Incurably Criminal

*

The next day, Draco arrived at the Manor. As he stepped out of the Limosene that had been sent for him, he thought back to the night before. After he had gotten out of his shower, Harry had been unusually quiet. He was normally very talkative, even though Draco hardly ever replied. He found this odd and had been wondering about it the whole trip home.

As Draco stepped out of the car, he looked up at the house. The Manor was empty, as was to be expected. The crisp, clean snow piled itself up outside the front door. An empty flower garden circled the front porch though at the moment all the flowers were dead. A long veranda ran down the front of the house, wrapping around one side of the house where there was a large lawn complete with a lake at the bottom. In the winter though, the lake froze over but wasn't thick enough to ice skate on.

Suddenly, the French doors in the front of the house were thrown open and a short, plump woman with strawberry-blond hair burst out, smiling happily. She hurried down the driveway to where Draco still stood outside the car and seized him, pulling him onto a hug. He struggled against her but was unsuccessful.

"Master Malfoy!" she cried happily when she finally released him. Draco rolled his eyes.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Draco?" he asked playfully. The woman frowned and examined her shiny black shoes.

"Your parents would not approve Master Ma--"

"DRACO."

"Draco, they would not approve."

"Oh, Lucy, since when have they ever cared what I do?"

Lucy sighed and frowned at him but then gave him a small smile.

"That's better, now, how about some Hot Apple Cider?" Draco asked, his eyes sparkling. Lucy laughed and led him in, the driver following with his bags and taking them up to his room.

They walked through the cavernous Entrance Hall and through the smaller sitting room and finally came to the dining room. Through the window, snow could be seen for miles. It hadn't been disturbed as no one was home to enjoy it, so it was perfectly arranged outside. The trees surrounding the property sparkled and glittered with icicles that hung off their branches, threatening to fall and shatter into a million pieces

Draco and Lucy sat at the table sipping their hot drinks. Draco had insisted that Lucy join him and she had reluctantly agreed. Her employers always maintained that she and Draco should have a professional relationship and nothing more.

"How is your new school, Draco?" Lucy asked politely. She loved Draco like her own son and wished her employers felt the same way. She had tried to keep within the 'professional' scheme of the relationship for a long time until she realized that Draco just needed someone to talk to. Of course, she never told the Master of Mistress of their special relationship.

Draco rolled his eyes at the question. "It sucks. The security is a joke, the classes are incredibly simple, a chimp could do it, and there aren't even that many hot guys."

Lucy laughed. She knew all about his preferences while his parents insisted it was just a phase.

"What about your roommate? Is he nice?" she pressed.

"He's... good-looking," Draco offered. Lucy waited for more. "We've fucked a few times but that's it. It's a nice little relaxing activity." Draco smirked as he said this.

Lucy sighed. "Oh, Draco, are you ever going to settle down?" she asked.

Draco scoffed. "Why should I? I'm genetically incapable of love, and besides, I don't believe in it."

Lucy shook her head. His parents had ruined him, that was for sure. They were never home to give him any kind of good example. At times, she wasn't even sure if they loved him. She wanted to believe that they did, but she also knew that his parents' marriage had been arranged and planned from the very beginning. Draco was merely the product of needing to produce an heir to inherit the family fortune.

"Do you have any feelings for your roommate?" she asked. Draco looked highly affronted.

"What kind of question is that? Of course, I don't!" he said, a little too loudly. Lucy raised her eyebrows and he scowled at her.

"I know you far too well, Draco. You don't have to lie to me," she said calmly, her eyes sparkling with mischief. Draco continued scowling, but his mind wandered to her question.

Did he have feelings for Harry? He liked to fuck him, that was a feeling. He liked the way he felt when he was underneath him, begging for more. He liked the way his hair fell into his eyes, he loved the feeling of his tongue stud on his neck. He liked how his eyes clouded over when he was experiencing extreme pleasure.

He didn't like when Harry danced with other people at the club, or how Ron hung on him everywhere, or how Seamus blatantly flirted with him. He didn't like it when he saw him disappear out of class with random guys. He was his, he owned him, no one else's.

He looked up and found that Lucy was grinning at him from across the table. His eyes narrowed. She continued to smile at him.

"I knew it!" she cried. Draco scowled again; she always knew everything before he did.

"Fine, you win." Draco allowed himself a tiny smile. He loved Lucy. She was the best parent he'd ever had.

They spent the rest of the evening simply sitting in silence, watching as the snow fell lightly outside. Draco felt content for the first time in a while. Even though his parents never came home, he still felt loved by at least one person.

He looked over to where Lucy had fallen asleep in her chair, the light from the fireplace playing over her features. Draco smiled softly. He set down his cup and slid further down in his chair, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of his head that said his parents wouldn't approve of his posture.

