A/N: Another longish one. Thanks everybody who have read and reviewed this story. Your lovely comments have kept me from giving up on this. Hope you like this next chapter just as much as the previous ones. Personally, it's my favorite so far =).
Harry woke the next morning to a distinct sense of loss. Something should be here…next to him…and it wasn't. He stretched sleepily, reaching for it…
"Get up, Potter. The car is here." Malfoy's curt tone cut into his sleepy haze better than a bucket of arctic cold water to the face. He remembered instantly what he was missing-his last dream last night, after the nightmare…the dream in which he'd been snogging his haughty partner senseless.
He sat up fast, thankful that said partner had his back to him, because his face was on fire…but he realized quickly in dawning horror that his face wasn't the only place blood had rushed. Near his hips the blankets had tented-and it wasn't his usual mild morning wood, either. He groaned.
"Potter-" Good lord, Malfoy was turning around. Harry scrambled out of bed fast, getting to the bathroom in record time, slamming the door behind him.
"Potter!" Malfoy shouted at him, irritated, as Harry frantically turned the shower on-icy cold, as cold as it could possibly get. "We do not have the time for you to take a shower!"
"It-It won't take long!" Harry shouted back, praying that Malfoy couldn't hear how much his voice trembled. "Go on down without me. I'll catch you up!"
He heard Malfoy give his patented huffy sigh, but to his immense relief, he heard the outer door slam shortly after. He stripped quickly, grimacing and shuddering as he stepped into the icy spray of the shower.
Oh Merlin. He'd just…just…no, it wasn't the hard-on that was bothering him, not really. It was what he'd felt when he woke up. He'd missed Malfoy. He'd wanted Malfoy-Malfoy!-close to him, right next to him on the bed. He leaned against the yellow tiled wall of the shower, the water running down his steadily numbing neck and back.
What the bloody hell was the matter with him? First, he'd asked Malfoy to dance while on duty in a fit of jealousy. Next, while putting salve on Malfoy's arm, he'd wanted to grab him, pull him close and snog him until they both forgot about the ugly burn. Now this. He rubbed his face. Only a few days and Malfoy was already making him doubt his sanity-and all he'd done really was look at Harry. Merlin forbid he actually touch him. Harry groaned again as the thought made him stir again below deck, despite the rush of freezing water…
He couldn't take this. He couldn't take Malfoy and his moods-one instance hot, the next as cold and distant as the surface of Pluto. He couldn't take not knowing whether there was something potentially serious between them or if his former school rival was just toying with him…The second they caught Finnegan, Harry would march into Lewis's office and demand he be transferred back to Romania. The thought helped ease the boiling cauldron of conflicting emotions in his chest, bringing it down to a bearable level.
Finally feeling better and hard-on free, Harry shut off the shower and got dressed.
…...
When Harry came out of the bed and breakfast, a plain-looking Ministry issue black sedan sat out in front at the curb. He smiled a little to see Malfoy sitting stiffly in the passenger seat, obviously uncomfortable, arms crossed over his chest. Ginny, to his surprise, sat in the driver's seat.
"You drive?" he asked when he was close enough.
She grinned at him mischievously. "I work with Muggles, too, and that made it a requirement," she told him. "Plus, me learning irritated Ron-always a good thing, as far as I'm concerned."
Harry snorted, climbing into the back seat. Ginny started the car-which immediately started dinging, the seatbelt light on the dashboard flashing. Malfoy stared at it suspiciously, dove-gray eyes narrowed.
"Is this damn contraption going to do that the entire way there?" Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing as Ginny sighed.
"If you put your seatbelt on, it'll stop." Malfoy gave her a blank look. "Pardon?"
"That, Malfoy." She pointed at the seatbelt hanging behind him. "Ah."
Seeing the almighty Auror Malfoy struggle with something as mundane as a seatbelt was too much for Harry. He burst out laughing. Malfoy glared at him in the rear view mirror. "Shut up, Potter."
