Coveting Thy Enemy

Chapter 9: Rejection

Hermione and Ron were having a long chat in Hermione's room. As Head Girl, she had the privilege of her own quarters now. Ron was thankful for this since he and Hermione had starting sleeping together the week before. Ron glanced over at Hermione. It still surprised him sometimes how she completely let down her guard around him. She was lying on the bed rather quietly, the sheets pushed down to her waist, her upper body left completely bare. God, she was beautiful, Ron thought. He rolled over on his side facing her and began slowly circling her nipple with the pad of his index finger. She gasped then and pushed his hand away.

"Ron, as much as I love it when you do that, we really need to talk," she said. She knew the last thing that Ron wanted to do was talk, but she had decided earlier that day that they were to have this discussion, and she didn't like changing her plans.

"Aww Herm, can't you think of better things to do?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows several times suggestively. She laughed and swatted him on the head with the heel of her hand.

"It's about Harry and Malfoy," she said rather abruptly. This must have gained Ron's attention because he quickly sat up and folded his arms.

"What about Harry and Malfoy?"

Although Hermione had decided to have this discussion with Ron, no matter how she had tried to go about it in her head, it didn't sound right. So at first she was at a complete loss for words. After seeing the look in Ron's eyes, that "will you hurry up already?" she plunged ahead. "Well, you know how they've been hanging around a lot right?" Ron nodded. "I've been watching them a lot lately, trying to figure out why they're getting along."

Ron sighed,"That's easy Herm, Harry saved Malfoy's life. Now, he feels indebted to Harry, but when he gets over it, things will go back to normal."

Hermione looked at Ron. He had an almost pleading look on his face. She knew it was there because he wanted her to agree with him. She wished she could, but she couldn't. Ron could be so aloof sometimes, and the funny thing was, it was his own fault because he refused to see what was in front of him. That was one of the reasons he had taken so long to admit his attraction for her. "Ron," she said gently, "I don't think that's it at all."

"Well, what is it then? The only other thing I can think of is that Malfoy put Imperius on Harry and is forcing him to be his friend. But, that's a little ridiculous since we both know Harry can fight it."

"I think Harry has feelings for Malfoy."

Ron looked both astonished and disgusted at the same time. "Please don't go where I think you're going, Hermione."

"Oh, Ron. You can be so close-minded. Have you ever seen the way Harry looks at Malfoy, or the way he watches the clock when it's almost time for him to meet him to study?" Ron was silent. "I have, Ron, and I'm pretty sure I'm right. You've been so busy trying to ignore the fact that they're friends, you've failed to realize that it might be something altogether more."

During this part of the speech Ron had turned his head and was staring at a point across the room. Hermione could see that his face was getting redder and redder by the minute. Ron was like a firecracker. He had a short fuse and a big bang. Suddenly, he jumped out of bed and glared down at her. "You are crazy! There is no fucking way Harry is interested in Malfoy. For one, he's a . . . guy, and for another, he's Draco Fucking Malfoy. He's evil incarnate! Harry is with Cho, and that's all there is to it." With that speech left in the air, he stormed out of Hermione's room. Hermione watched him go a little upset and amused at the same time. She was upset because she knew he was hurting and amused because he was probably now stalking naked through the common room back to his dorm. Although the situation was quite hilarious, she hoped no one was still up at this hour or Ron would never hear the end of it. That's all she needed, something else to piss him off.

It took Harry a long time to get back to the common room that night. The blatant rejection Draco had given him weighed down the very soles of his feet, but that was okay. He wasn't looking forward to going to bed and sinking further into his misery. When he entered the portrait room, his eyes were accosted with an angry, naked Ron. Ron almost charged headlong into him before he realized he was there. "What the hell?' grumbled Ron, and pulled the invisibility cloak off of Harry. "Where have you been?" he asked the other boy. His anger was quite vividly written on his face.

"Out," said Harry, refusing to elaborate more.

