Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Diary of a Call Girl.

"What're you hoping to accomplish by dating Tom Riddle?" Draco asked skeptically.

"I'm not sure yet," he admitted.

Draco hadn't been too surprised when he had delivered the news of their break up, but what had surprised him was when Harry mentioned Tom Riddle. He knew that he was playing with fire, but at the moment he didn't see another way. Rita Skeeter had backed him into a corner and he was going to come out swinging.

"You've got to be careful with his lot," Draco warned him. "He was a part of the family business, well until I took over. Malfoy Industries is now a sparkling clean pillar of the business community."

"What sort of men does he typically date, do you know?"

"He doesn't. You have an incredible talent for drawing men who have never been known to pursue relationships. That however might make him that much more dangerous when it comes to crossing him in the future."

"If it were up to me, I would have just bypassed all of this and stuck with Severus," he sighed sullenly.

"Yeah, because you and old Tom are a match made in heaven. You seem fairly stable for someone who has just been dumped, shouldn't you be stalking him or something?"

"Hilarious." Trust Draco to make light of the situation no matter how dire it could be. It was what he brought to the table, that and loads of money and influence.

"I need to ask you a favor and you don't have to do it," Draco said changing the topic.

"You're not going to ask me to have sex with you and Neville, are you?"

"As if," Draco eyed him.

"Good then."

"Other may have paid hundreds for a night with you, but I had you when all it took was half a beer and a couple of cigarettes," Draco teased. "Will you be my best man?"

Draco dropping this marriage bomb on him was completely unexpected. If there was ever an eternal bachelor it would have been Draco Malfoy, but here he was engaged a few months after meeting Neville. Harry couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy course through him, he and Severus were supposed to be the happy engaged couple that everyone was sick to the teeth of being around, but instead he was dumped and going on a date with Tom Riddle. It's not that he wasn't happy for them, but he'd just had this kind of happiness not that long ago and then it had been stripped away.

"Yes," Harry said after a moment. "So is this your way of telling me you've gone back to being an amateur?"

"Maybe," Draco shrugged. "Nothing is permanent as far as that's concerned."

"Is it just so you can have sex in the olympics?"

"Only if the government covers all my training costs," Draco smiled brightly.

As he readied himself for his date with Tom he found himself eternally grateful that his friends were in the know as far as things like this went. He didn't know how he'd ever explain himself to them if they weren't. Going out with Tom was hard enough with their support, even if it was warily granted, he couldn't imagine going without it. He didn't know if he'd be able to cope.

He was glad that he wouldn't have to explain that he wasn't moving on quickly after his breakup. He didn't consider this moving on. Tom was a means to an end. The escort part of his brain had been switched back on and he was about to treat this like another client, except he probably wouldn't end up in bed with him...probably. So if Tom wanted to go on an extended Boyfriend Experience then he was going to be ready. He'd been cuddled to within an inch of his life and sipped red wine and watched telly with single gents until the taxi beeped its horn outside. So with any luck this wouldn't be any different than those times, but part of him knew his feelings for Severus would probably surface and he'd feel guilty and miserable. Things used to be so easy and love complicated everything. That's probably why rule number one was never fall in love.

He was fairly certain that he'd ruined things forever where Severus was concerned, and he couldn't place any blame on the man for it. He probably wouldn't want to be with himself right now either.

It was 9 days after his breakup with Severus when Harry went on his first or well second day with Tom. 9 whole days without seeing or speaking to Severus. He was having trouble quelling the familiar feeling of guilt that started to bubble to the surface as he waited for the man. Severus had dumped him and this might not fix things for them, but it could come with the benefit of making Rita Skeeter pay for what she'd done to him. His entire life had been miserable and tiresome and she had taken his one shot at true happiness away and he wasn't going to let that go.

"Is something wrong with your flat?" Were the first words out of Tom's mouth as Harry climbed into his car.

"I needed a change of scenery. My flat is a bit of a hole."

"Well if you're looking for somewhere new, and this might be a bit forward, but I've got a hand in real estate around the country and I'm sure I've got a flat in London you might like. You can stay as long as you like, for free."

"Thank you, but I'm fine. I've got a flat already, but I've been leasing it and I'm just sorta waiting for the lease to end so I can move back in," Harry smiled politely.

"Well the offer stands."

"Thank you. So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," he smiled coyly.

He wasn't too sure of how he felt as far as surprises from Tom Riddle went. He knew almost nothing about the man except that he was quite dangerous. On the bright side if he were to end up dead floating in the Thames or in a ditch somewhere in the countryside, Draco would know what had happened to him. It wasn't as if he knew anything about how the man decided to keep business and pleasure in his life separate. If there had been anyone before him he'd never know, because if there was a relationship he'd managed to keep it deep under wraps. He could only hope that he'd been right in making the decision to come out with the man. On the bright side he could never recall hearing or reading about anyone that might have been dating him being found dead, and Hermione's research had come up inconclusive as well.

