Thanks to everyone who reviewed after I commented that I had had not reviews for my previous offerings. I actually wrote this chapter right after some of those reviews, so you did good, though I had to let this chapter stew a little.
Hope you enjoy this, and I still don't own my two favorite boys
Meet me just inside the Forest (behind Hagrid's hut), midnight tomorrow. I owe you an apology.
- Snuffles
Harry folded the note and dropped it into his pocket, allowing the post owl to snag a sausage from his plate before focusing on his breakfast again. It didn't look like he'd get to spend much time with Draco tonight then. He grumpily ignored the burning feeling of many eyes watching him from all over the Great Hall.
He and Draco had ended up retreating to their respective common rooms almost immediately after the end of the Second Task, but not before a brief goodbye outside the entrance hall.
The members of the audience were still milling around on the grass outside Hogwarts for the most part, but there were a few small groups of students already in the entrance hall. Spotting this as they neared the front steps, Harry felt Draco's hand (which rested firmly in his) squeeze slightly. Taking his cue, Harry swallowed nervously before stopping. Ron and Hermione turned around a moment later as they heard Harry and Draco's footsteps cease.
"I'll – uh – catch up in a moment." Harry said, giving his friends a tentative smile.
"Of course." Hermione murmured, but a mischievous grin lit up her face as she looked between the pair. Ron gave Harry an embarrassed sort of grimace, before following Hermione's lead and followed her into the castle.
"We won't have long alone," Draco said as Harry tugged him over to one of the courtyard benches, "But I didn't want to say goodbye in front of them."
" We probably won't have a moment to ourselves until the excitement from the task dies down." Harry agreed, sitting down.
For a moment they sat grinning at each other, before Harry began to feel self-conscious.
"Listen-," Harry began, intending to tell Draco yet again that he hadn't needed to volunteer as a hostage for the task, but Draco shook his head, silencing him and looking down at their entwined hands.
"I wanted to say thank you," Draco's eyelashes fluttered as he back up at Harry "for rescuing me. When I panicked, I mean." His cheeks pinked a little "In my head, I sort of imagined I would have enough time to drink the calming potion before I flipped out and made a fool of myself. I sort of forced us out of the closet. I'm –"
"Don't say you're sorry," Harry said fiercely "because I'm not. You didn't make a fool of yourself, and I'd rescue –" he hesitated as his brains caught up with his mouth "I'd rescue you any day." And to hide his embarrassment, he leant forward to catch Draco's lips in his own.
Any semblance of logical thought escaped Draco as he sank lower on the bench and deeply into Harry's kiss. He relaxed as the lips formed rough shapes against his own as Harry leant over him, reveling in the feeling and enjoying how the Triwizard uniform provided almost no barrier to the heat of the body as he pressed his palm against his chest. He trailed the hand higher to clasp the back of Harry's neck, taking in the feel of warm, soft skin as he went. Finally, he allowed his own lips to take back control as the sound of chattering people came their way from outside the courtyard. Nipping Harry's lower lip between his teeth, Draco almost changed his mind as he felt the coolness of Harry breathing in sharply, and opening his eyes he saw Harry's eyes fly open too, pupils dilated.
"We should go." Draco breathed onto Harry's lips.
Harry's eyes lost a little of their glaze, but none of their hunger.
"People are coming." Draco added, and Harry pulled away reluctantly.
"Are you alright Harry?" A lilting voice asked, and Harry shook himself and Seamus Finnigan burst into peals of laughter.
"Thinking about lover boy, are we?" Seamus snorted, then turned away with a smile on his face to talk to Dean, who gave Harry's now tomato colored face an amused glance before returning to his conversation with Neville.
Glancing around himself to see who else was laughing at his suspense, Harry caught the eye of several girls at the Ravenclaw table, who burst into giggles and turned away, and he sighed.
At the time, it had seemed a good idea for he and Draco to expose themselves to the criticism and gossip of the rest of the school as soon as possible, to get it over with. Each boy had bravely left to face their own house in their common rooms. In reflection, Harry thought they should have avoided it as much as they could.
Of course, the first people he owed an explanation to were Ron and Hermione. He found them outside the fat lady's portrait, waiting for him. Thankfully, Hermione had interrupted him after a half stuttered explanation to give him a bone-crushing hug, and tearfully tell him that she had never been so proud. Ron had just looked uncomfortable and asked how long it had been going on, to which Harry had replied with a shrug and a muttered "Not very long."
