Title: Blink
Recipient/Trope: Bodyswap for

gatewaygirl
Username:

lordes
Betas:

lordhellebore,

amorette
Pairings: Harry/Draco. Mentions of: Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Draco/Astoria, Draco/Blaise, Ginny/Oliver.
Characters: Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, George, Arthur, Molly, Kingsley, Hawkes Hawlish, Auror Williamson, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Voldemort, Bellatrix, Nott, Avery, Gawain Robarts, original characters. Mentions of: Luna, Umbridge, Blaise, Oliver, Astoria.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Rating: R
Warnings: Suggestive M/M relationship, original characters, unexplainable magic, hurt.
Word Count: 46 000
This Chapter: 2688
Summary: When Harry is approached for a favour by Draco Malfoy at the Ministry of Magic, only in his wildest dreams can he imagine what will await him in the morning to come; and when a mysterious man in a top hat appears, Harry fears he might be losing his mind. With his friends by his side and a very troubled Minister, Harry is desperate to find a solution for his blond problem as fast as he can - only that might prove more difficult than he initially expects. As he slowly gets immersed in a life so unlike his own, Harry comes to realise not everything is as black and white as he thought it was, and that the bad guy might not be the bad guy after all.
Author’S Notes: Originally written for the HD TROPES Fic Exchange, 2014

BLINK ON AO3

*

’Now, Harry you must know all about Muggles, tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?’ - Arthur Weasley (CoS - Movie)

‘Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don’t blink.’ - The Doctor

- CHAPTER 10 -
Blink

Weeks passed, and without any more appearances of the man in the top hat Harry was finally able to settle into his new life. He and Draco were now permanently sharing a bedroom, though besides sleeping and the occasional midnight snog, nothing much had happened yet. Harry appreciated this. He knew that if he’d had to wait this long for Ginny he would’ve probably lost his patience by now. However, at the same time he knew it was okay. Things with Draco were very different than things with Ginny. They felt less rushed, less forced and more natural. There were no expectations and no commitments, resulting in them both enjoying what they had when they had it. They hadn’t been back in the library either. The haste to find a solution had gone, and both had admitted that if there was one, it probably wouldn’t be found in any dusty library.

Harry hadn’t given the words of the mysterious man much thought either anymore. He’d figured he had probably misunderstood him. Even Hermione couldn’t get much more out of it than what Draco already had: learning from another’s life.

Harry straightened the jacket he was wearing in front of the mirror. Behind him, rummaging sounded from the bathroom.

‘You know we need to be there in twenty minutes, right?’ Harry called out and heard Draco curse.

‘It’s not my fault! Your hair simply won’t. stay. down.’

Harry chuckled softly and hoped Draco wouldn’t hear. ‘I know,’ he answered. ‘It kind of does that.’

Draco almost stormed out of the bedroom, a look of utmost desperation on his face. ‘Fix it,’ he demanded, and Harry sighed.

‘It can’t be fixed,’ he said, trying to flatten it with his hands. ‘I’m sorry, but you’ll simply have to go out looking… well, like me.’

Draco huffed and stalked past him, grabbing his own jacket from the bed. He was wearing a pair of dark and very tight trousers, topped off with an equally dark jacket adorned with a straight row of pure golden marine buttons. The jacket closed high, and Draco played with the collar of his shirt that was visible above it. Topping it off with a red scarf and neatly tucking it into the jacket and blouse, he turned back to Harry.

‘How do I look?’

‘You look fine,’ Harry said. ‘Besides, it’s not about how you look.’

‘I know, I know,’ Draco sighed and started fidgeting with the buttons.

Harry took a couple of steps towards him and wrapped his own hands around Draco’s. ‘Stop it,’ he said. ‘It’ll be fine. Kingsley wouldn’t let him go up otherwise.’

Draco nodded, and Harry saw him swallow nervously.

‘Come here,’ he said and pulled him into a hug. Draco sighed against his neck, wrapping his own arms around Harry.

*

It had been a long time since Harry had last stepped into the Wizengamot’s main courtroom: Courtroom Ten. The last time had been when Harry had been called in for producing a Patronus Charm in front of Dudley. He still felt angry at the thought, and automatically clenched the fist on which should’ve been the scars saying ‘I should not tell lies’.

He whispered a quick “Good luck!” to Draco, who moved to the other side of the room with Ron and Hermione, and followed Narcissa to one of the stands nearer to the front.

Harry resented now how public these hearings were, and resented even more that he had been one of the Aurors who had voted for open trials in the first place. Back then it had seemed like a good way to humiliate the people who had made his life a living hell even further, but now it just looked sad. He noticed Narcissa following her son’s movement through the other side of the room, and laid his hand over her folded ones in her lap. She smiled appreciatively at him and seemed to take a deep breath.

