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Checkmate	By : Tommy-Lane Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 2346 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters and I’m not making any money off of this.

Chapter List
- 1-Checkmate
- 1
Title: Checkmate

Warnings: M/M, Language, mentions of violence, rough sex, anal sex, just lots of sex in general, angst and a pinch of fluff, Auror Harry, Undercover Auror Draco, Semipublic sex, Mutual Pining

Summary: Normalcy was something that always eluded Harry Potter, it seemed an irrefutable fact that it would always just be a dream. But even still he had never imagined that this was how his life was going to end up – tangled in a relationship with Draco Malfoy that was made up entirely of stolen hours and dingy rented rooms and worrying that each time Malfoy left that he wouldn’t see him again. But there was always hope and Harry had always been foolishly determined.

Checkmate

Harry's back connected painfully with the varnished wood of the door, his head thudding and mouth parting on a gasp before his lips were covered with a warm wet mouth, a tongue plunging immediately inside to tangle with his as a hand pulled at his belt buckle. His head spun as he tipped his chin and kissed him back, his hand lifting to grasp the back of Malfoy's cold neck - his buckle clicking open and his hips jerking as it was ripped from his trouser loops.

"You activated the drop?" Malfoy panted against his lips and Harry nodded, his fingers curling into Malfoy's skin as his free hand reached down to undo the blonde's own buckle.

"Confirmation will be in five hours." He leaned forward and found Malfoy's lips again with his own. The other man tasted bitter, like he had taken up smoking some foreign brand of cigarettes between now and the last time Harry had seen him. He weighed the new flavor on his tongue, filed it away for mulling over later, and jerked the belt free just as Malfoy dragged down his zipper and roughly pushed his freezing hand up Harry's shirt. "Any concern you were compromised?" He asked the standard questions without really thinking about them as Malfoy dragged the shirt over his head and Harry attacked his throat, licking up the sweat that had accumulated there and savoring the taste over the new one dominating his tongue. Malfoy always tasted like sweat during these encounters, it was familiar, it was reassuring.

"No, it was a clean break." Malfoy grunted as Harry bit the junction between his throat and shoulder, leaving a bright ring of spit and redness, his hands thrusting down the back Harry's jeans and grabbing his arse. "How's home?" He ground his hips forward into Harry's, using his hand to haul the other man forward and keeping him trapped against his rocking.

"Good, Pansy got a divorce, Blaise opened his own consulting firm, Ron and Hermione had their second baby, a daughter." His eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his face into Malfoy's neck, inhaling his scent that smelled a bit like smoke and a bit like incense and a bit like some new fancy soap. God he'd missed this. It had been five long months since he had seen Malfoy last, nearly a half year since he had last glimpsed his bright head on a train platform in Italy. He hadn't known that Malfoy had been working in Ireland, so very close to him, for these past months until news had filtered down to him in the form of an extraction request sent to him from the Head Auror. "Did you sustain any injuries?" He asked, hissing out his breath as Malfoy canted his hips and rubbed the hard bulge in his pants against Harry's.

"No."

Harry sighed in relief, the noise drowning out into nothing as Malfoy grasped his head and hauled him up into another crushing kiss, his lips hard and moving with urgency, a fervent kiss that had been building for months. He lost himself in it, allowing the tension to melt completely away as it always did each time he extracted Malfoy from a dangerous situation and confirmed him whole. He pushed up the other man's shirt, his hands skimming over smooth skin and defined angles and thin scars that his fingers already knew.

No new ones. Not yet anyway, despite Malfoy claiming no injury, because Harry had learned that he had a tendency to lie over things he considered trivial.

The kiss broke as he tugged the shirt over Malfoy's head only to reconnect the moment it was free, the paler man still working it from his arms as he devoured Harry's lips - his chin just the slightest bit rough with stubble, which meant one of two things, either it wasn't as clean a break as he wanted Harry to believe and it had gotten hairy there for a moment, or the other man had fallen into a pattern of insomnia during his last week in the field. Harry didn't like either option. He wanted to tell Malfoy that he had missed him, that he thought of him constantly while he was cut off from communication but he knew the words would fall on deaf ears, that Malfoy had no desire for such sentiments. Then his thoughts fell away from him entirely as Malfoy pushed at Harry's trousers - the cold air of the nondescript hotel room hitting his naked body and making him shiver the moment Malfoy's fingers grasped his exposed hip.

"You brought lube?" Malfoy's breath was shallow and his lips traced lines over Harry's jaw and cheek as the darker man finally managed to undo his trouser buttons and slip them down his jutting hips.

Harry nodded and thought to lead the way to the bed he assumed was somewhere straight before them since all these rooms were generally the same - badly furnished, tackily decorated, weathered signs with their painted letters fading out front. But Malfoy was already dragging him down to the floor, feet tangling and limbs knocking as they kissed awkwardly while simultaneously trying to completely rid themselves of their trousers and shoes. Harry ended up hovering over Malfoy as the other man held himself up with his elbows - his head tipped far backed, his lips reaching into each kiss. Malfoy's long pale legs spread as Harry moved closer, his hand closing around one slim thigh and pushing - forcing Malfoy open further before breaking away from his lips to gaze down the length of his body.

God he was breathtaking. He was slightly skinnier then he had been last time, his stomach curving in more in a way that seemed a touch unhealthy, sparse white hair trailing down to his groin, his cock long and heavy against it, red and hard and twitching, firm thighs, legs that seemed endless from this angle.

"Stop staring and fuck me already." Malfoy sounded far away and Harry looked up into his gray eyes, trying unsuccessfully to read what was behind them before he could look away. It was always hard to tell what Malfoy was thinking, even in moments like these, and Harry knew he would drive himself mental trying to. So instead he cupped Malfoy's sharply angled cheeks and caught his lips in a desperate kiss, hoping the other could feel everything he didn't know how to say in their embrace. He knew he would have long enough to pull their encounter apart in the upcoming months as it was.

Malfoy groaned, his arms reaching up to wind around Harry, pulling him down atop him as they hit the floor hard, his sunless legs twining with Harry's slightly darker ones.

"God, Malfoy." Harry whispered, pushing forward with his hips and feeling the slide of Malfoy's cock along his own deep in his gut, pleasure washing through him in a tidal wave - the first intimate touch after so long always overwhelming. "Fuck I need this."

Malfoy nodded into their kiss, his knees bending and hips lifting, his hand reaching out to grope around for Harry's trousers. "Do it tight." He gasped as he pressed the tube of lube he had found in Harry's pocket into the other man's hand.

