Tomorrow at the Latest

CHAPTER FOUR.

On Sunday evening, Harry, Hermione and Ron sat together in Gryffindor Tower, studying.

Ron ran his hand through his hair for the hundredth time. "I hate this."

"Ron, I've explained this at least five times. It's really very simple." Hermione got up to re-explain to Ron how to do his Astronomy homework. Harry was lost in thought. His day at Hogsmeade with Hermione, Cho, Ron, Blaise and Draco had been one of the best in his life. He was sorry he had been convinced that all Slytherins were terrible for four years, and was only just learning what fun they could be to be around.

"But 'Mione, that doesn't make sense!"

"Yes it does! Trust me on this, I'm right."

Ron snorted at her comment. "I'm going to go ask Professor Sinistra. This is fucking impossible." Hermione rolled her eyes as Ron snapped his book closed and headed toward the portrait hole. "I'll be back soon."

Hermione's eyes followed him outside until the portrait swung closed and immediately turned to Harry. "Harry, are you gay?"

"Me?"

"Who else? No one else is in the common room but us."

"Oh. Well, I'm not sure. I guess I haven't thought about it much."

"Well, with all due respect, I think I can answer the question for you." Hermione stood up and walked directly over to where Harry was standing by the fire. "You are."

Harry's jaw dropped. He sputtered slightly, but his tongue didn't form any words.

"You just proved me right. If you weren't, you would know, and you would have had a proper protest."

"Why do you think I'm gay?"

"Because I'm not blind. The way you and Draco act, it's obvious."

"But we're just friends."

"And when you're 'just friends' with another boy, Harry, you link arms, hold hands, lie on top of each other--"

"But Hermione, we weren't exactly on top of each other. We were..."

"Okay, you were semi-on top of each other. I see the impressive distinction there."

"I'm serious, just because we're close like that doesn't mean we can't just be friends."

"Friends don't relax like that. Lovers do."

Harry turned away. He didn't have any more material to argue with. Hermione had, in a weird sense, beaten him. Now all he could do was admit that she was right, as usual, or flatly refuse with no basis for argument. He could give it one more shot.

"Hermione, is this negotiable?"

"You're either gay or you're not, Harry. It's up to you. Interrogating you like that was my way of getting you to think about your sexuality, because if I hadn't said anything, you and Draco would just prance around forever holding hands but refusing to acknowledge you're in love. It's quite foolish really."

"So you think I'm gay."

"Only because if you really weren't, you would have had a real come-back when I asked you about it directly."

Harry sank into an armchair. She thinks I'm gay. Hermione's always so logical, and this time it seems she's spotted something between Draco and I that I haven't. But she's right. How many straight guys hold hands? Harry's thoughts spiraled down through his mind.

"How did you know you were a lesbian?" Harry figured Hermione's reason for coming out might help him.

She shrugged. "I dunno. I just like girls. Pretty simple, really."

"How'd you get together with Cho?"

"It's a long story." Hermione sighed. "It might sound a bit corny, but we met in the Astronomy Tower one evening. I was wandering the school because I couldn't sleep. I guess she wasn't sleeping well either, because she was alone in an otherwise empty classroom I found."

Hermione's expression began to get rather dreamy.

"She was curled near a window, just looking at the sky. She was crying. It was after the third task. I don't think she noticed me until I was right next to her. We started talking. She told me that she hadn't really been Cedric's girlfriend, contrary to popular belief. They'd just been really close friends. They held hands and stuff so other girls would leave him alone."

Here Hermione paused for breath and Harry blinked, waiting for her to continue.

"Talking about Cedric was obviously upsetting her, so we hugged. I kissed her forehead, partly to make her feel better, and partly because I couldn't resist. She looked beautiful that night. I didn't expect her to react in any way, but she did. She kissed me on my mouth. My heart momentarily stopped when I felt her tongue on my bottom lip."

Harry giggled and Hermione blushed bring red.

"Then what?"

"Then we visited each other over the summer...and you know the rest."

"Okay."

With Harry lost in thought, Hermione went back to her books.

"I guess I am," he said quietly.

