Author: TheSiner
Title: Another Cinderella Story
Genre: Romance, Drama and some attempted humour :)
Pairing: Harry/Draco (main)
Summary: HP/DM, AU, no magic. Modern day Cinderella story (loosely based on). Staring: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. This is a story about fairy-tale-like love from the first sight, something which I believe happens only in fairy tales.
Rating: It's not too bad
Disclaimer: These characters are not my own and belong to J.K. Rowling and affiliates. Fandom does not belong to me. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warnings: slash (duh!), OOC, A/U, non-canon, swearing, not betaedited.
Chapter Twelve
"Harry, Viktor called while you were gone, why weren't you picking up your mobile?"
"Oh, hi, Siri," Harry greeted his godfather tossing his dark brown canvas shoulder-bag on the sofa. "I was at the museum, I switched it off, didn't want to disturb anyone. Myself included. I don't want to answer any calls while I am at the museum. And don't say anything, Leonid is always around, so if YOU want to check on me, you can call him."
"I guess that's fair," Sirius waved the boy off. "But what's with Victor?"
Harry sighed and looked at his godfather speculatively: "Are you sure you want to discuss it? Are you really sure?"
Harry's love life was something Sirius was still getting used to. The first time the older man had realised that the 'boy' was actually a young man hadn't been exactly pleasant.
When Harry had gone to the bathroom with Sergey and come back flushed and looking just shagged and with a betraying love-bite on his neck, it had been pretty obvious to Sirius what had happened. The man had freaked out and almost pounced at Sergey. Harry had been forced to point out that he was not a blushing virgin and knew what he was doing well enough and Sirius was overacting.
It had been just a hand-job in the bathroom. Of course to say 'just' would not be right, because it had been the first time Harry had done such thing and at first he had not believed his own daring, but then the nature had taken over so to say and… and now Harry's godfather was embarrassing him in front of Misha and Sergey and everyone who wanted to watch.
Sirius hadn't quite agreed that he was overacting and Harry had lost his temper and said that if he wanted to have one off with someone, he had right to. It was something Harry had discovered recently – his temper. He had never dared to show that he was angry and raise his voice at someone.
The ride home had been a strained affair. Sirius had been angry with Misha for not taking his side. Remus had waited for everyone to calm down and Harry had completely shrunk into himself, shaken by the fact that he had shouted at Sirius.
It had come down to Harry knocking on Sirius' door in the middle of night with tears in his eyes, saying that he was sorry and he wouldn't do it again and that he didn't want Sirius to think that he was a slut, he had just gotten carried away. Harry had almost begged his godfather not to hate him. Sirius had been horrified that Harry could possibly think that.
He had taken the boy in his arms and explained that he hadn't really blamed Harry for anything, that he had been angry at Sergey for taking advantage of his godson and that he had been worried and, yes, probably Sirius had overreacted. He had explained that there were no parent who would ever truly agree that their child was old enough to be having sex and Harry looked very young and was innocent in many ways and Sirius was feeling a bit overprotective and it had all come out wrong.
Misha who had been sharing bedroom with Sirius had pointedly added that he seriously doubted that Sirius himself had not been having sex at Harry's age. Sirius hadn't been able to lie to the boy about that, but had tried to object that it had been different, but had not been able to explain how.
Misha had pointedly looked at his lover that he was being a bit of hypocrite and as long as Harry was not being coerced and forced to do things he was not comfortable with, they didn't have right to interfere, because they both had done the same thing and most of the teenage boys were doing it and berating a young in public thus humiliating him had not been appropriate.
Sirius had objected that there was no way for him to know that Harry was not being coerced. At that moment Harry had calmed down enough to join the conversation and had pointed out, that he would know that he was being coerced. When Sirius hadn't been convinced, Harry had told them that he had had a boyfriend with whom he had done pretty much everything two men could do together and was not ignorant. He hadn't wanted of course. The confession had been unwilling, since Harry had never really talked about Draco with his stepfathers'.
Sirius had gotten angry again, demanding to know the name of the prick that had used his godson like that and then dropped him. Besides saying that it hadn't been like that, Harry had refused to talk about it. Adamantly. To himself, the boy had wondered if Sirius had been right though. The fact that he had agreed to be used didn't mean that he hadn't been used.
In the end Sirius had said that he understood that Harry was young and he wanted to explore. But he had to promise that he wouldn't do anything foolish. He had scooped Harry up in his arms, carried to his room, brought the boy a damp washcloth to wipe his tear-streaked face and put the boy to bed, like a child, Harry still was for him.
Then Harry had almost started crying again, because never in his life anyone had put him to bed. No one had made sure if he was comfortable, no one had tucked him in, smoothed down his hair and kissed him on the forehead. Never.
He had seen Aunt Petunia tucking in Dudley; he had watched it many times, secretly hiding behind the stair rails. It had been easy, because he had been very small and had been forced to learn stealth at very young age. His aunt had sweetly cooed at her little boy, she had read him a book until Dudley had fallen asleep and had kissed hi on the forehead just before leaving.
