A/N: Sorry for the delay, I just bought Skyrim and basically all my attention has been placed on that and it's also exam time so I've had to study a lot.
Harry's POV.
The moment Harry entered the Great Hall, almost every eye from the Gryffindor table turned to him. Many let out sighs of relief, others called after him in worry, and he saw Hermione and Ron jump out of their seats. Harry hadn't even taken five steps into the Great Hall when his two best friends nearly toppled him over in anxiety.
"Harry! We've been so worried about you since you just disappeared after breakfast. Oh, we've looked everywhere, the library, the hospital wing, and the grounds. What were you doing, Harry?" Hermione fussed over him, speaking very quickly.
"Mate, you nearly gave us a heart attack. We thought you'd be kidnapped or something."
Harry replied with a nervous laugh and a mumbled "well...you see...um...I've been...just...out." Harry explained nervously and Hermione had cut him off.
"Oh, Harry. What if a death eater had found you? That was very irresponsible of you."
"But they didn't so it's all okay, right." Ron added whimsically and Hermione glowered at him.
"Honestly, Ron, something could have just as easily happened. These are dangerous times and we can't just..." but Harry zoned out, Hermione's lecture became nothing but a dull buzz in his ears as Harry's gaze turned to the entrance where one Draco Malfoy was now entering.
The Slytherin was slightly duck footed and with a rush of heat to his face, Harry realised why. When Malfoy turned to look at him, Harry felt his invisible ears and tail perk up in shock and he quickly turned his red face away.
"Harry? You're all red, are you feeling okay?" Hermione questioned.
Harry dragged himself back to his best friends. "Y-yeah, I've just been feeling a bit ill," and Harry used this opportunity to make up a cover story for his absence, "I've been at the hospital wing all day."
"But Harry, we looked there for you earlier."
Ah, shit. Forgot about that.
Harry cursed inwardly. "W-well yes, I've been in a more private section, I asked Madame Pomfrey to make sure I had no interruptions."
Ron seemed satisfied with this answer but Hermione still looked at his suspiciously.
"Malfoy was missing early this morning too." Hermione prodded slyly.
Harry felt the familiar sensation of heat rushing to his face again. "W-was he?" He feigned innocence.
"Yes, he seemed to have said something about 'helping another student', would you know anything about this?" Hermione's eyes narrowed further.
"Not at all, why would I care about what Malfoy was doing?" Harry tried his best to put on his normal, not caring tone he always used for his rival.
Hermione stared at him for what felt like hours. "Well, I've noticed him looking over at Gryffindor table a lot lately."
At this, Harry jumped. "Has he, really?" He couldn't hide the excited tone in his voice, and could feel his invisible tail flicking enthusiastically below his robes.
"Harry, what's-"
"Leave it, 'Mione." Harry sighed and brushed past her on his way to a free seat. Luckily Dean Thomas shuffled down the bench slightly to make room for Harry as he didn't want to have to sit next to Hermione and endure her curiosity. Unfortunately, Hermione wouldn't let Harry get away that easily and quickly took the place opposite; she didn't speak though, only stared at his averted face, much to Harry's relief. Harry was also relieved that he was facing away from the Slytherin table, or he knew he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes away.
Even as the golden trio returned to the Gryffindor common room, they stayed silent, aside from Ron's mindless ranting about who knows what. Hermione was still staring at Harry as if she could find all the answers she was looking for just by watching. Harry tried his best to ignore her.
As much as Harry would have loved to collapse into bed, away from Hermione's inquisitive gaze and Ron's one-sided chatter, but he his pile of homework was reaching new heights and he forced himself to complete it.
He had missed his friends the past few days, since he'd been spending the majority of his time with Malfoy. Against my will! Harry reminded himself. There's no way I would have actually wanted to be with that git. The raven haired teen tried to stay resolute on his rivalry with the Slytherin but he felt his will waver, Malfoy wasn't really all that bad.
Despite his annoyance at Ron's attempts at chit-chat, he was glad to spend time with his two best friends and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt stab through his chest like a needle and the weight of it dragged him down. Around about midnight, Ron stood up to go to bed and Harry, not wanting to give Hermione an opening to question him, left with the red head. The moment his head hit the pillow, Harry dozed off, pleased to return to the homely scent of his dorm and he was definitely not at all missing a certain blond haired Slytherin git...not at all.
Draco's POV.
When Draco returned to the Slytherin dorms after dinner, he didn't expect to see a huddle of sixth years around the spare bed in the dorm room. Feeling his breath hitch and a steely blade of anxiety settle itself within his whole being, Draco lingered in the doorway. Slowly, Draco crossed the room to the rest of his housemates. Theodore Nott, who was closest to Draco, turned around. Draco didn't miss the smirk that was firmly planted on Theo's sharp face.
"Oi, Draco, come 'ere." He whispered, beckoning Draco closer. "Look what we found near the spare bed." He motioned to a bundle of cloth that Blaise was holding.
Shit.
It was Potter's Gryffindor robes.
