The Bet

~~~

Chapter IX - Less Than the Appropriate Amount of Attire

~~~

The next evening, after a gruelling Quidditch practice; where both Harry and Draco were tested by the strength of each other; the boys walked at a snail's pace to the locker rooms, gritty and sweaty from their workout.

"Oh hell, I haven't had a workout like that in..."

"Five months?" Harry offered.

"Shove it, Potter."

Harry laughed. "Oh, c'mon Malfoy, you know you enjoyed it."

"Even so... Why'd you talk to the captain?"

Harry shrugged. "I figured you might like the change. I know I do. Besides, I didn't want to get too sweaty for tonight."

"What, you got a hot date?"

"Yeah, with your girl," Harry joked.

Draco stopped walking. "Excuse me?"

Harry also stopped and turned around, smiling. "It was a joke, Malfoy. I am meeting with Raven, but it's for her paintings."

"Oh."

"Does it bother you?"

The Slytherin shook his head. "In the past, yes. But right now...I trust you not to try anything."

Harry felt slightly endeared by Draco's admittance of trust in him. "And Raven?" he asked.

Malfoy chuckled. "I've never been able to control her. It's best just to let her do what she wants." Draco continued to trudge along, and Harry fell into step beside him.

"So she controls you, then."

"HA! Hardly. No...we just...do our own thing."

"So are you guys attached, then? I thought you were dating."

"Well, yes we are, and no we're not. We have...an 'open relationship,'" Draco quoted.

"I see."

The boys continued their slow trek to the locker rooms, their red and black uniforms sticking uncomfortably to their skin. As they neared the entrance, they found Raven waiting for them. Smiling broadly, she said,

"My two favourite people! How was practice?"

"Fine," said Harry.

"Gruelling," said Draco, at the same time.

Raven laughed, sending a pleasant chime to the Seekers' ears and a tingle through their bodies. "Well, I'm glad to hear it. So-Harry, are you ready for your first modelling session?"

"Sure, just let me shower and I'll be right over."

"Ok. Actually, could you meet me at the art wing of the library, in a...half hour?"

"Sure. See ya then." And Harry left the two Slytherins alone.

Draco approached Raven and kissed her cheek. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"Potter."

"Ok...what's up?" she asked as they started walking back through the woods to Number Three.

"Let's wait until we get back to my room," the twenty-three year old said. Raven nodded, and continued on in silence until they reached Draco's room. Then Draco spoke. "Potter just told me about the modelling." He put his broom away and started peeling off his clothes. Raven 'hmm-ed' in agreement.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he said. "And why haven't you asked me to model for you?" Draco was obviously trying to keep the hurt out of his voice. He failed.

"I'm sorry, Draco, I thought I did tell you."

"No. You didn't." He took off his shirt and threw it in a corner.

"Are you mad about it? Because I can tell Harry-"

"No...it's fine. I just wish you would have asked me first. I never know what you're doing with your art, other than those paintings you've given me."

"I'm sorry Dray," Raven said as she hugged him, kissing his bare shoulder. When she licked her lips, she tasted the salt from his sweaty skin. "I don't mean to leave you in the dark, I just want it all to be perfect before I show it to you. Your opinion matters the most."

"You know I'll like it no matter how ugly it is."

Raven rolled her eyes. "That's not the point, Dray. You know you'd say you'd like it, then point out all the problems."

"Well, of course."

Taking a breath to calm herself, Raven said, "To be honest with you, the reason I haven't asked you to model for me yet is because...I'm not ready to work on you."

"You're not ready to work on me...?" Draco looked confused at the girl in his arms.

"I've been trying to work on portraiture lately. Of you, Harry, Daphne, and Blaise...but it hasn't been working out well. I haven't had a good reference of you guys to go by. So I asked Harry last weekend if he wouldn't mind modelling for a portrait and possibly some figure studies."

"Ok..."

"And...I'm afraid to work on you. I want to, I really do, but it just doesn't feel like the right time."

"I see."

"However..."

"Yeah?"

"Well, at Harry's suggestion, I've been talking to Dennis Creevey, Colin Creevey's younger brother."

The blond raised an eyebrow. "What on earth for?"

"I've decided to try my hand at photography. Not only as a separate art form, but so I can have some reference photos to work on with my drawing and painting. Dennis has been giving me lessons on how to use a camera. A muggle camera."

"A what?" the Seeker said in a serious tone, his visage darkening.

