A/N: A/N: Cripes, I'm still amazed at all these reviews! Luckily I was able to fix MS Word and finish off the chapter. Ringin' in the New Year with a new chapter; I can't complain with that. Soiee that it's a day later than I had planned. Anyways, here are the replies and then the chapter. Now, I'm gonna let y'all read.
HPIceAngel: I liked the last part too. Slashy part is posted on my website. I've been locked out before and I am not taking the chance again - God knows how many petitions I signed protesting this censorship, but idiots will be idiots [referring to the people who couldn't handle NC-17 and then proceeded to read and then bitch about it]
Vicious Lily: Thank you. Go right ahead and draw it; I'm not stopping you. Unless you're like me and can only really draw stick figures. Hell I'd draw it if I could. But I'm practicing - my stick men now have eerily realistic faces…and hands…and feet o0
xikum: Thanks! Once I read the challenge, so many things ran through my head I kinda froze and had to absorb them all. What you read finally came out. Yeap, they're both coming out of their proverbial shells. Funny how being stuck together in a foreign place with only each other for company can do that to people. And yeah…Harry's thinking ahead. Just make sure to remember that. ;)
Prongs: Thank you. This chapter kinda gave me some trouble, as I wanted the events Lucius recounted to be original but still fit into the canon storyline. I am aiming to update once a week, even when classes start again at U of T [University of Toronto]. Who cares about psychology? Writing about Harry and Lucius is infinitely better. Damn, I really have to get a laptop so I can type up chapters during my boring psychology and sociology lectures.
Sadie Leigh: Hadn't looked at it like that before. *looks over chapter* Thank you!
Plastraa: You know, I was watching the Chamber of Secrets again, and, for some odd reason, the same thought kept popping into my head: "What the hell was that flash in between the surprise and the anger in Lucius' eyes?!" Might just be me though. But it got me thinking and voilà - cette chapitre! Ah, you too know the joys of farm life. I've been down to my family farm in Barbados a few times now and boy…I really do think goats should be in curry. They're much easier to deal with that way. With some roti, chutney and a fork. But the goats are something of the running gag in this fic. And it wouldn't be the same if they didn't torment Lucius in some new way. ^__^ Fallouts on farms aren't all that fun. *impish smirk*
Linny: Thank you! *blushes* If you read a review left by Miss Lesley and my response to it, it says why I opted for strong physical abuse instead of rape. Though the whole parallel thing did occur to me, but the one thing that tops my extremely small squick list is: incest. *shudders* Just plain ol' 'ick' in my book. More about what Harry suffered at the hands of the Dursleys does come out….but you have to wait and see.
Cliffe: Oooooh, I'm going to see Peter Pan soon, though I'm kinda getting impatient and wanting to see it now - and my stepsiblings want to see it too. Plus, I owe them an embarrassment…so if I stand up and loudly proclaim, 'Jason Issacs is so bloody sexy!', that should draw it at even. ^.^ Thank you. I'm trying really hard on the characterizations and what not. I know, the whole Ernesto/Valencia thing seemed like a stretch to me as well, but I needed something to have Harry and Lucius on their best behaviour to get things…rolling, so to speak. The complete chapter seven is posted on my website…it's about an extra page. I did my best, but I am planning on going back when I'm done the entire fic and doing some minor editing, so don't be surprised if it's…spiced up a bit. ^.~
Ann: New chapter here! ^.^ I wasn't too sure where to cut it off and that line of "Shut up and kiss me." seemed to be the only one that worked well. It's not nice leaving it there like that I know, but I've been locked out once before for something I considered trivial and I don't want it to happen again.
Stephanie: Thank you! *blushes* And I am gonna keep writing more until I reach the end of this fic.
