Eric

Harry stopped writing. How could he phrase this? Binns' sleepy voice washed over him. He started writing.

I need your help. I have to make Draco admit it. Harry.

That was lame. But what else could he write? He dropped it on the floor by his foot. "Wingardium Leviosa." He kept it low to the ground and steered it over next to Eric's foot.

The Ravenclaw looked at it and wrote something back, sending it back Harry's direction. He picked it up.

Potter, I don't know what you think I'm going to help you with. Let me be clear. You were raised by muggles, right? Drake and I are business acquaintances. I don't plan on losing business.

What? Harry was thoroughly confused. Eric must have noticed, the note flew away and quickly returned.

Isn't that what business men do? Screw each other over?

Harry looked up. Eric looked smug. He wrote back.

All right, ha ha funny. Look, this isn't something I want to do, it's something I have to do. I have to make him say it, tonight, in the Great Hall.

Eric responded with a question.

You have to?

It's a dare. He was rather ashamed to admit that, but he really didn't have a choice.

A dare? And the Gryffindor has to complete his dare. You know, Potter, this is uproariously funny. What do you think I'm going to do?

Harry struggled with his answer; he knew what he wanted to say but it sounded so much worse on paper.

At dinner tonight, kiss me, in front of him.

Wait. Alright, so you want me to kiss a guy I have never shown any interest in. You want me to do it in public. So I'm out. And the result is most likely the loss of my business acquaintance. Not to mention I would be out right helping the Golden Boy of Gryffindor. I get absolutely nothing out of that.

I'll let you borrow my invisibility cloak for one night, any night, name it. He hated the idea, but he had to offer something.

Come out, for one night's convenience?

It pained him, but he wrote: A week then.

Ten days, at my discretion.

All right.

I'll do it.

It's got to be in front of Draco, and convincing.

I'll take care of it, and don't worry about convincing, don't make assumptions based on my not showing interest.

"Incendio." Harry burned the note. Now he just had to wait until dinner.

Harry sat at dinner, his knee bounced in anxious tension. Ron and Hermione sat across from him, looking a bit worried. Hermione seemed particularly anxious too. Ron looked entirely confused, but didn't seem to want to disturb them.

Harry looked over his shoulder to the Slytherin table; Draco sat, entirely unknowing, eating with Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy. Eric sat calmly just behind Harry, smirking at life.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of action at the door to the hall. "Draco Malfoy!" A voice shrieked as Audrey Earenheart ran into the hall, absolutely livid. Ron looked up and Hermione shut her eyes and ducked her head a bit.

The raging Hufflepuff reached the Slytherin table, slamming her hands down on the wood, knocking over goblets and serving trays. "Draco Malfoy! I can't believe you! You've been screwing some hussy on the side!"

Draco began to stand, it was hard to tell if he intended to terrorize or apologize. She didn't let him do either. "I don't care who she is! I don't ever want to hear from you again! You…you slug!"

With that, she stormed off to the Hufflepuff table, leaving Draco to make sure his hair was still in place and carefully adapt an affronted look.

Eric stood up. Harry couldn't believe it, this couldn't happen now! Not right after that! "You've been shagging her?" Harry almost believed the indignation in his voice. Draco's eyes turned to Eric like a deer caught in headlights. He looked like he had just stepped in front of the Hogwarts Express. "Deal's off Drake! And here I've been, faithful to you, despite anything else I've wanted to do!"

He turned and grabbed Harry's arm, pulling him out of his seat. Spinning Harry around, he roughly planted his mouth over the Gryffindor's. Once there, Harry thought Eric might never let go - and he had been worried about being convincing. The Ravenclaw forced his mouth open, sliding his tongue between Harry's teeth. Harry heard Audrey wail and run out of the Hall. Then another voice.

"Expelliarmus!"

Eric flew back from Harry, landing up against one of the Gryffindor table benches. Almost immediately, Draco was standing over him, wand out. He growled through clenched teeth. "I don't know how you found out. I don't know and I don't care. But you keep your filthy hands off of him!"

Eric looked up at him. "He's not yours, Drake. He's not yours to love or protect."

"I will love whoever I damn well please!" Draco's voice rose in volume. Harry took that moment to notice that Eric had fallen right near Dean, Seamus, and Neville as he stood miserably watching the scene play out.

Eric responded, "Why don't you tell him that?"

Harry began to wonder, Eric hadn't moved. Was he hurt? "Eric?"

Draco turned on him. He glared. He fumed. Harry saw his namesake, the dragon. Then his shouting began, each word a scythe, sharp and uncontrolled. "No! Not Eric! Damn it Potter, if you're going to kiss anyone, it had better fucking well be me!"

Silence fell like an injured hippogriff. Draco seethed for a moment longer, then reality came back to his eyes. Harry was standing, taking his sharp words with the knowledge of their content, his eyes shut and head turned to soften their blows.

Draco looked at himself, still holding Eric at wand point. He lowered his hand, sniffed, smoothed his hair, and stalked back to his seat as though expecting the entire student body to ignore the events of the previous five minutes. The Slytherins immediately obliged.

Harry looked at Seamus, Ron, Dean, and Neville. They were starting to get up, grins on their faces. He could just imagine what they would say if they got to him. "Good job, mate!" "You got him!" If Draco heard that, saw that slapping him on the back, Harry couldn't do that to him on top of this. He glared at them, wishing them to stay and hold still. They kept coming. He looked right and left, no escape. Draco was watching him, increasing dread in his eyes. Harry fled the hall, aiming for the room Hermione had shown him, no one would find him there.