Draco saw no reason why he shouldn't go talk to Krum. His dad had always drilled it into his head that everyone should be honored to be in his presence and that he commanded a certain level of respect as a Malfoy. After everyone cleared out of the Great Hall he strutted towards the Durmstrang students, a smirk on his face.

He stopped short as Krum surged to his feet, stepping abruptly into Draco's space. The sudden obstacle made him stumble to a stop and he jerked his head up, annoyed that he was made to look ungraceful.

Krum eyed him up and down and it was almost enough to make him squirm, the Durmstrang boys were huge and a glance sideways told him his own bodyguards had hung back instead of following him to the table. He was about to open his mouth to make some kind of introduction when Krum spoke up, a thick accent in the words.

"And what do you want?"

He wasn't used to the lack of respect and it took him a moment to answer, nobly ignoring the few laughs from the other Durmstrang students, "I'm Draco Malfoy." He waited for some sort of recognition or awe to come across Krum's face at the name but there was no response at all. The pause was awkward for Draco, made worse as he continued to not say anything as Krum stood there with one eyebrow raised.

Finally Krum glanced back at his fellow classmates and then back to Draco, "Is that all blondie, if so, the boys and I would like to get back to talking about the championship."

He turned back to the table and sat down before Draco could respond leaving him to uselessly add, "Alright then, I'll just…" It was obvious that Krum wasn't paying attention and Draco was quickly losing respect with his own Slytherins. "I'll… talk to you again when you aren't so busy then." He waited a moment longer and turned to head back towards the Slytherins, his shoulders hunching as laughter erupted from the seated Durmstang boys.

He couldn't quite work up the nerve to approach Krum for the next few days, the recent humiliation, and that had been what it was, still fresh on his mind. Part of him was sure it had been a mistake that Krum hadn't been flattered to have a Malfoy speak to him, but he couldn't quite risk it.

When he found himself alone in the library with a handful of Durmstang boys at a table he sat nearby, contemplating giving it a second shot. There were less people here if things did go bad. He stood up and looked toward the table, momentarily confused when he didn't see Krum. He could have sworn that he had just seen him there...

He jumped when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder, sucking in a startled gasp as he whirled to see Krum smirking at him. He opened his mouth to say something cutting but Krum caught his eyes and inexplicably it caught in his throat and he only managed to watch Krum wide-eyed.

"Coming to talk to me, yes?" He nodded silently, not sure what to say. Krum let go of his shoulder and was slowly backing him up, though he didn't realize it until he felt himself bump into the table, leaving him surrounded by Durmstang boys. "Well, what did you want to say."

He glanced around nervously, somewhere between being glad that there was noone around to see him being bullied and wishing there was someone there in case he needed help. But Krum was looking at him expectedly so he straightened his spine a little, "I was going to go to Durmstang." He coughed nervously, "But I didn't because…," it occurred to him that telling them that his mother didn't want him to be so far away wasn't a good thing. "because… I came here instead," he finished lamely.

Krum moved closer, and Draco tried to ease back but the table was directly behind him. Krum stood a good head above him, thick muscles where Draco was wiry, though in comparison to Krum he just looked small and fragile.

"You are too small to go to Durmstang."

He did manage to sneer at the boy at the table that had spoke up and quickly looked back to Krum. "I would have gotten in."

Krum looked over him at his friends as he stepped still closer, now almost touching Draco. "You're not too small to get in," He paused and his lip turned up as he reached up to brush Draco's cheek with his thumb, "You're too pretty."

Draco's arms jerked up to shove Krum away, though it only pushed the much bigger boy a few inches back. "Get your hands off of me!"

"Feisty too."

His face felt too hot as he glared at the boys and tried to step around Krum, to humiliated and confused to even want to talk to him anymore, but his way was blocked by the bigger bulk. "Let me go." He was ashamed how shaky his voice sounded to his own ears.

He felt like he was going to cry, he wasn't used to things not going his way and a distinct panic was growing as he realized he couldn't leave until the other boy let him. He had no backup himself and Krum didn't need back up to keep him there.

"What's the hurry, blondie?"

