"Besom Buddies" Part II (Harry/Draco)
Title: Besom Buddies (Part II) ( Read Part I)
Author/Artist: digthewriter
Prompt: My own prompt, but heavily similar to S25 so we’ll say it’s a collaboration.
Prompt submitted by: Marianna_merlo and “mystery author”
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, Harry/Ginny
Word Count/Art Medium: ~15,150
Rating: R
Warning(s): Nothing extreme I can think of, maybe, severely InDenial!Harry
Disclaimer:Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Basically I wrote the story on my own prompt, then checked and saw a similar prompt so acknowledging it. Thanks a million to FantasyFiend09 for the quick beta and re-read. NathalieWeasley for the encouragement and the awesome title and Saras_Girl for being so gracious and allowing me to borrow Emilie and the Aldersons from " All Life is Yours to Miss."
Summary: Harry has commitment issues when it comes to finalising a wedding date with Ginny, and then Draco Malfoy storms into his life--not so literally--yet so literally.
/*\
By Monday morning, the news of the fact that Harry didn’t end up tying the knot with Ginny spread everywhere like wildfire. The Prophet called it a "curse," claiming that someone had cursed Harry by enchanting the weather to make it impossible for him to get married.
"Who would curse the weather?" Ron asked scoffing.
Harry could think of one person. The one person he’d been avoiding, the one person he needed to apologise to. Harry sent an owl to Malfoy asking him to dinner at the Wizard’s Quest. Malfoy agreed.
They sat at their usual table and the waiter brought over two tumblers of Firewhisky and two pints of beer. It was their usual order. They didn’t even bother looking at the menu because the waiter was going to bring the same appetizer Harry always ordered. But Malfoy stopped the waiter before he had a chance to leave the table.
"I think I’ll try the crab cakes today," he said and the waiter nodded and walked away. Malfoy looked at Harry and spoke. "Change can be good, don’t you think?"
"Why the change in order today?" Harry asked.
"If you order the same thing over and over again, you get too used to it. You might not even realise that something better is there. I don’t want to be someone who simply just settles."
Harry nodded. He knew what Malfoy was saying, but Harry was going to choose to ignore it. "How were the rest of the lessons for the week?" he asked instead.
"They were fine. Emilie was quite excited about your news in the Prophet. She thinks she still has a chance." Malfoy finished the shot of his Firewhisky and rubbed his lip with his thumb. Harry tried not to stare.
"What do you think?" Harry asked.
"I’m sorry to hear about Mrs Weasley. I read that she had to spend two nights in the hospital," Malfoy said. "I sent flowers."
"I know, I was surprised to see them," Harry replied. "I didn’t know you cared."
"I’m not that heartless, Potter," Malfoy retorted. "I felt bad that, due to the extreme weather conditions, your future mother-in-law may have suffered a stroke."
"Why? You didn’t have anything to do with it."
Malfoy didn’t answer. He took a sip of his beer and looked in the direction of the waiter as though he were all of a sudden too eager to try the crab cakes.
"Anyway, I wanted to apologise," Harry said. "About what happened-that night. I was out of line and I hope that you can-"
"I can what?" Malfoy asked.
"That you can forgive me and I hope that this won’t affect our business relationship," Harry answered. He gulped silently. All of a sudden he was nervous again. Malfoy was looking at him as though he was trying to read Harry’s expression or trying to imagine him naked or something.
"It’s fine," Malfoy answered coolly. "It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to experiment with me mere nights before their wedding."
A pang of jealousy went through Harry.
"I wasn’t trying to experiment-"
"It’s fine, Potter. Really." Malfoy’s voice was detached. "Does this mean there’s no honeymoon, and you can come back to work?" he asked and Harry nodded. "Have you picked another date?"
"Date for what?" Harry was confused.
"For the wedding, pillock," Malfoy retorted.
"Oh yeah, in a few months, after Christmas. There’s less chance of a weather catastrophe it seems, and I guess Hermione is going to need some time to do some research on handling weather-related emergencies. The Cooling Charms, even the Freezing Charms, didn’t work in the heat last week. It was the most bizarre weather, don’t you think?" Harry asked. He realised he might have been rambling and Malfoy was simply staring at him.
"Oh, I wouldn’t know. I was at the Manor, reading."
"What about your lessons?" Harry asked.
"They were cancelled because the students were invited to your wedding," Malfoy answered. He always had this habit of making Harry feeling like an idiot, and it always worked. No matter how hard Harry tried to not show that it worked.
The food arrived and Harry dropped the subject of his wedding and the weather. He figured business-talk would be the best sort of conversation to have anyway. No stress there.
"It seems that we’ve already become famous with the students at Hogwarts," Malfoy said in midst of the meal.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"I’ve been receiving owls from Hogwarts students asking if we can schedule them in for lessons during the Winter break. Most of them are second and third years who need a few pointers. Their parents have offered to pay double. I call it ‘the holiday rate’." Malfoy grinned.
"Yeah, show me the schedule, it should work," Harry replied. Malfoy in-turn handed Harry a parchment with names of students and dates he’d pencilled in.
"It also has the rates we’re charging, depending on their family wealth. I’ve pencilled in a few freebies so you can sleep better at night," Malfoy said rolling his eyes.
"This is a full schedule." Harry looked over the table. "You’re not going to take any time off except for Christmas Eve and Day?" Harry had a hundred questions in his mind. "And wouldn’t it be too cold at that time? Where are we going to practise?"
"The field behind Malfoy Manor-the garden-where my mother used to work," Malfoy said and Harry nodded as if he was supposed to know. "It’s spelled with an Atmospheric Charm, so it wouldn’t be a problem. I’ve informed the parents already by writing, and we are going to have some slots opening because most of our usual students are going on holiday with their parents. They won’t be back until well after the New Year."
Harry was stunned silent.
"Additionally, you might have a huge family and all the presents Galleons can buy, but the Orphanage is still looking for volunteers and I…" Malfoy paused, "...for the sake of the company, am donating brooms and lessons as a Christmas present."
"Is that going to help you sleep better at night?" Harry teased. Malfoy threw a piece of his crab cake at him. It didn’t take long until they returned to their light-hearted routine. Harry was at ease again. The thought of Malfoy being cross with him made him edgy.
/*\
A few weeks passed, and everything seemed to be routine again. Harry’s business dinners with Malfoy were back on track and Ginny and Hermione were back to planning for an early January wedding.
"Hermione told me last time that you didn’t seem too interested in incorporating Muggle traditions in the wedding, Harry," Ginny said to Harry over brunch. They sat at Ginny’s favourite café on Saturday morning since Harry had cancelled on her late on Friday night claiming that he was too tired after dinner with Malfoy.
Harry didn’t bother hiding his annoyance with Hermione. "She did? I didn’t think she’d tell you," he said.
"I don’t mind. If you want to simply do wizarding traditions, that’ll be okay with everyone," Ginny replied and Harry shrugged. "Harry, I just want you to have an opinion. About something."
"I don’t know, Ginny," Harry said, "I just want to make you happy."
"Okay then, let’s go to the Ministry tomorrow and register to get married in front of the marriage official. It’s just a piece of parchment right?" Ginny laughed.
"Your mum-" Harry panicked.
"I know, she’ll kill us." Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Are you really sure you want to get married? We can wait-or call it off."
"Call it off?" Harry exclaimed. "Ginny, you’ve been wanting to get married on the same Ceremonial Grounds as your parents for ages. We can’t call off the ceremony!"
"I know, it just seems that it’s not really the thing for us, you know? It was my parent’s wish but Bill and Fleur got married without a hitch and we just seem to have bad luck-" Ginny sighed. "Not just with our wedding, our whole relationship, sometimes I think-"
"What do you think?" Harry asked.
"I don’t know. Hermione thinks I’m crazy," Ginny answered and took a sip of her breakfast cocktail. "She also thinks that we-" Ginny stopped talking.
"We-"
"Potter, Weasley, fancy seeing you here." A voice too familiar startled Harry. He knew that the person behind him was the reason he was late to brunch that morning.
"Malfoy, nice to see you again," Ginny said pleasantly.
"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.
"You’re not the only one that eats brunch, Potter," Malfoy replied. "Relax," he added. "When I got home last night, I received an owl from a friend who wanted to meet today. I remembered how you had once said that this was Ginny’s favourite place for breakfast so I offered to bring him here."
"Him?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, him." Malfoy smiled at Ginny, then looked at Harry before speaking again. "Sorry, didn’t mean to barge into what looks like a private conversation."
Harry and Ginny watched Malfoy walk away and meet up with a bloke Harry had never seen before. They hugged and the man placed a kiss on Malfoy’s cheek. Harry turned to look at Ginny who was watching him with the most peculiar look. "What?" he asked.
"Is something the matter?" Ginny asked.
"No, of course not. It’s just-I told him I was probably going to come here with you today and he just-shows up!"
"It’s a restaurant, Harry. Lots of people go to restaurants based on their friends’ recommendations. Why are you getting so worked up about this?"
"I’m not!" Harry threw his arms up in the air with frustration and knocked over a glass of water. "Sorry!" he said and tried to be calm again. Ginny only laughed at him. He wondered what she thought of him, being so incredibly senseless.
/*\
When Harry met Malfoy again for their Wednesday night business meeting, he asked Malfoy about his brunch date.
"Oh, he’s some bloke I met at a pub a very long time ago. We provide a kind of friendship-"
"A kind of friendship that requires you to have breakfast at the same restaurant as me?" Harry asked interrupting him.
"Wizards need to eat, you know," Malfoy teased. "I don’t just teach and share meals with you, Potter. I have a life. I shag blokes in my free time. As I’m sure you shag your fiancé whenever you get a chance."
Harry felt uncomfortable by Malfoy’s statement. "What I do in my own time is none of your business!" Harry retorted.
