Title: Blink
Recipient/Trope: Bodyswap for
gatewaygirlUsername:
lordesBetas:
lordhellebore,
amorettePairings: Harry/Draco. Mentions of: Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Draco/Astoria, Draco/Blaise, Ginny/Oliver.
Characters: Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, George, Arthur, Molly, Kingsley, Hawkes Hawlish, Auror Williamson, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Voldemort, Bellatrix, Nott, Avery, Gawain Robarts, original characters. Mentions of: Luna, Umbridge, Blaise, Oliver, Astoria.
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.
Rating: R
Warnings: Suggestive M/M relationship, original characters, unexplainable magic, hurt.
Word Count: 46 000
This Chapter: 2678
Summary: When Harry is approached for a favour by Draco Malfoy at the Ministry of Magic, only in his wildest dreams can he imagine what will await him in the morning to come; and when a mysterious man in a top hat appears, Harry fears he might be losing his mind. With his friends by his side and a very troubled Minister, Harry is desperate to find a solution for his blond problem as fast as he can - only that might prove more difficult than he initially expects. As he slowly gets immersed in a life so unlike his own, Harry comes to realise not everything is as black and white as he thought it was, and that the bad guy might not be the bad guy after all.
Author’S Notes: Originally written for the
HD TROPES Fic Exchange, 2014 BLINK ON AO3 *
’Now, Harry you must know all about Muggles, tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?’ - Arthur Weasley (CoS - Movie)
‘Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don’t blink.’ - The Doctor
- CHAPTER 9 -
The Man in the Top Hat
Harry felt an odd sense of déjà-vu wash over him as he and Draco made their way through the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Draco had sent a letter to Kingsley using one of the Manor’s owls. Harry had been eager to learn that they only used Eurasian Eagle owls and had lingered to pet many of them for long after.
Kingsley had quickly written them an answer, telling them they were allowed to - together - Floo to the Ministry the next morning. Harry had been delighted that they no longer seemed to require the two grumpy men to move around, and found the dizziness that came with Flooing rather freeing.
Harry recognised several of the people they were passing, all from different floors and departments. One or two waved and greeted him, and Draco did his best to stay in character as he greeted them back. Harry even thought he saw the lady that had so unashamedly grabbed her quill and parchment the day it had all started and realised with a tinge of smugness that nothing had been published about it. Whether Kingsley had kept it quiet or the Prophet simply hadn’t been interested didn’t matter much to him.
It wasn’t until they walked passed the pillar where he’d first seen the mysterious man that it happened. Harry turned his head, thinking for a moment he’d seen somebody he knew from work, and blinked.
A hard wall hit him as his movement was stopped immediately. He glanced at Draco, who didn’t seem to be moving, looking as frozen as everybody else. Harry blinked again, and again, but unlike his other experiences, the world didn’t turn back to normal, and the only thing that changed were his limbs, which slowly seemed to unfreeze. As if, bit by bit, being released from a Body-Bind Curse, Harry was able to move, until he was once again fully mobile, yet surrounded by people who weren’t.
‘Harry, Harry, Harry.’
Harry twirled around and faced the voice. The man had whispered, yet it had been loud enough to be heard echoing through the whole Atrium.
‘Who are you?’ he demanded and noted how hollow his voice sounded now that the hall was depraved of any other form of noise. He reached for his wand, but the man shot forward quickly, moving almost as if he were nothing more than a shadow. He stopped in front of Harry, once more towering over him.
‘Magic won’t work here,’ he said as he twirled himself around Harry, putting his long fingers on Harry’s shoulders. Harry shivered. It felt as if two huge spiders were slowly crawling over his back. ‘But you could try.’
‘Who are you?’ Harry demanded again.
‘Does it matter?’ the man whispered in his ear. He let go of Harry’s shoulders, and slid one finger over his back before coming once again up in front of Harry. ‘No,’ he said, his lips pursed, his face mere inches from Harry’s, forcing Harry to quickly take a step back. The man cackled.
‘Do you want to know who I am, Harry?’ he asked, and Harry saw a dangerous glint in his eyes.
‘Yes.’ Harry sounded more uncertain than he had intended to. ‘Yes,’ he repeated, this time more defiant. ‘I do.’
‘Ah.’ The man moved forward so fast Harry barely had time to react. The slender hand wrapped around Harry’s chin and cheeks and squeezed. Harry grabbed the wrist, which felt like nothing but bone under the thick coat. ‘Well, you can’t.’
‘Whoa?’ Harry tried to ask through the continuous squeezing of the man’s hand and shook his head, trying to get rid of it. The man simply strengthen the grip he had on Harry.
‘I’m not here to give you what you want, Harry,’ he whispered and bared his teeth, which shone bright and white in the light of the lights illuminating the hall.
Slightly panicking because he was clearly unable to throw the man off, Hary started thrashing.
