Chapter 7: Civil

Things in the compartment had just calmed down; meaning Pansy had finally gotten hoarse from all her screeching, when the compartment door opened for the second time. Draco didn't even look away from the window. It wasn't until he caught Pansy's wheeze of "Potter" that he turned around. The first glance of Harry Potter that year and Draco was sure he had just swallowed his tongue. Far off he heard Blaise give a low whistle and Millicent gasp as her book clattered to the floor. His mind had completely shut down at the sight of the green-eyed Adonis in front of him. If he had to come up with an insult or some witty retort at that exact moment, he would fail miserably.

"Fuck me," Draco muttered. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Blaise nod in agreement.

Harry shifted uncomfortably as everyone in the compartment stared at him. He couldn't figure out why they were staring at him like that. He was oblivious to the fact that he was a very hot young man and everyone in the compartment was having trouble getting his or her teenage hormones under control. Instead, he looked around the compartment for Amethyst and spotted her on Draco Malfoy's lap. The blonde Slytherin was as breath taking as he always was and it took all of Harry's self control not to start drooling. Draco's silver blond hair wasn't slicked back like it normally was; instead it hung softly around his angular face. His eyes were a stormy gray that put the gathering rain clouds outside the window to shame. His pale moonbeam skin appeared soft and delicate and seemed to glow in the darkening compartment. His 5'11" frame was nicely muscled from playing Quidditch, but his muscle structure was lean and trim, keeping his refined aristocrat looks. Graceful artist hands stroked the silky black fur of Amethyst's back and Harry watched mesmerized as those long elegant fingers sent Amethyst purring in delight. At that moment Harry wished for nothing more than to trade places with the Night Creature. He had never been so jealous of an animal in his life.

"What do you want Scarhead?" Pansy sneered.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. Here we go again, he thought, another year, and another round of insults. But this time he wasn't in the mood for the petty bickering. Truth be told, the rivalry between Malfoy and him no longer held the appeal that it once had. In the beginning he had truly disliked Malfoy's snobbish behavior and in truth it still annoyed the hell out of him. Then the bickering became his only release from being Harry Potter, a way for him to work out his anger and frustration. After all, Malfoy and his lackeys were the only ones that treated him like a normal person, the only ones who didn't give a damn that he was the savior of the wizarding world, and he had come to respect that in Malfoy. With the respect Harry had come to realize that there were other things in Draco's personality that he like and he began to notice how things didn't quite add up. The blonde was an enigma that Harry had to figure out, which of course lead to Harry noticing how physically attractive Draco was. And that lead him to acknowledging that he had one hell of a crush on the blonde Slytherin. But with Draco's hatred of him, Harry knew they would never be anything more than enemies. Not to mention, even if by some miracle or a snowball's chance in hell that they did become friends, Draco would still be beyond his reach. Honestly, the boy was like a god sent down just to torment mortals with his beauty.

But the sad thing was that if Harry had the chance to become Draco's friend, he would take it, even though he knew nothing more would come of it. No, he just wanted to be around Draco. To be able to talk to him civilly, to be near him, to look at Draco anytime he wanted without fear of being caught with a less then hateful expression on his face. Who was he kidding? That would never happen.

"I didn't come here to start anything. I just came for Amethyst," Harry said.

"Amethyst," Pansy snickered.

"Yes, the kitten that's sitting on Malfoy's lap," Harry replied slowly as though he were talking to a dimwitted child.

Blaise and Millicent both snickered. Everyone knew that there was no love lost between them and Pansy. In fact, no one could understand why Pansy hung around with people who openly despised her or why they allowed her to hang out with them. Soon it was decided that Pansy was just too stupid and conceited to realize that they despised her. And they let her stay because 1) they needed a guinea pig to test their insults/hexes/curses/potions and 2) they realized she was too stupid and wouldn't leave no matter what they did.

He didn't wait for Pansy's comeback; instead he knelt down and held out his hands. "Come Amethyst," he called. He didn't know if it would work but it was worth a try. Amethyst rubbed against Draco's chest before leaping to the floor and into Harry's waiting arms. He stood up with Amethyst carefully cradled against his chest, gave a nod and turned to leave.

"Potter," Draco called.

Harry stopped and turned his head towards Draco, but made no move back to the compartment. He raised an eyebrow, "Yes, Malfoy?"

"The Weasel paid us a visit," Draco stated smoothly.

Harry tensed and his toxic green eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did he say?"

Draco gave a careless shrug. "Nothing that I didn't already know. But you should know that the Weasel will sell you out the first chance he gets."

"Why are you telling me this?" Harry asked tilting his head to the side as he regarded Draco. There had to be some kind of catch. Draco was never nice to him. Well unless you counted that one time in Madam Malkins, but that was before Draco had known he was Harry Potter. And even then Malfoy had been a snobbish prick.

"'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'," Draco quoted. "You're just lucky that I hate the Weasel more than I dislike you."

Harry smirked. "You know, I think I'm actually flattered, Malfoy."

"You should be," Malfoy said airily with a wave of one elegant hand. "Now do you have a plan for the Weasel or are you going to be the Golden Boy that you are and let him get away with spreading your dirt all over the school?"

The smirk on Harry's face turned quite sinister and Blaise, Millicent, and Draco were highly impressed. "The Golden Boy is tainted and the Weasel will get what's coming to him."

"Is that so," drawled Draco.

Harry made a confirming sound in his throat. "Why Malfoy, I didn't know you cared," he purred. "But if you're that worried, Draco, you can always be your usual Slytherinish self and do what you do best; making everyone else's life a living hell," he said with a cheeky grin before flouncing off down the corridor.

"Did he just call you Draco?" Millicent asked.

"Did you just have a civilized conversation with him?" Blaise asked still blinking at the still open compartment door.

Malfoy nodded. He too was still looking at the doorway. "Yeah," he said slowly drawing out the word as though he wasn't exactly sure.

Blaise shook his head sending long strands of black hair flying. "Hell has just frozen over," he muttered raising his wand and once again shutting the door.

"And I didn't get the memo," Draco said dryly.

Lil' Sphinx: Thanks for the reviews and some ideas to torture Ron. I saw my muse yesterday, well actually she's more my editor/hey-I-have-this-cool- idea-what-do-you-think person. So I have about another chapter and a half.

Silvrfoxfire- Thanks for mentioning Ron's fear of spiders, I had completely forgotten about that. Yes, Ginny will help Harry and 'Mione, along with some others. No, Ron isn't going to die but he'll wish he had.

Soft Williow- Yes, Amethyst will help Draco and Harry get together. Along with someone else.

Xandriya- I wasn't planning on having Amethyst attack Ron, but why not. It would be hilarious.

unforgiven mistress- When Amethyst disappeared it was after the confrontation between Ron and 'Mione so it wouldn't be surprising that she went unnoticed. Don't worry you're not the only one that asked.

Oh, the pranks on Ron are going to start off small, so if you have any ideas I still want to hear them. Thanks.