"Yeah and who I do, before or after breakfast, is none of yours," Malfoy said calmly. "Besides, he was the reason I had no idea how the weather was on your wedding day. I was too busy having hot sex with him. It was so hot; I feared the sofa was going to catch on fire!"
Harry swallowed inaudibly. He wasn’t sure what Malfoy’s words were doing to him. He felt jealous and at the same time, the thought of Malfoy having hot sex made his cock twitch. Harry decided that being around Malfoy only confused him so he was going to do what he knew best, keep things strictly professional. He was also going to cancel on the business dinner meetings. He owled Malfoy the next day saying that he was so busy that the only time they should meet up was if it were an emergency.
Malfoy didn’t reply to Harry’s owls. Harry didn’t know what to make of his non-communicative behaviour, but instead of questioning it, he stuck to his routine.
Harry followed the schedule Malfoy had placed for him and saw the students assigned to him. Friday night came and went and Harry didn’t go to Le Chateau. On Wednesday night, he made plans with Ron and went to the Leaky Cauldron for drinks. Weeks passed and everything was becoming a procedural-a different kind of a routine. Harry would receive correspondence about the business via owl from Malfoy but never anything about business dinners or their friendship. He wondered if Malfoy even missed him or if Harry had just freed up more time for him to have hot sex with blokes he met at pubs.
Christmas had come and gone, and Harry sent an owl to Malfoy wishing him a "Happy Christmas" with a small gift. He didn’t receive a reply.
"Is everything alright?" Ginny asked Harry while he was over the Burrow on a Friday night. It was a week before their scheduled wedding.
"Yeah, why?" Harry asked.
"Ever since you stopped your business dinners with Malfoy, you seem more…edgy. Irritable."
"I do?" Harry asked, surprised. He thought he was being normal.
"Yeah, did you two have a tiff?" she asked and Harry shook his head. "Must be the nerves then, about getting married and all?"
"No, no nerves," Harry reassured her.
"Is he going to come to the wedding?" she asked.
"Who? Malfoy?" Harry was surprised. "He didn’t come the last time because he was too busy having hot sex!"
Ginny laughed. "At least someone was," she commented. Molly came into the room with tea and their conversation was put on hold for the moment.
Later that night, when Harry left the Burrow, he decided to take a walk before Apparating to his flat. He thought about Ginny’s passing comment about having "hot sex" along with how a few weeks ago Malfoy had made a comment about Harry shagging in his free time. Why was everyone around him so obsessed with sex? Putting the thoughts out of his mind, Harry arrived at his flat, only to find a pissed Malfoy sitting on his sofa.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked. Malfoy scoffed and raised the glass of the expensive Firewhisky he was drinking. "You came here for supplies? That’s not why I’ve lowered the wards for you."
"Well, clearly, you haven’t lowered them for any other reason," Malfoy answered.
"I don’t understand," Harry said
"Yeah, you never do." Malfoy stood up to fetch himself another drink.
"Why are you here, Malfoy?" He walked up to Malfoy by the liquor cabinet and grabbed his hand before he could reach for the bottle of Firewhisky.
"I miss you," Malfoy whispered. Harry’s stomach dropped. "I go to Le Chateau every Friday, and you just-I thought we were friends."
"We were, we are," Harry said.
"Then-"
Harry looked into Malfoy’s eyes and they were so gentle, so open. Malfoy caught him by surprise and leaned in to kiss him. Harry didn’t push Malfoy away. He pulled him in. Malfoy tasted like Pansette de Gerzat and Firewhisky.
Harry pulled Malfoy onto the sofa and before he knew it, Malfoy was on top of him, Harry's shirt was on the floor and his glasses were beginning to fog up.
"Wait," Malfoy said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here."
"Why did you?" Harry asked. His hands were grabbing onto Malfoy's hips. They'd stopped kissing but they hadn’t stopped touching. Malfoy was still on top of Harry, and Harry was very aware of where his erection was pushing up against Malfoy thigh.
"I missed you; I wanted my friend back...I didn't mean to-"
"You kissed me."
"Yeah, and you kissed me back."
"We're back to the same situation from two months ago."
Malfoy chuckled. "Funny how we keep finding each other back in the same spot."
"You always kiss me first," Harry said. He lightly squeezed Malfoy's hips and Malfoy immediately stood up.
"I won't again," he said. "I still don't think you should marry her, but I won't kiss you again. I'm sorry." Malfoy knelt down and handed Harry his shirt. He fixed his clothes and walked up to the fire place. "I'm too drunk to Apparate home, so I'll just take the Floo."
Harry nodded; he didn't know what to say.
"See you, Potter," Malfoy said right before he vanished leaving Harry confused and hard.
/*\
The Weasleys didn't bother throwing Harry a stag party again. Mrs Weasley feared that it would be bad luck, given how horribly things had turned out the last time. This time, everyone was prepared for any strange weather disasters. Hermione had taken all necessary precautions for a heat wave, a snow storm, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions-even though there were no volcanoes anywhere near there.
"We can't be too careful," Hermione said when Ron joked about it.
Unfortunately, no one accounted for tornadoes.
A heat wave in November was odd; a blizzard in January was expected, but a tornado? No, no one saw that coming.
Everyone was gathered under the tent, Heating Charms were pleasantly placed all over, and Ginny looked beautiful in her off-white beaded sleeveless gown with a faux fur wrap. Hermione wouldn't have allowed her to wear real fur.
At first, they heard a crash.
"It's nothing, I'm sure," Harry said. They turned to look at the officiator when there was another crash. Harry looked at Ron who nodded at them and went outside the tent.
"I don't believe it," Ron shouted. "Everybody, Disapparate now! There's a storm coming!" Ron came running into the tent and grabbed Hermione. "A tornado...it's headed this way. The wind is blowing like crazy! We have to get out now!"
Hermione ran to grab Ginny and Harry and they all Disapparated to the Burrow. Everything seemed normal at the Weasley household; the tornado must not have hit that part of the country. Only the immediate family and some guests arrive at the Burrow. Arthur Weasley reckoned that the others must have simply gone home.
"Again! I can’t believe…this has just happened…again! Ginny all but shrieked. "The powers that be, really don't want us to get married!"
"Where's the officiator?" Harry asked.
"She's not here, she must have gone home," Ron said.
"I don't have any trouble getting married at the Ministry anymore, Ginny," Harry said, huffing.
Ginny laughed and wrapped her arms around Harry. "But mum-"
"I don't think your mum wants any more trouble than we do," Harry said.
"You should give it one more try," George commented. He seemed to be the only one who looked like he was having any fun. "Come on, third time's the charm."
Ginny looked at Harry expectantly. "It's your decision, Ginny. It's your day," he said. She hugged him tightly and thanked him with kisses. Harry stiffened up. They’d never been this affectionate in front of her family before. He felt embarrassed. She must have felt his reluctance and pulled back. Her grin didn’t fade.
"Are you really sure?" Hermione interjected. "George is taking bets on what kind of weather you’ll have next time. That’s why he’s pushing you to do this."
Ginny laughed. "I wouldn’t put that past him. But, if Harry is okay with it, then let’s wait it out."
"I think you are utterly ridiculous," Hermione commented.
"I think it’s romantic," Ron said pulling Hermione in for a kiss. "What if it was us? Wouldn’t you want to test it against fate?" She nodded reluctantly but eventually gave in.
Harry reckoned they had everyone’s blessing for a third try, so they settled on the first Saturday in June. Harry wondered if he and Malfoy would kiss again or if Malfoy would ever try to tell Harry to call off the wedding again.
"What are you thinking about?" Ginny asked as she sat next to Harry on the sofa in the Burrow handing him a cup of hot chocolate.
"Oh, nothing. Just-I keep changing my work schedule and I suppose I’ll be heading back to the lessons tomorrow. Reschedule the time table with Malfoy," Harry lied. I need to stop, he told himself. He needed to let go of his infatuation with Malfoy. Asking Malfoy to help with the business was probably the worst decision he’d ever made. Malfoy would argue that proposing to Ginny when he wasn’t ready was the worst decision he’d made.
Harry sighed. He could even hear Malfoy’s opinions in Malfoy’s tone in his head.
The next day Ginny left and wouldn’t be back for a few weeks to start the planning for the wedding all over again. Harry was back to the teaching. He was determined to be involved in the wedding planning this time. Maybe that would help keep the unnecessary and the unwelcome out of his mind. Tossing and turning in his bed that night, Harry decided to send an owl to Malfoy asking for all the new students to be assigned to him. He needed to distract himself.
/*\
"So the wedding’s still not called off?" Malfoy asked when Harry met up with him on Friday night at Le Chateau. Harry scowled at him. "I’m just asking, Potter."
"No, we’re going to give it another try," Harry said. "If that doesn’t work, because of the weather, then we’ll be simply having the ceremony in front of a Ministry appointed Officiator."
"When is it scheduled for?" Malfoy asked.
"The sixth of June," Harry answered.
"Why so far away?" Malfoy asked and Harry frowned again.
"Why are you so interested?" he retorted. "If you must know it’s because we have to schedule time off for Ginny from her Quidditch games and that was the next time she would get a set of days off."
"Wow," Malfoy mumbled as he took a sip of his wine and handed a small book to Harry. "These are all the numbers, profits, charity donations, and salary information for the past six months." Harry took the documents from Malfoy’s hand. Malfoy continued talking ‘business’ and Harry never got a chance to ask him about what he meant by the ‘wow’.
"Oh, before I forget," Malfoy added. "We also received a letter from a parent named Troy Smith, he’s American. He’s just took a job in the British Ministry as a Liaison Officer and his son is going to be going to Hogwarts next year. He said that Quidditch rules in America are different than Europe, so he wanted to enrol his son with us starting in March, when they move here."
"Alright," Harry said.
