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Contract Under Love	By : CelticKitsune Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 32702 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 9
Disclaimer: I do not own, or make any money from Harry Potter or anything related to it.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
A huge wonderful thank you to BickyMonster! She has as always been a HUGE help to me with this fic.
I hope you all enjoy!
Contract Under Love
Chapter 8

Harry should have known that things wouldn’t be quite so easy for him. Even with the School Governors being around the school on and off over the past few weeks, talking to them was a lot harder than running into one and having a conversation in the corridor. This meant that Harry did, in fact, have to talk with McGonagall, who in turn had to talk with Dumbledore, who set up a meeting with a School Governor and Harry; a meeting that Dumbledore, as Headmaster of the school, would also attend.

And that was how Harry found himself, another week later, after three weeks of successfully avoiding Dumbledore, in the man's office while they waited for one of the School Governors to show up.

Dumbledore had tried to start more than one conversation with Harry while they waited, but Harry could be really stubborn when he wanted to be, and only spoke minimally. While Harry could easily reason away why Dumbledore had practically sold him off, Harry was still angry with him, mostly because the Headmaster hadn’t even attempted to apologise, hadn’t even fully explained himself nor his reasoning behind his actions.

“Harry, my boy,” Dumbledore began, letting out a small sigh when Harry glared at him. “It is clear that you are still very upset with me.”

“Upset doesn’t even begin to describe what I feel toward you right now,” Harry said, and was quite proud of himself that he managed not to sound as angry as he truly felt.

“I do hope that this current situation hasn’t destroyed any trust we had in each other,” Dumbledore said, watching Harry closely.

“Trust has never been an issue, sir,” Harry said simply. “Though I sometimes have to question it, when you decide that you know my life better than me,” Harry huffed.

“It isn’t quite that simple, my boy. Under the circumstances, I could not have let such an opportunity pass us by,” Dumbledore explained, though it was no more than the unsatisfactory excuses that Harry had already heard from the man.

“So you’ve said.” Harry crossed his arms over his chest and continued glaring at the Headmaster, slightly more irritated that the man had finally found a topic of conversation that Harry would actually partake in.

“I left you as much of a way out as I could manage,” Dumbledore said. “I did not truly think you would want to marry young Mr. Malfoy, and if you were to call off the engagement-”

“Half of everything I own goes to the Malfoys, and you get the other half,” Harry interrupted. “Yeah, I know, but honestly I think I would rather go through with this marriage; out of all my options, it’s the most appealing,” Harry said, unable to keep the small smile hidden.

“Very well,” Dumbledore said, though Harry frowned when the old wizard didn’t sound to happy about his decision. “How about we discuss your reasoning for wanting to switch career paths. Was this a choice of your own, or was it something that Mr. Malfoy convinced you of?” Dumbledore questioned.

“No, I had been thinking about this all summer,” Harry admitted, and Dumbledore just nodded his head in understanding. Before their conversation could continue though, the fireplace came to life, and out stepped the second person Harry had wanted to avoid as much as possible.

Lucius looked immediately toward Dumbledore, ignoring Harry's presence in the room for the moment as he addressed the Headmaster. “It is highly irregular to schedule a meeting like this, and just assume that I would be available,” Lucius said.

“I do apologize, however, Harry has been waiting quite a few days to speak with someone about what other career choices are available to him,” Dumbledore explained.

“Is that so?” Lucius raised an eyebrow, turning his attention to Harry.

“I would have asked for anyone, however, the position in the Ministry that Harry has shown interest in is rather difficult to get into,” Dumbledore continued.

“And what position is my future son-in-law interested in?” Lucius questioned, never taking his eyes off Harry.

“I want to work in the department of Mysteries,” Harry said, before Dumbledore and Lucius could say anything. He wasn't going to just sit here and allow these two to talk about his future as if he wasn't there and didn't have his own ideas of where his life should go.

“Impossible,” Lucius said dismissively.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the blond man; he knew that his chances of actually getting into the department of Mysteries were pretty slim, but to have it brushed off like that was infuriating. “I know it’s not going to be easy.”

