A/N: Oof, this is a rather short chapter... Sorry, but I do like where it ended. Please enjoy and be sure to leave a review with what you're thinking!
The entire situation felt insanely surreal.
Harry Potter was upstairs in Draco's own house, making himself very much at home. It was in the guest room, so that didn't really count in the way he had hoped…. But it was still something. He was still there and that was more than he had ever thought would happen.
"I still feel like a hotel would have been a better option."
And then there was Shea sitting right across from him at the table, his fingers alarmingly tight around his wine glass. It was before eight on a Wednesday morning and the bottle of Riesling was already half gone. Of course, that was Draco's fault. It was all his fault. The anger, the hurt looking back at him, the shouting match they'd had the first night his boyfriend had even been home in months. He was also responsible for the current bed made out on the living room sofa. The only responsibility Shea had in that was his instruction for it to stay up for the time being.
Distrust shouldn't be given the privilege of a lover's bed.
Draco nodded; he already knew how Shea felt. The man just kept repeating it over and over again like he couldn't believe this was happening. His reason for disbelief was far saner than Draco's was. "Teddy needs more stability than that. And since I am the one to have brought them to this situation, it really is only fair to offer a solution." He had said this what seemed like a thousand different ways in the span of only a few hours.
"For the record, I agree with Shea." There was an unmistakably Slytherin glint in Astoria's eyes when she leaned over to kiss Shea on the cheek. He had slept with her last night and still Draco had to occupy the couch. The couch that didn't even pull out and was far-too-short. He now had a likely irreparable kink in his back and still really had no one to blame but himself for it. Not if he was being rational about it. "You've done some stupid shit in your life, Dray, but this…. This is fucking crazy."
"Daddy f'cking craaaazyyyy," Scorpius cooed and threw a few pieces of cereal on the ground.
While Draco bit back a grin, Astoria smacked the tray of the highchair. "Scorpius, that's enough. We don't say that word." The boy stared up at her with a furrowed brow, seemingly judging her. Why couldn't he say it if she just had? "But you're right, baby. Daddy is crazy."
Rolling his eyes, Draco stood abruptly from the table. "I have to get to work. We…have to get to work. Astoria has the early shift today, so that leaves you on Papa duty." Testing his boundaries, he leaned in to give Shea a kiss. One that was instantly shot down with a quick turn of the head. He sighed and graced his lips over the tawny skin of his cheek, mirroring Astoria's peck a moment earlier. "I will make it up to you later. I promise," he whispered. "Dinner from that Korean place you love. A foot massage for however long you need it. And I want you to tell me all about your tour."
"Just go get your ex and leave," Shea muttered, ducking further towards his breakfast. And taking another large swallow of his wine.
Without another choice to fall back on, Draco bobbed his head resignedly and slunk up the stairs. It was entirely too early for all of this. Then again, two in the morning was also incredibly too early for his ex-boyfriend to show up on his doorstep claiming to have forgotten about the time difference.
Harry was just coming out of his temporary room when Draco rounded the stairs. Their eyes met in that moment, but only for that brief second. They both pointedly looked away, an awkwardness keeping them a good distance apart. "We should get going," Draco said gently. "If you're ready, that is."
He certainly looked ready. Harry had adopted the MACUSA dress code, opting for a simple suit instead of the garishness of dress robes. He looked down at himself, straightening the burgundy tie that made his green eyes pop with temptation. "I think I am."
They descended the stairs a good distance from one another. Clearly not trusting the unspoken words between them just yet. Although it was the last place he wanted to be, Draco led them through the kitchen to the backdoor. The yard was the safest place to apparate without walking a far distance.
As they passed the dining table, there was no mistaking the tension. There was also no mistaking the way Harry's eyes flitted to the wine glass when he stopped beside Shea's chair. Draco made sure to stay on the far opposite side, saying his sweet goodbyes to his son.
"I just wanted to thank you for watching Teddy," Harry said gingerly, bowing down just a bit to try and get Shea to meet his eyes. Of course, to no avail. "He's still sleeping, but once he wakes he's under instruction to help with whatever chores you might have for him. It's a punishment he's earned and I know it's unfair to ask you to help me with this…but I certainly would appreciate it anyway."
