The Wrong Moment

Chapter Two - The Roll Around Harry hurried the rest of the way to his chambers, and stopped at the door to listen if there were any sounds he’d rather not listen to, and rather not see if he was unfortunate enough. Hearing nothing, he whispered the password and climbed in. His best friends were currently sitting on the couch, arms wrapped around each other, staring at the fire.

“Done already?”

“Actually, we didn’t do anything. We figured it has been kind of rude for us to do things in your chambers. So, Hermione and I are going to clean hers up tomorrow after dinner.”

Harry levelled a glare at his friends. “You mean to tell me, that I could have been safe in my chambers, all night? But instead, I’m out wandering the hallways like a lost puppy dog and run into Malfoy? Thanks a lot! “I am now scarred for life! Never mind this stupid thing on my forehead! My brain is permanently scarred. My thigh is now branded. My mouth is dirtied up and it’s all because you two didn’t deem it prudent to come find me?” He let out an exasperated grunt, and stormed into his bedroom, slamming the door. A moment later, it opened again. “And put that fire out when you leave!” Another slam, and all was quiet.

“Hmm, do you think he ran into Malfoy?” Ron asked dryly after a few moments.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. “You’re funny, Ron.”

“I wonder what happened?”

“Who knows. But it couldn’t possibly have been that bad for him to freak out like that.”

“Come on, Hermione. This is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, who we are talking about here. It could be that bad.”

“Well... maybe we’ll just have to ask him in the morning then. Let’s leave him in peace for now. He’s obviously upset about whatever happened.”

The two stood up from their place on the couch, Ron put out the fire and they walked out of Harry’s chambers. “Sorry, Harry!” Ron called before leaving. “It’s not like Malfoy forced himself on you or anything!”

A loud groan could be heard from inside Harry’s bedroom. Ron snickered. “I guess it isn’t that bad, Hermione. The worst thing wasn’t done. Harry’s safe from contamination.”

“Shut up, Ron. Go to bed.”

Harry woke the next morning to a definite headache. The blood pounded through his veins, seeming like it wanted an escape from them. It was exactly how Harry was feeling about his life. He had to escape. Merlin, he had willingly kissed Draco Malfoy to get him out of trouble with Pansy Parkinson. To top it all off, Harry had enjoyed it. It was nothing like kissing Cho or Ginny. It was exhilarating, it was fresh, new. It made Harry feel alive. And Merlin, it was Malfoy. Oh, Harry was really going to have to give Ron and Hermione an earful for this.

If he ever got the nerve up to tell them.

Not gonna happen. They’ll just have to suffer the consequences without knowing what they did to me.

‘What they did to you? You’re the one who agreed to help in the first place. This is nobody’s fault but yours, Potter.’

Shut up. I don’t need to the voice of reason coming to me now.

“Harry! Get up! We’re going to be late for breakfast!” yelled Hermione’s voice from his common room.

“I don’t care! I’m not getting up today. Thank you!”

“You have to! We have a meeting with Dumbledore today about how to run the prefect’s meetings.”

“We have already held two meetings! I think we’re capable.”

“Not exactly. Those meetings were like riots. You need to get up.”

“If you call a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw snogging a riot.... Fine. But it’s on your head if I have a bad day.”

“I’m ever so scared, Mr. Potter. Now, do come out here.”

“Miss Granger, do give me time to get dressed,” Harry grumbled as he pulled his trousers on. Hermione was silent until Harry opened the door of his bedroom, looking very dishevelled. Hermione tsked, while looking him over. His tie was hanging around his neck, untied, his robes were wrinkled and unbuttoned, and his shoelaces were untied.

“Don’t try too hard there, Harry.”

“It’s the best I can do.”

Hermione shook her head, waved her wand and Harry was looking presentable. “Thanks. That saves me a lot of work.” He smiled cheekily, swung his bag over his shoulder and led the way out of the room. Ron was just walking past as they stepped out.

“Morning, you two. Sleep well?” he asked them both as he kissed Hermione’s cheek.

“Not really,” Harry mumbled. “Thanks for asking though.”

“What exactly did Malfoy do to you, Harry?”

