Thanks to Sanguiyn my wonderful beta, who not only saves me from grammatical errors, but also dresses as a super hero when she does it.

Disclaimer:

Loosely based on '10 Things I hate about you', which was based on Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew'.

You all know that I don't own the Harry Potter characters (JKR does). But if I did, something like this would happen to them...

The second it closed shut behind them, Seamus slammed Blaise up against the Astronomy Tower door, capturing his mouth in a long rough kiss.

Blaise had experienced this kind of thing many times before, but this time he wanted a serious relationship; it didn't seem right for him to start it in the same way he had started all of his past meaningless encounters. So, he felt he should stop things before they went spiralling out of control.

"Wait, Seamus, stop!" he panted, pushing the boy away from him. At first, Seamus looked taken aback, but then he smirked, raised his eyebrows, and looked expectantly at Blaise for an explanation.

"I don't want just another meaningless fling," Blaise explained. "If we're going to do this, it has to be for the long term, otherwise we can't do it at all."

"I agree." Seamus replied impatiently, pressing Blaise against the wall again, lightly nipping his neck with his teeth. "Is that all?"

"N-No!" Blaise pushed Seamus away again. "If we're going to have a serious relationship, we have to do it properly. We need to get to know each other more."

"I agree," Seamus repeated, "but we don't have time for that at the moment. Harry could bolt from the tower any minute, and I have an obligation to follow him if he does. So right now, you need to put your mouth to better use."

And with that Seamus crashed his mouth against Blaise's, silencing any other concerns he may have had.

Harry's palms were sweating, his thumbs twiddling frantically. His eyes darted around the room as he tried desperately to find something other than Draco on which to focus his attention. As the gust of wind continued to blow over his face, he felt cold and rigid. Could he find no warmth in this room?

"Are you going to actually come in, Harry?" Draco said as he strolled over to meet him at the door. It was more a distracted statement than a question. "Or are you going to stand there all night?"

"Did you just call me Harry?" Harry asked, searching for words that wouldn't offend Draco's newfound sincerity. Draco's voice surprised him. He usually spoke in a patronising tone, heavily dripped with sarcasm and malice. He had certainly never called Harry by his first name either, choosing to spit out his last name hatefully instead.

"I did," Draco replied. "And you might want to start calling me Draco from now on, especially after what happened." Now he sounded affectionate. "Or you could call me Cupcake, whatever works for you."

"W-What happened?" Harry had tried to speak smoothly, but his voice was almost frozen shut. His heart started pounding hard and erratically as fear further enveloped him. Draco's eyes, which were piercing the darkness disturbingly, unsettled him. Under this intense gaze, Harry began to wish that he had run when he had the chance.

"We almost kissed," Draco continued, reaching forward and grabbing hold of Harry's wrist. "Friday night, at the dance. Don't tell me you forgot."

Harry's frozen stance slowly started to melt the moment Draco's skin touched his. He was no longer perturbed. Something about Draco's touch calmed him. He had found the warmth he needed.

"I didn't forget," he admitted hoarsely, swallowing nervously. The memory of that night still haunted him. He knew that it would never fade. It would remain imprinted on his mind forever. "I just wasn't expecting it to happen."

"I didn't think it could ever happen either," Draco said calmly, stepping further forward, taking hold of Harry's other wrist.

Harry was becoming confused. Where was Draco going with this? Was this some nasty trick to get him to apologise for what had happened between them?

"What do you want?" he asked desperately. "I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear? I never meant to--"

"I don't want an apology, Harry." Draco had said his name so tenderly that Harry melted even more. "I want that kiss we never got to have."

"Huh?" Harry spluttered, bright emerald eyes glittering feverishly.

It was this that stopped Draco. So far, this meeting in the Astronomy Tower had been grey and meaningless to him. And now, all of a sudden, there was colour. The tower felt like it was spinning, shaking, breaking, and swirling in a current of brilliant green; a green that could infiltrate any darkness.

Harry's green eyes were all Draco could see. It was as though they were pouring light into the cold, dark room. They had such an effect on him that even the star-filled sky above them began to turn green.

Draco could no longer comprehend his own actions, the green current pushing all thoughts of the plan out of his mind. Without even realising it, his hands loosened their grip on Harry's wrists completely, allowing them to slip away. He began to lean over Harry, whose mouth and eyes widened dumbly in anticipation.

Blood pounded in Draco's ears and desire raged through him as he slid one arm around Harry's waist and entangled his free hand in Harry's hair, tightening his fingers in the silky black strands. He leant forward and slowly, softly pressed his lips against Harry's.

Their lips had barely touched, yet Harry felt his cheeks grow warm, his head swim, and all coherent thoughts vanish. His eyelids fluttered closed and his breathing hitched as he timidly encircled Draco's neck with his arms. Draco's eyelids also slipped closed, but he could still see the green of Harry's irises on their inside.

Draco flicked his tongue lightly against Harry's lips, causing the Gryffindor to gasp and tentatively open his mouth. This allowed Draco to slip his insistent tongue inside, and slide it along Harry's bottom lip, across his teeth, and then deeper, across his tongue.

Intense waves of pleasure coursed through Draco's veins as the kiss deepened more than he thought was humanly possible, their tongues sweeping, twisting and sucking together.

Harry had never felt anything more wonderful in his life. He had only ever kissed one other person before, and that was Cho Chang last year. Draco was quickly putting that kiss to shame. Harry began to make soft, desperate moaning noises in the back of his throat, and Draco drank in the sound, kissing Harry deeply for long, unhurried minutes.

Harry whimpered softly, and as Draco lowered his head to nibble gently at the ridge of a collarbone, he reached up to cup the back of Draco's head with both hands. Draco began to explore, trailing soft, damp kisses up the side of Harry's face, stopping to nuzzle the skin near Harry's temple. He caressed the area carefully with his tongue, indulging in the taste that was uniquely Harry.

His mouth moved languorously back to Harry's, capturing it in another slow, searing kiss. After a long while, he pulled back slightly, his head whirling, and looked at the Gryffindor. His eyes closed, his head tilted a bit to the side, Harry was a pile of melted mush in his arms.

Harry's longing expression cleared Draco's mind and reminded him why he was here and what he had to do. He brought his hand up to Harry's face, cradling it gently, and leaned forward to whisper huskily in his ear, "Will you go out with me, Harry?"

Harry opened his eyes and stared at Draco. His eyes were still their usual brilliant green, yet clouded and unfocused. The last time he had been this close to Draco, he'd felt as though he'd been set on fire. This time, however, he simply felt a warm glow where Draco had touched him, making him feel like he had melted into a pile of goo in Draco's arms. It was a wonder he was able to speak at all.

"Yes."

Draco's spirits rose to a new level at the sureness in Harry's voice. He not only felt smug about the first step of his plan succeeding, but also had a strange, unfamiliar sensation growing in his chest.

He not only felt a desire to hurt Harry, but a desire to give him happiness as well.

This other desire was buried so deep within him that he didn't even know it was there.

He had no idea that its intensity would slowly solidify into something much more powerful.