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The Optimal Balance	By : TheMightyFlynn Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 17124 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and characters belong to JK Rowling and associates. This was written for fun. I make no money from it.

Chapter List
- 1-The Optimal Balance
- 2-Ch. 2
- 3-Ch. 3
- 4-Ch. 4
- 5-Ch. 5
- 6-Ch. 6
- 7-Ch. 7
- 8-Ch. 8
- 9-Ch. 9
- 10-Ch. 10
- 11-Ch. 11
- 12-Ch. 12
- 13-Ch. 13
- 14-Ch. 14
- 15-Ch. 15
- 16-Ch. 16
- 17-Ch. 17
- 18-Ch. 18
- 19-Ch. 19
- 20-Ch. 20
- 21-Ch. 21
- 22-Ch. 22
- 23-Ch. 23
- 24-Ch. 24
- 25-Ch. 25
- 26-Ch. 26
- 27-Ch. 27
- 28-Ch. 28
- 29-Ch. 29
- 30-Ch. 30
- 31-Ch. 31
- 32-Ch. 32
- 33-Ch. 33
- 34-Ch. 34
- 35-Ch. 35
- 36-Ch. 36
- 37-Ch. 37
- 38-Ch. 38
- 39-Ch. 39
- 40-Ch. 40: Epilogue
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Staring down into the box on the bench before him, Draco frowned. He was absolutely certain that he had bottled twenty vials of Volubilis Potion and placed them securely in the box Sunday night, leaving them to settle in their bottles before he sent them off to the store that had purchased them as regular on Monday. Staring back at him from the box, however, were seventeen bottles. He knew he was the only one who could enter his dungeon workroom without triggering the wards he set every time he left the place, so that meant that he had, for some reason, left a few potions out. Shaking his head, he scrubbed a hand through his hair.

“Lost something?”

“My sanity, apparently.”

Astoria’s light laugh caused a wide smile to spread across Draco's face. It had been a fair while since she had visited him in his workroom and he had found himself missing their conversations. He turned to lean back against the edge of the bench, watching as she walked across the room from the stairs. Instead of heading to the chairs they kept at the back of the room, she walked straight over to him and stood on her toes so she could place a soft kiss on his cheek.

“That statement assumes you had any shred of sanity to begin with.” She grinned at him when he rolled his eyes. “Come sit down. I have news.”

She turned and set off for the soft chairs at the back of the room, the red dress she was wearing swishing around her ankles. Unable to help himself, Draco ran his eyes up her body, frowning slightly as he took in her strappy black heels, the dress and her jewellery sparkling in the bright candlelight. Confusion flooded through him, but he followed her to the back of the room and settled down on one end of the lounge to wait for an explanation. He watched as she got comfortable, kicking her shoes off and tucking her legs up beneath her. It was unusual for Astoria to go out on a Monday night and it was obvious that that was what she was planning on doing. Draco's mind raced through possible explanations as she smoothed her hand over the nearly invisible wrinkles in the dress, but the only reason he could come up with for her to be going out involved this mystery man she had been seeing. When she took too long to settle herself, Draco cleared his throat.

“You look nice tonight. May I ask the occasion?” A bright red blush that almost matched the colour of her dress heated her cheeks, only causing Draco's confusion to increase. “Tori?”

It took a while for Astoria to react in any way other than embarrassment, but Draco waited her out. He knew she wouldn’t have come down there without a reason and it was obvious that something was going on. She shifted on her end of the lounge a few times before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

“He wants me to meet his parents today. In a nice restaurant in the wizarding side of Florence.” She kept her eyes fixed on the hands that she held clenched in her lap, obviously nervous about what she was admitting to him. “I don’t know… Gods, Dray, I haven’t done this properly since I was a teenager! You are the only man who I have had to really worry about in all that time and it wasn’t like you needed me to worry about you!”

“Tori–”

Astoria stood and began to pace the room the second Draco reached for her. “What if his parents hate me? What if Scorpius hates him? Why – why – would I do this to myself? I am thirty-six years old! That is way too old to be going on a date! I have a child waiting here for me; hell I might as well have four here now! This is one of the stupidest things I have ever done. Why would I ever think that he could be interested in me? He’s so…” She stopped in her pacing and turned to face him, her forehead crinkled in obvious worry. “He’s so kind and gentle and caring and… Gods, Dray, the poor man’s normal! How is he ever going to manage to come to terms with this living situation? How is he ever going to be able to accept this?”

