Disclaimer: Not Mine.

Notes: Written for aoifene's now cancelled Seven Deadly Sins Angst collection. The prompt I chose is 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.

Enjoy. This one WILL have a happy ending. Promise!

jamie

xxxx

Well pleased with progress on the Potter seduction front, Draco planned several club nights after that. Oddly enough, he felt safe with Potter, even though they were exposed and more vulnerable to attack than if they were holed up in the Manor. But Pansy was right: to hide away was to let them win. Besides, Draco thrived on all the adulation and attention he was receiving from an adoring public, and it all made the threat seem further away.

Draco was even becoming used to having Potter around the Manor. Luckily the other guards were unobtrusive and Draco barely noticed they were there, only when Potter spoke to one of them or said goodnight before turning in. His friends certainly were more relaxed around Potter these days. Blaise and Potter discovered they followed the same Quidditch team, which, surprisingly, wasn't the Canons, as Draco had always assumed. Potter followed the Kestrals. Blaise had followed them forever and once he discovered that Potter was also a fan, the pair of them could often be found deep in conversation about some play or player or something. It was enough to drive Draco mad, being left out, and he interrupted as often as he could.

Potter hadn't made a nuisance of himself while living in the Manor, though Draco was always aware of his presence. It was like the house took visceral pleasure in having Potter there, and it thrummed with energy. Of course, Draco rejected the notion; houses were not sentient; it was quite obvious that the atmosphere was merely heightened with preparations for the ball and all the subsequent activity that entailed.

Draco made a habit of checking on the progress of the decorations in the formal ballroom and was pleased to see that his mother and Pansy had everything well in hand and that the room would look expensively elegant for his birthday.

He was required to stop Blaise from erecting gaudy, lewd signs over each of the tables, though. He didn't think the Minister's wife would appreciate the graphic cartoons that accompanied the old, 'Is that a wand in your pocket or are you just glad to see me', joke.

Potter laughed when he saw them. 'Use Muggle sayings and then no one here will understand them,' he joked to Blaise.

Draco glared at them both. 'If there is even one Muggle joke to be seen on my birthday, Blaise, you will be very sorry indeed. This is important to me, not something you can use to satisfy your juvenile sense of humour.'

'Lighten up, Draco; I was only joking. I understand the dire consequences of embarrassing you on your big night. Pansy has already read me the riot act.' Blaise rolled his eyes.

'Well don't forget it! There's not much more than a month to go. I can have her reiterate the rules if you think you might have forgotten them.'

Blaise held up his hands. Draco noticed Potter watching with interest. 'No, I have them. No need for that.' Blaise smirked. 'Unless she wants to spend another night in my bed. Then she can say whatever she wants and I won't even hear her.'

Potter laughed. 'You and Ron would get along famously.'

'Oh, he wants his head buried between Pansy's legs, too, then?'

'Crass and vulgar; I don't want to hear it.' Draco sneered. 'And you'd better hope I don't tell Pansy that you think she'd like…' Merlin, he couldn't even finish the sentence, it was such an awful thought. 'She's supposed to be our best friend, Blaise; that's just disrespectful.'

'Someone obviously got out of bed on the wrong side this morning,' Blaise said. 'You know I meant nothing by it, it was just…' He sighed. 'I'm sorry, you're right, it was uncalled for.'

'I should make you apologise to her.'

Blaise's eyes widened. 'You wouldn't? She'd eat me for breakfast!'

'And you'd deserve it.'

'You look just like Ron when he knows he's in trouble with Hermione,' Potter interrupted. 'I told you, you two have a lot in common.'

Draco rolled his eyes and walked away. Blaise and Potter continued talking, and Draco fought that weird, horrible feeling of being left out. They could discuss the Weasel by themselves; he'd rather not have anything to do with it. Once Blaise started dating the ginger bits, Draco expected that would deal effectively with their blossoming friendship anyway. It was very hard to retain a friendship with someone after they've stolen your girlfriend.

…..

A few days later, he was making his way to Floo Blaise to check on his progress with the ginger bits, when he heard voices in the room and stopped to listen before entering.