Shnigami Liliz Black: ¡Vi su reseña! ¿Hablas español? Estudio español hasta 4 años. Alguna día, leeré fanfiction en español, pero estoy un poquita…vaga y prefiero leer en inglés o francés. ^^;; Alguna día empezaré y probablemente con sus fanfics. ¿Hay una palabra para 'fanfiction' en español? Probablemente es 'fanfiction' pero querrí preguntar. ^.^ Puedo ayudarte con inglés, si querres.
ambrezwenko: Erm, thanks! *blushes* Updated. Been scrambling like mad to fix MS Word on the comp. Thankfully, I got it done in time to kinda post at the time I wanted. ^.^;;
En Las Montañas
Chapter 8
The insistent butting against Lucius' leg didn't stop. He gave an irritated huff and knocked away the disturbance with the staff in his hands. He was outside the goat pen, counting over the blasted animals. There were definitely a few missing and they weren't anywhere on the farm. Lucius stifled a curse and thwapped away the insistent butting that came against his leg once more. Damn, he'd lost count again.
He and Harry had spent the past two days repairing all the havoc that had been let loose during their late morning. The first day had been spent chasing all the goats and chickens that managed to get into the house and finally looking after all the things that required their attention.
If there was one thing Lucius was never doing again it was milking a goat, especially a goat that simply refused to remain still.
Today was devoted to taking stock of what needed repairs and general maintenance and tying up any loose ends.
The goats had managed to get into the barn and it had been a disaster. Harry looked ready to strangle one of the bloody quadrupeds when he saw all the hay scattered about on the barn floor - obviously a hay pile had been knocked over, and Lucius could see the impressions of hooves on the support beams. Not to mention the broken stall doors or even the half chewed up rags that seemed to cover a good portion of the floor. It was almost as if the goats had tried to hide the evidence. Lucius found himself thankful that the two horses were well tempered and content to be fed and exercised.
The butting came again along with a rather porcine grunt. Lucius ignored the pig, simply replying with another thwack. The pig gave something of an affronted noise and shuffled off. Finally Lucius could finish counting in peace. Since Harry had taken on most of the repairs on - Lucius did not feel up to dealing with nails, hammer and splintery wood - it fell to Lucius to round up the rest of the truant animals.
He frowned, watching the pig as it wandered its way over to Harry. Once Harry finished with that door, Lucius would get to go tramping off in search of the missing goats. The dry thought of 'Wonderful.', flitted through his mind as Lucius scowled a bit, glaring at the unknowing pig - that creature acted far too much like some spoilt primadonna. Pausing for a moment, Lucius thought over the implications of his words; he was engaged in some strange sort of grudge war with a swine and a herd of stubborn goats.
"Either there's something in the water, or the sun is slowly baking me alive," Lucius muttered to himself.
A sudden bleat made him shift his gaze to the goats that gazed at him with piteous expressions. He snorted and looked out at the hills. Twenty Knuts said that's where the blasted animals were and that's where he had to go to find them. He couldn't even perform a simple locating charm to find them faster. A bleating came once more.
"Don't look at me," Lucius snapped irritably. "You did this to yourselves."
A small chorus swelled the lone bleat now. Lucius simply growled in irritation and rapped his staff against the pen walls. The goats were sufficiently startled to silence. After the agonizing hell Lucius had gone through yesterday to round them up, he wasn't in the mood to tolerate any nonsense from them. Not that he ever was.
"All right, that takes care of the pig pen," Harry said, wiping his brow as he came to stand beside Lucius. "What does that leave?"
"Cleaning out the barn…again, checking the chicken coop, checking the wire fence, inspecting the water pump, attending the garden and making sure no rotten fruits or vegetables are on the ground, repiling the hay, making sure the field has been watered for the day, feeding the animals, letting the horses get some exercise…" Lucius paused. "In short, too many blasted things."
Harry simply gave a slight smile. "I told you, too cranky for pleasantries. Weren't you going to go and find those goats?"
"Don't remind me," Lucius curled his lip in distaste. "Don't take your eye off them for a second." He jabbed the end of his staff at the goats in the pen.
"They're just goats Lucius; they're not going to do anything." Harry had a definitely amused smile on his face now.
"Don't take your eye off them for a second," Lucius repeated as he looked around with a frown. "This place is far too deserted."
"I'll be fine, don't worry." Harry said. "You should get going before it gets too dark to look."
"It's not as if they're going anywhere." Lucius grumbled but he started walking.
"Lucius, aren't you forgetting something?" Harry called after him.
"What the Devil could I have-" Lucius started as he turned around, only to be silenced by Harry's lips on his.
