Puzzy: *sigh* they are so fucking cute... Sadly happiness is sometimes fleeting..
Penny: Unfortunately yes, but I still flove writing it :D
Puzzy: So do I.. Draco has some rather cruel epiphanies this chapter though. Tissue warning issued!
Penny: Yeah. *sigh* You might wanna have tissues handy.
Puzzy: Thank you to our prereader Bewiched and to our poor beta Corey who was sobbing his way through this one!
Penny: Yeah, poor Corey. We do not own. Read on!
Corey: How could you girls do this to me? This is a great chapter, though.
HPOV
Taking Draco's hand, I pulled him with me back to bed and we crawled under the covers. I was behind him this time, and I rested my arm on his side and my hand on his stomach. My face was turned to the side, resting on the top of his shoulder blade. He sighed deeply and rested his hand on top of mine. I had never been more comfortable in my life.
Taking a breath of Draco's sweet scent, I said softly, "Night, Draco."
"Night, Harry," he answered with a small squeeze of my hand.
Laying there in the silence of the room, I was warm and sated, which allowed me to drift peacefully off to sleep.
~oOo~
I opened my eyes, and for a moment, had no idea where I was. Laying on my side with Draco's heavy arm round my waist, I realised that sometime in the night, we had switched positions. He was snoring lightly behind me, and I chuckled quietly. I couldn't wait to tease him relentlessly about it.
Then I remembered. We were in the Room of Requirement, having slept here after the meeting and our fantastic play. Turning over carefully so I wouldn't wake him, I studied Draco's sleeping face. His lips were barely parted and he had hair falling over his closed eyes. Blond lashes rested on his pale cheeks and he looked so peaceful and incredibly beautiful.
Unable to help myself, I reached up and softly tried to move his hair off of his forehead. He stirred slightly but didn't wake. He must have been dreaming, because his eyelids barely fluttered, then stilled again.
I wondered what he was dreaming; what was floating round in that gorgeous head of his? Maybe he would tell me sometime.
Leaning in, I barely brushed my lips across his and his arm tightened round me, pulling me closer. I was going to wake him so we could go back to our dorms, but being snuggled like this won out, and I sighed deeply, reveling in his warmth.
Thinking back to the meeting, I was happy that we had made some progress, and even happier that our closest friends accepted us. They better have had, because I wasn't letting Draco go now that I had him. In fact, it was difficult to remember how my life was before we became a couple. It was astounding, how my feelings had grown in such a short time. He was in every thought, just about, and I loved thinking about him...about how good what we share is.
Even though I was snuggled in his arms, just the thoughts I was having about Draco made warmth bloom all throughout my chest. He was so very special to me. I could never be complete without him by my side. Suddenly, it occurred to me what the warmth was. I loved him. Genuinely and truly loved him.
Happiness flooded my whole body and I found myself smiling like an idiot. I suddenly wanted to run down the corridors of the whole school shouting my love for Draco Malfoy. Of course, I would be carted off to St. Mungo's if I did, but that's what I felt like. I was excruciatingly happy and I had to control myself quickly so I wouldn't burst into joyous laughter.
Still smiling, I gently turned in Draco's arms again so I could gaze once again upon the sleeping face of the young man I loved.
DPOV
"Not again! Can't the two of you unlock lips for two bloody minutes when I'm talking to you?" I heard Weasley groan behind me. Or rather, beside me, since we were sitting on couches in the Room of Requirement, looking at plans of Gringotts that Granger somehow had found in the furthest, most forgotten corner of the library. Weasley had a view of the back of my head while I, as he correctly observed, had locked lips with Harry. Again. What can I say? I had to make the best of our very, very limited opportunities for snogging.
During this past week, since we'd spent the night in here, we'd only had the chance to meet up a few times. Something always seemed to foil our plans; whether it be a Quidditch training session, copious amounts of homework, Snape lurking around me in that observing way he has or Dumbledore calling Harry up for a horcrux/status report meeting. We just couldn't seem to catch a break. We'd messaged each other on the spelled parchment, and we'd snogged in more than a few broom closets and dusty, never-used classrooms every time we'd spotted an opportunity, but it wasn't enough. I needed some more intimacy with my gorgeous prat.
