The Road Home

TALL, DARK, HANDSOME STRANGER (part. 2)

Hermione sighed deeply as she put her books on the large table of the library. It was two o´clock in the afternoon and the library was empty. Good, she thought, since she wanted to spend some time alone. Professor Vector, her Arithmancy teacher, was ill and there was no one to replace him. Therefore, she would enjoy the free time to study and think about things that were bothering her. Like Ron, for instance. He looked so good that morning, even with that Strut bitch hanging down his side all the time. Hermione had been distressed when Ron passed by her without even glancing at where she was sitting at the breakfast table. But just a little before they were heading for the Transfiguration class, he winked at her very subtly. That little moment made her day worthy.

Strut was a major problem. She had been staring at Hermione with mistrust ever since she and Ron had come back from the infirmary together. It was almost like she knew something was up. Hermione prayed that Strut didn´t cause them any more trouble.

She stopped daydreaming when she saw Draco Malfoy walking in her direction with an odd expression. He crumbled down in the chair beside her and just stared at her for a long time.

A conversation she had with Harry the previous night crossed her mind. Harry had returned from his rendezvous with Malfoy rather sad, tired and earlier than usual. When she´d asked what was wrong, he sat by her side on the couch of the Gryffindor common room and sighed.

*** Flashback***

`Did he break up with you?´ it was the first thing she asked.

`No. But he was really angry with me,´ he said, looking adorably confused and frustrated.

`Not to take his side, Harry, but you were so careless today! You gave Blaise Zabini all the munitions he wanted. God knows what he will do to you and Draco now.´

`I know.´ Harry passed both hands across his hair. `But I couldn´t help myself, you know?´

`I understand.´

`I have to do something to make it up to him.´ The emerald eyes glittered.

`What?´ she asked.

He smiled and frowned. `Something that is rather personal for me to tell you.´

`Oh!´ She could almost guess what it was.

`Not only that!´ he said with a grin, `I have something else on my mind, too. Something that could be done at the Ball.´

`Oh, tell me what it is, Harry!´

`It´s a surprise. You´ll see it on the day after tomorrow. By the way, do you still want to go with me as my date?´

`Oh, yeah. Definitely yes.´ She didn´t want to go with anyone else but Harry, except for Ron of course, but he wasn´t available.

That reminded her to look for the Sleekeazy´s Hair inside her trunk later on. It was the only thing that seemed to tame her bushy hair satisfactorily.

***End flashback***

"What are you thinking?" Malfoy asked, waking her up.

"What do you care?"

"I don´t." He shrugged his shoulders. "I was just curious. You seemed distracted, that´s all."

"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously.

"I thought we could start that project that Professor Vector asked us to do. We´re partners in case you don´t remember."

"Oh, right." She made a face.

Since they were the best students in Arithmancy, Professor Vector had assigned them to work together in spite of their protests. Malfoy seemed disgusted with the idea of having to be partners with a Mudblood. Well, she hadn´t been exactly jumping up and down with happiness.

"We should start then," she said, pulling out a book from inside her bag.

"How is he?" he asked suddenly.

Hermione knew that that was what he intended to ask her all along.

"He´s fine. How are you?"

"Mad as hell. And he shouldn´t be fine. He should be feeling miserable right now."

"Harry is everybody´s hero, Malfoy," she said, "You can´t expect him to feel miserable for doing something he thought was the right thing to do at the time."

"Well, fuck him and his need to be in the spotlight all the time."

"It´s not the case. Harry hates his `Boy-Who-Lived´ fame. I thought you knew that by now. I mean, you are his..." she made a pause. "...boyfriend... after all."

He sneered, "You don´t like that, do you?"

"No, not really. I don´t know if you´re trustworthy. You enjoyed it when that Basilisk was set loose in our second year. And honestly, I don´t know what Harry sees in you."

"Well, how about my charming and unique personality, my beautiful and deep silver-blue eyes, my slim body, my soft hair...," he disserted thoughtfully and rather amusedly.

"All right, I get the picture."

But he kept talking dreamily, "...or the way he feels when I touch him, like I´m the only person in the whole world that can make him surrender and shiver and moan and c..."

"ARGH!" She covered her ears with her hands. "Too much information! Although, come to think of it, it´s kind of sexy...," she said, reflecting on it.

Draco burst out laughing, "Why, Granger! You keep surprising me every time we meet."

