AN: My muse if officially back y'all! I'm putting this chapter out mid-week, and I'm hoping to post another this weekend! Thank you all for your patience and your kind words and for sticking with this story! Special thanks to everyone who followed/favorite! I'm aiming for about 27 chapters for the whole main story, but that might get extended to 30 depending on how plot things unfold. Also, I realize now that the outtakes thing was confusing, so what I meant was that after the main story is wrapped up, I might post scenes from other character's view points. Ginny will definitely get her say, but I'm open to other suggestions too! Special thank you, as always, to everyone who left reviews: I was BOTWP, anjiepotter, LightofEvolution, Cecily Mitchell, Bluxpudding, Rainmask888, Black Banshee, Cheeseinator, cochran4444, Lydia-Rashel, JLLove, ArielNicholas913, GoldenRacehorse, Themrs0830, dancerdollar, and guests!

I realize this chapter might inspire mixed feelings, but I hope you guys enjoy!


Changing Scenery

Chapter 20: Imperfect

Harry supposed he should be used to being left horny and desperate after seeing Draco, but it didn't make attempting to sleep after Draco left on Friday night any easier. When he woke in the morning, still worked up and with a truly impressive morning problem, he took a rather long shower before going downstairs for breakfast.

An owl was already waiting for him when he got to his kitchen, and he absently flicked his wand to get the cereal and milk pouring itself as he untied the letter and gave the creature a treat.

Harry,

I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night – I'm very sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way. I would never normally have moved that fast, but you were so very tempting and I'm afraid I rather lost control. Of course, I am quite willing to make it up to you however you like whenever you feel ready.

As for the courtship, our next meeting can't be until next week, because I will hopefully be having lunch with Granger today, and then tomorrow I will be occupied with business all day. I would much rather be with my mates, but unfortunately the business won't run itself.

If possible, I would enjoy a meeting with both you and Granger in the near future. I will owl you next week with details. Until then, think of me.

-Draco

Harry grinned as he set the letter on the table and then went to fetch his only-slightly overflowing bowl of cereal, slurping some of the milk out to carry it to the table without making a bigger mess.

It was just as well that Draco couldn't meet again soon, because Harry was woefully behind on his case reports, and Robards would have his head if he didn't start turning his paperwork in on time. Although Draco is far more interesting than case reports. Better looking too. Harry pondered the way Malfoy had looked on Samhain. Maybe Robards would understand.

He spent the rest of the day working through reports, going over details and signing endless forms, putting the completed papers into his bag to take into work on Monday. He dealt with some of the questions the lawyers on the Dunham case had sent, making a note that the first official hearing with the Wizengamot was scheduled for that Thursday. Hermione and Draco would both have to be there, but somehow he doubted that was the kind of group meeting Draco had in mind. Fortunately, he wouldn't have to notify them of the meeting himself, since the DMLE automatically sent out owls for things like that.

He was relieved when he finally set aside the last report an hour after eating take-out Chinese for dinner. The only respite he'd gotten from the monotony had been an owl from Luna reminding him that they were having tea tomorrow afternoon. It was as close to an actual invitation as Luna ever got, but he was pleased regardless, not the least because he knew Hermione would be there.

He slept much more soundly that night.

Despite his really solid intentions to be at Luna's house on time for tea on Sunday, he was still fifteen minutes late. He rang the bell with one hand as he tried to flatten his hair, which had been sticking up in every direction when he'd woken up that morning, with the other. He knew he wasn't having much luck, but he figured it was the thought that counted.

Luna opened the door and Harry stepped inside, giving her a quick hug and only just managing to avoid getting poked in the eye by one of the spiky flowers woven into her hair.

"Hey, Luna, how are you?" he asked, tugging off his jacket and hanging it on a coat stand that looked like it was only partly alive.

Luna smiled beatifically, shutting the door. "Lovely, Harry, thank you. I've put the kettle on, so the water should be hot in a minute."

Luna led the way into her sunny kitchen, warm despite the November chill. Hermione was already seated at the table with a cup of tea, making a face as she sipped.

Harry leaned over to kiss her on the cheek as he sat down. "Hello, Hermione. How's your weekend?"

She smiled. "Not too bad. I worked at Pax a bit this morning, which was a nice change from department paperwork. Astoria really is a wonder, you know, she's there almost every weekend."

Luna nodded as she sat down, levitating the kettle and two more cups, placing them gently on the table. "Astoria has a good soul."

"She does, but I didn't realize that you knew Astoria well," Hermione commented, brows furrowed.

Luna cocked her head. "Oh I don't, not really."

