Original poster: sakaim Title: Sectumsempra Animi Chapter: 6--Dissipate Author: </a></b></a>sakaim Word count: 5,998 (this chapter; over 33K overall) Warnings for this chapter: A delicious sex scene and some spazzing. Storysummary: Draco Malfoy seeks revenge on Harry Potter for Sectumsempra byuse of a forbidden love potion. Harry is desperately infatuated withDraco, who exploits his newfound power to control and torture hisgreatest archnemesis.
Note: This fic will be finished by the Deathly Hallows release.
Also,this is the second update today, so if this is your first time readingthis fic today, then you will definitely want to check out chapter fivehere first. Harry was lying miserably on the couch in the drawing room where he waswoken up in love with Draco, avoiding the gazes of his two bestfriends. They were sitting on the floor beside the couch, frowninggently at him, and Hermione’s hand was running over his back, rubbingand caressing in what she hoped was a soothing manner. Harry had theratty old pillow in his arms and was clutching it to his chest, lookingfixedly at the cushions on the back of the couch as she touched him,and he wondered what Draco was doing. “Harry,” Hermione whispered, andshe smiled when he flipped his head over and looked into her eyes, hisown rimmed with red. He had been crying until Ron and Hermione hadshown up.
Hermione sighed as Harry squeezed his eyes shut, andshe ran her fingers up his spine and touched his hair. “Harry, Narcissacould have resisted. She could have just refused to be budged…”Hermione and Ron had not gone to the Ministry at Harry’s request, butTonks had told them what happened. “But she didn’t. She didn’t want herson killed any more than…than you did.” Tonks had told her howbeautiful it had been when Harry had shoved Narcissa in front of thespell, whether Draco realised it or not.
Harry opened his eyesagain and stared at Hermione. She really had no idea what she wastalking about, he thought, and he sat up to look down at them. “I haveto go see Draco,” he whispered, but both Ron and Hermione held onto hisknees to prevent him from getting up. “What are you doing?!” he demanded, and he tried to push their hands off of him. “Let me go! I need to tell him…tell him what happened.”
“Hewas there, Harry! He saw what happened!” Hermione whispered in apleading voice. “Don’t go up there —he’ll try his hardest to hurt you!He’s really, really upset, Harry…”
“Wouldn’t you be?!” Harrydemanded, and he slammed his fist down against the cushions of thecouch. He was still dressed in the robes he had worn at the Ministry,which were torn in places. “Besides, he was hit with the Severing Hex—he’s bleeding internally— and he needs me. He’ll die unless he’s takencare of!”
“Snape’s already been to him,” Ron muttered, hatreddripping like snake’s venom from his voice at the mention of their oldPotions master. “There’s no need for you to go right now, Harry, unlessyou’re looking for a fight.”
Harry groaned in frustration and pushed them away with his feet. They just did not understand, did not knowhow he felt for Draco, could not understand the intricate relationshipbetween them. Sure, they had walked in on he and Draco snogging lastweek, but they probably thought that Draco was controlling him or hadhim under the influence of some sort of love potion, and that was ridiculous.He would remember if Draco had forced him to drink a love potion, afterall. “There is more need for me to go right now than you understand,”Harry growled, the first sparks of anger igniting inside of him. “Solet. Me. Go.”
Hermione and Ron looked at one another and sighedbefore they stood up and stepped aside. Harry got to his feet as welland stared at them for a few moments before he nodded to them and leftthe drawing room.
Draco felt like such a child, lying upstairsin his bed with the blankets wound around his body and the pillowclutched to his chest. Ever since Snape had been in to heal hisinjuries, he had been hopelessly tangled up in the sheets, staring atthe flame of the oil lamp for so long that the yellow light was burnedinto his vision. He was ashamed that Snape had seen him crying, and hehad been unable to meet his godfather’s eyes while he was fed potionsand spells were whispered over him.
“Draco,” Snape had said, andhe had rubbed Draco’s stomach soothingly in a gesture unlike anythingDraco had ever known from the man. “Your mother would have resistedPotter if she had wanted to. She knew what was happening. Your motherwas never taken by surprise by anything, and you know that.” He closedhis eyes to allow Draco some dignity as the boy threw his arm over hisface and hid his eyes in his elbow, sobbing loudly. “It will hurt lessin time.”
