I do not own Harry Potter.

Tempting Fate is my response to Bemily Q's Wolves Run at Night challenge. The story starts the summer after fifth year and the disaster at the Department of Mysteries.

Prologue

Draco was absolutely furious! His entire life had been turned upside down and it was all because of Potter! This whole bloody month was one fiasco after another and no matter how many times he tried to analyze his current situation objectively he always came to the same conclusion; he was royally screwed and it was all Potter's fault!

It all started four weeks ago when his father had been caught at the Ministry of Magic along with several other Death Eaters. It was certainly embarrassing having the Malfoy name across all the papers but they were Malfoy's for Merlin's sake, obviously his father would be able to get off easily enough. But after weeks of brutal interrogations in front of the Wizengamot, his father had not gotten off! They had actually had the gall to send his father, Lord Malfoy, to Azkaban! It was absolutely ridiculous!

And as if that wasn't enough, the Dark Lord, had taken up residence in his house! The man was a complete nutter and was surrounded by disgusting, low-life followers all the time!

But the real kicker came today when his Godfather told him that the Dark Lord wanted Draco to take the Dark Mark to prove that the Malfoy's were worthy of him! Snape had barely finished telling him that the ceremony would be in two weeks, closing the door behind him, when he began destroying everything in his room.

Now as he stood surrounded by chaos, he was determined to find Potter and make him pay!

…

Chapter 1

Harry was currently stumbling home after another night of drinking and debauchery. He was so furious with the world that he thought he might go completely mad and just join Voldermort. Shaking his head to clear that horrible thought he tripped and fell onto the sidewalk in front of his house, causing him to groan before he broke into laughter.

"Oh Harry, not again," sighed Tonks coming out from her hiding spot.

"Hiya Tonks," replied Harry turning onto his back, smiling up at her.

"Harry, what are you doing to yourself?" she asked as she held out her hand to help him up. However, Harry had other ideas and pulled her down on top of him and whispered, "I'm just trying to forget, Tonks. Don't you want to forget?"

Tonks closed her eyes and said, "I wish I could Harry, I really do, but all the alcohol in the world won't make it happen."

Harry snorted and said, "Well, it's worth a shot."

She started to get up and Harry groaned, causing her to look at him worriedly.

He closed his eyes and said, "Tonks, you should get off me now."

She huffed and said, "No need to be rude Harry, I was just…" but then she stopped talking when she felt his obvious arousal underneath her. "Oh."

"Yeah." replied Harry opening his eyes to stare at her.

She clumsily got up and said, "Sorry," as he groaned again.

He rolled onto his side and pushed himself up, finally standing in front of her. She was blushing and wouldn't meet his eyes, which made him laugh.

Angry, she looked at him and said, "What are you laughing at Potter?"

"You! Why are you blushing? Surely, you're not a virgin, Tonks." he teased.

"I'm not having this conversation with you mister," she snapped poking him in the chest, "You're just a kid!"

Anger quickly passed over Harry and he grabbed her roughly and said, "I'm just a kid, huh? I'm too young to have sex with but nobody seems to mind putting the fate of the wizarding world on my shoulders!"

Tonks eyes were wide in shock as Harry continued to rant.

"It's alright to make me live with muggles that hate me, make me fight off death eaters, make me the poster boy for good, make me watch the people I love die, but god forbid I have sex!" He yelled so loud his throat was raw and he stood there panting in anger before he shoved Tonks away from him and stormed towards his house.

"Harry!"

"Fuck off Tonks!" he yelled before he slammed the door behind him.

Tonks stood there in shock for what seemed like forever before she moved back to her hiding spot.

Draco watched the whole thing from across the street; completely surprised that Potter's life wasn't so perfect after all. He sighed, knowing he needed to make a decision soon. "Fuck it," he said under his breath before he cast a disillusionment charm on himself before moving quickly across the street into Harry's backyard. It was now or never. He got to the backdoor and a quick spell later he was inside the house. He shook his head in disgust, not much protection going on here. As soon as he finished the thought, he felt a wand in his throat, "Who are you?" growled Harry.

