A/N: Hello again! I have a really good reason for not updating in so long, but it really annoys me to think about it, so I won't be sharing. Suffice it to say, the whole issue gave me the worst case of writer's block and I've only just got my ability back. Hope it's still good! And thanks for the patience!
Harry skipped dinner Tuesday night. He spent the hour and a half that his dorm mates were downstairs joking and laughing over the Slytherin dilemma, sitting silently on the edge of his bed, turning the box of chocolates over in his hands and turning his thoughts around in his head.
It didn't make sense, even to himself. He'd spent all morning hoping to see Malfoy, but Hermione's revenge hadn't worn off yet and the Slytherins were still vulnerable. Even so, he'd told himself that he could see the other boy at their practice later tonight, and he'd waited impatiently for the time to come, annoying his friends with the incessant tapping of his fingers and feet. Right now, Harry should be down in that room, not looking at the script he brought with him out of habit more than anything else and still reciting his lines with only the smallest flaws.
Instead, he was here, too nervous to do more than shuffle his feet and twist his hands. Harry tossed the box aside and fell back on the bed, throwing his hands over his eyes. Most people thought he acted without thinking. Harry wished that were the case. If he hadn't bothered to think, he'd already be down there. But he had and now those thoughts, so bothersome, so terrifying, wouldn't go away!
Being near Malfoy made him happy, so why did he have to question it?
Because it was Malfoy. Because it was the one boy in all of Hogwarts who had devoted so much of his time in the last few years to making him and his friends, and generally anyone and everyone else, completely miserable. But why couldn't Harry be as selfish as others could be and grab at what happiness he could? It wasn't fair that Ron and Hermione and everyone else at Hogwarts could so freely chase after what they wanted and he couldn't. What was stopping him?
Besides the disapproval of his friends and housemates, the answer was still obvious. Malfoy was a boy. Malfoy was a Slytherin. Maybe boys could get together, it had worked so well for Seamus and Dean, but Gryffindors and Slytherins? It was the very definition of opposites. Even if opposites did sometimes attract, and even supposing Malfoy could be attracted to boys, he was a pureblood. People like Harry, and just about everyone Harry associated with, were nothing more than trash to him.
Harry pushed himself up from the bed, glaring at his reflection in the darkened window. His hair was sticking up at all angles, as usual, and he was starting to break out. Sighing, he tried to flatten his hair, with little success. He knew he wasn't much to look at, so those bumps in the road might as well be mountains. Then again, he'd though that lessons with Malfoy would involve much more humiliation than they had. He'd thought that was a sure thing. Did that mean he could be wrong about anything that would keep Malfoy from returning his feelings?
He shook his head, looking over at the box. None of it would matter anyway. Draco Malfoy wasn't going to know about his feelings. Harry Potter having a crush on him would only be a burden or another thing to ridicule. So, he'd keep it to himself, he wouldn't ask for more and he certainly wouldn't think about kissing the boy. Logical. Painful, but logical. Didn't mean he couldn't keep their lessons though, for as long as he had the arrangement.
Standing quickly, Harry pushed his hair to the side, covering those faint pink spots, then grabbed the box of chocolates and left the room. He barely nodded at the seventh year couple who climbed through the portrait hole as he was leaving. If he stopped for even a moment, he'd start to think again. Then, there was no way he'd make it to Malfoy.
Even so, when he finally stood outside the door, heart beating loudly for reasons that had nothing to do with the quick walk, he paused with his fingers on the handle. Harry bit his lip, a moment of doubt flicking through his mind. It would be simple, wouldn't it. He just wouldn't fall any deeper in love with the other boy. Harry nodded a bit to himself and pushed the door open.
Malfoy was sitting on the desk, legs hanging over the side and a thin book abandoned near his hand as he stared out the window. "You can't actually see anything out there, can you, Malfoy," Harry asked, letting the door close behind him.
"Nothing but the candle flame," Malfoy answered and glanced in his direction with a smile. It was just a slight lift at the corner of his lips and, chances were, it was because he saw the box of chocolates in Harry's hand, but it still made him feel special in a small way that he would never, ever tell anyone about. "You're a bit late. Not that I'm surprised," Malfoy commented as he jumped from the table. "Any particular reason this time?"
Harry shrugged and set the box on the edge of the teacher's desk, then moved to his usual spot. "Moving stairs," he lied and didn't really think that Malfoy believed him. He was the guy that taught him how to act, after all. But the blond just nodded, and Harry was glad he didn't push the issue.
By Thursday afternoon, the Slytherins had returned to their routines, unfortunately for many of the smaller Gryffindors. Those like the Creevey brothers had learned to travel in packs after the first two or three Slytherin sneak attacks. "There's certainly no great mastermind behind all this," Hermione had remarked with a sigh during lunch and passed another towel to a scrawny second year. He nodded thankfully and walked away, freeing his chair for another student. The Gryffindors had skipped that meal as a group to attend to the Slytherins' victims, not that Fred and George hadn't already made several trips down to the kitchens.
"Don't speak so quickly, darling," Lavender cooed as she flung a towel around the small boy's neck and picked up her scissors. "I've always believed this house could use a fashion makeover. It takes a brilliant Slytherin to give us the perfect reason." She winked at Hermione and snipped the gum from the boy's hair before shooing him over to Ginny and Romilda, who quickly doused the boy with soapy self-scrubbing water before arguing over how best to style the his hair. Hermione rolled her eyes and passed the girl another towel.
