Anything for a Friend

"Anything for a Friend"

By C.K. Blake

The scent of jasmines and roses filled the cool night air, as the words of Professor Severus Snape droned on, talking about the achievements of Blaise Zabini, and what a quiet, good natured, and well-liked young man he was. Those present said nothing about having the funeral being held at night, as the request had been made by none other than Harry Potter. All the while Harry sat in the front row, next to him was Draco Malfoy, the blond's arms around the Gryffindor's shoulders as Harry trembled, his eyes never leaving the dark, richly varnished coffin that held the broken body of the boy that he had loved.

Finally Severus Snape's words died out, and then Draco stood, he looked at Harry and steeled himself for what he was about to do. He walked to the podium at the head of the casket and looked at the people gathered at the funeral of his best friend, of the boy he'd fallen in love with. Draco wanted to berate the various Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws present, and he wanted to fling hexes at the two Gryffindors seated on Harry's right. Still he wouldn't dare harm Granger or Weasley, as they were present to support their friend.

Taking a deep breath, Draco's eyes fell on Harry, and then he cleared his throat, and began to speak.

"Many of you present didn't know Blaise Zabini very well, and I ask that no one protest this simple fact. I'm sure that he would have laughed at seeing so many people here tonight. In truth many of you saw him as quiet and shy, or dark and brooding. None of you knew how much he loved chocolate, or how he would spend hours reading muggle literature, and would spend an equal ammount of time trying to persuade me to read muggle authors as well, so that we could argue over literature.

"How many of you ever saw his smile, heard his laugh, felt his passion? I only know of one among you who did. I remember that I always told him I would do anything for a friend. I only wish that this were my funeral service instead of his. My last words to him were, 'I love you.' I don't think he even heard them though. He'd already gone to protect the one he loved.

"I am here now, speaking in Po...Harry's stead. You see, Blaise Zabini was well loved, and sly and cunning, but shy and easily over looked by many as well. Still there were those that saw him. I'm proud to say that I was one of those that took notice of the amazing man that he was. I remember how I brought him together with someone he fell in love with. I remember watching them in one of the gardens of Hogwarts surrounded by the scent of jasmines and roses like tonight. I played a song while Blaise struggled to teach the git how to dance, and I witnessed what happened when the music stopped, and the rest was not silence, so to speak." Here Draco paused and his mouth twisted up slightly at the corners noticing Harry's face burning crimson, as the boy looked up at him, green eyes burning, knowing exactly what the blond was talking about.

Draco then ran his tongue across his lips and continued, "I'm just thankful that I provided Blaise with some form of happiness, because he was truly happy with Harry Potter, so happy he actually glowed. And no matter what any of you say, or think, their relationship, one based on mutual love, should never have been considered forbidden. Through Blaise I learned that blood flows bright red, no matter from whom. Blood is only dirty when spilled on a battlefield. And now as we see this amazing man to the ground, I swear that I'll keep my final promise to him, no matter what. I would do anything for a friend, and he was...is the closest friend I have ever known."

Having said his piece he walked from the podium toward Harry. He then took Harry's hand, and together they walked to the pile of dirt that would soon cover Blaise's grave. Slowly the rich, dark mahogany casket was lowered into the ground, and with a final thud hit the ground of the hole. Both Draco and Harry took a handful of the dirt, Harry threw in the first fistful, fighting back the tears and sobs, and Draco, his calm façade firmly in place, threw in the second handful, and then put his arm across Harry's shoulders and began to walk away.

Before they reached the point where they could aparate away from the cemetary, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had caught up with them. Both of the Gryffindors looked uncomfortable at how close Harry and Malfoy had grown in the matter of days since the final battle. They had hardly believed their eyes when they'd seen the two boys and the body of Blaise Zabini appear on the front steps of Hogwarts, and were even more shocked to see Harry, covered in blood, pull that body into his arms, openly sobbing over it.

