Queer & There

Chapter Thirteen
Making Commitments

When Harry went out a little while later to see Dean, Draco could feel a bit of a jealous streak already working its way through him. He wasn't sure he wanted Harry to see Dean - if the other boy made him change his mind again and Harry came home with a different outlook, Draco wasn't sure what he would do.

They hadn't done much more serious talking once the bulk of it was over, although Draco had indeed promised to try and behave. He had signed away his staring at women and making comments on breasts with a sulky sigh, while he had made Harry promise not to turn into a nagging sort of boyfriend.

And there was that word again. Draco wasn't sure he liked the idea of 'boyfriend', while 'partner' sounded as though they were opening a business together. Which, incidentally they were, but in terms of dating, Draco thought it was far too formal.

They had discussed the business as well, between uncertain kisses and even more fleeting touches that mostly came from Harry, because Draco wasn't quite sure how to touch a man just yet. He wasn't sure he was ready for that, and it felt very unreal not to be ready to touch someone. Sex was usually easier than anything else for him, and now it was all Different. Everything was completely different.

It had been decided that of course they would still go ahead with the club, maintaining a professional sort of relationship within its walls. Draco was determined not to mess up his one chance of self employment just because he was a bit horny. And he was that, now that he thought of it. He hadn't mentioned it to Harry, because it was scary. Sex was scary, and that idea was even more horrifying.

When Harry finally walked through the door after a good couple of hours, Draco's head raised quite immediately.

"Well?" he asked expectantly, his tone short and full of its usual demand. He pouted when Harry didn't say anything, instead removing his jacket and hanging it up. "Well?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, it was alright."

"We're not talking about a bloody Quidditch game, Potter, did you dump him or what?"

A little smile flickered once again over Harry's lips. "Yeah."

"And how was it?" Draco sighed heavily, as though the other boy were a great inconvenience. Sometimes it was like getting blood out of a stone, he thought. This boy was clueless. "Did he cry?"

"It was fine."

"Are you trying to wind me up on purpose?!" was the insistent reply, as Draco sat up quite straight in his seat. He furrowed his brow in annoyance, and still remained stubbornly pouty even as Harry wandered over and tugged him by the hand to pull him out of his seat. "You are! You're winding me up!"

Harry grinned. "Uh huh."

"So you didn't really break up with him?" Draco asked, immediately worried.

"Course I did." Harry tugged at his hand again, and Draco obediently allowed himself to be guided in the general direction of Harry's bedroom. His heart was suddenly in his throat. "I thought we could- you know.. .see about celebrating or something."

Draco hesitated. "And this is absolutely as gay as it gets?" He was very pale, and he felt Harry squeeze his hand a bit. "Wah," he added almost hopefully, as an afterthought.

A laugh escaped Harry, who remarked, "I'm used to that by now, Malfoy. You're not getting away with it. Sorry." He didn't sound very sorry at all, and was still grinning.

"You are not."

"I am. I'm very sorry. Honest."

They had reached the doorway, and Harry pushed the door gently open with his free hand. "I can try another method of apology, if you like," he suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Draco sighed, and smiled. "Oh, alright then." And he let the door close easily behind them as they passed the threshold, despite still being able to feel his heart thumping faster than it had in a long time.

* * *

"Draco!" was the most immediate sound that passed through the living room as the door opened again not twenty minutes later. There was a flash of blond as one man passed through the doorway, who was followed quickly by Harry, who had an expression of mixed irritation and amusement on his face. "Draco, what's the problem?"

Draco stopped in his tracks at this question, raising his eyebrows so far they looked as though they could jump away from his forehead, and snapped, "You - it - it's weird!"

It was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What's weird?" He glanced down, his embarrassment at just wearing a pair of boxers very apparent. "What? That? That's- oh come on, Draco. It's a penis, you have one too, you know."

Making another face of disgust that was more because of the choice of phrase than anything else - although Harry clearly took it differently - Draco shifted on his feet and shrugged. "Not that. Just.. you know. It. In general."

"Draco, you didn't even get out of your shirt yet."

True enough, Draco was mostly still dressed, although his trousers had been discarded first in a rather false confidence that he had desperately been clinging to throughout the short time in Harry's bedroom. It had been fine at first, he had thought, absolutely normal and nothing weird about it. The series of events had been much the same as with any girl - there had been kissing and nuzzling followed by a little heavier kissing, and that had been fine. It had been very nice.

