Happy H/D Holidays, kalichan!
Author: punkimonki
Recipient: kalichan
Title: Over the Edge
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, small Harry/Ginny
Summary: ‘A spur of the moment gift leaves behind some disastrous consequences.’
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Warning(s): Sex and that’s about it really.
Deathly Hallows compliant? Yes, just minus the epilogue
Word Count: 9,600~
Author's Notes: Alright, I sincerely hope you enjoy this. I got in some Wizarding history, tried to make Harry powerful but slightly clueless, somewhat of a snarky Draco, a magical artifact, tried not to make it too mushy, a drawing room and plot.
Excerpt from Harry Potter's Journal, June 5th, 2002
It’s his birthday today. I don’t know what to get him. I have an idea - I saw it in a window when I was in Diagon Alley and I am sure he loved it. It’s silver, his favourite colour, and it would be perfect if the inlaid stone was emerald, but it’s a ruby and I think I like that. The contrast between the two houses and the two of us. Gryffindor and Slytherin, Malfoy and Potter - the two things in the world that are not supposed to work, but just like the necklace, I think it looks good.
I think I will get it.
Draco threw his head back and laughed, his eyes bright with mirth and excitement as he looked around the presents strewn on the bed. Harry watched him with a fond smile on his face, his eyes roving over the long line of his neck and the way he seemed so carefree, so out of tune with his normal personality. Draco turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Don’t tell me these are all for me, love,” Draco purred, leaning forward. “Because if they are, you’re spoiling me, and really it’s only fair that I spoil you back later,” he said, licking his lips.
Harry shifted slightly, his cock knowing exactly what Draco was referring to and he smiled knowingly. “Of course they are, it’s your birthday isn’t it?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.
Draco nodded and picked up one of the brightly wrapped packages. “I know, but it’s still a shock. We haven’t been together that long.” It was obvious that he was still insecure about them as his voice dropped and he lowered his head slightly.
Harry frowned and stood up from his chair. He padded over to where Draco was sitting, still naked from the shower, and sat down behind him. Gently, Harry pulled him into his arms. “I told you, love, I love Ginny and I love her family, but I’ll always love you best,” he said, nuzzling the side of his head and placing a kiss on the corner of his jaw.
He could feel the blonde relax in his arms and lean back, and tucking his chin under Harry’s. “Can I open this?” Draco asked, holding up the first parcel.
Harry nodded, his chin tapping the top of Draco’s head gently, causing him to smile. “Of course.”
Draco tore into the paper like a child as Christmas, and a few seconds later - along with a lot of ripped paper - Draco was holding the newest edition of ‘Most Potente Potions’. Harry had been Draco looking at the book in the window of the apothecary when they had been on one of the regular rounds they did as a part of their Auror assignments a few weeks ago. He knew how much Draco loved potions, and so he had bought it.
“You shouldn’t have,” Draco cried out, his fingers stroking the front of the book reverently.
Harry merely smiled. “Keep unwrapping,” he said, wanting Draco to be showered in gifts simply because he wanted to spoil his lover.
Draco nodded and began to unwrap present after present, revealing boxes of his favourite truffles, a few more books, a new shirt and some candy he knew Draco liked until the bed was covered in bright paper and there was only one box left, resting right between Draco’s thighs.
“And what is this?” Draco asked, holding up the box.
Harry looked at it and pressed another kiss to the side of Draco’s neck. “That’s your main gift,” he said, running a hand along Draco’s side, feeling the ripple of scars left over from the war under his fingers. “You should open it,” he said.
Draco nodded and using the same childlike glee, tore open the paper revealing a small, unmarked box. Draco sat up straighter and opened the box with careful fingers. Harry watched intently as Draco opened the box, and gasped at the sight of the small silver pendant. It had a flawless ruby set in the middle that was surrounded by engraved ancient runes. Harry personally thought it was a little over the top, but he had seen the Malfoy family ring before, and if anything was extravagant, that was, so he figured this would be okay.
“Harry,” Draco breathed out, his eyes wide. “This is….” he trailed off, turning to look at Harry with a small frown.
Harry smiled slightly, a little nervous. “Do you like it?” he asked, swallowing hard as he noticed the frown. Was it too much, was it too little? He didn’t know what to expect with Draco half the time. Sometimes he did things right, but occasional he did something completely wrong.
“Do you know what this is?” Draco asked, tilting his head and looking at Harry who shook his head.
“The shopkeeper said it was a necklace that people used to give to their lover and I figured it would be a nice gift,” he said nervously, chewing on his bottom lip.
Draco looked at him before he laughed and shook his head, blonde hair falling into his eyes for a moment before he pushed it back. “How you’re so powerful on the inside but so clueless about the world, I’ll never know,” Draco said, rolling his eyes as he reached into the box and lifted the pendant. He held it in elegant fingers like it was a family heirloom and not just something pretty he had gotten.
Harry felt a little offended and he raised his chin. “Well what is it?” he asked, sounding a little petulant, but ignoring it.
Draco chuckled again, shaking his head, his eyes wide with amusement. “See these markings,” Draco asked, tracing the runes as Harry nodded. “They’re old, obviously. You wouldn’t know about the story, but if you had shown it to Weasel - sorry Weasley - he would’ve been able to tell you about it. The story is long, but it has a happy ending. Most Purebloods know it, and they want this more than anything else. People would kill for this, and have killed. There have been a few wars started over it,” Draco explained in awe.
Harry felt confused and curious at the same time. “What is it?” he asked softly.
“The Soul Necklace is what the runes translate as,” Draco replied.
Harry raised an eyebrow. “The Soul Necklace?” he asked. “That’s an odd name.”
Draco nodded. “I know, but like I said, it’s very old and the original translation was lost in the fire at the Alexandria Library.”
Both of Harry’s eyebrows shot up at this. “Alexandria Library? Back in Egypt? Back in the BC’s?” he demanded.
Draco nodded again. “Yes, way back then,” Draco said before he frowned. “What’s BC?” he asked.
“Before Christ,” Harry replied. “We’re in AD’s now, and don’t ask me what it means because I have no clue,” he said with a shrug.
“Before Christ,” Draco said, rolling his eyes. “We call it BM, Before Merlin, and technically this year is 1678 since Merlin died one thousand six hundred and seventy eight years ago. About a hundred years ago we adopted the Muggle calendar system, so we don’t use BM anymore,” he said absently as he looked back down at the pendant. “And you were born trigenta primus Iulius, 1656.”
Harry nodded, fascinated by the brief piece of Wizarding history he was learning. But that was not what he wanted to know right now. “Why was there wars started over this?” he asked, reaching over and tapping the pendant.
Draco ran a hand reverently across the stone and smiled. “This is something very special,” Draco said, and Harry felt like throttling him for not hurrying up and getting to the point. He settled instead for making an annoyed sound at the back of his throat. Draco looked up, his eyes rolling. “Merlin, Potter, have some respect, please.”
Harry sighed. “I would if I knew what the hell it was.”
Draco sighed and held up the necklace, obviously getting a little annoyed at Harry. “This, Potter, is the reason the idea of soul mates came into play in the Muggle world. Whoever puts this necklace on goes into a sort of a trance and they see two options; their life with the person who is most compatible to them, and what their life would be without them,” he said, dropping the necklace into Harry’s hand.
Harry raised an eyebrow. “That sounds good,” he said, figuring he had done well on choosing a gift.
Draco shook his head. “For every gift there is a price,” he said. “Sometimes that price is death.”
Harry frowned. “Then why is it so special if it kills people?”
Draco shrugged. “The lore says that whoever has seen this will be either the happiest or the saddest person alive.”
Harry opened his mouth before closing it with a frown. “Do you want the necklace still?” he asked.
Draco nodded his head quickly. “Of course I fucking want it!” he said, aghast at the idea that someone would take it away.
Harry nodded. “Are you going to put it on?”
Draco nodded. “Of course, but not today - tomorrow. No one knows how long the trance lasts.”
Harry smiled and leaned back against the headboard, glad that everything seemed to be turning out all right. He watched as Draco picked up his wand and began to twirl in it the air, cleaning everything up and stacking the presents where they belonged, before he set the pendant to the top drawer of his bedside cabinet. Harry had always been content to watch Draco perform magic; he was so much more graceful than anyone else he had ever seen.
“Well?” Draco asked, poking his side and breaking him from his thoughts.
Harry raised his eyes and looked at Draco who was looking at him
expectantly. “Well what?” Harry asked, dumbly.
Draco rolled his eyes, then leaned forward and pressed his lips against Harry’s in a soft kiss that changed quickly into something harder and faster, their tongues sliding against each other, small gasps filling the air around them. Draco broke the kiss with a wicked grin, pressing his lips against the side of Harry’s neck before opening his mouth and biting down a little harder than usual.
Harry arched up with a soft groan as Draco pulled back, licking at the mark with a grin before shifting down, pressing his lips to Harry’s stomach - right under his bellybutton and licked, nipping the trail of hair there. Harry - whose stomach had always been sensitive - groaned louder and arched up into the small bites, his arousal building.
Draco looked up at him from under his fringe and smirked. “Time for pay back,” he said, his voice sounding innocent, and yet dripping with promise and need.
Harry swallowed and looked down. “Pay back?” he asked, wondering what he had done.
“Well, since you got me so many wonderful gifts, I felt that it was time to return the favour,” Draco said, before he dropped his head and swallowed Harry’s cock.
Harry arched up, unable to stop himself. His eyes fell closed as Draco set about giving him what had to be the best god damned blowjob of his life. The two of them never really took time to tease and caress, preferring to get straight down and have sex - and the last time they had done this, Draco had not known how to deep throat. So he was surprised, now, and he wondered where Draco had learnt it. Maybe he was seeing someone else? If he was, then it was only fair - he was still dating Ginny, after all.
He forced those thoughts out of his mind quickly, wanting to focus on the tight lips around his cock, the tongue pressing against his vein and the slight hint of teeth that turned him on more than it should. He kept his eyes focused on the blonde head bobbing in his lap as if Draco had nothing better to do in the world than sit here and suck his cock. And wasn’t that a nice thought - to have Draco in his bed, sucking at his cock day in and day out - it was something he might want to consider making permanent.
The air around him began to crack and sparkle, his magic leaking as he lost control, slowly succumbing to the pleasure running through his body. Draco sucked harder and that was all it took for Harry to drop over the edge with a loud cry, his back arching up and his eyes opening wider and wider - his magic causing things to tremble and the wood in the fireplace to catch and begin to burn.
Draco - used to all of this as he was - ignored it and continued to suck, his eyes half closed as he swallowed. Harry relaxed suddenly, his limbs lethargic in lazy pleasure, shivering slightly as his lover licked at his spent cock, cleaning it happily before crawling up and straddling his lap, leaning forward to kiss Harry. The first time Draco had kissed him after having given him a blowjob, he had been grossed out, but now he surged forward to kiss Draco, looking for a taste of himself as he explored his lover's mouth for the hundredth time.
Really, this day was perfect.
