I swear the story will be more interesting in the later chapters! Just bear with me :)
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Eri-chan! Welcome to my little home of gay wizard porn ^.^ I'm really glad you are enjoying your time here, I'll do my best to keep it that way! Thank you for your nice words, they made little me very happy :3
The Elf
Harry and the others decided that they would skip lunch in the Great Hall that day and rather celebrate in the common room. As the weather was quite chilly outside and they spent almost all the forenoon in the coldness, all of them were nursing frozen, red hands. The two redheads, Hermione and Neville ran upstairs to the Gryffindor Tower, eager to crouch around the warm fireplace, while Luna headed towards the common room of her own House. She needed to finish an urgent letter to her father, about the sighting of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack somewhere nearby.
Harry walked towards the kitchen, deep in his thoughts thinking about his previous conversation with the Headmaster. Who was this Astoria? Why was her name so familiar? And what did she have to do with Malfoy?
"How was flying, Potter?"
Harry shaken from his thoughts, swirled around. "Fix my broom, will you. It worth more than your life."
Draco laughed. "Didn't like my little trick, did you? Well, imagine how crap it feels when your tongue is glued to your mouth. You're lucky I didn't glue that piece of wood to your arse, Potter."
"I still wouldn't look as ridiculous as you," teased Harry, smiling.
"Scarface," muttered Malfoy as he reached Harry. "What are you up to, anyways? Gryffindor Tower isn't this way. Or did you finally request to be where you belong? In Hufflepuff?"
"Fleur Weasley is pregnant. We're celebrating in the common room. I'm going to the kitchen for some butterbeer and food. Want to join us?"
"Merlin no. I hate children."
"It's not born yet, you realize that right? It won't actually be there." Harry smirked.
Draco just grunted in reply.
"Then come with me to kitchen at least."
They walked quietly and when they reached the painting of the fruit bowl, Harry tickled the pear and the door opened for them. Draco let out an amazed gasp when he walked through the entrance.
"How the hell do you know all these stuff?" Asked Draco frowning slightly at the four little elves who showed up right away. "Urgh, don't touch me."
"Malfoy," said Harry warningly, "treat them nice or I jinx you out of here."
"Yes, Master Potter." The blond squeaked in a high pitched voice, clearly mocking the elves. Harry shot him a glare, but Draco just shrugged.
They were soon stirred and seated at one of the tables with plates of biscuits and mugs of nice, warm butterbeer in hand. Harry asked the elves to send some food in the Gryffindor common room who were more than eager to fulfil his wish. While the little elves were busying around them, Kreacher showed up and made sure neither Harry nor Draco ran out of anything.
After a few gulps of butterbeer, Harry raised his glance at the blond.
"So... who is this Astoria?"
Malfoy spat out the gulp of liquid that was in his mouth as if it were Skeleton Grow not delicious beer.
"How do you know about her?"
The black haired wizard just smiled. There was only one person in the whole world, who knew about this and would even tell Harry. Draco must have realized it, too, because he shook his head irritated.
"It's not fair, you know. I get my tongue glued to my mouth for wanting to talk about you with him, but you two can gossip as much as you want about me?"
"We didn't gossip. He's just... worried about you."
"I thought you were scared of him, Potter. Now you're best friends?"
"We're far from friends, Malfoy. So, who's this Astoria, then?" Insisted Harry. He wanted to believe that Malfoy and him were indeed friends enough so he should know about the girl and whatever she meant for the Slytherin.
The blond regarded Harry for a few seconds, then looked down at his mug. He rubbed the rim as if it were dirty. When he couldn't stall any longer, he said quietly, "My future wife."
"What?" Came the stunned reaction from the Golden Boy. "But... you're so young. And... how do you even know her?"
Draco laughed but it was bitter. "That's the problem. I don't know her."
"So it's..."
"Yes, Potter, it's an arranged marriage. Well, it will be anyways." There was silence between them, then Draco added, "She's here, in Hogwarts."
"But then why don't you... I don't know, say hi to her, or something."
