Come On Harry

Chapter 5: Detention

"I don't see why we have to deal with animals with teeth when the girls only have to catch flies. I'd much rather catch flies," Ron said rather breathlessly after making a few turns in Professor Sprout's endless garden.

"They're mushrooms, Weasley," Draco pointed out with a slight distaste.

Ron stared down at the pink mushroom-looking creature in front of him. It was covered in tiny bristles, but he could make out two small teeth under the mushroom head. "They're animals with teeth," he repeated resolutely, but not before he was several feet away from it.

Harry took out what appeared to be a clear bottle with a nozzle. A faint purple liquid splashed inside as he held it menacingly over the mushroom-creature. It didn't move. "It doesn't seem very smart, does it?"

Draco stepped forward and glanced at the label, a gesture which made Harry visibly uncomfortable, then said, "Maybe it's never seen 'Horklump-icide' before."

"Good. That'll make our job easier," Harry answered, sliding away from Draco. He sprayed a few drops on the horklump and it started to dissolve.

"Whoa. Do it again!" Ron called excitedly from behind them.

Harry poured a couple more drops onto the creature and it completely disappeared from between the plants beside it. "Much better than catching flies, I'd say."

Feeling a surge of power, Ron took out his own bottle of 'Horklump-icide' from beneath his robes and began examining the label himself. Draco looked at the two boys beside him disappointedly. "Why didn't I get a bottle?"

Harry was thinking of something rude to say to the blonde boy in front of him, but Ron had started laughing, so Harry joined him.

"Hey, at least I'm not scared of them," Draco said, glancing at the redhead angrily.

Ron crossed his arms and said, "I'm not anymore." He held up the bottle. "Let's go find more."

After five more minutes of Harry and Ron dissolving horklumps, Draco began glowering and whining. When Ron turned around to pour a few more drops on an already disappearing horklump, Harry reached into his robes and pulled out a third bottle of the 'Horklump-icide'. He handed it to Draco who looked at him incredulously for a moment. "Stop whining," Harry said with a slight smile.

"You mean you had another one all this time, Potter? And you didn't say anything?" Harry shrugged. Draco continued to yell, but found that the two other boys had just moved on to the next bunch of horklumps.

***

"Do you suppose this is a jarful?" Ginny asked, holding up a large glass jar filled with fluttering winged creatures.

Hermione examined it from beside her and after a long pause, said, "I hope so. You've caught far more than I have." She held up her jar for Ginny to see, then set it down by her feet. Holding up a slightly damaged net, she sighed, "I'm so tired of this. How long do you suppose we've been working?"

"Too long," the redhead responded, wiping dust from the net off of her robes. "I wonder where the boys are," she added suddenly and watched as Hermione nodded and fell into a reverie. "So you and Ron are really dating now?"

Hermione snapped back into the present. "Yes," she answered, smiling.

Ginny put her jar down as well. "And how'd Harry take it?"

"Well, actually. He was happy for us." She paused and her look became sour. "There is something wrong with him though. He's been... odd lately. He fancies you, you know." She looked at the redhead in front of her.

Ginny was staring down at the ground, her eyes lost in the fluttering wings of the lacewing flies. "...I know," she finally said softly before looking up at Hermione. "He has been odd. I think he's just mad about Draco."

"I hope that's what it is. But don't worry Ginny, I'm sure he and Ron will get over it once they realize that Malfoy's not that bad," she said, wincing slightly.

"Thanks for supporting me, Hermione, even though I know you don't like Draco at all - "

"Sure, I do," Hermione said, a little too quickly to be believed. Ginny's look said as much. "Alright, he's not my favourite person in the world, but that's only because he's not very nice to me. I'm sure he's nice to you; he better be, anyway, so it's fine. But if he ever does anything less than nice to you, Gin, please let me know."

Ginny started giggling. "Thanks, same with Ron, okay?" She had not told Hermione about her proposal to Harry yet. She had been wondering all day whether it had been the right decision, or whether she should have just rejected him... he wasn't likely to say yes, so it would all just turn out in disappointment.

Hermione picked up a smaller covered jar and the dusty net and walked towards an especially green bud. She reached her wand into the small jar and drew out a few aphids from it. Having placed them on the bud, she stepped back and waited for the lacewing flies to swarm.

