A Little Tied Up – Part 9/?
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Disclaimer: The characters totally belong to JK Rowling; I don't make any profit from this.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Adult content
Word count: around 3600 for this chapter
Summary: Draco is still unconscious in the hospital wing. Harry deals with the fallout from outing them in front of half the school.

A/N: Thanks to the lovely nursedarry (on Livejournal) for a super speedy beta job. I heart you muchly.

Draco was still unconscious when Harry had to leave. There had been no change at all but he looked peaceful enough. Madam Pomfrey assured Harry again, that Draco would be fine but unlikely to wake for a while yet.

She turned her back and busied herself with Draco's chart as Harry stood to go. He bent and brushed his lips over Draco's cool forehead and breathed in the scent of the hair at his temples. Everything in him was crying out to stay with Draco but he knew that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be persuaded, and he needed to go and face up to his friends. He reluctantly let Draco's hand slide from his and stepped away from the bed.

"Good luck," Madam Pomfrey eyed him with a slight smile. "If your friends are worth having then they will support you, even if they don't always understand your choices."

Harry nodded and tried to smile back. "Thank you, can I come back later?"

"You can sit with him again this evening if you like. Now off you go, you need to eat."

Harry walked slowly back to Gryffindor Tower. Each step dragged and his mind was in turmoil. In his heart of hearts he knew that Madam Pomfrey was right. His friends cared about him and would eventually accept that he was having a relationship with Draco. And if they didn't, well... He suddenly realised that he would pick Draco in a heartbeat over any friends who would force him to choose. This thought shocked Harry; he knew that the Slytherin had become important to him but hadn't really thought too much about it. It wasn't until he had feared that he was going to lose Draco earlier that he realised just how much he cared. He couldn't deny his feelings any longer – he was in love with Draco.

Harry paused in a dim stairwell as another sudden thought occurred to him. But will he still want me now it's all out in the open? Harry's heart sank and fear filled him.

Draco had been very insistent that their relationship remain a secret. How would he react when he woke and realised that their cover had been well and truly blown after the Quidditch accident? Harry couldn't have been more obvious about his feelings if he'd brandished a sign saying 'Draco Malfoy is my secret lover.' Draco might be furious with him and want to end things. Harry clutched at his hair in exasperation, wondering when things had got so fucking complicated. He snorted in bitter amusement, you're involved with Draco Malfoy, what the hell did you expect?

Harry braced himself as he entered the Gryffindor common room. He loathed being the centre of attention and his face flamed, as the usual chatter died down and all eyes turned to him. He searched the rows of faces for his friends and found Hermione and Ron. Hermione was looking intently at him, concern showing on her face. She had a hand on Ron's arm, as if to calm him. Ron's face was red and outraged.

"Ron, Hermione," Harry spoke quietly. "We need to talk."

"Well that's the understatement of the fucking year!" Ron spluttered. "Merlin, Harry... how long have you... how long has it been?"

"Not here Ron," Harry flinched from the unwanted audience and gestured with his head to the stairs leading up to the dormitories. "Hermione, you too... and Neville, Dean, Seamus I guess you'll be wanting the details as well."

Neville and Dean looked uncomfortable, but moved to follow. Seamus was grinning from ear to ear, rather inappropriately Harry thought, but he supposed that it was nice to see at least one person looking happy about the situation.

They shuffled into the boys' dormitory and shut the door behind them. They stood around awkwardly and Harry took a deep breath as he faced them.

"Okay... well," he began, "I guess it's pretty obvious from what happened this afternoon that I'm having a relationship with Draco Malfoy." He met their eyes unflinchingly. No one spoke, so he continued. "And I'm gay, although I guess you probably worked that out..." he trailed off.

"Bloody hell, Harry," Ron broke the silence. "Why the fuck didn't you tell us? That's a pretty big secret to keep to yourself." He sounded angry and hurt.

Harry shrugged. "Which part exactly? I only worked out for sure that I was gay quite recently, and I would have told you eventually. I just wasn't ready." He paused. "And as for Draco, well, that wasn't just my secret to tell."

"But Malfoy?" Ron shuddered visibly. "How could you Harry? He's always been such a total bastard to you. I just don't get it." He shrugged in disbelief.

"He might be a bastard," Seamus chipped in with a smirk, "but he's a sexy bastard. I can see why you'd be tempted Harry."

"Shut up Seamus," growled Ron. "We all know you'll shag anything that moves, male or female... but Harry, seriously, couldn't you find someone other than a Slytherin to experiment with?"

"For goodness sake Ron," Hermione snapped, "you're so blind. Honestly, it's not always just about sex. It's pretty bloody obvious that Malfoy is more to Harry than just a fling." Ron gaped at her and she continued. "It's a lot more than that isn't it?" She looked at Harry intently.

