The game and love

60

Draco sat at the long conference table, his agent by his side as they looked over the five or six old men that spanned the length of it. He was fuming. Dyanna had said she would do all the talking and Draco was glad, because as several eyes would not meet his, he couldn't help feeling absolute rage at them. Draco shifted in his seat, the suit he wore chaffed horribly and Harry had made his tie too tight. Dyanna clicked her breifcase open and selected some sheets of paper from it, closed it, then looked up, surveyed the room and spoke.

"I won't try to deny the trauma my client has faced these last few weeks, because someone decided to be reckless with some information." Her words were even, but fierce. "I called you all here because I have a source that has let me know which of you it happened to be." She eyed each of the men with a glare that would make babies cry. "I plan, of my own accord to see you fired and then, I plan to sue you." She looked at Draco. "since my client doesn't desire a long drawn out court battle, I will make it for him, after all, I have also been damaged by this fiasco." Some of the men made even more of an effort to hide their faces. Draco might have pitied them, if he wasn't so angry.

Dyanna spoke more on her plans as it related to her client. She intended to make them honor their deal with her client and then also, pay damages related to the "Leaked story." As she put it. She estimated the total of such damage to be in the ten million dollar range. When she finished her list of demands, several of the men looked absolutely stunned that she felt she wielded this much power. Dyanna had finally finished after a few more minutes and Paul Allen, the owner of the team dimissed the meeting and came to where his star quarterback sat.

"I am truly sorry for this Draco." Allen said, clearly meaning his words by the way his brow seemed to frown.

"I guess it couldn't be helped." Draco said, breathing out as he got up from his seat to shake the owner's hand.

"If it's any consolation, I'll be firing him today." Mr. Allen said courteously. "I also want to let you know this has no bearing on wether we bring you back once your contract is up." He nodded to Dyanna, "We'll be in touch." And he turned and left the room.

Draco and Dyanna faced eachother and Dyanna brushed some lint off the shoulder of Draco's jacket, then began working the knot in his tie. "You look like a stiff corpse in this suit Draco. I wish you wouldn't do this whenever we have negotiations, you always look like an idiot. I thought gay guys knew how to dress." She dropped he hands to her sides once she was satisfied that the knot was retied better. "Atleast we know the negotiating lines are open. Are you sure you'll retire if they don't re-sign you?" Draco nodded slowly. "Ok, than atleast I know where I stand when trying to make a deal." She said and they both walked out of the room to the group of local reporters.

"Is there validity in the story Draco?" One reporter shouted.

"Do you think this affects your chance at the Hall of fame someday?" boomed another.

Camera flashes were everywhere, but Dyanna had thankfully scheduled a sit down with Sasha Thomas, his favorite beat writer for the team. He planned to answer all these questions and all this criticism there if he could. He wanted to set the story straight or gay as it were, there was no reason to lie anymore, either way, this was likely his last year in the league. He smiled almost as if he were a robot, led by the hand of his agent to her waiting SUV.

"OK Drake, this is the big interview next. Are you up for it?" Dyanna asked, thumbing through papers and clicking on her cell phone. The car ride was quiet for Draco, he wanted to focus and make sure this interview went smoothly. This meant everything he supposed. A lot of people wanted to know the truth and they would soon have it to judge for themselves. He was pulled out of his intense thoughts by the jerk of the SUV stopping at the local sports radio studio. He'd given interviews here before, but it seemed that the task at hand gave Draco an unfamiliar feeling as he walked through the doors.

"I'm so glad you agreed to do this, Draco." Said Sasha, She was very well dressed and smelled strong of perfume. Dyanna felt as if she might gag and made a quick exit letting Draco know that she'd be back to get him. Draco looked around the area and saw many folks busy with their jobs. He seemed to take in more, like it might be the last time he did so.

"If you'll come this way-" Sasha directed softly. She had jetblack hair that seemed to shine in the light and make a statement of her authority. Draco obidiently followed her, like a child follows a mother when he's in trouble. He started to feel tightness in his chest. He silently wished this would be over soon.

Sasha led him into a small studio where the radio station recorded important interviews. Draco was glad at least he would not be on live radio. Sasha sat down at the table that had a silver control panel on the wall next to her and directed Draco to sit exactly across from her. Draco found himself unable to stop looking at the microphone, it intimidated him, it excited him, it relieved him, all at once.

"Ok so where shall we start?" Sasha said kindly.

"It's your interview, I wouldn't really know." Draco chuckled nervously as he watched the light for 'recording' flash on. He liked Sasha, she was dedicated, but fair and always tried to get the true perspectives from players, they'd know eachother for twelve years and Draco felt he could tell her anything.

"So, after all the controversy, where do you stand with your teamates?" Sasha asked in her reporter tone.

"I think things are fine, we talked about it, there are no problems that I am aware of." Draco was slowly relaxing now, the worst part was over, the words would come easier now.

"So, is the official truth that you are gay then?" She asked, never changing the tone in her voice.

"That's the official truth," He grinned. "I have a sticker and everything." They both laughed a bit.

"What's it like keeping a secret like that all these years?"