"Hm?" Hermione looked up from her books. It was fifteen minutes since either of them had spoken last.

"Gay."

Hermione smiled and let out a muffled squeak.

"Oh Harry! I'm so happy for you!" She pushed her chair back and ran at him. They were caught in each other's arms for several seconds.

"Just like you," Harry said.

"Well, not quite. I like girls, and you like boys."

"Er, right. But how do I know if I'm not bi?"

"You don't have to know everything about yourself right now, Harry." She shrugged. "If you decide you like girls as much as you like boys, then you're bi. I don't think you'll have an especially difficult time figuring it out."

The next morning at breakfast, Blaise, Draco and Cho surprised the Gryffindors by joining them at their table for breakfast. Blaise sat next to Ron across from Harry and Draco, while Cho and Hermione sat side by side on the other side of Draco.

Between bites, Harry decided to ask Draco something that had been nagging at his mind for some time.

"Draco? Can I ask you something?"

"You didn't give me much choice, did you?"

Harry ignored Draco's comment. "Draco, do you like boys?"

"Yes." Draco answer the question flatly, as if agreeing to a game of Quidditch after classes.

"Oh." This question was followed by several minutes of silence.

For no apparent reason, Draco turned sharply to Harry. "Do you?"

As much as he had thought about his sexuality and Draco last night, Harry was still started by the question. "Uh, I think so."

"Alright. I just wondered."

Ron and Blaise smirked at each other. "That was an interesting exchange."

"Yeah, close friends you two must be, to talk to openly with each other." Ron said sarcastically.

Needless to say, the Blaise and Draco were getting a lot of strange looks from the Gryffindors surrounding them. It wasn't uncommon for kids in other houses to join their table, but to have Slytherins was way out of the ordinary.

Seamus, sitting on Harry's left, leaned over. "Harry, why are they here?" He indicated Blaise and Draco.

Harry shrugged. "Because we're friends."

Seamus did a double take. "Wait, say that again."

Harry looked Seamus squarely in the eye. "Because. We're. Friends."

"Since when have you and Malfoy been buds? Last I knew you would both readily take the chance to tear the other's head off."

"I dunno really. But you may as well get used to them sitting with us."

"But, Harry, they're in Slytherin." Seamus emphasized the word like it was the only thing one needed to know to deem Blaise and Draco dangerous.

"I know that, Seamus. But they aren't as bad as we used to think. Really. Remember what the sorting hat said? Slytherins are cunning and ambitious, but not necessarily evil."

"Whatever you say, Harry," Seamus said, going back to his bacon.

"Ooh, good, dance starts tonight." Hermione was reading a copy of a notice that had been distributed around the four house tables.

Ron groaned. "Oh, that'll be fun."

"Shall we all go?" Cho asked.

"Yeah, I think that would be fun," Hermione said, glancing around the faces of the new friends that sat around the table.

"What kind of dance is it?" Blaise asked, trying to see the notice from where Hermione had it across the table.

"Hip hop," Hermione read, "And tomorrow is swing dance. Thursday is jazz, and Friday is tap. I wonder where they'll get the shoes for everyone."

"They could probably just conjure some, couldn't they?" Harry asked.

"Well, we'll see," Draco said.

"Have any of you done any kind of dance before?" Blaise wondered.

"Well, I took ballroom dancing once at my father's command, but it was really boring. Hip hop sounds much more fun," Draco said.

"Oh, it is." Cho had more experience in the dance department than the rest of the group put together. "You'll love it."

That evening at seven o'clock, Blaise, Draco, Cho, Harry, Hermione and Ron met in the Great Hall for their first dance class. The four long house tables and the staff table had been cleared to the far side of the huge room for the dance floor.

"All here?" Cho glanced around. "This should be fun." Hermione watched as Cho stood, her feet aligned with her hips and shoulders, rolling her head in circles, stretching the muscles. From her neck, she went on to rolling her shoulders, first forward, then backward, then alternating.

Students gradually filled up the Hall. Some looked excited and interested, others looked nervous and timid.

