Chapter Three – An Unexpected Visitor Or Two
6th November
Harry wasn't having a good day. Actually, he wasn't having a good week. It was bad enough to find out that Draco Malfoy, of all people, had saved his life, but it seemed Draco was intent on rubbing it in.
Barely half an hour after Hermione had left, Harry had choked on a piece of carrot during lunch. Draco had looked amused and had waited until Harry had turned a dangerous shade of purple before he'd casually slapped him on the back, with what Harry had thought, was more force than was strictly necessary.
The offending piece of vegetable had flown out in a graceful arc to land on the floor, which a house elf had promptly removed. And Draco had drawled in a maddeningly condescending voice "Instead of Death Eaters, Voldemort should have just used a stray vegetable to off the Boy Who Won't Die". Harry was left seething.
But now Harry had been discharged and he was back at home with the sting of humiliation, slowly ebbing. 'Home' these days was a modest apartment in the trendy area of downtown London. He had sold Twelve Grimmauld Place as soon as he'd come of age as the place had reminded him too much of Sirius and his loss.
Harry had to admit that he didn't have much taste when it came to furnishings but with Ginny and Hermione's help, the apartment though not stylish, had a warm, comfortable feel to it that reminded Harry very much of The Burrow and the pleasant memories associated with that place.
The one peculiar thing about his apartment was that it had no cupboards. Years of living with the Dursleys had given him a horror of them and the first thing he'd done when he'd taken possession of the place was to order all of the cupboards to be ripped out. He'd replaced them with shelves which not only saved space but also meant everything was easily accessible It made dusting a hell of a job though.
Today however, housekeeping was far from his mind as he sat gazing out the window, which took up one whole wall of his living room, towards the bustle of shoppers below. He had a Green Day CD softly playing in the background. As Harry had been Muggle-raised, he'd furnished his apartment with many of the labour saving devices Muggles held essential, and his state of the art entertainment system had been his proudest, not to mention most expensive, purchase to date.
Currently the television was set to the news but the sound had been muted. Harry got up lazily and went into kitchen to make himself a hot chocolate. Considering a moment, he decided to make another one for whoever was coming to check up on him today. He had been home for two days now and he'd had Weaslys drop in at least twice a day to make sure he was alright, and he didn't see why today would be any different.
Sure enough, he heard a 'pop' as someone apparated in. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was two o'clock. Right on time he thought wryly. It was probably Ginny again. She was becoming as bad as Molly in her mothering of him.
Carrying the mugs of hot chocolate out with him Harry said in a teasing voice, "You know you really shouldn't apparate in like that Gin. I could be walking around naked."
"That's way too much information, mate." came Ron's disgusted voice.
"Ron!" Harry exclaimed. "I didn't know you were coming! I thought you were Ginny."
Ron grinned at Harry "She's taken the day off from babysitting you and Bills' at work, so it fell to me to make sure 'icky-Harrykins' was eating properly." He mocked, holding out a package to Harry. "Mum baked muffins."
Harry rolled his eyes. "She does know I'm 24 right? She's more than made up on the mothering I missed out on with the Dursleys."
"I reckon she's just still excited about you becoming a proper part of the family." Ron said taking a sip of the hot chocolate Harry had handed him.
"I've always been a part of your family though." Harry said, flopping onto the couch.
Ron shrugged. "You know what I mean. With you bonding with Ginny and all."
"Ron, don't say it like that."
Ron grinned. "Well it is still a magical bond. Just because you guys aren't married and aren't shagging doesn't mean you aren't as close as two people could possibly be."
"Ron, she's your sister!" Harry groaned.
"She's your sister too!" Ron retorted. "I remember mum running around hugging everyone when she found out. Still does that to Ginny sometimes."
"But we became siblings three years ago." Harry said bemused.
Ron rolled his eyes, "You know mum. Couldn't have happier if you really had married Ginny. Though she was a bit disappointed that you didn't at the time."
Harry felt uncomfortable. It had taken him and Ginny many years to figure out what they felt for each other, and while he was perfectly happy with the way things had turned out and knew they'd done the right thing, it had still been incredibly awkward at the time.
Changing the topic, Harry turned to Ron happily "It's great to see you again Ron. How are things in the world of Quidditch?" Ron was a reporter for The Quidditch Weekly and Harry was always interested in the happenings of the sport he loved so much.