"A muggle camera. One more...revolutionised than wizard's cameras. And when I'm done with the film, Dennis is going to show me how to develop it. So that the pictures don't move."

Draco started backing away with wide eyes. "What in Merlin's name has happened to you? When have you ever wanted to do anything remotely muggle?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Oh Draco, honestly. If I'm going to use some of the pictures to do figure studies from, I can't very well have them moving around. Same thing with my paintings."

Draco frowned. "I guess that makes sense..."

"It does. But anyway, later on, I'd like to take some pictures of you. And of you and Harry."

Draco quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yep." Raven smiled.

"Will we...be naked?" the Slytherin asked, trying to repress a grin.

Raven's smile turned devious. "Oh, maybe a little."

Draco took her back into his arms. "I see what you're trying to do. You're trying to get Potter used to being around me when we have less than the appropriate amount of attire on, aren't you?"

Raven laughed. "I see that I'm slipping again. And yes, that is part of it. I'm just trying to help you along..."

"How is this a bet whether or not I can do this, if you're helping me?"

"I thought we had discussed this."

"Well, apparently I need reminding."

"And I'll tell you again, you need to figure it out on your own."

Draco huffed. "Oh, fine. Be mysterious and elusive. It's what you do best."

"I know," Raven beamed, and Draco kissed her.

"But I warn you, I'm on to you. You can't stay mysterious forever."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll believe it when I see it." She kissed him again and said, "I'd better get going. I'll see you later, love." And she walked to the door, opening it.

"Alright. Have fun," he mocked.