"Where's all our fellow Slytherins?" Blaise said, surveying all the people standing around, waiting for their class to begin. They were predominately of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor house. Very few Slytherins had come.

"I don't care," Draco said irritably.

At that moment, a woman strode into the Great Hall. She was dressed in stretchy black pants, a black sleeveless top and a black long-sleeve shirt tied around her waist. Her blonde hair was medium length, reaching just to the nape of her neck. Over her shoulder she carried a grey bag. All heads snapped in her direction.

The dance instructor made her way to the area where the staff table normally stood, which was slightly elevated from the rest of the room. She stepped up, dropped her bag and turned to face the students with her hands on her hips.

"Good evening, all of you." She smiled around at them. A shy chorus of greetings came from around the Hall.

"I am your dance instructor. My name is Meara." Her eyes grazed over her class, taking in the numbers. "Only about forty of you. Good number to work with." Meara conjured a chair with a wave of her hand and sat down on it, pulling a pair of shoes out of her bag.

"Tonight we'll be doing hip hop. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that term, it's rather similar to jazz, although more commonly associated with rap. The choreography I'll teach you for hip hop is less fluid than jazz. But I think you'll enjoy it. Dance is very good for the body, not to mention insanely cool." By this time, Meara had tied on her shoes and stood up. With a flick of her wrist, the chair disappeared.

"As far as dance attire, flexible pants, socks and a breathable t-shirt should do. If you decide you really like dance, you might want to consider jazz shoes." At this, Meara pulled up the legs of her pants to show the gathered students her shoes. They had a rubber heal and toe, but the arch was just fabric. "These are called split sole. You can get all kinds of dance shoes, but I'd recommend this kind." Slowly, Meara straightened her ankles, finally coming to balance on the very tips of her toes.

"Ooh, that's got to hurt!" remarked Ron's older brother, Fred.

"It doesn't if your muscles are properly conditioned to hold your weight the right way," Meara explained, "Let's begin with some stretches. Cantus."

At Meara's spell, music filled the hall. Hermione, who was familiar with muggle music, recognized it as the singer Pink.

"Stand in lines, facing me!" Meara said loudly, over the music. The students complied. "Just follow my lead!"

Meara proceeded to lead her class through a series of stretches and warm-ups. She was very flexible. By the end of her warm-up, Harry felt refreshed as well as in pain. He'd never tried to make his body go in some of the directions it just had, and it felt rather uncomfortable.

"All warmed up?" Meara asked.

A combination of moans and noises of assent met her from the mass of kids.

"Good. Now I'll teach you some choreography to put to music." Meara pulled out a small notebook, which she flipped through. "All right. Here we are. The step we'll start with goes like this." She dropped the book and demonstrated.

As soon as Cho saw the step done, she copied it exactly. Blaise learned the step by saying it quietly to himself to help him focus. As the right foot stepped forward, the arms extended downward and the fists crossed. When the right foot was forward, the hip followed in a quick twisting motion and the elbows pulled back. The step was continued in a counterclockwise direction until facing front.

Once everyone had gotten the main idea, Meara stepped down off the elevated platform to help students who were having trouble.

Hermione was having difficulty mastering the rhythm. "What's the problem, dear?" Meara asked, placing her hands on Hermione's shoulder's.

"I don't underst-"

"It goes like this." Meara showed Hermione is slow-motion, counting out loud. Hermione tried it again, getting a little closer to the actual step.

"Here, work with this young lady. She seems to have it down." Meara gestured toward Cho, who was practicing the dance by herself, then moved away toward someone else.

When it seemed that everyone knew what was going on, even Neville, Meara returned to the platform. "Alright everybody? Let me see you do it. Cantus." Music once again filled the Great Hall, and Meara stood back, arms crossed.

At the beginning of the second eight count phrase, the entire class started, joined late by a few people who were having trouble counting.

"Very good!" Meara applauded, but before all the students had had time to smile, she was off teaching them another step.

***

Cho danced out of the Great Hall ahead of her five closest friends.

"That was great!"

"I know! I can't wait to take some of the other classes."

Even Ron had to admit that he had enjoyed the lesson. "Yeah, I'd do it again, I guess."

