It's not like he confessed his undying love for the boy.
But, as much as he was angry about this little detail of what was going on in Hogwarts, he was happy that it was Monday for only one reason. He'd get to see Harry in Potions class. He hadn't seen the Gryffindor all weekend; besides during meals in the Great Hall, in which he was sitting all the way across the room. That certainly wasn't good enough.
So, it wasn't a surprise when he walked into the dungeon classroom with a smile on his face. Yet, it faltered as soon as he saw everyone's eyes on him. Including Snape's. Including Harry's.
Clearing his throat; he tried to act as though nothing was wrong here. He always looked forward to this class; his smile meant nothing more than that to anyone else. Well, the Slytherins did look absolutely infuriated and betrayed. The Gyffindors looked infuriated as well, but looked more disgusted than they did betrayed. Snape looked solemn. Harry, well, he looked wonderful, as always. Maybe if it weren't for the troubled look on his face, then he'd look a tiny bit better, if that was even possible.
In what seemed like ten minutes, he finally found the way to his seat beside Harry, and sat down quietly. He set his bag on the floor, let his hands rest in his lap, and stared at the surface of the desk distractedly; as if inspecting a crack. He thought that he'd been quiet when he'd done all of this, but apparently he was the loudest in here. Everyone was silent; watching him and waiting for the confirmation of the rumor being true.
Fortunately, Snape spoke up, clearing his throat just as Draco had done, and began speaking about what they were to be doing today. Everyone's attention was brought back to the professor, and Draco was finally able to relax. None of his hearing was being used to listen to Snape though. He wanted to get things settled with Harry first.
"Would you know what all that attention was for?" Draco asked, his voice barely a whisper. He didn't want to end up getting caught by the professor again; only to get a third punishment. He'd end up slapping Snape if that happened.
"You know what it was for, Malfoy," Harry responded quickly. His eyes kept on the professor; eager to pay attention so that he wouldn't get in trouble either.
Draco attempted to keep an annoyed sigh back. Why did everyone make such a big deal out of things that he did? Why did they always rely on him to give them the information on what really happened? Why did they need to watch him continuously, until that day came? He didn't do anything too worth recognizing! They all needed to learn not to assume things.
"Because I shook Nott up a little for doing stuff to you the other day?" Draco asked innocently, his head tilted so that he could get a better look at Harry.
Harry stayed quiet; though his fingers were twitching to move and tap against the desktop.
"Is it?" Draco pestered.
"Yes, it is!" Harry hissed.
"Why weren't they looking at you then?"
"They were before you walked in."
Well, he had a good point there. Draco couldn't expect everyone to be waiting for him to walk in. Harry had been a part of this rumor too; so he was another main attraction. If Draco had known that something like standing up for Harry would grab him so much attention, he probably would've done it when he actually wanted the attention. But now, he certainly didn't want it. This was supposed to be something of his own; not some feeling that was open for the public to sort through and gossip over. The Slytherin frowned, going back to sulking instead of pestering Harry; plainly still not listening to Snape's lecture.
"Allowing for the halfway finished Potion to settle, you'll be spending the rest of the period studying and writing an essay about the Truth Serum. You will be working with your partners or alone, and will either go back to your common rooms or to the library in order to work on them. Trust me," Snape paused to sweep his eyes over the room, "I can find out if you've been working on the proper assignment or not. Now walk up here and form a straight line; I'll give you all passes so that I won't be responsible for you getting caught by the that dreadful cat or its master."
There was a burst of chattering and chairs moving against the floor as everyone scrambled up to stand in line. Most of them were smiling from ear to ear; knowing that they wouldn't have to spend the class under Snape's stare, but others were a bit unwary. Of course, those were probably the students who were hoping they'd get away with not working on the assignment. Idiots.
Draco was the last to stand up; seeing as he wasn't paying attention to the other students getting out of their seats. It was Harry who snapped him out of his bitter thoughts.
"Malfoy, we need to get passes." Harry stared down at him with a peculiar expression, unsure of whether to tug on his sleeve or not. Draco almost cursed himself for looking up, because a tug on his sleeve was something he wouldn't have minded. Any close contact coming from Harry was exceptional.
"What passes?" Draco asked vacantly.
"The passes to let us walk around the school." Harry rolled his eyes.
"For what?"
"So we can go to the library to work on homework. Weren't you listening at all?"
"Not really," Malfoy said heedlessly; standing up to join Harry near the end of the line.
"You're hopeless, you know that?"
Draco grinned. Was this Harry being friendly? If so, he quite liked it. "I know."
During the next five minutes, Draco stood there happily, actually looking forward to doing homework for once in his life. If Harry was there, it was bound to be more interesting.
"Mr. Malfoy," Snape summoned a piece of parchment out of thin air, scribbling his name on it and handing it forward. "I trust there won't be any problems this time."
"No, professor," Draco answered gladly; which earned an him a cynical look from the greasy git. Without another word, Draco turned around and started walking back to the desk to collect his bag. Harry was already there waiting for him to hurry up.
"Oh, waiting for me now, are we?" Draco asked, his lips turning up into a smirk.
