Step 1: Be confident!

"Malfoy, haven't seen you in a while! What are you doing here?" Harry might have said this a bit louder than he had intended, since more than one customer turned in his direction.

His answer was an arched eyebrow and an amused reply: "I'm getting a cup of tea. Which is surprising, since you wouldn't expect that from someone who's visiting a shop called "Tiana's Tea Temple". It was quite correct of you to enquire after my intent. It is a bit suspicious, after all." With that he turned around and went up to the counter to order.

Harry felt his face grow warm and he cursed his inability to function on a social level.

Step 2: Dress to kill.

It was a typical boring Ministry Gala, but Harry thought that it was the perfect chance to show off his new style. It took the combined efforts of Hermione and Ginny to change his attire from atrocious to possibly attractive. The only thing they wanted in exchange was—if it worked—to be the first told who he did this for.

"You look edible," his mirror had said. It gave him confidence for exactly five seconds, until he remembered that the blasted thing had said the same thing to him before—after he came home from a friendly game of Quidditch at the Weasley's completely drenched in sweat.

"Don't look so nervous and stop grabbing at your trousers, you'll wrinkle them," Hermione said. She really was his savior, without her he probably wouldn't have set a foot into the room. She linked her arm with his and pulled him through the crowd in the general direction of the buffet, ignoring Harry's constant attempts to catch a glimpse of the person he was looking for.

…

"Oh, Auror Potter, is that you? I couldn't quite recognize you in that hilarious outfit." Zacharias Smith laughed at him, his wineglass shaking precariously due to his mirth.

Harry tried to ignore the taunt, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed. He couldn't refrain from looking down at his expensive black shirt and slacks. After he had put so much work in his outfit, it seemed that it was in vain. Anger tore through him and he was about to retort, when someone bumped into Smith from behind, causing the former Hufflepuff to spill red wine all over his white shirt.

"Oh—I am so sorry." Draco Malfoy quickly turned to face Smith. "Oh, it's you, Smith. You look like a right terrible mess." He glanced down at the bright red spot of wine. "And look, you spilled some wine on yourself as well. What a shame."

Harry was pretty sure that the sound coming from Smith could be described as growling. "You did that on purpose, Malfoy. Don't play with me."

"I already said that I'm sorry. Here, let me help." He pulled out his wand and swished it in a circular motion. Smith's shirt turned from white into the exact color of his wine. "There, all better. Now you can't see the stain at all."

Smith's face was slowly becoming as red as his shirt. He looked as if he was about to lash out, but the surrounding tittering seemed to fuel his humiliation. He snarled and turned around, pushing his way through the crowd.

Harry was still standing there awkwardly, not quite sure what had happened. Malfoy turned towards Harry and glanced at his outfit. He looked up at Harry's face at last and smirked.

"Potter. Don't we look quite smashing tonight? I wholeheartedly approve." With that he strode past a stunned Harry, letting their shoulders brush slightly.

After a few seconds, Hermione appeared at his side with two plates of food in her hands.

"Why are you grinning like an idiot, Harry?"

Harry wasn't quite sure either, but he couldn't bring himself to stop.

Step 3: Be honest.

Harry was playing with his quill when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He looked up in time to see a tall, attractive man in black Potion's Master robes walk past his office. Harry dropped his quill in surprise.

"Malfoy!"

The footsteps stopped. He waited several seconds and was almost sure that the other man had crept away silently, when a blond head popped around the doorframe.

"Yes?" There was definitely suspicion in his voice.

Too focused on trying to catch Malfoy's attention, he hadn't even thought about what to do if he managed it. He fumbled for words.

"Your uh—hair looks really nice today. Very soft and… shiny!"

Malfoy looked annoyed now. "Thanks, Potter. Please contain your jealousy." And with that he was gone.

Harry huffed, annoyed at himself, and tried to ignore Ron—who was sitting opposite of him, staring at him with a half-chewed sandwich almost falling out of his open mouth.

