A Business Affair

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Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Last Piece of the Puzzle

“It’s going well.”

“You mastermind, you. Such a little planner.”

“It’s all working how we planned, though.”

“Almost. Potter is still the extenuating factor.”

“No worries there. He’s fallen, hard. Now just to finish up.”

“I say we have a drink to celebrate.”

“Yes, let’s.”

***

Harry soared impatiently over the heads of his teammates, staring down at the stands where Draco's shiny blonde hair could be seen. He sighed to himself and made another circle of the pitch, hoping practice would be over soon.

He had stayed at Draco's house sometime after he had left the day before, wrestling with his thoughts. When Draco hadn't returned, Harry had decided to leave. He needed some time to himself anyway to figure out exactly what it was he wanted.

He had gone to a deserted park he knew and sat for many hours. After a long time of watching the trees rustle in the cool, mid-winter breeze, Harry had made some sense of everything.

He had finally returned to the apartment only to find it empty. Ginny had left without a note or any kind of alert as to her whereabouts. Harry didn't think too much into it, deciding it was better to be ignorant than know everything. After all, ignorance is bliss.

Ginny had not returned at all the entire night, though Harry couldn’t have cared less. He had been much too preoccupied to bother with where she might be and what she might be doing.

He had awoken that morning to a silent house once more. She still hadn't returned and he didn't question. He had gotten ready for work and gone off without a second thought.

When he had arrived at the pitch, his heart had jumped at the sight of Draco waiting to watch the practice. He hadn't been able to speak with him as Wood had shoved them off into the air immediately.

Now Harry was circling the pitch, only half-heartedly looking for the Snitch. His mind was instead focused on just what he was going to say to Draco once he was back on the ground.

He soared past Michael who smiled at him nicely. Harry was far too preoccupied to even think about Michael’s previous involvement.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw a glint of gold flittering over by the visiting team's goal post. He turned his broom sharply and made a soaring dive, arm outstretched for the tiny ball of gold. He caught it with ease and rose upward quickly. The Snitch struggled against Harry's grip fruitlessly.

Harry looked around for Wood to see how much longer they had to stay in the air when a whistle sounded. Harry let out an audible sigh of relief as they drifted down to land in the middle of the pitch.

Wood went off into his normal list of things they did wrong and Harry allowed his attention to wander. Draco was walking slowly toward the group, not in any hurry.

"Harry." Wood's voice cut through Harry's head. "Harry, are you paying attention?"

"What?" Harry asked distractedly, looking to Wood. He was now alone with Wood, the rest of the team had left.

"You seemed really distracted today," Wood said seriously, “in fact, a lot lately. I don't want to lose you but Malfoy might not be so lenient. I know you're having some problems at home, but try not to bring them to the pitch, okay?"

Harry nodded, averting his eyes. He felt bad for letting his personal problems affect his job. He knew that he should dedicate concentration to flying and not get so distracted but it had just been so difficult lately.

Wood looked at him closely before nodding and turning away to go to his office. Harry sighed as Wood walked away.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone's arms sliding around his waist and a purring voice in his ear.

"What was that, Potter?" Draco asked quietly. "Getting reprimanded for your lack of attention?"

Harry turned around, giving Draco a half-smile. "I'd be paying attention if you weren't so distracting," he said, raising a suggestive eyebrow.

Draco drew away and smirked at him. "I guess I am rather distracting," he drawled self-importantly and Harry laughed. Draco's expression changed then to one of seriousness. "So, Potter, you weren't there when I came back. Did you come up with anything?"

Harry sighed, steeling himself. He had spent all of yesterday afternoon and night thinking about what he wanted. He knew that the "right" thing to do would be to stick with Ginny no matter what. Despite her faults, Harry had married her. He had taken the vows to love and honor her. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly how it had gone.

Additionally, he knew that leaving Ginny would be horrible for his reputation. He could just see the Prophet headlines now, "Potter leaves wife for Malfoy heir." Even though Hermione was the editor, she couldn't keep everything nasty about him off the front page, especially when it was true.

But he also knew that his happiness was at stake. Ginny obviously didn't care about him anymore. She was having an affair behind his back. Who knew how long that had been going on! Draco was offering something he might never get again, a chance to get out of the life he had been thrown into, to break the mold, to live again.

