How to Save a Life

Harry snuck back up to Gryffindor Tower while everyone else was at breakfast. Once in the safety of his own room he summoned Kreacher and asked the elf to bring him some food while he took a quick shower.

After his shower Harry came back into his bedroom with a towel slung low on his hips, droplets of water running over his torso. He paused in front of the wardrobe, overwhelmed by the choice that now confronted him. Not really wanting to wear any of his new clothes for Quidditch practice, but realising there was no other option as his old clothes had already been disposed of in his absence.

He settled in the end for a pair of comfortable looking faded blue jeans, a long sleeved navy t-shirt and matching hoodie. Grabbing his broom and outer robes he hurried out of the room, deciding to get a little flying time in alone before the rest of the team arrived.

Practices were now an uncomfortable experience. Although there were no outward displays of hostility from either of the Weasley siblings, there was definitely an undercurrent of tension which the entire team noticed.

Dismissing any such unpleasant thoughts, Harry mounted his broom, kicked off from the ground and took to the air.

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With Harry at Quidditch practice, Draco made good use of the free time and headed up to the library with Blaise. The two Slytherin’s made their way to the back of the library, selecting one of the more secluded tables.

Draco heaved a deep sigh as he spread his books out on the table and realised just how much homework he had to do. Despite his other faults, the Slytherin was a conscientious student with a work ethic that would put even Hermione Granger to shame. However, over the last few weeks his mind had been occupied elsewhere and he had let his work slide.

Not for the first time he questioned the wisdom of taking 7 subjects on to NEWT level. But then, as he reflected, he hadn’t had that much of a say in that decision making process.

Draco stretched out a hand reluctantly selected his Ancient Runes textbook and began attempting to make sense of his notes. He felt the faint stirrings of a headache as he made heavy work of this hated subject.

Blaise had a much lighter work load, having nothing more taxing to occupy him than 2 feet of parchment for Herbology. Despite this, the Italian boy made very little effort to begin his work, preferring instead to fidget wildly in his seat, tapping his quill on the table in a way designed to drive his friend to distraction.

“Blaise” Draco snapped, glaring fiercely. “Do you plan to do any work today or are you simply here for the express purpose of driving me mad.”

Blaise grinned sheepishly at his friend. “Sorry, Draco, I’m just waiting for Neville to get here before I start this.” He gestured at his work with a disgusted look on his face, “You know how I hate Herbology, but Neville’s the best in the class,”

“So basically you’re just waiting for him to get here so he can do the work for you?”

“No,” Blaise retorted, stung by his friend’s accusation. “He’s just going to help me, there’s nothing wrong with that is there?”

“There’s something wrong with it if you two are going to sit their talking while I’m trying to get my work done.”

Before Blaise could think of a suitable comeback to this, his attention was distracted by the sight of Neville who had entered the library and was making his way over to their table.

“Hi, Neville,” Blaise grinned at this boyfriend. “You’re just in time to save me from Draco’s moaning.”

Neville slid into the chair next to Blaise and cast a quick apprehensive glance at Draco. Although they were now on much friendlier terms that they had once been, the Gryffindor was still a little nervous around the blonde Slytherin.

“Hi,” he offered tentatively.

Draco raised his head and met the boy’s gaze briefly, “Longbottom,” he acknowledged with a nod of his head before turning his attention back to his work.

Neville shot a questioning look at Blaise but the Italian boy just shrugged, grinned and then slid his chair closer that that their legs were pressed against each other.

Draco tried hard to ignore the other two occupants of the table. But he couldn’t help but hear their affectionate whispers, nor did he miss the almost constant touching that was innocent enough, but was a knife in the heart to Draco, who could only think that he and Harry would never be able to be this relaxed together in public.

After only a few minutes Draco could stand it no more. He got abruptly to his feet, his chair scraping loudly on the floor behind him.

“Damn it, Blaise! I’m trying to work here,” he exclaimed in irritation. “I have to go find a book now, I expect you two to get this out of your system before I return, or you can find another table to sit at.” Draco didn’t wait for a response; he simply fixed both boys with a fierce glare and then stalked off.

