Shades of Truth

Shades of Truth

Chapter 26

*****

“And I have suspicions that he brought back an unregistered vampire.” Harry was explaining the details of a current investigation he was working on to a group of six other Aurors who were paying him rapt attention. “At first I thought it was just oversight, you know, since he’s not the most law-abiding subject I’ve ever tailed, but I’m pretty sure he’s feeding it muggle delivery-people. I’ve seen at least one person bring pizza over, go in, and not come back out. And there’s definitely something he’s hiding, since he’s got so many wards on his front door, and the windows are never open.”

“Sounds like your place.” Harry was momentarily thrown off his train of thought by seeing Ron here in his office. “And your roommate is pale.”

“Ron,” Harry could tell he was blushing despite his grand desire not to look foolish in front of his subordinates. “I’m giving a brief, if you could just wait outside a moment, I’ll see you in a minute.”

“Sorry, the door was open.” Ron winked and waved at everyone, and a few of them waved back as he stepped out and closed the door.

“Er…anyway, what I meant…” Harry shook his head sharply to stop the stumbling. He didn’t particularly enjoy lecturing people, and this was nearly the same thing. “So then, I thought it would be best to get some solid evidence before we do a raid, so we’re going to stake the place out. I’ve assigned you all eight hour shifts, in pairs—“ he was cut off by some grumbling and he turned a sharp eye on a young man who was muttering about the unfairness of it all. “And I know it isn’t fun, Kincaid, but that’s why we call it work. Questions?”

After some more shuffling of papers and general bustle, the group left his office, and Harry sat down in his chair wearily just as Ron came in, a barely concealed grin on his face. “I never knew you could be such a stickler, Harry. If only McGonagall could see you putting all her lessons to use.”

“Not all of us can be in the Office of Never Actually Working.” Harry teased good-naturedly and Ron laughed and shrugged. “Anything going on? You usually don’t come down here unless you’re trying to get me to skive off work and go to a Quidditch match with you.”

“I had to come see you to tell you the news.” Ron pulled a roll of parchment out of his pocket. “I got this summons this morning…I thought you’d know something about it, because it seems like your department could have been involved. They’ve recovered Fred’s remains. It’s been a few years, so there isn’t a lot to what they found, but I’ve just been to identify them with Percy. Bill’s getting some time off, and we’re hoping to get permission to get George out of St. Mungo’s for a day…we’re going to have a funeral. Another one, I know, but since we have his actual remains…”

“Wow…that’s…no, I didn’t have any idea. I mean, it may have been someone…but I didn’t hear about us doing a raid on Malfoy manor…” Harry trailed off and Ron’s body went rigid.

“What?” he tilted his head sharply.

“Well…when we were doing the investigation…Draco said that his father probably still had the remains buried on the grounds…down in the dungeons or something, but I wasn’t sure we could get permission to dig since we didn’t know they were there for sure…and Narcissa Malfoy…” Harry stumbled through his explanation, feeling rather sheepish for having not already told all of this to Ron, who would obviously deserve to know what had become of his brother.

“That’s weird…” Ron looked very thoughtful for a moment, and then spoke again rather distractedly. “Anyway…thought you might like to come. It’s nothing big, just family, you know. We’re doing it next Wednesday at two, if you can get it off.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there for sure.” Harry nodded sharply. He would have to talk with Draco when he got home, because unless he was much mistaken, he knew who had recovered the remains of Fred Weasley. What he didn’t know was why Draco, who had spent his life going out of his way to antagonize Ron, would do something kind for his family without even telling anyone he had done it…

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When Harry got home, Draco, once more, was not there. This time, there was a note, but it did very little to stop him worrying. In fact, it had the opposite effect. It was rather short, and clearly the other man had been on his way out the door when he had thought to leave it.

¬Harry,
Gone out with Blaise, will be back tonight.
Draco

Harry did not like that note very much. It seemed rather unfeeling. Honestly, he could have at least written “Love, Draco” instead of just this…it was as if they were only roommates, nothing more, and he had just left a quick note before going out on a date.

Not that this was a date. Even if it was with Blaise. Harry wished there were less people carrying a torch for Draco. Or that at least none of them were good looking. He knew Draco wasn’t cheating on him, but it wasn’t as though Blaise was the sort to be above trying to seduce someone who was already in a relationship.

