A/N: I still do not own Harry Potter.
Harry
Charms was uneventful. The whole day had been filled with surprise after surprise, but Charms was just – boring. Hermione took one look at my miserable face and broke out into a huge grin, which irritated yet amused me. After an hour of the same – if not slightly creepy – smile, I got tired.
“What, Hermione?”
“You’re in love,” she said smugly, making Ron crash the teacup they were supposed to be levitating.
I felt my face turn hot. “I am not in love, Hermione!”
“You are,” she insisted. “I can see it in your eyes – you’ve had a crush on Draco for six years, Harry, I don’t think something like that can even be called a crush anymore.”
“More like freakish obsession,” Ron agreed, receiving a sharp jab to the ribs by Hermione’s elbow and a death glare from me.
“Haven’t you told him yet?” Hermione asked.
I shook my head, and she sighed.
“Harry, you shouldn’t keep things from your boyfriend. It isn’t good for the relationship.”
This time, I crashed my teacup.
“B-boyfriend? Hermione, I found out this morning that Draco was gay! Don’t you think he’ll feel like he’s being rushed into something he doesn’t want?”
Hermione rolled her eyes, fixing the broken teacups with a wave of her wand. “If you’ve snogged him more than once, Harry, then I think he’s ready to take the next step.”
Ron, who had been sniggering behind Hermione’s back at the look on my face, stopped and looked embarrassed.
“Snogged? Harry, you – have you?”
I looked down at my shoes, wondering why every single awkward conversation that had happened today was scheduled during a class. I couldn’t help but feel like there was another cosmic force that was pretty much trying to fill every second of my life with awkward situations.
“You have, haven’t you?”
As usual, Hermione took my silence for an affirmation. I sighed – even when I kept my mouth shut, it still landed me in trouble.
There’s no going back now, Harry. Might as well break all the rules, especially since I’m going to hell anyway.
“Well, yeah, maybe we have snogged once or twice…”
Hermione crossed her arms and stared at me, Ron peering over her shoulder.
“Three, maybe…”
Hermione arched an eyebrow, and Ron sniggered again.
“Fine, fine! We’ve snogged four times, but honestly that’s beside the point –”
“Four?” Ron repeated, eyes wide with envy and awe. “In the space of two hours? Is that what you two’re always doing whenever you disappear somewhere with him?”
Again, I flushed, frowning angrily at my shoelaces.
“Blimey,” Ron said, awestruck.
“You love him,” Hermione reaffirmed, smug.
I noticed that my shoelaces were an ugly green, which didn’t fit the dark blue canvas at all.
“Say it, Harry, it’s not that hard!” Ron teased.
Someone please help me.
When did I get green shoelaces, anyway?
Before Hermione and Ron could tease me any further, Professor Flitwick waddled over to check on their levitating status. Hermione effortlessly levitated the cup, but Ron took three tries to get it right.
“Homework, Mister Weasley!” Professor Flitwick squeaked, before waddling over to me.
I waved my wand, and my teacup wobbled dangerously before rising to the air, where it – thankfully – held steady.
“Not too shabby, Mister Potter – still, you need practice on your wrist-flick. Homework!”
I sighed and nodded, setting my teacup down.
***
We had an hour’s break after Charms before dinner, so we decided to hang outside, underneath the big tree in the gardens. Hermione and Ron was busy playing wizard chess – Hermione sucked and Ron rocked, so it wasn’t really a fair match – while I was silently consulting the Marauder’s Map. I saw the tiny green dot labelled DRACO, dutifully located in his dorm room. I was hoping to run into a certain blonde-haired boy, but it seemed like he was busy. I didn’t try pursuing him, though, for fear of being called a stalker.
“Harry, why so glum?” a mild, dreamy voice asked.
I looked up and saw Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood making their way to where we were sitting. Neville was – as usual – holding onto the potted plant his grandmother had given him.
“Nothing,” I said, putting the Marauder’s Map away.
The both of them settled on the grass before us, completing the little circle we were in.
“We wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with us – we didn’t go in the morning,” Neville explained.
Hermione looked up and smacked her forehead with the base of her palm. “Crap – Harry, your Chocolate Moussies are in my bag somewhere – I’ll go take them out real quick.”
“But won’t they have melted?” I asked, watching as she hurriedly stood up, robes flapping around her sneakers as she scurried away into the castle.
“Who cares, it’s still chocolate,” Ron said, rubbing his stomach happily. “I’m starving!”