The sooner he got what he wanted accomplished and out of this mess the better, he thought as he peered out the window, trying to determine where they might be headed. It's not as if he could have just gone to the man and blurted out his intentions and hope he might, out of the kindness of his heart, be of some sort of assistance to him. He didn't think that Tom would take well to that sort of thing, especially not when Harry intended to dump him as soon as things went his way. If he could have just gone to Tom with the facts, like that Rita was a psychotic bitch that pretty much ruined his life and destroyed the only proper relationship that he'd ever been in, and that he was just hoping that the man might use some of his extensive wealth and power to take care of the bitch. Also, he hoped that once said bitch was out of the picture that he might dump Tom and get back together with Severus and they could have a go at living happily ever after. Yeah that'd go over just brilliantly.

"Close your eyes," Tom said after they'd been in the car for awhile.

"What for?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Like I said it's a surprise."

"Right," Harry said closing his eyes slowly and hoping he wasn't about to be thumped on the head and dumped into the Thames.

Something about Tom, maybe it was his eyes, gave him the impression that he was in control of every situation he was placed in, wether anyone else knew or not. That's what worried him, that the man's deep eyes could bore a hole right through his outer shell and figure out exactly what he was up to. He did his best to remain calm and not give off anything that might arouse suspicion.

Suddenly, the car came to a stop and he heard the doors open and Tom and the driver get out. Oh, god, he thought, this is it, I'm a goner. He felt the cool rush of air as his door was opened and then Tom's hand had taken his and he almost jerked it away, but instead allowed himself to be helped out of the car.

"Keep them closed," Tom's breath tickled his ear.

They walked a short distance and the man instructed him to open his eyes and look and when he did it was confused. They were standing in front of the London Eye but no one was around. He knew it closed at a certain time, but it seemed to still be working and he wasn't sure what they were doing here. Tom took him into one of the capsules and told him to close his eyes once more. He could feel the wheel start to move and grabbed onto one of the rails in front of him. He couldn't even begin to guess how the man had pulled this off. Finally, when they neared the top the wheel was brought to a stop and Tom told him to open his eyes again.

"What're we doing here?" Harry asked confused.

"It's a surprise," Tom smiled back wryly and that's when the first firework went off.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the explosion, he was certain that he was dead, that the man had killed him in some way and this was just some sort of delayed reaction to what had happened. His eyes shot open and he grinned goofily at the man in confusion.

"What ever happened to less is more?"

"I felt the need to celebrate the fact that you agreed to a second date with me."

"I think a drink would have sufficed. I'm not that special," Harry admonished him.

"You are though. May I have this dance?"

"There's no music," he answered confused.

Tom snapped his fingers and within seconds the man he assumed was a bodyguard had a song floating through the speakers of his phone. He then extended his hand and Harry hesitantly took it. The two of them swayed back in force in the center of the capsule with the fireworks lighting up the river below. All Harry could manage to think was that it was all incredibly sweet, but at the same time it was as if Tom was a little too keen this time around and had watched one too many romantic comedies. It was sweet but also incredibly cheesy and he found himself missing Severus. The man hadn't been one for grand gestures and Harry liked that about him. He'd have to speak to Tom about all of this somehow without sounding ungrateful.

After their dance and the fireworks, in which Harry thanked the man for with a kiss on his cheek, they went to dinner. It was at another one of the restaurants that Tom owned in the city, but this time it seemed to actually be accepting customers. The staff seemed to be jumpy when it came to Tom and he couldn't tell if it was because he was a cruel man or if it was just because he was their boss.

Harry was busy picking apart the man's every movement and gesture when the conversation made a turn to him.

"You're studying for your exams, am I correct?" Tom asked curiously.

"Trying," Harry nodded.

"And do you have a job or do you just spend all of your time studying?" Tom asked jokingly.

"I'm retired," Harry shrugged and wondered if he should have even said anything, but if he wanted the man to help him he'd have to lay the groundwork.

"Oh, from what?"

"I used to be an escort," he said quickly and waited for a reaction from the man.

"Ah, no shame in that. Everyone has a trade to offer and some are, well, a little more fun than others."

He breathed in a sigh of relief at the man's words. For all he knew it would put the man off completely and then what was he to do? Ask Rita out for a walk and a chat and then shove her in front of an oncoming car and say that she tripped, or that she fell into the Thames and he couldn't swim or go in after her.

"Why'd you stop then?" Tom pressed further.

"You know what they say. If you love what you do, then you never have to work a day in your life. Well I stopped loving it," Harry confessed.

"And you started loving someone else," Tom finished for him.

"Something like that. I was lucky enough to never have to have been forced into the trade. There are loads of people who are, but not me. I was a free agent and I made my own hours and choices. It was a good career while it lasted. I enjoyed it."

"Everyone should do what they love within reason. So what about your ex then?"

"I'll always have a place for him in my heart, but I'm fairly certain that we will probably never speak again."

"I know about having a place for someone in your heart. That's where a person goes when they don't have a place in your life anymore."

"What about you?" Harry asked trying to shift the focus. "Do you have some ex that wrecked your world?"

"Not really, people seem to think I don't have a heart."

"Why would they think that?"

"Because they know me well," his lips curled up in a wry smile.

A/N: Sorry this took ages. I hope everyone in the US had a lovely Thanksgiving and I hope Hanukkah is going great for everyone who celebrates it!

I'm thinking of doing a spinoff that's framed around Draco what do you all think? It'll probably be set before all of this happened and how he works the escorting system.

Also, if you read my two other stories I'll be updating them this week I promise!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!