A Business Affair

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Chapter Eight: Kiss of Death


"Are we going to tell anyone?"

"I really don't think we should yet."

"Why not?"

"They've got their own problems, plus I don't think they'd be all that supportive of this."

"... yeah, maybe you have a point."

"Of course I do. Now shut up and kiss me."

***

Hermione strolled through the streets of Diagon Alley with Jamie in a stroller in front of her. She loved being a mother. It was everything she'd always wanted. Having a husband like Blaise was just the icing on the cake.

She hadn't trusted him at first, which was to be expected. He had been Draco Malfoy's best friend, and a well known Death Eater. She had reluctantly let him in after he actively pursued her.

Finally, she had agreed to go on one date with him. Luckily for him, he was a very good charmer and wormed his way under her skin. Hermione smiled to herself at the memory.

She stopped outside Flourish and Blott's and was just about to enter when someone shouted her name behind her. She turned to see Harry smiling and waving at her from down the street. She turned and waited for him to catch up.

He slowed to a stop as he reached the book store. He smiled at her cheerfully and reached down to pick up little Jamie. Hermione watched him carefully. "Why are you so happy?" she asked finally as Harry made faces at Jamie.

Harry smiled at her and handed back the baby. "Do I need a reason?" he said happily.

"Well, when you haven't been happy in a month, I'd say yes," Hermione said, taking back her son and settling him down in the stroller once more.

Harry just shrugged at her. "Me and Ginny haven't been fighting half so much in the past few days. I don't know what happened, but she's being nicer," he said. He frowned slightly at the fact that he didn't know why she was being nice.

"Try not to analyze it, Harry," Hermione said quickly, seeing the wheels turning in his head.

Harry remained frowning for a few seconds then sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Why question a good thing, right?" He seemed to have lost his good mood.

"Oh, don't worry, Harry," Hermione said, noticing this. "Just enjoy it while it lasts."

"Exactly," Harry muttered. "How long do you think it'll last this time?"

"I don't know, Harry," Hermione said sympathetically. She could tell he was hurting and didn't know how to fix it. She was good friends with Ginny as well, but she'd never mentioned why they were fighting so much.

"I wish I did," Harry said sadly. "Hmm....anyway, what are you doing here?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I was just going to buy a new book. There's a special edition of Hogwarts, A History that's coming out."

Harry raised a puzzled eyebrow. "But you have that book memorized back to front. Why on Earth would you want to buy another copy?" he asked incredulously.

"It's a special edition. It's been amended and updated. It now contains information on the house-elf population in Hogwarts," Hermione said seriously. Harry couldn't help but laugh at her. She'd never dropped her crusade for house-elves.

"Well, I guess it's an accomplishment..." Harry said, unsure.

"Of course it is!" Hermione said, her hands on her hips. "It took years for me to convince them they should be included in the history."

"I guess that says something about you then," Harry said with a shrug.

"And what's that?" Hermione asked shrewdly.

"You're persistent," Harry said, smiling sarcastically at her.

Hermione scoffed and gave him a withering glance. "Some people would consider that a good quality."

"Maybe," Harry shrugged.

"Well, it has helped me in many situations, mainly those that you got me into."

Harry grinned maniacally at her. "Don't deny we had fun in school," he said with an evil snicker.

"I didn't deny it; I just said that it was your fault."

"What about Ron? He played just as much a role as I did," Harry said, acting hurt by her accusation.

"You and I both know that Ron is not smart enough for all those schemes you did. I love him; I do, but let's just face it. He couldn't have gotten us into half that amount of trouble without you."

"Uh... yeah," Harry said, smiling.

"Right," Hermione agreed with a grin. "Well, I have to go Harry. Try not to think too much into your problems, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Harry said, a little depressed.

"Bye, Harry."

"Bye."

***

Harry walked slowly down the street on which he lived. The apartment buildings gleamed a bright white, looking as though they were perfectly built. They stared at him as he passed, kicking a pebble along the ground.

