Chapter Four: Take It Slow
A few days after his dinner with Draco, Harry was still in a good mood. The morning after their date Harry had found a box of his favorite Honeydukes treacle tart on his desk when he came into work. Not even the cold shoulder from Ron could dampen his spirits after that gift. The two men had owled back and forth a few times in the following and Draco had invited Harry over for dinner.
"So, are you seeing someone?" Ron asked as he watched his friend finish the last of the treacle tart four days after he received it.
"Do you really care Ron?" Harry asked him in return. "I know you're still freaked out about me being gay so I doubt you could handle any talk about my dating life."
"Hey at least I'm trying," he insisted.
"But you're not," Harry fired back, trying to stay calm. "Not really. If you were trying you would have apologized for your reaction earlier this week and would actively be making an effort to accept that me dating men doesn't change who I am."
Ron was just about to retort when Pansy walked into their office and handed Harry a folder.
"You just got a solo assignment," she told him, handing him a small box. "Your Portkey leaves in an hour."
Harry looked over the file, having never been more grateful to be interrupted.
"So they think they found Yaxley?" Harry wondered aloud.
"You shouldn't be confronting him alone," Ron insisted.
Harry finished looking over the information and closed the folder, tucking it under his arm.
"It is only a surveillance assignment," he told him. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to go home and grab some things."
With that Harry threw some Floo powder into the fireplace and left the office right as Pansy started to berate Ron for his attitude about his best friend being gay. Harry chuckled a little to himself, between Hermione and Pansy, Ron certainly did have a thing for woman who were not afraid to put him in his place.
Harry quickly packed a bag that would last him the duration of his week long assignment, he grabbed an emergency healers kit that was stocked with everything he could need if he ran into trouble. Sure it was only a surveillance job but the best laid plans often went awry for him. Finally when he was all packed he went to his fireplace to Floo Draco. After a few moments the blond head appeared in the flames.
"Hey," the man in question smiled up at him. "Something wrong?"
"I'm afraid I have to cancel our dinner," Harry told him sadly. "I just got an assignment. My portkey leaves in about a half hour. I'm sorry to back out at the last second."
He shook his head. "Don't apologize, it isn't necessary. This is your job and I understand that things like this will come up occasionally."
"Still I feel awful, I was looking forward to it," Harry sighed.
"Well then how about when you get back you can come over," the wizard suggested. "We'll have a nice quiet day?"
Harry smiled. He was increasing drawn to this man and with every new side of him Harry just felt his affection grow more and more. The Malfoy charm was irresistible but of course he wasn't going to tell Draco that…at least not yet.
"I think that sounds lovely," the black haired man finally replied with a smile.
"Great," Draco smiled back. "I will see you when you get back."
Harry couldn't help himself so he leaned down and pressed a kiss against the other man's lips.
"Thank you for understanding," he said backing away slightly.
"Do I have to tell you to be careful?" Draco wondered, giving Harry a lopsided grin.
"When am I ever careful?" Harry laughed in return.
"That is my point Potter," the blond teased back. "I don't want the remnants of the man I'm dating sent back to me in a matchbox."
"So we're dating?" Harry stepped back and surveyed the other man with a smirk he borrowed from the Malfoy's own lips. "Am I the only one you're dating?"
He saw a blush creep up onto those pale cheeks.
"Yes, you are the only one that I'm dating. Happy now Potter?"
"Ecstatic," Harry answered. "I'd best be off."
Draco nodded. "I'll see you when you get back. Good luck."
And with that he was gone from Harry's fireplace. He sighed and picked up his things, making sure the file on Yaxley along with his orders was safely tucked into his rucksack. He opened the box and lifted out the portkey which was a small gold pocket watch. He lifted it out and watched as the hands ticked down to when it would transport him to his assignment. It wasn't much longer before he felt that all too familiar tug and was off in a whirl of color.