The undercover Aurora wanted it to hurt and Harry didn't know how he felt about that, he never did whenever Malfoy brushed away any preparations and demanded he take him with only a bit of slickness between them. But as usual he lost all apprehension the moment Malfoy started kissing him again, pulling at his back in a silent but urgent plea to hurry up, his hips moving in a steady but fast rhythm against his. His knees stuck to the hard beige floor as he lifted himself reluctantly away, Malfoy's chest heaving in sync to his own as he slicked himself up, his fingers squeezing around himself as he tried to calm his heartbeat.

"I want to finger you." He whispered into Malfoy's neck as he brushed his wet fingers over the pink furrow he wished he could see.

Malfoy shook his head and lifted his arse. "After." He said and Harry shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut as he imaged pushing his fingers into Malfoy's loosened hole dripping with Harry's own cum. "Merlin, fucking do it already Potter. I've been needing this for months."

Tangling his fingers in Malfoy's white blonde hair, Harry dragged him into a kiss as he angled his hips and pushed his way inside, the tight little muscle fighting against him as Malfoy groaned brokenly. "God Malfoy, if you want it, you have to take it." He grunted, pulling on the other man's hair and pushing forward harshly, moaning as Malfoy let out a needy cry and hooked his hands under his knees in order to pull them back further. He was so hot, so damn tight, almost painfully so, and Harry nearly saw stars as he was enveloped, breathing deep through his nose as he finally bottomed out and felt his balls rest against Malfoy's arse. "Can't believe you've been so close all this time. I could have been fucking you every damn weekend." He pulled out, savored Malfoy's hissed cry, and pushed back in, circling his hips with short little jabs. Merlin he loved getting deep.

"Would have - fuck! - compromised my cover and you know that." Malfoy shifted, Harry helping him to hook his legs over his shoulders, Malfoy's fingers digging into his back in a way that always drove him mental.

"Don't care anymore, I see you so little you feel like a damn virgin every time I have you." It was as close to an 'I miss you' as Harry figured he would ever get, his hips moving quickly and bouncing Malfoy mercilessly against the floor, his pink mouth falling open and staying that way with little cries that devastated Harry. "You need to be fucked more. I need to fuck you more."

"Don't be an idiot." His voice wavered, his throat moaning around the words, his gray eyes heavy and drunk, his hips moving in attempts to meet Harry thrust for thrust.

"Maybe I won't give you your next assignment, maybe I'll just run away with you myself." Harry licked his throat and didn't have time to ponder why he was suddenly dancing so close to how he felt, why he was letting out his secrets - that wasn't something they did. They didn't have time for it, stolen moments between Malfoy's assignments was all he got and all he would probably ever get. But god it sounded good, not giving Malfoy the sealed envelope that would take him away again for who knew how long. Five hours wasn't enough, no amount of time was. He pushed deep in just the right angle and smiled as Malfoy let out that little gasp that meant he had found his prostate.

"That's treason." Malfoy countered, sweat breaking out on his brow and sticking his hair to his forehead, his lips cherry red from his teeth. "God Potter, right there."

"Resignation isn't treason." He curled his fingers into the floor as he kept up his perfect angle despite the strain it was already putting on his back.

"It is when you've seen what I have." Malfoy moaned and Harry savored it right alongside the sharp sting of Malfoy's nails digging into his back. "Now please shut up and do - fuck yes, keep doing that." It was a beautiful sound that left his lips and even though Harry wanted to press the point he let it go, let it filter back to where he kept it stewing and gave himself over to the moment. It was too blissful not to, it would be too tragic to not devour every single second.

He kissed Malfoy with his panting breaths tingling over his lips and wished fleetingly that they had actually made it past the threshold for once so he could do this properly - on a bed, where Malfoy wouldn't get bruised from the floor and watch his hair fan out on the stiff little pillow. But Malfoy liked it quick, liked it rough, liked it in doorways and in the back seats of cars, and over tables. He felt Malfoy's cock slide against his stomach as he pressed himself over the other man, the feeling of Malfoy's jerk and the hissing curse stirring the orgasm building in his groin. "Want me to touch you?"

"No, don't." Malfoy shook his head quickly, his body trembling as Harry tipped closer to completion with those two little words - his body lifting just enough to withdraw connect from Malfoy's cock.

"I love it when you cum untouched." He bit Malfoy's neck and smiled as a spasm shot through the other man's leg, a clear sign that he was thankfully close because Harry was determined for him to cum on his cock and if truth be told he wasn't all too sure how much longer he could last. It had been too long since he had done this, since they had last done this.

"Tell me." Malfoy's eyes were rolling back in his head, his legs seizing up and thighs trembling against Harry.

"Cum." Harry growled, speeding up his thrusts and talking over the loud slapping of their bodies. "Do it, fucking cum for me you damn beautiful slut." Harry watched as Malfoy's entire body tensed, his jaw clenching as he gasped and groaned, his hips jerking in little pumps as he came, painting their bodies between them as his hole clenched terribly tight over and over again until Harry could no longer hold on - his own lips parting on a moan as he let himself go and spilled himself inside the other man.

The room fell suddenly silent save for their ragged breathing and Harry collapsed on Malfoy completely, his arms moving to curl around the other man as much as he could in their current position. He bit his tongue as he swallowed thickly, idly playing with Malfoy's platinum hair. "I don't want you to leave." He whispered into Malfoy's ear as he panted, limp legs hanging half off Harry's shoulders.

"A few hours more." Malfoy said quietly, in that voice that held no indication of what he was really thinking.

Harry's heart squeezed as he pressed his sweaty forehead against Malfoy's and kissed him deeply before moving slowly down his body - taking his time to taste every last inch of him now that they were no longer wound so tight with urgent need. It was always like that, only growing and intensifying with time, seeing Malfoy for the first time after his absence was like finally taking a breath of air and he couldn't think straight until he had sunk into him, pouring all of himself out, and listened to the steady thump of Malfoy's thudding heart.

He sucked the sated blonde’s sticky half hard cock back to full life as Harry slipped his fingers into his messy arse, moving them in and out and watching avidly as Malfoy groaned and twitched on the floor. He felt his own cum soak his fingers as he pushed deep and found Malfoy's prostate once more but even through the cloudy haze that was settled thick around them Harry couldn't help but replay what the other man had said over in his head - wondering just what exactly the other had seen that made him think he was bound inexplicably to his job.

And if there was anything Harry could do to make him rethink that decision.

****

Malfoy was passed out on the bed - sleeping like he hadn't done so in months, his mouth half open with his face nearly suffocating in the pillow, small little snores the only thing to ensure Harry that he could even breathe. His long limbs were tangled in the blankets, his naked body half exposed with his arms hooked up under his pillow, and Harry sat in the lone chair by the window watching him - his jeans back on his hips but his shirt still somewhere on the floor with his belt and shoes and socks. He felt a desperate pull to rejoin Malfoy on the bed, to brush his hair back from his temple and press a kiss to the newly revealed skin. But he feared doing so might wake the man who was sleeping like the dead and Harry knew he needed the rest. So he kept his distance but was unable to stop from staring.