"So we both have to meet him when he’s here in March," Malfoy said.
"Okay, in March, it’s January." Harry didn’t understand.
"I know, just telling you to mark your Calendar."
"You’re the one that handles my calendar anyway, Malfoy," Harry replied. "Just tell me when and where to show up."
"Is that what you say to your fiancé too?" Malfoy asked. Harry was about to retort but thankfully the waiter had interrupted their conversation. He wouldn’t have known what to say.
Days turned into weeks and Harry’s time was spent between flying lessons and wedding planning with Hermione. Ginny would pop in and out some weekends and Harry gave her his input on the colours of the season and the table decorations.
Before he knew it, it was the 17th of March and he and Malfoy headed to Cheshire to meet the Smiths.
Jacob Smith, ten years old, had dark hair and dark skin that was a toss between smooth caramel and milk chocolate. He was well presented with freshly pressed trousers and a V-neck sweater. His father, Troy Smith, was a sight for sore eyes, Harry thought. The tall dark-skinned man looked as though he’d just walked off a Muggle magazine that Harry had seen lying around in Hermione’s flat.
"Wow, that’s-that’s our client?" Malfoy uttered to Harry as they waited outside the Smith house for the father and son walked down the long corridor in the garden to greet them.
"Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy, Troy Smith, it’s a pleasure," the man said and he gestured for his son to shake their hands.
"It’s no problem," Malfoy said. Harry wasn’t too sure but he seemed a bit smitten.
They followed Troy and Jacob to the house and Harry was sure he saw Malfoy check out the man’s arse. He winked at Harry as they walked and Harry simply shook his head.
The afternoon was mostly spent in business-talk and contract signing. Harry and Malfoy also learned a lot about Troy and his family. Troy was a single father, gay, who had lost his partner four years ago. Jacob’s mother was Troy’s "high school sweetheart" who left him with the baby as soon as Troy had come out of the closet.
Harry thought it was an interesting little tale, but Malfoy’s interest in the man severely annoyed Harry.
"I think you were being unprofessional," Harry said, after they had left the Smith household and Apparated back to the Malfoy Manor.
"Unprofessional?" Malfoy asked. "The man was talking about his late partner, what was I supposed to say? ‘Sorry we are not here to listen to your personal woes’? The man’s paid us for two months in advance!"
Harry groaned but didn’t argue back. "Whatever, I’ll see you Friday," he said before Disapparating home.
A couple more months passed and Harry and Malfoy had their hands full with twenty students that they both taught on a weekly basis along with the weekend lessons at the Orphanage.
Summer quickly arrived.
It was the day of Emilie’s birthday party. Harry couldn’t believe it had already been a year since his life had changed and the Alderson’s had offered him something that had shaped his career.
Ginny was stuck at Quidditch practice and couldn’t make it to the party this year. Harry went alone with Malfoy, although Malfoy said that he needed to shop for a present for Emilie so he would meet Harry there. Harry agreed.
When Harry arrived at the party, Emilie ran towards him and gave him a hug. Harry was surprised to see that Malfoy was already there. "What did you end up getting her?" he asked Malfoy.
"I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise," Malfoy answered. "And you?"
"I insisted to her parents to allow me to buy her a ‘big girl’s’ broom," Harry answered and Malfoy nodded impressed. Harry was curious to know what Malfoy got her. "Do you want to come with us when we test out the new broom?" he asked and Malfoy agreed.
As the party continued, Harry asked Emilie what she had asked Malfoy for.
"I told him that I hate that it’s always so hot on my birthday. So he told me he’d do something about it," she answered innocently.
"What could he do about it?" Harry asked and the little girl simply shrugged.
An hour later, Harry was out in the field with Malfoy and Emilie. Malfoy looked at her and smirked, and she immediately giggled. Harry was thoroughly confused.
"I think we should get a head start before everyone catches on to the phenomena?" Malfoy asked and Emilie nodded frantically. Harry looked at the both of them and both Malfoy and Emilie were hanging midway in the air and staring at the sky. Emilie’s eyes widened and Harry looked up.
"Is that-is that-snow?" Harry asked.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about, Potter," Malfoy answered in a witty tone. He turned to Emilie next and spoke. "Ready? We won’t have a whole lot of time before the opportunity melts away."
Emilie and Malfoy leaned back and pointed their broom upwards. A few moments later, they were off! Harry rushed behind them. Emilie was laughing wildly. She reached out her hand trying to catch a flake and almost toppled over. Both Malfoy and Harry screamed for her to hold on. Five more minutes and it was beginning to become chilly.
"Alright Ms Alderson, I think we are done with the fun," Malfoy said. Emilie pouted but when they looked down a small crowd had gathered by the house. "Okay, ready?" Malfoy asked and Emilie finally nodded. Malfoy looked over at Harry as though he wanted to make sure he was part of the little game. Harry nodded as well. Malfoy raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. The snow stopped. They all descended down together, and before they reached the crowd Malfoy whispered, "Now remember…"
"I know, we have no idea what happened." Emilie smiled then squealed with excitement. "This is the best birthday ever!"
"I’d hope so," Malfoy said, "you share it with me!"
Emilie gasped. "It’s your birthday today too?" Malfoy smiled and nodded. As soon as she landed, Emilie hopped off the broom and ran to her parents. A few minutes later, what had been Emilie’s party turned into Emilie and Instructor Malfoy’s birthday celebration. The random singularity of a hint of snow was soon forgotten by the guests but Harry would never forget it.
He was sure Emilie wouldn’t either.
"You can control the weather?" Harry asked Malfoy when the party was beginning to wind down and most guests had left.
Malfoy hesitantly nodded. "It’s not something I talk about, not in public anyway," he answered. "It’s why I travelled so much, Asia, the Caribbean, etc. I read about ancient wizards that were able to grasp control of their ability of controlling the weather through reflection and meditation."
"And the two times you ruined my wedding..."
"I was an idiot," Malfoy answered. "I’m sorry, Potter. I was being a selfish prat who wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was jealous the first time, hence the heat, again, apologies for causing your future mother-in-law a stroke. And the second time, I was just…hurt. You’d rejected me again. I’d tried to change your mind so many times and despite everything you’ve stood your ground-so naturally, a tornado to turn your life upside down. I know I’m a horrible person for ruining your and Ginny’s special day. You love her, and you’ll make her happy. I know that now. Trust me, I’ll behave tomorrow."
Harry stared at Malfoy with shock.
"I promise," Malfoy added.
"I-um-Malfoy-" Harry didn’t know what to say but felt as though he had to say something.
"I’m coming by the way, to the wedding I mean, even got myself a date and everything," Malfoy said.
"Oh, yeah?" Harry asked, that was all he could do.
"Yeah, remember Troy?"
"The American?" Harry exclaimed.
"Yeah, we’ve been seeing each other, a few times for dinner. So I asked him, since he was going to attend anyway, we’ll be coming together."
"Great," Harry answered. His heart sank. All of a sudden he couldn’t feel the ground and needed to sit down.
"Are you alright, Potter?"
"Mr Potter, is everything alright?" Mrs Alderson asked rushing to Harry’s side.
"Yeah, just feeling a bit light-headed. I just need to sit down," Harry answered.
"It’s probably the snow. We’ve been having such strange weather lately, I don’t know what Merlin is thinking," Mrs Alderson replied.
Harry caught a look that Malfoy and Emilie shared. He suddenly felt jealous. Malfoy had such a great bond with everyone and now he was going to date one of the parents. Harry wished that he’d made a rule of no dating any parents when he’d signed Malfoy on, but it seemed too late now.
Why did he care, anyway?
Before he left, Harry congratulated Malfoy. "What for?" Malfoy asked, surprised.
"You’ve finally stolen Emilie’s heart. I think she’s definitely smitten with you now, instead of me." Malfoy laughed at Harry’s comment. She’s not the only one, Harry thought unable to shake the thought of Troy and Malfoy from his mind.
/*\
Harry woke up the next morning and opened the windows of his flat. The morning was crisp, not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining beautifully. It wasn’t hot, nor was it unusually cold. The weather seemed flawless.
"Perfect day for a wedding, yeah?" Ron asked walking into Harry's room.
"Yeah, let's hope so," Harry said. He immediately thought of Malfoy and wondered if the perfect weather had anything to do with him. Was he repaying Harry with an apology and the perfect weather, or was he happy himself that now he had a real boyfriend and didn't obsess over Harry?
The thoughts of Malfoy and Troy haunted Harry all morning until it was time to arrive to the Ceremonial Grounds again. Harry entered the tent and was happily informed by Hermione that everything was perfect. They didn't even have to use any temperature controlling charms because the weather was just so amazing.
Harry smiled at her and took in the view of the room, the room he'd helped Ginny design for the wedding from the curtains, to the candles, to the flower settings. Everything in the room spoke of how Harry and Ginny were together. Everything was complete. Then what was wrong?
"Hermione, I have to talk to Ginny," Harry said. He didn't know why, but he did and it had to happen now.
"Harry, you can't see the bride before the ceremony. Especially not now, when everything is going so great!" Hermione argued.
"I don't care, Hermione, I need to talk to Ginny. Right now."
Hermione was hesitant but she finally nodded. "Okay, come with me," she said and led Harry away from the main tent and to a small tent that was being guarded by George and Charlie.
"What's going on?" Charlie asked.
"Wait here," Hermione said and went into the tent. A few moments later she returned and placed a blindfold on Harry and led him to, what he thought, the inside of the tent.
"Ginny?" Harry wondered.
"Harry, what's the matter?" He heard Ginny's voice approaching him and soon they were holding hands.
"Ginny..." Harry paused. "I can't talk to you like this, Ginny. Can I please take the blindfold off?"
"Of course," Ginny said. "I don't know why Hermione insists on these silly traditions."
