Love Is Indispensable

By Rice-Ball247

Summary: Draco Malfoy didn't know anything about love, Harry concluded. The reason as to why he was giving him a chance was beyond his own understanding, but now it seems that Draco is the one teaching Harry how to love. Draco/Harry

Rice-Ball247: Fourth chapter of Love Is Indispensable. Some reviews would be appreciated, but otherwise, thank you to those who have so far.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters involved, JK Rowling does.

Love Does Not Boast

Harry felt himself shift uncomfortably amongst his fellow Gryffindors. Currently, all the seventh years were huddled in one corner of the room, having the confidence as the eldest of their House to congregate without interruption from the younger years. Why was Harry so uncomfortable? The topic.

"So how far have you and Ron gotten, Hermione?" Lavender Brown asked, a sly grin on her glossy lips. There was a pause before Hermione nudged Ron, a deep blush on her face. The red-head grinned before wagging his eyebrows at his fellow housemates.

Parvati Patil scoffed at Ron and turned back to Hermione eagerly. "No, no! You have to tell us, Hermione. If you ask a guy, they make it seem so much more…" she paused, giving Ron a playful sneer, "exaggerated."

The boys instantly jumped to defend themselves, indignant of the accusations made against them. Harry could see that Hermione was glad that the limelight had been taken off her for the time being, but it would only be a matter of time before Harry himself, had the attention of everyone in his year. Their bickering continued for a moment before Parvati whispered something into Lavender's ear and the two girls turned to Harry, smiling wickedly.

"So Harry…" Lavender began cordially. She nudged Parvati, who almost seemed to blush and then asked the expected, "How far have you gone with Malfoy?"

There was silence amongst the seventh years and Harry had the sneaking suspicion that the entire Gryffindor common room had gone quiet just to hear his answer. Hermione instantly saw his discomfort and jumped to his defense.

"He doesn't have to tell you anything, if he doesn't want to," she told them tersely, nodding at the grateful look Harry shot her way. To further prove her point, she waved her wand and Harry knew she had put up a silencing barrier in their part of the common room. Satisfied and confident that none of the Gryffindor youngsters could hear them, Hermione continued, "Harry and Draco will divulge their details when they're more comfortable with it."

There was silence, yet again, and Harry found himself shifting nervously under their expectant gazes. Heck, even Ron was staring at him as if waiting for him to suddenly admit that he and Draco were going at it like rabid bunnies, which they weren't. In fact, aside from holding hands, hugging and the one kiss to Harry's forehead, the month-long couple hadn't progressed that far. It was a commendable effort, at least, since everyone knew that they had hated each other for six long years prior to the present, and for them to have suddenly started dating was something just short of a miracle.

Some part of him felt that he needed to defend Draco's reputation in the school. Harry felt uncomfortably unsure if Draco was even a virgin, since his rumoured sexual prowess was something that was well-known to even the students at both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Harry knew he was going to regret this later, but he swallowed and shakily admitted, in a quick lie, "Sex without penetration."

Instantly, there were red, blushing faces about him and Hermione and Ron looked absolutely stricken and scandalized, respectively. Parvati and Lavender looked completely abundant with glee, as if this was the new juice for their gossip corner. Hermione shot him a displeased look – clearly she could tell this was a lie, but everyone else, including Ron, had been drawn completely into it.

"How was it?" someone finally asked. There was an awkward silence before Harry replied, "Bloody brilliant."

The fake grin he put on was enough to ward everyone's suspicions off on the matter. He felt rather accomplished that he'd saved Draco's reputation, but then again, what of his own? Someone, it didn't register in his mind who, patted him on the back and there was congratulations coming from every direction. Outside the silence barrier, the younger Gryffindors looked on with jealousy at not being able to hear what had caused such a stir amongst the eldest year of their House.

"How was he in bed, Harry? Describe it!" someone else shouted out, causing a ripple of agreement amongst everyone. Harry could feel his face flush and his hand subconsciously went to rub at the back of his neck.

"Err…he's...excellent in bed. Every time we do it, he always makes me come," Harry told them, carefully choosing his words without sounding like a complete idiot. "And he holds me gently every time, and we move together. But I don't think I'm ready for him to penetrate me just yet. He's a great lover."

At least there was some truth to it, even though the entire thing was a lie by a long stretch. Hermione shook her head at Harry, but allowed a small smile for him. People began gushing and giggling and, heaven forbid, Harry was suspicious of there being a 'Drarry Fanclub', hence the fangirling. Vaguely, he could hear the words 'top' and 'bottom' being repeated over and over again, but he chose to block everything else out.

The sudden urge to see Draco again was almost overwhelming. Harry told everyone that he was leaving and, despite the protests, Harry left their gossiping circle. He ran upstairs to grab his invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map, just in case he would be out late. He wondered where Draco would be, after all, dinner was over and everyone had retired to their respective Houses. He decided to make his way down to the dungeons. It wasn't after hours yet, so he shouldn't be stopped, but it would make a good question as to why a Gryffindor was down in Slytherin territory.

Harry passed a few giggling first-year Slytherins, all of whom greeted him with smiles. He felt a tad bit uncomfortable, but as soon as he reached the wall that led to the Slytherin common room, he found himself stumped. He'd been in there before, in his second year. He wasn't sure if other houses were allowed in other common rooms, but he figured there must have been no magical barrier other than a password since he'd been able to get into there once before. Harry touched the wall, almost longingly before turning back to leave.

