Chapter XIII

Confessions

On the third day of their weeklong detention, Harry and Daphnis walked into the common room to find Draco and Theo waiting for them with a salve. "It's murtlap essence," Theo said. "It'll help with the healing and hopefully fades the scarring."

Both boys sat down silently and held their hands out. Draco and Theo took their boy's hand and silently cleaned their wounds. Theo kissed Daphnis and whispered reassurance while Harry and Draco just sat awkwardly, blushing at each other as Draco cleaned Harry's hand. On and on it went for the week, Draco and Theo never wavering in their help to soothe Harry and Daphnis' pain. The scarring did fade; however, Harry did not blame Daphnis when he took to wearing fashionable gloves when the week was finally over. The words were cut in deep, and it will take a lifetime to get out. Instead of feeling a sense of hopelessness or despair that Harry thought Umbridge would want them to feel, every time Harry glanced at his hand or saw Daphnis' gloved hand, Harry felt a dark loathing growing. A loathing that gave him the courage and energy to keep pushing on what he was doing. It was a loathing for the terrible woman who represented a terrible system and made everything he did in opposition seem "correct." He took this energy and pushed it into his lessons with the Slytherins. Come hell or high water, he will make sure that they can defend themselves. Even if the Ministry of Magic comes after them.

Kissing Neville Longbottom is the best feeling in the world. Especially when his soft and loving body is pressed against Blaise's hard muscles. It was a snowy afternoon, and the two boys were keeping warm by staying close together. Blaise's hand was dipping into Neville's robe, touching and caressing everything he could, finding a nipple and giving it a slight pinch. "Ahh!" Neville gasped, looking at Blaise with a flushed, shocked look.

"Too much?" Blaise asked.

"N-No," Neville stuttered. "Again?"

They shared a smile and Blaise pulled at Neville's nipple, gripping at the soft mound and flesh and kneading it in his fingers. "Perfect," he whispered, "you're so perfect for me, Baby Doll."

"Snake," Neville moaned. Blaise paused, his hand still on Neville's chest and he gave his Hufflepuff a knowing smile.

"Snake?" he chuckled. "Is that my nickname, Doll?"

"I, it's hard," Neville admitted. "I can't call you… you know… in public."

"Say it," Blaise smirked, kissing Neville's neck and causing the Hufflepuff to squeak and look around the open corridor they were in. Neville groaned as Blaise bit his lower ear and whispered, "Daddy!"

"There's my Baby Doll," Blaise chuckled, squeezing Neville's chest as he kissed him hard.

"Stop! You're embarrassing me," Neville groaned. Blaise laughed but stopped, slipping his hand out and fixing Neville's robes before taking his hand. "Snake is the best I can think of! I'm not good at nicknames."

"I love Snake, if you want to call me that, call me that, Neville," Blaise said honestly. "Snake and his Baby Doll, it's perfect!" He smiled so brilliantly that Neville blushed and leaned into him. Blaise wrapped a hand around his waist and pulled him closer. "Either way, we'll be a good role model for Draco and Harry," Blaise continued, chuckling.

Neville looked up at him, shocked. "What? What do you mean?"

"They're not together," Blaise shrugged, and Neville gasped.

"No! Really? But they hold hands practically everywhere, right?" Neville asked.

Blaise nodded and shook his head, "They refuse to talk with each other. They hold each other's hand every now, stare at each other like they're already dating, and not to mention that kiss at Quidditch. And yet—nothing. It's honestly frustrating!" Neville laughed as Blaise groaned in him. "Honestly Nev, sometimes I just want to smash their heads together and yell at them to kick and start dating."

"I don't think that would work," Neville said seriously. "I think that would only create more problems."

"I know but it's what I want to do," Blaise huffed. They moved so that Neville was leaning his back against Blaise and Blaise had his arms wrapped around Neville, the Hufflepuff playing with his hands softly. "It's like a powder keg. I swear I'm going to walk in to find them tearing off each other's clothes before they admit they like each other. That is if they don't go to Azkaban for murdering Umbridge first."

"What did she do?" Neville asked, worried. "I heard that she gave Harry and Greengrass lines."

"It's more terrible than that," Blaise muttered. "That bitch is making them write with a blood quill, and now with her stupid laws, there's nothing that can be done about it. I'm particularly worried about Daphnis. That bitch had him write 'I am a girl for an entire week. Stuff like that fucks you up, especially Daphnis. He's been crying for hours on end, and you've seen his glove."

"Yeah, I have," Neville said sadly. "Is there nothing to fix it?"

"A lot of murtlap and time," Blaise said bitterly. "Blood Quills are vicious, normal healing spells won't work on it."

"What an awful woman," Neville muttered, Blaise humming in agreement.

"How are the Gryffindors treating you?" Blaise asked, "you're still going to their secret army training?" he teased.

"Yeah, and it's weird," Neville admitted. "Ron's acting very strange, he's always focused on Harry. I think he's jealous or something. The others are fine, they were distant when they learned that I'm dating you, well dating a Slytherin, but some are being nice. The Weasley twins are always nice to me, oh and Seamus and Dean came out to me! Apparently, they've been dating for a while, but were scared to come out. Said I was inspirational to them."

