THE FRIENDSHIP OF RIVALRY

Notes:

This is the first fanfic I have ever written, so please be gentle, but all criticism are welcome. I did not get a beta for this fanfic because as I said, this is my first fanfic, but I am also a qualified editor, so I copy edit my own work.

Disclaimer - I do not own the setting of Harry Potter or any of the characters; those are the property of J.K. Rowling. I have however added a few new names, given that this story is centered on the time after Harry and Draco have graduated.

This story is a male x male slash so please don't read it if you don't like to read these types of fanfics. For those who do not know, male x male slash is when the story is told around the relationship of two boys or guys, meaning this is a gay fanfic settled around the main characters of the story.

Audite – Latin for listen (made it a spell for listening in on conversations, since I could only find "Muffliato" in the list of spells in Harry Potter, which is used for keeping conversations secret.)

Chapter 1: Harry

The night sky was silent as a lone figure sat on the roof of his house. Harry Potter smiled as a snowy owl pierced the darkness and landed next to him on the roof. Hedwig had died saving him, but Hagrid had surprised Harry with her chick as a birthday present after the war. He didn't know the whole story of how Hagrid had found her, but they had become inseparable from then on.

Somehow picking up on his thoughts, Snow snuggled in closer to his side as he lifted a hand to stroke her soft feathers while letting his thoughts drift. He had always believed that the end of the war would bring peace and that he and his friends would just continue on with their lives as it was even as they grew older. He had believed that he would become one of the best Aurors the wizarding world has ever seen and that he would continue with his uncomplicated life until the day he died.

But things had not worked out that way. It was barely three years after the war and he already found himself alone and bored. He had tried to be an Auror for a while, but somehow playing to the Ministry's rules after he knew well enough how wrong most of their views were, put a sour taste in his mouth. Even after the Ministry agreed to give him an indefinite leave of absence to "find himself", he knew that they only wanted the Wizarding world to think that the great Harry Potter was fighting for their cause.

So he had decided to disappear to a place that only Remus knew about. Remus Lupin had been almost the only person he could trust in recent years, since the rest of his friends and their families would always try to push him to do what they thought was right, without listening to him. Ron and Hermione had married and moved to England with the promise of frequent visits, but they soon realized that they didn't live in the same world anymore.

They were content to settle down and have kids, while Harry still yearned to find adventure and in the end, this drove them apart. The Weasleys still contacted him frequently at the beginning, but they had also seemed to realize that he was the only one who would be able to drag himself out of his self-imposed isolation. The twins however kept in frequent contact and in a way he could always count on them to cheer him up. Both were now booming businessmen and their products were sold all over the world. Everyone had been shocked and heartbroken when they had thought that Fred had died in the final war against Voldemort, but to everyone's surprise, Luna Lovegood had somehow foreseen the death of the twin and had promptly slipped a polyjuice potion into the drink of one of the known death eater's children before the battle.

Afterwards, she had asked Fred to guard a place which she had known to be safe. She only told him that someone had it in for him and his twin, but she immediately reassured him that nothing would happen to either him or his twin if he listened to her advice. Fred wasn't a coward, but after he learned that he would die when a wall collapsed on him, he decided to follow her advice, because that would mean that he would die without going out with a bang. Not that he would ever tell anyone except his twin who felt the same. The twins both felt that if they were to die, then they would die together and even though neither would wish the other to die, they both felt that they would be unable to live without one another.

The moment Luna had stepped into the room with a very much alive Fred, everyone had stood frozen in shock for a few minutes, but after Fred had looked over to the boy who had been busy changing back into his original self and said that he was quite insulted that his family would think that the ugly mug of a death eater could ever be compared to his own gorgeous face, the whole group of family and friends let their tears flow freely with George being the first one to get to him and whack him over the head, just because he thought his brother went and died without him.

Harry looked around his home and smiled. He had purchased a small plot of land in the middle of the woods next to a clearing. The locals believed the place was haunted and a few well-placed illusion spells made it even more believable. Here he could do whatever he liked and even if it got lonely at times, he would remind himself that he was better off lonely than being managed and unhappy.

Harry watched as the sky slowly became lighter. Dawn was approaching and if he wanted to get to the village shops before everyone took the freshest food, then he had better get a move on. He quickly but silently climbed down from his roof and entered his house through his bedroom window. The house was small, but some of the rooms had been enchanted to become bigger or smaller to suit his needs. He wasn't much of a decorator and as such, the house was decorated in a variety of reds, golds, silvers, and greens. He hadn't given it much thought when he bought the needed furniture, but it had occurred to him later on that he had decorated his house with the colors of the two most prominent houses in Hogwarts. Gryffindor and Slytherin. Yet he simply refused to acknowledge why he had done so by easily putting it down as a coincidence.

Harry quickly placed Snow near her food while ensuring that the window on the roof was left open to her if she wanted to hunt, he then glamoured himself and apparated into the woods close to the village. He looked around to ensure that no one was watching him before he slipped out of the bushes and headed towards the market. The people in the market knew the days he came and the fact that he paid them more than the required amount, ensured that he was always given the best they had to offer.

Once he was done, Harry decided to wander around the curiosity shops that lined the main road of the village. He didn't see anything of interest so he decided to head for home before the streets became too busy. But as he turned he saw a hooded male figure, much like himself, disappearing into a shop he hadn't really bothered to notice before. The shop was small and obviously dusty, but Harry couldn't stop himself from following the figure into the shop.

