Draco awake from his sleep in an uncharacteristically good mood that caused a soft smile to flash across his face. He'd had such a lovely dream. Staring out at star filled skies and soft lips kissing his temple. A beautiful dream to be sure. His tempest charm showed that he'd slept in so Draco knew he'd need to hurry if he didn't want to be late. He reached absently for his bedside table to grab his potions book and felt something unfamiliar on the stand. A scrap of parchment that hadn't been there the day before was placed with deliberate care where he was sure to find it. With faint curiosity Draco unfolded the sheet and skimmed over its contents quickly.
Dearest Draco,
I was worried that a night's sleep in the astronomy tower might make you get a cold or plummet to your death, so I brought you back to your chambers. I hope you don't mind. I'd hate to see you sick with even the mildest illnesses. You look so lovely when you sleep thought, like an angel. I wonder why you too sought to stare at the skies. To view the constellation from which you were named? Or like me did you wish to be alone, away from all the expectations of others? We are quite alike in that aspect. More alike then anyone would like to believe. May we meet again on another starlit night.
From: Someone who loves you too much.
Draco reread the paper several times, blushing more and more, every time. No wonder he didn't remember returning to his room that night. Someone had brought him back to his room, someone who could have just left him, but chose to carry him down who knows how many flights of stairs to get him back to his chambers. Who somehow entered the dungeons and got him into his room. It had to be a Slytherin right? Who else could have gotten past the portrait? Curious beyond belief Draco quickly got dressed and rushed to the entrance of the dungeons. The snake that served as their protector was curled up in sleep and Draco was hesitant to wake him up. He had no idea how to talk to snakes and even if he did he couldn't understand them. The top of the portrait said that the reptile's name was Snap and Draco was wary of disturbing him.
"Snap?" He called tentatively, never having spoken more then the password to the picture before.
Snap opened up his eyes slowly and gave his best impression of a human glare. It seemed to work from the shiver the human exhibited. In elegant green handwriting the word: "What" Appeared in cursive on the bottom.
"Sorry to awaken you this early, but I as wondering if you saw who brought me in last night. Was it a Slytherin?"
With obvious disdain for the boy in front of him Snap uncoiled himself and pretended to ignore the question. Draco was going to ask again, but a sharp hiss stopped him.
"None of my own are blessed enough to know how to speak my tongue and I am loyal to those that can. All I will say is that no Slytherin entered with you this dawn. Though he would have done well as one. To love a Slytherin shows good judgment in taste. Good luck with your search."
Before Draco could ask anymore of Snap the snake in question slipped outside the frame and slithered to the nearest portrait close to the dungeons.
"Wait! There must be something more than that!" Draco called after him, but the snake was no where in sight and Draco didn't have time to search. He was already late for breakfast and Pansy would raise Hell if he wasn't there to eat with her. On his way to the Great Hall Draco debated the best way to find his mysterious admirer. Who would know about all the Parseltongue in Hogwarts? The only one he could think of off the top of his head was Po-. The name made his face flush crimson and he shook his head to clear his thoughts. There was no way it could be Potter. The Boy Who Wouldn't Bloody Die couldn't be a queer…..Not that it was well known that the Slytherin Prince was gay. Potter was H-O-T hot and if he was gay Draco would have known by now and started dating him. There had to be other Parseltongue in the school then Potter. There just had to be.
Harry was floating on the clouds when he reached the Great Hall. He'd gotten to hold Draco Malfoy, even kiss him! Everyone around him was shocked at the giddiness Harry was giving off. It was like he'd drank a whole cheerfulness potion and it wasn't about to wear off anytime soon. He didn't even notice that his whole table seemed to be staring at him and whispering in soft tones. It wasn't till he was at his seat that he noticed Ron's glare and Hermione's disapproving look.
"How long were you planning on hiding this from us Harry?" She asked in a frigid tone.
From his happy place Harry gave them a curious look.
"Hide what?" He asked, still oblivious of their anger.
"That you were sneaking out at night to visit some secret girlfriend from another house! How could you lie to us like that! How could you betray us like that!?"
Slowly their words sunk in and Harry felt anger replace his joy.
"Me lie to you! You two have got to be the biggest hypocrites I've ever met! You two have been going out for the last 3 months and haven't even bothered to tell me! You didn't care what I wanted! You're just mad I didn't take Ginny back after she cheated on me! You act as though that shouldn't have meant a thing to me! I refuse to date her just because she's your sister! I have someone who I love and you two should just be happy for me!"
