Poses

That morning Draco got up with Harry again, but this time brought his book with him so he wouldn\'t have to come back into the room. He observed that Nigellus seemed much less chatty with others in the room, so he took the opportunity to make a clean escape with no further blasts from the past.

They left Ron to sleep in and again Harry and Draco flirted over breakfast until it was time to leave. Once Harry was out the door, Draco picked up his book and retired to the drawing room. The tapestry was no less vexing than the portrait, but at least it kept its mouth shut.

He wasn\'t sitting there long when Ron stepped through the open doorway and sat awkwardly on one of the tatty wingback chairs across from the couch Draco was stretched out on. Draco looked up from his book. His brows rose in question. \"We didn\'t even shag in the room, or did you find something else to whinge at me about?\"

Ron was befuddled. He blushed and shook his head. \"No. I just... was... nothing. Never mind.\"

After an outburst like that, Draco would have left in a dramatic swirl of robes. But Ron hadn\'t. Draco eyed him inquisitively. \"Have a row with Granger?\"

\"No.\" Ron sighed and pressed his hands to his knees and focused intently on them.

\"If you\'re here to offer me the precious flower of your virginity, let me just say \'Ha! You wish!\'\"

\"I\'m not gay!\" spat Ron who finally looked up into Draco\'s eyes. \"Even if I were, it wouldn\'t be you I... ugh! Just... no. I don\'t want sex with a boy! I wanted to... Ugh! Why are you such a git?\"

\"Oh sure, I\'m the git when you\'re the one in here nancying about in my room!\"

\"This isn\'t your room! It\'s a... a...\"

\"This is, in fact, my house. I just let you all stay here,\" insisted Draco.

\"You wouldn\'t last a day in this house without the Order here to protect your barmy arse and you know it!\"

\"Pfft,\" garbled Draco. \"Look, you came in here for a reason, obviously. Now spit it out so I can see to getting you out of my presence.\" His eyes cast over the tapestry again. Forever pure. Right. Ron was a pureblood, from his own family line even, and Draco couldn\'t stand him either. Purity did NOT equal good company, as far as he was concerned.

\"Well...\" said Ron. Again he lost his composure, much to Draco\'s visible displeasure. \"It\'s about Hermione....\"

Draco sighed and looked at the ceiling, appealing to the gods for Ron to get on with it.

\"Because, you know... I told you yesterday that we... you know... haven\'t...\"

\"Nor should you,\" Draco advised.

\"What?\" asked Ron as he sat up in a panic. \"Why? Do you know something? Is she... with someone else?\"

\"Hah! Who else would have her?\" Draco gave Ron an expression of sardonic disbelief.

Ron\'s hands balled up into fists. He looked murderously at Draco, and then counted to ten. \"Why do you think we shouldn\'t?\"

\"Well, for one thing, if you bred...\" Draco shivered. \"Won\'t you please think of the children? I mean, the future hair disasters alone...\"

Ron leapt to his feet and glared down at Draco. His balled fists were pulled up, ready to strike. Draco cowered, holding his book up protectively over his face. \"I don\'t know why I bothered. What would you know about charming anyone?\"

\"At least I don\'t have to beat people to get them to talk to me!\" The book muffled Draco\'s voice and he pulled his legs up defensively, knowing that remark was going to buy him no friends. \"You know, if Harry comes home to find me black and blue, he\'s going to want to know who did it.\"

\"I\'ll explain to him that clumsy berk that you are, you fell down the stairs,\" explained Ron, but his hands were already lowered as he realized that though it would be satisfying, beating Draco wouldn\'t get him any closer to his goal.

\"Oh right. Because I\'m always tripping over things.\" Draco peeked out over the book to see Ron\'s offensive position lessening. He sighed in relief and then decided to relent. It would be a long summer if he had to fend off daily physical attacks. Not to mention it would be quite lonesome to sit in a room reading books day after day. \"So you want to know how to bed a girl, hmm?\"

\"Not just any girl.\"

\"Right. Well, I\'m no expert on that girl. As dubious as some of my conquests have been, I\'ve never sunk that low--\" Draco broke off as he heard Ron\'s knuckles cracking again. He cleared his throat. \"I suppose it would help to know what the reason is that you two haven\'t shagged yet. Then we can work on how to overcome that.\" Draco glared at a snag in the fabric of the gold velvet couch and tried to smooth over the threads with his finger to avoid looking at Ron.

