CHAPTER 7
"Are you out of your mind?!"
"Stop yelling at me, will you? It was you who asked me to approach him in the first place."
"Don't blame this on me alright?! It's your idiotic plan and your insane deal!"
"I didn't know where else to go for the money!"
Draco had come to Claire for help as soon as Scorp was released from the hospital. He had had no idea what to do and his brain was totally blank, so he had decided to approach her. Seeing his frustrated state, she asked him to have some food before dwelling into the matter. Claire believed that food was the solution for every problem. So he told her everything over lunch and as soon as he was done, Claire started shouting at the top of her voice.
"God, Draco! And what else have you planned? Obviously you'll have something on your mind on how to fill your stomach... or have you decided to go beg on the streets?"
"You know what? You can take your steak and shove it up your ass." Draco remarked, his eyes flashing. "It was a mistake coming here." he stood up, pushing his plate away.
"Hey, Hey, Hey! I'm sorry alright? I'm finding it hard to grasp everything you told me. It was one crazy deal you had just made. I didn't mean to be rude." she looked apologetic so Draco let it go.
He sat back in the chair with his head in his hands." I don't know what to do, Claire. Maybe I shouldn't have given in to Graham's demands." he sighed.
Claire sat down beside him and rubbed soothing circles on his back.
"Don't dwell on it. You already made the deal so there's no point in regretting it, besides, as you so very well put it, Graham would have skinned you alive otherwise. Your two months start today right? Leave Scorp with me for now and just go to work without worrying too much. We'll see if we can make any other arrangements tomorrow when you're back."
"You have work too, remember? How will you take care of Scorp?" he peered at her.
"I'll take a day off. I don't really need money now seeing as one of my clients had taken a liking to me and I have decided to properly empty his wallet before letting him go." she gave him a cheeky grin.
"You'll never change." he said, shaking his head.
"Never, baby." she winked.
After lunch he decided to head home and rest for a while before he has to report to work.
"Claire? I'm going back to my flat to catch up on sleep before work. I'm leaving Scorpius here." he called before stepping out the door.
"Bye darling." she called back from her room.
Seven o' clock found Draco dressed in his skin-tight black leather pants and a very revealing white shirt. He styled his hair into the just- shagged look, which had him thinking of Potter's messy black strands. Forcing his brain back to reality, he left his house for Holbeck's red-light district, a rundown suburb overlooking the glittering tower blocks of the city. His flat wasn't very far from the place and it took him a little under ten minutes to reach Britain's first official sex industry.
He had never been here this early before. His usual arrival was at 9:30. People were just opening the multitude of sex shops and strip clubs. There were a number of brothels and various adult theatres. Sex workers were prowling the area, waiting for their first guests.
Draco went inside Graham's Brothel to find it almost empty except for Mia, who manages the clients.
"Hey, Mia."
"Oh Draco, thank god you're here. Mr. Cole has been waiting for you for the past twenty minutes."
"Mr. Cole? Isn't he one of Claire's usuals? What does he want with me?"
"Quoting his words, he said he was in the mood for a sexy laddie today." she said, making quotation marks in the air.
"You know I don't take on clients like him. Ask him to look for someone else." he dismissed.
Mr. Cole was some of those rough clients whom Draco never undertook. Claire didn't mind though, she said it got her more money, but Draco never approved.
"He was sent by Graham, Draco." she said, eyeing him pitifully.
Draco should have known Graham wouldn't go easy on him.
"Which room?"
"316." she replied shortly.
Draco trudged up the stairs and stood outside 316, staring at the door. He didn't want to go in. It had been a week since he had last done this and he was feeling queasy just from the thought of what he had to do. He contemplated bolting, although that wasn't option. He stood there for a couple more minutes, though it felt like hours. Atlast, he pushed the door open before he could change his mind and found Cole sprawled on the bed, in just his boxers.
"You must be Draco? Graham said you are very good. Let's see if he was right, shall we?" he gestured with his hand to come over.
Draco slowly walked to the bed. Cole was double his age and almost triple his size and Draco prepared himself for a long night.
Cole ran his hands all over Draco's body and Draco almost vomited. He felt like he was doing it for the first time all over again eventhough he had been in this profession for the past nine months.
