Fic: Someday (NC17)
Author: thesamanthahope
Title: Someday
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Rating: NC-17
Summary: While crossing the Black Lake to Hogwarts, Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter mysteriously disappear. While searching for their sons, Draco and Harry get a little help finding their way back to each other.
Warnings: DH Spoilers, sexual situations
Total word count: ~9200
Original prompt request number: 136
Disclaimer: This story/artwork 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.
Author's notes: oldenuf2nb, I hope it is as good as you imagined!
Beta(s): mayagirlxo, who is super thorough and awesomely amazing. Thanks also to eam1681 for giving me an extra eye and encouragement, and to mrdavismd for being the best bff a girl could ever hope for.
Someday
“Where is my son?” Draco demanded without preamble as he stormed into the Headmistress’ office.
The Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry calmly stood and motioned to a chair. “Hello, Draco, would you care to have a seat?”
“No, Lovegood, I would not care to have a seat. I would like an explanation as to how you imbeciles lost my son between the Hogwarts Express and the Great Hall!” Draco snarled.
Luna smiled serenely and motioned toward the chair again. “It’s Scamander now. I haven’t been a Lovegood for quite some time. Now let us all sit down and try to figure this out.” She smiled at someone over Draco’s shoulder and he finally realized that there were other people in the room. He turned and was instantly locked in a fierce green gaze.
“Hello, Draco,” Harry said quietly. Harry was wearing Muggle denims with a dark green jumper that pulled snugly across his broad shoulders. It was the same ensemble Draco had seen him wearing at platform nine and three-quarters earlier that day, but up close, he could see how well the clothes fit Harry’s form, accentuating his body. Draco realized he had been staring and nodded quickly.
The quiet greeting seemed to calm Draco somewhat. “Potter. What are you doing here?”
“I just got here. Al is missing as well.”
Draco turned back to Luna. “You’ve lost two children? Do you think Scorpius and Albus are together?”
Luna again motioned to the seat and Draco finally sat down heavily. Luna sat as well and took a moment to arrange her robes, which were sky blue with drifting storm clouds and an occasional flash of lightning.
“We believe so,” said Luna. “Hagrid remembers the boys getting on a boat together, but he lost sight of them. When he came ashore, the boys weren’t there. Another child who was in the boat with Scorpius and Albus said they simply disappeared.”
Harry sat up suddenly. “What, like a Portkey?”
“We are looking at that as an option. We continued with the Sorting, as planned, and had faculty members searching the grounds during dinner. There are no other children missing. Hagrid has gone into Hogsmeade to see if anyone in town has seen anything.” Luna folded her hands in her lap and smiled.
Draco could feel his teeth grinding as he struggled to remain calm. “Pardon me, Headmistress, but you don’t seem particularly concerned about the fact that you have two first year students missing on the grounds.”
Luna smiled. “They’ll come back, they always do in the end.”
Seeming to sense Draco’s frustration, Harry entered the conversation. “Luna, have you questioned all of the first years who saw the boys? And the children on the train?”
“Oh, yes. The Heads of Houses questioned the students as they returned to their dormitories. It does seem rather strange. Everyone says the boys just disappeared. I’ve spoken with the Chieftainess of the merpeople and she reports nothing amiss in the lake. We are planning to perform another search of the castle and grounds once Hagrid returns to report.”
Harry opened his mouth to ask another question, but just then, there was a loud knock on the door and Hagrid walked in, holding a redheaded boy by the cloak.
“James!” Harry exclaimed.
“Hi, Dad,” James mumbled as he stared at the floor.
“I found ‘im past the gates, headed toward the castle from the Shrieking Shack. Says he was out for a walk,” Hagrid said.
Harry appeared to have had a revelation. “James, you wouldn’t know anything about where Al and Scorpius are by any chance, would you?”
A mumbled “No” was his only reply.
“Maybe we should give you a few moments in private,” Luna said soothingly. With that, Luna and Hagrid slipped out of the office.
Harry turned back to his son and continued. “Because if you did happen to know where the boys were, it would be better for you if you went ahead and told us now, instead of us finding out about it later.”
James suddenly looked panicked. “Al wasn’t supposed to be involved! I didn’t know he would go too!” And then he crumbled and as his eyes went back to the floor, he mumbled, “I only wanted to scare the Malfoy kid.”
“Why you little-“ Draco began, but was silenced by a single look from Harry. They looked at each other for a moment, and Draco realized that Harry was silently asking him to be patient, and let Harry handle the conversation. Draco gave a short nod and sat back in his chair. Harry tuned back to his son. His voice was soft but stern.
“James, why did you want to scare Scorpius? I didn’t know you even knew him.”
“I don’t!”
“Then why?”
“Because I just wanted to! I don’t know why! I didn’t have a reason!” James cried, tears brimming in his eyes.
Draco knew they weren’t getting the whole story, but decided to continue to let Harry lead for the moment. Harry switched techniques. “What did you do to Scorpius?”
James squirmed uncomfortably and continued staring at the floor. “I just wanted to scare him,” he said. “I went looking for Al on the train, and found him sitting with Malfoy. I told Al that he should choose his friends better, unless he really wanted to be in Slytherin, because that’s where all Malfoys go.”
There was a harsh intake of breath from Draco, and Harry knew they were both thinking of the train ride in their first year, and the hand of friendship that went unaccepted. Harry took a deep breath.
“And?”
“Al took up for the brat, and told me to leave. I found Victoire a few cars down, and asked her to make a Portkey for me out of a Chocolate Frog card. I told her I was playing a joke on Rose. I gave the Chocolate Frog to Malfoy, saying it was a peace offering.”
James finished his story and looked imploringly at his father. “Dad, he was only supposed to go to the Shrieking Shack. I was going to go get him as soon as I got to the castle, but when I got to the shack, they weren’t there. I didn’t think they would know about the secret passageway, so I walked the long way back to see if I could find them. That’s when Hagrid found me.”
Draco finally spoke up. “So you are telling me that my son is outside who-knows-where, potentially in danger, with a Potter,” Draco said the name as if there could be no worse fate, “all because you thought it would be funny to scare a little kid? Do you know how immensely stupid that was?”
Draco was not aware that he had stood, or that his voice had steadily gotten louder as he had spoken, and the last question was screamed at James, who began to cry in earnest. Harry put his hand on Draco’s arm, snapping him out of his rage. He turned to look at Harry, and Draco knew that for the first time, Harry could see on his face how anxious and worried Draco was.
“He’s never been outside for this long by himself,” Draco said. “He’s smart, but he hasn’t experienced much. We’ve sheltered him. Harry, we have to find him.”
Harry placed his hands on Draco’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. “We’ll find him. And Al is pretty smart as well. I’m sure they will be alright.” Draco placed a hand on Harry’s chest, and Harry covered it with his own. “We’ll find him,” he said again.
“Don’t touch him!”
Harry’s head snapped up to look at his son. James had been crying before, but now he looked furious.
“What?” Draco asked
“I said don’t touch him! Stay away from him!” James screamed, and lunged for Draco. Draco sidestepped the boy, and Harry grabbed his son and spun him around to face Harry.
“James, what are you talking about?”
James was struggling in his grip. “I don’t want him touching you, or you touching him!” James stopped struggling and looked his father in the eye. “I know, Dad, okay? I know.”
“Know what?”
James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I know about you and Mr. Malfoy.”
“James, I don’t know what you think you know-“
“Well, it sounds to me as if I’ve joined this conversation just as it was getting interesting,” a smooth voice drawled from the doorway.
All heads turned as Astoria Malfoy sauntered into the Headmistress’ office. She casually strolled up to Draco and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. “Hello, darling. Any news on our wayward son? I see you’ve involved Harry Potter in the search. It appears I shouldn’t have been worried at all.”
She smiled at Harry and extended her hand. “Hello, Harry, I’m Astoria Malfoy, formerly Greengrass. You may not remember me, I was a couple of years behind you at Hogwarts.”
Harry took her hand and kissed it, eliciting a small growl from Draco. “Nice to see you, Mrs. Malfoy.”
Astoria laughed. “Please, call me Astoria.” She said, looking Harry up and down before giving Draco a wink and a smile.
Harry could see the muscles clench in Draco’s jaw. “Hello Astoria. Nice of you to take the time out of your busy life to show some concern for your son. We haven’t found him yet. Potter’s son is missing too. Potter’s other son had something to do with it, and he was just about to explain.”
Astoria looked at Harry and James with laughter in her eyes. “Yes, I believe I heard his accusation, Draco dear. Although I’m not entirely sure how your love life is connected to the disappearance of Scorpius.”
“I have to admit that I am not so sure either. Just what do you think you know about your father and me, Potter-spawn?”
James swallowed hard as he realized that all of the adult attention had returned to him. “A few days ago, I found a wooden box under your bed.”
The blood drained from Harry’s face. “You and I will discuss exactly what you were looking for under my bed at another time. That box was warded. How did you remove the spells?”
“I…I sort of…told Teddy that it was my box and that Uncle George had warded it as a joke. I asked him to take off the spells.” James squared his shoulders and looked his father in the eye. “You can punish me for that later. The point is, I know what was in that box.”
Draco had had enough. “Brilliant! You know what was in the box. Would you mind terribly letting the rest of us know, so we can find my son!”
Harry turned so that Draco could see him, but his face was hidden to the others. “The letter was in the box, Draco. The letter you left for me.”
This time it was Draco’s turn to pale. “You kept that letter? For twenty years? Why?”
Harry shook his head. “That’s a question for another time.” He turned back to his son. “So am I safe in presuming that you found the letter, assumed I had cheated on your mum, and decided to hurt Scorpius, which would hurt Draco, which would hurt me?”
“I hadn’t really thought that far into it, but yeah…I guess I did.”
“Merlin, no wonder you’re a Gryffindor. That’s the stupidest bloody plan I’ve ever heard of. Let’s punish a child for something that happened before either one of you were ever born!” Draco snarled at James.
“I didn’t know the letter was that old! I thought you were the reason my mum left!” Tears of rage were tracking down James’ cheeks as he screamed at Draco.
“Enough!” Harry yelled, making James and Draco fall silent. “This is getting us nowhere.” He turned to Draco. “James said the Portkey was supposed to drop the boys in the Shrieking Shack. The way I see it, the most likely scenario is that the boys landed in the Shrieking Shack, found their way out, and are wandering around Hogsmeade.”
Draco nodded. “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if the boys tried to make it here on their own. Scorpius is sheltered, but he’s also independent. And if your second-born is even the slightest bit more intelligent than your first-born, they should have been able to find their way out of the Shrieking Shack. We should head there and check the Quidditch pitch along the way. Maybe we’ll meet them on the trip.” A note of hopefulness crept into Draco’s voice before he could stop it.
Harry silently placed his hand on Draco’s shoulder. Draco looked at Harry and gave a small smile. He opened to mouth to say more, but Astoria spoke first.
“Well, it seems as if you two have it all under control. Why don’t you boys run off into the dark to look, and I’ll stay here in case your sons come back.” Astoria’s voice was still light and casual, but there was a gleam in her eye that made Draco somewhat wary. “Careful you two don’t get distracted from your mission. Find the boys first, then you two can work out…” she waved her hand vaguely between the two of them, “whatever you would like to work out.”