That awkward couple of minutes was followed by an excruciating walk into and through the common room, during which Hermione chattered enthusiastically for the duration, Ron shuffling uncomfortably behind them, and everyone in Gryffindor either staring obnoxiously or snickering at Harry as they walked past, heading towards their usual seats.
Harry had tossed the plan to mingle with the masses for a few hours to the roadside as soon as Colin Creevey approached and loudly told Harry he was an inspiration to gay men everywhere, and asked if he could take a few romantic snapshots of Harry and Draco together. Harry all but fled to the dormitory.
He should have prepared himself for how much worse breakfast was, now that the story of his 'thing' with Draco Malfoy had had time to spread.
Girls all over the hall were constantly breaking out into giggling fits, the male students were alternately uncomfortable or derisive around him, though he did get more than a few smiles, and supportive claps on the back.
It was one thing getting your personal life discussed by the general public, but it was quite another to have the public eye on their relationship when Harry felt so tremendously insecure about the whole concept of romance and love.
He couldn't even bring himself to raise his head to check if Draco had come to breakfast yet, but he was forced to look up when an owl dropped a copy of Witch Weekly into Lavender Brown's granola, splashing everyone within a five foot radius with milk.
"S'fine." Harry mumbled uncomfortably, wiping milk from his cheek with his sleeve while Lavender apologized profusely, red-faced. Almost immediately however, she became hurriedly involved in her magazine, and turned away, her eyes on the cover.
"Oh my!" she exclaimed, passing it to Parvati, who ogled the cover too, before turning to stare at Harry, then blushed when she saw he was watching them.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, before Harry had even opened his mouth. Wordlessly, Parvati handed the magazine to her.
With a nasty sense of oncoming disaster, Harry watched Hermione's face go from shocked to indignant.
"How - how dare -"
"Let me see." Harry said as Ron leant over to take a look and his face reddened.
Looking around the Hall, Harry saw that more than a few other girls also regularly had Witch Weekly delivered, and groups of students all over the hall were either giggling over the cover photo, or leafing frantically through the pages.
Unable to ignore the feeling of panic as Susan Bones put down her copy at the Hufflepuff tabe and turned in her seat to stare at him, Harry reached over and snatched Witch Weekly from Hermione's hands.
"Harry..." she said warningly, but Harry was already staring, mortified, at the front cover.
HARRY POTTER'S SECRET HEARTACHE
Underneath was a moving photo of Draco and Harry, huddled on a bench and wrapped in each other. Photo-Harry was in his Triwizard uniform and was kissing Draco so thoroughly that for the first few moments, all that was visible of him was a shock of blond hair until the figures broke apart. Then they were back at it again as Harry watched, horrified, as photo-Harry's lips curving into a smile while he and Draco gently rubbed noses.
Face reddening, Harry flicked through the pages until he reached the article.
Boy Who Lived in Love!
A boy like none other, perhaps - yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter has found solace in the arms of another boy.
Draco Malfoy, Pure-blood Scion of the respected Malfoy family is the boy responsible for breaking teen girl's hearts all over the country as he reveals his relationship with Harry for the first time by kissing him after the second task of the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts yesterday.
This reporter was unable to elicit a statement from the happy couple as they made their way back into the school, wrapped in each other's arms, but friends of the pair were reported as being 'proud' yet also describing the revelation as 'a compete shocker'.
Colin Creevey, a Gryffindor third year and a close friend of Harry explains
"Harry and Malfoy have hated each other since they first met. I'm not sure how it began, but when I first started at Hogwarts, they were always fighting each other. I guess it was just pent up attraction."
One has to wonder what the reaction of the students of Gryffindor and Slytherin was, on finding out how Potter and Malfoy united the two rival houses. Creevey continues:
"Obviously anyone decent is happy for them. Harry's a great guy, and even though Malfoy has been a bit of a - troublemaker - in the past, I trust Harry's judgment. And everyone else should too!" he finishes fiercely.
Meanwhile, a Slytherin classmate says:
"It won't last. I don't know what Draco is thinking, but there's no way this will carry on much longer. Potter's an attention seeking pest, and he's not even smart or good looking. Draco could do so much better!"
Despite Creevey's optimism, it looks like opinion is divided on this one, readers.
What do YOU think? Let us know in our reader's poll!
Harry stopped reading and dropped the magazine onto his plate of toast, feeling as if his face was visibly throbbing with heat.
...ooo000ooo...
