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: 7/?.

Chapter Title: True Confessions

Chapter Authors: slashpervert and acidpop25.

Beta(s): nefernat

Chapter Rating: PG-13

Words: 1735 Words

Chapter Characters: Draco Malfoy and Theo Nott.

Warnings: Language, discussing sex.

Summary: Draco talks with Theo about Pansy and Harry.





Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003



Draco made his way through the halls to Theo's office. He took a breath and knocked on the door.



"Come in," Theodore called, without looking up. Probably Draco; it was around noon, by now.



Draco opened the door, walked in and closed it behind him. He nodded at the other man, "Hello Theo," and sat in the chair opposite him. "How are you doing?"



Theo sighed, looking up from his work and setting down his quill. "Obscenely busy, and yourself?"



Draco ducked his head, hiding the pink of his cheeks when he thought of what he had been doing. "Yes," he nodded, "lots of research in the archives." He tried to clear his head of thoughts of Harry and concentrate on Pansy. He leaned back; his face composed again and regarded Theo.



"Anatomy research, I'll wager," Theo remarked, arching an eyebrow. "But I somehow doubt you came here to discuss your illicit lust for Harry."



"Crude, Theo." Draco crossed one leg on across his knee and sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about Pansy."



Theo leaned back in his chair. "What about her?"



"Have you seen her recently?" Draco asked, one eyebrow raised.



"She's been in and out of the house. This whole thing has us both overworked," Theo said, sighing. "Your Department Head was kind enough to turn over some of the research into what sort of magic may have been used in the killing to us."



Draco's eyebrows rose at the mention of his Department Head turning over Draco's research without his knowledge. He shook his head and refused to take the bait. "Are you avoiding her, Theo?" he asked as if he were asking about the weather.



Theo blinked at him. "Why would I be?"



Draco sighed. "Apparently, there has been some tension between the Ministry and the Daily Prophet. And she hasn't seen you lately," Draco let it trail off.



"Oh, well, the issue with the Prophet isn't really my concern. Or not yet, at least. I'm staying out of that." Theo shrugged. "I've been here, mostly. It's certainly nothing personal; I've just been snowed under with work, which she ought to know perfectly well. Or, if she was truly so concerned, try talking to me herself before getting you to do her dirty work."



Draco smirked, "Yes, Pansy does have a tendency to jump to conclusions." He leaned forward, uncrossing his leg and resting his elbows in his knees. "But Theo, we have known her a long time. You were her friend before you became her ... lover. Don't you know what she is like by now? Isn't that just part of who she is?"



"It works both ways, Draco," Theo pointed out mildly. Even if I was upset with her for some reason, she should know full well that I still listen."



"Yes, ideally it would," Draco nodded, remembering her barging in on him and the way she yelled at him even when he came to her. He shook his head. "But she just isn't like this. At work, she will go talk to anyone about anything. But not where she most needs it."



Theo sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, well, maybe it's high time she learned to."



Draco steepled his fingers in front of this face and pursed his lips a bit. "Will you teach her Theo, or loose her?"



He frowned. "Don't be stupid, Draco. I'll talk to her. But if she can't trust me enough to even ask if I'm upset, well, what kind of love is that?"



Draco raised his eyebrows, sighing, "Maybe the only kind she knows." Draco sat up again, putting his arms on the sides of the chair, "Speaking of my being stupid, she had me promise to tell you something."



"And what might that be?" Theo asked.



Draco shook his head, "Not something I am comfortable talking about actually. So I would need your word that you won't talk about it to anyone else until I am ready to."



Theodore quirked an eyebrow. "I'm an Unspeakable, Draco. I daresay I'm rather good at keeping secrets."



"When asked to," Draco confirmed. "So I am asking."



"It ought to go without saying," Theo said quietly, "that what's said in this room stays here."



Draco inclined his head, part nod part bow. He sighed again, "I wouldn't be even talking to you about this yet, if Pansy wasn't so concerned that she didn't want to keep any secrets between you and her." He met the other man's eyes challengingly and then looked back down at his carefully manicured nails, as if seeking a flaw there. "I am 'involved' with someone."



"Mmhm," Theodore said noncommittally, waiting for Draco to continue.



Draco took another deep breath and looked up at Theo, leaning back in his seat and crossing his legs again. He tried to put on the best confident Slytherin look he could muster. "As of this last weekend, Harry and I are...," his words and calm faulted when he realized he didn't know what to call it. "We are 'involved.'"