After a while he had stopped spying on his aunt and cousin. It had hurt too much to return to his dark, lonely cupboard after seeing that.
Sometimes Harry wished he could simply forget the past which kept coming back to hunt him…
"Harry," Sirius' voice pulled the boy out of his reverie. "I told you that I have gotten over the fact that you are having a… a love life."
Harry wouldn't have used a word 'love', but he didn't point it out. He didn't want to have another argument.
"So what's with Victor?" Sirius repeated the question.
The boy winced. He didn't want to discuss Viktor either, but Sirius was not going to leave him alone.
"Victor wants something more." He stated unemotionally.
Sirius' face lit up: "Oh, isn't that a good thing?" He liked Viktor Krum or the fact that since Harry had met him he hadn't been with anyone else, as the boy's godfather, he hoped that Harry could find someone he really liked and go steady with said someone. Someone like Viktor.
"No, it's not really a good thing," Harry made a face. "I told him from the start, that I was not looking for anything serious. Obviously he had forgotten that."
"But you like him, don't you?" Sirius sounded hopeful.
"Well enough," Harry's tone was still dispassionate.
"Well enough to give him a chance or well enough to…"
"The second one," Harry cut the man off.
Sirius sighed. Whoever Harry's previous boyfriend had been, he had fucked the boy up big time. For him the young man seemed to be the type to want to be in relationship, to commit. He didn't like what his godson was doing. Not because he condemned Harry or thought less of him because he wanted to party and have some fun. He, himself had been a lot worse. Sirius just hadn't wanted to be tied down. Or in other words, he had simply been wild.
Harry however had been hurt and was obviously trying to get over it the wrong way. But he was not ready to hear that. The boy was as stubborn as James had been.
"Anyway," Harry shrugged pulling at his now shorter hair. "We are leaving the next week, aren't we? So the problem would solve itself, right?"
With that the boy walked out of the room to find a sketch pad. After one of his numerous visits to one of the wonderful museums or galleries one could find in Moscow, he was always inspired. Harry hadn't been idle on his long vacation, not at all. As soon as Misha had found out that Harry had been studying art, he had found him a teacher and a very good one as well. He was almost sorry to leave Russia for that reason.
Almost.
Harry really missed his friends. Ron, Hermione, the Weasleys.
***
One week later…
Harry had unpacked all the bags in his new suite at Misha's London house. It had turned out to be a bit of a chore. Funny how things had changed. Harry Potter had left London with one duffel bag (borrowed from the Weasleys) over his shoulder, but had returned with several bags stuffed with clothes so expensive that he didn't even want to think about it. But he had discovered that one got used to good things very fast.
He walked downstairs and into the kitchen where they had decided to have a meeting to discuss further plans. Remus and Sirius were sitting at the kitchen table and Misha wearing a dark blue apron was working by the cooker.
"Need a hand?" Harry offered.
"Oh, not really, I have almost finished," Misha waved him off. "But you could set the table." Harry nodded and started checking the closest dresser searching for plates.
When the table was set and the food was on the table surprisingly Remus was the first who spoke up: "I had a post box here in London. For all the things people may send me while I am abroad. Bank statements and such. I went through it and well, I found something interesting there."
He put on the table a large, brown envelope with a logo of some kind of bird on the corner of it: "It's from some kind of strange organisation I have never heard of – The Order of Phoenix."
"What do they want?" Sirius mumbled and three other men shot him reproachful looks, since he was trying to speak while chewing on his grilled fish.
"They are asking about Harry," Remus frowned. "And, that's not all. It turns out the man, who is the head of said Order of Phoenix is the Headmaster of Hogwarts University, the one Harry was attending."
"I don't like it," was the only thing Misha said catching Sirius' eyes.
"It is suspicious," Remus agreed. "The letter claims that they are looking for one of their students who had unexpectedly disappeared and they are contacting me since I am… was a close friend of his father's."
"That's not a common knowledge," Sirius looked worried. "I mean, it's not something they are supposed to know."
"Exactly," Remus agreed. "They are also offering assistance with some problems that might arise with Harry's coming of age. That certainly implies that whoever those people are, they know a lot more than they are supposed to," Remus sighed.
"I have seen the Headmaster," Harry spoke up. "He's very, very old, has a long white beard and, well, he looks kind of grandfatherly. I don't think that he could be evil."
Misha gave the boy a look that said – 'you are very young and naïve, but it's alright, we will take care of everything for you.'
"Listen," Harry insisted. "He is offering help, isn't he? We need to start somewhere anyway I think we should hear them out. Look what he wants, not revealing anything about ourselves of course." No one looked convinced.
"Come on, I went to that school for a whole semester, if the Headmaster had wanted to hurt me, he had plenty of opportunities. That kind of speaks in his favour, doesn't it? And if he's a potential ally… It certainly looks like he knows something, doesn't it? Maybe he's a good guy."