Ron looked surprised, but decided not to question Draco\'s change of tone, reasoning it likely had more to do with fear of further violence than a true wish to help. \"I guess because neither of us have. She doesn\'t really give a reason so much as she just... stops everything and makes an excuse and leaves.\"

Draco nodded and sat up, abandoning the couch flaw for a loss. He set his book into his lap and looked thoughtful. \"Is it possible that you\'re just not very good at snogging?\"

\"I... well...\" Ron flushed and stuttered, not sure what to say in the face of such bluntness. \"I... err... I don\'t know. How would I find out?\" He flashed Draco a misgiving stare.

Giving Ron a withering look, he shook his head. \"Don\'t look at me that way. I\'m not willing to go that far to figure out your problem, no matter how early or often you offer to beat me. That is simply beyond the beyond.\"

\"I don\'t-Would you get it through your thick head that I don\'t want you?\"

Draco held his hand up to cut Ron off. \"We\'re agreed. Just drop it.\" Shaking his head to rid himself of that train of thought he then went on, \"Does she seem into it while you\'re snogging or does she act distracted?\"

\"She seems into it. She makes these little noises like...ooo ooo ooo.\"

Draco shuddered at the imitation of Hermione\'s sex noises and held his hand up again. \"Weasley, if you make me ill I won\'t be able to help.\"

\"Sorry.\"

\"Right, then. Is there a consistent point in which she cuts off... relations?\"

Ron closed his eyes to ponder this. \"Are you asking how far I\'ve gotten?\"

\"Well... yes. But don\'t be graphic about it. I just ate.\"

Ron rolled his eyes. He wondered if girls now repulsed Draco, or if he just didn\'t like Hermione. \"You used to be such a lady killer.\"

Draco was a bit thrown by the sudden topic change, but it was better than thinking about Granger moaning. \"Well, admittedly my reputation was subsidized by Nott often posing as me in darkened nooks around Hogwarts.\"

\"Really?\"

\"Well, yes. I found out about this all too late. But I\'m afraid there are some young ladies parading around under the delusion that I shagged them. Probably more than I care to even know. It was too amusing to put a stop to, though. Well, until everyone found out I was with Harry. Then Nott had to get tail on his own merits again. I\'m sure he was destroyed.\"

\"That\'s foul. I can\'t believe Nott would-no, I can believe that. I can\'t believe you let it go on!\"

\"Well,\" Draco said with a dismissive sigh. \"I liked my reputation as it was. That\'s all shot to hell, though. The birds will have to find another dirty boy to complain about.\"

\"I keep forgetting you\'re gay now,\" said Ron, smirking.

Draco paled and looked around the room distractedly. \"Gay,\" he repeated for a moment, as if he\'d never given thought to it. He had, though. Quite a bit. \"I don\'t know. I suppose I am. But for the moment I prefer to think of it as Pottersexual.\"

Ron snickered at the name but shushed as Draco shot him a glare. \"Seriously? You don\'t like guys? Just Harry? You\'re still attracted to girls?\"

\"I...\" Draco made a face. He didn\'t know how to explain himself, really. \"I\'m only attracted to Harry. I suppose that in the past I did find other males attractive now and then, but I never took those attractions seriously because I am a Malfoy and Malfoys do not bugger boys. Maybe it was extreme denial. I don\'t really know. Between attempts on my life, mourning my mother, and killing my father, I haven\'t had loads of time to sort it all out.\"

Ron looked away, feeling a stab of guilt, which was exactly what Draco intended. \"Right. Well, you two seem good together. From what I\'ve seen anyway.\"

Draco smirked and perked a brow. \"And as we both know, you\'ve seen quite a bit.\"

Blushing, Ron rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. \"So, back to Hermione...\"

\"Right. I asked if there was consistent point in which she cuts off the snogging.\"

\"She says I\'m a really good kisser. She lets me touch her under her shirt, and I\'ve touched her-\"

\"Yes, ok, so you\'re... touching... things. Great.\"

\"Yes, but I can\'t... see what I\'m touching. She won\'t let me take things off of her.\"

Draco nodded perceptively. \"She\'s self-conscious then. Do you tell her she\'s attractive?\"

\"I... well... no. But she knows I think she is.\"

\"How does she know that if you don\'t tell her?\"

\"Because I\'m snogging her!\" explained Ron.