Excerpt from Harry Potter's Journal, June 7th, 2002
Today is the day.
Draco stared at the pendant in his hands, excitement burning in his veins. He had wanted to see this ever since he was a little child and had heard the stories from his mother as she spoke of what her life would’ve been like if she had had a chance to wear the necklace. ‘I would be covered in diamonds and rubies. My husband would care for me and we would take exotic trips around the world, trying everything new and exciting, all the while with the man of my dreams whispering in my ear about things only we would understand,’ she had said time and time again as he grew up.
Her stories had always made everything more real to him and he wanted to experience it all. He wanted to use the necklace to find the one person for him. None of this dipping his toes into the dating pool, he wanted to jump right in and find the right person to help him float. He had spent most of his life listening for a hint that the necklace would be anywhere, and there had never been so much as a whisper of it until now.
Draco grinned as he thought of his lover, his fingers tracing the runes. Harry was so clueless sometimes - it was endearing mostly, but sometimes it was annoying. The boy had bought perhaps the most sought after artifact in the history of the Wizarding world and he had bought it as a gift for a lover because he thought it looked nice. How he had managed to survive for so long without someone showing him the way was mind boggling to Draco.
Draco considered himself lucky to have Harry as a lover, and would-be boyfriend, when he got rid of the redheaded bint. He was positive that she couldn’t give Harry what he needed.
Draco moved to sit down on his bed, leaning against the headboard, his eyes resting on the pendant - excited to begin. He had said he would wait for Harry - who was nervous about him doing this, but really only a few people had died so what was the problem? He was naked, the bed already cradling his body with its soft mattress, so he didn’t have to worry about falling. Harry would be here in twenty minutes so he might as well get started.
He slid down the bed a little bit until he was lying comfortable against the pillows. He didn’t want to hurt himself in case he tensed up. He picked up the pendant from where it was laying next to him and grinned. He took a deep breath and, without further ado, slid the pendant over his head letting the chain settle around his neck. He dropped the pendant so that it rested right in the middle of his chest.
At first, nothing happened and he looked up wondered how long it would take, but then he hissed, a slight jolt of burning pain making him aware that he was hurting. Looking down he spotted the once cool silver of the pendant slowly turning the red of the ruby and he realized that the pain was actually the burning of his skin.
He cried out and sat up, his fingers scrabbling to remove the pendant from his chest, his eyes wide and his forehead breaking out in a cool sweat. He screamed when he realized that his fingers were burnt now, and the pendant was still on his chest. All he could feel was pain - a lot of pain - and he wanted it to stop and go away as he felt the first tear of pain leak out of the corner of his eye and trail down his check.
The pain was getting worse, and he’d never been able to handle pain very well. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop trying to remove it, though his fingers were burnt black by now. He could see darkness on the edges of his vision as he began to sink into shock and the pain continued to grow. His vision narrowed and it felt like he was staring out of a tunnel. He barely heard Harry’s gasp and when he opened his eyes, he could see him standing there, eyes wide in fear. It was the last thing he saw as he finally succumbed to the burning pain in his chest; blessed numbness infused his body and he knew no more.
Except from Harry Potter's journal, June 8th 2002
It’s all my fault. How could I be so stupid? How could I just allow this to happen? Some savior I am.
Draco Malfoy lay still on the bed, his eyes open and staring at the ceiling without seeing anything. His pale skin had taken on a grayish tinge, turning the normally porcelain skin into marble, the necklace looking bright on his chest. Harry moved his hand hovering over the necklace, feeling the warmth radiate out from the gift. He lowered his hand, feeling the heat increase as his hand drew closer. He kept it there for some time, knowing it would burn, but he deserved it. He caused all of this to happen because of his inability to pay attention to anything.
He pulled his hand back and flexed it, feeling the burnt skin of his palm crack. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his hand out watching as it cracked and he swallowed dropping his hand down delete, uncaring of the pain, uncaring of anything except the pale man in front of him who was barely breathing, his partner in every sense of the word.
He wanted Draco to be awake and looking at him annoyed for being up so late. ’We’ve got work in the morning Potter, go to sleep.’ full stop Harry could almost hear the voice around him and he closed his eyes for a moment, smiling. After a time, he dropped his head back, tiredly, and looked up at the ceiling that was enchanted to show the night sky.
It was a beautiful night - and it shouldn’t be. There should be rain, clouds and thunder, because this moment did not deserve such beauty, it deserved destruction.
June 28th 2002
Harry Potter stared out the window of his office, his eyes bloodshot and the skin underneath bruised and puffy, telling stories about sleepless nights spent trying not to cry. When he spoke his voice was hoarse, like he’d been screaming, but he hadn’t been. Not aloud anyway. All that matters it that he is He was screaming inside and no one was listening to him, leaving him alone in his pain. No one knew what had happened, or how it had happened, but one three weeks he started screaming for the first time.
He didn’t know what went wrong. This had never happed to anyone before - there was no recorded anything saying that this could happen. This was an anomaly and Harry was sure that this was his punishment for everything evil he had thought or done in his life. This was punishment for the time he wished Dudley was dead when he was five, for wanting to kill his Uncle when he was ten, for killing Quirrell when he was eleven, the death of Cedric when he was 14, the death of his godfather when he was 15, Dumbledore at 16, Colin, Remus, Tonks, Fred and everyone else when he was 17 and for his parents when he was younger.
He was a bad luck charm; it was as simple at that, there was no anomaly with the necklace, it was simply because everything he touched or loved turned to dust between his fingers and nothing he said or did could change that. No matter how much good he did in the world, it didn’t change the fact that everyone around him was destined to die at one point or another.
That was his life, his curse, and once more he was forced to deal with it.
July 5th, 2002
Harry held onto Draco’s hand a little tighter, his eyes suspiciously wet as he looked at the other man sleeping peacefully. The pain potions they had finally decided would be alright to use, at least stopped the little muscle spasms that had come around a few days ago gone now begun a few days ago. His face was relaxed, but he could see lines around the blond’s eyes - lines that had not been there and that should not be there. He knew that both of them looked older than their years and that both of them had a good reason to.
He raised the hand in his own and kissed the back of Draco’s knuckles. Before, he would’ve been ashamed of such a display in public, but right now he found that he didn’t care. He couldn’t care less if he lost his friends, his family or anything else. He could deal with that. The ugly and unnerving truth was that he knew he would die inside if Draco died.
The boy, who had once been his greatest schoolyard enemy, was now the one person who could destroy him from the inside. Not even the loss of everyone close to him, like Sirius, had been able to do that, but this boy, this ex-death eater was that one person. Draco was his Achilles heel and he felt like an idiot for even considering saying it, but it was an accurate description and he knew that he would grow to love this man.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned, seeing Ginny there with the small frown she had been sporting for the past couple of days. He knew his eyes had tears in them and he didn’t care. “Yes?” he asked a little short with her.
“Are you coming home tonight?” she asked, her eyes flickering towards Draco’s body with a hint of distaste.
Harry didn’t know why he had stayed with her for so long. She was beautiful, and she was generally a good person. But she could be ugly as well - cold, mean and uncaring - all three of which she was doing right now as her eyes looked at Draco’s slumbering body and the cold hand Harry held in his own. He shook his head. “No,” he said. He couldn’t stay with her, each time they kissed he felt as if he was betraying Draco - which was odd because they were nothing, but Draco was his lover, and Ginny was his girlfriend and his family. But it felt like betrayal nonetheless.
“You need to get some rest,” she said, running a hand through his hair to rest at the nape of his neck, stroking gently.
Harry had to admit that the small caress felt good and his eyes closed slightly, as he shook his head. “I need to stay here,” he said softy.
“Harry.” His name, and then a sigh, and a pair of lips pressed against his forehead, a warm hand on his cheek turning his head to face her. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes and he frowned.
“What?” he asked, his voice coming out a lot sharper than he had meant it to be.
Ginny frowned. “You need to come home, love,” she said, stroking the side of his face.
“I need to stay here,” he replied, his eyes flickering towards Draco.
Ginny made a small noise in the back of her throat, and Harry couldn’t decide if it was disgust or irritation with him. “Harry, you need your rest. I need you home.”
Harry looked at her, wondering what she was getting at. “And I need to stay with Draco. If I hadn’t given him that necklace…” he trailed off, shaking his head.
“And we need to talk about that,” Ginny said, her voice sharp. “Why did you give him the necklace and not me?” she asked, pain obvious in her voice.
Harry shrugged a shoulder. “I didn’t know what it was. It was just some gaudy thing I thought he’d like,” he replied, not mentioning the fact that it was very expensive, and that it had been a lovers gift.
“How can you not know?” Ginny demanded. “Everyone knows what that necklace is. Only idiots and Muggle-borns don’t know what it is.”
Harry snorted. “Ginny, I am a Muggle-born, or I might as well be,” he shot back, getting a little angry now. “I grew up in the Muggle world, and I guess I am an idiot as well to think that maybe in my life one good thing could happen without something screwing it up along the way.”
Ginny’s frown deepened and the corners of her lips turned down. “Something good? What are you talking about?” she asked, her voice low and dangerous.
Harry frowned, not having meant to let that slip. But right now, he found he couldn’t care less. “I’ve been having an affair, with him,” he said bluntly, his voice devoid of emotion.
Ginny’s sharp intake of breath echoed inside Harry’s head. “What?” she asked, her voice shocked. “How long?” she asked a moment later.
“About two years now,” Harry said, comma turning around to look at his lover, brushing his thumb across the back of his knuckles. He found that he didn’t care that Ginny knew how long he’d been seeing Draco anymore. It was as if all emotions had been stripped from him save this one burning desire to hold onto Draco as much as he could.
He felt a small hand collide with his shoulder and then the back of his head, and he turned and suddenly felt the stinging result of a slap. He looked at her, his face blank. Ginny was looking at him, tears running down her cheeks, her face twisted and angry, no longer beautiful to him.
“How could you?” she asked, her voice low and angry, barely a hiss.
He shrugged his shoulders, turning back to look at Draco. He didn’t have the answers, he only knew that it wasn’t because he didn’t love her, or he wasn’t attracted to her, it was simply because he wanted Draco, and Draco had wanted him and it had been fantastic and that was all there was to it.
Suddenly he felt arms wrap around his shoulders and he frowned. “What?” he asked, tilting his head back to look up at Ginny.
“You have a choice Harry,” she said softly, her voice thick. “Either you leave with me now and we try and make it work, without him, or it’s over between us.”
Harry heard the ultimatum and he knew that she was serious. She would cut ties with him and he would probably lose the support of her family as well. But he wanted Draco, even if the blond woke up demanding that Harry get the fuck out, he didn’t care. He wanted this chance and so he decided.
“Goodbye Ginny,” he said, ignoring the sob of distress and sudden lack of her arms around his shoulder, followed by the slamming of the door. He didn’t notice any of it as he turned back and continued to stare at Draco.
July 12th
Harry looked up from the pad he had been doodling on as the door slammed open to reveal Hermione in all her bushy hair and wide-eyed excitement that meant only one thing. Research. Unlike at previous times when Harry was sure that he would hate whatever was coming, this time he was on the edge of his seat. “What?” he asked.
