Title: Harry Potter and a Slytherin Love

Author: Yih

Author's Note: This is a SLASH HP/SS story with a very good friendship story for HP/DM. That's your warning, if you don't like slash then go read my other stories! I happen to be a very open minded individual and can see the beauty of both types of relationships. Isn't that fun?! I think it is ^_^;;.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling ^-~ I wished I owned something, but I don't more the pity.

Next story? HP/DM, HP/LM, or HP/LV? You can vote in every review! LM leads the way!

~

13: The Game of Love (June 24, 2003 to June 29, 2003)

"I hate you," Draco growled. "I really really hate you."

Harry smiled indulgently at his best friend and surveyed the attire Draco had chosen to wear to the auction. "You look fabulous."

"I always do," Draco retorted arrogantly. "It's you that doesn't have any fashion sense. At least Severus knows how to color coordinate and has a sense of propriety. I can't believe he let you out of the bedroom wearing that!"

Glancing down to see what was wrong with his vivid orange t-shirt and faded jeans, Harry threw Draco a perplexed expression. He didn't get what was wrong. "I don't see what's wrong with what I'm wearing."

"It's not what you're wearing that's wrong, but where you're wearing it." Harry's look was still perturbed and confused. Draco sighed and dug into his closet and threw Harry a sleek silver robe and a pair of leather pants. "If you're going to auction me off, you're not going to do it in a t-shirt and jeans!"

Harry chuckled and slipped out of his jeans, not noticing the strangled sound coming from Draco at seeing Harry's toned thighs. While his leather pants were a good fit on himself, they were like second skin on Harry. Draco hadn't bothered with giving Harry another shirt because the robe covered everything except his leather clad legs. It was a good thing he hadn't, seeing a glimpse of Harry's thighs were enough to arouse him. Seeing Harry's muscular chest was certain to give him a raging hard on.

"Stop staring at the wall," Harry said, startling Draco out of his thoughts. "The auction's about to start. I'm sure you don't want to miss Albus making his introduction speech do you? Especially since it's about you, and it's sure to be flattering because he's trying to get the price out of you." Draco glared at him. "But all the compliments are certainly deserved. Albus never lies you know."

"No," Draco snorted. "He just twists the truth to whatever best suits him." Draco didn't particularly care either way if he missed the speech, but Harry did so he let Harry drag him to the Great Hall where he was going to be auctioned off as a date. He sighed, at least this would more than sponsor the Dueling Club. That club was his pride and joy.

~

The excited chattering took a moment to quiet down when Dumbledore stood from his position at the head of the table. there was a good reason for the excitement. It wasn't everyday that one of the most gorgeous teachers to grace Hogwarts was up for an auctioned date. The entire school was split between Draco and Harry support on which was truly the best looking Professor in Hogwarts history!

Half the school was counting their money eagerly, while the other half bemoaned the fact that Professor Potter-Snape wasn't up for auction too. Never mind that Professor Potter-Snape's husband would likely kill anyone that touched what he considered his. They still claimed it wasn't fair. But there wasn't anything they could do. Even the bravest of the lot wasn't about to get into an argument with Professor Snape about laws of fair play.

"I am pleased to announce the first money-raising auction in Hogwarts history!" Albus began enthusiastically, his eyes sparkling like mad. "This auction is for a one night date with our esteemed Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Draco Malfoy. Always one of the top students at Hogwarts, Mr. Malfoy has gone on to distinguish himself in various beneficial activities. Besides being talented, Mr. Malfoy is a beautiful individual with sharp wit. With his immense charm, he's certain to show his date a pleasurable time."

Harry blinked and was silent for a moment after Albus's introduction. There had been innuendos throughout the speech. Some of the more subtle students would pick up on it when his interview came out tomorrow, 'til then they'd be left wondering. "I hope that your students are aware that you must be the age of consent to bid in the auction." Many faces in the 5th year fell at this because they weren't 16 yet. "That having been made clear, let the bidding begin!"

With that, Albus turned over the auction to Harry who was going to be doing the bids. Harry smiled at the lovely scowl on Draco's face and turned to face the crowd. "How about we start the bidding at 1 galleon?"

