Tainted Love

These characters aren\'t mine. I was just playing around one day, and this is what I came up with. Be gentle.

Harry tossed a ten-pound note on the bar to cover for his drink, a heady concoction of premium vodka and cranberry juice, and a two-pound tip. He added a generous tip of twenty pounds after he caught the bartender’s eye, keeping up the generous tipping he had provided for his last three drinks. The bartender grinned at him and winked, scooping up the tip in one fluid motion. Every time Harry had come over to the bar, he had immediate service, and that was how he planned on keeping it. He was looking to get himself thoroughly pissed, and was well on his way there.

Sliding off the bar stool, he strolled through the club aimlessly. He wasn’t oblivious to the stares he received from many of the men in his path, but he refused to acknowledge them. He wasn’t at the club for that reason; he was there for the sole purpose of forgetting the worries that plagued him.

The slow song that was on came to an end, and as the beginning of the next song drifted out over the gathering, the crowd went crazy. It was a favorite at the dance club, and could always be counted on to double the amount of patrons on the dance floor.

Sometimes I feel I\'ve got to
Run away I\'ve got to
Get away from the pain
You drive into the heart of me

Harry only allowed himself a ghost of a smile, noting the irony of the song when compared with his current predicament. His brief walk through the club found him in a slightly quieter section of the club, reserved for couples who wanted to be alone for a little while without the deafening roar of the music. You could hear yourself think here, and also hear what the person next to you was saying. That wasn’t to say that he was in the mood to think about much of anything or talk to anyone, but he didn’t want to deal with being propositioned, and this was as good a place as any to enjoy his drink.

He felt eyes on him again, and when the feeling didn’t go away after a while, he cursed under his breath. He loved this club in the heart of one of muggle London’s largest gay communities for the anonymity it afforded him, and he didn’t want that to be compromised. In short, he wanted a place where he could get drunk in peace, without worrying about the headlines in the morning. He turned slowly, fearing that someone from the magical community had found him and would shortly make a spectacle of him. He met the gaze of his admirer, and was shocked at who he saw.

The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I\'ve lost my light
For I toss and turn
I can\'t sleep at night

A lit cigarette loosely hanging from between his lips, Draco coolly stared at his on-again, off-again lover. He took a drag, the cherry of the cigarette flaring in protest, and plucked it from his lips. Before exhaling, he asked him a simple question. “Surprised to see me?”

Harry’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “I hate that bloody filthy habit and you know it,” he retorted in a half-angered, half-defeated tone of voice. He moved to grab the cigarette out of Draco’s hand, but Draco had the advantage of being completely sober and moved his hand in time. Taking a last drag of the cigarette, he viciously stabbed it into an ashtray, and turned to face Harry once more.

Harry wasn’t standing there, though; he was walking briskly towards the entrance of the club, intent on leaving the establishment and the source of his woes behind.

Once I ran to you
Now I\'ll run from you
This tainted love you\'ve given
I gave you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that\'s not nearly all

Unfortunately for him his exit was not as unnoticeable as he would’ve liked it to be, and he soon found himself pressed up against the brick wall of a gourmet grocery store a few buildings down.

“What the hell are you playing at, Harry? Why are you doing this?” Draco hissed at him, the intensity burning in his normally cold gray eyes.

Oh...tainted love
Tainted love

His words slurring only slightly, Harry responded. “You don’t care. You never cared. I can’t believe you’re even here,” he said, squinting to look at him. “Am I imagining you? I’m here to get away from you. It hardly makes sense that I’d think you were in front of me. I didn’t drink that much.”

Draco groaned during Harry’s rationalization of his surroundings, and fired off a reply right away. “If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here, you git. Why do we have to do this?”

Harryshrugged in response, and, after a moment, tried to push him off. After a few unsuccessful tries, he got lucky and shoved him away.

