Chapter 11 – When Girls Meddle
Harry talked with Sirius for a while longer, and in the end, Sirius said he'd go and tell Harry's grandfather Lucas to schedule a trip to Hogwarts during the next week so he could talk with Harry and discuss a matter about Harry's eventual Allure with his Head of House. Sirius also promised not to go into any more detail than that – although Harry rather doubted Sirius was honestly capable of being subtle, despite his insistence to the contrary – so that Harry could tell his grandfather about his sexuality, himself. Not that he was really looking forward to that, but Sirius' suggestion that his family already suspected it, did actually take some of the weight off his shoulders.
Harry never did come to any solid conclusions on what to do about the dance, but Sirius had given him some things to think about.
When Harry was done with his 'call' with Sirius, there was still about an hour until lunch, and Harry found he wasn't really sure what to do to fill his time. However, he felt a bit emboldened by his 'coming out' with Sirius, and thought that just maybe he'd have a talk with Hermione as well.
One of the things that Sirius had suggested was that Harry should just come clean with one of his female friends, and ask her to go as his date. The problem was that Harry only had one female friend and that was Hermione, and of course, there was already enough rumor-mill fodder running about without them actually going to the ball as dates. So Harry had dismissed the idea, right off. However this had lead to another issue being raised – namely the fact that Hermione's harassment as a result of people thinking that she and Harry had been an item and that she had cheated on him or something, would obviously be proved false if people were to discover that Harry was gay.
Harry still didn't feel particularly inclined to coming out to the world at large, just yet, but he did think he could tell Hermione at least. He'd also let her know that if any more gossip rag articles came out and generated any more heat for his friend, that he'd be willing to come forward, even if only to protect her.
So Harry headed downstairs into the common room in search of his bookish friend, only to find that she wasn't there.
Ron, upon spotting Harry, jumped up from his game of chess against one of the second-years (who was clearly losing) and raced over. He asked, as subtly and quietly as Ron was capable of, how Harry's chat with Sirius had gone. Ron knew that Harry was calling his godfather through the two-way mirrors, but obviously, didn't know the details of what Harry had intended to talk to him about.
Harry replied that it had been great and 'Padfoot' was doing fine. He asked Ron where Hermione was, to which the ginger made an exasperated sound and informed Harry that she was in the library again.
Harry grinned, noting that he really should have been able to guess that, and said he was going to go hunt her down for something. Ron asked if Harry wanted company, and Harry dodged it by saying that it was something to do with their Runes class and that they'd probably end up studying down in the library until lunch anyway.
He left and made his way through the corridors in search of Hermione. Soon enough, he found himself in the library and it only took a few moments after that for Harry to find Hermione at a lone table near the back surrounded by stacks of books.
"Hey 'Mione," Harry greeted and Hermione's head shot up to see him.
"Oh, Harry! Perfect timing! I've been looking into ways a person can survive in water for an extended period of time and I've got a list of options for you –"
"Wow... you didn't have to do that! Not that I don't appreciate it, but the second task is still ages away."
She gave him a remanding sort of glare before shaking her head in exasperation. "Harry, you cannot afford to get complacent! You have no idea what might be needed, and how long it might take for you to be prepared!"
Harry held up his hands defensively. "Okay, okay. Fine. But... well can we talk about something else first? I actually came down here for a reason, and it wasn't about underwater breathing."
Hermione's face lit up with curiosity. "Oh? What's up, Harry?"
"Er... not here. Can we maybe go to an empty classroom for a bit? That way I can put up a privacy ward better."
Hermione's brow furrowed before dawning. "Oh! That's right! You were talking with – um.. Padfoot, weren't you? Is this about him?"
Harry shifted and sort of shrugged. "Er... sort of yes but mostly of no."
"Okay... That's fine Harry, just give me a minute to pack up some things and I have to check out a couple books with Madam Pince."
"Alright," Harry said with a nod and stood back as Hermione did her thing. A few minutes later, the pair were making their way down the hall from the library and then into one of the many unused classrooms in the enormous old castle. Once inside, Harry cast a locking spell on the door, and then the privacy ward.
"So how was Sirius?" Hermione asked right off.
Harry gave her a small grin. "He's great. He's terrorizing the chateaux's maids though. One of them punched him in the nose."
Hermione gasped. "What did he do?"
Harry laughed and shrugged. "Being a dog and a flirt, I guess. He's being Sirius, lets leave it at that."
Hermione did not look impressed but after a moment of scowling, she seemed to decide to let it go – for now. "So how was your talk with him? You said that you were planning on discussing something important with him. How did that go?"
Harry grinned at her impishly. "Pretty well, I guess. I'm still a big confused mess on a few things, but he did get me thinking about some other things that hadn't occurred to me, and I was able to come clean with him about something sort of big, and he took it really well. Better than I'd even hoped, so that was great."
"Come clean?" Hermione echoed curiously.
"Er... yeah. And as we talked, it sort of got me thinking about something else as well. So I want to tell you too."
Interest flooded her eyes and she seemed to stand a bit straighter. "What is it, Harry?"
"Okay, well first off... okay, so you know how Rita's articles with rumors about you and me being a couple have been a real hassle for you, especially? With all those ruddy howlers and crazy things in your post?"
"It's really not that bad, Harry. I can handle it," she insisted instantly.
Harry held up his hand to stop her. "I know you think you can handle it, and I do appreciate that you don't want me to feel like this is my fault –"
"It's not!" she snapped instantly. "It's that awful woman's fault, Harry. You have no control over this, and it is most definitely not your fault!"
"Right, okay," Harry said, smiling a bit. "But like I was saying, I know that the articles have been bringing you some grief, and sometimes it seems like no matter how many times we deny it to people, they still think we're lying or something. They seem convinced that we really are dating and just covering it up or something."
She gave an exasperated eyeroll and nodded her head. "People are just really stubborn sometimes, Harry. They see this as a juicy, interesting story, and they want it to be true. I don't think there's anything we can say that will change their minds."
"What about an even juicier story?" Harry offered with a sardonic grimace.
Hermione frowned in confusion. "Like what, Harry?" she asked cautiously.
"Well... okay, I'm going to preface this by stating right off that I'm not actually ready to come out with this yet. Not publicly, anyway. But I want you to know that if Skeeter prints another article and you start getting harassed again really bad, that I'm willing to come out with this to put an end to it."
"Okay..." Hermione said in a slow, unsure voice. "But Harry... what story could you possibly release that would convince people that we've never been together, and be juicy enough to get people's attention?"
"Well... I'm gay."
Hermione's jaw dropped and she gaped at him in stunned silence for a couple seconds before she audibly snapped her jaw shut.
Harry fidgeted, uncomfortably while she seemed to pull herself out of her initial stunned reaction.
"Oh Harry!" she cried suddenly as she closed the few foot gap between them and pulled him into a hug. Harry locked up in shock of his own – totally not having expected her to hug him – but after a moment he did raise his hand to awkwardly pat her back.
"Er... Hermione?"
Hermione pulled back suddenly and her eyes were bright and had a determined look to them.
"You're not coming out just to save me from some stupid howlers!" she insisted instantly.
"Er... okay?" Harry responded, unsure.
"But I want you to know that if you ever do decide to come out – for your own reasons – that I'll be there for you! You know that, right?"
Harry blinked at her once before a smile spread across his face and he nodded. "Yeah. Thanks Hermione."
"So this is what you needed to talk to Sirius about?"
"Yup. Told him just a couple hours ago. He and you are the first I've told."
"Oh Harry!" she wailed again and he suddenly found himself once again with an arm load of overly emotional Hermione. A small part in the back of his mind wondered if maybe it was that time of the month for Hermione, but he instantly shied away from that though with a mental grimace.
Finally she pulled back, looking at him with an odd expression. He realized with a bit of confusion that she almost looked like she was proud of him or something.
"So... yeah," Harry started uncomfortably, trying to fill the awkward silence while she continued to just smile at him. "Right. So one of the reasons I called Sirius was just to sort of rant and complain about this stupid ball, and the fact that I have to get a date. I don't know what sort of advice I was expecting to get from him, but I really should have known better than to expect anything actually useful."