Harry looked confusedly between Draco and Astoria, but Draco just shook his head and walked to the door. Harry and Draco left the Headmistress’ office and headed for the Entrance Hall. They were silent until they reached the front doors and walked toward the Quidditch pitch. Then Draco spoke. “So Mrs. Potter left? I suppose I should say I’m sorry.”
Harry kicked at a stone as he walked along the path. “Why should you be sorry? I’m certainly not, and I’m pretty sure Ginny is not very sorry either.”
“How long has there been trouble in paradise?”
Harry shot Draco a strange look and Draco amended his question. “Only if you want to tell me, of course. Just making conversation.”
Harry shrugged. “There is not really much to tell. We just sort of…drifted apart. We haven’t really been together for a while, but we were both staying at the house for the kids. Then Ginny was offered a position as an assistant coach for a Quidditch team in France, and we decided it was finally time for her to move out. I didn’t realize James would jump to any kind of radical conclusions.”
Draco laughed. “That was a radical conclusion alright.”
“Not so radical,” Harry muttered under his breath. “So, your wife seems lovely,” he said louder.
“Ex-wife,” Draco corrected absently, with a wave of his hand. “We divorced a few years ago, but Astoria still lives in the Manor, so there wasn’t much of a change for Scorpius.”
“Who wanted the divorce?”
Draco was startled by the blunt question. It must have shown on his face because Harry said quickly, “Just making conversation.”
Draco glanced at Harry with an unreadable look. “We both wanted it. We are very good friends; she is probably my best friend lately. I think for a while we both thought that was enough: we could raise Scorpius together as friends who were married. We eventually realized that it was not enough. Why do you ask?” Draco stopped walking and turned to face Harry fully.
“When I kissed Astoria’s hand, you growled. I just wondered why you would still be so possessive of your ex-wife.”
Draco could feel a slight flush infuse his cheeks as he lifted his chin. “I did not growl. Dogs growl. Malfoys do not.”
“You growled. It’s okay, you don’t have to admit the truth if you don’t want to. It doesn’t matter to me,” insisted Harry, looking past Draco into the darkness.
Draco realized that there was more to Harry’s question than he'd initially thought. Harry wanted to know how Draco felt about Astoria, why he would still be jealous when men approached his ex-wife. So Harry wants me to admit the truth, does he? Draco thought.
Draco changed his whole demeanor, and smiled when Harry’s eyes widened a bit. He took a small step toward Harry and looked at him from beneath his lashes. “I am not the least bit possessive of Astoria.”
He paused for a moment, then laid his hand on Harry’s shoulder with his thumb lightly stroking Harry’s neck. “I think you should know well enough that my choice in partner runs more toward the male persuasion.”
“I wouldn’t begin to know anything about the choices you’ve made Draco,” Harry said in a low voice, and began to walk again, shaking off Draco’s hand in the process.
That was not the reaction Draco had expected at all.
“Potter…Harry…please don’t tell me that you are still holding on to something that happened twenty years ago!” Draco hurried to catch up, but then Harry abruptly stopped and turned to Draco.
“I am not having this conversation with you. It is none of your business what I am or am not holding on to. We are going to find our sons, then I am going to go home and hope it is another twenty years before I see you again.” With that, Harry turned and walked in the entrance to the Quidditch pitch. Draco followed closely behind.
“So you think it’s just going to be that easy, Potter? Forgetting about this? Forgetting about me? We’ve never been able to ignore each other. You think this will be any different?”
Harry had his back to Draco, walking toward the locker rooms, when Draco grabbed Harry and slammed him into the wall. He pushed his body flush with Harry’s and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.
“Do you think I’ve forgotten, Harry? Is that what has you so riled up? Do you think that I’ve forgotten how it felt, how you felt against me, under me? Are you afraid that I haven’t thought about that night every day for twenty years? That I haven’t carried those memories with me like you have?”
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Draco shook his head. “I have, Harry. There has not been a day in all of these years that I haven’t thought about that night, thought about you. I have carried those memories close to me all this time.” Draco placed small kisses on Harry’s jaw, making Harry whimper softly. “I never meant to hurt you.”
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Those words worked like cold water splashed on Harry, snapping him out of his lust-filled daze. He shook his head. “Just because you never meant to doesn’t mean that you didn’t hurt me. Let me go, Draco.”
Draco stayed where he was for a moment, staring into Harry’s eyes, looking for some clue to tell him what Harry was thinking. All he saw was hurt and resignation. Finally he moved away and said, “You’re right. There is plenty of time to discuss this after we find the boys.”
“There is nothing to discuss.” With that, Harry walked away.
After a check of the Quidditch pitch revealed nothing, Harry and Draco silently started on the path toward the front gates and Hogsmeade. Harry seemed quite content to ignore Draco’s presence altogether, which infuriated Draco. Finally he could take no more.
“So, Harry, fucked anyone since the she-Potter flew the nest?” Draco asked casually.
Harry’s steps faltered slightly, but he continued to walk a little ahead of Draco without acknowledging him.
“Or maybe I should ask if you’ve been fucked by anyone?” Draco said thoughtfully. “If memory serves, that was your preference…”
Draco didn’t get to finish his thought as a fist flew out of nowhere and landed smartly on his jaw. Draco staggered back and touched a finger to his lip, cursing when he drew back and saw blood. “Did I touch a nerve?”
Harry took several deep breaths before he spoke. “I don’t know what possessed me to believe that you could be a decent human being, that you could somehow simply care for someone…love someone without an ulterior motive.”
He kicked at the dirt with his foot, then said softly, “You know, I thought you were being noble. I was actually grateful that you cared enough about me not to lie. I was hopeful that you would work out what you wanted, that you would want me, that someday we would really fly away together. I was willing to wait for that ‘someday’ because I was so sure it wasn’t a lie.”
Draco sighed, then leaned back against a nearby tree. “You didn’t wait very long.”
Harry shook his head. “Don’t put this on me. I waited until the day after I saw your engagement announcement in the Prophet. Ginny and I got married a week after you married Astoria. Everyone said it was a ‘whirlwind affair,’ but it was mostly a vain attempt to get over a broken heart. It was wrong to do to Ginny though; no one should have to feel the pain of loving someone who doesn’t love them back.”
Harry had turned to continue down the path when Draco’s soft voice stopped him. “We were kids, Harry…just stupid kids who had no idea how the world really worked. You think that walking away from you was easy? You think that I didn’t love you?”
Harry did not turn back to face Draco; he simply continued walking down the path. “All I have is an old letter and twenty years of silence. Let’s go.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
When they reached the Shrieking Shack, Harry crouched down and pointed to a spot in the dirt. “The tracks look fresh,” he said as he stood, “and do you feel those wards? I’m not sure who would ward this place.”
Draco walked to a window and tried to see in. “Shall we go in?”
“I think we'd better. I doubt James would have checked the whole house, and he could have missed something.”
As they walked toward the entrance, they noticed that the front door was standing open. When Draco questioned this, Harry shrugged. “Probably not much point in closing the door, no one is supposed to be around here.”
When Draco reached to push the door open fully, he was suddenly thrown back and landed on his arse in the dirt. Harry stifled a laughed, then offered Draco a hand up.
“Those are some wards,” Draco stated. “How in the name of Merlin did your spawn get through them?”
“The secret passageway may not be warded. James would have come in from underground. The wards are probably set up to allow exit but prevent entry. Which still doesn’t answer the question of who would have warded this place.” He turned to Draco. “Think you can get us in?”
Draco brushed an invisible piece of lint from his robes and huffed. “Of course I can get us in. I’m a curse-breaker; this is what I do for a living after all. Give me a minute.”
Draco removed his robe and tossed it to Harry, revealing dark grey trousers and an ice-blue button-up shirt. He took a moment to roll up his sleeves, then proceeded to wave his wand in many intricate patterns while murmuring under his breath. After a few minutes, Harry saw a silver mist appear around the door, then vanish like a wisp of smoke. Draco took a deep breath and pushed on the door. It swung open fully with a loud creak. Draco stepped back and with a gallant bow, he swept his arm toward the door.
“Would you like to lead the way, Auror Potter? I’ve gained us entry, but the whole ‘charge in and save the day’ part seems more your specialty than mine.”
Harry stepped forward. “Keep your wand out, just in case.”
“Yes, sir.”
Harry murmured a quick "Lumos," then quietly stepped into the entryway. He paused, but could hear nothing but Draco’s even breaths mingling with the sound of his own breathing. There were footprints in the dust on the floor, but they didn’t seem to lead in any particular direction, and actually disappeared at one point of the sitting room floor. Slowly Harry and Draco searched room by room. There were no footprints upstairs, which confirmed Harry’s belief that James hadn’t done a very thorough search.
Eventually they came back to the sitting room, where Draco flopped onto the sofa, grimacing as a cloud of dust formed around him. “So what now, Potter? Hagrid supposedly checked around Hogsmeade, but we should probably give it another look.”
Harry was staring at the point of undisturbed dust on the sitting room floor. “You’re right, we should probably check in town, just to be safe,” he said as he walked toward the spot. “Maybe Madam Rosmerta has seen-“
Suddenly, the floor opened up and swallowed Harry. Before Draco could even move from his seat, Harry screamed and was gone, the dust on the floor completely unbothered.
“Harry!” Draco screamed. It seemed as if Harry had been transported to a secret room under the sitting room. Draco knew that rooms like these were fairly common in old wizarding houses; the Manor had several secret rooms that could only be accessed by Malfoy blood. The trap was triggered when someone stepped into the settled dust. What Draco couldn’t seem to figure out was why the trap was there, and how he was going to get Harry out. He crouched down on the floor as close to the trap as he dared.
“Potter! Harry! Can you hear me?” Draco pressed his ear to the floor. He could hear a very muffled voice, but couldn’t understand the words. “Potter! Is there something that you can bang on? Bang if you can hear me.”
Draco listened again and heard three distinct bangs coming from somewhere under the floor
“Okay, Potter, bang two times for yes, and one time for no. Are you hurt?”
There was a bang, then a pause, then another reluctant bang.
“Are the boys with you?”
One bang. So we still haven’t figured out where the boys are, thought Draco.
“Harry, this is going to take some time to break through. Are you going to be okay?”
Two bangs.
“This is the most you’ve spoken to me in the past hour,” Draco said. “If I get you out of here, do you promise to sit down and finish our conversation?”
One bang.
“Oh come on, Harry!”
Two bangs.
“That’s more like it, you stubborn git,” Draco muttered, drawing his wand. He cast an Aperio spell in an attempt to determine what spells created the trap. He felt the magic leave his wand, but when it reached the settled dust, it simply fizzled out.
“What the-“ Draco started, looking at his wand. Suddenly he heard a scrape of wood on wood, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a table hurtling across the floor toward him. Before Draco could react, the table hit him squarely on the back of the knees, sending him flying forward, straight into the undisturbed dust trap.
Draco fell face first through the sitting room floor, and landed with a thud on hard cold stone.
