Part Two
((Sorry this didn't get posted yesterday, college has been handing me my own arse. I hope you all enjoy this!))
The morning light it him in the face, and Harry moaned, rolling over on the cold floor. He reached into his pocket and cast a tempus charm, watching it flash the time three times before he swore. It was already noon. He hurried to the bathroom and took a quick shower before apparating straight out of his bedroom, still straightening his tie.
He hurried along the driveway to the white house and reached up to knock before the door opened before his fist. "Morning Potter." Malfoy drawled, "I didn't expect you to be quite this giving when I asked a favor. In fact, I rather expected you an hour ago."
Harry groaned, setting a hand to his head. Between Malfoy's over loud voice and the too bright sun, his brain felt like it was about to seep out of his ears. He followed the man into the house and nearly tripped over an animated stuffed dragon, who glared at him reproachfully before moving on its way.
"Take a seat." Malfoy instructed, having led Harry to the kitchen. It was just as much of a mess today as it was yesterday, but now it was filled with children hurrying to and fro, whining at Malfoy about a snack or a drink.
"Just a moment Marigold, I have to fetch our guest here something first." Harry heard Malfoy say, patting a redheaded girl on the head before hurrying out of the room.
"Uncle Harry!" Teddy screeched, and threw himself on the man. Harry tried to plaster a grin on his face, but had a feeling it was more of a grimace. "Are you here to play with us? Ms. Brown hasn't gotten here yet, Malfoy says she tends to be nervous around this time of the month, but I don't know what that means."
Harry blushed, having a fairly good idea what Malfoy meant before he noticed someone standing in the shadow of the door way. His wand was out and trained on the figure before he recognized the untamed masses of hair.
"Lavender?" He asked, dropping his wand a bit. The woman moved forward, her hair swept down one side of her face and neck, and she seemed to shutter in the light.
"Hi Ms. Brown!" Teddy grinned, throwing himself on the girls legs. Lavender let a smile touch her lips and she bent down to stroke the boy's head. As she did a bit of her hair moved away and Harry felt a well of pity rise up in him. Her face was ruined, scarred beyond recognition. He wondered what could have done that, but then he thought back to the Battle of Hogwarts. Greyback. His mind hurried to the date before he sucked in a deep breath. Tonight was the night of the full moon. Lavender had been changed.
"Figure it out yet Harry?" The woman asked, straightening up. Her voice was a little more coarse, but that had happened to Lupin this time of month as well. "Going to turn me in then? I know the Auror's like to keep a tight watch on my kind. They wouldn't approve to know I was working here. They wouldn't approve to know I was working at all."
Harry shook his head, dumbfounded.
"N-no. I won't tell anyone." He said honestly, watching as the children hurried over to the woman. She smiled at them kindly, and one of the little girls grabbed her hair, pulling it off of her face and giving her a kiss on her scarred cheek.
"Lavender! Lavender there you are, Malfoy had me hol- Oh… Hello Mr. Potter." A small dark haired woman came into view behind Lavender and Harry frowned, not knowing her.
"Astoria." Lavender smiled, straightening. "You have my potion then?"
"Yes of course." The woman grinned, handing off the wolfs bane potion Lavender, who swallowed it down anxiously. "D-Malfoy said he'd be right back Mr. Potter. It's been an awfully busy morning."
"Astoria! Lavender!" The shrill voice of Andromeda rang out from the other room and Harry winced, setting a hand to his temple.
"Good bye Mr. Potter." Astoria said with a slight bow before taking off. Lavender just looked him over once more before huffing off as well. Teddy giggled a bit and snuggled back into Harry's lap.
"They're so funny." He giggled. Harry patted the boy's hair, it was blue currently, and nodded absently. A moment later Malfoy hurried into the room and tossed a potion at Harry.
"It won't do for you to be hung over where we're going. Drink up and then we'll be off." Malfoy muttered and cast a few scourgifying spells on the room, but it barely made a dent in the mess.
"Uncle Draco, are you going to see Uncle Charlie today?" Teddy asked as Harry drank the potion around the mop of now neon yellow hair.
"Yes, so I want you to be on your best behavior, and if you are, I'll bring you back a present." Malfoy smiled, mussing the boy's hair.