One of the other boys stood up, standing just next to Krum, making Draco feel more boxed in. His eyes frantically darted around, looking for an out. Real fear had settled into his stomach and his eyes landed on Krum's face. "Please." He was scared and he knew it showed in his voice.

He wasn't sure why but Krum abruptly frowned and motioned for the boy next to him to back up. He eyed Draco up and down before looking to his friends, "I'll be back." There was an undertone in Krum's voice that he couldn't quite identify and he saw more than one Durmstrang boy smirk. Before Draco could interpret that Krum had taken hold of his elbow and was directing him towards the door of the library.

He put up a slight struggle, but Krum tightened the hold enough to bruise and he quickly relented. He was surprised when that move got a small nod of approval from Krum, and momentarily there was a tingle in his stomach that was quickly overridden by the fear again. It took a moment for him to get the words out but he finally managed to speak up, "I'm sorry, I won't come talk to you again, okay?" That seemed fair to him, he had only wanted to make friends with Krum, he knew it would please his father, but it wasn't worth it if the Durmstrang boys were gonna respond with hostility.

Krum didn't answer him, but as soon as they were out the door and alone in the hallway he pushed Draco against the wall, letting go of his elbow. Krum never told him not to move, but Draco figured as much and tried to casually lean against the wall and give Krum what he hoped was a defiant sneer. Krum leaned into him, pressing one hand against the wall next to Draco's head and kept eye contact until the sneer slid off Draco's face and he looked away. Only then did he speak up, "How old are you little blondie?"

He frowned, but tilted his chin up, "14." The other hand went up against the wall on the other side of Draco, boxing him in. He was starting to think Krum had a particular fondness for the move. He swallowed hard and looked away, body tensed to do something if Krum decided to attack him.

"Hey now, don't be scared Dray-Co. I'm not going to hurt you."

That made him look up, intrigued by the way the other had dragged out the 'a' in his name. He quickly focused on the words, "Then what are you going to do?"

There was a moment of perfect silence, in which Draco barely had time to catch the grin on Krum's face, and then he was doing the last thing Draco had ever expected. Krum was kissing him.

The kiss was chaste, a combination of Draco's shock and inexperience causing him to keep his lips pressed tightly together. Krum made no attempt to touch him anywhere else and after a few moments Draco placed one of his hands in the middle of Krum's chest. He was sure he meant to push him away but instead found his fingers curling slightly into his chest.

There was a soft gust of air against his mouth as Krum laughed and pulled back. He kept his hand on the other's chest even as Krum dropped one of his arms from the wall, giving him an opening to leave. "Why… why did you do that?"

He didn't answer but leaned in again and Draco was sure that this time he was going to push Krum away even though he hadn't yet, until he heard footsteps coming around the corner. Krum moved back, but not away, as a few Hufflepuffs moved past them into the library.

"Be seeing you around Dray-co." For a brief moment Krum pressed his entire body against Draco's smaller one and lips were on his again and then they were gone, and all he could do was watch Krum disappear into the library. He stood there for a long moment before he reached up to touch his lips, almost still able to feel the kiss.

He finally pulled himself together enough to push himself away from the wall and head back to the Slytherin dorms. He wanted to be angry, part of him felt violated and part of him was just… confused. He hadn't really had the time or inclination to start dating, and he had certainly never considered boys an option. He spotted Blaise in the lounge and headed over, and ungracefully flopped down next to him.

Blaise gave him a look as Draco leaned against the side of the couch and draped his legs over Blaise's lap. "Draco."

He bit on the nail of one thumb thoughtfully before he looked to Blaise, "Have you heard anything unusual about Krum?"

He gave Draco a dopey grin, not that blonde noticed it caught up in his own thoughts. "Like what?"

"Like…" There was the thoughtful look again, "who has he dated?"

Blaise thought about that and what Draco could be going after, "Uh, I'm not sure. Rita Skeeter has said he dates a lot of girls. Why, see him hitting on some girl?" Draco slid his gaze to Blaise as the other boy chuckled, "I bet he can have any ass he wants."

