Draco's Dark Secret

A Problem Shared

Harry woke up with a cold sweat. It seemed to be happening more often. Was it that Voldemort was becoming more active? He was already getting worried; the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach seemed almost constant.

He got out of his bed. The snow was falling fast outside, and the hoarfrost was on both sides of the window. He opened it slightly to get a breath of fresh air. Some of the flakes blew through the small gap, glinting beautifully in the light of the dying fire. Ron turned over in his bed, and mumbled. Harry quickly got back into bed, pretending to be asleep. The last thing he wanted was his friends fussing over him.

He lay on his back looking up. A lot had changed in the last few months, the war, the step up in work because of the NEWTS, and of course the change in himself. He realised that he was less and less interested in Ginny's advances on him, less interested in any of the girls now he thought about it.

He was becoming more infatuated with some of the boys in his year. They suddenly looked much more like men than the boys they had been in his memory.

"Perhaps it's just the worry about the war, and maybe things will change after it?" He thought. But did he want it to change? He'd never really stopped to think about it before. But the more he mused, the more it made sense. It couldn't hurt to look at some of the guys, could it?

***
Harry heard the clock chime, although he wasn't sure he'd been asleep since he'd had a breath of air. He took a shower; the cold water woke him up much better. He got dressed and joined the others in the Great Hall. He found himself looking around a little more than usual.

"Harry, you alright mate?" Asked Ron.

"Yeah...yeah, fine," Harry replied in a far away voice. Obviously he needed to be a bit more subtle. At least they probably thought he was worrying about the war. He helped himself to another glass of pumpkin juice.

His first lesson was with Slughorn. Thanks to the Half Blood Prince's book he could enjoy these lessons. They were on their own this time. They were to prepare an Elixir to induce Euphoria. The book called for a sprig of peppermint to be added. When he had finished, his potion was a perfect sunshine yellow. Malfoy's was the colour of vomit, with bits floating in it to complete the look.

Slughorn muttered something as he passed Malfoy, but it was too quiet for Harry to hear.

"Excellent work as always Potter," he said as he continued round the class.

"You could use your skill in potions to work with Malfoy," said a voice in Harry's head. Harry tried to block it out, but he could still remember it.

After they had packed away their cauldrons, they filed out of the room. Goyle tripped over his untied shoe lace, knocking Malfoy's books over.

"Nice going, lamebrain!" Sneered Malfoy, shoeing Goyle away, lest he destroy anything else. Ordinarily Harry would have walked out, preferably kicking one of the books away, but today he couldn't do it.

He'd been right behind Malfoy for the whole class. He couldn't help but notice the other boy's fine ass and strong muscles. He tried to put this to the back of his mind, but it niggled at him. Finally he said:

"Malfoy, if you're really struggling with potions, perhaps you'd like some help?"

That was just about insulting enough for the Slytherin, and he fully expected a barbed response. To his surprise Malfoy looked him straight in the eye.

"If you're offering, I know a room on the second floor corridor. I can't be seen talking to you obviously, but meet me there at nine," he spoke quickly and quietly.

"And don't tell anyone or I'll tell everyone that you the reason you are doing so well in potions is because you are sucking Slughorn off."

Harry couldn't believe it, either Malfoy was in far worse trouble than he thought, or there was something deeper going on.

At five to nine, Harry left the common room quietly, and went down to the second floor corridor. He held his wand tightly, it wouldn't be above Malfoy to prepare an ambush. He had his invisibility cloak stuffed in his pocket, along with his book. He opened the only door with the light on. Malfoy was standing by the front desk, hands in pocket. There was no-one else in the room.

"I'm glad you came, Potter," said Malfoy. "I wasn't sure you would, you and I have never been on good terms."

That was an understatement.

"Look, I'm not doing well, and I can't tell my friends."

"So he talks to his enemies instead?" thought Harry.

"I've been asked to do things by the Dark Lord. I can't do it." He blubbered. A tear rolled down his cheek. Harry reached up and wiped it off. Why did he do that?

"I can't trust anyone in Slytherin, they're all in league with the Lord," he whimpered. "And they'd kill me if they knew how messed up I was."

Harry could barely even hear him. He was weighing up whether to just leave, but the sight of this guy looking so distraught for some reason spoke to his soul far more than words ever could.

"What does he want you to do, and how are you messed up? You've got the entire house eating out of your hand." Harry spoke.

"They don't know t-the t-truth about m-me..." The whimpering carried on.

"About what?" Harry asked

"I'm...I erm, that is I-I, I like men," Malfoy struggled out.

Harry put his arm around the whimpering lump.

"Why tell me that though?" Harry inquired.

"Because no-one in Slytherin will believe you." Malfoy looked to see how Harry reacted. Harry looked pleasantly surprised. "And also because I like you," Malfoy continued.

"Really?" Harry couldn't stop himself. He couldn't believe it, Malfoy, or should that be Draco liked him.

The nod from Draco was all the encouragement. He held Draco's head and forced their lips together. Draco's tears fell onto his cheeks. Draco's tongue wormed its way between their joined lips, touching the tip of Harry's tongue.

The kiss lasted several seconds, they both drew back, scarcely able to believe what they had just done. Harry smiled, Draco returned it, and leant in. This time Draco was much bolder, his tongue darted purposefully between his lips, Harry's tongue followed it back into Draco's mouth. He felt Draco's sharp teeth and leaned his head in.

The kiss lasted for a beautiful moment; Harry could feel Draco's hair, soft against his hand. The sound of his heart was deafening. They carried on kissing for a few minutes. Harry could feel his trousers becoming uncomfortable. He glanced for the tell tale shape on Draco's crotch. He was enjoying this too.

"We better go before we're missed," said Draco at last.

"When are you next free?" asked Harry.

"Same time tomorrow good for you?" Draco responded.

"See you then."

He waited a minute after Draco left, so that no one saw them together. He returned to the Gryffindor common room to find Ron and Hermione bickering over McGonagall's essay. He sat with them for some time, clearly they hadn't noticed he'd gone, or perhaps they didn't want to ask.

Harry went to bed early, but couldn't sleep. He could only think about the moment he shared with Draco. He lay on his back, and for the first time in quite a while dreamed pleasantly.

TBC

A/N: So I have a new story posted! I hope you all enjoyed it. I wrote this as a present for my friend Chantelle and I've decided to post it here as well. I have lots more story ideas floating around, so you can expect to see much more from me. But don't worry I'm not going to abandon my other story. Please R&R.