Ex’s who stalk their ex’s
Ex’s who stalk their ex’s
Title: Ex’s who stalk their ex’s
Author: suonguyen
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine; no profit is being made with this piece of work
Note: My first time doing a challege fic... So lets see how this goes... or if I've done it right. No beta I don't seem to have any luck with betas
Written for the
dracoharry100 Septmeber 3-prompt challenge
Prompt
Summary: Three years after leaving Harry and the Wizarding World behind, Draco lives with a man that reminds him far too much of his ex-lover.
It was almost three years after the war between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort ended.
In Draco’s opinion three years too long that he had stayed in the Wizarding world. He was fed up with living under the contempt of fellow wizen folk and in false hope that he and Harry still had a chance.
“A man can be happy with any woman as long as he didn’t love her,” Harry had told him, then had walked out Draco’s front door, not bothering to look back. Leaving behind a puzzled Draco, if Harry didn’t love Ginny Weasley then why did he want to marry her? That was two weeks ago and Draco had not seen him since.
It had taken him years but he was now able to admit that he, Draco Malfoy, was in love with Harry Potter, saviour of the Wizarding world. However with this revelation Draco was also aware that the longer he stayed in this unrequited love the harder it was becoming to look at himself in the mirror every morning.
Today was the big event, the day where Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were due to take their vows and commit themselves to one another. Draco had said nothing when Harry informed him of the engagement, speechless at the time, but on reflection, what could he have said? What right did he have? He had always been the third wheel in the relationship. They all knew, even the youngest Weasley had known. She had walked in on them once during the war. Draco still recalled the overwhelming hope that had flared in him when he spotted her, hopeful that this betrayal would be taken to heart and would be the end of the young couple. But Ginny Weasley had merely smirked at Harry as she walked away, giving Draco a pitiful glare.
“I understand you were just curious and this is just a phase, Harry,” he had overheard the two later, “But does it have to be Malfoy?”
A phase, Draco thought bitterly, maybe it had just been a phase for Harry, a little bit of experimentation on his part.
After three years Draco had finally managed to gather his pride and break this tie between the three of them. Now Draco was sitting at an airport terminal in Muggle London, an hour away from boarding a plane and starting a new life. A life without Harry. The process had been surprisingly simple; all it took was packing his bags and signing a few papers to place his apartment on the market.
War had not been kind to the Malfoy’s their property, assets and enormous fortune had been seized by the ministry to pay for the sins his parents committed throughout the war. He had no friends left, no one to say goodbye to, his parents having long ago passed away in Azkaban, unable to stand the harsh living conditions. There was Harry, be he doubted it would make a difference either way. Now that Harry was officially a member of the Weasley clan that he loved so dearly, Draco doubted he would see much of him either way.
He had been dreaming of a stunt like this for most of his life, the freedom to pack his bags and simply disappear when things in life became too much for him to handle. Travel to a place where no one knew him, where no one would look at him with prejudiced eyes. When he was young he dreamt of apparating away from his troubles, but now taking a muggle aeroplane to an unknown destination seemed prefect. And unknown it was, all he knew was his gate number.
With temporary deafening charms placed over his ears, he got up and joined the queue of people who were waiting at the same terminal. He clutched his ticket tightly in his hands, overwhelmed by the fear, sadness and longing he felt, missing Harry already. But he also felt a strangely exhilarated and excited. One chapter of his life was ending, and another one was just beginning.
~*~
Three years later…
Draco Malfoy sighed and stared at the ceiling of his room in his Aussie apartment. It seemed like it was going to be another one of those days where he couldn’t gather the strength or motivation to get himself out of bed. His body felt like it weighed a thousands pounds or as the locals would say it, a thousand kilograms. He looked longingly at the sky that almost seemed to be a perfect blue. Another beautiful day that he was going to miss.
Draco rolled over and looked longingly at his wand that lay harmlessly on the bedside drawer. If only he could reach over and conjure himself a pepper up potion, or cast a cheering charm on himself. But he knew he wouldn’t, the last time he had performed magic was when he was in London, just before boarding the plane. It didn’t seem right to use magic, when it was obviously what he had been running from.
The first thing that had hit him when he first walked out the Brisbane airport was the extreme heat. After finding himself in Australia he had laughed at the irony, he’s running away scheme had landed him on an island, far from everything he had ever known.
On days where he managed to get himself out of bed, he loved Australia. He was fortunate enough to live in an apartment overlooking the beautiful blue sea. In the afternoon, on his better days he would often join his flat mate James for walks on the beaches just before sunset.
“Draco are you awake?” a soft voice called from outside his door. Draco almost smiled, this is how their mornings usually began; James would hesitantly knock on his door, and then deal with the day accordingly depending on Draco’s mood.
“I’m awake,” Draco said.
“Hey,” James greeted, letting himself into Draco’s room, “How are you feeling.”
Smiling softly Draco replied, “Just one of those days.”
James signed and slipped under the covers, wrapping his arms loosely around Draco. “I’m sorry.”
Draco turned to his side and buried his face into James’s shirt. James smelt of sandy beaches and salt water. “You went surfing this morning?”
James nodded arms tightening around Draco, “Yeah, nothing like the feeling of being crushed by the waves to start your day.”
Draco smirked into James’s shirt and snorted, “And showing off to the hot young life-guards.”
Draco could almost hear James blushing, and sure enough when he looked up James’s face was as red as a tomato, reminding him very much of his ex-lover. Draco looked away and turned onto his to other side away from James. Sometime he couldn’t help but look at James and think of Harry. They could have been twins other than a few distinguishing differences. James too, supported a head of uncontrollable black hair, and similar face shape to Harry. However while Harry’s eyes were emerald green, James’s eyes were blue and James, offcourse had no scar or glasses. He had scoffed when Draco has asked him if he thought magic existed. Even his name reminded him of Harry. But James had a very cute Australian accent that Draco loved to listen to, something Harry definitely didn’t have.
James White was the best flat mate anyone could ask for. He owned some of the apartments in the area and spent most of his days surfing and managing an upper-class hotel where Draco worked as an accountant. As it turned out, managing finances in the Muggle world was not much different from the Wizarding world. Sunset resort was a fairly large hotel that mainly catered for the wealthier tourists that visited the area.
After finding out that Draco lived in one of the apartments he owned, James had invited Draco to be his flat mate, cutting down his living expenses. Draco had accepted mainly due to his new found fear of being alone in such a large apartment. That had been two years ago, and now Draco was more or less content with what he had, despite his on and off days.
Depression, James had called what he was experiencing. Such an ugly word Draco had thought while his face had scrunched up in distaste. These on and off days had started not long he had settled into his apartment. James had begged him to go see a Muggle psychiatrist but he had flat out refused. After the third argument where Draco had threatened to move out James had finally relented, and resorted to making Draco fruity concoctions that never failed to cheer Draco up.
Draco pulled his blankets over his head and reached to turn the air conditioner on, one think that he didn’t like Australia was the extreme heat. He turned back over to James and snuggled into his chest again.
“Sleep,” he said when he felt James shift beside him.
“Okay,” James said amusement in his tone, “Do you think you’ll feel better afterwards.
