Lowly Beginnings

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter et al. belongs to JK Rowling

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AN: Wow! This chapter is dedicated to the 6 rocking people who put me on their favourites list: Delphic, Sanity is Relative, Orlin, TheSlytherinGoddess, DownInIt and AmethystAquamarine. Hope you enjoy… it's a little, well, um, I don't like this chapter.

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Chapter 8: Gourmet Kisses

After having being left alone by Draco earlier that day, Harry had unpacked some of his possessions in his room, taking up all of 10 minutes. He had looked around, bobbing from foot to foot as he contemplated what to do.

Suddenly an idea sprang to mind… Draco was out all day and when he came back he was likely to be hungry. If there was one thing Harry was good at, it was cooking. He ran to the living room where a book shelf stood, and traced his finger along the spines of the numerous volumes… History books… books on management… aha- right at the very bottom of the shelf. He picked one of the few cook books up- it looked like it had never been used and from what Harry could gleaner from Draco's personality, it wouldn't surprise him if it hadn't.

He let his fingers flick through the pages. He wanted something impressive to cook for Draco, and then immediately felt shocked at himself for wanting to impress Draco; he'd never tried to fit others expectations or demands before. Maybe, he unwillingly thought to himself, just maybe, Draco was breaking down Harry's walls that he had spent so long building up.

Harry stopped in reflective thought, and when he came out of his trance and glanced down at the book in his hands it was resting open on a page with a photo of a succulent looking gourmet meal staring back at him. Bingo!

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After checking the stock in the fridge, which turned out to be extensive, Harry pulled on an apron and turned on the radio. He set out all the ingredients methodically and washed his hands, before excitedly picking up the first egg. Chefs Extraordinaire, watch out. Harry Potter was here.

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'Harry?' came the flabbergasted voice of Draco.

He had opened the door, and the sight that greeted his eyes was very welcome. Harry was topless dressed in just some baggy black trousers and his usual black bands and bracelets and dancing crazily to some band Draco wasn't familiar with,

'Oh, they all cheat at cards and the checkers are lost,

My cell mates a killer, they make me do push ups in drag!'

Clearly, Harry hasn't heard him as he didn't stop his wild hip swinging or head banging that was in time to the music. With a flourish Harry whipped the source of the delicious smelling food out of the oven and placed it on the kitchen table which Harry had laid with basic cutlery. The kitchen was immaculately clean despite, as was apparent from the edible evidence on the table, the large amount of cooking that had taken place. But what made Draco wonder, was how Harry had managed to keep the kitchen so tidy yet still had managed to get a streak of red paste on the left side of his face and spill what seemed to be a lot of flour onto his bare chest. Draco noted that on the floor there lay the shirt Harry had borrowed earlier, covered in all sots of cooking ingredients which was likely the reason Harry had discarded with it.

'Oh, I miss my mom, will they give me the chair,

A lethal injection, or swing from a rope if you dare!'

Harry had now started to join in with the singing, and Draco had to admit he had a good voice. In fact, now that Harry seemed to have finished the meal and had cleared the dirty equipment into the dish washer, he had started to play the air guitar.

Draco leant against the counter, smirking at Harry who was still unaware of Draco's presence. He thought about leaving Harry to humiliate himself further, but decided to save Harry the embarrassment,

'Ahem.' Draco coughed loudly.

The effect was immediate. Harry 'dropped' his air guitar and stood guiltily, before noticing his state of undress and grabbing the discarded shirt.

Draco laughed loudly,

'I see you've been having fun.' he smirked

'I cooked dinner.' Harry said proudly. 'And I kept the kitchen clean.' He frowned gently. 'But I think I may have cooked too much.' he added gesturing to the table laden with juicy meats and colourful vegetable arrays.

'Hey, no worries. It looks great.' he sniffed the air. 'Smells great too. If you're worried about not being able to eat it all, I could invite a friend over… I hear you're aquainted: Blaise?'

'Blaise?' Harry asked. 'You known Blaise? You never told me! If I'd have known he was coming, I'd have made bacon butties!'

'Ah,' sighed Draco. 'Blaise and his bacon butties. A tragic obsession.' he said in mock seriousness. 'Fine, so I'll get him over. In the meantime, perhaps you might want to change… unless you want Blaise to see you like that.' He added in a teasing voice, although the truth was that he was feeling slightly worried about Harry's enthusiastic response to Blaise coming over. Maybe inviting others over wasn't the best way to snag Harry, but on the other hand, he wanted Harry to feel comfortable and that was more likely if it wasn't just one on one.

