A Business Affair

*

Chapter Nine: Convincing Arguments

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Harry cursed.

He was pacing around a large open field on the edge of a forest. The trees loomed ominously over him, trying to draw him in. He was pacing just off the edge of it in the afternoon sun.

He threw his hands up in frustration as he walked around in circles.

What the fuck was I thinking?! What the hell was that?! Harry thought, panicking. He didn't know what had just happened. He couldn't explain any of it. One minute they'd been fighting and the next, he was kissing Draco Malfoy!

'How did that happen?!'

Harry shook his head in disbelief. He wasn't gay! And he didn't want Malfoy! Harry shuddered at the very thought.

No, it-it just happened, Harry told himself forcefully. It was an accident!

Right. Accident. Harry forced himself to stop pacing and took a deep breath. It would be fine. Everything would be fine.

He would just have to ignore Draco from now on. This didn't mean anything. It was an accident. Harry contented himself with those thoughts and decided it was probably time her went home. Ginny would still be angry at him for earlier, but it was better than trying to analyze the recent events.

***

"Don't you know how to knock?"

"What were you doing, Pansy?"

"Nothing," she said acidly, pulling her black silk robe closer to her body and glaring at Draco. Draco raised a disbelieving eyebrow and she scowled at him. "What are you doing here?" she asked, tying the robe closed. Draco sighed dramatically and pushed past her and into the house. Pansy sighed resignedly and followed him in.

Draco plopped down on the couch and waited for Pansy to join him. When she had perched herself carefully on the couches arm, he looked at her. "I hope you're happy," he said finally.

Pansy looked confused and taken aback. "Uh... what?" she asked, unsure.

Draco huffed in annoyance and crossed his arms, looking like a pouting child. "You did this to me. Now Potter is in my head and it's all your fault!"

"Not this again," Pansy sighed.

"Yes, this again!" Draco exclaimed. "I just kissed him and it's all your fault!"

"Wait, you what?" Pansy asked, sure that she hadn't heard correctly.

"I-we--he--Ah! We kissed, okay?!"

Pansy sat back on the arm of the couch and smiled a smug smile. Draco just glared at her.

"Did you like it?" she asked and Draco's eyes widened in horror and his mouth fell open. He snapped it shut moments later though and his eyes threw fire at her.

"What kind of a question is that?!" he exclaimed indignantly.

"It's a simple yes or no question, quite routine," Pansy replied calmly.

Draco simply scowled at her. "Well, I'm not going to answer it," he said stubbornly, turning up his nose at her and looking away.

"You don't have to," Pansy said, trying to suppress her smile. "Your silence tells it all."

"Fuck off, Pansy," Draco growled.

"You came to me, remember?"

"Well, this isn't what I wanted to hear!" he exclaimed.

"I'm not going to lie to you. It's obvious that you enjoyed it. In fact, I'm surprised he wasn't the first person to come to your mind anyway..." Pansy trailed away, thinking.

"Why, because I've hated him for so long?" Draco asked snidely.

"No," Pansy replied calmly "because you've always been drawn to him in some way."

Draco scowled darkly at her but didn't contest her words. "So that means I should have just jumped him the first chance I got, eh?" he asked acidly, still angry.

Pansy rolled her eyes at his tone and sighed. "No, but that doesn't mean you can't still."

"Oh, fuck you," Draco said angrily. "I would never do that. Potter is disgusting. It's a shame the Dark Lord didn't kill him the million times he had the chance."

"Well, you know how bad he was with things like that," Pansy amended.

Draco shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Well, thanks, Pansy. You've been a real help," he said sarcastically, pushing himself off the couch. He sauntered angrily to the door and pushed it open. He strode down the front path and Apparated once he reached the end.

Pansy stood in the door way, leaning on the door frame. She shook her head as she watched him go.

"I really need to put up wards on this place," she muttered to herself before turning around and retreating back inside.

