Chapter 9
Disclaimer: The main characters belong to JK Rowling (at least, their names do), but the setting, plot and some other characters are mine.
A/N: I wrote this on Saturday, but the publishing engine was down by the time I was ready to post, so not my fault it's late!
I resolved the mask thing, for anyone who's curious (just in case anyone bothers reading this stuff). I submitted the Mercutio mask, and gave the Tybalt one to someone in my class who hadn't done one (purely due to her own laziness, but I was in a generous mood). Now our English teacher's making us do drama performances from the play in small groups. I'm Mercutio, and my bit has so many dirty jokes in it. On the other hand, I think I get it more than anyone else in my class will.
Ms-Wood: Don't leave me alone! Reviews are good! Anyway, loving the Melfin Haters club thing. I'm updating once a week (except this time), so stop complaining. At least I'm consistent.
Bluebellfairy: Thank you!
Immortal Tears of: God, and I thought I had reason to hate the counter. I can't believe s/he did that to you. Mean! Thanks, as ever, for reviewing.
Pandora Black: Can't say I've ever heard the Fred/Harry idea before. Oh well, each to their own.
Yana 5: I knew I'd seen your name somewhere before! You reviewed on Kissing the Enemy! I love(d) that fic! Thanks for reviewing.
Natasha AKA: Tash: Hope you've recovered from that party. As to your specific comments, just read this chapter…
Malfoy Snogger: Strange name you've got there. Understandable though. Glad to hear you're 'hooked'!
blackdragonofdeath13: Thank you thank you!
Lucky Dragon Smile: Glad that someone appreciated the cliffhanger. I was rather proud of it.
Allie: Yes, I pride myself on being evil… (cackles).
AJ586: I don't think I meant elevator when I said lift. I went back and looked, and I think I meant lift as in when someone picks you up in their car and takes you somewhere. Not sure what you call that in the US. Please tell me. And when you say Americans can't make a decent decision to save their lives, are you referring to anything specific (just out of interest)?
TruthxInxShadow: If you were in Spain, they would have given you Friday off too. My Spanish teacher was telling us all about it the other day. And by the way dear, the reason you don't find the US school system confusing is because you're American.
The Earth Mystic: You are SO right! Thank you so much for saying so, you're really sweet.
Restless Mage: Thank you for reviewing!
zoomaphonethepirate: I live to annoy people like that. But don't worry. The paper is explained in this chapter.
Katatonia: Thank you for the length of your review; who knows, it may spur me to increase the length of my chapters… At the mo, I spend about an hour on a chapter (not including responding to reviews), and I do this every weekend. I can try and increase that if it'll make you happy.
Invisible Voice: Thank you for being so nice! I hope the counter realises some day that everyone hates him/her. Then maybe they'll bugger off and, wait for it… 'stop taking up the bandwidth'.
Cherry0214: You sound pretty knowledgeable… do you get uber-upset/slapped often? Fear not, they will get together. I just have my own thing planned. Old habits die hard, and even if I'm writing this week by week, I can't help formulating ideas in advance. Thanks!
I love you guys! Your reviews make me v v happy! This next chapter takes as its inspiration something that once happened to me when I was staying at my best friend's house (that categorically does NOT mean I'm that way inclined, it's only a very small part of this that copies what really happened).
Cookies: (:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)
A/N 2: This is a repost, so I can remove the lyrics of the song at the end as it's no longer allowed.
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Draco spent Monday morning sick with worry. Harry hadn't turned up to school. He didn't know what to think. He knew he must be in love with Harry; why else would he be this worried?
At recess, he, Ron and Mione trekked off across the school to find Debbie, in the hope that she could tell them what was wrong with her brother.
"I'm not really sure, to be honest guys," she shrugged when they found her. "I didn't even see him this morning. Mom just told me at breakfast that he was staying off today 'cos he wasn't well. Sorry…"
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The boy in question was, at that moment, sitting in bed watching kids' TV and eating buttered toast triangles. Lily sure knew how to treat sick teenagers. Not that he was sick – not really. He'd felt a little nauseous when he woke up, granted, but that was with the dread of seeing Draco. His mother had understood completely when he'd said he felt sick, and insisted that he took the day off. He was glad. He couldn't stay off school forever to avoid seeing Draco, but right now he just couldn't face it.
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Harry stayed off school on Tuesday too, but he felt guilty for skiving, and in the end decided that he had to go back on Wednesday. It was just one day, after all; Minster High had a day off on Thursday for the birthday of the school's founder, and they'd been given Friday off too as there wasn't much point in just going back in for one day before the weekend.
He set out on Wednesday feeling like he was carrying a rock in his stomach. Once or twice he considered turning round and running straight home, but he fought it. He couldn't avoid it forever. He had to face this; he couldn't ignore his best friend forever.
