I'm back. And I'm sorry. Oh, so sorry. I have been very busy recently, in the process of moving and other stuff. But, here is the next chapter and there will only be a few more to go! How exciting!
I feel I should probably mention this, even though I have rated this story as a T, but there is one use of strong language in here, and also some extremely thinly veiled innuendo. I don't feel there was enough to merit giving this a higher rating, but I thought I should include a warning just in case I offend anyone. This will be the most adult (even though it is immature) content in this story. A couple of swears and some innuendo. I will not write smut, so don't worry. Anyway, I'm probably stressing for nothing. Enjoy, and as always, let me know your thoughts!
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Spirits significantly lightened by his talk with Blaise, Harry headed to his first lesson of the day with the aforementioned boy and Pansy. This so happened to be Potions. Harry and his Slytherin companions were quite early, and so took their assigned seats. Harry twitched in his seat as he watched Draco enter the classroom with Ron and Hermione. Draco dropped into the seat beside him without any acknowledgement. Harry stared at the desk in return. Slughorn bustled his way to the front of the classroom and began to give directions for each pair to collect their cauldron in which their potion had been being heated in while they were not in class. (Due to Harry spilling the uncompleted Veritaserum all over Draco a few weeks previously, Slughorn had instructed them to brew Amortentia instead, which was on the syllabus for brewing, but not until later on. With a wink, he had informed them that between their Potions skills it should be simple and that they'd be ahead and not need to bother with Veritaserum, unless they wanted to.) Without a word to Harry, Draco got up and retrieved the cauldron that Slughorn had labelled 'Potter/Malfoy.' He chuckled to himself at the obvious favouritism. Everyone else's cauldron was labelled in alphabetical order. He carried it back over to the desk and placed it in between him and Harry, who peered into the cauldron's contents.
"Don't spill any on me this time," Draco said, "even though now I know why you did. I'd been showing you how to stir, as I recall it."
Harry had begun to flush violently. Draco noted this new area of weakness and decided to keep pressing it. That was what he did, far better be known for being a bit of an arse than get hurt himself.
"Was it the close contact, Harry?" Draco continued, "or was it the fact that I was down to simply my shirt, tie and trousers? You know, I had wondered why you had been staring at me during that lesson. You're not exactly subtle."
"Shut up," Harry hissed.
"I don't think I will, actually."
Harry met Draco's challenging gaze with a heated glare.
"For god's sake," muttered Blaise, from where he sat on the bench next to the two boys. "Why can't they just skip the eye-sex and go and find a nice broom cupboard somewhere?"
Hermione snickered from beside him as she stirred the potion.
Harry broke the eye contact first, dropping his eyes to the potion, that bubbled away contently in the cauldron. Draco hastily followed suit, chastising himself. He was supposed to be trying to ignore Potter, for Merlin's sake.
The next hour or so was spent putting the finishing ingredients into their respective potions. There wasn't any arguing between Draco and Harry, only the occasional tease from Draco, placing his hand over Harry's whilst he was stirring and then pretending to jerk back in alarm. Harry simply rolled his eyes. Slughorn noticed that the majority of people were finished and so then went round to each pair and collected a sample in a small phial. He instructed most of the pairs to then test the Veritaserum amongst themselves. The ones he didn't were the ones where the potion samples had melted the phials. He reached Harry and Draco.
"Now boys, I don't expect you two to have to test your potion!" he joked. "I imagine that seeing the two of you under the influence of love towards each other would cause quite a scare amongst the school community!"
"I can only imagine," Draco said, cutting a sideways glance at Harry.
"Horrifying," Harry agreed, 'accidentally' dropping the stirring rod on Draco's fingers.
Slughorn chuckled. "Anyway, neither of you will need to ingest the potion, but if you would take a whiff of it and repeat what you smell, we shall be able to tell whether the potion is faulty or not. Although, I doubt you two would make a mess of things! Mr Malfoy, would you like to go first?"
Harry took a second to react to not-his-name. Draco kicked him. Harry shot him a glare before leaning towards the cauldron. He inhaled deeply.
"Quidditch," he said, "I smell broom polish and a spring day. Treacle tart. Pumpkin juice. And-" Vanilla. He silently added, but since it was Draco's cologne that smelt as such, and that he happened to be wearing it, Harry decided it was best to leave that part out.
Harry broke off mid-sentence. "I think we brewed it perfectly, Professor."
Slughorn smiled, didn't press for any more information and then turned to Draco.
"I assumed you would. But, it wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion. Harry, m'boy, tell us what you can smell."
Draco bent down towards the cauldron. His eyes fluttered shut as he smelt the potion.
He smiled in relief, at first there was nothing too incriminating. "I can smell Quidditch too. The Snitch in particular, there's a metallic scent. There's also green apples. Something else that I can't quite work out..."
Draco took in a deeper breath. Slughorn and Harry were watching him with interest. That's when it dawned on him what the scent was. It was precisely the same smell as one Harry Potter's hair. Fuck, he cursed, even though he was not really one for Muggle curses. The situation called for it, he felt. Harry and Slughorn were still looking at him expectantly.
"Mint shampoo," Draco admitted, trying to sound nonchalant. Slughorn looked at him knowingly.
"Oh, I see. Good luck Harry, m'boy! I remember when I was your age, always chasing after girls. Just don't let her distract you from your NEWT's, understood?"
Draco bobbed his head in what he hoped appeared to be a sheepish manner. "Of course, sir."
Slughorn beamed before hurrying away to his next pair. Draco turned his head.
