"An Unexpected Valentine"

A/N: Just a random piece of fluff. Very cheesy, in honor of valentines day, and a present for my fluff-loving friend, Feenie.

Also... thanks to DreamTimeTails for pointing out that Trelawney's prediction needed to be fixed. : D

***********

Harry James Potter, Golden Boy of Hogwarts, was incredibly bored. He was standing in the middle of the bright and festive great hall, surrounded by huge red paper hearts, pink streamers and sparkling silver and gold glitter.

Valentines day was the most inane, idiotic holiday in existence. For sappy couples filled to the brim with puppy love. Even Ron and Hermione were getting into the spirit of the holiday, curled up together on the bench beside him, kissing enthusiastically. Ron's hand, clutching a fork piled with food, was stilled half way to his mouth. Harry was vaguely impressed Hermione had managed to distract the red head from his food for so long.

Disgusted, Harry rose from the bench and started to walk from the room. Hermione and Ron did not even notice. Someone did, though. He had not gone far when Draco Malfoy, with Crabbe and Goyle in their usual flanking positions on either side of him, walked into his path.

As it always did when he was around Malfoy, Harry's stomach tightened and his heart started beating a little faster. Both signs, he assumed, of apprehension.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" He muttered.

Malfoy smirked at him. "I have a dare for you Potter. I want to see, once and for all, who's the better dueler. The Golden Boy or the Slytherin Price."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Slytherin Prince?"

Malfoy shrugged, arrogance lighting his thin features. "Why not? Do you see any other proper candidates?" He gestured pointedly to Crabbe and Goyle.

Deciding to concede the point, Harry asked, "So you're suggesting a duel?"

Suspicion laced his voice. He remembered the first duel Draco had challenged him to, in their first year, when Draco had set him up to be caught sneaking around by Filch. Their second duel, in the second year Dueling Club, had been interrupted by the discovery that Harry was a parseltongue.

Draco smirked again, clearly guessing his thoughts. "Yes. A real duel this time. Winner gets the thrill of knowing he is the better fighter."

"And the loser?"

"Has to go see Professor Lovebird."

Harry winced at the thought. It was a good bet to stake. The cost of losing was horrible, but not fatal. For Valentine's day, Professor Trelawney had set up a special fortune telling session, in which she would tell the naive students who actually went to see her who he or she was supposed to be with. It was absurd.

Malfoy laughed at his expression. "Scared, Potter?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You wish."

A strange expression lit Malfoy's eyes suddenly. Part amusement, part…something else. Something softer.

Before Harry could analyze the expression, Malfoy blinked and said, "Fine. Tonight. 11:00. Room of Requirement. Loser will have to go see Professor Lovebird tomorrow."

"Fine."

Malfoy sauntered off the way he had come, and, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling, Harry left the Great Hall.

**********

That night at 11:05, Harry was standing outside the room of requirement, pacing back and forth in front of the blank wall as he waited for the door to appear.

Duel with Malfoy. Duel with Malfoy. He repeated the phrase over and over in his mind, until finally the door appeared. He entered a large, dark room, with mats on the walls and on the floor in a strip, like a duelers stage. Malfoy sat on a large and comfortable looking couch against the wall opposite the door.

"You're late, Potter." Malfoy muttered disapprovingly.

"Yeah, well, my friends were being…strange." Harry frowned as he thought back to Hermione's strange behavior before he left.

She had been grinning like an idiot at him, and hadn't even asked where he was going, despite the fact that curfew was past. She had just grinned wider and told him to have fun doing 'whatever it is you are doing'.

Malfoy just rolled his eyes. "I really don't care, Potter. You ready to duel or not?"

Harry nodded, focusing. "Ready."

Each boy moved to an opposite end of the strip of mats, wands held ready. They walked forward, bowed, then walked back and faced each other again, eyeing each other warily.

Harry went through a list of dueling spells in his head. He would not use something as simple as accio or expeliarmus. Something more impressive, but nothing that would seriously wound the other boy.

"Rictusempra!" He shouted, and Malfoy doubled over, giggling, as the tickling spell took over. "Locomotor Mortis!" Malfoy's legs bound together, causing him to fall over.

Forcing the words between gasping giggles, Malfoy muttered the counter curses for both spells, scrambled to his feet, and pointed his wand at Harry. "Flipendo!" Harry flew backwards, hitting the mat-covered wall behind him. "Confundus!"

