Note: To those of you who I told that this chapter would be up yesterday, I greatly apologize. I am a liar and should be shot.
Harry and Draco walked up towards the castle together. Their hands hung to their sides, but due to the close proximity of which they were walking, the back of their fingers lightly brushed together with each step. Neither was brave enough to take the other's hand in their own, but neither hand any intention of pulling their hand away. When they had come in full sight of Hogwarts castle Draco hesitated, clearly not keen on the idea of advertising any odd behavior to the rest of the school. Harry understood and stopped as well to give the other boy a smile and a quick wave before heading on his own to the Great Hall for dinner. A look out of the corner of his eye showed him Draco following behind at a proper distance to avoid suspicion.
Harry was one of the first students to arrive at the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione were nowhere in sight, so Harry made a guess at where the trio normally sat just past the middle of the Gryffindor table and sat down. He began shoveling food onto his plate, one particular thought occupying his mind: What on earth was he going to tell Hermione and Ron?
If he was completely honest with himself, he did not want to tell his two friends anything. He loved Ron and Hermione more than his own family, but this was something he wanted to keep private. He wanted to be able to experience this new part of his life alone, just he and Draco, without anyone else watching his every move or giving advice when it was unneeded. This last be applied particularly to Snape. Harry scowled at the thought of the hook-nosed professor and speared a bit of broccoli with his fork in irritation.
Snape aside, Harry still needed to think of a way to keep Hermione and Ron's questions about Draco at bay. Hermione was smart and would have put most all of the pieces together by now as she had already been informed on a previous occasion that Harry was not only gay, but interested in Draco. If he was lucky, Harry thought, Hermione would respect his silence on the matter and leave him alone. Ron, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. While Ron did not share Hermione's sharp observation skills, he wasn't dumb. With all of Ron's curiosity and hatred of Malfoy, it was obvious that he would be the real threat to Harry's privacy. So what should he say?
Harry had just begun constructing a rather weak story about how Draco had wanted to discuss Quidditch with him when a flustered Hermione and a furious looking Ron walked into the Great Hall. Deep in thought, Harry only noticed the two once they had sat down next to him. Hermione was across the table from his, as usual, and Ron was on his right, though had left an awkwardly large amount of space between he and Harry.
"Where's that ferret of a boyfriend of yours, eh?" Ron asked, his voice dripping with disgust. He pushed his plate away from him as he asked, apparently having lost his appetite at the thought of his friend showing any interest in Malfoy.
Harry's mouth fell open in shock. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, in mock of a fish out of water, completely lost at what to say. Finally, he turned to Hermione, feeling the rage bubbling up inside of him.
"You told him?" Harry half-yelled, aware that people might stop and stare.
"Yes, I told him!" Hermione tried to sound matter-of-fact, but the expression on her face gave away her feelings of guilt. "When you left Hagrid's Ron wouldn't stop pestering me about going after to you to keep Malfoy from hexing you. He was about to go after you and I had to tell him something to him from seeing you two…you know…"
"Talk?" Harry finished for her. "We were just talking! You didn't have to tell him the truth!"
"And what was I supposed to tell him? That you and Draco were having a nice, friendly chat about your upcoming Quidditch match?"
Harry dropped his shoulders in defeat. It was if Hermione had been reading his mind. She was right; there was no way Ron would have ever fallen for much of anything other than the truth. There was no other logical explanation, it seemed, for Harry to be on even semi-friendly terms with Malfoy. He still felt hurt that Hermione had betrayed him to Ron, though.
"You promised you wouldn't say anything to him," Harry muttered, the fight in him beginning to fade.
"Oh, Harry…" Hermione looked uncomfortably guilty, "Ron doesn't care that you're gay…only that you've chosen Malfoy of all people to fancy."
Harry turned to Ron to see if this was true, but did not find much reassurance. Ron was staring back at him with the most unattractive look of repulsion on his face.
"Besides," Hermione continued, looking nervously from Ron to Harry, "I need all the help I can get to convince you this is a terrible idea…Ron, stop making that horrendous face!"
Ron stayed as he was for a moment or two longer before finally turning away from Harry to the plate he had initially pushed away from him. Whatever disgust he still felt was obviously no match for his growling stomach.
"Right," Harry stood up from the table and grabbed his schoolbag, "It's nice to know I have a traitor and a homophobic bigot for friends."
Hermione tried to call after Harry as he stormed out of the Great Hall, but he ignored her. Had he been paying attention, he might have noticed a pair of gray eyes from the Slytherin table follow his exit.
Harry made his way up the staircase with the intention of heading to the common room, but stopped when he stepped onto the landing facing the library. What he needed now was quiet and solitude and the library now seemed the better destination.
Madame Pince spotted Harry as he walked through the door and made for a moment as if to tell him he was not welcome here, but changed her mind and only shook her head. This enraged Harry even more than he had been, and when he had found a secluded table near the back of the library, he shoved over a discarded stack of books onto the floor to relieve his anger. This was a childish thing to do, Harry knew, but he needed some time to pout.