Draco shrugged and leaned into James’s fingers when he started running fingers through Draco’s soft blonde hair, finally slipping back into a peaceful slumber.
~*~
When Draco woke next, it seemed that most of the day had passed, he reached out beside him and felt the empty space. James had woken up and had probably gone to work, the benefits of being a manager was you could work anytime and anywhere you wanted to. Sometimes when Draco had one of his ‘off days’ James would bring his work home and stay with him.
Draco stretched and flipped his blanket off, only to quickly cover himself again. The room was freezing! He reached out and switched the air conditioner off; then waited several moments before getting out off bed. He headed out towards the balcony of his room and saw on the swing/chair that James had gotten him the last Christmas.
Draco looked peacefully at the dark looming clouds, sometimes the weather amazed him, it could be so hot and sunny in the morning, yet so cloudy and stormy in the afternoon of the same day. He wondered when James was going to return home, nights like these were best spent in front of the television watching lame horrors.
So intent on his thoughts and watching the lightning in the distance, Draco didn’t notice the red envelope that suddenly appeared beside him. He jumped when a unfamiliar yet familiar voice rang loudly through the air.
“This is your only warning, stay away from him or suffer the consequences. He belongs to me.”
Draco stared in amazement as the howler burst into flame after delivering its prompt but nasty message.
Stay away from who? Draco asked himself, surely they didn’t mean James?
~*~
When James got home that night Draco had already decided to ignore the howler and was comfortably seated in front of the television watching a talk show about ex’s who stalked their ex’s.
Death threats to Draco were almost like junk mail, during the period of the war and afterwards, they were a daily occurrence. The first few had left him scared and trembling in rage at the injustice of it all, but after a while when he realised that there were nothing more than threats he stopped looking over his shoulder when he left his flat or double checking that his doors and windows were locked every night. While he was surprised that an own had managed to find him all the way in Australia, he wasn’t worried, some people took longer to let go than others.
“Feeling better I see,” James said sitting down next to him, with a beer in one had and one of his fruity concoctions in the other.
Draco nodded absentmindedly accepting the drink, eyes not leaving the television screen. Finally when the show ended Draco turned to James only to see him watching Draco intently.
“What?” Draco asked, knowing that he sounded defensive but he was rather unnerved by James’s stare, the intensity in it mirroring Harry’s immensely.
James’s just shook his head, as if trying to clear his mind and handed Draco some DVD’s, “I got us some horrors. Want to order pizza?”
“No pineapples,” Draco said in reply, reading the back cover of the horrors, James always managed to pick movies that scared Draco so much he would lose sleep for days. Not that he would ever tell James that.
“Brat,” James muttered fondly as he dialled the number, “ I like pineapples.”
Draco smirked as he put in the first movie. He made way to the kitchen to make himself some popcorn, assured that James wouldn’t order anything with pineapple in it.
~*~
Draco jumped when he heard the loud banging on their front door, causing James to burst out laughing beside him. Draco rolled his eyes and gave James what he thought was his most icy death glare, James had really outdone himself this time. The horror he had borrowed had Draco clinging onto him like a girl.
He got up and grabbed his wallet, telling James to continue watching without him. He was glad the pizza was here, he was hungry and freaked out; this was a good excuse to miss out on another scary scene. He almost laughed when he got to the door and saw the pizza delivery guy drenched from head to toe. The pizza seemed safe in its thick waterproof bag. Feeling generous he tipped the poor guy and offered him some towels to dry himself off.
This is good, Draco thought to himself, the longer the boy took the less he would see of the movie. He froze however when a flash of lightning streaked through the sky and lit up the hallway outside their apartment. He could of sworn there was a dark cloaked figure standing in the hallway, but when he blinked the figure was gone. He nodded vaguely when the pizza guy thanked him, and double checked the locked the door twice before he went back to the couch. He shrugged it off, must have just been a trick of the light, or far too many horrors.
James was frowning at the pizza boxes when he returned, “I thought I told them not to put any pineapples in it.
“It’s fine,” Draco said grabbing a slice of pineapple free pizza, “I’ll just have to pick them out.”
“Weird,” James said shrugging, “Some pieces are nothing but pineapple, and some have none on them at all.”
“Hmm,” Draco replied, sometimes he thought that James fancied himself a detective. The pizza had a slight different taste to it, but otherwise Draco thought it was delicious.
~*~
The next morning Draco woke to the sound of James calling his name. This morning seemed to be worse than the last, he felt horrible. And hot, and sweaty, he was sure he turned on the air last night before he went to sleep.
“Come on Draco,” James said frantically, “You have to get up.”
Draco was already drifting off to sleep again, “I’m sleepy Harry, leave me alone.”
Already in deep slumber, he didn’t notice the look of shock that crossed the other mans face.
~*~
When Draco was next conscious, he felt himself being positioned upright on the bed, his mouth being gently pried open. Something that tasted suspiciously like James’s fruity concoction was being poured down his throat.
Really, Draco thought, he might like the drinks James makes him, but pouring it down his throat while he was sleeping was a bit much. And why couldn’t he open his eyes? They felt incredibly heavy.
He heard someone swear as he gagged on the concoction, someone that sounded a lot like Shape. Then someone whispered something softly by his ear and the gagging stopped the drink travelling uninhibited down his throat. Then he slipped back into unconsciousness.
~*~
This time when Draco woke, he knew it was morning by the way the sun shone onto his body through the thin curtains. For some reason he felt extremely famished, despite having half a box of pizza’s to himself the night before.
Well your going to have to wait, he admonished his grumbling stomach, I am not going to be fat just because you’re a gluttonous pig.
He raised his hands planning to rub his stomach when he realised it was being held. He looked over to see James lying next to him on the bed. He was quite surprised, although not unpleasantly so. Although he and James often openly showed affection for one another they had not gone beyond friends. And sleeping in each others beds throughout the night was definitely a first.
Even when slept he reminded Draco of Harry, from the way his face relaxed into a childlike expression to the frequent furrowing of his brows. Perhaps this was why their relationship had never progressed into anything more. He couldn’t help comparing the two, although he wasn’t quite sure of James’s preferences, he had never really shown any indication either way.
James must have sensed that someone was staring at him, the next thing Draco knew his eyes shot open and his grip on Draco’s hand tightened. Once he saw that Draco was awake he breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said pulling Draco into a hug.
“What do you mean?” Draco asked wondering if James had gone made, they had only spoken a few short hours ago, when he had teased Draco about clinging onto him like a girl during the scarier parts of the movie.
James hesitated then replied cautiously, “You had food poisoning Draco. You’ve been unconscious for almost a week.”
“The pizza?” Draco asked looking surprised when James nodded, “did you get poisoned too?”
James shook his head, looking quite puzzled himself, “I’m fine.”
Draco shrugged and tried to sit up. Upon closer inspection James looked horrible, his hair looked like a flock of birds had built its nest in it, his face scruffy from what looked like days of neglecting to shave, his eyes red and his face looking weary. “You look like crap.”
James’s laughed beside him, that deep throated laugh that warmed Draco’s heart.
