The Thing About One-Night Stands

A really big thanks to tari_sue on LJ for her beta work. *hugs*




There was in itchy sensation in Harry’s head, like ants crawling underneath his scalp. He tried to open his eyes, but the light that shot through was like sharp daggers to his sensitive sight. Better not to open them then. By the smell of foul medical potions in the air, and the fact that he felt as if he had fallen off his broom, he could surmise that this must be the hospital. He groaned. What had he done now?

“Ron!” The shriek of Hermione’s voice bounced off the walls. If he had thought the pain of light was bad, there was nothing to compare to that noise. “He’s waking up!”

Damn, he’d been caught. He supposed that really meant he had to open his eyes. Gritting his teeth, he looked through the pain and up into his friends’ identical worried expressions.

“Harry!” Ron said, looking relieved. “How are you feeling?”

Harry’s voice was scratchy as he tried to answer, so instead he shrugged. That certainly was painful, he noted that shrugging was out for a while.

“Oh Harry,” Hermione said grabbing his hand and squeezing it. “We were worried. You had a nasty concussion. Ron, go get someone for Merlin’s sake!”

“Right. Right!” Ron said, turning to leave only to crash into the closed door. He fell backwards and landed on his bum with an exclamation of “ouch”.

“Careful,” Hermione tisked as she ran the three feet to his side. Harry smiled, they really were quite the pair.

Something was nudging the back of his mind, like a gentle touch probing his brain. As he watched Hermione help pick Ron up he thought maybe there was something he was suppose to remember. Concussion? What had he done to get-

“Draco!” he said, sitting up so fast he made the world spin and his whole body protest in aches. Hermione and Ron were there a second later, pushing him back down onto the bed. “Where is he? What happened?”

“Relax, mate. He’s fine,” Ron said, still pinning Harry’s shoulders. “Better than fine, last I heard he was squawking like a flock of geese to the staff outside.”

“Outside? The room?”

“No,” Hermione said. “Ex-Death Eaters aren’t allowed in St. Mungo's. He’s got his lawyers with him trying to get him in. That is, if the aurors haven’t come and taken him away by now.”

“He can’t come in?” Harry said. “But I thought St. Mungo's policy treated anyone, regardless.”

“Treat yes, allow for visits, no,” she said.

“So he’s okay? The spell missed?”

Hermione bit her lip. “No, Harry. The spell never hit.”

“So I can’t see him?”

Ron and Hermione shared a private look, then she gazed down. “Not quite yet. But in the meantime, there are-”

“Why didn’t you tell us, Harry!?” Ron whined suddenly.

Harry blinked. “Tell you? What was I suppose to tell you?”

The red haired teen huffed but didn’t answer and looked toward Hermione instead.

“You were asking about it, I should have guessed then. Harry, how long have you known you and Draco have companionable magic?”

“Er-”

“Tell her it was something else! You don’t really have companionable magic with Ferret-face, right? Hermione saw wrong, right?”

“I-”

“There isn’t anything wrong with it, Ron. In fact, it’s a good thing.”

“Good thing? Good? That blasted snake is Harry’s… Harry’s…”

“Match?” Hermione supplied

Harry’s heart swelled.

“No! He’s Malfoy. The only thing he matches is a slimy slug.”

“Ron, if it weren’t for their magic then…” Hermione trailed off. Harry was slightly startled to see her brown eyes turning watery.

“Shh, don’t cry,” Ron said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She ducked her head into his neck and let out a loud sob.

“Harry, I had no idea.” Her voice was muffled as she spoke. “I never knew that- I wouldn’t have ever- oh!”

Ron patted her back in a soothing manner and gave Harry a pleading look. For the first time since he woke up, Brandon entered his thoughts and an instant burning rage spread through his veins. He wanted nothing more than to track down the bastard and beat him to a bloody pulp.

“It’s okay, Hermione. None of us knew,” he said, keeping his voice as calm as possible. “Er- he… what happened to him, exactly?”

“Brain-dead,” Ron said. “Hermione actually decided we should save him.”

“We had to.” Hermione protested.

