I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

Days with Harry seemed to go faster than the days without him had. Draco saw a seemingly impossible change in Harry's demeanor and attitude since they had become friends. When he thought about it, though, Draco wondered if 'friends' was the right word to describe what he and Harry were to each other. In classes, and in the hallways, they hardly noticed each other. And even though Draco secretly wished Harry would at least say 'hello' in passing, he knew this unspoken agreement was probably for the best.

Every night after dinner, however, Harry would wait for him down by the lake. Some nights, they would walk and talk. Others, they would just sit together and stare out at the water, watching the giant squid and not saying a word. After about an hour or so, they would walk back up to the castle together and go their separate ways to their dorms. The routine was the same, and remained the same until one night close to Halloween.

Draco made his way down to the lake as usual, and saw Harry standing close to the trees just at the water's edge. Draco approached Harry, but Harry took no notice of him. Assuming this would be one of the many nights they sat in silence, Draco sighed and started to sit next to Harry's standing figure. Harry, however, apparently had different plans. Just as Draco was nearly to the ground, Harry took his hand in his own. Pulling him back up, he said simply "Come on," and they began walking.

Despite his nervousness, Draco allowed himself to be dragged along by Harry, and allowed him to continue holding his hand. Usually, they talked of simple things that the world never cared about, but tonight was different. Harry spoke for a long time (though not long enough in Draco's mind) about the life of misery he shared with the Muggles on Privet Drive, and how he envied Ron and his family. This shocked Draco slightly, but when he thought about it, he realized that secretly, he envied Ron as well, though he was sure his reasons were very different from Harry's.

Nearly two hours later, Harry's talking dipped suddenly into silence, and they began walking back to the castle, still holding hands. They walked all the way to the stairways hand in hand, and as Draco turned in the direction of the dungeons, Harry stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Draco turned to face Harry, and was just beginning to ask what he wanted when Harry's lips met his own. To say Draco was astonished was, perhaps, the understatement of the century. The only thing he could think of to do that made any logical sense was to kiss Harry back, and enjoy every minute of it. So he did. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity, then, suddenly and without any warning, Harry pulled away and began climbing the staircases toward his own dorm. As stunned as he was, it took all he had for Draco to turn and walk to his own room.

He lay awake all night wondering what the hell had happened. Harry had kissed him. Why had he done it...and now that Draco thought about it, did he even actually do it??? Frustrated and tired, Draco finally managed to force himself into a fitful sleep, determined to talk to Harry about what had happened tomorrow night when they met by the lake.

Draco had never felt a day go by slower in his life. Every class seemed to draw on for hours, and lunch dragged on for a tormenting eternity. If it was possible, dinner took even longer to get through. It took all the willpower Draco had in him to keep himself from running full force down to the lake to meet Harry. To his great amazement, however, he found the lake totally abandoned when he arrived.

He waited for nearly an hour, and, still, there was no sign of Harry. Frustrated and confused, Draco stormed back up to the castle, fuming. The next day, he was determined to talk to Harry and ask him what was going on. What kind of friend was he to kiss him...kiss him...and then leave him waiting in the cold by the lake like he had. Why he was so mad, Draco didn't know. It wasn't as if he and Harry were actually friends, but he didn't know what else to call their relationship with each other, if not friendship. He soon found his carefully planned words wasted, however, when he saw no sign of Harry in class that day. In fact, he didn't even see him at meals. And even though he half expected it, Harry failed to show up that night at the lake. Harry's absence continued for nearly a week solid, until the next Wednesday when Harry showed up late to their Care of Magical Creatures class. Hagrid took no notice of Harry's tardiness, and class continued as usual. Draco was determined...He would stop Harry after class. He would say what he wanted to say.

Hagrid's class had never dragged on longer and once it was over, Harry took off at an unusually quick pace. He seemed resolved to avoid Draco, but that soon proved impossible. Draco caught his arm, and spun him around to face him.

"What the hell do you want, Malfoy?" Harry growled.

Draco was slightly taken aback by Harry's aggressive behavior, but stood firm and spoke loudly, attracting more attention than he intended to.

"Christ Potter, you fucking prick. Who the hell do you think you are, putting me through this bullshit? What were you thinking?"

Harry donned an innocent expression and feigned vicious innocence. "What the hell are you talking about Malfoy? Dreaming again, are you?"

"Dreaming?!" Draco screamed. "Potter, you asshole! Wake up! What the fuck is going on with you?!?" Their classmates were now watching from a distance, consumed by their vicious argument.

"It's nothing I can't handle, Malfoy. And it's sure as hell nothing I want you involved in. Now fuck...off." Harry hissed. That being all he felt he needed to say, Harry turned and stormed back up to the castle, leaving Draco (along with the rest of his classmates) in a confused state of shock.