Day 6
Harry thought it was a pity that they had decided not to exchange loving gestures at breakfast. But of course he knew that it was the sensible thing to do. Nevertheless it was hard not to stare over to the Slytherin table all the time.
The good thing about the whole matter was that he had time to chat with his friends. It seemed they had missed him.
"I don´t know where you were, mate," sighed Ron. "I was hoping for your help with my divination essay."
"What would you need that for?" asked Hermione. "You´re making the whole thing up anyway."
"You hurt me, Hermione!" cried Ron dramatically. "Divination is a subtle art! You have to interpret the signs! And the old bat herself said that you had no talent for it whatsoever. So don´t talk about things you don´t know!"
Harry supressed a giggle when Hermione huffed angrily.
"We can note down what you see and you can look up the meaning later," he suggested.
"You mean I´m not to know what I predict in advance?" Ron looked doubtful.
"Give it a try," laughed Harry. "That´s what I did and it was fun." He blushed at the thought of Draco making their prediction come true right away.
Ron paled. "Please, don´t tell me. I don´t need to know that."
Hermione looked at Harry sternly and Harry felt himself blush even more. Luckily Neville joined the conversation and Harry was saved from having to justify himself again.
"I went down to the lake yesterday evening to take the auspices. I saw a kingfisher diving."
"Wonderful, Neville. What does it mean?" Harry asked eagerly, more to distract Hermione than out of real interest.
Neville grinned. "It means that I will have to work hard to reach my goals. But I will reach them! The kingfisher held a fish when it resurfaced."
"Wow! Congratulations, mate," Harry beamed at Neville.
"I don´t believe in divination," said Hermione, "but it´s fun to hear nevertheless."
They went to their next lesson – Transfiguration – in a better mood than they had since last Thursday and the morning passed quite peacefully.
When Harry left the Defence classroom, Draco was waiting for him.
"Can we talk a walk, Potter?" he asked, glaring at the other Gryffindors.
Harry asked himself when he had become Potter again. Feeling slightly uneasy, he followed Draco to the lawn.
"What for were you giving Longbottom the eye at breakfast?" the blond asked as soon as they had walked far enough not to be overheard.
"I did what?" spluttered Harry.
"I watched you! You were flirting with him shamelessly!" hissed Draco in righteous anger.
"I did not!" protested the Gryffindor. "Why would I flirt with Neville when we are courting? Neville isn´t a patch to you! I can´t believe you!"
"He isn´t a patch to me?" Draco asked shyly.
"Of course not! Look at you! You´re the most gorgeous boy at Hogwarts! You´re good looking, clever and powerful! What could Neville possibly offer that you don´t?"
"I´m an arrogant git sometimes," Draco muttered selfconsciously.
"My arrogant git," said Harry.
Draco blushed, which made his cheeks a light pink. Harry thought it looked most delicious.
"I´m sorry for accusing you," muttered the Slytherin.
"You were jealous. I like when you´re possessive." Harry touched Draco´s hand gently. Since they stood on the lawn in plain view from the castle, he didn´t dare do more.
"Let me make it up to you," smiled the blond. "What about a boat trip after dinner?"
"A boat trip? That sounds good to me."
"A boat trip it is then," beamed Draco. "Meet me by the lake at eight."
The prospect of a boat trip left Harry fidgety for the rest of his lessons. He could hardly wait for the bell to announce the end of lessons. As they were hardly going to work on the boat, he had to finish his homework between lessons and dinner. The Gryffindor rushed to the library and composed his essays in record time. True, they weren´t his best work ever, but all that Harry was interested in was that he finished them in time.
"Where were you?" asked Ron when his best friend sat down beside him. "You weren´t snogging Malfoy again, were you?"
"Of course not!" huffed Harry as if the mere suggestion was offending. "For your information, I was at the library and worked. You should try it, too, sometime."
Ron looked at is if Harry had sprouted whiskers. Hermione, on the other hand, looked pleased.
"It seems something good comes out of this whole thing, in the end. Are you trying to get good marks in order to impress Malfoy? His marks are a lot better than yours, Harry."
