Paint it Black

Paint It Black
Chapter Two: If Only

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Harry was sitting on the floor with his back resting against the wall with Draco's head resting in his lap. Neither of them looked exactly delighted with their current position with the other, but Hermione was happily taking notes on a pad of parchment with an eagle feather quill while Ron sat at a desk with his head down.

"Why don't you rest your hand on his shoulder, Harry?" Hermione asked, motioning in the air with her quill. Harry did as he was asked and placed his left hand on Draco's shoulder. Both their expressions became more disgruntled.

"Like this?" Harry asked.

"A little lower... just there!" Hermione said before she began to take down another set of notes on her pad. "Malfoy, put one hand on Harry's thigh, won't you?"

"Hell no! That's gross," Draco said, wrinkling his nose and squinting his eyes. Hermione mimicked his expression with equal, if not more, intensity. "Fine..." Draco mumbled under his breath as he put this left hand on Harry's upper thigh.

Harry shuddered lightly and balled his right hand into a fist. With is head and hand on Harry's lap, Draco could feel Harry's body shake and a small sinister smile crossed his pale pink lips. "Something wrong, Potter? Never had a hand so close to...," Draco stopped talking and slowly began to trail his fingertips lightly up Harry's thigh. Harry bit his lip and clenched his fist tighter and tighter as Draco's fingers move farther up.

"Oh, God!" Harry said as he pushed Draco off of him. He quickly stood up and walked past Hermione and Ron, who had fallen asleep, toward the back of the room. Leaning against the edge of a desk, Harry shoved his hands into his pockets and hung his head down. Hermione watched Harry walk past and reached out for him slightly as he continued down the row, and as she looked back to give Draco a glare, he was sitting with his legs to his chest, his head between his knees, and his hands on the back of his head. She took in a deep breath and set her quill down along with her pad on the desk.

"Maybe," be began, "we should stop for tonight." She looked from Draco to Harry and neither one said anything or even gestured toward agreeing or not. Hermione just shook her head and gave Ron a light shake. "We're done. You can wake up now."

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Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall with his head resting on a rolled up copy of The Daily Prophet at breakfast on a Saturday morning in May. For the past month and a half he and Hermione had gotten, if they were lucky, four hours of sleep a night. Ron however, had slept though every single couple lesson and was, unlike his best friends, quite chipper this morning.

"Hello there Harry," Ron said happily, giving Harry a pat on the shoulder which only caused his friend to grunt and squint his eyes. "Good morning, Hermione," he said with a grin as his girlfriend's hair a rustle. "How are we this morning?"

With a quiet moan, Hermione looks up at Ron and blinks twice. "I haven't slept more then five hours in two bloody months, Ron. How would you be?" she questioned.

"I think I'd be pretty tired," Ron said, "but I have been sleeping fine."

"It's that nice?" Hermione mumbled as she pushed her plate aside and tucked her face into the niche in her arm.

"Is Harry sleeping?" Ron asked as he picked up a pear and took a bite out of it.

"Yes," Hermione replied, not lifting her head up.

"Ah...," was all Ron could think up to say. Just as Ron was getting all into the eating and examining of his pear, a loud crash emanated from the far side of the Great Hall. The clatter pulled Hermione from her doze into a fully upright position and made Harry sit up and adjust his glasses. Though they didn't get out of their seats, they heard a definite yell.

Draco slowly stood up and walked wearily out of the Great Hall mumbling something about faulty seats and needing more sleep. Hermione looked down at Harry, who had put his head back down on the table and looked to be sound asleep.

"We," Hermione began, talking to no one particular, "really need to finish this up."

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"Say it Harry!" Hermione said, tapping him on the shoulder with her quill.

"It feels weird," Harry protested, shifting the position he was standing in to a more comfortable one - for the time being anyway.

"There aren't many things we have left to do, so please just do this so we can stop pilfering tea from the house elves in the kitchen," she insisted.

"I don't see," Draco said, pausing to yawn, "why taking a few teabags is such a big deal, really." He smiled slightly and gestured to the fifteen, at least, used tea bags, the sack of who knew how many more, and the three mugs that were set on the table where Ron was now engaged in deep sleep, as always.

"Just will someone say it!" Hermione demanded as she slammed one hand down on her pad, causing both Harry and Draco to jump in slight fear.

"I love you, Draco," Harry said in a tight voice, looking at Draco. He was, at this point, hoping Hermione's scary attitude was from the excessive caffeine intake of late.

"I love you too, Harry," Draco replied with a smile.

