Grits: Not Just Another Breakfast Food
Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. It belongs to J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros.
Note: Harry and Draco have been secretly together for a while when this takes place.
The sunlight beamed down and cut through Harry's thin eyelids painfully. There was malicious intent behind the suddenness of the light, but he was too sleepy to really care as he rolled away from the opening in his curtains and fell back asleep.
"Oh no you don't," a voice said as he felt his blanket yanked from under his chin. The bitter cold of a castle morning in mid-February was too much for the youth as he bolted up and lunged for the blanket.
"That's better," the voice said again. Harry glared through sleepy and angry eyes at the blond standing beside his bed.
"You really want things to go back to normal, don't you Draco?" Harry growled. "What are you doing in here anyway?"
"I made an agreement with Wesley. I stop insulting him and Granger, and he'd sneak me in." The smug Slytherin sat on the mattress, Harry's blanket still in hand. "You know what today is, right?"
"Thursday. Now give me back my blanket. I don't have to get up for another few minutes," Harry grumbled. He reached for the bundled up comforter as Draco shoved it behind his back. In his half-conscious efforts to retrieve his source of warmth, he fell over Draco's lap in a particularly inappropriate fashion. The blond smirked as Harry groaned again and finally curled up in the black fabric of Draco's robes.
"I guess this will have to do," he mumbled as his eyes closed again and he curled up closer to the Slytherin.
"As much as I'd love to stay here all day with your face in my lap," Draco said, grinning evilly. "We need to get downstairs before we are missed."
"Breakfast isn't for another hour," Harry replied as his fingers found the spot under Draco's knee that was so sensitive. Being woken so early and in such an awful manor deserves a bit of revenge. "So either give me back my blanket and get out, or be quiet."
"Someone isn't a morning person," he replied, and punctuated the statement with a soft groan. "Besides, your internal clock must be really messed up. Breakfast is already going on. Did you get any sleep last night at all?"
"Hermonie kept me and Ron up until four in the morning to make sure we finished our Potions report."
"Truly awful. You know, there may be a way to get Snape to lighten up…. You'd better stop that before I decide we aren't going down to breakfast." Draco closed his eyes as another shudder ran through him. "I swear you should have been sorted into Slytherin. You're evil enough." Despite the fact that he'd asked for it, disappointment fell over his pale features as Harry drew his hand away and, laughing left the bed to get dressed.
"We've already gone over it. He'll never lighten up. He'd rather kill me for taking away his favorite student."
"Still…"
"No."
"You'd think I'd be the one against everyone knowing. I'm the one who has their Slytherin pride to uphold."
"What about me? I'm the one who's gotten together with the son of a Death Eater."
"I thought we agreed not to talk about that," Draco said, raising an eyebrow as Harry pulled jeans and a shirt from his chest.
"Well I thought we agreed only a few select people are to know about us."
"But imagine their faces!"
"Its quite easy. Their eyes will go wide, maybe a few jaws will drop."
"Unlike you, I didn't have anyone like Weasly and Granger to tell."
"Not my fault Crabbe and Goyle are a couple of idiots. Now be quiet unless you want me to kick you out while I get dressed."
Harry laughed again as he turned back to his chest. As expected, there wasn't another peep from the watchful Malfoy.
"Oh no." Harry's eyes widened in horror as the two slipped quietly into the busy dining hall.
"So you finally remembered what day it is," Draco whispered, smirking. The entire dining hall was covered, from the partially cloudy ceiling to the trampled floor underneath in pinks, reds, and whites. The annoying decorations had been dropped after Lockhart left, but a few years later a new teacher decided to start it up again. And unfortunately, she stayed.
"I hate Valentine's day."
"Keep an open mind. Some people think it's the best holiday of the year," Draco replied as he gave Harry one last smirk, then headed for the Slytherin table. Harry glared at his back before he too headed to join his friends.
Breakfast was already in full swing. Fruit, cereal, milk, orange juice, eggs, and even a southern US dish Dumbledore recently experienced and asked to be added to the menu, grits, covered the table in bowls, pitchers, and every plate in sight. The bowls of grits stood largely untouched. They reminded most of the students of better-off-forgotten baby food.
"There you are," Ron said as he turned to see Harry approach. "We were beginning to think you weren't coming down."
"That was on his mind. By the way, thanks a lot."
"Its Valentine's day. I thought you'd like to wake up to Malfoy," Ron said laughing. It was times like those that made Harry think Ron was trying to replace Fred and George.
"I don't know how you can be so alert after last night."
"My secret."
"Well I'm going back to bed. Tell all our professors that I'm sick."
"Oh no you don't," Hermonie said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back into his chair. "The rest of us have to live through this day, and so do you."
"Fine," he grumbled. Suddenly his eyebrows rose and he began to smile. "Lets at least get rid of all this pink. It's beginning to hurt my eyes."
"What're you thinking about?" Ron whispered.
"I see a certain Slytherin that I wouldn't mind covering in food."
"Its Valentines day, Harry. You sure you want to get Malfoy mad at you?"
"Knowing him, that would just make him excited."
