A Harry/Draco pairing fic. If you don't like, don't read.
I do not own the characters. All credits go to J.K. Rowling.

A special thanks to Siriuslyholly for betaing this chapter, and who did a really great job!

Valentine's Day

Chapter 1

Breakfast

It was Valentine's Day at Hogwarts. Most of the students, especially the girls, were very busy choosing gifts for their Valentines, but not Harry. A lot of girls had come up to Harry and asked him to be their Valentine; but he refused to participate in the Holiday. Besides, he didn't want to be their Valentine. In fact, he didn't feel like celebrating Valentine's Day at all.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Hermione asked, concerned. They were having breakfast in the Great Hall. Much to the liking of the female members of the school, the Great Hall was suffering from a pink fever. Cupids were floating around, hearts fell out of the sky, and there was a certain kind of tension in the air.

The Corridors hadn't been able to escape this embarrassing fate either. The suits of armour and paintings were singing out-of-tune Celestia Warbeck lovesongs and from time to time, a girl and a boy were trapped by a jinx that required them to kiss in order for them to escape. Harry was happy it hadn't happened to him. He could see it all over the all over the Daily Prophet': "The Boy Who Lived: a new girlfriend on Valentine's Day." He didn't need, nor want it.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking," Harry said absently. Ron was stuffing his breakfast down and grabbing everything edible: beans, bacon, and cornflakes. Harry imagined how his stomach would look if he finished. It was as if his life depended on it.

"You're staring," Hermione said. Unlike Ron, she saw everything that was going on in his head. Yes, he was staring. He was looking at someone who was sitting at one of the four long tables in the Great Hall.

"What are you staring at?" Hermione fired, desperately trying to follow his gaze.

"Leafm lone, 'Mione," Ron said, his mouth full of toast. Hermione looked at him disapprovingly, but waited for Harry's answer.

Harry sighed and stopped looking at the Slytherin table. "I'm not looking at anything, 'Mione."

"Do you already have a Valentine?" she asked. "You've got plenty of choice."

"That's right, mate. If I were you…" Ron said, nodding his head fervently and looking around the Gryffindor table to admire the feminine wealth. Hermione kicked Ron under the table as if to say, "You're going with me!" Ron focused on his meal again.

"Don't want one," Harry replied grumpily. He filled his bowl with cornflakes, but didn't eat.

"You're still thinking about Cho, is that it?" Hermione continued. Harry looked at the Ravenclaw table and saw Cho sitting with her friends. He felt his stomach churn, but not because he liked her. On the contrary; he felt uncomfortable thinking about her as a girlfriend. He wouldn't want her to cry on his shoulder every night because he saw Cedric Diggory die. Cho's friends started to look his way, so he turned his head quickly. He didn't want them to think he was going to ask Cho to be his Valentine. That would be a nightmare.

"No. Cho's long gone. Harry doesn't want her, right Harry?" Ron smiled. He had brown sauce around his lips, but Harry was too polite to tell him to wipe it away. Hermione wasn't, she pointed at his chin and Ron wiped it with his napkin whilst filling his fork with a new load of food.

"She couldn't stop thinking about Cedric. Really, it would never have worked out, believe me." Harry pulled a lost confetti paper heart out of his bowl of cornflakes and threw it on the ground. He hated Valentine's Day. It was the only day at Hogwarts that he really would want to disappear. He couldn't wait until the love letters and cards would arrive. That would be fun.

"But Harry, you're popular. Everyone thinks you're gorgeous. Especially now they know you didn't lie about You-Know-Who," Hermione said. Harry could sink through the ground as she said 'hot'. Well, at least he wasn't thought to be mental or a liar anymore.

"Hermione, you're bothering him," Ron said. Harry could hear jealousy in his voice, but he was glad that he had tried to make her stop. She hadn't said that Ron was hot, but Harry knew she thought Ron was the hottest guy in the entire school; she just wouldn't say it. He thought it was funny. He'd known for a long time that his best friends were in love. The whole school knew... except for them, of course.

"I'm going outside to get some fresh air," Harry said. He left his cereal untouched, and swiftly left the table, leaving his friends staring at the back of his head. The owls hadn't arrived yet, but he knew Hedwig wouldn't bring him anything since Sirius died. He was sure she was in the Owlery. He was glad to escape the Great Hall, and all the longing stares from the girls that came with it.


Draco was not happy today. Dumbledore had put hearts and Cupids all over the place, the old ghoul! Why did he have to act so extremely happy all the time? Draco was in a bad mood… A really bad mood.

He hated Valentine's Day; he always had to go out with Pansy. Not that he hated the girl, but it was really quite annoying when she constantly wanted to trick him into snogging. He most definitely didn't want to snog her. He got a bad taste in his mouth, just by thinking of it.

Besides, his parents thought of Pansy as the perfect future wife for him for him. He knew Pansy well, and she wouldn't miss the chance to convince Draco's parents that they both loved each other. Well, now that he was sixteen, he knew what he wanted. Pansy wasn't part of it that, that was for sure.

He wasn't paying attention. Not at breakfast, either.
"What's wrong, Draco?" Pansy asked. Her annoying little voice reminded him of the long years of friendship with her, which he had started to regret.

"Nothing Pansy, I'm just thinking." Something you can't do, Draco thought angrily. Why did she always have to be annoying? Couldn't she just leave him be?

"Why haven't you asked me out yet, Draco? Do you have someone else?" she asked. Right, there it was. Stupid girl.

"No. I just want to be alone this time. Really." Pansy's face fell. Draco was sure she was about to cry.

"You can go with me Pansy," Blaise said from across the table. Thanks, Blaise, Draco thought.

"No, Blaise. We're friends," Pansy said prudishly. Draco ignored the urge to gag. Weren't they friends too? Draco felt uneasy. The thought of her long black hair made him want to throw up. He had a thing for black hair, everyone knew that, but but something about Pansy's hair made him want to vomit. He wasn't paying attention to his food. There was one piece of bacon on his plate and a tiny piece of omelette, but he hadn't eaten yet. He was staring at the Gryffindor table. The Golden Trio was seated, as usual, in the middle of the table, talking.

He saw Potter leave the table. What was he up to? Draco put down his cutlery and announced, "I need to use the bathroom." He stood up and went after him.

To be continued…

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