Chapter Text
The door slammed and Draco fled out, all in black against his white skin making him look like the walking dead. Under more romantic settings and had the outfit not appeared so militant, it might've been sexier. As it was, Draco was all hair and blotched face, sparing only a long glare for Harry as he headed past his cubicle to the one next to him that he inhabited.
He'd spent the past couple of weeks there, listening to Harry and Ron make plans for when they became field Aurors, how they were going to rule London and trade off being Ministers of Magic. Draco had managed not to off the plebeians only through sheer force of will. But now it seemed that their dreams of being partnered were ended and Draco's dreams of working alone went down with it.
"Shacklebolt asks a word, Potter."
Message delivered, Draco turned back to his grey, barren desk and took his seat. He flipped open a copy of the Daily Prophet and began to read before Harry had a chance to even ask what it was about.
Irritated, Harry traded looks with Ron in the cubicle across from him and then headed to the Head Auror's office.
"Harry, it's good to see you. Have a seat."
Kingsley didn't stand when Harry entered the small office, but instead indicated the spot across his desk for him to sit. He looked back out of the door at Ron, shrugged and shut the door before taking a seat.
"Thank you, sir." In spite of how little he was saying, he had a million questions about why Draco Malfoy was tromping around inside of the Ministry when he should be making his debut in Azkaban. Harry hoped that this was a discussion to inform him.
"Let's get down to business, shall we? I know it's busy," said Kingsley as he closed a folder and set it aside. He steepled his fingers and leaned in. "As you know, Aurors often work with partners as well as alone..."
"Right," said Harry. In spite of who had delivered the message, Harry refused to believe that this conversation was going to go where it seemed to be leading.
"Right," said Kingsley, who looked distinctly uncomfortable. He lowered his eyes to his joined hands and let them drop to the top of his desk. "I realize that since the start of your Auror training and perhaps even before it that you and Ron Weasley have been paired up."
"As partners," Harry was quick to point out.
Kingsley perked a brow, but made no further comment on Harry's peculiar sensitivity to phrasing. "As partners, sure."
"What's that supposed to mean? He's married!"
Clearing his throat, Kingsley continued. "The point is, I realize that you've planned to... be partners... with Weasley, but you're being assigned to Draco Malfoy."
It took Harry a moment to put those words together in a way that it would make sense. In fact, he'd had a rather hard time making sense of Draco Malfoy being an Auror at all. Now he was going to take over Ron's place as his (non-sexual) partner?
"Excuse me?" Harry asked.
Kingsley gave Harry another long moment, and this time decided to speak slowly, in case he was having a hard time hearing. "You... are being assigned... to partner... with Draco Malfoy"
"I don't understand." Before Kingsley had another opportunity to speak to Harry like he was a moron, which he looked for all the world like he was about to do, Harry said, "I don't understand why you're assigning me to him."
"Harry, there are many ways to look at this, but I want you to look at this as an opportunity."
"An opportunity? Are you fucking with me?" Harry jumped up so fast it knocked his chair over. Reflexively, he turned to grab it up to resettle it, but decided he was angry enough to leave it down. That's right, the chair is down. Take that, Shacklebolt. "An opportunity for what? To let Malfoy AK me from behind? You do realize we weren't exactly best mates before he faffed off to become a Death Eater, don't you? What is he even doing here? He should be in Azkaban, shouldn't he? He's a traitor!"
Unimpressed, Kingsley pulled his wand and brought the chair back up. He gave Harry the sort of hard stare that he did back in the Burrow during Order meetings when he felt that Harry's capslocky temper had gone past flamboyant. It was enough to make Harry shut up and sit like an obedient schoolboy.
"Aside from the activity in Hogwarts, which Severus Snape took the blame for, Draco Malfoy was not recorded at any of the skirmishes with the Death Eaters, nor has anyone testified to his presence beyond when his father was murdered," said Kingsley
"All right, so he joined the Death Eaters, daddy got killed and he quit. How does that make him an Auror? I wasn't given a pass on Auror training and I killed Voldemort!" Harry exclaimed.
Harry wasn't sure what outraged him most right now, that Draco Malfoy was to be his partner, or the reminder that he was given a pass on training. That he might be dangerously evil was... well, vexing as well, but Malfoy wasn't the only one who knew the power of the Killing Curse.
"Harry, I will only go over this with you one more time. You were not qualified to be an Auror. What you did was destroy Horcruxes and finally Voldemort. Much of what you did revolved around luck and research. It did not train you in many of the skills that Aurors are required to have."
"But Malfoy has those skills?" asked Harry sullenly.
Kingsley nodded. "Do you remember when we tested you after the war?"
Those memories were bitter, and he'd finished the tests feeling quite humbled and ready to take on the training. Maybe not as humbled as some might've liked, but at the time, he definitely understood the need for them. "Of course."
"Malfoy passed them all. He passed most of them wandlessly, I might add."
"That's not possible." Harry crossed his arms tightly around himself angrily. Draco Malfoy had never been that brilliant a student, although he always had been able to pull amazing feats of magic off when he needed to (which usually included arsing Harry off).
"I wouldn't have thought so. Given his O.W.L.S. and general Malfoy had never been that promising at Hogwarts in anything aside from Potions. But now you see our dilemma, Harry. He refuses to say where he learned all of this, only that he wishes to do good work with it."
