Hi. This is my first fanfic and I have no idea what I am doing so please, don't be too harsh. ^^
Hopefully it will turn out okay but if it doesn't I can at least say I tried.

It is rated M, just to be sure. I don't expect it to be that mature since I have no idea how to write that stuff.

Enjoy!

.,.

Chapter One

"Hey", the boy said, looking slightly breathless. "Wow, you do walk fast, don't you?"

"What?" Draco asked, confused. They were standing in the middle of the corridor with students hurrying past them, most of them late for their lessons.

"You've got the whole sprinting-without-really-sprinting-thing going on, you know? I mean, I've been running after you since we left the Great Hall and the whole time you were just kind of strolling along and the distance between us never got smaller. Until now, of course", the boy finished lamely.

Draco nodded, feeling slightly awkward. He had no idea what the boy wanted from him. He didn't recognise him so he had to be from another House and now he was just staring at him with this expectant look, like a puppy waiting for a bone, and Draco had no bone to give him. "Well, I'm late", he began, using the oldest excuse in the book to get away from someone you met on the street but didn't really want to speak with.

"Oh, right! Sure, I understand", the boy said, nodding vigorously. "Me too, in fact. I just wanted to welcome you, you know. To the school." He held out his hand.

Draco's mouth fell open and he offered his own hand only to have it grabbed and shaken forcefully.

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." The boy said, releasing Draco's hand and adjusting his round glasses, which had slid down his nose during the wild handshake.

"Draco", Draco said weakly, ducking his head in a stupid half-bow he would most likely kick himself repeatedly for later. "Malfoy."

"Well then." Harry coughed, ran his fingers through his already too messy hair and grinned sheepishly. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy."

Before Draco could reply, a whirl of brown and curly hair appeared at Harry's side and suddenly Harry was being pulled away, into the flow of students. He caught Draco's eye and yelled: "See you around, Malfoy!" before disappearing completely in the mass of dark robes. Draco flexed his fingers on the hand that had been in Harry's grasp and smiled slightly before hoisting his bag further up on his shoulder and continuing to class.

.,.

"Who was that?"

Harry tried to pull himself away from Hermione's tight grip as they hurried down the stairs that lead to the dungeons. "The new guy from last night and ouch! You're killing my arm."

"Which one?" Hermione asked, ignoring Harry's pathetic attempts to free himself.

"What do you mean?"

"It was the Sorting, Harry. There were a lot of them."

"Merlin!" Harry snorted. "The transfer student, of course! Honestly. I'd never chat up a First Year. I'm sixteen. They are babies."

"'Chat up'?" Hermione turned her head towards him briefly and he caught the hint of a smile before she looked away.

"Yeah, well..." Harry trailed off as they approached the classroom. This was not a discussion he wanted the rest of his class and a bunch of random Hufflepuffs, who were waiting for Snape by the closed door, to overhear.

Hermione, reading his mind as she always seemed to do, swiftly changed the subject. "- and that's what I wrote on the last question." She halted her stride beside Seamus, leaned against the wall and dived into her book bag. She always carried two bags, where ever she went. One was for parchment and quills, and the other one was for books, not all of them related to school. She had a book for every occasion and it was not unusual for her to bring at least three books for their regular, one hour long breakfast.

"What's that?" Seamus blurted, giving Hermione a sharp look. "Did you say something about the last question?"

"Yeah", Hermione began, looking up at him just as a rustle in the front of the line told them that Snape was approaching.

They straightened up and followed the others into the classroom.

"So, I understand Mr Weasley is not here?" Snape said, after having checked everybody off on his class list and handed out the book they would be using this year.

Harry kept himself from rolling his eyes as he gave Snape the obvious answer: "No."

"He is sick, professor." Hermione piped in hurriedly.

"That is unfortunate", Snape said tonelessly, shuffling around the parchments on his desk. "He will miss a lot of valuable information this first day. Perhaps he will never catch up and be forced to take the course again, next year."

"I will give him all my notes!" Hermione said, a note of panic evident in her voice. "I'm sure he will be all right!"

"Yes, I am sure your notes will be sufficient for him to pass the course, at least", Snape said coolly and Harry could tell, by the way Hermione suddenly seemed to go stiff beside him, that Snape's hidden insult had not passed her by.

.,.

"Do you want to know what Harry did today?"