"I'm sure that girls won't be a distraction for you, eh, Harry? What was that last thing you smelt that you didn't comment on? Obviously it was something to do with me. You wouldn't say it out loud but you were sure the potion was flawless."
Harry grinned as a plan formed in his mind. "Well, I don't particularly think you're one to talk, Draco. Mint shampoo? That's the same type that I use. Am I supposed to believe that is a coincidence?"
Draco's brain whirred with an alert. What was happened? Harry wasn't supposed to argue back. That was not in the plan. "I know many people who use minty shampoo," he replied curtly.
"But mint shampoo, Quidditch and the Snitch? That sounds awful familiar to me, you know," Harry continued.
Draco composed himself. "I'm a Seeker too, you great git. Don't try to twist things into your favour."
"I don't think I really need to," Harry continued, enjoying playing devil's advocate immensely. "I think you secretly like me too," he whispered.
Draco glared at him with enough heat to melt a glacier.
"I hate you," he hissed.
Harry beamed. "We both know that's not quite true."
Draco fought the blush that covered his cheeks valiantly, but to no avail.
"Are you feeling alright? You're looking a little flushed."
Draco felt his face darken as he sank into his seat. Damn him. How did he manage to turn the tables on me so easily?
"Screw you, Potter," Draco muttered, somewhat half-heartedly.
"Alright," replied Harry, with a saucy wink.
Draco was scandalised. Harry burst out laughing at the affronted expression on his face.
"You look like you've just watched Hagrid dance through the Great Hall in his birthday suit!" Harry spluttered. "It was a joke, relax! Besides, I'd rather screw you, anyway."
Draco's eyes widened even more until they were roughly the size of plates. Harry burst out laughing even more uncontrollably. A few people turned to look at him strangely. Hermione caught his eye and raised an eyebrow. Draco's face was a fetching shade of maroon and he determinedly looked at his shoes, not liking not being in control one iota.
Slughorn dismissed the class after everyone had cleared their equipment away and placed samples of their potion in flasks. Harry had calmed down considerably, and Draco's skin was its normal colour. Harry decided this was not acceptable. He made a point of 'accidentally' brushing his hand against Draco's while they picked up their bags. Draco jerked his hand back like he had been stung. Harry should have been offended, but he took it as further fuel to provoke him. He leaned in close, and whispered into Draco's ear, his breath ghosting onto the sensitive skin there as he spoke.
"See you next lesson." It was a perfectly innocent sentence, but Draco couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine. Harry noticed and smirked. The class filed out of the classroom and a triumphant Harry went to find Blaise. Draco was still bewildered and vaguely wondered if he was having a heart attack. He was supposed to not fancy Harry for Merlin's sake. Why was he letting himself turn into this quivering mess just because he whispered into his ear? Draco was not happy. He was especially not happy when Pansy nudged him suggestively as she passed him. Pansy, Blaise and Harry all were looking at him with matching smirks, looking every inch the plotting Slytherin trio. Draco dully plodded over to Hermione. She smiled at him consolingly.
"I don't think what Harry did was called for," she said.
"I'm sensing a but," Draco replied.
"However, I do think he should be excused. You weren't particularly kind to him when you found out about his feelings, clearly, he's trying to make himself feel better and ease tension by projecting these feelings onto you."
"For once, I can say with absolute clarity, that Hermione Granger is wrong."
Hermione cocked her head on one side. "How so?"
"Harry is just a prick. He's a perceptive prick, I'll grant him that. He wasn't projecting his feelings, he was just acknowledging the obvious. I fancy him. I have for a while, probably. I don't know what else it could be. I definitely feel no hatred towards him."
"Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," said Hermione.
Draco blinked at her.
"It's from a Muggle book series," she explained.
"Yes, I know, it's a Sherlock Holmes quote, despite what you may think, I have read some Muggle literature. We were made to study it in Muggle Studies."
"You got to read Sherlock Holmes in Muggle Studies?" Hermione sounded incredulous. "I wish I had been in your class."
"Second year, getting an insight into Muggle classics. Anyway, that's not the point. I was surprised because of the amount of sense it made. I don't hate Harry, I don't just want to be friends, so the only other option, is the improbable."
"The very improbable."
"I think I must be in love."
Hermione's heart tightened in her chest. "Are you going to tell him?"
Draco's face tightened. "No. Even if I wanted to, and I do, it couldn't happen. My father would disown me and the media would tear us apart. To be honest, I think I just want to be back in my own body and try to forget about this."
Hermione looked disheartened, but sympathetic. She squeezed his shoulder. "Two days left. You'll be back in your own bed this weekend."
She began to walk away, hearing Ron call her. She looked at her boyfriend fondly, and then turned back to Draco.
"You know, sometimes when you love someone, you just have to damn the consequences and go for it. Being with the one you love will be worth it in spades."
With that, Hermione took Ron's hand as they walked off together. Draco watched, somewhat enviously at the easiness. He sighed and rubbed his temples. He would have some serious decisions to make once he was back in his own body.
I make no apologies for Sherlock Holmes references. I only recently found the BBC show and I adored it. (I'd go off on a tangent here, but I shan't. There are a couple of Sherlock stories on my profile, if you feel like looking at them.) For some reason, I just feel that Hermione and Draco would have read the books. I don't know why. Especially Hermione.
I was so pleased with all the other Starkids who made themselves known! Did you all enjoy AVPSY?! Oh, I cried.
Next question!
What would you most like to see HP cross-over with and why? (by this I mean, other fandoms, such as Sherlock, Doctor Who, Merlin etc)
If HP is your only fandom, just hit me with a witty limerick about your favourite character.
Kidding. (kind of)