Part Four

Draco waited until Harry had left, and then he rolled out of bed and waited for his head to stop pounding. The side effects of some of the potions were nearly as bad as the original ailments, except that he would wrestle with a headache over cracked ribs and internal bleeding any day.

He dressed slowly and carefully and then went to make some tea. Despite the fact that he'd only eaten a small breakfast, he wasn't hungry. Thanks to the potions, he felt a bit nauseated, but he knew that would pass.

The tea settled his stomach to some extent and he wandered back upstairs to poke through Harry's closet. Most of his wardrobe should have been burned, but there were a couple of items that weren't heinous. Draco shrugged into a pale green button down and then slipped into a pair of black trousers. They were somewhat too loose, but the length was nice, and a black leather belt found coiled in a drawer kept the trousers from slipping down to an immodest degree.

A spell or two fixed his hair—he was rather horrified by his first glimpse in the mirror—and then he slung a travel cloak over his shoulders and headed for a certain Muggle banking establishment and a lockbox kept therein. An hour after that he was knocking on Seamus Finnigan's door.

Finnigan opened it, looking tired and rumpled. He had a wand in his hand, although he lowered it when he acknowledged Draco with a surprised stare and a wrinkle of his forehead.

"Malfoy. What are you doing here? You looking for Harry?"

Draco shook his head. "No, I'm looking for you. I wasn't sure where else to go and I need to talk. Are you here alone?" He looked over his shoulder as though fearful of pursuit and then swayed and put out a hand to brace it on the doorframe.

Finnigan, a typical Gryffindor, stepped outside to grip Draco's arm. "Merlin, are you all right? We heard you escaped Crabbe, but no one knew where you went! Come inside. And yeah, I'm the only one here." He tugged on Draco's arm whilst pushing the door open and turning away.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Draco pushed his wand against Finnigan's ribs and said, "Petrificus Totalus." Finnigan stiffened and would have fallen but for his grip on Draco's arm. Draco broke his hold and then reversed it, taking Finnigan's arm and dragging him down the short hallway into a comfortable but messy room with a sofa half-buried in clothing.

Draco tossed him onto it, bound him with several spells, and then cast Finite Incantatum to cancel the body bind. Finnigan sat up and struggled against his bonds, glaring at Draco through angry eyes. To his credit, he did not demand to know his intentions; he simply waited.

Draco banished some unidentifiable debris from a nearby chair seat and Scourgified it before dragging it closer and sitting down across from Finnigan. "I am afraid that I lied to you, Finnigan. I don't need to talk. You do."

Finnigan stopped struggling and looked at him even more suspiciously. "What about?"

Draco leaned back and tapped his wand against the arm of the chair before looking around the room. "You have a very interesting place here, Finnigan. Charming, or it would be if you had learned the most rudimentary of Cleaning Charms in third year. I hear the Auror Division has one of the highest pay scales in the Ministry, although you certainly wouldn't know it to look at this place. What do you spend your money on?"

Finnigan scrunched up his nose. "That's what you want to talk about? How I spend my money?"

"I'm just curious." Draco gave him a disarming smile.

"I don't. I mean, I buy enough to get by. Food and stuff. Clothing when I need it. Other than that, I don't need much."

"And what do you do with your substantial earnings, then?"

"Put it in Gringotts, like everyone."

"Why? Everyone has vices. Are you sure you don't have a drinking problem? Affinity for gambling? Imbibe some not-quite-legal potions now and again? Visit the Polyjuice pits in Etern Alley?"

"Of course not! Why are you asking?"

"Because when you left Hogwarts you barely had two Galleons to rub together and now your Gringotts account holds a small fortune. Someone at the Ministry sold me out to Vincent Crabbe and I bloody well plan to find out who it was."

"Well, it wasn't me!"

"Convince me. Explain to me that you never took a payoff to sell me down the pitch and make it believable or I'll hit you with something that will make an Entrails Expelling Curse look like a child's playtime charm."