"Someone 'ere was shagging a lion. Can't believe it, 'ey." Theo nudged him. "Gryffs are hard to snatch, you know, with the Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry and everything. I heard that Patil girl say she'd rather prune the whomping willow than date one of us, a little harsh if I do say so myself." Theo turned to Draco and winked. "Good shags, I suppose. I like 'em feisty."
"Theo, I really don't give a shit." Draco said sharply, effectively shutting the other teen up.
"Just sayin'..."
Blaise was giving Draco and awfully smug smirk, and no matter how much the blond glared back, it only seemed to make it worse.
"I thought there was an unspoken agreement that anything remotely humiliating about Gryffindors would be shared amongst the house," Daphne Greengrass chirped in, "especially anything romantic or sexual."
"H-hey, who ever said anything sexual was going on. Maybe the owner of that cloak was just a friend of one of the boys."
Blaise's smirk grew. "Well, well, is that a confession I hear?"
"No. I was just merely giving my opinion on the matter." Draco said stiffly. "You know my thoughts on the lions; I would hardly ever befriend one, let alone sleep with one."
"Yeah, besides, Draco's gay-"
Daphne spoke loudly above Theodore's voice. "What makes you so sure it's not a man's robes?"
Theo blushed slightly. "Well...they're so small; they couldn't belong to a guy."
Draco inwardly thanked Potter for having such a small figure. He could see Blaise and Pansy smirking knowingly at him.
"Whatever, I'll take these robes for now; perhaps we can use them for something later." Blaise's voice took on a dangerously mischievous tone. The other Slytherin's nodded and there was a gradual trickle out of the room until only Draco, Pansy and Blaise were left. "Well, Draco, going a bit fast, aren't you?" Blaise chuckled and threw Potter's cloak at him.
"We didn't do anything!"
Pansy chuckled. "We know, you're too much of a wuss to even make a first move on Potter."
Draco was just about to retort to this but Blaise cut him off. "Oh, come on, Draco. You can't seriously be thinking of denying it." Blaise's smirk was back, much to Draco's annoyance. Once again Draco was about to reply but Blaise cut him off. "You're crushing on Potter."
"Hard." Pansy added. "You're crushing on Potter hard. It's so bloody obvious."
"Of course not, Pansy. Potter and I are rivals, there's no way in hell I'd ever feel anything from him." Draco felt like he was trying to convince himself more than Pansy. The Slytherin girl's smug smile was very disconcerting. "Besides, I have taste."
Pansy made a slight choking noise. "I'm sorry, are you blind, Draco? Potter has to be one of the most gorgeous guys I've ever met. He's so gorgeous, and he's prettier than most of the girls at Hogwarts, and those eyes," Pansy trailed off dreamily, "oh, you could just get lost in those acid green eyes of his."
"Emerald." Pansy turned abruptly to look at him. "His eyes, they're emerald green...with flecks of gold and a warm hazel tinge."
Blaise's deep voice came from behind Draco's shoulder, startling him out of his daydreaming. "And yet you continue to deny you have any feelings for him." Blaise petted Draco's shoulder almost pityingly. "I'm straight, but even I have to admit that potter is damn hot."
"Okay, fine, Potter's gorgeous but that doesn't mean I like him!"
Seriously, if Pansy and Blaise didn't stop those damn smug smirks soon Draco would explode. Blaise pointed towards Draco's chest where he was now subconsciously cradling Potter's robes, with a jolt he realised the inappropriateness of the affectionate gesture and quickly threw the robes on the ground.
"I. Don't. Like. Potter."
"There is nothing going on between me and Malfoy!" Harry nearly screamed in frustration.
Hermione's brief stretch of peaceful silence didn't last long, and the next day she had continued her questioning furiously, as if making up for lost time. Harry couldn't honestly say there had been hour that day, ten minutes even, that the bushy haired girl hadn't tried to interrogate him or hint towards him and his activities with Malfoy. Harry had resorted to hiding behind Ron's bewildered form, and he inwardly thanked the red head for being so oblivious about everything.
"Harry, you can't honestly expect me to believe that your and Malfoy's dual absences or you newfound friendliness to each other is purely coincidental. I know something has happened." Hermione whispered sharply into Harry's ear so Ron couldn't hear. Both her and Harry had decided that keeping Ron out of this conversation and slowly breaking the news to him would be a far better option as they knew how temperamental and brash the red head could be.
"Please give it a rest, Mione."
"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Hermione nearly shrieked this and many of the students in the charms classroom had turned to look. She blushed, lowered her voice and continued. "Look, I'm not an idiot, and I'm not blind. Harry, I thought you trusted us, we're your friends."
Harry grabbed one of her now shaking shoulders, she looked as if she was going to cry out of fury and betrayal and Harry felt a pang of guilt once again inhibit his body.
"Mione, you are my friend, and I know you're not an idiot, you're brilliant and very perceptive. I just...I can't tell you right now, please respect that."
This seemed to have brought Hermione to her senses slightly but she still retained her fiery determination in her eyes.
