Title: Taming a Dragon

Author: BoundIrishAngel

Pairing: Draco/Harry

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is myself and the only thing I claim is that I suffer from extremely vivid imagination!

Taming a Dragon

"You lying skank!" Draco shouted, picking yet another ornament off their mantelpiece without looking at it and hurling it at Harry.

"Please, Draco! Just let me explain," Harry pleaded while at the same time trying to hide behind the sofa. The floor around him was already littered with broken pieces of the many things Draco had thrown at him. He was just glad that it would be fairly easy to repair them with magic later. But first he had to calm Draco down.

"Let you explain, so you can lie some more? No way!" Was Draco's answer, never stopping to throw things at Harry. When the mantelpiece was empty he simply moved to the nearest shelf and continued from there.

"I would never hurt you," Harry pleaded. "Please stop, Draco. I love you!"

"You lost yourself the right to love me!"

"Draco, I beg you...!"

"Beg all you want. It's too late," Draco hissed harshly.

Harry looked at Draco with regret. Then he saw him reaching for a glass vase. "Draco, no! Not the vase!" He called, knowing it was a Malfoy family heirloom and the blond would regret damaging it but it was too late. Draco had already picked it up and hurled it at him. Harry tried to catch it but the smooth glass slipped through his fingers like water. He watched in horror as the vase landed on the floor and shattered.

He was brought out of his terror by a stabbing pain in his arm. Looking at it he could just see a picture frame falling to the floor beside him, it had hit him full force. Looking up at Draco he saw another picture frame flying towards him and only just managed to duck to avoid it.

"Please stop Draco!" Harry tried again his voice somehow both begging and firm but Draco was lost in his grief and not listening. "If you would only let me explain..." Harry sighed almost hopelessly.

"I don't want to hear anymore of your lies!" Draco shouted in response. "In fact, I don't wanna see your scar-face anymore either! Get out of my house and my life!" with those words, Draco finally stopped throwing stuff only to leave the room, slamming the door forcefully.

"Oh Draco..." Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair, wondering what he was going to do. Looking around the room and the destruction just made him feel worse. He was glad though that Draco hadn't used his wand. Harry knew his own wand to be in the room he just wasn't sure where and with or without it he wasn't sure he could have lasted under Draco's onslaught.

With another sigh Harry started looking for his wand, lifting cushions and poking at the debris on the ground. Then he thought about summoning it and while he didn't expect it to work he still tried it. At first nothing happened and he went back to looking manually but then he heard a whizzing sound and looking up sharply he saw his wand flying towards him. He caught it easily and let his fingers caress the wood gently for a moment.

Then he gave it a few flicks and watched as the room repaired itself. He couldn't help but smile, thinking that magic was such a wonderful thing. One by one the picture frames, ornaments and other decorations reassembled themselves and flew back into their original positions. After a few minutes the only remaining sign of the previous events was a pile of glass shards.

Harry walked over and kneeled down beside them. He tried a few different spells that he thought might help but the shards lay motionless. "Why did you have to pick the vase, Draco?" Harry asked with a sigh. It wasn't that it was particularly beautiful, in fact they'd both often commented how ugly it was. But it had been in the family for generations, some great, great, great, great... great, great... great-aunt or similar had made it herself and given it to her daughter as... was it a wedding present?

Harry couldn't remember. He knew Draco had told him the story but he failed to recall it. It had little to no meaning to him but that didn't mean Draco didn't care. Wondering what he was going to do Harry conjured a box and then levitated the shards into it. He knew he would have to find a way to fix it.

Standing up again he looked with regret at the door through which Draco had exited the room. "You've asked me to leave so I will. For now. But I still love you and somehow, I'll find a way to make you listen and understand," he said quietly, though he knew Draco couldn't hear him.

Once he was back at his own house he worked on finding a way to fix the glass vase. He knew the vase had had many spells cast on it over the years. But the knowledge of what magic had been used was lost from one generation to another. He was certain more than one protective spell had been used, possibly some that let most if not all other magic just bounce off it.

The Malfoys being a proud, not to say haughty, pureblood family would never have imagined someone using brute force to break the magical item. So they had obviously not deemed it necessary to protect it that way and even though it was broken now, the magic was still embedded into the shards and made fixing it difficult.

But Harry wasn't going to give up easily, he spent much time reading up on pureblood heirlooms, their protective spells and any other related information he could find. He even asked Hermione for help.

In the end the only real solution they could find was to melt the glass and form a new vase from it. It was hardly what Harry had hoped for but the more he thought about it, the more he found it to be an opportunity. Even Draco had admitted he thought the vase to be rather ugly. So what if he didn't make a new vase but something more beautiful? More meaningful?

And so Harry went and melted the glass shards and then using magic he tried forming the heated glass into a new shape. It wasn't easy and his first few attempts failed miserably. He found it rather disconcerting and because he wasn't sure if it was merely his skill or also his imagination he went and got a book with a picture of the shape similar to what he wanted.