“Ow,” he moaned as he rolled over onto his back. When he opened his eyes, he realized Harry was hovering over him, and they were almost nose-to-nose. Draco felt Harry’s breath on his cheek, and unconsciously licked his lips. Harry’s gaze moved to Draco’s lips and stayed for a moment, before he quickly moved back to allow Draco to sit up.
“Are you okay?”
Draco nodded absently, looking around the room. It appeared to be a small bedroom, with a wardrobe, desk, and medium-sized four-poster bed. However, unlike the rest of the Shrieking Shack, this room looked as if it had recently been cleaned. There was no dust or dirt in sight, and the furniture was in surprisingly good condition. There were also two doors on each side of the wardrobe. The door to the right was open, showing a small lavatory. The door to the left was closed. Draco immediately went to the door and tried to open it.
“It’s locked. I’ve tried every unlocking spell I can think of. It won’t budge,” Harry said.
It was almost as if Draco had only just remembered that Harry was in the room. He rushed to Harry. “Are you okay? You said you were hurt.”
Draco noticed that Harry was cradling his left arm. “I think I broke my wrist in the fall,” Harry said. “Other than that, I’m fine.”
“Let me see. You always were pants at healing spells.”
Harry immediately allowed Draco access to his arm, and Draco was slightly humbled by the show of trust. Even after all of these years, Harry trusted Draco with his safety. Yes, his safety, Draco thought, just not his heart. Not that I can blame him.
Draco waved his arm over Harry’s wrist and murmured a healing spell. He held on to Harry’s hand for a moment longer than necessary, and Harry gently pulled his hand from Draco’s grasp.
“Thank you, Draco,” Harry said, flexing his wrist to test for pain.
“Let me see what I can do about this door. Although if you can’t get it to open with your Auror tricks, I probably won’t fare much better.”
Draco began casting spells to open the door. When none of them worked, he cast another Aperio to see what kind of magic was keeping the door locked. This time the spell worked.
“Well, at least I’m not being attacked by furniture this time,” Draco said, causing Harry to give him a confused look. “Long story.”
Draco laughed despite the seriousness of the situation. “This is clever, I have to give it that. It’s a timed spell. It will open on its own, but we have to wait it out. I can’t get around it.”
“How long do we have to wait?”
“I don’t know. It could be hours.”
“Hours? We don’t have that kind of time! The boys could be anywhere by now! We have to figure out some way to break it!” Harry exclaimed.
“What do you want me to do? We’ve both tried every spell we can think of. At least it’s us in here and not Scorpius and Albus. We might never have found them!”
“Guess what? We still haven’t found them! And now we’re both stuck in here! How did you get stuck in here? Didn’t you know it was a trap when I fell through?”
“I was attacked by a table! I didn’t just charge blindly into the trap like some stupid Gryffindor! Furniture attacked me!” Draco yelled.
Harry looked poised to yell some more but he stopped abruptly. “You were attacked…by furniture?”
The corners of Harry’s mouth twitched upwards a bit, and then he erupted into full-blown laughter.
“Yes! That’s what I said. A table came after me and pushed me into the trap. I could have been killed! If I had fallen a diff-oh go ahead and laugh all you want, Potter!” Draco grouched.
Meanwhile, Harry was bent double, and laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. “The great Draco Malfoy, defeated by a table!”
“I wouldn’t call it ‘defeated.’”
“But you didn’t have a leg to stand on!” Harry collapsed on the bed in hysteric laughter. Finally, Draco began to laugh as well.
“I’m just glad the sofa didn’t get involved. There’s no way that’s a fair fight!” Draco sat on the bed next to Harry, still laughing. Without thinking, Harry rested his head on Draco’s shoulder. Once the laughter died away, the men sat in silence for a while, but Harry didn’t move his head from Draco's shoulder.
“So we just have to wait it out, huh?” Harry asked.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Waiting is the hardest thing to do.”
“I know.”
Harry finally sat up and turned to Draco. “We should probably send a message to Luna and Astoria and let them know where we are. And that we haven’t found the boys yet.” Just as Draco realized his close proximity, Harry moved away, leaning against the post at the end of the bed.
Before Harry could lift his wand to send a message, a silver poodle strolled into the room and spoke to Draco in Astoria’s voice.
“Both boys are here, safe and sound. Take your time getting back.” The Patronus winked at Draco, and then disappeared into a thin wisp.
“That answers that question. I wonder where the boys were,” Harry murmured.
“They probably found their way back and we missed them on the way somehow. Well this is just great. Now we’re stuck here.”
“At least we know the boys are safe. We can wait this out.”
“I suppose.”
“Her Patronus is a poodle?” asked Harry.
“Yes.”
Harry thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Actually, it kind of suits her.”
“You have no idea.”
The men were silent for several more moments. “So Astoria is your best friend?”
Draco nodded. “We were good friends in school. She was probably the only sincere Slytherin at Hogwarts. She never pandered to me the way Pansy and some of the other girls did. She always saw us as equals. I liked that.”
“Oh. Did you…err…didyouloveher?” Harry asked breathlessly.
Draco was surprised at the question, but answered it regardless. “Not in the way you mean. We were partners, friends. We have had good times together, even before Scorpius came along, and we’ve been a great family since he was born. But I’ve never been in love with her, Harry.”
“Oh,” Harry said again, seemingly at a loss for words.
Draco decided that if Harry could ask personal questions, so could he. “Did you love the Weaselette?”
Harry sighed, but did not chide Draco for his choice of names for Ginny. “It was really easy to just kind of go along with everything. Ron and Hermione tried to talk me out of marrying her; I think they could tell even back then that my heart wasn’t really in it. But Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were so excited…and I wanted a family…and you were gone. It was easier to just let things happen. It was like I was in a fog. Then we got married, and Ginny got pregnant.”
Harry shifted slightly and looked at Draco. “The first time I saw James, the fog lifted. I felt like there was still a reason for me to exist. My heart had been broken, but each of the kids healed it a little bit. By the time Lily came along, I felt like a whole person again.”
Draco moved a little closer to Harry. “I’m glad. But you didn’t really answer my question.”
“The simple answer is yes, I loved her.”
Draco quirked his eyebrow and gave Harry a look that clearly asked for an explanation.
Harry began to play idly with a loose thread on the duvet. “I still loved her, but I have no idea who she is. We’ve spent twelve years tip-toeing around each other. We haven’t had sex in years. Do you know that in all the years we’ve been married, we’ve never had an argument? I used to be so proud of that fact. Then I realized that it was just because neither of us cared enough to fight.”
Draco moved closer to Harry, and ran one fingertip along Harry’s knuckles. Draco was sure he felt heat seeming to radiate from the spot where skin touched skin. Judging from Harry’s gasp and the slight blush to his cheeks, Draco was sure Harry was similarly affected
“How pathetic is it to hold on to one night for twenty years? I thought I’d gotten over it, but then seeing you again today…do you understand how I hate that you still have this effect on me after so long?”
Draco didn’t answer; instead, he quickly closed the distance between the two of them and brushed his lips against Harry’s. The kiss was gentle, reverent, almost chaste. Draco pulled away slightly and looked into Harry’s eyes. Draco looked at him for a moment, silently asking permission. Harry shook his head, closed his eyes, and leaned back into the kiss again.
Draco gasped when Harry tentatively nibbled his lower lip, and the kiss quickly deepened into a more passionate embrace. Harry lay back on the bed, pulling Draco down on top of him. Draco ended the kiss to shift to Harry’s neck, gently nipping some spots and soothing the area with his tongue.
It was amazing to Draco how easily he remembered Harry’s sensitive places. They kissed and touched as if they had only been apart for two days, instead of two decades. Harry’s fingers were making quick work of Draco’s shirt buttons and soon pushed the fabric over Draco’s shoulders and out of the way.
Draco moved away for a moment to yank Harry’s jumper over his head and toss it to the side. Before he could move back down for a kiss, Harry’s mouth attacked his nipple, and Draco released a low moan. Harry’s hands were furiously struggling with the zip on Draco’s trousers. With a whimper of frustration, he roughly yanked the fabric apart and pushed trousers and pants down to his thighs, releasing Draco’s cock. Harry tried to stroke Draco with one hand, and unfasten his own trousers with the other while Draco panted.
“Harry…too fast, too fast.”
Harry let out a deep chuckle that sounded almost like a growl. “Too fast, Draco? It’s been twenty damn years.”
Draco helped Harry shed his trousers and pants and pinned both of Harry’s hands over his head.
“You’re damn right it’s been twenty years. Doesn’t that make you want to do this right?” Draco asked, pushing down so that their cocks rubbed against each other, causing Harry to moan and writhe underneath him.
“At this point, I don’t think we could do it wrong,” Harry gasped, “as long as we get on with the doing part. Can we talk a little less, please?”
Draco laughed and began kissing Harry’s chest. His mouth closed over a nipple and bit down. Draco smiled to himself as Harry arched up and gave another deep moan. Draco soothed the nipple with his tongue, then moved to give the other nipple the same attention. He kissed his way down to the dark hair on Harry’s stomach then stopped.
“You know, Potter, you still look pretty good to be pushing forty,” he said. “I mean, have you seen some of the blokes we went to school with lately? They’ve gotten tubby. But you still look good.” Draco rubbed his hand affectionately over Harry’s stomach.
“Less conversation, and more dick sucking?”
Draco huffed playfully. “If you insist.”
With that, Draco lowered his mouth onto Harry’s shaft. He sucked hard, his cheeks hollowing, before beginning to bob his head in a steady rhythm. He cupped Harry’s balls gently, rolling them in his hand and then moving a finger behind them and rubbing the spot there. As his finger trailed down toward Harry’s entrance, he suddenly lifted his head with panicked eyes.
“Lube! Harry, we don’t have any lube!”
Harry whimpered pitifully, then gasped, “Desk drawer.”
Draco looked over to the desk, then back to Harry. “Really?”
Harry nodded, closing his eyes. “I saw it in there earlier when I was looking around.”
Draco quickly left the bed and moved to the desk. When he opened the drawer, there was a jar of oil, just as Harry had said. He walked back to the bed, and looked at Harry.
“Why would there be lube in the desk drawer?”
“You’re asking this now? Who cares?” Harry groaned.
“I just think it’s weird, is all.”
Harry propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Draco firmly. “I want you, Draco.”
Draco climbed back onto the bed and leaned over to give Harry a gentle kiss. He grabbed a pillow and placed it underneath Harry’s eagerly lifted bum.
Once Harry was settled again, Draco gave him one more deep kiss, and made his way back down to his erection. He covered his fingers in oil, and as he took Harry in his mouth again, he trailed a finger over his entrance, circled for a moment, and slowly inserted the finger. Harry hissed at the intrusion, eyes shut tight, but then he wiggled his hips and began to move in rhythm with the finger penetrating him.
After thoroughly preparing Harry, Draco rubbed oil on his neglected cock, gasping at the sensation. He positioned himself and looked once more at Harry. Draco wanted to say something significant, and more than likely, overly sappy. Before he could say anything, Harry spoke.
“If you don’t move now, Malfoy, I’ll hex your bollocks off.”
Draco rolled his eyes. “Well, I was actually going to tell you that I’ve never stopped loving you, but I guess I’ll save that for another time, huh?”