"That's amazing, doll," Blaise praised, kissing the top of Neville's head, Neville smiling with pride. "And those who are keeping distant? How are they acting?"

"There have been some whispers, but it's nothing I haven't handled before," Neville shrugged. He immediately spun around and Blaise took his chin in his hand, lifting it gently so they were staring into each other's eyes. "Baby Doll," he said in a low voice, "you have to promise me now, if anyone, and I mean anyone, tries to do something to do because of our relationship, you come running straight to Daddy. Can you promise me that, Neville?"

"Y-Yes," Neville said, blushing. Blaise squeezed slightly and Neville said, "Yes, Daddy."

"That's what I want to hear," Blaise said, smiling. "You've got the most possessive man in Slytherin to be yours, Neville. My mama raised me right, and let me tell you, I protect what's mine. You hear? The second one of those Gryffindors, or anyone, tries to act smart, I want to know."

"Okay, Blaise, I'll come running," Neville promised. "But I've been learning some stuff, I can handle myself."

"I know you can, and I am so proud of you for that, but I just want to be able to back you up, okay?" Blaise said.

"Okay," Neville nodded.

"Good," Blaise said before kissing Neville fully. God, it was addicting, and he loved every moment of it. He loved being with Neville, he wanted to be nowhere else.

December arrived, bringing with it more snow and a positive avalanche of homework for the fifth years. Draco and Pansy's prefect duties also became more and more onerous as Christmas was approaching. They were called upon to supervise the decoration of the castle, watch over first and second years spending their break times inside because of the bitter cold, as well as patrol the corridors in shifts with Filch, who suspected that the holiday spirit might show itself in an outbreak of wizard duels. Naturally, Draco complained endlessly but Harry found himself accompanying him countless times on his patrols "to just keep me company" as Draco puts it.

The walks were nice, and as always Harry and Draco held hands, both too scared to comment on it but neither wanted to let go. They just walked, blushing when they remembered that they were holding hands, and talked as normal, about anything they could think of. Usually, they turned to the Slytherin Defense Group as Daphnis took to calling it. Harry found himself looking forward to the meetings. He loved seeing the progress his fellow Slytherins have, and he felt a sense of belonging as they all thanked him. It took him three months, but Harry felt like he truly belonged in Slytherin now. He had friends, actual friends, and whatever Draco was, and people would come to him for help or would gladly help him with anything he needed.

The Slytherins were much more welcoming, much closer tightly knit than Gryffindor could ever be. He hugged almost everyone—he never thought of himself as a hugger, but he found himself hugging all of his friends for any or no reason whatsoever. Sometimes, Blaise pulled him in a hug and simply explain it as "you look like you needed it." It touched Harry, and he started feeling this strange warm emotion he couldn't name but loved having inside him. He could never imagine any Gryffindor doing this, and it hurt him to think about it.

Harry decided to visit Slytherin's portrait before the last Slytherin Defense Group meeting before the holidays. The portrait was surprisingly intellectual and helpful, showing off almost everything the study held as well as giving Harry advice on what to teach his fellow Slytherins.

"Why haven't you asked one of us to put your portrait back up?" Harry asked curiously. "It must be lonely stuck in your picture."

"Sometimes, however, I also find it better than being connected," the portrait of Slytherin confessed. "After all, I would not allow for any commoner to enter my portrait! The horror of it all! Besides, I still have access to the portraits at my ancestral home, which is sadly long gone to ruin but the portraits and its inhabitants all remain and the animals who roam my home are a nice break from the endless boredom from time to time."

"With the holidays coming up, I won't be able to visit you," Harry said. "I'm going to my godfather's, hopefully, you won't have any visitors."

"I've gone hundreds of years without visitors. I am fine for a couple of weeks. Go enjoy your Yule, Heir Potter."

"Still not going to call me by my name?" Harry asked with a rueful grin.

"Not until you change it to something better," Slytherin responded. Harry just rolled his eyes and said goodbye, leaving to get his Slytherins.

His friends entered first as always, followed by the other Slytherins and, most surprisingly of all, Neville Longbottom. "Neville!? What are you doing here?" Harry asked curiously. "How did you even get in?"

"Blaise," Neville muttered, looking embarrassed. "Uh… where exactly are we?"

"The Chamber of Secrets," Draco answered easily. "Are you here just for pleasure, Longbottom, or do you have a purpose?"

Neville flinched reactively before standing firm. "I actually need to tell Harry something, it's about what Ron and Hermione are doing," he said.

"Oh no, what are they planning?" Harry groaned.

Neville frowned, "That's the problem. We don't know, actually. We're learning stuff, I guess, but you are mentioned a lot. Sometimes we talk about you as if we're supposed to be training to fight you or save you."

"That's troubling," Draco commented. "I'm guessing most of the Gryffindorks want to 'defeat' Harry?"

Neville nodded and said, "It's difficult. Some don't but Ron and Hermione, it's like they change their mind constantly."