Harry scoffed.
Kingsley shrugged. "It's what he says he wants to do, and given the power that he has, we'd be fools not to take him up on it, if for no other reason than to have someone equally powerful keeping an eye on him."
Catching Kingsley's meaningful glance, Harry was chuffed that he was still considered powerful. Still, Malfoy's powers sounded intimidating. "I can't do that much magic wandlessly. You know that. Only the very basic summoning spells, doors opening, convenience spells and invisibility."
"You have the power to, Harry. We all know that. I've seen you in the field; you can bend magic to do what you need it to at the time. You have a lot more power in you. Maybe you could even learn from Malfoy."
Harry made a face. All of that buttering up only to end in his learning from that foul git. "Maybe."
"You'd be doing the Wizarding world a huge favor."
"Haven't I already?"
Kingsley smirked. "You'd be doing me a huge favor. I need you to do this. We need to find out who trained him to do all of that and what he might be up to. If he's truly here just to do good work, then so be it. He'll have the best partner in the department, someone who can keep up with him. If he isn't... you'll know, and you'll be in the position to stop him."
Harry's eyes glittered. The idea of being a hero again, this time on his own merits definitely had a huge appeal. If Draco Malfoy was going to try to be the next Dark Lord, then Harry Potter would be there to stop him.
"How did he do on the psychological profile?"
"Narcissist," Kingsley replied.
"Naturally."
"Does this mean you'll do it?"
Harry nodded and sighed as he stood to shake Kingsley's hand to seal the deal. "Now I just have to explain this to Ron."
"Should I be prepared to send troops into the Leaky?"
Thinking, Harry said, "Wouldn't hurt."
--
Ron leered blearily at Draco when he entered the pub, which caught Harry's attention enough that he turned and watched Draco move to a table in a well-lit corner of the bar. Though it was out of ear-shot Draco made no bones about staring right back at them and giving a smile and a finger wave that ended with his middle finger extended for their benefit.
"So Tonks for me, then," Ron groused. He was well into his third pint, which Harry wondered how he could get through since Leaky pints tasted as if it had been dragged through the Thames.
"Least she knows what she's doing," Harry shot back as he glared at Draco, refusing to rise to his gesture goading.
Just as he had been dressed in the office, Draco was wearing Wizarding robes, but with frog closures. It wasn't terribly unusual; often Draco leaned towards mandarin collars when it came to formal wear in school, making him look like a vicar. Somehow, though, there was something different about Draco now. The clothing seemed more evocative, more authentic, more... put together.
"Beer. Another round, Tom," Ron said.
He was taking the news exceptionally well, Harry thought. But then, Harry had noticed Ron's more-than-occasional glance Tonks-ward before this detour. Harry hoped he wasn't going to cheat on Hermione. Again.
Sometimes Harry wondered if Ron's excessive philandering wasn't because he couldn't get enough of women, but because what he really needed was a man. That was wishful thinking, perhaps. Harry had watched Ron from the sidelines for a while. He'd even experimented with girls, including Ron's sister. Sunlit days aside, the notion that he was living someone else's life was pretty accurate.
Someone else's life.
Someone straight.
Definitely not Harry.
Sure, he'd tried again after the war with Luna, who was about as far from a girl as you could get without actually... no, she wasn't anywhere near a boy, either. She was just Luna, and it didn't work much for him, either. So rather than make a total arse of himself, he threw himself in to Auror training and living vicariously through the telling of Ron's exploits.
He thought about Ron sexually, but in spite of a few madcap and desperate spurts of hope (pun intended) he didn't see Ron really going there.
Taking his fourth pint, Harry took a long sip of it, finding it bitter to taste, or maybe that was just his mood. Ron would move on with his new partner, probably bed her. Probably be kicked out of the Aurors for being inappropriate and he'd still be stuck with Malfoy.
Fucking Draco fucking Malfoy.
There was something peculiar about him, even before his disappearance. Something Harry thought he'd picked up on when he was watching him all of those months in their sixth year. Maybe Draco was just really, very focused on his job because of his parents, but Malfoy never seemed to be sexual at all. He'd spent all of that time in the Room of Requirement and he never once brought Pansy up there for a fantasy date. It never seemed to occur to him.
Maybe Malfoys reproduced asexually.
Harry was just about to explore his genius theory with Ron when the small bar exploded in a flurry of hushed and not-so-hushed whispers.
Kirley Duke of the Weird Sisters had swaggered into the bar looking far less hairy than he had been a few years previous. He stopped, lowered his sunglasses and peered around the place. His gaze fixed on the dark corner where Draco sat, and he made his way there. Pulling out a chair, he turned it around, straddled it and sat down with Draco in a manner that seemed far more familiar to be a first meeting.
Draco's trademark sneer was in place, his brow perked and pointy face attentive to what Kirley said to him. He flipped his hair back and his sneer broadened to what... would appear to be a dirty grin. He shook his head, now looking coy.
Then, all at once, Kirley's hand whipped out and grabbed Draco by the front of his robes and it looked as if he'd mashed their faces together.
Taking it as a threat, Harry jumped up and dashed over to the table. Ugly git or not, Draco was his partner and he wouldn't... stand for....
