Harry woke up inexplicably early the next morning. He tossed and turned and finally decided that he just felt…dirty. He got up and stumbled into the showers. With the warm sluice of water came the memories of the night before. Now he felt even dirtier. Had he really sat in that bureau through all of that? And he was so tired. He hadn't even been up that late.
He spent over half an hour in the shower, scrubbing and rescrubbing. This dare was going too far. Did it really matter who knew that Draco Malfoy was afraid of the dark? He sighed and turned the water off. There was only one person left on the list anyway.
Eric Nalemen was another enigma. A seventh year prefect from Ravenclaw, somehow some people knew he was connected to Draco. Harry had met him and, for a Ravenclaw, he seemed to have a pretty serious…dark…streak. Yes, 'dark' seemed like the right word. His guess was that Draco, the Silver Prince of Slytherin, was reporting to quiet, dark Eric Nalemen.
Harry's first class today was Ancient Runes. Eric was in that class, that's where Harry had met him, under the benign supervision of Professor Binns. He arrived early to make sure he could see Eric.
Just before class started, Ron wandered in and sat beside him. "Why are we sitting over here?"
Harry glanced at him quickly. "The dare." Then he retrained his eyes on Eric, who really wasn't so awful to watch. Professor Binns floated in through the wall and began droning on about the ancients and writing styles.
Shortly, Harry saw Draco's eagle owl quietly alight on the windowsill. Eric carefully and equally quietly opened the window and took the note. He read it, scribbled something on it, and handed it back to the well-behaved bird.
Harry decided it was time for a bathroom trip. He stood up and took the tracking device. It would mark him on a map behind the teacher's desk while he was out. He hurried out into the hall and pitched the little marble into the bathroom. Having taken care of that, he quickly ran out onto the grounds.
Once he was clear of the castle, he stopped and scanned the sky. There! The owl was just gliding around the side of the building. "Accio owl!" He concentrated on the struggling bird, pulling it to him.
"Calm down!" The owl was panicking. Harry grappled with the flailing bird and finally got a hold of the note. How he got it away without tearing it on the owl's claws he would never know.
Once he got it, he let go of the owl and ran. The bird was in pursuit almost immediately. Harry ran in a large circle while he opened the note.
When? That was Draco's handwriting.
8:00 He assumed that to be Eric's.
Harry ducked and held the note up in the air as the huge owl swooped down on him. It snatched the note, scraping his hand, and flew off haughtily. Harry wondered where they were meeting. He put his scratched hand in his mouth to stem the bleeding.
He rushed back into the building to retrieve the tracking device from the bathroom. After chasing it around the toilet for what felt like eternity, he finally got back to class. Slipping into his seat, he accidentally bumped Ron, who was in a deep stupor. His elbow fell out from under his chin and his head snapped up. "Wha?"
"Shh…I was just in the bathroom, that's all…"
"Oh…" Ron put his head back on his hand and checked out.
Harry considered the note. Eight o'clock? Draco showered at 8:15. Could he even meet Eric and get back that fast? Well, he would find out. He would have to follow him tonight.
The sleepy feel of Binns' lecture began to take hold of him and he put his head down on his desk. Soon, he drifted off, and he dreamed.
He saw Draco's room. Draco was sitting on the bed and the comforter was turned down. He walked over to the bureau and opened the door, looking over his shoulder at the blonde. Draco remained on the bed, staring at the door. Harry stepped into the bureau, closed the door, and turned around.
He was standing at the head of Draco's bed. He got down on his hands and knees and tapped Draco on the shoulder. He turned and looked mildly surprised. Harry smiled, but did not open his mouth. Out of nowhere came the piercing voice from the night before.
"You kept me waiting out there, you know." He sat down in surprise.
Draco slipped a hand around his waist, pulling him in close. "Don't quibble about timing."
Draco's lips covered his own, drowning any protests he might have made. As though out of instinct, Harry reached back to wrench the comforter out of the way, but encountered only sheets. He broke the kiss. Once more, Audrey's voice interrupted. "You always pull the comforter down. So neat."
Since Harry's mouth was 'occupied,' Draco latched on to the spot where his chin met his neck. Hands ran down his shirt in search of a hem. Harry's stomach sank deliciously toward his toes and one of Audrey's moans permeated the air.
The hands found their hem and started to ride up under the cloth. Suddenly, the heel of Draco's hand dug up under his ribs. The room melted around him. The pain in his ribs came again. He snapped awake.