"Oh? What was Sirius' suggestion?" Hermione asked, looking slightly amused.
Harry snorted. "He said I should just take a bloke to the ball."
Hermione looked thoughtful at that. "Well... I suppose that if you're insistent on staying 'in the closet' then taking another boy would be counter productive, but other than that, it's a valid suggestion."
"Hermione!" Harry groaned. "Even if I was out, it would still be bizarre. I mean, this is some traditional wizarding ball, right? With old fashioned formal dancing and stuff? There's all this tradition and stuff, and that's why I'm being forced to participate in the first place. There's probably some sort of law or etiquette rule against two people of the same gender going as dates."
"I'm pretty sure there isn't, Harry," Hermione said, looking thoughtful shaking her head. "You can go to the ball with whoever you want. Technically, you don't even have to have a date. You just have to have someone lined up to perform the first dance with you. Of course, anyone that you perform the first dance with is probably going to be seen as your 'date' whether it's official or not."
Harry grimaced and nodded his head. He'd almost gotten his hopes up there for a moment, but she was right in the end.
Harry heaved a frustrated sigh and moved over to sit in one of the dusty chairs the littered the room. "It's just so frustrating. I have to take someone as my date, but obviously I'm not interested in any of the girls here. Sirius suggested I invite a female friend who's in-the-know about my preferences, as my date, but you're my only female friend, and if the rumors about us are already bad, just imagine them if we showed up as dates."
Hermione hummed and nodded her head, looking at him sadly. "I'd still do it, Harry, except that someone already invited me and I accepted."
Harry looked up at her and his brows raised into his forehead. "Really?" he asked in surprise before a wide smile spread across his face. "That's brill 'Mione! Who?"
She flushed and ducked her head bashfully, making Harry's smile morph into a grin. It was so rare to see Hermione being girly at all - well, other than when she got all emotional and hugged him for some irrational reason. She was usually so serious and studious.
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth nervously for a moment before glancing at the locked and silenced door, and then back at Harry. "If I tell you... you can't tell Ron."
Harry frowned in confusion. "Okay..." he agreed slowly.
"He'll blow a gasket, I just know it."
"Not that I actually thought he'd have the sense to do it, but I take it this means it's not Ron?"
She rolled her eyes slightly. "No. It's not Ron."
Harry frowned in thought again. "Wait – is it a Slytherin?"
"It's not, but I'm surprised that you would worry about that," she retorted somewhat accusingly.
Harry just held up his hands defensively. "I don't! I was just trying to think of who would make Ron upset, and Slytherin seemed the most obvious."
"Oh. Right. Well, it's not a Slytherin... although he has been sitting at the Slytherin table since he got here..."
"Oh! One of the Durmstrang students?" Harry asked, his grin returning. "So which one?"
She fidgeted nervously for a moment before looking back up at him. "It's Viktor Krum."
Harry's jaw dropped. "No way!" Harry paused for a moment before he started to laugh.
She looked somewhat offended so he held up his hand as he calmed himself down. "Wow, Hermione... that's... wow. Really? I'm assuming he asked you right?"
"Of course!"
"I thought he was driving you crazy? You were always complaining about him hanging out in the library and bringing all his annoying fangirls with him!"
"Well, it was the fangirls that were annoying. Not specifically Viktor," she said, blushing.
"Wow," Harry said again, still grinning from ear-to-ear. "Not bad, 'Mione. Really. He's quite the looker. I'm not really big on that much bulky muscle, but still. Not bad at all. And an older man, too." He wiggled his eyebrows, suggestively before chuckling again.
Hermione gaped at him for a minute before she broke out into a wide grin of her own and laughed. "Now that is going to take some getting used to!"
Harry laughed and shrugged. "It's kind of liberating, really."
"I imagine." She continued to look at him, smiling for a few moments longer, shaking her head in something akin to shocked awe before he laughed lightly. "Wow. So! We have to figure out what you're going to do about this whole getting a date thing."
Harry let out a bit of a sigh, but he didn't look nearly so down now as he had before, and nodded his head. "I think one of the things I hate the most is that I feel like if I just go with some girl, she might get the idea in her head that I like her. You know? She might get all these expectations, and the Prophet or Witch Weekly will probably end up printing some sort of ridiculous article on it, like it's a huge deal, and I just hate all that. And there's the fact that the idea of dancing with some girl, in front of the whole school, freaks me out. I just... I just hate the expectations!" he huffed out, sounding quite frustrated.
Hermione hummed and nodded sympathetically. A moment later she got a bit of a gleam in her eye.
"Just out of hypothetical curiosity," she began, and Harry felt himself grow a bit wary over the impish grin on her face, "if you could go with anyone in the school... who would it be? And I'm talking, boys here as well. No consequences – just go to the dance with the person you want to go with."
Harry started to open his mouth before closing it and looking at her cautiously for a moment. He looked away and felt a light flush raising along his neck as he debating admitting the truth to her. When he looked back at her, she had a rather knowing look in her eyes and was grinning at him.
He gave her a slightly annoyed glare before huffing out and shrugging. "Draco."
Her grin grew several times larger. "I knew it!"
Harry balked. "Knew what? You didn't even know I was gay until I told you not fifteen minutes ago!"
She rolled her eyes. "Well, it was obvious that there was something more going on between you and Malfoy. I wasn't sure what, and I wasn't about to start making assumptions on your um..." she hesitated.
"My sexuality?"
She blushed and grinned. "Yeah." Then she paused and frowned. "But what about Malfoy? Do you think that there's any chance at all that he might fancy boys too?"
Harry's face closed off a bit and he looked away nervously.
"You know, don't you?" Hermione asked, accusingly.
Harry grimaced and looked back at her sheepishly. "Well, not for sure, I guess."
"So?" she prodded, expectantly.
"Well, Pansy sort of told me that he's gay."
"Parkinson?" Hermione exclaimed. "Why would she do that?"
"I don't know. It was really weird. But when I asked her why she was telling me everything she told me, she said it was because she loved Draco like family and wanted him to be happy. How cryptic is that?" Harry grumbled in frustration.
Hermione, however, looked like she understood perfectly well, and a slow, wide smile began to spread across her face. "He likes you back!" she exclaimed.
Harry just blinked up at her. "What?"
"Pansy was telling you that Draco likes you! Don't you see, Harry?"
"No, I don't," Harry said, shaking his head.
Hermione rolled her eyes dramatically, and muttered something about boys, even gay boys! Under her breath. Then she paused and looked at him speculatively. "I wonder what made her suspect that you were gay. Because I didn't even realize it!"
"Whoa, what makes you think that Pansy thinks I'm gay?" Harry asked, almost panicked.
"It's obvious, Harry! She knows that Malfoy is gay – wait, did she say how she knows?"
"She says that they've known each other since they were in diapers. Draco apparently told her when he was twelve."
"Oh, wow. Okay, so Parkinson knows that Malfoy is gay, and knows that he likes you –"
"Hermione, we don't know that Draco likes me," Harry put in insistently.
She looked up to the ceiling as if asking a higher power to grant her patience, and pushed on. "Okay, so hypothetically, she knows that Draco is gay and that he likes you. But she doesn't think that he'll actually make a move on you. Either because he doesn't know you're gay, or doesn't think you'd like him back, or maybe he's even worried about messing up the friendship the two of you have somehow managed to establish. For whatever reason, she doesn't think that Draco will make the first move. But since she sees you as the brash Gryffindor type, she thinks that you would. But she also has to be either convinced that your gay too, or that you're noble enough to never tell anyone else what she's told you, or else she wouldn't have broken her friend's confidence by telling you that he's gay."
"How on Earth do you work all that out?" Then Harry paused and flushed with guilt. "Oh crap... I just told you about Draco being gay, and I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone."
"It doesn't matter, Harry. Besides, I won't tell anyone," Hermione said dismissively with a wave of her hand. "So anyway, Parkinson must have figured that you were gay too, and by telling you that Draco was gay, that takes away some of the risk in approaching Draco about becoming more than just friends. The question as to whether or not he's gay is already taken out of the equation!"