Harry lowered his wand, watching Kirley and Draco engaged in a rather passionate and... tongue-y kiss. He swallowed hard, and his lips parted as he gasped for breath. Though they didn't even stop to look at him, Harry excused himself and headed back to the bar where Ron, great friend that he was, attempted not to laugh.
"Always took Malfoy for a ponce, didn't know it was literal, but... you all right there, mate?" Ron slapped Harry's back and dragged him to a stool. "I don't think he's going to be after your arse. Looks like he's got all he can handle there."
Not wanting to hear Ron's diatribe about how he always knew Malfoy was gay and a blow-by-blow explanation of each sign that he had at once discounted but now proved true, Harry finished his pint and ordered another one.
The first attractive gay Wizard he'd met and it had to be fucking Draco fucking Malfoy.
Except he was an ugly git.
Right?
Right.
--
The next morning, Harry got to work early, and not just because he'd rubbed himself so raw thinking about the endless possibilities with Kirley Duke and Draco the night before that he couldn't possibly pull his pud any more. No, he came into work early so that he might take a peek at Draco's cubicle to see what he could deduce from it.
When he got there, however, he discovered a nearly manically clean cube. There wasn't even a picture frame to personalize it. He double-checked to make sure that it wasn't a vacant cube, but no, it was Draco Malfoy's workspace.
Harry leaned against the cell opening, staring over the vast blankness of the grey countertop, wondering what that meant, if anything. Had Draco always been this obsessively clean through school? Come to think on it, he always did appear meticulously dressed in uniform and in day wear. He did shine his Inquisitorial Squad pin quite a bit, but Harry always had the idea it was more to show it off than for neatness sake. Perhaps he was wrong.
He'd just started off on another tangential thought about Draco and his love of pins when he nearly jumped out of his skin at Draco's voice.
"Did you come to see what an office not filled with detritus looks like?"
Obviously Draco scored off the charts in the "sneaking up on someone and scaring the peewaddle out of them" segment of Auror training. Not that that was exactly the official name for the section, but at the moment, Harry was too busy trying to find his peewaddle to know what the proper name was.
"I was... just coming to see you. But yes, your office is very clean. I guess when you get some files to put in, that it will looked more lived in."
Brushing past Harry, Draco simply said, "Pfft."
"Excuse me?"
"Pfft. It's a mouth noise that signifies disbelief or disgust. In this particular case, it means, 'I already have files, Potter, I just don't wallow in mud like a swine.'"
Harry carded his hand through his hair, still trying to recover his waddle. His pee was finally back with him, which was a good sign. It meant he was calming down.
"I don't wallow in... there's no mud in the offices."
"It's an expression."
"Right, well... where are your files, then?"
Draco was seated already and paused to turn and stare incredulously at Harry for a moment. Then he sneered. Oh yes, the sneer was back, in full force. Harry knew now he was about to be treated to The Snark.
He really had only himself to blame.
"Let me show you my invention, Potter. It's called... the filing cabinet."
"Malfoy..." Harry rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
It was too late-- far too late for Harry to stop the Sarcasm Express. Toot, toot and full speed ahead!
"Inside, we find what those of us in the industry call... say it with me... files." Draco pulled the cabinet open and splayed his hand over the perfectly color-coordinated filing system, alphabetized and sitting in order, waiting to be added to or pulled from on a whim.
Hermione would come in her knickers.
"Very nice, Malfoy. I think you missed your calling as Percy Weasley."
Draco slammed the file door shut. "At least I can find things when I need them."
Wincing at the thought of his leaning tower of files, Harry said, "I have a system. You may not understand it, but I find things when I need them."
"So you got the memo on the TPS reports?" Draco asked, daring him with his sultry smirk.
Sultry?
Ugly.
The color drained from Harry's face and he shot a panicked look to his cube. "I'm... sure that I have it."
Draco turned his back on Harry and shook his head. "No such thing. By the way, we have a meeting with Shacklebolt about our first case at half nine. Bring me a cuppa before then."
With that, Draco opened his filing cabinet again, pulled something from the region of the "N"'s and flipped the file open.
When Harry began to vocalize a protest, he held his hand up to stop him and Harry felt an unseen force pushing him back out of his office and felt the uncontrollable urge to not speak. The idea of picking up a cuppa for Draco didn't seem like the worst idea, either.
Wandless magic. Right.
Harry's interest was definitely piqued. By what and for what purpose was questionable, but one thing for certain: he was not going to get Draco tea.
Unless he happened to be getting one for himself.
Maybe not even then.
Sneaky prick.
--
In Kingsley's office, sitting next to Draco, it suddenly seemed like the room was smaller. Or maybe Kingsley was just bigger. Or maybe Harry was just nervous about his first assignment and Draco made his pants feel tight.
Kingsley walked around to the front of his desk and leaned against it, looking over the file with all due consideration and said, "For your first assignment, we will have you retrieving a kitten... from a tree."
Draco folded his arms and said, "Christ."
Surely that couldn't be all there was to it.
"So a kitten? Is it a magical kitten?" asked Harry.
Looking at him as if he were a bit slow, Kingsley again started sounding out words to Harry. "No, it is a kit-ten in a tree."
"I didn't sign on to be shed on," Draco huffed as he picked imaginary lint from his dark robe. "It had better not be a white kitten."
