A Business Affair

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Chapter Thirteen: Ginny's Secret


Ron sat on the tall bar stool sipping his fire whiskey lazily. He set it down a little harder than he meant to and its contents sloshed out and onto the counter. The barkeep rolled his eye and came over with a rag to clean up the spill.

"Gimme another!" Ron said enthusiastically.

The keep looked at his glass, which was still half-full, and raised an eyebrow at him. "I think you've had enough," he said, cleaning up the mess.

Ron scowled at him. "Who're you to tell me ho-how many I can have?" he slurred slightly. The bartender rolled his eyes and walked away. Ron frowned at the counter, picking apart his napkin.

The door to the bar tinkled as it opened and swung shut. Ron didn't look up as a man slid into the seat next to him. He heard him order a strong drink and sigh.

"Harry?" Ron said, looking up quickly then holding his head to stop it spinning.

Harry looked panicked upon being found there. "Hi, Ron," he said hastily then turned away.

Ron looked at him with his eyes narrowed as if trying to put something together. "What're you doin' here?" he asked, slurring his words.

Harry turned to him, surveying him closely. "Are you drunk?"

"I most certainly am not!" Ron exclaimed before giggling feebly. "Well... maybe a little."

Harry nodded in agreement.

Ron drained the last of his drink and signaled for another. The bartender slid one down his way, if not a little reluctantly. Harry's drink arrived and he drank it, wincing slightly at its potency.

"So, why're ya here?" Ron asked again, swaying slightly on his stool.

Harry thought about his response for a moment. Ron did not appear to be quite lucid at the moment. It might just be safe to tell him. "Ginny and I had another fight," Harry sighed, throwing back the rest of his drink.

"Oh," Ron said, staring into his drink. "Tha's too bad. What'd she say this time?"

"She accused me of keeping secrets," Harry said, wishing her accusations hadn't been true. It would make all this so much easier, not to mention he would feel about a hundred times less guilty.

"Well," Ron said, leaning over and nearly falling off his stool. He caught himself though and steadied the chair. When he felt he was safe, he leaned over to Harry conspiratorially. "She's got some secrets of her own."

"Really?" Harry asked. He knew he probably shouldn't be letting Ron do this while he was drunk, but he couldn't help wanting to know.

Ron sat up straight, or semi-straight, again and downed the rest of his drink. "Sure," he said, over-animatedly. "Doesn't everybody?"

"I guess," Harry agreed. He wondered if Ron would tell him what her secrets were. "What are Ginny's?"

He bit his lip, hoping he hadn't been too obvious. Ron didn't appear to notice. He was staring into the bottom of his empty glass as if it was some enthralling thing.

"Ron?" Harry asked impatiently.

Ron jerked back then looked around surreptitiously. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to say," he whispered conspiratorially. "'Specially not Harry."

Harry looked at him blankly. He raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything to the fact. "I promise," he said seriously.

"Okay," Ron nodded, seemingly satisfied. "So, a couple months back, I'm at this Ministry party, right? Well, it was gettin' really stuffy inside, so I went outside to get some fresh air, you know?"

He paused as he motioned for another drink and Harry waited impatiently for him to go on. Ron received his drink and downed it in one shot.

"And??" Harry asked finally.

"Right, so it was a pretty nice night, so I thought I might take a little walk, just for a minute 'round a park close by. I went walking and I was goin' 'round by the benches and heard this noise. And I didn't know what it was, but it sounded kinda funny. So I decided to take a look."

Harry was hanging onto his every word by this point, staring at him expectantly.

Ron took another drink and continued. "And who should I see, right, but Ginny and some bloke goin' at it. She freaked out and made me promise not to tell Harry. I agreed, but I feel really bad. I mean, he's my best mate and all. I feel terrible keepin' secrets from'im." Ron sighed and stared down at the table.

Harry was watching him through unbelieving eyes. "She cheated on m-him?" he asked, correcting himself.

"Yeah," Ron said to his drink. "An' now they're havin' all sorts of problems."

"Tell me about it," Harry muttered to himself. "Why did she cheat on him?"

"I dunno," Ron said casually, cleaning out his glass once more. "I always thought they had a perfect marriage."

"Huh," Harry said. His expression was dark as he went over what Ron had told him so far. How could she do that and then accuse him of keeping secrets?!

