Title: Like A Fairytale

Author: Stardrops

Genre: Romance

Rating: PG 13: Some violence and slash, precautions only.

Summary: Faced with difficult decisions about his future, Draco forms some unlikely friendships. A passionate romance is sparked – but is not as secret as he supposed. Someone is stalking Draco at Hogwarts – suddenly, keeping himself and Harry safe is more complicated than he imagined.

A/N: I had to change the summary, because I created a chapter plan for this and the summary is actually leaving out a lot of what is going to be a central theme, so I had to change it. Please still keep reading the story!

Chapter Four: The Detention

Harry Potter was not a happy person that night. Not only was he grumpy and tired, he was not looking forward to spending time alone with Draco Malfoy.

"And it was all Malfoy's fault, too. If he hadn't yelped, McGonagall would never have known. Jerk."

Hermione patted Harry on the back in a reassuring manner. "I'm sure it won't be that bad, Harry. I mean, it's only for a few hours, right? You don't have to say anything to him, I'm sure."

"He's right, though, Malfoy is a prick. What was he doing at the kitchens anyway?"

"The same thing as Harry was? Trying to get food at three in the morning?"

"I'm surprised you didn't punch him out, Harry. He's a real prat, I would've knocked him flat."

"I was sorely tempted," Harry admitted.

"Harry! You're Head Boy, you can't go fighting - " Hermione began, but was interrupted by Ron.

"Oh, give him a break, Hermione. He didn't touch Malfoy, he's got self- restraint. More than Malfoy deserves, though," Ron said darkly.

Harry sighed. "I should go. We're supposed to be there at eight."

"Aren't you going to eat?" Ron asked in concern.

"Nah, I'll be fine," Harry said bracingly. He left the common room and a bickering Hermione and Ron behind him as he walked to the Transfiguration rooms.

Draco was already there when he arrived, and McGonagall followed soon after. She did not open the door, but led them down the corridor, back through the Entrance Hall and into the Hogwarts Grounds. Her cloak billowed out behind her as Harry and Draco scrambled to keep up.

She stopped outside Hagrid's cottage and knocked. Hagrid's head popped into the window for a moment, then the door unlocked.

"Hullo, Professor McGonagall!" he exclaimed. She nodded in greeting and gestured towards the two boys.

"Potter and Malfoy are here to serve their detention with you. Can you make sure they're back in the castle by midnight?"

Hagrid nodded and gestured to the two boys to join him around the back. They followed him, Harry could feel Draco's eyes glaring at him. Serving detention with Hagrid was nothing bad for Harry, but Hagrid didn't even like Draco, so it would be nothing short of torture.

"Right, here you go." Hagrid handed each of the boys a strange net on a stick with a spike protruding from the centre of the net. He also passed them some still wriggling worms – to hold in their bare hands. Draco shuddered as the wet, squirmy creatures were placed in his hand.

"Er – Hagrid?" Harry said timidly. "What exactly are we supposed to do with these?" He didn't look any more delighted than Draco felt to have the slimy worms on his bare skin.

"I'm about to get to that." He pulled his own worms out of the bucket and placed them into the net. "Right, stick em into the net, and follow me."

Draco hastily dropped his into his net, thankful beyond all belief to be rid of the clammy, writhing worms. Harry followed suit, wiping his hand on his cloak afterwards.

Hagrid was already walking up front, heading for the lake. Harry hasted to catch up with him. "Where are we going?"

"To the lake. See, we've got some bloody good Kriskanthas out back of the cottage for the second years to look after, but they've got a nasty bug at the moment. The only thing that'll rid them of it is this particular fish we can get out of the lake."

"And we're fishing? That's our detention?" Harry asked.

"Yep. Now, what are you doing in detention again, Harry? I thought you were going to behave yourself this year, since you're Head Boy and all." Hagrid beamed down at him with proud eyes.

Harry squirmed a little. "Well, that was the general plan, to keep out of trouble, but if this git," he nodded to Malfoy, "hadn't squealed, we wouldn't have been in trouble."

"Ah, but you were outta bed, weren't you?" Hagrid said, winking. "Never mind, though, yer father got in a lot worse trouble than you for sneaking around with Lily."

Harry would have liked to have asked Hagrid more about his father, but at that point, the three of them reached the lake.

