AN: Surprises for everyone! This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you have fun reading it. Drarry is keeping me sane in quarantine hell. Stay safe, wash your hands, and take lots of baths, everyone!
Chapter 15: Surprises
A week had to be long enough to lie low, hadn't it?
Considering it was another week spent off with Harry they lied particularly low on just about any surface they could find. Nothing wrong with seeking a little solace in one another during these trials and tribulations.
They also visited with Ron and Hermione during the week quite a bit to talk, and that seemed to be helping Harry deal with this betrayal of trust. Draco owled his friends that everything was going to be fine, but his suspicious nature prevented him from taking too much solace in them.
The Slytherins were, after all, the few people who knew the truth about Harry and Draco's second meeting and what magazine it had gone through. Draco didn't want to suspect his friends, but he no longer knew quite what to think.
In a strange twist of fate Safeword issued an official apology, announcing it was looking into its employees to see where the leak had come from. The Editor-In-Chief had offered her personal condolences in a letter with the assurance they'd find who could have accessed their 'private' messaging networks.
Harry was dead-set on finding out who it was who violated their privacy and was to have a meeting with the mysterious Editor-In-Chief later that day.
But with all of Draco's vacation days finally used up, he had no choice but to return to work. It was work he loved, but it was dealing with the public again that made him hesitate to return. Even seeing the other Healers could be a great deal of stress, let alone what Head Healer Pye made of this scandal.
Draco hadn't been fired, but his week off had certainly been encouraged when he owled it in.
Donning his immaculate white robes Draco left a sleepy Harry in bed for the apparation trip to the Hospital, arriving in the foyer as several other witches and wizards did.
Draco tensed, hoping they hadn't seen him, and thankfully those few entering hadn't. Now there was the challenge to get all the way to his office on the third floor without being spotted and subsequently humiliated on the spot.
Why hadn't he brought the invisibility cloak? Maybe another day, if today was particularly bad.
Draco usually walked these halls with his head held high in spite of his past but now he was slightly crouched, clearly trying to hide and blend in with the crowd.
He made it past the reception desk without Pansy spotting him—thank Merlin, he really wanted to be alone—and ducked past the security guard with a brief flash of his Healer's badge. He wasn't out of the woods just yet.
To get to the staircase up to his office he'd have to pass the doors to the Healer's locker rooms and lounge, and that place was always crawling with interns. Draco hurried down the hall, glancing over his shoulder to see if he was being followed.
When Draco turned back around to face forward he nearly knocked right into someone wearing identical robes to his.
"M-M-Malfoy!" exclaimed an intern.
"Yes, Alice, it's me," Draco grumbled, looking past her to make sure no one was following her out of the Healers' spaces. "Do tell reception I can begin taking patients again." He didn't stop walking, still heading for the stairs.
"Yes, er, of course," she nodded and just when Draco thought he was home clear he heard her pipe up again. "Um. Head Healer Pye said he was looking for you."
"Of course he is," Draco sighed, pausing for a second. "Thank you for telling me." He nodded and was off again.
He entered the stairwell before Alice could say anything else, not caring to hear anything from anyone right now. Draco was a man on a mission, and if he could just get to his office without incident—
"I heard he's quitting," echoed a voice in the stairwell. "I'd quit too, if I was so publicly disgraced like that."
"I know, right?"
"Maybe him and Potter will run away to—"
The two voices stopped as two Healers stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing Healer Malfoy enter the stairwell.
There was a tense silence. The two Healers who'd been gossiping had eyes wider than saucers to see the subject of their gossip before them.
"Malfoys," Draco said simply, echoing his father's sentiments for the first time in a long while. "Don't quit." He brushed past them, trudging up the stairs with renewed purpose. So he was still the subject of scorn here at the Hospital, then. Well, it was nothing new. Someone was always saying something about his 'Death Eater ways' or something equally offensive about his sexuality. So be it.
Draco stopped crouching. He walked past another pair of Healers who didn't bother to hide their shock that he was back, jaws scraping the staircase as he stomped up it.
He felt a horrible, rotten anger growing inside of his chest. Had they all just expected him to lay down his wand and die over this? Oh, how little they knew of his tenacity. Draco would show them, he'd show them all.
Draco was so furious he didn't notice the stares of others that were doubtlessly on him in St Mungo's halls. He was of one mind—get to the office, and then you can break down if you need to. Just get to the office, to the office, to the office—
"Healer Malfoy?" rang a familiar voice just as Draco reached for the doorknob to his office. Merlin's fucking arse.
Slowly, almost shakily, Draco turned around to face Head Healer Pye.
The older man stood about as tall as Draco but he had a way of making even a Malfoy feel small in his presence. "Healer Malfoy," Pye repeated since Draco was just staring at him with his mouth open.
"Yes, Pye?" Draco asked as if nothing was wrong at all.
"We need to have a discussion." That was code for 'you fucked up' in Pye-speak.
