Chapter Five: Harry

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Harry's eyes were glued to the Marauder's Map. To be specific, he was avidly watching the section that was the Slytherin common room.

Harry had been keeping an eye on Malfoy since their Potions lesson a week ago, but he hadn't had a proper chance to speak to – or touch – him again. Harry had kept watch over the miniature ink figure of Malfoy carefully and figured out Malfoy's timetable. They had Potions, Transfiguration, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts together, but when Harry had Herbology, Malfoy had a free period. When Harry had a free period, Malfoy had Ancient Runes.

During the week, every time Harry had seen Malfoy alone, Ron and/or Hermione had been with him, and when Harry had been alone, Malfoy had been surrounded by his Slytherin friends. Once, Harry had caught Malfoy's eye just before lunch break after their Charms class. He'd jerked his head towards an empty classroom in a questioning gesture, and Malfoy had nodded eagerly, telling his friends to go on ahead and meeting Harry inside the classroom.

They had just locked the door and turned to face each other when Zabini had blasted the door open. Harry had cast Levicorpus on him immediately and Malfoy had yelled at Harry to put Zabini down. Harry had wanted to refuse and make Zabini apologize, but Malfoy had sent Harry a look that said something along the lines of "We can't give anything away yet,". Malfoy had then herded Zabini out of the classroom as soon as Harry had let him down.

Harry had been silently pacing and fuming alone in that empty classroom for nearly ten minutes when the door opened again, and Malfoy slunk back in, an apologetic expression painted on his face.

'I don't have long,' Malfoy said, 'I told Blaise to go to lunch and promised him I'd come back to hex you into oblivion.'

'Understandable,' Harry murmured, still fuming silently.

'I'm sorry I yelled at you. I had no idea he was following me in the first place.' Malfoy said, standing in front of Harry. Harry could feel his frustration swirling and building.

Merlin, I want to fuck him.

But Malfoy moved before Harry had a chance to, standing on his toes and wrapping his arms around Harry's neck in a hug. Harry could feel Malfoy's fingers weaving through his hair, holding him in place. After a few moments of shock, Harry wrapped his arms around Malfoy and hugged him tightly back, burying his face in Malfoy's neck and inhaling his scent deeply. He had felt his frustration melting away the longer they stood like that.

Malfoy had pulled away first, slowly and reluctantly.

'I need to go, Potter. I'll see you around?' Draco asked, almost shyly. Harry had nodded.

As a last second thought, Harry had grabbed Malfoy's hand before he reached the door. Malfoy half turned to face Harry, who gave Malfoy a small bow and kissed the back of his hand in the same motion.

Straightening his back, Harry was pleased to see a flush colouring Malfoy's face.

'I hope you've done as I've asked, Malfoy, and been behaving.' Harry said with a smirk and a wink. Malfoy's flush had deepened, and he'd given Harry a serious but shy nod before fleeing the classroom.

Saturday evening after Quidditch practice, Harry pulled the Marauder's Map out of his trunk. He'd intended on showering in the Prefect's bathroom and wanted to check on Malfoy before he left. He hadn't been able to catch Malfoy alone again, but checking up on him, even if it was only through the map, made Harry feel a little better.

He had scoured the Slytherin Common Room with his eyes ten times but couldn't find Malfoy's little ink figure. Finally, he had spread his search further out into the castle and had discovered, much to his glee, Malfoy was just entering through the Prefect's bath portrait.

Harry slipped on his Invisibility Cloak and snuck out of the common room.

He hurried to the Prefect's Bathroom as quickly and quietly as he could, thanking his lucky stars that he didn't even come across a Hogwarts ghost, let alone Filch or Mrs. Norris.

As Harry approached the bathrooms portrait on the fifth floor, it opened violently.

'Fine, Draco. Don't say I don't try to help you.' Blaise Zabini was shouting over his shoulder. Harry frowned as he slipped in through the portrait, listening to Zabini's stomping feet move down the hallway.

The portrait closed and Harry was greeted with a calming smell of lavender. The pool-sized bath was full of light purple bubbles and water that was steaming slightly. Malfoy was standing to the side and getting undressed, a frown on his face.

Harry hesitated, torn between staying under the cloak and wanting to join Malfoy in the bath. When Malfoy pulled off his pants and boxers, then bent over to place them with his other clothes, Harry couldn't stop the groan that slipped from his lips.

Malfoy whipped around, his gloriously naked body facing Harry.

'Who's there?' Malfoy demanded, his eyes scanning the room. The mermaid in the stain glass window was giggling behind her hands. Harry took off the Invisibility Cloak and after a moment of shock, Draco relaxed.

'Potter,' Malfoy greeted, a little anxiously Harry thought. 'What are you doing here?'

'I just finished Quidditch Training and thought I'd come for a bath.' Harry said. Casually, he moved to stand next to Malfoy, folding up the cloak and undressing himself. He didn't miss how Malfoy's eyes followed his every action.

Once he was naked and his clothes were in a semi-neat pile, Harry gestured to the bath.

'Shall we?' he said. Malfoy nodded and led the way, sighing as his body sunk into the water. The pair rested by the side, not touching each other, just enjoying the water and each other's presence.

'Why haven't you said anything to me this week?' Malfoy spoke quietly into the silence, his eyes on the stain glass mermaid, who was flipping in and out of the water in her window. Harry gave himself a few moments to carefully word his answer.

'I wasn't sure you'd want me to.' He finally said. Malfoy's head whipped around with his eyebrows raised.

'What the bloody hell gave you that impression?' Malfoy demanded.