Harry’s eyes went wide and Draco entered him in one long smooth slide. Once the tops of Draco’s thighs were touching Harry’s bum, Draco paused for a moment to allow Harry to get used to the sensation. Harry lifted his hips slightly, encouraging Draco to move.
Draco leaned down to kiss Harry, rocking gently. He pulled away slightly to look into Harry’s eyes, and hoped that his own eyes were expressing all of the emotions he was feeling. Suddenly Harry nodded, then threw his head back and closed his eyes. Draco sped up his movements, and began whispering against the skin of Harry’s neck, “Harry…Harry…always you, Harry…it’s always been you.”
The words were spoken softly, but Harry seemed to hear them as he began a soft chant of his own. “Draco…love you…Draco…yes, Draco.”
Draco moved a hand to Harry’s erection and began to stroke, bringing him to the edge. With a tortured gasp, Harry came, chest heaving and hands clasping Draco’s shoulders. Draco soon followed, and collapsed on the man beneath him, still leaving soft kisses on his neck and shoulders.
After a moment, Draco rolled off of Harry, who immediately moved his hands to cup Draco’s face, pulling him close and looking into his eyes. This time the kiss was slow, calm, and utterly confident of the feelings behind it. When it ended, Draco placed his head on Harry’s chest and sighed.
“Remind me again why we waited twenty years to do that?”
Harry laughed. “I can’t remember. I think we have children, but I’m too exhausted to be sure of that at the moment.”
“I vaguely remember children,” Draco said, nodding, “Weren’t some of them missing?”
“That sounds about right.”
They lay quietly for a few minutes, simply enjoying being comfortable together. Draco was tracing designs idly on Harry’s chest, and Harry was combing his fingers through Draco’s platinum hair. The silence of the room was shattered by the click of a door unlocking.
The previously locked door now stood slightly ajar. “Well, that was impeccable timing,” Draco drawled, making Harry chuckle. They moved from their comfortable positions and cleaned themselves up, shooting coy smiles at each other from opposite sides of the bed as they dressed.
When they left the room, it took a couple of wrong turns and doubling back before they were in the secret passageway on the way back to Hogwarts.
“Is this the passageway that James was talking about?” Draco asked, as he crouched low to keep from hitting his head. “Should I even ask how you found this? And where exactly are we going?”
“Long story, which I’ll tell you later. Short story is…I guess in a weird way, my dad told me about it, and I passed it on to James. Soon we’ll come out from underneath the Whomping Willow.”
Harry paused for a moment. “I haven’t been in here since the war. Voldemort used the Shrieking Shack as a hideout during the battle of Hogwarts. Snape died there. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before.”
“You did have other things on your mind, Harry.”
Harry shrugged. “True enough.”
Before long they reached the base of the Whomping Willow, and were soon headed toward the Entrance Hall. Luna was there to meet them.
“Draco, Harry. We got the boys some dinner, and put them to bed. We plan to do a special Sorting Ceremony at breakfast. Scorpius and Albus wanted me to ask if you two would stay until morning. Astoria is staying as well, but she has already retired for the evening.” Luna’s eye twinkled in a Dumbledore-like manner. “She told me that she didn’t think the two of you would mind sharing a room, so I’ve taken the liberty of setting a room up for you on this floor. Dipstick will show you the way.” A house-elf appeared and gestured down the hallway. As the men followed, Luna called out, “Sleep well!”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
As the sunlight streamed in the window early the next morning, Harry was lured into wakefulness by a soft pair of lips on his neck.
“Mmmm, good morning,” Harry said huskily.
“Morning,” Draco replied between kisses. He gave Harry another soft good morning kiss, then lay back and pulled Harry to his side. “Are you ready for the Sorting?”
“I am. I admit I’m curious. Albus has been worried he’ll be in Slytherin.”
Draco pasted on a mock affronted look. “And just why would he be worried about such a thing? It is an honor to be selected to the noble house of Slytherin.”
“I think he was more worried about being alone than being in Slytherin. His brother and cousins are all in Gryffindor, and he doesn’t know many children outside of the family. I actually think it would be better for him to be in a different house from everyone else. He would get out of everyone’s shadows and make his own decisions,” Harry said.
“Well, let’s not hold ourselves in suspense any longer,” Draco said, moving from the bed to get dressed. “The sooner we get down there, the sooner we know.”
The men made their way to the Great Hall and saw that Astoria had made it to breakfast slightly ahead of them. She eyed them thoughtfully and a sly smile appeared on her face.
“Good morning, gentlemen. I tried to wait up for you to get back, but you seemed to take quite a while, and I was utterly exhausted from the stress of the day,” Astoria simpered, placing a hand on her chest as she spoke. “You two must have been performing a very thorough search, to have been gone so long. Although, you both are so passionate at your jobs, I should have known it would extend to…other areas.”
Harry turned a pretty shade of red at Astoria’s tone, and Draco glared at his ex-wife, but Astoria merely smiled innocently and continued eating her breakfast.
The crystal bell made a beautiful sound as Luna rang it to get the Great Hall’s attention. Luna was wearing lilac robes scattered with stars twinkling at odd intervals.
“Good morning, everyone!” Luna called happily. “It is my pleasure to report that the two first years missing from last night’s feast have been located safe and sound. Let us take a moment this morning and perform a special Sorting Ceremony for them. Could Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter come forward, please?”
Scorpius and Albus, who had been sitting together at the far end of the Hufflepuff table, gave each other a wary glance before walking together to the front of the Great Hall. Neville Longbottom, the Deputy Headmaster, held the Sorting Hat up and motioned to the stool.
“Scorpius Malfoy.”
Scorpius sat on the stool and looked up as the Hat was lowered over his eyes. The entire hall was quiet as the Hat seemed to have a lengthy conversation with Scorpius. Under the table, Harry reached for Draco’s hand and squeezed. Finally the Hat screamed, “Ravenclaw!” Scorpius jumped down from the stool and ran to sit with his classmates at the Ravenclaw table.
Draco gasped, and Harry almost laughed out loud. Harry leaned over and murmured in Draco’s ear, “The first Malfoy in history who is not in Slytherin. Don’t you feel like a failure as a parent?” Harry laughed as Draco elbowed him in the side.
Neville spoke again. “Albus Potter.”
Albus walked to the stool, then gave an uncertain look to Neville. At Neville’s sweet smile and encouraging nod, Albus took his seat and the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. The Hat didn’t take as long to deliberate with Albus and quickly called out, “Slytherin!” Albus gave Neville a small smile, then turned to see his dad’s reaction. At Harry’s smile and nod, Albus cracked a huge grin, then jogged over the Slytherin table to have a seat.
Harry felt a hot breath over his ear as Draco said, “What was that you were saying about being a failure as a parent? Surely a Potter in Slytherin is against the laws of nature.”
After breakfast, Harry and Draco joined Astoria to wait at the doors to the Great Hall. They saw their sons whispering, heads close together and hands moving quickly as they discussed something to do with Quidditch. Finally the boys made their way to the adults.
“Hi, Dad!” Albus said cheerfully as he walked up to Harry. He looked around quickly, and upon seeing that there were no students around, hugged his father.
Harry laughed. “Hi, kiddo. So, Slytherin, huh?”
Albus grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, Slytherin. The Hat was pretty adamant that I belonged there. Said that even if my hard-headed father wouldn’t listen to it, that I very well should. So I did!”
Harry looked over to where Scorpius was talking with Draco and Astoria. Scorpius gave his mother a hug, then turned to give his father one as well. Astoria noticed Harry and Albus watching, and gave a small wave.
“Good-bye, Albus. Don’t be a stranger," Astoria said.
“Bye, Mrs. Malfoy. It was nice to meet you,” Albus replied politely, and watched as Astoria walked away.
Draco and Scorpius joined the group as Harry turned to Albus. “When did you meet Mrs. Malfoy?” Harry asked.
“It took us a while to find our way to Hogwarts last night. Once we got here, we saw Scorpius’s mum at the front gates, and she brought us into the castle. We told her all about how we ended up in the Shrieking Shack, and how we found our way out. She was already on her way to the Headmistress’ office, but then we ran into Luna and Hagrid. Mrs. Malfoy sent us to dinner, and said she would go to Luna’s office to let you and Mr. Malfoy know that we got back. We have to go to class. See you!” Albus said distractedly, already continuing his previous conversation with Scorpius as they walked away.
Harry took a moment to process what Albus had said, then he looked at Draco and his eyes got wide. “She knew the boys were back before she even came to the office! She set us up! Can you believe the ner-“
Harry’s words were cut off by Draco’s lips in a brief kiss. “Are you complaining?”
“I guess not,” Harry huffed. “I just can’t believe I didn’t see it coming.”
“Me too. I mean, she was a Slytherin after all. You will have to get used to it, though. You’ve got a Slytherin in the family now.”
Harry pulled Draco close to him and nuzzled his neck. “Mmhm. It appears that I have two Slytherins in the family. Albus…and you.”
Draco’s breath caught. He was about to reply when he looked over Harry’s shoulder and saw James standing off to the side, looking uncomfortable. He smiled gently at James, then said to Harry, “It looks like someone is waiting to speak with you.”
Harry turned to James and motioned him over. When James came nearer to his father, he extended his hand. In it was a folded, worn piece of parchment.
“I didn’t get a chance to give this back to you last night. I am really am sorry about going through your stuff.” He turned to Draco. “And the thing with Al and Malfoy, I’m sorry about that too.”
Draco rather doubted the sincerity of the last sentence, but nodded his acceptance all the same. Harry took the parchment and smiled at his son. “Thanks, James. You better head to class. I’ll owl you next week.”
Relief washed over James’s face, and he smiled. “Bye, Dad. Good-bye, Mr. Malfoy.”
Draco nodded solemnly, but didn’t reply until he felt a nudge from Harry. He rolled his eyes and said, “Good-bye, Potter-spawn. Try to stay out of trouble.”
Draco waved and watched James walk away, then turned back to see Harry looking down at the parchment in his hand. Touching Harry’s arm gently, he said, “Is that what I think it is?”
Harry didn’t speak, but simply nodded and unfolded the tattered letter. Draco propped his chin on Harry’s shoulder and read the letter with him.
Potter,
I think that even you, thick as you are, will have figured out that since you are reading this letter, I am not coming to meet you. I will not apologize, and I will not offer up excuses for my absence.
You have no idea of the temptation to take you up on your offer to fly away with you and start all over. As I came down from the high of that night, I realized that it would never work. We all have roles to play, and while I feel I could slip seamlessly out of the role of nemesis and into the role of lover, I’m not sure if the world is quite ready for that yet.
I want you, but as much as I want you, I also want other things for you, as well as myself. However, I will promise you this: someday I will fly away with you.
Until that day,
Draco
After they finished reading, Draco took the letter from Harry’s hands. With a muttered spell, the letter erupted in flames and disappeared. Draco and Harry stood looking at each other for a long moment, then Draco smiled a radiant smile. “Hey, Harry.”
“Yes?”
“Today is looking like someday, isn’t it?”
Harry’s smile lit up his entire face, and his eyes sparkled as he nodded. Draco kissed Harry deeply, putting every ounce of emotion he could into the kiss. When the kiss ended, Draco whispered against Harry’s lips.