"Please, step into my office," Draco said tersely, unlocking the door and stepping inside to hold the door open for his boss. He hated having a boss. Why couldn't he just save and heal people without this looming hierarchy? And why did the looming hierarchy have to be headed by such a nit-picking, sour old man?
Draco closed the door behind his boss and took in the familiar scenery of his office. This place was his own private zone, and having Pye in there with him was greatly disrupting the peace he'd hoped he'd feel upon arriving here.
"We need to have a discussion," Pye repeated.
"What about?" Draco asked, bold as ever. If Pye was seriously going to do this the second he got back then he was going to make it as difficult as possible for him.
Pye narrowed his eyes. "You know what about." He sighed, shaking his head. "A lot of people stuck their necks out for you to even have this position, you know. Your kind wasn't welcome here, not after we'd seen the damage you people did during the War."
Draco blinked back surprise. Maybe it was because they were alone but Pye had never been bold enough to say things like this before. He'd had his thinly-veiled disgust, yes, but he'd never been so blatant. "The War is long over, Pye."
"Yes, well, it would seem so with you somehow securing the affections of Harry Potter. I read your Quibbler interview—the first piece of real news to ever come out of that fanciful storybook—and you both agreed no one was under the influence of a spell or potion. If I find out you in any way used our facilities here at St Mungo's to put that boy under some kind of influence—"
"What?" Draco demanded. "I'll have you know that grown man can make whatever decisions he wants about who to be with."
"Don't," stormed Pye. "You raise your voice at me, Malfoy. I've no time for your sass and back-talk. You listen to me, and listen well."
Draco clenched his teeth, arms crossed, listening and waiting.
"You," Pye began. "Are in a world of trouble. This institution is a respected one, a revered one among wizards. Like I said, people risked their own reputations to bring you on as a Healer here. Healer Nagelhout? Healer Chapman? I would imagine they're feeling mightily embarrassed now."
Those were two of the Healers who'd first agreed to take him on as an apprentice years ago. Draco swallowed back his anger knowing they likely were embarrassed by him now.
"I was never one such person, Malfoy. I have been against your tenure here at St Mungo's from the start," announced Pye, though it wasn't exactly a revelation. Draco had always known the man despised him. "And when I spoke with the Board of Directors I insisted you be let go, never to return."
Draco's heart stopped beating, all the blood draining from his face. Let go?
"In yet another case of people sticking their sorry necks out for you the Board of Directors let you stay. I am still amazed by their decision, frankly, and think it to be wholly unwise to keep you on as so much as a janitor." Pye let out a huff of disgust. "You're a lucky one, Malfoy, but not for long. I'll be watching you like a hawk. If you misdiagnose, if you mistreat so much as a cough, I'll have your job. If I see one more hint of your… immoral escapades in the press I will bring up your tenure to the Board once more. Do I make myself clear?"
Draco was still reeling over the fact that he could have been fired, still imagining how devastated that would make him. He could do nothing but nod, his heart starting up again. He wasn't let go just yet, he still had time, time to prove himself, time to fight.
"Good." Pye straightened out his robes and huffed again. "Know I am watching you, Malfoy. I am watching your every move, as I always have been, documenting the evidence it will take to have you kicked out of here for good. Merlin, what'll it take, photos of your incompetence and shenanigans?"
There was always a paranoid part of Draco that imagined Pye to be plotting against him and it seemed that imagination was reality, now. It always had been, as Pye had just said.
"Your first patient of the day cancelled, and so did your second. I advise you take some time to think about the international embarrassment you've brought to this institution and catch up on some paperwork before you fall so far behind there is no choice for the Board but to fire you." Pye glared at Draco one last scathing time. "Your day is coming, Malfoy. I can hardly believe this wasn't the last straw but that means the last straw is near. If any patient of yours dares to see you in this time you better be on top of everything. Any missteps now mean your head."
Draco had no other options, it seemed. He put on an eerie, vacant and toothy smile. "Of course, Head Healer Pye." Inside he raged. "I will be as diligent as I ever am. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"
Pye made a noise like he'd tasted something terrible. "I have nothing more to say to you."
"Then I bid you farewell," said Draco, opening his office door and showing Pye the way out. Thankfully, he took it without bidding Draco the same.
Draco closed the door behind him, letting out a shuddery breath. Madness, complete madness—and now Pye was after his job? And had been all along? Draco's frown deepened, his anger still roiling in his gut. He wanted to hex that stupid look right off Pye's face, but that would surely result in his firing.
"Dammit," Draco murmured, beginning to pace in front of his desk. "Dammit!"
Before Draco could as much as curse again there was another knock on the door. Believing it to be Pye coming back for more Draco swung open the door and nearly shouted. "You know what, you foul-faced little gibbons—?!"
"Draco," said Pansy, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Draco deflated, all of his anger leaving him in a breath. "Pansy."
He let Pansy inside without a second thought and closed the door behind her.
"Draco," she said again. "Like I said in my letter, I am so sorry, so sorry that the world found out about you and Potter in what has to be the worst way possible. I feel like it's my fault."
Draco's silver eyes snapped to her brown ones. Could it be her fault?
