Fic Rec: "Use Somebody" by No1MournsTheWicked
Title: Use Somebody
Author: No1MournsThe Wicked
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: past abuse/violence
Word Count: 112,033 words
Summary: Draco Malfoy needs a job! When the position of P.A/secretary to hot shot solicitor Harry Potter, senior partner of the prestigious lawfirm 'Aurors', falls into his lap - How can he possibly say no to it. Slash, non magic, AU
Why I love this: It may not be the best written fic, but it sent me on a roller coaster of emotions. From the summary, I thought this was going to be this fun fic in which Draco has to suffer working for Harry Potter. And for the first few chapters I laughed a lot, from Pansy's snarky, but supportive, friendship with Draco, to Draco trying to learn everything he can so he won't get fired. I loved seeing Harry fall in love with Draco, problems and all, until Draco's hidden past is revealed and everything goes downhill. In fact, I wasn't sure how this fic was going to end, but kept reading because I had to know either way. A long, but worthwhile read.
"Do you think I look…poofy?" Draco asked delicately, appraising himself from every possible angle in his full length mirror.
Pansy snorted, her bloodshot eyes rolling in amusement. She was currently buried in Draco's duvet, her head resting against his mammoth mountain of pillows - the absolute picture of comfort.
"Draco, no matter what you wear, no matter how you wear it…you always look poofy!" She replied, her voice sounding as though her throat were lined with sandpaper; however the evident delight in teasing Draco somehow made it through, though.
The blonde, who could see her in the reflection of the mirror, narrowed his eyes and glared at her. Did she really need to be smart, today of all days?
"Get out of my bed and bugger off!" He sniped half heartedly; ripping off the black shirt he was wearing and throwing it over his shoulder.
Turning back to his wardrobe, he ran a critical eye over his choices. He had a lot of formal attire due to his 'Only wear an outfit to social occasions once' rule, however he didn't want to look over dressed. He had suits, but he always felt like a 7 year old trying on his father's clothing whenever he wore one. Besides, he wanted to look smart but sexy. Sexy was the key to getting this job.
He spotted a pair of charcoal suit trousers which had a matching waistcoat right at the end of his clothes rail and he snagged it with enthusiasm. Teamed with a white fitted shirt and a chunky grey tie and he could actually pull 'sexy' off.
"I can't get out of bed, I'm ill!" Pansy moaned from behind him as he begun stripping off the pinstripe trousers he was wearing to be replaced by the grey. He kept his eyes away from the heaps of clothes that currently littered his bedroom floor for fear of having a panic attack.
"You're not ill, you're hung-over! How does my arse look in these trousers?" Draco asked, twisting around to show her his rear whilst also attempting to look himself.
"Edible." Pansy croaked in amusement. "So, I take it the solicitor is hot? You're being even more vain then usual."
Draco, who was buttoning up his shirt, suddenly found the buttons very interesting. He kept his gaze planted on his fingers as he answered. "Well, considering my C.V is full of complete and utter bollocks - and I have no idea how the hell I'm going to pull it all off - I figured if I at least look good, there's a chance they might just escort me from the building when they find out what a fraud I am, rather than throw me out."
"You're avoiding the question. That means he's really hot!" Pansy retorted, watching as Draco straightened his waistcoat and began tying his tie. She suppressed a smile as she took in the air of nervousness surrounding the blonde. It was blatantly obvious that Draco's preening was because of a guy and not the reason he had given.
Draco's fingers couldn't seem to get to grips with his tie and after a few attempts Pansy took pity on him.
"Come here, you imbecile, before you strangle yourself!" She huffed, pushing herself into a sitting position.
Draco sighed with frustration and gave in. Sinking against the edge of his bed, he allowed Pansy to fix the mess he had made.
"Draco, relax. You are clever and intuitive, and you will sail through this interview." Pansy smiled, her hands, finished with his tie, resting comfortingly against his chest. "Unless there's something else that's worrying you?"
Draco, who had been staring at the floor, glanced up at Pansy's face and swiftly looked away again. The uncertainty and vulnerability in the action wasn't lost on her.
