Marketing Malfoy's, Chapter 5
Title: Marketing Malfoy's, Chapter 5
Author/Artist: digthewriter
Word Count: 2980
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Warnings: Modern!Au/Muggle Au - Non magic.
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: READ CHAPTER ONE, CHAPTER TWO, CHAPTER THREE, CHAPTER FOUR
Summary: Draco meets Pansy for dinner
On Wednesday morning, Draco received an email from Neville who had been working from home. The baby was out of danger, and it turned out he'd caught a nasty ear infection and had to have an overnight stay in the Emergency Room. Now that he was back home, Neville and Hannah decided to stay in to make sure there were no more mishaps.
At the thought, Draco made a mental note to ring up Astoria to see how she was doing. Sure, Draco was having dinner with Pansy tonight, but Pansy never talked about anything but herself and if he were to ask after Astoria, she'd only dismiss his concerns, or make a big deal about them.
Draco, Z. Smith from Potter Industries has asked for us to email them our presentation from Monday. Do you think it's safe?
Z. Smith? Draco tried long and hard to remember who that was. He brought up the Potter Industries website and went over the employee list. Harry Potter, CEO, was obviously listed at the top. Draco caught himself smiling at the name, and then scowled at getting distracted. After Harry had left on Monday evening, he hadn't called or messaged Draco. Not that Draco had done any of those things, either. He clicked on Harry's name and the website showed a picture of him and talked about his credentials. At the very bottom of the page, Draco found: In order to get in touch with Harry Potter, please contact Mr Potter's PA: Zacharias Smith, at Z.Smith@PotterIndustries.co.uk.
"Zach," Draco said. We have your contact information, so I'll just message you later, after my PA, Zach has made reservations.
Draco remembered Harry's words. He'd talked about his PA, who had made reservations at the curry place for Monday night. Nevertheless, why would Potter Industries, or Potter and Friends, Inc. have wanted the presentation?
They all signed the privacy contract. No matter whether they took Marketing Malfoy's business or not, they were not allowed to discuss their business matters with anyone outside the agency. The PR privacy came first. If they passed around the presentation highlighting their advertising techniques, the company would get nowhere.
Draco replied to Neville.
You can email it to them, but just to be safe, also attach the copy of the privacy contract. We have their signatures on file in pdf. Even though we haven't signed the work contract, they are still under obligation to not share any of our marketing tools. Not sure what they'd want it for, but, we must be safe.
After a quick back and forth interaction with Neville over email, Draco busied himself for the staff meeting with the interns, and then another one to discuss marketing strategy with his new Project Leader. If they had Potter and Friends, Inc. in the bag, then they could focus on a different account. They weren't going to run out of funds any time soon, but Draco wanted to set an example for his team about always moving forward.
-*-*-
The day went by in a blur, and it wasn't until four o'clock that Draco hadn't realised he'd missed lunch, and his phone call to Astoria. Now if he called her, Pansy would have been home, and that was a can of worms he wasn't ready to open yet.
He asked his Office Manager, Millicent, to fetch him a sandwich and a fizzy drink. She was a lifesaver as she tended to store extra sandwiches in her mini fridge. When she returned to his office with the heated panini, she also handed Draco his messages. Two were from his mother, one from Pansy, reminding him about the dinner, and third was from Harry.
"Mr Potter just wanted me to let you know he'd called. No message, though."
Draco's heart skipped at the mention of Harry's name. He waited for Millicent to leave the room and close the door behind her before he adjusted his trousers. His heart wasn't the only thing that had had a reaction at the mention of his name. Draco picked up his mobile and went through his text messages. Harry's number wasn't stored in his mobile, but he did have a text saved from him from Monday about the dinner.
Draco pressed the call button and dialled the number.
"This is Harry," the voice said on the other line.
"Hi, It's Draco...Malfoy," Draco said, suddenly nervous as if he were calling a girl and asking her to the dance.
"Draco!" Harry sounded delighted. "Give me a second," he said and there was some shuffling noises and what sounded like a door being closed. "Glad you called me."
"My office manager told me you'd rang. What can I do for you?"
