A/N: I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, but the parents are away so the daughter will update on Wattpad! *cackles* That didn't rhyme but I'm evading the rhyme police. I've modified the timeline of the fourth book for this one, so Harry figures out the second task earlier than he does in the books. But, besides all that, enjoy, comment and vote! 😊
Harry excused himself from the Gryffindor table halfway through dinner. "To go take a bath" he had said. Instead, he was going to suck up his pride and take Diggory's advice. So, really, he was going to take a bath. But, being the idiot that he was, he didn't plan this and now had to go all the way back to the dormitory and then all the way to the Prefect bathroom then back to the dorms. He hurried down the corridors, hoping to get in and out of the dorms before people finished dinner. Being under the Invisibility Cloak had its perks but not in a crowd full of people, especially not when you're trying to go unnoticed. He had learned that in Honeydukes. The only sounds were his footsteps echoing around the halls. When another pair of footsteps joined his own, he didn't think anything of it. Ok, well, internally he groaned but he really wanted to get this over and done with.
"Potter!" This time, Harry groaned out loud. "What do you want Malfoy? I'm not in the mood for this." Draco quirked an eyebrow and leaned against a tapestry on the wall. "That's not a very nice greeting." He muttered. Harry rolled his eyes. "Since when have we been nice to each other?" "Touchè." An awkward and heavy silence descended over the two. Draco seemed to be internally debating something. One moment he's frowning, another he looks to be contemplating something then he's frowning and shaking his head. A lot of emotions danced across his usually impassive features. Of course, Harry being a clueless, emotionally blind cinnamon roll, he didn't see any of this. He kept his eyes riveted on the tapestry, just above Draco's head. It was a lovely tapestry of a nice, um, beheading. Yes, a wonderful tapestry.
"Potter...." Draco began. Then stopped. "Potter I have a...." He tried again. Harry sighed. "Malfoy, I have a lot of things to do. Spit out the insult and we can move on." He said tiredly. Draco huffed. "Why must it always be an insult I say to you?" He snapped. "Am I that incapable of being..... nice?" Harry raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You weren't even nice to me when you asked me to be your friend!" Draco raised his hand, offended. "I will have you know, I was nice to you. It was the Weasel I wasn't nice to." He corrected. "So?" Harry frowned, daring Draco to say something else. "So, you're wrong. As usual." Harry growled and threw up his hands. "Whatever Malfoy. I'm leaving. Bugger off, you prat." Harry turned around and stormed off, leaving Draco standing there. Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, that's not how that was supposed to go." He murmured.
Harry reached the portrait hole, still annoyed and barked the password at the Fat Lady. She gasped, affronted. "How dare you? Rude! People are so rude these days!" Harry rolled his eyes at her antics. "Just open will you?!" She swung open, still rambling on about young people having no respect for portraits nowadays. He stomped through the common room and kneeled beside his trunk. He yanked out the Marauders Map, the egg and, gently, took out the Invisibility Cloak. Still grumbling to himself, he threw on the cloak, adjusted the egg underneath his arm and tapped the map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He surveyed the map. Mrs. Noris was prowling around the second floor and everyone ( except Malfoy ) was still in the Great Hall. He nodded and strode out of the dorms.
As he made his way to the Prefect's bathroom, he found Draco wandering around near where they had spoken. He was muttering to himself and gesturing. "No. That's not going to work. Hey, I like you, go to the Yule Ball with me? Well..... it's certainly simpler to do it that way. Not much pizzazz though, is it?" Harry raised an eyebrow. Malfoy was planning to ask someone to the Yule Ball? I wonder who the poor girl is? She'll probably be traumatised for life..... Harry refrained from kicking Malfoy in the shins and continued on. Although he did flick him in the back of the head. Draco spun around, eyes wide. "Who's there?" He demanded into the empty corridor. He looked around for the perpetrator but Harry had already ran off. He has stuff to do after all.
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Harry climbed out of the bath, making 100% sure that Myrtle wasn't looking. He was still reeling from the revelation that he had to encounter mermaids. In the lake. He was completely out of his depth. People probably already knew about it though. Rumors were probably trickling through the school already.
He pulled on the Invisibility Cloak and walked out of the bathroom, leaving behind a disappointed Myrtle. He made his way through the corridors, keeping one eye on the map for Filch. He was still in a daze and couldn't stop repeating mermaids in his mind. I mean, mermaids! Why mermaids? Why not unicorns? Or even Hippogriffs. He'd take a Hippogriff over mermaids any day. And how deep down to the mermaids live? Harry was drowning in his thoughts. So much so that he forgot about the vanishing step and fell through it.
The egg fell out of his arm and bounced down the stairs, opening and wailing a siren through the castle, screaming "Hey, hey! Harry's here, come catch him out of bed after hours!" Filch arrived with Mrs. Noris on his heels, and then Snape arrived, finding the map and piecing the puzzle together. He was a hair's breadth away from finding Harry, but Mad Eye came along and saved him. Harry left the encounter heart pumping, nerves frazzled and mapless. When he arrived at the portrait hole, he had to clap his hand over his mouth to stifle a groan.
