Notes: 4th year (GoF), Angst/Drama (Harry/Draco)

Played It to the Beat

Theo gave him a congratulatory clap on the back, grinning in delight. "I knew you could do it, Draco! Potter told you he loves you, didn't he?" He looked over at Draco, gaze full of admiration. "You know, Draco, I don't think there's anyone more Slytherin than you, not even …"

He trailed off, his eyes on a spot over Draco's shoulder.

An ominous feeling came over Draco as he slowly turned around.

Harry stood before him, looking lost and not a little scared. "Draco," he whispered beseechingly, "is it true?"

Draco swallowed. Slow realisation was dawning in Harry's eyes, and Draco almost looked away at the hurt shining through. As Harry's face crumpled with betrayal, Draco realised with a sudden surreal clarity, I have broken Harry Potter's heart.

His eleven-year-old self would have crowed in triumph, but now, in that moment, only a bitter taste of ash was left in his mouth.

He tried to get his mouth to move, but his voice wouldn't work. "Har—" he croaked.

"Don't you dare," Harry spat furiously, even as his eyes continued to fill with tears. "Don't you dare say a word, Draco Malfoy. Are you satisfied with yourself? Are you proud? You've managed to trick the 'Boy Who Lived' well and truly. Did you have a good laugh with your mates watching pitiful Potter trail behind you like a starstruck fool?"

A crowd was congregating around them now. Whispers of "Malfoy" and "bet" reached his ears, and by Harry's flinch, so had he.

"Was it fun to see the Horntail almost burn me to a crisp? Was it fun watching me trip through practice so I wouldn't step on your feet at the Yule Ball?" He sneered, an ugly thing Draco had never seen before on the Gryffindor. "Did you enjoy opening my Christmas present and knowing that I put my entire heart into it? Did you pass around my bumbling letters and read out my pathetic confessions to the Slytherin common room?"

Harry stepped forward, dragging Draco to him by the scruff of his robes. "Did you, Malfoy?"

Green eyes bored into Draco, hurt and tearful and demanding all at once. A twinge of something—surely not regret?—tugged inside him. I'm sorry, thought Draco, faintly surprised at the emotion. Maybe I should have—

Before anything could be said, Granger and the Weasel shouldered their way through the throng. "Harry," the bushy-haired girl said softly.

Draco couldn't mask his distaste as she placed a calming hand on the other boy. A sudden flash of fury sparked in Harry's eyes, and Draco braced himself for a fist to his face. Just as abruptly, his robes were released and Harry's face became more blank than when Mad-Eye had Imperius-ed them.

He took a half-turn to leave, then changed his mind and turned back around. "You will never speak to me again," he whispered, so muted that even the rest of the golden trio wouldn't have heard. "Because if you do, Draco, I swear I will return the pain you have caused me a hundred times over."

With a last burning yet devastated glare, Harry stalked past the students gathered around, flanked by Granger and the Weasel.

The mutterings continued as their audience dispersed. Draco watched as Harry's back receded from view and rubbed his face tiredly, feeling suddenly drained.

Theo's laugh jerked him out of his thoughts. "You showed him!" He smirked with relish. "Pathetic Potter—"

"Shut up," Draco hissed lowly. Theo must have caught the hard glint in his eyes, because he didn't say another word the entire walk back to the common room.

A/N: Instead of working on literally every other fic I've got hanging, this is what manifests. I blame it on all the Drarry I've been reading this past month …

I promise I'm working on the others – time just hasn't been a very available resource to me of late, what with most of my time spent at the hospital this year (i.e. waking up at the crack of dawn and returning home in time to sleep).

Anyway, please leave your thoughts below! For those of you who celebrate it, I hope you had a lovely Easter! And for those who don't … hope you enjoyed the days off and a ton of chocolate! :p