Dragon Tamer

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Dragon Tamer

Chapter 21: Facing the Music

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After slamming the door in the faces of the crazy mob formally known as their friends, Draco quickly went about getting himself and Harry some antidote. Pointedly ignoring the screams and death threats being yelled through the door by their friends outside, and pointedly ignoring the screams and death threats being yelled by the diva inside, the blonde wizard grabbed two mugs off of Harry's dresser and ladled some of the potion into both cups.

Draco checked his watch and confirmed that it was, indeed, past midnight, and downed the content of his glass in a single shot.

"Ugh," he muttered to himself. This potion didn't taste any better than any other he had ever drunk. He waited for a few moments, to see if he felt different. A slight shiver went through his body, but other than that, he felt the same. However, Hermione had helped him brew this potion, and he was confident that if Hermione had made it, it had to work.

He finally turned his attention to Harry, who had stopped yelling and was now sitting on the bed and sulking for all he was worth.

"Alright, Harry, time to drink up," Draco said, holding out the cup to a suspicious looking Harry, who turned his nose up in the air.

"I'm not drinking that," he said in an injured, haughty tone of voice.

"YES, you are," Draco said as patiently as he could.

"NO, I'm not," Harry said icily, glaring up at Draco. "Does it say EVIAN on it? Is it imported from France or Switzerland? Is it from a crystal-clear glacier fed stream?"

"Well, no," Draco admitted.

"Then I'm not drinking it," Harry finished, folding his arms over his chest. Draco closed his eyes and counted to ten.

When he opened them, he smiled sweetly at Harry. "Look, Harry, this is a very special, very exclusive drink available ONLY to the world's most elite celebrities."

Harry looked like he was wavering for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you."

"I swear it's true," lied Draco, who was beginning to get desperate.

Harry sniffed. "Yeah right. You're just trying to get me to drink that nasty stuff, and I won't do it. I'm not falling for your lies. I saw YOU drink it, and you sure as hell aren't an elite celebrity. You're just another nobody with money."

"There's no need to get bitchy," Draco snapped, starting to get very, very irritated with his boyfriend's behavior.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said dismissively. "I'm not drinking it."

"Harry, you're going to drink this if I have to force you," Draco said dangerously, extremely ready to be rid of this celebrity and have his boyfriend back.

Harry scoffed. "You're going to force me? Oh, that's rich. I'm Harry fucking Potter. What can a useless pretty boy like you do against me?"

Wrong thing to say, Harry.

Draco slowly, carefully, and methodically set the glass of antidote down on the floor by the night table, and then launched himself at Harry.

"You're...going...to pay...for that...Potter," Draco snarled, as he and Harry wrestled on the bed. Draco finally managed to get the upper hand and climb on top of Harry, but Harry was having none of it.

"Get the hell OFF me!" Harry shouted into Draco's face, and fought back for all he was worth. He bucked his hips, and managed to catch Draco just slightly off balance and the blonde was knocked off Harry onto the floor. Draco, however, wasn't letting go of Harry's shirt, and Harry went crashing to the floor on top of Draco.

"You unbearable little DIVA," Draco shouted, rolling over on top of Harry. He grabbed Harry's wrists as the Gryffindor went for his hair, and pinned them on either side of his head.

"DIVA?" Harry shouted, struggling against Draco. "DIVA??? I have NEVER been so insulted -

"Will you just SHUT UP?" Draco growled. He moved forward on Harry's body to trap Harry's arms with his legs, and then quickly reached for the mug of potion. "Now you listen to me, you self-centered, egotistical, whiny little brat," Draco said, enunciating every word. "I have put up with enough of your crap. There is only room for one drama queen in this relationship, and that is going to be me. Now you are going to drink this potion, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Harry glared up at him. "There's no need to be rude," he spat murderously. "And I'm not drinking anything. Trust me when I say you'll be hearing from my lawyers about this."