Harry laughed softly. "It was more like, I was thinking if there was something I could do for you." Harry's voice was low and husky and Draco's cock stirred slightly. The memory of being on the sofa, with Harry in between his legs flashed in front of Draco.
He coughed, almost trying to clear his throat. "I-"
"Are you free for dinner?" Harry asked.
"Tonight, I've got-"
"Right. The dinner with your sister," Harry said.
"Keeping tabs on me, Potter?"
"And if I said I was?" The teasing tone in Harry's voice was gone.
"What did you have in mind?" Draco asked, trying not to read too much into it.
"How late is your dinner going to run?"
"Depends on how much of a bitch my sister can be," Draco said and then Harry laughed again. Draco laughed with him, though he was actually being serious.
"Message me when you think you're about done. I'll come by and pick you up."
"You don't know where I'll be."
"Yeah, and I've got a fast ride. It won't matter. I can be there in record time," Harry said. Draco was about to say something else when Harry spoke again. "I'm really sorry but I've got to run to a meeting and I'm already five minutes late. My solicitor is glaring daggers at me through the window. Why don't we pick this up later?"
"Yeah, sure," Draco said, struggling to not sound thoroughly disappointed. He felt like he was getting brushed off, even though, this wasn't his idea. He didn't want to see Harry. Well he did, but he'd not wanted to see him in the first place and he would have been alright if they'd never continued but now-he was just annoyed that he seemed liked the one that was-
What do I even want? Draco stopped his train of thought to answer the question, however he didn't get a chance because his mobile beeped at the same time. It was a message from Harry.
Sorry had to run off. If I'd stayed on the phone any longer, people would have noticed and since we're trying to keep this quiet, I had to act like it was a business deal. But you know, it is not business at all.
Draco read the message and laughed at the wink face Harry had attached in the next message. No one in the past had ever managed make Draco doubt himself so much. There was just something about Harry he couldn't figure out. It wasn't the confident persona, or the sex appeal - and there was sex appeal there - maybe because Harry just always seemed like two different people. There was the work Harry of Potter Industries that was famous, and confident, and put together; and then there was the Harry Draco had seen the first night, when he wasn't Potter. The Harry from the drunken kisses, and fumbling clothes, and morning blow jobs. He far preferred the Harry from his bed more than Harry Potter, public figure.
His office phone rang and Draco saw it was Neville calling; all thoughts being left aside, Draco returned to work.
-*-*-
Much to Draco's surprise, Pansy was already waiting at the bar when he arrived at the Three Horse Tavern. He'd had Millicent make the reservations and had showed up ten minutes early. He was hoping for some clear mental space before dealing with his former best friend who was now his step-sister. Ever since their parents had married, Pansy had only pulled away from Draco. Maybe it was a sort of betrayal she'd seen from her dad's side, as if marrying Draco's mum was pretending Pansy's mother's memory was tarnished. Of course, Draco had not felt this way. He'd thought everything would have been better, but after Pansy had latched herself onto her work and then Astoria, she'd constantly pulled away. The only time she’d be on Narcissa's side was when they were both ganged up against him.
"To what do I owe the honour?" Draco teased after they were sat at their table and the waiter had taken their drink orders.
"Must you always go with the theatrics?" Pansy snapped.
"Sorry. Didn't realise this was serious," Draco said, straightening up. "Everything okay, Pans?"
The waiter brought their bottle of wine, and they both ordered the same meal as they always did at Three Horse. Roast beef and potatoes for Draco, and grilled salmon for Pansy.
"Astoria has left me," Pansy said after finishing her first glass of wine in one go.
Talk about theatrics.
Draco only took one sip of wine then. This was going to be one of those kinds of nights and he knew he'd end up driving her car to her place before phoning a taxi home. For a brief moment, he thought about Harry. Harry had offered to pick him up from the restaurant, but Draco dismissed the entire ordeal. This was not the time to think about his own pleasure.
"What happened?" Draco asked, diverting his attention back to Pansy.
"She saw a few messages on my mobile and well they weren't exactly-appropriate."
