Chapter Four
The rest of potions was spent in mostly quiet servitude towards the task at hand, which was both extraordinarily painful and peaceful. Zacharias not only felt the sense of comfort around Harry growing, but he could also feel his anticipation growing as well.
This is how he came to be nervously pacing back and forth in his dorm after an entire day of butterflies and near-sickness. His first date. It was sad, he thought suddenly, that it was his first date, but at the same time it was utterly exciting.
Hannah came bounding in shortly and looked him over, her face turning sour. "You're not going in your school robes?"
"What? Oh," he realized what she meant. "Well, we are supposed to study, aren't we?" She raised an eyebrow at him. He supposed some teenagers went to the library to study with potential love-interests, even if she never had. "Honestly, we're just going to talk," he said stonily.
"And my mum's a badger." She gave a slight chuckle at her house-pride joke and began sifting through his wardrobe.
"Hey!"
"This will do for the trousers," she said as she tossed a pair of dressy pin-stripes onto the bed. "And… Ooohhh!" She was squealing, which he suddenly realized was a very unattractive vocalization. "It's perfect!"
The 'perfect' top she'd found turned out to be the most guarded and disgusting piece of clothing in his wardrobe. Justin, whom he was now doubly tired of, had given it to him last year to try and 'spice up' his attire. Zacharias had simply envisioned the spices Justin had in mind being arsenic or belladonna as a shirt in that putrid purple color would never grace his shoulders.
"It'll bring out those little dark flecks in your eyes," she said with a sigh, as if he were some doll she'd just found the perfect little dress for.
"I don't think so," he said haughtily. "I don't wear purple."
"You do now!" Before he could even offer further protest, he found her wand had been aimed and he was now standing quite naked from the waist up. The dress shirt and tie had been removed and flown gracefully into her hand, whilst his nipples began to tense up from the chill of the room. He silently cursed her for being one of the best in Hufflepuff house with charms. "Put it on or I'll call Susan."
And, thus cowed, he did so.
---
When he arrived at the library, his hair was again straightened against his will, his purple silk shirt done up with the exception of one button, which Hannah had purposefully stretched because 'skin needs to be shown when it's this sexy and smooth,' and his trousers shrunken just enough to 'accentuate that sexy arse of yours.' He felt a bit like an idiot, but he had been informed that he looked about as sexy as a skinny blond prat could look, and this from Ernie whose opinion he trusted above all the others.
He looked around the sparsely populated room to see that most students were studying, none even noticing his arrival, and none of them were Harry Potter. Somewhat disappointed, but also feeling a little put out, Zacharias made his way to a table and sat facing the door so he would know when the scarred wizard arrived.
After about half an hour, he came to the conclusion that Harry was standing him up. Knowing this had all been going too fast, and too strange to believe, he became furious and stormed all the way back to the Hufflepuff cellar.
"You're back already?" Susan was an unwelcome sight; she was in on this whole thing, even if unintentionally.
"I trusted you," he accused. "You knew didn't you?"
"Knew what? What's going on?"
"Don't play coy with me, Susan Bones! Harry was never going to be there, was he? This was all some stupid little prank to play on the stupid little blond boy. Well, I've had just about enough of all this shite to last a lifetime!" Without another word, or even a spare second to hear Susan out, he disappeared out of the room again and made for the lake. He hoped no one would spot him there, and since he was a rare one to make an appearance in public on purpose, they wouldn't suspect him of going.
The lake was quiet, and his heart was racing all over. Something wet was on his cheek but he didn't have the energy to wipe it off. His eyes were itchy and his face felt hot, but mostly his heart hurt from all the over-excitement. Sitting down on a boulder that conveniently seemed suited for angsty teenaged boys, Zacharias stared out at the dark surface of the lake and saw the Giant Squid playing in the remaining rays of the evening sun.
"Well, what do we have here?" Zacharias could think of times when Draco Malfoy might come in handy, but most of them had to do with bludgers and timing, none of which were relevant whilst sitting beside a lake frustrated at the disappearance of one Harry Potter. "Is the wittle hufflypuffy cwying? Aww!" There was a pair of sniggers signaling the presence of Malfoy's goons, which only heightened Zacharias's sudden need to grasp his wand, which was now firmly enclosed in his fist. "Is it becawse wittle Hawwy Potty didn't show up for your date?"
"Fuck off, Malfoy," Zacharias spat, turning to face the prat with all the anger he could muster.
"Woohoo! Big words from little men; might I have misjudged you?"
"You have no right to judge me at all, you slimy little git."
"And you, mudblood, have no right even speaking in my presence. As you must be aware, my master is doing quite well of late, and it won't be long before all of your kind are dead."
"Last I heard Voldemort wasn't doing that hot, Malfoy." Harry's voice never sounded so good, and yet so horribly wrong at the same time.
"You'd do better to stop speaking his name, Potter. You might find that one of these days you and your little friends won't be able to run and hide fast enough."
"I don't know about you, Malfoy, but I've never hidden from Voldemort. What'd be the point? I do remember a certain little ponce running away screaming for all his little stick-legs were worth at just the sight of him, however."
"You forget who you're talking to, Potty. You may have gotten the better of me in times passed, but I've been studying. You'd do better not to try and fight me now."
"Go on," Harry said with a smirk. "Give it your best shot. I've gone up against Voldemort and survived; you honestly think I'm scared of you?"