Draco was on his feet and moving to wrap her in his arms the second she raised her hands to cover her face. An almost overwhelming rush of sympathy for her flooded through him, causing him to begin to mutter comforting words in her ear as he held her to his chest. She had helped him through the awkward early stages of his relationship with Harry, so he knew that this was the very least he could do for her.

His mind raced through how he could help her to come to the realisation that whoever this man was, he was obviously interested in her enough to want to continue their relationship. Unfortunately, he knew that just allowing her to voice her worries was the easiest way for her to release some of the tension that was evident in her shoulders now that he was close enough to feel it. He also knew that whoever it was that she had been seeing for the past few months must know who she was and her family situation; it wasn’t like they had had a choice in whether they could hide this from the press at all. Continuing to hold her close, he ran one of his hands between her shoulder blades in a comforting gesture he had seen Harry use with Lily when she was upset. It seemed as though allowing her to just release some of the tension had been the best choice, as he could feel Astoria’s shoulders relaxing after a few minutes and could hear her breathing evening out.

“Tori?” He waited until she removed her hands from her face and looked up at him before continuing. “I did need you worrying about me all these years. If it wasn’t for you and the stabilising influence you had over me, I have no idea where I would be today. Whoever this man is that you’ve been seeing, I would place money that he has already taken Scorp into account, as well as the chaos that is our home life. The fact that you care enough about him to be this worried about what he – or his parents for that matter – will think of you is just proof that this time it’s real.”

Draco had to grin when she took a slightly shaky breath and offered up a watery-looking smile. He hated to see her upset over anything and the fact that he could bring a smile to her face when she was so worried about something always warmed him.

“You really think it won’t matter?”

“Tori, anyone who cares for you will be willing to put up with more problems than even we could manage to have in one year.” He smiled properly when she began to laugh. “And if he doesn’t, then I believe I still recall the incantation for the curse that will turn his insides into his outsides.”

A small sound that could have been either a cough or a smothered laugh drew Draco's attention to the bottom of the stairs. Harry raised an eyebrow when Draco met his eyes, causing Draco to smirk.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“You are no longer an Auror.”

“That makes no difference whatsoever and you know it.”

Draco shrugged. “What Dark curses I may – or may not – still know are none of the Ministry’s concern if I don’t use them on anyone.”

“Make that six children.”

The disgruntled tone to Astoria’s voice sent a jolt of happiness through Draco, causing him to chuckle. He loosened the grip he had around her shoulders when she ran a hand down his arm and shot him an amused look.

“Thank you.” The words were whispered as she stepped back and straightened her hair and clothing and strapped her shoes back on. “Now, Harry. Is he here?”

Clasping his hands behind his back, Harry smiled wide before responding. “He is.”

Draco frowned when he realised that Harry’s eyes were locked on him rather than Astoria. “Here?”

“He’s waiting for her in the formal living room.”

The amusement he could clearly hear in Harry’s voice sent annoyance through Draco, but he ignored it for the time being. “Is he indeed?”

“Yes, he is. And no, you don’t get to terrify him.” There was a firm tone to Harry’s voice that caused Draco to roll his shoulders as another wave of annoyance rippled through him. “He’s a nice bloke, Draco. She’s scored well.”

Caught between a desire to hex the smile from Harry’s face and rush upstairs to interrogate the man Astoria had been seeing, Draco clenched his hands and took a deep breath. “Harry–”

“You can meet him next time, Dray, I promise,” Astoria interrupted him. Stepping up to him, she pulled him down until she could place a soft kiss on his forehead. “I love you, you know that?”

Pressing his lips together in a firm line to prevent himself from saying everything that was running through his mind, Draco nodded. Astoria’s responding laugh caused him to bite down on his tongue to stop himself from calling her back as she made her way towards the stairs. She reached out to squeeze one of Harry’s hands as she passed and Draco watched as the two of them exchanged a warm look before she took the steps at a rapid pace. Tension raced through him when the door at the top of the stairs closed with a soft click.