He gradually worked his way up from forming the glass into a near look-a-like to a perfect look-a-like. Having achieved a perfect copy of the picture in the book Harry sat down and drew a picture of exactly what he wanted the glass shape to look like. With the help of rather more magic he managed to get just what he wanted. From there it was only a small step to forming the glass into a perfect replica.

The whole process still took him three days.

By the time he was done he was rather exhausted but very pleased with his efforts. He just hoped that Draco would feel the same. Having read up on protection spells, Harry cast several off them on the newly formed heirloom, making sure to add one that would protect it from brute force as well as making sure that repairing spells could still be cast, not that he expected it to be necessary.

Packing the heirloom back into the box Harry made sure it was stored safely before he went to get some sleep. Once he was well rested and had eaten he would go and talk to Draco, hoping he'd have calmed down somewhat by then.

"Draco? Is it safe to enter?" Harry asked carefully, knocking on the door and opening it only a fraction, in case something were thrown his way again. He'd already searched most of the rooms in the manor that they'd ever spent any time in. The only one left was the bedroom, it was the middle of the day and therefore unusual for Draco to be found here. But Harry knew him to be home so this was the only place he could really be.

When no answer was forth coming but he also didn't hear the sound of anything shattering against the door, Harry dared opening the door a little further. Fraction by fraction he opened it until he could see Draco lying on the bed, the duvet pulled up over his head. He'd obviously been pestered by house-elves and wanted to be left alone.

Well, Harry would have to ignore that. He entered quietly and knelt down beside the bed. Putting the box he brought on the bedside table he pulled out his wand, just in case. Then he carefully tugged down the cover.

"Draco? Can I explain myself now?" He asked gently, carefully.

At first Draco resisted the pull of the cover but when he heard Harry's voice he let the cover be pulled away. Blinking at the harsh light in the room, it took a moment before he could focus on Harry. "Didn't I tell you to get lost?" He hissed harshly.

Harry winced at the tone but he could see in Draco's eyes that he was hurt. "I swear on my magic that I've done nothing to intentionally hurt you, Draco."

Draco sneered. "Stop lying already!"

Harry was about to answer when the box he'd set on the bedside table started moving, odd sounds coming from inside it.

"What's that?" Draco asked with narrowed eyes.

"Ehm... a present of sorts. But it was supposed to be inanimate," Harry added thoughtfully. Reaching for the box he picked it up but it was hot to his touch and he ended up having to let go of it. The box dropped to the bed and landed only inches from Draco who recoiled at the hissing sounds coming from inside it.

Sitting up in bed Draco pulled out his wand and pointed it at the box. With a quick flick the lids of the box came off and a dark cloud of smoke followed it, making Draco move back even more. With the top off, the box shook more and toppled until it lay on it's side, facing Harry.

Very gradually the smoke vanished and Harry could see the little glass dragon he had made running against the sides of the box until it realised that one side was now open. Suddenly it lay its eyes on Harry and came running at him, growling furiously. It stopped at the edge of the bed, still growling at him. Harry was frozen in place by the sheer surprise that the dragon he had made had actually come to live. It was only when the dragon started spitting fire directly at his face that Harry moved, trying to get away. He was too slow though and got caught by it. He was glad to realise the fire did not burn him. It merely caused a light tingling and felt like hot air being blown into his face.

"Doesn't look very inanimate, does it?" Draco questioned. "Did you make it to hurt me even more? Thought you'd have it burn me to death?"

At the sound of the voice the dragon started looking around until he saw Draco sitting a good distance behind him. Without wasting further time growling at Harry the dragon turned around and ran towards Draco. The blond tried to get away but he was tangled in the sheets and before he had managed to get up the dragon had crossed the gap between them. To both Harry and Draco's utter astonishment the dragon didn't start growling or spitting fire, instead it found Draco's hand and rubbed his head against it, in an almost loving gesture. Draco froze in place while Harry just gaped at the sight.

"What the..." Harry muttered.

"What is this, Potter?" Draco asked in utter confusion. Especially when the dragon started nudging his hand until he started petting him.

"I... I don't know..." Harry mumbled. At the scathing look from Draco he tried to collect himself. "I made him from the remains of the vase you broke. I couldn't repair it but I could remould it. I figured a dragon would be more fitting than just making another vase, more personalised, you know? He was supposed to be inanimate though... The only spells I cast where protections..."

"He doesn't look very inanimate," Draco pointed out.

"I don't know how that happened..." Harry replied, scratching his head in confusion.

"What vase were you referring to?" Draco asked, chuckling at the way the dragon would growl when he heard Harry's voice but seemed to be appeased when Draco scratched his head.

"The heirloom one... your I-don't-know-how-many-times-great grandmother made. The one you admitted wasn't particularly pretty."