"It's not so much the secret itself that's so bad, it's all the things you're robbed of because you can't risk being discovered.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, think about it, I can't go to all the normal husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend functions for the football team. I can't go to dinner or the movies the same way most of the sports figures here can. I don't just mean the celebrity, I mean, being able to kiss my significant other in public, there's a lot of things people take for granted when they are straight."

"Do you regret that part of your life?"

"What part?"

"Not being able to express yourself the way you want?"

"Yes, but not really for me, more for Harry, he's always been very open and having to be as careful as we were for the last 19 or so years, I think he was forced to love me at a distance sometimes. I do definitely regret that."

"Harry is your significant other?" She asked into the microphone, never making eye contact.

"He is my husband." Draco said flatly.

"That's Harry Potter, right?"

"Yes."

"Congratulations!" She said, "How did you manage to keep that quiet?"

"I don't really know actually." Draco smiled for the first time in the interview.

"Do you have any fears of a backlash over this news? From fans? Players? Do you think people will discredit your ability because of it?"

"I know I will lose some support yes, but I would hope that in general people would just put that aside. I was prepared for worse, but the city seems to have embraced me in this tough period."

"Does this help you decide your future with the team?"

"No, I think what will help me decide is if I can contribute somehow."

"Do you want to come back to Seattle?"

"More than anything in the world. I love the people here."

The interview pressed on and Draco seemed to get into a groove, eventually, his charm took over and the interview turned into a easy conversation with occasional laughter. Draco was glad he'd chosen to do this interview and he found it hard to leave once it was over.

~~~~~

Harry and Ron sat in the suite with Tim and their kids, Eric and Lucius as they watched perhaps Draco's last football game. It was a wilcard playoff game. Draco had sat on the bench all season in favor of the young kid they traded for. He had watched in agony from his spot on the bench all year. He was not a bad teamate, in fact, he had helped the new Qaurterback learn the offense and gave him pointers after every game, he even taught the man how to watch and study film properly.

Harry was just as dejected, Draco was possibly going to retire if they lost this game. It was funny how he seemed more determined that Draco should keep playing than Draco himself was. He let out a breath and watched the game as the QB replacing his husband struggled. The boos were loud in the stadium as fans watched their team fall apart. Harry couldn't help but sort of hope the patern continued so he could see Draco play.

Lucius was a well meaning thorn in Harry's side. He had no intrest in football and always seemed to interfere during the times when Harry was the deepest into the game.

"Papa, can we get some ice cream?" The boy asked as Eric patiently waited next to his friend and made no attempt to draw attention. He was deaf, not stupid. Lucius got no response, so he walked up close and patted his dad's shoulder lightly.

"WHAT?!" Harry turned and yelled so suddenly that Lucius fell back on his butt in surprise. "Oh Lu, I'm sorry, you have to be more careful when you do that." Harry kicked himself, he still had not learned to keep his ears open so he was less jumpy, poor Lucius had gotten used to these sudden outbursts, especially if they watched the games at home. "What do you want now?" Harry tried to sound as sympathetic as he could.

"I wanted some ice cream." Lucius eyes watered a bit and he rubed his hind end.

"Oh, yeah, you can have some. Does Eric want any?" Harry asked looking at his son's friend, who looked like a smaller version of ron, square in the eyes. The boy nodded. Harry patiently ordered ice cream for them both and went back to watching the game once he was sure they were sufficiently distracted by their treats.

Harry could feel the tension his husband was feeling as he looked down on him through the large suite window.

~~~~~~

Draco began to walk to the lockeroom, his team was down 34-20 at halftime. He let out a breath as he headed to the lockeroom and was stopped by one of his teamates just inside the tunnel.

"Hey, do you here that man?" Damien Wade, a third year reciever smiled and clapped him on the shoulder pad. "Listen to your people." Draco's ears seemed to prick up and he focused hard. He heard the roars of the crowd, but nothing specific, soon, he could hear that it was a chant and then, it was in unison. The words finally made sense. Draco stared blankly at his teamate. The words entered his ears again and again and he could not believe it.

"WE WANT MALFOY!"

"GIVE US MALFOY!"

Draco couldn't help his giddy feelings as he went into the lockeroom. He sat himself down on the bench, that had been the most vocal the crowd had been to him all season since he'd seen the field in preseason. He felt himself smile and his cheeks turned a light pink.

"Hey, Malfoy, you're up in the 2nd half!" The coach yelled and went into his office. Draco was stunned, as all eyes met his, he felt as if he were a 21-year-old rookie again. He got a play sheet from one of the assistant coaches and began to make adjustments. He felt excitment for the first time in months. The offense gathered around him and he started to speak in football language, when he finished he drank some gatorade and crushed the cup and got up to walk out for the second half.

He walked out of the tunnel last however and took in the scene as the crowd screamed at his appearence, it would soon be louder when he took the field. As he put on his helment and buckled the chinstrap, he spoke to himself, "Last chance, hero." He jogged onto the field to the largest applause he ever remembered recieving as a player.

End Chapter 60
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A/N: Three chapters left and this next one will cover a lot. Harry and Draco will learn about their love for eachother and Draco will learn why he means so much to Harry. There won't be much action in the last bit of story, but I am debating a sex scene. Reviews always help. Next Chapter: "What it means."