He landed at what the file told him was where he would be staying while he observed Yaxley. It was bewitched to look like a pile of cardboard boxes to anyone that wasn't touching the Portkey Harry was holding in his hand. To the young Auror it was a magical tent, much like the one he had stayed in with the Weasley's at the Quidditch World cup all those years ago. Harry walked inside and placed his things down, opening his bag he took out the file on his mission and the latest model of Omnioculars he had just bought for just this purpose. The new models were able to see through barriers like walls and had only been marketed to a select audience that were trusted not to abuse them. Harry found them quite useful for stakeouts, giving him a greater ability to remain watchful from afar.
He aimed them at the small cottage about a mile away from his tent. Sure enough Yaxley was inside but he was asleep so Harry didn't need to worry about him just yet. He sat back and opened the file looking over it once again. Yaxley had been busy before Voldemort had come fully back to power and when the dark lord had finally risen again he had been charged with 'weeding out the bad seeds'. Harry of course knew that the Death Eater had worked as the Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement after the Ministry fell but he had never before realized what that entailed. The list of charges against the man was extensive, one of the worst being the killing of a Pureblooded family who refused to side with Voldemort.
Always considered to be in the Pureblooded elite, the Bellamy family refused to side with Voldemort during his first rise to power. The family had usually been sorted into Ravenclaw and prized intelligence and wit first and foremost above blood. However they had managed to remain friends with all the correct families and their line had stayed as pure as possible. When Voldemort came calling for a second time and they refused again he was not so forgiving. Worried about such a strong Pureblood family mixing with those he deemed unworthy, Voldemort ordered Yaxley to dispose of them. He proceeded to torture and kill Alexander Bellamy and his wife Miranda. Thankfully their daughter, Serena, had been visiting family members on her mother's side and avoided the same fate as her parents. Serena Bellamy is the only surviving member of the Bellamy line and has been instrumental in giving us information on many Death Eater families.
Harry shook his head, feeling sorry for the young woman who had been left without a family because of war. He understood and felt her pain. Yaxley was a dangerous man and Harry would do anything he could to make sure he answered for the crimes he had committed. It wouldn't bring anyone's loved ones back but it was better than nothing.
Draco's week so far had been uneventful and slow. He was anxious; between the curse on his family he had only found out about a month ago and Harry off on Auror duty it was hard for Draco to focus on anything. Thankfully the hustle and bustle of St. Mungo's was able to keep him occupied during the days, it was only at night that he seemed to be uneasy and unable to sit still. He had taken to pouring over his family's records, a suggestion from Ren, to see if anything odd popped up that would lead them to the nature of the curse.
The blond sighed and went back to reading the Prophet, trying to distract himself. It was his day off and he wanted to enjoy it but sometimes Draco found himself brooding over things that he couldn't change. He hadn't heard from Harry yet, but Draco knew that if he was on assignment the other man wasn't at liberty to send owls. He hadn't heard anything else from Ren either, and usually she was the kind of person who got results when she started to look for something. Draco had chuckled to himself when he realized that, if she had gone to Hogwarts, Ren probably would have been the person to give Granger a run for her money.
Just as he started to focus on one of the articles in the paper he heard his Floo roar to life. Much to his surprise Harry stumbled out of his fire place and had to catch himself so he didn't fall. Draco laughed a little when he saw that.
"I hate Flooing," Harry stood and tried to clean himself off. "I never could get the hang of it."
Still smiling the Malfoy got up and walked over to the other man, and started to brush soot out of his hair. Harry's green eyes met Draco's gray ones and both men grinned at each other before Draco leaned in and pressed his lips to Harry's. The dark haired man found his arms snaking their way around the Slytherin's waist as he deepened the kiss.
"Am I interrupting something?" a voice behind the men asked.
Draco and Harry sprang apart to see Pansy standing there looking at both of them.
"Well thank you Harry," her voice had a slight edge to it. "When Ron finds out about this his head will explode and I will be single again."
"Oh come on Pans," Draco groaned.
"How did you even know I was here?" Harry asked his assistant.
"You've still got the portkey," she told him. "I need to turn it and your report into your boss."
He sighed and took the watch out of his pocket, and gave the file, complete with his report, to Pansy.
"Thank you," she smirked at him. "I'll let the two of you get back to whatever you were doing."
"I appreciate that," Draco told her.
