herumtreiber

Title: The Lord Appellant 11/37
Chapter: The first kiss
Author:

herumtreiber
Genre: Slash, romance, adventure, dark!fic
Pairing: Draco/Blaise, one sided Harry/Draco
Rating: PG-13
Warnings for the fic: It's a dark fic, rape is mentioned several times. Dementors appear and not for show. Character death (not Harry, Draco or Blaise). Evil!Ron, powerful Hermione, Pansy and Bellatrix. Sympathetic to Slytherins.
Epilogue compliant? No
Chapter length: ~1,483 words
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or related characters. Nor do I make any money from writing these stories.
Summary: After the events of HBP, the Minister of Magic wants to finish the Malfoys but Draco uses a Wizengamot procedure to fight back. Veelas and Siddhe appear in the story as Draco uses political means to contest the pureblood's allegiance to Voldemort.
Notes: I wrote this before DH was published, so please no picayune comments about canon.

Table of contents

10. Ron's true colors

Blaise continued on a more somber note, "And I know what you'll be thinking, that all friends are faithless and it is not worth it to have any. You're wrong if you think that! You only had bad luck in meeting such a lout. But there still are plenty of people that will fight with you, and not because you're the Boy Who Lived, but Harry." "Off the top of my head, the Twins come to mind. Oh, I'm sure they're very bashful with the whole incident, nothing happened to them but a good scare. Perhaps you can talk to them and clear the air, and really deepen your friendship. They seem like capital blokes, if a little too pranksterish for my tastes."

"You also have Bill and Charlie Weasley. I'm sure you can find many areas in common for long talks and eventually adventures."

Blaise stood up, and said "Now my good deed for the year is done, I'll return to the Manor." "Thanks for the roast beef."

Harry gathered all his vaunted Gryffindor courage and prepared to do for Blaise what Blaise had done for him, namely comfort him. He said, "Why don't you tell him?"

Blaise turned and stuttered, "W-what?"

Harry plodded on, "Why don't you tell Draco what you feel for him?"

Blaise answered stonily, "What do you think I feel for him?"

Harry replied, "You love him. It can be seen. Why don't you tell him?"

Blaise bit back, "Because how can he love me back, the heir of the traitorous Zabinis and that worthless woman?"

Harry stood up and faced Zabini and formally asked, "Permission to speak frankly and candidly?"

Blaise nodded.

Harry continued, "For a good portion of my life, Malfoy and I have been mortal enemies. We've faced each other in classrooms, the air, dueling, Potions. A wealth of opportunities to observe your enemy. This allowed me to get to know him at a deeper level than others. I have faced him at wandpoint several times." "Zabini, when I held Malfoy at wandpoint and told him I was going to gang-rape him, do you know what struck my mind?"

"He never showed fear. He never showed nothing except complete confidence that it would all turn out right in the end." "I know that if it had been me depending on, say, Ron, before today, I would have been beset by uncertainty. Not him."

"My point is that I've never seen this absolute faith in anyone. He does love you. We live in a war, in danger, and we should use the opportunities presented to spend time with our loved ones."

"Another thing: when I insulted you, he went completely berserk. Can you honestly tell me he would have gotten the same reaction if I had insulted, say, Greg Goyle in the same way?"

Harry ended with, "That's all, Zabini. Grab your dream while you can!"

oOoOo

Blaise returned to the Manor to find the occupants indulging in Internet activity. Crabbe and Goyle were playing some ferocious-looking game, Pansy was immersed in a health-club chat, Millie was chatting with her bird-watching friends. The others had returned to their own estates, and Draco was nowhere to be seen.

Blaise was annoyed, and even briefly contemplated using his weapon of doom: sending a crying Dobby to fetch Draco back. Fortunately common sense prevailed and he realized that Draco would be very pissed off if he made his favorite elf cry.

He went to his office and browsed his own computer. He checked for any mails from the Veela support group, and found none. There was a knock on the door, it opened and Theo Nott walked in. Nott usually looked smug; in fact, he sometimes looked as arrogant as Draco, which was a feat in itself. Just at that moment, however, Nott looked completely unsure. He looked like a Hufflepuff.

Blaise said, "What's up, Theo? You look like something the Kneazle dragged in."

