A/N Mild Smut at start of chapter
'And what did you have in mind?'
'Well...' Draco drawled and stepped forward, closer to Harry. The intent of what he planned was enough to send a thrilling rush of shivers across Draco's skin directly to his groin, especially as he watched Harry's eyes darken at his sudden proximity.
And he couldn't help being amused at the change in himself and that, now, the thought of what he was about to do excited him to the point of being painfully hard. Five months ago, it would have made him feel positively queasy. And he thought about the black plastic bag hidden in the back of the wardrobe at Grimmauld Place and his own first tentative but more intimate explorations of his own body less than a few months earlier. He'd have to have a quiet word with Ruby about retrieving that bag, especially after Harry's reaction when he mentioned using a toy. What surprised him the most were his lack of doubts; once he'd truly thought about being with another man-about being with Harry-they just hadn't existed. This felt right and it was what he wanted. The morning's activities had utterly dispelled any lingering worries. Although he'd been overtly and physically aware of what they'd done, he was surprised it hadn't been more painful or the after-burn hadn't been more uncomfortable, rather it had been a pleasant and somewhat sensual reminder throughout the day. But he supposed, for all the erotic charge and surging magic, Harry had been careful with him, taking his time and being gentle, constantly worrying about hurting Draco. He smiled to himself, how easily, he thought, had his mentality changed and how right it felt. And how he couldn't wait for more!
He positively stalked the final steps so he was nearly pushed against Harry. 'I was just reading something, about training to control and direct magic by using extreme distraction techniques...' He reached a finger out to touch the middle of Harry's chest, pushing him so that he backed up against the edge of the ancient free-standing bath until it was hard against the back of Harry's knees.
The walls immediately darkened to a deep-petrol blue at the implied suggestion of Draco's actions. 'Good,' Draco hummed in satisfaction.
Harry's hands slid around Draco's hips to his leather clad arse. Harry smiled wickedly, 'I do like these,' he hummed.
'Uh-uh! No touching...' Draco slapped his hands away. 'Now, a clean white ceiling and woodwork,' he murmured against Harry's jaw, inhaling deep woodland tones of his aftershave, as he ran his finger slowly down Harry's chest.
'Who knew decorating could be so sexy?' Harry sighed but he obliged without argument.
Draco's fingers deftly eased Harry's t-shirt free from his jeans and he pulled it over Harry's head. His fingers skimming lightly over Harry's ribs and skirted tantalisingly close to his nipples. 'Reminds me of a certain scenario not so long ago in Grimmauld Place kitchen, though this time I expect you to get past the tipping point, rather than trying to resist.' His fingers traced the dips between Harry's defined abs. 'You're still not eating enough,' he said in a low dangerous voice. 'I'll have to talk to Letty. Now, enough teasing... the bath needs modernising.' His thumbs glanced over Harry's dark nipple buds which had quickly hardened under his touch.
Harry inhaled sharply and directed his magic as Draco requested.
'Hmmm, slightly clumsy,' Draco murmured as he kissed down Harry's neck, sucking and mouthing as he moved until he reached a clavicle.
Harry moaned and Draco smiled.
'Interesting. Change it,' he mumbled against Harry's skin, his fingers running lower towards the V that ran to Harry's hips. 'It's nice to do this as more than just an experiment to see if I could break you,' he smirked.
'Isn't this still an experiment?' Harry sounded like he would have reprimanded Draco more for knowingly torturing him at Grimmauld Place but Draco chose that moment to dip his fingers dipped beneath his belt and brush the tip of Harry's erection.
'Oh gods,' Harry moaned as he sent his magic back towards the bath to clean up the design.
'Better,' and Draco bent to flick a nipple with his tongue. 'The shower...' he commanded as he began to undo Harry's flies.
Harry's head fell back as he clung to the edge of the bath. The shower changed to a walk-in glass affair with white brick-shaped tiles and a large fixed showerhead that would rain down water in a tumult and Draco could tell he was battling between controlling and directing his magic and letting go completely to the sensations of Draco's teasing.
'Yes,' Draco hissed. He moved to play with Harry's other nipple with his tongue, leaving the other sensitive to the exposed cold. He was delighted by the power he had. 'The floor...' he commanded.
'Me?'
'No, change it!'
Harry was clearly struggling with the distraction of Draco dropping to his knees as he eased down Harry's jeans to his ankles and ran his hands roughly over Harry's legs, feeling the muscles and the course hairs.
'Concentrate!'
Harry kicked off his shoes and vanished his socks to goodness knows where. His magic seemed to flow from his toes and even Draco could feel it, the old wide floorboards turning to white in a widening circle with them at the centre.
'Interesting...' Draco murmured against Harry's hipbone which he nipped lightly as a hand ran up Harry's inner thigh. He couldn't resist dragging his nose up where Harry's leg met his groin, inhaling the intense and rich scent that screamed 'Potter'.