Shea's answer was only a stiff nod as he emptied the rest of the wine bottle. He didn't speak or even come close to looking at Harry. His feelings were clear on the man's presence without having to say anything at all.
In that most awkward silence, Harry and Draco shuffled out the backdoor. The screeching goodbye from Scorpius was the only well-wishing that followed them out, everyone else just seemed glad to see them go.
"I'm surprised you didn't bring the dogs," Draco said, the first to break that strangled tension between them. He wore a simple, half-smile that just didn't quite have life to it.
Harry merely shrugged. "I sent them to be with Charlie. They're more his, anyway."
"I thought they were supposed to be gifts for you."
"They were. Hollow gifts to fill the space he'd rather not occupy." Harry cleared his throat, very aware that this wasn't the truth. He was just feeling bitter. When he'd called Charlie earlier that day to make plans, he was greeted with a coldness he'd never felt from his husband. The undoubtable hurt he had caused him was transferring back to him. In trying to do the right thing, he felt like he was drifting away from his own life. The life he had chosen. The one he thought he was happy in. Perhaps it had all just been a shelter from the inevitable.
Perhaps he was doomed to lose this, too.
"Anyway…. Can I side-along with you?" Harry quickly changed the subject, toeing at a clump of weeds in the grass. "Just for the first time? I've never been to MACUSA Headquarters and I'd rather not waste time getting lost."
Draco, feeling weirdly wrong in his own skin, nodded and hooked his arm through Harry's. Touching him always felt so intimate. Like their skin was on fire and the only solution to put that fire out was to strip down and hold one another. But the sensation today was different. The clothing between their skin didn't feel thick enough. The fire was ice and all he wished was to let go. He made short work of the apparation, landing them square in the entrance hall.
The Ministry of Magic had its particular extravagance, but it was nothing compared to this. To start, the magic that went into hiding the whole place had it appearing to exist in an alternate dimension of the outside building. That, in itself, went to an almost untouchable place. And then there was the gold gild on everything. Like they were trying to make a certain inescapable point about the freedom of excess.
Harry was almost embarrassed to stand there on the entrance steps, mouth agape in wonder, but found he couldn't help it. To his sides, busy witches and wizards bumped his shoulders like he was an inconvenience. Something that would never happen at the Ministry. Everyone knew him. Everyone was very aware of him at every goddamn second. But here, he only one who stopped to stare at him was Draco. And it wasn't really in wonder or amazement. He actually looked rather annoyed.
"Come along, Potter. I have better things to do with my time than sit around and watch you gawk like an idiot."
"Shut it, Malfoy," Harry snapped, tearing off ahead of Draco with a vengeance.
Slight bemusement gracing his features, Draco caught back up with him. It was far too easy for them to fall into old habits. So easy that Draco found it took every ounce of strength he had not to reach out and link their fingers. "Our office is on the twelfth floor," he explained. It was better to stick with the old habits that didn't leave him broken a second later. "If you want a tour, some secretary can give you one later. I don't have the time nor the desire to walk you around entire building. And Merlin knows many of them really could use something productive to do with their time."
Most likely due to his harsh tone, they rode the lift up to their department in complete and awkward silence. If there had been any shred of barely bridled anger between them, it would have felt just like they were back in school again. The air between them was thick with tension and full of more unspoken words than could be healthy. Magic was almost visibly sparking between them, their instincts reaching for what they were both so afraid of.
"Morning, Mr. Malfoy!"
As he did any morning, Draco cringed away from the shrill voice that insisted on the same damn greeting every single day. And always with the same, grating enthusiasm. "Ms. Shelton," he said through gritted teeth, stepping off the lift and into the office he'd come to think of as home. Of sorts.
It was the home of his path to redemption.
The woman, sharp and birdlike in her wiry features, flitted up from her desk and followed them in their hasty path across the office. Harry took a moment to gauge his new surroundings. This woman, Ms. Shelton, had her desk right off the lift doors. The placard upon that desk stated that she was the one to check in with before each shift. Presumably for assignments as the surface of that desk was absolutely overtaken by piles and piles of folders and memos as well as a smattering of different candy dishes.
