LOVE
ATROCIOUS
By Yih
Beta'd and translat'd by Blackumbrage. My eternal thanks.
This is correction #1. The girl is not a mistake. It refers to the actress that Lucius is working with. Any other mistakes are minor and if you can't handle them, sorry. Don't read, simple? Eh?
Decisions
When it comes time for decisions
I'm always afraid
That I'll make the wrong choice
That I'll choose the wrong path
And I'll regret it
But I know if I don't go ahead
I'll be bitter for what I could have done
And I hate not giving it a go
I'm not one that backs down
Or out of a challenge
I'm the type that meets it head on
Even though I don't know if this is fate
Especially if it's my fate
I feel like I should say yes
Shouldn't I?
I know you think so
I know you want me to
And I think I will
Give me some time
There are people I
have to tell
Chapter 6
Life is a Road Well Traveled
"I am deeply amused." Tom chuckled heartily for effect. "I thought you had this thing for Lucius Malfoy, but it seems that I was mistaken." He was, was he? "You probably did have a thing for that pretty boy, but you obviously have gotten past it. That's good; it doesn't do for a man of your age to be stuck with a hopeless crush." Another reminder that Harry didn't need, thanks father. "But Severus Snape?"
Damn those tabloids! It wasn't like Severus Snape was a Lucius Malfoy, so why had they written up about their relationship. Harry sighed. He supposed it didn't help that he was Tom Riddle's son. Bah. "You shouldn't trust what those gossip columnists write," Harry chided. "They're all nonsense and no substance."
"I believe," he murmured back, "that they are right about this if you're not denying it as strenuously as you usually deny things."
"Like?" Harry retorted.
"Like the real reason you refuse to give up wasting your life as Lucius Malfoy's assistant."
If Severus was sarcasm given into being then her father was cunning infused with life. Why couldn't Harry ever meet nice men or even know nice men that didn't have such strong personalities? Well, Harry probably would consider them boring compared to the men in his life right now. What, with Draco's teasing and Lucius' conceitedness, and that was not to mention her father's slyness and Severus' snappiness.
"It's been a good experience for me," Harry insisted. "If I wasn't his assistant, I never would have gotten used to the high life that you lead, father. You know that, that is true." Tom shrugged and raised an eyebrow that said he didn't quite believe every word Harry was saying, but he couldn't deny all that he was saying. "And why are you calling anyhow?"
"Can't a father call to see how his son is doing?"
"You never call without a reason," Harry shot back.
If Harry could see him, he'd bet anything that Tom was smirking smugly. "There's a job opening."
Harry's heart did a crazy jump. Oh god, Tom was offering him a job at his company and from the conversation that they had had earlier about it, Harry knew that it was legitimate this time. It was going to be so hard to turn it down. But what if it was so hard that Harry didn't want to turn it down? It wasn't like there was anything left for him to learn about the crazy celebrity life anymore. Harry had lived it and lived it well for the last 5 years. To be honest, he was rather tired of it all.
"Well," he amended, "it's not a job opening per say, since when are scriptwriters ever job openings? You always have more than you ever need But you've skimmed and read enough scripts to know what a good script is and I do remember that when you were at University, that you had quite the creative touch."
Dear god, he was offering Harry a job as a screenwriter. It had always been what Harry had secretly dreamed of, even though he knew that the chances of that happening were slim at best. Of course, when Harry had first had those dreams, he hadn't known that Tom Riddle, the head of one of the largest production companies in Europe was his real father. Harry had still, at that age, believed that James Potter was his father. Despite not knowing, even if Harry had known--- it wouldn't have changed anything. Harry wouldn't have wanted to get anywhere by just his father's name or being his father's son.
"You want me to write scripts for you?"
"Yes," he answered, "that is if you want to. If you don't, well you can continue doing what you have been doing, which is to skim the load of shit that we get every week to pluck out some scripts that might have merit for the senior executives to look over. You have been doing quite an amicable job with Lucius Malfoy's movies, that I have no doubt you have an eye for it. But I would have thought that you're more creative than that, and that with all your experience with looking for good scripts you'd know how to write one."
