Streetlamps
The lights of passing lanterns through the windows burned Draco’s retinas as he downed the last of the fire whiskey in his glass. Aberforth who had little else to do besides wash the bar and scrub the goblets made sure the youngest Malfoy’s glass was whole again, knowing a drunk customer was a well-paying one. The blond nodded thankfully with a grimaced smirk and toasted his glass to something imaginary. He ran his finger around the rim of his glass as he stared drunkenly at the top of the bar, bemused by the drops of condensation that had slid off his glass. The Slytherin was confused at the semi-hospitality that Aberforth showed, they spoke no words besides Draco’s request for whiskey and the elder’s nod of understanding. He wondered if perhaps Dumbledore had confided his concerns about him to his brother and he had taken pity on him. Even so, he was grateful to have somewhere else to spend his time besides the manor even if his only entertainment was binge drinking and people watching.
Draco jumped at the unexpected sound of a bell, that signaled new patrons had entered through the door. He lifted his head, heavy from alcohol, to glance curiously at the door. He rolled his eyes as a familiar group of Gryffindors entered through the doorway, which was being held open by none other than the Savior. He turned back to his bar top and feigned interest as the pride of lions settled themselves among the bar by pushing together two tables. Aberforth abandoned the bar in search of orders to take while Draco sat uncomfortably at the end of the bar, hoping that he would remain unnoticed, or at least left alone.
As the night wore on, and the moon drifted higher, the bar got louder and the population of it increased. Nealy every seat was occupied and the smell of bar food filled the air. Draco remained unmoving from his seat minus lifting his arm to consume his beverage. As expected Draco had been left alone, no one wanting to interact with a Death Eater. He decided his night was ending as his head felt quite heavy and he was doubting his ability to return home without injury. The blond had just pulled out his coin pouch to pay his tab when a pint was slammed onto the counter splashing its contents onto the bar. Draco jumped in his seat and looked to see who had made the mess. He groaned inwardly as he took in the round glasses and black unkempt hair.
Harry leaned against the counter, “Malfoy, out on bail?”
He took a deep breath before responding, “It appears that way.”
“You’ve been here all night,” Harry stated, showing his proneness to awkward encounters.
Draco huffed, “Old habits die hard, huh Potter?”
Harry shifted awkwardly and his face grew red, “It’s not like that, I-”
“Relax, I’m just teasing you,” he turned his gaze to his glass. “I don’t blame you for watching me still. Merlin knows I deserve it.”
“I wasn’t watching you, just hard not to notice a scrawny blond man sitting in the corner of a bar.” The raven-haired man attempted to ease the intense atmosphere.
Draco looked behind him to see what the other two the Golden Trio were doing. Granger and Weasley were huddled together. Hermione was leaning onto her boyfriend's shoulder as she read a book while Ron drank and chatted with Seamus and Dean.
“Have you lost interest in your friends or something?” Draco questioned.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows, “no, why?”
Draco sipped at his glass, “I just can’t for the life of me figure out why you are talking to me.”
Harry laughed, which further confused the youngest Malfoy. “Familiar face, I guess,” Harry nervously pushed his glasses up, which were already securely on his face, “I wanted to see how you were doing.”
Draco choked on his drink, “Me? You wanted to see how I was doing?”
“Yeah?”
Draco sat up straight, recovering from his shock. “Uh, I’m…okay.”
Harry smiled lightly taking another gulp from his pint, “I heard your trial is on Friday.”
Draco grimaced, “hoping to drink myself to death before then.”
“I think your case is promising.”
Draco lifted a brow, “You think so?”
“Sure, I can see the headline already, ‘Young Heartthrob’s Family Threatened and Terrorised By Blood Supremacist in Exchange for Cooperation’ sounds like a perfect headline.”
Draco laughed uncomfortably, “We shall see what the Wizengamot thinks,” he turned and gave Harry a sly look, “You think I’m a heartthrob?”
Harry gave him a funny expression, “like you don’t know?”
Draco gazed at the rosiness of Harry’s cheeks, “exactly, how drunk are you, Potter?”
The scarred hero’s eyes darkened with lust, “enough to know what I want.”
The Slytherin’s eyes widened, “sorry?” Harry downed the rest of his pint and slammed it onto the bar. Draco wondered when the skinny eleven-year-old boy he once loathed turned into such a confident man. He also wondered why out of the many bachelors and bachelorettes in the bar, Harry seemed to be propositioning him. “I’m a little confused, are you hitting on me?” Draco was too drunk and too baffled to beat around the bush.
Harry laughed, and it seemed a little hysterical, “I don’t know, is it working?”
Draco stared into Harry’s eyes as he took the last sip of his whiskey, “You know what, Potter? Maybe it's the Ogden’s, maybe I have finally lost my mind, or maybe- just maybe I want one last wild night of freedom-” he took a deep breath, “let’s get out of here.”
Draco rolled his eyes at the grin that spread across Harry’s face. As he stood his shaking legs gave out and he ended up falling onto Harry, who grabbed tightly onto his waist and shifted him upright. The Slytherin smirked at Harry’s flushed face and took the opportunity to let his hands wander down causing Harry to step back with an embarrassed gasp.
“Mine or yours?”
Draco made a face, “definitely yours. Mother would be horrified if I dragged a man into the house to shag, let alone the Savior.”
