Final Exams: Is There an Afterlife? Chapter Two

Divine Intervention.

A/Note: Wow it's been a long time since I've Drarried. But at the readers' demand (and so many of you are on alert, this will come as a shock) here's the second chapter! Enjoy, and as always, rate and review.

PS: I wrote this while listening to Matt Nathanson's "Come and Get Higher." Not a songfic, but it just fits this song. Ya know? J

Draco sputtered angrily as Harry chugged the potion. The goblet was only about four ounces, so it took only a minute. The Gryffindor's eyelids drooped, and his head slipped forward, as if in the middle of a Divination class. He was asleep in five seconds.

"Wake up. Come on! Get UP!" Draco prodded him with the potion stirrer. The girls were emerging, dressed up for an end-of-term party (no doubt in the Hufflepuff Common Room). The bold prefect from before lifted an eyebrow and asked loudly,

"Gosh, Draco, are you really that bad in bed? You put the poor boy to sleep!" And, giggling, the whole bunch walked away before Draco could do anything but fume. In exasperation, he picked up Harry's Potions' book (who in hell was the Half-Blood Prince??) and whacked him on the back of the head. The Golden Boy was awake at last.

"Hey… cut it out, Ron." Well, almost awake.

"Heaven help me if I ever became a Weasley," retorted Draco, as Harry finally sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh, hey Draco. How'd the potion work out? Did I go completely nutters and make a fool out of myself?" He seemed perfectly normal. Or, Draco reflected snobbishly, as normal as the 'Chosen One' can get.

"No, it seems to have failed. Only a minute elapsed from then to now, and you should be feeling the effects." An awkward pause; Draco didn't know what to say. When in doubt, blame Potter. "Of course, if you'd have let me put in your hair we'd have disastrous results. MY Love Potions are always p--" He stopped mid-word, as he looked up to find the Gryffindor gazing intently into his eyes.

"No, the potion worked," he said. "I just have amazing self-control." Still, Harry was unbearably close. Draco blushed scarlet, but just couldn't pull himself away.

"Hold on. So you're--"

"Yes. At this moment I'm fighting every magicked instinct to kiss you. But you're not making it easy." And Draco felt devilish. No one was looking; he'd never get another perfect chance. He leaned in ninety-percent, until his face was less than a centimeter from the Lion's. It didn't take Harry long to fill the gap. It was a sweet, childish kiss, and Draco knew instinctively that this was wholly devoid of magical influence. A potion couldn't create this. It defied chemistry, but he knew so. After a long moment-- it could have been several, sunlit days-- they backed away. Harry's eyes opened; Draco had never closed his. Some things the Prince couldn't risk missing.

A short pause, and Draco felt greedy. He was so close! He saw angels and devils, and Merlin! Who gave a damn, anyway?? He'd make Harry forget. And so the blonde kissed him again. And again. And yet again. Each time was a mixture of faith and desire. Faith, that trusting in some higher power, perhaps even more powerful than magic. Desire, the mad emotion that drove him to do this, despite five years of resisting. What had he to lose, anyway?

Everything. He'll never look at you after this.

He never looked at me before!

But he came. For some reason, he was here at seven thirty.

Well, I'll make sure he never remembers.

Ha. Try walking on water, or--

Seeing what's next? Do I look like a Divinations Master?

You're too impulsive for a Slytherin. You have to be more subtle. You have to--

Don't care, don't care, don't care.

I give up.

And, his inhibitions dissolved, Draco looked up to see the glaze vanished from Harry's face. He was completely and totally in control now. And Draco gave an involuntary shudder. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then, Harry stood and stretched out his hand to help Draco up. He reluctantly accepted.

"Do you remember…" he trailed off.

"Remember what?"

"Nothing." Draco was so embarrassed.

"You mean when I kissed you, or the three times you kissed me?" There was a laughing look in his eyes. Draco reached for his wand, but Harry was faster. The phoenix-feather wand was at his throat instantly.

"Don't you dare obliterate me," he said, eyes flashing darkly. But what he said next left Draco as if Stunned.

"I want to keep that memory."

Draco could do nothing but stare. To his credit, his jaw did not drop, but he still looked like a troll doing sums, or Crabbe trying to read. He just could not comprehend what on earth Harry was talking about. Harry seemed to understand fully, though.

"Let's put away the Potions things, and go back to my room. Gryffindor Tower will be empty because of the party, and we've got some catching up to do."

Draco could find only one reason against this.

"What about your Potions final tomorrow?"

Harry laughed at this weak resistance.

"I'll just have to leave it to divine intervention."

Rate and review! And this really is the end. Sorry! :)