Unfinished Business: Shattered Pieces
DISCLAIMER: Look at first chapter.
WARNING: Look at first chapter.
Bedroom Interlude
As Harry woke up early the next day, he stretched against the silk sheets, letting his arms lazily seek out the warm body next to him. When his hand only found an abandoned pillow along its path, Harry turned his head, opening his eyes to discover that he was alone in bed.
"I'm over here," a voice called to him.
When Harry turned to the sound, it was to find Draco standing over a lit cauldron.
"You know I don't like it when you do that in the bedroom," Harry said as he sat up, revealing his bare chest and slightly protruding belly.
"Sorry," he said as he extinguished the fire underneath the bubbling potion before coming over to peck his husband on the lips and stroke his stomach. "It was the only place I could do it without raising suspicion."
"What is it?"
"Veritaserum. I started brewing it a while back. I thought I could slip it into Astoria's drink and get her to tell us if she's the one who created this world."
"When will it be ready?" Harry asked, anxious to find out the truth.
"It's ready now. I just need to find the right time to get one of the elves to put it in her drink. I don't want to just do it when the kids are around."
"And our new guests?"
"Them as well," Draco said with a hint of irritation.
The guests Harry was referring to, of course, were Draco's long-time friends, Pansy and Blaise Zabini, BJ's parents. The pair had arrived shortly before dinner last night. Their arrival had been expected, of course, seeing as how BJ and his parents always came over to spend the holidays at Malfoy Manor.
What neither man had expected though, was the tension that arose when BJ's parents spotted James. Apparently, they knew about BJ's infatuation with James and either didn't approve of their son's crush, or didn't approve of James choosing someone else over their son. Or both. Either way, dinner had turned out to be quite the somber affair.
"You know that if they were in their right minds, they would have remembered that they love James," Harry said comfortingly.
"If only he hadn't invited that boy," Draco groaned as he rested his head on Harry's shoulder.
"Come on. We have an hour before we need to get ready for breakfast," Harry said as he pulled the blonde off the bed. "Take a bath with me. It'll clear your head."
Draco dutifully followed, wrapping his arms around his husband's waist as he was being led towards the bathroom. When they stepped into inside though, it was like they had been expected. The tub had already been filled with steaming hot water and bath oils were sitting neatly along the side.
"Do you suppose the elves are aware of the reality change?" Harry said as he stepped into the tub, loving the way the heat from the water engulfed his skin.
"I assume they do," Draco said as he followed Harry into the tub. "They haven't said anything directly but they don't listen to Astoria's orders the way they should," he explained as he sat down, pulling Harry into his lap as he did so.
"The purpose of this was to clear your head," Harry chuckled as he was made to straddle his husband's lap.
"And my mind is getting clearer by the second," the blonde smirked, eying the man before him as his fingers caress his love's thighs.
As he leaned forward, Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's neck before capturing the blonde's lips within his own. They started their familiar dance, as their tongues caressed, and Harry eased Draco's hardened member within his already loosened entrance.
James pulled the large pillow over his head as another knock sounded on his door. It was too early in the morning to be dealing with anyone right now, especially after what he had to sit through during dinner last night. Scathing remarks aside, if looks could speak volumes, then Mrs. Zabini was screaming the Avada Kadavra curse at him all throughout dinner.
Once again there was a knock on the door.
James groaned as he pulled the comforting covers from his body, letting the cool air from the room seep through his pyjamas. Then he threw his feet over the bed, groaning once again as his feet came into contact with the cold floor.
Another knock came, just as persistent as the others.
"I'm coming," James groaned as he slipped his feet into his slippers before finally standing on his own feet.
As he headed for the door, he stretched, clasping his fingers together so he could pull his arms over his head, trying to get the knots out. He sighed as he felt the cricks cracking and his joints relaxing in relief. He untwined his fingers and let his arms swing limply to his side. When he grasped the door handle, he groaned once more at the cool metal that greeted him.
Why did everything in this place have to be so cold?
Finally pulling the door opened, James was extremely irritated to find BJ on the other side. He tried to slam the door in his unwanted guest's face, but the taller boy had been too quick for the still sleepy teen.
Deciding that it was too early in the morning to deal with the Slytherin, James turned away and headed back for his bed, ignoring the teen following him into his room.
"Not a morning person, I take it," BJ said with a clear sense of wakefulness that had James grumbling back at him before falling back into his bed.
"What do you want?" James asked, even as he wrapped his arms around his pillow trying to get comfortable again.
"I wanted to apologise for last night, for my parents," he said as he closed the door behind him.
"Why? What'd they do?" James asked as he feigned ignorance.
"My mother," BJ started explaining as he walked into the room. "She can be a little… intimidating when she wants to be," he said, laughing nervously when he saw James watching him. "She has nothing against you, mind you," he was quick to explain. "It's just that, in her mind, she can't fathom why anyone would choose someone else over her son."
