Undeniably Unrequited

Professor Potter had been headmaster of Hogwarts for only a few months when the first real crisis occurred. It had nothing to do with a certain wizard who could not be named; no, he had been dispensed with for good several years earlier. The crisis concerned instead Professor Potter's own boyfriend, Professor Malfoy.

"She has a crush on me," Draco spat angrily as he slammed the door of Harry's office shut. It was nicer than the normal teachers' offices, so they usually met in there when they thought it was safe. Although after Draco had switched teams during the war and helped to defeat Voldemort, it had been easy enough to admit their feelings for each other, they were not yet ready to take their relationship public. Only their close friends knew they were together. "It's so bloody annoying!"

"Slow down, darling," Harry said, squeezing Draco's hand as the blond took a seat across from him at his desk. "Who are you talking about? And why are you annoyed and not flattered?"

"Anne Campbell," Draco explained. "The seventh-year. The one who, you know," he shuddered, "developed early?"

The name brought to Harry's mind a tall, blonde, vivacious young Ravenclaw. She was well known for her exceptional skills in Potions and in the bedrooms of most of the male– and a few of the female – Hogwarts students. "Ah, yes."

"She's been mooning at me in class since her first year here. It's not uncommon, y'know," he said with a tinge of pride. "But it's only recently that she's actually been doing things. Staying after class asking if she can get some 'extra help.' Staring at me during lunch. Writing little love notes in the margins of her assignments. I tell you, Harry, it's enough to drive a man mad!"

Harry pondered the fact that a man with a single heterosexual bone in his body would likely be sleeping with the girl by now with no thought of complaining. "I'll see what I can do about it," he told Draco. "Now, do you not have a class to teach?"

Draco did. Harry was left to think about why no student crushes had ever been so annoying for him. It wasn't fair. Draco was a hero, sure – but Harry had been a hero first! And sure, Draco was maturing nicely with age, but Harry wasn't looking too bad himself… was he?

---

The best thing to do first, the headmaster decided, would be to observe the problem for himself. Ravenclaw seventh-years took Potions first thing in the morning, and so at this ridiculous hour, Harry went to Draco's classroom to see for himself.

"Good morning, Professor Potter," Draco said coldly as he entered the room.

Harry yawned. "G'morning, Professor Malfoy. Just doing your, er, yearly observation, make sure you're doing your job right, y'know."

A chorus of "ooh"s filled the room. Harry ignored them and took a seat at the side, from where he could observe both Draco and the Campbell girl. He observed a lot – mainly that Draco was frikkin hot when he taught, but also that the girl never took her eyes off him. That wasn't normal for a student, was it? He looked around; most of them were either dozing on their desks or staring off into space. Anne also seemed to have a habit of playing with the neckline of her robes as she gazed at Draco. Bad, yes, but not incriminating.

The class came to a close. "Ten points from Hufflepuff for your foolishness, Johnson. Everyone, remember your ten-parchment-scroll essays for tomorrow. I expect them to be handed in at the beginning of class. A minute late and you fail. Understood? You are dismissed," Draco concluded. Harry laughed inwardly. Draco had mellowed out a lot over the years, but not in the classroom.

People started getting up and leaving, but one student stayed behind. Harry wanted desperately to watch what Anne would do, but knew that it would look strange for him to remain. As quickly as he could without looking as though anything was out of the ordinary, he walked back to his office, where he grabbed his invisibility cloak and slipped it on. On his way back to the Potions room, he had no such limitations and allowed himself to almost break into a run in the halls.

Unfortunately, Draco hadn't had the foresight to leave the door open. The headmaster was reduced to listening at the keyhole. It brought back a wave of nostalgia for the time he had spent as a student at Hogwarts, but at the same time was not terribly convenient.

Harry listened, but was only able to hear the girl due to Draco's habit of speaking very softly whenever he was very angry. "I really would appreciate some extra help in Potions, Professor Malfoy… But I have the highest grades in my year; how could any other student tutor me?... You inspire me so much, Professor Malfoy. You're my role model, really. I think I want to make Potions my career… I know I'm already going to get an O on my N.E.W.T., but one can always use improvement, right? Oh, silly me, I've gone and dropped my pen!"

