Disclaimer: see prologue
Guide: "Speech", Thoughts, ~letters and other written things, "Parseltongue"
Warning: sexual themes and kinks
Beta: Platinum
AN: I'm alive and really sorry for the long delay. And before you ask, No, the story isn't on hiatus or abandoned. Besides RL and university having been busy, I had a hard time finishing the previous chapter of my other story (Verbuar) and my final exams started.
-~-~- Altair -~-~-
-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-
-~-~- Chapter 28 – Rainy days spent in Room Zero-~-~-
Saturday, 1st November 1997
Draco wasn't surprised when Harry asked him after lunch if his friends could visit their room to meet Sirius' portrait. He was surprised though, when Blaise asked if he could tag along.
"You don't even know Black," Draco said as he and his friend walked up the stairs of the Altair common room. The blond didn't understand why Blaise would want to meet Harry's godfather.
"For one, I'm curious about your handiwork," Blaise answered with a wink. "And second, Hermione will most likely tell me all about it anyway. So, I can as well come too and save myself from listening to her report later. Besides, I really want to drink a Coke," he finished with a small pout on his lips.
"It's up to Harry," Draco answered. "It's his godfather after all."
Having heard the comment, Harry turned around. After a moment of indecision, he said, "Why not. You can help Draco to not feel too out of place with all the Gryffindors around."
Opening the door, Harry stepped through it to hold it open for the others. Draco entered first so that he too could invite everyone else into Room Zero.
"You know, if this room wouldn't remind me so much of the Slytherin common room, I would be jealous," Ron said when he saw the living room of Room Zero for the first time. "It's so unfair that you not only got your own bathroom but your own kitchen too," he continued.
"And you haven't even seen the best part yet, Weasley," Draco said as he and Harry got some Coke bottles for everyone.
"And what would that be, Malfoy?" Ron asked, not knowing what would be better than having his own kitchen, where he could fry some sausages without having to walk all the way to the kitchen after curfew if he had a sudden craving.
"The perfect view of the Quidditch pitch," Draco said as he handed over one of the Coke bottles to an eagerly waiting Blaise, who had secretly hoped that the blond would shock Ron with saying something like "The drawer full of sex toys" instead.
Unaware of Blaise's dirty thoughts, the red-head didn't hesitate to walk over towards the big window and take a good look on the brilliant view.
"And here I thought you've missed me," Sirius announced, when he noticed that neither Ron nor Hermione paid him any attention. And as desired, everyone turned their heads in his direction.
"Of course we missed you, Sirius," Hermione said, turning her eyes away from Ron and focusing them on the portrait.
"And why haven't you greeted me yet?" he asked cheekily.
"Because I only have one chance to see Ron's reaction to Room Zero after his scene in the beginning of the year," Hermione told Sirius.
"Do you still need to pick on it? I already apologized a day after it happened," Ron said, annoyed that Hermione obviously still couldn't let the matter rest in the past, where it belonged.
"I know and I'm sorry. It's just good to see that you really changed your mind about it," Hermione answered truthfully, taking the drink Harry offered and letting herself fall down in the middle of the comfy sofa. She felta bit ashamed that she didn't seem able to let go of it, even though Ron had already shown that he'd changed.
Ron didn't say anything about it, not wanting the conversation to drag on any longer. So, without another word, he took his seat to Hermione's right, while Blaise sat down to her left and Harry and Draco settled into their armchairs.
"So, why haven't you told us before that you found Sirius' portrait?" Hermione asked. She had respected Harry's wish to not ask any questions about the portrait during lunch. But as he had promised to tell them about it when they were in Room Zero, she couldn't wait any longer.
"I didn't want to raise any false hopes," Harry began, having though about what to tell his friends during lunch. "I found his portrait when I went to Gringotts in August. But it hadn't been activated yet. Not that I knew that at that time," Harry admitted sheepishly.
"Anyway," the brunet went on, "it was pure luck that Draco mentioned that wizarding portraits needed to be activated. And yeah...here we are," he finished lamely, not wanting to say anything particular about the Portrait Activating Ritual. Not because Ron was in the room, but simply because he was too embarrassed to speak about it in front of his friends and Blaise―especially Blaise with his sexual jokes.