Nott answered, "Do you remember when the Gryffindors attacked Draco, Blaise? You wanted me to examine the behavior of the wards and the people in the Manor."

Blaise, "Yes, I remember. I take it there's bad news."

Nott replied, "Not necessarily bad but definitely baffling. You see, after Potter….err….."

Blaise inwardly rolled his eyes and completed the sentence of his prudish associate, "Sexually molested Draco."

Nott continued eagerly, "Yeah, after he sexually molested him, the monitoring spells indicate that Potter emitted magic, which apparently tried to fuse with Draco's, tried being the operative word, because it couldn't. Draco disappeared for five seconds."

"What is interesting is that he did not control the wards. They were still managed by Potter, who had set them to effectively interdict the transport of persons inside or outside the wards. It wasn't until you reset them that we controlled them again."

Blaise clarified, "So for five seconds Draco was not here. Did he go somewhere in the house?"

Nott said, "We have monitoring spells on him. Perusing the records we find that he wasn't in this plane of existence, this Realm, for the whole five seconds."

Blaise sat down before his legs could collapse.

Rapidly composing himself, he drawled, "Theo, this information must remain top secret. If Voldemort finds out that Draco can do this we are lost. As a matter of fact, only you and I will know it. The war may well depend on your iron will to keep the secret."

Theo nodded and said, "Sure, I'll keep the secret. Slytherin's word!"

Two hours later Blaise finished his work and left for his room. Opening the door, he noticed that someone was sitting beside the window, and immediately knew who it was. The blond hair, the smug expression, Draco must've been hiding here.

He spoke, "Don't be annoyed, Blaise! They needed some time off from all the serious stuff. Besides, playing with the Muggle inventions makes them realize their usefulness and ingenuity. I'd rather have stout and hearty Slytherins than sullen ones!"

Blaise's visage remained foreboding. Draco frowned and mumbled to himself, saying out loud, "That damned Nott! I told him not to tell you!" "I was not aware during those five seconds."

He sat next to Blaise and continued, "I know you're probably worrying about this newfound ability of mine to change Realms, rest assured, I would not leave you behind. You know I wouldn't!"

And then Blaise, perhaps borrowing Harry's courage, perhaps remembering his conversation with Harry, asked, "Do you love me?"

Draco answered instantly, "Of course I love you. I love you so much it sometimes hurts me. I've loved you for years, fighting against that damned Bond, that would not allow me to say 'I love you' instead I had to find other terms of endearment."

Blaise remembered a rainy afternoon in Sixth Year and Draco saying "As long as I live, I will trust you, Blaise," he also remembered two days ago, Draco expressing the same sentiment, and realized Draco was telling him he loved him, the only way he could, despite the overpowering Bond. He felt so raw, so full of emotions that he cried.

Draco hugged him tightly and warmly, and Blaise felt he'd died and gone to Heaven. Because this was surely heavenly bliss, to be in the arms of your love as they profess their love to you. The blond continued, "Your love was the only thing sustaining me in my struggle against the Bond, because it was natural and not something imposed from above. It's the only thing that's been truly mine, truly pure. Had it not been for your love, I would have given up, gone to Potter and let him do what he would. Or I would have taken my own life."

Blaise yearned to take Draco's mind off such sad thoughts, and he now had the perfect way, he said, "Can I kiss you, Draco?"

Draco replied briskly, "Only if you hurry up!"

Their kiss was breathtaking. Blaise tasted of night and spices, leather and rosemary; Draco tasted of morning dew, coffee and sandalwood. Since they knew each other so well, they were able to inject the kiss with heat and passion, they ended up in Blaise's bed, with Draco on top, sucking on Blaise's neck with the energy of a tornado. Blaise was panting, but Draco's trained eye could see that Blaise was a tad uncomfortable. Perhaps much had happened in such a short time and he needed to digest it.

Draco sat up and drawled lazily, "Well, much has happened today and I'm knackered. I think we need to discuss strategy tomorrow. So I'll see you tomorrow."

Then he growled and tenderly kissed Blaise's forehead, saying, "I can't wait till you're writhing under me! But it's your call, Blaise. You'll tell me when you're ready."

When he was closing the door, Draco turned and said, "I love you, my Blaise."

Blaise whispered, "And I love you, Draco."

12. The wrath of Pansy