“NO IT WON’T!” Draco had yelled hoarsely, and Severushad been rather taken aback by that statement. Draco had waved hishand, wanting Snape gone, and the man had complied. The moment thatSnape was gone, Draco had screamed into his pillow until his throat wasraw.
He heard the knock at his door but did not acknowledgeit, instead closing his eyes and sobbing silently into the pillow. Whenthe door opened and no words were spoken, he cracked his right eye openand saw Potter standing there, cheeks flushed and fists clenched. Furyand outrage swelled up inside of Draco, and he miraculouslydisentangled himself from the sheets in seconds and had his wand at theready. “Come to kill me, too?!” he hissed, eyes narrowed as Potteradvanced slowly on him.
“Of course not, Draco,” Harry whispered,and he reached up to touch Draco’s wand. The wood was burning againsthis fingers, but he did not pull away, and he pushed Draco’s wandaside. “Draco, are you all r—”
“No, I’m not all right!”Draco screeched, and he dropped his wand in favour of drawing his handback and punching Potter as hard as he could in the jaw. Harry yelpedand stumbled back, and Draco used the moment of weakness to hisadvantage. He gave a positively visceral scream and leapt on Harry,knocking him to the ground and pummelling him with his fists, sobbingdesperately as he knocked the breath out of Harry. Harry’s arms liftedto protect his face, but Draco forced them apart and punched him in thenose, breaking it with ease, and Harry howled in pain. “You killed her,you bastard! You fucking killed my mum; you deserve it!”
“IDO DESERVE IT!” Harry yelled thickly, tears spilling over his cheeksnot because of the pain of the punches to his chest and his face or theagony of the broken nose, but because he could feel every scream andevery sob escaping Draco’s mouth as though it were ripping through hisvery essence of being. He tried reaching for Draco, tried to bring himdown, to pin him to his chest and stop him hitting and breaking, but hecould not seem to catch him.
Molly was standing at the bottomof the stairs, listening to the screaming and the dull thud ofskin-on-skin she knew had to be punches, and she started up the stairs,but it was Severus who grabbed her arm and gave her a stern look.“Molly,” he warned quietly, “leave them, all right? Potter can takecare of himself, and Draco won’t hurt him too badly.”
“Are youcertain?” Molly asked, concern etched into every line of her face, andwhen Severus nodded, she sighed and stepped away from the stairs.“Severus, what’s going on between them? Do you know? No one else can figure out what has… occurred between them.”
Severus’sface hardened and he looked away from the short woman. “I think I havean idea, Molly, but I am uncomfortable with sharing it presently. Donot be too concerned…I believe that it will fix itself in time.” Heconsidered touching her shoulder, but he refrained and walked away fromher instead, continuing on his path to the kitchen. As much as heresented Draco for placing Potter under the influence of SectumsempraAnimi, Severus knew that the potion had, ultimately, saved his lifedown there in the Ministry of Magic. He could not resent him any longerfor that.
Harry choked as Draco punched him fiercely in thestomach, and he reached up to swipe blood and tears from his facebefore he tried to unseat Draco from his thighs, lifting one legsharply and toppling him off to the right. Draco shrieked in rage andtried to fly at him again, but Harry, blood dripping from his chin andone eye beginning to swell and turn purple, launched himself at Dracoand knocked him to the floor onto his back. Draco was wailing andthrashing, his hands attempting to reach up and claw at Harry’s face,but Harry pinned his arms down with his knees and leaned his weightheavily on them. “STOP IT! STOP IT, POTTER!” Draco was bellowing, and Harry screwed up his face before he did the hardest thing he had ever done in his entire life.
He reached back to gain momentum and slapped Draco Malfoy across the face as hard as he possibly could.
Thescreaming stopped immediately, and Draco’s eyes widened in completeshock, tears dripping from the corners of his eyes. Harry choked andwhimpered, though he did not release Draco from the floor, and heshakily ran his hand through Draco’s hair. “D-Draco, I… you werehurting me,” he stuttered, and he watched as Draco’s face absolutelycrumpled into desperate, pathetic sobs. Harry closed his eyes andheaved a deep sigh before he slowly climbed off of Draco and helped himoff of the floor, pulling him close into a tight embrace. “Shhh…”
Dracomoaned and drew back trembling, lifting his wand and pointing it atHarry again, but he did not look to be aiming to hex Harry, so Harrystayed still as Draco repaired his nose and eye with a few basichealing spells he must have learned with the Death Eaters. “I-I-I’msorry, P-Potter,” he choked, and he began to turn away to go back tobed, but Harry caught him from behind and drew him back, hugging him tohis chest and dropping his head onto Draco’s shoulder.
