Sold harry/draco 9
By the time the Hogwarts Express came to a stop, Harry was more frustrated than ever before. Although it had taken a great deal of time and effort to pick through the train and ennervate everyone, Harry was disappointed to find the entire ordeal worthless. Although they successfully woke up the bewitched students, it was impossible for them to open their eyes.
In the beginning of the Hogwarts Express revival process, Harry made an attempt to explain what had happened. He told them that Death Eaters had attacked the train, put them to sleep, could have killed them all. Everyone thought it was a joke although only a few people laughed, the majority found Harry's sense of humor ‘tasteless'. After a first year burst into tears at hearing the story, Harry stopped trying to explain it all together.
Only the staff of the Express and the few Professors that had ridden it with them listened to the telling of the story entirely. Although no one said anything, Harry got the distinct impression that at least, they didn't disbelieve him. Nevertheless, as they all descended the train, the first years taking boats and other years ‘horseless' carriages, Harry had once again managed to make himself the most unpopular person in school.
Even though there had been a lot of talk, a lot of articles in the paper, Harry didn't realize just how greatly the Death Eater's attacks during the summer had devastated the wizarding community until he sat down in the Great Hall for the start-of-year feast. The long, wooden house tables looked empty. None of them were full, even Slytherin was missing at least a quarter of their students.
"This is really depressing." Harry muttered to Ron as the small group of first years were lead into the Great Hall for the Sorting ceremony by Professor McGonagall. He looked down the Gryffindor table at the empty spaces, empty plates and cups. More of his housemates should have been there. Seamus and Dean, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil should have been there!
At the end of the Sorting, Gryffindor received five new students, Slytherin six, Ravenclaw one, and Hufflepuff two although there wasn't much cheering as first years joined the rest of their housemates as Harry remembered in the past. As usual, Dumbledore's commencement speech was one of good will and encouragement. Harry was relieved to see that the twinkle from the Headmaster's eye hadn't been lost. He was even a bit allayed to see Professor Snape as surly and gloomy as he'd been all summer long.
The mood lightened a bit once the feast began, with such good food in heaping amounts in front of them, it was difficult for anyone to retain a pessimistic mood. Harry, who quite desperate for an opportunity to relax, lost himself easily in the loose atmosphere. He was even able to momentarily forget about the events that had occured on the Express, until he glanced briefly past Ron and over the Slytherin table.
His smile faded swiftly. Draco Malfoy, usually the center of attention with his housemates, had been avoided. Although he sat in his usual spot near the center of the table, the seats next to him and across were empty, two deep. Even Crabbe and Goyle were ignoring him, moving on to flank Blaise Zabini in Draco's stead. What had happened that Slytherin had ostracized their leader? Was it just like Luna had said? Was Draco one to be avoided now?
Ron caught Harry's expression and followed his eyes to the Slytherin table. He shook his head slowly with a frown and continued to eat wordlessly.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked the red headed boy next to her. "No side comment to add about Draco anymore?"
"Maybe not," Ron replied briskly, pushing his food around on his plate before taking a big bite.
"Maybe not?" Harry asked, and although he was genuinely curious, from the glare Ron gave him, he supposed the other boy thought he was patronizing him.
"I guess maybe he's not so bad after all. Maybe he is trying. Whatever, what do you want me to say? You win!" Ron glowered, continuing to fill his mouth. Maybe everyone would be so grossed out he wouldn't have to talk anymore. Admissions like these were severely pride-damaging.
"I told you he was turning a new leaf." Hermione had no problem at all handing out I-told-you-so's.
"I never would have expected anything like that from Malfoy," Ginny agreed. "Although that doesn't change the fact that he's a slimy git and I hate him!"
"He was really angry," Neville interjected as he refilled his goblet with pumpkin juice. "Did you see the way he hexed those Death Eaters? Over and over again. He protected us and he protected you, Harry!"
"Oh," Harry only felt the need to speak because everyone was suddenly looking at him. "Is that what happened? I don't really remember too much of it." Harry followed Ron's plan of action and began to take large bites of food.
Thankfully, the conversation drifted on to other things. As the feast ended and students were gathered up by the prefects to be lead to their dorms and taught the password, Harry glanced again at the Slytherin table and smiled slightly, his mood lightening. The blonde boy was leading a group of students out, it seemed he still managed to possess enough power of respect to have people follow him.
