Echoes of angry footsteps bounced off the walls around him, vibrating into Draco's head, as if mocking the current battle going on inside of him between the disturbing desires that he was feeling and his long time dream of becoming everything that his father wanted him to be.

Harry Potter was…entirely new and entirely frightening. When he had developed a crush on Harry almost a year ago, he told himself that he shouldn't be noticing all the things that he noticed or having the feelings that he did for him. He shouldn't have been turned on in the way that he was whenever he saw Harry's eyes dissolve into fiery anger when he and Harry were fighting. They were enemies and supposed to hate each other for life.

But after a while Draco had given up on controlling his feelings for Harry, or the thoughts that swirled through his mind every time he saw the boy. And besides, once the fear of what was happening to him passed, the thoughts were enjoyable—no more than enjoyable—thrilling and hot. Even acting on his thoughts—kissing Harry without regard—wasn't too bad. However, now that Harry had reciprocated and desired him back…Harry Potter had become entirely threatening.

Harry threatened every possible future that Draco could expect to obtain for himself. He also threatened all of Draco's relations with important members of the wizarding world, whether pureblooded or simply extremely influential. But the thing that was most threatening about Harry was the fact that a relationship with him, even a fling, would drive his father over the edge if he ever found out. Lucius Malfoy would do something far worse than Avada Kedavra his son, possibly even something worse than if the Dark Lord found out. No, Draco corrected himself. There would be no "if" about it. The Dark Lord would find out. If he continued with Harry, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would take it as a betrayal and would set out to murder him as an enemy. But at least if that occurred, he'd mercifully be dead before his father could even think up a suitable punishment for him.

Draco's feet shuffled along, starting to drag along the ground slower and slower until they finally came to a stop, refusing to move at all.

"Harry," the word escaped from his thoughts in a breath, twisting itself into the air around him. It was the word that was smothering him, suppressing his every rational thought and condemning him to a terrible choice. Whatever decision he made, there would be horrible consequences.

He glanced around and then listened briefly, pausing for an entire minute before he was sure that no one was around. His current uncertainty and angst were just as foreign to him as the anger that had come out less than an hour ago, and it severely unnerved him. He knew that he had power over Harry, but admittedly, Harry had power over him as well. He was the only person to ever make Draco feel these things, and he wasn't completely sure if he liked it yet.

He consciously flexed his hands and dropped them at his sides. Then he exhaled heavily and slowly, finally about to release all of his emotions out of their pent up state and let himself feel them.

"Harry…" Draco uttered deliberately but softly, allowing all of his foreign and overwhelming emotions to flow over him. A shiver made its way down his spine, connecting with every part of him as he remembered what Harry felt like, how he smelled, and how he had tasted. Draco's mind went through all of the delicious sensations that he had felt the night before, and he finally admitted to himself that reciprocation felt good.

Draco opened his eyes. His decision was made.

"Harry!" two voices yelled in unison, their owners running towards the sitting boy in alarm, approaching him from behind.

"Harry, we've been looking all over for you!" Hermione said, panting as she walked around to face his front.

"Yeah mate," agreed Ron, also panting, "What happened?"

Harry didn't respond. He simply continued to sit in the position that he had adopted approximately an hour ago, staring blankly at the floor in front of him. He didn't say anything. His lips felt as frozen as his body over the latest development. He could hardly think anything, his mind simply focusing on one thought and none other: he rejected me.

It was a strange turn of events and Harry didn't understand any of it. Draco had come on to him, not the other way around. He had been upset over Harry's ignoring him in class earlier, but then had walked away from him yet again. Maybe Harry shouldn't have brought up his father, but in truth he thought that it was the only thing that was holding Draco back. Maybe some ties couldn't be broken after all.

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione, bending down to peer at his face.

"Did Malfoy do something to you?" Ron questioned loudly, angrily searching the hallway as if the Slytherin would suddenly appear out of thin air.

Harry couldn't help but smile wryly at the double meaning that the words held, but he didn't have the strength to shake his head "no". Instead, he slowly got to his feet and rubbed his legs, forcing circulation back into them from their cramped position. Hermione stood up with him, her arms held out as if she were afraid that he would suddenly topple over.

"I'm fine," he told them and then silently walked back to the Gryffindor Tower, his friends observing him and exchanging worried and puzzled looks with each other behind his back. Harry muttered the new password to the Fat Lady and stepped through the portrait as it opened. He was looking forward to jumping into his bed and going to sleep, forgetting the mess altogether. Hermione and Ron wished him goodnight, planning to stay in the common room and no doubt discuss what could possibly be wrong with their friend, Harry Potter.