It wasn't a small amount nor was it a large amount. It was actually a good amount of pocket change, something a good majority of the students should have. The dining hall had already been spelled so that only people that actually had the money with them could participate in the auction. The charms also prevented anyone that wasn't 16 from bidding in the auction. Very useful and practical.

A 7th year Hufflepuff girl raised her hand first, and from there the bidding escalated in tiny increments until Julia Tamerlaine stood up and called out, "100 galleons."

That was quite an amount. Then again the Tamerlaine famiy was one of the richest in the Post-Voldemort era. Few students could compete with Julia, unfortunately one of them was Sebastian Hawkeforte. "200 galleons."

Until then, the increments had been 5 galleons at most, but now that they were going up by the 100s, Harry didn't know how many other students would engage in the bidding war. Already he could see the disappointment written on many faces as they had to drop out. They simply didn't have that kind of money flow. But this did prove interesting. He shifted his head between the Head Boy and the Head Girl with bemusement, let's see Draco try to deny the dual crush now! "200 galleons from Mr. Hawkeforte, anymore bids?"

"300 galleons!" Julia cried out.

Sebastian narrowed his piercing blue eyes. "400 galleons."

The calmor of excitement was increasing as the bidding war escalated. At this rate, Draco and Harry wouldn't have to worry about scraping money to update their shared offices. It was a pity that neither of them could afford to remodel their offices with their own money. Both of them vaults were tied up in the Post-Voldemort investigation. Thus far, they hadn't found anything incriminating other than vague rumors. It'd be nice to be able to get to his galleons again, Harry thought, but the interview that was going to be published tomorrow was only going to stir up the conflict even more.

"500 galleons!" Julia countered.

"1,000 galleons," Sebastian retorted, raising his eyebrow up in challenge to the flushed Head Girl. If anything, her cheeks turned even pinker. Rolling his eyes up, Sebastian switched his gaze to Draco and slowly ran his eyes over Draco's body. He could only imagine how nice it was going to be to run his tongue over the planes of Draco's sinewy chest. How delightful it'd be to taste those soft petal lips.

"I bid 1,000 galleons too!" Julia exclaimed, she had wanted to say a greater amount but she couldn't. She wasn't able to say more because she didn't have more than 1,000 galleons. She had known about the charms placed on the room, but she had thought no one, not even Sebastian was foolish enough to want to spend 1,000 galleons on a one night date. But she guessed she was wrong. She could only hope that Sebastian didn't have anymore money on him.

Sebastian scowled. He didn't have anymore money and he knew that Julia didn't have anymore money either if she hadn't bid 1,001 galleons. Lucky for him he thought. If she had, he would have lost the auction outright. Now, at least he had a 50-50 chance to win the toss up that'd have to occur. At this point, he didn't care if he had to share Draco Malfoy with Julia as long as he got to spend sometime with the Professor. There was nothing that he wanted to do more than to stare at his ethereal beauty.

"Well," Albus remarked, his twinkling eyes bearing down on Sebastian and Julia, "you two have a choice you have to make. You can both share your date with Draco or we can do a toss up for it. Either way, it's a decision both of you have to make."

Sebastian shrugged. "I don't mind sharing the time."

Julia's jaw dropped. Was she actually hearing this from Sebastian Hawkeforte? The whole school knew he was a selfish, arrogant bastard. But then again if he risked the toss up, she considered, he might end up losing and she knew Sebastian despised losing to anyone especially her. She wasn't usually the type to squirm at a challenge but this was different. She didn't know when she'd get an opportunity like this again.

"Then we'll share it."

In the background, they heard Professor Potter-Snape's chuckle and Professor Malfoy's deep groan. When she saw a positively devious grin of anticipation spread across Sebastian's handsome features, Julia found herself returning to him a smile of her own. She was too busy thinking up ways to impress Draco Malfoy that she didn't even notice Sebastian's astonished facial expression.

