A/N: I exist! For those of you who don't check my profile very much, I participated in Nanowrimo, an event where you try to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. That zapped my creativity for a while, and I'm still struggling with Chapter 9, but this is at last written and beta-ed! Whoo-hoo!!!
And of course, a lovely thank you to all my wonderful reviewers and my beta, Aniki the Infamous!!
Disclaimer: If I owned, I wouldn't desperately be trying to write a novel during November.
Ginny stared desperately up at Hermione's calm face. "What do you mean, Harry and Malfoy became friends?"
Hermione simply smiled down at her, the peaceful lull in her eyes creating the illusion she would have been happier no other way. "Harry offered to be friends with Draco, and he accepted. I think it's quite honorable, really, putting aside their differences and past like that. It was quite noble of Harry to offer."
"He's a Slytherin!" Ginny blazed, "He has no right to befriend Harry!"
"You accepted a love potion from two Slytherins that turned out to be poison," Hermione reminded her flatly.
Ginny crossed her arms and looked away. "Exactly. Two treacherous Slytherins, who so clearly meant to poison my dear Harry."
"Of whom you tried to sneak a love potion, albeit an incorrectly made one." Hermione frowned at Ginny, split between pity and irritation towards the other girl.
Ginny tilted her head farther from Hermione's gaze, practically looking over her shoulder. "But I tried trusting two Slytherins, and look how that ended up. Besides, Malfoy is friends with those two. They were untrustworthy, so naturally, he is as well!"
Hermione rolled her eyes, finally stepping back from Ginny and turning towards the girls' dormitory. "You're acting like a child, Ginny. Honestly, it's not like Harry and Draco are going out or anything. Harry hasn't even broken up with you. You haven't lost as much as you could have yet, so if you react like this now, how do you think you'll feel if it gets worse? If you really have a concern, go talk to Harry, and explain your thoughts. That's how most people in a relationship do it."
Ginny nodded and stared forward into the flames of the fireplace. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair how Harry wouldn't love her when he'd always been so kind to her, and yet became friends with Draco Malfoy, of all people, someone who'd tortured him for his entire first six years of Hogwarts, and only not the seventh because he'd been absent. Harry deserved much better than that. She'd been kind to him, too. Just as kind as Ron and Hermione, and she'd never turned her back on him, not like Ron.
It could be worse, she supposed. Like Hermione said… it could be worse. Harry could hate her guts, or he could, if he wasn't as straight as he was now, date Draco Malfoy. That would really sting. Be bested by a Slytherin. Ginny snorted, flopping into one of the chairs by the fire and playing with a strand of her hair. Thank goodness Harry wasn't gay. If he was half the man Ginny knew he was, he would even be disgusted by someone who was gay. Harry Potter couldn't have gay friends. It would be terrible for his image; that was yet another reason why he needed Ginny.
If only Draco Malfoy were gay... then she could easily get him away from Harry... But what if Harry believed Malfoy was gay?
That could work. Of course, from what Ginny'd heard from Hermione, Malfoy was spending practically every moment in Harry's presence, even mealtimes. There was no way she could do any sort of thing to him while he was that close to Harry.
But what if Malfoy slept with a man and word just happened to reach Harry. Whether Malfoy'd been in his right mind or not, whether he denied it or not, it didn't matter, because Malfoy could be lying just as much as he could be telling the truth. In fact, if she forced whoever she had Malfoy sleep with to, then they could testify it had all been under the effects of a spell or potion, and what could Malfoy say? Nothing! He would have done it of his own conscious free will, making him seem all the gayer to Harry.
And Blaise Zabini. Zabini was one of Malfoy's friends, making it more likely that Malfoy might agree. And Zabini was one of the two who'd given her the love potion. The faulty love potion, that could have killed Harry. If Ginny was to have understood correctly, he was also the person who'd read the directions off, causing Parkinson to make it incorrectly. All his fault. He wasn't with Harry all the time either. It would take more work, since he was a Slytherin and it would be harder to get close enough, but she could do it. A little motivation, and Ginny Weasley could do anything.