"Mhm, you know, guys, he has a point…" Sirius grumbled. "Didn't realise you were so smart, kid."
Harry beamed at his godfather his cheeks flushing with pride.
***
It had been decided that Misha and Remus would be the ones to meet the mysterious Albus Dumbledore, because Harry was the one the man was trying to get to and they didn't know for what reasons and they didn't want unnecessary alert anyone of Sirius' presence.
To meet at the school didn't seem dangerous; surely even if the Order of Phoenix turned out not to be friends, but enemies, they were not about to attack them at Hogwarts. Of course to be safe, Remus and Misha were going to have some of Misha's ever present body guards with them.
Harry, Sirius and Remus had gotten used to being 'followed'. It had been strange in the beginning, but the Russian had refused to listen to any objections, especially from Harry, and there was a reason for his paranoia.
The plan was for Remus and Misha were going to meet Dumbledore, but Harry and Sirius were to stay at home waiting for their return.
Unfortunately, it meant waiting.
Harry busied himself with some sketching, but his godfather, who was the impatient one, was trying very hard to find something interesting enough to busy himself with, while waiting for his lover's and best friend's return. By the time Remus and Misha came home he had managed to annoy Harry just a little bit, which was accomplishment, because Harry had a patience of a saint.
"Thanks, God! You're home! How did it go?" Sirius was almost bouncing with excitement.
Misha smiled and gave his lover the kind of look that said 'I love you so damn match just the way you are': "Let us take off our shoes at least, alright?"
They all sat down and Remus started telling them what had happened: "I think most of our worries were unfounded. Misha has his doubts, but I think Albus Dumbledore is a good, old man." The Russian man rolled his eyes; he was suspicious, not by nature, but because he had seen bad things happen to people who were not careful enough.
"Apparently, the Headmaster knew your grandfather, Harry," Remus continued. "I am not sure how though. He also revealed that James was supposed to attend Hogwarts, but as you know he had to take over the family estate, so his studies were postponed and after.. well, you know what happened. Anyway, professor Dumbledore said that you Harry would have been invited to attend Hogwarts in any case, even if you hadn't applied for the scholarship. He claims that he had wanted to keep an eye on you, considering what happened to James and Lily…"
"Does he know anything about that?" Harry exclaimed anxiously.
"Hold on, we'll get to it," Remus chided. "So, the headmaster was watching you and as he said, watching Harry to find out if someone was watching him. That was why he didn't approach you before; he didn't want to endanger you unnecessary. I don't think I agree that not warning you about danger was the right course, but apparently Dumbledore believed that ignorance was bliss. However, he did intend to approach you sooner or later. And then you vanished and he had lost the chance."
"About his organization," Misha took over. "Looks like it's some kind of private agency or foundation, if you wish, which does whatever the old man tells them. In this case, he offers us help in dealing with the man he thinks might be our common enemy…"
"He didn't put it like that…" Remus objected shooting worried glances at Harry and Sirius. He obviously hadn't wanted to reveal everything to those two.
"No, maybe he didn't, but he has been looking into what happened to Harry's parents and had his suspicions about your travels, Siri. And he has an idea who might be standing behind everything and he thinks that with our help he might have a chance to get back at them."
"Who?" Sirius and Harry asked in one voice.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle,"
"Never heard of him," murmured Sirius.
"Me neither," Remus agreed. "But professor Dumbledore claims that he is a very dangerous and powerful man who had done a lot of wrong and is connected to your cousin Bellatrix Lestrange."
"Bella?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And of course, she is the one who is controlling the Black fortune at the moment. Don't believe it's a coincidence."
"Yes," Misha nodded. "He obviously has some dirt on that Riddle guy. More than we could dig up on our own. I think he will be a good ally and doesn't seem like a type who would want in return more than we are ready to pay for his help. He just wants Riddle gone. I have a feeling that Dumbledore for some reason has been on Riddle's case for years," concluded Misha. This was Misha who meant business.
"If you say so," Sirius shrugged and looked at Remus and Harry. They didn't seem to be having any objections.
"What happens now?" Harry asked still feeling a bit confused. So he had a name. Finally. Tom Riddle. But it was just a name. It didn't have a face or character. Harry wanted to hate the man who was probably the one who stole his happy childhood and fifteen years off Sirius' life. But couldn't. it was all too impersonal
"Now," Misha drawled. "We will be meeting up with a barrister in Dumbledore's employ who will help us to sort out Harry's inheritance and Sirius' legal problems as well."
***
Once again they were waiting. For some reason Albus Dumbledore hadn't simply told them the address, but had insisted on sending one of his people. Dumbledore was kind of strange though. Probably it had something to do with his age, if not, then they were in serious trouble.
Furthermore - whoever was supposed to join them was late. When the doorbell finally rang the three men were more than ready to go. Sirius had already gotten impatient and twitchy.