“I didn’t say it wouldn’t be easy, I said it would be impossible,” Lucius cut in. “Considering your… history with that department. It would be in your best interest to continue with your original path to become an Auror,” Lucius said.

“I don’t WANT to be an Auror,” Harry said, ignoring the fact that he was sounding like a spoiled child.

“We don’t always get what we want,” Lucius said.

“Why does everyone feel like they have to remind me of that lately?” Harry asked. Letting out a long sigh, he leaned back in his chair. “So, I can’t be an Unspeakable,” Harry said, seeming to accept this fact quite easily.

“That’s not necessarily true, Harry,” Dumbledore said.

“I was just told it would be impossible,” Harry said.

“And I believe it will be,” Lucius stated, sending cold stare toward Dumbledore, who happily ignored him.

“Well, there may be another option. As your Headmaster, and, Mr. Malfoy, as the school governor representative, there is very little that we can do in this matter,” Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he looked at Harry.

“Okay…” Harry said slowly, raising an eyebrow at Dumbledore. “Are you waiting for me to ask what my other option is?”

Dumbledore chuckled. “No, I was going for a little bit of suspense. Your other option is to simply schedule a meeting with the head of the Department of Mysteries,” Dumbledore said.

“That’s all I have to do?” Harry asked, looking skeptical, and perhaps a little bit suspicious of Dumbledore’s suggestion.

“I would not get your hopes up, boy,” Lucius said, looking at Harry. “As I said, due to your history with the department, you would be lucky to even get a meeting.”

“I’ll never know until I try,” Harry said with a shrug, standing up he turned to leave the office.

“Harry?” Dumbledore asked, looking a little startled by Harry’s abrupt departure.

“Well, seeing as how there isn’t anything either of you can do, I don’t see any reason to continue this meeting. Sorry to have wasted your time,” Harry said, though didn’t sound sorry at all as he hurried out of the office, leaving two stunned wizards behind. As much as he hadn’t wanted to attend that meeting, Harry couldn’t have been happier with how it had ended, knowing that neither Dumbledore nor Lucius would have any involvement with him becoming an Unspeakable.

-------------x

Harry tried not to run as he hurried through the halls, heading straight to his and Draco’s room. But he was eager to see his fiancé, wanting to tell him how the meeting had gone, after all it had been Draco who had helped Harry figure out what other options there were for him, other than being an Auror. And Harry was hoping that Draco would be willing to help him figure out what he was supposed to do next.

Reaching their rooms, Harry pushed the door open. “Draco!” he called out before he was even fully through the door. However, as he stepped through the door, Harry noticed one thing he had not been counting on. Blaise Zabini was sitting on the settee. The tan boy looked over toward him and smiled.

“I take it the meeting with the Headmaster went better than expected?” Blaise asked.

“Where’s Draco?” Harry asked, ignoring Blaise’s question, looking around the room for his fiancé.

“He had to go to the hospital wing for a couple hours; apparently a group of kids decided it would be fun to jump off the astronomy tower, trying to see who could get closest to the ground first before actually using the broomsticks they had,” Blaise said, standing from the settee. Harry stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if his story was true or not.

“No one would be that stupid,” Harry finally decided. “Though I wouldn’t be against the idea of you trying something like that.” Harry seemed momentarily surprised by his own hostility toward Blaise, who stared at Harry for a second before throwing his head back and laughing loudly.

“Good one, Potter,” Blaise said, grinning at the smaller teen. “I suppose you would also prefer it if I didn’t have a broom with me when I jumped?”

“I… I didn’t mean it like it sounded,” Harry admitted.

“Really? Because I was under the impression that you didn’t like me,” Blaise said.

“I DON’T like you, but you’re Draco’s friend,” Harry said. ‘

“So you’re going to tolerate my presence as long as I am Draco’s friend?” Blaise questioned, eyeing Harry skeptically.

