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Providence	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 15841 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter Fourteen�What
Draco Malfoy Owned

�� You may
not like the house-elves� desire to serve wizards,� Draco said to Granger, and
was pleasantly surprised at how calm his own voice was. After an hour of
debate, he had expected his patience to wane.

�� Perhaps Harry being in the audience has
something to do with it.

�� But it
exists,� Draco said, and spread his hands, watching his motion with three sets
of eyes all the while. Two of them, his and the eyes of his enemies who would
inevitably be in the audience, were familiar. The third, Harry�s, was not, and
Draco knew that he would worry about that and whether he had managed to answer
Harry�s criticisms if he let himself. He didn�t intend to let himself. Instead,
he kept a firm hold on his anxiety and his temper and spoke as if he had mere
matters of fact to communicate�which he did. �It exists, just as earthquakes
and diseases that kill thousands exist. You cannot pretend that it isn�t there
or lessen its force by giving the elves clothes.�

�� Wizards
have told themselves lies about house-elves for so long that they couldn�t
recognize the truth if it slapped them,� Granger said, refusing to turn a hair.
�You may think that desire exists,
but tell me the truth, Malfoy. How likely
is it that a creature perfectly bred to serve you and do everything you
wish would simply come into being? No. Wizards have made house-elves what they
are through centuries of selective breeding and willful ignorance.�

�� Draco
sighed. He had hoped that Granger wouldn�t drive him to this tactic, but it
seemed that nothing less would satisfy her.

�� And only think of what Harry will believe,
when he sees your courage and your dedication to the truth.

�� Draco
crushed that hope irritably. It was as likely, at this point, that Harry would
decide Draco�s attempts to win the debate with Granger were manipulative
emotional theater. He needed to do this because he had to win the debate, not
because he wanted to impress Harry. He turned towards the far left corner of
the stage and clapped his hands. He had given instructions before he left the
Manor, and he knew those instructions would be reverently obeyed. �Flopsy!� he
called.

�� One of his
house-elves Apparated into sight, and bowed gracefully to him. Flopsy was a handsome
elf, with neatly groomed hairs sticking out of his ears and wide eyes that held
less hysteria than was normal with one of his kind. �Master Draco was calling,�
he said, �and Flopsy be coming.� He turned and cocked his head at Granger,
twitching his ears. �Mistress Granger is having a question to ask?�

�� Answers
given by a slave in the presence of his master are worthless,� Granger said, as
if she were quoting something.

�� She probably is. The Valiant Friends produced a lot of worthless rubbish in
the form of essays and pamphlets that their members, as far as Draco knew, were
required to recite word-perfect before they went and proselytized against
house-elf slavery, or whatever Granger�s new cause was this week. But he had
expected this, in part because he had taken the liberty of purchasing a few of
those essays and reading them himself. He nodded and rose to his feet. �I shall
retire,� he said. �And then you can ask Flopsy questions and get true replies.�

�� Granger
stared at him, and Draco had the sweetness of knowing he had taken her utterly
by surprise. He couldn�t resist the temptation to roll an eye sideways and
look�

And sure enough, Harry was leaning
forwards in his seat, his own eyes wide, his hands clasped on his lap as though
he needed them there to keep from reaching out to Draco in his excitement. The
sweetness rolled back through Draco, though this time with a sharp edge that
made him shudder and thank his own foresight for wearing loose, if luxurious,
robes.

Then Granger snorted at him and
slammed her hand into the arm of her chair, hard enough to rouse several dull
echoes. Flopsy twitched his ears, but made no comment on the rudeness of
Mudbloods, the way Draco might have encouraged him to do if they were in front
of a more understanding audience.

�� I
understand the way that the slave bond between wizards and house-elves works,�
said Granger, her voice so full of condescension that Draco would have
cheerfully strangled her. �Flopsy will only do what he thinks pleases you. You don�t fear leaving him alone
with me because you know that he�ll still say the things he would when you were
present.�

�� Draco had
not expected this tactic to work, but it did expose one of the weaknesses in
Granger�s argument, and he struck like a serpent before she could reconsider
her ill-chosen words.