"Good, good! But, Harry, don't be so uptight about it," Hermione said as she scribbled down a sentence to two, "Now, why don't we try a kiss?" she suggested, looking up at the two. They both looked down, feeling terribly uncomfortable. "Do you want this to work, or not?" Hermione said, remind them both that this had to be truly convincing if they intended to fool Lucius.

"Alright," Draco said as he took a deep breath and slowly moved closer to Harry, bringing one hand up to gently brush over Harry's cheek. "I like your eyes," Draco whispered before his own eyes fluttered shut and his warm lips pressed gently against Harry's.

It was Harry's first kiss, and was more then he had expected, especially considering from whom it came. From the start, Harry knew he'd have to kiss Draco eventually, and had anticipated something colder and far more reserved. But, Draco's lips were warm and gentle on his and soon Harry found himself relaxing against his enemy. Draco smiled under the kiss as he felt Harry relax and ran one hand though Harry's disheveled hair.

Harry pulled away when he felt Draco's fingers moving though his hair. He turned away and hung his head down low. "I'm sorry, Hermione," he said quietly, "I just can't do this."

"Don't say you're sorry to me, Harry," Hermione said as she nodded toward Draco. "You're helping him after all - not me."

The dark haired boy took a deep breath and turned back around to face Draco. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, his head still hung.

"Don't be," Draco said, in an almost forced tone. "It's not like you have to help me anyway, Potter." He ran a hand though his hair and turned his back on Harry.

"Right," Harry said with a sigh, "but I want to." Draco turned just his head back and raised one eyebrow.

"Why?" he asked Harry.

"I don't know. Maybe because I don't know what else to do with my time, or maybe because I feel sorry for you," Harry suggested with a nonchalant shrug.

"Don't," Draco began, "don't ever feel bad for me." He turned his head back around and crossed his arms over his chest.

Harry sighed and shrugged at Hermione, who just smiled back genially. He was unsure as of what to do, and looked at his bushy haired friend with a blank, questioning expression cast over his face. After shaking her head and taking a few notes, Hermione looked back at Harry, her countenance warm and friendly. "Go on," she whispered to Harry as she gestured toward the still standing Draco with her hand. A broad smile was across her face, as if she were enjoying seeing Draco and Harry act romantically toward each other. With a final, quick sigh and an adjustment of his robes, Harry covered the few steps between himself and Draco.

Gently, he slid his arms under Draco's and held the Slytherin around his waist. At first, Harry could feel the tension in Draco's back and arms, but slowly the blonde began to relax. At this, Harry rested his chin on his adversary's shoulder, tenderly nuzzling his neck. Draco smiled and placed his hands on top of Harry's, their fingers intertwining.

Hermione looked from the 'couple' and down at her notes a few times, but finally, with a smile, she tossed the pad over her shoulder. She hopped off the desk she had been sitting on and walked over toward where Harry and Draco now stood, kicking the desk Ron was sleeping on as she walked past him. "I think," she began, toning out the mumbling from Ron, "that I have done all I can do. It's up to you two now. Do you think you can hold out for a few more weeks on your own?"

"I'm sure we can," Draco said with a small smile. "It's not like we have to pretend to be married or anything, you know." This remark caused Harry to giggle a bit and even, subconsciously, plant a small kiss on Draco's neck.

"Why don't we go now?" Hermione suggested. "Ron might get sick if he wakes up all the way and sees you two like this." The two boys exchanged glances and broke out in fits of laughter, that as Hermione noticed, did not interfere with their close position.

Hermione nodded with a smile and walked over to Ron, giving him a gentle shake. As she tended to her boyfriend, Harry and Draco both walked to the door. Once they were both out of the classroom, they stood in the nook made by the entryway on opposite sides, just looking at each other - seemingly lost in their eyes.

"What will I need," Harry said after a short while, "to bring with me?"

"Just standard stuff," Draco replied. "You know, a set of dress robes - in case Father throws a party suddenly, standard robes - since Father won't like you wearing Muggle clothes around the manor, nice pants and shirts - for under your robes, of course."

"Of course," Harry said, repeating Draco's finishing words. Draco chuckled a bit, and tapped Harry under the chin affectionately.

"Goodnight, Potter," he said quickly giving his foe a gentle kiss on the cheek before disappearing down the corridor.

Soon after, Harry found himself walking the opposite way along side Ron and Hermione, with one hand held up to his left cheek and his eyes slightly wide. "If only..." he thought, "...was that just practice...?"