“No, I’m going to ignore your presence,” Harry said, moving passed Blaise and further into the common room. “Why are you here anyway? If Draco left, why did you stay here?”

“You’re not very good at ignoring people, are you?” Blaise chuckled when Harry glared at him. He moved back to sit down again before answering Harry’s question. “Draco did run to the hospital wing, and he told me to wait here, though I don’t think he’s really going to be two hours, he just had to take some potions to Pomfrey.” Blaise said.

Harry snorted. “I knew people couldn’t be stupid enough to jump off the astronomy tower like that.”

“I seem to recall you pulling some pretty crazy stunts whenever you had a broom with you,” Blaise pointed out and Harry shot him another glare. “And I never said that kids weren't jumping off the tower, I just embellished the truth a tad.” Blaise leaned back in his seat, watching as Harry made his way over to the little kitchen area, where he grabbed a slice of freshly made treacle tart.

“You should eat something other than sweets, it will fill you up more,” Blaise pointed out.

“I’m not actually hungry,” Harry said, finishing off his treat and reaching to grab another piece.

“If you’re not hungry, then why are you eating?” Blaise sounded a little confused.

“Eating sweets doesn’t count,” Harry said, going to grab a book. “Tell Draco I’m in my room when he get’s back,” Harry said, making his way toward his door.

“Not going to stay out here and fight with me?” Blaise asked.

“I’m not in the mood to fight or argue with anyone at the moment, and I know that’s what will happen if I stay in the same room as you,” Harry said, opening his door.

“We seem to be having a civil conversation at the moment though,” Blaise pointed out. Harry paused and looked back at the other teen sitting on the settee.

“It’s because you haven’t been to terrible today,” Harry said. “But eventually you’re going to say something, I’ll get angry and end up either kicking you out, or going to my room regardless.”

“The only time you seem to get mad at me, is whenever I mention Dumbledore,” Blaise said.

“Then maybe you shouldn't mention him,” Harry said, doing his best not to snap at Blaise and prove the other teen right.

“See, right there,” Blaise said. “You’re already irritated, and I haven’t even said anything.” Blaise sighed.

“No, but now you’re going to,” Harry huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and continued glaring at Blaise.

“And you’re jumping to conclusions,” Blaise rolled his eyes, and Harry didn’t have anything to say in response. Neither of them said anything for nearly a whole minute, before Harry had had enough of the staring contest. Turning his back on the other teen, he went into his room slamming and locking the door behind him.

Safely behind his door Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm down from his sudden burst of anger. He really had no idea why Blaise got him so upset, the other teen was entitled to his own opinion about the Headmaster, and Harry knew long before now that there were people who just didn’t like Dumbledore. There had been days that he hadn’t liked the old wizard either, but Harry still believed that Dumbledore had the best intentions. Even if his methods were a bit questionable at times.

Letting out a small sigh, Harry pushed himself away from his door, going to sit on his bed and read the book he had brought with him while he waited for Draco to come back, and for Blaise to leave.

----------x

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder, his eyes snapped open and he found himself looking at a worried looking Draco. Sighing, Harry pushed his glasses up on his face so he could rub the sleep from his eyes before sitting up properly on the bed once again. “What time is it…?”

“Late, you missed dinner,” Draco said and Harry groaned. “Harry, I am a little concerned about your eating and sleeping habits… every time you’re left on your own, you seem to fall asleep, no matter what you’re doing,” Draco said.

“It’s nothing Draco,” Harry said, moving to get out of bed. “It’s not like I fall asleep on purpose, and my eating habits are fine.”

“Eating one meal a day isn’t ‘fine’, Harry, and you’re sleeping a lot more than you should. You should come to the hospital wing tomorrow and get a medical scan done, just to make sure nothing’s wrong,” Draco insisted.

“Nothing’s wrong, I just don’t sleep well at night,” Harry huffed.

“Still?” Draco looked even more concerned now. “If you won't go to the hospital wing, then let me do the scan,” he said, already reaching for his wand. Harry frowned, wanting to protest more, however, he got the feeling that Draco wasn’t about to let this drop any time soon.