"Yeah, but I still don't really know for a fact that Draco might like me back," Harry insisted again.
"Harry, are you even listening to me? What possible reason would Parkinson have for telling you that Malfoy is gay, and that the reason she's telling you is because 'she wants him to be happy', if not because she wants the two of you to get together!"
Harry's jaw floundered for a moment before he frowned and looked down at his lap thoughtfully.
Hermione did sort of have a good point. But did Pansy really believe that if he and Draco got together, it would make Draco happy? Harry didn't think that Pansy even liked him, let alone like him enough to want him to get together with Draco.
"I guess..." he said hesitantly. "But that still doesn't change the fact that there's no way I can ask Draco to go to the ball with me as my date. Even if there is a chance he likes me back."
Hermione sighed and shrugged. "Well, I suppose that's true. None of this solves the whole Yule Ball problem, but pushing that issue aside for a bit longer, I still think that you should try approaching Draco about how you feel."
"Are you completely barking?" Harry exclaimed. "I can't do that!"
"Harry," Hermione said with an exasperated groan. "Why not, exactly?"
"B-because – !" Harry faltered, looking almost panicked. "I just can't! I mean, what if you're wrong? Hell, what if Parkinson is just trying to mess with me, and Draco isn't gay at all?"
"Harry, you're just fishing for excuses now."
"What do you expect me to do? Just go up to him in Runes and tell him I fancy him? That's just ridiculous!"
"I really don't see how it's ridiculous, Harry. But if you're so against the direct approach, you could always try something a bit more subtle. He's a Slytherin, after all. They like subtle, or something."
"Subtle?" Harry asked, hesitantly curious.
"Try flirting. Just little things. Sit a bit closer. Brush hands every now and then. Say little flirty things."
"I have no idea how to flirt," Harry said in a deadpan. "I'll just end up making a fool of myself."
"Just try Harry! Honestly, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Honestly? He laughs in my face, and he never wants to speak to me again. Or he laughs in my face, tells the whole school, and openly mocks me at every available opportunity."
Hermione gave him a flat, unamused look. "Do you honestly believe that the Draco you know now would do that to you?"
Harry grumbled and looked away. "No... not really."
"I mean... look at the two of you! Look how far you've come. You used to be constantly at each others throats, and now somehow you've become friends... and you still haven't explained to me how that happened. I guess I don't really know, but do you honestly think that your friendship with him is so fragile that he'd refuse to ever speak to you again, just because you admitted you were gay and that you liked him?"
Harry sighed heavily, let his head fall back and stared up at the high ceiling. "I guess I'm just worried about freaking him out and ruining everything. I... I really like Draco. I'm not even sure how it happened, to be totally honest with you. But I like him. I like hanging out with him." Harry sat up straighter and looked at her sadly. "I'd rather be his friend, then go back to being his enemy, or even to the whole ignoring-avoiding thing that we were doing last year."
Hermione gave him a sad look in return and sighed. "I still think you shouldn't let your fears of rejection keep you from something that might make you happy."
Harry looked at her for several long moments before chuckling weakly and shaking his head. "I can't believe how supportive you're being about this. I'm pretty sure if I told Ron that I fancied Draco Malfoy, he'd just blow a gasket. You're really okay with me fancying Draco?"
"I've been fine with you being his friend, haven't I? Malfoy's changed a lot since we started school. I can see that, even if Ron can't. And you obviously see something in him that you like and that you trust. I trust your judgment on this, Harry. If you trust him, and you like him... then who am I to say anything against that? You spend a lot more time around him than I do, but the times I have been around him the last month, he's been perfectly polite. He's like a completely different person than the snobby little prat that called me mudblood back in first year."
She paused and looked thoughtful then for a moment. "Did you know that at the end of last year, when you were transformed and you were fighting against Professor Lupin as a werewolf, that Malfoy refused to leave without you?"
Harry blinked in surprise. "No... I didn't know."
"He got angry at us for even suggesting that we leave you there alone fighting against a werewolf. We practically had to drag him and his broken leg through the door, and finally I was able to reason with him that you'd be safer once we were gone because you could fly out of the werewolf's range, instead of having to keep him distracted so he wouldn't come after us."
"Oh..." Harry said softly.
"If everything you've said is true, and Pansy Parkinson was telling the truth, I honestly do think that he might like you back, Harry," Hermione said gently. "Wouldn't you regret it if I'm right, but you never took the risk to find out?"
– –
They talked for a short while longer, but pretty soon it was time for lunch and they left the isolated classroom in favor of heading to the Great Hall. They met up with Ron, Dean and Seamus there, and conversation slipped into the normal comfort zone of homework, professional Quidditch scores, and gossip about their classmates. The last part was mostly Seamus, who Harry momentarily thought was just about as bad as Lavender, when it came to talking about stuff that was probably none of their business.
Seamus, in this situation, was talking about who had already gotten dates for the ball, and who hadn't. Then Dean brought up the dance lessons that McGonagall was holding in one week's time, and all the boys groaned miserably, while the girls within hearing range chattered excitedly.
After lunch, they all returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, and Harry dug out some of his homework, and enlisted Neville's help with a Herbology paper he'd been putting off. Just before two o'clock, he got up and told the group he was heading to the library. Seamus leered at him and made some comment about Pansy Parkinson that just earned him a glare from Harry. Ron looked down-right constipated with the thought of Harry going to the library to meet up with Pansy and Draco for Defense study, but somehow managed to hold his tongue.
Harry considered asking Ron if he'd like to come along, but he really wasn't sure if he'd want to deal with the headache that would ensue on the off chance that Ron actually accepted. So he just didn't ask, and left the common room.
Before long, Harry was making his way into the library and looking around for any sign of Pansy or Draco. He found them at a table in the back that Hermione often sat at because it was rather large, but also pretty isolated.
"Hey," Harry said in a cheerful greeting. Draco looked up at him with surprise gracing his expression, but he still looked rather pleased.
Pansy grinned widely. "Great! You came!" she chirped and Draco's head spun to look at her suspiciously.
"You didn't tell me you invited Harry to join us," he said in a slightly accusing tone.
"I didn't? Oh, must have slipped my mind," she replied with an innocent smile that only made Draco's eyes narrow even further. "It really only made sense. Harry is supposed to be top of our year in Defense."
"Well, then I suppose you don't need my help, do you?" Draco drawled.
"Don't be silly, Drakie! You can both help me," she smiled prettily.
Draco's face went red. "What have I told you about calling me that in public?" he growled.
Pansy shifted to a hurt-looking pout. "Awe... don't be like that Drakie."
"Pansy," he said in an angry, warning tone that really only seemed to make her grin, more than anything else.
Harry snickered and pulled out the chair next to Draco and sat down, trying very hard not to think about the conversation he'd had with Hermione only just a few hours ago. Just the same, he hesitated only for a moment before subtly scooting his chair a little bit closer to Draco's, until there was probably only about an inch between their thighs.
"Right," Harry said, interrupting what looked like a potential explosion from Draco as he glared daggers at his friend, "so we're in different sections of Defense, obviously, but I don't expect that Moody is doing much different between the Gryffindor class and the Slytherin one. Are you guys on chapter eight, too?"
And with that, they managed to get down to work. It didn't take long for Harry to make it clear to them that his strength in Defense was with the practical application of the spellwork, not the behind-the-scenes theory. When it came to that, he tended to just get it, and had trouble explaining it to someone else. Draco was actually much stronger in that area, and as such, was more valuable a resource for someone writing an essay.
Harry did give Pansy some good advice to try to get a few of her spells that she was having trouble with, to cast better and with tighter control over her aim. However, being in the library as they were, they couldn't exactly practice.
They'd probably been in the library for just under an hour when Hermione suddenly showed up.
"Hey 'Mione," Harry said, looking over his shoulder towards her, after Pansy had pointed out her approach to the two boys.
"Harry! I'm glad you're still here. I think I've got the perfect solution for your problem!" she exclaimed excitedly as she came over and pulled the chair out from the end of the table, so she was diagonal from Harry and from Pansy on the opposite side.
