A/N: Hi everyone! I know, I know, I said I'd write as soon as I could, but honestly, I didn't have time! I had to get through my senior project and then a tedious internship. Now I'm on a well-deserved break! The only thing I'm doing is karate, and the rest of my time is for becoming a couch potato.
Anyway, this fic is a sort of collaboration. random-girl123 gave me the idea and I wrote it. So it's kind of like ghostwriting, right? Whatever, just read and have fun! And forgive me if I'm a little rusty :P
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Warnings: Bullying, abuse, (almost rape?) Male/male. For once NOT NC-17.
Stole My Heart
Harry Potter was late, again. He was supposed to meet Ron and Hermione for dinner in the Great Hall twenty minutes ago, but Filch wouldn't let him out of detention on time. Damn that Draco Malfoy. It was his fault Harry was in detention to begin with. In potions class a couple days ago, Malfoy had tampered with Harry's potion, resulting in a small, but rather smoky, explosion. Of course, Snape wouldn't believe Harry when he told him it wasn't his fault, and ended up giving him detention Friday night.
And now Harry was running not only because he was late, but because he was really hungry! Then just as he rounded the corner into the Great Hall, he bumped into something solid.
"Ough! Sorry," Harry grunted as he staggered backwards, his glasses knocked off his face and into his lap. He picked them up and placed them on his face, looking up to see who he'd bumped into. Wonderful, it was Malfoy, along with his goons.
"Watch where you're going, Pothead!" sneered the blond, straightening up and dusting his robes. Malfoy looked around at his friends, knowing that they were expecting him to punish Potter for bumping into him. Draco smiled maliciously as an idea struck him.
He reached for a bottle that Blaise was holding, which seemed to be filled with an odd green slime, and looked at Harry, whose eyes widened as he realized just what was about to happen. Before Harry could do anything, Malfoy had approached him and dumped the green slime all over him, making sure it got on Harry's robes, shoes, and hair.
Malfoy laughed along with his friends, and handed the bottle back to Blaise. "I hate to say it, Potter, but green suits you."
And with that, the Slytherins walked away, leaving Harry with his mess. The brunet sighed and looked down at himself. He couldn't walk into the Great Hall looking like this. He sighed miserably, and with a heavy heart and an empty stomach, Harry decided to go back to Gryffindor tower to get cleaned up and wait for his friends to get back from dinner.
When he stepped into the bathroom, he finally took a look at himself in the mirror. His eyes looked so full of sadness, and he wondered how Malfoy was able to bully him when he was obviously grieving over his godfather. After all, Harry was sure Lucius had told Draco about Harry's connection to Sirius.
And it's not as though Malfoy hasn't always been mean to Harry, but now he was positively cruel. Take last week for example, Harry was hurriedly walking to Greenhouse 3 for Herbology when Malfoy pushed him into a puddle of mud. Harry had to spend class sitting in his uncomfortably stiff robes after the mud had dried.
Harry sighed again as he looked over the bits of goo that wouldn't be spelled away. He hopped into the shower and quickly washed himself clean, then headed for his favorite chair by the fire in the common room. He leaned his head back, savoring the quite while everyone was downstairs for dinner. He couldn't help feeling sorry for himself. It's been happening a lot lately, and he wasn't sure if it was because he missed Sirius or because of Malfoy's horrible treatment of him. He suspected it was a little bit of both, for Harry knew that deep down he had a crush on the blond. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone. Malfoy hated him, and that was enough for Harry to ignore his feelings for the blond.
The Golden boy was snapped out of his trance-like state by his friend's concerned voice. "Harry, where have you been?" asked Hermione as she and Ron walked into the common room.
He smiled at them, but they could tell it was forced. Hermione handed him a plate of food with a real smile of her own. "We figured you'd be hungry by now," she said kindly.
"Yeah, mate, haven't eaten since breakfast!" added Ron as he plopped down into the sofa next to Harry's chair. Harry knew they were worried about him. They could tell that he was sad about losing Sirius and that Malfoy was starting to get to him.