"What about you Uncle Harry?" Teddy asked excitedly. Harry tried to answer but was feeling too queasy as the potion washed out the remaining toxins from his blood. It was an unpleasant experience to say the least. It was only after he felt the familiar wash of blood to his face that signaled the potion had finished his work when he realized that he had taken a drink from Malfoy without examining it first. He cast a few discrete spells on the bottle, to make sure that it was only a hangover potion afterwards, and it was, but the fact that he had trusted the man… He would blame it on the hangover itself.
"Run along now Teddy, we'll be back later." Malfoy smiled and watched as the boy took off after Lavender. Shaking his head he turned to Harry and raised one of his fine eyebrows. "Ready Potter? It'll be quite the portkey trip."
Harry nodded, standing up a bit more easily now and walking towards Malfoy. He was surprised when the blonde pulled out a small paper wrapped package from his pocket, and even more surprised that inside was a small dragon version of the ouroboros. It looked like it was a bracelet, made out of cheep metals.
"On three then?" Malfoy asked setting his hand above the trinket. Harry nodded, at this point the fact that the blonde had access to cross-country port keys failed to faze him. On the third beat they both grabbed the ring and Harry felt the familiar nauseating tug on his navel as he was thrown across countries worth of space.
They landed with a jerk and Harry managed to stand stable long enough to get his bearings before he felt his knees wobble.
"Easy there Potter." Malfoy muttered, setting an arm around Harry's shoulder. "Don't want anyone to think you're a quick snack."
"You're concerned. I'm touched." Harry grumbled around the nausea, but Malfoy only snickered, leading them down a path.
"Malfoy." A curt voice came from… well it seemed like nowhere.
"Weasley." He responded equally curtly to the disembodied voice.
"You aren't due for another month."
"I'm afraid I'm under investigation and must produce all elements of the potion to Mr. Potter here."
"Blimey! Harry's with you? Alright then." The voice cracked and then there was a pop as the facility was revealed. Harry gasped, watching the air behind a now visible wall, and tried to count the dragons in it but couldn't. "Harry!"
Harry frowned, before locating the voice. He held his arms out and laughed as he was enveloped by the strong arms of Charlie Weasley.
"I haven't heard from you in ages. That Auror business taken over your life?" Charlie laughed patting Harry on the back as he pulled away.
"You're one to talk Charlie, I only ever see you at the holidays. Would it kill you to visit the burrow every now and then?"
"Mate, I was home just last month. Don't know where you were." Charlie grinned, leading them into the enclosure. Harry winced, first at the fact that he hadn't known Charlie was hope, and then at the wards as the moved like thick burned oil over his skin. "Sorry 'bout that, wards aren't keen on new people."
"It's fine." Harry said, shaking it off.
"I suppose Malfoy'll be after the same thing, well its fine, she's still got her brood inside so she'll be willing enough to give up an angry breath or two." Charlie smiled, he looked at Harry's brief confusion before explaining. "Breath of an angry dragon mother, nothing in the world holds a flame to that in terms of passion, if you'll excuse the pun."
"I thought all items relating to dragons were strictly controlled." Harry grumbled, looking cautiously as a huge dragon landed to his left, stalking after them.
"Beat it Helga," Charlie dismissed the dragon, who hung her head like a scolded child before turning her attention to something else. "Most things dealing with dragons come from their body, but flame is something fairly renewable, so just like dragon dung, it can be collected with a permit."
"You have permits for dragon flame?" Harry asked, sounding dumbfounded.
"Ever potions master does. Some potions can only be brewed over a dragon flame fire." Malfoy sniffed, his nose in the air as he looked about.
"Sodding annoying lot they are too." Charlie grumbled. "Much rather deal with the herbologists myself. They have some respect for the living. Ah, here we are. Mora! Mora get out here, you have guests."
A large wave of blue rushed at them from the mouth of the cave they stood near, and at first Harry thought it was a rush of water. A moment later a large and very pregnant Swedish Short-snout stood in front of them, raising up on its hind legs and sending a jut of fire into the air as a warning. With a quick motion Malfoy seemed to channel the blue flame into a smaller white flame just in front of him. The dragon gave a screech and slashed at the air nearest Malfoy, but her claws seemed to be held back by an invisible barrier.
