DISCLAIMER: These characters are not mine, they belong to JK Rowling.
READ THIS FIRST: Slash is starting to come into this story, there are hints at the moment and maybe something more between Harry and Draco so read on at your own risk...
A.N. I don't know if Harry and Draco have actually touched skin to skin in the canon before, so if they have, just pretend that they haven't, okay. When they touch in this story, it is for the first time ever.
~ Chapter Three : Hanging Out With The Enemy ~
"I don't know why on earth I'm talking about this with you," Harry said wearily, running a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes and lay his head back on the sofa.
Draco's eyes followed Harry's hand as it ran through his hair and then, realising what he was doing, he shook himself and pulled himself up to sit on the sofa beside Harry.
"You have talked about this with other people, haven't you?" Draco asked. God, Harry thought, he almost sounds worried. Nah, can't be. I must be imagining things.
"You haven't even talked to the Weasel and the Mudblood about this?" Draco sounded incredulous. "Look, I might not know much about emotions and all that sort of stuff, but I do know that if you don't talk to someone soon, you are going to go insane."
"Oh, like you would be so upset if I was insane," Harry said sarcastically. He heard Draco insulting his friends and knew he should defend them but that would take effort.
Harry had his eyes closed but he could still see the image of Draco sitting beside him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to shake the vision. It was weird, here he was, having a civil conversation with Draco Malfoy of all people, and enjoying it. It was the first time in months that he could remember feeling good about something.
"You know," Draco said tentatively, "if you want, you could talk to me about it. I mean I know most of what went on anyway."
Harry's eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright. "How?" he demanded.
"My father," Draco replied, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, right," Harry said, relaxing back against the sofa again.
"So...." Draco prompted, sitting up beside Harry with his legs crossed, staring expectantly at the dark haired boy.
"If you already know about it.....I guess it couldn't hurt to talk about it," Harry replied apprehensively. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to someone about it, it was just that whenever he tried, he couldn't seem to find the words. But with Draco, something was different. As Harry opened up, he found that the words came easily and he was sharing things with Draco that he never dreamed he would share with the blonde boy.
Draco, to his credit, said nothing as Harry poured his heart out. He listened attentively and didn't interrupt, just marvelled at the fact that Harry had gotten out of the situation alive. His father had told the story from Voldemort's perspective (with Harry as the bad guy) so it was refreshing to hear the other side. He suppressed a shudder at the thought of his father.
Oh god, Father, Draco thought suddenly. When his father heard about the re-sorting and that Harry was now in Slytherin, he would demand that Draco do something to help Voldemort get to Harry. Strangely the idea no longer held any appeal. There was a time, not so long ago, when Draco would have done anything the Dark Lord asked without questioning it. But now, something was holding him back. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was though.....
"And then Cedric's body came floating out of Voldemort's wand," Harry said, his voice cracking. "Then a few other people came out and then.....then my mum appeared."
Harry couldn't go on. He stared straight ahead, his jaw set and his hands clenched. He was not going to cry, especially not in front of Draco.
Draco wasn't really sure what he was doing but he felt the need to do something, so he reached over and covered one of Harry's clenched fists with his hand.
As he did so, several gold sparks appeared, crackling around both their hands.
Draco snatched back his hand in alarm. "What the hell was that?" he asked, sounding a little shaken.
Harry, too, was dazed by what had just occurred. He'd never heard of static electricity causing actual sparks before. Besides, since it happened here at Hogwart's it had to be something magical. Weird....
"I don't know," Harry managed to reply to Draco's question. "I'll ask Hermione at lunch."
Their minds were jerked off the subject by the abrupt opening of the door. Snape entered the common room and stopped suddenly as he realised that something wasn't quite right.
Potter and Draco were sitting side by side on a sofa and looked like they'd been there for a while. Snape would have bet good money that one of them would be seriously hurt by now......actually he had bet good money - 30 galleons. Damn Potter, always ruining things.
Hold on, Snape thought suddenly. That sofa they're sitting on. Shouldn't it be leather? Snape glanced around at the rest of the room, glaring at Weasley, Finnigan and Finch-Fletchley as he did so. The trio quickly scooped up the cards and flew up the stairs to their dorm.
"WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED HERE?" he bellowed, his face turning red.