'She told me she doesn't want to see me anymore,' Potter said. 'Not unless I 'exert pressure' on Robards to have someone else assigned to this case.' Draco couldn't see who Potter was speaking to, but the mystery was solved when he heard the Mudblood's voice.

'She's very angry that you're leaving her alone for long periods of time and being seen so much with Malfoy, Harry. You have to admit it's understandable that she be jealous.'

'Jealous of Draco? But why? This is my job.' Potter's protest sounded weak, even to Draco.

'But it's not just a job, is it?'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean that even I've questioned what's going on between you two. You don't look at him like he's a job. You don't dance with him like he's a job.'

There was silence for a moment and because Draco couldn't see what was going on he imagined that Potter might have cut the connection in a fit of temper. He was about to enter the room when Potter spoke again.

'He saved my life.' Potter's voice was quiet, thoughtful. 'I find it hard to treat him as just a victim. Never have been able to.'

'So, what does that mean? Are you friends now?'

'I don't think we'll ever be friends like you and I.'

Thank Merlin for that, Draco thought.

'But you're something, aren't you?'

'He's…' Draco heard a sigh, '…not like I thought he was.'

'I understand protecting him is part of your job, and I understand why the Head Auror assigned you to him around the clock, but even you need time off. You need to find time for Ginny unless you want to lose her.'

'She's asking me to do things I can't do, Hermione. She's asking me to use my name to get what she wants.'

'I thought you would have wanted time off to see her, too.' More silence, which surprised and pleased Draco. He thought Potter would have jumped to agree with the Mudblood.

'I suppose you have to determine what your priorities are right now, and how Malfoy fits in with those.'

'I want this all to have never happened,' Potter muttered. 'But it has, and so now we all have to deal with the consequences. Right at this moment, Draco is my priority, and if Ginny can't see that, then, well, she'll decide what she wants to do about that.'

'Harry, is there something between you and Malfoy?'

'By something, you mean…?'

'Are you falling for him?'

Silence again and Draco held his breath waiting for an answer.

'I-'

But whatever Potter had been about to say was lost as a hand grabbed Draco's arm and he jumped in surprise. When he saw it was Pansy, he motioned her to be quiet but she shook her head and dragged him away and into the lounge.

'What did you do that for? I was listening to a very interesting conversation.'

'You do know that eavesdroppers seldom hear anything good about themselves, don't you?' Pansy asked him

'My luck has obviously changed, then, because Potter was about to tell the Mudblood that he had fallen for me.' Draco was already regretting not having heard exactly what Potter's words were.

Pansy raised an eyebrow. 'Your plan has worked, then, I take it? Haphazard as it's been.'

'What do you mean 'haphazard'?'

'Draco, darling, you had better plans for seducing people when you were twelve than the one you've tried with Potter.' Draco frowned. 'Oh, don't look like that; Potter was always the one who managed to wreck all your plans in the past. Why should this be any different?'

'Except this time I am going to succeed,' Draco hissed. 'That spell was like taking a hit of Felix Felicis. Everything is going according to plan. Everything.'

Apart from the person trying to kill you?'

'Even that. I'm confident that whoever it is will not succeed while I am under the effects of this spell. Oh, I'll let Potter think I am panicking, but I know he'll stop whoever it is and I know the spell will prevent anything bad happening to me.'

'Draco, that spell was only to deflect the love to you, not to protect you. Potter's had more people out to get him in his lifetime than you'll ever have.'

'And yet he's still alive. If I have whatever he has that makes people love him, then I surely have that sort of protection as well, right? It's logical.'

Pansy gave him a doubtful look and shook her head. 'And if I remember correctly, you actually were panicking the night Potter stopped you from eating that dessert.'

'Well…' Draco shifted uncomfortably. 'I was at first, but nothing's happened since.'

'Potter's doing his job well, then? Protecting you?'

'He's adequate.'

'He's more than adequate, Draco,' Pansy said, sighing and moving to the chair near the fire and sitting down.

'What are you talking about? Are you going soft on him all of a sudden?'

