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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 List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Thanks again for all the reviews!

Chapter Seventeen�What
Harry Potter Offered

�� House-elves
are a guarantee of traditions and stability,� Draco was telling Hermione, who
listened with a curled-up lip that Harry recognized as her expression when she
wanted to express disdain but felt politeness had to keep her back. �I feel
connected to my ancestors because of them. And to their ancestors, as well, of course. The house-elves I own are
mostly descendants of the ones my ancestors owned.� A note of pride entered his
voice. �Some families squandered their house-elves� lives due to temper or
magical experiments, but we never did.�

�� Harry
squeezed Draco�s thigh under the table. He doubted that Draco�s new argument
would change Hermione�s mind, but the fact that he was making it at all�and
without insulting Hermione�was amazing.

�� In fact,
Harry thought, looking happily around the central room of the Valiant Friends�
meetinghouse, this dinner was amazing altogether. No one had walked up and
punched Draco in the mouth yet. Most of Hermione�s supporters watched him with
perplexed expressions instead, as if they knew he was up to something but
couldn�t imagine what it was. Ron considered him gravely some of the time, and
the rest of the time gave Harry a mixture of dubious looks and lecherous winks.

�� Seeing that
reminded Harry that he hadn�t told Ron about his encounter with Draco yet. He
grinned and leaned forwards. Ron raised an eyebrow back and leaned towards him,
too, so that their heads met in the middle of the table.

�� I�ve finally
experienced that thing we always used to joke about,� he said. Ron looked
puzzled, which would make it all the better when the sense of Harry�s words
finally dawned on him. Harry cocked his head to the side and slowly licked his
lips, and Ron�s expression began to change. �It was wonderful.�

�� Ron sat
there looking as if someone had slammed him in the face for a moment. Then he
gave a dramatic shudder and whispered, �Malfoy didn�t happen to feed you a
mysterious-looking potion with potentially mind-changing substances in it just
before that, did he, mate?�

�� Harry
laughed, and ignored the curious glances he was attracting. Ron was resolutely
straight, and he would never understand why someone would want to do what he
referred to as �that.� But Harry still
had fun teasing him, and knew that behind Ron�s refusal to believe him was
incomprehension, rather than disgust.

�� He�d spent
so much of his life longing for a family, for people who would love and support
him against all the odds. And now he had it, though not quite the way he�d
envisioned. Once, he�d thought the Weasleys all by themselves would be that
family, with Ginny involved, When he realized he�d fallen in love with Draco,
he�d been dismayed, not understanding how he could reconcile his best friends
with someone who had tormented them so much through Hogwarts.

�� Not once
had he realized that they might try their best to get along with each other
because schoolboy insults mattered less than the happiness all of them could
contribute to Harry�s life right now. Harry still wasn�t very good at thinking
of himself.

�� No
potion,� he said, joy blowing through him like a summer gale. �No hypnotism. No
Legilimency. Just the pleasure of two bodies thrusting together��

�� I believe
you,� Ron said quickly.

�� Harry
snickered again, and felt Draco�s hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked up
at him.

�� Draco�s
eyes were a bit wide, the skin around his nostrils a bit pinched, but he nodded
to Ron, and the hand he stroked up Harry�s arm was only absently possessive,
rather than the tight clutch Harry knew he would have used if he were feeling
threatened by Hermione. �Are you ready to leave?� he murmured. �Granger
threatens a dessert course as lavish as this one, and I honestly don�t think I
can hold that much.�

�� Harry held
out his hand at once, smiling. Draco took it and almost simultaneously pulled
him to his feet and used Harry�s strength to haul himself up. Harry reveled in
the movement. It was a shame that not every minute they shared together could
be as perfect as that one.

�� He shot a
glance at Ron, who was watching their joined hands with a glint of
understanding in his eyes. Then he looked up and nodded, smiling. �Good on you,
Harry,� he said.

�� Harry
almost floated out the door of the meetinghouse, more content than he
remembered being in years. His mood wasn�t even dented by Draco�s arm winding
around his waist and Draco�s voice hissing into his ear, �Now that I�ve braved
your social circle and shown what I can do, it�s time for you to brave mine.�

*

�� Draco
smiled and leaned back against his chair, lifting a glass of wine in toast to
himself. He�d got through a dinner with Harry�s best friends and killed no one,
nor insulted them mortally.

�� And the
chocolate mousse that his own house-elves, including Flopsy, were carefully
cleaning up had tasted better than
the food the Valiant Friends had.