Now I know I\'ve got to
Run away I\'ve got to
Get away
You don\'t really want
Any more from me

Draco grabbed his arm and spun him around, doing the only thing he could think of to stop Harry in his tracks. He crushed his lips to Harry’s in a demanding kiss. Harry tried to deny him, but the blonde’s talent with his tongue was something that he could never resist, and he started to respond to him, threading his fingers through the shoulder-length locks of platinum. He drew Draco closer; his body and mind were clamoring for his lover’s touch, as it had been close to a week since they had last been together.

Abruptly, Draco pulled away, and hugged Harry to him tightly. “Why do we have to do this? I don’t know how to prove to you that I care. You won’t let me.”

To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you\'ll think love is to pray
But I\'m sorry I don\'t pray that way

Harry sighed, and leaned his forehead against Draco’s. They were so close that their breath mingled, and they could see that in the cold winter’s air. “We do this because we fight so much about so little. Then we make up, but it winds up getting bad again. I hate that. I love you. Why can’t it be that simple?”

Once I ran to you
Now I\'ll run from you
This tainted love you\'ve given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that\'s not nearly all
Oh...tainted love
Tainted love

Draco cringed at his words, accepting the brutal honesty that came from Harry’s drunken stupor. “I will make it right this time. I was wrong, Harry,” he admitted, and that, in and of itself, was a rare occurrence. Draco thought he was infallible most of the time, but after waking up repeatedly without Harry in his bed, he realized that many of his actions and words were said without thought, and often injured Harry’s pride. It was a testament to Harry’s forgiving nature that they had made it this far, but it alsoalso something that let off to the depth of their love.

“I will make it up to you, I give you my word,” he said, stumbling slightly over his apology. Harry had to know that he didn’t make promises lightly, and whenever they fought like this he had never said that before. It was always Harry who cut his losses and came looking for him, and after he hadn’t thime, me, Draco had been left to wonder about the importance of the man in his life.

Draco ran his fingers through his hair, and spoke again.

Though his words were spoken much lower than his previous ones, they didn’t lack the intensity that had been laced through his monologue. “Please, Harry. I love you.” He looked into his lover’s eyes, searching for signs of acceptance. He was happy with what he found, but waited for Harry’s words with baited breath.

“Thank you, Draco,” was Harry’s only reply, and Draco started to reply but was cut off by an insistent, hungry kiss. It had been too long, and Harry’s libido was currently fueled by his love’s honest confessions and his drunken state. Despite himself, Draco started to harden in response to his lover’s demanding caresses. Harry took notice of this and backed Draco up against the wall, pressing his body into his in a decidedly naughty fashion.

Don\'t touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so

They pulled away from each other, and Draco held him close as he apparated to Harry’s flat. Once there, he sat Harry down on the couch and went about giving the place a little light; he lit the fireplace and two of the wall sconces. After he finished his task, he came back to Harry, and crouched in front of him. Pointing his wand at Harry, he murmured, “nonappotus”, and awaited Harry’s reaction.

Instantly, Harry felt his blissful, drunken stupor leave him, and he scowled a bit at Draco. “Now why’d you have to go and do that for?”

Draco just smiled benignly in response, and retorted softly, “So I could do this when you were sober.” He leaned onto his knees, and, raising himself up, cupped Harry’s cheeks and kissed him. Harry melted, at his words and at his actions, and hugged him closer.

Harry was the one to break off the kiss first; he murmured in an insistent tone of voice, “I want to go to bed now.” Draco chuckled softly, and kissed him once on the lips. “I couldn’t imagine anywhere else that I’d rather be.” They rose to their feet, and started off to the bedroom, to begin a new chapter in their relationship.

Tainted love, tainted love
Touch me baby, tainted love
Tainted love


“Non appotus” means “not drunk” in Latin; I didn’t know what else to use for a sobriety charm/spell, so I just created something. This was just a little piece that got stuck in my head, and I wanted to post it to garner some sort of a reaction. The song, by the way, is Tainted Love.