Archive of Our Own

“Hermione, I don’t want to go to the Ball,” Harry stated flatly.

The trio of friends was slowly making their way to the Great Hall for breakfast and was coming up to the final staircase leading down to the Entrance Hall.

“Of course you do, Harry,” Hermione said. “Everyone wants to go.”

“Yeah, Harry,” Ron said, rolling his eyes at Hermione. “You’ve only got a week left to ask someone, you know.”

“Exactly,” Hermione said, ignoring Ron mocking her. “There’s only a week left and your choices are becoming more limited every day.”

“Gods, Hermione, if I ask someone, will you just shut up about it all?” Harry asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “They do have to agree to go with you.”

“Of course,” Harry said sarcastically.

“Well, good then,” she said, satisfied Harry was finally cooperating.

“And you won’t say anything bad about who I ask?” Harry asked, brows raised.

“Why would I?” she asked, puzzled by his question.

“Whatever,” Harry muttered. “That’d be asking for too much.”

Halfway down the staircase he spotted Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, along with a few other Slytherins trailing behind them.

“Hey, Malfoy!” Harry shouted.

“Yeah, Potter?” Draco sneered, albeit without adding any insults.

“I need a date for the Ball this weekend. Care to go with me?” Harry asked casually, as he finished making his way down the stairs.

Draco was the only other person who didn’t appear to be frozen in place. He walked forward and for all appearances looked like he was meeting Harry at the bottom of the stairs, raking his eyes over Harry’s body in the meantime.

“Sure, Potter,” Draco drawled. “Why not.”

Question asked and question answered, the two boys entered the Great Hall without another word spoken, making their way to their respective tables.

It was at least a full minute, and probably closer to two, before the doors to the Great Hall finally slammed open again and a flood of over-excited students came flowing into the room.

Harry grinned as he saw, and heard, Pansy screeching her way to the Slytherin table. His grin didn’t falter when Ron and Hermione dropped heavily to the bench directly across from him. He was sure they sat there so they could see his expressions better. Harry gave a mental shrug. Made no difference to him. Besides, they were using Ginny and Seamus to pin Harry in on either side anyway.

Harry had already filled his plate before the swarm of people had come in and was casually eating. He was reaching for his goblet to take a drink of his pumpkin juice when Hermione finally spoke up.

“Harry,” Hermione said slowly.

Harry looked over at her innocently. “Yes, Hermione?”

The entire Gryffindor table was silent, carefully listening to the interrogation they knew was sure to follow. Hermione did have a reputation in the house after all, even aside from being one of Harry’s best friends.

“Would you care to explain why you just asked Malfoy to be your date for the dance?”

Harry shrugged casually. “Well, you see, you were whinging at me to get a date and have been for days now. So, I finally asked someone like you told me to.”

Ron was a furious red and opened his mouth to shout, but closed it again when Hermione elbowed him. Harry absently wondered how she’d managed to beat him into submission in the Entrance Hall before they’d ever come in here.

“I did say you should ask someone to the Ball,” she said slowly, still talking to him like he’d gone completely mental. Which, he supposed, she probably thought he had. Harry simply continued to eat his meal, but kept enough of his attention on her that she didn’t tell him to stop.

“However, I don’t recall saying you should pick Malfoy to ask,” she finally admitted her concern.

Harry knew that everyone within hearing distance was straining so they wouldn’t miss his next words. “Well, he seemed like a good choice,” he said easily, lifting his goblet to take a drink.

Ron finally erupted, elbows to the ribs or not. “What do you mean, he seemed like a good choice?! He’s bloody Malfoy!”

Harry glanced over to the Slytherin table. It looked like a mirror of the situation he was in, occurring with Draco as the star on the opposite side of the room. Everyone had glanced over, though, when Ron started yelling.

Harry lifted his goblet as if to toast Draco and Draco returned the sentiment, holding his goblet up slightly before drinking. Not a soul in the room missed the interaction.

“I want to bloody know what’s going on and I want to know right now!” Ron bellowed.

Harry rolled his eyes. “For Merlin’s sake, Ron, calm down. You already know everything anyway, so I don’t know what you’re yelling for.”

“All we know is that you asked Malfoy to the Ball and he agreed,” Hermione said, ignoring Ron’s spluttering.

“What else is there to tell?”

“Like the fact that you’re into blokes,” Seamus pointed out the oversight, grinning slightly.

Harry grinned at the Irish boy. Obviously Seamus was finding this more amusing than not, despite the fact that Harry had asked out a Slytherin. “I reckon there is that fact,” Harry admitted.

“Bloody Hell!” Ron exclaimed. “You’re gay?!”