But as his trousers had been tugged off keenly by Harry, along with the other man's own trousers (and his shirt, somewhere along the line), Draco had found himself very - affected by the feeling of- that. Next to- him.

And it had been hard.

Harry was still looking at him, obviously hyperaware that he had done something very wrong. He was clearly worried, and more than likely a little annoyed, which in turn annoyed Draco. "Look- I just don't want to bloody touch you. Other than that, it's great."

Making a bit of a face, Harry remarked dryly, "Yeah, it's excellent." His expression softened after a quiet moment in which neither boy really knew what to say, and he added in a slightly more gentle tone, "I sort of imagined it a little different than that though."

Draco paused. "You imagined it?"

"Well, yeah."

"But you were with Dom- and Dean."

It was Harry's turn to pause, and he shifted very slightly, and glanced down. "Well... yeah."

Draco wasn't quite sure how he felt about this, as Harry's growing embarrassment made him all the more endearing as the seconds ticked by. Unable to help but give the slightest of smiles, Draco let his eyebrow raise as he remarked, "You imagined having sex with me. Before you actually did!" His smile increased, especially as Harry appeared all the more uncomfortable and was turning a lovely shade of crimson. "You did!"

"Well, not exactly- I mean-" Harry was clearly stumbling over his words, and Draco was increasingly amused. He wasn't sure if he was supposed find having this hold over his new boyfriend quite such a triumph, but he most certainly found it that way. It was fun. He resisted the urge to bounce on the balls of his feet, and decided instead to hold a hand out to Harry, as though the other man should come to him rather than Draco actually having to move.

Indeed, Harry made his way over to Draco, as the flush on his cheeks seemed to calm down, and he captured the blond man's hand in his own. "What do you want, hm?" he asked with a smile that Draco thought was already rather smitten. Surprisingly, it didn't worry him too much.

Draco gave a shrug that he felt must make him look absolutely adorable - as 'cute' seemed to be the reaction he was going for now that he and Harry were trying out the boyfriend angle to their relationship - and replied slowly, "I don't really think... I mean, I'm not sure I'm ready to..."

As his voice trailed off, the door opened with a slightly dramatic squeak. In trotted Narcissa Malfoy and, surveying the situation, she gave a shake of her head. Clearly seeing her son and Harry Potter holding hands and wearing less clothes than was necessary was something of a disappointment.

"Oh my," she said softly, closing the door behind her and setting down her cake box on the nearest surface. "No, this won't do at all."

* * *

"And I really don't feel that your own mother should have to walk into your house to find that, Draco Malfoy, I really don't. You should know better, and if you really don't want to get caught out why don't you install a better locking system? Honestly, Draco, if your father were still alive, rest his soul-"

This had been going on for the past forty five minutes - Narcissa was sat on the armchair opposite the sofa, where Harry and Draco had been confined whilst the blonde woman spoke at them continuously. Harry looked as though he may kill himself, and Draco couldn't help but wonder if his mother actually needed to breathe. It didn't feel as though she had paused for air since she started talking.

He opened his mouth now, to offer, "Well- father might n-"

"Your father would be horrified!" Narcissa cut him off rather shrilly, turning back to the coffee table to cut three large chunks of daffodil and chocolate sponge cake. At least, Draco thought it was daffodil, as there were some suspicious yellow tinted flowers set throughout the batter. "I do believe that if the first heart attack hadn't finished him off, he certainly would have managed it after this! My my, Draco, and after you left me unconscious in that mansion, all alone!"

At the same time as Draco protested, "You have sixteen house elves!", Harry looked to Draco with some disapproval.

"You left your mother passed out in Malfoy Manor?" He raised his eyebrows and made a bit of a face when Draco huffed a bit. "That's not really okay."

Draco scowled, feeling as though this whole debacle was very unfair, and also rather wishing his mother had given him time to put his trousers back on. Harry was also still shirtless and had only just about managed to find a large enough pillow to cover his lap, to make sure that the boxers were not the only thing between Narcissa and his nudity. Draco thought this was very funny, but still remained sulky, his arms folded across his chest and a permanent pout etched on his face.

"It's her own fault," he muttered, to another dramatic gasp of horror.

