DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and all it's characters belong to J K Rowling.
Author's note: Please rate and review! Constructive criticism and thoughts on the story are greatly appreciated!
On a side note, thanks to everyone who reviewed on the previous chapters. They made my day!
Chapter Eight
Harry clenched his fists to his sides and counted silently backwards from twenty. Twice. He did not want to blow up at the blonde, not now at least. Once he was sufficiently calm, he asked, "What just happened?
"There was a fight." Draco's tone was wry but he didn't look up to see Harry., so the effect of the glare on his face was minimum.
"Oh, now you talk back!"
"It was more of a confrontation, actually" the blonde corrected.
"Was there no way for you to confront him back?" Harry ran his fingers through his hair, a part of his mind wishing it were Draco's. A bigger part of him, though, was still pissed at the blonde.
Draco shrugged in response, "I really didn't want to."
"Why?"
Draco finally looked up and sighed. His shoulders slumped and he leaned back against the wall he had been slammed against a few minutes ago, "Mostly because a lot of the points he was making were true. I did lord it over them last year, and all the years before that. He has the right to be mad."
"Mad, okay. What he doesn't have is the right to push you around like that. What happened to talking things out?"
"I'd have thought you Gryffindors would know the power behind physical action a lot more than us Slytherins."
"Ha Ha Ha, Draco, very funny. I have missed your wit." And he had, but not like this.
Draco scowled, "What do you want me to say?"
"That you should have fought back? That you should have made it clear to him that you would not be pushed around?"
"I don't care what they do. "
"You should!"
Draco exhaled loudly, "I just don't, okay?"
"Why, the fuck, not? And don't give me that crap about thinking you deserve it. That is no reason for you to act like this. If you want to regret, go ahead. But don't do it like a bloody coward."
Draco glanced up sharply, his eyes flashing, "Don't call me that!"
"Why? You called yourself that yesterday."
"Not-not in this way. Like I'm afraid to- ugh, like I'm hiding behind a wall, pretending to be remorseful just because I don't want to face anything."
"Oh, really! What you're doing seems like exactly that!" Harry shouted.
"It's not!"
"Then what exactly are you doing?"
Silence ensued as they both panted and tried to catch their breath. Draco straightened up and ran his fingers through his hair. Harry unconsciously copied the gesture and Draco swallowed when he noticed. Finally, he said softly, "I'm not doing that, okay?"
"Then, what are you doing?" Harry asked back, in a more normal volume.
Draco sighed, "I don't know."
"This much of a character change isn't normal, Draco." Harry slowly walked forward and leaned against the wall next to Draco. "It's not normal for someone to go from belligerent, snarky, rude, haughty and sometimes pathetic to someone who's this quiet, accepting and apathetic."
Draco bristled at the 'pathetic' comment but didn't say anything. When Harry finished, he said, "But what if that guy you knew before isn't the real me?"
Harry raised his eyebrows, "Isn't he?"
Draco shrugged, "I don't know. I'm not consciously making the decision to act this way. I mean, when Castor pushed me against the wall, I wanted to fight back. But a bigger part of me wanted to just take it. It wasn't only because I thought I deserved it though, it was because I just accepted that things like this may happen, and I may not have the power to stop it."
Harry thought about what Draco was saying. Could people change that drastically? —Go from loud, arrogant and controversial to quiet and accepting. Well, they probably could if they had been through a war were living day to day was a big thing, having to do stuff that others expected him to in pain of death. Harry recalled Draco's attempts at torture last year; it must have been horrible having that monster in his house. He could have learnt to become accepting because of that. And of course, there was no question that he had remained quiet for most of the time, just doing others' bidding all the time.
Harry took a deep breath, "Do you think it's because of the war?"
Draco turned so that they were facing each other, their shoulders to the wall, "Probably. I did have to be very accepting last year. And quiet," All the things that Harry had thought moments ago. "I don't really know, though."
Harry smiled and lifted his hand to Draco's cheek, "It's alright. I can help you get through it. And if you're going to remain the same person—which I have absolutely no problem with—I'll just make sure you're not being stupid. I just don't want you to lose yourself, Draco. The arrogance, the snark, the belligerence, they were all you. They're hidden somewhere in you; you just have to find them. If you really want to."
