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Learning Life Over	By : Meander Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 69712 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Again with the thanks! I greatly enjoy having people enjoy
this story- as well as writing it.

Chapter 14- Plans, Competitions, Trials

�� Draco
rolled his eyes as he slung a leg over the Flameflare. �I shouldn�t be
surprised that you chose flying,� he said.

�� You
remember what I told you.� Harry was tossing a Snitch up and down in his palm,
squinting at the sky over the Quidditch Pitch. Draco hungrily studied the way
the wind tossed a particular section of his dark fringe in the air, then looked
away. Looking so obviously when he wouldn�t get to touch for some time hurt. �I
want to see if I can actually compete against you in the air. Flying�s one
thing. That was always instinctive for me, and it just came back. But I had to
learn the rules of Quidditch, you know, and I haven�t played since sixth year
at Hogwarts.� His face darkened, but he refused to let any of the emotions
touch his voice as he spoke, despite Draco�s desire to hear them. �So I want to
play against you now.� He turned a sharp grin on Draco suddenly. �Just think,
Malfoy, you might even get the chance to win a game against me for
once.�

�� Draco
stiffened. Among his memories of Hogwarts, the ones of Harry beating him to the
Snitch time and time again were not his happiest. He felt a fire of competition
stir in his blood, and for the first time in days, it wasn�t directed at
Harry�s stubborn resistance against even acknowledging that Draco made him feel
good. �I will win,� he said. �As you pointed out, Harry, Quidditch takes
practice.�

�� Harry chuckled
under his breath and tossed the Snitch into the air. A moment later, it had
vanished and Harry was lifting off the ground on his own Flameflare, flying in
pursuit of it.

�� Draco�s
stomach tightened again with want, and this time he didn�t think he could be
blamed for his stare. It was not like Harry, his head lifted and his eyes
fastened on the clouds blowing in on the stern wind, would notice. He was pure
glory on a broom. Draco had a right to watch him.

�� Then he
rose himself, and began to circle, looking for the Snitch. He remembered the
rules easily enough, and adopted wide, hawk-like rings, his eyes narrowed and
his head relaxed as he turned it from side to side. Tense your neck too much,
he knew from playing hours-long games with Blaise, and you could injure
yourself when you finally caught the Snitch.

�� Harry
imitated the hawk-circles. Draco smirked. He really has forgotten how to
play. He has to follow me and see what I do.

�� The thought
flew out of his head when Harry spoke across the distance between their brooms,
his voice casual.

�� So I�ve
decided that you�re right about sex, Draco.�

�� Draco
blinked, and tried to tell himself this was a distraction technique, but Harry
didn�t take off in a sweeping dive in the next moment. He just continued in his
circle, cocking his head back and raising an eyebrow when Draco didn�t answer
him immediately.

�� Something
wrong, Malfoy? Giving up already?� His voice had a smug undertone.

�� Draco bared
his teeth. Harry couldn�t mean what he thought he meant. He�d said that
he wanted some distance from Draco for the present, so he could decide what he
felt about him.

�� On the
other hand, Harry had said that when he knew that Draco was listening to him.
So he could have lied, as much to throw him off the track as to puzzle
Narcissa. That meant-

�� That meant
that Harry was more Slytherin than Draco liked to think about, honestly.

�� Not giving
up, Potter,� he answered, and then saw a gleam of gold beyond the bristles of
Harry�s broom, and stooped towards it.

�� Harry surged
forwards instinctively, but then he flipped over and flew backwards and
upside-down towards the area where Draco had seen the Snitch. Draco snarled
under his breath. Goddamn unfair bastard. God wants Harry to win at
Quidditch. That�s all it is.

�� But the
ball had vanished as easily as if it could Apparate instead of merely fly, and
Harry had to work hard to keep from slamming into Draco. He ended up hovering
close to him instead. Draco could smell his sweat and feel the heat radiating
from his skin, but he also felt better able to answer the question.

�� You want
to have sex with me?� he asked quietly.

�� Harry
tossed his head, and his eyes widened a little, his Adam�s apple twitching hard
as he swallowed. �I didn�t mean that, Malfoy,� he said.

�� But your
voice is a little hoarse, and look at those eyes. Draco allowed himself a
smug smile. Harry would only take it as more evidence of his intolerable
arrogance, not satisfaction at his response.

�� I meant
that I probably need some kind of companionship in my life,� Harry continued,
in the words of someone discussing whether he should get a dog. �A woman who
works at the Ministry would be perfect, don�t you think? Someone who
understands my schedule, my needs and wants.�

�� Draco could
picture it too easily. There were some people at the Ministry like Harry,
though he�d been the worst example. Two lonely people might well drift together
and cling there for what comfort sex and a few exchanged words now and then
could provide.

�� He
deserves more than that, and he�s going to have it. But Draco was not ready
to show that determination yet. Harry was feeling him out, not keeping strictly
to the terms of the distance he�d set. He probably wants to see what kind of
person I am when I�m not constantly flirting with him, to decide if I�m right
for an acquaintance, or a lover.

