Harry Potter and the Sword of Gryffindor - 5. Chapter 5

“This is all your fault, Potter.” Draco snapped at him once they were back in the room.

“Don’t blame this on me, Malfoy!” Harry snapped right back as he began to pull the robes off.

“Be careful with that, we have images to uphold here!” Draco snapped irritably as he carefully laid Harry’s robes on the bed. A small corner of Harry’s brain noted that Dobby had already made the bed for them.

“Will you just hurry!” Harry snapped back. He really was getting good at this whole asshole thing.

“Do you have any idea of what I’m going to have to put up with in the common room for this?” Draco snapped as he tore off the Gryffindor tie and threw it at Harry.

“You!” Harry snapped back, throwing the green and silver tie back across the room. “I’m the damn Head Boy! Did you see the look on McGonagall’s face? I thought she was going to have a heart attack and she was in St. Mungo’s last year!”

“You don’t have to deal with Snape on this!” Draco snapped back as he finished tying the tie and put it back on. He took the robes Harry had been wearing and put them on. While Harry was doing the same.

“Wrong, blondie.” Harry snapped back, walking around the bed until he was face to face with the furious Draco. “We both have potions with him, remember?”

“Like this year wasn’t hard enough as it is!” Draco wailed, tears starting to form in his eyes as he raised his arms and pushed against Harry. Harry saw that look in his friend’s face and his heart broke. He pulled the arms until Draco fell into his embrace. Draco’s head rested on his left shoulder and sobs started wracking the silver-haired young man. Harry couldn’t help but running his hands up and down his friend’s back while he cried. He made smoothing sounds into Draco’s ears and took a deep breath, smelling that wonderful shampoo he used. A deep cough from the doorway broke them apart. Draco tried to wipe at his eyes, but barely held back a fresh round of sobs when he saw it was Professor Snape.

“If the pair of you boys are finished scandalizing the school, I was wondering if you would accompany me to your first class of the day?”

“Give me just a moment, Professor.” Draco said formally and rushed off to the bathroom. Harry just stared calmly at Snape, holding his anger in check.

“I did not see you at the Headquarters this summer, Mr. Potter.” Snape said cautiously.

“Draco and I remained upstairs unless we were invited down.” Harry replied.

“Then he does not know, yet?” Professor Snape asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not, yet.” Harry answered.

“I figured it out last year.” Draco said from the doorway to the bathroom causing both Snape and Harry to jump.

“My father got suspicious about some things but I helped to cover for you, Sev.” Draco said.

“Thank you.” Snape said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Now, Mr. Potter, I will be testing how much you have been practicing your recently acquired skills. If they aren’t up to standard, we will take some more lessons.”

“I believe you will find my skills improved, sir.” Harry said, his voice every bit as cold as Draco’s could be.

“Hmm, Draco, I do believe you are improving him.” Snape said with a chuckle, ignoring the anger in Harry’s face. “Now, let’s talk as we go to class. Bring your books you two.”

The journey was not a pleasant one, although it was thankfully short. “Now, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, this morning’s display, while entertaining is not acceptable to the standards of Head Boy and Slytherin Prefect. I feel no need to point out the school rules regarding…liaisons between students…”

“But…but, we’re not…” Harry sputtered, his blush even brighter than Draco’s had been. Draco on the other hand was calmer.

“We are not boyfriends.” Draco said, his voice calm, but there seemed to be something in it deep down that nagged at Harry. “We are very close friends. We both get bad nightmares all summer and the company seems to help. We’re just really close friends.”

“What kind of nightmares, Mr. Potter?” Snape snapped furiously.

“Not those kind, sir.” Harry replied calmly, his anger allowing him to maintain control. “The normal kind, and having someone there does seem to help.”

“Well, sharing a bed with a friend is definitely healthier than becoming dependent on any potion I might give. You must inform me if these dreams do not improve.”

“Yes, sir.” They both said in unison.

“And I better not see anything more than ‘friendship’ between you two. I already lost 10 galleons to that mongrel. The bet was over “sleeping” together so I will assume he will insist on the platonic rather than the sexual meaning of the word.”

As he blushed yet again, Harry wondered if it could get any worse? Then he realized that he was going to spend the next two hours in class with Snape and a class split between Slytherins and Gryffindors. When Pansy grabbed his arm and led him to sit next to her and Hermione grabbed Draco to sit next to, he realized it was just beginning to get worse.

“So, when did you two start doing it?” Pansy whispered to Harry as soon as they were seated.

