A Business Affair

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Chapter Forty-one: Undone


Pansy steeled herself and raised a hand to knock on the large front door of the house. She stepped back as she waited for it to open, looking around at the flowerbeds where tiny sprouts of green were trying to push through the still-frozen ground.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and Pansy started in surprise. Hermione stood in the open door, looking at her curiously. Pansy rarely visited them.

"Pansy, this is a surprise," Hermione said politely, stepping back and allowing her to come inside.

Pansy smiled warmly at her and Hermione offered to take her coat. "Yes, actually, I'm looking for Blaise," she said once the coat was hung up in the closet.

"Oh, I'll go get him," Hermione said. She led Pansy into the living room then went off in another direction to a different part of the house.

Pansy stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, not sure if she should sit or not. A few moments, Blaise came in from a hallway to the left. Hermione was behind him, holding Jamie in her arms.

"Blaise," Pansy said in a relieved voice, "I need to talk to you."

He nodded and motioned for her to sit. Hermione stood awkwardly to the side, still holding her son. "I'll just go, shall I?" she asked, pointing toward the kitchen.

Pansy sighed. "No, it's probably best if you hear this too," she said. Hermione exchanged a questioning glance with Blaise before walking over to the couch and sitting down on it, resting Jamie on her knee.

"What's this about?" Blaise asked, looking at Pansy closely.

"Well," Pansy sighed. "It's Ron, or rather, something he did."

Blaise raised an eyebrow at her while Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed.

"What did he do now?" she asked tiredly.

"Alright," Pansy said, getting ready to tell them. "Okay, well, the other day Draco came to my house and we talked. Then as he was leaving, he ran into Ron. That lead Ron to ask some questions and I just had to tell him... everything."

Hermione's expression became nettled as Pansy talked, while Blaise simply looked nonplussed. He already knew this and was waiting for the hammer to drop.

"So he knows," Hermione said slowly, looking for confirmation from Pansy who nodded.

"Yes, I told him."

"Then what?" Blaise asked, wondering why she was telling him all this again.

"Well, then he got mad, of course. I made him promise not to do anything irrational, but that's difficult. He left my house and I didn't know where he went."

"Do you now?" Hermione asked carefully.

"Yes. He came back today and he, uh, told me something."

"What did he tell you?" Blaise asked impatiently, annoyed by how long she was dragging it out.

"He told Ginny," Pansy said simply.

Hermione gasped and raised a hand over her mouth in shock. Even Blaise looked surprised by the information.

"He what?!" she breathed. "When? How?"

"Apparently he went to a pub and ran into her after having far too many drinks."

"Of course," Hermione muttered, "typical Ron."

"So the Weaselette knows? That must mean she's going to kill Potter," Blaise said, looking at Pansy, who nodded yet again.

"That’s what we think. I've managed to convince Ron it's not a horrible thing. I just thought you all should know. It's easier this way for everyone."

"Well, it might not be too horrible," Hermione said, shrugging.

"Sure, if, by some miracle, this all works out in a good way then yeah," Blaise said sarcastically.

"At least there's nothing left for Ron to tell," Pansy said in an upbeat tone.

"Like you don't have any secrets," Blaise said skeptically and she scowled at him.

"Anyway," Hermione interrupted them before they could start to fight. "We need to be supportive of Harry."

"Wait," Pansy said, turning to look at her. "Aren't you friends with Ginny?"

"Yes," Hermione sighed, “but she's just been so different lately. And I've known Harry longer and I know what kind of person he is. He wouldn't have done this unless he felt he had no other alternative. Besides, he and Draco seem to work together. Much better than he and Ginny ever did."

"You know about what they're feeling?" Pansy asked suspiciously and Blaise looked between the two.

"Wait, what's going on?" he asked.

"Yeah," Hermione sighed, "Harry told me what he felt but he wasn't sure about Draco."

"What's going on?"

"Well, Draco has admitted to having feelings for Potter, so this might just be a good thing."

"Draco what?!"

"Oh, Blaise," Hermione sighed, turning to him and setting a calming hand on his leg. "Harry developed feelings for Draco. Surely you saw this coming?"

"Yes, but I just didn't want it to," he replied bitterly, and Hermione and Pansy both laughed.

"Just be happy that he's happy. You know what happens when he isn't," Pansy told him seriously.

"Yeah, yeah," Blaise muttered, still upset about the whole thing.

"Well, thank you for updating us, Pansy," Hermione said graciously.

"It was no trouble, maybe next time I'll just be able to stop Ron before it happens at all."

Hermione laughed at her and smiled. "I love that you're so optimistic," she said, grinning.

Pansy gave her a small smile and shrugged. "I have to be with him."

"Yes, you do," Hermione said, still grinning. Blaise rolled his eyes at the two of them.

"Are we done yet?" he asked sullenly.

