Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Nothing, Everything	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 10224 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor make profit of it. J.K. Rowling owns it.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Author's note: The beginning gave me a bit of trouble, but at least I managed to finish it on time.
Thanks to the following reviewer: SickPuppy (Thanks for the correction!)
Warnings: foul language; some drama
I hope you'll like it!
Chapter 7
"You look a bit … worked up," Astoria remarked carefully; her arm pressing a thick book against her chest.
Draco pressed his lips together, irritation surging up once more, before he inclined his head and took a step away from the shelves. "I've been trying to find a particular potions book for a while now," he admitted begrudgingly. "I can't say I'm being very successful with it."
"I could help you look, if you want," she offered, stepping closer. "What's the title?"
He eyed her carefully and replied, "Cross' Encyclopaedia of Long Forgotten Plants and Gems."
The book had been written around a century ago by a Potions Master in France whose life mission had been to document every plant and gem he could get his hands on. His work included both known plants and gems and lesser known ones – rare ones or ones that had been forgotten by most wizards and witches. Draco was mainly interested in the forgotten ones, wanting to figure out whether he could use some of those for his own potions. According to the information he had received, one of the last remaining copies of the book was sold in this bookstore and he wanted to get his hands on it before anyone else had the chance to snatch it away.
Finding that damn book was proving a lot more difficult than he had anticipated, though, and with time ticking away fast, he accepted Astoria's help readily.
While she covered the left side of the large bookcase, he started looking through the shelves on the right again. Shelf after shelf he studied and dismissed as none of them had the book. He started wondering whether the information he had received had been wrong or whether someone else had been quicker than him. Both were possible and both irritated the hell out of him.
Another glance at his watch warned him that it was already half past twelve and he scowled. There was no way he would be able to find the book on time and still get some lunch before Potter expected him for the check-up.
Goddamn it!
"Is it perhaps this book you're looking for?" Astoria asked, breaking the silence all of a sudden. She had placed her own book on the second to last lower shelf and was holding up a thick, dusty tome.
The once shiny, golden letters had faded to a dull yellow and were peeling off the cover at some places. The title was still clear enough to confirm that this book was indeed Cross' Encyclopaedia of Long Forgotten Plants and Gems. The one he had been searching for – how the hell had he missed such a thick book?
"That's the one, yes," he replied, accepting the heavy tome. He browsed through it carefully, taking note of the fragile pages and the faded pictures. The old, musty scent of a book not having been opened in a long time hit him full in his face and he wrinkled his nose slightly. Well, that didn't matter. He had his book now; that was the most important part. "Thank you for helping me."
"It's not a problem," she smiled, brushing a chestnut brown curl behind her ear. "I know all too well the frustration of not finding a book you want."
"Frustration is one way to put how I felt," he agreed dryly, closing the book.
"Well, I'm glad I could help you out," she said, picking up her own book. "I was thinking - " She was abruptly cut off by her stomach growling softly and her face coloured red as she glanced down embarrassed.
Oddly amused at her reaction, he suggested, "Why don't we have lunch together? Consider it a thank you for finding the book for me."
"Oh no, you don't have to do that. There's no need to thank me for something like finding a book," she protested, absentmindedly tapping her nails – painted a very delicate rose – against the cover of her book.
"Why eat lunch alone when I can have good company?" he questioned rhetorically and she smiled, dipping her head acquiescently.
They both paid for their books – Draco ignoring the way the shop owner was eyeing him – and made their way outside; the blistering heat of the sun enveloping them instantly.
"Perhaps we could eat at the Golden Rose?" Astoria suggested, stepping out of the way of a witch hurrying past them. "I've been told they serve excellent food."
"Sounds good," Draco agreed, having heard the same rumours about the restaurant. It was situated in one of the side alleys, which hosted mostly expensive restaurants and bars. Considering the price range it naturally tended to attract the more wealthy people.
They passed Flourish and Blotts and Slug and Jiggers Apothecary before turning right, entering Greenlit Alley, leaving the crowd behind them. Here in this street there were significantly less people mingling around, but the quality of their robes showed that they belonged to a higher class in society.
The Golden Rose had its establishment right in the middle of the street and true to its name, a garland hung above the entrance filled with perfectly shaped, golden roses which gleamed in the sunlight. Something else glittered at several places in the garland and Draco could only surmise those were trapped fairies.
The host smiled when they entered the restaurant. "Reservation or walk-in?" the wizard inquired, his wand resting on a large book.
"Walk-in," Draco replied, glancing around with interest. He had feared that the restaurant would overdo it with their theme of gold, but the touches of gold inside were tasteful instead of garish, mixed into the wooden tables like threads and spun into the midnight blue carpet. A single golden rose floated above each table and the walls were painted a lighter shade of blue than the carpet with wooden panels covering the walls in the middle, bearing candles.
