A/N; this one is a completely random one-shot that was simply begging to be written, so I did – write it, that is. Don't worry, to those who are on my alerts, I will update Veela Genes soon, I'm just finishing up the next chapter. So, in the mean time, just enjoy this little piece!
Disclaimer; I do not own Harry Potter. Happy now, Mr. Man-with-a-gun-pointed-at-my-head?
Warnings; slash, possible swearing (I haven't decided yet) rating as caution only. Probably actually a T or something, let me know.
Harry gave a short sigh, following the path a single droplet of water with his lazy eyes as it fell from the sky and landed gracelessly in a ready made puddle of similar droplets. It had been raining mercilessly for over an hour, though few people that currently resided at Hogwarts were aware of that insignificant piece of information. Most of the students were still tucked up in bed, sleeping the night away in their peaceful slumber. Although, Harry couldn't really blame them; it was around three in the morning, and he was probably the one mad enough to be awake.
But, sitting by the window in a cold, empty class-room, Harry didn't know if he cared. He supposed he really was mad, maybe he was crazy like all those papers had proclaimed those few years ago. Fifth year…it seemed so far away, so behind him down that dark path that he had followed, and yet it had been barely a year. A year; another whole year had passed, and seventh year had crept up upon Harry without giving him time to so much as blink in between times.
Harry pulled his feet up onto the chair upon which he was sat, hugging his knees close to his chest. It may still technically have been autumn, but the castle was dark and cold at night, no matter what the season. He should have worn a cloak or something, really; anything that would keep the heat in a little better then his pyjamas. But no, the dark haired teenager had simply woken up and climbed out of bed, barely stopping to pick up his wand before slipping out the door. He hadn't even bothered to bring his invisibility cloak - not that he needed it really; who was stupid enough to be searching the corridors at gone three in the bloody morning?
The soft thudding of footsteps alerted Harry of an approaching presence, making him jump from the chair and scramble quickly to the back of the room where he could hide in the shadows, away from the soft light created by the moon.
Harry shivered a little as the door opened noiselessly, shutting just as quietly with a soft 'click'. The Gryffindor automatically slowed down his breathing, attempting to make as little noise as possible whilst he watched the figure who had entered the room with curiosity; it didn't look like whoever it was there was a teacher, but what student would be out of bed so late- or rather, so early?
"I know you're here, Harry. You may as well come out now to save me looking for you,"
Harry recognized the voice instantly, and breathed a sigh of relief. Stepping forward out of the shadows, he greeted one of his two best friends with a warm smile.
"Hello, 'Mione. Did you use the map?"
The brunette gave a small smile in return, seating herself on one of the hard wood desks, then waited for Harry to do the same.
"Yeah, I did," she replied, keeping her voice low and quiet "Ron came and told me you weren't in your bed but he was getting really frantic so I told him to just check the map. He told me you were here, so I came to find you."
"And Ron?"
"I told him to go back to bed; I had a feeling that I knew exactly why you couldn't sleep,"
Harry turned away from her, staring out of the window and the rain again. The female rolled her eyes at him, a small smile creeping onto her lips.
"Oh," she said smoothly, twirling her wand in one hand absentmindedly "so I am right then? It is a certain blonde haired Slytherin that's keeping you awake?"
Harry scowled, though she knew he wasn't really angry. He was probably just wondering why the hell he had ever become friends with such a know-it-all like her, but he still loved her really. They were like brother and sister, just as Ron and Harry were practically brothers. Although, that scenario didn't quite work out seeing as Ron was dating Hermione, but the trio were just as close friends as they had been all those years ago.
"How the hell did you know?" Harry asked, glancing over at her before returning his gaze to the window. Hermione grinned widely, a knowing expression flittering across her face.
"It's so obvious, Harry. I mean, we've only been back in school a few days and already you're becoming obsessed again; you can't stop staring at him; at breakfast, in class, at lunch, in the next class, in corridors…every time he's around, you keep staring. And then, every other sentence that comes out of your mouth includes the word 'Malfoy', even if it is followed by a string of curses and death threats. Oh, and there's also the little fact that you have a crush on him that is the icing on a very lovely cake,"
Harry blushed, though he couldn't stop the smile forming on his lips. He turned to face her again, shaking his head.
"You're really enjoying my misery, aren't you?"