The dark-haired beauty cocked her head and gave him a soft smile. "Always."

~~~~~

When Harry walked into the library, he wasn't quite sure where he was supposed to go next. The librarian was trying to close up, so when Harry asked her where he should go, she only made a vague gesture to the antechamber of the library.

Walking back out, Harry looked around the small room, searching for some sort of door or passage. Oh, c'mon, I'm going to be late, he thought, and just as he was about to give up and go asked the librarian again, a door appeared on his left. A puzzled look passed over his face before he realised that the art wing must be similar to the Room of Requirement back at Hogwarts.

Stepping inside, he was again confronted with the question of where to go. Picking the rather obvious door, Painting, he stepped inside to find Raven setting up a table with green satin and cushions. She looked up when he entered.

"Harry! You all ready?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets in an anxious posture. "I guess so...although I'm not quite sure what I'm doing..."

"Oh, that's fine. I'll direct you."

Harry looked around as Raven continued to set up. "I must say though, this room was a little hard to find."

Raven finished and walked over to him, holding some black cloth. "Oh, I know. The art wing is charmed so that only those who have use of the rooms or desperately need to find someone within can enter. It helps protect our things from being lost, damaged, or stolen."

"I see."

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you first, before we start, if you had given any thought to the nude aspect of modelling."

Harry felt a blush creep up his neck. "Er...not really. I didn't think about any part of it, really."

"The reason I'm asking is because I honestly can't think of a good portrait idea to do for you. Those usual 'sitting in a chair' or whatever just doesn't seem right for you. A portrait should say something about a person, and I can't think of anything to suit you just yet."

"Oh. Well that makes sense. So you'd...like to do a nude of me?" His blush was now moving onto his ears.

"Yes, if that's alright. It won't be frontal though, if that's what you're worried about."

The raven-haired boy's blush became more pronounced at the insinuation. "O-only a little."

Raven smiled. "It's alright to be nervous. We don't have to do it, if you don't want to-"

"No, it's fine. Really, I...I want to."

"Only if you're sure, Harry."

Harry nodded, gathering his Gryffindor courage, determined to see it through. "I'm sure."

His Slytherin counter-part beamed. "Great! Here's a robe, you can change in that little room over there," she pointed to a door in the corner.

"Ok," he said, going over to the room and stepping inside. As he stripped off his clothes, he felt another bout of nervousness creep up in his stomach. He hadn't ever been nude in front of a girl before, and he was afraid of what she'd think of his scars let alone his body in general. The Quidditch locker rooms had relatively private stalls, so he didn't really have a problem being seen there. But the questions still ran through his mind. Was he attractive? Did he still look like a knobbly-kneed boy? Harry never really tried to look at himself in a mirror, and he didn't really think that he'd be the best judge of that sort of thing anyway. Slipping the black robe over his shoulders and trying the sash, he padded his way out into the other room.

Raven was standing on the other side of the made-up table behind a canvas and a small worktable. She was wearing a dark green smock over her shirt and skirt, and squeezing little blobs of colour onto a palette, mixing a few of them together with a knife-looking tool.

"So, er...what should I...how do you..." he gulped, "...want me?"

Raven gestured to the table vaguely. "On the table, in the middle of the pillows, your back facing me." She didn't even look up, and so Harry moved around the table, stopping suddenly as he caught his reflection in one of the darkened windows. His stomach did another nervous back flip.

"Can anyone...see us in here?"

Raven's eyes followed Harry's gaze. "No, they're enchanted to look like walls on the outside." And then she went back to mixing.

"Oh, ok." Harry gulped his nervousness down and shifted to take off his robe. Sure that Raven wasn't paying attention, he faced away from her and untied the sash, letting the robe fall off of his shoulders and to the floor. Quickly, he climbed up on the table, sitting down amongst the satin.

But what Harry didn't know was that Raven was paying very close attention. When Harry stepped out of the changing room, she immediately tried to school her features into cool indifference, to help make Harry feel more at ease. But the second he turned around, she was gazing in rapt attention at everything. The way he nervously untied the sash of the robe, and the oh-so-perfect way it slid off of his tanned skin to the floor. The smooth planes of skin over muscle, which were tense and toned from his earlier workout. The way those muscles rippled as he climbed onto the table, and the absolutely adorable flush that took over his body as he tried to do it quickly enough that he didn't reveal anything. Then his quiet and anxious voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Is sitting ok?"

"Ah...yes. Yes, I want you to sit." Raven let out a quiet breath, looking away and trying to ignore the personification of a god sitting just five feet from her. You're an artist...act like it! But try as she might, the memory of Harry's perfect body as he stood in front of her, even if it was only a for a second, wouldn't leave her alone. And he has such a nice ass, too...so firm and...shite, this is going to be challenging.

Now, Raven hadn't been completely lying when she told Draco a week or so ago about checking out the boys in the Quidditch locker rooms. It's just that she couldn't quite gain access to the shower part, and so had only ever seen the ex-Slytherin and Gryffindor shirtless at most. And never at the same time, either. Draco didn't really fancy showering in the locker rooms, and so he always went home first. And Harry never got completely undressed until he was in the showering area first, so her view of either boy was rather limited.