"Do you really think I can do this?" Draco whispered, his eyes on his fingers that were fiddling with the end of his tie. "I mean…I don't have the best track record…"
"Now, you listen to me Draco Malfoy. You can do this. I don't care what's been said to you in the past - You are clever, you are not an idiot. If you want to be a P.A, you can be a P.A, and there is nothing or no one that can stop you." Pansy said fiercely, her eyebrows pulling together in pained exasperation. She truly hated that her, once confident, best friend doubted himself.
Draco continued to gaze at his hands, his teeth pulling at his lip. "Theo -" he began only to be cut off.
"To hell with Theo!" Pansy snapped, her eyes that had been half closed seconds before now wide, a fierce determination sparkling in their depths. Upon seeing the blonde shift uncomfortably at her demand, she reigned in her sudden anger at the man who had wronged her best friend, and she tried a different method.
"Now…you look hot, and you're wearing some sexy arsed aftershave! You get that edible backside of yours round to that law firm and demand that job." She smiled, her hand coming to rest against his cheek in a rare moment of comfort.
Draco sighed and gazed at his friend, a bubble of warmth appearing in his stomach at the tenderness of her actions. It wasn't very often that he needed these moments of assurance anymore, but when he did Pansy always came through.
"Thanks Pans." He said with a soft smile, leaning down and kissing her forehead.
"I live to serve." She sighed dramatically. "Now piss off so I can get some sleep."
[...]
"So, your C.V." he added, his eyes leaving Draco's for the first time to land on the small file in front of the blonde, who hastily handed it to him.
A wave of nausea slammed into him as Harry began leafing through his previous employment record and qualifications, and he began mentally berating himself for putting himself through this ordeal. The man opposite him was obviously qualified up to the eyeballs, and all Draco's C.V showed was that he had GCSEs! GCSEs and no experience. Unless you counted a few odd jobs that only lasted a few weeks at best. However, after much thought the night before, Draco had decided against lying in the employment document. After all, these people were likely to check up on it and if by some miracle of God that he actually got the job; his lack of experience would soon become apparent. Best to be up front, he thought.
"Wow, you attended Durmstrang Academy? Impressive. I expect that was very intense." Harry commented, a certain amount of awe in his voice that was unexpected.
Draco wasn't used to people recognising the name of the school he had attended. Durmstrang Academy was a prestigious boarding school that only children of the aristocratic elite were privy to attend.
"Actually, it was surprisingly laid back. Although, it was definitely the sort of place that shapes a person." Draco replied wryly. He'd lost his virginity at Durmstrang. The selection of guys there had very much shaped him as a person. His sexuality had never stood a chance.
"I see you have a 4 year gap between school and your first job for Miss Parkinson at Slytherin Designs." Harry noted, his eyes drifting from the file up to the blonde's face, curiously.
He couldn't quite work out why someone who had attended Durmstrang (Durmstrang!) would apply to be a secretary? That school churned out politicians and heart surgeons, for crying out loud.
Draco shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Harry raised the subject he had been dreading the most, and he knew that once he replied to it he would most definitely be rejected for the position. He just hoped that Harry wouldn't call him out on the lie.
"I was trying to find myself." He said, a forced smile sliding onto his face. God, he sounded so stupid, but he knew that the truth was worse. So he lied.
Harry's eyebrows shot up and he chuckled softly as he returned his focus back to the paper in front of him. "It took you four years?" He enquired with a sly smile.
"I have a terrible sense of direction." Draco replied, and the knot in his stomach loosened ever so slightly when Harry laughed. A light tinkling laugh that showed he was amused by the joke rather than the situation.
"Me, too." He retorted. "So, I'm guessing by the fact that you're sitting here that you found yourself safe and sound?" The brunette continued, carrying on the light joking banter, once again adjusting his position in his chair with a small wince.
"Eventually." Draco nodded. "Look, I know I don't have any experience, but I'm a fast learner and what I lack in experience I make up for in enthusiasm." He said, leaning forward in his chair as though to drive the point home to Harry. He could tell from the cheeky grin on Harry's face that the brunette got the point.
"Oh, I don't doubt it." He breathed, gazing at Draco's face for a long moment.
