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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
- 36
- 37
- 38
Sorry for the long delay in updates! To tell the truth, I
got caught up in holiday �cheer� and couldn�t find the time to write.

Chapter 37- Draco�s Plans Accelerate

�� This is
the first time that you won�t be spying on my session with Theresa, isn�t it?�
Harry remarked, staring curiously at him.

�� Draco
sniffed and swung the cloak around his shoulders, then paused to consider the
figure he made in the mirror. Yes, quite dashing. Besides that, there was
another purpose for the fine, soft sable cloak he wore, with a hood that could
easily be cast over his head, but Harry didn�t need to know that. �I prefer the
term observing, Harry. But yes, it is. If there�s something that you
need to say to her in private, perhaps it�s the best time to say it.�

�� There�s almost
nothing that she won�t disapprove of,� Harry said dryly.

�� Draco
turned from the mirror and regarded him. �And what about you, Harry? Do you
disapprove of it?�

�� He really
wanted to know. Harry had not seemed unhappy with their experience of two nights
ago, but neither had it been repeated. When Draco wanted to have sex, Harry put
him off with talk about thinking. And he certainly did have a thoughtful
expression on his face every time Draco surprised him, so there might even be
some truth to that.

�� The truth
was not that he was a rotten lover, Draco assured his faltering
self-confidence. And since when did his confidence falter? He knew he
had done a fantastic job, and persuaded Harry out of that nonsense of not
liking men once and for all. If Harry didn�t feel like fucking right now, they
would wait. That was all it was. Harry wanted some time to think. God knew he
should have it.

�� Where are
you going, again?� Harry asked.

�� Draco
concealed a smirk. Harry really hadn�t been paying attention to the cover
story Draco gave him. That meant, of course, that he was less likely to notice
any gaps or inconsistencies in the details. And that suited Draco just fine.
Harry wasn�t ready for revenge yet. When he was, then Draco would tell him the
whole truth, and watch as a contented smile spread across his face.

�� Out,� he
said, and slipped his hand under Harry�s jaw, tilting his head up for a kiss.
Harry gave it to him, and Draco drew back before he could grow dizzy with that
success and push too far, too fast. �I do have business interests to
take care of, given the Malfoy money, Harry. And I really should visit my
mother, and make sure that she knows she isn�t welcome to return to the Manor
any time soon.�

�� Predictably,
Harry flushed crimson. �Of course you should visit your mother,� he said. �But,
Draco, are you sure that you want to keep her out of the Manor? She- �

�� Did her
best to turn you against me, and get you kidnapped,� Draco finished calmly.
�And you are the most precious thing in the Manor to me, Harry. Forgive me for
thinking she might do worse than that when she comes back again.� He knew his
mother. She would take any sign of yielding on his part as a certainty that
he�d forgiven her and be up to her old tricks within moments of stepping through
the Manor�s door. Draco wanted to make sure she understood that he wouldn�t
tolerate that, and so he would leave her outside the door until such
time as she learned to behave.

�� She�s
still your mother,� said Harry, and Draco saw, as clearly as someone seeing to
the bottom of a clear pond, how much he didn�t want to be responsible for
turning Draco against his family.

�� We
squabble like this all the time,� said Draco, and grinned when Harry gave him
an incredulous glance. �It�s true, Harry. That�s why I could send her away like
that. One of the houses is always kept furnished and ready for her, in case
she�s done something wrong this week and needs to leave.�

�� Harry
opened his mouth, fumbled for words, and closed it again, shaking his head. �I
can�t imagine doing that to my mother,� he whispered.

�� You value
family.� Draco reached out, plunged his fingers into Harry�s hair, and slowly
drew them back towards himself. Harry arched to follow the motion, a noise very
like a purr breaking from his throat. Draco grinned at him. �Of course you�d
want to have a closer relationship with your mother. But if you�d grown up with
them- who knows? The charm of parents is rather reduced when you see them every
day.�

�� Harry
opened eyes that looked on the verge of being drugged, and sighed. �You need to
leave,� he said. �Or you�ll be late to see your mother, and I�ll be late to my
session with Theresa.�

�� Draco
placed a knee on the bed and his hands on Harry�s chest, bearing him gently
down. �I could arrange for neither to be troubled by the lateness,� he
murmured, and blew on Harry�s ear.

�� A breath, a
moment of temptation, and then Harry pushed at him. �Go on, Draco,� he said. �I
hope that- well, someday, I mean, if we- I want Narcissa to like me, when she
can. Just in case. And I don�t think she�d forgive me if I made you late.�

�� Draco
nodded reluctantly, regretting the lie now. Of course, that would have done
nothing about Theresa�s time of arrival.

