Harry was furious with himself. He couldn't believe he had left this foot- and-a-half long history of magic essay until the night before it was due. He was already the last person in the library, and he was only three- quarters of the way through. Glancing blearily at his watch, he saw it was long past midnight. Even Madam Pince had left, having made him swear on his life not to cause any trouble, and duly informing him that if a single book was out of place the next morning, she would hold him fully responsible. The only flickering light emerged from a lantern he had set at the head of his scroll. Piled about him were all the books on the infamous Bloodnok, a vampire from the middle ages, who had famously had one of the highest victim counts ever. You would have thought that his would be quite an interesting topic, but the essay question - 'Give all the links between the different victims Bloodnok chose and explain what this shows about his traumatic childhood' – somehow managed to suck all the fun out of the blood and gore.

It was 2am before Harry laid down his quill. He was just packing up his bag when he heard a rustling sound from behind a bookcase. He stopped moving for a second, but then, telling himself he had imagined it, continued to put away his equipment. The noise came again.

'Hello?' Harry called out.

'Hello, Potter,' came a smooth voice as Draco Malfoy's platinum blond head appeared from behind a shelf.

'Malfoy. What are you doing here?' asked Harry, continuing what he was doing.

'Nothing. I was bored, so I came to read up on my, er, defence against the dark arts.'

Malfoy glided towards Harry, who had almost finished packing up.

'Right, well, if you don't want anything, I think I'll be off.'

'Who says I don't want anything?'

Malfoy took a step forward. He was now so close that Harry could feel his cool breath on his face.

'Bugger off, Malfoy.'

Malfoy laughed a short, sharp laugh.

'Your wording is very appropriate, Potter.'

'What do you mean?'

As if in response, Malfoy kissed him, mashing their mouths together. Harry pulled away in shock. He was backed up against the desk, almost sitting on it. Malfoy was leaning on the desk next to him, trapping him where he was.

'Wh. . . why did you do that?' stuttered Harry.

'What, didn't you like it?'

'No!' protested Harry, a little too adamantly, 'No, of course not!'

'You're a liar, Harry Potter,' said Malfoy, and he kissed him again. This time, Harry let his lips linger before turning his head.

'So. . . what do you expect me to do?' he asked tentatively, avoiding Malfoy's gaze.

'Whatever you want. But I know what you want. It's just a question of whether or not you do.'

Harry paused a moment. He looked up at Malfoy's well-structured face, and made a decision. He removed his glasses and lifted himself onto the desk. Malfoy smiled and kissed him again, this time opening his mouth and allowing their tongues to embrace. Malfoy climbed on to the desk, kneeling with legs either side of Harry, grinding himself into him. Harry was now kissing back, and had started to fumble with his buttons when Malfoy whispered 'No, not now.' in his ear. So, instead, Harry lay back on the table, underneath Malfoy, hands exploring the other boy's body. After a short while, Malfoy sat up, suddenly, and left the library, saying nothing. Harry sat up too and, wondering what had happened, picked up his bag and left, going straight up to Gryffindor tower. He showered, scrubbing himself harder that he ever had before, and went to the dormitory. All the others were asleep, so he crept quietly into bed and lay awake, thinking about what had happened for what seemed like hours before he finally dropped off.