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One Life Ends…	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 47481 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 4
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Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Chapter 9

Standing in the nice hot shower, Harry smiled as the water beat down on his body from all angles. It felt good, he would admit that. Despite being in good shape, he was a little sore from all the walking they had done the day before. Paris was a big place and the three of them spent a great deal of time moving on foot from place to place so that they didn’t miss any of the sights the city had to offer. With that, they had also spent a great deal of time in Avenida de Magos, roughly the Parisian version of Diagon Alley that was far more upscale. Because it had been a full day, they had all come back to the hotel exhausted and slept well.
It had been two weeks since Snape and Lucius had returned to France and Harry had loved every minute of it. Though, really, he knew he shouldn’t have allowed himself to get drawn back in with the two, he had been powerless to do so. He had so much fun with them when they were around that he couldn’t just let this opportunity pass him by, so he had thrown himself in whole heartedly and let the fun begin. Since that decision, he hadn’t once looked back or regretted it. At ‘home’, it was the high season and the place was packed, so many of the Bums and their families were going to go elsewhere to get away from the crowds. Usually, this was a slow time for him where there wasn’t much to do since his normal activities would leave him fighting with the tourists to do them. Now, however, that wasn’t the case. With Snape and Lucius around they were finding all kind of things to do since the two weren’t always around and wanted to see things. Not only did they explore the town like any tourist would but they took day trips here and there to see other things, like do a bit of wine tasting, go to a festival and the like. After two weeks, when they were going to have to decide what to do about somewhere to stay, it was decided, with Harry wholeheartedly agreeing, for them to give up the hotel room they had been using. They would be staying with him, but they weren’t going to be there much. They too didn’t like all the bodies around so they decided that, for a few weeks anyway, the three of them were going to be doing a bit of traveling. Because he was a resident alien registered with the French version of the Ministry of Magic, it was easy enough for him to get Portkeys to wherever they wanted to go.
The first place they decided on was Paris as they had talked about. It was busy this time of year, as they had expected, but not as much as places on the coast were. The thought was they were going to spend two weeks here then decide where to go next. As it was, they weren’t making plans beyond what they had already decided on. From what he could tell, both the older wizards seemed to like going about it this way as much as he did, which was fine with him. Since money wasn’t an issue for any of them, they had no problems with that end of things. It was, from what Harry could see, going to be a fun adventure for the rest of the summer. That was something that he was looking forward to.
Scrubbing himself off vigorously, Harry sighed in a contented way at the smell of the soap and shampoo he was using. Since they had packed a minimum of things, he was using the stuff the hotel Lucius had picked out provided and loved it. He thought, perhaps, before they left, he was going to have to buy some for his own use at home. After all, since moving to France, he had developed a taste for some of the finer things in life that dealt with self indulgence, such as shampoos, conditioners and the like. Most of his tastes were still plebian, as Lucius put it, but in some areas he indulged. As this was a hotel that catered to the Wizarding community, he also didn’t have to worry about things like the hot water running out. That pleased him as well. So he could indulge in a long, hot shower without having to worry about conserving the hot water for his two companions. While luxuriating under the pounding beads of liquid, he let his glamour slip. Since he was around the two all the time, he had to keep it up more than usual. Though it was a simple spell that he had no problem maintaining, even when asleep, it felt good to let the thing drop now and then so he could take a break from it. Sure, he was used to seeing himself in the mirror as Jay and had been for quite some time now but once in a while he needed to let it slip to keep reminding himself, in a metaphoric type of way, that Harry was still around as well. He felt it was something he had to do though, at times, he wanted to bury that part of himself forever and move on to being Jay. But he found he couldn’t do that. To deny the part of him that was Harry would be like trying to surgically remove part of who he was. Like it or not, though Harry Potter was lost to the world, he still lived and should keep doing so.