Hermione sat down next to Ron and placed a hand on Harry's knee as he ate. "Now Harry, what happened? I thought you were coming to meet us for dinner."
Harry shrugged and swallowed a mouthful of mashed potatoes before saying, "I ran into Malfoy." Ron frowned in confusion so Harry added, "Literally ran into him."
Ron winced and Hermione pursed her lips. "What did he do this time?" she asked, crossing her arms and looking serious.
"He dumped some weird green potion over my head. Had to come back here and get cleaned up, and after that I figured no use going down now."
Ron looked angry, but it wasn't like he could do anything about Malfoy now, so he pulled out his homework and started moping about how much he had to do. Hermione, on the other hand, was looking at Harry intently. He tried to avoid her gaze, but really, who was he kidding?
"Harry, I know you've been sad about Sirius, but you've cut yourself off from everyone but me and Ron," Hermione complained.
Harry rolled his eyes and huffed, worrying about where this was going. Hermione went on, "Maybe you should start dating?"
Harry looked at her in surprise, noting the sheepish look on the girl's face. "What?"
Ron grunted as he leaned over to place a book on the coffee table in front of him, then he sat back up and looked at Harry. "Mate, she's right. A nice date might make you feel better."
Hermione nodded cheerily. "Yup, and Ron said that Mathew Walker likes you!"
"What?" Harry gaped at Ron incredulously. "How do you know that? We're not even friends with him. He's a seventh year and a Ravenclaw!"
Ron chuckled in obvious amusement. "Well, I was talking to him about quidditch the other day when he happened to ask if you were single. So I said yes, you are, and that I'd see if I could get him a date with you."
Harry rolled his eyes and leaned back into the chair. He really didn't want to discuss this any further, but Hermione tugged on his hand to get his attention. "Harry, he's really cute," she cajoled.
"And," Ron added with a slightly irritated note in his voice, "he's a nice bloke. You'd like him if you just give him a chance. Might help you get over your very misguided crush on Malfoy."
"I do not have a crush on him," Harry exclaimed, at which Ron suppressed an eye roll. Ron and Hermione knew about his secret crush, but rarely teased him for it, especially now that Malfoy was bullying Harry all the time.
Harry pursed his lips and thought a moment. "Just one date?"
Both his friends nodded vigorously. "Yes, if you don't like him, that's it!" Hermione promised.
"I suppose he is cute," Harry said with a blush tinting his cheeks.
"Wonderful! I'll talk to Matt," Ron stated with a triumphant smile.
xxxxx
While Harry's friends were talking him into a date with Mathew Walker, Draco Malfoy was fuming in his dorm room. He always knew his feelings about Potter were strong. He downright hated the guy. But he himself could tell that lately he's been somewhat obsessed with getting Potter's attention. Draco couldn't really understand why though. Crabbe and Goyle had suggested that maybe Draco was angry because Potter was the reason Lucius was in Azkaban now. That theory certainly had merit, but to Draco, it didn't seem like he was simply angry.
The blond eventually went to bed with these thoughts swirling in his head all night long, thus resulting in a very bad night's sleep for Draco. He got up the next morning feeling grumpier than normal. He got dressed and headed down for breakfast with Blaise and Pansy, trying to shake off the image of Crabbe and Goyle's disembodied heads bouncing around squealing "Pothead" over and over again.
He shivered at the image from his dream, and looked across the Great Hall to look at Potter. His head was down, giving the impression that there was something very interesting in his bowl of porridge. Suddenly Potter looked up, locking eyes with Draco for a fraction of a second, but it was long enough for Draco's heart to skip a bead, making him feel very strange and uneasy.
Potter had seemed really sad, and Draco found that a small part of him wanted to know why.
xxxxx
An uneventful week later, Draco was walking back to the dungeons with his friends after their transfiguration class, when Draco suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What did you do that for?" Pansy complained as she was so unceremoniously stopped by Draco's back.
"Oh, sorry," he replied, not really paying attention to her. He was looking at Potter, standing a few feet away, talking (and flirting?) with a boy Draco recognized as a seventh year Ravenclaw. Potter was smiling, his hand resting lightly on the guy's arm. He seemed happy, and then the Ravenclaw guy leaned into Potter and said something that made the brunet laugh.