Draco was struck by how naïve he was compared to the other boy. "That's all?"

Blaise sat up, pushing Draco's legs off of his own so he could face him, "Why don't you save me a bunch of time and tell me what you are looking for Draco."

He bit his lip and looked down, missing the look on Blaise's face at the peculiar behavior. "Has he ever… dated boys?"

"You're asking if he's gay? Why would you need to know that… do you like him?"

And that got through to Draco and his head snapped up as he realized the image he was presenting and quickly tried to cover it. "No… he was… I saw him talking to a boy and it just seemed… I just wanted to know…"

He leaned towards Draco a playful grin on his face, "You do. You want him."

He was getting panicked and tried to wave Blaise off, "I do not-"

The grin only got bigger as his voice took on a singsong quality, "You want to kiss him-"

And that was so close to what had happened Draco couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth, "HH

He kissed me!" Blaise's eyes got wide and Draco could only stare at him in horror as he covered his mouth with his hands.

Blaise leaned back until he was sitting up again, "Well then."

Neither of them spoke as they sat there. Draco reached up to pull at his collar, feeling too hot like he was suffocating. "Blaise... I mean... I didn't… you can't tell anyone!"

"Tell anyone what?"

Draco's head snapped to look at Pansy and immediately looked back to Blaise, eyes wide and panicked. Blaise leaned over him, a mischievous look on his face as he spoke to Pansy. "Draco here has it on good authority that the incredible Krum there prefers boys."

She looked more disappointed than anything else, "No! Oh, Draco where did you hear that? Tell me it isn't true!"

"Er – I"

"He saw him kissing a boy!"

"Who?"

Draco still hadn't managed to say anything but knew it was time when Blaise looked at him and innocently answered, "Well I don't know – he didn't tell me that yet."

"I er… well… couldn't see! Krum was… pressing him against a wall and I could only glimpse a little around him."

Blaise looked intrigued, "Pressing him against the wall was he."

He threw a glare at Blaise, infuriated at how much pleasure the other was taking in his situation. Luckily Pansy broke up the stare by falling dramatically onto the couch between the two of them, "That's awful. I'm heartbroken."

Blaise laughed as he lightly shoved her, "Oh, I'm sure you'll get over it." He leaned back agsin, "Glimpsed a little did you, any clues as to who? Hair color…?"

Pansy made a dismissive sound, "I'll know soon enough. Krum pushing someone against the wall and kissing them, I'm sure someone had to have seen them."

Talk about the world catching up to him… he knew that people had seen them – and he was certain that all the Durmstrang boys at the table with Krum knew what he had been up to. It was only a matter of time before it got around that he had been the one on the receiving end of Krum's attentions. He didn't need Pansy creating a whirlwind about it trying to find out who… but he could use he help in curtailing it. "Uh Pansy… I need you to… I need you to find out anyone that saw Krum and make sure they keep their mouth shut. You need to make sure that nobody finds out."

She looked baffled. "You don't want to know who he was kissing, I mean… why would you want me to kill the rumors?" Blaise almost looked like he was about to jump in but Pansy was smarter than people gave her credit for and to his surprise he found her face lighting up as she squealed, "It was you?!"

"Not on purpose!"

"You accidentally kissed Viktor Krum?"

"Why do people keep saying that? He is the one that kissed me!"

"If you want to kill the rumors you might want to stop yelling that."

His court was against him. He didn't know when he had lost control of the others, but they clearly no longer respected him. He would need new lackeys, there was no way around it. Pansy and Blaise continued to banter back and forth, making jokes at his expense and he just fell farther into the foul mood he was in.

They seemed to finally realize how unhappy Draco was and Pansy made an odd cooing sound, "Oh Draco, did Krum hurt your feelings? Is that why you're so unhappy?"

"No-"

"Well that's good. Do you just miss him, when are you seeing him again?"

"I don't miss – I'm not seeing him again! We aren't together!"

"Then why were you kissing him?"

That was the final straw as he threw up his hands and untangled himself from the other two to get up off the couch. "Just kill it!" With that proclamation, and valiantly ignoring the snickers, he stomped off to his room.