“Er - that uh... reminds me. I need to eat.”

Harry took off at a dead sprint through the halls, only slowing down once he got to the top of the marble staircase. He calmly walked down them, trying to catch his breath. “Morning, Harry!” called Colin Creevey from the doors of the entrance hall.

“Good morning, Colin.”

“Want to come sit by us?”

“Sure. Go on. I’ll catch you up.” Colin waved and disappeared into the Great Hall. Harry made sure that he could breathe properly again and walked the rest of the way down the stairs.

“Harry! Why did you run away from us?” Ron yelled when he and Hermione got to the top of the staircase. Harry whipped his head around and looked up at them, and not watching where he was going, slammed right into somebody else.

He looked at his crash victim and just barely held in the growl. “Malfoy. Watch where you choose to stand. People walk here.”

“I was walking, Potter. I think you need to watch where you’re going.”

Pansy, who was walking a step ahead of them, burst into tears and ran in the opposite direction. “Touchy this morning, isn’t she?” Harry remarked. “She fancies you, doesn’t she, Malfoy? Perhaps you should go cheer her up?”

“No, thank you. Apparently, I’m in love with somebody else.”

“Oh, too bad for her. See you in potions, then.” Harry turned away just as he felt a slight blush creep up on himself. Just as he was about to sit down at the Gryffindor table, Ron yelled for him again.

“Harry! What is wrong with you? You’ve been acting strangely ever since you got back from your walk last night. And now you’re speaking civilly with Malfoy? Last night you were saying that your brain was scarred, your thigh branded, and your mouth dirtied. And all because you met Malfoy in the hallway? What is going on?”

Harry looked up discreetly at the Slytherin table and found Draco staring at him with a slightly hurt look on his face. “Nothing is going on. I don’t know what you’re talking about. It gets tiring to fight all the time.”

“Well, something happened last night, Harry,” Hermione said calmly as she scooped eggs onto her plate. “You positively had a temper tantrum last night. It was like watching a four year old with all the door slamming.”

“Yeah, well... it was slightly surprising is all. To know that I could have been safe in my rooms makes it all worse.”

“What happened?” Ron exclaimed exasperated.

“I just... I just did a good deed for Malfoy is all.”

“Why would you do that for?”

“Never mind. It really wasn’t that big of a deal because it’ll never happen again. Just drop it. I won’t talk anymore about it.”

The fluttering of wings overhead interrupted any more talk on what Harry had to do for Draco. The morning mail had arrived and both Ron and Hermione had received something and were distracted. Ron had received a letter from his mother, telling of events at the Burrow, and Hermione had received the Daily Prophet. Harry was busy reading over Hermione’s shoulder when the Slytherin table burst into laughter. Harry looked up and found that Draco looked especially flushed as a scarlet letter in front of him began to smoke at the edges.

“Oh. My. God!” Ron exclaimed. “Malfoy has a howler! This will make my day! Come on! Let’s hear it, Malfoy!” he yelled across the Great Hall. That got anybody else’s attention who hadn’t taken notice and now everybody was staring at Draco. He began to get up so that he could run out with it, but it was too late. The letter exploded in his hands and Pansy Parkinson’s shrill voice cut through the air like a knife.

“DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY! I HOPE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! OUR FATHERS WILL BE FURIOUS! WE HAVE BEEN DESTINED TO BE MARRIED SINCE BIRTH, AND NOW LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! YOU HAVE RUINED ALL MY ATTEMPTS AT GETTING YOU TO LOVE ME! I HAVE MADE SURE THAT NOBODY ELSE IN THIS SCHOOL WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL IN GETTING YOU! BUT IT SEEMS NOBODY WAS EXPECTING YOU TO DO THIS! LISTEN EVERYBODY, DRACO MALFOY IS A FAGGOT! I SAW HIM LAST NIGHT, KISSING NONE OTHER THAN...”

“Silencio!” Draco roared, pointing his wand at the letter. Harry sighed in relief, but Ron mistook it for a sigh of disappointment.