With that thought in mind, Ginny jumped from her chair and headed straight for the library. She needed to stop Malfoy, before he ruined Harry's mind with all sorts of slanderous talk of her.
***
Harry honestly didn't think he'd ever been happier, besides being restricted to the Hospital Wing. Draco came to see him all the time, more than Hermione and Ron, even. Ron had taken Harry and Draco's new friendship with a sort of strained nod, while Hermione had squealed and grabbed both him and Draco into one big hug. He could've sworn that she'd given Draco a quick, special smile afterwards, but he couldn't be sure. After all, Hermione and Draco must have just started tolerating each other when he'd become friends with Draco.
He couldn't pretend that it sometimes wasn't a little awkward, knowing that Draco liked him, but it was nice to know that Draco most certainly wasn't keeping secrets from him. Other than, of course, obvious secrets that there wasn't any need for Harry to know.
"And what about Weasley? Do you plan to break up with her when you get out of the Infirmary? She did try to give you a love potion, after all. Surely that doesn't say much about her undying love for you." Draco's voice held obvious distaste for Ginny, and Harry squirmed a little on his bed. Or did Draco just have a general distaste for anyone Harry went out with? Draco did seem like he would be a slightly jealous boyfriend.
Draco being jealous was kind of cute, when Harry pictured it.
No. Draco was asking about Ginny, and whether he was going to break up with her. Why was Draco asking? To see if he could ask Harry out after Ginny was gone? No, Draco wouldn't do that, Harry'd learned that much in the past days. Draco'd go about it in a really round-a-bout way, like... asking Harry if he was going to break up with Ginny.
But Draco was asking if he was breaking up with Ginny, not whether Harry would go out with him. That would be really weird... Harry had never been asked out by a boy before. Did they do it differently than when asking out girls?
"Harry?" Draco prompted, leaning forward and peering into Harry's eyes. "Are you alright? Should I call Madam Pomfrey? Are you feeling okay?"
Harry shook his head frantically, pushing Draco back into his chair. "I'm fine."
Was he breaking up with Ginny? Harry didn't know! He didn't think so, but if Draco was going to ask him out, then he definitely shouldn't. Or should he? Did it matter? Would Draco ask him out anyways? Was Draco going to ask him out? He said he liked Harry, but maybe it worked differently with guys. Or maybe Draco hadn't meant that! Did it matter? Was he going to break up with Ginny? This was confusing.
"Ehm, what were we talking about?" Harry squeaked, and Draco stared at him.
"Are you sure you're alright, Harry? You're acting odd." Draco leaned forward again, examining him, and Harry hurriedly shoved him back.
"No, I'm fine, really." What did Draco hate? What would he rant on and forget his question? Harry had experienced his rants once when he accidentally mentioned a Quidditch team that was apparently one of Draco's least favorite. The Slytherin forgotten everything of their conversation and ranted for twenty straight minutes on how terrible the team was, down to the height of their seeker. Draco didn't like most Gryffindors, he didn't like Dumbledore, he didn't like Voldemort... Voldemort would just make him grit his teeth and change the subject, so that wouldn't work. He didn't like Zabini's mother, thought she was scandalous or something, and he didn't like the new Transfiguration textbook they had this year.
"So, I was looking in my Transfiguration textbook earlier, and there was something that wasn't very specific that class apparently covered yesterday. Do you recall anything from class?"
"Of course you didn't understand it! It's impossible to understand anything in that stupid textbook! It--"
Harry stopped listening at that point, confident that the mention of the textbook would keep Draco from noticing any oddities about him. He did need to make a decision about Ginny. He wasn't sure he could still date her, knowing that she had intended for him to fall in love with her by potion and not out of love itself. But if he became single, then what if Draco asked him out? There was no clear answer.
