How to Save a Life

Draco woke up with a shiver and it took him a moment to look at his surroundings and realise where he was and, more to the point, why he was naked.

He turned his head and gazed at his boyfriend who was sleeping peacefully curled up around him. Draco leant down and kissed each of Harry’s closed eyelids gently. His fingers tenderly brushed the messy black hair off Harry’s forehead and slowly traced the lightning bolt scar with one cool fingertip.

Another light shiver reminded Draco why he was awake and he tried to wriggle free of the arms that were currently encircling him. At this movement Harry tightened his arms round Draco’s waist.

“Stay,” he murmured.

Draco smiled at this and placed a light kiss on the tip of Harry’s nose, watching in amusement as, even in sleep, the boy wrinkled his nose up.

“Harry, wake up,” Draco said softly, lightly shaking the sleeping boy.

Harry mumbled something unintelligible in reply but showed no signs of waking.

Draco shook him firmer this time, “Come on, Harry, time to get up,” he said softly.

As an added incentive to wake his boyfriend up, Draco trailed his hand down Harry’s body and cupped his groin lightly. Harry gave an unmistakeable thrust against Draco’s hand before his eyes cracked open and he peered sleepily at the teasing blonde.

“Was havin a lovely dream,” he protested. Then, as he registered the location of Draco’s hand, his eyes widened slightly and a smile tugged at his lips.

“S’nice way to wake up,” he murmured, grinding ever so slightly against his boyfriends hand.

“Sex fiend,” Draco accused, a broad smile on his face. “Now let me out of this bear hug so I can get dressed.

Harry’s arms tightened around Draco further, pulling the blonde flush against his chest.

“Harry, I’m not a bloody teddy bear,” Draco protested weakly.

“But you’re so cuddly,” Harry teased and gently flicked Draco’s nose with his finger tip. “Anyway, I like you naked,” he added, a gleam in his eye.

Draco gave a sharp twist and managed to escape Harry’s grasp. He got to his feet and began looking for his discarded clothing.

“Next time you’re the one who’s getting naked,” he muttered mutinously. “What the hell did you do with my boxers?”

Harry rolled over slightly and reached underneath himself, before extracting Draco’s crumpled underwear.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” he sing-songed, swinging the boxers slowly from his fingertips.

Draco scowled briefly and snatched them away. Harry rolled completely over onto his side and watched Draco as he began to dress and instantly mourned the loss of his boyfriend’s naked form.

Seeing green eyes following his every move, Draco gave Harry a teasing smile.

“Like what you see?” he purred seductively, wiggling his hips as he shimmied into his trousers. Harry licked his lips reflexively and nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

By the time Draco was fully clothed, Harry was hard enough to hammer nails. He had no idea how, but Draco managed to make getting dressed just as erotic as stripping off.

Harry sat up reluctantly as Draco held out a hand to him. He took hold of it and allowed the blonde to pull him to his feet, feeling a tiny shoot of electricity surge between their clasped hands.

Draco’s eyes travelled to Harry’s obvious arousal, “My, you’re up early this morning,” he smirked.

“Draco,” Harry whined, his expression and tone pleading.

Draco quirked his eyebrow, “Harry, it’s nearly 5 am in the morning and I have Quidditch practice in 5 hours. I’m going back to my bed to get some sleep and I suggest you do the same.”

He grinned wickedly here and brushed his hand over Harry’s erection, “Though I would suggest that you take care of this particular pressing matter first.”

Harry groaned and glared at Draco, “Evil git,” he muttered.

Draco chuckled at his boyfriend’s frustration and gave him a quick kiss before taking hold of his hand and leading him to the door. A quick wave of his wand and he vanished all evidence of their evening. Although Harry fancied that there was still a faint musky aroma of sex in the air.

Feeling brave, they walked hand in hand down the corridor till they reached the staircase. Casting a quick look round first, Harry leaned in and captured Draco’s lips in a lingering kiss.

Harry eventually broke the embrace reluctantly, “See you later,” he whispered breathlessly.

“Yes,” Draco agreed, “oh, Harry, don’t forget that if Pansy asks, you ate those chocolates, not me.”

Harry grinned, “Coward,” he accused lightly.

“It’s not cowardice; I prefer to think of it as self preservation.”

Both boys were still chuckling lightly as they turned to go their separate ways. Harry went up to the 7th floor and Gryffindor tower, while Draco headed down to the dungeons.

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Several hours later, Harry dragged his tired body down to breakfast. He already had the beginnings of a headache flashing behind his eyes and not even the pepper up potion he had consumed had completely eradicated his exhaustion.

As he made his way to the Gryffindor table it was all he could do to stifle a groan at the sight of Ginny gesturing to an empty seat at the side of her. Knowing there was nothing else for it, he headed over in her direction, a fake smile plastered to his face.

“Morning, Harry, I saved a seat for you.” Her smile was so earnest that Harry felt a brief flash of guilt.

He settled down in to the seat at the side of her and was relieved to spot Seamus sitting opposite. The Irish boy was grinning back at him, “Thank God you turned up Harry. She’s been guarding that seat like a bulldog for the last 20 minutes. Neville tried to sit there and nearly lost an eye in the process.”

“That was an accident, Seamus and you know it,” Ginny snapped.

“Yeah, well it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t had your damn wand shoved up your sleeve at the breakfast table. It’s not like Nev was expecting to get poked in the eye.”

Harry looked up at this remark and glanced over at Neville who had one bloodshot eye. “You okay, Neville,” he asked in between mouthfuls of porridge.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It stung a bit at first but it’s alright now. It’s ok, Ginny,” he turned to the tense redhead, “I know it was an accident.”