Misha gave a sign to one of his body guards to get the door. Leonid flexed his muscular shoulders, then walked to the door and looked through the spy-hole and nodded at his boss. Apparently, whoever was standing outside seemed safe enough to be let inside. As he opened the door Leonid's fast reflexes was the only thing that kept the young woman on the other side from sprawling down on the floor, since she rather stumbled into the house than stepped.
"Oh, thanks, man! Now, that was embarrassing," The young woman laughed as she straightened her clothes. Oh, but she was quite young. Maybe not as young as she looked because of her casual clothing (jeans, t-shirt and a burgundy red leather jacket) and shockingly pink hair. Certainly not what they had expected.
"And you would be..." Remus was as polite as always.
"Tonks," she grinned. "Well, it's Nymphadora Tonks, but don't you dare to call me in any other name than Tonks and we will get on nicely, 'key?"
Harry nodded understandingly. Nymphadora. He could sympathise.
"So you are the one..."
"The one Albus sent for you, yeah," she nodded. "But not for the reason you think, not that I know what you are really thinking, but, oh, whatever..." She turned towards Sirius and her grin widened, if it was possible. "The old codger just wanted us to have a bit of a family reunion, cousin."
Sirius' eyes widened: "Cousin?"
"Oh, yes!" The young woman beamed at him. "My mum's Andromeda Black."
"Andy?" Sirius exclaimed excitedly. "You are Andy's little girl?"
"Yes, I am!" And then they were both laughing and hugging and talking to each other exuberantly.
Misha's and Harry's eyes met; they could definitely see the family resemblance.
They didn't have much time to waste, so further introductions happened in the car. They found out that Tonks' mother was Sirius' cousin and the only one he actually liked. She had been worried about Sirius and that way they had met Albus Dumbledore and Tonks, who worked in the police department, by the way, had agreed to join The Order of Phoenix, since they also hunted down criminals.
Finally they had reached their destination – an old building with grey facade. Harry thought it fit a barrister's office perfectly. So serious.
***
When they walked into the barrister's office on the third floor, Harry thought that the room was exactly how he had imagined it. The walls were done in light colours, there was leather sofa for clients who had to wait an abstract painting on the wall and even a secretary sitting at her table.
When they came in, the young woman instantly got up and hurried to greet them: "Hello, my name is Virginia. How can I help you?"
"Hello, how are you?" Misha answered. "We have an appointment at eleven."
"Of course. Mr. Snape is already waiting for you," Virginia led the three man and the teenage boy to the door and opened it for them.
"Who?" Sirius exclaimed.
"Erm… Mr. Snape," Virginia was obviously confused seeing Sirius's sudden outburst.
"It can't be…" Sirius mumbled. Then he turned towards Remus. "It can't be, right?"
"Well, I am not sure…" Remus looked like he really didn't know what to say.
"What's the matter?" Misha inquired, always being alert to new information.
"Nothing. Probably. We'll see," Sirius said darkly.
"Then let's go, see the barrister," but it was obvious that Misha was already wary.
When the door opened, the first thing Harry noticed was that this part of the office was considerably darker than the waiting-room. The walls were covered with dark-green wall-paper and the flooring was dark grey. A bit gloomy.
And then his eyes came to rest on the owner of the office. The man wearing a black suit which seemingly still lost out compared to man's hair and eyes. Harry froze in horror. He knew the man, they had met before and the tall, dark man was not someone who could be mistaken for anybody else.
However it was Sirius, whose reaction to the barrister was the most expressive.
"Snape!" He exclaimed looking somewhat angry, somewhat disturbed.
The man's lips looked even thinner as he sneered in distaste and eyes bore into the person who he despised like no one other. Black.
"Let me assure you, I am also not glad to see you again. I was truly hoping that the earth had opened and swallowed your worthless self."
Harry gaped. Snape was the rudest person he had ever met!
"Oh, you…!" Sirius had balled his hands into fists and sputtering unattractively.
Remus was the one who put a calming hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Hello, Severus," he said a bit tersely. "Was that really necessary?"
"Ah, Lupin, still the peacemaker," Snape snorted shuffling the papers on the heavy table.
"What is going on here?" Sirius demanded.
"And what do you think is going on here, Black?" Snape's voice was dripping with sarcasm, hinting at the fact that he didn't think highly of Sirius' mental faculties. "I am a barrister. Albus tried to convince me that you needed one?"
"Yes, but…" Sirius was obviously trying to object.
"Eloquent as always, Black," Snape didn't even let him finish.
"You know each other," Misha wasn't really asking, he was stating a fact.
"Unfortunately," Snape was seemingly using every opportunity to express his discontent.
"I see," Misha's tone of voice was suddenly very hard. "Is it going to be a problem? We can always find someone else." Harry often found himself wondering how one person could be so kind and easy-going one moment and then turned into someone… well, someone you didn't want to mess with, someone who commanded respect and demanded obedience.