As school progressed the next day, Harry was glad to find that the professors were making an effort to insure everything appeared as normal as possible. They addressed the issue of the Death Eater attacks smartly, choosing their words careful to avoid inciting panic, but most of all they stressed to the students that they were safe here in the castle. The biggest, and most pleasant surprise of all was Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
The halls had been abuzz with question of who would be the next person to take the fated position. A betting pool had been formed in Gryffindor on just who they thought would be next. Although Harry didn't participate, Ron, who had been in a pessimistic mood since the attack on the Express, put a hefty sum down on the name of Professor Snape.
However, when the fateful hour was upon them, Harry was delighted to see none other than Nymphadora Tonks at the front of the classroom when he stepped in. As expected, the students that weren't familiar with the clumsy, now pink-haired witch eyed her a bit warily. "Hello Harry! Hermione! Hi Ron!" Tonks scurried to the door to greet the trio as they entered, the three Gryffindors looked as excited as she did.
"Tonks!" Hermione cried, she seemed to be the most excited of all. "What are you doing here? Ginny's going to be thrilled!"
"Isn't it fantastic?" Tonks asked. Harry thought her face would split in half from smiling so much. "I'm a little nervous to be here but, just between you three and me," here she lowered her voice a little bit and leaned in towards them, "I'm really just here to fill the position until Dumbledore can find someone better. Don't want another repeat of last year, huh? When I heard what happened with Umbridge I decided it was my duty as a member of the Order to spare you from anything like that ever again."
Tonks proved to be a great Defense teacher. Although, in Harry's opinion, she didn't seem as hands on as Lupin had been. But on the other side, he could rest assured that she secretly wasn't a Death Eater in disguise and that she wasn't going to torture him in detention, or give him detention at all for that matter.
Tonks tripped three times over the same crack in the floor during her lecture, something which quickly endeared the clumsy witch into the hearts of the students. By the end of class, everyone was smiling and enjoying themselves and since no one had bet on a member of the Order taking over the position, the pool was divided up among the students that had participated.
That evening, Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor common room waiting for Hermione and Ron to come back from their Prefects meeting. He had his potions book open on a table since, on the first day, Snape had given them homework (but really, was that a surprise?). He had full intent to finish the assignment before his friends came back but had poorly miscalculated the comfort ability factor of the squishy armchair he'd settled in and before he even had a chance to read the selected pages, he was being shaken awake by his best friend.
"Harry." Ron smirked as his friend groggily lifted his head from off of his book, the edge of the text and pages imprinted on his cheek and forehead. "You're drooling all over chapter two."
"You're back!" Harry announced, relieved, and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Glancing down at his book he saw he had drooled on the text and smeared it away before closing the book. "This place is really really boring with everyone gone. I hope you guys don't have too many Prefects meetings."
"I really admire that you're trying to get a head start on your studies, Harry," Hermione said as she took a seat across from him in one of the padded, wooden chairs that usually surrounding the work tables. "But if you want my advice, you won't be very productive sitting in a chair like that when you do it."
"Never mind homework!" Ron grinned, taking a seat also. "You'll never guess what happened! Zabini pulled a prank on Malfoy, he charmed his hair blue! They had to take Zabini to the hospital wing afterwards! Draco re-arranged his face. Literally!"
"Really?" Harry found himself caught between concern and wanting to laugh out loud. He would have liked to have been there to see it. "When was this?"
"Oh I don't know." Ron smirked happily, Slytherin could tear themselves apart and he wouldn't care. "Sometime this afternoon, I guess. I heard Ernie and Hannah talking about it at the meeting and got all the gory details from them. You couldn't tell anything had happened when Malfoy showed up but I sure wish I could have seen it for myself."
The next day in class, Harry began to take notice of Draco again. At first it had just been a glance at breakfast to see if maybe there was a bit of blue left in his hair that Ron had missed before. Instead he noticed that although Zabini was still missing from the Slytherin table, Draco was also still sitting alone. Later, he noticed in potions that Professor Snape had to assign him a partner since no one would pair up with him willingly. At lunch, when Draco didn't even bother to show up, Harry decided that he was going to have to swallow his embarrassment about the whole kiss blunder and do something about it.
When he saw the blonde in Care of Magical Creatures, Harry waited until Hagrid had divided them up into groups to study the days beasts, to approach. They had started a chapter on magical pets and began with Puffskeins, Streelers, and Kneazles. When Harry joined him, Draco was staring down into a tank of large, color changing snails.
