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Chapter 4

The two boys sat silently in Professor Slughorn's office. The older man paced back and forth behind his desk with an awkward expression on his face. Several times, he turned to them to say something, but, seeming to have changed his mind, he would turn back around without finishing his thought.

Draco sent an anxious glance at Harry, who was looking at the ground glumly. Slowly, Draco moved his hand towards Harry and lightly placed his hand on Harry's knee in a comforting manner. Harry did not acknowledge this gesture, but he didn't pull away either. He was still staring at the ground as though there was something very important written between his feet.

"Well, boys…" Slughorn finally said, "I'm sure you both know that doing…um, well… what you were doing… and in public…well it's certainly not okay to do things like THAT in public places."

Both boys nodded. Draco opened his mouth to speak, but Slughorn cut him off.

"Now, let me finish, Mr. Malfoy. Obviously, I'm going to have to punish you boys, but given the nature of the reason for the punishment, I shall try to be discreet, you know, save you boys the embarrassment of having the whole school talking about your, um… extracurricular activities… However, I must insist that the two of you be more stealthy in the future. Should I happen across such a scene as I saw this morning again, I will not be so understanding. Do you understand?"

Again both boys nodded.

"Thank you, sir. That's very generous," Draco said courteously.

"Yes, very generous," Harry agreed, finally looking up from the floor.

"Yes, well… get going you two. I'm sure you have classes to attend. I'll send you an owl later in the week when I decide on a suitable detention," Slughorn finished.

He opened the door and gestured for Harry and Draco to leave.

They walked down the hallway together until Harry stopped suddenly. Draco stopped as well and turned to look at him.

Taking a deep breath, Harry asked, "Did you mean that?"

Draco paused in confusion.

"Did I mean what?" he asked.

"When we were in the broom closet, you said, well, you started to say that you love…me?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Draco remained silent. He had hoped that Harry hadn't heard him with everything else going on at the moment. He didn't want to ruin what they had going. However, it seemed the cat was out of the bag, so Draco sighed and took a step closer to Harry.

"Yes. I love you," he said, "Do you love me?"

"I—"

The loud chatter of students leaving the nearby classroom suddenly cut off Harry's voice. Students were now flooding the halls, and professors were overseeing their movements. An Arithmancy professor, who Harry was unfamiliar with, shouted at Harry and Draco to stop blocking the hallway and get a move on to class. They both had History of Magic with Professor Binns. Harry groaned internally. Leaving things like this would be uncomfortable, but the awkwardness would make sitting through one of Binns's stale lectures even worse.

Harry sat down next to Hermoine. Draco sat in his usual seat, a row ahead and on the opposite side of the aisle as Harry.

"Where were you during our free period this morning, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, um, just working on some new quidditch strategies," Harry mumbled.

"Really? But you don't have another game for a while? You really should have come to the library with Ron and me. We started working on our Defense Against the Dark Arts essays for Professor Snape. You should really start on yours too. You know he's going to be a tough grader, especially on you…"

Hermione continued to talk about the importance of scheduling and not leaving assignments to the last minute. Harry, however, was not paying attention anymore. He was staring a hole through the back of Draco Malfoy's head. Professor Binns floated through the back wall of the classroom and up to his podium. With no introduction, he launched straight into the history of medieval goblin wars.

Harry was barely paying attention. He desperately wanted to get Draco's attention, but he didn't want to risk getting anyone else's attention as well. Professor Binns droned on for what seemed like hours. Harry glanced at his watch. It had only been TWENTY MINUTES! Harry wondered if his watch was working properly. Ten more minutes passed of Harry staring intently at the back of Draco's head before he finally turned his head in Harry's direction. They locked eyes, and Draco froze, sending a curious glance in the direction of the boy he loved. Trying not to draw attention to himself, Harry nodded in Draco's direction and placed his hand over his heart, mouthing the words "I love you too" as he did so.

Draco grinned widely and placed his hand over his own heart as well. With one last lingering look at Harry, he turned back to his lecture notes, the large grin still lingering on his pale face.

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