Chapter Thirteen

"How long do the effects of this bloody ointment last?" Draco asked and quickly added, "Not that I mind shagging you all night long…"

"I don't know. It didn't come with operating instructions."

"Well, since we're awake, do you want a tour of the castle?"

"Blarney Castle? Why not? It's unlikely I'll be back in Ireland any time soon."

Draco fixed his hair while Harry pulled a black jumper out of his pack. He tossed it to Draco with a pair of black trousers. Draco held up the jumper critically; Harry must have snatched the first thing he saw. He would have preferred the grey cashmere or his favourite—he snatched his boots out of the air as Harry sailed them towards the bed. Draco clutched them happily.

"You will never be so glad to see boots until you have to walk miles without them. Now where did I put my—fuck!"

Harry's head snapped up in surprise. "What is it?"

"My clothes! Maeve has them. She'll know someone mucked about with her memory if she finds them laid out on her bedside table or wherever the hell she put them."

"Is there anything on them to link them to you?"

Draco thought hard. Torn white shirt. Black trousers. Socks. "No."

"No monogrammed stitching? No tag that reads 'Property of Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Sex God?'" Harry prodded.

"No, but I might start adding that to my clothes; I rather like the sound of it." Draco snapped his fingers. "She has the Portkey."

"The one that brought you here?"

"No, the one that I found in the forest. Of course the one that brought me here."

"Well, if she recovers her memory, she may figure out what it is, but it won't do her much good, will it? It's one-way, after all."

"True, I suppose."

"Do you know where she lives? Maybe we can go and fetch it back."

Draco shook his head. "I was unconscious when she brought me to Blarney. We could have Apparated, for all I know."

Harry gasped. "That's right! Apparition still works here! There is no bloody dark magic!"

"Doesn't help us at the moment though, does it?"

"Shall we see if Maeve is still where you left her?" Harry's voice was slightly disapproving. God forbid Draco leave the evil, murderous witch lying on the ground in the rain. He sighed.

They dressed quickly and returned to the clearing where Draco had nearly been killed. The rain was pouring as though released from floodgates, but Maeve was gone.

"Damn me, but I feel I'm going to regret that."

"Regret what?" Harry asked.

"Letting her live," Draco said flatly.

"I'm going to pretend you're joking."

Draco wished he had been. Anyone willing to hold a grudge against Lucius for untold years would have no trouble transferring that hatred to Draco.

"Let's go back inside," Draco said.

"Can Maeve get in here?" Harry asked when they returned to the cave.

"Not while we're here. It is password protected when occupied."

"What's the password?"

"I didn't set one. Who is going to need it? Come along, let's go play tourist."

Draco found the concealed door near the tub and entered a dark, spiderweb-filled passage that looked as though it had been unused for centuries. Draco held his wand high and felt Harry's hand grasp his waistband as he stumbled behind him in the dark. The passage finally opened into the castle itself, through a hidden doorway in a blank wall. The place looked eerie at night.

Draco held up his lit wand and looked at Harry, not sure where to take him first. He picked a wisp of spider web from Harry's dark hair, and flicked it off with distaste. He tsked and started off, blandly pointing out items of interest like a bored tour guide, though he was glad to see Harry avidly taking in the sights. Harry was like a child sometimes—he got excited by the damnedest things. Harry practically ran up the ludicrous amount of steps to reach the top of the castle. The wind had picked up and the rain slashed sideways in gusts, soaking them both regardless of their Umbrella Charms.

"Are you going to kiss the Blarney Stone?" Harry asked, talking loudly over the downpour.

"Do you really think I need to?"

"Heaven's no."

"Besides, the Muggles have quite ruined the experience. They attached safety bars to keep themselves from plummeting to their deaths."

"Damn those Muggles and their fear of death!" Harry swore vehemently.

Draco punched him in the arm, but chuckled anyway. "And it's unsanitary. No way will these lips touch something that untold foul Muggles have pressed their vile mouths to."

"Well, I'm kissing it." Harry marched forwards and levered himself over the edge. Draco was suddenly glad of the safety-minded Muggles. He would have been… concerned if Harry had suspended himself over nothingness in this rain.