He walked up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, pushing the door to his room open and looking at his bed in relief. It looked warm, comfy and inviting, exactly what he needed at the moment. Without even bothering to take off his schoolrobes, Harry threw himself onto the bed; it was as warm and soft as it had looked, but somehow its comfort was destroyed. In fact, it felt more….prickly?

Harry quickly sat up, rubbing his back and twisting around to see what he had been lying on. On the bed, directly underneath where his back had been, there was a rose. It was either dyed or spelled a bright green and it still had small nubs on its freshly cut stem where sharp thorns had once been. The flower was lying on top of a piece of parchment. Harry picked it up and read, "Meet me at the Astronomy Tower at midnight." He flipped it over, wondering if there was more, but found nothing. No signature, no sender, nothing.

But there was no doubt who it was from. The rose that had come with it was colored the same green of the Slytherin house and the parchment was very high quality. Only a person from a rich family could afford to spend money on such high quality paper for school. Harry glared at the piece of parchment, all thoughts of sleep aside. What could Draco want? And why was he still trying to contact him? Hadn't he just made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with him?

Harry decided that Draco must want nothing other than a snogging session. Everyone knew that that was what the Astronomy Tower was for, other than using it for Astronomy lessons. Students often crept out of bed to go there and meet with their girlfriend or boyfriend to make out under the stars; it provided the perfect atmosphere to do so.

Harry crumbled the note up and tossed it to the floor, watching it bounce its way under Ron's bed. He wasn't about to be made a fool of, and he didn't want to play into Draco's game. If the other boy wanted to snog, he could find someone else to do it with.

His legs climbed the stairs to the Astronomy Tower, not entirely moving only on their own accord. Eventually curiosity had gotten the better of him. Harry had tried to go to sleep, bundling himself up in his covers and attempting to drown out the thoughts of the day, but somehow he hadn't been able to. The green rose placed on his nightstand stood out like a beacon in the corner of his eye, and his mind kept wandering back to Draco's note, wondering why he had sent it and what he wanted. Later his roommates had come in, throwing themselves into their beds and beginning to snore as sleep took hold of them. But still, Harry's thoughts had kept him awake until he couldn't take it anymore.

So he had crept out of the room and out of the Gryffindor common room, ignoring the sleeping bodies of the students who had fallen asleep there. He was late; it was about fifteen minutes after midnight. But Harry wasn't stressed about it. After all, he had almost not come at all.

When he arrived at the top of the Astronomy Tower, Draco was there, waiting for him. The other boy had his back to him, staring down at the ground far below. He was wearing all black: loose black cargo pants and a three-quarter length black wizard's cloak, obviously dressed for the chill that was in the air that night. He looked rather good in black; it fit him.

"You wanted to meet with me?" he said, wondering if Draco had even noticed that he was there.

"Mmm," Draco concurred after a short pause, still not turning around to face Harry or moving from his spot. Softly, but still direct, he asked, "What you said earlier, was it true? That I could…stay with you?"

Harry blinked at the back of the blonde's head. Whatever he had been expecting him to say, it hadn't been that.

"Yes," he replied hesitantly, wary if there was any trick hidden in Draco's question. "We—The Order—could hide you. You could be in our protection and work for us."

"The Order…" the other teen trailed off, as if tasting the words in his mouth. Harry knew that he knew about The Order. They were the counterpart of the Death Eaters, except working against Lord Voldemort instead of for him. Most people raised in the wizarding world might have at least heard rumors, and since Draco was raised around Death Eaters all his life, he would certainly know more.

Harry thought he heard a soft snort of distaste, but the other boy didn't say anything further about it. He decided that the sound must have been just in his imagination.

"Fine," he heard Draco mutter.

"What?" Harry said, staring at him in wide eyed disbelief.

"Have you gone deaf, Harry?" Draco turned around, staring him arrogantly in the eye. "I said 'fine I'll do it'. I'll join The Order and whatever else I need to do. I'll stay with you."

Harry stared at him further, disbelief, shock, puzzlement and bewilderment written over his face, his brain temporarily frozen. Draco certainly hadn't just said that, had he? Suddenly cold fingers were holding his chin firmly and he snapped back to the present, finding the boy directly in front of him. Harry's lips parted slightly, expecting a kiss to result from their close proximity, when instead Draco's other hand went to his forehead, gently bushing away a strand of messy hair that had fallen over his eye.

The Slytherin glanced around, backing away from him. "We should go somewhere more private."

