Hello everyone! Sorry I made you all wait like that, but this chapter was actually finished some days ago, but my internet has been a bitch and decided to not let me post this chapter before now. Oh well, at least now I'm uploading!
Disclaimer: Geez, how many times do I have to tell you?? I own nothing!
After taking yet another nervous breath, Harry softly knocked on the door. This time, Lucius' answer came almost immediately after he had knocked, thought eh voice didn't sound angry, which made Harry a little more confident.
He opened the door and stepped in. Lucius was standing in front of the fireplace, he had obviously been thinking about something, because his head snapped up, like he had been woken up from a trance, when he saw the door opening and Harry coming in.
"Mr. Malfoy, I'm very-" Harry started, but Lucius interrupted him.
"Harry, it's okay, you don't have to apologize for this morning. I admit that I have been a little short-tempered lately, and it wasn't my intention to snap at you, though I do appreciate it when you come precisely." Harry was a little surprised at this, he had thought Lucius was going to reprimand him and then make him do twice as much work than he usually did. Hearing what could be taken as an apology from Lucius Malfoy was not something that he would have expected in his wildest dreams.
"I-it's okay, you had every right to be angry" Harry managed to stutter out, still a little taken aback from Lucius' words.
Lucius seemed like he was about to say something, but then decided against it. Instead he walked over to his desk and sat down, and began to read some letters that laid opened in front of him.
Harry took this as a sign that he should sit down, so he walked over to his usual chair, not really sure what he should do, since there wasn't any papers ready to be signed there, like it usually was when he came to work.
It seemed like Lucius noticed Harry not being sure what to do, because he looked up, then he put the now signed letters and papers to one side of his desk.
"Here Harry," he said, nodding towards them "could you write the addresses and such on these and then use the owl and send them?" Harry nodded, feeling slightly relieved to be able to do something and not only sit and watch Lucius work.
They worked in silence for some more minutes, but Harry started to feel more and more curious to what Snape had told Lucius. Maybe it was something concerning the Death Eaters, something secret that he couldn't be allowed to hear? Or maybe it was something else...
Harry had no idea, he wondered if maybe Ron had asked Snape about Lucius' feelings, and because of that, Snape came over to tell his friend.
Just as he was about to open his mouth and ask, Lucius spoke up.
"You probably wonder why Severus came here, and what he wanted to tell me?" he asked, looking at Harry with an expression Harry couldn't decide was curious, angry or hopeful.
Harry opened his mouth to deny it, but Lucius spoke again. "Don't try to tell me that you didn't. I can clearly see it, that you really want to know."
Harry looked away embarrassed, but nodded. He really couldn't say anything against the older Malfoy when he looked at him the way he did.
"It's okay, I'll let you know." Lucius said, but then added sharply. "If you give your word that you will tell me the truth to whatever question I ask you afterwards." Harry just nodded, but the older man seemed content with that.
"Severus came to me to tell me something rather interesting. I don't know if you know anything about it" here Lucius rose from his chair and walked over to the fireplace, still continuing to talk. "But Severus' slave, Ron Weasley, who I know was your bestfriend when you went to Hogwarts, asked him whether I liked you or not, romantically." Here, he turned his head to look at Harry, a calculating glance in his eyes.
Harry didn't know what to say, he didn't know whether to admit that he had asked Ron to ask Snape, or furiously deny it.
Luckily for him, he was saved by a person he didn't think would show up, Draco.
The blonde boy had just run into the room, gasping for breath and he used some time to regain it, before looking up at Lucius, who seemed mildly surprised to have his son running into his office like that.
"What is the meaning of this, Draco? I thought I told you before to knock before you enter someone's rooms?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, yeah, you did, but I need to speak with you now!" Draco said impatiently, but still looked slightly sorry for barging in like he had.
"Well then, what is this really important thing you need to tell me? You have just disrupted a highly interesting conversation between Mr. Potter and me." he said, casting Harry a glance, while Harry tried his best not to blush and look away.
Draco seemed a little curious, but then shook it off.