"You really trust me to write a good script?"
"Yes, but of course you'll have help for your first effort."
"Help?" Harry queried. "What kind of help?"
"Nothing bad," Tom replied, "just that a more experienced scriptwriter will be helping you whenever you get writer's block. Even those with experience writing get stuck when they're trying to finish a script, so I would expect you to suffer the same fate. However, that scriptwriter, whoever it may be, may also help you write the script as well if you want Basically, they'll be there to give you tips about how to write scenes and transitions that new scriptwriters normally just don't get.
"And it's not so bad to collaborate," he continued. "A lot of scripts are written by a team of scriptwriters nowadays. There is the matter of finding the right one to work with, though some scriptwriters have such different tones that it is impossible to get a script they write together to be pulled together to make a cohesive movie. But whatever you choose is fine with me. As I've commissioned a script from you, you will be given a stipend and given 6 months in which to write it. I don't expect a ground-breaking effort for your first script, which is why I'm not giving you much time. Just make a light and humorous story that is witty and clever enough to sell well. Can you do it? Or better yet, will you do it?"
This was an offer of a lifetime. Harry knew his father better than to be guaranteed this kind of offer again. It wasn't everyday that a production company offered an inexperienced screenwriter a stipend to write their first script to be produced. It probably did happen occasionally, especially with when you had connections like Harry did, but Harry knew his father wasn't offering this because of their family link. Harry had to have the talent and Tom had to believe that Harry had the talent. That was why Harry was so torn right now He wanted to… and yet he didn't particularly want to leave Lucius either. Stupid sensibilities that made Harry love the dratted man.
If he said no to Tom, Harry was certain that he'd never give him another opportunity like this one again. It simply wasn't in Tom's pride to give Harry a second chance after Harry had rejected the initial one. Tom wasn't the type to take rejection well. Then again, Harry thought with a slight smirk, none of the men hr knew took rejection well at all. If anything, they would all take it rather badly. Even he wouldn't take rejection well. And that was what Harry was waiting for, wasn't it? To be cleanly rejected by Lucius Malfoy. Harry'd be damned if he was!
Yes or no? "Yes, I'll do it."
"That's good," Tom remarked, sounding pleased with himself. Or was it also pride that Harry heard? "When can you start?"
When could he start? Harry couldn't leave now. Lucius was in the middle of a movie, and he wouldn't be able to find himself a capable assistant. Actually, it was better if Lucius didn't pick his assistant. He'd pick some beautiful bimbo that couldn't do the job, just stand there and look pretty on his arm. No, Harry had better pick the next one out. Then again, Draco would make a rather good one. However the pity was that Draco had to attend University after this hiatus. Poop.
"I have to wait until Lucius finishes the production of his latest movie," Harry answered slowly. "It should wrap up in 3 months."
"Then 3 months," Tom murmured. "I'll be waiting for you in London when you come back and we'll work out the rest of the details then. But while you're stuck in that dreaded city of L.A., you might as well start working out some storylines that you might want to pursue so that when you come back here you can get started right away."
"You want to control what I write," Harry stated dully.
"More like," he responded, "I don't want to produce 2 movies at the same time with similar plotlines. You wouldn't believe that with all the possible storylines out there that two scriptwriters can write virtually the same kind of plot on whim."
Well, that made sense. "All right, I'll scheme."
"That's my boy."
Why was Harry not surprised to find at his return that Luciusand Draco were again arguing about some stupid bet they'd made between themselves? Harry didn't know whether to think that they were both immature, or that Lucius was the only one. Hadn't they both outgrown childish oh but you are and oh no but you are arguments?! Apparently not, Harry sighed. Would they ever? If they hadn't so far, he doubted they ever would.
"What are you two bickering about like two old biddies?"