Ginny helped Harry untie the knot. Harry put on his glasses and took in the room and Ginny. The Bride's changing room was twice the size of the ceremonial tent. He looked at Ginny who wore a different dress than the last time they had tried to get married. Ginny's new wedding dress was sleeveless and had fabric wrapped around her neck that made it look like a necklace.
"Ginny, you look...beautiful." Harry let out a sigh. "Breath-taking, really," he said.
Harry saw Ginny blush and her gaze fell. "Thanks, Harry," she said shyly.
Everything about that moment made Harry hate himself.
"What's the matter, Harry?" she asked, concern all over her face.
"Ginny...I don't think...I mean...I don't want to get married. I don't want to marry...you." Harry didn't know what to do, how to act. He bit his lip and his eyes searched Ginny's face for a reaction. For the first time in years, Harry had managed to tell Ginny how he really felt and he was frightened beyond all reason.
SMACK!
Harry's left cheeked burned.
"Of all the fucking times I asked you, NOW? You tell me this...NOW?"
"I know I should have-"
"Stop talking, or I'll hit you again," Ginny roared. Harry immediately shut up. "This dress cost me two months of my salary!"
"I'm sorry, I'll pay you back, and all the costs-"
"Yeah, you will," she said. Harry noticed her voice didn't have as much disdain as her first statement and she in general wasn't as upset as he'd imagined her to be.
Ginny sighed and paced up and down the room. She eventually sat on a chair and held her head in her hands.
"Ginny, I-"
"How long have you felt this way?" she asked, interrupting him.
"I don't know...maybe always," he answered honestly. "I knew I was having trouble committing, I just didn't know why."
"And now you do?" Ginny asked and he nodded. "How long..." she paused to take in a breath. "When did you realise you were in love with Malfoy?"
Harry felt his stomach turn and his cheeks getting hotter. It was as though Ginny had smacked him all over again.
"It is him, isn't it?" she asked.
"How-"
"We stopped having sex when he became your business partner. You didn't even pick up on the clues when I'd hinted-" She looked at him as though she was expecting an answer. He had no idea what to say. "When the two of you had a tiff or something, around Christmas time, you'd started coming by again and we'd resumed-" Harry was mortified. "But, even then, I knew something was off, you weren't in the room, you weren't with me. You hadn't even noticed when I'd stopped trying to have sex with you."
"Ginny-"
"At first I thought you might be sleeping with him, but then I realised, I thought, I'd hoped, I should say…that you weren't."
"Ginny, I never cheated-" Harry stopped himself. "We kissed, twice," he confessed.
"When?"
"Right before the wedding, in November, the first time. Then the night before the wedding in January..."
"And you continued to agree to try to get married again, even though you'd kissed another man. What did you think-that I'd help you keep the gay away?" Ginny laughed. It was odd, Harry thought. In the midst of a breakup, Ginny had just started laughing hysterically.
"Ginny, you're a beautiful woman and I-"
"And I couldn't keep you straight," she said, amusingly. "I'd been waiting for this," she added a few moments of silence later. Her laugh had dithered away. "I really had been waiting to break it off. I was an idiot, I suppose, I should have called it off when I knew it wasn't working. But, I see how happy Hermione and Ron are and I just hoped...I don't know."
"I know, me too," Harry said. He knelt down to her and held her hand. "I really wish, Ginny. But, today, everything is perfect and I can't go through with it. It wouldn't be fair to you, to me..."
It wasn't long after that Harry Disapparated. Ginny told him to "just leave," and that she could handle it. She didn't want him to stick around as she announced to the entire family that they had finally called it off.
George would win the betting pot. At least Harry wouldn't have to worry about George trying to murder him; he wasn't too sure about the rest of the brothers.
Later that night, Harry was resting on his sofa with a half empty bottle of Firewhisky when Malfoy contacted him via the Floo Network.
"Potter, are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Harry called out as he stumbled to the fireplace from his sofa. He was more drunk than he realised. "What do you want, Malfoy?"
"I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing," Malfoy said. "I arrived at the venue today and was informed that you'd called off the wedding."
"Oh, and it took you six hours to contact me? Had a hot date with Troy?" Harry sneered.
"Um...yes and no. We went out to lunch with Jacob and then I gave him a free flying lesson-" Malfoy sounded annoyed. "Do you want me to come by? This might just be a lot easier face to face, and I can tell you everything that is none of your business."
"I just want to be alone," Harry said.
"Don't lie to me," Malfoy snapped.
Harry grudgingly sighed. "Fine, can I come by your place in a while? I need to-"
"Sober up?" Malfoy asked interrupting Harry.
"Whatever, Malfoy. I'll see you in an hour." Harry ended the call and headed to shower. He didn't know what he'd say to Malfoy.
When Harry came out of the shower, he found Malfoy waiting on the sofa. Harry was in a towel. "Malfoy?" Harry nearly shrieked.
"Now that's a sight for sore eyes," Malfoy teased.
Harry rolled his eyes and went into his bedroom. He quickly changed into a t-shirt and jeans and returned to the sitting room. "What are you doing here?"
"I came by to check on you," Malfoy answered.
"Why? I told you I'd be-"
"Stopping by, I know, I couldn't wait."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't wait for what?"
"You know what, Potter!"
"I'm not sure your new boyfriend would approve," Harry said.
"That's funny, I don't remember getting a new boyfriend," Malfoy remarked. Harry scowled at Malfoy who only smirked triumphantly. "I told Troy that we'd best keep things professional and it probably wouldn't be a good idea to date a parent."
"Oh," Harry said. He was jumping with joy inside and did his best to not smile winningly.
Malfoy stood up from the sofa to face Harry. They were now standing on the opposite sides of the sofa. Harry had purposely kept a distance between himself and Malfoy and he was dying to know what Malfoy was thinking.
"Why did Ginny call off the wedding?" Malfoy asked. He slowly began to walk and was soon on the same side as Harry. Harry gulped, his heart beating a thousand times per second.
"I told her that I never wanted to get married, and that I was a fool to have kept leading her on," Harry answered.
"And what else?" Malfoy asked, shortening the distance between them. His right hand was mere centimetres away from Harry's left on the sofa. Harry felt a sort of heat being emitted from Malfoy's body. He was having difficulty breathing.
"She asked me if it was you," Harry said.
"If what was me?" Malfoy asked, he stepped one foot closer.
Harry gulped again. "If you were the reason I finally called off the wedding."
"Am I?" Malfoy tilted his head and looked at Harry. His hand was definitely touching Harry's now, their fingers intertwining slowly.
Harry closed his eyes and his breath hitched. Malfoy's touch was gentle and Harry stepped forward and closed the entire distance between them. "I called off the wedding because I never fully committed to her, because, I felt this then, that I know now..."
"Know what?" Malfoy asked, his words were breathing over Harry's lips.
"I'm gay...and you helped me realise that. I wanted to marry Ginny because I felt I could hide that about myself and you made it emerge in a way that I could never hide it."
"And that's it?" Malfoy asked, his tone a bit disappointed. Harry opened his eyes to look at Malfoy and stared right into his deep grey eyes.
"Merlin, you're beautiful," Harry mumbled.
"Well that's always good to hear," Malfoy answered. Harry rolled his eyes. "Are you going to kiss me, or are you going to continue staring into my eyes?" Malfoy asked.
Harry grinned and Malfoy leaned in but their lips still hadn’t touched. Harry pushed up to meet Malfoy’s lips and they finally kissed.
"You realise this is the first time we both kissed sober?" Harry asked and Malfoy groaned.
"Enough with the mechanics, Potter," Malfoy growled. "Now fucking kiss me."
Harry grinned and happily pulled Malfoy towards him and their lips were soon joined again. Harry was happily kissing Malfoy but he was too worried that Malfoy would change his mind. Harry had never been more scared of a heartache. It wasn’t until that moment had he realised that he’d longed so desperately for Malfoy.
Harry grabbed the back of Malfoy’s neck and gently massaged it as his fingers eventually trailed up and pulled on Malfoy’s hair. Harry pushed, then sucked, and then licked Malfoy’s bottom lip with his tongue. Malfoy moaned into Harry’s mouth. Harry pushed his tongue into Malfoy’s mouth, and their tongues tussled for a while as Malfoy pushed Harry against the sofa grinding his erection into Harry.
Harry moaned this time and his hands straggled down to Malfoy’s trousers and began to unbuckle his belt. He didn’t know if it was the right thing to do, but he just wanted to feel everything. Touch Malfoy everywhere.
Malfoy broke the kiss and whispered against Harry’s lips. "Are you sure?"
"I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life than this moment," Harry managed to respond. Malfoy nodded and pressed their lips together again and unbuckled Harry’s belt simultaneously.
It didn’t take long before both of them had their erections pressed together, stroking each other gently and moaning into the other’s mouth.
"Harry…" Malfoy moaned. "The amount of times I wanked off fantasising about you doesn’t even compare to this moment," he confessed, and Harry began thrusting into Malfoy’s hand rapidly while he got Malfoy off.
Malfoy continued whispering hot things in Harry’s ear until they both came pushed up against the sofa, Harry half sitting on the edge.
"Fuck, Draco," Harry uttered before Malfoy claimed his lips again.
The sound of thunder roared outside and the window in Harry’s kitchen crashed open.
"Looks like we’re having bad weather again," Harry said, an eyebrow raised, questioning Malfoy’s intentions.
"Indeed. I might have to cancel all my Flying lessons for the rest of the week," Malfoy answered.
"You’re welcome to stay here again, if you’d like," Harry said, slightly nervous that Malfoy might reject him.
"I’d like that very much, actually."
Malfoy kissed Harry and Harry, quick on his feet, grabbed his wand and closed the Floo Network. Eventually, he dragged Malfoy to his bedroom and locked the door behind them.
