House: Ravenclaw

Word Count: 3845

Category: Themed

Prompt(s): [Word] Dangerous

It's a modern day AU, also muggle AU. Just letting y'all know.

Draco Malfoy was dangerous, that's what the press had been saying. He was an ex-felon, just released from prison after a two-year sentence. Rumor was that Draco had been involved in gang activity, though it wasn't ever confirmed. The media had been reporting so many different accusations and charges to explain why he was in prison, that there was no way of knowing exactly what he had been charged with without digging through the legal documents.

Harry Potter didn't believe any of it, but then again, he didn't really ever trust the press. He was a successful businessman, running one of the top protection agencies in the world. He didn't know how to protect anyone himself, he mostly did paperwork, he actually didn't know how he had even managed to become CEO, but nonetheless he was. Being a member of the upper class, he had his own fair share of bad press stories and received plenty of backlash from them. Harry had ignored them, as most had been rumors and false accusations that held no weight because they weren't true.

Frustrated, he threw his copy of The Prophet into the trash. There, for the fifth day in a row, was a picture of Draco on the front piece: Dangerous Felon Walking The Streets. This had interested Harry, what made the press think Draco was such a bad person? Besides a tattoo, he looked practically harmless. Sure, he had been seen in an area where dangerous gangs usually resided, but that didn't mean he took part in anything worth a two year sentence. Most weren't sure what he was convicted for, and Harry as well was intrigued. Was there more to story than the papers published?

He decided to look up Draco's history online and was surprised at what he found. Draco had been brought up in a middle class family, took Karate lessons - was a black belt even. His mother had died when he was young, and his father had a busy work schedule, or so it seemed. The more he read, the more an idea formed in his head. What if he offered Draco a job at his agency? He needed some new employees, crime rates were rising in the city, and the upper class were worried about their safety. They went to him for protection: bodyguards, house guards, security, etc. Why not give it a try?

An hour later, Harry was sitting in a small cafe near his home, waiting for the Malfoy man to show up. He had been thinking through his idea more and more, realizing that most of his clients might not actually want a recently released felon protecting them. Once he'd mulled it over, Harry realized that he still needed protection for himself. Some group had tried breaking into one of his client's houses and had found out Harry's men were guarding the property the hard way, and he had a target on his back now. It wouldn't hurt to have extra protection. He would just have to tell the blond man that the position had changed and it was now an offer to be Harry's own personal bodyguard.

"Hi, uhm, pardon? I'm Draco Malfoy." Harry's head snapped up towards the blond standing across from him, he'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't even heard Draco walk in. Looking the man over, Harry could tell that he was nervous from his posture and facial expression. Then again, who wouldn't be nervous in Draco's position? Being interviewed for a job after two years spent in prison, with hundreds of articles coming out painting him in a bad light - he had every right to be nervous.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter."

"I gathered as much." Harry laughed at this, realizing that he had already put his name in the email he had sent. Introductions seemed to not be needed, but it was just a force of habit. Harry had been taught to be polite and charming with every person he met from a young age, his parents being famous movie stars caused him to be in the spotlight since birth, the press wanting to see everything he did. It seemed he was even more of a big deal now, having not chosen to follow in his parent's footsteps and become an actor. He had strayed and that was interesting.

Harry gestured for Draco to sit down, which he quickly did. Harry started out by asking some questions.

"Where are you from?" Harry had only asked this question because he was curious. The information he found on Draco never said anything about where the man had grown up.

"Manhattan." Draco had answered quickly and with a shortness in his tone, though he seemed proud of where he had grown up. The questions quickly became more personal, not that either of them really minded. Questions soon turned into conversation, and they were quickly chatting as if they had known each other forever.

Harry looked at the clock on the wall and was surprised at how long they had been sitting in the cafe. Two hours, Harry couldn't believe, had been spent talking about relatively nothing. They had just gotten to know each other and Harry noticed that he had enjoyed the company. He had enjoyed listening to Draco go on and on about things that fascinated him, it was a change from his normal work day. But a good change. As soon as Harry returned home, he called Draco again.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's Harry."

"When do I start?"

"Tomorrow." Harry heard a pause on the other end of the line and a barely audible 'obviously' in the background, chuckling to himself before Draco returned to the phone.

"What time should I get there?"