“I was worried,” James said hesitantly, “You weren’t responding, you looked so deathly and pale, throwing up every hour and muttering in your sleep.”
“I most certainly did not look like death,” Draco huffed. “Why aren’t I in hospital?”
James smirked as he got up and started over to Draco’s closet, “I would never inflict your presence upon those poor hospital employees again. They practically begged me to take you home last time you were there. I hired a nurse while you were sick.”
Draco was about to retort but blushed as his stomach suddenly let out a loud grumble. James laughed and tossed Draco some pyjamas.
He walked into Draco’s bathroom and Draco heard the sound of running water.
“I’m starting a bath for you,” James started, “think you’ll be right on your own?”
“Of course I will, why wouldn’t I be?”
James scoffed, “Well you were really out of it every other time I washed you.”
“You bathed me!?” Draco screeched, sounding amazingly feminine.
“Well it was either me or the nurse,” James said nonchalantly, “and she seemed far to keen to get her hands on your for my liking.”
Draco blushed; taking the hand James offered him.
“Thanks,” he muttered softly and let James help him into the bathroom.
~*~
Draco smirked at James’s retreating back; he knew he had won that argument. It was two days after Draco had recovered from his bout of poisoning and he was bored out of his mind. James wanted him to take another day off, but Draco had refused, adamant that he was going to get out of the ‘dreary apartment.’ James had finally given in after Draco promised to let James drive him to work and have lunch with him.
He whistled cheerily to himself as he started clearing away the dishes, the general rule was that James cook and he clean up afterwards. Draco’s whistling came to an abrupt halt when he heard an all too familiar voice rang through the apartment.
“You have been warned.”
Turning towards the voice he watched in morbid fascination as the red howler burst in flames once again before him. Then before the howler had even extinguished itself Draco heard a loud crack in the air and standing before him was none other than Ginny Weasley-Potter. She launched towards him and grabbed his arm, before Draco could call James for help the room twisted around him and disappeared from view.
~*~
“You’re wasting your breath Weaslette, I haven’t seen Potter for at least three years now,” Draco said impatiently. Sweat trickling down his brow, the heat in the air told him that they were still in Australia, in some dark danky warehouse that must have seen better days.
It would seem to Draco that Ginny Weasley-Potter had misplaced her husband. Draco wasn’t surprised really; Harry had never really been the faithful one in the relationship. Although on closer inspection Draco knew that if the Weaslette had looked like that he would have left her too. It seemed that the Weaslette had not bothered to take a shower for at least a week, her flaming red hair was now lifeless and surrounded her face in thick oily clumps. Her eyes framed by dark shadows that Draco knew only came from long periods of lack of sleep. But what Draco thought was the worse was the way her skin hung from her frame, very much resembling a skeleton.
Ginny Weasley-Potter’s face twisted in rage as she heard Draco’s words, she stalked towards him and dug her rough nails into his shoulder. “Don’t lie to me Malfoy, he said he was going after you.”
Draco shrugged, ignoring the flare of hope that still hadn’t extinguished even after all these years. “Well I haven’t seen him.”
If Draco thought she would be pleased to hear him say that, he was sorely mistaken. Ginny pulled away from Draco and held out her wand. She muttered an incantation that he couldn’t catch and the next thing he knew he was illuminated by a green light that seemed to displease her.
She launched at him and slapped him so hard, his head knocked into the wall harshly behind him.
“You liar!” she screeched, “He’s all over you!”
Draco looked her, amazed. He couldn’t help thinking that she had gone totally insane.
“Get a hold of yourself woman,” Draco yelled, “I told you I haven’t seen him. You can be sure that if I had seen him, I would be rubbing it in your face. So let me go, or my flatmate will come and knock your lights out. Even if you are a woman, I’ve seen him do it!”
Ginny disregarded Draco’s words and looked at him with narrow eyes; she seemed to be calculating something in her mind. Suddenly she let out a burst maniacal laughter and smirked at him.
“Oh Draco,” she said sweetly, sitting herself on his lap. “How blind you’ve been.”
Draco cringed when she leant closer to his ear, shifting uncomfortably. Although she weighed next to nothing, her putrid scent travelled up his nose in an unpleasant manner, he wanted to gag, she smelt strongly of floral scents and dried sweat.
“Get off me and go find your husband,” Draco said roughly trying to throw her off his lap, but failing miserably due to the restriction from the magical binds.
Ginny’s grin widened as she joined her arms at the back of Draco’s neck, “Oh don’t you know Draco; I’ve never been Mrs. Potter.”
Draco’s confused expression made Ginny laugh at him mockingly, “Oh how isolated you’ve been. I guess you don’t know that my father is the new Minister of Magic either.”
Draco couldn’t care less if Vincent Goyle was the next Minister of Magic. If Harry didn’t marry Ginny Weasley, and Ginny Weasley was here apparently on Harry’s trail. And that spell, now he wasn’t so sure she screwed it up. Did that mean…
“Yes Draco,” Ginny said sweetly as if she could read his mind, “Harry’s here with you… his been with you for a very long time judging from the traces of his magic on you.”
Draco was speechless; this was like something out of his best fantasies, Harry leaving the Weaslette and coming after him. But then if the Weaslette was right then where was Harry?
He looked at her dubiously.
Ginny shot him a knowing smile, “Don’t worry Draco,” she said in an obvious mocking tone. “You will see him very soon.”
Draco nodded tiredly, exhaustion overcoming him. Perhaps James had been right; he should have stayed home to rest today. Oh god, he had forgotten all about James, he must be frantic with worry. James was horrible dealing with strong emotions, every time he became too stressed or angry his entire being looked like it was about to burst. Draco had only witnessed two occasions and although he was ashamed to admit it, they were both on his behalf. The first time was when this young girl had developed a crush on Draco, and had actually slashed Draco across his palm when she threatened him to return her love or she would commit suicide. James had been so angry that he had knocked her unconscious. The second time had been Draco had caught a particularly nasty strand of the flu and landed himself in hospital.
He could almost imagine what James would look like at this very moment, his face would be red with worry and anger, his hair probably resembling a birds nest from continuously running his hand through them.
Draco blinked when his vision of James appeared before his very eyes. One minute the space was empty, the next James stood there occupying it. Looking exactly like he imagined, he must be more tired than he had previously thought.
The vision of James spoke, “let go of him Ginny.”
Draco wondered if the Weaslette’s insanity vibe was contagious. It was either that or Draco was too overcome by exhaustion. Come to think of it, it seemed to be taking a lot of effort to try and keep his eyes open. However at the Weaslette’s next words Draco’s snapped open.
“Harry?”
“Harry?” Draco echoed, then laughed, “that’s not Harry, his my flat mate James. James White.”
“James?” the Weaslette asked then laughed loudly, “Very original Harry.”
“You are crazy woman,” Draco said impatiently, “That’s James my flat mate, he just looks like…”
Draco trailed off, how could he have been so blind? How could he have see Harry in James and not put two and two together? Harry certainly hadn’t done a very good job at disguising himself. Draco felt torn between elation and an unexpected anger that Harry had let Draco believe a lie for almost two years.
Draco avoided looking at James- No, Harry’s eyes too afraid of what he might see if he did look up.