'Shit!' Harry gasped as Draco grasped the base of cock and slowly, torturously, dragged his tongue up its length before enveloping his head slowly with his mouth.
Draco pulled off with a pop. 'Don't stop,' he ordered.
'I could say the same to you.'
Draco thought he'd never seen anything so divine as Harry at that exact moment; the flat plains and muscles of his body and his head thrown back in pleasure, even as he battled to control his magic. What's more, Draco realised, it was his doing and that thrilled him, he thought it was amazing that he could make Harry look like that. He squeezed Harry's buttock hard, jolting him into action with the sharp reminder of pain from his blunt nails. The toilet was quickly reshaped.
'Good, now the sink.' And he took Harry in his mouth again.
Harry moaned, 'how am I supposed to concentrate on my magic while you're was doing this to me?'
Draco pulled away again. 'Control it, Potter!' he commanded as Harry misdirected and water fountained from a broken tap, soaking them both.
'Oh gods,' Harry cried out but managed to stem the explosion.
'Draco...' he moaned.
'Not yet,' Draco said.
He could feel Harry's knees buckling and knew he was close.
'I can't... not with you... doing that... Merlin!'
'Finish the job!'
'Draco,' Harry begged as Draco's lips and tongue teased his cock but he declined to envelop Harry fully again.
'Finish the job!'
'You're cruel...'
'Mhmm!' Draco's fingers teased between Harry's cheeks, glancing, promising, tantalising.
The chair's upholstery turned stripped lime green and cream with hot-pink pinstripes.
'Very flamboyant!' Draco smirked before rewarding Harry, though the bite of his nails into Harry's thighs was a reminder not to stop. He could tell Harry was barely focusing as the towels also turned lime green and fire surround black. Draco took him in his mouth again and Harry gasped as Draco suddenly thrust forward so Harry hit the back of his throat.
The mirror was re-gilded as Harry came in deep shuddering gasps and Draco swallowed every drop; surprised, delighted even, by the musky taste of him.
'Hmmm.' Draco said as he stood up, brushing off his knees. 'That floor is hard.'
He leant forward and kissed Harry deeply, sharing the lingering taste of him on his tongue before he pulled away.
He glanced Harry up and down, naked apart from his jeans still bunched around his ankles and leaning on the bath for desperately needed support. 'Now, I'm fully aware you're more than capable of casting a drying charm,' he teased with a raised eyebrow. 'So, would you mind just casting one after that mistake with the taps?' he smirked as Harry gratified his demand despite being clearly satiated. 'Thank you. That little experiment would suggest you're not a lost cause. You just need to clean the chandelier and the bathroom will be perfect. You have surprisingly good taste,' he said as he glanced around the room, incredulously.
Harry rolled his eyes at Draco's back-handed compliment. 'And you have a beautiful, wonderful, and astonishing mouth.'
Draco smiled, pleased with himself. He held back a snort as he bent to pick up Harry's t-shirt. He flung it at Harry, 'nice lime green t-shirt by the way. I expect you to wear it now! Hurry up, Letty's made tea for us and it'll be going cold.'
He marched out with a satisfied smirk on his face, leaving Harry feeling unable to move. And thinking of ways that he could reprimand Draco later for a) teasing him in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, and b) knowing full well that he didn't have to make Harry strip off every time he got back from a run in the rain! He wondered how Draco managed to constantly turn the tables on him. He supposed it was those cunning Slytherin traits and he knew he was going to have to up his game.
They had a bit of a shock when they came to use their own bathroom before dinner.
'Well, I know I said I liked the design but surely you could have come up with another colour palette for our bathroom,' Draco said from the doorway as he dried his hair with a lime-green towel.
'I-I... it was cream, the same as the bedroom,' Harry stuttered in surprise. And when he went to look, it was, to all intents and purposes, exactly the same in décor as the one he'd changed next to Mione's room, though the shower was a bit large for the space. He changed it all back so it matched the bedroom again.
'I'm guessing your magic wasn't quite as controlled as I imagined. Do you think all the bathrooms in the house are the same?'
They went exploring and sure enough, all the bathrooms on the first floor were the same deep petrol-blue with white floors, lime-green towels and the same white-wear.
'Well, I suppose it's one less job for you to do for the moment but slightly worrying,' Draco said quietly as he held Harry's hand. 'I thought I'd made a break through.'
'You did, of sorts,' Harry said, giving his hand a squeeze. 'My magic was, at least, directed.'
'Shall we check downstairs?' Draco whispered.
And still holding hands, they checked the downstairs loos too but found they were untouched.
