Hey everyone! Here's Chapter 4 of what is rapidly becoming my favourite project! There is a little more smut in this Chapter, but I'm determined not to let them move unrealistically fast.
(*)
Chapter 4
''Harry, wake up!''
Harry stirred and rolled over on the settee, mumbling indistinctly as his fringe fell over his eyes, wrinkling his nose.
''Harry! You're going to be late!'', Hermione's voice shouted from what seemed to be miles away.
Harry rolled over again, this time onto his back, and opened his eyes.
The common room was almost empty and those few remaining were hurrying out of the portrait hole for breakfast.
The lithe boy sat up abruptly and looked around, taking off his glasses which had been cutting into the bridge of his nose as he slept.
''What time is it.''
''It's late Harry, you're going to miss breakfast if you don't hurry!'', said Hermione.
She seemed more curious than annoyed and waited by the fire as Harry ran upstairs to get changed, mentally cursing the contentment he had felt the night before which had almost made him late.
(*)
They hurried into the Great Hall ten minutes later, slightly out of breath and took their places at the Gryffindor table.
Harry was careful to seat himself on the side facing the Slytherin table and smiled inwardly when he saw that Flint had done the same.
His eyes met the Slytherin's, the latter nodding at Harry before returning to his food.
''Where did you go last night?'', asked Hermione, looking at Harry sideways as she buttered her toast.
''Just for a walk.'', said Harry evasively, keeping his eyes on his porridge.
''Alone?''
''Yeah''
Hermione did not speak for a while, but ate her away through two slices of toast before blurting out, ''Harry I know when you're hiding something from me.''
He looked at her, large green eyes round with what he hoped was an innocent expression.
''Hermione, I'm not hiding anything but in case you hadn't noticed, someone entered me into a competition against three 17 year olds to perform a series of tasks that are almost definitely dangerous. So I think you can forgive me for wanting to take a walk every now and then to cool off.''
Hermione looked slightly ashamed of herself, but Harry knew she couldn't feel as guilty as he did for lying to her though, as he had promised himself, he would tell her at some point so his guilt was quickly repressed.
He looked up again to find that the muscular Slytherin had been staring at him. He gave Flint a small smile before inclining his head ever so slightly towards the door into the entrance hall and standing up.
''Just going to run to the toilet before Charms.'', he muttered to Hermione as he walked away.
She nodded, deep in conversation with Ginny about S.P.E.W.
(*)
Harry loitered in the entrance hall, secluded in an alcove, and waited for Marcus to follow catch up with him.
When the tall Slytherin walked past him, Harry placed a hand on Marcus' broad shoulder gently, making him look around.
Flint gave something close to a smile when he saw Harry in the alcove and entered the small space himself.
Though they were now concealed from anyone who would walk past, they were so cramped that they couldn't even kiss each other.
Flint made an impatient noise at this and lifted Harry easily into the air, pressing the Gryffindor against the wall.
''Hi'', said Harry with a smile as he wrapped his legs around Flint's waist.
Flint did not reply but placed one of his hands under Harry's backside and stroked the Gryffindor's back with the other before crushing his lips against the boys.
Harry smiled against Flint's lips before kissing back, allowing the Slytherin to dominate the embrace, tightening his legs around the muscular waist as Flint pressed him harder against the wall.
Harry could have happily remained there for an eternity, where the only constant in his life was the feel of Marcus and, all too soon, the bell sounded just above their heads.
Marcus, regretfully it appeared, let the slim boy down, but did not remove his arms from around Harry's waist.
Harry tried to pull away, but Marcus merely tightened his grip on the boy's hips and shook his head, pressing his nose into Harry's hair, breathing deeply.
''We'll be late for lessons.'', he said, even as he stroked Marcus' strong jaw.
''Don't care.''
''Well I do, I'm going to need all the help I can get if I'm not going to die in this competition.'', said Harry jokingly
Marcus pulled away and looked darkly down at the boy, ''that's not funny.''
''I'm only…'', began Harry,
''Don't joke about that.'', said Marcus.
''Marcus, I was joking.'', said Harry softly, before burying his face into Marcus' neck, kissing the Slytherin's collar bone lightly.
Marcus grunted and kissed the top of Harry's head before Harry pulled away.
''We've really got to go.'', said the Gryffindor.
Flint nodded, ''meet me by the doors, same time tonight.''
Harry smiled, ''Ok, see you later.''
They kissed briefly before leaving the alcove; Harry hurrying to Charms, Flint walking slowly to Transfiguration
(*)
The rest of the day passed without great incident for Harry, unless you counted a definite upswing in the amount of taunting comments he received from fellow pupils, almost all of whom seemed determined to make him crack before the weekend.