The Weaslette hopped off his lap and walked over to Harry, swaying her hips in what she must have thought was a seductive manner. “You can drop the glamour now Harry, he knows that it’s you.”
Times seemed to crawl by as Harry whispered the incantations and James’s features slowly faded into the face Draco knew so well. First to appear was his world famous scar, then his pupils rippled, green rapidly replacing the blue. His nose than seemed to deflate a little, his lips seemed less full. After all these years, Harry was still the most beautiful thing he had ever lay eyes on.
“I’m sorry Draco,” Harry apologized, the Australian accent totally gone from his voice.
Draco nodded looking away. He could feel a headache coming on, that included with his exhaustion made Draco feel extremely irritable. Still unable to look at Harry he looked over at the Weaslette to see her looking at Harry like she wanted to eat him alive.
Suddenly everything became too much for Draco to handle, the heat from the warehouse, his exhaustion, the overwhelming feelings that had yet to identify, this crazy situation, he closed his eyes and muttered, “I want to go home.”
Then he welcomed the darkness with open arms.
~*~
When Draco came to consciousness he knew he was at home. The smell of fresh sheets and cool air filled his senses.
“Draco?” a voice called, he assumed it was James-
James - no, not James; Harry. Draco’s eyes snapped open and there was Harry leaning over him with that damned fruity concoction in his hands. Draco accepted the drink gratefully, almost snatching it out of Harry’s hands.
“This isn’t just a homemade fruit juice is it?” He asked after downing the whole cup.
Harry smiled sheepishly and ran his hands though his hair, “It does have a bit of pepper up potion and a mild cheering potion.”
Draco eyed his empty cup suspiciously, “Did you make this?”
“No,” Harry quickly reassured him, “Snape did.”
“Snape?” Draco asked incredulously, “Snape knows I’m here to? Does everyone know?”
“I’m sorry,” Harry said, running his hands through his hair again, “I didn’t know what to do, you were so depressed and sad, and you wouldn’t go see a psychiatrist. So I went to see Snape to see if he had any suggestions. And… well he’s been making you that potion.”
“I see,” Draco said feeling rather lost. When Harry was nervous he seemed to ramble. “Harry, what are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry Draco,” Harry muttered, “I know you didn’t want to see me again so soon, but you just got better and all this happened I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to handle it when you woke up. So I - ”
“Harry!” Draco yelled, “What are you doing here? Here in Australia? Here, working in a Muggle hotel, pretending to be someone else.”
Draco could see Harry fidgeting nervously with the edges of his covers, head bowed intent on not looking at Draco.
“Are you sure you’re well enough to hear it all?” Harry asked hesitantly. Looking up at Draco under his eye lashes. Once upon a time that look would have been enough for Harry to get Draco to obey to every one of his whims. But today Draco just wanted Harry to answer his questions; he gave Harry an impatient glare.
Harry sighed, and sat up so that he was eye level with Draco.
“That night when I left your apartment I was so disappointed. I wanted you to stop me and beg me not to marry Ginny. I didn’t want to marry her, but you were so nonchalant about our relationship. Ginny was so safe, being with her was so simple. I had always dreamt of a white picket fence and children. Ginny could have given that to me.
“Those two weeks before the wedding were the worse moments in my life. I was always by the phone, in case you decided to ring me. I jumped every time the door bell rang. When the night before the wedding finally came around I was practically a wreck. I kept imagining the rest of my life, and it scared me. A life without you in it.
“Then I finally made my decision. I didn’t care that you were so cold, or if you didn’t give the damn about our relationship. I was sure I would make you see reason, convince you that you felt the same way I did. But that morning when I apparated into your apartment. It was so eerily empty, I remember that was the first time I had ever been so scared. I was so scared that you had left, and I would never see you again.
“I didn’t even show up to the wedding. I just left back a note of apology and went looking for you. I found Snape and when he didn’t know where you were I tried tracking you down by sensing your magical signature. The last place it felt strongest was at the London airport. So I went there.
“I was so frustrated when I realised that your name didn’t appear on their books or computer at all, I realised you must of used a fake name. It took me months but I finally managed to get a job there as a security guard. I started looking through the tape recordings looking for you. Then I realised you had gone to Australia.
“When I got here and saw you, I didn’t know what to do. You had obviously gone so far to get away from me, if I showed up, I was afraid that you would run again. So I spent six months watching you, and becoming this James White person. I brought several apartment complexes knowing that you were looking for somewhere to stay. When I found out you were working at that Muggle hotel as their accountant I applied for their management position.
“And the rest, you know… It killed me to be living in the next room as you and not be able to touch you, or kiss you. I hated that every time you looked at me you saw a stranger instead of someone you’ve known for most of your life. You were so miserable, so depressed I wanted to kiss you and make love to you, make all your sadness and insecurities go away.”
Harry paused tracing a finger over Draco’s lips, “It’s been so long, but I can remember just the way you taste.”
He reached down and grabbed both Draco’s hands, “I was so scared when I saw Ginny take you away this morning. You were just getting better, you shouldn’t have even been going to work, let alone be apparated all over the place. I’m sorry. Ginny’s gone now, they took her to St. Mungo’s, you’re safe from her now. She’s the one that poisoned you, she put the poison one the pizza base and the antidote in the pineapples. But I promise if she ever hurts you again… I’ll make sure she regrets more than she already does. I don’t want to, but I swear if you want me to leave Draco, just say the word and I’ll never appear before you again.”
Draco looked into Harry’s teary eyes; they were filled with so much hope, fear and love. Harry was the bravest man in the world but right at this moment, he was trembling in fear that Draco would reject him. He didn’t care about Ginny Weasley at the moment he was oddly grateful towards her. If she hadn’t appeared they may still be stuck in their little lies. All the love and longing that he felt for Harry burst through his body, like he hadn’t spent the last three years trying to make them go away.
He could feel his eyes watering, and he held onto Harry’s as tight as he could, “I love you, Harry. Don’t leave me.”
“Oh Draco,” Harry exclaimed, voice filled with so much joy. He pulled Draco into a hug. “I’m never going to leave you again.”
“I’m sorry,” Draco sobbed into Harry’s shoulder, “I thought you didn’t love me, I thought I was just a phase. I was scared that once you became an official Weasley you wouldn’t pay anymore attention to me. I thought you loved her.”
Harry’s chest heaved and Draco realised Harry too was crying, silent tears running down the side of his face. “I’ve loved you from our very first kiss.”
“The beginning of seventh year then,” Draco said mischievously, wiping away the tears on Harry’s face.
“Yes,” Harry agreed, his eyes trailing away from Draco’s and focused onto lips.
Draco smirked and ran his tongue over his lips, knowing that it drove Harry crazy when he did that. And sure enough the next thing he knew Harry’s lips were on his, kissing Draco hungrily, lovingly and passionately all at the same time.
For the first time in his life Draco’s entire being was filled with hope and love, love for Harry. Draco knew that it was going to take a while, a lot of love, a lot of arguments, and probably a lot of make up sex.
But they were going to be fine.
