A/N:
yummytimelord: I'm glad you liked it! I really wasn't sure abou the plot, your review helped my confidence a bit -lol. Please continue to read and review.
Review everyone~
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The Tattle Tale
After the fight he had with his friend and girlfriend Harry decided to er...dogde Malfoy for a while. Not long, just...enough so he wouldn't fight with Ron and Ginny again.
"I just want to avoid problems at work Ginny!" She eyed him suspiciously, her face shut in a frown.
"Fine. Though I think we both know it's not just that, I'll let it pass for now. But I don't want to hear a word about Malfoy anymore Harry." She ordered him, quietly standing from the couch and going to their bedroom.
He hated the fact that he would have to sleep on the couch for another night; but feeling as if he was talking to a mother not his girlfriend was something that he hated even more.
He promised not to mention the subject ever again, it would be easier if there was nothing to mention right?
Shame that things not always go the way we would like to.
After three weeks of managing to cough dodge cough Malfoy, using potions from other makers Harry could not take it anymore. He hated to admit, but damn Malfoy is good at his job.
'I'm just going to get a potion, no biggie.'
Burning mercury disagreed with that statement though. Harry could've sworn there was almost a dark aura around Malfoy, his glare piercing through Harry.
"So much for a new beginning eh Potter?" The blonde asked disdainfully while he poured Veritaserum in a small vial for Harry. "Ashamed to tell it to your little Auror friends?"
"Look, Malfoy, I just-"
"No, it's fine. Guess I should have expected it, payback is a bitch huh?" Malfoy bit his lip, shaking his head, Harry opened his mouth to protest but the other kept cutting him off. "I thought you were better than them." He said quietly, Harry's jaw dropped.
After finally processing D-Malfoy's words, he answered. "I told my friends and girlfriend about it, they fought with me. I just...gave it some time." Silver eyes blinked rapidly before turning away from him completely.
"Oh. I understand then. Here is your potion Potter." Malfoy quickly said, shoving the vial in Harry's hand and pratically pushing him out of the room.
"Wait! I..." Harry began, but truthfully there was nothing to be said, no excuses.
"Don't sweat it Potter. It is what usually happens anyway." He said and went back to his caldrouns, stirring and adding the proper ingredients.
"No, I...I shouldn't have avoided you. I guess that I just want some peace and quiet for once." Malfoy observed him, and albeit there was sadness in his eyes for ome tiny seconds, he shook his head and answered, comprehending.
"I think you made the right decision, back in our first year." It took an entire minute for Harry to grasp what decision Malfoy was talking about. By the time the brunette finally figured it out, the blonde was biting his lip to keep himself from smiling at Harry's slowness.
He bites a lot on his lip...Harry thought as he glanced at Draco's mouth, slapping himself mentally when he realized what he had done.
"No. Besides that's past. I offered my hand four weeks ago and you took it. If we can get passed our history surely everyone else can." He attempted to make a joke, a tiny smile broke into Dra-Malfoy's face.
You do know that sometime you'll have to stop calling him Malfoy? The brunette ignored his conscience and focused.
"I don't want to disturb your peace and quiet Potter."
"Eleven year old Malfoy would beat you stupid for passing up that opportunity." They both smiled.
"Didn't you just say that that's past?" Malfoy asked, tricking him and a slight pink hue appeared on the Auror's cheeks.
"Yeah, well, I-I haven't really...er..."
"Always eloquent like a true Griffyndork." Malfoy cut him off, amusement on his eyes.
"You would be surprised at how Slytherin I can be." Malfoy snorted at Harry's teasing, arms folding as the Malfoy patented smirk appeared on his lips.
"Oooh, I am really scared now." The Auror held his laugh, a smirk of his own on his mouth.
"You should be Ferret." He said and turned, leaving the room, hearing Malfoy's deep and smooth chuckle come from behind him.
He ignored the shiver that ran through his spine, a grin on his lips. 'Well, that wasn't so bad.'
---
"I cannot believe this! Why is he here?" Ron asked, looking like he was about to burst as he observed Malfoy from afar.
"It's a Ministry party, he works in the Ministry, that's why he is here Ronald." Hermione tiredly explained, rolling her eyes.
"I agree with Ron. He is obviously not welcomed here, he should not have come."
"See!" Ron said, pointing at his sister. Both Hermione and Harry sighed at this.
"No, I do not see anything, now stop acting so childish and behave yourself!" Hermione said while she straightened Ron's black bow tie and fixed her lilac dress for the tenth time.
"I look like a bloody waiter." Ron complained, murmuring something about how he should not have listened to his mother. Ginny and Harry chuckled, feeling the mood lighten, and even Hermione smiled a bit, her cheeks turning a deep shade of red. "I don't get why we have to wear Muggle outfits."
"Because the muggle Prime-Minister is here along with many important muggles. It would scare them." Hermione explained, Ron shrugged.
"How come do you always know what to wear to these things?" He asked, looking at Harry, who was dressed in a black suit and tie, a dark green shirt beneath.
"I bet he wasn't the one who picked the outfit, am I right Gin?" A strange voice came from Ginny's side and Harry felt her lose the grip on his right arm a bit. "Potter, Granger, Weasley."
Blaise, a tall and dark skinned man nodded at them before briefly kissing Ginny on the cheek and winking at her. Ron and Harry exchanged widened looks, the brunette took a step back, forcing Ginny to do the same, so there was an significant distance between them.
"I didn't know you had met Zabini." Harry had always known that Blaise Zabini worked in Muggle Relations –surprising at first, until he found he only took the job to escape going to Azkaban, but he had no idea how the man met his wife. The green monster that had been hibernating for all these years decided to show it's claws again.
"He works in the same department as Dad does, whenever I go see Dad, I see him as well." She said and shrugged, ignoring his searching look and taking a glass of butterbeer from one of the waiter's hands.
Harry didn't know at what he should be more pissed off. At the fact that she knew and talked to Zabini frequently or that she could forgive him for all his mistakes but not Draco.
Wasn't it 'Malfoy dammit!'?
"Yeah, well, it's a nice place to work, pretty quiet and calm, and I don't have nearly as many work hours as some of my friends." He mentioned, drinking half of the Firewhisky from the glass he just took.
"You must be talking about Draco." Hermione said, surprising everyone. Draco? What?
"He supplies potions for Saint Mungus too, doesn't he?" Blaise asked and Harry paid a closer attention to the conversation, Ginny left his side and started to talk with her brother, both of them agreeing on how they should not bother to talk about Malfoy.
"Yes, weekly. I don't know how he manages, it's way too much to do." She said, shaking her head, Zabini sighed and took another sip of the Firewhisky.
"It's what he got you know? Either that or...well, he made the right decision."
"Who are you talking about?" The subjet of their talk appeared in between Hermione and Blaise, taking a glass of Firewhisky from a waiter nearby.
Harry held his breath for a moment, in all of those years of hating him back in school he never quite noticed just how...well he had to admit, handsome Malfoy was. He was wearing a light metalic gray suit, black shirt and tie. It made his eyes stand out, his straight white-blonde hair falling a bit over them, his cheeks lightly colored from the alcohol.
Harry suddenly felt hotter than before and hastily took a firewhisky from one of the muggle waiters, after a long sip he felt a bit better. Focusing back on the conversation again he noticed that Draco had partially froze when he aknowledge Harry's presence.
"Malfoy." A polite nod.
"Potter." A tense polite nod.
"So Draco, how are the new half-veela potions coming up?" Hermione asked, her eyes travelling between Draco and Harry, Zabini looked at them with mild interest, his eyes scanning the room for women.
"Not good actually, I know I'm getting closer to the solution but I haven't got the budget to make too many potions for just this problem." He shook his head several times, twirling his firewhisky and ice before drinking.
Ron approached them, as he got closer to his wife and put an arm around her waist his eyes followed Malfoy warily. Hermione looked at him questioningly but said nothing. Ginny approached Harry as well, and he mimicked Ron's move as he saw the new direction Zabini's gaze took.
"...Oh well, guess they will have to get used to their veela-breakdowns before we find the solution."
"They send me howlers every bloody week, trust me, some of them deserve it." Hermione laughed and Draco smiled.
Ron got even more protective and pulled her closer to him, making her trip slightly, she glared at him. Seeing this, Zabini laughed and shook his head.
"No need to go mad jealous Weasley, Draco won't steal her, she is not exactly the kind he likes, no like any woman will ever be." Zabini blinked at Draco and laughed even more when the silver eyed man turned beet red from head to toe, furious eyes piercing Zabini with their glare. Harry, Ron and Ginny stood there looking puzzled, only Hermione seemed to know what he meant, and she too blushed.
"Wow thanks Blaise, why don't you just announce it to everyone one in the room?!" He whispered hotly, gripping the glass on his hand tightly. "If you would all excuse me, I have better things to do." He said, his tone had gone cold and sarcastic, like it was back in school, his posture was rigid and he was almost sneering at Zabini.
"That was cruel Zabini." Hermione said, her expression hard, the dark man merely shrugged.
"It's pretty damn obvious, don't know how he manages to hide it."
"You still have no right to keep telling everyone like that."
"I have been friends with him longer than you with Potter, I believe I know my rights over Draco, Granger."
"Oh, excuse me for being a considerate new friend that actually gives a damn!" Uh oh, Hermione swearing, that wasn't good at all, she was getting closer to Zabini, he stared down at her, enraged.
"Don't act like you know us Granger, you don't know my motives to have said what I said."
"Oh what reasons could you possibly have? Besides, of course, mocking him in public." Zabini took a deep breath, but it wasn't so he could calm down, he was getting ready to swaer at her, Ron stood there dumbly, still confused as to why Hermione was defending Draco and what Zabini had said.
