Life With Draco

Chapter 5: Enter Wood

Harry was dreaming that he was falling off a cliff when he came crashing onto the floor. He awoke to find himself sprawled out on the carpet. Sitting up with a jerk, he rubbed his eyes, forcing his sleep-deprived eyelids to open. The first thing that reached his senses was the loud humming of what sounded like a lawnmower.

"Oh, my head." He felt his forehead; the swelling had gone down. However, the throbbing remained, which was now aggravated by the loud noise. His eyes darted from left to right, trying to find the source of the racket.

He turned his head to discover Draco vacuuming nearby. His eyes were drawn up to the couch on which he had been sleeping. It was levitating a few feet off the ground. Taking a closer look, he was able to see that the sofa was tilting forward.

"That's why I fell out," he mumbled. "What time is it?" He looked at the clock on the wall; it was seven in the morning. "Draco, could you do this another time? I only got four hours of sleep last night."

As the noise continued, so did the throbbing in his head. "Listen, can you turn that thing off for a minute?" He watched as Draco inched towards him with the machine, not showing any signs he heard him.

"My head is killing me and that thing is not helping. I would appreciate it if.ow!" The vacuum rammed into his legs. "You did that on.ow!" Draco proceeded to vacuum several of his fingers.

Harry quickly got to his feet. "Turn that damn thing off now!"

Draco stared at him for a moment before switching off the machine. He walked past Harry, bumping him with his shoulder in the process. He dragged the machine to the hall, where he threw it into the closet.

"If you break that thing, you're buying the next one." Harry watched as Draco stomped into the kitchen. He soon heard the noise of pots and pans being banged together. "I hope you're not planning on cooking. You know the only thing you can make is beans on toast."

He waited, but did not hear a response come out of the kitchen. "Are you still mad?"

Just then the levitating couch fell onto the floor, missing his foot by mere inches. Draco popped his head out of the kitchen, looked at Harry and then disappeared once more.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you meant for the sofa to fall on me." There was still no sound from the blond in the kitchen. "Fine, I give up." He headed up the stairs.

As he got dressed, the aroma of burning food came wafting in from downstairs. "What the hell is he doing? He's going to burn the place down."

Walking downstairs, he saw Draco sitting on the couch. "What's that?" he asked pointing to the plate on the coffee table. He bent down and stared at what looked like a piece of toast, except it was burned beyond recognition.

Harry walked in front of the other man as he continued buttoning his shirt. He had calculated a plan in his head of what he would say, orchestrating everything down to the last word.

"I'm really glad you woke me up this early. This gives me a chance to take you out to breakfast. We haven't done that in a long time."

He sat on the couch next to the blond. "I was thinking we could go over to the little cafe on the corner, the place Sirius and I were yesterday. They should be opened by now. So what do you say?"

He watched as Draco sat unmoving on the sofa, his body stiff and uneasy. The rigid expression on his face told Harry that the task ahead of him would be arduous.

On the many occasions when things would not go his way, Draco would freeze himself into an unrelenting ball of silence. Harry closed his eyes. He hated when Draco did this, he much preferred his boisterous show of emotion. It was a lot harder on his nerves to be given the silent treatment.

"Drake, I really don't want to fight with you. Can't we just make up?"

His eyes scanned Draco's face; the tight look was still there. He heard the other man's breathing; it was even and steady, unlike his own hurried breaths. He wanted Draco to turn and hit him, or yell at him; a show of any emotion would have been happily welcomed at that moment.

He reached out his arm and draped it across Draco's neck, thinking that physical contact would ease the other man. He wrapped both arms around Draco's body and held him tight.

"Get away from me," Draco shouted, struggling against Harry's body. Harry held him tighter, causing Draco to fight him more. Finally, Draco was able to push him away.

Harry took a deep breath. "I'm really getting sick of this. So you're just going to sit here, pouting?"

"I have every reason to pout. You humiliated me last night, made me look like a fool in front of all your little friends."

"I didn't do anything. You're the one who had to make a scene. You're the one who had to play the tragic figure by running out into the rain."

"Well, none of this would have happened if you'd just told me the truth. You started all of this by lying to me."

"You know what? I'm sick of trying to be nice." He began to take off his shoes. "I'm not going to take you out to breakfast. You can stay down here and act like a baby all you want. I'm going to bed."

"What did you call me?"

"A baby. Wah, wah, wah. That's all I hear every time you open your mouth." Harry was about to head to the stairs when he saw Draco point his wand at him. Before he could move out the way, he heard a sudden popping noise.

He then found himself staring into Oliver Wood's face.