Step 4: Get to know one another.

The café that many Ministry employees visited during their break was filled to the brim.
Harry was lucky and spotted a man just leaving a small table at the window. He hurriedly walked up the table, pulled out a chair with one hand and put his cup of coffee down with the other. He did this a bit too forcefully and some of the content spilled on his hand.

Harry cursed and was looking around for a napkin when a pale hand came into view and wordlessly offered him one. Harry barely had time to register that it belonged to Malfoy before he proceeded to walk past him.

Without thinking, Harry made a grab for Malfoy's robes and managed to pull on his sleeve. Malfoy came to a standstill and looked over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised.

"Thanks for the napkin," Harry said quickly. "You can sit with me if you want, since there aren't any free tables left."

Malfoy's gaze swept across the room and he seemed to realize that Harry's words were true, so he let out a sigh and made to sit down. Harry's mad grin didn't seem to bother him, which was probably a good sign.

Malfoy took a sip of his tea and sat back, not saying a word. The situation was becoming more and more uncomfortable so Harry tried to start a conversation.

"What Quidditch team are you rooting for?"

If Malfoy was thrown off by the question, he didn't let it show. "Falmouth Falcons."

"Figures."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So, you're not a fan of Chudley Cannons, I take it?"

Harry let out a laugh. "Okay, point taken."

Neither of them said anything else for a while and an awkward silence settled over the table, again. It didn't seem to bother Malfoy as much as it bothered Harry.

"How are your potions going?"

"Well. Thank you."

"Brewing anything exciting currently?"

"I doubt there is a potion that would excite you."

Harry told himself that he was imagining the innuendo in that sentence. "There may be some."

He was trying to not think about the lube in his nightstand that he had bought from Passionate Potions, and how he could use it on Malfoy in various ways. Unfortunately, he could feel his cheeks grow warm and Malfoy smirked.

"Interesting, that's good to know."

Harry hadn't realized that Malfoy had emptied his cup and was more than disappointed to see him push his chair back. "This was fun, Potter. We should do it again sometime." With that he stood up and left.

Harry was frustrated. He couldn't even maintain a conversation with Malfoy; how the hell should he get close enough to actually do something about this crush he had? He looked down at his hands and stared at the napkin that Malfoy had given him. It had a different texture than the usual napkins, so he examined it closer. After turning it around in his hands, he saw the initials "DM" stitched into the corner.

A smile broke out on his face. They didn't have a proper conversation, but Malfoy had accidentally given him his own handkerchief. That alone was worth the effort.

Step 5: Do something nice for them.

Harry tried badly to keep Step 1 in mind when he strode into Malfoy's lab. He stopped in front of Malfoy's cauldron and put his best smile on, waiting to be acknowledged.

Unfortunately, Malfoy either seemed to be quite focused on his task or set on ignoring him, so Harry had no choice but to clear his throat. Malfoy looked annoyed as he glanced up but as the fumes of the potion cleared, his eyes widened considerably, and he seemed glued to the spot.

Harry hoped he hadn't scared him.

He tried again to smile in a way that would hopefully be considered attractive, but going by Malfoy's baffled look, he was pretty sure he only managed to look like a demented creep.
So much for his mirror telling him that smile was like a key to everyone's pants. He should throw that thing out.

"Is there a reason you're here or are you simply trying to stare me to death?" Merlin, Malfoy's drawl was so sexy.

"I brought you something." Harry held up his left hand to emphasize his point.

Malfoy's eyes dropped to the thing in his hand and stared at it for quite a while. Harry was starting to get nervous and ran his fingers through his hair. Malfoy looked back up at Harry.

"Is that…what I think it is?" It sounded less like a question and more like a statement, but Harry still felt compelled to answer.

