Chapter Ten:

Get It While You Can

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews - I absolutely love you guys! ^_^ Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than the rest, and not as well written in my opinion. I just need this to take place. Next chapter will be a lovely conclusion to this awkward, strange, revealing bet of theirs. =D Review and enjoy, please!

Get It While You Can - Janis Joplin

In this world, if you read the papers, darling,

You know everybody's fighting with each other.

You got no one you can count on, dear,

Not even your own Brother.

So if someone comes along,

He's gonna give you love and affection,

I'd say get it while you can, yeah....

Don't turn your back on love, no no no no...

*

Harry's head was buzzing. He didn't really recall much of yesterday, or that morning to be truthful. He remembered locking himself in Draco's dormitory and practicing Defence Against the Dark Arts spells, attempting ferociously to distract himself. It worked, for the time being. However, his thoughts were inevitable by the time that Double Advanced Potions came around that Monday afternoon. He had been dreading this moment ever since he left the Room of Requirments on Saturday night, and he had also been secretly waiting anxiously for it.

With a stiff stride and his nose held in the air, a small group of Sixth Year Slytherin's trailing restlessly after him, Harry walked down from the Great Hall and into the dungeons. He took his, Draco's, usual seat near the front of the class room and unloaded his bag. He looked up at the chalkboard and noticed a Potion and its ingrediants already on there. 'Dreamless Sleep Drought? Are we honestly making that today? I thought he was kidding and just wanted to give us an essay...' Harry questioned, and he also hoped that they would be allowed to take some with them since Draco's supply was running dry.

"Sit," came Snape's hiss of a command as he entered the classroom, students were still bustling inside. Harry cocked his head slightly to get a better view at the occupants in the room; more or less to get a better view of Draco inside of his body. There he sat, slumped over in his seat looking as if he were in Hell. 'Perfect acting,' Harry thought to himself as a small smile reached the corners of his mouth.

Unfortunately, he was in hell. He sat in Snape's Potions classroom with Pansy Parkinson very close to his side. Gods, he hated how whatever class it was that pug would always sit as close as humanly possible. Not only was her face and personality foul, her smell followed suit.

"Today we are brewing a very difficult Potion, as you all have researched it thoroughly...though some were not as...thorough as others," he shot a glare in Harry's direction - meanwhile Draco was recieving the scrutiny. This made the real Harry laugh in his head. 'See, Snape does just naturally hate me. Draco wrote it,' he grinned, pretending to be enjoying 'Harrys' misfortune as the boy sunk lower in his chair, his two best friends looking apologetically at him.

"I have paired you up according to your intelligence. Unfortunately, the more knowledge you have the less your partner will," Snape turned to Draco and frowned in apology. Harry, however, was hoping that it meant what he thought that meant.

Five minutes later, he found out that it was exactly what he thought that meant. Like always, the inevitable occurred and the two were paired in Potions. Harry couldn't help surpress a smirk as Draco sludged over, his eyes heavy though Harry understood the act. Once Draco joined him at the front of the class, Hermione and Ron looking pitifully from their own seats where they too were partnered with Slytherins, Harry got up and retrieved the ingrediants.

As he resumed his seat, he pushed the Myrtle Root to Draco and handed him a blade as well. "Cut them in threes, you do understand what that means, do you not?" Harry drawled, attempting to keep up appearances even though his insides are dancing.

All he could think about was how he actually admitted to enjoying Draco kissing him. Harry felt disgusted with himself; he was a dirty, filthy nasty excuse for a human being and didn't deserve anyone's affection. Yet there Draco was two nights ago, willingly kissing Harry Potter despite all the things he had seen in the other boy's nightmares. What in the world did that mean? Harry couldn't be more confused. Happy, depressed, angry, affectionate, appreciative...so many emotions mulled into one!
"Malfoy, pay attention!" Draco snapped under his breath, Harry had been adding Dung beetle legs to the water-based concotion and almost dropped in too much, his stirring was slightly off-handed too. "I thought you were supposed to be good at Potions, you wanker,"

"Sod off, Pothead," Harry found a grin on his face instead of a scowl, he hoped nobody close by noticed this.