"Hey Harry," said Oliver. "I need to ask you for some.what the hell?" He grabbed the back of his neck; he could feel large bumps developing on his skin. He looked from Harry to Draco. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Where the hell did you come from?" asked Draco. "And why didn't you use the door?"

"Sorry. No time for doors. Harry I need your help."

"Excuse me, but Harry and I were in the middle of something before you rudely apparated. Uninvited, might I add."

"Listen, I just need to talk to Harry for a minute then I'll leave and you two can curse each other to your hearts' content." Oliver quickly turned to face Harry. "I need a broom for Krum, quick."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows at the Cannons' manager. "I thought Krum got a new one last week."

"He did, but he broke it last night. He was showing off in Hogsmeade, when he crashed. I tried to get Dobby to send me a new one, but he wouldn't do it without your permission. I could go elsewhere, but your company makes the finest brooms around."

Harry patted him on the shoulder. "You don't have to sweet talk me. I'll give you the broom."

"I was hoping you could upgrade Krum's broom to your new Diablo model. I know they don't come out till next month, but we have a game against Leeds tonight and we could use all the help we can get."

"Sure."

"And maybe you could upgrade the whole team too?"

Harry chuckled. "No problem. Let me make a call to Dobby and the brooms will appear in the Cannons' changing room in a few minutes." He was about to contact Dobby, when Draco stepped in his path.

"Harry can't get your stupid brooms now," Draco began, "cause he's talking to me."

"Draco!"

"Harry and I were in the middle of a conversation."

"You guys still arguing about last night?" asked Oliver.

"How the hell did you know?"

"Seamus."

Draco exhaled loudly and looked up at the ceiling. "God, I hate that bastard. When I see him again, I'm gonna turn him into a -"

"You're not going to do a thing to him," snapped Harry. "Plus we wouldn't be in this mess if you'd kept your mouth shut at the party."

Oliver cleared his throat. "Hey Harry, how about those brooms?"

"So this is all my fault?" shouted Draco.

"Yes," replied Harry.

Oliver scratched his head as his eyes wandered from Harry to Draco. "Actually, it's not that big a deal."

Draco narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't think anyone asked for your opinion."

"Don't talk to my friend like that," said Harry. "What if I said something like that to one of your friends? Oh I forgot; you don't have any."

"Piss off!"

Oliver glanced down at his watch. "Harry, are you going to call Dobby now? I have to get going."

"Yeah." Harry sauntered to a nearby table and picked up a miniature broomstick. The object was gold and had his company logo engraved into it. "Hey Dobby" Harry said, holding the broom close to his lips. Soon, the high-pitched voice of the house-elf was answering him back.

Oliver watched as Draco sat back on the sofa, throwing him glaring glances every so often. "You know, you should go easy on him."

Draco looked at him from the corner of his eye. "Why is it any of your business?"

"He's my friend and I don't like to see him so stressed out."

"Well, your friend needs to be a bit more truthful."

Oliver sat on the arm of the sofa and looked down at him. "I know this is none of my concern, but I know Harry wouldn't do anything to hurt you. He's given up so much for you. He doesn't even come to any of our games because he knows how much you despise the wizarding community."

Draco snorted loudly and turned his head away.

Oliver turned around when he felt Harry's fingers on his shoulders. "Do I have my brooms?" Harry nodded his head. Oliver thanked his friend and disapparated out of their home.

Harry took a seat next to Draco. He reached for the man's knee but thought better of it and kept his hands at his sides. "Draco, I want to explain to you about Ron and Ginny." As he heard the words escape his mouth, he grimaced, for he sounded so beaten.

"I didn't tell you about Ginny," he began, "cause I felt like I'd betrayed you. You stayed so faithful to me while we were separated, and I felt bad for having been with someone else."

Draco finally glanced his way. Harry felt himself start to relax as he explained. "I was really lonely when you weren't around anymore and she was there. She wanted to comfort me and I let her. I just missed you and when you stopped writing, I assumed that I wouldn't see you anymore."

"Did you sleep with her?" Draco waited for a response, but the other man's silence answered his question. "Did you love her?"

"I liked her and but I wasn't in love with her. I kept thinking too much about you."

"I was lonely too, for nearly two years, but I never went near anyone else. I could have had some people, but I wouldn't do that to you."

Harry bowed his head, hiding his face from the blond. He looked down at his hands, regretting the fling that had happened so many years ago, the fling he thought his lover would know nothing about.

"But I guess I can understand about Ginny," Draco continued. "The thing that really ticks me off is why you would tell Ron all that personal information about me."