The storm inside Harry had just begun to rile up.
The End
Author/Artist: digthewriter
Prompt: My own prompt, but heavily similar to S25 so we’ll say it’s a collaboration.
Prompt submitted by: Marianna_merlo and “mystery author”
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, Harry/Ginny
Word Count/Art Medium: ~15,150
Rating: R
Warning(s): Nothing extreme I can think of, maybe, severely InDenial!Harry
Disclaimer:Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Basically I wrote the story on my own prompt, then checked and saw a similar prompt so acknowledging it. Thanks a million to FantasyFiend09 for the quick beta and re-read. NathalieWeasley for the encouragement and the awesome title and Saras_Girl for being so gracious and allowing me to borrow Emilie and the Aldersons from " All Life is Yours to Miss."
Summary: Harry has commitment issues when it comes to finalising a wedding date with Ginny, and then Draco Malfoy storms into his life--not so literally--yet so literally.
/*\
By Monday morning, the news of the fact that Harry didn’t end up tying the knot with Ginny spread everywhere like wildfire. The Prophet called it a "curse," claiming that someone had cursed Harry by enchanting the weather to make it impossible for him to get married.
"Who would curse the weather?" Ron asked scoffing.
Harry could think of one person. The one person he’d been avoiding, the one person he needed to apologise to. Harry sent an owl to Malfoy asking him to dinner at the Wizard’s Quest. Malfoy agreed.
They sat at their usual table and the waiter brought over two tumblers of Firewhisky and two pints of beer. It was their usual order. They didn’t even bother looking at the menu because the waiter was going to bring the same appetizer Harry always ordered. But Malfoy stopped the waiter before he had a chance to leave the table.
"I think I’ll try the crab cakes today," he said and the waiter nodded and walked away. Malfoy looked at Harry and spoke. "Change can be good, don’t you think?"
"Why the change in order today?" Harry asked.
"If you order the same thing over and over again, you get too used to it. You might not even realise that something better is there. I don’t want to be someone who simply just settles."
Harry nodded. He knew what Malfoy was saying, but Harry was going to choose to ignore it. "How were the rest of the lessons for the week?" he asked instead.
"They were fine. Emilie was quite excited about your news in the Prophet. She thinks she still has a chance." Malfoy finished the shot of his Firewhisky and rubbed his lip with his thumb. Harry tried not to stare.
"What do you think?" Harry asked.
"I’m sorry to hear about Mrs Weasley. I read that she had to spend two nights in the hospital," Malfoy said. "I sent flowers."
"I know, I was surprised to see them," Harry replied. "I didn’t know you cared."
"I’m not that heartless, Potter," Malfoy retorted. "I felt bad that, due to the extreme weather conditions, your future mother-in-law may have suffered a stroke."
"Why? You didn’t have anything to do with it."
Malfoy didn’t answer. He took a sip of his beer and looked in the direction of the waiter as though he were all of a sudden too eager to try the crab cakes.
"Anyway, I wanted to apologise," Harry said. "About what happened-that night. I was out of line and I hope that you can-"
"I can what?" Malfoy asked.
"That you can forgive me and I hope that this won’t affect our business relationship," Harry answered. He gulped silently. All of a sudden he was nervous again. Malfoy was looking at him as though he was trying to read Harry’s expression or trying to imagine him naked or something.
"It’s fine," Malfoy answered coolly. "It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to experiment with me mere nights before their wedding."
A pang of jealousy went through Harry.
"I wasn’t trying to experiment-"
"It’s fine, Potter. Really." Malfoy’s voice was detached. "Does this mean there’s no honeymoon, and you can come back to work?" he asked and Harry nodded. "Have you picked another date?"
"Date for what?" Harry was confused.
"For the wedding, pillock," Malfoy retorted.
"Oh yeah, in a few months, after Christmas. There’s less chance of a weather catastrophe it seems, and I guess Hermione is going to need some time to do some research on handling weather-related emergencies. The Cooling Charms, even the Freezing Charms, didn’t work in the heat last week. It was the most bizarre weather, don’t you think?" Harry asked. He realised he might have been rambling and Malfoy was simply staring at him.
"Oh, I wouldn’t know. I was at the Manor, reading."
"What about your lessons?" Harry asked.
"They were cancelled because the students were invited to your wedding," Malfoy answered. He always had this habit of making Harry feeling like an idiot, and it always worked. No matter how hard Harry tried to not show that it worked.
The food arrived and Harry dropped the subject of his wedding and the weather. He figured business-talk would be the best sort of conversation to have anyway. No stress there.
"It seems that we’ve already become famous with the students at Hogwarts," Malfoy said in midst of the meal.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"I’ve been receiving owls from Hogwarts students asking if we can schedule them in for lessons during the Winter break. Most of them are second and third years who need a few pointers. Their parents have offered to pay double. I call it ‘the holiday rate’." Malfoy grinned.
"Yeah, show me the schedule, it should work," Harry replied. Malfoy in-turn handed Harry a parchment with names of students and dates he’d pencilled in.
"It also has the rates we’re charging, depending on their family wealth. I’ve pencilled in a few freebies so you can sleep better at night," Malfoy said rolling his eyes.
"This is a full schedule." Harry looked over the table. "You’re not going to take any time off except for Christmas Eve and Day?" Harry had a hundred questions in his mind. "And wouldn’t it be too cold at that time? Where are we going to practise?"
"The field behind Malfoy Manor-the garden-where my mother used to work," Malfoy said and Harry nodded as if he was supposed to know. "It’s spelled with an Atmospheric Charm, so it wouldn’t be a problem. I’ve informed the parents already by writing, and we are going to have some slots opening because most of our usual students are going on holiday with their parents. They won’t be back until well after the New Year."
Harry was stunned silent.
"Additionally, you might have a huge family and all the presents Galleons can buy, but the Orphanage is still looking for volunteers and I…" Malfoy paused, "...for the sake of the company, am donating brooms and lessons as a Christmas present."
"Is that going to help you sleep better at night?" Harry teased. Malfoy threw a piece of his crab cake at him. It didn’t take long until they returned to their light-hearted routine. Harry was at ease again. The thought of Malfoy being cross with him made him edgy.
/*\
A few weeks passed, and everything seemed to be routine again. Harry’s business dinners with Malfoy were back on track and Ginny and Hermione were back to planning for an early January wedding.
"Hermione told me last time that you didn’t seem too interested in incorporating Muggle traditions in the wedding, Harry," Ginny said to Harry over brunch. They sat at Ginny’s favourite café on Saturday morning since Harry had cancelled on her late on Friday night claiming that he was too tired after dinner with Malfoy.
Harry didn’t bother hiding his annoyance with Hermione. "She did? I didn’t think she’d tell you," he said.
"I don’t mind. If you want to simply do wizarding traditions, that’ll be okay with everyone," Ginny replied and Harry shrugged. "Harry, I just want you to have an opinion. About something."
"I don’t know, Ginny," Harry said, "I just want to make you happy."
"Okay then, let’s go to the Ministry tomorrow and register to get married in front of the marriage official. It’s just a piece of parchment right?" Ginny laughed.
"Your mum-" Harry panicked.
"I know, she’ll kill us." Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Are you really sure you want to get married? We can wait-or call it off."
"Call it off?" Harry exclaimed. "Ginny, you’ve been wanting to get married on the same Ceremonial Grounds as your parents for ages. We can’t call off the ceremony!"
"I know, it just seems that it’s not really the thing for us, you know? It was my parent’s wish but Bill and Fleur got married without a hitch and we just seem to have bad luck-" Ginny sighed. "Not just with our wedding, our whole relationship, sometimes I think-"
"What do you think?" Harry asked.
"I don’t know. Hermione thinks I’m crazy," Ginny answered and took a sip of her breakfast cocktail. "She also thinks that we-" Ginny stopped talking.
"We-"
"Potter, Weasley, fancy seeing you here." A voice too familiar startled Harry. He knew that the person behind him was the reason he was late to brunch that morning.
"Malfoy, nice to see you again," Ginny said pleasantly.
"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.
"You’re not the only one that eats brunch, Potter," Malfoy replied. "Relax," he added. "When I got home last night, I received an owl from a friend who wanted to meet today. I remembered how you had once said that this was Ginny’s favourite place for breakfast so I offered to bring him here."
"Him?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, him." Malfoy smiled at Ginny, then looked at Harry before speaking again. "Sorry, didn’t mean to barge into what looks like a private conversation."
Harry and Ginny watched Malfoy walk away and meet up with a bloke Harry had never seen before. They hugged and the man placed a kiss on Malfoy’s cheek. Harry turned to look at Ginny who was watching him with the most peculiar look. "What?" he asked.
"Is something the matter?" Ginny asked.
"No, of course not. It’s just-I told him I was probably going to come here with you today and he just-shows up!"
"It’s a restaurant, Harry. Lots of people go to restaurants based on their friends’ recommendations. Why are you getting so worked up about this?"
"I’m not!" Harry threw his arms up in the air with frustration and knocked over a glass of water. "Sorry!" he said and tried to be calm again. Ginny only laughed at him. He wondered what she thought of him, being so incredibly senseless.
/*\
When Harry met Malfoy again for their Wednesday night business meeting, he asked Malfoy about his brunch date.
"Oh, he’s some bloke I met at a pub a very long time ago. We provide a kind of friendship-"
"A kind of friendship that requires you to have breakfast at the same restaurant as me?" Harry asked interrupting him.
"Wizards need to eat, you know," Malfoy teased. "I don’t just teach and share meals with you, Potter. I have a life. I shag blokes in my free time. As I’m sure you shag your fiancé whenever you get a chance."
Harry felt uncomfortable by Malfoy’s statement. "What I do in my own time is none of your business!" Harry retorted.
