A/N: See, I knew I just wasn't finished... Here's the other voice that just NEEDED to be heard in this tale.
As always, please let me know what you're thinking. I'm always curious to hear any and all comments! Thank you.

Harry Potter hadn't been a part of the plan.

There hadn't even been a plan, really. Theo's intentions hadn't really been anything but honest in the beginning. He just wanted to stay out of Azkaban. His father was there for the rest of his life. He didn't want to end up like his father. That was something he had never wanted.

Theo hadn't gone to Draco's apartment with bad intentions. But he sure as hell left with the foundations for some.

Draco had a good thing going. A good life. He had done far worse things than Theo had ever dreamed of. He had taken the Mark, for Salazar's sake! There was no doubt in his mind that Draco had killed people. Or at the very least, he had been the reason people had died. That was just as terrible. He didn't deserve the good life he had.

The bitterness hadn't existed before Theo set foot in that apartment. They were friends, even after the years of no contact. But the instant he saw that sweet photo on the wall, jealousy and hatred sunk in.

Draco Malfoy didn't deserve Harry Potter. He didn't deserve to be cushy and happy. There was nothing good inside of Draco.

Theo couldn't let him have that life.

For months, Theo avoided these thoughts. All he wanted was to be safe. The Ministry came and raided his family home – what was left of it – and found nothing. The objects he gave Draco to hold onto were all he had left of his broken family. He was left with the home, but not much else after it and the family vaults had been raided for war reparations. There was literally nothing else to find.

The deal had been that he would go back for his things after the raid. But he held back. Something in his gut was nagging at him to hold back. To wait for Draco to come to him. If he was as desperate as he seemed to keep the perfect life he had, he would come to him.

And he would, indeed, be desperate.

Desperation took the unexpected form of anger and violence. Theo had barely opened the door before Draco was shoving a wand in his face.

"Would you like to know the benefit of being on amicable terms with Hermione Granger?" Draco hissed, pushing Theo back into his house with a rough shove. "She's chatty. And if you set her on even the vaguest path of what you're searching for, she will tell you all that you want to know.

"Your raid was months ago, Theodore. You passed. So why do I still have your incriminating shit in my home?"

The greatest skill Theo possessed was that he could keep a calm face even though his insides had turned to nervous jelly. He didn't even blink. He just very calmly pushed the tip of the wand from his temple and said coolly, "I haven't the faintest what you're on about."

And that was when Theo made up his mind. Draco had threatened to go to the Ministry. And that seemed like a fine plan to steal. Especially since not a single soul hesitated to believe that Draco would undeniably be the sort. Besides, in their absence Theo came to realize he could easily live without his father's belongings. He felt freer with them gone.

Still, once the tip had been given and the lies spun, Harry Potter hadn't quite been a part of Theo's plan. He had really only planned to take Draco out of the equation. Not insert himself in his place.

But when he found that exact man nursing a forgotten pint at his own favorite pub…how was he supposed to resist trying?

"Can I buy you a fresh drink? Or did you want to stare at that one a bit longer?"

It wasn't a smooth way to start, but that was pretty much the goal. Theo wanted to be everything Draco wasn't. And Draco was undoubtedly a smooth-talker.

With a hollow smile, Potter barely looked up. His head was obviously lost in thought. He was pining and could have possibly been crying. His eyes were furiously red and shining. "I'm good, thanks."

Swallowing the rejection like a bitter pill, Theo allowed himself one more shot. If Potter turned him down again, he would walk away and try to put this mess he'd created behind him. "I'm the one who put your boyfriend in prison. Buying you a beer to drown your sorrows in is the least I could do."

This whole plan banked on Draco being the perfect little Pureblood he had always bragged to be. If he kept to that code of protecting your own, Theo was in the clear. And by the look of unbridled shock on Potter's face in that moment, Draco was doing just as he was expected to.

"Theodore Nott?" Potter asked in a stilted whisper. He was staring at Theo with extreme intensity. Like he was just now seeing who had decided to bother him. Like he had thought he was just brushing off a stranger. "You…. You're the whistleblower?"

Theo nodded and took the seat across from Potter. He hadn't been invited to. He was sure that invitation would never come. If he wanted this, he had to take it. He had to exert gentle force to get what he deserved.

In the span of a silent minute, Potter's face flipped through about ten different emotions. He couldn't settle on just one reaction. It was clear he didn't know how he felt about this. Possibly about any of it. And that would definitely work out in Theo's favor. "But you're his friend…. No, that's not true. Draco doesn't have friends these days. He said he had to distance himself. I guess I thought he did that to avoid dark magic. Guess I was wrong….."