Harry let out a bark of surprised laughter. “You mean you didn’t figure out that part on your own yet, despite the fact that I asked out a boy?”

Ron grimaced. “You asked out Malfoy, not a boy,” he muttered.

Seamus and Ginny, along with several other Gryffindors, joined in with Harry’s laughter.

“Malfoy is a boy,” Hermione snapped at Ron. She wasn’t laughing at all. She was obviously more interested in getting some answers to her questions.

Harry wasn’t answering them, though. It wasn’t really any of her business and it wasn’t like there was much to tell anyway. She’d been there when he’d asked Draco, after all.

He was fielding questions left and right for the rest of the day, until Hermione finally gave up in a huff.

The next morning, though, Hermione had obviously gotten a second wind and was pestering Harry again. She was already driving him mental.

Walking down to breakfast, Harry spotted Draco once more coming up from the dungeons.

“Hey, Malfoy, hold up,” Harry yelled. Draco stopped and waited for Harry. Everyone else froze, waiting to see what would be said this time. Harry stopped a couple feet away from Draco.

“Everyone harassing you about why you agreed to go to the Ball with me?” Harry asked, already sure of the answer.

“Yes, it’s been quite annoying actually,” Draco said, irritably glancing around at all the onlookers.

“Are you regretting your decision to go with me?”

Draco studied him, once again raking his eyes down and up the length of Harry’s body. “No, can’t say that I am,” he drawled.

Harry eyed him contemplatively for a couple moments before nodding decisively to himself, obviously coming to some sort of decision.

“Then would you care to give them all something new to question us about?” Harry asked slyly, a wicked smile gracing his lips.

Draco’s eyes widened fractionally before narrowing. Slowly, he smirked at Harry. “Could prove pleasurable.”

Harry stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and slowly leaned in, bringing his lips to Draco’s. It wasn’t a long kiss, more of a brushing of lips than anything else, but it was enough to have them both backing away slightly wide-eyed at the sensations it had jolted through their bodies.

Draco regained his aloofness. “Later, Potter.”

“Later, Malfoy,” Harry said, grinning widely.

The two of them sauntered into the Great Hall, once again leaving the masses standing frozen in shock.

“Harry, what do you think you’re doing?!” Ron was shouting before he’d even sat down across from Harry.

“Um, eating breakfast?”

Harry watched with detached amusement as his best friend quickly went through several shades of red, his face finally settling into an interesting crimson. Harry cocked his head. Perhaps it was actually more of a maroon colour, kind of a dark shade, but maybe that was to be expected since Ron couldn’t seem to catch his breath.

Hermione dropped down into the seat across from Harry, dragging Ron down with her. She was staring at Harry intently. “What are you doing with Malfoy?”

Harry shrugged. “Nothing much really.”

Ron began to turn more of a purplish colour and Harry looked at him a little worriedly. “You all right there, mate? Maybe you should try breathing,” he suggested.

With a loud whoosh, Ron let out the breath he’d been holding. Relieved at seeing the purple fading back to shades of red, Harry turned back to eating.

Hermione shot a glare at Ron for interrupting her interrogation, and then focused on Harry again. “Is there something going on between you and Malfoy?” she asked, her tone demanding an answer.

“Not yet,” Harry answered in a dreamy tone.

“Continue to breathe, Ron,” Hermione snapped, before Ron could start turning purple again.

“You sound like Luna,” Ginny said with a wry smile.

Harry glanced at her and winked. “Does Luna fancy Malfoy, too?”

Ginny started laughing and could only shake her head.

Harry ignored the spluttering from the two sitting across from him. “Good, because I don’t think she’s his type, and I’m hoping he’s mine now.”

“Why?” Hermione asked plaintively. “Where in the world did this come from?”

Harry didn’t answer, simply smiling at her as she continued to question him repeatedly.

The next morning, much of the school seemed to be milling around the Entrance Hall, leaning over upper balconies or anywhere else that they could get a view of events. Harry shook his head as he realized why everyone was there.

“Harry, please don’t do anything?” Ron pleaded, as they approached the final staircase.

“Why not?” Harry asked curiously.

“Because it’s Malfoy,” Ron whinged.

“I wouldn’t be doing anything if it was anyone besides Malfoy,” Harry pointed out reasonably.

“We’re okay with your liking boys,” Hermione said. “Just . . . couldn’t you pick anyone besides him?”

Harry paused at the top of the stairs and looked thoughtful for a minute. “No, he’s the one I want,” he pronounced.

“Oi, Potter!”

Harry looked down to see Draco waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly grinning, Harry walked down to meet him. “Hey, Malfoy.”

