BG: Hi! we're halfway through the fic..can you believe it? It doesn't even feel like it's started...but luckily the pace starts to pick up it the next few chapters...
Thank you to all of my reviewers...I love having reviews!
But I'm quite worried...according to my status...I had 522 hits...but 19 reviews, so does that mean that most people don't like it, but if you don't like my fic could you at least reveiw and tell me what I'm doing wrong? Otherwise I won't be able to improve my writing! lol...
Sorry about moaning...I'll let you read the new chapter now...I hope you enjoy!
Lights, Camera, SCAM!
The Plan Unravels.
The next day was a Tuesday and a free day for Harry, as Ron was busy in a meeting of some sort, meaning that the filming was on hold. So he spent the morning hours on a lie-in, daydreaming…meeting Lord Malfoy seemed like a really strange dream now that he looked back on it.
When he finally got up, he decided to have a nice TV watching session.
Unfortunately, his session was destroyed by his house phone ringing. Sighing, he picked the ringing monstrosity up.
"Yeah," he muttered, in no mood to speak to anyone.
"Hi Harry it's me!" A cheerful voice answered.
"Who's me?" He said and yawned, there was a slight pause.
"It's Draco…you know…your boyfriend."
"Who?" Harry replied, feeling slow and difficult, and the voice took on a high whiny pitch.
"'WHO?' Oh…only the man you've been going out with for half of a year!" It snapped and Harry felt his head clear slightly…but not in a good way.
"Lord Malfoy?" He gasped, "What are you talking about?"
"Oh so it's Lord now? I thought you only called me that when I was suck-"
"Whoa! Please don't tell me this is the scam you were thinking of pulling off? Because I am not gay… at all!"
"Oh come on Harry, I can't bear this any longer…you have to come out of the closet sooner or later…or are you ashamed of our relationship?"
"No way…not a chance!"
"The press will find out…and then it'll really be a problem for us, but if you just tell them now…you might have some control over the situation!"
"Malfoy, stop it!"
"Can you just imagine the headline? 'Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy: a sordid affair (the uncut version!)' it would be awful!"
"Why are you shouting?"
"I'm shouting because you've upset me, Harry Potter!"
"Why are you stressing my nam- oh my goodness, where are you Malfoy?" Harry cried, panicking.
"Oh…I'm on a restaurant terrace, eating toast! You know…I just love it here, it's so…open to the public." Malfoys voice was fast becoming the sound that Harry would hear in his nightmares…and it just kept coming! "Yeah, and what is even better, is that this particular restaurant is opposite a really big news studio…I think it might be the twenty four hour one…"
"Malfoy!" Harry shouted, pulling on clothes and dashing around with the phone still attached to his ear (thank goodness for cordless landlines!) "This had better be another joke!"
"Oh, so now you think our relationship is a joke do you? Well, I think we should have a talk about this face to face, meet me at the 'Star Rising ', one o'clock…let's make it lunch!" Malfoy just about screamed in fake rage and grief and put the phone down; Harry sighed and stood staring at the active TV screen.
Draco Malfoy was a funny person, very rare…he was the type that you met once and…well…you just never really wanted to meet them ever again in your life. And yet, Harry's curiosity was peaked and he found himself switching off the television and leaving the house.
Getting into his sports car he decided that he was interested to find out, just how Lord Malfoy was going to pull this off…
His reputation was doomed for certain.
Draco let the fake tears stream down his face as he stared at the twenty-four hour news studio. To anyone passing, he looked as though he was desperately searching for a source of comfort or just wallowing in self-pity. Really he was wishing with every last fibre of his being that someone had noticed the whole spectacle and was racing to write a broadcast script out about it at this very second.
Harry barged into 'Star Rising' completely ignoring a woman that called out to him and headed straight into the VIP suite. Draco was sitting comfortably on one the armchairs there with another man.
"Hi Harry!" He called, "come and sit with us." Harry did as ordered, a dark scowl on his face.
"What on earth were you thinking?"
"That you might be more comfortable sitting down?" Draco answered slowly.
"You know I don't mean just now!"
