Author's Notes: According to NinjaoftheDarkness, alerts for the last two chapters didn't go out. I didn't receive any alerts at all from FF between November 18 and November 26 and the missing alerts have only just now started to filter through. I don't know what went wrong with FF but I hope it's fixed now!
Regarding the story: Rowling has said in interviews that Harry is very sexually inexperienced and naive for someone his age. So I'm having lots of fun writing what I call 'oblivious Harry' here. (Hint to Harry: Draco wants to shag you, get it? ;-)
Oh yes, and when I'm writing Draco, the picture called The King of Slytherin by frodobolson72 on deviantart dot com is how I imagine he looks. (Phwoar! Drool! Everyone is gay for that Draco! ;-)
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The Bodyguard
Chapter 11: Bed and Breakfast
The new headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix were in a long-abandoned warehouse in London's East End. The Order had spent days tidying it up, but the concrete walls were still damp and spiders lingered in the corners. At least, unlike Grimmauld Place, there were no screaming portraits.
Harry and Tonks sat at the large wooden table in the makeshift kitchen. Harry leaned back in his chair. "Any word from Ron and Hermione?" he asked.
"Nothing so far," said Tonks. Her hair was a brilliant shade of bubblegum pink, and she was wearing her Weird Sisters t-shirt. Seeing Harry's concerned face, Tonks added reassuringly, "I'm sure they're okay, Harry. Hermione's too smart to get caught in any of You Know Who's traps."
"Even Dumbledore wasn't THAT smart." Worry made Harry get up and pace the kitchen. "I wanted to send them a Patronus message. That way I'd KNOW they got it. Owls can't fly underground. But we decided not to use Patronus messaging after that fiasco on Dartmoor, when we found Patronuses attracted Inferi." Harry took a deep breath. "I'm giving Hermione and Ron until this afternoon, then I'm going after them."
"Remus and I will come with you," said Tonks quietly. She looked at Harry's tense shoulders and changed the subject. "So where's your new pet Death Eater, then?" she teased.
Harry spun around, but saw Tonks grinning cheekily, and grinned in weakly in return. "Draco's showering. He was covered in blood and soot," he said sadly.
"Maybe I should have healed him before he showered?"
"I thought so too, but Draco insisted on showering first. He said he didn't want anyone to see him like that." Harry sat down and fidgeted. "He's been there about twenty minutes. I knocked five minutes ago, but he said he was all right. Actually, what he said was, 'Bugger off, Potter. I usually take much longer than this.'"
Tonks chuckled. "Well, I'm ready to heal him if he comes out before Christmas," she said, leaning back in her chair.
"Thanks, Tonks," said Harry. He looked thoughtful. "Could you please show me some more healing spells? That broken nose spell, Episkey, came in useful."
Tonks grinned at him. "I'm glad, Harry, but Episkey's the simplest healing spell. Don't expect them all to be as easy as that. I'll give you a demonstration when I'm healing Draco. Speaking of Draco, did you give him something clean to change into?"
"Mrs Weasley said she'd give him one of Ron's old robes, because Ron's about the same size." He paused for a second and said uncomfortably, "Mrs Weasley doesn't like Draco very much, does she? She was pretty cold to him."
"It's the old blood traitor feud," said Tonks. "I doubt Molly's ever spoken a word to Draco before, even though they're cousins."
"They're cousins too?" said Harry in amazement. "I thought YOU were Draco's cousin?"
"I am," said Tonks. "Don't look so surprised, Harry. All the pure-bloods are closely related. Inbred, you might say!"
Harry laughed. "That would explain a lot!"
A creaking noise came from the stairwell. Someone was walking hesitantly downstairs.
"We're down here, Draco," Harry called out cheerfully.
The stairs creaked again, closer this time, and Draco stuck out his head, but only his head, from the stairwell and peered around. His freshly washed hair clung darkly to his temples. "Who's there?" he asked nervously.
"Just me and Tonks," said Harry concernedly. "What's the matter, Draco?"
"Oh, Harry. Where do I start? I can't be seen like this," said Draco, slinking towards the table and looking as miserable as a funeral.
Harry stared at him. At first glance, Draco appeared to be wearing a long, threadbare, maroon, velvet dress, which was depressingly frayed around the collar and cuffs. At second glance, Harry recognised what Draco was wearing and burst out laughing.
