Unyielding Passions

Unyielding Passions

Chapter 1: The Surprise

It was dinner on the last day of term before Christmas break. Harry was sitting alone at the table; Ron and Hermione had left to go and "study" a couple minutes ago. He was just about to get up to leave when Hedwig landed in front of him.

"Hey girl," he said giving her a leftover piece of his pie. "What do you have?" he asked, untying a piece of parchment from her leg.

Harry,

Hello, dear! I must insist that you come home with Ron and Ginny tomorrow! Hermione will come eventually and it just wouldn't be Christmas without you. I have a very special surprise for you. I'll see you all tomorrow!

Love,

Mrs. Weasley

He wondered what the surprise was. Mainly, though, he was just happy that he wasn't going to have to stay here alone again. He'd been a bit lonely last year, Dumbledore had insisted on him staying at Hogwarts. He got up and started toward his room. Finally, he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Blood Licorice," he said, and the portrait swung forward. He found the common room empty. Everyone was either still in the Great Hall or upstairs packing for the holidays. He went up to his room and was surprised to see all of his roommates in there, including Ron.

"Oy, Ron. I thought you'd be gone at least a couple of more hours," he said, grinning at his best friend. He still found it funny, yet, completely right that his two best friends should be together.

"Me too; but me and 'Mione got in a row," he said, as he threw his books into his trunk.

"Well, mate, you'll get over it. You'll be gone by midnight. I got a letter from your mum," he said, smiling at him and handing him the letter.

"All right, I figured it was about time she did it. She told me at the beginning of term she was going to invite you, you'll love your surprise, I think."

"I'm sure I will," he said, smiling and throwing his own things into his trunk. After awhile he lay down in his bed and fell asleep.

"Ompff." Harry was wakened by the sound in the next bed. He opened his eyes to see a shadow over Ron's bed.

"Hey 'Mione," he whispered.

"Oh, umm, hi Harry," she said, a hint of embarrassment present in her voice.

"It's okay, I won't tell. So, I guess the row is over then?" he said, laughing quietly.

"Certainly; I'll have him back in an hour or two," she said. Harry saw her take his best friend's hand and lead him to the door. Off to the Astronomy Tower probably or perhaps some abandoned classroom that was a little bit warmer.

He was up now and couldn't fall back asleep. He wished he had someone to sneak off with at night. Instead, he looked in his trunk for his invisibility cloak and pulled it on. He quietly opened the door and snuck out of the portrait hole. The Fat Lady had long ago stopped trying to stop him from going out; she knew he was going to do it and if he wanted to tromp off and get himself killed that was fine with her. Or at least that's the oration she gave him one night as he tried to trick her into opening. He wandered around and suddenly he found himself in the corridor that lead to the Slytherin common room. He heard voices and pressed himself against the wall in case anyone came along. After a couple of minutes, he followed the sound of the voices and found an abandoned alcove, or usually abandoned at any rate. Currently Draco Malfoy stood in it, along with Blaise Zabini. Harry almost laughed as he saw Malfoy bend down and roughly kiss the boy.

"And if I ever hear of you doing anything like that again, I won't respond so nicely," Draco said roughly. With this Harry noticed that Blaise had a couple of scratches on his face; he wondered if Draco had been the cause of them.

"Of course, not," Blaise said carefully. He walked out of the alcove narrowly missing Harry.

"Enjoy the show, Potter?" Draco said, looking over in the general area of where Harry stood.

Harry dropped the invisibility cloak and gasped.

"Oh, don't look so horrified, Potter. I know you're the only one in the school with an invisibility cloak. You breathe like a bloody troll. If I had an invisibility cloak, I would at least learn how to breathe a little quieter. Besides, you have a certain smell about you, a poor smell, must be from hanging around Weasleys all the time," he said, walking over and pushing Harry up against the wall. "I don't know what you're doing around here this late, but I'd be more careful if I were you, Potter." With that, Draco pushed Harry harder against the wall, kissed him, and walked away.

Harry stood dazed for a few minutes and then he heard a faint sound. He didn't want to wait and find out what it was, so he quickly pulled on his invisibility cloak and ran down the hallway. He reached the portrait hole, breathed out the password, and ran upstairs. As he reached his bed, he collapsed in it and fell into a fitful sleep.