“Harry, fly away with me.”
-fin-
Title: Someday
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Rating: NC-17
Summary: While crossing the Black Lake to Hogwarts, Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter mysteriously disappear. While searching for their sons, Draco and Harry get a little help finding their way back to each other.
Warnings: DH Spoilers, sexual situations
Total word count: ~9200
Original prompt request number: 136
Disclaimer: This story/artwork 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.
Author's notes: oldenuf2nb, I hope it is as good as you imagined!
Beta(s): mayagirlxo, who is super thorough and awesomely amazing. Thanks also to eam1681 for giving me an extra eye and encouragement, and to mrdavismd for being the best bff a girl could ever hope for.
Someday
“Where is my son?” Draco demanded without preamble as he stormed into the Headmistress’ office.
The Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry calmly stood and motioned to a chair. “Hello, Draco, would you care to have a seat?”
“No, Lovegood, I would not care to have a seat. I would like an explanation as to how you imbeciles lost my son between the Hogwarts Express and the Great Hall!” Draco snarled.
Luna smiled serenely and motioned toward the chair again. “It’s Scamander now. I haven’t been a Lovegood for quite some time. Now let us all sit down and try to figure this out.” She smiled at someone over Draco’s shoulder and he finally realized that there were other people in the room. He turned and was instantly locked in a fierce green gaze.
“Hello, Draco,” Harry said quietly. Harry was wearing Muggle denims with a dark green jumper that pulled snugly across his broad shoulders. It was the same ensemble Draco had seen him wearing at platform nine and three-quarters earlier that day, but up close, he could see how well the clothes fit Harry’s form, accentuating his body. Draco realized he had been staring and nodded quickly.
The quiet greeting seemed to calm Draco somewhat. “Potter. What are you doing here?”
“I just got here. Al is missing as well.”
Draco turned back to Luna. “You’ve lost two children? Do you think Scorpius and Albus are together?”
Luna again motioned to the seat and Draco finally sat down heavily. Luna sat as well and took a moment to arrange her robes, which were sky blue with drifting storm clouds and an occasional flash of lightning.
“We believe so,” said Luna. “Hagrid remembers the boys getting on a boat together, but he lost sight of them. When he came ashore, the boys weren’t there. Another child who was in the boat with Scorpius and Albus said they simply disappeared.”
Harry sat up suddenly. “What, like a Portkey?”
“We are looking at that as an option. We continued with the Sorting, as planned, and had faculty members searching the grounds during dinner. There are no other children missing. Hagrid has gone into Hogsmeade to see if anyone in town has seen anything.” Luna folded her hands in her lap and smiled.
Draco could feel his teeth grinding as he struggled to remain calm. “Pardon me, Headmistress, but you don’t seem particularly concerned about the fact that you have two first year students missing on the grounds.”
Luna smiled. “They’ll come back, they always do in the end.”
Seeming to sense Draco’s frustration, Harry entered the conversation. “Luna, have you questioned all of the first years who saw the boys? And the children on the train?”
“Oh, yes. The Heads of Houses questioned the students as they returned to their dormitories. It does seem rather strange. Everyone says the boys just disappeared. I’ve spoken with the Chieftainess of the merpeople and she reports nothing amiss in the lake. We are planning to perform another search of the castle and grounds once Hagrid returns to report.”
Harry opened his mouth to ask another question, but just then, there was a loud knock on the door and Hagrid walked in, holding a redheaded boy by the cloak.
“James!” Harry exclaimed.
“Hi, Dad,” James mumbled as he stared at the floor.
“I found ‘im past the gates, headed toward the castle from the Shrieking Shack. Says he was out for a walk,” Hagrid said.
Harry appeared to have had a revelation. “James, you wouldn’t know anything about where Al and Scorpius are by any chance, would you?”
A mumbled “No” was his only reply.
“Maybe we should give you a few moments in private,” Luna said soothingly. With that, Luna and Hagrid slipped out of the office.
Harry turned back to his son and continued. “Because if you did happen to know where the boys were, it would be better for you if you went ahead and told us now, instead of us finding out about it later.”
James suddenly looked panicked. “Al wasn’t supposed to be involved! I didn’t know he would go too!” And then he crumbled and as his eyes went back to the floor, he mumbled, “I only wanted to scare the Malfoy kid.”
“Why you little-“ Draco began, but was silenced by a single look from Harry. They looked at each other for a moment, and Draco realized that Harry was silently asking him to be patient, and let Harry handle the conversation. Draco gave a short nod and sat back in his chair. Harry tuned back to his son. His voice was soft but stern.
“James, why did you want to scare Scorpius? I didn’t know you even knew him.”
“I don’t!”
“Then why?”
“Because I just wanted to! I don’t know why! I didn’t have a reason!” James cried, tears brimming in his eyes.
Draco knew they weren’t getting the whole story, but decided to continue to let Harry lead for the moment. Harry switched techniques. “What did you do to Scorpius?”
James squirmed uncomfortably and continued staring at the floor. “I just wanted to scare him,” he said. “I went looking for Al on the train, and found him sitting with Malfoy. I told Al that he should choose his friends better, unless he really wanted to be in Slytherin, because that’s where all Malfoys go.”
There was a harsh intake of breath from Draco, and Harry knew they were both thinking of the train ride in their first year, and the hand of friendship that went unaccepted. Harry took a deep breath.
“And?”
“Al took up for the brat, and told me to leave. I found Victoire a few cars down, and asked her to make a Portkey for me out of a Chocolate Frog card. I told her I was playing a joke on Rose. I gave the Chocolate Frog to Malfoy, saying it was a peace offering.”
James finished his story and looked imploringly at his father. “Dad, he was only supposed to go to the Shrieking Shack. I was going to go get him as soon as I got to the castle, but when I got to the shack, they weren’t there. I didn’t think they would know about the secret passageway, so I walked the long way back to see if I could find them. That’s when Hagrid found me.”
Draco finally spoke up. “So you are telling me that my son is outside who-knows-where, potentially in danger, with a Potter,” Draco said the name as if there could be no worse fate, “all because you thought it would be funny to scare a little kid? Do you know how immensely stupid that was?”
Draco was not aware that he had stood, or that his voice had steadily gotten louder as he had spoken, and the last question was screamed at James, who began to cry in earnest. Harry put his hand on Draco’s arm, snapping him out of his rage. He turned to look at Harry, and Draco knew that for the first time, Harry could see on his face how anxious and worried Draco was.
“He’s never been outside for this long by himself,” Draco said. “He’s smart, but he hasn’t experienced much. We’ve sheltered him. Harry, we have to find him.”
Harry placed his hands on Draco’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. “We’ll find him. And Al is pretty smart as well. I’m sure they will be alright.” Draco placed a hand on Harry’s chest, and Harry covered it with his own. “We’ll find him,” he said again.
“Don’t touch him!”
Harry’s head snapped up to look at his son. James had been crying before, but now he looked furious.
“What?” Draco asked
“I said don’t touch him! Stay away from him!” James screamed, and lunged for Draco. Draco sidestepped the boy, and Harry grabbed his son and spun him around to face Harry.
“James, what are you talking about?”
James was struggling in his grip. “I don’t want him touching you, or you touching him!” James stopped struggling and looked his father in the eye. “I know, Dad, okay? I know.”
“Know what?”
James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I know about you and Mr. Malfoy.”
“James, I don’t know what you think you know-“
“Well, it sounds to me as if I’ve joined this conversation just as it was getting interesting,” a smooth voice drawled from the doorway.
All heads turned as Astoria Malfoy sauntered into the Headmistress’ office. She casually strolled up to Draco and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. “Hello, darling. Any news on our wayward son? I see you’ve involved Harry Potter in the search. It appears I shouldn’t have been worried at all.”
She smiled at Harry and extended her hand. “Hello, Harry, I’m Astoria Malfoy, formerly Greengrass. You may not remember me, I was a couple of years behind you at Hogwarts.”
Harry took her hand and kissed it, eliciting a small growl from Draco. “Nice to see you, Mrs. Malfoy.”
Astoria laughed. “Please, call me Astoria.” She said, looking Harry up and down before giving Draco a wink and a smile.
Harry could see the muscles clench in Draco’s jaw. “Hello Astoria. Nice of you to take the time out of your busy life to show some concern for your son. We haven’t found him yet. Potter’s son is missing too. Potter’s other son had something to do with it, and he was just about to explain.”
Astoria looked at Harry and James with laughter in her eyes. “Yes, I believe I heard his accusation, Draco dear. Although I’m not entirely sure how your love life is connected to the disappearance of Scorpius.”
“I have to admit that I am not so sure either. Just what do you think you know about your father and me, Potter-spawn?”
James swallowed hard as he realized that all of the adult attention had returned to him. “A few days ago, I found a wooden box under your bed.”
The blood drained from Harry’s face. “You and I will discuss exactly what you were looking for under my bed at another time. That box was warded. How did you remove the spells?”
“I…I sort of…told Teddy that it was my box and that Uncle George had warded it as a joke. I asked him to take off the spells.” James squared his shoulders and looked his father in the eye. “You can punish me for that later. The point is, I know what was in that box.”
Draco had had enough. “Brilliant! You know what was in the box. Would you mind terribly letting the rest of us know, so we can find my son!”
Harry turned so that Draco could see him, but his face was hidden to the others. “The letter was in the box, Draco. The letter you left for me.”
This time it was Draco’s turn to pale. “You kept that letter? For twenty years? Why?”
Harry shook his head. “That’s a question for another time.” He turned back to his son. “So am I safe in presuming that you found the letter, assumed I had cheated on your mum, and decided to hurt Scorpius, which would hurt Draco, which would hurt me?”
“I hadn’t really thought that far into it, but yeah…I guess I did.”
“Merlin, no wonder you’re a Gryffindor. That’s the stupidest bloody plan I’ve ever heard of. Let’s punish a child for something that happened before either one of you were ever born!” Draco snarled at James.
“I didn’t know the letter was that old! I thought you were the reason my mum left!” Tears of rage were tracking down James’ cheeks as he screamed at Draco.
“Enough!” Harry yelled, making James and Draco fall silent. “This is getting us nowhere.” He turned to Draco. “James said the Portkey was supposed to drop the boys in the Shrieking Shack. The way I see it, the most likely scenario is that the boys landed in the Shrieking Shack, found their way out, and are wandering around Hogsmeade.”
Draco nodded. “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if the boys tried to make it here on their own. Scorpius is sheltered, but he’s also independent. And if your second-born is even the slightest bit more intelligent than your first-born, they should have been able to find their way out of the Shrieking Shack. We should head there and check the Quidditch pitch along the way. Maybe we’ll meet them on the trip.” A note of hopefulness crept into Draco’s voice before he could stop it.
Harry silently placed his hand on Draco’s shoulder. Draco looked at Harry and gave a small smile. He opened to mouth to say more, but Astoria spoke first.
“Well, it seems as if you two have it all under control. Why don’t you boys run off into the dark to look, and I’ll stay here in case your sons come back.” Astoria’s voice was still light and casual, but there was a gleam in her eye that made Draco somewhat wary. “Careful you two don’t get distracted from your mission. Find the boys first, then you two can work out…” she waved her hand vaguely between the two of them, “whatever you would like to work out.”
