Chapter 5

The Truth

The two boys had settled themselves in each others' arms. They sat on the tower, watching the sun set to their left. Then they watched the moon and stars rise from their right. They had been sitting together for hours, not caring about anything except being with each other. Then-

"Harry?"

"Mm?"

"Erm. Do-" Draco stopped. "Do Ron and Hermione know that you like guys?" Draco finished quietly.

Harry hesitated. "Er, no." Harry turned to look at Draco. "Do any of your friends know?"

"No." Draco shook his head. "Geez... This will be quite interesting. We'll both be coming out of the closet. Plus, there's the added bonus of us being in love with each other. Shit."

Harry sat back against Draco, pondering the looks on Ron's and Hermione's face would be when he told them he was gay. Then when he told them he was with Draco. His worry seemed to be nothing compared to Draco, though. Draco's face had gotten paler than he'd ever seen it. Harry decided that Draco needed a little play time to take his mind off the whole outing issue. Harry, seeing his chance, pushed Draco onto his back and pounced.

"Hey!" Draco said in mock indignation. "What was that for?"

"Because," said Harry. "It makes it much easier to do this!" Harry was now straddling Draco's hips, and pinning his hands to the floor over his head. Draco couldn't move, even if he wanted to. Which, of course, he didn't.

"Now what shall I do now that I have the Great Draco Malfoy trapped beneath me. Hmm..." said Harry playfully. "What to do? What to do..."

Draco was now wriggling under Harry. He freed himself just enough to be capable of movement. "Oh no, Mister Potter! Please! Don't hurt me!" Draco said, grinning up at Harry.

Harry smirked back. "And what if that's my evil plan, hmm? What then?"

At that, Draco threw all his effort into turning over. He managed to throw Harry off him, and onto his back, and now it was Draco that had Harry pinned. "I do that!" Draco cried in triumph. " And then. I do this," he said as he leaned down for a kiss.

As the two boys kissed, they lost all track of time, only caring what this time was for them. Harry thought to himself that he was glad, in a way, that tonight had happened. It hurt like hell at the beginning, but they each fought some inner demons tonight. Harry was just happy that Draco came to him so quickly. He had been missing Draco a great deal, and it seemed Draco missed him just as much. And they had said those three little words... But then Draco's tongue slipped into his mouth, sending him the standard surge of feelings, and Harry could think no more.

~*~*~*~

The next day being Saturday, Draco took his time getting up. Once he swung his feet over the side of his four-poster bed, he stood and stretched. His mind wandered back to the night before, in the tower. You've told him. And he still loves you. Who knew? Draco sighed, grinning.

" 'Morning, Draco. What's up? Did you get your afternoon snog yesterday?" Goyle smirked.

"Well obviously, Goyle. Look at that stupid grin on his face. You can tell. Looks to me like more than just a few kisses though." Crabbe winked at Draco. "Did she give it up? Hmm? Did she?"

"Boys. Kindly put your lolling tongues back into your mouths. I will tell you when I am good and ready." Draco drawled. He grabbed robes for the day and went off to the prefects' bathroom. He knew what would be waiting for him when he arrived.

~*~*~*~

Harry sat at the edge of the pool-sized tub, wearing a pair of red-and-gold plaid flannel boxers and a light, yellow tee-shirt. When he had arrived in the bathroom, he'd turned on all the faucets that spouted bubbles and filled the pool with a thick layer of foam and bubbles of blue, pink, green and white. Harry was now dangling his feet in the water. He looked at his watch. Draco wasn't late yet, but he was getting there.

As Harry made to look at his watch again, he heard the door creak open behind him. He turned, grinning. There was Draco. In silky green-and-silver pajamas. His hair was slightly tousled from sleep. And on his lips was the biggest grin Harry had seen on the pale face.

Harry stood up and walked over to his boyfriend. Draco turned and put a few spells on the door, locking them in. Then he was walking forward to meet Harry. As soon as they were within reach, their arms were snaking around each other. Once they were close enough, the two pairs of lips found each other.

Harry pulled away. "Mmm. Draco morning breathe. Now I know why they named you Draco." Harry winked. "You know, Malfoy, don't take this the wrong way, but..." Harry kissed him again. "You really stink." he said, green eyes sparkling in amusement.

