Love Knows No Bounds Ch 9: A Rose By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet
Note: It's the chapter you've all been waiting for. Heck, it's the chapter I have been waiting for! Thanks to Jenn for being amazing and beta'ing this for me. Hope you all enjoy it.!
Warning: Includes some explicit content that may be unsuitable for some readers.
The day of their date was slowly approaching and to neither of them it was starting to sink in. Draco asked for the day off from work so he could just be by himself and think about what was at stake for him and for Harry. He didn't know if he could actually be physical with Harry besides kissing and this really bothered him. When you care about someone you are supposed to be attracted to them physically not just emotionally, thought Draco to himself as he sank further and further into the hot bath he prepared for himself. He needed to look at the bright side of the whole situation and how in a few hours time, he would be on a date with a person he legitimately cared for. He was both excited and nervous at the same time. He had never been on a date with a guy before. He didn't know how to act or what he was supposed to do. Was he supposed to be chivalrous, Draco wondered. He wasn't an expert on the etiquette of gay men on dates. After a couple of hours deliberating until he couldn't deliberate any more, he started to get ready. It took him an hour to finally get his hair to sit right in such a way as to maximize his hotness factor. Looking at himself in the mirror and seeing his abs under the blue shirt he picked out for the date he was happy that all those long hours at the gym were going to pay off.
Harry wasn't having much luck with his hair and ended up taking a half an hour longer than Draco, yet the end result was that his hair looked as untidy and unkempt as ever. He shrugged his shoulders and then decided what he was going to wear. He was going to wear a nice pair of black slacks and a silver button up shirt. Once he got dressed, he looked in the mirror and decided he liked what he saw. He still had a hour and a half before he had to meet Draco so he sat down on his living room couch and thought about how the date was going to flow. As he was thinking about it he realized he didn't have the slightest clue on how to act. Am I supposed to act a certain way, Harry questioned himself and further tackled the issue in his head. I don't know how two men act on dates. He wondered if at that moment Draco was feeling any sense of insecurity like he was, but then on second thought, he shrugged the idea off. Draco is a Malfoy. Malfoy's don't feel insecure. Ever. Harry was wrong on this stereotype however, because as Draco was sitting on his bed at the exact same time that Harry was sitting on the couch, he was thinking about how insecure he felt at the moment.
The time finally came for Harry to go meet Draco at the lake for their first date. Checking his hair out in the mirror one last time, he apparated into the park by the lake. He must have been the first to arrive because there was no sign of Draco. Not that it mattered. That just meant that he could have more time to collect himself in the wake of Draco's arrival. Draco, after a few minutes of Harry being there, did arrive. The moment he saw Harry all of his insecurities went away. Draco had picked a flower from the garden in front of his apartment before arriving at the lake, a rose. He pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal the most beautiful rose Harry had ever seen.
"Here you go, Harry. I brought this for you to show my appreciation for you and to thank you for extending me an invitation," Draco smiled and held out his hand beckoning Harry to take it. As Harry took his hand in his, he felt a magical feeling that wasn't brought on by actual magic but it was then that he truly felt like he belonged with Draco. All of the worries and insecurities faded away as it was just the two of them. There was no one else in the park and it was so quiet it made it seem like they were the only two wizards in the world. Nothing else mattered but what was going on there with them.
"So what made you pick this place," Draco questioned Harry with a sereness that Harry hadn't yet seen of the blonde.
"I don't know. I like to come here to think sometimes and the view of the moon by the lake is fantastic. I wanted to share it with you. I figured it would be the perfect place for us to just be together," Harry shared with Draco. He felt like things were falling into place. He knew things would be changing for him tonight. No more long nights with no one to care for or to care for him. No more loneliness that burned a hole in Harry's heart when his marriage ended. It would all be made right with this. He took refuge in that and took Draco's hand. Draco accepted the gesture without any hesitation.
Draco knew that this was going to be an amazing night. Just the fact that Harry wanted to share this special place with him meant a lot. With Harry's hand in his he felt complete and felt like he belonged there. He didn't want to leave. As he glanced up into Harry's brilliant green eyes he saw nothing but love. He realized that Harry was quite handsome and that he didn't want to stop admiring him. He was attracted to him, after all. All he had to do was look. Not just a glance but really search the depths of his soul. They walked over to the lake and as they walked over there Harry gasped in surprise.
"This is the reason I was late. I was setting this up for us," Draco told Harry with an air of accomplishment. Right under the moonlight, Draco had set up a beautiful candlelight dinner for them. Harry walked over to the table in awe and fascination.
"How did you do all this?" Harry asked, still stunned by the gesture.