Harry drew back a few minutes later, with a slight smile. "Try to hurry." he murmured before heading back into the barn.
Lucius watched as Harry disappeared inside the barn before he started for the hills. Ever since that morning, all they had done was work, sleep and eat, and not necessarily in that particular order. Was he pleased with it? Not in the slightest. They had a few snatches of conversation during a rare free moment for taking a breather, or a few kisses here and there. Not the long ones that Lucius found himself craving. The quick fleeting ones that left him more frustrated than anything.
However, they managed to get the main bulk of things done. That meant they could rest a bit easy tonight.
At least Lucius now had a reason to find the goats quickly.
Harry sighed as he looked around the barn once more. The floor was finally clean again and the entire barn neat and tidy as it could possibly be. He wiped his brow, noticing the slats of golden orange light that streamed in through the gaps in the wood.
"Sunset," he murmured, placing the rake in its niche with the other tools.
He looked back at the barn realizing he still had to feed all the animals and he hadn't even touched the rest of the things that needed to be done. They'd have to be taken care of tomorrow. And they had about a day left until Ernesto and Valencia came back. Lucius had spent that whole day asleep, and then the next day they only got in about half a day's work. And the past two days had simply been work, work and more work.
Harry blinked and reached for the feedbags, filling them up. Anticipatory nickers came from the stalls as he turned around and made his way over. A smile came to his face as the horses in the stalls lowered their heads and he slipped the feedbags on. He grabbed three more bags of feed, heading outside. First he poured some into the trough for the goats and then for the pig. Then he walked into the fenced in chicken yard and scattered the feed, watching as the plump birds descended in a frantic, clucking, flapping mass.
"That's what I could use," Harry murmured to himself, throwing a few more handfuls of feed. "A nice bath after today."
The thought of a nice steaming hot bath to soak in for a good hour was very appealing at the moment. Harry scattered a bit more feed, before lugging the three bags back in the barn. He took the feedbags off the horses, petting them affectionately for a bit before he left the barn and securely shut the door. He double-checked the latches and locks on the gate to the goat and pig pen before looking around once more.
There still no Lucius in sight.
Harry sighed and gave a slight yawn, making his way into the house. Dinner could wait until he had relaxed a bit and taken a nice moment for himself. He kicked his shoes off once he stepped inside, shut the door and made his way to his bedroom, making a beeline for the bathroom. He ran the water until it was at the temperature he wanted, jammed the plug in the drain, letting the tub fill up.
He left the door open a crack to allow the steam out, then quickly stripped and once the tub was filled, he turned the taps off and gratefully sank into the hot water with a soft groan and snapped the curtain back. "I should try and do this every night." He murmured to himself as he leaned against the back of the tub and rested his head on the lip.
Ducking his head beneath the water for a moment, Harry smoothed his hair back when he surfaced and placed his head against the tub lip once more. He was far more exhausted than he had realized. The hot water was relaxing his muscles and, in essence, rendering him motionless. Not that he was complaining at the moment.
The bathroom light was muted by the dark shower curtain, creating a rather detached haven.
He closed his eyes and let himself drift off for a bit. He wasn't too sure how long he had drifted off for, but when he heard a creak and lazily opened one eye. There was nothing and he closed his eyes once more. When the creak came once more, he lifted his head with a lethargic sound, looking towards the bathroom door. That was the precise moment when the curtain was ripped back, allowing the light to flood in.
Lucius was thoroughly cranky.
He had spent a better part of the afternoon chasing a mere five goats through the hills. Up and down, up sharp inclines and down inclines; mostly down where Lucius had to follow after them. Lucius was absolutely convinced that these particular goats were possessed by some strange acrobatic spell and were out to make his time here resemble the essence of pure hell. If anything, they were…channelling the spirit of mountain goats somehow just to make his life miserable.
Needless to say, he had been relatively surprised to find everything quiet and peaceful when he came back just after dusk. The barn doors were locked shut, and the pig and goats securely in their pens. He unceremoniously dumped the five goats in the pen, leaned the staff against a post and stalked towards the house.
