Immortalitas Aestas

The rest of the week was uneventful. The days were still unbearably hot, and the nights weren't much better. The staff and students of Hogwarts were looking haggard and drawn; there was very little laughter and even fewer smiles. Classes seemed to pass slowly, the hours feeling like they went on for days. Everyone seemed to be dragging themselves through their daily routines.

Harry figured that he'd lost some weight. He'd either sweated it off or lost it by not eating. The majority of his appetite had left him midweek. He found himself picking at his food during meals instead of eating, and noticed nearly everyone else in the Great Hall doing the same thing. He attributed his own loss of appetite to the immense heat, but there was one other thing that could also have something to do with it, one other worry that was weighing on his mind.

Draco.

Harry hadn't really talked to Draco since the potion trying, but that really wasn't all that odd; they only had three classes together after all. And it was crazy to think that Draco was purposely avoiding him.

Wasn't it?

Harry wasn't sure and it was starting to frustrate him. He and Draco had been getting along so well, sharing jokes and spending time together, that he wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but he thought it must have had something to do with what had happened when they'd tried the Invincibility Potion. He'd felt extremely strange while under its influence, and had found himself doing things that he ordinarily would not have done. He wondered if Draco had felt the same way and was not feeling awkward about it, as things just seemed more stilted whenever they did run across each other.

Draco was of course still being civil to him and had partnered Harry in Potions twice, but they weren't talking to each other as freely as they had been. And frankly Harry was starting to get a little angry about it.

It was time he had a chat with one Draco Malfoy.

He was pulled from his internal rant by Ron, who had tapped him on the arm and was looking at him oddly.

"You all right, mate?" Ron asked, concern apparent in his voice.

Harry raised an eyebrow in response.

"You were tapping your foot and smashing your quill," Ron explained, looking at him closely. "You sure you're okay?"

Harry looked down at the quill in his hands. He had indeed smashed the feather and the tip had split, leaking ink onto his parchment. Harry rolled his eyes, muttering a cleaning spell. Stupid Draco.

"I'm fine, Ron," he finally responded, setting the damaged quill down gently on the table. "I was just thinking, that's all."

Ron gave him a look that said 'You are mad, my friend, but I'll play along.' "About?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

Draco, Harry thought instantly, but he shoved that thought quickly away. "Just things," he responded instead, waving his hand to dismiss his friend's concerns.

The two boys were sitting in the library, with orders from Hermione to study for their N.E.W.T.'s, although the tests were still four months away. Hermione herself was completing her rounds of the school, which she'd haughtily told Ron when he had complained that she wasn't studying so they shouldn't have to either.

Harry himself was not actually studying, but was trying to complete his Transfiguration paper, which was on the Animagus transformation. The topic itself wasn't difficult; Harry had inherited his father's ability to transform and could take the form of a red fox easily. He knew the history behind the transformation and the steps to complete it. His problem was his lack of concentration. He was so hot that all he could seem to think about was his body temperature and the fact that all he wanted was to cool down. And what little of his brain was left was too busy thinking of a certain blond Slytherin to be of any help to Harry and his paper writing.

There wasn't anything immediate that Harry could do about the heat, but he could definitely do something about Draco. He had Astronomy that night with him and Harry was going to make sure Draco didn't get away before he talked to him.

"Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry looked up sharply. "What?" He winced a little, realizing he sounded defensive. "What?" he tried again, a bit more gently.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're all right, mate? You seem to be off in your own world."

Harry nodded, dropping his gaze to the essay in front of him. "I'm just tired, Ron," he replied, rolling up the parchment and screwing the cap on his inkbottle. "Come on, we have to go to Astronomy."

Astronomy was a required class for fifth years and above. Dumbledore's reason was that he wanted his students to have "a knowledge of the stars". Harry wasn't too sure if that was the true reason, but couldn't come up with any other ideas. He also didn't mind as he found the subject rather interesting. Unlike the rest of their required subjects, Astronomy classes weren't taught by houses. The students were "randomly" placed, although Harry knew the old headmaster too well to believe even for a second that anything he decided upon was randomly done so. There were two sections for each year level; Harry and Ron's section met Mondays and Fridays.

Ron gathered up his things, shooting one more look at Harry before shrugging his shoulders. Harry sighed inwardly in relief, grateful that his friend seemed to have dropped the conversation. He definitely did not want to get into the real reason he was "in his own world". He imagined that Ron would not like the thoughts that were currently running through Harry's head.

The two boys walked up the stairs in silence. Harry cast a sideways glance at Ron. He was chewing on his bottom lip, looking thoughtful.

"Harry?" Ron began hesitantly. Seeming to make up his mind, he reached out and laid a hand on Harry's forearm to stop him. "You know you can tell me anything, right? Whatever you're thinking, you can tell me. I'm your friend, Harry. Maybe I can help you out."