Harry didn't manage to speak to Draco before breakfast, and he ended up having to sit through a class before he managed to pass by him in Divination.
"I take it you saw Skeeter's contribution to this mess." Draco said grimly, dropping his quill as Harry made a show of collecting tea leaves from the shelf behind him.
"I suppose I should have expected it." Harry replied glumly. "Listen, I'm not going to be able to see you tonight."
Draco's face fell. "Really. Why not?"
Harry bit his lip, glancing at Blaise Zabini who was making no disguise of the fact he was listening in from the other side of the table.
"Got to meet somebody. It's important. But tomo-"
"I understand." Draco cut off, his face hard as he began stirring his tea quickly.
"I wouldn't do it if-"
"It's fine." Draco cut him off, "I've got to see Pansy anyway," he looked up with a cold smirk "she's a little annoyed by all of this, and I thought I'd spend some time with her to make her feel better." He removed his teaspoon from the cup and tapped the excess liquid off on the rim with three loud clinks.
Harry stared at him, non-plussed. As Draco gave him a vicious smile and returned to making notes, Harry heard a snort. Looking over at Blaise, his eyes narrowed on the pitying smile he received, which only widened.
"Right. Well. I'll – er see you soon then, I suppose." Harry said uncertainly, unwilling to dig into the matter with an audience.
"I suppose." Draco echoed brightly.
Blaise finally allowed a snigger to escape when Harry had moved away, his face confused as he made his way back to his own table.
"And just what," Draco snapped, glaring at him "are you laughing at?"
Blaise just shook his head, biting his lips to keep himself from laughing, and Draco's mood soured even further.
"Jealous, much?" he said finally, and Draco gritted his teeth in indignation, forcing down the denial which could only make the situation worse, and turned his back huffily.
…ooo000ooo…
"Sirius." Harry said, his voice carefully neutral.
Sirius gave him a sad smile from his seat on a log at the edge of the clearing. He patted the log beside him, but Harry only shuffled closer, choosing to stand.
"I've been a rubbish godfather, haven't I?"
"Took you long enough." Harry said bitterly, then immediately felt repentant. "I mean-"
"No." Sirius raised his hand to silence him. "You're right, I messed up." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I meant to apologize some time ago, but I kept making ridiculous excuses to avoid it. Not," he clarified "because I didn't want to, but because…well, I was worried that you wouldn't forgive me."
"No, I-." he stopped, unsure of himself. "I wanted – things – to be okay with you, but I didn't know whether…whether you still -"
"Harry." Sirius said firmly, fixing his dark eyes on him. "I'm an idiot. I should never have let you doubt this, but no matter what, you are my godson. And it looks like Draco Malfoy is too." He added.
When Harry continued to look uncertain, Sirius stood up and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I don't care that you're a Malfoy."
Harry shrugged his hand off. "How do I know that you don't just feel better about this because I look like James's son again? Because you know I'm not sure I'll stay this way yet." He raised his chin in challenge, because he would not show his reaction if Sirius rejected him again.
"I don't care that you're a Malfoy, or what you look like, Harry." Sirius repeated firmly.
"And – and Draco? Do you mind me and him -?"
"First of all, you should know that I only had a problem with it in the first place because I didn't want you getting hurt. But the kneazle's out the bag now, isn't it?" He smiled wryly.
"You could say that." Harry said glumly, thinking back to the moment with Draco in Divination.
"None of that." Sirius said firmly "The press have got a hold of it, and so have your friends, and I know that you're dealing with that now. You should be thankful for Ron," he added, looking amused for a moment, "he's got a mean right hook."
Harry blinked.
"But anyway, Lucius and Narcissa are still to come, and you'll need my help in dealing with my dear cousin with that one I bet."
Harry's stomach lurched in horror. How could he have forgotten?
"Don't worry about it." Sirius grasped his arm in support. "I'll write her a letter. And you just focus on being happy and dealing with the Tournament."
There was a moment of awkward silence where Harry tried to shake off the worry of Mr and Mrs Malfoy, and at the same time tried to balance the burgeoning happiness at things being right with Sirius again.
"If I'm ever such an idiot again," Sirius said into the silence "I expect you to prank me so hard that James will look down at you and wish you were his son. Er-" he said uncomfortably "not that I don't think he wouldn't feel that way anyway."
The last of Harry's worry burned away as he grinned wildly.
"Oy!" Sirius had dragged him into a manly hug, ruffling his hair in a not so manly way.
"Okay?"
"Okay."