As though realising what he was doing, Harry looked away and back at the C.V, and Draco let go of the breath he was holding. Bloody hell, those eyes should come with a health warning, he thought incredulously as his heart fluttered around his chest.
"So, if you don't mind me saying - your name - it's very unusual." The brunette commented after a moment of silence as he stared at the perfect italic handwriting that spelled out Draco's name on the paper.
The blonde seemed to prefer this part of the conversation because his smile changed from forced to a warmer genuine quirk of his lips. "Yes, my parents were rather creative, weren't they? Draco is Latin - meaning dragon. Malfoy is French - meaning bad faith. It's almost like the name the enemy of a superhero has, isn't it? He finished with a soft laugh, and Harry felt his stomach clench pleasantly at the sound, and he couldn't help but mimic the gesture.
Again, Harry wondered what the blonde was doing there. How could someone so charismatic, and of obvious aristocracy judging by his choice of schooling, be sat in front of Harry - who attended a local comprehensive - without a single career prospect?
"I'm sorry, I have to ask, to attend Durmstrang you must be of a certain…breeding. I mean to say, that not your average Joe could walk in from off the street and expect to attend. I'm sorry to be crass, but you're of obvious wealth - Why wouldn't you hold out for a job with more…status?" Harry asked, his forehead forming a curious frown that unnerved Draco. Unnerved in the sense that he felt compelled to answer when he didn't actually want to.
"Sometimes life shows you that it's the small things that give you the biggest rewards. Big dreams and aspirations often lead to a big fall - A lesson I learned the hard way. I'm not looking for status…just the reward of doing a days work. If I indirectly make someone's life a little better because of that work, then it was job well done." Draco shrugged, and he could tell by shift in Harry's facial expression that he had said something right. The brunette positively glowed as he processed the remark, and Draco felt his hopes finally make an appearance. Could that one comment actually get him this job?
"Good answer." Harry smirked. "Look, I had this whole interview procedure planned out, however from what I've learned about you so far, I really don't think there's any point." he continued, shaking his head as he once again gazed at Draco's handwriting, paying no attention to the actual words.
Draco's hope instantly died and he felt an almost painful sense of disappointment slam into him. He didn't have the job, he was being rejected.
"I can already tell that you'll be perfect." Harry breathed, his gaze totally focused on the blonde man in front of him. Yes, absolutely perfect.
Draco's expression was so disbelieving that Harry almost laughed, however he sensed that that would probably be the wrong thing to do. There was something about the blonde that Harry couldn't quite put his finger on, but it was something that he wanted to uncover. The way the other man spoke of his past was like lighting a spark of curiosity inside Harry. He didn't believe the whole 'Trying to find himself' excuse for a minute, however for the moment it was O.K, he would live with it.
He found himself wanting to know what Draco's dreams and aspirations had been, and what had caused them to be so completely dashed and he figured that the blonde would likely tell him if and when he wanted to and not a second before.
"Are you being serious?" Draco asked, his tone as disbelieving as his expression. "I've…I've got the job?…You're giving me the job?"
Harry couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the blonde. "Yes, I'm offering you the job. You'll obviously need some training; you'll probably shadow another P.A for a few days to get the basic gist of the job. However, everyone works differently - I won't necessarily expect the same things of you as Hermione would her P.A - but it helps to get a feel for the job from someone with similar responsibilities. Sound O.K?" He asked, and the fluttering of butterflies erupted in his stomach as he watched Draco's smile become brighter and brighter the longer he spoke. The blonde seemed truly flabbergasted when he replied.
"Yes, of course, that sounds great." He laughed, shaking his head as though he couldn't believe his luck.
"I must warn you though, you may be required to work some unsociable hours if I get a demanding case, and there may be instances where you're required to accompany me to trials and such - in which case your travel and accommodation would be paid for by the company and you would be paid overtime."
Draco subtly pinched his leg under the table and was truly surprised when he didn't wake up and find that he was having the world's best dream. He was being offered a great job where he'd sometimes get to travel, stay in a hotel and get paid for it…with the most gorgeous guy on the planet? It must be God loves Draco day!
"That's fine with me." He replied, and the smile that appeared on Harry's face made Draco's heart grind to halt. It was simply breathtaking.