***

Ron walked along the streets of Diagon Alley, browsing in the shops. He stopped as he came to Quality Quidditch Supplies. There was a brand new MoonStar3000 in the window. He stood mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the shining wood, gleaming on its stand in the window.

His eyes became glassed over as he stared at the beauty before him. He raised a hand and placed it longingly on the window. He stared hopelessly at the magnificent broom in front of him.

"Ron?"

Ron continued to stare at the broom in the window.

"Ron!" Ron jerked back from the window, quickly wiping his mouth.

"Oh, uh, hi, Hermione," he said quickly, shaking his head to get rid of the enraptured expression.

Hermione eyed him carefully, then her gaze strayed to the broom and she grinned. "Fantasizing over what you can't have again, Ron?" she asked.

"Hello to you too, Hermione," Ron sighed, turning away from the brooms. Hermione smiled at him, her eyes shining. Ron smiled slightly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously.

"Nothin'," Ron shrugged, starting to walk down the street.

Hermione fell into step with him. "How have you been?" she asked. "I haven't seen you for a while."

"The same. Not much happening really," Ron said indifferently.

Hermione frowned slightly. Their relationship hadn't affected their friendship, luckily, which was why Hermione found his aloofness odd. "How's work?" she said in an effort to keep the small talk up.

"It was funny," Ron said, smiling. "The other day, I came into the office and Berks was flying around the room holding onto one of those Muggle airplanes, you know, the model kind? Well, someone had enchanted it and it was flying all over the place. It was so funny!"

Ron laughed to himself at the memory while Hermione smiled at him.

"So you're doing well, then?" Hermione asked sincerely.

Ron gave her an odd look. "Of course," he said. "Why wouldn't I?"

"No reason," Hermione said evasively.

Ron looked at her closely but seemed to decide she was telling the truth. "Well, I have to get to work," he said.

"Okay, I'll see you around?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, sure," Ron agreed. He smiled once and waved goodbye then Apparated away.

"Something is wrong with that boy," Hermione said to herself before turning around and going back up the street in the direction she'd come.

***

"Harry? We need to talk."

The second Harry heard those words, his heart began to race. This could not possibly be good. He swallowed his heart that had jumped into his throat and turned around slowly on the couch.

Ginny was standing in the door to the kitchen, looking nervous. Harry gave her a questioning look and she avoided his gaze and looked at the floor.

"Could you come here, please?" she asked, sounding timid. Harry stood up cautiously as though sure it was a trap. Ginny turned and moved into the kitchen. Harry followed carefully.

She sat down at the counter and indicated he should do the same. He took his seat, still unsure.

"What's going on?" he asked finally.

She looked down at her hands which she had laid on the counter top. "Harry, I realize we've been fighting an awful lot."

"Yeah," Harry muttered darkly.

Ginny narrowed her eyes, but seemed to force herself to be calm. "Yes, well, I don't like it. I think we should try to be nicer to one another."

Harry didn't say anything for a few minutes. He seemed to be contemplating her words. She watched him carefully, biting her lip in uncertainty. Finally, Harry shifted on his stool and looked at her carefully. "You're right. I hate fighting like this. I just want everything to go back to how it was."

Ginny let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you agree," she said. She walked up to him and hugged him.

He stood up off his chair and pulled her close. He stood there, stroking her long auburn hair, wondering why it felt different all of the sudden.

She pulled away at length and smiled at him. He forced himself to smile back. He was glad that they had come to some kind of truce, but something deep down pulled on his brain telling him it could only last so long.

Ginny moved away from him and grabbed a bowl of popcorn and went into the living room. Harry followed her in a dazed fashion, as though he couldn't believe what had just happened.

He joined her on the couch and absentmindedly ate the popcorn in the proffered bowl. They watched the TV in silence for a while. Harry didn't know what to say. Despite the noise of the TV, there was a sort of awkward silence that hung over them.

"So," Ginny said eventually, "how's Malfoy as the owner of the team?"

