Chapter 1

Lovers' duel

"Expelliarmus!"

"Uhn!"

With a grunt and an outcry of shock and rage, Draco Malfoy felt his wand ripped from his hands as he was hit square in the chest with the disarming spell. His wand hurtled away from him and landed feet away, in a pool of shadow, away from the duel. Eyeing his attacker angrily, he turned and began to lunge for his weapon.

But the opposing duelist was too quick, and before Draco had reached his wand, he found himself blasted by a series of spells in rapid succession: first a stinging hex, followed closely by a stun charm, and finally a babbling curse. Fortuneately, Malfoy dodged the babbling curse.

"Enough! This duel is over. Potter is the winner, and as an award, Gryffindor gets five points towards the housecup. Dismissed!" Sneering, Severus Snape, Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, turned a weary eye upon his gryffindor students, who started back in anger. "Oh, I'm sorry. Is five points not enough? Very well. I award nothing. Now, dismissed."

At this, an onslaught of protests arose. "But prof—" "That isn't fai—" "No wa—"

"ENOUGH! I said you are dismissed!"

Grudgingly, the gryffindor students packed up their belongings and filed out of the dungeon classroom, murmering murderous things under their breath. Snape, looking rather pleased with his dastardly accomplishment, followed suit, stopping to pack his wand into a sleek black briefcase before sauntering into the corridor.

Harry Potter, the tall, dark haired boy with the mysteriously odd shaped lightning bolt scar on his forehead, walked toward his downed opponent, a young boy around his own age of sixteen with sleeked back white-blonde hair and deep stone grey eyes set in a perpetual glare.

"Good show, Draco." Reaching a hand down to assist his fellow student, Harry helped him to his feet and dusted him off. "Oh, would you quit glaring at me like that? You told me not to take it easy on you! So I didn't!"

"Obviously! I said 'Harry, don't take it easy on me…let's give them a good show' not 'Harry, make me look like a total nincompoop'! That display made me look beyond incompetent, Potter." Malfoy sighed angrily and looked away towards his wand, still laying on the grimy dungeon floor. "Everyone already thinks I am anyway…so thanks for proving it.."

Harry walked over to the wand, picked it up, and cleaned it off, then turned around and snorted. "You're such a drama queen."

"Hey!"

Laughing, Harry handed over the wand. "Here. Don't be a wuss."

"heh…you know I already forgave you. " With a brief smile, Draco playfully punched Harry in the arm. "Just..be a little more careful next time, alright? You could've seriously screwed me up with all those babbling curses you were throwing around! Those buggers are a pain in the ass."

"Alright, alright. No more babbling curses. I'll save those for the death eaters."

Malfoy feigned a smile, then looked down at his wand, still coated in dungeon grime. He thought back to the duel and what he had done wrong…why couldn't he break through any of Potter's defenses? Was he really just..too powerful?No. The dark lord would never settle for that. Malfoy's one and only task was to find any and all of Potter's weaknessses, and he didn't intend to fail as his father had done before him. But…there was also that side of him that simply wanted to relish in Potter's affections..which he seemed to receive easier and easier with each passing day. One day, he would have to choose which he wanted more..but not today.

"You alright, Mal?" Harry looked worried.

"Yeah. I'm just wondering…Harry, how were you able to blast some of those spells off so quickly? I've seen death eaters who take more than 2 seconds between spells to gather their thoughts..besides, I saw so many openings in your form, but I was never able to exploit any of them..you were just too quick."

"Hmm..well, I dunno . I have Hermione to thank for pretty much everything I know. If it wasn't for her and all her late night lessons, I wouldn't even know half the spells I use. In reality, I'm the incompetent one.."

"The great Harry Potter? Incompetent? Never!" Laughing at the look of disgust on Harry's face at being called great, Malfoy continued, "I'm just…slightly jealous at how gracefully you seem to pull it all off. You're a pro dueler, and we're only in our fifth year."

"That's sweet."

"Shut up. Anyways, it's a nice day out, and we don't have another lesson for two hours. So what do you say we go walk the grounds?"

"Your slytherine friends will talk.."

"So will your gryffindors."

With a huge grin, Harry turned towards the door, then turned back. "Let's do it."