Chapter Five: Secret Meeting

Harry woke up the next morning with electricity seeming to pulse through his body. Little kids wake up extremely early on Christmas morning because they're so excited. Harry felt like he was a small child full of excitement. His hands shook slightly as he dressed, his face twisting into a smile he didn't want. He couldn't help smiling, and he couldn't believe why. Ron gave him an odd look, but didn't say anything. Harry blushed slightly and brushed it off.

They met Hermione in the common room and all walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione and Ron talked about something, but Harry couldn't pay any attention to what was going on. Hermione again gave him a knowing look, but didn't say anything. He gave her a short glare, and then smiled slightly. They sat down in the Great Hall and began loading their plates. Harry subtly glanced at the Slytherin table, but Malfoy wasn't there.

He filled his plate with toast and eggs, and began eating slowly, attempting to lengthen the time he spent in the Great Hall. At last, with only a few bites left on his plate, Draco entered the hall with Goyle at his side. He had dark circles under his eyes and didn't look like he'd slept at all. His hair was messy and his shirt was wrinkled. But he looked real, human. In Harry's eyes, he looked like a million galleons.

Malfoy reached for a piece of toast when Goyle tapped his arm and said something quietly in his ear. Malfoy turned around in response and looked directly at Harry. His face grew hot immediately and stared down at his lap, fear coursing through his veins. His entire body felt wired, like he'd eaten a hundred of the coffee flavored Berty Botts beans. Harry needed to get out of the room before he self-combusted.

His knees banged against the table as he stood up quickly. Ron and Hermione stared at him, along with the rest of the Gryffindors. He shuffled away from the table with his bag slung over his shoulder and saw Malfoy give him a small, hidden smile as he watched Harry walk out. His mind seemed to jump up and down in excitement in response to the minor smile he received.

He felt as though something was growing in his stomach, a cat that purred when Draco did literally anything around him. He moved through his classes in a daze, remembering nothing and earning himself some dirty looks from McGonagall and Flitwick. He barely had the attention span to write down his homework assignments, which luckily were few and simple.

He finally collapsed next to Hermione in the Great Hall at dinner, emotionally exhausted, and the biggest part of his emotional day hadn't even happened yet. The Hall was nearly empty, as it was later than most students usually ate. Ron had already eaten and gone up to the Gryffindor Tower to write a couple essays. Hermione told him that Ron had a lot to do tonight, and therefore would not be returning downstairs with an arched brow.

Harry grabbed a dinner roll from the basket on the table and broke off pieces while Hermione asked him about his plan for the night. He chose his words carefully at first, then throwing caution to the wind, knowing she'd read between the lines anyway.

"Well, I have to meet him, right? I mean I don't technically have to, but I will...ok maybe I want to, but that's not bad, right? Like I want a good grade...and I want to be alone with him."

Hermione smirked and giggled slightly as he ranted. Harry looked up at her and frowned, not pleased with her lightness about the situation.

"What's so funny?" he snapped at her. This only made her laugh harder, until she was drawing attention to them all over the room.

"Oh Harry, I'm sorry for laughing, you're just so into him, whether you like it or not. You're practically fangirling over him," she choked out between laughs. Harry glared at her for a moment, but quickly softened to a smile, and then he began laughing along with her.

"Ok, yeah, I guess I am into him," he admitted, "But look at him! He's both adorable and bloody sexy at the same time,"

Hermione laughed and nodded, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, he's not my type, but he sure seems to be yours," she winked, "And you definitely are his. I've watched him watch you for seven bloody years, and now I'm finally getting to the good part of the story."

Harry laughed and checked his watch.

"Shit, it's 7:30. I gotta go shower and change and get my Potions stuff together. And no, don't you dare tease me about showering like it's a date, you never know what will happen."

This caused Hermione to burst out in a fresh round of laughter that didn't allow her to speak, so she just waved him off. He grabbed his bag and headed up to the tower, hoping that Ron wouldn't try to talk to him, and he was in luck. When he pushed through the portrait hole, Ron didn't even look up from the parchment he was furiously scribbling on, a look of crazed stress in his eyes.

Harry slipped up to the dorms, threw his bag on his bed and went into the bathroom. He turned on the water and stepped into the shower, but unlike his lazy good time of the previous night, he simply washed himself and stepped out of the shower, tousling his hair with a towel before wrapping it around his waist and returning to the dorms. He grabbed a pair of boxers and pulled them on before slipping into a pair of khakis and his Quidditch house team t-shirt with his name and number on the back.

He returned to the bathroom to hang up his towel and fix his hair. It was messy and all over the place from attempting to dry it with his towel. It was still wet, but maybe that was a good thing. Harry cleaned up his hair a bit, but left it tousled, a kind of sexy mess. After brushing his teeth, he looked at himself in the mirror, took a deep breath, and mentally hyped himself up.

Harry emptied the books he didn't need from his bag, leaving only his Potions book, a couple rolls of parchment, his invisibility cloak, a quill, and a bottle of ink. He passed Hermione in the common room on his way out through the portrait hole, and she gave him a subtle wink, which he returned with a slight wave. His hands shook as he walked through the castle, and he prayed Draco wouldn't notice. If Malfoy asked why he was shaking, he had no good coverup story.

It's not like he could say- "Oh it's because I'm into you and we're alone together and there is no possible way anyone will walk in on us." Harry took deep breaths and attempted to calm down. But before he could make any progress, he'd reached the seventh floor and it was 7:55. Barnabas the Barmy watched Harry walk past the wall three times, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants before he opened the door that had just appeared.

