Work Text:
"Oh, he's dating Harry Potter," Pansy said with a polite smile, watching Healer-in-Charge Macmillian pale at her words. "You know how private Potter is. It's why Draco didn't want to say anything. I hope you understand the need for discretion."
Draco looked on terrified as Macmillian studied Pansy, before leaving them alone. "Why did you say that?"
"Because you've been here for years, three for studies, another three of specialisation, and two just dicking around. You are twenty-six years-old and you're still not able to get your specialisation, they are giving you the worst shifts as if you were still doing your basic course and all because they all think that you can't be trusted," Pansy said. "Well now you'll be trusted. Besides, Potter is notoriously private with his dates. No one knows anything about his sex life since he split with the Weasley girl, and that was four years ago. This will work out perfectly; you'll see," she said with a grin. “Now, can we go and have lunch? I’m hungry."
Draco should have known better than to doubt her. Less than a week after, Macmillian finally told him that he had completed his specialisation and was assigned his first solo case. It was fine. It was perfect. He could do his job (and he was very good at it) without any problems.
Of course nothing ever went right in Draco's life!
It was the talk of the hospital. Only a mere month after Draco becoming a Healer specialized in spell damage, news of a fundraiser spread like fiendfyre through St. Mungo's. It was their very first gala. Shacklebold approved of the idea and now the gala would be held at the Ministry's atrium. Potter would be the guest of honour, hoping to help with the fundraising. Everyone was ecstatic.
"Mr. Malfoy."
Draco squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, taking a deep breath before turning around and smiled. "Healer Macmillian, how can I help you?"
"I'm sure you already knew about the fundraiser, given your connections. I look forward to officially meeting your boyfriend," he said.
"Of course, Sir. Harry will be delighted to get to know you," Draco answered, while thinking how screwed he was. Majorly screwed. They couldn't take away his specialisation, not anymore, but they could fire him. They wouldn't say that he was being fired for lying about Potter, because that was ridiculous, but they'd find a way, a mistake, something, because even the best Healer made a mistake here or there, and with some cases, it was inevitable. They would give him one of those cases, note his mistakes and fire him.
He was so screwed.
Unless!
He worked through his lunch hour so he could leave early and at four, he went through the department store window exiting the hospital and Disapparated. His next stop was a phone box in the middle of nowhere. He dialed M-A-G-I-C and was able to get access to the atrium of the Ministry. Getting access to Potter proved to be a lot harder. While people could go to several offices without any problem, the Auror office wasn't one of them, it took a lot of convincing before he was finally allowed upstairs (he had the suspicion that him being a Malfoy asking for Potter increased the waiting time, but there was nothing to be done).
Walking inside a room of Aurors with no wand, even years after the Battle and the trials put him on edge, but he had no choice.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Weasley asked.
Strangely enough, the suspicious tone from Weasley put him at ease. "None of your business," he answered back on instinct, "but if you must know, I'm here to speak to Potter."
The redhead frowned. Draco expected some other insult, but instead he pointed to the back of the room. "Last cubicle on the left."
Now, that wasn't familiar, but Draco went where he was told and was surprised to find Potter, who looked up and pushed up his spectacles that had slid down his nose. "Malfoy? Everything all right?"
Draco nodded. "I'm not here on work matters. It's… personal, but I didn't know how else to get in touch with you. I wasn't sure that you'd answer owls from random people." It was known that Potter got hundreds of pieces of correspondence and if rumours were true, he burned them without opening them unless they were delivered by owls he knew. "I can wait in the atrium until you're done. I came here because I wasn't sure if you left from somewhere else."
"I do," Potter answered, calmly, although Draco could see Potter thinking behind those glasses. "Aurors have special entrances. Anyway, I'm almost done. Have a seat, give me five minutes and we can leave together."
Once upon a time Draco would have barked at waiting, but the last eight years had been humbling, and he was here to ask a huge favour. He sat where he was told, on the chair used for witnesses and victims, which was appropriate since he felt like a victim of Pansy's scheme, and Potter went back to work.
Draco took the time to look around. He'd been here, right after the Battle of Hogwarts, dragged in before going to the cells on the tenth floor. Not much had changed. The same magical sky, the same cubicles, the same old desks, but the people were different, much younger and without the anger that had washed over him in those days. He was still looking at the different Aurors when Potter spoke up. "I'm done. We can go."
