Here is chapter 10. I hope it meets approval to all who have been waiting for this chapter. I slaved on it!
This chapter is dedicated to my Boss, Sally, who helped me write the moment!
Well, I do not own Harry Potter. Are you crazy? I just own the plot of this dark, and getting darker, story.
DARKNESS OR LIGHT. WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?
Chapter 10 The Aftermath And Interlude.
It was wet.
It was raining.
Draco and Ron were standing by the side of a saturated Quidditch pitch while Harry mounted his broom and flew into the darkened sky.
"Okay Draco. You now have the perfect opportunity to tell Harry how you feel."
Draco looked at Ron in horror. "You what?" He gasped. "No way! Uh uh! Forget it! Like even! As if! Not a chance! Go ju..."
"I got the point." Ron sighed. "Look. You have got to tell him. You can't keep this up. If you don't tell him soon, I will."
"You wouldn't!" Draco stared horrified at Ron, who nodded firmly. "Why? Why are you doing this? Do you want him to split with Hermione?" Ron sighed again.
"It's not that Draco. I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the year that that I would do anything to make sure that Harry was happy. No mater what he says, he is not happy with Hermione."
"And you honestly think he will be happy with me?" Draco looked sceptical. Blaise told me that Harry is totally straight. Harry told him during the potions assignment."
"Ahh." Ron smiled smugly. "There was something that happened that you don't know about." Ron looked smug. "Blaise tried to force himself on Harry that day, just before we walked into the room. He had pushed him onto the floor and was trying to snog him." Draco stared at him, white faced, then turned, about to walk of the field.
"I'll kill him. I'll bloody kill him." Ron grabbed onto the back of his coat, halting his tracks.
"Hold it there. Blaise doesn't remember it. Harry used his potion to remove it from his memory, that's why he hasn't told you about it. He doesn't know he did it!" Draco turned back around and faced Ron.
"I'll still kill him." Ron chuckled.
"Maybe, but we have a more important task for you to complete." Ron cuffed him around the back of the shoulder. "And I'll give you the perfect opportunity." He then mounted his broom and flew up to join Harry. Draco watched as Ron hovered next to Harry and began talking. He thought back to a few minutes ago, in the hall, staring into Harry's eyes. It was lucky that Ron had snapped them both out of the little trance they were in, or he would have ended up jumping Harry in the middle of the corridor in front of everyone. It was like he couldn't control his body anymore so he spent a lot of his time avoiding Harry or not acknowledging him. The incident in the corridor indicated that it wasn't working. It was just making it worse.
"Malfoy." Harry called down to him, making him look up. "We're racing. Come up here." Draco stared over at Ron, raising his eyebrow. Ron just smirked back.
"Nah. You two race." He replied. He didn't take his gaze from Ron, who was making gestures towards Harry with his shoulders. He sighed. "I'll race the winner."
"Alright." Ron called back, rolling his eyes at Draco, then turned back to Harry. Draco stared at the floor. He couldn't tell Harry. What was he supposed to say?
"Hey Harry. I know you're dating Hermione and all, but I love you and I think we should give it a go! What do you say?" Draco laughed to himself. "Yeah right, like that will come off well. He'd probably smack me in the face." He heard a loud 'go' from above and watched Ron and Harry shoot across the pitch towards the goal posts and circle them. Draco always knew that Harry was an excellent flyer. It was so fluid and natural the way he handled his broom, like he flew all his life. His black outdoor robe flew behind him and he was pulling away from Ron. They had circled the pitch and were now headed towards him. Harry had slowed down and was stopping directly above him. Ron zoomed up and reached out his hand and pushed Harry. He didn't see this and he slipped off his broom.
Draco didn't have time to do anything but widen his eyes in shock before he was laying on his back in the slippery mud, his arms full of Harry. The boy had his face pressed in Draco's wet robe and didn't seem to want to move. Luckily Harry wasn't laying directly over Draco's body or he would have noticed just how turned on the Slytherin was at that moment! Draco tried not to groan out loud and closed his eyes and concentrated on trying to remember paragraphs from his Potions textbook.
"Hey, great landing Harry." He heard Ron laughing from above. "I thought you were supposed to be a professional."
"Ron. You'll die!" Draco heard Harry say into his robes before lifting his head. "What possessed you to do that?"
"Dunno. It was a spur of the moment thing." Draco heard Ron reply.
"I'll bet." He whispered, then heard Ron land next to them. "Harry." He spoke louder, wincing at how bad his voice sounded. "Please get off me." It sounded like a plea, but was actually a warning. Draco didn't know how much longer he could hold himself back. He knew he was blushing. He could feel the heat on his cheeks but knew it wasn't from embarrassment. He was so turned on that he had to clench his fists, digging his nails into his palms. He felt Harry move off of him and sighed in some relief.
