Disclaimer: Not Mine

Author's Notes:

Originally written for aoifene's cancelled Seven Deadly Sins Angst collection. The prompt I chose was Envy. Thanks to aoifene, weasleywench and nocturnali for their unwavering support and encouragement. The title is a line from Dante's The Divine Comedy: Purgatory, Canto XIII. Translated by The Rev. H. F. Cary, M.A.

Thanks for all the lovely reviews, I appreciate you letting me know what you think. This story is a bit of a departure for me - Draco is a lot more calculating than I normally write him and less nice to Harry, BUT as we all know things will change and I will write a happy ending. Promise.

Enjoy.

jamie

xxxx

By the time they arrived at the Manor, Draco was buoyed up by the adoration of the press. The change in tide brought a smile to Draco's face; one large enough to chase his unfortunate aches from his thoughts.

The sight of his mother waiting for him gave him pause. In the tumultuous events of the last two days, he'd been remiss in ensuring that his mother had been regularly kept up to date about his condition.

'Draco, you're home.' She took him in her arms. 'I was so worried about you. I could not bear to lose you.' Her voice carried a soft rebuke, but the overriding emotion was one of utter relief.

He allowed himself be held, inhaling her soft perfume, letting it remind him that she was fragility lined with an inner core of strength that had kept them both alive during Voldemort's occupation of their house. 'I'm sorry for worrying you, Mother. There were just so many things happening.' He knew that was no excuse, though.

'Pansy kept me up to date on how you were doing.' She drew back enough to look up into his eyes, and smiled at him. 'What on earth made you do something as dangerous as that?'

'It was really over before I knew it,' Draco replied. Which wasn't a lie. He hoped that his mother's legendary ability to spot one of his lies or omissions a mile away would refrain from making an appearance this time.

She gave him a searching look and then nodded. 'Well, I am very proud of you, but you need to be careful; you're all I have left.'

He would give anything to prevent her worrying about him. Her life had been curtailed enough. 'Trust me,' he whispered. 'I'm going to be very careful.'

A soft cough from behind startled him and he swung his head around sharply. In all the elation, he'd completely forgotten Potter had tagged along. He scowled as he realised Potter would have seen his touching reunion with his mother. He was about to say something, when Potter spoke instead.

'He'll be protected around the clock, Mrs Malfoy. I'll make sure of that.'

Draco was torn between wanting to strangle Potter for interrupting, and comforting his mother. She had pulled back entirely, with a question looming large in her eyes. He gently took her arm. 'Come, Mother, we'll go and sit in the lounge.'

'Don't try and distract me, Draco.' She extracted herself from his hold and gripped his forearms tightly. 'You'll tell me what's going on right now.'

'Mother–'

'Perhaps I can answer that,' Potter said.

Narcissa turned towards Potter, leaving Draco's arms free, although the press of her fingers into his flesh had left impressions. She seemed to gather herself.

'Mr Potter, forgive my rudeness, I have not welcomed you to the Manor appropriately. Please allow me to offer my apologies.'

Draco snorted. 'Mother, he's not a guest here; you don't need to stand on ceremony. He is the–' Draco paused.

'Nonsense. There is never any excuse for bad manners, Draco, and you would do well to remember that.' She held out her hand to Potter. 'Welcome, Mr Potter.'

Potter took the proffered hand and gave a slight bow as he shook it. 'Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.'

Draco wondered how Potter could say that with a straight face. The last time Potter had been in Malfoy Manor, he'd been thrown in the dungeon and Draco's Aunt Bella had tortured the Mudblood.

'Please, come through to the lounge, and you may tell me exactly what has happened that my son requires protection.'

Draco reluctantly took his mother's arm once more and led the way to the lounge. He sat her down in her favourite chair and stood stiffly beside her.

'Please sit, Mister Potter,' she said graciously. Potter glanced at Draco and sat opposite her. 'Would you like a drink?'

'Mother, Potter does not require a drink,' Draco said. He earned himself a frown from his mother.

'No, nothing thanks. This won't take a moment, and then I'll leave you alone.'

'Very well.'

Potter smiled at Narcissa. 'I assume you're aware that Draco stepped in front of a spell that was meant for me,' he started.

'I was. Pansy informed me of my son's…bravery.'

