Blond Misconceptions

Blond Misconceptions

He watched as the multicoloured hexes and jinxes flew across the Room of Requirement, accompanied by the laughter and shouts of triumph of people who felt they would soon make a difference in the world torn by war outside the school walls. Yet he kept to the wall, coolly declining Hermione Granger's request for him to grab a partner and begin practicing. If he was going to be taught at all, he was going to be taught by their leader, not by one of the second-in-commands. That is, if said leader decided to show up.

Zacharias was wondering why he himself had turned up at all. Truthfully, there was no reason for any of them to be here. They had a more than competent Dark Arts teacher this year, and every person who'd been in this room last year was now basically getting top marks. Neville Longbottom was rivaling both Hermione Granger and Harry Potter for the top DADA student position, which said enough in itself.

He watched as Parvati Patil threw an Impediment Jinx at a dodging Hannah, watched while Hannah laughed as she picked herself up, congratulating Parvati for such good aim. Remembering a time when neither of the two girls could stand each other, Zacharias could see why they had all insisted, even against a few protests from Harry Potter himself, that they continue on with Dumbledore's Army. While there were rather few things that people could share without ending up liking each other, spending a whole year in illegal rebellion would certainly qualify.

The bond was there; it didn't mean Zacharias had to enjoy it and accept it, but it was there. And maybe it didn't fully explain why he himself had agreed at first to rejoin the Army - he was a Hufflepuff, but he was only loyal to things he truly felt were worth it.

But he didn't have time to remember his own experience before the door to the Room of Requirement slammed open, revealing that their leader had decided to show himself after all.

"Sorry I'm late," he said quickly, closing the door tightly behind him. Realizing that everyone had stopped everything to stare at him (how surprising), he turned the typical Potter-shade of red.

"It's okay, Harry, we've already got everything under control," Hermione Granger informed him. Harry nodded and waved a hand, indicating for the large group to carry on.

And so, excluding Ron and Hermione, they did; there wasn't really much to study about Harry. One look at his dark, angry expression, the flashing green eyes and high colour, and they could easily tell whom he had just been with. Zacharias was no different, although he really didn't understand.

* * *

He didn't understand why the only person at Hogwarts this year who could ignite such life, such absolute fury in Harry Potter, was the one person who Harry really should avoid at all costs. Why Harry would constantly "run into" him, when almost every person in the school knew that if Draco Malfoy had one slim chance to get Harry Potter completely alone, Harry would be very badly hurt. He was in serious danger around the blond-haired Slytherin brat prince, yet the fights which shook the Hogwarts corridors and caused massive losses of house points from Gryffindor and Slytherin occurred at least four times a week.

Zacharias remembered meeting Draco Malfoy for the first time, earlier that year. Of course, he knew who Malfoy was. He'd been in his Charms class since their very first year, yet, funnily enough, he had never been in direct contact with the pale blond boy.

He'd heard their voices around the corner and happened upon them after leaving Charms that afternoon. It was rather intriguing to watch. Hermione Granger and Weasley standing by rather helplessly, Weasley struggling to pull his wand from Hermione's grip. The other two large boys at Malfoy's back, Crabbe and Goyle, were cracking their knuckles rather loudly.

Draco Malfoy was certainly an interesting character. He was slightly shorter than Zacharias, with hair just a few shades lighter than his own; cool silvery gray eyes and a haughty stance, all of which made him strangely beautiful. It was an icy bright beauty, and Malfoy was obviously fully aware of it. Yet for once, he didn't seem to care about poise, didn't care that his oh-so-precious hair was slightly less than immaculate. He wasn't speaking in the loud, carrying drawl which Zacharias had always heard him use in Charms, and which demanded to be listened to and obeyed.

The voice was quiet, hissing threats and promises which Zacharias couldn't really hear, but which obviously unnerved Harry's friends, as the furious gray eyes bore into Harry's. Harry, who refused to back down in the least, was getting taken over by rage himself, if the trembling form was any indication. The moment was charged with emotion, and Zacharias couldn't help but wonder just the tiniest bit...

Hermione let go of Ron Weasley's wand and clutched Harry's arm. "Harry, let's go," she pleaded. "Come on, he's not worth it."

"Better watch your mouth, Mudblood," said Malfoy, removing his gaze from Harry's at last. Ron Weasley pointed his newly-freed wand at Malfoy's chest. "Take that back!"

"Ron, please -"

Zacharias decided to step in. Harry's best friends couldn't get through to him, but Harry had yet to be purposely rude to one of the members of D.A.

"Hey, Potter," he called, stepping forth. Ignoring the look of shock on Hermione's face and the suspicion on Weasley's, he marched right up to Harry. He also decided to ignore the three Slytherins who were looking at the Hufflepuff crest on his robes.

"You promised to give me extra lessons," he said bluntly, staring right into Harry's eyes. Harry looked as if he were still trying to register that it was Zacharias in front of him. "Er..."

Zacharias couldn't help but feel a flash of annoyance. "Come on. You're the one who's making me take part in this whole thing, you could at least keep up with your end of the--"

"I'm not making you take part -" he began, a bit indignantly. Zacharias noted in a detached fashion that this was actually one of the few times Harry had responded to Zacharias' jabs with something other than tolerant indifference. It was a bit more pleasant.

