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Secrets & Lies	By : Digitallace Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 14570 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with the fandom, nor do I get paid to write or post this work.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Author's Note: Many thanks to Shannon for the once over and thanks to all my readers & reviewers. You all deserve cupcakes.

Chapter 12

Harry watched Draco and Zabini in the corner booth and debated for a long time, vowing not to act rashly the way he'd always done in school, the way that always got him into trouble. As he saw it, there were really only two options; Interrupt them or flee. He supposed he could stay and nurse his pint, but he'd be damned if he would give Malfoy and Zabini the upper hand by letting them notice him first.

But really, the choice had always been clear. Harry wasn't a coward, so he would confront Malfoy and end this little game between them once and for all. If he was really the kind of man that would air Harry's dirty laundry out to his friends like this, then he wasn't the man Harry had wanted regardless.

The grip on Draco's wine glass was inordinately tight, and though part of him feared he might break the fragile stem, he didn't seem to have enough control over his own hand to loosen it. The barkeep kept a cask of his favorite vintage in the back for just these occasions when only a dark pub would do. It had taken a decent amount of bargaining before the gruff man had allowed it, but now they could both be content. Draco had his wine and the bartender no longer had to listen to Draco's constant whinging about drinking the swill they served everyone else.

If only he could stop Zabini from looking at him as if he had sprouted an extra head that bore the uncanny resemblance to the Dark Lord, the night might improve. "You're serious?" Zabini asked after a pregnant pause. It seemed the hysterical laughter was finally behind them and they could move on, although Draco wasn't looking forward to the next line of questions. "You can't honestly think that they would let you go so easily."

"Let me?" Draco hissed, displeasure coursing through him. "They have no control over me, Blaise. As I see it, they want something that I have, which puts them at my mercy. They are my poppets, not the other way around."

"Draco, you're mad if you think that some of the most powerful wizards in all of Europe will simply move on and find a new contact for all of their illegal artifacts because you've…found someone? What does that even mean? Who could possibly be worth all this trouble?" Dark eyes bore into him as if they could penetrate Draco's very soul and find the answers there, but Draco knew it was folly. There had only been one gaze that had ever been able to pierce straight to the heart of him, and he might never see those emerald orbs again.

"They'll get over it. They'll have to. I can turn the inventory over to you and you can take over if you like. I'm just not doing it anymore," Draco replied, obstinately ignoring the other part of the question. If there was one thing he'd become adept at over the years it was avoiding talk of his love life.

"Me? I don't want anything to do with that business. I'm squeaky clean these days and plan to stay that way. One brush with the Ministry was enough and I have no intention of letting them catch me so much as fingering an illegal artifact," he rebuked, rolling his eyes at Draco's lecherous smirk. "You should have turned it away from the start," he added, not for the first time.

"Life is made up of should haves, but you know I had little choice in the matter. The expectations of Lucius Malfoy are often daunting, no more so than this instance." Draco sighed and lifted his glass to his lips before letting it sink back to the table without drinking from it. "Stop looking at me that way. This isn't all that out of character."

"Do you even hear yourself? From the moment I met you it's always been 'Malfoys have a legacy to uphold'," he mocked in a near perfect impersonation. "That was when you were eight, and now suddenly you're dumping it all down the drain?"

"Maybe I think the Malfoy name deserves a new legacy," Draco bit out. It hardly made sense, even to him. All he knew was that even if he'd already ruined any potential relationship with Potter, he'd finally discovered what wanted out of life most was the connection he'd felt. All he could think about now was going to sleep and waking up with a man who could make him feel alive. Although he'd be lying if he said the face on that someone didn't bare an eerie resemblance to The Boy Who Lived.

Blaise sighed and shook his head knowingly. "Fine. You won't budge. It's probably for the best, as long as you can get out without getting yourself killed," he huffed. "Will you at least tell me who the mystery woman is? It's obviously not Astoria."

"I've never been particularly attracted to Astoria," Draco muttered unnecessarily.

"And how many times have I accused you of being gay for that same fact?" he countered with an undignified snort. "This one must be spectacular, because Astoria is gorgeous, charming, witty and she's practically thrown herself at you. How could any man resist?"

"It's quite easy, actually. Perhaps you should marry her if you feel so strongly about it," he pointed out.

"I would if she'd have me, but alas, I tried and failed." If Draco hadn't known better he'd say his perpetual bachelor best mate was sulking.

"I can put in a good word for you, if you like," Draco offered, wondering if it was peculiar that he felt no twinge of jealousy that his best friend had just essentially admitted to hitting on the woman he was supposedly casually dating.

