the truth behind the pseudonym.pdf

8/14/2019 The truth behind the pseudonym.pdf

1/19

The Truth Behind the Pseudonym

Harry took a gulp of wine, inspiration buzzing throughhim as strongly as the alcohol. Merlin, but he loved this.

Seconds later his fingers danced along the keyboard.

"I wish my apprenticeship wasn't coming to anend," Dorloss said, leaning on his shovel. "You

mean you've thoroughly enjoyed learning the finerRohirric techniques of shovelling shit?" Dorlossguffawed, tossed aside the shovel and walkedstrode over to the laughing man of Rohan withwhom he'd quite unintentionally become

enamoured of. He tackled him to the floor, fists

flying. Lofur gave as good as he got, even thoughhe had less height and wasn't as sturdily built asDorloss. When at last they stopped, breathlesslylaughing and bruised, Dorloss' mouth was a merehand span from Lofur's. He ached to bridge that

gap with a kiss.

He clicked send without even checking the spelling. Itwas too marvellous of a cliffhanger, and he couldn'twait to see what his fellow storyteller would do tocontinue the scene.


2/19

"Meowr!"

A black cat jumped up onto his desk, missing thekeyboard by an inch.

"Augh! Midnight! Over that way."

Harry pushed the curious cat away from his computerand beverage, but he stroked its tail to indicate hiscompany didn't displease him.

"At least you don't give me grief about my creativeoutput. You don't say the words role-playing in thesame tone as Dark Arts. It really is for the best that I

got my own place Oh!"

An instant message flashed into prominence before hislatest literary endeavour. It was from the person

playing the role of L

ofur, about whom he knew allsorts of emotional truths, and yet nothing about the

person's gender, work, or regular life. He could passthis individual on the street every day and never know

it except that she, or he, was probably a Muggle.

Dragonlover: I'm thinking about my reply. This could get hot

and heavy!

Gondor4ever: Would that be so bad?Harry typed in reply.

You know Lofur is just as smitten with Dorloss. Put them out


3/19

of their misery already!

The cursor blinked for long enough that Harry began to

wonder if he'd been too brazen. Maybe he'd crossedsome line he didn't know about in the land of playingsomeone besides yourself.

Dragonlover: I'd like to meet you. In person. Is that too bold?

You might be really surprised. I just don't want it to ruin our

time hereBeing in this fantasy world is a highlight of my

day, as pathetic as that sounds.

Harry gawped at the screen, jolted out of his muzzycontentment and growing arousal, imagining gettingto write his Gondorian character having muchlonged-for sex with his Rohirric companion. Meet up

with Dragonlover? In person? At some pub somewhere

in Muggle London? A not unpleasant mix of anxietyand anticipation caused a shudder to go through him.Why in Hades not? He and Ginny were separated. Thisperson knew it all, though not who he was in theWizarding world. That was probably why he'd been so

open in the first place.

Gondor4ever: I'd love to. Tomorrow? Or the weekend? I'm up

in Glasgow as you know, so I'll need you to pick a place. I'll

find it.

He lifted his hands and saw that they were trembling.


4/19

He pressed them firmly against the mahogany of hisdesk, took a deep breath, and then clicked send. Theanswer came back quickly. Some pub in London called

the Royal Arms. Saturday. Eight o'clock.

Gondor4ever: How will I know who you are?

Just in case it was another wizard, he wanted to beable to identify the other person first. Muggle gamesand computers had been modified for magical use, butwizards tended to stick to wizarding cyberspace, for

obvious reasons.

Dragonlover: My hair is distinctive. Long and almost white.

Not from going grey, but blond.

Harry nodded, disappointment clouding his thoughts.He should have expected a woman, really. Though

Dragonlover hadn't said so outright, nearly all of theother people who played in this shared fantasy worldhe'd fallen in love with were women of various ages.

Gondor4ever: Perfect. I'll see you then.

* * * * *

Harry spent the next two days in a daze, half asleep at

his job at the Ministry from having stayed up until

three or four o'clock in the morning, engrossed in theland of Rohan online, of course. Ginny would have

had plenty to say about that, and while he did miss her


5/19

on some levels, their separation had been impendingfor quite a number of years. He didn't bother to go toRon for sympathy, even though their relationship had

repaired faster than he'd expected.

"You're addicted to that bloody thing," Ron said over

drinks Friday after work. "I reckon you ought to get ridof it. Or at least wean yourself off of it. You look likeshite."

"Cheers." Harry saluted him with his pint, took ahealthy swig and rubbed at his eyes. "I can sleep in

tomorrow. You can't blame me for enjoying getting outof my head, though, can you? I mean, everywhere I go,everybody knows who I am, unless I disappear intothe Muggle world. What's so wrong with spending timein a fantasy world?"

