A More Familiar Stranger

Chapter 3

A Reconciliation & A Revelation

A wise woman once told me

that love is the most precious gift ever given to man.

I disagree...

the ability to love is the most important gift.

- Hanna Crosby

~~ ~~~ ~~

Harry was still staring into the phone blankly, Hermione's expression full of confusion when Sirius and Remus appeared out of thin air, making her leap back in surprise. Remus' knees buckled under him and Sirius struggled to keep them both up-right, his head whooshing from first Hermione's figure, right around the room to land on Harry's stark figure, standing there, one fist balled, the other hand still holding the phone.

Quick at lightning though, Sirius recovered, letting his hands fall from his lover and striding straight to Harry, enveloping him in a huge, bone-crushing hug, rocking back and forth like he was a child. "Harry, Harry, Harry,"

Hermione rushed to Remus' side, and helped him carefully up as Draco suddenly appeared in the room again, worry flickering to relief over his face. "Oh," he said, mildly. "It's you two. Come right on it, make yourselves at home. We don't mind. Really."

"Shuddup Malfoy," came Harry's breathless and muffled voice, and his hand reached out to thump Sirius' back, trying to get him to let him go. "Siri! Need...air...please let...go...!"

Sirius did let him go, reluctantly, looking at him in complete amazement. "You're...you're..."

"Here!" gasped Remus, finally sitting down with Hermione perched on the arm rest next to him, as he looked at his former student, and his former best friends son with disbelief.

Harry smiled weakly at him. "Yeah, I guess I am. 'Lo Remus."

Suddenly Sirius lost his temper. "Where in God's name have you been? Why haven't you gotten in touch sooner? Why, for fucks sake did you go away in the first place? Dammit to hell and back Harry! What would your parents think?!"

Harry sighed, resigned, and he waved a hand, motioning for Sirius and Draco to sit down, as he started to pace blindly, mulling over his answer. "Do you want the ten minute version, or the movie length one?" He said thoughtfully.

"From the beginning I think Harry. Actually, no, start with why you're here-" Sirius waved a hand around the living room, smiling, for the first time at Hermione, who was still sitting next to his lover, rubbing his back in an attempt to calm him down.

"Well, I ran into Hermione at the Supermarket - literally ran into, I might add, when she ran her trolley over my foot-" he glared at her darkly. "-and even though I didn't immediately recognise her to begin with, she pinned me and proceeded to hug the life out of me in the middle of aisle five."

"Well actually," Hermione suddenly looked guilty. "I think I ran into you on Tuesday Harry." They all stared at her, Harry included.

"And you didn't say anything?" scolded Draco.

"Well what was I going to say Dray? 'Oh, and I did the shopping, got soaked to the bone when my umbrella turned inside out, and I think I ran into Harry on the street while on the way to pick up Lily?' Come off it Dray, you would've thought I was crazy...hell, I thought I was crazy! It sounded totally insane in my head and to top it all off, I wasn't really sure if it was Harry...come to think of it, I still don't." she turned to Harry, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It was you wasn't it...you were wearing, black trousers, long black coat...it was raining oh, cats, dogs, piranhas, bedposts and god knows what else and we ran into each other. You caught my satchel. Typical Seeker-like reflexes like no one else I can think of." She demanded, while Draco looked faintly put out.

Realisation dawned on Harry's face. "That was you? Omigod." he sat back, his face filled with emotion. She nodded. "Fuck. I didn't even realise."

"What would you have done if you did?" Inquired Remus suddenly, practically.

"I'm not sure...it would have been a tough call...I would have either high-tailed it back to London and taken my chances with Colin-" Hermione was the only one to get this joke, and laugh. "-or I would have obsessed about it for the next couple of days and either tracked you down, or convinced myself that it wasn't you."

"Probably the latter." growled Hermione.

"Probably." agreed Draco.

~~ ~~~ ~~

When Sirius and Remus Disapparated at nearly one in the morning, Hermione was quick to usher Harry into the lush guest room, decorated simply with Mahogany furniture, a dresser, chest of draws and bed, draped with dark red, velvet curtains. Harry fingered the drapes thoughtful, rubbing them between thumb and forefinger.

"Now, what about all your clothes and such? We'll have to go pick them up in the morning I suppose...where were you staying by the way?" Hermione was almost sleepwalking around the room, muttering to herself.

"At the Hilton...I always stay at the Hilton," brushed off Harry. "I'm fine for tonight, 'Mione, and I'll go tomorrow and pick up my things from the room tomorrow morning...I'll just say that they expect me back at the office."

