The Agitation of a Rose

"Take this souvenir

They can't deny you were here

The scar always there

To medicate your fear

Then you can be the remedy

And I can be the enemy

And we can go live as nothing

Then you can be the wannabe

And I can be the remedy

And we can go to hell for all I care."

-Abandoned Pools, The Remedy

Chapter One

Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep be- Harry smacked his little alarm clock off, grimacing about the unfairness of it all. He dreaded the moment he would have to leave for work, which was only forty-five minutes away. Grumbling about everyone and everything, the man slumped off to the bathroom to stand under the shower, going through his half conscious morning routine. Thirty minutes later he stumbled for the kitchen, grunting as a greeting to Hermione, who was alternating between flipping bacon and putting in toast.

She smiled warmly at him. Hermione Granger had always been a morning person and no matter how grumpy her boys (as she affectionately referred to Ron and Harry by) were, she was happy. "Morning, Harry! I was just about to check on you. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes can you flip that toast? Oh how late are you working today? I thought that us three could maybe have a talk tonight?"

"Mmm."

"Aha, so your answer is yes, six o'clock, and if it has to do with what happened last night I have nothing to say?" She looked at him, eyebrows raised for his answer as she slid bacon and toast on to his plate.

He looked at her astonished for a moment. "That's exactly right. We need a vacation away from each other, my dear." After shoveling in his breakfast and chatting idly with Hermione, Harry put on his deep red cloak and Apparated to work. He worked as a dangerous magical creature tamer at a small but infamous farm in Country Clare in the Shannon region of Ireland. "How did the Kelpie capturing go yesterday?" he asked on arrival to the head of the team, Teagan Finnegan, Seamus's older brother.

"It went arseways my bespectacled head," he answered miserably. "The whole thing was as useless as tits on a bull. It was brass monkeys outside that mornin' it was."

"So you didn't get anything done?"

"O' course, you quare hawk! We got the narky Kelpies bridled, just one of the heads got in an agro with one, got his arm chopped off. If you'll excuse me 'Arry, I've got a session with a lack an' a rubber Johnny!" The bright spirited Irish man pulled on his coat and was out of there like lightning.

Harry laughed at Teagan with the other guys who had come into the main room to see what was going on. Teagan could always make everyone laugh with his little comments. "So team, what is our agenda today?"

"Cleaning of class four monsters. Harry, you got the griffin since you seem to be the only one that can go in there without coming out bloody." Griffins were very temperamental creatures and they currently had one in residence because it had been mistreated by a pack of dark wizards in Greece. She was being held in isolation, as she seemed to have a problem getting along with anyone else. Harry pulled on his dragonhide gloves and boots, a heavily charmed cape, and dragonhide trousers incase she was in a bad mood today. For reasons unknown to Harry, the griffin had never struck out at him, but he had to take precautions anyways.

He headed down to the pen levitating a cart of cleaning supplies he would need today, his thoughts wandering back to yesterday's events. Deciding that would definitely not help his concentration, Harry chose a different topic to think about. "Hullo there, Hera. Are you faring well?" he asked the griffin as he came up to her large holding pen. Of course it had a roof over the top and it had been designed to look like a Greek temple to suit her taste. The name Hera came from her calling him Zeus because of his scar and the fact that she seemed so affectionate about him.

"I've missed you, Zeus. You should visit me more than to just groom me. I would like that very much." She was a very majestic creature with golden haunches and enormous gray wings that she took pride in. Her voice was low and beautiful with age, but held distrust from being treated badly.

"Sorry, Hera, I've been busy round here lately going on more missions to save mistreated creatures like yourself," he replied gently brushing the fur part of her and getting out snags, "but from now on I will make it a point to stop by more often." She purred contently as he gently rubbed her fur down with a fur cleaning potion and SleekEazy's Ultra-sheen. He then toweled her off and began to groom her feathers, making sure to pluck off any loose ones.

"Thank you, Zeus. You are a good friend," Hera said when he was done. "If you ever need me to guard a treasure of yours, I would be happy to." Harry patted her one last time, promising to return before her next cleaning, and went back to the main building to see what he had up next. Next to his name on the board it said to take the hippogriffs out for exercise.

"Well this is going to be fun."

*

Draco Malfoy had never been one to make dramatic entrances, but he felt that it was necessary in this case. With an air of despair around him he sulked into his mother's sewing room and threw himself down on the chaise lounge, his arm slung across his eyes.

Narcissa Malfoy turned to him with one eyebrow raised, already knowing that she was about to hear some complaint from her son. "I plan on meeting someone I need to impress today, and I need your help on what I should wear. I want the person to see me as desirable, but not overly so. I want to seem approachable but too approachable, and I need the outfit to be able to set off my eyes."

