Fic: Salchows and Serendipity 3a/3, HP/Olympics2010, Harry/Johnny Weir, HP/DM, JW/Evan Lysacek, NC17
Okay so I got the size of chapters wrong; chapter 3 is too long for one post, so we will have 3a and 3b ;)
Title: Salchows and Serendipity 03a/03
Author: Beren
Fandom: Harry Potter/Winter Olympics 2010 RPS
Pairing: Harry/Johnny Weir, Harry/Draco, Johnny Weir/Evan Lysacek, Apolo Ohno/J.R. Celski (side pairing)
Rating: NC17/18
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The real people in the fic are owned by themselves and this is pure fiction, it did not happen.
Warnings: vampires, explicit sex, rimming
Summary: When Harry realised his life was nothing that he wanted he reinvented himself, which is how he ended up in Vancouver on the British Winter Olympic team.
Author's Notes: I offer no excuses, my muses dragged me kicking and screaming into this fic and so here it is :). I hope you enjoy reading it. Thanks to Soph for the beta.
Other Parts: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3a | Ch 3b
Chapter 3 Working On It (1st half)
In the end Harry put Johnny into bed, cast some very strong shield charms on the room, a healing charm on his throat and then joined the others in the main room. Tanith wasn't there, which meant he had no backup, but also meant he didn't have to worry about her.
"Harry Potter should be coming up on thirty," Ohno said before anyone else could jump in with questions; "you are not thirty."
"Well done for stating the obvious," Draco said and received a glare for his trouble.
Clearly Draco's temperament had not improved much.
"I regressed myself ten years and finally got to live my childhood," Harry snapped without the slightest bit of remorse. "I'm James Black now and James Black I will stay, because I actually like my life."
"You ran away," Draco said in an unsympathetic tone.
"Yeah, well I was alone, suicidal and people only ever saw the fucking scar," he all but growled, "and let's not forget the people who still wanted to kill me, a la today, so forgive me if I don't give a shit if I was running away or not. Now, can we get back to the problem at hand?"
He really, really did not want to go through this now.
"You don't have a scar," Celski said and if he hadn't sounded so pathetically confused Harry might have snarled at him.
Instead he reached up and ripped the false skin off his forehead.
"Better?" he asked.
After that Lysacek even looked as if he might be starting to believe the whole situation was not some huge prank.
"Are you seriously saying magic is real?" the man finally joined in the conversation.
"Very," Draco said shortly, "and you're not supposed to know about it."
Draco then looked at Harry.
"We should obliviate them and be done with it," the Slytherin said in a dismissive tone.
"Just try it," Ohno said and placed himself between Draco and J.R., which was very sweet, but so not the point of the conversation.
"No one is obliviating anyone," Harry said very firmly; he was a little fed up of the grandstanding.
He really wanted to get Lysacek further away from Johnny by the time his friend woke up, but he knew the man would not leave without an explanation, and that didn't even bring Ohno and Celski into the equation.
"How can Johnny be a vampire?" Lysacek asked and at least that was the topic Harry wanted to talk about.
"He was born that way," Harry said simply; "he wears a necklace when he's on the ice; it makes him as good as human. Before you ask, it's under a charm so no one can see it. All Wizarding competitors in Muggle sports have charms on their kit to make sure they can't cheat with magic, even accidentally; Johnny's necklace is the same type of thing. It's more comprehensive than that, but it comes down to making it an even playing field. He hates the damn thing, but he loves the ice so much he does it."
"So why did he go loco today?" was the next question, which Harry had expected, but wasn't sure he should answer.
"He's been wearing the necklace off the ice as well as on it for reasons that you are going to have to ask him about when he's feeling better," he said as he decided what he could tell and what he couldn't. "Because his father," he pointed at Draco, "showed up to kill me ..."
"He's under a spell," Draco defended his parent.
"...Johnny lost the necklace," Harry continued and ignored Draco for now; he would be having that conversation later.
Ohno looked at the closed bedroom door and then at Lysacek and Harry remembered his hasty 'Vampire in heat' comment and realised that the short track skater had just caught on.
"That has gotta suck," was Ohno's comment on the matter.
"I'm sure it does," Harry replied and looked the man right in the eye, "and it's private, so we're not going to discuss it without Johnny or with anyone else."
Ohno gave a small smile at the telling off, but nodded. It did, however, have the effect of reminding Celski that Harry and Draco were not the only wand wielders in the room.
"I know where you went to school," Celski said, glaring at his friend, "and there is no way that's magical."
"My dad doesn't believe in Muggle/Wizard segregation," Ohno said simply; "I've done all the magical stuff by correspondence course."
Harry hadn't even realised that was possible and he wondered if people could do that in the UK too.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" Celski asked and all but pouted.
It looked very much like there was about to be a lovers' quarrel and Harry added another tick to the boxes that made him think the rumour about the pair being more than friends might be true.
"Yes," Ohno said in a very upfront manner; "I had a whole speech planned, but looks like it's a little late now."
Given the way that lessened the ire in Celski's face, Harry thought Ohno might partially be off the hook, at least until the younger skater got his friend somewhere private.
"Will Johnny be okay?" Lysacek asked when it was clear there was not going to be a short track skaters duel to the death at that very moment.
"Yeah," Celski agreed, "he looked really out of it."
"He'll be fine once we get the necklace back on him," Harry assured them both, warmed by the fact that Lysacek seemed concerned.
"The Aurors have it," Draco said in an almost neutral tone, which was a win in Harry's book, "I'll go and retrieve it."
"Thanks," Harry said, since he had no intention of leaving Johnny alone any time soon; "if we can get it back on as soon as he wakes up he should be okay to do the interview I know he has this afternoon."
Draco nodded and then turned to the door.
"Do not disappear again, Potter," was the Slytherin's parting words.
Harry just rolled his eyes, like he had a choice.
"Evan," he said, turning his mind back to the problem at hand, "would you mind going somewhere a bit further away until we have Johnny back to normal?"
Lysacek did not look happy about that.
"What is it about me that's causing this?" Lysacek asked, obviously unsettled.
That was a question and a half and Harry couldn't figure out how to answer that without giving away Johnny's secret.
"And does this have anything to do with why he's been flirting with me outrageously since the end of the Men's competition?" was the next rapid question and Harry about gave up.
At least it did seem that Lysacek was more observant than most people thought he was.
"Yes," he said, since there was no point denying it, "but I can't tell you why. I'm sure Johnny will want to as soon as he wakes up properly, but until then would you mind going somewhere at least a mile away?"
Lysacek's face was a picture.
"A mile?" the gold medal winner asked in a slightly strangled tone.
"Two if there is anywhere around here you can go," Harry replied with a nod. "Vampires have very good radar."
He wasn't about to mention that it was only that good if said vampire was 'obsessed', but it made his point. Lysacek still didn't look happy, but the man did nod.
"Okay," he said, "but get Johnny to call me as soon as he feels like explaining. This is my cell. Tell him not to take too long, because I'm not in the mood to wait."
Then Lysacek shoved a card into his hand and all but stormed out.
"Are all figure skaters so highly strung?" Ohno asked in a completely innocent tone.
Harry just looked at Celski.
"I think you might find out short track skaters are highly strung as well if you don't do some explaining of your own soon," he pointed out and Ohno took a good look at his younger friend.
"You might be right," the man agreed with a small smile; "come on J.R. we've got some talking to do. You'll let us know when Johnny is okay, Harry?"
"Yeah, sure," he replied with a nod, "and it's James now; I have no intention of going back to my old life. All I have to do is figure out how to get rid of Draco Malfoy and we can all go back to normal."