Draco spent several fruitless minutes in search of the required runic text before admitting defeat and heading off in search of Madam Pince. The stern librarian had something of a soft spot for the blonde Slytherin, borne from the many hours that Draco had spent in the Library over the years and she was only too willing to point him in the right direction.

Draco gratefully retrieved the heavy tome and headed back to his table, only to find Blaise engaged in the act of tickling a giggling Neville.

Draco let the book fall on the table in front of the two boys with a loud slam that alerted them to the irate blonde’s presence. One look at his friend’s angry gaze told Blaise all he needed to know. He flashed an apologetic grin at the blonde before scooping together his work and dragging a confused Neville towards another table.

Draco let out a sigh of relief and sank back into his seat. Just as he was losing himself in his work again, a voice invaded his concentration.

“Malfoy.”

Draco looked up and was startled to find himself looking into the chocolate brown eyes of the Head Girl.

“Granger,” he acknowledged, “To what do I owe the honour?”

“That book,” she indicated with a wave of her hand. “Madam Pince informs me it is the only copy and I need to use it too. I just wondered how long you were going to be.”

Draco fought against every inbred instinct to snarl, to sneer at or to insult the girl in front of him. He swallowed every snarky comment and simply said “I shouldn’t be more than half an hour. Where are you sitting? I will bring it over to you once I am done.”

If Hermione was surprised by this civility she hid it well, “Thank you, I’m just over there.” She indicated a table a short distance away that was barely visible under a collection of books and parchment.

There was an uncomfortable silence then during which Draco could see the girl looking at him as if he were a particularly difficult Arithmancy problem.

“Was there something else Granger?” Draco enquired in a stiffly polite tone. He was rewarded by the sight of the usually collected Head Girl shifting uncomfortably, her eyes fixed on the ground. Finally she seemed to summon the courage she required and met Draco’s cool gaze head on.

“I’m just curious, Malfoy, as to what it is Harry see’s in you that makes him willing to jeopardise his friendships.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at this. He extended his leg under the table and pushed out the chair opposite him. “Then by all means, take a seat, Granger.”


Hermione flashed a briefly suspicious look at him but took the proffered chair none the less. Draco noticed that her hands trembled slightly as she nervously smoothed her robes.

“I won’t bite, Granger, despite what you may have heard.”

Hermione let out a harsh laugh at this. “Yes, well you’ll have to forgive me if I’m not exactly relaxed in your company, Malfoy. The last two times we have come into close contact ended with your friends and family trying to kill me.”

Draco blanched at this and dropped his gaze, unable to face the accusation in the face opposite him.

“I’m sorry,” Hermione slid a hand across the table towards Draco’s, but withdrew it quickly, thinking better of it.

Stormy grey eyes looked up at her in surprise, “Why are you apologising to me Granger. I rather think that I should be apologising to you.”

“What would you apologise to me for?”

It was Draco’s turn to let out a harsh, bitter laugh at this question. “You really have to ask that question, Granger? There are a million little things I could be apologising for having done to you over the years. But I think they are rather insignificant when compared with recent events.”

Hermione shook her head slightly. “No, I know all the things that you could be apologising for; I’m just interested to know what you think they are.”

“Oh I don’t know, Granger,” Draco’s voice was heavy with bitterness as he spoke. “How about letting Death Eaters into the school that nearly killed you all, or for standing by while my aunt tortured you, or for almost getting you all killed in the room of hidden things?”

Hermione found herself startled by the blonde’s candid words and decided he deserved nothing less in return.

“I don’t hold you responsible for the actions of Crabbe and Goyle. You did try to stop them from using the killing curse, even if your motives were less than honourable. Those two paid a high enough price for their actions.”

“You let Death Eaters into the school, yes. I’m not going to pretend to understand why you did, but Harry spoke up in your defence at the enquiry and that was long before the two of you were friends. If your reasons were good enough for him to accept, then I will trust his judgement.”