The funny thing was that the more Hermione intoned 'ignore them, ignore them, ignore them!'', the closer Harry got the breaking point.
However, every time Harry's temper reached its highest pitch, and he was on the verge of cursing the next person to insult him, he remembered the feeling that had washed over him the previous evening as he sat with Marcus and his anger seemed to quell slightly.
(*)
It had been a very trying day for Marcus as well. He could not count the times he had almost smashed someone's face in for disrespecting Harry.
He could almost feel his blood boiling when he heard that awful little shit Malfoy taking the Mick out of Harry at every opportunity he got and it was only because he had promised Harry he wouldn't lash out at anyone that he didn't slam Draco's spoiled blond head against a wall.
(*)
When the bell rang for tea that evening, Harry let out a small sigh and closed his Defence against the Dark Arts book.
He walked slowly down to dinner with Hermione, not really listening to her lecture on the various ways to combat the jelly-legs jinx and how ''structural damage to the tibia can ensue if the jinx is not removed swiftly''.
When they reached the Gryffindor table, Hermione said ''in essence, Harry, it's mainly about avoiding lasting damage from what is really a minor hex at most.''
He made a non-committal grunt and sat down, pouring casserole onto both of their plates before turning to the bushy-haired girl who was still in full flow about counter-jinxes.
''Hermione?'', he said, tentatively.
''Yes?'', she said, breaking off in the middle of an explanation regarding the ''impeditive nature of both leg-locker and jelly-legs jinxes'', to regard him with mild interest.
''Nothing, it doesn't matter.'', said Harry, losing his nerve and going slightly pink before taking a sip from his goblet to cover up the awkward moment.
They ate their dinner slowly, talking easily about lessons and other non engaging topics, Harry's eyes fluttering occasionally to lock with Marcus' who was staring at him now more than ever, a funny expression on his face.
Harry wasn't sure what was making Marcus scowl over at them and threw the Slytherin a look of hurt confusion when Hermione put her knife and fork together and pulled out her S.P.E.W notebook to jot down a few notes whilst Harry finished his desert.
Marcus shook his head at Harry before standing up and walking away.
(*)
Harry found it hard to concentrate on his homework that evening, even with Hermione practically telling him all of the answers.
Why had Marcus scowled at him like that? Hadn't the Slytherin pretty much said that Harry was the only person in Hogwarts he cared about? What had he done wrong?
He didn't think he'd handle it very well if Marcus turned his back on him the same way so many others had and so it was with a growing sense of apprehension that he descended the Marble Steps into the entrance hall that evening at midnight.
Yet again, Marcus was already standing by the oaken front doors, waiting for him, his broad shoulders silhouetted against a ray of moonlight coming in from the high windows of the chamber
''Hi'', said Harry as he pulled the cloak off.
Marcus nodded, his scowl still firmly in place.
''What's up?'', asked Harry.
Marcus shook his head and turned to open the front doors, but Harry placed a hand on one of the Slytherin's large shoulders and Marcus froze at the touch.
He turned to look at Harry, his scowl morphing into an almost accusatory look.
''Are you angry with me?'', Harry asked, putting is other hand on Marcus' other shoulder.
Marcus' muscular arms rested very lightly on Harry's small hips, apparently unconsciously, ''No.''
''You are. You were glaring at me all dinner when I was talking to Hermione.'', said Harry.
Marcus' face darkened at the mention of Hermione's name and his hands clenched on Harry's waist, making the lithe boy wince.
''Marcus, she's my friend!'', said Harry indignantly, but he stood on tiptoe and kissed the muscular boy.
It occurred to Harry that, no matter how many times he kissed Marcus, he would never get used to how much he liked the sensation of the Slytherin's lips against his own.
Marcus, in spite of himself, closed his eyes and reciprocated the kiss, his arms wrapping completely around Harry's waist as he spun them around and pressed Harry completely against the wall.
Harry broke the kiss, his hands entwined in Marcus' hair, one of his legs around Marcus' waist.
''She's my friend.'', he said sadly, feeling Flint's hot breath against his face, dimly aware of the fact that his and the Slytherin's erections were aligned pleasantly.
Marcus nodded and said ''Sorry.'' Before crushing his lips back against Harry's.
Harry smiled when Marcus grabbed his other thigh and pulled it up, locking Harry's legs around his waist and carrying the Gryffindor to a broom closet near the Great Hall, opening it and walking inside.
As soon as the door shut behind them, Marcus locked it and pressed the boy up against it forcefully, causing Harry to gasp and clench his legs around Marcus before allowing the Slytherin to crush their lips together again.
Kissing Harry forcefully, Marcus undid the front of his and Harry's robes, allowing both sets to fall to the floor, the pair of them now dressed in only their trousers, shirts and ties.
