I am so sorry about the long wait! My summer vacation ended Monday, and I've came back to mounds and piles and mountains and everything of work since then, it's been ridiculous! Because of that, I think I will only be able to update once or twice a week, at the weekend. I know this makes it harder to keep track of the story and remember the plot etc, but there isn't really anything I can do about it. Sorry :(
HUGE thank you to all the positive reviews I've been getting, it really does make this whole thing worthwhile xx
Disclaimer applies as usual blah blah blah i don't own Harry Potter, don't rub it in!
xxx love you all xxx
Harry's mind was fuzzy when he woke. Or when he was woken. He quickly became aware of the strong hands gripping his shoulders, and the tall figure looming above him. He jumped in surprise, almost falling out of his bed, but the mystery figure lurched forward and caught him in time.
Harry could tell it was still evening; the setting sun was causing a pink glow to ripple through his room, illuminating his visitor's face perfectly. A chiselled jaw line was inches from his own face, and piercing grey eyes bored into his skull. Platinum blonde hair lightly tickled along Harry's cheeks.
"Fuck, Malfoy! What are you doing?"
Draco stood up and walked away from Harry's bed to perch on his own on the opposite end of the room.
"I came to see if you were okay. That was quite a show you put on over dinner, you know."
Harry sighed heavily and sat up, still fully clothed in his robes. He had been very tired when he had stormed up here earlier.
"Oh shut up. If you came to taunt me, just go. I don't want to hear it."
Draco's eyes snapped up to meet Harry's, sharp with anger, hurt and humour.
"Quite the opposite actually. I wondered if you wanted to talk."
"Why would you want to talk?" Harry's voice came out as barely a whisper, but he didn't mind.
Abruptly, Draco stood and marched to the door.
"You know what Potter, It doesn't matter. Just forget I ever came."
Harry remained silent, and Draco snarled and stormed away, slamming the door on his way out.
Draco sauntered into detention that night and perched on a desk for about five minutes until Cragfoot strode in.
"Good evening boys! Tonight you will be sorting the Potions cupboard, alphabetically, and I will be back in an hour. Goodbye."
And he was gone.
Draco dragged his body from the desk to the cupboard and started pulling out vials of potions and potion ingredients. He stopped and turned to Harry.
"Come on then Potter, I'm not doing this myself." He noticed that Harry hadn't even heard him; he was looking the other way, his heard resting on his hands. Draco walked forward and tapped Harry on the shoulder. The raven haired boy looked up, and the blonde noticed the tears swimming in his eyes. His heart sank a little.
"Oh, poor baby Potter, crying because he has detention!" Draco sneered.
"Shut up Malfoy!" Harry burst out, filled with anger and hatred for his enemy.
"What, are you upset just because everyone found out you're a poof? Don't you realise that everyone already knew?"
'What am I doing?' Draco thought to himself, Harry is clearly upset, why am I upsetting him more? But still Draco pressed on.
"Harry. Potter. The. Poof." He spat.
"SHUT UP MALFOY!" Harry shouted, standing up so his face was mere inches from Draco's.
Draco's pale hands flew up to cup Harry's face as he pushed forward, capturing Harry's lips in a bruising, shearing, near painful kiss. He swiped his tongue over the raven haired boy's closed lips, begging for entrance. Harry complied with a guttural moan and parted lips, walking backwards until he was pressed up against a nearby wall or door. Draco's mind was too fuzzy to even know where he was or who he was. Draco's warm tongue slid into Harry's mouth and explored every crevice, every fold within. He elicited a moan from Harry, who fought back with his own tongue, until they were both performing a dizzying dance in each other's mouths.
Then suddenly, Draco's entire body was cold, his tongue was back in his own mouth, and his arms were no longer around Harry. The raven boy was gone.
Draco stormed back to his room, his lips burning, his eyes ablaze with passion and anger. So many questions and thoughts were racing through his mind, a marathon he couldn't keep up with. A marathon he didn't want to participate in. He screamed, puncturing the still quietness of a Hogwarts evening.
Harry paced his room, trying to answer all of his unanswerable questions. Why did he Disapparate during the kiss? How did he even Disapparate? As far as he was aware, you couldn't do that in Hogwarts. He needed to talk to the only person who might have answers- Hermione.
She sat on Harry's bed with her legs folded underneath her, arms crossed, and confusion etched in her features.
"I don't understand, Harry," she uttered finally. "In 'Hogwarts: A History', it clearly states that Apparition is not possible within the school walls! Unless of course..."
She paused, drawing in her breath, her eyes widening, as if the whole world made sense now. "Oh, how could I be so stupid? It's obvious!"
"What is 'Mione?" Harry exclaimed, completely unsure of what was going on in his friend's head.
"Oh, Harry don't you see? The Battle tore down the protections that Hogwarts has around it, so you can now Apparate into the school and around it!" She said, with both concern and excitement evident in her tone. "But Harry, why did you Disapparate anyway? Where did you Disapparate from?" Hermione's probing qualities were coming back, Harry noticed, and the excitement of her discovery was gone.
"Um, I was just in detention, and I just Disapparated by accident," Harry replied, with a shrug of his shoulders, the picture of nonchalance. Hermione's eyes narrowed, and her arms crossed again.
"Are you sure, Harry?" She questioned further. Hermione wasn't one to let things go when she got a hold of them.
"Yes absolutely." Harry replied, his face flushing, embarrassed.
"Okay," Hermione said in an irritating singsong voice. "You'll tell me when you're ready, I suppose." She stood and left the room.