Cole asked Draco to suck him off and Draco kneeled down between his legs and before he can fully settle himself down in a comfortable position, Cole forced his dick into his mouth. Cole was huge and Draco spluttered, but Cole didn't seem like a patient man. He didn't even give him time to adjust before he mercilessly deep throated him. Draco's gag reflex kicked in but Cole wasn't letting him get away, he fisted his hair and kept him in place. He tightened his grasp and roughly pulled at his hair, almost plucking it off his head.
When he was hard enough, he pulled Draco to his feet, turning him around, he ripped his pants and slammed into him without warning. Draco cried out. He hadn't even bothered to prepare him and was taking him dry. He brutally fucked him, pulling his hair. Draco was in so much pain. Cole was pounding into him ruthlessly and after a while he felt some stinging at his shoulder. Before he could process what was happening, the stinging turned into a terrible burning sensation. Cole was stubbing out his cigarettes on Draco's skin. Draco was screaming his voice out and this went on till Cole found his release.
He quickly turned Draco around and pinned him against the wall. The force bumped his head onto the wall behind him and the impact of the blow left him light headed.
"You know, I hate boys who scream." he said, slapping him across the face. He started hitting him with his belt, the buckle repeatedly caught his skin and tore it open savagely. He began thrashing him across the chest which only resulted in Draco screaming even more.
"Shut your mouth, you fucking whore!" Cole yelled.
Draco screamed and screamed and screamed until his throat was raw. He tried to push Cole away, but he caught his arms and twisted them behind his back. Draco slid down to the floor and was a writhing mess but Cole didn't seem to stop. He kept belting his chest open until his hands began to ache.
"You weren't even satisfactory. I will have to let Graham know you aren't as good as he hyped you to be." he spat before leaving.
As soon as the door shut behind Cole, Draco vomited all over the floor and couldn't stop retching even when nothing remained in his stomach. After a few more minutes of dry heaving, Draco gathered up his clothes and dressed himself as quickly as he can, before leaving the place. He didn't even bother informing Mia and started running.
He ran until he reached Claire's door and knocked on it. She opened the door and as soon as she saw Draco, her mouth dropped open. He walked inside and collapsed on the sofa. He was sore everywhere and his once white shirt was now a dark red hue clinging to his chest, soaking in blood.
Claire quickly brought a basin with hot water and a flannel, she got out her first aid kit and helped Draco out of his shirt. She tended to the lashes as tenderly as possible, but it still hurt terribly.
"Are those cigarette burns, Draco?" she asked, carefully examining the small circular red marks that littered his back. Draco nodded.
"Who did this?" she asked, applying some sort of ointment to the burns.
"Cole." he muttered.
"Cole?" she sounded surprised. " He is one big dunderhead. He does prefer rough sex, but it is just that! He never resorted to violence and he never wounded anyone." she said, sounding confused until her eyes widened when realization dawned on her.
"Graham must have asked him to do this! That deranged bastard! How can he! That fucking piece of shit!" she hissed, her nostrils flaring in anger. "This cannot go on, Draco. We'll have to do something." she said, desperately trying to knock some sense into him.
Draco didn't say anything for a long while and then,
"I need the money." he whispered. Claire wouldn't even have heard him if it wasn't so quiet.
She looked him up and down before asking,
"Did you let Mia know before leaving?"
He shook his head and she nodded.
"Graham might not take it well. It's not even eleven yet. You just stay here, okay? I'll cover for you. I'll play some cards and Graham won't know that you were absent tonight. I've already put Scorp to bed and I don't think he will wake up until morning."
Saying this, she went into her room and got dressed within five minutes. Draco was still sitting in the same spot when she came out the door. Before leaving she gave him a brief hug and a kiss on his cheek with a sad smile.
"Take care, Draco. Go to sleep. You'll be okay. Don't think about it alright?" she whispered. She seemed reluctant to go but with one final glance towards him, she walked out.
Draco went into the spare room of her home. He carefully picked Scorpius up, balancing his head on his shoulder and walked out the house. He reached his flat and gently laid Scorpius on the bed before making his way to the bathroom.
He stood under the shower, rubbing at his skin until it was raw. The water was scorching hot, burning his skin, but he didn't mind. He scrubbed at his body viciously and fell down to his knees. He felt so dirty, so tainted. His cuts had opened again and were bleeding but Draco didn't care, he only wanted to get rid of that filthy feeling clinging to him. He sat there for a long while watching the crimson coloured water running down the drain. It was only then did he allow himself to cry. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with the water still pouring from the shower. He cried until he could cry no more, by which time the water had gone cold. He turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around him and went into his room to get changed. He wore some comfortable maroon pyjamas before lying down on the bed but he knew he wouldn't fall asleep tonight.