"It seems to me that your person you need to impress is one that you wish to pursue romantically. Can this person have something to do with this secret plan I've heard so little about?

"If you absolutely must know, yes, this person has to do with the plan. Now will you help me or not?" His expression was that of comical despair, much like a Greek tragedy mask.

"Sugarlumpkins, just wear a set of Morgan le Fay Originals and you'll have hearts breaking all over the place. You can never go wrong with that."

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" Draco exclaimed, showing a rare side of affection as he hugged her. "Oh... and mom?"

"Yes?"

"Don't call me Sugarlumpkins."

*

Harry decided that he would just go get a drink today since he hadn't been able to yesterday. For an unexplainable reason, he had the simple desire to get extremely drunk, and hopefully pass out. In the back of his head, he knew that this was probably not the best idea he's ever had. And in another place in the back of his head, he had a tiny hope that he might run into Draco Malfoy... but he decided to ignore that thought. Why bother, Harry, old pal, a tiny voice said. You know want him, even if it's the littlest desire for him. So quit being a git and admit it. Admit it, Harry! You want Draco Malfoy! You want him in a way you know you shouldn't. So just admit it and I'll just go back to sleep ok, old buddy, old pal? Ok?

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up," Harry muttered, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. But that didn't stop the voice. The voice was inside him, teasing him, torturing him. C'mon, Scarface, the voice taunted, now sounding like the voice of a thousand Slytherins that had relentlessly teased him. Just admit it and we'll leave you alone. Hey! Scout's honor we'll leave you alone and go about our business. But before we can do that, you need to own up to something. You liked that little picture of Malfoy, didn't you? You dreamed about it last night! The voice paused for a brief cackle that made Harry flinch. Oh yes, Hero Boy, we know all your secrets! We know 'em all, haha! So now I'll tell you one more time, ADMIT YOU LIKE HIM! ADMIT YOU WANT HIM! ADMIT THAT YOU DREAMED ABOUT HIM ALL LAST NIGHT! OWN UP, SCARFACE!

"No!" Harry yelled, startling several of his workmates who had also had late shifts.

"You alright there, Harry?" one of them asked, a look of concern on his face.

"I'm fine." Harry grabbed his cloak and curtly turned on his heel, wanting, no, needing to get away and get a drink. He stepped outside and Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron.

Tom still hanging in as the bartender nodded to Harry as he appeared and Harry nodded back. He looked around to see if there was any familiar faces and caught the eye of Cho Chang who he was on friendly terms with. She waved him over enthusiastically and when he came over she asked him to sit down. So he did just that, Tom appearing immediately at his side to take his order.

"Double Ogden's Fire Whiskey with little water and little ice please," he said politely. Tom looked at him, a bit shocked by little Harry Potter's order, but scurried off to make his drink anyways. Cho also looked at him a little surprised but also decided to not say anything. "So how are you doing, Cho?"

"I'm fine. The training for Quidditch season has been harsh, but I'm making it. A few trips to the pub help though," she replied, winking knowingly. "How have you been doing? You look pretty beat right now."

"I've been hearing that too much lately. I'm alright. Although I've been preoccupied with something. Well, actually it's more of a someone, but we won't get into that."

"Are you sure? I'm here to talk, I got the time."

Harry smiled at her and patted her hand. "Thanks, but no thanks. I wouldn't even know where to start." She squeezed his hand in a comforting gesture and knocked back the rest of her drink in one fluid motion. The two had overcome Cedric's death and became good friends, even boyfriend and girlfriend for a short time. They had parted on good terms, leaving their relationship as friends only.

The pub's entrance from Diagon Alley banged open and a tall, slim person stepped in, cloaked in shadows until they stepped into the dim light. It was Draco Malfoy. Harry's mouth went dry as he locked eyes with the man.

"Oh hey that's Draco, mind if I invite him over?" Cho asked him.

"No... I don't mind. I didn't know you two were friends," Harry answered, his voice slightly shaky.

"Our families are old friends," she said in an undertone, "Oi! Draco, come over here and join me and Harry for a drink or two!" Draco's eyes lit up at the invitation; it was the perfect opportunity. He strode over, getting more than one appreciative glance from the patrons, but his eyes remained fixed to Harry's the entire time.

"Hello Cho, always a pleasure to see you. Hello... Harry, I see you're looking better than last time we met." He smirked at Harry, and surprisingly, Harry smirked back as if the two held a secret. Cho looked back and forth between them, wondering what exactly was going on. She had thought it would be tense if the two men had gotten together because of their history in school. Maybe they put their school boy fights aside, she thought to herself hopefully. Draco slid into the seat across from Harry, his gaze never wavering as he ordered his drink, a red currant rum.