Draco gave him a wry smirk. “This attention thing is a little ridiculous,” he said, waving his hand expansively, indicating the watching crowd.

Harry shrugged. “I’ve been putting up with it for years. You get used to it a little bit and have to just try to ignore it otherwise.” He looked at Draco curiously. “Besides, I thought you actually liked attention.”

Draco’s smirk took a decidedly devilish appearance. “I do when I’m getting some kind of benefit from it.”

Harry raised his brows, looking interested. “What kind of benefit?”

Instead of answering verbally, Draco stepped forward, reached to put one hand on the back of Harry’s head and held him in place so that he could kiss him. Both felt the jolt of sensation again as their lips met, and Harry let out a gasp of surprised pleasure as Draco ran his tongue across his lips. Opening his mouth wider, Harry’s tongue was there to greet and welcome as he invited Draco’s tongue inside. Harry’s vague thoughts told him it was only good manners.

He brought his hands up to rest on Draco’s hips as they continued to kiss in the middle of the Entrance Hall, not quite forgetting about their audience, but not really caring either.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Harry and Draco parted, taking a step away from each other and trying to control their breathing. They could just see the top of Professor McGonagall’s hat as she stood in the doorway of the Great Hall.

“Why is everyone out here instead of inside eating breakfast?” she demanded.

No one said a word, but all eyes turned towards Harry and Draco. The students parted, allowing McGonagall a clear line of sight to the two boys. Her eyes narrowed as she saw them. “Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy,” she said. “What have you two been told about fighting in the corridors?”

Harry shrugged. “We weren’t fighting.”

She frowned. “Mr. Malfoy?”

“No, we weren’t fighting,” Draco said. “In fact, we were just on our way in to eat breakfast.”

She glared at them both suspiciously, clearly looking them over for any bruises, torn clothing, or anything indicating that they were lying.

“May we go in now?” Harry asked politely.

Unable to actually find anything wrong, despite the suspicious behaviour, she indicated they could go in. Harry and Draco walked calmly into the Great Hall and parted to go to their respective tables. Seconds later, the rest of the students finally began working their way into the room.

Harry settled at the Gryffindor table with a happy smile, completely unable to contain it. He’d managed to keep himself under control while under direct watch by Professor McGonagall, but now he could relive the satisfying snog he’d received. He watched his shell-shocked friends sit down across from him and decided that maybe it wasn’t actually a good time to relive the memories of the snog, but it still didn’t lessen his happy smile.

There was an expectant silence over the majority of the Gryffindor table. Harry went about serving himself some breakfast, carrying out his normal routine. As he began eating, he looked at his friends curiously, recognizing that it was still extremely quiet.

Both Ron and Hermione were sitting very still. Ron’s face had a sickly green tinge that looked to be slowly fading, leaving him extremely pale. It made his freckles stand out. Harry thought it was interesting that his friend’s face could reveal such a fascinating array of colours. Hermione wasn’t pale; rather she had high spots of pink on her cheekbones. Looking closer, he realized her eyes appeared dazed rather than blank like Ron’s.

Since they both technically seemed fine, Harry shrugged off his concerns and continued eating his breakfast. It was a couple more minutes before Ron nudged Hermione.

“Why aren’t you yelling at Harry?” Ron snapped.

Hermione blinked a couple of times before focusing on Ron. “Um, yeah,” she mumbled before turning to Harry. “When did you learn to kiss like that?” she blurted out.

Harry stared incredulously for a moment before he burst out laughing.

“Hermione!” Ron exclaimed. “That’s not what you’re supposed to be yelling at him about!”

“Well, I want to know!” Hermione said, her cheeks flushing a brighter red.

“Well, I don’t kiss and tell,” Harry said, still chuckling.

“You don’t kiss and tell,” Hermione said flatly.

Harry shook his head, but didn’t get a chance to say anything.

“You just kissed bloody Malfoy in front of half the school!” Ron exclaimed. “I think that qualifies as kiss and tell, Harry!”

Harry shrugged. “It’s not me telling, because you were all there to witness it and Malfoy doesn’t seem to mind.”

“Have you been sneaking around with Malfoy?” Hermione asked shrewdly.

“I haven’t been sneaking around with Malfoy at all,” he said. “Although, I wouldn’t mind sneaking around with him,” he added.

“Harry,” Ron said pleadingly. “This is Malfoy we’re talking about.”

“I think we’ve established that, Ron.”

That was about all Harry was willing to establish as he dismissed any other questions directed his way.

“Harry, you are not going to be doing anything with Malfoy this morning,” Ron declared firmly as they walked the corridors leading them to the Great Hall.

