Disclaimer: Oh yes, of course they're mine. Just as the sun is made of ice
and money grows on trees. Miss Rowling? If you wish to sue please find
someone else, I can't even afford a lawyer let alone a settlement.
Warnings: Nope, none.
.
.
.
Blood & Nails.
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Part Eleven. Paint The Sky
Draco got back in and threw his coat on to the kitchen counter. He'd gone for another little trip to his 'Retreat', or so he called it. He'd needed to do some thinking about how exactly he was going to get Harry to want *this* him. He'd come up with a few ideas, but would need time to work on them first.
Instead of getting something to eat he headed into the room that held all his painting equipment. He still hadn't looked at anything that had been done and he decided today was definitely the time to do so.
He now refused to believe that Mortel would have been foolish enough to paint anything incriminating, such as the murders or the like, so Draco was very curious to see what had been done. He started removing the covers. There were paintings of many things and they were all grouped into stacks so that all the paintings of the same things were together.
The first stack was of the apartment. Some of the furniture was slightly different but that was it. He moved on to the rest.
His parents. Snape. Snape with Steel. Snape with Dumbledore. His parents with Snape. His home in the country. His parents' home.
Draco stared at the last stack when it had been uncovered. He didn't blush, but he was glad no-one was there to see his expression. He'd never seen Harry naked before and he had to admit he really didn't mind it at all. He slowly went through them, memorising each in turn then came to the very last one.
He smiled at the scene. Harry lying on his side with his eyes closed and him sitting behind him, one hand reaching out to push the dark hair back, watching him intently. He noticed a message in the corner and leaned forward, tilting his head, to read what was obviously his own hand writing.
'Happy birthday, my beautiful Gryffindor. I'll watch over your dreams for you. I love you.'
It was soppy and not exactly his style, but Draco got the feeling Harry would have loved it, and that had been the whole point, most likely. He shook his head, smiling, and walked back to the living room. Steel was just coming back in from off the balcony and he hopped up on the table, looking to be fed.
"You've had your dinner." Draco said, making Steel mewl louder. "Nope. I'm not going to feed you again. You've had enough." He checked the clock and decided he'd better get some sleep.
----------
The young girl couldn't hear, couldn't see and couldn't move. The fact that she hated the most was that she couldn't scream. Her parents were right down the hall and if she could just scream they would rush in and save her. She knew her daddy would fight off anything to keep her safe.
Her hands ached, she was frightened, and the tears were still rolling down her face.
Mortel, on the other hand, was doing quite well. He had his plan back on track. The rules had changed slightly, but he was doing all right now, which he decided was a vast improvement.
He was going to get Draco back, he was going to show Harry how a person should truly behave. Draco had always belonged to Mortel, so he didn't see why he had to give him up now, just because he wasn't being executed.
He *would* get him back, even if it meant killing the blonde.
----------
Draco just about jumped out of bed when he woke up on Friday morning and rushed to get ready. Today was one of his practical days at Hogwarts and he really quite liked them. He enjoyed it much better than theory and it meant he could go drink with Snape afterwards. It was also fun to give steady looks at the snickering children and pull out his dagger to pick his nails with. That always shut them up.
He might not be a murderer, but that didn't make him a saint, and he was very fond of terrifying the students. He blamed Snape for that characteristic. Or at least, he blamed the teacher for encouraging it.
He sat through his classes diligently and almost bounced on his way down to the dungeons. His potion practical was always the last for the day, with no other students hanging around. He waved cheerfully to some of the Slytherins that were hanging around and headed in.
"Hey, sir."
"Good afternoon, Draco. It's a pleasure to see you. Your instructions are on the board."
He worked quietly and then waited for the result when he was finished. The only time he'd ever got one wrong anyway was when Ron had thrown beetle eyes at him and some had accidentally fallen in, so he wasn't too concerned.
After being told it was acceptable he automatically went to Snape's chambers and let himself in, waiting for the other man to follow. He poured himself a drink and sat down in 'his' chair.
"Well, Draco." Snape said as he walked in. "How has your week been?"
"Not too bad. Though Harry isn't being co-operative."
"Really? How so?"
"Well, I know he works a lot, but you think he could find some time to spend with his former fiancee? How else am I going to seduce him?"
Snape sighed and took a seat. "So, you've decided you want him for yourself?"
"Damn right I have. I don't see why spirits get to have all the fun." Draco replied, on the verge of sulking about it again.
"And do you have a plan?"
Draco tilted his head a little, thinking about it. "It's not really a plan, more of a guideline. For a start there's this painting I found that was obviously meant to be given to him for his birthday. I thought if I *did* give it to him that would give me a plausible excuse to invite him over."