Ron grinned. "Yeah, it's fantastic to see you again mate. Work is great. I'm going on tour with Puddlemere soon. Do you remember Oliver Wood?" Harry nodded. How could he forget his old Quidditch obsessed captain?
"Well, he's their star player and captain now would you believe? I've got an exclusive interview with him."
"That's brilliant Ron!" Harry enthused.
Ron blushed modestly. "So what about you Harry? I heard about what happened with Malfoy."
"You did?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Course I did. Ginny told me. I went to Seamus' funeral and everything."
"Oh." Harry replied dully. "That." He'd thought Ron had found out about Draco saving his life, but he hardly found this topic less depressing. He hadn't been at Seamus' funeral of course as he had been lying in St Mungo's at the time.
"I couldn't believe it when I heard." Ron continued sadly. "He was a good friend. I guess it's just you and me left from the old dorm now huh?"
Harry nodded mutely. Out of the five boys who'd shared his dorm back at Hogwarts three had died. Death Eaters had killed Dean early on in the War during the first wave of attacks on Hogwarts. Neville had also been killed during the War. He had died a hero surprisingly as he'd put himself at risk trying to save a group of Muggle children. And now Seamus was gone too.
"So many people have died because of Voldemort and what he did with his Death Eaters." Harry whispered.
"They died so future generations wouldn't also live with the fear that we had to." Ron said gently.
"Was it worth all those lives though? Is even one innocent life worth paying to stop that evil?" Harry asked in an anguished voice.
"Yes." Ron said firmly. "You did the right thing Harry."
"Nothing is too much to pay for the end of You Kno- Voldemort's reign of terror. I didn't use to believe it, especially when Fred and George died, but I do now." Ron continued quietly.
They sat in silence for a while. The sounds of the mid afternoon drifting up towards them as the CD skipped to a Coldplay track.
"Malfoy saved my life." For a few seconds Harry was surprised, but then he realized that he was the one who had said it.
"Lucius Malfoy saved your life?" Ron asked incredulously.
"No. Draco Malfoy." Harry replied tonelessly.
"Really? He's still alive then?"
Harry gave Ron a questioning look "Yes, shouldn't he be?"
Ron shrugged, taking a bite out of a pumpkin muffin from the package Harry had opened. "Well, I'd always figured he'd joined the Death Eaters and be killed by now, being the git that he is." Ron said casually around a mouthful of muffin.
Harry frowned. "That's what I always thought too. But it turns out he's not a Death Eater at all. Never has been. He's working for the Ministry in fact."
Ron choked. "Are you having me on or what?" he spluttered.
Harry grinned. "Nope. Turns out he's been spying on his father for us for years."
Ron's jaw dropped, a piece of half chewed muffin falling out of his open mouth to land on the carpet. Harry gave a snort of exasperation and cleaned up the mess with a flick of his wand. Ron didn't seem to notice.
"So how'd he save your life?" Ron asked him faintly.
Harry gave a half shrug and reached for a muffin for himself. "He saved me twice actually." He said slowly. "The first time was when we attacked the Death Eaters. He got me out of there after I'd been hit. And the second time was from a…"
"A what?" Ron asked "A vampire? A werewolf? A Hippogriff?"
"Erm… it was a piece of carrot actually." Harry said sheepishly.
"It's not that funny Ron!" Harry cried crossly as Ron collapsed on the sofa in hysterics, spewing muffin everywhere.
"Yes…it…is..!" Ron gasped. "Oh Merlin! Can you imagine the headlines? 'Boy Who Lived Aspirated By Vegetable!' The papers would have a field day. You're just lucky You Know Who didn't know of this weakness of yours." Ron giggled, wiping tears from his eyes.
Harry looked offended. "That's what Malfoy said. Besides, it was an accident." He insisted.
Seeing that Ron was still giggling and didn't look like stopping anytime soon, Harry threw a cushion at him, getting Ron on the side of his head.
"Grow up Weasly!" Harry said in his best imitation of Snape and laughed along with Ron.
-----
With Ron's arrival, Harry managed to forget about his lousy Malfoy involved week. Fate however, turned out to be a sadistic bastard.