Harry scrambled to his feet, now dizzy and disoriented, and tried to send another curse at Malfoy. It bounced off the wall. Annoyed, he muttered the counter curse, then focused on the other boy once more.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The spell flew towards Draco, then changed direction at the last second, hitting the wall. Harry frowned. He wasn't under confoundus anymore. Had Draco created a shield?

"Petrificus Totalus!!"

Nothing Happened. Grinning, Malfoy raised his wand.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Harry crumbled to the ground, frozen solid and unable to move, but conscious. He glanced wildly around. And an instant later, Draco dropped down beside him, smirking.

"I guess we can easily see who is the better wizard."

Harry closed his eyes. No matter. Sure, Draco would be insufferable for the next few months, until the glory of it wore off. But he was sure there would be more duels. Draco would not be laughing long.

Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry and released him from the body bind curse. The effects were automatic. People unleashed from the body bind curse often felt weak, shaky, tired and cold for a few hours after, no matter how short a time they had been under. It made it a very effective curse.

As weariness overtook him, and he felt his eyelids drooping, Harry was vaguely aware of someone lifting him up in strong, gentle arms, and placing him on a large, comfortable couch. A warm blanket settled over him, and he was almost certain that he felt a slender hand feathering though his hair, before all went dark.

**********

When Harry woke up, he was still in the dueling room, but he was alone. A small piece of paper lay next to him, which simply read:

Don't Forget to Stop by Professor Lovebird's, Potter. I'll know if you try to back out.

Harry rolled his eyes. Who did Malfoy think he was? He'd made the stupid bet hadn't he? He'd follow through. He rose, fighting off a momentary wave of dizziness. Blast that bloody curse. Shaking his head, he regained his balance and walked out the room.

**********

It was so easy to get lost in these blasted corridors.

The room of requirement was in a tricky passage, so it took Harry a few minutes to get to a familiar staircase. He was about to take it down when he realized he wasn't far from Trelawney's tower. Rolling his eyes, he started in that direction.

"Might as well get this over with" He muttered.

He reached the entrance to the tower and pulled down the ladder that allowed him to climb into the classroom. Professor Trelawney was sitting alone, draped in her usual array of absurd cloths and jewelry. But something was different. Her face was pale, her eyes huge and distant. It was a look he unfortunately recognized. Trelawney was having a vision. Not a hokey one: but one of her rare, true visions. When she spoke, it confirmed the thought: the voice was not her own.

"Harry Potter"

Harry backed down a step on the ladder, refusing to come any further into the room.

"I'll come back later." He muttered. "I just came to… oh never mind."

He started to leave. If Trelawney was about to give him another prophecy about Voldemort, Harry simply didn't want to hear it. He was happy with the peace his life had fallen into the last couple of months, where the worst of his worries were too much Valentine's Day cheesiness and silly duels with Malfoy.

"The Boy Who Lived

Unloved for so long

Seeks the name of he

Who can complete his song."

Harry froze and peered at Trelawney in disbelief, halting in his woman was actually giving a real prediction of Harry's love life??? He had started to move closer, despite himself, but the moment she said he, he retreated again.

"No, you don't understand."

"Two were born of misery,

Broken souls, enemies at first

Now together, and yet apart

They stand together, expecting the worst

A scar and great loss was his price to pay,

While one has scars too deep to be seen

One has accepted, one still denies,

He must step forward, move into the scene."

Harry looked at her with pleading eyes. "Who are you talking about??"

Trelawney didn't answer, but it didn't matter. Not really. He knew.

Suddenly Trelawney jumped, blinked owlishly from behind her big glasses, then spotted Harry.

"Ah! Harry!" Her voice was now back to normal. "Did you come in for a reading?"

"Ah… you just finished, Professor."

"Did I? Well, good luck to you!"

She was speaking to Harry's retreating back, and though he seemed to ignore her, he thought, this is the first time she's wished me well instead of trying to predict my demise…

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he took off running for the Great Hall.

If this is some trick Malfoy planned… He thought furiously, I may actually kill him this time…

**********

The Great Hall was buzzing quietly. It was the last day of the three day Valentines - Day celebration, and everyone was in a good mood, chatting quietly to each other about what Trelawney had told them, or how many valentines day presents they had received.

Suddenly, the near-silence was broken by a loud bang as none other then Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived, crashed through the doors of the Great Hall, his anger too great for him to worry about trivial things like common sense at the moment.

"Malfoy!" he bellowed, causing the entire hall to fall completely, dead silent. Over at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy flushed to the roots of his silvery blonde hair, embarrassed at being singled out from the insane boy that had just crashed into the room.

