Stay With Me

Chapter 6

"Is something wrong?"

Harry glared at him, "Sit down."

Draco hesitated, but slowly followed him into the kitchen, where Harry took one chair and Draco sat opposite, like some kind of formal meeting. His stomach twisted with dread at Harry's serious tone and it didn't help that he dragged out the silence.

"Want to tell me you've found another piece of erotic literature in my belongings?" Draco smirked to himself, but Harry's expression remained cold.

"Where were you today?"

His smirk vanished. "I... met a client."

"To do what?"

A sickness lurched in the pit of Draco's stomach, a million questions rushed through his mind at once, yet he froze, like watching a tidal wave growing in the distance, he knew disaster was approaching.

"To do what... Malfoy?" Harry repeated, this time through gritted teeth.

"To... provide potions, I already told you."

Tongue in cheek, Harry chuckled under his breath at Draco's obvious lies. "I don't believe you."

Draco smiled nervously, at a loss with what else to say, his cheeks grew hot. "Well tough, I've already told you what I do when I go out."

"You meet your clients in hotels do you?"

"I-" Draco stopped. His heart rapidly pounded in his chest, his hands grew sweaty and his throat felt dry and constricted. "You followed me?"

"Answer the question."

"You fucking followed me!"

"Yes, I followed you so tell me why you're meeting clients in hotels!"

He couldn't admit it, the words were there but nothing came out. Tears stung at the back of his eyes as he held them in, anger rising through his chest.

Harry glared back at him, desperate for Draco to come out with a completely logical, reasonable explanation, but his gut feeling was sure of what he'd seen. He gazed up from the table, swallowed, and looked Draco straight in the eyes.

"Are you... being paid for sex?"

This was it. This was the moment Draco had been terrified of and it impaled him like a knife splitting his chest. Panic soared through his body and his mind raced as he stared at Harry with an open mouth, eyes stinging on the verge of tears and yet he wasn't sad, he was mortified, humiliated, exposed.

The lack of response wasn't doing any favours in proving his innocence either as Harry's eyes widened, his suspicions had been confirmed.

"You are... aren't you?"

Draco's lower lip quivered and his cheeks burnt with shame that made him want to both cry and scream in anger.

Harry's head shook in disbelief, everything was starting to make sense. It explained why Draco always looked miserable when he returned home, why he slept so much and barely ate. Why he covered his body all the time, even during the searing heat. He was hiding this part of himself away from everyone and suffering alone. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes... I do." Draco muttered, his voice so small through the lump in his throat, he couldn't meet Harry's judgemental, pitying eyes. "Where else am I going to make money? I'm hated by everyone, my name is tarnished, my reputation is trashed. Nobody wants anything to do with me."

Harry's eyes screamed judgement and Draco shrunk with self-hatred. "But how could you resort to... that?!"

"I didn't ask for this! Okay?! You think I want... to do... this..." Draco trailed off because his breathing had suddenly quickened to the point of hyperventilation. His eyes widened in fear whilst clasping the table edge, panting through the tightness in his throat that now felt as though it was closing.