Thank you for everyone that reviewed =). I appreciate EVERY. SINGLE. ONE! So I'm glad you guys seemed to like my last chapter. I've got a rather hectic plot planned out and this story will probably span for about 20+ chapters =D. Enjoy this chapter guys!
I'm sorry for taking so long. These past few weeks have not been great =(. And Consequently my Christmas was pretty....well not great ='(. Ah well, I'm back and I hope you take this chapter as a "PLEASE FORGIVE ME" present =D!
Disclaimer: See chapter one. Gracelynne is mine and so are some characters that are clearly not in the book.
Here we go:-
Harry and Ron were walking back down the Auror hallway intent on telling Kingsley what had happened...or rather, what hadn't happened.
They were halted however when Flitwick burst out of the Arena room with an alarmed expression.
"What's going on Professor?" Harry said.
"There you two are. We've pulled all the other Auror's in training in the Healing Room. Healer Malfoy's found something else. You can brief everyone on what you two found down in Knockturn Alley as well." Flitwick said in a rush as he hurried the both of them in.
They were greeted with sombre expressions as they entered the adjoining Healing Room.
"What's happened?" Ron said as they approached the bed where Gracelynne lay looking rather distressed.
"It seems as though someone has placed a simple tracking spell on Ms. Gracelynne. The minute we removed the Imperio off her, the tracking spell went off and the caster was alerted." Draco said.
"So what does this mean?" Seamus said whilst holding Gracelynne's hand.
"It means we have a case on our hands. It might not be big. But it's a case nonetheless and we need to take caution since none of you are fully qualified Auror's yet. The fully qualified Auror's that we DO have aren't many either." Kingsley replied stepping forward to face the trainees.
"Harry's been through hell and back in the past 19 yrs of his life; half the stuff he's been through has been more dangerous that what normal Auror's do." Ron said, as though implying Harry should take charge.
"Ron I-
"You're right Weasley. That's why we're putting you trainees in charge of this case...with Harry as the leader." Kingsley said with a nod.
"What?! What...no!" Harry half-yelled.
"Harry we all know you're the best at this." Gracelynne said from her bed.
"But...I...Ok look, I might have gone through some harsh times but that doesn't mean all of a sudden I get appointed to be leader. I'm just a trainee...like all of you!" Harry said; gesticulating madly.
"Mr. Potter. We're going to be here supporting you to. We're assigning you all this first case as a demonstration. If you are afraid the fully trained Aurors will somehow abandon you that will not happen. Something like this hasn't happened since you defeated You-Know-Who so we're not going to be taking this too lightly." Kingsley said.
"But...what about everyone else here?! What if someone else wanted to be leader?" Harry said looking around desperately.
"Mate, why are you so afraid of leading? You lead half the Light population in defeating You-Know-Who, you're good at this stuff. So what's up?" Seamus said stepping forward.
Harry stood gaping like a goldfish.
"Ok! Everyone! Here's a fair way to do it. Write on a piece of parchment who you would want as leader and place it in this box. I'll count it; majority vote is the leader." Kingsley said.
"Why can't YOU just lead us?" an ex-Durmstrang student said.
"Because this is a chance for you to get a feeling of working in the field." Kingsley replied.
"What if it's really dangerous?" another ex-Beauxbatons student said.
"Not to sound harsh, but dangerous is in the job description and you all knew that when you signed up to be a part of the Auror Corps." Kingsley said firmly. "Why do you think we do so many simulations almost every day? And why do you think those simulations are real? It's not as though you can't get hurt in the simulations...you can! It's meant to train you all; toughen you up."
There was a moment of silence before there was a collective nod from the trainees.
"Now, write your desired leader on the parchment now in front of you and place it in the box."
There was a little bit of a scuffle as quills were passed around and parchments were folded and placed in the box. As soon as everything was done Kingsley swished his wand and the box disappeared leaving a bright light. Flitwick then flicked his wand and pieces of paper flew out of the bright light and in front of Kingsley's face.