“I’ve got a pass to get us into the Ministry Archives, and into the Unspeakable files to see if this has ever happened before,” Hermione said quickly, before turning and walking out the door, leaving Harry there gob smacked.
Suddenly there were flames by his arm as he lost control of his magic again and he swore, swatting at them until they went away, leaving a pad of notepaper burned to a crisp, and whatever doodles he had been working on gone. “Fuck,” he swore, looking at his hands to see if there was any damage, and luckily, there wasn’t as he leaned back in his chair.
He rubbed his eyes eventually, realizing that they may find something to help Draco. The door slammed open again and he saw Hermione standing there, hands on her hips and looking at him impatiently.
“Come on,” Hermione said.
“Come where?” Harry asked, dumbfounded.
Hermione made an exasperated noise and threw her hands up in the air, her head shaking and her hair flying everywhere. “The library. We’re going now. Move!”
And with that final word, Hermione turned and walked out of the office, leaving Harry there for a moment before he was scrambling to get his papers and everything else in order. He threw the few invoices he had managed to complete into the tray, making sure they disappeared before he grabbed his wand, wallet and keys. He walked out of his office, stopping only long enough to turn the lights out and close the door, glad it was summer and he wouldn’t need a coat.
He could see Hermione’s hair from a distance and he jogged to catch up. Seeing her step into a lift, and he ran faster, sticking a hand out in time to stop the door closing. “How’d you get the pass?” he demanded the instant he stepped into the lift.
Hermione merely smiled. “I said I’d do some research on better file keeping systems for the new Hall of Prophecies, and I’d help with the new spell they’re cultivating to make it impossible to recognize the identity of the Unspeakables,” she said, standing a little straighter. “They’ve been after me to help them with that for about a year now.”
Harry merely smiled and hugged his friend. “I can never thank you enough, you know that right?”
Hermione flipped her hair over her shoulders. “I know.”
September 30th, 2002
Harry pushed a hand through his hair, feeling the straw like quality of it from stress and a sudden lack of regular bathing rituals. He removed his glasses next and rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the angular shape of his cheekbones and he knew he must look horrible. He’d taken to eating only when it was forced upon him - which amounted to perhaps once a day - and he showered only long enough to get the worst of the grime off, usually preferring to use a cleaning charm now and then. His clothes hung of off him, his body gaunt from the lack of food and he was sure he had dark circles under his eyes and his skin was pale, he could see it in his hands.
He’d spent the last two months reading over every single account of the use of this god-forsaken necklace he could find and now he was down to the last document.
His hopes were down; he knew he wasn’t going to find anything. He just knew it. He’d been through six hundred different documents, scouring each one of them slowly, making sure every detail and hint he could find was memorized and processed. He was probably now the most knowledgeable expert on this necklace in the world. He knew how it had been made, when it was created, how it worked, and everything else about it. It was all stored in his mind and he knew it would be there forever. But he had never found anything like Draco’s situation’, there was no knowledge of anything like that anywhere so far.
He ran a hand over the manila envelope before opening it carefully, breaking the seal as if he had done five hundred and ninety nine other times. He reached inside and pulled out the stack of papers, arranging them on the table like the other times - the witness report, the interview report and then the written reports from the two who had used the necklace.
He grabbed the first page and began to read, his eyes slowly growing wider and wider as he read each sentence.
--
He stumbled out of the door, his hands held up in triumph as he looked around for Hermione. “Hermione?” he yelled, his voice hoarse from disuse. He heard footsteps and then Hermione was standing there, a look on her face that changed from worry to shock in an instant.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” she asked, moving forward.
Harry shook his head. “No, no I found the cure. Well I found out what is wrong and I think I know the cure as well,” he said, his voice excited.
Her expression changed from worry to confusion and her expression became hopeful. He wondered for a moment why she was hopeful, she didn’t like Draco. None of Harry’s old friends did. Of course, he hadn’t seen any of his old friends in almost four months, but he doubted anything had changed. “What is it?” she asked, stepping forward.
He waved the file in her face. “It’s my fault!” he said, knowing he should be sad, and he was, but he was also happy because Draco was going to get better! He was finally going to be healthy and alive and well, and everything would be good again. However, he figured he should explain when she frowned, confused at his obvious enthusiasm over something that shouldn’t be happy about. “It’s because I was dating Ginny. The necklace recognized that and when Draco put it on, it couldn’t contend with or comprehend the fact that I was having an affair and it chose Draco as the bad guy because somehow the magic recognizes intent and it knew I wasn’t going to break up with her and so it figured I loved her more than Draco or something like that!” he said, quickly flipping through the pages in his hand.
“Here, see!” he said, pointing at a line. “This man, Marc Lagrange had been dating this girl Margot Thouvienne for some time and then he’d also been having an affair with this girl Camille Descours. He gave the necklace to Margot and the same thing happened to her as happened to Draco, the burning, the pale skin, the heat and the coma. It’s all the same! Then according to the reports, Camille went to Marc and asked for money, or to leave the other girl or she would tell everyone that they had been having an affair. Then, according to the report, she was found on the ground outside of her window, they said she committed suicide. But the interesting thing is that the next day Margot woke up, and nothing else was wrong with her, it was as if she had never been asleep!”
Hermione frowned. “But Harry, you were dating Ginny, not Draco and you’re not going to kill Ginny,” she said, her voice stern.
Harry nodded his head. “I know, but I think I figured that out as well,” he said, quickly. “Basically by Camille dying, the necklace somehow interpreted Marc had done it, or left her Camille because he loved Margot more than anything that could happen to him - he didn’t get prosecuted because Camille was a whore and his girlfriend was some Duchess However, I figure if I can somehow sacrifice something or do something to show how much I love him then he’ll wake up!”
“Do you love him?” Hermione asked, tilting her head to the side.
Harry frowned and shrugged as he lowered the papers. “I don’t know. He’s a right prat most of the time, but at the same time I see something I didn’t used to see that I like a lot. I know I’m falling, I just don’t know if I’ve hit the ground yet.”
Hermione sighed. “Harry, you said you needed to prove you love him,” she said. “How’re you going to do that?”
Harry sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know but I’ve got to find a way. The reason he’s like that is because of me, and no one else. If anyone should be punished, it’s me,” he said, rubbing the eyes behind his glasses.
“Perhaps Ginny could help?” Hermione suggested, softly.
Harry snorted. “How? She probably hates me and hates Draco even more.’
Hermione shrugged a shoulder. “Ask. You should give her more credit than that,” she said. “I don’t like Draco, and I think what you did to Ginny was horrible, but even so. I don’t think she would stand by and allow someone to die.”
Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a suspicious look. “You’ve been talking to her haven’t you?” he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at his best friend, waiting.
“No,” Hermione denied, her left eye twitching slightly and Harry waited a few moments before she sighed and nodded her head. “Yes, I have. We’ve all been worried about you, and your health and just everything about this. It’s not healthy Harry, you’re making yourself sick and you look awful. If you’re not careful you’re going to die as well.”
Harry shook his head. “I’ll be fine as soon as he wakes up, and we know the basics of how to do this now. He’ll be up and then he’ll yell at me for looking like crap and everything will be fine and good and we can all continue on. I just need some help. We’re so close. Please, Hermione.”
Hermione looked at him with wide eyes and then after a few moments, nodded her head. “Fine, give me that and then go and have a decent dinner, change, and a shower, and for the love of Merlin, get a good nights rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow afternoon and not a second before, all right?”
Harry nodded his head quickly, figuring that it was time anyway. “Thank you,” he said, his eyes wide and sincere. “Thank you so much,” he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek.
Hermione grimaced. “And for the love of god brush your teeth,” she said, making a small gagging sound.
Harry chuckled. “I will,” he promised, before heading back to the Floo.
“Harry,” Hermione called, when he had a handful of Floo powder.
Harry turned and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?” he asked.
“You know this might not work right and he might die,” she said, softly.
Harry thought for a moment. He’d been prepared to accept that possibility months ago, and even now with the small bubble of hope inside, he knew that that could happen. He nodded his head and swallowed. “I know,” he said, softly. “But I have to try, right? Just like you would if it was Ron.”
October 19th, 2002
There was a group of people standing around Draco’s bed. Harry and Hermione stood on one side with the Malfoy’s lawyer behind him in case something went wrong and Draco died. And on the other side was Ginny and Ron, the latter of who was glaring at Harry. Their friendship had become almost null and void ever since the news had come out that Harry had been sleeping with someone on the side. He had known that it would happen, that he would lose the support of the Weasley family if this ever came out, and he was prepared for it, but it still hurt.
“So I just have to kiss him?” Ginny asked, her voice disgusted.
Harry was watching Ginny hopefully; this entire thing depended on her. If she didn’t, then Draco would never wake up and Harry would be without him. He didn’t even know if it would work. It was a chance they were taking, there was no real reason to this plan, it was a last ditch effort - short of killing Ginny of course.
“Yes, just one kiss, just a brush on the lips really. But you have to be prepared to think about letting Harry go,” Hermione said, taking on her lecture voice, and for a moment Ron’s eyes softened and Harry was reminded of numerous times in the library during school and he smiled. But then Ginny sighed and that small dream was broken.
“I know,” she said softly, her eyes brimming with tears.
“You don’t have to do this,” Ron said, pressing a hand to his sister’s back and glaring at Harry again, obviously blaming him for all of this.
And that was what Harry wanted, he could take the blame, he knew it was his fault, all of this was his fault and really - none of it was Draco’s fault. That was the reasoning that they'd used to get Ginny’s support.
“I know, Ron,” Ginny said, softly. “But he doesn’t deserve to die because someone else lied.”
Ron snorted, obviously not believing that statement, and he wanted to say more but was silenced by stern look from Hermione. Harry looked at Ginny and nodded his head, hope and gratitude in his eyes and on his face. Ginny looked at him for one moment, the first tear slipping out before she looked at Draco and closed her eyes.
Harry held his breath as she leaned forward and stopped; her lips inches from Draco’s before she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his for a few moments before pulling back and moving away. The entire room was silent as they waited for some sort of recognition that something had happened, and Harry let his breath out with a small sob when nothing did happen. It hadn’t worked.
He dropped his head into his hands, feeling Hermione’s hand between his shoulder blades rubbing gently as he fought to keep from the tears spilling over. He wouldn’t cry, not in front of everyone else.
“Well, Mr. Potter, it seems that nothing has happened. I’ve got work to do, am I able to leave now?” the snooty voice of the lawyer came from behind him.
Harry was about to raise his head and nod when suddenly there was a scream and he looked up, seeing Draco’s back arching, his mouth wide open and his eyes open and blank. He watched in shock as Draco’s body began to tremble, and shake. Not everything was going according to plan.
“Draco?” he asked, reaching for one of Draco’s hands only to drop it. It was so cold it burned his hand. “Draco?” he asked again, settling for talking, hoping that something would happen, that the blond would wake up.