Do tell me what you think guys! :D
Title: Ex’s who stalk their ex’s
Author: suonguyen
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine; no profit is being made with this piece of work
Note: My first time doing a challege fic... So lets see how this goes... or if I've done it right. No beta I don't seem to have any luck with betas
Written for the
dracoharry100 Septmeber 3-prompt challenge
Prompt
- The Phrase! - Oscar Wilde - "A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her."
- The Song Line! - 'It's been awhile, but I can still remember just the way you taste'
Summary: Three years after leaving Harry and the Wizarding World behind, Draco lives with a man that reminds him far too much of his ex-lover.
It was almost three years after the war between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort ended.
In Draco’s opinion three years too long that he had stayed in the Wizarding world. He was fed up with living under the contempt of fellow wizen folk and in false hope that he and Harry still had a chance.
“A man can be happy with any woman as long as he didn’t love her,” Harry had told him, then had walked out Draco’s front door, not bothering to look back. Leaving behind a puzzled Draco, if Harry didn’t love Ginny Weasley then why did he want to marry her? That was two weeks ago and Draco had not seen him since.
It had taken him years but he was now able to admit that he, Draco Malfoy, was in love with Harry Potter, saviour of the Wizarding world. However with this revelation Draco was also aware that the longer he stayed in this unrequited love the harder it was becoming to look at himself in the mirror every morning.
Today was the big event, the day where Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were due to take their vows and commit themselves to one another. Draco had said nothing when Harry informed him of the engagement, speechless at the time, but on reflection, what could he have said? What right did he have? He had always been the third wheel in the relationship. They all knew, even the youngest Weasley had known. She had walked in on them once during the war. Draco still recalled the overwhelming hope that had flared in him when he spotted her, hopeful that this betrayal would be taken to heart and would be the end of the young couple. But Ginny Weasley had merely smirked at Harry as she walked away, giving Draco a pitiful glare.
“I understand you were just curious and this is just a phase, Harry,” he had overheard the two later, “But does it have to be Malfoy?”
A phase, Draco thought bitterly, maybe it had just been a phase for Harry, a little bit of experimentation on his part.
After three years Draco had finally managed to gather his pride and break this tie between the three of them. Now Draco was sitting at an airport terminal in Muggle London, an hour away from boarding a plane and starting a new life. A life without Harry. The process had been surprisingly simple; all it took was packing his bags and signing a few papers to place his apartment on the market.
War had not been kind to the Malfoy’s their property, assets and enormous fortune had been seized by the ministry to pay for the sins his parents committed throughout the war. He had no friends left, no one to say goodbye to, his parents having long ago passed away in Azkaban, unable to stand the harsh living conditions. There was Harry, be he doubted it would make a difference either way. Now that Harry was officially a member of the Weasley clan that he loved so dearly, Draco doubted he would see much of him either way.
He had been dreaming of a stunt like this for most of his life, the freedom to pack his bags and simply disappear when things in life became too much for him to handle. Travel to a place where no one knew him, where no one would look at him with prejudiced eyes. When he was young he dreamt of apparating away from his troubles, but now taking a muggle aeroplane to an unknown destination seemed prefect. And unknown it was, all he knew was his gate number.
With temporary deafening charms placed over his ears, he got up and joined the queue of people who were waiting at the same terminal. He clutched his ticket tightly in his hands, overwhelmed by the fear, sadness and longing he felt, missing Harry already. But he also felt a strangely exhilarated and excited. One chapter of his life was ending, and another one was just beginning.
~*~
Three years later…
Draco Malfoy sighed and stared at the ceiling of his room in his Aussie apartment. It seemed like it was going to be another one of those days where he couldn’t gather the strength or motivation to get himself out of bed. His body felt like it weighed a thousands pounds or as the locals would say it, a thousand kilograms. He looked longingly at the sky that almost seemed to be a perfect blue. Another beautiful day that he was going to miss.
Draco rolled over and looked longingly at his wand that lay harmlessly on the bedside drawer. If only he could reach over and conjure himself a pepper up potion, or cast a cheering charm on himself. But he knew he wouldn’t, the last time he had performed magic was when he was in London, just before boarding the plane. It didn’t seem right to use magic, when it was obviously what he had been running from.
The first thing that had hit him when he first walked out the Brisbane airport was the extreme heat. After finding himself in Australia he had laughed at the irony, he’s running away scheme had landed him on an island, far from everything he had ever known.
On days where he managed to get himself out of bed, he loved Australia. He was fortunate enough to live in an apartment overlooking the beautiful blue sea. In the afternoon, on his better days he would often join his flat mate James for walks on the beaches just before sunset.
“Draco are you awake?” a soft voice called from outside his door. Draco almost smiled, this is how their mornings usually began; James would hesitantly knock on his door, and then deal with the day accordingly depending on Draco’s mood.
“I’m awake,” Draco said.
“Hey,” James greeted, letting himself into Draco’s room, “How are you feeling.”
Smiling softly Draco replied, “Just one of those days.”
James signed and slipped under the covers, wrapping his arms loosely around Draco. “I’m sorry.”
Draco turned to his side and buried his face into James’s shirt. James smelt of sandy beaches and salt water. “You went surfing this morning?”
James nodded arms tightening around Draco, “Yeah, nothing like the feeling of being crushed by the waves to start your day.”
Draco smirked into James’s shirt and snorted, “And showing off to the hot young life-guards.”
Draco could almost hear James blushing, and sure enough when he looked up James’s face was as red as a tomato, reminding him very much of his ex-lover. Draco looked away and turned onto his to other side away from James. Sometime he couldn’t help but look at James and think of Harry. They could have been twins other than a few distinguishing differences. James too, supported a head of uncontrollable black hair, and similar face shape to Harry. However while Harry’s eyes were emerald green, James’s eyes were blue and James, offcourse had no scar or glasses. He had scoffed when Draco has asked him if he thought magic existed. Even his name reminded him of Harry. But James had a very cute Australian accent that Draco loved to listen to, something Harry definitely didn’t have.
James White was the best flat mate anyone could ask for. He owned some of the apartments in the area and spent most of his days surfing and managing an upper-class hotel where Draco worked as an accountant. As it turned out, managing finances in the Muggle world was not much different from the Wizarding world. Sunset resort was a fairly large hotel that mainly catered for the wealthier tourists that visited the area.
After finding out that Draco lived in one of the apartments he owned, James had invited Draco to be his flat mate, cutting down his living expenses. Draco had accepted mainly due to his new found fear of being alone in such a large apartment. That had been two years ago, and now Draco was more or less content with what he had, despite his on and off days.
Depression, James had called what he was experiencing. Such an ugly word Draco had thought while his face had scrunched up in distaste. These on and off days had started not long he had settled into his apartment. James had begged him to go see a Muggle psychiatrist but he had flat out refused. After the third argument where Draco had threatened to move out James had finally relented, and resorted to making Draco fruity concoctions that never failed to cheer Draco up.
Draco pulled his blankets over his head and reached to turn the air conditioner on, one think that he didn’t like Australia was the extreme heat. He turned back over to James and snuggled into his chest again.
“Sleep,” he said when he felt James shift beside him.