"I never did! I never took a payoff for nothing! I've been saving, damn it! Every knut since I got on with the Aurors! Every spare sickle!" Finnegan's voice had gone high and rather shrieky. "Go and look in my cabinets if you don't believe me! I barely buy food!"

Draco's eyes narrowed and he fingered his wand. "What are you saving for?"

"There's a girl, all right? A pure-blood, like you. She loves me, but her father is a right bastard. She knows he won't hear of it, of us getting married, unless I can provide for her properly. He doesn't care that I'm an Auror. He wants me to be able to buy her jewels and gowns and fancy hats."

Draco rolled his eyes. "She sounds like a real prize."

"It's not like that! She doesn't care about none of that. She wants to run away. Elope. But I know her father will hate us, will hate her, if we do that. I don't want to snatch at happiness now only for it to turn to dust later. I don't want to cause trouble with her family, so if I have to save enough to buy her a fucking castle in order to please her father, then so be it." Finnigan had a mad light in his eyes and he seemed to catch himself leaning forwards, half-shouting at Draco. He straightened and looked away.

"Daphne Greengrass."

Finnigan gaped at him. "How—?"

"I know many things, Finnigan. I didn't really suspect you, but I needed to be sure. No hard feelings." Draco cast a spell to release Finnigan's bonds, but he Summoned the Auror's wand before he could snatch it up and fire a spell at Draco. "Stop it. Hexing me will get you back into the trouble you just wriggled out of."

Finnigan sat back on the sofa and massaged his wrists where the bonds had pressed against his skin. He still looked angry, but he asked, "Do you really think someone in the Aurors ratted you out?"

"How many people knew about that safe house?"

Finnigan frowned. "Not many. It's a closely guarded list."

"And yet Crabbe found me there shortly after I set foot in the place. Coincidence?"

"No. Probably not."

"Probably not. I need you to do something for me."

Finnigan shook his head. "I'm not taking payment from you, either. I'm a good Auror and I plan to stay that way."

A smile tugged at Draco's lips, despite everything. "This is an actual favour. I just want you to keep an eye on Harry. And I also want you to keep an eye on Harry's boyfriend."

"Eddie Carmichael?"

"Yes. I don't trust him, and yet all of my digging has not turned up anything substantial. I suspect his recent problems with Harry might drive him out of his hole."

"That's…really weird."

Draco paused at his tone. "Why is it weird?"

"Because Harry asked me to do a background search on Eddie a while back. Said he was just checking up. I didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Eddie left Hogwarts and started selling Quidditch supplies. Had a couple of short-term romantic flings. Goes on vacation every year to Amsterdam where he meets up with his old Ravenclaw buddies. They drink too much and pick up unsuitable strangers. Nothing unusual. Are he and Harry having problems?"

Draco could only hope so, but the fact that Harry had turned up at Grimmauld Place looking haggard and irritable was a promising sign. "With any luck. It's good to know Potter doesn't trust him, or at least had enough sense to get you to check up on Eddie. Will you do as I asked?"

"Well, yeah, of course. I'd do it for Harry without you asking."

"The fact remains, however, that I am asking." Draco got to his feet and dropped Finnigan's wand onto the table, within easy reach of Finnigan's hand. To his credit, he didn't try to pick it up. "And you don't need a castle."

He turned and tucked his wand away before heading for the door, trusting that Finnigan's noble Auror morality wouldn't allow him to shoot a hex at his back. "What do you mean?"

As a reward for Finnigan not hexing him, and for giving him the details of Carmichael's background check—even though he'd divulged nothing that Draco hadn't already discovered for himself—Draco turned back with a smirk. "Next time you see Cornelius Greengrass, get him alone and whisper the word 'Ulyanovsk'."

"'Ulyanovsk?' That's it?"

"That's it."

"Why?"

"Trust me." With that, Draco opened the door and went out.

oooOooo

Ron had been released from St Mungo's and was at home recovering, although he was asleep by the time Harry left the hospital and Flooed in to find Hermione reading a book on the sofa. She sat up and gave him a smile.