"If you'd told me, I would have loved to help you with the research and preparations," Hermione said, her love for research evident in her voice.
"And that's exactly why they didn't tell you," Blaise said dryly.
"Blaise's right," Draco agreed. "Harry was nervous enough as it was. He really didn't need you to constantly approach him with new information and tips about the ritual. And even if you had held back, the two of you knowing about it and excitedly awaiting the activation would have put even more pressure on him," Draco explained the reason why they had decided to keep their Ritual Magic project a secret until they successfully performed it, even though it made Harry feel out of place as, they were talking like he wasn't in the room with them.
"I understand," Hermione said in a soft voice. "And I'm sorry that I slapped you earlier," she added. It seemed today was the Head Girl's day of apologies. "It was just that Blaise and I had joked about the two of you having performed it this morning with both of your connections to the Blacks and their love of portraits; and then you show up and hint that you've really done it without telling us beforehand. And I just felt left out. Like you didn't trust me enough to tell me about it," she tried to explain her actions.
"Enough with all the apologies and explanations," Sirius said firmly, not giving them any room to contradict him. "So, what have you two been up to in the last year and a half, besides quarrelling?" he asked Hermione and Ron. The latter of the two finally able to stop disavowing that Sirius had an active portrait as he had been too overwhelmed with taking in Room Zero to truly register the happy event.
~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"You know what I've been wondering about?" Harry rhetorically asked his godfather's portrait. After three hours Hermione, Ron and Blaise had left and Draco was currently in the bathroom. "How can we so freely talk about the things related to the Altair electives if Altair Black's spell should prevent it?" the brunet wondered aloud.
"As much as I would like to say that it's because I'm a Black and you're the current head of the Black family. But I believe I can tell you details about Snape's, Regulus' and your parents' Altair experiences without their given consent because we're inside the Altair rooms at Hogwarts," Sirius guessed.
"Alhough, I do not believe that even Dumbledore understands all aspects of the spell," the portrait added. "But then again, it really is a very complex piece of spellwork to ensure that one cannot tell the press of who is partnered with whom. But on the other hand, you can still somehow inform your family and friends outside of Hogwarts who your partner is, if the other party agrees for the partnership to be revealed to them, even if it's only on the subconscious level," Sirius talked about his own experience with the boundaries of the spell.
When Draco came back from the bathroom, the blond told Harry, "It's a good thing that Blaise joined us. Without him, we would have had a harder time to keep Hermione in check."
"Knowing her though, I wouldn't be surprised if she's in the library right now and plans to pepper Blaise with questions when she comes back," Harry said.
"As long as she doesn't bother our Ritual Magic teacher," Draco answered. "Blaise told me that when she researched how the Weasleys' family clock worked, even their Enchanting professor got so annoyed with her constant questions that he threatened her with expulsion from his classroom if she didn't stop pestering him. I wouldn't be surprised if our professor blames us if Hermione annoys her."
"And I thought Ron was the only one who was near snapping when she asked him questions about the clock he couldn't answer," Harry said as he got up and said goodbye to Sirius and Draco.
He'd already spent the whole morning and afternoon in Room Zero, so it was high time for him to go to the Gryffindor common room and make an appearance before dinner. With everyone being forced to spend the day inside because of the constant rain, someone was bound to notice his absence.
~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
After Harry left, and Draco was alone in the living room, he sat down on his favourite place― namely the window seat―and let his eyes fall shut. As the rain softly fell against the glass, creating a rhythmic background noise, Draco thought back about the decision he made this morning.
While doing his Ancient Runes homework, he made a mental list of the pros and cons of moving his and Harry's relationship to the next level and whether or not he should admit his feelings. In the end, he had decided to not say anything to Harry yet. Not because he was too afraid to take the risk of being rejected―he knew that you could only gain something if you're willing to risk something else first, but because it just wasn't the right time yet.
For one, Harry had just gotten back his beloved godfather and Draco wanted to give Harry enough time to get reacquainted with him and just enjoy the happiness the activation of the portrait brought without anything diminishing the joy Harry felt.