Harry finally met his glance, seeing the hurt that now lingered on Draco's face. "Everything you told me, about the beatings and getting thrown out of your house, that was too much for me to keep inside. I told Ron because I trusted him with the information."

He reached over and touched Draco's arm. "I'm so sorry everything had to come out like that, but I'm glad it's all out in the open. Now we don't have to feel like we're living a lie."

"But now the rest of the wizarding world will know. Word will get around that I'm a failure." Draco put his face in his hands. "I'm so stupid. Why couldn't I keep my big mouth shut?"

Harry put his hand on his back. "Since when did you care about what anyone else thinks? Besides, they have nothing on you. So what if you didn't graduate? Look at you now, you're working and going on with your life."

His hand traveled to Draco's hair, tangling his fingers in his silky locks of hair. "We've spent too many years running away from the wizarding world, hoping that no one would know your secret. Now that everything is out in the open, we should go back. My magic has gotten so rusty; I don't think I can remember how to apparate."

He enclosed his boyfriend in his arms, pulling him close to his body. "I would really like to go to Diagon Alley with you. It'll give you a chance to see my shop. In five years, you haven't even visited the place."

"I don't wanna go," replied Draco. His voice was weak, as he tried to hold back his tears. "What if I see my father there?"

"I don't think you will. Sirius tells me that he's in a lot of trouble with the Ministry as it is. They have him on some sort of house arrest."

"I might see some of the other kids from school and they'll all say, `There goes Draco, degenerate and disowned son of Lucius.'"

"No they won't. You're a brave man. You stood up to your father by not allowing him to bully you into being a Death Eater. You should be proud of that. You can't stay in hiding all your life. You have to go out and show everyone you don't care about what they think."

They both sat in silence on the sofa, soothing and holding each other, enjoying being so close. After a few minutes, Harry asked, "Do you forgive me?"

"I guess. Who else am I gonna get to cook for me?"

Harry chuckled. "You really scared me last night, when you took off. It took me a long time to find you. I shouldn't have been surprised that you got so far; you always were in very good shape."

"Yeah."

"Remember that time you took me jogging with you?"

"You didn't even run. You just sat on the park bench."

"You run too fast. I couldn't keep up." He brought his hand to Draco's face and ran his fingers on his milky white skin. "But I really did enjoy watching sprint down the street, the wind blowing threw your hair. You looked really beautiful. Until you took off your shirt and starting to flirt with those construction workers."

"I can't help it if I'm friendly." He turned his head and looked at Harry. "But I think my flirting turned you on. After all, wasn't it you who practically carried me home and spent the whole day ravaging me."

He reached for Harry's arm and began to stroke it. He opened his mouth and let out a laugh. "Remember when Sirius called asking why you weren't at the cafe and you pretended to be sick?"

"What was I going to say? I couldn't tell him that I would rather make love to you. But I think he already knew what we were doing cause when I saw he the following week, he kept chuckling to himself and asking if you made me feel better."

"Well did I?"

"Yeah. And sore too."

"Then I did my job."

They locked their eyes on one another. A sly smile began to spread on Draco's lips. "So, do you want to recreate that day?"

Harry leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Draco put his arms around his neck, pressing the two of them closer together, intensifying their embrace. Soon their kissing became more and more urgent, each partner trying to steal the breath out of the other.

They never did make it to their bed. They got as far as the hallway, where they both collapsed on the floor, kissing, touching, and moaning loudly.

************

Later that afternoon, the couple was sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, exchanging stares as they spoon-fed each other ice cream.

Draco had his shoes off and was rubbing his feet up Harry's legs, the pleasurable sensations of that morning's activities still fresh in his memory. Soon, the couple was sampling some of the chocolate fudge ice cream off each other's lips.

After they pulled out of their embrace, Draco saw a figure walk past them. He turned his head just in time to see Seamus walk by , surrounded by a group of friends.

"First Tom and Nicole and now them," Draco heard Seamus tell his gang of friends. "He and Draco practically broke up at the party. It was so sad to watch."

"The lying bastard," Draco spat out. "Did you see him at the party? He was having the time of his life." He reached into his coat pocket and began to pull something out.

Harry grabbed his hand and shook his head. "Don't. He's not worth it."

"Fine, I won't." But just then, he pulled away from Harry's grasp and pointed his wand at Seamus, while muttering under his breath.

"Draco."

"What? It was an accident. Anyway, a little memory charm never hurt anyone. But I suspect he'll have a little trouble remembering the events of last night. I suspect he'll have trouble remembering his name."

The two lovers laughed and went back to their ice cream.