Before The World Was Made DRARRY

Chapter Five

The work he did in his shop was delicate and meticulous. It was a near-impossible feat on the best of days. Like trying to remove a single scale from a dragon's neck without the beast noticing you, it required the utmost patience and concentration unless you wanted to end up covered in blood and third-degree burns.

And those were the days when Draco worked alone, in silence, with nothing but the task at hand to occupy his mind.

So with Potter sitting across from him, emerald eyes trained intensely on Draco's every moment, Draco was certain one or both of them was going to lose a limb.

"I'm bored," Potter whined like a ten-year-old at a dinner party. Draco tried to ignore him. The diamond he levitated needed to be placed at exactly the right distance between the poles of both conductors in order to guarantee the dragon's blood would coat it evenly.

And this had been the easy part when he was working alone.

"What are you doing?" Potter asked, leaning over the table to study Draco's work more closely. He was close enough now that the scent of his skin wafted to Draco, settling deep within him. Eyes sliding shut as he breathed Potter in, Draco jerked back to reality when he felt the diamond tip touch one side of the conductor.

Steeling himself and shoving Potter out of his personal space, Draco said, "I'm attempting to manufacture a Dragonstone, a feat that has yet only been accomplished by three wizards in all of history. If you would kindly sit back down and allow me to work in peace, that would go a long way to ensuring we do not both die horribly burning alive."

Potter dropped back into his chair, that infuriating smirk still on his lips. Draco replaced the diamond and, after a moment's hesitation and held breath, released the levitation charm. The diamond, thankfully, remained floating at precisely the right point between the poles. Draco exhaled, set down his wand, and set about preparing the dragon's blood.

"I thought Dragonstones were a heavily controlled magical commodity," Potter said, with not a little implication in his voice. "There are a couple royal families that still have jewellery with Dragonstones, but otherwise natural stones can't be bought, cut, or sold anywhere in Europe without consent of the European Wizarding Union."

Draco set the first bottle carefully on the table, uncorking the top to let it breathe before he set to work.

"Yes, Potter," Draco drawled, "I've decided that the perfect time to engage in illegal jewel trade is while I'm attached at the hip to the Ministry's Golden Boy auror. I am just that stupid."

Potter flushed and crossed his arms.

"Well am I wrong?" he said, chin tilted upward in defiance to Draco's snark.

"Natural stones are monitored, yes," Draco said, "which would be why I said I am attempting to manufacture one. Man-made stones are rare and uncontrolled because they are so difficult to make." Draco drew circles in the air with his wand above the bottle of dragon's blood, magically stirring the contents until they began to glow an ember red.

Eyes now trained on the dragon's blood, Potter asked, "why are you?"

The blood smelled of iron and campfire with just a hint of cinnamon. Draco poured it out into a crystal phial hovering just above the negative pole of the conductor. Crystal was the only substance completely inert when in contact with dragon's blood. As he poured, the ember-red glow of the liquid brightened until it was more white than red, fire at its hottest. In a moment, he would begin the spell to combine the blood with the diamond and heat both materials to thousands of degrees hotter than any human could stand.

Draco turned to Potter, hoping to impress upon him the severity of the situation.

"The reasons for my decision to make a Dragonstone are twofold. And while it is absolutely none of your business, I will tell you anyway," Draco said. "Firstly, the client who requested this order is a very good one. They were the first customers I had when I opened the doors to my shop, and they have returned numerous times since. If they want a Dragonstone, I will provide a Dragonstone." Swallowing against the memories of those first few weeks of business, the days he barely ate because the rent in Diagon Alley is wildly outrageous and no one wanted jewellery from a Death Eater, Draco readjusted himself in his seat. "The second reason I am making a Dragonstone," Draco continued, "is because I can."