Title: Noblesse Oblige
Chapter One: One step and you're over your head.
Author: Occurs (missoccurs@hotmail.com)
Series: Harry Potter
Rating: This Chapter? PG. Later chapters? R.
Notes: Takes place roughly one year after what would be the seventh book, placing
everyone in the eighteen to twenty year range. Will eventually be Seamus/Draco,
and if the idea of boys liking boys turns your stomach, I advise you to turn back
before you ever start on the fic.
Seamus Finnigan leaned back on the bar counter, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he
inhaled long puffs of smoke. His touseled sandy hair fell loosely onto his face, badly in need of a
cut, and his thick fingers brushed it away with lazy grace as he traveled the room with his eyes.
"Solo tonight, are ya Finnigan?" Asked the barkeep, shaking up a copper flask for an older
gentleman who sat patiently in the company of a boyish, most-likely paid, escort. Flicking scant traces
of ash to the floor, Seamus nodded.
"Rodney hates me at present. Or says he does. Or is currently shacking up with Linden and
needs a nice excuse." He gave a 'what can ya do?' shrug and grinned. "But there's a lot to be said for
going out for a jaunt by yourself..."
"Aye, but not as much as there is to be said for going with another, if you catch me." The
man from down the counter laughed, downing his drink and hastily and waving the bartender for another.
"True that." Seamus sighed and stared out through the smoky haze and the sea of muggle faces.
He couldn't regret that since leaving Hogwarts in his sixth year he'd been spending more and more time in
London proper, and less and less in the wizarding world. Being a half-breed he had been raised in this life,
and magical arts had at best been a fun game. He was grateful for the ability, of course, but with all the
secrets and politics that went into just surviving in a community that by it's very nature had to remain
hidden from nine-tenths of the world...He took a long drag. Living out in the open was infinitely more
pleasurable...even though he couldn't deny that his current lifestyle wasn't too much better as far as secrets
went. But then there was the little fact that muggle money was far easier to come by, and his father's
business had always been far more appealing than his mother's world of potions and spells. And, as any of
his teachers could have attested to, Seamus had far more talent managing muggle life than attempting certain
charms.
A sudden hush descended on the bar, and Seamus shook his head. It was the kind of silence you
often hear in well established places when someone other than the equally well-established clientele dares
to enter.
"Now that's a fit bloke." He heard a voice from his left mutter, and Seamus turned to see who was
getting such a reaction. The cigarette dropped from his lips as he saw the tall blonde form who was moving
towards the bar, arrogantly staring down gazes both distrustful and lust-filled. Stamping out the smoking
butt, Seamus straightened to intercept the not-quite a stranger, whom he was sure had no idea what kind of
place he'd wandered his pretty little aristocratic self into.
"Oy, Malfoy!"
Draco Malfoy's head shot up, and he stared for long moments at the ex-Gryffindor. Before he could
put into words exactly the kind of confusion he was feeling, Finnigan had grabbed him by the arm, muttered
a few incomprehensible words to the muggles who were watching him hungrily, and was pulling him off to a
corner booth.
"Just cutting to the chase, aren't ya Finnigan?" A ruddy-complected man grinned through gap
teeth as the Irishman and the wizard brushed past him. Malfoy sneered, about to say something before being
pushed into a vinyl covered seat by the taller young man. Blue eyes met with hazel as they both opened their
mouths to speak at the same instant.
"What are you doing here?"
Seamus wouldn't have even bothered to ask, if he could think of one plausible reason why the heir to
one of the most powerful wizarding families in England, not to mention one of the most pro-pureblood people he
had ever met, was slinking into a seedy London muggle gay bar in the middle of the night. Just one good, or
even adequate, reason, and he would leave well enough alone, wish Draco on his merry way, and not speak to him
again. He was fairly sure, however, that the boy was clueless. Just his look of shocked disgust as he caught
sight of the two lads snogging across the way proved it. And despite the fact that Malfoy had never been the
most pleasant of individuals, it made Seamus feel just a bit protective.
"What are you doing here?" Draco repeated, trying to maintain some dignity and control over the
situation.
"Just out looking for a good time, Malfoy." The Irishman smiled a smile that showed a bit too
much teeth at Draco's obvious naïveté. "Now will you answer my question?"
"I was just..." The defensiveness in the voice was obvious, but the words were cut off as he put
the scene, the patrons, and Finnigan's presence together.