Ginny had her net ready and when the first few flies were in sight, she swung at them and struggled to empty them into a new jar. Satisfied, she looked at the few fluttering flies inside the jar and smiled.

***

"I'm getting a bit hungry," Ron said, leaning against a sturdy bush. "Do you reckon we can take a lunch break now?"

Harry put his bottle of 'Horklump-icide' back in his robes and agreed, "Me too. Can we just go or do we have to wait for Professor Sprout to come back?"

"It'll take her hours to find us in this place," Draco pointed out, tucking his bottle into his robes as well. "Let's just go. She probably won't even notice."

"What if she does?" Harry asked. Ron stood up straight and followed Draco as they rushed down a pebble path, which they thought might lead towards the castle. "All right, wait for me."

Once Harry was by his side, Ron turned towards his best friend. "What do you reckon the night-portion of our detention will be? Not another one in the Forbidden Forest, I hope."

"If it is, I'll personally murder our nutcase headmaster," Draco snarled, staring ahead.

Harry's voice sounded less than threatening. "You'll do no such thing."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter." He glanced at the brunette this time, causing Harry to look away.

"Ponce..." Ron muttered under his breath as they continued walking.

They finally seemed to be nearing the exit of the garden, for which they were all grateful. At that moment, they spotted both Ginny and Hermione, who were carrying three jars each, all full of flies.

"Hermione!" Ron called and waved when she turned around. Both girls smiled at the sight of the three boys, and Ron rushed over to give his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek.

Ginny ambled leisurely to the other two boys. "Ready for lunch?" she asked them, not really looking for an answer.

Draco reached out his hand to brush Ginny's hair behind her ear and said softly, "Ready when you are, princess."

"Princess?" Harry asked, a bit disgusted, but was ignored by the other two.

Ginny glanced back towards her brother and Hermione to make sure that they could not overhear them. Draco seemed to be thinking along similar lines because he said, "Don't worry. Miss Bossyboots and pet are gone."

They both turned towards Harry now, who could feel his cheeks begin to flush. "So, Harry," Ginny started, "have you thought about it at all?"

"Erm. No, not yet," he lied, playing with his hands and hoping every moment that he might just disappear.

Draco rolled his eyes, but Ginny hit him lightly and gave him a look that told him to be more positive. In response, he said, "Let's just go to lunch."

Much to Draco's dismay, the three of them easily caught up to Ron and Hermione who were arguing about whether or not they were allowed to leave. However this question was easily answered when Professor Sprout entered the garden to dismiss them, and to everyone's surprise, take Harry away without an explanation.

"Maybe they're having an affair," Draco suggested.

Ginny looked at him. "Ew."

Ron was practically running as they approached the castle because his stomach was thinking for him, and Hermione was attempting to follow closely behind.

Draco took their absence as an opportunity to give Ginny a light kiss.

"You know," she told him, "Maybe we shouldn't put this pressure on Harry."

"Pressure? What pressure?"

She gripped Draco's waist as she said, "It might be best if we just spend some time with him together first, you know...be his friends."

The blonde boy's eyes dropped towards Ginny, and his voice came out solemnly. "I have no interest in being Potter's friend."

"Come on, it might be the only way that he'll agree to anything," she urged, giving his waist tiny squeezes which sent pulses through his body.

He folded his arms across his chest. "It's not worth it."

The redhead looked up at the tall boy in front of her, her hand still on his waist. "It's not? Wouldn't you like to have the Boy Who Lived on your side?"

Draco thought for a moment and said darkly, "What's my side?" Then with a smile, he added, "I mean, I knew before you came along and ruined everything."

"Oh, shut up, you know what I mean." Placing her other hand on his waist, she stood on her tiptoes for another kiss.

***

Harry walked into the Great Hall, feeling a little weary. A few fifth year Ravenclaws sighed dreamily as he passed by them, heading to the Gryffindor table. "Hey Harry!" Ron called, "So what was that about?"

"Oh. She took me to Dumbledore. Er... he just wants to make sure I'm safe. Or something. It's not a big deal."

Hermione grabbed him from across the table by the front of his robes. "What are you talking about Harry? Of course it's a big deal! Why would he call you into his office if it wasn't?"