Confirmation had come twenty minutes ago and Harry held the previously empty envelope that was now bulging with Malfoy’s next assignment. He wasn't allowed to look at them, he was just supposed to hand them off, wait for Malfoy to read them over, confirm that the documents get destroyed, and then return alone to London. He was supposed to hand them over the moment he received them and yet he couldn't wake the other man - couldn't seem to make himself move.

It was getting harder, each time they did this, to leave. Harry felt as if he was leaving a bit of himself scattered all over the world in little hotel rooms that were nearly identical to the ones before them. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold up, how much left he had to give. He wasn't good at sitting around and waiting and wondering. It drove him mental. He wasn't good at keeping secrets but each time he returned home he had to lie about their meetings, cutting off the moments after the door in the hotel or car shut and picking up after they had finally redressed and got down to business. Otherwise Harry feared that they would assign someone else to handle Malfoy and Harry couldn't stand that thought.

Something that sounded like a mirthless laugh quietly left his lips as he watched Malfoy's arms tighten around the pillow as a snore escaped his lips. He had left a very normal life with Ginny for this. Had broken off their engagement after the first time they had done this, when he had returned home wracked with guilt and still confused over how he had even ended up with Malfoy bent over the hood of his car in the middle of nowhere as he fucked him roughly. He didn't tell her all the details but he didn't sugar coat it and Harry thought maybe he had cried a little more than she had during it all.

That was a long time ago now, if he hadn't...well he would probably be married by now, with kids of his own. Instead he was still here, a relationship made up entirely of stolen hours and dingy rented rooms and worrying that Malfoy would get himself killed before their next meeting. Only a select few knew what Malfoy even did for a living and Harry ran a hand over his face as he thought about it. It seemed absurd, Draco Malfoy, an undercover Auror specializing in illegal potion rings. But he supposed Malfoy had always been good at potions and he had gotten very good at covering himself up in so many layers that no one could even begin to peel them back and see inside. Probably repercussions of the war, of living with a mad man.

With a tired glance at the clock on the wall, Harry frowned and clenched the envelope in his hands. He needed to wake Malfoy, the other only had 40 minutes until he needed to be off again and Harry knew he would be wanting a shower first. He moved slowly to the bed, sitting carefully until his weight sunk fully into the mattress before reaching out and brushing that lock of hair from Malfoy's forehead like he'd been wanting to for a while now.

"Draco." He whispered because that was all it ever took - his gray eyes snapping open and his body visibly tensing before melting loose upon seeing Harry. "Your assignment came."

Malfoy rolled onto his back with a long sigh, his hand rubbing vigorously over his face that was lined from the creases in his pillow. "Merlin you'd think it would kill them to give me a day off."

Harry frowned and bit his lips, his hand moving on its own to run through Malfoy's hair and down his cheek to cup his jaw, his thumb caressing just shy of his lips. "I'll request it."

Malfoy let a rueful little smile twist his mouth. "Till your blue in the face but I doubt they'd concede." He lent momentarily into Harry's touch before dragging himself up to sit beside him - the sheet covering all of one thigh and little else. "It's for the best." He was looking at his feet and Harry nodded quietly at his shoulder even though he didn't agree.

"Do you want to read them now?" There was a small space between them and Harry wondered what Malfoy would do if he let his head fall the distance and rest on his shoulder.

Glancing up from the corner of his eye, Malfoy caught him staring and held him in his gaze. "How long do I have?"

"Forty minutes."

Malfoy nodded slowly, his hand pushing his hair off his forehead before he was leaning forward, softly capturing Harry's lips in an unexpected kiss. It was sweet and slow and held a hint of longing bitterness that Harry wasn't sure was solely his. It caught his breath and held it under the spell Malfoy was weaving with his lips, his hand slipping onto Harry's thigh - running higher in slow motions until he was cupping his denim clad groin. It wasn't the first time but it was rare for Malfoy to initiate anything after their frenzied coupling upon first reuniting - like he was deliberately dividing their time into two clear sections, the first part was for them and the second was for business, rarely was there even a kiss goodbye.

He didn't quite know what to make of it when Malfoy pushed him onto his back and straddled him, holding himself aloft with one hand as he undid Harry's jeans and drew him out. He closed his eyes tight and told himself to stop thinking as fingers squeezed him and stroked up and down, his lips sloppy and wet with mingled spit already - the smoky taste that had dominated his mouth earlier barely notable now.

"It's changing Potter, everything's changing." Malfoy said softly into his ear, pressing a delicate kiss just below it and Harry felt his heart thump painfully as his pulse raced. Malfoy never spoke about his missions outside of the official questions Harry had to ask and Harry had assumed he never would, but his words felt heavy, tangible, laying upon Harry's skin in unsettling ease. "Somethings coming, something big, it's positioned to fall."

"Draco, what-?" He tried to push the other man's hand away from him, it was too hard to concentrate on his words with his hand working him so thoroughly but the blonde wasn't having it - his grip only tightening.

The kiss he was pulled into lifted him slightly off the bed, a loud gasp muffled against Malfoy's tongue at the touch of something cold and wet against his cock before he was enveloped in heat. His jeans that were barely pushed down had to be digging into Malfoy's arse as he rode him hard, holding him by his hair and kissing him hungrily. He felt strangely helpless through it all, like he had no say in the matter, Malfoy commanding his thoughts and body and winding them around his finger. It was rough and fast and Harry could hardly see straight whenever he managed to drag his eyes open, his shoulders pinned to the bed as Malfoy rose up and threw his head back - exposing the long column of his throat littered in little love bites that he would have to heal before leaving.

When he came it ripped through him, devastating as his hips bucked and a curse left his lips, his hands curling into the sheet - watching through heavy eyelids as Malfoy rocked his hips through it all and moved his hand in quick strokes over himself. Cum splattered his stomach and chest and Malfoy's death grip on his shoulder faltered - just enough for Harry to pull him down and press their mouths together despite their need for air.

"What was that?" Harry asked when Malfoy pried himself away, sliding stiff from Harry's lap and walking over to his clothes scattered on the ground by the door. The blonde dressed with his back to him, his hands pausing, his body half turning before pulling the shirt over his head. "Malfoy? Is something going on? Are you...is everything okay?"

Malfoy's shoes were new and Harry tried to formulate words as the other man wordlessly tied the laces before shrugging on his jacket and walking over to pick up the envelope. Something was making him feel sick, sinking like dread in his stomach as Malfoy peered at the papers like he already knew what they would say - barely taking his time to scan each sheet before pulling a small black book from the envelope and sliding it into his back pocket, the documents incinerated without a speck of residual ash with a flick of his wand.