Hermione paused for breath and noticed the startled eyes that were fixed on her face. “As for what happened when we were captured, I’ve thought about that a lot over the last few months. You knew it was us, I could tell from your reaction, but you didn’t give us away.”

“They figured it out anyway,” Draco muttered.

“Yes they did. But it bought us time, it gave them time to spot the sword and that in itself probably saved our lives. If it hadn’t been for that, they would have called Voldemort straight away and we would have all been killed. You couldn’t have done anything to stop Bellatrix from torturing me either.”

“I didn’t even try,” came the bitter response. “Harry would have, even the Weasel would have tried. But I just stood there and watched.”

Hermione smiled at this, “Yes, Ron and Harry would have risked it, but their Gryffindor’s, Malfoy, taking stupid risks is what they do. You knew only too well what would have happened to you if you had tried to interfere, your Aunt would probably have killed you.”

“My parents would never have allowed her to,” Draco stated stubbornly, but he didn’t quite manage to hide the doubt in his voice.

“They didn’t manage to stop her all those other times though did they?” Hermione questioned softly.

Draco’s whole body tensed visibly at these words, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he gasped. “There were no other times.”

“I know all about it, Malfoy,” Hermione stated softly. “I had quite an illuminating talk with Luna yesterday.”

Draco stood up, his expression somewhere between anger and pained.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he spoke slowly but firmly. “You have finally cracked, Granger, if you believe anything that Loony has to say.”

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but before she could speak, Draco had thrust a book into her hands.

“Here, you may as well take it now. This conversation is over; I have nothing more to say.” Draco began gathering his belongings together, steadfastly ignoring Hermione.

By the time Draco had finished packing all his stuff away, Hermione had got to her feet, realising she would get nothing further out of the blonde. She turned away disappointed and almost collided with Harry who, having finished Quidditch practice, had come in search of his boyfriend.

“Hermione,” he exclaimed, unable to mask the surprise or concern in his voice.

The bushy haired girl grabbed hold of his arms to steady herself. “Hi, Harry, if you’ll excuse me, I was just heading back over to my table.” She removed herself from Harry’s steadying embrace and turned to Draco, “Thanks for the book Malfoy.”

Draco nodded in acknowledgement, “anytime Granger,” he replied in a tight voice.

Harry watched thoughtfully as Hermione scurried back over to her own table and promptly buried herself in the mass of books that littered it. He turned back to the agitated looking boy in front of him, “you ok Dray?” he asked.

“I am now you’re here,” he purred. Harry grinned at this obvious attempt to avoid the question, but considering the gleam in his boyfriend’s eyes, he decided to let it go this once.

“I really need to go have a shower first; I’ve just come straight from practice,” Harry apologised.

“Don’t you dare,” Draco whispered, “I happen to like you all sweaty.”

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By lunchtime Harry had still not managed to have a shower, having been dragged down to the dungeons by his boyfriend for what turned into a heavy petting session.

Seeing that Neville was already sat by Blaise’s side at the Slytherin table, Harry decided to head that way also, much to Draco’s delight. He squeezed in to the tight space that his boyfriend made for him and found that his side was pressed flush against the smirking blonde.

No sooner had Harry begun helping himself to a large plate of sandwiches, that he noticed a lone Owl circling about the Great Hall. Neville also spotted it, “I bet that’s for you Harry,” he mumbled through a mouthful of food.

Draco couldn’t help but turn his nose up at this. “I see, Blaise that you have managed to acquire a boyfriend who has the same high standard of table manners as you do.”

Neville flushed at this, but Blaise simply grinned at his friend.

Harry was still watching the Owl as it headed down towards the Gryffindor table. “Why would it be for me, Neville?” he questioned.

This time, Neville made sure to swallow his food before responding. “It was here at breakfast looking for you, but you weren’t here. It wouldn’t leave the parcel with anyone else either.”