Enough was enough! Harry pictured the girl's current position and the sad lack of effect it would be having on Draco. If she had chosen any other staff member though – well, any other but Filch, of course – there could have been serious problems. The girl was a menace! Something had to be done.

---

Harry and Draco discussed the problem that night in Harry's room. The headmaster's chambers were more private than the teachers', and Draco often slept over.

"You can't just tell her to bugger off," Harry said. "She's a student! What if her parents were to complain?"

Draco snarled, his grey eyes flashing. "I was thinking something more along the lines of cursing her. Take away those pretty titties and we'll see if she doesn't start singing a new song."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Mom? Dad? My potions teacher cursed me. Right."

"Well, I am sleeping with the headmaster! You can explain things, can't you?"

"I can't explain something that's illegal – not to mention immoral! Can't you just ignore the girl?"

"I don't know, darling, I just don't think it would work."

"Of course it would," Harry replied. "I'll tell you what you'll do."

Draco interrupted. "And afterwards, I get to curse her?"

"Listen to me! Do not call on her when she raises her hand in class. Do not respond to the personal notes she writes on her papers. Do not speak with her outside of class. If she tries, you have a meeting to get to, or – hey, why are you playing with my hair?"

"You're so hot when you're giving orders," his boyfriend sighed.

Harry shook him off. "This is important!"

"More important than shagging?" Draco leered. "I don't think so…"

---

Later that night, Harry wrote a note and sent it by owl. A cute, small one named Milky had replaced Hedwig. He patted her on her back, and she flew off into the night.

Hullo Ron,

How are things? All is well here. It's a tad snowy, but overall the weather's not bad for this time of year. A funny thing has happened; one of Draco's students has developed a bit of a thing for him, and it's getting to be excessive. I've told him to ignore her, but it most likely won't have an effect. You know what a pushover he is. What do you think? And Ron, while I'm writing you, why don't any of the students have crushes on me? Anyway, tell Hermione I said hello and I'll write to her later.

Kisses,

Harry.

---

The couple liked to have lunch together in Harry's office as often as they felt they could without rousing suspicion. This usually happened on Fridays, when the upbeat atmosphere led to no one paying them a whit of attention. This week was no exception; at noon they met and Harry conjured them up two aromatic plates of food and two steaming cups of tea.

"Any progress with the girl, dear?" Harry asked straight off.

"Not a bit," Draco groaned. "She raised her hand even more than usual, plus it seemed like all of the others were daydreaming or completely asleep, so I was forced to call on her. Ten points to Ravenclaw! Ten points to Ravenclaw! After class, I tried to get rid of her by saying I was busy, but she insisted on walking me to my 'meeting' while pestering me again about her 'extra lessons.'"

Harry frowned. "You allow your students to sleep in class? Maybe I really do need to observe your teaching."

"You can observe my arse!" Draco exclaimed, and then choked on his tea as he realized what he had said.

---

Ron's response arrived just before dinner.

Hullo mate,

All is well here as well. Herm's a little fed up because Fred and George are here to visit, but we're enjoying their company. I wouldn't worry about the girl; when Malfoy's a pushover I'll be the King of Spain. If worst comes to worst, you can always use magic. I used a Hate Potion on Mum for Dad when we were kids and it nearly broke them up. It's simple enough to brew, and it'll reveal Malfoy's worst faults and habits to this Anne girl. He does have quite a few, you know. Oh, and as for why no one has a crush on you, well, the girls can probably smell that you're a poof a mile away. Who in bloody hell signs their letters "kisses"? Hermione says hi and wants to know why you're writing to me and not her for advice about women.

Cheerio,

Ron.