"Fantastic."
Author: No1MournsThe Wicked
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: past abuse/violence
Word Count: 112,033 words
Summary: Draco Malfoy needs a job! When the position of P.A/secretary to hot shot solicitor Harry Potter, senior partner of the prestigious lawfirm 'Aurors', falls into his lap - How can he possibly say no to it. Slash, non magic, AU
Why I love this: It may not be the best written fic, but it sent me on a roller coaster of emotions. From the summary, I thought this was going to be this fun fic in which Draco has to suffer working for Harry Potter. And for the first few chapters I laughed a lot, from Pansy's snarky, but supportive, friendship with Draco, to Draco trying to learn everything he can so he won't get fired. I loved seeing Harry fall in love with Draco, problems and all, until Draco's hidden past is revealed and everything goes downhill. In fact, I wasn't sure how this fic was going to end, but kept reading because I had to know either way. A long, but worthwhile read.
"Do you think I look…poofy?" Draco asked delicately, appraising himself from every possible angle in his full length mirror.
Pansy snorted, her bloodshot eyes rolling in amusement. She was currently buried in Draco's duvet, her head resting against his mammoth mountain of pillows - the absolute picture of comfort.
"Draco, no matter what you wear, no matter how you wear it…you always look poofy!" She replied, her voice sounding as though her throat were lined with sandpaper; however the evident delight in teasing Draco somehow made it through, though.
The blonde, who could see her in the reflection of the mirror, narrowed his eyes and glared at her. Did she really need to be smart, today of all days?
"Get out of my bed and bugger off!" He sniped half heartedly; ripping off the black shirt he was wearing and throwing it over his shoulder.
Turning back to his wardrobe, he ran a critical eye over his choices. He had a lot of formal attire due to his 'Only wear an outfit to social occasions once' rule, however he didn't want to look over dressed. He had suits, but he always felt like a 7 year old trying on his father's clothing whenever he wore one. Besides, he wanted to look smart but sexy. Sexy was the key to getting this job.
He spotted a pair of charcoal suit trousers which had a matching waistcoat right at the end of his clothes rail and he snagged it with enthusiasm. Teamed with a white fitted shirt and a chunky grey tie and he could actually pull 'sexy' off.
"I can't get out of bed, I'm ill!" Pansy moaned from behind him as he begun stripping off the pinstripe trousers he was wearing to be replaced by the grey. He kept his eyes away from the heaps of clothes that currently littered his bedroom floor for fear of having a panic attack.
"You're not ill, you're hung-over! How does my arse look in these trousers?" Draco asked, twisting around to show her his rear whilst also attempting to look himself.
"Edible." Pansy croaked in amusement. "So, I take it the solicitor is hot? You're being even more vain then usual."
Draco, who was buttoning up his shirt, suddenly found the buttons very interesting. He kept his gaze planted on his fingers as he answered. "Well, considering my C.V is full of complete and utter bollocks - and I have no idea how the hell I'm going to pull it all off - I figured if I at least look good, there's a chance they might just escort me from the building when they find out what a fraud I am, rather than throw me out."
"You're avoiding the question. That means he's really hot!" Pansy retorted, watching as Draco straightened his waistcoat and began tying his tie. She suppressed a smile as she took in the air of nervousness surrounding the blonde. It was blatantly obvious that Draco's preening was because of a guy and not the reason he had given.
Draco's fingers couldn't seem to get to grips with his tie and after a few attempts Pansy took pity on him.
"Come here, you imbecile, before you strangle yourself!" She huffed, pushing herself into a sitting position.
Draco sighed with frustration and gave in. Sinking against the edge of his bed, he allowed Pansy to fix the mess he had made.
"Draco, relax. You are clever and intuitive, and you will sail through this interview." Pansy smiled, her hands, finished with his tie, resting comfortingly against his chest. "Unless there's something else that's worrying you?"
Draco, who had been staring at the floor, glanced up at Pansy's face and swiftly looked away again. The uncertainty and vulnerability in the action wasn't lost on her.
