Oh…my…God… I passed one thousand reviews! Wahoo! You guys totally rock! Does a little Dance Some of you guys told me not to write the story only for reviews, and I'm not, but getting reviews does feel pretty awesome. :-) And, before I get into the boring explanations, I just want you guys to know that every single one counts! Some of you guys may not think so, and you say so in your reviews and I get like, "oh no!" Every single review is just so awesome! You guys all rock!
Ok, so now that I have let you guys know just how happy I am – which is VERY – I have to clear something up. Argh…lol. Wow, I didn't realize how confusing this story could actually get. I suppose the fact that this really is a very serious matter that's going on now, and has been for a while, is a big part of that, but anyway, onto explanations.
I think it was like two people who brought up the idea that I should have made Harry like eighteen so that it would be legal for him to date Draco; that it was sort of a mistake I made, I guess. But see, here's the thing: I know that eighteen would have made it legal, even seventeen, and that's why I made him sixteen. Therefore, Harry, who has yet to reach the age of consent, is forbidden to Draco, a man of twenty-three. Hence the title, Chasing the Forbidden. :-)
Also, while I was doing some research, I found out that age difference does matter. If say, Harry was sixteen, and Draco was nineteen, although Harry is still a minor and Draco is not, it would be legal because they are within three years of each other. So anyway, yeah, I hope that sort of clears things up a bit. As for the whole parents making it legal if they give permission, I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that, in America, even if the parents allow it, since it's against the law, the adult can still go to jail.
Oh, and one more thing. One reviewer asked if I was going to make like a whole dramatic scene where they change the law because of the strong emotions between the two. The answer is no. :-P I'm going to stick to the law as best I can and hope that I get it right. I've got to do a bit more research and stuff so that I don't screw up. But if I do, I'm really sorry. Hopefully, I won't, though. Anyway, thanks a lot for the reviewers who brought up those points and questions. It helps me make sure to try and make things clearer in the story.
Now, enough explanations. That was way too long! I just want to give one more great, big THANK YOU! To all those who reviewed!
Now, on with the story!
Chapter 18
Enjoying the Moment
He ran all the way past his house, to where Draco had dropped him off on the night of the dance. His hair pointed out in all directions, his jersey was hanging slightly off his right shoulder, and he was panting furiously, his lungs burning from the excessive work.
Harry stopped, hunching over slightly in fatigue, and lifted his head to look around wonderingly. He squinted his eyes, pushing himself to think harder; trying to remember back to that night.
Where did the car drive here from? Was it up that hill? Wait…no. Was it? Or did he turn here from around that block? But try as he might, Harry could not remember which way led to Draco's house.
Refusing to give up, however, he began to walk up the hill and keep walking until something became familiar, and if not, he'd simply turn back and go around the block. Sooner or later, he'd have to find something familiar… he hoped.
He walked and walked for several blocks, making spontaneous turns when he thought it seemed familiar. The brunette continued journeying further ahead; late into the night, until finally, when the night had grown much older and darker than he could ever remember, he plopped down into a bench left vacant in front of a bus stop, resigned. He had given in to the fact that he was lost.
Tiredly, he turned his head to stare out into space and let his thoughts go free. His eyes roamed over everything in a daze when, suddenly, they stopped on a payphone. If only he knew Draco's phone number…
Duh! He thought, surprising himself at his own level of stupidity. What else are phone books for!
He shot up eagerly, and hurriedly walked over to the phone booth, pulling out the phone book and opening the book to look under 'M'. He quickly found Malfoy, and thanked the Gods that Draco had not only an odd first name, but a very odd and unique last name, as well. There was only one number under the name 'Draco Malfoy'.
Crap. He thought to himself as he went to dial the number. In his hurry to leave the school, he had left everything in his locker and remained with only his basketball uniform. No money. Again, he let his eyes wander around freely in hopes of an idea, when they soon fell upon an advertisement on the wall of the phone booth.
