la persistencia de la memoria

A/N: I know, I know…but better late than never. I’m sorry! My father has been pretty sick and I’ve been helping to take care of him. I haven’t been motivated to work on too much writing lately. But he’s doing better, so now I’m getting my focus back.

For the sake of the story, let's pretend that Tippy doesn't know much about human infant care. He wasn't the elf in charge when Draco was a baby.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and for those who assured me that I hadn’t stolen someone’s story.

Happy New Year!


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Chapter 5

“Harry, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Hermione said for the millionth time and Harry had just about had it with her disapproval.

“Well, too bad! I’m doing it anyway!” Harry shouted, as he pulled his traveling cloak around him. “Malfoy isn’t going to get away with this! I gave him time to get over himself, but he’s still acting like a childish moron! The next time he tries to slam the door in my face; my solicitor will make him think twice!”

“Here, here!” Ron added enthusiastically, “Harry is just exercising his rights as a parent. Malfoy is being the utter prick here. I was against this whole relationship thing from the start, but nobody listened to me!” He gave Hermione an accusing stare. “Not even my supposed fiancée supported me. I told you this was a bad idea, but noooo…you had to go on and on about their feelings.” Ron made air quotations and gave a horrible sneer. Hermione rolled her eyes.

“They were in love! Didn’t you want to see Harry happy? And you did come around, Ronald! So don’t pretend that you have been completely against this all this time! You got along fine with Draco the last three years, especially after he gave you those season Quidditch tickets. So stop being a hypocrite!” Hermione retorted.

Ron cringed and looked helplessly at Harry, who was looking at him in shock. “You were friends with Malfoy?”

Ron gave a small roll of his shoulders and huffed. “Yeah, all right! So I was okay with the git. But it was only for you, Harry! You…demanded that we get along! I just did it to make you happy! That’s what best mates do!”

Hermione sucked her teeth, which Harry decided was a most unattractive sound coming from her. She fixed Ron with a glare and then said, “That’s not completely true either, Harry. Ron grew to like Draco, even if they did fight sometimes. They found they had a lot in common and it wasn’t just Quidditch. Draco openly admitted that he had been prejudiced against the Weasleys because of his father. But otherwise, he got along beautifully with the family, once all the commotion died down. Molly even knits him a Weasley jumper for Christmas.”

Harry’s hands froze on the last button of his cloak as he stared at Hermione in rapt disbelief.

“Malfoy wears a Weasley jumper??”

Hermione smiled tenderly, “Yes, he wears it for Christmas. Molly made it in green.”

Harry frowned as confusion swirled up in him. Malfoy got along with the Weasleys? And even wore a jumper? Harry didn’t know what to make of that. The Malfoy he knew would never do anything like that. From admitting he was wrong about the Weasleys to wearing the awful jumpers, was just something that Harry couldn’t reconcile in his mind about the blond.

“It doesn’t change what I have to do, Hermione,” Harry announced loudly, mostly to shut up the little voice that had popped in his head to chastise him for what he was about to do. “Malfoy is the one being unreasonable; I’ve tried to work things out with him.”

Hermione sighed and shook her bushy hair. “Harry, announcing you’re dumping him, being seen on the street with Ginny and showing up at the house that you no longer share with him and threatening to take Cassi away from him is not “working things out”.”

“He threatened me first! I’m just trying to be a father to my daughter and he wants to make this into a whole big drama! Why can’t he just…act right for once!”

“Have you made your appointment with the mind healer yet, Harry?” Hermione asked.

Harry opened his mouth, ready to argue against whatever Hermione had said, but he was completely caught off guard with her question.

“What?”

“The mind healer, Harry. Your memories…remember those? Going back to work? Are you going to do any of those things?”

“What’s that got to do with Malfoy being an arse?”

“You’re accusing him of not trying, but I can say the same thing for you. You haven’t made any attempt to get your present life back, only going on the past with both him and Ginny. Don’t you think that might make a case against you with a judge in regards to custody?”

Harry shut his mouth with an audible click. He tugged viciously at his cloak and spluttered, “Whose side are you on, Hermione?”

“I’m on Cassi’s side, Harry. And she needs both of her parents. That’s you and Draco. I know that she can sense all the tension and hostility going on and it’s not good for her. Draco is a new mother and it’s not good for him either. He doesn’t need all of this stress.”