�� I don�t
understand, Granger,� he said, assuming his best �helpful idiot� expression.
�You hate �enslaving� house-elves because you see it as the chaining of
intelligent beings with wills of their own. Is that right?�

�� Granger
narrowed her eyes slightly, but replied in her usual calm, level manner.
�That�s right.�

�� Then why,�
Draco said, going in for the kill�but so subtly, so smoothly, that she couldn�t
notice and interrupt him before he said what he needed to say��do you say on
the one hand that you don�t trust Flopsy in front of me, and then on the other
that you don�t trust him away from me? It sounds very much as if he couldn�t
give you any answer that would satisfy you. Even if he complained of my rough
treatment and longed for freedom, you would only say that I�d told him to
recite those words in pursuit of some nefarious plan. House-elves have wills of
their own, but you will not trust them in the exercise of those wills.�

�� Granger
snarled soundlessly, caught in the logic trap. Draco knew she would soon fight
her way free, and probably she would do some dramatic Gryffindor thing such as
insisting on giving Flopsy clothes right that second.

�� Therefore,
he decided to end the debate whilst he had the upper hand, and before he had
said anything too offensive to Granger. Without Harry in the audience, he would
be happy to deliver insults, but many things had changed now.

�� For the
next debate,� Draco said, making his voice soft and piercing at the same time,
�decide on some test a house-elf can make that will satisfy you. And then
explain why that test will satisfy
you.� He paused, but not for long enough that Granger could catch her breath
and take advantage of his silence. �Unless, of course, meeting a desire for
service that simply exists is too
hard for you.�

�� And he
turned his back and walked off the stage, towards Harry, who rose to his feet
when he saw Draco coming. His eyes didn�t express unqualified approval, but a
thoughtful challenge was there that Draco appreciated more. He smiled at Harry,
and Harry stepped towards him involuntarily, gaze fastened to his face.

�� Draco found
himself lifting his chin without conscious volition and turning his head to the
side to show off his profile. He couldn�t help it. Harry brought out his vain
side, the one that demanded admiration.

�� Maybe because you know that his admiration
would be worth more than anyone else�s to you, Draco thought, and then
slipped a hand over Harry�s elbow and pulled him forwards. He couldn�t help the
satisfied little hiss that broke through his lips, either.

�� What did
you think?� he asked, lowering his head so that he was whispering into Harry�s
ear. The people staring at them might look all they liked, but he didn�t want
them to overhear what he was saying to Harry.

�� That you
have good debate tactics,� Harry said. �And that you came up with an argument
Hermione couldn�t answer at the moment, which takes enormous skill.� He smiled
at Draco and then nudged an elbow into his ribs, gently, but still strongly, so
that Draco had no choice but to let him go and step away. �Now, wait here a
minute. I want to talk to Hermione.�

�� And off he
went, as Draco stood there blinking at his back. He smoothed his expression out
when he realized people were looking, but he knew someone would have noticed
that stumble.

�� What does he want to speak to her about?
Will he congratulate her on the debate, too, and try to preserve some sort of
twisted neutrality where he compliments both me and his friends equally?

�� Draco
grimaced and rubbed his mouth absently. Then he sighed. If he gave up his friends for me so easily, then his loyalty wouldn�t
be worth having.

�� I will have to learn to live with Granger and Weasley, no matter how childish
or impossible I find their arguments. Harry won�t abandon them, but he�s likely
to turn his back on me if I try to make him do so. He�ll be convinced that he
was completely wrong about me and I have nothing but the manipulative mask to
offer him�none of the qualities that he saw in me and fell in love with.

�� And anyway, it�s probably not the debate
that he�s going to talk to Granger about.

�� Draco had
no evidence for that last thought, but it helped him take a deep breath and
settle his shoulders. He even managed a slight smile, thinking about what
admiration Harry might express when they were in private and didn�t have the
eyes of the audience constraining them.

�� Harry won�t do exactly as I want or expect
him to. And he shouldn�t. He would become another Rianna, so anxious to
anticipate my wants and needs that he has no life of his own.

�� I don�t want that. I want him.

�� As
exasperating as Harry could be at times, Draco was certain that last thought
was the truth.