Harry and Ron had just settled down to some pizza and a game of Wizard's Chess when Harry's wards alerted him to people approaching, and a minute later he heard a knock on his door.
"I wonder who that could be?" he asked aloud. His wards had been set to only allow Ron, Hermione and Ginny to apparate directly in.
Ron shrugged, mouth full of pizza. "I believe the 'go and see' method works well."
"Prat." Harry grumbled, grinning.
He opened to a harassed looking Hermione and an absolutely furious looking Draco.
"Malfoy?" Harry asked confused.
"Potter." Draco ground out. Harry's gaze hardened.
"Hi Harry." Hermione said nervously. "Can we come in?"
Against his better judgment, Harry opened the door wider to let them in.
"Hermione! You came at a good time, we have piz- what is he doing here?" Ron asked scowling.
"Just what I was about to ask." Harry replied, giving Draco a filthy look.
"Believe me, I'm here against my will." Draco said icily.
Hermione sighed. "Guys, could you please try and be civil for one minute so I can explain? We're not at school anymore you know."
Her words seemed ineffectual though as neither the Gryffindors nor the Slytherin ceased their hostilities. In fact, their glares only intensified.
"Alright, so explain." Harry said finally. "What's he doing here?"
"Malfoy's been… reassigned." Hermione began slowly.
"Yeah, and…?"
"And his new assignment is… you." She finished lamely, giving Harry a fearful look.
"What!"
Hermione winced.
"What do you mean his new assignment is me?" Harry demanded.
Ron stood with mouth agape, nodding fervently in agreement.
Hermione sighed. "It's to do with the curse you were hit with by Wormtail."
"The one Ginny told you about." Harry said flatly.
"Right." Hermione agreed. "We found out what it was and we have reason to believe that Malfoy would be the best person to assign for this job."
"How do you figure that?" Ron exclaimed.
"It has something to do with the nature of the curse." Hermione explained.
"Which is what…?" Harry asked.
Hermione shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry Harry but I can't tell you that. The Ministry has classified that information."
"What?" Both Harry and Ron cried.
"My life is in danger and the Ministry won't even tell me why?" Harry protested.
"Well, we're hoping you won't be in danger any longer with Malfoy here." Hermione said.
"Again, how do you figure that?" Ron asked, giving Draco a dark look.
"But why him? Why not… well, why not anyone else but him?" Harry asked beseechingly.
"I can't tell you that Harry." Hermione said helplessly. "But I can assure you there's a good reason for it being Malfoy."
"Hermione! You are making me want to hurt something!" Harry raged in frustration.
"Oh shut it with the melodrama, Potter." Draco snapped.
Harry blinked, stunned.
"Hey! Don't talk to Harry like that!" Ron exclaimed angrily.
"Potter's my assignment, I can talk to him how I liked." Draco sneered back.
"I'm not your stupid assignment! I can take care of myself!" Harry snapped.
"Sure you can, Potter. You took care of yourself so well that you got yourself cursed in the first place." Draco retorted sarcastically.
"Harry, it's really not that bad. He won't be staying for long." Hermione told him soothingly, as Ron moved to prevent Harry from strangling Draco.
"And he really is very well qualified for the job", she continued reasonably.
"Are you defending Malfoy, Hermione?" Ron asked incredulously above Harry's squeak of "I am too!" Hermione coloured.
"Leave her alone Weasly. She's just doing her job." Draco growled.
Ron looked like a Blast Ended Skrewt had just kissed him. Had Draco Malfoy just defended Hermione?
"This isn't Malfoy!" Ron exclaimed hysterically. "It's a Polyjuiced Death Eater out to get you Harry!"
"Oh Ron, don't be silly!" Hermione said crossly. "Of course it's Malfoy. Do you really think the Ministry wouldn't check for Polyjuice Potion?"
"But he could have gotten around that somehow." Ron protested. "He just doesn't act like Malfoy."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Is this proof enough for you Weasly?" He drawled as he rolled up the sleeves of his robes to show his bare forearm, just as he'd done when Harry had accused him in St Mugo's.
Ron still looked unconvinced.
"He's not a Death Eater Ron, but that's beside the point." Harry interrupted. "The point is that I don't need a babysitter, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of my- did you just say Malfoy is to stay here?" He demanded shrilly turning to Hermione.
Hermione nodded sheepishly.
