Chapter Six
I didn't move from that chair. I didn't go to lunch. I didn't go to dinner. I only saw Hermione and Ron again when they left to go the Great Hall at mealtimes. The only happy thought that I had was seeing Draco at midnight, but that was what had gotten me into trouble in the first place. Another problem was what would Draco do when I told him that because of what happened earlier my two best friends weren't talking to me? I still didn't know what was going on with him and me. One day he's calling me the "Golden Boy" in mocking tones, and the next he's kissing me in an empty corridor.
I got up for the first time in several hours, my legs barely supporting my weight. I gripped the arm of the chair for support and once steady, I left the common room.
Walking blindly into the Entrance Hall and out the oak doors, I considered visiting Hagrid, but I didn't much feel like talking. A walk around the lake, maybe. It was six o'clock now and getting dark. I don't think I'll stray far. I finally decided on sitting against the outer wall of the castle for a while. I needed to be outside, at any rate. After a few moments the chilling evening air numbed me so that I couldn't even feel the bite of the wind any more.
Remember your meeting with Draco.... said that little voice in my head that seemed to be visiting me so much lately. Thinking about Draco is exactly what I don't want to do right now.
Time passed. Thoughts came and went. Wind blew by. And then it was nearly ten p.m. I was shocked. 13 hours since I'd kissed Draco and only two until I had to meet him again. I suppose I'd had too much on my mind to be anxious about the time.
When I stood my blood started to flow though my body at a faster pace, warming me up and causing me to shiver in the sudden temperature change. I walked up the steps and opened the door, again feeling the warmth that was the Entrance Hall. My eyes trailed over the marble stairs and across the floor to the door that was to the Slytherin Common Room where I knew Draco would be.
~*~
I paced the corridor at 11:45 p.m. hoping he'd be early or that the time would pass faster. I sank against the wall opposite where he had had me pressed up against this morning, grinning despite myself and how upset I was.
Finally he showed up, coming around the corner silently. I smirked and noted that ninjas made more noise than he did and I hoped that that wasn't always the case.
"Good evening, Harry," he said smoothly as he crossed the stone floor and sat next to me.
I nodded and moved a little closer to him. I was cold and needed someone's body heat. Not to mention the fact that he was just about the only person who I wanted to talk to that would talk to me. I suppose he guessed what I wanted because he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me even closer.
I whimpered a little from the feeling of being so happy and so upset at the same time. Everything seemed to go away while he was there, although it bubbled just below the surface.
"How was your day, Harry?" He whispered, squirming next to me as though the silence had been too much for him.
"Terrible..." I said. I snuggled against his shoulder, feeling more comfortable than I had all day.
"Care to tell me about it?" Draco asked, his free hand reaching for mine.
"Ron and Hermione... Hermione somehow found out about what happened earlier..." I gestured to the other side of the corridor "... and they got really angry... They won't even talk to me..."
"Stupid mudblood and muggle-lover..." Draco said under his breath. The hand that had mine was stroking my fingers gently.
I glared at him. I might not be on speaking terms with Ron and Hermione but I still wasn't going to let him talk about them that way. I started to stand up but he pulled me back. Damnit. I probably could have gotten away from him too, but he still had my hand...
"I'm sorry... It slipped," he said, kissing my forehead and squeezing my hand.
I frowned, but nodded, settling myself next to him again. I didn't have the energy to fight with him, too.
He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my fingertips. It felt nice. Gentle, not rough like his kisses had been, although I'd liked that as well.
"Draco...?" I whispered, pulling my hand away from his lips and lacing my fingers with his.
"Yes?"
"You're not... Being put up to this, are you?" I said, squeezing his hand possessively.
"Who would put me up to this, of all the pranks...." Draco said, trying to laugh it off, but I was very serious.
"So Crabbe or Zabini or someone didn't dare you or pay you or – "
"No," he said firmly, closing the matter whether I liked it or not.
I sighed and looked up at him, smiling for the first time since he'd kissed me last. He took the hint and pressed his lips first against my cheek, then my lips. He teased with his tongue until I opened my mouth just enough to allow him access.
Draco pulled away then, staring me, his eyes searching mine as though to make sure this was what I really wanted.... What he really wanted.
"Draco don't stop... Just kiss me..." I whispered, wrapping my arm around his neck and pulling his lips back down to mine. I really did need him right then. He obliged. His tongue slipped into my mouth again, slowly exploring and massaging over mine.
My first thought was to push him away. This was a bit much so quickly, but I didn't. Not yet. I moaned a little against his lips, my arms pulling him even closer to me. The corridor had started to spin and fade from existence at the same time.... But then, he stopped again.
I whimpered again, opening my eyes and staring at him.