Harry held in a snort. Getting a straight answer out of Luna was a hopeless exercise. He turned to Hermione. "Isn't Astoria a friend of Draco's?"

She nodded, her curls bouncing and catching the light shining in from the window behind her. It wasn't something he would have noticed before, or at least, he wouldn't have admitted to noticing, but now that he'd finally confessed his feelings to her, he felt like he could finally acknowledge all the little things about her that he'd admired for years. He was beginning to be able to picture a future with her, something he couldn't have imagined even a year ago.

His attention was recalled to Luna's kitchen table as Hermione replied.

"She is, their families have been friends for years. Astoria even told me today that her parents had been in talks with Draco's to set up a betrothal agreement between them! She said she's quite glad that Narcissa rebuffed their efforts."

At Harry's questioning look, because he couldn't imagine not wanting Draco anymore, Hermione laughed. "She said she's always thought of him as an older brother rather than a potential husband. And I think, though of course I'm not certain, that she's inclined towards witches rather than wizards."

"She is."

Harry and Hermione both turned to look at Luna, who took a sip of tea with a benign smile on her face.

Harry shook his head and smiled ruefully at Hermione, who shrugged in reply and grinned.

Rather than trying to extract an explanation out of Luna, Harry changed the subject. "Did you get a notification from the DMLE about the Wizengamot hearing on Thursday?" he asked Hermione.

Hermione nodded, setting down her teacup with a grimace. Harry couldn't blame her. Not only was Dunham an unpleasant topic, but Luna's tea was oddly bitter and pungent.

"I got the owl this morning and I should be ready by then. Oh! And I'll bring back those books I borrowed. I did have a chance to consult with a friend of mine who's an expert in Arithmancy about some of the charts in Dunham's journal and I'll send over my notes on that tomorrow." Hermione pulled a thick notebook and a self-inking quill from her beaded bag and made a note before tucking both away again.

Harry reached over and squeezed her hand. "Thanks for that, Hermione, I really appreciate it."

He couldn't help noticing that a tingle, similar to the one he felt whenever he touched Draco though softer, lingered where their skin had touched even after he pulled his hand away.

Hermione sounded a bit breathless when she replied. "No problem, Harry."

Merlin, I want to kiss her.

The moment was broken by Luna humming an unfamiliar tune off-key as she stood up to go fetch a plate of biscuits from the counter. She set them down in the center of the table. "Beet biscuits," she announced proudly.

Harry picked one up and warily took a bite. Huh. On the scale of Luna's cooking, they were pretty good. He gave Hermione a nod to single the all-clear. She picked one up and then made a face after taking a bite. Luna, on the other hand, dipped one happily in her tea and Harry and Hermione both stared at her as she happily munched through the whole biscuit.

They looked at each other for a moment and then had to stifle the chuckles that threatened to escape.

Harry managed to make it through the rest of the visit without having another biscuit as Luna discussed some of the latest stories of the Quibbler and her most recent trip to Sweden. She and Hermione then had a somewhat heated, at least on Hermione's side, debate about the ethics of searching out elusive magical creatures while Harry tried to find a more drinkable tea. The closest he got was rhododendron.

He and Hermione prepared to leave once the sky started growing dark. His stomach was starting to complain about having missed lunch and he was eager to get home and eat food that he didn't have to question first.

"Thank you for tea, Luna," Hermione said as Harry helped her into her coat.

Harry had to fight for his a bit, but a stroke from Luna had the coat rack releasing his jacket. "Yes, thank you Luna. Next week?"

Luna tilted her head. "Perhaps. Some of the threads are quite tangled."

"Er, right. Well, I'll wait for your owl then," Harry said, stepping out to join Hermione on the front step.

"You should beware those who take flight without wings," Luna added.

Harry nodded at Luna's expectant look. "Of course."

Luna smiled and then closed the door.

He turned to Hermione. "Do you know what that meant?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Not a clue."

Harry grinned. "Glad I'm not alone, then."

Hermione laughed. Harry admired the way a dimple appeared and her eyes seemed to shine even in the faint glow of the light from the windows and the lingering daylight. Without thinking about it, he leaned forward and kissed her like he'd been thinking about half the afternoon.

She immediately leaned in, her hands against his chest. She moaned softly as he nibbled her lower lip. Even though they'd kissed less than a handful of times, it felt as natural as if they'd been practicing for years. Her mouth parted underneath his and every inch of his skin felt like it might spontaneously combust.

Just as he brushed his tongue over her lip, his stomach growled loudly.