"Wha?"
"You okay, mate? You sounded like you were…"
Harry realized what had happened and tried to cover. "I'm fine." He moved pieces of parchment around on his desk.
"Did you hurt your hand? I thought that might be it. You should have Madam Pomfrey look at that."
Harry had forgotten his bleeding hand. He looked at it again. The cut looked bad, but it didn't really hurt anymore and it had scabbed over. "Yeah, it hurts a bit." He cradled it.
He glanced up to see if Ron bought the excuse and saw Eric shoot him a strange look. What was that for?
7:50. Under the invisibility cloak once again, Harry followed Draco from the entrance to the Slytherin common room. The blonde seemed rushed, hurrying up and down halls. As he finally slowed, Harry recognized their location. This was the Room of Requirement.
Draco pulled the door open and Harry made to follow him in. Unfortunately, the cloak caught on a suit of armor and was pulled off him. Luckily, Draco didn't see him and went into the room. Harry ducked back and wrenched the cloak off the suit of armor, yanking it back over his head. He straightened it out and turned around to see Eric coming down the hall.
He pressed up against the wall and hoped that Eric hadn't seen him. It seemed he hadn't, as he opened the door and entered, giving Harry only just enough time to slip in.
It was…a bedroom? The door closed behind him. He couldn't leave. He had managed it again, what would he do now? There was no out, the room was entirely unfurnished bar the bed. Before Harry even recovered from the shock of the room, Eric kissed Draco and Draco began pulling off Eric's clothes.
There was no conversation. No neat folding down of comforters. Clothes disappeared off of their owner and reappeared on the floor as if by magic. Harry could do nothing more than stand against the wall. An inner demon held his eyes open, kept him from looking away. Like a train wreck, except much, much better.
The two boys on the bed attacked each other with a fire, a hunger Harry could only imagine having. They were nude, a mess of hands and feet, some pale as the moon, some tanned brown. And the hands, the hands were everywhere.
For just a moment, Eric pushed himself up off Draco and tossed jet black hair out of his dark face. Draco ran softly manicured white hands up his chest, around under his arms, and down his back, pulling at the small of his back as he arched his own body to reclaim the Ravenclaw's lips. Harry couldn't stand any longer. He slid down the wall to the floor.
There was silence as he watched the bodies writhe before him. Then Draco moaned. The boys muttered at each other in between and during desperate kisses.
"Quickly, I have to get back on duty." Eric was apparently shirking.
"But…" Draco moaned again. "All right, now then."
"Now?" Eric seemed almost teasing. He rolled off of Draco, away from Harry, and ran a painfully slow hand down the blonde's chest. Harry felt himself harden.
Draco moaned. "Now!" he hissed.
Eric began running his hand methodically back up Draco's torso as he carefully eased his weight back onto the Slytherin's body. "Are you sure?"
Harry tried not to watch, but couldn't tear his eyes away as the pair writhed on the bed, milking every moment they spent. But, it seemed, it was over too soon. Suddenly, Draco was gathering his clothing. He stammered nervously.
"Well, you need to get back to the pitch, Roger won't cover for you for too long. I…need to get back to my…homework. Yes, I must go…back." This train continued until Draco ducked apologetically out the door. Eric was still lying, calmly nude, on the bed.
Once the door shut, Nalemen, ever composed, alighted to the floor. As he began to put his clothes on, he addressed the empty room. "Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" Or did he? "Enjoy playing voyeur, Potter?"
Harry froze.
"I know you're there. An invisibility cloak, an interesting idea. But you failed to remain hidden. So, did you have fun?"
Harry began to pull off the cloak. Eric seemed to sense the movement and cut him off. "No need to show yourself, we both know you're here. He doesn't, however." He nodded toward the door and pulled his shirt on, reaching for his robe. He donned it and put a hand on the doorknob. "Potter. Meet me here at the same time tomorrow night. And bring that cloak, or he might find out."
With that, the dark boy exited, leaving Harry to his own thoughts. but he didn't know what to think. All right, start at the top. Eric is the wrong answer. Another fuckbuddy. He doesn't have any respect for Draco anyway. Then again, his original concept was wrong. Draco's deepest secret wasn't his fear of the dark. It was this. Draco Malfoy was gay. Bi? Let's say bi. And tomorrow night? He had to come. He didn't sleep well that night.