"Yeah and who I do, before or after breakfast, is none of yours," Malfoy said calmly. "Besides, he was the reason I had no idea how the weather was on your wedding day. I was too busy having hot sex with him. It was so hot; I feared the sofa was going to catch on fire!"
Harry swallowed inaudibly. He wasn’t sure what Malfoy’s words were doing to him. He felt jealous and at the same time, the thought of Malfoy having hot sex made his cock twitch. Harry decided that being around Malfoy only confused him so he was going to do what he knew best, keep things strictly professional. He was also going to cancel on the business dinner meetings. He owled Malfoy the next day saying that he was so busy that the only time they should meet up was if it were an emergency.
Malfoy didn’t reply to Harry’s owls. Harry didn’t know what to make of his non-communicative behaviour, but instead of questioning it, he stuck to his routine.
Harry followed the schedule Malfoy had placed for him and saw the students assigned to him. Friday night came and went and Harry didn’t go to Le Chateau. On Wednesday night, he made plans with Ron and went to the Leaky Cauldron for drinks. Weeks passed and everything was becoming a procedural-a different kind of a routine. Harry would receive correspondence about the business via owl from Malfoy but never anything about business dinners or their friendship. He wondered if Malfoy even missed him or if Harry had just freed up more time for him to have hot sex with blokes he met at pubs.
Christmas had come and gone, and Harry sent an owl to Malfoy wishing him a "Happy Christmas" with a small gift. He didn’t receive a reply.
"Is everything alright?" Ginny asked Harry while he was over the Burrow on a Friday night. It was a week before their scheduled wedding.
"Yeah, why?" Harry asked.
"Ever since you stopped your business dinners with Malfoy, you seem more…edgy. Irritable."
"I do?" Harry asked, surprised. He thought he was being normal.
"Yeah, did you two have a tiff?" she asked and Harry shook his head. "Must be the nerves then, about getting married and all?"
"No, no nerves," Harry reassured her.
"Is he going to come to the wedding?" she asked.
"Who? Malfoy?" Harry was surprised. "He didn’t come the last time because he was too busy having hot sex!"
Ginny laughed. "At least someone was," she commented. Molly came into the room with tea and their conversation was put on hold for the moment.
Later that night, when Harry left the Burrow, he decided to take a walk before Apparating to his flat. He thought about Ginny’s passing comment about having "hot sex" along with how a few weeks ago Malfoy had made a comment about Harry shagging in his free time. Why was everyone around him so obsessed with sex? Putting the thoughts out of his mind, Harry arrived at his flat, only to find a pissed Malfoy sitting on his sofa.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked. Malfoy scoffed and raised the glass of the expensive Firewhisky he was drinking. "You came here for supplies? That’s not why I’ve lowered the wards for you."
"Well, clearly, you haven’t lowered them for any other reason," Malfoy answered.
"I don’t understand," Harry said
"Yeah, you never do." Malfoy stood up to fetch himself another drink.
"Why are you here, Malfoy?" He walked up to Malfoy by the liquor cabinet and grabbed his hand before he could reach for the bottle of Firewhisky.
"I miss you," Malfoy whispered. Harry’s stomach dropped. "I go to Le Chateau every Friday, and you just-I thought we were friends."
"We were, we are," Harry said.
"Then-"
Harry looked into Malfoy’s eyes and they were so gentle, so open. Malfoy caught him by surprise and leaned in to kiss him. Harry didn’t push Malfoy away. He pulled him in. Malfoy tasted like Pansette de Gerzat and Firewhisky.
Harry pulled Malfoy onto the sofa and before he knew it, Malfoy was on top of him, Harry's shirt was on the floor and his glasses were beginning to fog up.
"Wait," Malfoy said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here."
"Why did you?" Harry asked. His hands were grabbing onto Malfoy's hips. They'd stopped kissing but they hadn’t stopped touching. Malfoy was still on top of Harry, and Harry was very aware of where his erection was pushing up against Malfoy thigh.
"I missed you; I wanted my friend back...I didn't mean to-"
"You kissed me."
"Yeah, and you kissed me back."
"We're back to the same situation from two months ago."
Malfoy chuckled. "Funny how we keep finding each other back in the same spot."
"You always kiss me first," Harry said. He lightly squeezed Malfoy's hips and Malfoy immediately stood up.
"I won't again," he said. "I still don't think you should marry her, but I won't kiss you again. I'm sorry." Malfoy knelt down and handed Harry his shirt. He fixed his clothes and walked up to the fire place. "I'm too drunk to Apparate home, so I'll just take the Floo."
Harry nodded; he didn't know what to say.
"See you, Potter," Malfoy said right before he vanished leaving Harry confused and hard.
/*\
The Weasleys didn't bother throwing Harry a stag party again. Mrs Weasley feared that it would be bad luck, given how horribly things had turned out the last time. This time, everyone was prepared for any strange weather disasters. Hermione had taken all necessary precautions for a heat wave, a snow storm, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions-even though there were no volcanoes anywhere near there.
"We can't be too careful," Hermione said when Ron joked about it.
Unfortunately, no one accounted for tornadoes.
A heat wave in November was odd; a blizzard in January was expected, but a tornado? No, no one saw that coming.
Everyone was gathered under the tent, Heating Charms were pleasantly placed all over, and Ginny looked beautiful in her off-white beaded sleeveless gown with a faux fur wrap. Hermione wouldn't have allowed her to wear real fur.
At first, they heard a crash.
"It's nothing, I'm sure," Harry said. They turned to look at the officiator when there was another crash. Harry looked at Ron who nodded at them and went outside the tent.
"I don't believe it," Ron shouted. "Everybody, Disapparate now! There's a storm coming!" Ron came running into the tent and grabbed Hermione. "A tornado...it's headed this way. The wind is blowing like crazy! We have to get out now!"
Hermione ran to grab Ginny and Harry and they all Disapparated to the Burrow. Everything seemed normal at the Weasley household; the tornado must not have hit that part of the country. Only the immediate family and some guests arrive at the Burrow. Arthur Weasley reckoned that the others must have simply gone home.
"Again! I can’t believe…this has just happened…again! Ginny all but shrieked. "The powers that be, really don't want us to get married!"
"Where's the officiator?" Harry asked.
"She's not here, she must have gone home," Ron said.
"I don't have any trouble getting married at the Ministry anymore, Ginny," Harry said, huffing.
Ginny laughed and wrapped her arms around Harry. "But mum-"
"I don't think your mum wants any more trouble than we do," Harry said.
"You should give it one more try," George commented. He seemed to be the only one who looked like he was having any fun. "Come on, third time's the charm."
Ginny looked at Harry expectantly. "It's your decision, Ginny. It's your day," he said. She hugged him tightly and thanked him with kisses. Harry stiffened up. They’d never been this affectionate in front of her family before. He felt embarrassed. She must have felt his reluctance and pulled back. Her grin didn’t fade.
"Are you really sure?" Hermione interjected. "George is taking bets on what kind of weather you’ll have next time. That’s why he’s pushing you to do this."
Ginny laughed. "I wouldn’t put that past him. But, if Harry is okay with it, then let’s wait it out."
"I think you are utterly ridiculous," Hermione commented.
"I think it’s romantic," Ron said pulling Hermione in for a kiss. "What if it was us? Wouldn’t you want to test it against fate?" She nodded reluctantly but eventually gave in.
Harry reckoned they had everyone’s blessing for a third try, so they settled on the first Saturday in June. Harry wondered if he and Malfoy would kiss again or if Malfoy would ever try to tell Harry to call off the wedding again.
"What are you thinking about?" Ginny asked as she sat next to Harry on the sofa in the Burrow handing him a cup of hot chocolate.
"Oh, nothing. Just-I keep changing my work schedule and I suppose I’ll be heading back to the lessons tomorrow. Reschedule the time table with Malfoy," Harry lied. I need to stop, he told himself. He needed to let go of his infatuation with Malfoy. Asking Malfoy to help with the business was probably the worst decision he’d ever made. Malfoy would argue that proposing to Ginny when he wasn’t ready was the worst decision he’d made.
Harry sighed. He could even hear Malfoy’s opinions in Malfoy’s tone in his head.
The next day Ginny left and wouldn’t be back for a few weeks to start the planning for the wedding all over again. Harry was back to the teaching. He was determined to be involved in the wedding planning this time. Maybe that would help keep the unnecessary and the unwelcome out of his mind. Tossing and turning in his bed that night, Harry decided to send an owl to Malfoy asking for all the new students to be assigned to him. He needed to distract himself.
/*\
"So the wedding’s still not called off?" Malfoy asked when Harry met up with him on Friday night at Le Chateau. Harry scowled at him. "I’m just asking, Potter."
"No, we’re going to give it another try," Harry said. "If that doesn’t work, because of the weather, then we’ll be simply having the ceremony in front of a Ministry appointed Officiator."
"When is it scheduled for?" Malfoy asked.
"The sixth of June," Harry answered.
"Why so far away?" Malfoy asked and Harry frowned again.
"Why are you so interested?" he retorted. "If you must know it’s because we have to schedule time off for Ginny from her Quidditch games and that was the next time she would get a set of days off."
"Wow," Malfoy mumbled as he took a sip of his wine and handed a small book to Harry. "These are all the numbers, profits, charity donations, and salary information for the past six months." Harry took the documents from Malfoy’s hand. Malfoy continued talking ‘business’ and Harry never got a chance to ask him about what he meant by the ‘wow’.
"Oh, before I forget," Malfoy added. "We also received a letter from a parent named Troy Smith, he’s American. He’s just took a job in the British Ministry as a Liaison Officer and his son is going to be going to Hogwarts next year. He said that Quidditch rules in America are different than Europe, so he wanted to enrol his son with us starting in March, when they move here."
"Alright," Harry said.
"So we both have to meet him when he’s here in March," Malfoy said.
