The Wizarding Award Scheme Programme (or W.A.S.P. for short)

13. Not thinking straight

The following morning, after the two groups had set on their way for the first part of their walk, Draco watched Potter move about the camp with rhythmic calmness. Honestly, the man was a bore with his new-found fashion sense and his confident posture. There was an unbendable solidness to his movements; Potter wasn't a tall muscular 'Thor' figure, but he was contained and lean and ripped in a way made him appear invincible at times. He was wearing those tight jeans that Draco always appreciated; they were low-slung over the defined 'V' that dipped towards Potter's groin and his t-shirt was far too tight. Draco decided he'd be having words with Potter later, honestly, the idiot wasn't thinking straight, there'd be half the girls at Hogwarts, and probably a number of boys too, swooning after the man if he kept showing off his physique so delectably.

Potter shrugged on his leather jacket and disappeared off to London as promised, leaving Draco feeling stuck and unsure what to do with his time. He obviously had to keep an eye out for any signal of distress from the walkers so he didn't dare leave the camp and he couldn't, like Potter, send a Patronus to communicate with anyone or ask them to visit. He began to wonder what he did with his time before when Potter wasn't around, probably Owled Pansy or harassed stable-grooms. He found himself rooting around in the tent for something to read. He only turned up an old Quidditch magazine and a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. He chose the former and made himself comfortable on a camping chair until such a time that Potter deigned to return. But Draco found he couldn't concentrate, not least because he'd already read the magazine and it was old news. He tossed it to one side and took to basking in the warm sunshine after discarding his hoodie.

Sometimes he didn't understand the attraction he felt for Potter. He thought it was probably because of the passion for life the man had, that he couldn't get enough out of every breath he took. Life was too precious to him and it showed in everything he did, and, for Draco, it was contagious. Draco felt alive too when he was near Potter, he felt the passion ignite in his chest, the fire that had been there since the day they'd first met in Madame Malkins robe shop and which had never left all through their petty rivalry at school. What's more, since the night at The Leaky Cauldron, he knew he'd never be able to find that same passion with anyone else, well, he'd proven that time and time again.

He couldn't help his thoughts travelling to his ideas about going public with his relationship with Harry. Naturally, there were the doubts: could they really sustain a proper relationship; was Harry absolutely certain he wanted a life with Draco; would Teddy, Lily, Jamie and Al accept him and Scorp; what would happen to the Manor, and mother even? But the thoughts kept coming back about how perfect it would be to live in Hogglestane Croft with Harry and five children and his mother and aunt close by in the Gate House but not immediately under their feet. He smiled to himself at the thought. Narcissa had talked about selling the Manor, and Draco certainly didn't want to go back there ever again: too many bad memories. He grimaced, Astoria was just the garish and sickly icing in a very bad cake made up of Voldemort and his father.

He'd only found out that Potter had moved to Scotland from reading about it in The Prophet and only then because a customer at the Apothecary had shown him the article in an attempt to make some kind of idle chit-chat (the customer was new and didn't know the boundaries of Draco's 'chit-chat' abilities). It was simply reported in The Prophet that Harry Potter had left London in search of a quieter life in Scotland near the school and that his young Ward and Godson, the orphaned Edward Lyall Lupin, would be moving in with him. It was said that the widowed Andromeda Tonks, Mr Lupin's grandmother, would also be moving nearby. The article claimed the location of the house was a secret, though it was known to be near Hogsmeade, and the house was declared, by a 'close friend', to be heavily protected.

The news that Potter was so far away made Draco feel sick to the pit of his stomach. Then he gave himself a stern talking to: it was still only an Apparation and besides, the man was already teaching at Hogwarts for ten months of the year. It wasn't even as if Potter owed him an explanation of his every move or that Potter could even send him a forwarding address seeing as Draco was supposedly happily married and the two men were, theoretically, barely on civil speaking terms. Still, it smarted that Potter hadn't told him. Instead, he sneered at the news, commenting that Potter had probably brought himself an enormous and ostentatious Scottish castle, then turned his back on the article and went about his business as normal. He refused to acknowledge that his foul temper for the rest of that week was due to Potter moving away and not telling him. It wasn't as if he'd seen him recently, probably eight or nine months since their last encounter which was, as usual, entirely on Draco's terms if he thought about it properly, but he refused to acknowledge that either.