Harry was still sitting on the bed, nearly naked and sticky, when Malfoy finally looked at him - his face hard and eyes closed off. "Goodbye Potter."

It took him too long to realize why the dread filling his stomach was icing over, the echoing of the door shutting behind Malfoy having long ago fallen to silence before Harry was able to fully put his finger on it. He fell backwards on the bed, his fingers pressing into his eyes with his glasses jamming into his forehead. "Fuck." He whispered to the empty room, hot tears pricking his eyes.

****

Draco's life was a game.

A game with unclear rules that were constantly changing anyway. And he was a pawn. An expendable pawn to be moved around on a board he couldn't see from his position in the trenches. He moved when and where he was told. He used the deadly piece of black metal twisted to fit the curve of his hand, a round of bullets clipped inside to make sure he didn't fail. He squeezed the trigger when ordered, watched blood spill like a grotesque mud puddle on Persian carpets and polished wood floors gleaming his own reflection back at him.

He couldn't perform the killing curse, lacked the will and intent, but apparently one didn't need to feel a deep conviction to pull a trigger. It just took a piece of paper inside a sealed envelope handed to him by a man who was steadily creeping closer and closer to making Draco crack under it all. Unknown to Potter the orders were coming more frequently as the higher ups decided Draco was no longer serving his duty by simply passing along information and sabotaging illegal potion rings.

It was still unclear to him on most nights how he had ended up in the middle of all of this. He had been funneled into undercover work after a year of pushing papers as a junior Auror and Draco had relished it at first. He loved working with potions and he had gotten very good at reading people and situation, his knack for legilimency a huge plus. He helped shut down countless illegal cells that Draco was starting to realize weren't isolated but a part of one massive interconnected spiders web that branched further then he could ever conceive. Working on these cases was never clear cut, they were always dancing just shy of questionable behavior but now - Merlin now his hands were shaking, his forehead sweating, and his thoughts a constant whirl of activity.

Perhaps he had been naive to think that they would never ask him to kill.

He should have said no from that very first order. He should have burned the papers and slipped into the shower he could hear Potter taking instead of gathering his things and leaving without saying goodbye - a dumb look making his face lax as he held the newly issued gun. But what would that have accomplished? What would Potter have done if he had told him?

Nothing. Because there was nothing to do but see his orders through to the end. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself.

The rain was thick and icy, blowing sideways beneath his umbrella, stinging Draco's exposed cheeks and seeping through cracks in his shoes that shouldn't have been there already. Everything was falling apart these days, the kill orders weren't tapering off like he hoped and prayed they would. They were growing and Draco feared that when he finally rested in his own grave that he'd be entrenched in a coffin of blood.

Ducking into an alleyway, Draco collapsed his umbrella, two quick shakes not only dispelling all the raindrops from it but also shrinking it to the size of a pen. Slipping it into his jacket pocket, he took a deep steadying breath and allowed himself a moment to collect himself. He personally knew the man in the house across the street from him, had worked alongside him for a year, had come to know the little nuances of his face, could read his thoughts like a book - he was a man of questionable taste in the bedroom, unnamed women coming and going more often than not, he was an excellent potions master, he smiled over the smell of burnt ginger and mutilated rose petals until the entire basement smelled sickly and floral. He wasn't a good man but still, he was a man, living and breathing.

Pushing his hand carefully into his other pocket, he lightly traced his finger over the heavy weapon resting against his thigh. He would end it with a clean shot. The man would hit the floor before he even saw Draco coming and Draco would walk away with his hands shaking in his pockets - mentally adding another tally in his head, adding up the sum of his kills as he wondered over how many it would take to steal his soul completely.

****

"You stand out like a sore thumb."

Harry smiled despite himself as the lowly spoken words curled around his ear, breath tickling the curve of his neck. He could feel the heat of Malfoy's body behind his, three nimble fingers tracing discreetly down his side and onto his hip. He wanted to lean back into him, twist his neck, and find his lips with his own. It had been too long, nine months and three days to be precise since he had seen him and he positively itched with the need to turn around and lay his eyes on the other man - his vision still seared with the image of their last parting, his ears replaying Malfoy's words that drifted without direction inside him. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about it, agonizing over it, almost sure that he wasn't going to ever see the other man again.

Malfoy wasn't one to say goodbye and the sound of it had torn through him on top of everything else. He felt like he had been doing nothing but re-reading old case files over and over again since then, looking for a hint, a clue to what the other man had alluded to but it was all for not. He couldn't find a pattern to hold onto, it was muddled, all diluted with whole paragraphs missing and long blank stretches between words that once held names of the people Malfoy worked with.

Positioned to fall.

Harry swallowed as the words played softly through his head even now, Malfoy's solid presence after so long making something ache deep within him. He hated it, denied it, tried to talk himself into a different course of thought and yet...he couldn't shake the idea that Malfoy had been talking about himself. That things were changing for him and that one day he wouldn't be back to meet Harry - that he'd be left standing in some empty hotel room, waiting for a man who would never show. But they were here now, together, and Harry clung to that, trying to merge it with the picture he was beginning to form in his head.

"What's wrong with my appearance?" He asked softly, lifting his whiskey to his lips and taking a careful sip.

"Too neat. Too clean. And tell me you’re not actually wearing that hat?"

"I like this hat."

Malfoy chuckled and Harry felt it all the way down to his toes, his eyes slipping closed for a heartbeat as he savored it, a dangerous thought that maybe he had read it all wrong last time lighting dimly in a corner of his mind. "Burn it Potter, trust me." His fingers toyed with the hem of Harry's black sweater as the soft music from the bar danced around them, the low candle light flickering in plated windows and through muddied glass bottles. "Do you have the package?"

Harry nodded, his eyes catching the back of the bartenders head as the man bent over the bar and talked in low tones with a patron on the opposite side of the otherwise deserted counter. The tables scattering the establishment behind them were half full, people hiding in partial shadows as they conversed with their table partners and ordered bottles of wine and foaming beer - and they were standing in the middle of it, exposed.

Everything's changing.

It was a risky meeting - the floor too open, the pub too crowded, the windows at eye level looking out at the street above them which was barren save for a smattering of wet shoes trudging through mud puddles - and the nagging thought that this could be putting Malfoy in danger was making his hand tighten around his glass. "Were you followed?" He asked, glancing at the door from the corner of his eye.