Malfoy's cold drawl cut through the conversation. "Honestly, Potter," he sneered; Harry immediately turned back to him, his green eyes going dark again. "First a Weasley, then Mudblood, then a Hufflepuff... you really can't sink any lower, can you?"

Zacharias stared coolly at him, also noticing that in a bizarre way, Malfoy's snark and attitude could almost parallel his own in one of his frequent moods. Another interesting thing.

But Zacharias didn't enjoy getting into arguments with Slytherins. Hufflepuffs usually tended to keep away from Salazar's house, and although Zacharias wasn't always the ideal Hufflepuff, he did follow this rule. Not that he had much of a choice; Ernie would always tell them to keep away from the Slytherins. He didn't understand why, but he listened to his prefect.

So instead, he grabbed Harry by the robe sleeve and dragged him off, his irritation increasing with the black-haired Boy Who Lived. The boy in question was currently glaring back at Malfoy over his shoulder as his friends herded the Slytherin off, Hermione Granger giving him a furious volley of rebuke which he clearly wasn't listening to.

Zacharias' irritation didn't lessen by this. He didn't understand why, but it did annoy him that with a few words, Malfoy managed to get Harry more needled than he had all year.

* * *

The constant running-into-Malfoy situations only seemed to increase after that point. Zacharias couldn't count the number of times he and the rest of Dumbledore's Army had seen Harry storm around the school after a fresh encounter with one who was clearly not hiding his desire to do away with him for good. It bothered Zacharias that he couldn't understand this, and that he actually cared about understanding. Usually, he figured that if he couldn't understand something after a short while, then it wasn't worth his time. This attitude tended to annoy Susan Bones, but what could he do?

Zacharias looked up when he sensed someone staring at him intently. Harry Potter was standing directly in front of him from where he was leaning against the wall, a small, apologetic smile quickly growing on his face. Zacharias couldn't help but notice that his eyes were just a bit darker than they were last year, and they still flashed with remnants of anger. Not surprising, he supposed, but at least the mood swings of the past year were gone. In general, Harry was a lot quieter and more withdrawn this year, and sometimes he got an intense, dark look in his eye which Zacharias could never understand, and which made Hermione Granger and Weasley exchange anxious glances; but he always seemed brightest and proudest during the D.A. meetings.

It satisfied Zacharias somewhat; at least he had that over Malfoy.

"Ready to go?" Harry asked him.

Zacharias rolled his eyes. "Only for the past half hour or so," he replied in a condescending tone. "Finally decided to show up?"

Harry nervously wringed the hem of his robe sleeve as he apologized quickly, an action which made him appear about six years old. And it was just another little thing that would always irritate him about Harry Potter, and he wanted to shout at him to grow up, yet he found himself smirking instead.

"Never mind, Potter," he cut him off, pushing himself off the wall. "The point is, if I'm here at all, then you'd better show me there's a good reason for it." He pulled out his wand.

Without thinking twice, Harry pulled his out as well. It was one of the terms of the agreement with which Zacharias had agreed to rejoin Harry's mini-Army, it would always be Harry to spar with him during the meetings. Zacharias had come up with this term, and to this day, he was still trying to understand why... if he could ever be bothered to think it over. And it wasn't as if Harry had asked why.

Harry had escaped You-Know-Who four times. Dueling with him would make Zacharias stronger. And he wanted to be advanced, he wanted to be able to face You Know Who himself, and he never let Harry forget it. That's really all there could possibly be to it.

"I thought you were going to call me Harry?" he asked. Zacharias shrugged with yet another small smirk, and it was a smirk, not a little smile, as Hannah so often liked to call them. "I said I'd think about it, Harry."

They went at it, practicing the usual jinxes and hexes, the ones which they had learned last lesson, neither of them willing to give into the other despite how tired they quickly became after a while. Harry was the one who finally decided to call an end to it.

"Don't worry, you'll get it in no time," he told him cheerfully, helping Zacharias up after Ennervating him. Zacharias glared at him, hopelessly annoyed with his encouraging and optimistic manner, especially after having won two duels against him. "You say that to everyone," he growled through clenched teeth.

Harry shrugged. "Well, you are better than you were last year, what do you want me to say?"

Zacharias considered. "That I'm the best in the class."

Harry snorted. "Okay. You're the best in the class."

And both knew it was an outright lie; Zacharias fumed, Harry always did that. Zacharias tried to act like a complete prick to him, and all he ever did was shrug it off and patronize him. Yet another thing to add to the growing list of annoyances about him.

"Well, you're doing really well, if it helps, especially since you weren't always the best DADA student before," Harry offered, throwing him an artless, wholehearted grin before wandering off to check on the rest of the group. Zacharias decided to amuse himself by sitting off to the side again between Luna Lovegood and Anthony Goldstein, and watch as Ginny Weasley Stunned her old boyfriend over and over again, clearly enjoying it.

* * *

Zacharias could remember a time when he really hadn't thought much of Harry Potter.

It wasn't exactly a personal thing. Before fifth year, he really hadn't thought about him at all. He could remember small things: second year, he remembered being a bit frightened after Ernie had told him and Susan that Potter was the Heir of Slytherin, and that he had attacked Justin. He remembered being rather cynical of Ernie's sudden about-face on this opinion later that year, but saying nothing. He remembered two boys dueling at Lockhart's dueling club, and the charged air between them.