He struggled until Ginny took pity on him and did it for him. The dinging instantly stopped, but Harry's sniggering didn't. Malfoy pouted, slouching further down in his seat and leaning toward his window, ignoring Harry as best he could.
Ginny rolled her eyes at them both. "Men," she muttered to herself, pulling the sedan away from the curb.
Twenty minutes later, they left the majority of civilization behind, smooth pavement becoming cracked, uneven, worn and neglected under the sedan's tires. Shortly after that-thirty minutes, give or take-they came into sight of the tiny town of Leigh's Meadow.
"Look sharp, you two. Finnegan's old house is just on the edge of town," Ginny said. The remnants of earlier's foolishness instantly evaporated. Both Harry and Malfoy were all Auror as they glanced at each other, Malfoy nodding slightly.
Leigh's Meadow was even smaller than Harry expected (especially for a university town); getting to its other edge took a little over ten minutes. Just on the edge of town, Ginny turned; the entire sedan vibrated as they passed from pavement to the gravel of a long, winding driveway.
At the top of the driveway, sat Finnegan's house. It had been pretty, once, but now, with its owner having been locked away in Azkaban for the last twenty-six years, the modest, pale blue two-story had fallen into hopeless disrepair.
It was innocent-looking enough, but Harry, with the ward runes in Finnegan's cell fresh in his mind, felt a strong prickle of unease.
"I don't know about this," he said apprehensively, staring at the house. "This place could be booby trapped, like Finnegan's cell."
Malfoy smirked at him. "Scared, Potter? Don't worry. I'm sure the Weaselette can protect you." But the smirk didn't reach his eyes, and with the way his gaze lingered on Harry's, Harry was suddenly certain that he meant something else entirely.
But Harry didn't call him on it. He pretended to bristle at the comment instead- just like the old days. "I don't need Ginny to protect me. No offense, Gin."
Ginny just rolled her eyes at them again, getting out of the car. Flinching, expecting to see Ginny hexed to pieces on the spot, Harry quickly climbed out after her.
Thankfully, nothing and no one tried to kill them as they walked warily from the driveway to the veranda-nor even when Ginny used a quick Alohomora on the front door.
Malfoy stopped them from continuing on into the interior, however, with two quick taps on their shoulders, deliberately stepping in front of them, just inside the doorframe. He did a complicated little twist and flick with his wand, murmuring a quick spell. The tip of his wand emitted a sharp flash of pale blue light, then a flash of green.
"Nothing alive in here-nothing human, anyway," he reported calmly, stepping back to allow Harry and Ginny entrance.
"Handy," Harry remarked. Again, he looked at-glanced at, really-Harry with that strangely lingering look. It was as if something had changed between them, something Harry wasn't aware of-something that Harry was suddenly burning with curiosity to know just what it was…
"I'm curious as to what you hope to accomplish in an empty old house," Malfoy said to Ginny as they cautiously stepped inside.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know as well as I do, Malfoy, that nine times out of ten a criminal on the run will turn to the familiar first. Being a hermit, that familiar for Finnegan would be his house. He may not be here now, but I guarantee you he was here at some point, and there is a good chance he left something behind."
Malfoy snorted. "All good assumptions, except for one thing: Finnegan isn't an average criminal. He may have been here, but he wouldn't have left anything behind that he didn't mean for us to find."
"You're entitled to your opinion, Malfoy. Just don't threaten to hex me when I'm right."
"Pfft. As if." The two split up; Ginny headed up the worn, dusty staircase, Malfoy, toward the living room. Harry should have gone the other way, down the hall toward the back of the house, curiosity got the better of him, and he ended up tagging along after Malfoy instead.
"Malfoy?"
He sighed. "Yes, Potter?"
Harry opened his mouth-but then shut it again with an audible click of teeth. Malfoy glanced back at him "Potter-"
"Shhh. Do you hear that?" There was a whirr of a tiny motor, then a click. Harry stared in horror over Draco's shoulder as a Merlin figurine on the mantle of the fireplace began to move, its head cocking weirdly as it pointed its tiny wand at Draco.
