Memoirs of a Male Escort

Chapter 6 A matter of Perspective

Never get caught with your pants down. That could apply to wives of your clients, old clients while you are with a current one and most importantly law enforcement.

Don’t do anything to get arrested. Madame X never told me that directly, but it was probably implied. I never thought I would need to break that particular rule.

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Harry and Draco were left alone and bound in a room on the second level, just outside Auror headquarters. There were two guards posted outside the door, and no doubt hundreds of wards in place to prevent magical interference.

“So much for protection,” Draco muttered.

Harry laughed, and it was genuine mirth this time. “Sorry I didn’t warn you, but I was expecting this. Technically you shouldn’t need protection, as I said before, I made sure both you and your mother were cleared of all charges, but I know the Ministry doesn’t let things slide as easy as that.”

Draco’s jaw fell open and he had to fight to compose himself. “You knew they were going to arrest you for this, and you still brought me?”

Harry frowned. “I apologized for that, I promise you won’t get sentenced to Azkaban or anything…” his voice trailed off as Draco gave him an impatient look.

“I’m not talking about me, Madame X will get me out of here if nothing else, and I’ll go back into hiding, no big deal. You taking this risk however seemed asinine. You’re still buried neck deep in this world, you can’t go cutting your head off just to spite people,” he lectured.

A small smile curled at the edges of Harry’s mouth. “You were worried about me?” he asked, thoroughly amused.

Draco only shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. Harry was right; he should be concerning himself with his own arse, not the tight hot piece of arse strapped in the chair beside him.

“Well, that’s sweet, but you don’t have to worry about me. Kingsley would never let anything happen to his Minister-to-be,” he laughed. “Plus, I did nothing wrong,” he added.

“Obviously I know you weren’t harboring me, but how did you get my name cleared without me even being here for a trial?” Draco asked, saving the question of why Harry did it for later.

“There was never any proof that you did anything illegal during the war. Everything was just hearsay and there was no real evidence to support even the least of the rumors. I gave my account and memories of the incident in the Astronomy tower and voi’ la, you were no longer a fugitive,” he said simply.

“Pardon? How do you have any memory of the Astronomy tower?” Draco asked, the sinking in his gut intensified as he thought of the night he nearly killed the headmaster.

Harry raised a delicate looking black eyebrow in question. “Surely you recall the second broom?”

Draco felt confused for a moment but suddenly it all clicked into place. “You were there?”

Harry nodded. “Why do you think I saved your arse so many times during the war? If I had even a suspicion you had killed him I would have let you reap your own consequences.”

A twinge of sadness gripped his heart. Part of him had always hoped that his obsession through school had been mirrored by Harry and that it was a mutual affliction. But no, Harry saved his life, not because he felt connected to him, and didn’t want to break their bond, but merely because he was a brave Gryffindor who knew right from wrong and always acted accordingly.

Draco had spared Harry the time he was captured and brought to the Manor, because he was tied to him and wouldn’t be able to let anything happen to him, not if there was anything he could do to prevent it.

He sighed and remained silent for some time, reflecting on the progression of the day so far. He tried to rid his body of the feelings he had for Harry. Of all the people he had ever known, Harry had the kind of personality that fit precisely against Draco’s like a mold. They had enough in common to be compatible and enough issues to have conflict over to stay heated and passionate.

Draco wanted to scream at his mind to shut the hell up and stop looking for things to love about the raven-haired wizard. But he decided he could either look at this as confinement, or alone time with Harry, it was all a matter of perspective. The thing that worried him the most, though, was that his mind was already referring to him as Harry.

“So you really expected this?” he asked at last, when he couldn’t stop his traitorous brain from singing Harry’s praises.

Harry frowned. “Well, not this exactly. I hadn’t expected Ron to push his new position this far, especially since I gave him the promotion, but more or less, yes, I expected it to be somewhat like this.”

“What’s the deal with the Weasel anyhow?” Draco asked, noting that Harry tensed slightly at the name-calling.

“That’s a long story,” Harry muttered.

Draco looked around the room dramatically. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re locked in an office, and who knows when someone will come get us out? I think we have time for a story,” Draco said, a subtle smirk on his lips. “Plus, I want to know and you sort of owe me for getting me into this mess,” he added mockingly.

Harry rolled his eyes, but laughed in spite of himself. “Did you ever hear about what I was doing during seventh year while everyone else was nice and cozy at Hogwarts?”

“Mother told me you were looking for pieces of Voldemort’s soul to destroy. Of course I find all this out after the fact,” he mumbled.

“Right, well Ron and Hermione were with me, and during the search, Ron bailed. He just up and left us out in the middle of the woods. He came back… but I never really forgave him for just leaving like that. Things were tense with us after that, and then with him getting together with Hermione, I suddenly became the third wheel, so we drifted apart,” Harry said.

Draco scoffed. “The actions I just witnessed were not those of friends who ‘drifted apart’,” he said, making it sound as foolish as it was. “That sounded much more like a lover’s quarrel.”

Harry laughed abruptly. “Is that what you were thinking?” he said in between fits of barking laughter. “I never slept with Ron. No, it was much more complicated than all that, which I would have explained if I hadn’t been so rudely interrupted,” he added with mock frustration.