The figure had a familiar walk and his mannerisms clearly indicated that he was of nobility. A few niggling thoughts tried to make itself known at the back of Harry's conscience, but he pushed them away. He was only making sure that no one from the Ministry was following him, right? Harry moved to stand behind a set of cards on a shelf. A single glance at the moving cards told him that this wasn't a muggle shop, but a shop that catered to the wizarding world.

He felt his breath hitch as he realized that a familiar voice could be heard talking in hushed tones with the shopkeeper, even when both of them thought that they were alone in the shop. "Audite" Harry silently whispered and the conversation became clear. "I am looking for a boy with glasses, green eyes and a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. You may also know him as Harry Potter." The hooded figure stared silently at the shopkeeper as he waited for an answer to his inquiry. The shopkeeper seemed to think for a moment before he shook his head. "I would have known if the great Harry Potter was living in our humble little village. That boy is a hero!"

The hooded figure seemed to barely suppress his snarl as he hissed to himself, "As if I didn't know…" The hooded figure then nodded to the shopkeeper before leaving the shop. Harry slipped out of the shop, but the figure had disappeared. Shaking his head, he pulled the hood firmly over his head and walked back to the woods to apparate back to his house. The hooded figure seemed to plague his thoughts the entire day as he worked around the house. Most days he would do research, play around on the internet (which was magically enhanced so it didn't short out around his power) or simply practice spells he had perfected a long time ago.

But practicing spells while one's mind wanders could be dangerous as Harry reminded himself with a curse when he almost set his house on fire. Harry kicked a practice dummy in silent frustration before simply entering his house and lying on his bed. The cleanup could wait a while. "A few hours of sleep might allow me to forget whoever it is that was looking for me." With that, Harry closed his eyes and fell asleep. He simply refused to believe that the hooded figure was who he suspected it was.

Hours later, Harry found himself jarred awake by a deafening screech that was silenced in seconds. The wards around his house pulsed and Harry realized that there had to be an intruder near the house. He reached for his wand on the bedside table, but at wasn't there and so he tried to grab his glasses in order to look for it. "Immobulus!" Harry found himself frozen in place as he cursed himself for his error in not realizing that the intruder was already in the house. Never mind in the house, the intruder was already in his room!

For all he knew, the intruder was a death eater who wanted revenge for the fact that he had killed Voldemort. Not that Harry ever actually understood why anyone would want to follow someone who tortured his own followers even more than he tortured his enemies. Harry mentally shook himself. This was no time to be thinking about the motives of other people! He had to find a way to protect himself and…! Harry's mental rant was cut off as a figure stepped into his line of sight. It was the hooded figure from earlier.

"Oh Potter, let me guess. At this very moment, you're thinking that you should have kept yourself vigilant instead of innocently falling asleep on your bed with most of your doors left open. Didn't anyone ever tell you to always keep your doors locked at night?" Harry felt himself grimace as he heard a nickname that could come only from one person. Unfortunately, his suspicions had been correct.

"What the bloody hell Malfoy?!" A chuckle filled the air as the person in question removed the hood from his face. Harry could feel the spell loosen and he prepared to lunge at Draco before he could cast another spell, but Draco simply muttered "Incarcerous" which tied Harry's hands and feet together. "As much as I would love to duel with you again Potter, I actually came to talk, nothing more." Harry heard himself snort at the blonde's words. "Yeah right, if you really wanted to talk you would've knocked on the front door and waited until I opened it. Instead, you have entered my house without permission, attacked me and tied me up."

Harry almost thought Malfoy looked embarrassed as he looked at him, but he quickly erased the idea. Malfoy wouldn't be able to blush even if it was to save his own life. His ego simply just wouldn't allow it. Although on the other hand, Draco was pure Slytherin and as far as he knew they would do just about anything to save their own skins.

"As bad as it does indeed look at the present Potter, I would have thought you would know me better than that. I actually did knock on the door, but it opened on its own and I then noticed the scorch marks on the walls, which lead me to the conclusion that you had been attacked. I found you when you were about to stand up and I didn't feel like dodging spells and curses so I immobilized you until I could tell you this without the ever present threat of the miscommunication between us, coming into play."

Malfoy finished his speech with his trademarked smirk, but it quickly melted from his face when he noticed the shocked look that Harry was giving him. "What is it, Potter? Close your mouth before some unfortunate animal finds its way into it." Harry shook his head and rolled his eyes with a smile. "I think I should record this. The most words Draco Malfoy has ever said to me in a single conversation without cursing me, threatening me or making fun of me. Oh and most of those so called miscommunications, occurred because of your ability to say the wrong things at the worst possible time."

Draco snorted. "Oh, and you were a real ray of sunshine throughout our years at Hogwarts? Face it Potter, it was that temper of yours that made it so easy to rile you up with just a few simple words. Now if we're done baring our souls to one another, I would like to let you go so that we can get back to what I wanted to discuss with you." At Harry's inquisitive gaze he sighed before he continued. "I meant without the threat of you cursing or jinxing me."

Harry nodded and Draco loosened the bonds before hesitantly giving Harry's wand back. Both men froze for a few minutes in order to gauge the other's reaction, but both soon relaxed as much as they could when they realized that neither of them was about to let loose a spell. Harry stood up from the bed, put on his glasses and led the way into his living room. He didn't even want to contemplate the fact that he actually trusted Malfoy enough to believe that he wouldn't just jinx him in the back, but the blond could have done that while he lay tied up on his bed.

The fact that the entire situation had livened up his current boring lifestyle, actually made him want to thank Malfoy for the interruption. Although he would never willingly admit it to Draco's face. Harry poured each of them a glass of firewhisky before taking a seat across from Draco. If anything could prompt his one-time rival to seek him out, then it either had to be very important or very dangerous. Maybe even both if he was lucky.