She was damn pretty when she smiled, Sebastian thought alarmingly. He was certain he would have remembered if she'd smiled like that before, but he couldn't recall anything. While Julia normally looked pleasant, she didn't usually smile like that. Actually, as he thought harder, Julia usually appeared in a reflective contemplation.

He was loath to admit it, but Julia was one of the prettier girls in the school but she was no Lavinia Parkinson. All the good looks in the Parkinson family stemmed down from the younger brother and as a result, Lavinia was the epitome of beauty and was miles apart from her cousin, Pansy. And there was no doubt who his mother wanted him to marry. Silvia Parkinson was his mother's dearest friend.

He'd have to be critically insane before he let his mother tell him who he had to marry! That was part of the reason he was such a slut. It was his form of rebellion against his mother, who severely disapproved and his father, who was amused beneath stern severity. Another part of him did it because he feared he'd never have fun when he gave into his parents' wiles unless he had it now. He also had the nagging suspicion that he preferred guys to girls.

If anything, Draco Malfoy wasn't only a potential shag as much as his role model. Draco had gone against his family's wishes and hadn't married Lavinia's cousin. For that, Sebastian admired Draco. Flaunting tradition wasn't to be taken lightly. Luckily for Draco, he couldn't be disowned as his father was already dead. What bloody luck Draco had. The case wasn't the same for Sebastian.

"Sebastian!" he heard someone hiss at him. Fuck, he'd been caught unawares. That never happened. He shook his head and focused his vision on whoever was shouting at him. It was Tamerlaine. What the hell did she want? "Earth to Hawkeforte!" He glared malicious at her. "Stop glowering at me. I could have left with Draco without you."

Draco? Why was she calling a Professor by his given name? It took Sebastian a moment to pick up on everything that he'd missed while he'd been lost in his thoughts. While his mind had wandered, he gathered Draco had good naturedly suggested that they call him by his first name. "Thanks then," he muttered caustically. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Draco lifted his eyebrow up at Sebastian's venomous reaction to Julia's congenial kindness. Harry had mentioned to him that Sebastian reminded Harry quite a bit of a younger Draco. Draco snorted, more like a younger Severus in his honest opinion. Well, he reconsidered, a Severus that was better at hiding his snappiness and defensiveness under a Malfoy-like exterior. Intriguing.

And then there was Julia Tamerlaine. A charming young woman that was a curious mixture of Hermione and Harry. Yes, she was quite a bit like Ms. Know-It-All and the Boy Who Did No Wrong. An intellectual young lady with brains and kindness. The thing that bothered Draco about her was that she didn't seem to have a flaw. Being a Ravenclaw meant she lacked Harry's Gryffindor foolishness. He hardly wanted someone as bloody perfect as Ms. Tamerlaine.

Neither did he want a youthful brewing of Severus and himself like he saw in Mr. Hawkeforte. Good Merlin, this was going to be a very, very long night. If he survived this he was going to torture Harry enough to last a lifetime. Yes, tormenting Harry was damn good fun. After this, Harry owed him big time.

~

The dinner began awkwardly but by the end of the night they were chattering like old friends, well Draco and Sebastian were. Julia was basically stuck in shock, while Draco laughed at the way Sebastian was sarcastically teasing Julia about being such a damn know-it-all. But Sebastian pointed out at least she was good natured about it unlike some people he knew. Julia smiled weakly, glad that she wasn't condescending too. "Oh perk up, Jules," Sebastian remarked at her grim smile, "you are a bloody know-it-all and you know it."

"And you're a jackass," Draco retorted with a smooth smile. "Don't mind him, he's a more outspoken Snape." His smile widened as he remembered from the old genealogy lectures he'd had to attend that the Hawkefortes were distantly related to the Snapes way back when. "Aren't you distantly related to Severus?"

Sebastian choked on his butterbeer. "Yes," he snapped, ignoring the surprise appearing on Julia's features. "It'd do well for you to remember that, Draco."

"No need to get snide," Draco uttered softly. "You should thank Merlin that you lack his hooked nose. On your precious face, it'd totally ruin the delicate nature of your features. You're lucky that you got your nose from your mother's side of the family. If I recall correctly your father had a rather gruesome nose."