But this would only justify a delay of a week or two, and not the nearly two months Draco had decided on. This prolonged wait was caused by Draco's second point. The blond knew that it wouldn't be good for his and Harry's friendship if his love confession would make Harry feel awkward and uncomfortable around him, especially since they still had Sexual Potions to brew and ritual techniques to practise on and with each other.
So, Draco had come to the conclusion that he would wait until the Yule holidays, after they finished their next Ritual Magic project on the winter solstice to make his move. If it didn't go as well as he hoped, then Harry would have two weeks to get comfortable around him again. Besides, it would be good if they weren't forced to share a bed, so if Harry needed his distance he could always visit the Weasleys and have some space from him.
Thus, Draco had roughly two months to make Harry fall in love with him too, without actually manipulating the brunet to return his feelings. He just hoped that the small hints he planned to give the other boy during the next weeks would be enough to get a little sign from Harry whether or not he felt the same way.
With a sigh, Draco opened his eyes again and watched as the rain changed back from the soft falling of water drops in the early afternoon to the heavy downpour of the morning.
~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
It was later that night, half an hour before midnight, when the heavy rain from the late afternoon finally became the thunderstorm everyone had expected to come. And while Draco was already peacefully asleep in the land of dreams, using his bed partner's right arm as a cuddly toy, Harry was far away from sleep.
Just like the night before the blond's mind had been far too troubled by his feelings for Harry to find some much needed rest, Harry was thinking too much about Sirius' comment in the morning to fall asleep. In between talking to Sirius in the morning, the afternoon spent with his friends, and the evening making an appearance in Gryffindor tower, he didn't have a chance to ponder more on the comment.
'Surely you two are already in love with each other' that's what Sirius said so carelessly, like there wasn't any doubt in his mind that we're in love, Harry remembered his godfather's words as he watched Draco sleep. And just like some hours before, he still hadn't a straight yes or no answer to the question if he loved the young man in front of him.
Did he find Draco sexually attractive? Did he enjoy what they did together as part of their Sexual Magic coursework? The answer to those questions was a clear 'Yes'. He couldn't deny that Draco was a very fit bloke and also a talented lover, even though he had as much sexual experience as he and Harry hoped that Draco enjoyed what he did to the blond as well. But if the sounds the blond made were anything to go by, Harry was satisfying Draco as much as the other satisfied him.
As Harry's eyes wandered from the blond's naked chest to his pink lips, Harry's mind asked him if he also liked just kissing Draco. And while deep in his heart Harry knew that he did enjoy just kissing the other boy, he didn't want to admit it to himself even though he unconsciously made sure to kiss the blond at least once a day with either a good morning or a good night kiss. Wanting to dismiss the question his treacherous mind came up with, Harry asked himself instead, But what experience do I have in matters of love?
There was Cho, who cried when we kissed that one time because she was thinking about her dead ex-boyfriend, he began the short count.
And then there was Ginny... Harry really didn't want to think about his short romantic relationship with Ginny as it invoked a completely new fear in him.
If he was truthful to himself, he could admit that he loved the blond in a platonic way. After living together for two months, spending so much time together, exploring sex and Sexual Magic together, sharing some stories from their childhoods and comparing their memories of the first Hogwarts years, Harry couldn't help himself but to deeply care for Draco, who he had gotten to know so well.
But even if he thought that he had romantic feelings for Draco, he feared that just like with Ginny, he was confusing them with a brotherly love for the blond, and would never admit even to himself that he had those feelings. That they were Altair partners only complicated the situation more.
Maybe I should talk with someone about it? Get an outsider's objective opinion? Harry wondered. It would be nice if someone could help him figure out what exactly the nature of his feeling for Draco were as he wanted to avoid another 'romantic love turned into brotherly love' situation as it would feel very, very weird to have sex with someone who you saw as a brother. So, Harry thought that it would be good to get the opinion of an outsider. The three most obvious choices which came to mind were Ginny, Hermione and Sirius.
Ginny wouldn't be the best choice because she too confused the brotherly love with the romantic kind, Harry argued. Besides, I can't tell her the whole magnitude of the problem with her still being sixteen and unaware of the Altair classes... Harry dismissed his ex-girlfriend.
