A/N: Wow, I´m really into Drarry at the moment... Oh well, go with the flow, I guess. So, this will probably consist of two chapters, three if my imagination really runs wild. It´s partly focused on Harry, partly on Draco, so that´s why the names change. Hope you enjoy. And I still am not JKR (DAMN!), so whose are the characters and all that jazz? Right, NOT mine!

The Brownie Mission

or

The Difference Between Staring and Watching

"Ouch!" the little first year cried as she fell to the floor. Angrily she looked up at the guy who had put her in her momentary position- a tall, handsome blonde with green tie. That was all the little girl needed. Quickly, she averted her eyes, packed her books back into her bag and ran away down the hall.

Draco just smiled at this little scene. His victim (a Hufflepuff, shame, her life was miserable enough without him already!) had done just the right thing, which meant that he would leave her alone if she didn´t annoy him in any way. But really? She should be happy for having been allowed to touch him. That was something for a CV! He carried on walking down the hallway, making sure everybody noticed his presence. THAT was the Malfoy way of life: Don´t notice, but be noticed!

"Hey, Malfoy, what´s up with your hair? I think you should change your conditioner, it doesn´t look all that shiny!" Dracos´ eyes narrowed till they were mere slits. Harry Potter had shoved past him and was now walkng backwards, looking at him with a mischievous grin plastered on his stupid, scarred face.

"Maybe I should pass it on to you? Then you could learn how to use hair products and you might actually manage to control that rat´s nest of yours." he sneered in reply, walked past him while making sure their shoulders collided with just the right amount of pressure to make Potter stumble without knocking him over- he didn´t want to be responsible for the little sissy to end up in the hospital wing, that wouldn´t show just how much he stood above that idiot.

"It´s not a rat´s nest, it´s got character!" the famous boy called after him.

Harry Potter wouldn´t say he actively looked for fights with Malfoy. it just so happened that whenever he saw the blonde, a mean comment would pop up in his mind. And when that didn´t happen, it would to the other.

So after a while, it had turned into a game: who would manage to throw a nasty comment first. They sometimes even took it that far to wait behind a wall or in an alcove, just to startle the other and win the round. Not that anybody was actually counting, but it was great fun... in a very twisted way.

Harry had noticed though that in the last few months, their fights had turned from true battles to more of a bickering. It was noticeable in the facial expressions and the fact that truly hurtful topics would now be avoided. This Harry truly couldn't understand , but he didn´t really try to get into the depths of his relationship to Draco Malfoy. Please, there were more important things to do! Folding clothes, for instance, or flossing your teeth. Or paying attention in History of Magic.

"Harry!" Hermione had dislodged her mouth from Ron´s long enough to pull Harry out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"What´s going on between you and Malfoy?"

"WHAT?" this simultaneously came from Harry´s and Ron´s mouth, once again showing why they were best friends.

"We´ll I guess everybody has noticed..."

"No." Ron interrupted, earning himself a horrible look from his girlfriend. "I haven´t!"

"Well you, Ronald, can´t really be put into the category `everybody`! For you it would be `The very dim witted´!" Before he could even try to protest, she turned back to Harry: "As I was saying, one couldn´t help but notice that you two have been unusually nice to each other. For instance, none of you has been in the hospital wing after potions for months!" Harry sighed. It was true: just half a year ago, they had been throwing jinxes at each other whenever they had had to work as partners in Slughorn lessons, which was twice every week.

"And apart from that, you aren´t cursing the very tip of his nose off after you´ve seen him any more. So, tell us, Harry, what´s going on?" Again, Harry sighed.

"I don´t know."

"Mate! You can´t not know why you´re not trying to kill Malfoy anymore! It would be something huge like him saving your life or something down that line!" Ron exclaimed, shaking Harry a bit (maybe to get his brain into the right position again?).

"I really don´t know. Sorry guys."

"Well, figure it out!" Hermione ordered "Think about it when you meet, check what´s different and why that could be. Note anything that is not the norm." she put a hand on his shoulder "I think this could be very important, Harry, so focus completely on it. I´m sure you´ll figure it out." She smiled reassuringly and once again made Harry feel like she just knew a hint too much for his liking.