Snape didn't seem fazed though. Or was hiding it very well: "And you would be?"
"Mihail Berezinski, a close friend," Misha offered.
"I see," Snape repeated Misha's words as if declaring that everything about the Russian man was crystal-clear to him. "Mister Berezinski," scowled Snape. "No. It's not going to be a problem. No matter how much I detest Black, you are here, because I owe Albus. And you will have hard time finding someone who is not only capable, but can be trusted as well."
"Why would I ever trust you, Snape?" Sirius exclaimed.
"There is nothing I can say to convince you, Black. And it's not that I am going to waste my time convincing you of my trustworthiness. But let's say that your enemy is my enemy and we don't have to be friends to fight him. This is not a game and while I wish you have never been born, I am not going to let my personal feelings get in the way. Much. That I can promise."
Misha was still scrutinizing the acrid man through narrowed eyes and was being ignored by the lawyer.
Snape just turned to another target: "And can I assume that the one who is hiding behind your backs is the Potter offspring?"
Well, Harry didn't think he was hiding… but, obviously it was pointless. Maybe the man didn't remember him at all? Couldn't Harry be that lucky just for once?
"Erm… hello, Mr. Snape," the boy greeted.
"Oh, so it speaks," Snape raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Potter senior would be so very proud." He kept shuffling through documents not even looking at the young man.
Harry was taken aback. The man was not just rude. He was incredibly rude! Alright, he had some kind of bone to pick with Sirius, but he didn't really know Harry!
"You might want to sit down," Snape waved into direction of table with several chairs that had been obviously set up for the meeting. Sirius was still glaring draggers at the dark-hired man, but they did sit down.
Snape's attitude didn't improve much, but he refrained from direct insults and was all business. Harry was wondering where the man had found so many documents; it seemed that he knew a lot more about the state of his affairs, than Harry himself. The boy was not going to ask though. He could imagine what Snape would say. They discussed Sirius' and Harry's cases. Harry couldn't believe that he was going to have so much money. Well, he didn't exactly comprehend, how much it was, because the boy never had possessed much of it. Dursleys hadn't given him any money, ever. So he hadn't properly learned how manage it. As far as Harry was concerned five pounds was pretty much.
Snape announced that there would be no problems with taking over Potter's accounts and estates. They had been administered by trustees from GobLink bank who had done their best and there was no reason to complain about anything.
"What we don't know," Snape drawled. "Is if Potter has left anything we could use against Tom Riddle. And if there is anything, then question is where. Albus believes that… but Albus is an optimist."
Sirius' case was definitely more complicated, since he had to prove his identity to reclaim his possessions. "I don't see how someone could mistake you for anyone else, though," Snape noted. It was obviously not a compliment, judging by the vicious sneer that accompanied the words.
Misha looked less and less happy with the man who obviously held an enormous grudge against his lover.
"And you Potter," Harry's surname sounded like a swear word when Snape was using it. "You will have to sign those documents, so we can start the process. I will let you know when they will be ready; it would be relief if I could send you documentation by a courier. I don't particularly wish to see your face more often than necessary, but you will probably have to come here to sign or even go to see the Goblins, I mean, representatives from GobLink."
Harry nodded wondering what had he ever done to the man.
And then came what he had been dreading.
"Have we met before, Potter?" Snape narrowed his eyes scrutinising the boy.
Harry blushed and paled at the same time. Misha, who was carefully watching, raised an eyebrow.
"I… Ah… I don't think so… Sir," the boy stuttered.
"Hm," Snape's eyes bore into Harry's. The unique green could be easily seen, since the boy had stopped wearing glasses. "Not so many people have green eyes like yours, Potter, don't you agree? Until now, I knew only one other person who had that kind of green eyes, your mother… but wait a minute… yes, I think I remember now… Are you sure that you are the only child Potter? That would make things complicated…"
"Of course he is the only child!" Sirius exclaimed.
"How can you be so sure? Who knows what Potter was up to… but that wouldn't make much sense…"
"You are not making any sense!" Exclaimed Sirius. "Don't you dare to imply that…"
"I am not implying anything!" Snape barked. "Do you happen to have a cousin? A female cousin?"
Harry shook his head, not daring to say anything.
"Harriet…" Snape breathed out, recalling something.
Mortification on Harry's face probably confirmed all the suspicions the man had. Snape looked genuinely surprised for a moment.
"I see… You have interesting hobbies, Mr. Potter," the man couldn't quite hide his own surprise.
This would have been a good opportunity to humiliate Potter's son, but Snape really couldn't get completely vicious when it had been his godson who had been with the boy. Which was astonishing, really. What had Draco been doing… no, Severus didn't want to know.
"Ok, Snape," Sirius was loosing patience. "You are really making no sense now. What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing, really, just that Potter junior here looks very good in drag…" the barrister drawled.
There was a long pause, everyone looking at Snape, except Harry, who was trying to become invisible.
"Harry?" Sirius looked at the boy questioningly. "What is he talking about?"