Draco blew out a long breath to keep from cackling at Ron\'s ignorance. \"Girls like to be told that they\'re beautiful, Weasley. Even when they... clearly are not.\"

\"But she is beautiful.\"

\"Don\'t tell me that. I don\'t believe you, nor do I care whether you think she\'s beautiful or not. It\'s Granger that needs to hear it, lack wit.\"

Ron narrowed his eyes at the insult, but dismissed it in favor of moving on. \"So if I tell her she\'s beautiful she\'ll shag me?\"

\"Probably not. But it will be a start. You\'ll have to tell her that pretty often to make her believe that you think that. Particularly since you\'ve been neglecting that aspect of your relationship up to this point. In fact, I\'m surprised she\'s still with you at all.\"

\"She has been owling Krum.\"

\"No, she hasn\'t,\" insisted Draco.

\"What? What do you know about it? She told me she was!\"

\"She said that because you\'re neglecting her. But she wouldn\'t risk revealing the Order location by owling for pleasure. You really are simple, aren\'t you?\" asked Draco.

\"Then... why would she tell me that?\"

Draco sighed. He knew that the trio was dense, but this was ridiculous. \"To get a reaction. I bet you get all protective and jealous acting when she says that. That\'s probably the only time aside from snogging that you show your passion for her.\"

\"I think about her all the time!\"

\"She\'s not a mind reader, Weasley. Honestly. This isn\'t Arithmancy. This is basic human behavior.\"

\"When did you get so sensitive, Malfoy? How do you know all of this? You trample over everyone\'s feelings all the time!\"

Draco grinned. \"Yes, but I do it on purpose. You have to understand why people behave the way they do to know what will truly cripple them.\"

\"That\'s evil.\"

\"Slytherin,\" preened Draco.

\"So you do these things on purpose? Even though they get you beaten?\"

\"There\'s worse things than being beaten,\" said Draco as he toyed with the weft on the couch.

\"Did your father beat you?\" asked Ron, leaning in.

\"He disciplined me. There is a difference.\"

\"A beating is a beating.\"

\"It was never beating. It was a few slaps and a couple of spankings. I know you all want to think he was this horrible beast. To be honest, at this point I wish I could believe that too. It would make everything neater for me. But he wasn\'t. He wasn\'t a perfect father, but he was a good father. He tried to teach me as best he could the things that he was brought up to believe.\" Draco bit his lip and stared hard at the grotty material, willing himself not to think too hard on his father. It wouldn\'t do to fall to pieces in front of Weasley.

\"Do you believe those things? What your father believed?\" asked Ron as he pointedly looked at the tapestry.

\"I don\'t know,\" Draco answered. \"I thought I did. Then again, I thought I had to. Now I don\'t have to and... \" he sighed and waved his hand in the air as if to clear it.

\"So you\'d still see Hermione dead?\" hissed Ron.

Draco held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut as if really contemplating it. He disliked her, certainly. But dead? Finally, he opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling and said, \"No. Not dead.\"

\"Really?\" inquired Ron. He really had no reason to doubt Malfoy\'s answer since the boy had obviously given thought to it before he finally answered.

\"Really.\"

\"Why not?\"

\"It would bother Harry,\" Draco dodged. He wasn\'t willing to see the smug look on Ron\'s face at his admission that perhaps he\'d been misguided in the past. The evasiveness did not curtail Ron\'s smirk at him.

\"I\'m sure Harry appreciates that.\"

Draco shrugged and opened his book. \"He\'d better.\" Glaring at the page, his eyes darted up to catch Ron still staring at him with a bemused expression. \"Don\'t you have a girl to woo, Weasley? I know I\'m pretty, but if you keep gazing at me like that, people will think you\'ve gone queer.\"

Ron continued to smirk at Draco, enjoying the Slytherin\'s mounting anxiety.

\"Argh, get OUT!\" spat Draco as he picked up one of the cushions from the couch and tossed it at Ron\'s face.

