Propriety: Chapter 20
Luckily for you guys, I'm moving tomorrow. Therefore, here's an early chapter! :) Happy Friday!
PS This chapter gave me a lot of writer's block, and my little sister gave me the idea for the scene in the middle (Harry's dream) that got me through it. So, props to her there.
Warnings: There is some graphic child abuse at times, as well as homophobic slurs used later on. Internalized homophobia. NO SEX! So don't worry about that.
Disclaimer: I think we all know at this point that no one other than JK Rowling owns these beloved characters. I just own this plot line. ;)
Please Enjoy!
Primping
Severus gratefully accepted the cool glass of water Narcissa offered. He and Lucius had finally finished updating and strengthening the wards of Malfoy after a solid four hours. Narcissa sighed and shook her head in fond exasperation as Lucius kicked his boots off onto the floor and propped his feet up on a low table.
"So much for respectable Lord Malfoy." Lucius smiled at his dear wife.
"You love me anyways. Besides, Severus and I spent hours strengthening the home of my ancestors and defending my family. I think that balances things out, don't you?" Severus rolled his eyes at the two. He knew more than one person who would keel over at the sight of Lucius Malfoy cheerfully bantering with his wife with his sweaty feet up on the furniture.
"Oh, Severus, a letter came for you from the school." Snape's lips pursed and he sent Lucius a look.
"I asked Professor Flitwick and the Headmistress to keep an eye on Draco and Harry, to make sure nothing untoward happened while neither of us were there to see it." Lucius rolled his eyes at his friend and started going on about how he taught Draco better than to jump his intended in front of professors. Snape ignored him and scanned the cramped scrawl of the Charms professor.
"Well," he drawled. "It appears Draco was exceedingly polite in asking Harry to accompany him to Hogsmeade," Lucius smirked in triumph and Narcissa smiled, pleased to hear of her son's courtship. "However, he did it in the presence of Miss Weasley. The young lady was apparently quite incensed and lashed out at Harry after Draco left. Flitwick says that Harry paled and just about ran from the Great Hall." That struck the pleased looks off of the Malfoys' faces.
"Weren't Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley in a relationship at one point?" Severus scanned over the note again.
"I believe so, yes. But from what I understand, Harry broke it off before he and his little band of troublemakers went Horcrux hunting." Narcissa suddenly nodded in understanding.
"Ah." The two men looked at her, clearly not understanding. Lady Malfoy huffed in annoyance.
"Obviously, the young woman was expecting to get back together with Mr. Potter. Knowing Draco, he probably asked Harry out in front of her to make it perfectly clear that that wasn't going to happen." Severus sighed as he could picture his godson doing just that. Lucius, instead of looking upset, smirked again.
"Well, Dear, he is a Malfoy. We don't take kindly to someone trying to take what's ours." Narcissa huffed and crossed her arms.
"Believe me, Dear, I am well aware." Severus raised an eyebrow at his blond friend.
"I would like to believe that you did not just refer to my ward as an object to be owned, Lucius." Lucius, seeing that he was getting the stink eye from both directions, threw his hands up.
"I can't say anything with you two around!" They all laughed and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing together. Severus decided he would try to speak to Harry about the argument with Miss Weasley at their next dinner meeting, but he would keep an eye on his ward throughout the week. If need be, he would talk to the boy sooner.
If one could see through the magically shut curtains around Harry's dorm bed, they would find the young man thrashing violently around, soaked in cold sweat. Harry whimpered and clawed at the sheets around him. He was caught in a nightmare, where all of his friends found out about his freakishness and left him alone. Then Draco found out…
"Draco, please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't go, please! Don't leave me alone!" Harry fell to his knees with the force of the blow Draco delivered to his face. The Slytherin hissed words he had heard spewed from his uncle that summer and then left Harry alone in the dark. The young man touched his forehead to the ground and sobbed.
Suddenly, the nightmare changed. Instead of a cold, hard floor, Harry found himself kneeling in a sunny field with grass as tall as his hips. He stood to look around and found he wasn't alone in the peaceful place.