“And I do??” Harry asked angrily. “I can’t remember the last five years of my life! I have a new baby with a man I hate, but who everyone says I’m madly in love with! The woman I feel that I love was marrying someone else, but now is in a state of depression that she thinks that I caused because they broke up! And now the ‘love of my life” is trying to keep me away from my child, who up until a week ago, I didn’t even remember I was having!”

Hermione stood up and walked over to Harry. She touched his arm gently and Harry pulled away, hissing. He knew he was acting like a sulky kid, but he couldn’t help it. No one even cared about what he was feeling. It was all about Malfoy.

“Harry,” Hermione chided, “stress isn’t good for you either and yes…you have been through a lot in the last week or so. I am not saying that he is more important here than you are, but that you need to be a bit more understanding of what he is going through. You lost memories, Ginny is with someone else and you are suddenly a father. It’s all overwhelming. But he lost the love of his life, had a baby…which by all accounts should never have happened and he’s an emotional wreck, not just because he’s heartbroken but also because of his hormones. You’re parading around Diagon Alley with Ginny, what did you expect him to do?”

“I was not parading,” Harry said weakly, but Hermione’s words robbed him of anything else he might have wanted to say.

Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand. “Just…try to see it from Draco’s view, please? Can you try to talk to him civilly? And please go to the healers and start your therapy?”

“I did try to talk to him civilly! But that house-elf threw me out! Of my own house!”

Hermione grimaced. Even though Harry and Draco did not use house elves anymore, a fight that Hermione couldn’t believe she won against Draco, the presence of Tippy had been necessary for Draco’s pregnancy. The elf, now under Draco’s orders, had magically forbid Harry from entering, even though Harry had set the wards. No doubt the elf had used a bit of dark magic to accomplish such a feat, which had Harry’s teeth set on edge.

“It’s a Malfoy elf. It’s going to be loyal to Draco,” Hermione said, exasperated. “But can you please just go the healer, Harry? Please try, for Cassi’s sake?”

Harry felt a ripple of love course through him and he smiled. He could not possibly refuse such a request. And then he frowned. Was that going to be Hermione’s new weapon? Using Cassi against him? She really was the cleverest witch.

“Fine. I’ll make the appointment tomorrow.”

“And?”

Harry sighed. “I’ll try to talk civilly to Malfoy.”

Ron snorted and Harry rolled his eyes.

“And stop letting my husband get you in trouble? He doesn’t seem to realize that he’s going to be on the couch for a while. Again.”

Harry snorted and Ron rolled his eyes.


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The feel of the bed dipping down shook Draco out of his stupor. He turned just in time to see the well-defined buttocks of a man heading to the bathroom. Draco groaned softly as the pounding in his head intensified as he became more fully awake.

“Fuck…” he growled out, as he pushed himself up. He saw his clothes strewn all over the room. Where was he?

Oh, right. The Night Shade Club. The clandestine gay bar for wizards and witches with the “serviceable” rooms upstairs from the club for those “quickies”.

He stumbled out of the bed and bent to put on his clothes. His mouth felt like he had licked a rubbish bin. Several bottles of firewhiskey lay about the room. Wow…what a night.

“Well that was fun,” a deep male voice said, and Draco glanced up from where he was pulling on his shirt. The broad shouldered, blue-eyed man stared at him from the bathroom doorway, a smirk on his face.

“Yeah, it was.” Draco said, even though he could hardly remember the night at all. The dull ache in his arse clued him to the fact that he’d been breached, but not much else. But Draco had wanted to feel something…anything…other than the dull ache in his heart.

Blue eyes came closer, naked and smiling. “Maybe we do this again sometime. You’re insatiable. I like that in a random fuck.”

Draco shrugged. “Whatever…”

And apparated.

He landed in the middle of his bedroom and nearly tripped over a pair of shoes that were sitting in the middle of the floor.

“Bloody fuck..” Draco growled as he staggered to the bed. He flopped down on the mattress and groaned as pain shot through his arse. Draco dipped his hand into his trousers and gently rubbed his balls and obviously bruised hole. That bloke from the club must have been some sort of Neanderthal. Draco grimaced when he felt the residual wetness of the stranger’s cum still present in his soft flesh.

Cum?

Cum!

Draco shot straight up and jumped from the bed. He raced into the bathroom and frantically began to search for the vial of potion that Donnelly had given him. Sweet Merlin, what had that woman said about taking this stuff? Draco’s hand grabbed the vial full of the bright green potion. She had said to take it once a month, Draco thought, but was that really going to be enough? Draco would rather fling himself from the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts than have to go through another pregnancy. He gulped the potion down and winced at the bitter taste. He then looked at himself in the mirror.