"Thanks, Hermione," snapped Harry, "now I will be asking myself what he sees in a stupid runt like myself for the rest of the day."
"Harry, I never said you were stupid!" cried Hermione. "I just said that Malfoy´s a very good student."
Harry snorted and tucked into his soup. He forewent dessert for he thought Draco was probably going to bring food to their trip and he didn´t want to disappoint him by not eating any of it.
At a quarter to eight Harry excused himself under the colour of having forgotten his transfiguration text and slipped out of the castle. It was a nice evening. The air was still warm and the fragrance of spring flowers was in the air.
Harry hurried down to the lakeside, turning to make sure he wasn´t followed from time to time.
Draco waited by the beech tree.
"You´re early. So eager. I like that." He pressed a quick kiss to Harry´s lips. "Come, our boat is hidden over there."
"How did you get hold of a boat at all?" asked the Gryffindor.
"Transfigured it from a fircone. Come!"
They ran along the shore side by side, hand in hand. Hidden from view by a few bushes, a rowboat waited for them. Draco stepped into the water without hesitation and held his hand out for Harry to go upon. When Harry had sat down, Draco climbed into their boat.
The blond dried his shoes with a quick spell and cast a notice-me-not spell on them and their boat. "We don´t want to be stared at, do we?" he smiled. Then he sat down and dipped the oars into the water.
For a while Harry enjoyed watching the blond row, but soon he got rather annoyed by his boyfriend being occupied with other things than flirting.
"Draco," he said awkwardly, "are you sure you have to row this boat by hand? Can´t we spell the oars? I´d rather enjoy your company than watch you work like a slave."
Draco shook his head. "Harry, I offended you by uttering wrong accusations. I have to make it up to you!"
"And you think you have to exert yourself to do that?" Harry patted the bench beside him. "Why don´t you spell those oars and come over here?"
"If you insist," Draco´s eyes were twinkling madly. He cast a spell and the boat floated towards the middle of the lake of its own accord. The oars slipped away, but neither boy cared. Draco sat by Harry´s side. "Now, what will you do, when you have me where you wanted me?"
Harry leaned closer to the blond. The thought that it was him iniciating a kiss was exciting. Usually it had been the Slytherin who had started things. Harry slid his hand through Draco´s hair and covered the last few inches which seperated them. Draco tasted of vanilla and chocolate.
"Delicious," Harry muttered against the blond´s lips.
Draco pulled back a little distance. "What´s delicious, my Harry? My kiss or the icecream I had before I came here?"
"Both, but especially the kiss," admitted Harry.
"So you´d like some ice-cream yourself?" asked the blond.
"Later," moaned Harry and leaned in for another kiss. Draco grinned wantonly and leaned back even more. The Gryffindor wasn´t distracted easily and moved in on his prey. With a lour thud they toppled over and Harry landed on top of the blond.
"So much passion! So eager!" teased Draco before he pulled Harry down for another kiss.
-x-
They were in for a bad surprise though. When they tried to go back to the shore in time for curfew, their boat didn´t move. Draco cast his spell again and again, but to no avail at all.
"Let´s face it," sighed the Slytherin. "We´re caught."
"At least we won´t starve," Harry pointed out. They still had some ice-cream.
Draco snickered. "You´re happy as long as you have some food with you, aren´t you? - We´ll need help and I don´t want to start thinking how many points they will take if they find us here."
Harry gasped. "Do you think boat trips are forbidden?"
"I have no idea, but there must be a reason why nobody goes on boat trips on this lake."
They lifted the notice-me-not spell and waited.
After nearly an hour, a black clad person stalked down from the castle. Harry groaned. Why had it to be Snape of all people who came to retrieve them? Certainly the potions master was going to blame him, Harry, of being responsible for their situation and Gryffindor was going to be the only house to lose points.
Snape stood by the shore and watched them for nearly five minutes before he lifted his wand. On cue, their boat started to move and hit the shore right in front of the waiting Head of Slytherin.
"Extracurricular activities again, gentlemen?" sneered Snape. "When will you ever learn?"