It was too like them to take insult over something that was unfortunately true. What was not surprising was that Draco was taking it a lot better than Lucius. He always took things better than his father. Really, Lucius was a big baby at times. Harry had seen it happen, when he'd throw a tantrum that could shake the walls down. Luckily, he had never lost it in front of the public like some A-listed actors did to their complete disaster. Lucius wasn't that stupid.
Draco smirked at him and Harry had the sinking feeling that whatever he was about to say wasn't going to be good. There was that particular gleam that said to him that interesting things would be said and by interesting, that didn't mean it was necessarily something that Harry wanted to hear either. Could they stay out of trouble for a few hours while he had been gone and stuck in traffic? It appeared not.
"We need you to settle a dispute," Draco murmured throatily. "It's about the trademark Malfoy arrogance."
They weren't going to ask Harry what he was dreading to have to answer, would they? "What about it?"
"We need you to tell us which one of us is more conceited? The younger or the older?"
Damn it. They asked him precisely the question he didn't want to answer. Harry bit down on his bottom lip. It was really a bad habit, but it wasn't like Harry could help it when he was forced into this situation. Harry considered them both to be arrogant pricks. Harry didn't think he'd ever met anyone that had anywhere near the level of conceit that those two had. They had so much of it; Harry wondered how they could even breathe. It ought to have suffocated them by now.
Either way Harry answered, he was going to get an earful out of both of them. One of them was going to be griping horribly to him while the other one was crowing triumphantly. It was a lose-lose situation. Sometimes, his pay simply wasn't enough to compensate him for having to put up with both of them during the summers. If Harry didn't adore both of them to death, he'd consider checking himself into a mental institution for continuing to work for Lucius. Another reason part of Harry's soul was cheering that he'd agreed to go to work for Tom in three months.
No more settling stupid disputes between father and son. Hooray! Until then, and certainly until Harry worked up the gumption to tell Lucius that he was leaving him to work for Tom Riddle--- where hostilities were mutual, Harry had no other option but to answer their trivial dispute. So the older or the younger? That was the ultimate question, wasn't it? Neither was a great option.
He'd have to go with…. "Lucius."
Draco broke out to the biggest grin while Lucius was staring daggers at his son with his vicious villain's look. That glare could only mean one thing: there had to be something at stake. Harry should have known they had made a bet. Why else would he be asked to settle this? Harry was going to get the evil eye from Lucius for a while for causing him to lose on a bet. It would be best for Harry not to mention that he was leaving him until he'd calmed down.
"I WIN!!!" Draco exclaimed jubilantly. He went over to wrap his arms around Harry and whirled him around the room. "Thank you so much for saying that I'm not the bigger prat," he whispered, kissing Harry's cheek. Lowering his voice even further, he murmured, "You won't regret your answer." Harry snorted, sure he wasn't. "I won the bet," Draco declared. "You'd better act soon, father."
Rolling his eyes exasperatedly, Lucius finally asked, "How soon?"
"By the end of the week."
Lucius' only response to that was to narrow his eyes even more. Despite that Draco said Harry wasn't going to regret his answer, he was already regretting it. Lucius looked pissed, and Harry hated it when Lucius was pissed. He looked like the devil incarnate when he was enraged. Not that it wasn't sexy, but it made him a devil to deal with.
"I'd tell him sooner than later," Severus remarked, pouring more wine into Harry's glass at the posh restaurant they were at that had been recommended as a hotspot in L.A. It certainly had better food than the last place they'd gone to in London. It was good enough on Severus' taste buds that he had found nothing to gripe about, though as he sipped the wine--- he had to admit that the wine selection could be better than this. "The more you stall, the worse it's going to get."
"He's going to be even more pissed than he already is at me," Harry muttered.
