Inexplicable Things (Ch. 6)

Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Theodore Nott, Ginny Weasley/Blaise Zabini

Summary: No way, no way in hell. Draco is supposed to be in France or America or, wherever else he’d deemed more important than Harry when he left five years ago. Draco is not supposed to be showing up at the DMLE out of the blue, forcing Harry to watch him as he struts confidently across the room towards him.

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Chapter 6

On Friday Harry spends over an hour changing outfits in the mirror before leaving for pub night. After parting ways with Draco Wednesday morning he and Ginny had gotten caught up in their case. This meant that Harry hadn't had enough time to so much as stop by Draco’s office. He’s spent the last couple days yearning for Draco’s presence, for the glint in his gray eyes when he smiles, for the soft brush of his calloused palm against Harry’s knee.

Harry buttons up what must be the sixth shirt he’s tried on, and tries to ignore the slight tremor of his fingers. The depths of his stomach feel like a pit of snakes and his breath comes quickly. He tries to remind himself that he’s excited to see Draco, not nervous, not terrified.

Harry clenches his hands once and releases them slowly before turning on his heel in apparition. He stumbles a little as he lands, his heart rabbiting in his chest. Quickly before he loses his courage he swings open the heavy front door of the pub and pauses on the doorstep scanning the crowd for his friends.

There, standing near the dance floor, leaning into Blaise’s side is Draco. He’s wearing a tailored leather jacket and his blond hair is swept up into a loose french braid. Harry can’t rip his eyes away. He strides quickly through the throng of people. As he gets closer, Draco turns and catches his eyes in a flash of gray. They stare at each other as Harry moves in. When he reaches Draco he reaches a hand around his waist pulling Harry flush to his side and dropping a quick kiss to his forehead.

“Hey,” Harry says softly, grinning across at Blaise.

“You’re late,” Draco whines, leaning in further, his breath tickling across Harry’s ear. Harry notices the way he sways a little on his feet and wonders how many drinks Draco’s already had.

“Sorry, I got caught up with some chores at home,” Harry apologizes. “How are you doing Blaise?”

“Fine,” Blaise mumbles. He doesn’t look fine at all. In fact he looks quite upset, his lips are pinched into a firm hard line and his eyes stare unfocused across the room. Harry follows his gaze to where Ginny is talking to Dean. Her hair falls in slightly disheveled waves and her emerald green dress is loose, falling off of her shoulders. They watch as Dean clasps Ginny’s hand in his and pulls her in closer. He says something to her and she tilts her head back, sending laughter echoing across the room. Blaise tenses. Harry watches as his knuckles go white around the glass of his drink.

“Trouble in paradise?” Harry asks quietly.

“I don’t know,” Blaise sighs, “I just can’t really tell if she’s serious about me. I mean-” he breaks off, wincing a little, “We slept together but she left in the morning and now it feels like she’s avoiding me or something. It makes me wonder if she regrets it.”

“She didn’t seem like she regretted it,” Harry assures him, stepping forward a little and placing a comforting hand on his arm.

“I think you might scare her,” Draco chimes in. Harry nods slowly in agreement.

“Why would I scare her?” Blaise scoffs, “Are my Death Eater ties going to damage her reputation or something?” His tone comes out harsh and bitter.

“Blaise, you didn’t even play a part in the war.” Harry admonishes him.

“And I didn’t mean it like that anyways,” Draco interrupts.

“Then how did you mean it?”

“Like she can’t stop looking at you, or thinking about you, and she’s terrified she might mess this up so instead she flirts with other guys and pretends she couldn't care less what you think,” Draco rushes quickly. Harry nods in agreement.

“Are you speaking from experience?” Harry asks Draco, a cheerful gleam in his eye.

“Shut up,” Draco tells him, elbowing him in the side.

“I find that hard to believe,” Blaise mumbles.

Harry watches him watch Ginny and Dean across the room. They’re moving against each other to the beat of the music, lithe and rhythmic, like they don’t have a care in the world. And yet, Harry notices the way Ginny’s eyes flicker away from Dean every couple minutes, a quick glance back towards Blaise before skittering away into the crowd.

“I don’t, '' Draco says brightly, “She’s been watching you too you know.”

“She has,” Harry confirms.

