emmagrant01 | FIC: Surrender the Grey (17/30)

NOTE: This is the first draft of this story. The final version can be read HERE.

Title: Surrender the Grey
Author: Emma Grant
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Draco Malfoy returns to London after five years of self-imposed exile to start a new life with Harry. But will the secrets of the past destroy everything they've worked for?
Sequel to: Left My Heart. This will make much more sense if you have read that first!
Disclaimer: Not my characters, no copyright violation intended.
Length: 150,000 words
Status: COMPLETED November 2, 2005 (Posted March 2 - November 2, 2005)
Notes:
1. Please don't archive this story yet! This is the first draft, and in the next few months, it will be revised and edited. I'll post the final version on my website and a few other select archives, but in the meantime, feel free to link to this post.
2. There aren't enough words to say THANK YOU to

jedirita,

hazelhawthorne, and

(17)

They apparated to the meeting point, Lucius's arm tight around Draco's chest -- he had no idea where he was going. Even after his feet touched ground again, he still didn't know precisely where he was.

He stepped out of his father's embrace, wrinkling his nose at the dank air. They seemed to be in an underground chamber. The only sources of light were torches along the walls, which seemed carved from the rock itself. The light twisted into alcoves and disappeared into tunnels, giving the room the appearance of a cave. A perfect place for a meeting of Death Eaters, Draco thought.

"Since you are in possession of your wand, you could make yourself useful," Lucius said. Draco turned to see him pulling off his black gloves and tucking them into a pocket of his traveling cloak. "Sweep the room for surveillance."

Draco brandished his wand. "You don't trust your allies very much."

Lucius snorted. "Nor should you."

Draco frowned at him, but began casting surveillance spells. Five minutes later, he was convinced the area was clean. Lucius then instructed him to conjure chairs for the meeting, an arduous task that left Draco sweating and drained.

It was nearly ten o'clock when Lucius pulled Draco into a tunnel and led him to a small chamber. He pressed a silver flask into his hands. Draco sniffed at the contents and wrinkled his nose in revulsion.

"Absolutely not!" he said, shoving the flask back towards Lucius.

"Glamours and concealing spells will do you little good here," Lucius replied. His lips curled into a mild smirk, as if Draco's resistance was more amusing than irritating. "Unless you wish to remain hidden in this room for the duration of the meeting--"

"I hate polyjuice," Draco muttered. He'd only ever taken it once before, in Auror training. In fact, he and Harry had been partnered for the exercise and had transformed into each other. It had been a disconcerting experience, to say the least.

But Lucius had a point. Polyjuice was virtually undetectable. He would be able to move freely about the room and participate, even seek out a way to contact Harry.

Draco sniffed the flask again and considered asking Lucius whose form he would be assuming. Of course, it hardly mattered at this point. With one more caustic glance at his father, Draco steeled himself and swallowed the thick liquid.

It was, oddly, worse than he remembered. After several moments of near-agony, he realized his clothes had become loose in some places and tight in others. He opened his eyes to see Lucius smiling down at him.

Draco winced. "Oh, bugger me, no!" He crossed his arms over his chest, but there were breasts in the way. He didn't need a mirror to know who he had become. He glared at Lucius. "Do you make a habit of taking your Muggle whores to these meetings?"

"Of course not," Lucius replied. "And that is precisely why she was a perfect choice. No one here will know who Heather is, which will make it easier for you to investigate the newcomers in the crowd. I will point them out to you, and you will learn as much as you can about them. We must be wary of spies and hostile elements, after all."

"I can't believe this," Draco groaned. Out of habit he reached up to comb fingers through his hair and they were promptly tangled in long blonde locks. Draco scowled at the smug expression on Lucius's face. "You're enjoying this, I'm sure."

Lucius stepped back and pointed his wand at Draco. Draco tensed, but exhaled when he felt his clothing shifting to accommodate Heather's shape. The waist of his trousers hung low on her hips, and his shirt became clingy, revealing a slip of midriff. Heather had a nice body, he realized, running his hands up his torso. He cupped his -- her -- breasts in his hands, finding the weight of them strange. He quirked an eyebrow at his father.

Lucius's smug grin changed to one of mild discomfort. Draco grinned and stepped closer to him, looking up at him through what he was certain were long dark eyelashes. "Satisfied?"

"We should go," Lucius said, looking away.

"Whatever you say, darling." Draco wrapped his arms around Lucius's neck and planted a chaste kiss on his lips.

Lucius paled, something Draco had only seen a handful of times in his life. "Will you please behave yourself?" he spat, pushing Draco away.

"Yes, Daddy," he replied in as simpering a tone as he could manage. Lucius flinched, and Draco snorted, simultaneously gleeful and disgusted. "Oh, don't tell me she--"

"Drop it," Lucius hissed.

