Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Muggle Technology and Heroism	By : Tommy-Lane Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 6913 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters and I am not making any money off of this.

Chapter List
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Harry awoke the next morning to the smell of pancakes. It was a thick, warm scent that curled around him, tickling his nose and making his stomach growl before his eyes were even open, his mind and body still in that delusional space between sleeping and waking where everything was light and fuzzy and uncomplicated. He had been having a marvelous dream, naked legs tangled with his, lips on his cheek, a hand holding his, and a groggy morning lilt in his ear as he flipped pancakes on the hob and Draco read the paper out loud to him. His lips twitched into a smile as he stretched, his back arching and arms reaching up against his pillow. He couldn't remember the last time he had awoken to a freshly made breakfast and it felt like his dream had somehow merged into reality, that he'd trudge from his bed and find a blonde holding a spatula in one hand and bottle of syrup in the other in his kitchen.

Rolling over with his arm reaching towards his glasses, Harry paused, his brain catching up with the morning light and reminding him that he lived with Draco Malfoy. Who never cooked alone and when he did it always produced gallons of smoke and loud curses, not the lazy scent of well-made pancakes. Along with the realization came the memory of last night - of their interrupted conversation by an evil man in shabby professor clothing. Harry had stayed up well into the night waiting for the sound of the door opening but he must have drifted off before Draco had returned.

Jabbing his spectacles onto his nose, Harry slipped out of bed with a dead sort of weight pressing on his chest as he told himself not to jump to any conclusions yet. He had no facts, only ideas whirling quickly in his head, but he wasn't sure he wanted to find out which ones were true or not. He stared at his doorknob for a full minute before cursing himself, pulling it open, and padding cautiously down the hall.

The first thing he noticed was that there was a pile of neatly folded blankets sitting beneath a pillow on the couch and a pair of sleek dress shoes aligned perfectly beneath the coffee table. The second was that there was humming coming from the kitchen - a soft rumble that didn't sound anything like his flatmate. There was something scratchy about the sound that offset the sizzle of butter in a pan and the screech of cast iron connecting against metal. He faltered in indecision, his body half turned towards the kitchen, half towards fleeing back to his room and owling in sick to work simply so he didn't have to interact with the man cooking in his kitchen.

That was Harry's job, damn it.

He took a step, the floorboards beneath the worn carpet groaned, and Harry's eyes slipped shut as he heard all the noise pause in the kitchen.

"Draco?" Ethan appeared in the archway a moment later, his smile faltering just slightly at the sight of Harry in his white tee and checked pajama bottoms. "Oh, sorry. Hi." He wiped his hand on the apron (Harry's apron) tied around him before sticking it out towards him. "I'm Ethan, you must be Harry right?"

"Er." He clasped his hand automatically, the man's fingers thin and bony but strong.

"Draco mentioned you had a thing for pancakes, I made plenty, if you'd like...?" Ethan was wearing the spectacles that had been resting in his pocket last night, the delicate frames sitting neatly on his nose that had a smudge of flour on it.

"Okay." Harry nodded and hated the way his stomach twisted as Ethan smiled broadly and wiped his hand compulsively on the apron once more.

"Great! Great, I admit I can't find the syrup. Do you have some? Or does he not eat syrup anymore? Surely he doesn't power sugar the top, or maybe strawberries, but you don't have any of those either -"

"We have syrup. I'll get it." Harry cut him off, watching the way Ethan's clear eyes unfocused slightly during his rambling question. He paused for a moment before following the man into the kitchen, his gaze quickly skipping over the flour dusted counter top, the milk container sitting open beside a bowl sticky with thick batter, and a plate piled high with pancakes to the right of the hob. The counter opposite the sink was covered with ingredient boxes - a bag of flour, the little orange box of baking soda, an almost empty egg carton...

God, the man was a messier cook than even him.

Ethan was already pouring another spoon full of batter into the warm pan and Harry averted his eyes as he dug out the syrup from the back of the cupboard and snatched the bag of coffee while he was at it. He felt horribly awkward, knowing that he should probably say something - Ethan was a guest in his own home after all - but he couldn't for the life of him think of anything other than, "so, did you fuck Draco last night?" or, "just what the hell are you doing back in London?" And there was no way in hell he could actually ask either of those.

