But on the other hand, if Hermione was working for Dumbledore, he didn't want her getting anywhere near Viktor and messing with the tentative friendship Harry had with the champions. If she was up to something, using Viktor for something… or he was just being paranoid and she happened to be enjoying getting attention from a popular older boy. Harry wondered how Ron felt about the whole thing. If he even knew about it. Shaking his head and deciding it was none of his business, he went in search of somewhere else to study. The evening was apparently full of surprises, as he rounded a corner to see Blaise, Millicent Bulstrode, Mandy Brocklehurst, the Patil twins and Lavender Brown all sat together, working on what looked like their Potions essay due Monday. He tried to back out of that one, too, but Blaise caught sight of him before he did. "Potter," he greeted neutrally, the barest of smirks on his lips. "Care to join us?"
"I wouldn't want to intrude," he insisted, giving curious glances to Bulstrode, Brocklehurst and Lavender. They didn't seem to be having any issue with the intermingled Gryffindor/Slytherin/Ravenclaw group. "You wouldn't be," Parvati insisted. "Have you done Snape's essay yet? We've only just started."
"Being brutally honest, Potter; your Potions grade could use all the help it can get," Bulstrode remarked, but she sounded more teasing than cruel. Harry paused for a minute. If they were genuinely inviting him, it would be rude to say no, surely? Bulstrode was known to avoid most of the real Slytherin drama, and if Blaise was encouraging it then she couldn't be too bad. Perhaps the Bulstrode heir could be swayed away from her Death Eater father.
"Well, you're not wrong there," he admitted, dropping into a chair opposite Mandy. Even after his lessons with Snape over the summer, he couldn't be seen to suddenly do well in the Slytherin's class, so Harry was still averaging a Poor.
He pulled a quill and parchment from his bag, leaning in to share Blaise's textbook since he hadn't brought his own. As the girls started discussing the use of marigold stems in healing potions, Blaise's dark eyes flicked up to Harry. "You were busy fighting dragons, so we started the study group without you," he said under his breath, keeping his expression neutral, as if he was just explaining potions to him. "As you can see, it's going well so far. We'll explain more on Tuesday." That was their next scheduled get-together. Harry grinned; he loved when plans came together without his involvement. It was the best. .-.-.-.
Practically sprinting up to the Transfiguration corridor as soon as all his dorm-mates were fast asleep, Harry grinned when he slipped inside the unused classroom. "We have got to figure out a regular meeting spot," he said by way of greeting. "I'm starting to lose track of the classroom rotation."
For safety's sake, they never met in the same place twice in a row, keeping up a schedule running through five different unused classrooms. Draco merely rolled his eyes at him. "Find somewhere you can be sure no one will catch on to, and I'll think about it." They'd been incredibly lucky so far — other than Remus catching them that one time last year, they hadn't been caught yet. But since their change in relationship, they'd started meeting up more and more, and it was just a matter of time.
Letting his schoolbag drop to the floor, Harry walked over to meet Draco at the desk he'd cleared off, leaning down to greet the Slytherin with a firm kiss. It still sent a thrill down his spine to know that he could do that; just go over to Draco and kiss him, whenever he liked. Well, as long as they were in private.
He sunk into the chair Draco had set out for him, their knees pressed together under the desk. Draco pulled his deck of cards from his pocket, shuffling. "Busy day?" Harry asked, and the blond shrugged. "No more than usual. Uncle Severus had me help him top up the Hospital Wing stock after class." Harry was glad that wasn't his job anymore; being responsible for potions that he knew students would be taking had made Harry far too anxious. He was competent now, thanks to the extra lessons, but he was by no means excelling. Draco, on the other hand, was probably top of their year. "Dare I ask what you've been up to?"
"The usual chaos and mayhem," Harry replied, grinning. "Oh, you'll never guess what I saw in the library today." He told Draco about Viktor and Hermione, and the blond made a face.
"I thought Viktor had better taste than that," he complained. Harry nudged him scoldingly.
"Hermione's fine! What's wrong with her?" he argued, worried Draco was going to make a disparaging remark about her heritage. He was better about it in private, but every now and then some of Lucius Malfoy's childhood lessons slipped through. The older Draco got, the more he was learning to think for himself.
"Other than the fact that she could be selling you out to Dumbledore?" Draco pointed out, one pale eyebrow raised. "She doesn't know the first thing about quidditch, why is she drooling over the Bulgarian seeker?"
"Maybe that's why Viktor likes her," Harry reasoned, ignoring the Dumbledore comment. "She doesn't care about his career."
Draco hummed, unconvinced, and played a card that won him the round. Harry cursed, and the Slytherin smirked, leaning in to steal a kiss. "You might be getting better, but you're still no match for me in strategy," he teased playfully.
"Why don't we play Coup le Chat instead?" Harry retorted, preferring the more luck-based game. Draco huffed, but obligingly dealt out six cards each.
Distracted by the talk of Viktor and Hermione, Harry almost forgot to tell Draco the real reason he'd asked for them to meet that night. Well, other than to kiss him. He'd never get enough of kissing his boyfriend. "Hey, Draco? Who are you going to the Yule Ball with?"
Draco stiffened, his fingers fumbling with the card he'd just drawn. "We can't go together," he said immediately. Harry scoffed.
"I'm not that much of an idiot," he agreed. "Though, for the record, I definitely would if I could. But that's why I asked; who are you going with?"
"I was planning to ask Pansy," Draco replied, shrugging. "Our parents will expect it, and she'll be fairly decent company."
"Just make sure she keeps her hands to herself," Harry said with a scowl, not liking the idea of Pansy Parkinson hanging off Draco's arm all night. Draco scoffed.
"Pansy's not interested in anything like that," he dismissed. He bumped his knee against Harry's. "Are you taking anyone, or just going to lurk in the cor ner with Longbottom all night?"
"I have to take someone," Harry informed him. "The champions are supposed to open the dancing with their partners. I asked Susan Bones this morning."
Draco's grey eyes were amused. "Bones? A Hufflepuff? Clever; showing support of Cedric and his house, branching out from Gryffindor, and allying with Amelia Bones' heir. No one will ever complain about a sweet little Hufflepuff like her." There was a faint twist to his lips, and it took Harry a minute to figure out what it was.
"Don't be jealous," he soothed, placing a hand over Draco's on the table. "She knows we're going as just friends. She's doing it for her image as much as I'm doing it for mine. I've been told I just need to be her arm candy," he added with a grin. That softened Draco a little.
"Malfoys don't share," he said eventually, turning his hand over to lace their fingers together. "Even if no one else knows it, you're mine. The thought of her getting to dance with you in front of all those people, when I can't even look at you without having to make sure I look like I hate you…" Harry pushed a lock of blond hair out of Draco's eyes, tilting his head forward to press their foreheads together for a brief second.
"One day, when this is all over, I'll dance with you in front of the whole bloody Ministry," he promised, kissing Draco slowly. The blond melted into the kiss, fingers threading into Harry's hair. "That's actually something I wanted to ask you about," he added breathlessly when they parted, refusing to get distracted.
"Can it wait?" Draco muttered, going in for another kiss. Harry let it go on for a minute or two, then pulled back.
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