Draco continued to shake, small screams echoing around them now and then and causing Harry’s heart to hurt and die with each one. The screaming couldn’t be good; there was no way in hell that that was good. Even Ron and Ginny were looking scared on the other side of the bed. Draco suddenly relaxed and the trembling and the screaming stopped. He just lay there instead, as limp as a rag doll, and in some ways that was worse. Harry reached out with a shaky hand, intent on taking Draco’s hand into his own, but was stopped by a hand on his arm and he turned to see Hermione shaking her head.
“Don’t touch him,” she said softly. Harry wanted to argue, but he thought Hermione might be right. She usually was.
Hermione wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug as he turned, burrowing his face into his friends shoulder, not wanting to cry, but he was sure that he was going to whether or not he wanted to. He swallowed rapidly a few times, shaking his head slightly, not wanting to believe that this hadn’t worked. He had put everything he could into finding a cure, and helping Draco get better. The guilt that he had managed to push away for so long was coming back and he didn’t know how to stop it. This wasn’t Draco’s fault; he shouldn’t be blamed for Harry’s inability to let one of them go.
Harry tore himself out of Hermione’s grasp and made a bid for the door, not able to handle this any longer, when suddenly the entire room was infused with a strange red light and he turned one hand on the door handle to see all of Draco’s body glowing red and Harry’s recognized what was happening. He took a step closer, hope shining on his face.
“What is it?” Ron asked, frowning.
“It’s the necklace. It’s doing what it was originally supposed to do. That light is the only consistent thing throughout all of the other entries,” Harry replied absently. “After the light goes they wake up sometime later, either a day, a week or in some cases a month, but they always wake up,” he said, with a small choked sound of laughter.
Draco was going to be all right, Harry knew it. He knew he was going to be all right.
Feburary 9th, 2003
“And look at the size of her arse,” Draco said with a grimace, his voice low enough so that only Harry could hear him. “Someone needs to lay off the pumpkin pasties I think.”
Harry snorted, hiding his smile behind his glass of champagne. “Just because she beat you out in the promotion doesn’t mean you have to be cruel. She logged more hours than you, and got more cases done since the New Year.”
Draco huffed. “I have been recuperating. I deserve something special don’t I?”
Harry chuckled. “You do, but not a promotion. You only started again two weeks ago,” Harry reminded him.
Draco snorted. “I am well aware of this, but I find that they should give it to me simply because I am that fantastic.”
Harry snorted as well. “Oh you are, are you?” he asked, as he looked around the room full of mingling people, all here to congratulate Grace Harper, the newest and first promotion of the year. Harry personally thought that her brother Evan deserved it more than she did, but she was very attractive and it was a man who promoted her. Life worked that way sometimes.
“Harry, have you not been listening to a word I was saying or were you too busy ogling Evan’s arse?” Draco asked, punching him on the shoulder.
“More like Grace’s breasts. What were you saying?” he asked, turning and seeing an odd look on Draco’s face. “What?”
“Honestly, Potter, I thought you had more class than that. Who knows whom else she's done? You might find bits of other men in there,” Draco said.
Harry gagged. “That was disgusting, even for you.”
Draco grimaced. “I know, but that doesn’t make it any less true,” he replied, taking a sip of the scotch held in his hand. “And besides, she’ll freak out and fail and then whoever she slept with will fire her, she’ll write an expose, he’ll get in trouble and then in about three months everything will be back to normal.”
Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose that sounds about right,” Harry said, nodding his head.
“Like always,” Draco replied, running a hand through his hair.
Harry snorted. “Not like always. I can think of a few times when you were wrong.”
“When?” Draco demanded.
“Like when you told me that eating whipped cream of off your body was a good idea, or when we tried the cock rings, or perhaps when you decided nipple clamps would be fun,” Harry said in a soft whisper, rolling his eyes. “And let us not forget the dildo at work fiasco.”
Draco snorted. “Just because I accidentally turned it on during a meeting does not make it a fiasco,” he retorted. “And besides, you liked it.”
Harry snorted. “I was in a meeting with the Minister, I did not like it,” he replied, before smirking.
Draco spotted the smirk and raised an eyebrow. “What’s that little smirk for?”
“Nothing,” he replied, looking over the crowd.
“Harry,” Draco said in a hiss. “Tell me now.”
“No,” Harry replied.
“Potter, tell me now or no sex for a month and you know I can do it,” Draco warned.
Harry sighed. He knew exactly how long Draco could go without sex. It was annoying that that threat actually held a grain of truth in it. “Fine, I was just remembering the time when you visited your father in prison wearing the anal plug.”
Draco suddenly stood straighter and his cheeks brightened a little bit. “Please do not ever speak of that again.”
Harry shrugged. “How come?” he asked innocently, turning his head to look at the other man.
“Because it is disturbing and…”
“It turns you on,” Harry interrupted, noticing the way his fingers had tightened on his glass and his shoulders had turned towards him.
Draco’s cheeks did actually turn red this time as he shook his head. “It does not,” he replied, rolling his eyes.
Harry leaned over. “It does and you know it,” he said, softly.
“Fine,” Draco said. “When did you become so perceptive?”
Harry shrugged. “I’m not really, just I know when you’re turned on or not.”
Draco snorted. “Of course, why wouldn’t you make the one thing you are perceptive about to involve knowing when I get turned on?”
Harry nodded. “Yeah, basically,” he said, smirking before leaning in closer. “And besides, I heard about the desk in the drawing room, Very old and very sturdy,” he said, softly.
Draco’s breath hitched, but other than that, the blond managed to remain calm, cool and collected. “Really?” he asked, sounding uninterested.
“Really. I’ll meet you there in ten,” he said, kissing Draco’s jaw line and then walking away, placing the glass on one of the waiter’s trays before casting one last long look at Draco and stepping into the hallway.
He slipped into the drawing room and smiled, glad that there was no one else around as he waited for Draco. He had said ten minutes, but he doubted that his lover would want to wait that long. And he didn’t, not even five minutes later the door opened and Draco stepped inside, his back to Harry.
Harry flicked his fingers at the door, closing it and silencing it before stepping up and wrapping his arms around Draco’s middle, his fingers beginning to undo the buttons on the man’s shirt. At the same time, he kissed the side of Draco’s neck before sucking on a patch of skin.
Draco chuckled and leaned back against Harry, his head dropping forward and titling to the side to open up the curve of his neck. Harry smiled slightly and finished undoing the buttons, his fingers moving up to draw the shirt of off Draco’s shoulders to let it land on the floor, leaving him naked from the waist up. Harry’s fingers dropped down, undoing the buttons on Draco’s trousers before pushing those down along with his silk boxers leaving him naked in a matter of moments.
“Impatient, Potter?” Draco asked, a smirk in his voice, as Harry trailed a hand down to wrap around his cock, beginning to stroke the other man, feeling him grow hard under his fingers.
“Perhaps,” Harry said, pushing Draco forward with each step towards the desk, his hand continuing to move in short strokes as his other hand moved up to tweak a nipple. He stopped about a foot away from the desk before spinning Draco around and kissing him, pushing him those last few inches to the desk.
Draco sat on the desk and wrapped a leg around Harry’s waist, his hands dropping to undo the button and fly of his trousers. Harry groaned when he felt his lover’s hand wrap around his erection and begin to stroke. He continued to kiss the blonde, his tongue sliding along Draco’s easily before breaking the kiss and pushing him back, dislodging the hand from his erection. He grinned and whispered the preparation, causing Draco to arch and groan when he was instantly prepared. Harry dropped his hands, pushing his trousers down enough so that they wouldn’t rub against Draco’s skin as they fucked.
Draco dropped his head back while Harry whispered the spell for lube, and his cock was covered. Harry lined himself up before pressing inside, groaning, his eyes falling back as he held the blonde’s hips still. He settled once he was all the way in, widening his stance and drawing Draco closer to him until he was as deep as he could go. He grinned wolfishly at the blond and began to move, pulling out and thrusting back in, his head dropped down, eyes on Draco.
Draco for his part wrapped his legs around Harry’s waist holding on tightly as the two of them fucked. “Fuck,” Harry hissed, feeling good and alive and wanting more. Harry began to move harder and faster, one hand moving up to wrap around Draco’s wrist and hold it down against the desk near their hips, his other hand wrapping around his other wrist a moment later. He’d always loved the sight of Draco bound and tied up, completely at his mercy, and he thought that Draco liked it from the way he arched and moaned.
He continued to move at the same steady pace for some time before Draco suddenly moaned and arched his back and Harry slipped in deeper. He lost whatever semblance of control he had as he began to thrust in and out of Draco’s arse, grunting with each movement. The legs around his waist hitched higher and held tighter and Draco moaned again.
“Fuck, Potter, come on,” Draco hissed out, spurring Harry on faster, tilting his hips, looking for Draco’s prostate.
Suddenly Draco’s entire body tightened and he arched his hips, a cry falling from his lips. “Fuck, do that again,” Draco replied, and Harry complied with his demands, thrusting in faster and faster.
Draco began to moan and writhe around and Harry watched as Draco suddenly tensed and came, Harry’s name falling from his lips with a shudder, his body contracting uncontrollably around Harry’s and it only took a few more quick thrusts before he was coming.
“Fuck,” he said, dropping his head to rest on Draco’s chest, uncaring of the mess as he fought to regain his breath.
“Well that was fun, but would you mind moving, I’m not a pretzel, no matter how many positions you wrestle me into,” Draco replied, dropping his legs from around Harry’s waist.
Harry chuckled and pulled back and out of Draco, using a nonverbal spell to clean the two of them up. Draco nodded his head gratefully and sat up, pointing a finger at his clothing and beckoning, mumbling something under his breath. Harry stepped out of the way, watching in amusement as Draco’s clothing came to him like a little puppy. It always amused him how each action Draco did made it seem like he was some sort of prince or something.
Harry looked down, pulling up his trousers and doing up the buttons before raising his head, watching as Draco got dressed. He moved over to help him with the buttons, pressing a kiss at the hollow of his throat before pulling back. “There you go, good as new,” he said, patting his lover’s shoulders.
Draco rolled his eyes and smoothed his hair down. “Not as good as new, but close enough.”
Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. “Come on you ponce, let’s get back to this party before we’re missed.”
Draco snorted. “We were missed the minute we left,” he said, rolling a shoulder and tilting his chin up to look around haughtily.
Harry snorted and rolled his eyes again, moving to the door, Draco by his side. He pulled it open to be met with the sound of wolf whistles and cheers. He frowned and looked at Draco and leaned over to him. “Did I forget the silencing charm again?” he asked in a soft whisper.
Draco smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “Does it matter? Honestly, Potter, most of them are probably jealous,” he said, with a pointed glare at one or two of the girls who were looking at Harry a little too closely.
Harry chuckled. “I suppose,” he said, before reaching over and taking Draco’s hand. “Come on, I need more to drink if I have to deal with this,” he said, before pulling Draco closer. “After a kiss of course,” he said, before kissing Draco to the sound of cheering and wolf whistles.