Now they faced their best friend, and their long time rival. Hermione was the first to step forward, and she said, "Harry, I think it's time for you to go home now. Molly has already prepared a room for you, and you could stay as long as you want."

Draco's silvery grey eyes darkened, as he took a step forward, his arm still around Harry, and said cooly, "He is going home Granger. His home is at Malfoy Manor with me."

"W-wh-what?" Ron managed to stammer.

"I made a promise, and I intend to keep it. Harry's home is with me now," Draco said and then looking rather sour added, "And since you are his friends, you are welcomed to the manor at anytime you wish to see him."

"His place is with us, Malfoy. Where we know he will be taken care of. How could we trust you to see to him?" Hermione snapped.

Finally Harry looked up at his two best friends, and his voice although shaky was rather clear. "My place is with Draco. You don't have to trust him to take care of me, because I do. If Blaise could trust him, then so can I. You heard him, you're welcome anytime."

Draco looked toward Harry, a stunned expression on his face as the dark haired Gryffindor closed his eyes and sighed, before opening them again.

"Let's go home, we both have promises to keep. It may take some time, but we will keep them. He deserved that much at the very least," Harry whispered, and Draco nodded as he took the Gryffindor by the hand and together they apparated to Malfoy Manor.

----------

Green eyes widened in shock as he heard the soft tones of a very angry voice belonging to the one person that meant the world to him. The boy could feel the warmth of the sticky blood dripping from a cut over his left eyebrow, and as it mixed with his sweat he knew it would sting once it reached his eye, but that was nothing to him, as his struggles renewed against the two large men that held him between them, as he was pummeled by another man, a tall lanky man with short dark hair and shark like eyes. They all turned in the direction of the voice, and the man with the shark eyes couldn't help the chuckle of irony that fell from his mouth.

"Let him go," the voice of Blaise Zabini, usually kind and soft to Harry's ears, rapped out sharply.

"Well, well, Roberto Zabini's boy. A pureblood, a Slytherin, betraying his blood and his house for a stupid half-blood Gryffindor," the man with shark eyes said with a sneer.

"Well Nott, whether intelligent or not, he still defeated your half-blood master," Blaise retorted.

In a moment of rage Theodore Nott lifted his right hand, his wand held firmly in his grasp and pointed it at Harry before saying, "Crucio."

Blaise watched as Harry Potter's knees collapsed beneath him, his green eyes screwed tightly shut, as he trembled with the pain from the curse and the blood from the wound over his eye dripped in a loathesome stream down the left side of his face. Within an eternal moment, Nott relented the curse and told the two goons Crabbe and Goyle Senior, to release the boy. Harry having no strength left collapsed to his knees, struggling to breathe and looking wildly around him, before his eyes focused on the boy with curly black hair and rich dark blue eyes. He saw nothing else. He never saw the growing crowd of defeated and desperate Death Eaters surrounding them or the gleam of Nott's dagger until it was too late and Blaise was sprawled out on the ground, the hilt of the blade protruding from his back.

Blood dripping in his eye, Harry arched his back, opening his arms to the sky, which was darkening magically because of Harry's rage. The pupils of Harry eyes widened, until his eyes were completely black, a gale surrounding him, the Death Eaters unable to penetrate the howling barrier, and it was when Harry turned to face the scattering of Death Eaters before him that they became afraid, as he spoke, his voice held the edge of ice.

"Fear not the inevitable death. Find in its comforting embrace solace from the pain," he said in a cold, calm tone, and then shouted, "Incendio!"

All of the Death Eaters present howled in pain and clutched at their left arms, holding to the hideous black brand on their arm. Flames licked from the mark, to slowly engulf each Death Eater, until the surrounding field was filled with burning Death Eaters, until the fire consumed them completely, leaving the field heavy with the stench of burnt flesh and the carnage of horribly burned corpses.