He was procrastinating. He didn't want to go back to his apartment where he knew Ginny would be waiting. It was true that they had been fighting less, but Harry got the feeling that she was just holding her tongue instead.

He wished he knew what was wrong. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why they were having so many problems. It had only started a few months ago. Harry didn't know why, but out of the blue they'd started having more frequent fights.

Harry sighed and shook his head at the ground as he walked along. He just wanted everything to go back to normal. Unfortunately, normal was not something he'd ever experienced.

Even if he and Ginny managed to reconcile their problems, there was still Malfoy. He seemed determined to make Harry's life a living hell. Harry didn't understand why Malfoy was so fixated on ruining him. Hadn't it been enough to be a Death Eater?! And now, just because he had been acquitted, he has to go about taking all the shots he can get!

Without realizing it, Harry had come to the front of his building. He looked up at it and frowned. He didn't really like living an apartment, but Ginny had said it would be a good investment. He thought it was too small and would have much rather preferred a house further out in the country.

It wasn't like it mattered where he lived. Hell, he could live in Bolivia and it would be fine. He knew how to Apparate. That's all he really needed anyway. But Ginny hadn't liked that idea; she didn't want to live in the country. She preferred to live in the city, surrounded by people and cars, and everything that made noise.

Harry decided that since he was here, he might as well go in. He went into the lobby where the concierge greeted him cheerfully. Harry gave him a small smile and took the elevator to the 4th floor.

He waited impatiently for the moving box to rumble to a stop on his floor. He got out reluctantly and walked slowly down the hall, dreading what he would find at home. He had thought things were going well, but deep down he knew that it was only for the moment.

Harry entered into the apartment carefully. He looked around cautiously and let out a sigh of relief as he realized Ginny wasn't yet home. He went into the bedroom and kicked off his shoes (Ginny would kill him if he left them in the foyer again).

Since Ginny wasn't home, Harry decided to watch some TV with his feet on the coffee table. He flipped on the TV and channel surfed for a while. He conjured himself a drink and some snacks and lounged on the couch.

This was where Ginny found him several hours later when she arrived home. She swung open the door to find Harry sitting lazily on the couch, munching on cookies. Ginny watched as crumbs fell down into the crevices of the couch.

She closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth. She took a deep calming breath before walking into the living room.

Harry saw her and immediately took down his feet. He grabbed his wand and hastily cleaned up his mess. He smiled cautiously at her, hoping to God she wasn't going to yell at him again.

"Hi, Harry," she said in a strained voice, moving swiftly past him and into the kitchen.

Harry grimaced and followed her in. "How was your day?" he asked timidly.

"It was fine," she said shortly, rummaging in a drawer for a knife.

"Do anything interesting?" he asked, trying unsuccessfully to keep the conversation alive.

"No, Harry. I didn't do anything."

"Aren't you going to talk to me?" Harry asked, exasperated.

Ginny stopped rummaging and glanced at him. She reached over and pulled out a cutting board and began to slice vegetables. "What do we need to talk about?" she asked over the noise of the knife.

"Fine, you don't want to talk, we won't talk," Harry said moodily, sitting down at the counter.

Ginny stopped cutting and looked at Harry. "Do you really think pretending to be normal will help?" she asked, fire growing in her eyes.

"Since when have we ever been normal?! I wouldn't even know how to pretend!" Harry exclaimed.

"That's not the point, Harry," Ginny said dangerously. "I don't want to talk today, okay?"

"Fine, I said it was fine. I just wish you would talk to me sometimes!"

"I do talk to you. You just don't listen," Ginny said pointedly and Harry's mouth fell open.

"You only talk to me to tell me what I'm doing wrong!" he exclaimed.

"So, I do talk to you," Ginny said acidly.

"That is NOT the same!"

"It's speaking, isn't it?"

"I can't fucking believe you," Harry muttered.

"Watch your language," Ginny said sharply.