Draco found this very unsettling. He didn't know why, but he knew he didn't like this seventh year. He looked over his shoulder at Blaise and asked, "Who's that?"
Blaise shrugged. "I think his name is Mathew Something. I'm not sure. Why?"
Draco didn't answer, but instead went on his way, trying really hard to ignore the sound of Potter's laughter. Draco had been a pretty good mood this morning, but now he was angry. He didn't know why, but he was determined to find out what Potter was doing with Mathew Something.
After shooing a bunch of third years from the common room, and ordering Crabbe and Goyle to go away, Draco sat down with Blaise and Pansy, an idea brewing in his head. He eventually leaned back with a smirk directed at Pansy, who clearly didn't like that look.
"I know that look, Draco Malfoy, and whatever it is you're thinking, I'm out!" she exclaimed.
Blaise chuckled and said, "Come now, you know he can get you to do anything. Remember last time?"
Pansy's eyes widened. "Of course I do! After last time, I had no eyebrows for a week!" Then she protectively covered her eyebrows with her hands.
"It's nothing like that this time," Draco assured her. "All I want you to do is try to befriend Potter and get close to him."
Pansy's hands instantly dropped to her lap, her mouth hanging open. "Why would you want me to do that?"
Blaise narrowed his eyes and answered for Draco. "Because then you can tell us what's going on with Mathew." Draco nodded. "But why, Dray?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Well isn't it obvious? If Potter's happy, then I want to ruin his relationship with this guy and make him miserable for what he's done to my father." It seemed like a valid reason for wanting to know Potter's secrets. Draco wasn't quite sure it was the true reason he wanted Pansy to spy on Potter, but what did that matter anyway? He wanted Potter miserable, didn't he?
xxxxx
A few days later, Harry was on his way to meet Hagrid, whom he'd promised to help with the thestrals. Harry was still curious about these horses that had been invisible to him about a year ago. He was late, of course. And now he was desperately trying to stuff an oversized book into his backpack, when said backpack was knocked out of his hand and onto the floor, scattering his books, parchment, ink, and quills all over the place. Harry looked up in surprise to find Malfoy laughing at him along with the goons.
Harry sighed as the Slytherins walked off, leaving him on his hands and knees, picking his stuff up. Sitting back on his heels, he noticed someone handing him a book. It was Pansy Parkinson.
"Here," she said, smiling sweetly. "I'm sorry about that."
Harry sighed again and sat down with his back against the wall. "Why does he do these things to me?"
She sat down next to him and shrugged. "I don't know." She watched quietly as Harry held his knees to his chest and rested his head on them. She really did feel bad for the guy, the way Draco treated him and pretended it was out of anger. But she and Blaise knew the truth, and they also knew that Draco himself had no idea. Draco only made Harry's life miserable because he secretly liked the Gryffindor.
"Hey, where were you headed?"
Harry looked at Pansy with startled eyes. It's like he wasn't expecting her to be so normal and nice. "I…I was going to help Hagrid with the thestrals."
Pansy nodded, her hair bouncing happily. "Can I come along?" she asked.
"Why?" Harry asked in confusion.
She shrugged. "I like thestrals."
"You'd really hang out with me and Hagrid there?"
Pansy smiled. "Yeah. Now if you'll just get over your prejudices long enough to really get to know me, you'll see that I may be Draco's friends, but I'm not a carbon copy of him."
Harry found himself blushing in embracement. Pansy was right; he did believe that all of Malfoy's friends shared the same ideals; but maybe that wasn't really the case with Pansy. "I didn't mean it like that," he said with an apologetic note in his voice.
Pansy shrugged. "I know what you meant, but that's alright." She got up, a hand running through her hair and over her clothes to tidy herself up. "C'mon already!" she exclaimed, reaching a hand to help Harry up. He eyed the hand a moment before taking it and getting up, then heading outside to meet with Hagrid.
