Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

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
- 28
- 29
- 30
Thank you for all the encouraging replies! I�ll try to keep
up the regular updates, but personal life is likely to be a bit trying for a
few more days.

Chapter 29- Home Again, Home Again

�� The moment
he stepped into the Ministry, Harry felt as if he�d come home.

�� The
atmosphere of the Ministry was like no other place he�d ever been. There was an
air of inefficiency about it, of lost paperwork and people trying to break
rules on the sly and laws being passed and forgotten in a breath. But Harry had
always made himself a calm island of rightness and clear thinking in the midst
of all that. And the contrast had buffered him, supported him.

�� And, above
all, there was the knowledge that he was helping people. Nothing could compare
to that.

�� He was
there when the girl he�d saved, whose name turned out to be Linda, abruptly
broke down and began to cry, just now realizing what had almost happened to
her. He knelt down in front of her and began to speak softly. Draco stood at
his shoulder and tried to ruin his good mood, but Harry didn�t look back at
him. He saw no one but Linda, talked to no one but her. He told her, over and
over again, that the man who�d attacked her would spend at least a few months
in a cell, and she would never have to see him again; newly developed spells
the Aurors used would warn her if he came within a hundred feet of her, and she
would be given the free use of an emergency Portkey for at least a year so that
she could reach safety if for some reason she couldn�t Apparate away from him.
That had been an innovation Harry had thought of about five years ago. He was
rather proud of it.

�� And her
tears slowed and then stopped, and she took a few deep breaths and nodded.
Harry pressed her hand, and stood there watching as a mediwitch from St. Mungo�s
escorted her gently away.

�� Then he
filed the paperwork for the criminal he�d brought in, and talked quietly to
Amelia Bones, who still headed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She
wanted to know what was going on, of course. Harry told her the story he and
Draco had prepared, and watched her eyebrows creep almost to her hairline. He
knew she didn�t believe him.

�� But he had
always worked well for her, and he�d never done anything like this before, and
it seemed that Madam Bones was just relieved to know that one of her Aurors
wasn�t lying in a coma at St. Mungo�s. So that part all went well enough, and
Harry got past the awkwardness that might have resulted had she chosen to
question him about his so-called relationship with Draco.

�� The awkward
part came when Amelia cleared her throat, leaned forward over the desk, and
fixed him with a stern gaze. �And what are you going to do now, Harry? You must
realize that the story of your real whereabouts will spread over the wizarding
world like fire, and you�re unlikely to enjoy a peaceful stay in the Manor with-
Malfoy.� Harry wondered what uncomplimentary words she�d bitten back. �And
there are several cases that could indeed use your help. Wormwood�s been
struggling with the Moly case.�

�� Harry was
grateful that Draco had agreed, after a small sulking fit, to wait in the
antechamber to the Head�s office. He glanced down at his hands, clasped in his
lap, and said nothing.

�� Harry?�
Amelia prodded gently.

��

�� He
swallowed, and met her gaze. �How badly is Wormwood handling the Moly case?� he
asked.

�� The light
twinkled off her glasses as she sat back. �Badly,� she said. �He simply doesn�t
have enough experience for this. But if we pull him off it and assign him
elsewhere...�

�� She let it
trail away, but Harry knew what came next. Assigning him elsewhere would make
the Ministry look incompetent to have put him on the investigation in the first
place, and that was the kind of thing the Minister remembered when it came time
to allocate funding to the Departments.

Besides, if Harry had been where he
was supposed to be, then the situation would never have arisen. He could have
worked with Wormwood, borne the brunt, and compensated for any mistakes his
partner made. And that way, when the inevitable split between Harry and
Wormwood came, he could move on with his career covered in reflected glory, and
some other, less experienced Auror would be assigned to Harry in turn.

�� Harry could
see, now, why Draco thought the Ministry was just using him and his utter
unwillingness to trade on his name or demand special treatment because of what
he�d accomplished in the past.

�� But Draco
didn�t understand something fundamental: Harry didn�t care about that.
It had never been about rank for him, or money, or how many times his name
appeared in the paper. He cared about doing good, and he could do that whether
he was partnered with someone who genuinely cared about him or someone who
wanted him to do the best he could so that they would get the credit. At the
very least, someone who wanted the glory wouldn�t get in his way.

�� And that
was all Harry had ever wanted.

�� He closed
his eyes. He had to face the choice, the temptation, that Draco had probably
dreaded.

�� But he knew
about his problems now. So in a few weeks, when the pressure of the Moly case
ended and he�d covered up any mistakes Wormwood made, he could ease off for a
time, make sure he got some more sleep and food, a weekend of flying, and
perhaps even a meal or two with Draco.

