Chapter Three
*~*~*
Harry scrunched his eyes shut tightly. Despite the fact that he couldn't sse Draco, he could feel him getting undressed, and it was NOT a good thing. He didn't know why Draco was doing this. It was humiliating. It was torture. It - it actually felt kind of nice.
Draco's bare back was smooth, nicely muscled and straight. His ass - well, Harry wouldn't go there.
"What the Hell are you doing, Potter?" Draco asked. Harry was moving slightly, and his breathing had quickened. Draco cursed. "Oh, Merlin," he said pleadingly. "Tell me you're not gay. Please tell me you're not gay. For the love of - "
"All right, Malfoy, you can shut up. I'm not gay," Harry said, wondering if he were telling the truth. Shouldn't he find this embarrasing and degrading? If it weren't for the fact that it was Draco...
He remembered an incedent in the Gryffindor Common Room in Sixth Year. Dean had been getting undressed, and hadn't bothered to shut the hangings around his bed. Harry had walked in and nearly died of shock.
But instead of going red, wreching the hangings shut and yelling at Harry for not knocking, Dean had merely looked Harry up, down, and then smiled.
Harry had - inadvertently, he was sure - looked at a bit too much of Dean, and felt the same things as he was feeling now. Almost as if he couldn't breathe.
"You're as bad as Dean Thomas," he snapped, trying to cover the fact that he had no idea what was going on.
"Thomas?" Draco asked. "The other Mudblood in your year?"
"Shut your mouth!" Harry yelled furiously. "There's nothing wrong with him!"
"Oh, sweet Merlin, you are gay," Draco yelled in horror. "Moreover, you're with Thomas. That's low, Potter. That's lower than low."
How could Dumbledore have done this? Tied him, back to back with a gay guy?
"I'm not gay!" Harry shouted furiously.
"You are!" Draco shouted back. "Potter, you are the most freaky, stupid -" he broke off, turning red. Lounging in the doorway was Blaise Zabini.
"Am I interrupting something?" he asked innocently enough, but there was a malevolent gleam in his eyes that Draco knew from past experience meant trouble.
"Zabini," Draco drawled, inclining his head slightly. "Something I can help you with?" Safely in his pyjamas now, he turned around, hoping that his shuffling gait wouldn't show up, he turned the green covers on his bed down.
"You were shouting at Potter," Blaise said, cutting straight through to the heart of the matter. "Don't try and deny it. At first, you said he was gay - with Dean Thomas, I believe. Then you called him freaky, and stupid. Something I should know? I'm sure the other Slytherins would be quite interested in why you were entertaining Harry Potter in our dormitory. Where is he, by the way?" he asked in a voice that promised ruin. "I'm sure he wouldn't be hiding. Not a very Gryffindor trait, now, is it? Let's see if we can find him."
He shut the door, putting a locking charm on it, then started searching the rom. He did it methodically, under the bed, through the hangings, in the wardrobe, by the window. Then he'd head to the next alcove and start again.
"Invisible, is he?" he asked when he reached the end of the row. "Apperacium!" The room lit up in veins of colour, some sparkling and almost blindingly bright, others dim, their lustre gone.
Draco winced as beams of light shot through his eyes, and then stiffened in horror. In the mirror in front of him, he could see ghostly tufts of black hair!
Blaise, however, missed it. "They must be the protection spells on the castle," he said as they faded. Then he smiled coldly and turned to Draco. "I'm watching you," he said pleasantly. "I heard what Peeves said this afternoon. I almost didn't believe it, but after this, anything could be possible." He shrugged. "Just remember, Draco, I'm watching you."
Draco held his temper until the door had shut behind Blaise. The he let loose with a volley of swear words that Harry listened to in shock.
When he began to repeat himself, Harry cut in, "what's going on there? He jealous or something. He can have you, just not while I'm here."
"Very funny, Potter," Draco snapped sarcastically. "Zabini is just a stupid bastard who has nothing better to do than sniff around looking for problems that he can use to get people suspended. Didn't you ever wonder how Braddock and Pansy Parkinson got caught last year?"
"No, not really," Harry said. "I thought that Slytherins stuck together."
"Hardly," Draco snorted. "Half of being a Slytherin is looking out for yourself first. House togetherness is unheard of here."
Harry was shocked. He'd almways assumed that Slytherins would stick together. The rest of the school did hate them, after all.