"Er, we-" Harry started to speak but was cut off by Draco.
"The common room was awfully dreary," Draco drawled coolly, "so I had Mother send her decorator around."
Harry chanced a glance up at Snape and was stunned to see the Professor close his mouth and stalk out of the room. Harry looked questioningly at Draco.
"He's knows I know he's a spy and he's afraid I'll tell my father," Draco explained.
"Will you?" Harry asked.
Draco thought for a moment before answering. "No."
"Why not?" Harry asked curiously.
"Who would teach Potions if Snape was killed?" Draco asked sarcastically.
"I've heard rumours that Fleur Delacor might be teaching here this year. She's supposedly good at potions," Harry said teasingly.
"That twit from Beaxbatons? That's an excellent reason to not tell my Father about Snape," Draco said with a grin.
Harry smiled back. It was amazing, he mused, how Draco's face lights up when he really smiles.
"So where did you learn that hex you used on me earlier?" Draco asked, eager to keep the conversation going.
"Siri....a friend sent me a book of curses and a charm to confuse the Ministry sensors," Harry explained quickly, to cover his slip. There were some things he couldn't tell anyone (except for Ron and Hermione of course).
"You mean Sirius Black, don't you," Draco said, lowering his voice.
"No-" Harry said.
"It's okay. I know he's innocent," Draco said sympathetically.
"How do you know?" Harry asked, amazed at the turn in the conversation.
"I've met him," he said simply, before explaining, "Peter Pettigrew, I mean."
"What?" Harry nearly exploded as he jumped off the couch and started prowling around the room like a caged lion.
"Hey, calm down. I didn't mean to upset you," Draco said, standing up.
"When did you meet him?" Harry asked anxiously.
"This summer," the blonde replied matter of factly. "Voldemort is a regular guest at the Manor, now that he's got a body and he never goes anywhere without Pettigrew."
"Is there any way we could catch him so Sirius can be free?" Harry asked wonderingly.
Draco looked alarmed. "What on earth are you talking about? No we can't catch him. I know you've done heaps of foolhardy Gryffindor things in the last four years but we are not going on some stupid mission to catch a dark wizard."
Harry glanced calculatingly over at Draco. "Scared?" he asked teasingly.
"No!" Draco glared at Harry. "You're not the only one who has faced evil and lived to tell the tale, but I'm not stupid enough to go asking for trouble. If you're so determined to catch a dark wizard, why don't we go after Voldemort as well?"
Draco regretted the question the instant if left his mouth. Harry was looking like a light bulb had gone on in his head. Draco suppressed a groan. He should have known better than to bait a Gryffindor.
"Forget it, Harry. It's not going to happen. We have more important things to worry about here at Hogwarts, like those weird sparks," Draco said, reminding them both of the strange incident from earlier.
They were interrupted by the sound of dozens of feet stomping down the stairs.
"Hey Harry, coming to lunch?" Fred called out as he entered the common room.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Harry shot Draco an uncertain glance before joining his friends to walk down to the Great Hall for lunch.
In the Great Hall, before joining the Slytherin table, Harry detoured via the Ravenclaw table.
"Hey Hermione, how are you going?" Harry asked as he sat down beside her.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" Hermione asked curiously.
"I need your help," he said simply.
"Sure, Harry. What's happened?" she said worriedly.
"Nothing bad, at least, I hope not. I was sitting in the common room earlier talking to Draco and he touched my hand and gold sparks flew everywhere, when our hands joined. Do have any idea what that means?"
Hermione stared at him in shock as she listened to Harry casually mention talking to Draco like he'd been doing it all his life.
"I've never heard of gold sparks flying when people touch. Has it happened before?" she asked cautiously.
"Not that I can remember, but I don't think Draco and I have actually touched before," Harry said quietly. He really didn't need this getting around the entire school.
"I'll have a look in my books this afternoon and let you know what I find out at dinner. If I can't find anything then we'll have to wait until the library is open tomorrow," she said, a trace of annoyance in her voice. "In the meantime, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think you should go touch....Draco and see if it happens again."
Harry stared at her. He knew what she meant, they had to know if it was just a one time thing or if it was going to happen every time they touched. But for some reason, the thought of touching the blonde boy made Harry's heart leap in a way he had never experienced before.