Draco smirked at the light that sparked in his friend's eyes and nearly laughed as Blaise quickly recovered and brushed at an invisible crumb on the table. "If it comes up," he answered noncommittally as if Draco were to introduce him to his dentist.

He was about to tease Blaise about his obvious crush when his own stepped into view. Harry seemed to steal all the air from Draco's immediate vicinity, maybe the entire pub with nothing but the heat in his gaze. "Potter," he murmured, grateful his voice didn't even so much as crack, despite the growing pressure in his chest. "Have you taken up eavesdropping as a hobby since you lost your job?"

The insult came automatically and once it was out, Draco doubted he'd get a chance to retract it. He watched as Harry's jaw clenched, but he turned to face Blaise instead. "I suppose he told you all about it then, hm, Zabini?"

"Told me about what?" Zabini asked, confusion written plainly on his face as his gaze flicked between them.

"Oh, don't play coy, Zabini. It's not very flattering on you. I saw you laughing; do you think I really couldn't sort out what Malfoy's been telling you?" Harry demanded, his hands working into fists at his side.

"You mean about finding you at Madam Primpernelle's buying breast cream?" Draco interrupted, trying to defuse the situation before wands were drawn, realizing seconds later he could have perhaps chosen a less embarrassing story. "I hadn't actually gotten around to it yet, but thanks for the reminder, Potter. In fact, hard as it may seem to believe, your name hasn't entered our conversation once this evening," he added, trying to relay the truth of that fact with his eyes so that Harry didn't make an arse of himself and out them both in one fell swoop.

Doubt flickered across his haunting green gaze and then he seemed to sag a bit before lifting his chin almost defiantly. "Sorry to have bothered you then," he murmured, almost resignedly, and turned to walk away.

"Give me a moment," Draco whispered to his friend before leaping up and following Harry, grabbing him by the elbow. "Potter, wait," he demanded, yanking more fiercely on his arm when Harry refused to budge. It was useless. Apparently Potter's body was as stubborn as his emotions. "I was only talking to Blaise about business," he assured.

"And it's none of mine," Harry grumbled under his breath. "Trust me, I understand."

"Technically, no," Draco conceded, "But it could be, if you still wanted."

Harry turned slowly then, looking skeptically at Draco over his shoulder. "What?"

"What happened at the Manor…." He took a deep breath, trying to draw himself up taller. "It was wrong of me to run and to chase you off like that. I was…confused." Confused sounded better than frightened, but it didn't hurt much less to say aloud.

"You're confused?" Harry repeated, and Draco didn't think he was mistaken in hearing the underlying laughter in Harry's voice but couldn't understand it exactly. "Go finish your date with Blaise," he said, before Draco could analyze the bitterness tinged within.

"It's not a date," Draco almost pleaded for him to understand, but Harry was already smiling and that was a start.

"I'll see you around," he promised, pulling easily free of Draco's grip and slinking out of the pub to disappear in the dark streets beyond.

He hadn't realized how long he'd been watching Harry walk away until the sharp noise of Blaise clearing his throat brought him back. "It's Potter isn't it?" Blaise said the moment Draco sat back down.

"Yes, of course that was Potter," Draco purposefully misunderstood, rolling his eyes in time with the roiling of his stomach, his heart beating violently in his chest.

"You know exactly what I meant," Blaise whispered, his eyes filled with sharp pity, a wry smile on his lips. "You have terrible taste in women, but at least you make up for it in your taste for powerful men. It doesn't get much more influential than Harry fucking Potter," he sighed. "I can see now why you want out so bad. If he knew what you did for a living you wouldn't stand a chance with him."

Draco's tension at having Blaise learn his secret began to fade at the man's words. He made a fair point. Who else could be more worthy of a Malfoy's affection than such a famously powerful wizard as Harry Potter. "My thoughts exactly," he agreed, finally able to drink his wine and relax for a moment.

Harry squared his shoulders and braced himself, his pulse leaping in his throat the way it did just before a duel. His hand clutched the doorknob, trembling only for a moment before he turned it and stepped into his foyer.

"Ginny?" he called out. "We need to talk."

When no answer came, he moved through the house, searching the rooms one by one, but found no trace of her. Finally, he walked into the kitchen and found a note pinned to the refrigerator with a magnet displaying Ron and Hermione's wedding date. He sighed and plucked the parchment down, scanning it quickly before tossing it away.

Harry,

I'm staying at Mother's this weekend. I think a break might do us some good. It seems you asked me to move in sooner than you wanted. We'll meet up Monday and talk about it. I love you, Harry.