"Hagrid – what's that?" Draco asked suddenly.

The other two looked to where he pointed. It was hard to see because the night was dark – the clouds kept masking the moon, cutting off their only source of light. They could just make out the figure of little shimmering specks flinging themselves in and out of the water in the manner of dolphins.

"Them? They're just Flippersnatchers. They love to play at night, never come out during the day. Beautiful creatures, though, aren't they." Hagrid stared dreamily at them for a moment and then shook himself. "Right. Dump your nets in the water and hold onto the end. You wait until you feel the net jerk, then you pull it out of the water. We got plenty of worms, so don't worry if you lose some."

Draco shuddered. This was likely to be an extremely horrid detention.

They'd only been fishing for a little while, but Hagrid was staring at the moon when he heard a wail come from the Forest. All three of them stopped and stared, completely motionless. The wail came again – it sounded very human.

"It's probably a centaur, but I should go check anyway," Hagrid said, and left his net sitting on the ground. "Look after me net, will ya, Malfoy?"

Hagrid soon disappeared into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest, and Draco was left sitting on the bank of the lake with Harry, holding his own net and watching Hagrid's.

"This is a really weird detention." Harry's voice was quiet, but the night was so still, it rang out like a church bell.

"Fishing isn't such a bad sport," Draco said. "It's kinda relaxing."

Harry cocked his head. "You call fishing a sport?"

Draco flushed, though Harry couldn't see it through the dark. "It is a sport. It is classed as a sport."

"How odd."

They were silent for a moment, and then the moon came out from behind its cloud. Draco peered at the net beside him to check, and to his surprise, he saw it moving steadily away from him.

"Jeez, there's something in the bloody net!" he said in surprise. He leapt to his feet to run forward and stop it, but overbalanced and fell with an enormous splash into the lake.

He surfaced, gasping. It was autumn, but the water was surprisingly freezing. "Oh god. That's fucking cold."

Harry could barely speak for laughing. He reached out his hand to help Draco up, but Draco lost his footing on the bank and fell back in.

Hagrid came out at that moment, and hearing Harry's laughter, looked around. "Where's Malfoy?"

Harry couldn't speak, he simply pointed into the water. The reflection of the moonlight was spoiled by the ripples made by Draco thrashing around. Hagrid couldn't help himself, he had to laugh as well.

Eventually, when Draco yelped that there were things nibbling at his toes, Harry held out his hand again. Draco took it and was hoisted out of the water. He sat, shivering, on the bank as Hagrid collected the nets, still chuckling madly.

"That wasn't very productive, fishing-wise, but entertainment-wise, it was gold."

Draco glared. "Shut up, Potter." His teeth were chattering.

"Oh, come on Draco, it's not that cold," Harry scoffed.

"Yeah? You wanna test the water?"

Hagrid took them both back to his cottage. "Here, Malfoy, I'll get you something hot to drink. Harry, find him a blanket or something will you?"

Harry obliged, and Draco sank into a wooden chair in the kitchen. Hagrid handed him a hot drink. "You should take off your shirt, Malfoy, and dry it over the fire."

Draco looked at him.

"Well, what are you waiting for? We're not perverted, but you'll freeze to death if you wear wet clothes. Would you rather be cold and wet or dry and warm?"

This was a good point, so Draco removed his shirt and handed it to Hagrid, who set it over the nifty clothes line over the fireplace. Harry came out of the bedroom with a red blanket, which he draped over Draco's shoulders.

"Better?" he asked Draco. He nodded ever so slightly, staring into the fire, clutching a mug in his fingers.

Hagrid looked around. "Look, there was a fight in the forest; a Centaur was attacked by a Bowtruckle – bloody fierce creatures when they want to be. I'm gonna go check that he's okay and then I'll be back, okay?" He left the cottage.

Draco set the mug down abruptly on the table. "How long have we got?"

Harry looked at his wizard watch, a gift from Hermione the previous year. "It's only eleven thirty – we haven't been here long."

Draco went to sit on the floor, using the blanket as a towel beneath his soaked trousers. His cloak and shirt were still hanging up, and Harry was left staring at the clear, white skin on Draco's back - creamy, unblemished and smooth. It was eerie to see Draco in this light – his blonde hair was given a silver halo from the firelight in front of him.