Harry looked confusedly between Draco and Astoria, but Draco just shook his head and walked to the door. Harry and Draco left the Headmistress’ office and headed for the Entrance Hall. They were silent until they reached the front doors and walked toward the Quidditch pitch. Then Draco spoke. “So Mrs. Potter left? I suppose I should say I’m sorry.”
Harry kicked at a stone as he walked along the path. “Why should you be sorry? I’m certainly not, and I’m pretty sure Ginny is not very sorry either.”
“How long has there been trouble in paradise?”
Harry shot Draco a strange look and Draco amended his question. “Only if you want to tell me, of course. Just making conversation.”
Harry shrugged. “There is not really much to tell. We just sort of…drifted apart. We haven’t really been together for a while, but we were both staying at the house for the kids. Then Ginny was offered a position as an assistant coach for a Quidditch team in France, and we decided it was finally time for her to move out. I didn’t realize James would jump to any kind of radical conclusions.”
Draco laughed. “That was a radical conclusion alright.”
“Not so radical,” Harry muttered under his breath. “So, your wife seems lovely,” he said louder.
“Ex-wife,” Draco corrected absently, with a wave of his hand. “We divorced a few years ago, but Astoria still lives in the Manor, so there wasn’t much of a change for Scorpius.”
“Who wanted the divorce?”
Draco was startled by the blunt question. It must have shown on his face because Harry said quickly, “Just making conversation.”
Draco glanced at Harry with an unreadable look. “We both wanted it. We are very good friends; she is probably my best friend lately. I think for a while we both thought that was enough: we could raise Scorpius together as friends who were married. We eventually realized that it was not enough. Why do you ask?” Draco stopped walking and turned to face Harry fully.
“When I kissed Astoria’s hand, you growled. I just wondered why you would still be so possessive of your ex-wife.”
Draco could feel a slight flush infuse his cheeks as he lifted his chin. “I did not growl. Dogs growl. Malfoys do not.”
“You growled. It’s okay, you don’t have to admit the truth if you don’t want to. It doesn’t matter to me,” insisted Harry, looking past Draco into the darkness.
Draco realized that there was more to Harry’s question than he'd initially thought. Harry wanted to know how Draco felt about Astoria, why he would still be jealous when men approached his ex-wife. So Harry wants me to admit the truth, does he? Draco thought.
Draco changed his whole demeanor, and smiled when Harry’s eyes widened a bit. He took a small step toward Harry and looked at him from beneath his lashes. “I am not the least bit possessive of Astoria.”
He paused for a moment, then laid his hand on Harry’s shoulder with his thumb lightly stroking Harry’s neck. “I think you should know well enough that my choice in partner runs more toward the male persuasion.”
“I wouldn’t begin to know anything about the choices you’ve made Draco,” Harry said in a low voice, and began to walk again, shaking off Draco’s hand in the process.
That was not the reaction Draco had expected at all.
“Potter…Harry…please don’t tell me that you are still holding on to something that happened twenty years ago!” Draco hurried to catch up, but then Harry abruptly stopped and turned to Draco.
“I am not having this conversation with you. It is none of your business what I am or am not holding on to. We are going to find our sons, then I am going to go home and hope it is another twenty years before I see you again.” With that, Harry turned and walked in the entrance to the Quidditch pitch. Draco followed closely behind.
“So you think it’s just going to be that easy, Potter? Forgetting about this? Forgetting about me? We’ve never been able to ignore each other. You think this will be any different?”
Harry had his back to Draco, walking toward the locker rooms, when Draco grabbed Harry and slammed him into the wall. He pushed his body flush with Harry’s and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.
“Do you think I’ve forgotten, Harry? Is that what has you so riled up? Do you think that I’ve forgotten how it felt, how you felt against me, under me? Are you afraid that I haven’t thought about that night every day for twenty years? That I haven’t carried those memories with me like you have?”
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Draco shook his head. “I have, Harry. There has not been a day in all of these years that I haven’t thought about that night, thought about you. I have carried those memories close to me all this time.” Draco placed small kisses on Harry’s jaw, making Harry whimper softly. “I never meant to hurt you.”
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Those words worked like cold water splashed on Harry, snapping him out of his lust-filled daze. He shook his head. “Just because you never meant to doesn’t mean that you didn’t hurt me. Let me go, Draco.”
Draco stayed where he was for a moment, staring into Harry’s eyes, looking for some clue to tell him what Harry was thinking. All he saw was hurt and resignation. Finally he moved away and said, “You’re right. There is plenty of time to discuss this after we find the boys.”
“There is nothing to discuss.” With that, Harry walked away.
After a check of the Quidditch pitch revealed nothing, Harry and Draco silently started on the path toward the front gates and Hogsmeade. Harry seemed quite content to ignore Draco’s presence altogether, which infuriated Draco. Finally he could take no more.
“So, Harry, fucked anyone since the she-Potter flew the nest?” Draco asked casually.
Harry’s steps faltered slightly, but he continued to walk a little ahead of Draco without acknowledging him.
“Or maybe I should ask if you’ve been fucked by anyone?” Draco said thoughtfully. “If memory serves, that was your preference…”
Draco didn’t get to finish his thought as a fist flew out of nowhere and landed smartly on his jaw. Draco staggered back and touched a finger to his lip, cursing when he drew back and saw blood. “Did I touch a nerve?”
Harry took several deep breaths before he spoke. “I don’t know what possessed me to believe that you could be a decent human being, that you could somehow simply care for someone…love someone without an ulterior motive.”
He kicked at the dirt with his foot, then said softly, “You know, I thought you were being noble. I was actually grateful that you cared enough about me not to lie. I was hopeful that you would work out what you wanted, that you would want me, that someday we would really fly away together. I was willing to wait for that ‘someday’ because I was so sure it wasn’t a lie.”
Draco sighed, then leaned back against a nearby tree. “You didn’t wait very long.”
Harry shook his head. “Don’t put this on me. I waited until the day after I saw your engagement announcement in the Prophet. Ginny and I got married a week after you married Astoria. Everyone said it was a ‘whirlwind affair,’ but it was mostly a vain attempt to get over a broken heart. It was wrong to do to Ginny though; no one should have to feel the pain of loving someone who doesn’t love them back.”
Harry had turned to continue down the path when Draco’s soft voice stopped him. “We were kids, Harry…just stupid kids who had no idea how the world really worked. You think that walking away from you was easy? You think that I didn’t love you?”
Harry did not turn back to face Draco; he simply continued walking down the path. “All I have is an old letter and twenty years of silence. Let’s go.”
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When they reached the Shrieking Shack, Harry crouched down and pointed to a spot in the dirt. “The tracks look fresh,” he said as he stood, “and do you feel those wards? I’m not sure who would ward this place.”
Draco walked to a window and tried to see in. “Shall we go in?”
“I think we'd better. I doubt James would have checked the whole house, and he could have missed something.”
As they walked toward the entrance, they noticed that the front door was standing open. When Draco questioned this, Harry shrugged. “Probably not much point in closing the door, no one is supposed to be around here.”
When Draco reached to push the door open fully, he was suddenly thrown back and landed on his arse in the dirt. Harry stifled a laughed, then offered Draco a hand up.
“Those are some wards,” Draco stated. “How in the name of Merlin did your spawn get through them?”
“The secret passageway may not be warded. James would have come in from underground. The wards are probably set up to allow exit but prevent entry. Which still doesn’t answer the question of who would have warded this place.” He turned to Draco. “Think you can get us in?”
Draco brushed an invisible piece of lint from his robes and huffed. “Of course I can get us in. I’m a curse-breaker; this is what I do for a living after all. Give me a minute.”
Draco removed his robe and tossed it to Harry, revealing dark grey trousers and an ice-blue button-up shirt. He took a moment to roll up his sleeves, then proceeded to wave his wand in many intricate patterns while murmuring under his breath. After a few minutes, Harry saw a silver mist appear around the door, then vanish like a wisp of smoke. Draco took a deep breath and pushed on the door. It swung open fully with a loud creak. Draco stepped back and with a gallant bow, he swept his arm toward the door.
“Would you like to lead the way, Auror Potter? I’ve gained us entry, but the whole ‘charge in and save the day’ part seems more your specialty than mine.”
Harry stepped forward. “Keep your wand out, just in case.”
“Yes, sir.”
Harry murmured a quick "Lumos," then quietly stepped into the entryway. He paused, but could hear nothing but Draco’s even breaths mingling with the sound of his own breathing. There were footprints in the dust on the floor, but they didn’t seem to lead in any particular direction, and actually disappeared at one point of the sitting room floor. Slowly Harry and Draco searched room by room. There were no footprints upstairs, which confirmed Harry’s belief that James hadn’t done a very thorough search.
Eventually they came back to the sitting room, where Draco flopped onto the sofa, grimacing as a cloud of dust formed around him. “So what now, Potter? Hagrid supposedly checked around Hogsmeade, but we should probably give it another look.”
Harry was staring at the point of undisturbed dust on the sitting room floor. “You’re right, we should probably check in town, just to be safe,” he said as he walked toward the spot. “Maybe Madam Rosmerta has seen-“
Suddenly, the floor opened up and swallowed Harry. Before Draco could even move from his seat, Harry screamed and was gone, the dust on the floor completely unbothered.
“Harry!” Draco screamed. It seemed as if Harry had been transported to a secret room under the sitting room. Draco knew that rooms like these were fairly common in old wizarding houses; the Manor had several secret rooms that could only be accessed by Malfoy blood. The trap was triggered when someone stepped into the settled dust. What Draco couldn’t seem to figure out was why the trap was there, and how he was going to get Harry out. He crouched down on the floor as close to the trap as he dared.
“Potter! Harry! Can you hear me?” Draco pressed his ear to the floor. He could hear a very muffled voice, but couldn’t understand the words. “Potter! Is there something that you can bang on? Bang if you can hear me.”
Draco listened again and heard three distinct bangs coming from somewhere under the floor
“Okay, Potter, bang two times for yes, and one time for no. Are you hurt?”
There was a bang, then a pause, then another reluctant bang.
“Are the boys with you?”
One bang. So we still haven’t figured out where the boys are, thought Draco.
“Harry, this is going to take some time to break through. Are you going to be okay?”
Two bangs.
“This is the most you’ve spoken to me in the past hour,” Draco said. “If I get you out of here, do you promise to sit down and finish our conversation?”
One bang.
“Oh come on, Harry!”
Two bangs.
“That’s more like it, you stubborn git,” Draco muttered, drawing his wand. He cast an Aperio spell in an attempt to determine what spells created the trap. He felt the magic leave his wand, but when it reached the settled dust, it simply fizzled out.
“What the-“ Draco started, looking at his wand. Suddenly he heard a scrape of wood on wood, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a table hurtling across the floor toward him. Before Draco could react, the table hit him squarely on the back of the knees, sending him flying forward, straight into the undisturbed dust trap.
Draco fell face first through the sitting room floor, and landed with a thud on hard cold stone.
“Ow,” he moaned as he rolled over onto his back. When he opened his eyes, he realized Harry was hovering over him, and they were almost nose-to-nose. Draco felt Harry’s breath on his cheek, and unconsciously licked his lips. Harry’s gaze moved to Draco’s lips and stayed for a moment, before he quickly moved back to allow Draco to sit up.