Neville went over to where Hermione was sitting a moment before and pointed at the chessboard. “You play, Ron?”
Ron sat up from where he was lying on the ground and stretched, lifting his arms above his head. “Yeah. D’you, Neville?”
Neville nodded enthusiastically. “Nan’s been teaching me – I almost won my Uncle Albert once!”
Ron grinned, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s go at it, then!”
While the both of them were absorbed in ordering their miniature chesspieces around, Luna turned her misty gaze to me.
“Harry, did you know Ginny likes you?”
I coughed, and Ron absent-mindedly thumped me in the back, eyes focused on the knight he was ushering forward.
“Uh – thanks, Ron – yeah, so I’ve been told,” I muttered, feeling my face turn hot.
Luna had a habit of stating the awkward and the obvious – and this was a talent she used obliviously. Like what she was doing now.
“She told me she was going to ask you out to the Yule Ball,” Luna continued, pale, blue eyes gazing into my soul.
“Oh, uh –”
“But you’re not going to say yes, are you?”
“Well, I –”
“You’re going to ask your boyfriend out.”
It wasn’t a question – it was a flat-out statement.
Again, I choked – and this time, it was Neville who thumped me on the back, oblivious to the heavy conversation that was happening a mere few inches away.
“How – how’d –”
“It’s pretty obvious you don’t like girls, Harry. I see the way girls look at you in the hallway like you’re some kind of prize to be won, but you don’t notice – I also see the way you look at guys, like they’re the sun, and you’re a starved flower.” Luna smiled, a little too dreamily. “I saw the way you were looking at Cedric Diggory.”
I threw my hands up defensively, shaking my head. “Whoa, whoa – Luna, how –?”
She giggled a little at my shocked – and embarrassed – expression. “When you bumped into Cho Chang at the staircase and made her drop her bag a week ago – she looked at you the way you looked at Cedric when he appeared to help her with her books.”
“I didn’t – I don’t stare at guys, Luna.”
“Oh, I know.” She nodded enthusiastically. “You openly admire them, and that’s good! Daddy always says the Nargles fool with people’s minds.”
“Nargles?”
Luna nodded seriously. “Oh, yes – the invisible things that live in mistletoe. They wait for an unsuspecting couple to wander underneath the mistletoe before flying into their ears and making their nests in our brains. That’s why you hear buzzing sounds in your ears sometimes – it’s their way of communicating with other Nargles in the area.”
I stared at her, my mouth slightly agape. I glanced over at Ron and Neville, seeking for assistance, but Neville and Ron’s knights were in full-out war, with Neville winning when his knight whacked the head of Ron’s with his miniature sword.
“Don’t do that, a Whorpsol could manifest in there!”
“A –” I shook my head, giving up.
Just in time, Hermione came back, walking briskly, a huge box with hand-drawn pictures of mice adorning the sides clasped firmly in her hands. She smiled when she saw Luna, and waved at Neville, who’d looked up to see who it was.
“Hey Neville, Luna,” Hermione said, sitting down next to me.
“Hello,” Neville said, while Luna nodded at her in a sleepy sort of fashion.
“Here you go, Harry – your chocolates. They’re melted a little, but I saved most of them from melting any further. I hope they still taste as good!”
I smiled and opened the box, peering inside. The Moussies looked up at me, squeaking, their chocolate snouts tittering.
“Want one?” I asked, offering the box to Neville and Luna, who shook their heads.
“Chocolates attract Nargles,” Luna said firmly, while Neville said, “My Nan says chocolate’ll make me fatter than I already am.” He turned back to the chessboard, where one of Ron’s knights was dragging one of Neville’s away from the others.
I shrugged and chose one of the Moussies, a white one. “Suit yourself, more for me, then!”
I bit into the white Moussies’ head, chewing in bliss. “You were rife, ‘Er-my-nee, these arf goof!”
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Don’t talk like that, Harry, that’s gross.”
I rolled my eyes and continued eating, Marauder’s Map temporarily forgotten.
A white-hot trail suddenly went down my stomach all the way to my navel, where it stayed. I squirmed, feeling uncomfortable, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. What was most disturbing was the stiffening feeling in my groin, an unbearably tight sensation in my pants.
Dear Merlin, not here. Not now.
I tried to stamp down on the thought, tried to ignore the emotion, but it wouldn’t go away. On the contrary, the more I ignored it, the more intense it got.
“Harry, are you alright?”
I looked up into Hermione’s concerned face.
“I – I –”
“You look pale,” Luna commented.