"Oh, just shut up!" She shook her head and hid a smile. "Open up your Arithmancy book at page thirty-five and start writing down whatever you think will be useful."

"This book, you mean? It´s a piece of crap! I´ll get us another one. And I thought you were smart," he provoked her while he looked for another book through the shelves.

They lost track of time as they wrote down the essay and exchanged ideas, fascinated with each other´s extensive knowledge. They talked for hours about potions, transfiguration and the project they were doing. They discovered with surprise that they were getting along just fine. They had so much in common that Draco wasn´t able to hide his astonishment. He commented on this and after a pause she said, "What? Did you think I was just a dirty Mudblood?"

He sighed, flustered, "Yes," he said frankly, "But you´re not."

She frowned as she stared at him. "Why do you hate those who aren´t pure bloods like you? It doesn´t make any sense to me."

"Are you kidding me? You should read The Age of the Terror or The Dark Ages - a guide. Of course, Dumbledore wouldn´t allow any of those books to be in his library since they´re totally against muggles. There was a time when wizards tried to live in peace with the muggles but it went all wrong. The muggles hated our people because we were different. They were jealous of our powers since they had none. So, one day, a group of anti-wizards burst into a small wizarding village and killed almost all of the children. They fought back, of course, and they brought a lot of the bastards down. They were low in number but they were stronger. Since that day the wizarding community split in two - those who wanted to exterminate all of the muggles and those who wanted to talk and see if they could get conciliation," Draco swallowed hard, his eyes flickering with hatred. "Honestly, if someone had invaded your house and killed your children, would you rather talk about it or kill the bastard who did it?"

"I see your point, Malfoy. I really do. I knew a little about the Dark Ages but I didn´t know about this incident. It´s awful! Please don´t get this the wrong way but not all muggles are bad. Yes, the human race is really screwed up. But a great deal of us only want to live in peace. The muggles that killed those children weren´t representing the entire muggle community. What you need to understand is that you can´t fight back hate with hate. Do you think You-Know-Who is better than those killer muggles you hate so much? He´s just like them! They killed our children so let´s kill theirs!?? Is this what you think is the right thing to do?"

"I don´t know, all right?" he said, enraged, "All I know is that I grew up hearing stories like that and my father taught me to hate Mudbloods because they were the scum of the world!"

"Harry´s mother was a muggle born. What about that?"

Draco looked disturbed by this. "I´m... I´m reevaluating my concepts about the subject, ok? I was a radical just like my father, but not anymore. Not after... Well, you know. Let´s drop the subject, shall we?"

"All right! But one day you´ll have to determine which side you´re on, you know?"

"Merlin!" He rolled his eyes. "You´re just like Harry. No wonder you´re friends! Why do you people can´t have a normal conversation for a change without having something to do with Voldemort and what he stands for? Besides, I thought it was quite clear whose side I am on. Can´t we chat about something silly like the Ball?"

They kept silent for a moment.

"Why is the Ball silly?" she asked curiously.

"I was just trying for a different conversation," he shrugged.

"I thought Balls were some kind of a Malfoy´s trademark. I mean, it´s all about what you´re wearing and how good you´re looking, isn´t it? I bet you pay attention to the clothes people wear and..."

"Very funny, Granger," he interrupted her. "Although, I have to say that some people don´t have the slightest good taste when it comes to clothes."

"You see? I knew it! You´re so shallow! Not to mention vain and arrogant."

"Oh, really? Well, if you took a little time of your very busy day to take care of your looks, the Weasel would be with you and not with Strut."

"OH! You are a bastard!" She raised her nose, took her things and walked out of the library.

"Hey, wait! I was joking!" he said, following her. "I can help you, you know."

She stopped dead and stared at him. "Help me? How?"

"I can make you look like a princess tomorrow and the Weasel won´t have eyes for anyone but you."

"You would do that for me?" she said, astonished, to say the least.

"Yes. Well, not exactly for you but for Potter," he lied.

"Right," she smirked, "Because I´m a mudblood and you couldn´t possibly help me."

He shrugged. "I see potential in you. Last year you looked beautiful at the Yule Ball. I can make you look ten times better than that."

"Should I be glad or insulted?" She raised an eyebrow.

"It´s up to you, really."

"All right." they shook hands for the second time that year. "Does this mean we´re friends now?"

He actually smiled at her. "Maybe, Granger. Who knows?"

----------------

Erin pulled out a twinkling-scarlet robe out of her closet and made a face at the brown smudge she spotted on it. The Ball would take place in a few hours and she still didn´t have a dress.