"Do you really think I can do this?" Draco whispered, his eyes on his fingers that were fiddling with the end of his tie. "I mean…I don't have the best track record…"
"Now, you listen to me Draco Malfoy. You can do this. I don't care what's been said to you in the past - You are clever, you are not an idiot. If you want to be a P.A, you can be a P.A, and there is nothing or no one that can stop you." Pansy said fiercely, her eyebrows pulling together in pained exasperation. She truly hated that her, once confident, best friend doubted himself.
Draco continued to gaze at his hands, his teeth pulling at his lip. "Theo -" he began only to be cut off.
"To hell with Theo!" Pansy snapped, her eyes that had been half closed seconds before now wide, a fierce determination sparkling in their depths. Upon seeing the blonde shift uncomfortably at her demand, she reigned in her sudden anger at the man who had wronged her best friend, and she tried a different method.
"Now…you look hot, and you're wearing some sexy arsed aftershave! You get that edible backside of yours round to that law firm and demand that job." She smiled, her hand coming to rest against his cheek in a rare moment of comfort.
Draco sighed and gazed at his friend, a bubble of warmth appearing in his stomach at the tenderness of her actions. It wasn't very often that he needed these moments of assurance anymore, but when he did Pansy always came through.
"Thanks Pans." He said with a soft smile, leaning down and kissing her forehead.
"I live to serve." She sighed dramatically. "Now piss off so I can get some sleep."
[...]
"So, your C.V." he added, his eyes leaving Draco's for the first time to land on the small file in front of the blonde, who hastily handed it to him.
A wave of nausea slammed into him as Harry began leafing through his previous employment record and qualifications, and he began mentally berating himself for putting himself through this ordeal. The man opposite him was obviously qualified up to the eyeballs, and all Draco's C.V showed was that he had GCSEs! GCSEs and no experience. Unless you counted a few odd jobs that only lasted a few weeks at best. However, after much thought the night before, Draco had decided against lying in the employment document. After all, these people were likely to check up on it and if by some miracle of God that he actually got the job; his lack of experience would soon become apparent. Best to be up front, he thought.
"Wow, you attended Durmstrang Academy? Impressive. I expect that was very intense." Harry commented, a certain amount of awe in his voice that was unexpected.
Draco wasn't used to people recognising the name of the school he had attended. Durmstrang Academy was a prestigious boarding school that only children of the aristocratic elite were privy to attend.
"Actually, it was surprisingly laid back. Although, it was definitely the sort of place that shapes a person." Draco replied wryly. He'd lost his virginity at Durmstrang. The selection of guys there had very much shaped him as a person. His sexuality had never stood a chance.
"I see you have a 4 year gap between school and your first job for Miss Parkinson at Slytherin Designs." Harry noted, his eyes drifting from the file up to the blonde's face, curiously.
He couldn't quite work out why someone who had attended Durmstrang (Durmstrang!) would apply to be a secretary? That school churned out politicians and heart surgeons, for crying out loud.
Draco shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Harry raised the subject he had been dreading the most, and he knew that once he replied to it he would most definitely be rejected for the position. He just hoped that Harry wouldn't call him out on the lie.
"I was trying to find myself." He said, a forced smile sliding onto his face. God, he sounded so stupid, but he knew that the truth was worse. So he lied.
Harry's eyebrows shot up and he chuckled softly as he returned his focus back to the paper in front of him. "It took you four years?" He enquired with a sly smile.
"I have a terrible sense of direction." Draco replied, and the knot in his stomach loosened ever so slightly when Harry laughed. A light tinkling laugh that showed he was amused by the joke rather than the situation.
"Me, too." He retorted. "So, I'm guessing by the fact that you're sitting here that you found yourself safe and sound?" The brunette continued, carrying on the light joking banter, once again adjusting his position in his chair with a small wince.
"Eventually." Draco nodded. "Look, I know I don't have any experience, but I'm a fast learner and what I lack in experience I make up for in enthusiasm." He said, leaning forward in his chair as though to drive the point home to Harry. He could tell from the cheeky grin on Harry's face that the brunette got the point.
"Oh, I don't doubt it." He breathed, gazing at Draco's face for a long moment.