*

�� Is it true
that you�re dating Draco Malfoy?�

�� Harry
smiled sweetly at the breathless woman edging towards him, her head tilted up
towards him and her black hair falling artlessly around the sides of her face.
He knew her. She was Patricia Morley, Skeeter�s successor at the Daily Prophet, and even more relentless
in the pursuit of a story. Her innocent air had helped her get many in her
time; Harry had fallen for it several times before he realized that she knew
exactly what she was doing and was less overwhelmed by the blaze of his
celebrity than he was.

�� But there
were methods for dealing with people like Morley that she had never learned to
counteract, and never would without changing the whole of her character.

�� Yes,� he
said, and walked straight past her whilst she still gaped and fumbled for a
response. Hermione had stood up next to her chair, and she�d been talking to a
few witches in the red and gold of the Valiant Friends a minute ago, but now
she just watched him come with an expressionless face. Harry climbed the glass
stage anyway and gave her a hug. She felt stiff in his arms.

�� I don�t
want to lose you as a friend,� he murmured into her ear. �I still think
house-elves should be free. I just happen to believe Draco did a better job in this
debate. Can you stand us dating?�

�� Hermione
remained stiff in his arms for a moment longer. Then she relaxed and hugged him
back. �It�s not about whether I can stand it,� she said. �It�s your love life, Harry. If he makes you
happy, I�ll put up with him, and if he hurts you, then I can disembowel him.
But I don�t think I�ll ever like him, and I certainly won�t give up the
debates.�

�� I didn�t
expect you to,� Harry said, and kissed her on the cheek. �But you are one of my best friends, and your
opinion is important to me.�

�� Just not enough
for you to make major changes in your life based on it,� Hermione said.

�� Harry
cocked his head to the side and smiled. Hermione had had years of trying to
influence his behavior with her advice, including advice that involved him
embracing his celebrity and using it to push for house-elf freedom. At least
she sounded wry rather than bitter now.

�� I�ll bring
Draco for dinner in a few days,� he said.

�� Hermione�s
face changed quickly, scattering emotions like sparks, and finally she settled
on incredulity. �I don�t think I�m willing to go to Malfoy Manor,� she said,
�and I don�t know if I could have him in my house.�

�� I was
thinking about bringing him to the Valiant Friends� meetinghouse, actually,�
Harry said, and held his breath until she laughed.

�� If he�ll
come, by all means.� Hermione shook her head and clasped Harry�s hand. �I
suspect he won�t, given what it would do to his reputation if someone saw him
walking into the place, but it�s a bold plan.�

�� She kissed
his cheek in turn. Harry smiled at her and watched with a warm feeling of
contentment under his heart as she left. He knew, after all they�d been through
together, that his best friends wouldn�t leave him because of a silly argument,
but sometimes it was nice to be reminded.

�� He turned
around to walk back to Draco, and blinked when he saw Draco staring at him,
arms folded and deep lines of displeasure slashed around his mouth. Harry
raised an eyebrow. And to think, I
haven�t even told him about our dining plans yet.

�� No sooner
had he arrived at Draco�s side than Draco grabbed his arm and they Apparated
out of the arena, arriving moments later on the lawns of Malfoy Manor. Harry
stumbled once, then again as Draco started hauling him towards the door.

�� What is
your problem?� he snapped, trying to brace his feet and resist Draco�s tug.
Draco spun around to face him and gripped his arms, yanking him close again.
Harry stared up at him. He hated, when Draco had treated him like a puppet,
that the look of determined possessiveness on Draco�s face made him hard.

�� She kissed
you,� Draco whispered.

�� Harry gaped
at him, then shook his head. �She�s Hermione,�
he said. �She�s one of my oldest friends.�
And she�s with Ron, and she knows that I�m with you. That�s what we
argued about, remember? How in the world can you be jealous of her kissing me?�

�� You�re��
Draco began. Then he stopped, his nostrils flaring, as if he were remembering
how much Harry had disliked his earlier claim that Harry belonged to him. He
blew out his breath and bent over Harry again, so close that Harry almost
crossed his eyes trying to focus on his face.