"Alright Mora, that's enough. You know he won't hurt you none." Charlie said, stepping inside the barrier to pet the dragon. It huffed a few more times, but slowly it seemed to settle down, and its scales, less filled with blood most likely, seemed to take on a more silver sheen. "Atta girl. You wanna come pet 'er Harry? I bet she'd like you."
"I… I'm good, I've had enough experience with dragons for one life time." Harry said. Charlie shook his head though and pulled Harry in, pushing his hand against the dragon's scales. The dam looked down at him with skeptic eyes, but made no move to attack.
"Not all dragons are bad Harry. And while I'm loathed to admit it, the one you're traveling with, as right a git as he is, isn't all bad either." Charlie said in a whisper. "He set me up with my match, and I think it'd be best if you didn't shut him down. You'd find a whole lot of people angry at you. Plus the stuff works."
Harry hadn't noticed the ring on Charlie's hand until then, a small dragon biting its own tail.
"Who is she?" He asked looking up from the ring.
"Oye, who said it was a she?" Charlie laughed and let Harry go. "Come on mate, I'll introduce you to him. We've worked together for years and it never occurred to either of to date the other. One little swig of that potion though and I saw it all right."
Harry frowned, not certain he liked the fact that Charlie had taken the potion. What if it was dangerous? Still he followed the man away from the dragons happily enough.
He watched as Malfoy, who had walked a ways away, bottled the dragon flame.
"Potter." He said, handing over the small bottle. Harry nodded and put it in an evidence bag like all the rest of the ingredients, and then raised an eyebrow as both Malfoy and Charlie headed in the same direction before hurrying after them.
A few moments later they were in what looked like a gift shop. A whole, what does one call a group of dragons? A flock? Of animated dragons flew and chased each other around. Some were stuffed, others resembled the animated statues that Harry had drawn at the Tri-wizard tournament. A small dragon he didn't recognize landed on his shoulder, and Harry was amazed at how warm it felt. He reached to pick it up before a charm surrounded the small creature.
"Sorry about that, Jas loves to come in here, and once she gets in, she's rather hard to get out." Charlie grinned, floating the tiny creature over to him.
"She's real?" Harry asked, amazed.
"Quite. We've been doing some experimental breeding, much more legal here, and have come up with her little species. They get to be the size of a large dog, about as smart as a dog and as stubborn as any dragon there ever was. We're going through a process of getting them legalized as pets, with permits of course. They're rather cute buggers when they're babies." Charlie laughed, and a moment later all Harry could see was a hand sliding around his waist and down…
"Oye Will, knock it off." Charlie laughed spinning around into a pair of arms. Harry blushed as the hands moved down Charlie's back to his ass, groping obviously and unashamed. He paused as he felt a hot breath against his own neck. He turned slowly to see Malfoy sighing behind his shoulder. He gasped a bit, noticing another small dragon had alighted on Draco's hair, and was currently nibbling at it.
"I do wish they weren't so open around those of us who don't have someone to be so open with." Draco sighed, reaching up and grabbing the small creature out of his hair. He smiled, grabbing Harry's hand and setting it inside it. "They're called fin dragons."
"Why?" Harry asked, looking the small creature over. Draco smiled and leaned down, blowing gently across the creature's back and on Harry's arms. The dragon gave a squeal and it's wings, and all of its scales raised up on end, making it look three times as big. The underside of both the wings and scales were brilliant red with golds and bronze.
"They're defense mechanism." Draco smiled and laughed as a tiny spurt of flame shot near his hand. I've been thinking about buying one for Teddy when I get a bit more money, and when they're legal of course. They're very loyal if you get them from an egg. Jas is an egg raised one, trained to Charlie, and this is Trin, another egg raised one trained to James."
"James?" Harry asked and Draco smiled, looking up at him through blond lashes, still bent over the tiny dragon.
"His lover." Draco smiled. "You do like asking one word questions don't you?"
Harry started to reply but was distracted as the little dragon flew off to its owner, James. The man was tall with striking black hair and sea green eyes. He was taller than Charlie, but slimmer too, and Harry could see how he might have snuck up behind him. There was a certain air of danger to the man, as much as there was a lusty air.