"Mrs Weasley gave you Ron's old dress robes to wear! I can't believe they're still around. I was certain Ron buried them at a crossroads at midnight with a stake through their heart," said Harry.
Draco cringed in embarrassment. "Undead dress robes from hell. I'd rather be naked," he said miserably. "Don't laugh!" he wailed, for Tonks was covering her mouth in an effort to stifle her giggles.
Harry racked his brains for something else Draco could wear. "I'd get you something else but there's no one else in the Order I can borrow clothes from right now. They're all out working," he said. "I've got some robes that wouldn't fit your shoulders. Or I've got some jeans that should fit."
"Muggle jeans?" said Draco, looking scandalized. "I've never worn Muggle clothes in my life." The bruises on his face stood out starkly against his pale skin and he swayed a little and had to grab the back of a chair for support.
Tonks saw and became serious. "You can fix your outfit later, Draco. First things first." She got up and patted her chair. "Sit here and I'll heal you."
Draco sat down slowly and painfully, looking cross and grumbling under his breath. Given the choice between being healed and having the latest, fashionable robe to wear, Harry thought Draco would probably take the robe and he felt torn between being amazed at Draco's vanity and embarrassment at how few clothes he had to share.
"The spell for healing bruises is: 'Frendocuro'. Why don't you give it a try, Harry? But be careful," said Tonks.
Harry hesitated, looking down at Draco. "What are the side effects if I get it wrong?"
"Nothing very serious," said Tonks. "I wouldn't be letting you try it on a living person if it were dangerous."
Draco stopped grumbling and looked up, "Get on with it, Harry. I'm in pain here," he said in a proud, peevish tone, tugging the front of Ron's dress robes.
"Give it a try on the bruises on his head, Harry. Just be gentle," said Tonks.
Reluctantly, Harry touched the tip of his wand to a bruise on Draco's forehead. "Frendocuro!" he said.
Draco winced. "Ow!"
"Ah, yes," said Tonks. "I did exactly the same thing when I first used that spell. You haven't healed Draco's bruise, Harry, you've just Transfigured it into the shape of a daisy."
"Sorry, Draco. I think I'll leave the healing to Tonks," said Harry, backing away.
"I should bloody well think so," grumbled Draco, looking exceeding floral.
"Don't give up, Harry. Practice on your hand until you get it right," said Tonks.
"Maybe later," said Harry, seeing Draco's cross and pained expression. "I'd rather help in a way that doesn't make him look like Seventies Muggle wallpaper."
Draco scowled and Harry felt a bit guilty. A little too heartily, he said, "Are you hungry, Draco?"
"Starving!"
"What do you want to eat?" Harry could hear Draco's stomach rumbling.
"Bacon and eggs and mushrooms and toast and pumpkin juice," said Draco, the words spilling enthusiastically out of him. "And some apples to follow."
"Breakfast coming right up. I'll make enough for all three of us," said Harry cheerfully, grabbing a frying pan out of the cupboard under the stove.
"You're not going to cook it yourself, are you Harry? Why don't you get the servants to do it?" asked Draco in astonishment.
Harry laughed and turned on the stove with a flick of his wand. "No servants here, Draco. Not unless I Transfigure a few of the spiders into French Maids."
"Do a few muscly topless waiters for me, Harry," Tonks joked. She was running her wand along the cuts on Draco's forehead and they were fading into pink marks.
"Oooh, I'll tell Remus you said that!" teased Harry, grinning.
"You snitch!" Tonks laughed.
Draco said nothing, but looked appalled and Harry didn't think it had anything to do with the stupid jokes. He became serious immediately. "Most people don't have servants, Draco. You'll have to get used to living without them."
Draco scowled but continued to say nothing, and Harry, as he turned back and started breaking eggs into the pan, reflected that Draco had been strangely quiet since the trial. It wasn't like him at all. He turned back to Draco ask him why but his mind went blank when he saw that Tonks had Draco leaning over a chair, his robes pulled up, while she ran her wand down his back. Draco's skin, where it wasn't injured, was pale as moonlight and Harry felt the monster in his chest growling for the first time in ages. I shouldn't look, Harry thought. But he couldn't drag his eyes away and he was still watching, as Draco turned his head and saw Harry staring at him. Draco smirked. Harry blushed, tore his gaze away and turned back to the stove, busying himself with cooking.
