So Far Away

So Far Away
By: Gwen
Rating: NC17 overall
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Warning: AU/Slash/Drama/Angst/Romance
Betas: Tracy & Dorothy
Feedback: Much appreciated
Disclaimer: The \"boys\" belong to JKR. I just borrow them on occasion. No money is being made from this little adventure.

Summary: Interesting things can happen when you\'re away from everyone and everything you know.

Chapter 11 - Making The Grade

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harry and Draco were sitting at the breakfast table when Allen and Chad finally appeared, looking slightly frazzled and out of breath.

\"Sorry we’re late. I couldn’t find my DADA textbook,\" Allen said, smoothing a stray lock of hair behind his ear before reaching for the plate of toast.

\"I thought I saw one sitting on Chad’s desk last night before we went to bed,\" Harry said as he cast a suspicious look from one suitemate to the other.

\"That was it. He picked it up by accident last night while we were studying,\" Allen said while concentrating intently on his toast.

\"I’m surprised that he hasn’t lost any of the others yet,\" Chad offered. \"Last year he ended up losing two.\"

Draco and Harry looked at each other across the table, wondering how stupid their suitemates thought they were. They would let it slide, at least for now.

Harry picked up a piece of bacon and popped it into his mouth. \"Hey Draco, I’ve been thinking about something.\"

\"Oh Merlin. Someone alert the media. Harry Potter has had a thought,\" he said with a bored voice.

Harry scowled. \"Will you shut up and listen to me?\"

Before Harry could continue, Draco threw a quick \"No\" in there, which earned him a kick under the table.

\"Bastard,\" Draco murmured as he reached down to rub his shin.

\"If you wouldn’t have interrupted me that would not have happened,\" Harry stated.

\"Okay Harry, please tell us all what you are thinking,\" Draco said as he glared across the table at him.

\"What if we make the same team, and one of us is the first string seeker while the other is second?\"

Draco shrugged. \"As long as it’s me who’s first and you second then who cares?\"

\"Draco, the day that happens will be a sad day indeed,\" Harry said and then looked over to Chad and Allen. \"What about you guys? Nervous about tryouts today?\"

\"Nah,\" Chad said with a shake of his head.

Allen did the same. \"You have to remember that we know everyone who’s trying out and what to expect from them. Personally, I’m ready to get it over and done with. What about you two?\" he asked of Draco and Harry.

They both nodded. \"We’re ready. The scrimmages have given us some indication of their skill levels, but they may have been holding out for the final day,\" Harry said.

\"I don’t think so because the coaches watch you all week, not just on the ‘official’ tryout day. If they were holding out, then they would have been cutting their own throats. I wish we all had tryouts at different times because I would have loved to have seen you two flying together,\" Chad said. \"At least Allen has been outside so I’m sure that he’s seen you guys zipping around.\"

Allen shook his head. \"Nope. Can’t say I’ve been paying attention to anything except for rowing this week,\" he said, with a creeping grin that reached up to his almond shaped brown eyes.

Harry and Draco were doubtful of that, but again, they held their tongue.

\"When will the results be posted?\" Draco asked.

\"After dinner tonight,\" Allen answered as he set his cup down. \"They’ll post the lists on the boards outside the Great Hall. If there were enough students, they’ll fill all four teams. If not, then they’ll fill as many as they can.\"

Allen nodded in agreement. \"’ve ’ve pretty much chosen who is going where just by evaluating what we’ve done over the past four days. Today is just a refresher.\"

\"I’m beginning to like the way things are done here more and more,\" Harry said with a smile. \"No robes, no house separation, different subjects. I can’t wait to tell Dumbledore about all of the changes here. Not that it will mean anything to us since we’ll be graduated and gone, but the younger years would benefit from it. Oh, I need to write Ron and Hermione once we find out about the teams.\"

\"You mean you haven’t written to them yet?\" Draco asked, a bit shocked.

Harry shook his head. \"Have I had time? Since we arrived, we’ve been running non-stop, but I promised myself that once tryouts were over that I would sit down and write them. I’m surprised that I haven’t received anything from them asking if you’ve tried to kill me yet,\" he said with a short laugh.

\"I’m sure that given enough time they would,\" he said as he finished his meal. \"If it were me, I wouldn’t write them at all.\"

\"But you’re not me, are you?\"

Draco mock shuddered. \"Thank Merlin I’m not. Your hair is atrocious,\" he said as he ran a hand through Harry’s mess of raven hair. \"It would not be at all fashionable with my fair skin,\" he concluded as he gathered his books together.