Ohno laughed at that.
"Like any of this is normal anyway," was the cynical response.
At least Harry could agree with that and grinned.
====
Ten minutes after everyone had left, Draco returned with the necklace and Harry was very glad, because he could feel Johnny stirring behind the shields.
"How the hell did you end up here?" Draco asked, passing him the necklace.
"I told you," Harry replied, checking the clasp to make sure it hadn't been broken; "I regressed myself to eleven and then went and played Muggle."
"But figure skating?" Draco sounded incredulous.
It was kind of a strange thing to have ended up doing.
"Have you ever skated?" he asked, confident that the necklace was in one piece and its enchantments were still active.
Draco shook his head.
"It's as thrilling as flying," he said and knew he probably looked distant as he thought about it, "and sometimes you actually do fly. I love every minute on the ice; I wouldn't be here otherwise."
For a moment Draco actually looked impressed.
"I'll talk to you later," he said, feeling Johnny stir again, "right now I have to make sure Johnny is okay. If an irate vampire comes charging out of there," he pointed at the bedroom door, "in a few minutes, stupefy him for me will you?"
At that Draco smiled, but did nod.
"And don't even think about climbing out the window," the Slytherin said and Harry found himself smiling as well.
He put his fingers to his temple and made a face.
"Okay," he said with mock seriousness, "that's off the list."
Draco appeared genuinely amused at that; it was an expression Harry barely recognised on the other wizard. Draco had changed, grown up a lot since Harry had last seen him. Where he was a gangly twenty year old, Draco was a full bodied thirty year old and he looked like he was in shape. Harry found himself vaguely interested, but he stopped that thought in its tracks; Draco was probably happily married and continuing the Malfoy line by now.
"See you in a little while," he said and bent down to the small fridge to grab the bottle and straw he knew Johnny kept there, before ducking into Johnny's bedroom to avoid doing something stupid.
Johnny moaned quietly just after he shut the door and he moved over to beside his friend's bed, placing the necklace and blood on the bedside table. He waited and eventually Johnny's eyes fluttered open.
"Ow?" Johnny said as soon as he saw him and the vampire seemed confused.
Harry gave his friend a smile.
"How do you feel?" he asked, since Johnny looked pale.
"Like something hit me hard," Johnny replied and went to sit up. "What happened?"
Stupefy hexes could be very like a blow to the head and mess with the short term memory for a little while, so Harry wasn't really surprised that Johnny didn't remember much.
"You lost the necklace," he said, helping Johnny into a sitting position. "You saved my life and in doing so the necklace came off and I had to Stupefy you."
Johnny looked aghast.
"What did I do?" the smaller man all but demanded.
"Nothing hideous," Harry promised, hoping to calm Johnny down a bit; "you didn't get to him," they both knew who 'him' was, "but you almost did. Two of your other team mates saw everything: Ohno and Celski, but it turns out Ohno is a wizard. Did you know that?"
Johnny shook his head; that seemed to be as much a shock to him as it was to Harry.
"He kept that quiet," Johnny said, still looking dazed.
"Yeah, well all three of them know who I really am now as well," Harry continued; "Draco managed to give that away and is currently in your living room. I thought about killing him, but it might be hard to get rid of the body with all the press running around."
The way Johnny just stared at him for that comment showed quite how out of it Johnny was; there wasn't even a flicker of a smile.
"What are they going to do?" Johnny asked.
"Nothing," Harry replied and patted his friend on the arm; "but they're probably going to want an explanation. I told Evan you'd talk to him when you're feeling better."
"I'd rather just get on a plane," Johnny said, looking a little terrified.
Harry picked up the bottle of blood and handed it to his friend with the matching straw.
"Unlike me," he said with a sympathetic smile, "you have never run from anything."
Johnny looked down at the bottle and then up at him, seeming pensive, and then gave a huge sigh.
"So much for breaking it to him gently," Johnny said and flicked open the bottle and put in the straw; "he could be a complete tool about this you realise? It has been known."
He took a long suck as if he was drinking Coke.
"And you've been known to be a complete bitch," Harry replied with a small smile; "but I don't think he will be, he was worried about you."
"Really?" Johnny asked, letting the straw drop out of his mouth and brightening considerably. "How worried?"
It was typical Johnny; up and down at a moment's notice.
"How should I know?" Harry replied and rolled his eyes. "He was concerned, that's all I can say. He knows this has something to do with him and he didn't seem to like the fact that he's causing you bother. Anything else you're going to have to find out for yourself."
Johnny didn't look overly pleased with the answer, but went back to sucking up the blood.
"So," Johnny finally began talking to him again, "Draco Malfoy; cute like the movies or pointy like the books?"
Harry found himself laughing despite the enormity of the situation.
"In school, pointy," he replied, dropping into his best impression of overtly gay, "right now; I'd do him in a heartbeat."
Johnny grinned and then brightened again.
"Right," were his next words, "give me five minutes to freshen up, then I'm coming out and you can introduce me to this hot example of man flesh."
There was no arguing when Johnny said something in that tone, so Harry nodded and stood up.
"Okay," he said and picked up the necklace from the table and handed it to Johnny; "you have five minutes."
Johnny put it back on, fading to his human state instantly, but still smiling, which was good, so Harry bent down, gave his friend a peck on the cheek and then sashayed out, making Johnny laugh.
When he turned, having entered the living room and closed the bedroom door, he found Draco watching him.
"Potter, are you gay?" Draco asked, sounding perplexed.
Clearly his sashaying had been noticed.
"Not exclusively," he replied, throwing caution to the wind, "why, interested?"
It turned out Malfoy's could blush.
"You haven't improved," was Draco's less than stellar comeback.
Harry just smiled; he liked having one up on his old rival.
"Shouldn't you be off worrying about your father or the Aurors or something?" he asked, since now he didn't have Johnny to worry about it actually occurred to him who had attacked him.
"He's on his way back to St Mungo's with the Aurors," Draco said in an offhand manner; "we've had him locked up there since the spell first manifested four years ago. They've made a little headway and if some idiot hadn't shown him a Muggle newspaper so he saw you he never would have gone off on one. At the moment I'm more worried about you pressing charges. The Aurors will want to speak to you about the whole thing."
Harry hadn't actually thought about that; he had been so used to Voldemort taking pot shots at him when he had been in the Wizarding world that it hadn't occurred to him what someone might do under more normal circumstances.
"If he's under a spell I'm not going to try and have the book thrown at him, Draco," he said, understanding a little of Draco's waspishness now. "I'd rather the whole thing just go away quietly actually; I really don't want everyone to know where I am. I left the Wizarding world to get away from Harry bloody Potter and I'd rather he stayed where I left him and let James Black continue as if nothing had happened."
"I would love to help," Draco replied and it actually sounded genuine, "but I think it's already too late. My father was raving before some idiot let him escape and this was this morning's headline at home."
Draco pulled a small folded something from his pocket and resized it back to its former state, at which point Harry could tell it was the Prophet. There on the front page was a picture of him from just after the war and a Muggle one of James Black from what he assumed was a paper back home. The headline proclaimed: "Harry Potter and James Black, Same Person?"
"Fuck," he said very loudly.
"If you had chosen a less obvious name we might have been able to spin something," Draco said and handed him the paper, "but I think it's more than obvious what the truth is."
Harry just glared at his one time rival for that; he had thought about his name very carefully and he was proud of it. It stood for two of the most important people in his life even though he barely remembered one and had known the other for such a short time. Names defined people and he liked the one he had chosen for himself.