"Now, where the hell did that come from?" she asked herself. "Dobby, can you fix it?"

There was no answer.

"Dobby?" she called him again.

She turned around to see if he was still there and saw the little creature curled up in a corner of the floor. He appeared to be in a deep sleep. She frowned as she walked towards him to wake him up gently. He opened his big eyes widely and stared at her, scared.

"Oh! So sorry, Miss! Dobby is a bad house-elf!!! Dobby shouldn´t sleep! Dobby should be working!" He banged his head on the wall for several times.

"Ok, ok! STOP!" Erin shouted. She hated it when house-elves did that. "You´re not working for the Malfoys anymore! You don´t need to punish yourself like this! What happened?"

"I helped Master Potter to arrange things for the big surprise but then Master Malfoy didn´t like that Master Potter didn´t meet him last night and he sent Dobby to deliver a Howler to Master Potter but Master Potter couldn´t meet Master Malfoy because of the surprise and he couldn´t say anything and-" Dobby started to explain confusedly.

"ARGH! All right, stop! I think I have an idea about what happened. Basically, they kept you awake all night."

"Oh, no! Master Potter would never do that! I wanted to stay and make everything perfect for Harry Potter. Then Dobby didn´t sleep."

"Oh, Dobby, you´re so sweet."

Harry had talked to her about his plans and she was glad to be a part of it. She was astonished by Harry´s guts. He would sing for Draco in front of the entire school - with her help - and then lead him into Hagrid´s hut. Hagrid wasn´t going to be there - he was really busy talking to the giants to see if they could agree about helping the Order of Phoenix - so Harry took the opportunity to ask his permission to use the hut while he was out. Hagrid agreed, of course, since he always found it hard to deny anything to Harry, but Erin doubted that he knew what Harry´s real intentions were. Not that Erin agreed with Harry´s plan to spend the rest of night in the cabin with Draco alone. But at least she knew about it and would be able to keep an eye on them. She wondered what Dumbledore would say about all that.

"Well, Dobby, you can go to sleep, then. I´ll ask Blink to help me."

"No, Miss! Dobby can´t let you do this!"

"Dobby, it´s an order. Go to sleep!"

Obediently, Dobby went away but not before sending Blink to help Erin. A minute after the house-elf left her headquarters Snape entered looking irritated and flushed.

"I´m not going like this, Jones!" He crossed his arms and sent her a murderous look.

"What do you mean? Oh! Did you put it on?"

"YES! And I´m not going to wear this ridiculous outfit!"

He was wearing his cloak but Erin could imagine what was underneath it.

"Oh, come on! Show me!!!"

"NO!"

She came closer and tickled him until he gave up.

"STOP!" he shouted, holding her hands to stop her. "I´ll show it to you. But promise not to say anything! I don´t want to hear a word about it!"

"Ok." She crossed her fingers behind her back. "I promise."

He opened the cloak slowly and took it off. Her jaw instantly fell open.

"Oh. My. God," she found the strength to say.

"Yeah, I know. It´s ridiculous! I don´t know what I was thinking when I let you choose this. I´ll take it off immediately."

"Oh, no! If you take it off I´ll kill you!"

"What!?" he looked at her confused.

He looked so absolutely amazing wearing a black shirt and black leather pants that she felt at a loss for words. For three times she opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out of it. She couldn´t tear her eyes away from him and the way the leather seemed to delineate his firm butt. She decided to just throw her arms around his neck and kissed him until they felt out of breath.

"Wow," he muttered against her mouth, feeling a little dizzy from the ravenous kiss.

"Wow," she repeated, her eyes closed.

"If only I knew sooner that leather has this kind of delicious effect on you, Jones..."

She grinned and French kissed him.

"I also like you undressed, you know?" she said.

"We don´t have time."

"Of course we do."

"No, we don´t. I have to see Dumbledore in a few minutes."

She sighed, defeated and damn frustrated, "All right. Later then."

"You really want me to wear this?"

"Oh, yeah." She didn´t resist the urge to grab his butt. He looked amused.

"You´re such a naughty girl! All right, Jones. But I´ll have my cloak on top of it."

"It´s fine by me."

Especially because she didn´t want the other girls to stare at him as if they were hypnotized.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Oh, I was thinking about wearing that scarlet robe that-"

"WHAT? NO WAY!?" his countenance hardened. "It´s way too tight."

