He woke up with a start. He looked around to satisfy himself that he was indeed sleeping. He had been dreaming again. About Potter. And as always, he could feel the remnants of the dream in his body just as well as he could remember the dream. Draco had no idea why dreams about Potter left him so painfully aware of his body. They were never blatantly sexual in nature. Draco rubbed his face in frustration. This has got to stop. He could not dream about Potter. It was Potter, for God's sake. He decided not to go back to sleep now that he was already awake. He got up deciding at once to get the cold shower that he very much needed at that moment.
Harry wasn't feeling well that morning. The nightmares that had left him alone for the past few days returned with full fervour last night. He could remember screaming in his sleep and when he woke up, he was sobbing softly. He decided not to brood over his dream again when he woke up. It's not like his dream had any hidden meaning, he knew full well what it meant. He looked up from his breakfast to see Ron and Hermione sit down beside him, bickering about something even in this early hour. He smiled to himself, atleast that was one thing which did not change after the war.
'Goodmorning, Harry. Had a good sleep?' Hermione knew about the nightmares.
'Okay.' He lied. He did not want to make her so worried this early and also had no intention of repeating what exactly was it that he saw, as Hermione was so fond of asking.
She looked like she was about to argue, not sure whether to believe him or not.
'Give him a break, Hermione. I'm sure he's fine. He'll tell us if something's wrong, won't you Harry?' Ron looked so concerned when he said that that Harry found himself beaming at his two best friends. ' I'm fine, guys. Eat or you'll be late.'
At that moment, Harry heard the familiar drawl that he had hated for the past seven years and looked up only to catch Malfoy's eyes across the Great Hall. Malfoy looked tired, like he too could not sleep last night. The grey eyes narrowed in displeasure when they saw Harry but it lacked the sting of the earlier years. It was almost as if all the hatred was sucked out of Malfoy eyes leaving room for something much more complicated. The eyes looked at him with such intensity that it sent a shiver down Harry's spine. His eyes looked so different. Harry did not pause to think how on earth he knew what Malfoy's eyes looked like. It was as if a shot of electricity passed between them through their eyes. Harry could not take his eyes off those mesmerising grey ones and it looked like Malfoy felt the same because he held his gaze until he sat down at the Slytherin table and moved his head to talk to Pansy sitting beside him. Harry suddenly realised he was holding his breath. He was holding his breath because Malfoy's eyes looked different. He had no idea whether to be more worried about the fact that Malfoy did not seem to hate him anymore or because he was really hoping that was true.
His friends seemed oblivious to the silent exchange and Harry wondered if that was because it was all in his head. They finished breakfast and walked down to the dungeons where they had Potions. Harry felt as if he walked up on some stage as soon as he entered the classroom because of Slughorn's booming 'Harry, my boy' which made everyone look his way. The war made Harry appreciate attention even less than before because now he could not walk even half a metre without someone asking him something about the war. It was worse when he had first come back for the eighth year and stopped only because McGonagall said she'd put anyone in detention if they so much as asked Harry his name. Not that anyone's going to do that; they all knew his name, that was the problem. He managed a tiny smile in Slughorn's direction before sliding into a bench with Ron and Hermione.
The worst part of eight year Potions was that they still had to share classes with the Slytherins. But today Harry was looking forward to seeing the Slytherin; one particular Slytherin, in fact. Malfoy entered the room, looking smug as always, like he had just been told that he was getting the world for his birthday. He nodded at Slughorn, who ignorned him, and slid into a bench with Zabini and Pansy, without so much as a glance towards Harry. Dissapointment washed over him. Harry never thought he could feel such strong feelings just because Malfoy refused to look at him. Wasn't that what Harry had wanted since forever? For Malfoy to leave him alone? He went back to reading the instructions on the board that Slughorn had already written down, feeling slightly dizzy.
Harry was just about to add his porcupine quills into the potion when he felt someone's gaze on his back. He did not need to turn around to find out who it was. The same shiver that he felt the breakfast table was running down his spine again and it was all he needed to know who was staring at him. He turned slowly so as not to startle him and found himself into Malfoy's eyes second time that morning. And at that moment, Harry realised that whatever it was that he felt this morning, it wasn't happening only in his head because Malfoy felt it too. The grey eyes glowed and almost bore into Harry's soul and he could not will himself to look away even though he knew full well that he was staring into Malfoy's eyes in the middle of the Potions classroom. Malfoy shook his head like he was trying to clear his mind of some thought he shouldn't be having in the first place and that little head movement almost killed Harry. He never knew Malfoy could look so beautiful. He turned back to his potion almost unwillingly, trying to clear his thoughts just as Malfoy seemed to be doing a minute ago.