“Whatever,” Blaise says, his tone bitter,“It doesn’t matter. Ginny’s free to do as she pleases. I’m not her keeper.”

“I bet the second someone tries to flirt with you she’ll be over here trying to scare them away,” Draco says, grabbing Blaise’s glass out of Harry’s hand and taking a swig.

Blaise looks at him suspiciously for a second, then Ginny’s laughter filters through the crowd a second time and his face hardens, a muscle flexing in his jaw. “Fine. I’ve got nothing left to lose anyways.”

“Perfect, now who will we-” Draco breaks off, turning away from them to scan the crowd, “Oi Theo! He hisses. Theo turns from where he was chatting quite animatedly with Luna and shifts towards them.

“We need you for an extra secret, extra important mission.” Draco explains, his voice hushed, his eyes wide and serious.

Blaise rolls his eyes, “I wish I’d never agreed to this.”

“Um, what?” Theo asks, looking confused.

Harry sighs. “Ginny’s being stupid and ignoring Blaise. Blaise is all broken up about it. Draco thinks if someone flirts with Blaise Ginny’ll come over to scare them off,” He shakes his head a little.

“Yes exactly,” Draco says, sounding a bit manic. “So we just need you,” he points at Theo with a dramatic flair, “to flirt with our hot boy toy Blaise.”

Blaise winces and looks away, “It’s not important Theo you can go.”

“I don’t know,” Theo teases, raising his eyebrow, “It sounds like it could make or break the night. I’m in if you are. I’ve never turned down a noble cause in my life.” He puffs his chest up a little, preening in front of them. Harry rolls his eyes.

Blaise looks at them silently for a second and then something inside him seems to snap. “Fine,” He says, moving into Theo’s space and splaying his palm across his broad chest. “Give me your worst baby.”

Draco lets out a piercing wolf whistle and then steps back a bit pulling Harry with him. “You have to give them space,” he whispers, “you know to make it believable.” He’s adorable like this, his eyes light and mischievous, his body tipsy and relaxed. Harry nods at him, gets lost in the pale flush of his cheeks, the charcoal flutter of his eyelashes. He’s about to lean in for a kiss when Draco’s finger jabs between his ribs.

“Ouch,” Harry yelps, shoving his hand away.

“Sorry. Sorry,” Draco rushes, “But you can't get distracted now. It’s getting good.” He gestures to the couple in front of him. Theo has his hands wrapped securely around Blaise’s shoulders, Blaise is leaning into him, his eyes predatory, his lips curved up in a slight smirk.

“Look,” Draco hisses, pointing his finger past the boys, towards the corner of the room. Harry shifts his eyes and there, pushing through the crowd with her hair flowing out behind her like a battle cry, is Ginny. Her lips are pressed in a firm straight line, her brown eyes are blazing.

She shoves into the two boys pushing them apart. Theo drops his hands to his sides and sneaks a gloating look over to Draco and Harry.

“Excuse me, I must have lost my footing,” Ginny says coldly, glaring at Theo through narrowed eyes.

“Don’t worry about it,” Theo responds quickly. Harry can tell he’s holding back laughter.

The trio in front of them stands silent for a second. Draco clasps Harry’s hand with his, electric with barely contained excitement. Harry listens as the music around them switches to something slower with a softer beat.

“Well,” Ginny’s voice is low and deliberate, like every word is being dragged out of her, “Since I just happened to run into you, would you be so kind as to give me the next dance?” She offers her hand to Blaise. Theo smirks and backs up even further, lifting his hands in defeat.

“Sure,” Blaise says, taking her palm gently.

Ginny pulls him away through the crowd of people towards the packed dance floor, “You should really know better than to try and steal my man Theo,” She calls cheerfully behind her.

Theo finally loses hold of himself collapsing to giggles, “Looks like you too aren’t the only people with weird fucked up relationship issues,” He gasps, smiling up at them happily.

“We don’t have weird fucked up relationship issues anymore,” Draco informs him thrusting his nose into the air, “We’ve worked them out. We’re dating now.”

“Um.” a hot blush spreads slowly over Harry’s face, “We are?”