“Stupid git. The least he could do is let it tell us who he was kissing. Hey, Harry, you saw him last night. Did you see him with another guy? Oh, this could be sweet!” Ron said all this very fast, finishing up by rubbing his hands together. Harry looked at Ron and gulped.

“Er - no. I didn’t see another guy with him. It must have been just after Pansy found them because they had just been in a fight and she was crying.” Harry looked up at Draco and found him staring at Harry. Draco was looking even more pale than normal and he looked very nervous. Harry gave him a sympathetic/thank you look. Draco nodded and quickly left the hall, to quiet snickers and jeers.

Hermione elbowed Harry in the side very lightly and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Your mouth was dirtied, huh?”

“What? Oh, figure of speech. I’m not the one who did it, Hermione. I’d tell you if I was gay, wouldn’t I?”

“Would you?”

“Of course I would! You’re my best friend. I don’t think I could keep something like that a secret for long. Besides, I’d have to rinse my mind out if I had kissed Malfoy last night.”

“Only to dirty ours?” she asked with a grin.

“Exactly. You see? I didn’t do it.”

“Okay, I believe you. Come on. We have Transfiguration.”

***

Draco rolled out of his four poster the next morning to a pounding headache. Just one sound that was a decibel higher than necessary, his head was certain to explode. Breakfast didn’t start for another hour, so Draco figured that the headache could possibly go away before then. This was his quiet time during the day after all. Most Slytherins chose to sleep until the very last moment before breakfast. Draco, himself hated this method and only did it if it was completely necessary. He liked to get up in the morning, take a long hot shower, get dressed, and then go about the painstaking business with his hair. This was the longest part of getting ready for Draco. Contrary to popular belief, his hair did not want to stay slicked back with only gel. A series of no less then eight spells had to be put on just to get it to stay, and even then a stray hair was bound to fall forward. Some people would call him vain. Draco would like to disagree, but the fact of the matter was, he was most definitely vain. There was nothing for it.

To the Malfoys, there were only three necessities in life. Dashing good looks, money, and the best clothes money can buy. If you didn’t have the first, you were left with only money and good clothes that looked like crap on you. If you didn’t have money, all you had left were your dashing good looks wasted on second hand robes, and perhaps a home like the Weasley’s. It was all or nothing. Thankfully, Draco had it all.

With fifteen minutes to go before breakfast began, Draco walked down to the Common room, completely ready for the day. Maybe not completely ready, as the day included seeing Pansy and Potter, but ready nonetheless. Starting a fire in the fireplace, Draco sat down in his favourite chair to wait for Crabbe and Goyle to come down. Within minutes to go before breakfast, heavy footsteps were hurrying down the stairs, and Draco stood to greet one of his bodyguards, whichever one it may be. But it was not one of his lumbering idiots as he so thought. The person turned out to be Pansy, coming down the girls staircase. As quick as lightning, she strode across the room and smacked Draco across the cheek.

“How dare you,” she hissed.

“How dare me? How dare you for hitting me! I’ll give my father credit for something, he told me to never hit a girl; you’re damn lucky that you even remotely resemble one, because otherwise, I’d hit you right back right now.”

“That makes me wonder, Draco. Does that rule apply when you’re with Potter? I mean, I only assume that he’s the girl in the relationship... does that mean you don’t hit him either? Or do you because he’s actually a boy?”

Draco stepped forward menacingly. “Don’t you dare fucking talk about Harry like that, you bitch!” Draco would have stepped back in surprise for his instant reaction to defend the Gryffindor, but since he needed to keep on acting, he only just managed to stay in a menacing stance.

“Oh my god. You really have fallen for him, haven’t you, Draco?”

“What, are you jealous?”

“Of course not!”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Pansy. After three years of putting up with you, you can’t fool me. Why even deny it? You are jealous of Harry Potter.”

“I don’t get it Draco! Why should he be worthy of you? You have been his enemy for seven years and all of sudden, you’re snogging each other in the hallway, claiming you love each other?”

“Correction, we haven’t been enemies for seven years. We were enemies for about six and a half.”

“God. This is so wrong. How long did you fancy him before he came to you?”

“Um... since the um... beginning of sixth year.”