"Is that why you pulled me over? You were going to..." Despite the muggle clothing Draco wore, Seamus
could see the outline of his wand in the deep pockets of the trenchcoat he wore, the pocket in which he was now
reaching. 'No tact', the older boy thought, his momentary protective urge fleeing with the remembrance of what
absolute arseholes the Malfoys were.
"Draco, if you think I pulled you over because I wanted a crack at seducin' ya, you're an even more
arrogant git than you were when we started school." He began harshly. "I only tried to rescue you because you are
obviously quite out of your element, but if you want me to leave you to the men here who eat fresh protesting
young things for breakfast, at this point I'd be more than happy to."
The words must have hit home, because Draco faltered, then fell silent, his mouth curving into an
expression of only mild disgust but still he remained doggedly silent.
"So again, Malfoy...what are you doing here?" Seamus continued, trying to keep annoyance out of his
voice. Draco shifted in his seat, looked around again, and curled his lip.
"I'm not talking about it."
"Right then." Seamus got to his feet and gave a jaunty wave. "Well, nice to have seen you, Malfoy."
His tone was clipped as he turned to go. 'Even God only helps those who help themselves.' He gave a mental sigh.
The Irishman paused, however, as long fingers wrapped themselves around his wrist.
"Wait." Draco commanded in that hegemonic tone he had, his voice touched with something akin to hunger.
The fingers gripped tightly, and Seamus flinched. He looked down at the smaller boy with curiosity. Draco's eyes,
while customarily cold and almost expressionless, had a touch of...well, if Seamus hadn't known better, he would
have said it was fear, or maybe loneliness. But seeing Malfoy here tonight had proved that he really didn't know
better, so this could be another logical step. He didn't, however, think he even wanted to know what kinds of things
could etch that look on someone so...he couldn't think of the right word to properly sum up what he thought of Draco.
Mindlessly obnoxious? Mindless, anyway. Seamus sat back down, with a mental smack to the forehead. It was definitely
not his business to deal with someone who apparently just realized that there was a world beyond themselves. But
here he was anyway, being held by nothing more than a loosening grip and pleading gaze from someone who didn't
even realize or want the fact that Seamus was rapidly gaining a feeling of obligation to his troubled schoolmate.
Cursing under his breath, he damned to the hells whoever decided that he would be the one here tonight, and took a
deep breath.
"Why don't we just get out?" He suggested, eyeing Draco over. There was no way he was ever going to get
and explanation in this kind of place.
"Excellent idea." Draco stood up a little too quickly, knocking the table as he rose to his feet. Seamus
followed him as he began to move out, giving his inebriated barfriends a look that plainly explained that one catcall
or joke would land them on the other side of Finnigan's fist. A friendly wave from the barkeep was all he got as he
left the warm pub for the cold London midnight.
"Look, Malfoy," Seamus sighed, fumbling in his pocket for the last cig he had on him, then lighting it
with a practiced flick of a cheap lighter. "I won't even ask. You're not going to talk to me, we're by no means
friends, and it's quite frankly none of mine what hobbies you've picked up for amusement. I'll walk you to Diagon,
only so you don't get lost, and that'll be that."
Draco didn't answer, only paused on the corner of the deserted cross streets, hands shoved deep into
his pockets, and stared up at the white moon hanging at her height in the sky. Seamus was suddenly struck by what
everyone at the pub had seen from the first instant Draco had tripped heedlessly in: the young wizard was beautiful.
Cold beauty, to be sure, with his platinum hair and ivory skin, but that didn't take away from the fact that every
line that made up his form was perfectly realized. 'Eh, moonlight makes everyone look better.' Seamus grumbled
internally, but that didn't stop him from feeling somehow inferior to this white-washed statue of a young man who,
he was rapidly realizing, he hadn't really looked at since they were first years. Standing in front of the impeccably
dressed and coifed Malfoy with his shaggy hair and battered leather coat, Seamus realized with a touch of annoyed ego,
he probably looked like he was going to mug the boy.
"I'm not going to Diagon." The words hung in the air with such sharp simplicity that Seamus was sure he
had picked up the wrong implication.
"Oh, yah, right, right...you can just apperate to wherever you want to...so off with ya." He took a
long drag and blew the smoke in Malfoy's general direction.
"You misunderstand, Finnigan." The expression in Draco's eyes was like the small hard stones that rest
at the bottom of an otherwise peaceful lake. "I'm not going to Diagon, or Hogsmede, or anywhere else in wizard's
world. And apparently won't be ever again."
And for the second time that night Seamus Finnigan lost a perfectly good cigarette to shock.
