Crossing Lines

It was the night of the lake challenge that Harry Potter’s world was tilted on its axis. Everything he thought he knew about Malfoy and his relationship with the boy was forever changed. It would be a while before he would come to terms with and accept those changes, but if he had to pinpoint the exact moment it started, that night was it.

He left Gryffindor tower with only one mission. He had to get away from all the commotion and excitement from his “heroics” of earlier. He wanted a few minutes of peace, a nice walk completely by himself. Fortunately he wasn’t risking detention as it was still before curfew, but it was late enough that he ran very little risk of encountering anyone else, or so he thought.

Somehow he ended up close to the Slytherin dungeons. It really shouldn’t have been such a shock when he rounded a corner and plowed right into Draco Malfoy, but it surprised him so much that he nearly fell on his arse in his hurry to back away.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Draco slipped out of his common room unnoticed and set on his path for Gryffindor tower. He knew enough about Harry to know that a stroll this close to curfew would be entirely too tempting for the other boy, especially with the chaos that was bound to be occurring in their dorms tonight.

He had long since abandoned his original assumption that the other boy reveled in his fame. He knew the desire to get away from it all would be exceeding strong tonight, so he was out to hunt the hero down and have few words with him. He was slightly worried about having the ability to confront Harry and control the emotions warring within him, but he took comfort in the fact that he was a trained Malfoy. He was most proud of his talent for keeping hidden that which he did not wish to reveal. In almost any given situation he could successfully present an icy mask of indifference.

Unless, of course, that situation entailed literally running into the boy of his wildest wet dreams. Their bodies were in full contact for only a split second before Harry pulled away, and it was at once extremely too long and horribly too short for Draco. Harry stumbled backwards immediately to gain some distance between them, fast enough that, hopefully, he didn’t notice Draco’s pained expression at the loss of contact.

Draco quickly found his footing and planted a smirk firmly on his face.

“What’s the rush, Potter? Multitudes of screaming fans chasing you? All trying to get their piece of The Boy Who Lived?”

“Shut it, Ferret Face.” Harry made a move as if to pass him, but Draco stepped directly in his path forcing Harry to stop short or run into him again. Honestly, Draco wanted him to stop, but wouldn’t complain if the latter happened either.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” Harry’s emerald green eyes locked with his, he knew the other boy meant it to be a challenge, and it was intimidating, just not in the way Harry planned. It was hard enough seeing Harry everyday, but having him alone and this close? It was hell. What did he want? Oh, the answers he could give, ninety percent of which would send Harry scurrying away. So, instead of focusing on the growing bulge in his trousers, of which he hoped Harry was completely unaware, he channeled his anger at the Gryffindor’s earlier antics and allowed it to take over.

“Just what the bloody hell did you think you were doing out there today, Potter? The popularity that’s been handed to you not enough? Just had to show off for the adoring fans? Had to be the hero?” Without even realizing it he was slowly backing Harry into a corner. Had he taken a moment to pay attention to what was happening, he might have taken pride in his ability to force the other into retreat, but as it was the only thing on his mind was the jolt his heart had been given when he’d thought of never seeing Harry again.

“Do you even think about things before you bounce into action? Did you really think they would have let any of them die? Are you that eager to be the hero? Or are you just that stupid?”

“Geez, Malfoy, I didn’t realize you cared so much.” The words dripped with sarcasm, but there was genuine fear in the other boy’s eyes. For a moment that confused Draco, Harry had never before shown any fear toward him. He allowed himself to assess the situation and realized what was causing Harry’s discomfort. It wasn’t him so much as it was the position he had put them in.

Harry was wedged in the corner of a small alcove, eyes wide and staring slightly up to meet Draco’s, which were only inches away. Draco’s hands were on the walls on either side of Harry’s head and his legs were splayed a little, effectively trapping Harry in the corner and preventing an easy escape.

Suddenly Draco realized that an opportunity like this might never present itself again. He had only a moment to weigh his options and make his decision before the spell that had fallen over them was broken. So quick that Harry couldn’t have resisted had he wanted to, Draco leaned in bringing their lips together.

Time stopped. They were frozen for a fraction of a minute until, to Draco’s wonderment, he felt Harry’s lips move against his. The kiss might have lasted 3 hours or only seconds, it didn’t matter, it was the best kiss Draco had ever experienced. He’d just gotten up the courage to run his tongue along Harry’s bottom lip when the other boy pulled away panting.

Harry didn’t pull back completely, his forehead still rested against Draco’s and his every breath ghosted across his lips.

“What was that?”

Merlin, what had he done? He’d just kissed Harry Potter, but most importantly, Harry had kissed back.

“That, Potter, was a kiss.”

“I know what it was you arse, but why?”

“Why?” Draco needed a moment to collect himself and playing dumb seemed the best route to go.

“Yes, why did you kiss me?”

“Why did you kiss me back?”

Harry huffed in frustration and pushed Draco away. He started to pace, running his fingers through his hair, mussing it more than it normally was. In Draco’s opinion it looked much better like that. He imagined it was pretty similar to the way it would look after an amazing shag. With him, of course.

“Malfoy, I’ve got a lot of shit going on right now, the last thing I need is you fucking with my head even more than usual.”

Harry stopped pacing and turned to face him. His face revealed nothing but absolute hatred and revulsion. He lowered his voice and spoke the words that would haunt Draco for months to come.

“Stay away from me, stay out of my way, and trust me when I say you would rather duel Voldemort himself than mention this to anyone.” With that he turned back the way he came, leaving Draco standing against the wall fighting tears that he would not give in to.

“Just keeping you on your toes, Scar Head.”

“Sod off, Malfoy.”