Warnings: Unbeta-ed, as usual. :)

Genre: Friendship; Romance; Humour

Note: There's a test tomorrow for which I should be studying, but since it's Harry's (and Neville's!) birthday, I figured I'd update instead, even though I haven't finished the latest chapter I'm working on.

NOTEWORTHY BOREDOM

CHAPTER 5

INTER-HOUSE RENDEZVOUSING

At five minutes past five, Draco entered the library, ensuring that his stride looked regal and classy. His mother always said that one could gain a person's respect and fear simply by walking with the right gait. Aah, how he loved his Pureblood upbringing.

He silently scanned the various tables, and when he couldn't make out a shock of black hair anywhere, he went deeper into the library. How typical of Potter to have given such vague directions. It was no wonder she failed Potions class all the time.

Not finding her anywhere, he made his way to the aisle with books on offensive jinxes. Just as he was about to pull out a particularly heavy book, a hand from behind clamped shut on his mouth.

Instead of losing his head and screaming, he thought about it. Only an idiotic Gryffindor would try to do something like this, alone. And going by the smallness of the hand, he knew who it was.

He turned around as fast as possible, pinning her to the other side of the aisle with both his hands. Her right arm was now limply resting against his shoulder, her right hand now on the back of his head, where his lips had been before he turned.

He took a step closer to her, relishing the warmth of her smaller body. Her eyes, though wide, were not surprised. Or shocked. In fact, she had a defiant look in her eyes, one eyebrow quirked. Why was she copying his expressions?

He bent his head low, as if to kiss her, before saying in as low a voice as possible, "Hello, Potthead."

She pressed her left index finger to her mouth, and said, "Shhh." As if her glittery green nail was not distracting enough, it drew his attention to her lips, which seemed to be painted an inviting shade of cherry red.

She noticed his attention on her lips, and instead of blushing like most of the girls he had been with, she merely looked at him with narrowed eyes.

She then took a piece of paper out of her skirt pocket and held it up between them. He was forced to break his cage around her, and took the paper with his right hand. He didn't want to move his left arm and dislodge her warm arm from its place on his shoulder and neck.

However, as soon as he took the note, she messed up his hair with her right hand, before escaping away from him.

Amused, he opened it, to find her chicken scrawl.

.

'Drakie-poo!

Take some book and come sit with me by the window overlooking the Forbidden Forest. It's by the Astronomy aisle, in case you didn't know.

I need to ask you something.

Just kidding! I scared you, didn't I? HAHAHAHA!

On a more serious note, don't draw much attention to yourself. My female friend will be coming to the library at around half past six. She already thinks there is something going on between you and me.

And that reminds me, thanks for the attendance call thing yesterday.

Actually, I have a lot of things to ask you.

Don't run away.

Cheers,

Me'

.

He was surprised at how she had predicted that he might want to run away. But he was even more surprised by how much forethought she was displaying, uncharacteristically. It made sense to not let anyone else know that he was meeting with a Halfblood on a frequent basis.

He elegantly folded the note and put it inside his pocket. He took out the volume that he had been intending to take out before Potter had surprised him. As he made his way to the lounge that she was talking about, he realised that it was very quiet and very far away from the other students. It looked like Potter had half a brain.

He stopped and watched her, as she stared at the Forbidden Forest. The sun was beginning to set, and she seemed lost in her own world.

"Preoccupied, Potthead?" he asked, surprised that his voice had no malice in it.

She turned around and grinned at him, her teeth glinting in the setting sun's light.

"You came!" she exclaimed, sitting down on a maroon armchair.

He sat down on an armchair that looked much more comfortable than the one Potter had taken. He leaned over the small table in front of them and kept his book there gently, before leaning back into his chair and looking at Potter with as much contempt as he could summon.

Unfortunately, she didn't seem intimidated. She instead took out the Amalgus Blisfurb book from her bag and kept it on the table right on top of his larger volume.

"I gather we aren't here to study."

Potter scoffed and said, "Hell, no. I'll never be found studying this early into the year."