"I just don't think Draco knows who he is these days," Theo supplied gently. He stared intently at Potter until their eyes finally met. And then he offered that dazzling smile filled with so much fake sympathy. "He fell back into bad behaviors and tried to bring some of us in, as well. It wasn't fair of him to do that to us. It wasn't fair of him to do that to you. I had to get the Ministry involved…. And I'm terribly sorry to have to do that to someone I used to call a friend."

Potter's face finally settled on an emotion. He was back to looking somber and possibly even near tears. "Thank you.… Uh, for not telling me he was a bad person. I know my friends mean well, but I've heard enough 'I told you so's to last me a lifetime."

The longer this conversation progressed, the harder Theo was finding it to pay attention to the words coming out of Potter's mouth. He had certainly become a distracting man. When had that happened? Probably around the time he grew that close-cut beard. Or when he finally bought some well-fitting casual clothes. Or maybe he had always been this attractive. Maybe he had just never noticed when they were surrounded by clouds of their own expectations.

"You're still planning to stay with him?" Theo questioned after a long beat. Probably too long. He was being sloppy, but had to keep reminding himself that it should work out in the end. If he were Potter right now, he'd want something entirely different. He'd want to take comfort in that.

He would want to move on and fast.

Potter shrugged, thumbing a water droplet on his glass. "I haven't quite decided that, yet." His words were soft and shaky. Like he wasn't sure of much of anything.

Like he was malleable and easy to sway. Theo had to hold back a grin in response to his wavering. Potter didn't even know it, but he was playing right into his hands.

"I've spent two years of my life on our relationship. I spent two years…thinking I was with a man I knew inside and out. The secrets we've shared…. I didn't think there was much I didn't know. And to find out there was…." Potter shrugged again before pushing the glass away completely. "I just feel very betrayed. It makes me angry. And I don't really want to make a decision like that while I'm angry."

"Would you like to go somewhere to vent about it?"

For a moment, Potter only blinked in response to Theo's question. Questioning the motive behind it, no doubt. He wasn't stupid. But he was vulnerable and did eventually nod in assent. Theo was in. A few more calculated moves and Malfoy's life would be in arms-reach.

"We could go back to mine," Theo offered the instant they stepped outside. The brisk winter air whipped against their faces, putting the idea of a simple walk out of mind. "If you want, that is. Otherwise…I know a quiet diner that stays open late. They serve okay food, too."

Potter shook his head rather adamantly. "No…no I want to go somewhere quieter. And I don't want to go home. My apartment is fucking wrecked. Every bit of it is a reminder of Draco. I can't handle that tonight." His words were as rushed as his steps. A couple paces ahead of Theo, he turned and walked backwards. "Which makes me sound like a completely stable person, right?"

That ridiculous hair was blowing in the cold wind, bringing a grin to Theo's lips. He was…adorable. Of course Malfoy fell so hard for him. "I don't think any person would be stable in your shoes," Theo chuckled, catching Potter's elbow and guiding him down an alleyway. "Do you trust me?" he asked in the dark.

"I don't know you." Potter's breath was hot on Theo's neck. He was close. This was shaping up to be easier than he had anticipated. Or maybe that was just his wishful thinking. It was easy to accidentally step on someone's toes in pitch black darkness.

It was a little less easy to fold snugly into their arms. Theo's breath caught in his throat. Potter wasn't drunk and this wasn't sloppy. It was completely on purpose. Those hands in his back pockets were most definitely on purpose. And he found he had no words in response to them. Nor did he have his next move ready and waiting.

He wasn't in control anymore.

But that didn't mean he was backing off from his intentions.

"Does that make you more comfortable?"

"Tonight it does…."

For the briefest of moments, Theo considered he might be getting played. There was a sick feeling in his gut that this was too good to be true. It was happening too fast.

A feeling he pushed aside perhaps too quickly. He had been dreaming about exactly this for the last few months. He had spent many sleepless nights imagining himself in Malfoy's place.

That stubble grazing his chin. Sure, practised hands exploring his body. The promise of filth on Potter's shaking breath.

"And your boyfriend?"

"Fuck him."

Fuck him, indeed.

"Deep breath," Theo warned before pouring all of his concentration into disapparating. Well…most of his concentration. There were a few of his cells adamantly trained on Potter's hands and their secure location on his ass.

This wasn't something Theo had ever done before. He was insanely aware of this from the moment their feet hit the hard wood of his bedroom floor. He had never taken a bloke (or a woman, for that matter) home with the express intent of having sex. It wasn't something he had foreseen himself doing.