“Mr. Potter, 5 points from Gryffindor for distracting a Slytherin as class begins.” Snape shot off right from the start. He then noticed a frantic Hermione whispering to Draco and Snape’s smile grew more wicked. “Ms. Granger, another 5 points from Gryffindor for distracting a Slytherin from the lesson.”

“Oh, bloody hell.” Seamus moaned. Ron was busy with another class since he hadn’t qualified for Advanced potions.

“Mr. Finnegan, 15 points from Gryffindor for inappropriate language and interrupting class, plus you have detention tonight.” Snape was positively glowing now. “Right, now that we’ve gotten the year off to a good start, let’s get started with our first potion. Mr. Potter, this potion should be of interest to you right now, it’s the Compatibility potion. Most often used by families to determine if potential mates are compatible with each other. Now, what are the key ingredients? Name three.”

“Either a hair, nail, or skin sample weighing at least 1/10 of an ounce from each subject to be tested, three ounces of water from a running river or stream taken during the light of the full moon, and two hundredths of an ounce of gold.” Harry answered from memory. Draco had helped him prepare.

“Really Mr. Potter?” Snape said, drawling out his name. “Impressive. 10 points to Gryffindor. But I wanted only three ingredients, not four. I also do not recall asking you for their measurements. 5 points from Gryffindor for answering incorrectly and an unseemly show of one upsmanship. Oh and 10 points to Slytherin for their patience in preparing you for this class.”

Harry groaned as quietly as possible. Yep, this was going to be another fun year in class.

In the Great Hall, Dumbledore sat sipping his tea and watching the hourglasses that tracked House points. This was his favorite past time whenever Snape taught his combined courses. He chuckled at the moving Gryffindor and Slytherin gems. His soft whisper of “20 points to Gryffindor for having the courage to sit through another class with Professor Snape” was barely audible, but the gemstones moved accordingly.

By the time lunch rolled around, Harry was starving. Somehow divination with Ron just wasn’t as much fun anymore. Trelawny was absolutely ecstatic today. She didn’t even predict one death. Instead she predicted nothing but true love. The snickering from his Housemates was driving him crazy ten minutes into class.

By the time the class was over with, he had actually wished he was back in potions with Snape.

This time all the eyes focusing on him in the great hall did bother him. He couldn’t help it. It took all of his self-control to not stand at the entrance and shout that he was not dating Draco Malfoy. It didn’t help that Ron was telling stories about the summer shopping trip or that time at breakfast when Harry and Draco had been so tired that they fell asleep leaning on each other.

No, Ron was not being a big help. Then he saw something that made his heart stop dead in his chest. He’d only caught a glimpse before Lavender Brown managed to get them below the table. He stood up, leaving his half-finished shepherd’s pie and made his way around the table. The fool girl didn’t even notice since she was so busy giggling!

“Let me see those!” Harry snapped at her, grabbing them before she could move. When he looked, at them he froze and felt his face heating up for the umpteenth time that day. It took him a few moments to get back under control but when he did…

“COLIN CREEVEY!” Harry’s bellow would have done anyone proud at that moment. The subject of his wrath had just walked into the hall and froze when he heard his name. As Harry saw him and began to stalk towards him, Colin actually seemed to shrink and his camera fell to the ground. Harry stopped just short of the boy, not trusting himself to get within arms reach and seethed. Colin just seemed to shrink more into himself as he watched Harry fume. “Five days detention with Filch and I want every copy of these pictures on my sitting room table by tonight. Is that understood, Gryffindor?”

“But Harry, there’s so many!” Colin quailed.

“How many?” Harry asked, his anger suddenly disappearing. It really was ridiculous.

“I made over a hundred before I had to go to class.” Colin said in a small voice. “Zabini is making more now.”

Harry gave in to the soft chuckle that eventually became a full-throated laugh. By the time he was done laughing, almost everyone in the room stood staring at him like he was insane. He looked down at the still cringing young man in front of him and shook his head sadly.

“Instead of getting rid of the pictures how about a five-foot essay on all the possible ramifications when those pictures leave Hogwarts?” Harry said gently, but loudly enough for the entire hall to hear.

“What about the detention?” Colin asked in a small voice.

“Be glad five days is the most I can give for any given incident.” Harry said before resuming his seat and finishing his meal. It wasn’t until he asked Ron to pass the pepper that he realized everyone was still silent.

8:00 p.m. that night saw Harry in the Room of Requirement standing in front of 30 people. Some were familiar faces, some were new faces. All of them were here for the same purpose. Of course there were differences this year as well. Professor Lupin standing behind him was one of them.

“Welcome to this year’s first DA meeting.” Harry said confidently. Confidence was key here, even if he didn’t feel it. Another Malfoy lecture.