Not wanting to go down that oft traveled mental road, Harry shook his head then sighed, turning his face up to the pounding water as though he wanted to wash the thoughts clear from his mind. After that, he relaxed, just letting the water and steam do their work on his body for another 15 minutes or so before deciding it was time to get out and see what his two companions had planned for the day. Since both of them were more familiar with Paris than he was, he was letting them make the decisions as to where to go. Knowing them the way he did by now, it was sure to be a fun ride with them in control of the whole thing. Sliding out of the shower, he dried off with one of the huge, fluffy towels, though it would be faster using a drying spell, he liked the feel of the towels better, then combed out his hair with his fingers before looking in the mirror to put his glamour back on. Once that was accomplished, he looked around for the clothes he knew he had brought in with him but couldn’t find them. Nor was there one of the complimentary robes hanging up by the towels that were there when he came in. Looking around, grinning, he knew what had happened and it had a name, Lucius. It appeared that blonde wizard was in one of his ‘playful’ moods, playing a prank on him. Shaking his head, he still couldn’t believe the stoic Lucius Malfoy had a side like this. No, it wasn’t much of one and didn’t happen often but it was there, making him grin each time something like this happened. Knowing that it would do no good to summon his clothes and, since they had engaged in sex before, he wasn’t shy about them seeing him, he wrapped the towel around his waist then headed out to the main area of the room.
Both Lucius and Severus were sitting at the table, noshing on what looked like breakfast, reading through that morning’s paper. Coming up behind them, Harry cleared his throat, still grinning, waiting for them to stay something.
Looking over his shoulder, Lucius said, “It’s about time you emerged. We thought you were trying to drown yourself or something.” Eyes opening comically wide for an effect, poker face firmly entrenched, the blonde wizard then said, “Goodness Jay! Why would you come out here undressed like that? If you wanted something, all you had to do was say so, not come out almost nude!”
Snorting in laughter, Harry said, “It seems that while I showered my clothes vanished along with the robes that were in the bathroom. I don’t suppose either of you know anything about that?”
“What makes you think that we would know about vanishing articles of clothing?” Lucius asked, distinct tone of innocence weaving its way through his speech.
Rolling his eyes, Harry knew a futile battle when he saw one, especially after he observed Severus’ shoulders shaking in suppressed laughter a couple times. Shaking his head, he sat down to eat a couple of the warm croissants before they vanished. When he was done with those and having a couple bracing cups of coffee he would start hunting his clothes up and get dressed. The way he saw it was that the towel covered more than the cutoffs he wore at home did. Besides, if it were Lucius’ intent to get an eye full then he would give it to him. After all, he would probably enjoy where the whole thing led if it went there anyway.
While eating, he asked what was planned for the day and where they were going to go. The day before they had hit most of the well known tourist places that muggles frequented, so he was curious as to what they were going to do and where they were going to go.
Nodding to him while finishing the warm, buttered roll to let Jay know he heard, Lucius then, after swallowing, launched in with the itinerary that he and Severus had planned out. It was their thought that they were going to visit some of the Wizarding tourist areas that day along with a couple shops that Severus wanted to go to. They had decided to get the well-known areas out of the way off the bat then they could go exploring some of the offbeat places the three of them had heard about.
To Harry, that sounded like a good plan. Since all the exploring he had done had happened when he was traveling alone, he wasn’t all that familiar with the wizarding end of things and where to go, other than what he learned here and there. This, for him, would be enjoyable. Sure, he had learned about some things in school but seeing them or learning other ways was something he enjoyed as well.
While discussing the places they would go, they were interrupted by the sounds of an owl knocking on the window. Looking up, Jay saw a familiar eagle owl perched there with a dark pink letter tied to its leg. Arching an eyebrow, he waited to see what Lucius would do about it. Along with that, he was curious about the color of the envelope. As he was aware by now, certain colored letters meant certain things, like howlers were red. But he hadn’t seen one this color.
Smirking, Severus said, “It looks like Draco wants to complain to you Lucius.”
Sighing slightly, the elder Malfoy got up to let the bird in. Taking the letter, he gave the owl a few tidbits off his plate then it flew off out the window. Turning the letter over in his hands, he contemplated what to do with it. An Emotional wasn’t like a howler in that it would explode, but it would do something equally as nasty; tear itself apart while whining in a tone that always set his nerves on edge. Though it had been many years since he had received one, he could remember the last one clearly.
Looking at his friend, smirk growing, Severus asked, “Aren’t you going to open it? I’m sure both Jay and myself will be most entertained by the content. Besides, you should have expected something like this. I’m just surprised at how long it took for him to send it.”
