The sound of wet, slapping feet on pavement was the only distinguishing noise amidst the downpour that flooded the warm city streets. A boy in pale blue robes was looking frantically left and right, his green eyes desperate for a hiding place. Any place would do, at this point. Somehow, someway, he had gotten lost in the Muggle world and couldn’t find his family. His long, blonde hair stuck to his face as the rain continued to beat down on him. How was he supposed to get back to the wizarding world now? He was only ten, he hadn’t even been enrolled in school yet, how was he supposed to know how to find his way out of this blasted city?. Every street looked the same, and everyone he passed wore the same type of black, slick jacket, and grey umbrella. Merlin, these Mudbloods were absolutely foul.
By now people were beginning to murmur and stare at him as he ran past, looking around him for some sign of a place he’d been before. Tears began to sting in the corners of his eyes, but he knew he couldn’t cry. No one of the Malfoy line would ever be caught dead crying, let alone in public. Ahead of him he saw a line of window shops, with various displays. Despite the rain, there were several people standing before the shops, eyeing the merchandise from beneath the safety of their umbrellas. One particular person caught his eye. Shining, blonde hair… Perfect stature… and when he turned, the profile was unmistakable. Before him, not ten feet away, was his cousin Draco.
Feeling an overwhelming sense of relief, the small blonde boy began to run towards his cousin. He’d almost reached him when he watched the blonde reach out for someone beside him. The boy was tall, and dark haired, but he could barely see him beneath his umbrella. Draco was pointing to something in the shop window, which he noticed was a Muggle jewelry store when he looked up at the sign above them. Why on earth would Draco want to buy filthy mud blood jewelry? And that’s when it happened. So quick it almost seemed as though it had been his imagination. But he was sure, he saw it… Draco had just leaned in and kissed the boy beside him, on the lips, in what clearly was a sign of attraction. He was standing in complete shock, staring at the pair who had, until then, not noticed him.
That is, until a pair of those filthy Muggles bumped into him and made a ruckus. “Oi, boy, watch where your goin’! Almost made me trip in this godawful rain! Must me something wrong with this boy’s head, Earl. He’s standin’ in the pourin’ rain wif no umbrella, and nothing’ on his feet!” The other man whistled, and said just as loudly, “And what’s with those crazy looking robes? Are those nighties? Boy must’ve escaped from the asylum!” Now that caught the attention of one Draco Malfoy and his dark haired shopping partner, none other than Harry Potter. Both boys turned and stared at the boy, obviously aware he was from the wizarding world, but for all their shock it couldn’t possibly match the ten year old’s. Draco swore under his breath. “Someone you know?” Harry asked, obviously catching the look on Draco’s face as well as the boy’s.
“He’s my cousin, and I think we’ve just been caught.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Draco and Harry had lead the young boy back towards The Leaky Cauldron, and all the familiarities of the wizarding world, which had helped heal the poor boy’s mind at least to some extent. While they sat at a private table, Tom had brought them all steaming jugs of tea to help warm them. Under usual circumstances, Draco wouldn’t have been caught dead in a place like that, much less soaked to the core, but they weren’t in a position to be picky. After all, they weren’t sure how much the boy had seen, but none of it could have been good.
“Paris,” Draco said cooly, and for the first time Harry learned the boy’s name, “aren’t you going to say anything?”
“And what should I say? ‘Oh, hi, Draco! So nice to see you, it’s been ages hasn’t it? And who’s that you’re snogging? The famous Harry Potter, oh well that’s marvelous. I’m sure Mother will be thrilled to know her nephew’s a queer.”
Harry snorted into his tea, fondly remembering a time when a blonde walked up to him with much the same tone in his voice and proposed he find more suitable company on the train to Hogwarts. Draco, however, was not amused in the slightest.
“If you say so much as a mutter about what you may or may not have seen, Paris Malfoy, I will have you hexed so badly that St. Mungo’s will be writing books for ages about your poor excuse for a body!” The utter loathing in Draco’s voice told the boy he wasn’t joking, and he immediately toned down his attitude.
“All I’m saying is that it’s not exactly… proper of you to be in that sort of a relationship. What would your father say? He obviously doesn’t know if you’re sneaking into Muggle country to do your mutual shopping.” Paris finally began to drink his tea, growing all the more inquisitive as to the nature of his cousin’s relationship with the infamous boy who lived.
“No one knows outside of school. Headmaster Dumbledore was kind enough to keep his mouth shut, and the rumors started by Pansy were quashed when she was reminded that her own family is on the verge of bankruptcy and she would be just as ousted from society. A clever cover story was placed, and with a few well told lies, my father thinks I’m collecting valuable information for him.” Draco grinned wickedly, and turned his eyes to the dark haired teen beside him.