"Well, it doesn't matter," Harry said. "They are there, and we are here. If you want to stay for the lesson, I'll pair you with Blaise." Neville agreed and quickly left to join the crowd with his boyfriend. Draco went to the Basilisk to collect more ingredients to sell as Harry look around at the group before him. "Let's begin!" he shouted and the Slytherins immediately stopped talking and turned to face him.

"We will work with Stunners before moving on to disabling your opponent by any means," Harry shouted. He waved his wand and pillows appeared for the Slytherins to land on. "Pair off," he ordered and the crowd immediately split off into pairs, each grabbing a pillow to put behind them. "You all know the incantation," Harry continued. "Begin!"

The Chamber was filled with dozens of voices yelling, "Stupefy!" and spells flying toward their partners. Harry began making his rounds through the pairs, watching their progress and helping them out when he saw errors. He stopped with Blaise and Neville and watched intently as Neville stood in front of Blaise, his wand shaking slightly as he cast his spell. "Your hand needs to be more steady," Harry said, stepping forward. "Like this, see?" He took Neville's hand and steadied it, aiming the wand directly at Blaise. "He won't be hurt, don't worry, but in the real thing, you won't be given time to hesitate like this. You need to be able to cast your spell and be prepared to run or cast the next one."

"Ok," Neville said, nodding. He took a breath and yelled, "Stupefy!" The stunner shot out of his wand and hit Blaise's chest. Blaise was flung back onto the pillows, grinning madly at Neville. "Beautiful baby!" he praised.

"That was wonderful Neville, well done!" Harry cheered, patting Neville's back. Neville beamed with pride.

An hour passed faster than expected. Harry called for a stop, clapping at them. "That was excellent, all of you are really good," he cheered. "When we get back from the holidays, we are going to practice dueling and even use some of the bigger spells."

There was a murmur of excitement. The room began to clear, the Slytherins all thanking Harry and wishing him a Happy Christmas/Yule as they passed by until it was only Harry and Draco, the blond by the Basilisk's corpse.

"I'll have your earnings from these on Christmas," Draco said, glancing at Harry before turning back to the corpse. "She's still beautifully preserved."

"Yeah, surprisingly," Harry agreed. His hand found its way to Draco's and the two stared at the corpse for a second before Harry pulled Draco away. "The study's warmer."

Draco allowed himself to be dragged away from the basilisk and up the bridge into Slytherin's study. Harry stopped before the door to the common room and turned to Draco, who was staring at Slytherin's portrait. "He's gone," he said.

Harry followed his gaze and hummed, "He told me that he has another portrait in his manor. Maybe he went there." Draco nodded and looked at the fireplace, lighting it with his wand.

"Shall we stay here then for a moment? I don't feel ready to join the others yet," he said.

Harry agreed and allowed Draco to pull him towards the fireplace, the two sitting close together on a couch. Harry couldn't help but notice it, especially as Draco pulled his hand on his lap. He frowned, he wanted to be comfortable, but the uncertainty was killing him. "Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"Why haven't you kissed me again?" Harry asked softly. Draco's hand tightened and the two looked at each other.

"Harry…"

"Is it because," Harry whispered, sounding scared, "have I been reading everything wrong?"

"No, I—"

"Then why?" Harry asked. "Has our last kiss… did I make a mistake? You said we'll talk about it but it never came up."

"That is why I wanted you here," Draco said quickly before Harry could continue. He squeezed Harry's hand and moved his other to caress Harry's cheek gently. "We've known each other for years, Harry, and when I thought that I would never develop feelings for you… it turned out I did. That kiss on the Quidditch Pitch kept replaying in my head over and over again. I wanted more, I needed to feel you in my hands again. The only regret was that I let Weasley ruin it."

"So why not kiss me sooner?" Harry asked. "Why waste all this time?"

Draco looked rather sheepish as he brushed his thumb across Harry's cheek. "I was scared, honestly," he admitted. "We hated each other for four years, or we acted like we hated each other, and then we became friends and you were holding my hand, I didn't want to ruin whatever was building between us."

Harry sighed and shook his head, turning his head to kiss Draco's hand. "You can be really stupid," he muttered. "I wanted you to kiss me again since the match."

"I want to do more than kissing," Draco admitted. "I want to be your boyfriend."

Harry chuckled, "That's rather direct for a Slytherin," he teased, "you really must feel off."

"I only know what I want, Potter, and what I want is you," Draco breathed.

"Then have me," Harry whispered.

Draco stood up and pulled Harry with him. "Harry," he said seriously, "I would be honored if you would come to my home this holiday on Yule… as my boyfriend."

"Yes, Draco," Harry said and the next moment their lips were together in a slow, tender kiss. Their hands roamed each other's bodies and Draco's hands slid south toward Harry's butt, grabbing it and giving it a little jiggle. "Getting lazy on me Harry?" he teased.

Harry returned the smirk Draco was giving him and pushed his butt into Draco's hands. "I heard you like your boys with big asses, and I rather like the weight of it myself. Now, are we going to spend the night talking or kissing?"

"Definitely kissing," Draco breathed, and he pulled Harry in for another kiss again., pulling him down onto the couch.