"Okay, in March, it’s January." Harry didn’t understand.
"I know, just telling you to mark your Calendar."
"You’re the one that handles my calendar anyway, Malfoy," Harry replied. "Just tell me when and where to show up."
"Is that what you say to your fiancé too?" Malfoy asked. Harry was about to retort but thankfully the waiter had interrupted their conversation. He wouldn’t have known what to say.
Days turned into weeks and Harry’s time was spent between flying lessons and wedding planning with Hermione. Ginny would pop in and out some weekends and Harry gave her his input on the colours of the season and the table decorations.
Before he knew it, it was the 17th of March and he and Malfoy headed to Cheshire to meet the Smiths.
Jacob Smith, ten years old, had dark hair and dark skin that was a toss between smooth caramel and milk chocolate. He was well presented with freshly pressed trousers and a V-neck sweater. His father, Troy Smith, was a sight for sore eyes, Harry thought. The tall dark-skinned man looked as though he’d just walked off a Muggle magazine that Harry had seen lying around in Hermione’s flat.
"Wow, that’s-that’s our client?" Malfoy uttered to Harry as they waited outside the Smith house for the father and son walked down the long corridor in the garden to greet them.
"Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy, Troy Smith, it’s a pleasure," the man said and he gestured for his son to shake their hands.
"It’s no problem," Malfoy said. Harry wasn’t too sure but he seemed a bit smitten.
They followed Troy and Jacob to the house and Harry was sure he saw Malfoy check out the man’s arse. He winked at Harry as they walked and Harry simply shook his head.
The afternoon was mostly spent in business-talk and contract signing. Harry and Malfoy also learned a lot about Troy and his family. Troy was a single father, gay, who had lost his partner four years ago. Jacob’s mother was Troy’s "high school sweetheart" who left him with the baby as soon as Troy had come out of the closet.
Harry thought it was an interesting little tale, but Malfoy’s interest in the man severely annoyed Harry.
"I think you were being unprofessional," Harry said, after they had left the Smith household and Apparated back to the Malfoy Manor.
"Unprofessional?" Malfoy asked. "The man was talking about his late partner, what was I supposed to say? ‘Sorry we are not here to listen to your personal woes’? The man’s paid us for two months in advance!"
Harry groaned but didn’t argue back. "Whatever, I’ll see you Friday," he said before Disapparating home.
A couple more months passed and Harry and Malfoy had their hands full with twenty students that they both taught on a weekly basis along with the weekend lessons at the Orphanage.
Summer quickly arrived.
It was the day of Emilie’s birthday party. Harry couldn’t believe it had already been a year since his life had changed and the Alderson’s had offered him something that had shaped his career.
Ginny was stuck at Quidditch practice and couldn’t make it to the party this year. Harry went alone with Malfoy, although Malfoy said that he needed to shop for a present for Emilie so he would meet Harry there. Harry agreed.
When Harry arrived at the party, Emilie ran towards him and gave him a hug. Harry was surprised to see that Malfoy was already there. "What did you end up getting her?" he asked Malfoy.
"I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise," Malfoy answered. "And you?"
"I insisted to her parents to allow me to buy her a ‘big girl’s’ broom," Harry answered and Malfoy nodded impressed. Harry was curious to know what Malfoy got her. "Do you want to come with us when we test out the new broom?" he asked and Malfoy agreed.
As the party continued, Harry asked Emilie what she had asked Malfoy for.
"I told him that I hate that it’s always so hot on my birthday. So he told me he’d do something about it," she answered innocently.
"What could he do about it?" Harry asked and the little girl simply shrugged.
An hour later, Harry was out in the field with Malfoy and Emilie. Malfoy looked at her and smirked, and she immediately giggled. Harry was thoroughly confused.
"I think we should get a head start before everyone catches on to the phenomena?" Malfoy asked and Emilie nodded frantically. Harry looked at the both of them and both Malfoy and Emilie were hanging midway in the air and staring at the sky. Emilie’s eyes widened and Harry looked up.
"Is that-is that-snow?" Harry asked.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about, Potter," Malfoy answered in a witty tone. He turned to Emilie next and spoke. "Ready? We won’t have a whole lot of time before the opportunity melts away."
Emilie and Malfoy leaned back and pointed their broom upwards. A few moments later, they were off! Harry rushed behind them. Emilie was laughing wildly. She reached out her hand trying to catch a flake and almost toppled over. Both Malfoy and Harry screamed for her to hold on. Five more minutes and it was beginning to become chilly.
"Alright Ms Alderson, I think we are done with the fun," Malfoy said. Emilie pouted but when they looked down a small crowd had gathered by the house. "Okay, ready?" Malfoy asked and Emilie finally nodded. Malfoy looked over at Harry as though he wanted to make sure he was part of the little game. Harry nodded as well. Malfoy raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. The snow stopped. They all descended down together, and before they reached the crowd Malfoy whispered, "Now remember…"
"I know, we have no idea what happened." Emilie smiled then squealed with excitement. "This is the best birthday ever!"
"I’d hope so," Malfoy said, "you share it with me!"
Emilie gasped. "It’s your birthday today too?" Malfoy smiled and nodded. As soon as she landed, Emilie hopped off the broom and ran to her parents. A few minutes later, what had been Emilie’s party turned into Emilie and Instructor Malfoy’s birthday celebration. The random singularity of a hint of snow was soon forgotten by the guests but Harry would never forget it.
He was sure Emilie wouldn’t either.
"You can control the weather?" Harry asked Malfoy when the party was beginning to wind down and most guests had left.
Malfoy hesitantly nodded. "It’s not something I talk about, not in public anyway," he answered. "It’s why I travelled so much, Asia, the Caribbean, etc. I read about ancient wizards that were able to grasp control of their ability of controlling the weather through reflection and meditation."
"And the two times you ruined my wedding..."
"I was an idiot," Malfoy answered. "I’m sorry, Potter. I was being a selfish prat who wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was jealous the first time, hence the heat, again, apologies for causing your future mother-in-law a stroke. And the second time, I was just…hurt. You’d rejected me again. I’d tried to change your mind so many times and despite everything you’ve stood your ground-so naturally, a tornado to turn your life upside down. I know I’m a horrible person for ruining your and Ginny’s special day. You love her, and you’ll make her happy. I know that now. Trust me, I’ll behave tomorrow."
Harry stared at Malfoy with shock.
"I promise," Malfoy added.
"I-um-Malfoy-" Harry didn’t know what to say but felt as though he had to say something.
"I’m coming by the way, to the wedding I mean, even got myself a date and everything," Malfoy said.
"Oh, yeah?" Harry asked, that was all he could do.
"Yeah, remember Troy?"
"The American?" Harry exclaimed.
"Yeah, we’ve been seeing each other, a few times for dinner. So I asked him, since he was going to attend anyway, we’ll be coming together."
"Great," Harry answered. His heart sank. All of a sudden he couldn’t feel the ground and needed to sit down.
"Are you alright, Potter?"
"Mr Potter, is everything alright?" Mrs Alderson asked rushing to Harry’s side.
"Yeah, just feeling a bit light-headed. I just need to sit down," Harry answered.
"It’s probably the snow. We’ve been having such strange weather lately, I don’t know what Merlin is thinking," Mrs Alderson replied.
Harry caught a look that Malfoy and Emilie shared. He suddenly felt jealous. Malfoy had such a great bond with everyone and now he was going to date one of the parents. Harry wished that he’d made a rule of no dating any parents when he’d signed Malfoy on, but it seemed too late now.
Why did he care, anyway?
Before he left, Harry congratulated Malfoy. "What for?" Malfoy asked, surprised.
"You’ve finally stolen Emilie’s heart. I think she’s definitely smitten with you now, instead of me." Malfoy laughed at Harry’s comment. She’s not the only one, Harry thought unable to shake the thought of Troy and Malfoy from his mind.
/*\
Harry woke up the next morning and opened the windows of his flat. The morning was crisp, not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining beautifully. It wasn’t hot, nor was it unusually cold. The weather seemed flawless.
"Perfect day for a wedding, yeah?" Ron asked walking into Harry's room.
"Yeah, let's hope so," Harry said. He immediately thought of Malfoy and wondered if the perfect weather had anything to do with him. Was he repaying Harry with an apology and the perfect weather, or was he happy himself that now he had a real boyfriend and didn't obsess over Harry?
The thoughts of Malfoy and Troy haunted Harry all morning until it was time to arrive to the Ceremonial Grounds again. Harry entered the tent and was happily informed by Hermione that everything was perfect. They didn't even have to use any temperature controlling charms because the weather was just so amazing.
Harry smiled at her and took in the view of the room, the room he'd helped Ginny design for the wedding from the curtains, to the candles, to the flower settings. Everything in the room spoke of how Harry and Ginny were together. Everything was complete. Then what was wrong?
"Hermione, I have to talk to Ginny," Harry said. He didn't know why, but he did and it had to happen now.
"Harry, you can't see the bride before the ceremony. Especially not now, when everything is going so great!" Hermione argued.
"I don't care, Hermione, I need to talk to Ginny. Right now."
Hermione was hesitant but she finally nodded. "Okay, come with me," she said and led Harry away from the main tent and to a small tent that was being guarded by George and Charlie.
"What's going on?" Charlie asked.
"Wait here," Hermione said and went into the tent. A few moments later she returned and placed a blindfold on Harry and led him to, what he thought, the inside of the tent.
"Ginny?" Harry wondered.
"Harry, what's the matter?" He heard Ginny's voice approaching him and soon they were holding hands.
"Ginny..." Harry paused. "I can't talk to you like this, Ginny. Can I please take the blindfold off?"
"Of course," Ginny said. "I don't know why Hermione insists on these silly traditions."