He smiled, thankful, and dialed '0' for the operator. "Hello, this is the operator," came the tired-sounding voice of a man.
"Oh, umm…yes, hello," Harry mumbled out nervously. He'd never made a call to an operator before. "I'd like to...er…make a collect call."
"Okay, wait a moment, and another operator will come out."
"Oh, okay, thanks," Harry replied, but the man from before had already left. Soon, another voice came out, though this time it was a recording of a woman's voice.
"Please dial the number of your destination, now."
He heard a 'beep' and quickly scrambled to dial in the number, briefly looking down at the book a few times to make sure the number was correct. A short moment passed before Harry was asked to give the name of the person whom he wished to contact. "Draco Malfoy."
Then, after another short moment, the recording continued, "Please state your name after the tone," and another 'beep' sounded.
"Harry Potter," he garbled out, his excitement growing.
He waited silently, not knowing what to expect next. Then, after a moment, an ecstatic smile broke across his face.
"Harry?" He heard Draco's voice, sounding anxious and worried.
"Oh, God! Draco!" Harry exclaimed, relieved to finally hear Draco's voice. "You're alright! I thought- I thought, well, I thought so many things! I didn't know what they did to you and I was so worried! Everything just happened so suddenly and I haven't known what to do! I just-"
"Harry, Harry! Wait, calm down. What's wrong?"
"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'? They know, Draco! That's it! The secret's out!"
"No they don't. They haven't any actual proof. I was brought in for questioning by Dumbeldore, but because he didn't have any actual evidence, all he could do was make me take leave of school for a couple of days until things got sorted out."
"Oh! They brought me in for questioning, too! He told me the same thing – that they didn't have actual proof, yet, but it's obvious, Draco! Everyone knows it's true! And you wouldn't believe the horrible day I've had! It sucked!" Harry added, thankful to have someone to vent out his feelings on. "I don't know what to do! All I can think is that at least Ron's alright with it and-"
"Wait- you told Ron?"
"Draco, that's not the point! It wouldn't have even mattered if I'd told him or not, anyway! Everyone knows, already! It got around the whole school and everyone was calling me all these horrid names! When I opened my locker, there were loads of notes in it, and I only opened one, but I'm sure all of them were just as mean!"
"Wait, wait, wait. Harry, you've got to calm down. Where are you? What just happened?"
"I was…." Harry took a breath to try to calm himself down before continuing. "I was at my basketball game and they wouldn't let me play until the second half and even then, I couldn't really play. Then, when Justin finally passed me the ball at the last minute, I missed and we lost the game. So Justin, he called me….he called me a," The brunette had to stop and catch his breath. His throat was tightening up just thinking about the event form before. Rolling his eyes and letting out an angry breath, he tried to keep from crying.
"What did he call you?" came Draco's wary voice.
"He called me a…Ccskr.." was his mumbled reply.
"A what?"
"A ccscker,"
"I'm sorry, Harry, I just can't understand y-"
"A cocksucker! He called me a bloody cocksucker!"
"Oh, Christ. I am so sorry. I know how you must feel, but-"
"No! You don't know! You weren't there! You weren't there! And my parents heard it and they were looking at me so…so…God, you should have seen their faces! You should have been there, Draco, but you weren't! You weren't there! Why weren't you there!"
"Harry, I already told you, Dumbledore-"
"I don't care!" The emerald-eyed boy was sobbing now, huge, watery droplets glazing over his eyes, giving the green shade an even stronger brilliance before breaking forward and cascading down his rosy cheeks in large rivulets. He didn't care about common sense and taking the right precautions. In his mind, all he knew was that he whished Draco had been there to comfort him rather than having to have been alone and walking around aimlessly for hours. "You should have been there! I was all a-alone! And I was so worried about you! I didn't know anything- if you were in jail, if you were fired, if you'd fled! I didn't know anything!"