'No, I'm not!' She glared at him. 'I know only too well what he was like back then.' Then she sighed again. 'I just think he's changed. Turned his life upside down for you, and we both know he didn't really have to.' She began fidgeting with her hands.

Draco sat beside her and placed one of his hands over hers. 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing.' She smiled at him. 'Not anymore.' She stopped fidgeting.

'Tell me,' he insisted.

'Remember those plans for the new brewery Markus was having trouble getting past the Ministry planning committee?'

'Yes.'

'Potter had something to do with changing their minds, because the approval came through very suddenly and with many apologies.'

'That doesn't mean Potter had anything to do with it.' Draco frowned. 'They may have just decided that as you're associated with me, there was no reason to hold them up any longer.'

Pansy shook her head. 'Darling, that's what we thought, too, until Bromberg from the planning committee cornered Markus in his office one day and told him to be thankful he had friends like Potter to smooth the way for him.'

'That's just Potter sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong again,' Draco said.

Shrugging, Pansy smiled. 'Regardless, he didn't have to do anything, and we wouldn't have even known had Bromberg not mentioned it.'

'You are going soft on him,' Draco accused.

'No, Draco. I just think he's different than I thought and…and I've seen the way he looks at you. Maybe it's not such a good idea to–'

'Oh, no, I'm not backing out now. I've got him right where I want him, and–'

'Will you listen to yourself?' She took a deep breath, and Draco glared at her. 'Have you ever thought that it may be only because of the spell that Potter seems to like you? Where will the victory be if it's not really Potter that falls for you, merely the effects of the spell?'

'He'll still be broken, regardless,' Draco hissed. 'That was the point of seducing him, if you'll recall.'

Pansy held up her hands. 'Just be careful.' She put her arms around his waist and hugged him. 'Things have a habit of backfiring on you, Draco.'

'I'll be fine, Pansy.' He hugged her back. 'Don't worry about me: you'll get wrinkles,' he said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Everything was going according to plan, and Draco didn't want his best friend in a sombre mood.

Pansy nodded against his chest. He stroked her hair. 'Hey, how about coming to the photo shoot today with me?'

She looked up at him, a faint smile on her face. 'You mean I get to ogle all the other pretty boys in line for the Most Charming Smile Award?'

'You can ogle to your heart's content,' he promised.

'I should probably be there anyway, as your Manager.'

Draco was pleased to see the animation coming back into her face. 'Good. Markus can do without you for an afternoon. He'll be busy with his brewery plans anyway, won't he?'

'Markus, who?' she joked and hugged him again.

They laughed as they pulled apart. Potter walked in, looking like a thundercloud.

'What's wrong with you?' Draco asked, careful to ensure he didn't gloat over what he'd heard.

'Nothing,' Potter replied.

'You don't normally look like you could strip a Hippogriff back to bone with just your eyes,' Draco argued.

Potter's reaction wasn't what Draco expected it to be.

'It's nothing important,' Potter said after taking a few deep breaths. Potter's actions surprised Draco; he'd expected Potter to let fly with that temper of his. Part of Draco wanted that; wanted to feel the flare of something hot and slick in his belly that had ignited the last time he'd fought with Potter. Wanted to plunge into the depths of those angry eyes once more.

But after what Pansy had just told him, he had an unaccustomed pang of sympathy for the man and decided to let things lie. He'd leave Potter to his misery over the ginger bits and divert him with something much more tempting; something that would be of more lasting benefit to Draco than a fleeting brush with arousal.

'Of course not,' he said cheerfully. 'I have the perfect distraction. Pansy is coming with us to the photo shoot. She can keep you company while I am fussed over, made to look even more glamorous and then photographed.'

Pansy gave Draco a knowing smile and hooked her arm through his.

'Better you than me,' Potter said, managing a smile.

Speaking to Blaise could wait. It looked like the ginger bits was going to dump the Golden Boy without any further interference - on Blaise's part, anyway.

…..

Having a professional dresser had its merits, Draco thought, as the woman fussed over every aspect of his presentation. He'd given up using the house-elves to dress him years ago when one of them tried to dress him as a carbon copy of that fruitcake Lockhart, complete with lavender robes.