"Something you two have in common, I see," James said as he sat up, realising that he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep.
"Not at all. There are plenty of people I wouldn't be surprised that you choose over me. It's just that, of all the people… you chose McLaggen."
"Not this again," James rolled his eyes as he flopped back on the bed and covered his face with his pillow. "Get out," he said in a muffled voice.
"Listen to me, Potter. He's not right for you," BJ said with conviction.
"I said, 'get out,'" he repeated, his tone a little stronger.
"He's a slimy git that just using you to get to me. Why else would he tell me that he's asking you out before he actually did."
"Leave … Now …" James said as his anger started to boil.
"Not until you listen to me! You can't trust him!"
"I KNOW THAT!" James snapped as he pulled the pillow from his face and sat up straight.
"What?" BJ looked at James in shock.
"Nothing," James said. "Never mind."
BJ opened his mouth to ask what James meant when a loud pop was heard and James' personal house elf appeared at the foot of the bed.
"Twinkle is informing young Master Potter that breakfast will be served shortly. Please be prepared so Twinkle can take young Master Potter to where breakfast is being served."
"Alright," James said as he jumped out of bed again, this time letting the coolness of the floor wake him up.
"Wait," BJ said as he grabbed James' arm.
As James pulled his arm from BJ's grasp, another pop sounded, revealing BJ's house elf. The sound and appearance of another house elf distracted BJ long enough for James to slip into his bathroom and away from the Slytherin. When the door clicked shut, unwanted memories of when he was still at school suddenly assaulted him.
~ FLASHBACK
The crowd erupted as the Hufflepuff Seeker caught the snitch. Their team had lost even with this last ditch effort to save face, even if only by fifty points. As the crowd cheered for Ravenclaws' win, James pushed past them, planning on surprising McLaggen with a congratulatory kiss.
Unfortunately, James hadn't gotten to the Head Boy in time. By the time James reached the bottom of the stand, the Ravenclaw team were already entering the change room.
Deciding that it would be funny to surprise McLaggen even so, James made sure that no one was watching him before he donned his father's invisibility cloak and snuck up to the change room. Slipping inside was a breeze, having done it a million times before when he had to sneak back into his dorm room.
As expected, the Ravenclaws were celebrating their win amongst themselves.
James imagined throwing the cloak off, scaring those inside with delight etched on his face. But James thought better of it. As much as he loved scaring people with that trick, he only tended to do it with those who already knew he had a cloak.
Instead, James found a little nook to hide behind. It was the perfect place for him to jump out and surprise McLaggen. When a curious phrase caught his ear.
"Your plan is going spectacularly," James could hear one of McLaggen's teammates, their Seeker Corner, say in admiration.
Curiosity piqued within James. He waited to hear what kind of plan the Ravenclaw was talking about.
"Of course it is," McLaggen said with superiority. "It was so simple in its execution, I'm surprised no one else thought to do it sooner."
"Well, Zabini wasn't a Keeper before now," Boot, one of their other Chasers, pointed out. "But you have a point. Knowing that asking Potter out would create a shift in the balance of the game in our favour should have been obvious to us."
"It hasn't completely shifted in our favour just yet," their third Chaser, Smith, corrected as she hung up her gear. "Merely going out with Potter isn't going to be enough to take Slytherin out of the running,"
"True," McLaggen agreed. "But letting Zabini find out that I was going to be spending Christmas with Potter did. That dumb Slytherin fell into our trap with little effort, as he will do once again right before our match with him. But shifting the game in our favour with Gryffindor will have to wait until I can make Potter fall in love with me."
"That way, you can crush his heart right before our teams go up against each other," Corner said as if realising his Captain's genius.
"Exactly," McLaggen said in triumph. "And while Potter is swooning over loosing me, Gryffindor will be down one of their best Chasers and we will strike without mercy."
"And we will finally win the Quidditch Cup."
"Exactly."
END FLASHBACK ~
James splashed water on his face, as if trying to wash away the memory. But the coldness did nothing for his burning anger. If that son of a bitch had any clue who he was dealing with, he never would have come up with such a suicidal plan. To use someone like that, to play with someone's emotions, FOR A TROPHY, was low.
It was only luck on James' part that he didn't have any deep feelings for the Ravenclaw. The Head Boy was cute, James wouldn't deny that, but he doubted he would ever fall for the boy. The Ravenclaw just seemed to … fake for James' liking. James figured he now knew why he had such a feeling.
McLaggen was fake.
Everything about him, everything he said and did was all a ploy so he could get a stupid cup. For a decade straight the Quidditch Cup had been awarded to Gryffindor. Apparently, McLaggen didn't want to leave Hogwarts without having won his house the coveted goblet. But now that James knew what the boy was up to, he had a few tricks up his sleeve. McLaggen was going to regret crossing him.