"Yea, well, a better friend would let his friends know where he was going so they don't worry about him," Ron said and scratched his belly. When his fingers made contact with bare flesh, his state of undress finally dawned on him. He looked down at himself and up at Harry, his face turning from a vivid shade of red to ghostly white in an instant. "Oh, Fuck!" he yelled and charged to the dorm.

Despite his overwhelming misery, Harry couldn't help but to smile. He didn't know what that was all about, but he could imagine why Ron was undressed and whom he was angry with. One thing he couldn't understand, though, was Ron's embarrassment. After all, he had seen Ron naked many times in the Quidditch locker room.

Finally, at around four in the morning, Draco Malfoy was able to sleep. The whirling of emotions deep inside his brain had finally exhausted him. He slept deeply, but it was not a restful sleep due to troubled dreams. His sleep-addled brain had managed to conjure a dense phantasmagoric fog around him. He was lost and running. Away from what he did not know. All he was able to realize was that he was running away from a part of himself. Deep into the fog her ran, only able to discern a few feet ahead of him. He was running through a forest of some kind. The mangled, knotty trees bowed toward him as if reaching to grab him and hold him there to be caught by that which he ran from.

Finally, he ran until the fog had started to dissipate. Before him, larger than life was a stone wall unlike any wall he had ever seen. It was so bright the glare made him squint in its beauty. The jade brilliance of the wall was sending out streaks of light that cut the fog around him. Draco knew he was trapped. He looked to the left and to the right, but there seemed to be no end to the strange wall. He ran to it intending to climb over it, but the stones were so slick he could gain no leverage. Looking up, he realized that the wall ascended forever in this direction as well. Draco knew there was only one thing he could do. He turned and awaited the thing that was chasing him. He would simply have to face it and hope he survived. In a moment the thing had caught up to him. He knew it was there although he couldn't see it. He could feel it, though and it weighed down upon him, oppressing his very soul. He felt this indefinable mystery invade him and fill him. It overflowed him and collapsed under the sheer ecstasy of its torment. He blacked out then into darkness. Now, Draco Malfoy was able to truly sleep.

When Draco woke up the next morning, he felt different. Scanning his physical and mental self, he couldn't note any differences, but he felt changed all the same. He thought over the night before with Harry in the Astronomy Tower and sighed. He definitely valued his new friendship with Harry, but this was unforgivable. His logic told him he would simply have to end the camaraderie that they had been sharing. Unbeknownst to him, his inner being, his subconscious, was completely disagreeing with this logic.

When Harry entered the library that day, he was shocked to see Malfoy there. He was hoping, but he didn't actually believe Malfoy would show up to their daily study. He quickly gathered all the courage he could muster before he slid into the seat next to the Slytherin. Draco looked at him as if surprised. "What are you doing here, Potter?"

Harry gaped at him and mumbled, "I thought we were studying."

Draco's silver eyes darkened to the shade of inflexible sheet metal. "There is no we, Potter. I thought I made it clear a long time ago that we are not friends."

"If this is about last night, Malfoy, I want to apologize," Harry stammered, stumbling over the words.

"Forget about last night," Malfoy barked abruptly, "I won't tell anyone about your preferences, Potter because if I did, I would have to explain how you tried to molest me. This whole agreement was a mistake from the start. So, I'm ending it. Things will be back to normal from now on." With this speech, Draco got up, threw his books into his rucksack and stalked from the room with his typical arrogant stride. Harry, watching him go, was unable to suppress the twin tears that brimmed his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

Malfoy had lied when he said things were going to be back to normal, though. Normal would be Malfoy being a mean git to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. No, Malfoy wasn't mean to them any longer, he was outright evil. He took every opportunity to ridicule them in front of others. He sabotaged every entertaining diversion they sought with one another, and he did it all with the crooked, unmistakable smirk of hatred that they had grown accustomed to. During these first two weeks of December, Harry was able to reestablish the hate he had reserved for Malfoy. But, on quiet winter nights, when no one else was around, Harry secretly relived the brief companionship he had experienced with his enemy.