Harry let out a ragged breath as he fell back, his shoulders colliding with the solid earth, as tears rose from within him and slipped from the corners of his eyes. His heart stopped at the sound of a moan. Harry rolled over and began to crawl toward the sound, and noticed movement from Blaise.

"Oh gods, Blaise," Harry said as he gathered the injured boy into his arms, careful not to touch the handle of the dagger lest it cause the boy further injury.

"Harry," Blaise whispered, a small smile on his lips as he lifted his hand to run it through Harry's messy black hair and then down the boy's cheek.

"Don't talk, now. Help is coming, and then you'll be healed and you can talk then," Harry said, blinking back the tears.

Blaise shook his head before murmuring, "Too late," and then his body was wracked with a coughing fit, as he felt the blood slowly filling his lungs, the blade had pierced a lung. If the blade were removed his left lung would collapse, as it was he would die drowning in his own blood.

"No, you'll be all right. I'm sorry," Harry groaned, and brushed back a curly lock of hair from Blaise's face.

"For...what?"

"For not telling them sooner. Once we're back, the whole world will know. They will know about us, and I'll show them all how much I care about you. I swear it," Harry said, a tear slipping from his right eye.

Blaise ran his tongue over his lips and let out a shallow breath before he whispered, "Listen, now. Haven't much time... Harry, you have to...know. I...I love you."

"Shhh... You have plenty of time to tell me. Just hold on... They're going to be here soon," Harry said, and his breath caught in his throat as Blaise's hand gripped the back of his neck and the boy struggled to sit up. Harry bent down and their lips met, and as Blaise grew weaker he whispered, "It's okay to let me go. Promise...let me go..."

Blaise's body then arched as he began to cough and then he trembled, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, as his body rose once more and with a violent rench fell back limply. A piteous keening sound tore from Harry's throat as he clung to the still warm body of his dead lover, rocking back and forth, the pain overwhelming him as he buried his head against the dead boy's shoulder.

There was a sharp intake of breath, which caused Harry to look up, his face was dirty with blood and tears trecking paths down it, and he looked like any victim of war and circumstance.

"Oh Gods, what happened here? Potter, what did you do?"

"Maybe if we take the knife out... He can't be comfortable with it inside of him..." Harry answered irrationally. "Help me make him comfortable, Malfoy. Please?"

Draco Malfoy's grey eyes widened, as he looked from the irrational Harry Potter to the limp body of his best friend, the boy he had loved, in the distraught boy's arms. Draco slowly approached the desperate boy clinging to the broken body of Blaise Zabini, and knelt before him. Looking unsure, he tentatively put his hand on Harry Potter's shoulder, and those tear filled green eyes locked with his grey, and his heart stopped for a moment, the pain in those emerald eyes overwhelming him.

"Please... I'll do anything. Just help me go to him," Harry pleaded.

"I can't do that Potter," Draco replied, before he ran his other hand over Blaise's face, closing those blank dark blue eyes staring up at nothing, and felt his own heart break.

"Why not?"

"I promised to take care of you. Not to kill you," Draco answered quietly, and then lifted the hand that rested on Harry's shoulder to Harry's dirty face to gently stroke it. "He was my best friend. And I would do anything for a friend. Now let him go. He's gone Harry."

Harry shook his head. "No. No. It can't be. It should have been me. He came here to protect me. He... He loved me... I can't...just let him...go..."

"Yes, you can," Draco spoke with resolve in his voice. "He wanted you to go on. Now, you stupid stubborn Gryffindor, take my hand, and we'll leave this place. All right?"

"But... I can't leave him."

Draco looked at the limp body of his friend, and nodded. "We'll bring him too. But you have to promise me one thing... For Blaise."

Harry looked up, his eyes wide with grief and shock. "Anything."

"Allow me to take care of you."