The Owl had landed on the Gryffindor table next to Seamus, who appeared to be talking to it and pointing in the direction of the Slytherin table. “Oi, Harry.” he shouted, “It’s for you!”

Harry nodded at his friend but felt like cursing the Irish boy as they eyes of the Great Hall turned to watch as the owl soared over to him. The pretty barn Owl hovered over Harry’s plate impatiently while the Gryffindor fumbled to release the package she carried.

Seeing there was a letter attached to the parcel, he turned his attention to this first (and was forever grateful he did afterwards.)


Harry,

I will be quite busy with the new
shop for the next few weeks,
but I will be coming up to school
for the Gryffindor Slytherin match
next month. In the meantime,
I think this book should
answer most of your questions.

George

PS: You might want to open the package when you’re alone.


Harry looked warily at the innocuous brown package, before setting it to one side. He turned his attention back to his lunch before becoming aware of piercing grey eyes fixed on him.

“Who was the letter from?” Draco enquired, keeping his voice as neutral as he could manage.

Harry swallowed a mouthful of food before replying, “George.”

Draco’s eyes narrowed at this, “Why is Weasley owling you? You only saw him yesterday.”

Harry shrugged, trying his best to seem nonchalant, “He’s just sent me a book he thought I would like.”

Draco decided not to press the matter further, not wanting to come off as the jealous boyfriend in front of his housemates. He turned his attention back to his lunch, trying hard to ignore the wide smirk that Pansy was sending in his direction.

Harry bolted the rest of his lunch down and quickly excused himself to Draco, claiming he was heading off for that much needed shower. Draco barely had time to question this, before Harry was up, out of his seat and halfway across the Great Hall.

He hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, a feeling of excitement and nervousness in the pit of his stomach. He had many ideas about what the book George had sent him contained and he was desperate to see if he was right.

“Chocolate Frog” he said to the Fat Lady and clambered quickly through the portrait hole. He made his way up to the boy’s dormitory and entered with a sigh of relief. His relief quickly disappeared however, when he caught sight of a flustered looking Ginny Weasley perched on the edge of his bed.

“Ginny,” his eyes narrowed at the red haired girl. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

Ginny stood up and took a few hesitant steps towards him, “I just wanted to talk to you, Harry. I wanted to ask you to give me another chance?”

Harry rubbed tiredly at his eyes, “Ginny, we’ve been through this already. I don’t feel that way about you anymore.”

“Ok,” Ginny shrugged, “Can’t blame a girl for trying though, Harry. I would like it if we could be friends though.”

Now thoroughly confused, Harry just nodded, “Sure, Ginny, of course.”

At this, Ginny picked up her bag, flashed a broad smile at Harry and then headed out of the door. Harry flopped on his bed and thanked whatever god there was, that he liked boys, because girls confused the hell out of him.

Remembering his package, he quickly tore the brown wrapping off and revealed the book beneath. His eyes widened at the title as he wondered where on earth he was going to hide it so no one say it.

‘GAY SEX FOR THE TEENAGE WIZARD’

‘Real subtle George’ Harry thought as he opened the book with trepidation.

An hour later and Harry had now closed the hangings round his bed and was still reading. He had to admit that George had been right, this book certainly answered most of his questions. And in the case of some illustrations, it told him a little more that he was sure he was ready to know just yet.

But Harry was feeling more relaxed about the whole thing now. He knew he still wasn’t ready to have sex with Draco, but he did feel comfortable with moving things to the next level. Draco had remained true to his word about not pressurising Harry into anything he didn’t feel ready for. All that remained then was for Harry to let Draco know that he was, in fact, ready.

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That night Harry snuck down to the dungeons and let himself into the Slytherin Common room with the password that Draco had given him.

He found his way into Draco’s bedroom and parted the hangings around his bed. He slipped under the covers, cast a quick silencing charm and then snuggled into the warmth of the other boy’s body.

“Harry,” a sleepy voice mumbled.

In reply, Harry wriggled so that his bum was pressed up against Draco’s groin. Draco was awake now and his cock was already stiffening in response to Harry’s teasing.