"No." Malfoy's voice was right in his ear now, his hair tickling the side of Harry's face, his pale fingers tracing to the front of Harry's trousers as Malfoy murmured something that sounded and felt like some sort of charm - Harry's eyes snapping from the door and back over to the bartender who continued to wipe down the counter top, his gaze sweeping right over them without any sort of recognition. "I don't have long." Something caught and broke in Malfoy's voice and Harry bit his lip, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt Malfoy's finger dip beneath his waistband. "And I don't know..." he trailed off, his lips pressing to Harry's neck wetly with a deep inhale. “I can't walk away without this."

"Malfoy." Harry swallowed a moan, his body leaning back without his consent into Malfoy's solid form as the blonde's hand slipped completely inside his trousers and boxers to grasp his half hard prick. His fingers were cold, a callus rough on his palm that hadn't been there last time. "It's too risky. There's too many eyes."

"No one's paying attention, just bite your tongue and no one will know a thing." There was a little smile on Malfoy's lips against Harry's skin - a shiver raking down his body as Malfoy squeezed his cool fingers around him. "Let me make you cum, right here, right now."

"Malfoy." Harry whispered again, unsure if he was agreeing or trying to argue the sensible thing to do. It was too hard to concentrate with Malfoy's fingers moving up and down his length, pulling tight in just the right way, his body heating him from behind, Malfoy's other hand curling around his stomach to hold him against him. But this wasn't right, this wasn't Malfoy, he was never this forward and uncaring. He barely even glanced at him in public, keeping up the much needed facade that they didn't know each other. The blonde was being too reckless, he sounded too desperate, and his hand under Harry's ribs was shaking.

He smelled like gunpowder.

Something's coming.

"I need this Harry." Malfoy's words were muffled against Harry's neck like he could read his thoughts, his name soft on Malfoy's lips, like a physical caress that made him feel like putty in his hands. But then again he always felt like putty in Malfoy's hands. "I need to feel you. Fuck I need more but this...I'll take this." His lips moved down the column of Harry's neck, his arm tightening around Harry's body, his hand picking up speed as Harry's breath puffed out between his lips, a hard bulge pressing against Harry's arse.

There was something in Malfoy's voice that made him want to smile and frown at the same time, his hands gripping the edge of the high counter as he pressed back, moving his hips and rubbing his arse against Malfoy's crotch even though he knew he shouldn't. His gaze lifted to the mirror situated high over the bar to glance at the room behind them - so many people obliviously drinking and eating and talking like two men weren't getting off on each other just feet away. He wanted to turn and capture Malfoy in his arms, to kiss him deeply, and tell him he could have anything he possibly needed. But it all seemed so fragile, like Malfoy's charm would shatter with one ill-timed move and thus drawing attention to themselves and potentially putting the blonde at risk. So he kept himself facing forward, kept his hands on the counter, his arms tense, his chest burning with the effort to keep his breathing somewhat normal, his moans getting trapped painfully in his throat, and his lips stinging from his own teeth ripping sharply into them.

Malfoy was brilliant at hand jobs, it never took long, and yet it somehow always seemed so intimate - like they were wrapped up in each other’s arms far away from everything and not in a bar, or while Harry was driving with Malfoy sucking his neck and making him spread his legs, or in some alleyway in some far off country.

"Fuck Harry you're shaking." Malfoy pressed his hips forward as Harry ground back, his hand squeezing his cock, his thumb swiping over the wet head. "I've been thinking about this all week, ever since first contact. I ruined three potions because I kept thinking about having you coming in my arms, about your smell and taste...it's been too long, fucking hell it's too long."

"C-come back to the hotel with me." Harry felt his stomach muscles clench, a tingling in his toes that rushed up and down his legs with every puff of air from Malfoy's lips against his skin. He knew it was against the rules, that he shouldn't even be asking but Merlin nothing was making sense these days, it was all tangled up, and Malfoy was here when Harry had been terrified he would never see him again.

Malfoy's breath caught, his head shaking, and hand moving and squeezing, making Harry's head spin as he fought to keep ahold of himself. The other man's arm was suffocating around his stomach, squeezing out all his air, the low buzz of all the people around them a light far away thing that seemed intangible - unreal and otherworldly, like they were nothing but a mist and if Harry just concentrated hard enough then it would really be just the two of them. Just be Harry in Malfoy's arms without something dark hanging over their heads and keeping them apart for months on end.

"Say my name when you cum."

Harry squeezed his eyes shut and let his head fall back onto Malfoy's shoulder. "Draco." His voice was breathless, a little whisper, but Malfoy groaned softly at the sound of it anyway as he rutted against his backside.

"Again." Malfoy's nose turned into his neck, nuzzling into him, something that felt wet sliding hot against Harry's flesh.

"Draco god, I'm going to-" His chest constricted, his body tensing, pleasure hot and conflicting rolling through him - his mind grappling to feel each little kiss the other man pressed to his neck and ear and cheek, his hips jerking once, twice as he was overcome. He was lightheaded, his arms and legs weak, and Malfoy's hand was shaking as he pulled it from his trousers - the other man's fingers sticky and wet as they touched his face, tipping his chin and angling it sharply to the side so he could capture Harry's lips in a kiss that started with a little whimper and turned quickly intense.

Harry's hand reached back to wind through Malfoy's hair, clinging hard as he kissed him back with everything he had, the other man tasting like sour whiskey and Harry's own cum from the fingers touching the corner of their connected lips.

"Keep your eyes open." Malfoy muttered as he pulled back, his gaze fixed on Harry's lips before moving up to meet his green eyes - the look unreadable just like always with a hint of something stirring behind them.

"What?" Harry wasn't sure he actually got the word out or not. He felt like he was tipping, like something was changing - that they were changing, that the world was changing, but he couldn't figure out the new angle, he didn't know where Malfoy needed him to step.

But Malfoy didn't answer him, he just kissed him deeply once more, keeping Harry dizzy throughout it all before he was pulling back and striding from the pub - the room slowly regaining its noise and movement around Harry as he quickly zipped himself back up and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand as he felt the charm drop from around them. It took him a moment to realize that Malfoy had swiped the package Harry was supposed to give him from his pocket and that there was a sleek black briefcase sitting on the floor by his feet that hadn't been there before.

****

The chess board was made of glass - clear squares juxtaposed against pitch black ones, the pawns and knights and bishops and rooks charcoal gray and milky white. The kings and queens stood taller, their faces smoothed and waxed over, expressionless and motionless with no magic embedded inside them. Just glass and paint.

Draco stood over it, his fingers hovering over the near black pawn in the corner, positioned for the milky queen to kill. There was no way out, no move that could save him, he was destined to fall and from there the game was two moves away from checkmate. He eyed the board curiously for a moment before letting his gray eyes slide to the piece of parchment lying on the table beside it. Two names were written upon it, a man and his wife.

