One.

This was stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

His damn pride was too delicate to let him walk away from any duel, much less this one. But submitting to Malfoy's terms?

Harry gritted his teeth. It was his own fault, really, for starting a row with Malfoy in the middle of the corridor, but how would he have known that Draco would want to duel in the third-floor right wing? It brought back memories of his first year, and Fluffy.

He would be a cat person, were it not for Umbridge's obsession with the creatures. Maybe he could be a rabbit person, or an owl person?

"Potter."

Harry started- Malfoy had been quiet. "Malfoy. You certainly took your time."

Malfoy stepped into the light from a nearby torch, sneering as he spoke, "Getting worried? I wouldn't leave you waiting, Potter. I've been itching to hex you for months."

"Likewise," Harry spat. "I believe it is traditional to bow, but that might give you the idea that I remotely respect-"

"Impedimenta!"

Harry stumbled out of the spell's way, and it shattered a window behind him. A gush of cold air hit the back of his neck. "Stupefy!" Harry responded, aiming at Malfoy's grinning face.

"Protengo! Flipendo!"

Harry was thrown backwards. He rolled away, trying to get out of range, and felt glass catch in his robes and crunch under his weight. "Locomoto mortis!"

The spell ricocheted off of the picture frame Malfoy stood in front of, tearing a hole in a nearby tapestry. "Immoblus!" Malfoy shouted. Harry covered his head with his hands as another pane of glass exploded above his head.

"Furnucu-" Harry started.

"Who's there!"

Malfoy's eyes met Harry's. Somewhere in their mutual panic, an agreement was made. "Where do we go?" Malfoy hissed as Harry scrambled to his feet.

There was only one place. "Follow me. Hurry!" Harry sprinted off, Malfoy directly behind him until he reached the door. "Alohomora!" He cried softly, jerking the door open and dragging Malfoy inside.

For a moment there was nothing but their breathing in the stifling darkness.

"Lumos," Malfoy whispered, igniting his wand tip and illuminating their faces too close together. Harry quickly backed off and repeated the spell.

In the combined wandlight, the room was revealed. The trapdoor was open carelessly, the only feature of the bare room worth looking at. Tendrils of a dark green, veiny looking plant had snuck up to surround the opening in the past years since the first adventure, stirring gently as the light revealed it.

"What's that?" Malfoy asked mutedly. His voice quavered slightly.

"Devil's Snare. It's been there for-"

Malfoy lunged toward Harry and clapped a hand over his mouth, cutting him off. "Mmph!" Harry protested, but Malfoy's wide eyes didn't allow for any argument. Soon, he heard it, too.

"…Students trying to be rebellious, breaking windows and ripping our ancestor's tapestries. Mrs. Norris, is there no respect left in the castle?" A beat of silence. "We'd best move on. Professor Dumbledore can be told in the morning, after we have rested."

Malfoy's eyes were huge, only a couple inches from Harry's. They were locked together until Filch's footsteps faded away.

Harry's wand lay a few feet away, having been knocked away when Malfoy grabbed him. Malfoy's wand showed them each other's faces.

They were frozen for a few moments before Malfoy jerked his hand away, looking shell-shocked and a little… embarrassed? He made a move as if to step back, only to stumble forward and crash into Harry.

"Wha-?"

"Something's got my leg!" Malfoy gasped, one hand clenched on Harry's shoulder to steady himself.

"You're imagining…" Harry stiffened, feeling something terribly familiar tighten on his legs, inching higher as Harry realized it too late. "Shit, it's the Devil's Snare… give me your wand!"

Too late: a strand snapped Malfoy's wand away from him. It hit a wall and went out, plunging them into darkness.

The stems moved faster than the boys could decide what to do, and in seconds they were both trussed up. Harry clawed at the vines before they secured his arms to his sides.

He felt Draco try to remove his hand from Harry's shoulder, but a vine suddenly wrapped around the other boy's wrist, pulling it across Harry's back to his waist and yanking them together. Harry gasped loudly in surprise at the sudden contact, feeling Malfoy tense. There was a moment of shock before the two tried to get away from each other, but the plant's tendrils wrapped around them from toes to their shoulders.

Harry felt himself flush deeply as he found himself nose-to nose with Malfoy.

Malfoy continued to struggle, and Harry shook himself (the contact affecting him in embarrassing ways) and hissed, "The plant won't let go unless we relax, Malfoy!"

"Like hell it will!" Draco snapped, sounding more nervous than fearful as he struggled.

As if in retaliation, the plant tightened it's grip… around their hips.

Harry let out an alarmed breath as his semi-hard cock met with Draco's lower half. He waited for the insults, the disgust.

Instead… was that what he thought it was?

Draco's- no, Malfoy's- breathing hitched noticeably, and in addition to the nonexistent space between their hips, Harry found himself noticing the inch of air between their lips.

No, no, no, this was Malfoy!

"S-so you said it… lets go if you relax?"

Harry couldn't stop himself from licking his lips and swallowing. "Y-yeah."

There were two seconds of silence, and Harry sensed a movement that wasn't caused by the tightening plants.

It started as a brush of lips, a gentle experiment that made Harry's breath hitch and his cock harden. Then he felt Draco's lips open, and he met him halfway.

With a soft groan, Harry strained his arms against the Devil's Snare, trying to pull Draco closer. To his amazement and relief, the vines relented, and he slid his arms around Draco's back to hold him. The kiss grew deep and full of dark promise. Draco's other arm came up and twined itself in the hair at the back of Harry's neck, trying for control.

Harry's hand coasted over Draco's vine-wrapped lower back. He only hesitated a moment before reaching lower to squeeze Draco's ass at the same time that the vines around their lower bodies loosened, only to go even more taunt than before. They both moaned. Draco's hips bucked into his, unbidden by the vines, and Harry ground back, kissing harder.

In a split second, Harry felt himself overbalance. He toppled over, tripped by the vines around his and Draco's ankles. Hitting the floor hurt a little, but it also made Draco's hips crash into his, eliciting throaty cries from them both. Draco's hands came between them, trying to take off his and Harry's clothes at the same time. Harry was impatient, and he wasn't as careful, momentarily breaking the kiss to tear off Draco's robes until there was nothing between them.

They clutched at each other, grinding and kissing as the passion mounted and peaked. Harry couldn't stop himself from moaning and whimpering as Draco's hands found his hips and used the grip as leverage to increase the delectable friction as their erections rubbed together.

"God, Draco," he murmured into the heated kiss. The hands on his hips tightened, and Harry felt the final deep grind throughout his entire body, turning his vision white and wracking his body with pleasure.

He shouted out loud, the sound muted by Draco's lips on his. Though the pulses of pleasure, Harry heard a similar sound issue from Draco's throat.

They collapsed into limp heaps on the floor, clinging to one another as their breathing returned to normal. Dimly, Harry felt the last of the Devil's Snare recede from their ankles.

(TBC)