"I—uhm. I heard you talking with your colleagues. It was a coincident, really. My office is close to the labs, you know?" Malfoy was still not moving an inch, so Harry hurried to explain. "You complained that you couldn't get this weird ingredient for your experiment. Because of reasons." His eyes flickered to Malfoy's arm where he knew the Dark Mark would be. "And stuff. So, you know, I got it."

Malfoy pulled up his eyebrows and his eyes widened. "You bought this." He pointed at the deformed mushroom in Harry's hand. "For me. The way it is?"

Malfoy looked shocked but made no move to take it from Harry's hands. Naturally, Harry came to a horrible conclusion.

"Oh Merlin, it's not what you need, right? You need it powdered or liquefied or dried or—"

"Are you feeling well?"

"What?" Harry was confused now.

Malfoy stalked around the table and slapped the mushroom out of his hand. If Harry said he was hurt, it would be an understatement. The hurt must have shown, because Malfoy's face transformed into a worried expression.

"Why wasn't this packaged? It's rare and expensive; I would expect you to buy this from a legal, professional source!"

Harry scratched his neck in a slightly embarrassed way. "It was…but the package was bulky and didn't fit in my cloak! It was thrice the size of the damn thing and there was so much useless paper and stuff in it."

"And you didn't wonder why it was packaged that way? Did you eat anything after you touched it?"

"I might have."

"Wondered or eaten something?"

"Eaten something…" Harry looked away and shuffled his feet like chastised schoolboy.

In any other situation, Harry would have described the growl that Malfoy let out as sexy but then it just seemed intimidating. He was grabbed by the chin and forced to look into Malfoy's gorgeous, shiny, radiant—

"Eyes, Potter! Open them a bit wider, if you please." He did as told and was trying his hardest not to get distracted by Malfoy's intoxicating musky smell. He thought he was succeeding but his cock was twitching in a quite rebellious way, possibly trying to tell him he was lying to himself. Traitor.

Malfoy let out a breath and released his chin. "You, Potter, are a lunatic."

"Sorry." He lowered his gaze. "I thought it was the right one."

Malfoy's look could be interpreted as fond, if one were as desperate as Harry. "It was."

Harry couldn't contain his grin. "I knew it."

"You don't seem to realize that this mushroom is quite toxic and can be harmful if consumed even in a small portion. It can cause paralysis, coma or even death. " Malfoy crossed his arms. "Seems your luck has once again saved your life."

Harry let out a relieved laugh. "But it's what you needed, right? You can do your experiment now?"

"I hope you don't do anything as stupid as this ever again, but yes it was the last ingredient that I needed. I guess I should thank you, even though you really are stupid."

Harry was so happy that he was actually feeling quite delirious. Malfoy returned his smile in slightly toned down but still unbelievably sexy way.

Harry was sure he never felt this happy, so happy that it seemed as if the world was spinning and the floor was pulled out from under him.

His mumbled "You're welcome" and Malfoy's scared expression were the last things he registered before it all turned black.

Step 6: Make your interest known.

When Harry opened his eyes, he saw lots of bushy hair. He heard a loud "He's awake" from somewhere in the room and suddenly saw lots of red hair.

Someone put his glasses on his face so that he could confirm what he was already guessing, that the room was full of Weasleys, with Hermione standing next to his bed.

"You truly are reckless, Harry." Hermione was taking his hand in hers.

"What, no 'How are you Harry' or 'I'm so happy you're awake, we wouldn't know what to do without you, Harry'?" Harry was trying to smile but it must have looked like a grimace, because Mrs. Weasley's concerned face suddenly loomed over him.

"Are you alright, my dear?"

Harry nodded and smiled again, this time apparently more successful, since Mrs. Weasley released a relieved sigh.

"You gave us quite a fright, fainting like that. If your young Mr. Malfoy hadn't brought you in immediately and worked day and night on an antidote…" she sighed and patted his hand, not looking at Harry and therefore not registering his confusion.

Harry was about to say something but a busy-looking nurse bustled into room.
"There are too many people in here. The patient needs to rest, especially now that he's woken up."