All three of them sat down to a midmorning breakfast a few minutes later. Draco ate rapidly, but with perfect manners. There was a slight smile on his face. Tonks watched him eat, while she fiddled with her pumpkin juice as if she had lost her appetite.
"Good to see you eating, Draco," Tonks said gently. "You need it."
Draco's mouth was full. He nodded at her.
"What was wrong?" asked Harry, who was sprinkling salt on his eggs.
"Slight concussion, infected whip welts on his back, bruising everywhere, malnutrition," said Tonks grimly. "The list goes on."
Not knowing how to articulate his sympathy, Harry settled for pushing more bacon onto Draco's plate. "Who whipped you?" he asked.
Draco swallowed a mouthful of eggs. "Alecto. Amycus's sister. After I refused to kill Muggles," he said.
"Sick..." Harry muttered.
Draco nodded and scooped up more eggs with his fork.
"I've done what I can. Draco should be fine after he's had some rest," said Tonks. She got to her feet. "Sorry to eat and run but I've got to meet Remus." She smiled happily. "See you later, Harry ... Draco..." she said and walked out of the kitchen.
"Thank you!" Draco called after her unexpectedly.
It was quiet after Tonks had left. Harry found he didn't have much to say to Draco. He kept picturing how Draco's naked back had looked and he stared down at his plate trying to will his face not to go red. It's been too long since I broke up with Ginny, he thought. I need a cold shower. I need SOMETHING to take my mind off ... it's just not right ... he's a boy ... worse than that, he's MALFOY...
Draco finished two big plates of breakfast, and then started eating his way through three red apples. He was stifling yawns and looked ready to put his head down on the table and sleep.
"Time for me to take you to bed, Draco," said Harry gently. He was surprised to see how much Draco's eyes widened and then he realised what he had just said. To cover his embarrassment, he started clearing the plates from the table and making them wash themselves in the sink.
"Bed?" Draco said, a pleased, hopeful look on his face.
"So you can get some sleep," Harry hastily explained and was surprised when Draco's face fell. "You didn't sleep last night, did you? I'm waiting here for Hermione and Ron to get back, so I don't need a bodyguard at the moment. You look like you haven't slept in days."
"That's about right," said Draco, his eyes half-closed.
He followed Harry up the rickety stairwell. Harry and Ron slept in a cramped, second floor, room that was strewn with dirty clothes and sweet wrappers. There were two single beds, both unmade. Ron's orange Chudley Cannons Quidditch poster, with all the players waving excitedly, hung over the bed nearest the window. A poster of a snowy owl hung over the bed nearest the door, and Hedwig's empty cage sat in the middle of the room. She had been sent with a message for Ron and Hermione and had not yet returned.
"Uh, sorry about the mess." A bit embarrassed, Harry kicked some of the sweet wrappers under the bed, so at least they wouldn't be seen. "You can sleep here." He pulled a pair of blue and white striped pyjamas from under his pillow.
Draco smiled a little. "It's okay, you should see my bedroom at the Mansion, before the house elves get to it."
"I've only got one pair of pyjamas, Draco, and I've been wearing them," Harry went on, feeling more embarrassed than ever. He felt his face go beetroot red, when Draco took the pyjamas, held them up to his face and sniffed them lazily.
"They smell like you," Draco drawled. "I like the way you smell." He threw the pyjamas down on Harry's bed, and began to undress, without the slightest bit of modesty. He touched his wand to his chest and the line of buttons on the hideous dress robe undid themselves. He slid Ron's robe down his shoulders, revealing luminously pale, smooth skin.
Harry couldn't look away, and he wondered at himself. Ron regularly got changed in front of him and he never even paid attention. But Ron didn't look him boldly right in the eye, as if watching for a reaction, when he took his clothes off.
The robes slipped down, until Draco was naked to the waist. Though much skinner than he should have been, he had a Quidditch player's body: sleek, with muscular arms and shoulders tapering down past palest pink nipples, to a slim waist and a flat, defined stomach. His beauty was only marred by a faint but shockingly massive scar that ran from the top of his breastbone all the way down to his belly button. It was well healed, but showed every sign of being a near fatal wound, a sword slash that had all but cut him in half.
Harry breathed in, horrified, and pointed at the scar. "Who did that...?" he began, but froze as a very nasty realisation came over him.