"Potter," Draco growled. "I am now going to bed. "One wrong move and I'll strangle you with my bare hands."
"Ron, where's Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly. They were sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, and she'd been asking him the same question every ten minutes.
"I don't know, Hermione," Ron snapped. "I'm sitting here with you, aren't I? Maybe he went to visit Hagrid."
"No, because Hagrid was at dinner," Hermione replied nervously. "Do you think he's hiding from us? Maybe we should check the Owlery, or the grounds. He does like to go for walks by himself lately..."
Their discussion was interrupted by Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown and Dean Thomas brusting into the Common room, looking as if they didn't know whther to laugh or cry.
"Ooh, you'll never guess," Parvati said, spotting Hermione and Ron and hurrying over to sit by them. Dean and Lavender followed.
"Probably not," Hermione said coolly. "Listen, have any of you seen Harry? He didn't show up at dinner, and -"
"Neither did Draco Malfoy," Dean purred.
Ron had always wondered whething being queer messed with your brain cells. He now decided it did. "Dean, why would we care where the Hell Malfoy was?" he asked.
"Then you didn't hear?" Lavender said. "Oh, it's absolutely awful," she continued. She actually did appear to be genuinely upset. "We've just come from discussing it in the library. Peeves was shouting to anyone who could hear that - well - Professor McGonagall ended up getting the Bloody Baron."
"What is it, Lavender?" Hermione asked impatiently.
"Peeves said that Harry and Draco Malfoy had been caught together by the corridor to the Slytherin Common Room," Dean said bluntly.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Then, to everyone's surprise, Hermione burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Parvati asked, looking mystified and slightly annoyed that Hermikone hadn't reacted right to her gossip.
"Harry - and - Malfoy!' Hermione gasped, red-faced. "It's insane. Harry's not gay, and even if he was, which I really hope he isn't - no offence, Dean - he'd never be with Malfoy!"
"Peeves saw it," Dean said obstinately.
"And you'd believe Peeves, would you?" Ron asked, starting to grin himself. "You need your head checked, mate."
"So where is he?" Parvati asked challengingly.
Ron and Hermione's smiles vanished, and they ignored the question.
*~*~*
Harry scrunched his eyes shut tightly. Despite the fact that he couldn't sse Draco, he could feel him getting undressed, and it was NOT a good thing. He didn't know why Draco was doing this. It was humiliating. It was torture. It - it actually felt kind of nice.
Draco's bare back was smooth, nicely muscled and straight. His ass - well, Harry wouldn't go there.
"What the Hell are you doing, Potter?" Draco asked. Harry was moving slightly, and his breathing had quickened. Draco cursed. "Oh, Merlin," he said pleadingly. "Tell me you're not gay. Please tell me you're not gay. For the love of - "
"All right, Malfoy, you can shut up. I'm not gay," Harry said, wondering if he were telling the truth. Shouldn't he find this embarrasing and degrading? If it weren't for the fact that it was Draco...
He remembered an incedent in the Gryffindor Common Room in Sixth Year. Dean had been getting undressed, and hadn't bothered to shut the hangings around his bed. Harry had walked in and nearly died of shock.
But instead of going red, wreching the hangings shut and yelling at Harry for not knocking, Dean had merely looked Harry up, down, and then smiled.
Harry had - inadvertently, he was sure - looked at a bit too much of Dean, and felt the same things as he was feeling now. Almost as if he couldn't breathe.
"You're as bad as Dean Thomas," he snapped, trying to cover the fact that he had no idea what was going on.
"Thomas?" Draco asked. "The other Mudblood in your year?"
"Shut your mouth!" Harry yelled furiously. "There's nothing wrong with him!"
"Oh, sweet Merlin, you are gay," Draco yelled in horror. "Moreover, you're with Thomas. That's low, Potter. That's lower than low."
How could Dumbledore have done this? Tied him, back to back with a gay guy?
"I'm not gay!" Harry shouted furiously.
"You are!" Draco shouted back. "Potter, you are the most freaky, stupid -" he broke off, turning red. Lounging in the doorway was Blaise Zabini.
"Am I interrupting something?" he asked innocently enough, but there was a malevolent gleam in his eyes that Draco knew from past experience meant trouble.