"Oh I look forward to it," Draco said savagely, and pinched Harry's nose closed. With no other way of breathing, his mouth fell open, and Draco poured the potion in.

Harry chocked and sputtered, but Draco didn't let him up and he didn't let go of his nose. Finally, Harry had no choice but to swallow, and so he did, shooting murderous daggers at Draco with his now venomous green eyes.

Draco watched as Harry's eyes flickered shut. After a couple moments, they shot back open, and Draco watched as Harry's pupils slowly began to dilate. After a couple moments, they were back to normal size, and Harry was blinking up at Draco, who reluctantly let go of his nose but did not get off his chest.

"Draco?" Harry asked, confusion written all over his face.

"Who am I talking to?" Draco asked shortly. "Harry the obnoxious, bratty little diva, or Harry my boyfriend?"

There was a pause.

"Ummm, your boyfriend," Harry said, in a very quiet, sheepish voice. Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Prove it," he said, glaring down at Harry. Harry blushed slightly and bit his lip.

"I can't believe I yelled at people about being a celebrity and I'm horribly embarrassed about the whole thing," he said, sounding rather ashamed.

"And?" asked Draco, still glaring.

"And I'm really sorry about how I treated you," Harry said guiltily. Satisfied, Draco climbed off of Harry, and held out a hand to help him to his feet.

"So it is you," Draco said, dusting himself off slightly. "Good to know this antidote thing works. Now come on, there's a huge crowd of people outside who deserve an explanation from you after how you screamed at them."

Harry quickly went rather pale. "Um, you know what Draco? Lovely as that sounds, I think I'd rather not. I'm just going to crawl into my bed and never come out, alright?"

"Oh no you don't," Draco said, narrowing his eyes. "You're not getting out of this. I cannot count the number of times you've made me apologize for my behavior. Not only that, but you made me face the Great Hall after my shagged silly episode, and it was much worse."

"Oh it so was not," Harry said, now glaring back. "You were sweet and cute and cuddly when you were shagged silly. I was, in your own words, an obnoxious, bratty little diva. That's much worse."

"Maybe for you," Draco said meaningfully. "But not for me. The words "sweet" and "cute" and most definitely "cuddly" should never be used to describe a Malfoy. Now let's go. Time to face the music, Potter." And Draco pushed a very reluctant Harry over the door of the bedroom and opened it.

The eager crowd at the door was sorely disappointed to see a perfectly normal, if very embarrassed looking Harry Potter standing next to an expectant looking Draco Malfoy.

There was a moment of silence as everyone waited to hear what Harry was going to say, but Harry just kept looking as if he were about to make a run for it. Finally, Draco prodded him.

"Harry here has something to tell you all, don't you Harry?" he said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking pointedly at Harry.

"What? Oh, very well, all right. Well, um...I just wanted to say that I'm very sorry about the whole celebrity thing. I, um...wasn't feeling myself," Harry finally said, going very pink in the face. "And um...I'd really appreciate it if you all didn't tell anyone, but I'm not going to get my hopes up because I fully expect more than one of you to blab to your friends and for me to end up absolutely humiliated and hearing about this for the rest of my life. But, anyway, I'm sorry. Can I please go now, Draco?"

Draco nodded and then turned to the crowd. "Now, if everyone could just please clear out, Harry and I are going to bed, and this whole sodding shagged silly business will never happen again. Goodnight everyone," he finished, stepping inside the door.

A worried voice piped up from the crowd. "But Malfoy, wait! That's our -

The door slammed shut and the crowd heard a few locking spells and then a Silencio cast inside.

" - bedroom," Neville finished, looking glumly at that locked door.

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Back in the bedroom, Harry launched himself down on his bed on his back and threw an arm over his face. "Gods, I'm exhausted," he said, sighing. He peered at Draco from under his arm. "I can't believe you made me apologize, you prat," he said. "It's not like any of this was my fault."

