sesheta66 | No Home for the Holidays

Title: No Home for the Holidays - Part 8
Author:

sesheta_66
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 2250
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco
Summary: Timing is everything.
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

Challenges:

awdt's Christmas Quickies: #29 - a day to relax, #30 - frantically getting ready for a New Year's Eve party, #31 - Happy New Year! and

slythindor100's Special Holiday Challenge: #29 - snow angel, #30 - wine and roses, and #31 - New Year's Eve.

Click here to start at the beginning.

No Home for the Holidays - Part 8

"Well, well, well. And just what do we have here?"

Harry froze, looking down at Draco.

"Blaise," Draco mouthed.

Shit. "What do you want to do?"

Draco gave him a look of frustration.

"Right." Harry drew his wand and silently flung a hex at Zabini. Harry heard rather than saw Blaise's body topple before he cast a Muffliato.

"What did you do that for?" Draco asked.

"Dunno." Harry shrugged. "Buy us some time? Seemed like a good idea."

Harry could feel Draco laughing beneath him; the movement went straight to Harry's cock as it responded with interest. Harry groaned.

"Oh, come on, Potter. You have to admit it's funny."

"That he walked in on us or that I hexed him?"

"Both, actually. I can only imagine his face right now. Cocky bastard."

"I thought you two were friends."

"We're Slytherins. Friends or not, he's a bastard."

Harry drew away from Draco, lying on his side, but still obscuring Zabini's view. "Do you think he saw who we were?"

Draco considered this before answering. "I don't think so. I wouldn't put it past him to have announced himself in the hopes we'd turn around to face him."

"Good."

Draco frowned.

"What?" Harry asked. "Were you planning on telling him about this?"

"I hadn't got that far in my thought process."

"So now what?"

"He'll figure it out. After all, there aren't that many people here, are there?"

"True." Harry wondered if he could reach Ron and Hermione - oh, Merlin … and Ginny - before they got back to school and found out from someone else.

"I'll Obliviate him," Draco said as he pulled out his wand.

Harry grabbed his arm. "No!"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "No? Surely you don't want him to go around telling everyone in the school that he saw you with me?"

"Well, no, but --"

"Right. That's what I thought." Draco pulled his arm away before Harry could even register what he meant. "Obliviate!" he shouted, then went through the door and down to the castle.

"Draco! Wait!" Harry opened the door, but Draco was already gone. What just happened?

Zabini groaned. He looked confused, but otherwise unharmed. Harry made quick work of cleaning up the area, then left in search of Draco.

~*~*~

"Fucking Zabini!" Draco stormed off towards the dungeons. Why did Blaise have to show up right then? Just when things were getting …

Maybe it was the best thing after all. Har-- Potter was obviously ashamed to be with Draco. Or at least for anyone to find out about them. The look on his face when Draco had told him that Blaise would figure it out … Potter had been nearly as pale as Draco.

And now? Besides calling for Draco to wait, Potter hadn't done a thing. No typical chasing after Draco; no following him to his dorm. Hypocrite. Draco was well shot of him.

Even if that had been the best kiss Draco had ever had.

Draco went upstairs and directly into the shower. He hoped it would help him relax, but instead it had the opposite effect. Whenever he shut his eyes, he saw Potter, lips full from being kissed, and those green eyes full of passion, staring back at him. Draco's body responded, and he found himself wanking with Pot-- Harry's name falling from his lips. Shit.

"You have a visitor," Blaise announced as Draco entered the common room.

Draco jumped, no longer used to having someone there. "Blaise, when did you get back?"

"About an hour ago."

"Oh. I wasn't expecting anyone back for another few days."

"Mother was driving me mad, frantically getting ready for a New Year's Eve party, so I decided the safest place for now was here."

Draco had witnessed the whirlwind that was Mrs Zabini. "A wise decision."

"So you thought you were alone?"

"Mm-hmm. Have been since hols started."

"Ah. So tell me …" He gave Draco a sly grin. "… is that why Potter's here to see you?"

What?! What the fuck was Potter doing here? He knew Blaise was back. What was he playing at?