“I know all of you have heard the rumors of this group from last year, and what happened at the Ministry offices. I will say this much right now, not everyone who went with us returned from the trip, and most of us spent days in the infirmary afterwards. We got lucky when Aurors showed up to help. Not all of them made it back either.” A wave of grief almost drowned out the confidence Harry was trying to exude. However, he beat it down with an effort and continued. “My own godfather died that night. As the events that night have shown, Voldemort is back. Attacks since then have shown he is moving. Even if you don’t train to become an Auror, you have to realize that someday you might face his Death Eaters. What you will learn here just might save your lives. This isn’t about replacing the Defense of Dark Arts classes, this isn’t about forming a private army. What you will learn here is how to stay alive, how to implement what you learn in class to get out of a bad situation should you find yourself in one.”

“Nothing taught in these sessions will replace my lessons.” Lupin broke in on cue. “What they will do is be a chance for you to gain extra practice in implementing those lessons. We have approved Harry and six other advanced students to lead these course. They have chosen more students to help them. Harry or one of the other approved advanced students will be leading a class each night here at the same time. Sign-ups will be in the Great Hall each morning. You may only attend one session per week unless there are open spots when the sessions begin. Any questions?”

“If we’re not learning anything new, then why bother?” A second-year Hufflepuff asked from the back of the room.

“Practice.” Harry answered simply. “The more you practice, the better you are. A perfectly performed, powerful Expelliarmus will be ten times more effective than a Death Eater who can barely perform Cruciatus. Especially in combat. Don’t believe me? Ask Neville. He can tell you some stories. Any more questions? Okay, let’s begin with the basics.”

By 9:00 p.m., the session was over and the students rushing back to the dorm rooms. An exhausted Harry Potter accepted the pat on the back from Remus Lupin and once more bit down on the urge to ask him questions about Sirius. A wall had gone up between them since the loss of Sirius and Harry had no idea how to beat it down. The short form of a first-year Hufflepuff crying in front of his portrait brought a wan smile to his face and he picked her up as he whispered the password.

The small girl had just fallen asleep with Harry holding her while sitting in a stuffed armchair in front of the fire when Draco walked in. He stood at the entrance and just smiled at the sight of Harry sitting there, holding the girl and smiling down at her. Harry noticed him after a moment and smiled even more as he remembered that dream he had one time. Standing carefully, he walked towards the entrance and leaned in to whisper something into Draco’s ear. At the last moment, Draco turned his head towards Harry and instead of being next to Draco’s ear, he found his lips lightly touching Draco’s. The momentary contact was all it took and a fiery passion welled up inside of Harry at the same time as his heart dropped into his stomach. The blaze of passion in Draco’s eyes was all it took though to quash any doubt and their lips met again, except this time on purpose. Harry’s knees started to turn to jelly and it was only the girl in his arms squirming a bit as she slept that brought him back to reality.

“I’ll be right back.” He finally whispered what he’d meant to say a few moments ago. Draco just nodded, his eyes showing fear…and hope. The trip to the Hufflepuff common room was completed quickly, and he managed to find the right room for the girl with the help of a fifth-year that was still studying. After admonishing the fifth year to get to bed, he rushed back to his own room only to be stopped by Filch before he’d gotten halfway there.

After five years of avoiding the squib with his invisibility cloak, to be caught now, when he had a right to be out irritated Harry to no end. Filch had just wanted to give the details of poor Colin’s detention to Harry, but Harry really didn’t care at that moment. Finally he got rid of the man and made it back to his rooms. The common room fire was already banked and as he reached the bedroom he realized that Draco was already asleep. He sighed heavily as he climbed out of his clothes, then sighed again.

If he left those damn designer clothes lying on the floor, Draco would kill him in the morning. After hanging his clothes up or putting them into the hamper, he climbed into the warm sheets and turned onto his side. As if on cue, Draco moved across the little bit of space between and spooned up behind him. Harry started to wonder when things had changed between them, but couldn’t figure out exactly when their friendship had changed into something more. As sleep claimed him, all he knew was that 'friends' no longer described his relationship to Draco Malfoy..

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Morning came far too early for Harry. However, he felt himself encased in Draco’s arms, with Draco’s body touching for their full lengths. Their legs were intertwined so that he barely knew who was touching who where. In all the time they’d been sharing a bed, they’d never woken like this, and Harry’s heart gave a hard thump as he wondered why they hadn’t. Last night’s kiss was the first thing on his mind, and his morning stiffie only made things a little bit worse. He groaned aloud at the sudden urge to pee.