One of Potter's hands slipped through his hair. 'It was a very brave thing to do and I'm extremely grateful. Unfortunately, the person who cast the curse is still at large, and we think there's a chance Draco might be in danger because he prevented the attack from being successful.'

To his mother's credit, she did not show any further outward displays of anxiety; however, Draco knew her and saw the faint clenching of her jaw. Then she asked the question that, had Draco been thinking straight, he would have asked much earlier.

'Do you have any idea why this person would want to curse you?'

'Not at this stage, but we aren't sure that he wanted to kill me as, obviously, Draco survived.' Draco saw his mother flinch. 'Which makes his gesture even more remarkable. He had no idea what the spell was; it could have been one that killed him outright.'

Draco grimaced, wondering just how close he'd come to dying. Potter continued.

'It could be a disgruntled ex-Death Eater. I know things haven't been ideal for you since…since the war.'

A look passed between Draco and his mother.

'And what sort of protection are you offering my son?'

'There will be an Auror stationed here who will accompany Draco whenever he leaves the Manor, and I've told him that I will be on call if he needs me at any time. It's the least I can do.'

'I see.'

'Mother.' Draco reached for her hand. 'I will be safe. Please, I don't want you to worry about me. Potter has promised that he will not let anything happen to me.'

His mother shot Draco a look and lowered her voice. 'But will Mr Potter jump in front of a curse for the likes of us?'

'Yes, of course I would.'

Draco felt the tension in his mother's hand relax a little, and noticed that she looked at Potter as if she'd just found a new friend. Draco mentally groaned.

'I'm sure there will be no need for that,' he said, wishing Potter would just leave.

Instead, Potter just smiled ridiculously. 'Isn't that what friends do?'

'We're hardly friends, Potter.'

'But we could be. I've often wondered about you since the war, and when I saw you the other week, I wished we could've gone for a drink or something. It's about time we all move on from our school days.'

'I couldn't agree more, Mr Potter.' His mother smiled warmly. Damn it, Potter has even charmed Mother.

He sat down reluctantly and wondered how best to use this to his advantage. 'I suppose that saving your life does make us something other than enemies,' he admitted, forcing a pleasant tone.

'Good,' Potter replied, flashing Draco that smile he'd seen blazoned across so many newspapers. Draco smiled in return and decided that a smile had a lot going for it, so he should practice getting it just right for his own publicity.

Potter stood and approached Narcissa. 'Well, it was a pleasure to meet you under much more amicable circumstances than when we last met,' he said. 'No, don't stand, I can see myself out.' He turned to Draco. 'Draco, once again, thank you, and if you ever need anything, just Floo. I've added you to my network.'

Draco winced inwardly at hearing his name coming from Potter's mouth but he knew he'd have to get used to it. He nodded and called the house-elf to show Potter out.

After Potter left, Draco settled back in his chair, able to relax for the first time since the 'incident'. He barely paid attention to his mother, now taking the opportunity to berate him for doing something so dangerous, but being philosophical about just whom he'd put his life in danger for.

'Does it seem strange to you, Draco, that our lives and Mr Potter's seem to be intertwined to such a degree?' she asked.

Draco looked at his mother. 'How do you mean?'

'It can't have escaped your notice that someone from this family has saved his life on several occasions, nor that he has saved yours more than once.'

'I have to say that I rarely think about Potter,' Draco lied. He ignored her raised eyebrow and changed the subject. 'Mother, how would you like to be reintroduced to society?' he asked. 'To once more host a function attended by the who's who of wizarding society? You would be in your element.'

'What are you talking about?'

He could see the thinly-veiled hope in her eyes; she missed it and, in truth, she was a natural at it: her elegance and beauty had made her a sought-after guest at many a function. Before the war.

Just as he was about to speak, the house-elf announced Pansy.

'Draco, darling,' Pansy exclaimed, walking directly to him and kissing him on the cheek before turning to Narcissa and smiling. 'Narcissa, lovely to see you. How are you?'

'Pansy, dear, what a lovely surprise.'

'What are you doing here?' Draco asked, not displeased to see her.

'I've come to sort out your public engagements for the …foreseeable future.' She grinned and sat down.

'I have public engagements?' A smile worked its way onto his face.

Pansy nodded. 'Everybody is clamouring to have you attend their functions. Seeing as you're a hero now.'

'But how…?'