“Are you okay?”
Draco nodded absently, looking around the room. It appeared to be a small bedroom, with a wardrobe, desk, and medium-sized four-poster bed. However, unlike the rest of the Shrieking Shack, this room looked as if it had recently been cleaned. There was no dust or dirt in sight, and the furniture was in surprisingly good condition. There were also two doors on each side of the wardrobe. The door to the right was open, showing a small lavatory. The door to the left was closed. Draco immediately went to the door and tried to open it.
“It’s locked. I’ve tried every unlocking spell I can think of. It won’t budge,” Harry said.
It was almost as if Draco had only just remembered that Harry was in the room. He rushed to Harry. “Are you okay? You said you were hurt.”
Draco noticed that Harry was cradling his left arm. “I think I broke my wrist in the fall,” Harry said. “Other than that, I’m fine.”
“Let me see. You always were pants at healing spells.”
Harry immediately allowed Draco access to his arm, and Draco was slightly humbled by the show of trust. Even after all of these years, Harry trusted Draco with his safety. Yes, his safety, Draco thought, just not his heart. Not that I can blame him.
Draco waved his arm over Harry’s wrist and murmured a healing spell. He held on to Harry’s hand for a moment longer than necessary, and Harry gently pulled his hand from Draco’s grasp.
“Thank you, Draco,” Harry said, flexing his wrist to test for pain.
“Let me see what I can do about this door. Although if you can’t get it to open with your Auror tricks, I probably won’t fare much better.”
Draco began casting spells to open the door. When none of them worked, he cast another Aperio to see what kind of magic was keeping the door locked. This time the spell worked.
“Well, at least I’m not being attacked by furniture this time,” Draco said, causing Harry to give him a confused look. “Long story.”
Draco laughed despite the seriousness of the situation. “This is clever, I have to give it that. It’s a timed spell. It will open on its own, but we have to wait it out. I can’t get around it.”
“How long do we have to wait?”
“I don’t know. It could be hours.”
“Hours? We don’t have that kind of time! The boys could be anywhere by now! We have to figure out some way to break it!” Harry exclaimed.
“What do you want me to do? We’ve both tried every spell we can think of. At least it’s us in here and not Scorpius and Albus. We might never have found them!”
“Guess what? We still haven’t found them! And now we’re both stuck in here! How did you get stuck in here? Didn’t you know it was a trap when I fell through?”
“I was attacked by a table! I didn’t just charge blindly into the trap like some stupid Gryffindor! Furniture attacked me!” Draco yelled.
Harry looked poised to yell some more but he stopped abruptly. “You were attacked…by furniture?”
The corners of Harry’s mouth twitched upwards a bit, and then he erupted into full-blown laughter.
“Yes! That’s what I said. A table came after me and pushed me into the trap. I could have been killed! If I had fallen a diff-oh go ahead and laugh all you want, Potter!” Draco grouched.
Meanwhile, Harry was bent double, and laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. “The great Draco Malfoy, defeated by a table!”
“I wouldn’t call it ‘defeated.’”
“But you didn’t have a leg to stand on!” Harry collapsed on the bed in hysteric laughter. Finally, Draco began to laugh as well.
“I’m just glad the sofa didn’t get involved. There’s no way that’s a fair fight!” Draco sat on the bed next to Harry, still laughing. Without thinking, Harry rested his head on Draco’s shoulder. Once the laughter died away, the men sat in silence for a while, but Harry didn’t move his head from Draco's shoulder.
“So we just have to wait it out, huh?” Harry asked.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Waiting is the hardest thing to do.”
“I know.”
Harry finally sat up and turned to Draco. “We should probably send a message to Luna and Astoria and let them know where we are. And that we haven’t found the boys yet.” Just as Draco realized his close proximity, Harry moved away, leaning against the post at the end of the bed.
Before Harry could lift his wand to send a message, a silver poodle strolled into the room and spoke to Draco in Astoria’s voice.
“Both boys are here, safe and sound. Take your time getting back.” The Patronus winked at Draco, and then disappeared into a thin wisp.
“That answers that question. I wonder where the boys were,” Harry murmured.
“They probably found their way back and we missed them on the way somehow. Well this is just great. Now we’re stuck here.”
“At least we know the boys are safe. We can wait this out.”
“I suppose.”
“Her Patronus is a poodle?” asked Harry.
“Yes.”
Harry thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Actually, it kind of suits her.”
“You have no idea.”
The men were silent for several more moments. “So Astoria is your best friend?”
Draco nodded. “We were good friends in school. She was probably the only sincere Slytherin at Hogwarts. She never pandered to me the way Pansy and some of the other girls did. She always saw us as equals. I liked that.”
“Oh. Did you…err…didyouloveher?” Harry asked breathlessly.
Draco was surprised at the question, but answered it regardless. “Not in the way you mean. We were partners, friends. We have had good times together, even before Scorpius came along, and we’ve been a great family since he was born. But I’ve never been in love with her, Harry.”
“Oh,” Harry said again, seemingly at a loss for words.
Draco decided that if Harry could ask personal questions, so could he. “Did you love the Weaselette?”
Harry sighed, but did not chide Draco for his choice of names for Ginny. “It was really easy to just kind of go along with everything. Ron and Hermione tried to talk me out of marrying her; I think they could tell even back then that my heart wasn’t really in it. But Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were so excited…and I wanted a family…and you were gone. It was easier to just let things happen. It was like I was in a fog. Then we got married, and Ginny got pregnant.”
Harry shifted slightly and looked at Draco. “The first time I saw James, the fog lifted. I felt like there was still a reason for me to exist. My heart had been broken, but each of the kids healed it a little bit. By the time Lily came along, I felt like a whole person again.”
Draco moved a little closer to Harry. “I’m glad. But you didn’t really answer my question.”
“The simple answer is yes, I loved her.”
Draco quirked his eyebrow and gave Harry a look that clearly asked for an explanation.
Harry began to play idly with a loose thread on the duvet. “I still loved her, but I have no idea who she is. We’ve spent twelve years tip-toeing around each other. We haven’t had sex in years. Do you know that in all the years we’ve been married, we’ve never had an argument? I used to be so proud of that fact. Then I realized that it was just because neither of us cared enough to fight.”
Draco moved closer to Harry, and ran one fingertip along Harry’s knuckles. Draco was sure he felt heat seeming to radiate from the spot where skin touched skin. Judging from Harry’s gasp and the slight blush to his cheeks, Draco was sure Harry was similarly affected
“How pathetic is it to hold on to one night for twenty years? I thought I’d gotten over it, but then seeing you again today…do you understand how I hate that you still have this effect on me after so long?”
Draco didn’t answer; instead, he quickly closed the distance between the two of them and brushed his lips against Harry’s. The kiss was gentle, reverent, almost chaste. Draco pulled away slightly and looked into Harry’s eyes. Draco looked at him for a moment, silently asking permission. Harry shook his head, closed his eyes, and leaned back into the kiss again.
Draco gasped when Harry tentatively nibbled his lower lip, and the kiss quickly deepened into a more passionate embrace. Harry lay back on the bed, pulling Draco down on top of him. Draco ended the kiss to shift to Harry’s neck, gently nipping some spots and soothing the area with his tongue.
It was amazing to Draco how easily he remembered Harry’s sensitive places. They kissed and touched as if they had only been apart for two days, instead of two decades. Harry’s fingers were making quick work of Draco’s shirt buttons and soon pushed the fabric over Draco’s shoulders and out of the way.
Draco moved away for a moment to yank Harry’s jumper over his head and toss it to the side. Before he could move back down for a kiss, Harry’s mouth attacked his nipple, and Draco released a low moan. Harry’s hands were furiously struggling with the zip on Draco’s trousers. With a whimper of frustration, he roughly yanked the fabric apart and pushed trousers and pants down to his thighs, releasing Draco’s cock. Harry tried to stroke Draco with one hand, and unfasten his own trousers with the other while Draco panted.
“Harry…too fast, too fast.”
Harry let out a deep chuckle that sounded almost like a growl. “Too fast, Draco? It’s been twenty damn years.”
Draco helped Harry shed his trousers and pants and pinned both of Harry’s hands over his head.
“You’re damn right it’s been twenty years. Doesn’t that make you want to do this right?” Draco asked, pushing down so that their cocks rubbed against each other, causing Harry to moan and writhe underneath him.
“At this point, I don’t think we could do it wrong,” Harry gasped, “as long as we get on with the doing part. Can we talk a little less, please?”
Draco laughed and began kissing Harry’s chest. His mouth closed over a nipple and bit down. Draco smiled to himself as Harry arched up and gave another deep moan. Draco soothed the nipple with his tongue, then moved to give the other nipple the same attention. He kissed his way down to the dark hair on Harry’s stomach then stopped.
“You know, Potter, you still look pretty good to be pushing forty,” he said. “I mean, have you seen some of the blokes we went to school with lately? They’ve gotten tubby. But you still look good.” Draco rubbed his hand affectionately over Harry’s stomach.
“Less conversation, and more dick sucking?”
Draco huffed playfully. “If you insist.”
With that, Draco lowered his mouth onto Harry’s shaft. He sucked hard, his cheeks hollowing, before beginning to bob his head in a steady rhythm. He cupped Harry’s balls gently, rolling them in his hand and then moving a finger behind them and rubbing the spot there. As his finger trailed down toward Harry’s entrance, he suddenly lifted his head with panicked eyes.
“Lube! Harry, we don’t have any lube!”
Harry whimpered pitifully, then gasped, “Desk drawer.”
Draco looked over to the desk, then back to Harry. “Really?”
Harry nodded, closing his eyes. “I saw it in there earlier when I was looking around.”
Draco quickly left the bed and moved to the desk. When he opened the drawer, there was a jar of oil, just as Harry had said. He walked back to the bed, and looked at Harry.
“Why would there be lube in the desk drawer?”
“You’re asking this now? Who cares?” Harry groaned.
“I just think it’s weird, is all.”
Harry propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Draco firmly. “I want you, Draco.”
Draco climbed back onto the bed and leaned over to give Harry a gentle kiss. He grabbed a pillow and placed it underneath Harry’s eagerly lifted bum.
Once Harry was settled again, Draco gave him one more deep kiss, and made his way back down to his erection. He covered his fingers in oil, and as he took Harry in his mouth again, he trailed a finger over his entrance, circled for a moment, and slowly inserted the finger. Harry hissed at the intrusion, eyes shut tight, but then he wiggled his hips and began to move in rhythm with the finger penetrating him.
After thoroughly preparing Harry, Draco rubbed oil on his neglected cock, gasping at the sensation. He positioned himself and looked once more at Harry. Draco wanted to say something significant, and more than likely, overly sappy. Before he could say anything, Harry spoke.
“If you don’t move now, Malfoy, I’ll hex your bollocks off.”
Draco rolled his eyes. “Well, I was actually going to tell you that I’ve never stopped loving you, but I guess I’ll save that for another time, huh?”