"Well I'm not going back," Harry said firmly; "this life is mine."
"Good for you," Draco said and Harry was very surprised to find that it looked as if Draco meant it, "just be prepared to mix them a little. The moment you set foot in Britain the people who cared about you are going to start showing up and the Ministry will undoubtedly want an explanation."
"The Ministry can suck my cock," was Harry's response to that; "all they ever did was make my life hell. If they set foot near me the first thing I will do is sue them for every penny they have for letting me have an abused childhood and allowing a Dark Lord to get anywhere near me."
Draco actually looked interested at that, almost impressed.
"Now that part might actually work," was the grudging acknowledgement.
"Yes, well I have had nearly ten years to come up with a backup plan," Harry told his companion. "I may be a Gryffindor, but I'm not stupid. My legal representatives have had the paperwork ready for six years, just in case."
Now Draco really did look impressed.
"Who'd have thought that you actually have a brain," was the backhanded compliment.
That made Harry smile just a little, but then he looked back down at the paper again. His simple life was over.
"Do excuse me for being late," Johnny's voice broke him out of his thoughts and he turned to see his friend exiting the bedroom; "you must be Draco Malfoy, pleased to meet you."
Draco shook the offered hand.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," Draco returned politely.
"Much, thank you," Johnny replied, the epitome of gentile politeness even though he did give Draco a once up and down; "I think I'm beginning to remember some things from this afternoon, but you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little vague."
"A double stupefy will do that to anyone," Draco replied with a nod.
"Double?" Johnny looked to Harry for clarification.
"Ohno and I both got to our wands," he explained apologetically, "and he's a surprisingly good shot."
Johnny just shrugged.
"Better that than me getting to Evan," was the practical response. "Is that you I see on the front page?"
Harry nodded and passed it over.
"It's the main Wizarding newspaper from home," he said with a sigh, "seems I'm busted."
Johnny seemed to be reading the article.
"No publicity is bad publicity, Jimmy," Johnny said, giving him back the paper and patting him on the shoulder gently; "you just have to know how to spin it. This could be good for your career, get you some Wizarding sponsorship as well as Muggle. Imagine how much money you could make selling the story of your reinvention, and we all know how expensive new skates are these days."
That rather made Harry stop and he blinked at his friend; he hadn't considered it that way. He was so used to compartmentalising the different halves of his life that possible pluses of mixing the two had never occurred to him. It was going to be a nightmare when he got home to begin with, but in the long run it could actually help him.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you," he said and grinned at Johnny, who, of course, basked in the praise.
====
It turned out that Johnny was feeling better, but not on top form, so he needed to rearrange the interview he was supposed to be doing and just get some rest. Not really surprising after the morning's activities, so Harry dragged Draco with him after being made to promise that he'd reappear when Johnny called. It seemed that Johnny was afraid of facing Lysacek alone and he had begged Harry to be there for moral support. Of course he had said yes, even though he had his own things to sort out. It did mean, however, that he had time to talk with Draco alone and he took the Slytherin back to where he was staying.
"You're tidier than you used to be at least," Draco observed as he walked in to the small room Harry had been allocated.
"When you're pretending to be eleven and don't want any adults around, you get into the habit of keeping things neat and tidy yourself," Harry replied and threw himself onto the bed, letting Draco have the only chair; "I never grew out of it."
Draco sat himself down with all the grace Harry remembered him having on a broom.
"I've only ever heard of one person trying what you did," the Slytherin said, tone almost admiring, "and they managed to turn themselves into a hideous giant baby. How did you do it?"
It wasn't really an unexpected question, but Harry didn't have a very clear answer.
"The woman who sold me the spell and potion told me it was all about focus and want," he replied with a shrug. "I wanted it very badly."
"Quite Slytherin of you to vanish so completely," Draco pointed out.
That made Harry smile; it was a compliment indeed.
"No one was looking for an eleven year old," he replied, thinking back and remembering his flight from the Wizarding world; "it wasn't that difficult. I made all the financial arrangements before regressing myself and then I just stepped from one life into another. A few cosmetic changes, hiding the scar and I was all set."
He noticed that Draco was looking at him rather closely then.
"You do look very different," Draco finally said; "how did you tame the mop?"
Harry grinned and ran his hand through his hair; it was now straight and manageable, a long way from the untameable nest it had once been.
"The Muggles have some very inventive hair products," he replied and wondered what Draco thought of the two-tone he had it dyed at the moment.
It was deep red on top and black underneath in an asymmetrical style which had matched his costume.
"When I first disappeared I just used to dye it brown," he added, remembering the mess he had made of it the first time, "but when I started skating that just wouldn't do. Straight after getting my first pair of skates I was pointed at a decent hairdresser."
That had been a very eye opening experience; he remembered it well.
"Now that is a miracle," Draco replied with a smirk.
"So," Harry decided he'd answered enough questions for now, "what have you been up to?"
"Oh, nothing overly exciting," Draco replied with a shrug, "got married, had a son, got divorced, committed my father; the usual pureblood thing."
Surprisingly Draco sounded just a little tired and Harry had to wonder if maybe the Wizarding world wasn't hard on purebloods as well.
"Sorry it didn't work out," Harry said, feeling the need to say something supportive, even though he really didn't know Draco anymore.
Draco smiled at that. Harry was a little disappointed to find out Draco was straight, but then you couldn't have everything. The Slytherin was impeccably turned out and very pretty to look at, but Harry was beginning to think that was a Malfoy thing.
"It was working out fine," Draco said, looking ruefully amused and seeming to want to talk, "until the Prophet stuck their nose in. You leaving left a terrible hole in the market for gossip and so they started looking harder at we purebloods. When the pictures of Astoria and Pansy hit the front page, Astoria and I decided there was no point in continuing the sham of a marriage. We had, after all, achieved what we set out to do and produced an heir for both our families. Astoria still lives at the Manor, but we have separate lives."
"Astoria and Pansy?" Harry had to ask.
That sounded so completely risqué for purebloods and Draco smirked at him for the question.
"Seems our press were picking up bad habits from the Muggles," Draco replied. "They took pictures through Pansy's bedroom window; very juicy stuff. Pansy sued them for some very large amounts of money and I doubt anyone will try such a thing again, but by then the damage was already done; everyone knew that my marriage to Astoria was a front. Our divorce was headline news for a while and they hounded Astoria. Can you believe they actually thought I didn't know what my own wife was up to?"
Harry smiled at that; it did seem farfetched to him. Their entire generation was paranoid thanks to the war and Slytherins were paranoid to begin with and Draco Malfoy was the Prince of Slytherin which led to only one conclusion: Draco would have to have known everything.
"The Prophet was always staffed by idiots," Harry agreed from where he was lounging. "Any tips for dealing with them when I get home?"
"Keep smiling and sue them when they step over the line," Draco said with a wicked grin.
Harry had not failed to notice that Rita Skeeter's name was all over the article about him on the front page and he relished the idea of suing the annoying woman. He let himself enjoy the thought for a little while.
"By the way," Draco said suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts, "the answer's yes."
Harry frowned; he had no idea what Draco was talking about.
"Gryffindors," Draco said and rolled his eyes, "the attention span of a Puffleskin."
Harry gave Draco his best affronted look.
"Slytherins," he replied with a very dramatic sigh, "always expecting other people to understand their neuroses."
From the way he smiled, Draco liked that comeback and Harry was quite pleased he had had ten years to sharpen his tongue. When he had left the Wizarding world he had not seen Draco at all since school, but he was beginning to think they might have grown into being friends had circumstances been different.