"I do hope this doesn't follow along the line of 'Get him drunk' in any way."
"Don't be stupid, sir. I'm more subtle than that."
"Well?"
"Talk, drop hints, touch him as if innocently, you know, the normal way to seduce someone. But if that doesn't work there is always the reminiscing way, where you just get him talking about the past so much he won't think twice when you kiss him."
"And if those don't work?"
Draco shrugged. "Get him drunk."
Snape rolled his eyes slightly and refilled their drinks. "I think you should just be thankful that he still seems to want you. He was here yesterday, whining at Dumbledore about how much he misses you."
Draco grinned. "Excellent! That'll make things much easier."
They clinked their glasses together and spent the rest of the evening arguing about the Ministry.
----------
Draco had dialled the number for Hermione and Ron's place as soon as he had walked in the door.
"Hello?"
"Harry, glad your home. Er, I've found something which was obviously meant to be a birthday present for you. Would you like to have it? Or should I keep it here?"
"Can't you just send it?" Harry's tone wasn't the friendliest but Draco overlooked it.
"Um, I don't think an owl could carry it."
"I'll ask Hermione to pick it up on her way home then."
Draco frowned, this wasn't going well. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
"No."
"Well, you're not being very friendly."
"I'm being perfectly sociable."
"You call *this* sociable?"
"Look, was there something you wanted?"
Draco scowled. "I just thought you might like this stupid present."
"Fine. I'll be there in five minutes." Harry slammed the phone down.
Draco went and stood next to the door, not feeling in the best of moods by this time and waited for Harry to knock. When it happened it almost sounded as if the Gryffindor wanted to break down the door. Draco opened it and Harry walked in without being asked but the blonde let that go too.
"Well, where is it?"
"Hold on, it's in the studio." Draco went to go get the painting as Harry called after him.
"Why is it in there?"
Draco reappeared and handed it over as the Gryffindor stared at it. He, like Draco had, titled his head to read the inscription and an unreadable expression was on his face briefly.
"I'll just be going now."
"Er, would you like a drink before you go?"
"No thank you." went to leave, much to Draco's annoyance. "I just thought I might ask you a couple of things while you were here."
Harry turned, his facial expression very readable now. He was obviously very angry about something.
"You know, Malfoy, I don't see why I have to answer every stupid little question your mind thinks up. Do you honestly think I have nothing better to do than to jump at your every command?"
To Be Continued.
Warnings: Nope, none.
.
.
.
Blood & Nails.
.
Part Eleven. Paint The Sky
Draco got back in and threw his coat on to the kitchen counter. He'd gone for another little trip to his 'Retreat', or so he called it. He'd needed to do some thinking about how exactly he was going to get Harry to want *this* him. He'd come up with a few ideas, but would need time to work on them first.
Instead of getting something to eat he headed into the room that held all his painting equipment. He still hadn't looked at anything that had been done and he decided today was definitely the time to do so.
He now refused to believe that Mortel would have been foolish enough to paint anything incriminating, such as the murders or the like, so Draco was very curious to see what had been done. He started removing the covers. There were paintings of many things and they were all grouped into stacks so that all the paintings of the same things were together.
The first stack was of the apartment. Some of the furniture was slightly different but that was it. He moved on to the rest.
His parents. Snape. Snape with Steel. Snape with Dumbledore. His parents with Snape. His home in the country. His parents' home.
Draco stared at the last stack when it had been uncovered. He didn't blush, but he was glad no-one was there to see his expression. He'd never seen Harry naked before and he had to admit he really didn't mind it at all. He slowly went through them, memorising each in turn then came to the very last one.
He smiled at the scene. Harry lying on his side with his eyes closed and him sitting behind him, one hand reaching out to push the dark hair back, watching him intently. He noticed a message in the corner and leaned forward, tilting his head, to read what was obviously his own hand writing.
'Happy birthday, my beautiful Gryffindor. I'll watch over your dreams for you. I love you.'
It was soppy and not exactly his style, but Draco got the feeling Harry would have loved it, and that had been the whole point, most likely. He shook his head, smiling, and walked back to the living room. Steel was just coming back in from off the balcony and he hopped up on the table, looking to be fed.
"You've had your dinner." Draco said, making Steel mewl louder. "Nope. I'm not going to feed you again. You've had enough." He checked the clock and decided he'd better get some sleep.
----------
The young girl couldn't hear, couldn't see and couldn't move. The fact that she hated the most was that she couldn't scream. Her parents were right down the hall and if she could just scream they would rush in and save her. She knew her daddy would fight off anything to keep her safe.
Her hands ached, she was frightened, and the tears were still rolling down her face.