His wife. A women that Draco was near positive had no inkling of what her husband did for a living. She was kind. She was a baker. She sent Draco home with warm rolls on cold days and always offered him roasted coffee on the mornings he met with her husband. He swallowed and clenched his jaw, his stomach twisting at the thought of aiming at the back of her brown head, of hearing her body thud against the carpet, of seeing the light leave her eyes with the smell of fresh baked cookies mingling with death.

Potter couldn't have known that this was the order he was handing over, Draco knew the other man wouldn't stand for innocents dying. He closed his eyes tight and saw Potter behind his eyelids, his profile and shaggy raven hair, thick rimmed glasses cut into perfect rectangles, a smile playing on the corner of his lips as Draco whispered in his ear. He had half expected that he was going to be compromised that night, that surely someone would see them and put two and two together, that Draco would return to work and meet the end of his employer’s wand. He had told himself that he would slip in and out and then he had walked in the door, saw Potter with his elbows on the bar and whiskey in hand...

He never could resist him.

And he missed him. Merlin did he miss him. It ached, deeply and hollowly, something that felt like bitterness growing spidery branches throughout his being. Somehow, over the years, Potter had become his roots - grounding him in a world where Draco feared he would lose his identity, a world where he could easily slip into his personas forever. Seeing Potter once, twice, four times a year if he was lucky - was like reminding himself that he was living and the times in between their meetings was like sleeping outside himself. Eight years Draco had been undercover and for seven Harry Potter had been reminding him of his humanity, of his wants and desires and dreams in snippets of time.

Eight years as the Ministries pawn.

Seven years as Harry Potter's lover.

Three years as an undercover Hit Wizard.

And by tomorrow night he would be nothing more than a blind murderer if he went through with his latest assignment.

The chess piece was hard and cold in his hand as Draco clenched it - the dark gray knight, his horse rearing up and spear raised. He stared down at it, glancing briefly at the doomed pawn in the corner with the looming white queen nearby. It was a game he was playing against himself, one he couldn't win without losing at the same time. But it had to end and the only question to ponder was in which direction did Draco want to fall?

****

Something was off.

Harry's house was dark, the door still locked, his key turning and the bolt clicking back before swinging silently open to reveal the blackened hallway. He paused in the threshold, wand held tight in his hand as he reached out to his wards, trying to feel what exactly had triggered them to be ringing lightly in his head.

"Close the door."

Harry's gasp was part exhale, part relief, part clutching fear, and though he couldn't see him he could feel him now - standing just down the hall, patiently waiting with the slightest edge to his voice. The door shut off the world behind them with a gentle push of Harry's palm, the lights flickering on seconds later, and Draco Malfoy was suddenly before him, looking far more worn than usual. Harry forced himself not to rush forward, to gather him in his arms and steal his air. It had only been two months since he had seen him but ever since that night something had been slowing time - the days dragging on and on, hours piling high atop themselves, towering menacingly above him and worrying his heart as the sun set each night without any word of where Malfoy was or what he was doing.

He was anxious all the time lately even though he couldn't explain exactly why, but it coiled hotly inside him, like a snake waiting to strike even though he wasn't sure what the threat that loomed even looked like. It was worse that way somehow, posing to fight something intangible, something he couldn't see, or hear, or feel - something that he only saw in Malfoy's eyes and felt in his trembling fingers.

"Draco." His name was heavy on Harry's tongue, a familiar thing that seemed to sink right back into his stomach the moment he spoke it. "What are you doing here?" Malfoy never came to London, never initiated meeting with Harry without going through the proper channels. This...this felt clandestine, secret, unsanctioned. He didn't know what to make of it and it scared the shit out of him if he was honest.

Malfoy's jacket was muddied, the cuffs of his trousers wet, strands of his hair still damp around his ears, and Harry couldn't help the bubble of panic that tried to take flight in the back of his mind. "It's safe?" He asked quietly and Harry nodded, knowing his home was clean of any eavesdropping spells.

"Good." Malfoy dropped the jacket from his shoulders with a sodden thud, a deep rip running the length of his arm tinged in dried crimson drawing Harry's attention before he was suddenly caught up in a crushing embrace. "I only have a moment." His voice was thick, husky, and Harry only nodded once before he was kissing the other man, clutching his back desperately and inhaling the slight scent of smoke and ash.

His fingers found their way into Malfoy's hair, the strands gritty and unwashed, the blonde's body trembling as Harry spun them around and pushed him up against the high table next to his coat rack - his key bowl rattling along with the umbrella propped up against it. Malfoy was kissing him like he couldn't get his breath, his mouth open and panting, tongue sloppy and urgent - his hands already pulling at Harry's clothes. "You need to tell me what's going on." Harry whispered between kisses, his jacket hitting the floor as Malfoy pulled his shirt tails from his trousers. "Are you okay?" His eyelids fluttered with the other man's lips on his neck, sucking on the same spot he always did, right beside his pulse point, just under his ear.

"I will be." Malfoy was tugging at his belt, his lips hot as they ran along Harry's jaw, kissing the corner of his lips, his cheeks, his chin.

"Will be?" Harry pulled Malfoy's shirt from his body, running his hands along his chest and back up his sides, over his shoulders, and down his arms, all the way to his fingers - fitting his hand in his and bringing them up to his lips, pressing a kiss to each finger as he counted each one. His hands smelled like dirt and fire, his cuticles dark. "Was there an explosion? Did something go wrong?"

"No." Malfoy wasn't looking him in the eye, his arms moving tight around Harry's back, his face pressed against the darker man's collar bone, and Harry got the feeling that he was lying - that things hadn't been right for a long time now. "Just fuck me first, okay?"

"Draco." Harry cupped his cheeks, dragging his head up until he could catch Malfoy's eye. "Somethings not right, I know it's not, but you need to tell me. I can't...please love."

Malfoy let out a broken little laugh as he shook his head, his fingers coming up to brush along Harry's cheek, his whole body leaning forward until his forehead was pressed against Harry's. "You never call me love."

Harry smiled as he pressed a soft kiss against the other man's lips. "I do, you’re just too preoccupied to notice usually."

"Is that your way of telling me that you sneak that word in while we're fucking?"

Harry nodded as Malfoy's hand slid up into his hair, his fingers curling tight like they usually did during their first kiss after a separation - tugging in a way that seemed to Harry like the other man was trying to make sure he was real and solid and not a figment of his imagination. He kissed him now like he always did in response to the hair pulling, pressing his entire body into it, making sure Malfoy could feel ever little bit of him. There was a part of him that tried to get him to pull away, to sit Malfoy down and make him explain just what was going on and what he was doing in Harry's house, but there was a stronger pull urging him to ease the shaking in Malfoy's body first, to show him just how much he needed and missed him.

