Wings & Tails

Title: Finding You
Author/Artist: alafaye
Prompt: 17. Dragon, Harry/Draco, the aurors are tracking a group who is trasporting and selling magical creatures.They finally get a lead about a dragon being smuggled out image Harry's surprise when the find a chained up Draco Malfoy. Notes: Happy ending
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Creature: Dragon (fusion)
Word Count/Art Medium: 2757
Rating: PG
Warnings: (highlight to read) *none*
Disclaimer: This creation is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offense is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.
Notes: I honestly didn't think I would have a piece to post, but here it is. Unbeta'd. Thanks to the mod for letting me post per my discretion.
Summary: An Auror raid leads Harry to an old lover.



The night was dark and quiet. The woods surrounding the warehouse-like building was alive with the usual noises, but Harry could also hear his fellow Aurors getting restless. After months of tracking down dead ends and false leads and a few traps, they finally had something they could use. They hadn't seen this creature being smuggled in, but their source--triple checked--assured them that the creature would be going out tonight.

Harry was as eager as his coworkers to have this smuggling ring brought down. Because if they did manage to catch them in the act now, they would be able to bring down the entire ring. They would be granted a search warrant to go in and find other evidence. They would be able to go through auction records kept in the warehouse to find other potential smuggling rings.

They needed just one in. Just one.

And between one blink and the next, the warehouse doors opened, spilling light across the front yard. Three hooded figures walked out backwards, wands out, and a cage followed. Orders were shouted and hushed and more figures came out. More orders and then a pause. One of the figures approached the cage and waved his wand around--checking that the containment spells were intact?

But Harry was left no time to wonder as his contact bracelet warmed to signal that the raid was going to begin.

~~~

"Potter, report!"

Harry straightened his back from where he had been at rest at the edge of the yard and nodded at the team captain. "Sir?"

Auror Kelly beckoned his finger and Harry followed. He turned to look inside the warehouse whose doors were still open and caught sight of at least three different magical creatures in cages as the suspects willingly gave up information and the creatures to better their case when it was brought before the local courts. Not that it would help much--at least ten countries were calling for blood and the local courts had an open docket to allow the countries to bring the charges in.

The cage that had been going out that night was in the front yard. It had been jostled and hit during the fight. Harry hoped that the creature inside hadn't been hurt much.

"When we looked inside this cage, we noted something unusual in it," Auror Kelly told Harry. "I need you to confirm his identity."

"His?" Harry wondered who it could be--he hadn't heard of any disappearances, but maybe it was someone from Hogwarts whom he had lost track of?

"His," Kelly confirmed. "You are the only one here who saw him often enough to know him."

A classmate then. Harry frowned, though. Mayberry and Williams both were in Hogwarts around the same time as Harry. Who could it be that Harry would need to identify who it was?

When Kelly lifted the canvas that lay over the top of the cage, though, Harry felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"Draco?"

~~~

June, 1999

Draco's hands were everywhere. How, Harry didn't know, but he'd rather not find out. It could've been a spell and Harry didn't want to know who had taught it to Draco. Instead, Harry tilted his head back and let Draco do what he wanted.

"Tomorrow," Draco breathed against Harry's neck. He licked Harry's neck and bit it, hard enough to bruise.

Harry clenched his eyes shut, refusing to think about tomorrow or having to cover up the bruise. He couldn't...no, he wouldn't think about that. Any of it. "Don't remind me."

Draco chuckled and squeezed Harry's hips where he had Harry pinned at the moment. He pushed open Harry's legs with a knee and licked the bruise. "Why? Addicted to me?"

Harry grabbed the back of Draco's neck and pressed him into a harsh, biting kiss. "Don't leave."

Draco groaned, almost painfully, and rested his forehead against Harry's. "Leave it. Just leave it alone, Potter. For once in your life..." His words trailed off into a choked sob and Harry sucked in a heavy breath.

The bruises on Draco's neck hadn't been made by Harry. They'd been made by a first year--a strangulation curse. Harry rubbed them now and Draco hissed. Harry frowned. "We can figure this out."

Draco growled and shoved Harry's shoulder hard against the stone wall. Harry swore under his breath and pushed back at Draco. "I'm sorry. Okay?"

Draco wrinkled his nose in distaste and ran a hand through his hair. "Don't be sorry. Just...come on, tomorrow is graduation. Let's make today...I just want to say goodbye."