Hermione was watching Harry curiously. His expression was a mixture of joy and torment. Harry stood up and returned to his own house table. He took a seat next to Draco and caught Hermione's eye. She nodded and watched carefully as Harry casually reached over and brushed Draco's hand as he reached for a bread roll.
Nothing happened.
Hermione smiled at Harry and went back to her meal. She saw Ginny glancing at her curiously and decided to enlist her help with the research.
Ginny gasped as Hermione described the situation as Harry had described it to her. Ginny knew exactly what was going on thanks to her upbringing and quickly filled Hermione in on all she knew of the situation. Hermione gasped in shock and both girls stared over at Harry and Draco.
"Forget about it, Gryffindor," Draco said firmly as he poured some more pumpkin juice into his goblet and then into Harry's goblet.
"What?" Harry asked, glancing guiltily over at Draco.
"We are not going after anyone," the blonde boy said cryptically so only Harry knew what he meant.
Harry sighed with relief. He thought Draco had read his mind for a moment there. He'd been busy thinking of how soft Draco's skin was and how much he'd like to......okay, stop right there, Harry thought. I would not like to do anything to Dra-Malfoy......except......no no no no no no don't think about it. Better answer Dr- when the hell did I start calling Malfoy by his first name?
"Okay," Harry said in reply to Draco's statement.
Draco's eyes narrowed, since when did Potter give in so quickly? He frowned. Since when have you known anything at all about Potter except which buttons to push to make him angry? he asked himself irritably. Granted, they'd had a long conversation this morning, but that was the only time they'd actually talked rather than trade insults. One morning does not constitute knowing someone, Draco told himself firmly.
~to be continued~
A.N. This is a story that I have been wanting to write for a long time and I'm finally doing it, but I've been reading a lot of fanfiction on the net and I've noticed a lot of stories popping up which deal with a similar thing to what is going to come up in the next couple of chapters so I'm sorry if it seems like I've copied but really, this is a very popular theme in fanfics. Mine is not as well written as some out there, like Unthinkable Thoughts by Aidan Lynch, which is frankly incredible. I love it and I recommend you all read it if you haven't already done so.
READ THIS FIRST: Slash is starting to come into this story, there are hints at the moment and maybe something more between Harry and Draco so read on at your own risk...
A.N. I don't know if Harry and Draco have actually touched skin to skin in the canon before, so if they have, just pretend that they haven't, okay. When they touch in this story, it is for the first time ever.
~ Chapter Three : Hanging Out With The Enemy ~
"I don't know why on earth I'm talking about this with you," Harry said wearily, running a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes and lay his head back on the sofa.
Draco's eyes followed Harry's hand as it ran through his hair and then, realising what he was doing, he shook himself and pulled himself up to sit on the sofa beside Harry.
"You have talked about this with other people, haven't you?" Draco asked. God, Harry thought, he almost sounds worried. Nah, can't be. I must be imagining things.
"You haven't even talked to the Weasel and the Mudblood about this?" Draco sounded incredulous. "Look, I might not know much about emotions and all that sort of stuff, but I do know that if you don't talk to someone soon, you are going to go insane."
"Oh, like you would be so upset if I was insane," Harry said sarcastically. He heard Draco insulting his friends and knew he should defend them but that would take effort.
Harry had his eyes closed but he could still see the image of Draco sitting beside him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to shake the vision. It was weird, here he was, having a civil conversation with Draco Malfoy of all people, and enjoying it. It was the first time in months that he could remember feeling good about something.
"You know," Draco said tentatively, "if you want, you could talk to me about it. I mean I know most of what went on anyway."
Harry's eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright. "How?" he demanded.
"My father," Draco replied, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, right," Harry said, relaxing back against the sofa again.
"So...." Draco prompted, sitting up beside Harry with his legs crossed, staring expectantly at the dark haired boy.
"If you already know about it.....I guess it couldn't hurt to talk about it," Harry replied apprehensively. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to someone about it, it was just that whenever he tried, he couldn't seem to find the words. But with Draco, something was different. As Harry opened up, he found that the words came easily and he was sharing things with Draco that he never dreamed he would share with the blonde boy.