Blocking the projectile pillow, Ron snickered at Draco\'s distress, but nevertheless stood. \"Well, I\'ll see you at lunch then. I\'ll keep you updated on my situation with Hermione.\"

\"Please don\'t. I\'ll lose my appetite.\"

Ron rolled his eyes. \"Come to lunch anyway. Or I\'ll send Hermione up here with a sandwich,\" he teased.

\"Do that and I\'ll tell her you were tossing off while watching me with Harry,\" he taunted, smirking into his book.

\"You wouldn\'t!\"

Draco peered up from behind his book, looking impish. \"Slytherin!\" he chimed playfully.

\"All right, Slytherin. But, can I ask one more favor of you?\"

\"Dear Merlin, man. I realize you\'re used to receiving charity, but I\'m new to giving it.\"

Ron glared at Draco but noted the continued grin on the pale face and decided that he must just be teasing. \"Well, can we... would you just... not tell Harry about this?\"

\"Why not?\" Draco\'s brows furrowed. Keep something from Harry? Well, everyone had his or her secrets. Still, Draco didn\'t relish the thought of lying to Harry to keep this promise for Ron.

\"It\'s just... weird. We\'ve all been friends for so long and it\'s strange enough without having, you know, Harry disapproving of it.\"

Draco\'s face steeled as he considered that. \"What makes you think he\'d disapprove? Honestly, I bet he thinks you\'ve already shagged.\"

\"Maybe,\" pondered Ron. \"I just-- that almost makes it worse, actually. If he found out we didn\'t... besides, he gets kind of jealous sometimes. I guess we all get jealous when it seems like the other two are getting closer.\"

\"He knows you\'ve gotten closer... we all know that,\" Draco pointed out. Looking at Ron\'s anxious expression, he finally relented. \"Fine. I won\'t tell him about this. Your secret is safe with me.\"

\"Thanks, really. It\'s a big relief. And do come to lunch. I won\'t have Harry thinking we\'re trying to starve you to death.\"

\"All for Harry, hmm?\"

\"Well, let\'s just say I wouldn\'t see you dead,\" answered Ron, grinning.

\"That\'s the sweetest thing you\'ve ever said to me, Weasley. I might just cry,\" said Draco in a melodramatic voice.

\"Just be there.\"

Draco\'s eyes lowered and he grinned and nodded. \"Fine.\"


--

Auror training was set up much like Hogwarts classes. Of course, Harry was only getting the summer version of what was a three-year training program, but he was lucky to be starting it along with the others so at least there wasn\'t a huge age gap. Unlike Hogwarts, of course, there were only a handful of people in his classes, which made the focus much more intense on each student.

The morning had been a thrill for Harry. Defensive flying was something he excelled at and the other trainees, for the first time since training started, were giving him compliments. Some even dared to fly at him to try and challenge him, but Harry\'s artful and natural technique overwhelmed the others and no one got past him. The congratulatory slaps on the back halted just before lunch and though he sat with the other 12 students in his classes, none of them said much to the privileged younger boy who would be leaving at the end of summer.

That afternoon was a Potions class focused on Quick-Remedy Anti-Venom Potions that Harry was dreading. Not just because of his weakness in potions, but because they were warned that they would need to pair off. He hadn\'t felt this way since he was a student in Muggle School. Once again he was the dowdy geeky kid that no one wanted on their team. His stared at the floor as he tried not to notice the other students happily pairing off. He found it odd that no one from Hogwarts was starting this term, but he remembered McGonagall talking about how selective the Ministry was and that they took only the finest students from schools around the world.

This was all well and good, but it didn\'t help him with awkward moments like these, standing alone near a cauldron, knowing that there were an odd number of people in the class and believing that this would be just another time and place where he was pointed out as someone who didn\'t belong. He tried to brush it off and looked over the ingredients when the only person who had bothered to introduce himself, Richard, wandered up and asked to join him.

Harry beamed at him and looked around and noted that one pairing had branched into being a threesome. He sighed. Well, perhaps he should just be glad not to be working alone in a subject he was likely to be weakest in.

Richard smiled at Harry and looked in the direction the boy was looking. \"Don\'t feel bad about it. I was going to hit you up to work with anyway. We\'re both the odd men out here. I\'m a couple of years older than everyone else, so...\"

\"Oh, really?\" asked Harry. He grimaced at how lame a response that was. Why would Richard admit that if it weren\'t true?