“What exactly does anything mean?” Harry asked. Not that he planned to actually follow whatever Ron said, but he was curious as to what Ron would say.

“He means no kissing Malfoy,” Hermione said, an odd tone to her voice.

Harry glanced at her curiously. “I happen to like kissing Malfoy.”

Hermione grimaced. “Yes, well,” she paused, seeming unsure what else to say for once. “Well, that’s what Ron meant.”

“Yes, I meant that,” Ron said in disgust. “And nothing else either. I don’t want to think of what else you two could come up with.”

“It is the Entrance Hall, Ron,” Hermione said. “It’s not like they could do too much anyway.”

Harry wondered if he was imagining things, or if Hermione did actually sound a bit disappointed.

Conversation halted as they came closer to the Entrance Hall, students loitering all about. Harry grinned to see Draco waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs again.

“Potter,” Draco said with a nod. “I was wondering if you would care to have breakfast with me this morning at the Slytherin table.”

Harry hesitated for half a second before shrugging carelessly. “Sure.” He turned to Ron and Hermione. “I’ll meet you in class.” He ignored his friends’ gobsmacked expressions and fell into step beside Draco as they walked into the Great Hall and over to the Slytherin table.

“How are they taking this?” Draco asked as they sat and began serving themselves breakfast.

“They think I’ve gone mental,” Harry said with a dismissive shrug. “I think Hermione has come to believe I’ve been having some secret relationship with you. What about the Slytherins?”

Draco chuckled before answering. “After the initial shock, I think they’re about resigned to it now. I believe they’ve decided I’m after you for your power.”

Harry gave him a sidelong glance. “Are you?”

Draco paused to look at Harry. “I happen to like the whole package.”

Pleased, Harry smiled and went back to his breakfast.

As the doors to the Great Hall opened again, they watched curiously as the students filed in silently. There was quiet shuffling as everyone made their way to their house tables, but not a word was spoken.

“I do believe the school is already mourning your death,” Draco said in amusement.

Harry choked on his pumpkin juice and it took him a moment to catch his breath as he tried to cough and laugh at the same time. Gasps were heard throughout the Great Hall as everyone stared at Harry.

“Well, that would be one way of confirming your imminent demise,” Draco drawled after Harry had managed to stop coughing.

Harry started laughing, without choking this time, startling almost everyone. He shot Draco a grin. “I always knew being surrounded by Slytherins would be hazardous to my health.”

Draco smiled, a real smile, which caused half the people watching to take their turn at choking. “You love living dangerously.”

“I do,” Harry agreed.

They fell into casual talk about classes and assignments, keeping things light and relaxed, and gradually the Great Hall began to fill with the usual chatter. The surrounding Slytherins had remained silent and watchful, until Pansy finally broke.

“Potter, what are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Eating breakfast,” Harry said with a careless shrug.

“Why?” Pansy asked, begging for an answer she could understand.

“Because I was invited,” Harry answered, smiling at her cheerfully.

“Why was he invited?” Pansy asked Draco.

“To give you something new to complain about,” he answered wryly.

“Draco, he’s a Gryffindor,” she whinged, obviously choosing to ignore Draco’s words. “He’s Harry Potter.”

“I’m impressed, Pansy,” Draco drawled sarcastically. “You were able to state the obvious that we’ve known for years now.”

Pansy scowled. “You know what I mean,” she said. “He’s just playing some kind of trick.”

“Oh, yes,” Harry piped up. “I decided to ask Draco to the Ball, risked public humiliation, outed myself as being gay to my friends and the entire Wizarding population, decided to fight with my friends and most of my House, and placed myself directly in the middle of the biggest scandal of our years here at Hogwarts—just so I could play some kind of trick.”

He paused and turned thoughtful. “Do you think I’ve been successful so far?”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Pansy said petulantly.

Draco and the other Slytherins were sniggering quietly.

Pansy glared at all of them before facing Harry again. “Fine, so you seem to be serious. You hurt my best friend and you will have the wrath of the entire Slytherin House come down on your head.”

Harry shrugged. “I would expect no less, but if you don’t mind me asking, how exactly would that be different from all the rest of our years here? If you want to protect him, you should probably choose a different threat.”

Pansy spluttered as the rest of the Slytherins started laughing.

Harry went on, absently thinking out loud. “I don’t intend to hurt him, but if I did . . . what kind of threats would be effective? Hmmm, death threats are no good, because I just ignore those. I became accustomed to hearing those long ago,” he said dismissively. “Curses and hexes wouldn’t really be effective threats either. I’ve got damned good resources for getting me patched up again. They’ve got lots of practice,” he said, nodding his head for emphasis.