"It is OWL year, after all. But I guess only people with ambition and brains would take it seriously."

Instead of looking insulted, she tilted her head to one side and looked at him thoughtfully.

"I guess you're right, Draco."

Draco felt a sting inside his chest. Was it happiness? Was it hope? What was it?

Meanwhile, Potter was continuing, "What do you want to do when you pass out of Hogwarts?"

In all his fifteen years and four months of existence, no one had ever asked him that question. He felt his mind soar with the myriad of things he might want to do. The keyword was 'want'. She hadn't asked him what he would do.

She looked at him through half lidded eyes, in no hurry to hear his answer.

"Something to do with Alchemy, I suppose."

A sad smile formed on her face, her eyes understanding.

"But that isn't what you will do, is it?" she asked, her voice soft. But before he could say or ask anything, she announced in a falsely cheerful tone, "I never thought of the future. I never make plans. I can't make plans and all that. It's all an adventure, I guess."

But Draco understood what she meant. She didn't know if she'd ever make it out of Hogwarts alive. She didn't want to make plans. And somehow, he felt a strong stab of pity for the girl sitting in front of him. And for the first time ever, he felt something constricting his chest.

It was a new concept to him. Guilt.

He changed the topic, as the lights all came on magically. In the bright light from the nearby lamp, he noticed that she had tiny studs pierced into her ears.

Predictably, they were ruby.

"Having any trouble with the pain numbing spell?"

"I'm not sure if my wand movements are right."

"I could teach you if you want me to."

"And you don't want anything in return?" she asked, a little too innocently. Typical Gryffindor, speaking without thinking.

For a moment, Draco wanted to ask her for her Firebolt. But he let that thought slide, surprisingly content with not wanting anything in return.

"I want nothing in return." And then with a devilish smirk, he added, "For now."

She simply rolled her eyes. Why was it she rolled her eyes so much?

Thirty minutes later, he was pretty sure she had nailed the wand-movement. Harriet Potter was a decent student, when she put her mind to it. All along, he had thought that her acceptable grades were because of the Mudblood. But it turned out that she was fine on her own.

Or rather, she was good at things which did not need detail to attention, like Potions.

As she closed her eyes and rested her head on her overstuffed armchair, he opened the book he had taken – 'Offensive Jinxes Which Can't Be Countered: A compilation by Felix R Trentworth' . But he never got a chance to read past the preface.

"Mal - Draco?"

He had never heard the Gryffindor call him so hesitantly. It seemed like this rendezvous at the library was full of surprises. 'Rendezvous' was another word he had to add to her French vocabulary.

"Yes, Harriet?" He stressed on her name to ensure that she understood that he, Draco Malfoy, was comfortable with using her first name.

"You know how you said you wanted nothing in return?"

He nodded to show that he was listening. He had no idea where she was going with this.

"I personally don't think it's fair for you to do all that without anything in return."

He stared at her. He now really had no idea what was going on.

"So I've come up with an idea to nullify and settle any debts that may ever arise between the two of us."

He quirked one eyebrow up in incredulity. Usually, in Pureblood families, settling all debts that may ever arise in the future meant only thing. Offering the hand of a member of that family to a member of the other family in marriage. Surely Potter didn't want to offer herself for marriage!

She held out her hand, and Draco thought he would faint.

The offering of oneself for marriage for a life-long debtless alliance involved clasping of hands between either the Heads of the Houses, or between the two who intended to be married for the formation of the said debtless alliance bond. The clasping of hands was accompanied by the uttering of an oath.

"Do you think if we try, we can maybe be friends?"

So she was not throwing herself at him for marriage.

Draco wanted to let out a sigh of relief. As much as his view of the girl had changed, he didn't want to marry her. Ideally, as a Malfoy, he would only have to worry about marriage when he reached the age of twenty one. He was planning on bedding as many girls as possible before that.

Somehow seeing an outstretched hand, offering friendship, he could only think of how he had offered his friendship to the same girl sitting in front of him, and how she had thrown it right in his face. And that memory made him realise that that was why he hated the Weasel and the Mudblood.