"What are partner's for?" Harry replied. Well, he must've woken up on the right side of the bed this morning, Draco thought, one good deed and he's actually treating me like a friend.
"Partners now, are we?" Draco couldn't resist adding his smarts to Harry's comment.
Harry looked slightly confused. It took him a few seconds to finally figure out what it meant. Moments like these made Draco ask himself how he could like someone that was so slow in figuring out some things. Ah, it must be the entire 'opposites attract' phrase taking effect.
The Gryffindors eyes widened, "What? …We're not partners…"
"I was only joking, Potter." It was his turn to roll his eyes. They were making their way out of the crowded classroom; some students were still eying them suspiciously. Evidently, Harry had already decided they were both going to go work in the library together.
Then, out of nowhere, a Gyffindor jumped from behind them and blocked their path; his arms stretched out wide from his sides. Draco nearly jumped out of his skin; something was seriously going wrong with everyone. From jumping and popping out of nowhere, to the staring, to the weird behavior. Draco scowled. "What do you want?"
"Hi Seamus, what's up?" Harry questioned hesitantly.
"Oi, Harry. What's going on with you and ferret boy here?" Seamus, now placed in the category with the other annoying, hyper-active Gryffindors on Draco's list, was grinning from ear to ear. Draco kept on scowling, hoping that'd scare him off.
"… nothing's going on… why?" Harry was beginning to sound anxious. Dear god, couldn't anyone leave them alone?
"Who are you paired with?" Draco snapped irritably. Seamus looked to him, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Your monkey of a friend, Crabbe. Why, miss him?" The Irish accented boy cracked a stupid grin.
"Go back and find him. Now!" Draco ordered, pointing behind him to the crowd of students; whom were mostly heading back to their common rooms. "Or I'll smack you!"
"Ah, gonna smack me now, eh? Didn't know you had a little thing for me too." Draco's eyes began to blaze at that, and he would've rushed forward if it weren't for Harry being present. "But anyway, we're all going back to our common rooms to work. No need for the library."
"We'll be working in the library, Seamus," Harry spoke up uncomfortably. He was used to this sort of behavior from his housemate, and he was desperate to leave as quick as possible.
"Why? Is it true?" Seamus asked, his eyes forming two round, hazel circles.
"Is what true!" Draco snapped.
"Shut up, you! I didn't ask you to interrupt!"
"Why… you little.." Draco clenched his fists at his sides. Though, with Snape watching everyone leave, and with everyone else still around, he couldn't do much of anything except wait for Harry to hurry up with this.
"No, it's not," Harry responded abruptly.
"It's not?" Seamus asked, sounding a bit disappointed.
"No, we're just going to work in the library. Nothing at all is wrong with that." Harry informed, as if he were reassuring a child. Seamus's eyes lost their wide, inquisitive condition.
"That's bloody hell right. Now go off. Scatter!" Draco commanded pointedly, his eyes showing nothing but irritation by this point. Seamus gave him a 'look' and then decided to drop the questioning.
"Guess I'll see ya later, Harry. I get the feeling you're not telling me everything… or at least ferret boy here isn't… but, you know… talk to you when you get back." Seamus gave an enthusiastic wave and rushed back to join another one of the Gryffindors on their way away from the Potions classroom.
"Who the hell was that?" Draco inquired thoughtlessly.
"That was Seamus Finnigan," Harry replied, untouched by Draco's harshness. They both started walking again, and Draco was keen to look back and see what sort of gossip that boy was spreading around now. And he did for a second, but the boy was nowhere in sight.
"Well, when you see him when we're done, tell him to keep himself out of our business." Draco huffed indignantly.
"Our business?" Harry asked.
"Yes…" All of a sudden, Draco did something that clearly didn't pass through his mind so that it could give permission first. "You know… this business." He furtively brought up his hand, grabbing Harry's own in a gentle hold. For a moment, his thoughts were dead focused on the warm feeling he got from entwining his fingers through Harry's, but the moment didn't last for very long. A smirked played across his face as Harry stopped in mid-step, his hand jerking away from Draco's; his eyes wide in shock.
"What's wrong… I thought…" Draco was trying hard not to laugh at the expression on Harry's face. He didn't know why he was so amused; Harry had pulled away from his touch! Great, now he felt bad. "…You wouldn't mind?"
Harry's mouth opened, then closed again, and then opened. There was no doubting he was trying to find the words to say. Then, he gave up entirely and turned to head towards the library again. "What's wrong?" Draco asked, catching up to him in a quick stride.
Harry whipped around to face the worried Slytherin. "You just held my hand!"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Everything! I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I can't have you keep doing this! I'm trying to be nice, but you just seem to want more than that!" Harry looked at Draco meaningfully; not angry or irritated… just confused and unknowing of how to handle this.
"But…"
Harry objected, wanting to get the point across, "Malfoy, just… stop this, okay?"
Draco's expression dropped. He tried to stay calm; tried to stay casual, but it was getting difficult. His heart throbbed painfully, but he responded all the same, in order to make the look on Harry's face go away. "Alright… I suppose I can try." And with that, Harry stared at Draco for one second longer, wondering if he was being serious with his words, and then they both started walking the rest of the way to the library.
Draco didn't think he could feel any more miserable.