Hello! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm more than two months into summer vacation and I haven't written a word of fanfiction! I procrastinated everything, wondering if I should actually write a sequel for my other story (Chasing the Forbidden) and actually re-read the entire thing, making up ideas for a sequel and how things would go… I still haven't decided for sure if I'm going to write the sequel. --'
But anyway, I've been thinking that updating three or four times a year just isn't cutting it, so I'm going to try updating a bit more regularly from now on. Maybe once or twice a month instead of just once every three or four months. Yay!
Anyway, thank you guys VERY much for all the wonderfully awesome reviews!
Now, on with the story!
Chapter 4
"Harry, where've yeh been?"
"Hullo to you, too, boss," Harry answered with a grin, closing the wagon door behind him and slumping into a wooden chair.
When the old man continued to stare, a brow raised in wait of a response, the boy finally let out a sigh and said, "I was at a pub in town."
"A pub? Which one?"
"Aw, now you're asking for too much!" Harry exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "I can't ever remember. They all look the same to me."
With a slight chuckle at the ever-forgetful brunette, he decided to let the subject go. "Listen, Harry. I want yeh ter know. Yeh did good today. Yeh did real good."
The young boy beamed brightly and chirped a cocky, "I know it," puffing out his chest like a rooster.
"Ok, ok. Dun' get all cocky, on me. Yeh did do real good, though. From what I've heard aroun' this ol' town, that insufferable king is damn near impossible ter please."
"Yeah. A friend o' mine told me the same thing. Said the guy was real difficult to please, but he seemed pretty ok to me. I mean, I din't do nothin' too special or anythin'."
"Yeh have a friend from town, already?"
"In a town I'm only gonna spend a few days in, I call anyone I see more than once, a friend."
"Actually, Harry, it might be more than jus' a few days. The king was real impressed with yeh. And it's a bloody good thing, too. We ain't exactly been doin' the best with money, lately."
"We're doin' alright, Boss."
"If only that were the truth," the bearded man sad with a solemn shake of his head. "People jus' dun't buy jewelry too of'en. They gotta make sure they've got enough fer their family ter eat and live before they even think about jewelry, and by then, ain't no one has enough fer jewels."
"But… even if we started to do real bad, we could always just settle down in some town and get real jobs."
"This is a real job. And besides, I ain't cut out for regular life – living in one place all yer life. I did that fer the most part o' my life and I hated it. When I got you, I was finally able ter make enough extra money on the side ter become a merchant, and ain't no way I'm going back to my ol' life. Ain't no way."
Harry remained silent. He knew how passionately his boss loved the life of a merchant – traveling all over the country, going from kingdom to kingdom with jewels to bedazzle even the richest of kings, living life from day to day, and best of all, never being bound by any one of the many kingdoms and governments they visited. Heck, he even loved the way the uneducated merchants spoke!
Because of the last reason, Harry had refrained from practicing his proper speaking manners in front of the old man. Though he felt it important to speak intelligently, it wasn't a topic worth upsetting his boss with.
Besides - the fact that the elder man needed him made him proud. He made it possible for the old man to live out his dream. Sure, the man had made it possible for Harry live, period, but he thought it to be as good a tradeoff as any since being a merchant was, in a manner of words, the old man's life.
Besides, Harry's performances for the aristocrats also helped their sales, as they could actually afford the jewels his boss sold.
"Listen, Harry, dun't worry 'bout the money," the man finally said. "Like I said before, yer performance with the king went great, and I'm sure it'll continue ter be great, so we're jus' fine."
"Yeah," Harry answered with a weak smile.
"So, eh… did yeh enjoy yerself at the pub?" An insinuative smile broadened its length across the old man's lips.
"Ha," Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I had myself a pretty little blonde one, tonight." Inspired by my newest friend, he thought to himself, quietly.
DHDHDH
"So I says to the guy, I says, 'you ain't got even half the bullocks ter'… oi! Hang on, laidies. I'll be right back." With a quick wink, he jogged over to the quickly walking blonde - his head down, and staring fiercely at the ground. It was evident the boy was trying to escape the other, unnoticed. In light of this, the brunette contemplated leaving the boy alone for a moment. After all, he could understand what it felt like to want some privacy.
But really, it was a fairly insignificant and tiny moment. "Hullo, little Daisy!"
"I told you! I'm not a –"
"Joking! I'm joking!" Harry had gotten the attention he'd wanted from Draco and could now start an actual conversation. "So how was yer uncle last night? Did he have a pleasant visit?"
"I suppose… he's staying for another day, so-"
"Wait! Don't tell me! Don't tell me! I can figure it out! So, he's staying for another day and now you have to go around shopping for all the annoying little foods he likes! Let me guess! I suppose he wants strawberry jam, not grape. And I bet he wants some expensive type of meat, too."
The boy was graced with a small and slightly confused smile on the town resident's lips. "Close. He wants peach jam."
"Ha! I knew it!"
The grey-eyed boy let out a small laugh and shook his head. "How did you do that?"
"Ah, it's a special gift, my very ungifted friend."
"Right," he let out a sarcastic snort.
With a smile, the brunette swung his arm across the other boy's shoulder and began to steer him in the direction of the giggling girls. "I think a little detour from your shopping trip is in order."
"Listen, I can't –"
"Oh, but surely you can! I'm not asking for sex right now. We can do it later, but we should at least try to make friendly with each other for now."
"Wha- what?" Draco's face had gone drastically pale before a blush began to color his cheeks hazardously. "Wait. You want us to-"
"You promised! You said 'I will take a lady to bed during your visit to town.' You said those words, exactly! You said them… er… oh yeah! Verbatim! Those were you words – verbatim!"
