Tented

Chapter: eighteen

The thing was, they couldn’t get MalfoY to turn loose of the lizard. Threats and even bribery by way of hot food, and an even hotter bath hadn’t even made him budge an inch. No amount of pleading, begging or bullying could persuade Draco to let the other auror’s just take Knibbler to the ministry so they could go home for some much needed rest and relaxation and well, if his partner wouldn’t be reasonable then Harry Potter really couldn’t go home either, now could he?

Which was why they were now sitting in the waiting area outside of Kingsley Shacklebolts office being stared at by a much amused Pansy Parkinson, who just happened to be Shacklebolts secretary; while Draco cuddled the little reptile like it was some kind of scaly kitten and Harry glared venomously at him for being so stubborn.

Sighing, the boy who lived to be the man who defeated Voldermort who became the idiot to fall in love with Draco Malfoy picked up one of the excruciatingly old magazines off of one of the coffee tables and thumbed through it while they waited. He knew he had might as well get comfortable. Once Malfoy made up his mind about something you could pretty well count on him seeing it through to the end, and the ministry was not exactly known for its blistering speed either.

Hearing whispers from the other side of the room, Potter jerked his head up to find that Pansy and Draco were deep in a hushed conversation that his partner obviously wanted to exclude him from. Harry huffed irritably, it was bad enough having to be here so tired he felt like he might collapse at any second, now he had to put up with Malfoy flirting with his old girlfriend. For a moment jealousy twisted a knot in his belly.

They’re probably whispering about the last time they had sex, he thought nastily.

It would serve the git right if he just left him there to deal with Kingsley on his own. There was no way the ministry was going to let him keep that lizard. Dragons were far too valuable.

Draco was just going to have to accept the fact that not even Malfoy’s could always get their way and hand it over. Harry and the other auror’s had tried to tell him so (well not Ron, he hadn’t done anything but point and whimper since they first found them) but as usual Draco wouldn’t listen to anyone. That was one of the reasons he had decided to stay. Things could get ugly when they took Knibbler from the blond and Harry wanted to keep his partner out of trouble if it was at all possible.

He sighed again as he watched Draco and Pansy. It was beginning to look less and less possible by the second. The way Malfoy was petting and cooing at that dragon made Harry think that the only way anyone might be able to take it away from him would be to pry it out of his cold dead fingers.

Pansy tickled Knibbler under the chin and the little dragon snapped at her hard enough to relieve her of a digit. She giggled like it was just the cutest thing in the world; leaving Harry to ponder once again the strangeness of Slytherin’s.

Pansy giggled again at something Draco had whispered to her and Harry decided that he had had enough.

He shot Malfoy a dirty look, and sat forward in his chair to tell them both exactly how rude they were just as Kingsley Shacklebolt stuck his bald head out of his office and motioned for he and Malfoy to come in.

Disgusted, Harry threw down his magazine and they filed into their bosses office.

Shacklebolt motioned for them to sit down and they both took one of the chairs directly in front of his desk. Their boss leaned back in his own chair and studied them both intently with curious dark eyes.

Harry squirmed but as usual Draco seemed unaffected and again he found himself envying his partners cool demeanor.

“Gentlemen… its good to see you returned from your mission.” Shacklebolt said in a deep and husky voice. “May I ask why you are still here instead of at home resting though? He motioned at the dragon that was peering at him from under Draco’s chin, “I mean obviously your mission was successful, there was no need for you to stay.”

There was a knock on the door and then a short man with a gray moustache and gray hair sticking up in every direction and a white lab coat and carrying a small cage came bustling into the room. “Ahhhh, yes professor,” Kingsley greeted the man warmly, “we were just waiting for you.”

Turning to Harry and Draco he made the introductions. “Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, I would like you to meet the head of the ministries zoological department, Professor Albert Montague.”

Harry held his hand out and shook the mans hand but Draco just sat there glaring at him.

“Ummm well,” Shacklebolt coughed , “yes… well… if you gentlemen will just hand the dragon over to Professor Montague you can both go home for some well deserved rest.”

The professor smiled weakly at Draco and held the cage out with the door open for him to give him the dragon. Draco glared back at the man as if daring him to take it.

In the resulting uncomfortable silence Kingsley coughed again and said, “Is there some problem Malfoy?”