Ron reached over and pulled Hermione back down. "Calm down, 'Mione. What'd Dumbledore say?"

"Seriously, he just wanted me to be aware if anything happened. He was worried about the other night in the forest, I think. Speaking of which, where's Ginny?"

Ron looked around, his face growing more and more red, but Hermione said calmly, "Probably still outside with Malfoy." Both boys gave a low growl. In response, Hermione turned on them. "You two should start accepting the fact that Ginny is dating Malfoy. She's not going to stop just because you don't like it, you know."

"Thanks for pointing that out," Harry said.

Hermione looked at him with a slightly annoyed expression. "I wasn't sure you knew."

At that moment, Ginny walked into the Great Hall alone, skipping over merrily to the Gryffindor table. Dean stopped her on her way towards the trio and had a few words with her. Harry looked on jealously.

When she finally came to sit with them, they all stared at her wordlessly. "What?" she asked, noticing their strange behavior.

Before any of them had time to respond, Draco made quite a show of entering the hall. He threw open the double doors with a loud bang and strutted across the hall to his usual seat in between Crabbe and Goyle. As soon as he sat down, Pansy Parkinson began talking animatedly to him from across the table, but Draco only seemed to be nodding and not listening.

"What?" Ginny asked again, but this time Harry just shrugged and turned away.

***

"It is time for the night-portion of your detentions," Professor McGonagall informed Harry, Ron, and Draco when they had returned from dissolving the very last of the horklumps. Harry heard Ron gulp beside him, and Harry held his breath, certain that he'd burst if he had to spend any more time with Draco that day. "Mr. Weasley," she continued, "You will be in the trophy room with Argus and the girls."

Harry and Draco glanced at each other quickly with differing expressions.

"You two," she said, addressing the brunette and the blonde, "will be working in Severus' office. I'm not sure what he has planned for you." Harry instantly imagined the worst sort of torture possible. "It would be best if you headed there now," she informed them, "because the sooner you start the sooner you will finish, and I want you all to be very well rested for your classes tomorrow."

***

When Draco knocked on the Professor's door, Harry felt a lump in his throat slowly rise. He glanced to the side to watch the boy beside him, and the lump fell back down and made his stomach do a flip. Some of the boy's blonde locks were brushed in front of his eyes, and when he spotted Harry looking at him, his cheeks grew red with a shamed blush. He turned now to the Professor who had opened the door with a less than enthusiastic face, and said quietly, "We're here for detention, Sir."

"Shame, Malfoy. I expected better of you," was Snape's only response as he went to sit back down behind his cherry coloured desk. Draco walked into the office as if he did so every day and stood a respectable distance away from the Snape's desk. Harry remained standing at the threshold, so Snape looked up from his papers and eyed him. "Yes, yes, come in, don't delay."

The room was more dimly lit than the dungeon's hallways, and Harry felt sick at once. There was a strange odor emanating from the far wall which was lined with many potions in all differently shaped bottles.

In front of Harry, Snape was gathering several pieces of parchment in a pile. When he stood up, he glanced towards the blonde Slytherin boy, who looked tiny next to his tall Professor. "There are cauldrons to clean, lots of them. You two are to begin work immediately." He handed Draco a few wet rags and gave Harry nothing. "Potter, if you have any questions, ask Malfoy, I'm sure he'll be more than willing to help," he said with a sneer. "And Malfoy, make sure that Potter does his work. Well." Passing by his desk to grab the pile of parchment he'd earlier made, he opened the door and walked out into the dim hallway.

Once the door had slammed shut, Harry looked at Draco, whose hair was again in his eyes. He seemed to be avoiding Harry's glance as he walked over to the many shelves in the back of the room and started to remove a couple of cauldrons. "Here," he muttered quickly, placing one in front of Harry and throwing him a white rag.

Picking up the rag and dragging it over the surface of the cauldron quickly, he noticed it turned a pale pink color. He watched Draco from the corner of his eye. The other boy seemed to be fiercely rubbing the inside of a particularly old looking cauldron, seeming nervous and angry at the same time. "Don't have anything to tell me this time?" Harry finally said to break the silence.

Draco looked up, a bit startled and unsure of what the other boy was referring to. He lifted the arm that was clutching the rag violently. "No. I suppose. Why, was there something you wanted to hear?"

