Harry thought he might die; the rate his heart was hammering and thumping in his ears made him absolutely positive that any second he would just keel over, and, given the circumstances, the sooner he did it the better. Holding a press conference had to be the worst idea he and Draco had ever come up with and he really wished he could run away and hide.
He and Draco were waiting outside the old charms classroom which had been co-opted for the whole event. Professor McGonagall had been remarkably efficient in organising everything after the soulmates had made the request and she was ruling the reporters with an iron fist. There were rumours that one reporter had tried to sneak away from the group and into the main school, and if what was told was true, the man had found out exactly what it felt like to be a small poodle.
At least they didn't have to contend with photographers, well none other than Creevey who was now part of the publicity team. Draco had negotiated the deal with the aspiring photographer and Colin was allowed to take photographs whenever the pair were in public situations and sell them to whom he liked, within reason.
They had agreed on a deal where Draco and Harry received ten percent of the proceeds and Creevey had jumped at the chance. Harry was not really comfortable with having his picture splashed everywhere, but it meant there wouldn't be any other photographers sneaking around, and he had made very sure Colin knew he would be hexed into oblivion if any pictures the pair didn't like appeared in any publications.
[I think I'd rather walk into the Great Hall naked than go into that room,] Harry said silently as he tried not to fret.
Draco looked at him with one eyebrow raised and slowly a smile crept onto his soulmate's face; it was not an innocent expression. Harry didn't have to read his lover's mind to know what he was thinking.
[That was not supposed to give you nice mental images,] he complained with an exasperated sigh.
[I make no apologies for where mentioning you and 'naked' in the same sentence sends my thoughts,] Draco responded without the slightest indication of remorse. [And stop fretting, with the tag team McGonagall and I have worked out those reporters won't dare step out of line.]
That was another thing that had amazed Harry: quite how well his soulmate now appeared to be interacting with the head of Gryffindor. Professor McGonagall and Draco had had a little chat after he and Harry had requested her assistance, while Harry had been engaged elsewhere and whatever they had said to each other had cleared up six years of dislike.
[You know it's scary quite how well you get on with my head of house these days,] Harry commented to his lover. [What exactly did you do, and please don't say 'Imperio'?]
Well it was one way to distract himself from the press conference and Draco laughed.
[Malfoy charm,] his soulmate replied with a smirk.
Harry snorted and decided that he'd pursue that line of questioning later; Professor McGonagall had just appeared at the door. They did not speak; they did not need to and the woman led the way into the other room. The reporters were all sat on chairs down the centre of the class room and what would have been the Professor's desk at the far end was set up with two chairs for the bonded pair.
Harry felt very uncomfortable as every eye in the room fixed on him and Draco, and his lover did not feel completely at ease, but to look at him no one would ever have known Draco was not the epitome of Slytherin poise and perfect calm. The first thing Draco did was nod politely at Professor McGonagall as she took a position to one side, waited for Harry to sit down and then took the other chair. As Harry watched nervously his lover then proceeded to take out his wand and summoned two glasses of water.
The effect of a Malfoy with a weapon in his hand was not lost on Harry, as he quickly let his eyes run over the assembled reporters. Draco holding his wand seemed to fascinate the gathered members of the press. Draco met his gaze once as he passed him one of the glasses and Harry could see the mischief shining in his soulmate's grey eyes. Arranging himself comfortably on his chair beside Harry, Draco then sat back and gave the reporters the most angelic smile Harry had ever seen on his lover's face, all the time failing to put away his wand.
Harry nearly grinned as he watched Draco's aristocratic fingers play with the length of wood in an almost absent, nervous fashion. It was so beautifully done that for anyone not in the Slytherin's head it would have been impossible to tell if the action was a deliberate ploy to intimidate, or a forgotten habit.
[I'm so glad we're on the same side,] Harry told his soulmate.
[Best bit's about to come,] Draco replied without giving the slightest outward indication that he was not focusing his full attention on the members of the press.
"Comfortable, Gentlemen?" Professor McGonagall asked in a business like tone.
"Yes thank you, Professor," Draco replied politely in a beautiful display of aristocratic manners, "I think we're ready to begin."