"Why?! It's not like we have kids or something. It's just you and me, Ginny. You and me. I can fucking say whatever the hell I please."

"No, you can't."

"Yes, I bloody well can! You can't stop me from speaking the way I want!"

Ginny glared at Harry over the chopped vegetables. The knife in her hand had started to shake in her anger. Harry eyed it carefully, keeping a close watch on it. Ginny was breathing hard and forced herself to put down the knife.

"Harry," she said, in a voice of forced calm. "Please don't use that kind of language."

"Too late, Ginny, too fucking late," Harry said angrily and stormed out the door.

***

"Fuck! Why? WHY?!"

"Why what, Potter?"

"Why are you here, Malfoy?" Harry groaned. He was standing in the middle of the Quidditch pitch, head in his hands, shaking it back and forth.

Draco stood watching him with an eyebrow raised. "I own the team, Potter. I thought you were a little smarter than that."

Harry took his face out of his hands to glare at Draco. Draco raised a challenging eyebrow and smirked.

"Fuck you, Malfoy," Harry spat.

"As much as you'd like that," Draco drawled, "I really don't think it would be a good idea."

"You are disgusting," Harry said, scowling.

"Only in your mind. Most people find me quite attractive."

"You are the most infuriating person I have ever met!" Harry yelled at him.

"Even more than your wife?" Draco asked, with an innocent smirk.

"Leave her out of this," Harry growled.

"But why? It's her fault anyway, right?"

"Shut up!" Harry yelled, balling up his fists in an effort to control himself.

"What? Don't like hearing that your marriage is a failure?"

"You don't know anything about my marriage," Harry hissed, advancing closer to Draco, willing himself not to hit the smirking blond in front of him.

"I know enough to tell you that you're fighting a losing battle," Draco hissed back.

They were now inches apart. Harry was breathing heavily from the combined efforts of not punching Draco along with trying to control his temper. He didn't suppose Wood would be too happy if he punched the team owner.

"Just stop now," Harry warned him. He could see the malice shining behind Draco's silver-blue eyes as he glared into them.

Draco's smirk was infuriating. "I'll never stop," he said, eyes glinting.

Harry couldn't stand it anymore. In a split second, he was on top of Draco, hitting every inch he could reach. Draco made a muffled sound, somewhere between a noise of indignance and surprise. Harry's dominance didn't last long.

Draco pushed Harry off of him and rolled over so that he was on top. Harry struggled violently against Draco's weight. He yelled angrily and kneed Draco in the stomach.

Draco glared at him angrily and pushed him down onto the ground hard. Harry grabbed Draco's arm and pulled on it violently, causing him to fall on top of Harry. Harry twisted the arm around and Draco yelped in pain.

He jerked his arm out of Harry's grasp and punched him in the face. Harry recovered immediately from the hit and glared daggers at Draco. He lunged upward and felt his head connect with Draco's.

He didn't fall back though. His lips had connected with Draco's and he was frozen. He didn't know what to do. Neither was moving until Draco opened his mouth slightly and licked Harry's lips.

Harry let out a surprised gasp. In that few seconds, Draco took full advantage of the open mouth. He slipped his tongue into Harry's mouth, tasting him.

To Harry's horror and astonishment, he began to respond to the kiss. Draco deepened it, pulling on Harry's lower lip. He could feel Draco's tongue caressing his mouth, licking and nibbling. His eyes had been wide in horror but they now began to drift closed.

That is, until he realized what the hell was going on. He made a startled noise and pushed Draco away forcefully and scrambled to his feet.

"What the fuck was that?!" he exclaimed, wiping off his mouth with his sleeve. Draco remained on the grass, staring at the spot Harry had been. He had an odd expression on his face, one that Harry couldn't discern.

Harry didn't wait for a response. Instead, he turned and practically sprinted off the field.


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A/N: The couple at the beginning... That was NOT Ginny, just so you all know. :) I'm not telling who it was, you will know eventually. :)