The umbrella clattered to the floor when Harry broke the kiss and forcefully spun Malfoy around - pressing him against the table as he grabbed the other man's hands and pressed them into the wall on either side of the mirror hanging directly before them. He caught sight of Malfoy's reflection, the man's cool gray eyes half closed, his mouth red and wet, hair unkempt and tousled over his forehead. He pressed his lips to Malfoy's neck, sucking harshly and watching as the man's eyes squeezed closed and his mouth dropped open - his fingers curling like claws into the plaster of the wall.

"I love the faces you make." Harry whispered along his skin, his hands dropping to the blondes trousers and deftly undoing the fastenings before pushing them slightly - letting gravity finish the work of sinking the material around his ankles. "I want you to watch yourself, because you are so fucking beautiful. I want you to see the images that keep me going while you’re away." He gripped Malfoy's jaw with one hand, squeezing until he complied and blinked his heavy eyes open, his other hand moving to curl around the man's half hard prick - the weighty, velvety feel of it growing and hardening as he stroked. He ran his fingers up and down, rubbing his palm over the head, squeezing the base, a trace of nail along the underside.

"Potter." Malfoy groaned, his legs spreading apart as much as his trapped feet would allow, the small of his back arching as he pressed his arse back into Harry.

"God so perfect, already falling apart." Harry rasped, his thumb smearing a drop of precum as he caught and held Malfoy's gaze in the mirror - his hand on the blonde's jaw dropping to squeeze lightly around his neck. "You like it rough and I like to give you anything you need love but one day I'm going to press you down onto a bed and I'm going to love your body like you deserve. There won't be a time limit and I won’t let you up until I'm damn fucking ready to."

Malfoy let out a small whimper, the sound soft and heartbreaking as he twisted his neck, his lips seeking out Harry's until he gave in and pressed their mouth's together. Letting go of the blonde's neck, Harry trailed his fingers down his pale chest, tweaking his nipples and scratching into the dip of his navel, running lower until he could cup the other man's balls - his middle finger pressing back into his crack. He rubbed at the furrowed flesh as he pumped his cock, Malfoy's body shuddering as he ripped his mouth away from the kiss so he could lean further over the table - his pale face flushed pink. "F-fuck."

"Keep your eyes open love, I want you to see what you look like when I press into you for the first time."

Malfoy nodded, his head dropping to hang limply but his eyes staying obediently on the mirror, his teeth biting into his bottom lip as Harry pulled back in order to perform a quick lube conjuring spell - his fingers wet and slick as he gripped Malfoy's arse, spread his cheeks, and pressed his finger to the tight ring. "Harry." He moaned, pressing back on the digit, gasping loudly as it slipped through and into his incredible heat. "Oh god."

"So good." Harry muttered as he watched Malfoy's reflection, his free hand resuming his pumping of Malfoy's cock as he fingered his arse - a second digit following the first before he was loose enough for it. "God you’re so good at this."

"That's enough." Malfoy groaned, his hips moving in little circles, thrusting into Harry's fist and back onto his jabbing fingers. "Fuck me now."

Harry bit his shoulder blade in response, his tongue laving the red ring, the blonde’s skin tasting like heat and exertion. "I'll fuck you when I'm ready." He growled, pressing his fingers in deep and twisting. "I want you already there when I finally take you."

Malfoy shook his head, the muscles in his shoulders and back flexing as his entire body tensed and moved with Harry's hands. "Don't have time."

"That's the problem, there's never time." Harry nuzzled his neck, scrapping his teeth over Malfoy's flesh and angling his gaze up to the mirror as he pushed a third finger inside - smiling as Malfoy's face twitched, his eyes blinking quickly in effort to keep from closing. "I want to give you everything but you're never here. No don't look away, look at me."

"It's not in our cards." Malfoy was sucking in air through his open mouth in rapid succession, his gray eyes dark and rimming with red. "Fuck, slow down, you’re going to make me cum."

"Then we'll change the deck." Harry told him, pulling his hands free and undoing his own trousers as he kissed the back of the other man's neck, his slick fingers rubbing up and down himself the moment he got his pants over his thighs. Grasping Malfoy's sunless hips, Harry jerked him back, forcing him lower over the table and bringing the man's face nearly up against the mirror before lining himself up. "Push back on me, that's it, shit." He sunk slowly inside him, a dizzying lust writing itself over Malfoy's face as his head lolled and his mouth fell open again, his bottom lip rubbing against the glass and leaving a trail of spit.

He loved this moment. Loved the look on Malfoy's face and the feel of him all around him, connecting them as if they were never hundreds of miles apart. Digging his fingers into the other man's hips, he drove in fast, knocking Malfoy's thighs into the table as the man's arms shook - his elbows bending and locking against the wall. "And if you think I'll let you go you couldn't be more wrong, I'm never letting you go Draco." He wasn't sure why he was trying so hard to convince the other man, nothing outright had changed between them and yet it felt like everything was about to. Change felt like an irrefutable fact now even if he didn't know the particulars, and Harry needed Malfoy to know that he wouldn't give up on them - no matter what. "Just look at you, at us." He gripped his white blonde hair with one hand, yanking his head back a fraction so the other man could look at his reflection without going cross eyed - his thrusts deep and hard and unyielding.

Their eyes locked in the mirror and Harry lost himself, drowning in Malfoy's gray irises that were leaking streaks down his flushed cheeks - whether from Harry's grip in his hair or the ruthless pace he had set or from something else welling up unsaid in his heart, Harry didn't know but he couldn't look away. He studied Malfoy's face, watched his lips, bright red and catching tear drops, his eyelids and cheeks twitching and near silent moans contending for a voice above the noise of the table hitting the wall as their bodies connected over and over.

Malfoy came without warning, a gasping shriek leaving his lips as it tore through him, his body convulsing as Harry fucked him through it, little sobs filling the air as it wore on and on - the blondes hands curling into fists on the wall and his elbows slipping, Harry's arms moving around his body to hold him upright as Malfoy's forehead hit the mirror with a crack. "Merlin Harry, fuck, yes, god yes." He muttered when he finally started floating back down, his body still taut and arse clenching tight around Harry's cock. "Ground me." He whispered as his head shook against the mirror, his gaze still locked tight with Harry's.

And even though Harry had no idea what he meant by that, something about it made his heart clench tight in his rib cage, and he grasped Malfoy's chin - angling his head back and into a desperate kiss. It was an awkward angle and Harry left a trail of saliva across the other man's cheek but he kept kissing him anyway, his hips jerking frantically as he felt himself cresting - pushing in deep and grinding into him until he came with a muffled cry. He didn't pull out right away even though his legs suddenly felt terribly weak and shaky and when the kiss drifted to an end Harry pressed his face into the cooling sweat on the back of Malfoy's neck as he mulled over the words vying for dominance inside his head.