"Honestly, Mr. Malfoy," it said with Finnegan's voice-the voice of a scolding schoolteacher. "I am terribly disappointed in you for following such a predictable pattern. I thought allowing Mr. Potter to enter our little game would make it more interesting, but it seems all he has done is cloud your judgment. For the sake of our game, you must remedy this. Imperio!"
Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "You must be j-" His whole body suddenly stiffened, gray eyes widening in shock. "P-Potter, run!" he choked out.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy," the madman purred through the Merlin figurine. "I order you to kill one Harry James Potter at once."
"H-Harry…" Malfoy groaned. He turned slowly, his entire wand arm shaking as it lifted, its rightful owner resisting the order with all his might-but it wasn't enough. It was still happening, and there was nothing he could do about it…
Harry did the first thing he could think of, the first idea his frozen brain latched on to. He lifted his own wand. "Imperio!"
Draco's thin frame shuddered violently at the intrusion of a second will. "Malfoy," Harry growled. "Drop your wand!"
"Don't drop your wand," the Merlin doll purred. Draco's fingers, which had loosened hopefully on the handle of his wand, gripped it tight again. Harry swore. This was quickly going nowhere.
"Malfoy," Harry said firmly. "Stand still. I'll get you out." When Finnegan moved to counteract the order, he shoved hard mentally at the other will, attempting to force it to relinquish its hold over Draco. Finnegan shoved back gleefully.
They wrestled like that, causing Draco to jerk side to side violently. Then, suddenly, as quickly as it had come, Finnegan's hold disappeared, leaving only Harry. With no forces battling for control inside his head, Draco sank bonelessly to the carpet with a soul-deep groan that made Harry's heart freeze.
"Draco!" He ended the spell, rushing to his fallen partner's side. He dropped to his knees, reaching out to grip the other's trembling shoulders. Draco shoved him away with surprising force, nearly knocking him over.
"You fucking idiot!" he shouted. "That's exactly what he wanted you to do…to punish…me…" His voice faltered as he gripped his head in his hands with another groan. But when Harry reached out to him again, he sprang up, quick as a frightened deer, pushing past Harry and shoving out the screen door.
"Draco-" Harry rushed after, but by the time he reached the door, the sharp pop of an Apparition told him he was too late. Draco was gone.
…...
His head was pounding, worse than the morning after a particularly wild office Christmas party. The Apparating didn't help, but he couldn't stand being around Harry for another second after the stunt he pulled.
Finnegan imposing his will on him through a doll had been a terrible enough violation without stupid Potter trying to counteract it by forcing his will on Draco, too. And then, the both of them fighting inside his mind, with him absolutely powerless to stop it…He shuddered, the feeling of soul-deep, unwashable, filthy violation bringing back memories, memories of cruel, pupiless scarlet eyes that he had spent nine years desperately trying to forget…
He slid down the door in his darkened office, drawing his knees up and pressing his face into them like a child.
In the quiet, comforting dark, Draco forced himself to focus through the pain. Finnegan had been right about one thing-Harry had been nothing but a distraction- a sexy, green-eyed distraction-from the minute he walked into Draco's office as his new partner. He blinded Draco, causing him to follow Ginny's predictable lead blindly, instead of his own instincts. He had to…reassess…yes, reassess the situation before stupid Potter and stupider Weasley came back.
With that in mind, Draco hauled himself to his feet-only to run directly into a warm, solid body. "Draco…"
He swore. "Dammit, Potter-"
Before he could think up the nastiest hex he knew to fling at Potter, the other's strong, warm arms came around him. "Draco, I'm sorry."
Draco stiffened. Oh no. Hell no. Mr. Perfect Potter was not going to flutter his pretty green eyes, give Draco a hug and be forgiven , just like that. Not after what he'd just helped put him through.
Draco gripped the front of Potter's shirt and spun, slamming him hard against the wall…and then he kissed him.