When he stepped through the doorway, he found a small room with a small table, two comfy chairs, and a small bookshelf with Potions books. Draco was already sitting in one of the chairs, his back to Harry, poring over his copy of Advanced Potion Making. He seemed oblivious to Harry's entry, so Harry coughed.

Malfoy's head shot up and he spun around in his chair. His eyes lit up at the sight of Harry, and gave him a not-so-subtle once over, starting at his hair, moving down his body all the way to his shoes, pausing on his crotch, and finally returning to his eyes. He smirked slightly, but it was clear he appreciated the view.

"You're early, Potter."

"You're even earlier than me. Excited, are you?"

Malfoy flushed and turned around, getting up to select a book from the shelf. As he did so, Harry got a nice view of Malfoy's bulge in his tight skinny jeans. The cat in his stomach purred appreciatively, and his dick twitched slightly. Luckily it did not remain excited, and returned to its normal softness.

Malfoy returned to the table and flipped through the book, looking hot as hell in his Slytherin Quidditch hoodie and his tight skinny jeans. His ass was defined and his collarbone peeked out of his hoodie. Harry had never thought he would be turned on by a collarbone, much less Malfoy's collarbone, but it was surprisingly sexy.

Harry went and sat next to Malfoy on the opposite side of the table. Malfoy however, had other ideas. He stood, picked up his chair, and sat back down right next to Harry. The table was quite small, so they were close enough that Harry could hear Malfoy's soft breaths.

"Why-why are you over here?" Harry asked.

"We're writing an essay, aren't we? Unless you're good at reading upside-down, I figured you'd want to be able to see."

Harry nodded, his heart beating so hard he felt Draco could certainly hear it. He didn't say anything though, only began to scratch his quill on the parchment, writing their names and titling the essay. Harry wiped his palms on his pants again and pulled out his own potions book.

"Potter. Do I need to explain everything to you? This table isn't exactly large enough to hold two different books and our essay. Put yours away, you can look over mine."

Harry thought for a moment, then retorted, "Well you were in here first, why'd you make the table so small, hmm?" Draco looked like a deer in the headlights, and was clearly struggling to come up with an answer.

"Um, well, I kinda liked being close to you in potions, if I'm being honest. It just made it less boring, you know?" he stuttered. For once, Harry was the one smirking. Draco's confession made Harry confident, and he decided to mess with Malfoy, screwing with him like Malfoy messed with him the other day. He leaned closer to Draco, laying his hand on Draco's arm and breathing harder in his ear.

Draco's eyes widened and when Harry looked down, his dick was pressing against his jeans, which made Harry's prick leap up, and did not settle back down immediately. Draco noticed Harry looking down and looked down as well, first at his own bulge, then at Harry's. When he saw how his khakis were straining, his breath caught and Harry noticed that while his hands were no longer shaking, Draco's sure were.

Harry pretended to be reading the open Potions book, relishing in Malfoy's sudden inability to function. After a minute or so, Draco pushed Harry away slightly. Malfoy's eyes were filled with hopeful panic. Harry watched him, a slight smirk on his face, but inside he felt like Draco looked.

"Well?" Harry asked, "Are we going to address the situation or just look at each other?" Draco regained his composure slightly and raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner.

"I wouldn't mind looking at you for a while," Draco said, watching Harry for a response. Harry smiled uncontrollably, trying to hide it and failing. When he saw Harry smiling, his smirk broke into a grin as well.

"Okay, well now we're just looking at each other and smiling," Harry laughed quietly, "Well I'll be the bigger man here, and judging by your...reaction, we're feeling similar things here. We can either acknowledge this and move on, or we can do more than acknowledge it. It's your call."

Draco's leg bounced and his hands were visibly shaking. He was usually so cocky and confident, but instead he stared at the ground. Harry felt badly about it, so he moved closer, pressed his knee against Draco's to steady it, and slowly moved to grasp his hands, allowing Malfoy to move away, but he let Harry take his hands and hold them with firm but gentle pressure.

Draco squeezed Harry's hands in response, took a deep breath, and slowly lifted his gaze so his grey eyes met Harry's, the most vulnerable Harry had ever seen him, including the time Hermione had her wand at his throat. Neither of them spoke, but they were intensely connected. Draco began rubbing his thumb over the back of Harry's hand, and Harry responded by quickly squeezing his hands.

"If you want me to stop, all you have to do is say so. Okay?" Harry asked. Draco nodded, a shiver running down his spine. Harry scooted closer to Draco, slid one knee between Draco's so they could be closer together. He released Draco's left hand and gently placed his hand on Draco's neck where his hair ended.

Harry took a deep breath and leaned in, pressing his lips against Malfoy's, feeling the heat from his skin. The cat in his stomach purred so intensely that he seemingly fell in love at that moment. Malfoy let go of Harry's other hand and wrapped his arms around Harry, drawing them even closer together. Their lips began to move as if in a dance, giving and taking equally, becoming more intense and full of pressure as they built the feelings up.

Draco pulled away and gazed at Harry, seemingly radiating pleasure. He winked, pulled Harry up, and led Harry into another room with a large bed and a small lamp. Harry's face was full of surprise, but he liked the look of the situation. Draco spun Harry around and pushed him back onto the bed before climbing on top and resuming the previous action. They tasted each other for hours, and Harry had an intense feeling of relief, as he felt truly relaxed for the first time in years.

They ended up simply laying together, listening to each other's heartbeat with their fingers intertwined. Harry let himself simply breathe and enjoy the moment, and they ended up falling asleep together, Draco's arms around Harry. His last thought before drifting off was how this felt more like love than he'd ever felt with Ginny.