"Or maybe not," said Potter tonelessly, lowering her hand.

Could he set things right this time around? He knew that the Dark Lord was back for good. His father had made it very clear, though he had not said anything directly to Draco, in case of a Veritaserum questioning. And from the way Potter had avoided him after the Third Task, he knew that his father had been present at the supposed resurrection of the Dark Lord.

His father, however, did not seem to be pleased at the resurrection of the Dark Lord. He had, in fact, been more worried than ever. Draco had a feeling that his father did not want to lose all the respect and power that he had built over the past fourteen years, in the absence of the Dark Lord.

Was it possible that the Dark Lord might fail? In which case, it would make sense to have a powerful ally on the Light side. And apart from Dumbledore, who was the brightest icon of the Light side? Harriet Potter. An alliance with her would make things convenient, if her side won. If the Dark side won, he could always say that his family had been a part of it.

"It isn't fair of you to ask me that, Potter." He paused to take in her strangely vulnerable expression. He had to savour this. After all, she had done the same thing to him four years ago. He continued, "I asked you that once, remember? On the Hogwarts Express."

Her eyes widened, and her face turned pink, clearly in shame.

"I'm sorry Malfoy, I didn't realise - "

He cut her off, "It's only fair that I ask you the question. Are you willing to enter into an alliance with me? An alliance where we keep no track of what we owe one another?"

Her nose scrunched up slightly, clearly at his usage of words.

"So we'll be friends?"

"Not exactly."

"Then?"

"As I said. An alliance. Where we both can ask favours off the other, without the problem of repayment."

"How is that different from a friendship?"

"Well, for starters, I won't demand that you spend all your time with me, the way a friend would demand."

She slowly nodded her head, her eyes brightening, as she liked the idea more and more.

He held out his hand to her and this time around, she took it.

He felt a wave of contentment wash through his body as he shook her hand. He told himself that it was just happiness and contentment from having successfully executed a perfectly Slytherin plan, but he knew that he was lying to himself. Deep down, he knew that he had only been trying to justify what he truly wanted to do, as a Slytherin plan.

"So does that mean I get to call you Drakie-poo?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Draco groaned.

What had he gotten himself into?

OoOoO

Harry was meeting with Draco today as well. He had sent a note during breakfast, through the house elves, as usual.

.

'French Learner,

Fancy meeting at the same aisle as yesterday? We never did get to finish what we started there. I'll be there at four pm.

Forever yours,

Your Amazing Lover'

.

Harriet had felt a strong urge to roll her eyes at reading his note, especially at the sign off. But clearly, he hadn't felt comfortable using the word 'dear', though both of them had used it before when they were teasing each other. This had given her a strange sense of power over the blond haired git.

At fifteen minutes to four, she had come running out of her dormitory, having taken a rather long siesta. She had frantically been combing her hair, as Ron looked at her in bewilderment. Hermione had smirked at her knowingly, when she had tried to ditch Ron and her in the common room.

In all honesty though, Harry had been surprised by Hermione's reaction to her spending time with Mal - Draco. Hermione, the wary one, hadn't been bothered by the fact that Lucius Malfoy was a bloody Death Eater.

While Harry had her doubts about this 'alliance' thing, she knew that all she had to do was be wary of Malfoy and not give out too much important information. After all, his father was a Death Eater. But if she could have a genuine alliance or friendship with him, she might be able to help the Order out with inside information.

Lost in her thoughts of possible betrayal in the future, Harry waited in the library, hidden under her Invisibility Cloak, to see if Malfoy would actually turn up. Minutes ticked by, and there was no trace of him.

Feeling slightly annoyed, she took out her Marauder's Map, and whispered the necessary words. As she scanned the map looking for Malfoy's dot, she heard a slight shuffling noise in front of her. When she looked down, she was surprised to see his dot right next to hers.

She hurriedly whispered, "Mischief managed," keeping her voice as low as possible.

Both she and Malfoy spoke at the same time.

He said, "I heard you, Harriet," just as she said, "Impressive Disillusionment charm, Drakie-poo."