Draco raised his hands and said, "Potter, it's me."

"Malfoy?"

"Yes, now can you lower your wand?"

"No."

Draco huffed and said, "Will you let me cancel the disillusionment charm at least?"

"No."

Draco huffed again but then he felt the charm lifted and he looked at Harry surprised.

"Give me your wand."

"What? No."

"Give it to me, or I'm going to call the Order in here and you can explain what the fuck your doing here to them." threatened Harry.

"Fine! Take it!" snapped Draco handing it to him.

"Sit."

"Stop ordering me around Potter!" he huffed as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

Harry turned on the lights and stared at Draco menacingly.

Draco actually squirmed a bit under his gaze, he looked so different than the last time he saw him. He looks powerful. Draco spent some more time taking in Harry's appearance and couldn't help but notice his bare chest, surprised that he was anything but scrawny underneath. He was quite the site standing there with only a pair of trousers on, his chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath. Draco wasn't gay but he couldn't deny that Potter definitely looked sexy right now.

Harry cleared his throat, uncomfortable with Draco's scrutiny, and asked, "Why are you here?"

Draco started to reply, "I…I…" but then found he didn't really have an answer.

"Malfoy," growled Harry losing his patience.

Draco huffed annoyed and ran his hands through his hair in an uncharacteristic move, showing anxiety before he replied; "I don't know, alright! My life is a fucking mess and it's your entire fault! I spent the last week trying to track you down and now that I'm here I have no fucking idea what I thought was going to happen!"

Harry looked at him for a minute before he lowered his wand and started laughing.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?" snarled Draco.

"This whole fucking night is crazy and I'm still quite drunk."

"Well, I'm glad I fucking amuse you Potter," sulked Draco before he added a customary insult, "At least I can get laid."

"Fuck you Malfoy! I get plenty!" snapped Harry; embarrassed that Malfoy must have seen what happened with Tonks.

Suddenly the front door opened and closed causing both of them to tense and Harry to move so that he could see who it was. He calmed as he saw his cousin, "Hey Dudley."

"Hey. Were my parents up when you got home?"

"No, they were already asleep."

"Cool." replied Dudley as he walked past Harry into the kitchen, stopping when he saw Draco, who simply snubbed his nose at Dudley. Dudley turned to Harry and teased, "This your boyfriend?"

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Fuck off Big D."

Dudley chuckled as he grabbed some food and left the kitchen.

"I'm fucking tired Malfoy, what do you want?" whined Harry, running his hands through his already tussled hair.

Draco laughed and said, "If you asked me that this morning I would have told you I wanted you dead."

Harry raised his eyebrows and asked, "And now?"

"I just want my life back! My father's in bloody Azkaban thanks to you Potter. And now the Dark Lord is punishing me for it by making me take the Dark Mark! As if that's not enough, the maniac is fucking living in my house, scaring the shit out of my mother."

Harry sighed, "What am I supposed to do about any of this, Malfoy?"

Draco looked somewhat unhinged, as he half yelled, "Nothing! I don't expect you to do anything! I don't even know why I'm here, but I just couldn't get it out of my head, I had to see you."

The look on Harry's face was priceless. He clearly didn't know what to think of that statement and Draco started laughing, "Merlin, I sound like one of those Potter groupies!"

Harry chuckled and said, "I hate to break it to you Malfoy, but I'm not gay."

Malfoy groaned and banged his head on the table, "What was I thinking when I came here."

Harry snorted and moved to the fridge to take out cold cuts and make a sandwich. He put everything on the table and asked, "You hungry?"

Malfoy lifted his head up and looked at Harry like he was crazy. Harry just shrugged and proceeded to make two sandwiches before he sat down and started eating.