After dinner, once Teddy had left the table, Draco, Mione, Pansy, and Luna explained what they'd been researching and had discovered. It seemed, at least, that Harry wasn't the only case of a newly developed charge of powerful magic but, so far, they'd found no common denominator between the recorded cases.
'We found a reference to a Stephan Potter, seventeenth century. We need to see what we can find out about him,' said Pansy. 'I'm focusing on that and have asked Ossy to help dig out any belongings, if any after all this time. And I'm going to go into the Ministry tomorrow, briefly, to see what I can find in the archives. There's also, potentially, an Ector Potter in the thirteenth century but that's really vague.'
'Are you alright, going in?' Harry asked, worried for Pansy.
She dismissed his worries with the wave of her hand. 'The bitch is in Azkaban already, Kingsley sent me a personal message by Owl. She's admitted the charges and awaits trial but no bail allowed because of the severity of the threat she causes. I suddenly feel a whole lot freer.'
Harry smiled to see some of the old Pansy returned, clearly aided by Luna's nurturing. He wondered if there were healing powers in Soulmate Magic, certainly Mindfully, although his magic was so haywire, his head felt clearer and he thought he was more relaxed and happier than he'd been in a long time.
'Kingsley said to pull in Unspeakable Hugh Rambures. He's considering this a work issue,' Mione said.
'We might need to invite Chloe Flaubert too, she was working on this with Hugh.'
'Can I invite them over tomorrow? I think I'd appreciate their help,' she asked.
'And you think the answer is here.'
'Ossy seems to think so, he's helping so much, in between everything else. Merlin, he's tireless,' Draco said.
'What about me, what can I do?' Harry asked, feeling like he ought to be able to help.
'Fix some more bedrooms and start dragging out any books that are in storage. And use up as much excess magic as possible.'
'What aren't you telling me?' he could sense an underlying friction, there was something in the way they kept glancing at each other.
'I was just reading about a similar case that a Healer in the sixteenth-century, Raymond Shuckleberry, recorded. It didn't end well...' Pansy said quietly.
'What do you mean?'
'Same as an Obscurial...' Mione said.
'I'm going to explode!'
'Not explode, as such. More dissipate,' Mione looked faint.
'For fucks sake! Why is life such a clusterfuck to me? Why can't things just be normal? And there I was thinking I was feeling more relaxed and happy.'
'I could say the same thing for me, things were just getting sorted...'
'You're not the one about to go fucking boom!' Harry snarled, his temper getting the better of him.
Hercules barked loudly, pulling Harry back as the room darkened considerably and his wine glass shattered, sending red wine everywhere.
'Sorry,' he muttered. 'That's not fair.' And he waved away the spilt wine and broken cut-glass crystal, glancing worriedly at Pansy but Luna was holding her hand and rubbing it reassuringly. Pansy simply looked as concerned as Hermione and Draco.
Draco took his hand too, squeezing it reassuringly. 'I'm not going to let you go "boom!", Potter. Even if it means getting on my knees twice a day and you redecorating every bathroom in this bloody castle over and over again.'
Mione spluttered into her drink. 'I'm not sure we needed to know that! All you said was the experiment was successful.' She looked accusingly at Draco, 'it's not exactly something we're all willing to replicate if you're not around.'
'Not what I've heard...' Draco muttered.
Mione went bright red and glared at Harry.
'Children! Children!' he said, holding up his hands as if to try and placate them both. 'Anyway, the "experiment" wasn't completely successful because now every upstairs bathroom in this house is the same, it suggests that my magic was amplified and not controlled, even though it was directed.'
'Maybe it wasn't the right sort distraction method,' Draco grumbled.
'Maybe not, you do know from experience that my magic tends to get a bit more haywire and stronger when I'm aroused by you...'
Draco wanted to be pleased but he was too concerned, 'so, it's me making it worse?'
'No!' Harry said, even though they all knew, to point, that it was true.
'Perhaps we should try being separate for the night, see if there's any difference in the morning.'
'I can't see it making any difference,' Harry said petulantly, truly unwilling to give up Draco so quickly.
'Actually, it's a good idea. We need to try and work out what exasperates the situation and also how to measure your levels of excess magic,' Luna said.
'Where's all this magic coming from anyway. I can't just be producing it out of nowhere, that's ridiculous... What?'
They all looked at Harry in surprise.
'He might be on to something,' said Luna.
'Didn't Ratistan have something to say on the origins of magic?' said Pansy.
'I think so...' they were up and rushing from the room, leaving Harry alone with Hercules.
'Just you and me, mate,' Harry said to his hairy friend. Hercules rested his head on Harry's lap with a small whine and Harry idly scratched the top of his head. 'What shall we do?' he pondered aloud. 'I need to sort out a room away from Dray and start looking through boxes and sorting books. It's all so disorganised and chaotic. We need help with that. Perhaps Teddy can help a bit but he's going to get so bored. But how do I order everything? And then I need a constant distraction.'