"I was the one who insisted you message someone from that magazine," Pansy lamented.
Oh. So she was just blaming herself unduly. Right, of course. "Pansy, it's not your fault. Whoever leaked the conversations is whose fault it is," Draco clarified for her.
Pansy sighed and took a seat in Draco's office chair. "I know, I know. …You aren't suspecting any of us, are you?"
Draco knew who she meant by 'us'. "You would have to somehow have broken into Safeword's vaults if it were one of you," Draco waved off, having already considered the possibility with Harry. "Or stolen my personal copy of the messages, which I have now burned."
"So you were suspecting us? Oh, Draco, that's awful! We would never—!"
"I know, I know," Draco sighed, sitting on the edge of his desk to take a load off of his shaky knees. His heart still hurt to know this job, this office had almost been taken out from under him. "Harry is going to Safeword headquarters today to talk with their Editor-In-Chief and see which one of their employees did it. That's the most likely outcome."
"That's… terrible," Pansy had to admit. "But the other option, that someone stole and copied your record of the conversation…"
"What?" Draco asked, seeing the gears turn in her little head.
"Did you ever bring the magazine to the Hospital?" she asked.
Draco blinked and tried to remember. "…Once," he confirmed. "Just the once."
"Then that opens up a new pool of suspects, doesn't it?" Pansy pushed.
"So you're suggesting that someone here wanted to sabotage me so badly they put a spell on my room to tell them what literature I was bringing in and out? I was only looking at Harry's ad once in the office, just the once…" If that had been his mistake, if that was why the two of them were suffering now, Draco didn't think he could forgive himself for his own stupidity. He should have known better, should have seen this place for what it was, a dangerous den of derailers who hated him for his position and prowess.
"Sadly," said Pansy. "Just the once is all it would take. Can you think of anyone here who wants to see you fail? Wait, that was a stupid question, everyone here but me and a key few want to see you fail."
"Thanks for the pick-me-up, Pans. You're excellent at this."
"Oh, hush up. I'm just being realistic—we have a large suspect pool. What would Harry's ickle Auror friends say if they were investigating? You've got to think like one of them," she said, pressing her fingertip to her temple as if she were displaying something.
Draco didn't particularly want to play Auror this morning but it wasn't like he had any patients to tend to. "Can we discuss this later?" he asked, already feeling drained by the day and it had hardly started. "I have some paperwork to do that Pye will skin me alive for if I don't complete by end of day."
"That old coot? I hate that you have to take orders from him. You're a better Healer than him, and he knows it," Pansy scoffed.
"Pansy," Draco said slowly. "That's it. Pansy, you're a genius!"
"I know I am, but what am I right about this time?"
"The only person who could put a spell on my office without my noticing, the person who wants most to bring me down—what if the press leaker was Pye?"
Pansy's mouth fell open, but she couldn't deny her friend, with her help, might indeed be right. "Well, we'd have to find proof, but if we could…"
"We could take him down," Draco confirmed, a new fire stoked in his gut thinking of something Pye had said before about photos. "And I know just how to entrap him."
The office for Safeword was not at all what Harry had been expecting.
Okay, he hadn't exactly been expecting a full-on dungeon or anything, but the unsuspecting third floor of a business building in the far south of Diagon Alley seemed far too… normal.
Harry took the stairs up and took a seat in their waiting room like he'd been instructed to, having dressed for the meeting in a blue blazer and trousers, a loose aquamarine shirt beneath. It beat his depression sweats by far, and Draco had called the look 'sharp' when he helped him pick it out.
Harry gazed around the waiting room idly, noting a number of their top-selling issues being used both as wall decoration and sitting on the table in front of him to be perused. Harry fished out the one he knew his ad was in—the Shibari edition—and turned the page to see his own handwriting. It was dawning on him now he probably should have just typed this.
"Mr. Potter?"
Harry looked up at the door leading into the office space to see a man in a shockingly normal button-down holding it open for him.
"Right this way, Ms. Anglewise has been expecting you."
"Thank you," said Harry, putting down the magazine and standing to follow the man in.
The inside of the office had cubicles and desks like any other office, all of which were unoccupied at the moment. The office was empty. Had they emptied it for Harry? There were little knick-knacks on the desks like people ought to be there.
In the back of the open-air plan there was a massive glass door leading to the biggest office on the floor. Harry could see the woman sitting behind the desk already, her features coming into view.
When the doors opened all Harry could do was stare, mouth agape like he was trying to catch flies.
"Harry," said 'Ms. Anglewise' with a loving, bright, familiar smile. "It's so good to see you again. You don't come to family dinners enough." She nodded to the man who had guided Harry here and the man retreated back to his desk.
Harry approached a modern red chair and in his stunned silence, took a seat.
"Ginny," Harry said in disbelief.
"Here I'm Nyn Anglewise, better known in the circuit as Madam Anglewise," spoke Ginny Weasley from her position behind the red, curved desk. She was dressed in black with shoes as red as the desk was, and pointier than most swords. "You didn't think Quidditch was my only interest, did you? My career in sports can only last as long as I'm young and trained up. Luna helped me get into publishing when I found out about her mutual interest in the subject matter of Safeword."