"8:00 AM, that way you can get the hang of things before the day truly starts."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

With those last words and a click of the receiver, Draco hung up the phone, leaving Harry smiling to himself, but he couldn't place why. He went off to his bedroom and laid down, staring up at the ceiling and wondering how much this would change his life before finally shutting off the lights and falling asleep.

The next morning Draco arrived right on time. Harry led him around his home, showing him how everything was set out; his office, the library, the dining room. The house seemed empty, his parents were off shooting a movie in Brazil, and they weren't set to return to the states for a good couple of months yet, which left only Harry and the staff to wander the elaborate home. Even when they did return Harry didn't think they would stay with him, they would probably stay with some rich friend or another, or go off trying to promote their newest film.

Soon enough, the work day started and Harry went off to his study, Draco following and standing outside the door. Harry wondered if he should invite the bodyguard in, they had hit it off well enough at the cafe, maybe the man would want to have company. He decided to let Draco choose on his own since Harry didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

Weeks passed and only a few small things changed. Draco started sitting inside Harry's office instead of standing outside and the two talked while Harry worked. Before that, Harry had just sat in silence doing paperwork, thinking that any noise would be too much of a distraction from his work. He found out, however, that the distraction Draco provided was just the right amount. Not too much where he wouldn't get any work done, but it provided him some much needed breaks in his day. Contrary to the cold, business-like relationship Harry had expected, he was a bit happier with Draco there.

The two were so close after a few weeks that Harry wondered if they could classify themselves as friends. The thought bugged him for some time before he finally decided to ask Draco what his thoughts were.

"Would you say that we're friends?"

Draco met Harry's gaze with a shocked expression. It was a rather blunt question, Harry realized, feeling a slight pang of guilt that he had sprung the question upon the blond without any warning.

"I'd say we act like friends."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco let out a laugh at Harry's question, causing him to develop a small smile, not that he understood why.

"Well, we've never said that we're friends, but we talk and act like friends would." Harry nodded; what the man was saying was true, they had never said outright that they were friends. But Harry wanted to be friends; he was lonely, even though he tried to deny it.

"Well then - would you like to be friends?" Draco smiled at the brunette's question, Harry following suit.

"I'd like that." The two talked for the rest of the day, Harry having no other work that was in urgent need of completion, and Draco's job being to keep an eye on Harry. The black-haired man smiled as he watched Draco's eyes shining, talking about the future, about the little things he loved in the world. Watching Draco be happy made Harry happy, and that's all that mattered.

One day Draco was talking about his time in Brazil, which was interesting to Harry. Turns out that before Draco came back to New York, he had traveled all over the world. He was talking about meeting locals and drinking coconut water, about his adventures through the cities. Harry wondered vaguely, sometimes, if their relationship would ever turn into more than just friends. They had the foundation, but Harry just wasn't sure if Draco would want to take their relationship any further than it currently was.

Harry hoped dearly that Draco would want to become more than friends, though he knew that even if he did it would take time. So he would wait and leave it up to Draco for now. Some might tell Harry that because the blond didn't know of Harry's own feelings he wouldn't act on them. They were probably right, but Harry didn't mind waiting for now.

It was a warm summer day when the press struck again. Harry had been out with Draco, visiting the cafe in which they had met. Someone had taken a picture of the two, given it to the press, and rumors started circulating. Harry was sat in his study, reading over the news when he saw an article, the headline leaving him astounded:

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. Friends? Colleagues? Or something more?

It was ridiculous; how could the press come up with that from the two getting coffee together? Sure, Harry had come out as gay in previous years, and it was common knowledge, even before his arrest, that Draco was bisexual - but that gave the press no reason to assume such things. To make it worse, Draco had been avoiding speaking to Harry as soon as he'd seen the article.

The next day, however, Harry had managed to corner Draco in the hallway.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" The other man avoided Harry's eyes, looking up sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck.

"I didn't want to - you know - facilitate any more rumors that would be bad for you." Harry smiled in relief, Draco was trying to protect his reputation.

"You wouldn't. Besides, I usually ignore the press anyway." Harry said, calmer than anyone would expect someone in his situation to be. Draco smiled at Harry, though his brows quickly furrowed in confusion.

"What'll you do about the article?" Harry thought about the other man's question for a moment and realized he didn't know.