Recipient: kalichan
Title: Over the Edge
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, small Harry/Ginny
Summary: ‘A spur of the moment gift leaves behind some disastrous consequences.’
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Warning(s): Sex and that’s about it really.
Deathly Hallows compliant? Yes, just minus the epilogue
Word Count: 9,600~
Author's Notes: Alright, I sincerely hope you enjoy this. I got in some Wizarding history, tried to make Harry powerful but slightly clueless, somewhat of a snarky Draco, a magical artifact, tried not to make it too mushy, a drawing room and plot.
Excerpt from Harry Potter's Journal, June 5th, 2002
It’s his birthday today. I don’t know what to get him. I have an idea - I saw it in a window when I was in Diagon Alley and I am sure he loved it. It’s silver, his favourite colour, and it would be perfect if the inlaid stone was emerald, but it’s a ruby and I think I like that. The contrast between the two houses and the two of us. Gryffindor and Slytherin, Malfoy and Potter - the two things in the world that are not supposed to work, but just like the necklace, I think it looks good.
I think I will get it.
Draco threw his head back and laughed, his eyes bright with mirth and excitement as he looked around the presents strewn on the bed. Harry watched him with a fond smile on his face, his eyes roving over the long line of his neck and the way he seemed so carefree, so out of tune with his normal personality. Draco turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Don’t tell me these are all for me, love,” Draco purred, leaning forward. “Because if they are, you’re spoiling me, and really it’s only fair that I spoil you back later,” he said, licking his lips.
Harry shifted slightly, his cock knowing exactly what Draco was referring to and he smiled knowingly. “Of course they are, it’s your birthday isn’t it?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.
Draco nodded and picked up one of the brightly wrapped packages. “I know, but it’s still a shock. We haven’t been together that long.” It was obvious that he was still insecure about them as his voice dropped and he lowered his head slightly.
Harry frowned and stood up from his chair. He padded over to where Draco was sitting, still naked from the shower, and sat down behind him. Gently, Harry pulled him into his arms. “I told you, love, I love Ginny and I love her family, but I’ll always love you best,” he said, nuzzling the side of his head and placing a kiss on the corner of his jaw.
He could feel the blonde relax in his arms and lean back, and tucking his chin under Harry’s. “Can I open this?” Draco asked, holding up the first parcel.
Harry nodded, his chin tapping the top of Draco’s head gently, causing him to smile. “Of course.”
Draco tore into the paper like a child as Christmas, and a few seconds later - along with a lot of ripped paper - Draco was holding the newest edition of ‘Most Potente Potions’. Harry had been Draco looking at the book in the window of the apothecary when they had been on one of the regular rounds they did as a part of their Auror assignments a few weeks ago. He knew how much Draco loved potions, and so he had bought it.
“You shouldn’t have,” Draco cried out, his fingers stroking the front of the book reverently.
Harry merely smiled. “Keep unwrapping,” he said, wanting Draco to be showered in gifts simply because he wanted to spoil his lover.
Draco nodded and began to unwrap present after present, revealing boxes of his favourite truffles, a few more books, a new shirt and some candy he knew Draco liked until the bed was covered in bright paper and there was only one box left, resting right between Draco’s thighs.
“And what is this?” Draco asked, holding up the box.
Harry looked at it and pressed another kiss to the side of Draco’s neck. “That’s your main gift,” he said, running a hand along Draco’s side, feeling the ripple of scars left over from the war under his fingers. “You should open it,” he said.
Draco nodded and using the same childlike glee, tore open the paper revealing a small, unmarked box. Draco sat up straighter and opened the box with careful fingers. Harry watched intently as Draco opened the box, and gasped at the sight of the small silver pendant. It had a flawless ruby set in the middle that was surrounded by engraved ancient runes. Harry personally thought it was a little over the top, but he had seen the Malfoy family ring before, and if anything was extravagant, that was, so he figured this would be okay.
“Harry,” Draco breathed out, his eyes wide. “This is….” he trailed off, turning to look at Harry with a small frown.
Harry smiled slightly, a little nervous. “Do you like it?” he asked, swallowing hard as he noticed the frown. Was it too much, was it too little? He didn’t know what to expect with Draco half the time. Sometimes he did things right, but occasional he did something completely wrong.
“Do you know what this is?” Draco asked, tilting his head and looking at Harry who shook his head.
“The shopkeeper said it was a necklace that people used to give to their lover and I figured it would be a nice gift,” he said nervously, chewing on his bottom lip.
Draco looked at him before he laughed and shook his head, blonde hair falling into his eyes for a moment before he pushed it back. “How you’re so powerful on the inside but so clueless about the world, I’ll never know,” Draco said, rolling his eyes as he reached into the box and lifted the pendant. He held it in elegant fingers like it was a family heirloom and not just something pretty he had gotten.
Harry felt a little offended and he raised his chin. “Well what is it?” he asked, sounding a little petulant, but ignoring it.
Draco chuckled again, shaking his head, his eyes wide with amusement. “See these markings,” Draco asked, tracing the runes as Harry nodded. “They’re old, obviously. You wouldn’t know about the story, but if you had shown it to Weasel - sorry Weasley - he would’ve been able to tell you about it. The story is long, but it has a happy ending. Most Purebloods know it, and they want this more than anything else. People would kill for this, and have killed. There have been a few wars started over it,” Draco explained in awe.
Harry felt confused and curious at the same time. “What is it?” he asked softly.
“The Soul Necklace is what the runes translate as,” Draco replied.
Harry raised an eyebrow. “The Soul Necklace?” he asked. “That’s an odd name.”
Draco nodded. “I know, but like I said, it’s very old and the original translation was lost in the fire at the Alexandria Library.”
Both of Harry’s eyebrows shot up at this. “Alexandria Library? Back in Egypt? Back in the BC’s?” he demanded.
Draco nodded again. “Yes, way back then,” Draco said before he frowned. “What’s BC?” he asked.
“Before Christ,” Harry replied. “We’re in AD’s now, and don’t ask me what it means because I have no clue,” he said with a shrug.
“Before Christ,” Draco said, rolling his eyes. “We call it BM, Before Merlin, and technically this year is 1678 since Merlin died one thousand six hundred and seventy eight years ago. About a hundred years ago we adopted the Muggle calendar system, so we don’t use BM anymore,” he said absently as he looked back down at the pendant. “And you were born trigenta primus Iulius, 1656.”
Harry nodded, fascinated by the brief piece of Wizarding history he was learning. But that was not what he wanted to know right now. “Why was there wars started over this?” he asked, reaching over and tapping the pendant.
Draco ran a hand reverently across the stone and smiled. “This is something very special,” Draco said, and Harry felt like throttling him for not hurrying up and getting to the point. He settled instead for making an annoyed sound at the back of his throat. Draco looked up, his eyes rolling. “Merlin, Potter, have some respect, please.”
Harry sighed. “I would if I knew what the hell it was.”
Draco sighed and held up the necklace, obviously getting a little annoyed at Harry. “This, Potter, is the reason the idea of soul mates came into play in the Muggle world. Whoever puts this necklace on goes into a sort of a trance and they see two options; their life with the person who is most compatible to them, and what their life would be without them,” he said, dropping the necklace into Harry’s hand.
Harry raised an eyebrow. “That sounds good,” he said, figuring he had done well on choosing a gift.
Draco shook his head. “For every gift there is a price,” he said. “Sometimes that price is death.”
Harry frowned. “Then why is it so special if it kills people?”
Draco shrugged. “The lore says that whoever has seen this will be either the happiest or the saddest person alive.”
Harry opened his mouth before closing it with a frown. “Do you want the necklace still?” he asked.
Draco nodded his head quickly. “Of course I fucking want it!” he said, aghast at the idea that someone would take it away.
Harry nodded. “Are you going to put it on?”
Draco nodded. “Of course, but not today - tomorrow. No one knows how long the trance lasts.”
Harry smiled and leaned back against the headboard, glad that everything seemed to be turning out all right. He watched as Draco picked up his wand and began to twirl in it the air, cleaning everything up and stacking the presents where they belonged, before he set the pendant to the top drawer of his bedside cabinet. Harry had always been content to watch Draco perform magic; he was so much more graceful than anyone else he had ever seen.
“Well?” Draco asked, poking his side and breaking him from his thoughts.
Harry raised his eyes and looked at Draco who was looking at him
expectantly. “Well what?” Harry asked, dumbly.
Draco rolled his eyes, then leaned forward and pressed his lips against Harry’s in a soft kiss that changed quickly into something harder and faster, their tongues sliding against each other, small gasps filling the air around them. Draco broke the kiss with a wicked grin, pressing his lips against the side of Harry’s neck before opening his mouth and biting down a little harder than usual.
Harry arched up with a soft groan as Draco pulled back, licking at the mark with a grin before shifting down, pressing his lips to Harry’s stomach - right under his bellybutton and licked, nipping the trail of hair there. Harry - whose stomach had always been sensitive - groaned louder and arched up into the small bites, his arousal building.
Draco looked up at him from under his fringe and smirked. “Time for pay back,” he said, his voice sounding innocent, and yet dripping with promise and need.
Harry swallowed and looked down. “Pay back?” he asked, wondering what he had done.
“Well, since you got me so many wonderful gifts, I felt that it was time to return the favour,” Draco said, before he dropped his head and swallowed Harry’s cock.
Harry arched up, unable to stop himself. His eyes fell closed as Draco set about giving him what had to be the best god damned blowjob of his life. The two of them never really took time to tease and caress, preferring to get straight down and have sex - and the last time they had done this, Draco had not known how to deep throat. So he was surprised, now, and he wondered where Draco had learnt it. Maybe he was seeing someone else? If he was, then it was only fair - he was still dating Ginny, after all.
He forced those thoughts out of his mind quickly, wanting to focus on the tight lips around his cock, the tongue pressing against his vein and the slight hint of teeth that turned him on more than it should. He kept his eyes focused on the blonde head bobbing in his lap as if Draco had nothing better to do in the world than sit here and suck his cock. And wasn’t that a nice thought - to have Draco in his bed, sucking at his cock day in and day out - it was something he might want to consider making permanent.
The air around him began to crack and sparkle, his magic leaking as he lost control, slowly succumbing to the pleasure running through his body. Draco sucked harder and that was all it took for Harry to drop over the edge with a loud cry, his back arching up and his eyes opening wider and wider - his magic causing things to tremble and the wood in the fireplace to catch and begin to burn.
Draco - used to all of this as he was - ignored it and continued to suck, his eyes half closed as he swallowed. Harry relaxed suddenly, his limbs lethargic in lazy pleasure, shivering slightly as his lover licked at his spent cock, cleaning it happily before crawling up and straddling his lap, leaning forward to kiss Harry. The first time Draco had kissed him after having given him a blowjob, he had been grossed out, but now he surged forward to kiss Draco, looking for a taste of himself as he explored his lover's mouth for the hundredth time.
Really, this day was perfect.
Excerpt from Harry Potter's Journal, June 7th, 2002
Today is the day.
