Place Your Bet or What Seamus Saw

It was no secret around Hogwarts that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy hated each other's guts. The hatred had spanned the course of almost seven years, after all, and neither boy really did anything to hide their feelings. Rather, ever since Harry had gotten Draco's father thrown in Azkaban fifth year, the hatred had escalated, and on any given day you could wander down one of the school's many corridors and see them going at it, rolling on the ground with fists and feet flying, wands forgotten in the need to inflict as much pain upon the other party as possible. Oh, yes, the hatred of the Boy Who Lived and his self-appointed arch nemesis was quite well known, indeed.

What was perhaps less well known was the betting pool the boys' classmates had set up. It had begun around the middle of sixth year when Seamus Finnegan and Blaise Zabini had a discussion regarding whether or not there was any UST between the two rivals, and if so, would it ever come to fruition.

Seamus was adamant that there was no way that Harry could ever like "that little ferret faced fuckhead."

Blaise had smiled, complimented Seamus' use of alliteration regarding Draco, and replied, "Like it or not, there's no way in hell that there can be that much passion between two people without one or both of them wanting to screw the other's brains out."

Seamus had asked Blaise if he was willing to put his money where his mouth was. Blaise replied that he would indeed do so if Seamus was sure enough to go against him. It seemed Seamus was...and he was also willing to tell everyone in Gryffindor tower. Surprisingly, all of the Gryffindors wanted a piece of the action, even straight-laced Hermione. Even more surprising--the betting was even either way. It seemed that Blaise wasn't the only person who believed that perhaps Harry and Draco were repressing some attraction for one another. Lavender and Parvati both said that Harry and Draco would make the best couple ever, and put down a few galleons for. Neville thought good and hard before placing a few sickles in Seamus' hand and telling him to split it between the two piles. Dean had laughed and chucked about ten galleons at Seamus' head, saying that that he would definitely pay to see those two snogging. Seamus stared at him in open-mouthed shock until Ginny fetched him a strong slap upside the head and said that though she wouldn't mind watching that either, she doubted it would ever happen. Ron, of course, put all his money on Harry not liking the git, adding, "Harry's not even gay," to make his point. But Hermione proved to be the real shock, as she handed over a pouch that was quite full with an assortment of galleons, sickles and knuts, and with a secret smile on her face stated quietly that she wanted all of it placed for the two getting together. Ron had gone bright red and started stuttering, and hadn't calmed down properly until dinner. Seamus himself had been shocked speechless...a rare thing for the exuberant Irishman.

Seamus took Blaise aside soon after dinner and, still a little stunned by how well the bet had been received, and even more so by Hermione's bet, gave him the money of those who had betted for the two enemies to hook up.

Blaise had laughed admiringly, and given Seamus a pile of money just as big as the one he'd been handed. "Seems that everyone wants in on it," he said, and then Seamus had laughed with him, and so it began.

The betting pool was by no means limited to the two houses, and if you talked to the right people, you could get a piece of the action no matter what house you were in, or what age you happened to be. It was known for a fact among those involved that the Weasley twins had put in quite a lot of money--they could afford it, as business really had never been better--and it was also known for which pot, as Ron had gone to the post office during Hogsmeade weekend and had spent two hours composing a Howler stating how ashamed and embarrassed of them he was, and Harry would never get with Malfoy, their brother was telling them that he wouldn't, and how could they even joke about it?

There were rumors that even some teachers were in on it, but when asked, Seamus or Blaise would only smile and say that if that was so, what business was it of theirs?

As the year progressed, so did the betting. At first there were no real rules about changing your mind and consequently your bet, but some people changed so often that Blaise finally put his foot down and said that the bets were final, and the only change you could make would be to add more money, if you so desired. The Gryffindors pestered Hermione in an effort to find out why she had bet as she had, but all she would say was that she needed to study--and as her replies got more and more rude the closer they got to exams, the topic was eventually dropped.

Now, it less than a month remained until the students would take their N.E.W.T.S., and leave Hogwarts forever, and it seemed that those who shared Ron's opinion about the whole affair were going to win all that money. There was a scare for them when Harry decided to come out of the closet, but as the fights with Malfoy only got worse after that the people who were against a relationship forming relaxed. Those who had bet for the match were in permanent sulk-mode, and if they happened to be Slytherin were quite likely to try rearranging anyone who talked about the bet's face.