He thought he had looked horrible during his pregnancy, it was nothing compared to now. He was still fat from the baby, his face chubby with rounded cheeks. Harry had said they reminded him of apples and he would nibble on them playfully. Draco had always pretended that he hated when Harry said that, but secretly he adored it when Harry would nuzzle against his cheeks like a-

Stop it, Draco! Harry is gone, remember? He doesn’t want you anymore!

Draco clenched the sink with white-knuckled hands.

”He could get his memory back! He’ll remember and he’ll come home!” Draco shouted at his reflection.

Do you think he’ll care? You’re trying to keep his baby from him. Even if he does remember, he’ll never forget that…

Draco abruptly turned away from the mirror and stormed out of the bathroom. He began to strip off his clothes and tossed them when a crack interrupted him. Draco spun around to glare at the elf and immediately regretted it. The room spun dangerously and he had to fight to remain upright.

“Master Draco, Sir! Tippy is being worried about Master! Master is not telling Tippy where he is going and little Miss is crying for him.”

Draco rubbed his temples and rolled his neck slowly. Now that Tippy mentioned it, he could hear Cassiopeia crying. What was her problem now?

“So feed her or whatever it is that she wants, Tippy! Must I tell you everything?”

Tippy began to tug on his ears. “But Master, Tippy is doing all that for little Miss and she is still crying. She is missing Master!”

Draco held up his hand. “I don’t want to hear it, Tippy. Just handle it, okay?”

Tippy’s ear tugging increased dramatically. “But, but, Master! Mistress Narcissa called for you and Tippy was not knowing what to tell Mistress! Mistress was most displeased with Tippy, Sir!”

“You don’t tell her anything! I am not a child and you don’t run back to my mother with reports, do you hear me?” Draco shouted. “Now leave me alone! And get her to stop crying…I have a headache!”

Tippy bowed low and hurried towards the nursery, but the next moment the floo lit up like a Christmas tree.

“What now?” Draco groaned. Very few individuals had the bedroom floo address.

Blaise Zabini’s head was floating in the hearth. “Draco, let me in.”

Draco huffed, instantly annoyed at Blaise’s tone. When Blaise was short like that, he knew his friend was going to side with someone that Draco was upset with.

“I’m not in the mood, Blaise…”

Blaise glared at him and Draco sighed. “Fine, come in.”

The floo roared again and Blaise stepped into the bedroom. The soot disappeared instantly from Blaise’s clothes, courtesy of a custom-made spell that Draco had devised. He hated for soot to be on his clothes, especially coming into his bedroom.

Blaise crossed his arms in front of him and took in Draco’s appearance. “You look like shite.”

“If that is what you came over to tell me, then you can get the fuck out.”

Blaise sighed. “No, that’s not the whole purpose of my visit. But I thought I should mention it because you do look like last week’s rubbish. You went out and fucked some strange bloke, didn’t you?”

Draco’s eyes widened and then he frowned. “What do you know about that?”

Blaise hissed. “You’re an idiot, Draco! Ezmerelda called me at the crack of dawn this morning, telling me that some bloke had called with a scoop. He had fucked Draco Malfoy last night in The Night Shade Club. The Night Shade, Draco?? You’d better be thankful I was able to get her to kill that story! What the hell were you thinking?”

Draco sank down on the bed and bowed his head. “I was drunk, okay? It just happened.”

Blaise walked over and sat down on the bed next to his friend. “Draco, I came over because I want to know how you are doing. You haven’t talked to me or Pansy since Harry’s accident. I had to find out from your mother what happened. And we haven’t even been invited to see the baby or anything. Are we still the god-parents or not?”

Draco raised his head and looked at his best friend. “Fuck…Blaise. I’m…sorry. Things…have just gotten so…everything is just…”

“Harry really doesn’t remember you at all?”

“Oh, he remembers me all right. He just remembers me as his enemy from Hogwarts and the years right after the war. But he doesn’t remember the case that brought him to my office, which was the beginning of everything changing between us.” Draco said, the bitterness in voice cutting the air around them.

Blaise grunted. “That’s nuts, Draco.”