There were no Dementors present as Lucius Malfoy was brought in. However, the whole Minister’s official guard stood spread around the edges of the room, and the chair still wound itself greedily around Malfoy’s limbs as he was sat down.

Lucius looked horrible. His face was sunken, dark circles stood out around the empty eyes, and a stubbly beard tinged with grey cast a soft shadow of his jawline. His hair was dull and straw-like, the tangles clearly visible even from a distance. He was no more than a shadow of his former self.

‘Lucius Abraxas Malfoy,’ a voice resonated around the room. Harry looked up to find Kingsley sitting on the highest stool of the courtroom’s podium. ‘You are being charged with accepting the Dark Mark, willingly, during the first wizarding war, casting of the Imperius Curse, willingly, and manipulating, corrupting and blackmailing Ministry officials willingly. How do you plead?’

Harry saw Lucius stare up at the podium, where to him the only thing that stood out would be Kingsley’s silhouette. He saw his mouth move, but no sound seemed to be getting out initially.

‘G… guilty,’ Lucius finally managed to mutter, and Harry felt Narcissa flinch next to him. He grabbed her hand a little tighter, and she laid her free one on top of his.

‘You are also charged with,’ Kingsley continued after slamming his hammer loudly on the bench in front of him to demand silence, ‘casting of the Cruciatus Curse, unwillingly, casting of the Avada Kedavra Curse, unwillingly, and following the man to whom you would refer as The Dark Lord, unwillingly, during the second wizarding war. How do you plead?’

It was as if somebody had cast a silencing charm on the whole room. Nobody seemed to move, all eyes fixed on the sole man in the middle, whose head was bent with the strain it took him to answer.

‘Guilty,’ he whispered, but loud enough to hear. Kingsley immediately slammed his hammer down on the bench again as the room erupted into a roar of voices, screams and yowling.

‘SILENCE!’ he demanded loudly. ‘Mister Harry James Potter, the stand is yours.’

*ten</i> years, Harry.’

‘That’s ten instead of life, though,’ Harry tried, but seeing the desperate look on Draco’s face knew he hadn’t been doing a very good job.

‘Listen,’ he said. ‘I know ten years feels like a really long time, and it is, but he was going to get sentenced anyway, we both knew that.’ He softly stroked Draco’s cheek. ‘He got the best possible deal, especially with you testifying. Nobody’s going to question anything now.’

‘I’m going to miss him so much, though,’ Draco whispered and dropped his head onto Harry’s shoulder.

‘I know,’ Harry said into the dark hair. ‘I will, too.’

*

Dinner that evening was a quiet affair. Narcissa was paler than ever, dabbing her eyes every now and then with the tip of her napkin. Draco was sitting next to her, his head on her shoulder. Harry noticed how odd it looked to see himself so comfortable and curled up against the woman, his dark hair creating a sharp contrast against her almost silver locks.

Harry played around with the food on his plate for a while before excusing himself from the table and heading towards the drawing room for an early coffee. He needed some alone time.

Nobody knew he was mourning. Nobody expected him to. He knew himself he probably shouldn’t. But here they were, all the memories from Draco’s past, which had almost completed itself now, and so also many memories of the man who maybe wasn’t his dad, but most definitely felt like it.

Yet it felt intrusive to openly show sadness in the house. This moment was for the Malfoys, who - even though it had been a certain fact from the beginning - had now definitely and irrevocably been ripped apart for the coming decade. That is, if Lucius would survive.

Harry thought back to the days he’d spent in Azkaban and shivered. He hadn’t even been there a week and the place had already got to him. Lucius had already been there for months. Fair enough, the months leading up to the trial were usually subtracted from the final sentence, but he’d looked so ill.

And then a thought occurred to him. Maybe he could talk to Kingsley, arrange a monthly meeting with Lucius. For Draco, of course, not for himself, he tried telling himself, but knew that deep down inside he wouldn’t mind seeing the man who had come to mean so much to him. A man who, once he’d be back in his own body, would have little to no memory of him.

He walked over to one of the larger windows and leaned his face against it, the cold weather from outside cooling the glass and relieving some of the ache that had been steadily pounding in his head.

Some days, especially after one of the memory dreams, he would wonder if his parents had been anything like Lucius and Narcissa.

Some days, he pretended they were.

*

‘Do you think we’ll ever get back into our own bodies?’ Draco asked him some nights later, as they were lying in bed.

“Mhm,’ Harry made, not wanting to have to open his mouth to say anything. He’d been close to falling asleep when Draco had spoken.

‘Would you mind though?’ was his next question.

Harry opened his eyes and stifled a yawn behind his fist. ‘What would I mind?’ he asked sleepily.

‘Not getting back into your own body?’ Draco answered him. He was caressing Harry’s chest now, his finger circling one of Harry’s bare nipples.

‘I don’t know,’ he sighed. ‘But I guess that if I have to get stuck in anybody’s body, I’m happy that it’s you.’