“Oh, yes, I do so love those investigative sessions of yours, Malfoy. I think the last one might’ve left a scar, though…”
“Well, I’ll have to check on that later, won’t I, Potter?”
“Enough! God you two are disgusting!!” Paris dry heaved purposely and forced down another swig of his tea for good measure. “You’d think your father would be offended on principle, being in a relationship with another boy.”
“My father has no right to say anything of the sort after his extended relationship with Uncle Severus. Yes, Paris, it’s been a longstanding tradition that the Malfoy family have private affairs with members of the same sex. You’ll get used to it. After all, your mother-”
“NO! I don’t want to hear it!” The little blonde shoved his fingers in his ears and began babbling to prevent anything from being overheard, but no more was said on that subject. Draco simply grinned, and that spoke volumes.
After another round of tea was brought, Harry finally decided to join in the conversation, noting just how much like Draco the young Malfoy looked. “Paris? That’s an interesting name. Though I suppose from a line with names like Draco, Paris isn’t all that abnormal.”
“Do you have a problem with my name?” Harry almost laughed in the poor boy’s angry face. He had to hold the stitch in his side and work it loose before he could speak again. “Merlin, Draco, he’s like a little copy of you! It’s too funny.” Draco nudged the green-eyed teenager and raised an eyebrow, “Should I be concerned, Potter?” Paris almost looked afraid.
Shaking his head and holding his hands up, Harry reassured the both of them. “Lord, no, he’s way too young. Besides, I’ve got my hands full with just one Malfoy. I don’t need another one.” Beneath the table, Harry extended one of his hands and gently brushed it across Draco’s thigh. The blonde made no move to acknowledge the affection, not wanting Paris to be tipped off, but a slight move of his thigh into the caress told Harry that he’d appreciated it.
Paris, however, was beginning to find himself a bit full and politely excused himself to use the bathroom. The moment he’d turned around the corner, Draco and Harry were on one another. Their table was secluded from most of the bar, so they weren’t worried about being caught, but still the thrill of kissing in public drove them both wild. “I love you,” Harry whispered, “I love you so much, I can’t stand not touching you when he’s here.” Draco grinned wickedly and bit his lover’s lower lip, “All too soon, Harry. We’ll be back in our common room. You need to rest anyway, you’ve only just been released from the Hospital Wing. I won’t have you breaking on me so soon, Potter.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The teens stepped through the gates of Hogwarts and sighed in relief, finally able to relax. Draco had made sure that Paris was going to keep his mouth shut, mostly through promises of connections to be made in his name so he was ‘taken care of’ upon entering his first year, before finally contacting his mother. Harry had marveled at the silver mirror Draco pulled from his robes. It was mounted by two silver serpents, entwining one another at the top and bottom, their emerald eyes sparkling in what little light The Leaky Cauldron provided. It was the same type of mirror Sirius had given him, but he quickly pushed those memories from his mind. Sadness still filled Harry’s heart when he thought of his godfather, but slowly the pain had begun to decrease. Dumbledore had told him that in time, he would come to slowly accept the loss, but Harry was sure it was Draco that had healed his wound.
Harry ducked into the bathroom while waiting for Draco’s family to leave, but not before he’d gotten a glimpse of Paris’ parents. In strolled a man, hair as blonde as sunlight, the finest emerald and black robes pulled tightly about him in hopes to avoid the filth of such a place. At his side stood a woman with hair not quite as blonde, but no less magnificent. She looked as though she would almost lose her composure upon seeing her son, but Paris’ father held her back with a simple gesture of his hand. “Paris,” the man said curtly, “you will escort yourself out to Diagon Alley, where we will deal with you in a moment.” Paris practically tripped over himself complying.
“Thank you so much, Draco, for finding him. We wouldn’t have dared tread into that filthy muggle area if it was at all possible to avoid it.”
“Not a problem at all, Aunt Melinda. I, myself, had detested being in that foul area at the time, but perhaps it was fate. Had I not been forced to treat the muggle grounds, I wouldn’t have found Paris.”
“Yes, Draco, we are very grateful that you collected him for us, but what exactly were you doing? I’m quite sure that Dumbledore would not allow any student to leave the school grounds.”