Harry swallowed thickly as he nodded and then he looked at the body he held in his arms. Blaise looked so peaceful with his eyes closed. Harry bent down, and kissed Blaise on the forehead, before he slowly got to his feet and took Draco's hand, but not before grasping the limp hand of Blaise's body. Within a moment he felt the familiar tug at his navel as Draco activated a portkey that took them back to the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

----------

The attack on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been going on for well over four hours when the battle began to turn. Giants were busy killing each other, the dementors numbers had vastly diminished and those left were retreating to the Forbidden forest, and the Death Eaters were aparating away from the battlefield, their numbers diminished as well. A shockwave seemed to shake all of those on the battlefield, and that was when Blaise Zabini noticed the absence of the one person he couldn't be without.

He looked around the field, hardly seeing the fires and various bodies, a Hufflepuff here, a Ravenclaw and Slytherin there. A few Death Eaters a couple of feet away, an auror, a Gryffindor. Carnage, blood, burned flesh was all around him, and so were the survivors shakily getting to their feet and looking around them in shock, but he saw none of it. He saw no one until he saw the cloaked figures aparate directly in front of him. Obviously the aparition barriers would have to be restored around the school grounds again.

The cloaked figures removed their hoods and Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy were revealed. Blaise knew the plan. Once the Dark Lord was defeated Snape and Draco and Harry were to return to Hogwarts. Blaise looked at the two men before him, and his breath caught in his throat as his knees gave way beneath him.

"Oh Gods no. Where is he? Is he...?" Blaise asked shakily as he took his face in his hands.

Draco and Snape exchanged a glance of confusion and then realized that Harry wasn't with them. Snape then looked at Blaise in sudden realization, and Draco knelt down before his friend and put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It's all right Blaise. Harry defeated Voldemort. That was our signal to get away. He must have stayed behind to tie up some loose ends, but he survived," Draco said.

Snape of course verified Draco's word with a firm shake of his head, and then pulled back the sleeve of his left arm and looked down at the mark that was slowly fading away, and then he turned his face to Draco, holding out his arms, a look of amazement in the usually sullen black eyes of the Potions Master.

"We're free, Draco. Finally free," Snape said.

Draco looked down at his hands, never noticing that Blaise had looked up when Draco's hand slipped from his shoulder. "But the price was too high, Severus. My hands spilled my father's blood for freedom. He knew me for a traitor, that's why he drew on me before the final duel..."

"Your father was a monster," Blaise said, and slowly wrapped his arms around his trembling friend. The fact that Draco Malfoy was trembling showed just how shaken the boy with cool silvery grey eyes and platinum blond hair was.

Draco threw his arms around Blaise and tilted his head up until his lips met the dark haired boy's full mouth. Blaise was caught by surprise as Draco's tongue slipped into his mouth, and a growl emmitted from the blond boy's throat, as he pulled Blaise closer to him. Severus Snape was of course watching in open-mouthed shock.

Finally the blond pulled back from the dark haired boy and sighed in defeat. "I thought that once Lucius was gone I could finally have you, tell you how I feel, and maybe you could love me. But then you fancied Potter, and I would do anything for a friend. So I helped you get him. You don't know how much it rips me apart to see the love you have for him shining in your midnight eyes. If you want to go to him he's at the field just beyond a muggle cemetary where Voldemort's father is buried. Aparate to Tom Riddle's grave, and from there you can reach the field."

"Thank you," Blaise whispered, and then he looked up, his dark blue eyes locking with Draco's grey, as a dark feeling of forboding swept over him and he spoke.

"Draco, should anything happen to me, swear to me that you will take care of Harry. No matter what, he has to survive. Don't let him do anything foolish. No matter what happens to me, you see that he goes on." Blaise's voice was steady as a slight tremor ran up his spine. "And never again save your 'I love yous' for the moment when it's too late Draco."

"I love you, Blaise," Draco whispered as the dark haired boy stood, up and brandishing his wand aparated to the place where Harry Potter had last been seen.