Narcissa's eyes had also widened, as she fell into another long winded speech, "My own fault! I can't imagine how else I'm expected to react to my only child being- well, I'm not prejudiced in the slightest, but-"

Harry made a rather clear noise that indicated doubt, and received a stabbing glare from Draco, who would have done anything at that moment to not spur his mother on further. This single admission from Harry was enough to do the trick, Draco was sure, and indeed Narcissa ploughed on once again.

"But to have my own son just... just make a statement like that and then leave me to suffer. I had no idea where you were when you woke up, you know, Draco- Draco, would you look at me when I'm talking to you?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, and remarked in his most grown up voice (he thought, anyway), "I'm sorry, I thought you were talking at me."

"Do you know," Narcissa started sharply in response this, "I don't think this being gay has been very good for you at all." She folded her arms delicately across her chest, taking a moment to fiddle unnecessarily with a very expensive looking gold necklace. It seemed there was a good chance she had done this to draw attention to said necklace.

It seemed this comment pressed a nerve in Harry, as he snapped, "It's got nothing to do with being gay! He's just like that!" He received a glare from Draco, who felt this comment entirely unfair, and was almost starting to imagine his mother and Harry had planned this little meeting to make him face things he wasn't keen to.

"I'm just like what?" Draco asked in a tone that indicated Harry should be very careful in his reply. He noted to himself that their first argument since they were dating had occurred after a grand half a day - something he felt was an impressive feat. "What am I like, Potter?"

Harry paused, before arching an eyebrow. "Annoying."

Draco looked mortally offended, and promptly forgot his mother was in the room until she gave a sharp and unmistakable clear of her throat. He looked over at her, and behind her beauty was a rather dangerous expression.

He immediately pouted, and said into the quiet in a sulky tone, "Sorry, Mother. But I'm not annoying." He stabbed a look in Harry's direction again, and the other boy made an equally childish face back.

"Draco, darling," Narcissa started carefully, biting daintily into her slice of cake that was notably smaller than the other two that remained untouched. "I think perhaps a therapist might be a lovely idea for you."

Once again, Harry's disapproval was evident. "Why does he want to do something stupid like that?" he asked, looking doubtful. "Only insane people go to therapists."

"Harry," Draco started carefully, "my Mother is a great believer in visiting - helpers. To talk things out with." He gave Harry a pointed look as though to say, don't press this, my mother is one of the insane people.

Harry didn't seem to catch on. "Yeah well, I think it's stupid. I mean, if you want to talk things out, why don't you just tell your friends?"

"Some people don't have friends," Draco pointed out in the same self-aware tone of voice, speaking very slowly and feeling more and more aware of his Mother glaring at the both of them. "It's really not a big deal..."

"Sure it is," Harry still insisted, picking up his cake and biting into it finally, before making a disgusted face and putting it back on the plate. "Ugh." He didn't seem aware that the woman opposite him was fast becoming very angry, and that her facial expression made her look as though she had just eaten something very, very sharp. "Anyway, so Ron always used to say that the only people who need therapists are too insecure to actually make friends and talk to normal people. So they have to go talk to someone just as insane as them to make themselves feel better."

Draco sighed heavily. "Harry, my mother sees a therapist."

Harry looked rather dumbstruck immediately, and seemed to think he had to pick up the cake and swallow a large mouthful of it, because he did so. This didn't seem to help matters, and he mumbled through his mouthful, "Well - um.. I was just paraphrasing."

It was Narcissa who broke the momentary silence, as she hissed, "Draco, I don't think this - young man is quite the... company you need."

"Oh, we're just friends," Draco insisted quickly, only to receive a glare from Harry that did not go unmissed by the blond or his mother, who crossed one leg over the other.

She stood after a moment, brushing off her skirt and setting down her now empty plate on the coffee table. "I don't believe you, darling," she remarked simply. "I'm going to book you in for an appointment with Dr Cherriosa on Monday morning."

"But-"

Narcissa cut him off with an additional, "and I shall be checking up to make sure you were there."

"But, Mother..." Draco got to his feet. "Mother, I don't want to see a therapist! That's not fair!"

As Narcissa waved him off and left the apartment, Harry could be heard to mutter, "Merlin, you are such a baby, Draco," followed by the sound of a piece of cake being thrown at the wall.