It wasn't a nice kiss. It was bruising and rough, all sharp bites and harsh pressure. It was punishment, for Potter ousting Chambers, for what he'd just done to Draco…Punishment for being irresistible, for being a poncy Robin Hood who just waltzed back into his life and stole his heart without his permission and without even trying, with a naughty dance when they were supposed to be working, with a lingering look and a midnight kiss…
Potter didn't try to stop him, nor did he resist when Draco shoved his tongue between his lips, plundering his sweet-tasting mouth. But when he reached out to Draco, he growled and pinned Potter's arms above their heads, against the wall.
But Potter apparently did not like being denied a touch. He growled back, nipping at Draco's exploring tongue and digging his nails into Draco's pale wrists. A sneer tugged at Draco's mouth. Is that the best you can do, Potter?
No. Harry rudely shoved a knee between Draco's legs, followed by a muscular thigh as he traced it up to rut against Draco's groin. He must have mistaken Draco's responding gasp for pain, because he paused. Draco took full advantage.
He dragged Harry over and shoved him down on the office chair behind his desk and straddled him, both gasping as their respective bulges chafed against one another. Harry's hands gripped Draco's hips hard enough to bruise as he started rocking, grinding his hips down into Harry's, causing delicious friction. Draco claimed Harry's mouth again, gripping his shoulders for balance. Harry broke the kiss to attack Draco's neck, licking and biting, teasingly caressing and sucking on the most sensitive spots when he found them, causing Draco to writhe and snarl, "Fuck, Harry!"
"My thoughts exactly," he rumbled in reply against Draco's throat. He unceremoniously dumped Draco on the floor-though he held Draco's head to keep it from smacking the carpet, a strangely tender gesture given the current situation. He kissed Draco's mouth, just once, before attacking Draco's collarbone, yanking open the buttons on Draco's shirt. He groaned long and low in his throat as Harry's gorgeous lips trailed down his chest, covering and torturing one nipple.
"Merlin," he hissed. A brief flutter of panic touched him, released in a growl as he locked his legs around Harry's waist, attempting to flip them.
"Draco. Draco." Harry was looking up at him, his hands loosely gripping his forearms. "Relax. I'm not done apologizing yet."
Draco felt the panic ease, and he laughed breathlessly. "Hell of an apology."
He smiled wickedly. "Not yet."
Draco's stomach fluttered at that not so heavenly tone in the Savior's voice, his erection pulsing eagerly.
Harry yanked Draco's shirt out of his slacks. Draco bit his shoulder, using a bit of wandless magic to pop the buttons on Harry's shirt and drag it off his shoulders as he wriggled his hips, making Harry's breath catch.
Harry's fingers scraped his skin, undoubtedly leaving red furrows as he clawed for the waistband of Draco's slacks. Draco bit Harry's earlobe, whispering huskily, "Too long."
With a bit more magic, their slacks disappeared. They both moaned as their finally naked erections rubbed, a delicious skin on skin friction that was too much for Draco. He pushed Harry off of him. He couldn't see Harry's face in the dark, but he could imagine those beautiful emerald eyes wide with shock, ruby lips slightly parted. He groaned at the image as he rolled on top, kissing Harry furiously.
His hand slid down Harry's side, tracing teasingly over a bony hip bone before fisting on Harry's heat. Harry made a strange choking noise against Draco's mouth, hips bucking wildly.
"Fuck, Harry," he hummed-a phrase he seemed to be uttering a lot lately. Harry's hips stuttered, slowing as his hands ran down Draco's back, cupping his arse, stroking low. "Draco," he murmured urgently into Draco's ear.
Draco nodded, pushing Harry's hands lower with his free hand, until…yes. Fingers already magically wet with lube started preparing him. Draco whimpered softly, pressing back against the fingers, his hand lightly massaging Harry while his other hand tangled in Harry's hair, stroking…
"Merlin, Draco," Harry gasped a moment later. "Ready?"
