*******************************
Harry Potter let go of Hermione Granger's hand quickly after the dance, blushing slightly when she reproved him, 'If you want to do the show well, take things slow,'. No, she did not mean making out but rather the show Harry Potter was putting up to the whole of Hogwarts that he, the Boy-Who- Lived, was heterosexual, thank you very much.
And his best friends were teaming up to help him with the act - Hermione offered to dance with him while Ron ensured that he danced at least three dances with three different girls.
'Sorry,' Harry muttered as he handed her a glass of wine as gentlemanly as he knew how to and gave a brief glance in the teachers' direction.
His keen eyes caught a flash of silver as Lucius Malfoy, new Professor for Defense Against The Dark Arts, threw back his gorgeous head and elegantly accepted Professor Sinistra's offer to dance, making it the third time he'd accepted an offer from a woman to dance. He didn't even need to ask to get a partner, they were too smitten with him to wait. And Harry Potter was embarrassed to admit that he too was smitten with the deviously handsome Professor Malfoy.
Now, Harry had always known of his slightly-extraordinary preference for men and boys alike since Cho Chang's rejection in his fifth year. Now in his seventh year, Harry had two crushes already, one being Severus Snape and the other his current one. Harry now leaned against the wall to observe and compare the two men.
While Severus Snape was dark haired and brooding, attractive in the quiet manner, Lucius Malfoy was fair haired and not too withdrawn. The man made enough polite conversations although it was a bit obvious that he'd rather be somewhere else than here. Lucius Malfoy had that sort of dangerous air about him that allured Harry. Come to think of it, maybe Snape had been right about him going about to find trouble.
Harry remembered the first time this year he'd seen Lucius Malfoy. It was at the first night of the first term. Dumbledore had stood up and cheerfully announced that he was sure that he had found a teacher who could last for more than a year without either being hexed into oblivion or driven away, Ron had pointed out that for that, someone eyeing the post had to be some powerful wizard.
And he was right.
In stepped Lucius Malfoy in the usual arrogant manner he used and he had coldly eyed the students, as if daring anyone of them to voice out their objections. No wonder Dumbledore had been so sure Snape wouldn't try to drive Lucius Malfoy away - Lucius Malfoy was more than a match for the Potions Professor and he was real apt at the Dark Arts.
Professor Malfoy had turned out to be quite some teacher. He was like Snape, he could silence a class effortlessly with a simple sneer or glare which served to quell many students. Why Malfoy accepted the post was a mystery to Harry for Draco Malfoy had been killed in last year's battle. But Lucius Malfoy had turned out to be at least fairer than Snape and did not particularly pick on Harry or anything.
In fact, Lucius Malfoy had the smoothest voice Harry ever heard. The man always used a low, silky tone when he addressed the class and Harry was fascinated by the way Lucius Malfoy did his hair. Lucius Malfoy also had the uncanny ability to sense when Harry was looking at him. The man always sharply fixed his grey eyes on Harry when Harry stared.
And Lucius Malfoy had the most beautiful handwriting Harry had ever seen. On the returned work, Harry was often amazed by how neat and cursive Lucius Malfoy's script was. Even the words he wrote on the board were of total perfection.
'Earth to Harry, earth to Harry,' Harry jumped slightly when he felt Ron prod his back rather painfully to get his attention, as he looked back at the ex-Death Eater, Harry felt the sharp grey eyes catch his and linger for a moment before the blonde wizard turned away to talk to Severus Snape.
'Yeah?'
'So?'
'What do you mean by [ so ]?' Harry was honestly innocent as he sipped his drink while waiting for an answer. He watched as Ron rolled his eyes and gave a martyr-like long suffering sigh and did another rolling of the eyes before answering, 'I asked you if you wanted to play Truth or Dare with us,'
'Oh, that. Um . . .alright, but I can't play long, ok?' Harry had no choice but accept as he was being led off to a quieter corner. Ginny, Neville and Hermione had all come along to play and they sat cross-legged on the sparkling floor while Ron got an empty bottle from one of the tables.