"It's about you and mom. I want to know the truth about why she's left, even though I can guess what it's all about, I need to hear it from you." he said, glaring at Lucius.
Lucius, however, didn't seem to be in a hurry to explain things. He sighed and walked over to his desk again, sitting down and started to read trough some papers, conveniently ignoring both Draco and Harry. This seemed to piss Draco off, because his normally pale face was starting to turn a shade of pink and he clenched his fists hard. He didn't say anything though, just kept glaring at his father.
Harry was happy that, once again, someone had saved him from a rather awkward explanation towards Lucius. He knew that he had to tell the other man sooner or later though, he just wanted to feel more prepared to tell him. Merlin knew what Lucius would do if he knew about Harry's feelings, he probably would make him do something other than helping him in his office, that was for sure. Maybe he'd make Harry work together with Chiri and the other house-elves...
Suddenly, Lucius spoke, looking up from the rolls of parchment on his desk.
"Where did this sudden interest come from Draco? You've had plenty of opportunities to ask before, like when your mother moved out, why now?"
"Because I want to know the truth! I kind of already knew what the real reason was, but I'm not satisfied with just presuming it, I want to know what it really was, why did mom leave?" Draco asked, seeming to have calmed down a bit, after Lucius had finally started to notice him.
Lucius seemed to think it over before he replied.
"Your mother left because we no longer had any romantic feelings towards each other. We both agreed that this was the best thing to do, for both of us."
Draco nodded. "I thought something along those lines too." he said, not seeming too upset, probably because he had already suspected it, Harry guessed.
"Well then, since you now have the answer to your question, could you please leave, Draco?" Lucius said, sending Harry a short glance. "Harry and I have something rather important to discuss."
Draco looked a little confused, and seemed to be doing some quick thinking, trying to find out what that 'very important thing' was. He didn't get to think it over for too long though, since Lucius gave him a pretty sharp glance, and he quickly turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
"Now that Draco has left, shall we continue our conversation?" Lucius asked, now looking straight at Harry, making the boy feel rather uncomfortable.
"I want you to answer this question truthfully, Harry. Do you have any romantic feelings for me or do you not?" Harry was a little surprised to see the expression in Lucius' eyes, they seemed hopeful, but at the same time it looked like he didn't really want to hope too much for something. Could it be that Lucius actually wanted him to like him?
Harry bit his lip. There was no point in telling Lucius a lie, he would find out eventually anyway. It was just that he didn't feel quiet ready yet, to tell Lucius his feelings towards him.
"Well, Harry? Answer my question." the older man said, a little impatiently.
Harry took a deep breath, before ever so slowly nodding, not trusting his voice at the moment. He kept his head down, not wanting to look at Lucius, afraid of what he would see. Now he was pretty much sure to lose his job as Lucius' assistant. He bit his lip, so he wouldn't begin to cry. He could already feel his eyes beginning to be filled up with tears.
That stopped, however, when he heard the sound of Lucius' footsteps and then a hand stroking his cheek.
Harry looked up in confusion, that was not the reaction he had expected, that was for sure. He began to feel a little more hopeful when he saw Lucius' expression. His usually cold, indifferent grey eyes were now soft and the corners of his mouth were lifted, ever so slightly.
"That's good, I was beginning to wonder if this was an unrequited love" he said, with a hint of amusement in his voice, and Harry couldn't help give him a little, happy smile of his own. It really was too good to be true, the man he had liked for this long, actually liked him back. His fingers was still on his cheek, and Harry couldn't help but feel drawn to those eyes, the usually piercing eyes, now soft with emotion.
They stood like that for what felt like ages, before Lucius slowly bent down and kissed Harry softly, tracing the other's bottom lip with his tongue. Harry happily opened his mouth to let the older man's tongue in and wrapped his arms around Lucius' neck to deepen the kiss.
On the other said of the door in to Lucius' office stood Draco, with one ear pressed to the door and face pale as a sheet.
Dumdumdum duuuum! And here I leave you with a cliffhanger! Don't be too angry with me, I'll try to upload as soon as I can!