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Harry's Project	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 11256 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- 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
- 4
- 5
- 6
Thanks again for all the reviews!

Chapter Five�Harry Is
Patient, Draco Is Outraged

�� Harry shook
his head as he came out of the Apparition near Malfoy Manor. It was raining in
Wiltshire, which it hadn�t been doing in London, and he had to cast a quick Impermeable
Charm before he felt safe to stride towards the house.

�� He wondered
idly if Pansy had heard what he had done for the Malfoy family. Probably. With
or without a name attached to his activities, she wasn�t stupid, and could
figure out who would have that kind of power.

�� Then Harry
made himself stop wondering what Pansy would think. He didn�t want his name applauded, remember? (Well,
that wasn�t strictly true, but he was trying to pretend it was). And he doubted
that this change would really affect her one way or the other, except maybe to
show her he was serious. He lifted his hand to knock on the door.

�� The tall
house-elf opened it before he could. Its ears were standing aggressively
straight up, and it peered at Harry the way it might have a worm trying to
crawl into the house. �Mistress is out now,� it squeaked.

�� Harry cast
a quick Tempus Charm to make sure he
was on time. He was. He frowned at the elf for a moment. �Are you sure?� he
asked. �This was the time I was
supposed to call.�

�� I is quite
sure.� The elf�s hand tightened on the door, and Harry thought only well-bred
politeness kept him from slamming it. �Mistress Pansy and Master Edgar have
gone to their real home, and Master
Harry Potter will not disturb them at the former Malfoy house any longer!�

�� And then
the door slammed, and left Harry blinking.

�� Maybe my helping Draco and his family like
that pissed her off more than I thought it would.

�� Except he
didn�t know why it would. She ought to know that the chances the Wizengamot
would decide to give the Malfoys their lands and money back were extremely
small. And the longer Harry stood there, rifling through his thoughts, the more
baffled he was that Pansy would have taken his actions badly, let alone
personally.

�� So there
was only one way to learn why she might have done it, really. Track her and
Edgar down in their �real home� and ask her.

*

�� Harry
muttered irritably over the stack of parchment in front of him. It seemed that
trying to learn where Hector Ambrosius�s �real� home had been was as trying as
learning more about the cover-up that had deprived the Malfoys of their
property. He�d been through three maps, nine files, and this enormous pile of
loose paper�mostly statements by former employees of Ambrosius Holdings�and only
managed to learn that the house was located in England and widely considered
impossible to Apparate to.

�� We�ll see about that, he thought, and
shifted the interview on the top of the pile aside, resigned to the fact that
it wouldn�t help him.

�� Potter.�

�� Harry
jumped and yelped a little. He�d deliberately come into the Ministry offices
late at night on a Friday, when there would be no one to see him taking up
official time with a non-official case and scold him for it. Harry might be
bored, but he wasn�t going to jeopardize his job and his ability to continue to
work on this by disobeying too badly in public. His private confrontation with
Shacklebolt had been bad enough.

�� Or so he
had thought, until he saw Malfoy leaning against the doorway, staring at him,
and then it occurred to him that things could always get worse. He held up his
lighted wand automatically, but of course his Auror guards weren�t behind Malfoy.

�� Yes?�
Harry said, as neutrally as he could manage. Who knew that not only moonlight
but Lumos-light could make Malfoy
seem angelic? His face didn�t even look weird and odd in the sharp shadows the
charm cast. Now that, Harry
considered to be something unfair within the fabric of the universe itself.

�� I wanted
to tell you that it�s over.�

�� Excuse
me?� Harry pushed his glasses off his nose and tried to remember the confidence
he�d felt when confronting Draco the other day. It was a little hard, but just
because he was so startled, he reassured himself. Not because Draco looked
stern and poised again, and definitely not
because Harry�s mind was full of all the hidden nooks in the Ministry where
one might hide a body. �What�s over?�

�� This
case.� Draco waved a hand and paced a step clearer. Damn, his stride was like gliding. That was something the long
robes he�d worn into the Forbidden Forest had concealed from Harry�s
appreciative eyes before. �We all know the Wizengamot won�t decide in our
favor. Pansy�s moved beyond your reach. You�ve given it a good try, and if
you�d had nobler motives, I might even applaud you. But you don�t, and I don�t
have to, and you should acknowledge that everything is played out now.�

�� Harry
grinned and leaned his elbow on the desk, then his chin on his palm. �Oh, no,
it�s not. Especially not when you�ve just played your hand.�

�� Draco�s
eyes narrowed. �I beg your pardon?� His voice was cold and aristocratic. Harry
could admire it, when it wasn�t shooting sharp words at him.