---

Harry put the letter down and rubbed his eyes. Sometimes Ron was so smart it was disgusting! His idea made perfect sense. One little potion, and Anne would know that Draco snored loudly and was forever clogging the shower drain. That would cure a crush in no time. And it wouldn't reveal the fact that he was gay, of course, since that was in no way a fault. Harry wondered briefly why the two of them had never gone public with their relationship. Pure laziness, perhaps? It didn't matter now.

He decided to brew the potion straight away, right after he wrote a note to Hermione telling her everything was fine.

---

Dearest Hermione,

I assume that Ron's told you about Draco's and my little problem with the infatuated student. Don't worry; it's all taken care of. Ron gave me the brilliant advice to give her a Hate Potion, and I'm just about to do that now. I do hope Fred and George aren't annoying you too terribly. I'm sure Ron wouldn't mind you hexing them if they get out of hand.

All my love,

Harry.

---

As Ron had said, the potion was extremely simple to make. "Why didn't we think of this earlier?" Harry asked Draco as he stirred the cauldron.

His boyfriend shrugged. "One or both of us is a bit slow, I suppose." He threw in a pig's ear and the two of them stared in fascination as the liquid turned a brilliant purple.

"And it's done!" Draco said proudly.

Harry looked at Draco.

Draco looked at Harry.

"Darling," Harry said slowly, "how in Merlin's name are we going to get her to drink this?"

---

House-elves don't ask questions, and the first one that Harry could find that morning was happy enough to replace the drink at Anne Campbell's usual seat in the Great Hall with the funny-looking purple potion. The plan was fallible, but Harry thought it had a good chance of working. The girl would sit down, drink her drink, and then look up and see Draco crossing the hall to get to his own seat.

If someone else happened to sit in her seat, if Draco wasn't in the right place at the right time, or if Anne happened to look at someone else first, the plan would fail. But it would go right, simply because it had to. Then the risks would be worth it.

Harry watched as discreetly as he could from the staff table as the Ravenclaws sat down one by one. When Anne sat down at her usual place, Harry silently cheered. The students began to eat, and soon enough Anne reached for her mug. Right on cue, Draco began to cross the floor. However, just before he stepped into Anne's line of vision, Professor Trelawney stopped him and started talking to him. Harry mentally cursed the woman with every swear word he knew. Who would Anne's eyes land on? Who would suffer the effects of her Hate Potion?

Anne took a sip and spat it straight back out.

"Ugh, there's something wrong with my drink! Can I have some of yours?" she exclaimed, addressing the black-haired Ravenclaw across the table from her. Her friend pushed her mug over to her and she took a long swig. Harry cursed mentally. Draco had sat down at the other side of the staff table. Though they couldn't see each other, he knew they were both feeling the same powerful desperation.

Harry crept back to his office resignedly, where he found a letter from Hermione on his desk.

Dear Harry,

DON'T DO IT!!! Have you gone mad? You're poisoning your students now? There are a million ways in which that could go wrong, and none in which it could go right! Don't you know by now to never listen to Ron? The place to start would have been to talk to the girl. It would probably scare the poor thing witless that Malfoy even mentioned her crush to you. I do hope this gets to you in time.

Hermione

Harry cursed loudly at her owl. He might have done worse to her, but she flew away and out of the window, hooting as she went.

---

"Have things gotten any better?" Harry asked Draco at the end of the following day. It was the first opportunity they had had to be together since the near-catastrophe in the Great Hall.

"No," his boyfriend sighed. "Worse, in fact. The little slag has taken to following me around between classes. I'm pretty sure I smelt her horrid perfume in my office this afternoon, too!"

Harry explained Hermione's idea. "I don't see how it wouldn't work; Hogwarts students are terrified of me," he said.

"I still say we should curse her."

"Darling, we are not cursing her!"

Draco pouted. "What if we just blinded her? Then she wouldn't be able to look at me anymore."

"We are not using any magic on a Hogwarts student!" Harry said emphatically. "By the way, what was Trelawney asking you about at that incredibly inopportune moment yesterday?"

"Oh," Draco said. "She was telling me she'd made a prediction about me. Something about happy tidings in my future."

Harry sighed. "Figures."