Much as he liked wizarding robes and wore them religiously for formal functions, he appreciated how much more of him was visible in Muggle clothing. In the current political climate, where many Muggle ideas were being happily integrated into wizarding society, Draco was satisfied that his image would only be heightened with his obvious acceptance of this new trend. Not to mention he looked damned sexy in the black trousers, white shirt and soft grey cashmere jumper chosen by the dresser. With his hair tousled just so, leaving a few strands flopping down over his eyes, even the mirror whistled.

Seeing Potter openly watching him in the reflection of the mirror only made Draco preen further under the attention. He gave Potter one of his glorious smiles, gratified when Potter reacted by blinking and looking away.

'You should dress like this more often,' Darcy, the dresser, informed him with a final check of his outfit, before heading out of the dressing room in a cloud of accessories and pins.

'I might have to,' Draco said mostly to himself, turning in front of the mirror and checking out his own arse, which he had to admit looked hot in the trousers. 'What do you think, Harry?' he asked.

'You wear Muggle clothes well,' Potter said carefully.

Draco caught Pansy's eye and they grinned at each other.

'If you two boys don't need me, I'll be off to see what the competition is like,' Pansy said.

'By all means,' Draco replied. 'I'm sure Harry will keep an eye on me.' Draco would be happy if both of Potter's eyes remained glued to his arse.

'That is my job, Draco,' Potter replied.

Pansy moved close to kiss Draco on the cheek. She whispered in his ear, 'You look divine, darling, and you positively glow under Harry's attention. Perhaps his attention is what you were after all along.'

Draco scowled. 'I have no idea what you're talking about.'

She patted his arm. 'No scowling, now, Draco; I'm merely making an observation. You seem to come alive when he looks at you.'

Draco pulled his arm free. 'You're talking nonsense! Go and ogle the other competitors.' He frowned and gave her a gentle push. 'Go on, before I tell them all that you own a purple dildo.'

Pansy laughed and moved away. 'I hardly think anyone would be surprised, considering who I'm married to.'

Draco sighed as she walked away, hating any reminder of the man Pansy had been required to marry. It wasn't as if Markus was particularly cruel or horrid to Pansy. On the contrary, he was fairly easy going and let Pansy have as much freedom to visit with her friends as she liked. It was just that he was wrong for her and she didn't love him.

As he turned back to the mirror he caught Potter still watching him. 'Taking your job a bit too seriously, aren't you?' he asked. Potter didn't even have a smile on his face.

'I don't need to smile to do my job.'

Draco folded his arms and glared at Potter. 'Well, do you think you could try? For fuck's sake, I am having photographs taken for the Most Charming Smile Award, and I don't feel like fucking smiling anymore.'

'What did Pansy say to you? You were all right before then.' Potter frowned.

'None of your business,' Draco retorted.

'Mr Malfoy, they're ready for you,' Darcy said, popping her head back in through the door.

'Thanks, Darcy,' Draco replied. 'Come on, Harry; relax and see if you can make me smile again.' Draco dragged Potter by the elbow along the short hallway to the studio where cameras and lights were set up for the photographs.

'Glad it's you having all these photos taken and not me,' Potter said, sounding cheerful at the fact that he hadn't been nominated for the Most Charming Smile Award this year.

'I would have thought you loved all the attention, Harry,' Draco replied, careful not to let the sneer he was feeling enter the tone in his voice.

Potter grinned. 'I keep telling you that you don't know me very well, but you never believe me.'

Draco snorted. 'You loved the attention in school.'

Potter shook his head. 'Whatever gave you that idea?'

'How about because you were always in the newspapers, and always attracting attention to yourself?'

The photographer walked over and introduced himself as Philippe, interrupting their discussion. Draco barely restrained himself from laughing, as Phillippe had the biggest, most grotesquely shaped nose he'd ever seen. It was worse than Snape's and that was saying something.

Instead, he took Phillippe's proffered hand and shook it. The man had a surprisingly firm grasp. 'Draco, lovely to meet you; we're just about ready. Why don't you go and make yourself comfortable on the couch over there. Thought we'd choose a setting most people identify with for you. Make them feel like you're just one of them, like the boy next door.' Phillippe grinned at Draco and his nose morphed into an even weirder shape.