“Hmmm, I know,” he declared earnestly. “You should threaten me with not being able to see him ever again.” He widened his eyes as he stared at Pansy. “That’s an incredibly scary thought, because I’m not sure what I would do if I couldn’t see him anymore.”

Pansy slowly broke out into a smile. “All right, Potter, you’ve made your point.” She turned to Draco. “I wish you luck with him,” she said wryly.

Draco and Harry both laughed. “I’ll never be bored,” Draco drawled.

“Harry, you can’t go to the Slytherin table again,” Ron declared on the way to breakfast.

Harry rolled his eyes. “Yes, we’ve gone over this repeatedly. It’s dangerous because I might choke on my juice again due to laughing.”

Hermione giggled. “It really did look quite bad at the time.”

“You’re not helping, Hermione,” Ron ground out.

Harry looked at her gratefully, thinking she was helping a lot. He wasn’t sure what convinced her, but she seemed to have come around and was being supportive of his new relationship with Draco. Well, not overtly supportive, considering there was still the Ron factor.

“Oh, honestly,” Hermione said. “Harry can make his own decisions.”

She was definitely on his side, Harry realized. Hermione only thought he was capable of making his own decisions when she agreed with him.

Ron seemed to come to the same conclusion as he gaped at Hermione. “You hardly ever think Harry’s capable of making his own decisions,” he spluttered.

“Well, I do this time,” Hermione declared primly.

“What’s happened to my friends?” Ron moaned.

Harry and Hermione simply laughed. They were approaching the final staircase with the milling crowd that hushed as they neared. Harry realized why they were all watching closely for his reaction when he figured out that there was no sign of Draco yet. Harry got to the bottom of the steps and hopped up to sit on the end of the banister to wait.

“You’re not waiting,” Ron said flatly.

“Sure I am.”

“You’re keeping everyone away from their breakfast,” Ron said, his tone pleading.

Harry chuckled. “Everyone is more than capable of going in to breakfast without me.”

Ron huffed and crossed his arms, clearly planning to wait there with Harry. Harry rolled his eyes at his friend’s attitude before glancing around the Entrance Hall. The crowd had grown every morning, and he considered it all a bit ridiculous. He did find it amusing, however, that while the students were all crowded together, there was a wide circle of space around Harry himself. Even Ron and Hermione were standing back slightly, although he doubted that Ron was conscious of that fact.

All the heads swivelling towards the entrance to the dungeons was Harry’s clue that Draco had arrived. He turned his head and grinned at Draco.

“Morning,” Harry said cheerfully.

His eyebrows rose as Draco stalked over with an irritated scowl on his face. He wasn’t given much time to be concerned about it before Draco was insinuating himself between Harry’s legs and pulling his head down for a kiss.

Harry quickly decided he didn’t care what Draco’s problem was, other than that he was thankful it prompted this. Draco’s tongue pushed into his mouth, and Harry was done with coherent thinking altogether. He grasped Draco’s waist to pull him closer before hooking his heels behind Draco’s knees to keep him there.

Wanting his turn to explore, Harry swept his tongue through Draco’s mouth, savouring the taste and the pleasurable sensations. Draco didn’t seem to mind, but captured Harry’s tongue and sucked on it, eliciting a low moan from Harry.

“Harry, McGonagall’s coming,” Hermione hissed from somewhere nearby.

Draco broke the kiss with a groan and stepped back, Harry releasing him reluctantly. Both of them were extremely thankful they were wearing non-revealing robes.

“Potter, aren’t you going to invite me to breakfast now?” Draco drawled, albeit somewhat breathlessly.

Harry’s eyes widened, wondering if he was hearing things correctly in his lust-induced haze. He nodded anyway.

The crowd parted as McGonagall finally made her way towards them. “Potter, get down from that banister,” she snapped.

Harry hopped down as she glared at them reproachfully. “What is the meaning of this?”

“I was just waiting here until Malfoy arrived so I could invite him to breakfast,” Harry answered.

“At the Gryffindor table?” McGonagall asked, sounding shocked.

Harry nodded. “It seems fitting considering that I ate at his table yesterday.”

McGonagall glared suspiciously. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“Wasn’t planning on any,” Harry answered with a shrug.

“Very well, then,” she said sharply, gesturing for the two boys to move ahead of her. They casually strolled into the Great Hall and moved to sit down at the Gryffindor table.

“She has the worst timing,” Draco grumbled once she was out of hearing range.

“Agreed,” Harry muttered.

Harry gave Draco a sidelong glance. “So, the Gryffindor table?”

Draco grimaced. “My housemates weren’t too pleased with the idea this morning.”