Hermione sat down on Ron's bed, handing him the huge pile of notes she'd managed to create during the short, introductory lesson.

Ron frowned at them before dumping them on the floor beside the bed. "What did he do?"

"He put the moves on the new boy, the transfer." Hermione turned her head towards Harry, grinning as she spoke. "He looked completely awestruck after we left, like he couldn't believe his eyes."

Harry rolled his eyes in reply, sitting down on his own bed and pulling off his shoes. Ron coughed loudly and painfully, just barely covering his mouth with the back of his hand and Hermione looked concerned. "Perhaps you should go and see Madame Pomfrey."

"No", Ron said hoarsely, gesturing at a small bottle at his bedside table. "I've got the cough syrup from her already, I'm fine."

Hermione nodded, but still looked unsure. She reached out to pat Ron's hand and he flushed slightly at the gesture. Harry observed them in silence, thinking that there had to be more going on under the surface.

.,.

"Hey there, new kid!"

Draco immediately recognised the voice, Harry's voice, soon followed by Harry himself, falling down on the chair next to his. Draco was sitting in the library, the only place in Hogwarts he did not feel ashamed to be sitting alone, reading. Being the new kid was no easy thing. Draco had never been easygoing, had never made friends easily. He had a few friends back home in France, but they were all children of his parent's friends and not anyone he really, truly liked. Now he was sixteen and completely alone at a school full of strangers who could not care less about him and, quite frankly, he hated it.

"Hi. Harry, right?"

Harry's answering smile shone brighter than the sun. "Yes. You remembered."

"Of course", Draco said. "You made quite an impression."

"Well, I try." Harry grinned and reached forwards, grabbing the book from under Draco's hands and flipping it over so that he could see the cover. "Wow, this title is like longer than any book I've ever read", he said, frowning. "You must be really smart."

Draco raised his eyebrows in amusement. "So you cannot read long titles if you are not smart?"

"Nope", Harry said, handing the book back to Draco, now closed. "I know this for a fact."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, my friend Hermione, you met her the other day, well actually you didn't really meet her but she was the one who, you know, hauled me away, anyway, she reads a lot, you'd actually like her, I think, and all her books have these very long titles, not as long as yours though, and titles under the titles and titles under the titles under the titles..." Harry trailed off, pressing his lips together and squinting. "Sorry. I talk a lot."

"I noticed." Draco smiled.

Harry smiled back and there was a brief moment where none of them said anything. Harry's hands were resting on the table in front of him. Draco's were holding his book. He thought of Harry's green eyes and whether he should excuse himself, if the conversation was over, if he was supposed to say something, if Harry wanted to leave. All those thoughts spinning in his head were normal signs of what was coming. The paralysing realisation that he had done something wrong, said something wrong, broken the social rules, made a fool out of himself. He had never been good at social interactions, he never knew what to say or how to act. His parents called him shy but Draco knew that it was more than that. It was a sickness and a handicap. He welcomed the feeling of disappointment and self-loathing that washed over him and averted his eyes, staring down at his book instead.

"I should go."

"Wh- okay." Harry stood up so quickly that his chair almost fell over and pushed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "S-so, I guess I'll see you around?"

Draco nodded once and forced himself to smile at the black haired boy in front of him. "See you around." He turned around, his cloak whirling around his legs, and walked out of the library as fast as he could go without running.

Harry stayed where he was, watching the blonde boy go, and when the doors had closed behind him he shrugged, mostly to himself, and decided to go see what Hermione was up to and possibly to force her to solve the riddle that was Draco Malfoy.

.,.

"So he just left."

"Yes! He just left! One moment we were staring into each others eyes, you know, like in films. It was totally romantic. And then he was just like, 'Uh bye!' and ran out of the library."

Hermione frowned at him, biting her lip and tapping her quill against the parchment she had been writing on. He had found her a couple of bookshelves away, furiously scribbling, working on the paper that he had not even started yet, since it wasn't due for another week, and sat down to tell her about his mysterious encounter with Draco Malfoy. "Sounds a little strange."

"I know, right?" Harry said, a little too loudly, earning him a glare from the librarian. He threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Maybe he doesn't like you?"

"What?" Harry said incredulously. "What are you saying?"

"That maybe he doesn't like you and is bothered by your behaviour. Maybe he thinks that your behaviour is bordering on stalking," Hermione said lightly.