Hermione turned to him and patted his knee reassuringly. "Yes, sweetie," she replied patronizingly. He just rolled his eyes again at her tone.

"I guess I should go," Pansy said, standing up.

"It was nice talking to you. Maybe next time you'll bring good news."

"Who said this wasn't good news?"

***

“It worked.”

“Told you it would.”

“I guess logic does pay off, but it wouldn’t have worked without my cunning.”

“Of course, my dear. Slytherin cunning coupled with Ravenclaw wit is a dangerous thing to behold.”

Pansy smirked and raised her glass of wine. “To a Weaselette free life.” She and Michael toasted their glasses and drank. Pansy lowered the glass and looked at Michael. “You know, when I started dating Ron, I didn’t think his sister would be so evil, especially to her husband and brother. And then you came along, my little Ravenclaw. Your plan was brilliant, I admit. Break up the unhappy marriage and make my ex-husband just a little happier. In fact, I think it exceeded my expectations.”

Michael smiled. “Well, Ginny hasn’t changed much since school. She was always manipulative. Too bad this time she got the short end of the stick. It was easy to work my way back in. And throwing Draco and Harry together was fairly easy as well since they have a natural chemistry.”

Pansy nodded. “Draco’s quite easy to read and he wants what he wants. So I congratulate you, Michael, on a successful and brilliant plan.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

***

"Harry, what are you doing here?"

Harry gave Draco a small smile as he stood on his front porch. After leaving his flat, he had Apparated straight to Draco's house. He just wanted to be free. He'd finally done what he wanted for once, something for himself.

"I did it," he said, an excited smile growing on his face. Draco looked confused for a moment, but stepped back to let Harry in the house anyway.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, following Harry into the living room.

"I told her," Harry said excitedly.

It took Draco a moment to figure out what he was saying, but when he did he was shocked. "But I thought you wanted to let her down easy," he said.

"I did," Harry sighed, sitting down on the couch. Draco walked over slowly and joined him, watching him closely.

"So what went wrong?" Draco drawled.

"She... found out about us," he said slowly.

"Oh no," Draco muttered, “she's not going to kill us, is she?"

"No," Harry said quickly, “er, at least, I don't think so... I hope not."

Draco laughed slightly at Harry, and Harry frowned.

"But anyway, I told her I want a divorce. We're getting divorced! I don't think I've ever been this happy in my life, well, except maybe when I killed Voldemort, boy, that night was crazy..."

Draco sighed and rolled his eyes as Harry rambled on, completely unaware. Draco scooted over to him.

"... then at that party afterwards, oh my god, people were so drunk! I couldn't walk two feet without somebody grabbing me and I--"

He stopped abruptly as Draco grabbed his head, steering his vision back to himself. Harry looked at him nervously, wondering what he had done wrong this time.

"What?" he asked.

"You need to learn when to shut up, Potter," Draco drawled, letting go of his head but only sliding his hands down around Harry's neck.

"Sorry," Harry apologized.

"You also need to learn that you don't have to apologize for everything," Draco told him, pulling him forward and kissing him softly.

Harry melted into the kiss, allowing Draco's probing tongue to enter his mouth slowly, deepening the kiss while still keeping it light. Harry moaned into the kiss as Draco climbed into his lap for better leverage, his hands massaging the back of Harry's neck.

He pulled out of the deep kiss and moved to his neck, running his tongue over his smooth expanse, scraping his teeth along the sensitive skin, enjoying the moan he received from the willing man.

"So," Harry gasped as Draco bit down on his neck, sliding his tongue over the spot moments later. "I guess this means you haven't changed your mind?"

Draco pulled away from Harry and stared down at him. Harry looked back nervously. For a moment, Draco was silent, and then he scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Of course not, Potter," he said, leaning in and kissing Harry passionately.

"Call me Harry," Harry whispered when Draco pulled away. He opened his eyes slowly to look up at Draco through his dark eyelashes.

"Alright," Draco whispered back, leaning in close to his lips, “Harry."

Harry's grin was covered quickly by Draco's hungry kiss. He groaned as Draco's tongue lashed at his mouth, tasting every inch of the hot mouth. He nibbled on Harry's lower lip, pulling on it lightly. Harry moaned appreciatively and ran his hands under Draco's shirt and over his back.

Draco pulled out of the kiss moments later and grinned at Harry. Harry looked back at him, confused.

"What?"

"You're very lucky to be here."

"I know," Harry said seriously, "Ginny nearly hit me with that vase."

Draco only laughed at him and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.


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A/N: I'm giving you all a warning. NEXT WEEK is the LAST CHAPTER. Please prepare accordingly ;) Also, please tell me now if there are any loose ends I've forgotten to tie. If you don't, it's likely you'll never find out that burning question :) Alright, June 4th (day after my birthday), I will post the last chapter. Probably early since I'm leaving for Canada that day, but it will be posted nonetheless! Please review!