“Ah,” Harry said, understanding now why Draco had looked so irritated. “And you?”

Draco smirked lightly. “Seemed fair since you ate at the Slytherin table yesterday.”

Harry snorted in amusement, beginning to fill his plate. “Since when are you fair?”

“Since I decided I wanted to date a Gryffindor,” Draco said dryly. “Still, don’t expect it often.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Harry said with a grin.

They didn’t have a chance to say anything else as the Great Hall was suddenly filled with loud chatter, the rest of the students spilling into the room. In direct contrast to the silence of the day before, shouts and exclamations could be heard from almost every student. It seemed everyone had something to say. Harry just wasn’t sure how much of the chaos was because of the kiss he and Draco had shared and how much of it was because Draco was sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Ron landed heavily in his seat, opposite Harry. Hermione seemed wary, but she sat beside Ron as usual, which happened to put her across from Draco. Ginny sat beside Draco and Seamus beside Harry, and Harry was sure that neither of them wanted to miss out on anything.

“Morning, Malfoy,” Ginny said brightly.

“Morning,” Draco said with a nod.

“Morning, Harry,” Seamus said.

“Morning, Seamus,” Harry said, returning the cheerful greeting and grateful to them for the support.

“Argh!” Ron yelled. “No! You can’t all be acting polite like everything’s normal!”

“You’re right, it’s not normal,” Harry said. “I do have a guest this morning, but I didn’t think I needed to make introductions.”

Ron sucked in a breath and couldn’t seem to figure out how to release it again. He was turning that horrible purple shade that Harry didn’t care much for. “You might want to try breathing again,” he suggested. “I believe it is best when done consistently.”

With a loud whoosh, Ron was letting the air out, and Harry nodded in satisfaction before turning back to his breakfast.

Ron glared mutinously at Harry. “He can’t sit here.”

“I think he’s sitting here just fine. Sitting is an activity he mastered years ago,” Harry stated matter-of-factly. “But if you’re honestly concerned, I’m sure I could arrange to have him sit on my lap so I can support him properly.”

Harry’s side of the table started laughing, while Ron and Hermione, who’d remained suspiciously quiet so far, stared at Harry incredulously.

“I do generally prefer to be independent,” Draco said, smirking at Harry. “But I believe that I could make an exception and accept your offer of support.”

Grinning, Harry threw one leg over to the other side of the bench so he was sitting sideways and pulled Draco close to him. Draco rested comfortably against Harry’s chest. “Yes, I do believe Weasley is right and I needed the help sitting here after all.”

“Thanks, Ron,” Harry said happily. “You’re such an amazing friend.”

“But . . . but I . . . that’s not . . .,” Ron spluttered.

“Potter, you were quite correct in saying that Gryffindors could be helpful, and I’m ashamed to say that I never completely believed that until now,” Draco said sorrowfully.

That seemed to be Hermione’s limit. “Oh, honestly! You two are shameless!”

“Thank you,” they chorused, Draco smirking and Harry grinning.

Hermione rolled her eyes, giving up and beginning to eat her breakfast, as laughter echoed down the Gryffindor table.

Ron gazed at Harry and Draco mournfully and sighed heavily. “I’m not going to win this one, am I?”

“No,” Harry said gently. “This is what I want.”

“All right,” Ron said, grudgingly giving in to the relationship he didn’t understand, but made his friend happy. “But none of that while I’m eating.”

Draco raised a brow in question.

“He means no kissing,” Harry whispered in his ear, delighting in the shiver that generated.

Draco reluctantly nodded in acceptance of Ron’s terms, which pleased Harry to no end. It was beside the point that Harry knew Draco wasn’t likely to even be around often when Ron was eating, so it wasn’t exactly much of a concession on Draco’s part.

It was feeling like a huge hardship at the moment, though, as Draco moved to sit by himself again, allowing Harry to sit at the table properly. They resumed eating, falling into casual conversation. Gradually, even Ron relaxed a bit as the discussion turned to Quidditch.

Harry allowed himself to be nervous as the trio walked towards the Entrance Hall once again, where he was to meet his date for the Ball. He stopped suddenly, not far from the main staircase, and leaned against the nearest wall.

“Harry?” Hermione said worriedly.

“I can’t do this,” Harry moaned, head lowered.

“You’ve changed your mind about Malfoy?” Ron asked hopefully.

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Hermione asked Harry, darting a glare at Ron.

“He’s going to expect me to dance,” Harry whispered.

Hermione blinked in bemusement. “That’s why you’ve stopped here? You’re scared about having to dance?”

“You know I can’t dance.”