After several minutes of silence Harry said, "Look, I'm not sorry about your Dad, Malfoy, but isn't there somewhere else your Mum can go?"

"She won't go, she refuses to leave me," replied Draco, obviously distraught.

Harry nodded, figuring that's what Mums are supposed to do. "Why don't you leave then, take her with you?"

Draco snorted, "And go where Potter? There's nowhere to hide that the Dark Lord wouldn't find us and then he'd kill us."

Harry stared at him for quite a while sizing Draco up before he said, "There's a few places he wouldn't be able to find you."

The silence that followed was thick with tension and was finally broken by Draco laughing. Once he started he couldn't stop, which actually made Harry smile somewhat. After a few minutes he said, "I'm serious Malfoy, Dumbledore could…"

"No! Absolutely not! That old codgers' not going to manipulate me like he does my Godfather! You may not mind but I answer to no one. I'm not trading one for another, Potter."

Harry was taken aback by Draco's rant, never considering that Dumbledore manipulated anyone. He frowned thinking back to their last conversation after Sirius died... Neither can live while the other survives.

Harry was suddenly broken out of his thoughts by the chair scraping as Draco got up, "Where are you going?"

Draco shook his head and replied somewhat dejectedly, "Home. I have no idea why I came here, it was stupid."

Harry stood and grabbed Draco's arm as he turned to leave, "Malfoy?"

"What?" snapped Draco, looking at where Harry's hand was on his arm?

Harry looked him straight in the eye and asked seriously, "Do you want to take the Mark?"

Draco sighed and said, "I don't have a choice."

"That's not an answer."

Draco scrunched up his face and yelled, "No, alright, I don't want to! Happy now?"

Harry smiled and said, "Yeah, I am. Stay here, Malfoy."

Draco frowned in confusion.

"Stay here with me, we'll figure something out."

"I'm not going to be Dumbledore's pawn, Potter!" snapped Draco wrenching his arm away from Harry.

Harry responded instantly, surprising even himself, "No, I won't let that happen. I'll figure something out. You can stay here with me, until we figure it out. You'll be safe here."

"I don't trust Dumbledore."

"Then trust me."

Harry was so sincere, so vehement, that Draco couldn't help but do just that and he slowly asked, "You're going to protect me?"

"I ... Yes. I'll do my best."

"What about my Mother?"

Harry sighed and said, "I have no idea right now…but give me some time."

"If I do this, if we do this, there won't be much time to get her out. I can only be away so long before they know I've run."

"How much time?"

"Two, maybe three days."

Harry ran his hands through his hair and said, "I'm going to need help."

"Not…"

"Not Dumbledore. Hermione."

"Granger?"

"Hermione," snapped Harry glaring at Draco before he started rummaging around the kitchen looking for something, huffing when he didn't find it. He moved to the hallway and opened the cupboard door and started rifling through his trunk, muttering under his breath, "where is it?"

"Potter, what are you looking for?"

Harry's response was mumbled and Draco rolled his eyes.

"Found it!" shouted Harry quickly coming back into the kitchen with a little black book in his hands.

Draco simply raised his eyebrows at him and watched as Harry picked up something from the wall and started pressing buttons on it.

"Shit, what time is it?" Harry asked holding something to his ear.

Draco shrugged and said, "I don't know, it's probably midnight."

"Fuck," cursed Harry but just as he was about to hang up someone picked up the other line.

"Hullo?"

"Hermione?"

"What time is it?"

Harry cursed silently and said, "I'm sorry Ma'am, I didn't realize it was so late, I'll call back in the morning."

"It's alright, let me go see if Hermione's awake."

"Thank you Ma'am."

Harry cringed as he heard Hermione's Mum go into her room and tell her she had a phone call.

"Hello?" said Hermione groggily

"Hermione, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize it was this late."

"Harry?"

"Yeah."

Harry was shocked when he heard Hermione huff, "Mum, I've got it, can you go now?"