"Am I interested, Potter," Draco said, with exaggerated slowness, as if talking to an idiot, "the answer's yes."
That did shock Harry into properly paying attention.
"Well you did ask," Draco said, clearly pleased at having surprised him; "if only we'd known at school, we could have had a much more amenable relationship."
For a moment Harry's brain tried to rationalise that and came up with a huge mess, so decided not to bother.
"Thank god," he said, leaning back against the wall, "I thought my gaydar was off."
Draco actually laughed at that.
"You're much more dramatic this time round, Potter," Draco said with a smile; "I think I like it."
"Black," Harry corrected, "or James, not Harry and definitely not Potter."
One thing he was completely sure of was that he was never being Harry Potter ever again.
"And I've been associating with figure skaters and coaches for eight years," he added with a grin, "it rubs off."
He would have loved to have continued the conversation, but something made a noise, a clear bell like note and Draco reached into his pocket. What Draco pulled out looked like a small leather photo frame, only he appeared to be reading it.
"Sorry, P...James," Draco said, standing up; "Mother needs me to assist with some things to do with father. I have to be going."
Harry stood up as well.
"What is that?" he asked curiously, looking at the device, since he had never seen one.
"This is a Weasley Communicator 2009," Draco said and then waited for his reaction.
"You're using something from a Weasley?" Harry asked, shocked.
"The whole of Wizarding Britain is," Draco replied and Harry realised how out of touch he really was. "Hermione married Ron and then they both went into partnership with that blasted brother of his and they started bringing out these two years ago. I believe they work like Muggle ... um ... email, is that right? No up to date wizard or witch will be seen without one these days, even Mother learnt to use one when I gave her one for Christmas. They are a lot less messy than owls or firecalls. I think they're about to go global."
Harry was amazed; the Wizarding world was entering the twenty first century. The Communicator made a sound again and Draco looked down at it.
"Those idiots," was Draco's response. "Sorry, I really must go."
"Of course," Harry said, sorry to see the other Wizard leave when he was just getting to know the man again.
"Goodbye, James," Draco said and offered his hand, "sorry that we met again under such trying circumstances."
"Not your fault," Harry replied and shook Draco's hand; "thanks for your help."
Draco just nodded and pulled out his wand. It looked as if he was about to disapparate, but then he paused.
"Would you care to join me for dinner tomorrow night?" Draco asked and rather took him by surprise again. "I know a nice restaurant not far from here."
For a moment Harry just stood there and then he smiled.
"I'd love to," he said.
"Shall we say seven for seven thirty?" Draco asked and he nodded.
Draco looked pleased and then he was gone with a crack. Harry threw himself back on the bed and laughed; it was turning out to be a rather enjoyable day.
====
Harry felt a little awkward being dragged into Lysacek's room behind Johnny, but his friend had a death grip on his hand and was clearly very nervous so he couldn't exactly abandon him.
"You brought backup?" Lysacek did not sound ecstatic about the idea.
"Moral support," Johnny said, anything but his usual confident self.
Harry just gave a small shrug at Lysacek and allowed himself to be shoved into a chair. He noticed that Lysacek's room was larger than his even though it was a single as well; clearly there were perks to being well known.
"Sorry about earlier," Johnny said rapidly before Lysacek could ask anything else; "you weren't supposed to find out that way."
"But I was supposed to find out?" Lysacek asked, sounding surprised.
Johnny sat down with a dramatic sigh, right in Harry's lap since there was still only one chair in the room even if it was bigger. Harry didn't object since Johnny wasn't heavy, but it was very odd being treated like a piece of furniture.
"You may have noticed," Johnny said, looking a little embarrassed, even from the angle Harry could see him, "that I've been turning up around you more than usual over the last couple of days?"
"It was hard to miss," Lysacek replied; "you don't do subtle."
That earned the man a small smile at least.
"That was me feeling you out," Johnny explained, warming slightly at the fact that Lysacek did not seem to be annoyed about this truth, "seeing if you might be interested, even a little bit."
"You know," Lysacek said, sitting down on his bed, "most people actually believe I'm straight."
"Have you checked the internet lately?" Harry asked; he couldn't help himself.
Johnny gave him a look.
"Sorry," he apologised and went back to being moral support furniture.
"Let's just say I was hoping and leave it at that," Johnny said and gave Lysacek a small smile.
"Why?" was the flat response.
Johnny glanced at Harry again looking nervous and Harry sent back a look he hoped meant, 'just tell him'.
"This is going to sound clichéd," Johnny said, looking back at Lysecek, "but you're my perfect man."
Lysacek looked as if he was caught between total disbelief and laughing his arse off.
"You once said there was nothing special about me and we'd never be friends," the gold medallist pointed out.
Johnny winced.
"I lied," Johnny said pointedly; "I'm an idiot, okay? It was for the cameras and you've said some spectacularly stupid things for them too. I didn't choose this to begin with; it's biological and it came on suddenly and it made me look at you and realise I'd actually refused to view you as a person. When I began looking I realised how much of your press I believed without actually seeing you and then I started seeing what was under the charade and well ... it's not just biological anymore."
"And today was?" Lysacek asked, clearly not sure how to take the confession.
"That bit was biological," Johnny said, sounding embarrassed again. "Vampires can find someone who is their perfect match biologically speaking..."
"Perfect match how?" Lysacek asked, interrupting Johnny's flow.
Harry didn't need to be able to see more than Johnny's back to know that his friend was worried about that question.
"Blood and sex," Johnny said quietly and kind of fast.
"You want to bite me?" Lysacek sounded scandalised.
The way Johnny hung his head and stayed silent didn't help matters and Harry was suddenly glad he was there.
"Don't knock it until you've tried it," he said and all but glared at the other skater.
That was the problem with the Wizard/Muggle divide, neither side really understood the other. At least Lysacek looked a little abashed by his comment and Harry nudged Johnny to continue.
"When I realised what I was feeling about you I tried to stop it, I didn't think there was any way it could work," Johnny said quietly, "but I couldn't and the more I learned about the real you the more obsessed my vampire side became. I started wearing the necklace off the ice as well as on it when I almost jumped you at a meet early last year. This morning was my vampire side not wanting to take no for an answer. If you're anywhere near I can only take the necklace off behind some very strong shields."
There was silence for a little while.
"What happens if you get to me without the necklace on?" Lysacek asked, barely showing any reaction at all.
"I bite you, I molest you and I try and get you to have sex with me," Johnny said rather brashly, clearly not enjoying the conversation at all.
"And if I didn't want to?" was the next question.
"I don't know," Johnny said kind of desperately, standing up and beginning to pace, "why do you think I keep this damn thing on all the time?"
"And it's just your vampire half that wants this?" Lysacek said and Harry thought the man was fishing for something.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back it seemed and Johnny rounded on the other skater.
"Haven't you been listening?" Johnny all but demanded. "That's the biological bit; that's what started it all off, but no, it's not just my vampire half. I'm in love with you, you oversized mongoose and I can't say it any plainer than that."
Then Johnny fled with what Harry thought was unintentional dramatic flair for once, leaving a shell shocked Lysacek behind him. The other man clearly didn't know what to do and looked at Harry kind of helplessly.
"He's in love with me?" was the rather pathetic question.
Harry nodded.
"Hook, line and sinker," he replied with a small shrug; "has been for months from what he told me the other night. I think I should go and make sure he's alright."
Lysacek just nodded, quite obviously having no clue how to react. Harry stood up and went to the door, turning just before he opened it.