"You'll get yours, Potty. You'll see! We got your stupid Godfa—"
Before the words had even fully formed, Harry had cast the impediment jinx and Malfoy was clutching his throat in frustration. Crabbe and Goyle were both looking perplexed; not having their master's word to control them seemed to leave them without an idea. Malfoy gestured frantically at
Zacharias, but Harry was faster than their minds could ever be and had them both sporting a nice set of warts all over their bodies before they could even blink. For good measure, Malfoy suddenly found himself wearing purple polka-dots, which Harry thought clashed with his freshly coifed mane quite well.
When the three idiots had dispersed, Harry stood for a few moments regarding Zacharias cautiously. When he moved, it was slowly and nervously, but he stopped next to the boy who had returned to gazing out at the lake. Even though the squid had again submerged, it seemed the ripples were a lot more interesting than Harry.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. After a few minutes without response, he continued. "I got in trouble with Snape and had detention." He put his hand on Zacharias's shoulder, trying to goad him into turning, but all that garnered was a shrug to rid his hand. "Zacharias, please."
"Why are you doing this?"
Harry stared in wonder, uncertain what the teenager meant. "Trying to explain? I just thought…"
"No, this; all this shite about wanting to date me: last year you're tolerating me and suddenly this year you like me?" He continued to watch the ripples, avoiding Harry's gaze at all costs.
"I thought I'd—"
"No, you hadn't."
"Right, well, you see, the summer." Harry coughed, shuffled his feet a bit and turned bright red, but all Zacharias knew was that he'd coughed. "Look, this … liking boys thing, it's new to me. I sort of started thinking about what boys at school I might fancy, and well, Ron's out, 'cause you know, that whole Hermione thing. Neville's just… not my type. Colin; everyone knows how he feels, but honestly he's … too … Colin." He smiled for a moment, hoping the mood had lightened, but his companion continued to ignore him. "Look, you're… the only one who didn't take me at face value. You challenged me. You wanted to know that I was real, without listening to the others. It meant something. You were… Well, you didn't let my celebrity mean more than it should."
"'Celebrity.' Bit ahead of yourself, aren't you?"
Harry laughed. "Have you seen the Daily Prophet?"
"I try to avoid it, actually," Zacharias said flatly.
"Oh." Harry stood silent for a few minutes, watching the lake as well and hoping it would tell him what to say next.
"If you want to, you know, meet up or something again, maybe we could."
"What's wrong with right now?"
"Nothing."
"I'm sorry I made you cry," Harry added, apparently under the impression this would make things better.
"Fuck off!" He said it with earnest, but he wasn't getting up to leave. "I wasn't crying over you."
The silence spread for a while, both of them just watching the lake and feeling the chill of the night creeping up their skin. Harry was in his school robes, which offered a bit more protection, but Zacharias was still wearing only the silk shirt and the too-small-on-purpose trousers, so when he shivered it was no surprise.
"There's this spell," Harry offered. "It's a warming flame. Hermione used it a few times, but I, well I never remember them."
"I know it," Zacharias said, pulling out his wand and muttering the spell. A blue flame emerged from his wand and floated between them, casting a pale glow over them and a warmth that immediately curbed the cold.
"Thanks for that." Zacharias nodded, but continued to face the lake. "Look, could we walk or something?" Without word, the blond stood, his knees both cracking with the strain and pointed his wand at the flame so it would follow. Harry had to run to catch up as the teen seemed less worried about Harry following than getting to the nowhere they had agreed upon.
After ten minutes of silent walking, which had taken them a fair deal around the lake towards where the first task had been held, Harry reached over and took Zacharias's hand. It was nervous, tentative and apparently so drastic that Harry's hand was covered in sweat, but it was sweet and Zacharias melted just a little. He didn't pull away, anyway.
"So you live in…"
"Surrey."
"Really? Me as well. I'm in Little Whinging."
"Walton on Thames."
"Oh, right." Harry couldn't think of a word to say, but felt he had to plow on. "Er, I live with my Aunt and Uncle."
"Parents. Both muggles. Look, if you want a bio, I can have one written up for you."
Harry stopped a moment, but continued again when Zacharias's hand tugged on his rather than lose the contact. "What do you like to do for fun?"
"I like to read and do Arithmancy. I spend a lot of time studying maths and playing on my computer when I get the chance."
"Do you listen to music?"
"Sometimes I listen to Mozart or Beethoven, and even, if I'm in the mood, some modern stuff on the radio."
"Oh, er, movies?"
"This is ridiculous!" Zacharias threw Harry's hand at him and stomped off. "I am not a bloody eleven year old girl!" Harry was right behind him, but he didn't slow his pace.
"Look! How'm I supposed to get to know you at all if you won't even have a conversation with me?"
He stopped and turned, his face red with anger. "I don't think that was a conversation! You were bloody interrogating me!"
"I was trying to find out who you are! If you could stop being so bloody obnoxious for just a bloody second, you might find out that I want to bloody know you and make it a conversation!" Harry was also angry, but somehow this didn't register with Zacharias. This felt more normal, more real to him than holding hands and talking about likes and dislikes.
"I don't want to have a bloody conversation with you, Potter. You're just stuck on yourself. You only want to know me because I don't think you're perfect like everyone else. The moment you turn me around, you'll tire of me. I'm not out for a quick shag with the famous Harry bloody Potter!"
"You think all I want is a quick shag?"
"Yeah."
"Show's how much you know."
"I know a lot more than you ever will."
"Fine."
Zacharias turned and left without even a glance back. At first it felt like Potter was following, but by the time he reached the castle it was obvious he was gone. Okay, well good. Right? Good.