"Here with me?"
Nod.
"Here in my apartment?"
Nod.
Draco rolled his eyes again. "Yes, Potter. Your powers of deduction never cease to amaze me."
"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Harry asked him bitterly.
Draco snorted. "Yes, I absolutely adore the idea of babysitting Wonder Boy."
"Leave me alone." Harry muttered.
"Believe me, there's nothing I'd like better. But apparently, even my threats of murdering you aren't enough to get me out of this assignment."
"Like you'd get close enough to Harry for that." Ron scoffed.
"Oh per-lease Weasly. Can your faith in Potter's skills be any more misguided?" Draco said sarcastically. "If a half competent wizard like Pettigrew could curse Potter, do you really think I couldn't with all my knowledge of the Dark Arts? Potter wouldn't even know what hit him."
"Trust you to know of the Dark Arts Malfoy." Harry said scornfully.
"Yeah, and Harry's one of the best Aurors there is. He defeated You Know Who before he'd even graduated from Hogwarts." Ron defended angrily.
"Unlike your family Weasly, we don't all have shrines to Potter's dumb luck." Draco sneered condescendingly.
This time Harry was the one who had to hold Ron back from launching against Draco.
"At least I still have a family!" Ron said wildly. Draco flushed angrily.
"Ron, it's ok. Calm down." Harry said as Ron struggled to reach Draco.
"Are you going to let that Slytherin git talk about you like that?" Ron demanded.
"Like I said before, I can talk to Potter how I like since he's under my protection now." Draco said, emphasizing 'protection', as if it was a threat.
"And I said I don't need your protection." Harry said through gritted teeth.
"Harry, please..." Hermione began.
"There's no way I'm letting Malfoy stay with me." Harry stated in what he hoped was an authoritative voice.
"I'm afraid you have no choice." Hermione said firmly. "Either of you."
Harry gave her a pleading look. "Isn't there anything you can do Mione?"
Hermione shook her head apologetically. "This really is for your own good Harry."
-----
Harry felt defeated. It seemed there was nothing he could do to keep Draco Malfoy out of his apartment, his life.
His hateful nemesis seemed to sense this as he pushed past Harry to make himself at home.
"Well, I should get back to work." Hermione said brightly, apparently congratulating herself on having managed to deliver the news without ending up with a homicide on her hands. "Harry you're on leave from further assignments until the threat to your life has been removed. Um, so Malfoy will make sure of that."
Harry took that to meant that he was going to have nothing to do (and thereby be at Draco's mercy) until Draco decided otherwise.
"Fine." He said grumpily. He felt like throwing something at her, but it really wasn't Hermione's fault. And he didn't want to take it out on his friend. Harry grimaced, realizing that was probably exactly why the Ministry had decided to send her with Draco.
If Malfoy had shown up by himself, Harry would have probably just hexed him and sent him on his way back to St Mungo's. Ron would probably have provided the body bag. That thought cheered him up slightly. Seeing this, Hermione brightened and giving him and Ron each a quick kiss, hastened away.
"Well, I should go too." Ron said apologetically. "I promised mum I'd report to her on how you're doing. I'll see you again when I come back from the tour ok mate?"
Harry nodded glumly. Ron patted him on the back sympathetically and left via the door.
There was a shriek from the guest room. Sighing, Harry went to have a look. He found Draco standing in the middle of the room, a look of outrage on his face.
"What the hell is this Potter?" He indicated, sweeping a hand around the room. "Is this some weird fetish of yours? Are you secretly a cross-dresser or something?"
Harry smiled wryly, "Ginny stops here sometimes."
He looked around the room and had to admit that although Ginny didn't stay over very often, the décor had definitely begun leaning towards the feminine over the years.
While she hadn't painted the walls pink or anything, she had added a dresser, which was still littered with cosmetics and a musical jewellery box, he had given her for her birthday a few years ago. In addition, she had transfigured the sheets to the frilly type, with red and gold heart prints on it. The bed was also liberally covered with a host of Ginny's soft toys, including to Harry's continued embarrassment, a 'Prince Harry' doll.
Seeing the doll, Draco's face changed, "And what is this?"
Harry felt his cheeks warm, "Um, it's a Harry doll. Ginny's had it since she was five."