Potter took him outside the office and down a corridor Draco had never noticed, making him think that there had to be some spell to obfuscate it. They stepped through a door that went nowhere and there was the pull of a portkey and suddenly they were on Knockturn Alley. Thankfully, Potter's uniform ensured that people stayed out of their way and Draco wouldn't be completely humiliated. "I had no idea this existed," he said, not sure how to even start.
"You're not an Auror, no reason for you to know," Potter answered with a calm that was becoming infuriating. Sure, Draco needed a favour, but that didn't mean that he was truly rational when it came to Potter, and he was looking forward to some of their banter. The conversation was not the only change.
Potter had grown up quite nicely. He was still an inch shorter than Draco and yet seemed larger than life. Annoying self-righteousness had turned into a quiet self-confidence. He had worked undercover and that couldn't have been easy considering that everyone knew the Chosen One. Even with polyjuice and glamours, Potter had learned to change who he was. Or maybe people in general didn't know him as well as Draco did.
After the trial and Potter's testimony, Draco had gotten a little obsessive, just a little no matter what Pansy said. He'd read everything that had been written about the man, bought every magazine with Potter's pictures and if those were wanking material? Well, no one had to know, right? Oh right, he needed to stop thinking and start talking, because Potter was looking at him weirdly.
"This isn't easy," he started. "There's really no good way to say this, but I'm in a bit of a pickle."
Potter looked downright amused. "And since we're good friends, you decided to let me know."
Draco rolled his eyes, although he really deserved that. "You see, at work, the higher ups weren't willing to let me move forward. St. Mungo's is half healing and half politics and as you can imagine my name comes with some baggage. Pansy was trying to help, and well… she mentioned that I'm seeing someone, not just someone, but someone who could help with my position."
"I'm sure that someone is thrilled that you can use her to get a promotion," Potter said.
Draco tensed up. "I would never do that. I earned everything I was given and more. I should have been granted my specialisation two years ago. I did all the work, took all the tests, worked on the right cases, but there's always something missing at the last moment and I must redo some exam or my notes on cases weren't precise enough to show that I knew what I was doing, all dragon's dung. Suddenly, I have a boyfriend and everything is fine, because two days later I got my specialisation"
"I still don't see how this has anything to do with me." Potter was right, Draco was still not explaining it correctly, but how do you tell the most private, most famous wizard alive that you outed him with a lie?
"Right, so I'm gay."
Potter frowned. "Congratulations?"
"No, I mean there's no 'her'. Pansy mentioned that I have a boyfriend, which I don't. She made it all up. I had no idea that she was going to do that, I swear."
Potter pushed the spectacles up his nose while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Malfoy, if you don't tell me what's going on, I'm going home."
"You. She said that I was dating you," he blurted out. "I'm so sorry, I truly had no idea she'd do that. I don't even know how she thought of you considering you dated Weasley, the sister."
"And? There's no way you came to the Ministry to tell me this if it were over," Potter said, crossing his arms and staring Draco down.
He closed his eyes and sighed. "My boss wants to meet you at the gala. Officially. As my boyfriend." He opened his eyes again. "He cornered me today and I panicked so I said of course you would. I didn't know how to explain that it couldn't happen."
"You could have tried the truth, that's we're not dating."
That would have been logical, except he would have lost everything. "They would fire me, Potter. They barely accepted me, because the grades on my NEWTs were really good, but they have done everything in their power to make me quit. They'll find a way to get me fired." He looked at Potter. "I know I have no right to ask you this, but could you pretend? I can tell Macmillian that you don't want people to know, so we don't have to spend time together, but I can introduce him to you, we'll play the part and in a few months, I'll tell him we broke up. Please, you have every reason to say no, but it's my career."
"How do you know that I’m interested in men?" Potter said.
"I don't. No one knows. No one knows anything about your private life. It's like you're a monk."
Potter snorted. "No one ever thinks that there's an entire Muggle world with billions of people and that's exactly why I date Muggles. Wizards don't suspect, Muggles have no idea who I am and they can't sell my story to the papers. So, why hasn't this Healer said anything yet? Harry Potter Is Bent would sell quite well."
Draco shrugged. "I suspect that he thinks that Pansy lied to him and this is some sort of test."