“She made me apparate him here. ’Course, that was about thirty minutes after the spell hit, and it was about fifteen more till they were able to reverse it.”

“Spell?”

Hermione emerged from her Ron shelter. “It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. As I was coming to, I looked up and there you and Malfoy were, blanketed in pure, swirling magic.”

Harry’s brows furrowed. He could remember something like that. Vaguely.

“And then Brandon cast that dark spell and my wand was so far away…” Hermione’s breath hitched. “I was horrified, I had no idea what he cast and…”

She squeezed her eyes shut and two fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Oh, but you were safely wrapped in your magic and the spell ricocheted back to Brandon. It was all so hectic but Harry, your magic mixing with Draco’s was beautiful!”

“He gets it, Hermione,” Ron said, sounding rather petulant. “It was pretty.”

Harry closed his eyes for a moment. He didn’t know what any of this would mean to Draco, and was more than a little afraid to find out. “Have either of you spoken to him?”

“Yes,” Hermione said. “And I refuse to speak to him again for at least a month after what I found out.”

Ron coughed, sounding suspiciously like he was trying to hold back a laugh.

“What’s that?” Harry said.

Hermione’s eyes narrowed. “He mistreated house elves. Can you believe he would order one of them to follow you around and watch you all the time?” She sniffed delicately. “It’s absolutely appalling, not just to your privacy, but to the poor thing. Probably didn’t sleep for weeks.”

Harry cleared his throat and shifted his gaze to her left. He made a mental note never to tell her about the particular task he had ordered Kreacher to do in sixth year.

“Right,” Ron snorted. “Don’t listen to her, not an hour ago she had her arms all over him. She can’t stay away.”

“I was thanking him, Ronald. Something you’ve yet to do.”

Ron, to his credit, looked a little sheepish.

“He was the one who came and told us when Harry was kidnapped,” she said quietly.

“That’s right, mate. You should have seen him.” Ron let out a gleeful laugh. “He was crying.”

“What?” Harry said, trying to sit up again. Hermione bit her lip and nodded.

“Bloody git would have probably run off and got you both killed if Hermione and I hadn’t stopped him.”

Harry opened his mouth as his questions started boiling to the surface, but paused when Hermione held up her hand. “You should get some rest, we can talk about this all later,” she said, patting his hand. He wanted to protest, but thought better of it in the face of his ever-fussing friend. When he fell asleep not much later, despite his racing thoughts, he had a slight smile on his lips.


***

As it turned out, St. Mungo's never let Draco in to visit. It wasn’t until Harry was being discharged that the first opportunity to see him became evident. He busied himself by signing his papers while Ron and Hermione went to scope out the area. Apparently, in the three days Harry had been there, Draco hadn’t left once.

His stomach did an acrobatic flip-flop when Hermione confirmed Draco was still waiting for him. As they made their way down the hall Harry couldn’t help nervously flattening his hair and smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothes. Not that it particularly mattered how he appeared to Malfoy, he just felt like looking nice was all.

Outside he was greeted by an overcast sky, dulling the world in a depressing gray light. At least Hermione had managed to get rid of the few reporters that Ron had discovered circling the grounds like vultures. They made their way down the entry path and Harry’s palms started to sweat at the site of Draco standing there, his outer appearance completely indifferent to everything around him.

“Hi,” Harry said once he had walked close enough to be heard. He ducked his head a bit, feeling inexplicably shy.

Up close he noted Draco looked tired. His hair was limp, skin ashen, and eyes bloodshot. Even though Harry knew he should probably feel guilty or some similar emotion, he only felt a small excitement.

Draco had been worried about him.

“Well?” Ron suddenly said, causing Harry to jerk in surprise.

“Well what, Weasley?” Draco said with a sneered.

Ron rolled his eyes. “You’ve been camping outside the property lines of St. Mungo’s for the past two nights, only to stand there stupidly when Harry finally comes down?”

Draco shrugged. “After all that hassle I had to go through, I wanted to make sure Potter didn’t croak.”