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about, Black, really," Snape was really enjoying it. "Just that Potter and I, we have met before. That night he was wearing a pink dress and hanging off another man's arm." Snape conveniently didn't mention who had been the man.
"Could we talk about it at home?" Harry almost pleaded.
Snape had opened a can of worms. Harry really started to hate the dour man who didn't know when to keep his mouth shut and still looked like he wanted to say something more, probably was thinking of something to say to humiliate him even more.
Misha noticed it straight away and decided to put end to it: "Is there anything else you wanted, Mr. Snape or are we free to leave?"
"We are done for today, so, yes, you could be so kind and remove yourselves from my office."
Sirius obviously felt like he had something to say, but Harry didn't let him and almost forcefully dragged his godfather out of the office with Remus' support, who knew both men very well. Misha followed after giving Snape one warning look though. He still wasn't sure if they should put up with the barrister.
Harry was in such a hurry to get out of Snape's office that he didn't really look where he was going, before he had to stop as he ran into an obstacle that shouldn't be in the middle of the hall.
"Oh, excuse me…" Harry started to apologize and then looked up to see the person whose chest he had run into. And froze completely. Harry could have sworn that his heart stopped beating for a moment, his breath caught and the blood ran cold in his veins. There, standing in front of him, was Draco Malfoy. And he was not just standing; he was holding Harry by his upper arms as if trying to keep him from toppling over, cold, silver grey eyes piercing the dark-hired boy's very soul.
Since meeting Draco, Harry had become quite familiar with moments that could seemingly last eternity. The emotions that tore through him could have certainly filled an eternity. Pain, longing, anger, fear…
And Draco just stood there, like a marble statue without any expression distorting his perfect features. For a moment there Harry wondered if Draco Malfoy was human like everyone else, if he was capable of feeling anything at all.
And Draco was not letting him go.
'Stop touching me. Let me go, Let me go, Draco, let me walk away,' Harry silently begged. He had no idea how long they were standing like that.
"Harry? Are you alright?" Misha broke the 'spell' that had been put over the boy and he was able to shrug of Draco's hands that were surprisingly reluctant to let go. Not that the blonde was trying to hold on Harry or anything, but those long, elegant fingers had definetely tightened around the boy's biceps before letting go.
Harry was going to pretend that he hadn't felt that.
"Yes, everything is fine, Misha," Harry said flatly and decisively strolled down the hall, not looking back.
It took all his willpower, not to look back.
***
"Who were they?" Draco demanded as soon as he had closed the door of his godfather's office behind him.
Snape raised an eyebrow at the young man.
"Severus, who were they? Those men," the blonde demanded with the impudence of a young aristocrat, which he was, by the way.
Snape had an urge to roll his eyes: "But Draco, I thought that you knew at least one of them, the boy. Harry Potter. I remember how you introduced him to me, under a different name of course… Or have you forgotten already?"
"No. I haven't," Draco's voice was hard as steel and for the moment Snape was forced to remember whose son the young man was. There was the infamous Malfoy callousness, arrogance, hardness. But the cause of those traits in both men was different. The cause of Lucius' coldness was his total lack of morals, hunger for power and the fact that he enjoyed to play people. The source of Draco's coldness and cruelness was his anger. While outwards the son and father had a lot in common, they were very different people inside.
Severus wished he could help his godson, but he didn't exactly know how to deal with his own emotions.
"Well, if you have to know, those men were Harry Potter, his godfather, said godfather's best friend Lupin and some foreigner, I think his name was Michael or something like that. I am not sure which one of them he is fucking, but I would bet that it's not Lupin," Severus narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Draco's hands tightened in fists until his knuckles turned white.
Well, yes, he had deliberately insinuated some things, but the man hadn't expected such reaction from his godson. Really, because of… it was painfully obvious that Draco and the Potter brat had been engaged in something Snape didn't want to contemplate, but Draco was not the jealous type. Until now Snape hadn't even known that the young man had had a male lover.
It had always been something he had liked to taunt Black with. His homosexuality. Now his hateful words were returning to bite him. His own godson was obviously bisexual. But it didn't really matter if he thought about it. Black was Black. Everything he did was wrong. Snape wasn't above having double standards.
But what did the foolish boy see in Potter's progeny? Well, yes, Harry Potter was a little, pretty thing, he had to admit reluctantly. And that was it. Pretty. Not handsome. Not good looking in a manly way. Short, scrawny. Big, green eyes, too sensual mouth. The boy was feminine. Judging by the looks he should have been fourteen or female.
Draco however could still see Harry standing in front of him. he could still hear boy's heartbeat.
Short hair suited Harry. Draco could imagine how it would feel to rake his fingers through all of the thick, dark, incredibly soft strands. And the boy had gotten rid of his ugly DHS glasses. Without them the unique, verdant eyes looked just unbelievably large, their uniqueness was there for everyone to see. So painfully beautiful.