'Harry, you go first,' Harry caught the bottle deftly and spun. It ended up facing Neville who gulped, not expecting himself to be the first one.
'Truth,' Neville decided, fearful that a dare might involve Professor Snape.
'Ok Neville, which girl do you admire most?' Ron carefully chose the words as he watched Neville blush slightly. 'Well?'
'Hermione 'cos she always helps me with my Potions stuff,' Hermione blushed red with pride and embarrassment as she was lightly teased by Ron for being such helpful girl. The bottle next came to a stop facing Harry as he debated his choices quickly for a moment. He was intensely afraid that a dare might have anything to do with either Snape or Malfoy.
'Truth,'
'Well then, which teacher would you like to shag most?' Harry choked slightly as Ginny mischievously asked him, not knowing what answer might be given. Next to him, Harry heard Hermione whisper softly, 'Change it,'
'A dare?' Harry could only hope it did not involve Lucius Malfoy.
'Oh, alright,' Ginny allowed the change and thought for a moment before impishly saying, 'Ok, how about asking Professor Malfoy for a dance?' Harry looked at her dumbly for a second before exclaiming, 'What?! You want me to what?!'
'You heard me, ask Lucius Malfoy for a dance, simple as that. He'll never accept your offer but at least you've done the dare,' Ginny grinned, not noticing Hermione and Ron's obvious alarm as their friend contemplated his chances. Besides, it was either that or he honestly say that he fancied a shag with Lucius Malfoy.
Anyway, he assured himself, Lucius Malfoy would never accept the dance proposal, so he was quite safe. He doubted that Lucius Malfoy would even take him seriously. More likely the man who sneer and tell him to bloody fuck off.
With a meek glance at Lucius Malfoy's direction, Harry gulped and stood up, making his way around the edges of the dance floor towards Lucius Malfoy.
******************************
Meanwhile . . .
'Lucius, will you stop looking at Potter?!' Severus Snape hissed into his friend's ear as soon as he caught hold of the blonde.
He watched the blonde jump slightly and look at him with great annoyance at the interruption.
'It isn't obvious, is it?' Lucius Malfoy unfastened the silver clasp of his dress robes while he muttered resentfully like a teenager he once was. Oh, this had happened before, when Severus caught him staring at Sirius Black and now it was happening again. This time with the man's godson, how convenient.
'I know you happen to like Potter but to me, your obvious obsession is real obvious,' Severus Snape snapped, outraged at Lucius' mild manner of answering. He watched as Lucius Malfoy looked at him with polite silence, wanting him to continue, 'And so, keep your eyes and hands off the boy if you want this job,'
'Now, now, Severus, you and I both know that I applied for this job practically because I fancied the boy and wanted to have more time to ah - observe him. I have no need for a steady income, seeing that I have enough to last me for a century and still buy a coffin of pure gold encrusted with diamonds,' Lucius raised an aristocratic eyebrow as he smiled lightly at Severus Snape.
'I wonder if Dumbledore knows that you took up this post precisely because you wanted to look at your little obsession. Hell, half the staff are thinking you are out of your mind - Draco died in a battle against Light and you are now lusting after the Boy-Who-Lived. Lucius, even I wonder if you have gone mad,' Severus Snape looked at his friend incredulously, voicing his curiosity which he had suppressed for the past three months.
Lucius Malfoy gave him a very thoughtful glance before saying softly, 'Draco's death had nothing to do with me - I always guarded him against entering Voldemort's service. He was a fool to have disobeyed my wishes. You see the fact that he could face me as a Death Eater made me kill my own son,'
The pain of killing his own son despite being angry with the boy could slightly be heard as Lucius Malfoy softened his voice. He looked slightly weary now, even haggard but as Severus watched, Lucius regained his cool composure within seconds and faced him, proud as ever.
'Sorry,' Severus Snape offered as he patted Lucius' shoulder lightly.
'Not any difference, having Draco in my life and not. I always thought he was a whinny little brat,' Lucius attempted to lightened the conversation only to hear Severus snort.