Goodbye. Harry had never thought he could ever think Malfoy was sexy or that he would actually have sex with the git. Or even fall in love, Harry's mind whispered. Harry pinched his eyes shut and pulled Draco closer by his belt loops. He didn't want to say goodbye, but Draco was determined and nothing Harry said or did would change Draco's mind.

The kiss this time felt as urgent, but it was slower and without bite. Whatever mood they had been in, then or just before, had left. They were now two lovers waiting to say goodbye. No matter how much they both did not want to.

~~~

Present

Harry rubbed the kink out of his neck as he put down his quill. He cast a Tempus and winced. 1:24 He dried the ink on his report--all seven pages of it. What happened in the beginning that affected the raid and then the raid itself was on the report. He would look over it tomorrow, but he liked to get his cases written down as soon as the case was wrapped up. A trick that kept him from hearing new sides or rethinking something and later messing up his reports.

He considered stopping somewhere to get a quick bite to eat, but the only thing open at this hour was a fish and chip place and one thing he'd learned early on as an Auror was to avoid greasy food after an adrenaline rush, such as the raid brought on. It made sleeping difficult and the next day worse. As he closed up his office, Auror Kelly caught up with him again.

"Sir," Harry greeted. "I've just written up my report, but I'll have it in tomorrow."

"I know you will," Kelly nodded. "There's just one small matter I'd like to talk to you about."

Harry wondered what was so important that couldn't wait until tomorrow? Kelly tipped his head to the Auror-use only elevators. It lead them to the main floor or the three below. One was where the upper Auror offices and clinic were, one was where the records were kept, and one was where the cells were. One had to be a registered Auror to use the elevators, placing the tip of their wand in a designated spot on the wall by the elevators.

Inside the elevator, Kelly pushed the button for the cell level. "Our medic here has cleared Mr. Malfoy to leave," Kelly reported. "We would like him to go to St. Mungo's as soon as possible to see if they can reverse the damage, but there is no press for him to go."

Had Harry heard right? "Sorry, sir. Damage?"

Kelly cleared his throat. "I'm sure it's clear to you, Potter, that Mr. Malfoy's wings are not natural?"

Harry shrugged. "I supposed that he had been in mid-transformation, but you're talking like...what? Someone fused a dragon's wings onto his back?"

Kelly raised an eyebrow. "Our initial scans seemed to think so. We would like him to be checked out further, but he reports that he's not felt ill beyond what a normal person would. That is, the occasional cold and the like. As such, unless there's clear evidence that the wings and...fusion are causing him harm, there's no need for it to be addressed."

Harry couldn't imagine why anyone would want to keep them, but they could be functional. The elevator arrived at the floor and Harry followed Kelly down to the medical room. Unlike the floor above, in the junior offices where most of the Aurors and staff had gone home, the offices on this floor were still mostly lit. Kelly had told Harry that he would go far in the Ministry if he kept the senior officers hours even while still being a junior officer. It showed dedication to his job.

"Now, according to Mr. Malfoy he has nowhere to go," Kelly continued. "We offered him the usual choices--a safe house, a room at an inn or Muggle hotel, but he chose to be put up by one of our staff. Given that he was inside the smuggling ring and the information about his wings--which were forced upon him by this ring to offer an exotic pet apparently--it is a wise choice. We're going to see if he'll testify for us in the court."

Harry suddenly had a bad feeling in his stomach. "And who is going to house him for now, sir?"

Kelly raised an amused eyebrow. "Well, I offered your home, Potter as you two are familiar with each other. He accepted."

~~~

Harry's flat was a modest two room, private bath, separate dinning room place. It wasn't expensive, but it had the feel of it. More, it hadn't been augmented by wizard's space. It was, in fact, a Muggle flat in a Muggle building some distance from the Ministry. Perfect for Harry because he used to live closer to the Ministry, when he had been in training and then the first year after graduation from the academy--a poor choice. It wasn't enough distance; too close. Harry found that being half way across the city helped him keep work at work and home at home.

Maybe that was why he kept such late hours now.

Harry turned on the lights to let Draco get a look around while he opened the second bedroom. With Ron and Hermione settled in their own home in the country somewhere (being a local officer for a small village apparently suited Ron better than being in London) and most of their friends scattered in their own careers, the second bedroom rarely got used. Harry used it mostly to store odds and ends, but it was at least organized. He cast a small charm on the sheets and curtains to get the staleness out--nowhere near the effect of just replacing them, but good enough for the hour.

He gave Draco a tight smile when he rejoined him in the sitting room. "Do you want something to eat or drink?"