And Harry was everything she had imagined and more. God, this is going to be hard to work around...if I was a guy I'd have a raging hard-on. As it is... Taking a deep breath, she turned back to direct Harry some more.

"Raven, are you ok?" Harry asked at Raven's lack of spoken word.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. Just finishing up some mixing..."

"Ok."

Cleaning off her knife she said, "Ok...now, if you could raise your left knee up, and rest your arm on it..."

"Like this?"

"Yeah. And put your other arm in your lap...yes, like that...and tuck your right foot under your other leg...uh-huh...and um..." Watching Harry was mesmerising, and she was having a hard time thinking about what she wanted him to do. Does Harry have this effect on everyone? Well granted, she was probably the first girl to ever see him this unclothed... "...Your head, if you could turn it just slightly to the left...yes! Perfect. Oh, and could you take off your glasses? I forgot about that." Raven looked at her model for another moment, and commented, "Harry, you need to relax. You look really tense. It's one thing for your muscles to be pronounced and toned because you just had Quidditch practice, but it's another thing to have them be all tense. It doesn't look natural."

"Sorry," was the sheepish reply.

"No, it's fine. Just take some deep breaths." Harry did as she instructed, and found that it really did calm him down a little. But then she said, "Oh wait, don't move, I want to mess with your hair..." Harry heard her move over to stand just behind him, which made him tense up a bit again, but it all melted away as her fingers started running through his hair, mussing it up as she saw fit. It caused that pleasant and erotic tingle to run down his spine, and he shivered slightly in reaction.

Raven noticed this, and smiled slightly. "Are you cold?" she asked.

"Er...no." Harry tried to come up with some type of reason for his reaction, but found all words leave him as Raven's hands slipped onto his shoulders, rubbing them a little. He jumped slightly at the sudden contact, and suppressed a strange gurgle in his throat. He'd never been touched that way by another person before. He found it rather comforting, yet somewhat arousing at the same time.

"You still look a little tense," the girl said in explanation, as she rubbed at his shoulders a little. When Harry started visibly relaxing again, she eased the pressure off of his shoulders and stepped away, going back to her place behind the canvas.

Harry's skin suddenly felt odd without the warmth of Raven's hands, but he shifted slightly to his original position, still relaxed from the mini-massage. He wasn't quite sure what the cause of the small tingling in his belly was, whether it was because he might like the girl, or because of the circumstances. He glanced down, and noticed that he didn't really have much of an erection, thankfully; he wasn't sure how Raven would have reacted to something like that. But at that moment, he didn't really care. Have fun, live life up, was his new motto. Not that he had one to begin with, but it was never too late to start.

The Slytherin took out her wand. "Ok...now for the lighting." She pointed her wand at the ceiling of lit candles, and brought a few down to hover just to the right of Harry, in various heights and angles, so that a majority of his back was plainly visible, but there were good shadows cast on the musculature of his shoulders and leg. She placed one candle to his left, to highlight the small patch of face that was showing, and brought a few more down near her, so she could have better light. Then she extinguished a majority of the ones still up near the ceiling, so that there was no interfering illumination.

Setting down her wand and picking up her graphite and eraser, she asked, "Ready?"

"Yep."

As she started drawing she explained the different parts of the process. "First I'll do a quick sketch of you, so that I have something to paint over. This is kind of a long process, so I hope you got plenty of sleep. I don't want my model falling asleep on me."

Harry chuckled quietly, relaxing even more. "No, I'm good. I'm comfortable, but not so much so that I'll fall asleep."

"Good. Once I've gotten a solid figure going, I'll let you have a break to stretch. The painting is the major part. I've already set up my canvas, but I've never really used this type of paint before, so this is a bit of an experiment for me."

"Oh? Did you get some other paint?"

"Yes. I haven't had a chance to tell you this, but I've been talking with Dennis Creevey."

"Really? Decide to take my advice?"

Raven smiled. "Yes. He's showed me few things with a muggle camera, and then took me to a nearby muggle town to show me where I can get more film and all that. There was an art supply store nearby, so I decided to get some muggle paint. It was kind of funny, actually. Dennis had to pay for it all, because I didn't have any muggle money at the time. I actually feel kind of bad, he said it was expensive. But I've paid him back, after many hours of trying to figure out the proper conversion to galleons," she laughed. "And I've tested it out a bit, and it seems to be the same as wizarding paint, except you can't charm it to move. I've tried. I think there's some magical property in wizard's paint that allows you to make it move."

"That makes sense. Some sort of magical ingredient no doubt."

"Yes, I agree. Anyway, I was also wondering if you wouldn't mind if I took a few pictures of you at some point."

"Sure, I don't mind," Harry automatically said, and then remembered that had it been anyone else asking, he would have said no. Funny, how over the course of a week, your outlook on life and people can change so much. It baffled him really, that he felt like he could be so open with Raven, and in a way, even Malfoy, like he never could with Ron and Hermione. If they ever knew that he was posing nude for paintings, they'd probably both have incredulous fits of confusion, before passing out from a brain overload. To think that Harry Potter was posing nude for paintings and possibly photographs. Well hell, there's a first for everything.

After a few moments of silence, Harry finally asked, "Raven?"