Once that beauty had belonged to Draco. He had been the one who had had the privilege to take off all the rags, to uncover Harry's beauty and enjoy it. Now the boy was not hiding anymore. he was there on display, for everyone. It made Draco so ridiculously jealous that he could hardly breathe.
Snape was watching his godson with worry. It was obvious that Potter's presence was affecting the blonde. Severus didn't like it.
"Why were they here?" Draco finally asked what was really important. "What does Harry Potter have to do with you?"
Snape sighed and sat down at his table and motioned for Draco to take the chair opposing it.
"I suppose it's time we discussed some things," Snape was reluctant for a reason. His godson has lived with him and worked in his law firm since he had left home. And he had been welcome. Severus loved the boy like his own and was not surprised and almost glad that Draco had finally had enough of his father and his manipulations. But…
"I am sorry to tell you this, Draco, but I am going to go against your father," he announced. Snape didn't believe in pretty words when things were about to turn ugly.
The blonde was giving his godfather a blank look: "What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said, Draco. I am forced to turn against Lucius. It's going to get ugly. Really ugly. As much as I don't want you to suffer from all of this, I am afraid that there is nothing much I can do about it. And as much as I love you… Lucius is still your father and I can't expect you to choose me over him," Snape said gravely.
"Wait a minute, you are saying that you are forced. Who is forcing you? If someone s trying to make you to do something you don't want to..."
"No, Draco," Severus lifted his hand to stop his godson from saying anything else. "I am afraid that my wording was not right. With 'forced' I didn't mean that there was some outside force influencing me. I meant that that is something I have to do. That is not to be discussed. I have made my decision. It was made long time ago, in fact. The question is what to do with you. I don't want to see you hurt."
"I can take care of myself," the younger man stated stubbornly. "But I have to understand."
"I shouldn't be telling you this Draco. I shouldn't be warning you… but," he cared too much. Severus really hoped that Draco knew that. "Long time ago, when I was very young I became friends with your father. He was older, not much, but when you are sixteen, three years are a lot. I was taken with Lucius, the damned sociopath. I was naïve and stupid. I did some things for him without knowing what I was doing and what the consequences would be. The consequences were not pleasant. It almost put me in the jail, Draco. Someone helped me. And opened my eyes to who your father really was. I won't sugar-coat it to you Draco. He has done some very bad things. People have suffered. He has to answer for his crimes."
Draco was struck. He knew his father was a right bastard, but crimes? He couldn't quite believe that.
"I am sorry, Draco," Severus really was. "I am sorry that I have to tell you this. I know you are not stupid, Draco, I know you know that Lucius is no saint. But the sad truth is that he is worse than that. He had done some things that are not excusable and the time has come to stop him. I know you are angry with him at the moment, but he is still your father and what I am going to do he will never forgive. I am going to betray him, Draco. This is not a game, Draco."
The younger man was speechless. He really didn't know what to say.
"Once again, Draco, I am sorry to put you into this situation. But you are not a child anymore; you should be able to decide for yourself. I would suggest you to stay out of what's going to happen when, excuse me for my French, shit hits the fan."
Then Draco remembered what had started this conversation: "And what does Harry Potter have to do with everything? With you? With my father?"
"Everything," Snape said grimly. "The Potters, his parents, where killed when the boy was no more than a year old, because James Potter stuck his nose into something that was not his business. Damn it, Draco, you couldn't choose worse person for your experimentation or whatever your fling with that boy was! Does Lucius know?"
"I assume he does," Draco ground out. He knew that it had been his father who had sent Harry those pictures. It didn't matter that he had no proof. No one else had the resources and a reason. That had been the last drop. Draco had moved out and went to live with his godfather. He was sick of his father trying control his life.
"Bloody marvellous," Snape swore. "It's not good. It means that if you will return to Lucius he will try to use you to get to the boy."
"What!" Draco exclaimed. It was ridiculous!
"Very soon that pretty boy of yours is going to become a major player in a very dangerous game and I have no doubt that your father will use any means to get to him. If he doesn't know exactly who the boy you dated was, he will use you against him…"
"No. I refuse to believe this, Sev," Draco shook his head. "Harry Potter, he is a poor orphan, he's no one…"
"Yes, he is an orphan whose parents had been killed. Murdered. He is not poor though, since he is about to inherit millions very soon now. Nothing like the Malfoy millions, but enough. And no matter, how little I like the brat; he is definitely someone, someone who is probably the key to bringing the ones who are responsible for his parent's murders and other crimes to justice. Those are people who had stolen, tortured, murdered…."
"I need to think about it," Draco cut him off.
Severus sadly watched his godson leaving the office. He really didn't have much choice in this. Some things just had to be done.
***
Harry pressed his cheek against the cold car window, he was feeling a bit flushed, the teenager was angry with himself. He had simply frozen. Just stood there gaping like an idiot. Well, the boy had been surprised. He hadn't expected to run into Draco of all people! But Snape was Draco's godfather, wasn't he? Harry just hoped that next time he would be ready and wouldn't let Draco Malfoy to affect him so much.
