Okay… lets try this again… I know I am a horrible person (T.T) and I have kept you all waiting for years… but I am going to try to get going on my story again… If I have lost every single person I had reading this story, I hope you will come back! I'll try not to disappoint you again! I'm going to write a bunch, then update a couple and hopefully I'll write faster than I'll post in case I get a block again. Chapters will be shorter from now on. Maybe that will keep me on this. One and a half jobs and school and a boyfriend altogether are really hard to mix with a time-consuming story… so… cheers!! Here's to the death of writer's block!!!!!!! YAY!!

Love to all!
KAWAII

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Chapter 4: The Bet

Summary: Main Story after 'Sacrifice Myself For You'. After Harry died, Draco set off to find his missing father, but what he finds first might save him from his own intent for repentance. Setting: 2 years after 6th book. Main pair: HP'DM. some: RL'SB. some: RW'HG.

Disclaimer: #looks at everyone from jail cell# I got caught trying to steal them… DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!!! Don't forget the disclaimer!! #grins evilly at Draco who is sitting on the bench next to me# Too bad Draco got taken into custody because he got caught makin' and distributin' Magus Shine… (teehee… my version of the wizard's equivalent of Moon Shine) #evil grin# (Draco: . Someone… Please help!!!)

Warnings: Slash; no like, no read… if you don't care for my choice of subjects to write about, then 'eff you sir, 'eff you in the bunghole… (credited to Robbie & Brynn). Gore, bad language and characters being IN character (for the most part, yet, as they will, characters will change depending on events that happen, clearly stated, implied, or not) will appear in abundance throughout this whole story, so again, if you don't approve, then I will gladly offer thy ass to thee for thou to KISS!! (if you need a translation then I feel sorry for you…) Also, if you haven't read up to the 6th book, there ARE spoilers, too. I'm not going to include much, if any, of the 7th book cuz I started this before it, so meh.

A/N: Okay… chapters will be slightly shorter (by about half actually) but they will hopefully be posted more often… yay me… lol… suggestions will always be taken into account, so don't be shy.

Sorry, but this is my first slashie… please tell me, peoples, if I get too OOC (without good reason -said or not said-)… I will try to fix it (if you tell me about it first)… And if I get the phrases wrong, sorry… I am an American… don't blame me, blame my parents #grin#…

Jeez… I talk too much before chapters… #sigh# ON WITH THE CHAPTER!! Teehee

#blah, blah, blah# speech in Parseltongue
#blah# random noise
"Blah" spell or accented word
'blah' thoughts
'blah' accented thought or silent spell
"blah" speech

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Wednesday, September 24
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Rathe skirted another table as he weaved in and out of the customers that were standing, about ready to leave before the huge night rush started coming in. He gathered a few glasses off a table, glancing around for Malfoy's nearly nightly appearance. He hadn't arrived yet, but Rathe was confident that he would. Every time he came in, he made a point of talking to Rathe and the other employees, but Rathe was his most frequent.

James was going mad with glee.

'Ooh yay…' Rathe grimaced mentally. He saw and heard a few people jump when a particularly loud crack of thunder resounded throughout the pub moments after a bright flash lit the whole sky up, the windows in the roof allowing a clear view of the dark sky and the rolling clouds. A thick sheet of rain started pelting the roof and windows. A few people rushed out of the door holding umbrellas and some even substituting a newspaper.

"So… how you doin'?" Rathe felt a cold shiver run down his back at Malfoy's cool, husky voice. He went beet red when he felt a smooth hand come to rest on his lower back and then slowly caress its way lower. He spun around and nearly punched the man standing behind him before realizing it was James, using one of his more useless talents to imitate specific voices.

"Jeez! You nearly decked me! And me… only trying to help you realize your love for the young, supple, sexy, beast of a man… Come on… you know that turned you on just now!" James grinned when Rathe merely turned around and picked up the glasses from the table near him. The glasses clanked together as Rathe suppressed his whim to take another swing at James.

James was a good enough guy, and was a great friend (not that Rathe told him all the details of his 'life' as it were) but he was definitely fun. And even though he got annoying, sometimes, Rathe thought, on purpose, he was a great guy.

"Number one, I don't play for the team you are on; I prefer not to hit balls with my bat. Number two, I don't want, nor have time in my life for romantic relationships. I barely have time to make friends, let alone hang out…"

"Only cause you won't allow yourself to take a day off of work and have some fun! When's the last time you had some fun?"

"Before I got to my 'uncle's' house, I know that much…" Rathe muttered darkly.

"What'd you say? I didn't catch that."

"Nothing" Rathe told him, not meeting his eyes. He set the glasses down next to the sink and yelled for the dish washer. No answer.