Harry's brow furrowed. "My problem?" he asked hesitantly, filled with a small pit of dread and his eyes darted to Draco before shooting a warning glare at Hermione.
"Who to ask to the ball!" she said, grinning widely. Pansy's gaze turned sharp and Draco's head jerked slightly before he could mask the movement.
"Why is that a 'problem'?" Pansy asked with feigned disinterest. "Surely Harry wouldn't have any trouble getting a date."
Harry squirmed slightly in his seat, and silently cursed Hermione for her meddling. He looked at her with another glare, but she was glaring back just as sternly, clearly daring him to do something. He flinched slightly before sighing in resignation.
"It's not so much that I can't get a date, as much as I just don't want to ask some girl out who might get all these expectations about the whole thing, you know? She might get it into her head that I like her or that we're dating or something. And no matter who I ask... I don't like her, and I don't want to date her. So..."
"Why do you have to go with someone at all?" Draco asked with a bored tone, resolutely looking down at the piece of parchment he'd been writing on.
Harry grumbled. "Because I'm a champion, I'm required to be there, and I have to have someone to do the opening dance with. I was planning on going home to Iledevol, for the holidays, so I had a bit of an argument with McGonagall, trying to work out if there was some way for me to not have to go to the stupid ball, but she was pretty insistent."
"Well, you don't want to miss the ball!" Pansy exclaimed as if scandalized by the mere though.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"So what's your grand solution, Granger?" Draco asked, looking up at Hermione, blandly.
"Fay Dunbar!" she said with a wide grin at Harry.
Harry frowned. "Fay? Your roommate?"
"Yes! I should have thought of it immediately when we talked earlier. I can't believe it took this long for it to click, but she's perfect!"
"Dunbar? That skinny little blond with the short hair that sits in the back of the Potions lab and never says a word?" Draco asked, looking incredulous.
"Oh!" Pansy gasped, and beamed over at Hermione. "You're right! She's perfect!"
"Perfect?" Harry exclaimed. "How so? Why Fay?"
"Because, Harry," Hermione said, rolling her eyes and looking over at Pansy, who was now smirking.
"She's a lesbian!" Pansy finished, laughing.
Harry's jaw dropped. "She is?"
"Yes!" Hermione said, nodding enthusiastically.
"I've never heard that before," Draco said, looking shocked.
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Draco, sweety – you wouldn't care about that sort of thing," she said as she gently patted his hand from across the table, and if looks could kill, Draco looked as if he'd be physically strangling Pansy with his eyes at that moment. "Most of the rest of our class all known though. And the older years too, of course. She's a halfblood, and a Gryffindor, so she doesn't care about the old family codes about keeping these things private. She was dating this 5th year girl in Ravenclaw earlier this year, but I think they broke up."
"But what if she wants to go to the dance with a girl?" Harry asked frowning.
"You make it clear that you're just looking for a 'no-strings-attached companion to the dance, and she'll probably be fine with going with you. There aren't exactly a lot of lesbians at Hogwarts who are out to the point that they'd go to a dance with another girl, so I rather doubt she has many options. Besides, you could tell her that you're fine with her dancing with whoever she wants once there. She just has to do the first dance with you." Pansy said.
Harry's face lit up with cautious hope and looked over at Hermione. "You think she'd really go for it? I don't think I've ever said more than two words to her before."
"She's really nice, Harry. She comes off as shy, but she's a lot of fun once she's in her comfort zone. She hangs out with Kellah most of the time, but she and I have always gotten on pretty well."
Harry understood the 'unlike Lavender and Parvati' that had gone unspoken. The two gossipy girly-girls had always clashed with Hermione rather strongly, ever since first year.
"Well... I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask her," Harry said with a sigh and a weak shrug.
"At least there wouldn't be any expectation of a relationship," Hermione said. "And like Pansy said, most everyone in the school already knows that Fay's gay, so it's unlikely that there would be rumors about the two of you dating."
"In theory," Harry said, sounding slightly bitter. "They'd probably all start claiming that I turned her straight or some such rubbish. Fay may not want that kind of scrutiny. Honestly, I'd feel bad for anyone who agreed to be my date. They'll probably end up with an exposé in Witch Weekly like you did for just hugging me after the first task. It's just ridiculous!"
"You can't let that stop you from asking, Harry. That worry will be there for anyone you ask to go with you. But I think that Fay is a good option. You should at least ask her," Hermione insisted gently.
Harry heaved another sigh and sunk back into his chair a bit. "Yeah... I'll ask her later today, I guess. It's probably best to get it over with as soon as possible so I can stop stressing over it."
Hermione nodded and the group settled into silence for a moment.
"So who are you going to go with, Malfoy?" Hermione asked in a polite conversational tone. Harry sent her a small glare, but she ignored him.
Draco blinked but didn't show any other reaction. "Oh... Well, Pansy, I suppose," he said, simply.
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Thanks for asking me first," she drawled in an unimpressed tone before turning to Hermione. "We're just going as friends," she continued on and sent a small smile at Harry.
Draco was giving her a very suspicious glare at this.
"So, what about you, Granger?" Pansy asked. "I'm almost surprised that you aren't taking Harry to the ball yourself."
Harry grinned then. "Oh, Hermione's already got a date," he said. "But even if she didn't, I don't think it'd be a good idea for us to go together. Not after those stupid articles and all the hate mail she got."
"Mm... yes, I suppose that's true. So who's your date then?" Pansy asked, looking at Hermione.
She blushed slightly and the corners of her lips turned up despite her efforts.
Harry chuckled and decided to save her. "I think she's keeping it a secret. You'll have to wait till the ball to find out."
Pansy pouted. "Awe. Where's the fun in that?"
"For you? There isn't," Draco said with a smirk before turning to Hermione. "It's not the Weasel, is it?"
"No," Hermione said instantly, shaking her head, and Draco tipped his chin up with a small smirk.
"Good. Because you're far too good for him."
Hermione's eyes widened with obvious surprise, and even Harry found himself rather shocked by Draco giving Hermione such a compliment to her face. Harry had to wonder about his own opinion of Ron though, since he hadn't even felt the slightest urge to defend Ron at the statement, but rather found that he agreed with it.
"Um... thanks," Hermione said, hesitantly. "I think."
"Oh! Hey, Granger?" Pansy asked suddenly, looking up at Hermione with innocent puppy-dog eyes.
Hermione turned her attention to Pansy warily. "Yes?"
"Any chance you might be sticking around for a bit?"
"Um... I suppose I could..."
"Great! Have you finished the worksheet for Charms yet?"
Draco snorted. "Merlin, Pansy. Are you going to try and rope everyone you find into doing your homework for you?"
She raised her pert little nose into the air imperiously in his direction. "Well, if you're going to insist on becoming friends with Gryffindors, I may as well get something out of it." Pansy turned back to Hermione with that winningly innocent smile that wasn't fooling anyone. Hermione didn't look impressed, but after a moment, a small sign of amusement showed on her slightly upturned lips and she rolled her eyes.
"Fine, but I'm not doing it for you. I'll help explain the things that you're stuck on though."
"Brill!" Pansy said and dug into her bag for the assignment.
– –
"Erm... Hey, Fay? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Harry asked nervously as he came up to the corner in the common room where the short, slim, blond-haired Fay was sitting with the dark-skinned Kellah. Harry felt slightly bad knowing that he'd been in classes with these two girls since first year and had barely ever spoken to either one of them.
She blinked up at him with obvious surprise but slowly nodded. After Harry made it clear that he was hoping to speak with her in private, she asked her friend to look after her bag for her and stood up to follow Harry out of the common room. They went a short distance from the common room entrance, into a rather deserted stretch of corridor that only had a few tapestries and gargoyles lining the walls. Harry would have preferred an empty classroom, but there weren't many of those on the seventh floor, so he settled for this.
He pulled out his wand and Fay's eyes widened, so he quickly asked for permission to cast a privacy ward and she nodded cautiously.
"Sorry about that," Harry muttered as he put his wand away.