“That better not be because you remembered what happened last night.” Draco’s voice was soft, almost silky coming from right behind his head. Harry couldn’t help but smile even if Draco couldn’t see anything.

“Naw,” Harry smirked. “Just have to pee and I’m trying to decide if Dobby would kill me for having to clean the sheets.”

“GO!” Draco nearly shouted as he pushed Harry out of the bed. Harry started laughing as soon as he hit the floor. “Go! Do you have any idea how gross that was?”

“Just teasing, Draco.” Harry giggled out as he made his way into the bathroom. By the time he counted to five over the toilet, Draco was standing beside him. It was a good thing he stayed looking straight ahead because as soon as he looked into Draco’s eye’s after finishing he’d have never been able to hit the bowl.

“Wash your hands, Gryffindor.” Draco said as he finished, bending over the toilet. Hands washed, they made their way back into the bed. It was starting to get cold at night and the room held a definite chill. This time they lay in the middle of the bed, facing each other. They were quiet for a while before speaking.

“When did you know?” Harry asked.

“Remember when we first met in that shop?” Draco asked.

“Yeah, we were like 11!” Harry answered in shock.

“All I knew then was that I wanted you for my best friend. That’s why I was showing off by putting Hagrid down. I thought you’d see how superior I was and want to be my friend.” Draco whispered, his eyes filling with tears.

“Then I turn down your hand when you offer it to me.” Harry said, horrified.

“After that first year I told my dad I wanted to be Death Eater just like him.” Draco whispered, his eyes glazed as he remembered that moment. “I was so angry at Harry Potter, the mudblood who stole the House Cup from Slytherin and who didn’t want to be my best friend.”

“I’m sorry.” Harry whispered.

“I was…different…then.” Draco whispered. “It might have worked, it might not have but I had a lot of growing up to do.”

“We both did.” Harry whispered back.

“What about now?” Draco asked.

“I…I think I love you.” Harry whispered, his voice catching and an overwhelming sense of fear crawling up inside him. It HURT!

“I love you as well.” Draco said with a smile, his arms tightening as Harry started to squirm. “And I’m scared as hell.”

“What do we do about…” Harry started to ask and he just couldn’t say it. He stopped squirming when he realized Draco wasn’t going to let him go.

“Voldemort?” Draco said softly, fear showing in his whisper. “My father? My Mother? She supports him too, you know. She doesn’t wear the mark but she’d never fail to support anything my father does. It just isn’t proper.”

“Yeah, what do we do about them?” Harry asked. “When they find out they’ll try to use us against each other…”

“We train, we prepare, and we enjoy every moment we have together.” Draco said softly, but firmly. There wasn’t any fear in his voice now. “When I flew to your place that day I was so crazy. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I didn’t know if I wanted to kill you or kiss you.”

“Next time, kiss me.” Harry said with a chuckle. The distinctive crack of a house elf appearing caused Harry to turn around in the bed. He looked down at Dobby, who was looking at him and pointedly not looking at Draco.

“Oh, Harry Potter, sir.” The elf squealed. “You must be going, it’s breakfast time and you will be late again if you don’t hurry.”

“Thank you, Dobby.” Draco said for them both, leaning on an arm so he could look at the diminutive elf. “Harry’s very lucky to have you helping him, and I’m glad you got away from our old house. I don’t think either of us fit there.”

“Oh, Master Malfoy, it is so good to see you!” The elf said, and Harry wasn’t sure if he was sincere or faking.

“Dobby, why don’t you address me like you do Harry?” Draco said with a smile. “My name’s Draco Malfoy, not Master Malfoy.”

“Oh!” Dobby squealed. “Dobby is so happy now! Oh yes! I have bath drawn for you Harry Potter. It is all ready! Breakfast started but if you hurry you can still catch it!”

“Thank you Dobby.” Harry said and turned to Draco. “Join me?”

“Uh, isn’t this a little fast?” Draco said, his eyes going wide.

“Not for that, silly.” Harry said, pushing against his shoulder. “You dirty minded Slytherins. We wash each other in that big tub and maybe snog a little.”

“That sounds good.” Draco said with a smile.

When they entered the Great Hall, Harry silently cursed Dobby. They weren’t late. In fact they were right on time since they followed large group of students into the half-full hall. Neither of them noticed the group of Slytherins waiting just inside for them. Before they could split up to their respective tables, they were being dragged over to the Slytherin table. Harry found himself sitting next to Crabbe, who grunted a greeting between bites while Draco had Goyle on the other side. Blaise sat across from them with Millicent and Pansy on either side of her. Harry cautiously started filling his plate, making sure nothing would look too gross if he spit it out in surprise. He had a bad feeling about this.