At about that time, the group of six had to part three ways. Blaise and Draco had to descend a flight of steps to their dungeon common room, Cho had to continue along a corridor to the right and Harry, Hermione and Ron took the staircase to a higher floor.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow then."

"Yeah."

"Goodnight."

"Love you guys."

Everyone turned to stare briefly at Harry, who had never been known to voice his affections for anyone. Much less use the word 'love'.

"Uh, yeah," Ron said, giving Harry a weird look.

"What? Do I have something on my nose?" Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"No, Harry. Let's go." Hermione kissed Cho goodnight and led the way to Gryffindor Tower. Cho headed for her common room and Draco and Blaise theirs.

***

The next morning at breakfast, Hermione had news. She bent her head in and spoke quietly to Draco, Blaise, Harry, Ron and Cho.

"I just found out about a nightclub in Hogsmeade. Some seventh year was talking about it. It's kind of hidden from the village so students won't find it and sneak out of bed."

Her friends looked expectantly at her.

"So, do you want to go? We could sneak out on Saturday or something."

Draco smiled mischievously. "Sounds good to me."

Blaise looked at Ron, who was wearing a thoroughly stunned expression. "What's the problem?"

"Did she just ask us to break school rules?"

"Um, yeah, I think she did," Blaise said, and turned back to Hermione. "I'm in."

"This is exciting. And we'll all have a week of dance lessons in before we go." Harry added.

It was a unanimous agreement that on Saturday night, all six friends would sneak into Hogsmeade.

"But we have to be careful. No one can catch us going out. Harry, don't you know a secret passage into Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah, that comes out in the cellar of Honeydukes."

"Oh, good. That makes things very simple."

All that week, Harry thought about mainly three things. Dance classes, the planned Saturday outing, and one more thing he couldn't quite explain. Draco. He and Draco were just friends, so there wasn't really any logical reason for him to be thinking about Draco every moment his brain wasn't occupied with something else. What would Draco say if he knew Harry thought about him that much? And more importantly, does Draco think about me? No, we're just friends. Just friends...

**

Harry didn't know it, but Draco shared much the same thoughts as Harry did that week. Dance, Saturday, and Harry. The fact that he couldn't get Harry out of his head bothered him to no end. Every time he looked at Harry, he noticed something new about him. How bright his eyes were, how he never touched his forehead whenever he brushed his hair out of his eyes, how he and Draco were almost exactly the same height and had almost exactly the same length stride. Stop obsessing over him! The nagging voices in his head repeated, over and over. You're just friends. Just friends...

**

"Okay, so here's the plan." Five pairs of eyes watched Hermione expectantly over their breakfasts on Saturday morning. "We can leave Hogwarts at ten o'clock. Blaise, Draco, do you know where the entrance to out common room is?"

They didn't. Hermione explained to them how to find the portrait of the fat lady. "You can take Harry's invisibly cloak-"

"Harry, you've got an invisibility cloak?"

"-during the day today and wait for us to come out of Gryffindor Tower. Cho, you can be seen, because our friends are used to seeing you there."

Cho giggled and kissed Hermione lightly on the cheek. Ron cleared his throat loudly.

"Oh, right. So, when Harry, Ron and I come out, you can give us some sign that you're there, because we won't be able to see you. We'll then follow Harry to the entrance to the secret passage. We can wear our school robes over whatever we plan to wear to the club, so no one will suspect that we're going anywhere other than to practice a levitation charm in an empty classroom."

"Okay, so how do we get the cloak?" Draco asked.

"You and Harry can figure that out." Hermione said. Having finished her spiel on how to get out of Hogwarts, she went back to her jelly doughnut.

"Draco, didn't you say you had a lot of work to do for Transfiguration?"

Draco's made a face at Blaise's comment. "Yes."

Blaise looked back at Harry. "Why don't you meet me in the Charms classroom after breakfast, with the cloak? I can wear it back to the dormitory, so no one will see it. Or me, for that matter."

"Sure," Harry agreed.