Kingsley surveyed them for a bit before nodding to Flitwick. Together they simultaneously muttered a spell and a single word was formed from the bright light.
HARRY.
"See?" Ron whispered in Harry's ear.
"There it is. Harry you're the leader." Kingsley said with a tone of authority. "Alright, now that's done. Go on a 15 minute lunch break since you didn't really get one just then. All of you; meet me back in this arena to be briefed."
They all nodded before heading out to the hallway and to their respective offices.
"Potter! Weasley! You two stay here for a moment." Kingsley shouted.
Harry and Ron approached him.
"In the briefing you can tell the other Auror's what happened down in Knockturn Alley...but you can tell ME now."
"There was no-one there." Ron said.
"The light was still on and it looked like somebody had just been there but there was a closed sign in front of the door." Harry continued.
"We were a little suspicious but it was lunch hour; so the owner could have just ducked out for a pie or something." Ron said.
"A little suspicious though...I mean the last thing Gracelynne can really remember being in self-control was at Custelle's. Malfoy just told us that the caster was alerted when Imperio was taken off...that would've given enough time for the owner to duck out before we came." Harry said with a thoughtful frown.
"We should check it out tomorrow. We're on a case now anyway; we don't have to look casual or anything." Ron said to Harry.
Both had forgotten they were meant to be talking to Kingsley; instead they had started to converse with each other.
"Yeah, let-
"Gentlemen!" Kingsley said.
Harry and Ron turned to him.
"It's great that you've already got some team work here but don't forget there aren't just you two in the Auror Corps right now." He said.
"Right, Sorry sir." Harry replied.
"I'll see you two in 15." He said as he strode out with Flitwick following.
It was then Harry noticed that Draco was still standing there at the back of the room.
"Hey, we're going to get some lunch. Do you want to come Draco?...Seamus?" Harry said.
"Nah I'm going to stay here with Gracelynne." Seamus replied still holding her hand.
Harry raised his eyebrows slightly; but then nodded.
"I think I'll just go home, I'm meant to be resting anyway." Draco said, shielding half his face in the shadows so that they couldn't see it.
Harry knew he was too self-conscious to go out in public with the injured face, and placing glamour on top could potentially slow down the healing process.
"Ok then, I'll see you at hom- later!." Harry said quickly. He hoped Seamus and Gracelynne didn't notice. No-one really knew about the whole Ginny issue and he wasn't keen on the news getting out just yet.
"Let's go mate, I'm starving." Ron said; interrupting Harry's thoughts.
"Yeah alright."
With one last glance at Draco he followed Ron down the hallway, through the floo and back to the Three Broomsticks.
Lunch was a quick affair; both were anxious with the events that had occurred today and what would happen in the briefing. Harry didn't feel he could stomach much so he had half a Sheppard's pie. Ron, on the other hand seemed the opposite. He had two pies and one and a half bowl of jelly.
"You know Ron...I really admire the side of you that's able to eat so much." Harry laughed as they walked back down the Auror Hallway to the arena room.
"Don't worry mate, one day you'll be as good as me." He replied with a smile.
Most of the trainee's were already waiting in the arena. Harry took a moment to survey them. There weren't many of them; one ex-Durmstrang, two ex-Beauxbatons, one of them being Gracelynne, Seamus, Harry and Ron.
"Alright, we all here?" Kingsley said as he accompanied Gracelynne and Seamus out of the Healing Room. Colour had returned to her face and she looked better.
"Ok, when a case comes along the first and most important rule you all need to know and should know by now is that of LOYALTY. Everyone looks out for one another; no-one's left behind." He said firmly. "This case has obviously come unexpectedly, but you all need to tough it up and start acting like fully trained Aurors; you haven't got a choice." He continued whilst pacing slightly.
"Is that understood?" He said.
"Yes Sir." The trainees replied.