Draco stubbornly stuck his chin out as he continued to pet Knibbler, “ Yes, as a matter of fact there is a problem Shacklebolt,” he said mutinously, “what exactly are they going to do with this dragon if I give it to them?”

Harry just gaped at him, he couldn’t believe that Draco was actually going to go through with this. The git really did intend to keep his dragon even if it meant fighting the whole ministry for it. Of all the arrogant...

Harry blew up at him, “Oh for Merlin’s sake Malfoy,” he snapped, “they’ll probably put it in a breeding program with a bunch of other dragons and it’ll play all day with its little dragon friends or something while they study it right Professor?”

Harry looked at the Professor, the Professor looked at Kingsley, Kingsley looked at Harry and then all three turned and looked at the two Dragons occupying the other seat in the room.

“Errrr… well…,”the professor began and Harry suddenly had a bad feeling about what he was about to say. “not exactly Mister Potter.”

Draco’s eyes narrowed and he leaned forward just a smidge but it was enough to make the little man step back. “Well then, what exactly?”

Harry looked at the Professor, the Professor looked at Kingsley, Kingsley looked at the Professor then shot Harry a look that plainly said, can you not control your partner? Harry shot one back that just as clearly said, are you fucking kidding me?

“Well,” the Professor stammered, “you see… Dragons wont breed in captivity and no live young have ever been born. It is a fine specimen though,” he took a closer look, “and unless I’m much mistaken its already expecting.”

Draco’s mouth fell open, “Expect… you mean its pregnant?”

“Oh yes,” the gray head bobbed, “its quite exciting isn’t it? Its too bad she’ll never reach gestation really, but just think of all the advances in dragon studies this little lady might be responsible for.”

Draco had been sitting there looking stunned but at the Professors words his head snapped up. “Dragon studies?”

“Oh yes,” the small man grinned at him, “this will go down in the history books as the first time scientist the world over have had an actual dragon fetus to experiment with. If there’s more than one it might even be preserved as a learning tool for schools of magic. Isn’t it thrilling?”

Harry’s eyes widened and he glanced over at Malfoy. Draco looked like he just might faint and if he didn’t know any better he would think that the dragon looked a little pale too.

Draco cleared his throat. Loudly. “Ahem!”

“And w-what about this dragon?” the blond managed to choke out.

“Oh,” the professor continued blithely, “it will be dissected and used for research of course.”

“Of course, research.” Draco sputtered, and cleared his throat again. Loudly. “Ahem!”

“Don’t worry, she wont be wasted,” the fool prattled on and Harry was gob smacked that Draco was still sitting in that chair, “her brain and liver, even the babies umbilical cord will all be put to good use.”

The Professor beamed at Draco as though they had just agreed and all was right with the world while Harry braced for an explosion and Kingsley Shacklebolt began to look extremely worried.

“Yes, yes.. Umbilical…liver…” Draco babbled hysterically and cleared his throat again even louder. “Ahem! Ahem!......... Fucking Ahem!!!”

Harry eyed his partner apprehensively, apparently Malfoy was suffering from a nervous breakdown and a hair ball and he wasn’t sure at the moment which should concern him more.

In the next moment it ceased to matter however because a high pitched siren wailed throughout the ministry with ear splitting intensity.

Shacklebolt jumped up from his desk, “That’s the intruder alert. That means there are death eaters in the ministry.”

He grabbed his wand and motioned for Harry and Draco to follow him, “Professor, I suggest you go back to your lab and lock everything down.”

The little man wrung his hands nervously before nodding and bolting out the door.

With Kingsley leading the way they headed out of the office to the main floor of the ministry where the head auror immediately began directing traffic and handing out assignments. In all the chaos and rushing around, it took a full twenty minutes before Harry realized that Draco was neither behind him nor anywhere else in the room.

Two hours later when it was confirmed by one and all that it had been a false alarm, Harry and Kingsley Shacklebolt trudged back to his office.

Neither even bothered to pretend to be surprised that there was no Draco and no dragon anywhere to be found.

Harry left his furious boss cursing loudly in his office and finally got to leave to go home.