As soon as he finished breakfast, Harry told Blaise he was going to get the invisibility cloak, and left the table. When he arrived back in the Charms classroom, Blaise was already there, standing at the window. Harry, knowing Blaise couldn't see him joined him at the window.

Harry could immediately see why Blaise was drawn to the glass panes, or more like what was beyond them. The lake sparkled as the late morning sunlight glanced off it. The forbidden forest was greener than Harry had ever seen it, and a thin curl of smoke wafted from Hagrid's hut. Harry realized he must have sighed, or at least made some kind of noise, because Blaise's head snapped in his direction.

"Harry?" The boy asked, staring blankly at the empty place in the air where he knew Harry was standing. He reached out a hand, and it struck Harry's shoulder. "Oh, there you are!"

Harry pulled off the cloak and handed it to Blaise. "Here you go. Take good care of it."

"Don't worry. This thing is wicked." Blaise tried it on, only covering his body from the neck down, so it looked like his was floating in mid-air.

"Yeah, well, see you tonight then." Harry headed for the door. "Tell Draco I said hullo."

"Oh, and speaking of Draco-" Blaise started. Harry turned around. "He likes you a lot."

"He said that?" Harry asked.

"Well, not in so many words, but yes."

Harry stood motionless for a moment. "How do you know that, if he didn't exactly say it?"

Blaise shrugged. "Well, we know each other much better than he lets on, and he just...listen, just trust me on this one Harry. I know when Draco loves someone."

Love? What did Blaise just say?

"Okay, thanks Blaise. See you later."

"Bye, Harry." The rest of Blaise disappeared.

***

At about nine o'clock, Harry started looking through his wardrobe in hopes of finding something to wear. He was rifling through a drawer of shirts when he heard Hermione clear her throat in the doorway.

"Need some help?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Uh, yeah."

"I think Ron will too. Where is he, in the common room?"

Harry nodded.

"Let's go to my dormitory."

Passing through the common room, Hermione tapped Ron on the back, and he followed them up to Hermione's room.

"Okay, here's what I've got for you." She opened her magically enlarged closet and pulled out a shirt on a hanger for Harry. "Put this on."

Harry stared at it. "Hermione...?"

"Do you want to look good or not? Now try it on while I find something for Ron. Oh, this will do nicely." Hermione held up another shirt on Ron.

"Hermione...?" Ron echoed Harry's earlier sentiments. The shirt Hermione handed to him was a tight black sleeveless. Harry's was a t-shirt with silver sequins dotting it.

"Put them on right now!" Hermione order with such authority that both boys started pulling off their shirts in order to try on what she had gotten for them.

"'Mione, where did you get this?" Ron asked tentatively.

"I borrowed them from Fred and George. Apparently, they heard us talking at breakfast and wanted to make sure you had something appropriate to wear."

"Did they know the same place we're going to?" Harry asked.

"Of course. Fred and George know everything about Hogsmeade. Oh, Ron, that looks very sexy."

Ron turned to look at himself in the mirror. "Damn, I look good."

"Harry, your shirt could use a few darts."

"What?" Harry was only familiar with the kind of darts that had sharp tips and were used in a throwing game.

Hermione pulled the shirt over his head and then pulled it back on, inside out. "Just watch."

Harry watched as Hermione pinched the fabric on the seem running from his armpit to the hem of the shirt. With a few pins, she pinned it in place on both sides. She then made Harry put the shirt back on the ride side out. It was now a much better fit.

"Uh, thanks, 'Mione."

"Don't mention it." Hermione said, surveying her work on Harry's outfit. "Oh, and don't forget the pants. She pulled more hangers out of her closet and threw them to Harry and Ron.

"Why does everything have to be tight?" Ron asked.

"It doesn't have to be. It's just the I'm the only one of us who has taste, and I happen to think tight looks better than baggy."

Harry shrugged. "I agree on the bit about how you have better taste than us."

"Then try those pants on!"

Harry and Ron obeyed. Hermione turned her back on them so they had privacy.

"If one of your roommates comes in here to find us wearing no pants, we'll be in a lot of trouble," Ron noted.