Almost blind with fury, Harry rose from his seat and ran out of the great hall, nearly running into Draco in his haste.
"Sorry." He muttered softly before running out of the shocked to silence room.
Draco himself was stunned immobile by what he had heard from the doorway.
Weaslette had cheated on Potter? Who in the hell would cheat on Potter if they had him?! Only a Weasley would be that stupid!
Instantly Draco was filled with as much anger as Harry. They were mad at Potter because he wouldn't forgive that slut!? How stupid was that?!
Draco started sprinting after Harry and almost ran past the raven's hiding place. Harry had gotten little sleep the night before and he hadn't been able to run too far before he got exhausted. He'd curled himself into a shadowed corridor that was seldom used and Draco would have missed him if he hadn't heard the other teen's sniffling.
"Potter?" He called quietly.
Harry gave a muffled whimper before wiping his eyes clear of tears.
"Just go away Malfoy. I don't have it in me to fight you today. In case you haven't heard, things aren't all peaches and cream in my life right now."
Harry gave a hard humorless chuckle that replaced the anger Draco was feeling with a deep sadness. Harry obviously didn't lead the life the public thought he did. Draco was at a loss to know how to give any comfort to the dishearten Gryffindor and had to resort to the one thing he always knew would work. He made fun of him.
"Get up Potter. You're better then them and even I know it. Why do you care so much anyway? A whiny know it all and a slut's brother aren't exactly your only options. You don't owe them anything anymore. Whether you're staying with them out of some stupid Gryffindor loyalty or out of pity I don't care. They aren't worth all this crybaby crap. You're supposed to be a hero, so get off the ground and stop acting liked what they think matters. Get a decent date and get over it. You're the freaking Boy-Who-Lived. Any idiot in this school would go out with you in a heartbeat."
Harry sat in awed silence as Draco both insulted yet comforted him. The blonde would have usually taken advantage of him in such a state, but instead Draco had been almost kind.
"Anyone Malfoy? Even someone like you?"
Draco was only caught off guard by the question for a second before he responded in his usual manner.
"I'm not an idiot Potter." He stated flatly.
Harry decided to though all caution to the wind and risk his heart one more time at Hogwarts.
"But you're beautiful." Harry muttered softly, almost going unheard by the Slytherin.
"What?" Was all Draco could force out of his gaping mouth.
Harry took a deep breath and prayed he wasn't making the biggest mistake of his life.
"You're beautiful Draco. Not to mention intelligent, graceful, and skilled. I would be lucky to date someone lucky like you. I know that."
Draco blushed at Harry's words and wouldn't meet his beseeching gaze. How desperately he wanted to say yes and date the Gryffindor, but his Slytherin instincts refused to let him believe this wasn't a plot to hurt him in some way.
"What makes you think I'm gay Potter? And since when are you gay?"
Harry gave a smile that looked as brittle as ice as he explained his reasoning.
"Fate is cruel. I know that better than anyone. You're a pure blooded prince of Slytherin and heir to a fortune. You're a charmer of women without giving them anything concrete to grasp. Plus with your good looks and skill you're undeniably desirable to the opposite sex. So naturally you have to be gay. The same way I'm the bachelor of the year, yet had the hard luck of falling in love with another man. A man with hair like silver and eyes like mercury. A man that made it ever so clear to me that I was very much capable of being honest with myself about being bi. Tell me the truth…..Do you really believe it would be so horrible to date me?"
Harry closed the few feet that was between them and cradled Draco's face gently in his hand. Draco watched in horrified fascination as Harry's emerald eyes came closer to his own and he felt sure he would drown in their depth. When they were less than an inch apart Harry stopped and smiled tenderly at Draco.
"I could make you so happy. If you gave me the chance." Harry promised as his breath ghosted over Draco's face in the most tantalizing way.
The Slytherin prince felt like his whole world had shifted in the past few minutes and no one had bothered to warn him in advance. All this new information was swimming around in his head and Potter being so damn close wasn't helping any. Every fiber of his being was screaming that he should just shove Harry away and brag to the whole school that Potter was gay and had hit on him. But he couldn't do it.
He couldn't make himself cause that same look of pain that been on Harry's face earlier. He cared too damn much for Harry to do that to him. He cared so much that suddenly having the raven at kissing distance didn't seem like such a bad thing.