Harry gaped at her. He could not believe his ears. "Is that what you think?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, of course not. Though you might want to consider the fact that he could be straight."

"He's not", Harry said immediately.

"Are you sure?"

"No, well, yeah – kind of, he doesn't seem straight at least..."

"Well, as long as you're sure", Hermione said ironically. "But if he was straight, in a completely hypothetical way, he might not appreciate a strange guy coming up to him and staring into his eyes for many silent minutes, you know? He might find that a little discomforting and perhaps even a bit rude."

"Rude?" Harry exclaimed as if he'd never heard anything like it before. He slumped back in his seat, balancing on the two back legs of his chair and crossing his arms in front of his chests. It was his sulking look, a look which Hermione was all too familiar with.

"I'm not saying that this is the case, but you might want to keep that in mind. You don't want to scare him so much that he runs away from you... oh wait, that already happened." She cocked her head to the side, smiling brightly.

"Very funny", Harry muttered, though he couldn't help but smile as Hermione started laughing.

A couple of minutes later they were both ushered out of the library by the stern librarian.

.,.

Malfoy had done a bit of research before his transfer from Beauxbaton to Hogwarts. For instance, he'd read Hogwarts – A history front to back several times and he knew all about the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall and the four founders. That is why he had felt a bit disheartened when the Sorting Hat had put him in Slytherin, the house which, if he'd understood it right, was the home of ruthless, cunning students with brilliant minds who knew what they wanted and did not stop for anything in their pursuit of it. He did not feel particularly brilliant and he knew when to give up and adjust instead of fighting mercilessly until he won.

On top of this, he did not feel any real connection to his House mates. They had small, dark eyes and weird, knowing smiles and they mostly kept to themselves in small, seemingly pre-determined, groups. Only three Slytherin's had spoken to him his first week at Hogwarts and while they seemed nice and non-threatening, they also seemed a bit silly.

One of them was a girl called Pansy Parkinson. She was outgoing in that loud, in-your-face-kind-of-way, and she had a rich body language and a loud laugh. The other two were Crabbe and Goyle. He did not know their surnames and since everyone else seemed to call them Crabbe and Goyle, so did he. They'd taken to Draco the first night, much like kittens that had been separated from their mother too early, and had started following him around, mimicking his every action.

For instance, when Draco ate breakfast, so did they, and they all miraculously finished at the same time, every morning, and when Draco sat in the library, reading for hours, they sat beside him or a couple of tables away, staring at the bookshelves with vacant expressions. When Draco ran out of the library after making a fool of himself in front of Harry Potter, so did they, albeit a little later since they did not notice that Draco was gone until he had already exited the room.

Draco had been uncomfortable at first, not used to the attention, but after a week of eating breakfast and hanging out in the library or out by the pond together, he had started to grow accustom to the idea of having them around. It was almost as if they were his friends. At least it must seem like it from an outsiders perspective.

.,.

It had been four days since he had spoken with Draco in the library and Harry was going insane. He had tried to catch the other boy's eye in the Great Hall and during the lessons they had together, but the blonde either did not see him or pretended not to. Harry had refused to believe Hermione when she'd suggested that Draco had been insulted by his behaviour but now he wasn't so sure. Maybe he'd come across too strong? After all, despite what he'd told Hermione, he was in no way certain of the other boy's sexual preferences. If Draco was one of those straight guys who were scared to death by anything remotely gay it probably hadn't been such a good idea to stare deeply into his eyes like Harry had done.

He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of Draco being repulsed by him and decided he had to apologise.

This, however, was easily said than done because Draco had suddenly acquired a set of bodyguards.

.,.

"Hi Draco", Pansy said sweetly, sinking down on the bench next to him. She scooted closer, pressing her side against his, and leaned over his plate to grab a bottle of pumpkin juice.

Draco leaned back slightly to give her more room. He was chewing on a mouthful of the most delicious bread he had ever tasted. In fact, every meal here was the most delicious meal he had ever eaten. The food at Hogwarts was miles better than what they'd been served at Beauxbaton, which had been made of mostly sugar and white flour.

"Hi Pansy, how are you?"

"Oh, just fine." Pansy poured herself some juice and put the bottle down between their plates. "And you?"

"I'm fine", Draco said, though he felt anything but fine. He was still haunted by the failed conversation in the library, especially at night, when he was trying to sleep. Unwanted thoughts had so much better access to his brain when it was dark and silent around him. Also, he had a stomach ache.