Tonight was Thursday, and Harry and I had been exchanging pranks and insults all week. It was all good fun, but it also served to make me unbelievably randy, for some mysterious reason. Harry got the most mischievous glint in his eyes when he thought of a good prank and that went straight to my cock.
Like the day he hexed my suit. My black, tailored suit. It was suddenly the most hideous, bookmaker tweed, chequered in yellow and black, alternating pattern every few seconds. It not only made you dizzy to look at, it also gave my skin an awful, sickly pallor. Yellow was certainly not my colour, considering my hair and skin-tone. The whole Gryffindor house had erupted into uncontrollable laughter, and I must admit, I could see the humour.
I'd gotten my revenge though. During Charms class, I'd spelled all his pants, including the ones he was wearing, to shrink two sizes. Oh it was so much fun to see Harry writhing and gasping to dislodge certain parts of his squished anatomy. I almost felt sorry for his glorious equipment becoming restrained like that, but the look on his face was worth it ten times. Plus, I got to massage the worst kinks out, when we'd met in the broom closet later. Bonus for me.
He'd retaliated, using a smart little trick on my shampoo. A trick that had made my hair blue for two days. A glorious, cerulean, sparkling blue. No matter what counter spell Blaise and I had attempted, it was stuck being blue. I was fuming with anger. Weasley and Harry had split their sides with laughter, and even Granger had succumbed to a giggling fit when she spotted me.
Harry refused to counter it before he had sufficient incentives to do so, which made me even more furious with the bloody prat. He just laughed at me. Completely unswayed, he had grabbed my once platinum strands between his fingers and licked up my throat, whispering "convince me," into my ear and bit my earlobe. My whole body had broken into goosebumps at the memory of that tongue in other places.
Finally, after a quick but very satisfying blow job in the corridor behind the statue of the hump-backed witch, he'd agreed to lift the spell and make my hair normal. He'd said, and I quote, "Wasn't the same thrill to look down on a smurf while getting my prick sucked down." Whatever a smurf was. Probably something from his muggle upbringing.
But now, Thursday evening in the Room of Requirement, I was boiling over with pent up sexual frustration, as was Harry. We could hardly be bothered that our friends were there, though a modicum of decorum prevented us from ripping each other's clothes off and shagging right at the table. Or more a sense of possessiveness, I think. Neither of us were keen on sharing, and that included other people seeing our boyfriend in a state of undress.
Laughing, Harry broke our kiss and replied to Weasley, "Oh, shut up, you git. If you had a girlfriend, you'd be all over her as well and you know it. I recall a certain Lavender Brown, if you don't, Ron." Weasley blushed an unbecoming shade of plum, clearly recalling his very physical affair with the overzealous little witch. Ah well, at least he went quiet. Granger snickered from her overstuffed armchair, clearly enjoying his embarrassment. If I should risk a guess, I'd say she had been jealous when Weasley shacked up with someone else...
Her snorting was infectious and soon the room erupted with laughter over his embarrassment, Blaise literally falling off the couch with laughter. Harry was pointing at him with a shaking finger, tears of laughter streaming down his face. Shaking from the movement of Harry's chest, I joined in on the mirth, causing both Granger and Weasley to suddenly quiet and look at me wide eyed.
"Bloody hell, Malfoy. I think hell just froze over," Ron said, looking at me with an expression of awe on his face. Granger just nodded with her mouth hanging open.
"What?" I looked around, surprised at the sudden mood shift, "What did I do?"
"You laughed. Genuinely laughed, not the haughty snicker, or the malicious little giggle. A honest to Merlin laugh," Granger said, still looking surprised, but now with eyes that shone with unshed tears.
"So? It's not like I don't have a sense of humour, you know...," I trailed off, honestly baffled by their reaction.
"Could have fooled me," Weasley muttered under his breath, earning him an elbow in the ribs from Granger. She looked at him pointedly and continued, "Draco, you've always been miles above the rest of us. Nothing could ever make you laugh or join in on the fun, except when it was someone being bullied or getting in trouble. It's quite the epiphany to see that you're... human..."