Draco went for his best indifferent tone. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're implying, Zabini, but I assure you I was not expecting Potter."

"Uh huh." Blaise shot him a shit-eating grin that told Draco he'd be watching very carefully from now on.

Draco dismissed Blaise with a roll of his eyes. "I'll go see what Boy Wonder wants."

"Well, if you can't give it to him, be sure to send him my way. I'm sure I could arrange something."

Draco wheeled around and glared at Blaise before he could stop himself. "Nice, Zabini."

Blaise laughed. "What? I'm only saying … I certainly wouldn't kick him out of bed."

"You wouldn't kick anyone out of bed."

Blaise feigned being shot in the heart. "That hurts, Draco. No, really."

"Whatever."

"I don't see what the problem is anyway. After all, you weren't expecting Potter. It's not like you're interested or anything."

"That's right. And I doubt he'd be interested if I recommended someone."

"Oh, I don't know. I think he might be interested in someone here."

"Golden Boy with a Slytherin? I don't think so."

"You keep telling yourself that, Draco."

Draco reached the door, and just as he was about to open it, Blaise added, "After all these years, I'd think you'd at least be able to admit it to yourself." Then he was gone.

~*~*~

After clearing away everything, Harry made his way down to the dungeons. He knocked and called, but Draco didn't answer, so he sat himself down - this time remembering to conjure a comfortable chair to go with his book.

"Potter?"

Harry looked up to see a very confused Zabini. "Oh, good. You'll let me in, then?"

Zabini laughed. "Yeah, right. Let the lion into the snake pit? I don't think so."

"Look, I'm here to see Dra-- er, Malfoy."

Zabini's eyebrows lifted at Harry's slip. "And what might you want to see Draco for?"

"I just need to talk to him."

"About?"

"Not to be rude, Zabini, but it's really none of your business."

"Fair enough. I'll let him know you're here. If he's in there."

"He's there." Harry had checked his map every few minutes since leaving the Astronomy Tower.

"Oh, really?"

Shit. "Well … I'm pretty sure he is anyway."

Zabini glared at him. "Whatever. If he's there, I'll tell him."

"Thanks."

Zabini gave him a strange look and went inside.

It had been nearly half an hour, and still nothing. Harry pulled out the map and saw Draco and Zabini together in the common room. Hopefully Zabini was telling Draco that Harry was there.

The door opened - finally - and Draco came out. "What the fuck are you doing, Potter?"

Harry cringed at the use of his last name. "I'm here to see you."

"That much I got from Blaise. What I mean is --" He shut the dungeon door and lowered his voice. "-- what are you, the one who doesn't want anyone to know about us, doing parked outside Slytherin?"

"I never said I don't want anyone knowing about us."

Draco glared at him. "Yes you did."

"No," Harry pointed out. "What I said was that I didn't want Blaise going around telling everyone."

"Semantics, Potter. I saw the look on your face when I said Blaise would figure it out."

"What?" Harry tried to recall what had been going through his mind at the time. "No, no. I was just thinking about how best to tell Hermione and Ron … and Ginny."

Draco frowned. "You were?"

"Yes." Harry began chewing on his bottom lip. He wasn't sure how to say this. "I didn't tell anyone because … well, because I didn't seriously think you were interested. So I said nothing. But if you are interested," Harry looked up hopefully, "I would gladly tell them. I just think it's only fair that my friends find out from me, not Zabini."

Draco's eyes widened in shock, and his jaw dropped open.

"Draco?" Harry asked. "If you don't want anyone to know, that's fine too. I guess. I mean, I don't like the idea of hiding something like this, but … well, I'll understand if you don't want people to find out."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Um … no?"

"You think that I would be the one that would want to keep this -- whatever this may be --" He motioned his hand between the two of them. "-- a secret?"

"Well … yeah. My name is forever in the papers, and I don't have a lot of privacy, so … I would completely understand if you--"

Draco pressed two fingers against Harry's lips to stop him talking. Harry frowned. "What?"