"Great. Now, since Potter is leader I will be leaving a lot of the decisions up to him. However since he and Weasley visited Custelle's today I suggest they go again tomorrow. It's up to you Potter whether you want to bring some back-up just in case." Kingsley said. "You've all done past-case researches; you all know how to approach a situation like this; you've learnt it all in theory. Now all you have to do is execute it practically whilst acting like a group. That's the most important thing here; be a team."
Harry could tell the rest of the trainees were beginning to get slightly anxious with Kingsley's speech. Admittedly, being pushed into doing a case before even graduating was scary; but he couldn't find it in himself to be surprised. This stuff had happened to him for so long he was used to it and sadly enough, had almost expected something like this to happen.
"I will be here, Flitwick will be here and the rest of the Auror's will be here. I'll be checking in on the progress of this case twice a week." Kingsley continued. "For the next few weeks your rigid schedule will be dismissed, however I still strongly recommend you all occasionally do simulations for continued practice and most definitely research. Ok, you may go and don't forget that you're solving this case as of today." He finished.
There was a collective nod, and with that Kingsley and Flitwick left the arena.
There was a moment of silence before Gracelynne spoke up.
"So now what?"
"Harry?" Ron asked.
Harry blushed slightly, he was still not used to the attention.
"Ok, so basically we have a primary target; Custelle's. You all might have noticed Malfoy's face. Malfoy went to get a procedure from that place and ended up getting his cauldron blown-up and-
"But what if he just made a mistake?" Danny said.
Danny was the only ex-Durmstrang student to become part of the Auror Corps. He fought for the light during the 2nd War and was a strong believer that Muggle Borns can be just as smart and strong as pure-blood wizards.
"True, but it's just highly improbable for the youngest Head Healer in history to make a simple mistake. I know it's normal to make mistakes, but Malfoy was already suspicious of the procedure when he first got it but didn't question it because it was invented by a famous Healer in America. All in all, what I'm trying to say is that everything we have right now points in the direction of Custelle's." Harry said. "It's our only lead and I think we should pursue it....what do you all think?" He added quickly.
"Agreed mate." Ron said.
Everyone simply nodded after that.
"Ok then...great! Well me and Ron are going to go back to that place tomorrow. I would like some back-up so how about we all head down there together tomorrow afternoon after some arena practice? We might be on a case right now, but I don't think we should act too dramatic...like march down Diagon Alley Armageddon style or something [this caused a few confused expressions]. Let's just be casual for the time being; the worst thing we can do right now is freak out the general public before we even know what's going on." Harry continued.
"You're a natural at this Harry, I don't why you were freaking out before." Junae said.
Junae was the last of the Aurors [making a total of six trainees]. She was an ex-Beauxbatons student who was a firm supporter of feminism due to her muggle mother being a feminist activist. She also fought for the light during the 2nd war, despite her deceased wizard father being pure-blood and having similar views to Voldemort.
"I just thought maybe someone else would like to be that place...I mean Kingsley didn't really ask me, he just threw it at me." Harry replied.
"You're the best at this Harry and we all know. He was just picking the most obvious choice." Danny said whilst slapping him on the back.
Harry smiled a bit at the compliment before snapping back to attention.
"Alright, I think that's all we have for today. I also think we should definitely pay more attention to researching past-cases; I have a feeling they'll help. We can't do much until tomorrow so let's just go home, get some rest and come back tomorrow with a fresh head." Harry said looking around at them all.
Everyone nodded at him before leaving; some patted him on the back. And soon enough it was just him and Ron, yet again walking down the Auror hallway.
"Mate, this is weird. I almost feel like we're in a war again; the atmosphere that is." Ron said as they walked through the Ministry halls.
"Yeah I know. Merlin forbids that it gets as bad as the war did though." Harry replied.
"Agreed." Ron said. "Listen, I'll talk to you later, I still really want to tell you about how I proposed, but maybe we'll do it this weekend at Mum's alright?"