A few minutes late, after assigning "chores", Hagrid left the two to do something that Harry really didn't want to know the details of. Harry was busy feeding a little thestrals when he realized that Pansy could see the creatures just as well as he could.
"Parkinson, mind if I asked you a question?"
Pansy looked up from the wing of the thestral she was cleaning and nodded. "Sure, go ahead."
Harry chewed on his lip, thinking if asking this was a good idea. Deciding that he might as well, he asked, "How come you can see them?"
Pansy seemed surprised by the question, so she stopped working and looked at Harry intently. "Honestly? And you won't tell anyone?" Harry nodded mutely. Sensing he was being honest, Pansy went on, "I had a baby sister once. She was too sick for anyone to help her." Her voice got soft and Harry could see tears forming in her eyes. He suddenly felt sorry for asking the question in the first place.
"I sat with her all night, till she drifted away. I've been able to see them ever since."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad," Harry apologized. He seemed to be apologizing to her a lot.
Pansy shook her head, wiping at her eyes. "It's all right, Potter."
He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Your friends don't know?" he asked.
"No, they don't. So how about you?"
Harry was confused for a moment before he realized what Pansy was asking. "Oh, well…um, I saw Cedric Diggory die."
"So you haven't been able to see them for long, have you? They're not so bad you know," she said, feeding the thestral what appeared to be a dead, bloody quale.
Harry nodded, a smile playing at his lips. "Yeah, I'm starting to see that."
xxxxx
A few weeks later, Harry found himself meeting up with Pansy on a regular basses. They sometimes meet up before classes in an empty classroom to talk, and sometimes outside by the Black Lake after dinner. His friends didn't ask him where he was going at those time, simply because he used homework and research at the library as an excuse.
"Harry, mate, are you sure you're not sick," Ron inquired one night, after Harry had told him and Hermione that he needed to go to the library again.
"Yes, Ron, I'm fine!" Harry replied with a chuckle.
Hermione frowned at Ron, and refrained from smacking him upside the head. "Ronald, Harry is finally paying attention to his studies. It's very commendable, so don't put him down."
Harry chuckled as he left his friends arguing in the common room. He had to go meet Pansy by the lake. He had some exciting news to share with her, and from his friends' reaction earlier in the day, she should be happy for him too. Harry stepped out of the castle and into the wintery cold night. He didn't mind the cold though, or the snow; it seemed to make the air feel cleaner somehow.
He walked down the many stairs leading to the front gate, loving the sound of his feet crunching in the snow, and headed towards where he knew Pansy would be. He soon found her sitting under their usual tree, smiling up at him.
"Hello, Harry."
He smiled back and sat down next to her. "Hi!"
Pansy narrowed her eyes knowingly at him. "You seem to be in a good mood tonight. What happened?"
Harry couldn't help the giggle that came over him. "Mathew's taking me on our first date tomorrow."
Pansy furrowed her brows in confusion. "Harry, dear, you two have been dating for almost a month now."
The boy shrugged and went on to explain, "Well, we've been on informal date, like we'd meet out here and talk, or we'd sit together for dinner in the Great Hall, but never a real date." He paused and smiled again. "It's a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow, so he's taking me to The Three Broomsticks for dinner."
"Oh, well that sounds nice. Taking a nice romantic walk after?" she said, lifting her eyebrow suggestively. Harry blushed and shoved her playfully in the shoulder. The rest of the night was spent talking about Mathew and his perfect hair, if you can believe that.
xxxxx
After Harry had headed back to Gryffindor tower, Pansy went back to the Slytherin common room, where Draco was waiting for her. He pulled her aside and asked her to tell him everything she and Potter had talked about as usual. And as always, Pansy sighed in annoyance, feeling guilty that she was spilling everything to Draco, because even though this whole thing was supposed to be pretend, she actually liked Harry.
"He's going out to dinner with Mathew tomorrow." Pansy noticed the anger that glimmered in Draco's eyes before he could control himself. She honestly couldn't understand him anymore. He seemed to have a huge crush on Harry, but he also enjoyed bullying the guy every chance he got. She figured that if Draco were to be nice to Harry, the Gryffindor might end up liking him back.
