There probably was some hypocrisy in Harry’s disinterest in answering Malfoy’s question, but their situation felt different, scratching the surface of something obvious but unspoken in their relationship that Harry wasn’t eager to address, least of all now.
Harry in turn merely gave another non-committal answer with the quirk of his brows, figuring Malfoy could put the pieces together by now.
“What keeps the Head Potioneer busy?” Harry returned as he dropped the cigarette butt, stepping on it to quell the embers, his eyes briefly dipping to it.

“My job, mostly” Draco stated without intonation, trying to wrap his head around exactly what Potter was aiming for with this. Sure, it could be that he was genuinely just trying to have a normal conversation with Draco, but considering what their relationship had been so far it seemed highly unlikely.
“In case you didn’t know, there are still a lot of illicit potions floating around and it seems like your people need speciality potions more and more lately,” he added, feeling off kilter by talking shop with Potter, though he was unsure exactly what was causing his unease about the topic.
“But you don’t actually care about my job, do you?”
‘

_________________

Malfoy wasn’t wrong; Harry’s interest in Malfoy’s job only stretched far enough to know he didn’t share an office, and that Harry had reasonable enough excuses to pay him a visit. He was, however, greatly amused by the guard Malfoy put up, humoured at the seemingly arbitrary boundary he was drawing. It made it all appear so childish, a distant memory of who they once had been.
“Not really, but given that you ****ing me in your office last time I saw you, I figured I should at least ask,” he said, a grin tugging at his lips, a crude way of reminding Malfoy of their present situation,
Without invitation, Harry once again opened the silver tin, helping himself to another cigarette, hoping to postpone having to go back inside for just a while longer. Placing it between his lips with one hand, Harry finally offered the tin back to Malfoy with the smile still present in the crinkle of his eyes.

Potter bringing up their last hookup took Draco greatly aback, unused to talking about it so openly but part of him was flattered that Potter seemingly believed so much in his felix to talk about it so openly; or maybe he just didn’t care. Either way, it was exhilarating in a way that was quite new to Draco and yet he could tell that he was already quite hooked on it, already wanting more.
“How nice of you to play polite,” he stated, accepting a cigarette from his own and repeating his ritual of lighting it, eyes lingering on Potter as he did so.
Without much thought to the gesture, Draco mindlessly closed the gap between him and with the wandless spell lingering between his fingers he lit the cigarette hanging between Potter’s lips as well, a slight pull at the corner of his mouth as he did so.

_________________

As Malfoy stepped closer, Harry’s eyes followed, unwaveringly on him even as he inhaled and allowed the paper to light.
There was an inherent intimacy of Malfoy lighting Harry’s cigarette without a wand, leaving mere inches between his fingers and Harry’s mouth. Along with the hand rolled cigarettes Harry had bummed, it was almost too much, too close to Malfoy’s fingers being in his mouth. It made a stupid grin pull at the corners of Harry’s mouth as he exhaled, wondering if Malfoy had seen it, too.
“It’s not playing polite, I’m just not a nutcase who can’t manage a bit of small talk,” Harry mocked, but the smile on his lips was already too wide, making it come out too fondly. “I’ve seen you at these things, I assumed you knew how to.”

“Maybe I just don’t think you’re worth the effort,” Draco stated with a shrug as he blew out a huff of smoke.
Despite it not having been Draco’s initial plan, he couldn’t help but feel relieved that he got caught by Potter as the first thing. He could already feel himself settle more, finding that being around Potter was just so much simpler than when he had to be around literally any other guest.
“Not like we usually do a lot of small talking,” he added with a smirk, feeling stupid for pointing it out but also unable to stop the words from tumbling out of his mouth.

_________________

The mean bite of Malfoy’s comment took Harry aback, though not as much as the way it made his stomach flip with pitiful interest. It was just believable enough that it struck between his ribs, dizzy at the thought that Malfoy still thought that of him, and the realisation that Harry didn’t mind it after years of being told he was worth his weight in gold.
It must have shown in his expression, stricken surprise bleeding into a grin before obscuring it completely by taking a drag.
“We don’t have to start,” he said complacently, exhaling.