�� His eyes on
Harry in a silent promise, he closed his eyes and Apparated. He would indeed be
visiting his mother in the small house she used later. But first, he was going
to Surrey.

�� There were
some Muggles he had to terrify as the first stage in the long, long process of
getting vengeance for Harry.

*

�� Well,�
said Theresa, looking as pleased to see both Harry and her tea as she always
did, �why don�t we talk about Draco, Harry? Seeing as he�s not here to stop us,
and you might have some things to say about him that you wouldn�t want to say
in his presence.� She eyed him calmly when he remained silent. �Nothing to
say?� she asked gently.

�� Nothing
you might approve of,� Harry said, and folded his arms. He knew he was being
transparent as fuck. He did not care.

�� Forget
about whether I approve or not, Harry.� Theresa�s eyes were unearthly in their
steadiness. �Tell me what you think of him. It�s not up to me, ultimately, to
say whether you should be friends or lovers, or how long Draco�s obsession
might last. It�s up to me to listen to you, and try to have you talk about the
things that truly bother you. Is Draco one of those things?�

�� Harry
linked his fingers together in front of him and stared at them. But the tug of
knowing that Draco wasn�t in the next room, listening and watching through the
enchanted window, was irresistible. �Maybe,� he muttered.

�� That
wasn�t so hard to say, was it?� Theresa encouraged him, and then picked up her
tea to blow away the steam. �Come, Harry, tell me more. What does �maybe� mean?
Does he bother you in ways you haven�t confessed before now? Or are you unsure
if he bothers you?�

�� Harry
sighed and leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling. Draco could
probably have one of the house-elves listening in on the conversation. Or he
could have cast a spell that retrieved the memories of words from the walls.
But Harry would have to just trust that he hadn�t, and speak his mind.

�� He
frightens me, sometimes,� he said lowly. �He insists that I�m the most
important person in his life, and I- I can�t understand that. He loves his
mother. He�s known her all his life. Why in the world would he decide that I�m
the most important one? Even if it�s true, it bothers me, because I don�t want
to come between them.� His throat tightened. The only memory he had of his
mother was her voice screaming. He would not be the cause of anything
even a tenth as horrible between Draco and Narcissa, not if he could help it.

�� She
disapproves of you?� Theresa asked.

�� She hates
me.� Harry wrapped his arms around his body and shivered slightly. �I can�t
even blame her. I�m the reason her husband went to prison, the reason he died
there. And I would bring exactly the wrong kind of notoriety to the Malfoy
family as a partner for Draco. Some people would always be certain he�d seduced
or corrupted me. And Narcissa has contacts of her own. There are people who
would shun Draco if she asked them to, at least as long as he was dating me.�

�� That
worries you more for Draco�s sake than your own, doesn�t it?� Theresa asked,
her voice as soft as rain.

�� Yes,�
Harry said. �I care about him, and he doesn�t seem to care about what living
with me will cost him.� He looked up and locked eyes with Theresa, then forced
the next words out. �I�ve already cost people who care for me their lives. I
don�t want to do it again, in any sense of the word. Even if it�s �only� a
social life. I want Draco to have everything he did before he kidnapped me. But
he can�t, and- well, if the cost I bring to him is greater than the pleasure he
derives from me, then I need to leave. I�ve thought and thought about that
since- Sunday.� He was not going to tell Theresa what they had done on Sunday.
It wasn�t her business. �But I don�t know a way to broach the subject, either.
He keeps insisting that I matter the most to him. Today he even said that he
and Narcissa have disputes like this all the time.�

�� And who
says that is not the truth?� Theresa said.

�� Harry
clenched a hand in front of him. �It might be. I can�t really accuse him of
lying. But I don�t want them fighting over me. His mother is the only
relative Draco has left. It�s not worth it, his dating me, if it hurts his
relationship with her.�

�� Theresa
hesitated for a long time, then said, softly, �Harry. I do not approve of
Draco�s obsession with you, nor the way he kidnapped you. But I will say that I
have seen improvements in you that I do not think are possible with my care
alone.� She drew her wand. Harry instinctively tensed, but she only met his
eyes and said, �Do you mind if I cast the Soul�s Mirror spell?�

��

�� Harry gave
her permission with a wave of his hand, and watched as the picture of his bonds
with other people appeared again. The one connecting him to Theresa was green,
and the one that stretched away in Draco�s direction a brilliant color,
somewhere between blue and violet. Harry swallowed.

