Authors Note:
Disclaimer: The world of HP is owned by JKR. I only own the story line, characters, places and all other aspects of this story are JKR's.
Changes: As you might've previously read in this fanfic the Weasley twins are only one year older than Harry/Ron/Hermione. They're 7th years, while Harry and his classmates are 6th years.
Warning: This fanfic will contain SLASH. That means sexual interaction between two characters of the same sex. If you don't mind, read on! Feel free to follow me on Tumblr .
Chapter 2 – Muggle Games
He was at the Weasley's famous Christmas bash, and as usual, to make up for the lack of Gryffindors, the Ravenclaws had been coaxed into stepping away from their books, which they studied religiously; Hufflepuffs had dreamily wandered in laden with spirits and various delicacies; while a few snarky but eager Slytherins had slithered in as well.
It was going well until the spirit supply began lacking, the twins volunteered themselves and a reluctant Harry for a quick trip to Hogsmeade.
Halfway there Harry realized he had left his wand behind. He shoved the Marauders map along with his Invisibility cloak into the twins hands and promised to catch up, before sprinting back to his room.
The twins simply chorused synchronized "Don't get lost!" "Or do!" before they continued on their way while humming merrily to the annoyed suits of armors.
Harry chuckled and began his ascend from the first floor, to the seventh floor portrait of the Fat Lady.
Turning a sharp corner he came crashing into what he assumed was a teacher, his heart pounded threateningly in his chest and a dull ache filled his ribcage before he realized the figure was about his height and considerably smaller than any of the Professors.
The other student seemed just as alarmed, but after peering into the dark he scoffed a "Potter" as unpleasantly as if he'd just consumed an unwanted amount of ear-wax flavored Bertie Botts.
"Malfoy" Harry was aware of his less-than brilliant response, due to his slight buzz, but decided he really didn't care.
Malfoy seemed put off at Harry's lack of hostility and he stepped back assessing his rivals giddy features.
"Well, what the bloody hell's wrong with you?" he demanded flatly, an unhappy frown upon his pale model-like features.
Harry merely giggled and beckoned Draco closer as if to whisper.
This only caused Draco to grow more alarmed and question Harry's sanity, well further question would be more accurate, nevertheless he leaned forward curiously.
"Party" Harry not-so-quietly whispered.
He was close enough that Draco could smell the butterbeer in his breath, it wasn't entirely unpleasant and for a split second Draco focused on the way Harry licked his lips. Softly, his tongue darting over them ever so swiftly.
In a mere moments Draco's face went from curious to stone-cold blank, "Ah..right..the Weasels Christmas bash" he responded dryly.
Draco was too proud to admit it, but it hurt that his parents had planned a holiday vacation without inviting him along. He'd had to stay behind, at Hogwarts, enduring the crack-bat's old anecdotes.
When would Dumbledore stop treating Draco as if he were merely five, someone to be scolded and chuckled at? He was no child, the mere reminder of it caused a habitual pout to form on his pink lips, something he overlooked as being childish.
Even through his drunken stupor Harry managed to catch the flicker of emotions on the blonde boys face, and it made him feel... uneasy.
Well..it was Christmas Eve.. and the blonde did look unhappy with his lips.. like that...they looked..soft.
"Wouldyouliketocometothebash?" mumbled Harry quickly before he could change his mind, unfortunately this also meant Draco caught none of his words.
"What are you on about Potter?" he asked entirely confused as he watched the dark haired boy tug at his shirt and flutter his lashes furiously in embarrassment. He'd never noticed how long those lashes were..
"Would you, like to come to the bash?" repeated Harry more slowly but he still jumped slightly as if surprising himself.
Draco stared at him dumbstruck "Now why on earth would I want to do that!" he cried in shock.
Harry stared at him and began to wonder what had compelled him to even ask. He knew Malfoy was too proud to accept an invitation, even if he was clearly lonely, miserable, and had nothing better to do.
So he tried another tactic "What, are you scared of Gryffindors, Malfoy? Afraid?" he tried his best to taunt the blonde without slurring.