He didn't care what they thought. They maintained that him being gay was simply a phase and every tryst he had was simply an experiment. They even brushed off the incident with Peter as a mistake.

How could it be a mistake?! Draco had planned it out carefully, knowing the exact time everything would happen. He wanted to get caught, to force his parents to actually pay attention to him for once, to see that he was really just asking for a bit of their time. They never seemed to understand that he just wanted to spend time with them. He hadn't spent more than a couple hours alone with his parents since he'd been ten years old.

Draco sighed as the winter sun sank below the trees on the outskirts of the property. Thin rays of golden light fell over the lightly falling snow, barely illuminating the room in which he sat, warm and cozy from the fire in the grate.

He glanced over at Lucy once again and smiled to himself. Of all the people he had ever known, Lucy was the one he could count on. She gave him the one thing he craved, attention, and she did it with a grace previously believed to be nonexistent by Draco. He loved Lucy and was glad that she was here for his Christmas.

***

Harry spent his Christmas at St. Brutus'. He had no relatives that would take him, and the only person who might have wanted to was currently not quite available. His godfather, Sirius, was currently appealing his case of a murder charge. He had no time to help Harry.

Harry did manage to keep him updated on his situation though. He told Sirius about all his problems concerning Draco, wishing he could just figure out the boy. Sirius never gave any advice though; he thought it best to let Harry deal with it.

During the break, Harry reread the letter from Draco's parents about a million times. The words, 'not make it home for the holidays' stuck in his mind. How could any parent not come home for the holidays? What was more important than their child? No wonder Draco never got close to anyone.

How can someone love who hasn't been loved himself? Harry wondered if Draco had any feelings for him. Harry spent a lot of time over the break, contemplating his own feelings. Did he like Draco? He longed for his touch, the feel of his hands on his body, his tongue on his neck. He wished he could kiss him, but Draco never allowed it.

Ron was growing increasingly annoying when Harry mentioned Draco. He would scoff and go into a tirade on all his faults, which were admittedly very little beside his personality. Harry began tuning out his best friend and instead picturing the last time he was with Draco. Ron asked him why he had a glazed look on his face all the time.

"And he's just so annoying! He never listens to anyone!"

"Ron, stop it!" Harry finally couldn't take it anymore one day before Christmas. Ron was taken aback and stared at his friend.

"What?" he asked.

"Stop. Draco's not all that bad, okay?! Maybe he has problems, maybe lashing out is his only way of dealing with it. Will you just lay off him?!" Harry shouted. Ron was speechless, his mouth hanging open as Harry stormed out of the room.

Harry remained upset with Ron for several days afterwards. He refused to talk to him for several days. Whenever he and Ron were in the same room he would simply glare and leave.

Harry was upset with Ron for not even giving him a chance. Although, of all that Ron had ever seen, Draco was simply a selfish rich kid. He didn't appear to have any feelings or sympathy for other people. Harry could kind of understand where Ron was coming from but he didn't see it that way. Draco was just someone misunderstood by people. He knew the feeling well.

Finally, the day before Christmas, Ron cautiously approached Harry in the library, where the likelihood of him yelling was less.

"Harry?" he said fearfully. Harry's eyes narrowed in anger, but he didn't leave, so Ron sat down at the table with him. "I'm sorry, mate. You're right. I was too hard on him. I don't even know him, and if you want to be with him, it's okay with me."

Harry stared at him, no anger apparent. "Who said I wanted to be with him?" he asked indignantly but quickly lowered his voice as the librarian scowled at him.

"Well, I just thought, I mean, you talk about him all the time and I just thought that, you know, you liked him," Ron said.

"Are you crazy?" Harry asked, giving him a skeptical look. Ron paused, appearing to be thinking it over.

"No," he said firmly. "Or at least I don't think..."

Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes. "So because I talk about him, that means I want to date him?" he asked.

"I dunno," Ron said, shrugging. "I just thought it seems like you liked him."

Harry sighed and put his head in his hands. "I think I do like him. That's the problem," he muttered into his hands. Ron raised an eyebrow, confused.

"I don't get it," he said. Harry raised his head and looked at Ron.

"He doesn't do relationships. So I'll never be with him," Harry explained.

"Oh," Ron said comprehendingly. He could see the problem now. Harry nodded. "Well, you'll just have to do it anyway," Ron said as though it was the simplest explanation on the planet. Harry stared at him.

"How?" he asked disbelievingly. Ron shrugged.

"You're Harry Potter, mate, everyone wants you, you can do anything," he said. Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"You're crazy," he told him.

"Maybe, but I'm right," Ron said, grinning. Harry laughed at how stupid the idea was. But then again, it might just work.


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A/N: Review and I'll love you forever...Actually, I love you already, so keep my love! ^_^ and Review!