"Hi, Draco," He said. The other boy ignored him. A bit frustrated, Harry felt himself frown before he added. "So blue hair, huh?"
That had done it. Draco looked up at him, a sneer twitching on his lips. "Shut up, Potter, or I'll send you to the hospital wing too."
"Alright, alright." Harry smirked, holding his hands up in defense. Draco had such a short temper. Although Harry knew he probably shouldn't patronize him, sometimes he couldn't help himself. "Do you have Prefect's duty tonight?"
Draco eyed Harry suspiciously for a moment as if Harry were hiding some sort of ulterior motive that he wanted to discover by glaring at him before he answered. "No, why?" From the querying tone in his voice, Harry guessed he hadn't found what he'd glared for.
"Fancy a little challenge?" Harry tried to peak Draco's interest, but his expression still looked flat.
"Nothing against you is much of a challenge, Potter. At least if you're facing off against me."
"What about Quidditch?" He chirped and was delighted to see Draco's face darken. Even if it was a foul response, at least he had gotten some sort of reaction out of him. "As I remember it, you haven't really won a game against me yet."
Draco's jaw worked for a moment before he straightened, turning away from the tank of snails to move away from the Care of Magical Creatures class just in case anyone got the idea to listen in on their conversation. "What's your point, Potter?"
"I just want to do something with you." Harry had looked a little bewildered when Draco started to walk away until he realized he should follow him. "You just look...really...you know, lonely?"
"Lonely? Please, Potter." Naturally, Draco scoffed, leaning his back against the trunk of a tree and folded his arms over his chest. "Let me guess, you've been stalking me lately, hm? Don't bother trying to deny it, I'm not an idiot. Do you really think I ever felt any sense of friendship or camaraderie from those other idiots in Slytherin? Did you actually think I cared about them? That I needed them?"
Harry felt his brow pinch the more Draco spoke. "Well, yeah," he admitted. Draco always seemed to get along with his Slytherin housemates. They looked up to him, and he knew Draco liked that. Even if that's all it was in the beginning, Harry couldn't imagine seeing and hanging out with a group of people for all those years without some sort of friendship forming between them. How could Draco sit there so nonchalant and claim he didn't need them? "Everyone needs friends, Draco."
"Wrong." The blonde pushed off the three and pointed a finger at Harry's face. The gesture made Harry feel cold inside. "That's not what I'm about, Potter. That's not what Slytherin's about. I wouldn't hesitate to use any of them as stepping stones to obtain my goals if I had to. If they're not smart enough to watch out for themselves, I'd walk all over them. If I wasn't smart enough, they'd do the same to me. That's what Slytherin's all about, Potter. It's all about ambition."
"I don't believe that!" Harry replied sternly, determined.
"Then I'll walk all over you too," Draco replied coldly.
Harry's expression registered hurt, his voice softening as he said again, "I don't believe that either."
Draco glanced at Harry from the corner of his eye, still stubbornly scowling. At the pained look the Gryffindor made he sighed out loud and rolled his eyes. "Alright, look, meet me at the astronomy tower tonight before dinner."
"The astronomy tower?" Harry's eyes went wide at that. Did Draco know what he was saying? He had to know. Maybe it was a joke? "W-why?"
The blonde's frustration mounted at what he thought was a stupid question. "Gee, Potter, I don't know," He began sarcastically. "What do people do at the astronomy tower?"
Harry blinked stupidly, feeling a tiny bit of embarrassment creep into his cheeks. What did people do at the astronomy tower? They made out, of course. Didn't Draco know that? Or maybe he did and he was inviting him to the tower to snog! But that was impossible! He had been so disgusted when Harry had kissed him at Grimmauld Place. There was no way that he would take Harry to the astronomy tower for that purpose! But at the same time, that's the only thing he ever heard of students doing there outside of class! "Wh-" He began and then thought better of his train of thought. "Uhm, astronomy?" He asked helplessly.
"Very good, Potter." Draco clapped his hands. "Another gold star. Before dinner, meet me up there. Got it?"
"Okay." Still a little bewildered at the whole invitation, Harry watched Draco as he walked past him and back to class. He never would have thought that Draco would invite him anywhere to do anything outside of a duel or an attempt to get him into trouble. Maybe that was what he was doing. Trying to get him caught like in first year?