Harry nodded his own approval with a smile; he didn't quite trust his voice not to give something away.
"Good," the head of Gryffindor responded and graced them with a very motherly expression.
Then the woman waved her wand and the walls lit up for a moment, sending a murmur of surprise around the gathered reporters.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the professor said and swept the gaze she usually reserved for the first years before their sorting, around the room, "I expect you all to behave with decorum. The spell in place on this room will nullify any of those ridiculously charmed automatic quills which choose to bend, misquote or in any other way 'improve' the truth for your readers. If you wish to use such a device make sure it is set to record the proceedings as they actually occur. Any infraction of the rules of which you were made aware before you arrived will result in your removal from this room. This is the only warning you will receive."
And with that she swept into the corner of the room in a manner that would have made Snape jealous. Draco had been right; the best bit had been to come.
"Harry," a familiar voice gained his attention and his eyes were drawn to none other than Rita Skeeter.
The woman was as atrociously dressed as usual and had affected a smile that would have looked false glued in place on a wax figure, let alone a human being. Harry swallowed nervously once and tried to keep his true feelings off of his face. The blackmail material he and his friends had on the woman almost guaranteed she would not write any more nasty articles, but that still didn't make her a good journalist and Harry could barely stomach the woman.
[Just picture them writhing under Cruciatus at your feet,] Draco's sage advice filtered into his mind.
[Draco,] Harry replied after considering this for a moment, [most people would probably suggest picturing them naked.]
[Eeew,] was the almost instant response, [why in Merlin's name would you want to do that. Oh, now I have to scrub my brain out with cauldron scourer.]
Harry just about managed to stop from smiling.
[Love,] he said silently, [you're quite scary, and yes I know: of course you're scary, you're a Malfoy.]
Harry was sure that would have warranted a response, but Rita had taken his look as permission to continue.
"Would you mind sharing with us how you realised Draco was your soulmate?" the use of his first name obviously rankled Draco because Harry felt a shot of annoyance go through his lover, but Harry was used to it.
The whole world seemed to think they knew Harry Potter, and complete strangers using his first name like they had known him for years had accosted him since he was eleven. It was not really the question he had expected first, but at least it wasn't too embarrassing.
"Um," Harry was so proud of his eloquent response. "I don't think I've ever quite thought of it like that. We became friends, and then, well we moved on to being boyfriends and, um, then things just sort of happened."
"So your relationship evolved like any other normal relationship?" the reporter asked in what Harry suspected she thought was a sympathetic tone.
That question rather stumped him since he hadn't had that many relationships and they most definitely had not been anything like what he had with Draco.
"Harry offered his friendship," Draco's smooth tones caused Rita's gaze to flick away from Harry, "no strings attached. What progressed from there was something neither of us expected, but both of us welcomed. What we have is not normal, but it is both beautiful and makes us whole. I never could, nor ever would, want to give it up."
Harry couldn't help himself, he beamed at his soulmate's words, letting the warmth they caused in him flow between them. When he looked back at the reporters there were several slightly awed expressions and for a moment he wondered just what the pair of them looked like.
"Mary Notarius, Teen Witch Special," a small rotund woman with a face that had seen many smiles, introduced herself as the moment broke. "If you don't mind me asking, my readers would very much like to know when you first realised you were in love?"
Some of the other reporters did not look impressed with the question, but Harry had no problem with that one.
"25th September, 10:24 pm," he said firmly and with absolute certainty.
Draco looked at him and to anyone else the look would have conveyed casual interest, to Harry it screamed surprise. From the murmur that went round the room, those gathered to ask the questions hadn't expected quite such a specific answer either.
[You know the time?] Draco voiced his question.
Rather than just reply Harry sent his lover a small flash of exactly what he remembered from the evening. He had etched every detail onto his memory and he shared his recollection of their first real touch.
"If it's not too personal," the kindly looking witch continued her enquiry, "how did you know?"
Harry couldn't help himself; he smiled again and blushed.
"Um, well as the Muggle song says," he said, warming to the subject, "it's in his kiss."
That drew a pleasant laugh from the assembled press and an almost love sick sigh from Mary Notarius. Harry did not think the woman knew what objective meant.
