Disclaimer: Harry Potter, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. They are used here for entertainment purposes only.

Warnings: Slash. Kisses. Angst. Mushiness.

Spoilers: None. Written Pre-OotP.

Like Glass
Chapter 5 - Friendship Is

That stupid, annoying, terrifying, wonderful kiss was still bothering him the next day. Yesterday, if someone had told him that a kiss from your one true love could be so astoundingly different from all other kisses; could turn your world upside down, he'd have smiled and shook his head and held it up to romanticism.

But he'd been kissed before, and it was never like that.

Wait-a-minute. Pause. Rewind. Your one true love?

That kiss had done more damage than he'd thought. He'd even caught himself with a dreamy look on his face this morning, and he'd felt like crawling back into bed. He didn't think Madame Pomfrey had a cure for this.

He passed by Weasley and Granger, who were holding hands. Ugh. They both gave him odd looks and he scowled as he walked by. It took him a minute for the meaning behind those looks to fully hit him.

Potter had told.

He'd never felt so humiliated. This is what came from allowing such weaknesses.

In the Great Hall, Draco was confronted with yet another disgustingly happy couple. Blaise was seated at the Gryffindor table, with Ginny Weasley directly on his lap. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, but it was wiped away the moment he turned to the Slytherin table.

He raised his head and adopted a regal pose, seating himself in between his two 'henchmen', in the exact center of the Slytherin table. Every one of the sixth years paused and looked at him expectantly. He picked up a knife and began to cut into his syrup drenched toast, raising an eyebrow to acknowledge the scrutiny aimed at him.

"Well?" Pansy prompted.

"Well, what?" Draco said with a bored tone of voice.

"Well, what are we going to do about that traitor, Blaise?"

The table fell into silence and Draco rolled his eyes dramatically. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Crabbe was obviously not getting it.

"Precisely." Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Why should we care where Zabini gets his jollies. She's just a girl, and no danger to us. There'll come a day when love will let him down, and all the goody, goodies over there will take her side, and he'll be left with nothing."

"Serves him right. Can we help it along?"

Draco shook his head. "No, Pansy. He'll be left with nothing over there," he gestured to the Gryffindor table, "but if we remain loyal to him, he'll remain loyal to us. He could be a great asset, even if she never turned on him. Having someone in the inner circle could be valuable."

"He's smarter than that. And besides, we don't support him in this." Millicent Bulstrode sniffed.

"True, but we can always pretend to be on his side. Don't make more enemies than you can handle, Bulstrode."

And he sat back and let them hash it out, knowing that they'd eventually agree with him. He surreptitiously looked up and over to the Gryffindor table, where Blaise was grinning and feeding a very pleased looking Ginny. Ron was watching them both with a mix of brotherly protectiveness and disgust, but at the moment, he was distracted by Hermione's hand being somewhere it probably shouldn't at the breakfast table.

The red head jumped about a foot in the air and brushed brightly, and Draco had to move his eyes to keep from laughing. And then his eyes met with deep emerald.

There was a slip in his concentration for a moment before he shook it off and stood from his table, vacating the premises as quickly as possible.

* * *

He hadn't been able to absorb a word on the page in front of him; it was almost as if he was reading Gaelic. He was just starting to drown himself in the jumble on the page. A soft voice disturbed his straining concentration.

"You did that for me."

Draco looked up from his Potions book and adopted his customary cold air. He sometimes wondered whether he should get a pair of reading glasses so that he could pretend to peer over them in that infuriatingly calm way Madame Pomfrey did. It tended to drive students insane that someone could be that patiently judgmental.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Blaise narrowed his eyes and sat down across from the high-backed chair Draco had settled himself into. "Bullshit. You talked them into supporting me. I don't know how you did it, or what kind of psycho-babble you used on them, but... thank you."

Draco smiled briefly then frowned at Blaise. "Well, I didn't need all that Drama going on around me. I've got enough to worry about."

Blaise suddenly grinned and leered at Draco. "I know."

Draco stilled and looked back down at his Potions book. "Know what?"

"I know why you've been distracted and dreamy all day long."

Draco hmmed. "And how's that?"

"Well, first thing's first. Your book is upside down."

Draco blinked and refocused on the page. "That explains it," he mumbled, and turned the book around.

"Plus I saw you and Potter rolling around on the Quidditch Pitch last night."

Draco sank back into his chair and rubbed his temples. "Merlin. Maybe we should sell tickets next time."

"Next time?"

Draco winced and blurted, "No! No, there will be no 'next time'."

Blaise smiled to himself. "Mmhmm. It looked as if you were enjoying yourself quite thoroughly before you chickened out."

"I did not 'Chicken Out.' I simply came to my senses." Draco was beginning to get irritated.

"Gee, Draco. Seems to me like you should hang onto a guy who can make you lose your senses." Blaise had a big grin on his face, delighting in the fact that he'd finally outmaneuvered his friend.

Draco blushed and stood, gathering up his books. "I'm going to go study in the dorm room. I think I might be able to concentrate better up there."

"Bye, Draco."

Draco didn't say a word as he swept out.

End Chapter