"Yeah, Potter?" Draco said as he moved closer to Harry, making him take a few steps backward. "Want to know what I think about you?" His eyes were alight with mischief. He was still advancing on Harry.

"Yeah, I really would," said Harry. "Tell me, Malfoy. What are you thoughts on my morning fragrance, hmm?"

Draco grinned. "Well, Potter, you're no bed of roses. In fact..." He raised an eyebrow. "I think you're all washed up." With that, Draco placed his hand on Harry's chest, leaned in for another kiss...

And shoved Harry into the bath.

Oh, that was low. Harry thought as he swam to the surface. And what a retched joke, too. I thought he was better than that. Well, not to worry. I'll get him for that.

Harry surfaced to see Draco standing at the edge of the tub with his hand on his hips. Harry's breath caught as he looked at Draco. Draco had stripped down to his own boxers, green-and-silver striped to match his pajamas. Harry's eyes traveled down from the face he already knew so well to the slender neck beneath. His eyes took in the broad shoulders that were always hidden by the school robes, the well-defined chest, the tight, toned abdominal muscles. His eyes took in the silky boxers and trailed down two well-defined legs. He noticed every possible curve, and he ached to explore every one of them.

Draco saw Harry gawking at him and began to feel very shy. "Geez, Harry. It's like you've never seen a near-naked sixteen-year-old before," he teased.

"I've never seen one like you before. It's just... Wow. Come here. Must. Touch. Pretty. Body." Harry teased back, trying to get his hands on Draco. And not to just touch him...

Draco moved to the very edge of the pool and squatted down. Harry came to meet him. At the edge of the pool, Harry stood, reaching to run his fingers through the already messy platinum blonde hair. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco...

And pulled him down and into the pool with him.

Harry roared with laughter as Draco surfaced, sputtering.

"Why you-!" Draco was going to say something, but the thought left his mind completely as he witnessed Harry climb out of the pool and peel off his drenched shirt. Draco's eyes were now flying across the contours of Harry's chest and stomach.

"Oh, bloody hell, Harry! I thought you said you had never seen a beautiful body before." Harry could tell by the way Draco was gawping at him that Draco was stopping himself from doing something irrational, like nibble on every inch of his body. All Draco could manage was to stammer "You're a ruddy liar. You've gotten to see the perfect body your whole damn life."

Harry climbed back into the pool, shaking his head. "I like the body I see in front of me much better." Harry pulled Draco to him and kissed him. For a good hour or so, the two boys couldn't keep their hands to themselves. Finally, Draco tore his lips away from Harry's, eliciting a whine.

"Don't worry, I'll make this worth it." Draco smiled seductively.

"Um. Oh-Okay." Harry looked back at Draco, suddenly getting extremely nervous.

"What's wrong? Don't you trust me?" asked Draco, feeling Harry's muscles tense under his fingers.

"Er. No, I mean YES. I trust you. But-" Harry lowered his gaze. "That's not what I'm worried about," he said quietly.

Harry could see the wave of comprehension wash over Draco. Then all Harry saw was confusion and surprise. "You're not-? Are you-? No. You're- a virgin?"

Harry nodded glumly to his very surprised boyfriend.

"Wait a second. All these years, you've been harboring the body of a sex god, and... Nothing?" Draco stared in disbelief. "I wasn't your first kiss, was I?" More glum nodding. "What? I was- I am your first everything?" Draco's eyes widened.

"Draco. Please. This is bad enough as it is. Please stop looking at me like I'm a circus freak." Harry begged. "Look, I'm sorry I even said anything." Harry turned away from Draco and went to get out of the bath.

"And where in the hell do you think you're going, Potter?" asked Draco, grabbing by the waist and pulling Harry back into his chest.

"Well I figured you really didn't want to be with an amateur." Harry explained sadly, looking over his shoulder at Draco.

"Are you kidding? Were you thinking I was just playing with you when I told you last night that I love you? Love is unwavering. You don't just stop loving someone because they're a virgin. Did you think I just stopped wanting you? That I stopped loving you?" Draco looked sad and hurt.