"Appropriate?" Draco said, raising an eyebrow. Had Pansy's extra-marital affairs finally caught on with her? For a brief second, Draco was proud of Astoria. It was one thing to suspect your wife, but the fact if Astoria had actually got proof now, and she'd left, that was really commending. Honestly, Draco didn't think she had it in her.
"What are you going to do?" he asked when Pansy didn't respond.
Pansy shrugged and started to butter the bread placed in the middle of their table. She was clearly avoiding.
"It was a man, wasn't it?" Draco asked, even though he knew by Pansy's reactions he didn't need to. Pansy, just like Draco, was bisexual. Except, a long time ago, Draco had turned away from the side where he'd dated women. They just didn't do anything for them-not like men, at least. Nothing like Harry. And when Pansy had married Astoria, he'd assumed she had too.
"It's not the point," Pansy said, annoyed. She filled her glass of wine again and started to drink from it. "Astoria has moved to Spain."
"Spain?" Draco was genuinely shocked at that. He knew the Greengrass family had an estate in Barcelona and Astoria had always talked about spending summers there, but she'd just upped and left?
"Now it's just the matter of the custody-"
Their food arrived then and Pansy gave the waiter an annoyed look, as if everything was that man's fault. They waited quietly until the waiters set up their table, placed everything neatly, asked after them, and left.
"Astoria is the biological parent," Draco said as he strained to stay calm. He couldn't believe Pansy wanted custody. Pansy had only wanted the kid in the first place so she could seem more human when she was interviewed by the Art Weekly as the youngest Art Curator in the history of British Museum. It made her seemed like a down-to-earth settled woman who had it all: a successful career and a family.
"Mother agrees with me," Pansy said. Draco huffed out a small laugh at the words and Pansy glowered at him. "It is her grandchild."
"If Mother wishes to see him, then she'll have to make arrangements with Astoria. If Astoria has left the UK, there's even little you can do. She's his sole guardian. Unless you hire a solicitor and are willing to spend the money-"
"This is why I've asked you to help," Pansy said and Draco cringed. "I mean you are-"
"I'm not Scorpius's father, Pansy. Not legally, and not emotionally. I've met the boy only a handful of times, when he was born, on the day he was baptized, and then his last birthday. I can't maintain any sort of hold in the matter."
"You can always say you wish to be involved in his life. Force her to keep Scorpius in London."
"He's not a pet!" Draco said, annoyed. Years ago when Pansy had asked Draco for the favour, he'd turned her down immediately. But it was his mother who had convinced him. The child, Scorpius, biologically belonged to Draco and Astoria, and even though Draco wasn't against the idea of having a son someday, at the age of twenty-six, he hadn't been ready.
He didn't have a problem with being Uncle Draco. The one who swifted in and out with presents and let the boy have a normal life. Now, he couldn't imagine himself being in the middle of this faux-custody battle, especially when he knew Astoria was the better parent and that Scorpius was in safe hands.
"I'm not asking for much," Pansy said when they'd been quiet for too long and Draco was simply picking on his food. "Just think about it, please? It would mean the world to me and Narcissa doesn't think flying to Barcelona all the time is going to be good for her."
Draco resisted rolling his eyes. He wanted to say there was always Skype, but he didn't want Pansy to throw wine on his face. "What do you want from me? Submit a legal order?"
"No, of course not," she said as if Draco was talking crazy. "Just email her and ask her to think over my request. To give full parental custody to me."
"Fine," Draco said; he just nodded and said he'd think it over, which he knew he wouldn't. All he wanted to do now was to go home and email Astoria congratulating her on finally ridding herself of the crazy.
Of course, Astoria had loved Pansy and maybe she still did, so he wouldn't do that. He'd email her, though. Even if he weren’t sure what he'd say exactly.
"Thanks, Draco! I knew I could always count on you."
They finished off their meals and just as Draco had predicted, Pansy finished off the wine. Draco wasn't feeling up to anything anymore so he said no to dessert and took Pansy's car keys to drive her home.
"You are the best, Draco," she said when he dropped her off at her flat and parked her car in the garage. He was going to leave the keys under the front seat where she would eventually find them. The garage had surveillance and security, so he wasn't worried about theft, not that Pansy would have cared. She would have found that as an excuse to buy something new.