It worked because in merely two seconds a barely visible red blush had tinged Malfoy's once pale cheeks.
"Scared! Me? Of Gryffindors? Well lead the way Potter!" he heatedly whispered crossing his arms.
Harry couldn't help the small smirk that tugged at his lips, that had been much too easy. He was getting better at reading his enemy.
"What are you smirking at? Go on" said Malfoy impatiently.
"Nothing, come on" and they'd set off at a fast pace in order to avoid any further commotion.
"Wait" Harry said grabbing the blondes robes before they could turn the final corner, "Sir Cadogon wont care if students from other houses enter and the Fat Lady's off for the break, but I doubt a room full of our classmates would take your arrival lightly" he explained before leaning in closer to preform a disillusionment charm.
It was close enough to realize that Malfoy was maybe an inch or two taller than him, his hair wasn't gelled back so the soft blonde hair was settled quite nicely in a casual disarray and he smelled lightly of sweat and rain.
From the Quidditch pitch, Harry thought lazily to himself not noticing how he'd taken a rather deep breath.
His wand tapped the soft blonde waves once and Malfoy gave a yelp of surprise as the unfamiliar feeling of an egg being cracked upon his head dribbled down his body.
"A warning would've been nice!" he huffed angrily before fidgeting uncomfortably at Potter's too near distance.
Harry stepped back quickly and gave his head a small shake as if clearing it and called a soft "follow me and stay close" before walking towards Sir Cadagons sleeping form.
He had to prod him into waking, much to Malfoy's amusement, and then reminded Sir Cadagon that the password had been "mistletoe" before the painting swung open to reveal cries of laughter and merrily drunken singing.
They stepped clumsily through the portrait, Malfoy almost pressed against him as they tried to squeeze through before it swung closed once more.
Harry tried to ignore the soft warm breathing against his neck. He really did.
The room gave a cry of "Harry!" and a few people moved forward "Gotta grab something!" he announced before they could smother him, and possibly brush against Malfoy, then hurriedly set off up the stairs two at a time.
When he reached his shared room he gave a sigh of relief that Ron was downstairs arguing heatedly with Hermione and that the rest of his fellow Gryffindors had left over break.
Snatching his wand from his nightstand he became aware of alcohol stains down his front. Cursing and stripping his torso of any clothing he begun rummaging through his trunk, but froze when the door creaked open before quickly closing.
It was then he remembered Malfoy, "Uhm.." he called out questioningly as he withdrew a plain green shirt and grey jumper from his messy trunk.
"Ew! Are you trying to blind me, for Merlins sake put on some clothes" called a whiny voice to his left.
Harry only shook his head in mirth then called out a teasing "That's Ron's bed you know" when the bed next to him dipped down.
The responding yelp and thump on the floor paired with "Merlin knows what he does there" only made him shake with more laughter as he tugged the jumper down over his shirt.
Shoving discarded clothing hastily back into his trunk he took no notice of his covers shifting on his own bed as Malfoy settled himself comfortably and waited.
"Well now what?" he asked snootily while he inspected Harry's bed with curiosity.
The bed had been hastily made earlier and Harry swallowed nervously, imagining Malfoy's eyes sweeping across the area studiously. His own eyes scanned the bed and the random articles scattered about before they came to an abrupt halt and focused on a small vial resting on his nightstand. Crap. Would Malfoy recognize the small vial of Dreamless Sleep? He held his breath waiting for the snide comment he was sure would follow, if Malfoy did indeed know the contents of the vial. Maybe he could play it off by answering Malfoy's question from earlier..
"Now I take of the spell, we go downstairs, and have a good time?" it almost sounded like a question and Harry tried to stare at the spot he knew an invisible Malfoy sat.
"Sounds reasonable and what do you suppose I do when the entire common room decides to rebel and beat me to smithereens?" taunted the invisible boy as he stood up and walked towards the door.
Harry sighed, relieved that Malfoy had either ignored the Dreamless Sleep, or had no clue about it. Still, he began to wonder what had compelled him to even invite the git in the first place.
