Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It was already past his shoulders. Something had to be done. Something different. Something that would make his father think twice when he saw his son again. Something that would turn heads. Draco was thinking chin-length, if not shorter. Short enough to spike, maybe?
Well, whatever he did, it would be his choice this time.
The lovely weather that they had been enjoying was now gone. At six-thirty a.m. the sun had already risen, but just high enough to color the sky pale blue and reflect off of the clouds to make them pale gray. Streaks of light periwinkle were spotted here and there. The wind was uncharacteristically cold for this time of year, and was violently shaking the tops of the trees. The lower layer of clouds were moving with the wind, but the top layer was stubbornly staying in place, in wait for the midday sun to drive it away.
Draco was sitting atop a grassy hill that overlooked the grounds. It was early morning and he doubted that any other students were awake at this time. He used on hand to hold his hair out of his face. He had gotten it cut the day before and it was now about even with his lips. If his father saw him now he would freak. Draco thought of that with a smirk. The sky now had some purple and pink in it.
"You cut your hair," a voice said next to him. He looked over at Harry.
"Very good Potter. Five points to Gryffindor," he said. He gave Harry a smile to show that there was no ill-will intended. Harry returned the smile.
"So what brought this on?" he asked. Draco shrugged.
"Wanted to try something new, something different... wanted to drive my father crazy-" Harry laughed.
"That's better motivation than the other two. But really, I like it. It looks good,"
"Thanks," Draco said happily. Harry fell into silence and Draco followed. He closed his eyes and let go of his hair. Draco let the wind run across his scalp and blow his hair any way it wanted. He breathed in deeply and could smell the rain in the air.
Next to him, Harry laid on his back and was watching the clouds blow by. Draco could feel Harry's arm against his thigh. The friendly pressure comforted him somehow. He felt at peace. So much so that he laid down in the mossy grass also. Harry's head was now against Draco's arm. Draco was so at peace that he forgot about the classes he had to be headed to and fell asleep.
His eye twitched involuntarily as heavy raindrops hit it. He wiped at them, still in that place between asleep and awake. When he was completely soaked, and quiet cold, he willed his eyes open. Raindrops were falling on the side of his face and all around him. Draco tried to move his arm, but there was a weight on it. He closed his eyes and sighed. And now that he was more awake, he realized that this weight was a bit uncomfortable. Groggily, he opened his eyes again and this time looked down to see what was on his arm. He groaned.
"Harry, get up!" he whispered. The rain drowned the sound out.
Draco was lying on his side with one arm (the asleep one) under Harry's waist, and the other arm on top of his waist. He used his free hand to shake Harry.
"Harry, you great git, get up!" Harry snuggled in closer to his chest. Draco sighed. "Harry..." he said it louder this time and Harry's eyes opened.
"Draco?" he asked sleepily. He groaned and buried his head against Draco's shoulder. Draco wished that he wouldn't do that.
"We're still outside, aren't we?"
"Yes."
"And we're on the ground."
"Yep."
"In the rain."
"Looks like it."
Harry groaned again. The sound drove Draco crazy. The blood rushed from his head and he felts as if his pants were shrinking a few sizes. His mouth was dry.
"Don't-" he swallowed. "don't do that again," Harry looked up at him.
"Do what?" Draco looked down to hide his blush. Surely Harry felt the effect that he was having on Draco? Draco was sure that every part of his body was pressed against Harry's. He fidgeted.
"Make that noise," Harry was quiet. He opened his mouth to say something as Draco fidgeted again.
"Oh! Ooh..." he said in realization. Those sounds didn't help Draco much either. "Why not?" He felt warm breath on his lips.
"Surely you know why," Draco said. His voice wavered slightly. He couldn't think straight.
"I don't think I do," Harry said innocently. His fingers were in Draco's hair. His voice alone was driving Draco nuts. He looked up. Harry was much closer than before. Draco threw his pride out the window.
"Then let me show you," he said. He closed the short distance between them and kissed Harry.
They snuck back into the castle hand-in-hand. Luckily, it was during class, so no one was milling around to see them. A trail of rainwater followed them. They were sure to be completely silent so that no teacher would hear them. Harry stopped them at a corner and peeked around it. Draco had to admit that Harry was a master at sneaking around.
Harry pulled on his hand as they rounded another corner. He was leading Draco back down to the dungeons. Draco moved to follow him and slipped on the water on the stone floor. He crashed into Harry, sending them both to the ground. They laughed.
So much for being quiet.
Draco put his head on Harry's chest as he laughed. He had laughed more this day than ever before. And it felt good. He looked up at Harry, who had tears in his eyes from laughter. His cheeks were flushed, and his wet hair sticking up in every direction. He looked beautiful. Draco kissed his rose colored lips.
"Sorry," he whispered. Harry was still laughing quietly as he replied.
"That's all right."
Draco got off of Harry and helped him off the floor, using the stone wall for support. They were laughing quietly now. Though for the life of him, Draco couldn't figure out what was so funny. Their hands were clasped again as they walked. Harry felt that they didn't need to worry anymore, and didn't check the next corner. They turned around it, and ran straight into a very angry black-haired man. Draco released Harry's hand. Harry swallowed audibly.
"Where have you two been?" his voice was eerily calm. Anger was lying shortly from the surface of the voice. The worst kind of voice was a calm angry one, Draco decided at that moment.
"Outside," Draco said. His voice was submissive.