On the other hand, just because Pansy said that Blaise was after Draco didn’t mean it was true. She could have just said that to make him worry. He knew for sure that she had no compunctions about causing him grief. But he decided it didn’t help him to dwell on his concerns, so he kept himself busy. He tidied up around the house, which didn’t take long as neither of them was very messy. Then he sat down and penned a letter to Snape to ask how he was and if he could visit sometime now that he was back in London and sent it off with Hedwig as soon as he’d finished. At this point, it was almost time for him to start dinner, so he took his time about it, telling himself that he was not making such a nice dinner just to remind Draco of how good things were living with Harry, but just because he was especially hungry.

But when it was finished and he realized Draco still wasn’t home, he began to worry. When it started to get cold, he thought about eating his own dinner at least, but he found that he didn’t have an appetite anymore. It was well past midnight when he went upstairs, feeling rather dejected, not bothering to clear the dinner up, and having completely forgotten about Fred Weasley.

He realized as he lay alone, staring up at the ceiling, that this was the second time this week that he’d found himself unable to sleep because Draco wasn’t there. But this time he knew for sure where Draco was, and he was warring between his two current impulses. Half of him wanted to run out the door and chase Blaise down to make sure nothing was going on, and the other half of him wanted to make himself not care. He knew he shouldn’t care, that Draco’s note hadn’t said what time tonight he’d be back, and he was probably having fun right now, and what was wrong with that, after all? But there was a selfish piece of him that wanted Draco here with him that instant.

It was silly. Draco would never get upset that Harry spent time with Hermione or Ron, but then, neither of them had any romantic interest in Harry, so maybe it wasn’t too strange that he was worried. Also, he had spent a long time making that dinner, and Draco was too busy boozing with Blaise, who was likely going to try and take advantage of him once he was good and liquored up, to care about that. He knew it was childish to feel resentful about the situation, but he couldn’t help feeling frustrated, and the fact that he kept imagining what sort of things Draco and Blaise could be doing at that moment probably didn’t help. He kept cutting in between a scenario where Blaise was having his way with a nearly unconscious Draco, and one where Draco and Blaise had been spending all day in bed together, and had been carrying on behind Harry’s back since he was released from Azkaban.

After some time spent worrying and imagining things to be much worse than they likely were, Harry heard the door open and close and knew that Draco was finally home. As he heard the other man stumbling upstairs, Harry debated whether to even acknowledge Draco’s absence had been noticed, or to feign sleep. Before he could decide what he might want to say, the other man fell into bed, still fully dressed, smelling of smoke and liquor.

“I made dinner.” The words came out before Harry knew he was going to say them. “It’s cold by now.”

“Sorry.” Draco chuckled slightly and nuzzled the back of Harry’s neck. “Didn’t mean to wake you.” There was a pause, and his hands wandered clumsily under the covers. “Well, maybe I did. A little.”

“Stop it.” Harry shoved Draco’s hands away. “I stayed up waiting for you, and I’d like to get at least a little sleep before I go to work tomorrow.”

“You didn’t have to wait up.” Draco didn’t seem too annoyed at Harry’s rejection, and somehow, this only agitated him even more.

“I was worried.” Harry told him sharply. “You could have left more of a note. I had no idea exactly where you were or when you’d be back. And I knew Blaise was with you…”

“What’s wrong with Blaise?” Draco seemed vaguely upset now. “Am I not allowed to have friends unless they’re on your pre-approved goody-goody comrades against evil list of buddies? You know, I’m not wild about Weasley, but I don’t ask you to ditch one of your oldest friends.”

“That’s completely different!” Harry snapped, sitting up in bed as Draco did the same. “I’ve been friends with Ron since the first day at Hogwarts!”

“Blaise and I knew each other when we were babies.” Draco shot back.

“Ron’s not someone who would hate everyone just for not being in his house!” Harry retorted. “All of your ‘friends’ are completely obsessed with Slytherin superiority, which is hilarious, since you can see how it’s helped them lead such excellent lives!”

“Yeah, well, if Blaise hated Gryffindors so much, why’d he shag Ginny Weasley all seventh year?” Draco was so furious at this point that he didn’t think about the words until it was too late, and they fell into a sudden, deadly silence.

“He…what?” Harry sounded so shocked that Draco knew he’d had no idea about Ginny’s torrid rebound relationship. He’d known, and he hadn’t even been at Hogwarts.

“Nothing.” Draco realized that he had crossed a line, and he hadn’t meant to.

“No, tell me.” Harry was starting to worry Draco. Any second, he was sure, he’d go back to yelling. Draco wished he would. This was much worse. “Tell me. About Blaise and Ginny.”

“I just heard…who knows what actually happened.” Draco shrugged, trying to make light of it with very little success. “You know how much gossip and rumor—“

“Tell me!” Harry pounded his fist into the mattress, and Draco jumped slightly in surprise.