"Draco," one of the other reporters took the opportunity to interrupt and Harry felt his soulmate prickle once more at the use of his name, "Robert Scriptum, Daily Prophet, sources say you were quite the ladies man, did your attraction to Harry surprise you?"
Draco laughed at the question, but his wand twitched in his hand, Harry was impressed how much colour Scriptum lost in his face at the simple movement.
"Who have you been listening to?" Draco asked in a tone that managed to be perfectly reasonable and utterly insulting at the same time. "My tastes have never been exclusive. I can't say my attraction to Harry was a surprise; you all have to admit he is very pleasing on the eye," that caused a small murmur of amusement at Draco's tone, to run round the room. "What surprised me more was our friendship which allowed the attraction to play out. It is no secret that we have been enemies for years."
"Why did you become friends?" Scriptum, it seemed, liked to live dangerously.
The question caused the first feeling of disquiet in Draco and Harry did not like that. He knew his lover was very uncomfortable with the whole topic of his change to the side of light and if they were not careful that was exactly where the interview was going. Draco was shielding Harry from the awkward questions and he decided to return the favour.
Harry's hand was sitting next to his glass of water on the table and quite deliberately he pushed a little magic at the liquid. There was just a hint of light in the water as the power entered it and it bubbled for a second.
"Draco defected," Harry said shortly in a tone that begged no argument and every pair of eyes in the room except his and Draco's flicked to the glass and then away again.
There was an air of expectant fear in the room as if everyone was holding their breath and only let it go when Harry broke the moment by looking over to his lover as if he was totally unaware of what he had just done. What the reporters had been expecting he could only guess at, but it seemed to be a lot worse than anything Harry could think up, which pleased him no end. He'd never considered using his power to coerce an audience before, but it seemed to be working nicely.
[You learn fast,] Draco commented with admiration in his tone.
[I have a very good teacher,] Harry replied and waited patiently for the next question.
* * *
"Thank you for coming," Draco said politely after he held up his hand for silence, "but I'm afraid we must call these proceeding to a halt. We look forward to reading your articles."
Not a soul chose to argue and there were even a couple of reporters who smiled and returned the thanks. The whole event had been a masterful display of manipulation through abject terror: in Draco's case because of his Death Eater reputation; and in Harry's because the whole room was convinced they might receive a display of Hecatemus power first hand if they pushed him too far and he lost control.
By now the couple had the reporters so well trained that they were silencing each other if it became obvious that the questions were causing a detrimental reaction. Harry felt slightly guilty for the whole pantomime, but part of him was incredibly proud of his and Draco's achievement. From the look on her face, Professor McGonagall seemed to approve completely as well.
[Well that was not quite what I expected,] Harry said honestly as he and Draco left the room hand in hand.
He was feeling much more comfortable about the whole situation now.
[It's a matter of control,] Draco replied fondly. [Now we have it and there's not a damn thing any of them can do about it.]
Harry grinned.
[Your comment about looking forward to reading their articles caused some of them to go whiter than Sir Nicholas,] he commented.
[Genius runs in the family,] Draco replied smoothly, [and some of us actually choose to use it.]
As the door closed, Harry pulled his soulmate to him and leant in for what he considered was a well deserved kiss. Draco melted to him instantly and both of them managed to forget where they were. A flash bulb going off brought them both back with a start. Harry looked up to see Colin Creevey grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Public place," the photographer pointed out cheerfully.
For a moment there was complete silence and then Draco calmly looked at Harry.
"Do you want to hex him or shall I?" his lover asked in a very reasonable tone.
Harry looked at Colin squarely as if considering the question carefully and he watched the smile on his housemate's face slowly morph in a very unsure expression.
"I'll be back at the tower," the photographer said somewhat hesitantly and then, before Harry or Draco could reply, the sixth year turned and fled.
As the younger boy disappeared around the corner Harry couldn't help himself; he burst out laughing. The look on Creevey's face had been priceless.
[This is too much fun,] Harry said with a broad grin.
[Now you begin to see why Gryffindor's are my favourite hobby,] Draco replied in kind.