The one thing that kept him going was the rather pleasant thought of a hot shower and spending a nice evening with Harry. It was quite clear they had some things to discuss a bit further. He was so intent on the hot shower that he never noticed the quiet of the kitchen, or the entire house. But he did notice the steam coming from the cracked bathroom door once he stepped into the room with a creak.
He had walked up to the bathroom door, resting his hand on the knob. He didn't exactly want to go in - Harry was obviously in there at the moment - but Lucius was curious as to the excessive amounts of steam that still winded their way out into the cool air of the bedroom. And that's why he shifted a bit and got something of a slurred sound from the bathroom. His long strides were already covering the short distance to the bathtub. What had that foolish boy managed to do know? His tone sounded horribly drugged - had Harry found something in the bathroom cabinet and decided to have one of Merlin knew what? For all he knew, the boy could be half drowning in the tub right now!
That was what made him whip the navy blue bath curtain out of the way. Of course, the crankiness immediately dissipated once he found himself looking down into a pair of owlishly blinking green eyes. A pair of green eyes that was perfectly lucid. The steam curled around Harry, his slicked back black hair and face covered in a thin sheen of water.
Harry looked up at Lucius, surprise still plastered to his face.
Lucius looked down at Harry, torn between keeping his gaze and allowing his eyes to wander. How skin could look creamy and golden at the same time, Lucius wasn't sure, but it was an alluring sight to behold.
Harry made the decision for him. "What the hell?!" Harry spluttered as he sat forward, hands ducking beneath the water to cover himself. "Lucius, what do you think you're doing!?"
"Going," Lucius replied immediately as he turned and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Lucius sat down on the chair, closing his eyes. "'Going'?" he whispered the word aloud in disbelief. "What the hell was that?" he grumbled.
Usually Lucius always had the perfect line. In a normal situation like that, it would have been something like, 'I think that's rather obvious, isn't it?' or even a simple, 'Joining you.' Not once a 'Going.'. But then again, he never ripped away a shower curtain, expecting to find someone half drowning in a tub of hot water.
Instead he found Harry looking up at him with those green eyes of his, hair tamed back, steam curling around his half submerged chest, up around his shoulders and neck to start vanishing once it reached his head. It gave Lucius the distinct impression that Harry was wreathed in smoke and could easily vanish away with a snap of a finger, or Portkey.
Lucius sighed, rubbing a temple lightly with his fingertips as he rested an elbow on the desk. He honestly shouldn't have spent so much time in the sun. But the option of wearing a hat was far from appealing; the only hats that seemed to be on the farm were Ernesto's worn and rather stained hats - trucker hats, Harry had called them - or the frumpy ones that Valencia had in her closet. Lucius would never touch those; he refused to wear anything remotely feminine or, Heaven forbid, frumpy. He may be in the middle of nowhere, but he was still a Malfoy. And Malfoys did not do frumpy.
Hearing the floor creak, he looked up to find Harry coming out of the bathroom, amusement gleaming in his eyes.
"You know Lucius, people tend to knock before entering a room," Harry said, lips curling into a smile. "So the people in the room know they're coming in."
Lucius simply sneered, as if that was supposed to be enough of a reply. All right, so he should have knocked. It was the polite thing to do after all. But Lucius had been in something of a rush. He simply remained silent. There was no way an apology was ever crossing his lips. It never had before and it certainly wouldn't be now.
"You know you just caught me by surprise," Harry said as he stopped in front of Lucius. "I'm starting to think you worry about me too much."
Lucius' gaze flickered up to Harry's eyes as he let his hand drop from his temple. Somehow it seemed easier coming from Harry rather than admitting it to himself. So he overreacted a few times; Merlin knew he certainly didn't want anything to happen to Harry at the moment. He simply made a noise in the back of his throat.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, peering into Lucius' face.
"Thinking," Lucius replied a bit cryptically.
"Ah," Harry nodded his head. "Maybe you'll think better after a shower?"
Lucius simply made a noise of agreement and disappeared into the bathroom.
"Bloody freezing in here," Harry grumbled as he opened the fridge door, searching for something to eat. "You think the heat would have kicked in by now."