He watched as the Slytherin picked up a Puffskeins and then made a disgusted face as its long tongue slunk out to wrap around his arm. When he dropped the creature and tried to shake it off, its purring ceased, replaced by a shrill cry of alarm.
"Now Now Malfoy!" Hagrid rushed over. "Let's not ‘urt the lil'guy!"
****
Although they had looked everywhere they could think of, by the time dinner rolled around Hermione and Ron had given up all hope of finding Harry. After transfiguration, their last class, he left before they could even gather up their books. He said he had something to do and would see them at dinner and ran away before anyone could ask him anymore questions.
They'd checked the Gryffindor commons, the boy's dorm, the library, the Quidditch pitch, by the lake, but every location had turned up completely Potter-less. When they arrived in the Great Hall for dinner and still didn't find Harry there, they were stumped.
"I wonder where he went." Hermione said aloud as she and Ron sat at the Gryffindor table to eat. "I was hoping we could all go to the library after dinner and start on our reading."
"Please, that's probably why he ran away." Ron smirked and as dinner started he began to fill his plate. "I thought for sure he'd be at the pitch. He was talking about heading over there this morning at breakfast."
"I think you just wanted to drag me out there in hopes of being able to fool around." Hermione said wryly as she ate. "There's nothing more boring then watching you fly around on that stupid broom."
"If we have to suffer through your hours and hours of studying, Hermione, you can spare me half an hour on the pitch with a Quaffle."
"Hey guys!" Ginny, who was just a little late from staying behind in her own Care of Magical Creatures class to help Hagrid put the animals away, joined them, sitting across from Hermione. "Where's Harry?"
"That's the Question of the hour." Ron waved his spoon at his sister and Ginny had to lean back to keep a bit of mashed potatoes from hitting her hair.
"You're such a pig, Ron." Ginny frowned before returning the previously airborne mashed potatoes to her brother with a flick of her finger.
"What?" Ron asked stupidly, his mouth full.
Hermione just shook her head. "I thought for sure Harry would be back for dinner. He's just like you, Ron! He never misses out on a chance to eat."
Ginny's dark eyes flickered to the Slytherin table briefly and then reported, "well, Malfoy's gone too."
"He is?" Ron twisted around to look at Slytherin table also. "They must be together somewhere." His eyes narrowed slightly as he turned towards Hermione suspiciously.
When Ginny started staring at her too, Hermione held up her hands in her own defense. "Hey, don't look at me! I don't know if they're together or not. No one said anything to me."
"You know, now that I think about it," Ron said slowly, taking a drink of juice. "I did see Malfoy n' Harry talking about something in Care of Magical Creatures."
"Do you think he's alright?" Ginny asked. Unconsciously, her grip on her fork and knife tightened; she held them like weapons. "Malfoy wouldn't try anything, would he?"
"You still think he'd do something like that after everything that happened on the train? Ginny!" Hermione put her utensils down. "You told me that you were going to try to give him a chance after he saved each and every one of us on the Express, remember!"
"Well...yeah, I remember, Hermione and I did give him a chance. This morning. This is different. If he even puts a finger on Harry, I swear, I'll-"
"Harry and Ginny, sittin' in a tree," Ron began to sing until both girls shot him a mean look. "Woah. Sorry."
Hermione wouldn't even gratify Ron with a remark. "You saw the way he protected Harry on the Express." She continued, adamant on making Ginny admit that Draco wouldn't hurt their friend. "Whatever Lestrange was doing, he stopped him. He went totally ballistic!"
Both Ginny and Ron seemed to be thinking about something as Hermione said that.
"Hey," Ron said slowly and looked at Ginny. "You don't think that..."
"Maybe Draco has a..." Ginny's voice trailed off too.
The two siblings looked at each other, eyes narrowing before they sat back with a heartfelt. "Ew! No, way! Not in a million years!"
Hermione was about to ask them just what the heck they were talking about before a familiar snowy owl swooped down on their table, dropping a letter in front of Hermione, and landing neatly between plates. With so many children absent it was much easier for her to deliver letters. She could even snag a bite on the trip!
"Hedwig!" Ron exclaimed. "It's about bloody time!"
Hedwig gave Ron a disapproving click of her beak.
As Ron grabbed the letter she'd brought, Hermione offered a bit of meat from her plate to the stately postmistress. "Thank you, Hedwig. We were a bit worried about Harry."
After taking the bit and nipping Hermione's finger affectionately, Hedwig took off again. A taste of someone else's dinner had made her hungry for her own.