Severus shrugged carelessly. Actually, he wanted Lucius to be angry with Harry It only made his attempts to seduce Harry away from the overblown crush he had on his boss easier, much easier. Severus was going to take advantage of it. It was Lucius' loss if he didn't see what a great man Harry was. Harry had wit, and not the kind of wit that grated on the nerves. If Harry did, Severus never would have asked him out. When was the last time he'd actually taken the time to pursue someone? He couldn't remember. He was far too used to being pursued himself, either for his clothes or for his money or… for some other miscellaneous reason that he didn't care to acknowledge.
"It's his fault for making the bet."
Harry chuckled. "Very true."
"So what kind of movie are you thinking about writing about?"
"I don't know," Harry answered honestly, frowning slightly. "I haven't really had much time to think about it. I mean I've been busy all day trying to appease Lucius' temper that I've been doing the oddest errands for him. He's been having me run all over town. If I didn't know what a difficult prick he could be, I would say he's deliberately trying to get rid of me. But anyway, back to the movie question, I was thinking of a romantic comedy."
"Typical," Severus drawled. "It's hard to make those not too sickeningly sappy that the male sex would almost rather be castrated than put through watching it."
Harry stuck his tongue out childishly. "I'm no sap."
"But you are gay."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
" Most gay men, like women, are inherently sappy."
Harry frowned. "I protest that."
"Protest all you want, but it is unfailingly true. If there is a man that is sappier than a woman, he's one of two things: (1) He's so gay that he could never be straight even if he was paid to be straight and (2) He's a momma's boy."
"You know," Harry responded with laughter that he couldn't help, "I like you."
Harry blushed brightly as soon as the words left his mouth, but before Harry could open his mouth to amend what he said; Severus had leaned forward to capture his lips in a quick kiss. It was a momentary pressing of lips against lips, but it was a sweet gesture. Harry sighed when Severus' lips left him and Harry licked his lips. Severus knew he tasted like wine, but Harry? Harry tasted like some onion sauce that had fouled his breath, and despite that--- it wasn't going to prevent Severus from snogging the breath out of him later tonight.
"You know what?"
Harry looked up, looking like a deer caught between the headlights. "What?"
"I like you too."
"You've been wasting time," Draco reminded his father for the twentieth time in the past twenty minutes. You'd think with a reminder a minute that his father would get the message, but no… no… NO. Lucius still hadn't done anything about the bet so far. If he could legally wring his father's neck, he would have. Unfortunately, that was against the law and he would rather not have to go to prison over something as trivial as killing a stupid prat of a father. "It's nearly the end of the week, father. Need I remind you of the bet that you lost?"
"I know," Lucius growled. "I've been thinking about the best way to romance the damn chit."
"With an attitude like that," his son muttered disapprovingly, "it's no wonder that Harry doesn't even realize that you have feelings for him. If I were Harry, I'd forget about you and go for the Snape bloke."
"You aren't helping."
Draco smirked. "Why would I want to help? I want to make this as hard for you as I possibly can. What good would it do for you to have me make it easy for you when you've been the poor miserable sod that deserves all the rut you've landed yourself in? It'll teach you a good lesson, my dear father, on not being so bloody blind."
"You should take care," Lucius warned him threateningly, "not to offend the person who you have to live with."
"Not for long," Draco remarked cheekily, "only a year and you know that Harry won't let you do anything to me that I don't deserve." Luciuscouldn't help but scowl for it was the truth. "You two act like a married couple already," Draco piped on cheerfully, "so you might as well get married. With all your bickering and remarks thrown back and forth, you two would lead boring lives without each other."
"More like we'd have a more peaceful life without each other," Lucius muttered.
"Peaceful is overrated."
"You are too young to appreciate it."
"I am old enough to know," Draco retorted, "if you get too complacent with your life, that's when it all falls apart. When you don't have to try in a relationship, it means one of two things: (1) You don't care about it anymore or (2) its dead boring. What you and Harry have is something much more than boring. If anything, it's a rather crazy existence."
Lucius shrugged. "We're in London or we're on sets together."