"Took you long enough," Theo said mildly. "You do know that Harry, last I checked, is seeing Weasley, right?"



Draco stopped and looked at Theo sharply, frowning. "I..." he stopped, closed his mouth and nodded, "Which is why it is not for public knowledge. His roommate is out of town right now."



Theo nodded slightly. "Wouldn't be the first time Harry's cheated on him," he remarked.



Draco's frown deepened and he cocked his head, looking intently at Theo. "What do you mean?" he asked.



"I mean precisely what I said," Theo answered, leaning back a bit.



Draco's face went blank as he tried to maintain control. "With you," he said.



"Just once," Theo said, shrugging slightly. "To be fair, those two were... very unstable, at that point. If it even yet technically was a relationship, which still remains rather unclear."



Draco opened his mouth to say something and then realized he had no idea what to say to that. He just sat looking at Theo for a moment. "I probably don't want to know, but is this before or after you and Pansy?"



"Before," Theo said. "Harry's half the reason I even went after her."



Draco paused, then asked anyway, "Why is that exactly? What does Harry have to do with it?"



Theo chuckled softly. "He kindly pointed out to me that I was being an idiot about the whole thing, and should probably get over that."



"Harry called you an idiot about...?" Draco began, "About what?"



"I was having a bit of trouble dealing with the fact that I was attracted to my female close friend," Theo said, rolling his eyes. "Which, given the fact that I'd never looked twice at a girl before, was something of a shock."



"And you talked with Harry about this." Draco sounded confused. "While you two were..." Draco put his hands in his face and gave up all pretence of knowing what was going on.



"Well, not while we were actually otherwise engaged, but around then." Theo drummed his fingers absently on his desk. "We get on rather better than might be expected. I think I like him."



"Yes," Draco's voice sounded a bit far away and he wondered what other surprises were in store for him. "Well," he said, "at least your reaction is a lot calmer than Pansy's was." Draco laughed, "She actually sent me a howler."



Theo's lips quirked into a slight smile. "Sounds about right."



"To be frank, I didn't actually tell her," Draco smiled. "She barged into my room at the townhouse on Sunday and walked in on us."

Theodore laughed. "Ohh, she must have pitched a fit."



"Pitched a fit and seemed about ready to pitch Harry out the window," Draco laughed, shaking his head. "She stormed out and then sent me owls all bloody afternoon and finally a howler. I had to go to her place and calm her down. Who knows what she would have sent next!"



Theo's jaw tightened. "I see," he said shortly.



Draco stopped short, looking up at the change in the other man's tone. "Shite," he said quietly. He leaned forward again, "Theo, she is scared. Pansy plays the tough. You know that. But in many ways she really isn't. Don't tell her I told you, just go find her and let her know how you feel. If Harry can call you an idiot and get away with it, can I ask you not to be one?"



Theo made a frustrated noise and stood, starting to pace. "I don't believe her."



Draco watched him pace a minute and finally reached his own hand out and caught Theo's hand, and looking up at him. "Theo, she loves you," she does.



"Could have fooled me," Theo snapped.



"But you are not a fool, Theo," Draco said still holding his hand and looking up at him, "None of us have much trust in love, do we?"



Theo pulled back and turned away. "It's not as if anyone has ever loved me," he said coldly.



Draco crossed his arms on his chest and sat back, feeling rebuffed. "No, because Pansy can't possibly love you, can she? She can't possibly be getting this upset over you because she cares, can she? Theo, it is now my turn to call you an idiot."



"You knew what I meant," Theo snapped.



"Do I?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "You mean that all of us had manipulative jerks for parents? Then, yes. But do you mean that no one cares about you, well then you are fucking blind, Theo!"



Theodore's eyes flashed. "Draco," he said, voice low and very, very calm. "Don't you have a case to be working on?"



Draco stood up slowly, and stepped into Theo's personal space and looked him in the eyes. "Yes," he said quietly, "I do. Or at least I still think I do if no one has taken it over in the last few hours. And, I guess I am an idiot, too because I thought the welfare of my two best friends was important."



"It's not," Theodore said tersely. "Now get out before I do something I'll regret."



"You know how to find me if you want to," Draco said quietly, nearly whispering and then turned and left. He didn't slam the door but he didn't close it either.