Harry Potter and the Battle of the Sexes

Five and a half weeks had gone by without incident. Draco and Terry managed somehow to continue brewing large amounts of Truth serum without getting caught. Though he somewhat suspected that this had to do with Draco's relationship with Snape, he decided not to ask how or where they managed to brew the stuff.

The girls were nearly unbearable. Even more condescending than they usually were (and with Hermione, that was really saying a lot), they acted as though they pitied the boys for their loss. Much as it irked Harry to do so, the boys managed to pretend that they had lost and weren't planning anything. It helped that the House Representatives hadn't told any of their housemates the details of their plan yet; they thought it would be safer to wait until it could actually be hatched.

Glad though he was to think that the war might be over soon, Harry couldn't help feeling a bit ill at ease about ending his tentative friendship with Draco. It made his insides squirm to think about going back to their usual squabbling and bickering. It made his insides squirm even more when he wondered what Draco would say on the subject. What if he didn't care at all? Slytherins are known for befriending people until their use runs out, and once the war was over, Harry would probably not be useful.

Most people had accepted the temporary truce between houses. This lead to the least competitive Quidditch matches in the history of Hogwarts, and while Gryffindor did win the Quidditch cup again, they only beat Slytherin by five points even with the Snitch points, on account of their new chaser. Neither team was seen bragging at the others about this fact, however. When people realized that a truce between Slytherin and Gryffindor meant a truce between Harry and Draco, they were a little more inclined to complain. After all, the two boys' antics often made great entertainment to the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws, and some of the Gryffindors and Slytherins too. Some people were utterly against the idea of Harry working with the young blonde and told him so. In the only sentence Ginny uttered to him that entire year, she told him that he'd better watch his back, because the female half of Hogwarts wanted his blood and he'd chosen to work with Malfoy, of all people. As far as she was concerned, it was a suicide move. She wasn't the only one to think this, either.

Harry had been curious enough to ask Draco what he went through with his House mates about their "alliance" (friendship had seemed to strong a word at the time). He was surprised when Draco told him, "You forget, Potter, that as Slytherins we ally with whoever is most likely to be the most useful at any given moment. We typically don't worry about who the person is socially, so long as they're beneficial in the long run. Most of them approve whole-heartedly, because they can't deny that you're good with pranks, and you started the whole thing after all. So if they don't approve, then they're idiots for not thinking about the benefits of such an alliance. Besides, I'm Draco Malfoy, and they don't fuck with me."

As Harry had watched over the next batch of weeks, he realized that this was true. While only Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be so utterly devoted to Draco, the rest of the Slytherins did seem to bend to his will in all matters.

Harry soon found himself thinking things he never would have thought a few years ago. He decided he was immensely jealous of the Ravenclaw house, not because Cho Chang was there, but because they seemed to be the only house that had no enemies. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were always fighting with Slytherin, but a Ravenclaw could have friends in any house if they so desired. The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins all respected their counterpart's intelligence, and Harry rather suspected that part of the reason that no Houses fought with Ravenclaw was because a lot of people in every house went to its house members for help with their homework.

Harry also thought back on his first year and decided that Dumbledore hadn't really been fair with the Slytherins at the end of the year, when he'd given Gryffindor just enough points to win the House cup after all the points had been tallied and Slytherin had won. The points were well-deserved, of course, but the more he looked on it from the perspective of someone in Slytherin, the more appalled he was by the favoritism showed and unnoticed by so many. No wonder Snape tried to even things out with his blatant bias. Harry wondered how Dumbledore, who seemed to see and know everything, could miss something like that.

Harry also tried to find excuses to talk to Draco as much as possible. Harry would catch him in the library and say, "some group of boys say they don't want to wait for the you-know-what anymore, what should I tell them?" Or the raven-haired boy would connive to partner him in Potions or Care of Magical Creatures. And sometimes he would just say, "Hey Draco," (or Malfoy, depending on his mood) "wanna go to the kitchens for a snack?" He had learned not to feel hurt if Draco just said no, with no explanations, but felt elated whenever he said yes.

Though Harry never tried to get Draco drunk again, he still prodded him with questions whenever he felt that his blonde rival was amiable enough to answer them. He found out that Draco hated being a seeker and wished he could be keeper. That life in Malfoy Manor was boring at best, which was interesting as Harry had always imagined the place to be bustling with Death Eater business (he didn't say that out loud, of course). That Draco was secretly glad Buckbeak had escaped in third year-- the guilt had been getting to him pretty badly.

Harry paid dearly for this info, though. Draco was now aware of the Invisibility Cloak, of the Marauder's Map, of the Polyjuice potion in their second year, and that Harry still had nightmares about Cedric's death.

It was during one of these question-and-answer sessions, however, that Harry blurted out what was really on his mind. "Malfoy, what are we going to do when this war thing is over?"

Draco blinked at him for a second. "Do?"

Harry blanched slightly, but decided that he might as well go through with the questioning. "I mean...well, about our alliance. I mean..."

Draco raised one elegant eyebrow. "Spit it out, Potter."

Sighing in defeat, Harry managed to sputter out something to the effect of, "Do we have to go back to how it was before, or can we still hang out?"

There was a pause.

A really, really long pause.

Like, damn, this pause was freakin' HUGE.

It was still going.

And going.

And going.

Like the Energizer bunny!

Harry vaguely wondered if it would ever end.

And then it did!

One last bit of pause for old time's sake...

And then Draco smiled.

Draco smiled. Draco smiled! It took Harry's breath away to think that of the entirety of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he and he alone had managed to make Draco Malfoy smile like that.

"Well, if you insist, Potter."

* * *

The preparations had been made. The boys of Hogwarts were now prepared to do their task, and the girls had no clue about what was coming to them. If a niggling voice in the back of Harry's head warned him that this might be going too far, he ignored it. The next day, he would be the one to sit across from Hermione and learn her deepest, darkest secret. He rather suspected it would involve Ron somehow, but he decided it would be better not to guess. He also wondered what he, himself would say if asked such a question. Would he talk about how he was responsible for Cedric's death? Or maybe the fact that even hearing his mother pleading with Voldemort for mercy was better than never hearing her at all? Or would he say something about Cho?

All in all, Harry was very glad he wasn't female.

The boys marched almost militarily into the Great Hall and sat down to the specific female they had chosen or been assigned, Harry across from Hermione, Ron across from Ginny, Draco across from Pansy, and so on. Hermione glanced at Harry with a questioning look in her eye which quickly turned suspicious. Shit. Need to relax. Calm down! Harry commanded himself as a faltering smile flitted across his face. "Morning, 'Mione," he heard himself squeak like he hadn't since he was 12 and his voice was breaking.

Suddenly, he heard a shout.