"OH. MY. GOD!"
Harry and Draco quickly pulled apart from each other, staring at the opened classroom door. Hermione and Ron were standing in the doorway, gaping at the pair of them. No one said anything in the awkward silence that grew within the room. Harry and Draco exchanged quick looks before Harry looked at his friends.
"I can explain –" he started to say, but Ron just ran out of the room, but not before yelling, "DON'T!" Harry looked at Hermione, who looked as equally confused as Ron. He opened his mouth to say something but she, too, turned around and ran after Ron.
Harry turned to look at Draco. "I'm sorry, I should –" he started.
"Go, we'll talk later," Draco said. They both exchanged quick smiles before Harry turned on his heel and headed out of the classroom and after his friends, whom he knew were heading towards Gryffindor Tower. He could just see them rounding the corner towards the Fat Lady's portrait. He put on a burst of speed and made it to the portrait before she closed it.
"Ron, stop! Please!" Harry yelled after his friend. Ron stopped and turned around, watching Harry bent over, trying to catch his breath. "Let me explain!" He managed to breathe out.
"Explain what, exactly? I think it was pretty obvious what was going on!" Ron yelled. Those that were in the common room had all fallen silent, watching the scene curiously.
"No, Ron, it's not like that! We were –" Harry tried to say, but Ron interrupted him.
"I know what you two were doing! You were snogging it up, you were!" Ron continued to yell.
"Well, yes, but it was just –"
"Just what?! It wasn't just nothing, Harry! I can't believe you would do something like this!" Ron yelled, his fists balled up at his sides. Hermione, who was standing just behind Ron, gave a little step forward.
"Ron, just give him a chance –" she tried, but Ron cut her off as well.
"No! You saw it too, Hermione! Listen Harry, I can accept the fact that you're gay, but with Malfoy?! No, I'm sorry, but I can't!" and with that said, he turned around and pelted up the boys' staircase. The slamming of the door resounded throughout the dead silent common room. Everyone was staring in shock at Harry, taking in what Ron had yelled. Hermione, who had also noticed the stares Harry was attracting, walked right up to him and leaned in close, so that nobody could hear what she was saying.
"Listen Harry, I'll talk to Ron for you, ok? I can't promise anything, but…" Hermione's words trailed away, and Harry noticed that she wouldn't even look him in the eye. She gave him a quick squeeze on the shoulder before turning around and heading up the boys' staircase as well. Fred and George followed her a few seconds later, throwing Harry confused looks. Harry quickly looked around the common room, at all the curiously confused faces, before turning around and heading back out of the portrait hole with no idea where he was going.
His best friend was mad at him. The one person he could always confide in, and was always there when he was needed now wanted nothing to do with him. For a brief moment, anger flared up at Draco for kissing him. Why did he have to go and do that for? Why couldn't he have just said his thanks and been on his way? But you kissed him back a voice in his head said. That was true, Harry did kiss him back. He wasn't sure why, though. He never thought of Draco as anything more than an enemy before today. And now all of a sudden…
"Harry?" Harry looked around for the source of the voice, and found that he was almost at the bottom of the Grand Staircase. He looked towards the bottom of the stairs to find Draco just sitting there by himself. He stood up as Harry continued down the stairs.
"Draco? What are you doing down here?" Harry asked, reaching the bottom of the stairs, standing in front of Draco. As he stared into those gray eyes, he found his anger towards him ebbing away.
"I was kind of hoping you were going to come back down," Draco said, smiling. Harry smiled back half-heartedly. Draco could see the sadness in his smile. He frowned at this. "I take it your friends aren't too happy with you right now?" Harry looked at Draco's concerned face. He heaved a deep sigh and merely nodded.
"Why don't we go for a walk around the grounds?" Draco suggested. "There's a lot we need to talk about." Draco put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry looked into Draco's eyes once more and smiled – a genuine one this time. Draco's comforting touch calmed Harry a little, and nodded. They turned and headed out of the great double doors and towards the lake. It was a little chilly, being mid-December, but the stab of cold air made Harry feel better.