Harry agreed. They could have been spotted at any second by a couple who had decided to slip out after curfew and come there, or by Filch or Mrs. Norris if they ever took it into their heads to look. But instead of heading for the staircase, Draco lifted himself up so he was sitting on the railing that he had previously been looking over. Then he was standing on it, holding himself up by the roof for balance.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, just as Draco swung himself up and out of sight. The boy's head appeared shortly, upside down, his hair hanging from it loosely.

"Scared, Potter?" he jested, an infamous smirk appearing on his upside down face. "I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave." The boy's head disappeared above the roof again.

Harry approached the banister and looked down, spotting the ground far far below him. This is stupid, he told himself, thinking about what he was about to do. He easily jumped up, sitting on the banister, and Draco lowered his hand to help, lying flat on the roof so he wouldn't fall off himself.

Harry told himself that he shouldn't be scared of heights, and normally he wasn't. He was a quidditch seeker after all. Having a fear of heights wouldn't do. But when he was playing quidditch, he always had a broomstick underneath him. A broom that he could control and land if he needed to. But standing on a banister and climbing up on the roof of a very tall tower? That was folly.

"Don't keep me waiting all night. I am hanging here, idiot," Draco couldn't help but snap at Harry, irritated that the boy had seemingly started daydreaming.

"Sorry," he heard Harry mutter and after the boy had stood up, reached down to clasp his hand. His other hand grabbed Harry's other arm, while Harry pulled himself up, Draco steadying him. Once the Gryffindor was settled on the roof, Draco climbed up to the very top of it. Hogwarts had many roofs, with many different types of architecture. This was one similar to some muggle housing, with a slanted rooftop and red clay shingles for grip and balance. Harry sat next to him. The boy's eyes darted up to the sky and remained there, transfixed by the sight.

"Nice view," the boy muttered, though they were both aware that "nice" was an understatement. It was a crescent moon tonight, the clouds covering the sky in just the right amount of patches, and the stars dotting the sky like fireflies. The breeze was chilly but comfortable once you got used to it, or if you had stayed active by doing some activity such as climbing to the rooftop of a school building. Along with the expanse of the Hogwarts castle below them and the untamed tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest in front of them, it created the perfect setting. No wonder couples always chose this place to sneak out to.

Suddenly Harry turned and shoved him angrily. "Don't call me an idiot!"

Draco shoved back. "That's because you are an idiot."

The two boys wrestled fiercely for a few minutes, only aware of their surroundings enough not to roll off the roof by accident. In the end, Draco had Harry pinned to the roof, unable to squirm out of his grasp and escape. The defeated boy gave up in disappointment. "I surrender."

Grinning, Draco lowered himself onto Harry, knowing exactly what he wanted to do with that surrender.

"Do you know…" he whispered, allowing his lips to graze Harry's as he spoke. He gave him a passionate kiss full of pent up emotion and desire. His tongue traced a path over Harry's lips, and he held Harry's bottom one gently between his teeth before releasing it. He moved his mouth over Harry's skin, creating a roundabout path to the boy's ear.

"…how much I love it…" his lips traced their way down the side of Harry's face and he slowly made his way down the tender underside of his chin, feeling the boy shift under him to give him easier access. Draco placed small kisses down the front of his new lover's throat, finally allowing his tongue to move from Harry's right shoulder to the inside of his elbow, laying more kisses there. He grinned with contentment as Harry's heart started to beat faster and his breath began to steady into a quicker rhythm.

Draco made his way to the inside of the boy's wrist, laying soft and small kisses on it and then made his way to the tip of Harry's fingers. He promptly placed the middle one in his mouth, enjoying the surprised pleasure that he heard in Harry's gasp. His tongue moved over Harry's fingers, licking the length of them with the tip of his tongue. He moved over the boy's hand more suggestively, alternatively kissing, licking and sucking, feeling his former enemy shift further with pleasure. Then, Draco repeated the process with the other arm, knowing that he was driving Harry crazy and loving every moment of it.

Finally he paused and raised his head again to look Harry in the eye. The Gryffindor was staring at him with only desire, wondering why he had stopped.

"…when you're angry," he finished his sentence with a smirk. It was part of the reason why he was attracted to Harry and part of the control that he had over him. Doing things to make Harry Potter angry was a definite turn on for Draco.

They kissed again, Harry returning his kiss just as hungrily as Draco gave it. What they were about to embark on was completely new, thrilling, and dangerous. It could cause serious consequences for them both, much more than petty rumors among their classmates; it could possibly get them killed. But Draco didn't care anymore. Gone were the days when he thought that to prove his worth as a pureblood he had to become a subservient lackey to the Dark Lord, like his father. He had realized that he wanted Harry. He wanted the passion…the excitement…and the taboo.