Dating wasn't something he had put too much thought into before this very moment. There wasn't one particular reason for it. He just…wasn't all that compatible with other people. Men, women, children, etc. People were exhausting. It was much easier to sit here in his empty home, dwindling away the remnants of his fortune.

He couldn't deny that it was lonely, but it was at least comfortable.

"You don't have any wards on your home?" Potter questioned, snapping back Theo's attention.

"Uh…." He shook his head to clear it. "Why? Should I be scared? That someone might try to kill me? That someone might try to rob me? I assure you, there's nothing in this house I wouldn't mind losing. Myself included. The only thing someone could take from me that would bring me pain…is my freedom." Theo ambitiously followed his gut and carded fingers through Potter's unruly hair. "And no one can take that from me unless I let them."

This was one of the reasons Theo didn't talk to people. This look right here that Potter had plastered on his gorgeous face. Deep green eyes wide and doe-like and his mouth flattened into a shocked line. Already anticipating his hasty exit, Theo took a step back and rubbed the back of his neck. Giving him the space to do so.

Except…he didn't go. Potter stayed right there, his lips turning up into a sad smile over the course of a couple minutes. And then he followed Theo, closing that comfortable distance. And kissed him.

Harry Potter kissed him and suddenly the world felt different.

This was what it felt like to be Draco Malfoy. It felt powerful. It felt life-changing. It felt like everything he had done before didn't matter. Nothing up until this point right here mattered. The only thing that mattered was that Harry Bloody Potter, Saint of Saints, thought he was worthy of kissing. Everything he had done and thought was redeemed in that instant, as ridiculous as that seemed.

Potter's lips worked up Theo's jawline in agonizingly slow motion. The scratch of his beard was just as intoxicating as Theo had imagined it. More, even.

Harry Potter felt like something Theo was going to lose himself in. He didn't even care about being careful or calculating any longer. He just wanted more.

He just wanted this life.

This right here for the rest of his life.

The backs of Theo's knees hit the edge of his mattress and he had to shuffle to keep himself upright. He hadn't even noticed that they were travelling. That Potter was guiding them back towards his bed with an obvious one track mind. The realization thrilled him even if it was too fast and too rash. Even if they hardly knew each other and even if Theo had conned his way into this beautiful thing he was about to have.

This felt like something he'd waited a lifetime for and gave in freely to it.

A sly grin affixed to his lips, Theo settled onto the mattress. Potter looked down at him with a hard heat in his eyes. "I, uh…." He cleared his throat and suddenly the heat was gone. His eyes were fixed on the floor now and he looked shaky. A complete switch from the sure and heavy kissing just a moment ago. "I think…I need something more to drink... To be able to do this, I mean. If you want to do this, that is…."

"Never been more sure of something in my life," Theo whispered, almost afraid to say it any louder. Almost afraid if he did…he might wake up from this obvious dream. "There's a bar down in the parlor. What can I get for you?"

With a too-quick shake of his head, Potter backed off towards the door. "Just give me a minute, okay? I promise I'll come back."

Theo nodded, lying back on the duvet. Closing his eyes to the sound of Potter retreating. Listening intently for that little 'pop' that would signify his absence. Just waiting for all of this to go wrong.

Just waiting for the universe to remind him he wasn't worthy.

The relief he felt when he heard Potter's tentative footsteps back on the landing was incomparable. But he hid that wide grin and simply sat upright. Potter settled beside him, offering half a glass of scotch on the rocks. Theo accepted, eyeing the floating pieces of ice with caution. He was already feeling a bit drunk on just the feeling of what they were about to do. But it was only one drink…. And maybe if he drank it, the nervous knot at the back of his neck would be soothed.

Perhaps too eagerly, Theo gulped down the drink. He barely felt the alcohol burn the back of his throat. He was so very used to drowning himself in poison by now.

Potter's breath was soaked in liquor. He had obviously imbibed in a few more drinks before coming back. Theo should have probably questioned that. If he needed to be trashed to do this, that wasn't entirely healthy. It was a giant red flag. But he wasn't willing to lose this before he'd even had it. So he quelled the protest nagging at the back of his mind and set down his now-empty glass on the nightstand.

With a much louder snap of glass against wood, Potter did the same. He looked over at Theo with a very shaky smile. There was a very specific nervousness in his expression. Something Theo couldn't quite identify.

But a moment later that didn't matter. Potter was closing the distance between them again. He was so much braver than Theo could ever have dreamed of being. His lips taking what they wanted without a trace of doubt. So sure and so perfect.

"Have you ever been with a man?" Potter asked softly, his right hand settling on Theo's thigh.