"Stoooop." Charlie warned as James seemed ready to pin him up against the wall, but Charlie didn't seem too concerned.
"Are all soul mates like this?" Harry asked, feeling a bit worried.
"No, they just share a common love of public displays of… fine, they're technically exhibitionists." Draco sighed when Harry raised an eyebrow. Harry shook his head slightly.
"Are they going to… stop any time soon?" He asked looking them over and shaking his head a bit. James seemed to be moving Charlie to a changing room, and Charlie didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight.
"Not likely, after finding one's soul mate sexual activity tends to rise." Draco said with a soft sigh. "And James was a sex addict before he and Charlie realized they were soul mates."
"That sounds… rather dangerous." Harry finally said. He hoped that they kept up their fluid levels and made sure to be careful of the dragons.
"Hmm, I suppose. It's more dangerous in other situations though." Draco said with a shrug. He turned from Harry and snatched a Hungarian Horntail dragon out of the air, flicking the back of its head as he brought it down next to him. The dragon screamed once and then… purred?
"The affection level of the toys is located behind the ears." Draco said, not waiting for Harry to ask this time. "Horntails can be highly affectionate to mates, puppy love almost. I spent a great deal of time deciding between their flames when they were protecting a mate and the short-snout's, but in the end hotter was better. I could only get visions of my soul mate when I used the horntail's breath."
"Who is your soul mate?" Harry asked. Draco grimaced.
"Someone I'll never have. He's straight, you see, which rather puts a damper on it." Draco muttered. "Of course even if he wasn't he rather hates me."
"That must be… painful." Harry said after a moment.
"Rather." Draco agreed and summoned a few photos before moving to the cash register.
"That all?" A small brown haired witch looked up at Draco with dull eyes.
"That's it Margery." He said pulling a few galleons from his pocket.
"You know quite well that you get a discount." The witch sighed, only taking half the galleons offered.
"And you know quite well I don't accept that." Draco said with a frown. "They paid for the potion they don't need to keep paying me with discounts."
"Of course not Mr. Malfoy, I understand that, you understand that, but can we get them to understand that? I think not. Now take your money, your gifts and your boy toy and get out of my shop before I call Sable in." The witch seemed bored but at the mention of Sable, Draco paled a bit. He nodded and started to hurry out of the store when something large and bronze knocked him to the ground.
"Blast it all, I don't want the brute! Get it off!" He cried putting his hands up to protect his face. It took Harry a moment to figure out that the creature was another finned dragon, fully grown by the look, and it was nuzzling and purring as it rubbed against Draco's neck and chest.
"I didn't call him, he just can smell you if you stand there too long." The witch said, making no move to help the man. Harry laughed a bit and stroked the dragon's back, watching the bronze scales flash under his fingers. The witch took a breath and he looked up, but the next moment the dragon had him pinned against the wall, nuzzling into Harry like an large cat.
"Nice to meet you too." He smiled at the beast. It blinked large golden eyes and continued to examine him before its tongue reached out and flicked his ear. He hissed a bit, it felt like someone had just dragged a scalding washcloth across his ear, but the next moment the pain was gone and the dragon was nuzzling into his chest as well.
"I'll meet you outside then." Draco said, hurrying to his feet and was out the door before Harry could protest.
"Well, I'm sorry Sable, but I have things to do." Harry sighed as he watched the man disappear, obviously not going to be any help. Harry shook his head slightly and grabbed a hold of the beast's forelegs, pushing it off of him and setting them on the ground. He smiled at the great beast who seemed rather put out, but moved quickly after Draco.
"What was that all about?" He asked when he caught up with the blonde.
"Sable is their guard dragon. Rather ferocious thing. It doesn't care much for people, but when it does take a liking to them its just as effective at pinning them as if it were angry." Draco said and looked Harry over. "I see it got you, come here a moment."
Protesting, as normal as it would have been to do, was the last thing from Harry's mind as Draco slid a hand up his jaw. How long had it been since he'd had a friendly hand on him? Since Ginny… His eyes widened as Draco grew closer, and closer until his breath stirred the soft hairs on Harry's ear, and then, something wet moved over the cartilage. He closed his eyes then, letting the man do what he wanted.