As though realising what he was doing, Harry looked away and back at the C.V, and Draco let go of the breath he was holding. Bloody hell, those eyes should come with a health warning, he thought incredulously as his heart fluttered around his chest.
"So, if you don't mind me saying - your name - it's very unusual." The brunette commented after a moment of silence as he stared at the perfect italic handwriting that spelled out Draco's name on the paper.
The blonde seemed to prefer this part of the conversation because his smile changed from forced to a warmer genuine quirk of his lips. "Yes, my parents were rather creative, weren't they? Draco is Latin - meaning dragon. Malfoy is French - meaning bad faith. It's almost like the name the enemy of a superhero has, isn't it? He finished with a soft laugh, and Harry felt his stomach clench pleasantly at the sound, and he couldn't help but mimic the gesture.
Again, Harry wondered what the blonde was doing there. How could someone so charismatic, and of obvious aristocracy judging by his choice of schooling, be sat in front of Harry - who attended a local comprehensive - without a single career prospect?
"I'm sorry, I have to ask, to attend Durmstrang you must be of a certain…breeding. I mean to say, that not your average Joe could walk in from off the street and expect to attend. I'm sorry to be crass, but you're of obvious wealth - Why wouldn't you hold out for a job with more…status?" Harry asked, his forehead forming a curious frown that unnerved Draco. Unnerved in the sense that he felt compelled to answer when he didn't actually want to.
"Sometimes life shows you that it's the small things that give you the biggest rewards. Big dreams and aspirations often lead to a big fall - A lesson I learned the hard way. I'm not looking for status…just the reward of doing a days work. If I indirectly make someone's life a little better because of that work, then it was job well done." Draco shrugged, and he could tell by shift in Harry's facial expression that he had said something right. The brunette positively glowed as he processed the remark, and Draco felt his hopes finally make an appearance. Could that one comment actually get him this job?
"Good answer." Harry smirked. "Look, I had this whole interview procedure planned out, however from what I've learned about you so far, I really don't think there's any point." he continued, shaking his head as he once again gazed at Draco's handwriting, paying no attention to the actual words.
Draco's hope instantly died and he felt an almost painful sense of disappointment slam into him. He didn't have the job, he was being rejected.
"I can already tell that you'll be perfect." Harry breathed, his gaze totally focused on the blonde man in front of him. Yes, absolutely perfect.
Draco's expression was so disbelieving that Harry almost laughed, however he sensed that that would probably be the wrong thing to do. There was something about the blonde that Harry couldn't quite put his finger on, but it was something that he wanted to uncover. The way the other man spoke of his past was like lighting a spark of curiosity inside Harry. He didn't believe the whole 'Trying to find himself' excuse for a minute, however for the moment it was O.K, he would live with it.
He found himself wanting to know what Draco's dreams and aspirations had been, and what had caused them to be so completely dashed and he figured that the blonde would likely tell him if and when he wanted to and not a second before.
"Are you being serious?" Draco asked, his tone as disbelieving as his expression. "I've…I've got the job?…You're giving me the job?"
Harry couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the blonde. "Yes, I'm offering you the job. You'll obviously need some training; you'll probably shadow another P.A for a few days to get the basic gist of the job. However, everyone works differently - I won't necessarily expect the same things of you as Hermione would her P.A - but it helps to get a feel for the job from someone with similar responsibilities. Sound O.K?" He asked, and the fluttering of butterflies erupted in his stomach as he watched Draco's smile become brighter and brighter the longer he spoke. The blonde seemed truly flabbergasted when he replied.
"Yes, of course, that sounds great." He laughed, shaking his head as though he couldn't believe his luck.
"I must warn you though, you may be required to work some unsociable hours if I get a demanding case, and there may be instances where you're required to accompany me to trials and such - in which case your travel and accommodation would be paid for by the company and you would be paid overtime."
Draco subtly pinched his leg under the table and was truly surprised when he didn't wake up and find that he was having the world's best dream. He was being offered a great job where he'd sometimes get to travel, stay in a hotel and get paid for it…with the most gorgeous guy on the planet? It must be God loves Draco day!
"That's fine with me." He replied, and the smile that appeared on Harry's face made Draco's heart grind to halt. It was simply breathtaking.
"Fantastic."