How to Save a Life

Draco woke to the feel of warm breath tickling his neck and a soft body pressed up against him. He lay with his eyes closed, taking a few moments to remember where he was and who he was with.

As the day’s events came back to him, a slow grin spread across his face. He leaned down to press a light kiss to the top of the messy head that was currently nestled in the crook of his arm.

A faint giggle caught his attention and his eyes snapped open. Pansy was perched on the end of the bed, grinning madly its occupants.

“You two are adorable, you know?”

Draco opened his mouth, a stinging retort on the tip of his tongue. But before he could speak, a muffled voice beat him to it.

“Malfoy’s are not adorable. Sexy and good looking – yes, but never adorable.” Harry placed a soft kiss just under Draco’s earlobe and looked up at the blonde boy with a teasing smile on his face.

Pansy laughed loudly, “You made that mistake too then, Harry?”

Harry just grinned up at the dark haired girl and nodded. Draco huffed and turned to his friend.

“What are you doing in here, Pansy? I’ve told you before; I’m never going to let you watch!”

Pansy smirked at this and gave a knowing wink to Harry. “I simply came to see if you two were coming for dinner, I figured you had probably built up quite an appetite by now.”

Harry let out a little embarrassed squeak at this and buried his head back down in the safety of Draco’s arms. Draco, not at all fazed by Pansy’s presence, dropped another kiss on his head and turned back to the girl.

“Now that’s adorable,” he stated smugly and Pansy couldn’t help but agree, much to Harry’s eternal shame.

Draco trailed his hand up to Harry’s head and began to run his fingers through the unruly mop, his fingertips lightly massaging Harry’s scalp.

“What do you really want, Pansy?”

The laughter died from Pansy’s eyes and her face took on a serious look. “I need you to speak to Theo,” she stated simply.

Draco quirked an eyebrow at this “Was it bad?”

Pansy shrugged, “No worse than usual, but he just seems to take it harder every time. He hasn’t said a word to me since we left St Mungos. He’s sat in the common room glaring at everyone who comes near and Blaise has already had to stop him hexing a couple of fourth years. Draco, you have to do something, he’ll listen to you.”

Draco snorted at this, “I doubt that very much Pansy. Theo has never been big on listening to anyone.”

“Draco...”

“Merlin, alright, Pansy, I’ll speak to him. Now do you think you could leave so we can get up?” Draco caught the smirk on the girls face, “and no, Pansy, we are not naked. So get your mind out of the gutter.”


“Draco, I’m a Slytherin, the gutter is where my mind is happiest! Now hurry up and get out of bed, some of us want to eat tonight, even if you already have.” She shot a lascivious grin in Draco’s direction.

“Get out, Pansy, now!”

“Alright, alright, I’m going. Bye, Harry.”

As the door closed behind Pansy, Draco turned his attention to the dark haired boy in his bed.

“She’s gone, Harry, you can come out now”

“Don’t want to,” came the muffled reply. Draco smiled at this, “You’re planning to stay there all night?”

“Maybe.” Harry raised his face to look at Draco, his lips pouting. Draco smiled and, leaning down, he captured Harry’s bottom lip between his own, sucking on it gently.

“Do you have any idea of how cute you look when you do that,” Draco murmured against Harry’s lips.

“Cute and adorable, all in one day, I must be on a roll!” Harry took in Draco’s confused expression, “Muggle expression,” he explained.

Draco wrapped his arms round Harry tighter and pressed his lips against the dark haired boy’s in a chaste kiss. He opened his eyes to find serious green eyes staring right back at him.

“What’s wrong with his mum?”

Draco was puzzled by the abrupt change in the conversation and struggled to catch up with Harry’s train of thought.

“What?”

“Nott’s mum, you said she was in St Mungo’s, what’s the matter with her?”

“She’s crazy!”

Sensing the rebuke that was on the tip of Harry’s tongue, he continued earnestly. “I’m not being nasty, she really is crazy. She’s been like it ever since his dad was killed in the war. She doesn’t even know who Theo is.”

“That’s awful,” Harry whispered.

“That’s life.” Draco couldn’t hide the slightly bitter edge that crept into his voice.

Harry placed one last gentle kiss at the base of Draco’s throat before clambering out of the blonde’s embrace. Harry pulled the comforter back off them, gazing briefly at Draco’s naked torso.