"Harry wants us to meet him on the Quidditch Pitch after dinner." Ron announced, giving Hermione a winning look and sticking the tip of his tongue out at her.
"Is that all it says? Let me see." Hermione took the note from Ron and read out loud. "Sorry about missing dinner, meet me at the Pitch afterwards and I'll explain everything. Harry."
"He has such a way with words." Ginny rolled her eyes and finally got serious about finishing her meal.
****
Harry had been so excited about his meeting with Draco that afternoon that he was hardly able to concentrate on his classes at all. It had to be a date, he decided. There was no way that Draco wanted him to come to the astronomy tower in the middle of the afternoon to do astronomy. There was also no way that Draco had never been to the astronomy tower with someone else late at night to commit certain acts.
In Divination, Trelawey was making them study dreams again. It meant that everyone had to be still and quiet but at the same time, they also got to stretch out over the cushions and listen to soft music, and take a good afternoon nap. Harry used the opportunity to curl up, relax, and think. Maybe, Harry dared to let himself ponder, just maybe Draco hadn't minded the kiss at 12 Grimmauld Place as much as he had initially appeared to.
It wasn't an entirely impossible train of thought. Harry had a difficult time determining just what Draco felt in pretty much any situation when they were together. He was a difficult person to read. He'd crafted his expression to always be the same: snide, condescending, holier-than-thou. He'd seen Draco brag, seen him bully, seen him enraged and annoyed. He'd seen a lot of sneering, a lot of frowning, a lot of glaring. There weren't too many other sides of the blonde, outside of those, that he had witnessed. In fact there weren't any. Even in second year when he was disguised as Crabbe and Goyle with Ron, he'd never really seen Draco smile. Not genuinely. Not nicely. Not how he suddenly realized he wanted to see Draco smile, at least once.
Maybe that was why he'd kissed him. When Draco had been confiding in him, telling Harry just how hopeless his situation felt, he had been completely over run with the desire to see Draco smile. He'd done what he'd done for that purpose, whether or not the desired affects had been obtained secretly on the inside or if he'd been utterly quelled and defeated. Even though back then Draco had seemed repulsed and had thrown him out of his room, Harry decided he wanted to do it again.
After transfiguration he thought he told Ron and Hemrione goodbye but now, climbing the stairs to the astronomy tower, he wasn't so sure. He hoped they didn't come looking for him. That would be too embarrassing for words if they walked in on him and Draco doing what Harry thought and hoped they would be doing in the astronomy tower that afternoon.
When he pushed open the door that lead to the roof of the tower, he was both relieved and nervous at the sight of Draco, leaning against the short wall with his hands shadowing his eyes as he watched the sun set. He must have been there for a little while, Harry guessed, because he had taken off his vest and untucked his shirt, loosened his tie. He looked comfortable. Harry's hands were shaking. "Uhm...Draco?"
Languidly, the blonde turned to look at him. Although his mouth wasn't smiling, he pushed himself up to his feet and moved over to where Harry stood and asked, "Did you bring your astronomy book?"
Harry balked. Had he completely misread this meeting? Had Draco really, honestly wanted to go over astronomy? "Uhm..." He began, looking uselessly at his bag and fiddling with the clasps that held it closed but he knew the book wasn't in there. "No I didn't, I didn't think that-"
"Relax, Potter. You're really an idiot."
Harry noticed a glint of determination in Draco's eye before he took hold of Harry's tie. He curled it around his hand and used it to guide the Gryffindor closer as he leaned over and kissed him.
Harry felt relief and excitement crawl up from his stomach. So he hadn't misread things after all. Of course not. Draco had just been teasing him. He could understand that, he liked teasing the Slytherin too. Harry's shocked fingers extended slowly, curling around Draco's fist that held his tie as he kissed back. He felt much better about the whole interaction with Draco in charge. The blonde knew how to handle it, he knew how to kiss. He knew how to make it good.
Drifting back from his mouth, Draco released the grip he had on Harry's tie and instead traced the boy's lower lip with his thumb. Harry noticed, as he opened his eyes to look into Draco's face, that the blonde was smiling. It was a serene, satisfied look. A pleased look. The kind of expression Harry had realized he was missing.
He stepped closer, drawn in by the soft curve of Draco's lips and the white of his teeth. The blonde's expression shifted into one of amusement when, at this range, he could see the eager softness in Harry's green eyes. Lifting the glasses from the bridge of his nose, Draco set them on top of the Gryffindor's head.