"Sorry." Harry whispered with a blush. Draco stood up and brushed down his robes with shaking hands, avoiding Harry's gaze again.
"Well Harry, you beat me." He heard Ron state and he scowled at the ground. Why was Ron doing this to him? "It's you verses Draco. I'm going in to get dry." Draco's head whipped up to see Ron sprinting towards the castle, then he turned to see Harry's open mouth staring in Ron's direction.
'Close your mouth Harry or I'll close it for you!' Draco heard his mind mutter. He mentally kicked himself and turned from Harry and mounted his broom.
"You don't have to, you know." He muttered. "It's up to you." He turned to see Harry mount his broom next to him.
"No, I want to. Where should we race to?"
"The same as last time." Draco replied. "Start from here though." Harry nodded at him and they both took their starting positions.
"Ready, set, GO." Draco yelled. They both kicked off from the ground and headed towards the goal posts, circling them once they reached them. Draco was exhilarated. He watched Harry fly directly in front of him, feeling his heart contract sharply. This couldn't go on. For better or worse, he had to tell him how he was feeling.
Once again, Harry reached the starting position first and landed on the ground gracefully. Draco landed also and placed his broom on the ground. "Well done Harry." Draco looked at the boy in front of him, raven locks sticking up all over his head and water trailing down his nose behind his glasses. His silvery blue eyes moved to stare directly into his emerald green and all his control fell crumbling to the floor. Harry stood, frozen to the spot, the smile which was on his face had faded away and he was now just staring back. Draco stepped towards him, drawing closer until he was an arms length away. He raised his hand and stroked Harry's cheek with a finger.
"Why is it, that whenever I think about you, I feel as if my heart will break?" Harry's eyes had widened as soon as Draco had touched his cheek. At his words, his mouth opened in shock.
"M...Malfoy?" Harry stuttered out. Draco really wanted to kiss those lips at that moment, but instead, moved his fingers from Harry's cheek instead and touched them, gently stroking the outline. He reached out and encircled Harry's waist with his other arm, pulling them together tightly. His nose touched Harry's and their upper body's were aligned. He was shaking madly but had to finish expressing himself. Had to explain.
"Why do I, every time I close my eyes, see you standing there, staring at me? Always you and only you. Why do I want to touch you, hold you, kiss you?" Harry dropped his broom and grabbed at his upper arms, just below his shoulders. Draco was almost bursting with desire, but he didn't want to scare Harry away. He was restraining himself with all of his might. Harry's eyes couldn't get any wider. The rain fell harder and water was streaming off his nose. A roll of thunder could be heard. "Why Harry? Why have you done this to me?" Draco watched as Harry opened his mouth to say something, but didn't. The pressure was too much and Draco gave up. His fingers left Harry's lips and pushed into his wet but silky hair, grasping the back of his head. His hand tightened onto the back of Harry's robes and he leaned forward, pushing his lips onto Harry's.
Ecstasy! That was the only thing Draco's mind could formulate, apart from delving into Harry's mouth. Harry didn't pull away from him, but didn't press forward either. Draco stroked his tongue gently over Harry's bottom lip, making him open his mouth with a gasp. Draco pushed his tongue into the sweet warmth, moaning with pleasure. Harry tasted of chocolate. He must have been eating some before coming outside. Draco explored that mouth under his quickly, then pulled away, mustering his resolve. Harry still wasn't responding to the kiss and Draco needed air.
"I'm sorry." Draco said hoarsely. "I had to." He released Harry, who slid to the ground, landing on his knees. His eyes were glazed and he was staring directly ahead, not acknowledging Draco's words at all. Draco had to leave, before Harry came back to himself and punched him. The kiss had been wonderful, but it wasn't enough! Harry hadn't returned it and Draco wasn't satisfied! He picked up his broom then turned and ran towards the castle without looking back, tears of frustration beginning to gather in his eyes......
~~
Ron was grinning to himself as he walked into the castle via the large front doors. It was getting very late and the sounds of the approaching storm were getting louder. He felt quite satisfied with himself with helping Draco in his predicament. He had been moping around for long enough and Ron had definitely had enough of it. Harry also had needed a kick in the rear end! He liked Hermione, sure, but it was obvious to Ron that love was not part of the equation.