Harry undid Marcus' shirt buttons, allowing his legs to drop to the floor as he undid them all to expose the perfection that was Flint's torso.
Harry had known that Flint was muscular; that much was apparent, even through his school robes, but he had not known that Flint's body was this beautifully defined.
The Slytherin had perfectly sculpted Pecs and abs, his brownish nipples hard with pleasure as he undid Harry's shirt.
Harry felt a little embarrassed when his shirt had been removed in comparison to the built Slytherin; but Marcus seemed to be just as impressed with Harry's lightly muscled physique as Harry was with Flint's toned form.
Harry was not skinny, but slim and lithe; his small muscles visible along his slender torso and his slender neck only added to the beauty of his appearance.
The two boys looked at each other for a few seconds before Harry flung his arms around Marcus' neck and kissed him again.
Flint smirked as the boy launched at him and, carefully pulled the boy onto the floor.
Marcus lay on his back as he made Harry straddle his hips, the smaller boy's hands resting on the Slytherin's hard pectorals as he leaned down to kiss the square-jawed face before attacking Marcus' thick neck.
Still smirking, Marcus raised his arms, tracing them down Harry's back before resting them on the pert backside, pushing Harry's straining groin down against his own.
Harry gasped at the sensation before smiling cheekily and grinding down against Marcus again, repeating the movement every couple of seconds until they both felt the fire pooling in the pit of their stomachs.
Forcing their lips together more firmly than ever, they both peaked at the same time, filling their trousers with their seeds, Harry's small frame collapsing against Marcus' broad chest, the Slytherin's arms wrapping loosely around the Gryffindor's narrow back.
They lay there for a few moments, allowing themselves to cool down from their highs, Harry panting, his head on Marcus' shoulder.
Marcus' head rested on Harry's as they breathed in each other's scent and, eventually, Harry stood up.
''Where you going?'', asked Marcus.
''We are going for a walk.'', said Harry, smiling and waving his wand to clean up the mess in their crotches.
''Pushy.'', smirked Marcus as Harry threw his clothes at him.
Harry grinned broadly as they left the broom closet and walked back across the entrance hall towards the oaken double doors.
Again, Marcus held the door for the Gryffindor, who smiled and walked through them, into the cold, crisp night.
They both reached out at the same time and held hands as they strode down towards the lake and the willow tree.
There was no pretence this time, Marcus grabbed Harry around his slim waist as he sat down on the grass, forcing the petite Gryffindor to sit on his knee.
Harry chuckled mildly before turning his head to look over his shoulder at the strong Slytherin, ''for all your 'tough and moody' stuff, you're actually quite soft you know.'', smiled Harry, kissing Marcus on the jaw before looking ahead over the lake.
''M'not.'', grunted Marcus, tightening his strong arms around Harry, causing the Gryffindor to laugh a bit more.
''Well, to me you are.'', said Harry, leaning his head back against Marcus.
Marcus didn't reply, but he didn't need to; Harry knew he was right and he sighed very slightly as he watched a few tiny ripples disturb the lake as the Giant Squid delicately propelled itself across the glassy surface.
He felt Marcus' slow, hot breath against his ear and guessed that the Slytherin was falling asleep in the afterglow of his recent climax and the warm weight of Harry upon his lap.
Harry could feel himself slipping into a lethargy himself and didn't even have the energy to mention as such.
Both boys slipped quite suddenly into a deep sleep despite the cold, both wrapped up in their own comfort.
(*)
Harry awoke 4 hours later.
He and Marcus were lying side by side; Marcus on his back, Harry on his side with an arm clutching at the Slytherin's broad chest, his leg draped across Marcus' hips.
His first feeling was of unbearable cold and he reminded himself that he had fallen asleep outdoors in November.
He sat up and nudged Marcus awake.
The large Slytherin groaned and sat up, shuddering with a cold that even he could feel.
Harry, however, was beyond cold and shook violently as he clambered onto Marcus' lap childishly , wrapping his legs around the boy tightly, desperate for warmth.
Marcus wrapped his arms around Harry's back tightly, pressing his chest against Harry's protectively.
Harry's arms were around Marcus' neck and he pressed their cold lips together, Marcus smiling as he felt Harry trembling.
''It's not that cold.'', he grunted, smirking.
Harry squeezed him reproachfully with his legs and said, teeth chattering, ''Y..you're a l..lot b..bigger than m…m..me!''
Marcus chuckled softly and held Harry a little tighter as Harry buried his face into the Slytherin's broad shoulder, seeking warmth.
(*)
Well, there you have it! I hope you liked Chapter 4! Don't forget to review!