As he stood looking at Draco, he wondered what would happen if he didn't take this chance. He would be stuck in an unhappy marriage for the rest of his life. Draco was the only person who'd ever made him feel as if he was truly alive. He knew the blond wasn't likely to ever offer this again; it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Draco waited impatiently for Harry to say something as they stood in the middle of the pitch, the cold January air whipping around them. His heart was beating quickly as it rose in his throat. He didn't know what Harry's decision would be. He had always been the type to do the right thing and choosing Draco was certainly not the right thing.

"Draco," Harry said finally, looking up at the blond, "I've been thinking, a lot, about this."

Draco was silent. He didn't know what that meant and so decided to remain quiet as Harry continued.

"And I know that it seems wrong," he said slowly, "and I almost wish it hadn't happened."

Draco felt his throat tightening at those words but remained silent. He wasn't going to say anything until Harry had made himself clear.

"You're so different," Harry said, holding his gaze, “so different from Ginny. I know it's only been a few months but with you, it's just... different."

Draco wasn't sure if that was a good thing but continued to keep his silence.

"Last night I sat under this willow tree for three hours, and all I could think was how similar you are to that tree. Every time the wind hits the branches; you don't know which way they're going to go. It's kind of exciting to wonder which way they'll swing, what will happen. With Ginny it's always the same, but you're not the same."

Again Draco was silent. The tree metaphor took some figuring out to determine if it was good or not, and he was still thinking about it as Harry continued.

"Your intentions probably weren't good when you started this," Harry said, watching as Draco made a motion of agreement, “but I think they've changed. I don't even want to know why you did this in the first place. It's not important to me. What is important is why you’re doing it now."

Draco looked at Harry, trying to figure out where he was going with this. He still couldn't figure out what Harry had decided.

"Draco," Harry said, stepping closer, "I know I should stay with Ginny. I should go home and apologize and forget about all of this."

Draco looked up at him, a worried expression on his face. He quickly masked it as Harry glanced at him.

"But I won't."

Draco's expression turned to one of surprise and flustered shock. He gaped at Harry, who gave him a small smile.

"I don't want to go back to that. I want this. I want you." Harry looked at Draco hopefully. He had agonized over this decision for hours last night and all this morning. He only hoped Draco felt the same.

Draco was rooted to the spot as Harry's words sunk into his frozen brain. He had never actually imagined that Harry wouldn't take the right path and go back to his wife. He had thought about this situation briefly but hadn't imagined it might come true.

He was quiet for so long that Harry began to get worried. He looked at him carefully, wondering what he was thinking.

"Draco?" he asked nervously. Draco seemed to jerk back at Harry's voice.

He paused then smirked at Harry. He walked up to him, sliding his arms around Harry's neck and over his shoulders.

"Well, Potter, looks like you finally made a good decision," he drawled, smirking at Harry. He leaned forward and captured Harry's lips in a breath-taking kiss.

Harry moaned slightly as Draco slid his tongue into his mouth, caressing his mouth, massaging his tongue. Draco pulled away at length and gave Harry a rare true smile.

"Good job, Harry," he whispered, actually using Harry's name. He gave him another soft kiss and Harry smiled when it was broken.

"But, wait," Harry said softly, "we can't tell anyone yet. I don't want to just dump it on Ginny. I know she's been awful, but I want to let her down easy. Let's just go slow."

Draco paused, giving Harry a suspicious look then smirked at him once more. "Fine," he said, leaning in to whisper against Harry's lips. "But do it soon, Potter."

Harry grinned as Draco kissed him once more in the middle of the Quidditch pitch.

***

"Ohh," Ron groaned as he pushed himself off the mattress. He winced as bright sunlight hit his eyes. He pushed himself over and into a sitting position, shielding his eyes from the sun.

Outside the window he could hear birds twittering and the sound was magnified ten times in his pounding head. He reached up and put a hand to his throbbing head, rocking back and forth slightly on the bed.

"Where am I?" he groaned to no one in particular.

"At home, in your bed," came a voice from the corner of the room.

Ron tried to open his eyes but winced as the sun hit them once again. He struggled for a moment then opened them carefully and slowly.

He turned his head away from the sun to look into his room. Over in an armchair in a corner sat the figure of a woman. She was shrouded in darkness despite the sun's intrusion in the room.

"Who is that?" he asked groggily, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head.