"So," Draco said, looking down at the ground as they continued to walk. "About that kiss…."
Harry looked at Draco from the corner of his eye; Draco was blushing slightly, and Harry found this extremely attractive. His stomach suddenly did a flip flop at the thought of Draco being attractive – there was no denying that he was, but the thought was still relatively new and scary to him all the same. "Yeah?"
"Well, we kissed, right?" Draco said, looking up at Harry, his blushing more evident. Harry smiled at this. "What?" Draco asked, when he noticed Harry smiling.
"Nothing," Harry said, looking in front of him. They made it to the edge of the lake. Harry plopped himself down in front of a tree, his back towards the trunk. Draco sat down beside him. "Yes, we did kiss. But why? Not that I'm complaining or anything. I'm just curious…where did the urge come from?" Harry watched Draco as he picked up a pebble in front of him, and tossed it into the water. He watched it splash before turning to Harry.
"Honestly, I don't know why. I mean, I guess I was just so caught up with gratitude with you saving me and, well….." the blush deepened across Draco's pale face. He took a deep breath. "I guess I've just never really noticed how – how att-tractive you are, and, I don't know, it just sort of happened." Draco said, stumbling over his words, looking back down at the ground.
Harry smiled again at how striking Draco looked when he was all flustered. "You know, after you had fallen, I was really worried about you." Harry said, continuing to watch Draco. Draco snapped up, staring at Harry with confusion. "I don't understand why, because I never really cared if you got hurt before, but this time seemed different."
They fell silent, staring at the lake. The Giant Squid decided to make an appearance, thrusting its tentacles out of the water, trying to catch some low flying owls. The owls snapped their beaks at the squid before soaring higher. Harry looked at Draco once more; his eyes weren't really focused on anything.
"But it wasn't until you kissed me that I realized something," Harry continued. Draco looked at him once more. "I think you're very attractive too. And that kiss…honestly, it just felt so…" Harry was trying to find the right word.
"Right?" Draco said, smiling. "Natural?"
Harry smiled. "Yes! That's why I kissed you back, because I felt like I needed to – like I needed to – " but Harry never finished his sentence, for Draco leaned forward, kissing him softly on the lips once more. And this time, Harry didn't pull away, but instead deepened the kiss by placing his hand on the back of Draco's white-blonde head, bringing him closer.
By the next morning, the whole school had heard about Draco and Harry's kiss. Draco wasn't sure how they found out, but when he entered the Great Hall for breakfast, the whole hall fell to hushed whispers. Draco was determined not to make eye contact with anyone and headed straight for the Slytherin table. However, when he sat down, those around him got up and shifted to different seats, leaving Draco to sit alone and confused.
"Yeah, no one's really happy with you right now," Blaise said as he sat down next to Draco. Draco watched as he grabbed a bowl of oatmeal and started digging in.
"But why? I mean, since when is kissing someone a crime?" Draco said in annoyance.
"It's not. It's the fact that you kissed Potter that's the problem." Blaise said, not looking up from his bowl.
"But why? I mean, yes, we were enemies before but we aren't now. So what's the big deal?" Draco asked as a couple of sixth year Slytherin girls passed them; they glared at Draco before sitting at the end of the table and putting their heads together. No doubt what they're talking about Draco thought.
"Really Draco? It's not all about you, you know. For one thing, he's in Gryffindor and you're in Slytherin. That relationship in itself, well, I don't really need to explain that to you. And plus, everyone thinks that you two have been secretly dating, which leads everyone to think that the Quidditch games could easily have been fixed." Blaise said, still not meeting Draco's gaze.
Draco's blood started to boil. "But we haven't been dating! Everything literally just happened yesterday! And besides, even if that were true, which it's not, then why would I let Harry win every time?" Draco said, in anger.
"Oh, you two are on a first name basis now? How cute," Blaise said with sarcasm. Draco stared at Blaise, the person who claimed to be his best friend – who wasn't even going to stick up for him – in surprise. But just as fast as he got angry, it left him, leaving him to feel bitter towards everyone. He got up and left the Great Hall amid stares and even a few cat calls.
Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, pushing his cornflakes around his bowl, not feeling particularly hungry. He had a pretty rough night; after he had got back to Gryffindor Tower, the common room was still packed, and hushed voices and stares followed him up to his dorm, where he found Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville crowded around the window. They looked up when Harry walked in, but he knew they weren't going to say anything. He ignored them as he changed into his pajamas and hopped into his four-poster, drawing the hangings around for privacy. Harry heard them heading towards the stairs, each one filing out of the room. Not one of them had wanted to even stay in the same room as Harry.
"Hey Harry," Hermione said, sitting opposite of him. Harry looked up from his soggy cereal and watched as Hermione loaded her plate up with eggs and sausages. She looked up. "Oh Harry!" For she noticed the very depressed look on Harry's face. "Come on, I'm sure Ron'll come around. Just give him time!"
Harry looked down the table where Ron was sitting with Seamus, Dean, and Neville. They had walked by Harry without even so much as a glance. "I doubt that, but thanks Hermione," Harry said, putting his head on the table; the cool surface of the wood felt great on his warm face.
"Hermione is right, Harry," Fred said, as he and George sat on either side of him. "We talked to Ron last night after he stormed upstairs."
"Was in a right state, he was." George said. "It's not that he's mad at you harry –"
"He's just having a hard time making sense of the situation, is all." Fred said.
"He just needs time to get used to the idea." George said.
Harry just gave them a very feeble smile before glancing over at the Slytherin table. Draco had gotten up and was walking out of the hall, looking very upset. Then again, Harry would be upset too if he left a room to catcalls. Harry stood up. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up guys, but I'm really not hungry." And with that said, he followed Draco out of the hall, also amid catcalls and jeers.
"Draco! Hey ,Draco!" Harry yelled out, running to catch up to him.
"What?" Draco said agitatedly, turning around. Harry stopped dead in his tracks, taken aback by Draco's harshness. "Oh, sorry Harry! I thought you were maybe –"
"It's ok, you don't need to explain. I don't exactly have fans right now myself." Harry tried to smile, but was only able to manage a sort of grimace. They stood there, awkwardly looking at their feet.
"Listen, how about we go for another walk on the grounds? Clear our heads for a bit?" Harry suggested, causing Draco to smile. They walked out of the double doors, taking the same route that they took just last night.
"So what's the story at the Gryffindor table?" Draco asked, looking sideways at Harry. Harry took a deep breath, and explained everything that was going on with (or what he thought was going on with) Ron and the other boys in his room.
"And I mean, I still don't really understand why anyone would care so passionately about us!" Harry said frustratingly.
"Well, what's going on at the Slytherin end might explain some of it," Draco said, and he launched into the story Blaise had told him; about the possible conspiracy within the Quidditch tournaments and a possible hidden relationship. Harry was positively laughing by the end of Draco's tale.
"Seriously? Is that what this is all about? That can't be the only reason!" Harry said, a smile back on his face, but it was more out of disbelief rather than actual humor.
"Yeah, seems pretty stupid, really." Draco said, stopping by the lake and turning to face Harry. "Listen, I hope these rumors and behaviors don't scare you away, or anything," Draco said, now looking at Harry with concern.
"Scare me away? From…?" Harry asked, not sure what Draco had meant.
"From us! I really like you Harry, and I was kind of hoping, well…I was kind of hoping that this would lead to something between us. A good something." Draco said, grabbing Harry's left hand with his right and interlocking them with his own.
The butterflies returned to Harry's stomach at the contact with Draco. He looked up into Draco's stunning gray eyes, so full of a longing that Harry wished to fulfill. He leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on Draco's plush lips before pulling away. "Of course I want to be with you. You're crazy if you think for one second that I would let something like these rumors make that impossible!" Harry said, giving Draco's hand a squeeze. Draco gave Harry one of his charming smiles. They continued walking around the lake, their hands interlocked, for now, not a care in the world.