"Meanwhile, what sort of wizard resorts to this kind of attack?" Fred laughed, and flipped the long pigtail of a third year girl. She burst into loud broken sobs, the move a clear reminder of the singed other pigtail, hanging in pungent strands an inch above her shaking shoulder. Hermione batted Fred away and leaned down, muttering soothing words to the girl that did little to ease her tears.
"But you have to admire the way they managed to put those sticking charms on the gumballs," Ron added, ruffling his own newly shortened hair with a frown. "I didn't know you could do that with food." Harry didn't know how Ron had managed to find himself alone on the wrong end of a spelled gum wad, but he didn't seem all that dissatisfied with his new look.
Hermione shook her head. "You aren't supposed to, but then, you're aren't supposed to make potions into cobwebs either." She patted the girl's shoulder for a bit longer and led her to the chair in front of Ginny.
"No worries! I'll make you lovely, okay," Ginny told the girl reassuringly and straightened as she shook her head. "It's the greatest sin, you know, messing with a girl's hair." Harry tuned out the conversation then, scooting further into his chair and flipping another page in his already memorized script as he waited for lunch to end.
The rest of the afternoon hadn't passed any easier, and as Harry made his way downstairs for rehearsal, more than one teary-eyed Gryffindor ran up the steps in a flurry of robes. He wasn't too terribly worried though. Even if Hermione had taken Ron and Dean off to build more props, Ginny and the other girls were upstairs, soap and scissors at the ready.
"Tonight, we'll be practicing on stage," Binns informed the group as soon as rehearsal began and waved Lisa, Hannah, and Parkinson to the dais with his quill. "Since this is Friday practice, our minor roles aren't with us, so we'll just skip on ahead to Act First, Scene Third." The three girls nodded and immediately flipped open their scripts. Trelawney and Binns settled themselves into their seats, muttering quietly and scribbling on parchment as the girls acted out the scene.
Harry crossed his arms and leaned against the table to watch. He heard movement next to him and glanced over, fighting to hide his surprise, and delight, when he saw Malfoy standing next to him. He turned forward, trying to concentrate on the scene playing out before him. "She's not bad, is she?" he commented softly.
It took a moment to work through his surprise. Malfoy was speaking to him the same way he would as if they'd been in their tutoring room, and in front of most of the cast. "Which one?" he finally managed to ask.
Malfoy gave him a small smile and shrugged. "Whichever. They could all be worse."
Harry hid his laugh with a fake cough. "How nice of you to say so," he teased, keeping his voice a whisper. If he disturbed the scene, someone might glance back at him and ruin these few moments when Malfoy wasn't acting completely hateful.
"My mistake. I would never say anything that could be construed as kind," Malfoy whispered back. "Line, please." He waved a hand to an imaginary director, and leaned against the table a few inches from Harry.
Harry turned back to the scene, grinning. He wasn't sure what to say and certainly didn't want Malfoy moving away, not when he could feel the warmth of the other boy's body so near his own. When Trelawney called him for the next scene, he could have yelled his annoyance. Malfoy hadn't so much as looked at him since Tuesday, and now she was interrupting a perfectly peaceful, and rare, conversation. But Seamus was waving to him from the dais, so Harry pasted a calm expression on his face. He knew this part well enough and Romeo was not supposed to be angry.
It was Seamus' time to shine and the scene moved quickly with such an excitable boy in control. Harry couldn't help his grin, even on stage. He hadn't messed up once and figured it was some sort of record. Lisa gave him a thumbs up from behind Trelawney and he smiled at her. He caught sight of Malfoy standing just behind the Ravenclaw, a smug expression on his face. And he deserved the right. Harry could only act because of him.
Then Malfoy did something Harry hadn't expected, at least not outside the Arithmancy room. He smiled, a brief flash of teeth that no one else could see. Harry's breath caught in his throat and he just barely managed to choke out his last few lines, tripping as he left the stage. "Alright there, mate?" Seamus asked, more out of habit than concern. Anyone who roomed with Neville had long since become accustomed to random moments of clumsiness. Harry nodded his reply, waving away a few other inquiries and slinked to the back of the group, partly to hide his blush, partly to nurse his bruised knee in semi-privacy.
That had been smooth. Trelawney stood and issued her critique to Justin, his Benvolio not quite to the bug-eyed professor's standards. And behind her, Harry could see Malfoy not even trying to hide his amusement, leaning on Parkinson's shoulder as the two laughed, occasionally glancing his way.
It was okay, Harry told himself as his blush grew brighter. Most people thought red was a very good color on him. Complimented his skin tone or some such rubbish... He groaned softly and rubbed a hand over his eyes. When he couldn't even walk straight, just because Malfoy smiled at him, it was time for Harry to realize that the world was against him. He was sure of it.
A/N: I really wanted to post something before I went to bed, though I'm not sure I'm completely satisfied. Since it's now early morning (and I'm talking daylight here!), you all should review this chapter as a reward to me! Just a suggestion. Good night...morning...whatever! Thanks to globalfaerie, SunshineAndDaisies, AlineDaryen, Draco and Hermione is like PBJ, Stinuli, SexySpeedDemon, XxScarletPhantomxX, Lamp, Krystaluvstwilight, LyricallyInspired, plasticblue, draco-luvr1018, soupcan, boredom is a crime, Lady-Umbreon, DarkWiccanPrincess, RebeccaMarieCullen, supercoolfreak, HiM'e'iTSu, SushiBar, Sophia Anna-Mae, Ibbet, purplerawr, Closet Chocoholic, FoeverRose123, trillium248, OriginalDemon, Rikkuri, YYWKMN (thanks for the abbreviation!), Lady of the frozen black flame, paintupurple, and DMbranolaHP. That's 32! How awesome is that! Yay!