"I'll have to think about that. But in the meantime, don't worry too much about it." Draco nodded, Harry's response enough for him, the smile returning to his face.

An hour later and Harry was lying in bed, thinking over how he would respond, if he would at all. His mind was wandering, however, and it always brought him back to Draco's smile, and his laugh, and his voice. Harry couldn't help but consider that he'd developed a crush on his companion and that this was why he wasn't sure if he would make any statements about the article at all.

He thought it over more seriously whenever he could. He loved when Draco smiled and hated it when he frowned. Harry remembered Draco's laugh because it made him happy, and it was unimaginably contagious. He was nearly positive that he had feelings for his blond bodyguard, and he could only hope his companion felt the same. He'd been waiting for Draco to make a move, but now it seemed like it would be up to Harry to make the first move.

"Look, I know it's awkward to ask, and you probably don't feel the same, but maybe we could go out - on a date, I mean," Harry asked next morning, having dwelled on his attraction to the man designated to protect him. His confidence had come full-force, suddenly, but he was afraid it would dwindle if Draco was wavered by it.

"What?"

"I just - I need to know whether what I feel is certain." Blush was creeping fast up Harry's neck and cheeks. Draco was looking away from him, hiding his face from view. Harry could discern nothing from this and it only made him more alarmed. It probably meant he didn't feel the same. "Or, we could not. Sorry. I've made things weird, haven't I?"

"No, no, I'd love to. I was just surprised is all." Draco smiled up at Harry, his cheeks flushed with and even deeper pink.

"Great! Amazing. Okay, uhm, dress casual, and meet me at the front door at five."

Draco nodded and the two walked toward Harry's office, as was per the usual. Harry smiled; he was happy to be around someone for once in his life. When he was younger, he hadn't been a social child, much preferring to be alone than to participate with other children in games and activities. He had brought that with him into adulthood, not having many friends except two close ones: Hermione Granger, a professor at Yale, and Ronald Weasley, a journalist.

Harry realized, to his slight surprise, that Draco was the first person he had gotten close to in almost ten years. There was a knock at the door to his study and he looked at the time: 5:00 PM. His eyes widened, he couldn't remember it getting that late. He had hardly even remembered eating lunch, all he recalled was that Draco had shared his contagious laughter with Harry and the two couldn't stop laughing for nearly ten minutes.

He jumped out of his seat, looking outside the door and wondering how Draco had managed to disappear from the hallway in such a short amount of time. He started rushing down the stairs and to the front room, seeing Draco waiting patiently at the front door. Harry wondered how the blond had managed to get from his office to the front door in such a limited time frame. Lost in his thoughts he tripped on the last stair, causing Draco to snort and start laughing. Harry shot Draco a playful glare.

"It isn't funny." But Harry's comment only made Draco laugh even harder, clutching his sides. Harry smiled, chuckling a little bit.

"Okay, maybe it's a little funny." The laughter finally died down and the two headed off towards a restaurant. They ordered and made small talk, Draco doing a surprising amount of flirting, leaving Harry to do a load of blushing.

By the end of the evening, Harry had made up his mind. He was completely enamored by Draco Malfoy. It was hard to tell when exactly he had started falling, but he knew for sure he had fallen hard. Draco had admitted, during their dinner, that he had a crush on Harry, and the two opted to take their relationship further. If they could manage it, they preferred to stay outside of the public eye, though they knew it was highly unlikely.

In fact, once outside the restaurant, the two were met by a bunch of reporters, which left the two a tad surprised as they had done their best to not alert anyone to their presence. No one but the driver knew, though Harry supposed civilians could have seen him. He sighed, bracing himself for the onslaught of questions that was sure to come any moment.

"So, this is the second time you've been seen together in public."

"And? He works for me." The reporter wasn't fazed by Harry's question and continued on.

"Are you two dating?" Harry looked towards Draco, who smiled at him with a slight shrug. Harry turned towards the reporter with a smile of his own, deciding he wouldn't have been able to keep it from getting out anyway.

"Yes."

Camera's started flashing, pictures being taken at lightning speed. Some stayed to try and get more information, other reporters rushed off to try and be the first to publish the story and get an article in the papers. It was times like these that Harry hated having famous parents, if his parents weren't movie stars then the paparazzi would have never be so interested in his life.

