Title: The Marriage Bet
Author(s): josephinestone
Beta(s)/Alpha(s): digthewriter, tavia_d
Written For: wipbigbang
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Rating: R
Era(s): Post-Hogwarts
Content: bets, arranged marriage, genderbending Draco, hints at mpreg
Summary: Ginny just signed a two year Quidditch contract and is questioning her future with Harry, but Harry is ready to for them to promise their lives to each other. Draco runs into Harry at a jeweller's shop and bets him that he'd be a better spouse for him then Ginny would; Draco believes that you learn to love your spouse through marriage, but Harry thinks you have to be in love first for a marriage to work. Dejected because Ginny just called it quits for the two years she'll be away, Harry agrees.

Harry didn't see her anywhere in the ballroom, so he left the Great Hall and started down the first walkway he saw. Daisy was easy to locate, because she went into the first unlocked room she found. It turned out to be an office. She was sitting in a wingback chair with her face in her hands.

Even at the doorway, Harry could tell she was crying.

'Have you been in here the entire time?' Harry walked up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. It didn't take Harry very long to get over Draco's comments, and he felt bad about what he had said.

'Fuck off.'

Harry came around and knelt in front of her.

'Are you okay?'

'I said fuck off. I'm fine. I'm not upset.'

Harry couldn't stop himself, and he let out a small laugh.

'You're crying,' Harry pointed out.

Daisy let out a frustrated half growl, half screech which seemed to only irritate her even more. 'It's this bloody body,' she said as she tried to calm down. 'If I was myself I'd be hexing everyone, instead I'm crying because I am angry.' She clenched her hands into fists, and Harry backed away slightly. 'This is so frustrating. I hate not being able to control this.'

'So, you're still angry with me?'

'Yes, and every bloody witch and wizard out there.'

Harry looked confused.

'After I left you, I did what I always do when I'm mad. I, as you like to call it, insult people. It makes me feel better.'

Harry snorted, which made Daisy glare at him more. 'I'm not exactly quiet when I'm upset. A few people heard me.'

'What did they say?' Harry expected that Daisy was probably verbally attacked, but she probably deserved it for what ever she said.

'They thought I was funny.'

'Then why are you upset?' Harry asked even more confused than before.

'You are so dim.' Daisy shook her head at Harry almost sympathetically. 'Everyone hates me. I have to constantly hold my tongue and never say what I want to, because it is always taken the

wrong way. When I'm in a pretty girl's body, I can say whatever I want, even when it is taken the wrong way no one cares, and they still love her.'

Harry took her hands and rubbed his thumbs over the back of them in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

'I hate them, ibecause/i they are being nice to her. And no one is ever nice to me.'

Harry didn't understand it. Wasn't that why Draco had used the potion in the first place? He knew people would react to her differently than to himself. That was why Draco used the potion to met people when he was younger. Harry hated it when people cried. He wasn't very good at giving comfort. He was never comforted as a child when he needed it, so as he got older he felt awkward when others would try to comfort him.

He lifted Daisy's chin and pulled her mouth to his. She hesitated at first, but gave in. After a few minutes, they both forgot she had been crying at all.

Harry shoved her up against the bedroom wall as soon as they were in it. He anchored her there with his mouth pressed firmly against hers. Daisy pushed back just as forcefully with her mouth, but pulled Harry's body close to her own. Harry pulled up on her dress, as Daisy—with a quick flick of her wrist made—Harry's shirt and trousers disappear.

They were on the bed, Harry pining Daisy down and kissing her neck.

She laughed. 'You can't use magic to take off my clothes, but you use it to move us three feet?'

'I wasn't trying to take off your dress.' Harry ran his hand up her thigh and in between her legs, which caused Daisy to jump.

'Wait. Stop!'

'What?' Harry pulled back and looked up at her face. 'Did I hurt you?'

'No, I don't want to go that far.' Daisy looked away from him. 'Not when I'm like this.'

'Oh.' Harry knew that. They had talked about it before, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed.

'We don't have to stop. Only don't go down there.'

Harry groaned and buried his face in the crook in her neck.

'Are you okay? I mean are you in pain?'

'Not yet, but I will be.' It was their honeymoon all over again.