"You could do a hell of a lot worse," he said and then slipped out.
End of Part 3a
On to Part 3b
Title: Salchows and Serendipity 03a/03
Author: Beren
Fandom: Harry Potter/Winter Olympics 2010 RPS
Pairing: Harry/Johnny Weir, Harry/Draco, Johnny Weir/Evan Lysacek, Apolo Ohno/J.R. Celski (side pairing)
Rating: NC17/18
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The real people in the fic are owned by themselves and this is pure fiction, it did not happen.
Warnings: vampires, explicit sex, rimming
Summary: When Harry realised his life was nothing that he wanted he reinvented himself, which is how he ended up in Vancouver on the British Winter Olympic team.
Author's Notes: I offer no excuses, my muses dragged me kicking and screaming into this fic and so here it is :). I hope you enjoy reading it. Thanks to Soph for the beta.
Other Parts: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3a | Ch 3b
Chapter 3 Working On It (1st half)
In the end Harry put Johnny into bed, cast some very strong shield charms on the room, a healing charm on his throat and then joined the others in the main room. Tanith wasn't there, which meant he had no backup, but also meant he didn't have to worry about her.
"Harry Potter should be coming up on thirty," Ohno said before anyone else could jump in with questions; "you are not thirty."
"Well done for stating the obvious," Draco said and received a glare for his trouble.
Clearly Draco's temperament had not improved much.
"I regressed myself ten years and finally got to live my childhood," Harry snapped without the slightest bit of remorse. "I'm James Black now and James Black I will stay, because I actually like my life."
"You ran away," Draco said in an unsympathetic tone.
"Yeah, well I was alone, suicidal and people only ever saw the fucking scar," he all but growled, "and let's not forget the people who still wanted to kill me, a la today, so forgive me if I don't give a shit if I was running away or not. Now, can we get back to the problem at hand?"
He really, really did not want to go through this now.
"You don't have a scar," Celski said and if he hadn't sounded so pathetically confused Harry might have snarled at him.
Instead he reached up and ripped the false skin off his forehead.
"Better?" he asked.
After that Lysacek even looked as if he might be starting to believe the whole situation was not some huge prank.
"Are you seriously saying magic is real?" the man finally joined in the conversation.
"Very," Draco said shortly, "and you're not supposed to know about it."
Draco then looked at Harry.
"We should obliviate them and be done with it," the Slytherin said in a dismissive tone.
"Just try it," Ohno said and placed himself between Draco and J.R., which was very sweet, but so not the point of the conversation.
"No one is obliviating anyone," Harry said very firmly; he was a little fed up of the grandstanding.
He really wanted to get Lysacek further away from Johnny by the time his friend woke up, but he knew the man would not leave without an explanation, and that didn't even bring Ohno and Celski into the equation.
"How can Johnny be a vampire?" Lysacek asked and at least that was the topic Harry wanted to talk about.
"He was born that way," Harry said simply; "he wears a necklace when he's on the ice; it makes him as good as human. Before you ask, it's under a charm so no one can see it. All Wizarding competitors in Muggle sports have charms on their kit to make sure they can't cheat with magic, even accidentally; Johnny's necklace is the same type of thing. It's more comprehensive than that, but it comes down to making it an even playing field. He hates the damn thing, but he loves the ice so much he does it."
"So why did he go loco today?" was the next question, which Harry had expected, but wasn't sure he should answer.
"He's been wearing the necklace off the ice as well as on it for reasons that you are going to have to ask him about when he's feeling better," he said as he decided what he could tell and what he couldn't. "Because his father," he pointed at Draco, "showed up to kill me ..."
"He's under a spell," Draco defended his parent.
"...Johnny lost the necklace," Harry continued and ignored Draco for now; he would be having that conversation later.
Ohno looked at the closed bedroom door and then at Lysacek and Harry remembered his hasty 'Vampire in heat' comment and realised that the short track skater had just caught on.
"That has gotta suck," was Ohno's comment on the matter.
"I'm sure it does," Harry replied and looked the man right in the eye, "and it's private, so we're not going to discuss it without Johnny or with anyone else."
Ohno gave a small smile at the telling off, but nodded. It did, however, have the effect of reminding Celski that Harry and Draco were not the only wand wielders in the room.
"I know where you went to school," Celski said, glaring at his friend, "and there is no way that's magical."
"My dad doesn't believe in Muggle/Wizard segregation," Ohno said simply; "I've done all the magical stuff by correspondence course."
Harry hadn't even realised that was possible and he wondered if people could do that in the UK too.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" Celski asked and all but pouted.
It looked very much like there was about to be a lovers' quarrel and Harry added another tick to the boxes that made him think the rumour about the pair being more than friends might be true.
"Yes," Ohno said in a very upfront manner; "I had a whole speech planned, but looks like it's a little late now."
Given the way that lessened the ire in Celski's face, Harry thought Ohno might partially be off the hook, at least until the younger skater got his friend somewhere private.
"Will Johnny be okay?" Lysacek asked when it was clear there was not going to be a short track skaters duel to the death at that very moment.
"Yeah," Celski agreed, "he looked really out of it."
"He'll be fine once we get the necklace back on him," Harry assured them both, warmed by the fact that Lysacek seemed concerned.
"The Aurors have it," Draco said in an almost neutral tone, which was a win in Harry's book, "I'll go and retrieve it."
"Thanks," Harry said, since he had no intention of leaving Johnny alone any time soon; "if we can get it back on as soon as he wakes up he should be okay to do the interview I know he has this afternoon."
Draco nodded and then turned to the door.
"Do not disappear again, Potter," was the Slytherin's parting words.
Harry just rolled his eyes, like he had a choice.
"Evan," he said, turning his mind back to the problem at hand, "would you mind going somewhere a bit further away until we have Johnny back to normal?"
Lysacek did not look happy about that.
"What is it about me that's causing this?" Lysacek asked, obviously unsettled.
That was a question and a half and Harry couldn't figure out how to answer that without giving away Johnny's secret.
"And does this have anything to do with why he's been flirting with me outrageously since the end of the Men's competition?" was the next rapid question and Harry about gave up.
At least it did seem that Lysacek was more observant than most people thought he was.
"Yes," he said, since there was no point denying it, "but I can't tell you why. I'm sure Johnny will want to as soon as he wakes up properly, but until then would you mind going somewhere at least a mile away?"
Lysacek's face was a picture.
"A mile?" the gold medal winner asked in a slightly strangled tone.
"Two if there is anywhere around here you can go," Harry replied with a nod. "Vampires have very good radar."
He wasn't about to mention that it was only that good if said vampire was 'obsessed', but it made his point. Lysacek still didn't look happy, but the man did nod.
"Okay," he said, "but get Johnny to call me as soon as he feels like explaining. This is my cell. Tell him not to take too long, because I'm not in the mood to wait."
Then Lysacek shoved a card into his hand and all but stormed out.
"Are all figure skaters so highly strung?" Ohno asked in a completely innocent tone.
Harry just looked at Celski.
"I think you might find out short track skaters are highly strung as well if you don't do some explaining of your own soon," he pointed out and Ohno took a good look at his younger friend.
"You might be right," the man agreed with a small smile; "come on J.R. we've got some talking to do. You'll let us know when Johnny is okay, Harry?"
"Yeah, sure," he replied with a nod, "and it's James now; I have no intention of going back to my old life. All I have to do is figure out how to get rid of Draco Malfoy and we can all go back to normal."
Ohno laughed at that.