"Little asshole… where the hell is he this time?!?" Rathe growled. "This is the third time this week that he hasn't been here when I needed him.

"Ooh… counting days apart are we? Pining for this guy too?" James grinned. "Are we cheating on our dear Dracy already?" Rathe glared at him.

"One of these times, I am going to strangle you…" James only licked his lips and grinned.

"So… you are going to be here tomorrow night, right?" he asked, suspiciously coy. Rathe rolled his eyes and groaned loudly.

"Ye-es…" he huffed. James's grin broadened.

"I'm going to laugh my balls off if he shows up tomorrow." He tapped one long finger to his chin, thinking. "Wager me? If you lose, you have to ask him on a date… either that or go to his house-"

"Flat…" Rathe corrected automatically as James finished his sentence and then stared at him.

"-at least twice… Wait… How do you know what he has? Hmm?" James raised his eyebrow.

"So we talked a couple times…" Rathe shrugged and walked out of the kitchen after searching it thoroughly for the missing dish washer. He let the swinging door shut behind him, silently, magically sealing the door before James walked through it. A loud thud followed him, causing him to smile innocently when James tried the door again and found it to be fine.

James flipped him off.

"No thanks," Rathe answered accordingly.

"As I was saying… if he shows up tomorrow night, I win. If he doesn't, you win. And this time, no interfering! You can't tip this one off about it!"

"And what do I get if I win?" Rathe asked, knowing James knew he wouldn't back down off of a bet, crossing his slightly tanned arms. James thought for a second.

"Hmm… phone book?" Rathe shook his head in amusement. Hitting him upside the head with the London copy of the phone book wasn't enough this time.

"Not good enough."

"Umm… I'll ask a chick out on a date, you get to choose. I'll even be very nice and go so far as to give her a kiss goodnight..." he muttered, already feeling the guillotine coming down on his neck, though he was pretty certain he would win the bet.

'Bulls' eye' Rathe grinned and stuck out his hand. "This ought to be hilarious." James sighed. "Alright… Deal." James grimaced good-naturedly, but grabbed Rathe's hand and shook it firmly.

"You realize that I'm not going to let you off the hook until you two kiss?" Rathe, who had been looking around for Ryan again, blanched and looked back at James.

"Are you kidding me?!?" James rolled his eyes and then sighed.

"I guess I can be happy for a mere shag… should be plenty of beer and skittles…" Rathe's eyes bulged.

"You said one date or going to his flat twice… you said nothing about a shag! Or even a snog!" James pursed his lips.

"What did you think I meant when I wanted you to go to his flat? Talk about how he got Harry Potter killed?" Rathe paled considerably, but held his ground.

"I am not going to shag another man."

"Well then you can at least snog him… and I want all the juicy details."

"Just because you get off on that kind of thing doesn't mean that I want to. Where the bloody fucking hell is that damn kid?!"

"Jeez… you're really upset over this aren't you?" James asked, now feeling slightly abashed at taking advantage of Rathe's vow to not back down from any reasonable bet for three months in this way.

"It's just the fact that it is Malfoy… I mean… he's pretty much been the winner of the Bastard of the Year award for 18 years running…"

"So… what happened between you two? Is he an old enemy? Was it a schoolboy rivalry? He a past lover?" James slipped in. Rathe closed his eyes and bit both of his lips at the same time to keep from laughing loudly. He planted both hands on the counter and leaned heavily on them both.

"You do realize I am going to kill you as soon as I can breathe again?" he stated without looking up. James cleared his throat, said a quick "Ta!" and then disappeared quickly into the crowd.

"That man is going to die a very painful death for dragging me into this… It just had to be Malfoy… Merlin, help me…" he muttered, refilling a tankard with ale.

He noticed James hurry over to the door and greet someone that came in just then. The flash of rain-soaked bleach-blonde hair was enough to tell Rathe to get out of there, just in case James had mentioned something along the lines of Rathe liking his 'tight arse.' Rathe paled at the thought.

'Merlin… I really hope Malfoy doesn't show up tomorrow… Besides being disturbing and creepy, James would never let me live it down. He knows how much I want to see him making nice with a chick… because it would be unbelievably hilarious… but I really don't want to be anywhere alone with that prat.'

He finished a few more orders before determining that it was no longer safe for him to be 'out in the open.' There were three other bartenders working, so he ducked his head slightly and told the others that he'd take the dish washer shift since Stephen still wasn't there. Rathe just prayed, though it gave him the dirty job, that Stephen didn't show up before Malfoy left.

He should have knocked on wood or something because ten minutes later, Ryan showed up for his shift and Rathe had to go back out on the floor.