He stood up, reluctantly. "What do you want, Potter?" He asked with a carefully patented sneer.

"Did you bribe Trelawney to tell me that?"

When Malfoy only blinked at him, Harry snapped,

"The whole thing was a set up, right? A prank? You messed up my wand, so that all of my spells deflected before they hit you! You knew before the duel started that I'd be seeing Trelawney. What kind of prank is that??"

Malfoy sighed, realizing he wasn't going to be able to move this argument outside and away from prying eyes and ears. Ah well. Let them watch. He was a Malfoy, and Malfoy's took what they wanted. And it wasn't as if the Malfoy reputation could be more tarnished then it already was.

He moved away from the Slytherin table and into the center of the hall to face Harry.

"It wasn't a trap! Yes, I convinced Hermione to help tamper with your wand a little. She already knows the truth, which is why she was freaking out before you left. I just needed you to see Trelawney. I had no idea if she would give an accurate prediction or not, but I needed to tell you somehow, and didn't want to risk that you'd win the duel."

Harry stared at him blankly for a moment, then managed to stammer, "S-She was telling the truth?"

Draco smirked again. "I can only assume so, judging by your reaction."

"S-So… you…" Seeming to realize where they were, and that they had a rarely large audience, Harry faltered and blushed.

"I love you, yes." Draco confirmed, without even glancing at the shell-shocked students and staff around them. "I have since first year." He smiled gently at Harry. "Don't you love me?"

He did. Just as in Trelawney's office, he knew it. And he had been running from it. From the moment he refused Draco's friendship in their first year until the duel, when Draco had so carefully make him warm and comfortable on that bloody couch. He had passed his thundering heart off as anxiety, that fierce, protective feeling off as understanding, sympathy for the young son of a death eater.

But deep down, he had known it was not hatred or sympathy he felt for Draco Malfoy. And it would be so easy to admit it now, now that Draco was standing in front of the entire school, with those absurd valentine's day decorations behind him, declaring his love.

But Harry wasn't ready to give in yet.

"You think you love a boy who got your father thrown in prison? Who has done his best for six years to get you kicked out of Hogwarts, who has been your enemy since the first year???"

Draco only smiled softly. "Harry. I've always hated my father. By throwing him in prison, you've given me and my mother a chance at freedom. As for us being enemies… I like arguing with you. It's fun. And not a threat to our relationship, believe me."

Harry wanted to believe him. Badly. But he found it hard to believe that it could be so easy. That they could just confess their love and everything would be fine. Under the scrutinizing stares of the other students and the teachers, he blushed and glanced away, desperately wishing he had waited to speak to Draco in private.

The next instant, Draco was next to him, turning his face back so that green eyes met silver. He was still smiling, but there was fear in his eyes, like he thought Harry was going to bolt.

"It won't be easy." He said quietly. "But you and I, we're the top dogs in this dump. They won't be able to stop us. I promise. Dropping his slender hand from Harry's cheek, he held it out in front of him, waiting with a blank face to see if Harry would take his hand.

Harry was not fooled by the empty face and blank eyes. He knew Draco only looked that way when he was covering up fierce emotions. Once, he'd thought it was mostly anger Draco was hiding. Now he realized he couldn't have been more wrong. Behind that arrogant façade, Draco really did love him, really was panicked that Harry, like so many other people in Draco's life, would let him down.

Draco had been right when he said it wouldn't be easy. Despite the fact that they were well both respected, even a little feared, at Hogwarts, not everyone would accept their relationship. Hermione clearly had, he thought, glancing over to where she was beaming at them, beside a scowling Ron, who clearly had not. It would be difficult, nearly impossible, and both their lives would be in danger. More so then they already were. But he saw now, that it was worth it. If Draco was willing to drop his usual Malfoy coldness and tell the entire school that he loved Harry Potter, then the least he could do was tell the entire school that he loved Draco back.

Smiling now, he reached out a hand and linked it with Draco's. The mask dropped from Draco's face and he grinned, stepping forward to wrap his arms around Harry. AT their embrace, the crowd interrupted, some cheering, some shouting angrily. But the two boys in the center of the hall ignored them. Smirking slightly, Draco whispered against Harry's lips,

"Happy Valentines Day, Potter."

And before Harry could retort, proceeded to kiss him senseless.

**********

The end!!!

A/N: I made up the part about the after effects of the body binding spell. Just because it seemed to fit ^ ^ Also, I realize they were a little OOC, I hope that didn't take away from the story too much…

Please review!