"Most definitely, I wanna know all about how you wooed her!" Harry laughed.
"Ahh shut it mate." Ron said as he joined in with the laughing.
"I'll see you tomorrow ok? It's almost exciting to be facing something again. Not sure if that's a good thing." Harry said.
"I know what you mean though. Yeah, see you tomorrow."
They waved at each other before disapparating with dual pops.
Harry landed gently in the alleyway back in Belgravia. As he walked to Draco's house he glanced at his own mansion. The lights were off and it was quiet. It was almost foreboding and he didn't think he could bear to walk in again only to be whacked in the head by memories of Ginny and Dean.
He shook his head in an attempt to stop him from thinking about the two of them. He had been successful so far, but the dinner at the Weasley's would be the first reunion Harry would have with Ginny and he really wasn't look forward to that.
"Harry? Are you alright?"
A voice brought him back to the present. He looked up to see Draco standing with the front door open, a quizzical expression set upon his face.
"Oh fine...sorry! Just thinking and got distracted." Harry said as he stepped in and shut the door.
"About the case today?" Draco said as they headed upstairs.
"Umm...not really. More about my house and the fact that I don't have the courage to walk into it yet I had the courage to face death and Voldemort." Harry said as they both headed to his suite.
Draco shivered slightly at the cavalier use of the Dark Lord's name but brushed it off.
"Well we'll go there tomorrow night and have dinner there instead then!" Draco said with a tone of finality as they settled on the floor of Harry's guest suite.
"Wait what?!" Harry replied with an unnaturally high voice.
"You're Harry Potter, Boy Wonder, Golden Gryffindor, Defeater of You-Know-Who.....and afraid of his own house?" Draco said condescendingly.
"Well when you say it like that." Harry mumbled.
"Then it's settled!" Draco said. "You have to overcome that situation step by step. Think of this as the first step." He continued softly.
"Yeah, I know you're right. But I don't really want to face it. I mean all of a sudden we have this new case and even though I've been through a lot with Voldemort I still feel like I might not do well as the leader because I'm not a fully trained Auror. And I'm trying to think of a link between you and the owner of Custelle's and somehow how that links to Gracelynne and her being under the Imperius. It's just really all-
Harry's voice was abruptly halted when he felt Draco's lips pressed gently to his. He moved his hands to Draco's waist as he tilted his head to carefully deepen the kiss.
Harry felt his pants grow uncomfortably tight and he was about to say something when Draco slowly pulled away.
"Sorry...but one half of my lips are hurting." He said softly.
"Oh I'm sorry, I tried to be gentle. Maybe we should put some salve on it now, I could-
"Harry, relax. It's ok. When my face gets better you can make it up to me." Draco laughed with a small mischievous smile. "But...maybe we can do something else."
"Something else?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, I mean just because we can't kiss doesn't mean we can't do some...other stuff." Draco said, leaning forward and slowly sliding his hand up Harry's thigh to rest suggestively next to his crotch.
"Wh-What are you doing?" Harry stuttered.
"Well what do you want me to do?" Draco whispered pushing Harry down and straddling him.
Harry was trying to form sentences but when he opened his mouth a bunch of incoherent words just seemed to come out.
"You know, you're very attractive when you're a puddle of goo beneath me." Draco said with a teasing smile.
That did it for Harry.
"I am not a puddle of goo!" he exclaimed.
"Really?" Draco asked.
"Ye-oooooo". Harry's defensive response turned into a moan as Draco grinded against him.
"I rest my case." Draco softly laughed as he continued his ministrations on Harry.
Harry gripped Draco's thighs; his face was flushed. In a moment of boldness, Draco slowly began to un-do Harry's pants, letting his fingers flutter over the engorged cock.
Draco wrapped his fingers around his dick; getting a feeling of the texture and the size...he was impressed.
"What ar- ahhhhh". Harry yelped slightly as Draco began to slowly pump him up and down.