Harry very nearly choked on his mouthful of popcorn. He managed to stop coughing long enough to summon a bottle of water.

Ginny watched him in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Harry choked out. "I just... swallowed too much."

He took a big gulp of water and continued to cough slightly. Ginny still looked a little alarmed. He finally stopped coughing and took a deep breath.

"Malfoy is horrible, as always," Harry said, finally answering her question.

Ginny nodded understandingly and finally looked away from Harry. "I don't suppose he's changed at all since school?"

"Not really..." Harry said.

"Is he still being horrible to you?" she asked sympathetically.

"Yeah," Harry affirmed. And now it seems he's found a new form of torture, he added to himself.

"That's too bad. I guess you'll just have to ignore him, right?"

"Right," Harry said, giving her a smile. She returned it encouragingly and snuggled into his side to watch the rest of the show.

Right... Ignore him. I'm sure that'll work, he thought sarcastically. He slid his arm around Ginny and settled in to watch the TV.

***

A week later found Harry at Quidditch practice once again. He had been lucky so far that Draco had not shown up to any of the practices lately, but Harry knew it was only a matter of time before he would come again to torment him.

To Harry's dismay, today was that day. Draco sat in the stands watching the practice, not making a peep. Harry knew something had to be going on. When the practice ended, the team reconvened in the middle of the pitch.

"Good practice, everyone," Wood said encouragingly. Then he lowered his voice. "I'm glad to see that having Malfoy around hasn't lowered your spirits."

Harry just rolled his eyes and scoffed. Wood frowned at him. Wood opened his mouth to say something, but just then, Draco walked up behind Harry and Wood shut his mouth.

"Malfoy, I hope everything went well?" Wood asked, giving him a smile.

"Not bad," Draco said coolly, showing no emotion. Harry rolled his eyes in disgust and Wood gave him a look.

"Well, that's good. If that's all then, team, to the locker rooms." Wood ushered them off the field. Harry turned to follow the rest but was called back.

"Potter!" Draco called to him. Harry stopped and gritted his teeth. He didn't want to talk to or face Malfoy at this point. He turned around slowly, trying to control his emotions. He wasn't about to let what happened last time happen again.

"Yes, Malfoy?" he asked in a voice of forced calm.

"You were off today," Draco said.

"Off?" Harry repeated, his eyebrows furrowed. This wasn't exactly what he'd expected.

"Now, I know we've already been over this, but you need to fix whatever marital problems you have. I don't suppose anything I said before made it through that thick skull of yours," Draco said disdainfully.

Harry glared at him, willing himself to control his temper. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Not that it's any of your business, but Ginny and I are doing fine."

It was partially true. They hadn't had any big arguments lately. Harry could tell that Ginny was trying really hard. He knew that look she got when she was trying to hold in her anger.

"Tell yourself whatever you want, Potter. Just get back on form. Got it?" Draco asked harshly.

Harry closed his eyes, praying for patience. "Fine," he said through gritted teeth.

Draco smirked and walked slowly toward him. Harry watched him through unsure eyes. Draco came until he was within a foot of Harry. Harry didn't move, partially for fear of what was about to happen, and partially because he almost didn't want to walk away.

Draco raised a hand softly traced Harry's jaw line. Harry stared at him in shock, unable to do anything. He moved the hand around to the back of Harry's neck. He pulled Harry forward roughly. Their lips were inches away.

Harry breathing was erratic, partially for fear, partially for something else that Harry couldn't place. His eyes were wide. Draco was smirking evilly at him and his silver-blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight.

"Good, I wouldn't want to have to punish you," Draco whispered quietly, his warm breath ghosting over Harry's own lips. Draco leaned in and kissed Harry's lower lip lightly.

Harry blinked for half a second. When he opened his eyes, Draco was gone. Harry blinked quickly and looked around. He was no where to be seen. Harry let out the breath he'd been holding in ever since Draco had pulled him forward.

He turned to walk back to the locker rooms. It was only then that he realized he had a very obvious problem.

*