"Yeah?"

"You said the other day that you thought I was beautiful. Why do you think that?"

Raven smiled again at the question, finishing up her sketch and grabbing her paintbrush. "Anyone with two eyes can see that you're beautiful Harry. But I was also talking about your personality. Sure, you're just like every other sodding Gryffindor, with all your courage and curiosity, but you're not the perfect hero everyone makes you out to be. I noticed that right away, when I actually started noticing you, that is. You have flaws, just like everyone else."

"Are you implying that all you Slytherins aren't perfect, like you make yourselves out to be?" Harry asked playfully.

The dark-haired girl laughed. "Yes, I suppose that's what I'm implying. But honestly, you're a real person, Harry. Not some fluffed up idiot who thinks they're better than everyone else, like I hear Gilderoy Lockhart was before he lost his mind."

Harry smiled at the memory of his second year. But instead, he asked, "And what about Malfoy? Doesn't he act like he's better than everyone else?"

Raven paused in her painting of the background. "Yes, I suppose sometimes, he still does. But he's changed, Harry. He's changed a lot. Even in just this past week."

"Why do you think that is?"

She continued in applying the colour to the canvas. "That's simple, Harry. Because of you."

"Me?"

"Yes. Over the past week his opinion of you has changed to be completely different. Sure, for a while now, he's had some sort of respect for you, based on what he's heard you've had to go through, but he still never connected that with a personality. I think now that he's getting to know you, he's realising that he'll never be able to hate you forever."

"Did he tell you all of that?"

"No, it's just something I've noticed about the way he's been acting and what he says lately."

"You're really observant, aren't you?"

"I have to be. You learn to read people very well, when you're a Death Eater. But I've always been like that, honestly. I watch everything and everybody and so when anything's amiss, I know about it instantly. It comes in handy even when it's just a matter of your best friend being moody or not and what the cause may be."

"I see." A moment of silence passed and then Harry said, "So have you...do you watch me?"

"Yes, I have."

"That's how you knew I was still dealing with the war, didn't you?"

"Yes, it is. Does that creep you out?"

"In some ways, maybe. It's like I've got my own stalker," he joked. "But it's a little comforting too, to know that someone was watching me, and was worried about me."

"I was. I was worried about you. You seemed so depressed, and I didn't know how you'd take to me just walking up to you and asking you if you were alright. It's not like we've ever talked before. And as to your stalker comment, I didn't stalk you, or follow you around or anything. I just watched you whenever you were around. Took notice of how you interacted with people, that sort of thing." She changed paintbrushes, and started mixing the proper skin tone to work on the figure of Harry himself.

"Well, that's good to know."

Raven giggled. "I suppose."

After another few moments of painting and scrutinising, Harry spoke. "I don't mean to come back to the topic, but...what is it exactly that you find attractive about me?"

Raven laughed to herself. "Harry, don't you look in a mirror?"

"Not Really, actually. I know I can never do anything about my hair, so I don't bother looking to see if I'm brushing it all right."

Raven laughed. "Well, that doesn't matter, anyway. I think your hair is one of your more charming assets."

"Really?"

"Yes. It's...kind of sexy, you know? Like you just got off your broom." Or just had the shag of your life...

"Really? It always looks likes like a rat's nest to me."

Raven laughed again. "You know, that's what Draco said too. I think you guys just have poor taste. Anyone with a sense of the sensual could see that your hair makes you devilishly handsome."

"If you say so..."

"I do. And that's what matters."

"Anything else you like about me?"

"You're eyes. They're similar to mine, in a way, and I think that's why I like them, other than the fact that they express more about you than anything else."

"Merlin, you really are observant, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes, very. And let's see..." Raven let a sly smile play on her lips, "I suppose that now that I've basically seen you naked, I do enjoy the view."

Harry's face flushed and a bit more blood travelled south. "Er...thanks," he mumbled.

"No problem," the girl said in an upbeat tone.

There was a light pause before Harry said, "I guess I just don't understand."

"About what?"

"How you could love Malfoy and like me at the same time."

"Yes, I suppose that is a little odd, isn't it?" she replied, changing paint and working on his hair. "I'm not really sure how to explain it. I've loved Draco for a long time. We've never really done much of anything, other than tease each other...and then I just kept noticing you, especially in the last year or so. And the feelings I was having just wouldn't go away. I don't think it was pity, or anything like that. I did think, at one point, that perhaps it was just a little crush, and I suppose in some ways, it still is. I never really knew you. I had never talked to you, but yet, I did know you. I noticed things about you that everyone else took for granted. I listened to you, even when you thought no one was. I learned all I could about you...in hopes that some day; I could talk to you, and tell you that you weren't alone. And then all it took, was a conversation with Draco, and the rest...you know."

"That he decided to talk to me, so that you would be happy."

"Yes." And then an amusing thought occurred to her that she had to voice out loud. "I guess I just have enough love in me to go around a few times."

Harry chuckled at that, and then went back to his thoughts. Well, I suppose she answered that question, but how do I feel about her? I don't know. She's pretty...beautiful, even, that's obvious. And she's...a lot different than I thought. She wasn't afraid to admit that she wants me, which is thrilling, in a way, even if she's attached to Malfoy...she understands me in a way that I don't think anyone's ever bothered to understand me before. Harry sighed a little. Oh, fuck. I think I'm starting to fall for her. I'm pretty sure. I mean...we almost kissed yesterday!