Fighting the trembling the blond stood and held his head up high. He looked at Severus Snape and then a tremor ran up his spine. "I have to go after them Severus. Something's wrong. Potter would have been back by now."

Severus gave a nod, a little shaken by the battle and the confessions he'd witness only moments before. He watched as Draco Malfoy aparated away, to protect the man he loved. Severus Snape hoped that he wasn't too late, as he began to walk toward the school where he could seek out Poppy. He'd done well by hiding the wound, but now his body was trembling and if he didn't get help quickly he would... There was no time left as darkness clouded his vision and he fell to the ground in a dead feint, his cloak spread open and the blood still spreading on his white button up shirt. Maybe he would be found in time...

----------

"You have to tell them. They will find out eventually! Are you ashamed of us? Of the things we do together?" Blaise snapped.

Harry's eyes widened at the vehemence in the boy's voice. "No, why would I be? It's just... They wouldn't understand. Hermione would be shocked, and Ron... Merlin only knows what Ron would do, if he found out that I fancy boys. And I doubt that either of them could except me being with a Slytherin."

"Why? Because a Gryffindor fucking a Slytherin is forbidden!"

Harry looked stunned, as his face went pale, and anger made his voice shake.

"Is that all this is? A good fuck? I'm glad to know now. That way I won't have to wait around for you to tire of me. I'm not telling them anything Zabini, because there is not a damn thing to tell them!" Harry bit out as he turned from the boy and headed back toward the door that would lead him out of the garden, a terrible feeling, like razorblades shredding his gut, deep in the pit of his stomach. He fought every instinct to keep from looking back at the beautiful dark haired, olive skinned boy with the most amazing blue eyes he'd ever seen.

Blaise's eyes never left the boy until the heavy wooden door closed behind him. Blaise closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. Trying to fight the urge to lash out or curl up and forget everything in the world.

His body stiffened when he heard a familiar voice. "My, my, that went well. And here I thought you loved him."

"I do," Blaise replied as he looked up noticing the blond boy with the grey eyes as he emerged from the shadows by the rosebushes. "You've no idea, but how do I tell him? He'll never want to speak to me again. You heard him."

"Well he's a right arse anyway. I know you're fucking him and you're still my friend. What's his excuse for not telling Granger and the Weasel?"

"Draco, have you any idea what would happen if Weasley or even Granger found out about Harry and me? And after the way he just stormed out... They would be more than willing to hex me, and what in the bloody hell are you doing out here? Spying, were you?" Blaise asked with a raised eyebrow.

The blond smirked. "Looking out for your interests. You know I would do anything for you."

"Yes, and I would do the same for you," Blaise replied, and then his eyes narrowed as he noticed the minute shaking of Draco's head.

"No," Draco said. "You wouldn't. But the sentiment is nice."

----------

The blond rolled his grey eyes as he looked at his dark haired blue-eyed friend. "Blaise, everything is taken care of. All you have to do is go to the rear garden. He'll be there. I put a charm on the note. There is no chance in hell that he'll refuse to show up."

"How could you do this? He will see me there and I'm a Slytherin. One look and he'll turn right back around. And what gave you the right to even send him a note on my behalf? Are you daft? Stupid sodding git. He would never have anything to do with me," Blaise hissed.

Draco shrugged. "How would you know that unless you showed up tonight? If you aren't there then I will be. Now spare Potter the horror of getting a Secret Admirer note from his rival. I did it for your own good, and ultimately for me. I would have gagged if I'd seen you swooning over the prat one more time. Really Blaise, to say nothing of taste."

Blaise spent the next few hours brooding while deciding what to wear, showering, shaving, dressing and fixing his wild black curly hair. Eventually he settled on a dark red satin shirt, black trousers, black socks, his boots, and a black cloak. Once he was ready, he sighed and left the dungeons, headed toward the rear garden.