�� I didn�t
owl you about Pansy moving,� Harry said. �It certainly wasn�t in the Daily Prophet, not even the society
pages. I checked. How in the world would you know about it, unless she let you know?�

�� Draco
narrowed his eyes. Then he sniffed. �Malfoys have sources you know nothing
about, Potter.�

�� I might
have been willing to believe that, five years ago.� Harry stood up, his skin
tingling with enjoyment. Facing Malfoy and dancing around each other like this
was so exhilarating. He wondered if it would be so exciting when they closed.

�� Do you want to close?

�� Oh, yes, he
did. A surge of something too hot to be called lust consumed him as he stared
into Malfoy�s eyes. He wanted to mess up that finely-groomed hair and see those
cheeks stained with passion, yes, but he also wanted to see the reluctant
half-smile he imagined Draco would give when he was taking a friend�s teasing
in good part. This was the longest courtship Harry had ever had, and, perhaps
because of that, he was envisioning staying around for longer than he usually
did, too.

�� We do,�
Draco snapped, low and intense. He took a step towards Harry instead of away.
Harry wondered if he was aware of that, and debated with himself over which way
would be more exciting. �The story I told you of our sad and sorry lives was
not the whole truth, Potter. We retain some contacts and friends we can trust.�

�� Harry
stared at him, wondering for a moment if he really could have been that taken in, if this had all been a
Slytherin trick inspired by Draco�s pride and determination not to depend on
the Boy-Who-Lived.

�� And then
Harry grinned. Draco stiffened, his head tilted back and his arms folded across
the lower part of his chest, as though he�d started to raise them and then
stopped.

�� I haven�t
seen any evidence of that,� Harry told him peacefully. �I have seen evidence that you live poorly and that you place your
life in danger to gather Potions ingredients. You don�t have house-elves, and
that alone must have been a nasty shock. So I�ll go on acting as if it isn�t
true even if it is.� He looked at Draco hopefully. �I don�t suppose you�d be
willing to direct me to where Pansy�s staying now?�

�� Stop it,
Potter,� Draco said. �I know how it will end. You have an obsession for a few
weeks or a month, and then it blows up into some grand and exciting adventure
for you. Stopping Voldemort from taking the Stone. Discovering the Chamber of
Secrets. Succeeding in the Triwizard Tournament. Defying Umbridge. It was plain
at school how much you enjoyed that sort of excitement, fed on it, even as you
were saying you didn�t care.� He shook his head in disgust. �But this won�t be
like that. It�ll be a hard and weary slog even if you achieve some temporary
victories, like forcing the Wizengamot to consider our case. And you�ll find
that out, and then you�ll abandon us.
Why in the world would you stay? We can�t provide you with anything to engage
your interest.�

�� Oh, yes,
you can,� Harry said, and stepped forwards until his body hovered a breath away
from Draco�s. Draco stood still, glaring at him in confusion. Harry shivered.
He thought he could feel, if he concentrated, the tiny hairs on Draco�s arms
brushing against his. The contact was better than if they had been touching, he
thought.

�� I won�t
lie back and spread my legs for you no matter how you help my family, Potter.�

�� Draco�s
words broke the mood, but not in the way he�d probably intended. Harry laughed
and leaned back on the desk. �I know that. Your words had some effect on me,
and now I know I have to just offer you what you need without expectation of a
reward or a return. It�s still up to you whether you take it, you know.�

�� You�re not
really this way.� Draco backed up a step now, and glared at Harry with outrage.
�You�re pretending. Pansy told me so.�

�� At least
you�re dropping the pretense that you haven�t been in contact with her.� Harry
spread his hands. �And how in the world would Pansy know? She�s met me just two
times since our schooldays, each time for less than an hour. And she regards me
as a court jester. Besides, she abandoned you for five years. Why should you
trust her so much?�

�� She�s more
like me than you are,� Draco said quietly. �She shares memories with me that
make me inclined to trust her��

�� And she
currently holds your Galleons and houses and doesn�t want to give them up. Yes,
Draco, your choice to trust her over me is brilliant.�

�� Don�t say
my name like that!� Draco snapped, and drew his wand.