Leaving the bathroom, James was a little shocked to find Zabini sitting on his bed. Frankly, he had forgotten the Slytherin was even here.
"How do you know that you can't trust him?" BJ said as he got up from the bed. "I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me," he added when James merely rolled his eyes at the boy. "What did he do to you?"
"He didn't do anything … yet," James sighed.
A part of him knew that it was only fair that he tell the Slytherin. After all, he had already been affected by McLaggen's plot. So James told the other boy what McLaggen had put in motion. By the time he was done explaining, the Slytherin looked like he was about to murder someone.
"That son of a bitch," BJ fumed before he turned to James in concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. McLaggen vastly overestimates his appeal."
"Wait a minute. If you knew he was using you while we were still at school, why did you bring him over to spend the holiday with you?"
"I had already invited him over by then," James shrugged.
"That's not what I mean," BJ shook his head. "Why are you still with him? You know that he's just using you, and you have yet to dump his arse. Why?"
"Where's the fun in that?" James asked in confusion.
"Excuse me?"
"I don't want him to know that I know about his plan, so what would be my excuse for breaking up with him. Besides I plan on inflicting as much discomfort on him as I possibly can while I'm still with him," he said with a sickly sweet smile that reminded BJ of the Gryffindor's sister. "I have a list of potions in my arsenal and a kitchen filled with house elves who would do anything for me because of my dad. Both of which I plan on using to my full advantage."
"Why don't we take this one step further?"
"'We'?"
"McLaggen used me just as much as he used you. I want in on this," BJ fumed.
"You have a point," James said as he thought about it. "Well his whole plan was conceived so his team could win the Quidditch Cup. But his team still needs to beat yours and mine in order for that to happen. Now, I know he's not going to beat my team," James said with confidence. "But if he were to lose to your team as well, there's no way he could get that Cup."
"There's one problem with that."
"What?"
"I might need a little bit of motivation in order to beat him."
"The notion of robbing him of the one thing he was after isn't motivation enough."
"It's not a guarantee, I'm afraid," he said with an uncertainty that didn't have James fooled. "But the prospect of you agreeing to go out with me would be."
"Would it now?" James said, realising that he should have known better. "Alright fine. If you win, I'll go out with you," he conceded, knowing that he had already done worse. "But only one date," he added at the triumphant look the Slytherin was giving him. "And only if your team wipes the floor with his."
"We will. He's not getting anything past me," BJ said with the Slytherin confidence James was used to seeing.
"Make sure that he doesn't. It would bring me great pleasure knowing that all of his scheming was for nothing."
"So we have a deal," BJ said as he held out his hand, to which James shook. "Let's seal it with a kiss," he added before quickly pulling James forward.
BJ wrapped his other arm around them, trapping the surprised teen's arm between them. Then before James knew what was happening, BJ had captured the Gryffindor's lips within his own. James gasped out in surprise, giving the Slytherin the chance to slip his tongue between the smaller teen's lips. He plunged his tongue deep within the caverns of James' mouth, caressing the Gryffindor's tongue with his own. As he caressed James' cheek with his free hand, he felt James shiver against him.
The Slytherin savoured every second of the kiss, mapping every cavern, committing it to memory. Time seemed to stop for BJ as he brought his hand up underneath James' shirt. At least he would have like it to as he caressed James' back, electing a soft moan from the shorter teen.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"
James and BJ jumped apart at the shout, their hearts beating rapidly in their chests. When they looked to see you had caught them, it was to find their host, Mr. Malfoy staring menacingly at them. Although, if James hadn't been so embarrassed at being caught, he would have noticed that Draco was only glaring at the young Slytherin.
"The house elves informed me that you two were preoccupied, which is why you didn't show up when breakfast started," Draco said, unable to see anything but red at the sight of his son, who was still in his pajamas, in an embrace with a boy that was not his boyfriend. Of course if he had caught his son with McLaggen, he supposed he wouldn't be any less infuriated.
"Sorry, Mr. Malfoy," James said, unable to look the man in the face.
"BJ," Draco said as he tried to calm himself. "I suggest you come with me. We can proceed to where everyone else is gathered and let James finished getting dressed."
"Yes sir," BJ said as he headed out of the room. The moment the door closed, though, he knew that he was in trouble.
"We will be having a very long conversation later today, this you can be sure of," Draco practically hissed in BJ's ear.
"Yes sir," BJ shuddered before following the blonde down the hall, already dreading their talk.
As the young Slytherin followed the blonde to where everyone else was gathered, BJ couldn't help but recall the softness of James' lips, his taste, and think to himself that whatever happened, that kiss had been worth it.
End of Chapter: Bedroom Interlude