'I just casually let it drop that I was going to be the one to handle all your engagements from now on, and they've been pouring in. You could do anything from attending this year's Wizard of the Year gala, to making a keynote speech at the AV dinner.'

Draco's mouth dropped open. To be asked to speak at the dinner held on the anniversary of the defeat of Voldemort, was an honour previously only bestowed upon those from the Order of the Phoenix.

Pansy continued, 'You could also agree to escort several young girls to their first ball. Or boys.' She smirked. 'Which I think you'd enjoy more.'

'Pansy!' Draco exclaimed.

'Well, it's true,' she said, waving him off.

His mother just looked on in amusement. It was no secret among his family and close friends, well, Pansy and Blaise anyway, that Draco preferred male company, but it was not common knowledge outside this group. No reason it should be; he'd tried to keep it as quiet as possible in order to avoid further risk in the current climate.

'You have several offers of marriage and–'

'What?'

Pansy laughed. 'I know. Fickle public. One minute they're spitting on you or hexing you to within an inch of your life and the next they want to embrace you into the bosom of their family.'

Draco snorted. 'I suspect they're probably after the money. I think you can politely refuse all offers of marriage.'

'Imagine the publicity, Draco,' she teased. Even his mother joined in.

'And one day, grandchildren.'

He looked at her in horror. 'No way in hell, Mother, so you can clear that little item off your agenda. I'm quite happy being single, thank you very much. Besides, I'd have to marry a woman for that, and–' He shuddered.

Pansy whacked his arm playfully. 'No need to be so disgusted by women. You are in the company of two, you know.'

'Ouch! Hero here.' He rubbed his arm. 'I am still in some pain I'll have you know.'

'I can have Pippy get you something,' his mother said.

'No, I'm all right. Can we change the subject now, though? Pans, make amends by telling mother about the Ball we're planning.'

Pansy did just that, and Draco smiled as he watched some life and excitement come back into this mother's eyes. He was glad that things were not only going to change for himself, but for her, too.

There was nothing he wanted more than for her to be as happy and as lively as she had been while he was growing up.

….

The next several days swept past in a whirlwind of colours and people, most of whom were strangers. Draco barely had time to wonder at the differences in his life. After several more interviews with newspapers and Witch Weekly, which predicted he would be the front runner in their Most Charming Smile award, Draco realised once more the power of a killer smile and practised it at every opportunity.

Some days, by the time he arrived home, his face ached. Still, he thought it a small price to pay for rapidly becoming the wizarding world's favourite son.

It helped that Potter cheerfully stepped out of the limelight, or was shoved aside in the public's rush to speak with Draco. In fact, it seemed to Draco that it was generally only the sober, conservative news that continued reporting Potter's activities. Even those would soon prefer to write about him.

The fifth of June was chosen as the date for the ball, deliberately selected because it was his birthday. It was after the AV dinner, rather than before. As there seemed to be no let up in the number of people who wanted Draco to appear at functions, he supposed that he'd be able to maintain the momentum of his popularity until after the anniversary celebrations. The later date gave them more time to prepare. They had just shy of five months.

'You do realise that's your birthday, don't you?' Pansy asked.

'Of course,' Draco replied, grinning as he poured Pansy a drink and handed it to her.

He was astounded by his own intelligence at times. Brilliant, he was.

Pansy curled up on the couch with her drink after setting aside the sheaf of papers she'd been jotting notes on. 'And this is a good thing, why?'

'Because, Pansy, my dear, we'll announce it as a birthday bash to end all bashes, with not only the proceeds from the ticket sales and the evening going to charity, but also ask that anyone inclined to give presents should make a charitable donation instead.'

Pansy laughed. 'I never thought I'd see the day when Draco Malfoy gave up presents on his birthday. Diabolical, Draco.'

'I have my moments.' He smirked into his drink.

'They'll eat it up.'

'That's the idea. I can afford to forgo what would probably end up being mountains of useless gifts for one year. Besides, there will still be those who insist on making sure the birthday boy has some reward for his generosity.'

It was really more for practical reasons that Draco had suggested it. From the mountains of letters he received each day, Draco could see that when his birthday rolled around, he'd be inundated with trite, pointless, cheap gifts that he had no use for. He'd end up throwing them away.