"God yes," Draco growled back. The fingers moved, and Draco sat up, stroking Harry and holding him steady as he slowly sank down, a low guttural moan escaping as he reveled in the feeling…
Harry gripped his hips, thrusting upwards into him as he rolled his hips, searching for just the right angle-
He cried out when they found it, when Harry hit that point deep inside him that set every nerve ending on fire. Harry's grip tightened, holding him in place at that angle as he kept thrusting. He was hitting that point dead on every time, even as his thrusts sped up, becoming jerky and wild, the wet slap of flesh on flesh filling the tiny room.
Draco could feel Harry's orgasm building in the growing tenseness of his body. It was nearly enough to come himself. "H-Harry," he half mewled, half moaned. Harry understood, his hand wrapping around him. Draco's hand wrapped over his, and together they pumped him in perfect time with Harry's wild, brutal thrusts.
It wasn't long at all before they fell over the edge together, Harry coming deep inside Draco, Draco all over them both.
When it was over, Draco collapsed forward, not caring at all about the mess between their naked chests. He made a groggy, half hearted noise of protest when Harry slipped out of him. He made a stronger noise of protest as Harry shifted underneath him, wiggling out a bit so Draco was lying on the carpet, pressed against Harry's side, with Harry's arm curled around him.
"Just getting comfortable," he chuckled as Draco pressed his face into the crook of his neck, smelling a glorious mixture of sex, sweat, and just Harry on the taut skin there.
Harry nuzzled Draco, pressing a gentle kiss on his temple, his free hand coming up to stroke along Draco's cheekbone. The movement reminded Draco of the night before, when he'd held a sleeping Harry in a similar position after that first kiss…
He nuzzled Harry's neck. "Much better than last night," he mumbled sleepily. Then he froze, realizing with horror that he's just said that out loud.
Harry did, too. Draco could feel the skin beneath his face heat up in a blush. "You mean that…actually happened?"
"The kiss? Yes." He felt his skin heat up, too. "Though I suppose that will mean very little to your Romanian boyfriend after what we just did-"
He spluttered, "Romanian boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend, Romanian or otherwise. I m-mean not that I haven't tried-"
He was blathering on like an idiot. Draco stared up at where he knew Harry's face was, and he shut him up with a question.
"Then who the bloody hell were you dreaming about last night…?"
"You," he replied simply, with no hesitation. "I was dreaming about you, Draco."
The admission made something warm and nauseatingly Hufflepuffish bloom in Draco's gut-and made a small, panicky voice urgently remind him about Finnegan. He started to move away, quickly, realizing that Harry was clouding his focus again, albeit in a markedly better fashion.
"What are you doing?"
"I have a killer to catch-"
Harry grabbed his hand and tugged him back down. "We have a killer to catch, and it can wait."
Draco's chin rested on Harry's chest, as he glared up at what little he could see of the other's face. "Harry, he's a cold-blooded murderer. He doesn't wait-"
Harry shut him up with a kiss, slow and lingering, his tongue languidly stroking Draco's inside his mouth. Draco moaned softly in spite of himself, opening his mouth wider to give him better access.
Harry broke the kiss too soon, nuzzling his cheek, whispering against his skin, "Stay. Please."
In the dark, Draco narrowed his eyes. Those same damn words…Harry might as well have kept him under the Imperius Curse, because those words, coupled with the amazing thing Harry was doing to the shell of his ear with his tongue, made it impossible to say no…
…...
"Harry, you're distracting me." Harry did his best to stifle his goofy 'just got shagged' grin-which was as distracting to Draco as a thousand-watt Lumos to his face.
"Sorry." He had a right to grin, though-they'd just spent hours in their darkened office, by turns cuddling and shagging on every available surface. Draco himself had trouble keeping a straight face as his eyes drifted around the now lighted room…
He shook his head at himself, refocusing on the file in front of him. A very irritated Ginny had arrived a few moments before. It had not been a good idea to tell her that he was scrapping everything they'd found in Azkaban and starting completely over from scratch. She would have happily hexed him into oblivion had Harry not been standing there, right beside him, their shoulders brushing…
Draco shook that distracting thought away. He and Harry were going over Finnegan's file again, and as he did so, he had the suspicion that he was missing something glaringly obvious, something he should have picked up on when he read it the first time…
When he finally figured it out, he shouted-not any words, just a loud, uncharacteristic whoop of victory, making Harry jump and look up in alarm.