“Are you sick? Do you need to go to the hospital wing?” Hermione asked.
I shook my head frantically. My palms were starting to itch, and my breath was coming in short, ragged gasps.
Hermione placed a palm on my chest and frowned. “Harry, you’re burning up. Let’s get you to the –”
“No!” I said, but my voice came out in a hoarse whisper. I cleared my impossibly dry throat and tried again. “N-no, I’ll go. I’ll see you guys later.”
“We’ll come with –”
“Don’t worry, Hermione,” I hissed, and got up hastily.
Neville and Ron turned their heads, staring up at me.
“Mate, you don’t look too good,” Ron said, eyes huge.
“I’ll be in the Common Room,” I managed to say, before going into an all-out sprint into the castle.
I didn’t know what was taking over me – well, I knew what I was feeling; I was no innocent lad when it came to desire. I’d had my fair share of handjobs in the past, most of them occurring whenever the Dursleys were asleep, and I was fairly certain that no one would be coming up to check me in my room anytime soon. But this – this intensity wasn’t something I’d ever experienced. It felt like an ache in the pit of my groin, something that had to be soothed – immediately. I felt dirty, tainted – but I couldn’t help myself. It was like I was being possessed.
I ran through corridor after corridor, searching for a bathroom, but it seemed like each twist and turn led me to the Gryffindor Common Room. Hissing in disgust after the fourth attempt at finding a bathroom, I pulled out my Invisibility Cloak from my bag and covered myself. I dug out the Marauder’s Map from the depths of my bag and hungrily studied the name dots.
DRACO was no longer in the dorm – rather, he was in a bathroom near the Room of Requirement, all on his own.
I found myself rushing to the bathroom like there was no tomorrow – part of me was trying desperately to fight against the sudden need, but the other, greater part forced me to forge on.
I just hoped Draco was in a receiving mood.
***
Draco
I stared at the vial in my hand, torn. The potion had been gruesome to make - I never wanted to see another needle again in my life. Sighing, I pocketed the vial and stood up, leaving the empty classroom. Snape and Remus had left over half an hour ago, and they'd left me a mountain of things to think about.
My feet seemed to move on their own, making their way towards the toilet I'd always escaped to whenever I felt the need to be alone. It was just off the Room of Requirement, and nobody ever travelled to that bathroom anymore - since it was rumored that Moaning Myrtle loved to hang around, a rumor that I'd started to keep everyone away.
I locked myself in the toilet, turning around and staring at myself in the mirror. I looked too pale - but that was how I normally looked, anyway - and my hair was messy, but not in a fashionably good kind of way.
Slowly, I pulled my turtleneck aside and stared at the map of black veins running up my jugular. I traced them with my forefinger and closed my eyes, trying to forget the way Damon's fangs had felt when they'd bitten into my flesh.
Just as I leaned away from the mirror, there came three hard, consecutive knocks on the door. Frowning, I pulled out my wand.
No one knows this toilet besides me. Who followed me here?
Another knock - impatient this time.
Inhaling deeply, I wrenched the door open, brandishing my wand before me.
There was no one there.
Confused, I started to shut the door when something grabbed my wrist.
I gasped, terror flooding into me, rendering me speechless.
"Shhh," a low voice murmured close to my ear, and I stiffened.
"Peeves, is that you -?"
"Ew, no," the voice said, and a second later the door shut with a click.
I was locked in with a ghost.
"Er, Myrtle...now's not exactly the right time -"
"You should really learn patience, Malfoy."
I frowned. "Harry?"
A dry chuckle. "In the non-visible flesh."
"Why are you here?"
There was a silence - I didn't know where to look, so settled for the door of the toilet instead.
"I don't know," Harry whispered, and in one swift movement, he was visible again. He looked up at me, apparent torture in his eyes. "I don't even know why I'm feeling what I'm feeling - but I can't help it."
Uneasiness made its way through me. "Are you alright? You look -"
"Sick, I know," he said, smiling humourlessly. "Draco, I can't take this anymore."
I felt my heart start to pound steadily. Was he leaving me?
Oh Merlin, if he leaves me...what am I going to do? I don't think I could take that.
"Harry, what's wrong?"
He stared at me emotionlessly. Fear made my scalp prickle - he was starting to really scare me.
I wasn't sure what happened next - all I knew was that a second ago, Harry had been standing a few inches away from me, staring at me with an agonized expression, and in half a second, he was pressed against me, lips fiercely attacking my own.
"Draco, I'm horny."