"It's me," replied the voice coldly, “your sister."

"Ginny?" he asked, squinting and trying to see in the corner.

"Yes, Ginny," she replied harshly. She got up and stepped out of the shadows.

She looked angry, though Ron couldn't imagine why. She walked over and shut the curtains, blocking out the majority of the sun's rays. Ron blinked as the darkness cooled his head.

"How did I get here?" he asked slowly. He looked down at himself, finding that he was still fully clothed except his shoes that were sitting in a pile at the foot of the bed.

"I brought you home," Ginny huffed, digging in his closet. "You should be thanking me."

She threw a clean shirt and pair of pants at him and waited impatiently for him to change. She turned around as he changed into the pants and turned back around only when he proclaimed himself finished.

"How bad was I last night?" he asked apprehensively. He knew that he tended to get out-of-hand when drunk. It was things like that that caused him to let slip secrets.

"Oh, you were perfectly fine," Ginny replied sarcastically, "unless you count ruining my life!"

"What?" Ron asked, extremely confused.

"How long have you been keeping this from me?" she asked angrily, advancing on him where he still sat on his bed.

"Keeping what?" Ron asked again, still not understanding.

"Harry!" Ginny snarled, and Ron winced.

"Please, Ginny, can you keep it down? And what about Harry?"

Ginny's eyes flashed with fire as she glared at her brother. "He cheated on me! You told me last night!" she practically screeched and Ron grabbed his head.

"Ow! Oh no, Ginny, I-- Oh no," he said, shaking his head, his hands sliding up to cover his face as he did so. He realized now what he had said, what he had revealed.

"How could this happen, Ron?!" she yelled.

Ron gritted his teeth as the throbbing in his head increased. "Ginny, I'm s-- I didn't mean to..." He had almost said he was sorry, when, in fact, he wasn't really sorry at all. Maybe this would be a good thing. Maybe it would all be over.

Ron didn't exactly approve of Malfoy as Harry's choice but at least Harry had finally realized what Ron had been suspicious of all along. He supposed they would be happier apart than together. The marriage had changed them both. Ginny had become a mean, vindictive person, and Harry was constantly depressed.

"I can't believe this," Ginny snarled to herself. She had spent all night boiling on this point while Ron had slept off his alcohol.

After he had fallen asleep, she had taken it upon herself to bring him back to his house and watch over him for the time-being. It had given her a lot of time to think while really all she did was stew over Harry's tryst with Draco Malfoy.

It was almost impossible for her to imagine that Harry would pick Draco Malfoy. For one, she had never thought Harry to have feelings for the same sex. For another, hadn't they always been enemies?

She couldn't fathom why Harry had done this. He had never been the type to break loyalty. He was a Gryffindor through and through. Maybe the war had changed him more than she had known.

"Ginny," Ron's voice cut through her thoughts, "have you really thought about this?"

"What do you mean, 'have I thought about this'?!" she asked rhetorically. "Of course I have! Harry cheated on me, do you know what that means?!"

"Uh... no?" Ron asked, unsure.

"I was right all along! There was something going on and everyone was lying to me!"

"Well, how do you know that?" Ron asked indignantly.

"You did," she replied scathingly.

"No, I didn't!" Ron exclaimed. "I just found out yesterday!"

"And who told you?" Ginny asked quickly, looking for someone to blame.

"Pansy," Ron said plainly.

"Oh," Ginny muttered. She couldn't blame Pansy. "Well, anyway, it doesn't matter. I was right! And Harry is going to pay!"

"W-wait!" Ron called as she yanked open the bedroom door and stormed out. He scrambled off the bed and ran out the door.

He caught up with her at the front door. She had her handle on the knob and was turning it as Ron ran up behind her.

"Ginny, you can't do this!" he said and she stopped, turning to him, her face angry and set.

"I can do whatever I want, Ron, so don't try to stop me."

She pulled open the front door with an angry yank and strode out and down the front walkway. Ron groaned as he watched her disappear in a crack into the bright sunlight.

He shut the door quietly, wishing he hadn't gone to that bar the night before. He shook his head despairingly before heading off to the kitchen to find a nice, strong hang-over potion.


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A/N: Um hotel has internet! Next week, though, we might not get posted until Tuesday. So I did this for you... now you do something for me and review! :)