"Its a Christmas Bash, no one cares what house you're from, in fact I think Pansy's downstairs playing a game of Exploding Snap with Smith" he retorted stepping forward and reaching out with his wand to end the Disillusionment charm.
"Uh not up here! Downstairs!" cried Malfoy haughtily as he opened the door and stepped down the stone stairs.
Harry followed warily and made his way down until they stood at the base of the stairs.
They waited till everyone was distracted by the large billows of smoke issuing from one of Smiths snap cards, before Harry quickly muttered the counter spell and Malfoy's annoyed face began rippling until it became solid.
It had been at this moment that the twins had burst through the portrait hole carrying an impossible amount of butterbeer, firewisky and various other assorted drinks that McGonagall would heavily disapprove of.
Cheers went up as students surged forward to relieve the twins of their weight.
"Harry!" cried both twins but cut off as soon as they took in his company.
Harry muttered a quiet "shit" under his breath and he swore he felt Malfoy leap behind him in effort to hide himself .
The whole common room froze and turned to take in once pale but now ashen faced blonde and the slightly flushed spectacled boy.
"Err..hey Fred, George. Sorry I was held up" he offered apologetically.
The room was eerily quiet, save for another one of Zachariahs Smith's cards which went off with a BANG and then started to smoke.
Pansy had dropped all her cards and was standing stiffly as if horrified to be found canoodling with scum by none other than the Slytherin prince himself.
A few other Slytherins followed suit, bodies shuffling uneasily, their eyes wide in alarm.
The twins had recovered quickly from their confusion and were now approaching the two boys with a smirk on their faces.
"Held up eh?" taunted Fred while George wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Not like that!" protested Harry but the twins ignored him and instead patted him on the shoulders affectionately.
"Sure whatever you say mate" they winked before addressing the entire room.
"Well don't just stand around! Another round of butterbeer and exploding snaps is in order!" cried out George, jumping onto the nearest armchair and causing a third year to giggle and shy away.
"Lets show this Slytherin we know how to party!" agreed Fred shoving a large bottle of firewhisky into Malfoy's somewhat shaky hands, before standing atop another armchair and conjuring up random fireworks.
Harry had never been more glad that silencing charms had been layered on around the common room, by the now laid back Ravenclaws. He was sure that if they were all to be murdered, no one else in the castle would possibly hear them and come to the rescue..
As if having been released from a Petrificus Totalus the whole room unfroze and went back to its merry banter and possibly unsafe games of exploding snap.
"Well..that went..well?" questioned Harry turning to Malfoy who appeared to still be petrified, the bottle of firewhisky clutched lamely in his hand.
"Uh" was all he managed to utter before looking about for the Slytherins who'd assumed that not screaming at them in rage meant they could return to their activities without fear of being reprimanded later.
All except for Pansy who left a bewildered and smoking Smith behind as she slunk up towards Malfoy.
"Hey" she offered quietly trying to and failing to hide the panic that flickered across her large eyes. This seemed to snap Malfoy out of his stunned state for he looked at her in disgust "Seems I've figured out where you've been off too the past two days. Snogging Smith I see?" he asked her disgustedly.
A red flare erupted across the girls cheeks "Oh like you really care, where've you been Malfoy moping about because of mummy and daddy? At least I know when to cut my losses" she replied haughtily shooting Harry an apologetic look at causing a scene.
Harry shrugged, no one was paying them any mind, except for Smith who was now sitting dejectedly on a couch. "Shut up Parkinson" Malfoy replied half-heartedly before grabbing Harry's arm "come on Potter" he mumbled.
Pansy stood their bewildered and Harry followed in a state of confusion himself, he knew there was nothing going on between the two Slytherins but they were close friends.
Why Malfoy had chosen to ignore her and drag him along instead was unknown to him, probably pride, he's angry Pansy would ditch him for a Gryffindor party he thought to himself.
They stopped near a large table that held cups of what looked like firewhisky, on either side their were wizards and witches throwing small round balls and cheering or laughing as they were tossed across the table.
"Whats this?" asked Malfoy curiously peering at the game.