“Well, I wasn’t around, so I don’t know for sure,” Draco wished his mouth didn’t feel so dry. “But Pansy says Blaise and Ginny had a not-so-secret…thing his last year at Hogwarts. He…didn’t say anything about it, so I can’t say—“

“I can’t…I can’t believe she…with Blaise?” Harry touched a candle absentmindedly, bringing light back into the room. He looked horribly pale and drawn. “Why…why would she do that?”

“Well,” Draco offered hesitantly, “you did break up with her.”

“So she’d be safe! Not because I didn’t want…with a Slytherin!”

“Hello?” Draco waved a hand about ironically. “Guess who you’re sleeping with? Talk about unexpected results. And by the by, that was pretty prejudiced for someone who just cried out the injustice of Slytherin house pride. You can’t have it both ways, you know. And you can’t black list my friends because of what they did in school. It’d be pretty hypocritical, considering I was the only one who repeatedly tried to kill Dumbledore. Even if Blaise did sleep with Ginny, that doesn’t really hold a candle to all the nasty business I got up to. I was horrible to you and all your friends. Look at this!” Draco pulled up his robes on his left arm, showing Harry the one feature that the other man always avoided. “Look at it! It’s not going away just because you refuse to see it. That’s not house pride, or some prank, or a love bite from your dead girlfriend. That’s the Dark Mark. I was still in school when Voldemort put it there.” He covered the fading mark up again. “Blaise doesn’t have one, in case you were interested. Neither does Nott. Nor Pansy. They might as well, though, from the way they’re treated by the whole rest of the wizarding worlds. We’re all of us like pariahs. No one openly does anything, but you can feel it when you’re surrounded by people who would be happy to see you drop dead where you stand. You won’t be able to understand that, no matter how you try, but they will, because they live it as well. So don’t tell me my friends are no good and then pretend you don’t see that. I’m not as good as them, and you haven’t binned me yet.”

“Stop it!” Harry burst out, clearly unable to take it anymore. “Just stop! You think you’re so horrible because you antagonized me? Because some twisted fuck bullied you into taking the Mark, and trying to kill Dumbledore? Because other wizards treat you like you’re to blame for the war and for all the deaths? No one forced me to antagonize you in school! And no one forced me to kill all those people, no matter what side they were on! Do you think I like that people glorify every horrible thing I’ve ever done? I didn’t have to kill them!”

“They would have killed you!” Draco almost laughed at the ridiculousness of what Harry was saying. “And anyway, this isn’t a competition! We’ve both done things we wish we could take back. I’m just trying to say that I love you, but that doesn’t mean you can control everything I do. I’m not asking you to become best mates with Blaise, but I will hang out with him, whether or not you like it.”

“He wants to shag you!” Harry burst out desperately. “Pansy told me he’s been after you since Hogwarts.” There was a moment of silence before Draco collapsed onto the bed in a fit of hysterical laughter. “It’s not funny!”

“Isn’t it?” Draco sat up, wiping tears from his eyes. “You go on about what a good-for-nothing he is, but you think I’ll leave you for him! What part of that isn’t funny?”

“Well…I didn’t say you’d leave me.” Harry grumbled, quite put off that Draco found his concerns to be such a source of hilarity. “But he could try to take advantage of you.”

“I don’t think he’d want to do that.” Draco shook his head.

“Why not?” Harry defended his opinion.

“He has his hands full as it is.” Draco explained. “He’s seeing those Patil twins behind each of their backs.”

There was a drawn out silence as Harry attempted to process this. Then, very slowly, he spoke. “Parvati…and Padma? At the same time? And…neither knows…the other…”

“That’s right. He’s done this sort of thing before, of course, but it usually ends in one of two ways.” Draco elaborated. “One or both figure it out and he has to choose, but after about three weeks of dating only one person, he feels like there’s no excitement, and that’s the end of it.”

“And the other way?” Harry asked.

“They both bin him.” Draco shrugged. “And I try to tell him, no one wants to be with someone who’s shagging someone else on the sly, but he’s just so used to it.”

“So…when Ginny and him…” Harry trailed off.

“Look, I don’t know for sure that even happened. And I already said, you’d broken up with her. Ginny Weasley was hot property in those days. I’m not big on girls, as you may have noticed, but she caught your eye.”

“Well,” Harry sighed heavily, “I suppose you’re right. I guess I thought she’d wait for me, or something. And you probably shouldn’t say anything to Ron about it, by the way.”

“How do you know he doesn’t already know about it?” Draco asked as they settled back to bed.

“Blaise is alive.”

“Fair point.”

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To be continued…