"That's exactly the point!" Draco exclaimed. "You spend more time together than married couples do! You certainly spend far more time with Harry than that Snape bloke does, and yet you don't take advantage of it! You know Harry far better than he possibly can, so use that! You stupid git, you've known Harry 5 years and you can't think of a way to seduce him that'll have him falling into bed with you?"
"I have never really thought about it."
"Because you're blind."
"If you don't remember," Lucius pointed out, "I was married to your mother a month ago."
"You should have divorced her long ago."
"That's true," he grudgingly admitted. "It's just…"
"You got complacent," Draco finished for him. "And you got used to being married to her to the point that it was a hassle to file for a divorce until you two got into a huge argument that was enough to shake the foundations in that gigantic block of brick you call a home. That's when you decided to call it quits, and you only did it because Narcissa suggested it. And she only suggested it because she knew she'd get millions enough to support the extravagant lifestyle that she's been accustomed to living."
"Whatever."
"The bet still stands and you lost so you have a day, father, you best use it well."
Lucius intended to.
"You're wringing your hands like a worried woman on her wedding day," Draco muttered, amused at the way that Harry's hands were crumbling the paper that he was alternately reading and ripping up. "What are you so bloody anxious about?" It wasn't like Harry could know what his father had up his sleeve, or did he? "Harry?"
Harry'shead snapped up and he gave an uneasy smile. Harryreally wanted to tell someone, but he thought it would be best to tell Lucius before he told Draco. If anything, Harry owed it to Lucius to tell him first before anyone else that he was quitting. Harry knew if he told Draco about it, that Draco would invariably let it slip from his tongue intentionally about the circumstance that was causing him much anxiety. And Harry really didn't want to have Lucius learning about this through second hand sources. Harry'd rather Lucius hear it from him.
"Is something wrong?"
"No," Harry answered immediately. "Nothing's wrong."
"Are you sure?"
He nodded. "Tom called."
"Oh," Draco responded with perfect understanding. He knew that Harry's relationship with his biological father was shaky at best. It was something about how Tom didn't approve of what Harry was doing for a living, since it was beneath Harry to be an assistant to Lucius when he could be much more. But was pursuing love so wrong or so bad? "Another argument?"
"Something like that," Harry muttered.
"Fathers are always like that."
"My dad," Harry murmured, "isn't like that at all. He's very different from Tom."
"James is a freak of nature," Draco remarked. "He's far too cool to be a parent."
"Sometimes, I feel like I'm more of the parent than he is. I think things would have been different if my mom had lived longer," Harry sighed. "I don't think he was that immature or carefree as he was after her death. It was like he was trying to live up to her standards and when she died, he no longer had to. It took a while for him to breakout of the depressed mode though. And after that, I've always felt like we were more like brothers and sister than father and son. Despite that, he's still my dad."
"Why wouldn't he be?"
"Tom would like to protest that fact very much."
"Even if James is an oddball type of father," Draco commented, "he still raised you for eighteen years, and ten of those he did by himself. I don't think you turned out that badly at all. I'd rather say, you turned out very well."
Harry smiled. "Thanks."
What was taking his father so sodding long? Lucius was supposed to be here about to sweep Harry off his bloody feet, instead Harry was pacing back and forth in such a fashion that it was beginning to make Draco dizzy. It was very much like Lucius to be late. However, this wasn't the way to romance a man away from a viable Prince Charming. If this was his father's great plan, Draco groaned to think how much further help Lucius was going to need.
"What time is it?" Harry asked. "Lucius did say he wanted to meet me at 7, didn't he?"
"Yes," Draco confirmed, "and it's 7:15."
"He's late," Harry observed.
"Like always," they both continued in perfect synchronization. He had to smirk, though he really had no idea why Harry was laughing at it. His smirk was more of a grimace of pain rather than any physical movement of amusement. What Harry found funny, god only knows. Did he like having to wait on Lucius hand and feet? Maybe Harry did, Draco reflected, how else had Harry put up with Lucius for the past 5 years without going crazy?