"You can't be hampered by such travesties of feline habit, Malfoy. You're an Auror now. You'll have to learn to deal with set backs. But no, this isn't a simple kitten in a tree. The tree and kitten are locked in a cave," Kingsley said.
"So there's a cave... with a kitten... in a tree," said Draco.
"Yes," Kingsley assured him.
Draco appeared dubious. "How do you know the kitten hasn't climbed down?"
Kingsley looked surprised for a moment. "When do they ever?"
"Is it a magical cave?" Harry asked.
"Yes it is!" Kingsley answered with much more enthusiasm than was strictly necessary. Carnies don't have that kind of glee. "It is magically locked and there is no way in or out without magic. Which is why you two will be deployed."
"How do you know there's a kitten in the cave?" asked Draco.
"Because there was a report," Kingsley answered, poking his finger at the file.
"Who filed it?"
"Stop asking questions," Kingsley snapped. "You are to follow your orders and you will rescue the kitten and bring it back here."
"But it--"
"Go!"
--
The story of how they got to the front of the cave in Wales isn't very interesting. It had too much to do with provided coordinates to Apparate to Swansea and a short walk that got them here. The reading of the instructions and the short walk were conducted with minimal bickering and otherwise just much silence. In other words, it wasn't very interesting.
They followed the precise number of steps, arriving at the precise time of day so that fewer Muggles might be around and evidently at a prime time that a kitten might be... in a cave stuck in a tree. None of this made sense to Draco, but clearly Harry knew about as much on the issue as he did, so there didn't seem much point in useless conversation-- especially given what he could tell was on the tip of Harry's tongue to ask about-- his association with Kirley Duke.
He could've met somewhere more discreet, but Draco thought it would be a good idea to get his sexuality out of the way in a demonstrative manner. Draco was almost touched that Harry had come to his defense, but the awkward and almost fearful glances ended any ridiculous notions Draco had about being comfortable with his partner.
Harry wasn't comfortable with it. That was fine; it was none of his business. It didn't change who he was or what he could do magically and he'd earn his respect.
While Harry was shielding the area from Muggle view, Draco ran his hands over the rock wall, feeling for any vibrations of magic that would tell him where the doors actually were. Settling on a spot, he drew the basic dimensions of the door with a piece of chalk and then stepped back.
"I've never seen chalk magic before," said Harry, who gave him another slow once over.
Draco looked down at his dark robes, wondering if he'd picked up any lint or mud. It would seem not. "It's so that I know how far to cast my net. There's nothing special about the chalk."
"Still, a good tip. Where did you learn that?"
He was just about to answer. The way that Harry asked was so conversational that he'd thought he actually cared. But no, Draco needed to keep in mind what the Ministry thought of him if he was going to keep himself safe. "Grade school. Never played hopscotch?"
"They didn't let me out of my cupboard much."
Draco resisted the urge to look at Harry to see if he was kidding or not. "It wasn't that great."
Concentrating on his fingertips, he managed a pale grey mist that focused into a beam. It lit up the chalk, telling Draco he'd done a good job at targeting the magic. Then, something somewhat unexpected happened.
Words appeared on the door in Welsh.
" Hawdd yw dod mewn, annodd yw gadael."
"What does that mean?" asked Harry.
"I suppose it means 'Easy to enter. Difficult to leave.' Sounds like a girl." Draco smirked.
"Didn't think you knew anything about girls," Harry quipped back as he pointed his wand at the door.
"Maybe I know so much I realized it was in my best interest to avoid them. What's you're excuse for bird fear, Potter?"
That subject was obviously out of bounds as instead of answering, Harry said, "Alohomora."
True to the scrawling on the front of the doors, it proved very easy to get into the cave. The doors screeched with the dusty sound of sand against sand, rocks giving way and grumbling back.
Inside were the typical accoutrements that came with a cave. Stalactites and stalagmites, some dripping water sounds, echoes of each movement and in the distance the sound of rushing water. And... a small, plaintive mew.
As advertised, there was a rather large, gnarled tree that somehow managed to grow in a cave, but had lost all of its foliage. It was dark black with twisted, knotted limbs that curled around the small, white, fluffy kitten.
"Bad luck, white kitten," Draco grumbled.
"Don't tell me you're superstitious. You know there's nothing to that," said Harry as he headed for the tree. It wasn't all that tall, but it did move and make a low growling sound.
"No, it's just going to shed. I knew I should've learned more grooming charms."
"You seem to know plenty, Malfoy. You look very nice."
"You make me blush, Potter. Might I say that your jeans appear uncomfortably tight, but I appreciate the view they're allotting me."
Draco was disappointed that Harry was facing the wrong direction for him to see the brilliant blush on his face, but he wagered it was well worth it anyway. He was just about to say so when he saw one of the limbs make a swipe at Harry.
Out of purely reactionary magic, Draco's wand went up and will met need and before he could utter the correct words, Harry skittered backwards into Draco's arms. "Get ready to catch," he said as he summoned the kitten from the tree.
It must've been terribly traumatic for the kitten to fly from the tree into Harry's chest. At least, that's what Draco deduced given Harry's echoing screeches about being clawed in the chest by the ickle beastie. Potter torture AND no cat hair. A double score.