---

The following morning, Harry sent a note to Anne Campbell via a student. Although it simply asked her to come to his office at her earliest convenience, she was there within ten minutes.

"Good afternoon, Professor Potter," she said as he let her in and seated her.

"Good afternoon, Anne. Er… do you have any idea why you're here?"

Harry almost felt sorry for her as he watched her mentally review her misdeeds. "I'm afraid I don't," she finally replied.

"Then I shall have to tell you. Professor Malfoy has informed me that you have been saying some things to him that are not quite appropriate between a student and a teacher."

The girl kept her cool remarkably well, Harry observed. "I'm still not sure what you're talking about."

"Notes written on assignment papers. Pleas after class for extra help. Do I have to go on?"

"I write notes sometimes because Professor Malfoy inspires me so much, and I don't see what could possibly be wrong with requesting some extra help!"

Harry sighed. It was time to pull out the big guns. "Did you not, yesterday after class," he asked, "drop your pen?"

Anne Campbell's face twisted into a parody of offended innocence. "Professor Potter!" she exclaimed. "I dropped my pen!"

"Look here, Anne, I didn't want to bring this up, but I'm well aware of your reputation at this school. Now, between you and fellow students of legal age, it's none of my business, but this type of thing, or attempting to start this type of thing, is simply unacceptable with our staff."

She gave the fakest gasp Harry had ever heard. "Bringing my morals, which are impeccable anyway, into question is what is inappropriate here, Professor Potter. Besides - " here her innocent façade let up for a moment – "you've just demonstrated that you have no proof of anything inappropriate going on. Have a good evening, Professor Potter."

Without waiting to be dismissed, she left.

---

"It didn't work," Harry said softly as he lay in bed that night with his arms around his lover.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" Draco asked.

"I suppose there's only one thing we can do."

"Curse that slimy little brat?"

"No."

"I know." He paused. "Harry, I'm scared."

"It's for the best, you know. We should've done this ages ago."

They lay there for a minute, not yet ready to go to sleep. "When do you want to - "

"As soon as possible," Harry said. "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Draco whimpered, cuddling up a little closer to Harry's strong chest.

"Tomorrow at dinner," Harry said calmly. "Then everything will be okay."

---

The following day went as normal until dinnertime. Harry was busy all day with the paperwork and other issues that he had been neglecting all week while trying to deal with the Anne Campbell business. He and Draco did not in fact see each other until seven o'clock, when they sat side by side at the staff table.

Draco kept looking at him, probably wondering when he was planning to put their plan into action. Harry shook his head peacefully each time. It was not until after they had eaten, just before dessert was served, that he did anything out of the ordinary.

"Your attention, please," Harry said, standing up. "Before we partake of our dessert, I would like to say something that will make this evening that much sweeter – for me, in any case."

All eyes were on him; no one had the slightest idea what he was talking about.

"It may or may not be a surprise to some of you," he said slowly, perhaps a little nervously, "that Professor Malfoy and I have been a couple for quite some time."

The room buzzed with gasps and heated whisperings. Harry smiled complacently as Draco blushed and shyly took his hand in his own.

"I thought it fitting," Harry said, "that it should be before all of our students, whom we love and cherish as our own children - " People were still talking, and he waited for them to quiet down before continuing.

"It should be before our students that I ask for Professor Malfoy's hand in marriage."

Draco's eyes widened. "This wasn't part of the plan!" he whispered frantically.

"Draco," Harry said, getting down on one knee, "will you marry me?" From a fold in his robe, he produced a tiny box containing a brilliant diamond ring.

His brain still trying to process what was going on, Draco stared at him wide-eyed for a few seconds before managing to stutter, "Yes, Harry! I will!"

They hugged tightly, and the hall erupted with applause and cheering. However, the first person to speak did not offer any congratulations.

"You two," Anne Campbell said as she stood up, looking like a train had hit her, "you two are together? You're getting married?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Anne, we are."

She looked even more shocked upon hearing the declaration a second time.

"That," the girl finally said, "is so… hot!"