\"Yes, I was on queue the past couple of years, but now that this big war is supposedly starting, the Ministry is taking more people, so my persistence paid off.\"

Harry smiled at Richard. It didn\'t bother him that he was a couple of years older. Many of the people he considered friends were much older than Richard. \"Wow, so being an Auror is something you really wanted.\"

Richard nodded; he flipped back his blond hair and stretched. His accent was different than Harry\'s, but that wasn\'t unusual for this class. He guessed the man was Australian. The new hair growth revealed Richard wasn\'t a natural blond.

\"Been my dream, really. Since before I was your age,\" Richard said.

If he squinted, Harry mused, this man could be a taller, more bulked up, tanned version of Draco. Only less pointed. As Harry piled on the corollary conditions in which the 20-year-old looked like Draco, he realized slowly that the man looked nothing at all like his boyfriend. Clearly, Harry just missed Draco. \"It\'s my dream, too. Although I\'m just here for...\"

\"To save the world. I read the papers. In fact, I was going to ask if it was true that you\'re with Draco Malfoy, but it\'s evident that you are, so I left it.\"

\"Evident? How?\" asked Harry, wondering if Draco had put some manner of magical brand on him, which would be so much like the Slytherin it wasn\'t even funny.

Richard reached forward and slid his hand over the right breast of the robe Harry was wearing. He traced it as he spoke, \"DM. I assume that means \'Draco Malfoy.\' Interesting that you\'d come to class bearing his emblem. I don\'t know if that\'s love or a neurosis that needs treating,\" he teased.

Harry wasn\'t sure he liked a stranger touching his chest, but he let it go, mostly out of shock. He hadn\'t seen the embroidery of his lover\'s initials on his garment. It wasn\'t exactly a magical marking, but Draco had certainly made his presence and claim known. He shook his head and rolled his eyes. \"Doing this was a surprise. I\'m borrowing his robes for the week until I can get to Diagon Alley this weekend.\"

\"Oh, so... you\'re not really with him? He just lets you wear his clothes?\" quizzed Richard who smiled and moved closer to Harry.

\"I\'m... no. I mean, yes. I\'m seeing him and yes I\'m wearing his clothes. It\'s just not a neurosis or obsession. I bet all of his robes have his initials on them, he likely didn\'t think about it,\" Harry lied. He was pretty sure the little prat did it on purpose, but he didn\'t want strangers to know his boyfriend was a bit of a possessive nutter.

\"Malfoys are very possessive, even over their clothing,\" he said pointedly.

\"Right, well, it won\'t be an issue after this weekend either way. Unless I just want to wear his robes,\" answered Harry. He didn\'t want to start a discussion on the nature of Malfoy or their relationship.

\"Well, good on you. If it were me, I wouldn\'t like someone marking me publicly.\"

Harry bristled. \"It\'s presumptuous of you to think that\'s what he\'s doing. I\'m sure it was an accident. Even if it weren\'t, The Daily Prophet has marked me in a far more public way than some stitching would.\"

\"Touche. In any case, I didn\'t mean to anger you. I was just making conversation. Your passionate defense of your lover wasn\'t necessary.\" Something about the way Richard spoke to Harry about Draco irked him, but he couldn\'t put his finger on why.

\"My boyfriend is very important to me. We\'re very close. I don\'t like hearing strangers speaking ill of him,\" stated Harry.

Richard smirked and nodded. \"Well, that\'s good of you, Mr. Potter. Sounds like Mr. Malfoy is a lucky man, indeed,\" he said and winked at Harry. After a beat, Richard threw in, \"I hope he\'s just as loyal to you as he is to you.\"

Harry opened his mouth to respond, but at that point the proctor entered the room and gave them their assignment and time limit and instead Harry and Richard set to work in silence.

--

Arthur had some late coming paperwork to deal with which delayed his and Harry\'s return. They didn\'t arrive back to Grimmauld Place until just as Molly was finishing supper. It didn\'t leave him much time to catch up with Ron and Hermione before he needed to run up and wake Draco, but he did find out from Ron that Draco had actually come to lunch that day. Harry was proud that his boyfriend was making an effort.