Draco smirked and reached to take off Harry's pants. 'I can help you with that.' They kissed slowly as Draco worked Harry off, and then they laid together not saying anything. Harry played with Daisy's long hair, while she ran the tips of his finger around the defined edges of the muscles in Harry's arm. Harry shifted and pushed himself up to look down at Draco and smiled.

'You are so beautiful.' He leaned down and kissed her lips one more time, before he laid back down to go to sleep.

Only a few tears escaped Draco's eyes, but he couldn't blame it on the foreign body he was in.

Any other compliment would have been better when he was her. It would have been the perfect moment any other day. Any other day which Harry was looking at him instead of her.

The same girl, that everyone liked better than him.

center#/center

Harry smiled.

'What are you happy about?' Ron asked.

Harry continued to smile as he responded with a shrug.

Ron fell into step beside him in a way that only someone with years of practice could do. He seemed unsatisfied with his friend's answer, even though he said nothing about it, but Ron could read the expression on his face.

'Am I happier than normal?'

'I don't normally see you smile this early in the morning.'

Ron was used to Harry's forlorn expression at any time of the day. Most of his life he had little to be happy about, but then, when everything was good, Harry's outlook stayed the same. Everyone else celebrated for the past year and lived with reckless abandon, but Harry treated it like a year of mourning. Ron and Hermione never said anything about it, because he always took loss harder than they did. He had little to begin with, so it hurt more to lose what he had.

Yet, Harry also was easily excited by the world around him.

Many times Ron saw the same boy Harry used to be in his first year at Hogwarts when they learnt something new. Therefore, Ron was used to seeing Harry energetic and excited by their first break. But that look was something different. It was the look Harry had when he drank the Felix Felicis potion in their sixth year.

'I suppose, I'm just excited to get to training.'

'Right,' Ron agreed disbelievingly. He became even more suspicious, when Harry skipped lunch to go "shopping". When he returned, he was equally as pleased with himself. Harry hated to go shopping. He never liked the attention he got, and he found it difficult to express what he wanted to sales people. He never went shopping alone. Unless, he was buying something he knew no one else would approve of. Something like the engagement ring for Ginny after she had broke it off with him.

'What?' Harry asked once he noticed Ron scrutinising him.

'You are acting odd,' Ron said.

'Really? How is that?'

Ron chose to ignore Harry's attempt at pretending to be thick and decided to get straight to the point.

'What did you buy?'

'I just got Draco a gift.'

Maybe, Harry was thick. Ron raised an eyebrow in question, but Harry ignored it. He was deliberately avoiding Ron's eyes, which meant that he was embarrassed about it. Either he was embarrassed about what he decided to buy, or that he wanted to buy it in the first place. Ron never pictured Harry buying anything that was embarrassing, or, at least, he hoped his friend would never do such a thing.

'It's to thank him for going to the party the other night.'

Ron grimaced as he thought about what Harry might have bought him. It was probably hard to find potions ingredients, if Harry knew enough about that to pick the right ones. Malfoy was probably bleeding difficult to buy for. Ron was tempted to ask what he had bought, but out of fear it was something personal, he kept his mouth shut. Harry continued the facade that there was nothing going on between him and Malfoy. Ron was inclined to believe him, but Hermione called him naive if he really thought they hadn't.

She knew about those things, so Ron quit arguing with her and hoped Harry was telling the truth. If Harry had wanted to talk about it, he would have asked Ron's opinion or told him about it without him asking. Since Harry was secretive about it most of the day, it was most likely something Ron didn't want to know about. He nodded to Harry to show that he understood, even though he did not understand whatsoever at all.

Harry's excitement about his gift diminished once he presented it to Draco. Draco seemed startled when Harry handed him the box, but recovered, then opened it with a questioning look on his face. He couldn't tell if Draco was excited or not.

His face held what looked to Harry like a suppressed smirk, which it lost as soon as he saw what the box held. Harry cursed himself for not asking Hermione's opinion before he went looking for something for him. It was a quick decision to buy him something, and he only had an hour to figure out what it would be.

'You hate it,' Harry said. 'I'm horrible at this.'

Draco had yet to lift his eyes from the offending gift and offered no response.

'I noticed at the dinner that all the women wore huge necklaces, rings and such.' Harry shifted feet nervously as Draco finally looked at him. 'I realised that you were the only one that didn't have anything like that. I thought you'd appreciate it.'