Harry dragged himself back up. "There. I kissed the Blarney Stone. Now I'm kissing you. To share the germs of thousands of foul Muggles."

"No, you are not." Draco held up a warning finger and backed away. Harry stalked him.

"Oh, yes I am."

Draco bolted. He nearly broke his neck on the steep stairs as they pelted through the castle. Harry was laughing riotously and had to stop a few times to clutch his heaving sides, which made Draco erupt into giggles watching him. Harry almost had him cornered a few times, but Draco always managed to slip away. Harry finally hit him with a Full-body Bind and laughed wickedly as he approached. He pressed his cool lips against Draco's before releasing the spell wordlessly. He deepened the kiss. Draco sighed happily and squeezed him tightly.

"You fight dirty, Potter."

"I learned from the best."

After that, Draco decided to kiss Harry in every single room of the castle, which took some time, especially when they started losing track of where they had been and Harry started to look like he was losing track of what planet he was on. They finally gave up and returned to the Druid's Cave to make love again. At some point it occurred to them that maybe they could simply bathe and scrub the salve off. It worked admirably and they finally fell into an exhausted slumber, wrapped in each other's arms.

ooOoo

Harry woke before Draco, who was sprawled at an angle across the bed, taking up quite a lot more than half of it. He had also kicked off nearly all the coverings, most of which were stacked on Harry. The rest were on the floor. Harry smiled and unburied himself.

He was starved. They had forgotten to eat the night before, and Harry had foregone lunch to race after Draco with single-minded obsession. He dragged on his jeans and went to dig through his pack. He had snatched random food items from Grimmauld Place—a loaf of bread, a tin of (Draco's) Russian caviar, proscuitto, a small wheel of some sort of cheese, and a jar of olives. Harry looked at the jar in bemusement. He didn't like olives and he had no idea if Draco liked olives.

There was a rudimentary fireplace in one wall, hacked from the natural stone, but Harry wasn't certain he should use it. Would the smoke be visible outside? A teapot sat on a table near the fireplace and Harry quickly conjured water to fill it. He brought it to boiling with his wand and made some strong tea before slicing the bread and making a sandwich with the meat and cheese.

Draco stirred while Harry sipped at his second cup of tea. He had parked himself on the edge of the bed to watch Draco sleep. He always enjoyed the sight of Draco's hair mussed and spread out over the pillow. His lashes were incredibly long. They flicked open and his grey eyes focused on Harry.

"I won't even ask what you're doing," Draco mumbled.

"Watching you. You sleep like a precious ickle angel."

"If you weren't holding hot tea I'd make you eat those words."

Harry smirked. Draco stretched his lithe body and sat up. He snagged the cup from Harry's hands and took a drink before handing it back with a grimace. "God, Potter, could you put more sugar in there? I think I nearly tasted some tea beneath the gagging sweetness." He collapsed back onto the bed.

Harry got up to prepare a cup for Draco, who liked the merest skiff of sugar and a gallon of cream, though he would have to settle for sugar today. Harry had not toted cream. Harry drank his black with loads of sugar. Draco stretched again lazily.

"Any idea what time it is?"

"Not the slightest," Harry said pleasantly. He found that he didn't care, either. "What shall we do today?"

"Go home?" Draco suggested. "It's a long flight, you know."

"Not really."

"How did you get here so quickly, anyway? Tell me you didn't Apparate!" The alarm in Draco's voice startled Harry.

"No, of course not. I'm not that reckless. I took a Muggle airplane."

Draco's face was carefully blank. "We will not be going back that way."

"Yes, we wil. It's faster."

"I refuse to pack myself into a flying tin can stuffed with a horrendous mass of—"

"Don't start! You need not dredge up your library of Muggle insults!"

"I'd rather Apparate," Draco said stubbornly.

"We're not Apparating."

"You know, I've been thinking about that. We know it's safe to Apparate from here, right?"

Harry watched him narrowly. "Yes."

"And we know there is no dark magic around Malfoy Manor, correct?"

"Nothing you didn't put there yourself, you mean?"

"Yes. So we should be able to Apparate from here to Malfoy Manor."