On his way out of Shacklebolts office Pansy Parkinson winked at him and pointed to one of the alarms conveniently placed right behind her desk. Harry couldn’t help grinning just a bit. That’s what the two sneaky Slytherin’s had been whispering about.

He should have known. You could always count on a Malfoy to have a back up plan.



TBC…
chapter 19

::::::::::::::::::


The very next day after what he had come to think of as “The Great Dragon Heist,” Harry Potter found himself once again sitting in Kingsley Shacklebolts office being stared at intensely by Kingsley himself and Professor Albert Montague.

“Potter,” Kingsley rasped, leaning forward so his elbows rested on his desk, “you do know that that dragon is ministry property, now don’t you?”

Sitting pinned underneath that powerful dark gaze all Harry could do was nod yes.

“And you do know that Malfoy can not keep that dragon no matter how much he might desire to do so, now don’t you?” if possible, Kingsley seemed to be staring at him even harder.

Again Harry nodded yes. Which was the truth. He did know that Malfoy couldn’t keep the dragon.

The problem was that Malfoy didn’t seem to know it.

“And you would tell us if you had any idea at all where Malfoy or that dragon might be, now wouldn’t you?” Was Shacklebolt trying to x-ray his lungs with that piercing stare for Merlin's sake?

To his credit Harry only hesitated a split second before he answered, “ Of course sir, absolutely.”

Upon leaving the ministry that day Harry couldn’t help reflecting upon their little conversation. It would seem that the ministry had searched high and low and every where in between and still couldn’t catch the first whiff of Draco Malfoy or his scaly little accomplice and they were beginning to get desperate.

None of his friends claimed to have seen him, he hadn’t been back to his house and even his parents were at a loss as to where their son might have absconded with a hot dragon in tow. In short, nobody, anywhere knew where the daring duo had taken off to.

Except Harry Potter of course. He knew exactly where both of the fugitives were right this very second. The same place they had been practically every moment since they had run away the day before. Sitting on his couch watching cartoons on his big screen TV and eating bonbons in his living room.

Harry really didn’t like having to lie to his boss.

When he had first gotten home the night before he had chewed Malfoy out first thing and demanded he return the dragon to the ministry pronto! Well…. He had meant to. See the thing was, Draco had caught him with a bone melting kiss as soon as he stepped through the door then shagged him rotten until it was all Harry could do to curl up whimpering in the fetal position, and pass out with a huge smirk plastered all over his face the night before.

Harry had every intention of straightening Malfoy out the next morning though, just you wait, yes sir-ee bob! Well… he had meant to. Its quite hard to chew someone out when you wake up to them slobbering all over your cock and it just feels so deliciously goooooooooddddddd, that your toes start cramping from curling so hard, and then you barely have time to grab a coffee on your way out the door.

Harry marched purposefully towards the living room. Tonight, positively tonight he was telling Draco that that lizard had to go back!
Definitely…........ (just then Draco met him at the corner wearing nothing but a sexy smile and a strategically placed dollop of whipped
cream.) .........not.




Chapter Twenty:



Two day later:

“Draco…. Please listen to me, that dragon has really got to go… mmmphmmmlll!"

One week later:

“So Potter… I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything from Malfoy?” his boss eyed him suspiciously.

“Not a word sir.”

One week and a day later:

“You know you’re just getting us both in trouble don’t you? Eventually you’re going to have to give it back.”

“Don’t be so silly Harry. By the way I need you to stop by the store, were out of bonbons and whipped cream… oh and id like some chocolate sauce.”

“Draco, you’re not even listening to me! Chocolate sauce?”

“Yes, I want to pour it on you and then lick it off of every inch of your body.” *purred*

“…”

One week three days later:

“Potter, Malfoy couldn’t have just disappeared completely! Someone has to be helping him.” Kingsley Shacklebolt was not in a good mood. “You do know when we find whoever it is they will be in a world of trouble too now don’t you?”

“Yes sir, I have no idea of who it could be that would help him though.”

One week five day later:

“Draco Malfoy! This has gone on long enough! I cant get Dobby out from under the kitchen sink because he claims Knibbler is going to eat his ears!” (to be fair it was a case of mistaken identity, Draco had been feeding Knibs pancakes and Dobby just happened to look like he was wearing two on his head.)”She’s eaten all the soap!” (you haven’t lived until you’ve sat up all night with a dragon suffering from a tummy ache and burping bubbles, let me tell you.) “And it cant be good for her to feed her all that junk food!”