Letting out a long sigh, Harry spread his arms out. “Alright then, let’s get this over with,” he said, resigning himself to his current fate.

“I truly don't understand what you have against getting a simple scan done,” Draco said. Moving closer to Harry, he pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket, waving his wand over it before turning his full attention toward his fiancé. “Try not to move,” Draco ordered, waving his wand over Harry in a series of complex movements. Harry did his best to not fidget when he felt the tingling sensation of magic wash over him. He glanced toward the parchment when he saw things begin to appear on it.

“So what's the problem with me?” Harry asked as Draco looked at the parchment.

Draco looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I can't give that the type of response it deserves, you made it far too easy,” Draco sighed regretfully, smirking when Harry laughed. “As for what is physically wrong with you, you're malnourished,” Draco said, handing the parchment over to Harry so he too could look at it.

“That's all?” Harry frowned looking at the parchment. “Malnourished and a bit dehydrated… Well more treacle tart will fix one of those things,” Harry said.

“No, it won't,” Draco snapped. “A balanced diet will fix the problem, and a few potions that I can have mixed up for you, so until further notice, no more treacle tart,” Draco ordered.

“That's not fair, you can't tell me what I can and can't have!” Harry snapped, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly.

“I might concede to allowing you a small portion of treacle tart a day, provided you are at every meal,” Draco said, and Harry huffed debating if it would be worth it.

“I’m still not going to be eating a whole lot, I’ve never had a huge appetite,” Harry said

“That's fine for now, as long as you eat something, and take the potions I will give you,” Draco reasoned.

“Is there any way for me to get out of this?” Harry pleaded, not liking the idea of taking potions everyday. Though he was surprisingly okay with the fact that Draco was insisting on taking care of him, it gave him pleasant feeling, similar to the one he used to get when he visited the Weasleys. The feeling of just knowing that someone cared enough about him to worry about his wellbeing.

“No, you're not getting out of it,” Draco said, and Harry could tell that the blond teen was gearing up for a fight, so he took great pleasure in throwing off his fiancé by simply saying.

“Okay.”

Draco blinked in surprise. “That's it? Just ‘okay’?”

“Yeah, that's it, unless you want me to argue about it? I'm sure I could think of a few things to say, maybe start off with ‘you can't order me around,’ and most likely ending with a ‘fuck you,’ and then storming out of the room.” Harry grinned when Draco chuckled.

“No, Harry, I don't think any of that will be necessary, though while you are in such an agreeable mood, why don't I see about getting dinner in our rooms, then we can talk about how your meeting with Dumbledore went,” Draco said and Harry nodded his agreement. Hopping off his bed, he followed Draco as the blond turned and left the room.

Taking a seat on the settee Harry kept his eye on Draco as the other teen called for Pipsy, ordering her to bring them some dinner, before coming to sit next to Harry after the elf vanished.

“You should be nicer to her,” Harry insisted.

“I’m nicer than my father is,” Draco pointed out.

“True, but would it kill you to say please, or thank you?”

“I don't say either of those things to people, why would I say them to an elf?” Draco questioned.

“...good point, let's get you used to using those words first, then work our way up,” Harry said with a grin.

“How did the meeting go with Dumbledore?” Draco asked, not being very subtle with his change in topic, but Harry made a mental note to readdress Draco’s manners at a later date.

“Better than I expected,” Harry admitted. “Turns out that neither Dumbledore or the school governors can help me in getting a job in the Department of Mysteries, so I’ve got to set up an interview with the Head of the Department on my own or something.”

“I see,” Draco looked thoughtful for a moment. “And I suppose you want my help with this as well?”

“Well, I was going to ask and not just assume, but I also know you're busy with your own stuff, and you’ve helped me a lot already...” Harry practically babbled.

“Harry, shut up,” Draco interrupted, chuckling. “I will make a deal with you.”

“Oh boy, here we go.” Harry rolled his eyes. “Let's hear it, what's the Slytherin deal of the day?”