'I seem to recall a certain little brat who was as whinny as his son was next to me in all classes years ago,'
Lucius opened his mouth to retort only to mutter softly, 'Damn it, Potter's here,' Severus gave a half smirk, half grin before warning, 'Well, don't you give in to your very aristocratic impulses and kiss him or shag him,'
Lucius kept his gaze firmly fixed upon Harry Potter who approached, seeing out of a corner of his eyes that Severus was leaving them alone.
Lucius raised an eyebrow gracefully while he watched Harry fidget with his hands. Now, fidgeting was only when the boy was nervous or slightly embarrassed, Lucius recognised the signs and patiently laid his glass of wine on the table while he asked neutrally, 'Yes, Mr. Potter? How may I assist you?'
Lucius felt like breaking into laughter as he watched Harry bite his lip nervously as the boy gazed at him, apprehensiveness clearly evident. Was he that intimidating? Lucius wondered mildly as he folded his arms, staring into the emerald depths coolly.
'I . . . . . .um . . .Professor, would . . .you like to dance?'
Lucius was no fool, he knew it had to be a dare for no student would ever dare to dance with him or even bother to ask for one as Lucius was known for his sarcasm and extreme harshness at certain times. Now, he studied the boy standing in front of him with an apprehensive look pasted on his face.
Lucius would have rejected any student outright and with a great deal of sarcasm but this was Harry. This was the young little reason he was here anyway and besides, he wanted to give Hogwarts a scare.
'Is it a dare, Harry?' Lucius' eyes strayed over to the group of anxious friends who were watching Harry closely.
'Y-yes, sir,' Harry blushed now, a cute attractive shade of red.
'Ah - I see. . .,' Lucius Malfoy put on his most sardonic smirk and in a surprisingly gentle way, used his fingers to tilt the boy's head up. Scared green eyes met his own as Harry Potter gulped fearfully.
'Yes, Potter, I would like to dance,' he answered, enjoying the look of shock on the boy's face as he pulled the boy onto the dance floor.
*************************************
Harry Potter let go of Hermione Granger's hand quickly after the dance, blushing slightly when she reproved him, 'If you want to do the show well, take things slow,'. No, she did not mean making out but rather the show Harry Potter was putting up to the whole of Hogwarts that he, the Boy-Who- Lived, was heterosexual, thank you very much.
And his best friends were teaming up to help him with the act - Hermione offered to dance with him while Ron ensured that he danced at least three dances with three different girls.
'Sorry,' Harry muttered as he handed her a glass of wine as gentlemanly as he knew how to and gave a brief glance in the teachers' direction.
His keen eyes caught a flash of silver as Lucius Malfoy, new Professor for Defense Against The Dark Arts, threw back his gorgeous head and elegantly accepted Professor Sinistra's offer to dance, making it the third time he'd accepted an offer from a woman to dance. He didn't even need to ask to get a partner, they were too smitten with him to wait. And Harry Potter was embarrassed to admit that he too was smitten with the deviously handsome Professor Malfoy.
Now, Harry had always known of his slightly-extraordinary preference for men and boys alike since Cho Chang's rejection in his fifth year. Now in his seventh year, Harry had two crushes already, one being Severus Snape and the other his current one. Harry now leaned against the wall to observe and compare the two men.
While Severus Snape was dark haired and brooding, attractive in the quiet manner, Lucius Malfoy was fair haired and not too withdrawn. The man made enough polite conversations although it was a bit obvious that he'd rather be somewhere else than here. Lucius Malfoy had that sort of dangerous air about him that allured Harry. Come to think of it, maybe Snape had been right about him going about to find trouble.
Harry remembered the first time this year he'd seen Lucius Malfoy. It was at the first night of the first term. Dumbledore had stood up and cheerfully announced that he was sure that he had found a teacher who could last for more than a year without either being hexed into oblivion or driven away, Ron had pointed out that for that, someone eyeing the post had to be some powerful wizard.
And he was right.
