Their next potion lesson was a nightmare. Harry had wanted to smooth the tension somehow but he didn't know how he could. If his plan was going to work, he needed to befriend Draco. He thought at first that he was doing this just because he truly was tired of being enemies but then he realized that he could use this advantage. Harry had seen Draco at Borgin & Burkes in the summer and knew that he was up to something. He had been with a bunch of deatheaters and with this attack on Katie...Harry needed to get to the bottom of all this.
"So—"
"No," Draco said.
"Come on—"
"Shut up, Potter."
"Look, I—"
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy" Professor Slughorn came into the classroom and Harry jumped. "How's the tutoring going?"
Harry shuffled for his potions book and opened it to a random page. "It's going well. We were just looking at the Hiccoughing Solution."
Slughorn nodded. "Ah, good, good. Is the tutoring helping, Mr. Malfoy?"
Draco's lips tightened in a thin line. "Yes."
"Your marks have been improving slightly but I think it'll do well to continue the tutoring until further notice."
"I don't think—" Draco started but Harry cut him off.
"That would work."
Draco sent a glare at Harry but Slughorn clapped his hands. "Splendid. I will leave you, boys, to it then."
Professor Slughorn left the room and Draco turned to him.
"What the bloody hell was that?" He hissed. "We could have been free from this ridiculous commitment!"
"Maybe I want a reason to hang out."
Draco paused and Harry noticed a small blush form on his cheeks but it was quickly covered with a smirk. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you're flirting with me, Potter."
It was Harry's turn to blush. "I didn't mean it like. I'm just saying that we could be friends if we tried."
"Last time I checked you rejected my friendship."
"Do you still hold a grudge against me choosing Ron over you? I was eleven!"
"We can't be friends," Draco said, firmly.
"And why not?"
Draco must have seen in Harry's eyes that he wasn't going to back down so he sighed in frustration.
"You wanna know why?"
Harry nodded.
Draco reached across the table and took ahold of the front of Harry's shirt, bringing his face so it was inches away from his. "Because if we were friends then nothing would stop me from doing this," Draco kissed him, quick and fiercely. "And given the way that you look at Weaslette, I figure you wouldn't appreciate it."
Harry's eyes were wide in shock as Draco let go of him. He slumped back into his seat, at a loss for words. He wanted to say something, anything but Draco packed up his stuff and left without another glance at Harry. When he was gone, Harry put his fingers to his lips, trying to remember if kissing Cho had left him so electrified. He didn't think so.
This definately complicated things.
****
That's one way to get Potter off his back, Draco thought. There's no way that he's going to keep tutoring him after that display. Draco would say that the grin on his face was due to the fact that he didn't have to deal with tutoring anymore, but the way his fingers brushed his lips, it was evident that that wasn't the only thing that was making him smile.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he ran into someone. He looked up to snap a curt reply when he saw that it was Blaise. Blaise raised an eyebrow at his friend's expression.
"I take it tutoring went well?"
"I think I found a way to get out of it."
Before Blaise could ask, they heard Draco's name called. Draco turned and was surprised to see Harry jogging up to him.
"You forgot your book," Harry panted, holding it out to him.
Draco looked down at the book. "That's your book, Potter."
Harry blushed. "Oh, huh. Whoops."
There was a pause and Blaise looked between the two with an amused expression on his face.
"Was that all?" Draco asked.
Harry looked like he wanted to say more but given their audience, he decided against it. "I guess. I'll see you Wednesday then."
"What?" Draco was taken aback. "No. I thought we were done with the tutoring."
"You heard Slughorn. He thinks it'll be beneficial to continue."
"But you don't want to, not after—" He cut himself off and looked over at Blaise, who's eyebrow seemed to be in a permanent upward position. "What just happened."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe if you aren't always running your mouth or running away, you'd be able to notice that things aren't always what they seem."
Draco wanted to comment that he sounded like a cheap oracle but he turned around and walked away before he could utter a word.
"I think Potter was just flirting with you," Blaise said.
"I don't know what the hell is going on."
"I think you're about to get all you've dreamt about."
"Shut it, I've never dreamt about Harry," Blaise gave Draco a look so he added. "Recently, shut up, prat."
Draco was getting real sick of his friend laughing at him.