In fourth year, he had sported a "Support Cedric Diggory" badge proudly, and he and Ernie had even obtained a couple of "Potter Stinks" badges from Pansy Parkinson, although on a dare. But Cedric had told them both to get rid of them.

That's where it had started, he supposed, with Cedric. Zacharias was still questioning whether he had actually felt something about Cedric Diggory's death, but he knew he still missed him. It had been Cedric who had signed him onto the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, who had trained with him personally. Zacharias could admit that Cedric had been one of the few things he'd felt was worth being loyal to.

He had never been that impressed with Harry Potter to begin with. Before, he had just been some kid who was a glory-hog, and after the disastrous ending of their fourth year, that opinion had only lowered. Surely Harry Potter couldn't be such a great hero if he'd let Cedric die. And the story of how he'd died had seemed a bit ludicrous at first.

But it was better than the idea of Cedric dying from a tragic accident. Cedric had never been clumsy, he wouldn't have just had an accident and died. And it was this little hole in the Ministry's story that sparked his interest to hear what Harry Potter had to say.

Even from the start, he hadn't always seemed a very likely hero. His friend Hermione had been the spokesperson, and the few times Harry had spoken to them himself, he'd seemed on the verge of a temper tantrum. He was like a child who still needed to grow up, yet he had gone through more than most do in their lives. Zacharias had seen that Cedric's death had affected him badly, had altered him a bit, but he was like an impossible puzzle. Although his emotions were usually easy to read, Zacharias had spent that entire first meeting in the Hog's Head trying to figure him out, and he had gotten nowhere.

However, despite the fact that Harry definitely wasn't the typical hero, Zacharias trusted him without fully knowing why. And he still wanted to understand him, despite the fact that he was going against his own rule and that Harry Potter really shouldn't have been someone who was worth his time.

So he ignored the memory of the short conversation between them which prompted him to join the D.A this year, tried to pretend that it was due to a determination to finally get under Harry Potter's skin, and to better himself, and it really had nothing to do with words of encouragement he didn't need and grins which seemed to light up the other boy's face, something which was happening far too few times.

Harry Potter had a lot of irritating things about him, he noticed. He would grow rather shy in the face of his accomplishments, as if it was every day that a fifteen year old escaped the Dark Lord. He would dissolve into incoherence when embarrassed or relatively angry, he jumped into the stupidest things without a second thought, he could be unbelievably thick and oblivious, he was just about the most stubborn git ever to grace Hogwarts, his hair was always messy, one would think he didn't even know what a brush looked like. It was impossible to ruffle it, which annoyed Zacharias even more. His glasses were always slipping down his nose, he scuffed his feet as he walked, and few of his movements had any calculation at all. He wrinkled his nose when he scratched it. Zacharias had always thought heroes were supposed to be perfect.

Nothing Zacharias ever did could get him to retaliate. He had openly showed that he didn't think much of him before their first real D.A. meeting, and all he had really done was stop his best friend's brothers from making Zacharias mess up, and handed back his wand with a small grin. Zacharias had been furious at the time, he remembered, positive that Harry was patronizing him. He made it clear many times that he didn't exactly like or enjoy Harry's company, yet Harry had still run up to him early this year and asked him to rejoin the group, and what more, he was truly happy when Zacharias had showed up.

It irritated him not just because he knew that he didn't deserve Harry Potter's kindness, nor did he want it, but because Harry responded to his attacks with complete indifference, while Zacharias knew, ever since he'd seen those two at it in the corridor that afternoon, that it was possible to get under Harry's skin, to make Harry's eyes glow with true anger and life, if your name was Draco Malfoy.

Zacharias had yet to understand why that little fact made his stomach churn. He had yet to truly understand why he cared about all those faults Harry had, why he would sometimes spend hours in bed puzzling over something Harry had said or done, why he found himself rather amused and a bit charmed by the things which supposedly irritated him to no end about Harry.

* * *

However, there were others who appeared to understand a lot better than he did.

Hermione tended to watch him with a calculating look, and when he would notice, she would simply give him an almost frighteningly knowing yet sympathetic smile before turning to distract Ron Weasley every time he and Harry talked outside of D.A. meetings.

There was a bit of murmuring among some of the other D.A. members. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown would give him the strangest superior glances. Padma Patil seemed a bit disappointed. Susan would hang out with Harry Potter for hours at a time, then come back to the Hufflepuff common room, where the rest of them would have to hear about how "utterly hopeless and clueless" he was. Then she would turn to Zacharias and rail on him for being "just as bad".

Susan had always been a couple of screws loose, in Zacharias' opinion. But he'd put up with it for the remaining years at Hogwarts.

* * *

He remembered one time earlier that spring, when Dumbledore's Army had been "practicing" outside (in an inconspicuous manner so others couldn't call them on it). And having done his bit, he was leaning against the base of a hill, watching the Creevey brothers and Natalie McDonald attempt to pelt Neville Longbottom with offensive spells, trying to keep them hidden.

He remembered Harry Potter literally tumbling to the ground to sit next to him; it was an action just like tumbling, no coordination or calculation whatsoever. He had thrown him a grin, and Zacharias had flashed a smile in return without really thinking, and they had just sat there for a while watching the rest of the group, when Harry had turned to him and asked with genuine curiosity: "What are you loyal to?"