"Why'd you stop?" I whispered, running my fingers through his blonde hair. His hair was soft to the touch and I kept my hand where it was for a moment, grinning up at him.
"Because..." he said, slouching against the wall so that he was almost laying down, but his head and shoulders were still being supported by the stone. "Lay down."
He put his hand on his chest to indicate exactly where he wanted me to lay and I did, snuggling close to him.
I draped one of my arms across his stomach and the other one I tucked closely to myself, his right hand was rubbing my back and his left was holding mine. He kissed the top of my head and leaned back into the wall.
The stone floor was freezing, but Draco was warm and kept me warm. We could have been lying in the snow and I'd still have been warm...
"Cold, Harry?"
"What?" I asked. I hadn't heard him.
"Are you cold? You shivered..." he said, pulling me, if that were possible, closer.
"Did I?"I asked dumbly.
He just nodded and started to stand up.
"Where are you going?" I said, making a face and scrambling to my feet after him.
"You and I are going to go down to the Slytherin Common Room to get a blanket, then we are going to go up to the Astronomy Tower... Less chance of Snape there," he said, smiling and taking my hand again.
I grinned and walked with him. Around corners, down stairs, finally into the Entrance Hall and the doorway that lead down to the Slytherin Common Room. He pulled the door open with his free hand, as the other was still holding mine, and led me down a dark, but short, corridor.
Draco gave the password, which I didn't quite catch because I was too busy trying to adjust to the darkness.
The stone door slid open to reveal the Slytherin Common Room exactly how I remembered it. Exactly, with the exception of Blaise Zabini lounging on a couch, staring at the door that Draco and myself had just stepped though.
"So it was true... I'll have to make a note to myself to believe more of what that mudblood says," Blaise said with the air of one who was merely commenting on the weather.
"Excuse me?" Draco asked in an overly polite voice. I could tell he knew exactly what Blaise meant.
"I mean you and him," Blaise said, pointing from Draco to me and rolling his eyes.
"Why are you even awake. It's 1:30 in the morning and everyone else is in bed," Draco spat, steering the subject away from dangerous waters.
"I was up waiting for you to come back so I could tell you the ridiculous story I heard about you and Potter kissing in some corridor earlier, but now I see this, and now I just tell you that you sicken me," Blaise said, his tone going from laughter to disgust.
Draco's grip on my hand was painfully tight now and his free hand was forming into a fist.
"Shut up Zabini," he snapped, brandishing his fist threateningly.
"Why don't you let go of your boyfriend and fight me like a man, Draco," Blaise challenged, snickering on the word 'man'.
"Draco..." I whispered, looking at him.
He ignored Blaise and looked at me.
"What," he whispered back.
I just let his hand go and shook my head, glaring at Blaise. I had had quite enough. Draco and me had been together for not even twenty-four hours and already we were getting more crap than Salazar and Godric would have gotten.
"Well, are you going to fight me, or not?"
"No," Draco said, walking over to the couch where Blaise sat and snatched his blanket away, then tossed it to me. "I'm going to leave."
I felt a sudden rush of gratitude toward Draco. If he and Blaise got into a fight it would have attracted attention, not only to the certain bloodshed, but to the fact that I, Harry Potter, was in the Slytherin Common Room.
He grabbed my hand again and I took one last look around the room, which was sparkling silver in the firelight. I couldn't help but think that it would have been a shame to see Blaise's blood spilled on the hunter green carpet.
A dragging motion on my arm told me that Draco had left the room and was taking me with him, leaving Blaise sitting there, now without a blanket but with a very angry look on his face.
We walked in silence until about halfway up the stairs to the tower, Draco still fuming with rage.
"I'm sorry...." I whispered, slowing down a little and loosening my grip on him.
"Sorry? Whatever for?" Draco asked, stopping and tipping my chin up with his fingertips.
"About Blaise..." I said, wanting more than anything to hug him. But I couldn't as the blanket was draped over my free arm.
"Don't be. He's a git. His aunt on his mother's side is a squib," Draco said, snickering.
I smiled, even though I normally didn't find things like that amusing, the fact that there was someone non-magical that close to Blaise's family couldn't be good for his reputation. Leave it to Draco to point that out.
He kissed my forehead and we continued up the stairs in silence. I felt a little better now, knowing that Draco was angry with Blaise and not me.
We reached the tower and Draco put some sort of charm on the walls and floor to make them radiate a comfortable amount of heat and to make them soft enough to sleep on. Draco always had been gifted with charms.
He lay down next to the wall and motioned for me to go lay down with him, as I had been before. He tucked the blanket around us and whispered a goodnight, leaving another kiss on the top of my head. He fell asleep within minutes. I, on the other hand, lay awake with my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and the steady inhale exhale pattern of his breath for what seemed like hours.