Harry definitely wasn't attracted to boys. Or... he'd thought as much. He'd never really spent any time contemplating whether he was gay or not, it was just never considered as an option. All the boys he'd ever met were straight, so it was assumed. What else would he be?
Then again, there was nothing he could compare it to. He couldn't compare kissing boys and kissing girls, since he'd never kissed a boy, only a girl. And it had been fine, nothing really special. So then, the only way he could truly tell if he was gay was to kiss a boy.
Of which there was one in front of him, who had a crush on him. And while it would sort of be taking advantage of Draco's feelings for him, what if Harry decided he was gay because it was a lot better than girls? Then he'd probably ask Draco out himself.
"--I just don't think that our Transfiguration textbook does a good job of teaching. It talks to us as though we're complete idiots, and then moves far too fast through the subjects. McGonagall even has to stop and explain things that the textbook grazes over. That can't be a good textbook."
His resolution made, Harry pushed himself up and pressed his lips to Draco's.
Draco made a strange muffled sound, and began pulling back. Harry lifted a hand from his support and curled it around Draco's neck, yanking him forward.
It was good, so much better than Ginny and Cho.
Draco dragged his tongue underneath Harry's bottom lip, while Harry gently raked his fingers through the gel in Draco's hair. He leaned up farther from his infirmary bed, still not relinquishing his hold on Draco. Draco swept his tongue back along the crease between Harry's lips, and Harry opened his mouth, swirling his tongue into Draco's mouth and drawing little circles once inside.
Draco's throat seemed to vibrate ever so slightly for a moment, and Harry heard some pleasant, elusive sound, but it disappeared a moment after it came. Harry pushed his tongue further into Draco's mouth, but Draco's own muscle flowed past him, diving into Harry's mouth and sweeping the same rounds around the walls.
A sound reverberated from Draco's mouth as Harry lightly nipped his lip, and this time Harry was certain he wasn't imagining it. It was a beautiful sound, and one Harry felt like he wanted to hear more often.
When at last they separated for air, Draco stayed where he was for a second, staring into Harry's eyes before falling back into his chair. Harry did much the same, stopping to gaze into Draco's wide blue eyes, and collapsing back onto his bed.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, Draco looking out of breath and looking anywhere but at Harry.
Harry, meanwhile, gaped openly at Draco. It had been so much better than kissing anyone before, with Ginny being so… Ginny… and Cho crying all the time. Even now, Draco looked amazing, despite the light pink icing on his pale cheeks and the gel in his hair sticking all askew.
Harry stared at Draco's flushed picture, finally commenting, "Well, I guess that answers my question."
Draco glanced back up at Harry, diving his eyes back down and to the right. "What question was that?"
Harry grinned at Draco, and waved a hand. "Guess I'm breaking up with Ginny."
Draco smiled slightly, nodding and looking up at Harry. "Good. So..." He stopped and stared at Harry's expression.
Harry continued grinning at him, waiting. He might regret this later, but for now, a snogging session that wonderful had to have some weight in his sexuality. And he definitely liked Draco in at least one way, if not more.
"Would you like to..." Draco hesitated, still eyeing Harry's grin. "Pursue a relationship?"
Harry nodded rapidly, lunging forward and catching Draco in a big hug. "I'd love to, Draco." Then he froze, and suddenly stared up at Draco as a thought hit him. "Are we... boyfriends, then?"
Draco smiled down at him, withdrawing Harry's arms from around him and gently setting him back into the infirmary bed. "Yes, boyfriends. Unless you'd rather be lovers?" He trailed off the question a bit at the end, choosing that moment to brush a kiss on Harry's lips.
Harry felt his face heat up, and he quickly shook his head. "No, boyfriends is fine." He paused, and asked the next question that came to mind. "In homosexual relationships, the same rules apply, right? No cheating, be truthful, all that?"