Calming down slightly, Harry sat down and pulled out a couple of his school books from his bag. Now that he was comfortably seated away from any prying eyes, he had no intention of going up to the common room anytime soon, so he figured he might as well put his time to good use. His efforts proved fruitless, however, as his thoughts kept drifting off from his readings to Draco.
Harry was beginning to wonder if all this was really worth it: Hermione and Ron's hostility, his confusion, the weird looks he was sure to get from the other students…was he really insane enough to put up with all of this for Malfoy? Harry was unquestionably attracted to Malfoy and had been since that moment in third year when the Slytherin had feigned injury from Buckbeak. There was just something about Malfoy that Harry found irresistible – the way his tailored clothes always clung to his body so perfectly or the way his blonde hair fell into his grey eyes after a sweaty Quidditch game – there was no sense denying his physical attraction for the boy, but Harry was skeptical that it could ever turn into something more. Malfoy had hurt him and his friends on multiple occasions, not to mention his involvement on the wrong side of the war. So why was he even giving Malfoy the light of day?
As these doubts flooded his head, the memory of his bloody encounter in the unused classroom unexpectedly flashed before his eyes. Harry felt the same feelings of concern and panic coursing through him that he had felt during the actual encounter. Then, almost on cue, the memory switched to his conversation with Draco just an hour or so before and the hug he had been surprised to receive. Harry smiled and looked back down at his school books ready to finish his readings.
What Harry had realized was that there was more to his feelings toward the Slytherin than just pure physical attraction. He wanted to protect Draco and keep him from hurting himself anymore. He wanted to see more of that soft side of Draco that gave hugs and admitted vulnerability. Yes, this really was worth it.
Curfew was just starting when Harry finally packed his bag and left the library. Assuming that Madame Pince would have kicked him out before the curfew, Harry didn't think to check his surroundings as he climbed the stairs. Noting the empty castle, he jumped when he heard a voice behind him.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. Out past curfew," Snape observed as he strolled towards Harry, black robes billowing around his steps as always. "Ten points from Gryffindor, I think."
"But, it's not…" Harry began to protest, but realized his efforts were pointless with this particular professor.
"I have something for you," Snape ignored the protest and reached into a pocket of his robe to fish out a small envelope. "I was going to send this in the morning post, but since you so conveniently decided to disregard the rules this evening you may have it now. Has Mr. Malfoy spoken to you?"
Harry nodded and took the envelope from the professor's long fingers.
"Then while he is not here I would like to issue you a warning," Snape paused for effect and sneered. "Should you do anything to cause harm to Draco I shall personally see to it that you are reunited with your dearly departed father before it is your time to do so."
Harry could not help the incredulous look that passed his face. Had Snape really just threatened his life? Feeling a little nervous, he decided to avoid standing around any longer and gave one last nod before continuing his journey to the common room.
When he had finally made it through portrait hole, he briefly noticed Ron and Hermione sitting near the fire. He passed by them without a word and climbed the final staircase to his shared room where, after changing into his pajamas and climbing under the covers, he took the small envelope he had been given and opened it.
Mr. Potter,
It has come to my attention that my godson has made a most unfortunate error in whom to entrust his heart. As I am sure that it has not crossed your mind to consider the consequences of your actions, I feel there is a need to explain to you the misfortunes that may befall your companion should you make any mistakes.
You will meet me in my office immediately after classes have finished along with Draco Malfoy. Should you fail to attend our meeting I shall see to it that you spend each of your upcoming Quidditch matches in detention.
Professor Severus Snape
Harry went down to breakfast alone the next morning. He planned to confront Ron before the day was out, but not before he had received a response from Draco. To ensure his being undisturbed by Ron and Hermione, Harry strategically chose a spot in between Colin Creevey and a vaguely familiar looking second year girl Harry recalled was called Penelope. His two new breakfast companions were so shocked by this unusual seating arrangement that they hardly said a word the whole meal.
Just as Harry was finishing his eggs, a great swarm of owls came rushing into the hall dropping letters and packages along the house tables. One particularly magnificent owl headed straight for Harry and dropped a small note perfectly into his unexpecting hand. Realizing what this must be, he eagerly unfolded the note and read:
I kept my promise. I am sure.
~D
Harry looked up from the note to see Draco giving him a sort of semi-triumphant smile. The two kept eye contact for a moment longer than they should have, but Harry was disappointed when the Slytherin finally looked away to continue a conversation with Zabini. Taking one last swig of pumpkin juice and bidding Colin and Penelope farewell, Harry left the hall in the direction of his first class.
Note: Whoa. So this chapter came out way longer than I intended it to. I'm kind of picky about keeping my chapters generally the same length, so I cut it off here and will make the rest a new chapter. Most of this was supposed to just be a segway into the next bit, but I felt I needed to add in more explanation as to why on earth it makes sense that Draco and Harry should even be friends, much less romantic interests.
Plus, I had a little too much fun with Snape. The whole reading a letter from Snape while in bed bit may have been due to a bit of fantasizing on my part...
Anywhoo, I hope I didn't totally bore y'all with this chapter. More up soon! And reviews are always appreciated ^^ ~TJ