�� He does
you so much good,� Theresa said. �He is helping to heal you, Harry, to let you
live again. Until and unless you see more evidence of your presence costing him
than an argument with his mother, I think you should remember that he can make
his own decisions, too.� She softened the sting of the words with a smile, and
then banished the colors. �Now. What do you think is most important between
you? What basis does your relationship have?�

�� Trust,�
said Harry. �I trust him to keep his word, and care for me now. It�s why I
can�t accuse him of lying about the fight with his mother.�

�� Then trust
him until he lies to you,� Theresa urged. �You�ve managed the first and hardest
step, Harry, listening to him above the promptings of your own instincts. And
you trust him not to do things that you don�t want, don�t you, unless they�re
for your own good?�

�� Harry let
his breath out slowly. �Yeah. Yeah, I trust him. But it would be so hard to do
that if I found out he lied to me.�

*

�� Draco
consulted the photograph the Auror, Dogfoot, had snapped for him, and then
looked up and studied the Muggle home in front of him. Yes. This was the house
where Harry had spent his childhood, and the house where the Dursley Muggles
lived still. Draco wanted to be sick at the sterile look of it, but then
reminded himself Harry lived here no longer, and Dogfoot hadn�t even been able
to find a psychic trace of him. This was about the child Harry had been, but
Draco didn�t have to vomit. He had to think, and plan a careful justice equal
to their crimes.

�� Casting a
Disillusionment Charm on himself, he walked around the house. The flowerbeds
were neatly taken care of, and all the curtains drawn. Draco saw a light
shining from the center of the house, however, and cast a spell that would move
the curtain aside enough to let him peer in.

�� In front of
a box blaring with light sat all three Dursleys. It must have been a holiday
for the two fat ones, Draco thought. The son sat squashed between his parents,
eating what looked like an enormous sandwich dripping with juices. He laughed
at something on the Muggle device, and bits of food flew from his mouth.

�� Draco
sneered softly. That would be Harry�s cousin, Dudley. The other fat one was his
uncle, the thin one his aunt. And all three of them looked as if they hadn�t a
care in the world, rather than as if they carried the memory of a small, abused
child around with them.

�� Draco tried
to restrain the anger that climbed his throat, reminding himself that he had no
idea how bad it had truly been. Harry had almost certainly tried to
soften the neglect, but that didn�t mean his relatives had truly beaten him.

�� The amount
of uncertainty only encouraged the rage, though, Draco found. As long as he had
no limits, his imagination was free to conjure any images it liked, and Draco
could see Harry sitting on the floor of a cupboard, trying not to cry, with
disturbing clarity.

�� Careful,
careful, he reminded himself. You aren�t here to destroy them- yet. Just
to scare them, to warn them of what�s coming.

�� He pointed
his wand at himself and whispered a glamour, drawing the cowl of his cloak
around his head as he did so. Glamours were easier when they had something to
work with, especially physical materials that resembled what they were supposed
to mimic. Draco concentrated on his own memories of what he wanted to appear
as, and smiled in approval as his vision fogged and an intense chill radiated
out from him.

�� When the
Muggles looked through the window, he knew, they would see a Dementor there.

�� He raised
one hand and scratched on the glass. The sound took long moments to penetrate
the fat Muggles� trance, but at last Dudley turned around. Draco breathed out a
cloud of breath, which turned the glass pane to frost.

�� The boy shrieked,
which got the parents� attention. Harry�s uncle leaped to his feet, backing
away from the window. The aunt was screaming a variety of words, among which
Draco could make out, �It�s them, Vernon, them!�

�� Dudley had
fallen to the floor in a dead faint. Draco raised an eyebrow, wondering if he�d
somehow encountered Dementors before.

�� It wasn�t
his concern, however. He knew the parents would tell their son everything about
what had happened when he woke. He lifted his wand, which would look like a
long, pale finger to the terrified people watching him, and scribed bone-white
letters on the pane.

�� You will
pay.

�� Then he
Apparated, taking a vicious satisfaction in the wails that accompanied him.

�� It�s not
nearly enough. But it�s a start.

**********

��

�� Satu:
Draco�s told Harry very little about his life yet, just the kids he was raised
with and a bit about what Slytherin House was like. Nothing about what happened
during or after the war, for example. But believe me, there is a plot. You can
see the beginnings of the next big arc here (the first big arc ended in Chapter
31).

�� PicturesqueNightmare:
Sure! I�d be happy to add you to the update list.

�� Gloria:
Thanks! I know a lot of people have trouble seeing Harry as submissive, but,
well, this isn�t submissive so much as �having sex in a particular position.�
It implies nothing about his personality.

�� Sure, I�ll
add you to the update list.
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Learning Life Over