Draco gave the doll a scrutinizing look. "They took some liberties in enhancing your looks didn't they?"
"Shut up." Harry muttered, mortified.
Draco grinned at him. "Well, I can't stay here. There's no way I'm putting my masculinity at risk by surrounding myself with this girlie décor."
"Well it's the only room available." Harry said irritably.
Draco gave him a calculating look "There's always your room Potter."
"What? No way! Hey! You can't go in there!" Harry cried as Draco ignored him and swept into his room.
Draco surveyed the room critically, grey eyes ranging around the sparsely furnished, but well proportioned room.
"You're not good with decorating are you?" He asked finally.
"No, I've never thought it was that important." Harry admitted.
Draco gave him an incredulous look. "And how long have you lived here for?"
"Er, five years." Harry replied.
"Really? It looks like you've just moved in. Fell on some hard times did you?"
Harry scowled. "I don't like clutter."
"Obviously." Draco said. "What's with the shelves Potter?" he asked, looking at the many shelves in place of the wardrobe against one of the walls.
"I er, don't like cupboards."
Draco raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business." Harry replied rudely.
"If I'm going to protect you, then you're going to have to tell me anything I ask you in order for me to do my job properly." Draco said calmly.
Harry gave up. "My uncle and aunt used to lock me in a cupboard when I was younger. They didn't like me enough to give me a proper bedroom."
Draco frowned. "So the rumours were true. No wonder you turned out as screwed up as you did."
Harry gave him a dirty look. Draco grinned. "Don't worry Potter, even I'm charitable to the disabled. And I think your room will do nicely."
-----
Harry stood under the shower for a good hour, letting the water ease the tension in his body. He was thinking of Seamus again. But somehow under the hot water mingled with tears, the knowledge of his friend's death didn't seem as awful. He'd thought a lot about Seamus in the past few days, and all the other friends he'd lost during the War.
He felt tired. It was as if every death took a bit more of him to grieve for them. So the more deaths, the less of Harry he was left with.
Ginny had tried to share some of his grief when they'd first bonded, but Harry hadn't really wanted anyone else to feel his pain for him. He didn't think Ginny could bear it.
He stepped out of the shower dripping and padded to his room in bare feet, hitching up a towel around his waist. He rarely bothered to towel off as he enjoyed the feeling of the little rivulets of water snaking across his flesh.
He began to absently hunt for a clean shirt when he heard a sharp intake of breath behind him.
"Potter! Is this your way of trying to seduce me?"
Harry whirled around to find Draco looking at him in amusement from where he'd been lying on his bed. He had completely forgotten about Draco and how he'd taken over his room.
"I er, was just looking for some clothes." He stammered.
"Well could you please try and do it without traumatizing me? I'm going to have to wash out my eyes."
Harry blushed, suddenly aware that he had nothing on except a large bath towel, which wasn't all that large when on him.
However, Draco's tone seemed to lack it's customary bite and he seemed to be staring rather intently at Harry's chest.
Harry couldn't see Draco's face properly without his glasses but he thought he could make out a glint of…something in the blond's grey eyes. Something he wasn't altogether comfortable with and yet made him feel oddly entranced. He seemed to be lost in those silver depths, even as those full lips twisted in a slight sneer.
Sanity returned when he remembered that this was Draco Malfoy, and with it a spurt of indignation. This was his room after all! But he felt at a certain disadvantage being almost naked around Draco who could disturb Harry even when he was fully clothed.
So deciding he'd humiliated himself enough and that retreat was the most sensible option, Harry mustered what dignity he had left and stalked from the room, Draco's snigger following him from behind. Outside, Harry decided he needed another shower.
-----
"Are you sure?" Harry asked dubiously, looking around.
"Trust me, the food is good. I've been here before." Draco said, ducking as he entered the dimly lit restaurant.
Harry followed to find they were in a cavernous room dotted with tables covered with cheap, checkered tablecloths. The place was much darker than he'd expected it to be, with only the candles in the tables and a few strategically placed wall lamps, illuminating the large room.
The atmosphere created seemed more for shady dealings than romantic rendezvous though, which didn't necessarily make Harry feel more at ease.
Draco however, seemed oblivious as he made his way purposefully towards one of the tables against the wall. It had been his idea that they go out to dinner when Harry had found to his dismay that there wasn't any food in his apartment.
