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Authors Note: I'm having a blast with this story. Many thanks to Laurel (DreamingInColour) for beta-ing this chapter for me! Love her!!

Chapter 5 Magical Spunk and Other Fine Rumors

A long, slender black box awaited Harry in his office when he arrived to work that morning. It took up a nice portion of his desk or else he would have ignored it outright, instead he carefully picked it up and leaned it against the far wall by the door and then ignored it.

He was partially through a brief about a Death Eater sighting in Bristol when a flash of mirthful red signaled Ron’s arrival.

“Harry mate, you busy this morning? I have this report on- whoa, what’s that?” he asked, spotting the sleek black package beside the entry.

“A box,” Harry muttered. “It was here when I arrived.”

“Is that another gift from Malfoy?” he asked curiously, nudging the item slightly.

“I would presume so, but I never even bothered with the card,” Harry replied. He was still trying his best to concentrate on the summaries laid out in the document he was holding, but he had read the same line three times since Ron’s intrusion.

“May I?” Ron asked, gesturing to the unwanted parcel.

“Knock yourself out, Ron,” Harry remarked. “I just hope it’s not jinxed.”

Ron winced at Harry’s remark, clearly not thinking of that, before he tore the box lid off. It was far too late for misgivings and had there been a jinx, Ron would have already gotten the brunt of it by then, so he continued to investigate.

A flurry of box crunching and tissue paper swishing accosted Harry’s concentration and he was just about to snap at Ron for the ruckus when all went silent. With a sigh of relief Harry managed to read one last line before a whoop of excitement made him throw the parchment down and look angrily at his employee and friend.

In Ron’s hands was a stunning ebony broom, the likes of which Harry had never before seen. It looked more like a sleek Italian automobile than a broom and Harry had to admit Malfoy did have excellent taste. As they watched, the broom hovered in the air and rotated as if on a showroom display, making both boys gape slightly at its magnificence. Still, it was a gift from Malfoy and as he wasn’t the least bit interested in accepting what the gift proposed, it would have to be returned.

“Blimey Harry, that’s a Flash FX! Those aren’t even in stores yet,” Ron exclaimed with veritable awe.

“I already have a broom, Ron,” Harry replied distractedly, trying to decide how to tactfully turn down the gift.

“This. Is. Not. Just any broom,” Ron replied, letting his disdain for such a blasphemy flavor his tone. “This is the quickest, most agile broom in the world. Only three were produced and those were only beta models! This must have cost Malfoy a fortune. What did you do to make him want you so badly?”

Harry merely shrugged and looked up at his friend balefully. “How should I know? The man’s a nuisance.”

“I wish someone would decide that I had magic spunk and stalk me with impossible to buy brooms!” Ron noted.

“Magic spunk?” Harry asked, trying to contain his laughter and disgust all at once.

“It has to be that, right?” Ron teased.

“I’m sure that’s all it is. He must have heard a rumor, and once I clear up that shagging me won’t make him immortal he’ll probably lay off,” Harry replied with mild amusement.

“You are keeping the broom, right?” Ron asked, his face already set up to fall at Harry’s denial, which was inevitable of course. ‘Noble Harry’ could never keep such a thing.

“You already know the answer to that,” he replied.

“I thought as much. Well, how about I do you a favor and personally return it to the ferret with your refusal?” Ron suggested.

“And run the risk of you keeping it for yourself? Not likely,” Harry muttered. “No, I think this will go back to him via floo, just like the roses.”

“Fine, but you can’t just leave something like this lying around. Someone would steal it in a heartbeat,” Ron reasoned, probably thinking of himself first and foremost.

Harry sighed and resolved that his friend was right. It was a handsome gift and someone might just attempt thievery –even from the Head Aurors office- if left unattended. “I’ll send it back now, and then I’ll need you to bugger off for a bit so that I can get some work done.”

Ron just nodded, took one last look at the Flash FX and sighed dramatically before leaving for his own office. “Bloody waste,” he muttered as he walked away, apparently forgetting the original purpose of his visit in the wake of the ultimate broom.