"So?"

"Don´t give me that, Jones! I don´t want you to wear that thing!"

"Hey, it happens to be a robe designed by one of the best stylist witches in the market!"

"I´m not saying I don´t like it. But I don´t want those horny students staring at you as if you were a piece of meat. You´re mine, Jones."

"Oh, you´re so macho!" she joked, pinching his cheeks, "But I´m going to wear it."

"No, you´re not."

"Yes, I am." She had a determined look on her face.

"You chose my outfit, why can´t I choose yours?"

"Because you´ll choose something that I´ll definitely not going to like."

"You chose something I didn´t like!"

"Not really. Deep down you have a rebellious James Dean type of soul."

"Who is James Dean?"

"Never mind. Look, I´ll wear the robe underneath my cloak. Is that ok with you?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then he agreed against his will, "All right."

She shot him a glance full of desire. "You know, you look so yummy, mister."

He glanced at his watch, then at her again and said, "Well, I guess Dumbledore can wait for a little while." That said, Erin pushed him to the bed.

----------------

"That son of a bitch! He will pay for canceling with me yesterday! No one ever had the guts to do that with a Malfoy! And for those who had, they didn´t live to tell the tale."

"Ouch! Be careful, Malfoy!" complained Hermione.

"I am being careful! You know, he didn´t even have the decency to create a good lie for not showing up! The coward sent Dobby to do his dirty work! Where did he go last night?"

"I don´t know. Maybe he didn´t leave his room, for Christ´s sake!"

"Oh, I don´t buy that! You know, Finnegan has been giving him an eye ever since that fight with Zabini. Maybe they got together. Maybe Finnegan is blackmailing Harry!" he said it as if that was the most brilliant idea he ever had.

"Oh, please!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Seamus is too sweet to do something like that."

"How sweet can a person remain after sleeping with Zabini?"

"Good point. But honestly, I don´t believe that..."

"I´ll kill him. No, I´ll kill both! That´s it."

"Oh, don´t be such a drama queen!"

But Draco wasn´t listening. He seemed to be lost in his own revengeful world.

"If he doesn´t want me, there are plenty of people who do. Perhaps I should kiss someone right in front of those damn green eyes. He did that to me once. It´s a pay back, really. Malfoys do this kind of stuff all the time without blinking. Or even better, I could order my fellow Slytherins to corner him after the stupid Ball and beat the shit out of him and-"

"OUCH! For heaven´s sake, Malfoy, watch what you´re doing!!!! It´s my hair!!!"

He woke up all of a sudden and looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. They were inside the Prefect´s bathroom and Draco was helping Hermione to tame her wild hair.

He had carefully prepared a secret cream potion - a Malfoy legacy - which was supposed to let the hair as soft and light as a plume. Not to mention that its perfume was wonderful.

`So, this is your secret for having a stunning hair,´ she had joked the moment he showed her the little yellow vial.

`Of course not! My hair it´s a gift from heaven all by itself. But I like to use this every now and then just to make sure.´

After that brief conversation, Draco made her sit down on the chair to spread the content of the vial on her hair. He´d started quite slowly and gentle but as his anger for Harry increased he started pulling her hair without noticing.

"Give me the damn thing and I´ll put it on my hair myself!" she ordered extending her hand.

"No way! This has to be done manually by a Malfoy otherwise it won´t work."

"That´s ridiculous! You just made that up!"

"No, I didn´t. Are you calling me a liar?"

"There are so many things I wish to call you right now, Malfoy... Liar is nothing compare to what I´m thinking!"

"Hey, don´t get all stressed out. Your hair may sense it and then everything will be ruined."

She shot him a look of suspicion. "What does it do besides make my hair softer to touch? What´s its damn secret magical ingredient?"

He looked at her with his eyes full of mischief. "Honestly, do you really expect me to tell you the key ingredient?"

She graciously pointed her wand at his face. "You were saying...?"

He crossed his arms, making a face. "It has Veela´s aroma in it. It´s intoxicating and if it´s bottled a little too much it can kill the person you try to seduce."

She gasped, "Take it off, now!"

"Why? The mix is perfect. I did it myself. You have nothing to worry about."

"The fact that you did it yourself is bothering me. I don´t trust you, Malfoy."

"Relax, Granger. Besides, I wouldn´t do anything bad to one of Harry´s friends."

"Yeah, but that was before you got mad at Harry."

He grinned malevolent. She shivered.