"What can I say? I was feeling a bit...vindictive," Draco said, glaring at Harry's prone body. "And, Potter, it may interest you to know that all of this was entirely your fault."

That got Harry's attention. He removed his arm from his face and sat up, staring up at Draco. "How on earth do you figure that, Malfoy?" he asked, irritated. "You're the one who shagged me before the antidote was done, and if I recall you didn't give me a lot of choice in the matter."

"Actually, Potter, it was you who gave me no choice in the matter," Draco spat back, narrowing his eyes.

Harry snorted. "Whatever, Malfoy," he said dismissively, laying back down on the bed and closing his eyes. "You're completely delusional."

"Am I?" Draco's voice was soft but dangerous as he crept over to the bed. "Do you remember why I shagged you before the antidote was done, Potter?"

"Because you were jealous?" Harry intoned in a careless voice, not opening his eyes. Draco smiled in a sinister sort of fashion.

"And why was I jealous?"

Harry heaved a sigh. "You were jealous because Seamus and I...oh," he said, opening his eyes and smiling sheepishly up at Draco. "Right. Forgot about that part."

"You would. You used the fact that I can get a little jealous sometimes on purpose to rile me up. That was incredibly Slytherin of you, you know."

Harry looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, I know. But honestly Draco, you don't just get a little jealous, you know. You get as possessive as a spoiled rich kid with their favorite toy."

"I am a spoiled rich kid and you are my favorite toy. And I can't believe you're mocking me now after what you put me through tonight," Draco whined. Harry felt a slight wave of guilt pass through him. He really had been unfair to Draco tonight.

"Look, Draco," Harry began earnestly, sitting up. "I'm sorry, I really am. I was just so upset and hurt at the thought of you leaving me for Blaise that I lost my mind."

Draco sat done on the bed next to Harry and gave him a slightly angry look. "Harry, you fuckwit, I would never leave you. I love you."

"I love you too," Harry said back. "Can you forgive me? I'll do anything to make it up to you."

Draco smirked a bit wickedly. "Anything?" he purred, inching a little closer on the bed.

"Anything," Harry said firmly, not quite catching on to Draco's meaning.

"Well then," Draco said, placing his hand on Harry's chest and pushing him down onto his back. "Now that we've taken the antidote and all, and you're willing to do anything to make this all up to me, I think I'd like to play with my favorite toy."

Harry's breath hitched as Draco crawled up his body on all fours and towered over him, licking his lips lasciviously. "Sounds good to me," he managed to squeak, as Draco brushed a hand meaningfully over Harry ().

"Excellent," Draco said smoothly, with an evil glint in his eyes. And then with a few spoken words he quickly conjured up a few choice items, including two pairs of handcuffs, a can of whipped cream, a blindfold, a jar of chocolate, a leather paddle, a feather and a shiny collar.

Harry's eyes went wide.

"What can I say?" Draco shrugged nonchalantly, enjoying the look on Harry's face. "I just couldn't get all your suggestions from our library session with Hermione out of my mind. Now, are you ready to play?"

All Harry could do was nod.

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The next morning, Lucius Malfoy wandered downstairs as was his wont early in the morning, and threaded his way into the kitchen for that delicious morning cup of dark, steaming French Roast coffee.

He had been pleased to note that since his howler to his errant son that not a word had been said in the papers about Draco's wretched relationship with that Potter boy. Not only that, he was pleased that he had finally gotten off a letter to Severus Snape asking for the "extra special" ingredients that would help ensure that Draco's wedding went smoothly. AND the letter that he had sent had been strictly platonic, without a hint of anything remotely inappropriate in it.

Well, okay. There may have been one passing reference to "flowing, billowing robes" and maybe one more reference to Snape's "strong, manly arms," but that was IT. And now the special ingredients were coming, and the invitations were in the mail, and Draco wasn't in the paper, and life was good for Lucius Malfoy.

"LOOO-CIOUS!" Lucius winced slightly. Life was good, yes, but life was not perfect.