With a chuckle, Harry shook his head and took the broom to the Auror department fireplace; he figured it would be faster than trying to wade through the witches and wizards upstairs to compete for the public floos. But when he tried to send it through to Malfoy Manor, he found the connection blocked. The Auror fireplace had been taken off of the Malfoy’s floo network. “That sneaky little ferret,” Harry muttered to himself.

Still, he had to get rid of it and an apparition to Malfoy Manor would only take a second. He could leave it on the front step and be back to his office before anyone even missed him. With that decided he marched upstairs and outside to the nearest alleyway, he peeked into the boc giving the glorious broom one last admiring glance before spinning in place and seeing the familiar white Manor looming before him a moment later.

He was just about to set the parcel down on the step when the door opened and a familiar pair of stormy gray eyes stared down at him. Harry steeled himself for the impending argument as he handed the package directly to Malfoy instead of setting it at his feet, although making Malfoy fetch it from the ground was a tempting idea.

“I thought you might try returning this, too,” Draco remarked lightly. “Can I ask why?”

“I have plenty of money, Malfoy. No need to try and impress me with yours,” Harry replied and made to leave, but Malfoy set the box aside and opened the door wider.

“Won’t you come in?” he asked politely.

“No thanks. I need to be getting back to the office,” Harry refused, turning to walk away.

“Always working,” Draco chimed as if it were a terrible thing. “Don’t you ever have any fun, Potter?”

“I have plenty of fun,” Harry defended with a frown after turning back to face him. “I’m just not quite the playboy of leisure that you seem to be of late.”

“Ah, but you could be. You have as much in your vaults as I do, you have fame, prestige, you could live exactly as I do, but instead you toil away at a thankless job for ungrateful Ministry officials,” Draco observed, not entirely incorrectly.

“I chose to make something of my life instead of waste it shagging everything that moves. Don’t pretend you’re happier than me, because you’re not,” Harry said, making his own observation.

“You’re right,” Draco sighed at last, leaning elegantly in the doorjamb. “In fact, that was what brought me to you in the first place, Potter. I’d finished fucking a delicious brunette when I discovered how empty my life had become; no one to call my own, no one to share my hopes and dreams with, just an empty bed and an empty heart.”

“From what I hear your bed is rarely empty, Malfoy,” Harry noted, not buying it for one moment.

“But then I thought to myself,” Draco continued as if Harry hadn’t spoken. “Who could tame a beast like me? Who could be brilliant enough not to get lost in my shine, who could be honest and true enough to call me out on my wicked ways?”

Harry rolled his eyes.

“And your name popped unbidden into my mind. That very same morning I read the article about your favorite lunch spot and here we are,” Draco mused. “It’s destiny, I swear it is.”

“I’ve had my fair share of destiny thrust upon me, Malfoy, and you will not be thrusting anywhere near me,” Harry replied with a sour expression. He didn’t know what Malfoy was playing at but the game was one-sided –Harry refused to participate.

Draco chuckled at the pun and waved at the door again. “Just come and have tea with me, one cup, you owe me a date after all,” he prodded.

“I don’t owe you anything, Malfoy,” Harry growled, not liking the persistence emanating from the blonde. He had a feeling that the longer he resisted the more annoying Draco would get –he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“You promised,” Draco whined and his bottom lip formed a very delicious looking pout, but Harry was not falling for it. He was already fully aware of how pretty Draco was but it made no difference to him with the way the blonde acted he might as well be a deformed mutant for all he cared.

“Promises made under such circumstances are hardly valid. If you really wanted to date me you’d know that I don’t appreciate public displays of affection –certainly not from men I’m not even affectionate with,” Harry reprimanded. “Why don’t you just call it off and move on. I’m sure there are plenty of lonely people out there who’d be far more willing to let you into their trousers.”

Draco pursed his lips and leaned more heavily against the doorjamb, clearly not used to being repeatedly turned away. “I don’t want any of them,” he began.

“You’ve already had all of them is more like it,” Harry muttered in interruption.

“So what if that’s true? You already know about my sordid past,” he started again, but Harry laughed and cut him off yet again.

“Sordid present, Malfoy. Not even a week ago you shagged some man in the cinema loo while on a date with a different man, who apparently you shagged earlier that same night,” Harry recited from the file and crossed his arms over his chest as if challenging him to deny it.