"So, we just bring the cat to the--" Draco's words were cut off by the slow grinding of the doors sliding shut.
Then a stone table started to rise from beneath them, in front of the doors. Draco sighed. "Right, difficult to get out. Reducto."
Sadly, the curse had no effect on the magical table other than to rebound it to Draco, who had to duck fast lest he be exploded.
After creating a shield around himself, Draco attempted a few more hexes, all to no avail. Each one bounced off and now the kitten was starting to mewl so loudly that it was getting on his nerves.
"Put the pussy down, Potter." Draco mentally patted himself on the back for his brilliant use of alliteration in a time of crisis.
"Snowball will get away!" Harry complained.
"You named it?"
"Her."
"Who?"
"Her. Snowball. She's a girl. I checked."
"Oh, so while I was trying to get us the shit out of here, you were staring at animal genetalia and naming a cat, Potter?"
Harry shrugged. "I never had a pet. I grew up in a cupboard."
Draco had nothing to say to that and just stared petulantly at Harry. "Are you going to use that every time you cock up?"
"I'm not the one ducking curses I know are going to rebound. I just figured if we're going to be stuck in here forever, we might as well make friends." Harry set Snowball down and then created a small containment field that would keep her from getting loose in the cave. Or in the tree again. However that happened.
By the time he was done, Draco was at the table, tracing his fingers over fresh Welsh words carved into it. He filled in the carving with his chalk so he could read it.
" Ar y ford hona, bydd diniweidrwydd deuol yn diweddu."
"Well, now we're really screwed," said Draco.
Harry tried to make heads or tails of what it said, but he didn't speak Welsh, so he could not tell yet in what way he was going to be screwed. Actually, he had a few ways he'd like to be, but it seemed silly to get his hopes up.
"We don't have to eat the kitten, do we?"
Draco took a moment to stare at the kitten, trying to force it somehow into the picture of getting past this table. The mental images were not so good. No matter what, he was not screwing a cat.
"It says that 'upon that table, dual innocence will end' which basically means that two things must have their innocence ended, and I'm fairly certain that by innocence, they mean virginity, which means that... two virgins have to have sex on that table for us to get out."
Really, Harry could only speak for himself, but he could fulfill that part of it. But Draco... Draco Malfoy who left with Kirley Duke the night before... maybe that was why Draco was eyeing the kitten. Ew.
Pushing himself up on the table, Draco noticed Harry watching the kitten and said, "Look, I am not shagging that kitten just because you're a slag. I wager the Ministry will be out and about to save us long before anyone has to resort to bestiality."
"You shag the kitten? I'll shag the kitten," Harry insisted.
"Not in front of me, you're not. Sicko!" Draco glared at Harry and then over at the kitten and back again, making a Very Disgusted Face.
"No, I mean... I could shag the kitten."
"Okay, needle-dick sicko? Does that make you feel better?"
By now, Harry was brilliantly red with his inability to express this as succinctly as really should be. Maybe he just had a knee-jerk adverse reaction to telling Draco that he was still a virgin. But then, Draco had somewhat implied he was and maybe... they could get out of here.
"I mean, I'm a virgin, Malfoy. And the kitten would be a virgin, so there would be two virgins in the room." He kept his gaze on Draco's and watched the other man flinch.
"Mmm..one..too."
"What was that, Malfoy?" Hot on the heels of his humiliation, he wouldn't mind seeing Draco all puffed up and red. And naked. And... focus.
"I have yet to... have sex."
"But how? Kirley Duke...." asked Harry.
"Learning all that I can do took intense study. I didn't spend my time in a brothel, Harry, but somewhere quiet. Where I could concentrate. I..."
"Went to a monastery?"
"That's one way of putting it. The point is, there wasn't much sex going on and Kirley and I have just snogged a few times. I wasn't... well, when you've spent all of this time not doing it, I suppose I thought I'd just wait till I was ready and Potter.... I'm not ready. So we'll just wait for the Ministry to come and get us."
Harry jumped up on the table next to him and sat there, nodding. He understood about waiting, or at least he believed he did. "I thought I was going to die and didn't want any romantic entanglements. Then I just... didn't like anyone well enough to... and realized... I guess... some things about myself that..."
"Potter, shut up. I didn't ask about your sexual history. Nor do I care."
"Right. So. Waiting."
"Waiting," Draco agreed, kicking the heels of his boots on the table.
"I mean... we've been waiting this long, so...."
"I'm not in a huge rush to lose my virginity. I've had loads of opportunities, mind. I'm waiting for a time when I feel something for someone that isn't mild annoyance," said Draco.
Harry nodded his understanding, but fuck if he wasn't already hard at the idea of just doing anything with another guy; even if it was fucking Draco fucking Malfoy. "It's just... well, it's our first assignment. Getting a kitten out of a tree shouldn't be that hard to accomplish. If they have to send out a squad to rescue us... it'll look really bad."
Draco looked at Harry, but his gaze dropped to the bulge in his clothing and he flexed his jaw a few times. "I'm not bottoming."
"What?" Harry tried not to sound as excited as he felt, but it sounded as if Draco was agreeing. Bottoming was going to be a problem, though.