"I'm sorry. I-. You-. You're probably a hell of a lot better at everything than me," said Harry, finally voicing one of his biggest fears.

"Harry, listen." Draco turned Harry around so they were facing each other again. "Harry, I have never been with someone that was anything more to me than a worthless piece of meat. I have never, ever felt this way about anyone before. And just because you've never been with anyone is no reason to shut you out." Draco pulled Harry toward him. "Just trust me. I won't hurt you. Ever. I can promise you that." Draco leaned in and kissed Harry. This kiss was completely different from any of the others he had received from Draco. It was soft, tender, sweet. As they kissed, Draco ran his hands down Harry's sides and out of sight under the foam. A second later, Draco pulled back slightly, again smiling seductively. As he did this, he lifted Harry's boxer shorts out of the water and tossed them out of the pool.

Harry reached down to do the same for Draco, but Draco grabbed Harry's hands, shaking his head.

"Let me show you what you've been missing, Harry." Draco said. He looked directly into Harry's eyes and kissed his lips. Then Draco's kisses followed along Harry's jaw line. Draco kissed Harry's ear lobe and down his neck, Draco's hands wandered down Harry's chest. The blonde boy then kissed collar bone, chest, nipples and stomach. Harry looked down to see Draco take a deep breath and disappear beneath the bubbles still lingering in the tub. As Harry felt Draco's lips on his hip, he heard the door open behind him.

Harry's eyes widened. He checked to see that Draco couldn't be seen under the water. There was still a thin layer of bubbles on the surface of the water. Breathing a small sigh of relief, he spun his head around to see who had just walked in. Hermione. Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. How am I going to explain this? "Hermione? What are you doing here? I thought I locked that door!" cried Harry when he found his voice again.

"You did. I know a lot of unlocking spells." said Hermione, bluntly.

"Well, don't you know that doors usually get locked for a good reason? Geez! I'm naked here!" cried Harry, gesturing at himself. He didn't want to mention the fact that his boyfriend was currently doing things to him he wanted to keep private. "Would you mind getting out now?" asked Harry, pointing to the door.

Hermione looked around at the poolside and took in the two piles of clothes laying there. "Why are there Slytherin-colored pajamas here?" she asked, her eyes landing on Draco's discarded silk pajamas.

"Malfoy was here before. He disappeared fast. Something he had to do. Must have left them here. I'm sure he'll be back for them sometime." said Harry. Well, I'm not really lying to her. He was, and still is, here. He disappeared underwater, and I'm that something he had to do.

"Oh." Harry was relieved to see that Hermione believed him. "Well anyway. Ron and I were waiting for you to go with us to Hogsmeade. Hurry up."

"Er... I think I'll just meet yooooooou-" Harry stopped. Draco had just wrapped his mouth around Harry's erection.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione stepped closer.

"Yeah! I'm- I'm fine. I just-" Harry looked down, making sure there were still plenty of bubbles hiding Draco from view. "I just stepped on something on the bottom of the pool or something."

Hermione didn't quite look convinced this time, but shrugged it off. "Well if you want to meet us there...I guess we'll just go then."

Harry nodded quickly. Draco was sliding his mouth up and down on Harry's erection, and Harry was doing everything in his power to keep his voice steady. "I'll meet you in the Three Broomsticks at one, alright? Can I bathe in peace now?"

"Geez, I didn't know boys were so touchy about their baths. You're almost as bad as a girl!" said Hermione huffing. She turned to walk out the door.

As she was about to close the door, Harry said, " 'Mione, can you put those charms back on the door? I can't quite reach my wand. I'm not really in the mood for anyone to walk in on me again." Harry smiled weakly.

"Sure, Harry. See you later." said Hermione. Harry listened as she put the spells back on the door.

Just then, Harry felt everything go fuzzy as his orgasm peaked and he came in Draco's mouth. Seconds later, Draco emerged, drenched and grinning. He raised an eyebrow.

"Well?" asked Draco, shaking the water out of his hair. He wrapped his arms around Harry, still grinning.

"That was... whoa..." Harry started. "But- Well- I was a bit distracted... Hermione came in a second ago. Sort of dampened my mood a little bit..."

"Oh shit." Draco's eyes were wide. "But I locked that door!"