'It's lovely,' Draco finally said, then placed the lid back on the box and walked around his desk to return to his chair.

He had been busy writing in something when Harry arrived. Draco was always in his office for a few hours after he returned home.

'You don't have to lie. I can tell that you hate it.' Draco would always think Harry had horrible taste.

'Harry,' Draco said sternly, though he picked up a quill and concentrated on the parchment in front of him. 'I said, it is lovely.'

'But, you don't mean it.' He never saw Draco be so polite without hiding something.

'I do. My mother would love it.'

'I didn't buy it for you mother.'

'I know,' Draco sighed and leaned back in his chair. 'Can we just forget about it.'

Harry debated about it while trying and failing to catch Draco's eyes.

'What do you want from me?' Harry asked, for he at a loss as to what he was supposed to do. Was it not normal for him to buy his significant other gifts? He thought Draco, of all people, would love to be showered with gifts. From shopping with him before, Harry knew that he liked shiny things. After taking one look at their entryway, or living room, anyone would know that.

'What do you mean?' Draco looked up at Harry with a glare.

'I mean that I'm trying here. And you won't tell me what I did wrong.'

'I find it hard to understand how you could not know.' Draco grit out as his glare intensified. He gripped his quill tighter, and it caused the tips of his fingers to become paler than the rest of his hand.

'You sound like a girl.' Harry's arms dropped to his sides in exasperation. 'I can't read your mind.' It was true. All the women he knew seemed to believe he constantly used legilimency on them. He was never good at it or he would start. They always made things difficult for him expecting him to know things he couldn't possibly know.

'I'm not a bloody girl,' Draco growled. 'I thought you understood that.'

'I do,' Harry said, confused.

'No, you don't.' Draco stood and walked around his desk towards Harry. 'I am a homosexual man. That does not mean that I want to be a girl. I love being a man. I just happen to also want to be with men.'

'I know.' Harry did know that. Draco had said before, and Harry understood that. He simply thought that since Draco said he would transform whenever they went out, that he would want something for his other body. He had more than enough clothing and accessories for him to wear as himself.

Draco shook his head at him and gestured towards the box on his desk. 'You obviously don't.' Harry opened his mouth to explain, but Draco cut him off. 'I did that for you. Because you aren't comfortable with people interested in the same sex.'

'I'm comfortable with it.' He did it to hide his identity, not because Harry wasn't comfortable with him.

Draco stepped closer to him and smirked at Harry's obvious discomfort.

'Just because you make me nervous doesn't mean I'm not comfortable with your sexuality.'

'Leave it. It's fine.'

Harry left it, but if it were fine then Draco would have had no need to say that it was fine.

'Harry, you didn't!' Hermione tried not to smile. She really did, but Ron's expression made it difficult, and it iwas/i humorous. Only Harry would attempt to buy Malfoy a gift without consulting him first. He was that way. He did things for people without them asking for it and without thinking it through. He was a generous person.

Harry buried his face in his hands. 'I thought he'd like it,' he mumbled into them.

Ron shook his head in amusement.

'Why are you trying to make him happy anyway?' Hermione asked.

Harry dropped his hands and blankly looked up at his friends.

'You like him,' Ron accused.

'I never said that.'

'You aren't denying it, either,' Hermione said.

'No, I don't like him,' he said as though it made up for not saying earlier.

'Then you want to have sex with him,' Hermione said in a way that suggested it was common knowledge.

'What?' Ron jumped. He could handle that Harry liked Malfoy as a friend, but that was pushing it too far. 'Where did you get that idea? Harry is straight. Even if he wasn't, he's not interest in Malfoy.' He turned to Harry. 'Right, mate?' After a beat, he repeated, 'Right?'

'Right, of course not, Ron,' Harry agreed with him, and Hermione rolled her eyes at them both.

'Think about it, Ron. The only times you have ever bought me anything was before we started having sex.'

Harry winced and motioned that he had no desire to hear that information but was ignored.

'Or when we were fighting, and I quit giving it to you.'

'Hey! I'm not Ron. I don't need a reason to buy people things.'

