Author's Notes: This is a sequel to When the Snow Melts. If you haven't read that one yet, I highly recommend that you do. Otherwise, you'll be horribly lost. The same warnings from that story will apply here. Please remember to comment, favorite, and add this story to your favorites. It will really help me find motivation when I feel like the world is falling to shit around me.
Also, thanks everyone for helping me get When the Snow Melts into 4th place for the #drarry tag on Wattpad. It was only for a week, but it was a huge ego boost.
Lots of love - OpalRainDragon
"Draco, look - I'm doing it," Farren gleefully shouted from atop a galloping white and chocolate-brown mare as he slowly moved to stand. Harry, his face lit up with a brilliant smile, followed closely behind on a sandy-colored stallion that seemed to blend in with the rolling yellow hills behind them.
With a roll of his eyes, Draco retreated from the sweltering summer heat, taking refuge under the shade of an ancient oak tree where he could draw in peace. It was late afternoon already, but apparently the sun hadn't gotten the message. A completely useless charmed fan by his side blew stifling hot and humid air directly into his face.
He let out a disgusted sigh and glanced back longingly at the sweet relief of air conditioning just waiting for them inside the secluded ranch house they'd been using as a safe house. It was so close, he was even willing to tolerate the disaster that passed for accommodations just to have a taste of it. He just wasn't cut out for Central Texas living.
Unfortunately, Farren and Harry seemed to be enjoying themselves, even going so far as to offer their assistance with some of the daily chores.
The two of them had even managed to guilt Draco into volunteering to collect eggs one morning. It had seemed like an easy enough task until he had been forced to flee in terror as the little monsters swarmed him, demanding food by clawing and pecking at his delicate skin in a wild frenzy.
After the initial trauma had worn off, a passionate hatred for the foul-tempered poultry had blossomed. He sincerely felt with every fiber of his being that they deserved to be eaten. He even got a little flutter of happiness every time they were on the menu, tearing into his meal with a gleeful vengeance, shoving down more than he could stomach out of pure spite. Come what may, he was going to have the final laugh in this situation.
In his place, Farren had taken over egg-collecting duties, explaining to Draco with a smug expression on his indecently tanned face, that he needed to throw feed out on the yard first so most of the chickens vacated the hen house before venturing inside. Draco was unimpressed and unwilling to give it a second try. He was ill-suited for these kinds of things anyway.
"Draco, come join us," Harry suggested teasingly as he steered his horse around. "It's actually a lot of fun."
Draco's silvery eyes narrowed in suspicion as he watched his lover's galloping approach. "I'd rather not die, thank you," Draco growled in irritation, his attention now solidly focused on the mangy, straw-colored beast.
Said beast pulled up short just yards away from Draco and let loose an impatient snort that set his nerves on edge. Just like the chickens, the horses weren't very fond of him either. Animals in general just seemed to dislike him. It had been like that for as long as he could remember. That's why they never had any pets or familiars.
Harry dismounted and gave the horse free-reign to trot away before plopping himself down under the ancient oak tree next to Draco, his warm, sweaty body uncomfortably close.
"Please get away from me; you smell terrible," Draco griped with a wrinkle of his nose, the stench of horse and sweat and summer heat overpowering his senses.
Harry laughed and leaned in closer, his green eyes sparkling with mischief.
"You don't smell much better," Harry teasingly replied. "Maybe we should help each other in the shower… really make sure we get all the nooks and crannies."
Despite his sour mood and the stench, Draco found himself fighting back a smile at the thought. "I suppose it can't be helped," he stated with a dramatic flourish.
Harry gave him a hungry grin before turning his attention back to the field, his eyes following Farren as the boy turned his horse in their direction.
"Oi, Farren. Draco and I are heading inside to wash up before dinner. Think you can handle stabling the horses by yourself or do you need my help?" Harry called out.
"I can do it," Farren shouted back, an excited smile lighting up his face.
Draco frowned as his brother took off, chasing down Harry's horse and leaning out to grab the reins. "Are you sure about that?" Draco asked in a voice just above a whisper. "It might be dangerous."
A proud smile spread across Harry's face when the boy finally caught hold of the other horse's reins and slowed him down to a leisurely trot. "He's doing just fine," Harry stated with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Besides, he's eleven, not three. I was doing a lot more dangerous things at his age, so stop babying him."
"Yeah, but your whole life has been wrought with dysfunction, so how does that even make sense? I just want to keep him safe," Draco shot back. In all honesty, Farren might very well be the only family he had left. No one had heard anything so far about their parents.
"There's nothing to worry about. He's really good at this sort of stuff," Harry wrapped an arm around Draco's shoulders and pulled him in close to whisper playfully in his ear. "And unlike you, the horses like him."
Draco scoffed and shoved him away. "I don't need the approval of dumb beasts to feel good about myself," he arrogantly replied.
Farren moved confidently across the grounds, but even still Draco had serious misgivings about leaving the boy alone unsupervised. His mother had entrusted his care to him, but as Harry had said, he seemed to know what he was doing. With a resigned sigh, Draco stood and headed to the house.
He made his way carefully through the shrub brush, small clouds of red dust kicking up behind him with every step. There was a noticeable crunching sound as Harry followed, crushing sun-crisped grass underfoot just a few feet behind him. Draco fought the urge to turn around and glare at Harry. He couldn't let the boy get too full of himself.