Draco’s hand on his knee didn’t help much either.

“Okay, so spill everything.” Pansy demanded.

“You want me to spill my drink on the table?” Harry asked, with an innocent look of astonishment on his face.

“Not that, Gryffindork,” Millicent snorted. “You two, you know, shagging. How long has this been going on?”

“We’re not shagging.” Draco said as Harry took a bite of eggs. Eggs are safe, right?

“C’mon, the two most eligible bachelors in Hogwarts hook up and you haven’t shagged yet?” Pansy said, her voice a near screech. As the eggs hit her in the middle of her bosom after passing through Harry’s nose, he decided they weren’t safe after all. He moved on to the toast.

“Pansy, we didn’t even kiss until last night.” Draco told her. Pansy gave Harry a death glare for a moment as she wiped off her robes.

“Like bloody hell!” Millicent exclaimed. “Draco Malfoy we know you’re a tightass but even you had to have snogged him before school started. You were together all summer!”

“We were just friends until last night.” Draco said.

“Actually this morning.” Harry reminded him. “We just had the one kiss last night.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re right.” Draco replied. He looked up at Millicent. “My bad. We’ve been together since this morning, snogged last night. Really wasn’t a snog though. Harry had that Hufflepuff girl in his arms and had to take her back to bed.”

“HE WHAT?” Pansy shouted at the top of her lungs. “YOU’RE BOTH INVOVLED WITH SOME HUFFLEPUFF AS WELL?”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Harry whispered over to Crabbe who was steadily plowing his way through the food on the table. Pansy and Millicent were now in a heated argument with Draco and Harry knew he was way out of his league.

“I’m supposed to be an idiot, you dork.” Crabbe said in a whisper. “Remember, the only two worse than Neville at potions are Goyle and I?”

“I’m getting scared here.” Harry whispered.

“You should. I taught your boy toy all he knows about potions when we were nine.” Crabbe said, letting loose with a smile that transformed his face. Harry almost started to shake at the changed expression only he could see. There was intelligence there, a frightening intelligence.

“Goyle?” Harry asked in a choked whisper.

“Best damn herbologist you’ll ever meet.” Crabbe whispered.

“Draco knows?” Harry whispered while the fighting continued between the two girls and Draco. Somehow someone from Ravenclaw was now involved in their “love group”. Harry didn’t want to know.

“Of course. We came up with the dumb routine because we figured it’d put you Gryffindorks off.” Crabbe said after stuffing another sausage down his throat.

“It worked.” Harry admitted.

“We also helped him work through the decision to not take the Mark.” Crabbe said softly.

“For that you have my eternal gratitude.” Harry said softly.

“We’re gonna need that Boy Wonder.” Crabbe whispered back. “Old darkie won’t take us idiots until we’re 18 because we’re so stupid. At least we’re loyal he thinks. Well, after this year is up we’re both going to Dumbledore and asking him to help us. Do you think he will?”

“You don’t even need my support for that.” Harry replied in all honesty. “He’ll take care of any student in that situation. You’ll always have a safe place here.”

“We figured that.” Crabbe whispered. “Just nice to hear it as well though. We’re a couple too.”

“Hermione wins that bet.” Harry whispered back.

“You can tell her. Her and the Weasel guy.” Crabbe said. “As much crap as they took from us they deserve it.”

“Oh, maybe about the couple part.” Harry replied. “I want to see Ron’s face when he finds out how smart you really are.”

Crabbe started choking on his food at that point and Harry had to pound him on the back. That got strange looks from the three arguing Slytherins, but they turned back to their argument and ignored them after that.

“Pansy and Millicent are pumping Draco to find out how much of an attachment there is between you two.” Crabbe said after drinking some tea. “Everything they find out, Voldemort will know by sundown. The only time they’d try to switch sides is if they were about to get caught. Then they’d switch right back first chance.”

“Thanks.” Harry whispered with a sinking heart. Suddenly all his speeches about a war being on hit home again. His new love affair grew cold until Draco, in the middle of pointing his fork at Pansy reached down with his other hand and squeezed his thigh. Everything turned warm again until Crabbe spoke. Why couldn’t Crabbe be an idiot after all?

“By the way, found out last night from Pansy that they seduced Dean from your dorm last year. That’s how he made sure he was reaching you in your dreams. Don’t get up now, Potter. Eat your food and play with your new boyfriend. Dean will still be there tomorrow.”

Harry wasn’t really hungry anymore and the hand on his thigh was hot. Far too hot.