* * *

"Oh honestly, Draco, you can be such a baby," Hermione remarked as she sat in Finnigans with the ex-Slytherin and her own boyfriend, who looked as though he was contemplating how best to kill Draco. It was entirely possibly Ron wanted to kill Hermione too, for making him sit with his long time Enemy.

Draco was once again pouting, something that he felt he could probably manage on a professional basis by now, and the pout turned into a scowl at Hermione's dismissive comment. "I just- I don't understand why I have to do everything everyone tells me to do."

Hermione rolled her eyes and sipped some juice through her straw. "Draco, you don't do anything that anybody tells you to do. It took you months to admit you were gay, for goodness sake, and that was only because you were too stubborn."

"It was not!" Draco frowned. "And I'm not, anyway. I'm bisexual." He said this word as though it were newly learned, and look rather proud of himself for it. There was a little groan of annoyance from Ron, however, and Draco stabbed him with a look. "What, Weasley? Decided to be homophobic now, have you? That's so like you." He narrowed his eyes.

Ron's own eyes widened a bit. "I-! What?! Hermione, tell him, would you." His anger was obvious, and it pleased Draco. "I'm not homophobic! My best friend is gay, you twat."

Draco rolled his eyes this time, remarking dryly, "Oh, really? I wasn't aware. What's his name?" He glanced down at his magazine then, as though thoroughly disinterested in anything the redhead boy opposite him had to say, before shifting his gaze back to Hermione. "Anyway, why do I have to go to the therapist?"

"Well, you don't," Hermione pointed out, giving a shrug of her shoulder before patting Ron on the back gently as though to sooth him. "You could take charge of your life for a change..." She paused, and then modified this, "Well, you could do so in a mature way, I suppose is what I mean."

Scowling again, Draco retorted, "I'm very mature!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha."

"Shut up, Weasley! I'll have you, I swear!" Draco swiped his hand across the table vaguely, only to have it blocked by Hermione's newspaper. He set it back down, and resumed pouting. "You're no fun anymore, Granger."

Hermione smiled slightly. "I don't believe I was ever under the impression you thought I was, anyway." She picked up her briefcase then, before speaking. "We're not even supposed to be talking about this today - you said you wanted to get all the property forms signed and handed over by the end of the week, if I recall a certain phone call at four in the morning."

"It's not that late," Draco muttered, picking at the cuticles on his right hand very delicately so as not to scuff his nails. "I wasn't sleepy." Ron made a bit of another annoyed noise in general, and Draco added spitefully, "I could have been having sex. With Harry."

This caused both Ron and Hermione to look rather horrified - Hermione because she knew this was not the truth at all after counselling Harry for a good half hour the previous morning. Ron simply seemed about to throw up as he protested, "That's disgusting. Why do you have to be his boyfriend? You know, if anyone should see a therapist, maybe it's Harry."

"Ron, do be quiet." Hermione gave a little smirk and tucked her hair behind her ear. "So anyway, Draco - I can get these handed in at the end of the day..." She pulled out a few official looking documents and passed them over to Draco, who glanced briefly and shrugged. "That means you can start work on the club from next week."

Draco was pleased with this, at least - his face became rather more bright, and he took a great deal more interest in the papers now. Glancing them over, he saw his own signature and Harry's, and a few paragraphs detailing laws, rules and regulations. His smile broadened. "So I really get a club?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh very slightly. "You and Harry get to share one, you mean."

"Whatever, same thing," Draco dismissed this technicality, as he started mentally planning how His Club would look once he could finally start work on it. Harry wouldn't be interested in all that rubbish anyway, he was certain.

Speaking of Harry, it was at this point that the other boy emerged behind Draco, although Draco wasn't aware until a little kiss was planted on top of his head. He couldn't help but smile, and he looked up. His lips bumped against Harry's then, and Ron made another suicidal sort of noise and buried his head in Hermione's shoulder.

This seemed to make Harry smile, before he remarked, "Uh, Draco? You know how your mother was talking about therapists?"

Draco paused, and then looked annoyed at having to remember this inconvenience. "Yes," he replied, the champion pout returning. "So what?"

"Weeeeell..." Harry was quiet, and because he was standing behind Draco, the blond boy couldn't tell what he was up to. "I kind of found someone I think is more qualified to talk to you."

Draco turned around as he asked, "What? Who? What?"

As Harry started to stutter a hopeful reply, Draco found himself staring into the face of Remus Lupin.