"Yes, Narcissa?" he said as pleasantly as he could, as his wife walked into the kitchen where he was seated.

"Darling, I've sent out the invitations for Draco's party, did you know?"

"Yes dear, you told me you were planning on sending them."

"It's going to be simply marvelous! I've invited all of Draco's little friends, and I've hired a DJ, and gotten a few extra house elves to help with the decorating and clean-up. Actually, I was able to get that little fellow who used to work for us to come help out for the evening from Hogwarts. What's his name? Dooby? Dobie?"

"Dobby," Lucius said, through clenched teeth. Narcissa snapped her fingers.

"Yes, of course! Dobby. You know, he wasn't going to come, but then he heard that Harry Potter was going to be here and he absolutely jumped at the chance to help. Apparently he's a big fan of Harry's."

"You don't say." Was it too early in the morning for Lucius to start drinking?

"Anyway lovey, I've sent out the invitations, and I'm ever so looking forward to this party. Also, I've told Draco that he can bring his boyfriend to stay over for the entire holidays."

"You WHAT?" Lucius was praying that he had heard wrong.

"I told Draco to bring Harry to stay with us for Christmas vacation. Did you know that the poor little dear has no parents?"

"Um, yes. I am quite familiar with the Potter boy's story," Lucius said, rubbing his temples.

"Well, I just couldn't have the poor baby staying all alone at Hogwarts for the holidays, could I? So I invited him to stay."

"Harry Potter is staying at my house for Christmas. That's just...lovely," Lucius said, looking very pained.

"It is, isn't it? I'm so looking forward to finally meeting Harry, Draco seems very fond of him. By the way, did you see today's paper? Looks like our little dragon made the front page again!"

And with that she handed a now very pale Lucius Malfoy The Daily Prophet and made her way out of the kitchen, humming "Material Girl" to herself as she went.

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Draco awoke in Harry's bed early the next morning, his arms wrapped tightly around his boyfriend. He smiled to himself. He was in an extraordinarily good mood this morning. He sat up in Harry's bed and stretched his arms above his head, looking down at his still sleeping boyfriend.

"Wake up, Harry!" he said happily. Harry didn't budge.

"Harry, come on. Wake up," Draco insisted. Harry still didn't move. Draco leaned down and nuzzled his neck. "Haaa-rrry, wake up!"

Harry finally opened his eyes to glare up at Draco. "Draco. It's Saturday. And it's fucking early. So would you please pipe down and go back to sleep?" Harry gave Draco one last irritated glance and closed his eyes again. Draco was undaunted.

"Awww," he cooed. "You're cranky this morning. That's so cute." He punctuated his statement by ruffling Harry's already extraordinarily messy bed head. Harry's eyes snapped back open.

"Malfoy. I'm warning you. If you want to live to see your seventeenth birthday, you will never imply that I am cranky in the morning ever again."

"Oh, you don't mean that," Draco said dismissively, still running his fingers through Harry's hair. "You're just being mean 'cause you're grumpy. Who's my grumpy little Gryffindor?"

"I'm going to kill you, Malfoy," Harry growled, and yanked the covers over his head. "Now sod off. I'm trying to sleep."

Draco rolled his eyes, but he was in too good a mood to let a cranky Harry Potter spoil it. He wrenched open the hangings to Harry's bed, letting the early morning sunlight pour in. Offhandedly he began to hum the opening lines to "Isla Bonita."

Harry cracked open one eye. "Malfoy, are you humming?" he asked tersely, sounding annoyed.

"So what if I am?" Draco said cheerfully. "Now come on, Harry, rise and shine."

Harry glared at him through his eyelashes. "I told you no."

"Oh come on! We can sleep anytime. Look what a glorious morning it is! Let's get up, have a shower, and get some breakfast. And then we can go to Hogsmeade and get some chocolate, and maybe play a pick-up game of Quidditch later, and then -

"Malfoy. FUCK. OFF."