Harry hid a smile. Ron was flushed red with embarrassment, his face nearly the same shade of red as his hair. Harry clapped Ron hard on the shoulder. "I know, Ron," he said. "Thanks."

Ron nodded, shuffling his feet a bit. He was not really known for expressing his emotions. Harry started walking again, Ron falling into step next to him. The rest of the journey was completed in silence. As they climbed the stairs, Harry thought about what Ron had said. He couldn't even imagine what his friend's reaction would be if Harry told him he liked Draco. Or rather, Harry amended, he could imagine it and the thought made him wince. Ron would not be too happy.

They finally reached the classroom and Harry opened the door. Professor Sinistra was in the center of the room wearing sleeveless blue robes. She was currently trying to set up a large telescope but seemed to be having some trouble. She wasn't very tall and was trying to screw the end of the scope on; needless to say, it wasn't working, and Harry could tell she was getting frustrated. She spied Ron as soon as he entered the room, though, and a smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, Mr. Weasley," she said, sweeping forward and grabbing Ron's arm. "Perfect timing. Would you put this piece on the end there?" She indicated the spot. "I'm afraid I'm not quite tall enough."

Harry laughed as the Professor seemed one step short of batting her eyes at Ron, who was once again blushing fiercely.

"Seems Weasley has an admirer," a deep voice purred in Harry's ear.

Harry jerked around, finding himself eye-to-eye with Draco. "Seems that way, yes," he finally stammered after regaining a little of his composure. Lately it seemed like Draco's voice never ceased to cause a reaction in him.

"Care to be partners?" Draco asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

Harry found himself speechless for a moment and mentally smacked himself. There was no reason to get flustered with Draco simply speaking to him.

"Sure," he finally responded, shifting his gaze to the telescope on Draco's left. "What are we doing?"

Draco shrugged noncommittally. "She hasn't said yet - just told us to find partners."

Harry nodded. Once the telescope was properly set up, Professor Sinistra gathered the class in the center of the room, going over instructions and using the telescope for a demonstration. She then told them to get to work.

Harry used the telescope to take the readings and Draco wrote down the information. Their goal was to figure out the ages of the stars in the sky. There were ten pairs of students and each pair had a different part of the sky to look at. The results would then be combined to show the ages of every star in the sky. It was rather tedious work and Harry was glad when they finally finished.

Harry glanced around the room at the other pairs of students. He caught Morag's eye, stifling a laugh as the Ravenclaw rolled her eyes, clearly bored with the assignment. She was paired with Hannah Abbot, who seemed to be having trouble getting the telescope in focus. After several more minutes went by, Morag finally pushed her to the side, completing the readings herself with a shake of her head.

When Harry turned back to his own telescope, he found Draco staring at him. There were red splotches high up on his cheekbones and his grey eyes were unblinking. Draco moved suddenly, picking up his quill and turning back to his parchment. He wrote a few words down then looked back up, his expression unreadable.

"You look hot," Harry said without thinking. Draco's response was a raised eyebrow and a smirk, which rapidly turned into a wide grin as Harry's face bloomed into color.

"I, I mean ... er," Harry tried, putting his face in his hands. "God, I didn't mean...." He trailed off. "Fuck," he muttered under his breath.

Harry's flustered reaction caused Draco to laugh, which drew some startled glances from the students near them.

"Harry," Draco said once his laughter was under control, reaching up to gently pull Harry's hands away from his face, "I'm very flattered that you think I'm hot."

"I was just referring to the temperature," Harry replied, embarrassment still showing clearly on his face.

Draco patted his back lightly. "Oh, relax, Harry. You're the first person to make me laugh today."

Harry gave him a long look, picking up the parchment from the table. He quickly changed the subject. "Is this finished?"

Draco nodded. "Put it on the table with the others and then we can go."

Harry turned to put the parchment in the pile but got worried that Draco would leave before they could talk.

"Draco," he said, turning around so quickly that he bumped into Lisa Turpin, who was working at the telescope next to him. "Sorry," he murmured to her.

Draco looked up in surprise. Harry realized that that was the first time he'd ever called Draco by his first name in front of others.

"Harry," Draco responded, tilting his head to the side.

"Could I...." He trailed off. Come on Harry, he scolded himself. You're a Gryffindor. Where is your courage?

Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Could I see you in the Prefect lounge in ten minutes? I have something I need to talk to you about."

Harry noticed some of the other students near them staring wide-eyed in amazement. He supposed he'd surprised them a bit with the question. Draco seemed stunned speechless. He stared at Harry for a moment before returning to the calm indifference he naturally exuded. "Sure," he responded nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. "I'll see you in ten minutes."

Harry laughed a little. Draco made it sound like it was his idea to meet. Harry turned, placing the parchment in the pile on the table. He grabbed his things, practically running down the stairs in his rush to get to the Gryffindor common room. He greeted the Fat Lady, spoke the password, and rushed up the stairs to his dormitory. He dropped his things on his bed and quickly ran a brush through his hair, trying to make himself look a bit more presentable. After a moment he threw the brush back down in defeat as it was having little effect on his unruly locks. He sighed exasperatedly, trying to smooth down the front with his hands, but quickly gave up. There was just no hope for it.