"I'm sorry. I really am. I couldn't be there, Harry. You have to underst-"
"You could have found a way," the brunette whispered out weakly, the anger from before slowly dissipating, instead being washed away by a new flourish of exhaustion. Draco quickly picked up on this and asked, "Where are your parents?"
"I don't know," He mumbled out dejectedly.
"And how long has it been since you left the game?"
"I don't know," he repeated, his voice growing fainter in his ever-increasing fatigue.
"Where are you?"
"I don't-"
"Harry, you're not helping! Now lift your bloody head up and look the f-…" Draco breathed in quickly, trying to hold back his anger. The brunette youth was always letting his emotions get ahead of him rather than concentrating and paying attention to the more important things, and, while the blonde was used to this and could handle this most times, now was not one of those times. With all the confusion and worry, he just wanted to find Harry before the boy did something stupid. Exhaling slowly, he calmed himself down and began again. "Listen, Harry, you need to get yourself together right now, alright? I understand that you're feeling a lot of hectic emotions going through you, but moping around and sulking isn't going to make them disappear. Now, please, look around. What street are you on? What's around you? Are you near a certain store- something that would help me figure out where you are?"
Looking around, Harry mumbled out a few descriptions before Draco exclaimed, "I know where you are! Alright, go back and sit down on that bench you told me about. I'll be over there right away."
Harry hung up and dragged is feet over to the bench, staring at the gray paint, slowly chipping away. Soon it would have to be repainted. I wonder if that's what happens to people, too. They start to chip away, little by little, until finally, they're too far gone and they just…disappear, replaced by someone new…wait, what?
He let his head fall back and muttered out, "That doesn't make any sense."
In the distance, he could see a figure walking on the other side of the street. It walked quickly, as if with purpose; eager to reach it's destination. A little closer to where Harry was, he saw another person- a girl. She looked to be around his age. He wondered if her parents knew where she was at this time of night - whatever time it was.
He didn't actually know the time, but it felt late, and the sky had long since gone dark – not exactly the safest place for a teenage girl. Then again, his being a boy didn't change things for him. Being outside was just as unsafe for him as it was for her. While the chances of getting raped were less likely for Harry than for the girl, he was still just as likely to get robbed or beaten by any random drunk as her.
Taken, there weren't very many accidents that occurred in his town, but then again, he wasn't even sure if he was still in his town. This area seemed entirely unfamiliar to him; he had no idea where he was. Suddenly, he began to feel panicky, and pulled up his legs to hug them tight.
Now, everything seemed just a little bit scarier. A small rustle of newspaper littered on the floor would make him jump, the shaking of leaves in the night's wind made his head jerk, sending shivers down his spine. His senses seemed heightened and he became aware of everything around him.
He spent several minutes going close to insane, and when a black car drove up to him, he nearly had a fit before he quickly realized it was Draco's, and jumped out of his seat just as Draco got out of the car. He ran up to Draco and buried himself in the blonde's arms, resting his head in the crook of Draco's neck and breathing in his comforting scent.
"I missed you," Harry whispered quietly.
"I missed you, too."
DHDHDH
After a few moments of hugging, Draco had managed to persuade Harry to let go and get into the car. He had offered to drive him home but the brunette had shook his head hazardously, saying that he wasn't ready to face his parents, yet. While Draco wasn't too keen on taking Harry to his own home, as they were both skating on thin ice as it was already, he couldn't deny the quivering boy before him and, with slight reluctance, Draco drove him to his apartment.
DHDHDH
Draco pulled out his keys and opened the door, letting Harry in first. He then walked in, himself, locking the door before turning to the youth.
"You look like you're about to drop right on the spot," Draco said with a slight smile. "It's past one in the morning. Why don't you take a quick nap and I'll wake you up in a bit so that we can talk and figure a few things out?"