“You could have just told me then that you’re a faggot.”

Draco’s blood ran cold and his anger began to mount again. “Do not ever call me that ever again. You know what, Pansy? If you know what is good for you, you won’t tell anybody about what you witnessed last night. This is between us three and us three only. Got that?”

“Hey, Draco!” called Crabbe from the stairs.

“Oh, morning, Vince,” Draco sighed, thankful for his intrusion. “Let’s go to breakfast.”

“We have to wait for Greg first.”

Once Greg came down, they started for the Great Hall. Pansy walked a couple steps in front of the three boys, and stayed just close enough to them all the way to the Great Hall so that she could possibly hear anything that they might say. This was why Draco decided not to initiate a conversation. If he didn’t speak first, then Crabbe and Goyle were sure to keep their mouths shut. It was just the way things worked. Besides, the two big oafs were always so eager to go to the hall to eat that they nearly always ran ahead of Draco. This morning was no exception. Before long, they had pulled way ahead of Draco and Pansy. Just as the latter two Slytherins were nearing the top of the stairs, Draco heard Potter’s voice calling down to somebody.

“Sure. Go on. I’ll catch you up.”

Draco got up just in time to see the Mudblood, Colin Creevey wave at Potter before disappearing into the Great Hall. Pansy turned around and sneered at Draco. “Jealous, Draco? Your precious boyfriend is going to be sitting next to some other guy.”

“Not as jealous as you are of Potter.”

“So, it’s back to surnames for you?”

“Have to keep up appearances, now don’t we?” Draco smirked.

Pansy scowled and began walking again. Draco followed at a leisurely pace. “Harry! Why did you run away from us?” Draco turned around and saw that it was Weasley who had yelled down. He barely kept himself from making a smart arse remark. Draco turned around just as Potter whipped his head back to look at his friend. The Slytherin then gave a small grunt as he was almost pushed to the floor from behind. He whipped his head around, ready to lash out angrily when Potter’s face was right behind him, smirking.

“Malfoy. Watch where you choose to stand. People walk here.”

Draco ground his teeth together, barely keeping his anger in check. “I was walking, Potter. I think you need to watch where you’re going.” Inwardly, Draco cheered as Pansy burst into tears and fled from the Great Hall. Bravo, Potter. You again managed to get her away from me without even trying.

“Touchy this morning, isn’t she?” Harry remarked. “She fancies you, doesn’t she, Malfoy? Perhaps you should go cheer her up?”

Bravo, Potter. Piss two Slytherins off in the period of ten seconds.

“No, thank you. Apparently, I’m in love with somebody else,” Draco replied evenly, looking straight into Potter’s green eyes. Potter never flinched.

“Oh, too bad for her. See you in potions, then.”

Draco watch the Gryffindor walk away, slightly impressed. For once, he had kept his cool. Draco had made that comment about being in love with him, just to get Potter’s knickers in a bunch. Ignoring the giddy feeling in his stomach, Draco walked to the Slytherin table to his usual spot, facing the Gryffindors.

“Harry! What is wrong with you?” Draco’s eyes flew up at the sound of Weasley’s voice. “You’ve been acting strangely ever since you got back from your walk last night. And now you’re speaking civilly with Malfoy? Last night you were saying that your brain was scarred, your thigh branded, and your mouth dirtied. And all because you met Malfoy in the hallway? What is going on?”

Potter looked up at Draco and their eyes met. Draco noticed that the other boy’s eyes looked a little nervous... and guilty? He replied to his friend’s curious words, but Draco caught nothing of it. The famous trio continued their conversation as Potter grew more and more pink in the face, every once in a while, taking a glance at the Slytherin table. But Draco saw none of this. He couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed. Now he knew how Potter really felt about the whole situation. Granted if he had been in the Gryffindor’s shoes, he probably wouldn’t have been too happy either. But branded? Dirtied? Malfoys weren’t that bad. Honestly, this was Draco Malfoy. Not just any Malfoy, but Draco. Who was Potter to deny that he hadn’t enjoyed the act? The proof had been pretty obvious when pointed out.