Ron was definitely no homophobe. He didn't see any problem in a same sex relationship. As he had told Draco that night in the boys bathroom, 'love was love.' It didn't matter who you were. He might have doubted Draco's sincerity about his feelings for Harry, if Ron hadn't felt his emotions. He had never felt such heartbreaking pain in his life. After his 'becoming friends' chat with Draco, Ron had used all of the research skills he possessed (which weren't much) hunting through the library for love spells. The original thought being that someone had played a nasty prank on him. Pansy had helped him but also hadn't been able to find anything. Ron had told her that Draco liked someone but had neglected to tell her who. She was already crushed from finding out about Harry and Hermione's relationship.
"Talk about love polygons." He muttered to himself, then walked into a solid mass. Blaise Zabini, slightly smaller than himself, stared at him in amusement. Ron stared right back and had to suppress the snigger of amusement that he knew was welling up. With his longish brown hair, creamy bronze skin and hazel eyes, Blaise was a girls walking dream come true. Pavarti and Lavender had been known to sigh dreamily when he passed and took to gossiping about him in the corner of the common room. The fact that the guy was gay didn't bother them. Lavender had actually once said that he had been misled and needed to be helped back on the right track. Ron had tears running down his cheeks at that, he was so hysterical, just as when Harry had told him about Blaise's pass at him. Those thoughts always popped into his head when meeting the Slytherin.
"Hiya Ron." Blaise brushed the hair from his eyes. "Where's Harry?"
"On the pitch." Ron pointed with his thumb behind him. "Flying. He shouldn't be too long. It's really coming down out there."
"Yeah. I heard the thunder." Blaise looked towards the doors where Ron had pointed to. "Maybe I should go and see if he's okay." Ron heard the wistful tone in his voice and fought the urge to laugh.
"He's fine Blaise. I just left him." Ron grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the great hall. Draco needed a little time to talk to Harry so he had to play the staller! "Let's go get some hot chocolate before the Great Hall is cleared for the night." Just recently, Dumbledore had decided that hot drinks at night would be a good idea and now, every night between eight and ten, tea, coffee and hot chocolate was served at one table in the centre of the hall. Filch had complained about this because it had caused him more work, clearing up the spillage of careless students.
"Alright." Blaise turned to go with him and Ron released his arm.
"Hey. Wait up." A familiar girls voice called from up the corridor. Ron paused and blushed. Pansy. She walked up to them with a smile, then followed them into the great Hall. "Getting hot chocolate?"
"Yeah." Blaise walked to the large table and picked up three mugs. He handed one to both Pansy and Ron, then lifted a jug of chocolate and poured some into his mug. Ron followed suit and Pansy picked up the jug of coffee. "Has Draco come downstairs yet?"
"I don't know." Pansy poured milk and sugar into her mug and stirred it. "I've only just come from the music room."
"Music room?" Ron said, confused. "I didn't know we had one." Pansy and Blaise stared at him in surprise, then laughed.
"Well, it's not a lesson room." Pansy smiled. "It's just a room for people who want to keep in practice. It's situated near Slytherin so that's probably why you've never seen it. It's not commonly used."
"Oh, right." Ron looked at her thoughtfully. "What instrument to you play?" He lead them back out of the Great Hall.
"I don't. I sing." She replied, taking a sip of coffee. "Classics and foreign music mostly." Ron raised his eyebrows in admiration.
"Really? Can I come and listen sometime?"
"Sure." Pansy looked at him and blushed faintly. 'She's really pretty.' Blaise cleared his throat, distracting Ron from his thoughts.
"As I was saying, has anyone seen Draco?"
"He's on the Quidditch pitch with Harry." Ron said dismissively, then covered his mouth and swore in his head. 'Shit! Idiot!'
"With Harry?" Blaise made to walk towards the doors when they opened and a very wet and bedraggled Draco pulled himself through them, then dashed past them, broom in hand, dripping water over the floor and completely ignoring them.
"Draco?" Pansy called after him. "What's wrong? Draco?"
'I saw tears!' Ron thought to himself. 'I wonder what happened.'
"Excuse me Ron." Blaise began to walk in the same direction that Draco had gone. I had better see what is going on. I'll see you in the morning." Pansy muttered a goodbye and they both headed towards the Slytherin dorms. Ron stood watching then go, then turned and made his way towards Gryffindor Tower. Upon reaching the portrait and muttering the password, (Pina Colada) he was accosted by a bushy haired girl.
"Ron. Where's Harry? I know you know." Hermione's hands gripped his shoulders and she stared directly into his eyes. Ron stared back, unaffected by Hermione's stress attack.
"He'd on the Quidditch pitch." Ron figured it was pointless to lie now. Harry was probably on his way back in. "He'll be here in a minute. In the meantime, come and play cards." Ron dragged Hermione over to an empty table and sat her down opposite him, then picked up the discarded pack of playing cards which were sitting on the table. Hermione sighed, then nodded. A comfortable silence settled over them. Ron tried to keep Hermione engrossed in the game so she wouldn't start jumping up and down about Harry. It was working too, until the entrance portrait opened with a clack and a black whirlwind rushed passed them and headed up the stairs. Ron heard a door slam from above, then silence. The common room had been bustling with a gentle noise of chatting students. It was now silent as everyone stared at the staircase to the boy's dorms.