"Sir," Draco said with the courage worthy of a Gryffindor, "we are courting. We´re supposed to go on dates, but we aren´t allowed to leave the school grounds. We did nothing wrong. Just a little trip and some spoonfuls of ice-cream."
"Mister Malfoy," sneered Snape, "stop insulting my intelligence. You and Potter were caught in an ancient spell which was cast be the founders themselves. A spell to make sure that certain responsibilties were met."
"What?" asked Harry.
Draco must have understood what Snape was talking about for he blushed crimson. "We didn´t ... just a few kisses."
"Just a few kisses?" Snape laughed, but there was no humour in the sound. "Those must have been quite spectacular kisses to trigger the spell."
Finally Harry caught up. "Wait a minute!" he cried, "what are you suggesting?"
"I'm not suggesting anything, Potter. I´m just pointing out which spell caught you in the middle of the lake." Snape seemed to enjoy himself a lot. Too much for Harry´s taste. "Well, let´s see. That´s leaving the castle without permission, forbidden use of a boat on the lake, triggering an ancient spell, disturbing my evening and breaking curfew. I think I´ll make it onehundred points from Gryffindor and another hundred from Slytherin." Both boys gasped. "Oh and another hundred from Gryffindor for making a Slytherin break the rules."
"That´s not fair!" protested Harry.
"And another ten for questioning a teacher´s fairness. Back to the castle now!"
The two boys followed Snape with hanging heads.
"Severus! What in Merlin´s name happened to the Gryffindor hourglass?" Professor McGonagall was standing by the entrance, livid. She pursed her lips when she saw Harry. "Potter! Why am I not surprised? – What did he do this time, Severus."
Snape reported where and why he had caught the two boys.
"Harry Potter!" cried the witch. "Up to the tower, trollop! I will write to your relatives immediately! But first, would you mind to explain why Gryffindor is missing more points than Slytherin, Severus?"
"I´m sorry," whispered Draco while the teachers were muttering in urgent voices.
Harry grinned. "No need to. The Dursleys won´t care at all. They´ll probably give their consent to our marriage as long as it rids them of me."
"Consent to our marriage?" drawled Draco. "Splendid! In this case we can get married after my birthday and won´t have to wait for yours."
Harry blushed. "Didn´t you forget something?"
"Not really. I will, of course, propose formally, but not now. I don´t happen to carry a ring with me."
Meanwhile the techers had finished their discussion and both boys were shooed to their houses rather rudely.
Harry lay awake for a long time that evening. He didn´t wear Draco´s ring yet, but the blond had as good as proposed. Wonderful! He, Harry Potter, unwanted freak, was going to have a husband and a family.
Day 7
When Harry came down to breakfast a little later than usual – he had tried out a new ironing charm and in the end had to ask Dobby to repair the burns in his robes – Gryffindor house was in a turmoil.
"Twohundred points!" Ginny kept crying. "What do you have to do to lose twohundred points?"
"You´re right, Ginny," added Neville. "One person alone can´t lose so many points! It has to have been a group. Not NEWT students. It takes quite a lot of youthful stupidity to lose twohundred points!" He and Dean wandered off to the far end of the table to interview their younger housemates Ellington, Dane, Smith and Finnegan (a cousin of Seamus), who were known trouble-makers.
"What´s this about?" Harry asked Hermione innocently as he sat down beside her.
"Somebody lost twohundred points. Are your robes smelling burnt?"
"New ironing charm," muttered Harry and helped himself to toast, butter and strawberry jam.
"It´s not very good, is it?" Hermione pointed her wand at Harry´s robes and they smelled of fresh mountain air instead of burnt cloth. "I think whoever lost those points did you a favour, Harry. It will distract the house from that potions accident and your courtship."
Harry made an uncommital noise. He just hoped that Hermione was never going to find out who lost those points.
-x-
Of course Harry wasn´t lucky enough for that to happen. Professor Snape himself took it upon him to enlighten the house.
"Potter," he drawled from behind Harry´s seat, "I hope you recovered from your latest loss of points. The peace within the house suggest that you were readily forgiven. Unfortunately Mister Malfoy wasn´t equally lucky."