Draco stood up and began pacing back and forth. “And he thinks he loves Weasley! Weasley? I could kill that bint and nobody would know the wiser. Did they forget who I am? That the Malfoys know spells that can’t be traced? I could cast a spell to make him forget her and then what? Who will he have then, huh? I could make him forget Cassiopeia, too. He’ll have nothing-“

Blaise stared at Draco, growing more alarmed by the second. Draco was pacing frantically and his eyes had taken on a fevered glaze. Blaise stood up and grabbed Draco by the shoulders.

“Draco, Draco…stop! Stop. Don’t do that! You’re angry and rightfully so. But don’t make things worse. You and I both know that the more you push Harry, the more he digs in. I tried to tell you that when you first tried this thing with him, remember? We knew that from Hogwarts. It’s no different now. But what you do have on your side is reality.”

“What do you mean?”

Blaise grinned and shook his head at his best friend. “Harry’s gay, Draco. Just because he doesn’t remember it, doesn’t mean his body won’t. Wait until he tries to get off with Weasley or some other bird. He’ll remember pretty quick then, don’t you think?”

A slow smile graced Draco’s face. “Harry had told me how hard it was for him to be with Weasley after we started working together and he knew he was attracted to me. He knew the truth, but just didn’t want to face it. It’ll happen again.”

Blaise nodded. “Yes, and you just need to be ready when it does. He’ll come back and things will go from there.” Then he sniffed the air. “And go take a shower, you git.”

Draco bowed expansively. “As you wish.” He headed towards the bathroom and Blaise strode over towards the nursery. He entered the room and saw the house-elf attempting to rock the baby to sleep, but she was fussing.

“Tippy is not getting her to sleep. Little Cassiopeia is wanting Master Draco or Master Harry.”

Blaise frowned. “Harry hasn’t been here?”

Tippy’s eyes widened and he pulled his ears again. “Master Draco is not allowing Master Harry to see the baby. Master Harry is quite put out by all of this. Tippy is not liking this!” Tippy began wringing his hands. “Tippy must be punished for disagreeing with Master Draco!”

There was a whoosh from the fireplace and Blaise heard a familiar voice calling out.

“Malfoy? Are you there?”

Tippy scurried out of the nursery and Blaise walked out behind him. Harry’s face was visible in the hearth. He turned when he saw Tippy and then Blaise. He frowned slightly.

“Zabini? Is Malfoy around?”

Blaise narrowed his eyes. Malfoy? Is that what Harry had been calling Draco again? No wonder he was so upset.

“Hello, Harry. Yes, Draco is here.” He smirked as Harry winced, obviously hearing the emphasis that was placed on their names. “Come on in.”

Blaise almost laughed at the look on Harry’s face at being invited into his own bedroom. But he forced himself to keep a cool look. There was a whoosh and Harry was stepping into the bedroom. He glanced uncertainly at Blaise and then cleared his throat.

“Ummm…thanks…Blaise.”

Blaise nodded. “Look, Harry. I know this must be really awkward and such, but things have really changed between all of us. We’re not best friends or anything, but my best friend loves you and I’m god-father to your daughter. So that counts for something, right?” He reached out his hand to Harry, who looked startled.

Harry looked at Blaise’s hand and then clasped it. “Yeah, you’re right. All of this shouldn’t affect you negatively. Not your fault.” Harry gave Blaise a smile and the former Slytherin relaxed a bit.

A loud wail came from the nursery and Harry sprung into action as if a Death Eater had appeared in their midst. Blaise barely had time to register the noise before Harry had disappeared into the other room. Blaise had to smile. Harry was going to be a great father.

“Blaise, who called on the floo? I heard the fireplace.” Draco walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and his golden hair dripping with water. Blaise’s eyes were drawn to the red love bite on Draco’s neck.

“Draco, you have a love bite, get rid of it, now!”

“What?”

Tippy’s shrill squeal cut through. “Master Draco, Tippy is not disobeying Master, Sir! He is letting Master Harry in! Tippy is not doing this, Sir!”

The color drained from Draco’s face. “Harry?”

“He’s in the nursery, Draco. I let him in.” He frowned at his friend. “Why haven’t you been letting him see Cassiopeia?”

“Because he’s not allowed, that’s why!” Draco said, angrily, marching straight to the nursery. Blaise hurried after him and stopped short behind Draco, who had stopped abruptly in the doorway.