He felt Draco nod against his chest. ‘Yeah,’ Draco said. ‘Me too.’

*

A soft breeze moved through his hair, making him shiver slightly. Harry reached for the covers and pulled them up higher, squinching his eyes shut as he reached out for the body that was supposed to be lying next to him. However, as he groped, he found nothing but the edge of the bed. Harry groaned and pulled the covers all the way over his head, not knowing where Draco was, but not wanting to get up to find out, either.

He turned around, trying to steal as many of the covers as he could, when another soft moan sounded from the other side of the bed.

‘Good morning,’ he mumbled softly. His voice sounded strange to his ears, a little hoarser and deeper, but he pushed the thought away when he finally came in contact with the body lying in bed with him. Apparently they had switched sides during the night.

He reached out for Draco and pulled him closer, planting a sloppy morning kiss on his lips.

‘Morning,’ Draco whispered, wiggling his nose against Harry.

‘Did you slee...’

‘What?’ Draco asked.

Harry’s eyes had flown open. He had wanted to play with Draco’s messy black hair, but instead had only found soft locks.

‘Draco!’ Harry exclaimed. ‘Draco, open your eyes!’

‘Why?’ Draco groaned and wiggled deeper under the covers. ‘’m still tired.’

Harry shook his arm roughly. ‘Draco, listen to my voice, listen to yours! Open your eyes! We’ve switched back, Draco! We’ve switched back!’

Draco opened his eyes so quickly Harry was sure he’d only been pretending to be asleep. He focused on Harry and froze, eyes wide, mouth slightly slack.

‘Merlin,’ he whispered and reached out for Harry’s face. ‘Great Merlin,’ he repeated, trailing his finger over Harry’s nose, his cheeks and lastly his lips.

Harry smiled and looked around the room, stretched out his hand and wiggled his fingers. ‘You’ve honestly fixed my eyesight,’ he said happily and was about to get up when Draco grabbed his arm.

‘What are you doing?’ Harry asked. ‘We need to tell Kingsley! And Ron, and Hermione, and ...’

‘And Ginny?’ Draco asked.

Harry looked down at him, and sat back on the bed. He raked his hand through Draco’s soft hair and gasped slightly at the silky feeling. He didn’t know why, but somehow the strands felt even more delicate than they’d felt when they’d been his. Yes, he could tell Ginny, but he doubted it would change how she felt about him, or he about her.

‘No,’ he said and smiled warmly at Draco, ‘only you.’

He leaned back into the bed and captured Draco’s lips with his own. The sensation was something entirely new, the kiss like they were sharing their first. He moaned softly.

Leaning up somewhat, Draco deepened the kiss, exploring Harry’s mouth with a feverish intensity. He let one of his hands roam free over the so familiar and yet unfamiliar body - the other still supporting him - and moved downwards.

Harry was tugging at Draco’s bottoms now. Draco let him, breaking the kiss only to kick off the tricky pyjamas. Harry moaned at the loss and reached up, demanding more, demanding it faster. Pulling off his own boxers, he arched up and gasped, the friction unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Moaning against each other, Draco slowly moved his hand further and further down.

‘What...’ Harry gasped as he realised what Draco was doing.

‘Do you trust me?’ Draco asked, voice heavy with lust.

Harry looked into the grey eyes. He knew he could say no, knew that Draco wouldn’t mind, knew he only had to utter a single hint of doubt.

‘Completely.’

Epilogue

‘Are you sure you’re ready for this?’ Draco asked Harry as he came walking down the entrance hall stairs. Draco had been waiting at the front door, the gift they were planning on giving Ginny already in his hand.

It had been a few weeks since they had switched back, but Harry had never moved out of the Manor, welcomed by both Draco and Narcissa. He had moved his stuff out of Grimmauld Place - Kreacher had been given the choice to go back to Hogwarts or come with him to the Manor, and was now happily residing in the backroom of the kitchens with Woldy - and was now permanently inhabiting Draco’s room.

Harry nodded as he walked up to Draco, who handed him the present and started to straighten his new jacket. ‘Absolutely,’ he said.

They’d been sent an invitation to Ginny’s and Wood’s engagement party shortly after they’d announced they had been returned to their own bodies, and Harry suspected that she’d waited until that moment to spare his feelings. Looking up at Draco, he thought he ought to tell her she really shouldn’t have worried. He had all he needed right here.

‘We’ll need to tell them, though,’ he said and stroked the rich-feeling velvet he was wearing. Draco had spent - once again - a fortune on their shopping.

‘I don’t think that will be a problem.’ Draco softly caressed Harry’s cheek and leaned in for a kiss.

‘And why’s that?’ Harry whispered.

Draco grinned, his face inches from Harry’s. ‘Well, let’s just say it wasn’t Ginevra with whom you were obsessed during 6th year.’

FIN

BLINK (chapter overview)

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