Hey, so this has been knocing around inside my head for a while now. Like I said, I love Draco, but he can be awful sometimes, especially when he's younger and I thought well, that that didn't get across a lot. If I get enough feedback I might do another chapter, I do have an idea…. So please review! It would make my day!

The hall was still and hushed. The students worked away busily, or at least pretended too. Most of them gossiped in undertones or played hangman with their neighbour. It was only a study period anyway, and it was only the fourth year class; everyone was bored and listless.

The silence dragged on, deadly monotonous. Until, that was, a certain Rom weasly yelled; "DRACO MALFOY?" He sound echoed around the room, every head in the hall snapped up to stare at the golden trio, Hermione and Ron looking aghast, Harry looking humiliated. For a single moment there was complete and utter stillness, Harry could feel every pair of eyes burning into him, and then;

"what about me?" Came the upper class drawl of Draco Malfoy, sounding understandably suspicious. "n-nothing!" Potter said, clearly lying though his teeth. "just saying, um, errr…how great a person you were…" he finished lamely. The two arch enemies stared at each other, Potter pink in the face, Malfoy looking as if he were sucking on a lemon. "Although that is doubtlessly true Potter, I am far from stupid enough to believe that's what you were talking about. If you can say it about me you can say it to me."

There was a long, long silence. "and I thought gryfendoors were meant to be brave." Draco sneered, getting more and more agitated, he had to know, had to find out. He was certain Potter and his freak friends were plotting something nasty against him, that was all they ever seemed to do, the low life idoits.

But then an evil smirk spread over Draco's face as he noticed who was sitting behind the trio; Scarlett Edwards, a very 'helpful' Ravenclaw with the morals of a slytherin, who notoriously made money by selling gossip to…certain people. She would have heard. She would have known. She would be happy to talk, for a price. And in Draco's books no price was too high. When she saw him looking, she gave him a short, sharp nod.

Harry may be a budding warrior, a kid hero, the boy-who-lived and a tri-wizard torment champion… but the look on Draco's face absolutely terrified him.

"listen, Malfoy we really went saying anything, we were, um guessing who would end up being head boy! Yeah, so there's really no need to-"

"all right," Draco said casually. He stretched luxuriously, as if he hadn't a care in the world. "If you wont tell me Potter I have other ways of finding out. And don't worry," he sneered. " I will find out."

Harry gulped, shaking slightly now, and opened his mouth to say- But the door flew open and Severus Snape stalked in. A professor checked on them every 15 miniatures to check that they were working and to see if any of the students needed help with their work. No one ever dared ask Snape for help.

"bloody hell mate." Ron whispered to him across the table, when Snape had gone again. "fuck you." Harry said viciously, still red in the face. "I mean how could you!" He hissed, glaring daggers at the red head. "mate." Ron said, eyes still wide "it was quite a shock, what you just said, you should have told me somewhere private"

"you two should have stopped hounding me about it!" Harry protested. Hermione at least, had the grace to blush…

That period was the longest in Draco's life. He was practically foaming at the mouth with his need to know what Harry had been saying about him. When the bell rang he pelted towards Scarlett and dragged her into the nearest deserted classroom, Crabbe and Goyal lumbering after him.

"Tell me." he demanded, but she just smiled and shook her head. "payment first, you know the rules."

"what do you want?" he snapped. "the usual, and… a little extra. This information is worth it, I promise." With a scowl on his face Draco handed over the usual amount of money and sweets before sullenly asking her what else she wanted.

"I want you," and here she took a deep breath. " to kiss me."

"what? No." Draco said, crinkling his nose at the thought. "Then no information-" "wait!" Draco said, he desperately needed to know! "um, how do I know you'll tell me? The money and such I can take back, a kiss I cant. You could always just run off without telling me." He reasoned. It was pretty sound logic, but really, he didn't know why he didn't want to kiss her….he just knew he didn't.

"don't be daft Draco I know your cronies would break my legs." She said, matter of factly. "So just do it." Draco reflected for a moment. He didn't really want to kiss her, and he could just make Crabbe and Goyal beat her up until she talked, but that would probably…dissuade her from ever delivering him information again. Maybe even convince her to report on him. And that would not be good.

"fine." He said, he lent forward and briefly pecked her on the lips. It was a bit salty really, one of his first ever kisses, but, he smirked to himself, he thought he did it very well indeed.

She smiled up at him, looking slightly abashed for a moment before going straight back to business. "he fancies you." She said with a smirk. Draco's jaw literally dropped.

"and I don't just mean vaguely noticing how handsome you are, I mean like major crush, wet dreams every night, wanting to ask you to the yule ball! He even doodles hearts on his parchment!" she squealed with delight. "that's what they were talking about just before that oaf Weasly yelled your name. Granger and he were pressuring Potter to tell them who he was drawing them for, and when Potter said, well you saw what happened, I guess weasly just couldn't take it."

When Draco's brain finally accepted this information and got its arse out of shock, he let out a boom of laughter and fell to the floor in hysterics. "that is fantastic!" he said, when he could finally talk, his very soul bubbling over with glee. "Oh I should have known he was secretly gagging for me. I will have so much fun with this! Okay, I need to go and plot. That was truly first rate information, so thank you!" And he practically skipped to the Slytherin common room, smug smirk in full force. Oooooh, he was going to make Potter wish he had never been born! And best of all, he was going to let everyone know that Potter had the hots for him, wanted him, lusted after him…. Power was a wonderful thing to have.