"Now, tell me Harry, what was Snape on about?" Sirius was not exactly angry.
Harry let out a deep breath. He just hadn't wanted to discuss it, like many other things from his past, besides he was too shaken after seeing Draco again. Why, God, why those things always happened to him?
"He saw me dressed up as a girl," The boy admitted.
Remus' eyebrows arched: "Oh… well, I had no idea that you… I must admit, I find it a bit…" it was obvious that it was out of Remus Lupin's comfort zone.
"Hn, sure, I like men and some people think that's abnormal or whatever," Sirius grumbled. "Will take some used to, but if you want to wear a dress, you should have told me… I guess it's not the end of the world… you don't want to become a woman, do you?"
Harry burst out laughing: "God, Sirius! Of course I don't! I didn't even like dressing up as a woman! Really. I was quite uncomfortable. It wasn't like that."
"So why did you, Harry, if you didn't want to?"
"It was for fun. Someone asked me to,"
"The same someone who…"
"Yeah," Harry admitted. "I guess he wanted me to be a girl or something."
"Never try to have a relationship with a bisexual," Misha made a face. "They never know what they want and there is always a chance that one day they would decide that they want children and children are easier to have with women."
"Harry," Remus put a hand over boy's small one. "You would feel better if you talked about it." He, Sirius and Misha, they all were worried that they knew almost nothing of Harry's relationship with… well; they didn't even knew the guy's name. It obviously had quite hurt the young man and kept hurting him, but Harry stubbornly refused to open up to them.
And once again the boy just shook his head. Remus sighed, but didn't pry. There was no point.
"And now tell me about our lawyer," Misha masterfully changed the topic. "The one with big nose and even bigger attitude problem."
Sirius snickered.
"We know him from school," Remus' lips quirked a bit too. "We didn't really get along."
"Didn't get along!" Sirius exclaimed. "That's the understatement of the century! We hated Snape, because he was such a cunt."
"Sirius!" Remus didn't appreciate his friend's crude language. "How old are you, honestly? I don't think Snape was nor is a bad person. Not easy to get along maybe, a bit antisocial. I think Sirius, James and Severus just started off on the wrong foot. Then it escalated."
Sirius grumbled something about feet, but no one was paying him any attention, since in some matters Remus was really more reliable.
"The worst was when James started liking Lily. She and Severus were very good friends, but she wouldn't even look at James twice then. They were awfully immature. James was very jealous."
"Are you telling me that Snape liked my mom?" That was somehow a disturbing possibility.
"I think he did," Remus nodded. "But they had a fall out. I am not really sure of the reasons."
"Don't be surprised, who could stand that slimy git for long," Sirius put in.
"Are you sure you are not just jealous, dorogoi," Misha smirked. "You know what they say about men with big noses."
"Misha!" Sirius spluttered. "I didn't want to think about that, I really didn't… yuck!"
"Me neither," Harry grimaced.
"But the question is if we can trust him," the Russian man got serious once again.
"I don't know," Remus answered. "I think he might have gotten involved because of Lily. But we don't really know, do we? Albus Dumbledore trusts him though and I think I trust Albus Dumbledore."
"Yes, he is very…" Misha didn't finish, but Remus obviously knew what he meant and nodded in agreement.
TBC
A/N: Ha! I am not stuck anymore. Which means that the story will continue. I don't promise to update often, but I will update. This is the only story I haven't finished, so I guess it means I am quite a nice author.
Thank you for reviews, I am glad you like the story. You did inspire me. I can't promise to always answer you, because I am busy and lazy, but they do help.
LillyJames4ever: I promise Draco and Harry will e meeting in the next chapter and in the one after that as well.
Harry Draco Malfoy: What Draco really deserves is good spanking, not Harry. But you can be happy that people sometimes don't get what they deserve.
Yaoiandcoffeeaddict: Cheers!
StarWest45: Thanks. I think you should be happy because Harry is back. I never intended to keep him away for too long.
Maryna: About the food – where I come it's not that different from Russian, so I kind of know pretty well what they eat. I am not even sure if some of the stuff is really theirs.
GaiazHeart: You really like Harry getting dirty? Oh my… ;)
RRW: Well, I don't think he will become very slutty, just a bit braver, temperamental and less prudish.
Imperfection Is A Bliss: Well, people get over relationships in many different ways.
tilly-tally-tease: I am glad you like the story. I learned Russian at a very young age, so mostly from TV, it was easy and not really learning (like having lessons), but came natural to me. I would say that the language is hard enough if you aren't exposed to it every day, many people have problems with pronunciation. Russian is definitely more different from English than Spanish or German, for example. It is a kind of language you need talent for, because many of my friends who have lived in the same conditions as I, struggle with it – they kind of understand, but can't pronounce the words. I don't dare to say that it would be easy to learn.
