They Shook Hands: Year Three (Original Version)

Dethryl

Story Summary:
Harry Potter's summer holiday has been anything but fun. He's been treated like a common criminal by the Muggles. His circumstances don't begin to improve when he finally breaks out, for one of Voldemort's strongest supporters has likewise escaped, from Azkaban, the most secure place in England. The mad Sirius Black killed thirteen people with a single curse and is now believed to be after Harry. The Ministry of Magic takes drastic security measures, but what can stop the first man to elude the dreaded Dementors? Harry Potter is not safe, even within the walls of Hogwarts, for rumours are told that a traitor may well be in their midst.

Chapter 14 - Kissing and Telling

Chapter Summary:
Harry tells Draco about kissing Blaise. He plans to do it at the New Year's Eve party, but many unexpected things happen. On the train, the lads fight amongst themselves, but they don't miss a chance to eavesdrop on the girls. Back at school, Harry makes his attempt to get Weasley back for his nasty prank. Goyle and Crabbe rave about Care of Magical Creatures, Jenna complains about Divination, and Draco is deliberately rude to someone.
Posted:
04/09/2008
Hits:
2,279
Author's Note:
Let me just say that I love my new betas.



They Shook Hands : Year Three

An alternate (but realistic!) universe Harry Potter fic
by Dethryl

Chapter Fourteen - Kissing and Telling

A few days later, Harry followed Draco as he returned to his room after dinner. He walked right on in and shut the door behind him. Without preamble, he said, "So I kissed Blaise on Christmas Eve."

"Finally!" Draco cheered. "What's it like? Did it hurt?"

"She was soft."

"What?"

Harry didn't know how else to say. "Her lips. They were very soft."

"That's all?"

"Let's see. She closed her eyes. I guess I did too. It was like elec- like, like-" A worthy magical metaphor escaped him. "My head felt all tingly."

"Did you feel like you were floating?"

"A bit."

"So what else?"

"I can't tell how long it lasted. We stopped. I couldn't think of anything to say. Then we came back to the party."

"So that's why you hardly said a word the whole night."

Harry let that one slide. "And I kissed her again after the show."

"I'm amazingly impressed, old bean. Are you trying to make up for lost time?"

"What's that supposed mean?" Harry demanded.

"By her own admission, she's crushed on you since you first met. And you've been too oblivious to notice." Draco seemed rather smug in pointing out Harry's cluelessness.

"Says Casanova," Harry grumbled.

"What?"

"Never mind." Harry mentally kicked himself for using a Muggle reference.

"Are you going to do it again?"

Harry didn't know the answer to that. "Probably. I think I want to."

They both let the subject drop and did not speak of it again, but Harry had only a few days to decide what he would do. It was time for the New Year's Eve party.

Harry felt quite comfortable in his white robes this year. This particular set had been tailored to him by Madam Malkin, and she was the best. His mirror thought he looked smashing. Harry was inclined to agree.

In the sitting room, he carefully covered himself up with the Floo cloak and stepped through to Moonlight Meadows.

On the other side, the first person he saw was Jenna. She looked very nice tonight, and Harry noticed she'd put on some make-up.

"Hey!" Jenna said with delight as she caught sight of him. "You're here!"

"Why so I am."

"Where's your sidekick?"

"He's coming along. He wanted to make sure it was safe before he risked musing his precious hair."

Jenna giggled. "That prat. Just for that I'm not dancing with him tonight."

"You mean you were planning to?"

"You're in good form tonight."

Harry grinned at her. "Is Blaise here yet?"

Jenna's smile dropped a bit. "No, Jamie arrived by herself a few minutes ago. She says Blaise is grounded. Apparently she didn't do as good a job scrubbing off her make-up as she thought. Her mum was waiting for her and immediately put a light in her face. The shouting apparently woke the whole house."

Harry didn't know how to feel about that. Was he disappointed or relieved?

At that moment, Draco arrived. "Hey Jenna," he said in greeting. "See to my cloak, would you?"

"I see it, and it's absolutely filthy, Malfoy." She giggled. "Filthy Malfoy."

"Hey!"

Fortunately Jenna had the good sense to stop talking just then, for Mr. Malfoy arrived and turned a stern gaze over his surroundings. He looked at everything, and he exhaled slightly through his nose before nodding and smiling as he greeted his host's daughter.

"Miss Moon, you are so radiant, you could hang in the sky on darkest night and have the people swear they heard werewolves."

Jenna beamed up at him. "Orta recens quam pura nites."

Mr. Malfoy obviously knew what that meant, because his smile became a little more natural. "Charming," he said.