To Harry's surprise, Draco had chosen to venture into Muggle London instead of Daigon Alley. The Draco he had known at Hogwarts wouldn't have dreamt of stepping foot into a Muggle establishment willingly, let alone be able to discern between different types of Muggle cuisine.
However, when Draco had stopped in front of this dingy Italian restaurant after passing several more reputable places, Harry began to think that perhaps Draco wasn't as adept at navigating through Muggle society as he'd thought.
A waitress of around fifty approached their table in a uniform, which looked like it had belonged to her mother. Her name tag had 'Lorraine' printed on it.
"What can I get you loveys?" She asked them in a guttural voice, indicative of a pack-a-day smoker.
Draco looked up from his perusal of the plastic menu and gave the waitress a winning smile.
Harry blinked. He had never seen Draco smile like that before, and it was rather disconcerting to note how much more beautiful he looked. He could feel Lorraine thawing under its power as Draco asked sweetly, "What's the special?"
"Soupe d'Auverge au Fromage followed by Rojoes Cominho." was the reply.
Draco gave Harry an enquiring look.
"Sounds great." He said, not having the foggiest what he was agreeing to.
"Two specials please. And a carafe of mineral water." Draco ordered.
Lorraine scribbled something in a pad and left, only to return with some bent cutlery a few minutes later.
"Do you come here often?" Harry asked.
"I used to come here almost everyday." Draco replied absently, casually casting a privacy charm around their table, which would make it difficult for anyone to make out their conversation.
"The staff don't seem to recognize you." Harry observed.
Draco shrugged as Lorraine approached with their meal. "I usually obliviate Lorraine before I leave, just in case I'm being followed and someone unwelcome tries to find out my routine."
"Then why keep coming back here? Surely there are better places?"
"Not for pasta there isn't." Draco replied, giving Harry a look that suggested he was stupid not to have known that. "And I'm a pasta freak."
"Well, well." Harry murmured, ignoring Draco's look. "Who knew there'd be a day when a Malfoy would be addicted to Muggle food?"
"It was always considered character building for Malfoys to mingle with the commoners every now and then." Draco replied haughtily.
Harry grinned.
"Since when did you become so tolerant of Muggle society? You were even civil to Hermione before." He asked, shooting Draco an enquiring look.
There was silence for so long that Harry thought Draco must not have heard him and was about to open his mouth to ask again when Draco spoke.
"Since Natalie."
Harry blinked in surprise. "Who's she?" There hadn't been a Natalie in their year from what he could recall.
"She was my Charms Professor." Draco replied shortly.
"Charms Professor? But we only ever had Flit-"
"I meant she was my Charms Professor after I left Hogwarts. Well, Charms tutor if you like." Draco said rolling his eyes.
"So what happened then? Did she charm you into liking Muggles or something?"
Draco gave him a pointed look to which Harry just shrugged and grinned.
Draco sighed in a resigned manner.
"If you must know, she was a witch, but a Muggle born one. Yes, just like Granger." He said, rolling his eyes at Harry's surprise.
"She was brilliant though. Smart and sassy. And she never took any 'Mudblood' crap from me." Draco gave a short laugh.
"She was a researcher for the American Ministry of Magic, but she had a fascination with the Dark arts that bordered on the messianic. Taught me a lot in that area too. More so than my father would ever believe." Draco grinned.
"In fact, the Charms thing soon became a front for the lessons in the Dark Arts we used to have. Consequently, I only got an E for my Charms NEWTs, but an O+ for my Defence Against the Dark Arts NEWTs."
"I didn't realize you could get plusses in NEWTs!"
Draco smirked. "You could if you could imperio Dark creatures."
Harry felt impressed. No wonder Draco had been an undercover agent for the Unspeakables. His Auror skills must be amazing with that kind of training. Yet Harry couldn't shake the feeling that those skills would also be deadly to them if Draco ever decided to switch sides.
Shaking off that thought, Harry gave Draco a mischievous smile and said teasingly "Sounds like you had a crush on her."
Draco scowled. "It wasn't like that Potter. I admit she contributed a lot to changing my attitudes towards the Dark Arts and Muggles, and even the whole 'pureblood superiority complex' I had. But I had already begun having doubts about Voldemort's ideology – and sanity. She just… made me see that to have an interest in, and to use, the Dark Arts did not necessarily mean the wizard or witch doing it had to be Dark themselves."
