We All Burn Sometimes

Chapter 10: Gameplan

Blaise Zabini walked into the common room, his head throbbing. He had knocked it on the bench corner when he zapped out with shock.

With good reason, too. He thought, wincing slightly.

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. He had turned it over and over in his head but the mental image never failed to amaze him. Aside from the fact that Draco was the most notorious playboy he had ever known, the two boys were simply too diverse. In fact, a few weeks ago, they were ready to slit each other´s throats over the most trivial reasons. No wonder he fainted when he learned that they had been screwing under his very nose for two weeks. Two weeks! Harry! Sheesh! Now he understood Draco´s need for secrecy. They would have had trouble believing him if he told them.

He knew that Draco found the company of various girls pleasant. Ever since he had discovered the existence of the opposite sex, ("A lot earlier than me!" thought Blaise with a wry grin.) he had refused to settle for a single partner over a period longer than three days. He had proclaimed monogamy to be highly overrated and jokingly said that his body was a gift to the female population as a whole. His relationship with the Gryffindor was the longest Blaise had ever known him to make and, according to Hermione, it had been Harry who broke it off! As a result, Draco kept himself cooped up in the dungeons, bumming around for days after his initial rebound period.

There could only be one explanation for Draco´s despondency: he must´ve fallen for Harry! It was entirely possible that he might be even denying the truth from himself. And if Harry felt the same way (which was why he broke-up with Draco in the first place), then it was their friends´ duty to put them back together again. Leaving the two of them to work things out on their own would never do, chock-full of pride as they both are. Admittedly, Blaise found it a little hard to imagine Draco settled in a real romantic relationship but it might be high time for him to try it, too.

Well then, Blaise supposed, I´m glad it´s Harry. He had been friends with him and Ron for only a week but the two had been very accommodating and pleasant--quite surprising since he expected to be snubbed as Draco Malfoy´s best friend. They obviously cared very much for Hermione and Blaise was only too ready to like anyone who loved his girlfriend. Harry was unpredictably quirky, a weensy bit quieter than Ron but as active as the redhead when it came to making mischief. He would make a good partner for Draco.

Blaise prodded the bruise forming on his hairline gently. He looked into the mirror and observed that it was already turning purple. The tender flesh ached slightly but he considered it well worth the information. Now there was just one problem:

How will I ever get Draco to admit that he´s in love with Harry Potter?

***

Harry stared at the dark ceiling and counted the six hundred fifty-seventh sheep in his mind. On the other bed, Ron snored rhythmically. Six hundred fifty-eight. It wasn´t working. He won´t be able to sleep. Again. Of course, the reason for his recent bouts of insomnia was the one and only blonde Slytherin he had dumped last week.

While Draco slept during their last night together, Harry had thought over his decision the whole night after silently crying a good deal. He had considered letting it go on, pretend nothing happened and sleep in Draco´s bed like everything was fine. That way, he would never lose sight of his beloved. I´d be with him even if he doesn´t feel the same way about me, Harry thought.

But, on closer reflection, what had seemed like a good idea revealed its flaws. Someday, Draco would break up with him. It was inevitable that the Slytherin would tire of him. Relationships based on physical pleasures do not last as long as those based on virtue. The moment Draco gets bored with him, he would drop Harry like a hot potato. Aside from that, there was the fiancée to consider. Francesca Littleton. Such a rich, girlie sounding name. She must look like the perfect female counterpart of Draco. No one less beautiful deserves him. And Draco would never settle for someone less worthy.

No, Harry couldn´t possibly stay with Draco for long. When the time came that they had to part ways, it would kill him to let Draco go. Better to stay away from him now and try to forget him than live without him when he was already in over his head. So, as much as it hurt, Harry had prepared his break-up speech and waited for Draco to wake-up. It had been the most difficult lie he had ever told anyone, telling Draco he was tired of him when in fact he felt exactly the opposite. He had steeled himself against his insane urge to cry when Draco left the room. It had been over just like that. Such a clean break. After that morning, he had vowed never to cry again for Draco. And he never did.