"Was I really that bad? Honestly?" I looked at Harry and Blaise, searching for reassurance that I wasn't that horrible. Had I really only ever been a git? Not just haughty and proud, but a true snob?
"Sorry mate, she's got a point, even with us - your friends, you..," Blaise trailed off, looking sadly at me and shrugging his shoulders awkwardly. Harry looked emphatically at me and nodded, his brow in a frown and his mouth turning downwards at the corners.
"Gods, I didn't realise... I'm sorry, guys. Truly. I don't know what to say...," I was dumbfounded and upset. I felt absolutely loatheful with myself, hearing their true opinions of the stupid bloody idiot I'd been acting like. And I'd never thought about it at all; I just went along with the perception everyone had of me - a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts. I'd simply adopted the trademark Malfoy characteristics that had been imprinted on me since birth, without as much as a second thought. Shoulders sagging, I rested my head in my hands.
"Hey now, don't go all emo on us! You've clearly changed. You're almost... a nice guy, now," a voice said. I looked up and saw Weasley of all people trying to cheer me up. Nodding, I decided not to let my spoiled mood ruin the night for the rest of them, but I couldn't really get back in the groove.
The rest of the evening, I sat silently clutching Harry's hand, thinking hard about what I'd just learned about myself. Ouch.
HPOV
Slow brushes of satin lips against mine made me hungry for so much more, and I tilted my head a bit, parting his lips my tongue, sliding it into his warm, sweet mouth. Heaven. After all the hurried kisses of the past week, this was sublime.
Taking my time, I stroked Draco's tongue with my own, unhurried, just reveling in his taste. We parted occasionally to breathe, sharing soft breaths, then resumed our kissing, our tongues meeting before our lips at times. We didn't care that we were in a roomful of people; we were two starving boys in dire need of each other. Draco emitted a soft noise when I flicked the end of his tongue with mine, then licked inside his upper lip. I was barely aware of Ron's snorting beside Draco, but he could snort all he wanted. He'd get over it.
When Draco traced my top teeth with the very tip of his tongue, I was flooded with want and desire, and I pushed my open mouth against his hard, seeking his tongue to tangle with mine. Draco pushed his hands into my hair, holding me to him. If we didn't stop soon, I was going to strip him in front of everyone and make him scream my name.
Ron's outburst had me almost laughing into Draco's mouth, so I ended our brilliant kiss with soft pecks and nibbles. When we looked at each other, I saw that Draco's eyes were dark and wanting. I knew mine were the same way, and the sight of his wet red lips, abused from our kissing, just made my desire that much more potent.
Draco leaned against my chest and crossed his legs, looking nonchalant and put together, like there had been nothing going on. Bloody twit and his control! Fondly, I raked my fingers through his hair, lightly scratching his scalp. His hand, which was resting on my thigh, squeezed gently in acknowledgement. It felt so good to be able to just sit together like we were.
Looking at Ron, I quipped, "Oh, shut up, you git. If you had a girlfriend, you'd be all over her as well and you know it. I recall a certain Lavender Brown, if you don't, Ron."
The room erupted in laughter and Ron's face turned purple. He sobered up quickly when he realised Draco was laughing just as hard as the rest of us. Bloody hell, Draco was just as human as everyone else.
After Ron's comment about Draco laughing, I sensed the shift in his mood immediately. He was thinking about his past years and feeling guilty. My poor, beautiful Draco. He couldn't help the way he was raised. Only now was he able to be himself with all of us. My heart ached for him.
The past week had been Hell at Hogwarts. Draco and I hadn't had a chance to be alone for much more than a few minutes at a time. Snape, Filch, Dumbledore, and homework threw everything out the window. Oh, we had a bloody good time relentlessly pranking each other over the week. The funniest for me was when I changed Draco's suit. It looked bloody horrible and he was so pissed!
Although, it sort of tied with me charming his shampoo to make his hair blue. The look on his face was classic! He was so pissed when I wouldn't change it back, and I admit, I enjoyed his pleading and demanding. He was so fucking hot when he growled at me. Then, when he gave me the very efficient and completely mindblowing blowjob behind the hump-backed witch statue, I had to change it back for him.