�� Feeling
thoroughly smug and full, Draco turned his attention across the table. Harry
was licking his lips and scraping his fork across his plate in search of more sweetness.
Draco rolled his eyes�Harry�s table manners would have to improve before they
went out into public at a place Draco was well-known�but he smiled more widely
anyway. In private, at least, Harry�s thoroughness in chasing what he wanted
was charming.

�� I have
considered,� he announced. Harry looked up, licking his lips again, and
contributing abruptly to Draco�s growing store of fantasies concerning him.
Draco cleared his throat and forged on. �I think it only appropriate to take
dinner at Merlin�s Tor, where you made such a point of trying to foist Astoria
off on me, and in the company of my friends.�

�� Harry
nodded, seeming unsurprised, and finally put his plate and fork down so Flopsy
could take care of them. �Your friends from Hogwarts?� he asked. �Political
allies? Both?�

�� Draco
blinked, and then reminded himself that his surprise was ridiculous. Harry was
an Auror, had been for years, and at least touched on the circles that Draco
was determined to place him in. There was no reason to believe that Harry must
automatically think �friends� meant the same kind of Hogwarts-style friendships
as his own. �Both,� he said. �Including a selection of the people I have
striven to impress since the war.�

�� Harry�s
eyes took on a deep, thoughtful cast that Draco hadn�t seen since Spain. �And
I�m part of the program to impress them,� he said.

�� I didn�t
pursue you because of that.� Draco lowered his voice to emphasize his
seriousness. �But as matters stand�yes. You are my partner, and inevitably,
they will evaluate you, and me in the light of my choosing you.�

�� Harry
reached across the table and laid his hand on Draco�s. Draco let his breath out
in a rush. He hadn�t realized until then just how worried he was that Harry
might take offense to his words.

�� This is
part of you, too,� Harry said, as though in answer to his thoughts. �The
political maneuverer, the thinker, the fighter to safeguard the Malfoy name. If
I couldn�t stand that, I should never have paid attention to you in the first
place.� He tossed his fringe out of his eyes and leaned closer. �And as much as
I love that part of you with all the rest, I�m
not like that. How unnatural will I have to act?�

�� Draco
stared at Harry, his lips slightly parted. His mind had stuck on the word
�love,� even though this wasn�t the first time that Harry had said it.

�� Harry
rubbed his thumb over Draco�s hand, and chuckled. �The first bargain between
us,� he said. �You don�t look at me with that expression of wonder in your eyes
during the dinner, or I won�t be responsible for what sort of sights your
guests might get treated to.�

�� Draco
half-lidded his eyes, as much to give himself time to adjust as to conceal the
emotions that Harry had already seen. �Quite,� he said. �And to answer your
question, I believe that will depend on how much you know of pure-blood manners
already. If you have a modicum of knowledge, we can scrape by without extra
training.�

�� I know
where the knives and forks go,� Harry said. �Kingsley insisted that I learn to
dine �like the powerful man which you are.�� He rolled his eyes and popped his
voice out of the imitation of the Minister it had sunk into. �But I�m not good
at controlling my emotions, or pretending that I don�t hear insults directed at
me. Or at my friends, for that matter.�

�� He looked
directly at Draco again, and Draco nodded. �I can�t promise that there won�t be
any of those,� he said. �What we need to settle, before we go to the dinner, is
the degree of response you�re going to give.�

�� Harry
smiled. �Pure-blood social codes help me there.�

�� They do?
How?� Draco frowned. If he, who had lived in this society all his life,
couldn�t think of a possible way for Harry to defend himself or his friends and
still retain the important polish of impeccable discretion, it was a good sign
that such a way didn�t exist.

�� I think I
should surprise you,� Harry said, and fluttered his eyelashes at Draco.

�� Draco drew
himself up, his shoulders already so tense that he thought of calling Flopsy to
give him a massage before he retired for the night. �Don�t,� he said sharply.
�Unless you want me to make a fool of myself
because I�m awaiting the moment when you destroy my chances to succeed in
my world.�

�� Harry
blinked, then grimaced and shook his head. �Sorry. I�ll tell you.� He took both
of Draco�s hands this time and wound them around his neck, deliberately
tangling Draco�s fingers in his hair. Then he explained his plan.

�� Draco was
not only calm by the end of the explanation, but hard at the thought of what
would happen should one of his friends be stupid enough to challenge Harry. He
leaned across the table and hauled Harry towards him, kissing him deeply enough
to make him dizzy. Or at least that was his goal, and that was the way Harry
looked when Draco leaned back again.

