Chapter Twelve: Water Balloons

It was a week later, and laundry day again, when it happened. Harry learned he was being sabotaged. He woke up to find Dobby pulling the cap off a large bottle of bleach. At his feet, was a pile of Harry's pants…with a certain pair carefully set to the side.

"Aaaarrggg!" he launched himself at the house-elf, who promptly dropped the bottle of bleach and ran for cover.

Harry chased him all around the dormitory, crashing into tables and rudely waking up his roommates when the chase led over their sleeping bodies. Meanwhile, the open container of bleach would not be denied its fun. A large puddle formed quickly on the floor, spreading in the direction of the mountain of pants.

Dobby screeched to a stop by the heap, "I's sorry, sir, but Dobby has to do it. It's for Harry Potter's own good, sir!"

Dobby kicked with all his miniature might, sending every pair of trousers Harry owned into the noxious liquid. Every pair but one…

Harry flopped down on the floor, not noticing that Dobby had disappeared. His eyes were glued to the one pair of jeans that had been spared. He sighed and looked up into Ron's disheveled, but grinning face.

"At least you could help me this time…"

It was the first warm weekend of spring, and Fred and George decided to celebrate by starting a water-balloon fight on the front lawn. Soon, many of the students they'd pelted-including Ron, who was naturally the first to be bombarded with their "enthusiasm"-returned with ammo of their own, and friends.

Draco, of course, did not join in with such…undignified games. However, that didn't stop her from overtly watching the fun over the top of "1000 ways to deal with a major life-changing event" from the shade of a nearby tree. Especially when Harry joined the fray.

Draco's mouth went dry as she watched Harry use his finely honed seeker skills to catch one missile without bursting it. Those big, browned hands gently cradled the balloon, as if it were something precious and fragile.

Her breath hitched as his glorious muscles bunched to send it flying back at its sender. Draco gasped in unison with him, neither seeing the attack from behind until it was too late.

Cold water slid off his jet-black hair and down his neck, soaking his simple cotton tee shirt. The liquid caressed its way farther down his body, making the already tight jeans mold themselves to his skin.

Draco shivered, suddenly wishing more than anything to be able to trade places with the water. She blinked, wondering where that thought had come from, but was distracted from worrying about it by motion off to her right. Harry had moved out of range of the fight and was walking toward the sunny hill where Hermione and Ron sat, already drenched themselves and yelling encouragement to various people still participating.

Harry plucked at the drenched fabric of his shirt as he walked, trying to keep it away from his now goose-bumped skin. When he reached his friends, Harry stopped and let his hands fall to his waist.

Draco's eyes widened, "No, he's not…he can't…"she trailed off as he grasped the bottom of the shirt, "Oh my god…"

She watched, transfixed, as he peeled the wet material up, exposing an impossibly flat stomach that was divided in half by a shadowy line starting at his navel and disappearing into his still-wet jeans.

Judging from the soft moans that were quickly disguised as coughing fits, Draco had not been alone in her involuntary mental trip below Harry's waistband. She blushed and averted her eyes, fighting to get a grip on her runaway thoughts. But her gaze was unerringly drawn back to Harry, who'd collapsed onto the grass next to Ron.

He lay back, drinking in the warm sunlight and making Draco do a double take. Was he…sparkling? Small beads of leftover moisture shone on his exposed chest, catching the sun each time he moved.

Her face heated again, drawing forth a growl. That had been the second time in five minutes he'd made her blush! In fact, that had been happening a lot lately, and it was beginning to make her mad. It went against the Malfoy Code. Specifically rule number five: Never show weakness. This means no crying, whimpering, or yelping. No shifting, nervous habits, or blushing will be tolerated. Moaning is acceptable only in special cases. Defy this and know the wrath of many generations of Malfoys.

She had never been as fanatic about the Code as her father, and had broken the rules any number of times. But the frequency of that breakage was increasing of late, and it was all the fault of the little sun-bunny just lounging out there, having a good time.

Draco surged to her feet, determined to put a stop to this atrocity. Couldn't he see that he was causing some serious psychological damage by not replacing that shirt! She marched out of the shade, head held high although the tips of her ears were still a little pink.

Harry's laugh was cut off by the slightly Draco-shaped shadow that had suddenly flowed over his body. Draco (the owner of said shadow) growled low in her throat, which got Harry on his feet faster than you'd have thought it would.

Harry glared at the blonde tapping her foot at him, "What do you want?"

"I want you to put your bloody shirt back on. You're causing people to scratch their eyes out."

"Why?"

"It's indecent!" Draco gestured at him, "No one else is allowed to go around half-naked, why should you?"

Harry rolled his eyes and picked his shirt up. He headed for the castle, slinging the tee shirt over his shoulder. Draco followed him, still shouting at him to put the shirt back on.

Pansy, who'd followed Draco out from under the tree, stopped beside Hermione to watch the arguing pair disappear through the doors.

"What's her problem all of a sudden?"

Pansy sighed, "The reappearance of those jeans must be getting to her."

"You mean…?" Hermione's mouth dropped slightly open.

"Well, Draco always was an ass-man…"

Disclaimer: You know the drill, anything you recognize belongs to the rabid squirrels- oops, I mean Ms. Rowling…

A/N: I just love this chapter. Evil grin This fic was intended to only be a few chapters long, but it's kind of taken on a life of its own…ah well, on to writing the next chapter!