"Nothing, mate, but you're staying up all night, on a

regular basis. You drove Ginny away

"

"Don't start with that," Harry growled. "There was a lot

more to it than that and you know it."

"Fine, fine." Ron raised his hands in a gesture of

surrender. "It really is best if we don't talk about ourmarriages."

"Too right. Anyway, the whole thing may resolve itselftomorrow," Harry admitted. He must have had more todrink than he thought if he was going to spill about his

non-date. But this was Ron; he shared nearlyeverything with him.


6/19


7/19

curious eyes evaluating him before hastily returning totheir own drinks.

"You should keep your voice down, Mr. I Saved theWizarding World."

"Shut up," Harry said unconvincingly.

A few moments passed in silence, then Ron said, "Well,maybe it really is for the best for you to meet one ofthese people in real life. Reckon they're Muggle?"

"Sure of it."

Even as he said the words, he realised that he wasn'tcertain of it, and, in fact, he held a sliver of hope thatwhoever it was was a wizard, or witch. It wouldalleviate his sense of isolation, but might lead to other

and different complications.

"Well, if it turns out that the person isn't all you hopefor, I hope you're not too disappointed. But it might bethe end of your characters' whatever it is."

Ron would always be his best mate, but he'd gone a bit

off the deep end when he found out that Harry fanciedmen as well as women. So it was with dark humour

that Harry said, "They've been fucking like rabbits."

"I don't want to think about that," Ron groaned,signalling the bartender to refill his glass.

Harry just smiled, feeling butterflies of anticipation


8/19

start their movement in his stomach.

* * * * *

Saturday evening finally arrived, by which point thebutterflies were legion. He poured himself a shot of

firewhiskey to dampen his nervousness, marvelling athow affected he was by this meeting.

"I could stand her up," he said to Midnight, who madea figure eight around his ankles, purring. "But I'm notlike that. Oh. I suppose you want some dinner. That's

why you're being so clingy."

He fed the cat and looked at himself in the mirror onelast time. He still had a young-looking face, and due tothat and his height, he quite liked the small shock ofgrey that had appeared at his left temple. It couldn't

be called distinguished, but he felt it didn't look out of

place. Harry had agonised over what to wear, finallydeciding on his usual weekend ensemble of jeans anda button down shirt. His wand was hidden in his sock,its presence reassuring against his calf. The bit of gel

in his hair was performing admirably for now.

Doubtless the unruly waves would return to their usual

chaos by the time the night was over.

"Go on," he said to his reflection. "Let's go and see whoDragonlover really is. And hope she or he isn't an axemurderer."

He'd picked an Apparating point several blocks fromthe pub, giving himself a chance to stretch his legs and


9/19

get re-acclimated to Muggle London life. Outside of the

Royal Arms he paused, a sense of dj vu coursing

through him with the force of a mighty wave. He'dnever been to this pub, but he had been obsessingabout this moment since Wednesday. Their respective

characters had become even more inseparable, whichnow worried him. Ron could be right it wasn't that

uncommon, really what if he didn't get along with

this person?

"Only one way to find out," he said under his breath,

and walked through the open door. At the bar towardthe wall he saw long, nearly white hair pulled back in aponytail. The black knit shirt and black tightly fittingtrousers revealed that Dragonlover was no woman.Harry's stomach dropped when the blond man turnedand looked at him, curiosity changing to shock, then

anger, and then back to confusion. Draco Malfoy wasstill giving him a look of disbelief when Harry blurted

out, "Are you Dragonlover?"

He held his breath, looking at the sharp features of his

former nemesis, now in his mid-30s and without theair of arrogance that Harry remembered.

"Iwellyes and no. I'm Draco, that should be pretty

obvious. Do you mean to tell me that you're

Gondor4ever? Which is a ridiculous name, by the way."

Harry's mind was spinning with the incongruity of

having this conversation with Malfoy.

"So you've told me. At least a hundred times," he said,


10/19

trying to keep his tone light. But you've been you're

really the person who's been playing Lofur?"

"Can I get you a drink?" the bartender said,interrupting their conversation.

"Yes. Please. The strongest bitter on tap."

"Right away."

Harry took a seat next to Malfoy, catching a whiff of a

light, woodsy cologne. Draco still looked shell-shocked,but he was recovering his sensibilities.

"Why are" "How on earth" they said in tandem.

Draco shook his head and took a long pull of his pint. "Ican't tell you how surprised I am," he said as Harry

gratefully accepted his pint from the bartender.

"Not half as much as I am. I didn't think" Harrylowered his voice, even though there was a fair din inthe pub as it was. "You were always so anti-Muggle. Iwouldn't have thought you'd have a computer, muchless be adept enough to be involved in role-playing?

About a Muggle fantasy land?"