"Of course, of course." Mr. Weasley put his arms around Molly's shoulder and steered her to the door. Both told Harry to get well soon before they left.

The only people remaining in the room were Ron, Ginny and Hermione, who all gathered around the bed. The nurse looked sternly at them, silently urging them to leave as well, but Harry waved his hand in a vague motion to show that it was fine. The nurse left with a last stern look at Harry.

Ginny sat down on his bed and crossed her arms, a smirk on her face. "Draco Malfoy, eh?"

Harry's eyes widened and he looked first at Ron, who was avoiding his gaze and then at Hermione, who was smiling slightly. "You knew?"

Ginny was laughing now. "Only you would get someone a poisonous mushroom to court them, Harry. You're hopeless."

Harry sat up and let out a chuckle. "It seemed like a great idea at the time." His voice sounded a bit raspy, so Hermione handed him a glass of water which he drank greedily. "How long have I been out?"

"Five days," said Ron. Harry let out a gasp. "It was really touch and go there for a while."

"Five days?"

"If Malfoy hadn't immediately started working on an antidote the minute he dropped you off here, it would have been even longer," said Hermione. "He insisted on personally administering each dose."

"What dose?"

"The antidote can be harmful in large amounts. Your body couldn't handle it all at once, so you had to consume small doses of it in hourly intervals. "

Harry was truly baffled; to think that Malfoy would do something like that for him was exhilarating. "Why are you all so calm about this Malfoy thing?"

"It was rather obvious," said Hermione. Ginny nodded enthusiastically. "You were pretty much useless when he was in the room. Even Ron noticed you were behaving weirdly when anyone mentioned him, and that's saying something."

Ron didn't seem to be sure whether to agree or to be offended, so he simply shrugged.

"Oh," Harry scratched his neck. "I thought I was sneaky."

Hermione looked amused. "Well, you were not. It would be wise to assume that Malfoy knows as well. Although… you two have been awkwardly dancing around each other for a while, so maybe not."
Harry was starting to feel a bit nervous. "Where is Malfoy, anyway?"

"He was here all night yesterday, so we sent him home to sleep." Ginny stood up. "Technically, we were supposed to tell him when you woke up, but we thought it would be more fun if you simply showed him."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. Show up at the Manor and swoop him off his feet, or something similarly romantic."

His face was growing so hot that it was starting to become uncomfortable. "I can't just turn up and… blurt out my feelings. He'll laugh."

Ginny's expression was definitely condescending; Harry was sure of it. "Then don't say anything, I'm sure there are other ways. You have to be blind if you don't see that he's got it just as bad as you."

"Even if I were to believe you, which I don't, I can't. I have a plan and I'm not messing that up."

"Oh," Ginny was looking intrigued now. "So what's the next step in your plan?"

"It's—" Harry tried to remember what the book had said. Damnit. He mumbled the answer.

"What? I didn't get that."

"It's confession."

His friends were looking way too smug for his taste. "Alright, alright. Still, I can't go, the nurse said I need to rest."

"Nonsense. The poison has left your system and there should be no problems. As if you ever cared about rules, anyway."

He couldn't really argue with Hermione's words. Ron had been awfully quiet, though, so he turned to him. "Are you alright with this?"

Ron put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Sure, I guess. I was a bit angry, but these two yelled at me for a bit so I guess that's that." Ginny and Hermione smiled proudly at this.

"So, I don't have a say in this?" asked Harry.

"No. You trust us, don't you?"

Harry sighed. "I guess I have no other choice."

…

"Master Malfoy is sleeping." The little elf peered up at him from behind the door.

"Master Malfoy won't be angry, I promise. He's probably expecting me." He was pleading but the house-elf still seemed suspicious.

"Master Malfoy mentioned no visitors to Mibby."

"Please, Mibby. He will be even angrier if he hears that you sent me away. My name is Harry Potter. I'm a friend."