The young Malfoy sighed, "I just thought that everyone should know about our relationship…it's hard for me you know, normally being so forward…"
The other man laughed.
"Please stop saying things like that! I'm not agreeing to your plan, I think it's stupid…I don't understand how you can find such things funny, they're life ruiners!"
Draco ignored him, "have you met my friend Blaise? He owns this restaurant and a few more around the country, in France, Spain and in America." Blaise nodded at Harry, smiling.
"Look, I'm really sorry that I have to wreck your great plan but I just don't think that it's a good idea!" Harry snapped, feeling annoyed and impatient. Why couldn't Lord Malfoy just understand that and accept it?
"Okay then, no problem, you don't have to go along with it. I'll call all of the media and tell them the truth…" he said, smiling. "Don't worry! Now, I'll leave you to get to know Blaise whilst I go to the bathroom." He left and Harry didn't catch the wink that passed between the two. Blaise turned to him and grinned.
"So, Harry Potter. Your life must be really exciting!"
"Oh yes! I get to meet many great people such as yourself and Lord Malfoy!" Harry replied happily.
"Hmmm, yes…exciting…" Blaise murmured, trying to sound interested.
Harry grinned slightly, "You don't think that that's interesting do you?" Blaise nodded, "no wonder you are friends with Lord Malfoy!"
"Yes, personally…I can't understand how some people would want to live the way they do…no excitement at all!" Blaise sighed and Harry frowned.
"Are you saying that I live a boring life?" He gasped and the olive skinned man nodded grimly. "Why?"
"Well I'm guessing that you never go to any wild parties, you don't sleep with random women…or even men, you don't drink so much that you can't remember your own name…face it, you're boring! You need to live a little, Harry!" Blaise explained and punched Harry's arm playfully.
Harry was speechless, he didn't think that his life was boring, quite the opposite actually.
But now that he thought about it…the last crazy party that he had had was his sixteenth birthday bash, and since then it had been dinners and cocktail parties. He had never slept with a random woman…and certainly never a random man and he never drank too much alcohol so that he didn't make a fool of himself.
His life was boring! Maybe this scandal was a good idea after all.
"Go on, you only live once!" Blaise urged, as if he had read Harry's mind. They watched as Draco approached them.
Harry sighed, cursing his brain for deciding to do such a crazy thing.
"I'll do it; I'll go along with the plan." He announced and Draco's face lit up.
"Good! Because I wasn't intending to tell the press the truth anyway." He winked at Blaise again. This time Harry caught it and shook his head.
These people were so manipulative…and he found that he didn't mind! No wonder they were so successful.
"Okay then. The plan of attack!" Blaise said and Draco pulled out his notebook, taking notes as they came up with ideas to fool the public.
This was going to be a showstopper.
Harry lay in bed the next morning, trying to prepare himself for the day's events.
He knew that he had only gone ahead with Draco's scheme to prove to both himself and the world that he wasn't boring at all.
Besides, he could pull it off easily; he was an actor wasn't he? So there was no worrying about it going wrong or him slipping up, right? But why did he still feel sick with nerves and worry.
He never, in a million years, thought that he'd be acting gay with Lord Draco Malfoy as a publicity stunt to prove to someone he'd only known for a day that he wasn't boring.
It sounded so crazy!
Checking his clock, he saw that it was time to get up and ready for another day of filming and so he consulted his enormous walk in closet as to what to wear today.
What would a gay guy wear?
Harry hadn't got a clue; he needed help from someone who knew a lot about dressing.
Pansy! Draco had given Harry her phone number for emergencies yesterday and Harry found it out and dialled the number into his landline.
A cheerful voice answered, "Pansy Parkinson, saving the world from fashion disasters."
"Hi Pansy, it's Harry Potter; I need your help."
"Harry! Okay then, tell me what's wrong."
"I need help in dressing as a gay guy…otherwise I won't be able to pull this scam off!" Harry said, sounding incredibly stupid but not caring.
There was laughter at the other end of the line for a moment before Pansy cleared her throat and answered. "Harry dear, the only difference between the way that a gay guy and straight guy dresses is style. Gay guys have plenty and many straight guys have none…just dress how you normally would…but consider your choice thoroughly."