"You have a point. We need to get out of here; it would look bad if we didn't. Especially since this assignment is... getting a fucking non-magical kitten out of a non-magical tree. So... bend over the table." Draco hopped off and started to disrobe.
In all of Harry's fantasies, and of all the ways that he'd ever thought of sex with a man happening, he had never been on bottom. For all he knew, he'd enjoy it, but at the moment, all he could think about was the blind fear of Draco fucking him. Draco Malfoy of all people.
Harry likewise hopped off of the table and lifted his chin. "No, I'm going to top."
"I'm the stronger wizard here."
"No, you're not. You know some tricks, but I'm the one who killed Voldemort. I'm the one who went through Auror training and I'm the one who is going to fuck you."
Draco perked a brow and held his hand out. His expression didn't change, and Harry barely felt anything, but suddenly Harry's wand was hovering over Draco's open hand. Keeping his eyes locked on Harry's, he made it twirl.
"All right, so you're possibly more fun at parties than I am, Malfoy, but that doesn't make you the better wizard." Harry stepped forward and grabbed his wand back. He had to admit, that was impressive. No words, no wand, just the force of will. "What kind of monastery did you go to, exactly?"
"A really good one."
"Maybe I should go," said Harry as he pocketed his wand. "Where is it?"
Draco's expression remained aggravatingly placid, although the light wavered over his face. "I'd tell you, but then you'd just run off and tell your friends and then it would spoil its exclusivity. You understand."
Harry kept his eyes on Draco's, narrowing them. He wasn't particularly offended by the implication, and he would've been shocked and perhaps disappointed if Draco started spilling his guts at the smallest of goading. "So you'd go back?"
The flinch was nearly imperceptible, but Harry was sure it had happened. Mostly sure. He definitely had the impression that Draco would not be going back to wherever it was. Harry wanted to press-- he wanted to know if Draco was here to help or if he was here to hide-- but Draco's expression steeled over again, and Harry realized the effort of asking now would be wasted.
They stared at each other in the strange cave, expressions fixed and nearly unblinking. The staring contest brought back memories of their childhood rivalry, leading Draco to believe that this was, indeed, rather childish. He wanted to make a good impression on the Ministry of Magic and Kingsley, although what was really starting to drive him crazy was his nearly painful erection. He could do this. How bad could it be? He just needed to get over himself.
Dropping his gaze, Harry said, "Fine. If you're too afraid to do it, I'll bottom." He turned and undid his buckle, his hands shaking a little so that it made it a little difficult to do.
"What? What is that? Afraid? I'm not afraid of anything, Potter. Least of all of you or your tiny cock!"
Tiny cock? Harry hadn't intended on using reverse psychology, but evidently his fancy monastery didn't include lessons on resisting that. Or perhaps Draco Malfoy still had some pretty big issues with cowardice. Harry was about to respond when Draco pushed him away from the table.
"I'm not letting you play martyr again, Potter. You're not the good partner. You're not the brave one all of the time. I'll do it."
Harry was going to protest, but Draco already had his robe off and his pale body gleamed against the dark table, his pale legs spread as he stretched out over the table. His skin was nearly flawless but for a few small freckles in the small of his back and the way it goose-fleshed in the cool air.
Having never been confronted with so much skin all at once, Harry was caught out, mesmerized by Draco just standing there, waiting for him-- his muscles flexing as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. Harry slid his hand over the soft swell of his cheek and up over his lower back. He traced his finger from freckle to freckle; too gobsmacked to speak or to do anything sensible other than just let his trousers drop.
Draco moaned and brought his arms up to cover his face too late for Harry to miss the flush to his cheeks. "Potter... just do it."
"I just... it's my... first time, too. I just want to..."
"Right. Fine." Draco looked over his shoulder at Harry for a moment, considering.
Harry blushed and squeezed Draco's cheeks with both hands; feeling the warmth of his skin and enjoying how Draco pushed back against him for more attention. He was smiling to himself that perhaps Draco might even enjoy this when the cave lit up even brighter in a warm glow-- turning Draco's ethereally pale skin to an amber tone. When he looked up, he saw hundreds of white candles, floating throughout the cave. A soft patter of red rose petals then fluttered down over his head and over Draco's back.
Wondering if this cave had been formerly owned by Jackie Collins, Harry noticed that Draco's visage was a portrait of concentration, he had one hand raised, his fingers splayed. Then he just looked tired until he caught Harry staring at him. Shyly, he turned his face away and hid it again.
"It's beautiful," said Harry as he slid his thumb down the crack of Draco's arse.
"If you aren't talking about the decorations, Potter, I don't want to know about it."
Clearing his throat, Harry decided not to answer. Instead, he pulled his wand and used an incantation to lubricate his fingers. It had often come in handy to know when he needed to release a bit of tension in the loo during school. It made things nicer.
"You know... maybe I'll just... put the tip in, you know? Maybe that will be enough for the enchantment to break, and it won't really count," said Harry as he smoothed his fingers deeper between Draco's cheeks till they slowed over the wrinkled opening. He tested the tip of his finger into it and felt Draco tense against him.
"If it breaks the enchantment, then clearly we're both no longer virgins. I'm not sure how that wouldn't count," said Draco. His voice was tight and Harry watched the shiver that worked up Draco's back in a slither of rippling musculature.