Looking back and forth between the men, Harry waited with bated breath to see what was going on. Not wanting to show his ignorance over the thing, he stayed silent, figuring that he would, sooner or later, be educated as to what this was.
Shaking his head, Lucius decided that it was in his best interests to open the dratted thing and get it over with. Breaking the seal on the letter, he tossed it on the table and waited.
Almost as soon as the tome touched down, it rose up off the table then formed a mouth where the opening of the letter was, as a howler did, then began to speak. The voice that came out of it was easily identified as that of Draco. “Father! How could you do this to me? Go off gallivanting across Europe without taking me along? It’s wrong father, no matter how you look at it! Now I’m stuck here at the manor with nothing to do. You know I can’t go out anywhere on my own. Nasty things happen when I do that. I mean, if I go somewhere with you, people don’t say as much but if I go on my own they give me all kinds of problems, then I end up in trouble for hexing them. Even if I didn’t do anything at all, I’m the one that gets blamed for it! You know that. What were you thinking father? It’s your responsibility to take care of me and you decided that you are just going to run off to have some fun? How could you! It’s not right! I sincerely hope that you come to your senses soon and return home so that I’m not left here by myself all the time. After all, that’s the right thing to do.” With that, the letter closed then ripped itself to pieces before what remained vanished in a puff of smoke.
Sitting there, Lucius stared at the place the letter had been, shaking his head, a slightly sad look on his face.
Taking a sip of the delicious coffee that had come with their breakfast, Severus then sat the cup down and said, “Ignore it Lucius. It’s time that Draco realized he has to face this whole thing head on and deal with it on his own terms. You’ve coddled and protected him enough over the years, so it’s time that he learn to do it on his own. It isn’t like you’ve abandoned him, you’ve just taken a vacation is all.”
“This I know, Severus,” Lucius sighed. “But it’s a hard thing to do. For 10 years now I’ve taken care of him and tried to help the situation. To just walk away and make Draco now deal with things for himself is hard. Part of me does feel as though I have thrown him to the wolves.”
Snorting, Severus shook his head. “You have not, all you have done is force him to grow up and deal with things on his own. How he goes about that is his problem, not yours. You’ve instilled values and the right way to go about things both by example and instruction. Now it’s time to allow him to do it on his own.” Nodding Jay’s direction, the man in black said, “Look at Jay. He’s approximately the same age, yet lives on his own and deals with his own issues. Draco is no better or different. He should grow up and deal with things on his own like most young men his age.”
“You’re right of course,” Lucius conceded with a nod. “However, it’s not that easy after all this time. Caring for Draco and the problems he deals with on a daily basis has become second nature to me and isn’t an easy habit to break.”
“I know but it’s something that is for the best. If you don’t stop, he’s never going to be able to move on and have a life of his own,” Severus schooled somewhat gruffly.
Sitting there, eating a croissant, Harry listened to the conversation avidly. Though he had found the letter amusing, thinking that Draco needed to grow up and stop whining over the whole thing, he found the conversation between the men moreso. Internally, he was rolling over the whole thing, thinking that his archenemy at school hadn’t changed much over the years. In school, he had always used his father to protect and bail him out of trouble. It appeared that hadn’t changed over the years other than the problem growing worse. To him, it was the height of hilarity that someone his age was all but demanding that his father come home so that he wasn’t lonely and that he wouldn’t go out anywhere on his own. But, along with that, he found it sad as well. Most of those he knew his own age wouldn’t even think about doing such a thing, preferring to be out from under the control of their parents. On the heels of all that came the curiosity as to how this came about. But he wasn’t going to ask. If Lucius wanted to tell him the story of it, he would do it on his own. Giving a mental shake of his head, he was disgusted by Draco and his inability to find his own way in the world and make a life for himself. To that end, he felt that the younger Malfoy had only himself to blame for it.
Thinking over what his friend had said, Lucius’ gaze flickered over to Jay. Honestly, he had forgotten the young man was in the room when he opened the letter. To that end, he gave a mental wince. This wasn’t something that he wanted someone who wasn’t familiar with the problem to be privy to. But Jay had heard the whole thing and he was certain that he was curious about it. Sighing internally, he said, quietly, “I’m sorry you had to overhear that Jay. It wasn’t something that I would wish you to have to experience.”