"But if you're the one who runs Safeword—are you the one who sold my story?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"No, please, Harry, no," Ginny assured him quickly. "I would never do that to you, to anyone. Not even Draco Malfoy."
"Then you must have some idea of who did sell it, then, right?"
"I've been investigating all of my reporters' movements around the evening before The Prophet came out," Ginny informed him. "But I haven't found our rat just yet, Harry. Did you ever leave the magazine somewhere, or did Draco?"
Harry shook his head. "I think he brought it to his office once or twice, but sent it right back to the Manor afterwards. There's no way anyone would be able to tell he even brought it into the hospital, right?"
"I'm sorry to say it, Harry, but you need to make an investigation of Malfoy's office if you want the answer to that," she said glumly. "But from my angle, from my people, thus far I've seen no evidence of a leak. We honestly didn't even know it was you—you paid in owled coin and not from a Gringotts account. Even I missed my own ex-boyfriend describing himself—I look over every entry in our personals section."
He let a little bit of blush cloud his face at being called her ex, for he would always feel a bit embarrassed that he thought he liked girls because Ginny reminded him of his mom.
It dawned on Harry he might have some Mommy issues to go with those Daddy ones.
Ginny was staring at him quizzically, as if trying to divine his thoughts. They no longer had that closeness that allowed her to read his face, and she was feeling lost without it. "And yes, before you ask, my parents do not know about this business venture and I'd prefer to keep it that way."
"I can understand why. It's like my own parents finding out when they did. Your parents, though… they still wanted to have Draco over after everything. They sent a letter inviting the both of us to family dinner this Friday. They're incredible people, and I wish they'd never found out what Draco and I get up to in private," Harry sighed. "Will you be there on Friday?"
"I'll be there," she nodded. "For their sake, let's pretend this meeting never happened."
"Agreed." Harry took a breath, a sigh of relief that this hadn't gone terribly. Ginny was his ally, she always had been, and she was looking to see if any of her employees were dirty in this matter. Harry had to trust her. "But wow, Ginny, you've really made something for yourself with this magazine. I wish it wasn't at the center of my controversy."
"Thank you," she brightened, not seeming bothered at all. "It started out as a zine I would pass around during parties but it really has become something serious and respected now." She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. "And between you and me, business has never been better."
"What?"
"The Prophet's article on you, while invasive and mortifying, has boosted our subscriptions up one hundred ten percent. I know you never wanted to be a martyr for magazine sales, I know you never wanted to be a martyr period in the War, but it's because of you this magazine can even exist in the first place. You think Tom Riddle's world order had room for 'sexual deviancy' as those fascists would put it?"
Harry laughed imagining Tom Riddle saying the words 'sexual deviancy', that no-nosed freak.
"Harry, you did an incredible service for our world when you led us to victory in the War."
"And look at all the thanks I get for it," Harry grumbled. "At least your magazine sales are up. Your articles and photography sections, high-quality stuff."
"Thank you! Ah, but, that's not the point." Ginny recomposed herself. "The point is you've done a lot of the heavy lifting for the world, and you can leave this investigation to me. I'll find whoever leaked your story, Harry."
"That's a kind offer, but I can't just sit back and do nothing, and neither can Draco. The three of us, we'll hunt down who did this together," Harry resolved. "Now, I'm going to need to see the names of the people who work here—we're doing this together."
Ginny nodded. "I'll have my assistant bring them right in. And Harry?"
"Yes?"
"You may not know it, but you've just opened an international dialogue on sexuality in the wizarding world that desperately needs it for a second time. Thank you."
Ginny seemed passionate about what she spoke of, and Harry was curious to learn more about how she'd gotten to the position of Editor-In-Chief, and how this had all grown from 'parties'. Were they the same parties Draco attended? Did he know of a Madam Anglewise? "A second time?"
"Your first revolution was the abolishment of love potions when you mentioned Tom Riddle was conceived under one. Thousands took up that banner and now those dangerous potions are off of the streets. Your second? You showed the world what real love looked like. That Quibbler interview—I cried, Harry, I did. You're doing important work."
"Work?" Harry laughed. "The only work I do is for Draco and the Manor, thanks."
"But what if it wasn't?"
"What do you mean?"
"You could be partially employed here if you wanted, Harry. In any capacity you wanted. I think you'd make an incredible essayist on the subject matter," Ginny insisted.
"Essayist? I don't really know about all that…"
"Just think it over, okay? You can consider it once we nail the bastards who exposed you in the first place. You could have a penname, like me, or you could write as yourself about your experiences."
"What, like I'm wizarding Carrie Bradshaw?" Harry snickered.
"Exactly like Carrie Bradshaw! I love that show," she enthused. "Instead of covering dating in a muggle city you could cover sexuality in the wizarding world."
Harry shook his head, half-amused and half… enticed? "You really are a go-getter, Ginny, but I don't think that's in the cards for me. Let's focus on this investigation first."