"So that's why you began spying for the Order." Harry mused out loud.
"That's why I began spying for the Order."
They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. The fact that it was companionable surprised Harry. Since when had Draco become tolerable? Not that he minded. It was rather… pleasant, when they weren't constantly sniping at each other.
However, his curiosity got the better of him and he couldn't resist snooping. "So what happened to her?" He asked in what he hoped was a casual voice. "I mean, do you guys still keep in touch?"
"You're very nosy, you know that Potter?" Draco grumbled. Harry just grinned. He knew.
"She eloped actually. She was only 21 at the time but she said she couldn't imagine life without 'Brettles'. She said she 'needed' him and he needed her." Draco scoffed. "I asked her, begged her actually, not to leave me. When I told her I needed her too, she just smiled at me sadly and told me one day I will understand what she felt cause I would feel it too."
Harry caught his breath at these words. He knew what it must have costed Draco to admit something like that to him and he cursed himself for pursuing the subject.
"She paid for leaving me though. No one ever pities a Malfoy and not suffer the consequences for it. I managed to curse 'Brettles' with a Premature Ejaculatus curse before they left." Draco continued with bitter satisfaction.
Draco sounded so distant and yet so vulnerable that Harry's heart went out to him and without thinking Harry reached out and put his hand over Draco's.
"She was right you know." He said quietly. "There'll be other girls and one day you'll also find someone you'll want to elope with."
Draco came out of his reverie and seemed to notice his hand clasped in Harry's for the first time. Raising an eyebrow Draco drawled in an amused voice. "And there'll be other boys too." His amusement increased at Harry's stunned expression.
Harry snatched his hand back as if burnt and stammered. "You… you're a… you mean you're a… shirtlifter?"
Draco gave him one incredulous look and burst out laughing.
"You… what… shirtlifter..!" Harry blushed as Draco howled and pounded on the table with his fist.
"Well, what do you call it then?" he snapped, irritated. Surely it wasn't that an uncommon term?
"Oh Merlin!" Draco gasped wiping tears from his eyes. "I must say, I've been called a lot of things in my life but never that. You really can be quite hilarious when you don't try Potter."
Harry blushed again, unsure whether Draco had just complimented him.
"But to answer your question, yes I do prefer men."
"Oh." Harry didn't know what to say. He had never considered that Draco might be gay but now that he did, a lot of things he'd noticed about the blond began to fall into place. Like the constant grooming.
"Well, er, that's good. I mean, that's fine. I'm fine with that." He stammered.
Draco rolled his eyes, "I don't need your approval Potter."
Harry decided to shut up.
The food turned out to be as good as Draco had promised. Draco had ordered a bottle of wine with their meal and Harry could feel himself steadily becoming tipsy. They didn't talk much during the meal, but the silence wasn't strained but rather companionable, which was probably the influence of the wine.
It was also probably the wine that made Harry notice the faint flush on Draco's cheeks that seemed to make his eyes more alive. Draco saw him looking and raised one aristocratic eyebrow, "Something stuck in my teeth Potter?"
"No, I was just wondering why the Ministry would assign you of all people to protect me." Harry said. "No offence or anything."
Draco rolled his eyes at that. "Someone in the Ministry must have a twisted sense of humour."
"But I don't think it was random chance that you were assigned to me. Hermione made it sound like there was a reason that it was you especially. What did they say when they gave you your assignment parameters?"
Draco shrugged, and took a sip of his wine contemplatively. "I don't know any more than you really. All they said was that I was to protect you from anything I perceived as dangerous, while unhelpfully leaving out the 'what, where and how.'"
"What about the 'whom'?"
"Well, they didn't tell me that either, but I think I have an idea of who they might be trying to protect you from."
"You think it has something to do with the raid we conducted on the Death Eater meeting."
"Correct. I think the Death Eaters led by my father have targeted you. So it would be wise to assume that any attack would be coming from them. We just don't know 'how, when or why'."
"It wouldn't be the first time I was on the Death Eater hit list." Harry muttered.
Draco's lip twitched. "I don't think you ever left the top ten list."