Draco was gazing at him strangely. "YOU did, Harry," he said, confirming everything Harry had feared.
It all came back to Harry in a rush. Draco crying in the bathroom, Moaning Myrtle by his side.
Sectumsempra!
The gush of blood from Draco's wounds. Blood spreading over the floor. Moaning Myrtle screaming.
"Oh, my God! Draco, I'm really, truly sorry," Harry babbled, horrified and ashamed of what he had done. "I had no idea what that spell did. I wouldn't have used it if I'd known-" He reached out and touched Draco's scar, and something flared in Draco's grey eyes. Suddenly Harry found himself caught in another of Draco's bear hugs and he hugged back whole-heartedly, wanting forgiveness. He couldn't think of anyone who had ever touched him so much. Harry had had more hugs from Draco in the last day than his own family had given him in his whole life.
But this hug was the most exhilarating, and to Harry, the most deliciously alarming, that he'd ever received. He was exquisitely aware Draco's warmth and sweet, just-showered scent. His hands sank into the soft, naked, pliant skin of Draco's back. Sleek, slightly damp, white-blond hair brushed against Harry's face as Draco lowered his mouth to his ear.
"Harry, I was going to use Crucio," whispered Draco. His lips brushed Harry's ear as he spoke and Harry shivered involuntarily, and pulled Draco closer.
"You still didn't deserve it," whispered Harry. The monster in his chest was alert and growling in happiness. He found himself breathing faster.
Draco lifted his face from Harry's ear and looked down into Harry's eyes, his face so close that Harry could taste the scent of apples on his breath. Harry lifted his chin, mesmerised by Draco's grey eyes. He felt a sense of unreality. Was he really standing here in a boy's - his enemy's - arms?
"Harry!" Hermione shouted from the kitchen.
"Where are you?" Ron was in the kitchen too.
Harry heard two pairs of feet running noisily up the stairs. He and Draco broke apart immediately, not daring to look at each other. Draco wrestled with Ron's robe, put his arms back inside it and tapped it with his wand to make the buttons do up.
"I'm up here!" shouted Harry, breathlessly. He was more relieved than he could say and not just because his friends were alive and well. There was something incredibly scary about the way he responded to Draco's touch.
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Author's Note: Mmm, yes, Harry. Very scary! Please review. ;-)
Replies to reviews:
ms.gringotts: Thanks. ;-) ProperT: Thanks! I'm sure Draco would want to know how long he has to keep up the nice act too! And who is the real bodyguard? We'll see... ;-) Kit turned Mighty: Thanks! Yes, Harry and Draco are friends, but not nearly close enough friends. Give 'em time. emeraud.silver: More on its way! Crowley Black: Draco was always a bit of a whiner if it got him attention. How about all those times he faked injury? Pride is something he'll have to work on. DestinyEntwinements: Heh. ;-) mimifoxlove: Their relationship is not shaping up as very healthy so far. I couldn't agree more. I wonder what Hermione would say? ;-) Wayra: Thanks! It's quite difficult to get Harry and Draco together and keep them in character. I hope they're still in character when I get 'em shagging like...you know. ;-) Yellowwolf: Thanks! Everyone missed a chapter. The alerts didn't go out! Is that a common thing? I'm not all that familiar with FF and I don't know if it always breaks down like this. :-( mandraco: Scrimgeour rushed poor Harry into it. But Harry wasn't the one hurt by the way he didn't insist on reading the Vow first. Unbreakable Vows only hurt the Vow taker. Harry owes Draco an apology! The Earth Mystic: I wonder how Remus's stuff doesn't fall out of his robes, considering he's got so many holes in them. unforgivable curse caster: Thanks:-) NinjaoftheDarkness: More cuteness coming up! Katharina-B: Oh yes, Draco's very OOC and it's killing him to be that way! ;-) There's a reason for his behaviour. Ron and Hermione are coming up in the next chapter. wizli: Oh yes, total slavery for Draco. Is Umbridge a Death Eater? Heh, I have an opinion on this which should show up eventually. There's a teeny bit of fluff and sexual tension in this chapter. Watch for Draco trying to get Harry alone so he can have his wicked way with him in the next few chapters... ;-) MayuBlack: Thanks. ;-) Queen Vampiress: Thanks! Updates coming soon. They've been ready for a while but I wanted to wait until the alerts starting working again on FF.