Harry stuck his tongue out childishly, and turned to go upstairs to change, before hesitating, turning back, hugging Draco with a quiet, 'Thank you.' before he turned tail and bounded upstairs.

As Draco lifted the phone to call Blaise, the only thing he felt was a warm glow and a sense of progress.

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'Ahhh… if it isn't my favourite waiter- and Harry!' quipped Blaise when Harry opened the door, Draco standing just behind him.

'Ha ha. Very funny Blaise.' said Draco sarcastically before the two friends gave each other a one armed hug.

Blaise laughed it off, 'Ah come on Draco, you love me really,' he said but when Harry turned away, he mouthed solely to Draco with a wink, 'Although I'm liking your present choice in boyfriend.'

'Anyway…' Draco silenced Blaise with a mock glare, glad that Harry hadn't seen Blaise. He gave Blaise a low bow, 'Please sir, make your way to your seat, and give your taste buds a treat.'

'That rhymes.' chipped in Harry.

'Wahey,' Blaise clapped Harry on the back. 'It's lucky we've got people like Harry here to point these things out for us.' He bent down so that his brown eyes were on a par with Harry's and whispered conspiringly, 'Speaking of the blatantly obvious Harry, I hate to break it to you … but Santa Claus isn't real.' He paused. 'And neither is the tooth fairy.'

Harry, who had been leaning in expecting something serious, pushed Blaise away,

'Stupid Muppet. I thought you were gonna say something intellectual!' he said with a laugh as Blaise ran his hand through his brown hair which Harry had messed up.

'Hah!' Blaise crowed. 'You? Intellectual?'

'Hey!' pouted Harry indignantly, 'I could give you a detailed explanation on the enzyme-substrate complex formation with references to the quantum physics if I wanted to… I just choose not to. I wouldn't want my ego to get as big as yours… I mean, how the hell did you even get your head through the door on the way in?'

Both Draco and Blaise snorted, and Blaise said,

'Gotta love him Draco, gotta love him. I'm glad you two are together now; Harry's a hell of a lot better than your ex… as boyfriends go, Theordore was lousy.'

Silence.

'Ah.' stammered Blaise taking in Harry shocked face and Draco's murderous glare. 'I'm also assuming by the way you're both looking at me that I may have put my foot in it, and that you're not together, and Harry doesn't know about all your past boyfriends and that I'm rambling, and that I should probably shut up now. Great. So… where's the food?'

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Nearly two hours later or comfortable conversation and eating of Harry's delicious cooking, the three of them sat round the table completely full, Blaise's earlier blunder forgotten.

'All right, dudes, dudettes- and Harry.' announced Blaise. 'I'd better be going. Things to do, places to be, people to see! Oh wait, actually, I was wondering, I had two spare tickets to go see the Ice-Hockey match that I didn't want, I figured you might want them- after all, I know Draco's fond of Ice-Hockey and you're allowed to ice skate on the rink afterwards. And we all know what a pro Draco is at ice-skating.' Blaise added with a wink.

Draco scowled at him.

'Now, just a minute, they were here somewhere.' Blaise said in confusion as he rifled through his pockets. 'Where the hell are they?'

'Looking for these?' Harry said with a devious grin, holding up two tickets. 'You shouldn't leave them lying around.'

'Lying around? They were in my pockets!' Blaise exclaimed.

'Well, if you're going to carelessly leave things lying around in your pocket you're just asking for them to be pick pocketed.' Harry replied with a grin.

'How the? Never mind…' Blaise dropped his hand in defeat. 'Keep them, I was offering them to you anyway.'

'Yeah, I guessed… they had our names on them.'

Blaise laughed, 'Alright, alright. I give up. The meal was great. You're one hell of a cook Harry- not just a pretty face.'

'All right then Blaise, didn't you say you had somewhere to be?' Draco said to save Harry and himself any embarrassment. 'Glad you could come.' he said as he basically led Blaise to the front door.

The two of them hugged, and whilst Harry was piling up the dinner plates, Blaise whispered in Draco's ear,

'Good luck .He's worth it.'