Draco grabbed Pansy roughly by the arm and asked between clenched teeth, "Where are they going?"
Pansy pulled away and rolled her eyes. "Where else? They're going to The Three Broomsticks."
And so Draco decided that he would be there as well to try his best to ruin Potter's date.
xxxxx
The Three Broomsticks was packed as always when Harry and Mathew walked in. Mathew smiled at Harry and led him to the only empty table in the place, which seemed oddly reserved. Madam Rosmerta came over and winked at Mathew before taking the reserved sign off the table. The couple sat down and Harry leaned in to ask Matt if he's trying to impress him.
"Now what's wrong with trying to impress my date?" he countered. Harry smiled and they both settled in to enjoy their date. It wasn't long lived though, because soon Draco Malfoy stepped into the pub with trouble written all over him. Sadly, Harry didn't notice till Draco was less than two feet away from him with a drink in his hand.
Draco tripped, or pretended to, and spilled his drink on Harry. The Gryffindor yelled out in surprise, while Draco pretended to be horrified at what just happened. "Oops, so sorry, Potter, but in my defense, you're sitting in the way."
Harry knew he couldn't have Draco, but why couldn't the blond let him be happy with someone else at least. He was also mortified. He didn't feel like being bullied while on a date with Mathew, and now everyone was staring at him because of this icy red stuff that's all over his face. He was honestly contemplating running off on the spot, if it weren't for how cold he now felt, despite the warmth of the pub. Then he felt a napkin wiping at his face. Matt had gotten up and was now facing Harry with a reassuring smile on his face, while wiping Harry's face clean. Draco watched with wide eyes as Harry seamed to forget he exists and smiled up at Matt.
"Thanks," Harry whispered, and Mathew leaned close to make sure Harry's face was clean.
"Sure, I wouldn't want you to get cold and run off on me." Then, to Draco's chagrin, Matt leaned in and kissed Harry in front of everyone there, and the boy clearly enjoyed it. Matt pulled away, not soon enough for Draco, and said, "How about we go someplace else?"
Harry nodded and allowed Mathew to take his hand and guide him out of the pub, leaving Draco standing there, angrier than he was when he first heard about the date. The blond then shrugged, pretending as though none of this had bothered him and walked out into the street. He intended to just make the long walk to Hogwarts and try his best not to think of Potter's smile after Mathew had kissed him. Draco was starting to think that maybe Pansy and Blaise where right. Maybe he did have feelings for Potter, but what use is that realization if he can't do anything about it?
Potter clearly hated him, and Draco rationally knew that he deserved to be hated. He did his best to make the Gryffindor's life miserable. But is it really Draco's fault that he didn't know how to express his feelings? He was raised to never show emotion, and yet he seemed perfectly capable of showing anger and hatred. What if he were to try to be nice to Harry? Would Harry change his view of him?
While lost in thought, Draco almost missed what was happening in an alley he was walking past. He heard familiar voices and stopped. It was Harry's voice, and Mathew's. Draco looked over from a distance, trying to stay hidden. He knew this was creepy behavior, but he couldn't help it. His curiosity just got the better of him. In the alley, he could see Harry and Mathew whispering to each other. It was clear that Harry was no longer upset about the ruined date.
Mathew seemed to be in an even better mood. He pressed Harry against the wall behind them, giving Draco a clear view of what they were doing. Mathew and Harry started kissing, softly and gently at first and soon things got heated and Draco miraculously managed to suppress an angry growl as Matt pushed a knee between Harry's legs. Harry seemed to be enjoying all this, and since Draco didn't feel like having an aneurism, he decided to go on his way and leave the two alone.
Draco sighed quietly, pulling his coat tightly about himself. As he was about to walk away, he heard Harry's noises of protest, and stopped in his tracks. Looking at the two again, he could tell that Mathew was going too far for Harry's liking. The Gryffindor was trying to shove the other away from him to no avail.
"Matt, stop it!" Harry cried out.
"Oh c'mon, Harry. Don't play hard to get," replied Matt with a cocky smile, but Harry wasn't playing. He didn't feel like he was ready for what Matt seemed to want and this was only their first real date.