"Yes, yes, I can see that much... Do either of you have any idea how worried us professors have been? With both of you gone, you have no idea what sort of things were running through everyone's minds... Well? Explain yourselves!"
"We didn't mean to make people worry..." Harry whispered. "Remus will be so mad!"
"It's my fault Sev," Draco said. Harry looked at him. Draco silenced him with the look in his eyes. "I convinced Harry to stay outside with me... You know how much I like the rain, and I wanted to convince him that it's not bad." Bad, bad lie Draco, he told himself. Very bad! Severus will see right through that one.
The potions master raised an eyebrow at them. At Draco's atypically messed up hair. At their too-red lips. At the small hickey on Harry's neck. They had been gone for three class periods!
"Indeed," he said dryly. He looked between the two of them, "You do know that I'm aware of your lie, don't you Draco?" Draco lowered his head, and nodded.
"Yes, sir."
Severus sighed. "Potter, go dry off and get to class," Harry nodded and left without another word. Severus stared at Draco for the longest time. Draco was starting to feel very self-conscious. And a bit guilty. A new emotion for the Malfoy. "Follow me Draco."
Obediently, Draco followed his godfather to his office. He sat down in a hard, straight-backed chair in front of his desk. These chairs should be reserved for torture chambers, Draco thought. Severus was studying him again. He was growing slightly irritated at being stared at so much.
"If you want to convince us that your intentions are good Draco, you must start behaving better. You know that they won't believe you if I don't at least believe you, and at the moment I'm having troubles believing that you have good objectives," That sentence sparked Draco's attention.
"Sev, you have to believe me that I want this. It's all I want, to prove to everyone that not all Malfoys are stuck up pricks who live their life to serve the Dark Lord. Who bribe and threaten people to get their own way. I don't want to go into a store and see the clerk cower in fear of me! It's not something I enjoy!" Draco stopped to breath. He closed his eyes to gather himself again.
"I spend one morning alone with Harry, and everyone thinks that I've kidnapped him or something!" Draco's throat was tight and he was having trouble speaking. He opened his eyes again, and looked straight into his godfather's onyx ones, "I can't even be friends with a good person without suspicions and rumors popping up all over the place, and quite frankly I'm tired of it!"
"Then stop being a prick in public Draco," Severus said calmly. "Be good. Stop making fun of the other houses. The next time I pair you up with Longbottom, help him make a correct potion. If a first year is lost, help them find where they should be. When someone drops something, pick it up for them. Show everyone that you are good Draco. Then they will stop suspecting that you have ill-intents for their savior."
Draco nodded silently. He wouldn't do it though. He had to throw his father off as long as possible. Really, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he shows that he is nice, the Death Eaters catch on and his head- start on them is blown to pieces. But, on the other hand, if he keeps up his 'Malfoy appearance' then the Order members and the general public will keep up their impressions of him. And, in turn, he'll be forbidden to come near Harry, and probably prohibited from joining the Order. It was a lose-lose situation.
"I want to remain friends with Harry, Sev. He's helped me a great deal to change my mind about the prejudices I used to have,"
Severus nodded, "Your friendship is a good thing, but I advise you not to rely on him too much,"
"Why's that?"
"He's destined to save the world, Draco. His life is in the spotlight. If someone thinks you want to hurt him, they can hurt you to keep you away from him. There are plenty of people who wouldn't hesitate to harm you to keep you away from him. And, if you are attached to him and end up losing him, you'll be at a loss as to what to do next," Draco processed that advice for a few minutes before he spoke again.
"You sound as if you are speaking from experience," Severus got an odd look on his face. Draco couldn't place it. It was as if he was reliving hurtful memories, or a past heartbreak.
"Let's just say that I wouldn't want you to live the life that I have had... Now go get cleaned up. You're due in potions next class,"
Draco left the office and tried to collect his thoughts. It seemed that he was having trouble doing that a lot lately. There just wasn't enough time in the day to think over every problem in his life. For now, though, he had a few decisions to weigh out. Be nice to everyone, or stay the same? Push Harry away, or pull him closer, rely on him, deepen their bond?
Draco chose the last one on each. So he was purposely ignoring his godfather's advice. He'd done it before. Nothing bad had come from it. What could possibly go wrong this time?
Outside, the stormy blue clouds had blown to the horizon, exposing a light blue sky. The top layer of clouds had stayed put. They were like thin, like whispered memories of the fluffy clouds that had forgotten them. The warm mid-spring sun was drying Hogwarts' grounds. It was almost as if the storm hadn't been there that morning. The only sign of it was the wind that was still throwing the trees around in a bizarre dance.
A/n– Thanks to the following people for reviewing: Me, Touya Koori Teshi (Nice guess at the end of chapter two), William the Bloody, Quicksilver, Little Lion (You wrote fine!), eminem4eva, Lyonessheart (Isn't Starbucks the best?), and The Marauders Dragon (I take the Japanese lessons in school. It's not a good thing that you cried, but I guess it's good that my work moves people... yeah, that was worded right! But who says that Lucius won't die?)Thanks to the following people for reviewing: Me, Touya Koori Teshi (), William the Bloody, Quicksilver, Little Lion (), eminem4eva, Lyonessheart (), and The Marauders Dragon ()
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Note: Edited on 12/16/04 for grammar, spelling and punctuation. A few things may be different from the original version, but nothing drastic.
:-:silver-sunn101:-:
