The Way I Are
Chapter Three
"Good morning, Harry," Emily, the desk clerk at the office says, as she does every morning, smiling brightly.
"Good morning, Emily," I smile back, pushing through the glass door that leads to the elevators after Emily buzzes me in.
I make my way up to my office, scaring even myself when I realize my partner had actually gotten to work before me. Unusual.
It's Monday morning about two weeks after my movie night in with Pansy, and per her request, I haven't said anything about anything she said to Draco. Though, I have been starting to pick up on little things. Things I would have originally just written off as being friendly, I now see as Draco's attempts to get me interested.
"Why so jumpy, Potter?" Draco asks, looking up from the Prophet issue he'd been reading.
"You're never here before me. What changed?"
"Pansy told me she was going to stop in this morning. She said she 'missed her best mate' which I think is a load of you-know-what, but hell, what do I know?" Draco laughs, smiling up at me.
"Why do you think that? Even I know Pansy sticks to the truth. At least I hope so," I say, recalling what Pansy told me.
"I think Pansy wants to see you more than me, if I'm being honest," Draco stands, leaning up against the front of his desk, about two feet away from me, looking pretty darn good for being up earlier than I think he's ever been in his life.
When I told Pansy that I'm not as straight as they come, I wasn't kidding. I'd known I was interested in men since about a month before Ginny and I divorced. And once we were officially divorced, I had experimented with a few different men, all Muggles. Not that anyone really knows that. Besides Pansy of course, and Hermione who'd figured it out on her own.
"And what makes you say that?"
"Oh, please, Potter. She talks to you more than she does me anymore. And I know you had her over your flat a couple of weeks ago. You two are all buddy-buddy now. But I'm actually okay with that. I like to think of you and I as pretty good acquaintances, friends even. I'm glad we're finally getting past the animosity from school. It's not worth ruining the rest of our lives," Draco adds, making me wonder how he went from the Draco Malfoy I knew in school to the one standing across from me in only a couple of years.
"Well, Malfoy, I'm glad you think of us as friends, because I like to think the same. We've worked as partners, pushing paperwork and doing outfield investigation when necessary for almost two years. That means we have to trust each other, at the very least. And I do. Ron thinks I'm crazy because I have mentioned once or twice that I do trust you, but I do. I have to—my life depends a lot on trusting you."
Draco was about to open his mouth to say something, but Pansy coming through the door with a brown paper bag, shouting, "I have bagels!" at the top of her lungs interrupted him.
"Morning, Pansy," I say politely, taking the bag from her and placing it on my desk.
"Sorry, boys, did I walk in on something I shouldn't have?" Pansy asks, noticing that Draco is now biting the inside of his cheek, keeping very quiet.
"No, I'm just tired because somebody told me to be at work a lot earlier than I ever show up," Draco laughs falsely, pushing past me before taking a bagel out of the bag on my desk and biting into it harshly.
"Right," Pansy says, patting Draco's arm before looking at me in a way that says, 'You will tell me later, or I'll have your balls in a vice grip'. Yes, Pansy has a look like that. "So, how are my two favorite men this morning?"
"Pansy, you have a boyfriend—shouldn't Blaise be one of your favorite men?" I laugh, knowing Blaise and Pansy had a strange relationship.
"Should be. But isn't. Certain parts of him, I love. Others, I hate. Eh, what can you do?"
Draco rolls his eyes and excuses himself to the restroom, leaving Pansy and I to talk privately.
"Have you said anything to him? He looked like he'd just seen a ghost when I walked in," Pansy whispers, coming closer to me so she could talk quieter and still be heard.
"No, but I think he might have been about to say something when you walked in. We were talking about how we trust each other," I say, smiling lightly. "Pans, over the last couple of weeks, I've been feeling a lot more for Draco than I would have ever imagined, but it's getting more and more intense as I talk to him more."
I can't say I don't find Draco attractive. I absolutely do. Enough to have gotten a little too hot when we were in the copy room and much too hot and bothered after Pansy left my apartment the night she said Draco wanted to shag me in our office.
"I have an idea. But it's devious. But then again, I was in Slytherin for a reason. Come with us out for drinks on Friday night. Who knows? You might get lucky."
"Pansy, you have a very frightening twinkle in your eye right now. But I like where you're going."
"So, Potter, what made you come out with us this weekend?" Draco asks, throwing back a shot on Friday night.
"I was invited," I reply, taking a sip of my bottle of beer that was in front of me.
"But nobody forced you. And you're sitting here with me while Pansy and Blaise dance on each other until they go home together, leaving us alone. Why's that?"
I can tell Draco is starting to get a little tipsy, and I am hoping he stays only slightly tipsy so I can talk to him more.
"I wanted to come. We've never spent time outside of work together. I'd like to. Friends see each other outside of work," I say, stopping myself before I say too much.
"Well, I hope you don't mind if I leave you all by your lonesome if I find someone who wants to take me home. Pansy hasn't let me get any for the last few weekends, which is just cruel and unusual punishment."
"Actually," I begin, worrying if I'm actually going to do this. "I do mind."
Okay, that's not exactly what I planned on saying, but I guess it still worked.
"Oh, you do, do you?"
"I do. I came out tonight to learn more personal, nitty gritty details about my partner. So, start talking."
Draco seems taken aback, but he downs another shot like nothing, laughing as his Adam's apple bobs, pulling the drink down his throat.
"Why are you so curious, Potter? I know this is your first bar night with us, but I'll tell you how things usually work. Pansy and Blaise drink somewhere between six and ten shots each and they dance until they're ready to go home, and they do, leaving me to find someone of my own to go home with. And I always do," Draco says, doing a half-smile that made my heart beat just a little bit faster.
"Oh, really? So, which of these fine men are you looking into currently?"
"Ah, ah, ah, Potter. That's never determined until I'm about to walk out the door."
Draco and I spend the next two hours talking and drinking, laughing about an hour in when Pansy and Blaise give us the heads-up that they're leaving.
Pansy whispers in my ear that she's getting some, so I better too, which makes me laugh harder than I probably should have.
"So, if you're sitting here with me, how are you expecting to find a man to take you home?" I ask Draco, popping the top off of my third beer bottle of the night.
"They usually find me. And the man sitting in that booth over there has been eyeing me up for the last hour."
"And are you looking into leaving me for him?" I ask, laughing to myself, at the question itself.
"He's not my type. I can already tell. I'm not interested," Draco answers, winking at me.
"Well, then maybe you'll finally tell me who you're interested in going home with tonight?"
"I'm interested, but I know the person I'll most like to take home wouldn't want me, so it's a lost cause. So, I might just leave tonight without getting any. Pitty, really. Maybe another night," Draco says, leaving me at a loss for words.
Draco stands, throws back another shot then makes his way through the crowds of dirty dancing folks before exiting the bar.
Just as I'm following him, I take a quick look at the man Draco had no interest in going home with that had been eyeing him up.
Blonde hair, brown eyes, definitely no scars. Maybe Pansy was right.
Hey, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please, please review if you did! Thank you so much for reading!
As always, I hope you enjoyed and will review. (:
xoxo,
K.J