"Good, good." Pansy said uninterestedly and turned her face towards his. She was sitting so close, her lips almost touched his cheek. He debated with himself whether he should stay where he was or move closer to Goyle, who was on his other side. He did not know which one was more preferable, being pressed against Pansy or being pressed against Goyle. They were two sides of the same coin. "I was wondering, Draco... What are you doing tonight?"

"Studying", he answered, almost automatically. He didn't know there was anything else to do in the evenings besides studying. Perhaps reading, but then again, the library closed at nine and he didn't want to sit in the Common Room, where sitting alone was almost equal to being infected by a rare but deadly disease.

"Oh." Pansy looked crestfallen. "That sounds nice."

"Yes."

"So, I guess that means you wouldn't be up for doing something else tonight?"

Draco looked up from his plate. "Like what?"

"Like, I don't know, taking a stroll?"

"Taking a stroll?" Draco echoed, scowling. "Where?"

"Outside."

"At night? In the dark?"

Now it was Pansy's turn to scowl. "There are lights, you know. Lanterns. Around the lake."

"Oh, okay", Draco said, not understanding how this was any reason to go out into the dark, cold night when there was the Common Room and the Dorms, both of which had fully working fireplaces that magically lit every evening at five, to hang out in.

"It's actually quite romant-"

"Hi!"

Pansy frowned at the boy who had suddenly materialised in front of them. She did not appreciate being interrupted, especially when the interrupter was a Gryffindor.

"Hello", Draco said slowly. He had not expected Harry Potter to appear. If he had, he'd made sure to get away quickly before he did so. He'd noticed that the boy had tried to get his attention a few times during the past days but he had been sure that he would stop if Draco only ignored him long enough. Now he was sitting in front of him, grinning as if Draco was a good friend he had not seen in years.

"Are you enjoying your breakfast?"

"Yes." Draco coughed. "Yes. Especially the bread."

"Oh?"

"Yes. It's excellent."

Harry smiled, almost fondly, and Draco suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious. He put the piece of bread he'd been eating on the plate, wiping the corners of his mouth with a cloth.

Harry watched his movements and then opened his mouth to say something when a harsh voice broke the silence: "Who are you?"

Both Harry and Draco turned to the left, where Goyle was sitting, glaring furiously.

"Sorry?" Harry said, confused.

"I said: Who are you?" Goyle grunted. Draco noticed he was squeezing an orange in his right hand; juice was seeping between his fingers.

"Me? Uh – I'm Harry", Harry said, smiling uncertainly.

"You're in Gryffindor, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Harry laughed once. "What gave me away? Was it the red and golden tie?"

Goyle ignored him. "Why are you talking to Draco?"

"Uh." Harry met Draco's eyes briefly. Turning back to Goyle, he said: "Because I wanted to. Look, is there a problem?"

"Yes, there is a problem!" Goyle bellowed suddenly, standing up and throwing the squished orange at Harry, who barely managed to jump out of the way before being hit. "You cannot just come here and speak with Draco! YOU ARE A GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry stared at him, a crease slowly forming on his forehead. Goyle panted loudly, his hands clenching into small, hard balls. Draco suddenly feared he would lunge at Harry, over the table.

"Goyle – look", he started but was interrupted by Crabbe, who'd overslept and was just now coming down for breakfast.

"What are you doing, Goyle?" Crabbe asked, looking from Goyle's red face to his trembling fists.

"He's a Gryffindor!" Goyle yelled, pointing his plump finger at Harry. "He has no business at our table!"

Crabbe followed the direction of Goyle's finger and his eyes darkened at the sight of Harry sitting down with his mouth slightly open, staring at Goyle, dumbfounded. "You're a Gryffindor?"

Harry didn't move a muscle.

"Yes! And he's speaking with Draco!" Goyle shrieked, making everyone in his vicinity jump.

Crabbe opened his mouth, baring his teeth and Harry suddenly seemed to catch himself and jumped up from the table. "Okay, so, I think I'm gonna go." He looked at Draco, catching his eye. "So, I'll see you later?" he asked, raising his eyebrows quizzically.

"Y-yeah. See you", Draco stammered.

Harry looked pleased for a short second before turning on his heal and heading back to the Gryffindor table.