Harry sighed.
"I still need help then, what should I wear? Normally my personal assistant helps me plan out what I wear."
A few more giggles erupted from Pansy, "How old are you? Anyway…I'd suggest flattering jeans, show off your nice arse Harry, and a nice shirt, designer of course…ah, wait a second!" There was silence for a few seconds, and then Pansy began speaking again, "do you have to be at your next appointment quickly?"
"Well, no…the first part of the filming today doesn't include me…"
"Good, I'm coming over."
"Oh, well…you need my address then, its-"
"Darling, I don't need your address…everyone in the Western part of the world knows it! See you in a moment!" The line went dead and Harry shrugged, wondering what Pansy had in mind.
She arrived five minutes later clutching a clothes bag and a shoe box, chattering impatiently on her mobile. Harry allowed her into his house and she paused her talking for a few seconds to gaze around critically, hand Harry the clothes bag and shoe box and ordered him to strip down and put them on before continuing her conversation.
He was about to go up to his room when she cleared her throat and ordered him to do it right there in front of her.
Harry threw her a confused look and she just raised an eyebrow as if to say 'well, what are you waiting for' as she carried on talking, he sighed and undid the zip on the clothes bag, revealing a pair of black, bootleg, faded jeans and a light cream shirt made of a soft parchment like material. He looked up at Pansy and she nodded, so he had no choice but to strip down to his boxers and pull the jeans from their hanger.
That was the easy bit.
Harry had never realised just how much he appreciated the comfort of loose jeans until now. These jeans were hell to get into and then he had to do up the zip. Pansy simply watched his efforts in amusements as she chatted away. Eventually he got them on and, not daring to breathe to deeply, he pulled the shirt off of its hanger and undid the tiny buttons. He put it on and then proceeded to struggle to do the buttons back up again.
Afterwards he opened the shoebox and found a pair of raw sienna, soft leather shoes that fit him perfectly.
Pansy finally ended her conversation and eyed him appreciatively.
"Hmmm, not bad!" She said, before tutting and undoing a few of the shirt buttons, "show off a bit of that beautiful tanned skin!" She ran a hand over his smooth skin, "a man who waxes his chest hmm?"
"Lavender my personal assistant persuaded me to have it done."
"Ah, that woman has good taste; I hope you pay her well." Pansy's eyes drifted towards his hair and she tutted again, "how awful…this requires professional help!" She pulled out her mobile again and pressed a few buttons before holding it to her ear. "Blaisey baby, it's Pans! We have an emergency…leave Daniel to do it himself! …get dressed and come round to Harry's, we're having a crisis." Pansy returned her phone to her hand bag and Harry led her into his living room, thinking that she was making too much of a fuss…but finding that he didn't mind at all.
"Where did you get these clothes from?" He questioned, sitting down on a square pouf in front the sofa that Pansy had draped herself across, looking like the queen of Sheba.
"I didn't get them from anywhere…I designed them!" She explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Harry mentally slapped himself. "Oh, of course! But…how did you know that they would fit me, the shoes too?"
"I found your sizes on the internet."
"Oh…"
Blaise turned up soon after looking irritable, but perked up at the sight of Pansy as Harry led him into where they were sitting. Pansy automatically moved her legs and he sat down at the other end of the sofa, her feet resting on his thighs as if they always sat like that. Harry returned to his pouf.
"So, what was so important that I had to drag myself away from Dan?" Blaise said, more to Pansy than Harry.
"Oh Blaisey…it's his hair, it's awful!" Pansy gasped and Blaise jumped in horror as he took in Harry's hairstyle.
"Good grief! How could you let it get so out of control?" Blaise demanded and Harry just stayed silent, he couldn't understand why people were obsessed with how messy his hair was…it just made him self-conscious, and it wasn't even his fault!
Pansy leaned over to tug on Blaise's arm, "please Blaisey, make it go away!" Blaise nodded determinedly and stood up, moving Pansy's feet.
"Right then," he produced hair styling cream and a comb from out of thin air and ordered Harry to sit on floor as he sat in Harry's previous space. "Wish me luck Pans!"