\"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Vanity Malfoy, Draco’s twin brother,\" Harry teased as he gathered his things also. \"I need to get going. Professor Henke will hex me if I’m late to Advanced Charms again. I’ll see you guys at lunch,\" he said before heading out the side door, with the others soon following.

* * * * *

Both Draco and Harry were in the Quidditch locker room getting changed before practice.

\"Nervous?\" Draco asked as he pulled the practice jersey over his white t-shirt and then tucked it into his pants.

Harry shook his head. \"Not really. Just another day at the office,\" he said as he cinched the belt at his waist. With that done, he picked up his broom and headed out of the locker room.

\"Hey Draco?\" he asked as he poked his head back around the row of lockers.

\"Yeah?\"

\"Good luck,\" Harry said with a grin.

Draco laughed. \"Thanks, and good luck to you too, Harry.\"

\"Oh, and Harry?\" Draco called after him, cocking his blonde head to the side. Harry spun around.

\"Yeah?\"

\"Nice arse. Those flying trousers do wonders for you.\" Draco\'s grin gave away that he was joking, but Harry flushed a bit all the same.

\"I’m surprised you noticed someone else’s arse besides your own,\" Harry tossed back at him.

Draco walked to the full-length mirror and turned slightly to the side, admiring himself. \"You have to admit, Harry, I do have a nice arse,\" he said as he ran a hand over his bum.

\"Wanker,\" Harry teased.

\"Sorry, but I don’t have the time right now, but maybe later,\" he said with a wink to Harry via the mirror.

\"Sod off, Malfoy,\" he retorted with an amused chuckle.

Their tryouts for Seeker consisted of timed sprints as well as special maneuvers. The snitch had been charmed to follow a specific pattern and each Seeker was instructed to follow and mimic it’s actions. Harry was sitting on his broom, hovering above the pitch and watching as Draco ran through his last set of trials. From what he could tell, everyone seemed to be pretty even as far as standings went, but then again, he wasn’t a coach so he couldn’t say for sure. Draco flew just as well as he had all week and Harry was almost positive that he had secured one of the Seeker positions. The big question would be for which team.

Harry was the next to last Seeker to fly. He watched the snitch with a careful eye as it darted about the sky. Left and right, dive and ascend, his eyes never wavered from its target. He felt everyone watching him and immediately pushed that thought to the back of min mind. Distractions were not allowed today. He pushed himself to the limit with his maneuvers, focusing on the job at hand. Before he realized it, the whistle had sounded and he was finished.

He slowly flew to the ground and joined the other Seekers that had already finished.

\"I’m glad that’s over,\" he admitted as he picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from his face.

Draco laughed. \"You and me both. Now comes the fun part.\"

\"At least we get to have a little fun today,\" Harry said as he threw the towel onto the bench.

\"You mean you weren’t having fun a few minutes ago?\"

Harry shrugged. \"In a way, I guess it was fun, but at the same time it was a bit nerve-wracking.\"

\"I know what you mean,\" Draco said, and then leaned in close to Harry. \"But for what it’s worth, I think that we’re the best ones out here.\"

\"Lets just hope that the coaches see it that way, too,\" he said as they watched the last Seeker.

A few minutes later, they all took to the air and gathered around the coach.

\"Before we finish things here today, I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for joining us this week. I have to say that everyone has worked very hard and has shown remarkable talent for this position. I wish each of you luck. And now, as repayment for all of your hard work, it’s time for a bit of fun,\" Coach Brand declared.

Harry and Draco looked at each other, a glint in their eyes.

\"No mercy?\" Draco asked.

Harry nodded. \"No mercy.\"

A few seconds later, the snitch was released and nine Seekers made a mad dash for the golden ball. It flew up and then darted off to the opposite end of the pitch, hovering above the goal. Harry had to make a wide sweep around two players on his side while Draco had one to maneuver around, and then it was just the two of them in pursuit of the snitch.

They laughed as they flew, enjoying every second of their time together in the air, one head of flowing dark hair being closely yet playfully tailed by a blonde one. Each time they had played against each other at Hogwarts, it had always been a cutthroat competition and the weight of expectation, not only from themselves but otherswellwell, was on their shoulders. But here it was different. Here they were free to enjoy the game.

They watched each other with one eye as they watched for the snitch with the other. They had pushed the other Seekers from their minds and it was as if they were the only two there on the pitch. Draco was the first to pick up a flash of gold against the red banner of the Wolverines. He quickly headed in that direction, Harry drafting his movements. The snitch quickly moved off to the right and Harry took off after it, leaving Draco to follow. After a lengthy chase that involved several lead changes, they were both within arms reach of it and were giving each other a friendly jostling when another Seeker, Greg, snuck in under them and reached up to grab it.