"Relax, all right? Just sit down again and let me finish it."

After half-hour, she washed her hair and dried up using magic. She went behind a partitioned wall to put her white and red dress and Draco made the last adjustment using his wand.

"You know a lot about this stuff, Malfoy. Planning on making a career as a hairdresser?"

"Ha-ha! You´re so funny," he said with irony. "I just happen to know a few practical tricks, that´s all."

"Yeah, right," she sneered.

"My job here is over. You´re ready to party," he said as he led her towards the mirror.

"Really? How do I look?" she didn´t look at the mirror.

"You look... amazing. You´re my masterpiece."

She frowned.

"All right, so maybe I´m exaggerating a little." he shrugged. "But I´m serious when I say that you look beautiful. If I was straight you would seriously tempt me. The Weasel won´t even know what hit him. And even if he does, it´ll be too late."

She took a deep breath before turning to look at her image in the mirror and took a while to realize that the gorgeous girl staring at her through the big mirror was herself. Her hair was totally straight and cascaded down her back in sparkling, silky brown texture. The dress her mother sent her fitted her body perfectly and her skin was extremely soft to touch - courtesy of another of the Malfoys lotion. She turned around to hug him.

"Thank you so much!" she said squeezing him in her arms.

He looked terribly embarrassed at this and since he wasn´t used to that kind of gesture, he froze on the spot and didn´t hug her back. She didn´t care though. She was far too happy to care about anything in that moment.

"You sure know how to look good, Malfoy, I have to give you that. I feel like Cinderella."

"If you dare compare me to the fairy that helped her I´ll kill you." He wasn´t joking.

"As long as it lasts till past midnight we´ll be fine. Thank you, Malfoy."

"You´re welcome, Granger."

-----------------

Harry was ready to rock. Or at least that was what he was trying to say to himself for the past few minutes. He bit his lower lip like he always did when he was nervous, and looked at his image through the mirror one last time. He looked good. Draco would probably look stunning but that was all right. Draco was supposed to look better than him since he was far vainer than Harry.

No matter how much Harry tried to tame his hair, it kept swirling as if it had a will of its own. At least his outfit was fine. He was dressed all in black and his cloak was green just like his eyes.

He looked devilish and extremely attractive in Seamus´s opinion. What Harry didn´t realize was that his untamed and messy hair gave him a wild and savage look that was irresistible.

"You look great, Harry," said Seamus behind him.

"Thanks," Harry answered distractedly.

"You know, these red lips of yours are demanding a kiss." Seamus took a step forward and their lips brushed slightly.

"What are you doing?" asked Harry, his eyes widely open.

"Isn´t it obvious? I´m kissing you."

Seamus pulled him closer and kissed him fully on the lips. For a second Harry felt the temptation to close his eyes and just enjoy the kiss - Seamus was a great kisser - but he couldn´t do that to Draco. He gently pulled Seamus away and shook his head.

"I´m sorry but I can´t," he said.

Seamus smiled sadly, "I know, Harry. Just thought I´d give it a shot," he winked, "It wasn´t a lascivious kiss though, just a friendly one. If it wasn´t, you didn´t stand a chance."

Harry chuckled, "If I wasn´t committed to someone, I wouldn´t be able to resist," he said in the same playful tone of voice.

"You´re so adorable, Harry. Malfoy is a lucky bastard for having you."

At the mention of Draco, Harry looked concerned.

"You didn´t tell anyone about us, did you, Seamus?" he asked.

"Of course not, Harry. You can trust me on this one. But if you want my advice, Slytherin guys are not the most reliable people in the world. Malfoy sure is a nice piece of ass, but be careful, Boy-Who-Lived," Seamus warned him.

"And you should stay away from that piece of crap that is called Blaise Zabini."

"I know."

Harry looked at the mirror again and tried to do something about his hair.

"Oh, leave it be, Harry! Your hair is just fine." Seamus took him away from the mirror.

"No, it´s horrible. Why can´t I look civilized like he does for just one day in my life?"

"I wouldn´t worry if I were you. He´ll be stunned when he sees you. I guess the reason he´s attracted to you in the first place is the fact that you´re his opposite in every way. He´ll love you, Harry. I mean, who wouldn´t?"

Again, Seamus sent him the Look, the one that said clearly that if things with Draco didn´t work out the way it was supposed to, he´d be waiting to comfort Harry at the end of the night.