He could earn more publicity by donating them to some charity, but he knew that sometimes people felt insulted if you gave away a gift they had chosen for you. He'd learned that in school when presented with a hand-drawn picture of himself exiting the bathroom clad only in a towel by an infatuated Theo Nott. Draco had thanked him nicely, as it was a rather lovely picture, and then had promptly given it to Blaise, whom he'd been trying to coerce for months away from girls and into his bed. Blaise had eventually succumbed of course, but Theo had become rather aggressive after that, and Draco had been forced to resort to several Stinging Hexes to make him desist.

'All we need now is a deserving charity,' Pansy said. 'Have you spoken to Potter yet?'

'Not yet; he's been rather absent the last few days. Something that I need to rectify as soon as possible. Potter's the one who put me in danger; he's the one who should shoulder the majority of the burden of protecting me.' Draco frowned.

'To be fair, he's in as much danger as you, Draco, and maybe he's making himself a smaller target by staying out of the way.'

Draco shook his head. 'Well, he doesn't get to do that. This is his fault; where does he get off being a coward?' Draco stood and stormed to the fireplace and made a Floo-call to Potter.

'Potter!' he called, interrupting Potter and the girl Weasel in mid-snog.

Potter pulled away from ginger bits and turned his shocked gaze to Draco. 'Draco? What do you want?'

Draco ignored the furious look on the ginger bits' face and looked at Potter instead. 'I need you to come to the Manor.'

'Now?' Potter asked, alternating looks between Draco and ginger bits.

'Yes, now, Potter, or I would have sent an owl inviting you for tea tomorrow afternoon.'

'Of course' I'll be there in a moment.' Potter gave Draco a smile and then turned back to ginger bits, who was about to let fly with some invective or other. Draco really didn't want to hang around to see that, but as he was pulling away from the fire, he distinctly heard ginger bits tell Potter that if he went then he'd be sleeping on the couch tonight. Ha! Served Potter right. Draco didn't care. It was about time Potter started fulfilling his duty properly instead of passing it off onto someone else.

When he pulled away, he turned back to Pansy and snickered. 'I think Potter is in the dog house with the girl weasel.'

'Something else he'll have you to be thankful for,' Pansy said, grinning.

He hadn't thought of that, but Pansy was right.

'Maybe if you play your cards right,' she continued, 'you could get him on his knees in front of you, sucking your–'

'Don't even go there; you'll give me nightmares for a month.'

'You'd love it, Draco. For as long as you've known Potter, you've wanted to get one up on him. What better way than to have him on his knees?'

Once he overcame his shock at the suggestion, Draco had to agree that her idea had its merits. He could see it now, the Chosen One on his knees, servicing an ex-Death Eater. How the mighty would have fallen.

Draco laughed just as his mother walked into the room.

'Is this a private joke or can anyone join in?' she asked, smiling at both of them.

'Nothing important, Mother,' Draco responded, giving his mother a warm smile. 'We're just waiting for Potter to arrive so we can choose a charity to be the recipient of the proceeds from the ball.'

'I see. Have you settled on a date yet?'

Draco nodded and advised her of the date; then explained how it would work to their advantage. By the time they'd finished discussing that, Pippy was showing Potter in.

'Glad you could join us, Potter,' Draco said, deliberately raking his eyes up and down Potter's body.

He didn't miss the slight falter in Potter's step and smirked a little. Having Potter on his knees might not be such an ordeal after all.

'Narcissa, Pansy,' Potter greeted the ladies easily, then turned to Draco. 'I said I'd come when you needed me, so what do you need?' Potter smiled and his eyes flashed amusement. Not so easy to embarrass, then, Draco acknowledged.

'We're planning a big charity ball for my birthday in June, and we thought you might like to choose the recipient of the proceeds,' Draco explained.

Potter raised his eyebrows. 'You're hosting a charity ball?'

Draco frowned. 'I think that's what I said, Potter, or are you deaf?'

'No, I heard you,' Potter replied, grinning. 'Just never thought you'd be one to do anything for charity.'

'Conditions have hardly been conducive towards me doing anything in the public eye the last few years, have they?' Draco sneered. Bloody self-righteous git. He really had no idea how they'd had to survive, had he?

Potter held his hands up in apology. 'I'm sorry; I had no right to say that.'