Draco had, of course, been angry. That was expected. But he would get over it soon. It never meant much to him anyway. He had called Harry an addiction. No matter how addictive something is, anyone could learn to live without it.

Harry turned again. Now, he couldn´t sleep. The day of the break-up had been the worst. He had moped around the bedroom the whole day, refusing to talk to anyone. He just made the usual appearances in class and during mealtimes. It had been pure torture, trying to look calm and collected while Draco sat on the Slytherin table just opposite him. That night, he had been unable to sleep, missing Draco´s touch and the feel of his body beside him.

The feeling hadn´t dimmed. Harry still missed him now as much as before.

Harry... you have to move on. He couldn´t remember how many times he had repeated that statement to himself for the past week. If he wanted a fulfilling relationship, he had to find someone he could be happy with. Someone who could give as much as he took--much like Percy and Oliver. Harry knew that somewhere, there must be a person just right for him.

There was just a slight problem: He was still crazily, illogically, insanely in love with Draco Malfoy.

Ha! Fat chance of me getting over him soon.

Harry grabbed something hanging around his neck. The tiny jade snitch glowed in the moonlight, mocking him.

***

The next morning, Draco was back at the lake, sitting on the grass and throwing small stones on the water´s flat surface. He didn´t feel like attending Charms so he had skipped class, preferring to spend some time on his own.

Harry, Harry, Harry... the name throbbed and echoed in his brain incessantly. There was no escape. He had tried to forget him but he found it to be impossible. No one had satisfied him after just two weeks with the Gryffindor boy. After a furious five days of sleeping around, Draco had given up and accepted his fate. He was still hung up on Harry Potter.

But why? WHY? Why can´t he let go? It had never been this hard before. Usually, it had been the girls who cried over him while he did his best to put them down easy. Now, the first time he entered into a relationship with another man, it blew up in his face. He was hooked on someone who didn´t want him. This must be his karma for breaking so many hearts.

Draco sighed and tossed two stones one after the other. He watched the ripples spread and die as quietly as they appeared. His two weeks with Harry had been like that. It started and ended so quick, he didn´t even have time to breathe and take stock of things.

Unnoticed by him, Blaise Zabini had arrived. The boy sat some two feet from Draco, observing the blonde. He broke the silence after a while.

"You missed class."

"I didn´t feel like going."

"I see."

Silence again. Blaise cursed Hermione for putting him in this position. As much as he loved her, he couldn´t see why she had to make him give this "speech" to Draco. He knew that the direct approach wouldn´t work this time. Draco never took to anyone who told him what to do. After he told her this, Hermione had only patted his hand, smiled, and said that he´d work it out just fine. Blast that girl!

Blaise cleared his throat. Then... inspiration struck.

"Drac, why do you play quidditch?"

The other boy looked surprised at the question but answered readily. "I´m not sure. I´ve been playing it since I was four, when Daddy gave me this tiny low-flying broom and taught me the game. I suppose I was just so used to it, that´s all."

"Is that the only reason?"

"Maybe. I can´t think of anything else."

Blaise continued, warming with the discussion, "Have you ever thought that the reason why you play it so well is because you love the game? That after years of playing, you just can´t seem to let it go: the feel of the flying in the air, you catching the snitch, winning a game for your team."

"Well, I suppose so."

"And now that you´ve learned to love it, you just had to continue playing it. But you never tire of it because with each game, you discover new things: new moves, new techniques, and a different strategy... It just gets more thrilling every time."

Draco kept quiet, listening.

"And you love this game so much that you can´t imagine yourself devoting this much time and effort on another one, like football, for instance. Because, for you, it can never be as exciting as quidditch--the game you´ve loved for almost all your life." Blaise´s grin widened. Draco seemed to understand what he was saying, so far.

"Yes. I see that now. Is there a point to all this?"

Blaise, touched him in the shoulder and spoke, with all seriousness, "Sometimes, people can be like that. Everything begins as a game, a fun thing to do, and then, after a while... you just start to love them. In fact, you love them so much that you realize that they´re worth chasing after, just like your snitch, because no other person could replace the one you´ve chosen."

He stood and walked back to the castle, leaving Draco alone beside the lake to think it over.

***