Harry bolted straight up in bed, gasping, sweat dripping down his neck and his scar burning into his skull. One hand clasped on his forhead as though that would stop the pain, he jerked back his bedhangings and stepped out of bed, his feet sliding into the black slippers on the floor. He grabbed his glasses and wand from the bedside table and made his way to the the door of the dormitory, the nightmare searing through all thought of any school rules aplying to the night.
It had been another one about Sirius. He was often the subject of harry's dreams, had been since disappearing behind that curtain. Harry refused to admit that he was dead. Harry was in the Black house, and was going through what was supposedly "his," and was examining a mug with the black insignia on it. There was a poof of smoke, and Kreature was standing in front of Harry. He giggled and pulled out a wand, twirling and turning into Lord Voldemort. He pointed the wand at someone behind harry, it was Sirius, harry yelled, Lord Voldemort said, "Avada--" and Harry woke up.
Harry opened the door leading to the common room and stepped inside. In front of the couch, an extinguished fire hissed in the grate, making him shiver. It was dark, but with the moon guiding him from a high window, harry made it to the portrait hole, and pushed himself through. Fresh air, that's what he needed, a large lungful of cold, Europe-in-December air.
He stumbled through the corridors, his black pajama pants not offering any reprieve from the cold hair rushing at his bare chest from the windows, and pushed his way into the courtyard in the center of Hogwarts. He found a snow-covered bench, brushed it off, and sat down. He hugged himself with thin, white arms, as his chset quickly became covered in goose bumps.
He took a deep breath, the cold air searing his lungs like ice and forcing him to bend over. It felt good, though, for a part of him other than his scar to hurt. It took away the pain up there. He sat back up, then streched himself across the bench and looked up at the sky. It was a clear night, the starts twinkling away in a dark blue-black background.The moon was right above him and was full, its pockmarked surface grimacing at him. Snow fell lightly and covered harry's chest, his legs, and entwined itself into his hair and eyelashes. Harry shivered and closed his eyes, letting go...
"What do you think you're doing, Potter?" A blonde head popped over a bush behind him, the boy sneering at him. "Finally've gone mad and want to freeze to death? Not good if people hear that The Boy Who Lived is suicidal. Not good at all." Malfoy came out from behind the bush and towered above harry.
"Shove off, Malfoy. I don't want to wage war just about now." Harry muttered, turning away from Malfoy.
"Oooh, little Potty's got problems. Tell Mummy Malfoy, now. Mummy can help." Malfoy cackled.
"Like I would tell you anything, Malfoy?" Harry snarled.
"Oh, Kitty's got claws. Next time she lashes out, kitty might want to sharpen her claws." Malfoy chuckled.
Harry rolled his eyes and curled up on the bench, hand grasping the wand in his waistband. "Just leave me alone." Harry muttered.
Malfoy narrowed his eyes. "Not until you tell me what's wrong." He announced.
Harry finally turned to face Draco. "You really want to know?" Draco nodded. "Fine. I am out here because I am anything but suicidal. I had a dream about dying. Sirius, specifically. And I dreamt that Vole-" Draco lashed out a hand to cover Harry's mouth so he couldn't say it. Harry pulled his hand off his mouth. "Fine, that You-Know-Who was about to say the killing curse. And I could do nothing but stand there and watch. Do you know, he made the fourth person to die while I stood there and did nothing?" Harry bit off his next words, realizing who he was talking to.
"Yeah, but you couldn't exactly do anything, for any of the four; your parents: you were a baby, Cedric:you were constrained by a bloody statue, Sirius: he fell back into the curtain and if you had gone after him, you would have died too. And you just told me that you have no death wish. Even though you go around seeking fights with the Dark Lord and his followers." Malfoy chuckled again, but this time it wasn't an insulting laugh, it was a bemused one.
Harry looked at him and sat up. This wasn't like Malfoy. He should have said something about how pathetic Harry was to have dreamt about death by the Dark Lord and that he didn't embrace the honor.
"Oh, I know. I should have laughed and made it worse, right. Would you rather I did that?" Draco smirked.
"No, thats not w\hat I want at all. Its just that I didn't realize you were nice to someone other than Pansy Parkinson." Harry smirked back, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, what about my family? I'm nice to them." Malfoy protested.
"Heh, yeah, 'Yes, father, whatever you say, mother.' If that's what you call nice, don't be nice to me. It'd be way too weird." Harry grinned.
"Alright." Malfoy sneered again. "How's this?"
"No. You can be the regular, human-defined nice." Harry covered Malfoy's mouth with his hand, sensing his next words, "No, not the way Vole-" this time, Draco's hand covered his mouth.
They stayed there, Harry sitting and Draco standing, their hands on each other's mouth. They stared into each other's eyes, green eyes boring into harsh gray ones. Neither moved their hand, but after a moment, Harry stood up, his shivering chest inches away from Malfoy's pale, well-defined one. Neither boy was wearing a shirt, but Malfoy had on ripped jeans rather than pajama pants.
