seemed to move his food about but not really eat anything. It was maddening; Draco was never one who could deal well with secrets.
Harry glanced up to accidently meet Draco's curious grey eyes and had to fight valiantly to keep the rising blush from coloring his cheeks until he could afford to look away. That face had been lined with curiosity and what seemed like a touch of concern, it was confusing, why would Malfoy feel concern for him or curiosity in relation to him.
Soon enough students started to trickle out of the hall with full bellies and drowsy heads. Harry deemed this an appropriate time to take his leave and organize for his first class tomorrow. Defense Against the Dark Arts was a subject that needed preparation or someone could get hurt.
Harry stood after vanishing his untouched food with an inconspicuous flick of his wand concealed within his sleeve.
"Excuse me Headmistress, I'll be turning in a bit early, I've still got some planning to do." Harry said in that polite emotionless tone.
Harry turned on his heel and left for his rooms, thinking deeply about the look on Malfoy's face.
Draco watched Harry leave the main hall, his hunched shoulders and slightly limping gait. He turned to Blaise again with questions in his eyes and it was Blaise who took Draco's elbow, and lead him to stand, ready to get on with it and eager from the looks Draco had been shooting him.
Draco sighed gently as Blaise all but dragged them out of the main hall and back to their rooms for a bit of less than school appropriate activities.
Harry sat on the bed, massaging his thigh, sore from the travel. The large divot cut out of his leg muscle pained him more the longer he had it, it was degenerative and would one day reduce him to a wheel chair. Harry frowned unhappily at the thought and downed his cocktail of potions that kept him mobile, including a dreamless sleep potion and a general nutrition potion. Harry instantly felt the nausea and the hot coal in the stomach feeling.
It had become familiar to him and he had almost become able to ignore the feeling when trying to sleep, and only about once a week did he vomit these days. Harry sighed uncomfortably and put a hand to his quivery stomach before heaving his useless leg into the bed and curling onto his side for some not so restful sleep.
Blaise rolled to the side, chest heaving and muscles weak. Draco curled into him, half laying on him and smiled. Blaise was the physical type, he required constant physical reassurance and if that was provided he was a very relaxed lover and not jealous at all but if he was denied those secret touches and gentle hand holds he became uneasy and it resulted in situations like this one.
Rough, but never painful sex, it was like a friendly reminder that Blaise didn't appreciate being forgotten. Draco smiled gently, not minding the strong tingle in his lower regions and placed a silent kiss on Blaise's shoulder and closed his eyes.
"Draco, you know that something must be done about this. I love you but something must be done about this." Blaise said softly, his warm breath causing Draco's hair to float for a moment before returning to rest.
"I know Blaise… I know…" Draco muttered unhappily, not proud to be going to sleep with this unresolved.