Ever so slightly Draco tilted his head at the perfect angle to kiss the confident Gryffindor and was just about to close the gap between them when the pair heard footsteps coming their way. As soon as the sound registered Draco pulled back like he'd been tased and Harry gave a disappointed sigh as his chance was ruined.
Ginny rounded the corner and caught sight of the two rivals dangerously close to invading each others personal space. A look of confusion crossed her face for a moment before she shrugged it off. They were probably just having another argument. A coy smile replaced the confused look as Ginny began strutting her way over to Harry in what she must have thought was a sexy manner.
"Harry." She purred, slipping to his side and coiling herself around him like a snake. Harry visibly shuttered at the touch and went absolutely white when she tried to pout at him.
"I've missed you so since our little spat. Isn't it about time we got back together and started preparing for our future? Whatever you were doing with Malfoy can wait can't it?"
Harry's hands were curled into tight claws at his side and he opened his mouth to tell the red head to get her hands off him before he made them disappear, but before he got the chance Draco pushed Ginny away from Harry and wrapped his own arm around the elder Gryffindor. Harry leaned into the touch and noted happily that this hold felt much more natural than Ginny's sweaty grip.
Draco scowled ferociously at the red head and bit his tongue to keep from cussing her out. Ginny looked like a mix between shocked, confused and pissed off.
"What's your problem Malfoy? I'm trying to talk to MY future husband if you don't mind!
Draco's scowl of outrage turned to one of mockery and gloating as a plan settled in his mind.
"As a matter of fact I do mind that you're trying to suffocate my CURRENT boyfriend right in front of me. So do us both a favor and go back to your cheating bed and leave us alone!"
Ginny opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, looking like a sick fish.
The Slytherin prince flat out ignored her in favor of looking at Harry's blissful face.
"Really?" Harry whispered in wonder, hope filling his emerald gaze.
Draco could find no words to summarize what he was feeling at the moment and settled for action instead.
With extreme tenderness Draco tilted his slightly taller head to meet Harry halfway in a chaste kiss on the lips. Ginny went from red with rage to pale with shock in seconds and before the pair had parted the younger Gryffindor was in a dead faint on the floor.
Draco looked at her from the corner of his eye and smiled into the kiss. Victory was sweet.
Slowly the two parted and Harry looked at the blonde with glazed over eyes. Want and love swirled in their depths in a way that made Draco's stomach feel like it was full of pixies.
"Boyfriend huh?" Harry muttered dazedly.
"You asked me to be didn't you?"
"I never dreamed you'd say yes."
"I never dreamed you'd ask."
Harry looked down at the Gryffindor girl and couldn't resist tapping her in the side lightly with his foot.
"What should we do about her?" He asked mischievously, thinking of all the things they could do to the pitiless red head. Draco lifted a brow at the tone and smiled an identical smile.
"What would you like to do?"
"We could oblivate her, dump her in the lake-"
"That doesn't sound very wicked."
Harry gave him a slightly annoyed look before continuing.
"I wasn't done. We could oblivate her, dump her in the lake naked AND put a temporary non washable tattoo on her arm that says 'I love Sam' in a big red heart on her arm. She'll have no idea how she got there, where's she's been and who Sam is. It'll scare the hell out of her."
Draco gave an approving nod and smirked.
"How very…..Slytherin of you. What a great way to spend a first date."
Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's neck and sighed.
"I was almost a Slytherin you know. People are always telling me I should have been. I didn't like the idea at first, till it occurred to me that it might have led me to sharing a room with you. Oh well…What could have been isn't worth think about now."
Draco paused and thought about what Harry had said.
"I was meaning to ask you something before this little incident with the red head. I happened to wake up this morning with a rather interesting note next to my bed and my house portrait said a Parseltongue brought me in last night. That wouldn't have happened to be you by any chance would it?"
Harry blushed scarlet and looked away from Draco's amused gaze.
"And if it was?" He questioned meekly.
"If it was, then I'd have to question why you didn't just stay in the bed with me and spend the night, but oh well. We have the rest of tonight to be together and the rest of the day to spend watching the Weaslette panic from our little joke."
Harry laughed a full hearted laugh and kissed Draco on the cheek softly.
"What a truly evil prince you are."
"Admit it, you love me for it." Draco teased.
Harry smiled tenderly before replying.
"Yes I do."
Well? What do you think? I've had this on my mind for the longest time and I had to type it out! I don't much like the ending, but I would love to hear your thoughts on it! One more review for a poor little writer? Please! Reviews=Love!
Yours truly,
Lacy Fairgold