"And he'd be so wrong," Potter said with a sarcasm that Draco didn't recognize from their school days, reminding him that they had both grown up. "Fine, I'll go along, but I have two conditions. Both you and Macmillian have to take oaths. I don't want either one to rat me out. And, two, you come to a party with me after the gala."
This was more than he had hoped for, despite having asked. "Of course, anything you want. I'll take the oath right now and I'll make sure to tell him."
"No, I'll tell him. I don't want any misunderstanding that this is coming from me, and I will go after him with everything I have if he tries to sell the story to the papers," Potter said. "St. Mungo's is half politics, right? Turns out, I have plenty of political pull."
Draco was taken aback. "You… you weren't so combative."
Potter laughed humorlessly. "I work at the Ministry and the press hasn't left me alone in eight years. I learned. All right, then, let's do this oath and then I can go home."
Minutes later, Draco was back at the manor, wondering what he was getting himself into.
***
The gala was going better than expected. Potter was being the Chosen One. Draco avoided him as per their agreement since they didn't want to be outed for real. Potter had been too careful to ruin his reputation now. When Draco saw that Potter was back with his friends, he approached Macmillian who had just moved away from Rita Skeeter, possibly creating some report to sell the story.
Potter joined them not too long after. "Healer-in-Charge Macmillian I presume. I need you to take an oath. You see very few people know and it's unfortunate if one of those people decided to speak. I go to great lengths to keep my life private and I ask everyone to take an oath. For their safety as well as mine," he said with a smile so cold that it sent shivers down Draco's back. "Because if this were to be leaked, then I'd have to go after everyone I know, but this way, I can destroy the ones who didn't take an oath. I wouldn't want to get you fired and be knutless. You understand."
The Healer paled and nodded.
"Great, then if you don't mind." Potter didn't actually wait for an answer to cast the oath. It went slowly because the healer was too afraid to speak and the oath required a verbal acknowledgement. Draco could admit to himself that he was rather attracted by this new and scary Saviour. "Thank you for your understanding," Potter continued when he was done. "Draco has told me how much he's learned from you, especially considering that the specialisation course is meant to be three years and not five. You truly wanted him to learn."
"Yes… well, he's such a good healer, I wanted him to know everything before moving forward on his own," Macmillian said.
"Of course, and we both appreciate your diligence. I'm sure that now he'll be able to advance like he deserves. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to keep moving. As you can understand, Draco and I can't be seen together." He turned to Draco. "I'll see you later at home."
Draco nodded. "You will, go play the hero," he said with a huge smile. He wasn't faking it. The entire exchange with Macmillian had made him giddy. "Sir, I probably should return to my friends as well. Have a good evening." Macmillian did not speak with Skeeter again.
***
With his new specialization came plenty of new responsibilities. He was working hard, but it was rewarding work and he spent plenty of time at St. Mungo's. Macmillian had become the champion of his cause at the hospital, making sure that Draco had access to the high profile cases that would help him move up the chain eventually. With all of that going on, he barely remembered the 'conditions' until he got an owl from Potter, telling him that they'd be going to a party. The date and time were listed. Potter added (because he certainly wasn't asking) that they'd meet at the gates of the manor beforehand.
Draco made sure that he wouldn't be given any new cases that day. When Macmillian tried to give him a very interesting case, he had to back out, although the word 'boyfriend' was enough to ensure that he got home in time to change and be ready at the gates when Potter Apparated.
"Where are we going? Is this good or should I change?" Draco asked, always aware of the way he looked.
"You look fine, and we're going to the Burrow, that's Molly and Arthur's house. It's Arthur's birthday. We got him a present, a Muggle record that you helped me pick. It's Cole Porter, it's a Muggle composer. Arthur likes Muggle stuff and the music is fast and he'll enjoy it," Potter said.
"Right, the Weasleys. I'm sure they'll love this surprise. May I ask why you need a fake boyfriend?"
"Because after I broke up with Ginny, Molly wanted to set me up with other relatives, when I said I liked men, she tried to set me up with Charlie. The idea that I had a boyfriend never crossed her mind, so one day I blurted it out. It was that or snap and I didn't want to snap at her," Potter said. "They also assume that he's a Muggle and things have gotten serious since I've been keeping up this lie for over a year."
"Do you have a Muggle boyfriend?" Draco asked with a frown.