He slipped into the garden and found it lit brightly by moonlight. He noticed the moon's current position. It was nearing midnight. He settled on a cool stone bench on the farside of the garden near the jasmines and roses, the rich fragrance of the two flowers mixing into a strange sweet scent. Inhaling the sweet aroma of the surrounding vegetation the boy looked up, his eyes scanning the sky, gazing at the stars, noticing a constellation here or there, but not really taking it in, only marveling at the simple beauty of the small sparkling diamonds nestled in rich inky blackness.

He stiffened at the sound of someone's approach and looked in the direction of the heavy wooden door, and then he heard the sharp intake of breath only a few feet before him. The boy sighed and then spoke.

"I know you're there. It's become common knowledge that you own an invisibility cloak. Have a seat, Potter," Blaise offered patting the spot beside him on the stone bench.

Harry pulled back the hood of the cloak and then took it off, looking suspiciously at the Slytherin sitting on the bench. Blaise stood and removed his black cloak, and Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise as he noticed the dark red of Blaise's shirt. Harry took a few tentative steps toward the boy and then took a seat on the stone bench, careful to keep himself distanced from the boy.

Harry gave the boy a sideways glance and then shook his head. "The note was signed an admirer. I don't even know why I came really. Usually I wouldn't give those kinds of notes a second thought. I wasn't expecting a..."

"A boy?" Blaise cut in and looked up toward the sky.

Harry's cheeks darkened slightly in color. "Actually I was going to say a Slytherin."

"Oh," Blaise said and inclined his head.

"Look, is this some kind of prank or something? I've seen you and Malfoy together. You're friends right? Or as close to friends as Malfoy can get."

Blaise nodded. "He and I grew up together, and he would do anything for me. He actually went through the trouble of setting this up for me, despite his hostile feelings towards your person. This isn't about Draco..."

"Then what is it about?" Harry asked sharply.

"You still haven't learned to dance, have you, Potter?" Blaise asked suddenly.

Harry taken completely by surprise answered suddenly, "No, but what has that to do with anything?"

"Care to learn?" Blaise asked, extending his hand toward the Gryffindor.

Harry looked at the hand skeptically before shrugging, standing up, and taking it. Blaise smiled as he put Harry's hands on his shoulders, and put his own hands on the Gryffindor's waist. "I'll lead until you've learned," Blaise said.

Harry snorted. "This is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me, and that's saying a lot. If we're going to dance where is the music?"

A soft melody filled the air as the two boys began to sway to the music, and words sung by a woman filled the air, but the words hardly mattered, fading in and out to the two boys, as their eyes locked and they continued to sway.

'You just faded away
You spread your wings you had flown
Away to something unknown
Wish I could bring you back.
You're always on my mind
About to tear myself apart.
You have your special place in my heart.

Always heaven is a place nearby
So I won't be so far away.
And if you try and look for me
Maybe you'll find me someday.
Heaven is a place nearby
So there's no need to say goodbye
I wanna ask you not to cry
I'll always be by your side.

And even when I go to sleep
I still can hear your voice
And those words
I never will forget.'

As the music began to fade into the night, Blaise stopped moving and Harry following the boy's lead stopped as well. They were both about the same height, and suddenly Harry drew in his bottom lip, worrying it between his teeth, and Blaise's eyes were drawn to the boy's mouth, until he was leaning into Harry, his lips pressed firmly against the Gryffindor's mouth, his tongue demanding entrance. Harry's eyes fluttered shut, and Blaise's eyes followed, as Harry opened his mouth and their tongues met, tentatively touching, tasting the other.

Harry's hands slipped from Blaise's shoulders as his fingers began to work at the buttons on Blaise's dark red shirt. Blaise moaned, slipping his hands beneath the waistband of Harry's trousers to jerk his shirt free, desperate to touch the boy, as his hands slipped beneath Harry's white oxford shirt. At Blaise's touch Harry drew back from the kiss, his eyes flying open.