And Zacharias remembered him asking a similar question last year, as well as remembering the rather offhand reply he had given about being loyal only to things that were worth his time. He looked at Potter for a long time, wondering why on earth he was noticing how the green in his eyes matched exactly the grass on the hill behind them, then he gave a brief glance around at the D.A.

"This," he replied casually. "You - and everyone," he added hastily, wondering why he had made that slip.

He remembered Ginny Weasley casting him an almost incredulous look and a tiny laugh, Zacharias' face had gone a bit red, but Harry Potter seemed astonishingly oblivious to all this, and smiled knowingly. "I thought so." He remembered feeling that there was a strange connection made then, or at least there was something unnamable that was making his stomach flutter strangely and making Harry's eyes stare intensely, almost questioningly.

Ginny had approached him moments after Harry Potter had run off, and he had always rather liked the girl, although he did glower when she said casually, "I thought you were only loyal to things that were worth it. And I do remember you saying Harry wasn't worth your time."

But he hadn't had time to reply before Malfoy, Crabbe, Blaise Zabini, and Pansy Parkinson had descended upon the "meeting", like an icy chill on a spring day. It took but a few minutes for Zacharias, Ginny, and Luna Lovegood to reach Harry to stand at his back, and he remembered the tenseness in Harry's whole body, and the way that, with but a few words in an provocative drawl that could have almost been exquisite if not for the fact that it was releasing words which cut to the core efficiently, Malfoy was making Harry's eyes practically spit green flame, and his hands ball into fists.

Zacharias remembered thinking with an almost rueful feeling that this was true intensity and passion, true connection in Harry Potter. And it had always been for Malfoy, never anyone else. Including him. He'd had to grab Harry's hand rather quickly and hold tightly to stop him from whipping out his wand as Malfoy smirked attentively, although he found that he hadn't minded, but Malfoy had given him a contemptuous look which could have been ignored if it hadn't been more concentrated then the ones he typically gave Hufflepuffs.

There was something that had happened in that moment, although Zacharias hadn't quite been able to get a hold on it. Blaise Zabini had taken one look and laughed derisively in Zacharias' direction, who refused to let go of Harry's hand despite the fact that Harry was now fighting him, Pansy had taken to giving Harry a narrow-eyed, rather furious look, and Ginny had stared at Harry with intent worry, while Luna looked between the two enemies with what could have been detached comprehension.

But it had come and gone in a split second, and Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley had showed up on the scene; perhaps knowing that such an obvious confrontation would soon draw the attention of a teacher, Malfoy had swept off with his cohorts after one last look at Potter which held promises of vengeance in a silvery steel gaze.

And Zacharias had yet to understand.

* * *

But it would come to a head soon.

* * *

It was Seamus Finnigan's idea to begin with, which really should have said something.

He didn't know very much about Seamus Finnigan at all, apart from the fact that he was supposedly the "corrupt" Gryffindor sixth year, and had the adopted position of one of Harry Potter's "big brothers" (something which usually didn't always bode well for the Boy Who Lived). He knew he had a tendency to sneak out to Hogsmeade's bars or nightclubs after curfew (because he did this himself sometimes), which also went hand in glove with his tendency to play the field despite the usual boundaries of a girlfriend.

He knew that up until halfway last year, he had been one of the students who supported Umbridge's general idea, if not her methods. He remembered shaking his head in annoyance and disbelief when Harry had easily and trustingly let him join Dumbledore's Army despite all of it.

Apparently, Seamus had always had a knack of dragging Harry into things which usually ended badly and tended to make the other Gryffindors frown in massive disapproval. One incident in second year had landed Harry in the hospital wing for a night, after the two had been challenging each other to see who could levitate themselves the highest and Harry had cracked his head on the dormitory ceiling. Zacharias still remembered Hermione Granger's shrill voice echoing across the courtyard as she violently reprimanded Seamus.

Zacharias had gathered most of this from Dean Thomas and Terry Boot, so when he saw Seamus Finnigan and Harry talking after Wednesday's D.A. meeting (Harry looking rather apprehensive), he didn't give it very much thought.

He did, however, raise an eyebrow when Seamus approached him the next morning, with the message that the two of them would be escorting one Harry Potter to the local Hogsmeade club that night.

* * *

Zacharias could instantly think of about fifty things wrong with this plan, and he tried to get the point across to Seamus.

"Harry Potter doesn't dance," he told him, and Seamus really shouldn't need to be told this, they had both seen Harry's disastrous performance at the Yule Ball in fourth year.

Seamus shrugged, undaunted. "Then he'll learn; he has to sometime. It'll be fun to see him try."

"Hermione and Ron will murder you in your sleep if they find out."

"And that's why they won't. At least, not for a long time. Well, you won't tell them, right?"

Zacharias rolled his eyes; he'd have a good mind to, but Weasley would most likely jump down his throat before Seamus'.

"Why are we - sorry, I meant you, I haven't agreed to anything yet - why are you doing this in the first place?"

Seamus gave that grin which he would define as mischievous. Everyone else would call it dangerous. "Well, like I said, it should be fun. And he's been too depressed lately, someone has to step in. And no one else is willing to do it, not in a way that it'll have any effect. They're all like, 'let him have his tantrums, get it all out, then apologize, and everything'll be okay.' That goes nowhere. I know Harry, and he's never backed down from a challenge before. Neither have I, for that matter."