"Ah, just a little bit of magic."
Harry finally appreciated how amazing Malfoy was. Draco pulled out Harry's chair for him with a just a flick of his wand so that Harry could sit down. Draco sat down soon after, and revealed what they would be eating. On the plate was grilled salmon with steamed vegetables.
"How did you know this was my favorite meal?" Harry with a look of shock forming on his face, asked Draco.
"I watched you. You ate it almost every weekend for dinner. We did live together after all, remember?"
"Did you cook this yourself?"
"What, you didn't think a Malfoy could cook for himself?" Draco laughed out loud. Harry joined in as well.
"I guess you proved me wrong," Harry winked.
They started eating and after one bite Harry told Draco how fabulous it was and how he wouldn't mind Draco cooking like this for him every night. Draco responded by saying, "I wouldn't mind doing it for you."
They sat through the rest of the dinner and they were having a laid back conversation. Draco saying all the right things to make Harry laugh and vice versa.
"And then Katanica said to me: Draco, however do you like these retched operas? I responded by saying to her, well any of the opera singers are better to listen to than you constantly whining all of the time. At least what the singers were doing was constructive," Draco and Harry laughed simultaneously.
Harry said, "Nice, Draco. How long were you married for?"
"Eight years. Trust me it was not the most productive period of my life."
"And now? Are you happy where you are at?" Harry asked Draco genuinely interested in what he would say in response.
"Not yet, something is still missing but I think I figured out what it is," Draco said as he refused to break eye contact with the Gryffindor. Harry blushed as he knew that Draco was referring to him.
"Well, looks like things will be changing for the better really soon," Harry said with confidence.
"Oh, yeah? Indulge me."
"Well, I am really having a great time and I think I have been a fool wasting so much time battling with myself," Harry informed his date.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Sure, I mean, all this time I have been trying to deny that I'm gay when obviously we have feelings for each other. I think no matter what we call a rose it will still smell just as good and it would still look exquisite."
"In other words, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Like the rose I gave you this evening, for instance," Draco rationalized.
'True, so matter what we call it, we are still together. Whether we call us gay or just two people that fell in love with each other's souls, it doesn't matter. It all means the same thing," Harry stated concisely.
"I understand what you mean completely."
As quickly as it had come, the plates suddenly cleared and they were left at an empty table with just the flick of a wand. Harry stood up and walked over to where Draco was sitting and held out his arm.
"Shall we?"
"Most definitely," Draco responded as he took Harry's arm in his. They started to walk along the lake admiring the calmness of the water. The stars had finally come out and they sparkled brightly as to accentuate the fullness of the moon and it's resonating light. They walked along, silently at first and then resumed with casual conversation until Draco stopped walking. He turned slowly to Harry and put his arms on his shoulders. He pulled Harry into a tender kiss and Harry kissed him back. After the kiss was over they sat down on the shore and in each others arms just watched the moonlight reflecting off of the water. After an hour of talking and stargazing, they got up to start to head home. But since they didn't want the evening to end, Draco decided to walk Harry home.
As he walked Harry up to his door Harry spoke to him in a relaxed manner, "I had a great time tonight, Draco."
"Me too. I really enjoyed it."
They stood there for a few seconds before Harry spoke again, "Would you like to come in?" Harry questioned, eager for a positive response.
"Sure," Draco replied as he walked into the apartment. He took a look around arnd realized that it was by far much larger than the Auror apartment. But since he wasn't in the program anymore he needed to find a new place to live. He wasn't going to ask Harry for a favor like that especially since they had just started dating. Draco thought to himself, are we boyfriends? He didn't know the answer and wasn't sure what it would be even if he asked about it.
"Make yourself at home," Harry said, interrupting Draco from his thoughts.
Draco made his way to the couch and sat down as Harry summoned a bottle of wine that was sitting on his kitchen shelf, "Accio wine."
They talked some more about what their plans were for the future. Draco told Harry how much he loved being a physician's attendant and how he was thinking about becoming a doctor of some sort. Harry was impressed and informed Malfoy that he really loved his job as an Auror and wouldn't trade it for anything in the entire world. After talking about their occupations and goals for the future they sat in silent for a few seconds. They each were thinking about how they were feeling compelled to kiss one another. Harry acted first by pulling Draco into a tight embrace. They began making out, getting the feel of each other's mouths and getting more comfortable in the process. Draco reached up and grabbed a handful of Harry's hair and he moaned with pleasure at this sensation of Draco's hands running through his hair. They proceeded to kiss until Draco pulled away and they stared into each other's eyes.
"Do you want to do this?" Draco asked Harry with complete and utter devotion.