Draco bristled. "Now really, there's no need to get snippy. I guess you're just not really a morning person."

That got Harry's attention. He sat up in bed and sent a scathing glare in Draco's direction. "I'm not really a morning person? You're the one who's always an absolute bastard first thing in the morning. What the hell is wrong with you today?"

Draco shrugged. "I had incredible sex last night. Doesn't that entitle me to a good mood in the morning?"

Harry scowled darkly. "Yes. But you forget that I was the recipient of said great sex, and I am fucking sore. For the love of Merlin, I can barely move, you stupid git. First with the hours of jealous sex and then with the handcuffs and the food and the collar and then I swear to you Malfoy, I will never let your sadistic arse anywhere near me with a paddle ever again."

"Awww. Want me to kiss it better?"

"Go to hell."

"Still cranky, eh?"

"I'm warning you."

"Who's my cranky little kitten?"

"That's it. You asked for it." And with that Harry pounced on the unprepared Draco and had him trapped flat on his back on the bed in two seconds flat. Harry smirked evilly down at his squirming captive.

"Let me go, you great brute!" Draco shouted, quite a bit shocked at the sudden turn of events. Harry shook his head.

"I don't think so, Malfoy," he said vengefully, his smirk becoming decidedly more evil. "It's my turn on top." He leered down at the wriggling blonde. "Now, what did you do with that paddle?"

Draco gulped.

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Quite a little while later, the boys made their way into the Great Hall, Draco grumbling the entire way.

"Hero of the Wizarding World my arse," the blonde muttered under his breath, wincing occasionally. "Savage, barbaric, kinky sex fiend is more like it."

Harry was amused. "Oh, don't be such a baby, Draco. I went easy on you because you were so nice to me last night, protecting me from all our crazy friends."

"I was nice to you, wasn't I? Not that you deserved it, you bloody Neanderthal, with the way you treated me this morning."

Harry snorted. "Please. You loved every minute of it. You were screaming my name and begging me not to stop."

"Lies, rotten lies," Draco said dismissively, as they walked into the Great Hall.

Which immediately fell completely silent upon their entry.

Harry groaned under his breath. Why was everything he did immediately public knowledge?

He and Draco made their way over to the Gryffindor table where Hermione and Ron were already seated, valiantly ignoring the stares and whispers that were now following them as they sank into their seats. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione.

"Just tell me what the paper says," he said dully, and Hermione gave him a weak smile.

"Why don't you read it for yourself?" she suggested, passing him her copy of The Daily Prophet. Harry scanned the front page.

"Malfoy Heir Shags Boy Who Lived into Raving Diva. Lovely." Harry handed the paper back to Hermione and buried his head in his arms. Draco had unfurled his own copy and was reading happily.

"This is great!" he said, pointing at the article. "They've made me out to be some kind of sex god! I think I'm going to frame this."

"You do and there'll be nothing left but a few strands of prissy blonde hair when I'm done with you," Harry threatened from his arms. Draco sniffed, offended.

"Really, Harry. Such a temper this morning," he chided. "And my hair is not prissy, you uncultured swine, it's gorgeous and you know it."

"Hmph," was all Harry said back, but he didn't deny it. He really did have a soft spot for his boyfriend's hair.

At that moment, several owls flew over the Great Hall, all carrying matching silver envelopes and dropping the envelopes in front of various fifth, sixth and seventh year students.

"What on earth?" said Hermione, as a silver envelope fell next to her plate, and the plates of most of the nearby Gryffindors. Draco took a closer look and comprehension dawned on his face.

"Those must be the invitations to my birthday party," he said offhandedly, and Hermione quickly opened the envelope to prove him right.

Ron was staring at Draco. "You're inviting all these people to your birthday party?" he asked, incredulous. Draco shrugged.

"I guess so. My mum's planning it."

"But this party will be huge! You've invited the entire upper three classes of Hogwarts!" Ron was still in a bit of shock.