Draco, to his credit, said nothing as Harry poured his heart out. He listened attentively and didn't interrupt, just marvelled at the fact that Harry had gotten out of the situation alive. His father had told the story from Voldemort's perspective (with Harry as the bad guy) so it was refreshing to hear the other side. He suppressed a shudder at the thought of his father.
Oh god, Father, Draco thought suddenly. When his father heard about the re-sorting and that Harry was now in Slytherin, he would demand that Draco do something to help Voldemort get to Harry. Strangely the idea no longer held any appeal. There was a time, not so long ago, when Draco would have done anything the Dark Lord asked without questioning it. But now, something was holding him back. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was though.....
"And then Cedric's body came floating out of Voldemort's wand," Harry said, his voice cracking. "Then a few other people came out and then.....then my mum appeared."
Harry couldn't go on. He stared straight ahead, his jaw set and his hands clenched. He was not going to cry, especially not in front of Draco.
Draco wasn't really sure what he was doing but he felt the need to do something, so he reached over and covered one of Harry's clenched fists with his hand.
As he did so, several gold sparks appeared, crackling around both their hands.
Draco snatched back his hand in alarm. "What the hell was that?" he asked, sounding a little shaken.
Harry, too, was dazed by what had just occurred. He'd never heard of static electricity causing actual sparks before. Besides, since it happened here at Hogwart's it had to be something magical. Weird....
"I don't know," Harry managed to reply to Draco's question. "I'll ask Hermione at lunch."
Their minds were jerked off the subject by the abrupt opening of the door. Snape entered the common room and stopped suddenly as he realised that something wasn't quite right.
Potter and Draco were sitting side by side on a sofa and looked like they'd been there for a while. Snape would have bet good money that one of them would be seriously hurt by now......actually he had bet good money - 30 galleons. Damn Potter, always ruining things.
Hold on, Snape thought suddenly. That sofa they're sitting on. Shouldn't it be leather? Snape glanced around at the rest of the room, glaring at Weasley, Finnigan and Finch-Fletchley as he did so. The trio quickly scooped up the cards and flew up the stairs to their dorm.
"WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED HERE?" he bellowed, his face turning red.
"Er, we-" Harry started to speak but was cut off by Draco.
"The common room was awfully dreary," Draco drawled coolly, "so I had Mother send her decorator around."
Harry chanced a glance up at Snape and was stunned to see the Professor close his mouth and stalk out of the room. Harry looked questioningly at Draco.
"He's knows I know he's a spy and he's afraid I'll tell my father," Draco explained.
"Will you?" Harry asked.
Draco thought for a moment before answering. "No."
"Why not?" Harry asked curiously.
"Who would teach Potions if Snape was killed?" Draco asked sarcastically.
"I've heard rumours that Fleur Delacor might be teaching here this year. She's supposedly good at potions," Harry said teasingly.
"That twit from Beaxbatons? That's an excellent reason to not tell my Father about Snape," Draco said with a grin.
Harry smiled back. It was amazing, he mused, how Draco's face lights up when he really smiles.
"So where did you learn that hex you used on me earlier?" Draco asked, eager to keep the conversation going.
"Siri....a friend sent me a book of curses and a charm to confuse the Ministry sensors," Harry explained quickly, to cover his slip. There were some things he couldn't tell anyone (except for Ron and Hermione of course).
"You mean Sirius Black, don't you," Draco said, lowering his voice.
"No-" Harry said.
"It's okay. I know he's innocent," Draco said sympathetically.
"How do you know?" Harry asked, amazed at the turn in the conversation.
"I've met him," he said simply, before explaining, "Peter Pettigrew, I mean."
"What?" Harry nearly exploded as he jumped off the couch and started prowling around the room like a caged lion.
"Hey, calm down. I didn't mean to upset you," Draco said, standing up.
"When did you meet him?" Harry asked anxiously.
"This summer," the blonde replied matter of factly. "Voldemort is a regular guest at the Manor, now that he's got a body and he never goes anywhere without Pettigrew."
"Is there any way we could catch him so Sirius can be free?" Harry asked wonderingly.
Draco looked alarmed. "What on earth are you talking about? No we can't catch him. I know you've done heaps of foolhardy Gryffindor things in the last four years but we are not going on some stupid mission to catch a dark wizard."