Blaise peered around Draco shoulder and saw what had stopped Draco cold. Harry was holding the baby and cooing gently to her. She had reached up and grabbed a fistful of his wild hair and was gurgling at him. The obvious love shown from the auror’s eyes used to only shine like that for Draco, but now it was clearly extended to their offspring. Blaise didn’t have children yet, but had thought about it. And seeing Harry with Cassi, touched him in ways he didn’t quite understand. He glanced at Draco and was shocked at what he saw.

Draco’s lips were drawn tight and his breath was coming in rapid puffs. Blaise could see beyond the fury in his eyes though. Draco was deeply hurt and confused by this, but he didn’t know how to handle any of it. So Draco did what he did best, and that was turn petty and vindictive. And clearly he was jealous of his own child.

“What are you doing here, Harry? I told you to stay away from her.” Draco growled out and Blaise sighed. Draco had not heard a word he said before.

At the sound of Draco’s voice, Cassi turned her head towards him. She pulled one fist away from Harry’s hair and reached towards Draco, waving her little hand in the air. Blaise gasped in astonishment. Cassi already recognized Draco’s voice? Babies could do that?

Harry cut his eyes at Draco but didn’t bother to respond. He kissed Cassi on top of her head and she turned her attention back to him, gurgling quietly.

“You’re not going to keep me away from her. I told you I would fight you on that. And I don’t care what the press says. I’m her father and I have the right to be with her, even if you don’t agree. I’ve made an appointment with a solicitor. If you keep this up, you’ll force me to go and I don’t want to drag Cassi through this. And I’ll use my name and anything else I have to take her away from you. So go ahead and try this stupid game if you want, but I’ll win.”

Draco’s eyes burned white hot and Blaise was actually afraid he was going to spontaneously combust.

“Get out, Harry.”

Harry cradled Cassi possessively to his chest. Cassi began to fuss and started to cry. Harry ran his hand soothingly over her back, but she continued to wail.

Draco entered the room and Blaise immediately rushed around him to stop him. “Draco…don’t. You two need to talk.” He turned to Harry. “Harry, let me hold her. You two need to have a conversation away from her. Cassi is probably feeding off the tension in this room.” He gave a pleading look at Harry, who probably had a leveler head in this at the moment, much to Blaise’s surprise. Harry’s legendary temper apparently was no match for Draco’s “scorned fury”.

Harry looked reluctant, until Cassi’s insistent wail broke through his defenses. He nodded tightly and handed the baby to Blaise, who sagged with relief. Cassi looked up at him with her mismatched eyes and cooed.

Blaise pointed towards the bedroom. “Talk.”

Draco pursed his lips and stomped out of the nursery, his towel barely clinging to his hips. Harry followed behind him, itching to hex the annoying prat. How the hell had he gotten into this mess?

Draco spun around and glared. “Why are you here?”

But Harry didn’t answer. His eyes were drawn to Draco’s chest, scarred with the remnants of the Half-Blood Prince’s handiwork. Draco noticed Harry’s eyes and he looked down at his chest.

“Like what you see?” He said tersely.

Harry winced and looked away. “No, I…I just wish I hadn’t done that.”

Draco waved his hand. “It was a long time ago, Harry. We’ve discussed that day over and over. I forgave you for it and you forgave me for the Cruciatus. We’ve forgiven each other for everything.”

Harry looked at him. “Do you think you will ever forgive me for this then? My memory loss? Ginny?”

Draco lowered his head. “Your memory loss isn’t your fault. Weasley is. I won’t forgive you for that.”

Harry sighed and pulled on what little patience he had left. “What is it that you want from me, Mal-Draco?”

Draco’s head shot up. He gave a small smile. “Did you just call me, Draco?”

“It’s your name. You’ve been calling me Harry, well, since I woke up in the hospital and…I guess I should have tried calling you by yours. It’s the right thing to do.”

Draco frowned a bit at Harry’s words, but decided not to make an issue of it. It was some sort of step. He hadn’t wanted to admit how much it hurt him every time Harry called him “Malfoy”. The disdain in his voice crushed his heart every time.

Draco moved a step closer to Harry and lowered his voice to a soft, seductive tone that often worked on Harry when Draco wanted something. “I just want you to try, Harry. Just give me a chance.”

He gave a slow blink and Harry’s mouth parted slightly as he stared at Draco. Harry had suddenly noticed that Draco was wearing nothing but a towel. Harry had remembered Draco as being pointy and thin, but his pregnancy had smoothed out a lot of the points and angles. Draco’s chest and abdomen were still fit and the skin on his stomach looked smooth and soft. Harry could just make a line of fine blond hair that disappeared underneath the towel.