The female Gryffindor nodded, smiling happily at him. "Well, kind of. It's more like I take a weird sense of pleasure in knowing that one day Hogwart's two hottest guys will be married with two kids,"
This statement caused Harry's blush to deepen, rolling his eyes at her.
"It'll never happen," he informed his friend, shaking his head "Draco could never like me like that,"
"He is gay, you know,"
Harry smiled a little "I already figured that one out, 'Mione. You'd have to be blind not to notice, you know?"
Hermione's smile only grew wider "So why would he never like you?"
Harry sighed, choosing to stare out the window again. The rain was slowly tiring, the droplets become smaller and less frequent. The constant pitter patter of rain drops on the roof had begun to die away without either of them even realizing, and an early dawn seemed to be just over a none existent hill.
"Hermione, what don't you understand about this situation? Malfoy and I have been worst enemies for so many years; I'm not supposed to like him. I'm not supposed to not hate him, I'm not supposed to be attracted to him, I'm not supposed to treasure those small, precious moments when he smiles; really smiles, I'm not supposed to notice the bloody smiles in the first place, I'm not supposed to care about him and I'm definitely not supposed to want him to feel the same way. He's a Slytherin, I'm a Gryffindor, he's a Malfoy, I'm a Potter, I'm on the light side, he's on the dark…it would never work, 'Mione."
But, irritating Harry endlessly, Hermione only smiled more, shaking her head at him.
"He's not on the dark side, Harry," she replied, her eyes flickering to a dark corner of the room. The other teenager paid no attention, interested only in her speech.
"He…" the young woman paused for words, gathering her thoughts "well, actually, I'm surprised you never heard; he renounced V-V-Voldermort over the summer, Harry. He went to Dumbledore, ended up staying at the castle all summer, or so I've heard."
Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I never heard anything; although, I was stuck at my bloody relatives all summer, I haven't heard anything,"
Hermione smiled grimly, nodding. "I never thought about that, sorry. But, yeah, he joined the light. His father was furious, there's some rumours going around that his father disowned him; so there's another problem crossed off your list, he's no longer a Malfoy,"
Harry smiled a bit at the news, but merely returned to watching the rain with a sad expression lingering on his face.
"Give it up, Hermione," the dark haired teenager murmured "he hates me. Just drop it. Although…why didn't Draco except the mark? Everyone always thought he wanted to be just like his father,"
"Funny, isn't it," Hermione said, instead of answering his question directly "how you began to care about him all the same? You knew he wasn't dark, Harry, right from the beginning, you always said he wasn't. It shouldn't really surprise you that he didn't join, but if you want a reason…they say he fell in love with someone he shouldn't have,"
Harry's face fell dramatically, and though he was still staring out the window, Hermione knew the young man was scowling. She winced a little, knowing how much it must have hurt Harry to hear that, but upon seeing the shadow in the corner again, she knew it must be done. This was all going to work out very well.
"Harry…have you ever heard the tale of Romeo and Juliet?"
Harry frowned, turning to face her. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Hermione repeated her question, telling her friend she would answer his once he had answered her own. Harry looked thoughtful for a few moments, searching through some old childhood memories, before nodding slowly.
"Yeah, I vaguely remember hearing the story. Now tell me why you want to know,"
Hermione shrugged, the smile back in full force. Harry raised an eyebrow at her, and she merely winked at him.
"I hope you have a happy ending, then. Good night, Harry," she said, standing up and walking to the door. She opened it quietly, then, just as she left, she spoke once more.
"Oh, and good night to you too, Draco,"
The door shut with another click.
Harry narrowed his eyes, cursing in his own mind. He had just been played, hadn't he? Slowly standing up, he turned around to meet his fate. Yep, there he was, just coming forward from the shadows; the blonde Ice Prince of Slytherin, who Harry now knew had been listening to the entire conversation.
"Malfoy," he greeted the other teenager, his voice cold but empty of any emotion. He reached out to the desk to grab his wand, keeping a firm grip on it as Draco came closer.
To his surprise, the blonde winced at his tone, and stopped a few paces away from him. Then, the taller boy held out his wand for Harry to take, causing the dark haired teenager to raise an eyebrow.
"You can take my wand," Draco explained, nodding towards his hand "to prove I'm not here to try anything,"
Harry's mouth formed a little 'o' shape, setting back into a firm line as he shook his head.