Draco shook his head. He was thinner than Harry remembered, but taller and broader so the thinness might've been an effect of those. There was also the wings. Every time Harry thought he had gotten used to them, they would twitch or catch light as Draco moved and Harry found himself captivated. The wings couldn't have been from a full grown dragon; they looked instead as if they were from a hatchling. From tip to tip, they stretched eight feet and added at least five inches of height. Red and almost iridescent, like the wings of a Chinese Fireball, they made Draco look...well, Harry could only imagine how much someone would pay to own Draco--he looked almost ethereal.

But Draco's eyes were heavy and he kept looking away from Harry. "They gave me something at the Ministry. I'd like to actually go to sleep right now."

Harry nodded. "Of course. Through there." Harry pointed at the door to the left to the kitchen. "There's the bathroom. Towels in the closet inside--help yourself if you'd like. I usually make breakfast so if you want, I can make double."

Draco murmured thanks and a yes before shuffling off inside the spare room. Harry, wistful and sad and hopeful (strangely enough), stared at the closed door for longer than he should have.

~~~

Day broke uneasily as Harry stumbled out of bed at the cold hour of six. It didn't matter what time he went to bed--he was always up at six and had been since the academy. He crossed the sitting room, aiming for the bathroom, but stopped short in the kitchen. Draco was at the island, sipping a cup of tea. The sun--streaming in from Harry's east facing windows--caught both his hair and wings.

If Harry had thought Draco handsome when they were teenagers, it was nothing compared to how he thought of him now. For some, aging had hit hard. But for others...

Draco lifted an amused eyebrow. "See something you like?"

Harry half smiled. There was the Draco he remembered. Not the shy one he saw last night. No, this cheeky and charming man was the memory Harry had been chasing all along. "I might."

Draco blinked as he flushed and he ducked his head. "Even with..." His wings flapped half-heartedly.

Harry leaned against the table and then angled his head down to catch Draco's eye. "Yeah, even with."

Draco swallowed hard and the moment stretched out. A tension rose between them, a taut wire that pulled Harry in. Had he ever stopped loving Draco? Right now, here in his kitchen, Harry was beginning to realized that he hadn't. Just another foot and Draco's lips--lips Harry had been dreaming out--would be close enough to kiss and Harry...he wanted to kiss Draco.

But Draco cleared his throat and looked away hurriedly. "You, ah...live alone here? No one special?"

By no one special, Harry assumed Draco meant a significant other. A Weasley, a past Draco sneered in Harry's head. It had been a familiar argument between them back then. Draco had always told Harry his future was with one of the red heads and together, Harry and this red head would have a cottage and five kids and a crup. Harry had insisted otherwise because he'd wanted a future with Draco.

"Nope, just me," Harry told him.

Draco raised both eyebrows, clearly skeptical. "I find that hard to believe. Aren't you the catch of the century?"

Harry scoffed. "Maybe a few years ago. But then I decided to do something boring and make a career where I'm part of team I don't lead and I don't make the arrests."

Draco hummed thoughtfully. Harry licked his lips, nervous. "And you?"

Draco's face darkened. "No. There...no."

Something had happened and Harry suspected it lead straight to the wings, but he also suspected that Draco was not in the mood to share that. So instead Harry shrugged. "Fair enough. Breakfast?"

It was worth it to see Draco brighten up.

~~~

In the months that followed, Draco somehow moved in with Harry--whatever had happened, Draco had lost everything he'd had left after the Ministry had gotten through with their fines from the war--and the trial was brought to a close. Out of respect for Draco and what he hoped was a renewing of their relationship, Harry stayed out of it. He was called only once to the courts in Northern France to give a verbal rendering of his work during the investigation, but other than the one time, he didn't go. He didn't look at the court records and didn't use his position to look into Draco's past.

Maybe Draco would one day tell him, but Harry wasn't in a rush.

Draco went to St. Mungo's to find out if the wings were removable, but it was a month later that it was recommended that Draco not have them removed. Whether it was because of the spell used or because of how long Draco had had them, removing their wings would damage Draco's magic and could render him unable to function. No matter that Draco could only go into certain parts of London (Harry now had a special license in his home that would let Draco Apparate out from the flat rather than have to leave for a designated area), it was decided that the wings would stay.

Plus, it landed Draco a job in the Department of Magical Creatures. He worked with the dragon reservations around the world as a sort of ambassador and would often go out to the reservations as the dragons, far from disdaining Draco as an abomination, looked to Draco as a sort of safe voice. Baffling, but it was a job.

And if in time, Draco moved into Harry's bed...well. That was a tale for another day.