"Malfoy," a familiar voice said from the tunnel entrance. They looked over to see Avery standing there, a leer on his cragged face. "Sorry to interrupt, but they're ready for you."

Lucius only nodded. Draco smiled and took his father's arm. Lucius's jaw tensed.

The large room was packed, much to Draco's surprise. Everyone must have apparated there within a few minutes of each other. Most of the faces were familiar from other meetings he had attended, but there were several strangers in the crowd.

There was a murmuring in the room when people began to realize Lucius had entered. Many looked at Draco with surprise, and he became acutely aware that there were no other women in the room.

Lucius pulled him close, under pretense of kissing his cheek. "In the back right corner there is a man with a blue-trimmed cloak," he whispered. "Find out what you can about him."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Draco asked.

"I should think that would be obvious," Lucius retorted.

Draco suppressed a scowl as he stepped away and headed towards the back of the room. Heads turned as he passed, and he had difficulty ignoring them. When he worked undercover, he generally tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. This attention was disconcerting, to say the least.

His target was sitting in the crowd, listening to Avery introduce Lucius. Draco slipped into an alcove in the back from which he could see the man. He had less than an hour before the polyjuice wore off, and he had no idea how long the meeting would last. How was he supposed to get the man alone under these circumstances?

He glanced around the room, searching for a friendly face. He'd hoped he would see someone here who could relay a message to Harry for him, but it was looking less and less likely.

"God, you're a fish out of water," a voice spoke in his ear.

Draco jumped -- Heather's senses weren't nearly as sharp as his own. He turned to see who had spoken to him and barely contained his shock.

Standing next to him in the alcove was Colby Hannick.

Draco swallowed hard and remembered to pitch his voice higher a split second before opening his mouth. "Hell, you gave me a fright!"

"That's not all I've given you," Colby grinned.

Draco had no idea how to respond to that. He finally settled on a blank stare.

Colby sighed. "Pity you don't remember it. So Malfoy has put you to work at last? I wondered when he'd get tired of you."

An indignant snort seemed the most appropriate response.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. He must see something special in you. The other girls haven't even been allowed out of bed." Colby raised an eyebrow.

"Piss off," Draco replied, tossing his hair over his shoulder.

Colby sidled even closer, lips brushing Draco's ear. "Really, Heather -- is that any way to treat me, after everything we've been through together?"

Draco frowned. He was nearly in over his head, but at least he knew Colby well enough to try to play along. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you," Colby replied, stepping away. "Look for anyone suspicious, seduce the strangers into revealing themselves."

"I'm sure you're good at it," Draco quipped.

Colby snorted. "Unfortunately." He said nothing more, to Draco's surprise -- Colby had always been rather chatty.

"We must hold to our values in these difficult times," Lucius was saying across the room, voice magically amplified. "We must protect our families and our traditions from those who have no respect for magic, who threaten our way of life--"

Colby yawned just as Draco turned to look at him. Even though barely a month had passed, he looked different: older, tired, lost.

"Why do you do it?" Draco asked.

Colby shot him a strange look. "Like I have a choice? Fuck, you really are a blonde, aren't you? We had this discussion not a week ago."

Draco decided to play the obliviation card. "We did?" He put a touch of desperation into his voice.

Colby's face softened. "Jesus, why don't you get out of there while you still can? You have no idea what he's doing to you, how he uses you. It's pathetic."

Draco just stared at him. It hadn't occurred to him to feel sorry for Heather.

"Have you met Draco yet?" Colby asked, scanning the room again.

"Who?"

Colby made a sound of disgust. "That probably means 'Yes, intimately'. Malfoy's son, Draco. I've heard he's there in the castle. Cute, gay, complete smart-ass?"

"Doesn't ring a bell," Draco replied, making a mental note of the description. "Why?"

"I want you to give him a message from me." Colby leaned in close and whispered in Draco's ear. "Tell him I want to talk to him."

Draco pursed his lips. "If I do see him, what should I tell him you want to talk about?"

"That's none of your concern," Colby replied. "If I told you, Lucius would get it out of you, and that would only get me into deep shit." He clenched his jaw.

He was frightened, Draco realized. This might work to Draco's advantage. "Well, how is he supposed to get in touch with you if he does want to talk to you?"

"You can get a message to me," Colby replied. "Just be careful about it."

"Why should I take such a risk for you?" Draco asked.

Colby smiled at him. "Because you're secretly crazy about me. You must get tired of being under that old man every night."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "I thought you were gay."

Colby sighed, then leaned in and kissed Draco just under the ear. To his horror, he felt a weird tingle in his belly. "I go both ways, baby. Too bad you don't remember our lovely night together."