He heard his voice creeping up and forced himself to

take a couple of deep breaths. If nothing else,Dragonlover was his friend. He could deal with the

Draco part maybe.

"I've changed a fair amount since we were in school,"


11/19

Malfoy said haughtily. "That should be pretty obviousby now. Besides, after hiding away in the wizardingworld for a while, I found it was liberating to be taken

at face value in the Muggle world."

Harry took another swig of his drink, trying to

reconcile the late night instant message chats with thevery real presence of Draco Malfoy. Who had aged well,it was worth noting, and wasn't as unappealingphysically as Harry had found him back when he wassixteen and seventeen. In fact, his face had a sharp,handsome quality, now that he had the opportunity to

look at him up close for the first time ina long time.

"Fair enough. But why role playing?"

"Same as you. I wanted to escape. But you know allabout me, and my story. The question is, what now? Ididn't expect Gondor4ever to turn out to be Harry

Potter."

"I didn't exactly expect you to be Dragonlover. Though

now the name makes perfect sense."

Malfoy's lips quirked to the side. "Ages ago I told you it

had to do with my family."

"I could hardly have put two and two together,especially not back then!" Harry let out a sharp laugh."Ron is going to absolutely piss himself."

Malfoy gave him a hard look. "I'd keep my name out ofanything you discuss with Weasley," he said, his voice


12/19

almost threatening.

"He's my best friend! I told him about this meeting,"

Harry insisted, wishing his mind wasn't filled with theimages of what their characters had been getting up toin recent days. "Just because you've turned out to be

someone I know doesn't mean I can keep it a secret.Especially not from Ron."

"Here can we talk about this somewhere else?"

Malfoy took a couple of swallows to finish his pint. "My

house is in London, as you know. We can Apparatenear here."

"Um well, okay," Harry said, newly flustered as he

continued to reconcile the person he did know verywell from the all night chats with Malfoy. He actuallywas easy on the eyes and filled out his snug trousers ina way that made Harry's pulse speed up. Oh, Merlin,

Harry. What have you done?He sighed to himself.

Harry downed his pint while Malfoy paid for theirdrinks, then they left the noise of the pub and went outinto the warm June night.

"So what was your intent?" Harry asked as they

approached the Apparition point. "Before you

discovered it was me, that is?"

"My intent?"

Harry smiled when he saw Draco pull up his trouser leg,his own wand stuck in his sock as Harry's was. Malfoy


13/19

gave him an evaluative look, seemed to steel himself,and said, "I'd hoped to start up a relationship. I'd

become quite attached to Gondor4ever. I'd begunI'd

started to fantasize about what you looked like. BeforeI let myself got off the deep end into yet another

fantasy world, I decided I should try to meet you. Doyou mind going side-along?"

Harry was still catching up to the words 'relationship'and 'fantasize', so it took him a moment to realise he'dbeen asked a question.

"No. I mean, that's fine."

A light smile lit on Malfoy's lips and he stood next toHarry. Draco was a good half a foot taller than he was,but it didn't feel as awkward as Harry might haveexpected. After the wrenching sensation ofApparatition, Harry found himself in the back yard of

an ordinary looking Muggle house.

"I keep wards on it, otherwise I would have Apparated

us inside," Malfoy explained before pointing his wandand murmuring the phrase to disengage the wards."What about you?" he asked, opening the door and

waving Harry in.

"What about me what?" Harry replied, baffled.

"What was your intention in meeting Dragonlover?"

Draco had steered them into a living room and wavedtoward a leather sofa. Harry sat down, perched on the


14/19

edge, watching Malfoy's graceful movements with anincreasing admiration and desire.

"Well, I guess I wanted to know what he, or she, waslike in real life. I felt like we had a really good rapport,and yes, I'd started to fantasize about you. Well, about

Dragonlover, and wondering if we'd hit it off in reallife."

"And it doesn't bother you that I'm a guy? Oh, wouldyou like a drink?"

"Sure. And no, it doesn't bother me. Dragonloverknows that I'd had a couple of experiences with guys,and I'm interested in more. Why didn't you tell me thatyou were male?"

"I was going to in not too long. I liked the mystique.

Keeping you guessing in case you decided your

experimenting was over."

Draco poured them both a tumbler of brandy andhanded the glass to him, letting his fingers brush

Harry's. Harry felt a tingling at the touch, andwondered what it would feel like to run his fingers

through Draco's hair.

"Well, now that we know who we are, what now?" heasked before taking a swallow of brandy.

Draco took a seat next to him so that their legs almosttouched. "That's a good question. I would never haveimagined knowing so much about you, but now that I


15/19

know it's you, I must admit that I'm still intrigued."

"That's a relief," Harry said with a laugh. "If you'd

wanted to run away, I might have become paranoid."