Something invisible squeezed Harry’s heart. He reminded himself that he hadn’t actually known Draco’s true motives for all that he had done. Although he would have liked to believe that it was all because Draco actually cared for him, he knew better than to hope that was all.

“Draco,” he said, then paused. ‘Thank you’ never seemed like enough to tell a person after they saved his life. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really much else to be said when expressing gratitude. “Thanks for what you did. It meant a lot and I’ll never forget it.

Draco looked him up and down once before flicking his hand in a dismissive gesture. Harry’s chest felt a lot tighter all the sudden.

“Potter, we need to talk,” Draco drawled. “Come by my place tomorrow after dinner.”

Halfway through Harry’s affirmative, Draco apparated away.


***


‘After dinner’ was an extremely, frustratingly, vague time for Harry’s liking. His meeting with Draco stayed in his thoughts all day. He fought down actual thoughts about the meeting, though, with the hope that if he kept his expectations low, then he was less likely to be disappointed. Finally, around six that evening Harry flooed over to Draco’s flat.

The blond was sitting on of his black leather chairs, reading the Daily Prophet with a calm expression. He looked better, his skin had regained some of its color and his hair some of its bounce. Without looking up from the paper, he gestured towards the seat next to him Harry sat down, waiting quietly.

The crackling of the fire seemed eerily loud in the silent atmosphere of the room. Every once in a while Draco would shift the paper in his hands, causing a noisy rustling. Harry just sat there, not sure what he should be feeling about all this.

Finally, Draco folded the paper and tossed it aside on the floor. “I can’t believe Granger saved the bastard. He deserved a slow and painful death after what he did to you.”

“She was just doing what she thought was right,” Harry defended firmly. Draco rolled his eyes and stood up, pacing.

“You Gryffindors and your morals. What in Merlin’s name were you doing dating him in the first place?”

Harry’s sigh turned into a chuckle, then an all out laugh. He could help the way his diaphragm bounced uncontrollably, making him gasp for breath. Draco’s irritated face only seemed to fuel it on.

“What’s so funny?” Draco asked, irritation giving his voice a growling quality.

“I thought he’d be good for me. I thought it would be healthy to date him.” The irony of it all wasn’t lost on Harry. Draco huffed and turned towards the fire.

Harry wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but thought better of it. Instead, he asked, “Did you know we had companionable magic?”

“No. Not until…” The blond shrugged.

“But the buzzing…”

Draco turned around, looking slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t know what that was.”

“Oh,” Harry said and let a quiet moment pass between them. “So what now?”

A pale hand reached out to him, helping him stand.

“Now? Now our magic will materialize when we fuck,” Draco said, smirking. “I say we should test it out.”

Was this all just some experiment to Draco? Harry didn’t know if he meant anything to Draco, really meant anything, but he kept his mouth shut as he was dragged into the blond’s luxurious bedroom. A hot mouth attached itself on his throat, kissing and sucking in places that sent a jolt of pleasure straight to his groin. Harry could already hear the low buzzing in the room.

He slipped firm chest and shapely shoulders. There was no way he could ever grow tired of such a glorious sight.

Pulling Draco flush against his body, Harry kissed him passionately, trailing his tongue across pink lips before slipping inside. Pale hands found their way underneath his shirt, smoothing palms up his abs. Harry gasped when Draco playfully pinched his nipples.

“Get your shirt off,” Draco said, followed by a breathless chuckle when it was torn away. Harry growled and jumped forward, latching his mouth onto Draco’s own peaking nipples. He smiled when Draco cried out and grabbed his head, pushing his mouth further onto the sensitive flesh.

He rolled his tongue over it slowly, letting it harden in his mouth before biting down gently. Draco whimpered and squirmed, tugging at Harry’s hair. Pulling back, Harry blew coldly and soaked up the sounds of Draco’s pleasured cries. As he moved on for a repeat performance of the other nipple, he pushed their bodies back until they fell halfway on the bed. Blindly they toed of their own shoes and socks before attacking each other’s trousers.

“I want to fuck you so badly,” Draco said, jerking Harry’s pants and boxers down so hard he was almost pulled off the bed along with them.