He nodded. "Yes," he met her eyes and took a deep breath, "I love him."

Saying the words out loud made Harry feel lighter somehow. He was still anxious about what the future held but just by admitting his feelings and taking the secrecy away, he already felt that a burden had been lifted.

Hermione smiled at him. "Well I'm happy for you Harry, honestly."

"Thanks 'Mione," he grinned tentatively back. "I think he feels the same... but I'm not sure. We've not really talked about it. I'm worried about how he's going to react to everyone knowing," he said frowning.

"If he cares about you then you'll work it out," she said with confidence.

Harry looked over at his dorm mates to see how they had taken his announcement. Ron was still looking stunned, Dean and Neville mostly embarrassed and Seamus was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Oh well, could be worse I suppose.

"Well bugger me..." Ron said shaking his head slowly and then turned purple as Seamus pissed himself laughing. "Oh bollocks... not like that... you know what I mean, oh fuck off Seamus." He rolled his eyes and looked apologetically at Harry. "Sorry mate, I just can't believe you're in love with the Ferret."

Harry quirked his eyebrows and Hermione elbowed Ron hard in the ribs.

"Ouch... oh yeah... I guess I can't call him that anymore either can I?" he sighed in disgust. "Whatever. You're my friend and I'll get used to it. Just don't expect me to be all matey with him."

"Don't worry Ron, I doubt he'd be too keen on that either," Harry smirked. "I'll settle for frosty civility, do you think you can manage that?"

"I guess," Ron muttered, brows knitted in a frown.

"Right, well... now we've sorted that out, we'd better get ready for dinner," said Hermione briskly, "it's time to go down soon." She approached Harry and gave him a quick hug, whispering softly into his ear. "Don't worry about Ron, he'll come round, he always does."

XOXOXOX

Dinner in the Great Hall was hideous. As soon as Harry entered, all heads turned and a buzz of shocked and gleeful whispering rose from all the tables like a swarm of bees. Harry kept his head down and hurried to his usual place, grateful for his friends who flanked him closely and pretended that nothing unusual was happening.

Despite his intense embarrassment Harry realised he was hungry, so concentrated on eating and did his best to ignore the blatant staring from all sides.

"Pay no attention to them, Harry," Hermione murmured reassuringly. "They'll find something else to gossip about soon enough."

"Yeah," said Ron unexpectedly. "It's not like you and the... I mean, Malfoy, are the first gay couple that Hogwarts have had."

Harry met his eyes, and Ron blushed but his lips twitched into a quick smile. Harry grinned back, touched by the support.

During pudding, Harry finally risked a glance over at the Slytherin table, he couldn't help himself. He wanted to see how Draco's friends were behaving. The sixth-year Slytherins were subdued and talking quietly amongst themselves, but when Harry's eyes reached Zabini, he found the dark boy staring at him. His eyes were furious and when he saw Harry looking at him, his lips thinned and his nostrils flared. Harry looked away and sighed. He feared that Draco's friends might be rather less understanding than his own had been.

When the meal was over, Harry held his head high and marched out of the hall, his friends close by. He turned when he heard a voice call out from behind him.

"Potter!" he recognised Pansy Parkinson's arrogant drawl and tensed as he turned to face her, wand hand at the ready.

Surprisingly, she was alone, not surrounded by cronies as Harry had expected. He raised his eyebrows. "What do you want?"

"I don't know exactly what's going on with you and Draco," she began, "but he's been looking very happy recently... so presumably he really likes you."

She wrinkled her nose and looked Harry disbelievingly up and down. Harry tried not to feel offended. She narrowed her eyes at him and continued.

"Basically Potter – Draco's my friend, and if you hurt him, I'll hex your bollocks off."

"Um... okay," he didn't really know what to say. "I have no plans to do that. Hurt him I mean."

Pansy studied him carefully and he stared back at her. Finally she seemed satisfied. "You actually care about him." It wasn't a question but Harry nodded anyway.

Her lips twisted into a begrudging smile and she nodded at him, then turned and walked away.

XOXOXOX

After dinner Harry went straight back to the hospital wing to sit with Draco again until curfew. There was no change, but Madam Pomfrey maintained that he was doing fine and that there was no need to be concerned.

"He's likely to stay out for the count overnight, but if he wakes my room is just down the hall." She looked at Harry over the top of her glasses. "There are monitoring charms that will pick up any sound over a certain level, so I'll hear if he calls."

Harry sat and stroked Draco's silky hair as the minutes slipped by peacefully. Someone had removed the blonde's Quidditch gear and put him into what Harry assumed were standard hospital pyjamas. He couldn't imagine that Draco's normal night attire would be such conservative white and blue striped flannel. He watched as the Slytherin's chest rose and fell in a gentle rhythm, the pale triangle of his throat almost as white as the pillows beneath him.

