professor? ( ✓ )

chapter twelve

Draco Malfoy awoke the next morning with a massive headache. He sat up slowly and found that he was in the Hospital Wing, alone, but how had he gotten there? There were no students in any of the other beds, as by now, all the students were probably off on the Hogwarts Express heading home for the holidays. Draco had taken count of who would be staying at Hogwarts from Slytherin, but he couldn't seem to remember a number at the time, if there were any at all.

He was due to head out to his mother's the next day, and if he couldn't even remember why he was in the Hospital Wing, that was a very bad sign.

The door opened, and Madam Pomfrey walked in with her usual smiling expression. She saw that Draco was awake, and rushed over to him, handing him a glass of water that had been set on his bedside table.

"You're up, finally! You've missed the students leaving. How do you feel?" She asked, touching his forehead and cheeks.

"My head feels like the Whomping Willow's had a good swing at me." He moaned, lying back on the bed and gazing up at the ceiling.

"It probably does. You took quite a bit of Veritaserum last night. I suppose somebody spiked your drink. Soon after Mr. Potter brought you down here, he went back to the dance and poured an entire bowl of iced pumpkin juice away, and then had it washed out before they refilled it. McGonagall's furious." The nurse explained, taking the empty glass from Draco's hands, eyeing him carefully.

"Potter took me here? Wait, Veritaserum? Oh Merlin, where is he?" The blond began to freak out, and the nurse attempted to soothe him. She pushed him back as he went to sit up again, and frowned at his panicked state.

"He left about twenty minutes ago to send off the students. He stayed here the whole night, you know. He'll probably be back soon." No sooner had she finished her sentence than did the door open, and the messy-haired wizard made his way inside, shoes clacking on the rough floor. When he noticed Draco was awake, he walked over and sat beside him on a stool.

"You're up." The green-eyed wizard noted, and Draco stared at him in bewilderment and anger.

"I took Veritaserum! What the bloody hell did I say to you last night!"

"I'll just, um- be going now. You're free to go whenever, Mr. Malfoy." The nurse hurried out of the Wing and into her office.

Draco glared at Harry, sitting up so he was more level with the wizard, and removed the blanket from his legs. He made a move to stand, and Harry looked after him in confusion. He began to walk, causing the other wizard to follow.

They made their way down the empty corridors to their living quarters, and didn't talk until they were both seated on plush chairs, facing each other: daring each other to make the first move.

"Potter, I ask you again. What did I say to you last night?" The blond asked after a few minutes, pinching the bridge of his nose in aggravation.

"I- You kept flirting with me, Malfoy. You wanted to kiss me, and were getting frustrated that I wouldn't let you." Harry explained, eyes glancing at his shoes, not daring to meet Draco's steel grey.

"That's preposterous! Me, kiss you? Ridiculous." The blond scoffed, and Harry only shrugged nervously. "What? Did you want to kiss me too?"

"No, it's not like that. I mean, you were under truth serum, and a hell of a lot of it, so your true intentions did come out last night."

"Potter, I'm not into men, and even if I was, it wouldn't be you."

"But Malfoy, you wanted to kiss me."