A few more days passed, and as they did, Draco tried to get Harry to feel a little less nervous around him. He did this to keep his mind off of other things, and it helped in making him feel better. More relaxed and less angry, he could say. It was fun for him as well, to see the boy's reactions, and he was sure it was going to get to Harry one of these days.
He was also wondering over the short occasion in the library; Harry hadn't seemed too uneasy then...
"Why don't you kiss me like you did in the library?" Draco asked suddenly. They were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, books and schoolwork set out on the small table they were seated at. Everyone else was in other areas of the room, but Harry sent him a very pronounced 'what-do-you-think-you're-doing' look anyway.
"No one can hear us," Draco said, rolling his eyes. Though he lowered his voice anyway, averting his gaze toward a piece of parchment to continue writing the remainder of a paragraph. "That was really nice, you know."
"Do we have to talk about this here?" Harry whispered.
"Well..." Draco drew out the word, acting as though it was hard to decide. "Yes, we do. I asked you a question and you should answer."
"Ok, fine," Harry said hurriedly. "There are people here, that's why."
"There have been plenty of times when we were alone."
Harry began to blush, turning his attention to a book on Herbology. Draco stared at him, trying to determine if the boy was going to say anything else. That really hadn't been a good enough answer.
"So, why haven't you?" Draco pried.
Harry glanced up quickly, and noticed that Draco had leaned forward a bit. "Well... you..." he started, but then stopped to think over his response.
"Go on," Draco said.
"You... well, you kiss better than me." Harry's cheeks turned an even deeper red. Eyes went back to the book after scanning them over the room to make sure that no one had heard him.
"I kiss better than you?" Draco questioned, nearly giving a snort of laughter. "I don't think so. You kiss well, and I wouldn't be asking you to do it again if you didn't. Are you afraid you'll make a mistake?" Draco smirked.
"If you have to know, yes!" Harry replied, sounding annoyed.
"How adorable," Draco teased. "You're concerned about how you kiss me."
Harry shot Draco a warning glare, though he looked more surprised than angry at how playful the Slytherin was being. Then the boy picked up a book and peered at Harry from over the edge. Harry knew Draco was grinning behind it, and it was only expected that Harry would get a bit bothered by it.
All of a sudden, the entrance to the common room opened, and someone came sprinting inside, breathless and tripping over their own feet. Both Harry and Draco's gaze snapped onto the person that just entered, as well as the rest of the common room. It was Neville.
"What happened to you?" Seamus asked from one of the corners. It broke the awkward silence that was passing while Neville tried catching his breath. Everyone started whispering to eachother.
"Slytherins..." Neville gasped. His eyes flickered onto Draco for a split second before pulling himself over to the couch. Seamus and his group of friends made their way over to him, asking him even more questions. Normally the Slytherins picked on Neville every week or so, so it wasn't that big of a surprise to anyone.
It did worry Draco, however. His smile had faded, and he was looking at a book, a worried expression on his face. Harry noticed. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I just... I don't know. I don't have a good feeling."
"Neville always gets beaten around by the Slytherins. No need to worry. I'm sure it wasn't about you." Harry tried smiling; tried getting them back to the mood they were in a second ago.
But instead he ended up jumping. The portrait of the common room had slammed shut. Harry leaned sideways to glance at it, and no one else was coming through. He supposed it hadn't been closed after Neville ran his way inside. Draco was looking closely at it as well.
"What was that?" He asked.
"Er... the portrait hole closing." Harry returned, trying to get his mind back on homework, even though he couldn't help but let it wander onto how strange this was.
"Oh," Draco said faintly. He appeared distracted. After sending a slightly curious glance Neville's way, he began to finish his homework too. He didn't notice that Neville kept glancing at him.
Later that night, when everyone was up in their dorms trying to get to sleep, Draco lay awake. Again. He couldn't stop worrying about something, and the terrible thing was that he didn't even know what was bothering him. He just felt worried.
Sighing, Draco turned onto his side, staring at the wall instead of at Harry. The boy was sleeping peacefully, as usual, and it only made Draco want to join him.
"Draco..."
In a faint voice, Draco thought he heard someone saying his name. He turned around in his bed, glancing beside him. No one was there, and none of the students in the dorm were awake.
"Draco!" The whispering became louder, and he suddenly felt his leg being shaken. He drew it up sharply and sat up in bed, eyes wide.
"Who's there?" He whispered timidly.
"It's Pansy," they replied.
Draco's eyebrows furrowed. He was staring at the spot the voice was coming from, but no one was there. Was he dreaming? Or maybe he was going crazy. "Where are you?"
"Invisible."
Draco heard the soft scuffling of feet, and before he knew it, Pansy appeared beside his bed. The darkness hid her well; she was wearing a black cloak. It looked as though she was holding another cloak in her arms. "We need to get you out of here," she said hurriedly. Her eyes showed her panic.
"What?" Draco asked, completely confused. How had Pansy gotten in? What did she want? "What are you talking about?"
"I don't have time to explain it all, but I can tell you that Blaise is planning something. I don't know what, but it's serious. Please trust me, Draco," she pleaded.
"Wh--" Draco started, starting to panic himself. He maneuvered his legs out of bed, keeping his eyes on her just in case this was a trick to hurt him somehow.
"Please! We have to be quick! I think he knows that I'm here," Pansy implored.
"How did you--"
"Through the entrance. I waited until you all went to sleep before coming up here to get you. We have to go!"
"Where are we going? Why should I trust you?" Draco questioned distrustfully.
"Please, Draco!" Pansy's voice held near tears, and that was really all Draco needed to assure himself she wasn't lying. She didn't cry unless she was genuinely worried about something; he remembered how she acted.
"Ok! Just let me grab my things!" Draco said, sounding rushed. He went over to his trunk and took his Slytherin cloak off from over it, tossed it over his shoulders, and hurried over to the bedside table to snatch up his wand.
"Alright, hurry!" Pansy whispered. She threw the invisibility cloak back over her shoulders and grabbed his hand to tug him under as well. They began making their way silently as possible through the dorm.
Draco's heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. He felt cold all over, and as they snuck their way down the stairway and through the common room, he suddenly remembered that Harry was still sleeping. He hadn't gone anywhere without the boy ever since he was brought into the Gryffindor Tower. What was he doing going somewhere he didn't know with Pansy?
"Wait, I have to get Harry!" Draco said quickly. He tugged on Pansy's wrist, trying to steer them back toward the dorm before they reached the portrait hole.
"We don't have time, Draco! He's coming!" Pansy looked at him, looking terrified again.
"But I can't go if he's not with me!"
"Oh, Draco... please... we have to--"
"Pansy, I can't... Harry needs to know..."
But they were already out of the common room, and it was too late for Draco to go back. Pansy was tugging him along frantically, trying to get him far away and out of the corridor.
Draco didn't know what to do. He was suddenly dreading his decision to go with Pansy, even if he i was /i in trouble. Though he was too scared to do anything else, and he knew it was too late. He wouldn't go running back now that he was left in the dark castle knowing that Blaise was roaming around.
And as Pansy led him down several more hallways toward where he thought was the way to the library, he could feel his eyes beginning to burn again. He wanted Harry here with him.