Draco looked unimpressed by Harry's snark. “Do you want my help or not?”

“That really depends on what your deal is,” Harry replied easily, clearly enjoying the fact that he was irritating his fiancé.

“I will help you set up the meeting, get you the interview with the Head of the Department, if you allow me to make up a diet chart for you, and you have to promise to follow it to the best of your abilities,” Draco insisted, and he crossed his arms over his chest; it was now his turn to look amused as Harry had obviously been expecting him to have some other deal in mind.

“That's it?” Harry asked.

“Well, if you want more of a ‘Slytherin’ twist to it, I could also demand you cook my meals and do my laundry for a month, but that seemed a bit much. I’ll save those demands for when you need a bigger favor from me.” Draco smirked, and Harry couldn't tell if the blond teen was being serious or not.

“Right...well I suppose following a diet shouldn't be to hard,” Harry said.

“Following it isn’t the hard part, sticking to it will be the hardest thing for you to do I think,” Draco said.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Harry huffed crossing his arms over his chest.

“Come on, Pipsy should have brought our food up by now,” Draco said, leading Harry out into the common room where there was a decent sized plate of food waiting for them.

“Do you really think I’ll have that much trouble sticking to whatever diet you plan out for me?” Harry asked as he sat down at the small table that had been set up for them to eat at.

“I have seen the way you eat, or rather don’t eat. All it would take is one day of you ‘not being hungry’ or a day where you have decided you’d rather not listen to me,” Draco said.

“I don't do it on purpose,” Harry sighed, “I just don’t feel hungry most of the time, and sometimes I don’t even realise a whole day has passed since I’ve eaten last,” he admitted as he looked at the food he had to choose from.

“And that is something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand, but, we’ll work on it,” Draco said, and Harry could feel the other teen watching him as he started filling up his plate with a few pieces of chicken and some potatoes. Harry started eating, though paused almost immediately when he heard Draco let out a small sigh.

“I suppose now is as good a time as any to start you on your new diet,” Draco said, reaching over and filling Harry’s plate up with more, adding the veggies that he had avoided. Harry didn’t comment about this, and just began eating again though he did send a small smile in Draco’s direction; it really did feel nice to have someone worry about him.

----------------x

Harry stared down at the homework laid out in front of him taking up the majority of the coffee table. He looked from the parchment over to one of the books he had open next to him, before letting out a long dramatic sigh, and laying his head down on the table. The small ‘thud’ caught the attention of the other two occupants in the room.

“What’s wrong this time, Harry?” Hermione asked. Harry turned his head so that he could look at both her and Ron, the two of them seated on the settee, and while Hermione looked slightly worried for him, Ron was looking more amused, as if he already knew what Harry’s problem was.

“I can’t think!” Harry said, keeping his gaze focused on Hermione, even as Ron chuckled beside her. It was the first time in a nearly a month that the three of them had been together. Hermione had been so busy getting settled into her apprenticeship that Ron had only managed to see her in passing a few times, while Harry hadn’t run into her at all. He suspected that Ron had gone out of his way to make sure he had run into Hermione when he could.

Harry had been extremely happy, and Ron had been beyond thrilled when Hermione had found the two of them at breakfast that morning, and informed them that she finally had some free time. Of course their excitement at having Hermione free to hang out was short lived when she announced that they would be doing homework. As a result of this, the three of them had retreated to Harry’s rooms, and had taken over the small common room, Harry spreading his work out over the coffee table, while Hermione took up most of the settee with her books and school work. Ron’s, however, had remained open but relatively untouched over the past two hours.

“Join the club mate, I’ve never been able to think properly on an empty stomach,” Ron said. “I vote that we take a break and go raid the kitchens.” Ron was already moving to stand up, however, Hermione caught his shirt and pulled him back down into his seat.

“No, you both are falling behind. Honestly,” Hermione said as she shook her head, “if I weren’t around, would either of you ever study anything?”