"How is Ron?"

"Better. He ate half a chicken, a loaf of bread, and three quarters of a pecan tart before going to sleep."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, he'll be fine. That's good."

"You found Malfoy?"

Harry nodded. "How'd you guess?"

"You don't look frantic. And Pansy was here last night when your owl arrived."

He sat down hard in a chair and looked at her. "Pansy. Pansy Parkinson was here. In this room?"

"Well, after you jaunted off to the Ministry she came back to check on Goy—on Christine. We left her sleeping peacefully, by the way, and warded the place. In case you were concerned."

Harry looked away and reflected that Hermione still had a way of making him feel guilty with a single line and the merest tightening of her lips. It was a talent, really. "Thanks. I'll… send her something. A box of…" He was about to say cake when he realised that Gryphon, corseted and bejewelled, probably wouldn't appreciate such a thing the way Gregory Goyle might have done back in Hogwarts, and he amended it to "…tea. Expensive tea."

He risked a glance at Hermione and saw a smile curve her mouth. Brilliant. He had passed. He relaxed into his chair and then remembered her earlier words. "Wait a minute, that doesn't explain why Parkinson was here."

"Well, she looked a fright and was covered in dirt—and worse—and we were both hungry, so I thought it would be nice to let her have a bath and some food. She was rather useful during that whole Rosier situation, and you're getting on well with Malfoy these days…"

Harry held up a hand. "Yeah, okay, I didn't mean to sound accusatory. Better here than at my place." He remembered Parkinson strolling around his house after coming out of his bath. Definitely not an experience he wanted to remember.

Hermione caught his slip. "Your place? You didn't spend the night at Eddie's?"

Harry flushed. Merlin, why did she always notice everything? "I did! But I got up early and went to Grimmauld Place. It was… quieter." He didn't meet her eyes, trying not to remember Eddie's angry words.

"What are you not telling me, Harry?"

He sprawled back into his chair with a heavy sigh and tipped his face up towards the ceiling, closing his eyes to give them a rub with the heels of his palms. "Draco has been telling me for weeks not to trust Eddie." Before she could speak, whether to protest or agree, he added, "And I found something in the flat. Something I can't explain."

He told her about the photos and the clippings, and about Eddie's continuing insistence that he quit the Aurors. And then he groaned and clenched a fist on his thigh. "And then I feel terrible, because Eddie was nearly killed because of me. He has a bloody good reason to hate my job. I feel like a horrible person. I don't know what to do."

"Harry… Pansy told me the same thing. That Eddie was involved in something. She didn't say what."

Harry shook his head. "They don't know. I don't know. Seamus doesn't know. I think we're all chasing smoke and Eddie is completely innocent."

"I'm not so sure."

Hermione's words caused Harry's head to snap up. He stared at her. "What does that mean?"

"After Pansy suggested that Eddie couldn't be trusted, I sent an elf to spy on him this morning. Pearly—she used to be a house-elf for a very abusive family, the Worthingdon's, not sure if you remember them—anyway, she was very grateful to be freed and has been most insistent about helping me ever since." Harry felt a pang, remembering Dobby, and Hermione seemed to pick up on it. She hurried on. "Well, Pearly agreed to keep an eye on Eddie, without being spotted, of course. She followed Eddie from his flat this morning."

"And?"

"He went to the Ministry."

"The Ministry? Why? He never goes there. He detests politics. He won't even go there to pick up permits for his Quidditch supplies. Makes his suppliers do it for him."

Hermione nodded. "I know. I remember that he went on and on about it when he got drunk that one time. What occasion was it? Someone's birthday."

"It was his birthday," Harry said softly. He'd recalled being a bit embarrassed by Eddie's outburst at the time, considering that all of them in attendance had worked for the Ministry. "You're like the Minister's little personal chess pieces," Eddie had said, laughing and making puppet-like gestures. Thankfully, the others had been well into their cups by then and had only shaken their heads and laughed. "Do you suppose he went to the Ministry to look for me?"