He spent a long, long time coming up with his plan. But when he did, he was more than satisfied. It was a pretty complicated one, and to keep it all under wraps took some doing, as Potter couldn't know he was in a trap until it was too late, but he knew it would be worth it.

Firstly , he had to convince various 4th year students to approach teachers, in one way or another and…

Okay, back up a second. The 5th years always had this "sex seminar" about love and feelings and sexuality and crap like that. The teachers thought it was useful, but it was only ever criminally awkward for the students. But it was necessary for his plan.

So, he asked all these other students to approach teacher tell them that the 4th years needed the seminar too. Long story short, it worked like a dream, and was scheduled for the very next week.

Next, he needed some of Potters parchment that had the little hearts on it. (He couldn't stop giggling about that) That took some careful planning as well, but he got it, and with a ludicrous amount of attention to detail, he forged Harry's handwriting, coping down the words; "Harry Potter loves Draco Malfoy" around the hearts, before magically duplicating them over and over again.

All he had to do now was wait.

It took an agonisingly long time for the night of the seminar to come around, but it finally did. The fourth year students piled into a room, lined with bean bags and trying far too hard to look cosy and non-threatening. The end result was that it just looked creepy. The seminar teacher was this middle aged woman they got in especially to do this course thing, she was nice enough , although she clearly had no idea about the house rivalries.

The first part of the evening just bored Draco, explaining about how babies were made and sex and gross things like that. It was the part about 'feelings' and 'questioning your sexuality' that he was really interested in.

They did some trust exercises and a few games about…well Draco wasn't really sure what the point of the games were, he guessed they were to get everyone to relax before they talked about heavy stuff. It made the atmosphere surprisingly light actually, almost fun. But Draco would never admit that.

Then they talked about the serous stuff. Harry came out as gay, which absolutely amazed everyone (except a choice few of course, although Draco pretended to be shocked).

Then they talked about….feelings.

Like a fool, Harry really opened up, believing that no one knew who he liked apart from Ron and Hermione. He talked about this secret person, how he really, really liked them, how nervous he got around him, how strange it was to figure out he was gay, how desperately handsome he found this certain someone… It wasn't just Harry talking of course, but everyone focused on Harry, like always. In fact when Draco mentioned like a secret someone (a lie, but who was to know that?) barley anyone battered an eye lid. Stupid scar head, Draco fumed jealously.

When asked if he were going to ask this person to the Yule ball, Harry just said;

"well maybe…it's a bit difficult, because he's in another house, but I am a champion this year and I think he'd like to go with one. I mean if I can battle a dragon surly I can ask someone to a dance, right?" He said, laughing nervously. A few joined in with him and there were a couple people whispered; "I'll go with you Harry!"

And finally, they were dismissed.

As soon as the first person walked out the door, there was a flurry of paper falling from the sky, and a moment later; gasps, giggling, snorts of barley concealed laughter.

"What?" Shy, sweet Harry asked form the back. And then someone shoved a slip of paper at him; "is it true Harry?" The boy asked, staring at Harry in wonder. Harry's face went pale as he saw the slip of paper, the heart with his declaration of love for Draco…but he couldn't remember ever writing that…

He wanted so badly to deny it, but the look on his face confirmed it to it to everyone before he even opened his mouth and there was a sudden explosion of noise, from disgust to anger, to disappointment that it wasn't them.

His face was still pale as death, but he looked up searching the room for Draco, the tiniest particle of hope inside of him. Even though he had been outed to his whole year and soon to the whole school, maybe Draco would still say yes, maybe it could work out.

He looked franticly around and saw- the pale boy laughing, surrounded by fellow slytherins. It was as if the floor disappeared from under him, as if all his organs were gone and suddenly replaced with lead, he had never been so humiliated, and after saying all of that stuff about him only moments ago-

"how did you do it Draco? Make the paper fall like that? It was genius! " one of them screeched. "I got peaves to rig it up for me." Draco cackled.

Harry's heart shattered, his lips trembled and his eyes stung with tears. He took a shaky breath and tried to fight his way out of the crowd.

But evidently, Draco had not counted on peaves sticking around, because soon huge buckets of ice cold water were being poured over them all and a cackling sound was coming from above them. For once in his life, Harry was glad of peaves, the water scattered them all like leaves in a hurricane and made Harry's mad dash to Gyrfendoor tower all the easier.

He still had tears in his eyes though, and when he collapsed into his bed, his whole body shook with sobs, loud undignified wails. Of rejection and pain, and crushed hope, of lost dreams and that beautifull face laughing at him…. But mostly he hated himself for still caring about the git.

And Draco really, really was a git. He heckled him in the halls, pretended to blow kissed at him, rejected him over and over again, was so sickeningly smug and arrogant about bloody everything…. But this time, every body knew he was right, that the boy who lived did fancy him, majorly if what Harry said in the seminar was anything to go by…. they never for a moment let Harry forget what happened.

The worst thing, the thing Harry refused to admit, even to himself…. Was that he kind of liked the extra interaction he was getting with him now…

Yeah, he kind of liked it, because really, it was better than nothing at all. Sometimes, at night Harry pretend that the kisses Draco sent him were genuine and although he hated himself for it, it made it easier to sleep at night.