Harry felt a blush creep across his face as he thought about where that hair line led to. His mind unhelpfully supplied the information that he had definitely been below that towel and had obviously had sex with this man. He had put his cock inside of Draco Malfoy…

Harry took a hasty step back and Draco frowned at him. “What’s wrong, Harry?” Draco lowered his voice even more. He had seen Harry’s confusion and if Draco had any advantage at all, is that he could read Harry like a book. Harry had been thinking about the two of them together and was now having some sort of reaction to those thoughts.

“Nothing…uhh…” Harry stammered, sounding like a first year. He lowered his eyes and then looked back up at Draco. He forced himself to look higher than Draco’s chest. And they settled on the red mark on his neck.

Harry frowned. “Is that a love bite?”

Draco’s hand flew up to his neck. He had completely forgotten about the bite. He looked into Harry’s eyes.

“It is, isn’t it? You’re giving me hell about Ginny, but you’ve already met someone else yourself! You’re a hypocrite!”

“Harry, it’s not what you think! I’m not with anyone else!”

“So it’s just a fuck then? You’re still doing that? ” Harry asked angrily. “Go to that club and shag random blokes?”

As soon as it left his mouth, Harry frowned. How did he know that? He looked at Draco, who was staring at him with incredulous eyes.

“Harry, you…remember that? Are you remembering other things too?” Draco asked hopefully, as he stepped forward. He reached out his hand to touch Harry’s shoulder, but the brunette pulled his arm away.

“I don’t remember anything! It just seems like something that you would do and I was right.” Harry shook his head in disgust and then stepped away. “I don’t want to hear any more about Ginny, seeing as how you’re sleeping around.” He fixed Draco with a hard stare. “I will be around later this week to visit Cassi and expect regular visits from now on. Eventually she will be coming to spend nights with me, as soon as I get situated in a new place.”

Draco stared at Harry. “You’re getting a new place? What about Grimmauld Place?”

“That’s Ron and Hermione’s. And I’m sure they want their privacy. I’ll look for a new place soon.”

“This is your home!” Draco shouted. “Why are you getting another place? You can live here…you can even stay in another room if that’s what you want!” Draco was terrified at the thought of Harry moving to a new home. It would surely be the end of them if that happened.

Harry raised an eyebrow and then frowned. “Live here? I don’t think so, Malfoy. Don’t you think that would be awkward…like…you know…if say…Ginny happens to be here?”

Draco clenched his fists and hissed, “She’s not coming in here, Harry!”

Harry crossed his arms and gave a smirk that had no business being on his face. “Exactly my point. You need to accept that our relationship has changed and that we have other things that do need our attention.” He turned towards the nursery and his gaze softened. “Like that beautiful baby in there.” He looked back at Draco. “I have to go, but I’ll be back later this week.”

Harry turned to go but Draco grabbed his arm and held it. Harry looked down at his hand and then up into Draco’s eyes, but the blond didn’t flinch nor release his grip.

“I know that you remembered something, Harry. You can try and pretend all you want, but you can’t hide who or what you really are. You worked too hard for this life…the life we have together.” The look on Draco’s face was pleading and Harry felt a pang of…comp…something in his body.

Harry shut his eyes. Malfoy was so infuriating! One minute he was threatening to keep him away from his daughter and the next he sounded desperate and pathetic. Why did he keep this up? Why couldn’t he accept that they were over? He even wanted to help raise their daughter, wasn’t that enough?

Hermione’s voice rang in his head. He loves you, Harry. He’s changed…

Harry opened his eyes and turned towards Draco’s closet. He walked over to the doorway and entered the mini-mall of a room. He had been shocked to find out that he had become the clothes horse, when Draco had pointed out that the other huge closet was his, but Draco had him beat by miles.

“What are you doing?” Draco asked, coming up behind him. Harry rubbed a hand across his face and looked at all of the clothes. Then his eyes rested on a large chest of drawers at the back of the room. Of course…

Harry walked over to the bureau, knelt down and opened the bottom drawer. He pushed aside several pairs of socks and old Hogwarts clothing; a Slytherin tie and scarf, an old robe, Draco’s old Prefect badge, until his hands landed on what he just knew would be in that spot.