Author's Notes: None really. Please read and review. :D
Chapter One: One step and you're over your head.
Author: Occurs (missoccurs@hotmail.com)
Series: Harry Potter
Rating: This Chapter? PG. Later chapters? R.
Notes: Takes place roughly one year after what would be the seventh book, placing
everyone in the eighteen to twenty year range. Will eventually be Seamus/Draco,
and if the idea of boys liking boys turns your stomach, I advise you to turn back
before you ever start on the fic.
Seamus Finnigan leaned back on the bar counter, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he
inhaled long puffs of smoke. His touseled sandy hair fell loosely onto his face, badly in need of a
cut, and his thick fingers brushed it away with lazy grace as he traveled the room with his eyes.
"Solo tonight, are ya Finnigan?" Asked the barkeep, shaking up a copper flask for an older
gentleman who sat patiently in the company of a boyish, most-likely paid, escort. Flicking scant traces
of ash to the floor, Seamus nodded.
"Rodney hates me at present. Or says he does. Or is currently shacking up with Linden and
needs a nice excuse." He gave a 'what can ya do?' shrug and grinned. "But there's a lot to be said for
going out for a jaunt by yourself..."
"Aye, but not as much as there is to be said for going with another, if you catch me." The
man from down the counter laughed, downing his drink and hastily and waving the bartender for another.
"True that." Seamus sighed and stared out through the smoky haze and the sea of muggle faces.
He couldn't regret that since leaving Hogwarts in his sixth year he'd been spending more and more time in
London proper, and less and less in the wizarding world. Being a half-breed he had been raised in this life,
and magical arts had at best been a fun game. He was grateful for the ability, of course, but with all the
secrets and politics that went into just surviving in a community that by it's very nature had to remain
hidden from nine-tenths of the world...He took a long drag. Living out in the open was infinitely more
pleasurable...even though he couldn't deny that his current lifestyle wasn't too much better as far as secrets
went. But then there was the little fact that muggle money was far easier to come by, and his father's
business had always been far more appealing than his mother's world of potions and spells. And, as any of
his teachers could have attested to, Seamus had far more talent managing muggle life than attempting certain
charms.
A sudden hush descended on the bar, and Seamus shook his head. It was the kind of silence you
often hear in well established places when someone other than the equally well-established clientele dares
to enter.
"Now that's a fit bloke." He heard a voice from his left mutter, and Seamus turned to see who was
getting such a reaction. The cigarette dropped from his lips as he saw the tall blonde form who was moving
towards the bar, arrogantly staring down gazes both distrustful and lust-filled. Stamping out the smoking
butt, Seamus straightened to intercept the not-quite a stranger, whom he was sure had no idea what kind of
place he'd wandered his pretty little aristocratic self into.
"Oy, Malfoy!"
Draco Malfoy's head shot up, and he stared for long moments at the ex-Gryffindor. Before he could
put into words exactly the kind of confusion he was feeling, Finnigan had grabbed him by the arm, muttered
a few incomprehensible words to the muggles who were watching him hungrily, and was pulling him off to a
corner booth.
"Just cutting to the chase, aren't ya Finnigan?" A ruddy-complected man grinned through gap
teeth as the Irishman and the wizard brushed past him. Malfoy sneered, about to say something before being
pushed into a vinyl covered seat by the taller young man. Blue eyes met with hazel as they both opened their
mouths to speak at the same instant.
"What are you doing here?"
Seamus wouldn't have even bothered to ask, if he could think of one plausible reason why the heir to
one of the most powerful wizarding families in England, not to mention one of the most pro-pureblood people he
had ever met, was slinking into a seedy London muggle gay bar in the middle of the night. Just one good, or
even adequate, reason, and he would leave well enough alone, wish Draco on his merry way, and not speak to him
again. He was fairly sure, however, that the boy was clueless. Just his look of shocked disgust as he caught
sight of the two lads snogging across the way proved it. And despite the fact that Malfoy had never been the
most pleasant of individuals, it made Seamus feel just a bit protective.
"What are you doing here?" Draco repeated, trying to maintain some dignity and control over the
situation.
"Just out looking for a good time, Malfoy." The Irishman smiled a smile that showed a bit too
much teeth at Draco's obvious naïveté. "Now will you answer my question?"
"I was just..." The defensiveness in the voice was obvious, but the words were cut off as he put
the scene, the patrons, and Finnigan's presence together.