"And the challenge?"

"I just dared him into doing it, dared him to drop the typical Gryffindor hero attitude and do something that the Boy Who Lived would never be expected to do, just for one night. He said he would, and we made the bet with Dean. Of course he won't totally be able to, no matter how hard he tries - he's hopeless sometimes - but that's where our challenge comes in."

Zacharias didn't want to know the manipulations that must have gone into that; the only reason no one would expect to see Harry Potter at a club was because he couldn't dance to save his life. So he simply shrugged. "Why tonight, though? Don't you have that Potions practical test tomorrow?"

"Neither of us have ever done well on Potions tests anyway," Seamus impatiently explained. "And besides, I wanted to choose a time when they wouldn't be having their little orgies at the club. Harry would run flat out." He was looking at a point beyond Zacharias' shoulder.

Malfoy and the rest of his Slytherin posse pointedly swept past the two of them before Zacharias even had a chance to turn around. Rolling his eyes, Zacharias stared coolly at Malfoy, who, as usual, was letting off a spiel in his confident drawl, with the rest of the Slytherins hanging on his every word. Nothing new.

Malfoy tossed back his silvery blond hair, immaculate once more, and caught Zacharias' eye with a look of challenging menace. It lasted about a split second, but it had been there.

Zacharias blinked. That was new.

* * *

It was an entirely random and all-round typical Gryffindor scheme. But Zacharias still found himself waiting at the edge of the Entrance Hall in tight black jeans and a button-up black three-quarter sleeve shirt. A club night was a club night, and he did enjoy those. Gryffindors weren't the only ones who could break the rules, and everyone liked a chance to let loose.

Justin Finch-Fletchley had just stormed off to the Hufflepuff common room. Zacharias could understand his anger, usually it was always Justin who accompanied him on their nighttime expeditions.

And now Cho Chang was coming down from the Ravenclaw tower, a carefree expression on her face as she casually glanced around, and he couldn't say that he had much of an opinion on Cho, but she could be described as an acquaintance at least. He'd been around her for the past two years. All the Hufflepuffs had known her in some way during fourth year when she'd been the girl who generally made their champion act like a sap and love it. And she had grown close enough for Zacharias to put up with at least some of her breakdowns during fifth year.

He raised an eyebrow as she grew closer. "I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart? And law-abiding?" he added as an afterthought.

She mimicked his expression with a smirk. "Hufflepuffs are supposed to be hard-working and loyal, too," she retorted flippantly. "And by now, we should all be friends with the Slytherins, but I'm going to end up failing my Transfiguration quiz tomorrow 'cause we're trying to avoid them."

"We're not trying to avoid them, we're trying to limit the fear factors tonight, so Potter won't go running off and Finnigan wouldn't get in trouble for losing him. And I am loyal, to things I--"

"Truly think are worth it," she laughed as they set off for that gargoyle statue on the third floor, and Zacharias had to admit he felt some admiration for a girl who could grow a relationship of catty remarks from both ends and undying loyalty through it all, from the rather disastrous breakup with the Boy Who Lived. And that would probably account for her being there that night.

They were waiting for about ten minutes outside Circe's Jungle Club, which was pulsing with heat and life and light as the pounding music blared from inside. Zacharias saw them coming first, although not until they were few feet away; Seamus in leather pants, a cropped T-shirt, and ready determination to forget that he was going steady with Lisa Turpin. Although, the look of determination could be due to the fact that he was literally hauling a furious and frantic Boy Who Lived behind him, one Harry Potter who certainly didn't look like Dumbledore's model Golden Boy in low-hanging tight white pants and a three-quarter black T-shirt which tended to ride up high a bit and for sure couldn't belong to him.

He heard Cho give a low whistle behind him, although that could very easily have been sarcasm, and aiming to unnerve Harry further.

If so, it did work. Harry noticed the two of them standing there and paled further. "Zacharias?! CHO???" He whirled on Seamus. "Explain."

"Well, there had to be some witnesses other than me, right?" Seamus replied innocently. "Dean would never buy it otherwise. And now the other houses will have proof that you're not always Gryffindor's sheltered mascot."

Harry seemed to be on the verge of another temper tantrum. It was rather reminiscent of the first time they had talked to each other, Zacharias noted.

Cho cut in. "We've been checked by the bouncer already, and we've scanned the whole place, Seamus. No Slytherins in sight."

Harry stared. "What would the Slytherins be doing here?" he asked slowly.

"Does it matter?" Zacharias asked disparagingly. "They're not here."

"And of course, as always it's mixed, so boys and girls, and choose your sex and partners and all that," Cho continued quickly. "You two still have to get checked." Grabbing Zacharias' arm, who was busy smirking at Harry's rather mortified expression, she yanked him into the club, where the beat of the music was actually moving through the floor. The coloured flashing light beams and sparks erupting from the dance floor illuminated the glitter on Cho's sparkling silver-white tube top. They wove through the frenzied movements of the intertwining, heated bodies on the dance floor to a small table at the bar. Cho sat down easily, watching the mingling people. She ran her eyes over Zacharias' form and outfit appreciatively and smiled brightly. "You'll dance with me later tonight," she said decisively. Zacharias could see that Cho had found an alternative way to get over her grief of Cedric, rather than spend all her time crying and chasing after clueless, naïve boys.