Ginny helped Harry untie the knot. Harry put on his glasses and took in the room and Ginny. The Bride's changing room was twice the size of the ceremonial tent. He looked at Ginny who wore a different dress than the last time they had tried to get married. Ginny's new wedding dress was sleeveless and had fabric wrapped around her neck that made it look like a necklace.
"Ginny, you look...beautiful." Harry let out a sigh. "Breath-taking, really," he said.
Harry saw Ginny blush and her gaze fell. "Thanks, Harry," she said shyly.
Everything about that moment made Harry hate himself.
"What's the matter, Harry?" she asked, concern all over her face.
"Ginny...I don't think...I mean...I don't want to get married. I don't want to marry...you." Harry didn't know what to do, how to act. He bit his lip and his eyes searched Ginny's face for a reaction. For the first time in years, Harry had managed to tell Ginny how he really felt and he was frightened beyond all reason.
SMACK!
Harry's left cheeked burned.
"Of all the fucking times I asked you, NOW? You tell me this...NOW?"
"I know I should have-"
"Stop talking, or I'll hit you again," Ginny roared. Harry immediately shut up. "This dress cost me two months of my salary!"
"I'm sorry, I'll pay you back, and all the costs-"
"Yeah, you will," she said. Harry noticed her voice didn't have as much disdain as her first statement and she in general wasn't as upset as he'd imagined her to be.
Ginny sighed and paced up and down the room. She eventually sat on a chair and held her head in her hands.
"Ginny, I-"
"How long have you felt this way?" she asked, interrupting him.
"I don't know...maybe always," he answered honestly. "I knew I was having trouble committing, I just didn't know why."
"And now you do?" Ginny asked and he nodded. "How long..." she paused to take in a breath. "When did you realise you were in love with Malfoy?"
Harry felt his stomach turn and his cheeks getting hotter. It was as though Ginny had smacked him all over again.
"It is him, isn't it?" she asked.
"How-"
"We stopped having sex when he became your business partner. You didn't even pick up on the clues when I'd hinted-" She looked at him as though she was expecting an answer. He had no idea what to say. "When the two of you had a tiff or something, around Christmas time, you'd started coming by again and we'd resumed-" Harry was mortified. "But, even then, I knew something was off, you weren't in the room, you weren't with me. You hadn't even noticed when I'd stopped trying to have sex with you."
"Ginny-"
"At first I thought you might be sleeping with him, but then I realised, I thought, I'd hoped, I should say…that you weren't."
"Ginny, I never cheated-" Harry stopped himself. "We kissed, twice," he confessed.
"When?"
"Right before the wedding, in November, the first time. Then the night before the wedding in January..."
"And you continued to agree to try to get married again, even though you'd kissed another man. What did you think-that I'd help you keep the gay away?" Ginny laughed. It was odd, Harry thought. In the midst of a breakup, Ginny had just started laughing hysterically.
"Ginny, you're a beautiful woman and I-"
"And I couldn't keep you straight," she said, amusingly. "I'd been waiting for this," she added a few moments of silence later. Her laugh had dithered away. "I really had been waiting to break it off. I was an idiot, I suppose, I should have called it off when I knew it wasn't working. But, I see how happy Hermione and Ron are and I just hoped...I don't know."
"I know, me too," Harry said. He knelt down to her and held her hand. "I really wish, Ginny. But, today, everything is perfect and I can't go through with it. It wouldn't be fair to you, to me..."
It wasn't long after that Harry Disapparated. Ginny told him to "just leave," and that she could handle it. She didn't want him to stick around as she announced to the entire family that they had finally called it off.
George would win the betting pot. At least Harry wouldn't have to worry about George trying to murder him; he wasn't too sure about the rest of the brothers.
Later that night, Harry was resting on his sofa with a half empty bottle of Firewhisky when Malfoy contacted him via the Floo Network.
"Potter, are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Harry called out as he stumbled to the fireplace from his sofa. He was more drunk than he realised. "What do you want, Malfoy?"
"I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing," Malfoy said. "I arrived at the venue today and was informed that you'd called off the wedding."
"Oh, and it took you six hours to contact me? Had a hot date with Troy?" Harry sneered.
"Um...yes and no. We went out to lunch with Jacob and then I gave him a free flying lesson-" Malfoy sounded annoyed. "Do you want me to come by? This might just be a lot easier face to face, and I can tell you everything that is none of your business."
"I just want to be alone," Harry said.
"Don't lie to me," Malfoy snapped.
Harry grudgingly sighed. "Fine, can I come by your place in a while? I need to-"
"Sober up?" Malfoy asked interrupting Harry.
"Whatever, Malfoy. I'll see you in an hour." Harry ended the call and headed to shower. He didn't know what he'd say to Malfoy.
When Harry came out of the shower, he found Malfoy waiting on the sofa. Harry was in a towel. "Malfoy?" Harry nearly shrieked.
"Now that's a sight for sore eyes," Malfoy teased.
Harry rolled his eyes and went into his bedroom. He quickly changed into a t-shirt and jeans and returned to the sitting room. "What are you doing here?"
"I came by to check on you," Malfoy answered.
"Why? I told you I'd be-"
"Stopping by, I know, I couldn't wait."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't wait for what?"
"You know what, Potter!"
"I'm not sure your new boyfriend would approve," Harry said.
"That's funny, I don't remember getting a new boyfriend," Malfoy remarked. Harry scowled at Malfoy who only smirked triumphantly. "I told Troy that we'd best keep things professional and it probably wouldn't be a good idea to date a parent."
"Oh," Harry said. He was jumping with joy inside and did his best to not smile winningly.
Malfoy stood up from the sofa to face Harry. They were now standing on the opposite sides of the sofa. Harry had purposely kept a distance between himself and Malfoy and he was dying to know what Malfoy was thinking.
"Why did Ginny call off the wedding?" Malfoy asked. He slowly began to walk and was soon on the same side as Harry. Harry gulped, his heart beating a thousand times per second.
"I told her that I never wanted to get married, and that I was a fool to have kept leading her on," Harry answered.
"And what else?" Malfoy asked, shortening the distance between them. His right hand was mere centimetres away from Harry's left on the sofa. Harry felt a sort of heat being emitted from Malfoy's body. He was having difficulty breathing.
"She asked me if it was you," Harry said.
"If what was me?" Malfoy asked, he stepped one foot closer.
Harry gulped again. "If you were the reason I finally called off the wedding."
"Am I?" Malfoy tilted his head and looked at Harry. His hand was definitely touching Harry's now, their fingers intertwining slowly.
Harry closed his eyes and his breath hitched. Malfoy's touch was gentle and Harry stepped forward and closed the entire distance between them. "I called off the wedding because I never fully committed to her, because, I felt this then, that I know now..."
"Know what?" Malfoy asked, his words were breathing over Harry's lips.
"I'm gay...and you helped me realise that. I wanted to marry Ginny because I felt I could hide that about myself and you made it emerge in a way that I could never hide it."
"And that's it?" Malfoy asked, his tone a bit disappointed. Harry opened his eyes to look at Malfoy and stared right into his deep grey eyes.
"Merlin, you're beautiful," Harry mumbled.
"Well that's always good to hear," Malfoy answered. Harry rolled his eyes. "Are you going to kiss me, or are you going to continue staring into my eyes?" Malfoy asked.
Harry grinned and Malfoy leaned in but their lips still hadn’t touched. Harry pushed up to meet Malfoy’s lips and they finally kissed.
"You realise this is the first time we both kissed sober?" Harry asked and Malfoy groaned.
"Enough with the mechanics, Potter," Malfoy growled. "Now fucking kiss me."
Harry grinned and happily pulled Malfoy towards him and their lips were soon joined again. Harry was happily kissing Malfoy but he was too worried that Malfoy would change his mind. Harry had never been more scared of a heartache. It wasn’t until that moment had he realised that he’d longed so desperately for Malfoy.
Harry grabbed the back of Malfoy’s neck and gently massaged it as his fingers eventually trailed up and pulled on Malfoy’s hair. Harry pushed, then sucked, and then licked Malfoy’s bottom lip with his tongue. Malfoy moaned into Harry’s mouth. Harry pushed his tongue into Malfoy’s mouth, and their tongues tussled for a while as Malfoy pushed Harry against the sofa grinding his erection into Harry.
Harry moaned this time and his hands straggled down to Malfoy’s trousers and began to unbuckle his belt. He didn’t know if it was the right thing to do, but he just wanted to feel everything. Touch Malfoy everywhere.
Malfoy broke the kiss and whispered against Harry’s lips. "Are you sure?"
"I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life than this moment," Harry managed to respond. Malfoy nodded and pressed their lips together again and unbuckled Harry’s belt simultaneously.
It didn’t take long before both of them had their erections pressed together, stroking each other gently and moaning into the other’s mouth.
"Harry…" Malfoy moaned. "The amount of times I wanked off fantasising about you doesn’t even compare to this moment," he confessed, and Harry began thrusting into Malfoy’s hand rapidly while he got Malfoy off.
Malfoy continued whispering hot things in Harry’s ear until they both came pushed up against the sofa, Harry half sitting on the edge.
"Fuck, Draco," Harry uttered before Malfoy claimed his lips again.
The sound of thunder roared outside and the window in Harry’s kitchen crashed open.
"Looks like we’re having bad weather again," Harry said, an eyebrow raised, questioning Malfoy’s intentions.
"Indeed. I might have to cancel all my Flying lessons for the rest of the week," Malfoy answered.
"You’re welcome to stay here again, if you’d like," Harry said, slightly nervous that Malfoy might reject him.
"I’d like that very much, actually."
Malfoy kissed Harry and Harry, quick on his feet, grabbed his wand and closed the Floo Network. Eventually, he dragged Malfoy to his bedroom and locked the door behind them.
The storm inside Harry had just begun to rile up.
The End