A/N;; Last chapter. If you want me to continue the series please reveiw & tell me. I do have the plot planned out. so yeah...enjoy...
-Chapter 10-
Harry grinned at Hermione and swatted at Ron's taunting hand.
" I did not look like that!" He snapped.
" You did so!" Ron teetered around the room looking all starry-eyed.
" Dray, tell them I didn't look like that" Harry pouted to his lover.
" Well Weasley it is true…he's much better looking than you" He smirked and squeezed Harry's hand in his own.
" I will admit he did that whole skip in his step thing" Hermione piped in, " I would too though…after getting engaged" She giggled.
" Nah, I'm happy for the lot of you" Ron said finally sitting back down upon one of their many over stuffed chairs.
" Thanks Ronnie boy" Draco laughed and gazed into the blazing fire. Grimauld palace was a gaudy looking place, the rooms each large enough to serve as a living quarters for nearly ten people. Yet they were cozy and close to each other always.
" I can't believe you didn't tell us sooner" Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry who looked away guiltily.
" Draco said he wanted to wait until we settled in!" He argued quickly, glancing at Draco to make sure that the statement was correct.
" We've lived here for two months!" Ron chortled into a glass of wine he was finishing up.
" Two happy months at that," Draco added standing up and stretching his arms over his head. " I am going to head off, I have an appointment tomorrow morning with some one" He yawned, kissing Harry's cheek goodnight.
As soon as the door swung closed Hermione jumped into the warm spot Draco had been before.
" What's he got an appointment for?" She asked eagerly.
" I haven't the slightest…" Harry raised a curious eyebrow in the direction Draco had disappeared to.
" I'm so excited for you Harry" Hermione smiled and laid her head on his shoulder, twirling the ring around his finger for a long period of silence. Harry heaved a gentle sigh and glimpsed at the closed door once again. He had never wished his specialty to be more than a scar on his forehead than at that moment.
Draco pulled the pants up his thin yet muscular legs, the soft swooshing sound mixing with Harry's gentle snores. Working the zipper closed he gazed at his sleeping lover and smiled at his seemingly innocent beauty. The silver blonde hair, damp from his previous shower, floated in front of his eyes as he bent down to kiss the sleeping Gryffindors forehead. He reached into the pocket of his robes and made his way to the living room. A smaller version of the blazing fire from the night before fell in place of his vision. He took the small bag and drew open each drawstring pouring a chalky substance into his palm. He tossed the powder over the fire and watched it crackle and wisp into a deep shade of green, before stepping inside.
" So good to see you Draco" The sickly intoxicating voice stung his ears and he whipped around.
" Likewise" He looked the man in the eye to prove he had no fear of him. He could feel his bottom lip curling into a simple sneer.
" Let's get down to business, shall we?" The old wizard asked motioning to one of the hardest chairs pushed against a wall in the back of his office.
Draco had spent far to much time with the man in the last few weeks.
" Yes, let's" Draco reluctantly agreed, swiftly striding across the room and into the chair.
" I was so pleased when your father told me you would be taking his place."
" Well Mr. Nott, if you don't mind I would just like to get the assignment and get it over with, I plan to be married in a few months" He said stiffly.
Theodore Nott the first laughed, reminding Draco of the man's son.
" Draco…this assignment will take more than two years"
Draco's jaw dropped and he cursed rather loudly.
" No! I cannot do that to H- No absolutely not!" He tried to block out his father's voice in his head.
" You understand that by doing that…your parents will both be put on death row immediately?" Mr. Nott asked.
Draco sighed and sat in the chair, staring at the man in disbelief, his mother the only one he wanted to keep safe. His father deserved the slowest form of torture. He closed his eyes and finally whispered his reply.
" Alright, I'll do it" He felt as if he had no choice.
" Two years!?" Harry practically screeched, jumping up from the couch.
Draco didn't reply, just set his gaze on one particular object to stop himself from tears.
" Do you not care about me or some thing? What is this, a sick joke? Tell me Draco!" Harry had been ranting like this for awhile now. His face was red and he was short of breath,
Finally Draco opened his mouth, " I have to…do you understand that if I don't…my parents will be killed Harry…my father has done some bad things…The dark lord says this is my fathers only choice…" Draco explained trying to stay calm.
" I thought you hated them!" Harry exclaimed.
Draco swallowed back the lump in his throat and nodded, " I may hate them Harry- that's a choice but…" He had to swallow again, his voice shaking, "Loving them however is not…"
Harry opened his mouth to speak but was soon cut off.
" They put me here Harry…" His reply meant for the look Harry had given him.
Harry angrily slammed his fist into the table.
" So what about us? I can't go with you…you made that clear…" Harry asked.
" Harry…" Draco hurried to comfort him.
" We have owls…and it's only two years…" Draco tried to smile.
" ONLY TWO YEARS!" Harry yelled out louder than before.
" Draco that is six-hundred some days that I don't get to wake up to your face, six-hundred some days I don't get to touch you, hold you, kiss you…"
Draco shook his head and clenched his jaw together.
" I'm so sorry" He whispered and squeezed Harry's shoulder.
" Oh don't you fucking touch me!" Harry yelled defensively, holding his arm as if Draco had just stabbed him. He pulled the ring from his finger and threw it on the ground.
" Fuck you Draco!" He yelled angrily and stared at him with a new kind of hatred, the kind that only ever came along with love.
" I'm sorry Harry" He whispered once again before slowly moving to the door. His eyes never left Harry's as he unlatched the door and pulled it open.
Harry hadn't realized he had been screaming until he heard the door shut and felt Hermione's presence behind him.
" He's gone" He whispered, as he looked her in the eye. The room began to spin and he had no choice but to collapse in a fit of tears on the floor.
Harry opened his eyes, half expecting everything to be a dream.
" Draco?" He whispered, pushing his glasses on and tried to ignore the dissatisfying feeling of Hermione's thin fingers curled into his. She smiled warmly at him but her eyes shone with unwanted sadness.
" He-He's really gone?" Harry whispered into the dim lit room. He could tell it was late afternoon by the position of the light being cast in through the crack in the curtains.
" Yes" Hermione finally said her eyes not leaving him. He felt as if he had been brutally beaten the night before. His whole body ached and his eyes felt as if they were about to melt out of his head if another tear was shed. He dug his eyetooth into his bottom lip to prevent this.
" Harry?" Hermione sighed and held her best friend as he shook and held in sobs that grieved from his lips no matter how hard he tried to stop them.
Something caught the corner of his eye and he crawled from her grasp to the shiny thing on the floor. He realized it was the ring he had thrown out of rage to the floor the prior night.
A wet cry escaped and his whole chest gave away, he collapsed on the floor never ever wanting to let go of the treasure. Hermione knelt next to him and rubbed her hand along his back, shooting worried looks to Ron.
" I love him," Harry cried.
" I know you do, there is not a doubt in my mind" Hermione whispered softly, propping his head on her knee.
Harry didn't leave that spot for three days. He held the ring of gold in his small hand until it became part of him again.
In Harry's mind, Draco Malfoy had now gone from Schoolboy enemy, to distrusted lover, to loving fiancé to just another piece of his rocky past.
But Harry, he always stayed the same.
END.