Hermione drew back, snickering. She laughed harder as he blushed, running his fingers through his hair. His stomach growled again, louder this time. She leaned her forehead against his chest, chortling and hiccoughing as she tried to calm down.

"Hungry, Harry?" she asked, still trying to catch her breath.

"That was much smoother in my head," he muttered.

Hermione stepped back and offered her arm with a faux-serious expression that was ruined by the twitching of her lips. "Come on, I better make sure that you get something to eat and don't pass out from hunger trying to get home."

"Very funny," Harry replied dryly, taking her arm.

They Apparated into her living room, Hermione immediately heading into the kitchen. Harry took a seat on her sofa to wait for her. She returned after a moment holding a stack of brochures.

"I'm afraid that I desperately need to go food shopping, so it'll have to be take-away," she said, sitting down beside him. Right beside him.

Harry took the stack she offered, flipping through the menus. "Oh good, that sushi place delivers, how's that sound?"

"Sounds good, as long as you don't just order those really spicy ones. I like to taste my food," she said primly.

Harry grinned at the familiar argument. "Just because it's spicy doesn't mean it doesn't have flavor."

"Maybe, but you can't taste the flavor," she argued.

They bickered through the whole ordering process, Hermione going outside to call with the mobile she'd recently bought. There was too much magical interference for a landline to work in her flat, but the mobile usually got service a few yards away. Harry had thought about buying one, but the only person he knew with one was Hermione, and it was easier to contact her by owl most of the time.

By the time the food arrived, Harry's stomach felt nearly concave and as soon as they'd divvied it up, spicy to Harry, everything else to Hermione, he started gulping it down, heedless of his burning tongue.

"Don't choke," Hermione admonished him, eating her sushi much more delicately and with perfect use of her chopsticks.

Harry paused to chew and swallow. "I won't," he promised before going back to wolfing down the spicy rolls.

He finished long before Hermione and then leaned back into the sofa.

"I can't wait for this trial to be over," he said, blowing out a breath. Despite all the other distractions in his life, Dunham's case was always in the back of his mind.

"Me too."

Harry bit his lip. "You'll be resigning after, won't you?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I've already handed in my resignation. Not that Kingsley was happy about it, of course."

Harry frowned. "It'll be strange not seeing you around the Ministry. And I'll miss our lunch dates."

Hermione coughed, her cheeks flushed. "Well, if everything goes well, we'll probably see much more of each other than rushed lunches."

Harry grinned. "I hadn't thought about it that way." Going home to Hermione. Going to bed with Hermione. Waking up with Hermione. Now aren't those pleasant thoughts. But of course, there was Draco to consider too.

"We'll see much more of Draco as well," Harry put in.

"Yes," Hermione murmured, turning to look at him and chewing on her lip. "Ginny told me that you had dinner with Draco on Friday night," Hermione finally blurted, setting down her plate.

"We did," he said.

"Well? How was it?" Hermione asked, looking expectant.

Harry felt his cheeks go red, remembering how the dinner had ended. "Pretty good. Like a normal date, I guess." Except my dates don't usually end in snogging sessions on my couch.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Dates don't normally cause you to blush," she pointed out.

"They aren't normally cause for interrogation either," Harry muttered, embarrassed by his reaction. He wasn't sure why he was reluctant to share details about his date with Draco, but even thinking about it was having an interesting impact on certain parts of his anatomy and he was finding it difficult to think straight.

Both of Hermione's eyebrows went up. "Interrogation? I wasn't aware one question could be considered an interrogation."

"Er, I s'pose not," Harry conceded, still embarrassed but regaining enough presence of mind to realize he was being weird about this.

"Did something happen?" Hermione asked, looking concerned.

Yes, quite a lot. Though not quite as much as I wanted. But did I want it? Part of him had very much wanted to sleep with Draco right then and there, but he'd also been nervous about jumping into bed with a man he barely knew anymore. "Not exactly."

"Hmph. That's descriptive."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Did you want a complete report, then?"

"No," Hermione retorted. "I was just wondering how you and Draco were getting on, that's all."

"Didn't you have lunch with him yesterday? Why didn't you ask him if you want to know so badly?" Harry snapped.

Hermione frowned. "How do you know we had lunch?"

"Draco mentioned it in a letter," he mumbled. He sensed they were getting into dangerous waters, but he wasn't at all sure how to swim to shore.

"So Draco was comfortable telling you that we'd had lunch, but you won't tell me about dinner?"

"Well it's not like I asked about lunch, is it?" Harry said, annoyed.