�� Harry drew
his, and for a moment they stood like that, staring at each other. Harry felt
his lips lift into a smile without his permission. �Draco, Draco, Draco,� he
whispered.

�� Draco gave
a hiss like a wounded snake, and flicked his wand in a complicated pattern.
Harry ducked, but still felt something slash open his cheek next to his eye. He
lifted a hand, found a thin wound, and nodded. �I consider that an acceptable
price for getting to say your name,� he murmured. �Draco.�

�� It won�t
work.� Draco had frozen himself into stiffness again, though only one arm was
wrapped around his chest this time; the other pointed his wand at Harry, still.
But his arm shook, and Harry felt a flood of compassion run through him.

�� I don�t
think you really believe that,� he whispered. �I think you�re so worried this might not work that you�re
on the verge of terror. You�re allowing yourself to hope again, and that�s
always painful.� He paused, but Draco said nothing to confirm or deny his
guesses. Harry could hear his breathing, shaky and anguished, like the
breathing of a trapped and wounded animal. Harry went on after a moment. �And
you hate me for bringing hope into your life again, and you�d rather trust
Pansy because at least you can classify her as a traitor to your best interests
already. You don�t know how to
classify me, and if you get it wrong it could cost you a lot, at least in
emotional pain.

�� I can only
say that I�m trying my best. You�re under no obligation to listen to me, or
trust me, or let me kiss you, though it�s what I would like right now.� The
sound of Draco�s breathing stopped altogether. �But I�ll keep fighting for you
regardless. And at the end, when I lay the prize at your feet and hold out my
hand, it�s still your choice to choose to take it. It always was.� He leaned
forwards and looked Draco in the eye, as well as he could when several feet of
space separated them. �It always comes down to extended hands with us, doesn�t
it? And even if I was an idiot when I refused yours, I ask you not to be an
idiot about this.�

�� A moment
more Draco stood there staring at him. Then he broke and raced madly for the
door.

�� Harry let
him go. He had to find a good minor healing charm for his face, so that no one
would know Draco had hurt him. The wound could condemn Draco in other people�s
eyes. Harry wouldn�t allow that to happen.

*

�� It took him
until Sunday to finally notice that the statements by employees from Ambrosius
Holdings all pointed to one spot for the transfer of money in the organization,
though not one spot where they all believed Hector Ambrosius had lived. It was
easy enough to obtain Apparition coordinates for the tiny village next to which
the house was located, if not for the house itself, and Harry appeared on a
moor that made him wince. If Hector Ambrosius had really wanted to live here, he must have been out of his mind.
And even though Pansy had said her husband was a good man, well, Pansy said a
lot of things.

�� Harry
walked with an easy stride down the path that led to the big house with three
chimneys on the edge of the moor. The three chimneys had been the clue that
finally allowed him to locate the building; several of the employees had loved
describing them.

�� Halfway to
the front door, he slammed straight into a set of powerful wards. Harry winced.
The wards were of the kind that opened any recent injuries and renewed their
pain. Luckily for his state of mind when confronting Pansy, that only included
the slash on his face. Absently, he�d used the healing charm he�d found again,
whilst studying the wards.

�� Ah-ha. The wards used the Gordian
configuration, with a sharp knot of power tying them together in the middle. It
was widely considered impossible to get rid of, unless one was the original
caster. But then, the ordinary people of wizarding Britain who believed that
didn�t have the inside knowledge of the Ministry�s Aurors.

�� Harry
murmured a common Cutting Charm whilst moving his wand in the pattern more often
used for healing charms. The protective magic in the movement countered the
offensive magic inherent in the incantation and reassured the Gordian
configuration that the person trying to break through the wards just wanted to
help those inside. The knot shivered and relaxed. Harry stepped through, though
he conscientiously turned to repair the knot behind him. For all he knew, Pansy
really did have enemies, and he didn�t want to endanger her and Edgar.

�� Three more
steps, and once again he met a ward with a Gordian configuration, this one
designed to exacerbate any chronic illness. Again Harry cut through the knot
and repaired it.