When the time came to leave, he touched his lips to Draco's cheek and felt the warm reassuring whisper of his lover's breath against his skin.

Back in his own bed he waited impatiently, trying to judge how long he should leave it before returning. Leaving Draco alone overnight wasn't something he had even considered for a moment.

Once he thought that Madam Pomfrey would be settled in her room for the night, he crept out through the velvet darkness. The Marauder's Map helped him avoid Filch and he made it safely back to the Infirmary without anyone noticing him. Remembering the monitoring charms that Madam Pomfrey had mentioned, he slipped in as quietly as he could. Once he reached Draco's bed he cast a precautionary silencing charm that surrounded the bed. If Draco woke, he wanted to be able to talk to him without fear of discovery.

He gingerly moved Draco over in the narrow bed, shifting his long limbs carefully to make space. Once there was enough room, Harry slid into the bed beside him and lay on his side, holding Draco's hand again, toying with the slender fingers. Harry lay awake for a long time. The moonlight that shone through the window came and went in an unpredictable ever-changing pattern as the moon slid in and out of the clouds. Harry watched as it made silver patterns and shadows come and go on Draco's angular face. Eventually he fell into a dreamless sleep.

XOXOXOX

It was still dark but the moon was lower in the sky when Harry was awakened by Draco stirring. The hand in Harry's twitched and tightened around his fingers and Draco's other hand came up to rub his face. He whimpered as he encountered the bruise.

Harry pushed himself up onto an elbow and tentatively put a hand on the Slytherin's chest.

"Draco," he whispered anxiously. "Are you okay?"

Draco's eyes fluttered open and he jerked, trying to sit up then winced and hissed, collapsing back onto the mattress.

"Where the fuck am I?" he hissed, "and why do I feel as though I've been trampled by a hippogriff?"

"You're in the hospital wing, don't you remember? You were knocked off your broom during the match."

Draco frowned. "No... The last thing I remember is seeing the Snitch and going for it." He shook his head. "Nothing after that."

"A Bludger caught you on the head," Harry explained, "and you fell... a long way..." His voice was tight with remembered pain as he pictured Draco's limp body on the grass.

"It seems I was lucky then," Draco smiled weakly. "I don't feel brilliant, but if I'm here rather than in St Mungo's, I guess it can't be too serious."

"Yes, you needed some bones healing and you've been unconscious for hours, but you're going to be fine." Harry grinned back at him in relief. "You scared the pants off me though."

He leaned over and kissed Draco gently, brushing their lips together softly and running a hand carefully through his fine hair. The Slytherin sighed into the kiss and parted his lips slightly in response.

Harry pulled back, needing to tell Draco the rest before he got distracted. He took a deep breath and screwed up his courage.

"Please don't freak out. But because of what happened today, everyone kind of... um... knows about us now." The words tumbled out in a rush and he stopped, his heart beating fast, watching Draco carefully for his reaction to the news.

"I don't get it..." he frowned. "How does me falling off my broom mean that people know about us?"

"Well," Harry muttered awkwardly, "I kind of panicked when you fell. I think it was pretty obvious by my reaction. The public display of emotion was a bit of a giveaway... I'm really sorry."

Draco smirked, "I would have liked to have seen that." He pulled Harry back down and kissed him again, more firmly this time. "Never mind," he said.

"Really, that's it? You're okay with people knowing?" Harry was surprised.

"Well I suppose it will cause some problems at first," Draco replied. "But it will get rid of some different ones. The sneaking around was getting a bit old, and if we can be seen in public it will be easier to spend more time together, so it's not all bad."

Harry beamed, thrilled at the Slytherin's unexpectedly calm reaction.

"So, how did people take the news?" Draco raised his eyebrows.

"My friends were pretty cool, actually," Harry replied. Then he frowned, "Zabini looked as though he'd like to use an Unforgiveable on me... but Pansy Parkinson was surprisingly reasonable, apart from threatening to hex certain parts of my anatomy if I hurt you."

Draco chuckled. "That's Pansy; she can be an absolute bitch but she's loyal to her friends. I'd take that warning seriously if I were you."

"But what about your parents?" Harry chewed his lip anxiously. "They're bound to hear about this from someone."

"I suppose," Draco's brow furrowed. "But they can't stop me seeing you, so they'll just have to put up with it."

"So..." Harry whispered hesitantly, needing to be sure. "You're absolutely positive that you still want this... us?"

Draco reached over to cup his cheek and his silver eyes burned in the moonlight. "I've never been surer of anything in my life." He slid his hand round and tangled it into Harry's messy hair and tugged gently. "Harry, I love you."