"She's been doing unlocking charms for years. She and Ron were apparently waiting for me to go to Hogsmeade with them." said Harry.

"Oh, that's right. This is one of the Hogsmeade weekends. I completely forgot. That means Crabbe and Goyle are probably looking for me." Draco looked at Harry. "We should probably leave separately. You should go first since Hermione knows you were here."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, and I told Hermione that you had to come back for your pajamas. So... I guess I'll see you later..."

Draco grinned. "You better believe it. You owe me, Harry." Draco winked. "And I've got to be able to have your complete attention next time we do this..."

Draco tightened his arms around Harry as Harry tried to climb out. "Where do you think you're going, Potter."

"Well, I have to get dressed... I'm not running around like this all day." said Harry, gesturing to his naked body.

"Aw, damn. Well, I guess you're right. I don't want the rest of the school seeing my boyfriend naked." Draco started to release Harry. "But you're not getting away so fast." Draco leaned in and kissed Harry.

Harry returned the kiss, forgetting about everything except the boy in front of him. Ron and Hermione can wait.

~*~*~*~

Draco sighed as he walked back to the Slytherin common room. He had left the prefects' bathroom only a minute ago. He and Harry got very caught up in each other and lost track of time again. Before they left each other though, they had a very serious conversation.

- - - - -

"Draco?"

"Hmm?" Draco finished pulling on his pajama pants and turned around to face his now dry and clothed boyfriend.

"I-. Um." Harry stopped and looked down at his still-bare feet.

"What?" Draco walked over to Harry, slipping his arms around Harry. "What's on your mind? You can tell me anything."

"I think that we should tell our friends that we're gay." came the rushed reply.

Draco looked at Harry. You know he's right. You can't keep this relationship quiet much longer. It's going to be discovered sooner or later. Draco slowly nodded. "I agree."

"You do?" Harry looked utterly shocked. "Really?"

"Yes," said Draco. "We should at least tell the important people before they find out on their own. It's only fair. But." Draco looked directly into Harry's eyes. "We only tell that we're into guys. Not who we're into. One shock at a time for them, okay?"

Harry nodded. "You're right. Ron and Hermione are going to flip when they find out that I like guys... Let's only tell Ron and Hermione and Crabbe and Goyle, alright? I'm not really ready for the whole damn school to know."

"Definitely," said Draco, approving. "And we swear them to secrecy. Nothing about each other."

"Promise." Harry nodded again. "Now come here." Harry grabbed Draco and kissed him.

- - - - -

Draco sighed. I have to go tell Crabbe and Goyle about me now. They had agreed to tell today at some point. Draco knew that this was going to be a very long day.

He finally got to the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He whispered, "Basilisk" and walked through the opening in the wall. Draco glanced around the room, looking for Crabbe and Goyle. He saw them by the fire, playing wizard's chess. Draco strode over to them.

"Oh hey Draco. Want to get going to Hogsmeade?" said Goyle, looking up from the chessboard. One of his knights was attacking one of Crabbe's pawns.

"Oh right. I'm going to go in my pajamas." said Draco sarcastically. "Come up to our dormitory while I change. I need to speak with you. Privately."

The two larger boys stood up. After Draco waved at them to go first, he followed. Well, here goes... he thought, bracing himself for any backlash that might come.

~*~*~*~

Harry pushed open the door to the Three Broomsticks. He checked his watch. 12:58. Just in time. He spotted Ron's red hair first, near the back of the bar area. He made his way over to the table where the happy couple sat. As he sat down, they were discussing a paper they had to write for Transfiguration.

"Oh, hi Harry!" said Ron brightly, glad to change the subject from schoolwork. "How was your bath this morning?" Ron slid a tankard of butterbeer across the table to Harry.

"Oh. Erm. It was... interesting." said Harry finally. He didn't really want to start right in on the coming out, so he hastily tried to change the subject. "So what did you two do this morning?"

"Nothing of interest." said Hermione glancing sharply at Ron, who was obviously about to start telling Harry all about what they had done that morning. "So did Malfoy come back for his clothes?"

"Er- No. Not while I was there." said Harry. He knew that he wasn't going to be getting around this discussion. He took a sip of his butterbeer to stall so he could think of a way of phrasing this.