Draco looked more proud of himself than anything as he was obviously reminiscing the event in his mind. “What was probably left out of my file was that both men approached me later for a threesome, which I turned down I might add.”

“Why?” Harry asked, scrutinizing Draco’s every movement.

“Because it would have been wrong,” he replied with an innocent bat of his thick blonde lashes.

Harry was quick to notice Draco’s cold eyes drop contact with his own when he said it though, so he knew the former Slytherin was up to no good. “Lying is also not a way to my heart, Malfoy,” he responded dryly and turned away, heading straight for the outer gate, which was the closest place he could apparate from while still on the Malfoy’s property.

“Because I never shag the same person twice,” Draco shouted across the lawn after him. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

With slight hesitation Harry turned in place and stared at Malfoy for a long moment before responding. “Is that the truth?” he asked and Draco nodded. “Then yes, that’s what I wanted to hear, though the truth only makes you slightly less repulsive.”

The innocent act dropped almost immediately at Harry’s words and Draco sneered at him. “I’ve got my own background information on your glory days, Potter.”

“Oh?” Harry asked, not pleased that Draco knew anything truly personal about him but not entirely convinced that he actually did.

Draco stalked forward, leaving the front door gaping open behind him and closed the distance Harry had made between them. “Word is you used to have quite the reputation for debauchery as well,” he challenged. “A quick shag in the loo didn’t used to be above your standards.”

“No, it didn’t. But it is now, which is all you really need to be concerned about,” Harry replied, trying to keep his cool. Most people didn’t know about his past –including his friends- and he liked it that way, but it was the past and next to what Malfoy was currently up to even Harry’s stories were hardly note worthy.

“So a bed it is,” Draco mused with a satisfied smile.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Harry hissed. “I have criteria now, things a person has to live up to in order to even see my bed let alone share it with me, and you don’t meet any of those criteria.”

“Humor me,” Draco replied with a mischievous grin and Harry already knew he had said too much –given the Slytherin a new goal. He decided to nip it in the bud right then and there.

“I won’t sleep with a guy unless we’ve been dating steadily for a year,” he announced, which wasn’t a complete lie but certainly embellished quite a bit for Draco’s deterrence.

He blonde gaped at him for a full minute before sputtering slightly. “A whole year? As in three hundred and sixty-five days? Merlin Potter, how long has it been since you’ve been fucked?”

Harry rolled his eyes, truth be told, it had been a while, but not as long he made it seem. His actual rule was one month of dating before sleeping together, not one year, but Malfoy might actually go along with one month and Harry couldn’t have that. Still, not many people even crossed the month mark. “None of your business. So, giving up yet?” he asked with a grin.

“Don’t be so hasty, what are your other conditions?” Draco asked, still sounding like he was trying to swallow the first one.

“Did I mention that both parties must be completely monogamous during that time?” Harry added and Draco swallowed thickly but motioned for Harry to go on. “And my friends would all have to accept you.”

“That’s hardly fair. I’m not trying to date any of them,” Draco huffed.

“But they are a major part of my life and if you want to share my bed than you have to share my life,” Harry reasoned. “I would expect your friends and family to accept me as well so it’s not as if it only works one way.”

“I could care less if my family accepts you, Potter,” Draco argued.

“That’s awful!” Harry growled. “You’re lucky to have both of your parents and you completely take them for granted!” It was one of the things he loathed most about the former Slytherin, the way he constantly disrespected his mother and father. Harry saw the security detail come through the Auror office and he also knew that there was little need for it and suspected it was all just a power play on Draco’s part.

Draco took a step back, clearly not expecting Harry to lash out at him over something he himself considered trivial. “Easy Potter, no need to get your knickers in a twist over it. Are there any other rules?” he asked changing the subject back to what he wanted to talk about.

“Does there need to be? You could never even hope to fulfill those three!” Harry countered, not sure why Draco was still pretending. When would the blonde realize that he just didn’t measure up?

“I’d like to try,” Draco replied defensively, but Harry just laughed at him harshly.

“Try? What, so that I can find out about you shagging someone else when you can’t keep it in your pants for an entire week!?” Harry shouted. “I’m the only one that loses in that scenario, Malfoy.”

