Chapter One
*~*~*
Like you're trying to fight gravity
On a planet that insists
That love is like falling,
And falling is like this
~Falling Is Like This by Ani Difranco~
*~*~*

Harry Potter wandered around the platform, trying to find his two best friends. Hermione Granger had been staying with the Weasleys this summer while her parents were in America. Harry had watched a romance spark between Ron and Hermione all summer. He was dying to see how his two best friends were doing and if they were still alive. He hadn't heard from them for two weeks, and as much as they were in love, they were still Ron and Hermione. They bickered over everything!

Harry finally sat down on a bench, his feet pounding. He had looked all over and hadn't found them yet. He decided they weren't here yet. Making sure he had a clear view of the barrier for when they did arrive, Harry closed his eyes for a brief second, breathing in the crisp air. A strange scent floated by his nostrils suddenly. It smelled delectable, but he could not place it. Opening his eyes, he found he had smelled aftershave. That was not what turned his stomach, but the fact that the aftershave was coming from one Draco Malfoy, Harry's archenemy.

"Staring at something in particular, Potty?" Malfoy sneered. Harry wanted to slap the smirk off his face, but restrained himself. He could feel the urge to tackle Malfoy building.

"Bug off, Malfoy," he sighed. Draco looked at Harry suspiciously. Harry watched as the look in his eyes turned from confusion, to amazement, to pure terror. He immediately turned and sprinted off to the train. Odd, he thought to himself. Malfoy acted almost scared of me! Harry shrugged. Serves him right.

* * *

Draco had to put as much distance between the Golden Boy and him as he could. Slumping against the side of the train, he ran a pale hand through his even paler hair. How he could have almost broke down like that was unthinkable. What was even worse was why he had almost broken down.

Draco had spotted Potter from across the crowd and could not help but start the year off with a little harassing. Walking right up to him, his stomach did a flip. Draco thought it was because he didn't have his thugs with him in case things got rough, but then noticed Potter's cronies were nowhere to be found either. He was about to throw out a clever comment when Harry's eyes sprang open. The two made eye contact, and the look Potter was shooting him caught Draco completely off guard. Finally, Draco mentally shook himself and got his wit back.

"Staring at something in particular, Potty?" Draco realized his heart wasn't even in the teasing. Potter's entire body tensed.

"Bug off, Malfoy." A simple command, but he had said it with such confidence and power that Draco was taken aback. There was something different about Harry Potter this year, and Draco suddenly found himself thinking the unthinkable. He then turned around and ran, fast as he could, away from the temptation.

Draco Malfoy had wanted to kiss Harry Potter.

The world was coming to an end.

* * *

By the time the scent of Halloween lingered heavily in the air, Draco had convinced himself of the absurdity of the situation. His teenage hormones had kicked into overdrive for a second, and Potter had been the first thing in his sight. It wasn't a conscious choice or anything!

Why would he be attracted to Harry Potter, anyway? It was unheard of! His father would never accept that sort of behavior. He didn't accept werewolves, Muggles, or Muggle-borns… why would he accept this? And even if he were attracted to… to… to boys, he definitely would not choose Potter as his first attempt.

Harry Potter had disgusted Draco ever since he was old enough to recognize the name. Draco looked up to and revered his father more than anyone else in the world. If his father hated the Potters', well, Draco figured he had a good reason and so he would hate them too. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. "Such rubbish!" his father would tell him. "Something happened the night the Dark Lord disappeared, something we don't understand. It has nothing to do with power and weakness. The boy was a fluke." Draco wanted to believe it, but the more he watched Potter over the years, under his father's orders, the more he believed there really was something special about the poor orphan. He flew amazingly without ever having been on a broom before. He could master complex spells faster than that mudblood Granger, the brains of the school. He was always solving mysteries around the school, too, and somehow always got out of the trouble he dug for himself. It was like he was a child prodigy! Yet despite everything strange and good about Harry Potter, Draco had always hated him.

"Hey boss," a voice behind him grunted. Draco didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Crabbe, where were you at dinner?" Draco just kept walking, knowing Crabbe would follow.

"Looking for Goyle, sir."

"Well, did you find him?" Silence told him that Goyle was still missing. Draco turned to find Crabbe had disappeared as well, and sighed. As his father always said, it's impossible to find loyal thugs these days.

* * *

"So Harry, who do you reckon will go out for the Quidditch team this year?" Ron asked. Full from dinner, the three had headed up a little early to get to their dorms. Harry wanted to avoid bumping into Malfoy, who had given him a strange feeling ever since their meeting at the train station. He had successfully not seen him outside of class since September 1st.

"Oh Ron, can't we talk about something other than the Quidditch teams?" Hermione badgered, squeezing Ron's hand. "Really, there are more important things!"

"Like what, Hermione?" Ron countered, but when he saw the look in Hermione's eyes, he quickly shut up. Harry looked between the two and smiled. He wondered how all their years of fighting could have led up to this. Shaking his head, he turned a corner and ran head first into the person he least wanted to meet.

"Malfoy! What are you doing up here?" he asked quickly. Malfoy looked Harry up and down, and then glanced over at Ron and Hermione. They seemed to have not even noticed Harry had stopped, and kept walking off to Gryffindor Tower.

Turning back to Harry, Draco sneered. "As if it's any of your business, Potter, I was looking for Crabbe and Goyle. They disappeared."

"But why would they be up here?" Malfoy shrugged, and looked past Harry. They both stood for a minute. Then Harry found himself voicing the question he'd had for months.

"What happened that day in the train station, Malfoy?"

* * *

Draco looked at the floor. He could hear the boy breathing. Why did he like it? Oh god, not now, please not now!

"What happened that day in the train station, Malfoy?" Harry asked suddenly. Draco's head snapped up, but his eyes still avoided Harry's. What was he supposed to say?

"What the bloody hell do you mean? Nothing happened!" Draco caught himself, and took a deep breath. He was getting hysterical. Just hormones, he reminded himself. He needed a wise comeback, something his father would have been proud of.

"I was caught off guard. You were looking particularly like an orphan, that's all, sitting there all by yourself." Harry's body tensed at the comment, and Draco knew it was the perfect thing to say. Unfortunately, the Golden Boy must have gained some muscles over the summer, because he pounced on Draco and knocked him to the ground before he knew what was happening.

* * *

Harry sat there, legs strattling Draco's torso, his fist an inch from Draco's nose. His hand was shaking from holding back the punch. He was finally back where he belonged; he did not need hassling from Malfoy! Yet the smaller boy just sat there, still, underneath Harry. He didn't make a move. Harry looked at Draco, and for a split second it seemed like he was too scared to move. Then the look faded.

"Listen Potter, I'm having an off day. If you would be so kind as to get off me, we could go on our merry little ways and forget tonight ever happened."

As soon as Harry rolled off Draco he stood up and walked quickly back downstairs. Harry stared after him.