Harry and Ron shared a look and broke out into identical grins that had Hermione sighing and rolling her eyes at them.

“I’ve only got another half an hour here before I have to get going again,” Hermione pointed out.

“Exactly!” Ron said. “So why are we wasting our precious time together studying?”

“Because if I want to have any free time during the holidays, I have to put in the extra work now. I am also taking my apprenticeship very seriously.” Hermione gave Ron a look that had the red-head holding his hands up in defence.

“Hey! Don’t look at me, I don’t have an apprenticeship!” Ron said.

“No, you don’t, but Harry is working on getting one, and you’re being a bad influence on him,” Hermione said sternly.

“You listening to this mate?” Ron asked, his hands still held up as he turned his head to look at Harry. “I’m the one who’s a bad influence on you.”

“Well, obviously, because everyone knows that all the trouble that I got into over the years was clearly because of you,” Harry said, but was unable to keep a straight face as both he and Ron burst out laughing.

“Is this a private party, or can anyone join?” a new voice interrupted them, and Harry sat up straight, turning quickly to smile at Draco as the blond made his way into the room.

“Draco, you’re back early!” Harry exclaimed, smiling widely at his fiancé.

“Yes, I’m back early,” Draco nodded, but didn’t return Harry’s smile. Instead he turned his attention toward Ron. “I thought you might want to know that your sister is currently in the hospital wing,” Draco said.

“What?” Ron practically shouted as he jumped to his feet. “What happened? Why is she there?”

“Calm down, Weasel,” Draco said, earning a glare from the red head. “She isn’t hurt, not physically anyway. Someone decided it would be amusing to lock her in a room with a boggart, so she is a little shaken up I believe, but unharmed,” Draco informed them.

“You believe she is unharmed? You don’t know?” Harry asked, looking up at the blond.

“No, I don’t know, because I wasn’t the one who saw to her, Pomfrey was. I just know what happened,” Draco said, looking down at Harry.

“I knew we never should have allowed Slytherin’s back into the school,” Ron growled.

“Ron!” Hermione looked as if she were getting ready to start scolding him, when Draco spoke up again.

“Why do you think it was a Slytherin that attacked your sister?” Draco asked.

“Who else would?” Ron shot back, crossing his arms over his chest.

Harry stood up, looking between Ron and Draco knowing that he should probably step in before the two of them really started fighting about this, but he was also unwilling to take sides. He knew Ron wanted someone to blame for attacking his sister, and Slytherins were the easy target for that. Though, at the same time, Harry thought it was unfair to accuse anyone before they had even spoken to Ginny about what happened.

“There are plenty of people in this school that are holding a grudge against anyone who had an active hand in the war, on either side of it,” Draco pointed out. “Your sister is not the first one I’ve seen attacked in this manner.” Draco was doing his best to keep calm, not wanting to start a fight with Ron, but wanting to make the redhead understand that pointing fingers wasn’t going to help anything either.

“So you’re saying that no one in Slytherin had anything to do with this?” Ron narrowed his eyes.

“No, what I am saying is that there are plenty of people in other houses, not just in Slytherin, that are capable of attacking people like this,” Draco said.

“Oh? Like who?” Ron snapped.

“Anyone who lost a sibling in the war, or other family members, anyone who was here when the final battle started, anyone who got caught in the crossfire. It wasn't just the winning side that was affected by the war, Weasley, is it so hard to believe that some of those people might find petty ways of getting revenge?” Draco said, eyeing the redhead.

Ron clenched his fists, and Harry glaned at Hermione, wondering if they should step in before the argument could escalate to something else. However, Ron surprised him when the redhead let out a long sigh before speaking again. “I’m still not going to be convinced that no one in Slytherin had anything to do with it, but you do have a fair point I suppose,” Ron admitted.

“Come on, Ron, let’s go up and see Ginny,” Hermione said, apparently deciding it was safe to get between him and Draco now.

“Yeah,” Ron said, and then looked at Harry. “You coming too?” He asked.