"But before I go," she stopped and turned back to them. "I'm meeting Blaise and Ginny for some drinks at the Cauldron later and we would love for the two of you to join us."
"We'll think about it Pansy," Harry told her.
"Perfect," she said brightly, walking away and raising her wand. "Have fun boys. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Meet us at seven if you two are free!"
Draco groaned as soon as his friend was gone. "I swear she does that to me on purpose."
"You don't care that she knows?" Harry wanted to make sure.
"Pansy and I don't have too many things we keep from each other," Draco told him. "We've shared a lot over the years….I mean a lot."
Draco's words started to sink into Harry's head and his mouth dropped. "You and Pansy had sex?"
"You knew we were together," Draco reminded him.
"But you didn't say anything about sex," Harry replied. "Not that there is anything wrong with that."
"During my fifth year I was almost one hundred percent sure I was gay," he explained, sitting down. "I just had to be sure and Pansy was the only person I trusted."
Harry knelt down in front of him and put his hands on the blonds. "Draco, calm down. I was just a little surprised that's all. It doesn't matter to me, it doesn't change how I feel about you or how I look at Pansy. We all have a past and I told you I'm not going to judge you for yours, I want to look toward the future."
Draco looked at the other man his eyes full of gratitude.
"This might sound so corny, and I know we haven't been dating for that long but would you want to be my boyfriend?" Draco finally asked, running a hand through his hair.
Harry couldn't help the grin that broke across his face. "I think I want that very much."
Draco beamed and he leaned in to kiss Harry once again. Just as the two men began to let the kisses go a little farther they heard the front door shut. Thinking it was Pansy trying to mess around with them again they didn't break apart this time, but it was not the former Slytherin's voice that met their ears.
"Draco?" a female voice called out a few moments before a young woman rounded the corner. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know you had company."
Harry turned to see a very slight young woman standing in Draco's flat, her arms full of what appeared to be a small boy.
"I'm so sorry to intrude Draco," she started to stammer. "I can come back later."
Draco walked over and guided her forward. "Don't be silly Ren. You are always welcome here and I wanted you and Harry to meet anyway."
Harry stepped forward and Draco pointed to the young woman. "Harry I would like to you meet one of my oldest friends, Serena Bellamy. Serena, meet Harry Potter."
For a second or two Harry was too shocked to reach out and shake her hand. The one person who was probably most interested in his recent mission, the one person who he had planned to owl and introduce himself to, was now standing face to face with him.
She finally held out her hand. "Harry, it's nice to finally meet you. Draco has talked about you for a long time."
Harry, regaining his manners, shook her hand and gave her a smile. "It's nice to meet you too Serena."
"You can call me Ren," she told him, shifting the child in her arms a little. "Everyone does, and this increasingly heavy, sleeping child in my arms is my son, Aidan."
"Ren, do you want to lay him down?" Draco asked.
The young woman shook her head. "No, I won't be staying much longer. I just wanted to drop by and give you some notes I took earlier today while I was doing research on your family history."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small notebook.
"I found something big that we should probably talk about soon," she told Draco, giving him a serious look. "But for now I will leave you two alone. I'm so sorry I interrupted."
"No, please don't apologize," Harry told her. "I'm glad to have met you, you'll actually be getting an owl from me soon anyway."
Both Draco and Serena looked at him quizzically.
"I'm the Auror that has been assigned to help in the capture of Yaxley," Harry explained.
The young woman looked taken aback. "I hadn't been told he had even been located yet."
"They weren't sure of his location until earlier this week," Harry explained. "I was sent to monitor his comings and goings, if he is in contact with any other people, things like that. We need to make sure he doesn't suspect us closing in on him."
"Well I'll be glad when he's captured Auror Potter," she smiled at him.
"Please call me Harry," he smiled at her. "I just hope I can help you get some sort of closure."
"It has been a long time coming," she replied sadly. "Anyway I should probably go. I'll look forward to talking with you further Harry."
"I hope you're not rushing off on my account," Harry spoke, feeling a little guilty. "I certainly wouldn't mind you staying."
"Thank you," she spoke to him gently. "But you would not want to deal with the terror that is my son when he wakes up from a nap."