And now Malfoy's really going to kill me.

After a few moments of silence, Raven cleaned off her brush and said, "Okay, I'm done with the basic shapes...you can take a break now, if you want."

"Er...ok."

"Do you want to see what it looks like?"

"Sure." Harry started to move, but halted, unsure of how to go about getting off the table and getting the robe.

Raven seemed to have sensed this ahead of time, and moved around from behind her workspace. "You don't have to move, I'll get your robe."

Harry felt another blush rise in his cheeks, for some unknown reason. "Thanks."

Raven's voice was now right behind him. "No problem." Harry then felt the silky material around his shoulders, and started slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"N-no. That's fine." Harry sensed that Raven had moved away, and slipping his glasses back on his nose, he shifted to his knees and pulled the robe around him the rest of the way, tying it off.

"I'm really sorry if I've been making you nervous, Harry." Harry turned around at the girl's voice, and smiled shyly.

"You haven't really. I'm just..." he chuckled slightly as he hopped off the table, "I've never been naked in front of a girl before...in front of anyone, really." He shrugged. "It wasn't so bad."

The Slytherin smiled shyly as well. "Well that's good to know."

Harry walked around the easel and looked at what Raven had so far. She immediately went into a rushed explanation of why it looked the way it did. "It looks sort of odd without the shading and stuff. I just got the base colours down for your hair, body and background. It'll look less like blobs of colour when it's done."

"I think it looks great."

"Harry, it's not even close to being finished."

"So? It's still better than I could have done." But Raven rolled her eyes.

Just at that moment, there was knocking at the door, startling the two raven-haired beauties. They turned to the door as it opened slowly, and Draco's face emerged from behind it.

"Raven? Potter?"

Harry immediately tensed, like he had been caught in a compromising position with Malfoy's girl. Well hell, in a way he had; he was only wearing a thin silk robe, after all.

Draco walked fully in the room, turning around and directing with his wand, a large, covered silver platter, which was floating eye-level from the ground. Closing the door with his heel, Draco directed the platter to a small table next to the windows.

"I brought you guys dinner...is that alright?"

Raven smiled and moved over to give Draco a kiss on the cheek, which he returned. "Yes, of course it is." Harry felt his stomach twinge slightly at the show of affection. That's what he wanted. He wanted to be able to show subtle affection for someone like that. To have someone to show it to.

Draco glanced over at the frozen Harry. "You guys done already?" he asked, taking in the black silk robe the Gryffindor was wearing, and the ridged stance he had. Did he miss something?

"No," Raven said, lifting the cover off of the food, letting the smell of chicken and pasta waft over her. "We're just taking a break. Ooh, Dray, this looks good."

Draco removed his gaze from the other boy a second to look back at his love. "Thanks, babe." Turning back to Harry, he said, "So, Potter...how's it going?"

Harry gulped hard and said nervously, "F-fine." Raising an eyebrow, but deciding not to comment, Draco turned back to the tray of food and lifted a bottle of wine from it, and three fluted glasses. Placing the glasses on the table, he said,

"I brought us some wine too."

Raven, who was dividing the food up onto three plates, grimaced. "I don't like wine, Drake."

The blond turned to her. "What?"

"I said, I don't like wine. Transfigure it into grape juice or something, will you? It looks the same. Sort of."

"I am not about to drink grape juice of all things with my supper, Raven."

"And I'm not about to drink wine of all things with mine. So just conjure me up a bottle of grape juice, will you?"

Harry watched the word play with wide eyes, feeling like he was there and he shouldn't be. But having Draco's piercing silver eyes off of him eased the tension he had felt when the blond had walked in. But the second those eyes turned back on him, to ask for some support, all he could blurt was, "I'm just going to...change. I don't want to...to ruin this robe." And he scurried off to the room in the corner, disappearing inside.

Draco's pale brows furrowed in confusion for a second, before he turned back to Raven. "Is...everything ok? Potter seems awfully nervous."

"Yeah, well that might be because you're here."

"What? Why?"

"He was jumpy enough about doing this. He's insecure, Draco, honestly." The girl shook her head in exasperation. "Insecure about how he looks, probably insecure about how he feels...if he feels anything at all..." she muttered, and Draco cocked his head in question. "But then," she continued before he could comment, "just when he was relaxing more, you came in, and changed things. He probably feels odd because I'm supposed to be with you, not painting nude pictures of him."

Draco set the bottle of wine back on the table. "I see. Should I go then?"

Raven sighed. "I don't know. Maybe...you should just talk to him. Reassure him that you don't mind about all this. Or something."

Draco thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Ok. I'll be right back."

Raven watched as the love of her life went to confront the fantasy of her life, in a small room in the corner.

Fuck.

Yeah, that just about summed it up.

While Draco thought that Raven had the entire situation under her control, she, on the other hand, thought she had too. And then...whatever the hell happened the evening before screwed everything up.

While it made sense for Harry to start liking her, as he probably had no predisposition to even think of Draco that way, it was becoming a problem. Other than this modelling thing...Raven knew she needed to get out of the picture, and soon. Or it would never work out the way it was supposed to.

But then, how it was supposed to work out, Raven wasn't so sure of anymore.