Ron gestured that he agreed with him. Harry always bought things for his friends, and he never wanted anything in return. He even gave Ron's brothers the money to start up their shop. Harry buying something for someone meant nothing at all. And Harry never bought anything for Ginny, even though they were dating, so there was no connection between Harry buying gifts and sex.

'Everyone has a reason when they buy a gift for someone,' she pointed out.

Neither of the boys seemed inclined to agree with her.

'Fine.' Hermione gave up. 'You don't like Malfoy, and you don't want to sleep with him. You only bought him a necklace hoping he would like it and was surprised that he was instead offended by you treating him like a girl, which he is not. Then you ask for my help—and completely ignore me. Since I'm wrong, why did you do it?'

'I wanted to thank him for the other night.'

'For what exactly––from the other night?'

'For going to the dinner, Hermione. Nothing happened afterwards.' But he blushed, and they both could tell he was lying. 'I didn't do anything with him.'

'Who are you trying to convince?' Hermione said.

'Look, he was upset because how everyone treats him differently when his is a girl. I just wanted––' Harry stopped, and held his hand up to stop Hermione from continuing her thoughts on that. He finally understood. 'It's okay Hermione, I get it. I mean. I do now, once I said it like that. I get it.'

Harry went back home, and Draco was no longer in his office. He walked around the house until he found him in their room preparing to bathe. Draco spoke first once he noticed Harry's arrival:

'I'm sorry that I fought with you.'

'It's not your fault––' Harry thought about what he wanted to say when he was looking for him, but he cut Harry off before he could start.

'No, stop.' Draco had his head lowered and only looked at the clothes he was gathering to take to the bathroom with him. 'It is my fault. It showed me something that I knew was true, but I refused to admit to myself. You know nothing about me, and you have no desire to. I'm not what you want, and I can't be what you want. I'm a man and that––'

'This isn't about that,' Harry cut in quickly. He never meant for Draco to see the gift that way, but he understood in that particular moment why he did see it like that. It was hard to explain what he thought when he bought it, once he saw it how everyone else did. If he admitted that he liked Daisy, like everyone else and that she was what he was looking for, then he had to admit that he liked Draco.

They were the same person.

'How can this not be about that?' Malfoy fumed. 'You bought me jewellery: female jewellery. If it had been for a male, I would have loved it.'

'I know, and I'm an idiot.' Harry pulled at his hair in frustration. What could he say? He messed up.

'No,' Draco said, 'I am.'

Harry was taken aback. Draco never admitted a fault even when it was a blatant one.

'You can leave. You win. You don't have to stay.'

Draco was giving up? Harry could walk away and, by a technicality, win? Harry disliked the idea of winning on a technicality, especially when it came about when he finally decided to actual work things out with Draco.

'Malfoy.'

'Go home,' Draco said in tired voice.

'I am home,' Harry insisted.

'I meant––'

'I know what you meant. But when we started this, you said that we had to go by the rules, and that I couldn't run at the first sign of trouble. Well, ineither can you/i. So forget about the bet. I am your––significant other––what are we supposed to do?'

Draco studied Potter's face. 'Sleep on it.'

'Repeat that?'

'My mother said, that when they had problems they went to bed, and then started the next day new. If it was a major problem then they would run into it again, but they would both have clear heads about the situation. If it was a small problem, then it usually disappeared.'

'So, we just ignore it?'

'No. They never ignored it. Even small problems they ended up talking about a few days later. Actually, I think that was her way of saying they had sex and made up. They always had sex when they were fighting. It was weird.'

Harry snickered.

'They thought I didn't know. I could tell. They tried to hide that they were fighting, but they had a pattern, and I could read it.'

'Maybe we should try it.'

Draco looked up at Harry, surprised.

'You want to have sex?'

'I—no, I—meant the—huh—sleeping on it thing.' Blushing, Harry looked down at his feet.

'Oh, right. Okay.'

Harry lay in bed and tried to sleep, but it was impossible. Even though they were both still there, he felt as though nothing was settled. They lay without touching, and it felt odd to him. Harry noticed how much they must have touched before, once he thought that physical contact might not be welcome. Harry finally reached out and lightly touched Draco's arm. Draco jumped at the contact, but was quiet.

'Can I hold you?' Harry whispered.

'I'd rather hold you.'

Harry nodded and stayed on his side, while Draco rolled to his back.