Open Secrets by Turn and Walk
Summary: The effects of a love potion gone horribly wrong haunt Harry and he hopes that for once his secret won't spread throughout the school. Meanwhile, Draco struggles with a secret of his own…
Pairings: Harry/Draco, one-sided Ginny/Harry.
Warnings: Slash, sexual themes, Book 7 disregarded, Book 6 partially disregarded (you'll see what I mean).
Disclaimer: Turner doesn't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.
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"Thanks for doing this, Hermione."
"Not at all, Ginny." The brunette replied. "Although I must say I don't think it's a very good idea."
Ginny smiled reassuringly. "I've got a plan. It's foolproof. Don't worry about it."
Hermione took a deep, shaky breath. "Why did you have to pick the potion with the highest fail rate?"
The younger girl's smile turned into a Fred-and-George like grin. "It has the strongest and most lasting results. Midnight tomorrow, he won't know what hit him."
"I'm still not convinced it's the best idea. First of all, he's already inclined to like you. Secondly, what if he talks to someone else first?"
"The key is eye contact, 'Mione. He needs to make eye contact."
"He makes eye contact with everyone he talks to, except maybe Snape, and that's only because he doesn't want him using Legilimency on him!"
The Weasley girl shook her head. "Trust me, I've got it all worked out. The moment he drinks it, I'll get his attention, ask him about Quidditch practise or something. It'll work like a charm. We'll know the next day if it works, the-"
"-effects don't show up until midnight." Hermione finished her sentence. "I was the one who told you that."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Can I just have the sample, please?" Hermione shrugged and handed her a small crystal phial filled with a clear, colourless potion. The mischievous grin returned. "Harry had better be ready to have his mind blown."
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It was a bright Saturday morning, and still quite warm despite the fact that it was well into November. Harry and Ron had already made elaborate plans to lounge around on the grounds, enjoying what could be the last day of decent sunshine they would get, maybe popping in to say hello to Hagrid, before heading down to the Qudditch pitch for team practise. This contrasted directly with Hermione's plans to try and get them to finish their homework on Saturday rather than panicking to get it done at ten o' clock on Sunday evening to hand in on Monday, as they had done last weekend.
"Hello, Harry," Ginny said brightly, sitting across from him on the bench at the breakfast table. Harry smiled warmly at her. "Morning, Ginny," he said before turning back to Ron to discuss Quidditch strategy. When Ginny was sure they were both sufficiently distracted, she emptied the phial of potion into Harry's goblet with a furtive glance in Hermione's direction. She looked disapproving, but by now it was too late to do anything about it, so she merely shrugged.
Harry made to drink from his goblet, and as he did, two things happened at once. Ginny said, "Hey, Harry, what are we going to do at Quidditch practise this evening?" hoping to receive a long explanation that involved lots of eye contact. This didn't happen, because at that exact moment, a drawling voice floated across the Great Hall. "Hey, Potter, you going to have more Keeper tryouts today? You might want to consider getting that pathetic weasel off the pitch as soon as possible after last week's game!"
Harry whipped around, spraying pumpkin juice furiously as he did so, to glare at the source of the voice: Draco Malfoy. While his back was turned, Hermione gave Ginny a look of pure horror, but Ginny looked calm, miming the discharge of juice from Harry's mouth. Harry, meanwhile, was fuming. Gryffindor had gotten stomped at the Quidditch game last week against Ravenclaw, which was largely due to Ron's nerves, but he wasn't bad at goalkeeping. But he simply glared, because he and Malfoy both knew that Ron's erratic Keeping ability had cost them the game, and there was no point in arguing. He didn't know or care why Malfoy was still on about last week's match.
"Slimy git," he muttered as he turned back around. Ron's face was pale, an almost greenish hue, and he was staring intently at his toast. "Forget it," Harry told him, but it didn't seem to help. "What were you going to say, Ginny?" he asked, taking another sip of pumpkin juice. "Oh, I was just wondering what kinds of manoeuvres we're going to go over at practise tonight?" Harry then launched into a detailed description of the things he planned to do at practise, complete with, to Ginny's utter delight, several more swigs of juice and loads of eye contact.