Harry rolled his eyes, then grew serious. "If you're going to protect me then I'm going to have to trust you. So I need to know where your loyalties lie if it ever came to choosing between your father and protecting me."
Draco looked back at him equally seriously, without any anger at Harry's implied insult or any trace of his usual smirk.
"I may have acted in a way which would have made you question me before Harry, but I don't think you would have accepted me as your protector if you didn't trust me, no matter what the Ministry ordered. So all I can do is give you my word that I will do my job."
Harry looked into Draco's eyes, all of a sudden such a solemn shade of grey, and he knew the other boy was right. He did trust him. Vaguely Harry registered that Draco's use of his first name was surprising but not really unpleasant.
"Alright. I trust you. But you've got to trust me too. I'm also a trained Auror and I want to be told everything you are. Otherwise I'm not going through with this."
Draco gave an unsmiling nod. "I can accept that."
Harry relaxed again. "So any idea on that 'how, what and why'?"
Draco looked thoughtful. "Tell me about the curse you were hit with again."
Harry immediately saw what he was getting at as he remembered Hermione saying that him being in danger had something to do with the curse Wormtail had hit him with.
"I don't actually remember it but the curse was called Tre Dekavra."
"I've never heard of it." Draco said frowning. "Where would Granger have found out about that curse from?"
"Ministry libraries I suppose. She has a special grant for the Restricted Dark Arts section." Harry replied.
Draco looked mildly impressed and faintly insulted at the same time.
"I was never given a permanent grant to study there." He muttered half to himself.
"Why not?" Harry asked, curious.
Draco gave him a cool look, "The Ministry doesn't trust such knowledge in the hands of a Death Eater spy. No matter how gifted they are." He said in measured tones.
"Oh."
"But I think I have a better way of finding out about this curse." He continued.
"Which is…?"
"I'll owl Professor Snape. If anyone would know, then he'd know."
"And what makes you think Snape would want to help us? Especially me?" Harry asked, thinking of his old potions professor.
Draco smirked. "Because he's my godfather, Potter."
"Oh, right." Harry said, slurring his words a bit.
He reached for his glass again and accidentally knocked it over, the wine spreading to rapidly stain the already cherry coloured tablecloth.
Lorraine came over to clean it up, casting a disapproving look at Harry. "Sorry." He muttered, feeling his cheeks heat up.
"You have absolutely no head for wine, Potter." Draco laughed.
"Just red wine. I can do white fine." Harry defended.
"Somehow I doubt that if you're like this after only one glass of red." Draco teased.
Harry made a face at him, which made Draco laugh again.
They paid and left after Draco gave Lorraine another beaming smile, which she returned before glaring at Harry. Draco then promptly obliviated her memory.
"That can't be healthy for her." Harry commented as they stumbled out into the cool London night. Draco shrugged.
Annoyingly he still seemed to be perfectly sober despite having practically finished off the whole bottle, minus Harry's one glass. Harry noted that Draco gave the area around them an automatic scan with those piercing grey eyes that missed nothing, as he himself tried to keep from swaying on his feet.
"Let's go." Draco said shortly.
They apparated to the outside of Harry's apartment, with a slight stagger. Harry watched blearily as Draco disabled his wards with ease, much to his chagrin.
"Your wards are pathetic Potter." Draco informed him.
"Shut up." Harry mumbled, too tired and drunk to argue.
He walked into his bedroom without turning on the light and then realized belatedly that it wasn't his bedroom anymore. He turned around to retrace his steps only to find Draco leaning against the doorframe, his silhouette outlined by the light shining from the living room.
"I seem to keep forgetting that this isn't my room anymore." Harry joked weakly. "I'm not used to having company."
"Well then maybe this will help you to remember my presence." Draco said in a huskier voice than normal.
He stood mesmerized as Draco lazily pushed himself away from the doorway and lightly, almost casually brushed his lips against Harry's. Draco's lips looked sublime and oh so kissable and before he could stop himself, Harry felt himself leaning in for a deeper kiss.
Harry could feel the softness and warmth of Draco's lips, the sweet taste of wine that still lingered. And for a moment, he thought he felt the light nibble of teeth against his bottom lip, a flick from Draco's tongue.
However, the feeling was fleeting. Draco pulled away and gave Harry a small smile before guiding him softly from the room with a murmured "Goodnight, Harry."