“No harm, no foul,” Harry said giving a dismissive gesture. Though many questions were on the tip of his tongue, he didn’t ask any of them.
Knowing that explanations were needed before the young man that was spending time with them got overly curious about things, Lucius steeled himself then launched in to explain some of what was going on with his son. Though he didn’t go into details, he explained enough for Jay to understand what Draco’s life had been like since the fall of the Dark Lord and how he was having problems dealing with life in general. After concluding, he explained, “Yes, I understand that many cannot forget what was done during those dark times, but Draco was put in a position that was no win. On one hand, he had to do the Dark Lord’s bidding or risk harm to myself and Narcissa. On the other, he could have defected and would have been protected. He was, really, in a no win situation. Couple that with my mistakes in handling the whole thing afterwards and he’s had it rough. I understand that many won’t forgive such things but, like Draco, they do need to move on and allow my son the opportunity to make his way in the world like everyone else. It is the past and both of us have learned from what happened. Most beings get a second chance in the world so I feel that Draco deserves the same thing.”
“However, as Severus said, Draco does need to grow up and learn to deal with such things himself. He can’t hide behind me or expect me to deal with all the problems he has in the world. Nor should I have to shelter him from all life’s woes. It’s time that he learns to do that himself,” he concluded with a sigh.
Honestly, for the first time, Harry was seeing the whole situation from Draco’s point of view, never having thought about it that way before. Nor did he like the fact that he was sympathizing with the little ferret over it. He could understand that it was hard to deal with on Draco’s end, making life unbearable. After all, his own situation, if he were to drop the glamour and go out in the world as Harry Potter, would be similar though the reaction would be hero worship not being derided. But, on the other hand, he did feel still that Draco needed to grow up and get on with life. No matter what he did, people were going to remember what had taken place and react to it. If you did what Draco was doing and confront everyone that did such things, it wasn’t ever going to fade into the background or make people lose interest in it. That didn’t mean though that he couldn’t empathize with the younger Malfoy. From the sounds of things, he had tried to move on and build a life on his own but hadn’t been allowed to do that even after all these years.
Sighing, he shook his head and said, “Sounds like he has had a rough time.”
“Yes, he has,” Lucius conceded. “It’s really a double edged sword. I understand that it’s rough, I deal with that end of things as well, but he has to move on. I’ve done that and so has his mother. It’s time that Draco learns to as well. This trip is the first step in me forcing him to do so. Severus was right in telling me that I needed to stop fighting his battles for him and sheltering him from the cruel world. He does, at some point, need to do that on his own then build a life for himself. After all, there are plenty of beings that have had it rough since the fall of the Dark Lord, on both sides. Draco cannot use that as an excuse any more.”
“I agree,” Harry replied with a nod. “It isn’t like you kicked him out of the house and told him he was on his own, you just left on vacation is all.”
That statement, from an uninvolved party in the matter, made Lucius feel better about the whole thing. After all, Jay had no part in it and seconded Severus’ view of things as well as what he was doing. “Indeed. He will want for nothing while at the manor and is taken care of. He can come and go at will, doing what he wants. I’m just not there is all. If he wants to go out, he can do so. If he chooses to stay at the manor and sulk, that is his choice as well,” he said, more to convince himself of it than anything else.
“Exactly Lucius,” Severus told his friend pointedly. Then, knowing it was best not to stay on that topic said, “I think, if we want to do all those things we have planned for the day, the lot of us need to get ready to go.”
Thinking that it was probably for the best to ignore the letter and not respond, Lucius was all for getting out of the room and having an enjoyable time. Nodding, he said, “Indeed Severus, that is for the best. It’s going to be crowded and take time to do things anyway so it’s best that we get on it.”
Popping the last of the bread in his mouth then finishing off his coffee, Harry stood up and said, “Let me go get dressed and I’ll be ready to go. That is if the two of you haven’t made off with the rest of my clothes as well.” Arching an eyebrow, he looked at the two men, grinning.
Smirking once more, Lucius said, “I assure you, your clothing is in your room where it belongs. Severus and I just wanted to view a little eye candy to start the day off well is all.” Standing, the elder Malfoy stretched then told the both of them, “Let me go get a shower and get ready.” After a nod to the two, he vanished out of the room trying to focus on what they were going to do that day rather than his son.
- 9
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- 11
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