"Alright, alright, we'll option it out later," she said with the utmost confidence. "For now, though, let's begin."
The young man who'd led Harry here returned with a stack of personnel files and two cups of tea. This was going to take a long while to get through, and thankfully they had all day.
"Let's begin," agreed Harry, picking up the first file and opening it. "I want to know all your staff, their staff, and everyone involved in this whole operation."
Ginny sipped her tea and offered forth all the information she had.
Draco put down his fork, eyes shimmering. "Harry, that was delicious," he said, reaching across the dining room table to put his hand on his beloveds. "Just what I needed after today. Thank you."
Before them the ruins of a massive feast were all but crumbs now, Harry having gone all-out for Draco's first day back at the Hospital.
"You're more than welcome," Harry replied, running his thumb over the back of Draco's hand. "It was my first time trying a roast, and it turns out I'm not terrible at it. Turns out I just needed to practice cooking to get better at it. Funny how that works."
Draco smiled. "Funny indeed. Ah, but really, this was excellent. Very proud of you." He reached up under Harry's chin and gave him a few loving scratches.
"You were so busy eating you didn't tell me how your day went," Harry pointed out.
"Yes, my day… Well. Harry, what would you say if I had a plan to catch who I think might have sold us out, but that it was a risky one at best?" Draco asked.
"No plan I've ever been involved in has ever been safe," Harry assured him. "I'm here for you, one-hundred percent."
"Even if this plan might put us in more hot water than we're already in?" Draco asked again.
Harry chuckled. "I don't really think that's possible at this point. Can we get much more scandalous?"
"Oh, Harry, don't underestimate me like that," Draco warned playfully.
"Fair, fair. So what is this brilliant plan, my love?" Harry was growing insatiably curious.
"Alright, first we need to contact someone known only to me as Madam Anglewise…"
"I think we should have no problem with that, considering she's Ginny Weasley."
"And then we—wait, what?!"
"It's Ginny, the Editor-In-Chief of Safeword, the Madam of the hour apparently," Harry grinned. "I spent all day with her today trying to track down where her employees were during the time when our story was sold, and we came up with a grand total of nothing." It had been nice to catch up, though. "You knew of her before all this?"
"Yes, I did, but I had no idea she ran Safeword. I've been to a couple of her parties, and it's one of her parties we'll need to ensnare our rat," Draco explained. "It's seriously—she's seriously the She-Weasel? I mean, er, Ginny?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "And she'd prefer if you not bring it up at dinner this Friday with the Weasleys, not Weasels. Wait a minute. Did you hate her so much because you were jealous of her as a kid?"
"I," Draco declared. "Have no idea what you're talking about, Harry."
"Merlin's beard. You really were!" Harry laughed, watching Draco turn pink and retract his hand. "Oh, don't be cross, it's cute."
Draco made a face. "Can we focus on the matter at hand?"
"Right, of course. Famous Madam my ex-girlfriend throws sex parties is where we left off, I believe," Harry chuckled. At least life was comedic if not tragicomedic. "Are you saying we attend one?"
"I'm saying we stage one," Draco began. "And I 'leave' the invitation in my office for a certain someone to find."
"Who are you suspecting at the Hospital?"
"Head Healer Pye, my boss," Draco said with a big helping of disgust. "He was sure that this was the 'last straw' with the Board of Directors that would force them to fire me, but I have no idea what he meant by that unless he's been tracking my work as closely as I know think he is. I'm not perfect, Harry," Draco admitted.
Harry mock-gasped. Draco rolled his eyes.
"There have been misdiagnoses along the way, never malpractice, but now I realize why Pye was able to call me out after every one of them—he's put something in my office, some kind of magical charm to see my comings and goings. Pansy and I spent the better part of an hour trying to detect the magic but we couldn't."
"It might not be magic," Harry supposed. "It could just be a little camera."
"What, like a camera affected by a shrinking spell?"
"No, like a small camera. Muggles have that kind of technology nowadays. Either way, your office is compromised and that's likely where this all came from. If it is Pye spying on you, or anyone else, they'll be sure to notice an invitation to a dungeon party and try and take advantage of the opportunity to see you fired."
Draco nodded. "Exactly. That's why we throw a fake one, and stake it out. We would have to make it look convincing, of course, and there is another problem…"
"Which is?"
"These parties are traditionally held as masquerades to protect peoples' identities. It's how I apparently partied for years with Ginny bloody Weasley and never even knew it. We'd be looking for Pye while he was hiding behind a mask, and probably disguised with polyjuice potion or some other appearance-changing spell," Draco spelled out. "But if we could identify an odd man out at the party, someone not on the guest list, it would likely be him looking to get a picture with one of these tiny muggle cameras you speak of."
"That was something he said," Draco continued. "Something about trying to get pictures of my 'shenanigans'. If he really wants me gone he'd take the opportunity and run with it."
"Then it looks like we have a party to plan. I'll let Ginny know tomorrow."
Draco made a face. "Why not right now?" Wasn't Harry just as eager to catch who'd humiliated them publicly?