Unexpectedly, the man pulled his hand away, but not before he’d turned his nails inward, leaving Harry with a set of nasty gashes on his face. He cursed and covered his cheeks with his own hands.
‘Then what are you here for?’ he nearly spat out. He hated the man. He hated not knowing who he was, or what he was up against.
The man was now slowly stepping backwards, his hat covering more and and more of his face as he did so, until he was once again leaning against the pillar.
‘I’m here to give you what you need, Harry,’ he said, still grinning maniacally before shooting upwards and round the pillar like a big, ghostly spider.
‘That, and only that,’ his voice reverberated around the room. Harry could no longer see him, but knew he was still there, hidden in the many shadows of the ceiling.
‘And until you know the difference,’ the voice was slowly dying out into an empty hiss, ‘there shall be no release.’
Harry was breathing heavily now as he turned back towards Draco and - hoping that it would work this time - blinked.
He was lurched forwards and quickly grabbed hold of Draco’s arm, who immediately looked back.
‘What’s wrong?’ he wanted to know as his eyes fell onto what Harry could only imagine looked like his pale, sweaty and mangled face. He reached out for the wounds, but found nothing.
‘The man,’ Harry managed to choke out, shaking now that it was all over. ‘He came back.’
‘What?!’ Draco immediately gazed around the room.
‘He’s gone now,’ Harry said quickly, yet he didn’t let go of Draco’s arm. What had the man said again? Know the difference. Know the difference between what? Want and need? He wanted back into his own body, but he also needed to… right? Didn’t he?
‘Let’s just go,’ he said and moved forward. Draco followed him, but Harry knew he was still eyeing the room around them cautiously.
Once they entered Kingsley’s oval office, Harry was finally able to relax. He saw that Draco wanted to ask, but he shook his head, indicating the could talk about it later, but not now.
Draco turned to Kingsley, then, and shook his hand before sitting down.
‘Harry,’ Kingsley said. ‘Mr Malfoy.’ Draco nodded. ‘What can I help you with today?’
*
‘What do you mean, he talked to you?’ Draco asked once they’d come back to the Manor. Harry was examining his reflection in the mirror, wondering where the ghashes had gone. He’d felt them as if they were real, and they had burned like they were. Then why were they gone? ‘I thought you said you couldn’t move when you met him?’
‘This time was different,’ Harry explained, not taking his eyes off the mirror. He let his hand caress his cheek. ‘He said I wasn’t allowed to know who he was, because I wanted that, and then that I should learn the difference, otherwise there would be no release.’
‘Release of what?’ Draco raised a single eyebrow as he sat on the couch, one leg crossed of the other, his arms over the back.
‘This?’ Harry said as he turned. ‘Maybe. I don’t know.’
Draco seemed to mull it over for a while, absentmindedly tapping his fingers on the couch. ‘And you think he meant that you should learn the difference between want and need?’ .
‘Yes,’ Harry said. ‘No. It just doesn’t make sense.’
‘No, no,’ Draco answered. ‘No, it really does.’
‘It does?’
Draco nodded. ‘Think about it. We’ve pretty much been put in each other’s shoes. What better way to teach somebody a lesson?’
‘But why me? Why us?’ Harry asked and sat down next to Draco.
‘I don’t know. Maybe it was just all a big coincidence. Didn’t you say the first time you saw him was after we argued?’
‘During, actually,’ Harry said and sighed.
‘Well, you better learn the difference then,’ Draco said as he looked at Harry.
‘What? Between what I want and what I need?’
Draco nodded, and Harry tried to think of what he could possibly want. His thoughts immediately jumped to Ginny, to Hogwarts, to a successful career in the Auror office - bringing justice back to the wizarding world - to his own body.
‘And do you have that?’ Draco asked then.
‘What… what I want, you mean?’ Harry asked, and once more, Draco nodded. No, he didn’t, he had to admit. He didn’t have Ginny, not anymore, and he wouldn’t be going back to Hogwarts. And then, during his latest meeting with Kingsley, he’d had to admit that he might’ve not been as secure with the details of Lucius Malfoy’s case, being so eager to lock everyone up who carried the Dark Mark that he had forgotten to look past it, just like he felt people often forgot to look past his scar.
He sighed. ‘I don’t see how it would help.’
‘Me either,’ Draco said. ‘But you better keep thinking about it. I have a feeling this might just be the answer to our problem.’
*
Harry sighed and turned in his bed. The pillows seemed tougher than normal, and the bed less comfortable. All day he’d been thinking about what he wanted and what he needed, and he’d concluded that the man must’ve meant something else, because it just didn’t make sense.
He punched his cushion angrily and lay down again, tired. It wasn’t until he saw the first rays of sunlight seep in through his window that he was finally able to catch sleep, his dreams filled with hats, shadows and hissing voices disappearing into the darkness.
Not much changed in the days that followed. Harry was now allowed once more to move around freely, as long as he was back before curfew. He spent his days roaming Diagon Alley and visiting Ron and Hermione whenever they had some time off, and spent the rest of his free hours with Draco, talking about past events or new dreams they’d had.
