A/N: Sorry this chapter isn't as long as the others, I guess I have a tiny case of writer's block. =D Thanks for the great reviews.

Chapter Nine - The Accident

After packing up his belongings from a very long stay at the Burrow, Harry heaved a sigh of relief. Soon he would be back at Hogwarts, and back to Quidditch.

Ron turned to Harry, who had arrived in the kitchen. "You all set, Harry?"

"Yeah. How are we going?" Harry asked.

"Muggle cars," Ron said reluctantly.

If Harry remembered correctly, this was his sixth visit to the King's Cross station in London. Even so, he still got shivers of excitement when he came here, for he knew he would be going back to Hogwarts.

"Come on, Harry! Don't keep on staring at the place!" Ginny yelled.

Harry sped up, overtaking Ginny and the others, dashed straight through the barrier between platforms nine and ten, and arrived at Platform nine and three quarters. He soon found an empty carriage and rapidly closed the door behind him. Harry wished that nobody found him there, he would rather be alone. Everyone had been gnawing on his nerves the few remaining days. What seemed to be harmless nagging to them nearly drove Harry over the edge.

Fortunately, Hermione and Ron were prefects, so they couldn't come and sit next to him. While this had annoyed Harry the year before, he didn't mind it now. The others, such as Ginny and Neville Longbottom, seemed to be with their friends, so Harry got his wish of being by himself. As he was waiting for the train to start, Harry could hear all the other students search for carriages and chuckle happily as they met up with old friends, talking about the summer they had just left behind. Harry shut his eyes, ready to get some proper sleep, away from Ron's snoring.

"This one will have to do," a familiar voice said, whipping the door open and stepping in.

Harry peered through half closed eyes to see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle sit alongside him in his carriage. Shuddering involuntarily, he pulled his knees up to his body and continued to try to sleep, though he could feel the butterflies take flight in his stomach.

"Hey Malfoy, shall we curse him?" Crabbe sniggered.

"No," Malfoy said coldly. Harry tensed up, aware of all three of them staring at him.

"Why not? His friends cursed us last year," Goyle wailed.

"I know that. Let's not sink to their level, shall we?" Malfoy said firmly.

There was no further mention of cursing Harry. Crabbe and Goyle talked amongst themselves, while Malfoy sighed loudly and moved himself so he could see out the window, so he was now in front of Harry. It was then that Harry realised that Malfoy was a prefect - what was he doing here?

As if to answer his question, Malfoy moaned to Crabbe and Goyle about the space in the prefect carriage.

"I knew we should have arrived earlier. I can't believe we had to stop for you two to get some more food. Besides, I wasn't going to share a carriage with the Weasel and that filthy mudblood in a million years," he scoffed.

Harry kicked Malfoy hard, making out he was stretching. Even though he thought his friends were mildly annoying, there was still a trace of his old self that dearly wanted to throw a book at Malfoy's head. While Crabbe and Goyle grew deep in conversation about a house elf that they had found (and tortured) in Crabbe's attic, Malfoy leaned in closer to Harry, brushed his hair away from his face (causing the butterflies to zoom around wildly in Harry's stomach), and put his lips right against Harry's ear.

" I know you're awake Potter," Malfoy whispered maliciously, "Shame I intend to insult your friends all the way there. If you wake up properly, Crabbe and Goyle will probably curse you. How convenient."

Harry could feel Malfoy stare him right into his closed eyes now, as if waiting for a reaction. He could feel those same shaky breaths tickle his face, and Harry imagined the mental picture of Malfoy leaning in, as if to kiss Harry, and wondered why Crabbe and Goyle hadn't pointed this out. It was at that moment that the train decided to jerk terribly, causing Malfoy to lurch forward - his lips landing smack bang onto Harry's. Although it wasn't the way Harry intended their first kiss to be, (he had thought it through - it would definitely be a passionate kiss, full of anger and built up tension, probably in the Forbidden Forest), he still liked it, judging by the way his body tingled excitedly, mainly focusing on his groin.

Malfoy leaned back, stunned into silence. Crabbe and Goyle were banging loudly on the carriage door, complaining about the juddering train.

"Get out of my way, fools! I need to go to the bathroom," Malfoy cried, slamming the door behind him.

Harry thought quickly. Deciding it would be best to chase Malfoy, Harry bounced up, locking the door behind him. Assuming neither idiots knew the unlocking spell (alohomora), he found the only toilet that was engaged and desperately tried to think of a plan. After five minutes, Harry grew weary of trying to act cool and collected when Malfoy stomped out, which seemed to be taking forever. He walked straight up to the toilet door, and, after listening in to hear Malfoy muttering incessantly, knocked loudly.

Malfoy peered out warily. When he saw Harry's eyes stare back, he pulled him in quickly.

"What do you want?" Malfoy hissed.

"We need to sort this out, Malfoy-"

"No we don't!"

"Please, hear me out-"

"FUCK OFF!" Malfoy screamed, pinning Harry against the wall. "You fucking hypocrite! You freaked out at the Manor, you left me when I needed you the most..."

Malfoy trailed off, loosening his grip. Harry sensed sadness in his eyes for a few seconds, before they sparkled angrily once again. Harry could feel Malfoy's hand press harder into his chest as they trembled madly.

"There is nothing to sort out, Potter," Malfoy whispered finally.

"But, the kiss-"

"It wasn't a kiss, it was an accident," Malfoy muttered, although he hesitated. "It meant nothing to me."

Harry, who had finally grown tired of this, pushed Malfoy roughly away from him. Throwing the door open, he realised that he couldn't go back to the carriage - which was stupid because his luggage was in there. Nonetheless, Harry paused at the door, uncertain of where to go.

"Well, Draco," Harry began quietly. "It meant something to me."