"No, Matt, I don't want this!"
When Draco saw that Matt wasn't stopping and was now pulling Harry's top open while the boy kept struggling, Draco knew he had to do something about it. He walked up to Mathew, pulled him away from Harry by the shoulder, and punched him in the face.
Mathew cried out in pain and staggered against the wall, all the while, Harry stared at Matt and Draco with wide eyes.
"C'mon, Potter," Draco said, taking Harry by the hand and pulling him along.
Harry complied, relief washing over him now that he was putting some distance between him and Matt. Both Harry and Draco were quiet for some time; the only sounds were the crunching of snow underneath their feet. When Harry felt that they were alone, he stopped, but Draco only noticed after taking a few steps further. Draco turned around and furrowed his brows at Harry.
"Why did you stop?" asked the blond.
Harry shrugged, looking down at his feet. Draco took a few steps closer, noticing that Harry looked somewhat sad. "What's wrong, Potter?" he asked softly, not wanting to upset the Gryffindor.
"I… Why did you help me back there?" Harry asked, his voice breaking at the end. "I thought you hated me."
Draco didn't know what to say. Until a little while ago, he thought he hated Harry as well. "I don't hate you," he said sincerely.
Harry's eyes widened with surprise. "You don't?"
"No, I don't," confirmed the blond.
"But then, why are you always so mean to me?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
Draco's heart ached suddenly and now he was sure he had a thing for Harry. "I don't know. Why are you always so sad?" he countered.
"What?" Harry was taken aback for a minute, and then he said, "I guess I don't like it when you bully me around."
"Look, I know I've been awful to you, but I didn't know how to act around you, okay?" Then Draco turned his back on Harry, feeling like this could get too honest for his liking.
But Harry was relentless. He put a tentative hand on Draco's shoulder and made him face him again. "What do you mean?" Harry asked, with a cute hopeful look in his eyes.
Draco's couldn't help himself. He cupped Harry's face, leaned in, and pressed their lips together for a soft kiss. Harry was obviously surprised as he kissed Draco back, but Draco was glad he didn't pull away or slap him for this. A few seconds later, Draco pulled away and asked, "Are you still sad?"
"Umm, not so much as confused now. What was that?" Harry asked.
Draco rolled his eyes. "A kiss, Potter. I thought you knew what a kiss is!" Then he walked away, angry.
"Hey!" Harry called out, jogging to keep up with Draco. "Come back here!"
The blond stopped and turned around, glaring at Harry. "What?"
Harry stopped short, looking small and fragile. "I just… I know what a kiss is. I meant what was it for?"
Draco smacked a hand on his forehead and said, "I kissed you because I like you, alright?" Harry still looked confused, so Draco added, "I've been mean because I didn't know how to tell you that I like you, okay?"
Harry smiled, and Draco's heart skipped a beat. "Is that all? You could have just told me you liked me. It's not that hard."
Draco shook his head. "Oh really. With us being us?"
The Gryffindor nodded in understanding. "I suppose you're right. I couldn't tell you I liked you either."
"Wait, what?"
Harry blushed and tried to pretend that it wasn't a big deal. He cleared his throat and said, "So now I know you like me, and you know I like you. What are we going to do about it?"
Draco took Harry's hand in his, as though that answered Harry's question. They then proceeded to walk back to school, both contemplating this thing between them.
Harry leaned closer to Draco and said, "If you're still interested to know, I'm not so sad now."
And with a smirk, Draco secretly promised himself to never tell Harry that Pansy was spying on him. He believed the girl actually liked being Harry's friend, so why upset the boy. Draco has done enough to make Harry miserable and was now determined to make him happy and keep the Mathews of the world away from the Gryffindor.
A/N: The ending was a lot cheesier than I thought it would be, but it just came out that way. I know I kinda canceled the role of Luna Lovegood from book five with the thestrals and stuff, so to everyone who loves her as much as I do; I'm very sorry! But I needed a way for Harry and Pansy to connect, so sue me! Title is from a One Direction song.