"Its a mug- a game, you throw these- " Harry responded as his hand picked up a small ping-pong ball "and throw them across to the other side- " he peered over a few peoples shoulders to see that Fred and George had now taken up the game and were laughing hysterically. "- And then you drink, or your opponents drink depending on whether the ball makes it into a cup or not" he finished now looking back at Malfoy who was watching the game with rapt attention.
"So the point is to get smashed" he asked and Harry was surprised it was a genuine question that held no sarcasm or taunting.
"Yeah I suppose, or get your opponent smashed is more accurate" he replied almost smiling but catching himself just in time.
He reached over and snatched the bottle of firewhisky from the blonde who gave a start, pulled off the cap and took a large swig enjoying the warm feeling that began in his throat and fluttered around in his stomach, before handing it back.
"Well now its ruined" teased Malfoy before taking a swig himself and making a face as he drank down the first swig of spirits for the night. Harry didn't even bother with a "shut up" instead turning back to the game.
Malfoy had gone through almost the entire bottle of firewhisky by himself with a bit of help from Harry and he was now grinning for no apparent reason. He kept telling Harry how hideously messy his black hair was, how annoyingly green his eyes were and small banter like that, usually followed by a guffaw as Harry glanced at him in amusement.
Seeing Malfoy well sloshed had given the Slytherins the courage to go about their night peacefully and even Pansy had apologized. She, Malfoy and a large group of Hufflepuffs were now singing a rather off tune version of "Dreidal" which Harry pointed out laughing, had absolutely nothing to do with Christmas.
Overall the different houses had settled quite nicely about Malfoy and some had even begun to wonder if the snarky, stuck up git was only a figment of their imagination. Even the twins were casually joking about with the blonde.
All of this somehow lead to the Quidditch players being gathered up, split into two groups and a game of well played whisky-pong had ensued before Harry could protest.
Though most players were half-smashed they retained their alcohol well and gritted their teeth as they aimed accurately as possible. Harry brought yet another cup and drank almost unwillingly as Malfoy laughed at having made the shot. If it weren't for the fact that everyone knew Malfoy and Potter were enemies they might've almost mistaken them for close friends.
At around 4:00 am the bash toned down and most had fallen asleep.
Malfoy had finally announced he was returning to his room and grabbed his Pansys arm in attempt to drag them to the dungeons. This had only resulted in Pansy giving a giggle before falling over too tipsy to walk.
"Mate, I think its best if you just crashed here, wouldn't want old McGonagall to catch you two stumbling around the castle drunk, now would we?" offered Fred through a lazy grin. "Yeah" agreed George lifting his mug before taking another gulp.
Harry found himself wondering how the twins could consume so much alcohol and still always remain the most sane. He was sure Molly Weasley would not find it as amazing as he himself did.
"Yeah alright" mumbled Malfoy before yawning and turning to Harry. "Right then show me to a bed, I refuse to sleep like these- " he waved at the sleeping forms of various students on the floor, conjured couches and armchairs.
Harry growled, his head too dizzy for arguing, "fine whatever but you're taking Ron's bed" he said before making his way towards the stairs. The twins looked up both slightly alarmed "Uh mate you might not want to go up there" warned Fred while George paled and nodded in agreement.
"I'm tired and unlike you I have a limit to how much alcohol I can retains, so sod off guys" mumbled Harry before leading the way while Malfoy tried his best to agree. The twins shot each other glances "Right but let us grab something first" and they both took off running at a surprisingly balanced paced, how they managed Harry couldn't even begin to know.
They were on their way out of the room both holding a brown cloth bag that seemed to be stuffed, when Malfoy and Harry passed them. "Right see you tomorrow!" they called merrily before continuing downstairs to their mischief. Neither sixth year had managed a reply instead they stumbled forward exhausted. The last thought that flitted across his mind before sleep claimed him was thank god for hang-over potions, because he was sure to wake up with one hell of a headache.
Hey guys! I know its been AGES since I've written anything but I swear I'm back and I'll stick around this time. Chapter 3 will come soon! But please leave reviews to keep me encouraged :) ^-^ kitty ears!
xoxo -Mel.