"Make me,"

"You would like that would..." Harry stopped talking, Professor Snape was nearing their desk and they didn't want to be caught 'bickering' as perusual.

They went silently back to work, going down the instructions on brewing the Dreamless Sleep Drought. 'Gods, I wonder if Draco regrets kissing me...well, how could he? He was really only kissing himself,'

'I really hope Harry does not hate me for Saturday night. It was out of line but...I enjoyed it. I want to do it again..in my own body...wait, no! Oh, give it up Malfoy and admit that you like him,' Draco scoffed to himself, he snuck a glance over at Harry who was nervously crushing Fillibuter fins. Draco found himself smiling, even as the Gryffindor wasn't in his body - his actions were just so...cute! 'Did I honestly just think that? Yes, it is certain. I have officially gone stark raving mad,'

'Shit. Shit. Shit. He's looking at me. Why is he looking at me? Wait, is he smiling?! Oh fuck, why would he be smiling at me? I know we don't hate each other anymore but...he can't just go around smiling at me for no reason - what did I do?! Oh shit shit shit shit...concentrate. Concentrate before Snape kills you both. Concentrate,' Harry attempted to force himself to pay attention to the brewing Potion.

Draco, however, needed to read the next set of written instructions which were coincidentally lying in front of Harry. He leaned over his stool to grab it, his arm brushed against Harry's. Harry dropped the blade he was using to crush to Fillibuter fins and jumped up from his chair. He looked wildly at Draco who was trying to keep as straight of face as possible - though he was laughing wildly in his head. 'My my, Potter's quite...jumpy today...'

~When you're loving somebody, baby,

You're taking a gamble against some sorrow.

But who knows, baby,

'Cause we may not be here tomorrow.

And if anybody comes along,

He's gonna give you love and affection,

I'd say get it while you can, yeah!

Honey, grab it when you're gonna need it!

Hold it while you can,

Don't turn your sweet back on love!~

Many students around their table were staring at Draco expectantly, they wanted a fight. They thought that was going to happen. Instead, Harry put on his best scowl. "Do not touch me with those filthy Muggle-loving hands," he hissed lowly before resuming to take his seat. Gryffindors all shot him an evil glare, but Harry shrugged it off as best as possible.

'I'm a mess. I am a complete and utter mess. A fool. I can't survive this class...it hasn't even been an hour! Oh lords of Merlin in hell...I am so not surviving this class...'

'Potter needs to get a grip. He is going to ruin this for the both of us. Severus is going to notice something is up sooner or later if he does not stop acting like a maniac...no matter how cute it is,'

'Is he looking at me...again?!? Does he want us to fail this lesson? Wait...what does it matter, Harry? It's only Malfoy. That's right. Only Malfoy....' Harry took a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment only to open them and continue the task at hand. He chanced a look over at the boy beside him, he turned to look at him and their eyes met. Harry quickly looked away, causing Draco to smile once again. 'It's not Malfoy anymore, remember? It's Draco now. Draco with the caring heart. Draco with the terrible past. Draco who hates his Father. Draco who said he wanted to...make you feel better...Draco who kissed you. Fucking all that is on this bleeding Earth, why did he have to kiss me?!' he paused, his breathing was becoming quite sporadic. Harry tried to grab ahold of himself and then he felt a hand gently on his lower leg. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned with rather wide eyes to Draco.

"You alright?" Draco whispered, hoping nobody would hear them.

"I'd be better if you'd bleeding well stopped looking at me," Harry grumbled in response, but Draco was surprised when he didn't forcibly remove his hand. They continued their task, but Draco continued it with one less hand.

'He likes me. He likes me touching him. I can tell. He used to flinch whenever Granger and her pup would goto touch him...but...he does not do that with me. That must mean he likes it, right? He did say he liked kissing me, sort of. He sort of said that, did he not? Gods, he has yet to take my hand off...that has to mean something,' Draco was asking himself curiously. He had brewed this Potion a thousand times, he needn't much of his concentration. Harry, however, was something new to him altogether.