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It was now nearing 9 O'clock and dinner had long since been cleaned up. Draco was up in his room, putting the finishing touches on a report needed for the company, before he could take a shower.

He heard the shower turn off, and assuming Harry had finished, he picked up his own towel and opened the door to the bathroom which connected his and Harry's bedrooms. The sight that greeted him made him think he'd died and gone to heaven.

Harry stood naked in the shower cubicle, oblivious to Draco who was standing in the doorway, mouth open. He had just finished lathering shampoo into his hair and had stopped the shower whilst he completed this task. Now, he fumbled for the lever with his eyes shut for fear of getting shampoo in them, and turned the shower back on.

The water cascaded down Harry's back, and Draco couldn't help but stare as rivulets of water streamed down Harry's long, lithe and supple legs. Harry's gentle tanned skin was beautiful and flawless, and Draco found himself caught in a silent moan. If only Harry would just turn around, and face him- although the view of Harry's small toned ass was very much appreciated.

However, Harry didn't turn around and just tilted his head back, allowing the cascade of water from the shower head to pour down upon him, thoroughly rinsing the shampoo from his hair. It was at this point that Harry blindly reached out for the towel that was hanging out side the shower stall, rubbing his eyes. It was at this point Draco shut the door quietly before Harry opened his eyes.

Damn, Draco thought. It couldn't have got much better than that. If only Harry had just turned around!

All thoughts of his own shower now forgotten, Draco fled downstairs to the back door to breathe in the freshness of the cool night air. Cool? Then why the hell was he so flushed?

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Harry dressed in Draco's pyjamas again. He could have sworn he had heard a noise whilst showering, coming from Draco's room, but when he was dressed and knocked on Draco's door, there was no answer.

Harry searched downstairs for Draco, but couldn't find him in any room. That was until he spotted the French windows which doubled as the back door. They were unlocked so he opened them, and went outside into the endless garden. There must have been acres and acres of land surrounding the house that belonged to Draco, and there was a lake, a forest, ornate gardens and even a full sized maze where Draco could be.

He walked down the garden path to the oriental gardens, with decorative tiles and exotic plants leading the way. Once there, he followed the path… he didn't know why, but he felt something drawing him there.

And then… there was Draco. He was sitting in the two-seater, swinging chair made in a Japanese style, eyes downcast, appearing deep in thought. He didn't even notice as Harry, shivering slightly in the thin silk pyjamas, came up to him and knelt before Draco.

It was when Harry took a concerned hold of Draco's chin that Draco's head shot up startled. Grey eyes met green, and Draco couldn't help it. He leaned in towards Harry's face, cupping it with one hand, and gently at first, then harder, pressed his lips against the younger boys, before slipping his tongue in and letting the sparks fly. It was magnetic. It was electric. It was magic… it was Harry.

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A/N: Hope that's not too bad. People wanted more Blaise so I put some more in. And the song lyrics were My Chemical Romance, 'You know what they do to guys like us in prison.' I felt it was kinda fitting since it's the type of music Harry likes and also, Harry did spend 2 years in a Juvenile prison of sorts. Also, I think this story may be longer than I expected- it was only supposed to last 10 chapters, then 15, now it's gonna be about 17. I just keep adding new stuff to my plot sheet; hope the eventual length won't put people off. Please review. I have about 60 now! I never expected a response like this! Make my day and get it to 100. Please…

Kittu- Yay. Glad you still like it. The Luci nick name just came out, but I also think it shows they're not completely heartless. His parents are normally nice. And wow- you reviewed TWICE!

Nattish- I think you're my favourite reviewer- you actually seem to read the AN and you write nice long reviews :D. Brixtonby was just randomly made up. I know I haven't described where Draco lives because a) I don't know California and b) I can't even decide whether he lives in an apartment, house or mansion. I actually like your ideas- I shall try get them in. Thanks a lot for taking the time to review so well :D.

Ura-hd- Glad you like it. Chapters will keep coming if people keep responding (although they'd probably come anyway… I want to finish this story.)

SlytherinGoddess- So glad you think the chapter is great… they're starting to get shorter nowe though (whoops?) but at least they're all above 1000 words. Yeah, Harry is relaxing in Draco's presence as seen in this chapter. I know, I know, I just had to put the cousin's clothes in… it just came to me whilst writing. I'm glad you can see yourself 'in' the story and like my descriptions. I'm trying to make it descriptive, but not long winded. I'm not good at dialogue either so I'm forcing myself to make sure they speak, so I hope that's ok. Yeah, Lucius and Narcissa disapprove… just a little angst. Enjoy!