Harry lay on his bed and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. What the fuck happened between him and Malfoy? He wasn't sure, but he did know that it couldn't be left like that. He jumped up and grabbed his quill, ink and parchment. He scribbled out a note and practically threw it at Cinco, his new owl.
"Take this to Malfoy!" He urged loudly.
Draco was sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, drumming his fingers hyperactively against the hard oak wood, when he was interrupted by an incessant tapping to his left. He looked up sharply and saw an unfamiliar owl perched on the bench next to him. Upon closer inspection, Draco felt a tug of a memory for the owl. The train station. On the first day. He remembered seeing Potter holding it. He ripped the parchment from the owl's claws, and hurriedly shooed him. He was intrigued by Potter, and his note. He quickly scanned the messy handwriting.
Draco,
Meet me at the Astronomy Tower at 9. Please.
We need to talk.
H
Harry's hair whipped around his neck in the biting wind, but he didn't seem to notice. What he did notice however, was the fact that he had been stood here since 8:55 and it was now 9:25. With no sign of Malfoy. He sighed, resigning to the fact that he wasn't coming. Harry threw his Invisibility Cloak over his shoulders and walked back to his room.
In the shadows of the Astronomy Tower, a tall blonde hid. When the raven haired boy left, he stepped out of his hiding place and he too sighed. He couldn't get the image of Harry's hurt face out of his head.
Draco tossed and turned in his bed, his feet twisting further and further into the sheets, until it was probably physically impossible for him to get out of his bed. But he did want to be out of his bed. He wanted to be out of his bed and back at the Astronomy Tower. With Harry.
A somewhat dishevelled Draco Malfoy hurried into Potions class on that Wednesday morning, considerably late. Draco was irritated with his own tardiness- he had never been late to Potions. However, today was different. He ran into the Potions lab with not a second to spare, his blonde hair sticking out in every direction, his robes tatty and old. Draco reminded himself of Potter when he overslept and almost missed breakfast not too long ago. Speak of the devil; there Potter was, absent-mindedly stroking his quill, clearly not listening to what Professor Cragfoot was saying. He couldn't help but notice that Harry looked about as unkempt as him, with his tousled hair and glasses that seemed to be barely on his face. The blonde desperately didn't want to go over and sit next to him, but he had no choice. He was late enough, and if he stood at the door for much longer, Cragfoot would definitely notice him. His feet unwillingly carried him over, and he lightly perched on his chair, tilting his body so he was turned away from Harry.
"Uh, Malfoy?"Harry's uneasy voice broke the long silence.
"Yes, Potter?"Draco's lip curled in distaste, he spat the last word.
"Um, well I was thinking that we should, um..."
"Spit it out Potter, I haven't got all day." Malfoy couldn't help but sneer at his arch enemy.
"We should talk about what happened last night."
All expression fled from Draco's face, but he quickly recovered and simply said, "No. Let's just ignore each other, okay Potter? We'll be partners in Potions, and we'll serve our detention, but we will not speak, look or touch each other in between, or during any of those activities, alright?"
Harry just spun on his heel and stormed out, knocking into Draco as he went. The blonde watched the door Harry had promptly left through, until he became aware of the hot, angry tears spilling from his eyelids, blurring his vision and streaking down his face in torrents.
Damn, he thought to himself, I think I like Potter.
For the next few days, the two boys did not speak to each other at all. Detentions passed slowly, with neither boy saying a word, not even an angry one, as usual.
Draco wanted to apologise to Harry for his outburst in Potions, but didn't know how.
Harry wanted to apologise to Draco for Disapparating during their kiss, but didn't know how.
A week later, Harry and Draco were in detention as usual. Cragfoot strode in and cleared his throat, as if about to make a big announcement.
"Hello boys, today you will be reading your lists to each other."
Draco's stomach and heart and throat all clenched simultaneously until he thought he was going to puke. He couldn't read his list to Harry, it was private! And he already knew that Harry had read his list, but he hadn't read Harry's. It probably said how much he hated Draco, not how much he loved him, like Draco's did.
"Here are your lists, boys. Harry you go first. I will be in the staff lounge if you need me. Oh, and I will know if you don't read them!" He thrust the lists into the correct boys hand and then swept out of the room, his cloak billowing in a Snape-like manner.
"Okay, well I guess I have no choice but to read mine then." Harry said, his hands trembling. He groaned inwardly, and began.
"Ten Reasons Why I Dislike Draco Malfoy..."
When he finished, he looked up from his parchment, aware of the fact that his head was practically buried in it, and he came face to face with a grinning Malfoy.
"Okay, well it's your turn Malfoy."
"I think you already know what mine says."
Harry's gasps of denial were cut short by Draco's lips on his. It was barely a brush against his lips, but Harry pulled him back in, and pressed harder. Draco's body was firm against Harry's, and he pushed against it. The blonde's tongue teased the black haired boy's lips, until he parted them and allowed him in. Harry twirled his fingers in Draco's luscious silver locks, and Malfoy did the same with Harry's black curled mop, while one hand reached down to cup Harry's arse. They broke apart, panting, but smiling.
"How did you know?" Harry questioned, breathless, his lips red and wet, his eyes cloudy with lust.
"I worked it out." Draco shrugged. Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously, not breaking his stare until Draco caved.
"Okay fine, I didn't work it out. I was following you that night, when you read my list. I used a glamour charm to make myself look like Cragfoot."
"Why, Malfoy, you sneaky devil!" Harry chuckled.
"I could say the same thing to you, Potter!"
Harry replied by pulling Draco in by his robes and kissing him again.