"Hmm I think I know the one. Can't say I'm sad about breaking that particular piece of rubbish. Especially when I get something so cute in return..." He added with a cooing voice but then swore when the dragon bit into his finger before he was enveloped by a cloud of smoke and fire that had him coughing and waving his hand to try and get rid of it.

Harry bit back a laugh but then turned more thoughtful. "I wonder..." he mused for a moment, watching as Draco glared at the dragon, who merely glared back at him. "I did aim for something more personalised but I didn't expect something so life-like."

Hearing Harry's voice the dragon stopped returning Draco's glare and instead turned around to look at Harry again, growling fiercely. He didn't stalk over to him but he did start spitting fire again.

"Yeah, you're life-like, alright!" Harry chuckled. When the box he'd brought the dragon in got caught in the burst of fire and started burning he cast a quick aguamenti on it before levitating it away to safety. "And I think you turned out much more like the original you were modelled after than I even thought possible."

"What did you model him after?"

Harry grinned but didn't quite answer straight away. "I will tell you... but first you need to accept that I did nothing wrong and believe me when I say that I've done absolutely nothing to hurt you."

"How can I believe that after everything I've been told?"

"Think about who it was that told you. Think like the Slytherin you are. What motives might they have had to lie to you? To spread lies about me? I don't even know what exactly you've been told. All I know is that I went on Ron's stag night, we got terribly drunk, there was a lot of pranking going on, all of it directed at Ron, naturally. There was no naked girls or guys involved, there was no kissing, fumbling or any other inappropriate actions from any party at the stag night. Hermione would never have forgiven us for it. The majority of participants have their own partners so we made a vow beforehand that no cheating of any sort would be tolerated and we would keep each other in line in case there was too much drink. Whatever you've been told, Draco... I swear on my life I did nothing to hurt you," Harry finished seriously, his eyes locked on Draco's, hoping to convey his honesty.

Draco could see the truth quite clearly. Harry had never been good at hiding his emotions and wasn't a great liar at the best of times. Aside from Harry's honesty he could also see a hint of hurt and it made him feel guilty because he knew that hurt had been caused by his mistrust. "Your life's pretty valuable..." he commented dryly, moving his eyes away from Harry and instead watching the dragon, sitting between them. He was currently looking from one of them to the other and back again, eyeing them carefully.

"It's worth nothing if you don't believe and trust me. It means nothing if you stop loving me."

"Sap," Draco said with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, stop me."

"They said you'd been kissing a dancer... passionately... and that you went to a private room for a lap dance... when you came out you were grinning like a cat that got the cream..."

"Draco... look at me?" Harry asked gently, when Draco kept his eyes focused on the dragon. Eventually, slowly Draco looked up at him. "Do you honestly believe I could hurt you that way?"

"I didn't think so before... now... I don't know anymore." Draco said weakly.

"Would you like to see my memories of that night? I'll let you see the whole night if that's what it takes for you to believe me."

"You would do that?"

"Of course, Draco. Don't you realise yet how much you mean to me?"

"Stop with the sappiness!" Draco rolled his eyes.

"Well then say you believe that nothing happened!"

"Fine." Draco said after an extended silence.

"Fine, what?"

"I believe that you're an insufferable Gryffindork that probably couldn't cheat on me if he tried."

"Yes, that's much more like it," Harry grinned and getting off the floor where he'd still been sitting he sat down next to Draco on the bed. Holding his cheek out to Draco he tapped it with a finger, waiting patiently.

Draco glared at him for a while but eventually leaned in and placed a kiss on his check, whispering while he was close "I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven," Harry replied still grinning. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips against Draco's, sneaking a hand to the back of his neck to hold him in place.

Draco in turned wrapped a hand in Harry's hair, tugging at it gently. They kissed lazily for a while, both reassuring themselves and each other that they were ok again. When they did eventually pull apart, Harry rested his forehead against Draco's for a few moments, letting his eyes close to enjoy the closeness.

"So..." Draco said, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

"So?"

"You were going to tell me something?"

"Was I?" Harry asked in confusion, his mind having drifted.

"The dragon?"

"Oh yes, the dragon..." Harry said with a chuckle, turning his attention to said dragon. He was surprised to see him lying on the bed, his head and tail curled inwards, tugged against the rest of his body. He looked oddly content. "Did you call him cute earlier?"

"Well..." Draco started hesitantly, worried that he would be attacked again if he repeated the sentiment.

"Are you scared of a little glass dragon?" Harry taunted, knowing exactly what Draco was thinking.

"Of course not, Potter! I did say he was cute, not something that could have been said of the vase..." before Draco could say anymore he was once again coughing from the fiery smoke the dragon had sent his way.

Harry laughed in delight at the sight. "He takes after you, alright!"