Well, if it was really that harrowing of an experience for Potter, then he would just have to accept the money. At least then, it would be worth his while. Draco made a mental note to speak with the Gryffindor after Potions later that day.

The sound of wings interrupted Draco’s thoughts and he immediately looked up to the ceiling. A large brown, school owl flew down in front of Draco and dropped off a very formidable looking scarlet letter. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. he thought, just as the whole of the Slytherin table burst into laughter at his misfortune. Draco felt himself pale as he picked up the letter, very aware that almost the entire hall had noticed.

“Come on! Let’s hear it, Malfoy!” Weasley shouted. Draco made a mental note to hex him after Potions, and thank him. Because that was what put him into action. He very suddenly stood up to run out of the Great Hall, but the cursed letter exploded and began shouting at him. Pansy, the bitch. With nothing else to do but let the letter speak, he threw it down on the table, and felt himself grow even paler when it announced that he was gay. Oh, Merlin. Goodbye sex life. Hopefully people will forget about this by the time I’m seventy. Goodbye girls. Just as he was about to walk out, completely humiliated, Pansy went on and was about to say who he had been kissing the previous night. Panicking, he did the only thing that came to him. He didn’t even know if it would work on a howler.

“Silencio!” he roared out of panic. A great sigh of relief escaped as the screaming stopped. It wasn’t until it had, that he realised that his headache had disappeared, but was now back with a vengeance. Looking up at Potter, he found the green eyes staring at him, and Draco’s heart gave a leap. Stupid thing. Maybe I need to go to a doctor. Giving a slight nod at Potter’s look of thankfulness, he continued on his way out of the Great Hall, silent howler clutched in his hand. Time for History of Magic, he thought miserably as the letter burst into flames and fell in ashes to the floor. Draco felt like doing the same.

Draco skipped lunch that afternoon. He was too busy giving himself a pep talk on facing the Gryffindors in class, and also Potter afterwards. The potions classroom was completely devoid of anybody when he arrived, and was extremely thankful for it. Any person, especially guys, were giving him a wide berth all day. It was getting really annoying. It started to make Draco think that he shouldn’t have silenced the howler, then Potter would be going through the same thing as he was. That was something to ponder later on. Right now, everybody was filing silently into the classroom, waiting for their formidable potions master to arrive. Draco sank down miserably into his seat as even the Slytherins wouldn’t sit by him anymore. It seemed as though even Crabbe and Goyle were afraid they’d “catch” his “disease” if they came too close, or worse, that he’d hit on them. Draco snorted under his breath. Even if he was gay, he certainly wouldn’t hit on those two hippogriffs.

In the next moment, the door flew open, banging the wall behind it emitting Professor Snape, who looked to be in a very bad mood. He glared at Draco on his way past and stopped by his desk. And the prize for the most dramatic entrances goes to... Draco thought sarcastically.

“Today, I don’t expect any of you to make the potion we are making, correctly. It is above and beyond any of your pathetic potion making skills. I’d say that normally Mr. Malfoy would be able to, but it seems today, he has other matters on his mind.” Draco glared.

“If I do say so myself, Professor Snape,” he replied. “It’s quite rude to bring up students' personal lives. Especially when things like that aren’t true.” Here, Pansy snorted. “So if you please, shut up.”

Snape narrowed his eyes. Draco heard Weasley make an angry gurgle in the back of his throat. “You’ll do well not to speak to a professor like that, Mr. Malfoy.” Weasley made another gurgling sound in the back of his throat as Snape continued. Moments later, the door banged open and everybody turned to look as Potter came rushing in.

“I’m sor..”

“No excuses, Potter. You will serve...”

“No! I will not serve a detention with you. Professor Dumbledore summoned me to his office and our meeting ran later. He wrote me a note.” Here, Potter stuck a note into Snape’s hand and waited for the verdict. Snape growled low in his throat as if displeased with not being able to give his least favourite student a detention.

“Fine. Take a seat.” The smirk reappeared on Snape’s face as he looked around the room. “Well, well. It looks as though the only seats left are next to Ms. Parkinson and Mr. Malfoy. Which one will it be, Potter?”

