Judge that is judging this story: Please ignore this chapter :D The first chapter was my entry to the first round of QL.

Everyone else: Enjoy reading :D

Making The Front Page

Harry swallowed down a wave of sadness, betrayal and pain as he hurried to pick up his clothes and turned to leave the room, leaving a broken Draco behind.

*~*HPDM*~*

Angrily wiping away the tears that streamed down his face, he ran to the door, pushed a giggling Pansy Parkinson out of the way and hurried out of the room. He couldn't believe what had just happened. No, his inner nasty voice purred in his ear, this is Malfoy we're talking about. You should have seen it coming. A sob escaped him and he fastened his pace.

"Harry!"

Draco cursed, grabbed the blanket tighter and made to run out of the room and after the dark-haired man that was rushing out of the house at this very moment and maybe even out of his life if that damn Pansy didn't move out of the fucking way already!

"Move!" He hissed angrily at the smirking witch in front of him.

"Why should I?" The smirk widened as she saw Draco getting redder with the minute. "This is quite amusing to watch. Have you seen Potter's face?" She laughed. "He's such a poof, oh Merlin! It was hilarious!"

"Get out of the fucking way!" Draco's eyes ran over the interior of the room behind her. It was empty. "I need to-"

"You need to what? Calm down, Draco! We've got what we wanted. You won the bet and I got my front page story. Everything's brilliant and I'll be the editor's favourite for bringing him the story of his lifetime! I can see it printed already. The words above the picture of the half-naked darling of the wizarding world, 'Harry Poof, it's all a farce!'" Her laugh was high and way too loud and Draco pushed past her and dragged the blanket with him out of the bedroom. "What are you doing?"

But Draco ignored his former best friend as he ran across the parlour into the huge hallway. He was panting. Jerking his head left and right, Harry was nowhere to be found. A bad feeling settled itself into the pit of his stomach. He hadn't wanted this to happen! Any of it! He hadn't wanted to ruin what could have been, no, what had been an amazing night been an amazing night!

He cursed as his eyes fell on the slightly open front door, letting rays of sunshine stream into the hallway. Wrapping his silk blanket tighter around his waist, he started running out of the heavy front door, onto the gravel path outside the manor. Birds were chirping left and right, the sun was shining, the flowers were bright and colourful, but everything Draco could see was the lone figure at the end of the path, loaded with clothes, that was coming to a hold just outside the Anti-Apparation wards.

"No," Draco whispered and started running. Forgotten was his blanket that lay on top of the stairs leading to the manor, forgotten was the witch that was standing in the hallway, watching a very naked Draco Malfoy run away from his house, because all he could see was the dark-haired wizard who stopped, turned around and, with a spin, disappeared into thin air.

*~*HPDM*~*

A sob escaped him as he threw his clothes onto his bed, just as his knees gave way underneath him. He sank to the ground and buried his face in his hands.

He should have known! He should have known that Malfoy didn't want anything from him except gossip material! And he had given it to him willingly, acting like a love-struck teenager, giddy to stay the night at a lover's house! A shudder ran through his body as he picked himself up, swaying slightly. He felt disgusting! He had actually believed him when he had said that he had changed! He had actually believed him when he had said he wanted to try it!

Harry pushed down his trousers and walked into the bathroom, clad in nothing but boxers. He had to take a shower. He felt dirty.

The steam fogged up every mirroring surface in the room, creeping into his lungs. The hot water splashed down on him as he stood in the shower, enjoying the feeling of the warmth seeping into him, into his skin, trying to cleanse it. How could he be so stupid? He shook his head and rested a hand on the wall, leaning against it, suddenly exhausted. The salty tears mixed with the hot water, running down his face and body until he couldn't cry anymore.

He should be used to it by now, he told himself and sank to the ground, trying to enjoy the hot rain. He was used to everyone wanting to know what was going on in his private life, his love life. The papers were dying to get an exclusive interview with The Conquerer or whatever the hell they were calling him nowadays. They had even tried to drug or hex him in order to get the most honest interview in the history of love life interviews, but thankfully Hermione had been there to keep him from any harm.