Harry blushed and diverted his eyes, hastily gulping a fourth of his whiskey, which felt like liquid fire traveling down his throat. Ohgodohgodohgod! What am I supposed to say? What do I do? Stupid! Think of- OH MY GOD!! DID HE JUST SLIDE HIS FOOT UP MY LEG?! He turned almost purple and flashed a brief look at Draco, who was as calm and collected as ever. The man even had the nerve to drop a wink at him.

Draco smirked as he watched Harry grow more and more red. "So Cho, how has the team been going for you? Any good?"

"Practice is tiring as hell, but it's also fun. I think we may have a good chance in the League. This year we may actually make it. Some of our biggest competition had to get new players and train them. We've had a tight knit team for two years now; the odds are definitely looking up." Cho played for the Holyhead Harpies, an all girls team that had been doing pretty well lately. She was, of course, the seeker.

"I'm glad for you. What do you think, Harry?" Draco asked, his foot still lightly sliding up and down Harry's leg as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Ahh... my money is on the... Appleby Arrows, yeah," he replied looking quite hot under the collar. "May I be excused?" Without further ado, Harry pushed his chair back from the table and was off to the men's room like a bullet. Cho looked quite miffed about Harry's hasty departure, and looked at Draco with one delicate eyebrow raised.

"What's bothering him?"

"Hmm, I'll go find out, stay right here." Draco got up from the table and strode over to the men's room, also going in. He found Harry staring at the mirror over the sink, his face splashed with water. Harry didn't notice him come in, so Draco remained leaning against the closed door. When he turned around to presumably go back to the table, his eyes widened at Draco's presence.

"I- I didn't know you were there." Draco didn't say anything but remained standing; arms folded over his chest with a thoughtful look on his face. "So, Draco, I was think-." He stopped suddenly. Draco had put one hand on his face, cupping his cheek and looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have really beautiful eyes?" He asked, his gaze meeting Harry's, forcing him to look at him. An unexplainable shiver ran through Harry as they stood staring at each other. Draco's eyes seemed so cold... so gray... so... emotionless.

Harry coughed and looked at the floor, shifting his weight from foot to foot in an unconsciously cute manner. "Actually... umm people have." That was true. Everyone said he looked like his father, except for his eyes, which were the expressive green of his mother's.

"No wonder... they're like emerald fire, it's quite amazing." He leaned in closer to Harry, their faces only five inches away form each other at most.

"Malfoy..." he breathed. That's all he managed to get out. Oh god is he going to kiss me? I don't think I would be able to handle it. Please let him kiss me. No! I mean please don't let him kiss me! Oh he's getting closer and he's got that look in his eyes. That look you get when you're going to kiss someone. Do I have that look too? Does my face show the same demeanor? Why doesn't he just get it over with? Argh quit thinking! Oh wait... why isn't anything happening? Hey! Where's he going? "Hey, where are you going?" he asked aloud.

Draco had turned so that his back was to Harry and muttered, "Cho must be waiting, and we should get back." His breathing had become short and erratic, his whole body tense. Why hadn't I been able to kiss him? He thought. Why did it seem like something was stopping me? There's no time to waste, Draco, a colder voice broke in, You have too much riding on this, I don't care what's going on, you must get him to bend to your will.

Harry bit his lip and glared at Draco's turned back, his head spinning with questions. He shook his head fiercely and decided that another drink would fix up all this up. Yeah, that sounded good. Another drink. But a stronger part of him argued that he wanted answers and he wanted them now. That voice sounded more convincing, so that's the choice he made. "Malfoy," he growled, his voice and total self much stronger, "what exactly are you playing at here? Are you serious or are you just setting me up to look like the world's biggest prat?"

Draco stiffened momentarily, but nonetheless said smoothly, "Well I guess that's something you're going have to be brave enough to find out, won't it, Potter?" Harry didn't reply, only glared at the back of Draco's head. When they returned to the table Cho opened her mouth to ask about where they were, most likely, but Draco cut her off. "Terribly sorry but we have to run, I hope we get to talk to each other again soon." He threw enough money on the table to pay for his and Harry's drink and for a hefty tip, grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him to the entrance that led out into Muggle London.

"Malfoy, why are we here? Where are we going?" Harry asked, slightly confused.

"There's no privacy with you that I can get in there."