"Like any of this is normal anyway," was the cynical response.
At least Harry could agree with that and grinned.
====
Ten minutes after everyone had left, Draco returned with the necklace and Harry was very glad, because he could feel Johnny stirring behind the shields.
"How the hell did you end up here?" Draco asked, passing him the necklace.
"I told you," Harry replied, checking the clasp to make sure it hadn't been broken; "I regressed myself to eleven and then went and played Muggle."
"But figure skating?" Draco sounded incredulous.
It was kind of a strange thing to have ended up doing.
"Have you ever skated?" he asked, confident that the necklace was in one piece and its enchantments were still active.
Draco shook his head.
"It's as thrilling as flying," he said and knew he probably looked distant as he thought about it, "and sometimes you actually do fly. I love every minute on the ice; I wouldn't be here otherwise."
For a moment Draco actually looked impressed.
"I'll talk to you later," he said, feeling Johnny stir again, "right now I have to make sure Johnny is okay. If an irate vampire comes charging out of there," he pointed at the bedroom door, "in a few minutes, stupefy him for me will you?"
At that Draco smiled, but did nod.
"And don't even think about climbing out the window," the Slytherin said and Harry found himself smiling as well.
He put his fingers to his temple and made a face.
"Okay," he said with mock seriousness, "that's off the list."
Draco appeared genuinely amused at that; it was an expression Harry barely recognised on the other wizard. Draco had changed, grown up a lot since Harry had last seen him. Where he was a gangly twenty year old, Draco was a full bodied thirty year old and he looked like he was in shape. Harry found himself vaguely interested, but he stopped that thought in its tracks; Draco was probably happily married and continuing the Malfoy line by now.
"See you in a little while," he said and bent down to the small fridge to grab the bottle and straw he knew Johnny kept there, before ducking into Johnny's bedroom to avoid doing something stupid.
Johnny moaned quietly just after he shut the door and he moved over to beside his friend's bed, placing the necklace and blood on the bedside table. He waited and eventually Johnny's eyes fluttered open.
"Ow?" Johnny said as soon as he saw him and the vampire seemed confused.
Harry gave his friend a smile.
"How do you feel?" he asked, since Johnny looked pale.
"Like something hit me hard," Johnny replied and went to sit up. "What happened?"
Stupefy hexes could be very like a blow to the head and mess with the short term memory for a little while, so Harry wasn't really surprised that Johnny didn't remember much.
"You lost the necklace," he said, helping Johnny into a sitting position. "You saved my life and in doing so the necklace came off and I had to Stupefy you."
Johnny looked aghast.
"What did I do?" the smaller man all but demanded.
"Nothing hideous," Harry promised, hoping to calm Johnny down a bit; "you didn't get to him," they both knew who 'him' was, "but you almost did. Two of your other team mates saw everything: Ohno and Celski, but it turns out Ohno is a wizard. Did you know that?"
Johnny shook his head; that seemed to be as much a shock to him as it was to Harry.
"He kept that quiet," Johnny said, still looking dazed.
"Yeah, well all three of them know who I really am now as well," Harry continued; "Draco managed to give that away and is currently in your living room. I thought about killing him, but it might be hard to get rid of the body with all the press running around."
The way Johnny just stared at him for that comment showed quite how out of it Johnny was; there wasn't even a flicker of a smile.
"What are they going to do?" Johnny asked.
"Nothing," Harry replied and patted his friend on the arm; "but they're probably going to want an explanation. I told Evan you'd talk to him when you're feeling better."
"I'd rather just get on a plane," Johnny said, looking a little terrified.
Harry picked up the bottle of blood and handed it to his friend with the matching straw.
"Unlike me," he said with a sympathetic smile, "you have never run from anything."
Johnny looked down at the bottle and then up at him, seeming pensive, and then gave a huge sigh.
"So much for breaking it to him gently," Johnny said and flicked open the bottle and put in the straw; "he could be a complete tool about this you realise? It has been known."
He took a long suck as if he was drinking Coke.
"And you've been known to be a complete bitch," Harry replied with a small smile; "but I don't think he will be, he was worried about you."
"Really?" Johnny asked, letting the straw drop out of his mouth and brightening considerably. "How worried?"
It was typical Johnny; up and down at a moment's notice.
"How should I know?" Harry replied and rolled his eyes. "He was concerned, that's all I can say. He knows this has something to do with him and he didn't seem to like the fact that he's causing you bother. Anything else you're going to have to find out for yourself."
Johnny didn't look overly pleased with the answer, but went back to sucking up the blood.
"So," Johnny finally began talking to him again, "Draco Malfoy; cute like the movies or pointy like the books?"
Harry found himself laughing despite the enormity of the situation.
"In school, pointy," he replied, dropping into his best impression of overtly gay, "right now; I'd do him in a heartbeat."
Johnny grinned and then brightened again.
"Right," were his next words, "give me five minutes to freshen up, then I'm coming out and you can introduce me to this hot example of man flesh."
There was no arguing when Johnny said something in that tone, so Harry nodded and stood up.
"Okay," he said and picked up the necklace from the table and handed it to Johnny; "you have five minutes."
Johnny put it back on, fading to his human state instantly, but still smiling, which was good, so Harry bent down, gave his friend a peck on the cheek and then sashayed out, making Johnny laugh.
When he turned, having entered the living room and closed the bedroom door, he found Draco watching him.
"Potter, are you gay?" Draco asked, sounding perplexed.
Clearly his sashaying had been noticed.
"Not exclusively," he replied, throwing caution to the wind, "why, interested?"
It turned out Malfoy's could blush.
"You haven't improved," was Draco's less than stellar comeback.
Harry just smiled; he liked having one up on his old rival.
"Shouldn't you be off worrying about your father or the Aurors or something?" he asked, since now he didn't have Johnny to worry about it actually occurred to him who had attacked him.
"He's on his way back to St Mungo's with the Aurors," Draco said in an offhand manner; "we've had him locked up there since the spell first manifested four years ago. They've made a little headway and if some idiot hadn't shown him a Muggle newspaper so he saw you he never would have gone off on one. At the moment I'm more worried about you pressing charges. The Aurors will want to speak to you about the whole thing."
Harry hadn't actually thought about that; he had been so used to Voldemort taking pot shots at him when he had been in the Wizarding world that it hadn't occurred to him what someone might do under more normal circumstances.
"If he's under a spell I'm not going to try and have the book thrown at him, Draco," he said, understanding a little of Draco's waspishness now. "I'd rather the whole thing just go away quietly actually; I really don't want everyone to know where I am. I left the Wizarding world to get away from Harry bloody Potter and I'd rather he stayed where I left him and let James Black continue as if nothing had happened."
"I would love to help," Draco replied and it actually sounded genuine, "but I think it's already too late. My father was raving before some idiot let him escape and this was this morning's headline at home."
Draco pulled a small folded something from his pocket and resized it back to its former state, at which point Harry could tell it was the Prophet. There on the front page was a picture of him from just after the war and a Muggle one of James Black from what he assumed was a paper back home. The headline proclaimed: "Harry Potter and James Black, Same Person?"
"Fuck," he said very loudly.
"If you had chosen a less obvious name we might have been able to spin something," Draco said and handed him the paper, "but I think it's more than obvious what the truth is."
Harry just glared at his one time rival for that; he had thought about his name very carefully and he was proud of it. It stood for two of the most important people in his life even though he barely remembered one and had known the other for such a short time. Names defined people and he liked the one he had chosen for himself.
"Well I'm not going back," Harry said firmly; "this life is mine."