Draco stared at the pendant in his hands, excitement burning in his veins. He had wanted to see this ever since he was a little child and had heard the stories from his mother as she spoke of what her life would’ve been like if she had had a chance to wear the necklace. ‘I would be covered in diamonds and rubies. My husband would care for me and we would take exotic trips around the world, trying everything new and exciting, all the while with the man of my dreams whispering in my ear about things only we would understand,’ she had said time and time again as he grew up.
Her stories had always made everything more real to him and he wanted to experience it all. He wanted to use the necklace to find the one person for him. None of this dipping his toes into the dating pool, he wanted to jump right in and find the right person to help him float. He had spent most of his life listening for a hint that the necklace would be anywhere, and there had never been so much as a whisper of it until now.
Draco grinned as he thought of his lover, his fingers tracing the runes. Harry was so clueless sometimes - it was endearing mostly, but sometimes it was annoying. The boy had bought perhaps the most sought after artifact in the history of the Wizarding world and he had bought it as a gift for a lover because he thought it looked nice. How he had managed to survive for so long without someone showing him the way was mind boggling to Draco.
Draco considered himself lucky to have Harry as a lover, and would-be boyfriend, when he got rid of the redheaded bint. He was positive that she couldn’t give Harry what he needed.
Draco moved to sit down on his bed, leaning against the headboard, his eyes resting on the pendant - excited to begin. He had said he would wait for Harry - who was nervous about him doing this, but really only a few people had died so what was the problem? He was naked, the bed already cradling his body with its soft mattress, so he didn’t have to worry about falling. Harry would be here in twenty minutes so he might as well get started.
He slid down the bed a little bit until he was lying comfortable against the pillows. He didn’t want to hurt himself in case he tensed up. He picked up the pendant from where it was laying next to him and grinned. He took a deep breath and, without further ado, slid the pendant over his head letting the chain settle around his neck. He dropped the pendant so that it rested right in the middle of his chest.
At first, nothing happened and he looked up wondered how long it would take, but then he hissed, a slight jolt of burning pain making him aware that he was hurting. Looking down he spotted the once cool silver of the pendant slowly turning the red of the ruby and he realized that the pain was actually the burning of his skin.
He cried out and sat up, his fingers scrabbling to remove the pendant from his chest, his eyes wide and his forehead breaking out in a cool sweat. He screamed when he realized that his fingers were burnt now, and the pendant was still on his chest. All he could feel was pain - a lot of pain - and he wanted it to stop and go away as he felt the first tear of pain leak out of the corner of his eye and trail down his check.
The pain was getting worse, and he’d never been able to handle pain very well. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop trying to remove it, though his fingers were burnt black by now. He could see darkness on the edges of his vision as he began to sink into shock and the pain continued to grow. His vision narrowed and it felt like he was staring out of a tunnel. He barely heard Harry’s gasp and when he opened his eyes, he could see him standing there, eyes wide in fear. It was the last thing he saw as he finally succumbed to the burning pain in his chest; blessed numbness infused his body and he knew no more.
Except from Harry Potter's journal, June 8th 2002
It’s all my fault. How could I be so stupid? How could I just allow this to happen? Some savior I am.
Draco Malfoy lay still on the bed, his eyes open and staring at the ceiling without seeing anything. His pale skin had taken on a grayish tinge, turning the normally porcelain skin into marble, the necklace looking bright on his chest. Harry moved his hand hovering over the necklace, feeling the warmth radiate out from the gift. He lowered his hand, feeling the heat increase as his hand drew closer. He kept it there for some time, knowing it would burn, but he deserved it. He caused all of this to happen because of his inability to pay attention to anything.
He pulled his hand back and flexed it, feeling the burnt skin of his palm crack. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his hand out watching as it cracked and he swallowed dropping his hand down delete, uncaring of the pain, uncaring of anything except the pale man in front of him who was barely breathing, his partner in every sense of the word.
He wanted Draco to be awake and looking at him annoyed for being up so late. ’We’ve got work in the morning Potter, go to sleep.’ full stop Harry could almost hear the voice around him and he closed his eyes for a moment, smiling. After a time, he dropped his head back, tiredly, and looked up at the ceiling that was enchanted to show the night sky.
It was a beautiful night - and it shouldn’t be. There should be rain, clouds and thunder, because this moment did not deserve such beauty, it deserved destruction.
June 28th 2002
Harry Potter stared out the window of his office, his eyes bloodshot and the skin underneath bruised and puffy, telling stories about sleepless nights spent trying not to cry. When he spoke his voice was hoarse, like he’d been screaming, but he hadn’t been. Not aloud anyway. All that matters it that he is He was screaming inside and no one was listening to him, leaving him alone in his pain. No one knew what had happened, or how it had happened, but one three weeks he started screaming for the first time.
He didn’t know what went wrong. This had never happed to anyone before - there was no recorded anything saying that this could happen. This was an anomaly and Harry was sure that this was his punishment for everything evil he had thought or done in his life. This was punishment for the time he wished Dudley was dead when he was five, for wanting to kill his Uncle when he was ten, for killing Quirrell when he was eleven, the death of Cedric when he was 14, the death of his godfather when he was 15, Dumbledore at 16, Colin, Remus, Tonks, Fred and everyone else when he was 17 and for his parents when he was younger.
He was a bad luck charm; it was as simple at that, there was no anomaly with the necklace, it was simply because everything he touched or loved turned to dust between his fingers and nothing he said or did could change that. No matter how much good he did in the world, it didn’t change the fact that everyone around him was destined to die at one point or another.
That was his life, his curse, and once more he was forced to deal with it.
July 5th, 2002
Harry held onto Draco’s hand a little tighter, his eyes suspiciously wet as he looked at the other man sleeping peacefully. The pain potions they had finally decided would be alright to use, at least stopped the little muscle spasms that had come around a few days ago gone now begun a few days ago. His face was relaxed, but he could see lines around the blond’s eyes - lines that had not been there and that should not be there. He knew that both of them looked older than their years and that both of them had a good reason to.
He raised the hand in his own and kissed the back of Draco’s knuckles. Before, he would’ve been ashamed of such a display in public, but right now he found that he didn’t care. He couldn’t care less if he lost his friends, his family or anything else. He could deal with that. The ugly and unnerving truth was that he knew he would die inside if Draco died.
The boy, who had once been his greatest schoolyard enemy, was now the one person who could destroy him from the inside. Not even the loss of everyone close to him, like Sirius, had been able to do that, but this boy, this ex-death eater was that one person. Draco was his Achilles heel and he felt like an idiot for even considering saying it, but it was an accurate description and he knew that he would grow to love this man.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned, seeing Ginny there with the small frown she had been sporting for the past couple of days. He knew his eyes had tears in them and he didn’t care. “Yes?” he asked a little short with her.
“Are you coming home tonight?” she asked, her eyes flickering towards Draco’s body with a hint of distaste.
Harry didn’t know why he had stayed with her for so long. She was beautiful, and she was generally a good person. But she could be ugly as well - cold, mean and uncaring - all three of which she was doing right now as her eyes looked at Draco’s slumbering body and the cold hand Harry held in his own. He shook his head. “No,” he said. He couldn’t stay with her, each time they kissed he felt as if he was betraying Draco - which was odd because they were nothing, but Draco was his lover, and Ginny was his girlfriend and his family. But it felt like betrayal nonetheless.
“You need to get some rest,” she said, running a hand through his hair to rest at the nape of his neck, stroking gently.
Harry had to admit that the small caress felt good and his eyes closed slightly, as he shook his head. “I need to stay here,” he said softy.
“Harry.” His name, and then a sigh, and a pair of lips pressed against his forehead, a warm hand on his cheek turning his head to face her. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes and he frowned.
“What?” he asked, his voice coming out a lot sharper than he had meant it to be.
Ginny frowned. “You need to come home, love,” she said, stroking the side of his face.
“I need to stay here,” he replied, his eyes flickering towards Draco.
Ginny made a small noise in the back of her throat, and Harry couldn’t decide if it was disgust or irritation with him. “Harry, you need your rest. I need you home.”
Harry looked at her, wondering what she was getting at. “And I need to stay with Draco. If I hadn’t given him that necklace…” he trailed off, shaking his head.
“And we need to talk about that,” Ginny said, her voice sharp. “Why did you give him the necklace and not me?” she asked, pain obvious in her voice.
Harry shrugged a shoulder. “I didn’t know what it was. It was just some gaudy thing I thought he’d like,” he replied, not mentioning the fact that it was very expensive, and that it had been a lovers gift.
“How can you not know?” Ginny demanded. “Everyone knows what that necklace is. Only idiots and Muggle-borns don’t know what it is.”
Harry snorted. “Ginny, I am a Muggle-born, or I might as well be,” he shot back, getting a little angry now. “I grew up in the Muggle world, and I guess I am an idiot as well to think that maybe in my life one good thing could happen without something screwing it up along the way.”
Ginny’s frown deepened and the corners of her lips turned down. “Something good? What are you talking about?” she asked, her voice low and dangerous.
Harry frowned, not having meant to let that slip. But right now, he found he couldn’t care less. “I’ve been having an affair, with him,” he said bluntly, his voice devoid of emotion.
Ginny’s sharp intake of breath echoed inside Harry’s head. “What?” she asked, her voice shocked. “How long?” she asked a moment later.
“About two years now,” Harry said, comma turning around to look at his lover, brushing his thumb across the back of his knuckles. He found that he didn’t care that Ginny knew how long he’d been seeing Draco anymore. It was as if all emotions had been stripped from him save this one burning desire to hold onto Draco as much as he could.
He felt a small hand collide with his shoulder and then the back of his head, and he turned and suddenly felt the stinging result of a slap. He looked at her, his face blank. Ginny was looking at him, tears running down her cheeks, her face twisted and angry, no longer beautiful to him.
“How could you?” she asked, her voice low and angry, barely a hiss.
He shrugged his shoulders, turning back to look at Draco. He didn’t have the answers, he only knew that it wasn’t because he didn’t love her, or he wasn’t attracted to her, it was simply because he wanted Draco, and Draco had wanted him and it had been fantastic and that was all there was to it.
Suddenly he felt arms wrap around his shoulders and he frowned. “What?” he asked, tilting his head back to look up at Ginny.
“You have a choice Harry,” she said softly, her voice thick. “Either you leave with me now and we try and make it work, without him, or it’s over between us.”
Harry heard the ultimatum and he knew that she was serious. She would cut ties with him and he would probably lose the support of her family as well. But he wanted Draco, even if the blond woke up demanding that Harry get the fuck out, he didn’t care. He wanted this chance and so he decided.
“Goodbye Ginny,” he said, ignoring the sob of distress and sudden lack of her arms around his shoulder, followed by the slamming of the door. He didn’t notice any of it as he turned back and continued to stare at Draco.
July 12th
Harry looked up from the pad he had been doodling on as the door slammed open to reveal Hermione in all her bushy hair and wide-eyed excitement that meant only one thing. Research. Unlike at previous times when Harry was sure that he would hate whatever was coming, this time he was on the edge of his seat. “What?” he asked.