Harry walked over to the blonde slowly, his eyes half-lidded and slightly glazed over. Reaching his hand up, he tugged Draco down by the neck and pulled the blonde into a slow, deep kiss. The older man pulled away slowly, giving the teen a curious look before questioning, "Harry, aren't you tired? I think it would be better if you-"
"Shh," Harry whispered, pressing a finger against Draco's soft, pink lips, before leaning in for another kiss. The blonde kissed back passionately, lovingly; everything was slow-paced and sensual. It was as though they were playing in slow motion.
Harry wasn't sure what he wanted, but he knew that what he was doing felt right and the more he could get of Draco, the better it would be. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but somewhere deep inside, he felt as though this might very well be the last time they got a moment like this to themselves, and he wanted to take full advantage of it. He wanted this night to be just as special as their last night together, and he wanted to remember it forever.
There was no rushing this time. They both took their time, enjoying the feel of the other's lips on their own. Harry began unbuttoning Draco's shirt with one hand, while feeling around his lightly muscled torso with the other. Slowly, he began his way down the blonde's neck just as he had last time. This time, though, he made sure to pay even more attention to every single section of the blonde's porcelain white skin, smooth and soft, eliciting a breathy moan from Draco's lips.
The brunette felt a tug on his jersey and lifted his arms, allowing Draco to lift it over his head and drop it, letting it flutter down to the floor silently.
"Come," Harry whispered, grabbing Draco's wrists and leading him over to the bedroom. He then kicked off his sneakers before laying himself gently onto the bed. There, lying on his back, he pulled down his shorts, looking into Draco's eyes the whole time as he then continued to slide his boxers past his hips and further down his legs at a painstakingly slow pace. His left foot pushed the boxers off the rest of the way, and he lay there waiting quietly for Draco to take him, a hungry look in his eyes.
Draco smiled down at him. The brunette before him was beautiful in every sense of the word. Watching the teen waiting for him in all his naked glory with his member half erect, he walked over to the bed, peeling off the remainder of his clothes, before crawling onto the bed and straddling Harry.
He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss upon the boy's lips. His tongue begged for entrance and dove down into the blissful world of Harry's mouth, exploring freely. The blonde then kissed down Harry's neck, making sure to leave a few love bites on the way down, before his attention was grabbed by the brunette's lovely, pink nipples. He licked slowly, getting a small taste before sucking harder, causing Harry to moan wantonly and hold Draco tighter against him, his nails scraping lightly against the blonde's back.
"Draco," Harry whispered quietly.
The blonde continued his way down, laying kisses as he trailed down lower and lower. He licked at Harry's inner thigh before laying a soft kiss, igniting Harry's fire and causing the teen to buck his hips in need. His breath was uneven by now and he needed Draco's touch; needed the feel of Draco's mouth against him; needed his tongue against him, claiming Harry as his own.
"I love you, Harry," the blonder whispered, before bending his head down to fulfill Harry's desires.
DHDHDH
More moans had escaped their lips, many more kisses had been shared between the two, and touches and gropes had passed through the hands of both as Draco had proceeded to make love to Harry.
Now they both lay awake, with Harry's head resting against Draco's chest, following his breathing pattern, and listening to the blonde's heartbeat. The brunette was in a state of complete peace. The problems still buzzed around in his head, but they didn't seem very important at the moment. What was important was the time he had with Draco right now.
Who knew what was going to happen to them later?
Harry could be outcast by the majority of his classmates for the rest of his high school years, Draco could lose his job, the two might never be able to see each other again, but it didn't matter right now. Dumbledore had even mentioned that Draco could go to jail, but there was nothing he could do about it now, and so, pushing away the problems of later and choosing to enjoy the peaceful, calm happiness of now, he kissed Draco's nipple gently, looked up, and asked slyly, "Ready for another go?"
"Now, how could anyone say no to a face like that?"
DHDHDH
"I love you," Harry said, lying with his lower half between Draco's legs, and his upper half laying on the blonde's torso, Harry's arms folded underneath him so that he could look into Draco's eyes.