Once Lucius made his exit to the bathroom, Harry had made his way down to the kitchen to quell his stomach's rumblings. And he was still rummaging through the kitchen in search of something to eat. He didn't want to touch the leftovers from yesterday's dinner and he certainly didn't feel like cooking anything tonight at this time. He didn't even feel all that hungry.
It was looking more and more likely that he and Lucius would simply be having sandwiches tonight. If they decided to eat anything.
But even as he was looking inside the fridge, he simply felt like shutting the door. He gave a sound of displeasure; there didn't even seem to be anything he wanted to make a sandwich of. Surely even Lucius would be capable of making his own sandwich. It was just meat and other stuff in between two slices of bread. He tapped his foot, impatiently, debating sandwiches against leftovers.
"May I ask just what are you doing?"
Harry rose, taking care to not hit his head against the top of the fridge. "I'm trying to figure out what to have for dinner. Did you even want anything for dinner?"
Lucius shook his head as he made his way to the kitchen table. "Just something to drink."
"Such as? There's juice, cola," Harry frowned, inspecting the fridge's contents once more. "I can make some tea if you want."
"Tea." Lucius said, pulling out a seat and settling himself in it easily.
"Tea coming up," Harry said, shutting the door, and reaching into the cupboard for the tea bags.
It was ten minutes later that he found himself sitting beside Lucius at the table, a tea pot and small sugar bowl between them as they cradled the warm mugs in their hands. Harry glanced at Lucius every once in awhile, still seeing that meditative look on his face. He sipped the tea slowly, not wanting to scald his tongue.
Hopefully this wouldn't end up being yet another awkward moment. Sure Lucius had barged in without knocking and gotten a good eyeful of one naked Harry Potter in a bathtub. Was Harry mad? No; in retrospect, he was more amused by the whole incident than anything. Lucius didn't say it, but he was keeping an eye out for Harry. Harry found it rather endearing. It was rather nice to have someone rushing in to save him - even though he didn't need it - rather than the other way around. It also helped that Lucius hadn't exactly been able to pry his eyes away from Harry once the curtain had been pulled back.
Harry had been sure he saw a glimmer of desire deep in those grey eyes. And he could still remember, still feel, the tingles that ran along his skin at seeing it.
"Harry."
Lucius' quiet forceful voice broke through, causing Harry to flush a bit. "Yes Lucius?" he asked, looking at the blond.
"You didn't hear a single word I said." Lucius stated after watching Harry for a moment.
"Sorry. Thinking," he replied before taking a sip of tea.
Lucius arched an eyebrow at that. "I was saying, we should discuss our…"
"What's there to discuss?" Harry asked with a shrug as Lucius trailed off. "I like you. You like me. Isn't that enough for the moment?"
"If only a simple 'yes' could end it there," Lucius sighed. "While Valencia and Ernesto may not have a problem-"
"You don't want a headache if we get out of here." Harry finished quietly.
Lucius didn't say anything for a moment. "I'd imagine you don't as well. That woman-"
"Rita Skeeter?" Harry queried.
"That woman," Lucius repeated a bit pointedly. "Would undoubtedly have a field day with this and splash it right on the front page of The Daily Prophet."
Harry shuddered. "And I don't think you want Narcissca finding out about this as well. You're married and have a…reputation to uphold."
"If Narcissca thinks it's someone else, she'll blithely ignore it. I doubt she could live it down if she discovered it was you." There was a faint chuckle in Lucius' voice.
"I see," Harry paused for a moment. "And Draco?"
"Will learn to live with it," Lucius said simply. "It will come as a…shock, but he'll learn."
Harry gave a slight smile. "I suppose we should get these things out the way now. Less to worry about later, hm?"
"Planning ahead has its virtues." Lucius murmured, finally taking a sip of his tea.
Harry didn't say anything for a moment. "You honestly want to continue this…relationship if we get out of here?" There; he had said the somewhat intimidating 'r' word.
There was a long silence in which he and Lucius didn't say anything. Harry found himself nibbling on the inside of his lip a bit as the silence ticked by in agonizing seconds.
"Yes Harry," Lucius finally said in soft voice. Harry looked up as Lucius turned slightly and found himself looking into dark grey eyes that smouldered with intent "I do. And I will take every step to ensure that those damned fools keep their noses out of it."