"Thanks, Sean." Harry kissed his cheek softly. "Well, I guess we should be going."

Seamus didn´t move and just stared at him.

"What´s wrong?" Harry asked.

"Nothing. You just remind me of this character of a book I´m reading, called `Tall, Dark, Handsome Stranger´. It´s about two guys that fall in love with each other. Two enemies of different kingdoms, that is. Just like you and Malfoy. You are so much like John, the good guy. You know, I fantasized about him, which is why I´m finding a hard time to let you go to meet Malfoy tonight."

"Oh." Harry´s face reddened. "How... how the story ends?"

"I don´t know. I´m still on page forty-six. If you want I can lend it to you when I´m done."

"That would be cool."

Harry didn´t know what to say anymore. He just wished Seamus stopped staring at him like that. Finally, the spell was broken by the arrival of a very clumsy and late Neville.

"Oh, Ginny is going to kill me...," they heard him mutter all the way to the bathroom.

When Neville disappeared behind the bathroom´s door, they burst out laughing.

"Poor Neville," Harry said.

"Poor Ginny!" Seamus said, "Well, Harry, we should be going then. Have a great Ball."

"You, too. Wait!"

"What?"

"I was wondering if you could give me any tips..."

"Tips? About what?"

"About... sex." Harry felt his face burning.

Seamus grinned widely, "It will be my pleasure, Harry."

--------------

When Harry and Hermione entered the Great Hall, there wasn´t a single person in the room that didn´t stare at the most beautiful couple of the Ball. The Hall was filled with low murmurs of excited voices about how incredibly stunning they looked together.

Ron, who was drinking butterbeer, almost choked at the sight of Hermione. She looked so different, so beautiful. His heart started beating like crazy inside his chest and he was having a hard time hiding what he felt for her.

Draco had been bored as hell pretending to pay attention to Pansy´s annoying voice saying something he wasn´t interested in when he saw Harry. His heart also started beating fast and he was afraid that it would come out of his mouth at any moment. He wanted nothing more than to walk over to where Harry was and ravish him into a wet and deep kiss, and the entire school would witness his madness for the Boy-Who-Lived. He was so enchanted by Harry that his feet moved on its own. It wasn´t his fault really. He was just giving up to the sensation of being dragged in a whirlpool. By the time he realized what he was doing, he had touched Harry´s arm and turned him around so they were face to face.

`Shit. I´m lost.´ Draco thought. `What the hell am I doing? God, he looks great. Fuck! He´s staring at me as if I was a lunatic. And maybe I am. I´m a lunatic for this stupid-beautiful-irresistible-damnfanfuckingtasticGryffindor! I´m so lost. And Pansy, the bulldog, is looking at me with a weird expression. Come to think of it, she´s not the only one. Think, Draco, and think fast.´

Harry was having a hard time breathing. His heart had skipped a beat when he saw who had caught his arm. He also felt as if he had been caught in a whirlpool and he didn´t know what to do or say because Draco looked damn gorgeous all dressed up in silver and green. He took a deep breath and realized what a mistake that was because Draco´s scent made its way into his nose and intoxicated his lungs and his entire being.

`Shit! I´m so lost.´ Harry thought. `What the hell is he doing, staring at me like this in front of the entire school? God, he looks fan-fucking-tastic. I think he´s a lunatic. Well, Harry, he is not the only one. You´re crazy for this attractiveamazingfuckingfabulousSlytherin! I´m definitely lost. Hermione is looking at me with a weird expression. Come to think of it, she´s not the only one. Think, Harry, and think fast.´

"Potty," said Draco.

Hermione stepped on Harry´s foot to make him say something.

"Ferret," replied Harry.

"You´re in my way."

"So what? Oh, wait. Just because your Royal Highness wants, we all have to stand aside for him to pass. Well, it´s not going to happen, Malfoy. Choose another way and leave me be."

"You have nerves, Potter. Perhaps my wand can teach you better. Trust me; you don´t want to mess with me."

"Break his face, sweetie!" Pansy shouted excitedly behind Draco´s back.

"Should I hear the lady´s request?" Draco asked Harry.

"You can try if you want." Harry stepped forward, his lips almost touching Draco´s.

Draco held his breath. He prayed that his expression was of absolute loathing and not of a guy who was fascinated by the deep green depths of Harry Potter´s eyes.