"It's fine, just... what's this about anyway?" she asked.
Harry shuffled from one foot to the other nervously. He'd gone over in his head probably a dozen different ways to approach this conversation and still felt utterly lost. Finally he huffed out a breath and just pressed on.
"Okay, now you can feel free to say no, or at least, take some time to think about it before you give me an answer, but I was wondering if you'd consider being my date to the Yule Ball?"
Fay gaped at him with obvious shock. Clearly this wasn't what she'd been expecting. Then her expression went guarded. "Why me?"
"Well... I... okay, now I'm really sorry if I'm wrong on this, but you're gay, right?"
Her eyes narrowed but she nodded her head slowly.
Harry pulled in a deep breath, trying to build up the courage to say what he'd decided he owed it to her to say, if he was really going to ask her to do this for him.
"Well... so am I."
Her eyes went as wide as galleons, but she didn't say anything.
"Please don't go telling anyone, okay? I'm not ready for it to get out yet, alright?"
She nodded her head silently, still apparently in shock.
"Okay, so the thing is that because I'm one of the Champions, I have to go to the ball, and I have to have a partner for the opening dance. It's tradition or something, and I can't get out of it. I've tried. So here I am, stuck having to get a date for a dance. Obviously, I can't go with who I'd actually like to go with because I'm not ready for the fact that I'm gay to get plastered all over the tabloids. But I didn't want to go with a girl that might end up getting her hopes up, thinking that I like her and that we could maybe date or something."
"Ah... I think I see where you're going with this," she said finally, nodding her head slowly with understanding. "You figured I'd be a safe bet because, since I like girls, there's no risk of me getting a crush on you and expecting something more, yeah?"
Harry shrugged a bit helplessly. "Yeah, basically. But if you've actually got someone you really want to go with, then obviously you should go with them. I just –"
"Yeah, sure."
"Huh?"
"I'll go with you, Harry," she said with a smile.
"You will?"
"Yeah," she said again with a small laugh.
"Are you really sure?" Harry asked cautiously. "You should probably think about it some. I mean, Hermione just hugged me once, and Rita Skeeter published almost a whole article dedicated just to Hermione making her out like some vixen toying with my heart and she actually got hate mail and stuff. I don't want –"
"Harry, I'm sure," she insisted, still giving him a small reassuring smile.
"Okay," Harry said somewhat stilted, having expected it to be harder than that. "I'm um... well, you should probably know that I've never danced before. I'm going to go to that dancing lesson thing that McGonagall is holding next weekend, but outside of the opening dance, I don't really think I'll be much good in that area. You're totally welcome to dance with whoever you want. Don't think that you've got to hang with me the whole time. I want you to actually have fun there –"
"I'm not much of a dancer either," she said, grinning. "Don't worry about it."
Harry grinned and ducked his head before looking back up with a grateful smile. "Thanks for this. Really. It's such a load off my back to know I don't have to worry about who I'm going with for the next two weeks."
"No problem. I was just planning on going stag before. Now I get to go with a nice bloke on my arm and no worries about him spending the night hitting on me or trying to get me to kiss another girl while he watches."
Harry guffawed. "Yeah, no worries there."
She giggled. "So... out of curiosity... who else knows? About you, I mean? I'm guessing Hermione knows, since I'm assuming she's the one that suggested you ask me?"
Harry laughed sheepishly and nodded. "Yeah, it was her idea. But no one else really knows. Well, my godfather, but no one at school knows."
"Right. Well, I'll keep it that way. I promise I won't tell a soul," she said with a firm nod of her head and a smile.
Harry smiled back gratefully. "Thanks so much. I really appreciate it."
– –
Later on, Harry entered the Common Room and made his way over to where Ron and Hermione were both sitting on one of the couches. Harry plopped himself down next to Hermione, quite pleased with his success.
Hermione looked over at him and grinned in response to his expression. "Did you ask her?"
Harry's grin widened. "I did. And she said yes."
"That's fantastic, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.
Ron looked up between the two of them with a confused expression. "Asked who? Wait – you mean for the dance?"
"Yup," Harry said, popping the 'P'.
"Who'd you ask?" Ron asked, sitting up straighter with interest.
"Fay."
"Dunbar? The girl that likes girls?" Ron echoed incredulously.
"You know about that?" Harry asked, in surprise.
"Of course! Don't you remember when Seamus was going on about how he found her and that Ravenclaw girl making out in the astronomy tower? He said it was the hottest thing he'd ever seen!"
Hermione looked skyward and huffed, while Harry just rolled his eyes and chuckled. "No, I don't especially remember that, but I probably wasn't really paying attention."
"But how come you asked out the lesbian to be your date?" Ron asked, scrunching up his face in confusion.
"No strings and no expectations," Harry said simply with a shrug.
"But Harry! You could go with anyone! I just don't get you!" Ron exclaimed with an incredulous whine.
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. Harry did hear from Sirius through the mirror on Sunday night that his grandfather was making arrangements to come and visit the school and to expect a letter in the next day or two with specific details.
Sirius thought it was especially funny that Harry had actually managed to find a lesbian to go to the dance with, and told Harry he should be thankful for his godfather's good advice. Harry had just rolled his eyes in exasperation.
The only other occurrence from the weekend that was noteworthy was the posting of a notice on the common room message board asking for volunteers who were fluent or near-fluent in French or Norwegian who would be willing to help the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students who were having trouble with English. Harry had very nearly forgotten all about Dumbledore mentioning this plan to him what now felt like an eternity ago. He was surprised, mostly because it had taken so long for it to happen. The foreign students had been in the school for a whole month, after all.
None of that really mattered though, and he had said he'd be willing to help the Beauxbatons students, so he wrote his name down on the list for those who could speak French.
The following day in Runes, Harry sat next to Draco as had become standard over the last month. Class was quickly underway and after about forty minutes of lecture, Professor Babbling let them free to work on the assignment.
"Did the Slytherins get the notice asking for French-speaking volunteers?" Harry asked Draco as the class settled into quiet conversation and classwork.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, I did see that."
"Well, you speak French right? Are you signing up?"
"I do... I hadn't exactly planned on it..." Draco paused, "what about you?"
"I signed up," Harry said with a simple shrug. "Fleur has been bugging me every morning at Breakfast anyway for English help, so I may as well do a formal job of it. McGonagall says that we'll be doing the tutoring in the common room that was set up for the Beauxbatons students, here in Hogwarts. I've been curious to see it, actually."
"Really?" Draco mused thoughtfully. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to sign up. It's not like I'm having any trouble keeping up with my school work this year, with Quidditch being canceled and all."
Harry grinned over at him brightly. "Yeah, and it'd give us somewhere we could actually hang out together that isn't class or the library."
Draco smiled back, almost shyly and Harry's heart felt like it skipped a beat in reaction.
The two fell quiet for a few minutes then, as they each began to focus more on their assignment.
"So did you ask Dunbar?" Draco asked rather suddenly and Harry blinked at him once before realizing what he'd asked.
"Oh! You mean to the ball? Yeah, I did."
"And...?" Draco said, trying to appear uninterested.
"She said yes. I..." Harry cut himself off suddenly, and paused to actually think over his words before he just blurted out something stupid. "I told her about how I didn't want someone who would expect something more out of it than just um... friends, I guess. I was afraid she'd be offended that I was only asking her because she's gay, and therefore safe, but she was cool with it. She said she had been planning on going alone before I asked her, and it didn't bother her that I don't really plan on dancing aside from the opening dance."
"Why not?"
"Huh?"
"Why won't you dance with her outside of the opening dance?"
"Oh... well, I can't dance," Harry said, with a sheepish smile. "McGonagall is holding some sort of dancing lesson this coming weekend so we don't all make fools of ourselves, but I don't think that one lesson is going to make that big of a difference. I'm already pretty much doomed, seeing as how there's just going to be four couples out on the dance floor for the starting dance, and everyone is going to be watching me while I step all over Fay's toes and make an idiot out of myself."
"Dancing isn't that hard," Draco drawled.