"Maybe at seventeen or thereabouts, but I've gone

through a lot. It took me a long time to recognise somekey truths about myself. My sexuality was a prettymajor element, but there was something else. Despitemyself, I admired you."

"Really?" Harry almost choked on his brandy. "I was

just glad that you even wanted to have a conversationafter I walked into the pub. It's not as though we wereever friends."

"No, but I knew Gondor4ever as a real person, as faras I could tell. And after what our characters did

together in recent days, I almost felt as though we'd

shagged! Or that L

ofur did. I just wanked."

"Did you?" Harry felt himself flush, both from

excitement of imagining Draco taking care of himselfwhile thinking about him, but also because he'd donethe same. "Must admit to having become pretty hot

and bothered myself. But you and I aren't Lofur and

Dorloss."

"No, we're not. But we've flirted enough as our

personas that it's almost as though" Draco put a

hand on Harry's thigh.

"Almost," Harry said, leaning over slowly so that Draco


16/19

could pull back if he wished. When he didn't, and helicked his lips, Harry felt a not unpleasant buzzing inhis body, a current of anticipation. "We're Harry and

Draco. May I kiss you?"

Draco responded nonverbally, bridging the short gap

and kissing him until their noses bumped. Harrychuckled and put his drink down so he could put anarm around the back of Draco's neck. His arousal grewas they kissed, Draco's mouth opening to him andtheir tongues sliding along in the other's mouth. Aftera time Harry pulled back, breathing heavily. Draco's

hand was busy palming the bulge at Harry's groin andhe strained into the touch.

"You're a fabulous kisser," Harry said, letting hisfingers drift along Draco's kiss-swollen lips. "It's beenlonger than I'd like to think since I've been that turned

on by just kissing."

"I could say the same about you," Draco murmured."You're not my usual type, that's for sure, but you'resomebody I feel I know really well. You're not the tall,

lanky type I usually swoon over, but you're notunattractive."

"Oh, thanks!" Harry said, feigning indignation. "Glad

to find that out before any clothes started vanishing.Nice to know I'm remotely appealing."

"I could get used to seeing your face on a regular basis,and not just in the Prophet," Draco said, his lipsquirking into a smile. "I just feel strange, because


17/19

usually I'd be on my computer by now, waiting for youto show up."

"I'd like to think it's more exciting to haveGondor4ever around in person. Or I suppose I could gohome and we could type to each other?"

"Not a chance. Come here." Draco pulled Harry into hislap.

That was the last coherent sentence that was said for along time. Later, after receiving a mind-melting

blowjob and Harry had reciprocated to the best of hisadmitted less-experienced ability, they lay side by sideon the couch.

"This was my birthday gift to myself," Draco said,giving Harry a warm smile.

"I didn't know today was your birthday! Don't youthink Gondor4ever would have wanted to surprise

you with something?"

"Oh, I was surprised." Draco let out a low laugh. "Ididn't know who I would end up meeting tonight, but I

could never have predicted it would be you. You'veturned out to be very surprising."

"In a good way, I hope?"

"That should have been obvious," Draco said, nudging

him gently.


18/19

"This is just so surreal," Harry admitted, rising up

onto an elbow. "That you're you, that we're naked,

that it's your birthday."

"It's certainly been memorable." He leaned up andkissed Harry, short and chaste, before lying down."And it doesn't have to be over. Would you like to

stay?"

"Well, why not? Now that I know it's your birthday, wecan celebrate a bit more. You know, I don't even feel

that awkward, 'what next?' kind of feeling."

"Because you know me. Intimately," Draco purred."And if you wanted to do some of the things you so

eloquently wrote on Dorloss' behalf, I'd consider thisone of the best birthdays I've had."

"Are you sure you don't want me to write to you?"

Harry joked. "I could quickly Apparate home and getmy laptop"

"Don't you dare." Draco grabbed two handfuls ofHarry's arsecheeks. "It's taken me this long to find outwho you are in real life. I don't want to go back tostaying up until crazy-thirty in the morning on mycomputer.

"You'd rather be doing something else then?" Harrysaid, his desire newly awakening as he felt a similarstiffening against his thigh.

"Yes. And you, of all people, know what that is."


19/19

I do know,Harry thought, pleasure blooming in him as

he imagined himself as Dorloss with Lofur. All through

that passionate night, however, he kept his eyes wideopen, marvelling at the very real presence of Draco

Malfoy, incredulously both lover and friend.

Back toHarry Potter Fanfiction

Home
http://www.thrihyrne.net/hpstories.htmlhttp://www.thrihyrne.net/index.htmlhttp://www.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=sm6thrihyrnehttp://www.thrihyrne.net/index.htmlhttp://www.thrihyrne.net/hpstories.html

the truth behind the pseudonym.pdf

Documents