'You like it. Admit it. You like it. You like Draco Malfoy. That's right, bloody-fucking-son-of-a-Death-Eater, Draco Malfoy. Just fuck it. Fuck it all to goddamned hell and accept it. He makes you happy. Somehow, he makes you happy. You feel good around him. He understands what you went through. He went through worse things. He gets it. He's not like 'Mione and Ron. He really fucking gets it....is his hand still on me?' Harry blushed when he felt the warmth radiating from Draco's hand to his knee-cap. He didn't want it to ever move.

As he dropped the crushed Fillibuter fins in, Harry looked back at the instructions of the Potion which now lie between the two of the awkward Sixth Years. "Does that say three cracked Doxy eggs next?" he asked aloud, his brow furrowed and his mind finally distracted for once.

"Yeah, why?" Draco asked, he had heard the curiousity in the others voice and stopped what he was doing to look over at his partner momentarily.

"Because, aren't Doxy Eggs what make the drinker sleep? They're the active ingrediant, right?"

"Right...where are you getting at with this Malfoy?"

"Well, I was, er.." Harry stopped, he was beginning to sound too much like himself. He wasn't being confident enough and their conversation was drawing attention from Professor Snape. "I am going to add one more Droxy Egg to the Potion. The rest of the ingrediants just work as equalizers and anti-irritants. The more Eggs you put in, the more potent the outcome. Dreamless Sleep Drought usually takes close to two hours to come into affect. If a person wants to take a vial right before bed, then adding one more Droxy Egg will quicken the effects, making them almost instantaneous," Harry wasn't only explaining this to Draco, he was explaining this to the entire classroom who listened intently.

"Well done, Mr Malfoy. Twenty points to Slytherin. You should be thankful, Potter, without Mr Malfoy here you'd have already blown yourself up," Snape snarled at Draco, who glared back. As if on cue, Neville Longbottom and Pansy's cauldron coincidentally blew itself up. Professor Snape rushed over to chide the Gryffindor and take points as Harry and Draco turned to one another grinning.

"Thanks for the points," Draco whispered, "And that was good thinking, Harry," he smiled sweetly.

Harry felt himself growing hot as the hand on his knee tightened its grip. "Er, thanks," he flushed. "I'll, er, get another Droxy Egg then," and he slipped out of his seat, away from Draco's warm hand, towards the ingrediants cupboard.

A couple of Slytherin's followed his suit, retrieving extra Droxy Eggs due to their new found knowledge. Harry sat back down at his seat and placed all three eggs in the Potion, it sizzled and a light purple smoke was rising from it. "Perfect," Draco smiled. They had finished rather early in comparison to the others in the class. It was just at the hour mark of two whole hours.

Snape came over and tested the velocity, colour and scent of the Potion, he deemed it more than satisfactory before congratulating 'Draco' once again. "Now, I suggest you get started on your next essay. It will be on the Fire Protection Potion," and with that he swept away to survey the other students, still struggling with their own Potions.

"You did good," Harry said quietly.

"I have only brewed it about a million times,"

"Don't you think that's an overstatement?"

"Do you not think that you are insufferable?" Draco was smiling, he was having fun with this small harmless banter. But then things grew silent and awkward again. Harry was about to lose himself in his thoughts, he felt it coming on so he quickly began rummaging through his bag for a parchment and quill to begin this next essay. He also grabbed his textbook, flipping through to attempt to find the appropriate information. Draco did the same, but more distractedly. He didn't mind his thoughts thinking 'dirty' things of Harry. He enjoyed it. Of coruse he was still thoroughly questioning the other boy, but judging by the behaviour he had seen for the past hour or so - Harry definitely liked him back.

"So..." Draco began in a low voice. Harry swallowed beside him.

"So, how's Dark Arts coming along?" Harry changed the subject from whatever Draco was going to beging talking about. Whatever it was, Harry had a feeling that he did not want in on the conversation.