Draco leant down to gently press a teasing kiss to his lips before pulling away, leaving Harry turned-on as hell.
Increasing the pressure, he was delighted to hear Harry almost mewl in response. Encouraged; Draco sped his hand up only to jump in surprise as Harry's hands flew to his ass.
"Oh Merlin." Harry mumbled as he began to grope Draco's ass.
Harry wasn't the only one thinking that. Draco was as hard as hell and seeing Harry writhing below him, flushed red and groping his arse wasn't helping.
His other hand sensually traced up Harry's worked-out torso and rested on his shoulder. Gripping it, Draco began to pump Harry's dick hard and fast.
"Oh fuck!" Harry exclaimed as he gripped Draco's arse hard enough to leave bruises.
Draco leaned down and very slowly licked the head of Harry's cock in one smooth motion. Harry bucked up and began lightly thrusting up as Draco continued pumping him...very hard.
"Ugh...Draco! Don't stop, don't stop!"
Harry was a bumbling mess underneath Draco. His face was flushed red, his glasses askew, his forehead sticky with sweat and his hands holding Draco's arse like it was his life-line.
"Come for me Harrry." Draco said with a smile, slightly purring the 'R' in Harry.
He didn't need telling twice.
With one, then two, then three pumps, Harry came with a shout as he spilled his seed all over Draco's hand and shirt.
He was left lying under Draco panting, his chest rising rapidly.
"You're sexy like this." Draco said as he picked up his wand to banish away the sticky mess.
Harry blushed. "Thanks". He mumbled.
"So what were you saying? You're not a puddle of goo beneath me?" Draco said with a laugh.
"I couldn't help it! You were grinding and touching and...it felt great." Harry whispered, turning more red than even Ron could.
Draco slowly got off him [to Harry's despair] and settled himself next to him.
"Well I'm glad you liked it."
"I did, umm...thanks." Harry said awkwardly, not really knowing what to say.
Draco simply laughed in response.
"I enjoyed doing it."
"Do you want me to return the favour?" Harry asked, noticing the rather non-subtle tent in Draco's pants.
"That depends on how comfortable you are with it. I have an odd feeling you're still feeling strange." Draco said laughing softly.
"I don't want to be rude, I mean you just did me...doesn't that mean I should do it to you?" Harry said logically.
"Harry it isn't about whether you should or shouldn't. You do it if you're comfortable enough to. And clearly, you aren't right now. It's ok, I can wait." Draco replied, although he couldn't help but feel a slight hint of disappointment.
"I'm really sorry Draco! I just don't think I'm ready yet and I feel horrible because you just...well, did that to me." Harry finished, now looking down at the ground.
"It's alright, don't feel bad. I can understand; you were straight for the large majority of your life. Like I said, I'm willing to wait." Draco said understandingly as he wrapped his arms comfortingly around Harry's neck.
"Thank You." Harry replied softly as he turned his head to gently place an appreciative kiss on Draco's lips.
"You're welcome...now let's go to bed. You've got work tomorrow and I need to go back to my suite and apply some more salve." Draco said as they both got up off the floor.
"You're not hungry?" Harry asked.
"I just ate." Draco replied mischievously. "What about you though?"
"No, don't really have an appetite today." Harry said as he placed his hands on Draco's waist.
There was a second of silence as they both just stood there; staring at each other and contemplating the situation they were in.
"Good night Harry." Draco said, breaking the quietness.
"Good night Draco." Harry replied before they both leant in for one final kiss.
They separated slowly and Harry watched Draco walk back to his suite. When he saw Draco shut the door he flung himself back on his bed with an elated sigh.
Yet again I had so much more planned for this chapter. But I haven't been able to update for so long I want to post something up really badly! And also because it's past 3 in the morning.
I'm really tired, so I'm just gonna stop typing now! I hope you all like this chapter =D. And once again, please forgive me.
But thanks for the reviews everybody!!!! Please review =).