“Well,” Hermione said slowly. “I thought I knew you’d never be friendly with Malfoy, too, but you’ve managed that.”

“That’s different!” Harry exclaimed.

“You’ve put me through hell all week, and now you’re too scared to meet him because he’s going to expect you to dance,” Ron said flatly.

“That’s what I said,” Harry retorted.

Ron nodded. “Just making sure I understood.”

Harry glared at him, but didn’t respond.

“Harry, you can do this,” Hermione said, trying to be encouraging.

“I can’t,” Harry said pitifully.

Hermione took a deep breath, hesitating as she tried to come up with an appropriate response. Ron beat her to it.

“You will get your arse down there and meet Malfoy! You will dance with him and you will have a good time! You will also likely snog the hell out of him and make me ill, but you are damned well going to have fun doing it!”

He heaved in a breath before continuing, ignoring the wide eyes and gaping mouths of Harry and Hermione. “You did not put me through this whole week just so you could get scared and back out now! I don’t give a bloody damn if you can’t dance! My best friend is not a coward!”

Ron stopped, chest heaving as he glared at Harry. Harry stared at him blankly, unable to form any kind of response.

Hermione gave Ron a sidelong glance even as she turned to face Harry. “Um, Ron’s right,” she said, sounding bemused. Her voice gained strength and conviction as she shook off Ron’s tirade and continued. “You’re not a coward. The reason we’re having this Celebration Ball in the first place is because you defeated Voldemort a year ago.”

She regarded him with a sad smile. “You’re strong. And I don’t mean physically or magically strong. I mean, you’ve gone through so much hardship in your life and come out all the stronger for it. You never let Voldemort weaken you. You just worked harder to figure out how to defeat him. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to—including dancing.”

Harry sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall. “I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“I doubt that you’ll disappoint him,” Hermione said. She hesitated for just a moment, before continuing. “If Malfoy is who you want and that’s who makes you happy, then we’re behind you.”

“Yeah, what she said,” Ron agreed.

“You deserve to be happy. You’ve just got to get down there to meet him first,” Hermione said.

Harry didn’t budge. “But I still can’t dance. How could I have been so stupid to ask him to the Ball? Why couldn’t I have just asked him to go to Hogsmeade or something?”

His eyes flew open when he felt a soft kiss placed on his lips.

“Draco?”

“If you hadn’t asked me to the Ball, then I would’ve been extremely disappointed.”

“What are you doing up here?” Harry asked in confusion. “I was supposed to meet you down in the Entrance Hall.”

Draco looked pointedly at Ron as he answered Harry. “Weasley was a little loud when he decided to berate you for not getting your arse downstairs.”

Ron blushed, but quirked a small grin. “Anything to help.”

Draco and Hermione both rolled their eyes, but Harry was frowning as Draco looked at him again. “So, um, you heard everything then.”

“Enough to know you’ve got at least one weak point, and . . . and you’ve got good friends,” Draco admitted.

Ron and Hermione gaped incredulously, while Harry smiled softly. “Thanks.”

Draco nodded in acceptance of the gratitude, but clearly didn’t want to dwell on it. “Now, you’re going to go down there and dance with me.”

Harry groaned. “I can’t dance,” he said yet again.

Draco reached for his hand and started walking, dragging Harry along with him. He didn’t stop until they’d reached the middle of the dance floor. Harry wasn’t too surprised that a path had been cleared for them, but he wasn’t at all pleased.

“Draco, I’m sorry,” Harry pleaded.

He was ignored as Draco pulled him close and kissed him languidly. It was enough to relax Harry, and he settled into Draco’s arms with a contented sigh. He barely noticed as Draco began to gently turn them, the two of them dancing, for all intents and purposes.

“I could get used to this,” Harry said after a couple minutes, enjoying being close to Draco.

“Get used to what? Dancing?”

“I’m dancing?” Harry asked, finally registering their movements.

Draco nodded, smirking at him. “You can overcome any problem, from defeating a Dark Lord to learning to dance.”

“Oh,” Harry said, still a little astonished that he was dancing and not feeling awkward about it.

Draco chuckled. “You could use some more practice, though.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “You think?”

Now that Harry was there and relatively relaxed, Draco set about teaching Harry to actually dance, both of them laughing at Harry’s attempts and having a good time.

Eventually they collapsed into chairs at one of the empty tables. They talked easily and included their friends in the conversation as the others slowly joined them. The Slytherins and Gryffindors eyed each other warily, but then they would glance at Harry and Draco, see how happy they obviously were, and slowly relax.

“I still don’t understand how you two could end up together,” Pansy said plaintively.

