Blame the Dare

Notes: This is a one-shot that contains SLASH between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. Do not read it, if you know that you would not like it. I wrote this a while ago during Christmas and then I lost it. I only found it again yesterday, so I decided to complete it.

Disclaimer: The characters and the relevant wizarding world belong to J.K. Rowling. I only own the plot of this story and I make no money out of it.

Blame the Dare

Harry James Potter had only one question to ask himself. How the bloody hell do I get myself into these situations?! Oh yes, I blame the dare this time. Presently he was standing in the back of an unused classroom while Hermione was busy brewing a potion. The problem wasn't the setting itself since they often found themselves doing things they shouldn't, no, the real problem was the potion.

It all started with the dare. Usually, Harry had no patience with dares but this one came along after he came out as gay to his friends. Some were a bit skeptical at first, but they all accepted it in the end. It then led to a question about how he knew he was gay. Of course he could have said that he had just found himself checking guys out instead of girls, but instead, he found himself revealing his crush, who just happened to be his arch-rival or enemy, depending on who you asked.

He didn't know whether Draco was gay, but the chances were good that he was straight and this meant that there was absolutely no way that he could ever know about Harry's crush. The only other problem was that his friends didn't think so. So instead of dropping the subject completely like other friends would, his friends decided that as best friends they were entitled to do anything in order for Harry to be able to be with his crush, which included the right to dare him to become a girl for one single night.

Yes, you guessed it. Hermione was brewing the trial version of the gender changing potion. You know, the one that people tested first in order to find out if they really wanted to be a different gender before they took the potion that made the change permanent. Truth be told, Harry would be pacing around all over the room right now if Hermione hadn't somehow procured a calming draught from Madam Pomfrey.

He was still trying to figure out how the witch managed to do that one, but she would probably take that secret to her grave. Harry glanced out the window. It was the night before Christmas and it actually seemed like the light blizzard outside would go on forever. Hermione would have gone to her parents' house for Christmas, but she decided that she couldn't enjoy her Christmas if Harry was still miserable, so she stayed.

She had at least persuaded Dumbledore to let her portkey home just after the feast though. Harry was sure that she just wanted to make sure that he took the potion before she left. He was happy that Ron was having fun at the Burrow according to the letter he had received earlier. After the feast would be the best time to use the potion because no one would come looking for him if he said that he was going to his rooms.

The twins had apparently even bribed Draco's best friend, Blaise to make sure that Draco took a walk along a specific path about an hour after the feast. George had mentioned that the Slytherin had walked away with a secretive smile and a whistle on his lips as he walked back to the Slytherin common room as if he knew something important that they didn't. But they weren't able to torture it out of the man because they still had to pack their things before the train left.

This, of course, made Harry even more nervous because he expected that something was about to go horribly wrong. It always did when it was something that had to do with him. Hermione's voiced pulled him from his thoughts. "Hey Harry, stop spacing out and give me a hand with the cleaning. The potion is already done."

He nodded and did just that. They returned to their common room just minutes before curfew and Harry let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the common room was clear. There were only three other Gryffindors that had stayed over Christmas and as much as he like Dean, Seamus, and Colin, he really didn't feel like running into them all the time.

Hermione cast an unbreakable charm on the potion before handing it to Harry and he pocketed it in his robes with his wand. That way he wouldn't forget to take it out. They sat down and talked for about an hour before Harry decided that he was going to bed. Hermione agreed and they bid each other goodnight before going off to their respective rooms. Harry was glad that Hermione at least had Crookshanks so that she didn't have to be completely alone in her room.

…

The next day went much the same as any Christmas, at least he thought so until he noticed the second present from Luna. The note on top said that he had to open the present after the feast so he placed it in his trunk and decided to do just that. Naturally, it also had to do with the fact that she would most likely know if he opened it ahead of time.

He skipped breakfast because of all the edible presents he got so instead he and Hermione were relaxing in the common room. When the time came to go to the feast, they separated to shower and dress before they made their way down. It was smaller because only a few students stayed, but there was still more than enough food.

Harry spent the whole feast trying to secretly check Draco out while he was eating and he was surprised to actually catch his rival's eyes on him a few times as well. The butterflies in his stomach grew at the end of the feast drew near and Dumbledore spoke a few words before retiring to bed. Most of the teachers followed his example and only two stayed in order to keep an eye on the students.