Both Draco and Harry stared at the boy, completely shocked that someone could have managed that. As soon as everyone had landed, they crowded around Greg, patting him on the back, offering their congratulations.

Harry and Draco were still laughing about it at dinner later that evening.

\"You know, I should be upset that he did that,\" Harry admitted. \"But I’m not. I was having fun for once.\"

\"I’ll never forget the look on youre whe when he reached up and grabbed it. It was a mi dis disbelief and shock. Too bad Creevey wasn’t here to capture the moment. I would love to look back at it one day and think ‘Here was the one time that someone finally beat Harry Potter’,\" Draco said as he filled his glass for the second time that evening.

\"What about you? Aren’t you upset that he got it?\" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head. \"No. I was just glad that you didn’t end up with it. As long as it wasn\'t you, I could care less,\" he said with a grin.

\"Liar.\"

\"Am not.\"

\"Don’t lie, Draco. You wanted it as much as I did, if not more so,\" Harry said.

\"Wanted what?\" Allen asked as he walked behind the two boys. \"I hope you two are talking about something other than Quidditch,\" he said as he walked around the table and took a seat across from them.

\"You seriously need to get laid, Allen. Sex on the mind twenty-four/seven is not healthy,\" Draco said.

\"Oh please. You’re one to talk. You’re not getting any either so the only thing we CAN do is think about it,\" Allen said as he started to fill his plate. \"Anyone see Chad yet? He wasn’t in the room a few minutes ago.\"

They shook their heads. \"No, he hasn’t been here yet. So how did it go?\" Harry asked.

\"Pretty good. One of the crews flipped their boat, but other than that, things went well.\"

Just then Chad came rushing into the Great Hall. \"Sorry I’m late. One of the guys twisted his ankle and they had to take him to the medical wing, which threw us off a bit,\" he said as he slipped into the chair next to Allen. \"So, how did everyone do?\"

They took turns telling about their afternoon as they piled their plates high and started on their dinners. Everyone laughed about what had happened on the pitch and at the lake and before they realized it, the Headmaster walked through the Great Hall, lists in hand. Everyone rushed after him, impatient to see the final decision.

After convincing Draco not to hex everyone that was in their way, they waited until the crowd thinned out a bit and then approached the board, each looking for their sport, and then searching the team lists for their names.

\"Hell yeah!\" Allen crowed. \"I’m back on the Cobras! And it looks like we’ve got most of our crew back. This is going to be sweet.\"

Harry and Draco were searching the Quidditch lists. \"Draco, you made primary seeker for the Falcons,\" Harry said as he found Draco’s name before his own.

\"You made primary for the Wildcats,\" Draco announced and then turned back to the list, searching for one other name. \"Hey Harry, Greg made primary for the Cobras.\"

\"Good, now we know who to watch out for, besides each other,\" Harry said as he moved away from the list to stand on the other side of the hallway with Draco following.

\"Hot damn, I made the Wolverines again,\" Chad announced as he moved to stand with the others.

\"So I guess we’ll all be at the club tomorrow night,\" Allen said.

\"All?\" Draco asked.

\"Yeah. Everyone who made the teams will be there. It’s been a long-standing tradition, even before the changes.\"

\"What about the younger years that made it?\" Harry asked. \"Will they be allowed to go?\"

\"Oh, well, no, they won’t be able to go, but they’ll have their own celebration here,\" Allen said as they headed down the hallway. \"So, what do you guys want to do tonight?\"

\"I would love to have a professional massage,\" Draco said, stretching out his long, toned limbs dramatically. \"My entire body aches.\"

\"Sounds a bit kinky if you ask me,\" Chad declared, and winked a blue eye at Allen behind Draco\'s back.

Draco laughed. \"It could be if the masseur is into that kind of stuff,\" he said with a grin.

Harry shook his head and laughed. \"Draco, tell me that you didn’t bugger your masseur.\"

\"Okay.\"

\"And just how in the hell did you manage that?\" Chad asked.

\"We have one that comes to the manor once a week, so over the summer I made use of his services. Let me tell you, he knows how to massage inside and out,\" he said as a shiver raced through his body. \"Fuck, I seriously need to get laid.\"

\"I think that’s the general consensus around here,\" Allen said.

\"Either that, or we’ll have to start scheduling shower times,\" Harry said as they started up the stairs to their dorm.

\"If that’s the case, then I’m going first because I really don’t want to stand in a shower where you all have been washing your stress down the drain,\" Draco declared.


TBC