Julia's only reaction to this was to widen her eyes even more. "Yes, well your father was a prick that followed a prick," Sebastian sneered, doing such a good impression of his distant relative that Draco nearly fell to the ground laughing.

"Yes, but my father was a gorgeous son of a bitch. Damn good thing to because my bitch of a mother hadn't nothing decent besides her pure bloodlines to pass onto me," Draco countered sarcastically. "I really have no idea how you ended up as good-looking as you do. Honestly, your father and mother aren't much to look up."

"Point given," Sebastian conceded. Truthfully, he'd admit he didn't know how he'd ended up as handsome as he had with two rather average-looking parents like he had. The rumored myths that said all Hawkefortes were gorgeous creatures had been sadly whittled down to that... a myth because of the last few generations. Maybe to the beauty that had plagued their line had finallly decided to show up in him. "And why so quiet, Jules?" he asked softly. "'Fraid to make a blunder to your perfectionist persona?"

Draco smiled at her with friendliness. "She could hardly join the conversation when we were insulting our god awful parents. I do believe that Julia is the darling of the Tamerlaine line. Of course, she has a right to adore her family--- they are a rather affectionate lot. Thankfully not as gooey lovey-dovey as the Weasleys."

"It's to our great fortune that none of the Weasleys are currently attending Hogwarts," Sebastian commented. "Even if House prejudices have decreased since Voldemort has been vanquished," he paused when he heard a slight gasp from Julia at the mention of You Know Who's name, "I'm sure this little truce won't hold once the Weasleys infiltrate the next generation into the Gryffindor House. Have any in those bloody lot been in another House?"

Draco shrugged. "I suspect they have. Most of the Malfoys tend to be in Slytherins, but we do have quite a few Ravenclaws in our family... the ones that were more in the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake. Most of them were considered odd ones out since they didn't have the usual brand of Malfoy ambition."

"Hawkefortes split between Slytherin and Ravenclaw," Sebastian remarked. "A few have ended up in Gryffindor, and the odd one in Hufflepuff. From all that I know about Jules' family is that they're mostly Ravenclaws. The whole ruddy lot is bookish."

"We have some Slytherins," Julia injected, her eyes flashing now with more of her customary life rather than the shock at the way Draco and Sebastian flung insults back and forth between them with little regard of each other's feelings. If she'd been on the receiving end of either one, she'd probably be in tears. "A few Hufflepuffs."

"Yes," Sebastian replied, "even the witty families have their dunderheads."

Julia scowled at him. "Less than yours to be sure."

Sebastian smirked. "My, my it seems the Head Girl has a temper after all. Finally gotten out of your little fantasy world about how Draco's the perfect gentleman, eh? Didn't know you that Draco and I are a lot alike? Having a crush on him is like having a crush on me."

The mortification on Julia's face was hard to miss for even someone as blind as a bat. "You're dreaming Hawkeforte!"

"Tut, tut," Sebastian responded with dripping arrogance, "where did the casual friendliness of first names go, Jules?"

"Who said you could call me that?" Julia snapped.

Draco chuckled followed by Sebastian's own. Watching Julia and Sebastian fling insults back and forth between each other rather reminded him of Harry and himself. Quite relaxing actually since he wasn't the one that had to be on the receiving end. Both of them were rather interesting people, Draco reflected, and Sebastian's ability not to take the outrageous insults hard was a nice characteristic. It was good to see Julia perking up finally; he'd been afraid she was going to turn out an uptight close- minded intellectual who failed to see the humor in ridiculous banter.

Sebastian's own bemusement was fed on that perfect Ms. Julia Tamerlaine was finally losing the tight fisted reign she kept on her temper. It was reassuring to see that he still knew the right buttons to push to send her careening over the edge. Rather hilarious too. If she'd just sparkle with her usual Tamerlaine brilliance, she'd totally captivate Draco. As much as he wanted Draco, he had to admit she was suited for Draco if she showed herself. That didn't mean he had to give up on Draco, he surmised, no friendship was a great alternative.