"What?" squeaked Harry. He craned his neck to see Draco, but the blond waved at him shyly and didn´t look hurt at all. When he refocused on his own table, all his housemates were glaring angrily at him.
"What did you do?" Dean asked icyly. "Snog the ferret in front of the staff room?"
"Nah, that can´t be it," said Seamus. "They don´t take more than twenty for snogging in front of the staff room."
For a moment everybody neglected Harry in favour of staring at the Irish boy. "Who?" asked Ron.
Seamus grinned. "That´s for me to know and you to guess."
"Do tell!" insisted Neville.
"Certainly not," Seamus grin broadened even more. "And don´t you all forget something?"
"Right! Spill it, Potter, what did you do?" Dean returned to the topic at hand. "Did Snape catch you naked on the quidditch pitch or what?"
"What?" Harry squeaked. "No!"
"Boys, there are ladies present," snapped Hermione.
"Where?" asked Seamus.
"Come on, Harry," said Ron, "we deserve some details in exchange for our points."
"Ron," asked Harry, "would you tell us what you and Hermione are doing?"
"Of course," shrugged Ron, "we were snogging behind the greenhouses yesterday evening. Your turn."
"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione left her seat as if stung by a wasp. "You toad!" she slapped the redhead and stomped out of the hall.
"Hermione!" Ron went after her immediately. "Don´t tell them anything while I´m not here," he cried back at Harry over his shoulder.
-x-
The boys cornered Harry at any occasions, but of course the wizarding world´s saviour to be wasn´t one to kiss and tell. So he spent the morning fencing out his friends – with a small smile in the morning, but his mood went down the more often he was asked.
What held Harry in play was the fact that he had no chance to ask his beloved how he was. Had he been in trouble with his housemates? Harry tried to escape his fellow Gryffindors in order to speak to the blond, but Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean kept a close eye on him.
"You don´t seriously think we´ll let you lose more points with Malfoy," grinned Ron.
By lunchtime Harry was so fed up that he was ready to scream his question from the astronomy tower if only he was going to get an answer. When they entered the Great Hall for their meal he turned and confronted his dorm mates.
"Listen," he said firmly, "I will go over to the Slytherin table to speak with Draco now. And you will leave me alone!" He stomped off before any of his friends could say a word.
"Harry!" Draco greeted him enthusiastically. The blond pecked Harry on the cheek. "What a wonderful surprise!"
The other Slytherins smirked at Harry, but none of them said anything.
"Snape said your house gave you trouble for losing points," said the Gryffindor, the question which had been troubling him unspoken.
Draco squeezed Harry´s hand. "Poor you! He was making fun of you. Nobody gave me a hard time. We may have lost hundred points, but Gryffindor lost more. So Slytherin is better off than before. Actually they think I´ve done quite well. – Did Gryffindor give you trouble?"
"They keep pestering me what we did to lose those points and they hardly left me alone all day."
"Hm, that could be a problem. How am I to spoil you tonight when your friends keep following you around?"
"I´ll think of something," Harry promised eagerly.
"Do that, love, do that," Draco beamed at Harry and this smile alone was worth all the trouble to Harry. "Now off to lunch with you." Draco slapped Harry´s behind playfully when the Gryffindor turned to return to his house table and Harry jumped with a yelp.
The afternoon crawled by far too slow. Wednesday was the only day of the week without a joint Gryffindor and Slytherin class and all Harry could do was thinking of his boyfriend longingly.
Again Harry rushed to the library to get rid of his homework before dinner. It came as a good surprise that Draco was already there.
The blond´s face lit up with the most brilliant smile when he saw Harry. He motioned for Harry to join him at his table and sent Crabbe and Goyle off. The two Slytherins moved their books to an other table grudgingly.
Draco wiped the chair Crabbe had vacated moments ago. "Sit here, love." He patted the seat.
Harry complied. Draco reached for his hand and pressed a kiss to the Gryffindor´s fingers. "Come, let´s get this done quickly. I have a surprise for you after dinner!"
Harry enjoyed the feel of Draco´s lips on his fingertips. "It won´t cost us points, will it?"