Harry shook his head. "No."

"Well then," Draco stated, putting the cauldron he'd been working on aside and moving on to the next one.

The rag in Harry's right hand turned more and more pink with every stroke, and as the time moved on in silence, Harry watched Draco work. The blonde boy was sitting down and rubbing at the inside of a green cauldron. Harry just stared at him for a moment, watching the muscles in Draco's arms work as he pushed the rag up and down. His hair was out of his eyes for once, pushed back behind his ears neatly. His gray eyes were focused intently on the inside of the cauldron, and when he finally noticed Harry staring at him, he looked up at the Gryffindor boy and smiled.

Harry looked away quickly. "I don't see why we have to scrape all these clean when Snape could just easily use a charm," he said.

Draco had not stopped smiling. "Builds character," he replied in a tone which Harry wasn't sure was altogether sincere.

Harry finally began to clean the jewel-encrusted cauldron in front of him as he said callously, "So, I've been meaning to ask: why'd you threaten to strike Ginny across the face the other day?"

Draco looked up, stunned. "You know I never would." He looked at Harry, expecting a response. "I was just shocked. She wasn't supposed to tell you while I was there," he admitted, sighing. "I'd asked her to suggest it to you before, in private. She never did, of course, since she knew you'd reject the idea, and I suppose she didn't want to make me feel bad. And she was right. Of course." He sighed again and threw his head to one side, as if reflecting deeply on something.

Harry's voice wavered as he said, "I'm still thinking about it, you know."

The other boy shook his head. "Don't do me a favor, Potter. You as good as rejected me; don't try to make me feel better by pretending you didn't."

"Why would I try to make you feel better..." Harry muttered, looking away towards Snape's cherry coloured desk.

"Shut up, Potter."

"Or what?" the dark haired boy asked curiously.

The paler boy looked up at him. "Or you'll soon regret it."

"Oh, will I? What are you going to do if I don't? Kiss me again?"

Draco lifted his gray eyes and bore them straight into Harry's head. "Shut UP!" He stepped forward and his shadow landed on Harry's face. Harry rose from his sitting position to meet Draco's eyes but didn't respond. "Good," Draco said. "Besides, it was fairly obvious how much you liked that kiss. I could tell by the way your body reacted."

"Er...what? That's such bullshit."

The blonde boy smirked. "Hardly."

Harry focused his eyes on the other boy's lips, which were trembling ever so slightly as they shined. They continued working in silence for another two hours. And when Harry realized that he would rather listen to Draco and Ginny kiss than listen to the murmur of the fans in Snape's office, he felt at once compelled to resolve the tense situation.

Draco was looking remarkably handsome again as he scrubbed the inside of one of the cauldron's clean. He paused to wipe the sweat off his forehead and then continued. Harry fought the urge to say something.

Eventually he gave in. "Malfoy?"

"Hm?" Draco glanced up, resting his arms.

Harry twiddled his thumbs. "I..." he stopped, then started up again, this time not as quietly, "Is that offer still up?"

The Slytherin just stared at him for a moment, skeptically, waiting for the sincere look on Harry's face to wear away, but when the other boy didn't change his expression, Draco's eyes opened wide. "Really?"

"Is it?" Harry asked.

"Well, yes, of course." Draco had not removed his gaze from the other boy's face, trying to take in every detail as Harry took a breath.

Harry began staring at everything but the blonde boy in front of him. He noted that the wall adjacent to the cauldron-filled shelves had more potions than he'd realized when he first walked in. In fact there were an endless amount of bottles and vials behind the front row of displayed potions. "Well, I've thought about it," he finally said, bashfully. "And I like Ginny too much. So I'm saying yes."

Draco's intense look suddenly faded. "I see," he said, returning his attention to the cauldron. "That's fine. I'll tell Ginny. I'm sure she'll be thrilled."

"Or I could tell her," Harry suggested, noticing Draco's quickly changing emotions.

"Or you could tell her," he repeated with a bitterness.

They could hear footsteps coming down the corridor and seconds after, Snape entered the room. He eyed the shelves in the back of the room and turned to the two boys. "Two dirty cauldrons left. Not bad. Finish them, clean up, then leave. I won't be expecting you to come by anymore," he said, directing the last bit to Harry. Then he walked back out again.