“Don’tapologise to me, Malfoy,” Harry murmured, and he kissed the nape ofDraco’s neck with tear-moistened lips. Draco hung his head, and Harrykissed each vertebra that poked upward against the white skin. Henoticed for the first time that there was a mole just beneath Draco’shairline, and he kissed it as well, one hand coming up to lift Draco’shair away from his head so he could kiss along his hairline. The littlehairs on the nape of Draco’s neck lifted and gooseflesh raised alongthe path Harry was kissing. Draco felt dizzy, and he leaned heavilyback against Harry’s chest. He slid his arms back around the other’swaist, the backs of his hands resting against Harry’s spine, and hetraced one of the vertebrae with the second knuckle of his right indexfinger. “I… I’m the one who should be sorry, but you have so much moreto offer than your mother did. You can make a difference, Draco...Narcissa had given up.”
Draco shook his head silently, but Harrynipped his earlobe. “She had, and you know it. She never left her roomeven though we did our best to persuade her; she was miserable livinglike this, but there was no other choice. I know that doesn’t make ithurt any less for you, but we’re… we’re all selfish, Draco. Sometimes,we must live for ourselves.”
Draco gave a low sob and turned inHarry’s arms, sliding his arms around his neck and burying his face inHarry’s shoulder. Harry sat down on the bed and pulled Draco into hislap, arms wrapped around him holding him securely on his thighs. Dracolet Harry dry his tears with his shirt, and when his cheeks weresuitably tear-free, he looked up into Harry’s eyes and forgot to becruel, forgot to be angry about their past, and he wrapped his rightarm around Harry’s neck with a tired expression.
Harry chewedhis lower lip for a moment before he took a deep breath and leaned downto press his lips to Draco’s without fear for the first time. Dracomoaned and wrapped his other arm around Harry’s neck, kissing back withcomplete, consuming desperation. The pure emotion radiating off ofDraco would have made Harry weak in the knees had he been standing, andhe lifted his wand from the bed, flicking it to shut the bedroom doorbefore he pulled Draco backwards on the bed and lay back comfortably onthe mattress. The shift of weight caused Draco to nearly fall off ofhim, but Harry helped him right himself, and a moment later they werepressed flush together, spread out on the bed with Harry’s knees liftedto either side of Draco’s body. One of his feet lifted and rubbed aline back and forth over the back of Draco’s thigh as they explored oneanother’s mouths. Draco tasted of the tears he had been crying out forseveral hours, and Harry tasted slightly coppery —some blood from hisbroken nose had trickled down his throat— as his tongue boldly pressedinto Draco’s mouth and mapped out every tooth, traced every dip andridge of the hard palate. A low moan reverberated in the kiss, andHarry was unsure as to whom it belonged to.
Draco let himselfget lost, completely lost, in Harry for the first time without thepotion or their past niggling at the back of his mind. He could feelHarry’s heartbeat pounding against his chest, feel the pull of theblankets beneath them as Harry’s hands grabbed fistfuls of it beforecoming up and burying in his blond hair, feel the groan bubbling upfrom Harry’s lungs before it ever sounded, and the sensations of thesounds and the tastes and every little feeling made him ache with want—not need— for Harry. Time was speeding up and slowing down at amaddening pace; their kisses lasted for years, their eyes locked forhalves of seconds, and then time would flip sickeningly and Draco couldcount the flecks of hazel in green eyes a million times over beforeeither of them moved again.
The world around them was a blur ofhalf-darkness, the oil lamp that had held watch over their lastrendezvous flickering steadily on as it had before. Silent questionsbetween them deafened Draco.
Do you love me?
Yes, yes, and you, you love me, don’t you?
For now, for now.
Apassion unlike any Draco had ever known was stoking itself at everybrush of skin, at every kiss and sharp exhalation, and his head wasspinning. They were not even naked; shirts were still buttoned, sockswere still firmly in place, and he was groaning as though he was buriedballs-deep in Harry, the sensations were so incredibly exhilarating.Fingers in his hair were clutching at his scalp, grasping at the rootsof his hair and tugging ever-so-gently, and he seized Harry’s hair inreturn, testing the texture between his fingers and pulling so sharplythat Harry’s mouth was torn from his with a hoarse, guttural moan.