“I’ve got a pass to get us into the Ministry Archives, and into the Unspeakable files to see if this has ever happened before,” Hermione said quickly, before turning and walking out the door, leaving Harry there gob smacked.
Suddenly there were flames by his arm as he lost control of his magic again and he swore, swatting at them until they went away, leaving a pad of notepaper burned to a crisp, and whatever doodles he had been working on gone. “Fuck,” he swore, looking at his hands to see if there was any damage, and luckily, there wasn’t as he leaned back in his chair.
He rubbed his eyes eventually, realizing that they may find something to help Draco. The door slammed open again and he saw Hermione standing there, hands on her hips and looking at him impatiently.
“Come on,” Hermione said.
“Come where?” Harry asked, dumbfounded.
Hermione made an exasperated noise and threw her hands up in the air, her head shaking and her hair flying everywhere. “The library. We’re going now. Move!”
And with that final word, Hermione turned and walked out of the office, leaving Harry there for a moment before he was scrambling to get his papers and everything else in order. He threw the few invoices he had managed to complete into the tray, making sure they disappeared before he grabbed his wand, wallet and keys. He walked out of his office, stopping only long enough to turn the lights out and close the door, glad it was summer and he wouldn’t need a coat.
He could see Hermione’s hair from a distance and he jogged to catch up. Seeing her step into a lift, and he ran faster, sticking a hand out in time to stop the door closing. “How’d you get the pass?” he demanded the instant he stepped into the lift.
Hermione merely smiled. “I said I’d do some research on better file keeping systems for the new Hall of Prophecies, and I’d help with the new spell they’re cultivating to make it impossible to recognize the identity of the Unspeakables,” she said, standing a little straighter. “They’ve been after me to help them with that for about a year now.”
Harry merely smiled and hugged his friend. “I can never thank you enough, you know that right?”
Hermione flipped her hair over her shoulders. “I know.”
September 30th, 2002
Harry pushed a hand through his hair, feeling the straw like quality of it from stress and a sudden lack of regular bathing rituals. He removed his glasses next and rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the angular shape of his cheekbones and he knew he must look horrible. He’d taken to eating only when it was forced upon him - which amounted to perhaps once a day - and he showered only long enough to get the worst of the grime off, usually preferring to use a cleaning charm now and then. His clothes hung of off him, his body gaunt from the lack of food and he was sure he had dark circles under his eyes and his skin was pale, he could see it in his hands.
He’d spent the last two months reading over every single account of the use of this god-forsaken necklace he could find and now he was down to the last document.
His hopes were down; he knew he wasn’t going to find anything. He just knew it. He’d been through six hundred different documents, scouring each one of them slowly, making sure every detail and hint he could find was memorized and processed. He was probably now the most knowledgeable expert on this necklace in the world. He knew how it had been made, when it was created, how it worked, and everything else about it. It was all stored in his mind and he knew it would be there forever. But he had never found anything like Draco’s situation’, there was no knowledge of anything like that anywhere so far.
He ran a hand over the manila envelope before opening it carefully, breaking the seal as if he had done five hundred and ninety nine other times. He reached inside and pulled out the stack of papers, arranging them on the table like the other times - the witness report, the interview report and then the written reports from the two who had used the necklace.
He grabbed the first page and began to read, his eyes slowly growing wider and wider as he read each sentence.
--
He stumbled out of the door, his hands held up in triumph as he looked around for Hermione. “Hermione?” he yelled, his voice hoarse from disuse. He heard footsteps and then Hermione was standing there, a look on her face that changed from worry to shock in an instant.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” she asked, moving forward.
Harry shook his head. “No, no I found the cure. Well I found out what is wrong and I think I know the cure as well,” he said, his voice excited.
Her expression changed from worry to confusion and her expression became hopeful. He wondered for a moment why she was hopeful, she didn’t like Draco. None of Harry’s old friends did. Of course, he hadn’t seen any of his old friends in almost four months, but he doubted anything had changed. “What is it?” she asked, stepping forward.
He waved the file in her face. “It’s my fault!” he said, knowing he should be sad, and he was, but he was also happy because Draco was going to get better! He was finally going to be healthy and alive and well, and everything would be good again. However, he figured he should explain when she frowned, confused at his obvious enthusiasm over something that shouldn’t be happy about. “It’s because I was dating Ginny. The necklace recognized that and when Draco put it on, it couldn’t contend with or comprehend the fact that I was having an affair and it chose Draco as the bad guy because somehow the magic recognizes intent and it knew I wasn’t going to break up with her and so it figured I loved her more than Draco or something like that!” he said, quickly flipping through the pages in his hand.
“Here, see!” he said, pointing at a line. “This man, Marc Lagrange had been dating this girl Margot Thouvienne for some time and then he’d also been having an affair with this girl Camille Descours. He gave the necklace to Margot and the same thing happened to her as happened to Draco, the burning, the pale skin, the heat and the coma. It’s all the same! Then according to the reports, Camille went to Marc and asked for money, or to leave the other girl or she would tell everyone that they had been having an affair. Then, according to the report, she was found on the ground outside of her window, they said she committed suicide. But the interesting thing is that the next day Margot woke up, and nothing else was wrong with her, it was as if she had never been asleep!”
Hermione frowned. “But Harry, you were dating Ginny, not Draco and you’re not going to kill Ginny,” she said, her voice stern.
Harry nodded his head. “I know, but I think I figured that out as well,” he said, quickly. “Basically by Camille dying, the necklace somehow interpreted Marc had done it, or left her Camille because he loved Margot more than anything that could happen to him - he didn’t get prosecuted because Camille was a whore and his girlfriend was some Duchess However, I figure if I can somehow sacrifice something or do something to show how much I love him then he’ll wake up!”
“Do you love him?” Hermione asked, tilting her head to the side.
Harry frowned and shrugged as he lowered the papers. “I don’t know. He’s a right prat most of the time, but at the same time I see something I didn’t used to see that I like a lot. I know I’m falling, I just don’t know if I’ve hit the ground yet.”
Hermione sighed. “Harry, you said you needed to prove you love him,” she said. “How’re you going to do that?”
Harry sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know but I’ve got to find a way. The reason he’s like that is because of me, and no one else. If anyone should be punished, it’s me,” he said, rubbing the eyes behind his glasses.
“Perhaps Ginny could help?” Hermione suggested, softly.
Harry snorted. “How? She probably hates me and hates Draco even more.’
Hermione shrugged a shoulder. “Ask. You should give her more credit than that,” she said. “I don’t like Draco, and I think what you did to Ginny was horrible, but even so. I don’t think she would stand by and allow someone to die.”
Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a suspicious look. “You’ve been talking to her haven’t you?” he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at his best friend, waiting.
“No,” Hermione denied, her left eye twitching slightly and Harry waited a few moments before she sighed and nodded her head. “Yes, I have. We’ve all been worried about you, and your health and just everything about this. It’s not healthy Harry, you’re making yourself sick and you look awful. If you’re not careful you’re going to die as well.”
Harry shook his head. “I’ll be fine as soon as he wakes up, and we know the basics of how to do this now. He’ll be up and then he’ll yell at me for looking like crap and everything will be fine and good and we can all continue on. I just need some help. We’re so close. Please, Hermione.”
Hermione looked at him with wide eyes and then after a few moments, nodded her head. “Fine, give me that and then go and have a decent dinner, change, and a shower, and for the love of Merlin, get a good nights rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow afternoon and not a second before, all right?”
Harry nodded his head quickly, figuring that it was time anyway. “Thank you,” he said, his eyes wide and sincere. “Thank you so much,” he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek.
Hermione grimaced. “And for the love of god brush your teeth,” she said, making a small gagging sound.
Harry chuckled. “I will,” he promised, before heading back to the Floo.
“Harry,” Hermione called, when he had a handful of Floo powder.
Harry turned and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?” he asked.
“You know this might not work right and he might die,” she said, softly.
Harry thought for a moment. He’d been prepared to accept that possibility months ago, and even now with the small bubble of hope inside, he knew that that could happen. He nodded his head and swallowed. “I know,” he said, softly. “But I have to try, right? Just like you would if it was Ron.”
October 19th, 2002
There was a group of people standing around Draco’s bed. Harry and Hermione stood on one side with the Malfoy’s lawyer behind him in case something went wrong and Draco died. And on the other side was Ginny and Ron, the latter of who was glaring at Harry. Their friendship had become almost null and void ever since the news had come out that Harry had been sleeping with someone on the side. He had known that it would happen, that he would lose the support of the Weasley family if this ever came out, and he was prepared for it, but it still hurt.
“So I just have to kiss him?” Ginny asked, her voice disgusted.
Harry was watching Ginny hopefully; this entire thing depended on her. If she didn’t, then Draco would never wake up and Harry would be without him. He didn’t even know if it would work. It was a chance they were taking, there was no real reason to this plan, it was a last ditch effort - short of killing Ginny of course.
“Yes, just one kiss, just a brush on the lips really. But you have to be prepared to think about letting Harry go,” Hermione said, taking on her lecture voice, and for a moment Ron’s eyes softened and Harry was reminded of numerous times in the library during school and he smiled. But then Ginny sighed and that small dream was broken.
“I know,” she said softly, her eyes brimming with tears.
“You don’t have to do this,” Ron said, pressing a hand to his sister’s back and glaring at Harry again, obviously blaming him for all of this.
And that was what Harry wanted, he could take the blame, he knew it was his fault, all of this was his fault and really - none of it was Draco’s fault. That was the reasoning that they'd used to get Ginny’s support.
“I know, Ron,” Ginny said, softly. “But he doesn’t deserve to die because someone else lied.”
Ron snorted, obviously not believing that statement, and he wanted to say more but was silenced by stern look from Hermione. Harry looked at Ginny and nodded his head, hope and gratitude in his eyes and on his face. Ginny looked at him for one moment, the first tear slipping out before she looked at Draco and closed her eyes.
Harry held his breath as she leaned forward and stopped; her lips inches from Draco’s before she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his for a few moments before pulling back and moving away. The entire room was silent as they waited for some sort of recognition that something had happened, and Harry let his breath out with a small sob when nothing did happen. It hadn’t worked.
He dropped his head into his hands, feeling Hermione’s hand between his shoulder blades rubbing gently as he fought to keep from the tears spilling over. He wouldn’t cry, not in front of everyone else.
“Well, Mr. Potter, it seems that nothing has happened. I’ve got work to do, am I able to leave now?” the snooty voice of the lawyer came from behind him.
Harry was about to raise his head and nod when suddenly there was a scream and he looked up, seeing Draco’s back arching, his mouth wide open and his eyes open and blank. He watched in shock as Draco’s body began to tremble, and shake. Not everything was going according to plan.
“Draco?” he asked, reaching for one of Draco’s hands only to drop it. It was so cold it burned his hand. “Draco?” he asked again, settling for talking, hoping that something would happen, that the blond would wake up.