On arrival in homeroom, he was nearly strangled by a hug from Mione. "Harry! Are you OK? We didn't know what was wrong with you, we were so worried…"
"Mione," Draco interjected lazily from his comfortable position sitting on a desk, "go easy on him. He's been ill for God's sake, the last thing he needs is you choking him. Good to see you back, Harry."
"Thanks," Harry said quietly, rubbing his neck where he'd been hugged and hoping his tone didn't betray his thoughts. All he needed to get over this was time.
"Anyway, before you turned up I was about to suggest that we all meet up and hang out tomorrow night," Draco yawned. How did he manage to look so gorgeous all the time? Harry kicked himself mentally. No more thoughts like that.
Mione shook her head. "Sorry, I can't. I'm going to see my grandparents tomorrow and I won't be back till late."
"Me neither," Ron added. "My mom's all stoked on the idea of us spending the day together as a family for some bizarre reason. I have a feeling she's taking us to the zoo or something." He pulled a face.
"Well Ron, with a look like that you'll fit right in with the monkeys," Mione said smoothly.
Draco turned to Harry, his heart beating just a fraction faster. "Harry?"
This was it! This was the perfect chance. One night, one exertion of will not to say anything, and then it'd all be out of his system. "Yeah, sure. What time?"
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"Harry! Hi!" At quarter to seven on Thursday night, Harry was greeted and ushered in by Draco's mom. She was wearing a long black dress and had her hair piled on top of her head. "Sorry to be so rude, but I can't stop to chat, I'm going out with some work colleagues and I'm running a bit late. Have a nice evening, bye!" Then she was gone, zooming out of the door in a waft of expensive perfume. Harry stared after her in surprise for a moment or two, then went in and shut the door behind him before making his way into the living room, where he found Draco doing some last minute tidying.
Harry cleared his throat and Draco turned. "Oh, hi Harry." He dumped a pile of papers on top of a small table and straightened up. "Sorry, it's a bit of a mess in here. Sit down, if you can find a bit that's clear. Do you want a drink?"
Harry flopped onto the couch with a smile. "Stop exaggerating. I mean look at my house – it never even looks half as tidy as this. And a lemonade'd be great, thanks." Draco nodded and exited.
"I thought we could get a pizza or a Chinese takeaway or something," he called through from the kitchen. "That OK?"
"Yeah, great," Harry answered as Draco came back in and handed him the lemonade.
The blond seated himself in an armchair and took a sip of his own drink. "To be honest I'm just trying to butter you up. I forgot there's this programme on tonight that I really want to watch, and I was wondering if you'd mind."
"Nah," Harry shrugged. "I don't mind. What is it?"
"It's a sort of drama documentary thing, on the life of Anne Frank," Draco replied. "I thought it might help for history class, y'know with the Holocaust and that, and I just kind of wanted to see it anyway."
"Yeah, no problem. So long as you're paying for the pizza," Harry smirked.
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Towards the end of the programme, Harry was starting to wish he hadn't agreed to watch it. He was no good with watching upsetting things on TV, and this was just about as bad as it got. As the final credits rolled, he couldn't help a tear. Then that tear led to another, and another. He sniffed slightly, and Draco looked over. By the time the blond realised what was going on, the floodgates had opened and Harry was crying properly.
"I'm sorry, I'll be alright in a minute. I just can't help it, stuff like this always makes me sad, and this was just…" He trailed off, choking his words out through his tears.
"Hey, hey…" Draco got up and came over to sit next to him, putting an arm round his shoulders. "It's OK! It's over, and nothing like that can happen nowadays. Besides, I bet they're all together and happy in heaven."
Harry looked at him in surprise. "Heaven? I didn't know you were Christian."
Draco smiled softly. "I'm not. If I was, I wouldn't be able to do this…" He leaned towards Harry and kissed him gently on the mouth.
Harry froze in shock and delight at this new sensation, unexpected but so wonderful too. The softness and warmth embraced his heart, and he relaxed. His mind filled with memory of their drunken clinch at his party, and comparison of that raw, semi-conscious passion with this soft, sweet kiss, barely more than just a brush of lips. Head overpowering his heart at last, he pulled away mere moments after their lips had touched.
"Wh-what's going on?" He asked outright.
"Harry," Draco began in a soft, silky voice that made the dark-haired boy almost tremble with want - he wanted more, he wanted them to be close again… "You look me in the eye and tell me you don't want this."
"I do, I really do, but why now? How do you know what I want? And why does it matter to you anyway, you never wanted me in the same way I wanted you-" Harry was cut off as Draco lifted his hand and placed one slender finger on Harry's protesting lips.