Mrs. Malfoy and Elan were only just arriving, and she spent a few moments looking Jenna over. Evidently she passed muster, because Mrs. Malfoy smiled and said, "Take the young lady's arm, Elan, and let us meet the master of the house."

The four of them swept off, leaving Harry and Draco to their own devices.

"Punch?" Draco suggested.

"Sure."

Not many people were there quite yet. Most were gathered in the ballroom, where Jenna's father was holding court, as it were. The room was not small, though not overly-large either.

Jenna was a spitting image of her mother, Harry realized. Both had the same shade of blonde hair and the same small nose. The crooked smile was identical.

The smile on Jenna's dad's face could have rivalled Gilderoy Lockhart's for toothiness and gleam. His hands moved as he talked, but he didn't seem to be overly excitable. He chatted for quite awhile with Mr. Malfoy as the house filled with guests.

Harry missed most of his friends that night. Crabbe had gone to visit distant relatives for the holiday; Goyle was down with a cold. Pansy's parents had snubbed the Moons, while Millie had been fighting with her little brother Arcen and was grounded like Blaise. Tim was missing in action. In fact, there weren't a lot of kids present at all. With only Draco and Jenna around, Harry actually felt a bit lonely.

"Harry! Hi, Harry!"

He turned to see a perky Slytherin second year standing near him.

"Laine? What are you doing here?"

Laine giggled. "It's a party, isn't it? I'm partying!"

"I didn't expect to see you here."

"My father met Mister Moon last year on business. He was kind enough to invite us to this little gathering tonight."

"You look very nice," Harry said. And she did. Harry didn't know much about dresses, but Laine's white number looked very expensive. She'd done her hair up with a lot of jewelled pins.

"And you look very handsome."

"What, this old thing?" he joked. "Madam Malkin does excellent work."

"Yes, she does."

"Any of the other second years here?"

"No, just me from what I can tell. Not everyone is important enough to get an invitation to The Party."

"Is this second year bothering you, Harry?" Jenna asked, coming up behind Laine and standing with her hands on her hips.

"Constantly," he replied with a grin and a wink at Laine.

"Well I want to dance, and I need a partner. Seeing as Draco is a prat, it falls to you. Laine, will you excuse us?"

Laine's smile now seemed a bit fixed. "Of course. But only if I get to dance with Draco."

"Done."

They danced for hours. It was nearly midnight when Jenna and Harry ducked away from the crowd. Jenna collapsed on a couch in the sitting room with a groan.

"I can't move. Bring me a blanket and pillow."

"I can't move either," Harry said, taking the other end of the small sofa.

"Having fun?"

"Yeah. Your folks put on a good party, even if we are the only kids."

"Thanks."

They sat together without speaking for a moment. The only sound was the crackling of the fire in the grate sending dancing shadows over the walls.

"Jenna, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure. It's not anything serious, is it?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." She sat up a bit straighter. "What's going on, then?"

"Blaise kissed me at Christmas."

"Well finally."

"That's not helping."

"Oh, you wanted help. I see." Jenna leaned in towards him. Harry caught a flash of something in her eyes that made him very nervous. "She finally went and did it. I've been waiting for that. Now I can do this."

And she kissed him.

Too shocked to even move, Harry sat there while Jenna pressed her lips to his. His heart rate was sky-rocketing. Lights danced behind his closed eyes.

When she broke the kiss, she hid her face from him. "Don't ever let her know I did that," Jenna begged of him. "She'd kill me."

Harry couldn't think of anything to say. And before he could even open his mouth to try, she ran out of the room.

Harry was very confused.

He sat there, staring after the girl he'd had coffee with every Thursday morning for a whole school year. She'd been someone to crack jokes with, to laugh with. She'd never been a girl to him, not like that. He'd contemplated kissing her once and had been unable to do it. Now it had happened, and Harry didn't know how.

Maybe he should go talk to her. Maybe he should do like she asked and never mention it again. Maybe he was in way over his head.

Harry stood up and made his way back to the party. Draco was just leading Laine off the dance floor, and her face lit up when she saw Harry. They congregated near the punch bowl.

"It's almost time," Draco said, hoisting a cup.

"Another year gone," Laine declared.

"May the next be a lucky one," Harry added.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Laine pulled Harry to the side after the the band started playing again. "Now it's my turn to give you a late present," she joked. She took a small box out of her pocket and held it out to him. "Happy Christmas."

Harry had sent her a box of Chocolate Frogs as a present. Her return gift was a prism, of the clearest crystal he'd ever seen.

"This is great. Thank you."

"You're most welcome, Harry." She glanced up and giggled. Harry also looked up.

"Oh no," he said.