“Oh, I assure you, I broke no rules by leaving. I got permission to leave by both my Head of House, as well as the Headmaster, to visit The Leaky Cauldron as part of a Charms assignment. I decided to do a report on the charms and spells placed on the entrance to Diagon Alley, and needed to visit the site for myself as well as research its history. I simply finished early and felt it could not hurt to sneak out for a bit. There is a muggle jewelry store not far from here where I ran into Paris. While muggles may be detestable creatures, some are capable of making decent jewelry. I was hoping to pick up a gift for mother, properly cleansed and charmed by myself, of course.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet of you, Draco,” the woman smiled, reaching out to instinctively brush back the blonde’s growing hair from his eyes. Draco supposed it was a maternal instinct to groom children within their grasp.
“Yes, sweet indeed. Though, the wizarding world has its own jewelry stores, Draco,” the man spoke softly, a suspicious tint to his voice.
“I’m afraid my allowance isn’t quite that high, Uncle Octavius,” Draco mused, looking not at all concerned with the state of his cover story. Apparantly, that was enough reassurance for his relatives, for they asked no more questions. They simply said their goodbyes and headed towards the entrance to Diagon Alley. And so, with a simple bit of Malfoy charm, a major catastrophe was avoided.
The pair gradually made their way up to their private common room, where they were greeted by the Headmaster. A small smile played on his distinguishably aged face, “I trust there were no mishaps on your little excursion?” Both boys fidgeted in place, before Harry finally sighed and stepped forward.
“There was one, sir. Draco ran into his cousin, who’d gotten lost-”
“Ahh yes, young mister Paris. Always a bit too curious for his own good. He’ll be joining us next year, and I expect him to be just as pleasant of an addition as the Malfoys before him.” Harry snickered behind his hand, but Draco did not seem amused. If anything, he looked as though he were about to pout.
“Well, if you’ve made it back here and are not fretting, I take it the matter was handled reasonably enough. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to be in the Great Hall for supper. Your meals have been delivered to your room, as usual.” And with that, the Headmaster headed down the stairs towards the Great Hall.
Harry threw open the door to their common room and was lightly bumped. Draco threw himself onto the plush couch, groaning and covering his eyes with his arm. “Merlin, that was a mess! I thought they were going to eat me alive.” Harry closed the door behind him and smirked, eyeing the delicious site before him, and completely ignoring the food set on the table.
“It’s not them you should be worried about,” Harry growled, biting his lower lip for a moment before crawling overtop the blonde. Draco lifted his arm to stare at the boy who lived, blinking slowly. “Harry… You’ve been out of the Hospital Wing for less than a day…”
“I know… I just don’t care.” And with that, the dark haired teen laid himself flat against the Malfoy heir, capturing his lips in one swift movement. Draco had tried to resist, but Harry would have none of it, as he continued his assault with lips, teeth, and tongue. Slowly, the blonde began to submit, and even returned the affection. Moments later the pair were growling at one another, writhing uncontrollably against one another.
Harry broke away first, gasping for breath as his hips ground furiously in rhythm with Draco’s. “Harry… I can’t stand it, please!” The blonde’s desperate plea only fueled his fires more as he dropped his head and sunk his teeth into the flesh right at the crook of Draco’s neck. The Slytherin gasped and moaned loudly enough to echo off of the common room walls. Harry’s hand busied itself with undoing the fastenings of his and Draco’s trousers, inching them down just far enough for their lengths to touch and grind against one another directly. “Oh GOD….. Nnngh…. Harry!!” Draco went mad with frustration, his length aching with each thrust against Harry’s. He needed more, wanted more, but… Draco remembered all too clearly what had happened the last time he’d asked, and he wasn’t about to make that mistake again. He’d take whatever Harry was willing to give, and ask no more. It had taken Harry’s fall and visit to the Hospital Wing for him to realize just how much the boy who lived meant to him. There was no way he’d jeopardize that for the sake of a good shag.
“I love you…”
“Pardon?” Harry sat up, blinking down at the blonde.
“I said, I love you.”
Harry’s heart seemed to stop in his chest. It had been a month since they started dating, three weeks of which he spent in the Hospital Wing courtesy of three seventh years. But, in all that time, Draco had never said those words to him. Harry had said them, and he was content enough with that, he never wanted to push Draco to return them. Finally hearing them brought tears to the Gryffindor’s eyes, which he begrudgingly fought and tried to wipe away. “You don’t have to say that, just because I do…”
“I know I don’t,” Draco said cooly.
“But you still-”
“Yes, Harry. I don’t have to say it, but I still want to… I love you.”
Harry gave up holding back the tears as he kissed Draco fiercely. He’d been waiting, ever since their first fight, to hear those words. It was the best gift he ever could have hoped for, in all his life. Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin heir, loved him. Harry felt, for the first time in his life, whole.