'Because you're a Slytherin, I'm a Gryffindor, and I couldn't catch you when we were both alone.' Harry said. Malfoy flushed a light pink and didn't say anything. The two sat together in silence again. At some point Harry held out one arm, Malfoy snuggled against his side, and Harry rested his cheek on the top of Malfoy's head. They stayed like that until almost all the bubbles had disappeared.

'I s'pose we should get going.' Malfoy said reluctantly. Harry nodded an agreement, but neither of them moved right away. Harry turned his face and kissed the top of Malfoy's head.

'Ron and Hermione will be worried if I don't get back to the common room soon. I'm not sure I'm ready for them to find me with you just yet.' Harry mumbled into Malfoy's hair.

'Don't they know you're into boys?' Draco smirked. Harry shrugged around Malfoy.

'Ron knows, and I'm sure Hermione's figured it out.'

'How does Weasel know?' Malfoy asked.

'Don't you Slytherin boys do anything fun in your dorm?' Harry snorted a laugh.

'Me, with Crabbe or Goyle? I have better taste than that.'

'What about Zabini?' Harry asked. Malfoy didn't say anything, but he wriggled in closer to Harry's side, like he was trying to hide. Harry lifted his head and placed one pruned finger under Malfoy's chin, lifting his face to meet Harry's.

'What about Zabini?' Harry repeated patiently. Malfoy swallowed but finally responded.

'He and I … We've dated on and off … for about two years.'

'See, was that so hard to tell me?' Harry said gently, kissing Malfoy's forehead. Neither boy saw, but the mermaid in the window swooned.

'Come on, I'm sure you have just as much homework as I do.' Harry said, finally making a move to get out the bath. Malfoy sighed unhappily but followed Harry. Once the two were dressed, Harry told Malfoy about his Invisibility Cloak, and offered to walk him to his common room.

'I'm Slytherin's Head Boy, Potter. It's not such a big deal for me to get caught.' Malfoy reminded him, but he took Harry's offer anyway. So, Harry walked Malfoy to the dungeons, pretending not to know where he was going, and left Malfoy at the end of the hallway that lead to the Slytherin common room.

'Malfoy?' Harry asked before he took the cloak off the Slytherin.

'Potter?'

'Will you meet me tomorrow after breakfast, at the seventh floor, at the top of the staircase?' Harry asked, trying his best not to sound nervous.

'Sure.' Malfoy said, a smile spreading across his face. Malfoy made a movement as though he was about to turn around, then he hesitated. He stepped forward to hug Harry, his arms wrapping around Harry's middle. Harry, who had been hoping for this, hugged Malfoy back, burying his face into the crook of Malfoy's neck and breathing in the fresh, clean lavender smell deeply.

'I'll see you tomorrow, Potter.' Malfoy said as he pulled away. He ducked out from under the cloak and walked down the hallway, hands in his pockets.

'Good night, Malfoy.' Harry said, and he began to make his way back to his own common room.

Malfoy didn't make it to the seventh floor after breakfast. Almost the whole school was out for breakfast, and it was a loud, boisterous atmosphere in the Great Hall that morning. Harry had been sitting at the Gryffindor table, trying to listen to Hermione talk about their homework and not gaze at the Slytherin table when it happened. A handsome eagle owl arrived at breakfast for Malfoy, and Harry had watched Malfoy open the letter attached.

It very obviously had not been good news. Malfoy's face lost all its colour and he scrunched up the paper in his shaking fist. Zabini was next to Malfoy and managed to extract the note from his hand, scanning the note himself. His face paled, too. He attempted to rub his hand up and down Malfoy's back comfortingly, but Malfoy shrugged him off, standing up at the table.

Slughorn arrived next to Malfoy at that moment and they had a brief whispered discussion. Slughorn gestured to the Great Hall's oak doors and led Malfoy towards them. Just before they disappeared through them, Malfoy lifted his eyes to meet Harry's. He was close enough that Harry heard him call out, asking Slughorn to wait a moment.

Is he coming over here?!

Harry stood up quickly, startling Ron and Hermione, and met Malfoy at the end of the Gryffindor table.

'What's wrong?' Harry asked, itching to reach out and take Malfoy in his arms.

'It's Mother. She was attacked in Diagon Alley.' Malfoy said tightly, barely supressing his tears. 'She's in Saint Mungo's, but …' Malfoy trailed off, one tear rolling down his cheek. Without thinking, Harry used his thumb to gently wipe it away, and then enveloped Malfoy in a tight hug.

'I'll see you when you get back.' Harry murmured into Malfoy's ear. 'But don't forget about me, Malfoy.'

'Don't you forget about me.' Malfoy whispered back fearfully. Harry stepped back, a small smile on his lips.

'I don't think I could if I tried.' He promised, nudging Malfoy back towards the exit. Malfoy nodded and gave Harry a small wave before turning and leaving with Slughorn, who was struggling to hide a smile.

Harry made his way back to his seat with Ron and Hermione, not noticing until he sat down that they were staring at him in shock, their mouths hanging open. Harry suddenly realised he had brushed away Malfoy's tear and hugged him, in front of the whole school.

It was then that the deafening silence of the Great Hall registered with Harry and he looked beyond Ron and Hermione. Almost the whole of the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were in shock, except for Ginny who was smirking in a very self-satisfied way. The Slytherin table looked more confused than shocked, but they all wore the same look of disgust. Zabini looked as though he had just tried eating a lemon.

But at the teachers table, every teacher was grinning, even if they were a little dumbfounded. Dumbledore was smiling at Harry while Hagrid and Professor McGonagall were shaking their heads and laughing silently. Dumbledore stood up and addressed the school.

'Inter-house friendship is possible for any, and all students. I encourage all of you to remember this, and to not allow different colours on your uniforms to stop you from making friends during your years at Hogwarts.'