"Do you know what he wanted to talk to me about?"
Draco shook his head, trying hard not to let any emotion other than lack of knowing anything surface on his face. It was hard though, pretending to know absolutely nothing when all he wanted to do was strangle Lucius for ruining the one good thing in his mess of a life. Though he did sometimes envy his father's lifestyle, there was something alluring about the parties, the premieres, and et cetera but he could do without the paparazzi. Having seen firsthand how the paparazzi were, he knew what a hellish existence his father had to suffer through. Still, it was a privileged life.
"Your father is a very aggravating man."
He nodded, had to--- it was the damn truth. "I realize."
"I should have known that he wasn't going to be on time, but he seemed like he was earnest, and well I foolishly thought that this time he was actually going to strive to be on time. How wrong I was. Stupid me. I ought to have known that he can never be on time, even when he really sounds like he means to be on time."
"I'm sure he'll be here soon." Draco deserved the odd look that Harry was shooting at him. He normally did try to stand up for his father. He was more likely to tease Harry that he was being silly and stupid waiting for his father to show up when Lucius obviously wasn't going to show up until he was good and ready to. The difference and the problem was that he wanted to know where the hell Lucius was too.
Harry sighed. "I really am not paid enough for what I do."
"But is it so bad?" Draco inquired softly, needing to know since if it was… well then Lucius was going to have his work cut out for him. If Harry was already tired of traipsing after him, Lucius method of seduction was going to have to be even more difficult than it was already getting with his terrible tardiness. "You do like working for my father, don't you?"
"I do," Harry agreed, "but I feel that I'm highly underappreciated and not respected."
"He does appreciate you and he very much respects you."
"I know, but his actions don't reflect it."
Yes, his father's actions left much to be desired, Draco thought grimly. "My father has this ability to make everything that he does appreciate feel underappreciated and vice versa. Take for instance, the case of my mum, he certainly didn't appreciate her and yet he spent a lot of time on her despite it. My father has his priorities out of whack. Whereas, in your case, he ought to appreciate you more and yet he doesn't because he's a flaming idiot."
Harry chuckled softly. "You are terrible for Lucius' self image."
"All that I say is truth."
"That's why you're so bad!" Harry exclaimed.
Dracosmirked. "I would say you're even worse."
"Well," Harry remarked, "you do have to admit that he does have to be taken down a peg or two so he doesn't grow too big of a head. If we kept stroking his ego at the size that it already is, it'd be bigger than we could manage."
"That's very true."
"Your ego," Harry stated, "also needs to be dragged down."
Draco tried to look more offended than he was and he thought he succeeded until Harry started giggling. "Hey!" he retorted. "I'm not that bad!"
"You aren't as bad as your father."
"See!"
"But that isn't saying much."
Draco grumbled.
"So what was the bet about? What did Lucius lose? He looked very pissed."
"He's not doing anything that he doesn't deserve to do," Draco stated carefully. "It certainly isn't anything that's awful, but he needed some urging to do it."
"All I want to know is that is he going to continue being mad at me after he's done the deed?" Harry queried.
God, Draco hoped not. "I don't think so."
"That's good," Harry replied with more cheer. "It's 7:30."
"My father is infuriating."
"That he is."
He was running late. Not only was he late when he was supposed to be doing something so romantic that Harry would forget entirely about the irritating Snape bloke, he was even later than was normal for him. Lucius groaned when he glanced down at his Rolex watch and saw that it was 8:30. This time it wasn't even his fault that he was running so late. The stupid director and that stupid chit, who couldn't seem to read her lines correctly, had both contributed to him being late. And when she did manage to remember her lines she had done something to screw up the expression on her face so they had ended up having to do 25 takes of that same scene. It was enough to drive anyone mad and he definitely wasn't renown for his patience.