"Because right now," Harry said, rejoining their hands across the table. "Dinner isn't all I had planned for you tonight. Come on, let me show you."
Harry stood and urged Draco to do the same. A small, private smile came to the pale man's lips. "Oh? And what did you have planned?"
"No ruining the surprise," Harry insisted and watched Draco rise with a smile of his own. Who was really the one in control here now? "Come with me."
Harry offered his arm and Draco took it, letting Harry guide him wherever he pleased. He was curious to see what Harry would do, what would come next, or perhaps more aptly who would.
They reached the second floor and Harry led Draco down the hall. "The guest bedroom needed a proper guest bathroom for when we have your friends or mine over," Harry said, leading him through the guest bedroom Draco and he had designed together over the past week stuck indoors.
It was a jewel-tone based design, with fluffed pillows of violet on a sapphire bedspread with art of flowers on the walls, all gently blowing as if caught in a breeze.
The way through to the bathroom was marked by purple flower petals leading across the carpeted floor, something that was so classically romantic it made Draco's heart warm. When Harry opened the door to the bathroom the light glow of candles all over was revealed.
In this soft candlelight Draco saw the petals approach a massive tub, bubbling and steaming still. In front of that was a fold-out massage slab, one where the person could lie face-down and have someone work on their back. "Both are charmed to keep warm," Harry informed Draco, searching his features for a reaction.
"You did this all for me?" Draco asked, meaning the bathroom design and the mood-setting romanticism.
"No, I laid out scented candles and rose petals for Ron. Of course I did it for you, Daddy," Harry laughed.
Draco gave him a little shove but couldn't be brought to do much more than that for his sass, because this setup was truly beautiful. Not only had Harry finished a project all on his own, but it looked damn good with the purple and blue towels and bath mats to accent the room. "It's very you," Draco complimented. He took a deep breath and turned to look Harry in the eye. "I love it."
Harry broke out into a big, cheesy smile. "Yeah? Good. I was a little worried you might not approve of me doing so much without your supervision."
"This is our house, Harry," Draco said and was almost terrified of how genuinely he meant it. "You don't need my supervision to help build it. This is a perfect surprise. Thank you." Draco drew Harry into his arms and Harry happily found his place in them.
"You're very welcome. I knew today would be hard for you, so I wanted to make sure you had something relaxing to come home to," Harry said from his place tucking his head the crook of Draco's shoulder. "May I undress you?"
Draco's smile widened. "Yes, you certainly may."
He had left the outer cloak of his Healer robes downstairs so all that was left was the crisp white button-down and white trousers of the uniform on.
Harry started with each and every little button on Draco's shirt, carefully revealing bit by bit of the skin of his chest that Harry had come to love. The scars there, faint but pronounced in lower lighting like this, were revealed to the man made them.
He thought of their first time, of him apologizing and Draco urging him to prove just how sorry he was.
Harry pushed off Draco's shirt from his shoulders, letting it fall to the ground in a heap while his hands and eyes admired his trim waist. "So beautiful," Harry whispered, and Draco felt his cheeks go pink.
"And you're so sweet to me." What had Draco done to deserve such a kind, caring man in his life?
Next came Draco's belt, undone in a flash with the level of skill Harry had come to in disrobing Draco after all this practice. Two months and fourteen days together—and each second of them had been complete bliss aside from their outing.
Serenely Harry let the belt fall too, going for the button and zipper of his trousers next. Once they were undone there was nothing holding up the fabric anymore so Draco had no trouble at all stepping out of them.
"You take such good care of me," said Harry, hooking his thumbs in the waistband of Draco's pants. "Let me take care of you."
Draco pressed a kiss to Harry's temple for it was right in front of him with the way they were standing so close to each other. "Okay," he agreed, voice soft.
Harry pulled down his waistband to reveal Draco Malfoy in all of his naked glory, smiling as Draco stepped out of the pants, too. "Lay down on the table," Harry instructed and watched as Draco did so with no hesitation.
The pale expanse of Draco's back was completely open to Harry, his curiosity getting the best of him as he trailed a hand down over Draco's spine.
Beneath Harry's light touches Draco flourished, placing his head in the ring that would cradle it and keep his spine straight so Harry could work on his muscles. After a few more light brushes of his hands over Draco's skin Harry began to do just that.
Harry started with his thumbs pressed deep into Draco's right shoulder, immediately zeroing in on a knot that held a great deal of tension there. "Ah," said Harry. "Here's where you've been keeping your stress." He began to rub the hard spot like Draco had done for his back in the past.
"Yes, that's it…" Draco sighed, leaning into his touch. It almost hurt to have Harry work out his muscles with such strength, but slowly the muscle loosened its clamped grip and relaxed under the machinations of Harry's hands.
Continuing the massage down Draco's back Harry found several more tight spots that needed a good kneading. Harry attended to each and every one of them, face contorted in concentration as he massaged.
Draco had gone entirely limp, the aromatic candles of rose and lavender shades calming him further. He was putty in Harry's capable hands.