Harry knew better than to argue, so he gave her another smile and bid her goodbye while Draco walked her out. The blond came back and automatically began to apologize.
"I'm sorry," he told Harry. "I didn't know that Ren would be stopping by."
"Don't apologize," Harry waved him off. "She's obviously a close friend and this your home. I just hope she didn't leave on my account, I probably shouldn't have blurted out that I'm the Auror on Yaxley's case."
"She would have found out eventually," Draco pointed out, pressing a kiss to the other man's cheek. "And she didn't leave because of you. I can tell you with all honesty that you do not want to be on the wrong end of Aidan after a nap, that child has some serious fire in him."
"After all Teddy has put me through I can understand," Harry chuckled as the two of them sat down. "I don't remember Ren from Hogwarts though. Was she in our year?"
"No," Draco shook his head firmly, a slight edge to his voice. "You don't remember her because she didn't go to Hogwarts. The rest of her family did but unforeseen circumstance kept Serena from attending school. She was privately tutored at home but she is the same age as you and I."
Harry was a little taken aback at the other man's clipped tone but he understood that he was probably worried about her so he let the subject drop. The two had a very pleasant day together, talking and sharing. There were no further interruptions and every so often the two would stop for a snogging session. Harry was starting to become aware of his desire to go beyond snogging but his own uncertainty held him back. He was still a virgin and he knew that Draco had at least been with Pansy in a sexual nature, he was afraid to ask if there had been others. He worried about his inability to satisfy the Slytherin because of his lack of experience. He also fretted that he would lose the blonds interest if he didn't so something soon, so he summoned up some of his Gryffindor bravery and made his move.
The pair had been sitting side by side on Draco's couch as the kissed; Harry put his hand on the older man's waist and pushed him backwards until he was almost laying on top of his former rival. The black haired wizard shivered at the closeness of the other man's body as he broke away from the kiss. He sat up and a blush came to his cheeks as he realized he was straddling Draco's lap. Harry could feel the blond man's hardness as well as his own and with a shaky breath he started to undo the buttons on Draco's shirt.
The first few came loose easily enough, but the more alabaster skin that was exposed to Harry's eyes the more he fumbled. Half of the buttons were undone when his fingers seemed to fail him and he almost groaned in frustration. Draco gently stilled the other wizard's hands, hoping that Harry would know he wasn't rejecting him. Harry looked up at the other man questioningly.
"Harry, we don't have to do anything if you're not ready," Draco told him gently.
The savior of the Wizarding world sighed. "It's not that I don't want to, I'm just…"
He trailed off and Draco sat up a little more to look at him closer.
"I might be bad at it," Harry finally blurted out, looking down at his hands. "I don't want to make you think I'm not interested, I'm just nervous."
Draco smiled at him gently, resting his hand on the back of Harry's neck. "We can take things as slow or as fast as you would like Harry. We've known each other for a long time but those years didn't exactly endear us to each other. We should take the time to get to know each other, to have a real relationship. I don't think either of us have had that luxury over the years and we deserve it. I'm not expecting anything from you right now, so take a deep breath."
Harry did as he was told before looking back up at Draco. "But you're-"
"Aroused?" Draco finished for him. "Yes I am. I am a homosexual man who had spent a good part of the afternoon snogging another attractive homosexual man. If I wasn't aroused I think you would have the right to be offended."
Harry laughed and pressed a kiss to the blonds lips once again.
"Thank you," he smiled at his partner.
"You're welcome," Draco smiled back. "Besides you aren't the only one with no experience here."
"But you just told me that you and Pansy-"
"Oh not that," Draco corrected himself. "I've never been in a real relationship. Pansy was a girl I was expected to date and any man I've been with has just been casual sex. I don't know what it's like to be with someone I actually care about."
Warmth spread through Harry's body when he heard Draco say he cared about him.
"Well you're doing a good job so far," he assured the gray eyed man. "The best advice I can give you right now is that we need to communicate. Besides being gay my relationship with Ginny failed because she and I never talked about what we wanted, if we were happy, what we were doing. Communication and honesty are the most important things."
Draco smirked. "Those were never very high up on the Slytherin priority list, but I'll try."