When his explanation was over, Ginny turned to Hermione. "Do you mind going back up to the common room with me, Hermione?" she asked. The brunette shook her head. "Good, I need help with a really difficult spell in Charms that I'm supposed to practise this weekend."
As soon as the two girls stepped into the Entrance Hall, Hermione let out a breath that she had apparently been holding ever since Harry had turned to glare at Malfoy. "That was close," Ginny breathed. "Are you sure it's going to be okay? What if… what if…" The thought was so horrible that Hermione didn't dare say it out loud. "It'll be fine," Ginny assured her. "He spit it all out before he looked at him. Plus, he might be so repulsed by him that it cancels out. You never know." Hermione shook her head. "I knew this was a bad idea, I knew this was a bad idea…"
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"Great job tonight, guys!" Harry called as the Gryffindor Quidditch team trudged back to the changing rooms, sweaty and tired. "We're going to cream Hufflepuff next weekend!" It was true. The Captain was extremely proud of his team. The Chasers had never worked together better, the Beaters were on top form, and Ron saved every attempted goal, including an insanely difficult one that Ginny had thrown with a wicked topspin. They hadn't had a good practise in weeks, and Harry was pleased to be able to go to sleep with his mind on tonight's success.
Ever since the events at the Ministry, Voldemort hadn't dared intrude upon Harry's dreams. This didn't upset Harry in the slightest. Most of his nights were now either dreamless or filled with his own thoughts. He still had nightmares sometimes about watching his godfather Sirius die, but other than that his dreams were largely pleasant. He did have the slight disadvantage now of not knowing what Voldemort was thinking, but in this case, the good vastly outweighed the bad.
When they returned to the common room, Hermione greeted Harry, Ron, and Ginny. "How was it tonight?" she asked. "Brilliant! Gryffindor's in top form for next Saturday!" replied Harry. Hermione beamed, excited to finally hear good news; the Captain usually came back looking dejected and disappointed. "You all look tired, and it's pretty late. I'll see you in the morning." She disappeared into the girls' dormitory. "I'm going to bed too. See you tomorrow, Harry," Ginny said with a grin before following Hermione upstairs. "What's she on about?" Harry asked. Ron shrugged. "Dunno, mate. Looks like we'll find out tomorrow." They, too, departed to their dormitories and changed into their pyjamas.
It wasn't long before Harry heard Ron snoring softly in the next bed, but he, as usual, elected to lay awake with his thoughts. He wasn't particularly sleepy, just worn out from Quidditch, and he probably wouldn't fall asleep until nearly midnight. As usual, he started to feel himself drifting toward sleep around quarter to twelve, and he was out before the school's clock chimed to indicate midnight.
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"Come closer," a familiar voice whispered seductively. Harry smiled and obliged. The source of the voice wrapped its arms around Harry's waist. "Did you miss me?" the voice breathed into his ear, and he shuddered at the feeling of the breath against his neck. "Not really," Harry whispered back, entirely truthful. The voice spoke again, even softer this time, and Harry felt its lips and tongue brush against his ear. "You will."
Harry shuddered once again. "When are you leaving?" he murmured. "Too soon," the voice replied. "Can I say goodbye?" Harry asked. "Of course," said the voice. The owner of the voice pulled back so that Harry could lean in for the kiss. It was the most wonderful feeling he had ever experienced. Admittedly, he had only ever kissed one person before, and she had been crying at the time… this was a welcome change.
The other person reached down and took Harry's hands without breaking the kiss. An energy like Harry had never felt before coursed through him like an electric shock, leaving a feeling of warmth behind. Skin pressed against skin and Harry realised that he and his counterpart were both stark naked. He opened his eyes to find himself staring into a seemingly endless abyss of liquid silver that resided in the other's eyes…
Harry jerked awake. It was still dark, and he was grateful for it as he stared down at his arousal, wondering for a moment how it got there. Then he remembered his dream, and, with a jolt of something between disgust and some sort of strange pleasure, who and what it had been about.
Harry had been vigorously snogging a nude Draco Malfoy in his dream.
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So, what do you think? You read it, now go review it! Please try to soften your blows a little bit, this is my first writing in a long time, and it's the first thing I've done on this account.
By the way, I know it seems a little cliché, but there are definitely some twists and turns coming up. If you want to find out what they are, here's a little hint: nice reviews make Turner update faster!