The only person who seemed collected at all was Hermione. Sure, she was as frazzled as ever about the exams, and if you said hi to her was just as likely to whack you over the head with whatever book she was reading than to reply in kind, but on the subject of the bet she was as cool as a cucumber. Seamus in particular was curious about this, as aside from the Weasley twins, she had placed the heaviest bet for the two getting together. Seamus figured she'd be tearing her hair out at the loss of all that money...but she was so calm--maybe too calm? Could it be that the enormity of what she was losing hadn't hit her yet?

Seamus tried gently prodding her for information, but after getting a few swats upside the head decided to forget it. He was sure that once the reality of how much money she was losing set in, Hermione would flip her lid completely, and he for one didn't want to be there when that happened.

It was because of Hermione's short temper that Seamus found himself walking down one of the many corridors of Hogwarts, pondering what he would do with the money once he got it. He was so absorbed in thoughts of the many galleons that he would receive that he almost didn't see them.

It was Harry and The Git, and they were--surprise, surprise--arguing. Since this sort of thing was quite commonplace Seamus might have kept on walking--if he'd had anything better to do, which he didn't, so he settled himself to watch what looked like was cooking up to be the granddaddy of all Harry and Malfoy's fights.

And that is why Seamus Finnegan was the only one to witness what would be the most talked about pairing in Hogwarts history. Malfoy had his face about two inches from Harry's as he hissed something, some insult that Seamus couldn't quite catch, and quick as lightening Harry had fisted his hands in Malfoy's robes and slammed him against the wall. He stared at Malfoy for a few seconds, and Seamus inched closer excitedly, holding his breath as he waited for Harry's fist to connect with The Git's face.

But it never happened. Instead, Harry's hold tightened on Malfoy's robes, his head bent down and--oh great Merlin, was he kissing Malfoy?

He was. In the middle of the corridor, where anyone could just come upon them, Harry Potter was kissing the daylights out of one Draco Malfoy--and Malfoy wasn't about to complain about this fact, if the sounds Seamus heard him making were any indication. Watching as they parted for air, and quite unable to believe what he was seeing, Seamus moved even closer to the pair just in time to hear Malfoy say in a breathy voice, "It certainly took you long enough," before diving in again.

And then, oh, boy, it was almost like all their other fights, and Seamus suddenly understood just why Blaise and Hermione had been so cocksure that the two would eventually get together. Looking at them now, he couldn't believe he'd never noticed just how truly passionate all their other fights had been; just how desperate...Seamus knew that he'd need time to digest this. But right now they were both moaning rather loudly, and their hands were moving to uncover things that Seamus really didn't want to see, and wasn't it about time that he hightailed it out of there? Yes, yes it was...

And that was just what Seamus did. Ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the common room, where he told the first person he saw in tones of the deepest shock that "Harry's done it. Gone straight 'round the deep end and kissed The Git."

Well, it didn't take long for the information to circle around after that, and within two hours everyone in Hogwarts knew of Potter and Malfoy's passionate love affair, though due to the unreliability of rumor hardly anyone knew the true story...and really, it wasn't so very important was it? Of course not. Only two things were really important to most of Hogwarts: all those who had bet for the match were going to be collecting some serious money, and Ronald Weasley was going to kill Harry the second he found him.

Ron actually went so far as to look for Harry with the intent on beating some sense into his friend. He stormed out of the Gryffindor common room with the fury of a thousand suns, smoke practically coming out of his ears...when he came back half an hour later, he was ashen and refused to speak to anyone, opting instead to go up to the boys' dorm and rest. Neville, who had been up there trying to find Trevor yet again, came down with a shocked face and whispered that as soon as Ron had gotten into bed he'd "made a choked sort of noise," and promptly fainted away.

Of course, everyone was sure they knew what Ron had stumbled upon in his search for his best friend. It seemed that Harry and Malfoy had gotten quite--comfortable--since Seamus had left them. No one volunteered to find out for sure.

Harry didn't come back to the common room that night, and the next day saw him sitting with the Slytherins, eating calmly and holding Malfoy's hand under the table. Ron eventually recovered enough to stop squeaking and passing out when he saw Harry and Malfoy together, and those who had believed all along that Malfoy and Harry would eventually get together were well payed.

And that's how, one month before the final time they would leave Hogwarts for good, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy finally got together, and Hermione Granger won enough money to start her own business, which turned out to be one of the most successful businesses in Diagon Alley. Years later, after the bet was, while not long forgotten, at least less of a sore spot for those who had lost, she was heard to say that it was "rather lucky that Harry told her all about his raving crush on Malfoy before the betting started."

A/N 2: So, whether you liked, or not so much, please do me a favor and review. I do so enjoy reading other's opinions. So see the pretty review button? Just give it a lil click and drop me a line.