"I DID NOT NEED TO KNOW THAT!!" Ron shouted, backing away and covering his ears. "Damn it Harry, it's going to take me forever to get that image out of my head!" Much of the dining hall turned to look at Ron curiously, but he was too busy muttering the names of girls he knew to pay any attention. Hermonie felt her face flush up as her name was placed on the list.
"Not my fault you have a dirty mind, Ron. You're the one who let him in my room this morning too. You'd think your mind was prepared for something like that." Harry laughed. "Besides, I meant it in a perfectly innocent way."
"I really doubt that," the red head grumbled as he finally stopped his chant.
"So are you guys with me?" Harry asked as his eyes lit up evilly. "I'm sure we can put these grits to good use."
"Give me time to get undercover, Harry. I really don't want to be late to Transfiguration."
"I'm sure you know a spell that will clean us up, Hermonie."
"…"
"I thought so. Cover me." He hid partially behind Ron as if they were in a very involved conversation as the weapon of choice, Harry's spoon dug into the bowl of grits. The sticky, sloppy goo was just thick enough to stay on the utensil as he raised it up in one hand and placed a finger of the other at the spoon's tip. He pulled his finger back; the muscles in the hand holding the handle of the spoon were tense and ready to spring back the moment he let go.
Draco happened to look up just as the grits neared their flight's end. His eyes widened in shock, but it was too late. With a loud splat, the white breakfast food covered his face.
A hush fell over the hall. People looked in horror at the victim and searched for the one with a lifted, empty spoon. Harry had already lowered his arm, but as he met Draco's eyes, a huge grin lit up his face.
"It was Potter," Draco said softly as his eyes narrowed in the desire for revenge. Much of the Slytherin table started picking up spoons, biscuits, and fruit. Across the hall, the Griffindor table began arming themselves for the impending battle. Many of the other two houses prepared as well, either by ducking under the tables or picking up their own weapons of choice.
As the teachers at the head table watched in horror, the hall's decorations were covered in breakfast.
"Nope."
"Hermonie, please?"
"I never said I'd clean you up. Ron should be so lucky that I agreed to clean him."
"Sorry Harry," Ron said mournfully. "But on the bright side, I bet you won't be the only one late."
"We'd better leave you to go clean up," Hermonie said, grinning. "Otherwise you'll miss class completely."
Harry watched as his friends walked down the hallway towards class, then turned towards the Griffindor dorms. The halls had already thinned out, those who knew someone who could clean them up already on their way to class.
"That was very evil of you," a voice said as its speaker came up behind Harry. "I'm covered in grits now."
"I told Ron it'd only make you excited."
"So that's what he was shouting about." Draco laughed as he wrapped his arms around Harry and clasped his hands hardly an inch above the juncture of his legs. Harry looked at the others in the hallway nervously. Already people were staring at the two of them; part of Harry wanted to just forget them and return Draco's attentions.
"Ignore them," Draco whispered into Harry's ear. The raven haired Griffindor shivered as the Slytherin's breath ran amok over his nerves. All thoughts of their staring classmates fled as Harry leaned back in Draco's arms.
"Ron, Seamus, and Neville are already on their way to class. The room is empty," Harry suggested. He could feel Draco's lips curl up in a smile against his neck.
"I know. I asked Hermonie to make sure they didn't have a reason to come back." Harry's eyes widened in surprise as he turned around in Draco's arms and saw the large smirk on his lips. "But Harry, what will everyone think?!" the Slytherin continued in false shock.
"That plan was dashed when you followed me. Might as well enjoy it." Draco drew his head away from Harry's long enough to see the fallen jaws of those around them. "Satisfied?" Harry asked, laughing as he nuzzled against Draco's neck.
"Very. But let's take this out of the public eye."
"We're never going to live this down," Harry whispered, still laughing.
The door to the dorm room shut behind them and ended all stares of shock from following any further. Harry's bed was still unmade and the comforter was bundled up on the side of the mattress, but neither took the time to straighten it out. Sticky robes fell to the ground as Harry again closed the distance between him and the blond Slytherin.
"So much for class," Harry whispered, laughing quietly as Draco's lips brushed across his cheek.
"You taste like syrup." Every movement of Draco's lips closed the distance between them further.
"Perhaps we should clean up first."
"No. I like it." Draco said against Harry's cheek.
Their mouths met and Draco slipped his tongue past the sweetened lips. Harry pulled back after a moment.
"You taste like grits," he said smiling.
"Well excuse me if I couldn't wipe them all off," Draco replied, eyes narrowed. "Who was it who threw them?"
"No, I just think I could get to like grits this way."
Well, I'm going to leave it there. I figured I shouldn't do so many firsts in one fic. This is already my first Harry Potter fic and my first shounen ai. I'll save the NC-17 stuff for another time.
Like I said, this is a first in a few areas for me. Actually, this is also my first Valentines Day contribution to the fanfic community, AND my first plotless one shot. So I would be very grateful for comments people could give. Anyway I could improve? What did I do badly, what was good, stuff like that. If I get enough, I might do more Harry/Draco fics, instead of just read them!
~Jade Nova
moon_archer82@lunap.com