Hercules looked up at Harry with large brown eyes, his look suggested Harry knew the answer.
'I suppose you're right. I want to see mum anyway and it's time to face the demons and go up to Hogwarts to chat with Dumbledore's portrait...' Harry sighed deeply. 'Perhaps I can do it this time, on my own without feeling any pressure. An experiment of sorts, to test my recovery... Maybe... Come on then... Let's go visiting.'
He left Ammy in charge of Teddy and Harry and Hercules Apparated to Hogsmeade. Minnie wasn't at the cottage, which he realised was looking more and more locked up these days. He walked up the long gravel path to the school, carefully controlling his breathing and suppressing the rising panic that tightened his chest. It was definitely easier to be doing this on his own terms, he could take his time, stop and control his breathing, he could turn and leave if he wanted to without letting anyone down. Determination edged him forward.
He could do this... step by step. He had to remember what Draco said; he hadn't a choice when it came to Tom Riddle... but he's made that choice not to harm someone ever since... Riddle would never have given up... he had no choice...
By repeating the words over and over, he was nearly surprised to find himself crossing the viaduct without considering the mayhem he'd faced last time he was there.
At least it was still the holidays though the signs were clear that the staff were starting to get ready for the arrival of the students in a few weeks. He smiled to himself at the thought of Ron soon being a permanent fixture at the school. He thought Ron would be happy here and that settled him and his thoughts about Ron and Mione making in-roads to a recovery of their relationship. He thought the stability and responsibility would be good but without too much pressure on Ron to be someone he wasn't ready to be. He imagined, too, that Ron would be brilliant with the students, a mix of big-brotherly love, fun, terrible jokes, and athletic drive. The kids would be worshiping him before the end of the first week and that made Harry smile. He used those thoughts as a distraction technique until he was surprised to find himself on the steps to the school's enormous front door.
Minerva met Harry there, deeply astonished to actually see her son on the school grounds. 'Our Wards told me we had a visitor; I wasn't expecting it to be you. Is everything okay, Harry?' she questioned, knowing her brow was furrowed in worry.
He looked paler and thinner than when she last seen him, and really that was only a few weeks ago. Harry smiled sheepishly and she immediately knew something was seriously wrong.
He muttered, 'I'm in need of some help, mum.'
She swept Harry into her arms, 'what is it, darling?' she whispered, scared for her boy as he looked at her pleadingly, unable to quite find the words to say that life was failing him again. Why did he always worry her so much? She hoped it wasn't anything between him and young Draco; they had at last seemed so on the way to settling the past.
'You had best come up to my office and have a cup of tea and a biscuit and tell me all about it.' She eyed Hercules warily. She always did but the dog just wagged his tail, thumping it on the floor happily. Daft animal, she thought to herself, slightly condescendingly. 'Follow me then.' And she led the way up through the school to her office.
That was, until he stopped in his tracks, his face paler and his hands visibly shaking.
'Harry,' Minerva was concerned.
'I don't think I should be here.' He ran a hand through his hair; a sign of his anxiety.
'But, darling. You've made it this far, it's wonderful. Amazing,' she said, not understanding.
'No, I mean I can feel too much. The magic...' Hercules barked once with concern and Harry looked at his dog in agreement. 'It's... mum... there's a question of where all the excess magic is coming from... Now we've questioned it, I think I can feel it. There's a buzz of magic around me. I can feel it in the old walls, centuries of old magic reaching so far back into the past. I can feel the signatures of past teachers and thousands of pupils, even the founders-especially the founders-within the fabric of the school. Merlin, I can sense the magical creatures in the grounds, the objects, the bloody soil beneath the castle.' He thought he might cry, it suddenly felt so very overpowering. 'It's like it's all reaching towards me as if I'm drawing it close. I think this is possibly the worst place for me to be.'
'But, darling, where can you go?'
'Beaumont Hall. I'm safe there. Safer, anyway. But I can't stay here,' he said, looking regretfully at Minnie. 'I know it's a bad time of year to ask this of you, but perhaps you and Madame Pince could Floo over to Beaumont Hall tomorrow morning. I'll make sure the network is open to your office only. I need some help. Desperately,' he added softly. 'I'd hoped to talk to Albus too but that can wait or you can do that for me.'
Minnie watched her son closely, deeply concerned. She knew she'd never refuse Harry, even it had been the middle of the Sorting and Welcoming Feast, she would be there. 'I can't profess to understand at the moment, but if you're sure. Yes, we'll come.' She nodded, seeing his desperation to leave.
'I'll arrange for breakfast to be laid on at 8.00am.'
He turned on his heel and fled from the school, his long coat flaring out behind him. She watched silently, mulling over his words, before turning and heading towards the library. She needed to speak to Shandra Pince.
***