I paid for the blue hair dearly. Draco spelled all my pants to become WAY too small, and in class no less! My prick and balls were suddenly being split in two, and I thought they were going to fall off before he spelled my pants back. He did make it up to my bits by giving them a nice massage, though. I loved him for that.
The worst prank he pulled on me was when he charmed my glasses so that when I wore them, if I looked at blokes, they looked normal. If I looked at girls, all I saw were breasts. Giant, wiggly, vomit inducing breasts. I was so desperate for him to take that jinx off my glasses, I blew him under the desk in History of Magic, under my Invisibility cloak, of course.
"Right then," I said, clearing my throat. "This weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend, so don't forget to take an empty vial and collect your hair for the Polyjuice. Hermione, how's the brewing going?"
"Oh, brilliant, Harry! It will be ready in three weeks."
"Good. We'll be able to make plans between now and then on how to get in and to the vault. Now, Ron, you and I have a task to do sometime during the next three weeks."
"What is it?" he asked, looking a little apprehensive.
"We have to go to the Chamber of Secrets and get a Basilisk fang."
There were murmurs around the room and Hermione gasped. Draco looked at me, wide eyed.
"What the bloody hell for?" he demanded, and I smiled at him.
"Dumbledore told me that Basilisk fangs kill horcruxes, which I already knew, because I destroyed the diary. We have to go get the two fangs so we can kill the horcrux once we have it. We can keep the fangs in here for safekeeping."
Draco looked unconvinced, and I leaned a bit closer to him, making him look me in the eyes. His were shrouded with worry and I brushed a few strands of his hair away from his face.
"Listen. There's nothing to worry about. Going down there will be easy now, because the Basilisk is dead. The only thing Ron and I will have to worry about will be getting caught out of bed. You're a prefect, so we can avoid that by you patrolling the corridor we need."
Seemingly satisfied, Draco nodded slowly and I kissed him gently.
"Harry's right, mate," Ron added. "It'll be easy."
Draco looked at Ron and seeing the confidence in his eyes convinced him completely. "Right then," Draco acquiesced with a small smile to Ron. "But if Harry gets hurt, I'll hex your bits off."
Laughter echoed around the room and I held Draco close. It was so comfortable, talking and laughing with friends and my boyfriend. During these times, I felt carefree, even though we were plotting the demise of the Dark Lord.
Our chatter turned to other things: homework, classes, and general gossip. Ron swore he saw Professor McGonagall kissing someone in the back of her office, and Blaise just about pissed himself laughing. There was no way that could have happen, and if it had, I certainly didn't want to know about it.
Hermione decided to fill us in on the talk of the girls' dormitory, and she said that Ginny told her that Pansy was pissed off because Blaise knew something secret about Draco. Draco snorted and snuggled closer to me. "Let her wonder," he said. "Bitch."
Giggling, I patted his arm and said, "There there, you twit."
However, Hermione wasn't finished. She then looked slightly green as she told us that Ginny saw her writing her and Draco's name in hearts on a piece of parchment at lunch last weekend. Blaise laughed hard, as did Ron, and Draco looked positively pissed.
"Not bloody likely," he growled out, and the sound went straight to my prick. I had to shift slightly on the sofa to hide my burgeoning erection, and Draco chuckled. "Like that did you, prat?"
"Shut up," I answered in Parseltongue, and that effectively shut him up and had him squirming slightly next to me. Grinning, I winked at him.
"What was that, Harry?" Hermione asked, knowing I had spoken Parseltongue to Draco and I beamed as I answered, "I told him to shut up."
"Well," Ron huffed, standing up, "I think that's our cue to leave. I have seen enough of these two gits making out tonight. The way they're going, it's about to get indecent."
Hermione giggled and stood to leave, followed by Blaise. "Night boys," she called, and Blaise threw us a wave.
Once they were gone, I held Draco close and stroked his silky hair. He sighed deeply and I put my finger under his chin, making him look at me.
"What is it, Draco?" I asked softly.
"All this time, I was a right prick to everyone, and I feel bad about it," he intoned, so softly I almost couldn't hear it.