�� You�re
mine,� Draco whispered. �You have to be. I don�t want you to walk away. But I
don�t know how to say it so that I don�t offend you.�

�� Harry curled
his fingers gently into Draco�s chest, toying with a fold of his shirt. �I
understand what you mean,� he said, and diplomatically did not add, What you fear. Draco wouldn�t take it
well at the moment. �But treating me like a toy that someone else might pick up
and play with doesn�t help your case.�

�� Draco
closed his eyes and shook his head. His face was tight with stress. �Bloody
hell, Potter,� he said. �I�m trying. I�ve
never had anyone I could say that to who wouldn�t rejoice to hear it. I�ve never
had someone I wanted so badly to own.� His hand curved hard around the back of
Harry�s neck, and he brought their lips together with a force that cut Harry�s
tongue on his teeth.

�� Harry
opened his mouth and waited a moment until Draco�s tongue had moved into a good
position. Then he bit it, sharply.

�� Draco
leaped back with a cry, and clapped his hand to his lips. Harry raised his
eyebrows, licked the blood away from his teeth, and said, �I�m happy to talk
with you about this. I�m happy to make promises that I won�t kiss anyone else,
or let them kiss me, if you have a jealousy problem. I�ll even admit that you
being that jealous over me is flattering. I won�t
let someone own me.� He could hear his voice deepening with outrage, and
decided that he�d have to explain why, because otherwise Draco would never
understand. This needs both of us to make
it work. �After the war, everyone wanted to own me. They wanted my name, my
face, my good will, my autograph. I got sick of it. If you want to have me,
Draco, it�ll have to be for some other reason than because I make a good
possession.�

*

�� Draco
caught his breath and prevented his rage from exploding by sheer concentration.
He�d had these fights before, and because his partners had been weaker than he
was, he always won.

�� But the
harsh gleam in Harry�s eyes said that wouldn�t happen this time.

�� Draco
closed his eyes for a moment and fought his way back to some semblance of calm.
And the answer came to him as he thought again of the differences between Harry
and those partners he had courted, as he thought of the intense disappointment
that had flared within him when he stepped into Merlin�s Tor and discovered
Astoria waiting for him instead of his writer.

�� This is too important for me not to speak
honestly about. And there are plenty of reasons that Harry isn�t just a good
possession, or a good wife.

�� And that
thought made him catch his breath and realize that Harry wasn�t a woman. He
really, really wasn�t. He didn�t long for children and a pure-blood social circle.
He longed for Draco, but he might change his mind and walk away even from that
longing if he wasn�t very careful. In his story about loving Draco for two
years before he made any move, Draco had come to understand, even if Harry
didn�t realize he was revealing it, how stubborn he was.

�� So he
lowered his voice and said, �You would make a very bad possession, actually.�

�� Harry
snorted, but cocked his head to the side, a delicate motion Draco already
recognized. I�m listening.

�� You
struggle too much,� Draco said. �You aren�t docile. You aren�t grateful to me
for the favor of my interest in you.� He touched his chest where Harry�s
fingers had crumpled the cloth. �Instead of swooning because I throw you up
against the wall, you�re more likely to push me away and bite my tongue.�

�� Harry
smiled faintly and lifted his head, showing off his profile much the way Draco
had done earlier when Harry looked at him in the debating arena. But Draco knew
this wasn�t conscious. Harry appreciated compliments, but he didn�t go out of
his way to court them. He probably didn�t know that he responded to Draco�s
words like someone who wanted more of those words.

�� That gave
Draco hope. He could change his beliefs, or some of them, for Harry�s sake. He
could change his debating tactics. Why not the way he seduced someone? If he
could become more graceful and polished, the courtier Lucius had believed
himself to be and never was, then he would have even more reason to be proud of
himself.

�� It becomes
a question of whether I can tolerate that, of course,� Draco said in a slow,
considering tone. �As well as a question of what my language really means. I will say that I don�t envision chaining
you and make into a slave or a house-elf when I speak of owning you. Just�having
you to myself.�

�� Sexually?
Socially? Psychologically?� Harry spoke with a spark to his words that hadn�t
been there before, and Draco decided that he was seeing the Auror who had
undertaken hundreds of arrests in the last few years.