-*-*-
It wasn't too late out, so Draco decided to walk a few blocks before he'd find a taxi station and go home. He felt winded. Scorpius was a great little boy, but he wasn't Draco's. He hated that even though he had signed off the legal paperwork ridding himself of all parental obligations, he felt like he wasn't being honest. Scorpius needed a father. Didn't he? It was different before when he had Astoria and Pansy but now Pansy was out of the picture, he couldn't help but wonder if he should offer his help to Astoria.
Pansy would never agree for joint custody. She would have dragged the matter in the courts for as long as it was possible. Draco didn't want to put Scorpius through that. He didn't want to put any of them through that. There was no way his mother would agree with Pansy. If she were worried about not seeing her grandchild enough, Draco would fly her out to Barcelona every other week if she wanted.
When he realised he'd finally walked enough, Draco looked up and noticed he was standing near the Royale Hotel. If he walked in, he could get the concierge to call him a cab. As soon as he was about to cross the street, his phone rang.
"Hello?" Draco said absentmindedly; he hadn't recognised the number.
"You sound like you're a million miles away." Harry.
"Right, sorry. I got caught up with-"
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, of course. Just had to drop my sister off at her place and I was walking back to get a taxi."
"And you forgot my offer?" Harry asked, sounding slightly disappointed, Draco thought. Maybe he was reading too much into it.
Draco laughed awkwardly into the phone. "No. I just got some interesting news and wasn't entirely in a celebratory mood," Draco said honestly. Given that they were just doing this for fun and no matter how much Draco enjoyed being with Harry, he also had to be truthful. He wouldn't be able to enjoy himself with Harry if he was still thinking about everything else that revolved around his family. "I didn't want to waste your time-"
"Did you know apart from giving fantastic blow jobs, I'm also a good listener." Harry paused for a few moments before continuing, "I might know just the thing to take your mind off your worries. I mean, if that's what you want. I don't mean to push..." He paused again.
It was obvious that Harry was trying to be a friend, and if Draco were honest with himself, he could use a friend. "What did you have in mind?" CHAPTER SIX
Author/Artist: digthewriter
Word Count: 2980
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Warnings: Modern!Au/Muggle Au - Non magic.
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: READ CHAPTER ONE, CHAPTER TWO, CHAPTER THREE, CHAPTER FOUR
Summary: Draco meets Pansy for dinner
On Wednesday morning, Draco received an email from Neville who had been working from home. The baby was out of danger, and it turned out he'd caught a nasty ear infection and had to have an overnight stay in the Emergency Room. Now that he was back home, Neville and Hannah decided to stay in to make sure there were no more mishaps.
At the thought, Draco made a mental note to ring up Astoria to see how she was doing. Sure, Draco was having dinner with Pansy tonight, but Pansy never talked about anything but herself and if he were to ask after Astoria, she'd only dismiss his concerns, or make a big deal about them.
Draco, Z. Smith from Potter Industries has asked for us to email them our presentation from Monday. Do you think it's safe?
Z. Smith? Draco tried long and hard to remember who that was. He brought up the Potter Industries website and went over the employee list. Harry Potter, CEO, was obviously listed at the top. Draco caught himself smiling at the name, and then scowled at getting distracted. After Harry had left on Monday evening, he hadn't called or messaged Draco. Not that Draco had done any of those things, either. He clicked on Harry's name and the website showed a picture of him and talked about his credentials. At the very bottom of the page, Draco found: In order to get in touch with Harry Potter, please contact Mr Potter's PA: Zacharias Smith, at Z.Smith@PotterIndustries.co.uk.
"Zach," Draco said. We have your contact information, so I'll just message you later, after my PA, Zach has made reservations.
Draco remembered Harry's words. He'd talked about his PA, who had made reservations at the curry place for Monday night. Nevertheless, why would Potter Industries, or Potter and Friends, Inc. have wanted the presentation?
They all signed the privacy contract. No matter whether they took Marketing Malfoy's business or not, they were not allowed to discuss their business matters with anyone outside the agency. The PR privacy came first. If they passed around the presentation highlighting their advertising techniques, the company would get nowhere.