“What?” Draco looks taken aback, “You didn’t know? It couldn’t be more obvious Potter. I mean I literally took you out to dinner.” Theo looks back and forth between them slowly before breaking out into laughter again, “And you said you didn’t have weird fucked up relationship issues anymore,” He teases, his eyes glistening manically.

“We don’t,” Draco protests, “We might have slightly different communication styles but that doesn’t mean we have issues.” He wraps an arm around Harry's waist, tugging him closer. Harry burrows into his body warmth. “You’re just jealous Theo,” Draco adds, sticking his tongue out at Theo for good measure.

“You know what?” Theo says slowly, backing away. “I think I am. You’re cute together.” He turns away and wanders off leaving Harry and Draco alone together wrapped up in a warm embrace.

~~~~~~~~~~

Harry would prefer to spend the entire night glued to Draco’s side listening to him gossip with Theo about Kingsley's extracurricular activities or watching him aggressively teaching Ginny how to tango but eventually he gets ripped away by Dean who needs an emergency consult on if Seamus is flirting with him or not, and the conversations seems to take about three hundred years so by the time it’s finished Draco’s been swallowed up by the crowd.

When Harry finds him he’s in the back of the pub by the pool tables. Pansy is perched on the edge of the pool table, her feet kicking back and forth rhythmically. As Draco speaks to her she leans forward exposing more cleavage than Harry had ever thought possible. She tosses her long dark hair over her shoulder and blinks up at Draco.

No way, Harry’s not stupid. He knows what it looks like when someone’s trying to pull. He strides confidently towards them and wraps a casual hand around Draco’s side, slotting in next to him. Draco’s body relaxes immediately. He looks away from Pansy and runs his fingers carefully through Harry’s hair. Harry watches as Pansy’s eyes narrow and then widen again.

“Well,” She says slowly, “This is new.” Her eyebrows rise up her forehead.

“New, and also rather old,” Draco informs her sheepishly, leaning even further into Harry’s side.

“Oh?” Pansy purses her lips.

“We hooked up a bit in eight year,” Harry explains quickly. Honestly he’s a bit shocked Pansy didn’t already know.

Pansy’s stiff lips soften into a smirk,”You’ll always continue to surprise me won’t you Draco?” She kicks her leg out to tap playfully against his kneecap. “I can’t wait to tell everyone.”

“Um everyone might already know,” Draco informs her slowly.

“Wow,” Pansy’s eyes narrow again but this time her expression stays playful, “That is cruel and unusual punishment young Malfoy. What ever did I do to deserve this treatment?” “You were away in Italy,” Draco whines back, “How was I supposed to know you’d return and have all sorts of investment in my love life.”

“Love life is it?” Pansy waggles her eyebrows at him suggestively.

Draco falls silent, a light flush blooming on his cheekbones. Harry squeezes him in closer.

“I’m happy for you Draco,” Pansy kicks his knee lightly again. Draco smiles at her. Then she slides her eyes across glares a bit at Harry. “If you so much as harm one hair on this boy's head you will pay.”

“Er, yes. I mean I don’t plan on hurting him,” Harry stumbles quickly.

“I don’t care about intentions. I only respect actions,” Pansy tells him primly. She turns back to Draco and continues smiling at him.

They have what seems to be some sort of silent conversation for several seconds. Pansy winking and widening her eyes. Draco winking back at her. Harry feels a bit left out. It seems like Draco notices because he looks away from Pansy and back at Harry quickly.

“Well,” Draco says briskly, breaking the silence, “This has been very nice but I think it’s time I take my boy to the dance floor. I’ll see you soon for coffee, Pansy?”

“Yes of course,” Pansy says, still grinning at him.

Draco wraps his arm more firmly around Harry’s shoulder and stears him away through the crowd. Harry only looks over his shoulder once to confirm that Pansy is still glaring at him, her eyes suspicious. He’s surprised to feel a strange relief flush through him as the heat of her stare burns into his back. He’s glad there are people looking out for Draco, he realizes.

~~~~~~~~~

When they reach the dance Draco gathers Harry in his arms and automatically starts to shift his feet in rhythmic patterns. Harry attempts to copy him and immediately steps on his feet.

“How you survive as an Auror with no coordination at all really astounds me,” Draco comments, his lips twitching, his eyebrows raised.

“Well you know me. I’m always doing the impossible,” Harry shoots back.