Potter snorted. "And I would bring him to the house with screaming portraits and house-elves? No, I don't have one, at least not one serious enough that I'd tell him about magic."
"All right, so we've been together over a year." They needed more than that, because he knew that they'd be drilled and while Potter might get away with not answering, he wouldn't be so lucky. "Remember that time you got yourself hexed, that was-"
"Fourteen months ago. Forced vacation, I remember," Potter said. "That works. You were part of the team helping me. We started talking."
"You came back for your check up a month later." Draco remembered, because he had made sure to be around and see what the other healers were doing. He remembered how furious he had been that he hadn't been able to have any real responsibilities, but since it was Potter, they wouldn't let him near the man other than to check his temperature and fix minor things. "That's when we started talking, and then we had coffee a few times. We both have terribly busy schedules so it was hard at first and then we got used to working around our schedules and the secrecy."
"We haven't come out, because we don't want the publicity," Potter continued, "and with all the history with us, we haven't told our friends. Ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Draco took Potter's hand. He told himself that the little flutter in his stomach was due to the upcoming Apparition and had nothing to do with the fact that this was Potter. Draco was good at lying to himself when he wanted to.
The party was held in a tent right outside the house. It was a smart decision, because after one look at the house, Draco feared that it might come down at any time. Once they stepped inside the tent, silence fell around them.
Molly Weasley was the first to snap out of it. "Harry, dear, you're here."
"Hello, everyone. Happy birthday, Arthur." Potter handed the man his present, while keeping Draco's hand tight.
"Thank you for having me, Mrs. Weasley, and happy birthday, Sir," Draco said, politely, although he wished that people would stop staring right about now.
"You're dating Malfoy!" Ginny Weasley was the first one to point out the obvious, although Draco had mentally thought that it'd be Potter's sidekick. "Ron, why aren't you saying anything?" And apparently she agreed with Draco.
Weasley shrugged. "Figured it was him. Harry's always been obsessed with him and when he stopped telling us about his boyfriends, Hermione and I figured that there was only one person it could be. Git- I mean Malfoy showed up at the office a few months ago and that was pretty much it."
"What Ron is trying to say," Granger put it, "is that we've had months to come to terms with this, although Harry, you could have said."
Draco moved a little closer to Potter. He could feel the tension radiate from the man and wanted to make things better even though he didn't have to; it wasn't part of the agreement, and yet he still spoke up. "I fear it's my fault. With everything I did in school, I didn't want any backlash on me, but mostly on Harry. We also wanted to make sure that the relationship would last and we'd be on solid ground before coming out." He looked over when Potter let go of his hand and put an arm around his waist. Draco smiled in response, before turning to Granger again. "Harry hates lying to you, which is why we decided it was time to let all of you know."
Those seemed to be the right words, because people started to talk to each other again and he and Potter spoke with each little group of people until they found their way to Granger and Weasley. "You're taking this much better than expected," Potter said.
"I wasn't lying. Hermione and I have been waiting for this. You've always been obsessed and so was he. It was inevitable. He's not my first choice, but Hermione pointed out that I don't get to pick your boyfriend, which is a shame, because I have much better taste than you do in men," Weasley said with a grin.
"When you decide that you want to shag someone other than Hermione, then you can pick a man," Potter answered.
Draco snorted. "Come on, he talks about us, but he's been obsessed with her since we were eleven. We all saw that one coming from the start."
Granger grinned at Weasley. "See? Even the Slytherins knew it before you."
"It's not my fault. You know I'm slow unless you tell me what's going on. You should have told me and we could have saved ourselves the trouble," Weasley answered, easily. "And what are you staring at, Malfoy?"
"You. You three are just so at ease with each other, and I mean you and Granger have been married for a while, dating forever, but it's just different than what I know," Draco answered.
"That's because your family and friends still worry about appearances and what's best," Weasley said. "If we did, we'd have kicked you out already, but if you are Harry's choice, then you have our support. Harry knows that we'll support him no matter what."
"And on that sappy note, we need to go and talk to your father and make sure he doesn't explode." Harry pulled him away with a smile that fell as soon as they stepped away.
"It's okay. I'll do something splendidly horrible so you can break up with me and then you don't have to lie to them," Draco said softly.
"No, I don't want them to hate you. We'll find another way." The kiss took Draco by surprise, but it was soft and quick and he didn't have time to think about it too hard, because Arthur Weasley was only steps away.