Hermione wouldn't be the best choice either, he thought. While I'm sure that she would be able to figure out the nature of my love for Draco, she would need to ask me too many questions I don't want to answer before she would give me a final answer. And ones she knows about it, she most likely would ask me every now and then how it was going or if I wanted to share something more.
Which leaves me with Sirius, Harry concluded. I certainly can talk with him about it, he thought. Though it would be wise to wait a few days before asking him. He still seems to need some time to accept that the Malfoys hadn't followed Voldemort of their own free will. But then, he'd only been alive again for a day.
Or maybe I should talk to Neville? Harry wondered, suddenly another option crossing his mind. He certainly won't press me for information I don't want to give and, opposed to Sirius, he already accepted the Malfoys' role in the war...
In the end, Harry decided that he would try to figure it out on his own first before he would approach either Neville or Sirius for their advice.
Having reached a decision, Harry came back to the present, registering that his free left hand had found its way into the blond's soft hair while he had been thinking. He was glad that Draco hadn't woken up as he had absently caressed the blond locks. Gingerly taking his hand back, Harry got comfortable on his back and was surprised when Draco unconsciously snuggled closer to him so that his head rest on Harry's right shoulder.
After giving Draco a soft kiss on the top of his head, which he couldn't resist doing, his mind felt like it was calmed down enough to let him get some rest, so he closed his eyes, soon falling asleep with the other boy right beside him.
~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Saturday, 8th November 1997
A week had past and Harry still hadn't figured out if his love for Draco was brotherly or romantic in nature. But then it had been a busy week.
Sunday, Harry had spent talking more with his godfather's portrait, and studying for his Transfiguration test. He had been lucky that Hermione reminded him about the test during lunch, or otherwise he was sure that he would have failed the test.
On Monday, Harry had been busy with his classes and the Quidditch practice in the afternoon. On Tuesday he had been too worried about what his Ritual Magic teacher would say about their performed ritual to think about Draco. As for the rest of the week, his mind had been preoccupied with thoughts about what Sirius was up to and missing the man's portrait to be able to think clearly.
Harry couldn't understand why his Ritual Magic teacher had reciprocated Sirius' flirting and insisted that she kept the portrait for some more days to thoroughly investigate if they've done the Portrait Activation Ritual correctly.
As if this was necessary. Surely the fact alone that Sirius was speaking, moving around in his portrait and having all of his memories from his childhood up to the day of his death is sign enough that the ritual was a success, Harry thought, missing his godfather and being sad that he couldn't ask him for advice with his unsolved 'Draco problem'.
But at least he had today's Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to look forward to and judging by the Great Hall's ceiling, it would be a rain free day with only some clouds darkening the sky.
At a quarter after ten, Harry was standing besides Ron and Ginny in the Gryffindor stands, Hermione being absent as it wasn't her house playing today.
"I really hope that it doesn't start raining," Harry commented to Ron as the clouds seemed to multiply and get darker with the minute, and they were only twelve minutes into the game.
"Me too, mate, me too," Ron answered, not letting his eyes of the game as Hufflepuff was near to making another goal and Ron wanted to know all of their tricks for when it would be his time to ward the Chasers off.
Ten minutes later, Harry and his friends were feverishly watching the game as the first rain drops started falling. So much about a rain free day, the brunet thought, right before he spotted the Golden Snitch hovering near to the ground of the Ravenclaw stands.
Neither of the playing Seekers seemed to notice the fluttering ball as they were both looking towards the now dark grey sky. Though, as far as Harry could tell from where he was standing, it seems like Draco seemed to have spotted the Snitch too.
"The Seekers should concentrate more on the Snitch than on the weather," Harry commented, to which Ginny hummed in agreement, while Ron tried to find the Snitch Harry and Ginny had spotted.
"It would be wise to cast an Impervius Charm," Ginny said as she took her eyes off the players to cast the charm in the hope that her robe would stay mostly dry for the rest of the game.
Both Harry and her brother agreed and quickly copied the motion. But not even ten minutes later, it felt like they hadn't bothered to cast the charm at all. The light rain had changed into a strong downpour, and the three could see the first students leaving the stands in favour of reaching the dry castle. Harry even heard some fourth-years saying that they wanted to try to get to one of the windows which overlooked the pitch to continue watching the game―with their Omnioculars they should still be able to see the players clearly.