"Harry, what's wrong?" panicked Hermione.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was so late."

"Stop apologizing, Harry, and tell me what's wrong," snapped Hermione annoyed.

Harry bit his lip, looked at Draco and then replied, "It's kind of hard to explain over the phone. Can you come here?"

"Now?" she shrieked.

"Umm, well, no I guess you could wait until the morning," replied Harry trying to be reasonable. It was the middle of the night after all…

Hermione sighed and started muttering under her breath, then asked, "How do you call for the Knight bus again?"

Harry smiled widely and said, "You just hold out your wand and think about it coming to get you."

"Fine, I'll see you in a bit."

"Thank you Hermione!"

"Yeah, yeah. I hope you have an extra bed at your house," she mumbled and then the line went dead. Harry stared at it in confusion before hanging up.

"Well?" asked Draco.

"She's coming," replied Harry, still somewhat unsure what Hermione was talking about.

"Then why do you look so confused?"

"She said something about having an extra bed?"

"Do you?"

"What?"

"Do you have an extra bed, Potter?" replied Draco rolling his eyes. When Harry just stared at him, he huffed, "You don't expect me to sleep on the floor do you?"

Harry looked surprised and Draco snorted, "You didn't even think about any of this did you?"

Harry shook his head and Draco said, "Well, then, you can sleep on the floor and I'll take your bed."

"Fuck you," replied Harry but there was no malice behind it.

They waited what seemed like forever but in reality was only 45 minutes when they heard the unmistakable sound of the Knight Bus. Harry jumped up and went to the front door to open it and go get Hermione. He heard Draco shout, "Whipped!"

He ran out and took Hermione's bag from her and thanked Stan, wondering why they were both looking at him funny. After the Knight bus left Harry began walking her towards the house when he heard, "Hermione?"

Hermione turned around and was surprised to see Tonks. She heard Harry curse under his breath then felt him move very close to her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Hi Tonks," replied Hermione, uneasy with the sudden change in Harry.

"What are you doing here, Hermione, it's the middle of the night?" asked Tonks none too nicely.

Before Hermione could reply Harry did, "That is none of your business, Tonks. You had your chance earlier and if I remember correctly you weren't interested."

Hermione turned her head to the side to see Harry's face, surprised by what he said. She was pretty sure she was standing there with her mouth wide open and when she turned back to look at Tonks, she saw she was also in shock.

Harry laughed cruelly before he tugged Hermione, his arm still around her waist and pulled her into the house with him.

Once the door was closed Hermione moved away from Harry and stared at him like she'd never seen him before. She took a minute to observe him…his hair was even messier than usual; he had no shirt on, no shoes or socks on, only a pair of low riding trousers on. She could have sworn she smelled alcohol on him too. She narrowed her eyes and asked, "What the hell was that?"

Harry smiled meekly and said, "Sorry, I forgot she was out there and I didn't want her to know anything."

Hermione was livid, practically shrieking, she was so loud, "So you implied I was here for… for…"

Harry backed away from her and raised his hands in surrender, "I'm sorry! It was the only thing I could think of!"

Hermione looked at him like he was insane and asked, "Are you drunk?"

Harry looked away and she stomped her foot and said, "Harry!"

"I'm sorry!" replied Harry automatically.

"Oh this is fantastic. My protector is scared of a know it all witch who wouldn't know how to let loose and have fun even if she was imperio'd." sneered Draco.

Hermione whipped her wand out so fast and pointed it at Draco that Harry was surprised she didn't give herself whiplash. He quickly put his hand on her wand arm and said, "Hermione, it's OK."

"Harry, Draco Malfoy is in your living room, and you think this is OK?" asked Hermione appalled.

"Yes, its why I called you here," said Harry patiently trying to lower her wand arm.

When she still didn't oblige Harry added, "I have his wand Hermione, he's not going to do anything."

Sighing loudly, she lowered her wand hoping that she wouldn't regret it, "Explain."