"Fine," Draco pouted, he did not like being cut-off but he also enjoyed watching Harry mentally squirm in timid embarassment. "Did you finish that Ancient Runes essay that's due tomorrow?"

"Yes, but how did you even know I had it? You are not in Ancient Runes," Harry chided, they still needed it to appear as if they were the other person. Just in case somebody was listening in.

And that somebody just happened to be the large majority of the class, including a rather confused, silent Professor Snape.

"Erm...right, well Gra-...uh...'Mione has it. She's nearly blown her head up this weekend trying to finish it," Draco quickly improvised. Perfect. He sounded just like Harry, he thought with a smug smirk.

"Well, yes I did indeed finish. It was not that hard once you got the right texts. If you know where to look," Harry winked at this. Then they grew silent again.

Draco didn't like this silence between the two of them. "So...Imagine Snape's face if he realized he was compliementing y...me?"

Harry seemed to think about this for a moment and this his face broke into a brilliant grin, a low chuckle was heard erupting from his throat. He coughed it back down, afraid that the Professor would have his attention drawn even more acutely. "It would be bloody hilarious, in my opinion,"

Then there was silence. Again. 'Damn that silence. I just want him to talk to me - to say what he is thinking. To say what he really wants to say...I hate silences, they are pointless,' Draco grumbled. 'That is it. People or no people. Just say what you gotta say..' "Listen, Malfoy, there's something I've been..."

Harry twisted uncomfortably at the start of the sentence, he could tell it sounded serious. And then the bell echoed through the castle. Harry sighed heavily. 'Whew. Saved by the bell!' he hurriedly collected his things as Draco watched him with a small frown.

Just before he was about to leave, Hermione and Ron approached the table with their own books. They looked between their two classmates. "Harry...what in the hell are you doing?"

"Uh...talking?" Draco didn't take his eyes off of Harry.

"About what?!" Ron snapped angrily, he too was staring at Harry - but not in the nice kind of way.

"What is it any of your business, Weasel?" Harry growled and with that walked away, Pansy trailing after him just as confused as the two Gryffindors.

Ron turned accusingly to Harry, Hermione stood nervously beside her boyfriend. She had no idea what was going on either, but she didn't have a temper that could match Mrs. Weasley's. "What in Merlin's name were you to chatting so friendly about?"

"Gods, you'd think the world was ending just because two people are having a decent conversation!" Draco said venomously, standing up and grabbing his shoulder bag he started for the door with a shocked Ron staring after him.

"But, he's Malfoy! The bane of our existance!"

This angered Draco thoroughly. The unknowning Weasel didn't have one fucking clue about Harry's life, not one bit. Draco was the only one who understood. "Speak for yourself, Ron. You have no idea what my existance is even about," Draco whispered with hatred laced in every word. He stomped out of the classroom with many eyes following him, and he didn't give one little shit. Hermione and Ron stared hurtfully after their best friend.

It was Charms now but he wasn't in any kind of mood. He knew Harry would forgive him for skipping. Instead, Draco went out to the Lake where he could get some damned privacy for the first time in over a week. He sat himself down on a rock, watching the reflection of the sun on the water change with every ripple.

'Who do Weasel and Granger think they are? They try to control Harry's life all the time. Where he is. What is he doing. Who he talks to. Merlin's tits, can they not just leave him alone? They do not even know what he has been through! How Harry cares so much for them, I could never understand...but, how does he ever have any space to breath? Not only that, but how does he have any space to feel?

'I feel so bad for him. I want to take all that pain away. All this physical, mental...emotional goddamn pain! It feels like its been harvesting inside of him for years. Forever. And he just has never had the time to deal with it...

'That is it. I am making it my personal goal.

'Harry James Potter. You will be happy,'

*

Ah! Once I had me a man,

But I didn't know enough at the time

To count my blessings, no no,

But I wish he could see me crying today,

'Cause his love don't feel to listen.

And if anybody comes along,

He's gonna give me love and affection,

Yeah, hey! Get it while you can, yeah!

Don't turn your back on love...

Hold onto that man whole...

Yeah, get it while you can.