"Shhh. Long story short, I wanted you all along. When I told you I was gay, I thought you'd be mortified if I told you I liked you, so I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to lose my best friend."
"But why now?"
"I… I found something… in your locker, that day you sent me to get that book out for you. I should never have taken it, but…" Draco pulled a piece of crumpled, pale blue notepaper from his pocket and handed it to Harry.
"Oh my God…" Seeing the paper's covering of hearts, flowers and Draco's name, Harry recognised it as his own distracted doodling. He made to hand it back, but glimpsed writing on the other side and turned it over. His jaw fell slightly as he took in the same adornments, but with his own name in place of Draco's. He looked up questioningly into Draco's grey eyes.
Draco blushed slightly, a rare sight in his pale skin. Harry gave him a small smile and he responded in kind. Then he lifted his hand again and lightly brushed away the last few tears on Harry's face. His heart fluttered as Harry's green eyes watched his movements, relaxed and happy.
"I can't believe this is happening," Harry murmured, a soft smile spreading over his face.
"Me neither," Draco whispered back. "How long have you… you know?"
"Felt like this?" Their faces were close, so close that Draco could almost feel Harry's words on his skin. "I don't know, I guess it's been getting stronger ever since I met you. I… I never felt like this about a guy before. I was kind of cracking up. My mom asked me what was wrong when we were going home after the dance, 'cos I was being really quiet. I… I told her, I wouldn't have done it through choice but it hurt so much…" He trailed off, his face betraying remnants of the pain he was talking about. Draco's heart melted and he put his arms round Harry, holding him tightly.
"It's OK," he said quietly. "It's not like that any more, you know how I feel now. And just so you know, it wasn't exactly a picnic for me either. I never wanted to have to tell you that lie that I didn't want you like that, but I was too scared to tell you the truth. I'm so sorry…" Slowly, they drew apart and looked at each other. "I'm not quite sure how I managed to lie like that, to be honest. I wanted you so much it hurt, so much it scared me."
"I…" Harry closed his eyes briefly, smiling sweetly as he tried to imprint the moment in his memory. "I don't know what else to say. I think I've used up all my words."
Draco smiled back at him. "Well, you know what they say. Actions speak louder than words…" Then he kissed him again, and all conscious thought was lost as Harry felt himself falling into comfortable darkness.
He was surrounded by that sweet scent that he remembered so vividly from the party, and warmth that made him feel so safe he never wanted to be anywhere else ever again. This was different now though; it was a whole new experience. Where the kiss at the party had been in a state of extreme drunkenness, they were both fully in their right minds. Where the first moment they had shared tonight had been gentle and painfully cautious, this was the split-second capture of raw feeling, encapsulated in one simple action.
Suddenly, Harry found himself literally falling. He opened his eyes and realised that in the grip of the moment, they had overbalanced, still in each other's arms. To his surprise, he wasn't embarrassed, despite the acute awkwardness of being flat on his back on a couch with Draco on top of him.
"Oops," he said jokingly, and they both cracked out laughing.
At last, Draco sat up, brushing his unruly hair off his face. "Sorry." He brushed a tear of laughter from his eye and grinned. "My fault."
Harry shrugged and captured him in another kiss. He twined his fingers into the soft strands of Draco's hair, feeling the other boy's arms wrap around his waist. Then he felt a warm tongue sweep gently over his closed lips, and opened his mouth slowly, relishing this feeling; the feeling of lovers' first tentative kiss.
When at last they pulled apart, they gazed into each other's eyes. A bubble of happiness enclosed them both, finally given the opportunity to look at each other without justification.
"I'm so glad I don't have to keep secrets from you any more," Harry said with a smile.
He was answered with a small flutter of laughter from Draco. He looked at the blond indignantly. "What's so funny?"
Draco smiled placatingly. "I'm not laughing at you. It's just that what you just said reminded me so much of this song I know."
"What song?" Harry asked curiously.
"You won't know it. It's by this random Finnish band. I got their album over the internet. Actually, you might like it. Do you want to hear it?"
"Yeah, OK."
Harry waited for a minute or two while Draco went to fetch the CD.
"Right, here we go then." Draco reappeared and went over to the stereo. A moment later, the song started. Harry found himself listening to the words carefully.
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A/N: The song is Liquid by The Rasmus. When I was listening to that song recently I thought: 'Oh my God, it's the perfect Harry and Draco song!'. Look it up if you get the chance; it's brilliant. And OMG! Bumper chappie! It's nearly twice as long as usual. Wow. Review! (Pweese!) If I get enough reviews then I'll post Chapter 10 up this weekend (actually, I'll probably post it anyway).
PS: I would have put a slash warning on this chapter, but I didn't want to give away what happens. And as for the title, what can I say? I find kippers funny (don't ask).