Potter turned around and glanced between both of them. Pansy was scowling heavily at him, while Draco looked on with slight amusement and nervousness. Who knew what Pansy would do if Potter chose to sit by him. “You’re not showing a very good example at being Head Boy today, are you Potter? First, you’re late for class, and now you’re refusing to sit? Hmm... what shall we do with you?”

“I’m not refusing to sit... it’s just a hard decision. One Slytherin or the other. Which one will I allow to make my life miserable today?” Draco heard Weasley snicker behind him, and Draco rolled his eyes. Honestly. It wasn’t even funny.

“Decide quickly, or I will decide for you. You are holding up my class.”

Potter looked at Draco, and immediately turned a slight pink colour. Pansy saw this and scoffed. The Gryffindor then looked at her and glared. Then, seeming to come to a decision, he turned towards Draco and sat down.

“It figures you’d sit there, Potter,” Pansy sneered. “We all know that Draco is a queer. Does this prove to us that you’re making a move on him now?”

“And which one would you be more jealous of?” Draco said. “Me, or him? We all know that you’re still sore on me because I don’t want to be with you.”

“Enough!” Snape yelled. “I do not care for your social lives. Now, if we could just carry on with the lesson.” Snape continued talking and soon, they were making their potions, Potter and Draco paired up together. As Draco feigned getting a knife from beside Potter, he lowered his voice to a whisper and grabbed the knife.

“I want to speak with you after class. I’ll make a mess of something and we’ll clean it up, okay?”

Potter nodded and moved away a little. Draco mentally sneered at him. Did he actually believe those rumours about him being gay? That was ridiculous, since he had been the one who had been snogging Draco. Of course, Draco had been aroused... No! I was only aroused because it’s been so long since I’ve been with somebody. That’s all. It felt good to be touched. Satisfied with that answer, Draco continued working on the potion. The rest of the class dragged by much too slowly for Draco’s liking. He wanted to get his part with Potter over with.

Five minutes to go until the bell, Snape announced that it was time to clean up. Draco and Potter began cleaning up their supplies. “Oh, damn!” Draco exclaimed dramatically as he dropped a large amount of leech juice on the table and floor.

“Are you sure you’re not gay?” Potter muttered under his breath. “You’re such a drama queen.”

“Shove it, Potter,” he replied as Snape swept over to them.

“What is this, Draco?”

“I spilled my leech juice, sir. I was just going to clean it up.”

“Then do it quickly,” Snape commanded as the bell rang. “Potter, you can help.”

Potter rolled his eyes as if to say, ‘like I had a choice.’ Draco threw a rag at him and began to sop up the juice on the table. “On your hands and knees, Potter. I don’t crawl around on the floor like a simple house elf.”

“Of course not. We wouldn’t want you dirtying your designer robes, now would we? No, Ron, go on ahead. I have to help this git,” he said as Weasley walked up to them. Draco sneered at the red head until he was out the door, then he glanced around the room and found that it was indeed empty. Just the way he wanted it to be. Potter knelt down on the floor and very quickly mopped up the intentional mess and stood back up to face Draco.

“Now, what did you want, Malfoy?” he asked, arms crossed over his chest.

“Well, you know how Pansy sent me that howler...”

“Yes. Continue.”

“She almost said your name and I just thought that it might be unfair for you if this whole thing got out, seeing as how I’m the one who got you into this mess...”

“Go on, I’m not disagreeing with you.”

“I know that if it does come out that it was you that she saw with me, it’d be all over the Prophet. So, again, I’m offering you money. It won’t make up for any damage done to your reputation, but at least you’ll get something out of it.”

“Malfoy, I told you already, I don’t want your money. I’ll feel like some sort of whore or something, okay? Now that we’re done here, I’ll be leaving.”

“No! You have to take it. Please.”

Potter raised an eyebrow. “Please? Draco Malfoy just said please? I think I’ve lost my mind.”

“Not yet anyway.... I’m serious, Potter. Take my money.”

“I’m serious as well, Malfoy. I. Don’t. Want. Your. Money.”

“Damnit! Take my money!”