The encounter was awkward, with Draco mostly standing there, smiling and trying to ignore the comments against his father, until even Potter had enough. The rest of the party went relatively smoothly, but Draco was glad when they could finally leave. He was exhausted.
"Would you like to come to my place?" Potter asked.
He wasn't that exhausted. "Sure. I guess I'll have to trust you again," he said with a smirk as he took Potter's hand and they Apparated to London. "This is Sirius' house, isn't it?"
Potter nodded. "It's… Let's just say that I'll get around to redecorating it."
"I see." When they stepped inside, Potter put a hand over his mouth, indicating to be quiet, until they walked upstairs into a drawing room. The room looked old, but Draco was drawn to the large tapestry. "The décor is circa 1978, isn't it? Dreadful, Potter. I don't know how you can live here."
Potter shrugged. "I'm rarely here. I work, I'm at Ron and Hermione’s. I stay over Muggles' homes."
"So when you mentioned the screaming portraits, you were being literal. Why don't you remove it?" Draco asked.
"It's glued and we can't take it down," Potter explained.
"Have you considered taking down the wall paper it's attached to?" Draco asked, amused.
"I… never thought of that, house decorating isn't one of my strengths. Would you like something to drink?" Potter asked as he went to a trolley with several bottles.
"I think we both deserve firewhiskey after tonight." Draco sat on the couch and was surprised when Potter sat right next to him and gave him a glass of liquor. "Thank you. So… I guess we'll need to figure out how to break up, before you're forced to bring me to more parties."
Potter shrugged before taking a sip of the firewhiskey. "I enjoyed myself. You're not terrible now that you don't want to get me expelled or killed."
"I never wanted to get you killed. Definitely expelled, and it's your own bloody fault. I just wanted to be your friend and you hurt my feelings. I wasn't really used to hearing the word 'no' until you came around," Draco admitted. "It made me hate you and… obsessed, I guess. Why didn't you want to give me what I wanted? I mean I know why now, but back then, I couldn't conceive the idea that anyone would deny me anything."
"School was the first time that I was able to do what I wanted. I wasn't about to let you tell me what to do," Potter answered, making Draco wonder about his childhood.
"You sound… better. In school, it was about doing what was right, what Dumbledore wanted, now, you sound like you know what you want and won't let anyone get in the way." Draco rested his untouched glass on his thigh and turned his head to look at Potter. "Pretending isn't you, though. It hurts you. I could feel it in your body. I don't want to be why you're hurting, not after all this time. As I said, I'll take-"
The rest of his words were cut off when Potter kissed him. It happened slowly, almost as if Potter was giving him the chance to move, but he felt like he was hypnotized, unable to look away. Truth was that he didn't want to and when their lips met, Draco leaned against the other man, pouring years of desire in one single kiss. His fingers closed around the robe and pulled Potter closer. Their mouths met over and over in a teasing dance, until Potter pulled back. Potter's spectacles were fogged up and he took them off, revealing his bright green eyes. "What are we doing, Potter?"
"Hopefully shagging," he said. He put his glass on the coffee table, before reaching for Draco's and putting it away as well. Potter stood up and offered Draco a hand. "Let me show you my bedroom."
"This is a terrible idea," Draco said.
"Why? I know you want me. I can see the way you react when I get closer, the way your pupils get big, your breath quickens. You want me, and I want you, too. You know those Muggles I shag? They look like you."
"That's… fucked up, Potter."
"And what about your shag?" Potter challenged.
Draco thought about the ones he had shagged. No one could be Potter, but Draco picked them with dark hair and light eyes and they all had something that reminded him of Potter. Not that there had been many with his work. "Touché. That doesn't make it better. Neither of us seems to know how to do a relationship." Circe's tits, why was he arguing when this was exactly what he'd been dreaming for years? Oh right, because he knew how fucked up this would be. "And there are always explosions when we're around each other."
"Fireworks make things fun. Come on, Draco, are you really so afraid to take a chance?" Potter asked.
"You bloody Gryffindor." Draco finally took Potter's hand and got up. "I will blame you if this goes badly."
"I'll take the credit when it goes right," Potter answered, before kissing Draco again and Draco knew that he had lost, because he couldn't say 'no' to Potter, and while he didn't know if this relationship could go anywhere, he'd enjoy the ride. And the kissing.