"Should," Harry said vehemently. "We don't know for certain. We don't have a handle yet on how this works."

"Gryffindors are supposed to be brave."

"Slytherins are supposed to be… well…" Harry stopped. "What are Slytherins supposed to be?"

"Determined."

"Oh. If by 'determined' you mean 'ruthless' then, yes, I'll buy that. Besides, we can't Apparate with Hedwig."

"Why not?"

"Have you ever Apparated with an owl? It might kill her." Harry glared at Draco, daring him to mention that he'd buy Harry another owl if Hedwig died. Draco glared back.

"What do you propose, then?"

"We fly to the nearest Muggle city, get on a plane, and be home within three hours."

"All right. I concede. Have it your way."

Alarm bells began to clang in Harry's brain. Whenever Draco was agreeable, it meant trouble. "I'm going outside to see what time it is. And I should send a Patronus message to Hermione, too."

"Say 'hi' for me. Tell her I'm killing her husband when I get back."

Harry started to argue, but realized at the last moment that Draco had thrown the comment out as bait and Harry had nearly snatched it up like a starving mongrel.

"Why are you so tetchy today?"

Draco sighed and brushed a hand through his hair before primping it with his usual spell. "I don't know. I'm just tired. We didn't exactly sleep much." His silver eyes combed Harry's body, causing the slightest lurch in his breathing.

"You can sleep on the plane," Harry said and managed to keep the taunt from his voice—barely. He knew there was slim chance of Draco sleeping even if he did manage to wrestle him onto an airplane. He would have to put Draco by a window and hope to hell no Muggles got too close to him. It would be hard to explain Draco recoiling in revulsion every time anyone got near, although there was probably a Muggle mental illness that would justify it.

Harry climbed the stairs and was pleased to note the rain had stopped. It was still overcast, but the clouds were bunching and seemed likely to break up. Harry judged the time to be close to midday. A white flash caught his eye and he raised an arm. Hedwig landed on his forearm and he gave her a pat.

"Ready to go home, girl?"

"I am," Draco said behind him, nearly giving Harry heart failure. Draco could be deathly quiet when he chose. Harry clenched his jaw and wondered how long Draco planned to maintain his current annoying mood. Draco held his arm up to Harry's and Hedwig climbed onto it obediently. She had grown to like Draco over the past few months.

Draco stroked her feathers for a moment and then his silver eyes looked at Harry with a wicked glint.

"Wait…" Harry began, but Draco disappeared with a crack. Harry gaped at the place where he and Hedwig had been for a shocked instant, until his name was called. He turned and saw Draco walking towards him from across the clearing. Hedwig took to the air and sought refuge in a nearby tree.

"Are you completely barmy?" Harry yelled. "What if that had killed her? Hell, what if a Muggle had seen you? What if—?"

Draco grabbed him. "She's fine, Harry." He planted a kiss on Harry's lips, but Harry shook him off, not willing to be distracted by his mind-numbing kisses.

"We're not in that big a hurry," Harry growled, keeping Draco at arm's length. "We can fly back by broom, if you absolutely insist, but we are not Apparating. I nearly lost you once, I won't risk it again."

Draco crossed his arms and smiled. "All right, Potter," he drawled. "Whatever you say." Harry glared at him suspiciously and Draco laughed. "Seriously. Let's fly to Cork and you can decide from there. It isn't far."

They returned to the cave and stowed their gear before sealing the Druid's Cave. Harry walked to the edge of the manicured area to avoid any stray Muggle tourists, although the day was chilly and it was doubtful they would venture out. Potter called Hedwig and returned her to the cage he had strapped to his broom, giving Draco a reproachful stare. Draco shrugged. Harry mounted and Draco climbed on behind him, pressing himself intimately against Harry's back. Draco's lips nuzzled his neck, sending a frisson down his spine.

Harry chuckled throatily. "Stop that."

Draco's arm tightened around his waist and Harry prepared to kick off, sending them into the air. He noticed a moment too late that Draco had his wand out.

"Hang on, Potter," he said next to his ear and Harry felt the lurching sensation of Disapparition.