"Don´t worry, beloved. I asked for permission and it was granted."
"Permission?" Harry asked curiously.
The blond smirked. "I pointed out that I was supposed to spend time with my intended. Courtship is, after all, a sacred tradition. Now let´s write those essays. – Although I´d much rather kiss your devine lips."
Harry blushed. Feeling courageous, he extended his leg and touched the blond´s ankle. Draco sucked his bottom lip to supress a moan.
"Mmh!" he purred.
"You look adorable, beloved," whispered Harry.
"So do you, my little devil!" Draco whispered back.
At her counter, Madam Pince caughed.
The boys snickered softly before they turned to their homework.
-x-
Harry met Draco after dinner at the Entrance Hall. Oddly enough the blond wasn´t alone. He was standing in front of the statue of Godric Gryffindor – Harry blushed thinking about their song behind the founder – with Madam Hooch.
"Harry!" beamed Draco and rushed to kiss his love´s fingers. "Come, let´s go!"
"Where are we going?" asked the wizarding hero.
"Flying," grinned the blond. "Madam Hooch will kindly chaperone us. – Thanks again, professor."
"You´re welcome, ," replied the flying instructor. "Sometimes I think there's too little romance in the world."
"In this case let´s make it a little bit better," Draco offered his hand to Harry.
"Draco," said Harry, "I need to go and get my broom first."
"Oh no, love, no need to. I took the liberty of asking Dobby to get it for you."
Harry smiled happily and took Draco´s hand.
Dobby waited for them by the Slytherin stands. He gave them their broomsticks and with a shy smile at Harry disapparated.
Madam Hooch sat on a bench in the Slytherin stands and the two boys took off. They chased each other around the pitch in high spirits. First Harry made his escape and Draco went after him, then Harry chased the blond. They moved around each other smoothly and Harry couldn´t help but think of a mating dance.
After an hour Draco signalled Harry to land.
"What about a little game, love? I have a training snitch." He showed the fluttering golden ball.
"Oh yes!" cried Harry. "Let´s play!"
Draco smirked. "The winner gets a kiss!" He released the snitch and the two boys kicked off. The snitch – being a training ball – didn´t disappear, but instead fluttered away on a zigzag course. Harry leaned down onto his broomstick to gain speed. Draco was an excellent flyer and, the Gryffindor had to admit, he looked gorgeous on a broom. His blond hair flew behind him like a veil and his robes fluttered, revealing his ankles from time to time.
Harry stayed close behind the blond for a while and stared his fill, but then he gripped his broomstick even harder and overtook the blond. The snitch doubled twice more before Harry was able to snatch it. Harry landed and held up the still fluttering ball triumphantly
"I won!" he cried happily. "Where is my kiss?"
Draco laughed as he dismounted his broom. "Come here, monster." He kissed Harry hungrily and Harry kissed back for all he was worth.
"Open it." Draco panted when the pulled back.
"What?"
"Open the snitch!"
Harry obeyed and gasped. The snitch had been the vessel for a delicate gold ring with a small diamond. Draco sank down on a knee. "Harry, beloved, will you grant me the honour to become my husband?" the blond asked nervously.
Harry shivered. Draco had said that he wanted to propose, but Harry had never thought he was going to right the next day.
"Harry?" Draco asked nervously.
Harry was startled out of his revery. "Of course, Draco! Nothing would make me more happy than to marry you!" He pulled the Slytherin up and kissed him passionately.
Draco wrapped his arms around the smaller boy. "I love you!" he whispered into Harry´s ear.
"I love you, too," replied the Gryffindor. "Can you help me?" He held out his hand with his ringfinger stretched out.
"My pleasure!" smiled the blond. He took the ring out of the snitch and slid it on Harry´s finger.
Harry had to blink away tears when he looked at his hand.
"Now you´re mine," whispered Draco. He smiled happily and Harry whimpered. He was no longer an orphan, despised by his relatives. He belonged. And not just to anybody. He belonged to Draco Malfoy, the best catch at Hogwarts. Hogwarts? The best catch the wizarding world offered!