"M-Mum?" Lily smiled warmly at her son and walked up to him. She stopped a foot from him and gently wiped the tears from his cheeks. Without a word, she turned, bent down and plucked a pale blue-grey flower from the ground. She took Harry's hands and wrapped them around the stem of the flower.
"Don't ever let it go, Harry. You deserve it. Remember that, my sweet, sweet boy. I love you." Harry opened his mouth to say it back, but then he woke up.
Harry opened his eyes calmly and laid on his side, staring at the curtains for a time. Finally, he sighed and un-spelled the curtains. He cast a Tempus charm and nearly fell out of bed. If he didn't hurry, he was going to be late for his meeting with Draco!
He rushed through his shower, wincing at every sharp movement that jostled his shoulder. Harry flew back through the room and threw on the first clothes he grabbed, not paying a panicking Neville any heed. With a quick, 'Good luck!' to Neville, Harry ran downstairs and over to the common room door.
"Harry, don't tell you are meeting up with Draco dressed like that!" Harry skidded to a stop and turned to give Hermione a confused look.
"Why? He's seen me wear this kind of stuff for years?" Harry tried to inch back towards the portrait, but his friend reached forward and grabbed his wrist. Hermione ran her eyes up and down Harry, enough times to make the boy feel uncomfortable, and then dragged him upstairs to the boys' dormitories. She banged on the door until Neville let her in. Ron had his face buried under his pillow.
"Ronald, I'm taking your pants and a shirt for Harry." Hermione looked down at Harry's feet. "And some shoes." Ron just groaned and waved her away. Without further ado, Hermione began rummaging through Ron's trunk, before pulling out a nicer pair of jeans and a button down shirt (both of which Hermione had insisted Ron acquire). She looked Harry over again and then shrunk the articles of clothing accordingly.
While Harry was shooed off to the bathroom to change, the witch found a pair of slightly worn boots. They were still a hundred times better than Harry's held-together-with-a-prayer sneakers. When Harry returned, changed and still confused as to what Hermione was doing, she nodded in approval.
"Much better. Now, change the shoes and get going. You don't want to be late." With that, she practically skipped out of the room, leaving Harry standing there, mouth hanging open. He looked over at Neville, who seemed to have finally settled on what he was going to wear. Neville met his gaze and then just shook his head.
"Girls." Harry nodded absently, but quickly shook himself out of his daze. He ripped on Ron's boots and booked it out of Gryffindor Tower, thankfully this time without any interruptions.
"Shut up, Blaise! I'm not wearing the green robes! And stop touching my hair!" Blaise huffed, threw his hands up and walked away.
"Fine, fine. Don't take the advice I give you and see how quickly this crashes and burns." Theo rolled his eyes at his friends' dramatics and stuck his nose farther into his Transfiguration textbook. Draco groaned and scowled at Blaise before fixing his hair. Blaise had tried running his hands through it, claiming it would give him a sexy, rumpled look. The blond was five seconds away from sending a Stinging Hex at him.
"You might want to wrap this up, Malfoy. Aren't you supposed to be meeting Harry in…oh..five minutes?" Draco cursed, grabbed his money pouch and wand and bolted from the room.
As he left, Blaise looked at the watch on Theo's wrist. He bit back an undignified snort.
"You do realize he is going to kill you when he finds out what time it is, right?" Theo set his book down on his chest for a moment.
"He has been up since six this morning primping for this date. Tell me you didn't want him out of the room and gone." Theo didn't wait for a response and went back to his reading. Blaise couldn't argue with him and just smirked. Oh what he would give to see Draco's face when he realized he still had a solid forty-five minutes left before he was supposed to meet Harry.
Draco was going to kill them. He scowled and paced at the school's entrance. The Slytherin glared at a passing group of whispering second years and they scurried off in fright. That made him feel slightly better, and he cast the Tempus Charm for the umpteenth time. It was just after nine and Harry was nowhere to be seen.
