Trophy

Author’s Note: I realize there has been some concern about the quickness with which Harry is falling for Draco. I assure you that things are not at all what they have recently seemed, and I encourage you to keep reading. Also, if you haven't already seen, I posted the first chapter of a new short story I'm working on called 'Plundered'. It's Pirate Drarry.

Chapter 12 Narrowing Down

Faces swam in Harry’s vision, all angry and frightened looking. Each face shifted from one to another until eventually dark eyes stared back at him from a more familiar face before the man opened his mouth to shout accusations at Harry. “You’re a liar and a cheat. You’ll die alone, Harry.”

“I’m different now,” Harry countered, his voice holding an edge of pleading –though to himself or to Xander he didn’t know. Suddenly his ex’s face shifted and morphed again, this time growing paler and sharper right before Harry’s eyes until suddenly it was the cool gray gaze of Draco Malfoy looking back at him and no longer Xander.

“A leopard can’t change his spots, Potter,” the aristocratic wizard hissed in response.

“I can, I did!” Harry shouted before opening his eyes and letting reality slowly sink into his conscious and melt the nightmare away. There was only an empty pillow in his line of sight, no boyfriends, current or past. Harry sighed as his body began to lose some of its tension, easing deeper into the plush mattress while he pushed the covers off of his naked torso. He was coated in a thin sheen of sweat and the satin sheets clung to his lower body uncomfortably.

The nightmares had started coming more frequently lately, probably spurned forward by his rather sudden and increased closeness with Draco. They’d been officially dating for over a week, and despite Harry’s reservations, Draco seemed to be all but perfect. The man was elegant and graceful, brilliant and witty, generous and even respectful of Harry’s need for privacy and chastity. It was more than Harry could have ever hoped to find in a partner and even less expected in Draco Malfoy. Harry desperately wanted to give Draco the benefit of the doubt. After all, wasn’t Harry himself living proof that a person can change who they once were? Perhaps Draco had only needed to find the right person.

But was that person him? Was Harry being far too presumptuous in thinking that it could be? Draco was a master at manipulation and seduction, that much was proven fact. A week together certainly didn’t mean happily-ever-after. He’d been with Xander for nearly a year and still everything had crumbled around him. Did a real relationship with Draco ever stand a chance in hell? Probably not.

Their dates recently had consisted only of lunches, and one night out at the Opera. Harry had insisted on meeting the Slytherin at the theatre, just as he had for the Malfoy Gala. He was still uncomfortable getting too personal with the blond because he knew well that no matter what Harry hoped for, the likelihood of Draco becoming anything more than the presumptuous playboy he had been for nearly a decade was slim. Sure, Harry himself had changed, but it had taken years of repression following a thoroughly failed relationship that he had desperately wanted to work. Xander was fantastic, he had a clever tongue both in and out of the bedroom, he was patient and caring and most of all he loved Harry with all his heart. The Gryffindor feared that if he couldn’t make that relationship work then perhaps he stood no chance with anyone.

Still, he had worked hard to turn his life around, and Harry hoped that perhaps one day he could settle in and have a real relationship, one built on trust, respect and love, not merely sex. With Draco it seemed as though he could have it all, but Harry was only one half of that whole and couldn’t make decisions for the slippery Slytherin. It would ultimately be up to Draco whether or not he chose a true relationship over his previous flittering about from lover to lover. The problem was, Harry wasn’t sure he could do more than dip his toes into the Malfoy pool until Draco decided one way or the other and Harry was sure of the other man’s choice. He refused to let himself become cannon fodder by falling in love with a man who only wanted sex –brilliant, dirty, passionate sex.

Harry groaned at the arousal that crept upon him with images of letting himself go to Malfoy in wanton abandon. Even though his heart and mind knew better, it appeared Harry’s cock still lusted after the delicious man. He rolled out of bed, unable to fall back into blissful slumber in his current state of distress. The clock on his wall said it was still three hours before he even needed to bother getting ready for work, so he padded downstairs in his black satin boxers and made a beeline for the Malfoy file in his study. He liked to remind himself on nights –well, mornings- like these when he was in doubt of his own willpower, just who he was dealing with.