�� Bed, now,�
Draco whispered. �Merlin�s Tor tomorrow.�

�� You can
arrange a party that quickly?� Harry tugged Draco towards the stairs, moving so
quickly that he kept Draco off-balance constantly as he tried to renew his
control of the motion. �I�m impressed.�

�� It�s
amazing what one can do,� Draco said, finally managing to pin Harry against the
wall of the staircase for a moment, �with money and fame.�

�� And magical power, he thought but didn�t
say, though the thought alone made him grind his cock into Harry�s leg.

�� Harry broke
free just then, tossed Draco a challenging wink, and ran up the stairs. Draco
scrambled after him, eyes locked on his arse.

*

�� Merlin�s
Tor was far more impressive than Harry remembered from the time when he�d come
here under his Invisibility Cloak, telepathically connected to Astoria. Of
course, then he had only cared about the setting as an appropriate one for
Draco and the woman who would soon become his lover. Now he knew it was going
to be the place of a humiliating failure that Draco�s set would never forgive
him for�

�� Or for a
triumph as great, though the triumph would have to be defended and proved again
and again as the failure never would.

�� Like walking a bloody tightrope, he
thought as he and Draco strode in side-by-side. Draco had rented the entire
restaurant, and that meant there was an attendant to sonorously announce their
names at the door. Heads were already turning. All it takes is one mistake to doom you, but at every successful step
people gasp and then stare eagerly, waiting to see if you fall on the next.

�� And these
people would be more than usually eager to see him fall. Harry didn�t think he
had ever performed for such a hostile audience, not even when a bribery scandal
had broken out in the Auror Department right before his annual speech on the
anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts.

�� No matter.

�� It really
didn�t matter. Harry had been in situations like this all his life. There was
always someone who hated him and wanted him to crumble. Harry had always
refused to oblige them, and he didn�t see why that should change now, just
because a few of these people had the good luck to be Draco�s friends and the
rest were political contacts.

�� He lifted
his head the moment he judged enough eyes were on him. Some people deliberately
weren�t looking, but then, they were trying to impress him with how small he
was to them. Too bad for them that such tactics had stopped working on Harry
when he was eleven years old and began to realize that, for most people, he was
bigger than he could ever comprehend.

�� He folded
his hands behind his back, away from his wand, to show that he thought most of
the people staring at him now no threat, and gave a considered, cold glance at
several parts of the room. Once he started to bow. Then he stopped himself with
an almost imperceptible shake of his head and turned towards Draco, following
the slight motion of hand and arm Draco gave to a chair at a central table,
under the shining ceiling. He strolled over to the chair and drew it himself.
He and Draco had agreed to avoid gestures such as his taking Draco�s arm or
having his chair pulled out for him, which might convince some stupid watchers
that Harry was only a substitute for the women Draco had dated until this
point.

�� The
atmosphere swirled around him and turned more hostile yet. Harry smiled
slightly and kept his eyes on the fiery letters of the intangible menu that had
sprung up in front of him. The audience now thought that he considered them too
inferior to bow to.

�� So far, so good.

�� Wonderful,�
Draco hissed into his ear as he passed Harry to sit on the far side of the
table. It was only a stray breath, but Harry could hear the truth in it�and
feel the truth in the hand Draco used to brush his ribs, in the moment when his
floating cloak shielded the touch from everyone�s sight.

�� That
bolstered Harry�s resolve as nothing could have. He sat up straighter and
turned his attention to the first person who had decided to approach them. This
was Allison Crowley, as he remembered from Draco�s descriptions. A tall woman,
the silver of her hair shining with added glamour charms, she had hands like
claws and an expression that would have done credit to a hawk at the kill.

�� Mr.
Malfoy,� she said, and inclined her head to Draco. Then she turned to face
Harry, and he heard the frost in her tone that was supposed to put him in his
place. �Mr. Potter. Can I ask why you are intruding into a pure-blood
sanctuary?�

�� Funny,�
Harry said lightly. �They must have forgotten to put up the charms on the door
that would sting me if I really was of dirty blood.�

�� Crowley�s
face showed a massive struggle to suppress some emotion, which was as revealing
in its way as full-out hatred. Harry smiled sweetly at her. There had been a
great campaign after the war to create �pure-blood sanctuaries,� public and
private places where only those of guaranteed heritage could enter. Protective
charms supposedly guarded the entrances, doors and fireplaces alike, hexing any
half-blood or Muggleborn who showed up. But there was no difference in
wizarding �blood� great enough for charms to recognize, and Harry had proved
that by disguising himself and walking through several sanctuary doors like he
owned the place.

�� Allison,�
Draco said, his voice tempered with gentle apology, �I�m afraid you�ll have to
excuse Harry. He isn�t used to the rarefied air on our heights yet.�

�� Crowley
turned to face Draco. She gave a little blunt nod in acceptance of his apology,
and then jerked as his words caught up with her. �Harry,� she said.