Harry elbowed him in the ribs but couldn't help his matching smirk.
"So," Draco spoke again. "Since we're communicating, would you like to join Pansy, Blaise and Ginny for drinks?
"I'd like to yea," Harry told him. "It will be nice to spend some time around our friends as a couple."
"I like the sound of that," Draco spoke gently. "Us being a couple."
"Me too," Harry admitted. "I should probably pop home before we meet them though. I still need to put some of my things away and freshen up a bit."
Draco nodded feeling that he could use a bit of freshening up himself. "I'll meet you at the Cauldron then?"
Harry leaned in and kissed him one last time. "I'll see you there."
He adjusted his glasses slightly, got to his feet and with one last goodbye was gone. Draco shifted a little uncomfortably once the other man was gone. He was still hard and could really use a wank but he knew that what Ren had brought him was even more important. He opened the small notebook and resized it starting to look over the young woman's notes. The more Draco read, the less he thought about anything except the curse. Everything he and Ren seemed to find out about it made things go from bad to worse. By the time Draco came to the end of the notes he was so upset he could hardly see straight. Picking up the nearest thing to him, he hurled it against the wall and let out a groan. He looked over at the clock, he had a little over half an hour before he had to meet Harry and their friends, and he needed to talk to Ren.
Harry arrived at the Leakey Cauldron a few minutes after seven and entered expecting to see Draco already there. He spotted Ginny after a few seconds who waved him over, but as he got closer Harry saw that the man he had spent his whole afternoon with was not there yet. He kissed Ginny and Pansy on the cheek in greeting and clapped Blaise on the back before sitting down in one of the empty chairs.
"We're glad you joined us Harry," Pansy told him. "Where's Draco?"
"I'm not sure," Harry responded looking around. "I went home for a bit to change and put away my things from the trip."
"It isn't like Draco to be late," Blaise pointed out.
"He might have gone to check on Serena," Harry shrugged. "He seemed a little worried after she stopped by to see him."
"You met Ren?" Ginny asked, clearly surprised.
"Yea, she came by to drop something off to Draco while I was there," Harry told her. "Why?"
Pansy, Blaise and Ginny all exchanged worried looks that didn't escape Harry.
"Look I might not have been a Ravenclaw but I know when something is up," he looked at each one of them. "What is going on?"
Pansy sighed. "Ren is as close to Draco as Blaise or I. She's been through a lot and Draco is very protective of her."
"I know all about Yaxley," Harry reminded Pansy. "I am the one on his case."
"It's not just that Harry," Blaise spoke this time. "Ren is very ill. She has a rare medical disorder. It wasn't even known about in the Wizarding world until Ren's case and very few Healers know how to treat her. Draco is one of those Healers so he probably went to check on her to make sure everything is alright."
Harry felt guilt set in at Blaise's words. "Well now I feel awful."
"It's alright Harry," Ginny tried to assure him. "I know Draco will tell you himself. It just isn't easy to talk about and it's not the best thing to talk about after first introductions."
The black haired wizard nodded. "Just please don't tell Draco you told me anything. I want him to tell me when he's ready."
The three friends nodded and right as they changed the subject the door to the pub opened and in came the Malfoy heir. Harry greeted him happily and Draco placed his hand on top of his boyfriends as he sat down at the table. They ordered another round and the group started to have a lovely chat. Harry soon forgot his worry about Ren and what Draco hadn't told him, after all neither Ron nor Hermione knew that he was seeing his old enemy. It was then that Harry decided he would tell Hermione about his relationship the next time he saw her. Ron on the other hand would take this new even worse than the last thing Harry had told him and right now their friendship couldn't handle any more stress. Laughing with their friends Draco and Harry seemed to forget their cares for a few hours but sadly reality was going to catch up with them sooner than either man would have liked.
Another chapter and I gave you guys a long one this time. Some of the drama is about to unfold and yes I promise you will learn more about Ren and what disorder she has in future chapters. For now I wanted to give you some more pointless Drarry fluff because I love it! Hope you enjoyed, if you did leave me a review please. Love to my readers, followers and reviewers!