Pansy sat up in anticipation, "good luck Blaisey!"
Harry sighed as Blaise's fingers began tugging at his hair slightly, looking at it from different angles. They made it seem as if Blaise was about to fight a monster…he winced as Blaise gave an extra sharp tug just for fun.
Well…maybe he was.
Lavender almost spat her coffee out over Ron as Harry greeted her at the studio and she approached him with a half open mouth.
"You look…gorgeous! Who dressed you?" She gasped as she walked around him, studying every inch of his new look, "and your new hairstyle too! You've got yourself a stylist haven't you?" Her eyes welled up with tears.
Harry sighed, "No Lavender" He said, "you are still the only woman in my life."
"You're just saying that!" She said, pushing him lightly.
"Yeah…"
"So who created this master piece?"
"Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson." Lavender gasped again.
"The Pansy Parkinson?" He nodded, "oh wow! She is so amazing. I love her clothes!" She trilled ecstatically, "I'm guessing that this Blaise Zabini was the one who did your hair?" Her hands lurked towards it and he slapped them.
"Yes…don't touch!" He snapped.
"Okay, okay…he's done a really good job!" Harry mentally agreed, Blaise had transformed his hair from an evil explosion to an organised mess and it looked really good.
Ron came up to them, gawking at Harry in a manner rather like Lavender's.
"What happened to you?" He muttered and Lavender grinned, "never mind, we're about to shoot your part…you need to get ready." Lavender's grin disappeared.
"NO! I won't let you touch him; he's not getting changed at all. You can just shoot the scene with him like this!" She argued, placing herself in-between Harry and Ron.
Ron was flabbergasted.
"But…we can't shoot the scene with him like this." He tried to reason.
"Yes you can and you will!" She jabbed a finger into his chest. Harry grinned as he watched them argue, Lavender sometimes reminded him of a cross between his mother and a guard dog.
Harry approached a pretty café with his mind racing; he, Blaise and Draco had gone over everything that they had to do the night before. He decided to look at the whole spectacle as if it was a film, all he had to do was learn the script and become the character.
Simple!
With that consoling thought in his mind, Harry stepped up to one of the tables outside where Draco sat and smiled.
"Hi." He said.
Draco smiled back "Hi." Harry leant down and kissed him on the cheek before sitting. Draco smirked.
The actor struck up conversation, leaning across the table and murmuring as if he was speaking romantic words. "So…any media lurking around?"
"Yes, there is a photographer hiding in the bushes and a few more sitting inside the café, pretending to be customers." Draco replied quietly holding Harry's hand in his own.
Harry laughed.
"You look good," the blond said, studying Harry with appraising eyes. Lavender had won the argument and Ron had 'decided' to leave that scene for another day, allowing Harry to stay exactly the same.
"Yeah, thanks to Blaise and Pansy."
"Ah…well, they really do have good taste…and it appears that I do too." He grinned and swept a piece of hair out of Harry's eyes.
"This feels really weird," Harry muttered, studying the menu.
"Hmm," Draco leant back and watched the people walking past, who in turn stared at the two of them. "My father is holding a big party tonight. You should come with me…it would be a great place for us to come out of the closet."
Harry nodded and they ordered, as the waitress walked away, giving them a curious look, he rested his head on his palms and gazed at Draco.
"I'll get Blaise and Pansy to help you get ready again." The young Malfoy continued.
"Are you sure that they won't mind?"
"Oh, they'd love to! They enjoy dressing people up, simply for the challenge and the ability to brag about it afterwards." Draco explained, making Harry laugh again.
"What time does the party start?"
"Don't worry about that, Blaise and Pans will take you there."
"Are they going as well?"
"Of course!"
They chatted for about an hour, getting to know each other. As time passed Harry found his role easier and easier until it came to the time of his departure, standing up he said good-bye to Draco and turned to walk away, but was stopped by Draco clearing his throat.
"Ahem."
Harry turned back, knowing what was coming next.
"Whaat?"
"Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?" Draco asked and the people around them stopped to watch, Harry felt his face heat up.