Harry went on to massage his arms and legs, paying special attention to the feet Draco had to stand on all day to do his best work. Harry wanted tomorrow to be a better day for him, one where he could be more relaxed at work.
"How's that feel, Daddy?"
"Like everything I didn't know I needed, angel."
"Are you ready for your bath?"
"I think I am," Draco agreed, prying himself off of the massage table and standing on the bath mat above the swirling pink pool of hot water Harry had prepared for them. Draco dipped one foot in and sighed at how warm it was, the next foot following.
Draco sank down into the bath so the water was up to his shoulders, relaxing back against the edge of the tub.
"You're wearing too many clothes," Draco observed of Harry. "Come, join me."
Harry nodded in agreement before ridding himself of his shirt and his pants and trousers at once. He stepped out of them and into the bathtub, into Draco's open and inviting arms.
"There you are," Draco murmured, kissing his cheek a few times as he wrapped his arms around him, their bodies pressed together under the water's surface. "That's my good boy."
A warm glow came over Harry and it was hardly the water's fault. "Here I am," Harry confirmed. "All yours."
Draco could hardly stand not kissing Harry a second longer so he tilted his head to the side and united their lips. Harry let out a small noise, turning and curling into his grip and up against his body.
When they eventually had to part for air Harry let out a shuddery sigh. "Why do I have a feeling this bath is going to make us more dirty than it is clean?" he grinned.
"I have," Draco said, smoothing his hands down his chest and to his hips. "No idea what you're talking about, dear." He moved back and squeezed the globes of Harry's arse with a happy sigh.
Facing his lover, Harry had no problem at all getting dirty in the tub with him. He could see through the pink bubbles that Draco was getting excited, so he dipped a hand below the water's surface to take hold of him. "So you wouldn't know anything about this?" Harry asked innocently, giving Draco's cock a gentle tug.
Draco broke into a big smile after a small moan escaped him. "I may know a thing or two about that. I am a Healer, after all. I know the body most intimately."
"Yeah?" Harry breathed, ghosting his lips over Draco's and starting to stroke him beneath the water. "Why don't you tell me all about it, hm?"
A little shiver ran up Draco's spine, gripping Harry's arse to play with it while Harry stroked. "Well," he spoke if a bit shakily. "A massage is meant to draw blood to the aching muscles, to trigger healing. Now that you've got my blood pumping I see where you wanted it to go all along. I don't know if you know this, but when a man loves another man very much—"
Harry cut him off with a little snort. "I think I know a thing or two about that, yes."
Draco pinched his arse and Harry let out a surprised noise. "Let me finish!"
"Alright, alright," Harry laughed.
"When a man loves another man very much, the way that I love you, he stimulates the muscles and nerves here," Draco said, pressing his fingertip to Harry's hole. A little noise left Harry. "To make him whine like a whore."
Harry pushed back against the finger and Draco smirked.
"You like that? I could put one in you even without lubricant, I know you could take it."
Harry nodded, his glasses having fogged up from the steaming bath and the blush on his face.
Draco pushed his finger past the outer ring of muscle and into Harry, slowly inching up inside of him. Draco hissed at how velvety Harry felt around him. With his other hand he swatted Harry's away from his cock, taking up both of their lengths at once. "Now, how's that, little love?"
"So good," Harry moaned, gripping Draco like he might drown in the tub without him. He buried his face in Draco's shoulder as he held him, lips brushing against his skin as he spoke. "Your hands are incredible."
Draco pumped up and down around them, stroking with one hand while the other curled its digit deep inside of Harry, massaging him on his most sensitive of parts.
Harry, left with nothing to do but enjoy the stimulation, pressed a barrage of sloppy kisses to the inlet of Draco's shoulder. He bit down and sucked a hickey onto his skin, moaning softly around the chosen patch of flesh while Draco's finger eased in and out of him.
Urged on by Harry's lovebite Draco sped up his hands, making ripples in the pink bathwater and moaning. "You've been so good today, so good for me, you deserve this and more," Draco murmured into his ear, biting along the lobe.
"Daddy," Harry whispered, blushing deep and arching his back so Draco could see how good he was. "Can I have your cock, please? Have I been good enough for it?"
Draco smirked. "Yes, darling." He eased the finger out of him and released their erections, giving himself a small shiver. "Like this," he said, and turned Harry around to close his hands around the edge of the tub.
Harry kept the arch in his back when he gripped the side, sticking his arse up just above the level of the water. He looked over his shoulder and shook his hips enticingly, earning him a few more pinches for his impatience. He took each one with a happy mewl.
"Now," Draco said, reaching for his wand and summoning a handful of lubricant. "What do we say when Daddy's so nice?"
"Thank you, Daddy," Harry practically purred.
Draco spread Harry's cheeks with a grin. "Yes, that's right. Keep thanking me and you'll keep getting more. I love a grateful whore." He got up on his knees behind Harry, slipping in two lubricated digits with some effort. "Come on, what do we say?"
"Thank you, Daddy, thank you for your fingers," Harry whimpered, body hot all over and lost in complete lust.