“Okay,” James said amusement in his tone, “Do you think you’ll feel better afterwards.
Draco shrugged and leaned into James’s fingers when he started running fingers through Draco’s soft blonde hair, finally slipping back into a peaceful slumber.
~*~
When Draco woke next, it seemed that most of the day had passed, he reached out beside him and felt the empty space. James had woken up and had probably gone to work, the benefits of being a manager was you could work anytime and anywhere you wanted to. Sometimes when Draco had one of his ‘off days’ James would bring his work home and stay with him.
Draco stretched and flipped his blanket off, only to quickly cover himself again. The room was freezing! He reached out and switched the air conditioner off; then waited several moments before getting out off bed. He headed out towards the balcony of his room and saw on the swing/chair that James had gotten him the last Christmas.
Draco looked peacefully at the dark looming clouds, sometimes the weather amazed him, it could be so hot and sunny in the morning, yet so cloudy and stormy in the afternoon of the same day. He wondered when James was going to return home, nights like these were best spent in front of the television watching lame horrors.
So intent on his thoughts and watching the lightning in the distance, Draco didn’t notice the red envelope that suddenly appeared beside him. He jumped when a unfamiliar yet familiar voice rang loudly through the air.
“This is your only warning, stay away from him or suffer the consequences. He belongs to me.”
Draco stared in amazement as the howler burst into flame after delivering its prompt but nasty message.
Stay away from who? Draco asked himself, surely they didn’t mean James?
~*~
When James got home that night Draco had already decided to ignore the howler and was comfortably seated in front of the television watching a talk show about ex’s who stalked their ex’s.
Death threats to Draco were almost like junk mail, during the period of the war and afterwards, they were a daily occurrence. The first few had left him scared and trembling in rage at the injustice of it all, but after a while when he realised that there were nothing more than threats he stopped looking over his shoulder when he left his flat or double checking that his doors and windows were locked every night. While he was surprised that an own had managed to find him all the way in Australia, he wasn’t worried, some people took longer to let go than others.
“Feeling better I see,” James said sitting down next to him, with a beer in one had and one of his fruity concoctions in the other.
Draco nodded absentmindedly accepting the drink, eyes not leaving the television screen. Finally when the show ended Draco turned to James only to see him watching Draco intently.
“What?” Draco asked, knowing that he sounded defensive but he was rather unnerved by James’s stare, the intensity in it mirroring Harry’s immensely.
James’s just shook his head, as if trying to clear his mind and handed Draco some DVD’s, “I got us some horrors. Want to order pizza?”
“No pineapples,” Draco said in reply, reading the back cover of the horrors, James always managed to pick movies that scared Draco so much he would lose sleep for days. Not that he would ever tell James that.
“Brat,” James muttered fondly as he dialled the number, “ I like pineapples.”
Draco smirked as he put in the first movie. He made way to the kitchen to make himself some popcorn, assured that James wouldn’t order anything with pineapple in it.
~*~
Draco jumped when he heard the loud banging on their front door, causing James to burst out laughing beside him. Draco rolled his eyes and gave James what he thought was his most icy death glare, James had really outdone himself this time. The horror he had borrowed had Draco clinging onto him like a girl.
He got up and grabbed his wallet, telling James to continue watching without him. He was glad the pizza was here, he was hungry and freaked out; this was a good excuse to miss out on another scary scene. He almost laughed when he got to the door and saw the pizza delivery guy drenched from head to toe. The pizza seemed safe in its thick waterproof bag. Feeling generous he tipped the poor guy and offered him some towels to dry himself off.
This is good, Draco thought to himself, the longer the boy took the less he would see of the movie. He froze however when a flash of lightning streaked through the sky and lit up the hallway outside their apartment. He could of sworn there was a dark cloaked figure standing in the hallway, but when he blinked the figure was gone. He nodded vaguely when the pizza guy thanked him, and double checked the locked the door twice before he went back to the couch. He shrugged it off, must have just been a trick of the light, or far too many horrors.
James was frowning at the pizza boxes when he returned, “I thought I told them not to put any pineapples in it.
“It’s fine,” Draco said grabbing a slice of pineapple free pizza, “I’ll just have to pick them out.”
“Weird,” James said shrugging, “Some pieces are nothing but pineapple, and some have none on them at all.”
“Hmm,” Draco replied, sometimes he thought that James fancied himself a detective. The pizza had a slight different taste to it, but otherwise Draco thought it was delicious.
~*~
The next morning Draco woke to the sound of James calling his name. This morning seemed to be worse than the last, he felt horrible. And hot, and sweaty, he was sure he turned on the air last night before he went to sleep.
“Come on Draco,” James said frantically, “You have to get up.”
Draco was already drifting off to sleep again, “I’m sleepy Harry, leave me alone.”
Already in deep slumber, he didn’t notice the look of shock that crossed the other mans face.
~*~
When Draco was next conscious, he felt himself being positioned upright on the bed, his mouth being gently pried open. Something that tasted suspiciously like James’s fruity concoction was being poured down his throat.
Really, Draco thought, he might like the drinks James makes him, but pouring it down his throat while he was sleeping was a bit much. And why couldn’t he open his eyes? They felt incredibly heavy.
He heard someone swear as he gagged on the concoction, someone that sounded a lot like Shape. Then someone whispered something softly by his ear and the gagging stopped the drink travelling uninhibited down his throat. Then he slipped back into unconsciousness.
~*~
This time when Draco woke, he knew it was morning by the way the sun shone onto his body through the thin curtains. For some reason he felt extremely famished, despite having half a box of pizza’s to himself the night before.
Well your going to have to wait, he admonished his grumbling stomach, I am not going to be fat just because you’re a gluttonous pig.
He raised his hands planning to rub his stomach when he realised it was being held. He looked over to see James lying next to him on the bed. He was quite surprised, although not unpleasantly so. Although he and James often openly showed affection for one another they had not gone beyond friends. And sleeping in each others beds throughout the night was definitely a first.
Even when slept he reminded Draco of Harry, from the way his face relaxed into a childlike expression to the frequent furrowing of his brows. Perhaps this was why their relationship had never progressed into anything more. He couldn’t help comparing the two, although he wasn’t quite sure of James’s preferences, he had never really shown any indication either way.
James must have sensed that someone was staring at him, the next thing Draco knew his eyes shot open and his grip on Draco’s hand tightened. Once he saw that Draco was awake he breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said pulling Draco into a hug.
“What do you mean?” Draco asked wondering if James had gone made, they had only spoken a few short hours ago, when he had teased Draco about clinging onto him like a girl during the scarier parts of the movie.
James hesitated then replied cautiously, “You had food poisoning Draco. You’ve been unconscious for almost a week.”
“The pizza?” Draco asked looking surprised when James nodded, “did you get poisoned too?”
James shook his head, looking quite puzzled himself, “I’m fine.”
Draco shrugged and tried to sit up. Upon closer inspection James looked horrible, his hair looked like a flock of birds had built its nest in it, his face scruffy from what looked like days of neglecting to shave, his eyes red and his face looking weary. “You look like crap.”
James’s laughed beside him, that deep throated laugh that warmed Draco’s heart.