Mibby looked slightly less suspicious and opened the door a bit wider. "Master has told Mibby many things about Harry Potter." She looked him up and down in a way that screamed Malfoy. "Mibby is not sure. Master has told Mibby that Harry Potter would be very handsome. Mibby thinks you is having too small ears to be called handsome."

Harry really couldn't decide if he should be offended that Mibby thought he was ugly or flustered because Malfoy apparently thought he was handsome. Before he could say anything though, Mibby was already continuing.

"But Mibby can see that you is wearing those glasses and having that scar, so Mibby will trust your word." She pulled the door open wider and stepped aside.

"Master is sleeping in his room. Mibby will accompany Mister Potter."

Harry let out a relieved sigh and followed the house-elf.

…

True to Mibby's word, Malfoy—Draco was sleeping; He really should start calling him by his first name.

He walked silently to the bed and slowly sat down on it. Draco barely moved an inch, still sleeping on his side facing Harry. Harry didn't know what to do. Hadn't Ginny said something about doing stuff instead of talking? Maybe actions were truly worth more than words.

Emboldened by this thought he leant down and put his face close to Draco's. He was sure that the beating of his own heart would wake him up, but he only continued to feel his steady breath on his face. He took a deep breath, told himself to be a proper Gryffindor and plunged ahead, putting his lips against Draco's. For a second nothing happened, but then he felt the lips move and a hand touch his face. Harry was startled and moved back, looking at Draco.

Draco still had his eyes closed, but he had a smile on his lips. His eyelids flickered and his grey eyes slowly became visible. When the eyes encountered Harry's face, Draco's expression first showed confusion, but then his eyes widened in surprise.

"Potter?"

"The one and only." Harry tried to smile convincingly.

Draco still stared at him as if he had two heads. "You're awake?"

"Obviously."

"And you're here."

"Again, obviously." Draco's confusion really fueled Harry's confidence.

"Did you just kiss me?" Did he say confidence? He meant humiliation.

"Uhm… no?" He wondered if there was a potion against blushing, he'd spent a fortune on that.

Draco looked amused now. "Okay, who was it then?"

"Maybe you dreamt it?"

"Oh, okay. It was a good dream then, maybe I should go back to sleep." He let his head fall back onto the pillow and was about to close his eyes when Harry let out a frustrated breath.

"Okay, okay, I admit. I kissed you, sorry."

"Now, that wasn't so hard was it?" Draco sat back up. He was looking expectantly at Harry, but Harry didn't really know what to say or do. "What are you waiting for? Do it again."

"What, admit it?"

Draco's expression was both fond and exasperated. "Kiss me, idiot."

"Oh." Harry really hadn't expected that, but his instincts drove him forward and he took hold of Draco's face, pulling him into a kiss. His heart was beating fast and he couldn't really believe he was finally doing this. When they broke apart Draco looked at him, this time definitely with nothing but fondness in eyes.

"Took you long enough." Draco said. "Don't ever do anything as stupid as bringing me a poisonous mushroom to impress me, though, okay?"

Harry nodded sheepishly, before Draco roughly grabbed his robes.

"Now, come here."

Harry was too happy and distracted to think about those first words, so he simply complied. He really should send the author of that book a generous donation.

Later, though, after he had ravished the wonderful man who was currently pulling at his clothes.

Optional Step: Share these steps with your friends!

The garden at the Burrow was filled with people. Draco sat at a table, watching some of the Weasleys play Quidditch, when the youngest of the ginger-bunch appeared at his side and sat down next to him.

"Are you ever going to tell him that it was you who sent him the book?" Ginny grinned, her bright red hair everywhere due to the wind, giving her a slightly crazy look.

Malfoy smirked into his cup of tea and glanced at his boyfriend, who was busy talking to Ron.

"Nah," he simply said and took a sip of his tea.

END.

I wrote fic, that itself is unbelievable. Thanks to dark0feenix and josephinestone for being my betas at short notice :) Crossposted to LiveJournal