�� On the
other hand, if Harry was testing him, Draco saw no reason not to do the same
thing right back. �That sounds wonderful, Harry,� he said carelessly.

�� Another
blink. �Really?�

�� Of course,�
said Draco. �I�m sure that there would be many women who would grace the bed of
the Boy-Who-Lived because he was lonely and needed someone to fuck. Act a
little more charming, and she might even pretend to love you for it.�

�� He was
close enough to hear Harry�s teeth audibly grind. He tossed his head again, and
Draco felt magic rise from him like a heat shimmer. �That�s not what I meant,
Malfoy. Don�t twist my words.�

�� It sure
sounded like it,� said Draco bluntly. �Think about it, Harry. You�re not saying
that you want to find someone to love or, heaven forbid, be friends with. Just
someone to have sex with. And of course your schedule is the thing that
rules what you�ll decide to do with your life, not an ambition or a passion or
even a desire. Is that really what you want your love life to be like, Harry?�

�� The slim
figure on the Flameflare spun away from him, twirling towards the ground in a
sideways maneuver that took him through barrel rolls, and which Draco doubted
he could duplicate. He dived, cursing again. The conversation might be the most
important thing, but that didn�t mean he wanted Harry to win the game.

�� Harry
pulled up long before the ground, though, shaking his head again, and picked up
their exchange as though he had never left it. �I�m making a place for someone
else in my life. Isn�t that what you wanted?�

�� The other
person has to feel needed and wanted, too,� Draco said, unable to believe that
he was giving these kinds of lessons to a Gryffindor. �Have you thought of
that, Harry? It�s not all about you, you know.�

�� Of course.
I know that.�

�� Draco
thought he did. Given what he�d dedicated his life to, Harry had a terminal
case of selflessness. It was far more likely that he was thinking in terms of
an equal relationship with his partner, and simply not thinking of how his
words came off to someone who listened.

�� And he
needs more than that. He�d grow bored with his Ministry woman sooner or later,
though he might be courteous enough not to leave her. He needs passion and a
force equal to his own, meeting his, challenging him.

�� Then speak
like it,� Draco snapped smartly, and feigned a Wronski Feint at the ground.
Harry, the infuriating bastard, recognized it, and just hovered where he�d
been. Draco pulled up, panting hard, and called across the distance between
them. �What do you want, Harry? Think of that first.�

�� I have,�
said Harry, drawing nearer again. �And the answer is that I don�t know yet.�
His face was unusually thoughtful, too thoughtful for Quidditch. And of course
he wasn�t even breathing fast. Bastard. �But you�ve reminded me that
there are important things I�ve been neglecting. Emotional comfort. Food.� He
hesitated briefly. �Sex.�

�� Draco
studied him through hooded eyes for a moment. Harry just looked back at him, and
Draco was convinced that while there might be a competition here, there was
little to no manipulation. Harry was simply telling Draco as much of the truth
as he could, and testing Draco to see if he measured up to Harry�s conception
of what he needed. The tests themselves would probably tell Harry a good deal
of what he wanted, as well.

�� Draco did
something unnatural for him, and responded to honesty with honesty. �And have
you thought about me in those terms at all?�

�� Harry
flushed. He half-closed his own eyes, and said, �I like women, Malfoy.�

�� Oh, so
he resorts to last names when he wants to put some distance between us, does
he? Draco wouldn�t permit that. His new plan said that he wasn�t going to
touch and flirt as heavily with Harry as he had before, but neither would he
turn aside from the challenge like some coy adolescent girl.

�� How sure
are you of that?� he said.

�� Harry
pulled his broom a short distance back. �Sure,� he said. �It�s women that- �
Then he clenched his teeth, and his face flushed even redder. �I don�t know why
I�m discussing this with you,� he muttered. �If I don�t know what I want, then
why should I think you could help?� And he shot away in search of the Snitch
again.

�� Draco found
himself smiling so widely his face hurt, despite the inconclusive nature of the
conversation. I know why, Harry. You�ve acknowledged this as something you
need, and there�s someone right here with whom you have an intense relationship
and who�s willing as all fuck. You can do worse than feel me out, and some part
of you does know that.

�� Harry gave
a low shout. Draco looked down and saw the Snitch darting through the cropped
grass of the Quidditch Pitch, heading for the western side and a patch of thick
brush that grew there.

�� Draco knew
the layout of the Pitch extremely well, and thus knew a shortcut that would
take him to the brush more quickly. He dipped just beneath the force of the
wind and sped around in what looked like a complete loop, but in reality would
turn him sharply to the north, take advantage of a prevailing wind current, and
bear him to the Snitch ahead of Harry.

�� Another
shout came from below him. Draco looked down, wondering if the Snitch had
changed course.

�� What he saw
made his breath catch in his throat.