"That's easy for you to say. Your parents have been dragging you to formal dances since you were a child. You probably started formal dancing lessons as soon as you could walk."
"I didn't start that early," Draco rolled his eyes. "But I learned to dance when I was five. Do you really think yourself incapable of doing something a five-year-old could do?"
Harry gave Draco a flat glare as the blond smirked at him daringly.
Harry snorted and looked back at his parchment. "That's great Dray – way to help my already wounded ego. Now when I fall flat on my face after breaking Fay's toes, I'll know I've failed at something you were probably brilliant at as a five-year-old."
When Draco didn't immediately respond, Harry looked back over at him curiously, and noted that Draco had a rather odd look on his face.
"What?" Harry asked, worriedly.
"What did you call me?"
"Huh?"
"You called me Dray," Draco said, almost incredulously.
"Oh... er... sorry. It was just something I thought I'd try out, I guess... I... I won't do it again, if you don't like it." Harry muttered, ducking his head in embarrassment.
Draco was quiet for a bit after that, and Harry felt more like an idiot by the second.
"No... I think I like it," Draco said suddenly and Harry looked up at him questioningly. Draco was smiling back at him, almost shyly, and Harry grinned back.
"Good... I like it too," Harry replied.
– –
Tuesday morning Harry got a letter from his grandfather informing him that he had arranged to floo into the Headmaster's office the following afternoon at 3 o'clock, after Harry's last class of the day, and that he'd already scheduled a meeting with Harry's Head of House, Professor McGonagall, for that evening at half passed seven. Harry felt his nerves surge, realizing that in just over a day's time, he'd be outing himself to both his grandfather and McGonagall, but he managed to squash the panic down before it got to be too much.
He knew there was nothing to worry about with his grandfather – or at least, he knew it rationally, but that didn't mean that his mind didn't still manage to freak out. McGonagall was more of an embarrassment sort of thing than a fear of rejection – although secretly that worried him too. But his sexuality was a private matter, and he didn't want to have to tell her, or anyone, for that matter. But the reality was that his Allure would be kicking in some time during the next year and a half, and when it did, sharing a room with four other boys would become a very complicated ordeal, especially since even after he got control over it, it could easily slip while he was asleep. She had to be told, and Harry had to find out if there was precedent for alternate rooming to be made until he could get his allure under control.
He still had one day before having to face that, however. That evening Harry along with one other Gryffindor who Harry was fairly sure was a sixth year, and one of Fred and George's room mates, followed McGonagall as she led them down a corridor on the forth floor that Harry had rarely traveled because there were no classes in that wing. Half way there, they met up with Professor Flitwick and three Ravenclaws that Harry was only vaguely familiar with since none of them were in his year either.
They came up on a seemingly motionless statue of a woman with a water jug balanced on her head. Professor Flitwick went up to the statue smiling widely and spoke quite clearly so all of the students gathered there could hear him. "Chute de neige," which Harry knew meant 'Snowfall'.
The statue woman animated, smiled back at him, pulled the jug down off her head, gave them a little bow, and took several steps to the side, revealing the arch of stones in the wall behind her that had framed her only a moment ago. It still looked like a very solid wall, and Harry frowned when it remained that way, even after a moment of waiting.
"Just step through the archway," McGonagall said.
A few of the gathered students shot each other looks before the sixth year Gryffindor rolled her eyes and walked forward, through the wall that apparently wasn't really there. They all followed and soon found themselves facing a room of Beauxbatons students all chattering excitedly in French.
Harry and the others were lead to various seating around the room and introductions were started. Less than a minute later the two Hufflepuffs showed up, followed another minute later by one lone Slytherin – Draco.
Harry felt the smile spread across his face the moment he spotted the blond, and Draco's eyes seemed to have been drawn to him as if by instinct. There was no hesitation as Draco strode confidently away from his head of house, and across the room to the two-seater couch that Harry had ended up settled on. Harry shifted from the center where he'd sat rather intentionally to prevent anyone else from sitting next to him, over to one side, now clearly leaving room for Draco.
Opposite the couch were two squashy armchairs and another two-seater couch, angled around a low round tea table in the center. In one of the armchairs sat Fleur, surrounded by her group of friends, who were mostly all girls, with the exception of one brown-haired french boy that Harry hadn't spoken to before since he tended to sit his meals with the Ravenclaws.
Harry wasted no time in introducing Draco to the others, and noticed that the blond seemed to be eyeing Fleur with carefully concealed caution. Fleur, likewise seemed intrigued and looked between Harry and Draco several times before a small smile curled her lips. It confused Harry at first until it finally registered in his head that Fleur – as a Veela – would be able to tell that Draco was one as well. No doubt the Slytherin was worried about that.
Draco's wariness vanished quickly enough to be replaced with his usual calm confidence as their conversations got underway and it was obvious that Fleur wasn't going to remark on it. The professors had made a few comments in the beginning to give them all some idea as to what they should be doing with this time, but mostly the purpose was to give the Beauxbatons students more opportunity to interact socially with English speakers and make casual conversation. Harry almost wondered what the point of having students who spoke French was, but it became obvious as he came to realize just how many of the students there didn't seem to know much of any English at all.
The four professors themselves had disappeared less than five minutes after everyone had gathered and gotten comfortable, so they didn't have to worry about adult supervision. Not that they were getting into any trouble, but it was always a lot easier to relax without any teachers around.
Harry and Draco both found it remarkably easy to chat with the French students for the next hour and a half, switching back and forth from talking in French to talking in English. Harry was impressed with how good Draco's French was, since he'd really only ever learned it from tutors, instead of being immersed in a French-speaking environment. He had a bit of an accent, but it wasn't too obvious.
The gathered students each talked a bit about themselves and their homes. The Beauxbatons students told the Hogwarts students what their school was like, and the Hogwarts told the Beauxbatons a bit more about what their curriculum was like, since the Beauxbatons students were actually still getting tutored by two different Beauxbatons professors that had come with as chaperons.
As they were only about a half an hour from the point when any of the Hogwarts students that still remained at this point would need to leave in order to make it back to the dorms in time for curfew, when Harry became conscious of the fact that, at some point over the last hour, he had settled himself comfortably against Draco's side. He felt himself freeze in mental shock – mostly that he hadn't even noticed until that moment. He found himself wondering in mild panic whether or not Draco had noticed yet, and whether it bothered him and he was just being polite and not wanting to draw attention to it with witnesses around.
They were touching from knees to thighs, and even their sides up to their shoulders. The warmth was wonderful, actually, and Harry realized how utterly encompassed he was in Draco's scent. The panicked part of his brain was trying to find a subtle way to pull away so they were separated before Draco realized what had happened, but a much stronger part of Harry's mind rebelled against that. He didn't want to move. It was so nice. And it wasn't like Draco had shown any sign of being freaked out by it. Of course, it was possible he hadn't even noticed it yet. After all, Harry hadn't even realized it had happened until just a moment earlier. Who knew how long they'd been sitting that closely.
"Harry?"
Harry was jerked forcefully out of his panicked displacement from the conversation by the sound of his name being called. His head whipped to the side to find Draco looking at him with slight amusement.
"Hmm?"
Draco smirked. "Did you hear even a word I said?"
"Er..."
Draco rolled his eyes as if exasperated. "Of course not. I was just asking if you planned on coming again tomorrow night?"
"Oh! Um... probably not, Dray. My grandfather's coming tomorrow afternoon and then later we've got a meeting with McGonagall about er... preparations for whenever my Allure kicks in. I have no idea how late that'll run, but I've got some homework too that I should get to afterwards."
"Ah," Draco said with a slow nod. "Well, how about the following night? Elodie, Christelle, and Fleur were hoping for some more English help... from the both of us," Draco added at the last minute.
Harry shrugged easily. "Yeah, that should be fine."
"Oh, 'arry! I almost forgot!" Fleur exclaimed suddenly before looking at her friends and seemingly communicating some unsaid statement between them because they all grinned widely and giggled before Fleur turned back to Harry and Draco. "I 'ave heard that your head of 'ouse is giving you dance lessons, no?"