"Good. Go-" she yawned deeply. "-oood."

Harry turned to her, a smile on his face. "Go to bed Hermione, please...this is just fine."

"Okay, okay," she walked across the room and reached up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Sleep well Harry. It's nice having you here."

"Mmm..." he watched her walk out and added, to the now-closed door. "It's nice to be here."

He pulled his shirt over his head and had just started on his trousers when there was a soft knock on the door, and it opened immediately, and Draco leaned against the door jam, smiling faintly. Harry's hands faltered slightly.

"I just wanted to say goodnight." Draco smiled, trying to pretend that the sight of his old lover half-naked was having absolutely no effect on him...really it wasn't.

Harry smiled at him, nervously. "I can remember a time when you never used to say goodnight Drake...you'd show me."

"My-my, how things change."

"Indeed."

They stared at each other for a long second, before both moving towards each other rapidly, draw together like magnets, the door closing softly behind Draco with a wave of his hand. They met in the middle of the room, hands roaming freely, mouths meeting in a hot, passionate kiss that seemed to drown itself as the flames were rekindled. Draco wasted no time in undoing Harry's trousers, letting them fall to the floor in a puddle at his feet, as Harry tugged at the sash of Draco's dressing gown, finding only boxers underneath.

Draco moaned throatily as Harry's hands slid beneath the waistband of Draco's green boxers, clasping his firm ass and drawing his hips towards Harry's own. Draco guided them quickly to the bed, and they fell onto it, their hands tangled between them, legs hopelessly tangled. Their mouths meshed together and their tongues danced hurriedly, a distinct memory, by all accounts that they had both given up for dead.

Harry drew back, perched over Draco and his chest heaved, one body in perfect alignment with the other and Draco smiled beautifully up at him.

"Do you feel this Harry? Do you feel how my body remembers you?"

~~ ~~~ ~~

My Body Remembers You - A NC-17 rated scene will be written separately and will be posted up soon. Stay tuned for this - poetic licence

~~ ~~~ ~~

Harry awoke with a start, disorientated.

This isn't the Hilton, was his immediate thought, his eyes blurry with sleep, trying to focus on his unfamiliar surroundings. He rolled over, straight into Draco's arms and gasped, memories coming flooding back. But not of last night, not of the re-consummation of their, or what Harry supposed it to be, sort-of relationship. Fuck me dead, thought Harry, he always was good with that mouth of his, wasn't he?

He smiled suddenly, thinking of all the times in their last few months at Hogwarts, still very careful about who knew about their blossoming relationship, laughing in closed company, usually the Gryffindors, Draco's so-called friends being none to trusting of this more emotional Malfoy. He remembered stolen kisses in the Quidditch rooms and under the stands, he remembered the brief handholding under the Potions desks when Professor Snape decided to be malevolent again and pair them with each other to see what, or whom, would explode first. He remembered Draco sneaking into his dorm and crawling between the covers of his bed, and very, very quietly, they would kiss and talk and cuddle and kiss some more and make love and lay there, sweaty and spent, wrapped together, sleeping until the sun peaked in through the north tower windows and wake Draco, and he would steal away again.

The past suddenly crept up on him.

~~ ~~~ ~~

The inclusion of Draco Malfoy in the infamous Gryffindor trio was the topic of dormrooms and bathrooms everywhere. It was no secret that Draco had cut ties with his two 'henchmen' Crabbe and Goyle, and had also stopped entertaining rude remarks to the Gryffindors in general. In fact, Draco was down right nice. It was truly bizarre.

He still called Ron 'Weasley', but now it was more a term of affection, and Hermione had become 'Hermi', a pet nickname that even her two best friends didn't use, preferring to call her 'Mione. And Harry...he was Harry.

The four soon became almost completely inseparable...eating together, relaxing together, and since nearly all of their classes were together, working together. Draco, now no longer 'Malfoy', had his own room at Head Boy, an unlikely choice over Harry, but even Harry could admit that it was the right one, and Draco and Hermione became very close. Hermione said that Draco was the only one to understand her love of learning, of reading. Harry had his Quidditch and Ron had Chess - and his love of anything just-outside-the-rules. But Hermione? She had her books, and Draco understood that.

Draco also had Harry.

Not that either of them wanted to admit it though.

It was Hermione who first wormed it out of Draco. They were sitting up late in the common-room shared by the Head Prefects between their rooms and she had simply asked him "So, when did you finally realise that you were in love with a certain Mr Potter?"