Though he hoped that the pile of blankets on the couch meant what he thought they might.

Spooning the grounds into the french press, Harry filled the kettle and cleared his throat nervously as he placed it on the back hob with Ethan scooting over to make room for him. "So...is Draco up yet?"

Ethan nodded as he flipped the pancake - the damn thing a perfect golden brown. "I believe so, I heard the shower a bit ago at any rate."

Harry nodded and dragged a hand through his hair as he backed up a step. "Right...okay, so...I'll be back, just gonna, get ready..."

Ethan glanced back at him with a smile and a wave of the spatula. "Okay, I'll keep them warm."

He all but ran from the kitchen, his hand jittery in his hair, rubbing at the nape of his neck as he tried to sort his thoughts. He felt oddly enough like a rug had been pulled out from under him, like he had somehow been replaced in the blink of an eye. Which was ridiculous. He was still Draco's friend. Was still his flatmate. And it wasn't like Ethan was going to be around every morning using Harry's apron and spatula, right? The man was a snippet of Draco's past, not his present or his future. Draco never moved backwards, everything in his life was a forward momentum swing. Ethan had been cut from his life years ago, this thing - whatever it was that had him making breakfast in their home - was fleeting. Perhaps Draco had just been struck with uncharacteristic nostalgia last night.

"Have you forgotten how to knock?"

Harry startled, his jerk sending the door to the bathroom banging shut behind him. "Draco?" He wrinkled his brow as he took in the other man sitting on the edge of the bath - his hair styled neatly, his black trousers cuffed around his ankles and his shirt tailored just right without a wrinkle in sight, his boots already on his feet and laces carefully tied. There was a ripped box at his feet, the packaging bright green with jarring blue letters Harry couldn't make out, his pale fingers wrapped around some unknown object - holding it in an absentminded way. In fact, despite his perfectly put together appearance, everything about him seemed absentminded. The confidence that was normally ever present on his face and in the way he held his shoulders somehow gone, leaving him looking hopelessly distracted or perhaps thoughtfully troubled. "What are you doing in here?"

"What does it look like?"

"Hiding." Harry stated as he moved to the washbasin and grabbed his toothbrush, wondering what had happened last night to be making Draco Malfoy of all people hide in the bathroom. Draco never hid from things anymore, he faced them down and snipped them away without a thought. "You do realize that Ethan is out there making enough pancakes to feed a small army."

Draco snorted and Harry glanced back at him in the mirror as he squeezed a drop of toothpaste onto the bristles. "Not surprising."

"For you maybe." Harry grumbled, jamming the brush in his mouth and scrubbing at his molars a tad too roughly. "He's making a right mess."

"Coming from you that's a rather terrifying statement."

Harry rolled his eyes and laughed mockingly as best he could around his toothbrush, which really wasn't much, the sound coming out muffled and off balance. "Are you planning on joining him anytime soon or are you just waiting in here until he uses up all our flour and eggs?"

"I'm not finished in here yet." Draco appeared beside him, smirking at him as he hopped atop the small counter stretching to the left of the basin, his back leaning nonchalantly against the mirror as he watched him.

Harry just raised an eyebrow, looking the blonde up and down slowly in a pointed manner, but there was funny little flutter in his stomach at the thought of Draco hiding away from his ex for whatever reason - choosing instead to chat nonsense with Harry as he brushed his teeth. He was trying desperately not to smile stupidly when he finally caught onto the movement between Draco's bent knees, his long fingers messing around with a sleek object that looked terribly familiar and left him feeling more than a tad nervous. Hadn't he talked Draco out of that particular purchase?

The other man caught him looking and smiled - a real smile, that big grin that made Harry all twisted up inside instantly. "Like it?"

"Erm."

"Got it yesterday, what do you reckon?" He inched towards Harry, waving the dangerous looking thing in his face.

"No." Harry shook his head and scrubbed his teeth harder, suddenly feeling like maybe sharing the bathroom with Draco that morning wasn't such a wise idea.