"Right. Sorry. I just... I know this isn't... what you wanted." Harry slid a finger into him, finding it nearly impossible that he'd get his cock inside of him. Especially with the way that Draco hissed.
"It's part of the job, Potter. Don't turn into a girl on me." Draco shifted and his breathing slowed. He folded his arms and rested his forehead on them. Harry felt the muscles around his finger relax and he slipped a second one in, deciding it was more pliable than it seemed at first.
"Sure. Wouldn't want me liking you or anything, right?" Harry wasn't sure how to feel about that. He was about to finally end his virginity. Sure, it was rather late in the game, and he was absolutely gagging for it. His cock was twitching to be inside of Draco, or just... touched in any way. It occurred to him that perhaps Draco would want his cock touched, but he wasn't sure if he should.
Not giving an answer, Draco pushed back against Harry's fingers, pressing his arms into the table for leverage. Harry pulled his fingers from him and reached forward, tracing fingers over Draco's balls, just to see what he would do.
Draco gasped and froze. Harry pulled his hand away momentarily so that he could reach around Draco's hip to touch him. It was the first cock he'd ever handled that wasn't his own. He didn't want to stop touching it, and Draco didn't seem inclined to tell him to stop. Harry wrapped his greased fingers around him completely, relishing in the warm, velvety feel of the skin that encased the warm stiffness of Draco's cock.
Leaning down, he kissed Draco's spine and pressed his chest against Draco's back, regretting that he had been too modest or in too much of a hurry to take off his shirt. Harry was surprised when Draco reached back behind him for Harry's cock. His soft fingers fluttered over it, exploring him just as curiously as he'd touched Draco's. But then his hand grew stronger around it and Draco directed the tip of his cock against his opening.
Harry let out a choked noise, his cock pressed against Draco's slick, hot opening. He held Draco's cock tightly, his hand stilled on it and he rested his cheek against Draco's back. His other hand rested on the cold table and he pressed his lips together and leaned forward, letting Draco guide him deep inside of him.
Harry had to catch his breath through his mouth as he felt suddenly engorged in clinging heat. He pulled back a little and pushed in again, feeling his heart flutter and hammer in his chest. It was almost surreal. He couldn't believe he was actually doing this; holding another man's cock while he was inside of him. Holding Draco's cock while he was inside of him.
"Potter!"
Realizing just how hard he was gripping Draco's cock, Harry let go of him and just wrapped his arms around Draco and clung to him. He was shaking violently, too overwrought with the tingly feeling that was overwhelming him, making his legs quake. Harry fought to control them, putting more weight on them as he pulled back and slid into him again.
There was a soft click and then a loud gravely sound as the door opened again.
"Does it hurt?" Harry asked.
"I... no... sort of... it just... it feels.. weird."
"Do you want me to stop?" Harry didn't think he was going to last much longer anyway, but he certainly didn't want to hurt Draco any more than he had to-- especially since the door was open.
Draco didn't answer; he just pushed back against Harry, moving slowly; too slowly for Harry to get off on. The meaning was clear, however, and Harry could hear the soft slipping sound of skin on skin-- Draco was pulling himself off.
Harry moved a few more times into Draco at a faster pace, but it didn't take much before his legs trembled again and the electric feeling that shot through his spine and tensed his cock to spew in long, pulsing releases into his partner as he clung to his sweaty back.
Keeping his eyes closed, Harry rested there, feeling the frantic movement of Draco's arm as he continued to jerk himself off. It was thrilling to know what Draco was doing to himself under him, and had Harry found the energy, he would've moved so that he could watch. God, he wanted to watch. He started hardening again at just the thought, but he was pretty sure he couldn't count on Draco allowing him to fuck him again.
After a few minutes, Draco tensed and slowed his movements, milking himself free of the last of his release. Then he lay there a moment, catching his breath. Harry took the stillness and silence as a good opportunity to get off of him. Spreading Draco's cheeks, he watched his glistening, soft cock slide out of Draco; fascinated by the way his skin stretched outwards, still gently clinging even as he was leaving him-- and the sticking strings of come that connected them for a brief moment before dropping, dribbling over the glossy skin of his inner cheeks.
If Harry thought about that for too long, he'd get hard again.
Instead, Harry shook his cock off and pulled up his boxers and trousers, turning to give Draco a moment of privacy to collect himself as he tucked his shirt in and straightened out his clothing. He wasn't sure what to say to him now. So he grabbed the napping kitten after ending the containment and petted it gently to soothe it.
When he turned around, he saw Draco rubbing at his eyes. His face was puffy and his eyes red and swollen.
"Did I hurt you?" Harry crossed to him and reached out to touch his cheek.
Draco pulled away and sniffed. "Don't be stupid, Potter. Just... take the cat in. I'm... going home."
With that, Draco turned away from Harry, took a few steps out of the cave and Disapparated.
--
The return to the office had been awkward. The other Aurors had just stared at Harry in shock as he headed to Kingsley's office with the squirming kitten. Perhaps they didn't know what it was he was returning, or maybe they thought that he'd just faffed off to adopt a cat. At the last minute, he thought that perhaps they were concerned that Draco wasn't with him, but he couldn't quite bear to explain why he'd gone home.
