The Scent Of Malice | drarry

twenty one | fairy wine

The Slytherin Common Room had never looked so good as it did on the last Friday of Hogwarts' term in 1996.

Armfuls of emerald ivy vines had been strung around the space and hundreds of twinkling candles nestled in each loop, casting sparkling light across the scene. Rose petals laid pristine paths through the room to the drinks tables, the dance floor and the sitting areas, and more petals drifted like feathers down from the ceiling to replace the old ones as they were sullied by expensive brogues and heels.

Someone had conjured a delicate haze over the area, giving it a soft, film-like quality, and coloured lanterns filled with fireflies cut through the mist to illuminate faces and bodies with shards of jewel colours.

And in the centre of it all was Draco Malfoy, every inch the Slytherin king in extravagant long holographic robes, a silver snake-head sceptre firmly grasped in his hand, and an iridescent shimmer on his cheekbones that glistened in the light whenever he moved. Most impressive of all were the translucent silken wings on the boy's back that he'd charmed to flicker as though they could really fly him into the sky whenever he chose.

As he swayed, Draco rolled a mouthful of opal-coloured liquid around his mouth from his glass, enjoying the slightly acrid aftertaste that gave away its high potency, but then sighed. The music was pumping through his veins, the wine was going to his head just as it should, but he didn't feel completed yet.

He should have known Potter would stand him up.

***

Potter, meanwhile, was having a similar dilemma. He was sticking firmly to the walls of the Slytherin Common Room (having been allowed entrance after displaying Draco's invite), searching desperately for a blonde in the sea of serpents.

He had helped himself to a scarlet lollipop from one of the tables, more for something to do with his hands than a real desire for sugar, and ground his teeth against it awkwardly.

"What's the point in inviting me if he isn't going to meet me here?" he muttered to himself, shoving his free hand frustratedly in his pocket.

He was glad he'd followed Hermione's fashion advice in the end at least. The white and gold robes he'd bought with her in a panicked Hogsmeade shopping spree that lunchtime did look a much more appropriate costume for the theme than his regular black ones, and he liked the way the colours from the lanterns refracted off the material. He wondered if Draco would like them, if he ever turned up.

Maybe I should just leave, he thought, but in a whirl he was spun back around by a cool hand, such urgency it made him dizzy.

"Leaving so soon, Potter?" asked the boy that he loved, taking the lollipop smoothly from Harry's mouth and replacing it in his hand with a glass of something shiny. "At least stay for a drink. You don't want to be rude now, do you?"

Harry's eyes widened as Draco slipped the crimson sweet - still wet with Harry's saliva - into his own mouth, clicking it against his teeth. Then he rolled it decadently around his mouth with his tongue, coating the inside with traces of scarlet sugar and making it hard for Harry to respond.

"I'm staying," he managed, taking a hasty deep gulp of the liquid in his glass.

The drink was pretty and sweet and almost silky in texture, though there was something in the aftertaste that Harry had never tried before and couldn't describe. There were peach and orange edible flowers floating on the top, and he put the aftertaste down to having something to do with them, though he couldn't be sure.

Draco smirked approvingly as Harry drank.

"Good boy, get that down you," he said. He sucked the lollipop hard into the hollows of his cheekbones again then let his jaw release to allow it to slide slowly over his tongue, revealing flashes of bright red that made the world spin faster.

Harry downed his glass obediently and reached for another, desperate for the buzz of courage that the alcohol could give him.

"Thirsty, Potter?" Draco asked with amusement, though he helped himself to a second glass from the table, too.

Harry didn't know what to respond to that, but it was certainly true that more than one type of thirst was overwhelming him at that particular moment.

There was a question underlying it, though, which had been bothering him for a while, and Harry felt he needed to get the answer before anything progressed that night. He wasn't sure exactly how to broach it but sheer curiosity swiftly got the better of him. "Malfoy," he began, "Have you ... have you done anyone since me?"

Malfoy looked away, suddenly slightly awkward. "Why do you ask?"

Harry shrugged. "Just interested. Have you?"

A pause.

"No. You... satisfy me more fully than I'm used to." Malfoy said. "And now, if you don't stop me," his voice became lower, a barely audible growl over the music, "I am going to kiss you."

Arousal flared through Harry's body - he should be used to this by now, but every time was exciting.

"I'm not going to stop you," he mumbled, before he was kissed more softly by Malfoy than he'd ever been kissed by anyone in his life, and felt like he was floating on air.

He couldn't believe this was the same boy who liked to bite him to watch him flinch, who'd drawn actual blood from Harry countless times, who was now moving his tongue so sweetly between their mouths, running his hands so peacefully over Harry's waist to pull him in.

"You're acting sort of unusual," Harry said when he pulled back, and instantly regretted the sentence - he didn't want to sound like he was complaining by any means! But the other boy didn't seem to care.

"This is the real me, baby."

Draco took a deep sip of his drink, then exhaled in pleasure. He smirked a little, running a ringed finger round the rim of the crystal glass. His pupils were huge, Harry noticed with surprise, like two great abysses in his flashing silver irises.

Harry had never felt so emotionally close to another person before, and found himself yearning for more of Draco's attention.

"Do you want to go down to my dorm?" Malfoy asked thoughtfully. "I have something I could show you."

"I've never wanted anything more," Harry replied, aware that he sounded more than a little needy.

And as he followed him into the dark, Harry didn't fight the urge to grab the blonde boy's hand.
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a/n: this could be seen as like a part 1 of the next chapter because they're very linked, but i didn't want to make them too long which is why they've been split. i hope you enjoyed this one though, i'll get 22 up asap 🤍

~ paradisedraco