Draco merely nodded, remembering his manners. Obviously, the man knew what he was doing. If Draco had any residual elitism issues with the public, this setting would soon dissolve them. Of, course if any one of his friends dared call him the boy next door to his face, Draco would not be responsible for the hexes they'd suffer.

He headed to the cream-coloured couch, which was set against a backdrop depicting French doors leading out to a Spring garden full of flowers. It reminded him of his mother's gardens at the Manor.

When he was settled, he looked around and found Phillippe playing with some equipment behind the camera. He also found Potter standing to one side, watching proceedings with a smile on his face.

Draco rolled his eyes. 'What are you smiling at?'

'Just wondered if Phillippe is any relation to Snape,' Potter said quietly, his eyes glowing with mischief.

Draco chuckled. 'I think if he heard you, he'd be rolling over in his grave.'

'I could tell his portrait.' Potter laughed. 'Minerva would thank me every day until she died.'

'Why's that?'

'Because Snape would work himself into such a snit; he'd go and sulk in his portrait in the dungeons and scare the first years stupid, instead of hanging around in her office annoying her all day.'

Draco laughed. 'Who'd have ever thought Severus would become such a curmudgeon?'

'You're joking, right?' Potter asked. 'Snape was always a grumpy old sod.'

'To you lot maybe; to us he was like a rock. We relied on him for everything,' Draco said, smiling in remembrance.

'I will admit, he was one person I could always trust to make sure I kept my feet on the ground,' Potter admitted. 'There was never a danger of me believing my own publicity while he was around; he made sure to remind me how useless I was at every opportunity.'

'Good old Severus,' Draco replied, grinning.

Potter rolled his eyes and Draco laughed.

'By the way,' Potter said. 'I've always hated the attention I've received over the years. You believed whatever was written about me. Or worse - believed what Lockhart said about me. Man didn't know how to sign his own name,' Potter joked. 'Had me up on detention until midnight one night addressing his envelopes. He spelled a quill to sign all his autographs! Spent the whole night telling me his life story. Man's as boring as watching paint dry. Never could believe a word he said.'

Draco laughed again; a rich, deep laugh. Who knew Potter had such a sense of humour? And who knew that Draco'd be enjoying himself, having a discussion with Potter about something other than security arrangements?

In the background, he could hear the camera clicking away. He turned to look at it, but Phillippe shook his head and said, 'No, continue with what you were doing. You look stunning like this.'

Draco continued his conversation with Potter for several more minutes, where he found out that Granger had spent half her summer reading Lockhart's books, and that she wasn't even embarrassed to know all the answers to Lockhart's quiz about himself.

Their conversation was interspersed with murmured comments like, 'pure gold,' and, 'oh, now that's a lovely picture,' from Phillippe, but Draco ignored them other than to feel rather smug that his pictures were going to be so good. Maybe he'd have some extras printed to hand out to fans.

As soon as he thought that, he changed his mind. Handing out autographed pictures of oneself was a little too much like Lockhart for Draco's liking. Besides, Draco was above that sort of thing.

Phillippe eventually called a halt to proceedings and Pansy stepped out from behind Potter. Draco hadn't seen her the entire time; she must have been off checking out some of the others.

'You just missed it,' Draco said, smiling. 'We're done here, I think.'

'Oh, I didn't miss a thing, darling.' She leaned in and pecked his cheek, then whispered in his ear, 'I stand by what I said before. I have never seen you take such a gorgeous picture, Draco.'

'It's because Phillippe is a professional, Pansy; that's all.' Draco scowled, wishing she would just give it up already.

'Whatever you say, darling.'

Draco could hear that she was humouring him and huffed silently. He headed to the dressing room to change back into his own clothes. Fortunately, Potter hadn't overheard. The last thing Draco needed was Potter with delusions that Draco liked him or something.

Draco was glad that his mother couldn't read his thoughts, because the hypocrisy of that statement would have her looking for the naughty stick she'd used to punish him with when he was a child.