"Oh come on, it's perfectly safe."

"Like hell it is." Harry grumbled, twisting his neck back and out of the way, his words slurring slightly around his toothbrush as he batted at Draco's hand that was nearing his face. "Move, I need to spit."

Draco leaned to the side as he flipped the tap on in the washbasin. "What's the worst that could happen?" He asked as Harry ducked his head and rinsed out his mouth. "I read all the instructions this time and everything."

"No." Harry wiped his mouth on the towel and knocked Draco's dangling legs aside so he could pry the top drawer open, his hand sneaking inside to fish around for the minty floss.

"Merlin just use the spell Harry, it's far more effective and efficient." Draco rested back against the mirror, an annoyed twist to his lips as Harry ignored him and pulled out the long florescent white string. "Not to mention less revolting."

Raising a single eyebrow, Harry wound the floss around his pointer fingers until it was taut between his hands. "Seriously? First off, you do realize that you just made an argument against yourself, because there is a rather quick and simple spell for that too, one I'm rather good at considering I use it every damn day. And secondly, you don't have to watch you know, no one’s making you hog the counter while I get ready. So get out and go eat twenty pancakes."

Draco scoffed, his foot kicking the cupboard beneath him. "Everyone knows you’re helpless without me Potter and look, it buzzes! No seriously, listen...hear that? That's three dual action razors working in synchronized fashion."

"Draco."

"Mhmm?" The blonde perked back up, his back straightening and legs stilling, and Harry had to smother a smile because god, having the other man sitting on the bathroom counter while he was trying to get ready for the day and talking his ear off shouldn't have made him feel all warm inside. Especially when said blonde had a new purchase in his hands with his ex destroying their kitchen down the hall.

"You're not coming anywhere near me with that."

"I could just immobilize you."

"No."

"Tackle you? Hold you down and slather soap all over your face?"

"Fucking nuts and don't you dare."

"Killjoy." Draco pouted, looking thoroughly putout with a manic gleam in his frosted gray eyes. It was annoying how hard it was to say no to him, even when what he wanted was completely out of the question for several reasons. One being that Draco was never able to work muggle gadgets correctly and always ended up ruining something. And two, well...Harry wasn't sure his nerves could take being that close to Draco, to have the blonde grasp his face, to have him lean close and focus solely on his chin and cheeks - carefully skirting just shy of his lip and scrapping down his throat. He could vividly picture the look of concentration that would overtake Draco's face, how he'd tip his head and bite the corner of his lip, how his breath might feel against his skin with his fingers guiding Harry's face however he needed.

Harry sighed as a shiver passed down his spine and deposited the used floss into the bin, mentally reminding himself to steal all of Draco's muggle money and have it converted back into wizarding currency.

"You know, prominent men of wealth used to have other people shave them all the time, it was a sign of good standing and trust. And they used straightedge razors back then, this is completely harmless in comparison."

Harry chucked and washed his hands. "Why don't you just try it out on yourself if it's completely harmless then?"

"Fuck no, my features are far too refined to be subjected to such a test."

"Oh but mine aren't?" Harry crossed his arms and propped his hip against the edge of the basin, eyeing Draco as the other man fiddled with the large electric razor in his hand.

Draco shrugged and ran his thumb up Harry's rough face that was thick with morning stubble - it scratched against the grain and Harry hoped he couldn't hear or see the hitch that stuttered in his chest. "You've got that rugged thing going for you. Manly and all that rot. Plus I promise to stop and heal you when something goes wrong."

"When?"

"If." Draco corrected himself with an impatient wave of his hand. "I promise to stop and heal you if something goes wrong. Which it won't. So come here, chin up." He flicked the razor back on, the muffled buzz filling the air, his hand snatching the front of Harry's shirt just as he managed to grasp the doorknob and twist - the wood swinging open a crack.

"Damn it Malfoy, just go use Ethan as your guinea pig." He tried prying at Draco's fingers but the man had an annoyingly strong grasp, and he found himself stumbling a step towards him with a muttered curse. "Seriously, it can be his punishment for ruining my kitchen."