Hermione flinched back, looking hurt, but Harry couldn't figure out how to fix it, because the truth of it was that he wasn't sure why he hadn't told Hermione about dinner. Normally he owled her if he went on a date because they told each other everything, and that was when he was seeing someone that wasn't well, courting both of them. Now that they were seeing the same person, and seeing each other as well…He just didn't know how to handle this.

"No, you didn't. And I suppose that tells me what I need to know, doesn't it?" Hermoine murmured.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry demanded.

Hermione turned away to stare at the fireplace. "Nothing. Just, clearly, you and Draco are getting on just fine without me."

"You just had lunch with him!"

She looked back at him. "Yes, a nice private lunch with no witnesses where we mostly talked about you!"

"So then why even question me about dinner?" Harry asked, voice rising in frustration.

"Because I wanted to hear your perspective! I was trying to be supportive." Hermione snorted. "Apparently that was a wasted effort."

"Ginny must be rubbing off on you if you want all the gory details," Harry said snidely, vaguely aware that he was being unfair.

Hermione stiffened, looking angry enough to hex him. "I don't want the gory details. I just want to talk to the people I'm dating! I'm trying to figure out how I feel about all this!"

"So you can talk about your feelings with Draco and not me?" Harry asked irritably.

Hermione jumped up. "I don't know what feelings I even have now, Harry James Potter! I thought I was falling in love with you, but it seems like you and Malfoy are doing just fine on your own, so why don't you go and talk about your feelings with him and leave me out of it!"

Harry stood up, frustrated and upset and confused. "Fine. I will then!"

Hermione jerked back. Her lips trembled, but the hand that suddenly held her wand pointing directly at him was steady. "Get out, Harry. If I wanted to be with someone incapable of understanding emotions, I would have stayed with Ron."

A blast of cold air rushed out of her wand and shoved him unceremoniously out the door that then slammed in his face. Harry stared at the wood for a moment, the sound ringing in his ears, before Apparating away.

Harry grimaced as bright light suddenly pounded against his closed eyelids. Fucking hell.

"You know, Potter, when I thought about having the Golden Boy as a mate, I thought that I'd be the one getting taken care of, not the one doing the caring."

Harry groaned at the familiar but very, very loud voice. He managed to crack open an eyelid and saw Draco staring down at him, smirking. Oh double fuck.

"Where am I?" he asked, grimacing at the dryness of his mouth.

Draco handed him a glass of water and then helped prop him up so he could drink it.

"Malfoy Manor," Draco replied dryly, perching on the edge of the mattress. "I should think that would be obvious."

Harry glanced around as he sipped, but the room wasn't familiar.

Draco sighed, apparently guessing his thoughts. "Not because of the room. Where else could you possibly wake up where I would be the one forced to play nursemaid?"

"Thought it might be a dream," Harry muttered, wincing at the pounding in his skull that was now making itself known with a vengeance. "Or a nightmare."

"How flattering." Draco reached over and grabbed a phial off the nightstand. He held it up and Harry recognized the distinctive deep blue color of Hangover Potion. When Harry went to take it, Draco moved it away teasingly.

"Ah, ah, ah. You don't get this until you give a coherent explanation for why you turned up on my doorstep at two in the morning ragingly drunk."

Harry scowled. "That's cruel, Malfoy."

Malfoy raised a single, pale eyebrow. "So is interrupting my sleep."

Harry sighed and quickly paraphrased his argument with Hermione, which had then resulted in him drinking most of a bottle of Firewhisky back at his flat. He did not remember choosing to or actually Apparating to the Manor.

"I'm surprised I didn't Splinch myself," Harry admitted once he'd finished his tale.

Draco smirked. "You did, but luckily it was only a bit of hair." He nodded toward Harry's forehead, and when Harry reached up, he realized some of his fringe was missing. "You must have been fairly determined to get here."

Harry shrugged, because he didn't really remember much of anything after the fifth glass of Firewhisky. "I guess."

Draco eyed him for a long moment before snapping his fingers. A house elf appeared and Draco ordered that breakfast be served to them in the room.

Harry looked at him inquiringly as the house elf Disapparated.

Draco looked at him pityingly. "Firstly, I doubt you are feeling well enough to make it all the way to the dining room, and secondly, I'm not sure you want to face my mother yet, considering that she is, in fact, the one who let you in last night."

Harry gaped in horror. That Draco had seen him completely pissed was one thing, but to have his mother see him that way?

Draco grinned, apparently enjoying Harry's reaction. "Just as I thought. Now, you can have this," he said, handing over the phial, "but you will not be leaving this house until you realize what an absolute prat you've been and figure out how to fix this."


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