Draco closed his eyes as Colby's lips traced a path down his neck. His own neck wasn't nearly this sensitive. He was uncomfortable as hell, but it wasn't his body, he kept reminding himself. Heather would probably like the attention. "Why don't you remind me?" he whispered, then winced when he realized what he'd just asked for.

One of Colby's hands slid down his back and over his arse, fingers wriggling between his thighs. Startled at the sensations that touch sparked, Draco turned away to dislodge him.

"Not here! I meant tell me."

Colby laughed into his ear. "You sat on my face for half an hour. I looked like a glazed doughnut afterwards."

Draco had to struggle not to make a face. Surely women didn't find comments like that romantic?

"We need your continued support," Lucius was saying across the room. "The rumors that the Dark Lord have returned are false, I assure you. Very soon, we will have concrete evidence of this fact. The rebels who claim to be working for him only want to bring chaos and destruction to our society. They do not share our values or--"

Colby stepped away, to Draco's relief. "Here," he said, pushing something into Draco's hand. "Give this to Draco for me. He'll understand what it means."

Draco felt a surge of excitement -- a packet of Marlboros. He suppressed both his smile and his sudden desire to kiss Colby. He hadn't had a cigarette in days, and he'd been on the verge of pulling his hair out. He managed to turn a puzzled face to Colby. "Cigarettes for favors? What are we, in a prison film?"

Colby didn't laugh. "Sometimes it feels like it," he replied. "Look, just give those to him and tell him I want to talk to him, please? I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll owe you one."

Draco nodded and slipped the cigarettes into a pocket. He checked his watch -- less than 15 minutes left before the polyjuice wore off. He had to make an effort to investigate his target and get back to the small room before he changed back. But the situation was promising: Colby's desperation, as well as his friendship with Heather, could prove rather useful.

The room rang with applause, wrenching him out of his thoughts.

"The meeting's breaking up," Colby said, running a hand through his hair. "I gotta go."

Draco nodded as he disappeared. He looked for his own target, only to see the man walking in another direction.

"Fuck," he hissed. He scrambled to follow without making it too obvious that he was following. He ignored the stares and outright leers of the men he passed, pausing once to glare at someone who grabbed his arse.

The man in the cloak had disappeared into a corridor. Draco dashed in after him, but he seemed to have missed his chance: the corridor was empty and dark. He swore under his breath, already making up what he would tell his father. Just someone who works at the Ministry -- a nobody, really. Someone I remember seeing in the corridors once or twice.

A hand covered his mouth and he was pushed up against the wall in the dim light. He was startled, but had the sense not to respond: Heather probably wouldn't have a clue what to do in such a situation. He blinked his eyes, trying to force them to adjust to the darkness.

It was the man he'd been following. Draco nearly breathed a sigh of relief. The face was oddly familiar, though Draco couldn't place it.

The man stared at him as if trying to see through him. "You came in with Malfoy," he whispered. It sounded like an accusation.

Draco nodded under his hand, eyes wide.

"I have a message for his son, Draco. Do you know how to find him?"

Draco allowed himself to look surprised. He only had ten minutes before the polyjuice wore off, so he needed to do this as quickly as possible. He nodded, tentatively.

The man removed his hand from Draco's mouth. "Can you take me to him?"

"No," Draco replied. "I don't know precisely where he is, but I will see him. Who is the message from?"

The man hesitated, then looked around the corridor before whispering, "Harry Potter."

Draco felt a swooping sensation in his belly. Harry was trying to contact him? Of course, it could be a trap. Lucius had set him on this man, after all. "What's the message?"

The man frowned. "I would rather give it to him myself."

"I can assure you he will get it," Draco replied.

The man hesitated, staring at Draco. Draco took the opportunity to stare back and study him, while trying to look frightened. There was definitely a glamour charm here, but it was unlike any Draco had seen before. When he tried to look through it, it was as if there was nothing underneath.

The man released him and stepped away, a strange expression on his face. "Never mind. I'll find another way."

Draco's heart pounded in his ears. "No, wait! I'll get it to him, I promise." He stepped forward. "He… he has mentioned Harry Potter before. It's important, I'm sure."

"You work for Lucius," the man said. "Why should I trust you?"

Draco had no idea if desperation would help or not. "I don't know. But I'm the best chance you have to get that message to him."

The man hesitated another moment, watching Draco. Draco swallowed, hoping the polyjuice wasn't starting to wear off already. He didn't have much more time.