"You can keep it," he replied, sitting back down upon one of the tables "I trust you that much,"
The blonde smiled, tucking his wand away into a seemingly invisible pocket.
"Honoured, I'm sure," he drawled without any malice, and Harry found himself smiling despite himself. Draco grinned at him, sitting down opposite Harry, their knees brushing lightly against each other's as Draco swung his legs a little.
"Why are you here, Draco?" Harry asked, letting the name roll off his tongue without a second thought.
"I was talking to Granger a few days ago, she said she'd think of something and-…well, tonight she dragged me out of bed and brought me down here,"
"Why were you talking to Hermione?"
"Because she's the smartest witch in our year?"
Harry rolled his eyes, grinning internally at the sight of Draco's smile; a real smile, with no stony mask in place to hide it.
"Don't be so stupid, Draco, I meant what were you talking to her about?"
"You,"
The dark haired teenager averted his eyes to the floor, no longer being able to look the blonde in the eye. Draco would have heard everything, every single thing he had said…
"Damn you, Hermione," Harry growled out in a low voice, tightening his grip on his wand. She really had been playing him; was it all some sort of sick joke that the two had cooked up? But, then again, it was Hermione…
"She didn't play you, Harry, if that's what you're thinking. She was helping me out."
Harry scowled at Draco's statement, finally being able to look up at the blonde; though anger was clearly written on his face.
"What the hell, Malfoy? How is setting me up like this not playing me? What, were you bored and decided to make a fool out of me for kicks? That's low, even for you," the young man jumped off the table, already half way across the classroom towards the door.
"No, Harry, wait, it's not like that!"
Harry stopped, though he wasn't sure why. He heard the Slytherin coming up behind him, and closed his eyes to calm himself. He felt Draco lightly take hold of his arm, and spun around to face the blonde.
"Then just why the hell are you here, Malfoy? Just what the fuck was Hermione helping you with that involved getting me to admit I like you 'that way' whilst you hid in the bloody shadows listening?"
Draco smiled lightly, raising a hand to cup Harry's cheek gently. The young man in question turned his head away, causing Draco to roll his eyes.
"She was helping me figure out if you felt anything for me,"
Harry scowled darkly, trying to pull his arm free of the blonde's grasp.
"Well, you've had your fun, so go ahead and laugh but don't expect me to stick around to hear it,"
But Draco had a good few inches on Harry in height, and was a little stronger too, so managed to keep a firm but gentle grip on the Gryffindor.
"Harry..." he murmured softly, using one hand to bring Harry's face back around so the teenager looked him in the eyes "I wanted to know what you felt for me because I feel 'that way' about you too,"
The Slytherin didn't pull back, his face dangerously close to Harry's, but didn't move forward either as he gave the dark haired teenager time to digest the information. Harry's eyes flew wide in shock, but a small smile seemed to worm its way onto his face, no matter how much he struggled against it.
"How do I know you're not just trying to trick me?" Harry whispered, not being able to tare his eyes away from Draco's own silvery grey ones. Draco smiled again, his eyes glistening with a small hope that made Harry feel warm and tingly inside – no matter how corny it sounded out loud.
"I guess you're just going to have to trust me," was the murmured reply, and this time Harry allowed himself to smile properly.
Reaching up one arm and placing his hand behind Draco's head, Harry pulled the other teenager forward and down into a light, brief kiss. Pulling back – simply because he didn't know how to go further – the two teenagers stared into each other's eyes for a few loving moments as the world seemed to still around them, water droplets mere millimetres from the ground…and then, in one swift movement, Harry was pulled flush against Draco's body and the two were kissing once more.
Draco had tried to keep the kiss soft, caring in the beginning, but soon found himself increasing pressure as he used his tongue to part Harry's lips. Taking the hint, Harry opened his mouth to allow Draco entrance, and gave a small moan as the blonde took the opportunity to explore his mouth thoroughly. In that one, long and passionate kiss, Harry was suddenly sure that everything would be all right.
Hermione Granger grinned happily, shutting the door softly behind her – though the boys probably wouldn't have noticed even if she slammed it – as she finally began to back away from the classroom. It had been a successful night and she felt rather proud of herself; in next to no time Hogwart's two hottest boys really would be married with two kids, more than likely arguing over the latest quidditch results. She had no doubts; they would make a wonderful couple, not to mention brilliant fathers.
Yes, those two would get their happy ending.