Draco replied to Neville.
You can email it to them, but just to be safe, also attach the copy of the privacy contract. We have their signatures on file in pdf. Even though we haven't signed the work contract, they are still under obligation to not share any of our marketing tools. Not sure what they'd want it for, but, we must be safe.
After a quick back and forth interaction with Neville over email, Draco busied himself for the staff meeting with the interns, and then another one to discuss marketing strategy with his new Project Leader. If they had Potter and Friends, Inc. in the bag, then they could focus on a different account. They weren't going to run out of funds any time soon, but Draco wanted to set an example for his team about always moving forward.
-*-*-
The day went by in a blur, and it wasn't until four o'clock that Draco hadn't realised he'd missed lunch, and his phone call to Astoria. Now if he called her, Pansy would have been home, and that was a can of worms he wasn't ready to open yet.
He asked his Office Manager, Millicent, to fetch him a sandwich and a fizzy drink. She was a lifesaver as she tended to store extra sandwiches in her mini fridge. When she returned to his office with the heated panini, she also handed Draco his messages. Two were from his mother, one from Pansy, reminding him about the dinner, and third was from Harry.
"Mr Potter just wanted me to let you know he'd called. No message, though."
Draco's heart skipped at the mention of Harry's name. He waited for Millicent to leave the room and close the door behind her before he adjusted his trousers. His heart wasn't the only thing that had had a reaction at the mention of his name. Draco picked up his mobile and went through his text messages. Harry's number wasn't stored in his mobile, but he did have a text saved from him from Monday about the dinner.
Draco pressed the call button and dialled the number.
"This is Harry," the voice said on the other line.
"Hi, It's Draco...Malfoy," Draco said, suddenly nervous as if he were calling a girl and asking her to the dance.
"Draco!" Harry sounded delighted. "Give me a second," he said and there was some shuffling noises and what sounded like a door being closed. "Glad you called me."
"My office manager told me you'd rang. What can I do for you?"
Harry laughed softly. "It was more like, I was thinking if there was something I could do for you." Harry's voice was low and husky and Draco's cock stirred slightly. The memory of being on the sofa, with Harry in between his legs flashed in front of Draco.
He coughed, almost trying to clear his throat. "I-"
"Are you free for dinner?" Harry asked.
"Tonight, I've got-"
"Right. The dinner with your sister," Harry said.
"Keeping tabs on me, Potter?"
"And if I said I was?" The teasing tone in Harry's voice was gone.
"What did you have in mind?" Draco asked, trying not to read too much into it.
"How late is your dinner going to run?"
"Depends on how much of a bitch my sister can be," Draco said and then Harry laughed again. Draco laughed with him, though he was actually being serious.
"Message me when you think you're about done. I'll come by and pick you up."
"You don't know where I'll be."
"Yeah, and I've got a fast ride. It won't matter. I can be there in record time," Harry said. Draco was about to say something else when Harry spoke again. "I'm really sorry but I've got to run to a meeting and I'm already five minutes late. My solicitor is glaring daggers at me through the window. Why don't we pick this up later?"
"Yeah, sure," Draco said, struggling to not sound thoroughly disappointed. He felt like he was getting brushed off, even though, this wasn't his idea. He didn't want to see Harry. Well he did, but he'd not wanted to see him in the first place and he would have been alright if they'd never continued but now-he was just annoyed that he seemed liked the one that was-
What do I even want? Draco stopped his train of thought to answer the question, however he didn't get a chance because his mobile beeped at the same time. It was a message from Harry.
Sorry had to run off. If I'd stayed on the phone any longer, people would have noticed and since we're trying to keep this quiet, I had to act like it was a business deal. But you know, it is not business at all.
Draco read the message and laughed at the wink face Harry had attached in the next message. No one in the past had ever managed make Draco doubt himself so much. There was just something about Harry he couldn't figure out. It wasn't the confident persona, or the sex appeal - and there was sex appeal there - maybe because Harry just always seemed like two different people. There was the work Harry of Potter Industries that was famous, and confident, and put together; and then there was the Harry Draco had seen the first night, when he wasn't Potter. The Harry from the drunken kisses, and fumbling clothes, and morning blow jobs. He far preferred the Harry from his bed more than Harry Potter, public figure.