"Say hi to- Merlin, Potter, do you know nothing about traditions?"
"Well if I were getting married off to some random girl, I wouldn't give a damn about traditions. I would want to know who she is as soon as possible."
"She's not a random girl," growled Malfoy, "she comes from a respected family-"
"So protective of your girlfriend already," Harry teased. "Yes, I know. Pure Blood and rich. Obviously. Do you know anything else?"
Malfoy looked into the green eyes. "Ravenclaw." He groaned as if it were a disease. "Two years younger. Has an older sister in Slytherin."
That explained why the name was familiar to Harry. Now, he faintly remembered their classmate from Malfoy's House, who shared Astoria' last name.
"That much? And you're marring this girl? Are you okay with this? Can't you do something?"
"That's all I know. And no, nothing to do. Severus still fights against Mother but... he doesn't matter."
"Why is everyone keep saying he doesn't matter. He's bloody Snape, of course he matters."
Draco snorted. "So protective of your boyfriend, Potter." Draco teased back smugly.
Harry could feel himself becoming hotter so he hid his face behind the rim of his mug before Malfoy could notice.
"He's not blood, Potter. Even my aunt, Andromeda has more say in this than Severus right now, and she's a blood traitor."
"Careful there, Malfoy, you're talking about my godson's grandmother."
"I don't even know her, Potter, I was just stating the facts." Malfoy waved with a hand. "So no, Severus can't do anything and I will have to marry a Ravenclaw."
"Just because she's a Ravenclaw, she can't be nice?"
"I bet she's a Know-It-All like Granger," huffed Draco.
"But you like Hermione."
The blond snapped up his head at that. "She punched me in the fucking face, Potter, I don't like her. I tolerate her, because I like you."
Harry didn't comment on the confession. There wasn't really anything to say. After all, he did like Malfoy as well.
"You should talk to her." He advised instead.
"Oh really, and say what exactly? Hey I'm your husband from next June, want to share a bloody biscuit?"
"I would leave out the bloody part, but other than that, yeah. Something like that. Malfoy, she's younger than you, she's forced into this too, and I'm sorry, but have you looked into the mirror recently? You're paler than a ghost and you look like you expect Death around every corner."
Draco raised an eyebrow. The gesture seemed so familiar to the Gryffindor, he knew right away the blond had picked that up from a certain Headmaster. "Did you just call me ugly?"
"Yes, Malfoy, I did. You're ugly. And probably scary for her. You have the fucking Dark Mark on your arm and unless she's a true Tom Riddle fan, I highly doubt she feels relieved to marry one of Voldemort servants."
"I wasn't a servant, Potter!" Flared the blond.
"No, Malfoy, you were a puppet, just like all the others, a pawn in his game! He used you to punish your father. Tom Riddle did not have friends or allies, he had underlings and enemies he chose to keep close."
Malfoy stared at him with rage in his gray eyes but did not say anything.
"You're not that man anymore, Malfoy, you're not just a puppet," said Harry quietly.
"There is nothing I can do about this, Potter, why is it so hard to understand. It was decided when she was born."
"Get to know her, then. If you don't like each other, at least you can make... special paragraphs in the wedding contract."
The blond gaped at him. "Are you saying, I should get to know my future wife before the wedding, so if we don't like each other we can make arrangements for an open marriage before signing anything?"
Harry nodded. "Even if it means breaking some old traditions."
"That is a very Slytherin way of thinking, Potter." Malfoy smirked slyly. "And now I am very proud of you."
Harry straightened his back, smiling. "I picked up a few things here and there during the years."
"I'll go tell Severus and we'll see what he thinks. Until then, think about how I should chat up my wife." The Slytherin stood from the table and rushed to the door. As he stepped over the threshold he stopped for a second and looked back at the waving elves. Harry chuckled when he heard Malfoy thank them for their service.
"Is there anything Kreacher can do for Master?"
The Gryffindor looked at the old creature slowly then just stared at him for a few seconds. A plan formed in his mind and he smiled evilly.
"Yes, Kreacher, as it turns out, you can help me with something very important."