Harry and Hermione also excused themselves when they finished and Harry was surprised to see a glint of excitement in Draco's eyes as they passed him. Unfortunately, it was gone within a second so Harry thought that he was probably imagining things. It was strange that Draco had barely spoken a nasty word their way since the holidays began.

They made their way to the common room and Harry took out the vial while eyeing it as if it would bite him. He felt like he would rather go another round with Salazar Slytherin's familiar if it would get him out of the dare. Hermione gave him a pointed look and he sighed before summoning his courage and opening and downing the vial in one gulp.

It tasted disgusting of course, but he didn't have any thoughts left to dwell on it a second later as a wave of pain ran through his system. He fell to his knees while clutching his chest before he fell onto his side and curled up in a ball. The pain was excruciating! But it only lasted for about a minute before his body went slightly numb and he was just lying on the floor. He could hear Hermione at his side, but he didn't really feel like opening his eyes until Hermione let out a squeal.

"Harry you're absolutely gorgeous as a girl!" This quickly snapped his mind back to the reason why he had actually gone through the pain in the first place. He stood up shakily and walked over to a mirror with Hermione's help. He was surprised to find that he kind of looked like his 11-year-old self, did four years ago. But his 15-year-old female form had a skinnier face.

His skin was fair and his black his ran to the middle of his back. His green eyes looked a little bigger and brighter and his lashes were longer. The effect actually made it looked like he was wearing that mascara that the girls always wore. His body was skinny and he was sure that his legs looked longer. All in all, he looked very beautiful as a girl and frankly he didn't know whether he should be glad about it or whether he should worry.

He looked at Hermione. "Ok, let's get the rest of this dare over and done with before I'm stuck in this form." Hermione laughed. "Harry you can't get stuck with a temporary potion." He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "And how did that stop other things from happening around me whether it was impossible or not?" Hermione shook her head with a grimace. "I guess you got me there."

The witch then ran up to her room and came back down with what seemed to be an outfit. "Well, I suggest you change then. You can't go walking around in the same clothes you wore at the feast." Harry eyed the high-heeled contraptions with fear. How the heck is she expecting me to walk in those?! I heard that girls train for years just to ensure that they didn't fall over or break their ankle.

He then looked at the dress and his fear grew. Just because he looked like a girl at the moment, didn't mean that he was going to wear something that pink! Luna's words suddenly came back to him and he rushed up to his own room to find the present. Luna usually knew when things were needed so he really hoped that she managed to help him out his time as well.

His eyes sparkled in triumph as he opened the box to find a green dress that seemed to slightly shimmer with glitter, along with a pair of flat shoes in the same color that all almost perfectly matched his eyes. He carried the box down to show Hermione, but instead of feeling hurt that Harry had refused her clothes, Hermione immediately commanded him to put the clothes on. He dressed in his room while trying to mostly keep his eyes closed. Just because he was now a girl, didn't give him a right to actually look further than absolutely necessary.

She smiled brightly as he came down before asking him to sit down. Hermione then did Harry's hair and make-up. It made the man, well woman, shudder. He would have to remember that he was in a girl's body for now. He knew that some guys also wore make-up sometimes, but it just wasn't really for him.

Once Hermione was finished she showed Harry a mirror and he blinked at himself in surprise. Hell, he would actually date himself if he had been straight. His friend chuckled. "Come on, you have twenty minutes to make it up to the Astronomy tower." Harry placed his clothes in his trunk before saying goodbye to Hermione. She would leave to be with her own family right after he left, so he wouldn't see her again until the end of the holidays.

Harry threw his cloak over himself while taking care to not mess up his makeup or his hair. He didn't want anyone spotting him otherwise he would have to explain a lot of things. He made his way to the tower without any incidents and he folded his cloak and placed it beside him as he stood at the railing and looked at the stars.

A shuffle behind him caught his attention and he looked around only to see something that made butterflies in his stomach. Draco was standing at the entrance of the tower with his hand on the door, but he seemed to be frozen in shock. A giggle escaped Harry (but he would deny it if anyone ever asked him about it).

The sound seemed to bring Draco out of his shock because he closed the door and moved closer. "I've never seen you around here before. Are you a student? I didn't see you at the feast." Harry smiled, but it turned nervous when he saw a strange look in Draco's eyes. As if he knew something that Harry himself didn't.

