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Balancing in inquietude	By : mhiues Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 1586 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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
- 3
- 4
Chapter 4: Enthusiasm of the apathetic

Over a week, they managed to turn the flat into a miniature
battleground. It started out innocent and was very much like the prank wars he,
Ron and their dorm mates held during Hogwarts. They�d only lasted a day, limiting
the little show of requited hatred to snarling insults at each other. Since he
didn�t get to see Malfoy much � and obviously vice versa � it was inevitable
they took it to a whole different level. Next thing, Harry woke up in the
morning to be confronted with a Dog Breath Hex on his toothpaste. As childlike
as it was, he had to get Malfoy back. And so it escalated.

In two days, there wasn�t an object that wasn�t cursed in a more or less
nasty way. It became impossible to move around the flat without having a wand
at ready. They were getting more and more creative; nevertheless, they finally reached
the boundaries of their imagination. It seemed to Harry Malfoy knew more� malicious hexes than himself, so he decided
to take on a different strategy and move onto the area of his expertise. Which
meant direct confrontation, a lot of curses flying in various directions and as
much noise as possible. He had to put a certain amount of effort into it,
including entirely changing his sleep pattern, but considered the cause worthy.
Harry made sure his presence would no longer go unnoticed.

The whole situation reminded of how they had fought back in school.
After exchanging a few sarcastic comments, they took out their wands and
attempted to jinx each other as badly as possible. And soon they almost forgot
what they were fighting over, just trying to hit the other man with any nasty
spell in handy, because he was the
utter jerk who deserved it and
provoked, right? The only problem was, there were no teachers to stop them now.

Funnily enough, none of them got harmed in a dangerous way � it was the
flat that looked like surviving a Doxy sexual revolution. Nothing worked
properly, the not so long ago snow-white walls were covered in multicolored
stains and a variety of scratches, the kitchen floor was layered with litter,
cutlery and broken porcelain pieces.

Being so busy with plotting each other�s instant death � or at least
major physical unpleasantness � neither Draco nor Harry remembered to put
Silencing Charms. The neighbors called the police thrice in order to put stop
to the disturbance � first two times they came directly to them, then talked to
Mrs. Prokofiev. Next evening she visited and wanted an explanation, appearing
to have talked to all displeased neighbors. She was outraged by the amount of
damage they�ve done to her flat � her property � and looked obviously shocked
that such situation took place. According to her own words, she expected Draco
and Harry to get along, but not to throw wild parties every single night. Both
of them figured as �respectable young men� in her little world, and now the
image was tarnished.

As a result, they were faced with an ultimatum. Either they put stop to
their immoderation and restore the flat�s normal looks in two weeks, or they�ll
have to deal with eviction. Not an entirely amusing concept in Harry�s opinion.
For once, him and Malfoy seemed to agree on something. Trying to kick the git
out was a healthy challenge, but getting kicked out himself in the process was simply
out of question.

*

Harry was sitting behind the desk, striking an expression of sheer
boredom. He felt, looked and talked as if he�d suffered days of sleep
depravation combined with hard physical work. His peripheral vision was a
jumble of blurry, sparkling, white blotches. A constant, throbbing pain vibrated
through the front of his skull. Closing his eyes only made him feel lightheaded
and a multihued firework show screened on the backside of his eyelids straight
away. It took all his strength to muster up and eat the whole breakfast. A cup
of lukewarm coffee and a cereal bowl summed up to the largest meal of the day.

Paperwork laid on the desk in an urgent need to be filled out, the
whiteness of the paper highlighting its irritating presence. Every time Harry
glanced at it, he felt oddly nauseous. Propping himself on one elbow, he stared
blankly at the wall, pretending to be deeply in thought, but all he could think
of was how to get away, do nothing, rest, be left alone and not having to touch
anything work related. Ron was throwing his usual comments into the space,
muttering something under his breath or exclaiming loudly as he found something
interesting or extravagant; usually Harry simply ignored them, today they were
exasperating beyond belief. Every time he managed to escape, drift off to a
semi-conscious state, Ron�s voice brought him violently back.

Last week had truly worn him out. Not only was he getting less than
enough sleep, there was this continuous battle with Malfoy and Ron got a splendid
idea to assign Harry with more fieldwork, because he wasn�t getting out too
much and it certainly reflected on his moodiness and sullen appearance. Not
that it changed anything � Harry still refused to leave the office more than
absolutely necessary. Ron didn�t seem to be very happy with it.

He nearly jumped out of his seat when two fingers were snapped loudly
right in front of his eyes.

�Whoa, chill, mate,� Ron looked very amused as Harry struggled to regain
balance. �We�re going out, I need your help with Simmings�s case. You know, the
one I gave you papers on yesterday morning?� He added, noticing Harry�s
confused looks.

Yesterday morning. Yeah, fine, only he buried said papers deep inside
the bottom drawer and didn�t intend to ever look at them again. Surely Ron hadn�t
expected him to read it? Damn.

On an impulse, he decided to use his usual �ill, tired and most likely
dying� strategy. Ron, however, was determined to show no mercy. He gave Harry a
sharp, angry look as the man started excusing himself with symptoms of various
dangerous sicknesses.