And then Laine had her lips mashed against his. In his head, Harry absently wondered what genius had decided mistletoe meant kissing.

It lasted only a few seconds. Laine smiled at him and said, "See you at school."

And she was gone.

Harry was now thoroughly confused. He got himself a cup of punch and went to find Draco.

His best mate was sitting in the corner, gobbling sweets from the buffet. Harry sat down with a thud.

"Draco, I don't know what to do."

"Okay."

"It's about girls."

"Okay. You might be asking the wrong Malfoy."

"Jenna kissed me tonight."

"Jenna!"

"I didn't see it coming either," Harry admitted.

"Well that's because you're clueless."

Harry ignored that and took a deep breath. "She's not the only one."

Draco's joviality vanished. "What?"

"Laine. Slater."

"Slater?"

"Is there an echo in here?" Harry asked. "Yes, Slater. You know? The second year girl who got Ginny Weasley off our backs? The one who got me to bring her a present from Hogsmeade? The one you've been dancing with tonight?"

Rather than being sympathetic, Draco became cross. "You tosser! How come you get all the girls?"

"Why should you care? I thought girls had germs or something. Isn't that what you said?"

"That was before Elan told me what fun it is to snog. None of the girls in our year seem to be interested in me, and you've got girls in other forms chasing you as well! It's not bloody fair!" Draco sounded genuinely upset. His opinion on girls had obviously shifted drastically.

"This is all wrong," Harry declared. "You're supposed to help me figure things out, not get mad at me for what I didn't do."

"I will help. But first I'm going to swear at you for a little while."

* * *

It was time to go back to school.

Harry overslept, was late to breakfast, and still hadn't packed up all his things. He rushed around his room, throwing clothes in the general direction of his trunk with one hand and stuffing toast into his mouth with the other. Where were his slippers?

Finally everything was packed. He was still hungry, but a quick word to a house elf yielded a brown paper bag that smelled of sausages and scrambled eggs. He would eat it on the train.

Elan helped Draco to lift his trunk down the stairs. Mr. Malfoy watched silently and harrumphed quietly to himself. He grasped the handle of Harry's trunk and let out a startled yelp.

"Great Merlin! Do you have bricks in here, Harry?"

"Elan gave me weights for Christmas, sir."

"He did, didn't he?" Mr. Malfoy put the trunk down. With a twist, he pulled his wand from the body of his serpent cane. He pointed it at the trunk, and it rose up and headed down the stairs towards the fireplace in the sitting room.

The Floo trip to Puddlemucker's wasn't even that bad. Harry took a long drink of water from the cup handed to him by the proprietor and wasn't even dizzy. He was definitely getting used to Floo travel.

He pushed a Galleon across the counter and waved off his change. "Friend coming through," he said.

"Very good, young sir."

Draco followed about a minute or so later. When he reached for his money, Harry shook his head. Together they walked out into Muggle London.

It was noisy and crowded, but the boys were easily able to push their trunks down the sidewalk and into King's Cross station. Fighting through the mob, they eventually made it to platforms nine and ten.

Draco cocked an eyebrow at Harry. "Ladies first," he joked, lavishly gesturing at the barrier.

"What about little boys?" Harry shot back. "You know, ones who haven't kissed a girl?"

Draco winced. "That's hard, mate. Why must you treat me so?"

"Because you're a git."

Before Draco could reply, Harry headed for the barrier at a run. When he was about to crash and hurt himself, he closed his eyes and thought about the English countryside. Thus distracted, he passed right on through to Platform 9 and ¾.

The great red engine always surprised him by how big it was. Somehow it shrank in his memory. He waited patiently for Draco to follow him and together they loaded their trunks on board.

There had been quite a few wizards on the platform, but the two boys were the first of their gang to arrive. Without Elan to expand the compartment, Harry knew they would be cramped. Seven growing Slytherins just didn't fit, never mind nine. Perhaps they should take out a wall? They inquired of Jamie about expanding the compartment, but she flatly refused them and flounced off.

Harry shovelled his delayed breakfast into his mouth as fast as he could. If there were any left when Crabbe or Goyle got there, it would disappear faster than you could say Snitch. He crumpled the empty bag and shoved it in his pocket.

They played games while they waited. Draco managed to thrash Harry at gobstones for ten games in a row. Harry shoved the board at him in disgust and pulled out a deck of cards. He held one card by the corner and threw it at Draco. His mate cussed at him as the small explosion left a soot mark on his robes.

"So when are we going to get Weasley?" Draco wanted to know. "I don't want his own mother to recognize him." Then he laughed. "Actually, she's got so many kids maybe it wouldn't take much."

