Harry's heart pounded painfully as he paused running in order to catch a breath. He supported himself on a nearby tree, the rough bark pressing into his palm. He tried to calm down a bit and listen to his surroundings for any sign of pursuit, but Draco was being silent. The spurious quiet worried Harry, as he knew Draco was getting closer. Harry had no desire to be caught and utterly humiliated yet again. He gritted his teeth and pushed off the tree, sprinting deeper into the Forbidden Forest. Listening carefully, Harry could hear footsteps in the dead leaves on the ground other than his own. Harry cursed under his breath, and took his wand out of his coat pocket. He spun around and stopped, and his nervous eyes darted over the foliage in front of him. Harry couldn't hear the other person anymore, and his eyes surveyed a wider perspective, wondering if an attack was going to come from the side. The late afternoon sun warmed his skin a bit, and the leaves rustled in a passing breeze. Harry couldn't see anything moving at all. A soft chuckle seemed to emanate from everywhere at once, causing Harry to start. Draco's voice radiated from the trees, taunting in a soft melody.

"Come on now, Potter, you know you can't run forever." Draco stepped out of the trees directly in front of Harry, but didn't make any threatening moves. Harry stood still, not lowering his wand.

"What do you want from me Malfoy?" Harry's voice rang out clearly, not betraying any of the fear he was feeling. Draco simply laughed, and he began walking in a slow circle around Harry. He inhales deeply.

"You are so... Tenacious. Why is that? Why do you continue to try when you have nothing to try for?" Draco asked, appearing honestly curious.

Harry stayed silent, confused as to where the conversation would lead. Draco started walking toward him, slowly yet threateningly. Harry took a step or two backwards until he runs into a tree. He stiffened, knowing that there was no where to go, as Draco was already right in arms reach of him.

Draco stopped barely a foot away from Harry, and looked deep into Harry's eyes.

"Why?" This one word, this small syllable, was all that he said, but it was all that he needed to say.

Harry took a steadying breath, and replied.

"Because I know that one day, it'll all amount to something."

Draco smirked, and leaned in a bit closer.

"I love it when you're modest, Harry."

Harry looked rather surprised at this, but mostly confused. Now he had absolutely no clue where this conversation was going.

Draco leaned in even closer, now only inches from Harry's face.

"Hey," Draco whispered, "I think I like you. Do you like me?"

Harry's eyes widened a little bit in pure surprise, and his breath stopped in his throat. He wondered briefly if this was some sort of elaborate trick to humiliate him once again. He looked at Draco's eyes, and saw something in those eyes that he didn't usually see. There wasn't just the cool and confident exterior that Draco showed everyone, there was something else, a deeply rooted fear of possibly being rejected.

Harry's words trembled a bit, as he was now very nervous and knew he was treading on thin ice. "W...Why? You hate me, you always insult me, I usually insult you back, you insult my friends, you publicly humiliate me, and now you're saying that you like me?" Harry was completely bewildered that Draco was even capable of having personal feelings, that Draco was even human.

Draco looked surprised and a little bit hurt, staring with his thirteen year old eyes at Harry.

"I thought it would get your attention."

Harry didn't know how to respond to that, as he had never before considered that option. Never before considered the reasoning for the blonde boy's taunting. But now he thought he understood. He smiled a little bit.

"Well, it certainly got my attention. How could I not pay attention to someone calling me a slick git every other day?"

Draco blushed slightly, causing Harry to blush a little bit as well. Harry had never noticed that Draco looked rather cute when he blushed. Draco stuttered a little bit as he tried to talk.

"Uh... w-well, do you think that we... I mean, could... do you think that we could work out?" Draco started blushing furiously at this, and by this point had backed off Harry enough to allow him room to breathe freely.

Upon hearing what Draco said, Harry froze, staring into space in the direction of the ground. His face went a little bit pale, and Draco blushed a bit more. Harry wanted to reply, but for whatever reason, he just couldn't. Draco waited, feeling more hopeless each second that passed.

All of a sudden, Draco whipped around and ran away, completely convinced that Harry could never return his feelings. At that exact moment, Harry unfroze, just in time to grab Draco's pale wrist to pull him back. Then, somehow, Harry's and Draco's lips met in an innocent, surprised kiss. They both froze a bit in surprise, but thawed out just a second later to pull away and blush furiously, both of them somehow in sync.

Harry offered Draco a small, tentative smile, and Draco smiled right back. And they both thought, maybe this really could work out.