�� There were
people suffering he could help. How could he say no to that?

�� I�m coming
back now,� he said firmly.

�� Amelia�s
face relaxed. �Thank you, Harry,� she said, and leaned across the desk to clasp
his hand. �I�m not flattering you when I tell you that you�re the best Auror we
have.�

�� Harry felt
a warm glow. No, Amelia wasn�t really a friend, and neither were any of the
other Aurors he worked with, but did that matter? They appreciated him for
something he could do.

�� And if
Draco had a problem with that-

�� Well, he
would just have to live with it, that was all. Harry had his own life.

*

�� Draco knew
what had gone wrong the moment Harry swept out of Bones�s office and past him.
He surged up and snatched his elbow, spinning Harry against the wall outside
the door. A few people passing gave them curious glances, but Draco didn�t give
a fuck. He leaned forward, boxing Harry in on either side with his arms, and
sneered, �You told her you�d come back, didn�t you?�

�� Harry
glared at him with eyes full of defiance. �Yes. And there�s absolutely nothing
that you can do about it, Malfoy.�

�� You made a
promise,� Draco whispered.

�� Harry
rolled his eyes. �Fine. Draco.�

�� That�s not
what I meant, you utter pillock!� Draco felt something ugly rear up in his
chest. It would have been so very easy to hate Harry in that moment. �You
promised to stay in the Manor for a month, to work on getting your life back.
And now you�re burying yourself in paperwork again. And help on just one case,
I�m sure. Then you�ll promise yourself to relax, won�t you? You think you can
stop working for a while as soon as you help your incompetent partner just this
once.�

�� The
startled look on Harry�s face was almost comical. Draco shook his head. �You�re
an addict, Harry. And that�s how addiction works. You�ll think it�s just one case,
and that one becomes two, and the two become four. I thought this would happen
the moment you came back to the Ministry.� He snatched Harry�s arm again. �We
are going home, now.�

�� I made a
promise- �

�� Your
promise to me comes first,� said Draco harshly. �We�re at least friends, Harry,
we said that. And how would you have responded if Ron or Hermione asked you to
keep a promise you made to them instead of working? You would have done it,
wouldn�t you?�

�� Harry�s
eyes sparked, and he shoved Draco hard, pushing him several steps backward.
Draco thought wandless magic might have had something to do with that, from the
way Harry�s hair danced in a stray current of wind.

�� They
weren�t my friends in the same way,� Harry hissed. �Don�t you dare
compare yourself to them, Malfoy. They would never have asked me what you did.
They wouldn�t have taken advantage of me the way you did. They- �

�� I�m not taking
advantage, I�m saving your goddamn life, Harry,� Draco said. He had
never been so angry. He wanted to draw his wand and Stun Harry, but he
suspected that using any unauthorized magic in the Ministry was the way to
bring down a dozen Aurors on him, so he refrained. �I care about you, I think I
may be falling in love with you, and you accuse me of being the selfish
one?�

�� The silence
that followed was filled with the sound of heartbeats and nothing else. Harry�s
face was the color of raw lettuce.

�� Draco
calmed his breathing. Well, he hadn�t meant to say that, but it was out now,
and he had always believed in living with what had happened instead of making
useless efforts to repair it. Sometimes a quick Obliviate could fix
things, and sometimes it couldn�t. He watched Harry.

�� You- �
Harry brought his hand up to shield his face, a defensive maneuver that made Draco�s
chest ache even he wanted to shake the shit out of Harry. �I- just- no,� Harry
whispered. �This can�t be happening.�

�� Oh, but it
is, Potter.� Draco stalked a step closer. �Obligations to other people scare
you, don�t they?�

�� No.�
Harry snapped his head up, and now his face had some color again, if only in
the form of a very deep flush. �I face them all the time, Malfoy. I take on
cases that give other Aurors nightmares. I put people in Azkaban. I listen to
stories that- �

�� Personal
obligations,� Draco pointed out. �Roles that don�t end when you close a file or
go home for the night. Relationships that endure. You�re scared of your
feelings like some timid crying girl, Potter. And my emotions, too,� he
added more quietly. �You finally have a life again, and that�s what frightens
you more than facing down half a dozen Dark wizards.�

�� Shut
up.�

�� Harry�s
face had twisted, and he made a gesture with one palm held away from his body.
Draco found himself unable to move or speak, and, for one terrifying moment,
unable to breathe, as though invisible hands had pinched him over every square
inch of skin. Then the pressure on his windpipe eased, and he gasped in and
out, his eyes on Harry.