Ron was staring at his empty glass, his expression contemplative. He rolled the glass in his hands watching a tiny amount of liquid roll back and forth. Then he leaned over to Harry again and lowered his voice. "Jus' between you and me," he said confidentially. "I always thought Harry leaned a little more in the other direction."

"What?" Harry asked, not catching his drift.

"He never had much interest in girls, if you know what I mean," Ron whispered.

Harry could smell the alcohol heavy on his breath. "What?!" he exclaimed.

Ron leaned back from him and shrugged. "Now, don't get me wrong," he said shaking a finger in Harry's direction and ignoring his outburst. "I love my sister and I want her to be happy, you know? But if Harry's... you know... it would just be better for both of them to, I dunno, get a divorce or something."

"But don't they love each other?" Harry asked. He still wasn't over the fact that Ron thought he was gay, whether he had ever actually said it or not.

"I think Harry does and she does too, you know?" Ron slurred, leaning more onto the bar for support. "But... but... but you know, I don't know."

Harry let out an exasperated sigh and put his head on the cool counter, signaling for another drink to be sent his way. When it reached him, he downed it in one gulp. He slammed it back down and called for another.

They sat at the counter in silence for sometime. Harry was digesting all the Ron had told him. So Ginny had cheated on him, eh? That sure explained a lot. He couldn't believe what a hypocrite she was being.

Harry sighed and ordered another drink and set about ingesting the dark liquid while Ron snoozed on the counter beside him.

***

"Harry! Pay attention!"

Harry winced and held up a hand to his throbbing head. "Ow," he breathed.

Oliver gave him an odd look from his place in front of the team. He was explaining a new move to the team. Harry had been sitting near the back, trying to hold it together.

He had stayed a long time at the bar the night before. He felt as though he had drunk the entire place. He must have left eventually, although he didn't remember. He had woken up in the morning with a splitting headache. He wasn't exactly familiar with the place he'd woken up in, but he didn't take any time to find out. He had Apparated straight to work

Now he was sitting, trying not to let his head explode. Wood's voice cut through his head like a crash of thunder. He didn't notice when Wood dismissed the rest of the team.

Wood walked over to where Harry sat and stood looking down at him. Harry was rubbing his temple with his head tilted downward. His eyes were closed as his head throbbed. It felt like someone was beating a bass drum inside his head.

"Harry?" Wood asked quietly, and Harry started.

He looked up and let out a deep breath. "Oh, you scared me," he said, breathing deeply.

Wood gave him a questioning look. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," Harry said, rubbing his head again.

"Are you hung-over?" Wood asked incredulously, his voice rising.

"Please, Oliver, don't talk so loud," Harry said pleadingly.

Wood was taken aback. "Harry! You can't show up to work hung-over! What if Malfoy is here? He'll throw you off the team faster than you can say World Cup!"

Harry groaned and put his head into his hands once more. "What do you want me to do?! It's not like I carry Hangover Potions with me, Oliver!"

"Well, you better pull yourself together, Harry, and soon. It looks like Malfoy will be joining us again." Wood was looking out the door to the pitch where the rest of the team was already in the air.

Draco's blonde hair reflected the bright early winter sun. Harry looked across and caught sight of him. He groaned again and hung his head.

Wood gave him a fleeting glance before steeling himself. "Come on, Harry," he sighed and walked out to the pitch.

Harry sighed and pushed himself of the bench. He closed his eyes for a second, collecting himself and trying to control the pounding in his head.

He didn't look at Draco as he walked to the middle of the pitch. He mounted his broom and took off around the stadium. The fresh hair whipped around his face and he felt marginally better.

The practice was decent considering Harry was trying very hard not to keel over from the pain in his head. He still felt awful from the night before. He remembered everything Ron had told him which did not help the situation.

He hadn't really had any time to digest the situation the night before. As he flew around the pitch, he wondered vaguely what had become of Ron, or really, why he had even been there in the first place.

These thoughts flitted around his head throughout the entire practice. He couldn't make any sense of it, though, and gave up.

Wood signaled the team to the ground four hours later. Harry landed a little further away from the team and dragged his feet to the circle. Wood gave his usual "Good job, team" speech then sent them to the locker rooms.

Harry dragged himself slowly to the changing room. He knew he needed a shower at the very least. Plus, he didn't know what he was going to do after this. Should he go back home to Ginny? He did need clean clothes...