"Two of those kids are Slytherins," Harry pointed out. "Percy never used to smile unless he was enforcing the rules, and Ginny could have been placed by the Sorting Hat."

"Weaslette is still a Gryffindor. Slater said so herself. She just lives in Slytherin."

Before Harry could answer, Tim came into the compartment. "Happy Sunday," he said dourly.

"What's eating you?" Harry asked.

"No breakfast. Dad was up all night, and I couldn't wake him this morning. I left him a note telling him I'd gone back to school, because otherwise I think he might not realize where I've gone."

Harry felt a pang of guilt for not having any breakfast left to share and also a stab of sympathy. "That's rough." He couldn't imagine a father who neglected his son. Then again, Harry would have been grateful for any sort of dad.

Crabbe was the next to arrive, and he started belly-aching about not having enough breakfast, which prompted Tim to shove him back into the corridor and slam the door. He cast a Locking Charm and flounced back into his seat. He picked up the deck of cards and began to shuffle it.

"Snap?"

"No," Draco answered. "Deal out nine. This is a new game Elan learned at Durmstrang."

The door to their compartment rattled loudly. Out in the hall, Crabbe started to describe all sorts of unpleasant things he was going to do to Tim unless the door were opened immediately. Tim ignored the noise and dealt out the cards.

Several hands later, they heard "Alohamora!" cast and the door clicked open. Goyle stood there with wand in his hand. He looked a little hacked off.

"Why did you lock Crabbe out?" he asked of Tim.

"Because he's a wanker," Tim snarled. He was losing at Exploding Rummy.

"There's no need to get upset."

"Piss off."

"Why don't you?" Goyle folded his arms across his chest.

"Are you feeling brave, fathead?"

"Are you?"

Tim's sneer was horrible, but Goyle wasn't fazed at all. He unfolded his arms and cracked his knuckles. Harry didn't know if they'd use fists or wands, but he was certain that his friends were about to start fighting. He spoke up.

"Hey! None of that."

Tim backed down first. He picked up his cards, of which he had many, and discarded one. Goyle sat down next to Harry, and Crabbe sat next to Draco.

"Hey, rummy!" Goyle noticed.

"Yes, it is," Draco said.

"No, I mean rummy!" He picked up a bunch of cards from the discard pile and laid down three of them. One was the card Tim had thrown away.

"That's it, I quit!" Tim tossed his cards away, and they exploded with a small flash of fire. He left the compartment.

"Hope he doesn't keep that attitude around the dementors," Goyle said dismissively. He discarded a seven.

They didn't see Tim for the rest of the train ride. The girls stopped by to say hello, but they had claimed a space two doors down. They also refused to let the boys in. They visited for a little while, but there really wasn't room for them all.

It was Draco's idea to follow them when they left. Peering out the door, they watched the girls disappear into their compartment. When it clicked shut, they nearly fell over themselves to get down the hall and crouch down outside.

"I've got the most amazing news, girls," Blaise announced. "I finally did it. I kissed him."

There was much ooh-ing and aah-ing. Blaise was about to go into details when Jenna interrupted. The door slid open, and there she stood, glaring down at the four boys who were crouched by the keyhole.

"May I help you?"

"I lost my monocle in my compartment," Draco said from the floor.

"So why are you looking around our door?"

"Because the light is better here."

Jenna told Draco to do something that was probably impossible without the help of magic. She drew her wand. "Now get, before I hex the lot of you!"

Harry caught Blaise's eye before they were shuffled off, and he swore he saw her smile at him.

* * *

That evening after dinner, Harry heard Weasley mention visiting the Owlery as he left the Great Hall. He immediately pulled Draco into a side corridor. Crabbe came along too with a curious expression on his face.

"Weasley's going up to the Owlery. Now's our time to get that stupid rat of his."

By taking secret passages, they made it up to the top of the castle in only a few minutes. They were all puffing heavily, but they'd beaten Weasley there. Harry called Regal down, and his magnificent eagle owl landed obediently on his arm.

Harry saw with pleasure that the soot mark had mostly faded. The feathers must have fallen out -- or been plucked out. Regal was friendly with Draco's owl, Arlette.

"Regal, do you remember the boy who put that mark on you?"

The owl's big eyes stared wisely at him.

"He's coming up here soon. Do you know what to do?"

Regal hooted softly. He flew up into the rafters and perched next to Arlette, who nipped at his ear tufts lightly.

"Let's hide."

The three boys went out and crept under the wooden stairs that led up to the Owlery. Within minutes, Weasley came bounding along, singing not-so-softly to himself. Harry recognized it as one of the Three Weird Sisters' current hits that was always being played on the wireless.