Harry reluctantly shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea… things are still a bit awkward between us. But you’ll let me know how she is, won’t you?” Harry asked.

Ron nodded his understanding. “No need to explain, mate,” Ron said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, after your interview at the Ministry.” Ron and Hermione packed up their books and left to go see Ginny, leaving Harry and Draco alone in their rooms.

Harry turned to look at his fiance and smiled. “Thank you.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, looking a little confused. “Why are you thanking me?”

“For not fighting with Ron, for being patient enough to explain what happened even though he was being rude,” Harry said, smiling a little wider when he saw the pink coloring Draco’s cheeks. “So, are you done for the day? Or do you have to head back to the hospital wing?” Harry asked.

“No, I am finished for today, Pomfrey let me leave early today because I’ve been working hard since school started, and have been going in to help her out on the weekends too when I didn’t have to,” Draco admitted.

“We should do something fun tonight then,” Harry said.

“Fun?” Draco frowned.

“Yeah, fun, instead of reading, or homework, or whatever other boring thing you can think of,” Harry said. “Let’s play a game of exploding snap, or I don’t know, you could try and teach me chess,” Harry suggested. Draco chuckled, glancing down at the books that Harry still had spread out over the coffee table.

“Is this your way of asking for help in distracting you from your homework?” Draco asked.

“No,” Harry denied quickly, “well, yes, maybe a little, but I can’t think right now! I need a distraction. All I keep doing is thinking about the interview tomorrow, and worrying that maybe they only want to give me the bill for everything I destroyed when I was in there last,” Harry said.

Draco couldn’t help but laugh, reaching up he put a hand over Harry’s mouth when it seemed as if the smaller teen was going to start rambling on again. “First of all, if you don’t want to work on homework, I’m not your keeper, I won’t tell you when you have to do homework; second, if you wanted a distraction all you had to do was ask; and third, if they were going to bill you for anything you broke in the department of mysteries, they would have done so long before now.” Draco removed his hand.

“That doesn’t stop me from worrying about it,” Harry admitted.

“Then, let’s find something to distract you,” Draco said. “Pick up your books and I’m going to go change, then I have a couple ideas that will help take your mind off of tomorrow,” Draco said, turning he went into his room leaving a confused Harry standing in the common room.

Harry looked at his stack of books, half-tempted to just leave them there, he would have to pull them all out again later anyway, if whatever Draco had planned didn’t distract his racing mind. Sighing, Harry decided to just close them and stack them in a neat pile on the coffee table.

Once that was done, he headed into the kitchenette and grabbed a piece of fresh treacle tart that always seemed to be in the kitchen these days. And that was where Draco found him.

“So what did you have in mind to distract me?” Harry asked.

“You have two options. One, we can go over table manners, as that is something you are severely lacking,” Draco said, looking mildly amused at the glare Harry fixed him with.

“Well excuse me, princess, I didn't have a teacher standing over me while I ate just to show me how to hold a fork,” Harry huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It was never quite that bad, and you do have better manners than some I could mention, however, that is something we can take our time and work on. Either way, it has to be done before our wedding next year,” Draco said.

“Why?” Harry asked.

“Because this is one of two requests that I will make for that day. The first one is that you at least pretend for one day that you have proper table manners,” Draco said.

Harry frowned, slowly lowering his arms back down to his side as he thought about that. “What’s the other request?”

“That you know how to dance.” Draco couldn’t help but chuckle at the surprised look on Harry’s face. “And that was my other idea for tonight, because I assumed you wouldn’t be very open, or patient, to learn table manners.”

“You want to dance with me?” Harry asked, feeling his cheeks heating up as he remembered the first and last time he had ever tried dancing with anyone. “You do know that I really suck at dancing,” Harry said. “Or have you forgotten the Yule Ball?”

“Believe it or not, I did not spend my whole time at the ball watching what you did, or didn’t, do.” Draco rolled his eyes. “What little I did see, however, was that you did suck as the leading partner,” Draco said.