The man pursed his lips and nodded. He reached into his pocket, then took Draco's hand and pressed something into it, something warm and hard and smooth--

Draco's stomach felt as if it had dropped a foot -- it was his mother's bracelet. The one he'd given to Harry a little more than a month ago, when he was afraid for Harry's life. It could only mean that Harry felt the same. That Harry still cared about him. That Harry--

He looked up at the retreating figure of the man, breath caught in his throat. The man's gait was familiar. Draco swallowed once, steeling himself. He had better be right about this.

"Harry?" he asked.

The man froze in his tracks. Draco clutched the bracelet in his fist, heart in his throat. The man turned around, staring at him. He walked back towards Draco, strides getting longer as he grew closer. Draco backed up against the wall, hand on his wand, just in case.

The man didn't stop until he was looming over Draco. He paused a moment more, and then kissed him.

Draco was stunned into immobility. He'd been braced for an attack, but he hadn't expected this. The kiss deepened then, tongue pressing into his mouth, lips moving across his, and he knew. He knew at that moment, with his knees buckling beneath him and a wave of relief flooding his body.

"Harry," he managed between kisses.

He looked up and saw him then, saw through the glamour at last -- it was indeed Harry's face, staring at him with a mixture of relief and fear, but undeniably happy to see him.

"I knew it was you," Harry whispered and kissed him again. Draco melted against him. He felt an odd sensation deep in his abdomen, something he'd never felt before. His eyes flew open when he realized it was arousal -- in someone else's body.

"Wait!" he hissed, pushing Harry away. "Stop -- this isn't me you're kissing, it's my father's fucking girlfriend."

Harry grinned and dove back in. "I don't care. I've missed you."

Draco's next protest was cut off by a particularly steamy kiss, but he managed to pull away again. "Well, I care. Do you make a habit of kissing strange women?" Harry's mouth opened to protest, but his earlier words finally registered in Draco's mind. "You missed me?"

"Of course I missed you. Are you daft?"

"But--" Draco paused, unsure where to begin. "What about Ron?"

Harry stiffened, but didn't pull away. "Did you do it?"

"I don't remember," Draco replied. "I don't remember any of it. But there's evidence--"

"We'll deal with that later," Harry said. "We need to decide where to go from here."

Draco pushed his feelings aside as best he could. "I don't have much time. Lucius must see me before the polyjuice wears off."

"We can use Hermione's cryptosystem to communicate with each other, exchange information."

Draco blew out a breath. "Right, but not by owl post. I don't have reliable access." He paused, thinking. Colby could turn out to be useful after all. Draco wasn't sure he could trust him, but maybe that didn't matter in the short run. "I have another plan, though. I'll send you a message as soon as possible, explaining everything I've learned."

"All right," Harry replied. They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them certain what to say.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Draco whispered. "I never meant to deceive you."

"I know," Harry said.

"The things you heard, that I said about you--"

"I know," Harry repeated, more forcefully. He bit his lip. "Draco… I was there."

Draco blinked at him. "You were where?"

"At that meeting, under the warehouse in London." Harry looked anxious, and Draco could only gape at him. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before, but I had a few leads and I wanted to check them out myself. And I've been doing other things too, things no one knows about, not even Hermione. I meant to tell you that night, but I--"

"Wait, hang on," Draco said. "All this time, you've been doing your own investigating, going to Death Eater meetings in disguise among other things, and you've kept it a secret from the rest of us?"

"Yes," Harry whispered.

"God, I love you," Draco replied, launching himself at Harry and kissing him, forgetting his earlier admonition.

"Do you really?" Harry breathed when they broke apart.

"You have no idea how much," Draco replied, pressing his forehead into Harry's neck. Harry sighed and wrapped his arms around Draco, pulling him tight. But the height difference only reminded Draco he wasn't in his own body -- and as much as he wanted to be with Harry at the moment, it was putting them both in danger. He kissed Harry again and stepped away. "I have to go. I'll be in touch soon."

With that, he turned and dashed down the corridor, away from Harry, his heart lighter than it had been in years. He slipped the bracelet into his pocket, intending to put it on in private, after he was back in his own body.

He made it back to the small chamber just as the polyjuice began to wear off. The transformation was less painful this time, though he only remembered to remove the charm from his clothes after a seam in his shirt split. He collapsed to the floor, panting, mind racing.

"You're cutting it a bit close," Lucius said. Draco looked up to see him standing in the center of the room. "What did you learn?"

Draco cleared his mind as best he could. "He was disguised with some sort of spell I haven't seen before. I didn't get any useful information, though -- he seemed cautious. I don't know if he'll be back."

Lucius regarded him for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. We should leave."

Draco stood and dusted himself off, then let Lucius apparate him back to the castle.

+++++

Go to next part

AN: Colby's "glazed doughnut" comment was something a guy actually said to me once. *shudders*

Shameless pimping: In case anyone is interested, I posted an HBP-era H/D fic last night. (Spoilers!)