"Oh." Harry let himself be dragged a couple blocks away, where suddenly Draco spun around and pinned him against the stonewall of a store, grabbing his wrists and holding them up over his head. "Hey!" He cried out, alarmed, trying to somehow wiggle away from him. But then he noticed that Draco had never pulled out his wand to curse him, nor did he have a manic glint in his eye. "What... what are you doing?" He demanded, his voice softer this time. Their position was considerably uncomfortable for Harry, since the rough stone was scraping his skin. For some reason though, he knew it was unintentional.

Draco searched his face for something that may have signaled that Harry wanted this as much as he did. Harry's breathing had become slightly faster and he unconsciously licked his lips as Draco stared at him. His green eyes had gone darker to convey- what? Feelings of lust? Fear? Draco wasn't sure. Just get on with it! His mind screamed. What are you waiting for? A bloody invitation? "Just go with it," Draco said softly, almost to himself.

With deliberate slowness, Draco gently held Harry's chin in place and leaned forward until their lips were as close together as they could be without touching. It was Harry who made the first move. He arched forward so that their bodies touch and kissed him lightly.

"Now let me go," he murmured. Surprisingly, Draco did just that, a shocked look on his face. "You crossed the line now, there's no going back. If you want to continue this, you know where to find me." All of a sudden, Harry had become the leader in this little game. His face was entirely smug and he knew exactly what he was doing. "Godric's Hollow," he whispered before Apparating away.

"Damn it!" Draco swore, his fists hitting the wall. "You stupid idiot!" he hissed, feeling more self-loathing than he ever had before. Good job, you were supposed to manipulate him, not the other way around! So he did the only thing he could do. He Apparated to Godric's Hollow, determined to get this turned around so that the game was in his favor.

*

Harry had been waiting for them calmly at the Apparation point. Wordlessly, he grabbed Draco's wrist and took him home. Praying that Hermione and Ron were not around, he opened the door, making sure to be as quiet as possible. When Draco opened his mouth to say something, Harry clapped a hand over his mouth. His eyes said all that was needed to say. You talk and this whole thing is off. Harry felt a kind of giddiness from having someone completely under his control. It only furthered the feeling that this was Draco bloody Malfoy. He crept along the hallway as quick and quietly as possible and led Draco into his room. With his eyes fixed on Draco the entire time, Harry closed and locked the door. "You have one minute to explain what you want from me."

Seeing this as his chance to get the ball back into his court, Draco seized it. "Isn't it obvious?" he purred, brushing up against Harry as he circled him. "All I want is you... is that too much to ask?"

"Coming from you, yes," Harry replied tightly. His voice was unsure, and Draco knew he was slowly losing his control.

"Why don't you just put that school boy grudge behind, Harry?"

"It's more than a school boy grudge and you know it, Malfoy." The coldness in which he said Draco's name momentarily shocked him. Just minutes ago he wanted to snog the hell out of him, but suddenly, all he wanted was to punch the hell out of him. Emotions are a weird thing, he decided. "You insulted me, you insulted my friends, and you insulted my parents' memory. How can I forgive you?"

'These things didn't seem to bother you when you snogged me." What little resolve against Draco he had left crumbled after that remark. "Second thoughts, eh?"

"Just get it over with. Do what you need to do and go," Harry growled, trying to grasp any confidence he had left. There was none. His would-be order came out as a weak plea.

The two men stared at each other in an unspeakable dare that Harry was slowly beginning to lose. Finally, Draco broke the flimsy barrier Harry had built up around himself. He ran his hands through Harry's fringe, and brushed his lips across his scar. Harry gasped and felt his legs turn to jelly. So this is what it feels like to be with Draco Malfoy, he thought giddily, not that bad if I do say so myself. His hands went out on their own accord, gently grasping Draco's hips and pulled him closer so their foreheads touched. Harry tilted his head to one side and placed his lips on Draco's, hoping, no, praying that the other man would respond. He did. They fought for who was in control for a few seconds, hands everywhere, faces flushed, feeling exuberant but scared all at once. "Welcome to the lion's den," Harry said softly when they finally parted.

"No, I think the right phrase is, 'Welcome to the snake's nest.' You're in my territory now, Harry. You are mine." Draco muttered, pulling Harry's lips back to his own. It was true, too. Harry had completely succumbed to Draco's will, and he knew it. The panic that would have normally come along with this was covered by the overwhelming passion he was feeling.

*

The next morning dawned clear and bright, a perfect summer day. Harry woke to find himself up in the loft, half naked with someone lying next to him. What did we do? Why can't I remember what happened? He thought frantically, looking at Draco Malfoy with a look of shock. Shit. I'm screwed.

*