"No," Theo answered quickly, the speed of his own tongue leaving him dizzy. He blinked a moment, pulling back. "No, I've never had sex."

Potter put some distance between them, as well. He examined Theo for a moment, perhaps trying to gauge if he was lying. "But you want this?" he probed. His hand was still heavy on Theo's leg, seemingly not ready to give up. Not just yet.

"Desperately."

That word didn't seem to quite cover it, but it was the closest Theo could manage. There wasn't a single cell in his body that didn't want this. Whatever happened next with Potter felt like it was going to change the rest of his life. Even if after this Potter didn't ever want to see him again…just this moment would define his life. If he was worthy of this, perhaps he deserved more in his life than he allowed.

"I'll be gentle," Potter promised, taking the permission and running with it. He gently pushed Theo back towards the pillows. Theo followed the suggestion willingly, lying back and allowing Potter to tower over him. Allowing that weight over him and relaxing into the vulnerability it brought. "Do you have a preference on your position?"

"What does Draco like?" Theo stuttered out. It felt like his skin was buzzing. His hands were shaking as he reached up to grip Potter's sides. "I want what he wanted. I want…to be whatever he was to you. I want you in whatever way he had you."

Potter nodded slowly. "Draco, uh…. Draco likes to be taken. He likes…to be filled and fucked. He likes it sweet and slow at first. He likes it to last until he can hardly stand it. And then…when he just can't hold out much longer, he likes it hard and fast and messy."

"Merlin…," Theo whispered, a fire building in his belly. He wanted that. He wanted all of that. He wanted to be used and taken. He wanted to be slow fucked with soft whispers of 'I love you's. He wanted to be loved so desperately. "I want what Malfoy has," he mewled. "I want everything he has. That's all I wanted from this."

The words graced Theo's vocal chords before he could hope to stop them. One moment they were in his head and the next…. He swallowed hard, trying to keep a relaxed expression. Trying not to let on that he might have leaked something incriminating. He vowed to police his words more closely from that moment on.

"That's all you wanted?" Potter questioned. His head tilting to the side, he smiled softly. "From what? From this?" To accentuate what 'this' was, he plunged his hands up Theo's shirt. Caressing his flushed skin and teasing a light scrape of his nails over his nipples.

"From this," Theo moaned, his spine arching at the touch. "From you and from Draco and from this mess."

"And what do you have to do with this mess?" Potter's words came out on a chuckle, but there was a hint of suspicion behind it.

Theo was better at holding himself in check than this. He was better at lying than this. Or he thought he was. But something about Potter was proving to be his weakness, it seemed. No matter how carefully he was trying to pick his words, they just weren't cooperating. "Everything," Theo whined, groaning at the confession.

Something was wrong.

"Tell me exactly what that means."

Potter's words held a strange pressure. His hands were still working Theo's chest, fingers just going far enough downward to drive him crazy.

"I set Malfoy up. I put him in prison with my own incriminating items. I put him away so he couldn't have you.

"So I could have you…."

With a fuzzy head and a thick tongue, Theo babbled himself right into a confession. He frowned the moment he realized what he had said and watched Potter light up with a bright grin. His gaze flicked back to the bedside table where the ice was melting in his forgotten glass. The glass of scotch Potter had poured for him rather insistently out of his view. And suddenly it all clicked.

But that didn't matter. It was too late. The damage had been done and Potter was climbing off of him with extreme satisfaction. "That's all I needed to hear," he muttered and finished off his own forgotten drink. "Thanks for making that easier than anticipated."

Theo sat up quickly and righted his shirt. An easy feat when compared to being able to right his own damn mind. He watched in growing fear as Potter, looking so self-satisfied, looked down on him with something like pity. They didn't exchange any further words. Theo didn't know if he could say a single thing in his defense. It was obvious his drink had been spiked. He wasn't certain as to what with, but he had a strong hunch.

And Potter…. He had gotten exactly what he had come for. He had lied and cheated his way into this bedroom for the express purpose of having his way. And that didn't include anything sexual in the slightest. This had all been a clever ruse.

Theo had been used. Of course it had all been too easy and he had noticed that from the beginning. Potter had been all too willing. It should have tipped him off. Of course Potter knew. He knew from the beginning that Theo had been the supposed whistleblower. He had friends at the Ministry. Of course this was a setup. Theo had been so blind not to see that. His desperation and loneliness had blinded him. It was pathetic.

And now…Theo's worst fear was about to come into fruition.

His carefully guarded freedom was walking out the door and he was helpless to stop it.

He could never remember having felt more shattered in his entire life.