It's Malfoy. Malfoy. Get a grip, Harry. This is Malfoy you're thinking about. Not only is he a boy, he's Malfoy. Since when have you looked at another boy that way? Since when have you looked at Malfoy that way?
Malfoy is beautiful, his subconscious supplied unhelpfully.
Harry tried to keep his head in the potion for the next half an hour although his subconscious kept trying to tell him how how beautiful the name Draco would sound if only Harry called him out loud. He was very tempted to do so, just to see how the name would feel against his lips. Draco...Draco...Draco...he kept saying in his head without even being aware that he was repeatedly calling out Malfoy's name in his mind.
The day passed in a whirlwind with Harry and Malfoy staring through every single one of the classes they shared together. Even when Malfoy was not in class with him, Harry was so distracted that all he could think of was how beautiful Malfoy's eyes were, which cost him twenty points in Charms and earned him a detention in Transfiguration. He was surprised none of his friends noticed anything; specially Hermione, she missed nothing. When the bell went off in History of Magic signalling the end of the school day, Harry couldn't wait to talk to Malfoy, or Draco as he called him in his head now. He needed to find out what was the meaning of all those glances. He wondered how in the span of one day, he could go from not-liking-Malfoy-very-much to being obsessed with him. But then again, Harry reminded himself smiling, he had always been obsessed with Draco Malfoy. He almost escaped from the classroom before Hermione caught up with him and refused to let him pass without answering her questions first.
'Harry, what is wrong with you today? You've been so distracted that you've actually got yourself a detention for that. And why on earth have you been staring at Malfoy all day?, Hermione asked in one breath in case Harry tried to run away. So okay, maybe Hermione did notice he was staring at Malfoy. But he did not want to talk about it without talking to Malfoy first.
'Hermione, what are you talking about? Like you said, why on earth would I stare at Malfoy?' He tried to lie.
'Harry, I saw it too. You were staring at him all day. And the weird part is he was staring back at you. It was surreal.' Ron volunteered. Okay, so maybe his friends were not as oblivious as Harry thought they were. Or he was not as subtle as he thought he was. Or something. He decided to tell them the truth.
'Well, Malfoy was staring at me amd I was staring at him to find out why he was staring at me. No other reason, guys.' Or atleast a part of the truth. They did not need to know now how Malfoy's eyes made him breathless and he couldn't tear his eyes away from his gaze. He can tell them this later. Or maybe never, depending on how it went with Malfoy.
'I'll see you later. I..um...have something...some work to do. I'll tell you later. Bye.' Harry dashed off before Hermione could stop him again.
Harry roamed around the castle trying to find Malfoy. He could use his map but did not want to go all the way to Gryffindor tower to get it so he took to pacing in front of the dungeons which he knew lead to the Slytherin common room hoping Malfoy would come out. He did not know what he expected out of this meeting, or out of Malfoy himself. He just knew that he won't give up until he knew what those moments meant for Malfoy.
Almost an hour passed and Harry had almost given up hope that Malfoy was ever coming out of the Slytherin Common Room when he saw Malfoy walk right past him. He was too distracted thinking about Malfoy that he almost did not see when the object of his distraction walk by. Harry had been sitting in the dark so Malfoy didn't see him there.
'Draco! I mean, Malfoy, listen'. Harry's shout stopped Malfoy just as he was about to take a turn in the corridors.
'Potter! What do you want?' Malfoy tried his drawl again but the look on Harry's face made him change his tone and it ended up sounding breathless.
Harry took a step near Malfoy and said,' Can I talk to you?'
Malfoy looked terrified at the mere prospect of talking to Harry and tried to hide it under a sneer, 'What makes you think I'll give you the time of my day, Potter?', but his voice shook.
Seeing Malfoy so nervous made Harry bolder and he stepped nearer to Malfoy almost pushing him against the corridor wall. He did not pause to ask himself why he was trying to push Malfoy against a wall, telling himself he'll think about it later. They were almost nose to nose now and Harry could see Malfoy's knees shaking.