His office phone rang and Draco saw it was Neville calling; all thoughts being left aside, Draco returned to work.
-*-*-
Much to Draco's surprise, Pansy was already waiting at the bar when he arrived at the Three Horse Tavern. He'd had Millicent make the reservations and had showed up ten minutes early. He was hoping for some clear mental space before dealing with his former best friend who was now his step-sister. Ever since their parents had married, Pansy had only pulled away from Draco. Maybe it was a sort of betrayal she'd seen from her dad's side, as if marrying Draco's mum was pretending Pansy's mother's memory was tarnished. Of course, Draco had not felt this way. He'd thought everything would have been better, but after Pansy had latched herself onto her work and then Astoria, she'd constantly pulled away. The only time she’d be on Narcissa's side was when they were both ganged up against him.
"To what do I owe the honour?" Draco teased after they were sat at their table and the waiter had taken their drink orders.
"Must you always go with the theatrics?" Pansy snapped.
"Sorry. Didn't realise this was serious," Draco said, straightening up. "Everything okay, Pans?"
The waiter brought their bottle of wine, and they both ordered the same meal as they always did at Three Horse. Roast beef and potatoes for Draco, and grilled salmon for Pansy.
"Astoria has left me," Pansy said after finishing her first glass of wine in one go.
Talk about theatrics.
Draco only took one sip of wine then. This was going to be one of those kinds of nights and he knew he'd end up driving her car to her place before phoning a taxi home. For a brief moment, he thought about Harry. Harry had offered to pick him up from the restaurant, but Draco dismissed the entire ordeal. This was not the time to think about his own pleasure.
"What happened?" Draco asked, diverting his attention back to Pansy.
"She saw a few messages on my mobile and well they weren't exactly-appropriate."
"Appropriate?" Draco said, raising an eyebrow. Had Pansy's extra-marital affairs finally caught on with her? For a brief second, Draco was proud of Astoria. It was one thing to suspect your wife, but the fact if Astoria had actually got proof now, and she'd left, that was really commending. Honestly, Draco didn't think she had it in her.
"What are you going to do?" he asked when Pansy didn't respond.
Pansy shrugged and started to butter the bread placed in the middle of their table. She was clearly avoiding.
"It was a man, wasn't it?" Draco asked, even though he knew by Pansy's reactions he didn't need to. Pansy, just like Draco, was bisexual. Except, a long time ago, Draco had turned away from the side where he'd dated women. They just didn't do anything for them-not like men, at least. Nothing like Harry. And when Pansy had married Astoria, he'd assumed she had too.
"It's not the point," Pansy said, annoyed. She filled her glass of wine again and started to drink from it. "Astoria has moved to Spain."
"Spain?" Draco was genuinely shocked at that. He knew the Greengrass family had an estate in Barcelona and Astoria had always talked about spending summers there, but she'd just upped and left?
"Now it's just the matter of the custody-"
Their food arrived then and Pansy gave the waiter an annoyed look, as if everything was that man's fault. They waited quietly until the waiters set up their table, placed everything neatly, asked after them, and left.
"Astoria is the biological parent," Draco said as he strained to stay calm. He couldn't believe Pansy wanted custody. Pansy had only wanted the kid in the first place so she could seem more human when she was interviewed by the Art Weekly as the youngest Art Curator in the history of British Museum. It made her seemed like a down-to-earth settled woman who had it all: a successful career and a family.
"Mother agrees with me," Pansy said. Draco huffed out a small laugh at the words and Pansy glowered at him. "It is her grandchild."
"If Mother wishes to see him, then she'll have to make arrangements with Astoria. If Astoria has left the UK, there's even little you can do. She's his sole guardian. Unless you hire a solicitor and are willing to spend the money-"
"This is why I've asked you to help," Pansy said and Draco cringed. "I mean you are-"
"I'm not Scorpius's father, Pansy. Not legally, and not emotionally. I've met the boy only a handful of times, when he was born, on the day he was baptized, and then his last birthday. I can't maintain any sort of hold in the matter."