"I thought that might be the case, but when Pearly reported to me I popped in to the Ministry and wandered over to the Auror Department. No one there had seen him. I convinced Kay-Kay to come with me to the Welcome Witch and take a look at the log book. It had a record of Eddie's arrival, but it said he'd gone to search for Quidditch regulations in the Hall of Records."

"But?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I went down and there is no mention of him on the sign-in sheet, and Delores doesn't remember seeing him. It's like he went to the Ministry and just vanished."

Harry rubbed his temples. Maybe they were all chasing will-o-wisps. It was possible that Eddie had a valid reason to go to the Ministry and their suspicions were adding ingredients to a potion that would eventually go volatile, even if it was meant to be benign.

"I suppose I should go and talk to Eddie."

"Don't do it alone. Just in case."

Harry pulled a face as he got to his feet. "Now you sound like Draco."

She stood also and walked him to the Floo. "Well, we can't deny one thing. Draco Malfoy has saved all of our lives in the past month. Eddie might be an unknown equation, but Draco isn't. Not anymore."

oOo

Draco was in the kitchen when Harry returned. He looked much better than he had when Harry had left, although he admitted that he was partial to the rumpled version. He supposed it might have been the novelty that was partly responsible. Draco looked up from the teacup he'd been staring into and slid a plate of chocolate biscuits across the table in Harry's direction.

"How is the Weasel?"

"Asleep, but healing." Harry dropped into a chair and picked up a biscuit. The chocolate practically melted on his tongue and the biscuit itself was crisp and light. Draco definitely knew how to eat. "You went out for biscuits?"

"Your kitchen is ridiculously empty. With good reason, I suppose. Dare I ask why you are here instead of your usual haunt? Did Eddie toss you out on your arse?"

"No, he did not toss me out. But we did have a fight."

Draco did not even try to hide his pleased look. Harry snorted and ate another biscuit.

"I suspected as much when I discovered this on the table when I returned." He pushed an envelope across the table.

Harry snatched it up and glared at Draco when he saw the broken seal. "You opened it?"

"It might have been something dangerous."

Harry rolled his eyes and pulled out the card. A sad-looking puppy on the front rolled over and looked pathetic, paws curled and belly exposed. Harry sighed. Eddie had always been a fan of the sappier greeting cards. He opened it up to read I'm Sorry in block letters, followed by Eddie's familiar scrawl. Please come home so that we can talk.

Harry tossed the card on the table with the envelope and pushed a hand through his hair. He wasn't ready to confront Eddie yet. Not after Hermione's suspicious disclosure.

"You're not going to rush back and make up with Carmichael?"

"Not yet. I'm starting to think we have irreconcilable differences. Especially in regards to my job."

"He was urging you to quit again?"

"Yeah. And the thing is, maybe I don't want to quit. Maybe all this shite you've stirred up recently has made me aware that there are still horrible people out there, people that need to be stopped."

"And maybe you like the chase more than you thought you did."

Harry gave him a sardonic smile. "Yeah. Maybe that. How are you feeling, anyway? Well enough to go and fetch biscuits, apparently."

Draco nodded and then surprised Harry with a yawn that he covered with long fingers. His grey eyes looked startled.

Harry laughed. "And you're obviously still tired."

"Probably a side effect of all the potions. But I could sleep. Do you mind if I stay?"

Harry hadn't even considering turning him out. "Of course you can stay."

"Thank you. I should probably move out of your room, though."

"How did you know it was my room?"

"It smells like you."

A rush of heat flooded Harry's cheeks and he snatched at another biscuit to cover his discomfiture. "Are you hungry? For some real food, I mean. I haven't eaten since breakfast and this," he held up the biscuit, "is not particularly healthy."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, it's not Consuelo's cooking, or those fancy restaurants you're used to eating in, but there is a great Japanese take-away place not far from here. Their udon noodles are tasty. Do you like sushi?"