Kreacher blinked rapidly. "Of course, Master."
(◡◡‿◡✿) ******************* (✿◡‿◡)
After a long talk with his godfather, Draco walked to the Great Hall to have some lunch. He marched past the Hufflepuff students and chose a seat at the very end of the Slytherin table, closer to the professors. Duelling on the corridors with Potter and Weasley next to him was fun, but there was nothing entertaining in being cursed while trying to enjoy his meat pie. The closeness of his professors worked rather well against this hazard. He sat down with his back to the Ravenclaw table and reached for his fork to get some pie on his plate.
His fork levitated away.
"What the hell?" Cried the Malfoy heir loudly enough that several heads turned towards his direction. He wanted to grab his knife but it slipped away, too before he could touch it even with a finger. Soon enough he was surrounded with levitating cutlery, pastry, meat pie and even a few roasted chicken wings circled over the table in front of him.
When a third year Slytherin boy started laughing, Malfoy gave him a nasty look and snapped his hand at him. The boy rose from his seat with a jerk then shouted for help hovering over his House's table. Professor McGonagall hurried towards them with a stern expression.
"What on earth is going on here?" She asked frowning.
"It's not me, Professor, it's Potter," stated Draco with conviction.
"Don't be absurd, Mr. Malfoy, Potter isn't even in the Hall right now."
"It doesn't matter where he is, it's him, I know it."
Professor McGonagall tried bringing down the levitating objects and student with no apparent effect.
"Please exit the Great Hall, Mr. Malfoy, and visit Madame Pomfrey," advised the Head of Gryffindor with concern tainting her usually strict tone. "And Mr. Malfoy, please refrain from touching anything."
Draco turned on his heels feeling slightly humiliated. "Get out of my way!" He flared pushing people away. Still however, he couldn't touch anyone; people just started hovering away from him. He heard giggles from behind him, but he did not look back.
He was marching down towards the Slytherin rooms, when familiar, dreamy voice called his name. He stopped turning around slowly, curious what Luna Lovegood would want from him.
"I think you were amusing in there," said the dirty blond haired girl.
She wasn't alone, though. Judging by her uniform, another Ravenclaw girl walked behind her and Draco had a very good suspicion, who it might be.
"Yes, well, I didn't find it that amusing."
"How did you do it? It wasn't a simple levitating spell, was it?"
"It wasn't me," said Draco curtly. "It was Potter."
"Anyway, I think it was really funny. I've never seen Professor McGonagall that confused." The brown haired girl chuckled, rather charmingly Draco had to admit. "Are you hungry?" She asked then.
"Famished," grunted Draco rubbing his belly. He only had a toast and some eggs for breakfast.
Lovegood just stood there smiling mysteriously, while the other girl held out a small bag towards the Slytherin. "It's just some meat pie. I hope you like it."
Draco eyed the bag suspiciously for a few second then almost reached for it but then thought otherwise. The pretty Ravenclaw girl seemed sad for a moment.
"I highly doubt it would be a good idea," said the wizard carefully. "I would rather not have you float around, as well."
She chuckled and Draco realized he could get used to that sound fairly quickly. "Why don't we sit down somewhere? I could maybe try levitating food into your mouth." She teased.
Draco laughed. "Okay, but we should skip that levitating thing."
Luna waved them goodbye and returned to the Great Hall to finish her lunch. The other two started walking towards the Main Entrance.
"I'm Astoria, by the way. Astoria Greengrass." The young witch said with a soft smile as they stepped outside.
"Draco, Draco Malfoy," said the Slytherin smiling, too.
They strolled on the grounds in silence next to each other for a few minutes, not sure what to say, when Astoria spoke quietly, "It's nice to finally meet you, Draco."
"Yeah," the young man murmured suddenly anxious, then he looked at the girl on his side. When their eyes met, Draco saw only uncertainty and curiosity in the hazel eyes. Potter was right; she was just as worried about this marriage as he was. "Yes," he said then more determined, "it's quite the pleasure to meet you as well."
TBC