"I highly doubt the kitchen is ruined." Draco drawled. "And you like pancakes, so stop complaining. Now come on, this is supposed to be revolutionizing the shaving experience." Letting go of Harry's shirt, he quickly grasped the back of the darker man’s neck, the tips of his fingers threading through the thick raven curls as he tugged him closer until Harry found himself standing stupidly between Draco's spread knees.

God this was getting too close to his fantasies for comfort. It felt too real, his heart picking up speed in his chest as he sucked in a breath and wondered if it was possible to go mad from a simple electric shave. He could easily picture himself leaning closer, his eyes slipping shut, soft lips touching, hands grasping his waist and pulling him nearer with thighs pressing into his hips.

"Is that dumb look your consent perchance?" Draco murmured and Harry cursed inwardly as the man's cool fingers traced around his jaw line, tipping his chin up a fraction.

Fuck. He was doomed and now Draco was probably going to accidentally slice his face up until he looked like a victim of a werewolf and Harry might just snap. He was going to close his eyes and kiss him, he was going to run his hand through his bright hair, and up his sinewy thigh as he worked to pull a moan from his throat...and Draco would probably pull back and level him with a disbelieving stare and then that would be it. The little slice of heaven he had would be gone, shattered and ruined and Harry probably wouldn't even have him as a friend anymore.

Because now Draco had Ethan to make him breakfast. The fucking bastard.

God, Hermione was right, he was settling down with a man that wasn't his and he feared that one day the blurry lines that separated fantasy from reality would snap and he'd do something he would regret.

"No." Harry said, jerking backwards too sharply and making Draco furrow his brow in confusion. "No, I...I'm late. I have to go." He bumped into the bath, his hand tugging at his curls as he looked anywhere but at Draco who was slipping from the counter with a question on his lips. "I'll see you later..." And then he fled, rushing to his room and throwing on the first pair of clean clothes he could find before Disappariting in a dizzying moment. He appeared in the alley across the street from the Ministry, his forehead banging into the wall of the building next to him as he tried to still his rapidly beating heart.

****

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, pulling him into a one armed hug as she shifted Hugo on her hip. "This is a surprise." She pulled back and smiled at him as Hugo made a swipe for Harry's arm, her lips turning down as she studied him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Harry smiled at his godson, holding his arms out and shifting him onto his own hip. "Hey buddy." He ruffled the boy's thick shock of hair and followed his frowning friend inside their cozy little home. Harry loved everything about his friend’s house, he loved the little herb garden out back, he loved the squeaky swing on the porch, he loved the books that spilled out of their shelving and the few pieces of quidditch paraphernalia that Ron had managed to sneak out into the lounge. He loved the kitchen that smelled like sandwiches and the wooden toys that littered the floor haphazardly. Their home felt like a warm blanket on a cold day.

"Sit." Hermione instructed as they passed the couch. "I'll make tea then we'll talk."

Dropping down onto the floor with Hugo, Harry let go of the boy and smiled fondly as he lunged immediately for his favorite blue ball. He listened distractedly to the sound of Hermione moving about the kitchen as Hugo batted the ball across the floor before crawling right after it with a giggle. He knew the moment she returned that she would want an explanation but the problem was that Harry wasn't sure how to voice it. He felt like something was squeezing vice like around his heart, a hollow dread in the pit of his stomach, but it wasn't as if anything had actually changed.

Except perhaps his hope. His foolish, foolish hope that he barely realized he had been clinging to. His hope that one day Draco would look at him differently, that the string of flings would end, and he could have that domestic bliss that made the blonde sneer distastefully. His damn hope that kept him from going on dates and trying to find someone else. His stupid hope that felt like it was finally shattering inside him.

It wasn't even about Ethan - well, not fully away - it was the fact that Harry had been standing between Draco Malfoy's spread legs with his face in his hand and the blonde had only wanted to test out his latest muggle acquisition on him. Harry had been a hairs breath away from kissing him and the other man had only smirked and set the damn thing buzzing again. And as the day wore on Harry had come to the realization that this was it. It wasn't going anywhere. Draco was probably going to get back together with Ethan and if he didn't then he would go back to his flings and Harry...Harry wanted him so bad it hurt.