"Good for you," Draco said and Harry was very surprised to find that it looked as if Draco meant it, "just be prepared to mix them a little. The moment you set foot in Britain the people who cared about you are going to start showing up and the Ministry will undoubtedly want an explanation."
"The Ministry can suck my cock," was Harry's response to that; "all they ever did was make my life hell. If they set foot near me the first thing I will do is sue them for every penny they have for letting me have an abused childhood and allowing a Dark Lord to get anywhere near me."
Draco actually looked interested at that, almost impressed.
"Now that part might actually work," was the grudging acknowledgement.
"Yes, well I have had nearly ten years to come up with a backup plan," Harry told his companion. "I may be a Gryffindor, but I'm not stupid. My legal representatives have had the paperwork ready for six years, just in case."
Now Draco really did look impressed.
"Who'd have thought that you actually have a brain," was the backhanded compliment.
That made Harry smile just a little, but then he looked back down at the paper again. His simple life was over.
"Do excuse me for being late," Johnny's voice broke him out of his thoughts and he turned to see his friend exiting the bedroom; "you must be Draco Malfoy, pleased to meet you."
Draco shook the offered hand.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," Draco returned politely.
"Much, thank you," Johnny replied, the epitome of gentile politeness even though he did give Draco a once up and down; "I think I'm beginning to remember some things from this afternoon, but you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little vague."
"A double stupefy will do that to anyone," Draco replied with a nod.
"Double?" Johnny looked to Harry for clarification.
"Ohno and I both got to our wands," he explained apologetically, "and he's a surprisingly good shot."
Johnny just shrugged.
"Better that than me getting to Evan," was the practical response. "Is that you I see on the front page?"
Harry nodded and passed it over.
"It's the main Wizarding newspaper from home," he said with a sigh, "seems I'm busted."
Johnny seemed to be reading the article.
"No publicity is bad publicity, Jimmy," Johnny said, giving him back the paper and patting him on the shoulder gently; "you just have to know how to spin it. This could be good for your career, get you some Wizarding sponsorship as well as Muggle. Imagine how much money you could make selling the story of your reinvention, and we all know how expensive new skates are these days."
That rather made Harry stop and he blinked at his friend; he hadn't considered it that way. He was so used to compartmentalising the different halves of his life that possible pluses of mixing the two had never occurred to him. It was going to be a nightmare when he got home to begin with, but in the long run it could actually help him.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you," he said and grinned at Johnny, who, of course, basked in the praise.
====
It turned out that Johnny was feeling better, but not on top form, so he needed to rearrange the interview he was supposed to be doing and just get some rest. Not really surprising after the morning's activities, so Harry dragged Draco with him after being made to promise that he'd reappear when Johnny called. It seemed that Johnny was afraid of facing Lysacek alone and he had begged Harry to be there for moral support. Of course he had said yes, even though he had his own things to sort out. It did mean, however, that he had time to talk with Draco alone and he took the Slytherin back to where he was staying.
"You're tidier than you used to be at least," Draco observed as he walked in to the small room Harry had been allocated.
"When you're pretending to be eleven and don't want any adults around, you get into the habit of keeping things neat and tidy yourself," Harry replied and threw himself onto the bed, letting Draco have the only chair; "I never grew out of it."
Draco sat himself down with all the grace Harry remembered him having on a broom.
"I've only ever heard of one person trying what you did," the Slytherin said, tone almost admiring, "and they managed to turn themselves into a hideous giant baby. How did you do it?"
It wasn't really an unexpected question, but Harry didn't have a very clear answer.
"The woman who sold me the spell and potion told me it was all about focus and want," he replied with a shrug. "I wanted it very badly."
"Quite Slytherin of you to vanish so completely," Draco pointed out.
That made Harry smile; it was a compliment indeed.
"No one was looking for an eleven year old," he replied, thinking back and remembering his flight from the Wizarding world; "it wasn't that difficult. I made all the financial arrangements before regressing myself and then I just stepped from one life into another. A few cosmetic changes, hiding the scar and I was all set."
He noticed that Draco was looking at him rather closely then.
"You do look very different," Draco finally said; "how did you tame the mop?"
Harry grinned and ran his hand through his hair; it was now straight and manageable, a long way from the untameable nest it had once been.
"The Muggles have some very inventive hair products," he replied and wondered what Draco thought of the two-tone he had it dyed at the moment.
It was deep red on top and black underneath in an asymmetrical style which had matched his costume.
"When I first disappeared I just used to dye it brown," he added, remembering the mess he had made of it the first time, "but when I started skating that just wouldn't do. Straight after getting my first pair of skates I was pointed at a decent hairdresser."
That had been a very eye opening experience; he remembered it well.
"Now that is a miracle," Draco replied with a smirk.
"So," Harry decided he'd answered enough questions for now, "what have you been up to?"
"Oh, nothing overly exciting," Draco replied with a shrug, "got married, had a son, got divorced, committed my father; the usual pureblood thing."
Surprisingly Draco sounded just a little tired and Harry had to wonder if maybe the Wizarding world wasn't hard on purebloods as well.
"Sorry it didn't work out," Harry said, feeling the need to say something supportive, even though he really didn't know Draco anymore.
Draco smiled at that. Harry was a little disappointed to find out Draco was straight, but then you couldn't have everything. The Slytherin was impeccably turned out and very pretty to look at, but Harry was beginning to think that was a Malfoy thing.
"It was working out fine," Draco said, looking ruefully amused and seeming to want to talk, "until the Prophet stuck their nose in. You leaving left a terrible hole in the market for gossip and so they started looking harder at we purebloods. When the pictures of Astoria and Pansy hit the front page, Astoria and I decided there was no point in continuing the sham of a marriage. We had, after all, achieved what we set out to do and produced an heir for both our families. Astoria still lives at the Manor, but we have separate lives."
"Astoria and Pansy?" Harry had to ask.
That sounded so completely risqué for purebloods and Draco smirked at him for the question.
"Seems our press were picking up bad habits from the Muggles," Draco replied. "They took pictures through Pansy's bedroom window; very juicy stuff. Pansy sued them for some very large amounts of money and I doubt anyone will try such a thing again, but by then the damage was already done; everyone knew that my marriage to Astoria was a front. Our divorce was headline news for a while and they hounded Astoria. Can you believe they actually thought I didn't know what my own wife was up to?"
Harry smiled at that; it did seem farfetched to him. Their entire generation was paranoid thanks to the war and Slytherins were paranoid to begin with and Draco Malfoy was the Prince of Slytherin which led to only one conclusion: Draco would have to have known everything.
"The Prophet was always staffed by idiots," Harry agreed from where he was lounging. "Any tips for dealing with them when I get home?"
"Keep smiling and sue them when they step over the line," Draco said with a wicked grin.
Harry had not failed to notice that Rita Skeeter's name was all over the article about him on the front page and he relished the idea of suing the annoying woman. He let himself enjoy the thought for a little while.
"By the way," Draco said suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts, "the answer's yes."
Harry frowned; he had no idea what Draco was talking about.
"Gryffindors," Draco said and rolled his eyes, "the attention span of a Puffleskin."
Harry gave Draco his best affronted look.
"Slytherins," he replied with a very dramatic sigh, "always expecting other people to understand their neuroses."
From the way he smiled, Draco liked that comeback and Harry was quite pleased he had had ten years to sharpen his tongue. When he had left the Wizarding world he had not seen Draco at all since school, but he was beginning to think they might have grown into being friends had circumstances been different.