“Yes, yes, fuck yes.”

A second later Draco was holding Harry’s face tenderly as they kissed passionately. Harry’s toes curled and back arched as a pleasant tingle trickled down his spine. A strong thigh was placed in between his legs, pressing so deliciously and he was thrusting up against it, trying to relieve the straining ache from his swollen erection.

“Hands and knees,” Draco whispered into his ear, lips grazing the sensitive flesh. Harry hesitated for a split second before turning over. He spread his legs, feeling more naked and vulnerable than he ever had before, and yet he didn’t care, he couldn’t. Not when what he did was for Draco.

He felt a warm, confident hand trail up his inner thighs. When Draco’s fingers started massaging his arse and moving closer to his entrance he moaned and dropped to his elbows. They parted him, exposing him further until-

“Ohfuck.”

Draco’s warm tongue pressed against his hole, swirling around . He panted and groaned as it slipped inside him, moving in and out, fucking him slowly. He’d never imagined it would feel so good, warm and wet and so incredibly kinky. A drop of precome rolled onto his chest as his erection twitched.

All too soon Draco was pulling away, and Harry most certainly was not whining pathetically. The blond kissed his lower back softly, then abruptly pushed him over. Harry’s brows furrowed questioningly, but Draco just laughed and tucked a pillow under his hips before bending down and nipping the inside of Harry’s thigh. The shout of indignation turned into a moan as the tender spot was soothed with a warm tongue.

“Merlin, I’ve been dreaming about this for so long,” Draco said, and Harry looked down to see slender fingers coated in a slick, shinny substance. They both groaned as the first digit disappeared inside his body, carefully rubbing the tight channel.

By the time the third finger was inside stretching him carefully, Draco was rubbing his prostate continuously. Harry laid helpless on the bed, head thrown back and body a writhing mass of moans and whimpers as pleasure swelled in his groin. When the fingers were removed, Harry whined pathetically until he felt his legs being parted and something larger rubbing at his entrance.

“Harry,” Draco said gently. He opened his green eyes and almost gasped from the intensity of Draco’s gaze. Their eyes were locked as he slowly, slowly pushed inside. A crackling sound filled the room for a brief moment, then died down.

If there was any pain, Harry didn’t notice with the way those silver eyes demanded all his attention. They were smoldering, burning into Harry’s very soul and leaving Draco’s mark deep inside.

Hips jerked forward and started a rhythm that had Harry’s body thrumming like the magic slowly materializing around them. There was nothing hurried about the movements, they were languid and slow, drawing out the moment. One hand supported Draco as he thrust, the other caressed Harry’s body tenderly, moving over his chest, shoulders, face, anywhere they could comfortably reach. Open mouthed kisses were placed along his neck between the light brushes against his lips.

It was heaven.

Draco dropped to his elbow, bringing their heated bodies closer together and Harry reveled in the feeling. He wanted this always. Not just the sex, though that was very good too, but the attention and the connection with Draco. Harry had never felt so precious in his life.

Yes, he couldn’t imagine this with anyone but the blond. The need for him had somehow buried itself so far down it was rooted in his very bones.

“I love you, Draco.”

The movement stopped and Harry looked up into shocked gray eyes not a breath away from his face. The buzzing peaked for a moment before returning to a low hum. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but he wasn’t going to deny it now. Draco stared down at him, mouth opened and eyes wide. He buried his head in Harry’s neck a second later and placed the most gentle of kisses there.

Harry thought it might be an apologetic act and resigned himself to never hearing those words returned. He didn’t know if Draco was apologizing for Harry loving him, or for not loving him back.

It was okay, Harry decided. For now it was enough that he loved Draco.

The thrusting picked up again and this time Draco didn’t seem to dare make eye contact. He remained tucked into Harry’s neck, still kissing and sucking. His hot breath ghosted across Harry’s ear erotically, spurring on his pleasure and lust.

The magic around them started to flash visibly, like a spark of static electricity. It rose in frequency as the pleasure inside Harry built with every thrust to his prostate and rub of his erection between their stomachs.