Cho eventually raised an indulgent eyebrow at something behind Zacharias, who really didn't have to turn and look to know, but did so anyway.

He'd told Seamus that Harry Potter really didn't mix well with nightclubs. As Seamus dragged him through the dark club toward the table at which Zacharias and Cho were seated, Harry stared around him in a very appalled, nearly horrified manner, as if he'd stepped into an alternate universe. Every bit the virtuous Gryffindor.

"So this is where you disappear off to at night," said Harry. "Why am I here?"

"Because you agreed to this, Harry."

"But you never told me that it'd be like this, and that I'd have to dress like this -" he cut off with what could easily be called a squeal, and jumped nearly a foot as a woman rubbed up against him.

Zacharias and Cho had to laugh as the pair reached the table. Seamus raised an inquiring eyebrow at Harry. "Well, what did you think it was going to be like?"

Harry looked at the two who were now containing their laughter, and glared at Seamus as they sat down. "I hate you. I'll hate you forever." Seamus laughed, too.

"That reminds me, where did you get that outfit?" Cho pouted. "How come you never wore anything like that when we were going out?"

"Because I don't know where the hell it came from," Harry snarled. "He picked it out for me somewhere." Glowering at Seamus again. He really wasn't in a good mood tonight.

Seamus ignored him and bounced out of his seat again. "What's everyone having?" He only bothered to take Cho's and Zacharias' orders (as Harry refused to say anything) before leaving for the bar.

Harry was watching both of them curiously, and a bit apprehensively. "Er ... why did you two have to agree to this?"

"It would be less suspicious if fewer people came, and only one person from each house, that you're friends with, of course," Cho explained patiently. Harry raised an eyebrow; clearly he wasn't sure if whatever it was between him and Cho at the moment was friendship. Cho rolled her eyes. "It's club night. I hate missing club nights."

Harry was shocked. "You do this all the time?"

Zacharias snorted. Hopeless. Harry turned a suspicious look on him, too. "And why are you here?"

Zacharias smiled innocently at him. "Because this promises to be a very amusing show."

Harry went crimson and stood up from the table, just as Seamus came back with the drinks. "I'm leaving."

Seamus forced him back into his seat without even looking up. "You promised. You know what you have to do if you back out. I didn't go through all the trouble of sneaking you out of the common room for nothing." Harry went even redder, if possible, the blush spreading down to his neck and collarbone. Muttering furiously, he stayed put.

"Perhaps it's time we stop antagonizing him?" Seamus suggested. "At least, until he loosens up?" He placed the drink he'd gotten for Harry in front of him.

"Okay," replied Cho agreeably. "You'll see, Harry, this could be quite the educational experience."

Harry didn't respond; sipping his own drink, Zacharias watched as Harry examined his Firewhisky. "Um, Seamus?" he asked quietly.

"Mm-hmm?" the Irish teen prompted, taking a huge swig of what looked to be vodka and cola.

"Fred and George tried to give me a firewhisky before," he said conversationally. "Hermione and Mrs. Weasley almost took their heads off."

Cho sighed and swirled the glittery stick around the umbrella and ice in her cocktail. "Harry, neither Hermione nor Mrs. Weasley are here right now.."

"Yeah, but Mad Eye would go spare if he knew."

"They aren't here either; none of your darling parental figures are," Seamus pointed out with an evil grin.

"Why do I feel so much better?"

"And you did promise, so I order you to drink," Seamus continued, purposely ignoring the sarcasm.

Harry sighed, then surprisingly obliged.

* * *

Zacharias would still bet anything that Seamus had slipped something into Harry's first drink, because he had loosened up and gained an odd glow in his eyes soon after, but that could also be because Seamus and Cho had insistently given him one drink after another. Whatever, Harry had become almost alarmingly ... well, open if not completely careless within the hour. Zacharias did find a degree of amusement in Harry's spilling his guts to just about every question: "No, I've never been the Heir of Slytherin; no, Cho, there's nothing going on between me and Hermione OR Ron; I've only been kissed once and yes, it was Cho -" Cho had cackled uncontrollably at this point, until Harry wrinkled his nose, "--but it was all wet 'cause she was crying, but when I told Ron, he thought it meant that we'd used tongues." Then it was Zacharias who'd been laughing uncontrollably, while Cho glared at Harry Potter with an appalled, indignant air.

Seamus had slipped off to the dance floor quite a while ago, and was now lost in the crush of meshing people. He'd attempted to drag Harry off to do the same, but he had lasted about ten minutes before he'd come running back to the table, where Cho took it upon herself to make sure he got even more drunk before leading him off again.

And now both Seamus and Cho had disappeared, and few seconds ago Harry had come racing back to the table, tumbled back into his seat looking completely flushed, taken a sip of his lemonade shot with vodka, before running back onto the dance floor, throwing a grin at Zacharias that was just as wholesome and artless and brighter than ever before and really quite adorable if he thought about it, before taking off. And Zacharias really didn't know what to do. Vaguely he wondered whether Harry ever stopped moving.

And so he watched him. Well, someone had to, Merlin knew where Cho and Seamus were, and Harry had already gotten into things tonight which would make just about everyone who knew him die of shock on the dance floor. Of course, nothing had changed. Although the alcohol running through him had loosened him up a lot, he was really just as hopeless as ever at dancing, but at least he wasn't as stiff as he had been at the Yule Ball. And, well, his "dancing" could really be fairly endearing.