Wonderclam- Glad I've tempted you away from what your normally read. :D. Wow, you stayed up late to finish my story; that makes me so flattered (and also a little guilty). Thanks for reviewing.

ChocolateDemon- I'm off school this week so updates are fast. Hopefully, there will be Harry angst and lingering effects from the Dursleys, but Harry has had 7 years to get over them. I'm glad you mainly like it.

Wiccan-one- lol, sleep is a waste of time (despite how much I love it) but lets face it, it's the holiday- I go to bed late (sometimes at 7am) the I get up late (like noon… I know, I'm a lazy bugger). I'm just glad you like the chapter. Lol, and yeah, I'm happy I've gotten no flames yet touch wood.

Tee-Dee- Oh well, the chapter has to end somewhere. Lol, hope I don't disappoint.

Mistress-Vamp- You put me on alert- that's so cool. It's nice to feel appreciated. And yeah, I'm updating fast so I can get most of this story out by Saturday because then I'm going back to school. Thanks for reviewing (TWICE :D)

Dragon-Malfoy- glad you like… here I am continuing…

Wonderclam- Lol, I always check stories at school too. Glad you like, although after Saturday (I'm on holiday now and I get back to boarding school on Sunday) I'll only be able to update once a month so I'm trying to get as much out now as possible.

DanishGirl- Glad you like. I'll update as soon as possible.

Orlin- Glad you liked how Lucius was written; I was worried people wouldn't like it, but I needed to get some angst in… although I've added two chapters to my plot sheet which should be pretty angsty. Hope you enjoy.

Arwyern- Wow- thanks for the long review. Lol, here's the update you wanted. I'm so glad you liked the Malfoy's reaction; I don't want them to be seen as heartless because they are nice people (especially to Draco) but they still are upper-class people with reputations to uphold. I'm glad you like the writing of this fic- it's hard for me since I've never written a fic before. Um, Harry will realise eventually about the extent of Draco's feelings, he will tell people where's he's living- although it's not like he's hiding it, and don't worry, Harry will tell about his past. I hadn't actually thought about the two original police officers, sorry, but I don't think they'll be coming back.

Ningchan- Glad you like Harry's mix… cute was actually how I wanted to portray Harry. And I think everyone should love Dom Draco. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Lena- Glad to know you think that dom Draco and sub Harry should apply to all fics- I whole heartedly agree… I just don't like sub Draco! I'm so flattered you think me one of your favourites. Thanks for reading.

Beautifullady- Thanks : )

Yana5- I love dominant Draco too. Draco's parents are nice people, they just can't accept Harry because they think he's lower class and Draco's made some pretty bad boyfriend choices in the past.

Luna pl- Don't worry, the Malfoy parents aren't actually bad people, just a tad over protective and cautious as people of their status need to be.

Burnt Reflections- Lol, I'm glad my story is making you happy, although there's gonna be a wee bit more angst soon enough. Is it sadistic that I'm pleased your gonna miss my story when I can't update as often? And begging is always appreciated. : ). Thanks for reviewing (my first reviewer EVER!)

Driven to Insanity- Hell, I'm happy whenever you update… just please don't abandon your fics!

Xanthofile- Glad you think the story is different than normal… I'm trying keep it cliché free-ish but please tell me if it gets too predictable… I do have a few surprises.

Dynamite-smack- I'm so glad you like the story and consider it one of the best you've read, after all there's no point in me writing if people don't enjoy it… so, Thanks :D. You rock!

Blackreflectednightmare- Lol, someone needs to be left in suspense, and as author, it ain't gonna be me. Yeah, I've been updating quickly, I'm trying to get as much of it out before I have to go back to school. Glad you enjoyed it :D.

Master-of-wind- Lol, glad you like the quick updates, although the next may not be for a while. I think I may use that fluffy scene (someone already suggested something similar). Thanks for the suggestion, you're only one of two who suggested anything :D.

Demitria Miriam- Glad you like, enjoy the update.

Lady Slone of Snow Mt- Glad you like the story- it makes my day to hear people say that… big cheesy grin

AmethystAquamarine- Thank You!

Karen- Glad you're enjoying the story :D

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