As Harry stepped towards the door, Draco grabbed onto his sleeve. “I can’t apparate. It’s part of the bail agreement.”
“Floo, it is then.”
Draco let out a surprised yelp as he was roughly slammed against the wall next to the fireplace before the ash from the floo had even cleared from his vision. His yelp was ceased by Harry’s mouth covering his. Draco noted the taste of beer and peanuts on his breath, two things he was not fond of. He swallowed his complaints though as he was far more focused on other things. He gently pushed Harry back to drag in a deep breath.
“Merlin Harry, excited much?” He teased dragging his head back down into another kiss.
Harry smirked against his lips, “I’ve wanted this for so long.”
“I thought you hated me,” Draco explained, breathless as he shoved Harry’s robe from his shoulders.
Harry tossed the robe to the floor, “I thought you were a prick, but that didn’t stop me from wanting you.” He helped Draco out of his robe.
Draco thought for a moment, realizing that he happened to have the same sentiment about the other man, “Fair enough.”
Harry pushed him back into the wall and his lips found his again, causing Draco to let out a surprised grunt. The grunt turned into a moan when Harry’s hand wandered into his pants.
“Oh god,” he panted, “I don’t think I can handle foreplay.”
Harry snickered against his lips, “bedroom?”
“I don’t care.”
The Slytherin lay, staring at the ceiling pleasantly sore, and listened to the gentle snores of the lion. Draco turned to watch him sleep, smirking at the fact that in his exhaustion, Harry had forgotten to remove his glasses which were skewed and dirty. The peace he had felt listening to his breathing and the ambiance of the surrounding city soon turned to sour fear. Draco sat up, tossed the blankets aside, and turned to look out the window. He was surprised at how much life the neighborhood still had in the middle of the night. It was so different from the silent nights he spent in his bedroom at the Manor. He instinctively reached towards the nightstand for his wand, before remembering that it was in ministry custody and he would most likely never hold it again. Aided by the streetlights he set about gathering his clothing from around the room, glancing back frequently to make sure he didn’t wake Harry.
He observed the room's contents as he buttoned his shirt, noting the many framed photos that were spread about the top of the dresser, along with random nicknacks. He reached out and picked up one photograph which contained a photo of Lily and James Potter. Draco felt an odd sort of jealousy as he watched them smile at each other, the pure love obvious to even a stranger. He wondered if there was a time when his parents looked at each other that way. The mental image of Lucius Malfoy making any other expression besides a disappointed grimace almost made him laugh.
“Draco?”
He jumped, nearly dropping the photo as he rushed to put it back. “I didn’t know you were awake.” He started dumbly.
“I wasn’t? Are you leaving already?” Harry’s voice sounded strange. Draco hoped it was just from sleep.
He felt himself sink back into his hard shell, “Yeah, early morning tomorrow, but thanks for the shag, Potter.” He inwardly cringed at his rudeness.
Harry sat up straighter, adjusting his glasses as he reached to turn on the lamp. The light illuminated them both making them squint. Draco briefly glanced at Harry as he searched the floor for his shoes. “Draco.” He ignored the concerned tone in his voice, bending down to check under the bed.
“Have you seen my shoes?”
“Wait.” Harry clambered out of bed, snagging an old pair of sweatpants off the floor and pulling them on. Draco could feel his eyes staring at him as he continued searching the room, he knew his movements were becoming panicked. “Am I going to see you again?”
Draco paused, a strange feeling stirring in his stomach. “Unlikely,” he said as he closed the wardrobe to check behind the door.
The bed creaked as Harry slumped back onto it, “what did I do?”
Draco turned to look at him, a familiar… comforting feeling of annoyance coming to the surface. “For Merlin’s sake Potter, this doesn’t have anything to do with you, so you can stop stewing in your cauldron of self-blame.” He snapped at him, causing the Gryffindor to look up in surprise.
Harry stood up again, coming to stand directly in front of him. “Then what is it, Draco ? From where I’m standing it looks like we had mind-blowing, life-altering sex and you are running out of here like I’m some one-night stand.”
Draco laughed, “Because you are! This can’t be anything more than that.” Draco ran a frustrated hand down his face. “What part of I am about to go to prison for the rest of my fucking life do you not understand?”
Draco felt himself deflate as he watched the fight leave Harry’s body and his expression relax. “You won’t. I’m testifying for you, it’ll be fine. You didn’t do anything that wasn’t a result of living in fear.”
Draco felt his eyes water, he convinced himself that it was just due to the musty air of Grimmauld Place. “I don’t know anymore. I think public opinion of my family has sentenced me already.” He pushed passed Harry to grab his shoes which had ended up underneath a pile of Harry’s clothes. He noticed his socks were still missing, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care as he sat on the bed and shoved his feet into them. He stood and walked to the door but as his hand began turning the doorknob to leave he felt Harry’s hand grip his shoulder and roughly turn him around.
Harry’s mouth was set in a tense line, “I have one request.”
Draco stared at him in confusion.
“On Friday, when the Wizengamot pardons you and you walk free we go on a date to a restaurant of your choice.”
The tears that had been on the edge of the blonde’s lashes spilled over. He laughed wetly, “And if I don’t?”
Harry’s eyes hardened, “you will.”
Draco gave him a torn look and disappeared through the door.