�� Yes?�
Harry leaned inquiringly towards her. He thought of fluttering his eyelashes,
but caught Draco�s warning glance and refrained.

�� Crowley
ignored him with a truly heroic effort and went on speaking to Draco as though
Harry wasn�t there. �Do not tell me that you have taken him to your bed,� she
said. There was real distress in her voice. �Or worse, to your heart. Oh,
Draco, the last descendant of a noble line should avoid such ignoble mingling.�

�� Harry had
to work hard to swallow his anger. Yes, there had been hostile people at the
Ministry receptions, too, but at least they usually harassed him about not
having done enough or having done the right thing, not about his heritage.

�� You knew this would be a factor, he
reminded himself. You knew it. You could have backed away if it
disgusted you that much.

�� Instead, he
took an invisible deep breath�something he�d learned in Auror training, when
his instructors emphasized that he must never let his enemies know they were
getting to him�and settled himself. He had all the outrage Hermione could ask
for when it came to judging people, and magical creatures, on what they were
born with. But his tactics were different from hers. Hermione wanted to
persuade people, and with some of them, she�d managed. But her own hardened mindset
made it impossible for her, on this one issue, to listen to logic or concede
the faults of her direct approach. Harry could, and so that meant he could
support his ideals in a sneaky fashion.

�� Besides, it
was up to Draco to answer now.

�� I have taken
him to my bed,� Draco said. �And to my heart.� It was said so lightly that
Harry didn�t realize, for a moment, what it implied. Then Draco�s hand slid
across the table and his fingers closed around Harry�s wrist like a manacle, in
a caressing, possessive gesture that reassured Harry at once. No matter how
great the change in Draco�s emotions, he still kept the basis for them that
Harry understood. �Because some things matter more than blood.�

�� Like
what?� Crowley�s voice was almost a wail.

�� Like beauty,�
Draco said, and his voice dipped, simulating the lick across the center of
Harry�s palm that Harry knew he would have given if they weren�t in public.
�And fame, and power.�

�� He turned
to Harry with a brilliant smile, which had its dark edges and no sweetness. But
that lack of sweetness hardly mattered, not next to what he�d said.

�� Harry gave
him a heated look in return, unmistakable to anyone watching, especially
someone standing as close as Crowley was. Draco�s eyelids drooped, and he gave
the slightest shiver of pleasure. Crowley practically stumbled as she left the
table behind and went back to her own.

�� The meal
came soon enough, the most delicately spiced soup Harry had ever tasted,
followed by pies of seasoned game and huge wheels of bread and cheese. The
specialty of Merlin�s Tor was Dark Ages wizarding food, which, from what Harry
had read, was not so different from Muggle food at the same time. He ate his
way through even the bread, which was thick and sweet and deserved great chomping chews, with delicate nibbles, and used his
cutlery correctly every time.

�� Now and
then Draco reached out and held his wrist again, but not to restrain him. Harry
understood that perfectly well. No, he wanted to claim Harry in front of the
room, and express his own intense delight in owning someone who was a
half-blood but a match in his manners for the highest pure-blood.

�� And now and
then someone did come up to talk with Draco�and in staring at Harry, goggling
as though he were an orangutan who had inexplicably been taught to use a fork
and spoon, they gave away more than they meant to. Draco won some concessions
more easily than he might otherwise have done. They�d planned on that, too.
Harry gave them innocent or blank looks and hid his smile in his napkin.

�� And now and
then he pulled his hand back whilst Draco held it in his restraining grasp,
just to see how far away he could get. Each time, it brought Draco�s gaze back
to him without fail, bright and piercing, and Draco intensified his hold.

�� Not going to let you go.

�� The message
was written openly in his eyes. Harry smiled back and lifted his glass of wine
in a private toast, and then he turned and scanned the room idly, wondering
where the first attack would come from.

�� As it
turned out, it was Acheron Flint, whom Harry had tried several times to arrest
on charges of smuggling dragons without success. Harry was surprised when he
saw the lean wizard, impeccably attired in dark robes, rise to his feet; surely
he would goad someone else into fighting for him rather than being so open.
That wasn�t like him at all.

�� But like
him or not, he strode forwards now and halted next to their table. He didn�t
even pretend to talk business with Draco, unlike some of the others who had
used that as an excuse to gape at Harry. He simply planted his hands on his
hips and stared.

�� Harry
smiled back blandly. He knew as well as Draco�whose clasp had tightened
slightly on his wrist�that staring contests had been used as old rituals of
status in pure-blood society when wizards were still using sticks as wands. He
didn�t intend to look away, and a time-delayed charm he activated now with a
subtle motion of his unclaimed hand kept his eyes moistened so he didn�t have
to blink.