The view of the safe house at the top of the hill was rather unimpressive - a small, three-bedroom ranch house with a large porch looking out on shrubland dotted infrequently with scraggly trees. The oak tree near the horse pasture was the largest tree on the property and it likely only got that big because of the stock pond lying right next to it. Everything else seemed in desperate need of water, all of it, including himself, baking under the hot summer sun.
Their hosts, the Hughes', had actually lived in that house about a decade ago, but the family had lucked out during an oil boom and made a small fortune on the treasure lying under the soil of their ranch. They'd had a larger house built on the property and put up a small wind farm to keep the money flowing. They'd even given up cattle ranching entirely, but had kept the horses and pigs… and unfortunately, the chickens.
The steps of the porch groaned under his weight as he trudged up them and headed for the door. Likewise, the door itself squealed in protest as he roughly yanked it open. The house gave every impression of being tired and old.
"How do people even live like this?" he grumbled, spinning around in the hallway to look Harry in the eyes.
Behind the sparkling brilliance of dust moats catching the light of the sun shining through the front door, Harry snorted in amusement. "Don't be such a snob. This is how normal people live."
Draco crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "It's disgusting. I can't wait until we get back to civilization. Where did the Headmaster even find these muggles anyway?"
"No clue," Harry replied with a shrug. "He said something about having a mutual friend. But, it's not like we have people lining up to host us or anything. The Chosen One and the son of a Death Eater turned traitor. Yep, loads of people want to bring that sort of hazard into their life. You should try being a little more grateful. If not for the Hughes' kindness, we'd have been stashed away in St. Mungos all summer with your little brother slowly driving us insane out of sheer boredom."
Harry moved to pull him into a tight hug, but Draco held him at bay, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "Not until after you've had a shower," he admonished.
"Thought you were going to help me?" Harry questioned with a devilish smirk.
"Did I? I'm not sure I remember making any such commitment."
Harry shrugged nonchalantly before turning to leave. "That's fine. I'll just go see if David wants to help me instead. I've got this really itchy mosquito bite right between my shoulder blades where I can't reach. I'm sure he'll be glad to scratch it for me while we're at it."
David was the Hughes middle child, just a few years older than the boys, and staying at the Main House while on summer break from college. He had a certain rugged charm about him, but Draco was fairly certain he was not interested in men.
"Now that I'd like to see," Draco remarked, but when Harry made a move for the door with a smug and determined expression on his face, Draco stopped him, taking him by the hand and dragging him to the Master Bedroom that they'd been sharing. "On second thought, he's probably never done something like that before and he might miss some spots. I don't want to have to clean you a second time when he finally returns you."
Harry let out a warm chuckle as he was dragged upstairs, through the cramped Master bedroom and into the Master bathroom where Draco finally stopped with an exasperated expression on his face.
He kept his eyes on Harry as they undressed, pointedly ignoring the hideous pink tiles that surrounded them. Hearty food and manual labor had added several layers of lean muscle to Harry's shorter frame. Despite Draco frequently grumbling about protecting his skin from sun damage, he had to admit that Harry looked good with bronzed skin. He looked good even though his tan made the criss-cross of scars all over his body painfully obvious.
Biting his lip to keep his cool, he crossed over the porcelain clawfoot tub and turned the water on. The water came out of the tap almost warm enough to shower in so Draco quickly undressed and stepped in before Harry had a chance to. He had a complicated shower routine and he didn't quite trust Harry to manage it. It would be easier just to get things over and done with so he could move on to the more pleasing task of scrubbing down his lover. He'd initially been horrified to learn that Harry used some off-brand muggle 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner abomination. His messy hair suddenly made a lot more sense. Those products met their end shortly thereafter and were immediately replaced with something better suited to his needs.
The shower head was low and he found he had to duck down to get the water to run over his hair. It was at that precise moment while he was leaning forward that Harry joined him, wrapping strong arms around his waist. Harry held him tight, preventing the tumble that surely would have occurred otherwise, his breath warm against the back of Draco's neck.
"What's the matter?" Harry whispered huskily.
Draco's heart was still pounding from the sudden spike of adrenaline. "You," he scolded, "if you want to leave me for David, you don't have to kill me first. We can just break up like normal human beings."
"Is that how it works?" he questioned, pulling Draco flush against his chest as he tried to squirm out of his embrace. "But you said it yourself, he won't get me as clean as you can."
"So you're just using me for my showering skills?" Draco questioned in an aggrieved tone of voice. "I thought you loved me."
"Showering skills... and other things," he replied suggestively, running a hand along Draco's lean chest.
Draco turned around to face Harry, a mischievous smirk on his face. "By other things, do you mean this?" he questioned, slowly dropping to his knees to take Harry's hard cock into his mouth with a slight sucking action.
Harry let out a deep moan, his fingers running through Draco's hair. "Something… something like… that," he replied between moans.
Draco continued to work his tongue along Harry's length, his head bobbing up and down, his hands holding him steady at the hips to prevent him from bucking unexpectedly. Draco backed off slightly, concentrating on the sensitive head and sucking hard, his tongue swirling around for added stimulation. He could feel the tension building up in his lover's body, his muscles tightening under his hands - Harry was close.
Harry's hips jerked with a rapturous cry, his passion erupting into Draco's hungry mouth. The taste had changed slightly - tangy and a bit bitter. Even still, Draco swallowed it down, continuing to suck until he had pulled every last drop, until Harry was twitching and jerking, his knees trembling as he struggled to stay standing.
"Was that a good enough reason to keep me around?" Draco questioned with a sly smile on his face as he peered up at him through wet bangs. Harry could only nod, his fingers still tightly entwined in Draco's hair to keep himself steady.