“I don’t want it!”

“TAKE IT!”

“NO!”

“YES!”

“NO!”

“Stop being such a Gryffindor! TAKE. MY. MONEY!”

“Stop being such a Slytherin! I. DON’T. WANT. IT!”

Draco let out an exasperated growl and lunged at Potter, tackling him to the floor. He threw as many punches as he could get into his stomach, but every punch aimed for the Gryffindor’s face was quickly blocked. They rolled around on the floor, hitting each other wherever they could hit.

“Take it!”

“I don’t want it!”

Draco rolled on top of Potter and straddled his hips, and pinned his shoulders to the ground. Both struggled to regain their breathing as they stared at each other, eyes blazing in anger. Draco had to hold down a smile when he saw how cute Potter was when he was all dishevelled. His glasses were askew, his hair more wild than normal, his robes wrinkled, and some buttons coming off. A quick look down at himself told Draco that he was in much the same condition.

“What do you want then?” Draco asked still out of breath.

Still out of breath as well, Harry replied, “I want you....”

“See! I knew it! I told you Draco was gay with Harry Potter!” screeched a high voice from the doorway. “Potter just admitted it! And look at them, they were just snogging!”

“Huh?” Draco and Potter asked in unison and looked to the door. Both of their eyes went wide as they saw Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Professor Snape, standing in the doorway, looking down at them. Potter pushed Draco roughly off of him and climbed up.

“It’s not what it looks like, Professor. We were fighting, not snogging.”

Pansy scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah right. Draco was straddling you, you were out of breath, and you just admitted that you wanted him.”

“I never got to finish my sentence!” Harry said, just barely containing it below a yell.

“Likely story,” Pansy sneered. “We all know what you really want.”

Potter was stopped from saying anything when Draco jumped into the conversation at last. “You know what I want Pansy? I want you to keep your mouth shut about any of this. So what if Po - Harry and I want to be together.” Behind him, Draco heard Potter groan. “It doesn’t bother me, so if it bothers you, then that’s your problem. Professor Snape? Can I trust you not to say anything to anybody? I want to respect Harry’s decision about not letting it get out to the press right now.”

Snape looked reluctantly at Potter, back to Draco, back to Potter, and then sighed. “Fine. I’m not doing this for you Potter. I’m doing it for Draco. Slytherins are supposed to keep each other’s secrets after all.” Here he pointed his glare at Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle in turn, specifically at Pansy. “By the way, Potter, ten points from Gryffindor for snogging in a classroom.”

Potter scowled heavily then turned to Draco. “By the way, Ma... Draco, ten points from Slytherin for attacking the Head Boy.” He turned to Professor Snape. “Yes, sir. I did say attack. We weren’t snogging, we were fighting, like I said.”

“Oh, a lover’s spat?” Pansy said sweetly.

“Shut up, Parkinson,” Draco hissed. She visibly winced and backed a little out of the door. “Greg, Vince? Can I count on you?”

“Sure,” Goyle grunted. “I think we need to tell the other Slytherins though. They’ll keep it a secret. Remember that one time that you were found all alone in the Common room, Draco? Nobody has ever said anything about that. That was so funny, I’ve never seen anybody whip up...”

“Shut up! You were just about to say it in front of a Gryffindor, you bumbling fool!”

“I thought you might have told him already. He’s your boyfriend and all that.”

“I don’t care. I’m never going to think about that ever again. Now shut up.”

“Er - excuse me. I do not want the whole of Slytherin house to find all this out,” Potter said quietly.

“They’ll know. We can’t keep something like this from them,” Crabbe said. “They’ll think Draco betrayed them if they found out some other way. Don’t worry about it, Potter. As much as we all don’t want to see it, it’ll give you and Draco more alone time together.”

Draco looked at Potter to see how he’d take that and found him to be slightly green in the face. Draco didn’t know if he should be offended by that reaction or not. Granted, Draco kind of felt the same, but at the same time, he was excited for what could happen. Potter in his bedroom - that could definitely be interesting.

“Heh. That’s... great. I’ve uh... always wondered what um... Draco’s bed is like.”

Draco smirked.