"Oh, God! Hermione!" He groaned as the smart witch came into his mind. She had told him! She had warned him! She had been sceptical when Harry had told her about his meeting with Malfoy! She had told him that she thought it was a trap! And he had not listened to her. He should know by now that she was usually right! He did know she was usually right, but he had decided, against his better judgement, to not listen to her again. Just like the time with Sirius. Hadn't he learned out of his mistakes? Hadn't he learned by now that he should at least listen to Hermione out of all people when she thinks there's something wrong?

He ran his hand over his wet face. There was no use beating himself up over it. It happened and by tomorrow, the whole wizarding world would know he was gay and easy to get. He sighed and stood up. He had to get on with his life and he had to get over this stupid trap, but most importantly, he had to get in touch with Hermione. She would know what to do!

He turned off the water and grabbed a towel, which he used to run through his wet hair. Trickles of water ran down his neck and over his broad chest as he wrapped a dry towel around his waist and ran his fingers through his tangled hair, in hope of at least flattening it somewhat. He sighed. It looked even worse than before. Throwing the wet hair towel into the washbasin, he opened the door. A cloud of steam followed him outside and he froze.

There in the middle of his bedroom stood no other than Draco Malfoy himself, wearing what looked like a button-down shirt, inside out, a pair of chinos and no shoes or socks. His hair was dishevelled and his cheeks were slightly pink. He looked nervous as his eyes travelled over Harry's naked chest, down over the towel around his waist, to his bare feet. Harry blushed almost immediately; his heart started beating twice its normal speed. His hand jerked towards the towel, securing it in place.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was deadly calm, but his head was spinning. How did he get in? Why did he come here? What else did he want?

"I came to apologize." Draco winced as he saw the dead look in Harry's bright green eyes. They glared at him as if they wished for him to drop dead this instant. "I didn't want it to escalate like that."

"You didn't want it to escalate like that?" Harry started laughing loudly. Draco stared at him with wide eyes. "Why? Didn't you plan for Parkinson to find us in the same room? In the morning? With no clothes on?" His voice was getting louder with each question. Draco took a step back.

"Didn't you want her to come in and take a picture of me after we've spent the night together? Didn't you want her to follow us for the whole evening and collect proof that I am very much not straight? That I am as gay as a man can be? Didn't you plan for that to happen?" He screamed and pointed his finger at Draco, who started to tremble slightly. "Don't tell me you didn't plan for everything to happen, because you did!" He huffed and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"You know what? Hermione warned me. She told me that I should be cautious around you, that you weren't what or who you seemed to be. Why would you suddenly decide that it'd be a great idea to catch up and get over our past, to start anew? To maybe be friends? I actually believed you, you know? I actually told my best friend that we were past that phase when we used to try everything in our power to lure each other into traps! Seems like I was wrong. Again." Harry turned around and started to pick up his clothes that were lying on the bed. "I actually thought you wanted to make a truce."

"I do! Believe me, I do!"

"Oh, yeah?" Harry laughed and whirled around. "You have a weird way of showing that!"

Draco stared at the very angry-looking Harry Potter in front of him. He was fuming. His handsome face was red, his beautiful eyes flashing and his adorable hair pointing in every direction. His fit body was still glistening with drops of water that ran out of his hair and caressed every perfect curve of the porcelain skin. Draco swallowed as he felt his blood flow in a direction he did not want it in at the moment. "Will you let me explain?" His voice was a mere whisper. He didn't trust himself to speak normally, as he feared his voice might crack with the pressure that was lying on his shoulders right now. He wanted Harry to see! He needed Harry to see and he couldn't fail!