"If you'd follow me," the wizard said and led them to a table for two, closer to the back of the restaurant. He handed them the wine and the lunch menu, stating, "If you have made your selection, please press on the options you'd like to have. Your order will be brought out shortly."
"Thank you," Astoria smiled and the dark brown haired man inclined his head before returning to the front of the restaurant.
Silence reigned for a moment between them as they each took the time to decide which food appealed to them the most. After making his selection – shepherd's pie with a simple red wine – Draco put the two menus down on the table and watched how they instantly disappeared; most likely returning to their stack.
He was studying a portrait of a meadow in which a doe was ambling around when he became aware of eyes resting on him and he turned his head slightly, catching Astoria's gaze.
"Something the matter?" he asked mildly, noticing how intently she was studying him.
She smiled wryly and glanced away for a few seconds before looking back. "This is none of my business, of course, but I was simply wondering whether you're feeling fine."
He blinked bemused. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"
"It's just …" She bit down on her lower lip, pulling attention to its fullness, before she sighed and curled a lock around her finger. "I know you were attacked almost two months ago – the papers reported about it," she explained, taking note of his surprise, before continuing haltingly, "and I couldn't help but notice that you and Mister Potter haven't been appearing together in public much afterwards."
How many times had he and Potter appeared in the newspapers for people to take notice of the lack of pictures now? What could have possibly been that interesting for the media to fill their pages with photos of them?
He concealed a snort when he realised how stupid his question sounded, even if only asked in his mind. Whatever Potter did was interesting for the papers. He could sneeze and they would take a picture of it if they were there. The reporters probably had had a field day when they got to hear that Potter was bent.
"Draco?" Astoria's voice broke through his thoughts and he shook his head.
"What do you know about the attack?" he asked, avoiding her question for the moment. He hadn't read any newspapers for a while after he had woken up in the hospital and so didn't know what exactly the papers had been reporting about him. He should have checked it, he realised dismayed, but he wasn't used to seeing himself appear in the newspapers. That had been rather remiss of him, considering being with Potter would have automatically put him in the spotlights. Any attack on him after his relationship with Potter had started would surely be covered in detail in the newspapers.
Astoria paused and took a sip from her glass of white wine which had popped up in front of her hand. "Not much," she admitted readily. "Mister Potter and your family were careful to keep the details out of the papers. I only know that you were attacked by a small group, who still haven't been caught, and that you were unconscious for a couple of days. The papers reported that you were completely healthy again when you left the hospital." The edge to her voice suggested she didn't completely believe the papers on that front.
He studied her, wondering how much he could reveal. Clearly his family had been careful to keep his amnesia out of the press; whether that was to protect him from intrusive questions or for another reason he couldn't guess. Not that he was particularly interested in answering reporters' questions, but why had they been careful to keep his amnesia a secret?
Was it perhaps to save Potter the embarrassment of having the world know that his own fiancé couldn't remember him as a romantic partner?
If that was indeed the reason, they could frankly piss off. He wasn't going to act all lovey-dovey with the other man just to keep up pretences for the public.
He didn't think Astoria would go blab to the press if she knew about his amnesia, though. There was nothing for her to gain by doing that. If he told her and she passed that information through to the press, he would immediately know it had been her and she wasn't stupid enough to bring a Malfoy's wrath down on her. Even with their reputation still being far from what it was before, other Pureblood families knew that the Malfoys could still ruin them if they wished to do so.
As he looked into clear blue eyes, he found himself giving in. Just once he wanted somebody on his side. Just once he wanted to talk about what had happened to him without the other person immediately expressing concern for Potter, as if he had been attacked instead of Draco. As if someone whose partner had forgotten their relationship was worse off than the person attacked and bereft of their memories.
A flick of his wand and a murmured spell later and a thick Privacy Shield popped into existence, preventing people from eavesdropping. They would still see the two of them sitting here, sharing a table, but they wouldn't be able to hear what was being discussed.
"I'd appreciate it if you keep quiet about what I'm going to tell you now," he said calmly, sipping from his own red wine. His shepherd's pie followed a few seconds later, appearing steaming on his plate.
"Of course; I wouldn't betray your confidence like that," Astoria replied, cutting smoothly through her smoked salmon.
He studied her face one more time, searching for any clues that she might be lying. Satisfied to find none, he stated, "During the attack they stole some of my memories. More specifically they stole the memories of my relationship with Potter."
She blinked and appeared a bit taken aback. Her voice was even, though, when she questioned, "You don't remember him at all?"
"I remember him up until the moment I supposedly became interested in him romantically," he corrected her, taking a bit from his shepherd's pie. It was cooled enough not to burn him and the exquisite taste exploded in his mouth, proving that the high prices guaranteed high quality food. "I don't remember how our relationship started or any moments I shared with him that didn't occur during Hogwarts."