�� This ends
now,� Harry said flatly. �I should have known it wouldn�t work. I don�t care
what the fuck you feel for me.� His eyes flickered, and Draco knew that was a
lie, but Harry was desperately trying to believe it. �What I choose to do with
my life is my choice. You were the one who kidnapped me and made me
believe that- � He shook his head. �I don�t know what I believed. I must have
been mad these last few days. But the fact remains that I�m an Auror. That�s
what defines me, Draco. Saving people is what I do. And I made a
promise. I�m coming back to my job.�

�� He fixed
his gaze steadily on Draco�s face. �I wish you well in whatever you do. I won�t
be pressing charges of abduction. But I�m not coming back to the Manor.�

�� Draco
imagined all the work he�d gone through undone, and Harry tumbling back into
the trap he�d just barely escaped. Inside a week, he�d be the gray man he had
been, ignoring all his own emotions, responding at best with a vague smile to
anything anyone said, and with no friends, no lovers, no one who cared for him
just for him.

�� Except that
that wasn�t true, any more. It hadn�t been true for the past few years, but
Draco was the only one who�d known that, then. Now Harry should bloody well
know that someone else cared about him, and he wasn�t allowed to forget that,
and Draco wasn�t going to give up what he wanted just because Harry threw a few
poisoned words at him.

�� He could
feel a feral smile lifting the corners of his mouth, and Harry actually took a
step back from him, even though Draco was the one bound and helpless, unable to
draw his wand. Really, given that he was selfish and stubborn and had kidnapped
Harry in the first place, as Harry so eloquently pointed out, it would be
strange for him to back off now and respect Harry�s supposed claims to his own
supposed life.

�� You think
you�re allowed to walk away without any consequences?� he asked, arching an
eyebrow. �Hardly, Harry. You�ve seen how possessive I can be. And what
do you think I�ll do when my lover�s trying to kill himself?�

�� We�re not
lovers, and I�ll attend to the concerns that you raised,� said Harry. �Getting
more rest and sleep, talking to someone, trying to have friends. You just can�t
be a part of that. And if you really cared about me, you would respect my
wishes and walk away.�

�� You can
manipulate like a Slytherin when you want to, Harry,� Draco murmured,
reluctantly impressed. �But you�ve never been friends with one before this. I
know all the tricks. I know all the ways you�ll try to make me back off.
They�re not going to work.�

�� Harry shut
his eyes and turned his head away. �I don�t want this,� he whispered. �I don�t
want you.�

�� Liar.�
Draco flexed his hand, and found he could move it, a little. The grip of
Harry�s wandless magic was easing as his emotions changed from anger to
desperation. In a moment, Draco thought he could put his hand in his robe
pocket, and draw out the bottle cap that waited there for emergencies like this
one. �Things have changed, Harry, and they�re never going to be the way they
were.�

�� I want
them to be.� Harry snarled at him like a cat with its ears lying flat. �I might
have saved you from Wormwood�s curse, but that doesn�t mean I actually prefer
you to him.�

�� Draco
laughed then. �You can�t even lie well to yourself, Harry,� he said. �I
know what it means that you saved me. I know what it means that you let me suck
you off, when just a few days before you wouldn�t let me touch your cock. And I
know that you�re not done healing.� His hand suddenly slipped into his pocket,
and he drew out the bottle cap. �And Harry?�

�� Harry
snarled at him again.

�� Catch.�

�� Draco
tossed the bottle cap. Harry had never overcome his Seeker instincts, that much
was certain- or perhaps the last week in the Manor had lessened whatever Auror
training told him not to grab flying objects. He snatched the Portkey from the
air, and it sparkled and made him vanish.

�� Draco
laughed quietly. That Portkey would take Harry to a heavily warded room in the
Manor that was meant to be one of the last refuges of the Malfoy family in time
of danger. Harry couldn�t Apparate out, and his wandless magic might manage to
take down the wards, but probably wouldn�t before Draco could arrive.

�� He touched
the second Portkey, the top button of his robes, and vanished, too. He had no
illusions about Harry�s feelings after this. Harry would be furious, raging,
and probably give Draco quite the fight.

�� Draco was
looking forward to it.

�� If the
time ever comes that he�s fully healed and wants to walk away from me, I�ll
allow that. Then. But he�s acting like a child. And it�s about time that we had
a proper duel.

************

�� YamiBakura:
Why did you want to slap Harry, specifically?

�� Rebel_mistress:
Thanks! I had a lot of fun writing their dialogue.

�� Satu: As
you can see, Harry didn�t react all that well.��
- 28
- 29
- 30
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Learning Life Over