"Maybe we should take this outside. We could resolve our issues once and for all, Potty. What do you think?" Draco suggested without taking his eyes off Harry. `And maybe you could explain to me why in Merlin´s name you didn´t show up for our date last night, you twit,´ he thought.

"No one will ruin this night!" Snape said appearing in front of them out of nowhere with a disgusted expression. "Potter, stop picking fights with your school mates."

"But I didn´t do anything...!" Harry started saying. Damn Snape and his grudge for him.

"Five points from Gryffindor."

"Sir, it wasn´t Harry´s fault! Malfoy was the one that...," Hermione said, but she closed her mouth as soon as Snape´s eyes fell on her.

"Miss Granger, you shouldn´t intervene unless you also want to lose points."

"Oh, no one is losing points tonight! Not while I´m here, anyway!" Erin said, "Severus, you shouldn´t intervene unless you...," she whispered something in his ears and he blushed.

Most of the students who were near by would give up anything to know what she said to him because he instantly backed away and left them alone. Erin ignored the gossip and turned to talk to Harry.

"Now, Harry, you should come with me. We have a number together, remember?"

"Now?" Harry felt his blood running cold through his veins and his hands sweating.

"Yeah! I just talked to the Weird Sisters and they said everything is ready for our little show."

Draco looked extremely interested by this. "Number? What number?"

"Harry and I will sing in a duet."

"Potter will... sing?" Draco burst out laughing, "Oh, this is gonna be so funny!"

"You know, Mr. Malfoy, we rehearsed really hard last night and I would appreciate if you didn´t do stupid jokes or laugh about it. I´m pretty sure you wouldn´t think about anything as romantic as a serenade to declare yourself to the person you like in front of the whole school and..."

Harry pulled Erin by the arm to shut her up, his face as red as a blood-flavored lollipop that you could buy at Honeydukes, the wizarding sweet shop in Hogsmeade.

"A serenade?" Draco´s eyes glittered. "That´s so... so..." Cute.

Draco could feel all the eyes turned to him in expectation. He put on his Slytherin mask.

"That´s so... corny. Honestly, Potter, could you be more old fashioned? I feel sorrow for the person you´re trying to impress, I really do," he lied, his heart clutching inside his chest.

He hoped Harry could forgive him.

"Well, since this person isn´t you, Malfoy, I couldn´t care less of what you think."

Harry looked hurt. Shit!

"Come on, Harry. Don´t listen to him. Chicks love serenades," Erin said, pulling him by the shoulder and trying to lead him to the stage where the Weird Sisters were singing.

Chicks... Harry seemed to be frozen on the spot. Suddenly, to sing his love out loud didn´t seem like such a good idea. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the Great Hall and bang his head on the nearest wall. Guys didn´t sing to others, did they? How stupid could he be?

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione said, hugging Harry and kissing him on the lips. "I´m so thrilled! I never thought this was what you meant when you said you had a surprise for me!"

Draco gasped, his hands ready to pull her out of his Harry, and Ron, who just happened to be passing by, stumbled and almost fell on the floor.

"Don´t you dare not sing your love for me!" she went on, "Just go up there and sing like you never sang before!"

"But I really never sang before!!!" he complained.

"Well, there´s a first time for everything. Now you go upstairs, Harry! That´s an order."

"But..."

"No buts!" she and Erin said at the same time.

"Do it for me!" Hermione pleaded, bashing her long eyelashes in such a charming way that even Strut felt envy for her. Ron just rolled his eyes in disgust and Draco held the urge to go there and hex her. "Show this bastard that you have a heart!"

"All right," Harry said a little bit uncertain.

He shot one last uncertain look at Draco´s direction, who was trying to send him telepathic messages of encouragement. Apparently, he wasn´t succeeding because Harry was looking doubtful and insecure.

As Harry headed for the stage with Erin beside him, he felt a thousand of butterflies beating their wings in his stomach.

`Oh, my God, I think I´m going to be sick.´

"No, you´re not going to be sick," Erin said, holding his hand.

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"It´s pretty obvious, Harry. You face is like an open book most of the times. I´m sure Draco didn´t mean any of those things; he was just playing the heartless Slytherin. Deep down he must be quite curious about your performance. And touched."

"Yeah, right." Harry crossed his arms, his face hardening. "I´m so stupid! I´ll never recover from this humiliation! He´ll always make fun of this, you know? He and the whole school."

"I don´t think so. Besides, the girls will love it," Erin grinned. "This will do great things to Hermione´s reputation and ego. She´s a smart girl, making everyone think that you´re going to sing for her."