Malfoy stood in front of the Fat Lady, whispering something to her. The Fat Lady giggled like a school girl and nodded furtively. Malfoy smirked knowingly and nodded his thanks, beginning to walk away. He almost grazed against Harry's arm and he had to quickly jerk away to avoid him. Draco turned around, a quizzical expression on his face that quickly cleared to understanding. He smiled softly. Fixing his gaze just left of Harry, he opened his mouth and chuckled lowly. "Goodnight." He murmured. And turned away, leaving Harry in turmoil. He can't have known that Harry was there, right? He was just saying goodnight to the Fat Lady, right? Ohhhh he needed sleep. Harry climbed through the portrait hole and made his way to the boy's dorms where he fell onto his bed face first. The cloak slipped off him and he stuffed it under his pillow. Ron turned over and mumbled "Not the spiders." Harry sighed and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
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The next day, Hermione had dragged them to the library in search of solutions to the little problem of being unable to breath under water for more than thirty seconds...... When Harry had told her about the song she went all crazy, super excited to learn new things and figure out solutions to problems she'll never have in life ever again. They spent hours in the library poring over old dusty books with tiny writing. They went from morning right through till the evening. The three left the library at closing time, only for Harry to return afterwards, under the Invisibility Cloak. He roamed through the shelves, even the Restricted Section, taking down books that had anything related to water in the title. He sat down in between the stacks of books he created, beside the window, on the floor. He spent hours there, and he only got through one quarter of his pile. At three am, he decided to go back to the tower. He still hadn't found anything that could help him with the task. He made his way back to the dorms slowly. Every few steps he yawned and his eyes drooped, heavy with exhaustion. When he got to the portrait hole however, his eyes sprang wide open and he swore.
Malfoy was there again. He was glancing around the corridor as if he was waiting for someone and every so often his silver eyes darted to the Fat Lady. Harry advanced cautiously, trying to be as silent as possible. When Draco glanced at the Fat Lady, she winked at him and he grinned lazily. He straightened up at brushed off his sweater. He was wearing a cream sweater and black skinny jeans. It seems that even Draco wore Muggle chic on the weekends. "Hello Harry." He murmured.
Harry froze. What? Draco glanced at the Fat Lady again, who looked away in a different direction. Directly at Harry. Draco loped towards him slowly, a small smirk on his face. He stopped directly in front of him and cocked his head to the side, as if he could see him. "You know, this conversation would be much easier if I could see you." He commented casually. He was still speaking in that low, sexy- wait, no, not sexy, no- voice. Draco rolled his eyes and stepped forward, hand raised. He tugged on the cloak and it slipped like water through his fingers, revealing a very shocked Harry. Draco smiled. "There. That's better." Harry blinked. Repeatedly. "How did you.....?" He whispered. Draco smirked slyly. It was strange, he smirked all the time but they always carried different emotions. He shrugged and let his gaze drift lazily to the Fat Lady who was grinning like Cheshire Cat. "I had some help." Harry opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He was too tired for this stuff. He rubbed his eyes, trying to keep them open. Draco smiled softly. A real smile. From Draco Malfoy.
"I won't keep you long." He murmured. "I just wanted to ask. Hey, I like you, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?" Harry felt his mouth drop open. He was the poor girl who was going to be traumatised?! Not that he was going to say yes. I mean, sure, he has caught himself staring at the blond a little bit too much lately. And yes, he has had to stop certain thoughts from entering his head. But that doesn't mean he's gonna say yes. Pff. Not at all..... oh Merlin.Draco waited patiently for him to say something. "Not much pizzazz, is there?" Harry eventually mumbled. Draco mock frowned in anger. "I knew that was you. That hurt, you know." "Yes." Draco narrowed his eyes. "Yes, you know it hurt or yes, I'll go with you to the ball?" "Yes, I'll go with you to the ball." Draco looked shocked for a moment before his features changed into a beaming smile. "Good, uh, that's, yes. Ok. Uh. I did not prepare a reply." Harry sighed. He was to tired for this stuff. He grabbed Draco by the sweater and pulled him forward. Harry's lips met Draco's in a soft kiss. Draco stumbled backward, in shock. Harry waved. "Balderdash. Night. Oh, colour coordination, I like silver, but green works too." And then he promptly climbed through the portrait hole. Draco glanced wildly from the Fat Lady to where Harry had stood a mere seconds before. "Well, that's not what I expected to happen."
A/N: Two author's notes??? I know, not usually what happens. But I just wanted to say, if people like this one, I could do a one shot following this one, of them actually going to the Yule Ball. Comment if you want that to happen! Wow. I should really rename this book huh. Drarry Oneshots and the Occasional Two Shots. Has a nice ring to it?