Harry gasped in joyous relief as the words fell from Draco's lips. He rolled over, and pressed their lips together in earnest now, nipping at the plump perfection of Draco's lower lip between kisses as he muttered breathlessly. "Fuck... I love you too. I'm so glad... glad that you're okay... and that you're all right about people knowing."

Draco smiled against his lips. "I'm fine with it, now shut up and kiss me properly!"

Harry complied enthusiastically, and taking the weight on his arms to avoid Draco's sore ribs, he lowered himself over the Slytherin and kissed him as if his life depended on it. Draco shifted his legs allowing Harry to lie between them. Harry felt hands slide up to touch and caress his back under his t-shirt, then move down to tease the sensitive skin just above the elastic of his pyjama bottoms. Harry gasped into Draco's mouth and pushed their hips together. Draco moaned and slid his hands under the layers to grab Harry's arse with both hands, then winced and muttered a muffled ouch against Harry's mouth.

"Shit... sorry," Harry panted. "I keep forgetting you're injured. Should we stop?"

"Injured I may be, but I'm also incredibly horny," Draco grumbled, grinding their erections together.

"Well I think I can help with that." Harry licked his lips. "You just lie still and I'll be gentle."

Draco's eyes gleamed in the soft light and he chuckled. "Don't be too gentle. That part of me is fine, thankfully. It's the other bits that hurt."

Harry wriggled down to kneel between Draco's splayed legs. He undid the buttons of the stripy pyjamas and ran his hands over the pale skin, teasing Draco's nipples until they were hard. He leaned forward and licked them, moving from one to the other, sucking and nipping, until Draco was pushing his hips up and muttering impatiently. Harry grinned and turned his attention lower.

He nosed at the fine line of blonde hair leading down to the waistband of Draco's pyjamas and nuzzled his hard cock through the fabric. Harry could feel wetness soaking through the soft material and could smell the musky scent of arousal. He helped Draco lift his hips and removed the pyjamas and boxers carefully, freeing the Slytherin's beautiful cock. It bobbed against his alabaster belly in the dim bluish light and Harry's mouth watered in anticipation.

When Harry took Draco's cock in his mouth the Slytherin moaned and his hips twitched upwards. Harry smiled around his cock and hummed, sliding his tongue along the ridge and taking him deep, until his nose was tickled by the blonde curls at the base. He moved his mouth up and down, licking and sucking and swirling his tongue around the tip to taste the salty bitterness there. When Draco started to buck his hips and breathe erratically, Harry knew he was getting close. He wrapped one hand around his own aching prick and started to work it frantically.

"Fuck... Harry," Draco gasped. "Are you touching yourself?" Harry hummed again in answer and Draco moaned. "Fuck... I love it when you do that." His voice was hoarse with need. "I love to imagine your hand... pulling at your cock while you suck me."

He broke off and cried out, his body arching off the mattress and Harry felt a twitch as Draco's cock pulsed into his mouth, and tasted the hot spunk at the back of his throat as he swallowed it down. The sensations and sound of his lover's orgasm triggered Harry's own release and he spilled over his hand and the mattress, his mouth still around Draco's cock.

"Thank Merlin for Cleaning Charms," Draco said dryly, making Harry snort with amusement as he pulled off and wiped his hand across his mouth.

"Yes," he agreed. "I don't think Madam Pomfrey would approve of what I've just done to her sheets."

He reached for his wand and sorted out the mess. Then he helped Draco wriggle carefully back into his clothing. Harry slid back into the bed beside his Slytherin and pulled the sheets back over them both. They found a position where he could snuggle without squashing any of Draco's tender ribs and both sighed as they relaxed in to each other's warm embrace.

"I should go soon," Harry said sleepily. "It's starting to get light, I think."

He squinted at the window, the moon was disappearing behind trees now, but the sky seemed to be changing, gradually shifting to a subtly paler shade of blue.

"Mmm," Draco murmured, nuzzling Harry's hair. "Just a little bit longer."

"Okay," Harry couldn't refuse him. Draco's breathing slowed as he dozed off, and the slow rhythmic sound of it pulled Harry with him. They lay, curled together in sleep, dark and blonde hair mingling on the pillow as the pale light of the dawn crept across the silent room.

End of Part 9

A/N: Just to clarify – this is indeed a sixth year AU fic. I didn't make it clear in any author's notes but the clues are dotted around. I'm not really dealing with any shenanigans outside Hogwarts though. Assume that Lucius still a nasty piece of work but Voldemort isn't back from the dead, so although there is tension between the two sides, Draco isn't actually on the opposite side to Harry in something shaping up to be a war.

I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. I'm now pretty sure that there will only be one more, and then an Epilogue. I probably won't be able to get the next part done until after the weekend though, as I have to write my Pornathon entry for the week, and am going away to a festival this weekend. Yay!