That night Harry stayed awake for a long time, thinking and making a list of things that had changed between him and Malfoy. It wasn´t a lot actually, just little things that changed the whole environment though. He was surprised what an effect little grins or jokes could make. When he finally fell asleep, his dreams were filled with sneering Malfoys and haunting grey eyes.

The seventh grader needed more time than usual in the morning, having to shake off the memories of his dream, convincing himself that it was Hermione´s fault that he had had it.

At breakfast Harry started his quest and eyed Malfoy over a box of cereal standing in front of him. About two minutes into his spying he noticed something that quickly made him lower his gaze: Malfoy was watching him! That wasn´t how this was supposed to work! No, this wasn´t according to plan, and that he couldn´t deal with! "Hermione!"

"Hm?" she sighed lazily and not yet fully awake.

"Malfoy!" he hissed, making her look up from the Daily Prophet which she had been reading. "He was watching me!"

"No Harry, he wasn´t." she replied calmly, as if this wasn´t news at all.

"Yes he was! I saw it, just a minute ago!"

"Harry" she sighed, looking at him intensly, her tone as if she was talking to someone very dim or, well, Ron "he wasn´t watching you, he was staring." And with that she turned back to her newspaper, as if that should have explained everything. Harry just blinked.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, mostly because Harrys´ classrooms were close next to each other or could be quickly reached without meeting the Slytherins. But during lunch Harry focused on Malfoy again, checking if he was staring, as Hermione had put it, again. He was. He didn´t know why, but it couldn´t mean anything good.

After lunch they had potions, which meant one-and-a-half hours with the Slytherins, or, to be more precise, Malfoy.

"Potter." he greeted, taking his seat next to Harry at their bench. Harry couldn´t answer. If he opened his mouth, he was sure something down the line of "Why were you staring" would come out. So he kept it shut. Which Malfoy noticed, of course.

"Lost our voice, have we? Well, well, that leaves me with so many opportunities. See, I know you are horrible with silent spells, so I could say whatever, really."

"I could always just punch you." Harry blurted, suddenly finding himself being master of his voice again.

"Oh! There it is again, that lovely voice!" Malfoy grinned. Lovely? Harry decided that that was meant sarcastically and turned to look at his book.

"Not very chatty today, are we? Why? Did someone hurt our little Golden Boy´s feelings?" Malfoy asked, resting his chin in his hand and looking at Harry with a nasty smile on his lips and a glint of... something in his eyes.

"Just shove off, Malfoy, I´m not in the mood." Harry threw a few three-eyed beetles into his mortar and started crushing them with such force that he was positive the bowl was going to break. That look in Malfoy´s eyes... he really didn´t want to think about it, because it made him feel like swimming over to the other side of the river, if that meant that Malfoy would be there, too.

Draco was lazing on a couch in the Slytherin common room when it hit him- he fancied Potter. The time for denial was over, he decided as he watched the Giant Squid swim past him through the widow. He couldn´t deny that there was some hitch in his brain that made it switch off as soon as Potter entered the Great Hall and Potions was, well... the bloody highlight of his day. But what to do? It was obvious the feelings weren´t mutual, right? He would have to watch Potter (not that that was the worst thing ever) and decide if he should make a move. But why not make things just a tad easier?

"Granger, we need to talk." it was obvious that Granger was startled, but Draco had expected nothing else. She walked up to him and looked him straight in the eye. Mudblood or not, that girl had courage.

"Malfoy?"

"I would like to call a truce. See, I need help (it did hurt saying that out loud, Draco had to admit. Potter better be worth this!) with something, and I think you can be of assistance for once. So, what you say to that?" Granger eyed him suspiciously and took a deep breath.

"It´s about Harry, right? don´t even try to deny it, Malfoy!"

"I won´t. It´s true, I must have taken a whiff of the wrong potion or so, but Potter does seem...well... like a hot, delicious brownie topped with ice cream, just waiting for me to devour."

"Please, just please Malfoy, don´t ever talk like that if you want my help."

"Right. So, truce?" Hermione took his hand and shook it.

"Truce."

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