"But I know what you're thinking, and there is absolutely nothing romantic going on between me and Malfoy." At this Hermione's face turned scarlet up to her roots and she turned her face away quickly.
Draco woke up early the next day, as he had done the past few weeks, so he could sneak down while the others were asleep and meet up with Potter to cast the glamour on him. As much as Draco tried to deny it, he couldn't help but feel the strong sense of excited anticipation filling his body, he put the cause of this emotion to the back of his mind but that didn't stop the butterflies in his stomach. Draco was about to leave the dorm room, after having checked no one was in the common room when he remembered Potter's robes.
He wandered back to the Gryffindor robes that were in a messy pile at the head of his bed. Draco felt slightly disgusted when he remembered how comfortable he'd felt when he held the robes and the way his body basically refused to let him place the robes out of sight in his trunk. Hating to admit it, Draco didn't want to return the robes but decided he had to and quickly snatched the robes up.
He tiptoed on bare feet across the icy cold stone floor of the common room. When he reached the emerald wall hanging embroidered with silver serpents that signalled the entrance to the common room, he quickly pressed his hand to the wall and in an instant, had found himself on the other side. The moment he got to the other side, he dashed over to a small alcove that Potter and him had designated to hide from any watchful eyes and waited from the bespectacled teen.
After a few minutes, the cheerful, pleasant ringing of Potter's voice filled his ears. "Good morning Malfoy," Draco heard a rustle as Potter pulled his invisibility cloak off, "good sleep?"
"Average." Draco replied shortly.
Potter's lips curled up in a small smile and Draco could see, as Potter was only wearing his pyjamas, a long black tail swinging enthusiastically behind him. Before he knew what was happening, Potter had jumped forward casually and gently brought his face up to Draco's, the Gryffindor's tan cheek rubbed circles against the blond's now scarlet one. Draco identified the gesture as a behavioural aspect of cats when they greeted each other or a human and Draco found it one of the most adorable and slightly arousing things he'd ever seen. Not to mention the way that Potter's warm breath was tickling Draco's neck and his lips felt awfully close to his skin.
When the raven haired boy pulled away, their bodies still remained flush against each other for what felt like minutes. Steam from their warm breaths swirled together in the space between them, mixing and entwining in dance. Their eyes were locked together, emerald and silver refusing to break the connection. After a few minutes, Potter coughed awkwardly into his hand and took a step back. Draco got the hint and drew his wand, cast the glamour quickly on the smaller teen and looked away awkwardly too.
"I should really teach you how to cast that glamour yourself, I'm sick of waking up early just for you."
Potter giggled into his already raised hand at this, Draco's ears perked at the oddly adorable sound. "Ah, but you'd miss seeing my glorious mug every morning."
Draco spun around, his cheeks flushed red. "I would not! Besides, you look like a mess in the morning anyway. I thought that crow's nest of a hairstyle you normally have is bad enough. Seriously, do you even own a brush?"
Potter put a hand on his hips and stepped closer to Draco. He glared upwards at the blond but Draco could see the humour in the emerald gaze and the way his lips curled up slightly in a smirk. "Well sorry if not all of us can have perfect Malfoy hair all the time. You probably dump your hair in a bucket of potions everyday and brush it a hundred times every few minutes." Potter had reached up and held a lock of Draco's hair in his hand, gently letting the strands drop in an almost mesmerising way. "At least I don't look like I've never seen sunlight before." Potter's hand now turned to stoke Draco's exposed neck and the blond couldn't suppress a shiver of pleasure.
"At least my eyes actually work."
"Hey! I could fix them if I wanted to!" Harry said defiantly.
"You should," with a gentle movement, Draco removed the glasses from the teen's face and the emerald orbs seemed to shine even brighter, "you're eyes are gorgeous, I could stare into them forever." Subconsciously, Draco's hand had moved to Potter's tanned cheek and was lovingly stroking the soft skin causing Potter to purr softly under his breath. Half lidded, almost lusting emerald eyes were locked with Draco's own.
"Y-your eyes...are...gorgeous too," came Potter's quiet mumble between purrs, "like a stormy sky, or an ice covered lake."
Draco's breath hitched and his heart beat hard against his chest. "Potter, I-"
"HARRY!" Came a shout that interrupted the two and forced them to jump back from each other. Next thing they knew, Potter had been pulled away and forced behind Hermione's much smaller form in a way that resembled a mother bear protecting her cubs. The bushy haired girl seemed to lift her form up to be more intimidating. "Stay away from him, Malfoy!" She snarled and before the blond could say anything else, pushed Harry back up the stairs away from the dungeons.
Draco stood there awestruck for a few moments before hurriedly running after them.
So mostly dialogue this chapter. My apologies.
Don't worry about Hermione, I will make her an ally soon! I just need to get this whole motherly protective thing out of the way.
Once again, sorry it's late, it's exam time and...right...SKYRIM.
Whatever, bitches, Erin out.
Oh, and remember: the review button is your friend.