Draco turned around. "What are you staring at?"

Harry shook himself. "Nothing."

Draco rolled his eyes. "You can come sit down instead of standing there looking like an awkward school-girl."

Harry went over and sat beside Draco on the rug in front of the fire. There was a rather wet patch on the floor from where Draco's trousers were leaking everywhere, but Draco hadn't seemed to notice, and Harry was sure Hagrid wouldn't really care.

"So what's the deal with Granger and Weasley?" Draco asked.

Harry blinked. "What?"

"You know – your friends? Granger and Weasley? What's the deal with them? Are they an item yet or what?"

Harry blinked again. "Since when did you care about my friends?"

"I don't, but we can't sit here in silence til Hagrid gets back. Let's have some conversation, no matter how lame and boring it is."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "They're not lame and boring."

"They are to me. Anyway, come on, answer the question."

"No, they're not an item yet, but they probably will be soon."

Draco nodded. "They're always flirting, it's amazing they've gone this long without getting it together." He nodded at Harry. "What about you? You haven't got a girlfriend."

Harry frowned. "How do you know that?"

Draco smirked. "Harry, come on. Just because I'm in Slytherin doesn't mean Slytherins are immune to the gossip. We'd know by now if you had a new girlfriend."

Harry shrugged. "No. I don't have a girlfriend."

Draco looked at him. "Fancy anyone?"

Harry threw him a withering glance. "If I did, do you really think I would tell you? Draco Malfoy – Prince of Slytherin?"

Draco thought for a moment. "Good point. But anyway, I can tell by your expression. You don't fancy anyone at the moment, do you?"

Harry resigned. "No." There was silence for a moment. "You?"

"Not really."

"What about Pansy?"

"Parkinson?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, please. She's nice and all, but – ergh. No. Not happening."

"You two went to the Ball in fourth year and sixth year together."

"I'm touched you noticed. Anyway, that's exactly how I know she's never going to be a proper girlfriend of mine. Kissing her is like kissing a leech."

Harry reeled. "Ugh. Too much information."

"Well, it's true."

"Wait – you kissed her?"

"Duh. You go to the Ball with someone, you kinda expect to snog them eventually. It's polite, and it's what you do anyway."

"Oh. I just couldn't imagine anyone wanting to kiss her."

"No – I don't think anyone really does." He paused for a moment. "You ever been with Granger?"

"What?"

"You and Granger, have you ever been an item?"

Harry smiled. "Completely platonic relationship there, Malfoy. She's Ron's crush, not mine."

"Have you ever kissed her?"

"Malfoy, do you ever listen? NO. She's my best friend, anyway."

"Have you ever kissed anyone?"

"Excuse me?"

"Have you ever kissed someone?"

Harry was taken aback. "I heard what you said; I'm just bewildered as to why on earth you would want to know."

"Well, I'm bored, and besides, if you haven't, I can laugh at you."

Harry exhaled. "Yes, I have kissed and been kissed before."

"Who?"

"Cho, Parvati, Lavender, Susan, Katie, Hannah........." he ticked them off on his fingers as he went.

Draco's mouth dropped open. "You kissed Katie? As in Katie – the chick on your Quidditch team who graduated?"

"Yeah, so?'

"How on earth did you manage that? I thought she was way out of your reach. She's – well – pretty, and smart, and just...how did you manage that?"

"End of match Quidditch parties, we had one two years ago and she kissed me. It was a completely drunken moment, nothing romantic about it."

"Hmph."

Harry studied Draco for a moment. His grey eyes were alight with the reflections of the fire, the flames seemed to be coming from Draco's eyes rather than to them. He'd pulled the ends of the blanket up, covering his back. Harry smirked.

"Red is a good colour for you."

"What?" Draco snapped.

Harry grinned. "You look good in red."

Draco raised an eyebrow witheringly. "Give me a break. I'm cold."

"Yeah, yeah."

Draco got up from the floor, leaving a little pool of water. He reached for his shirt, and pulled it on. Harry was once again captivated by the clear, white skin before it was covered by the olive green shirt.

"Why do you dress in such dull colours anyway?" Harry asked, rather wanting to see the pure skin again. His own was tanned from endless Quidditch practice and working in the hot sun during the summer holidays, but though Draco seemed to spend nearly as much time playing Quidditch as he did, his skin looked as though it had never seen sunlight.