"No one," he replied suavely. "But it's a rather cute nickname for someone as pretty as you are."

To Sebastian's surprise and Draco's bemusement, Julia flushed at the offhand compliment. "You know," Draco murmured softly, "he's right. Jules is a rather adorable nickname for some as endearing as you are."

If anything that only made Julia's face redder as she continued to alternate between staring at Sebastian and Draco. Sebastian was continuously surprising her, insulting then complimenting her. And... and Draco was simply marvelous. Despite or maybe because of Sebastian's snarkiness, Draco was being a perfect gentleman. But the fact was he didn't lack a witty edge that made the conversation simply fascinating. She loved his way with words even more than his outrageous beauty.

The problem was, she thought alarmingly, that she wasn't contributing much to the conversation that was making Draco simply bloom before her eyes. It was Sebastian, Sebastian that was getting out Draco's playful side. Why was it that Sebastian was always getting everything that he wanted? Though, truthfully this was a side of Sebastian she had never seen before. He was being snide, true, but he was also being delightful sardonic and more intellectual than she'd ever imagine. She could like this side of Sebastian even if he had aimed insults at her.

"Then you may call me Jules," she answered with exaggerated haughtiness, a smile curving on her lips. "Because I think Bastard is an apt nickname for Sebastian, don't you think Drakey-poo?"

"So the Queen bites," Draco commented. "Excellent."

"Bloody right!" Sebastian exclaimed. "It's about time. It's rather dull watching you gape over Draco."

Julia scowled but had to admit Sebastian was right. It was time for her to add her bit of wit to the overflowing cup. If she wanted to have anything to do with Draco, well--- she'd have to show him she was simply a student with a huge and silly crush. No, it was more than that. Definitely, it was more than that. She adored his looks, respected his control, and loved his wit. Was she falling in love?

Sebastian was thinking along the same lines. He hadn't thought he'd feel this comfortable interacting with Draco. It felt right to sit across from him and exchange delightful sarcastic remarks. It was thrilling to finally have someone to be snide with without worrying about whether they'd take it the wrong way or not. It was nice to unwind, and he felt that Draco was much more amused by him than Julia... but the fact remained was that Draco was a Malfoy and he himself was a Hawkeforte... and Julia was more suited to producing an heir. It'd be a problem if he was falling... in love.

~

Author's Note: LONGEST chapter in the series ^_^ happy? So the final question--- JULIA or SEBASTIAN? I say Julia's winning, but Sebastian made a comeback in Chapter 12 reviews. ^-~ And this is the penultimate chapter... CHAPTER 14 is the end! Now all we have left is resolution and hints to the future and what a great future it'll be [snickers].

~

Thanks to: BekaJWP, Lady of Arundel, Quickjewel, Leah, Kateri, Tempest, and Carya.

UnknownCatstar: I can't let everything go smoothly! Hmm... I don't think I got your email. Yes I have read Book 5, I plan on using Book 5 significantly in my newest story. You can always im me: sevviepooh. I like talking to my readers ^_^ especially about Harry Potter.

sev1970: I do try to be original! Hehe, I like your reasoning for Seb.

Frankie the Wonder Wiener Dog: Skeeter has to be like this b/c it's for fanfiction ^_^. This story is 5 years + after the incident, you don't think she'd keep her promise that long do you?

Abraxis: Thanks, I did try. It's going to be harder to be original with each bonding I do. But I figure I can borrow from my own stories liberally since I'm the one that creates it, eh? I thought the memory flow was intriguing bit to do, Severus's part was more original while Harry was more difficult to not say too much b/c we know so much more about him.

~

SNEAK PEAK at the new story: IN THE ABSENCE OF MEMORY

[Slash] HP/LM and HP/LV. There is only one way to get past the Lost Prophecy, so Voldemort decides to use a bonding curse to bind Harry Potter to him forever making it impossible for Harry to kill him. But the dark curse is against bonded lovers that have fallen apart and it's consequences are ugly and nasty to who the curse is aimed at... the Boy Who Lived but very beneficial to the spell caster... Lord Voldemort.