Draco slowly appeared, having disabled his charm. He looked expectantly at her, or rather, the place where she stood.

She sighed. She didn't want him to know that she had an Invisibility Cloak.

"Draco? Could you turn around?"

"Why?" he asked, clearly looking confused.

Thinking fast, she lied, "Sometimes, when I remove my Disillusionment charm, my clothes remain disillusioned." She hoped that her voice sounded embarrassed. Harry felt her right hand burn, almost as if to remind her to not lie.

"I'd love to see that," he smirked, folding his arms across his chest. Harry took a moment to admire his chest, which had become broad and filled out over the past year. He couldn't see that he was ogling, so it really didn't matter.

"Malfoy!" She tried to sound indignant, when in truth, she just wanted to blind him with a spell.

He continued standing there, leaning sideways against the aisle casually, smirking.

Harry had another brilliant idea. She cast a nonverbal spell on her shoes for silence, and started backing away from the pompous arse. When she reached the end of the aisle, she went into the neighbouring aisle, and hastily stuffed her cloak and the map into her bag, uttering a spell to keep the bag locked.

Thank Merlin, Hermione had made her and Ron practice nonverbal spells on the train ride back in the Fourth Year. Hermione had been convinced that it was high time they learnt something useful on their own.

And right now, it was helping her out greatly.

She made her way through this aisle, back towards the end where Draco was standing, in the other aisle. He was such a git. He deserved to be pranked. She quietly walked up to him from behind and wondered if this was how Peeves felt every day.

"BOO!"

OoOoO

Draco now faced a dilemma. Was he supposed to tell his father of this new alliance he had struck with the Girl-Who-Lived? He usually told his father of any connections he made, so that information would flow both ways between father and son. However, Harriet Potter was not anyone 'usual'. She was definitely unusual.

He knew that the way he kept meticulous tabs on her was slightly on the obsessive side, but as father always said, keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. His obsession with her was definitely unhealthy, and he knew that.

But where earlier he was a mere stalker, right now, he was an ally. Keeping close tabs on an ally was fine, because it meant you were indirectly looking out for your own back. So if he chose to follow Po-Harriet around, it would no longer be unhealthy.

He smiled grimly at the thought, and looked up from his Offensive Jinxes book to see her watching him curiously.

"Like what you're staring at?"

"Funnily, no. I was just thinking that you might be anaemic. You're too pale."

Draco scowled at her. Obviously now that she thought they were on friendlier terms, she thought she could insult him without much hatred.

"I'll have you know that we Malfoys have always had pale features."

"Aren't pale features an indication of a poor constituency?"

Draco felt his scowl deepening. However, before he could retort, Harriet said in a panicked voice, "Parkinson alert."

He knew that if he wanted to get out of this place with his secrets intact, he would have to stage a fight with Harr-Potter.

He stood up, and pulled her up. Harriet had her eyes glued to Pansy, who was walking closer and closer to the partially hidden lounge. He bent his head and whispered in her ear, "Surprise test in Potions on Thursday."

Her hair smelled of vanilla, just like last time. But there was something else that he couldn't quite figure out. Some herb? Rosemary? He wasn't sure.

He then moved away from her, and in a loud, cold voice said, "Why are you reading that book on healing spells, Potter? Do you want to be a Healer?"

Harriet's eyes flicked to someone standing behind Draco, and he understood that they had caught Parkinson's attention.

"Why do you care, Malfoy? Some of us don't plan to sponge off our fathers for the rest of our lives."

Thankfully, a shrill voice behind him answered, "Don't you dare talk to my Draco that way, you filthy Halfblood."

"I would rather be a Halfblood, than be an ugly pug-faced Pureblood like you. Looks like inbreeding gone wrong."

Draco was very tempted to smirk, but something knocked him in the shoulder as Pansy launched herself at Harriet. The Gryffindor simply stood in her place, not bothering to move. Draco was just considering putting himself between the girls, when Pansy fell down face first, her nose hitting the small table.