"Girls will love it!? Girls!? Fuck! I want him to love it..."

"You´ll never know what he´ll really think if you don´t walk on that stage and sing, Harry."

"I wish it was that simple."

"Come on, don´t be scared! I´ll be right beside you." Erin extended her hand for him to catch it.

When he finally did - after pondering about it endlessly - they got on the stage. Erin and the Weird Sisters got along just fine. Harry discovered the previous night that they were friends because Erin was quite a fan of their music. Every detail had been sorted out between them. They would play the instruments and Erin and Harry would sing.

While Erin and the Weird Sisters made the last arrangements, Harry took the opportunity to look at the crowd of students that were staring at him with curious faces. He felt his body trembling all over. Maybe if he really tried, he could make everyone in the room disappear. He was Harry Potter, right? He could do it.

Erin sensed his nervousness and whispered to him very softly, "Try picturing them naked."

He could definitely picture Draco naked but the problem was that the image would not help him calm down; it would have quite the opposite effect. Harry thought about calling the whole thing off - because it was very clear that it would be a fiasco - but before he knew it, the instruments started playing. He swallowed hard.

"Harry Potter and I want to dedicate a song called `Between you and me´ to two wonderful people that touched our lives forever," Erin said.

The Gryffindors cheered, followed by others. Pretty soon her soft voice started to sing the first lyrics of the ballad:

"They say the road of life

Is paved with good intentions we have

No matter how we try

To keep our promises, sometimes we just can´t

Little bit of faith can be wondrous

It´s the only place we can turn to

Between you and me

There´s enough love that I believe

We´ll rise above and we´ll get though anything

Between you an me."

"Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Harry Potter." Erin looked at Harry and winked.

Then Harry started to sing, pretty shy at the beginning, but firmly as the song went on:

"They say that bridges burn

From one soul to another if you don´t tend the flame

And I pray somehow we´ve learned

To build an understanding from the ashes that remains

Not enough faith can be dangerous

It´s the only place we can turn to

Between you and me

There´s enough love that I believe

We´ll rise above and we´ll get through anything

Between you and me

(A/N: Between you and me, singer: Jennifer Paige)

He wasn´t the most tuned person in the world but he had a nice and pleasant voice and soon there were couples at the dance floor - mostly Gryffindors - dancing tightly in each other´s arms, following the slow rhythm of the song.

Draco ignored Crabbe and Goyle stupid jokes about what a twit Harry was being and just stared at him completely dazzled. That song was for him and he wanted to listen to it till the end.

Dumbledore grinned at Severus, who was trying hard not to blush.

"Oh, you´re so lucky, Hermione... I wish I have a boyfriend like Harry...," said Parvati.

"Yeah, me too," Hermione whispered to herself.

The song ended and the room burst with cheers and applauses. Some of the Slytherins, led by Zabini, hooted. Erin bowed her thanks enthusiastically and Harry got off the stage.

He ignored the pats on his back as he headed for the door. He was terribly embarrassed and he just needed to get out of there. Draco followed his way out with his silver-blue eyes. He wanted to go after the raven-haired boy right away but he couldn´t. He waited a little while, ignoring Goyle´s comments about Harry´s awful voice. He lost his patience and invented an excuse to retreat, not giving a damn if Goyle or Pansy had believed his lie. He got out of the Great Hall, wondering where Harry was, when he spotted Hermione in the hallway.

"You´re not going to hurt him, are you?" she asked.

"Of course not," was his only answer. "Where did he go?"

"You were harsh with him." She crossed her arms and refused to let him pass. "Was that really necessary?"

"I´m a Slytherin. I´m supposed to be harsh. And you took the opportunity to jump on him!"

"I was protecting him!"

"I don´t need to be protected!" Harry said angrily, appearing behind her all of a sudden.

"Harry...," Draco started to say but he was interrupted by Hermione.

"Do you want me to stay with you, Harry?"

"No, you can go. I´ll be fine."

Hermione didn´t seem sure about it but she left them alone.

Draco came near Harry, who took a step back.

"Did you come here to laugh at my corny idea?" Harry asked with a serious expression.

Draco smirked, "Of course. What did you think?"

"Go to hell." Harry turned around to leave but Draco caught his arm and pulled him against his body.

"You´re so beautifully naïve, Harry Potter," Draco said capturing Harry´s mouth in his and giving Harry the wet and deep kiss he deserved.