Once the cloud had dissipated Draco glared first at the dragon then at Harry. "What do you mean he takes after me?"

"Would you like it if I called you cute?"

"Would you like to lose your balls?"

"Precisely my point!" Harry laughed. "You don't like being called cute, so he doesn't like it either."

"Merlin, help me! What are you on about?" Draco asked with barely disguised frustration and annoyance.

"I did mentioned I was aiming for a more personalised heirloom, didn't I? Well guess whom I was thinking about when I was modelling him."

Draco looked at Harry with narrowed eyes. "Are you saying you made him after me?"

"Well, I was thinking about you pretty much the entire time I was making him. I was also making him for you. And when it came to the part of what he should look like I used a book to compare different type of dragons and I used the basics from the book but I did think of you again. So yes, I guess he was made after you," Harry said with a smile.

"And the residual magic from centuries of protection spells made him come alive." Draco added thoughtfully. "He seemed to be reacting to voices before. He didn't start moving until after he heard my voice."

"He was definitely inanimate while he was around me only. So yes, I guess being close to you and hearing your voice could have been the last part needed to awaken him."

"So you're a little mini me?" Draco asked looking at the dragon questioningly. Seeing as he was unable to speak the dragon just looked at Draco and blinked.

"A little Draconis."

"What?"

"He has to have name, doesn't he?" Harry asked at Draco's questioning look. "If he takes after you, Draconis seems fitting."

"Draconis... well yeah, I guess that would be fitting."

"How I will ever cope being surrounded by two dragons, I'll never know!" Harry said in an overly pained voice.

"Well you're a pretty good dragon tamer," Draco said, grinning mischievously at Harry.

"Hmm good point! I've proven it again today, haven't I?"

"So you have. As for your reward..." Draco whispered huskily, taking hold of Harry's robe with both hands and pulling him close for another kiss.

Harry willingly let himself be pulled closer, wrapping his arms around Draco to stay close. This time when their lips met there was an urgency in their movement that hadn't been there before. This time the kiss was one far more passionate than their previous one.

They were interrupted by a growling sound and pulled away simultaneously to look at the dragon. He was still lying on the bed, his grey eyes focused on them both, with a look that could only be described as adoring. They looked at each other with confusion until they heard it again and realised it was in fact Draco's stomach.

"What's the last time you've eaten?" Harry asked, his voice taking on a stern tone.

"Not sure, the elves kept brining stuff but... wasn't exactly hungry for the most part."

"How many meals did you have since I left?"

"Uhm... two? Maybe..."

"Draco! I've been gone three days," Harry said almost outraged. "Right, you're getting up now to have food," with that Harry got up himself and pulled Draco to his feet.

"But... your reward?"

"Don't you worry, I'll claim my reward later," Harry reassured and placed a quick kiss on Draco's nose. Grabbing a bathrobe he wrapped it around Draco and made to lead him from the room. He stopped however when he heard the dragon growling and spitting fire again.

"I think he wants to come along," Draco said and pulling away from Harry he went back to the bed, where Draconis had stood up, glaring at them both, as though questioning how they dared leave him behind. "I'll take you with me if you promise not to keep blowing smoke in my face, alright?" His only answer was a tiny puff of smoke from Draconis. "Right, I'm gonna take that as a yes. I'll warn you though, if you don't behave I'll find a way to punish you." He was about to pick the dragon up but at the fierce growl he pulled away.

"I think it's more likely he'll find a way to punish you," Harry laughed.

"Shup up," Draco hissed over his shoulder. Then he carefully held a hand out to Draconis, ready to pull away any moment. The little dragon merely stepped on his palm though and then wrapped his tail around Draco's wrist for extra hold. Picking the dragon up and holding him close gave Draco a chance to look at him a little more closely. "I can see the resemblance now. I do apologise for calling you cute. That was a very inappropriate description. We're not cute, are we? Handsome, certainly. Formidable, cunning, dangerous, all far more appropriate descriptions, right?" The resulting puff of smoke from Draconis made both Harry and Draco chuckle.

"I think he's found a way of saying yes." Harry noted. "I wonder if we can add a no to his vocabulary?"

"We'll find a way, eh?"

"For now it's time for my dragon to be fed," Harry said and taking Draco's free hand pulled him from the room and towards the kitchen.

"Will you make me your special fry-up?" Draco asked, following Harry willingly. Seeing the raised eyebrow on Harry's face he continued, "I really fancy a fry-up now and yours it just delicious..."

"I guess I might be able to be convinced if I get enough kisses."

"That's blackmail!" Draco protested.

"Nope, it's called trade. You want something from me and I want something in return," Harry said with a grin.

"Fine," Draco grumbled and leaned in, placing a first kiss on Harry's cheek. The sooner he started the better, Draco knew.

Harry continued grinning while they walked thinking how easily his dragon could be tamed.

end of part 1