Harry woke up sweating and panting. His sheets were on the floor, he must have kicked them off while tossing and turning on the bed. Atleast he wasn't entangled in them like the last time he woke up from a nightmare. He sat there for sometime until his heart rate returned to normal before going to the loo to relieve himself. He washed his face and a quick tempus charm told him it was three thirty.
He strolled to the hall and pulled open the curtains only to exclaim,
"What the hell?!"
It was dark outside, the street lamps illuminated the houses below and the moon was shining high up in the sky. It was night. So it was three thirty am? He thought it was mid-afternoon. So he had just slept for sixteen hours straight?
"What the hell?" he spoke to the air again.
Sometimes he wondered why he was still frightened of nightmares. He was fed up of being freaked out of them and almost always woke up sweating and shaking, eventhough his subconscious mind knew it was a dream. But today he was grateful. Atleast it helped him wake up before someone declared him dead.
He fixed himself a quick- was it dinner? Or maybe it was breakfast...?-whatever it was, he fixed himself a quick something to eat and sagged onto his overstuffed sofa, plate in one hand and remote in the other. He flicked through the channels, finishing his food.
At six thirty he decided to head over to the Ministry and see if he can find anything about Draco. He reached there at seven and as it was a Sunday, there were very few people there. He went to his office and sent a request to the department of wizarding administration that keeps tracks of all magical folk of Britain. Until he got a reply, he decided to finish some of the pending paperwork which wasn't much, so by the time he was done, an interdepartmental memo came zooming in and neatly landed on his desk, atop the many files.
NAME:DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY
EMPLOYMENT: MUGGLE (UNKNOWN)
ADDRESS: 11,WESTPARK RESIDENCY,
MELROSE AVENUE,
HOLBECK DISTRICT, LEEDS
ENGLAND.
There was also a picture of the place and apparition coordinates which will help Harry apparate to the aforementioned address without any difficulty. He left the Ministry, made a quick stop at his flat to pick up Draco's wand before apparating to Leeds.
So Draco lived in Holbeck? Thank Merlin for apparition. If Harry was to use muggle means of transport, it would have taken him a good four hours to travel to Holbeck from Hambledon. He pictured the place given in the photograph before the feeling of being squeezed through a rubber tube overtook him. He landed with a crack right in front of Westpark Residency. It was a ten- storeyed- building and a very old one at that. The paint was peeling off the walls and the apartment was in need of a good refurbishment. It would have been a very alluring structure once but not so much anymore.
Harry asked around and found out that Draco lived on the fifth floor, flat 5C. There wasn't any working lift, so Harry climbed up five floors at a quick pace and by the time he was stood outside his door, he was out of breath. It was seven forty five and Harry knew it wasn't a very good time to be knocking on people's doors. He didn't even know if Draco was awake. Steeling himself for a fight if it got down to it, he rang the bell.
Draco, as expected, had been awake the whole night and was still lying in bed when the bell sounded. He looked towards the door, as though he can see through it to whoever was on the other side. Thinking it was Claire, he opened the door roughly, only to find Potter's face nervously beaming at him.
Draco was shocked, but quickly covered it up.
"Hello, Potter. What brings you to my humble abode at such an ungodly hour?" he perfectly arched a single eyebrow in the most Malfoy-ish manner, like he used to during Hogwarts. It was so him, that Harry thought it will appear wrong on anyone else.
"May I come in?" Harry asked, trying to stop staring at his eyebrow.
"Be my guest." he said and opened the door wider to allow him entry.
Harry walked into the house and found there was no more place to walk. It had a three-seater sofa, a small table with two chairs by the window. To the right there was a slab dividing the room. The other side of the slab appeared to be the kitchen. A single door lead to what Harry assumed was the bedroom and another door to the left was the bathroom.
"This place-" began Harry but Draco interrupted.
"You say one word against it and you'll find yourself leaving here missing a limb." he said casually, like he was talking about the weather, while carrying a few clothes from the sofa to the table to allow Harry a place to sit.