"Green is not a dull colour."

"That green is. You should wear blue and red and bright colours."

"Why?"

Harry shrugged. "Just suit you better."

"According to you. Great. Just what I always wanted, fashion advice from Harry Potter."

Hagrid came back in at that moment, and sighed. "Bloody Bowtruckles. Something touches their trees, and they attack like there's no damn tomorrow. Well, come on. I promised your teacher you'd be back by midnight, and its past midnight already. Ready, Malfoy, Harry?"

The two boys followed Hagrid out and into the cold Hogwarts grounds. Passing through the Entrance Hall, Hagrid left them with a nod to Draco and a friendly pat on the back which was more like a thump that half winded Harry.

Draco turned off into the Slytherin corridors to walk to the common room, and Harry left in the opposite direction to get back to the Gryffindor common room. He climbed through the portrait hole and found Hermione and Ron waiting up for him. He smiled at them.

"Hey, guys! What are you doing still up?"

"Waiting for you. We felt so bad about you having to do detention with Ferret that we decided the least we could do was wait up for you." Ron's eyes were tired and he looked like he was fighting off huge waves of sleep. Hermione looked hardly different at all.

Harry was deeply appreciative. "Well, thanks guys. Come on, you look like you're going to fall asleep right then and there if you don't move. Let's go."

Ron and Harry farewelled Hermione at the top of their staircase and watched her enter the girls dormitories, yawning. Then the pair continued on their way. "So, what was it like?" Ron asked, desperately trying to keep his eyes open.

Harry grinned. "Malfoy fell into the river."

Ron's eyes grew wide as he let a bark of laughter escape. "Really? Ha!" He danced around for a moment. "Wet Ferret!"

Harry laughed, and then they were forced to shut up by Seamus, who threatened to hex them both if they didn't let him sleep.

"Honestly, its only one in the morning." But this had no effect on the livid Gryffindor, whose snores were filling the room again.

Ron got into bed and was asleep within moments, but Harry lay there again, thinking. Thinking about little things, such as how angelic Draco had looked in front of the fire, his hair mussed up and half dried by the warmth in the cabin – his beautiful, pale epidermis spreading so smoothly over his entire body.

Harry's eyes shot open. What the hell was he doing? He was thinking about Draco Malfoy in a complimentary way. What the? That was insane. Malfoy was his sworn enemy. He did not like anything about the Slytherin, least of all his silvery blonde hair and the way he looked shirtless in golden firelight. Ugh. He was going to forbid himself from thinking about it ever again.

TBC

A/N: Okay! Chapter Four up. Very proud. Hope this is good enough for everyone, I welcome any comments and suggestions for improvement. Give me ideas and I will try to incorporate them in. Anything! Just review so I know how it's going.

Thank you so incredibly much to everyone who has reviewed, you have no idea how wonderful you all are. Your comments mean so much to me, and they really keep me going. And special thanks to Cat Mint, who reviewed both chapters of this story, and several chapters of other stories!

Please keep reading and I hope you enjoy what I have done so far.

Malfoy's Kitten: your wish is my command! Hope you like it.

Piper13: hehehe that's cute. ;) glad you like it, here's your update!

Yuki Kurai: oh, thanks! Thanks for sticking with me, im glad you still like it!

Moonlightblossom: aren't they just? I loved writing that! Anyways, im sorri they got caught. But they had to – I needed them to be in detention together, and that was a cute way to bring it about. Hope you still enjoy the story! Keep reading, we'll have maaaaaany cute Draco/Harry scenes later on! Promise!

Kristie: Thank you! I'm so glad you think that! Please keep reading!

Druggo Frog: Thanks, Brendan! I'm so glad to get male perspective, its great you like it! I sent you guys chapter 5 and 6, so keep me posted on how im doing! And besides, whats wrong with Katie? :P Thanks again!

KatFay: Thanks for sticking with me! That's really funny, too, she's supposed to have some sort of sixth sense and figure it out by Harry's attitude changes. You're very observant!

Hp Freakout: Thanks for your review – both of them! Yes, it's interesting how Harry and them find him – sort of predictable, but what can we do? :P Hope you like it anyway!