I didn't move from that chair. I didn't go to lunch. I didn't go to dinner. I only saw Hermione and Ron again when they left to go the Great Hall at mealtimes. The only happy thought that I had was seeing Draco at midnight, but that was what had gotten me into trouble in the first place. Another problem was what would Draco do when I told him that because of what happened earlier my two best friends weren't talking to me? I still didn't know what was going on with him and me. One day he's calling me the "Golden Boy" in mocking tones, and the next he's kissing me in an empty corridor.
I got up for the first time in several hours, my legs barely supporting my weight. I gripped the arm of the chair for support and once steady, I left the common room.
Walking blindly into the Entrance Hall and out the oak doors, I considered visiting Hagrid, but I didn't much feel like talking. A walk around the lake, maybe. It was six o'clock now and getting dark. I don't think I'll stray far. I finally decided on sitting against the outer wall of the castle for a while. I needed to be outside, at any rate. After a few moments the chilling evening air numbed me so that I couldn't even feel the bite of the wind any more.
Remember your meeting with Draco.... said that little voice in my head that seemed to be visiting me so much lately. Thinking about Draco is exactly what I don't want to do right now.
Time passed. Thoughts came and went. Wind blew by. And then it was nearly ten p.m. I was shocked. 13 hours since I'd kissed Draco and only two until I had to meet him again. I suppose I'd had too much on my mind to be anxious about the time.
When I stood my blood started to flow though my body at a faster pace, warming me up and causing me to shiver in the sudden temperature change. I walked up the steps and opened the door, again feeling the warmth that was the Entrance Hall. My eyes trailed over the marble stairs and across the floor to the door that was to the Slytherin Common Room where I knew Draco would be.
~*~
I paced the corridor at 11:45 p.m. hoping he'd be early or that the time would pass faster. I sank against the wall opposite where he had had me pressed up against this morning, grinning despite myself and how upset I was.
Finally he showed up, coming around the corner silently. I smirked and noted that ninjas made more noise than he did and I hoped that that wasn't always the case.
"Good evening, Harry," he said smoothly as he crossed the stone floor and sat next to me.
I nodded and moved a little closer to him. I was cold and needed someone's body heat. Not to mention the fact that he was just about the only person who I wanted to talk to that would talk to me. I suppose he guessed what I wanted because he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me even closer.
I whimpered a little from the feeling of being so happy and so upset at the same time. Everything seemed to go away while he was there, although it bubbled just below the surface.
"How was your day, Harry?" He whispered, squirming next to me as though the silence had been too much for him.
"Terrible..." I said. I snuggled against his shoulder, feeling more comfortable than I had all day.
"Care to tell me about it?" Draco asked, his free hand reaching for mine.
"Ron and Hermione... Hermione somehow found out about what happened earlier..." I gestured to the other side of the corridor "... and they got really angry... They won't even talk to me..."
"Stupid mudblood and muggle-lover..." Draco said under his breath. The hand that had mine was stroking my fingers gently.
I glared at him. I might not be on speaking terms with Ron and Hermione but I still wasn't going to let him talk about them that way. I started to stand up but he pulled me back. Damnit. I probably could have gotten away from him too, but he still had my hand...
"I'm sorry... It slipped," he said, kissing my forehead and squeezing my hand.
I frowned, but nodded, settling myself next to him again. I didn't have the energy to fight with him, too.
He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my fingertips. It felt nice. Gentle, not rough like his kisses had been, although I'd liked that as well.
"Draco...?" I whispered, pulling my hand away from his lips and lacing my fingers with his.
"Yes?"
"You're not... Being put up to this, are you?" I said, squeezing his hand possessively.
"Who would put me up to this, of all the pranks...." Draco said, trying to laugh it off, but I was very serious.
"So Crabbe or Zabini or someone didn't dare you or pay you or – "
"No," he said firmly, closing the matter whether I liked it or not.
I sighed and looked up at him, smiling for the first time since he'd kissed me last. He took the hint and pressed his lips first against my cheek, then my lips. He teased with his tongue until I opened my mouth just enough to allow him access.
Draco pulled away then, staring me, his eyes searching mine as though to make sure this was what I really wanted.... What he really wanted.
"Draco don't stop... Just kiss me..." I whispered, wrapping my arm around his neck and pulling his lips back down to mine. I really did need him right then. He obliged. His tongue slipped into my mouth again, slowly exploring and massaging over mine.
My first thought was to push him away. This was a bit much so quickly, but I didn't. Not yet. I moaned a little against his lips, my arms pulling him even closer to me. The corridor had started to spin and fade from existence at the same time.... But then, he stopped again.
I whimpered again, opening my eyes and staring at him.