Weasley climbed up the steps, not seeing the three Slytherins hiding beneath. He took one step into the Owlery and let out a shriek of pure terror. A vast flurry of wings was heard.

"Stupid, ruddy owls!" Weasley shouted. "Hey! Scabbers! Give him back! Let him go right now! Leave him alone!"

Harry smiled. "Mission accomplished!" he whispered to Draco and Crabbe.

With a wave of his wand, he Transfigured one of the wooden steps into a box. Regal swooped in, deposited the rat, and flew away again.

Weasley came thundering down the stairs, tripped over the missing step, and fell flat on his face. Harry very nearly gave away their presence by laughing loudly before he followed Crabbe and Draco into the secret passage.

Back in the dungeons, the rat was unceremoniously extricated from the wooden box and flung into the iron cage, which Harry had asked Elan Malfoy to produce for him over the holiday. The wood shifted back into a step and vanished from their sight, returning to the Owlery stairs. The rat squeaked most pathetically, and Harry eventually shoved it under the bed to ignore it.

"A successful plan," Draco declared.

"Yes," Harry agreed. "Any ideas on what to do with it?"

"I say we kill it," Goyle suggested. "Give one of the cats a snack."

"I hate that stupid rat," Crabbe said, looking at his hand where the scar from the rat's teeth still lingered. "I want to throw it out the window."

"Duly noted," Draco said dryly. "Tim?"

"Onyx would have a lot of fun with that thing, I think. So would all the cats. But owls like rats too. Maybe we could set up a bit of sport."

"Capital!" Draco enthused. "We can make bets!"

"Five Galleons on Regal," Harry said immediately.

"Put me in for five on Onyx."

The other boys placed their bets, and then they fell to determining exactly how their little competition would be organized.

* * *

At lunch the next day, Goyle and Crabbe gleefully reported that Weasley had looked like an unmade bed for Care of Magical Creatures. He told the story to anyone who would listen about how a rogue owl had swooped down and made off with "poor Scabbers" for dinner.

When everyone had finished laughing at Crabbe's wonderful impersonation of Weasley, Harry was treated to a recap of a lecture that actually sounded very interesting. Crabbe, Goyle, and Millie were all raving about salamanders. Tim was in the class too, but he was busy scratching out his Potions homework with a hurried hand.

"It was a huge bonfire! And they were in the flames!" Goyle was saying. "They were crawling around on the logs, happy as you like."

"Did they show you any fire tricks?" Harry asked, joining in as the rest of his friends started chuckling and giggling. Goyle's fondness for fire was quite known in Slytherin. When they'd learned the symbol for fire in Ancient Runes, he'd talked of nothing else for days.

"Be quiet, Harry. And they were eating the flames!"

"But they like pepper too," Crabbe interrupted. "One crawled onto my hand and swiped up a whole pile of it with its tongue. It felt weird!"

"Their feet felt like little sparks falling on my skin, but it didn't hurt." Millie was attempting to draw a picture of one on the back of her History essay. "And when it licked me, I felt tingles go up my arm."

"What colour were they?"

"Blue," the three said together.

"All in all, he's not a bad teacher," Millie admitted. "But he does seem to have a fondness for creatures of higher class than Ex-Ex. The salamanders were a nice treat."

"Wish we had something exciting like that happen in Divination," Jenna grumbled. "All we did was start Palmistry. She told Weasley that his life line was very short and that he was going to have a very messy demise. Then Patil leaned over and suggested he wash his hands."

The table burst out laughing. "How typical," Draco drawled insultingly. "A Weasley with dirty hands."

The second year girls were sitting nearby, and suddenly the laughter petered out. Everyone looked at Ginny, who was sitting there with her jaw clenched. For a second, Draco seemed surprised by the silence, but then he directed a disrespectful stare across the table at their adopted Weasley.

"There's nothing wrong with honest work, Malfoy," she said. She had her head held proudly, looking him in the eye.

"I didn't say there was. But some honest work doesn't require getting your hands dirty." Draco held up both of his hands and turned them several times in the air. Then he snapped his fingers once, staring straight at her.

Everyone laughed again. That was how one summoned a house elf. Being of a family old enough and important enough to have house elves meant one didn't do menial labour.

Ginny was clearly enraged, to judge from the flash in her eyes and the flush creeping up her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but was elbowed subtly by Laine Slater.

"Knock it off, Malfoy," Laine said. She sounded disgusted with him. "Don't pin all her family on her. There's black sheep from good families, and there's white sheep from bad."

"So there are," Draco said, and he took a bite of his sandwich.

After a few moments of heavy silence, Goyle said, "So the salamanders-" and everything was alright again.

to be continued...