Do you trust me?
Fuck, fuck, more than anything…
Timeflipped again as Draco’s lips attached to the soft flesh of Harry’sneck, and he could feel his teeth slowly, achingly slowly, pressingdown into the softness. He could taste individual hairs on his tongue,on his gums, and he felt the muscle below the flesh twitch in slowmotion. He could not hear Harry whimpering his name, but he felt thevibration of Harry’s throat against his cheek and knew the syllables,and he whispered Harry’s name, chanted it, against the skin he wasaccosting with his tongue and teeth. He sucked hard, pulling blood tothe surface of the skin, and when his mark was made, he dragged hislips up the angular jaw-line below Harry’s ear and nipped it, feelingthe stubble and licking the rough patch with something skin toaffection.
Harry’s ear was slightly sour to the taste as Dracotraced the shell, up and around and down and in, then out, up, behind.He pressed the pressure point behind the lobe with the flat of histongue and time snapped back to its normal pace with Harry’s gasp. Histeeth snagged the lobe and tugged it gently, releasing when the tensionwas too much, and his hand tightened in Harry’s hair as he dipped histongue into the ear, making Harry call out loudly and grab Draco’sshoulder frantically. “Draco, Draco, Draco…” It must have beentoo much, and Draco separated his mouth from Harry’s ear to brush thewings of their noses together, and he stared down into his eyes again,panting against Harry’s parted lips. He could feel the air move whenHarry’s tongue darted out to moisten his lips then Draco’s, and Draco’shand loosened its grip on black hair and slid down Harry’s right side,finding the hem of his shirt and lifting it, slithering beneath it tocaress the warm curve of his side.
Harry’s eyelids fluttered andhe cupped Draco’s cheek, feeling the hints of rough stubble there, andhe ran his thumbnail against the grain, feeling the tiny blond hairssnapping back into place when his thumb passed over them. Draco’s lefthand lifted and pulled his glasses off, setting them with a soft clackon the nightstand, and Harry could see nothing but him, nothing but thegrey eyes so sharply in focus before him, and he tugged on Draco’sshirt, wanting it gone. Draco just barely nodded, and he tore theirforeheads apart to pull his nightshirt over his head and throw itaside. The muscles beneath the skin of his chest flexed and stretchedwith the movement, and Harry watched the rolling movement —slightlyblurred from his point of view— in adoration. Draco’s fingers madequick work of Harry’s buttons, and he pulled Harry into a sittingposition by his collar before he threw the button-down out of sightinto the darkness.
They fell to the mattress again together, nowon their sides and facing one another, and Draco was invading Harry’smouth again with his tongue, every movement slow and calculated as histongue writhed with Harry’s, circling it and flicking against it anddriving Harry absolutely up the wall with arousal. Draco’s stomach wasso soft and warm against his, the rough curls trailing down from hisbellybutton lining up precisely with Harry’s until one of Draco’sthighs moved between both of Harry’s. The weight was heavy andcomforting, and Harry thought Draco would roll on top of him again, butinstead he did the very opposite, bringing Harry on top and letting himtake the lead for now.
It was a welcome change, and Harry brokethe fierce kiss to bite and lick his way down Draco’s chest. The pinknipples firmed up beneath the onslaught of his tongue and teeth, and hebreathed cool air across each in turn before he hooked his fingers onthe waistband of Draco’s pyjamas. He continued his steady path south,following the dip of the line separating Draco’s abs to hisbellybutton, his strange little bellybutton. He touched it with the tipof his nose then the tip of his tongue, and Draco whimpered, arched hisback into the sinful kiss, and his hands were in Harry’s hair again. “Ilove you,” Harry breathed against the skin, but it did not ruin theeffect for Draco this time. No, he needed someone, anyone, to love him,even if he did not necessarily love them back in the way the othermight want. No, they were the perfect words to say, and Draco sobbed,tears making an encore appearance and dripping down the creases at thecorners of his eyes, and one of Harry’s hands reached up, fingerscatching several of the tears with care. Draco seized the profferedhand and kissed the palm wetly, tracing the life line and love linewith his tongue as Harry’s other hand pulled down his pyjamas to findthat Draco wore nothing underneath.