"Why'd you stop?" I whispered, running my fingers through his blonde hair. His hair was soft to the touch and I kept my hand where it was for a moment, grinning up at him.
"Because..." he said, slouching against the wall so that he was almost laying down, but his head and shoulders were still being supported by the stone. "Lay down."
He put his hand on his chest to indicate exactly where he wanted me to lay and I did, snuggling close to him.
I draped one of my arms across his stomach and the other one I tucked closely to myself, his right hand was rubbing my back and his left was holding mine. He kissed the top of my head and leaned back into the wall.
The stone floor was freezing, but Draco was warm and kept me warm. We could have been lying in the snow and I'd still have been warm...
"Cold, Harry?"
"What?" I asked. I hadn't heard him.
"Are you cold? You shivered..." he said, pulling me, if that were possible, closer.
"Did I?"I asked dumbly.
He just nodded and started to stand up.
"Where are you going?" I said, making a face and scrambling to my feet after him.
"You and I are going to go down to the Slytherin Common Room to get a blanket, then we are going to go up to the Astronomy Tower... Less chance of Snape there," he said, smiling and taking my hand again.
I grinned and walked with him. Around corners, down stairs, finally into the Entrance Hall and the doorway that lead down to the Slytherin Common Room. He pulled the door open with his free hand, as the other was still holding mine, and led me down a dark, but short, corridor.
Draco gave the password, which I didn't quite catch because I was too busy trying to adjust to the darkness.
The stone door slid open to reveal the Slytherin Common Room exactly how I remembered it. Exactly, with the exception of Blaise Zabini lounging on a couch, staring at the door that Draco and myself had just stepped though.
"So it was true... I'll have to make a note to myself to believe more of what that mudblood says," Blaise said with the air of one who was merely commenting on the weather.
"Excuse me?" Draco asked in an overly polite voice. I could tell he knew exactly what Blaise meant.
"I mean you and him," Blaise said, pointing from Draco to me and rolling his eyes.
"Why are you even awake. It's 1:30 in the morning and everyone else is in bed," Draco spat, steering the subject away from dangerous waters.
"I was up waiting for you to come back so I could tell you the ridiculous story I heard about you and Potter kissing in some corridor earlier, but now I see this, and now I just tell you that you sicken me," Blaise said, his tone going from laughter to disgust.
Draco's grip on my hand was painfully tight now and his free hand was forming into a fist.
"Shut up Zabini," he snapped, brandishing his fist threateningly.
"Why don't you let go of your boyfriend and fight me like a man, Draco," Blaise challenged, snickering on the word 'man'.
"Draco..." I whispered, looking at him.
He ignored Blaise and looked at me.
"What," he whispered back.
I just let his hand go and shook my head, glaring at Blaise. I had had quite enough. Draco and me had been together for not even twenty-four hours and already we were getting more crap than Salazar and Godric would have gotten.
"Well, are you going to fight me, or not?"
"No," Draco said, walking over to the couch where Blaise sat and snatched his blanket away, then tossed it to me. "I'm going to leave."
I felt a sudden rush of gratitude toward Draco. If he and Blaise got into a fight it would have attracted attention, not only to the certain bloodshed, but to the fact that I, Harry Potter, was in the Slytherin Common Room.
He grabbed my hand again and I took one last look around the room, which was sparkling silver in the firelight. I couldn't help but think that it would have been a shame to see Blaise's blood spilled on the hunter green carpet.
A dragging motion on my arm told me that Draco had left the room and was taking me with him, leaving Blaise sitting there, now without a blanket but with a very angry look on his face.
We walked in silence until about halfway up the stairs to the tower, Draco still fuming with rage.
"I'm sorry...." I whispered, slowing down a little and loosening my grip on him.
"Sorry? Whatever for?" Draco asked, stopping and tipping my chin up with his fingertips.
"About Blaise..." I said, wanting more than anything to hug him. But I couldn't as the blanket was draped over my free arm.
"Don't be. He's a git. His aunt on his mother's side is a squib," Draco said, snickering.
I smiled, even though I normally didn't find things like that amusing, the fact that there was someone non-magical that close to Blaise's family couldn't be good for his reputation. Leave it to Draco to point that out.
He kissed my forehead and we continued up the stairs in silence. I felt a little better now, knowing that Draco was angry with Blaise and not me.
We reached the tower and Draco put some sort of charm on the walls and floor to make them radiate a comfortable amount of heat and to make them soft enough to sleep on. Draco always had been gifted with charms.
He lay down next to the wall and motioned for me to go lay down with him, as I had been before. He tucked the blanket around us and whispered a goodnight, leaving another kiss on the top of my head. He fell asleep within minutes. I, on the other hand, lay awake with my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and the steady inhale exhale pattern of his breath for what seemed like hours.