"Oh God, what is this?" Harry asked in shock, nearly taking a step back, as he realized he'd unbuttoned Blaise's shirt completely, and his throat went dry as he saw the olive colored flesh of Blaise's chest.

Blaise took a deep breath and looked at the boy standing across from him, taking in the messy black hair, the bright green eyes behind a pair of glasses, the swollen mouth, he was handsome. "It's whatever you want it to be. I'm here for the taking, if this is what you want."

"You're just giving yourself to me?" Harry asked incredulously.

Blaise's blue eyes sparked in a moment of anger. "If you feel that way," he hissed, and grabbed the collar of Harry's shirt, pulling the boy back towards him before savaging his mouth and pulling back suddenly. "Then I will just have to take what I want."

Soon Harry was giving in as Blaise's fingers flicked open the buttons of his shirt and then worked on the button and zipper of his trousers. Soon the boys were in nothing but their boxers, both staring hungrily at each other, but it was Blaise that pounced, kissing Harry, and then trailing kisses down the boy's jaw, chin, throat, collarbone, chest, his tongue flickering over the nipples, and then trailing down the boy's taunt stomach, until Blaise was on his knees yanking Harry's boxers down.

Blaise looked at Harry's arousal and smirked, as his eyes lifted to lock with Harry's green. Blaise then took Harry into his hand, and leaning toward the boy's arousal, flicking his tongue over the tip of it, tasting the first drop of what was to come before he had Harry completely engulfed in his mouth.

Unbeknownst to the two boys, someone watched from the shadows, his grey eyes wide as his hands undid his trousers and he pulled out his own erection, stroking himself as he watched the two dark haired boys, one with green eyes the other with blue, make love for the first time.

----------

Draco noticed the direction of his best friend's intent gaze and rolled his eyes.

"Really Blaise, must you stare so adoringly at them?" Draco said in disgust, as his own grey eyes were drawn to the trio, a redhead Ron Weasley, and a bookish bushy haired brunette, Hermione Granger, surrounding the golden boy of Gryffindor, Harry Potter with his mop of messy black hair, bright green eyes behind glasses, and the scar known throughout the wizarding world on his forehead.

Blaise simply sighed, and Draco's eyes narrowed as he grabbed his dark haired friend by the collar. He had never seen that wistful look on Blaise's face before. Draco manhandled the boy into an empty classroom before locking and warding the door, and then he spun around to face his friend.

"Bloody hell, Blaise! What is going on with you? You've been staring at the bloody golden trio for a month now. You haven't gone and fallen for Granger have you?"

"Granger?" Blaise nearly choked.

Draco eyes widened. "Well then why do you stare at them? You must fancy one of them."

Blaise's cheeks grew warm as he tried to avoid his friend's penetrating grey gaze, before quietly speaking.

"You must swear not to tell anyone. I mean it Draco."

"You know I wouldn't. I always keep the secrets of my friends. Remember, anything for a friend, Blaise, anything."

"It's stupid really, but I can't help it. I fancy Harry though," Blaise quietly replied.

"Harry?" Draco responded and blinked rapidly. "You mean you fancy Potter?!"

"I told you it was stupid, and don't look at me like that."

"But he's a Gryffindor! And he's Harry bloody Potter!"

"I know," Blaise said in exasperation. "I know it would never happen, but I can't help it. Just forget about it, Draco..."

Draco shrugged and then nodded. "Fine, already forgotten." But in reality, Draco's words didn't reflect his thoughts, as the blond took down the wards and unlocked the door. He let Blaise walk out first, before following his friend to Care of Magical Creatures, all the while his mind in a whirl.

Draco smirked at his best friend's back as he thought, 'Imagine the outcome of a relationship between Gryffindor's Golden Boy and a Slytherin! A male Slytherin at that! Well, Blaise is a friend, and I would do anything crafty and conniving for a friend...'

End.