Draco lowered his hand and laid it on Harry's shoulder, warm and smooth on Harry's cold skin. Harry lowered his hand to come to a rest on Draco's hip. He raised the other to place on the other side of Malfoy as Draco brought up his hand to rest on Harry's other shoulder. Neither boy said a word, but stared at each other, neither one blinking. FInally, Harry looked away, lowering his hands.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what..." Malfoy's hand went over his mouth again, then Draco's arms encircled Harry's neck, pulling him closer, and all thoughts of what he was about to say left harry's mind as Draco's mouth covered his. The only function Harry could perform at that moment was to kiss him back and to return his hands to Malfoy's hips, pulling him as close to Harry as possible, for he seemed too far away.
The thrilling sensation of bare skin on bare skin made Harry inpulsive and he was kissing Draco with all the energy he had. Standing didnt feel like he was close enough, even though both boys were pressing themselves against each other with all the stregnth they had, so he raised his hands from Draco's hips, moving them to his shoulders and gently pushing him onto the soft, snow-covered ground. His lips left Malfoy's as he raised his shoulders to kiss his neck, his collarbone, his chest.
Draco moaned softly as Harry moved farther down and entwined his fingers in Harry's dark hair, shivering wtih delight. In one fast movement, Draco was on top, and was kissing Harry's chest, which was growing warmer with each kiss.
Gasping, Harry held Draco's head between his hands and pulled him closer to Harry's face. He kissed him harshly, his hands exploring the depths of Draco's muscles on his chest, his arms, as Draco's tongue explored the depths of Harry's mouth. Harry moaned and raked his hands along Draco's back, digging into the muscles and causing Draco to arch his back, into Harry's fingers. Draco's hands slid down Harry's chest and to his pajama pants, slipping below the waistband...
"Ouch!" Harry cried. His wand was digging into his waist, making an indentation in his skin. He rolled out from underneath Draco and rubbed it. He pulled out his wand and threw it on the ground a few feet away from him. He turned to Draco and looked into his deep grey eyes. He realized what they had been doing, looked at the ground, and rubbed the back of his neck, blushing. He looked up again, and Draco was facing away from him, standing up, fixing his jeans and picking up his wand from the ground. Harry realized he was about to leave, and he stood up as quickly as he could, threw his arms around Malfoy's neck and kissed his shoulder.
"I don't know what just happened, and I don't really care. All I know is that it felt amazing and that I can't think about anything else. Please, Draco..." Harry said between kisses. He kissed his shoulder several times, then moved to his neck. Then he twisted Draco around and kissed his lips. "Please..." He said against Malfoy's mouth, warm and smooth against his. Draco's eyes closed again in extasy, his arms encircling Harry's waist, running his fingers up and down Harry's back as Harry's hands caressed Draco's neck. Draco slid his mouth off of Harry's and pulled him against his chest, hugging him with all the stregnth in his body.
"I don't know either, it was an impulse, I just now that it felt better than anything has ever before. I..." Malfoy hesitated. "I think I love you, Harry."
"Oi! I hear you out there! Don't think I won't catch you!" Filch was just on the other side of the doors leading out of the school, and Harry grabbed Malfoy's hand, gasping, "Broom shack," and dragging him along. They pulled open the miraculously unlocked broom shack and slid inside, miliseconds before Filch stepped outside.
It was very cramped and there was really barely enough space for only one person, but Draco and Harry pressed their bodies together to squeeze into the space, barely breathing. Their mouths were a fraction of an inch away from each other, and they were very aware of this. Draco brushed his mouth against Harry's. Harry laid his head alongside Draco's, his lips against Draco's ear. "I love you, too, Draco." He said, his mouth caressing his ear. He tilted his head and kissed Draco's neck.
Footsteps made Draco and Harry cling to each other tighter, holding their breath. The steps hesitated in front of the shack, then Filch aparently decided that they couldnt fit into the shack, and walked away. Harry and Draco took a deep breath of each other and relaxed, Draco leaning against Harry, their bodies pressing together with relief. The door to Hogwarts slammed shut behind Filch's mutterings and they broke out of the shack, holding hands. Malfoy put his arm around Harry's shoulders and whispered, "I'll walk you back to your dorm, ok?" Harry nodded.
They walked to the Gryffindor tower like that, holding hands and with Draco's arm about Harry's shoulders, Harry's head on Draco's shoulder. When they got to the Fat Lady's portrait, where she was asleep, Harry turned to Draco. He lightly kissed him, brushing his lips against Draco's. Then he kissed his neck and squeezed his hand.
"I guess I'll see you in the morning. When I have to pretend to hate you." Harry said gloomily.
"After dinner, say you need some fresh air and meet me behind the bush against the wall in the courtyard." Draco kissed Harry's forhead. "I'll be there." Harry nodded and looked down. When he looked up again, Draco was gone.
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