It was his name spilling from Draco’s lips that pushed him over the edge. He arched up, his whole body quivering as his desire spilled onto their stomachs. Draco followed soon after, biting into Harry’s neck and muffling a cry. Their magic materialized in a bright show of colors, crackling above them intensely and filling the whole room with light.

It might have been the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen before, he didn’t know. He was too busy holding Draco close to his body and kissing him to notice it much.

He laid quietly with Draco’s head resting on his chest, watching as the last of their tangible magic fizzled out of the air. With Draco’s warm body curled against his it was undeniably one of the most perfect moments of his life.

But deep inside his darker thoughts he had to wonder just how long it would stay this nice. He knew the answer to that, in the morning Draco’s voice would be icy as he kicked Harry out. It would be better if he left now instead of waiting until morning.

In fact, he might be able to have more moments like these in his life if he played his cards right. He could come over anytime Draco asked for one of their, well they couldn’t be considered one-night stands anymore, but whatever they were. As long as he didn’t spend the night he could handle it. He’d go home to sleep in his own bed and try and forget about it until next time.

He ignored the way his heart clenched in his chest. Logically, that made sense. And if ever–

“I love you too.”

Harry blinked. All thoughts poured out of his mind and his heart tripled its rhythm.

“What?” he whispered so quietly he wasn’t sure Draco could even hear. He certainly couldn’t over the pounding in his ears.

“I said…” Draco looked up, locking their eyes. “I love you, Harry.”

After a moment passed where Harry continued to gape at him dumbly, Draco laughed. It wasn’t mocking or cruel. No, it was gleeful, a sound so beautiful it sent tingles down Harry’s spine and a smile to his lips.

“I was thinking,” Draco said cheerfully. “You really do have an awful flat. I don’t know how anyone could manage to live there, so it only makes sense that you come and live with me.”

Harry tried to control his breathing. “I–”

“And while we’re at it, it wouldn’t kill you to go shopping for some new clothes. It’s about time I get you some proper wizard robes. You know, they’re much easier to pull off in the throws of passion. Although, I might make it a rule that you can’t ever wear any clothes in my presence unless in public. Harry, I can’t breathe.”

He released his tight grip around Draco’s shoulders. “Sorry.”

Draco snuggled up closer and let out a contented sigh. “Let’s get some rest, we have a lot of sex to get in before we shop tomorrow.”

Harry smiled. He was just starting to see all the positives of having companionable magic with Draco Malfoy.

-Fin

++++

A/N: Sequel? Possibly...
I have a small outline for one, but I’ll have to see. In the future there might be a story titled something along the lines of “The Thing About Companionable Magic” :3



Thanks so much for the reviews!
*hugs to Takumi Fujiwara thrnbrooke LexieMalfoy Aya-chan WalkingAway

Amiyom and RRW Hopefully this chapter answered all your questions. ^_^

GoddessMoonLady Under all the layers of smirking and snarkiness, I always thought Draco was a gentle soul. *Fangirl sigh*

DiscoLemonade XD I suppose Brandon’s issues will always be a mystery...

Caldonya Lol I know, Brandon and Harry should have had a daily tea party for a week. XD
But I don’t think Draco would have stood for that...

Roozette Yay! Thank you! *hopes my muse will share the cookies* You’re comments always make me smile. :D


hieisdragoness18 I know, I’m evil. *Rubs hands together and laughs evilly*

avihenda ^_^ My inner fangirl demanded it get sorted out and add fluff on the top.

Jilliane Someone on LJ had the same prediction! That would have been an awesome twist...
Oh well, Hermione was still wracked with guilt so I suppose it all worked out in the end. I wonder, if I write a sequel, if she’ll learn to stay out of Harry’s business...

Lydia Monroe It’s a new trio of hero’s!
It’s about time for Draco, too. *nods*
:)

MewMew2 Thanks! I suppose Draco got more than he bargained for when he propositioned Harry. :3

Werewolf Mistress (A.K.A Jan) Yay, Draco to the rescue!

Thanks again everyone!