Draco continued to shake, small screams echoing around them now and then and causing Harry’s heart to hurt and die with each one. The screaming couldn’t be good; there was no way in hell that that was good. Even Ron and Ginny were looking scared on the other side of the bed. Draco suddenly relaxed and the trembling and the screaming stopped. He just lay there instead, as limp as a rag doll, and in some ways that was worse. Harry reached out with a shaky hand, intent on taking Draco’s hand into his own, but was stopped by a hand on his arm and he turned to see Hermione shaking her head.
“Don’t touch him,” she said softly. Harry wanted to argue, but he thought Hermione might be right. She usually was.
Hermione wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug as he turned, burrowing his face into his friends shoulder, not wanting to cry, but he was sure that he was going to whether or not he wanted to. He swallowed rapidly a few times, shaking his head slightly, not wanting to believe that this hadn’t worked. He had put everything he could into finding a cure, and helping Draco get better. The guilt that he had managed to push away for so long was coming back and he didn’t know how to stop it. This wasn’t Draco’s fault; he shouldn’t be blamed for Harry’s inability to let one of them go.
Harry tore himself out of Hermione’s grasp and made a bid for the door, not able to handle this any longer, when suddenly the entire room was infused with a strange red light and he turned one hand on the door handle to see all of Draco’s body glowing red and Harry’s recognized what was happening. He took a step closer, hope shining on his face.
“What is it?” Ron asked, frowning.
“It’s the necklace. It’s doing what it was originally supposed to do. That light is the only consistent thing throughout all of the other entries,” Harry replied absently. “After the light goes they wake up sometime later, either a day, a week or in some cases a month, but they always wake up,” he said, with a small choked sound of laughter.
Draco was going to be all right, Harry knew it. He knew he was going to be all right.
Feburary 9th, 2003
“And look at the size of her arse,” Draco said with a grimace, his voice low enough so that only Harry could hear him. “Someone needs to lay off the pumpkin pasties I think.”
Harry snorted, hiding his smile behind his glass of champagne. “Just because she beat you out in the promotion doesn’t mean you have to be cruel. She logged more hours than you, and got more cases done since the New Year.”
Draco huffed. “I have been recuperating. I deserve something special don’t I?”
Harry chuckled. “You do, but not a promotion. You only started again two weeks ago,” Harry reminded him.
Draco snorted. “I am well aware of this, but I find that they should give it to me simply because I am that fantastic.”
Harry snorted as well. “Oh you are, are you?” he asked, as he looked around the room full of mingling people, all here to congratulate Grace Harper, the newest and first promotion of the year. Harry personally thought that her brother Evan deserved it more than she did, but she was very attractive and it was a man who promoted her. Life worked that way sometimes.
“Harry, have you not been listening to a word I was saying or were you too busy ogling Evan’s arse?” Draco asked, punching him on the shoulder.
“More like Grace’s breasts. What were you saying?” he asked, turning and seeing an odd look on Draco’s face. “What?”
“Honestly, Potter, I thought you had more class than that. Who knows whom else she's done? You might find bits of other men in there,” Draco said.
Harry gagged. “That was disgusting, even for you.”
Draco grimaced. “I know, but that doesn’t make it any less true,” he replied, taking a sip of the scotch held in his hand. “And besides, she’ll freak out and fail and then whoever she slept with will fire her, she’ll write an expose, he’ll get in trouble and then in about three months everything will be back to normal.”
Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose that sounds about right,” Harry said, nodding his head.
“Like always,” Draco replied, running a hand through his hair.
Harry snorted. “Not like always. I can think of a few times when you were wrong.”
“When?” Draco demanded.
“Like when you told me that eating whipped cream of off your body was a good idea, or when we tried the cock rings, or perhaps when you decided nipple clamps would be fun,” Harry said in a soft whisper, rolling his eyes. “And let us not forget the dildo at work fiasco.”
Draco snorted. “Just because I accidentally turned it on during a meeting does not make it a fiasco,” he retorted. “And besides, you liked it.”
Harry snorted. “I was in a meeting with the Minister, I did not like it,” he replied, before smirking.
Draco spotted the smirk and raised an eyebrow. “What’s that little smirk for?”
“Nothing,” he replied, looking over the crowd.
“Harry,” Draco said in a hiss. “Tell me now.”
“No,” Harry replied.
“Potter, tell me now or no sex for a month and you know I can do it,” Draco warned.
Harry sighed. He knew exactly how long Draco could go without sex. It was annoying that that threat actually held a grain of truth in it. “Fine, I was just remembering the time when you visited your father in prison wearing the anal plug.”
Draco suddenly stood straighter and his cheeks brightened a little bit. “Please do not ever speak of that again.”
Harry shrugged. “How come?” he asked innocently, turning his head to look at the other man.
“Because it is disturbing and…”
“It turns you on,” Harry interrupted, noticing the way his fingers had tightened on his glass and his shoulders had turned towards him.
Draco’s cheeks did actually turn red this time as he shook his head. “It does not,” he replied, rolling his eyes.
Harry leaned over. “It does and you know it,” he said, softly.
“Fine,” Draco said. “When did you become so perceptive?”
Harry shrugged. “I’m not really, just I know when you’re turned on or not.”
Draco snorted. “Of course, why wouldn’t you make the one thing you are perceptive about to involve knowing when I get turned on?”
Harry nodded. “Yeah, basically,” he said, smirking before leaning in closer. “And besides, I heard about the desk in the drawing room, Very old and very sturdy,” he said, softly.
Draco’s breath hitched, but other than that, the blond managed to remain calm, cool and collected. “Really?” he asked, sounding uninterested.
“Really. I’ll meet you there in ten,” he said, kissing Draco’s jaw line and then walking away, placing the glass on one of the waiter’s trays before casting one last long look at Draco and stepping into the hallway.
He slipped into the drawing room and smiled, glad that there was no one else around as he waited for Draco. He had said ten minutes, but he doubted that his lover would want to wait that long. And he didn’t, not even five minutes later the door opened and Draco stepped inside, his back to Harry.
Harry flicked his fingers at the door, closing it and silencing it before stepping up and wrapping his arms around Draco’s middle, his fingers beginning to undo the buttons on the man’s shirt. At the same time, he kissed the side of Draco’s neck before sucking on a patch of skin.
Draco chuckled and leaned back against Harry, his head dropping forward and titling to the side to open up the curve of his neck. Harry smiled slightly and finished undoing the buttons, his fingers moving up to draw the shirt of off Draco’s shoulders to let it land on the floor, leaving him naked from the waist up. Harry’s fingers dropped down, undoing the buttons on Draco’s trousers before pushing those down along with his silk boxers leaving him naked in a matter of moments.
“Impatient, Potter?” Draco asked, a smirk in his voice, as Harry trailed a hand down to wrap around his cock, beginning to stroke the other man, feeling him grow hard under his fingers.
“Perhaps,” Harry said, pushing Draco forward with each step towards the desk, his hand continuing to move in short strokes as his other hand moved up to tweak a nipple. He stopped about a foot away from the desk before spinning Draco around and kissing him, pushing him those last few inches to the desk.
Draco sat on the desk and wrapped a leg around Harry’s waist, his hands dropping to undo the button and fly of his trousers. Harry groaned when he felt his lover’s hand wrap around his erection and begin to stroke. He continued to kiss the blonde, his tongue sliding along Draco’s easily before breaking the kiss and pushing him back, dislodging the hand from his erection. He grinned and whispered the preparation, causing Draco to arch and groan when he was instantly prepared. Harry dropped his hands, pushing his trousers down enough so that they wouldn’t rub against Draco’s skin as they fucked.
Draco dropped his head back while Harry whispered the spell for lube, and his cock was covered. Harry lined himself up before pressing inside, groaning, his eyes falling back as he held the blonde’s hips still. He settled once he was all the way in, widening his stance and drawing Draco closer to him until he was as deep as he could go. He grinned wolfishly at the blond and began to move, pulling out and thrusting back in, his head dropped down, eyes on Draco.
Draco for his part wrapped his legs around Harry’s waist holding on tightly as the two of them fucked. “Fuck,” Harry hissed, feeling good and alive and wanting more. Harry began to move harder and faster, one hand moving up to wrap around Draco’s wrist and hold it down against the desk near their hips, his other hand wrapping around his other wrist a moment later. He’d always loved the sight of Draco bound and tied up, completely at his mercy, and he thought that Draco liked it from the way he arched and moaned.
He continued to move at the same steady pace for some time before Draco suddenly moaned and arched his back and Harry slipped in deeper. He lost whatever semblance of control he had as he began to thrust in and out of Draco’s arse, grunting with each movement. The legs around his waist hitched higher and held tighter and Draco moaned again.
“Fuck, Potter, come on,” Draco hissed out, spurring Harry on faster, tilting his hips, looking for Draco’s prostate.
Suddenly Draco’s entire body tightened and he arched his hips, a cry falling from his lips. “Fuck, do that again,” Draco replied, and Harry complied with his demands, thrusting in faster and faster.
Draco began to moan and writhe around and Harry watched as Draco suddenly tensed and came, Harry’s name falling from his lips with a shudder, his body contracting uncontrollably around Harry’s and it only took a few more quick thrusts before he was coming.
“Fuck,” he said, dropping his head to rest on Draco’s chest, uncaring of the mess as he fought to regain his breath.
“Well that was fun, but would you mind moving, I’m not a pretzel, no matter how many positions you wrestle me into,” Draco replied, dropping his legs from around Harry’s waist.
Harry chuckled and pulled back and out of Draco, using a nonverbal spell to clean the two of them up. Draco nodded his head gratefully and sat up, pointing a finger at his clothing and beckoning, mumbling something under his breath. Harry stepped out of the way, watching in amusement as Draco’s clothing came to him like a little puppy. It always amused him how each action Draco did made it seem like he was some sort of prince or something.
Harry looked down, pulling up his trousers and doing up the buttons before raising his head, watching as Draco got dressed. He moved over to help him with the buttons, pressing a kiss at the hollow of his throat before pulling back. “There you go, good as new,” he said, patting his lover’s shoulders.
Draco rolled his eyes and smoothed his hair down. “Not as good as new, but close enough.”
Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. “Come on you ponce, let’s get back to this party before we’re missed.”
Draco snorted. “We were missed the minute we left,” he said, rolling a shoulder and tilting his chin up to look around haughtily.
Harry snorted and rolled his eyes again, moving to the door, Draco by his side. He pulled it open to be met with the sound of wolf whistles and cheers. He frowned and looked at Draco and leaned over to him. “Did I forget the silencing charm again?” he asked in a soft whisper.
Draco smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “Does it matter? Honestly, Potter, most of them are probably jealous,” he said, with a pointed glare at one or two of the girls who were looking at Harry a little too closely.
Harry chuckled. “I suppose,” he said, before reaching over and taking Draco’s hand. “Come on, I need more to drink if I have to deal with this,” he said, before pulling Draco closer. “After a kiss of course,” he said, before kissing Draco to the sound of cheering and wolf whistles.