Panicked thoughts started to creep in, but Draco pushed them back. It would do him no good to get any more worked up than he already was. Harry was just running a little bit late. It wasn't a huge deal. But what if he changed his mi-
Harry skidded around the corner at the end of the hall and hurried the last few yards over to Draco.
"Sorry I'm late. 'Mione suddenly decided that what I've worn for years now is unacceptable." Draco couldn't help but send Granger a mental 'thank you' as his eyes raked over Harry's form. The Muggle-born witch definitely knew what set off Harry's figure and his eyes. He'd have to send her a fruit basket. In the meantime, the blond smiled at the Gryffindor.
"I was beginning to think that you had changed your mind. I'm glad to find out I was wrong for once." Harry smirked, though it was no where near as sharp as a true Slytherin's smirk.
"I'm glad I was able to knock that ego of yours down a peg. So, ready to go?" With a nod, they set off for Hogsmeade. Harry was forever grateful that being an eighth year meant he didn't have to get a guardian to sign off on a permission slip. With Sirius gone, he knew there was no way he'd have been able to go.
The boys walked close together, almost touching but not quite, and conversation flowed freely. By the time they got to the small village, they were so wrapped up in their discussion that they started to walk right past Lucius. The older wizard raised a brow and pointedly cleared his throat. Draco jolted and turned towards his father.
"Father! I apologize. Harry and I were…talking." Lucius looked between the two, his eyebrow still high.
"I can see that. Mr. Potter." Lucius held out a hand to Harry, and the boy was so stunned he didn't take it for a few five seconds. Finally, he shook himself out of his shock and shook the man's hand. Tension in Lucius's shoulders unwound and he gave the young man a sincere, but reserved, smile. "I wanted to thank you personally for all that you did for my family, Mr. Potter, and also what you did for the Wizarding World. As I'm sure Draco has told you, our family owes you a life debt." Harry gave an uneasy smile (it came out more as a grimace) at being thanked…again. It seemed it would never end.
"Well, victory wouldn't have happened without all of the work you and Snape did. For that I thank you. And as I'm sure Draco has mentioned, you can consider us even. There's no need to owe me a life debt." Lucius raised a brow at his son again.
"That is something he has neglected to mention, but if you insist on refusing a Malfoy life debt, I will insist on making it up to you in another way. Now, I believe you two had plans for today?" Draco nodded and without thinking, he grabbed Harry's hand as he turned away. The raven-haired boy stumbled in his shock and tensed all over. Lucius was right behind them, and Harry was waiting for the curse to hit his back.
When none came after a solid twenty seconds, Harry relaxed just a smidgen. Draco didn't seem to notice or care that he was holding his male friend's hand, so Harry decided to…take advantage in a way. He'd probably never get the chance to get this close to Draco again, so he might as well enjoy it now.
Harry finally noticed that Draco was talking to him after his name was called for the third time.
"Oh! Sorry, what? I was…distracted." Draco seemed confused, but thankfully let it slide without demanding an explanation.
"I was wondering if you would rather go to Zonko's or Spintwitches first? I have reservations at the new restaurant Madame Brandy's set for eleven." Harry was surprised that Draco was so devoted to hanging out that he made reservations, but was happy for it.
"Either is fine. Which would you prefer?" Draco didn't manage to keep from rolling his eyes, but he softened it with a smile.
"I asked you for a reason, but if you insist on not deciding how about Spintwitches?" Harry nodded in agreement, and let Draco tug him in the right direction. He looked back to see Lucius Malfoy following at a good distance. Harry was rather confused at the man's presence, but then he remembered Draco telling him that he and his father had gotten closer over the summer. Since the war was over, Lucius could actually be a father and was excited about being more involved in Draco's life.
That was all the thinking Harry had time for as he was soon swept up in the shopping whirlwind that was Draco Malfoy. He couldn't keep the smile off of his face as Draco never let go of his hand the whole time.
I went on PotterWiki and found out what shops are in Hogsmeade. Also, as my sister says, I have a problem. I have started working on another multi-chapter HP fic. You won't see it for a while, but know that something wicked this way comes. ;)
Please review!