Draco Malfoy – Age 23 – Compliant filed by: Susana Sanchez

Location: Oxford Law

Summary of Complaint: Miss Sanchez (See Muggle Files under 2003) reports being taken advantage of by one Draco Malfoy (see file DAM06051980). Victim reports that Draco Malfoy impersonated a seasoned Professor for three months in order to win students trust before soliciting several of said students for sexual favors in exchange for top grades. Miss Sanchez reports allowing Mr. Malfoy to ‘screw her in the bum’ only to find out the following day that Mr. Malfoy was never a licensed Professor with the elite collage. After additional research, seven other counts were found with different students of varying sex and age.

Outcome: All sexual relationships found to be consensual, no formal charges made.

Harry sighed and let his head fall to the desk beside the open manila folder. Sure it had been five years ago, but if Draco was able to keep up an elaborate charade like that for three months, than one week was certainly too soon to be feeling butterflies for the sneaky Slytherin git.

Resolutely, Harry put the file away again, having attained a suitable reminder of why he needed to watch himself when near the predator –because that was exactly what Malfoy was. Part of him screamed to just end this farce outright and refuse to see the man again but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to listen to that tiny screeching voice. He was having fun with Malfoy, and even if it panned out to be nothing, as long as Harry remained cautious, he could continue to date the blond until their relationship fizzled out –which was surely guaranteed to happen eventually.

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Ron stared down at the stack of folders on his desk. They seemed to be taunting him, pulling his attention away from his real work all day so that instead of making any progress on the Manchester Case, he was only able to stare at the seemingly ordinary looking pile of paperwork off to the side. His palms became sweaty as he thought of cracking the files open, he’d had them for three days and had yet to even glance through them. Deep down he knew if Harry found out that his friend had gone to such extremes to procure the file only to snoop through his life, that Harry might not be terribly forgiving.

Still, he wasn’t getting anything done while the files loomed at the edges of his vision, so he hesitantly pulled the first one to him, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching, and began to leaf through the heavy stack of pages. Records of Harry’s birth, his brief time in Godric’s Hollow, even his extended time at the Dursley’s was all plainly documented in minute detail but anything worth knowing Ron already knew from Harry’s own stories. Although, the picture of the small cupboard under the stairs at the Dursley’s filled him with rage, renewed from the first time his friend casually mentioned that he was forced to live there for the first decade he spent at his Aunt’s home. Ron never understood how Harry could have been so strong even as a child. All of his life Harry was abused and manipulated but he was still one of the most compassionate people Ron knew. He could only imagine what a rotten bloke he would be had he been given Harry’s life. All the fame and fortune Ron admired would be forever shadowed by a lifetime of being used and ignored.

The next file was filled with information from Harry’s time at Hogwarts years one through four, up to and including the reports filed on Cedric’s death and what Harry said happened in the cemetery after the tournament. There were even pages depicting his and Hermione’s relationship with Harry, summarizing their roles in all of Harry’s mischief. The file from year five until the end of their school career wasn’t as detailed as the first two folders and Ron wondered where they had managed to get all of their information in the first place. The Ministry only seemed to have heresy reports on the Horcrux hunt; probably only information Harry gave them personally, though it seemed to contain extensive information about the war and Harry’s part in bringing down Voldemort once and for all.

After those two the files grew significantly thinner. There was one detailing what the Ministry knew of Harry’s life immediately after the war and the last was from the time he came back to the Auror Academy and there were of course details of his recent promotion to Department Head. Ron placed that file with the others and focused on the skinniest folder –the one with reports on Harry’s disappearance.

There were only a dozen pages or so in that one, unlike the hundreds upon hundreds of parchment sheets magicked to fit into a single folder for the other files. Ron flipped to the first page and was relieved to see that Harry’s hadn’t lied to him at least. The summaries noted his Apparitions directly after leaving, following him through Europe and even America for the first few months of his disappearance. It seemed six or seven months later he had taken primary residence in Ibiza, a small island off the coast of Spain known best for their wild clubs and party atmosphere –at least that was what the brochure included in the file advertised. There were a few photographs of the modest beach house Harry was purportedly occupying and even a few of him doing mundane things like buying groceries, but nothing that would cause Ron to think his friend had been anything but the pillar of society he was now.