"It's alright, Draco," I soothed. "I understand why, with the way you were raised. But, you can't dwell on it now. Look at the present and the future, not the past. We are here, right now, in this moment. Not only do you have friends who care about you, you have me."
"I know, my prat," Draco sighed and lifted his head for a kiss. Naturally, I obliged him, and when we broke apart, he gave me a halfhearted smile.
As we stared into the fire, wrapped in each other's arms, I couldn't help but worry over Draco's demeanor. Honestly, I had never seen him so downtrodden, save for when he asked for my help in the hospital wing.
We parted for the night with sweet kisses and long moments of holding each other close. I watched him walk away until he was out of sight, and he looked sad and worried. It broke my heart.
DPOV
My mood still hadn't lifted once I was back in my cold, lonely bed. Even Harry's light hadn't chased away the shadows in my mind after learning about myself. I felt so alone. The worst part was that it was my own doing. Through five years at Hogwarts, I'd done absolutely everything wrong; alienating myself from my peers through malicious behaviour. Intentional or not, I'd pissed off everyone, making myself look superior when I was nothing of the sort. I was the lowest of the low, a bloody idiot and an insufferable prat.
Memories assaulted me from the past; Longbottom, Finnigan, Thomas, Lovegood, Finch-Fletchley, Hagrid, Granger, all of the Weasleys, and finally, Potter. A long row of decent people that I'd done nothing but step on every chance I got. I felt sick. What had I done? And more importantly, what could I do to correct the error of my ways?
Unsettled, I drifted off to a fitful sleep, tossing and turning in my lonesome bed. I awoke constantly, my head filled with images, voices, situations from my past. A never ending parade of people I'd hurt. Crying silently into my pillow, I was once again pulled under by sleep.
Darkness. A black, empty nothingness surrounding me, depriving me of all sense of sight, hearing, smell, touch. I feel suspended in an empty space, helpless and with no purchase with any physical matter. A red glow starts to appear, countless shades blending, shifting, changing constantly. More colours, a cacophony of sounds assaulting my ears. Screams. My mother's desperate pleading and then a flash of green.
The vision shifts. Harry this time, running through a forest, calling my name. Desperation colouring his voice, breaking it for each outcry. He falls to his knees, sobbing into his hands, screaming for me in a hoarse voice. The leaves rustling in a cold, howling wind and birds falling silent.
Another shift; Hogwarts, the main entrance hall. People. So many people. Faces in despair, crying, clinging to one another. Row after row of lifeless, still bodies. Rubble and destruction around them. Harry bursting through the front doors, calling for help. Yelling that I am gone, he can't find me. Pleading for someone to help him. Everyone turns their back, indifference colouring their faces, some even angry.
Now, the Dark Lord, his snake-like visage and maniacal grin. Aunt Bella's insane laughter grating my ear drums. Snape's cold, unmoving features. Dolohov's malicious smile. A sinister smirk spreading on the Dark Lord's face and then, a flash of green. Blackness once again engulfs me.
My mother again, unusually clad in black. My father, stoic and frozen beside her sobbing form. They stand alone. A hole in the ground, a black coffin being lowered by ropes held in hands of strangers with stone faces. Harry in the distance, curled up in a ball on the cold, wet ground, screaming his throat raw, tears streaming relentlessly down his face. Alone. Broken.
Sitting up with a scream on my lips, I awoke abruptly. My face was wet with tears, my throat felt tight and sore, like I had been screaming for hours. The bed hangings moved and Blaise's concerned face appeared.
"Are you alright, mate? It sounded like someone killed you, you were screaming and whimpering so loud! What happened?"
"Nothing... Just a dream, that's all... I'm alright, go back to sleep," I rubbed my face of the wetness and lay back on the pillows once more. Blaise gave me a worried once-over, but must have deemed everything to be in order, since he pulled the curtains shut again with a final "Good night."
Salazar! What the hell was that!
Puzzy: Whew, that was hard on me!
Penny: Was for me, too. *sniff* Puzzy: So, people, when you've finished wiping your faces, REVIEW!
Penny: Yes, please do. We'd love to hear what you think. 'Til next time...
Corey: *Sniffle* Reviews are nice, and maybe they'll cheer up poor Draco.