Harry Potter and the Unsettling Discovery

Harry Potter and the Unsettling Discovery

Ch. 1

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.--Elie Wiesel

"Why don't you tell that to Mudblood and the Weasel?" Draco sassed at Harry. How dare he imply that the perpetual enmity between the four of them was solely Draco's fault? As Draco said those words Harry suddenly looked angrier than he had ever seen him. He pushed Draco hard enough that his back hit the wall behind him knocking his breath out of his lungs, and stepped forward so that his face was mere inches away from Draco's.

"You see, they're not even here, and yet you still insult them!" Harry bellowed. His voice roared in a low growl that sent shivers down Draco's spine. It suddenly struck him how sexy Harry actually was. He had never seen it before, but now that Harry was raging at him, their faces so close together, feeling the warmth radiate from the other boy's body, Draco had to admit that Harry looked dangerous and enticing all at once. He could suddenly see why most of the girls (and some of the boys) in this school drooled over him at every possible moment.

There was no doubt in Draco's mind that Harry was a very powerful wizard, and with their bodies so close he could actually feel the energy Harry was giving off. Draco had always been attracted to power, and he suddenly understood why he had always tried to be the centre of Harry's attention.

Whenever he had insulted Granger and Weasley, he had always done so while looking Harry in the eye. When Harry wasn't around, Draco paid no attention at all to any of the other Gryffindors. He often wondered why he did this, but now it became abundantly clear, he liked it when Harry was focused on him. And right now, he liked that he had worked Harry up to the point that the black haired boy was actually shaking with anger. The fact that words Draco had said had elicited such a strong response in Harry excited Draco and he suddenly felt an urge reach out and touch every bit of Harry he could reach.

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Absentmindedly patting Hermione on the back, Harry muttered "I'll be back" and stormed out of the portrait hole. This was the last straw. Their encounter with Draco today had actually reduced Hermione to tears. Ron had always let Draco get to him with only the slightest provocation, but Hermione had (except for once in third year) always let Draco's insults roll off like water on a duck's back. But when Draco had learned about her relationship with Ron, he had found a new way to insult her that she found harder to ignore.

After the horrible things Draco had said, Hermione, with tears in her eyes, had run away down the corridor all the way up to Gryffindor tower. Ron and Harry each flashed Draco a hateful glare before following her up to the common room. After listening to Hermione sob for five minutes while Ron tried to comfort her, Harry had snapped and decided to find Draco and......he didn't know what.

The three of them had been happy ever since Ron and Hermione had gotten together. Harry was surprised that the time Hermione and Ron spent alone together didn't make him jealous. He was happy for his friends. Sure, they fought fifty percent of the time, but even during their fights; it was obvious that they love each other. They hadn't said it to each other yet, but Harry knew how they felt. He could see it in their faces when they looked at each other, when they fought, when they kissed.

Harry was only envious of what they had. He wished he could have that too. The only girl that he had ever kissed was Cho, two years ago, and that had just been a mess. He hadn't even had a crush on anyone since then. Was that normal, for a seventeen year old boy not show any interest in girls? He pushed the thought out of his mind and went looking for Draco.

He found Draco in the third floor corridor. When Harry spotted him he stopped in his tracks. Draco was leaning back against the wall in a casually elegant way, his ankles crossed, and his arms crossed nonchalantly over his chest. His robe was completely unbuttoned and Harry was surprised to see that underneath it he wore an outfit that would not be out of place in a muggle high school. He had on a grey tee shirt and black straight legged pants with lots of pockets, that were loose enough to sit low on his hips, but not baggy, held up with a brown leather belt. He was looking down at his feet and some of the hair that he usually wore slicked back had fallen in front of his eyes.

He didn't know why, but the sight of Draco momentarily gave Harry pause. Draco appeared somehow more human than Harry had ever seen him before. He still had the same haughty air about him that he always had, as if he were unconcerned with anything that was going on around him, but for once he also seemed a little pensive, complicated, and so beautiful. Huh? Where did that come from? Harry's righteous indignation returned with a vengeance and he stomped down the hall, stopping directly in front of Draco.

"What is your problem, Malfoy?! Why did you say that to Hermione?" Harry fumed. Draco looked up at Harry through his fringe, a slightly confused look on his face. Harry elaborated, "You don't actually believe all of that pureblood stuff, do you? Cos that's stupid! Nobody here is any better than anyone else."

"Why don't you tell that to Mudblood and the Weasel?" Draco said with a sneer, taking an indignant step toward Harry.

That's it, Draco had done it. Harry let some of the anger that was always just below the surface whenever the blond was around bubble out, as he raised his arms and shoved Draco hard in the chest. The air escaped Draco's lungs in a gasp of surprise as Harry stepped up to him and growled "You see, they're not even here, and yet you still insult them!"

Harry's eyes bored into Draco, for a long time they just looked at each other. Harry was finding it hard to read Draco's expression. Then Draco made a movement toward Harry, and Harry, letting his reflexes and instinct for self preservation take control, had his wand out and pointed at Draco's heart before the other boy had moved his hand a whole foot. As an after thought Harry looked down at Draco's hand, which had frozen in mid air, to see what the other boy had been trying to do. He was surprised that the hand didn't contain a wand. It wasn't even curled into a fist. It was held out straight with fingers outstretched as if Draco had been reaching out to brush dust off of Harry's shoulder as opposed to preparing for an attack.

Harry looked back up a Draco, who looked surprised, but not that scared by the fact that Harry's wand was pointed at his chest. His fringe was still falling in front of his eyes. As Harry gazed at them he felt inexplicably drawn forward and had to drop his wand arm to make room for his body. As he stepped forward his torso collided with Draco's still outstretched fingers and he stopped moving.

'How can somebody so beautiful say something so ugly?' Harry mused to himself. A split second later, as he realised what he had just been thinking, he dropped his jaw and ran as fast as he could to Gryffindor tower.

End Chapter One