"I am a student, although you would have never seen me like this." Draco nodded before sweeping into a polite bow. "I am Draco Malfoy. Would you mind if I joined you?" Harry was shocked by the polite behavior and his mind scrambled for a name. He couldn't really say that he was Harry Potter now, could he?

"I wouldn't mind if you joined me. My name is uh… Harley." Harry couldn't think of a surname so he tried to leave it at that, but Draco smirked. "Do you have a surname Harley?" Harry's mind felt like it wanted to short-circuit. "James…uhm, my name is Harley James." Draco smiled and nodded before standing next to 'Harley' and looking up at the night sky.

"So are you going to tell me what house you are in?" Harry smiled and shook his head. "Why would I want to make things easy for you? Besides you might just start to hate me because of what house I am in and then this chat could go bad very fast." Draco shook his head then looked at 'Harley'. "If you know who I am, like I think you do, then you should know that it is just one of my masks that make it seem that way."

They started talking about random things as they sank down next to the wall of the tower. 'Harley began to freeze as the air inside the tower grew cold close to two hours later. Of course, it's cold, it's snowing! How the bloody hell does the girls walk around in dresses when it's so cold? Harry suddenly felt something warm on his knees and arms and he looked at Draco in surprise. The man had actually taken off his own robe and threw it over him to keep him warm.

Draco suddenly glanced up and 'Harley's' gaze followed his. Both of them were surprised to see a sprig of mistletoe hanging above their heads. They looked back down at each other and Draco leaned in slightly. Harry could see that the man was waiting for him to give permission so he leaned in as well. Harry knew that he might never have another chance.

Their lips touched softly and both of them let out a shocked breath at the first contact. They kissed again for a little longer before Draco drew back. "Now Harley James, don't you think that it would be the appropriate time if you changed back into Harry Potter so that I can kiss the real you?" Harry drew back in shock and gaped at the blonde, but the other man just smiled.

A second later a flash of pain traveled through his body and he had almost once again ended up hugging the floor a minute later when it ended. He opened his eyes and sat up, only to realize that Draco had already transfigured the dress and shoes he wore into male clothes and he was actually sitting on the blonde's lap.

He tried to get off in order to put some space between them, but Draco's arms tightened around him. Harry looked at the blonde. "Is this some sort of payback for tricking you?" Harry expected the blonde to retaliate in anger, but he received a chuckle instead. "How can it be a trick if I willingly fell for it? I wouldn't have changed your clothes back if I was really angry at you, you know. In the past, I probably would have even taken pictures of the great Harry Potter in a dress, but that was before…"

Harry frowned. "Before what?" Draco smiled at him again. "Before I learned that I liked you, which happened about a year ago when I thought that I would lose you to the Triwizard Tournament. At first, thought that I was angry at you for competing, but then I figured out that I was angry because you were forced to compete in a tournament that could get you killed."

Harry frowned. It did make sense, but how did Draco know that he wasn't really a girl? He looked at the blonde. "How did you know that I was Harley?" Draco seemed thoughtful as he looked at the sky, but he looked down at Harry when he spoke.

"Your twin friends asked Blaise for help. First, he thought that he would let things run its course, then he decided to make sure that I wouldn't get hurt, after that he figured that the best course of action that would lead to you and me both getting what we want, would be to tell me of your friends' plans. I think your friends purposefully forgot to tell you that the potion's transformation lasted only for two hours though otherwise, you would have been checking the time in order to make sure that you were gone before you turned back."

Harry scoffed, but it was done with a smile. Things had worked out in the end anyway. He then looked at Draco through narrowed eyes. "Are you telling me that I could have skipped the whole turning in a girl for you thing?" Draco visibly blushed. "You could have, but I really wanted to see whether I was attracted to you no matter what form you took and I am."

Harry smiled happily and leaned in to kiss the other man again, but he stopped short, which made Draco frown. "Does this mean that we're together? And I mean as in walking in the hallways and holding hands together?" Draco's frown melted away and he nodded before setting Harry down beside him and standing up before pulling the other man up as well. They looked into each other's eyes. "Harry James Potter, would you do me the honor of being my boyfriend?" This made Harry's smile grow wide. "Of course I will Draco. In fact, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Naturally, they kissed again, but this time it didn't end for quite a while.

The End