"Oh, you'll be taking more than my fingers," Draco assured him. "But I won't be cruel, I'll open you up first." Draco scissored his fingers open inside of Harry again and again, pushing his walls out and kneading his prostate with his top knuckles.
Harry rested his head on the side of the edge of the tub, moaning and shaking slightly around the knees. Draco's other wet hand wrapped around him to tease the tip of his cock, rubbing in the slit with just one finger. "Thank you, Daddy…"
"You're very," said Draco, pushing his fingers out as wide as they would go and lining up his hips. "Very welcome." He sank into Harry without warning, drawing a gasp from the other man that he cherished the sound of. "Steady, darling."
"Thank you, Daddy, thank you for your perfect cock."
Draco eased in deeper, burying himself up to his balls in Harry Potter. "Such a good boy," he praised, wet hands coming to rest on his hips and grip them tight. Carefully he eased back and then forward again, stuffing Harry full of him and watching how his little hole expanded to take it all in.
The burn of the stretch climbed its way up Harry's backside, forcing a shudder out of him when Draco pushed fully back in again, grinding his hips so deep. "Thank," Harry panted. "Thank you…"
Draco slid almost all the way out and then pushed back in, earning a groan from the both of them at once. He repeated the motion, this time faster, and the next time faster, until he had established a savage rhythm that echoed in the bathroom every time their skin slapped together.
"That's my boy, so sweet, so submissive for me," Draco breathed, fucking him with reckless abandon. The water in the tub sloshed and threatened to spill over the sides. "Takes anything I give him."
"And I love it," Harry answered, knuckles gone white gripping the side of the tub. "I love to take what you give me. I love your cock, I love your hands, I love you." He moaned with every meeting of their hips. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Warmth blossomed in Draco's chest to which there was nothing he could compare it with. How could Harry be so sexy while saying an 'I love you'? Draco grunted and drove his hips harder into him. "I bet I can fuck you right to orgasm, no need to even touch you. You really love cock, don't you?"
"Your cock," Harry corrected breathlessly. "I love your cock, and everything you do to me. Fuck me, fuck me Daddy-!"
And how could Draco refuse? He thrust roughly into the tight heat of Harry, giving him the brutal shagging he requested. Water swished over the side of the tub and onto the bath mat, but Draco could care less about the mess they were making. He was thrusting into Harry with only one goal in mind, to make him burst on cock alone.
"I don't hear you thanking me," Draco reminded and gave Harry's arse a firm slap.
"Thank you!" Harry cried out, breathing growing thin and wispy. "Thank you, thank you Daddy!"
"That's right, that's right, darling," Draco breathed, all the stress of the day melting away when he was working Harry's hips with his.
"Thank you, thank you," Harry continued because he couldn't stop saying it now, lest Draco stop moving his hips like that, zeroing right in on his prostate with his cockhead.
Draco groaned, inching ever close to his edge but refusing to give in until he made Harry hit his. He moved one hand from his hips to bury in that raven dark hair, tugging on it to lift his chin up while he fucked him. "Say it," Draco demanded. "Louder!"
"Thank you!" Harry called out, his words ringing off the bathroom walls. "Thank you, thank you—oh, fuck—thank, thank you!"
Draco could feel him starting to tremble, feel him starting to reach that place where he could get Harry to say or do anything for his orgasm. Draco was feeling kind, though, after everything Harry had done for him that night, and wouldn't make him work too hard for it.
"Please, can I, can I—" Caught between saying 'please' and 'thank you' Harry fell into incomprehensible moans.
"Yes," Draco hissed. "Yes, my polite love. Come for me, come with me—Oh!"
"Thank you, thank you, thankyouthankyouthankyou—"
Both men gave one final groan before their climaxes took them both, Draco filling Harry up and Harry shooting ropes of white into the tub.
For a moment the whole world was blurry for Harry, his vision foggy and hazy as his grip loosened on the edge of the tub. Draco holding him up by his hair and hip was the only way to keep him from sinking down into the bath bubbles.
"…Harry, Harry," Draco called to him, his voice soft and soothing.
"Daddy…"
"Daddy's here." Draco slid his softening cock out of him and wrapped both arms around his waist so he could pull Harry back into sitting in the tub with him like they were before. Draco's lips on Harry's shoulders made a line of kisses all the way around them both. "Daddy's here. What a good boy you were."
"I was?" Harry asked, leaning back into Draco instinctively.
"Yes, love. You were the best," Draco reassured his out-of-it cutie. "Told you I could make you come on my cock alone."
Harry hummed. "Never doubted you for a second."
"Good, good…" Draco kissed the back of Harry's neck. "Such a good boy."
"I love you, Draco," Harry said next, bringing a pink flush to both of their faces.
"And I love you, Harry. Immensely."
Harry nuzzled back against Draco. The two sat in the bath for a long moment before Draco pulled the plug, starting to drain it.
As the water level fell around them Harry closed his eyes and wondered: was this what true love felt like? The kind they had in storybooks and poetry and songs.
It must have been, it must have been.