�� The Snitch
had indeed changed direction, darting sharply past Harry and back into the air.
Harry was obviously unwilling to pull up and chase it higher, even though that
was what any sane person would do. He�d thrown himself across the broom,
gripping it with his legs alone, and extended one reaching arm, fingers open to
grasp the Snitch.

�� His weight,
meanwhile, was overbalancing the broom. It wouldn�t have, ordinarily- and the
faithful Flameflare was working hard to compensate- but the wind was simply too
brisk, and picking up moment by moment. Harry tilted and tipped, and then
spilled towards the Pitch, only a few inches past the Snitch, but more than
twenty feet above the ground.

�� Harry
seemed to see only the one distance, not the other. He gave another incoherent
yell.

�� Then he
swung himself out from the broom in a somersault, one hand flailing out and
grasping the Snitch. Draco could feel his mouth opening and his lungs
inflating, though what he was going to scream he never knew. Visions of
shattered limbs and blood filled his head.

�� Then they
went away, and he saw what was actually there.

�� Harry
hooked the broom with his feet as it dropped, dragging it along and towards
him. In a complicated movement that Draco could barely follow, he was kneeling
on it a moment later, and then he�d dropped off so that his right arm was flung
around the broom in a tight hold, the shaft tucked into the crook of his elbow.
He held up his left hand, and Draco could just make out the blur of the
Snitch�s fluttering wings through his clenched fingers.

�� Harry
laughed.

�� Draco found
his voice, but it was only to yell, �Are you mad?�

�� Harry
laughed again, and then hauled himself up, without letting go of the Snitch, so
that he was sitting sideways on the broom. A moment later, he was fully astride
again, and making for the ground. Draco followed him, determined to get some
answers as to what he thought he was doing. His heart was beating an odd tattoo
pattern against his chest, as the full impact of what he�d seen only now hit
him. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I almost lost him.

�� He landed
on the grass just behind Harry, who�d collapsed. �What did you think you were
doing?� Draco shouted, and hopped off the Flameflare.

�� Harry
rolled over, saw his face, and laughed again. �Oh, come on, Draco, I wasn�t
going to die,� he said. �I knew exactly what I was doing.�

�� How?�
Draco fought against the urge to stamp his foot.

�� Harry
shrugged. �I don�t know,� he said. �I just knew what was going to happen. I was
thinking with my muscles, not my head.� He held up his left hand. �And see? I
won.�

�� Obviously,
you weren�t thinking,� Draco said direly, and folded his arms. The focus of his
concern had shifted again, to the fact that he knew he would have been too far
away to catch Harry if he fell. Damn it, Harry could have died, and he insisted
on treating it like some enormous joke.

�� Harry
raised an eyebrow as he scrambled to his feet. �Draco, my life has been in more
or less constant danger since I was eleven,� he said cheerfully. �I don�t think
I�d know how to function without it.�

�� Some
solution that doesn�t include jumping from brooms would be appreciated,� Draco
muttered.

�� Harry
tilted his head and strode towards him. Draco wanted to back up at the curious,
determined expression on his face, but that would involve losing. He forced
himself to drop his arms and take a step forward, determined to meet whatever
stupid thing Harry would do head-on.

�� Even he was
surprised, though, when Harry reached out, took his chin gently but firmly in
long fingers, and drew his face close to kiss him.

�� It was a
far more chaste kiss than the ones they�d shared so far. There was no tongue,
for one thing. For another, Harry seemed intent on pressing his lips against
Draco�s mostly as an academic exercise, to see what would happen. The
expression of calm curiosity on his face hadn�t altered yet.

�� And then he
must have passed his unseen test, or maybe Draco did, because his mouth
softened and parted, and Draco felt his tongue curl inward and probe gently at
his.

�� Somehow,
Draco summoned the superhuman control required to keep from lunging forward and
dominating the kiss. He would show Harry what he could be when he wasn�t
desperate for his partner�s touch, even though he was, in this case. He let his
tongue entwine languidly with Harry�s, and concentrated on intensity rather
than passion. If this didn�t outdo every kiss Harry had ever shared with a
woman, Draco was determined that the fault wouldn�t lie with him.

�� Abruptly,
Harry broke away, backing up and staring at Draco with wide eyes. Then he
turned and hurried towards the Quidditch shed, carrying his Flameflare and the
Snitch with him.

�� Draco
blinked, licking his lips. Then he shrugged. He would take the optimistic
interpretation, and say that Harry had learned more from the kiss than he
wanted.

�� He allowed
himself to smile. He�ll come to me of his own free will, someday. I just
need to be patient.

�� Patience
was one thing Draco wasn�t good at. But he would try to be, for Harry�s sake.

*****

�� Draconayzia:
Narcissa did not think Harry was all that smart, hence why she wasn�t subtle
when approaching him. She�s since corrected that mistake.

�� Lissa: Not
sure where you got that impression. I�ll definitely let people know when I post
the final chapter.

�� plicit
whims: Narcissa is not thinking in terms of friendship. More like �using him to
get what I want until I get what I want, at which point I will kick him out.��
- 13
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- 15
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Learning Life Over