�� Sexually,�
said Draco. �And psychologically, a bit. I have no illusions that I can isolate
you from your job or your friends.� He took a deep breath and then spoke on
before he could consider how much of himself he was giving away. �I want to
come first with you. I want to know your weaknesses and faults, the things you
won�t tell your adoring public for fear that they�d be used against you. I want
you to speak up in defense of me the way you did to Granger earlier today.�

�� Harry�s
forehead wrinkled, creasing the scar. �But that�s not owning someone,� he said.
�That�s part of a normal relationship.�

�� I�ve never
had one of those,� Draco said. It was done, the words out there, and
miraculously, he felt less flayed with each passing moment, instead of more. He
moved a step forwards. Harry watched him with what looked like thoughtful
encouragement, so Draco dared to reach out and grip his shoulder. �That�s
owning someone to me. I�ve never had someone I can depend on that absolutely.
I�ve never come first with anyone who wasn�t my parents, who are bad candidates
for this kind of relationship for obvious reasons.�

�� Harry
laughed and leaned forwards, resting his head on Draco�s shoulder. Draco curled
a hand around the back of his neck. Contentment and power swelled in him. Is there anyone else who�s ever had Harry
Potter leaning trustingly on them like this?

�� The
knowledge that, probably, no one else ever had, gave him the courage to
continue.

�� I want you
to depend on me,� Draco whispered, stroking his hair. �I want you to tell me
the truth when you lie to the whole world. I want you to show me the injuries
that you think would make others scorn you. Do you understand?�

�� Harry
froze. Then he shook himself and gave a soft laugh. Draco tightened his hold on
him, wondering if he had decided that Draco�s request was ridiculous.

�� I was
thinking of how vulnerable that would make me,� Harry whispered back. �I was
wondering if I could trust you. But then I remembered how much I�m demanding
that you trust me, especially about the changes in your beliefs working out for
the best and me being worth all this. The least I can do is trust you back,
hmmm?� He lifted his head and caught Draco�s eye, smiling. A moment later, he
reached up and caressed Draco�s cheek. �I agree to your version of owning me.
Provided that I can own you, too.�

�� Of
course,� Draco said. He couldn�t say anything else, because the dryness in his
mouth had spread to overtake his throat.

�� And there
was only one cure for that dryness.

�� He kissed
Harry again, this time introducing his tongue more gently, his hands massaging
Harry�s shoulders and the nape of his neck instead of clamping down on them.
And this time Harry responded with no bites, but with a slow, delicious sweep
of his tongue back and forth that literally made Draco�s knees tremble.

�� He tried to
explain this, and how rare an occurrence it was, and how Harry didn�t need to
think it meant he was weak, but Harry�s tongue stole his breath, and Harry�s
laughter in his ear stole his sanity, and the hands rubbing up and down his
scalp, tangling into his hair, stole his resolve to speak.

�� In fact,
after another minute of Harry sliding his leg between Draco�s and rubbing
deliberately up and down against Draco�s erection, only one word was left to
him. �Bed,� he whispered, the next moment his mouth was free.

�� He expected
a refusal, because from the moment he saw Harry in the room in Spain, Harry had
resisted and confounded him.

�� But instead
Harry laughed and said in a low voice, �Oh, let�s,�
and Draco stumbled over his own feet moving them in the right direction.

*

�� js: I think
he is. He�s not perfect yet, but at least he explains what he means instead of
snapping angrily that Harry should just understand him, and he�s willing to
consider change. It helps that Harry isn�t as militant about house-elf freedom as
Harry is.

�� butterpie:
Thanks very much! Hermione�s motives are understandable, I think, but she doesn�t
have the emotional subtlety that would let her express them without offending
people�at least not all the time.

�� And Harry,
now that he realizes what some of Draco�s language might indicate (a different
perspective instead of a desire to enslave him), is more willing to listen to
him and work with him so he can be at his side.

�� MewMew2:
Thanks! I find it amusing that Draco�s traits impress Harry without quite
swaying his political beliefs.

�� Kermit:
What?

�� Thrnbrooke:
Thank you!

�� SP777:
Well, Draco has figured out by now that his attempts to impress Harry might
backfire on him in counterintuitive (for him) ways, so he�s trying to be as
cautious as he can.

�� And no,
that�s true, I haven�t.
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Providence