"Which is why you should move quickly," Hermione said reasonably and turned around. Harry was buttoning a pair of jeans which fit him perfectly. Ron's were slightly too large.

"Reducio," Hermione muttered, pointing her wand at Ron. The pants shrunk slowly until they had the same fit as Harry's.

"Good. You both look great. Now go do something to your hair." She saw their blank expressions and rolled her eyes.

"What do we do?"

"Here take this. You can spike it or something. Be creative. I'm going to get dressed. And wear your robes over those clothes. People will notice you wearing that."

"Hermione, this is glue."

"I know what it is. It's great as a substitute for gel. And it's much stronger."

"You want us to put glue in our hair?"

"Get out of here, I need to get ready."

The boys pulled their robes on over the clothes Hermione had found for them. They heard the door click shut behind them on their way down the stairs.

"I can't believe Fred and George had this stuff."

"My brothers? I knew they were capable of mischief, but honestly..."

**

At quarter to ten that evening, Cho let herself into the Gryffindor common room. A few people looked up, but it was nothing out of the ordinary to have her in their tower. She said hello to a few people but quickly went upstairs to find Hermione. Hermione had briefly discussed how she and Cho would attract everyone's attention in the common room so they could get out unnoticed. They didn't normally wear their hair styled, so it would definitely be obvious something was up if they were seen. She explained the plan quickly to Cho.

They entered the common room hand in hand. Hermione spotted Ron's head poking out around the corner of the entrance to the boys staircase and knew he and Harry were ready.

"Oomph!" Hermione caught Cho in a furious lip lock and backed her up against a wall. Heads turned. People pointed. For five seconds, everyone in the room was watching Cho and Hermione, giving Ron and Harry the time they needed to get out of the tower.

"C'mon. Let's go," Cho said under her breath to the other girl, "They're out."

A few moments later they were in the corridor.

"Hermione, Cho, that was bloody brilliant!" Ron said enthusiastically when he saw them.

"Why? What'd they do?" Draco's voice came from somewhere behind Harry's head.

"We'll explain later. Harry, lead the way."

Five people, two invisible, followed Harry down the corridor, down a flight of steps and part way down another corridor until coming to a halt in front of an ugly statue of a witch with a hump. Harry tapped the hump with his wand. An opening just large enough for a person revealed itself.

"Who's first?"

One by one, everyone slid through the opening to land on the moist ground of a tunnel. They compared notes on how they had gotten out of their dormitories while stripping robes off. Draco was wearing leather pants with an electric blue shirt, much the same style as Ron's. Hermione had on a military style canvas skirt, combat boots and her new leather jacket, over a black top. Cho had on her vinyl pants and a black tank top. Her silky black hair cascaded down her back. Blaise was dressed more simply than the others, in a button up black shirt and black slacks.

"Well, black seems the predominant colour here." He noted.

"That's because black is sexy."

"Let's get going!" Cho and Hermione led the way down the tunnel.

***

When they reached Honeydukes, they snuck through the building, aware that the owners lived upstairs. They took the back door out, unlocking and then relocking it magically.

At the entrance to the club, they each paid the fee and entered. The first thing that grabbed Ron's attention was two young men near the entrance, snogging.

"Hermione! You didn't say this was a gay club!"

"Aw, Ron. Where else would I want to go? Relax, it'll be fun." She was immediately dragged off to the dance floor by Cho.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Ron announced. He started off toward the bar, followed by Blaise, leaving Harry and Draco alone.

"I've never been to a club before," Harry confessed, "Let alone a gay one."

"It's okay. You don't need to have experience to have a good time," Draco assured him.

"Alright." Harry continued to glance around. He recognized a couple of Hufflepuffs dancing near he and Draco.

"Want to dance?" Draco asked, managing not to distort his sentence, while simultaneously ignoring the warning voices in his head.

"With who?"

"With me, you idiot."

"Oh, now I really want to dance with you, seeing that you've just insulted me."

"Come here, you."

Before Harry had time to gasp, Draco's arms were around his neck and they were swaying gently to the song that was coming on.

Baby, you're making me want you...

Harry relaxed slightly and wrapped his arms around Draco's shoulders, pulling him closer.

