Harry sat alone in the eighth year common room, milking a glass of butterbeer. He was in his favorite chair beside the fireplace. His eyes were starting to droop as he stared into the hot embers, remembering the conversation he had with Sirius during his fourth year of school. Why anyone would doubt Harry was telling the truth about putting his name into the Goblet of Fire, he would never know. When he first heard about the Triwizard Tournament, he internally celebrated that attention would be drawn not to him, but instead to the tournament.
How wrong was I, he thought and chuckled humorlessly to himself. He would have hoped attention was a stranger to him during his last year at Hogwarts, but he knew how futile it would be.
He grunted and shook his head, realizing how crazy he must look. Glad that he was alone, Harry sat further into the chair and took a sip from his glass. In his relaxed state, his mind cleared for what seemed to be the first time in months and he closed his eyes.
The common room door slammed and Harry's eyes flew open. He almost jumped up and grabbed his wand to guard himself, but he remembered the danger was over. Slightly relaxing into the chair again, he let his eyes wander to the person who had crashed through the door, only to stiffen once more.
Draco Malfoy was leaning against the door, the right sleeve of his robe ripped to show pale skin. Blood was flowing down his front from his nose and a dark bruise was starting to settle under his left eye. Malfoy clutched at his side and winced, breath coming in short gasps now. He slid down the door into a sitting position on the floor. He brought his shaking hand up to his face and pulled it back to observe it. Becoming even more pale than usual, Malfoy closed his eyes and tried to even his breathing to no avail.
"Malfoy. What the hell happened to you?" Harry winced as the horror in his voice cut through the silence. He had tried to keep it at bay, but the adrenaline in his veins didn't let it happen. Malfoy slowly opened his eyes half-way.
"I...don't...feel well," he whispered. "Blood...so much blood." He started to slide sideways, but before his head could touch the ground, Harry was across the room in three strides. He cushioned Malfoy's fall into unconsciousness with his hands and brought his body half into his lap.
"Malfoy. Great." Harry sighed. He observed the blonde boy for a moment.
This was the closest Harry had ever been to Draco Malfoy without throwing punches or insults. Malfoy's features were relaxed instead of in what had seemed to be a permanent sneer. Being this close to Malfoy, Harry could really see him. He saw the faint freckles running over Malfoy's nose, the thin curves of his pink lips, the dark blonde eyelashes that brushed his pale cheeks.
Then, Harry saw the blood and his stomach clenched. Without thinking, Harry Vanished the blood away with a flick of his wand. Malfoy's nose was definitely broken, evident by the purple bruises.
"Episkey." Harry muttered as he pointed his wand at the injury. A sickening crunch sounded as the cartilage snapped back into place. Now that the pointy nose resembled the rest of the boy's face, Harry prodded it with his fingers, smirking slightly. His healing spells hardly ever worked and usually left tentacles instead of healed body parts.
Malfoy's face was now completely healed and free from blood. He began to stir and his eyelids fluttered open. Sleepy grey eyes found Harry's face before widening and narrowed in an instant.
"Potter. What the hell do you think you're doing?" Malfoy growled. He weakly tried to push Harry away, but Harry tightened his hold.
"Don't try to move so much. You just fainted." Harry tried to explain, but Malfoy kept pushing at him. However, at the word 'fainted', Malfoy's mouth dropped to an O shape.
"I did not faint!" Malfoy yelled, voice higher than usual. Harry raised his eyebrows in a disbelieving look. Malfoy pointedly ignored Harry's gaze.
"Get off me, Potter." he muttered, and shoved against Harry. Harry let go, but kept a hand on Malfoy, making sure he could sit up alright. As Malfoy say on the floor, he blinked and squeezed his eyes multiple times as if trying to dispel dizziness.
"What happened before you came in, Malfoy?" Harry asked in a small voice. He didn't want to scare Malfoy away by being too forward, but he wanted to know so he could...
So I can what? he thought to himself. Hex whomever did this? Why should I care?
Harry didn't know what to tell himself, but he did know that he cared. He cared that someone attacked Malfoy after Harry had defended him for so long. Harry was the reason Malfoy wasn't in Azkaban and was allowed to come to Hogwarts to finish school. Harry made sure Malfoy was protected from dementors and rogue Aurors who like to beat prisoners, but he couldn't protect him from school bullies?
"Nothing. Just a couple of stupid twats." Malfoy muttered. Harry looked at him. Malfoy was staring at the floor, back ramrod straight, legs crossed. Harry decided it was time to get off the floor. With a sigh, he stood and looked down at Malfoy. He was still avoiding his eyes. Harry held his hand out to help him from the floor.
Malfoy looked at Harry's outstretched hand with disgust and pushed it away. Slowly, Malfoy gathered his strength and began to come up. Right before he was all the way standing, his body shook and he almost fell back to the floor. Harry caught him, and despite Malfoy's protests, helped him to the couch in front of the fireplace. Malfoy sighed with relief as he laid back, stretching to almost the full length of the couch. Harry sat in his chair.
Harry couldn't help himself but to look. Draco Malfoy's body was long and slender and his clothes helped reveal that fact. The fabric of his shirt stretched tight over Malfoy's chest and his pants clung to his thighs in a fashion that was slowly putting a haze through Harry's mind.
Harry shook his head and looked to Malfoy's face. Malfoy was staring at him with wide eyes, but didn't say anything. Harry had to look away from the grey pools if he wanted his mind back.
"Who?" Harry broke the silence. He was staring at a loose thread on his sleeve.
"Pardon?" Malfoy said, voice husky. He cleared his throat.
"Who were the 'twats' that did that to you?" Harry replied, still staring at the thread.
"Nobodies. Just some stupid second years who learned some new spell in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Malfoy mumbled. Harry nodded.
"Are you okay now?" Harry asked, turning to look at Malfoy on the couch. But Malfoy wasn't on the couch. Malfoy's face was about five inches away from Harry's.
"Why do you care?" Malfoy whispered, warm breath running across Harry's face. Harry opened his mouth in a gasp and tasted the sweet air that had just come out of Malfoy's mouth.
"I, uhm, I..." Harry looked into Malfoy's eyes, and all coherent thought was lost. Malfoy's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion as he stared at Harry. His eyes flickered to Harry's lips for a second, then back to his eyes. He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and bit down. Harry tore his eyes away from Malfoy's to watch the motion.
Harry's breath was becoming erratic due to Malfoy's proximity. Still staring at Malfoy's lip in his teeth, Harry realized he wanted to do that to Draco's lip.
Something crashed against Harry's mouth. He felt a warmth press against him and pin him to the chair.
Whatever was on his mouth disappeared and left cold, wet, and aching lips in its wake. Harry opened his eyes before he had even realized they were closed.
Draco stared down at him with wide, scared eyes. His hands were covering his mouth and shook a bit. He straddled Harry's lap, the heat from his body intense.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." he whispered, leaving Harry confused. Why was he apologizing?
Then, Harry realized something. Draco Malfoy just kissed him. Harry brought his hand to his mouth and felt his sensitive lips, puffy from the urgency of the kiss.
Draco began to get up from Harry's lap, but Harry quickly snaked his arms around the Slytherin, causing him to gasp. Harry brought a hand up to grasp Draco's head and pull him back towards Harry.
Harry pressed his lips against Draco's, and the world crumbled away. All that mattered to Harry was the boy that was in his lap, kissing him with as much urgency as Harry did him.
Author's Note: Hey, y'all. So, this is my first one-shot ever, so I'm kind of nervous... Please, give me some reviews and tell me how you liked it!
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is the wonderful being who created Harry Potter. Not me.