Harry’s eyes lingered on the faint silvery scars that crossed his pale skin and he reached out, tracing them gently with his fingertips. When his eyes made their way back up to Draco’s face, they were full of regret.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Draco shrugged, “It was nothing I didn’t deserve.”

“But you could have died. If Snape hadn’t come along when he did you would have bled to death.”

Draco took hold of Harry’s hand between his, “Harry, I was about to cast the Cruciatus curse on you. If you hadn’t used that spell who knows what I would have done to you.”

“Still,” Harry said, a stubborn tinge to his voice, “I used a spell without any idea of what it would do. I would never have used it if I had, you do believe that don’t you?”

Draco grinned at the worried look on Harry’s face, “Of course I do. As if Harry Potter would use Dark Magic knowingly. Merlin, Harry, you defeated Voldemort with an Expelliarmus!”

“I’m not perfect, Draco; I’ve used dark magic when I had to.”

“But it’s not like you used Unforgivables,” Draco persisted. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the uncomfortable look on Harry’s face.

“When?” he asked before he could stop himself. Then as Harry opened his mouth to speak, Draco laid a finger over his lips. “No, it’s ok. You don’t have to answer that, I had no right to ask.”

Harry lightly flicked his tongue over Draco’s finger before taking hold of the blondes hand and pulling it away from his mouth. “It’s alright, I don’t mind telling you.”

Harry’s eyes dropped down to his and Draco’s linked hands. He couldn’t bring himself to look the Slytherin in the eye as he spoke.

“I used the Cruciatus on Bellatrix after the battle at the ministry. She killed my Godfather and I just wanted to make her suffer. And then I used it on one of the Carrow’s just before the final battle.”

“Which one?” Draco’s voice was barely a whisper and it took Harry a moment to realise he had spoken.

“Huh?” Harry met Draco’s eyes in confusion

“Which one of the Carrow’s did you crucio?” Draco’s grip tightened on Harry’s hand.

“Oh, it was the brother, Amycus. He spat in Professor McGonagall’s face and I guess I just lost it.”

“Good, he fucking deserved it.” There was no mistaking the hatred behind Draco’s words and Harry was startled to see that his eyes had darkened with anger.

“Draco, are you ok?”

The anger disappeared as quickly as it had come, “Yeah I’m fine.” There was finality to his tone that told Harry the subject was closed.

Harry was confused. There was obviously more to this than Draco was saying, but he didn’t want to spoil things between them by pushing the issue. Harry let it go, but stored the conversation away to be examined later.

He smiled down at the blonde, who was now stretching out on the bed like a cat.

“C’mon, get up.”

“What happened to staying in bed?” Draco whined.

Harry shrugged, “You have to go talk to Theodore. In any case, I’m hungry and I have to deal with Ron at some point.”

Draco’s expression clouded at the mention of the redhead. “I don’t see why.”

“He’s my friend, Draco. He’s a good person really; I just think you two bring out the worst in each other. You really found his weak spot with what you said about him coming second best to me.”

“Well, he does,” Draco sulked. “If he upsets you I’ll hex him.”

Harry grinned and leant in to kiss Draco on the cheek, “My hero. Now get up!”

“Bully!”

Harry eventually coaxed the pouting blonde out of bed and into his clothes. They walked out into the common room and Pansy ushered Draco in the direction of the glowering boy that everyone was avoiding. Harry gave him one last grin before heading off in the direction of the Great Hall on Pansy’s arm, with the rest of Slytherin in tow.

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Harry was so busy looking out for Ron that he didn’t notice the angry flush that spread over Ginny Weasley’s face at the sight of him, arm in arm, with Pansy Parkinson.

As he approached the Gryffindor table, Hermione spotted him and automatically slid to one side, making space for him to sit. Flashing the girl a grateful smile, Harry slipped into the now vacant seat and found himself face to face with a very disgruntled looking Ron.

“Hi” Harry offered hopefully.

“Oh, so you are talking to me then,” Ron spat. Hermione placed a warning hand on the redheads arm, but he only shrugged it off.

“No Hermione, I won’t calm down. He can’t just come over here and sit with us like nothing’s wrong. You blew me off for Malfoy, Harry, how am I supposed to react. And what about Ginny, did you even think how she would feel seeing you walk in here with that pug faced bitch draped all over you.”

Harry sat quietly for a moment, stunned by Ron’s outburst.