“She’ll be fine.”

Draco's eyes slid shut and his hands clenched by his sides. “How do you know that?”

“I don’t.” Draco could have sworn that he almost heard the shrug Harry gave in response. “But it’s not fair that she doesn’t really have a social life outside of you and I. And he really is a nice guy.”

Running his hands through his hair, Draco huffed out a breath. When he reopened his eyes, it was to see Harry grinning at him.

“Who is it?”

“Are you sure you want to know that?”

“No, but tell me anyway.”

Harry’s grin widened. “Do you remember that Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain who was a few years ahead of us in school? The one who went on to play a few seasons for the Wasps?”

Draco's mind went blank. Astoria had fallen for a Quidditch player? Clenching and unclenching his hands by his sides, Draco attempted to release some of the tension that was running through him, but discovered that it was impossible. Taking yet another deep breath, he let it out slowly.

“Roger Davies.”

“Yeah.” Harry nodded and took a few steps towards him, still smiling. “I spoke to him for a few minutes before coming down here. He asked about you and whether this would cause any issues between you and Astoria, but I told him that her dating someone had never bothered you before.” Harry trailed off when Draco let out a disbelieving snort. “Was I wrong?”

Huffing out a sigh, Draco shifted his weight from foot to foot. “No.”

“But?”

“The man’s an imbecile, Harry! Even you have to admit that!”

“He seemed like a really nice, stable person to me.”

Finally giving up on trying to release the tension in him, Draco stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers and hung his head. “He’s not good enough for her.”

It only took Harry a few seconds to reach Draco and hook his fingers through his belt loops. “No one ever will be. You know that.”

Draco managed to resist giving in to the tugging of Harry’s fingers for only a few seconds before leaning forward to allow Harry to draw him into an embrace. “I know.”

Harry’s deep responding chuckle vibrated through Draco's chest. “Then maybe we should give this one a chance?”

“Don’t push it, Potter.”

Standing there with Harry’s arms wrapped around him, Draco set his mind to trying to force himself to relax a little. Thankfully, Harry seemed to sense that all he needed was a little time, as he stayed quiet and merely played with the hair at the nape of Draco's neck while he waited. Draco figured they must have been standing there for a few minutes before Harry spoke, his voice low and almost hesitant.

“Draco?”

“I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“Neither do I. I’m sure she felt the same about you when we first got together.”

Draco smiled as he pulled back out of the embrace. “She threatened to murder you nearly every time my mood changed.”

Harry’s responding grin sent a shot of warmth through Draco's stomach. “She probably would have succeeded as well.”

Putting a few paces between them, Draco ran his hands through is hair again, pulling on it a little in an attempt to release some of the remaining tension. “She’ll be alright?”

Harry nodded, still smiling. “Yeah, she really will.”

Letting out a whoosh of breath, Draco gave his hair one last tug before dropping his hands. “Alright… Alright.” He turned towards the bench, then back to Harry. “How is everything upstairs? Do you need a break yet?”

Harry shook his head. “Do you really think I’ll let you up there with that lot right after you’ve spent the past few minutes threatening to murder someone?” He stepped up and ran a hand though Draco's hair, obviously smoothing it out where Draco had mussed it. “We’re fine. You stay here and think up ways to ruin Roger’s life if he so much as forgets to tip the waiter enough and embarrasses Tori tonight.”

Draco crossed his arms across his chest as he watched Harry moving off towards the stairs. “You know, that condescending tone is likely to get you hexed one day, Potter.”

“I know,” Harry called over his shoulder just before he exited the workroom.

Draco shook his head. Between the two of them, he was absolutely certain that Harry and Astoria would be the death of him. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly before turning his attention back to the bench with the box of potions still sitting on it. It looked like this order was going to be late this week, which meant that he would have to send off an owl to the store apologising and offering 10% off their next purchase. Lacing his fingers together, he pushed them outwards, cracking his knuckles before getting down to the work of replacing the missing vials. His mind raced through what could have happened to the potions before he pushed the thoughts aside and relaxed into the comfortable routine of brewing. He could worry about that later.
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The Optimal Balance