"Zabini," Draco drawled, inclining his head slightly. "Something I can help you with?" Safely in his pyjamas now, he turned around, hoping that his shuffling gait wouldn't show up, he turned the green covers on his bed down.
"You were shouting at Potter," Blaise said, cutting straight through to the heart of the matter. "Don't try and deny it. At first, you said he was gay - with Dean Thomas, I believe. Then you called him freaky, and stupid. Something I should know? I'm sure the other Slytherins would be quite interested in why you were entertaining Harry Potter in our dormitory. Where is he, by the way?" he asked in a voice that promised ruin. "I'm sure he wouldn't be hiding. Not a very Gryffindor trait, now, is it? Let's see if we can find him."
He shut the door, putting a locking charm on it, then started searching the rom. He did it methodically, under the bed, through the hangings, in the wardrobe, by the window. Then he'd head to the next alcove and start again.
"Invisible, is he?" he asked when he reached the end of the row. "Apperacium!" The room lit up in veins of colour, some sparkling and almost blindingly bright, others dim, their lustre gone.
Draco winced as beams of light shot through his eyes, and then stiffened in horror. In the mirror in front of him, he could see ghostly tufts of black hair!
Blaise, however, missed it. "They must be the protection spells on the castle," he said as they faded. Then he smiled coldly and turned to Draco. "I'm watching you," he said pleasantly. "I heard what Peeves said this afternoon. I almost didn't believe it, but after this, anything could be possible." He shrugged. "Just remember, Draco, I'm watching you."
Draco held his temper until the door had shut behind Blaise. The he let loose with a volley of swear words that Harry listened to in shock.
When he began to repeat himself, Harry cut in, "what's going on there? He jealous or something. He can have you, just not while I'm here."
"Very funny, Potter," Draco snapped sarcastically. "Zabini is just a stupid bastard who has nothing better to do than sniff around looking for problems that he can use to get people suspended. Didn't you ever wonder how Braddock and Pansy Parkinson got caught last year?"
"No, not really," Harry said. "I thought that Slytherins stuck together."
"Hardly," Draco snorted. "Half of being a Slytherin is looking out for yourself first. House togetherness is unheard of here."
Harry was shocked. He'd almways assumed that Slytherins would stick together. The rest of the school did hate them, after all.
"Potter," Draco growled. "I am now going to bed. "One wrong move and I'll strangle you with my bare hands."
"Ron, where's Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly. They were sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, and she'd been asking him the same question every ten minutes.
"I don't know, Hermione," Ron snapped. "I'm sitting here with you, aren't I? Maybe he went to visit Hagrid."
"No, because Hagrid was at dinner," Hermione replied nervously. "Do you think he's hiding from us? Maybe we should check the Owlery, or the grounds. He does like to go for walks by himself lately..."
Their discussion was interrupted by Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown and Dean Thomas brusting into the Common room, looking as if they didn't know whther to laugh or cry.
"Ooh, you'll never guess," Parvati said, spotting Hermione and Ron and hurrying over to sit by them. Dean and Lavender followed.
"Probably not," Hermione said coolly. "Listen, have any of you seen Harry? He didn't show up at dinner, and -"
"Neither did Draco Malfoy," Dean purred.
Ron had always wondered whething being queer messed with your brain cells. He now decided it did. "Dean, why would we care where the Hell Malfoy was?" he asked.
"Then you didn't hear?" Lavender said. "Oh, it's absolutely awful," she continued. She actually did appear to be genuinely upset. "We've just come from discussing it in the library. Peeves was shouting to anyone who could hear that - well - Professor McGonagall ended up getting the Bloody Baron."
"What is it, Lavender?" Hermione asked impatiently.
"Peeves said that Harry and Draco Malfoy had been caught together by the corridor to the Slytherin Common Room," Dean said bluntly.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Then, to everyone's surprise, Hermione burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Parvati asked, looking mystified and slightly annoyed that Hermikone hadn't reacted right to her gossip.
"Harry - and - Malfoy!' Hermione gasped, red-faced. "It's insane. Harry's not gay, and even if he was, which I really hope he isn't - no offence, Dean - he'd never be with Malfoy!"
"Peeves saw it," Dean said obstinately.
"And you'd believe Peeves, would you?" Ron asked, starting to grin himself. "You need your head checked, mate."
"So where is he?" Parvati asked challengingly.
Ron and Hermione's smiles vanished, and they ignored the question.