When he handed the kitten to Kingsley, he could've sworn that he'd paled-- an awkward thing to think about a black man. Kingsley seemed genuinely shocked and Harry blushed, not sure what to say about it. He must've known what Harry and Draco had to do to rescue the kitten.
"Did... how did you get out?" Kingsley asked as he took the cat and examined it.
"Er... I did... Draco." Harry thrust his hands into his pockets and stared at the floor.
"So... Draco got you out of the cave?" Kingsley stared at Harry, his mouth open in shock.
Harry could've protested that he had something to do with it, as well, but decided that really, Draco had made the greater sacrifice, so he would give him credit. "Yes. Draco did it."
Kingsley sat down and nodded. "Right. Well. Send him in."
"He... erm... went home. He was really... tired after."
"I'd expect so. Well, then. Did you... find anything out about him yet?" Kingsley set the kitten on his desk. Pulling his wand, he tapped it and it turned into a paperweight familiar to Kingsley's desk. A paperweight? Why were they sent after a paperweight?
Harry thought to protest, but everything had been so strange already and he just shook his head, deciding not to question it. "No. Not really. He said he trained at a monastery of sorts, but he didn't say it was a monastery, just that I could call it that if I wanted."
Kingsley nodded and took out Draco's file and scribbled some notes in code that Harry found indecipherable. "Good. Well. I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"I'll file my report then?" asked Harry.
"That won't be necessary for this assignment, Harry. Thank you." Kingsley gave him a wave that dismissed him and so Harry left, feeling odd about the whole thing.
No report? Kittens in trees that were paperweights?
Harry flopped into his chair in his cubicle and Ron joined him almost immediately.
"What happened?" asked Ron as he leaned against the cubicle wall. He crossed his arms and stared down at Harry in shock.
"First assignment." Something was very wrong. He was missing something big, and evidently Ron was in on it, too. It hurt a little to know that Ron knew and hadn't mentioned anything.
"Yes, the kitten in the tree assignment. Standard for new Aurors, evidently; unless you're partnered with an old-timer," Ron said, eyeing Harry up suspiciously. He shook his head, seeming to decide against something.
"What? I don't understand."
"It's a prank, Harry. Four or five of the old timers go out and set up the cave, putting together hexes that can only be broken by an impossible task. Then you're sent out to catch a kitten from a tree as your assignment and you're forced to sweat it out and wait to be rescued because there's no way around it. Five Aurors set up those wards, Harry, and you and Malfoy got out."
A prank. It was a prank and they'd set it up for two virgins and... now everyone would know that he fucked Malfoy-- that he was gay and that they'd both been virgins. Harry cringed and wondered what Ron would say. He hadn't exactly... let him in on his attraction, but he supposed things would make sense to him now. "Oh."
"Malfoy got you through the wards of five Aurors, Harry. No one knows where he came from and he... well, Kingsley and the others are very concerned about how he got you two out of there. No one's every brought the kitten back before, Harry."
There was a very obvious answer for how they'd gotten out, but evidently, no one believed that. Harry's brows rose and he said, "The door said that two virgins having sex would get us out."
"Right. Is that what he did, Harry? Did he manage to conjure two virgins, then? It would make sense if he could outwit it, although... how you'd conjure virgins..."
"Erm..."
"Because otherwise you both would've had to have been virgins and shagged and we all know what a slag Malfoy was," Ron babbled.
"He was?"
"Well of course. Death Eater orgies and all of that. Plus he's dating a rock star. No way was he a virgin. Even if he was, you two would've had to have shagged, and you're not gay."
You keep believing that, Ron. "Right, well, there you go. Malfoy's just a very powerful wizard," he said in defeat.
"Scary, yeah? Pub tonight?"
Harry whirled his chair around and decided to pretend like he was going to organize his files. "I'm kind of tired."
"Are you sure? I don't want to go home straightaway. You could tell me what Malfoy did."
Just thinking about what he and Malfoy did made him twinge in arousal. Besides, Ron seemed to be in denial of what might have taken place. "There's no way I could describe it. Maybe tomorrow night."
"Fine. I'll go with Tonks. Maybe she wants to talk to me more than you do."
"She's your partner," said Harry. He said it as evenly as possible, but the passive aggressive implication irked him. Normally, Harry had nothing better to do anyway, so he'd always go with Ron, knowing that often Ron just didn't want to go home to be fussed with Hermione's nagging or children screaming. It seemed like Ron had started to take that extra time for granted and had little patience for Harry's want of space.
Besides, he was still irked that Ron hadn't given him heads up on what the kitten assignment actually was and furthermore he was starting to feel an edge of paranoia that Draco wasn't actually a virgin, but had used magic to make it seem so. The memory of Draco's tears made him feel ashamed of his suspicion.
Also bothersome was the idea that no one believed that The Boy Who Lived could've blasted his way out of the cave. Had he cocked up Auror training so much that no one believed in him? That they'd rather believe in the power of Draco Malfoy? Sure, the wandless magic was impressive, but what else had he done that had made such a huge impression?
"Yes, she is. Fine. If you want to be that way, I'm going!" Ron snapped.
Harry startled at Ron's voice. He'd been so lost in thought that he'd forgotten that he was there. By the time he turned around, it was a moot point, as Ron had left in a huff. Harry sighed and shook his head. He'd deal with him another day. For now, he was going home.