It was a Weasley jumper, made in dark forest and emerald green colors. A large “D” was knitted in the center of the fabric. Harry subconsciously brought the garment to his face, intrigued by the scent emanating from it. It smelled of sandalwood and sunshine. Draco’s scent…

Harry abruptly jumped up and threw the jumper back into the drawer. He whipped around, only to find Draco staring at him and then down to the sweater.

“How did you know where that was?” Draco asked, “how did you even know I have one of those?”

“It doesn’t mean anything!” Harry shouted, not sure if he was yelling at Draco or that nagging voice in his head. That stupid voice that was asking him how did he know exactly where to find the sweater, and how did he know that the sweater was Draco’s scent…or that Draco used to go to clubs and shag strange men before they had got together on a permanent basis…all familiar things.

Harry pushed past the blond and practically ran to the fireplace. “Just let this go, Malfoy,” Harry called, just before he stepped in the flames, “whatever it was that we had, it’s over.”

He disappeared in a swirl of green flame.

Draco stared at the spot that Harry had been standing and then let out a frustrated growl. He snatched an elven made ceramic vase from the mantle and smashed it against the hearth. The eight hundred year old relic exploded into thousands of little pieces.

Blaise hurried into the room, holding Cassi, who was whimpering softly. “Draco?” He spied the broken antique and Draco’s red, angry face. He gave a deep sigh.

“I take it things didn’t go very well then,” Blaise said, glancing at the dark fireplace. “It’ll take time, Draco. Don’t be so impatient. You’ve always wanted everything immediately. You can’t force this. Potter is the most stubborn bloke that we’ve ever met, remember? Except for the Weasel, of course.” He gave a chuckle, but Draco was not mollified for an instant.

Draco whirled to face Blaise. “This is my fucking life you’re talking about, Blaise! Harry’s it! He doesn’t fucking remember me! I’ll be stuck with the memories of him for the rest of my life, and he just will go on as if I didn’t exist for him! I had that baby for him! It’s all for him!”

Cassi began to wail again, and Blaise shifted her in his arms. “Draco, stop shouting, you’re upsetting her. Besides, I think she might be sick. She feels kind of hot. Maybe you should give her some medicine or something.”

“You give it to her, since you’re holding her,” Draco spat angrily, whirling around again to head to his closet. “I have to get out of here…”

“Where are you going?” Blaise growled, following behind the blond. “You’re going out to do something stupid again, aren’t you?”

“Leave me alone, Blaise. I can’t deal with you right now. You have no idea what I’m going through. I can’t take his shite and yours too.”

“I’m not trying to give you shite, Draco! I’m trying to help you! You’re going to ruin everything if you act like you always do when things don’t go your way! You’re going to drive Harry away forever if you don’t stop acting like a git! He hates that! And Merlin’s beard if you get your picture in the Prophet with some drunk tosser with his cock up your arse and a headline about you cheating on the Savior while he’s recovering from his auror injuries! Won’t that just make his fancy!”

Draco threw on a Muggle shirt and jeans, something that he had been introduced to by Harry and had actually grown to like. He looked great in Muggle clothes and Harry looked positively sinful in them. There had been a night that Draco had ravished Harry’s body because he’d worn some Muggle outfit. Turned him on to no end.

Draco shouldered past Blaise and slid his feet into a pair of exquisitely made dragon hide boots that were placed neatly in the huge shoe closet. He threw on a leather jacket and finally turned to look at Blaise.

“I just need some air, Blaise, okay? I’ll have you and Pansy over very soon, all right? Tell her to keep her knickers on. And stop listening to my mother.”

“Draco! I think the baby is sick…”

“Tippy will know what to do. She’ll be fine.”

He disapparated without another word.

Blaise sighed as Cassi let out a wailing cry.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draco gasped softly as the large hand gripped his hard cock and began to stroke it. Draco bit his lip and let his head fall back sharply against the alley wall. His soon to be one night stand was a tank of man, built almost like Crabbe and Goyle had been. His intelligence level or lack thereof, was similar to theirs as well.

“Feels good, yeah?” The tank growled in his ear and Draco groaned a bit louder.

“Yeah…good,” Draco hissed, but he reached out to push the man back. “Now do what you came to.” Draco opened his trousers and pulled out his rock-hard penis. “Suck it good.”

Draco leaned against the wall with his head falling back against the hard brick. The only thing that kept him from sliding down to the ground was the man hands, who had grasped his hips pretty firmly. The man gave a goofy smile and Draco winced, but he was drunk and this bloke had promised a blowjob that would blow Draco’s mind.