He wanted to be the only man in his life. He wanted all their firsts to be both of their last times having firsts for the rest of their lives. He wanted not just a rented flat but an actual home like Ron and Hermione's with him. He wanted to grow old with him, to be together when their hair started receding and their bodies softened and their eyesight waned. He wanted to make love to him, softly, for hours.

His eyes were stinging when Hermione made her way back into the lounge, a tray balanced on her hand that she set carefully down on the table. "Alright, tell me what's going on." She ordered as she sat down beside him on the floor, her back angling against the couch as she looked at him.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, suddenly horribly embarrassed as a damn broke within him, leaking past his eyelids and making it hard to breathe. It was foolish, so very foolish - crying over something that had never even been his. "I just -" his voice broke and he bit his cheek. "I just...I love him." The words throbbed in his chest, burning his tongue and making large drops sear their way down his cheeks in wet tracks. "I love him." He didn't know why he was repeating himself, why it felt important to finally admit it out loud if only to someone who already knew.

"Harry, it's okay." She spoke softly, scooting closer until he could feel her arms wrap around him.

He shook his head and grasped her shoulders, his wet facing turning into her bushy hair. "No, it's not."

"You're right." She squeezed him tighter, her voice quiet but strong, determined. "It's not okay, it hurts, I know it does Harry, but it will be okay. Alright? We'll find a way. We always do."

****

Harry awoke to the sound of pots banging, Hugo laughing, and Ron whispering to his son with a loving warmth that seeped into his sleep addled mind. He blinked and rubbed at his puffy, salt encrusted eyes, cursing himself for what felt like the millionth time that day in embarrassment as he remembered that he had basically cried himself to sleep on Hermione's shoulder. He struggled to sit up beneath the blankets covering him, his head throbbing and body soar, his eyesight blurry as he glanced around himself. God he just wanted to curl into a ball and pass back out, to shut off his mind so he didn't have to think anymore.

"You're up, good!" Hermione beamed down at him as he rubbed at his eyes once more, her voice much too loud for his groggy mind to process. He must look like hell and he knew it was stupid to hope that Ron hadn't noticed that his best mate had been crying over another man on his couch. "Here, read this." She instructed, holding out his glasses in one hand and a sheet of parchment in the other.

"What's this?" His hands felt weak as he took his glasses and slipped them onto his nose before reaching for the parchment that was filled with Hermione's neat scrawl.

"It's the plan."

"The plan?"

She nodded and grinned, tapping the title that she had written out in flourishing letters. "Your five step plan to seduce one Draco Malfoy."

"I thought...I thought you wanted me to start dating other people." Harry felt like a fish out of water all over again, blinking down at the list unseeingly because surely...well surely Hermione didn't honestly want him to go after Draco did she? She had been the one trying to get him to give him up for months, she had been a sound voice a reason that he had refused to listen to until now. And yet now that he had finally admitted his awful situation she was switching gears so suddenly that he felt slightly dizzy. God, this made no sense.

She nodded, that creepily large grin still on her lips. "Precisely, that's part of step two."

"...Step two? But I thought -"

"Harry." She held up a hand to stop him and he snapped his mouth closed because he honestly had no idea what he had been intending to say anyway. "You want Malfoy right?" He nodded and she smirked. "So here's the plan, follow it carefully and if by the end he's still not interested then you can move on knowing that you gave it your all. No regrets."

Harry looked back down at the parchment, wondering how on earth it was possible to make Draco his in just five little steps but then...Hermione had always been amazing at devising plans. He smiled softly, something warm blooming beneath the pain in his body. "Alright. No regrets." He agreed, sure he was more than a little mad for going along with this and that he'd probably end up crying his eyes out on her couch all over again by the end of it but if there was chance - no matter how slim - that he could have Draco...well, then he'd be foolish not to give it a shot.

Right?

A/N: thank you all so so much for the comments! They meant a lot to me to know people are reading and enjoying. I wish I could reply indiviudually to all of you but this week has been insanely busy and I only have a moment (plus I didn't want to make you all wait another day for an update). Hope you enjoyed this new chapter :)
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Muggle Technology and Heroism