Gin

"Fuck," he muttered, his earlier confidence draining away in the face of her letter. Maybe he was being an idiot. Ginny was sweet and caring and lovely. They had plenty in common, like…. He rolled his eyes. No. She was lovely, but they wanted different things and had done since the war. She wanted to forget and he couldn't help but remember. She wanted a life with Harry Potter, famous hero and Ministry poster boy. He wanted to slink into the shadows and find someone he could be himself with.

He wanted Draco.

But then, he couldn't be himself around him either. Not really. Draco thought he'd been genuinely interested in him from the start. He sighed, scrubbing his face with his open palm. "What the fuck have I gotten myself into?" he muttered, quickly realizing he needed to shave. Sniffing the air he reckoned a shower couldn't hurt either. Maybe then he could go and see Draco and Harry could tell him the whole story from the start.

Hermione fidgeted under the severe scrutiny of her fiancé's gaze. She'd been trained to withstand the effects of Veritaserum without cracking, but something about Ron's hurt expression when he was being left out of things always made her cave.

She took a deep sip from her teacup to stall and tried to find something interesting in the file sprawled out in front of them. Ron had been rooting through it, looking at her notes and demanded to know why this case was making her and Harry act so bizarrely. "Why did he come back here only to bolt out the window, Mi? I know you know something."

He'd already asked twice before and she'd been able to deflect the question, but he was being extra persistent this afternoon. "I can't predict Harry's moods, Ron, and neither can you."

"You followed him last night. What happened?" he demanded. When she kept her lips firmly sealed, Ron rolled his eyes. "Really, Hermione," he huffed, sounding so much like her that she scowled. "I'm not nearly as dense as you and Harry make me out to be."

"I never said you were dense," she defended automatically, but he merely held up his hand and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter what you say. You sneak around behind Harry's back and I've noticed, alright? So, what did you find out?" he repeated.

She took a deep breath and let it out very slowly, wishing Harry were here. This was his secret to tell, not hers, but she couldn't keep Ron in the dark forever. "Harry kissed Malfoy."

Ron cringed slightly, but otherwise shrugged. "So? He's supposed to be courting him. Isn't that what people do when they date?"

"Yes," she reasoned, hesitating slightly before she pressed on. "But…Ron, he really kissed him. As in, not pretending, not undercover…I mean, he enjoyed it."

Ron's lip twitched slightly, from disgust or amusement at her own squirming she couldn't tell. "And that's why he came here?"

"Because he's leaving Ginny," she confirmed with a sympathetic nod.

"For Malfoy." It wasn't a question, more of a confirmation for himself, she knew, but Hermione nodded anyway. He was quiet for a long moment and she could all but see his mind actually working through everything, putting all the pieces into place. So many emotions flitted across his face that Hermione could barely keep up. Her hand on her wand she readied a harmless binding spell she could cast on her future husband until he cooled off a bit. "Our Harry knows who he is at last," Ron chuckled.

Hermione blinked at the statement, taken completely aback. She'd been expecting an angry tirade, hearing Harry's name cursed a thousand different ways, but this calm reaction was something she was completely unprepared for. "What?"

Ron gave a derisive laugh. "It kills me that you think I'm so oblivious. Did you really think the fact had escaped me that Harry was miserable with my sister? Or that he admired Professor Lupin a little too much…and he's always had an unhealthy obsession with Malfoy."

"All good points, but-" Hermione started, only to be interrupted by another of Ron's snorting laughs.

"Harry's gay. I get it. It's fine. I hadn't really put it together, I guess, but I think I always knew. Besides, he never even tried to date you, so it should have been obvious then." Ron winked and Hermione had never been so attracted to him in her life.

"I love you, Ronald Weasley. Did you know?" she asked, setting aside her tea and crawling into his lap.

"I had an inkling," he teased. "Not dense, remember?" he added, pointing to himself.

"So, you're not cross with Harry?" she asked tentatively, sliding her hands under his shirt.

"Cross? Why should I be? I know he'll let Ginny down easy, and as for Malfoy…I'm not worried. They can't last. They're just too different," he reasoned. "We might have to put up with him at a few dinners, but Harry will sack him before we know it."

Hermione paused, not entirely convinced, but put it out of her head as she straddled her fiancé and tried to put the whole dilemma out of her head. She'd seen the spark between the two men first hand. There was a decent chance that their fire would burn so hot that it would fizzle right out, but she thought it more likely that it would burn them alive.

Author's Note: So, I would love to know who here has a Pottermore account! I haven't gotten my official letter yet, so I haven't been sorted *grumble pout* But I hope it comes soon. I'm WillowRose22 for anyone who wants to add me!
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