Peppermint Toads

***
"Snow Day"
***

Harry is sitting in the Common Room with Hermione and Ron. They're still his best friends, though Ron is a bit twitchy every time the name "Draco Malfoy" is mentioned. He finds it slightly wierd that Harry's worst enemy is now his boyfriend.

Hermione, on the other hand, is very supportive. The fact that Draco had the guts to stand up to Snape amuses her, and the fact that Harry and Draco managed to scare the teachers makes her giggle.

Snow is currently falling like a think blanket about the castle. It muffles all outside sounds, and the only thing you can see from the windows is whirling white, and sometimes a spot of darkness that could be an owl, or another part of the castle, or something.

"I'm bored," Harry announces, looking mournfully out the window. Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures have both been cancelled due to the snow, much to his despair and Ron's relief.

"Let's go visit Hagrid," Hermione suggests. She is playing chess with Ron and losing spectacularly. Even as she speaks, Ron's knight wrestles yet another one of her pieces off the board.

"No, I think I'll go for a walk," Harry replies, and leaves the Common Room without another word. Ron looks scared.

"Where do you think he's going?" he asks in alarm.

Hermione just raises her eyebrows and says nothing. Ron understands the look, but puts the thought firmly out of his mind. At least he doesn't have to see it this time.

Draco is also bored. He's sitting in the library, because he finds his Common Room gloomy and his housemates dull. Crabbe and Goyle, who are like loyal terriers, are today nowhere to be seen. They're watching the initiation rites of the First Years. Slytherins have a strange method of deciding who's popular and who's not. They get a cauldron, fill it with hot melted candle wax and dare the First Years to stick their hand in.

Draco did it, and had a burned hand for a week after. Crabbe and Goyle did it, much to his surprise and annoyance. He could have gotten rid of them years ago if they had have just chickened out.

"Draco." He hears the voice, and turns around. Harry stands there, with a small grin on his face and his Invisibility Cloak in his hands. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Draco asks. Harry smiles and doesn't answer. He just grabs the boy's wrist and pulls him out of the library. Carefully, he ties the Cloak over both of them, and makes sure they can't be seen.

Draco has two ideas about this. One - well, it's best not to say anything to avoid humiliation. Just because he wants Harry is no reason for Harry to return the feeling. The other is that they're sneaking off somewhere.

Probably a much more sensible option.

They have reached the statue of the one-eyed witch. Harry leans against it, taps it with his wand, and mutters, "Dissendium." Draco just watches in amazement as the witch splits open, and grabs Hary just before he can climb in.

"Where are we going?" Draco asks again. when Harry doesn't answer, Draco grabs his arms and presses him up against the witch.

Big mistake.

Before he can even think, he finds himself kissing Harry. They're both half under the Invisibility Cloak, and Draco can only imagine what this must look like.

Harry is shaking his head and trying to say something, but he only succeeds in changing the angle of the kiss. Draco won't let him go.

Then he hears the noise of students coming around the corridor.

Oh, God he thinks, trying to lean futher into the shadows behind the statue. Let them be First Years, or let them not notice us, or something...

His prayers aren't answered. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan come around the corner, talking loudly about Quidditch. Well, it's really the same old argument about Quidditch as opposed to football. But then Dean, who doesn't know about Harry and Draco, spots them, Draco very much on top.

"RAPE!" he bellows. Seamus looks confused for a second, then sees Harry.

"Oh my God!" comes his high pitched scream. "Somebody help! Draco Malfoy is molesting Harry! Quick!"

Dean, being brave and all, decides to come and help Harry pull Draco off. He comes up from behind and grabs Draco firmly about the hips. Draco screams out, and Harry is free.

"Hey!" he yells. "Dean, leave Draco alone!" He jumps on top of Dean to keep him from Draco, and Seamus is left screaming.

"It's a threesome!" he yells, staring in horror at the three boys entwined on the floor. Harry's shirt is coming loose, from Draco pulling on it earlier and Dean, who has accidently ripped it further. Dean is on top of Draco, and Harry has him by the waist, trying to pull him off. He manages this, only to have Dean on top of him, looking very much like he's straddling Harry. Draco lets out a roar and jumps on Dean from behind.

Seamus is by now screaming gibberish, and his pointing finger has become a blur as he shakes. Students and teachers are running in from every direction, gathering around the boys on the floor. Dumbledore catches Seamus as he faints.

Ron and Hermione, who were going to visit Hagrid, have come running, and are staring in horror. There's a thud, and Ron joins Seamus on the floor. Hermione doesn't notice. Trying hard to control her giggles, she crouches beside Harry's head, and faces the three of them squarely.

"What are you doing?" she asks in her best imitation of Professor McGonagall's voice. It works. Harry, Draco and Dean stop fighting, and look around sheepishly at the horrified teachers and students (several are Slytherin First Years with bandages around their hands) and Ron and Seamus, who have been heaped together on the floor.

"I - well -" Dean stammers. He's aware of how this looks. He's still sitting on top of Harry, and his robes are undone. The first three buttons of his shirt have been ripped off, and his hair is all rumpled.

Behind him, Draco is worse shape. His face is pink, and he doesn't resemble the picture of perfection that leaves the Slytherin Common Room every morning. He looks down at the zip on his trousers, which is completely wrecked, and blushes crimson.

Harry looks the worst though. Dean is sitting on his stomach, and Draco is sitting - well, somewhere he shouldn't be. Harry's hair could pass for Hagrid's, or a bird's nest that's fallen out of a tree, hitting a few branches along the way. He attempts to exlain, but what can he say?

"Draco and I were just sharing a nice kiss when Dean came along, and thought Draco was raping me. So he attempted to pull him off."

Or - "Dean saw what Draco and I were getting up to, and he wanted a piece of the action, so he jumped Draco and made it look like a fight."

Just then, as he tries to explain, about four or five Peppermint Toads fall from Dean's ripped pocket. Perfect, Harry thinks, and seizing them, he hold them aloft triumphantly.

"We were fighting over these," he says with a grin.