Harry glanced calculatingly over at Draco. "Scared?" he asked teasingly.
"No!" Draco glared at Harry. "You're not the only one who has faced evil and lived to tell the tale, but I'm not stupid enough to go asking for trouble. If you're so determined to catch a dark wizard, why don't we go after Voldemort as well?"
Draco regretted the question the instant if left his mouth. Harry was looking like a light bulb had gone on in his head. Draco suppressed a groan. He should have known better than to bait a Gryffindor.
"Forget it, Harry. It's not going to happen. We have more important things to worry about here at Hogwarts, like those weird sparks," Draco said, reminding them both of the strange incident from earlier.
They were interrupted by the sound of dozens of feet stomping down the stairs.
"Hey Harry, coming to lunch?" Fred called out as he entered the common room.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Harry shot Draco an uncertain glance before joining his friends to walk down to the Great Hall for lunch.
In the Great Hall, before joining the Slytherin table, Harry detoured via the Ravenclaw table.
"Hey Hermione, how are you going?" Harry asked as he sat down beside her.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" Hermione asked curiously.
"I need your help," he said simply.
"Sure, Harry. What's happened?" she said worriedly.
"Nothing bad, at least, I hope not. I was sitting in the common room earlier talking to Draco and he touched my hand and gold sparks flew everywhere, when our hands joined. Do have any idea what that means?"
Hermione stared at him in shock as she listened to Harry casually mention talking to Draco like he'd been doing it all his life.
"I've never heard of gold sparks flying when people touch. Has it happened before?" she asked cautiously.
"Not that I can remember, but I don't think Draco and I have actually touched before," Harry said quietly. He really didn't need this getting around the entire school.
"I'll have a look in my books this afternoon and let you know what I find out at dinner. If I can't find anything then we'll have to wait until the library is open tomorrow," she said, a trace of annoyance in her voice. "In the meantime, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think you should go touch....Draco and see if it happens again."
Harry stared at her. He knew what she meant, they had to know if it was just a one time thing or if it was going to happen every time they touched. But for some reason, the thought of touching the blonde boy made Harry's heart leap in a way he had never experienced before.
Hermione was watching Harry curiously. His expression was a mixture of joy and torment. Harry stood up and returned to his own house table. He took a seat next to Draco and caught Hermione's eye. She nodded and watched carefully as Harry casually reached over and brushed Draco's hand as he reached for a bread roll.
Nothing happened.
Hermione smiled at Harry and went back to her meal. She saw Ginny glancing at her curiously and decided to enlist her help with the research.
Ginny gasped as Hermione described the situation as Harry had described it to her. Ginny knew exactly what was going on thanks to her upbringing and quickly filled Hermione in on all she knew of the situation. Hermione gasped in shock and both girls stared over at Harry and Draco.
"Forget about it, Gryffindor," Draco said firmly as he poured some more pumpkin juice into his goblet and then into Harry's goblet.
"What?" Harry asked, glancing guiltily over at Draco.
"We are not going after anyone," the blonde boy said cryptically so only Harry knew what he meant.
Harry sighed with relief. He thought Draco had read his mind for a moment there. He'd been busy thinking of how soft Draco's skin was and how much he'd like to......okay, stop right there, Harry thought. I would not like to do anything to Dra-Malfoy......except......no no no no no no don't think about it. Better answer Dr- when the hell did I start calling Malfoy by his first name?
"Okay," Harry said in reply to Draco's statement.
Draco's eyes narrowed, since when did Potter give in so quickly? He frowned. Since when have you known anything at all about Potter except which buttons to push to make him angry? he asked himself irritably. Granted, they'd had a long conversation this morning, but that was the only time they'd actually talked rather than trade insults. One morning does not constitute knowing someone, Draco told himself firmly.
~to be continued~
A.N. This is a story that I have been wanting to write for a long time and I'm finally doing it, but I've been reading a lot of fanfiction on the net and I've noticed a lot of stories popping up which deal with a similar thing to what is going to come up in the next couple of chapters so I'm sorry if it seems like I've copied but really, this is a very popular theme in fanfics. Mine is not as well written as some out there, like Unthinkable Thoughts by Aidan Lynch, which is frankly incredible. I love it and I recommend you all read it if you haven't already done so.