Draco had avoided the Night Shade this time and had hit some lesser known wizarding gay clubs that he normally wouldn’t frequent. He hadn’t wanted to do this again, but he didn’t know what to do with all of the emotions roiling around inside him. He knew that Harry had to be remembering something about their life together, but he was so frustratingly stubborn! It was just like when Harry first started being attracted to Draco. Harry had fought his feelings for months, even though they both knew the truth.

So Draco had come here to this out of the way night spot, with the initial idea to just get drunk. He had even concocted a glamour, something he had perfected during his pregnancy, because the reporters never left him alone. Unfortunately, with the amount of alcohol he had consumed, he wasn’t able to maintain it. That, coupled with a warm mouth sucking him down, completely distracted him. He groaned deeply and grabbed at the head sucking him, just as the magic dissipated from around him.

The tank glanced up at him and pulled back with an audible slurp. “Bloody hell, you’re Draco Malfoy!”

“Shut up, all right? Don’t stop…”

A sudden movement to Draco’s right had the blond whipping his head to look. A photographer, most likely from the Prophet, was raising a camera to snap his picture. Draco immediately apparated, cursing his rotten luck. Had the reporter actually seen his face? Or worse, heard that stupid mountain of a man shout his name out? God, what if Harry actually saw a story like this in the paper? Draco actually cringed. Blaise was right, he had to stop this stupidity. That was too close a call.

Draco landed awkwardly in his bedroom and immediately noticed that something was attached to him. He looked down and was shocked to see that his one-night cocksucker was still attached to his cock. Draco’s mouth fell open in surprise. His look matched the one on the other man’s face.

“Bloody hell, Malfoy!” The bloke leaned back, leaving a trail of saliva that made Draco’s stomach wrench in nausea. “You could have warned a bloke! I would have come willingly enough! You might have splinched me!”

Draco was too shocked to even comprehend what the man was saying. All that kept traveling through his head was that a strange man was now in his bedroom, the room he shared with his beloved Harry, and his cock was coated in spit. How was he going to get out of this situation? There was no way this bloke was going to just forget that he had been here, was he?

“I’m in Harry Potter’s bedroom!”

Nope…not going to forget.

Draco felt the room sway slightly and he needed to sit down first, in order to properly assess the situation and handle it. He was obviously going to have to Obliviate this dunderhead, but in his present drunken state, that would most likely end up disastrous. He had heard about Professor Lockhart’s unfortunate scrap with Weasley’s wand and what that outcome was like. He fell down hard on the bed and the room spun even more. He placed his arm over his eyes.

Tank-man, who was still on his knees, crawled forward towards Draco, a smile on his face again. “See that you’re ready for business again, Malfoy.”

Draco struggled to sit up, but the tank pushed him down again. “None of that now…I promised something and I’m going to deliver.”

Draco groaned as he crashed back to the bed again. How was he able to apparate with splinching anyone, but now couldn’t even sit up and kick this bloke out? He groaned again when he felt the hot mouth envelop him and Draco sagged against the mattress. This was the bed that he shared with Harry! Draco could feel himself growing even more nauseous with that thought. He couldn’t disrespect whatever was left of his relationship with Harry like this. He loved the man too much.

Draco kicked out with his foot, connecting violently with the man’s stomach. There was a loud “oooommpphh!” and Draco felt the sucking lips pull away from his cock with a loud plop. Perhaps that wasn’t the best way to dislodge him, especially if teeth had been involved, but Draco wasn’t too arsed to care very much for his wellbeing. There was the sound of flesh hitting the floor, a loud thump, a groan, a metallic clank and then silence. Snores immediately sounded and Draco sank into oblivion. Just before he sank into his drunken stupor, he thought that perhaps he should call for Tippy, but he was asleep before his mind could form the words.

He would very soon regret that decision.

The metallic clank was the sound of a flask containing Muggle and Firewhiskey, that had been in Tank’s jacket pocket. A Muggle-born wizard, Tank often carried Muggle items around with him. After being kicked in the chest, he had flown backwards and knocked his head on the floor, knocking himself out. The flask had flown out and opened, spilling the contents across the fireplace hearth, which had a low-burning fire in it. A few small embers from the hearth landed on the very potent firewhiskey mix and it ignited.

From inside the nursery, Cassi gave a small whimper, unable to do much more. Tippy, obeying his Master’s orders, had given the infant a healthy dose of Calming Draught to ease her distress.

In the bedroom, the fire began to blaze.