'The Malfoy name was always associated with several major charities. Since the end of the war, we have had great difficulty getting them to accept our donations. They're of the opinion that we are trying to curry favour, or want something in return,' Draco's mother said.

Silence hung around them for several moments before Potter sighed. 'I really hate the way you've been treated and I'm sorry. I'll help out however I can.'

'Just tell us what charity you'd like the money to go to and we're done,' Draco snapped.

'Draco–'

'Haven't I told you never to call me that? Merlin, you really are that thick, aren't you? You wander around with your bloody groupies, totally ignorant of what the fuck goes on and then you have the gall to come in here and–'

'Draco!' his mother cried out. 'That is enough! Mister Potter is not responsible for the behaviour of everyone. Besides, things are changing now. We can shop unmolested.'

Draco sighed, subsiding. 'Just don't think you know me, Potter; you have no idea who I am.'

'I could say the same about you, Malfoy, but how about we try to get along? If I'm going to be spending time with you, then we should at least make the effort, don't you think?'

Potter was right, and Draco knew it. He glanced at Pansy, who was trying desperately to withhold the sharp bark of laughter that was her trademark. She mouthed 'on his knees.' The corners of Draco's mouth twitched upwards and he shook his head, letting the smile come.

'Fine, I'll play nice,' he said, glancing at Potter again. 'You can accompany me to this book launch of Lovegood's this evening. In the interests of getting to know each other, of course.'

Lovegood had written a fantasy novel, which, unsurprisingly, included several of the rather odd creatures she'd spouted off about during their Hogwarts days. Draco had not planned on attending, having never had much time for the crazy witch, but in the interests of friendship… Of course.

Potter baulked. 'I can't; I'm already taking Ginny. It's been arranged.'

A bonus! Tension between Potter and the ginger bits!

Draco sighed. 'Well, it's a bit late for me to organise another escort now.'

Pansy piped up helpfully, flashing Draco a smirk in the process, 'Who's the guard on tonight? You could take him.'

'Buckham?' Draco laughed. 'No, I don't think so. I can't be seen being escorted by the help, Pansy.' He sighed again. 'I suppose I'll just have to let Lovegood know that I am unable to attend.'

'What about Pansy?' Potter asked. 'You could take her.'

Pansy stifled another giggle, and Draco sent her a glare. 'No, Potter, I could not be escorted by Pansy: her husband would have something to say about that.'

'But if you just go as friends…'

'Merlin, Pans, he really is dense, isn't he?' Draco shook his head.

'He's a Gryffindor, darling; you must take that into account. I suspect that in that house full of big, brave, noble heroes with all that excess testosterone floating around, if any one of them hinted at preferring co– boys, they'd have been thrown out.' Draco was thankful Pansy altered her language; he didn't think his mother would appreciate the original word she'd been about to use.

'You're…'

'Gay, yes, Potter. Hence looking for a male escort to this function.'

'But I'm not. How–?'

'Because you're Harry Potter, and I saved your life: I think you can do me this one favour,' Draco insisted.

Potter frowned stiffly but after several moments his shoulders sagged. 'Ginny will kill me,' he said, then glared at Draco. 'No…' Potter waved his arms around, '…gay stuff.'

A bark of laughter escaped Draco. 'No…gay stuff… as you so eloquently put it. I am merely after an escort for the night, not a date, Potter.'

'Still don't see why you couldn't take your mother,' Potter grumbled.

'I'll expect you here at eight, dressed in full dress robes.'

'Fine,' Potter said. 'Now what was this about a charity?'

'We'd like you to choose who is to receive the proceeds from the Ball,' Pansy said. 'Your name associated with the ball and the charity will help raise money.'

Potter nodded his ready acceptance. 'There's an orphanage still operating south of London. They could use the money. I had planned on running some sort of auction for them, but the ball will be good; I'm sure they'll appreciate it.'

'Is that St. Hilda's?' Narcissa asked. Potter nodded. 'Good, I know the one. The Head there used to be a friend of my family. Perhaps we can become reacquainted.'

'If that's all?' Potter asked, still looking disgruntled.

Draco really felt like tormenting him some more but told himself to be patient. There would be plenty of time.

'No, that's it. I'll see you back here at eight.'

By the time Potter left, Pansy and his mother were chatting away amicably, adding a number of things to the ball to do list.

~tbc~