Draco gestured for him to continue, so he did. “You remember Ginny?”

“She-weasel?” Draco asked.

Harry rolled his eyes and nodded. “Well, we dated. I broke it off before the war, but afterward we got back together. Ron was thrilled, as were all the Weasley’s and things were great between us… or at least it looked like it from the outside.”

Sighing Harry continued. “Well, I wasn’t happy with her, she was petty and a little violent and mostly seemed to like me for my fame, not for me. Meanwhile she seemed to think I was a bore and started sleeping with other men behind my back. Eventually I got so sick of her behavior that I started doing the same.”

“I should have just broken it off with her, though I’m sure Ron would still be pissed at me, but instead I let it go on until I got caught. And by Ron, no less,” he groaned.

“For awhile I couldn’t tell if he was more upset about me cheating on Gin, or that I was gay. In the end I think the disgust for both issues was about even and he decided he hated me, and that I wasn’t the person he thought I had been,” he said quietly. “Which is true really, I’m not at all who he thought I was… I’m not what anyone really thinks I am,” he added with a casual shrug, as if he weren’t carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“I think I know who you are,” Draco whispered, more to himself than to Harry.

“Oh?” Harry asked, amusement coating his voice. He turned and looked at Draco, giving him the full weight of his magnificent green gaze. Their faces were only inches apart and Draco could smell the sweet scent of Harry’s breath, a combination of chocolate and citrus fruit. “By all means, enlighten me,” Harry said, his voice low and suggestive.

Draco swallowed thickly, not really wanting to voice what he thought about Harry. Thinking these things and saying them out loud held different consequences.

“I think you’re a reluctant hero,” Draco began, and narrowed his eyes when Harry scoffed at the word hero. “You don’t see yourself as a hero but you are, you just don’t want to be. You had the problems of a world you didn’t even know existed, thrust upon you as a small boy. You were lied to and manipulated. You had people you loved ripped away from you because of your destiny, but you refused to give up and you refused to back down. That’s heroic.”

“You’re also humble and shy, and you enjoy isolation. Competing with that is your natural ability to lead and to command, things you would rather suppress but cannot. You’re loyal and when you care about someone you would never give up on them. I bet you’d still take the weasel back even after all this if he asked,” Draco said softly.

Harry just stared at him for a moment, a mixture of emotions flickering through his emerald orbs. A second later Draco couldn’t breath, because his mouth was being covered by Harry’s. It took him a minute to realize that he was being kissed, and thoroughly, but only seconds to return the kiss with everything he had.

It was by far the best kiss he had ever experienced. Their lips pressed together with crushing force and their tongues tangled with fevered heat. Harry nipped at his lower lip and Draco made a muffled whimper born of sheer pleasure. His only wish was that his hands were unbound so that he could pull Harry closer.

He tasted like joy, like the emotion had been bottled and concentrated and poured over his tongue and down his throat. Never had he felt so close to someone, so elated, and so afraid, all at the same time.

Harry broke the kiss a moment later and looked away sheepishly. “I’m sorry…” he muttered, still not looking at Draco’s face.

Draco was confused. Mostly by his conflicting feelings for Harry the person and Harry the client. That had been the singularly, most amazing kiss he had ever had, and Draco had a lot to compare it to, and he had no idea what Harry was apologizing for.

Unless…

And the answer hit him across the heart like the Hogwarts Express with Harry’s next words. “I didn’t mean to lead you on. I just… I felt like I needed to kiss you. It was selfish and I’m sorry.”

Draco took a moment to swallow his pain and replaced it with a mask of indifference. “You hardly need to apologize. You paid me to be here, Potter. You’re the client and you do what you want. Don’t think for a second that I’ve forgotten my place in the all this,” Draco said haughtily.

Harry’s eyes went wide for just a moment and then he nodded. “Right, sorry. I’m sure you’re a professional, I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. I just meant what I said earlier about having no intentions of sleeping with you, and I didn’t want you to think I had changed my mind,” he said diplomatically.

Draco nodded and tried to ignore the hurt that he imagined in Harry’s voice. “Well, like I said, I’m here to do whatever you like. Though I’m starting to doubt if we’ll ever get out of here… I might have to charge extra for imprisonment,” he added jokingly.

Harry didn’t seem to hear him and was staring intently at the door. A second later Minister Kinsley walked through, followed by Ron.

The Minister waved his wand, releasing them both from their binds. “Harry, I’m terribly sorry about all this,” Kingsley said, seemingly honest. “The charged Mr. Weasley leveled against you will be thrown out if you just submit to an interview with veritaserum,” he said.

Harry nodded and smiled at the scowling Ron. “Gladly. I’m sure you’ll find no law has been broken here.”

“I’m certain you’re right, Harry,” Kingsley agreed and his gaze moved to Draco. “Will you also submit?”

“Why?” Draco asked, startled. Charges hadn’t even been made against him.

“Protocol,” he replied automatically.

He was very close to protesting, but decided he would rather get the hell out of there than debate ethics with the Ministry, so he nodded his agreement.

Authors Note: I just wanted to give extra thanks to everyone that reviews. I really enjoy reading all of them