You accompany that kind of question with her patent raised eyebrows...Draco was a goner, to say the very least.

He was still dodging his feelings for Harry, while the latter stayed blissful unawares of his new friends apparent lack of eloquence and composure in his company, let alone the nervous stammering and lowered-eyelids looks coming from next to him in Potions or Care of Magically Creatures. All in all, he had no fucking idea about Draco's feelings until Ron sat him down and told him the facts of life...after all, he himself had experience bringing at least one brother out into the rays of Gaydom...namely Percy, who consequently hooked up with Oliver Wood, much to the family's amusement. And Harry was like a brother to Ron, and Ron felt that it was his duty to his best friend to shine some illuminating light - and threw in a few neon arrows for good measure - on the situation.

Harry had been absolutely stunned.

He began to watch Draco...everything he said, everything he did, every glance in his direction...everything was catalogued and filed and stored and all of them pointed to one thing. Draco Malfoy was in love with him.

It first, it seemed just a little to surreal for Harry...a little too much of 'what the fuck is wrong with this fucking picture?!' He didn't know how to handle it...so he went to the only person that he could think of. And for once, this wasn't Hermione. He went and talked to Dumbledore.

It had seemed ultimately very strange at first. Harry paced Dumbledore's carpet so well that he felt like apologising for wearing a hole in it and he talked so much that he didn't think that Dumbledore got more than a dozen words in edge ways, but finally all of Harry's cards were layed out on the table. His fears on the war, on facing Voldemort again, about Hermione and Ron, and their safety, about his fellow Gryffindors, about his fellow classmates, school mates, teachers, Ron's family...Draco. How he feared for Draco, feared for Draco's life, his safety from his father, his unwavering refusal to join the Death Eaters...how he feared that he could not let himself be loved by Draco. About Draco loving him...he could not get his head around that one fact.

After he had talked himself to a stand still, Dumbledore had regarded him, carefully, over a cup of tea, his sparkling blue eyes serious and melancholy. Finally, he had sighed, and spoken. "Sometimes it takes a great deal of bravery to face an enemy, Harry, but it will always take even more bravery to face the one who loves you the most."

Harry stared at him a moment, before thanking him and striding out, more confused now than when he went in.

And nearly two weeks later, Hermione and Ron formulated a plan, a plan that would have, under different circumstances, get them both killed, and considering who they were plotting against this was still an option...but they decided it was worth the risk.

Ron had slipped Harry a sleeping draught, obtained from the twins, and managed to get him to Draco's room, enlisting the aid of Dean and Seamus. Hermione and Ginny nabbed Draco for some 'girlie talk', much to Draco's protestations, but finally released him, when Dean came to get Ginny, which was the signal for them to let Draco get back to his room. Seamus and Ron had managed, by that stage, to get Harry comfortable on the bed, making it seem like he'd fallen asleep waiting for Draco...all very innocent. Ron had slipped the other dose of sleeping potion into Draco's 'before bed Coco' - a ritual he knew of from Hermione. Draco came back to his room, found Harry asleep, drank his coco as he sat on the bed to watch Harry sleep for a moment before waking him and 'clunk!' - five minutes later was out like a light. Hermione had slipped back in with Ron, who had been hiding in her room, amongst other things, and together, they had rolled the two boys together and handcuffed their wrists together, looping the chain around a post on the bed-head. They had also left a note on the bed-head too, explaining themselves and praying to every God that they could think of that Harry or Draco wouldn't kill them for pulling this little stunt.

It had been Harry who had woken first, dazed from the potion and Draco's close proximity, but that soon wore off and melted into complete and utter shock. He shook Draco awake and demanded to know what was going on...he was sure that it was something he had done...but Draco denied all knowledge. When they finally discover the note, they were at first just a trifle angry, but soon realised that this wasn't going to be solved by arguing, they sat there, their hands cuffed together, and talked.

Harry talked about going to see Dumbledore, and Draco confessed that Hermione was his confidante. Harry told him that this whole situation was making him uncomfortable and nervous and Draco spat out that his feelings were so new and different that he wasn't sure which way was up anymore. To cut a long story short, they both ended up on the bed, still cuffed together, kissing like mad and conducting much whispering in husky, loving tones. They were still kissing in fact, when Ron and Hermione turned up to release them, with much giggling and teasing involved.

From that moment on, Harry Potter - Golden Boy of Gryffindor, Starlet Hero and Defeater of Evil on a Semi-Regular Basis - and Draco Malfoy - Prince of the Slytherins, Bad Boy Extraordinaire and Wicked Sex God - the two most shaggable boys at Hogwarts...only had eyes for each other.