Draco sighed, “I had a word with her about Dobby and she promised not to do it again.” (there may or may not have been a couple of scaly fingers crossed when the promise was made.) “And she didn’t even like the soap.” (well truthfully she had liked it, just not the after affects.) “And its not her fault that she has cravings Potter! She is about to be a mummy you know.”

“Draco please…” Harry pleaded.

“Ok Potter, ill tell you what…. You convince me that being dissected and having her baby ripped out of her to be pickled and put on display for a bunch of brats to ogle in some classroom is better for her and ill take her right back tomorrow.”

-_-

“I thought not… if you need me ill be in the bathroom bathing my lizard.” *huffs off*

Two weeks later:

They were lying in bed with Knibbler firmly ensconced between them once again, lying on her back and snoring.

“Draco, this cant go on…”

Draco nibbled at his earlobe and ignored him.

Harry groaned as a hot tongue traced around the shell of his ear, “Y-you are g-g-going to have to give it back.”

Draco leaned back and grinned, “Want to see something neat?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Ok, what?’

“Watch this.“ Draco took his index finger and gently poked Knibbler’s swollen little belly.

“What? I don’t see any… wait… do that again.”

Grinning broadly Draco once again gently prodded the softly swelling mound of the dragons tummy.

This time there was no doubt, as Draco pulled his finger away something on the inside definitely tried to poke him back. It was just a small movement but there was no doubt that life was there and that it was reacting to the blonds gentle touch.

Harry looked up at him with his mouth hanging open, “She seems to think it’s a boy.” Draco smiled softly, “we’ve decided to name him
Harry Jr.”

O_O

Two weeks four days later:

Harry Potter once again found himself in his bosses office sitting across from Kingsley Shacklebolt being stared at by the man.

Kingsley cleared his throat, “Harry…. I know you know where Malfoy and that dragon are.”

Harry opened his mouth to protest. (lying to his boss had become disturbingly easy for him.) But stopped when Kingsley held one large hand up. “I know that Draco is at your flat Harry.”

Harry goggled at him, how could they know?

“Frankly the only reason you’re here instead of in front of a disciplinary committee right now is because of who you are Harry.” Kingsley sat up straighter, “I expect Malfoy and that dragon in this office first thing in the morning Potter…. Do I make myself clear?”

Harry stared miserably down at his shoes and nodded.

That night:

Harry was in the kitchen making popcorn and desperately searching his mind for a way to tell Draco that he would have to give Knibbler up to the ministry the next day without making Malfoy hate him forever.

So far he had come up with absolutely nothing.

Dumping his popcorn into a bowl he glanced over into his living room and watched the two as they interacted, unaware of his scrutiny.

Draco was lying on the carpet on his side with his head propped by one elbow and Knibbler was lying beside him on her back. He could hear Scooby Doo doing a "RUH ROH" in the background.

Harry salted the corn and then poured a little melted caramel over one half and butterscotch over the rest, (Draco swore it was Knibs favorite flavor) still watching them. Draco was grinning down at the small reptile and then he reached over and tickled her plump little belly. Knibbler, a cookie tightly clutched in one claw and a pretzel firm in the other, wriggled and kicked her little scaly legs in the air like she was peddling an invisible bicycle.

Now… how was he supposed to break up that pair? In his kitchen Harry Potter briefly shut his eyes and dropped his head as he finally, finally acknowledged defeat. He couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t.

No way in hell was he ever going to hand over Draco, Knibbler and Harry Jr. to anyone. He was just going to have to march right into the front offices of the Ministry of Magic in the morning and tell those stuffed shirt bureaucrats that Draco Malfoy was keeping his dragon because he said so and that was that.

They did owe him just a teeny favor for disposing of Voldermort after all.

Harry shuffled his popcorn in the bowl for a second before picking it up and carrying it back into the living room. Now that he had accepted it, it really didn’t seem so bad.

Harry smiled warmly down at his family as he dropped to the floor beside them and handed over the popcorn.

After all, what good was it to be Harry Bloody Fucking Bloody Potter if you couldn’t use that name and influence every now and then to do something right?

Fini