Chapter Fourteen- Detention

Rial Black was furious. Not only had he gotten into a fight with Draco but he'd been caught by MeowGonagall and his own head of house. He was pretty sure if the Lioness hadn't been there Severus would have scolded them about fighting where they could be seen and he could have been left to beat the crap out of a certain insensitive pureblood. As it was, he was forced to serve detention with Draco from 6:30 tonight until they finished their task, which he was pretty sure Severus would make long and tedious.

He completely ignored Draco that day, refusing to touch the livid bruise forming on his face. The last time he'd been hit in the face had been James Potter after his disowning the previous year. He couldn't help the smugness he felt as he saw Draco's busted lip. Of course, news of their argument had spread like wildfire through the school. Zachary gleefully took the opportunity to tease both of the Slytherins.

Rial reached Severus' door promptly at 6:30, just seconds after Draco. Onyx eyes observed the pair silently and the Slytherin led them into his storeroom. Rial's eyes went wide as he stared at the floor to ceiling shelves stocked with various potions. Severus withdrew a clipboard from a shelf along with a quill. Turning to the pair he said,

"Tonight you shall be inventorying the potions stock. There should be four of each kind. If there are less, you shall brew the required amounts. If it is a potion you have not attempted, do not attempt to brew it. Make sure to clean the stations you use as well as they appear now."

Rial nodded. Retrieving the clipboard from Severus he looked at Draco and said curtly, "I'll write them down if you'll use the ladder. We can both brew any necessary stock later."

-D-N-S-D-

Draco Malfoy was sitting next to Pansy Parkinson during Charms, which gave the girl ample opportunity to scold. Draco was feeling a bit sullen so he remained childishly quiet, glaring at his book.

"I mean really, what were you thinking? Getting into a fistfight in the hallway was bound to attract attention!"

"Maybe I'm tired of Rial's childish temper toward Terry!" Draco snapped back, dipping his quill in ink and beginning to write. Her next words nearly made him drop the quill in shock.

"You really are dense! Did you ever stop to think that the reason why Rial acts like that toward Terry is because he's attracted to you?"

Draco's hand jerked, but he steadied his actions and replied tensely, "Somehow I doubt he likes me, considering he's dating Theo."

She hissed like an angry goose. "You idiot. He went to Hogsmede with Theo that one time and that was it. Theo told me later that he felt guilty about doing even that. He said he only wanted to make you jealous."

It worked, Draco muttered to himself, before his brain processed the rest of what she said. "They're not still seeing each other?"

"No. Draco, quite frankly Rial has amazing patience levels but you've been acting like an idiot with Terry. Rial's taken to sitting away from you in classes because it bothers him seeing you with that Ravenclaw."

Draco tilted his gray eyes to scan the classroom. He found Rial three seats down and one level lower than him, sitting next to Blaise. He could see the edge of the bruise forming on Rial's face from where he'd hit him. It made him begin to feel guilty; he'd really gone too far in losing his temper with Rial.

He groaned quietly, shaking his head. How stupid was he? He knew of all people how socially stunted Rial was, how awkward the teen felt in expressing his feelings.

"I've been an idiot, haven't I?" Draco mumbled.

"Draco, even Snape has noticed. I'd say you've been more than an idiot," Pansy replied in amusement.

His mind was still on this conversation after Severus gave them their task and departed. Rial's curt, upset voice cut through his thoughts as the other expressed his opinion on their task.

"Sure, that works for me," he replied quietly.

Draco walked over to the ladder and crawled up, counting bottles and calling totals and types to Rial. It was a very simple task and his mind wandered over what he needed to do. Apologize, first of all. Then go about breaking up with Terry. Prove to Rial the kiss last summer hadn't been just a one-time thing. Maybe not necessarily in that order.

Draco only came to one conclusion two hours later as he finished calling out the last few potions. Severus had a very large storeroom. There were well over a hundred types of potions here; including ones like the Veritaserum they were brewing in class. There were only two potions that needed refilling. Skele-grow and a basic Numbing potion. They needed two bottles of each.

As Draco was climbing down from the ladder he watched Rial pace over and start two cauldrons, conjuring a small fire beneath each. Pulling his potions textbook from the ever-present book bag he flipped to a certain page and said flatly, "I'll do the Numbing potion. You can find the instructions for Skele-grow in chapter 2 according to the index."

As Draco began the double amount of Skele-grow he looked sideways at Rial, watching as sensitive, long-fingered hands precisely measured ingredients. Why does apologizing have to be so hard, he whined to himself. That put him in mind of the conversation with Rial the previous year, when he'd said that Zachary's nickname for a younger Draco was 'the Brat'.

He snickered softly, remembering the intriguing and entertaining previous school year. He kept shooting sideways glances at his companion, not realizing what he was doing until he almost added more than double the required amount of beetle eyes to the potion. Cursing quietly he paid attention to what he was doing.

Both potions had to simmer for 20 minutes before being finished, so Draco assisted Rial in cleaning their stations. Rial hadn't said a word the entire time. Finally they were done outside of the potions, which were still simmering. Rial's fingers were tapping the smooth counter and Draco gulped. Here goes nothing.

He reached out and covered Rial's hand with his own, stilling the tapping fingers. The hand beneath his immediately tensed. Taking a breath Draco said, "Rial, I'm sorry."

-D-N-S-D-

Rial was silent and angry as he brewed his potion, paying attention only to what he was doing. He got a certain amount of satisifaction out of being absolutely quiet, leaving Draco in awkward silence. Once the tables were cleared and the potions simmering he tapped his fingers on the counter. Now that he had nothing to distract himself he was anxious to leave.

The thought of leaving fled his mind when he heard Draco apologize. Still angry with his friend he snapped, "Sorry for what?"

"For hitting you and being such an idiot," Draco replied softly.

Even though he was feeling hopeful Rial steeled his voice and said icily, "What do you mean about being an idiot?"

"I mean not realizing sooner that you are attracted to me, you know that," Draco replied evenly.

"Considering your relationship with Terry," Rial spat the name, "I'm surprised you're bringing this up at all, Draco."

He couldn't stop his breath from catching slightly as Draco gently reached up and turned Rial's face so he was looking into gray eyes. Those eyes looked long and searchingly into his before he said, "If you still feel that way then Terry means nothing to me, Rial. I've been attracted to you since we met, Rial. I used to think it was because you were such a mystery, but I find it's even stronger the more I get to know you."

Rial tilted his eyes down toward the floor and whispered, "I'm sorry as well, Draco."

"You're forgiven," Draco murmured, kissing his unbruised cheekbone gently.

Rial smiled at him and cancelled the flames beneath the cauldrons, proceeding to carefully bottle the two dosages of Numbing potion. Draco did the same, though the silence now was a more comfortable one. Draco stepped up the ladder and placed the four potions in their respective places before stepping down.

They linked fingers gently before leaving the storeroom, making sure to put a low ward on the door to alert Severus that their task was done. They didn't release hands until they after they entered the Slytherin common room.

A/N: Thank you for putting up with my slow chapters. Hopefully they'll move more quickly now that I know what I'm doing with this story. In my defense, I just bought Lego Harry Potter and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga for my computer and I've been playing those like crazy… Lego Harry and Draco are too cute for words!