The news spread like wildfire, quick catching and hard to go away. Not that the two minded, they were filled with a newfound sense of happiness. Being together was the only thing they wanted, for the time being. They enjoyed sun-filled beach days, sat by the lake on others, simply enjoyed being alive and happy.

Months passed and Christmas was quickly approaching. Draco had been talking about having a family for months, they had even gone to an orphanage to see if they could adopt any children there. Draco had been particularly taken with a young child, around five years old. His name was Scorpius. He was well mannered, and absolutely a joy to be around, well at least to them. According to the head of the orphanage, Scorpius was dangerous, and he got into fights with most of the children. Neither man let this deter them and they started with the adoption process.

They knew, however, that it would take a while, at least a year, for them to be able to fully adopt young Scorpius. Draco was visibly a little annoyed with that fact, so Harry decided to get a Christmas present that would make Draco cheer up a little bit more.

Christmas morning came, and Harry sat in the living room with a box and hands behind his back, waiting patiently for Draco to enter. Sure enough Draco trudged into the living room, looking at Harry suspiciously.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Harry said, replying with a question.

"What's that?" Draco said, ignoring Harry's reply all together.

"A present. Obviously." Harry replied, smiling innocently up at his boyfriend. Draco rolled his eyes.

"What's in the present?"

"You'll just have to find out."

"Oh come o - wait, what's behind your back?"

"Just sit down already." Harry said, taking one arm and tugging Draco down to sit on the floor with him. Draco's gaze kept shifting uncertainly to the box. Harry nodded towards the box, as if saying open it. Harry watched as Draco slowly removed the lid from the present, seeing the blond's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the items inside.

"This is a collar and a dog bed. Is there a hidden message here that I don't see?" Harry took his arms out from behind his back, showing a small puppy. It was a golden retriever that was surprisingly well behaved, Harry hadn't expected it to go so long without barking.

Draco's eyes were wide in shock and Harry chuckled, handing the puppy over to him. Draco hesitantly pet the puppy and Harry smiled, at least Draco was gentle with the small animal.

"What are we naming it?"

"How about James?" Harry thought for a second on his lover's question.

"That sounds perfect. Now - let's finish unwrapping the presents." Draco nodded at Harry's words, seemingly unable to form sentences due to his shock. The two spent the rest of the day playing with the puppy, visiting friends, and plainly having an amazing Christmas.

Soon, on New Year's Eve, Harry found himself kneeling with a ring in his hand, proposing to the man he loved. Draco had just nodded his head and whispered 'yes' over and over again, hugging Harry the tightest he had ever been hugged. James barked excitedly, though the two were sure their puppy didn't really understand the moment, he was, after all, a dog. Draco and Harry shared a kiss and watched as fireworks went off in the nearby park.

Two years later and they were happily married, and about to adopt their first child. Their wedding had been simple, Harry and Draco's parents showing up, and only a couple of friends. They had it in a church, and it definitely wasn't a grand event, though the press tried to make it out to be.

Harry was in the car, driving back from the orphanage, and the couple having finally finished with the adoption process, young Scorpius was also in the backseat. He had been sitting with a black eye when Harry had gone to pick him up, according to most of the children he had been in a fight earlier that morning.

Dangerous, that's what every member of the orphanage called Scorpius. Harry didn't want to believe it, but the bruises from fighting were hard to ignore. The young blond was quiet during the entire car ride, Harry couldn't tell if it was from nerves or shame, maybe it was both.

A month had passed, and Draco had found out that Scorpius wasn't dangerous at all. Both of them having agreed that Draco might be able to understand a bit more easily, it had been him who did most of the talking when Scorpius became upset. As it turned out, it had been the other children in the orphanage whom were the true danger. The younger blond boy had only been fighting back to protect himself, and the other children involved had always blamed it on him. With no allies, Scorpius had nobody to defend him and tell the truth. Harry was relieved when his lover told him this, glad that his son wasn't the cause of any violence.

A week later when they were celebrating Scorpius' sixth birthday, Draco's father had decided to attend, though Harry's parents were off shooting yet another movie in Europe. As Scorpius blew out the candles on his cake Harry thought over the past few years. He chuckled at the fact that his family members had both been classified as dangerous by members of society at some point in time. A lot of things in this world were dangerous or a danger to people, so many things.

But Harry's family wasn't one of them.