They were inseparable.

It was absolutely sickening.

~~ ~~~ ~~

Harry smiled gently, rubbing his nose in Draco's silky hair, memories rushing through his veins like a powerful drug he couldn't get enough of. He nosed his way down, burrowing closer and closer to Draco's skin, nuzzling. He smelt sweet.

Finally, his lips found their goal, and he was waking his lover up with a light, but passionate kiss that seemed to drag slightly before he started to feel a response. Draco probed back, his tongue sliding into Harry's mouth, elegant and poised, weaving and retreating, tasting and teasing. Harry sighed inwardly, happy. Suddenly he pulled away, focusing on Draco's sated grey eyes blinking up at him.

"Y'know Drake...if someone had told me a week ago that I would be able to fall back into the lives of my best friends, and into the arms of my lover, so easily after so long...I would've said that they'd had too much Vodka and passed out at the thought."

Draco gave Harry a refined smile, his eyebrow arching up on his forehead. "Well, we've been hoping for so long to find you again. But I'm not saying we didn't give up periodically, because we did...frequently. But Hermione knew that you weren't dead, and I knew that I still needed you, and that some day, somewhere, you'd appear again. We've always had room in our hearts for you."

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry I left it so long."

"S'no problem...well not in my eyes anyway. Because you're well, you're here," he slid a hand down Harry's side smoothly. "And that's okay by me. I think that a few of the others might not be so quick to forgive, but they'll come around."

Harry's face fell. "Who?"

"Parvati for one, but she was always one for grudges...Pansy for another, but now that I think about it, she never liked you anyway," Harry laughed. "Seamus will be the typically Irishman and go completely through the roof for the first hour or so, and then sulk for the next few because he's been left out of the loop...again. Dean will notice, and not care one way or another...it takes a great deal to ruffle Dean's feathers anymore with the kind of patients he treats. Neville...Christ, Longbottom will probably have a heart attack at the sight of you. Lavender will smile sweetly and probably try and crack onto you in the first fifteen minutes," Draco growled under his breath. "And the Weasley's of course, will be shocked, but will welcome you back just as much as Hermione has, if not more. But none of them are getting close to how I welcomed you...do you understand me?"

Harry pressed himself close to Draco, hearing the low threat in his voice, the fierce possession that Harry had loved about him before, turning the growl into a gasp of surprise, letting his fingers map out skin that hadn't lost its beauty over the past eight years. He knew every crevice, every line, every bone by heart, and their mouths meshed again, passion rising.

Draco rolled over, pulling Harry on top of him, wriggling in anticipation, mouth hot, skin cool.

Harry got to work on Draco's shoulder, burying his teeth in and flicking his tongue over the spot, marking Draco, claiming him. Mine, growled the lion in Harry, mine. Draco responded, wrapping his feet together in the small of Harry's back, feet pushing the sheet further down Harry's already uncovered back, parcelling himself into his lover, all skin and hands and panting tongue, feverish, moaning his name -

The door slammed open, and Harry, startled, tried to turn.

And fell off the bed with a crash.

This can't get any worse, he reasoned with himself...until he realised something.

He was naked. And aroused.

Shit! Bugger'it, bugger'it!

"Breakfast is ready," Lily's serene voice broke through Harry's mind-swearing-to-itself and his desperate attempts to find something to hide himself with. "Mum says you'd better get up before she has to come and get you up herself." She turned away calmly, the message delivered, and padded away with all the unashamed confidence of a seven-year-old.

Draco laughed, leaning over the edge of the bed and extending a hand to his embarrassed lover. "If she manages to get you up, I'm going to start worrying about your sexuality Harry."

"Oh shut up Drake...I'm twenty-six...wet paint could get me hot." Harry growled through his embarrassment, untangling himself from the clothes that he'd used to cover up his nakedness, and standing up, his erection a faint memory as he started to dress. Draco continued to laugh uproariously until Lily's voice called out to her mother as if Hermione was on Mars.

"Mummy! Uncle Dray and Uncle Harry were naked...together!"

"O-my-god." both Harry and Draco said at the same time, both imagining Hermione's reaction to this not-so-unpredictable outcome. This is going to be interesting, thought Harry, shaking his head as he dressed and prepared himself for Hermione's brutal line of questioning that would no doubt follow such an audacious proceeding.

Hermione was completely ruthless. Especially when it was concerning his love life.

Bugger'it!

~~ ~~~ ~~

TBC

~~ ~~~ ~~