There was absolutely no denying the thrill that ran through Draco when he saw the surprise painted on Potter’s face; a satisfaction that didn’t lessen even when he saw the surprise turn into a grin.
“I’m just surprised that you would even want to,” he stated with a shrug as he took a drag from his cigarette, trying to wrap his head around what exactly they were doing here, but ultimately deciding that it really didn’t matter all that much.

_________________

“Why?” Harry asked, his voice easy and earnest though his attention had once again narrowed on Malfoy, looking at him with great interest.
There were an embarrassing amount of things he wanted from Malfoy, most of which had already - regrettably - been made apparent, that the addition of conversation felt like the least of it.
“Can’t you tell I’m trying?” he added with a boyish grin, before taking the last remaining drag of the cigarette, fingers almost all the way to his mouth.

“I can,” Draco stated, finding that there was always something a little off putting about Potter when he was being charming and boyish around Draco.
Maybe it was just that he wasn’t used to seeing that side of Potter, but Draco found that he couldn’t quite get himself to trust that side; so much more comfortable with snipes and barbed remarks.
“That’s why I’m suspicious,” he stated as he took the last drag from his cigarette and let it drop to the ground, a slight flick of his wrist vanishing it before it could make contact.

_________________

Harry couldn’t help but snort as he turned slightly away from Malfoy, their conversation having reached that point of ridiculous helplessness. Harry was deeply humoured, finding Malfoy’s reluctance equal measures insulting and refreshing, feeling it hook itself to the pit of his stomach and tug.
He dropped his hand, twisting it in a way that made the cigarette butt disappear from his fingers.
“**** off,” he dismissed, voice breathy with an involuntary laugh. “Miserable old sod. I’m going back inside.”

Draco couldn’t help but grin at that, enjoying to see Potter riled up, especially when it was he who had managed to put him in that state. It was easier for Draco to recognise him like that too, understanding their dynamic a whole lot better when they got to be like this.
“You just have to warn me when you are planning to be polite the next time,” Draco stated as he trailed after Potter inside, figuring that he would have to meet and greet people as well.

_________________

Malfoy’s insinuation that there would ever be a /next time/ made Harry scoff again, feeling like this whole ordeal had felt like pulling teeth, but as he glanced back at Malfoy, the thrill that ran down his spine betrayed that was part of the appeal. He heard it mirrored in Malfoy’s phrasing, the way it wasn’t even a question in his mind, either, that they’d soon enough be back here again. Harry could punch him, had he not brought them back to the reception.
“Do I make you nervous?” Harry pushed again, juvenile and petty. “Enough that you need a moment to prepare?”
Interrupting him, Harry heard his name called from across the room, Kate’s American accent cutting through the hum of the crowd, identifiable even without Harry turning his head. It took her emerging from the crowd for him to finally drag his attention off of Malfoy, straightening his posture and smile.
“I lost track of you, I turned around and you were gone,” Kate smiled, humoured as she stepped into Harry’s space. Her eyes kept finding Malfoy, a poorly concealed bid to be introduced.
Though Harry reached for her long enough to brush a touch to the small of her back, he unthinkingly split the difference between her and Malfoy, shamelessly adjusting the circle of conversation in equal thirds.
“Kate, this is the Head Potioneer, Draco Malfoy,” he said, eyes favouring Malfoy. “He’s a mate from school. Malfoy, this is Kate.”
“The fiancée,” Kate added with a smile, still smitten with the word. She offered Malfoy her hand. “Pleasure meeting you, Head Potioneer.”

Draco had had a response just at the tip of his tongue when the flow of conversation was interrupted by someone calling Potter’s name.
Having only seen her once before and having never heard her speak, it actually took Potter introducing her for Draco to realise that Potter was there with his fiancée.
Working completely on autopilot, Draco simply shook her hand, trying to get a gauge on Potter’s reaction to the situation and figure out what he expected from Draco from this.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Draco stated with a polite smile that he was certain that Potter would be able to tell was strained but that he also knew that Kate wouldn’t.
“Potter has told me so much about you,” he lied as he finally took a proper look at her, honestly unsure what he had expected but the blandly pretty young woman next to Potter probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him; the American accent was already grating on his nerves though.

