Not Quite a Love Song, in Ten Scenes

Part 7: The Lake (or: I've Been Missing You)

Draco Malfoy met with Harry Potter again in the afternoon of the first Hogsmeade Saturday after the Christmas holidays, on the shore of Hogwarts' lake.

"Isn't this a bit... public?" Potter asked nervously. "Not that I wouldn't be proud to be seen with you," he amended quickly. "But you've always been so shy..."

Draco squinted at Potter, who leaned against a boulder a few feet from the shore. Then he grinned and put one hand against the stone, only inches from the Gryffindor's face, effectively trapping him where he stood. In delight, he watched a faint blush appear on Potter's face.

"I'm not shy," he pointed out. "And as it is, I could shag you right here against that boulder if I wanted to, and no one would notice."

The blush deepened, and if Potter had any gift for it at all, Draco would have interpreted the sheepish-shocked look he gave him as coyness.

"What-"

Draco smirked and pointed at a shallow patch of the lake where the giant squid was frolicking in some truly awe-inspiring acrobatic contortions, observed by a large group of students oblivious to the occasional snowflake descending on them.

"Tentacle masturbation."

Trying - and failing - to insert himself between students and Squid was the bulk of that oaf Hagrid, face shining like a red moon. 'There's no harm in it, honestly,' he could almost hear the great brute protest as he ineffectively tried to shoo the fascinated spectators off towards the castle.

Wow, Draco thought. I wonder how it'll ever get that tentacle out of there again...

With some effort Draco tore his gaze away from the flailing squid and patted Potter's blushing cheek. The Gryffindor gaped with his mouth hanging open.

"You sent me a paper crane in Potions that cost me ten points from Gryffindor to show me that?" he asked in a tone of outraged moral sentiment that clashed with his fascinated staring.

"No, Potter," Draco shot back, "I asked you out here because I was going to confess to you my undying love for Hagrid."

"Go on, then."

Boy, haven't you gone from lovestruck puppy to cool cucumber quickly! Draco thought.

"I met the Dark Lord over the holidays," he stated without even trying to beat around the irascible ivy shrub.

Potter drew in an audible breath, Squid forgotten. His eyes went wide, and flew to Draco's arm.

"No, I did not take the Mark," Draco snapped. "How dumb do you think I am?"

There was an expressive lack of reply from Potter, and Draco scowled at him. When it became obvious that the Gryffindor was not going to comment until he'd heard all of it, Draco dug his toes into the snow.

"You know that my father was released from Azkaban after some he'd cleared up a few misunderstandings involving the Department of Mysteries?"

The Gryffindor sputtered and went dangerously red in the face, all of which Draco blithely ignored. Leave it to Potter to get all worked up over some minor detail.

"Well, the Dark Lord is pretty pissed with him about it, and that also that he didn't go all Lestrange after His fall. He... well, thinks Father has quite a bit to make up for."

Potter nodded, thin-lipped.

"I know. I heard him say so in the graveyard after his resurrection." For a moment, the Gryffindor seemed to be far away, looking back to an unpleasant memory, judging by the frown that crinkled his brow.

"Well, I..." Draco hesitated, then kicked himself mentally. Get it over with, for Merlin's sake! "I wanted to help Father. Bugger, Potter, I practically begged to be allowed to meet Him." He shuddered. "It was horrible!"

He kicked the boulder and dropped his gaze.

"What did he do?" Potter's voice was surprisingly calm for someone who'd just heard that his school rival had had an audience with his mortal enemy since infancy.

"Complemented me on my immaculate hair, what do you think?" Draco snapped. When all he got in return was pointed silence, he added, "He wants you, Potter. He's obsessed with you." Just like everybody else, he thought.

Draco looked up and found Potty's expression unsurprised. The mistrustful emerald eyes refused to let him go.

"He wants to use me to get to you," he admitted.

Here, that hadn't been so horrible. Heck, who was he kidding? It had been dreadful!

"So what are you going to do?" How could that infuriating bastard be as cool as a Crup's nose about it?

"I'm not going to do anything about it!" Draco exploded. "Or why do you think I'm standing here telling you about it when I could watch an oversized tuna masturbating not twenty paces away?"

Potter snorted and threw a quick ogle over Draco's shoulder towards the lake. Bastard!

"Meeting the Dark Lord was the most terrible experience of my entire life, Potter!" What was it going to take for the git to get the point? Drawing him a bloody magical map? "He looks like death warmed over-"

"In a cauldron, no less," Potter interjected. "I know. I was there."

"My point is, you moron, that I don't want to serve that!" Draco exclaimed. "He'd Crucio me as soon as look at me, and probably for after-dinner entertainment as well. And he's... horrible."

Potter threw him an exasperated look. "Oh, you're probably the only person in the bloody wizarding world that came as a surprise to!" he scoffed. "But I repeat: what are you going to do about it?"

Draco pulled a horrible scowl. Should be bloody obvious, shouldn't it? He was a Malfoy! He had a reputation to consider.

He kicked the boulder again, and winced. Bloody granite!

"I want you to protect me from him, Potter! You've got all those connections to that Phoenix resistance, or whatever it's called." He paused for a moment. "And I figure you've got a better chance to defeat him than anyone else around."

The stern expression did not vanish from Potter's face. "If you're serious about his, you'll have to go and see the Headmaster, Malfoy. And tell him everything you know about the Death Eaters, even if it means accusing your father."

Draco bit his lip. "My father has as good as consigned me to You-Know-Who's service already. I can't go and tell him I refuse, not after the way I begged to be admitted." He swallowed. "He'd kill me. And even if he didn't, my crazy aunt would. So Dumbledore sounds like a pretty good alternate choice."

Some of the tension left Potter's face, and his gaze softened.

"I'll come with you to the Headmaster, then," he offered.

"Thanks." Draco said with relief. "Though I'd like to wait for another day, if you don't mind." At the suspicious narrowing of Potter's eyes, he added, "If I have to break with my family, there is something I want to get first. Something important." He allowed a small, unsettling smile to play about the corners of his mouth.

"If you'll meet me tomorrow night, I'll show you."

Potter's expression remained wary for a moment, but then he nodded.

"All right."

"Good!" Draco's smirk broadened. "Meet me at midnight, then." He reached out and ran a thumb lightly along the Gryffindor's cheekbone. "At the top of the Astronomy Tower... Harry."

~ tbc. ~
Next: The Astronomy Tower (or: Meet Me at Midnight)