"Uh, um…okay then." 'No need to panic,' he thought, 'it's just an act…easy really…it's another movie…and…and Draco's just another girl.' He moved over to where Draco was sitting expectantly, almost daring Harry to do it, and pulled the blond up. "I can't believe I'm doing this." He muttered before bringing his lips to meet Draco's.
To his horror, Draco began to respond and deepened the kiss, and Harry could sense rather than hear the cameras of the photographers snapping pictures and the small crowd surrounding them muttering to each other in surprise. Eventually Draco pulled away and gave a smile that Harry knew was a disguised smirk.
"Bye Harry, see you tonight!" He called as Harry retreated; waving and forcing himself to smile back.
He was beginning to wonder what he had gotten himself into.
Harry arrived at the party in his sports car with Blaise and Pansy. Getting out ofit he gazed at Malfoy Manor with awe and whistled.
It was huge!
Blaise helped Pansy out of the car and grinned at Harry's reaction.
"Impressive isn't it? Let's go inside…Draco will be getting all impatient because we left him to greet all of the old boring people as they arrive."
They walked up the steps to the doors and entered the spectacular hall, immediately spotting Draco; they wove through the crowds of people arriving and came to his side. The blond lit up and kissed Harry swiftly on the lips, wrapped his arm around his waist and then greeted his two friends who grinned at them.
Harry had to admit that Draco was a good actor.
"Thank goodness you've arrived, I desperately need saving!" He said and led them into another filled with more people, "I see you've created another work of art." He said to Blaise and Pansy, referring to Harry who was in a black suit with a dark green shirt.
Draco himself was wearing a silvery grey suit and a white shirt, Blaise was wearing a black suit with a sky blue shirt and Pansy was wearing a strapless, chocolate brown dress that perfectly showed off her womanly figure. All of them were her own designs.
"Let me introduce you to my sister, Selena." Draco said to Harry and they came to a halt next to a woman who Harry could only describe as breath taking, she looked every inch like Draco' sister. With her long white blond hair and sharp grey eyes. "Selena this is Harry Potter, my boyfriend." Draco introduced them both and Harry shook Selena's hand.
She smirked, "ah…so this is the great Harry Potter, it's nice to meet you. I guess you are the one helping Draco with his latest conquest." Her eyes twinkled with laughter and Harry grinned.
"Yeah…I never thought that I'd be doing something like this in a million years, I think I've gone crazy." He said, making her giggle.
They talked for ages, Blaise, Pansy and Draco disappearing to talk to other friends, until it was time to sit down for dinner. Serena led Harry into a grand dining hall, with a huge mahogany table running down the middle and they sat at one of the ends, next to Draco and the others. As everyone filtered in., Harry caught a glimpse of the Lord Lucius Malfoy and his wife Narcissa Malfoy sitting at the other end.
Draco noticed the direction of Harry's gaze.
"That's Mother and Father, Serena and I should be sitting at that end of the table, but if we did we'd be forced to engage in sleep inducing conversations with people we don't even know." He explained as the servants began bringing in the first course which was a light salad with a strange dressing that Harry didn't recognise. Falling into character, he remembered the conversation that he and Draco had had earlier on and picked all of the small cherry tomatoes (Draco's favourite vegetable) out of his salad, placing them gently onto Draco's plate. The blond smiled and offered his peppers in return.
"You two make a really cute couple." Serena commented and Pansy nodded dreamily, "it's a shame you aren't a real couple." She added unhelpfully and Draco frowned at her.
"Stop trying to stir things up! You'll give these two ideas that they shouldn't have." He indicated to Blaise and Pansy who were suddenly wearing identical smirks. Serena simply smiled.
Harry suddenly felt hot all over.
BG: Hee hee...so what do you think of that one then?
The next chapter will be a while, because I'm having a writers block and have to typeit all, where as these three had all ready been typed up :)
Please reveiw...please please please...even if you didn't like this chapter, I just wanna know what you think!
BTW: Has anyone seen the show Will and Grace, well if so...Pansy and Blaise are kind of like a British spin-off of Jack and Karen lol...