"Ver- what? Wait! No! I - Ok, fine! Maybe I did say that," relieved that Harry had not been saying what he's stupidly thought the brunette had been saying, he began to regain his composure and pose an argument. "But!... you're not leaving right now, are you? So there's still time for me to do it another day or someth-"
"But why prolong such pleasurable bliss?"
"Maybe that's your idea of a good time, but-"
"Oh? So what's your idea of a good time in this boring town?"
"It's not boring."
"Draco, my newest companion. If it were not for the women of this town, I would have hung myself by now."
"At least I have a town of my own! Can you claim any hometown with all the constant moving about you do?" Draco exclaimed, affronted.
"Perhaps, but at least I enjoy myself with the constant moving about I do. You, on the other hand, are completely bored. I can tell. It's all in your nose."
"My what?" Draco gasped, quickly hiding his nose behind his hand. "My nose? There's nothing wrong with my nose! It's a perfectly nice nose, I'll have you know!"
"To the untrained eye, perhaps, but you can't fool me. It's a very bored nose."
"My nose is most certainly not boring."
"I didn't say it was boring. I said it was bored. It wishes to see some excitement in its life! In your life! Heck, all it does all day is sit there on your face. No talking, no eating, no getting up and walking about – nothing! Do you think it'd be too much trouble to at least give it a good view every once in a while? A nice…er… panorama?"
"Wha-? For goodness sake, stop with the big words! I don't understand them!"
"Would you like to? I could lend you my dictionary, if you'd li-"
"No, I don't want your stupied dictionary! What I want is to get to the store so I can buy some bloody-"
"Alright, alright! Don't get yer knickers all in a twist." Ignoring Draco's look of outrage, he continued, "I'll let you get yer damn strawberry jam."
"It's pea-"
"But I'm coming with you!"
"Wha-? Bu-? Hey! Where are you going? I thought you said-"
"Well, I can't just leave the girls to wonder in sorrow for me, now can I? They'll think 'Oh no! What happened to our glorious Harry! What happened! Was he swallowed by a whale? Pushed down a well? Trapped in a dungeon full of dirty cockroaches and infested-"
With an impatient roll of his eyes, Draco exclaimed, "Oh, shut up and say your goodbyes to them, already!"
Laughing, Harry jogged over to the women, gave one a bruising kiss – to the shocked (and envious) gasps of the other ladies – and jogged back over to Draco, who couldn't believe how audacious the other boy was.
"My, that Meredith has such lovely lips!" the brunette said, feigning an aristocratic voice and sipping from an invisible goblet.
"You're absolutely terrible," grumbled the blonde as he led the way toward the marketplace.
"Why?"
"I doubt you plan on doing anything further with that girl! Honestly! You go from one girl to another like… like…like something that…you use…one after…another," the boy finished with a quiet murmur, embarrassed that he hadn't been able to come up with an actual comparison.
Laughing, Harry said, "Yes! I completely see the wrong in my actions now, oh wise one."
"Whatever! The point is, you treat them with no respect, whatsoever!"
"So?"
"So! What do you mean, 'so'?"
"Draco. I'm a passing merchant, here for a few days. Do you honestly believe any o' the girls I talk to aren't aware of that; that they believe some miracle will grace this earth an' bring us together in marriage?"
"Well…no… but-"
"Exactly!" beaming a grin at Draco, the boy crossed his arms over his chest, silently naming himself the victor of this particular conversation.
"It's just that… I mean, don't you ever feel anything for any of them? Don't you ever wish for something more? Like marriage; kids; a family?"
The shorter of the two gave a small smile. "It's just sex. It has to be. I don't believe anyone can fall in love within just a few days – which is exactly the amount of time I ever get to spend with anyone." Draco remained silent, feeling sorry for the other boy. He couldn't imagine having no one to keep forever.
"Oh, hey!" Harry suddenly shouted, switching gears. He didn't like the sudden pity in Draco's downcast eyes. "Lookie there! That place is sellin' jam!" He then jumped into a sprint, making the blonde struggle to catch up to him. "Hmm…" he started, fingering the color-filled jars. "Grape… strawberry…aha! Peach jam!"
"Ack!" Harry's arm flew behind him and, yelping, Draco dove forward to catch the glass jar Harry had tossed into the air behind him. Clumsily, he dropped it a few times in the air, the glass slipping and flipping through his fingers before he finally caught it – bent down awkwardly – a few inches from the ground.
"You've really got to work on your catching skills," Harry commented, nodding to himself, his mouth scrunched to his left.
"Grr…"
"Come on! Let's hurry up and pay for it so I can walk you home, already."
"Walk me ho-?"
"I wanna meet yer parents!"
"…"
"…"
"…oh!" Draco suddenly cried, giving a nervous chuckle. "You're joking."
"…"
"… You are joking, aren't you?"
"Maybe. But only jus' maybe."
With an uneasy smile, Draco slowly turned to pay for the jar of jam.
AN: I realize that I put quite a stretch on Harry's character in this chapter…(he seemed a bit like the flamboyantly gay Draco in a lot of stories I've read… "I can't just leave the girls to wonder in sorrow for me, now can I? They'll think 'Oh no! What happened to our glorious Harry! What happened! Was he swallowed by a whale? Pushed down a well? Trapped in a dungeon full of dirty cockroaches and infested-"), but it was fun, so I went with it.
Also, this is yet another filler, but I have to do it! I have to develop their relationship a bit more before I can really get into anything. Trust me! I want the slash just as much as you guys, but if I go right into it, then everyone will start complaining about how rushed everything is! BUT, since I'm getting really impatient about the lack of slash in the story, here's a promise I'm sure you guys will like: The next chapter will contain slash! Very sexy slash!Yay!
So please! Review! It'll make me update faster! And don't you guys want to see the slash sooner:p
xoxo Spideria xoxo