_________________

Malfoy’s blatant lie made Harry’s eyes narrow with something akin to interest, a humoured sort of confusion by that approach. He couldn’t decide if Malfoy had an angle, or whether or not he was simply caught unprepared.
Harry had had no intention of introducing Malfoy to Kate, but actively avoiding it felt like a hassle, too, aware of the fact that it wouldn’t actually change anything, having already set a course he had no interest in correcting.
“Well, that’s sweet of you to say,” Kate smiled, turning towards Harry with immense pleasure, credit for something entirely unwarranted, before she again turned towards Malfoy. “I wish I could say the same, but I am very familiar with your work. I didn’t know you were close.”

Draco couldn’t remember the last time he had allowed himself to sink so fully into the golden glow of the felix that he took so diligently; allowing it to swallow him up entirely and just let it puppet him through this conversation that he very much wished that he didn’t need to be a part of.
It was surreal, as he usually allowed himself to stay utterly in control of just how much he allowed the Felix to help him along, but he was so utterly unprepared for this that he really saw no other alternative.
“Oh, we are not, not really,” Draco stated in a voice that probably sounded modest to a complete stranger, but the tone was grating in his own ears, making him feel off kilter and unbalanced.
“We are just doing a lot of work together lately with all those illicit potions flowing around.”

_________________

There was some great irony in watching the conversation unfold, Harry suddenly realising that if this was Malfoy conversing, he wasn’t actually sure he was interested in talking to him. It brought a crooked grin to his lips, humoured by this window into how Malfoy usually behaved himself laced with the knowledge that this wasn’t the version Harry usually saw.
“Yes, that’s how I know of you,” Kate chimed on. “Obviously, not this specifically, but I work as a junior barrister at the Wizengamot, and I come across your work in evidence files all the time.”
Compelled to put Malfoy out of his misery, either out of sheer pity or due to the firm influence of Malfoy’s felix felicis, Harry reached out for Kate, a quiet interruption. With a hand on the small of her back, Harry leaned in to press a kiss to her hair, a grin on his lips.
“Let’s let the Head Potioneer get on his way,” he said.
While Harry was leaning closer to Kate, already trying to urge her out of the conversation, his attention was entirely on Malfoy with great awareness of the fact this was giving Malfoy what he had asked for, verbally or not. “I’ve already taken up enough of his time.”

Somehow, the fact that Potter’s young fiancée seemed like a genuinely nice young woman made Draco’s distaste for the entire arrangement grow deeper. He knew exactly what kind of public image that Potter had for himself, but Draco knew him so much better than that, so the act that Potter could even stomach this made him wonder.
It didn’t keep his interest for long enough to stick around any longer than necessary though, feeling a wash of relief when Potter let him go; only realising that that was what he had been waiting for when he got it.
“Right, I better go mingle, but it was lovely to meet you Kate,” Draco stated, the words having no meaning to him even as he said them. “Oh, and Potter you are welcome to come by my office for those files we discussed whenever you have the time.”

_________________

___

When Harry some odd days later took Malfoy up on his invitation, he didn’t go to his office. Pressing the buzzer at the street door entrance of Malfoy’s flat was presumptuous, but not any more than how they usually behaved. While the visit wasn’t particularly premeditated, Harry hadn’t even considered whether or not this was allowed between them.
Having grown to expect seeing Malfoy at work events had dulled some of the inherent urgency Harry had experienced in the very beginning, but Kate’s more frequent attendance tripped up something that had found a pretty comfortable balance. He had just earlier today gotten her owl back letting him know that she would be able to attend next time, too, and the annoyance Harry felt at that manifested itself as recklessness, transparent in all of the reasons that brought Harry to Malfoy’s stoop.