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Left.

Left.

Left, right, left.

Malfoy wasn't emphatically swaying his hips like some of the chicks that walked out onto the floor right when 'Honky-tonk Badonkadonk' started up, but his feet were keeping the beat. Unconsciously or otherwise, Rathe couldn't tell… but the effect certainly captivated many people's attention as he made his way across the room. Rathe heard the collective sigh of defeat when Malfoy made a beeline for him and smiled at him as he sat down. Rathe felt like almost every unattached person in the room glared at him before turning back to what they were doing, thinking that Malfoy was taken and they didn't have a chance. James sidled up and glided into a seat right next to Malfoy. Rathe noted it and his inner self seethed like a plugged volcano about to erupt.

James rested his arm alongside Draco's, so close that their arm hair could touch.

"Can I help you?" Draco asked smoothly, raising a thin eyebrow.

"I was just coming over to see who my friend Rathe here had snagged. Quite a catch, eh Rathe?" Draco turned away, his blush deepening, making James grin wickedly.

"So what do you do for a living, Draco?" Draco looked at him sharply, but relaxed when he saw the look of daggers and feigned innocence that passed between the two men. He smiled slowly.

"I'm a CEO actually."

"Oh really? Where at?"

"Oh I'm sure you've heard of it before… It's a large place called Bite-Me Industries." James's grin widened.

"When, where, and how hard?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rathe hit his forehead with his palm, shaking his head exasperatedly.

"Jeez Rathe, would ya put a leash on this guy already?" Draco pleaded, throwing his hands in the air. Rathe rolled his eyes.

"Tried that a couple times before… I gave up trying a long time ago… James keeps chewing through them, not to mention he thinks its kinky… Besides, you shouldn't encourage him." Draco let out a full-hearted laugh, causing Rathe to stop and stare, wondering how two years had completely changed Draco. 'Course I guess I must've changed enough for him not to recognize me either…'

"I'll try to stop. Though it is funny how off balance he gets you, what with you being so uncomfortable in the first place. At least he gets you to open up a bit. You seem kinda stiff and uninterested otherwise. You should have more fun in life, get out more."

"Speaking of which…" James cleared his throat, causing Rathe to grit his teeth.

"Don't even think about it. You haven't won yet, so don't think I won't kill you for mentioning it before you're supposed to!" James gave him the puppy-dog eyes.

Rathe just glared at him, but James didn't back down.

"I wonder what's taking him so long to get here," Draco mumbled, ignoring the confusing conversation.

"What was that, Mal… er… Draco?"

Draco's eyebrow twitched 'No one my own age has called me by my surname since… school, I think…' "I was just wondering to myself when my friend is planning on getting here. He was supposed to meet me here half an hour ago… I hope nothing happened to him on his way here…"

Rathe looked curious, but he didn't say anything. James looked… there was no other way to describe it… deflated.

"What's his name? Maybe we know him."

"He's never been here before, so I highly doubt you would know him."

"You never know."

"He's from around here, but he uhh… moved… when I was only a few years old and lived far away. I didn't even meet him til a couple years ago and then about half a year ago he moved across sea and I've only seen him once since then. So no… you probably wouldn't know him… seriously." Draco had almost had enough when James quirked his mouth. 'Why is he so inquisitive all of a sudden?'

"Anyway, though" Draco added "I'll be back in in a moment. Don't worry, I'm not running out on my tab, I just want to get some air."

Rathe shrugged, and Malfoy stood up and strode out of the pub, pulling his coat on as he walked. The door slammed and lightning flashed at the same moment after he left.

"Don't even think about getting us hooked up. You haven't won the bet and I won't let you interfere with his choice of coming tomorrow! I know you!" Rathe added as James put his most innocent-looking face on. "As soon as you can, you'll tell him to come in tomorrow to have a drink with me. You said I couldn't tell him not to come in, so you can't interfere either!"

"Fine, fine, fine… and no I won't spell the posters to disappear when he comes near either" James lied easily.

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Okay… request to all you Brits out there. I need a list of insulting terms (and definitions) that are used in everyday England. They don't have to be extremely insulting, just things you would call your friends if they were being stupid etc, etc or bitchy or acting gay etc. It doesn't really matter. But it would be a great help. Currently I am going on what my dictionary tells me are slang etc terms used in the U.K. #sigh# Tis annoying… especially cuz I dunno whether they are up to date or not. Thanks!!

Acknowledgements and Answers (A.K.A. thanks for reviewing):

TheTrioLivesOn- I thank you sooo much… you give me confidence to continue because I know that at least one person will be reading… and I reeeeeeaaally hope I won't let you down!! Please tell me when my story starts to suck. Lol…