~~~~~

Draco walked over to the little door in the corner and knocked.

"Y-yeah?" he heard Harry's voice from behind the wood.

"Potter, it's Draco. Can I come in for a moment?"

Harry paused in the buttoning of his jeans. He had just slipped them on, and was still topless. "Er...ah, yeah."

The door opened, and allowed more light to filter into the poorly lit room. Draco stepped in and then closed the door behind him, causing the room to almost blackout for a moment, while both men let their eyes adjust to the lack of proper lighting.

Once Draco could see properly, he found that he wasn't quite sure what to say. It probably didn't help that his (what felt like a lifetime ago) rival was only wearing a pair of jeans, and looked quite good without a shirt on. Taking a deep breath to regain his composure, he said, "I guess...I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

Rubbing his upper arms self-consciously, Harry furrowed his brow. "Sorry? About what?"

"About..." Draco trailed off, averting his eyes from the topless man just a mere two feet away. Merlin, this room is small..."About bursting in, I guess. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

But Harry just waved him off nervously. "It's alright. This is...kind of an odd situation."

"Yeah..." God...why did he feel so nervous? Malfoys don't get nervous...Damn you, Father. "Well...I just wanted you to know that it's fine. You modelling for Raven. She...said she wants to take pictures of me later, so...I'm not...I wasn't trying to...act like the jealous boyfriend. Like I said, I trust you not to do anything." Draco glanced back down to Harry's green eyes, and looked. Just looked. Even in the dim light, he could see the subtle differences in his eyes compared to Raven's; the brightness and the clarity of the green, and he was drawn to it...undeniably drawn...

But Draco realised that he'd been leaning closer and closer to Harry and suddenly rocked back on his heels, immediately avoiding the other man's gaze.

Harry quirked up an eyebrow at Malfoy's strange behaviour. Had Malfoy been...leaning towards him? Harry couldn't quite be sure, as he was too wrapped up in staring at Draco's eyes. His grey eyes. Harry, for some odd reason, had always thought they were a pale blue. Even with all the times in the past where he's had those eyes glaring at him...with malice and utter hatred. But now, even in the dim light, Harry could clearly see that they were a soft grey colour. And not full of malice and hatred, as Harry was so used to, but more like...searching. But searching for what? It kind of unnerved him, not being able to read what Malfoy was thinking. He had just been staring at Harry, and Harry only felt compelled to keep staring back, drawn in some strange way to Draco.

There was a moment of silence, but then, Draco sighed.

"What?" Harry asked softly.

The blond turned to him with a pained expression on his face. "Why does this have to be so bloody awkward?"

Harry regarded the other man. "I don't know." Finally, after a moment of thought, Harry dropped the nervous rubbing of his arms, and extended one hand. "I'm Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"What're you doing?"

"Introducing myself. That seems to be where we went wrong all those years ago."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You mean where I went wrong, don't you?" he deadpanned.

Harry lifted up a bare shoulder in nonchalance. "Maybe. But I think we both did."

Draco stared at Harry for moment before clasping his hand. "Draco Malfoy." A small smile tweaked at the corners of his lips. Harry smiled back, just as Raven's voice could be heard in the other room.

"You guys! Hurry up! The food's getting cold!"

The two men chuckled. "I guess we'd better get going," Harry said, leaning down to pick up his shirt.

"Oh, don't bother, Potter. You're just going to have to take it all off in a little while anyway."

Harry quirked up a brow, looking up at Draco through his bangs. "What is it with you Slytherins and wanting to get me naked?"

Draco fired him a cock-sure grin. "I suppose we just have good taste, is all." And then Draco was gone, slipping back through the door, leaving Harry to ponder the true meaning of his words before slipping back out after him, still topless.