Harry cringed. "Er... yes. Although, it's not just me. She's holding them this coming weekend for all of Gryffindor house."
"And that's zee only lesson you're getting?" Elodie asked incredulously from Fleur's left.
"Yeah," Harry said with a small cringe.
"And you 'aven't danced before?" one of the other girls, Christelle, asked next.
Harry grimaced and sank into his seat miserably. "Never," he grumbled.
"Well that just won't do," Fleur stated superiorly. "You and Draco are 'elping us wis our Eenglish, so zee least I can do iz 'elp you wis your dancing! We can practice zee next time you come!" she declared, and the girls around her all giggled and cheered excitedly.
Harry felt a pit of horror well up inside him and turned to bury his face into Draco's shoulder, on instinct. He groaned miserably. "Help me Dray – they're going to eat me alive!" he moaned into Draco's shoulder. Draco just snickered at him.
The next thing Harry knew, the shoulder he had dug himself into shifted and twisted, dislodging him as the arm rose up and wrapped itself around the back of his neck and shoulders. Harry blinked up in surprise and found Draco now looking down at him with a smug smirk.
"Awe, don't worry, Harry. I'll protect you from the big scary French girls," Draco baby talked in a teasing voice as he grinned widely.
Harry was torn between being offended, or simply melting against the other boy from sensory overload as the sensation of Draco's arm wrapped around his shoulder and his hand now gripping at Harry's bicep swept through him like a gloriously warm and comforting blanket.
Harry's eyes fell closed practically against his will and his head dipped down as he pulled in Draco's scent. His mind jerked him back to reality quite violently a moment later and he pulled his head back up with a short stiff movement before looking sheepishly up at Draco and trying to act as if nothing odd had just happened.
Draco's smirk from before appeared to have faltered slightly and he was looking down at Harry with intensity in his sharp gray eyes. A moment later it was gone and Draco had turned back and addressed something one of the girls had said, earning another round of giggles. Harry remained frozen for a moment before he made to sit up straighter and pull away from Draco. However the blond refused to relinquish his hold on Harry, and Harry came up short as he felt Draco's grip on his shoulder tighten ever so slightly.
Harry glanced over at Draco out of the corner of his eye, curiously, but the Slytherin was back to speaking casually with the girls and appeared to all the world completely oblivious to his position with Harry.
Hesitantly, Harry sat a little straighter before leaning back into the couch and sitting rather still as Draco's arm shifted ever so slightly so that it was now along the back of his neck and the top edge of the couch-back. The hand on Harry's shoulder released and took on a relaxed pose along the back of the couch, but the contact between Harry's neck and shoulders, and the length of Draco's arm, remained.
Harry's senses seemed to remain on high alert for the remaining time spent in the Beauxbaton's common room and he found it highly difficult to actually keep track of and participate in the conversation, with as preoccupied his mind was by the constant, somewhat intimate contact between himself and his friend-who-he-fancied.
Draco's arm had been relaxing along the back of the couch for about fifteen minutes, and Harry was about ready to convince himself that he was reading way too much into things and Draco must just be comfortable that way and didn't feel like moving it, when Draco stretched his legs out slightly and shifted his weight on the couch bringing him even more firmly against Harry's side. As he pulled his leg back in, it brushed against Harry's calf, then back out slightly, and then back in before resting his knee firmly against Harry's.
Harry had frozen in shock through this entire encounter, feeling stunned and petrified, and reluctantly hopeful. Draco, in stark contrast, had maintained a perfectly calm outward mask the entire time, and was still grinning and conversing casually with the gathered students without even the faintest indication that anything unusual was happening at all.
Harry was so high strung and confused by the end of the evening, he was almost glad when the few remaining Hogwarts students were all given the boot by a couple Prefects and told to go back to their common rooms before curfew, which was only in a few more minutes time.
When Draco stood up, Harry heard a small sigh escape his fine lips, but mostly Harry felt the rather shocking contrast from the close warm body-heat, to the nothingness of suddenly being deprived of Draco.
Harry actually had to blink several times and take in a deep breath to clear his mind enough to stand up. He said his goodbyes to the Beauxbatons students they'd spent the evening with, and made promises to be back in two nights.
Draco made similar promises and farewells, and the pair stepped out through the brick wall that wasn't really there and into the dimly lit corridor.
Harry and Draco stood in the hall in awkward silence for a moment as a few other students filed out and began making their ways in different directions. Harry nearly spoke several times, but found himself holding back and waiting, instead. Draco seemed to be in holding pattern as well, so Harry followed along. Finally it appeared that there would be no more students emerging from the hidden entrance, and the last of those that had come out, disappeared down the end of the corridor and out of sight completely.
Harry fidgeted slightly before making a move to speak. However, Draco beat him to it;
"You said your grandfather's coming tomorrow?" Draco asked suddenly.
"Oh, yeah," Harry confirmed with a nod.
Draco appeared thoughtful for a moment before seeming to nod to himself. "Can I meet him? I'd like to thank him for his assistance in gaining a tutor over the summer."
"Of course!" Harry exclaimed. "He's coming just after my last class of the day in mid-afternoon, but our meeting with McGonagall isn't until seven o'clock, so there should be time in there for me to introduce the two of you properly."
Draco gave Harry a small lop-sided grin. "Good."
An awkward silence spread between them again and Harry wondered if he should just say his goodbyes and start making his way towards Gryffindor Tower when Draco spoke up again.
"You said that you're meeting with McGonagall to talk about preparing for your Allure? What's there to prepare for that involves McGonagall?"
Harry's lips parted, but he felt himself freeze up in panic as twin impulses coursed through him.
One, totally insane, and utterly moronic part of himself seemed to see this as an opportunity of some sort.
Tell him! The crazy, irrational voice seemed to be screaming in his head.
Tell him! Tell him!
Just answer his question. That's all you have to do, and he'll know the truth! He'll know that you're...
But surely he couldn't do that... could he? It couldn't possibly be that simple?
And what if...
What if...
What if...
'Wouldn't you regret it if I'm right, but you never took the risk to find out?'
Hermione's voice echoed through his mind, and suddenly he was filled with a sense of resolve.
"Well," Harry spoke haltingly, feeling his mouth go dry, and his whole body break out in a mild sweat as he was gripped with the horrible fear of rejection, and yet still somehow found the strength to keep going. "My grandmother and aunts are concerned about whether or not Hogwarts has any policy for relocating me into a private room once my Allure kicks in."
"A private room?" Draco echoed in apparent confusion. "Why would you expect that?"
Harry swallowed the boulder of self-doubt that had materialized in his throat. It felt scratchy, his mouth was so dry. "Well, I'm gay," Harry said, and was horrified when his voice broke slightly on the last word. He pressed on, as if it hadn't happened, trying to ignore his mortification.
"–which means that the only ones effected by my Allure are guys – which means my dorm mates will all likely find themselves irrationally attracted to me until I get it under control. And seeing as how that would be extremely awkward for all of us... I mean, I know a few of them would just completely freak out, and I'd rather avoid that. Whenever a Veela with same-sex attraction gains their Allure at Beauxbatons, it's policy to give them a private room until they've got it under control. So thats... that's why my grandfather is coming to talk to McGonagall."
Harry finished rather lamely, and stood there saying nothing and watching Draco's face for any signs of reaction.
His eyes had widened slightly the moment Harry had made his big confession, but his face had remained otherwise impassive up until the very end, when they'd suddenly filled with dawning realization and worry.
"Merlin, I'd never even considered that..." Draco whispered, looking thoughtful. "Damn, I'll have to talk to Severus about that too, won't I? The last thing I want are Crabbe and Goyle fawning all over me like that." Draco gave an exaggerated shudder, before smiling hesitantly at Harry.
Harry blinked twice before the full ramifications of what Draco had just said set in, and he felt a single bubble of hope float up inside him. A single, near-hysterical-sounding laugh seemed to pop out from his mouth before he closed it again.