The head of Draco’s cocknudged the bottom of Harry’s chin, and Draco blushed lightly as Harrymoved to take it in his mouth. Harry had sucked him off before, but ithad never been like this, never in the middle of what could beconsidered nothing other than lovemaking, for Merlin’s sake,and the motion was so full of consideration and adoration and athousand other ‘–ation’s that Draco’s vision went spotty when Harry’stongue dipped into the slit at the very tip of his cock to sample thedrop of pre-ejaculate that quivered there. His toes curled as smooth,moistened lips slid firmly over the spongy head and just under theforeskin before he opened his mouth just slightly wider to accommodatethe change in girth. Draco’s cock twitched in his mouth when he hadtaken it in as much as he could, until he could taste a slick, saltydroplet sliding down the back of his throat, and he drew his head backbefore pushing forward again, his tongue working all the while.
Dracospread his legs and made a hard, breathy sound from the back of histhroat as Harry pumped his cock with his lips, and he was careful notto jerk his hips up every time he hit the back of Harry’s throat. Therewere fingers tickling carefully across his testicles, and he shiveredwhen Harry let the shaft fall from his mouth to dip his mouth lower,taking the delicate sac between his lips and sucking it into his mouth.His right hand came up to continue the job his mouth had beenperforming, fingers curling lovingly around the shaft, and Draco madethat strange sound in the back of his throat again before he sat up onhis elbows and sucked two of Harry’s fingers into his mouth. Harrymoaned thickly and arched his hips against the mattress, his thumbswiping over the crown of Draco’s cock as he let the warm flesh fallfrom between his lips. He nudged the sac aside and flicked his tongueover Draco’s perineum, and Draco’s eyes snapped open with theshuddering moan than fluttered through him. He dropped Harry’s fingersfrom his mouth. “H-Harry…”
Harry’s eyes squeezed closed —it wasthe first time Draco had ever called him anything other than ‘Potter’or some derisive nickname— and he wanted to savour the moment. ThenDraco’s hands were seizing him under his arms, and he was being pulledback up and over Draco’s body. Their lips and tongues clashed hard asDraco’s hands made short work of the button fly of Harry’s denimtrousers, and soon they were being shoved down over his hips. Harryassisted in kicking them off and away, and Draco was rolling with himagain, pinning him to the mattress and moaning sweetly into his mouthbefore he suddenly broke the kiss and slithered down Harry’s body withthe grace of a cat. Harry’s eyes widened the second before it happenedas he realised what Draco was going to do, and when Draco’s mouthclosed over him, he yelled Draco’s name out into the rafters of the oldhouse, legs as far apart as they could comfortably go.
Dracohad never done anything like this, but then again, he supposed, Potternever had before that first time in the corridor either, and he hadcertainly done fine. He also had no intention of making Harry come fromthis alone, but judging by the repeated, gasping moans escaping Harry’slips, he would have had no trouble doing that, either. He did not meanto linger, and so he bestowed a few long, well-deserved licks alongHarry’s cock before he slid lower, but instead of licking Harry’stesticles or perineum, he rolled Harry’s hips up with his hands and,surprising himself, really, swiped his tongue over Harry’s arse.
Harry squeaked.The sound was so ridiculous that he released a torrent ofslightly-hysterical laughter before he could calm down enough toproperly blush, and he threw one of his arms over his head with anothersmall yelp as Draco did it again. Then that tongue —that miserablysinful, wicked little tongue— went rather rigid and pressedinto him, and he was cursing and growling out Draco’s name withenthusiasm he had never shown for anything. He could feel Dracochuckling, and he very nearly mocked him in exasperation, but then thattongue was rhythmically fucking him and he was speechless, breathless.
Ronand Hermione stared blankly at one another at the sound of Harry’svoice ringing out through Grimmauld Place, and Hermione cleared herthroat a bit. “I’ll just go… place a Silencing Charm on the room, shallI?” Ron nodded enthusiastically, and she got up, cheeks a fiery red, todo just that. Ron slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand andgroaned.
