Secrets and Promises (Abandoned Story)

Series Title: Secrets and Promises

Fandom: Harry Potter

Series Rating: NC-17

Genre: Mystery & Romance

Pairing: Draco/Harry, but also mentions of other past and other relationships as the story progresses.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy et al are a fictional characters created by J.K. Rowling as part of the Harry Potter series. We just borrow them to play. We don't make any money from it but we do have a very good time. [Beckett, Cocoa and the Malfoy Townhouse are inventions of slashpervert.]

Series Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are Aurors who work for the Ministry of Magic. In this series they find themselves investigating a serial killer and discovering they are in love with each other. It follows them as they struggle to build lives and heal their past wounds, now that the war is behind them.

Notes: This series is written based in part on the RPG Ambiguous Desire.



Chapter Number/Total: 6/?.

Chapter Title: Drive Me Crazy

Chapter Authors: slashpervert and cinnamin_sins.

Beta(s): nefernat

Chapter Rating: PG-13

Words: Words

Chapter Characters: Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson.

Warnings: Language, discussing sex.

Summary: Draco tries to talk with Pansy.









Sunday, Oct. 12, 2003



He was driving her insane. She told him to be quick. She told him to send Harry straight home. That was hours ago. She'd gone as far as sending an owl every half hour with the word "Bastard" clearly printed. And yet he still didn't find it important enough to make their meeting. That's it, he was going to get a howler...



~~~

Draco Fucking Malfoy! You have no common decency for anyone, but yourself?

I thought you had fucking DIED when you didn't show up after my first owl.

I find you in bed with fucking POTTER! Our jobs are at stake and all you care

about is FUCKING Potter! Literally! I can't stand you sometimes.



I'm done waiting. I'll figure out how to save my job on my own.

~~~





Satisfied with the lovely red parchment, she sent it off, lying back on her bed and stretching out. All she wanted to do now was fade away into nothingness. She didn't want to be in this flat, she didn't want to be away from Theo, and she didn't want to think about the Ministry.



Too many things were going through her mind. She briefly wondered if she was being irrational about Draco, and if maybe, just maybe, she might have read into things with Theo. But between her worry and her short temper, all that made sense was trying to get some sleep.



Draco Apparated directly into Pansy's living room. He looked around and, seeing that the living room was empty, he strode down the hall to Pansy's bedroom. He pushed the door open and walked into the room, staring down at the sleeping woman in the bed. Sleeping, she looked innocent and child-like.



His mind flashed back to a small girl with dark hair and big eyes. She stood with her hands on her hips and her face screwed up in a frown. "Draco," she admonished, "you have to do what I say!" He had regarded her with one raised eyebrow and had asked calmly, "Why?" She had not been able to keep a tear from slipping down her cheek as she tried to sound imperious, "Because you love me." And it had been true.



Now, he sat gently on the side of the bed and reached a hand out to her shoulder, gently shaking her. "Pans, I'm here."



Pansy opened one eye, arching her brow. "Fucking prat," she said with a low growl. "I wait all day and you come when I barely lay down."



With a disgruntled sigh, she opened the other eye and sat up in bed, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling at him. She was beyond angry with him. He had left her worried and angry and worried and even angrier. This was not the day to be toying with her emotions.



"Yes, I am horrible. And I am here now," he said with a wry half-smile. "So, what is this about your job and Theo? Why are you here?"



"Don't sweet talk me, Draco. Don't you even dare or I'll leave you to fend for yourself like a mangy dog," she scolded.



Draco rolled his eyes, "So what do you want from me Pansy? Am I supposed to yell back?" He shook his head. "Not playing that game today. I am in too good a mood. Just tell me."



"Good moods be damned. That was wrong and you know it. And this is your karma. A karma that's biting me in the arse too."



She huffed, uncrossing her arms, but her gaze still hard and cold. "It seems the Ministry didn't appreciate my article. They're putting me under investigation for publishing supposedly top-secret Ministry details. They're also in search of my "source" who I refuse to give up, but for some reason I can't bloody well remember why any longer," she growled. "Regardless, I still hold my loyalties. And they're intending to use Veritaserum on every employee in the Ministry until they find the culprit. Are you satisfied?"



Draco sat listening to her rant, leaning back on his arms. He waited for minute, and then asked, "And Theo? Why are you here instead of with him?"



"Because he doesn't want this to affect his job. He doesn't want my bitchy attitude and trouble with authority affecting his place at the Ministry any more than it already will. So I left. Because it was the easiest way to stay out of his way," she said with a deep breath, falling back onto the bed. "Not to mention no one expects me here so I can hideout for a while."



Draco sat up, folding his hands in his lap and nodding. "He say that or did you assume that?" Draco asked.



"Prat," she hissed, not wanting to admit that truth at all. "I'm not going to talk to him. I don't want to. If his job is that bloody important to him then I won't fucking push it."



Draco nodded, and then, turning, lay down beside Pansy on the bed, his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. "So what are we all doing on our vacation?"



"I assume you're fucking Potter while I wallow in solitude," she said bitterly. "I could care less about what anyone else is doing. I don't want to leave this bed."