�� And then
there was another set of wards. And another. And another. The remainder of the path
was probably three hundred paces long, and the wards were set stubbornly every
three steps from one another.

�� Harry
gritted his teeth. Pansy had probably done this to test him. She expected him
to give up and go away. Had she thought he would do the same thing when her
house-elf refused him entrance to Malfoy Manor?

�� She had no
idea how determined he could be. Nor could she know about his upbringing, any
more than Malfoy did. Harry had learned to endure not only the loneliness and
trapped sensation of his time at the Dursleys, but patient, repetitive,
mindless tasks that were the only way to finish the chores assigned him.

�� So he did
it now. He cut through the wards one by one, as he had once washed dishes and
pulled weeds one by one. This time, though, instead of supporting himself with
daydreams that if he could just do it right this one time, then his
relatives would love him, he used the image of Draco�s face, wounded and hopelessly
dignified and not sure whether to trust.

�� Finally, he
reached the end of the wards; they stopped at the doorstep. Swearing tiredly,
he started to lean his elbow on the wall, then straightened up and examined it
narrowly for more wards.

�� Laughter
from above startled him. Harry tilted his head back, making sure he didn�t step
off the stoop into the wards he�d just repaired. Pansy had flung up a window
and was resting an elbow on it, in the relaxed attitude he�d shown Draco the
night before last.

�� You are
the most stubborn bastard I�ve ever met,� she said admiringly. �I�m amazed that
you didn�t just wear the Dark Lord to
death.�

�� There were
a few more problems, with him.� Harry gulped and massaged his arm. Each ward
had taken only a small amount of magic and only one wand movement, but a
hundred of them all at one time were enough to exhaust even an experienced
Auror. �Now, are you going to talk to me? Or at least explain why you ran
away?�

�� Surely that�s obvious,� Pansy said. �Especially
since you know I�ve been in communication with Draco. He never could keep a secret when he thought he
had an advantage, silly boy. The only good thing about that is at least he told
me right away, so I wasn�t left thinking you were in the dark.�

��

�� It bloody
well isn�t obvious,� Harry said. �And the blunt truth you love so much is that
I�m going to sit down on the step and hold myself here with Alexander�s
Everlasting Chains unless you open the door and let me in.�

�� I do
believe you would.� Pansy clapped her hands, and the door opened, revealing yet
another abnormally tall house-elf. �Wodget, a glass of butterbeer and a
comfortable chair for Mr. Potter, please.�

�� It was
victory of a sort, Harry told himself as he passed into the house behind the
bowing elf, even if he wasn�t really sure what he�d won yet.

*

�� Pansy met
him attired in a flowing set of dark blue robes, which looked as good on her as
everything seemed to. Leaning back in her chair, she regarded him whilst Harry
gulped down his butterbeer, then gave the tiniest of nods. �I do believe you�ve
passed my test, Potter,� she murmured.

�� Harry
looked into his mug. �Testing a new poison for you?�

�� Pansy
wagged a finger at him, but didn�t seem that put out. �You see,� she said,
�that�s the kind of comment anyone but a jester could be killed for, in a true
court. Lucky for you that I�m so merciful.�

�� Those wards
didn�t feel merciful.� Harry stared at her.

�� They
wouldn�t have killed you,� Pansy said. �They were just there to see if you
could keep going past them, the way I fled to this house to see if you would
manage to find me. I was testing your dedication.�

�� Harry
firmed his grip on the mug. �I really will keep coming and talking to you as
long as you�ll hear me,� he said. �I want you to give their money and their
houses back to the Malfoys.�

�� And if I
contact the Wizengamot and demand an order that you aren�t to approach within a
thousand feet of me or my son?� Pansy�s face was unreadable.