"Am I interested, Potter," Draco said, with exaggerated slowness, as if talking to an idiot, "the answer's yes."
That did shock Harry into properly paying attention.
"Well you did ask," Draco said, clearly pleased at having surprised him; "if only we'd known at school, we could have had a much more amenable relationship."
For a moment Harry's brain tried to rationalise that and came up with a huge mess, so decided not to bother.
"Thank god," he said, leaning back against the wall, "I thought my gaydar was off."
Draco actually laughed at that.
"You're much more dramatic this time round, Potter," Draco said with a smile; "I think I like it."
"Black," Harry corrected, "or James, not Harry and definitely not Potter."
One thing he was completely sure of was that he was never being Harry Potter ever again.
"And I've been associating with figure skaters and coaches for eight years," he added with a grin, "it rubs off."
He would have loved to have continued the conversation, but something made a noise, a clear bell like note and Draco reached into his pocket. What Draco pulled out looked like a small leather photo frame, only he appeared to be reading it.
"Sorry, P...James," Draco said, standing up; "Mother needs me to assist with some things to do with father. I have to be going."
Harry stood up as well.
"What is that?" he asked curiously, looking at the device, since he had never seen one.
"This is a Weasley Communicator 2009," Draco said and then waited for his reaction.
"You're using something from a Weasley?" Harry asked, shocked.
"The whole of Wizarding Britain is," Draco replied and Harry realised how out of touch he really was. "Hermione married Ron and then they both went into partnership with that blasted brother of his and they started bringing out these two years ago. I believe they work like Muggle ... um ... email, is that right? No up to date wizard or witch will be seen without one these days, even Mother learnt to use one when I gave her one for Christmas. They are a lot less messy than owls or firecalls. I think they're about to go global."
Harry was amazed; the Wizarding world was entering the twenty first century. The Communicator made a sound again and Draco looked down at it.
"Those idiots," was Draco's response. "Sorry, I really must go."
"Of course," Harry said, sorry to see the other Wizard leave when he was just getting to know the man again.
"Goodbye, James," Draco said and offered his hand, "sorry that we met again under such trying circumstances."
"Not your fault," Harry replied and shook Draco's hand; "thanks for your help."
Draco just nodded and pulled out his wand. It looked as if he was about to disapparate, but then he paused.
"Would you care to join me for dinner tomorrow night?" Draco asked and rather took him by surprise again. "I know a nice restaurant not far from here."
For a moment Harry just stood there and then he smiled.
"I'd love to," he said.
"Shall we say seven for seven thirty?" Draco asked and he nodded.
Draco looked pleased and then he was gone with a crack. Harry threw himself back on the bed and laughed; it was turning out to be a rather enjoyable day.
====
Harry felt a little awkward being dragged into Lysacek's room behind Johnny, but his friend had a death grip on his hand and was clearly very nervous so he couldn't exactly abandon him.
"You brought backup?" Lysacek did not sound ecstatic about the idea.
"Moral support," Johnny said, anything but his usual confident self.
Harry just gave a small shrug at Lysacek and allowed himself to be shoved into a chair. He noticed that Lysacek's room was larger than his even though it was a single as well; clearly there were perks to being well known.
"Sorry about earlier," Johnny said rapidly before Lysacek could ask anything else; "you weren't supposed to find out that way."
"But I was supposed to find out?" Lysacek asked, sounding surprised.
Johnny sat down with a dramatic sigh, right in Harry's lap since there was still only one chair in the room even if it was bigger. Harry didn't object since Johnny wasn't heavy, but it was very odd being treated like a piece of furniture.
"You may have noticed," Johnny said, looking a little embarrassed, even from the angle Harry could see him, "that I've been turning up around you more than usual over the last couple of days?"
"It was hard to miss," Lysacek replied; "you don't do subtle."
That earned the man a small smile at least.
"That was me feeling you out," Johnny explained, warming slightly at the fact that Lysacek did not seem to be annoyed about this truth, "seeing if you might be interested, even a little bit."
"You know," Lysacek said, sitting down on his bed, "most people actually believe I'm straight."
"Have you checked the internet lately?" Harry asked; he couldn't help himself.
Johnny gave him a look.
"Sorry," he apologised and went back to being moral support furniture.
"Let's just say I was hoping and leave it at that," Johnny said and gave Lysacek a small smile.
"Why?" was the flat response.
Johnny glanced at Harry again looking nervous and Harry sent back a look he hoped meant, 'just tell him'.
"This is going to sound clichéd," Johnny said, looking back at Lysecek, "but you're my perfect man."
Lysacek looked as if he was caught between total disbelief and laughing his arse off.
"You once said there was nothing special about me and we'd never be friends," the gold medallist pointed out.
Johnny winced.
"I lied," Johnny said pointedly; "I'm an idiot, okay? It was for the cameras and you've said some spectacularly stupid things for them too. I didn't choose this to begin with; it's biological and it came on suddenly and it made me look at you and realise I'd actually refused to view you as a person. When I began looking I realised how much of your press I believed without actually seeing you and then I started seeing what was under the charade and well ... it's not just biological anymore."
"And today was?" Lysacek asked, clearly not sure how to take the confession.
"That bit was biological," Johnny said, sounding embarrassed again. "Vampires can find someone who is their perfect match biologically speaking..."
"Perfect match how?" Lysacek asked, interrupting Johnny's flow.
Harry didn't need to be able to see more than Johnny's back to know that his friend was worried about that question.
"Blood and sex," Johnny said quietly and kind of fast.
"You want to bite me?" Lysacek sounded scandalised.
The way Johnny hung his head and stayed silent didn't help matters and Harry was suddenly glad he was there.
"Don't knock it until you've tried it," he said and all but glared at the other skater.
That was the problem with the Wizard/Muggle divide, neither side really understood the other. At least Lysacek looked a little abashed by his comment and Harry nudged Johnny to continue.
"When I realised what I was feeling about you I tried to stop it, I didn't think there was any way it could work," Johnny said quietly, "but I couldn't and the more I learned about the real you the more obsessed my vampire side became. I started wearing the necklace off the ice as well as on it when I almost jumped you at a meet early last year. This morning was my vampire side not wanting to take no for an answer. If you're anywhere near I can only take the necklace off behind some very strong shields."
There was silence for a little while.
"What happens if you get to me without the necklace on?" Lysacek asked, barely showing any reaction at all.
"I bite you, I molest you and I try and get you to have sex with me," Johnny said rather brashly, clearly not enjoying the conversation at all.
"And if I didn't want to?" was the next question.
"I don't know," Johnny said kind of desperately, standing up and beginning to pace, "why do you think I keep this damn thing on all the time?"
"And it's just your vampire half that wants this?" Lysacek said and Harry thought the man was fishing for something.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back it seemed and Johnny rounded on the other skater.
"Haven't you been listening?" Johnny all but demanded. "That's the biological bit; that's what started it all off, but no, it's not just my vampire half. I'm in love with you, you oversized mongoose and I can't say it any plainer than that."
Then Johnny fled with what Harry thought was unintentional dramatic flair for once, leaving a shell shocked Lysacek behind him. The other man clearly didn't know what to do and looked at Harry kind of helplessly.
"He's in love with me?" was the rather pathetic question.
Harry nodded.
"Hook, line and sinker," he replied with a small shrug; "has been for months from what he told me the other night. I think I should go and make sure he's alright."
Lysacek just nodded, quite obviously having no clue how to react. Harry stood up and went to the door, turning just before he opened it.
"You could do a hell of a lot worse," he said and then slipped out.
End of Part 3a
On to Part 3b