Zacharias groaned, rubbing his temples; clearly, Harry wasn't the only one who was hopeless. What was the matter with him?

He watched as Harry led the girl he'd been dancing with over to a podium right under one of the showers of sparks and glitter; happily, the Boy Who Lived scrambled onto the podium and dragged the girl, who was laughing loudly, onto the podium with him, and started moving in a way he must have thought was dancing, although it really involved a bit of jumping and twisting his body to the music, as the silver and blue sparks fell around them both and illuminated his eyes, which Zacharias could see from the bar. Well, it was a lot better than he used to be, but he was generally still making a prat of himself. Harry really didn't seem to care.

Zacharias found himself smiling.

He shook his head, checked to make sure Harry wasn't about to fall off the podium (he already had once that night, although he had literally giggled when he picked himself up), noted that Seamus' true plan was working perfectly and all darkness was far from Harry's mind, then turned back to his own drink.

Cho removed herself from the tangle of men and women she had been in the center of, and plopped down in the seat next to him. Cho clearly had no limitations with her preference, but not many witches and wizards did. At least, Zacharias didn't.

Cho stared fixedly at him with her dark eyes. "Really, Zacharias, you haven't danced at all tonight, what's wrong - oh." Her gaze suddenly landed on Harry, who was now surrounded by other people on the podium, and she laughed. "Still can't dance, but I bet Parvati would be really peeved if she knew he could move like that. And he's definitely winning the dare; I can just imagine the look on Hermione Granger's face." She laughed. Cho had yet to get over that "small grudge" she had against Hermione. "Ask him to dance, if you want to so badly. Or at least do something to get moving," she added quickly when Zacharias opened his mouth to make a heated retort.

"I'm being sensible," he told her tartly. "It's common sense for someone to watch and make sure nothing is slipped into the drinks."

"True, but I doubt Seamus even remembers he left his drink here, I'm finished with mine, I doubt it'll make much difference if anything is slipped into Harry's, he's already so far gone, and I have never once seen you take over the job before, so you're not going to start now." With that, she swept back into the crowd. Zacharias shrugged and followed.

This was easy. This was what he enjoyed, being free and letting himself go. And watching the people around him occasionally, dancing with the people who quickly surrounded him and placed their hands in the pockets of his tight jeans; they were usually fantastic dancers, and he didn't think he was that bad either.

Although, he mused, throwing his head back as he rubbed against who he was sure was another man so that he could almost see through his closed eyes the light which was casting a silvery-green tint over him. He knew perfectly well that he was nothing on the Slytherins, few people were. He remembered seeing Draco Malfoy here once, rubbing nearly skin on skin with Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini, the lights glinting dazzlingly on his white-blond hair, flushed pink, seeming one with the music and easily captivating almost every eye in the club. And he had looked every bit the blindingly bright and gorgeous Slytherin prince, but he had almost been sweet, and he hadn't looked like the terribly bratty ice being who still managed to get absolutely anything he asked for, but he was, and nothing had or would ever change that.

Maybe they should have come on a Slytherin night after all, so Harry could really see how it was done. That would have won Seamus' bet no problem.

Zacharias shook his head and opened his eyes. No, he definitely wanted to keep Harry far from the Slytherin prince, both physically and in mind. He wants to kill him, he reminded himself.

He was pretty sure now, though, that that wasn't the only reason. Almost positive. And he nearly felt hopeless.

Suddenly, Harry was in front of him, watching him with huge green eyes that seemed to be struggling to focus behind his glasses, and Zacharias raised an eyebrow.

Harry rubbed his eyes, and was all sunny smiles again. "Could you come dance with me on the stage?" he asked innocently.

Zacharias removed himself from the woman he'd been with before and followed Harry. "Why?"

Harry looked at him admiringly. "I want to dance like you do."

Zacharias snorted. "Good luck." But he smirked anyway, and as Harry took his hand and smiled brightly, they clambered up onto the main podium, where silver, green, and purple sparks and glitter were raining.

He instructed Harry to move with the interlacing people all around them, to not move so frenetically, and to just let himself go... and then he put his hands on Harry's hips, and felt Harry rub all up against him as his shirt rode up once again, and also felt the devastating tingle which ran through him at it, and knew what it all meant. Harry tilted his head back so it rested on Zacharias' shoulder, to give him a beaming, thankful smile as they moved with the pulse of the crowd, and radiant was the only way Zacharias could think of to describe his smile.

It had always been radiant.

So as Harry kept rubbing up against him, he traced his tongue through the shell of Harry's ear slowly, giving him enough time to back away if he wanted to ... he didn't, although he did freeze a bit and Zacharias heard a catch in his breath. He continued moving his tongue down the path of Harry's neck, easily brushing the thick, unruly hair out of the way...

Harry turned to face him, and there was an intensity in his eyes which Zacharias noted at once, even though their eyes met for a split second and Harry's were barely in focus. Behind the glasses, the green was glowing bright, nearly spitting green flame, but of a very different kind, and as always, the eyes reflected just about everything he felt. Now there was just intense desire in them, but Zacharias knew all too well when he had seen a strikingly similar intensity in Harry Potter's eyes, and he knew why it had appeared.