Mortel, on the other hand, was doing quite well. He had his plan back on track. The rules had changed slightly, but he was doing all right now, which he decided was a vast improvement.
He was going to get Draco back, he was going to show Harry how a person should truly behave. Draco had always belonged to Mortel, so he didn't see why he had to give him up now, just because he wasn't being executed.
He *would* get him back, even if it meant killing the blonde.
----------
Draco just about jumped out of bed when he woke up on Friday morning and rushed to get ready. Today was one of his practical days at Hogwarts and he really quite liked them. He enjoyed it much better than theory and it meant he could go drink with Snape afterwards. It was also fun to give steady looks at the snickering children and pull out his dagger to pick his nails with. That always shut them up.
He might not be a murderer, but that didn't make him a saint, and he was very fond of terrifying the students. He blamed Snape for that characteristic. Or at least, he blamed the teacher for encouraging it.
He sat through his classes diligently and almost bounced on his way down to the dungeons. His potion practical was always the last for the day, with no other students hanging around. He waved cheerfully to some of the Slytherins that were hanging around and headed in.
"Hey, sir."
"Good afternoon, Draco. It's a pleasure to see you. Your instructions are on the board."
He worked quietly and then waited for the result when he was finished. The only time he'd ever got one wrong anyway was when Ron had thrown beetle eyes at him and some had accidentally fallen in, so he wasn't too concerned.
After being told it was acceptable he automatically went to Snape's chambers and let himself in, waiting for the other man to follow. He poured himself a drink and sat down in 'his' chair.
"Well, Draco." Snape said as he walked in. "How has your week been?"
"Not too bad. Though Harry isn't being co-operative."
"Really? How so?"
"Well, I know he works a lot, but you think he could find some time to spend with his former fiancee? How else am I going to seduce him?"
Snape sighed and took a seat. "So, you've decided you want him for yourself?"
"Damn right I have. I don't see why spirits get to have all the fun." Draco replied, on the verge of sulking about it again.
"And do you have a plan?"
Draco tilted his head a little, thinking about it. "It's not really a plan, more of a guideline. For a start there's this painting I found that was obviously meant to be given to him for his birthday. I thought if I *did* give it to him that would give me a plausible excuse to invite him over."
"I do hope this doesn't follow along the line of 'Get him drunk' in any way."
"Don't be stupid, sir. I'm more subtle than that."
"Well?"
"Talk, drop hints, touch him as if innocently, you know, the normal way to seduce someone. But if that doesn't work there is always the reminiscing way, where you just get him talking about the past so much he won't think twice when you kiss him."
"And if those don't work?"
Draco shrugged. "Get him drunk."
Snape rolled his eyes slightly and refilled their drinks. "I think you should just be thankful that he still seems to want you. He was here yesterday, whining at Dumbledore about how much he misses you."
Draco grinned. "Excellent! That'll make things much easier."
They clinked their glasses together and spent the rest of the evening arguing about the Ministry.
----------
Draco had dialled the number for Hermione and Ron's place as soon as he had walked in the door.
"Hello?"
"Harry, glad your home. Er, I've found something which was obviously meant to be a birthday present for you. Would you like to have it? Or should I keep it here?"
"Can't you just send it?" Harry's tone wasn't the friendliest but Draco overlooked it.
"Um, I don't think an owl could carry it."
"I'll ask Hermione to pick it up on her way home then."
Draco frowned, this wasn't going well. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
"No."
"Well, you're not being very friendly."
"I'm being perfectly sociable."
"You call *this* sociable?"
"Look, was there something you wanted?"
Draco scowled. "I just thought you might like this stupid present."
"Fine. I'll be there in five minutes." Harry slammed the phone down.
Draco went and stood next to the door, not feeling in the best of moods by this time and waited for Harry to knock. When it happened it almost sounded as if the Gryffindor wanted to break down the door. Draco opened it and Harry walked in without being asked but the blonde let that go too.
"Well, where is it?"
"Hold on, it's in the studio." Draco went to go get the painting as Harry called after him.
"Why is it in there?"
Draco reappeared and handed it over as the Gryffindor stared at it. He, like Draco had, titled his head to read the inscription and an unreadable expression was on his face briefly.
"I'll just be going now."
"Er, would you like a drink before you go?"
"No thank you." went to leave, much to Draco's annoyance. "I just thought I might ask you a couple of things while you were here."
Harry turned, his facial expression very readable now. He was obviously very angry about something.
"You know, Malfoy, I don't see why I have to answer every stupid little question your mind thinks up. Do you honestly think I have nothing better to do than to jump at your every command?"
To Be Continued.