"-is nice." finished Harry, walking to the sofa.
He knew Draco's threats cannot be taken lightly. There was a high chance that he will actually do it.
Scorp suddenly came running towards them. "Hawwy!"
Harry picked him up and nuzzled his hair. "Hey, Scorp. How have you been?"
Scorp gave him a broad smile with only two teeth in his mouth.
"Did you miss me? I sure did miss you." he said, kissing him on the cheek. And it was true. He had started to care for him.
Draco stood by the window, leaning against the table and watching Harry tickling his son. He had first thought that Potter was simply trying to be polite to Scorp but he did seem sincere in all his efforts to keep Scorp happy. It looked like he actually loved him. Strange, thought Draco.
Harry interacted and played with Scorp for a long while before remembering why he was actually here. He looked up to see Draco leaning against the table, a smile playing at his lips. An actual smile, not a smirk or a sneer.
"Dra-um, Malfoy?" Harry called.
"Yes, Potter. Finally remembered why you are here I presume? I'm sure it wasn't just to spend time with my son..?" he arched his eyebrow again.
"Um..no. I wanted to return your wand." he held it out in his hand.
"Oh." Draco seemed surprised, he took it from his hand and left it on the table.
"Didn't you realise it was missing?"
"Hardly." Draco shrugged. "It's not of much use nowadays so I mostly forget about it."
At Potter's questioning gaze, he continued.
"Your precious Ministry has limited the type of spells I can use. So it's mostly utilised only for household chores these days."
"Oh." It was Potter's turn to look surprised.
"Daddy?" Scorp was suddenly pulling at Draco's pyjamas pointing to his stomach. He was hungry.
Oh no. He didn't know if there was anything at all available in the kitchen. He opened the cabinets to find two eggs. Relieved, he quickly scrambled them on the stove with some salt and pepper and served it to Scorpius. He fed him the eggs and was putting the plate in the sink when Potter spoke,
"Aren't you eating?"
"I'm not hungry." he replied without a pause. It was at that time his stomach decided to growl. He shut his eyes. Even his body wanted to betray him now. He hadn't eaten anything since that steak yesterday and he was quite hungry. Potter didn't make a comment, until...
"I'm going down to breakfast at this nearby restaurant. You want to come along?"
What? Did Potter just invite him for breakfast?
"No, Potter. Thank you but it's-" Scorp had already climbed atop Potter and was sitting on his hip, ready to go.
"Scorp, get down! You just had breakfast!" Draco tried to pull him away but Scorp just threw his arms around Potter's neck and held him tight.
"Come on, Malfoy. Even Scorp wants to go. And it is a very nice place."
Draco tugged at Scorp two more times before sighing. "Fine, alright."
He changed into a snug light-blue shirt and grey trousers. They left his house and walked side-by-side with Scorp still on Potter's hip.
Potter took him to 'The Midnight Bell' which Draco had often seen from the outside but knew it will be very expensive and didn't dare step in. The place had a nice ambience and all the staff wore kind smiles and were ready to help. Potter ordered some pancakes with an earl grey and Draco decided to have bacon and sausages. They got Scorp a glass of apple juice. The food was delicious and Draco dug in. He wasn't sure when he was going to get his next meal, which made him all the more determined to enjoy what he had.
"I always feel like my breakfast is incomplete without pumpkin juice." Potter was the first to break the silence.
"You should carry a stash in your pocket." Draco snorted.
"Don't tell me you don't miss it."
"Of course I do, I never had pumpkin juice as good as Hogwarts."
They went on like this, making small talk throughout breakfast. Draco found that Potter's favourite colour was actually green and not red. Potter told him about his auror training and how the ministry was determined to make him the head auror, but Potter had declined the offer a number of times, not because of goodness of heart but because he will not have much of field work if he becomes the head auror and Potter loved chasing law-breakers on the field. For which Draco had laughed.
Harry watched as Draco laughed openly. He looked so charming when he did and Harry suddenly didn't ever want to see Draco worried again. He wanted him to always be happy and carefree. He was still watching Draco when a shadow fell on their table. Harry looked up to find a huge man grinning at Draco, he was missing his front teeth which made him look scary. Harry watched as Draco suddenly dropped the fork.
"Hello Draco."
"Cole." he nodded curtly, not meeting his eyes.
"Out for breakfast with your boyfriend, I see." He said, nodding at Harry.