It was rather odd how scarce the information was of his nearly four year stay on the island, especially considering how extensive their knowledge was of everything from Harry’s sleeping arrangements as a child to his favorite beverage, which turned out to be Ginger Beer according to the file.

Other than those scant few details, the only thing in the file were lists of names and addresses. Most of them were American addresses, with a few littered through Southern Europe and even some in Ibiza. There was only one here in London, belonging to a Xander Scott. The address, in fact, wasn’t too far away from the Ministry offices, close enough that perhaps Ron might have time to meet with the man over lunch the next day.

He scribbled out a brief note on generic Ministry letterhead asking Mr. Scott to meet him at the pub on the corner and ran to the Owlery, sending it off to the intended recipient forthwith. He would get his background on Harry even if the Ministry knew nothing themselves, the fact that the Wizarding government remained ignorant of those years in Harry’s life just proved to Ron that Harry was hiding something that needed to be discovered.

Not realizing how long he’d been scanning through his friend’s file, Ron looked up to find it was nearly dinnertime. Never one to miss a meal, Ron quickly put the file away and made his way to Harry’s office. He found it dark, the wizard probably long gone, so he went home, content that he was on his way to knowing what he needed to help his friend in this dark and confusing time in his life. Perhaps when this was all over Harry would be relieved that his best friend had cared enough about him to help in any way he could.

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Slytherins were rarely the type to believe in seers or prophecy, but when Draco continued to have the dream about being seconds away from sheathing himself into Potter’s warm body only to have Harry discover his dear trophy room and leave him, Draco felt he needed to take some sort of precaution against that occurring in reality.

Draco took a stroll down memory lane as he entered his trophy room for the first time in what seemed like ages. It hadn’t been all that long of course, be it felt that way considering that before Harry he had been adding a conquest reward to his secret room nearly every day. Knickers littered every wall and shelf of the spacious room and every single item told a story. Whether it was the time he shagged the Duke of Winchester in the back of a muggle automobile or the time he posed as a photographer for the famous Playwizard magazine in order to seduce their new young model, Draco could recall a vivid tale attached to each and every garment.

No lacy panty told a story bolder than the one Draco most wanted to add to his collection, however. In the center of the room –a place of honor- was the golden tag he had made for Harry Potter’s impending undergarment. There was also the photo he fondly admired of Harry between two other hot and sweaty men that Draco had come to worship as almost a mantra for his own lifestyle. He wanted his life to be plentiful, for him to be able to retire from a long day at work to a bed draped with lovers who were all waiting to please him. He wanted his life story to be an erotic page-turner that one just couldn’t put down.

Those were the fantasies of his past, however. Now all that occupied Draco’s mind was the piercing emerald eyes of his new boyfriend. ‘Boyfriend’, Draco nearly shuddered at the word. It wasn’t something he had ever thought was even in his vocabulary, but here he was, referring to none other than Harry Potter with such a fleeting term of endearment. He’d never utter the title out loud, mind you, but even thinking it was enough of a sacrilege to have Draco running for the nearest brothel for a good cleansing. It was the only possible term that could be used for someone such as Harry though, especially now that it seemed they were an official couple. Although, six dates later Draco felt no closer to even kissing the reluctant Gryffindor, let alone bedding the glorious man.

He wanted so badly to feel Harry naked and pressed against him, but he knew that any physical pleasure would need to wait until Harry trusted him. It was a large task, but one that Draco was fully prepared for. The pay off would be well worth the effort and when his arousal was finally sated, he could go back to his old ways -the tried and true method that carried him this far in life.

For now he had to turn his back on his past, unable to pine for a time of easier conquests when faced with a challenge as great and bountiful as Harry Potter. He ran his fingertips lovingly over the golden tag marked for his current opponent, letting them trail along the smooth lacquered surface of the shelf as he did. “I’ll miss you all,” he remarked in a passing whisper to the inanimate objects, “but I’m sure you’ll all still be here when I return.”

With those parting words Draco slipped out of his trophy room, sealing it tightly behind him with a barrage of security spells. He wouldn’t open those doors again until Harry Potter was his.

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Lucius was restless.