Baby, you're making me love you...we're in the city, city, making me want you...

Without thinking about what he was doing, Draco rested his chin on Harry's collarbone.

We're in the city, city, making me love you...

Harry tilted his head toward Draco's. The song continued and they slowly circled, oblivious to the other dancers, the world.

In the city your footsteps float in the air

In the city at night

there's no one else there

In the city see all the old street lamps again

In the city they took all the new ones away

You wind down a window to let in some light

Through the middle of glass and billboards at night

And pausing to catch your breath in the rain

In the city your home again

Again.

As the song ended, the two boys broke apart. Draco realized he had had his hand in Harry's back pocket, and from the pleasantly surprised look on Harry's face, he just had too.

Harry and Draco met Blaise and Ron at the bar. Ron handed them each a butterbeer.

"Aren't you going to dance, Ron?" Harry asked, taking the bottle his friend offered him and snapping it open.

"I guess so."

They sat in silence for a while, consuming butterbeer. Harry finished his and asked for another bottle. When it arrived, Draco grabbed it and took the first sip. Ron laughed and clamped a hand on Blaise's shoulder when he started to sway.

"Hey." A young woman in a sleek red dress approached Blaise, who looked slightly surprised. "Want to dance?"

"Uh, sure." Blaise set his drink down on the counter and followed her into the crown.

Ron's mouth fell open. "That isn't fair."

"Life isn't fair, Ron," Draco said, appearing next to Ron.

"I dunno, Draco, it's not all that unfair to us," Harry breathed.

Draco's head snapped toward Harry. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Harry took another swig of butterbeer.

"No, really, what was it?"

Harry turned so Draco couldn't see his face. "I didn't say anything."

Draco was getting frustrated. "Yes, you did!" He gripped the other boys arms and spun him around, their bodies touching.

"Let's dance!" Harry said quickly, attempting to distract Draco. The boy looked slightly disgruntled for a moment, but agreed.

When they stood on the dance floor, they assumed their dance positions with more ease than the first time. Both boys were more relaxed about touching. Draco wound his arms around Harry's shoulders, so his palms rested on the boys upper back, bringing their chests together. Harry's arms were wrapped around Draco's waist, aligning their bodies perfectly.

**

From across the room, Hermione eyed Harry and Draco dancing.

"Cho, look at them! Isn't that sweet?"

"Heh, and they say they aren't together? We'd all be saved a lot of anticipation if they'd just admit they have something there."

"Yeah, I know, tell me about it."

"Nah, I've got better things to do." Cho pulled Hermione close to her again.

**

Harry desperately wanted to tell Draco how he felt, but he was afraid of how Draco would react. Draco didn't deal with emotion well. Dancing was one thing, but if he didn't want something more, would he push Harry away?

I've got to do something. I can't live in suspense forever.

Feeling as though he were going to be sick if Draco didn't react well to what he was about to, he turned his head slightly and left a hesitant kiss on Draco's cheek.

Draco's body tensed. Harry just kissed me! What do I do! // Relax, you idiot. It was just a kiss. // Fuck you, Potter. // Malfoy! Just do what you've wanted to do for weeks.

At Draco's stiff and initially unwelcoming response, Harry felt his world begin to collapse. Oh no! He's going to hate me!

Just before Harry lost his nerve and ran out of the club, Draco relaxed. He pressed his forehead into Harry's neck and ran his hands down his back. Harry let out a breath he didn't even realized he had been holding.

It was a matter of seconds before Draco worked up the nerve to react properly to Harry's kiss. He pulled Harry away from him and allowed himself to float in the wide intense green that threatened to swallow him up. Then, trying not to think, he leaned forward and touched his lips to Harry's holding him there for a split second before breaking the contact. But Harry wouldn't let him break the contact. He brought his hand gently to the back of Draco's neck, keeping him close. Each boy's mouth explored the other's. Harry ran his tongue over Draco's lip, enjoying the tingling sensation he felt.

It was Draco again who broke the kiss, but this time it was to take Harry by the hand and drag him to the nearest sofa.