And it definitely hadn't been for him. Never for him, as he was.

He gave an almost imperceptible sigh, closing his eyes, absently noting that the silver and green glitter which was raining down on them certainly couldn't be helping matters.

Funny how, in the most intoxicated moments, he finally understood.

He felt fingers against his chest, meticulously undoing the buttons of his black shirt, which had gotten wet somehow, he now noticed. Harry was sliding slowly down the length of his body - Zacharias' eyes went huge when he started tentatively licking a path around and up Zacharias' stomach. As he traveled further up, Zacharias felt his breath hitch, and he forgot all about keeping the rhythm. The glitter was sticking to the wet trail Harry made with his tongue and now was sticking to Harry too, as his bare stomach was rubbing against his own when he moved up. He reached Zacharias' neck and began sucking gently, and it was cute how tentative yet daring he was being, and Zacharias was sure Hermione and Ron would very cheerfully murder him, then himself, if they ever knew. But he'd enjoy it now, and he would have continued to do so if he hadn't heard voices.

"Oh my God! I'm going to kill Hermione, she told me Harry didn't know how to do that!"

"I'd be more worried about Hermione killing you at this point. Thrilling as this is, I'm pretty sure loss of virginity is still a limit."

Sighing once more, Zacharias firmly tugged Harry away from him, who looked up at him in confusion before noticing Seamus and Cho, both staring avidly. Cho had an odd glint in her eye, Seamus was looking quite taken aback.

"Hi!" Harry greeted them cheerfully and completely obliviously, as if he'd forgotten what he'd been doing only seconds ago.

Seamus burst into laughter. Cho giggled superiorly. These two really didn't understand, Zacharias realized.

"Quite the hot show, you two," Cho said mischievously.

"Better yet, I can't get blamed for it," Seamus cheered, bouncing to Harry's side, who blinked up at him. "I know for a fact that Harry walked in on Ron doing relatively the same thing to Hermione, so technically, this is their fault!" He grabbed Harry's arm in a strange sort of pride and led him off the podium. "You know what, I really think you've won this bet after all."

Cho shook her head, then immediately took Harry's place next to Zacharias and continued to move to the pulsating music, until she noticed that Zacharias hadn't moved at all, and was still staring after Harry in shock.

"Hello?" Cho waved a hand in front of his face. Zacharias barely acknowledged it. "I... I thought he couldn't dance."

Cho giggled again. "Well, it's still debatable whether that--" she gestured to Zacharias' wet and sparkly chest-- "is technically dancing, but there you go." And she returned to her dance.

They left soon after; registering that it was getting very late and there were still classes tomorrow, Seamus led them out of the club, keeping a hold on Harry's elbow as he was starting to stumble quite a bit.

"Did I pass?" he murmured, rubbing his eyes as he apparently tried to see straight.

Seamus laughed again. "With flying colours. Now come on, try to walk properly, we've got to get back to Gryffindor."

"I wouldn't complain, Seamus, it's a miracle we're not carrying him back," Cho told him calmly.

"Don't play saint, you had just as huge a part in this as I did."

"Not really, as it was your idea to begin with."

Zacharias really didn't say much for the rest of that night, beyond a halfhearted wave goodbye to the other three and a quickly murmured explanation to Justin upon slipping into bed as quietly as possible, so Ernie wouldn't wake up.

* * *

And there really wasn't much to say in the next few days either, as Harry had zero recollection of what had transpired that night, and it was Dean who was really pressing him for details.

"Ron and Hermione spent nearly the rest of the night screaming, woke up half of Gryffindor Tower, which made Ginny start screaming too," Dean told Zacharias with a grin. "But Harry had a huge headache, so he fell asleep quickly, and he has a killer hangover and feels sick, and Hermione won't help him, so the D.A. meeting is cancelled today. Oh, and Seamus is in the hospital wing."

Zacharias didn't ask.

And a few days later, he and Harry were walking together to the rescheduled D.A. meeting, and it was Harry who was doing most of the talking, which was rather novel, considering he was usually sort of quiet. Zacharias was just watching him, listening to him wonder aloud what had really gone down on that club night, and he looked up at Zacharias with a look of utmost curiosity; if he only knew...

But the conversation was cut off as Ron and Hermione joined the two of them, and a few minutes later they were intercepted by Draco Malfoy, shadowed once again by Crabbe and Goyle. And Zacharias watched him and Harry Potter go at it predictably, watched the calculated, almost satisfied smirk sweep across Malfoy's face as he said clearly, "I'll have you, and you'll pay dearly," and Zacharias couldn't help but think how true that was, despite Harry's vehement denial and retort; although not quite true, because Draco already had him, and he would be the one to pay, because now he would have to put up with all the annoying things about Harry Potter.

Hermione was watching Zacharias carefully, biting her lip as her gaze shifted between Harry and Draco, and he knew she knew it too, that she could see the way Harry's eyes never shifted from Malfoy's, from Malfoy's face, not even for a moment. So unusual for one who claimed to hate the other, but it was always about Draco Malfoy.

Zacharias quickly became bored and despondent with the whole conversation, and quietly left, heading for the Room of Requirement and mentally adding another point to the list of Things Which "Annoyed" Him About Harry Potter.

He never knew what was good for him.