“Ron, Ginny and I broke up a long time ago. There’s nothing going on between me and Pansy, but even if there was, it would be none of her business - or yours for that matter. And you were out of line with what you said to Draco earlier, mocking the fact that his friends were dead. That’s just cruel Ron.”

“Ron, you didn’t” Hermione gasped, shocked.

Ron ignored her, his anger had been building since Harry had gone after Malfoy earlier and he wasn’t going to stop till he made sure Harry understood exactly how he felt.

“Oh, its Draco now is it? What’s going on with you, Harry, how can you speak to that snake? Have you forgotten all the awful things he did and said to us over the years?”

“No,” Harry replied softly, “But we were kids then Ron. So much has happened to us all in the last couple of years and I don’t think any of us are the same people anymore.”

“What about Bill? Have you forgotten what Greyback did to him, all because that bastard let Death Eaters into the school?”

“I don’t think it’s likely I’ll ever forget that night Ron,” Harry said coldly, rising from his seat. “Excuse me, Hermione.” He flashed an apologetic smile at the bushy haired girl, before stalking away from them in the one direction that he knew would hit Ron harder than anything.

He sank down into a seat at the Slytherin table between Pansy and Millicent Bulstrode, his back to the rest of the room. But all the same, he could feel Ron’s eyes burning into his back throughout the meal. After a brief exchange with Pansy, he sank into a thoughtful silence and was grateful that the Slytherin’s seemed to respect his privacy and left him in peace to pick at his food.

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Draco hadn’t made it to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry had been disappointed at first, but now as he sat alone in his dormitory, he was actually relieved to have some time alone to process the day’s events.

He sat on his bed, his new broom cradled in his hands. Truth be told, Harry was feeling a little overwhelmed by what had happened between him and Draco. It all seemed to be moving so fast and he was more than a little nervous.

Harry wasn’t ready for people to know that he was gay, let alone that he was gay and with Draco Malfoy. He cringed just thinking what the Daily Prophet would make of it, and Harry just knew that it would be a big deal to everyone.

He had been famous his whole life, even if he hadn’t known for the first eleven years, and the wizarding world seemed to regard him as public property, like they had a right to know what was going on with his life.

Also, Harry was realistic enough to know, that if his ‘friendship’ with Draco got out at this stage, that there would be even more hostility to the Slytherin than there already was. Harry still remembered the howlers and hate mail that Hermione had gotten after Rita Skeeter’s article back in the fourth year and he didn’t want Draco to have to go through that because of him.

Despite all that, Harry wasn’t willing to lose whatever it was that he and Draco had. It had been a long time since Harry could remember feeling emotions this strong, except for hate and guilt, and he was determined to hold on to it for as long as he could.

Just thinking about Draco caused a stirring in Harry’s trousers. He replayed the day’s events over in his mind, reliving the feel of Draco’s lips on his, the feel of a hard body pressed tight against his own.

Harry lay back against the pillows on his bed and allowed his hand to slide down his chest towards the now obvious bulge in his trousers. He brushed his fingers lightly over his erection and had to bite his lips to keep a moan of want from escaping his lips.

He lay still for a moment trying to decide if he dare risk it. After deciding he would, he picked up his wand and quickly closed the hangings round his bed and added a silencing charm for good measure.

His hands worked quickly, unzipping himself and freeing his now fully erect cock. Rubbing his thumb over the leaking head, he spread the precum down the length of his shaft. He wrapped his hand round his cock and began stroking himself firmly. He imagined what it would feel like to have Draco’s hand touching him, teasing him, making him come.

Harry quickened his stroke, his hips thrusting of the bed to meet his hand. He slipped two fingers into his mouth and began to thrust them between his lips, all the while imagining it was Draco’s cock in his mouth. This thought alone was enough to tip him over the edge and it wasn’t long until Harry was groaning Draco’s name as he came hard, all over his hand.

Harry raised his hand to his lips and gave it a tentative lick, tasting himself. He had expected to be repulsed but it wasn’t actually that bad, a little bitter, but not horrible. Harry reminded himself that considering what he had been fantasising about that he had better get used to the taste!

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Draco was stretched out his favourite chair in the Slytherin common room, silently cursing Theodore Nott for making him miss dinner, and Harry.

The blonde kept his eyes fixed on the fire burning brightly in front of him, trying to ignore the pair of bright blue eyes that were currently boring holes into him.