He ran out the door and promptly crashed into Dean who was coming up the stairs. The other boy dropped his books in the collision, but Harry didn't stop, instead calling out a hurried, "Sorry!"

Dean shook his head, gathering up his books. He smiled, saying softly to himself, "Harry looks like a boy in love."

***

After leaving the Astronomy Tower, Draco immediately made his way to the Prefect lounge.

The floor length picture that protected the entrance depicted a battle scene from one of the many Goblin Wars. It slid open smoothly at Draco's softly whispered, "Veritas."

As he entered he noticed two Hufflepuff fifth year prefects. They noticed him, too, and promptly began gathering up their things.

"You need the lounge?" the girl asked. She was dressed in a yellow dress, her red hair pulled up on the top of her head. She spoke with a lilting Irish accent. She was, Draco noticed disinterestedly, rather pretty.

"Yes," he responded after giving her a cursory once over. "Thanks."

She nodded, nudging the boy she was with towards the door. "No problem. We were done here anyway." She glanced over her shoulder as she left, blushing slightly.

Oh, God, Draco thought. I think she's got a crush on me. He smiled faintly at the thought. "Crushing Hufflepuffs," he said out loud to the empty room.

The painting behind him chose that moment to slide open, startling him. Harry stepped through, smiling slightly at Draco.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he said, the grin on his face belying his words.

"You didn't," Draco said arrogantly.

Harry raised an eyebrow in response, smirking. "Of course not."

Draco stepped swiftly across the room, putting some distance between himself and his companion. He knew why Harry wanted to talk to him. He'd been avoiding the other boy ever since the potion-trying debacle. Draco was finding it harder and harder to keep his hands off Harry. In fact, he'd been consoling himself with simple touches; hands brushing "accidentally" while mixing Potions or bumping shoulders momentarily in the corridors. Harry probably thought that those touches were coincidental, but they had in fact been planned out to the very last detail. Draco needed the physical contact with Harry to make it through the day.

And today in Astronomy had felt like heaven. Being able to touch Harry had been wonderful, and it was even better to have flustered him a bit as well.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Draco calmly asked, although his insides were screaming in panic.

"Oh, well, I haven't really seen you much since we tried the Potion," Harry said, taking a step towards Draco. "I wanted to make sure everything was all right."

The Gryffindor was blushing and Draco inwardly sighed at the way the infusion of color added to the boy's good looks. Harry honestly had no idea how good he looked right now.

Draco felt almost giddy, looking at Harry. He was appalled. Malfoy's did not get giddy over something like a crush. Although, if he were honest with himself, he knew it was probably much more than that, but that was yet another thought for another time.

"Sorry?" Draco said, shaking his head to clear away his thoughts. Harry had said something else that had caused him to blush even more.

"I said I was wondering if you were avoiding me," Harry muttered, dropping his eyes to the floor.

Draco sighed. He wanted to gather him into his arms and hold him forever. The urge was almost as strong as the one that had gripped him in the Astronomy Tower earlier. He'd wanted to kiss Harry senseless right there in front of everyone.

Draco laughed a little at that thought. He was dreaming of kissing Harry Potter in the Astronomy Tower. How terribly cliché.

Draco realized that Harry was looking at him strangely. He must have laughed out loud.

"The truth is, Harry, that I was avoiding you." Draco watched as his face fell.

"Oh," Harry replied in a small voice, looking down slightly. He raised pleading eyes to Draco, taking another small step forward. "Why?"

Draco felt something inside him snap at the hurt in those emerald eyes. He couldn't bear to be the cause of Harry's pain. The last hold on his tenuous restraint broke.

"Because Harry," he said softly, stepping closer to him. "Every time I'm near you it makes me want to do something. Something I'm not sure I should do. Something you might get angry with me about."

Harry was a bit breathless when he asked, "What?"

Draco moved fluidly across the room, closing the distance between himself and Harry. He stopped directly in front of the other boy. He raised his hands, trapping Harry's face between them. Harry was staring at him wide-eyed and Draco again found himself captivated by the emerald gaze.

"This," Draco said, leaning forward and capturing Harry's lips with his own. The first touch was pure ecstasy and it shot directly to Draco's heart. Before he could get completely carried away though, a small rational part of his brain spoke up, and Draco broke the kiss.

"That's why, Harry," he said, looking into the dazed green eyes in front of him and running a thumb along Harry's cheekbone, feeling the heat beneath his palm. "That's why."

Before Harry could say a word, Draco turned on his heel and fled out of the room. If he'd bothered to stay, he would have heard Harry murmur, "Oh," in an awed voice and seen him run shaking fingers across his lips.