Harry’s eyes went wide and Draco entered him in one long smooth slide. Once the tops of Draco’s thighs were touching Harry’s bum, Draco paused for a moment to allow Harry to get used to the sensation. Harry lifted his hips slightly, encouraging Draco to move.
Draco leaned down to kiss Harry, rocking gently. He pulled away slightly to look into Harry’s eyes, and hoped that his own eyes were expressing all of the emotions he was feeling. Suddenly Harry nodded, then threw his head back and closed his eyes. Draco sped up his movements, and began whispering against the skin of Harry’s neck, “Harry…Harry…always you, Harry…it’s always been you.”
The words were spoken softly, but Harry seemed to hear them as he began a soft chant of his own. “Draco…love you…Draco…yes, Draco.”
Draco moved a hand to Harry’s erection and began to stroke, bringing him to the edge. With a tortured gasp, Harry came, chest heaving and hands clasping Draco’s shoulders. Draco soon followed, and collapsed on the man beneath him, still leaving soft kisses on his neck and shoulders.
After a moment, Draco rolled off of Harry, who immediately moved his hands to cup Draco’s face, pulling him close and looking into his eyes. This time the kiss was slow, calm, and utterly confident of the feelings behind it. When it ended, Draco placed his head on Harry’s chest and sighed.
“Remind me again why we waited twenty years to do that?”
Harry laughed. “I can’t remember. I think we have children, but I’m too exhausted to be sure of that at the moment.”
“I vaguely remember children,” Draco said, nodding, “Weren’t some of them missing?”
“That sounds about right.”
They lay quietly for a few minutes, simply enjoying being comfortable together. Draco was tracing designs idly on Harry’s chest, and Harry was combing his fingers through Draco’s platinum hair. The silence of the room was shattered by the click of a door unlocking.
The previously locked door now stood slightly ajar. “Well, that was impeccable timing,” Draco drawled, making Harry chuckle. They moved from their comfortable positions and cleaned themselves up, shooting coy smiles at each other from opposite sides of the bed as they dressed.
When they left the room, it took a couple of wrong turns and doubling back before they were in the secret passageway on the way back to Hogwarts.
“Is this the passageway that James was talking about?” Draco asked, as he crouched low to keep from hitting his head. “Should I even ask how you found this? And where exactly are we going?”
“Long story, which I’ll tell you later. Short story is…I guess in a weird way, my dad told me about it, and I passed it on to James. Soon we’ll come out from underneath the Whomping Willow.”
Harry paused for a moment. “I haven’t been in here since the war. Voldemort used the Shrieking Shack as a hideout during the battle of Hogwarts. Snape died there. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before.”
“You did have other things on your mind, Harry.”
Harry shrugged. “True enough.”
Before long they reached the base of the Whomping Willow, and were soon headed toward the Entrance Hall. Luna was there to meet them.
“Draco, Harry. We got the boys some dinner, and put them to bed. We plan to do a special Sorting Ceremony at breakfast. Scorpius and Albus wanted me to ask if you two would stay until morning. Astoria is staying as well, but she has already retired for the evening.” Luna’s eye twinkled in a Dumbledore-like manner. “She told me that she didn’t think the two of you would mind sharing a room, so I’ve taken the liberty of setting a room up for you on this floor. Dipstick will show you the way.” A house-elf appeared and gestured down the hallway. As the men followed, Luna called out, “Sleep well!”
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As the sunlight streamed in the window early the next morning, Harry was lured into wakefulness by a soft pair of lips on his neck.
“Mmmm, good morning,” Harry said huskily.
“Morning,” Draco replied between kisses. He gave Harry another soft good morning kiss, then lay back and pulled Harry to his side. “Are you ready for the Sorting?”
“I am. I admit I’m curious. Albus has been worried he’ll be in Slytherin.”
Draco pasted on a mock affronted look. “And just why would he be worried about such a thing? It is an honor to be selected to the noble house of Slytherin.”
“I think he was more worried about being alone than being in Slytherin. His brother and cousins are all in Gryffindor, and he doesn’t know many children outside of the family. I actually think it would be better for him to be in a different house from everyone else. He would get out of everyone’s shadows and make his own decisions,” Harry said.
“Well, let’s not hold ourselves in suspense any longer,” Draco said, moving from the bed to get dressed. “The sooner we get down there, the sooner we know.”
The men made their way to the Great Hall and saw that Astoria had made it to breakfast slightly ahead of them. She eyed them thoughtfully and a sly smile appeared on her face.
“Good morning, gentlemen. I tried to wait up for you to get back, but you seemed to take quite a while, and I was utterly exhausted from the stress of the day,” Astoria simpered, placing a hand on her chest as she spoke. “You two must have been performing a very thorough search, to have been gone so long. Although, you both are so passionate at your jobs, I should have known it would extend to…other areas.”
Harry turned a pretty shade of red at Astoria’s tone, and Draco glared at his ex-wife, but Astoria merely smiled innocently and continued eating her breakfast.
The crystal bell made a beautiful sound as Luna rang it to get the Great Hall’s attention. Luna was wearing lilac robes scattered with stars twinkling at odd intervals.
“Good morning, everyone!” Luna called happily. “It is my pleasure to report that the two first years missing from last night’s feast have been located safe and sound. Let us take a moment this morning and perform a special Sorting Ceremony for them. Could Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter come forward, please?”
Scorpius and Albus, who had been sitting together at the far end of the Hufflepuff table, gave each other a wary glance before walking together to the front of the Great Hall. Neville Longbottom, the Deputy Headmaster, held the Sorting Hat up and motioned to the stool.
“Scorpius Malfoy.”
Scorpius sat on the stool and looked up as the Hat was lowered over his eyes. The entire hall was quiet as the Hat seemed to have a lengthy conversation with Scorpius. Under the table, Harry reached for Draco’s hand and squeezed. Finally the Hat screamed, “Ravenclaw!” Scorpius jumped down from the stool and ran to sit with his classmates at the Ravenclaw table.
Draco gasped, and Harry almost laughed out loud. Harry leaned over and murmured in Draco’s ear, “The first Malfoy in history who is not in Slytherin. Don’t you feel like a failure as a parent?” Harry laughed as Draco elbowed him in the side.
Neville spoke again. “Albus Potter.”
Albus walked to the stool, then gave an uncertain look to Neville. At Neville’s sweet smile and encouraging nod, Albus took his seat and the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. The Hat didn’t take as long to deliberate with Albus and quickly called out, “Slytherin!” Albus gave Neville a small smile, then turned to see his dad’s reaction. At Harry’s smile and nod, Albus cracked a huge grin, then jogged over the Slytherin table to have a seat.
Harry felt a hot breath over his ear as Draco said, “What was that you were saying about being a failure as a parent? Surely a Potter in Slytherin is against the laws of nature.”
After breakfast, Harry and Draco joined Astoria to wait at the doors to the Great Hall. They saw their sons whispering, heads close together and hands moving quickly as they discussed something to do with Quidditch. Finally the boys made their way to the adults.
“Hi, Dad!” Albus said cheerfully as he walked up to Harry. He looked around quickly, and upon seeing that there were no students around, hugged his father.
Harry laughed. “Hi, kiddo. So, Slytherin, huh?”
Albus grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, Slytherin. The Hat was pretty adamant that I belonged there. Said that even if my hard-headed father wouldn’t listen to it, that I very well should. So I did!”
Harry looked over to where Scorpius was talking with Draco and Astoria. Scorpius gave his mother a hug, then turned to give his father one as well. Astoria noticed Harry and Albus watching, and gave a small wave.
“Good-bye, Albus. Don’t be a stranger," Astoria said.
“Bye, Mrs. Malfoy. It was nice to meet you,” Albus replied politely, and watched as Astoria walked away.
Draco and Scorpius joined the group as Harry turned to Albus. “When did you meet Mrs. Malfoy?” Harry asked.
“It took us a while to find our way to Hogwarts last night. Once we got here, we saw Scorpius’s mum at the front gates, and she brought us into the castle. We told her all about how we ended up in the Shrieking Shack, and how we found our way out. She was already on her way to the Headmistress’ office, but then we ran into Luna and Hagrid. Mrs. Malfoy sent us to dinner, and said she would go to Luna’s office to let you and Mr. Malfoy know that we got back. We have to go to class. See you!” Albus said distractedly, already continuing his previous conversation with Scorpius as they walked away.
Harry took a moment to process what Albus had said, then he looked at Draco and his eyes got wide. “She knew the boys were back before she even came to the office! She set us up! Can you believe the ner-“
Harry’s words were cut off by Draco’s lips in a brief kiss. “Are you complaining?”
“I guess not,” Harry huffed. “I just can’t believe I didn’t see it coming.”
“Me too. I mean, she was a Slytherin after all. You will have to get used to it, though. You’ve got a Slytherin in the family now.”
Harry pulled Draco close to him and nuzzled his neck. “Mmhm. It appears that I have two Slytherins in the family. Albus…and you.”
Draco’s breath caught. He was about to reply when he looked over Harry’s shoulder and saw James standing off to the side, looking uncomfortable. He smiled gently at James, then said to Harry, “It looks like someone is waiting to speak with you.”
Harry turned to James and motioned him over. When James came nearer to his father, he extended his hand. In it was a folded, worn piece of parchment.
“I didn’t get a chance to give this back to you last night. I am really am sorry about going through your stuff.” He turned to Draco. “And the thing with Al and Malfoy, I’m sorry about that too.”
Draco rather doubted the sincerity of the last sentence, but nodded his acceptance all the same. Harry took the parchment and smiled at his son. “Thanks, James. You better head to class. I’ll owl you next week.”
Relief washed over James’s face, and he smiled. “Bye, Dad. Good-bye, Mr. Malfoy.”
Draco nodded solemnly, but didn’t reply until he felt a nudge from Harry. He rolled his eyes and said, “Good-bye, Potter-spawn. Try to stay out of trouble.”
Draco waved and watched James walk away, then turned back to see Harry looking down at the parchment in his hand. Touching Harry’s arm gently, he said, “Is that what I think it is?”
Harry didn’t speak, but simply nodded and unfolded the tattered letter. Draco propped his chin on Harry’s shoulder and read the letter with him.
Potter,
I think that even you, thick as you are, will have figured out that since you are reading this letter, I am not coming to meet you. I will not apologize, and I will not offer up excuses for my absence.
You have no idea of the temptation to take you up on your offer to fly away with you and start all over. As I came down from the high of that night, I realized that it would never work. We all have roles to play, and while I feel I could slip seamlessly out of the role of nemesis and into the role of lover, I’m not sure if the world is quite ready for that yet.
I want you, but as much as I want you, I also want other things for you, as well as myself. However, I will promise you this: someday I will fly away with you.
Until that day,
Draco
After they finished reading, Draco took the letter from Harry’s hands. With a muttered spell, the letter erupted in flames and disappeared. Draco and Harry stood looking at each other for a long moment, then Draco smiled a radiant smile. “Hey, Harry.”
“Yes?”
“Today is looking like someday, isn’t it?”
Harry’s smile lit up his entire face, and his eyes sparkled as he nodded. Draco kissed Harry deeply, putting every ounce of emotion he could into the kiss. When the kiss ended, Draco whispered against Harry’s lips.
“Harry, fly away with me.”
-fin-