Just to the other side of the lift doors was a moderate-sized sitting area. A waiting room, perhaps. A young mother in tears sat on the edge of a long, rich red cushion. Her boy, no more than five, was eagerly helping himself to a plate of doughnuts on the coffee table. Harry tore his gaze away, and hastened his step in order to catch up with Draco and the woman he seemed so desperate to escape.
A frosted glass wall separated this area off from the rest of the office. They crossed through a section of the wall, charmed in much the same way as the entrance to the Platform 9 ¾, into a familiar bustle of the early morning. Though this office, too, was decked out in gold and luxury, it reminded Harry quite a bit of his own. Heavy walnut desks as far as his eye could see with hard-working Aurors all dripping with the eagerness for justice.
They bypassed all of this in favor of one of the doors lining the outer walls of the department. The entire trek, the woman prattled on about some viewing party Draco had missed. She didn't so much as give Harry a backwards glance until they reached the desired door. "Oh, uh…visitors have to check in, sir," she said hastily, cheeks darkening at realizing her mistake.
"He's not a visitor," Draco growled. "He's with me."
Biting her lip, Ms. Shelton shrugged and curled her fingers around Harry's upper arm. "He still has to check in, Mr. Malfoy. It's for everyone's safety." She tugged, forcefully suggesting that Harry follow her back to her desk.
"You see, Martha, I don't believe Harry Potter has any intention of causing a security threat."
The woman jumped, turning to face Deacon Bates with eyes wide as saucers. He winked at Harry, gently pulling her away from him. "Harry Potter?" she echoed on a disbelieving breath. "Huh." She gave him a thoughtful once over before nodding emphatically and running away.
"Thanks for that. Now the whole department will be gossiping," Draco spat, waving his wand in a methodical pattern at the room's door handle.
Deacon grinned like he was rather proud of himself. "I'm hoping for gossip throughout the entirety of MACUSA Headquarters, Draco. Don't limit Mr. Potter's notoriety to only our department."
Just like that the majesty of America was gone. Harry sighed softly through his nose and followed Draco through the doorway. Inside was a slightly smaller version of the outside offices. An empty desk overcrowded with files greeted them and right next to that was a small sitting area decorated in a contrary set of blue armchairs and not a single complimentary pastry in sight. The far wall was lined with three doors, two labeled with each of these men's names and the third labeled as Interrogation.
"Is Nathan late again?"
"No, I fired him yesterday."
Deacon breathed heavily through his nose, making for the door labeled as his own. "Please stop firing our assistants, Draco. You see, I do tire of doing interviews."
"Stop hiring assistants who are incompetent and I won't have to fire them."
Stopping just short of disappearing into his private office, Deacon leveled a serious look at Draco. "Get him up to speed. I want fresh answers by this afternoon." The door snapped resolutely shut behind him, accentuating his point.
Draco scrubbed his hand over his face, already feeling weary down to his bones. "We'll have to share my office. If you don't feel comfortable with that, you can have Nathan's desk until we find his replacement."
Harry followed him to said office, glancing backwards a moment. "What did he do to be deemed incompetent?"
"He didn't know the difference between a latte and a cappuccino," Draco said coolly, gracefully falling into the chair behind his desk. His office was minimally decorated with both a Slytherin and a Falmouth Falcons pennant behind him and a few family photos scattered between his desk and the filing cabinet in the corner.
"Guess you'll have to sack me, as well," Harry joked, coming across far tenser than he had desired. There was no ease to his presence here. There was no ease in showing up on this man's doorstep at an unthinkable hour. There was no ease to leaving Teddy in a stranger's house while he was off investigating deaths of boys his age. There was no ease to standing across a room from Draco Malfoy, only able to daydream about the things he wanted to do to him.
"You have a few redeeming qualities. I think you're safe." Draco's words also came out quite hollow. Everything he wanted to say and do to Harry was tightly balled into an overused recess of his mind. He was desperate to appear professional. To appear to be able to stick to the rules. "Have a seat. Every file on the murders is here." He slid a hefty stack of folders across the desk. "Please find something that justifies me having to sleep on the couch for the foreseeable future."