In stepped Lucius Malfoy in the usual arrogant manner he used and he had coldly eyed the students, as if daring anyone of them to voice out their objections. No wonder Dumbledore had been so sure Snape wouldn't try to drive Lucius Malfoy away - Lucius Malfoy was more than a match for the Potions Professor and he was real apt at the Dark Arts.
Professor Malfoy had turned out to be quite some teacher. He was like Snape, he could silence a class effortlessly with a simple sneer or glare which served to quell many students. Why Malfoy accepted the post was a mystery to Harry for Draco Malfoy had been killed in last year's battle. But Lucius Malfoy had turned out to be at least fairer than Snape and did not particularly pick on Harry or anything.
In fact, Lucius Malfoy had the smoothest voice Harry ever heard. The man always used a low, silky tone when he addressed the class and Harry was fascinated by the way Lucius Malfoy did his hair. Lucius Malfoy also had the uncanny ability to sense when Harry was looking at him. The man always sharply fixed his grey eyes on Harry when Harry stared.
And Lucius Malfoy had the most beautiful handwriting Harry had ever seen. On the returned work, Harry was often amazed by how neat and cursive Lucius Malfoy's script was. Even the words he wrote on the board were of total perfection.
'Earth to Harry, earth to Harry,' Harry jumped slightly when he felt Ron prod his back rather painfully to get his attention, as he looked back at the ex-Death Eater, Harry felt the sharp grey eyes catch his and linger for a moment before the blonde wizard turned away to talk to Severus Snape.
'Yeah?'
'So?'
'What do you mean by [ so ]?' Harry was honestly innocent as he sipped his drink while waiting for an answer. He watched as Ron rolled his eyes and gave a martyr-like long suffering sigh and did another rolling of the eyes before answering, 'I asked you if you wanted to play Truth or Dare with us,'
'Oh, that. Um . . .alright, but I can't play long, ok?' Harry had no choice but accept as he was being led off to a quieter corner. Ginny, Neville and Hermione had all come along to play and they sat cross-legged on the sparkling floor while Ron got an empty bottle from one of the tables.
'Harry, you go first,' Harry caught the bottle deftly and spun. It ended up facing Neville who gulped, not expecting himself to be the first one.
'Truth,' Neville decided, fearful that a dare might involve Professor Snape.
'Ok Neville, which girl do you admire most?' Ron carefully chose the words as he watched Neville blush slightly. 'Well?'
'Hermione 'cos she always helps me with my Potions stuff,' Hermione blushed red with pride and embarrassment as she was lightly teased by Ron for being such helpful girl. The bottle next came to a stop facing Harry as he debated his choices quickly for a moment. He was intensely afraid that a dare might have anything to do with either Snape or Malfoy.
'Truth,'
'Well then, which teacher would you like to shag most?' Harry choked slightly as Ginny mischievously asked him, not knowing what answer might be given. Next to him, Harry heard Hermione whisper softly, 'Change it,'
'A dare?' Harry could only hope it did not involve Lucius Malfoy.
'Oh, alright,' Ginny allowed the change and thought for a moment before impishly saying, 'Ok, how about asking Professor Malfoy for a dance?' Harry looked at her dumbly for a second before exclaiming, 'What?! You want me to what?!'
'You heard me, ask Lucius Malfoy for a dance, simple as that. He'll never accept your offer but at least you've done the dare,' Ginny grinned, not noticing Hermione and Ron's obvious alarm as their friend contemplated his chances. Besides, it was either that or he honestly say that he fancied a shag with Lucius Malfoy.
Anyway, he assured himself, Lucius Malfoy would never accept the dance proposal, so he was quite safe. He doubted that Lucius Malfoy would even take him seriously. More likely the man who sneer and tell him to bloody fuck off.
With a meek glance at Lucius Malfoy's direction, Harry gulped and stood up, making his way around the edges of the dance floor towards Lucius Malfoy.
******************************
Meanwhile . . .
'Lucius, will you stop looking at Potter?!' Severus Snape hissed into his friend's ear as soon as he caught hold of the blonde.