It didn't help either that he had nothing prepared in which to sweep Harry off his feet. It had to be today too, thanks to his son's won bet--- he had until the end of the week and this was the end of the week. It wasn't in his Malfoy pride to ask for a day's extension. So be it, if it must be today then it would be today. It wasn't as though he hadn't thought about approaching Harry and telling him of his feelings. It was just he never would have told Harry after forcing him to wait nearly two hours.
Harry wasn't going to be happy with him; he wasn't happy with himself either. His son, he thought grimly would either be enraged or ecstatic that he'd screwed things up even worse than they already were. But no matter what, Lucius vowed, he was not going to let that bastard Snape have Harry. Didn't that blasted bloke understand? Harry Potter was his, his and not his--- never Snape's.
"Can you not go any faster?" he growled.
The taxi driver rolled his eyes and gestured with the same impatience that Lucius felt at the cars that were contributing to L.A.'s toxic atmosphere. "What would you propose I do, sir? Have my car grow wings and fly over this jam?"
"Yes."
"It's a pity that I don't have that power."
Indeed, it was a pity. Lucius glanced down at his dead cell phone It was just his luck that his phone had decided to die in the middle of the day and he didn't have the chance to call Harry and reassure him that he was indeed coming and that he hadn't forgotten. While it wasn't the first time he'd run hours late, this was the first time he hadn't set out to do this. Other times, well, he'd done it to aggravate Harry because it was amusing seeing Harry aggravated. This time he prayed Harry wouldn't be too put out by his tardiness.
"Just try your best," he muttered gruffly, though his tone was far kinder. "There's someone I have to meet."
"A lady friend, eh?" the taxi driver responded with a more cheerful tone.
"Yes."
The driver grinned at him. "I know how it is. I'm doing my best."
"Thank you," Lucius managed to get out without sounding sarcastic. He felt that Harry would have been pleased with him for managing to be polite despite the unfavorable circumstances. And since when did he even care what Harry thought of his behavior? Since always, his inner conscious nagged.
"You're welcome."
He could almost feel Harry's smile of approval. It made the tedious ride not so unpleasant.
"I'm sorry," Lucius apologized profusely for being late. "The traffic and that damn girl couldn't get the scene right no matter how many times we redid it. My stupid cell phone batteries died too or else I would have called you."
"And here," Harry mused aloud, "I thought you were deliberately ignoring me because you were upset about the bet I caused you to lose."
"I'm not upset about the bet," he murmured. Would wonders never cease, Harry thought with amazement. Not only had Lucius apologized for being late, but now he was saying that he wasn't upset when he clearly had been upset. It was unusual for Lucius to put anyone besides himself first. Normally when he was discomforted he made it known if only to unload some of it onto someone else. "I'm glad Draco won the bet."
Harry raised his eyebrow up curiously. "Oh really? Are you okay, Lucius?"
"Of course I am," he snapped.
"You sound ill to me."
"I'm not, why would you think that?"
Draco deliberately laughed loud enough to draw his father's attention. "It's because," he drawled, "you are not the type to be anything but upset when you're the loser in anything. It has something to do with your overbearing Malfoy pride that prevents you from accepting anything but victory."
"Draco isn't making me do anything I don't want to do," Lucius murmured, ignoring his son pointedly.
"Then why were you so upset when you lost?" Harry asked logically.
"Because I'm a Malfoyand we hate to lose."
Draco snorted. "You especially hate losing to me."
Narrowing his eyes, Lucius pinned his son with a dangerous glare. "Get out."
"If you're going to do it right here, I'm going to be severely pissed at you," Draco threatened. "You wouldn't be following the guidelines of the bet if you just take the easy way out."
"You never said I had to do anything more than what was easiest," Lucius countered, trying to keep his words vague enough so that Harry would have no idea what he and Draco were referring to. "And if you want me to do it then you had best leave."
Draco's lips curved up into a smirk. "Not suitable for young eyes?"
Lucius rolled his eyes. "More like it's a private matter."