"Is that why you pulled me over? You were going to..." Despite the muggle clothing Draco wore, Seamus
could see the outline of his wand in the deep pockets of the trenchcoat he wore, the pocket in which he was now
reaching. 'No tact', the older boy thought, his momentary protective urge fleeing with the remembrance of what
absolute arseholes the Malfoys were.
"Draco, if you think I pulled you over because I wanted a crack at seducin' ya, you're an even more
arrogant git than you were when we started school." He began harshly. "I only tried to rescue you because you are
obviously quite out of your element, but if you want me to leave you to the men here who eat fresh protesting
young things for breakfast, at this point I'd be more than happy to."
The words must have hit home, because Draco faltered, then fell silent, his mouth curving into an
expression of only mild disgust but still he remained doggedly silent.
"So again, Malfoy...what are you doing here?" Seamus continued, trying to keep annoyance out of his
voice. Draco shifted in his seat, looked around again, and curled his lip.
"I'm not talking about it."
"Right then." Seamus got to his feet and gave a jaunty wave. "Well, nice to have seen you, Malfoy."
His tone was clipped as he turned to go. 'Even God only helps those who help themselves.' He gave a mental sigh.
The Irishman paused, however, as long fingers wrapped themselves around his wrist.
"Wait." Draco commanded in that hegemonic tone he had, his voice touched with something akin to hunger.
The fingers gripped tightly, and Seamus flinched. He looked down at the smaller boy with curiosity. Draco's eyes,
while customarily cold and almost expressionless, had a touch of...well, if Seamus hadn't known better, he would
have said it was fear, or maybe loneliness. But seeing Malfoy here tonight had proved that he really didn't know
better, so this could be another logical step. He didn't, however, think he even wanted to know what kinds of things
could etch that look on someone so...he couldn't think of the right word to properly sum up what he thought of Draco.
Mindlessly obnoxious? Mindless, anyway. Seamus sat back down, with a mental smack to the forehead. It was definitely
not his business to deal with someone who apparently just realized that there was a world beyond themselves. But
here he was anyway, being held by nothing more than a loosening grip and pleading gaze from someone who didn't
even realize or want the fact that Seamus was rapidly gaining a feeling of obligation to his troubled schoolmate.
Cursing under his breath, he damned to the hells whoever decided that he would be the one here tonight, and took a
deep breath.
"Why don't we just get out?" He suggested, eyeing Draco over. There was no way he was ever going to get
and explanation in this kind of place.
"Excellent idea." Draco stood up a little too quickly, knocking the table as he rose to his feet. Seamus
followed him as he began to move out, giving his inebriated barfriends a look that plainly explained that one catcall
or joke would land them on the other side of Finnigan's fist. A friendly wave from the barkeep was all he got as he
left the warm pub for the cold London midnight.
"Look, Malfoy," Seamus sighed, fumbling in his pocket for the last cig he had on him, then lighting it
with a practiced flick of a cheap lighter. "I won't even ask. You're not going to talk to me, we're by no means
friends, and it's quite frankly none of mine what hobbies you've picked up for amusement. I'll walk you to Diagon,
only so you don't get lost, and that'll be that."
Draco didn't answer, only paused on the corner of the deserted cross streets, hands shoved deep into
his pockets, and stared up at the white moon hanging at her height in the sky. Seamus was suddenly struck by what
everyone at the pub had seen from the first instant Draco had tripped heedlessly in: the young wizard was beautiful.
Cold beauty, to be sure, with his platinum hair and ivory skin, but that didn't take away from the fact that every
line that made up his form was perfectly realized. 'Eh, moonlight makes everyone look better.' Seamus grumbled
internally, but that didn't stop him from feeling somehow inferior to this white-washed statue of a young man who,
he was rapidly realizing, he hadn't really looked at since they were first years. Standing in front of the impeccably
dressed and coifed Malfoy with his shaggy hair and battered leather coat, Seamus realized with a touch of annoyed ego,
he probably looked like he was going to mug the boy.
"I'm not going to Diagon." The words hung in the air with such sharp simplicity that Seamus was sure he
had picked up the wrong implication.
"Oh, yah, right, right...you can just apperate to wherever you want to...so off with ya." He took a
long drag and blew the smoke in Malfoy's general direction.
"You misunderstand, Finnigan." The expression in Draco's eyes was like the small hard stones that rest
at the bottom of an otherwise peaceful lake. "I'm not going to Diagon, or Hogsmede, or anywhere else in wizard's
world. And apparently won't be ever again."
And for the second time that night Seamus Finnigan lost a perfectly good cigarette to shock.
Author's Notes: None really. Please read and review. :D