Ginny leaned towards Zabini, looking worried, apparently she was going to try and calm him down. Harry took a mental note to ask her 'what the fuck is going on?' later.
"Mione, Zabini, that's enough. You are clearly not going to agree on whatever it is you disagree on, and we are drawing a lot of unwanted attention."
Harry explained, and it was like they woke up from a dream. They were in a far corner from the dance floor and the dining tables, still, the couples and small groups around them observed and whispered amongst themselves.
"I better excuse myself as well, before I do something stupid." Zabini said, nodding at the three of them and glaring at Hermione. Harry watched he go to Draco, the blonde was leaning on the wall but instantly recovered his cocky posture as Zabini approached, leaving him seconds later.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked, suspiciously looking at his wife. "Why are you defending him as well?"
"Oh it's not like that Ronald! Zabini just had no right to say that about Draco."
"Say 'that' what? I don't get it. And since when Malfoy is Draco to you?!"
"Besides Hermione, Zabini was probably joking, from the fame Malfoy had back in school I doubt what he said was true." Ginny said and searched Zabini and Malfoy through the crowd.
"I am with Ron here, I have no idea what he meant." Harry heard Ron whispering 'See!' and Hermione slapped her own forehead.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing for him you both are so oblivious. No Ron, I will not tell you what Zabini meant, and it has been Draco since he started making potions for St. Mungus as well. I see him at least once per week."
"Hermione, you don't actually think it's true?" Ginny said, a surprised expression on her face. Hermione said nothing.
"What is this event about anyway?" Harry asked a simple question, to lighten the mood.
"To introduce the new Prime-Minister and other important political muggles to our world, prove that we are not dangerous and all that." Hermione asnwered him, Ginny looked confounded.
"Why would muggles think we are dangerous?"
"Dad says they have this weird thing called 'movies' about us, and some books too, we are evil and kill them."
"That's crazy, we would never do that." She paused. "Well, er...some of us did, but..." She trailed of and her hair swayed as she shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Harry, since we are here why don't we dance?" Ginny's bright brown eyes met green and she pouted, trying to erase the awkward moment. Harry groaned inwardly, he was still pants at dancing.
"Must we really?" He asked, hoping she would give up, a grin broke into her face and she kissed him chastely before taking his hand and dragging him to the dance floor.
All the while he was dancing, hugging and kissing Ginny he felt like he was being observed. He twirled them once, trying to catch who was eyeing him, there nothing there, nothing but a black wall.
Funny, he could have sworn he caught a flash of gray and silver.
---
"That was low Zabini." Draco said, angryly sitting on his chair, carelessly putting the napkin on his lap.
"What? You weren't going to tell him, I had to let him know somehow." Pansy arched an eyebrow, looking at them with interest, ignoring the salad on her plate.
"With the Weasleys there? Are you bloody mad?!"
"What are you two talking about? Though I must say I love seeing you fight, it is quite boring if I have no idea what are you fighting about." Pansy said, supporting her head on her hands, elbows ungraciously on the table.
"I just casually implied that Draco is gay to Potter." Pansy's eyes widened, her mouth in a small 'oh'.
"Yes, Potter, the Weasellete and the Weasel." Draco sneered and Blaise ran a hand through his hair.
"Look Draco, you weren't going to tell him! I just took matters in my own hands."
"He is straight Zabini, and he is dating the Weasellete. It's just not going to happen."
"He is right about that Blaise. I personally never saw Potter check out any guys. Or girls for that matter, he is pratically assexual." Pansy said with a grimace. "Shame, he is not all bad."
Zabini grinned madly at Pansy. "I thought that too, until I saw him ogling Draco today."
"Shut it. You imagined things Blaise."
"Don't shut it, do tell me! Why am I never present for these things?"
"I imagined nothing, he almost drooled when you got close, he got all flushed and took a long sip from his drink. I took a chance when I saw one, which is exactly what you should do."
"He is right Drakie, we are both really tired of this shenanigan of yours. It was easier to listen to you when you hated him."
"I do not talk about him anymore and stop calling me Drakie!" Pansy laughed through her nose, an awful sound that reminded Draco of a pig.
"No you don't, I guess that's a bigger problem. You just sulk, pine, observe and think about him. Half of the time you're with us your mind is elsewhere. I am sick of it."
"We are sick of it." Pansy added.
"Fine, I get it. But I do not do those things." He murmured, taking a sip of butterbeer. Blaise laughed hard.
"Oh yes you do. You're doing it right now." He said and Draco blinked, realizind he was staring at the happy couple, wishing the redhead would die of a very painful, slow death.
Damn!
"I suppose you're right, but don't pretend you did that for my sake only, we both you know you have your own egoistical motives." Pansy eyed Draco curiously, then Blaise, who had shut up and looked away, his eyes catching a flash of red hair before he blinked and stood up, looking for some random woman to take home for the night.
They were both fucked.