"I do not like take-away sushi." He thought he saw Draco shudder.

Harry wrinkled his nose. "Snob. I'll order you some udon and salmon teriyaki. With miso soup. Trust me." Harry got to his feet and beamed when Draco stuck out his tongue. It seemed so out of place that Harry realised that Draco really wasn't quite himself. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine, Potter. Go fetch your food and I will go and peruse your drink cabinet. I assume you have one?"

"Yeah, although some of that stuff has been in there since the Blacks lived here. I can't vouch for it. Not much of a drinker."

For some reason, Draco's smile looked positively predatory. "That's good."

Harry wasn't sure what was good, but he decided not to ask as he got to his feet. "Be right back."

oooOooo

Draco was tired. Really tired, but he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to spend time alone with Harry. His rational mind insisted that it was a very bad idea, but his obviously irrational side, the one that had begun to fancy the pants off of Harry (literally) thought it was a very good idea, indeed, and it could only be improved upon by the addition of alcohol, low lighting, and fewer items of clothing.

"Draco," he admonished himself, "think about this for a minute. What are you doing?" He dimmed the lights with a spell and then unbuttoned the top two buttons of the shirt he'd borrowed from Harry. Only two, though, because three would make him look like a cheesy porn star. "I am merely getting comfortable," he replied and ignored the fact that talking aloud to himself could be considered a sign of insanity.

He sprawled on the sofa and spent a few minutes arranging himself in a casual but sexy pose, growling at himself the entire time.

"Merlin, Draco, shut up, how hard is it to seduce one hapless Saviour of the Wizarding World? Especially a Gryffindor one."

"Draco?"

He sat up with a near-gasp and blinked at Harry, who stood in the doorway with two white bags in hand.

"Potter." To Draco's alarm, his voice squeaked as he desperately tried to replay his own words for the past few minutes. He stood up, but Harry had already walked in and deposited his burden on the low table between the two sofas.

"Don't get up. We'll eat here. It's cosier than the kitchen, don't you think?"

"Only Philistines eat in the living room."

"How many Philistines do you know?"

Draco acknowledged that one of the reasons he riled Harry up so frequently was to be rewarded with that sardonic smile and the lift of his dark brow. He had learned to admire Harry Potter after years of observation and a few harder years of growing up, but he hadn't expected to start viewing him through starry eyes. "Only you, Potter."

That earned a chuckle, which was even nicer than the smile, and a murmured, "Shut up. And I thought you were calling me Harry. I'm back to being Potter, now?"

"Old habits die hard, Harry." He intentionally put a sultry spin on the name, and was rewarded with a hint of red in Harry's cheeks as he leaned forwards and began to open assorted cartons. Draco was pleased to note that Harry wasn't immune to his charm, but he wasn't sure how to progress without losing his advantage.

Harry Summoned plates and utensils from the kitchen, including several sets of colourful chopsticks. Draco took the green ones without much thought and Harry gave him a look and picked up the blue ones instead of the expected red.

The food was good, for take-away, and Draco expressed enjoyment through making appreciative sounds with the sole intention of hopefully creating bedroom images in Harry's mind. Their elbows brushed as they ate.

"I was going to get some saki, but I don't think alcohol would be good for you on top of all the potions you've had. I see you didn't find much in the cabinet."

In truth, Draco had forgotten about the liquor in his quest to make the environment more seductive. "Thank you for mothering me, Harry."

He flushed and gave Draco a hot look. "I don't mean to—"

Draco put a hand on his arm and leaned forwards to capture his gaze. "No, I'm serious. Thank you. There are not many people left in this world that I can count on. I am glad that you have become one of them."

Harry gaped at him, seeming to have lost the ability to make words. Draco smiled and tightened his grip in a gentle squeeze. Their faces were in close proximity and Draco pressed minutely nearer to see what Harry would do. To his delight, Harry's lashes dipped and his lips parted in evident anticipation of Draco's kiss.