�� Flint
curled his lip when he realized that Harry had become wise to his tactic, and
jerked his head a little to the side. �I�m surprised to see you without your
Mudblood friend tagging at your heels, Potter,� he said. �Isn�t it rather
uncomfortable to go without her for someone like you, who keeps his brain
outside his skull?�

�� Harry gave
him a friendly smile and stood. �Challenge given and accepted,� he said
clearly. �Do I await your seconds, or shall we meet now?� He raised his
eyebrows.

�� Flint
stared at him. �What?�

�� The
challenger gives up right of choice, then,� Harry said, still speaking so that
everyone in the room could hear him. �It falls to me to declare my preference,
and my preference is for an immediate settlement.� He stepped away from the
table, Draco letting him go slowly so that his fingers could trail along and
caress Harry�s skin, and drew his wand. The attendants, forewarned this might
happen, rushed out and began to clear the tables from the center of the room.
Harry paused and courteously awaited Flint.

�� Flint
stayed where he was, his hand lingering a few inches away from the robe pocket
where Harry had seen the line of his wand. �I don�t know what you�re talking
about,� he said, and by dint of great effort it seemed that he was trying not
to spit the words.

�� A wizard�s
duel, of course,� Harry said, and this time pitched his voice as surprised.
�What else would I be talking about? It is an ancient custom, honored by all
right-thinking wizards, that says one can duel to settle insults.� He spread
his hand invitingly to the patch of floor in front of him.

�� Flint
flushed. �An ancient custom, honored by all right-thinking wizards� was taken
directly from one of his speeches.

�� Harry had
wondered if it would be enough to make him rush into the battle. But he seemed
to remember�as did most of their watching, tense audience, Harry was willing to
bet�that Harry was a trained Auror, and he could feel the soft throb of Harry�s
magic now that Harry had lowered the shields on his power. He would be stupid
to do so.

�� You withdraw
the challenge?� Harry asked, never taking his eyes from Flint�s.

�� Flint
swallowed and nodded.

�� Harry
smiled brilliantly. �Then you must also withdraw the insult.�

�� Flint
froze. Harry was correct, of course, according to pure-blood social codes, but
he obviously hadn�t expected Harry to know that.

�� Harry
cocked his head. �What�s the matter?� he asked, and he kept his voice soft and
solicitous, rather than taunting. That would be enough of a taunt all by
itself, for those in the know. �Are you confused?� He knew better than to ask
if Flint was afraid. Honor would demand that he duel Harry then, no matter how
bad an idea it was.

�� I�apologize,�
said Flint in a strangled voice, and turned back to his chair. Harry waited a
few moments, watching, before he put up his own wand, nodded at Flint�s back,
and walked back to Draco�s side. The attendants started putting the tables
they�d moved back into place.

�� Draco
caught his wrist again as he sat and held it up so that everyone could see his
fingers in place, holding, possessing, the Auror a powerful pure-blood wizard
was afraid to duel. Harry watched him, gently amused, certain that he wouldn�t
show everyone the erection he also had.

�� Then he
leaned forwards for a kiss.

�� Harry
leaned in to oblige him. It was a chaste meeting of lips, as it had to be in
such a cold and judgmental place, but that didn�t matter. What mattered was
that Draco had done it, and that his
free hand curved around the back of Harry�s neck, staking an even more
undeniable claim.

�� And any worries
that Harry had still entertained about Draco�s sacrificing him to the whims of
his political contacts fell away.

�� I love him.

�� He pulled
back and looked into Draco�s eyes, soft and brilliant with passion,
satisfaction, and pride�the first time Harry had seen him display pride in
someone else, rather than in his family name or himself.

�� It was a
far more effective message than even the words would have been.

�� And he loves me.

*

�� SP777: Yes,
I get what you mean. I think Harry and Draco both understand more of what�s at
stake now, so they�re trying to act up to each other�s expectations rather than
annoy each other.

�� The story
has one more chapter.

�� Thrnbrooke:
Basically what he just thought of.

�� yaoiObsessed:
Harry is very relieved that he doesn�t have to choose between his best friends
and his lover, yes.

�� butterpie: It
may give Hermione more ammunition, but then, this is a situation unlikely to be
settled with mere arguments, and Draco knows that.

�� I�m afraid
this story won�t be much longer, but hopefully you can at least see the
outlines of how Draco will behave around Ron and Hermione in the future.

�� polka dot: This
is the first story I�ve written where the smut part has been my favorite.
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Providence