Ron was slightly worried. First Draco, then Harry. Something had definitely happened between the two of them after he had left. He made to get up but Hermione beat him to it.
"Stay here Ron. Let me find out what's going on." Before he could protest, she was already sprinting up the stairs.
"'Mione. Come back." His words fell on deaf ears as the door slammed behind her. Ron sighed. "I'll give them fifteen minutes, then I'm going up there." He gathered up the playing cards and began a game of clock solitaire.
~~
Harry was still in shock!
After Draco had run from him, Harry had sat on his knees, in the mud staring ahead of him in total shock and disbelief.
Malfoy had kissed him!
Malfoy had kissed him!
It seemed too unreal but it had happened. Harry didn't expect it. His mind was whirling and he still had the taste of Draco Malfoy in his mouth and on his tongue. He didn't know what to do. When Blaise had tried to kiss him, he had managed to block him well enough. Blaise was a nice guy and everything, but he couldn't let him do that. When Malfoy had moved towards him, Harry found that he couldn't move. His eyes were glued to Malfoy's and there was nothing he could do. What was disturbing him now, was the emotions that had run through him during the kiss. Fear, apprehension and exhilaration! If he hadn't been so shocked he probably would have fallen into that kiss and not stopped. It scared him. Hermione never brought that kind of feeling to him during one of their kisses. Maybe it was because they were still too nervous with each other to really kiss properly.
'I just kissed another boy!' Harry shuddered, the realisation suddenly hit him. He raised a shaking hand to his mouth and touched his lips gently. A tear slid down his face as his whole body began to shiver. The boy who lived was sitting in the middle of a rainstorm, upset because a boy had kissed him. The main point being, he had actually liked it.
"I'm not gay!" Harry climbed to his feet and began his trek back to the castle, after picking his broom up from the ground. "I am not. That was just a hormonal reaction to the situation. I am a teenager after all." He continued this mantra into the castle up to the point when he reached the Gryffindor entrance.
"Are you okay dear?" The fat lady asked, peering down from her frame. ""You've either had some shocking news or you've been thorougly snogged!" Harry blushed in horror, muttered out the password then ran into the common room and up the stairs, ignoring everyone around him. He made it to his dorm room and crawled onto his bed, kicking off his muddy shoes first. He had hardly lay there when the dorm room slammed open and Hermione rushed in, shutting the door behind her.
"Harry. What's wrong? Where have you been? Are you okay?" She stepped over to the bed and crawled onto it, settling herself next to him, leaning against the small of his back. "Harry?" Harry sighed, then turned to face her, worry on his face.
"'Mione. Tell me. I'm not a lousy boyfriend am I? I'm not giving out strange vibes am I?" It was a fair question, he thought. Two guys had tried to jump him in the matter of weeks. True, one actually had, but that wasn't the point.
"Of course not." Hermione leaned over him and kissed his cheek. "I love you for you. I don't want anyone else." She then leaned over slightly further and kissed him fully on the mouth. Harry didn't respond for a few seconds, then proceeded to roll her over and kiss her back. One thing that continued to reverberate around his mind was: I am not gay and I will prove it!
He began to kiss her harder, trying to feel more than what he had felt earlier. Trying to prove that yes, it had been his hormones playing up. His tongue pushed into Hermione's mouth and she groaned, running her hands along his sides. Harry started to unfasten Hermione's top and got past three buttons when the dorm room door opened.
"Hermione. Ginny want you to help her with her Herbology.....Yow, my eyes!" Ron's voice was heard behind them. They released each other and Harry sighed. He wasn't sure what he felt at that moment. Hermione kissed him on the cheek again, then got off the bed and left the dorm room.
"Are you okay?" Ron asked hesitantly. Harry stared at him, then muffled his face in his pillow.
"I'm sorry Ron but could we talk tomorrow? I'm tired." Harry sighed. He felt Ron moving towards him and felt a hand on his back.
"Sure mate. We'll talk tomorrow." Harry then heard Ron moving around, getting ready for bed. He sighed again and placed the pillow over his head. Yes, tomorrow. He would have to face Ron, Blaise and Malfoy tomorrow.
"Please, let me die now!" He groaned.
There. Like it? Hate it? I did try, but as I said, trying to write romantic scenes embarrasses me. They never seem to flow right.
Anyway, please review. Everyone's comments mean so much to me.
Love
Rie
xx