Draco rolled his eyes, leaning back. "Of course, Harry. They don't just go around snogging everyone and call one person their boyfriend."
"Okay," Harry smiled, and laid back against the pillows, watching Draco. "Boyfriends."
***
Draco stepped into the boys' dormitory and rolled his eyes at the figure on the bed next to his, sitting with his knees held tight to his chest. Draco threw his cloak onto his bed and sat on the Blaise's bed beside him, looking out the corner of his eye at the boy.
"What happened this time?" Draco couldn't say he wasn't the slightest bit angry at Blaise for mis-reading directions and thus poisoning Draco's crush, but he was pretty sure Pansy had already chewed out Blaise quite thoroughly. Although, had Blaise not mis-read the directions, Harry would have been falling all over Draco's feet under the influence of a love potion. He wasn't sure which he would've preferred, since the latter would make quite a letdown when the potion wore off.
Blaise shrugged, keeping his pitiful posture. "She's still angry at me for screwing up the potion. You are too, aren't you."
Draco nodded, raising his right arm and slinging it around Blaise's dejected shoulders. "A little. But not as much as she is. I'm more just angry at you for meddling in my affairs."
Blaise grinned for the first time, snuggling in closer to Draco and huddling against his chest, bringing his knees up to rest on Draco's lap. "I like being with you anyways, but affairs, Draco? Didn't know you had anyone to have an affair with. Having fun?"
Draco rolled his eyes again, ignoring Blaise's proximity. The other times Pansy had banished Blaise from her sight, Blaise had done much the same, but he hadn't gotten quite this close to Draco before. "You know what I meant, Blaise. I'm so close to getting Harry now. You know, we actually had a civil conversation again. It was wonderful. He's really nice when he's not up to hating your guts. He's hot too."
"Mmm..." Blaise hummed, and lifted his head to lay it on Draco's shoulder, slowly extending his tongue and beginning to trace slow patterns on Draco's neck. Long trails of pale dampened skin flowed in its wake, and a barely suppressed shudder ran through Draco. A small sound escaped Blaise's mouth as he leaned in farther and unfurled his legs a bit more. As he did so, the weight on Draco's chest increased a fraction, and Draco gulped and continued.
"We talked about textbooks a bit... We kind of made out, but not really, I guess. Well, we did, but not with the kind of stuff that you usually constitute making out, with groping and the like. It was quite innocent, when I think about it. He's innocent, really, or at least more so than me." Draco paused, feeling Blaise's tongue drag along underneath his jaw line. "Would you stop that?
Blaise paused for a second, and then continued, dragging his tongue back and beginning to play with Draco's ear lobe, lifting his head slightly. "No."
Draco rolled his eyes. He'd just gotten with Harry, he wasn't going to mess that up. He'd even explained that boyfriends weren't supposed to cheat on each other either. But it felt so good... And it had been so long since he'd done this sort of thing; he'd completely stopped when he started crushing on Harry.
Draco sighed, tightening his arm around Blaise. "So anyways, we talked about how gay boyfriends was the same as straight boyfriend and girlfriend, no cheating and the like. I think he's forgotten about you being the fault in the poisoning too, even though you and Pansy were being quite loud about it when he woke up."
"Wasn't my fault. She was shouting at me. She does it a lot. I don't like it." Blaise trailed his tongue downwards, dipping underneath Draco's collar and swiping back up, curling underneath his bottom lip and dancing to his other ear. The lobe was slowly suctioned into his mouth, and Draco closed his eyes slowly, tilting his head back.
A dark hand dragged up his chest, brushing up the center and stopping at the collar of his shirt, slowly slipping the top button undone.
Blaise's other hand had begun searching up Draco's shirt, and Draco hadn't even noticed. It felt so good... Why was he resisting? Was there a reason, or was it just something he'd started doing?
To hell with it, Draco decided, and succumbed to Blaise's hands, and wherever that happened to take him.