His plan was working well enough, except for the fact that Hedrick had no physical activity to break up. His reports were littered with lingering glances and brief touches, but nothing more intimate had yet to transpire between the unlikely couple. So far Lucius was paying the man to simply eat well and attend critically acclaimed operas with no sign of anything for him to earn his hefty wages. The news should have come as a relief to the constantly worrying man, but he found it to be quite the opposite. Although he wanted desperately to pause the boys’ relationship before it got too hot and heavy, he did want it to blossom and grow, and it looked as if that wasn’t happening. It was as if Draco had simply made Potter into his new best friend.

He had been far from the mark with his assumption that Draco and Potter’s first kiss would be at the Opera. Hedrick managed to obtain a seat in a private box nearby with a clear view of the pair and he reported that Potter remained in rapt attention of the production –a limited release of Phantom- while Draco, who had seen the play nearly a dozen times already, simply stared at his date’s every reaction. There was no touching, and the pair parted with an awkward shake of the hands. Nothing more.

It was infuriating that he couldn’t talk to Potter, or even personally direct the relationship on its proper course. He didn’t know how his wife could remain so quietly confident that everything would work out. Lucius felt the constant need to meddle and interfere; knowing full well that the more he did the more likely his plans would send things spiraling in the wrong direction.

“I’ll be out for the evening, Lucius,” called a voice from the corridor outside his study, “don’t wait up.”

Lucius whirled to catch a glimpse of his son walking passed his door with a bottle of wine in one hand and heading in the direction of the fireplace. “Where are you off too?” he asked, trying to sound as casually interested as possible.

“I’m sure you’d love to know,” Draco mused, holding the wine bottle so that Lucius couldn’t quite make out the label. It mattered very little, however, because Lucius knew every wine in his cellar intimately and could tell simply by the coloring of the glass that it was his 1996 Chteau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac, one of only three bottles down there. “Since you’re trying to escape with one of my favorite bottles of wine, I think I deserve to know who you’ll be enjoying it with at least,” Lucius reasoned. “A new date perhaps?” Draco chuckled and shifted so that he was no longer trying to conceal the bottle. “I doubt Harry would take too kindly to that. No, I’ll be popping in to see him tonight if you must know.” “It sounds as though he’s unaware of your plans,” Lucius noted with a frown. “It’s careless and rude to simply drop in uninvited.” “Something tells me he won’t mind,” Draco replied with a smirk, winking as he turned away and disappeared around the corner.

Lucius immediately went to his own Floo and summoned Hedrick to his study. “He’s on the move,” he informed the spy the moment he set foot in the room.

“Where?” the nondescript man asked.

“I’m not sure, but he had wine with him and if it’s the bottle I think it is, it’s some sort of grand gesture,” Lucius noted. “He left through the main Floo network.”

Hedrick strode quickly down the corridor to the Manor’s main fireplace and inspected it carefully. It was obvious that Draco had just left and he could clearly feel the faint traces of magic left behind, but they had no definite signature, as if he could sense a general direction but couldn’t pinpoint the location. “I can’t follow him,” Hedrick declared after a moment.

“What do you mean you can’t follow him? That’s what I pay you for!” Lucius snarled.

“It means that I’m not all powerful, Mr. Malfoy. Either your son used a very potent anti-tracing spell or he’s Flooed into a location under the Fidelius Charm. Either way I can’t follow where he’s gone,” Hedrick grumbled, seeming to take his failure as a personal affront.

“He’s gone to Potter’s,” Lucius whispered, his insides twisting with his conflicting feelings. On the one hand the pair might use tonight to progress their otherwise chaste relationship, on the other hand it could progress too far and Lucius wouldn’t have his spy there to break things up. “I heard rumors that the Potter home was protected with Fidelius, but I couldn’t prove it. There must be some record as to where the home is located.”

“Even if we found it, it would be too late to stop anything untoward,” Hedrick reasoned. “And I’m not very keen on breaking into the Head Auror’s home.”

“If this gets ruined it’s all on your head,” Lucius hissed as he turned and stalked back to his study, slamming the door behind him. He loathed naysayers and people who only proved worthy in the right circumstances. His employee made excuses while his son had probably already seduced the trousers right off of Harry Potter. The fallout would be tremendous, and Lucius wasn’t above taking someone else down with him if things went awry.

Author’s Note: No interaction between the boys this time, but the next chapter will start off with it. Will Harry let Draco in when he arrives uninvited to Harry’s home?