As soon as he'd taken two steps away from the wall, the group of first-years cornered him and asked if he was here to see Draco. He nodded. He'd had his share of lying for an entire month and couldn't stand the guilt of lying anymore. After all, if he wasn't down here for Draco, why else would he be here?

The girls shared knowing glances with smiles on their faces before one of them darted off towards the wall and said the password loudly enough for Harry to hear. He raised an eyebrow at her and swore she had winked at him before she disappeared behind the wall. A minute or so passed, with Harry standing there in the company of five or so Slytherin first years, before the girl reappeared and she told her friends to come back inside. Harry felt himself grow confused by the second and felt a tad bit rejected that Draco hadn't come out to see him. Did he not want to see him?

"Harry, hurry up and get in here before Professor Snape comes!"

It was Pansy. Harry glanced around the empty corridor, hesitating at the wall, before Pansy rolled her eyes, grabbed him by the wrist and tugged him through. The Slytherin common room was almost exactly as he had remembered it from second year, only there were slight changes. It seemed to be a lot more spacious from before, and Harry owed that to the fact that there were a lot more students coming to Hogwarts, especially now that Voldemort was gone. Similar changes had been done to Gryffindor Tower, which had seemed to magically grow to accommodate more students.

The Slytherin common room was just as full as the Gryffindor one, and Harry felt a sense of déjà vu when he sighted all the Slytherin seventh years sitting in one corner of the room. Draco saw him and immediately jumped up to greet him. Loud wolf whistles, teasing remarks and cat calls could be heard as Draco sneered at his peers while dragging Harry by the hand downstairs to his dorm.

Again, there were distinct similarities between a seventh year Slytherin boys dorm and a seventh year Gryffindor dorm. The only noticeable differences were that the walls were laid in heavy-set stone and the colour scheme of the Slytherin House. Harry felt himself be pushed down awkwardly onto Draco's bed and the two sat there in silence.

"So," Draco began, at the same time as Harry. Both boys felt their cheeks grow red and they looked away from each other. Harry could feel the guilty pressure building up in his chest again, very much like the time he'd wanted to blurt out to Draco about his jealously of Pansy. He turned back to Draco when he felt the older boy's hand gently cover his own, stroking the back of his hand with the pad of his thumb.

"Draco, I…" Harry started, refusing to meet Draco's eyes. He felt so ashamed of himself. Why did he have to go and claim all those untrue things? Draco quickly turned to him, the grip on his hand becoming noticeably tighter.

To Draco's own credit, at that moment, he thought that Harry had come here to break up with him and tell him that it was over. He felt his own heart beating rapidly in his chest, but as soon as Harry was done speaking, he felt the pressure on his heart melt away.

"You see, Draco, the Gryffindors were gossiping and I…kinda got caught up in it," Harry could feel his cheeks burning brighter than ever. He shifted on Draco's bed but the grip that Draco had on his hand was unrelenting. "It was about how far we have gone as couples…and I kinda told them…"

A suddenly grinning Draco had to lean in closer to catch what Harry had said, but by the time the Gryffindor was done, he was picked up and embraced by the taller boy. Harry felt relief fill him when he'd finally admitted it to Draco.

"Harry," Draco told him, cupping his face gently in his hands, "I'm going to kiss you."

And surprisingly, Harry had no arguments there. Rather, he lifted his lips eagerly to receive Draco's, his eyes fluttering to a close. It didn't progress any further, but it remained innocuous and chaste. They parted after a while of just pressing their lips together before Draco grinned wickedly and grabbed Harry around the waist before tossing him into his own bed. Harry let out a yelp of delight as Draco began to tickle him.

After a while, Draco's lips had found Harry's yet again, only this time, they'd progressed just a little bit further than just an innocent peck. Harry could, admittedly, count the number of kisses he'd shared with someone on one hand. And they'd been with girls. He wasn't sure about Draco, but for his first time kissing a guy, it started to get a bit awkward. Harry shifted on Draco's bed, moving his hand from Draco's shoulder to his waist. He could feel the light pressure of a warm hand on his hip. Draco's lips were warm and moist, whereas Harry's were dry and slightly chapped.

The sounds of the boy's dormitory door opening and closing broke Draco and Harry apart. Blaise Zabini walked in with Crabbe and Goyle, looking rather bored. He instantly saw Harry, flushed cheeks and bruised lips and asked if he could join in. Harry laughed as Draco, good-naturedly, threw a pillow at his best friend.

When everyone had settled down and Harry realized it was already well after hours, Draco offered his bed to share. Harry wasn't a prude by any means, but it was still weird having to share a bed with another guy. Draco promised he wouldn't do anything strange, except maybe spoon him or something. Harry accepted Draco's generous offer and changed into one of his boyfriend's spare pajamas.

With the curtains drawn around them and Draco fitted snuggly behind him, Harry felt himself as comfortable as if he were in his own bed. Just before he drifted off to sleep with a smile of his face, he heard Draco whisper, "Love does not boast. But we can give them something to talk about for a while…"

Finally, a kiss! Please review.