�� Then I�ll
find some other way,� Harry said. �I�ll always find some other way.�

�� I really
do believe you would.� Pansy nodded to herself. �Quite a dedication to a
project that began out of boredom, wouldn�t you say?�

�� Yes, I
would,� said Harry. �But that doesn�t mean that the project has continued as the result of boredom, you
know.�

�� Are you
really that different?� Pansy�s eyes were shadowed. �I don�t think so. I think
you�ll continue this obsession for a few weeks, and then drop it when something
new catches your fancy. That�s the way you work with Auror cases.�

�� The stupid
words startled Harry into laughing. �It�s not,� he said. �Auror cases end, and
they end quickly when I work on them, because I want to make sure that I�m
giving the victims justice as soon as possible. And with one fairly ended, I
can go on to something else. I know this would take more time and effort. I
understood that as soon as I really sat down and analyzed Draco�s first speech
to me.�

�� I don�t
think you have any idea what it�ll be like to squire a disgraced family back
into pure-blood wizarding circles,� said Pansy. �Particularly when you have no
understanding of those circles in the first place.�

�� Then I can
learn.� Harry grinned at her and raised his mug. �You�ve given me the first
lesson, you know. Playing the jester might carry me far. And if it would let me
speak truth that everyone else would chuckle indulgently over and see things
that no one will notice me noticing, it�ll be better than my role as hero.�

�� You are very strange,� Pansy said, her voice
barely a breath. �No one makes a life�s cause out of a few weeks� work. And you
know it might take most of your life? People will still be sneering at the
Malfoys twenty years later. Reputations are lost much more quickly than they�re
won.�

�� Then I�ll
stay,� said Harry. He really meant it, at least at the moment. He thought again
of Draco�s terrified face. He�d made some attempts to run away from his
fear�trying to persuade Harry to stop helping him, for instance�but he�d faced
it head-on in Harry and Ron�s office. And that courage called to Harry, spoke
to him. It was a kind of courage he�d certainly never expected a Slytherin to
have.

�� Which meant
Draco wasn�t a Slytherin anymore. He was human.

�� If it
comes into conflict with your Auror job?� Pansy asked.

�� I�ll make
sure it won�t.�

�� I don�t
see how you can do that.�

�� Just like
you didn�t see how I could cut through your wads and track you down?�

�� Pansy
smiled a little. �And what if your friends disapprove?�

�� Oh, they
almost certainly will,� said Harry. �Hermione was envisioning me adopting
orphaned Kneazles, not helping the Malfoy family back into polite society. But
I love them, and I know they won�t turn their backs on me. They can�t dictate
who I associate with. They understood that a long time ago.�

�� Pansy
exhaled sharply. �All right. You�ve passed the test I created the wards to
measure.�

�� Which
was?�

�� How
serious about this you were, and how much of a companion you might be for
Draco.� Pansy gazed at him with a faint smile. �He wrote to me first, you know,
complaining about you. And he had reason. You were a stuck-up little pissant
when you first made contact with me, and with him.�

�� Harry
nodded to acknowledge the truth of that remark. �So this is your way of making
sure I�m good friend material?�

�� Boyfriend,
perhaps,� said Pansy.

�� You don�t
know��

�� Give me
some credit for not being blind, Potter. You�re gay, Draco�s gay, and he writes
about you too desperately. And your face is too soft when you talk about him.
Besides, I think the relationship between you is too volatile to stay
friendship. You�d become lovers or blow up at each other within a year�s time.�
Pansy waved her hand. �So, yes, you have my blessing to pursue Draco, if you
want to. But know that it�s still his choice.�

�� Of course
it is,� Harry said. He knew he was beaming stupidly at her, but he rather
didn�t care.

�� There was
another reason I wanted to make sure you would be a good companion for him, you
know.� Pansy leaned her hand on her chin again.

�� What?�

�� To make
sure he has a consolation prize to somewhat compensate him for his other
losses. Because you still haven�t convinced me to give back his money and
houses.� Pansy rose to her feet with a nod. �Until next week, Potter.�

*

�� Thrnbrooke:
Draco will resist as hard as he can, that�s what.

�� MewMew2:
Thank you! I think Harry is a fascinatingly flawed person, especially because
his flaws are less obvious than Draco�s.

�� Mangacat:
Well, Pansy was helping.

�� Rainwater:
He�ll be challenged for the upper hand in Chapter 6.

�� Natwestgirl:
Harry wants the attention less than he did, but he�s not over it yet.

�� Dezra:
Thanks!

�� Bthatcher2002:
Don�t worry, Draco doesn�t just fall.

�� Enslavement_Thesis:
Here�s the update!

�� Yume111:
You�re welcome! Harry is trying really hard. But at the same time, he�s holding
back so Draco can express his fear and distrust and go with those if that�s
what he chooses. Harry will be disappointed if that happens, but he�d
understand it.
- 4
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- 6
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