"Probably," he answered. "But I have never seen you give up so easily before. Not much like the Pansy Parkinson that tied me to a tree when we were eight."



"You threw dirt in my hair," she whined, sitting up and staring down at him.



It was amazing how good he looked from this angle. She'd never quite noticed it before. He wasn't just the young boy anymore that she was told to marry. He'd grown into his body...and well. His hair wasn't as fair as it was when they were younger, taking on more golden hues.



"You of all people should know the importance of hair, Draco Malfoy," she huffed.



He laughed, nodding, "Of course, I do." He turned on his side facing her. "And I doubt the ministry would ever be able to push Pansy Parkinson around. They just aren't clever or mean enough."



Pansy lay down again, watching him shyly and tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. She never understood how he did it, making her forget why she was ever mad at him in the first place. It was a skill that could never be learned, she was sure of that much.



"Freedom of press, freedom of speech. It's a journalist's creed. They're taking that from me. And even with that...I can't let them find you out. It goes beyond friendship. Our sources are our lives when it comes to that job. If we go back on that trust, we've got nothing."



"True," he nodded. "I am sure they will back down when they see you aren't just going to roll over for them." He smiled at her righteous anger. This was his Pansy, the woman you only pissed off at your own risk. "And don't worry about me. My solicitor could hold up any them up for so long, I would be retiring before they could fire me. Like you said, my family money does have its uses."



"I can't lose my job," she said, tucking her head into his shoulder. "Doesn't matter that I own more than half the company thanks to mum. I could still lose my job because of this. I may complain about it a lot, but I'd rather it be me than anyone else. At least I know I'm not publishing crap like Rita Skeeter. She was the first I fired when I got my position."



He smelled good. She could still smell the faint scent of sex, but it didn't bother her. The scent of his cologne was just too sweet and too comfortable. It reminded her of short naps on long couches in the Common Room, curled up in front of the fire with him. Happier times. Easier times.



"You won't loose your job, Pansy. I know you." He smiled, resting his head on his arm under him. "But I need to talk to you about the other thing. About Harry."



Damn! He just had to bring up Potter when she was happily living in a memory. With an irritated sigh, she glanced up through her lashes at him, draping her arm over his side as she moved closer to his warmth. "Weasley is going to be so angry with you; more so than usual. He's unreasonably jealous when it comes to Potter. And I can't say I condone it. I may have cheated on Millie with Theo, but look where that got me. Alone again."



"What Weasley thinks has never been my concern, Pansy." He reached out held her chin with the fingers of his free hand, looking into her face, "This is something I really want. When is the last time I asked you for a real favour?"



"It's been awhile," she hummed, unbelieving of that fact itself. "What do you need, darling?"



"Remember when you said I needed to change my lack of a love life or turn into Filch?" he asked. "Well, I have. And this is what I want. This is whom I want. I just need you not to make it any more difficult than it already is. Nothing about it in the Prophet. You don't tell anyone. Let us figure it out without having to fight the entire Wizarding world."



"And Theo?" she sighed with relent.



She may not have been talking with him or living with him at the moment, but eventually she would have to face him again. And she couldn't lie to him. Fags were one thing, but their friendships were another. That and she was pretty sure he found out about the fags anyway. Yet another reason she wasn't minding the flat too much.



"I will talk with Theo," Draco answered, sneering slightly, "Though I doubt he will be too surprised actually." He cupped her chin and ran a finger over her lips. "Thanks, Pans."



Her eyes fluttered closed and she kissed his fingertips as they crossed her lips. A silent memory swept through her mind, a flutter of her stomach, a clenching of her chest, a memory of past love. Just another letdown. Just because she understood now, didn't mean her thoughts had changed much.



She knew he was only rebelling his family's wishes. And she couldn't blame him for that. But she could blame herself for getting too close; just as she had done with Tracey and Theo...and even Millie at one time.



Something in Draco stirred to life at the feel of her kissing his fingertips, memories of stolen kisses and shared intimacies fluttered in his mind. He caressed her check for a moment and then slowly pulled his hand back.



"I should be going now," he spoke softly. "Let me know if you need any help from me. I will owl Theo and check in with him too." He rolled off the bed and stood up.



Pansy nodded, trying to ignore the sinking feeling her stomach as he left the bed. She curled up gently, resting her head on the pillows again as her eyes stayed trained on him. She bit her lip hesitantly, not wanting him to go now that he was here, but knowing there was no other choice really. "Draco, do me a favour now and don't tell Theo where I am. Feel free not to tell him you talked to me at all."



Draco looked down and shook his head sadly at this friend. "You should talk to him, you know," he said.



"I will," she whispered sadly, snuggling against her pillows more like a lost child. "I just want some time to myself. If he really wanted to find me, he could. He's probably got some tracker spell on my anyway. I just don't want to talk to him right now."



She pouted slightly, trying to stifle a sudden yawn. "Go back to Potter. I know that's what you're planning. Besides, you're too perky for me. And I don't want to know."



"Good night, Pans. You know where to find me if you need me," he said and then Apparated away.