"What?"
"It's so stupid! So obvious!"
"Okay," Harry looked at him quizzically. "What is?"
"He's a damn narcissist!"
"What does that have to do anything…?"
"It has everything to do with it," he growled, jumping up to pace. "I thought his obsession with me was just because he was bored, desperate for something to keep him sane in Azkaban, but it is not. That first article, as he saw it, was a challenge to his reputation, to his intelligence-" here he stabbed his finger down on the open file on his desk. "He took pride in what he did. He did not just snap; it was a rational decision, a change in his career. It was personal." He grabbed up the paper left over from several days ago. The headlines screamed about the prison break, as they had for the days since, showing it to Harry.
"He's loving this, Harry, eating it up-" He stopped midsentence. A slow, wicked smile very worthy of the Malfoy bloodline spread across his face. "I know how we'll catch him, Harry," he breathed.
Harry, who was paying full attention now, stared at him, half rising out of his seat. "How?"
"He's not a textbook narcissist. He's a fucking egomaniac of the highest degree, and he's getting the biggest ego boost possible right now: the Wizarding world's fear. Wizards and witches all over the world are talking about him, as he dangles their precious Golden Boy and the Auror criminals fear most on his personal string. Take that ego boost away from him, Harry, and he'll come scrambling to get it back."
"Great. But what could take the attention of thousands of people away from a sadistic serial killer?"
Draco moved slowly around his desk, stopping in front of Harry's. He leaned over the desk to touch the velvet skin of the brunet's cheek, that sexy wicked smile still on his face. "You will, Harry."
Green eyes widened almost comically in response. "Me? Honestly?"
"Yes." Draco's voice rose from its whisper. "A Harry Potter tell all. Your life's story, Harry, something you and your little posse have been so tight lipped about for so long, hyped up and 'leaked' all over the place, to be told on a public stage-" He stopped as he saw Harry's face fall, growing pale as he sank back down into his chair. He stared down at his tanned hands, clenching them tightly in his lap.
"I don't know, Draco…" he said in a low voice. Draco walked around the desk, running ivory fingers comfortingly through his dark hair. "You will not have to say anything, Harry. Just ad lib, until Finnegan shows himself. It won't take long."
Harry's eyes fell shut as he leaned against the touch. "You're absolutely sure, Draco?"
"One hundred percent."
Harry turned his head, lightly kissing Draco's palm. "…Okay."
…...
"You want me to do what, Malfoy?"
"Publicize the news that Harry Potter will be hosting a tell all at the Arthur Flinnewin Amphitheater," Draco repeated slowly, as if speaking to a really thick child.
"I heard what you said, Malfoy," Hermione growled. "What surprises me is your gall to say it. Those days weren't a walk in the park for anyone, least of all for Harry, and you want him to spill it all for the world to hear?"
"Regardless of what you think, Granger-"
"It's Weasley now."
"Whatever. This is not some sick, twisted plot for my amusement. It's for the case-and I've made it clear to Harry that he doesn't have to say anything he doesn't wish to. All he has to do is stand up on the stage and pretend until Finnegan comes."
"And if he doesn't?"
Draco smiled wickedly. "Have you ever yelled 'Narcavulus' in a crowded amphitheater?"
She glared at him. "I'm not going to allow you to cause a dangerous panic, Malfoy-"
"Less of a panic, more like fits of laughter-a Narcavulus is a foolish monster in a Wizarding children's tale. More to the point, if I am wrong-and I'm rarely wrong-then you have it on the Malfoy bloodline that Harry will leave that amphitheater with pride and privacy intact."
Granger-turned-Weasley weighed her options, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "All right, Malfoy," she said finally. "I'll do it. But you'd better keep your word. I'll have no problem hexing you into next year, and neither will Ron."
A/N: Wooh! Now we're getting somewhere =). Hope you enjoyed as much as I did!