"It's a good idea for them to separate themselves from me, Potter," Draco said watching with a bemused smirk as Harry nodded without really listening to what he was saying. "If any of them have Death Eater parents like mine, it could lead to their discovery. If their parents aren't Death Eaters, being chummy with me could accuse them." Draco kissed Harry again, lightly in between his words as he drew his hands from Harry's waist up to his face, sliding his thumbs over his cheeks beneath his eyes. "It's smart of them. Slytherin's very smart."
Harry hardly had time to dwell on this statement before Draco's mouth was on his again, his hands holding his face steady as he pressed their lips together roughly. Draco's palms pressed a bit tightly into Harry's jaw as his tongue swept out and pushed into the other's mouth. Harry heard himself groan as the soft, invading organ swept past his teeth and against his own tongue, tasting him.
He was hardly one to protest as Draco laced his fingers through the belt loops on his pants and pulled their bodies close together, chest to chest, hip to hip. He gasped into the kiss when Draco's hand squeezed his backside and the blonde took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, his tongue traveling further.
"Hmm-" Harry pulled back slowly when an important question finally managed to reach his passion-fevered brain. He had to ask Draco just one thing before he could allow this to continue. His fingers tightened on the front of the Slytherin's dress shirt as he spoke in a voice quavering with arousal. "D-Draco," he stammered, the heat of his eyes having traveled down through the entirity of his body, fumbling even his speech. Every part of him wanted Draco now. "You...do you-"
"Of course I do, Potter." He said in a voice so soft Harry hardly believed it was his. "What else would I feel about my savior?" Draco smiled at the slightly indignant look Harry managed before shaking his head ‘no' and tapping a finger against the Gryffindor's mouth. "Don't say a thing."
Like a lamb, Harry nodded stupidly as Draco ducked his head, leaning in again. Harry swallowed, ready for another kiss, but instead felt Draco's mouth on his throat, kissing along the curve of his neck and the thick, life filled veins beneath his skin. He whimpered when Draco found a spot to favor, nibbling and licking, leaving a mark behind.
Opening his eyes, Harry stared at the pink and orange sky. He couldn't imagine anything more perfect than this. There couldn't be anything better than being up here, swooning off of the kisses of someone you desired under a sky as beautiful as this one was.
When Draco really started to take control, when he pushed a knee between Harry's legs and lowered him gently to the ground, Harry began to get ideas again. There were things they were supposed to say before doing this, weren't there? Like before when he had tried to ask Draco a question, he'd still called him Potter. Somehow, the level of intimacy in Draco's words didn't match the level of intimacy in his actions. It was weird.
"Draco," He said again finding himself with his back against the short wall of the tower and the blonde crouched on his knees between his legs, his hands fiddling with the top button of his shirt. "Wait a second." He pushed up at the other boy's chest, relieved when his hands ceased their undressing. "Just...just wait."
Slowly lowering his hands from Harry's clothes, Draco held himself up on his hands and knees over the half reclined boy beneath him. There was no mistaking the heated look in the Gryffindor's too-green eyes. He'd seen it before, he knew what it meant, so what was with this sudden bought of ‘wait, just wait'? "What's wrong?" He asked and stroked his fingers down Harry's soft cheeks. "You don't think I'll hurt you, do you, Potter?"
"No! No, of course I don't." He replied quickly and Draco chuckled at how afraid he looked when he said it, as if he were worried he wouldn't believe him. "It's just that this...it seems so sudden to be doing this." Harry touched Draco's face, smoothing his fingers over his sharp features and ironing out the wrinkles that appeared on his forehead when he furrowed his brows. "Can you at least call me by my name?"
"Harry, you mean?" Draco said the name slowly, his nose wrinkling. "If you'd like, Harry. But as the saying goes ‘what's in a name?' You're worrying." He lifted a hand to gather Harry's, guiding them down from his face slowly. "And I don't know why. I'm not going to hurt you, you'll see." He kissed the knuckles he'd collected and then let Harry's hands go all together.
Dipping lower over him so they were nearly inches apart, the soft stabs of his blonde hair brushing over Harry's forehead and cheeks, he whispered, "I feel so close to you now, since this summer started you've always been there for me. Don't think that I'm so daft to not know when someone's holding a hand out to me. Harry." He said the Gryffindor's name again, just because it made the dark haired boy beneath him smile. "Sometimes I'm just not sure how I should react. My mouth moves before I can think and comprehend. I'm so used to being sharp."
