White Lies - Prompt: lover100 A:40 - Lies

[snugglemint]

TITLE: White Lies
AUTHOR: snugglemint
PAIRING: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
TABLE: A
PROMPT: #40 Lies
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: 1,267
SUMMARY: White lies can get you into trouble.
WARNINGS: Mild language and sexual promise
NOTES: ---
DISCLAIMER: I do not own these pretty toys. They belong to JK Rowling. No Copyright Infringement intended.

Draco had learned that no lie was little. It had the illusion of being small at first, but just like the tiniest tip of an iceberg, lies took you down with the ship. Just beneath the surface of that fib there was something much larger that had all the potential in the world to be deadly.

White lies were small, perhaps even harmless, but too many and they started to merge into one big story that you may not be able to keep straight later.

Of course, he'd been taught that white lies were the way of society. Everyone wanted opinion, never the truth. And since the truth was rude as well as was leaving a question unanswered, well, you had to turn to false responses. It made everyone happy in the end. The person got what they wanted to hear and you remained untainted in their minds.

It had always worked for his Father and in school it had worked like a charm for him. He wasn't sure why it was failing him now, was he losing his touch?

"So, what are you going to do tonight?"

Draco looked up at Harry who was still dripping wet from the shower he'd just taken. He watched several drips slide slowly down his torso and disappear into the towel wrapped around his waist. Was it sane to be jealous of water?

"I'm going over to Hogwarts, there was a potion I wanted to fiddle with a bit and Severus offered his stock."

Harry blinked at him, his glasses were on the bedside table and even though Draco knew he was probably nothing more than a pale blur against the black of their bed, it almost seemed that Harry could see him clearly. Almost as if he could see through him to the truth beneath the lie.

"Ah...I see. Well, I do owe Neville a visit. Mind if I tag along?"

It was Draco's turn to blink, he certainly hadn't thought this far ahead, though he really should have. He'd come up with a setting that gave Harry an easy arsenal of infiltration. True, his potions excuses never failed but Hogwarts was a full canvas for Harry to paint on.

"....Suuuuure. I just have to finish up some research here first. You wanna help?"

Harry grimaced and shook his head; a reaction he hoped was in his favor.

"So, you go on ahead and I'll catch up?"

"Sure, Dray. Do you want me to tell Snape you're on your way?"

Draco bit at the inside of his lip, if Harry were to tell Snape then he'd really have to show up and be expected to have research on a potion and that would just mess up his plans.

"No, I'd rather not see those poor Gryffindors lose points," he joked.

"He can't, I'm not a student."

Draco grinned slyly. "You think he won't try and find a way?"

Harry pursed his lips. "Good point. So are you going solo or is Snape helping?"

"You've never been so intrigued before...Mostly solo, but Snape will be there to supervise. His knowledge is a bit more extensive than mine so he'd probably have some ideas and options I overlooked."

Harry hummed in that way that always signified that he was thinking. That might not be a bad thing if he didn't always do it before Draco was about to get busted.

Draco tried not to freeze up or make any untoward moves that might signify that he was anxious.

"Well. Have a good time then."

The blonde watched the darker man get ready in a stupor. That was it? He was going to let it go? Did he even know? What the hell was he up to?

It was unlike Harry to just let things go. He liked to jump on him every chance he got. Draco was the same way in return; it was just how they were. He doubted it would ever be different. So what was going on now?

"Okay, you too."

He thought about really doing what he'd said he was going to, this all seemed like a trap to him. He could easily get caught if Harry decided to brave the dungeons and Snape to see what he was dong. On the other hand though, he'd had these plans set for quite awhile.

He'd promised Blaise and Pansy that they could hang out over at the Manor. He still owned it, but for whatever reason he was living with Harry in this flat above Muggle England. He never went outside. Never. Everywhere he needed to go he could get to through either the Floo or apparition. So, where Harry liked to go out shopping and getting groceries, some of which were some pretty obscure things, out in the Muggle world, Draco had decided he'd very much like to ignore it.

Besides, it wasn't like he was going to do grocery shopping, get real. That was menial labor. And he wasn't about to subject his body to the harsh materials of Muggle clothing.

His eyes slid back to Harry who was toying with his hair in the mirror; even wet it was at odds with itself. Blaise and Pansy wasn't really one of those big lies between them, just a little white one. But...they'd been a lie several times over in their relationship so the lies got steadily bigger the more he indulged its source.

He didn't want Harry to throw a fit over something that wasn't needed. The only reason Harry didn't like him hanging out with Blaise and Pansy is because they had been convicted of Death Eater activity. Neither bore the mark of the late Dark Lord, but nearly every Slytherin with Death Eater parents had been tried. He'd only gotten off because Harry had stood in his favor, as embarrassing and crippling to his pride as that was.

They had gotten off, but only barely. Blaise was being hauled away to Azkaban when new light had shown in his favor and he was set free. For this, Harry didn't seem to trust them. He always worried about him, which was silly. Blaise nor Pansy would hurt him and even if they wanted to he firmly believed that they didn't have the power to.

Still, that didn't keep Harry from interrupting their lives monthly with annual dark artifact checks.

It was just a big mess he'd rather not get involved in, after all, would Harry really believe that they were going to have a nice cup of tea? ...Okay so maybe the tea was spiked with a little Firewhiskey, but there was nothing scandalous in it.

Harry turned to Draco his piercing gaze slightly subdued behind the goofy glasses he always wore.

"Snape is doing some work in Belgium, you know. He has been since Saturday. Funny he would make plans with you for tonight and not inform you that he’d have to cancel them."

Oh fuck. That was right. Damn! How could he have forgotten that? They both knew that Snape would never do anything of the sort. Draco had just paved his way into trouble.

"We're going to have a little talk tonight," Harry informed him as he walked toward the door. He stopped in the doorway, his hand on the frame. "Oh, and Draco...why don't you see to it that you're ready for me when I get home. Naked and prepped with your legs spread on the bed."

Draco swallowed hard, his heart hammering in his chest as he watched Harry leave.

So maybe this was why he was losing his touch...