“I was worried,” James said hesitantly, “You weren’t responding, you looked so deathly and pale, throwing up every hour and muttering in your sleep.”
“I most certainly did not look like death,” Draco huffed. “Why aren’t I in hospital?”
James smirked as he got up and started over to Draco’s closet, “I would never inflict your presence upon those poor hospital employees again. They practically begged me to take you home last time you were there. I hired a nurse while you were sick.”
Draco was about to retort but blushed as his stomach suddenly let out a loud grumble. James laughed and tossed Draco some pyjamas.
He walked into Draco’s bathroom and Draco heard the sound of running water.
“I’m starting a bath for you,” James started, “think you’ll be right on your own?”
“Of course I will, why wouldn’t I be?”
James scoffed, “Well you were really out of it every other time I washed you.”
“You bathed me!?” Draco screeched, sounding amazingly feminine.
“Well it was either me or the nurse,” James said nonchalantly, “and she seemed far to keen to get her hands on your for my liking.”
Draco blushed; taking the hand James offered him.
“Thanks,” he muttered softly and let James help him into the bathroom.
~*~
Draco smirked at James’s retreating back; he knew he had won that argument. It was two days after Draco had recovered from his bout of poisoning and he was bored out of his mind. James wanted him to take another day off, but Draco had refused, adamant that he was going to get out of the ‘dreary apartment.’ James had finally given in after Draco promised to let James drive him to work and have lunch with him.
He whistled cheerily to himself as he started clearing away the dishes, the general rule was that James cook and he clean up afterwards. Draco’s whistling came to an abrupt halt when he heard an all too familiar voice rang through the apartment.
“You have been warned.”
Turning towards the voice he watched in morbid fascination as the red howler burst in flames once again before him. Then before the howler had even extinguished itself Draco heard a loud crack in the air and standing before him was none other than Ginny Weasley-Potter. She launched towards him and grabbed his arm, before Draco could call James for help the room twisted around him and disappeared from view.
~*~
“You’re wasting your breath Weaslette, I haven’t seen Potter for at least three years now,” Draco said impatiently. Sweat trickling down his brow, the heat in the air told him that they were still in Australia, in some dark danky warehouse that must have seen better days.
It would seem to Draco that Ginny Weasley-Potter had misplaced her husband. Draco wasn’t surprised really; Harry had never really been the faithful one in the relationship. Although on closer inspection Draco knew that if the Weaslette had looked like that he would have left her too. It seemed that the Weaslette had not bothered to take a shower for at least a week, her flaming red hair was now lifeless and surrounded her face in thick oily clumps. Her eyes framed by dark shadows that Draco knew only came from long periods of lack of sleep. But what Draco thought was the worse was the way her skin hung from her frame, very much resembling a skeleton.
Ginny Weasley-Potter’s face twisted in rage as she heard Draco’s words, she stalked towards him and dug her rough nails into his shoulder. “Don’t lie to me Malfoy, he said he was going after you.”
Draco shrugged, ignoring the flare of hope that still hadn’t extinguished even after all these years. “Well I haven’t seen him.”
If Draco thought she would be pleased to hear him say that, he was sorely mistaken. Ginny pulled away from Draco and held out her wand. She muttered an incantation that he couldn’t catch and the next thing he knew he was illuminated by a green light that seemed to displease her.
She launched at him and slapped him so hard, his head knocked into the wall harshly behind him.
“You liar!” she screeched, “He’s all over you!”
Draco looked her, amazed. He couldn’t help thinking that she had gone totally insane.
“Get a hold of yourself woman,” Draco yelled, “I told you I haven’t seen him. You can be sure that if I had seen him, I would be rubbing it in your face. So let me go, or my flatmate will come and knock your lights out. Even if you are a woman, I’ve seen him do it!”
Ginny disregarded Draco’s words and looked at him with narrow eyes; she seemed to be calculating something in her mind. Suddenly she let out a burst maniacal laughter and smirked at him.
“Oh Draco,” she said sweetly, sitting herself on his lap. “How blind you’ve been.”
Draco cringed when she leant closer to his ear, shifting uncomfortably. Although she weighed next to nothing, her putrid scent travelled up his nose in an unpleasant manner, he wanted to gag, she smelt strongly of floral scents and dried sweat.
“Get off me and go find your husband,” Draco said roughly trying to throw her off his lap, but failing miserably due to the restriction from the magical binds.
Ginny’s grin widened as she joined her arms at the back of Draco’s neck, “Oh don’t you know Draco; I’ve never been Mrs. Potter.”
Draco’s confused expression made Ginny laugh at him mockingly, “Oh how isolated you’ve been. I guess you don’t know that my father is the new Minister of Magic either.”
Draco couldn’t care less if Vincent Goyle was the next Minister of Magic. If Harry didn’t marry Ginny Weasley, and Ginny Weasley was here apparently on Harry’s trail. And that spell, now he wasn’t so sure she screwed it up. Did that mean…
“Yes Draco,” Ginny said sweetly as if she could read his mind, “Harry’s here with you… his been with you for a very long time judging from the traces of his magic on you.”
Draco was speechless; this was like something out of his best fantasies, Harry leaving the Weaslette and coming after him. But then if the Weaslette was right then where was Harry?
He looked at her dubiously.
Ginny shot him a knowing smile, “Don’t worry Draco,” she said in an obvious mocking tone. “You will see him very soon.”
Draco nodded tiredly, exhaustion overcoming him. Perhaps James had been right; he should have stayed home to rest today. Oh god, he had forgotten all about James, he must be frantic with worry. James was horrible dealing with strong emotions, every time he became too stressed or angry his entire being looked like it was about to burst. Draco had only witnessed two occasions and although he was ashamed to admit it, they were both on his behalf. The first time was when this young girl had developed a crush on Draco, and had actually slashed Draco across his palm when she threatened him to return her love or she would commit suicide. James had been so angry that he had knocked her unconscious. The second time had been Draco had caught a particularly nasty strand of the flu and landed himself in hospital.
He could almost imagine what James would look like at this very moment, his face would be red with worry and anger, his hair probably resembling a birds nest from continuously running his hand through them.
Draco blinked when his vision of James appeared before his very eyes. One minute the space was empty, the next James stood there occupying it. Looking exactly like he imagined, he must be more tired than he had previously thought.
The vision of James spoke, “let go of him Ginny.”
Draco wondered if the Weaslette’s insanity vibe was contagious. It was either that or Draco was too overcome by exhaustion. Come to think of it, it seemed to be taking a lot of effort to try and keep his eyes open. However at the Weaslette’s next words Draco’s snapped open.
“Harry?”
“Harry?” Draco echoed, then laughed, “that’s not Harry, his my flat mate James. James White.”
“James?” the Weaslette asked then laughed loudly, “Very original Harry.”
“You are crazy woman,” Draco said impatiently, “That’s James my flat mate, he just looks like…”
Draco trailed off, how could he have been so blind? How could he have see Harry in James and not put two and two together? Harry certainly hadn’t done a very good job at disguising himself. Draco felt torn between elation and an unexpected anger that Harry had let Draco believe a lie for almost two years.