'What are you doing, Potter? Is this some sort of game?'
'You tell me, Malfoy. You were the one who started it.'
'Started what? What are you on about?', Malfoy asked although his breezy tone said very clearly that he knew exactly what Harry was talking about.
'Why have you been staring at me all day? It's like you can't get enough of me.' Harry looked Malfoy hard in the eyes when he said that although there were butterflies all over inside his stomach and he had no idea why.
'Staring at you? How do you know that? Been staring back at me, Potter?' The fact that Malfoy did not deny staring at Harry during the day made his stomach do a strange flip-flop and suddenly Harry did not feel so bold anymore. Malfoy took chance of Harry's slight hesitation and shifted their positions so fast that Harry had no idea what happened. He was the one trapped between the wall and Malfoy's body now. Harry did not understand how the situation suddenly went out of his control.
Malfoy leaned in towards Harry's ear and whispered 'How does it feel Potter? To be at my mercy?'
Harry would have replied it felt really good if he could talk but he felt like the sensation of Malfoy whispering things into his ear with his whole body in such a close proximity robbed Harry of his ability to talk. Malfoy stretched his fingers to touch Harry's jaw and a shiver ran down both their spines. Harry closed his eyes because he didn't think he could do anything else other feel Malfoy's fingers against him.
'Look at me. Open your eyes.' Malfoy whispered against his ear again.
Harry kept his eyes closed until Malfoy lightly kissed the corner of his jaw and Harry's eyes jerked open at the touch.
Malfoy's eyes looked strangely bright and was filled with lust and something Harry could not quite place. He did not need anyone to tell him how his eyes looked. He knew that at that moment his eyes looked exactly like Malfoy's.
He did not know who moved forward or who closed the gap but suddenly, it was lips on lips, tongue fighting with tongue, teeth against teeth, breath panting and everything a first kiss was not supposed to be. Harry suddenly found his hands in Malfoy's hair and even in the heat of the kiss, his brain briefly registered that his hair was very soft. Malfoy's hands were pulling at Harry's shirt and when he found skin to touch under the shirt, the sensation made them both hiss into the kiss. His hands roamed over Harry's chest making Harry moan into the kiss. He pulled hard at Malfoy's hair and broke the kiss only to attack his neck with licks and nibbles which made a strange whimper come out of Malfoy. Malfoy's hands were busy trying to get rid of Harry's shirt. Harry stopped his administrations on Malfoy's neck to help him take off his shirt. Malfoy fell down to his knees and flicked his tongue on Harry's stomach which made hot sensations to run south of his body. Malfoy kissed every part of exposed skin on Harry's upper body as if he was marking some territory as his own. Harry pulled Malfoy up for another kiss and moved around so that he held Malfoy's hands above him while Malfoy was trapped against the wall. Malfoy groaned and broke the kiss needing air badly. Both of them were panting almost breathlessly because they had forgotten during the kiss that noses can be used to breathe through. It was only then that they suddenly realised that were snogging senselessly in the middle of the corridor where anyone could walk in at any moment. In fact, it was surprising that no one had seen them yet considering the fact that the Slytherin Common Room was so near. Harry hastily put on his shirt when he remembered this. Draco was staring at Harry when Harry turned around. His mouth felt dry. Harry did not know what to say.
'So...um...well...yeah...', Harry mumbled not really saying anything.
'Are you always this inarticulate after snogging, Potter?'
'Harry. You can't call me Potter now, Draco. Not..not after this.'
'Harry', Draco said, trying out the word. 'I can live with that.'
'So what do we do now?' Harry was desperately hoping Malfoy didn't say that they better forget it.
'I don't know. I was hoping for more of this. For now. And some later. ' Draco looked like he was trying not to sound too desperate.
'I think I'd like that; although next time we should choose a more private place.'
Draco grinned at that.
'So what is this we are doing? Are we together or something?'
'Do you want us to be together?'
'Yeah.' Harry said breathlessly.
'We're together then. Although what about the others? Do we have to tell them now?'
'Maybe not now. Let's figure this out ourselves first.' Harry leaned into Draco to kiss the corner of his mouth.
Harry smiled at him. He smiled back eyes shining brilliantly which made Harry want to kiss him again. And he did just that.
Harry knew he could blame this on Draco's eyes. It wasn't his doing at all. Draco's eyes will be the death of him someday.