Draco smiled softly, "Yeah," and looked up at Harry. Slowly, his gaze lowered to his lips and he leaned forward. Softly, but surely, he pressed his lips against Harry's and aligned his torso against his. Harry pressed back against him and ran his fingers through the blonde hair, something he had been fantasizing about doing for most of the evening. Draco's fingers came up to entangle in his hair, pulling slightly. Harry deepened the kiss and pressed his tongue against the blonde's lips, prompting him to open his mouth; he pushed his tongue into the wet heat and met an answering tongue. They rolled gently with each other for a few seconds before Harry started exploring the blonde's mouth; he moved his tongue over the blonde's lips again, loving the feel of them. He pushed back in and explored the lining of his teeth and his upper jaw. The blonde practically melted against him, his hands slowly running up and down his back now, his hips shaking ever so slightly.
Harry leaned back for a second to catch his breath and used this time to run his lips over the Slytherin's jaw, placing small kisses over it. He bent a little to access the blonde's neck and started laving kisses on it as well, nipping very slightly. He didn't want to mark Draco. Yet. Draco sighed above him and brought his hands back to Harry's hair, holding his head in place. Harry got the message and started kissing lower, over the blonde's collarbone and the hollow of his throat. Draco was panting slightly now, and making the tiniest of moans. Harry went back up and kissed the blonde again, this time more roughly. They moved against each other and when Harry couldn't take it any longer, he started thrusting slowly over Draco's thigh.
Draco met his thrusts and started moaning more openly now, his hands still tangled in Harry's hair and his tongue meeting Harry's as they kissed. Draco never tried to gain control though, preferring to accept Harry's intrusion, something Harry didn't really have a problem with. After a few more minutes, Harry let the kiss end naturally and stood leaning on Draco, panting. They finally pulled apart, and Harry reveled in the flush that was coloring Draco's face, knowing his face looked the same as well. He brought his hand up to pat down Draco's hair and smiled when he noticed that, with one brush, the hair was back in perfect position. How he wished his hair behaved like that.
After a couple of minutes, both of them were breathing fine, and back to their normal skin color. Harry put his hands in his trouser pockets and moved back a few steps so that he could resist the temptation to go back to kissing. He thought of what Ron and Hermione would say to this—they would probably wonder how he got himself into situation like this through something as innocuous as returning to pick up a bag.
Finally Draco said, "Are we meeting up later today?"
Harry nodded vigorously, "Hell, yeah."
Draco smiled, "Okay. Just wanted to make sure. And… about what we were talking about yesterday? I'm pretty sure I'm interested."
Harry grinned, "Thought you would come to that. Would you like to be my boyfriend?"
Draco blinked rapidly, "Uhh, I don't know. I've never been in a relationship before." He obviously hadn't considered the thought. Harry wondered, then, how Draco got so good at kissing. And being the brave Gryffindor, he asked,
"Then how are you so good at kissing and all that?"
Draco raised his eyebrows and smirked, oh how nice it was to see that expression on his face, "I said I haven't been in a relationship before, I didn't say I was a monk. It's called experimenting, Harry."
"Oh." Harry's cheeks heated up slightly and he smiled self-consciously, "Yeah. I would never have thought of that."
"Or done anything like it, apparently."
"Probably," Harry's blush darkened and he averted his eyes from Draco's.
"Now who's being all shy and quiet?" Draco said wryly.
Harry scowled, "This isn't shy, this is embarrassment."
"If you say so."
Harry rolled his eyes at the teasing tone and asked, "So, what's your reply? Will you be my boyfriend?"
Draco thought about it and finally nodded, a little hesitantly, "Yes, I will. I'd be happy to actually."
Harry smiled widely, "That's great. So, shall we meet up again at 10?"
Draco nodded and, with a wave, turned around and walked down the corridor. Harry turned the other way and rounder the corner back to the potions classroom. He entered the class and picked up his bag from where he had left it. The bad mood he had been in at the end of the class seemed another world away from him. He whistled a merry tune as he went to the Great Hall for dinner. He had spent enough time with Draco that dinner would have started by now. As he slipped into the hall and to the seat next to his best friends, he looked up and saw Draco take a seat on the Slytherin table. He avoided the questioning looks from his friends while waiting for Draco to look at him, and when the blonde did, he gave him a huge smile.