"Oh my," she murmured, eyes widening slightly. "How are you coping with that? I can't imagine how strange this must be for you now."
He paused, surprised by her reply. He hadn't really expected her to pick Potter's side – after all, as far as he knew the two of them had never had any interaction with each other – but the concern she showed for him took him by surprise. That was the reaction he had been expecting from his friends, but hadn't received. Why was she capable of showing such a reaction and not the people he considered to be his friends?
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Astoria asked concerned and he shook his head, taking another bite of the pie.
"No, you didn't," he reassured her. "I just hadn't expected your reaction. When my friends heard about my amnesia they appeared more concerned with how Potter was faring than how I felt about it." Some of the bitterness he felt towards Pansy's and Blaise's reactions slipped through.
Swallowing that bitterness down, he continued with a sneer, "They seemed to be under the impression that nothing would change between Potter and me and that things would go back to how they were before I lost my memories."
"With all due respect to your friends, but that is an inane expectation," Astoria spoke frankly. "I don't know you nor Mister Potter that well, but I do remember that you two did not see eye to eye during your years at Hogwarts. If you lost all your memories of your relationship with him, it would be idiocy to expect you to behave as if those memories are still present. Especially not when it hasn't even been two months since the attack. Amnesia often takes longer than that to be cured."
"If only my family and friends shared your opinion," he muttered darkly. "All they seem to want to do is push me towards Potter and hope that will somehow bring my memories back."
In a fit of boldness she briefly covered his hand with her own, squeezing it gently before she retracted hers again with a faint smile. "I'm sorry to hear that. You need time to adjust to your new situation – hopefully they will grant you that soon. Regardless, you can always talk to me if you need a listening ear."
"Thank you," he smiled and a part of him wished that this was how his family and friends would have reacted. If Astoria could show this kind of support, what was stopping them from doing the same?
Her eyes glittered when her smile deepened; her cheeks colouring a faint rose. "Thank you for trusting me with this," she murmured.
Needing a change of topic – dwelling too much on his amnesia and his family's way of coping with it would only serve to make him even more annoyed – he inquired lightly, "So what are you up to nowadays?"
If she was surprised at the abrupt change in topic, she didn't show it. "I'm working on developing new potions," she answered and her face lightened up. "Potions was my favourite class at Hogwarts and I want to create new ones. So far they're all just in the experimental phase, though. They're nowhere near ready to be ingested by people."
"Oh?" Draco leant forwards a bit, interest piqued. "If you don't mind my asking, what kind of potions are you working on?"
As Astoria explained the idea behind each potion she was working on, enthusiasm and determination laced through her voice, Draco found himself wondering once more what the hell could have made him decide to choose Potter instead of courting Astoria.
His past self was an idiot; that much had become clear.
When he returned to the house he shared with Potter he was in a much better mood than when he had left this morning. His conversation with Astoria had been interesting and he had delighted in exchanging ideas with a fellow student of the brewing art. Sure, he was in contact with other Potions Masters, but most of them were rather tight-lipped about their work, paranoid that others would steal their ideas. It was refreshing to discuss potions with someone who was equally enthusiastic about them without the paranoia.
The wards bent around him and snapped close as soon as he was behind them, preventing other people from following. Some birds were chattering quite loudly in the trees and bees were buzzing from one flower to the next as he made his way to the front door.
The hallway felt blessedly cool after the suffocating heat outside and he uttered a sigh of relief, removing his robes and shoes. With his purchase still in his hand, he walked to the kitchen, intent on getting a cool drink before he would retire to his room with his book. This late in the afternoon there was no point in venturing in his lab to work on some potions.
He came to an abrupt halt in the doorway when he noticed Potter seated at the kitchen table. Glancing at his watch, he asked, "What are you doing here so early? It's only … Shit." Dismayed he realised why exactly Potter was already here, staring at him with disturbingly flat eyes.
Fuck, he had forgotten the check-up.
"Forgotten something?" Potter questioned coolly; his face utterly smooth, not betraying his thoughts at all.
It was a sharp contrast to how much of an open book he usually was and unease stirred inside the blond man. "I – lost track of time," he admitted begrudgingly, wondering just how safe it was for him to enter the kitchen completely. He couldn't immediately catch sight of Potter's wand and that set him on edge.
"You lost track of time," Potter repeated flatly; his left hand resting on top of his stomach. Green eyes shifted down, taking in the bag with the book inside. "Yes, I suppose shopping can make you lose track of time easily."
"It wasn't – I had finished my shopping on time, but lunch took longer than I expected," Draco replied tersely. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being interrogated at the moment; he couldn't say he liked the feeling.