After another five minutes passed and the amount of rain didn't lessen at all, Harry couldn't deny that the idea to go back into the castle and just watch the game from his living room window sounded very tempting, especially since half of the spectators already had left the stands and the sky wasn't getting any brighter.
His last resolve to stay and watch the game out in the rain was broken when he saw how Draco and Blaise left their own seats and were on their way inside, as were all of the remaining Slytherin players. "Sorry, Ron" he said to his friend, "but I'll watch the rest of it from inside. With the rain I can hardly see anything."
"I'll come with you," Ginny added from his left. "Luna and Neville have already left five minutes ago," she added.
Hesitantly, Ron accompanied them as he didn't want to be the only one left standing in the stands; even most of the teachers had left at that point. The red-head just hoped that Madam Hooch would soon announce a break until the weather got better.
Surely not even Dumbledore wouldn't risk all fourteen players getting ill and risk the ire of Pomfrey, would he? Ron asked himself as he followed his friends up the stairs towards the Gryffindor tower.
After the boys parted ways with Ginny in the common room so that the sixteen-year-old could change into dry clothes, Harry and Ron made their way towards their own rooms, neither of them remembering that Harry could have easily invited Ron to watch the rest of the game from the living room window in Room Zero, even though Harry planned to do make use of the window himself. But then, Ron had only visited Room Zero once and over the last two months it had become a habit that they would split ways once they reached the landing, as Harry's room was to the left of the stairs while Ron's was on the right side.
"Urgh," Harry said as he got out of his shoes and soaked outer-robes and hanged the robe beside Draco's equally quenched cloak, just in time remembering to retrieve his Omnioculars from his robe pocket. Entering the bedroom, Harry started to strip out of his cardigan and shirt, which were both as wet as his robes.
Just as he had gotten out of his shirt, which because of the wetness had stubbornly clung to his skin, a towel smacked him on the head, before hanging down from his left shoulder. Turning around, he saw a shirtless Draco walking towards him, towelling his blond hair with a towel of his own.
"I thought that you could use one," the blond said as a way of explanation for the thrown bathroom item.
"Thanks," Harry finally said as he grabbed the towel and started to dry his own hair and chest.
"You should get out of your socks too before you catch a cold," Draco said, pointing at the drenched foot wear. The blond left out that he'd only been looking at the other's feet because he had caught himself staring at the brunet's wet and naked chest and had forced himself to look away before Harry could catch him staring or even worse, Draco developed a hard one.
"Hmm," Harry said in agreement as he leaned down to get the socks off.
"Let's see if they're still playing," Draco said as he walked towards the door, wanting to get away from the attractive and still wet boy.
"Yeah," Harry said. Looking down at his trousers, he saw that they were only a little bit wet, mostly near the hem where they'd dipped into the puddles. As Draco hasn't bothered with putting on a new dry shirt, Harry followed after the blond without putting on a shirt of his own either, not wanting to miss more of the game.
"The poor guys are still playing," Draco informed Harry from the window seat.
"I would have thought that Dumbledore would have interfered by now," Harry admitted.
"Me too," Draco answered. "But I wouldn't be surprised if he let them continue with the argument that it will be a good practice for them if they later want to go professional. After all, an international match isn't cancelled or paused just because it's raining cats and dogs."
"Still, I would have thought that Madam Pomfrey would have demanded him to stop the game," Harry said as he settled down beside the blond.
"Unlikely," Draco said. "When the rain got stronger she left the field and went back towards the Hospital Wing. And if her constant head shaking is anything to go by, she was complaining about Dumbledore and how horrible Quidditch in general is," he added his observation of the school nurse leaving the pitch.
"When doesn't she complain about Quidditch? " Harry asked rhetorically with a chuckle, not able to remember one game where she hadn't expressed at least one complaint about the sport he loved.
"Touché," Draco answered dismissively, picking up his Omnioculars again to watch the game, which Harry copied.
Three minutes later Draco asked, "Have you spotted the Snitch?"