Draco slid an arm round Harry’s waist and slid it under his pyjama top, his fingers stroking Harry’s taut stomach. Draco felt the little shivers that ran through his boyfriend’s body at this.

“You like that, Harry,” he murmured, his fingers brushing over Harry’s nipples.

Harry gasped softly, then summoning his Gryffindor courage, he pressed himself firmly back against Draco.

“I want you to touch me, Dray,” he whispered so softly that Draco barely heard him.

Teasing fingers trailed down Harry’s chest, “Where do you want me to touch you, Harry?” Draco’s fingers paused at the waistband of Harry’s pyjama bottoms. The feel of Draco’s own erection pressed up against him was enough to give Harry the confidence he needed.

“Touch my cock,”he whispered.

Harry felt his boyfriend press small kisses along the crook of his neck. “Are you sure Harry?”

Harry felt like he was going to explode from the anticipation, “Merlin yes,” he gasped.

Draco chuckled lightly at this and his fingers slid slowly inside Harry’s trousers and wrapped around the shaft of Harry’s cock. He whispered a lubricating charm and began stroking slowly.

Harry’s breathing hitched at the feel of another hand where only his had been before. He cursed himself for having waited this long to feel something so amazing, Draco knew just how to touch him.

He felt Draco’s cock thrusting against his bottom and suddenly he felt guilty that he was getting all the attention. Thinking back to what he had read in the book earlier, he reached down and tugged his pyjama bottoms down.

Draco gasped when he felt Harry’s hand reach behind and begin tugging at his boxers. Understanding what his boyfriend was trying to do, Draco quickly pulled them off before pressing back up against Harry and resumed stroking his cock.

Harry moved slightly so that Draco’s own thrusting erection slipped into the cleft of his bum cheeks causing Draco to think he had died and gone to heaven.

Draco timed his thrusts with his strokes on Harry’s cock, gradually getting faster, bringing them both closer to the edge.

“Fuck, Dray, that feels so good, don’t stop,” Harry gasped as Draco tightened his grip on Harry’s shaft, making the strokes firmer and faster.

Draco was barely coherent at this point, it was all he could do to maintain his self control and not penetrate Harry as each thrust brought him closer to his boyfriend’s puckered hole. His precum had lubricated his shaft and he was now gliding between Harry’s bum cheeks with ease.

Draco lowered his mouth to Harry’s neck and he began to bit him gently, sucking at the tender skin. Harry began whimpering in pleasure and thrust hard into Draco’s hand, “so good, Draco,” he moaned, “m’gonna cum.”

At this, Draco sped up his stroke on Harry’s cock feeling his boyfriend tense against him. Harry’s head fell back onto Draco’s shoulder as he let out the most erotic sounding moan that Draco had ever heard.

When he felt Harry’s seed spill over his hand, Draco clamped his lips onto the white flesh of Harry’s neck and began to suck as he thrust harder against him, until he too, came with a resounding cry. His cum shooting over Harry’s buttocks and down his thighs.

The two boys’s collapsed against each other, Draco barely had the energy to whisper a quick cleaning charm. Harry reached down and pulled off his pyjama bottoms totally, wanting to join Draco in his nakedness. Seeing what he was doing, Draco began to slowly unbutton Harry’s top and then helped him to slip it off his shoulders. Harry then turned round and curled up against his boyfriend, revelling in the touch of their bodies, naked, against each other.

“That was amazing, Harry,” Draco whispered, in between kissing his boyfriends soft lips

Harry looked deep into Draco’s eyes, which were still glazed with lust. “You were amazing,” he said, before burying his head in the crook of Draco’s neck, placing soft kisses along the creamy pale skin.

Draco wrapped his arms tight around his boyfriend and could remember a time when he had felt this content. He tried to stay awake as long as he could, to enjoy the feeling of just holding Harry. But very quickly he could feel sleep tugging at the edges of his consciousness and it wasn’t long before he had joined Harry in a sated slumber.

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