When Draco came back up over Harry, Harry was shakingand gasping for breath, one trembling hand coming up to cup Draco’schin. “Fuck me, Draco, for fuck’s sake,” he begged, and henearly sobbed with relief when Draco reached for the jar of lube hekept in the nightstand. The jar lid was unscrewed and the scent of theliquid inside wafted through the air, causing Harry to shiver inanticipation. Draco’s fingers dipped in and coated themselves in thestuff, and he leaned down to push his tongue deeply into Harry’s mouthjust as two fingers simultaneously pushed into him, and Harry whimperedagainst the kiss. He had never been so glad that Draco took care of hishands, of his fingernails, and he gave a sudden, violent tremor whenDraco brushed something inside of him. He bit down on Draco’s lower lipand bore down on those fingers, wanting them to do whatever they hadjust done again, and when they did, he did not even notice a thirdfinger pushing inside. He ripped his mouth away from Draco’s and methis gaze. “I’ll c-come if you don’t do it already,” he murmured, and hegulped when the fingers disappeared from inside of him.
Dracotook time in coating himself in the lubrication, knowing that Harrywould not take very long at all to climax and not wanting to outlasthim by too long, lest Harry be too sensitive to continue after his ownorgasm. When he was properly covered in the oily substance, hepositioned Harry’s hips at a comfortable angle and pressed the head ofhis cock to his entrance. Harry met his gaze and nodded, his thighsquivering slightly, and he tilted his chin up, mouth dropping open, asDraco pushed forward to penetrate him. There was a bit of resistance inthe beginning, but then Harry gave way and Draco was sliding, full andas hard as he had ever been, into his tight, suffocating heat.
Harrywas moaning and moving beneath him immediately, wanting Draco to fuckthe pain away instead of lingering in one spot until it dissipated, andhe was infinitely pleased that Draco seemed to like this idea verymuch. He lay down over Harry and began to kiss him again as he began tofuck him, the clutching muscles of Harry’s arse already making him wantto come. He could not remember why on earth he had thought he wouldhave trouble being able to climax when Harry did, and from what he knewabout orgasms, the spasms of Harry’s muscles would surely drive himover the edge.
Harry caught Draco’s gaze and whimpered, histongue writhing alongside Draco’s before Draco withdrew his tongue andnibbled on Harry’s lips as very best he could while thrusting in andout of him. Tingling sensations were shooting through Harry’s thighsalready, and he lifted them, wrapping them tightly around Draco’s waistto keep from coming that soon. The new angle this created wasdelicious, however, and he was breathing Draco’s name in a steadychant, the occasional moan breaking the monotone of his whispering, andhe slapped Draco’s arse playfully.
Draco chuckled breathlesslyand growled, biting down on Harry’s collarbone, and Harry squealed withdelight, one hand tangling in Draco’s hair. He arched his neck, turninghis head to the side to give Draco all the access to it he wished, andhe twitched and jerked with every bite and melted with every lick. Thesensations soon overtook Draco, however, and he dropped his head ontoHarry’s shoulder, gasping and grunting with every thrust while his lefthandheld tightly to Harry’s right shoulder for support. “Fuck, fuck,you feel wonderful,” he breathed against Harry’s ear, and Harrysobbed as Draco’s right hand slid between them and gave his cock atwisting squeeze.
Harry had been completely unaware that he wasso close to orgasm, but with that twist combined with the angle thatDraco’s shift had caused, that spot inside of him was brushed again andhe was whispering a desperate warning. “Draco, I-I’m going toc-co-oooh, fuck, Draco, fuck, fuck fuck!” His body seized up around Draco as he came hard,spurts of come coating the skins of their stomachs, and he was buckinghis hips wildly beneath Draco, screaming hoarsely. Draco let himselfgo, cursing and yelling out his orgasm as the fire that had beengathering at the base of his spine burst forth, and he heard himselfmoaning Harry’s name in ecstasy as they rode out their twin orgasmstogether.
Afterward, he collapsed on top of Harry and buried hisface in his neck, struggling to catch his breath and clinging to theboy beneath him, who clung back as hard as he could. When Harryrepeated his love for Draco against his ear for the second time sincethey had begun, Draco nodded and sobbed and kissed him deeply,reluctant to pull out of him and even more reluctant to let go.
Hermionefrowned at Draco over the breakfast table the next morning, seeing theexhaustion in his eyes and, in contradiction, the faint smile on hislips. Harry was sitting next to him, eyes fixed on Malfoy’s face, andit was not only annoying her, it seemed, for Draco elbowed Harry in theside. “Quit staring at me, for fuck’s sake,” he growled, but his eyeswere shining and there was a hint of playfulness to his voice that madeHarry grin at him. Hermione wondered what Harry could possibly havesaid the night before to entice Malfoy out of his sobbing misery tosex, to this display of playful sadness before her, and she cleared herthroat. “Malfoy, could we have a talk alone when you’re finished?”