"What do I have to lose?" Draco asked. "I'm just a former Death Eater. You're the Saviour of the bloody wizarding world. I suspect the public, not to mention your friends, would have something to say to you."

"My friends … well, they'll come around. And I never cared much what the public had to say about me."

"Maybe you should start caring. Go back to Gryffindor, Harry." Then Draco turned round and went back into his common room.

~*~*~

"So what did Potter want?" Blaise asked as soon as Draco shut the door.

Draco pulled out his wand. "He returned this." He smiled inwardly at his ability to come up with an explanation so quickly.

Blaise gave him a sceptical look. "And he camped out in the hallway just for that?"

Draco shrugged. "He's a Gryffindor. Who knows why he does what he does."

"I suppose." Blaise seemed hesitant about accepting that, but didn't press the issue.

Draco reckoned he'd have to be cautious around Blaise from now on. Not that there was anything to be cautious about now, though.

"So, how was Christmas with the Parkinsons?"

They caught up on the past week, and Blaise mentioned that he was only back at the castle to have a day to relax, until his mother's plans were finished. Good. Once Blaise left, Draco would have time to himself to figure things out. As it was, he didn't know why he'd turned Harry away. It sure wasn't for his own benefit. And wasn't that a troubling turn of events?

"Draco!" Blaise cut in to Draco's thoughts. "Did you even hear a word I said?"

Draco frowned. He had no idea what Blaise had been saying. "Um …"

"Where were you just now?"

Thinking about Potter. About what it was like to kiss him before you showed up and ruined the moment. "I was just thinking about Mother and whether or not the Aurors have found any leads."

"Oh. Still nothing on that, then?"

"No."

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about everything and nothing, and before Draco knew it, it was time for dinner.

Harry didn't show up. It was all Draco could do to hide his disappointment. He didn't miss the fact that Blaise was watching his every move.

~*~*~

Harry left the dungeons, not sure what to make of what Draco had said. It was true. Harry hadn't considered what the papers would say until just then. But Draco was missing what was sure to be the result.

When Harry thought about the possible backlash, all he could envision was how it would be for Draco. He imagined people saying that Draco was corrupting Harry or had him under some sort of curse. Harry had, after all, read what they'd thought about Dumbledore, and that they might have had an 'unhealthy relationship'. Rubbish, all of it. And that was someone people looked up to. He couldn't imagine how bad it might be for Draco.

Well, what had Harry thought it would be like? All wine and roses? Of course not. The two of them were a volatile mix at best. And at worst, who knew? They probably didn't have a chance anyway, and to put Draco through who-knew-what sort of publicity … would it all be worth it?

Harry had been annoyed that Zabini had shown up when he did, but thinking about it now, maybe it was for the best. End things before the vultures went after Draco. How could Harry have been so stupid? Well, that was nothing new, was it?

But it had felt so right.

Harry went outside for a walk to clear his head. He passed by the Gryffindor girls making snow angels near the greenhouses. He smiled as he thought about their prank with the mistletoe. It really had felt perfect.

~*~*~

"So you'll think about it, then?" Blaise asked before he left the next morning. "You could scream Happy New Year with me, and send Mother into a right state over our behaviour."

"As tempting as that sounds …"

"Oh, come on. It's New Year's. What else are you going to do?"

Draco thought about it. What he wanted to do was ring in the new year with Harry. How did that old saying go? The person you're with at the strike of midnight on New Year's is the person you'll be with the rest of the year. Or something like that.

"I don't feel much like attending a party, Blaise, but thank you for the invitation. If I change my mind, I'll Floo-call you."

"No need. Just show up. You know where we are." He grinned as he Flooed back home.

Draco sincerely hoped he wouldn't be taking Blaise up on his offer.

Part 9

Current Mood: sleepy

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

dysonrules.livejournal.com

BOOO!!! YAY!!!! BOO!!!! YAY!! Oh man, this chapter is totally up and down. *smacks them both*

*hooks Zabini up with a cute boy*
What? I like him.

*grin*

From:

There's Always Fiction

No Home for the Holidays - Part 8 (H/D, PG-13)

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