“Right, so do you still want to dance with me?” Harry asked, blinking when Draco stepped closer to him, almost invading his personal space.

“I do want to dance with you,” Draco said, reaching up and brushing his thumb along the corner of Harry’s mouth.

“I…” Harry felt as if he had suddenly lost his voice, he just stood there staring into Draco’s grey eyes.

“Will you dance with me, Harry?” Draco asked, and Harry slowly nodded his head, allowing Draco to take his hand and lead him back out into the common room where there was more space.

“Right… right now?” Harry asked.

“Right now is as good a time as any, besides, didn’t you say you wanted a distraction?” Draco smirked, pulling Harry along with him. “We’ll start it without music, just basic steps,” Draco instructed as he shifted Harry around, positioning him how he wanted. And Harry tried to focus, tried to pay attention to what Draco was telling him, but he found all he could do was clumsily follow along.

“Sorry,” Harry said, when he stepped on Draco’s foot.

“You need to focus,” Draco said, though he didn’t sound annoyed, or even frustrated with Harry. He was patient, giving Harry small instructions as they slowly went through the moves. “Don’t try and lead, that’s my job, just follow my movements. Good, just like that.”

Harry looked down, watching his and Draco’s feet as they moved, there was still no music, and while some kind of tune to dance to may have helped, Harry found that he didn’t really care, as long as he could remain standing close to Draco like this. Moving a little closer, Harry rested his head on Draco’s shoulder, the two of them still moving together, and Harry found the longer they danced, the easier it became for him to just follow how Draco moved.

“Harry?” Draco’s voice broke through the peaceful fog that had settled over Harry.

“Hmm?” Harry made a sound, indicating that he was listening, but he didn’t lift his head just yet.

“Are you okay?” Draco sounded concerned, and it took a moment for Harry to realise that they had stopped dancing.

“...I’m fine,” Harry said, slowly, and almost reluctantly he pulled away from Draco, taking a step back so he could look at the blond again, and Draco didn’t look to convinced by his answer. “Really, Draco, I’m fine, just… I’m enjoying this, not just learning to dance but… but this.” Harry motioned between the two of them. “Being close to someone…” Harry shook his head and stepped further away. “It’s not something I get very often,” Harry admitted.

Draco frowned, feeling as if there was more that Harry wanted to say, but in the next moment Harry had pulled away completely. Draco almost reached out to pull Harry close to him again, there was something about his expression, the way the brightness in his eyes seemed to dim for a moment. Harry shook his head as if to clear it.

“It’s getting late, I still have some homework I need to finish,” Harry said. “Thanks for teaching me to dance, I hope I wasn’t to awful,” Harry smiled.

Draco stared at Harry, taken by surprise by the abrupt change in topic. “No, you were better than I thought you would be, though, maybe a few more lessons just to be on the safe side,” Draco said.

Harry nodded his agreement. “Maybe we can get some music on next time, that might make it a bit easier,” Harry said, moving to sit back down with his school books.

“We can give that a try,” Draco said, watching Harry curiously, unsure what to make of Harry actions.

Harry just nodded, as he reopened his book. He was aware that Draco’s eyes were still on him, though Harry purposefully kept his focus on his homework unwilling to give into this growing desire to be close to Draco again. He didn’t understand the pull he felt towards the blond, Harry was willing to admit that he surprisingly had been enjoying the time he was able to spend with Draco. However, Harry also felt as if things were changing rather quickly; he just hoped that having music next time they danced might give him something else to focus on, other than how inexplicable good it felt to be that close to Draco.

TBC

And finally another chapter done! I know I keep saying this time and time again, I am sorry for how slowly this story is being updated. It is being very difficult to write for some reason. Though I will also say this, I have quite a bit planned out for this story already, and I know how it's going to end. It's just going to take a little while to get there.
On that note, it's been a while since I posted this but, please feel free to look me up on Facebook! I am under Celtic Kitsune. (you should be able to find a link in my info) I try to keep everyone updated on there, and when I post a new chapter, I also put it on my facebook page so there is easy access!
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