He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he failed to notice how slow he was going. Most of the team had left by the time he reached the entrance to the showers.

"So what's your excuse this time?" came a drawling voice from Harry's left.

Harry looked up and sneered. "Fuck off, Malfoy," he growled maliciously. He went past him and into the locker rooms.

Draco turned slowly and followed him in. He stood leaning against the door frame casually. "You looked like a Moose out there today, Potter," he drawled.

"What?!" Harry exclaimed then immediately grabbed his head. "Ow..."

Draco's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he surveyed Harry cursing and rubbing his temples. "Are you hung-over?" he asked suspiciously.

"Shut the fuck up, Malfoy," Harry growled, grabbing a towel and heading toward the shower.

"My, my," Draco drawled. "How unprofessional."

Harry stopped halfway there and turned around slowly. "I'm unprofessional?!" he exclaimed, ignoring the sharp increase in pain. "What about you?!"

"What about me?" Draco asked calmly. Harry looked like he was going to explode from all the emotions he was feeling.

"You fucking jump in the middle of a shower, and you don't think that's unprofessional?!" Harry yelled.

"I have my reasons," Draco said coldly, and Harry scoffed.

"Your reasons," he repeated sarcastically. He could feel his anger growing as he approached closer to Draco. "And what are your reasons?"

"That's for me to know, and you not to find out," Draco drawled maliciously as Harry came ever closer. Harry's eyes flashed angrily as he glared at Draco. Draco walked slowly around Harry.

Harry's eyes followed him as he turned his body, mimicking his movements. Draco stopped circling and advanced on Harry, an odd gleam in his eyes. Harry backed away, stumbling over discarded towels on the floor.

"You listen to me, Potter. Whatever I do outside of practice is my business. What you do in practice is also my business. The star player cannot show up hung-over. Is that clear?" Draco asked through gritted teeth.

Harry continued backing up until he hit the stone wall of the locker room. Draco's silver eyes were glittering in anger as he surveyed Harry.

"You know," Harry started angrily. "There's this little thing, maybe you've heard of it, called respe--"

Harry was cut off as Draco crashed his lips down on his. Harry's eyes were wide in shock. He hadn't realized Draco had been that close. He struggled to push him away, but it was useless.

Draco bit Harry's lower lip, and Harry gasped in pain. Taking advantage of the open mouth, Draco thrust his tongue into the hot caverns of Harry's mouth.

Harry whimpered as Draco's tongue massaged his own. He couldn't stop his body from responding. His hand reached up to Draco's neck, pulling him closer and increasing the intensity of the kiss. Draco's hand slithered down between their panting bodies to palm Harry through his pants.

Harry pulled away from the kiss, breathing hard. "Fuck, don't," he panted.

Draco ignored him and began kissing his neck instead. Harry moaned loudly and tilted his head back as Draco's fiery tongue slid over his throat. He thrust his body forward into Draco's massaging palm.

Draco removed his hand and Harry made a noise of loss. The hand was soon replaced with his own very hard erection straining against the material of his low jeans. He rolled his hips into Harry, enjoying the moan that escaped his luscious lips.

Harry's hands moved down to grip Draco's hips as he continued to move them against him. He thrust lightly into Harry. Harry gasped and gripped harder.

Draco leaned into his ear and whispered. "Do you like that?"

"N--Yes..." Harry replied as Draco gave another particularly forceful thrust. His body arched off the wall, needing more friction.

Draco moved his hips with Harry’s, thrusting harder, barely controlling himself. He was caught by surprise when Harry kissed him softly. Harry pulled away, throwing his head back as he reached his climax.

Wave after wave of pleasure flowed over his body as he came. He still kept his grip on Draco as he rode out the end of his orgasm.

Draco came hard as well, burying his face in Harry's neck. He kissed him softly before pulling away. He reached for his wand to clean up the mess. After a second thought, he cleaned Harry as well. Harry stood leaning against the wall for support.

Draco smirked at Harry as he turned to leave. "Is that a good enough reason?" he asked before disappearing in a crack.

Harry slid down onto the floor, his knees pulled up to his chest. "What am I going to do?" he whispered to the empty room.


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A/N: please review! Sorry about the lateness but I was doing homework all day and I still have more...