A perfectly shaped black eyebrow rose and Draco took that as his sign to get going. So he took a deep breath and told him everything. He told him about Pansy's idea with the bet, him accepting it in order to prove not only her but himself that yes, he could manage to manipulate someone as powerful as Harry, but also that – his voice hitched slightly. He wanted to see whether all the things he had noticed in the past were mere imagination, normal things that everyone would notice or whether they had their origin in something more meaningful, something his family was sure to use as a reason to disinherit him. According to his family it was a shame for a pure-blood wizard to be attracted to… men. Being part of a pure-blood line and being male held high responsibilities. He had to carry on the line of his family name. He wouldn't be able to do so without a pure-blood woman by his side.

"Believe me, I've tried everything. I've talked to my parents about it – without telling them anything specific, of course. They don't know the reason why I asked. I guess they think I'm interested in carrying on the Malfoy name and want to do it perfectly. I've tried talking to Pansy, but you've seen how she's acting. She wouldn't understand. I've considered talking to Blaise as there have been rumours in Hogwarts that he might not be straight either, but I didn't want to risk either his or my reputation by asking, in case those rumours were just rumours indeed.

I have tried to compare men with women when I was in Diagon Alley and I've noticed more nice and good-looking features on men than I have noticed women having any. I was unsure. I was afraid and I was – I have to admit – disgusted." Draco's eyes lowered to the floor as he tried to find honest words. "I don't want to be different, you know? Well, no, that is wrong. I have not wanted to be different, but now I know that there's nothing wrong with being different. It might not even be that we're different. Maybe the straight people are different? At least that's what I'm trying to tell me."

He told him that the only possibility for him to find certainty and peace was this silly bet and Pansy gave him the best cover to experience a change in his life. "First I really thought it would be a fun feature to embarrass you. Getting knowledge about my… possible different orientation would only be a plus I told myself, but…" He sighed and ran a hand through his still untidy hair.

Harry felt tingling butterflies do somersaults in his stomach. Seeing the dishevelled Draco Malfoy standing in front of him not being his perfectly organized self, stuttering for words, missing his gel and shoes, he felt an odd warmth spread through his body. Draco Malfoy was a pure-blood wizard to whom it was very important to be collected, strong and self-assured and yet he wasn't anything but perfect in Harry's eyes. He swallowed and shook his head slightly as Draco shifted and glanced up to him, looking through his bangs that hang into his beautiful face.

"I didn't know that this was what I found out. To be honest, I didn't want to think about it being a possibility, but having spent last night with you…" A shy smile crept onto his face. His pink cheeks highlighted his bright grey eyes as he tried to, once again, find the right words. "I don't want to go back to how it used to be! I don't want to act as if nothing has changed because something has changed. I have changed." He blinked as his cheeks darkened.

Harry bit back a smile.

"So, I came to apologize to you about… everything. I'm sorry about how I acted, how Pansy acted, that Pansy was even there, that the bet existed, that you had to find out that way, that I've hurt you, that I've-" His rambling was stopped with two very soft lips pressing against his softly, melting against his. He gasped and Harry took this opportunity to run his tongue along Draco's teeth, teasing and testing. A shudder ran down Draco's spine and straight to his groin. He moaned softly as Harry's hand touched his cheek gently, letting his tongue explore the insides of Draco's wonderful tasting mouth.

Gasping for air, they soon had to draw back. Draco's eyes were still closed and his lips slightly parted as Harry watched his lover tenderly, ran his fingers along his hair line, over his temple and cheek, along his jaw and stopped at his slightly swollen pink lips. The blond wizard opened his eyes and looked into bright green ones that were watching him intensely. He blushed.

"What?" He whispered softly and blinked up at Harry, running a hand through his still wet hair and enjoying the way the black-haired man sighed contently.

"Thank you for telling me," he murmured.

Draco felt his heart swell. Harry forgave him! Harry actually forgave him! A grin spread over his face, lightening up the whole room. Harry opened his eyes and pressed a small kiss onto the tip of Draco's nose.

"But that doesn't mean I'll forgive you anytime soon for Parkinson's front page story!"

*sighs happily*

I hope you liked it :D Please leave a comment! I love reading and answering them.

See ya!