Before their lips could meet, a bang from the kitchen startled them both and Harry pulled away, eyes wide.

A strident voice rang through the house. "Whose bloody brilliant idea was it to park a chair in front of the damned fireplace? Are you trying to kill someone?"

Draco sighed and leaned back into the sofa. "I am thinking about killing someone right now."

Harry exhaled in a nervous-sounding chuckle. "She's your friend."

Draco groaned as Pansy stalked into the room. "Oh posh, you're both dressed. I was hoping to score some blackmail material."

"Remind me to change the wards again to lock her out."

"It won't do you any good, Potter. I'll just break through them."

"Are you here for an actual reason, Pansy?" Draco's tone was edged with just enough annoyance that she would pick up whilst Harry would likely not notice.

"Actually, I am. Oh, potstickers!" She bounced forwards and snatched up a carton. Harry's chopsticks were sticking out of it and she didn't pause as she scooped up a doughy morsel and chewed with a pleased expression.

"Please, help yourself." Harry crossed his arms and scowled at her.

Pansy ate another and then said, "Anyway, I was at the Ministry doing that thing you asked, Draco."

"What thing?" Harry asked.

"And I swung by Potter's office to see if anyone had sent him any recent Howlers or poisoned letters or explosive scrolls. Sheer curiosity, mind you."

"Um… thanks?"

"There were none of those—well, there was one Howler, but it was boring—and this was sitting on the desk." She held up a small brown envelope.

Harry half-rose from the sofa to snatch at it and she handed it over without a fuss. "Hey! The seal is broken! Have either of you ever heard of privacy?"

Pansy shrugged. "I've heard of it. Never much cared for it. What do you suppose he wants?"

Harry shook out the card and then turned it over in his hand. "What does who want? This is blank. Was there another message?"

"Salazar, Potter, no wonder you want to give up the Aurors. You suck at it."

Harry growled at her and Draco took the opportunity to pat him on the knee. "There, there. Ignore Pansy. She's a bit of a rabid nundu when she's hungry. Pansy, stop baiting Harry and explain."

She rolled her eyes and dropped the empty carton onto the table before picking up another—this one Draco's nearly finished noodles—and sprawled into a nearby chair. Instead of explaining, she made an impatient hand wave reminiscent of casting a spell and gestured at the card.

"Oh," said Harry, "right." He pulled out his wand and set to work on the card, finally locating a spell that caused the text to appear. He gave her a smug look. "Wow, he really worked hard on that one."

"Only took me three tries," she said with a cheeky grin and another mouthful of noodles.

Harry stuck his tongue out at her and then skimmed the card. "It's from Liam Nottingham. He wants to meet with you and did not know any other way to reach you. He also says it's important not to tell anyone." He looked up at Pansy and frowned. "That worked out well."

"It wasn't my fault he was too stupid to give it to you in person. What sort of nitwit leaves it on your desk in plain sight? And isn't he the one whose kid was snatched by Greyback?"

"A nitwit who wants complete deniability. Anyone could have left it there as a setup." Draco leaned forwards and took up an edamame pod, splitting it open with a squeeze to extract the green globules within.

"There is a date and time. Two days from now, at a pub in Norwich. I think I know it." Harry's brow wrinkled adorably and his teeth worried at his lower lip.

"Setup," Pansy repeated. "Of course you're not going."

"Of course not." Draco's eyes met Pansy's and hers danced in acknowledgement.

"I don't even know if you're serious. All I know is that it's late and I'm going to bed." Harry tossed the note onto the table and it reverted back to its former blank state. He got to his feet. "Goodnight, Parkinson. You're welcome to stay here, although you don't seem to require my permission."

"Goodnight, Potter." She preened.

"Goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight, Harry."

"No kiss?" Pansy asked with a pout. Harry's eyes widened and then he shook his head and fled. Pansy giggled and threw Draco a huge grin. "You notice he looked at you and not me?"

"Goodnight, Pansy."

~TBC~