Draco avoided looking at James- No, Harry’s eyes too afraid of what he might see if he did look up.
The Weaslette hopped off his lap and walked over to Harry, swaying her hips in what she must have thought was a seductive manner. “You can drop the glamour now Harry, he knows that it’s you.”
Times seemed to crawl by as Harry whispered the incantations and James’s features slowly faded into the face Draco knew so well. First to appear was his world famous scar, then his pupils rippled, green rapidly replacing the blue. His nose than seemed to deflate a little, his lips seemed less full. After all these years, Harry was still the most beautiful thing he had ever lay eyes on.
“I’m sorry Draco,” Harry apologized, the Australian accent totally gone from his voice.
Draco nodded looking away. He could feel a headache coming on, that included with his exhaustion made Draco feel extremely irritable. Still unable to look at Harry he looked over at the Weaslette to see her looking at Harry like she wanted to eat him alive.
Suddenly everything became too much for Draco to handle, the heat from the warehouse, his exhaustion, the overwhelming feelings that had yet to identify, this crazy situation, he closed his eyes and muttered, “I want to go home.”
Then he welcomed the darkness with open arms.
~*~
When Draco came to consciousness he knew he was at home. The smell of fresh sheets and cool air filled his senses.
“Draco?” a voice called, he assumed it was James-
James - no, not James; Harry. Draco’s eyes snapped open and there was Harry leaning over him with that damned fruity concoction in his hands. Draco accepted the drink gratefully, almost snatching it out of Harry’s hands.
“This isn’t just a homemade fruit juice is it?” He asked after downing the whole cup.
Harry smiled sheepishly and ran his hands though his hair, “It does have a bit of pepper up potion and a mild cheering potion.”
Draco eyed his empty cup suspiciously, “Did you make this?”
“No,” Harry quickly reassured him, “Snape did.”
“Snape?” Draco asked incredulously, “Snape knows I’m here to? Does everyone know?”
“I’m sorry,” Harry said, running his hands through his hair again, “I didn’t know what to do, you were so depressed and sad, and you wouldn’t go see a psychiatrist. So I went to see Snape to see if he had any suggestions. And… well he’s been making you that potion.”
“I see,” Draco said feeling rather lost. When Harry was nervous he seemed to ramble. “Harry, what are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry Draco,” Harry muttered, “I know you didn’t want to see me again so soon, but you just got better and all this happened I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to handle it when you woke up. So I - ”
“Harry!” Draco yelled, “What are you doing here? Here in Australia? Here, working in a Muggle hotel, pretending to be someone else.”
Draco could see Harry fidgeting nervously with the edges of his covers, head bowed intent on not looking at Draco.
“Are you sure you’re well enough to hear it all?” Harry asked hesitantly. Looking up at Draco under his eye lashes. Once upon a time that look would have been enough for Harry to get Draco to obey to every one of his whims. But today Draco just wanted Harry to answer his questions; he gave Harry an impatient glare.
Harry sighed, and sat up so that he was eye level with Draco.
“That night when I left your apartment I was so disappointed. I wanted you to stop me and beg me not to marry Ginny. I didn’t want to marry her, but you were so nonchalant about our relationship. Ginny was so safe, being with her was so simple. I had always dreamt of a white picket fence and children. Ginny could have given that to me.
“Those two weeks before the wedding were the worse moments in my life. I was always by the phone, in case you decided to ring me. I jumped every time the door bell rang. When the night before the wedding finally came around I was practically a wreck. I kept imagining the rest of my life, and it scared me. A life without you in it.
“Then I finally made my decision. I didn’t care that you were so cold, or if you didn’t give the damn about our relationship. I was sure I would make you see reason, convince you that you felt the same way I did. But that morning when I apparated into your apartment. It was so eerily empty, I remember that was the first time I had ever been so scared. I was so scared that you had left, and I would never see you again.
“I didn’t even show up to the wedding. I just left back a note of apology and went looking for you. I found Snape and when he didn’t know where you were I tried tracking you down by sensing your magical signature. The last place it felt strongest was at the London airport. So I went there.
“I was so frustrated when I realised that your name didn’t appear on their books or computer at all, I realised you must of used a fake name. It took me months but I finally managed to get a job there as a security guard. I started looking through the tape recordings looking for you. Then I realised you had gone to Australia.
“When I got here and saw you, I didn’t know what to do. You had obviously gone so far to get away from me, if I showed up, I was afraid that you would run again. So I spent six months watching you, and becoming this James White person. I brought several apartment complexes knowing that you were looking for somewhere to stay. When I found out you were working at that Muggle hotel as their accountant I applied for their management position.
“And the rest, you know… It killed me to be living in the next room as you and not be able to touch you, or kiss you. I hated that every time you looked at me you saw a stranger instead of someone you’ve known for most of your life. You were so miserable, so depressed I wanted to kiss you and make love to you, make all your sadness and insecurities go away.”
Harry paused tracing a finger over Draco’s lips, “It’s been so long, but I can remember just the way you taste.”
He reached down and grabbed both Draco’s hands, “I was so scared when I saw Ginny take you away this morning. You were just getting better, you shouldn’t have even been going to work, let alone be apparated all over the place. I’m sorry. Ginny’s gone now, they took her to St. Mungo’s, you’re safe from her now. She’s the one that poisoned you, she put the poison one the pizza base and the antidote in the pineapples. But I promise if she ever hurts you again… I’ll make sure she regrets more than she already does. I don’t want to, but I swear if you want me to leave Draco, just say the word and I’ll never appear before you again.”
Draco looked into Harry’s teary eyes; they were filled with so much hope, fear and love. Harry was the bravest man in the world but right at this moment, he was trembling in fear that Draco would reject him. He didn’t care about Ginny Weasley at the moment he was oddly grateful towards her. If she hadn’t appeared they may still be stuck in their little lies. All the love and longing that he felt for Harry burst through his body, like he hadn’t spent the last three years trying to make them go away.
He could feel his eyes watering, and he held onto Harry’s as tight as he could, “I love you, Harry. Don’t leave me.”
“Oh Draco,” Harry exclaimed, voice filled with so much joy. He pulled Draco into a hug. “I’m never going to leave you again.”
“I’m sorry,” Draco sobbed into Harry’s shoulder, “I thought you didn’t love me, I thought I was just a phase. I was scared that once you became an official Weasley you wouldn’t pay anymore attention to me. I thought you loved her.”
Harry’s chest heaved and Draco realised Harry too was crying, silent tears running down the side of his face. “I’ve loved you from our very first kiss.”
“The beginning of seventh year then,” Draco said mischievously, wiping away the tears on Harry’s face.
“Yes,” Harry agreed, his eyes trailing away from Draco’s and focused onto lips.
Draco smirked and ran his tongue over his lips, knowing that it drove Harry crazy when he did that. And sure enough the next thing he knew Harry’s lips were on his, kissing Draco hungrily, lovingly and passionately all at the same time.
For the first time in his life Draco’s entire being was filled with hope and love, love for Harry. Draco knew that it was going to take a while, a lot of love, a lot of arguments, and probably a lot of make up sex.
But they were going to be fine.
Do tell me what you think guys! :D