"Yes. I want you, Draco," Harry replied. He didn't know exactly what to do but he figured things would just work themelves out.
They started kissing again only this time they stood up and while kissing, made their way to the bedroom. Harry took off his shirt and Draco's and stood back to marvel the beauty of Draco's pale, fit body. Draco also admired his partner and how perfect he looked. For someone who didn't work out, Harry had a great body. It must be all those Death Eaters he captures, Draco formulated. They once again started kissing and Draco thrust his tongue into Harry's mouth and explored every inch of it. He then made his way down to Harry's neck, which he kissed and gave little love bites to. Harry reached out his hand to touch Draco's chest and trailed down it with his finger until he stopped at his pants. He hesitated but just for a few seconds until he undid the button and the zipper on them.
"Wait," Draco stopped him with his hand. "I haven't done this before," Draco said with a hint of fear in his otherwise confident demeanor.
"It's ok. Me neither. All I know is that it's ok and that I want to. We can learn together," Harry said this in such a way that Draco knew that he didn't want to stop no matter how inexperienced he was. Harry resumed what he was doing and pulled down Draco's pants. He got down on his knees and pulled down Draco's boxer briefs to reveal an extremely hard cock. Harry thought that Draco looked perfect and from then on he couldn't stop himself and wouldn't dare. Harry took Draco's cock in his mouth at first just licking the head and then ran his tongue up and down the shaft. This isn't bad at all, Harry thought to himself. He put the head in his mouth and then proceeded to suck on him until he had all of him in his mouth. Draco was moaning in pleasure and realized that this is the best head he has ever gotten. Even better than Pansy, and she was good. It surprised Draco even more by how good Harry was since it was only his first time. He was not taking any moment between them or any feelings of pleasure for granted. Draco was reaching his breaking point and as Harry started sucking on his cock even harder, it made him cum that much faster. He released and Harry swallowed.
Harry thought to himself, that didn't taste that bad. He actually liked the way Draco tasted and he knew he would want to to do that again. Harry kissed Draco, this time more passionately and Draco took off Harry's pants and then his boxers as well. Draco wanted to fuck him so bad. He wanted to make Harry scream in pleasure just like he had just done for him.
"Draco, are you going to--," Harry asked Draco then stopped midsentence.
"I want to. But only if you want to," Draco told Harry gently.
"I do, but I'm kind of scared,' Harry admitted reluctantly.
"Me too, I haven't done this before either. But I promise I'll be gentle and if you want to stop just tell me and I'll do whatever you want, okay? I don't want you to do something you don't want to do," Draco told Harry and at that moment Harry realized he wanted to do this just as badly as Malfoy.
"Okay," Harry agreed.
Draco started by kissing him again this time very tenderly. Draco used a lubricating spell to make sure that Harry received the maximum pleasure possible. Draco wanted to look into his eyes as he made love to him. Draco pushed Harry on the bed as they were still kissing. Harry then pulled Draco on top of him and they were laying down on the bed. Draco stopped and looked down, his eyes locking with Harry's. There was a moment where their eyes were synchronized and a fiery passion appeared in them. Draco lowered his head to kiss Harry's wanton lips. Draco put his cock at Harry's entrance and slowly started entering him, at first very carefully. He was worried he would hurt Harry but Harry moaned with lust. Draco went a little deeper inside of his Gryffindor and it was the best sensation he had ever felt. Harry asked Draco to go faster so he did. Finally Draco reached Harry's pleasure center and Harry moaned with extreme intensity. Draco, overwhelmed with the sensation it produced for him as well, rammed Harry faster and faster. Harry started kissing him with a fierce passion and he knew that he would never want to be without Draco. Harry opened his eyes and looked into his lover's grey eyes with that lone speck of blue. As they gazed back at each other it was as if Draco had seen him for the first time, as a man. He realized that he had never been more happy in his entire life and never wanted it to end. Draco, hearing Harry's cries of pleasure and wanting, unleashed his load into his partner. They were both out of breath and when Draco pulled out, he did so slowly and kissed Harry on the lips. Then he kissed his forehead. Draco collapsed on top of Harry and rolled off to the side where they held each other.
Still out of breath and with huge smiles on their faces, Harry broke the silence. "That was amazing, Malfoy. You were amazing," Harry said in a whisper, seeing as he was too exhausted to speak louder.
"It was amazing," Draco responded as he held Harry closer and once again kissed him on the lips. They were exhausted and they wanted to sleep. Harry glanced over at his alarm clock to see that the time was 1:30 in the morning. Harry had to be at work early the next morning. He asked Draco to stay and he acquiesced. They held each other and they both fell asleep in each others arms.