"I love you, too."
"I know."
"Ooh, a little cocky now, aren't we?" Draco commented, smiling good-naturedly.
"Only when I'm with you."
The blonde reached over and ran his fingers through Harry's hair.
"So, what do you think is going to happen to us?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Draco replied with a sigh. "A lot of things, I guess. There's always the possibility of me going to jail, but it wouldn't matter. As soon as I came out, I'd come back and find you. You'd be legal by then."
"How long could they put you in jail?"
"I'm not sure, but I think the maximum time is about three years."
"But I don't want you to go to jail, Draco." Harry's voice was barely more than a whisper.
Draco grabbed Harry's chin, gently lifting it up and saying, "Hey, don't worry. I knew what I was getting myself into when I kissed you that very first time. I don't regret anything I've done, alright? They can put me in jail if they want; I don't care. I'll be fine."
Harry gave the blonde a chaste kiss before whispering once again, "I love you. I love you so much; more than anyone I've ever loved. I'll never love anyone as much as you."
"Hey," Draco complained with a chuckle. "You're speaking as though we're never going to see each other again."
"It's just that, you never know. I mean, who knows what's going to happen?"
"Harry, listen to me. Even if the very worst happens, they can't keep me away from you forever. I promise you that no matter what happens, we will be together again. Do you hear me? I promise."
The brunette nodded his head solemnly.
"Oh no," Harry whispered, looking over to the clock on the bedside stand. It read 3:47 a.m. It had been very late to begin with since the moment he'd arrived in the blonde's home, but the realization hadn't actually hit him at the time. Now, however, he could see how large of a problem this could lead to.
"Don't worry about it," Draco said, placing a kiss on Harry's forehead. "Go to sleep. We'll worry about it in the morning."
"But Draco-"
"Don't worry. Just go to sleep, Harry. I love you," he said, giving Harry another kiss.
The brunette smiled and gave a tired sigh before laying his head back down on Draco's chest to go to sleep. He knew what Draco was thinking; he knew why there was no point in worrying over the time; worrying over being discovered.
They were already discovered.
There was no point in trying to cover it up. As soon as Harry's parents found out, things would probably go to hell, they'd all have to go to court, and… well, what would happen from there was still a mystery to Harry, but again, he reminded himself, there was no point in worrying about it now.
He would worry about it when the time came. For now, all he could do was let himself fall into a blissful sleep, nestled in Draco's warm, loving embrace.
Tomorrow was another day.
AN:
I suppose you could call this a filler. I just wanted to have Harry and Draco together, really showing their love one more time before all hell breaks loose- I even tried to make the semi-sex scene a little more detailed. I mean, the last two chapters have been pretty hectic with Harry worrying about his life, but now all the worry is going to be concentrated specifically on Draco. He is the one at risk of going to jail after all. I'm not saying if he will go to jail or not yet simply because I really just don't know. It's going to be really difficult for me because, as corny as it sounds, I sort of fell in love with Draco while writing this chapter. It's sort of weird, but I sort of discovered who Draco really is in this chapter. This whole story, I've been concentrating on Harry, but I really thought about Draco for this chapter, and had him open himself up to Harry totally, you know? I don't know- maybe I just sound crazy, but I really feel down and sad right now.
I don't want Draco to go to jail because I see how much he cares for Harry, so I'll just have to see what I decide to do in the end. Cross your fingers and pray for my muse to give this story a happy ending. So umm, I know that this chapter wasn't action-packed, but I still hope you guys enjoyed it. I thought the angst might be getting to be a bit much, so I just stopped and slowed down for this chapter. Oh, and just a quick note: Harry seemed to take a bit more initiative, I think, with the semi-sex scene in this chapter because since he's already done it before, there's really nothing for him to be all that nervous or scared about. I hope it played out well, and I also hope you liked it. Please review!
xoxo Spideria xoxo