Luckily the music quickly switches to something a little slower and Draco pulls him closer and they sway. The heat between their bodies bleeds slowly into Harry's veins. He leans in and their foreheads brush. Looking up into Draco’s eyes he realizes their lips are so close that with one slight shift they could be kissing. Draco seems to catch on at the exact same moment and Harry watches as he swallows, his adam's apple bobbing once in his throat and then he leans in.

They kiss for a while, mouths soft and wet against each other. The kisses are aimless, a happy little hello in the middle of so much lightness. Then, Ginny catches sight of them and lets out a piercing wolf whistle. It draws the attention of almost every one of their friends who join in on the whistling and cat calling until Draco and Harry quickly break apart laughing.

“Do you want to go outside for a bit?” Draco asks, his lips twitching as he controls his laughter.

“Yes,” Harry answers loudly, “I think we deserve a break from the appalling harassment of our friends.”

“Booooo,” Ginny calls. Harry notices that she's leaning against Blaise, her arm curled gently around his waist.

“Look,” He whispers, poking Draco in the arm, “Your plan worked.”

“Wow. Do you really have no faith in me?” Draco hisses back, mock offended, “Of course it did. I'm a scheming genius.”

Harry rolls his eyes and grabs Draco’s elbow pulling him out of their circle of friends and through the side door into the cold night air.

Draco immediately flops down onto the steps patting the space next to him in invitation. Harry joins him, leaning into his body warmth and straightening his legs out in front of him.

They sit for a while in silence. Harry watches the way Draco’s breath freezes in the air and drifts away in little silver puffs. His heart speeds up in his chest.

“Did you mean it earlier?” He asks quietly.

Draco tips his head until their eyes meet, “Mean what?”

“When you said that we were together,” Harry clarifies. He thinks his hands might be trembling, so he refuses to look at them.

“Of course I did,” Draco confirms, his hand falling to Harry’s kneecap. “But I mean sorry. I guess I shouldn't have assumed. If you don’t want to?”

“No I do. I do want to,” Harry rushes. He slides his hand over Draco’s fingers, his calluses drag across soft skin. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t,” He pauses, gathering his thoughts, “joking around or playing a game or anything.”

“No,” Draco says simply. “This is real to me.”

“Me too,” Harry tells him. His heart slows down in his chest. His breathing quiets. They sit in silence for a while staring out into the inky darkness of the alleyway. It’s the comfortable quiet that's only possible when you’ve known each other for a long time.

“I love our friends dearly but do you want to maybe go home now?” Draco asks, breaking the silence.

“I’d like that,” Harry replies.

They rise, brush the dust off the back of their pants and clasp hands. Harry feels the tug of apparition in his stomach and seconds later they land on the hardwood floor of Draco’s bedroom.

“Sorry if picking the bedroom seems presumptuous,” Draco tells him sheepishly, kicking off his shoes. “I mostly wanted to get into comfier clothes as soon as possible.”

Harry laughs at him and kicks his own shoes off before unbuttoning his shirt and shucking it off onto the floor. He leaps onto the bed with careless freedom suggestively patting the space next to him. Draco winks at him and pulls off his own shirt. He drapes himself languidly across the duvet and stretches a broad hand over Harry’s hip pulling him closer. Harry lets himself melt into Draco’s skin.

“Why are you smiling so much?” Draco asks suspiciously. He’s trailing his hand in small circles across Harry’s chest.

“I just love being here with you,” Harry replies softly. Every time he touches Draco or looks into his eyes, or watches him across a crowded room the immense joy of it all hits him again.

“Me too,” Draco says, quiet and reverent. Harry reaches up and undoes his braid. Draco sighs as Harry massages along his scalp, his hands tangling through pools of glowing blonde locks. Harry loses himself in the gasp of Draco’s breath, in the slide of hair through his fist.

When Draco slips his hands under the waistband of Harry’s pants his eyes flicker softly shut. There’s no changing the past he thinks, but the future is wide open and the present is warm and breathtaking, gentle fingertips and open mouths and clothes carelessly crumpled on the dark wood floor.

This is the final chapter! Hope everyone enjoyed the adventure that was this fic :) I loved writing it.

Inexplicable Things (Ch. 6)

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