"Do you spend much time with Snape outside class?" Harry asked Draco very suddenly.

The other boy decided to reply candidly. "Only recently."

"Oh, why's that?"

Draco picked up the two last cauldrons and handed one to Harry. "He's the perfect mentor."

"For you, maybe," Harry replied.

"Not maybe. Definitely." Draco pushed down on the last cauldron with the rag viciously and with a slight redness in his face.

Harry hoped the last seconds would go by more quickly so he wouldn't have to sit awkwardly in a room with Draco Malfoy, whom he had just agreed to date.

But Draco suddenly stopped cleaning and looked towards Harry after a bit of silence. "So it's only because of Ginny, right? I mean, she said you could only date her if you dated me too?"

The Gryffindor boy nodded, his dark hair jutting out in all directions.

"That's too bad," he stated, standing up suddenly.

Harry stared as Draco moved across the room. "Where are you going?"

"I'm done," the other boy said haughtily. Then with a very sudden change of voice, he added, "If you'd like, I'll wait for you."

"S'okay," Harry murmured as Draco put his dirtied rag on the rack near the far wall and walked out without another word.

A few minutes later, Harry hung up his rag next to Draco's and left the room, heading hurriedly to the Gyrffindor common room. It was fairly late and he didn't fancy telling anyone where he'd been.

But the moment he was halfway down the corridor, he felt a strong pair of hands hold him back. A million thoughts including the warnings Dumbledore had given him that very day rushed into his head at once as he was pulled so violently into a dark corner that his glasses fell off. Try as he might, Harry was not able to identify his assaulter and the other person was not saying a word.

After a long silence, Harry felt it was getting a bit ridiculous. "Who are you?" he attempted to ask, but was cut off by a pair of cold lips. If the temperature of the other boy's skin wasn't a dead give away, then his natural scent was, and Harry recognized it at once. Somehow he was too shocked to move, especially as a strong arm played with his waistband and naughty fingers ran through his hair. Finally when he pulled away, Harry fought between hexing the boy in front of him, yelling, or running away. But instead he did the first thing that came to mind as he said in what he considered to be a perfectly level tone of voice, "You have to stop doing...erm, that, randomly."

He couldn't be sure whether the blonde boy, whom he currently could not see, was surprised at his ability to decipher his secret attacker. All he said was, "It's the only fun way. I love to see you vulnerable and squirming under my temporary power over you."

"Yes. But that's just it: it's only temporary." He pulled one of Draco's hands off of his shoulder and put it at the other boy's side.

Draco made quite a show of laughing. "You certainly are a character, Potter."

"I'm flattered," he answered unctuously, making to move away and find his glasses.

The other boy caught him by the shoulder again and brought him closer. "Don't you dare hurt Ginny."

"Why the hell do you think I would? I would be more worried about you hurting her, Malfoy."

"I've never hurt her in the least, and we've been dating for quite some time now."

"How long?"

"Several months."

"How long exactly, Malfoy?" he repeated, growing impatient.

"Since the first week of term."

"That's not even two months, you lying bastard," Harry bellowed.

Draco stepped back, dropping his hand from the other boy's shoulder again. "Well we've spend so much time together that it seems longer."

"Oh rub it in, why don't you?" This time Harry did move away, searching the ground desperately for his glasses.

"Potter," Draco said suddenly, reaching down effortlessly at Harry's feet and picking up the spectacles by the rim. He handed them to Harry who was unsure of how to react. "Anyway," the blonde boy continued, persistent to get his opinion in. "I hope you don't hurt her. And if you do, there will be consequences."

Harry put on his glasses quickly with one hand and looked at the boy in front of him. "I'm shaking," he said dully.

Draco turned around for a moment, then back with a much pleasanter look on his face. He pushed a few blonde strands out of his gray eyes and lifted his eyebrows. "Want to continue?"

Appalled, Harry gaped at him, wondering if he could possibly be suggesting what he thought he was suggesting. "Er... continue what?" he asked, playing the ignorant card.

Draco didn't fall for it. "If you can't even admit you know, there's no chance you'd want to continue, is there?" He sighed and made for the other end of the corridor. "I'll see you around, Potter. Probably more than you'd like."