Guess the joke is
over, then. Pull yourself together and go, or you�ll have a pissed off Weasley
to deal with in addition.�

*

Simmings�s house was a little cottage in south England. It
didn�t appear to be out of ordinary as most wizards� houses, actually it
practically blended with the neighborhood � if anything differed from the other
houses on the outside, it was the lack of garden gnomes. The interior was
magical to the core, though. Potion ingredients stood in transparent jars on
the shelves along with several ancient-looking books, the dishes were just in
the middle of doing themselves and a portrait of a very jumpy man hung on the
wall. As they were asked to sit down, the chairs moved themselves around in an
exceptionally polite manner. A navy tablecloth with moons-and-stars pattern
completed the picture.

Mr. Simmings himself was a man in his fifties and everything about him �
from appearance, the robes he wore to the way he talked - was plainly average.
He served them sugary tea and sat down on the opposite side of the table,
smoothing out every surface during the act. Harry finally realized what was off
with this house � the man apparently was quite a clean freak.

He let Ron do the talking for now, trying to look like a thick bodyguard
bully who�s not allowed to speak up. Mr. Simmings thankfully skipped small talk
and elaborated on the subject of his worries. The man was plainspoken but made
himself simultaneously very detailed and coherent, whereas other Equivalent
clients seemed to babble endlessly about unimportant facts and stuck to their
illogical reasoning. Harry was really thankful for this and within five minutes
he had a clear outline of events. Reading Ron�s files wasn�t necessary after
all.

Harry was surprised by the great importance of the task assigned to
them. Mr. Simmings�s sixteen-year-old son, Ian Simmings, went missing during
summer holidays. The boy was obviously what you call a difficult teenager, but
aren�t all teenagers difficult? And it isn�t your everyday holiday scenario, to
leave all possessions behind and not to bother with a note, or more preferably
a tantrum including such entertainment as slamming doors straight into your
father�s face. After two days, Mr. Simming reported to the Auror Office in
search of help, but everybody seemed to play his request down. They started
worrying when Ian didn�t turn up for school, only on Headmistress McGonagall�s
demand anyway.

Still, it happened over a month ago, and if Mr. Simmings�s son wanted to
accomplish something by his summer escapade, he would have contacted his father
by now, in Harry�s opinion. And there was definitely something suspicious about
the Aurors� behavior � weren�t they supposed to go looking for missing people
straight away? Of course, it might have been a bit laughable when a man turns
up and states his teenage son hadn�t come home, and by the way they argue a
lot, he parties all the time and his friends are a bunch of weirdoes, even in
wizarding standards. But they shouldn�t have ignored it.

Ron started asking routine questions like �what time?�, �where?�, �who
with?� and Harry felt he couldn�t concentrate on the conversation anymore.
They�d have to investigate the Aurors responsible for Simmings�s case, and it
was never a happy prospect. They did have Ministry�s official approval and all
required licenses, but everyone made sure they felt like unwelcome outsiders.
And they�ve never been trusted with such a responsible job. Nor did have a
reputation of being responsible, only
effective, thanks to Harry�s quick temper.�
Why them, then? They had no essential experience or skills for this job.
Yes, the Ministry had failed and Equivalent was the only non-governmental
institution of such character, but there were only two of them and they hadn�t
managed to keep up a status of professionals yet.

Focus, Harry. Work.
That�s finally some important stuff, you were sick of feeding off other
people�s gullibility, right? Hello, I�m your hero complex. Save the boy.

�...and they lost the track in Glasgow,
I�m sure the Aurors will provide you with the detailed map of Ian�s movements,�
Mr. Simmings continued in the distance.

Hero complex. Honestly, the man couldn�t have counted on that, right? It
was quite a popular joke a couple of years ago, but Harry got over it. No more
throwing away his life for strangers. Especially when these strangers didn�t
need or welcome his help anyway.

And wait, what had Mr. Simmings just said? The job was being handed down
to them, they wouldn�t be working with Aurors butting in. Independence. First chance to show their real
potential and gain some credit. No wonder Ron was so serious about it.

Harry took a final sip from his mug and they were ready to go � judging
from Ron�s expression, supplied with information of fundamental importance.
They bid Mr. Simmings good-bye and promised to report in two days. They�ll be
just gathering full details and pick up Aurors� trail in Glasgow as soon as possible.

*

As they Apparated back to the office, Ron�s calm expression turned to furious.
He shrugged off his coat and practically launched himself at Harry. Shoving him
against the wall, his breath uneven, he could barely choke out a full sentence.

�Now listen, you dimwitted, lazy prat. I need your full help this time.
We can�t muck it up,� Ron glared at him as if he blamed Harry for Equivalent�s
every slip. �You could have at least paid attention today. Do you realize how
important this is? I know you don�t give a rat�s ass about Equivalent, you
don�t have to care about the money either. But I do, and I�m not going to
support your blas� attitude anymore. You could have looked through the files
I�ve handed you yesterday. You could show some involvement from time to time.
I�m sick and tired of dragging you
through every job as if it was a bloody punishment. And I don�t want my best
friend�s indifference be the reason of my life�s project failure. I thought you
were into it once, but you�re obviously not. If you�re so sick of it, quit.
After this job,� Ron finally released him and gave him a sad look. �Come on,
mate. We�ve done such things before. I know you needed a break, but you�ve had
it.�

Settling himself behind the desk, he added quietly, �I�m only worried
about you, Harry.�

Harry slumped into his chair and added Ron acting out of character to
the list of this week�s misery.

------------------------------------

Thank you for reviewing!

I hope you get the picture of Harry�s mental mess clearly after this
chapter.

I also noticed I�ve had anonymous reviews disabled� - sorry for that, if anyone not logged in
wanted to review and couldn�t... though I highly doubt it. ;)
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Balancing in inquietude