Harry choked on his tea. "No, I'm not-"
"Yeah, that's Harry. Harry, this is Cole." Draco hurriedly said, talking over Harry.
Harry looked perplexed but thankfully didn't say anything. Draco was trying very hard not to panic. He thought Cole won't try anything here if he assumed Draco was with his boyfriend. Cole was now ogling Harry, and Draco suddenly had a strange urge to sheath Harry from Cole's lewd gaze. Before he could say anything to divert Cole's attention towards him, he himself turned to Draco.
"Is he one of Graham's boys too? He looks pretty good. How about I give him a try. Hmm, what say Draco?" he grinned again.
Draco's eyes suddenly snapped up to meet Cole's. He tried to bottle his anger at hearing that and spoke calmly through gritted teeth.
"Harry doesn't work for Graham. It's better you just leave now. I'll see you tonight." he left no room for argument.
"That's a shame." Cole said, giving Harry a perverted stare.
He leaned down and whispered into Draco's ear. "That's one sexy boyfriend you've got. I would have loved to fuck that pretty little arse of his."
Draco straightened. Cole threw a smirk his way and walked away. Draco visibly sagged.
"Who the hell was that?!" Potter asked, glaring at Cole's retreating back.
"Cole." Draco said simply.
"I know that, Malfoy! But who exactly was he?! And what did he mean by giving me a try?"
"Potter, I think we should leave."
"No! I'm not going until you answer my questions. What was that comment about Graham's boys?"
"I'll explain outside. Now let's go, please."
"Why did you say I'm your boyfriend?" Potter asked with narrowed eyes. "You didn't truly mean-"
"No, I didn't mean that alright? Can you for once listen to me and leave this place?!" Draco pulled at Harry's hand for him to stand up but Harry wouldn't budge.
"I want to know who he was."
"He is someone from my workplace, happy?!" Draco shouted exasperatedly.
"And what sort of work is that?!" Potter shouted back, equally exasperated.
Before Draco could make up a lie, Scorp accidently knocked over his apple juice onto Draco's lap.
"Scorp! Don't you know how to be careful?!" Draco screamed at Scorp and Scorp started crying.
"Malfoy! He's just a child!" Potter looked at him disbelievingly before picking up Scorpius and cradling him, trying to console the wailing kid.
Draco suddenly realised what he had done and his anger dissipated immediately.
"I'm...I'm so sorry, Scorp." he cooed.
"Go get cleaned, Malfoy. I'll take care of Scorp and then we'll leave." Potter said shortly.
Draco nodded and made his way to the men's room. He felt so bad for screaming at Scorp and at Potter too. It was natural that he wanted to know everything after what he had just witnessed. He was standing by the basin, wiping the spilt juice from his trousers with a wet napkin when suddenly the door to the loo opened and Cole walked in with the same terrifying grin.
"Hello again, Draco." he said and made a beeline towards him.
He caught hold of him from behind before Draco can even think of an escape route. Draco tried to turn around but Cole held him tightly with one hand while with the other he started unbuttoning his light blue shirt.
Draco started struggling but it was almost impossible to release himself from Cole's grip. He didn't even have his wand. It was on the table in his bloody house!
"Stop squirming, Draco. You did deny to lend me your boyfriend afterall, so I'll have to make do with you. You must realise that I don't like it when someone denies me something." he said, fully unbuttoning it and pushing it halfway down.
"Cole, let me go!"
"Oh come on, Draco. I wasn't that bad last night, was I?" he asked, reaching for the grey trousers.
Draco struggled with more force when he felt Cole's hands on his trousers, unbuttoning the fly and pulling down the zipper.
"Cole, please, not now, I'll meet you tonight, just please let me go now!" Draco pleaded.
"Is it because your boyfriend is waiting outside? Don't worry, I'll make it quick." and he reached for his own pants.
Draco was in hysterics. He couldn't even find his voice to scream. He tried to kick him in the gut but his attempt was easily thwarted. He knew he was helpless and was about to be raped. He didn't stop struggling though.
He began hyperventilating and could feel himself losing consciousness from the overdose of oxygen when the door suddenly opened and Harry walked in. Harry immediately stopped walking when he saw what was happening. His eyes grew wide and seeing Harry, Draco smiled in relief before passing out and slumping down on the ground.
Please take some time to review!