“It’s no good ignoring me, Drakie; I’m not going to go away.”

“I’m well aware of that, Parkinson, if it was that simple I would have done it years ago.”

Pansy grinned at him, “Now don’t be bitchy. Draco, I’m just concerned about your happiness.”

“Nice try, Pansy, but that line would work much better on someone who doesn’t know you quite as well. You’re just fishing for details of hot sweaty man sex.”

Pansy perked up at this, “You mean you and Harry...”

“No, Pansy, I don’t. But even if we had, I would certainly not be sharing the details with you.”

The dark haired girl sat back in her chair, an air of disappointment about her. “Ok, so you won’t give me all the sordid details, but the least you can do is tell me how it was. After all, I’ve had to put up moaning like Myrtle over him for weeks, surely I deserve some reward.”

“Pansy, I will say this one more time and I’ll even say it slowly so that even you will comprehend it. I will not be discussing the details of mine and Harry’s sex life you with now or at any point in the future.”

“So you admit there is a ‘you and Harry’? Come on, Draco” Pansy whined, “Give me something, at least tell me what it was like being with him.”

A slow grin lit up the blondes face and Pansy reflected that she had never seen him look so beautiful.
“It was great, he’s great.”

Draco turned a serious expression to his friend, “I don’t want to mess this up, Pansy. I couldn’t stand it if I lost him as a friend.”

Pansy smiled, and resisted the temptation to inform Draco just how cute she found his insecurity.

“You won’t lose him, Draco; I saw the way he was cuddled up to you earlier. Trust me, if he isn’t already as smitten as you, then he soon will be.”

Draco turned his face towards the fire, but not in time to hide his wistful expression.

“I hope so,” came his soft reply.

Pansy sat in silence for a while, leaving Draco to his own thoughts. She watched him thoughtfully, trying to decide whether to disturb him or not.

“Pansy, you’re staring again.”

Pansy started guiltily, “Sorry, Drakie.” Her eyes dropped to her lap and she watched her hands as they fiddled nervously with the buttons on her dress.

“Spit it out, Parkinson, you’ve been sat there for the last ten minutes wanting to say something.”

Pansy laughed nervously, “You know me too well.” She stopped here, but catching sight of the impatient look on her friends face, she summoned up her courage and began, haltingly, to speak.

“It’s about Harry. I was just wondering if... I mean, did you...”

“Pansy, I’m warning you, if this is another sex related question...” Draco didn’t finish the sentence, but simply waved his wand in her direction to make his meaning clear.

“No, it’s not about that. It’s just that, well, did you notice his arms?”

Draco looked at her, confused. “Yes, he has very nice arms. Now what’s that got to do with anything.”

Pansy shook her head slowly, “I wasn’t asking your opinion on them, Draco. What I meant was did he have cuts on his arms?”

Draco’s face cleared, “oh, yeah he did. Seems I’m not the only one that bloody giants Hippogriff likes to attack.”

Blue eyes narrowed as the considered this, “That’s what he said happened?”

Draco leant forward in his chair, his irritation beginning to show. “What is this, Pansy? You sound like you’re trying to say he’s lying to me.”

Pansy didn’t miss the warning tone in her friend’s voice, but she had started this now and she was worried about Harry.

“That’s because I think he is.”

She held up a hand to quell the oncoming interruption, “Hear me out Draco. You remember last weekend when Harry got drunk and ended up sleeping down here?”

Draco snorted at this, “Hardly likely to forget that, now am I?”

Pansy acted as if he had never spoken. “Well, when I helped him get changed, I noticed he had cuts on his arm. And I mean cuts, Draco, not scratches.”

Draco was looking at her incredulously now, “You’ve gone mad, Parkinson. You’re trying to say that someone cut him?”

Troubled blue eyes met incredulous grey ones, “No, Draco, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying I think he cut himself.”

Draco forced a laugh out at this, “You’re insane! Why on earth would you say something like that? I thought you liked him.”

“I’m not saying it to be a bitch, Draco; I’m saying it because I’m concerned. Look at everything he’s been through in his life, it wouldn’t exactly be a stretch to see that he could have issues.”

“That’s a load of bollocks, Pansy, and don’t you dare go repeating that to anyone else. There’s nothing wrong with Harry, he’s just fine.”

But as Pansy sat in her room later that night, cold steel pressed against the white flesh of her own arm, she was not convinced.

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