“What do you want from me then?” Draco demanded angrily. “What can anyone do but try? I’m not bloody perfect.”

Harry calmed immediately upon seeing some true emotion from the blonde. Finally he had managed to break through Draco’s frozen mask and get to something more raw. “I know,” Harry replied evenly. “I would need more of a commitment though, especially from someone with your background, Malfoy.”

“Meaning?” Draco asked with narrowed eyes.

“It means back the fuck off until you know you could meet my terms. I won’t settle, not now, not ever,” Harry told him firmly and he marched from the Malfoy grounds before Draco could say another word. A quick look back once he’d reached the apparition point showed him a twisted look of confusion on his suitor’s face, which made Harry smile as he popped back to the Ministry to finally finish his report.

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Lucius stood in front of the enormous library window and let the moonlight wash over him. These peaceful moments when the stars created a heavenly blanket across the sky and the world seemed to stand still were the moments he used to look forward to. Now every day was crammed full of peaceful moments and it made Lucius feel like the walking dead, although he suspected even the Inferi had more fun than he did being cooped up in the Manor.

Even so, as utterly bored as he was he still didn’t wish for the kind of excitement that his son was bringing down on their heads. To ruin Potter was to ruin them all and he knew his offspring well enough to know that he wouldn’t stop until that was exactly what happened. Lucius never once luxuriated in the misgiving that he had it bad by being locked away inside the Manor. No, there were worse things by far, Azkaban for one, and he had no intention of letting his only son write him a ticket there.

They’d only escaped such a judgment by the skin of their teeth and Potter’s testimony that Narcissa has essentially saved his life in the forest. Angering their personal savior and head of the Auror department was the most asinine thing Draco had thought of by far. Lucius knew part of the appeal was simply the fact that he thought so poorly of the idea, and Draco wished to do everything he could to rebel against the Malfoy name and his father to boot, but could he really be so ignorant as to think his actions could proceed without consequence?

Either way it seemed, for now, that Lucius was at the end of his tight leash and could do no more to stop the relationship before it began. He held in his hand the messy scrawl of Draco’s newest victim and sighed.

Mr. Malfoy,

I received your letter and thank you for your concern, but I assure you the situation is completely under control and you have no reason to worry.

Sincerely,

HJP

The letter was short and to the point, just as his own had been, but it didn’t seem that Potter understood to what lengths Draco would go to conquer him. There were no good intentions lurking behind his son’s inherited gaze and only false sweetness that oozed from his pores. Nothing about his only child was genuine -not one single thing.

Just this morning Potter had fallen into Draco’s trap and unwittingly placed himself within reach of him. Draco knew that broom would never be an acceptable gift for the Gryffindor Golden Boy, and he also knew that with a quick deactivation of the Manor’s floo network he could expect the Head Auror to return the handsome gift in person.

He wasn’t disappointed.

The funniest bit was that Potter could have done more damage had he chosen to keep the broom as Draco had originally ordered it for himself, knowing full well Harry would never keep it. It seemed he knew Potter better than they all thought.

Unfortunately, Potter had remained unsuspecting and even worse, gave Draco a detailed outline as to what it would take to court him. Lucky for them all, the Gryffindor boy was Slytherin enough to make his stipulations so astronomical that even the purest of saints would have trouble reaching the goal, and everyone knew that Draco could never be called pure unless the word evil was directly behind it.

No, it did seem Potter had some sense in that hard head of his, but under no circumstances did he have everything ‘completely under control’ as he suspected. There was little Lucius could do about it right then however, because another note would be pointless and a personal meeting was rather out of the question.

Perhaps when the floo was working again he might try to call on Potter at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, but that would take precision and planning to make certain the boy would be there and that Draco would not be at home to eavesdrop. Still, it seemed to be his best option at the moment, because other than that he would be forced to wait until the Malfoy’s annual ball, which he couldn’t even be certain Potter would attend.

Lucius sighed and watched the clouds roll in and cover his beautiful starry sky; he could only remember the blackness of the night sky over Azkaban and he hoped he wouldn’t be seeing it again anytime soon.

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Authors Note: tee hee. no worries. We're no where near the turning point yet. Much wooing still to come.