He watched the blonde jump slightly and look at him with great annoyance at the interruption.
'It isn't obvious, is it?' Lucius Malfoy unfastened the silver clasp of his dress robes while he muttered resentfully like a teenager he once was. Oh, this had happened before, when Severus caught him staring at Sirius Black and now it was happening again. This time with the man's godson, how convenient.
'I know you happen to like Potter but to me, your obvious obsession is real obvious,' Severus Snape snapped, outraged at Lucius' mild manner of answering. He watched as Lucius Malfoy looked at him with polite silence, wanting him to continue, 'And so, keep your eyes and hands off the boy if you want this job,'
'Now, now, Severus, you and I both know that I applied for this job practically because I fancied the boy and wanted to have more time to ah - observe him. I have no need for a steady income, seeing that I have enough to last me for a century and still buy a coffin of pure gold encrusted with diamonds,' Lucius raised an aristocratic eyebrow as he smiled lightly at Severus Snape.
'I wonder if Dumbledore knows that you took up this post precisely because you wanted to look at your little obsession. Hell, half the staff are thinking you are out of your mind - Draco died in a battle against Light and you are now lusting after the Boy-Who-Lived. Lucius, even I wonder if you have gone mad,' Severus Snape looked at his friend incredulously, voicing his curiosity which he had suppressed for the past three months.
Lucius Malfoy gave him a very thoughtful glance before saying softly, 'Draco's death had nothing to do with me - I always guarded him against entering Voldemort's service. He was a fool to have disobeyed my wishes. You see the fact that he could face me as a Death Eater made me kill my own son,'
The pain of killing his own son despite being angry with the boy could slightly be heard as Lucius Malfoy softened his voice. He looked slightly weary now, even haggard but as Severus watched, Lucius regained his cool composure within seconds and faced him, proud as ever.
'Sorry,' Severus Snape offered as he patted Lucius' shoulder lightly.
'Not any difference, having Draco in my life and not. I always thought he was a whinny little brat,' Lucius attempted to lightened the conversation only to hear Severus snort.
'I seem to recall a certain little brat who was as whinny as his son was next to me in all classes years ago,'
Lucius opened his mouth to retort only to mutter softly, 'Damn it, Potter's here,' Severus gave a half smirk, half grin before warning, 'Well, don't you give in to your very aristocratic impulses and kiss him or shag him,'
Lucius kept his gaze firmly fixed upon Harry Potter who approached, seeing out of a corner of his eyes that Severus was leaving them alone.
Lucius raised an eyebrow gracefully while he watched Harry fidget with his hands. Now, fidgeting was only when the boy was nervous or slightly embarrassed, Lucius recognised the signs and patiently laid his glass of wine on the table while he asked neutrally, 'Yes, Mr. Potter? How may I assist you?'
Lucius felt like breaking into laughter as he watched Harry bite his lip nervously as the boy gazed at him, apprehensiveness clearly evident. Was he that intimidating? Lucius wondered mildly as he folded his arms, staring into the emerald depths coolly.
'I . . . . . .um . . .Professor, would . . .you like to dance?'
Lucius was no fool, he knew it had to be a dare for no student would ever dare to dance with him or even bother to ask for one as Lucius was known for his sarcasm and extreme harshness at certain times. Now, he studied the boy standing in front of him with an apprehensive look pasted on his face.
Lucius would have rejected any student outright and with a great deal of sarcasm but this was Harry. This was the young little reason he was here anyway and besides, he wanted to give Hogwarts a scare.
'Is it a dare, Harry?' Lucius' eyes strayed over to the group of anxious friends who were watching Harry closely.
'Y-yes, sir,' Harry blushed now, a cute attractive shade of red.
'Ah - I see. . .,' Lucius Malfoy put on his most sardonic smirk and in a surprisingly gentle way, used his fingers to tilt the boy's head up. Scared green eyes met his own as Harry Potter gulped fearfully.
'Yes, Potter, I would like to dance,' he answered, enjoying the look of shock on the boy's face as he pulled the boy onto the dance floor.
*************************************