"I know." Harry said slowly. He felt dizzy with Draco so near and close to him, his wintery eyes piercing deep down inside of him, reading his thoughts and secrets.
"We've become so close but, the taste I've had of it, the taste of real friendship and genuine care and concern isn't enough to sate me. I want more, Harry." Draco's fingers followed the line of buttons beneath his vest down the front of Harry's uniform to the hem of his pants. Spreading his palm over his abdomen, the blonde pushed the tips of hand beneath his gray sweater, between the buttons on Harry's clothes, and beyond to grace the heat of his skin.
"Although I've lived in darkness for most of my life, there are some beautiful things that I know." With a flick of his finger, Draco undid the lowest button on Harry's shirt. "I want to show them to you, Harry." A second button popped open. "I want to show you that I know them." A third followed, Draco was halfway done. " I want to show you these beautiful things that you think you understand but really have no idea about." His hands paused. "Don't you want me to show them to you?"
Harry was rendered speechless. His mind was whirling with fragments of thought but he couldn't seem to hold onto one of them long enough to reply. As the dulcet tones of the boy above him drifted away, Harry felt swallowed up by his eyes. He swallowed a lump in his throat as Draco's hand slid up beneath his uniform and over his stomach and chest. "Yes." He croaked softly, blushing at the way his voice ached with a moan. "I want you to show me everything!"
He was helpless when Draco pulled his shirt open, sending buttons skittering as the thread that held them was torn through. As Draco's mouth moved down his chest, his hot kisses knowing all of the most sensitive parts of his chest and stomach as if they were his own, Harry found himself paralyzed. By the time Draco had Harry's legs lifted around his waist, both of their uniforms tangled and in heaps around them on the floor, and slowly pushed into him, rocking their bodies together, Harry was completely owned.
Afterwards, when evening had settled, Harry sat with his back against Draco, the blonde's arms laced around his still sweaty body. He was smiling, warm, and fuzzy inside, squeezing one of Draco's forearms as it snaked around his chest, squeezing him tighter. "I hope we can always be like this, Draco." He said softly, turning slightly to press his warm face into Draco's bicep, sighing.
"We can try," He offered, leaning down to kiss the top of Harry's head, sighing into his dark hair. He was tired, all of this planning and sneaking around, all of this kissing and love making had worn him out. He lifted his head as Harry shifted in his arms, slowly sitting up.
"Hey," Harry said, peeking over the edge of the tower and pointing towards the ground where, very far away, two figures could be seen on the Quidditch pitch. "That looks like Hermione and Ron."
Draco barely glanced over the tower's edge as he reluctantly loosened his grip on Harry so he could see. "How can you tell?" He sounded bland.
"I can see Ron's hair." Harry, grinning, grabbed Draco's robes and pulled them around his naked body as he crawled towards the edge of the tower to peer over. "Yep. It's them alright. You know, back at Grimmauld I caught the two of them snogging. Maybe they're on a date."
"Maybe." Draco replied, rolling his eyes as Harry pulled away. He crawled after him, not bothering to cover up. He laced his arms around Harry's waist to rub over his abdomen and down over the beginnings of pubic hair. "Forget about them, Potter, someone else is on a date too."
"It's not exactly a date!" Harry laughed, his stomach muscles tightening at the light touch of the other's hands. He fixed his fingers over Draco's and gave them a squeeze. He was about ready to leave Hermione and Ron alone to get on with his own business (maybe a second time in one night!) when he noticed a third person stepping around from behind the three ringed goals and moving towards them.
"Wait." His fingers went still over Draco's a she squinted at the field. "Something's wrong." He watched as Ron and Hermione backed away from the stranger before bright flashes of light shot back between the two. "It's a fight!" Harry stood up alarmed as Ron and Hermione crumpled to the ground. "Draco, Hermione and Ron are being attacked!" He grabbed his pants, pulling them on and then his shirt.
The blonde was already on his feet, buttoning up his trousers. Pulling his own shirt back up his shoulders he grabbed his robes from Harry and held the door to the school open. "Hurry up, Potter! Forget about your shoes we can come back for them later!"
Even as they started down the stairs of the tower to get to the pitch, Harry knew in his heart that by the time they got there it would be too late.
Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12 (final)