"No," was Harry's short answer, as he excitedly watched one of the Hufflepuff Chasers perform a new manoeuvre.
"Hutchins' move was good," Harry commented, after the fifth-year Hufflepuff scored a goal with the help of the new move.
"Hmm," the blond hummed in agreement. "Though I don't think that a Seeker could use it to his advantage."
"With a bit of adjustment it should work," the brunet answered, not saying anything more as he didn't want Slytherin house to find out what he had planned to do with the move he just saw.
After Hufflepuff had scored another four goals, while Ravenclaw could only make one, Harry finally spotted the Snitch which would end the game.
"Found it," he happily exclaimed.
"Where?" Draco asked, not having spotted the golden ball.
"Up in the air, hovering over the field between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw stands," the brunet said, his eyes not leaving the elusive ball.
After searching the air for thirty seconds, Draco still hadn't spotted the ball between the heavy drops of rain. "I give up," he said frustrated, choosing to watch how a water drop fell from the other's hair to his naked chest and slowly ran down the tan chest instead.
Harry risked a fast glimpse in the blond's direction, blushing when he saw that Draco was staring at his naked chest.
Instead of saying something challenging like 'You should know by now that I don't have a Snitch tattoo―or even the Hungarian Horntail tattoo the rumours claim I have―anywhere on my body,' Harry only could think of saying, "Here, I'll show you where it is," and moved closer to the other boy, so that the blond couldn't stare at him anymore.
Harry was now sitting behind Draco, angled a bit to the right side with his bent right leg pressed against the blond's right thigh, while Harry's left leg was standing on the ground as there wasn't enough room for Harry to sit directly behind the blond. Moving his arms around Draco, he placed his hands over Draco's on the Omnioculars so that he could direct Draco's gaze in the direction of the Snitch.
Leaning his head forward so that his chin rested on the blond's right shoulder, his naked chest pressed against Draco's equally naked back, Harry said, "If it hasn't moved, it should be somewhere in this region," whispering directly into the other's ear.
Draco was momentarily distracted by Harry's closeness, the warm breath on his neck, as well as the other's body heat on his back. When he got a grip on himself, he concentrated on the Quidditch pitch once more, trying to find the Snitch. Not finding the Snitch, he moved the Omnioculars a bit, and after he'd moved them to the right and then upwards he finally spotted it.
"Ah, there it is!" he exclaimed joyfully, unknowingly bringing his neck dangerously close to Harry's lips.
The brunet had just taken a breath, taking in Draco's unique smell, when the blond had moved, and out of nowhere, the urge to just lean in and kiss Draco appeared. If he as much as licked his suddenly dry lips, he would actually be licking the blond's neck instead.
"No wonder that the Seekers haven't found it yet," Draco said, unaware of Harry's inner tumult.
All he would have to do was the lean in a bit and he would be kissing the other boy, maybe even going so far as to leave a love bite on the pale neck.
"It's so near the boundary line, and so far away from the actual action that the chance of it being there is so slim that you wouldn't bother to look in that direction. Especially in this weather," Draco chatted on, not bothered by Harry's lack of a comeback.
When Harry had finally succumbed to the siren's call and leaned in to close the gap between them, the blond suddenly moved his head forward to follow the Snitch's movement as the Ravenclaw Seeker had finally spotted it and was chasing after it.
The unexpected movement brought Harry out of his daze. The brunet shook his head to get rid of the notion to kiss the blond, being happy that Draco had moved just in time. He didn't know how he should have explained to Draco why he'd suddenly decided to kiss the other's neck.
"Finally," Draco shouted excitedly when Ravenclaw's Seeker caught the golden ball and ended the game. "I don't want to know how many of them will have a cold tomorrow," he said, moving his head to the side so that he could better see Harry. But instead of the joyous face he expected to see, he was met by the sight of Harry being deep in thought.
With a furrowed brow, the brunet wondered, The sudden want to kiss Draco must be a sign that my feelings for him aren't brotherly in nature, are they?
~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
AN: Please tell me what you think about this chapter.
Next: A short interlude chapter starring Neville, as I still have some exams to pass, and thus not enough time for writing long chapters. The previously mentioned potion brewing will take place in a later chapter.