"You can always say you wish to be involved in his life. Force her to keep Scorpius in London."
"He's not a pet!" Draco said, annoyed. Years ago when Pansy had asked Draco for the favour, he'd turned her down immediately. But it was his mother who had convinced him. The child, Scorpius, biologically belonged to Draco and Astoria, and even though Draco wasn't against the idea of having a son someday, at the age of twenty-six, he hadn't been ready.
He didn't have a problem with being Uncle Draco. The one who swifted in and out with presents and let the boy have a normal life. Now, he couldn't imagine himself being in the middle of this faux-custody battle, especially when he knew Astoria was the better parent and that Scorpius was in safe hands.
"I'm not asking for much," Pansy said when they'd been quiet for too long and Draco was simply picking on his food. "Just think about it, please? It would mean the world to me and Narcissa doesn't think flying to Barcelona all the time is going to be good for her."
Draco resisted rolling his eyes. He wanted to say there was always Skype, but he didn't want Pansy to throw wine on his face. "What do you want from me? Submit a legal order?"
"No, of course not," she said as if Draco was talking crazy. "Just email her and ask her to think over my request. To give full parental custody to me."
"Fine," Draco said; he just nodded and said he'd think it over, which he knew he wouldn't. All he wanted to do now was to go home and email Astoria congratulating her on finally ridding herself of the crazy.
Of course, Astoria had loved Pansy and maybe she still did, so he wouldn't do that. He'd email her, though. Even if he weren’t sure what he'd say exactly.
"Thanks, Draco! I knew I could always count on you."
They finished off their meals and just as Draco had predicted, Pansy finished off the wine. Draco wasn't feeling up to anything anymore so he said no to dessert and took Pansy's car keys to drive her home.
"You are the best, Draco," she said when he dropped her off at her flat and parked her car in the garage. He was going to leave the keys under the front seat where she would eventually find them. The garage had surveillance and security, so he wasn't worried about theft, not that Pansy would have cared. She would have found that as an excuse to buy something new.
-*-*-
It wasn't too late out, so Draco decided to walk a few blocks before he'd find a taxi station and go home. He felt winded. Scorpius was a great little boy, but he wasn't Draco's. He hated that even though he had signed off the legal paperwork ridding himself of all parental obligations, he felt like he wasn't being honest. Scorpius needed a father. Didn't he? It was different before when he had Astoria and Pansy but now Pansy was out of the picture, he couldn't help but wonder if he should offer his help to Astoria.
Pansy would never agree for joint custody. She would have dragged the matter in the courts for as long as it was possible. Draco didn't want to put Scorpius through that. He didn't want to put any of them through that. There was no way his mother would agree with Pansy. If she were worried about not seeing her grandchild enough, Draco would fly her out to Barcelona every other week if she wanted.
When he realised he'd finally walked enough, Draco looked up and noticed he was standing near the Royale Hotel. If he walked in, he could get the concierge to call him a cab. As soon as he was about to cross the street, his phone rang.
"Hello?" Draco said absentmindedly; he hadn't recognised the number.
"You sound like you're a million miles away." Harry.
"Right, sorry. I got caught up with-"
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, of course. Just had to drop my sister off at her place and I was walking back to get a taxi."
"And you forgot my offer?" Harry asked, sounding slightly disappointed, Draco thought. Maybe he was reading too much into it.
Draco laughed awkwardly into the phone. "No. I just got some interesting news and wasn't entirely in a celebratory mood," Draco said honestly. Given that they were just doing this for fun and no matter how much Draco enjoyed being with Harry, he also had to be truthful. He wouldn't be able to enjoy himself with Harry if he was still thinking about everything else that revolved around his family. "I didn't want to waste your time-"
"Did you know apart from giving fantastic blow jobs, I'm also a good listener." Harry paused for a few moments before continuing, "I might know just the thing to take your mind off your worries. I mean, if that's what you want. I don't mean to push..." He paused again.
It was obvious that Harry was trying to be a friend, and if Draco were honest with himself, he could use a friend. "What did you have in mind?" CHAPTER SIX