"I know you like to take your time to enjoy your food, but lunch shouldn't have taken four hours," Potter retorted; a hard edge to his voice. He still hadn't moved, save for his hand which was caressing his stomach, but he didn't need to be in motion to look dangerous.
The older wizard suspected that admitting to having lunch with Astoria would be a very bad idea. He didn't know how much Potter knew about Astoria, but it was better not to mention her.
"I had lunch with someone who's also working with potions and we exchanged ideas," he said, settling on a slightly embellished version of the truth.
"Those ideas must have been quite something for you to miss the appointment," Potter riposted coldly; his eyes gleaming harshly.
"It's just an appointment, Potter," Draco said through gritted teeth, not appreciating being attacked in this manner. Yes, he had made a mistake, but did Potter really have to make such a big deal out of it? It wasn't like he had actually missed the birth of his child, just a check-up. There were probably still more to come before the due date.
"I asked you one simple thing, Draco!" Potter bit out; his left hand curling into a fist on his stomach. "You only had to accompany me to this check-up and you couldn't even do that?!"
"It's just a simple check-up, Potter!" Draco hissed, anger flaring up. "There will be more to come, so what does it matter that I missed this one? I didn't do it on purpose, you idiot, I just forgot. Fuck, you act like you never forgot an appointment in your life!"
"Because like it or not, this is still your child too!" Potter snapped and shot up from his chair; his hand resting on his wand. "You lost your memories of us, but that doesn't mean you can ignore our baby too! You're going to be a father in less than five months, start fucking act- "
"I know I'm going to be a father! It's not like either one of you will fucking shut up about it!" Draco retorted heatedly, taking a step closer. "Look, I apologise for missing this check-up, but it's not like I did it on purpose! I was discussing business with - "
Potter laughed harshly, cutting him off. "Oh yes, of course! Because business is more important than your own child, how could I have forgotten that?" he sneered; eyes flashing with anger.
"I didn't say that," Draco snapped, balling his hands into fists. "But you obviously did fine without me during your previous check-up, so I don't see why it bothers you so much that - "
"Because we would finally find out whether I'm expecting a girl or a boy, you fucking git!" Potter snarled and this time his wand sparked dangerously in reaction to his anger. "So it wasn't 'just a check-up', you bloody pillock, it was the most important one so far and you fucking missed it!"
He took a step closer to the blond and the air started to feel oppressive, heavy with magic and anger. "I know you lost your memories, but you fucking stood me up! I was waiting for you so you could finally see our baby and instead you're - " His voice cracked and he took a deep breath, looking away to compose himself.
Draco shifted his foot uncomfortably, wondering whether he should get ready to defend himself or not. Potter looked quite close to hexing him and while he might not have any memories of their relationship anymore, he remembered all too well how proficient Potter was in fighting.
"I'm going to Ron and Hermione," Potter announced abruptly, striding past Draco out of the kitchen.
"Wait, what?" Draco asked, baffled at the sudden turn of events. One minute it had looked like Potter would start throwing curses and now the younger man was suddenly leaving?
"I'll be back later," Potter went on, ignoring Draco, even as the blond tailed him to the fireplace. Right before he threw in the Floo powder, he turned towards Draco and said, "You probably won't care, but here." He took something from his pocket and threw it at the older man.
Draco snatched it out of the air, his old Seeker reflexes kicking in; curiosity blooming up in him despite their argument. When he studied it, he realised with a start he was looking at an ultrasound; the grainy image clearly showing the outline of a baby waving his or her arms around.
"It's a boy," was all Potter offered before the flames coloured green and roared to life, whisking him away.
Draco remained standing there in the middle of the room, staring at the ultrasound for a long time.
Feeling inexplicably remorseful.
True to his word, Potter returned a couple of hours later, looking exhausted and quite pale. Draco encountered him on the first floor, exiting his room right when Potter passed it.
"Potter, I'm - " he started, but the dark haired man cut him off with a shake of his head.
"Just forget it," he sighed, sounding tired. "I'm over it."
But he didn't look like it and Draco's stomach did an uncomfortable flip. Potter was almost at his bedroom when Draco said, "I'm sorry."
Potter paused, his hand resting on the doorknob, and inclined his head, entering his room without looking back once.
The sound of the door clicking close echoed through the corridor.
When Draco sat down for breakfast the next morning, the newspaper was smacked right in front of him, nearly hitting his face.
"Potter, what the hell is your problem?" Draco snapped, not appreciating the rude morning greeting until his eyes fell on the front page. A picture of him and Astoria sitting in the restaurant was plastered across the page, taking up nearly half of the available space, showing clearly how she touched his hand. The bold title above it was more than clear.
Malfoy Heir Cheating on Pregnant Fiancé?
AN2: Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!
I hope to see you all back on the twenty-fifth for the next chapter!
Cuddles
Melissa
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Nothing, Everything