As October drew nearer completion the weather in and around Hogwarts grew steadily colder. The chilling breeze that had brought rain was now a biting wind that made the atmosphere feel well below freezing in Harry's estimation. He planted himself on the rock, pleased that, despite the obvious fact that he could almost feel his rear and the backs of his thighs sticking with the cold, the rocks were dry for the first time in a week. His lighter was already in his hands from the walk down as it had proved a convenient source of heat in the palm of his hand. With a shiver as his opened robes let in the cold air he groped around quickly for his cigarettes. Once found, Harry hastily fastened the black material closed again. Taking one from the cardboard he lit it with a slightly shaking hand as the familiar body of Draco Malfoy dropped onto a patch of rock beside him.
Harry sat the lighter atop the packet as he leant back taking a long drag of the tobacco. A gust of wind blew across the water and he felt the blond shuffle a little nearer. The hand that hung loose by Draco's right thigh almost in-perceivably grazed the Gryffindors left hand that sat on the rock.
"Nice to see you've finally begun wrapping up warmer Draco." Harry said finally
"Well, I would hate to fall ill and deprive you of my presence." Harry rolled his eyes but Draco noticed he didn't disagree. Another gust of strong wind blew past them and the blond wrapped his arms around himself
"Bloody autumn weather." Harry exhaled another puff of smoke and turned to Draco
"I always thought you would have liked colder weather." Draco raised an eyebrow
"And why, pray tell Potter, would you think that."
The dark haired boy shrugged "I have no idea actually ...I just thought you would. You seem like the type I guess." He turned away again, flicking ash casually from the end of his cigarette as Draco peered at him thoughtfully
"I like snow ...and those days where it is sunny and frosty, if you wear enough layers of clothing on days like that then you don't have to notice the cold." Harry nodded in agreement "but if it's windy like this," he gestured emphatically with his hand "then it grates against your skin making it all dry and red."
Harry chuckled out a small cloud of smoke and Draco looked at him indignantly
"Sorry, I guess the image of a rosy cheeked Draco Malfoy was too much for me."
"Are you insinuating that I could not pull off the angelic look?" Draco looked wistfully across the lake, trying to look as innocent as possible. The pale cream of his skin and the blond of his hair did perhaps give him a slightly heavenly look, Harry however knew better than to believe it
"No no of course not Draco, you are positively the picture of innocence." Harry did all he could to suppress a giggle. The Slytherin looked round at him, the corners of his mouth quirking up
"Perhaps you're right." Harry made a feigned gasp of shock and shook his head as if doing a double take. He flicked his cigarette into the choppy waters of the lake and placed his hand over his heart
"Did I hear correctly? Did the Draco Malfoy just tell me I was right about something."
"No, I only said that you were perhaps right." Harry faked a forlorn look and peered over the lake
"Alas, I knew it was too good to be true." The blond rolled his eyes at the other boys antics although couldn't force away the grin that threatened to break across his face.
"You know Harry, you should really consider a career in acting." Harry turned back to him "not that you need to be any more famous mind you." He added as an after thought. The Gryffindor scowled at him but his face softened when he saw that Draco seemed to realise what he had said.
"It's Halloween tomorrow night." Harry said a few minutes later, looking for a change of conversation. Draco stuffed his hands up the sleeves of his robes against the cold
"Very observant of you, Potter." Harry pulled another cigarette from the packet
"I thought so yes. I've always quite like Halloween since I got here." He lit up and took a long drag
"Why not before then?" Harry exhaled, grey smoke curling up before being caught by the wind
"The Dursleys of course." Draco attempted to subtly close the gap between them, thighs now just touching. With a small toss of his head he flicked a strand of hair from his face before replying
"Ah, of course. Would I be right in assuming that fat-arsed cousin of yours would steal what sweets you got?" Draco had heard how bad Harry's muggle relatives were on more than one occasion, each of those times having to force off the strange urge to hunt them down and hit them with whatever nasty curse he could conjure at the time.
"That was whenever they actually let me go trick-or-treating." He smiled as a memory came to him "there was this one year when I wanted to go out as a wizard," Draco snorted "exactly ...I wasn't allowed food for three days after that..." The Slytherin suddenly found the story significantly less funny and felt an unexplainable thirst to exact revenge for what those muggles had done to Harry.
"These stories hardly do anything to endear me to muggles Potter. I mean you just say the word and all the three of them will be oversized slugs for the rest of eternity." Harry inhaled the tobacco and blew it out. He turned to the blond and smiled
"Thanks for the sentiment Draco but I'll pass. Not all muggles are bad, the Dursleys just happen to be an exception." Draco wasn't convinced but said nothing else and wondered when his instincts had kicked in, causing his hand to reach for his wand.
"As someone brought up in the wizarding world you probably like Halloween, right?"
"It's all right, I like the fact that I can indulge my sweet tooth as much as I want and have justification for it. The only thing that bothers me is..." Harry flicked another cigarette stub into the black water as he waited for Draco to continue "well it is meant to be the scariest night of the year and so far ...I've never actually been scared on Halloween." Draco's eyes drifted over the lake and followed a brown leaf that had been caught in an up draft. He therefore missed the somewhat calculating expression that had crept over Harry's face.
"I suppose it's because you are expecting it?" The silver eyes continued to stare at the leaf as it dissolved on the lake's surface. The cogs could practically be seen turning in the Gryffindors head
"Precisely, there isn't any surprise in it." Harry's lips curved into a smirk that looked eerily natural on his face.
Draco shivered then let out a long yawn. He stretched his arms above his head, narrowly missing clipping Harry's glasses. The dark haired boy watched the sinuous movements with an unconcealed fascination. The blond stood up in one fluid motion and looked down to Harry
"I'll see you tomorrow Potter ...probably with pockets full of sugared substances." Harry smiled
"Night Draco." The Slytherin gave a tired wave of his hand as he turned and walked away.
For the innumerable night, Harry shifted his position on the rock to watch the retreating back of the blond, taking quiet delight in the dramatic way the wind whipped at the blond hair and black robes.
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notes: some shameless advertising, myself and CS Whitewolf have co-created and are currently co-authoring a story called "Beyond Redemption". Now it may not be to everyone's taste, but we have an account here on fanfiction under the pen name Sisters of Darkness so I ask only a moment of your time to read the information in the biography to see if the fic intices you.Thank you sweethearts, and for all the reviews so far ! Kisses Aurora-Enkeli.