Draco looked at him and the two just stared at each other for a long moment before Draco's features softened and he gave Harry the gentlest smile Harry had ever seen on the blond's face before. Harry's heart was racing; pounding in his chest, and he felt his entire world seem to come to a halt as his eyes caught sight of Draco's hand coming up towards his own face. With feather-light gentleness, Draco brushed the backs of his knuckles and fingers against Harry's cheek.
Harry's breath caught and they continued to just stare at each other for a moment before Draco hesitantly began to pull his hand back. Harry turned his previously frozen face instantly, pushing his cheek up against Draco's hand again and sort of nuzzling the hand, mid-air.
He left his face perfectly still for a moment, cheek-pressed gently against Draco's hand, still elevated in the air, while he gathered his nerve. Slowly, Harry angled his head upwards and brought his lips against Draco's fingers and pressed a feather-light kiss there.
The most wonderful thing happened then. Draco smiled at him, and it was a bright, brilliant smile, that made Harry's heart skip a beat. Harry felt the muscles in his face straining, and realized that he was smiling back just as broadly and just as brightly. The two remained staring at each other, grinning like loons before Draco broke the spell by looking down sheepishly and chuckling slightly.
Harry laughed nervously too, and looked away, but the smile never left his face.
"We should probably go. It's past curfew," Draco said suddenly and Harry looked up at him, feeling the sinking sensation of disappointment. "We've got classes together tomorrow," Draco said reassuringly a moment later. "And we'll be back here the day after tomorrow. Maybe I can save you from some of the girl's dancing and give you a proper lesson. I rather suspect I've been dancing years longer than most of those girls."
Harry blinked in surprise at that. "Wait, you want to show me how to dance?"
Draco smirked and tipped his chin up confidently. "Don't tell me that you question my skill?"
Harry chuckled and shook his head. "No way. I'm just... I mean, you'd..."
"It's not like I'll get the chance at the ball... will I? I'd may as well take what I can get," Draco said softly, and Harry's head shot up and he stared into Draco's eyes with something akin to shock and awe. "That is... if you'd be interested at all," Draco finished, still attempting to appear confident, and for once, failing rather miserably.
Harry's face softened into a smile and he nodded quickly. "I... I would."
Draco grinned again. "Brilliant. Now, we really should probably be going. I'd hate for either of us to end up with a detention and taking away from the precious-little time we have to get you ready for that ball. I can't have you looking like a fool on the dance floor in front of the whole school, now can I? I've got a reputation to uphold."
Harry laughed and shook his head. "How will it effect your reputation, if I make an idiot of myself dancing?" he asked incredulously.
"Well, it might not yet, but people have frustratingly long memories when it's least convenient, and a day might come when you and I get to dance at a ball out in the open, and I'd hate for it to be tainted by sour memories of a miserable performance at this silly ball."
Harry's jaw dropped, and he found himself lost for words. Draco just smirked at him and twisted around on the ball of his foot before striding down the hall. "Good night, Harry," he called out over his shoulder.
Harry's mouth floundered for a second before he shut it and swallowed. "G'night Dray," he said softly, but Draco turned to look over his shoulder and his grin looked even wider than before. Finally he turned a corner and vanished from sight.
– –
"Harry, you're late! Curfew was nearly twenty minutes ago!" Hermione reprimanded him the moment he stumbled in through the portrait hole. He was oblivious to her though as he stumbled forward a few feet and settled into his favorite overstuffed couch, directly opposite the fire.
Hermione followed, frowning in apparent confusion, and hesitated only a moment before sitting down next to him and turning to examine him worriedly. She probably wondered for a moment if Harry had been hit with a confundus spell, and her eyes widened somewhat at the dazed expression on his face, accompanied by a rather wide grin.
"Harry...? Are you alright?" Hermione asked hesitantly. Harry turned his head slowly until he was looking right at her and a small bark of laughter escaped his lips before he settled for a bright smile.
"He likes me back," he said simply, still grinning like a loon.
"Huh?"
"Draco. He likes me back," Harry repeated. "You were right."
Understanding dawned in Hermione's chocolate-brown eyes and she gasped before excitedly wrapping her arms around Harry's neck and squealing. Harry laughed at her shocking enthusiasm and pulled away after a moment when she seemed to be babbling, saying things like 'I knew it!,' and 'you really should learn to listen to me, Harry', and 'It really was rather obvious, given the evidence.'
Harry laughed again and shook his head in fond exasperation. Ron chose that moment to walk over to the two of them in a huff and sat himself down on the free end of the wide couch before crossing his arms and pouting while staring unseeingly into the fireplace.
Harry raised a single questioning eyebrow, first at Hermione who shrugged, and then over at Ron.
"Ron? What's up?"
"It's this dance!" Ron seemed to explode with frustration. "How is a bloke supposed to find a girl to ask to this ruddy ball if I can't even get any of them alone! It's like they have to travel in packs! It's ridiculous! And every day more and more are taken! Did you know that even Neville has a date?"
"Really?" Harry said with legitimate surprise. "Who?"
"He won't tell me! It makes me wonder if maybe he's just making it up to try and save face. Fat lot of good it'll do him on the night of the ball when he shows up alone," Ron finished with a snort.
"Wanting to keep it secret doesn't mean he doesn't have a real date," Hermione insisted, indignantly.
Ron just rolled his eyes as if he didn't take her statement seriously at all. Then he suddenly turned and looked at her speculatively.
"Hey Hermione," he said slowly before grinning to himself. "Yeah! You're a girl, right? How about you and I go –"
"Don't you even dare, Ronald Weasley," Hermione snapped as she stood up angrily.
"Whut?" Ron exclaimed with confusion and annoyance.
"I'm not going to be your last resort. And for your information, someone else has already asked me, and I said yes."
"What!" Ron exclaimed, frowning almost angrily now. "Who?"
"I'm not telling you!" she snapped and turned to leave, but hesitated for a moment to look at Harry. Her features softened and she gave him a small smile. "Oh, and congrats Harry. I know it's going to work out. We'll talk later, yeah?"
Harry's face went slightly slack and a small pit of panic surged in his gut as he glanced over at Ron before looking back at Hermione and giving her a very hesitant smile in return. "Yeah... later."
Hermione looked back at Ron with narrowed eyes and frowning before whipping her head back around and tipping her nose into the air as she stormed away.
The tense atmosphere seemed to linger around the two as they sat in silence for a few moments later before Ron finally spoke.
"Girls. They're barking mad, I tell ya," he said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes dramatically. "She probably doesn't even have a date."
"She does," Harry said, defensively.
Ron turned and frowned at him. "How do you know?"
"She told me about it a few days ago."
"Well, who is it?"
"She made me promise not to tell," Harry said.
"Awe! Come on, mate! You can tell me! She didn't mean it. She's just in a huff!"
"No Ron. I told her I wouldn't tell, and I won't. You'll find out in just over a week anyway, at the ball."
Ron pouted indignantly and turned away from Harry to stew. "What was Hermione talking about anyway?" Ron asked after a moment.
"Huh?"
"When she congratulated you, or whatever. What was that about?"
"Oh. It's nothing. My Grandfather is coming tomorrow to meet with me and McGonagall to discuss preparing for when my Allure kicks in. That's all."
Ron looked confused as to how that could possibly warrant what Hermione had said, but seemed to shrug it off a moment later.
"Yeah, alright, whatever. So you want to play a game of Exploding Snap?"
"Nah, Ron. I've got some homework that isn't going to do itself for me, and after spending the last couple hours helping teach a bunch of french-speaking girls, conversational English, I don't have any time to waste."
Ron nodded his head twice before he got the look of someone who had just gotten an epiphany. "That's it!"
"What's it?" Harry asked, frowning.
"You're getting buddy-buddy with all those French girls!"
"Ron, I already told you that you've got no chance with Fleur! I think she's already agreed to go with one of the guys in Ravenclaw –"
"No, not her. One of the other ones! Find out if any of them don't have a date!"
"Awe, Ron!" Harry groused.
"Please, Harry!"
Harry groaned and shook his head, even as he knew he would at least bring it up with Fleur's friends.
– –
AN: You'll be happy to know that I've already got another 20 pages written after this point, so I'm already well on my way to the next chapter.