"There." Draco nodded pulling away, with a quick swish of his wand Harry felt his ear give a tiny tingle and then all the pain, and pleasure, was gone. Harry looked Draco over, his eyes half lidded still, but questioning. "Saliva has always aided healing spells. Why else would people feel the need to lick their wounds? Honestly."
Harry gave a soft nod and waited.
"We need to head to Egypt for the next ingredient, and the last will take some time to hunt down." Draco said, unwrapping the little ouroboros. Harry nodded again and moved next to Draco, setting his hand above the bracelet. "On three…"
Once more the jolt was startling, but not horrendous as it had been last time. Harry set a hand to his head, his eyes closed.
"Need a drink?" He heard there was a bit of shuffling and a cold glass was pressed into his hand. Harry smiled softly, looking down at the small shot of fire-whiskey. He cast a few spells on it, and noticed Draco frowning. "You know Harry, poisoning you wouldn't get me anywhere."
"We're not even suppose to take food or potions form suspects, especially not potions masters who are suspects." Harry explained, downing the shot. He watched as Draco downed his own shot. He assumed they were in Draco's house, but he wasn't sure where. It was darker than the parts he'd been in before, with hardwood floors and paneled walls.
"Well, then I must thank you for your trust." Draco said with a smile, stretching out along the couch he was sitting on. Harry smiled back, sitting down on an armchair near him.
The walls were lined with books and odd magical artifacts Harry had never seen before. There were no windows, and two doors. A large table sat on one side of the room with a set of cauldrons and vials, and it finally occurred to Harry that this was where Draco brewed.
"Can I get you something to eat?" Draco asked, "Or was drinking my whisky too much of a risk for you?"
"I'm starved actually." Harry mumbled. He hadn't had time for food before he left, and now it was much later in the day and his stomach did not approve. Draco nodded and moved across the room to a cupboard, opening one of the drawers he drew out two sandwiches from one and a bag of muggle chips from another. "What, no peeking duck?"
"No house elves." Draco said, handing Harry a sandwich and sitting down next to him with his own. "Which means I have to do all the dishes as well as prepare most of the food, for Teddy and Andromeda at least."
"What happened to you're parents house elves?" Harry asked, taking a bite out of the sandwich. It was perfect, ham and Swiss cheese with a leaf of lettuce and mustard and mayonnaise that added just the right zing. He moaned a bit.
"We were ruined after the war. My father was sent to Azkaban and my mother never recovered from it. I didn't go back to Hogwarts because I was too busy paying out the reparations from our ever dwindling accounts. Mother died instantly when the news of Father's death came, but I think it was better that way. She would have been miserable when I sold the manor and everything in it. It would have broken her on a whole other level." Draco said and took another shot of fire whiskey. "I'm still paying reparations you see. Aunt Andromeda helped me afford this house, took most of the money out of her own Gringotts account. She helped me try to make ends meat, but it hasn't been easy. I'm still swimming in debt."
Harry shook his head, astounded and befuddled. That all of this had happened and he didn't know, and that Draco would tell him about it…
"I'm sorry." He murmured.
"It's not your fault." Draco said with a slight smile, looking up at Harry as his eyes brightened a bit. "What is your fault is that I'm not rotting in jail right now. I owe a life debt to you for that."
"When this is all over, I'll do what I can to help." Harry said softly, "It can't be legal to still be paying reparations after all these years when you don't have anything left."
"It's fine Harry. I've been working on clearing my way out of this for almost five years now; I'm used to it." Draco said with a slightly sad smile. He took another shot of whiskey and Harry frowned. Was the man planning on getting drunk? He shook his head and took another bite of the sandwich, letting another moan escape him as he did. "Is it to your licking then?"
Harry blushed, stuttering over what the man had said in his mind. It occurred to him that the man must have misspoken.
"It's very good."
"I'm glad." Draco smiled, and Harry watched dumbfounded as the man brought a soft hand up to his chin, a deft finger swiped over his lips, sending shivers down his spine. Draco pulled his hand back and examined his finger before licking it. "You're a messy eater."