“Well, see, we were having this Ball tonight,” Harry explained patiently. “I especially needed a date so that Hermione would quit harping on me, and I liked Draco, so I decided to ask him to go with me.”

Hermione glared at Harry for bringing that up. “I thought you needed a date for tonight. But what made you think Malfoy would actually agree?” she asked. “You didn’t seem nervous about it, and you seemed to expect that he’d answer yes.”

Harry shrugged. “I was hopeful?” he stated it as a question.

Hermione and Pansy frowned at his answer, knowing there was more to it, but unable to figure out what it was.

“I’m hopeful for more snogging,” Draco said, effectively derailing further questions as Harry immediately moved to fulfil Draco’s wishes.

They were snogging quite happily when Snape’s voice interrupted them and they broke apart to glare up at the man.

“Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy,” Snape sneered. “While I am grateful that I will no longer have to listen to your lovesick whinging, I do not wish to be subjected now to public displays by the two of you. Do attempt to keep yourselves under control.”

Harry and Draco scowled at the man. “You just had to say something, didn’t you?” Harry said.

“Thanks for ruining the air of mystery,” Draco added sarcastically.

Snape smirked at the two boys. “It is indeed my pleasure.”

“Go away,” Harry muttered.

Snape raised an eyebrow, daring Harry to say anything further.

“Fine,” Harry said, heaving a sigh. “Thank you for your help. And I’m sorry for thinking you’re a bloody git.”

“You are not sorry, insolent brat.”

“Yeah, yeah, you can go away now that you’ve ruined our fun,” Draco snapped irritably. “Go scare some first years or something.”

Snape glared at Harry and Draco’s friends sitting around the table. “Yes, I do believe my job here is done,” he said, before turning sharply and leaving them sitting in silence.

Harry and Draco turned to look at their friends and started laughing at the gobsmacked expressions.

“Bloody hell!” Ron exclaimed.

“What was that all about?” Pansy demanded.

Harry looked at Draco. “Maybe you should explain,” he said. “They’re not likely to believe me.”

“And you think they’ll believe me?” Draco asked incredulously.

“They all know you’re friendlier with Snape,” Harry said with a shrug.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Draco demanded.

“You’re his godson, not me,” Harry said. “They can probably accept that. Do you really think they’re going to accept that I’ve been training with Snape in secret for a year and a half? Hell, I killed off Voldemort a year ago today. They’re going to wonder why I haven’t told anyone about the training before now.”

“You had no choice with so many Death Eaters on the loose,” Draco said. “They’ve only recently rounded up the last ones.”

“True,” Harry conceded. “But still, how do I explain that it’s all been fake? You know most of my bloody detentions have been staged.”

They barely registered the heads swivelling back and forth trying to keep up with their conversation.

“Don’t ask me how you’re going to explain it. Do you think they’re going to believe that my godfather has had me staging fights with you just to land you in those detentions? Your friends all think I’m bloody evil. My friends all think I’m evil!”

Harry rolled his eyes. “That’s because you are evil.”

“Thank you for noticing,” Draco said with a smirk.

Harry shook his head in exasperation. “Draco, who’s going to believe that we’ve been slowly becoming . . . ,” he trailed off, not sure how to phrase it.

“Less antagonistic?” Draco suggested.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “We’ve barely spoken civil words to each other, but no one’s had a clue that it hasn’t really been antagonistic for ages. Well, except for Snape.”

“It’s not my fault you’ve been whinging to him about wanting to go out with me,” Draco said. “You brought it on yourself.”

“He was the only one who I could tell. And what about you?” Harry retorted. “Snape’s tired of listening to you whinge about wanting to go out with me.”

“It’s not my fault I began to admire you,” Draco said petulantly.

“Well, it’s not my fault that I began to see you as something other than a Death Eater wannabe,” Harry snapped.

“Then I suppose it’s a good thing my godfather told you to just ask me to the Ball,” Draco said smugly.

Harry paused before commenting, “I agree.”

Draco raised an eyebrow in surprise. “I could get used to you agreeing with me.”

Harry’s eyes widened briefly before they narrowed. “Come here,” he said huskily, patting his leg in invitation.

Draco immediately moved to comply, straddling Harry’s lap.

“I could get used to you following orders,” Harry said smugly.

Draco scowled until Harry pulled his head down so he could kiss him.

Pansy looked over at Hermione. “I don’t know about you, but I find it somewhat comforting that they can still bicker like that.”

Hermione nodded. “They look happier doing it now, though.”

“They’ll be bickering now, just so they can have the make-up sex afterwards,” Pansy said knowingly.

Hermione, and everyone else sitting at the table, turned to watch the two boys snogging passionately—and had to agree.