As she yowled with pain, Draco noticed that Harriet had bound Pansy's legs together at the last minute, making her trip. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her stuff her wand back into her Muggle trousers pocket. Her Muggle trousers were tight fitting, and it outlined the curve of her hips. Such trousers were very distracting. It looked like those filthy Muggles had got something right, for once.

"Pugface will now have a pug's nose. Won't that be funny to see?"

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Potter."

"It was worth it, Ferret."

With that, she gathered her bag and strode out of the lounge, leaving him to deal with a howling Parkinson. Alone. He dragged her up and took her to the hospital wing, as she clung to his arm tightly.

When Pansy declared herself unfit to return to the common room, Draco felt like singing. He decided to send Harriet a bunch of flowers. She deserved it, for getting him a night of peace.

Yes, he would get her some flowers.

OoOoO

As Harry got ready to go to bed, there was an insistent tapping on her window. She opened it and let Hedwig inside. Harry had gotten a reply from her French friend.

.

'Dear Harry,

I hope you are well too. My part-time job at Gringotts is going well but the Goblins are hard to please. My job is still part-time, as you can see. I am currently taking lessons in English. So if you find any mistakes in my letter, please do tell me.

That boy who asked you that question is a cad méprisable, and you were write to reply with a non. Here is what it means:

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?

Would you like to sleep with me tonight?

Voulez - vous: Would you like to

Coucher: Sleep

Avec: With

Moi: Me

Ce soir: Tonight

You are much too young to do such things. Think of me as an older sister. Keep in touch. If this boy continues this, tell your Headmaster.

With love,

Fleur'

.

Harry re-read the letter, noticing the only minor mistake that Fleur had made. She was still fuming. That bloody ponce had asked her to sleep with him! And while usually Harry wouldn't have minded such nonsense, Hermione had just spent the previous hour lecturing her and Ron about how written agreements could act as binding contracts, especially when the perpetrator was a Pureblood.

Harry decided to get back at the smarmy git tomorrow, probably during History of Magic.

The only good thing to come out of the Triwizard Tournament was that she and Fleur had struck up a regular correspondence, with the older girl often giving Harry fashion advice. But recently, Fleur's letters had become shorter, and Harry didn't know why.

Harry decided to send Fleur a present during Christmas. The quarter-Veela was probably just feeling lonely.

Did that mean she had to get Draco, the cad méprisable, a Christmas present as well?

OoOoO

Guest review replies:

Guest: Thanks for pointing that out. :)

Sadie: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. :) And also, thanks for that bit about 'no shit, Sherlock', I'm so glad it existed way before 1995. :) I hope you liked this chapter as well.

Mia: Haha, I agree with you about Dramione. It doesn't help that Drarry (Drarriet) is my OTP. :D Thanks for reviewing. :)

Sherry: I usually imagine fem!Harry to look like Katie McGrath. Anna Speckhart looks lovely too. :) And oh my goodness, Emil Andersson is a WORK OF ART. :O :O Such beauty. :O Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)

test: Wow, you reviewed all four chapters. Thanks. :) Are you the same person who reviewed Determinisn, Destiny And Free-Will, as well as 31 Days Of Winter? In which case, thanks for that as well. I agree, Drarry is the best pairing in the HPverse. :D And thanks for pointing out that 1990 thing. :) And lastly, omigosh, were you serious when you said the third chapter was the best? I thought it wasn't that great because it garnered the least reviews of all four. :/ But thanks for saying that. :) Thank you so so much for reading and reviewing. :)

AN:

Is anyone else excited about the alliance? :D What do you think is going to happen next? :) Remember, the story's going to be nice and long and slow, so if the pace gets annoying, tell me, okay? :* I'll keep it in mind when I write future chapters. But one of prime aims is to explore everyday Hogwarts life as well. :)

I've been thinking of adding an omake for every 100th review. What are your thoughts? O:)

Let's take a moment to wish Harry and Neville, and also a moment to appreciate the sheer genius that The Cursed Child is. :') Who wants spoilers? :*

(Has anyone else started shipping certain new characters with certain other characters?) :D

Thanks for reading!