Harry blushed again. It was nothing, probably something he had done with the children, wiping up their messes with his finger. But… it looked so sensual… He felt another shiver run down his spine.
"Draco, who's your soul mate?" Harry asked softly.
"I'll tell you after you test the potion." Draco said straightening. The subtle glimmers of affection were gone from his eyes now, and his mask was back on harder than ever.
"Test it?" Harry asked, confused. Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair and mussing it from its perfect position.
"It's standard practice Harry, that the investigating Auror, after deeming a potion safe for public consumption, tests it to make sure there are no ill side affects while being monitored by other Aurors for subtle magical changes that might indicate an adverse reaction." Draco said softly. He looked up and his hair fell down into his eyes in a way that was most defiantly not as endearing as Harry thought it was.
"I've never done a potions investigation before." Harry admitted. Draco nodded and opened the bag of chips, munching on them. Harry paused and then continued. "Why wait until then?"
"People tend to have a change of heart about me after they take the potion. Some find themselves hating me for a good long time. Others find themselves smitten with me for selling them the product. I imagine you won't be too pleased to find out your soul mate."
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked. Draco looked up, a chip halfway to his mouth and a flicker of… something passed over his face.
"Call it a gut reaction." He said finally before setting the chips down. "But I imagine you have paperwork to do, and I've kept you far too long."
Harry paused, he hadn't been thinking about that, but nodded. He should get his work done.
"I'll be back early in the morning then?" He asked Draco. He smiled when the man gave a snort and rolled his eyes.
"If you can manage to drag yourself out of bed." The blonde drawled, rising and leading the way out of the room. Harry followed him with a soft smirk on his face, the man wasn't endearing, he told himself again, he was a prat with a rather soft side when he'd had too many fire whiskeys. That was why he had told Harry all of those things.
"As early as I can then." Harry smiled as they reached the front door. "Good bye Draco."
With a pop, he disappeared, back to the alley near the ministry. He went back to his office and deposited the various elements of the potion for the labs to analyze, and then began to work on his paperwork. It wasn't as difficult as normal, and he found himself done with it rather faster than he had imagined he would be. With a small smile he stood, stretched and went to the floo.
At home an owl was waiting for him, and he gently untied the string on the birds leg, unrolled the parchment and sat down. He frowned a bit, it was another message from Hermione. Thoughts rolled through his mind and he realized, hazily, that in his drunken stupor, he had written her last night.
'Dear Harry,
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your case with Malfoy so… thoroughly. I did the checking you asked me to, as strange as it was, and it came back negative. Malfoy has not had a girlfriend in the past five years, though he has had a male associate or two that claim to have been his boyfriend. Neither of these associates stayed with him after he offered them the potion, each going off to marry another person. I'm rather surprised you thought to ask about that, I must say I'm proud of the progress you've made in Auror training. Also, there have been no unusual trends of same sex soul mates as opposed to heterosexual soul mates, they all seem to fit in with the general demographics of partnerships. Also, you may be interested to know that Malfoy is over 100thousand galleons in debt. I don't know what you'll make of this information but I hope it serves you well.
Ginny's glad to here that you're coming to the wedding, she was worried that you hadn't even noticed the invitation. I can't say that I blame her, you do get a bit involved in your work. Still, it's good of you to say you'd throw the groom a bachelor party. Ginny will be contacting you soon with more information on the wedding, and she said she wants you to be one of the groomsmen.
I hope to hear from you again soon.
Hermione Granger-Weasley.
Harry looked the letter over a few more times. He thought seriously about taking out the bottle of fire whiskey again and drowning his bitterness. What had the drunken him been thinking? Closing his eyes he shook his head. With a sigh he opened his eyes again, rubbed his forehead and went to the bathroom. He pulled out a bottle of Dreamless Sleep and took a swallow before setting it back. He was going to have a long day ahead of him and the last thing he needed was to be tired from not having slept well as he antagonized himself over what to do about the letter.
With a sigh he went to his bedroom and flopped down with a sigh. He was asleep within minutes.
((I've decided that this one, as with my other story, that when you submit a review, if you would like to submit a story idea as well I'll try to write it. Just a heads up, I don't do mpreg or genderbending (magical) with charries))