Harry blinked and looked up at her, cocking his head to the side a bit. “Why?” he asked, and Hermione gave him a hard look.
“I didn’t ask you,Harry,” she stated matter-of-factly, and she ignored the slightly hurtlook on Harry’s face to meet Draco’s eyes over his plate of eggs. “Sowill you, Malfoy? In the drawing room?”
So, fifteen minuteslater, Draco was walking alone into the drawing room, where Hermionewas sitting and staring out the window, her foot tapping irritablyagainst the rug. Draco cocked an eyebrow at her then closed the doorbehind him, casting an Imperturbable Charm on the door before he fixedhis attention on one of the antique-filled cabinets in the room. Hespotted his mother’s family crest and felt his heart ache. “What’s allthis stuff, Granger?” he asked, shooting her a look over his shoulder.
“Kreachermanaged to save quite a bit of what we threw out before fifth year,”Hermione said shortly, and she gave a bit of a shrug. “If we try tothrow any of it out, he manages to get it back, so we let him get onwith it. It’s better than him muttering all the time, the poor thing.”
Dracowrinkled his nose at her pitying house-elves —as though they neededpity— but remained silent even when he felt her get up behind him.“Malfoy,” she sighed, and he stiffened a little, seeing her reflectionin the glass. She reminded him of a young McGonagall, and it left abitter taste in his mouth. “Look, what are you doing with Harry?”
Heknew he should have been expecting this. Of course theysuspected—Potter was absolutely obsessed with him and had been for overa month now. He could not quite recall how long it had been, but hesupposed that it was of little importance. Right now, he needed Potterand his adoration to mend the gaping hole created by the death ofNarcissa, and he would not give an antidote until he was feelingbetter, if ever. He really felt no need to cater to Snape’s whims. “Idon’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered, and he opened oneof the cabinet doors to begin searching through the things. “This is areally fucking nice goble—”
“Don’t feed me that shite, Malfoy!”she exclaimed angrily, and she came up beside him, glowering. “I heardyou two last night, and that wasn’t the first time! What spells haveyou got him under?!”
He snorted at her and glanced over to meet her eyes. “Look, Mudblood, I don’t needspells or potions to win over idiots like Potter. Did it ever occur toyou that maybe —just maybe— he fell in love with me on his own?” He setdown the silver goblet he had been inspecting then buried himselfdeeper in the cabinet. “You could sell this stuff for a tonne ofGalleons…”
“That doesn’t matter!” she sighed, and she tried toclose the cabinet door on him, but he resisted and reached back furtherinto it. “He wouldn’t have just…fallen in love with you, Malfoy. He hates you, for Merlin’s sake…Would you get out of there already?!”
Herolled his eyes and glared at her. “Thin line, Granger. Love, hate,that whole business…Careful, or you’ll be the one sucking my dicknext.” She let out a squeal of outrage and he smirked, his fingersbrushing something in the back of the deep shelves and pushing it justout of reach. He leaned further in, knocking a few pewter items over inhis path.
“I would never, not in a million years,Malfoy!” she hissed, repulsed by the very thought, and she seized theback of his robes, hauling his backward out of the cabinet. “Get out ofthere, damn it! I…I…D-Draco…”
He flipped around snarling at her,the object he had just retrieved dangling on its chain from hisfingers. “What the fuck, Granger?” he hissed, and he looked down at theheavy locket hanging from his hand. She was pointing at it frantically,her other hand over her mouth, and he blinked, confused at her, beforelooking down at the ornate snake curled into a distinct ‘s’ adorningthe front of the locket. “Er…What’s wrong?”
“Regulus Black,” she whispered, and she literally leapt into the air. “Harry! Harry, get in here! R.A.B. was Regulus Black, of course!”She was screaming then, and Draco was back up against the cabinet, eyeswide in fear. His mind wandered back to a book he had read as a child, When Mudbloods Go Mad,and the gruesome pictures were flickering over his corneas when Harryburst into the room and looked between them for a moment before hiseyes fell on the locket. He seized the doorframe for support thenlooked at Draco, who was looking shell-shocked, and he launched himselfat him, arms wrapping around Draco’s neck a moment before he pressedtheir lips together in complete, maddening joy.