‘I have to confess something,’ Draco said. They were lazing around on the bed in the guest room. Ron had meetings that day - something Harry had to admit he didn’t miss at all - and Hermione was following classes at Hogwarts in preparation for her Christmas finals.
‘What’s that?’ Harry asked him. He was slowly getting used to seeing his own face look at him in the adoring way Draco stared at him these days, and he had to admit that it really wasn’t all that bad. He smiled. ‘You were secretly sorted into Gryffindor?’
Draco laughed. ‘No,’ he said. ‘But about that, you could’ve told me you were almost put into Slytherin.’
‘And when would I have told you that?’ Harry asked and for the first time felt it appropriate to raise Draco’s own eyebrows at him. ‘When you were trying to hex me? Or maybe when you broke my nose at the Hogwarts express?’
‘Fine,’ Draco said sulkingly, but he was unable to hide his smile completely.
‘So what’s it, then?’ Harry asked.
‘Well,’ Draco began. ‘Seeing as you were able to admit my father wasn’t as evil as you thought he was, I suppose I can...’ His voice faltered and he lay back, staring at the ceiling.
‘You can what?’ Harry felt smugness rise in his chest.
‘I suppose I can admit that the Weasleys aren’t as shabby as I thought they were.’ The words had come fast and Draco swung his arm quickly over his eyes.
‘Draco Malfoy,’ Harry said. ‘Did you just admit to Harry Potter that he was right?’
‘Shut up,’ Malfoy mumbled and turned over when he heard Harry laugh, pinning him to the bed and kissing him lazily. Harry softly hummed under his breath and threw his arms around Draco’s neck.
It wasn’t until the sun went down and Clifton announced supper was about to be served that they broke apart.
‘Why don’t you spend the night in my room tonight?’ Draco whispered against Harry’s lips.
Harry looked up uncertainly. Kissing Draco was one thing, but actually doing other things? Harry softly moved his hand over Draco’s chest. He knew every bump, curve and mole on the body.
‘We don’t have to do anything,’ Draco continued when Harry didn’t answer. ‘But just come and lie with me.’ He let his lips caress Harry’s. ‘Just see how you like it.’
‘Okay,’ Harry answered softly against Draco’s lips. He felt Draco smile, and smiled back.
*
‘Just lie down,’ Draco said once they’d reached the bedroom that evening, Harry wearing one of Draco’s silk pyjama bottoms and Draco stripped down to what Harry noticed was a new pair of very expensive-looking boxers. He rolled his eyes and eyed the bed, feeling as if it were suddenly a very mysterious object that was refusing to reveal its secrets to him.
‘On what side?’ he asked and glanced over his shoulder.
Draco stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Harry’s torso. The gesture should’ve felt comforting, but only made him tense up.
‘Relax,’ Draco said. Yawning, he hid his face against Harry’s neck and placed a sloppy kiss there. ‘Just lie anywhere.’
Harry nodded. ‘Right,’ he said and extracted himself from Draco’s embrace, who followed him closely as he made for the bed.
Draco was the first to let himself fall on the covers, unceremoniously so, making Harry smile and untangling the knot that was in his stomach just a little bit.
‘With the grace of a troll,’ Harry said and carefully climbed in next to him.
Eyes already closed, Draco grabbed the air in search for Harry. ‘It’s your body, not mine,’ he mumbled as he pulled Harry closer, who settled into the hug, not feeling very sleepy at all.
After a while, Draco sighed above him and opened his eyes. ‘Potter,’ he said, sounding suddenly very awake. ‘Relax, I’m not going to molest you in your sleep.’ He had propped himself up on one arm and was leaning into his hand.
‘It’s just that I’ve never done something like this,’ Harry said, shifting on the bed.
‘What,’ Draco asked. ‘Lie with someone? What about Ginevra?’ He reached out and gently combed his hand through Harry’s hair.
Now it was Harry’s turn to sigh. ‘No, no, this,’ he said and waved his free arm from himself to Draco.
‘Lie with yourself, you mean? Potter, neither have I, or anybody else, for that matter.’
Harry blushed and focused on the bedding. He supposed it wasn’t a big deal for Draco, who’d already been with Blaise - and who knows with how many others, his brain added and he shivered slightly.
‘With another man,’ he said finally without looking at Draco.
‘Oh,’ was Draco’s answer, and for a moment the hand in his hair faltered. ‘You want to go back to your own bed, then?’
Harry looked up, expecting to see disappointment, but only finding worry. ‘I… no, it’s okay,’ he said. ‘It just takes some getting used to.’
Draco smiled, and continued his stroking. ‘Then trust me, Harry,’ was all he said as he lay back down, pulling Harry with him.
He guessed, Harry thought as he closed his eyes and tried to relax, if this is what life would look like, it wasn’t so bad being Draco Malfoy after all.
Chapter 10: Blink