"Yes, well, I'll be turning seventeen. Coming of age, and all that. And I'm dating a celebrity now" there were snickers at this from all the nearby Gryffindors, and Harry turned to glare at his boyfriend, "So I suspect Mum wants it to be a big, festive event. You'll all be coming, yes?"

"Well, yeah, of course." Malfoy Manor was legendary among Hogwarts students. Nobody was going to miss this party. Draco nodded, pleased.

"Good. It's over Winter Break too, which is still a few weeks away, which gives you plenty of time to find me a present," Draco said suggestively. Ron paled.

"A present? But what on earth can I get you?" Ron was having a coronary at the thought of trying to find a way to get a present for the richest kid in school. Draco just rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, Weasley, relax. I'm joking."

"Oh." Ron was relived. Harry was looking over his invitation thoughtfully.

"Draco, look at this. There's a letter mixed in with my invitation. It looks like your mum's inviting me to stay at Malfoy Manor for the holidays."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. When my mum heard you don't have parents she absolutely flipped and insisted that I bring you for Christmas. You'll come, right?"

Harry hesitated. "But Draco, what about your dad and" he glanced furtively around and lowered his voice, "Voldemort? Is it safe?"

"Of course it's safe, silly!" Draco whispered back. "My dad's not going to hand you over to the Dark Lord when everyone knows you're at his house! It'd be suicide; the Ministry would have his head! Not to mention what my mum would do to him if she found out he endangered another house guest."

"Another house guest?" Harry asked, not quite reassured. Draco waved a hand dismissively.

"Oh, that was just some incident with a distant relative, the Imperious curse, some pink, frilly knickers and a group of rabid Muggles. No big deal. Now say you'll come. I don't want to spend Christmas without you."

Harry bit his lip. "I don't know, Draco. Your dad hates me, and I'm not used to hanging around rich people, and what if Voldemort shows up, and -

"Everything will be fine, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you. Now please say yes, Harry?" And Draco gave Harry the cutest puppy dog eyes he knew how to give. Harry melted.

"Oh alright, then," he sighed, and smiled. It would be fun to spend Christmas at Malfoy Manor with Draco, and there would be the huge birthday party and everything, and at the very least things should be exciting and interesting.

At that moment, another owl flew into the Great Hall, swooped over the Gryffindor table and dropped an envelope in front of Draco.

A red envelope.

Draco turned white.

"Oh God no," he moaned, looking at the Howler next to his plate. "My dad must have seen The Daily Prophet." Amidst sympathetic looks from the nearby Gryffindors, Draco picked up the envelope with shaking hands and tore it open.

"DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY!!" Lucius Malfoy's amplified voice was again heard echoing through the Great Hall. "WHAT THE BLEEDING HELL ARE YOU DOING ON THE FRONT OF THE PAPER AGAIN??? I DISTINCTLY TOLD YOU THAT NEVER TO LET HARRY POTTER SHAG YOU SILLY AGAI...wait..."

Lucius Malfoy's voice suddenly dropped significantly in volume but did not stop talking.

"....what's that, Cissa? Draco was the one who shagged the Potter Boy silly this time?...he what?...a diva?...bloody hell, that is funny. What? Oh, right, right...the Howler."

Lucius' voice cleared its throat, then continued.

"WELL, I GUESS CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER THEN, DRACO. WELL DONE, WELL DONE. ALWAYS KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU. YOU ARE A CREDIT TO THE MALFOY NAME. LIKE FATHER LIKE SON, EH? THOUGH I NEVER SHAGGED JAMES POTTER SILLY, MIND YOU, I JUST SHAGGED HIM TO THE...UH, I SHOOK HIM! NOT SHAGGED, SHOOK! THAT'S RIGHT. SHOOK HIM. BACK AND FORTH AND IN AND - MERLIN, I'VE GOT TO GO."

And with that, the Howler burst into flames.

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