There was so much to say and time was forever their enemy.

"We can write our own future." He whispered, breathing deep and trying to calm his wildly beating heart.

"They won't let me go." Malfoy sounded oddly vulnerable, the sound honey soft. "I tried."

"Then I'll steal you away, I told you before I would."

"Think about what that means Potter. Really think about it."

"Draco -"

"No." Malfoy said sternly, his hand folding over Harry's that was resting on his stomach before he was nudging him away - Harry's body cooling down instantly as Malfoy stepped back from him while tugging his trousers back up his hips. "I'm leaving Potter, I can't do what they want of me anymore." He said it so simply, so clear cut, but he wasn't looking at him and there was a frown line marring his otherwise smooth forehead. "I have vague plans but I won't...I can't come back. Possibly ever."

Something was thundering inside Harry's head - equal parts elation and dread rushing through him. "You have plans." He stated, trying to understand this new turn of events as he stepped forward and grasped Malfoy's hand before he could pull it away. "And what...what about us?"

Gray eyes peeked up at him before darting away. "That's up to you. I can't stay but you can...if you want to, you can come. But don't be rash, grand romantic ideas have consequences rarely thought through. Think about if I'll really be enough for you, if it will really be worth it." Malfoy sent him a small, sad smile as he drew Harry closer, his hand carding through his dark sweaty curls. "Either way, whatever you chose, you should know." He paused, pressing a delicate kiss to Harry's lips. "You’ll always be a part of me."

"I love you." Harry cupped his face, keeping them close and breathing the same air, his eyes wide as he watched Malfoy's flutter closed with a soft noise and twitching smile.

"Think about it." The blonde repeated, kissing him one last time before pulling away and grabbing his shirt and jacket from the floor. "I'll be in touch." And then he was spinning away, leaving Harry's entry hall empty once more with the uncertainty and unknown threat suddenly coming into focus.

He had been right in a way, things were changing, he was in danger of losing the man he had come to love more then he could bear. But there was a choice in it and Harry already knew his answer before the sweat had even cooled from his body.

****

The day Draco Malfoy went missing was the same night a glass chess piece - a knight on a horse tinted a deep charcoal gray - appeared on Harry bedside table. There was no accompanying note, no explanation of any sort, and Harry had sat stiff on his bed for twenty whole minutes just staring at it, his hands holding the notice the Head Auror had sent to him.

A simple note with very few words, telling him with no sort of explanation what so ever that Malfoy was gone. He felt like he had stopped breathing since receiving it and it was a curious thing indeed that he was able to walk and talk and not collapse under the thunder in his head raging for answers.

It was curious because while it hurt, he wasn't worried, he knew that this meant that Malfoy had finally escaped from the Ministry like he had wanted to, and Harry prayed that it had been a clean break - that he was well and happy. But he was anxious. He had packed weeks ago, his bags ready under his bed, and yet...no word, nothing.

Until now.

He stared at the knight and the knight stared back and then for no other reason than he needed to do something, Harry lifted his hand and touched it - lightly, right on the tip of the pointy spear.

It felt like Malfoy. Like his touch, like his magic, it thrummed up his arm in a warm pleasant rush.

Harry sucked in a breath and scooped it up, bringing it close to his face and running his fingers over the figurine carefully. "Draco." He whispered and nearly dropped it when the knight warmed hotly in his hand, scratches that looked hand carved etching themselves in tiny letters with a serious of numbers separated by dashes along the horses flanks. He smiled as he read it, relief washing through him so strongly he felt momentary weak as he read it over and over again.

Your move.

****

Looking over his shoulder was a habit Draco doubted he would ever completely break, but there was something else, something strange and new, something he wasn't used to yet with only having been free from the thumb of the Ministry for all of a week but he was starting to feel lighter all ready. He had tied up all his loose ends very carefully, made sure nothing was left exposed and vulnerable, sent his superiors a thick envelope bulging with all the information Draco had gleaned over the years, any and everything he deemed important - and then he had dropped his gun in a river and never looked back.

He couldn't be sure if the Ministry would come looking for him, the odds were as good as they weren't, it would probably all come down to money and how vindictive his former boss was feeling when he received the news. But his freedom was worth the risk and the possible false allegations they might try to pin him with.

There was just one loose end that was making his stomach twist as each day passed and it had nothing to do with the Ministry.

His leg jiggled under the little table as he sat under a striped umbrella on the terrace of a small cafe tucked away carefully from the hubbub of the street. He had chosen a table that afforded him a view of the establishment and the street beyond, his back half to the wall and half to the alleyway behind them. He didn't allow himself to dwell on the ball of pent up nerves in the pit of his stomach - didn't let himself think on if Potter was going to show or not.

He sipped his drink and waited.

The sun was just starting to dip in the skyline when something across the street caught his eye, a flash of raven hair, violently messy in the breeze and blowing about a strongly curved face, dark glasses, and an old brown bag clutched in his hand. Draco's breath caught, his hand tightening around his glass, as he sat as still as he could - waiting to see if he was real or just a flicker of his over active imagination desperate for Harry to come.

Potter stepped into the street and what felt like an eternity later he was slipping into the seat opposite Draco - a wide smile on his lips and green eyes boring into his. "Hey." He spoke softly, his hand reaching across the table and carefully prying Draco's fingers from his cup, curling them inside his own warmer ones.

Draco glanced around them, at all the people at the tables near them, at the pedestrians strolling the streets, pushing prams and holding hands and meandering alone. "You came." His throat felt tight as he tried to push back the rush of relief so it wouldn't show so clearly on his face.

Potter smiled, rising halfway in his chair as he leaned across the table, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. "I love you."

Slipping his hand into his trousers pocket, Draco squeezed the glass chess piece that he had taken to carrying around with himself as Potter settled back into his chair, a matching smile curving up his own lips in response to the one on the darker man's face. Merlin it had taken years but the game was finally over and somehow he had ended up on the winning side. But more importantly he had somehow ended up sitting across from Harry Potter, holding his hand in public, with the man's bags at their feet, and the beginning of their life together nothing but a blank stretch before them waiting to be written.

Fin

A/N: I blame this entire story on watching too much Alias followed by Anna Karenina which made for a sleepless night thinking way (and I mean WAY) too much about people being forced apart and the nature of obsessive love. So needless to say, I do what I always do when I can't sleep and my minds a whirl, I wrote - this fic and another called "Need - Obsessive - Possessive". I mention this because while the two stories are completely separate they deal with the same sort of nature - forced separation and obsessive love, each one exploring a different extreme/aspect - so they kind of go together in my head. Anyway's I hope you all enjoyed this :)
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