"What the bloody hell was that, mate?" Ron demanded angrily as soon as his feet touched the ground. "You kissed Draco sodding Malfoy! In front of the entire school!"

"Really?" Harry snapped, dismounting his broom, cheeks a bright red.

"I hadn't noticed."

"Old Lucius will see you expelled for this!"

"Dumbledore wouldn't allow that."

"He's right, Harry," Hermione said gravely, trotting up to the pair. "You saw what lengths Lucius went to during the Buckbeak incident. Dumbledore couldn't do anything then." Harry froze. Expelled from Hogwarts? That was a nightmare he never wanted to face. "And, not to mention," Hermione continued. "Lucius probably isn't the most...accepting of homosexuality. He'll burn you alive for kissing his son. He already hates you." Harry gave her a look of horror. Homosexuality? He hadn't even thought about that. Kissing Draco had seemed the most normal thing in the world, not the taboo Uncle Vernon made it out to be. He was fucked. Completely and utterly fucked.

The glare Malfoy gave him at dinner lacked its usual venom, but the new, unknown heat behind it was equally unsettling. Harry quickly looked away. "What am I going to do?" he moaned. "Nothing," Ron replied. "I'm sure Lucius knows by now. You're a goner." Harry slumped face down onto the table.

"But nothing's happened," Hermione protested. "Harry hasn't even be called to see Dumbledore. Lucius wouldn't have wasted this much time."

"Maybe old Malfoy is a ponce and doesn't want his dad to find out?" Ron suggested, helpfully.

"Can we not say that?" Harry mumbled. He didn't want to think about Malfoy being... gay. It did funny things to his stomach. "You need to talk to him, Harry. Apologize. See what the price is for his silence." Hermione said simply. Harry shot up, staring at her. "Are you mad? He'll kill me, or make me do something equally awful."

"It's that, or no more Hogwarts. You got yourself into this, Harry. Pick your poison."

Relax. Harry told himself. It's not like he's actually going to show up. But his hands continued sweating, despite his inner monolog. He didn't know what he was thinking, slipping that note over to Malfoy during class. He was certain the other boy had read it, if his venomous sneer was anything to go by, but what were the odds he'd actually agree to meet him? The note had been simple, nothing more than a time (4:30) and a place (Astronomy Tower) but it didn't indicate what Harry's intentions were. And now that he gave it thought, that seemed a bit foolish. He only wanted to apologize, but given the circumstances, it could easily be assumed that he might want...other things.

No, Malfoy was definitely not going to show up. Never, never, never, never-

"This better be good, Potter."

Harry yelped and whirled around. Draco stood before him, arms crossed and leaning against the tower's wall. Harry waited for his adrenaline to ebb before speaking.

"Malfoy." He kept it simple, figuring a witty jab in greeting would do him no favors.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow expectantly. "What do you want?"

"You came," Harry said, smartly.

"Yes, well spotted. And to think they call you unobservant."

Harry ran his hands through his already messy hair, making it stick up more than usual. "Look, can we just...talk for a second?" Something danced in Malfoy's eyes, but only for a moment before it faded into cool disinterest.

"Talk about what, Potter? I am rather certain there is nothing we need to discuss, unless you've finally come to your senses and decided to get help with that rat's nest of yours." he gestured to Harry's head. "In which case, I'm sure I could get Pansy to help you, she cut my hair-,"

"Will you cut the shit, Malfoy? I'm trying to apologize."

Malfoy looked taken aback. "Wait, apologize?"

Harry grimaced. Best to get it over with. "Yeah… I wanted to say sorry for, you know," he mumbled the last bit.

"What was that?" Malfoy smirked. "Didn't quite catch that."

Harry mumbled again, cheeks flushing.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said, I'm sorry for kissing you!" it came out louder than intended, echoing off the castle walls. Harry slapped a hand over his mouth, horrified. Half the school had probably heard.

Draco grinned in a way that made Harry acutely uncomfortable. "Oh, is that all? Why didn't you say so?" he seemed to be enjoying Potter's discomfort immensely. "I will admit I was rather embarrassed, I'd go so far as to humiliated. But you wouldn't care about that, would you? That was probably your entire goal, wasn't it?"

"No!" Harry spluttered. "I would never!"

"Oh? Then tell me why you did it."

"W-what?"

"Must I spell out everything? Why. Did. You. Kiss. Me?" Harry took an awkward step back. "Everyone expected it," he finally mumbled.

"Bollocks. Since when do you do what "everyone expects"?"

Harry racked his brain, trying to come up with an excuse. Why had he kissed Malfoy? Why had the kiss cam selected them in the first place? Most importantly, why did he feel like he needed an excuse? Surely the truth couldn't be so bad. Could it? With a sinking feeling, Harry realized that yes, it definitely could. "I...don't know," he said finally, defeated. "I don't know. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for embarrassing you." he laughed humorlessly. "Trust me, it won't happen again." Malfoy looked as if the wind had been taken out of his sails. He said nothing as Harry turned and walked away.

Sighing quietly, Harry rolled over on his side for the umpteenth time that night. Sleep seemed to want nothing to do with him. He had too much to think about. He asked himself the same question he'd been asking himself for the better part of the day. What in Merlin's name had possessed him to kiss Draco sodding Malfoy? Certainly, the magic pull of the kiss cam had to be taken into consideration, but with that aside, the choice has still been his. And he'd done it. In the moment, he told himself he'd done it to avoid looking cowardly, but a nagging in his head told him it might have been something else. Something else he wasn't willing to put a name to. It was too...surreal. He couldn't possibly like Malfoy. Could he?