"Then how will I know that you've done it?" Draco retorted.
"You'll know," Lucius muttered, "without a shadow of a doubt."
Harry was watching this exchange with mystification. It was arousing his curiosity to know what was up with this bet. "If you need to confirm it with me later, Draco," Harry finally inputted, "I will."
Sighing since he knew that he was beaten by their combined forces, Draco nodded stiffly. "Fine, I'll leave." As he was walking out of the room, he turned his head around and asked, "Can I use your computer, Harry?"
"Yes," he answered and then widened his eyes with panic, "but no porn!"
Draco's chuckle rang through the hallway. "I'm not enough of an idiotic prat to use the same trick twice."
"No viruses, no trojans, no anything of that sort!" Harry exclaimed.
"Geez!" Draco cried out. "You really do think the worse of me, don't you? I'm just going to play a bloody game on Yahoo!"
Harry shook his head and then tilted it to the side as he glanced at Lucius. "So what do you have to do for the bet?"
"Not this," he whispered as he snaked his arm around Harry's waist and pulled him tightly to his side. Lucius bent his head and seared Harry's lips with a kiss that burned to his core. What was it about the men in Harry's life and giving him kisses that were fit to melt his bones? Slowly Lucius lips left his. "You are the most important man in my life."
Harry blinked. "You're supposed to tell me you appreciate me?" Harry inquired, a tad confused. It was a little strange for Draco to request such a thing, but then again Draco was rather considerate. He did amazing things for Harry when he least expected it like his birthday last year when Draco had taken him out to dinner after leading Harry to believe that he'd be gone. "Was it really that hard?
Lucius thought he was being bloody clear. "No," Lucius responded bluntly.
"Then what?" Harry asked, getting even more confused. "What was the bet then?"
"You mean the world to me."
"To be nice to me? It that the bet?"
His nostrils flared. Was Harry that oblivious? "No! Don't you get it? I would think that you would after all, I know how you've felt about me for the last 5 years!" Lucius knew? Dear god, Harry's cheeks went up into a flaming red. Had he been that obvious? "I like you, damn it to hell you bloody infuriating man!"
Author's Note: The next chapter is done and waiting and beta'd ;). Review and it'll be posted ASAP . How's that for motivation? Don't you want to know the results of the cliffie? I know you do. Click the GO button now! Oh… and about this chapter being not so great… was it so bad? worried look I actually think the end redeemed me?
And if you want to be part of the polling (who Harry ends up w/) join the ML (in profile), I won't say the result will be 100% what the vote is, but it will influence me ;).
Thanks to Alicorn, destruction's mistress (thanks, I do try to delight), Lady Phoenix Slytherin, Xiaou Nem, Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy, Quoth the Raven, AdrienneS (thanks for the compliment), chiemi, Eaiva le Fay (I adore Draco too! And no Sev or Luc, one will HAVE TO WIN, and children yes by adoption), Alyce of the Togas, Squrlie Jack, aerin, bakachan17, TigerBlak (I like having the gift of gab), C.M. Aeris Queen of Insanity, Pirate Bitch Nut, The angelic vampire, DaughterofDeath, Ruth, Hirame, Shuki – aka Quickjewel, Igraine Black, Merit Somnia, Joy Cutting, EireVerde (thanks), CrazyMonkey (oh yeah Draco's awesome ;p), Slash n burn, FantasyChick, yiota (sorry, if it's so confusing, don't read me and my beta try our best), Dracolover411, kateri1, Redrum (thanks for the compliments about the poem, I do try to write everyone as best as I can as I'm not a poet), Gia, Mary (enough Lucius for you?), Lindiel Eryn, Azer, gingermao, Solaria, Kathy stgqvk, SeparatriX, Winnie2, PxW, thegoddessdevi, Silverfated, Naia, aryth (actually I don't know who ends up w/ who), Perona, crissy, Amy, me (draco, it was an error).
'Til next time.