After Molly announced that supper was just about ready, Harry ran up the stairs and found Draco napping on the couch with his copy of \"Taming of the Shrew\" across his chest.

Sitting down on the edge of the couch, he pulled the book away and softly rubbed at Draco\'s chest to rouse him. \"Is this your misanthropic plan to get through the summer? Going to sleep it away?\" asked Harry.

Draco murmured a bit before he was awake enough to process that Harry was there and he was teasing him. \"I went to lunch.\"

\"So Ron informed me,\" said Harry. \"I guess you were finally hungry enough? They said you didn\'t say a word.\"

Thinking about the lunch and the way he\'d simply traded expressions with Ron to find out that his advice had seemed to be working at least somewhat on Hermione, Draco sniffed and rolled his eyes. \"Yes, well, nothing to say, I suppose.\"

\"They\'re good people, Draco. You should try talking to them.\"

Draco opened his mouth, ready to tell Harry that he had, in fact, chatted with Ron; he quickly anticipated the next question that would be \"what about?\" Since that question was unanswerable due to his promise to Ron, he shrugged. \"Pfft.\"

\"Pfft, sure. It\'ll be a long summer if you keep on like this.\"

\"Maybe,\" he said as he reached out and grabbed Harry on top of him. \"But I always have my boyfriend back by nighttime. How was training?\"

\"Oh, brilliant,\" Harry fibbed. The morning had been good, so he focused on that and explained his many victories on his Firebolt and how the other students couldn\'t catch him, nor get past him.

Draco sat up while Harry explained. His gestures became so excitedly extravagant as his hands zoomed around to illustrate the students coming at him and how he dodged them, that he had to move back from Draco. Harry was just wrapping up his soliloquy when what Richard pointed out to him about the robes popped into his head. Squinting, he eyed Draco\'s lapel suspiciously.

Catching on a second too late as to what Harry was looking for, Draco pulled his hand up to block the unmonogrammed lapel, but Harry was already shaking his head. \"Marking me, hmm?\"

Draco cleared his throat and affected the appearance of innocence. \"Pardon?\"

Harry pointed at Draco\'s initials on his own robe. \"Your initials?\"

\"Oh. Right. Well, my better robes are monogrammed. I didn\'t think anyone would notice.\"

\"No?\" Harry tilted his head to express his disbelief.

Draco shrugged. \"Well with all of the,\" he gestured an exaggerated imitation of Harry\'s flailing broom demonstration, \"it must\'ve taken a keen eye to see it.\"

Harry suppressed a giggle at Draco\'s mimicry. \"There was a potions segment later and we had to pair off.\"

\"Pair off? Someone had to make a potion with you? Poor sod.\"

\"Hey!\" said Harry as he swatted at Draco who smirked and dodged. \"Actually, he ended up making the potion. I pretty much just watched.\"

Perking a brow, Draco asked, \"He? Is he cute?\"

\"I... ummm... I don\'t know.\"

\"Did the potion steam your glasses so you couldn\'t see him?\" teased Draco as he jabbed his lover with his foot.

\"No, he\'s just... older.\"

\"Older than what? Dumbledore?\" chuckled Draco. He dodged another one of Harry\'s jovial swats.

Harry explained how Richard had been on queue and further explained how the two of them were outcasts by age. Harry because he was a year too young, and Richard because he was a couple of years too old.

\"On queue? I didn\'t think they did that. I thought you were either in or you weren\'t,\" observed Draco.

\"I guess it\'s the war. Normally they wouldn\'t let a student learn for the summer either.\"

\"Oh but you\'re special, Golden Boy,\" taunted Draco. \"Still, rather curious. War or no war...\"

\"I don\'t make Ministry policy, and I\'m certainly not an expert in it,\" said Harry as he stood. \"We need to get to dinner.\"

Draco nodded and followed Harry. Something about this Richard person didn\'t feel right, but Malfoy couldn\'t put his finger on it. Perhaps it was nothing, but still... it rankled him. \"What\'s his name again?\"

\"Richard... something. I umm... don\'t remember.\"

\"You don\'t remember?\"

\"I... err... Oh, I know. Spien. Richard Spien.\"

Draco\'s brows furrowed as he again tried to place the weird feeling. The name didn\'t ring any bells. Shaking the ominous feeling off, Draco and Harry headed down the stairs for dinner.