"I'm surprised at you, Harry." said Ron, winking. "I would have thought we would see you running around here with your girlfriend on your arm. Who is it? C'mon. Tell!"

"Um. I don't want to tell you who I'm with right now. But I do want to tell you something." said Harry. He figured now would be the best time to just let his secret out. "But you have to promise that this stays between the three of us. I don't want the whole school blabbing about this. You have to promise me."

Ron and Hermione nodded solemnly. They looked at Harry. He could read curiosity in Ron's eyes and concern in Hermione's. "Promise?" he said again. "I want to hear you say it."

"We promise" they chorused.

"Well, you keep asking about my girlfriend, Ron." Ron nodded, taking a sip of butterbeer from his tankard. "Well... I'm not seeing a girl. I'm seeing... A guy." In seconds, Harry was drenched in butterbeer.

"What?" Ron practically screamed at Harry. Harry glared back, wiping his face with a napkin from the table.

"Shut up Ron. You promised. Quiet." said Harry. He looked at Hermione. She was sitting next to Ron with her eyes as wide as saucers, not saying a word.

" 'Mione? Are you alright?" asked Harry.

"Yes. I'm-I'm fine. I'm just-. Well I'm shocked, quite frankly." said Hermione after a while. "Why didn't you ever tell us? Why did you let us think all this time that you were after girls? I mean, didn't you trust us?"

"Of course I trusted you. I really didn't know myself until a few months ago. I just never told anyone. Well, except for one person." said Harry. His mind went straight to Draco. Before now, Draco was the only one that had known that he was gay.

"Who?" the couple asked.

"The guy I'm seeing." said Harry. He remembered his promise to Draco about not revealing his identity.

"Who?" Ron repeated.

"I'm not telling you guys who I'm with. Not yet. Isn't it enough that I told you I'm gay? Come on!" said Harry, making sure he kept his voice low so no one but Ron and Hermione could hear him. "He and I made a promise that we would keep this between us for a while. Just trust me that I'll tell you eventually." Harry sat back and drank deeply from his tankard. He felt a tingling as the hot butterbeer slid down his throat. That's weird... I don't remember it ever tingling like that before. He brushed away the thought, guessing that it was probably the batch of butterbeer. He took another swig.

"That's it. I can't deal with the thought of you with some guy right now. I think I'm going to go ask Madame Rosmerta for something a bit stronger. I'll be back." With that, Ron stood and walked to the bar and got into the queue to talk to Rosmerta.

"Harry, please tell me who you're with." asked Hermione soothingly. "I promise I won't tell."

"It's just some guy." said Harry.

"Don't lie to me, Harry. Who are you dating?" asked Hermione firmly.

Before Harry could stop himself, he heard his own voice saying what he was trying to hide...

"Draco Malfoy."

As soon as he said it, Harry's eyes went wide and he slapped his hand to his mouth. He now knew why his butterbeer gave him that tingling feeling.

"Harry! Malfoy? You're with Malfoy?" Hermione's eyes were as wide as Harry's. "I can't believe you're with Malfoy."

"I can't believe you gave me that Truth Draught, Hermione! How dare you?" Harry was furious. "I trusted you enough to come out to you and then you pull this? I cannot believe that you would stoop so low." He stood. There was so much fire in Harry's eyes they were almost flaming. "How could you?" He looked at Hermione. She was scared and very surprised. Obviously, that was not the answer she was expecting. She looked up at him sadly.

"Harry, I'm sorry. I-I-. I didn't think-" she stammered.

"It's very obvious that you didn't think. I thought you were above this silly stuff. A truth draught? That's something I would have expected from Draco before you." Harry sighed. "I have to go talk to Draco. He has to know that you know." Harry leaned in and spoke very softly, but the anger in his voice was evident with every word he uttered. "If you breathe one word of this to anyone you will be very sorry. Remember, I have Draco Malfoy on my side now. And you know how vicious Draco can be." Hermione blanched. Harry straightened up again. Without another word, he stormed past Ron who was just coming back with a full tankard in his hand. As Harry reached the door, he heard Ron ask "What's up with him?" Harry glanced threateningly at Hermione, who just shook her head.

~*~TBC~*~