“So, Harry,”

Harry felt distinctly uneasy as he looked up and saw the teasing grin on Seamus’s face.

“You look tired this morning; did you have a ‘hard’ night?” There was no mistaking the suggestion behind either his words or the glint in his eyes and Harry squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

“No, I’m fine, Shay. I just didn’t sleep that much.” Harry answered cautiously whilst flashing a questioning look at Neville. Seamus sounded like he knew something, or at least suspected and that made Harry nervous, especially with Ginny so close by.

Neville shrugged in return, indicating he had no idea what the Irish boy knew. Harry decided that avoidance was the best tactic for now, so he gulped down the remainder of his porridge and pushed back from his seat.

“I need to get to the library early,” he offered by way of explanation for his departure.

He got only a few footsteps before he heard Ginny calling after him.

“Wait up, Harry; I’ll walk out with you.”

Ginny was at his side almost instantly and she linked her arm through his. Harry cast a nervous glance over to the Slytherin table but was relieved to find Draco grinning back at him, obviously enjoying Harry’s discomfort. At least it’s better that being pissed off at me, Harry told himself.

As they exited the Great Hall, Harry was desperately racking his brains for a way to throw Ginny off. He was about resigned to his fate when he spotted Pansy on the other side of the room giving him a sympathetic smile.

He quickly disengaged his arm from Ginny’s and made his excuses.

“I’ve just spotted Pansy over there, Gin, and I need to have a word with her. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

Harry barely waited for a reply before hurrying across the hall; he completely missed the positively murderous glare that Ginny sent in the other girl’s direction.

“She doesn’t give up easily, does she,” Pansy smirked over Harry’s shoulder in the direction of the angry red head.

Harry followed her gaze, “Who, Ginny? She knows we’re just friends.”

“And I’m a Hufflepuff,” Pansy returned. She ran her eyes critically over Harry, “You look like shit,” she stated firmly. “Did Draco keep you up all night?” she questioned, a slight leer in her tone.

Harry shook his head reprovingly. “Sorry, Pansy, but I have been given strict instructions by Draco never to discuss our private life with you” he explained much to the girls chagrin.

“That bloody boy spoils all my fun,” Pansy huffed. “Did you at least enjoy the chocolates?”

Remembering Draco’s warning, Harry nodded. “Yes, they were lovely, poor Draco barely got a look in, they were that nice.”

“Nice try,” she smiled, “but you can tell Draco I’m not fooled.”

Harry only grinned foolishly at this, knowing he was a hopeless liar anyway.

“Are you doing down to watch him practice later?” Pansy questioned. “I thought you might like some company?”

Harry nodded, “Sure. I’ve got to head up to the library first, but I’ll come get you just before 10?”

“The library, this close to breakfast?” Pansy asked in a tone that really said ‘are you mad?’

“You’ve spent too many years hanging round with Granger. You’re in danger of turning into a book worm.”

Harry only laughed at this and gave the girl a gentle shove. “I’ll see you later,” he offered before turning and heading for the main staircase.

Pansy smiled to herself as she watched him go before turning around and heading towards the dungeons.

As she walked down the dim lit corridors, Pansy felt like she was being watched or followed. She stopped and took a look behind but could see nothing. Trying to shake off the feeling, she carried on purposefully. As she was walking down a short flight of steps, she felt her foot catch on something invisible and before she could save herself, she was tumbling forwards.

Pansy put her arms out in a vain effort to break her fall but she still hit the stone floor with quite a thud and she could feel the warm blood trickle into her mouth from her split lip. Before she could recover herself and get off the floor, she felt a knee pressed between her shoulder blades and a hand grab tightly at her hair.

Pansy froze at this, so terrified that she was unable to move or attempt to defend herself. It didn’t matter how many times she tried to tell herself it wasn’t them, all she could think about was what had happened to her the last time she had been pinned down like this.

“You’re pathetic, you know that?” an angry voice demanded. Pansy knew that she recognised the voice, but was so overwhelmed by fear that she couldn’t properly process it.

“You’re nothing but a worthless piece of shit.” The hand was pulling hard on her hair and then suddenly released it, so that Pansy’s head smacked, once again, onto the cold hard floor.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from Harry. He’s far too good for scum like you and I won’t let you drag him down to your level.”

Pansy knew for sure now who her attacker was; she didn’t need to see Ginny Weasley’s face to know it was her. But somehow that knowledge didn’t make her any less scared.

“Do you think he would want anything to do with you if he knew you were nothing more than a Death Eater whore?”

Pansy’s breath caught in her throat at this, she couldn’t know, could she? Yet there was a certain smugness in Ginny’s voice that told Pansy she could and she did know.

Once she was satisfied that she had got her message across to the Slytherin girl, Ginny stood up and looked down at Pansy with disgust on her face. She aimed at couple of hard kicks at Pansy’s ribs,

“They should have done us all a favour and killed you when they did your father.”

That said she paused only long enough to spit on the prostrate girl, before turning and leaving without another word.

Pansy lay on the dungeon floor trying to get her erratic breathing under control, the coppery taste of blood in her mouth. She slowly dragged herself to her feet, wincing at the ache in her ribs and the throbbing in her head. Tidying herself up as best she could, she scurried quickly to the safety of the Slytherin common room.

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Meanwhile, Harry was up in the library, hunting through the shelves with a zeal that would have made Hermione proud.

After his relationship with Draco had progressed to another level the night before, Harry had been left with a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. Not because he didn’t want to be doing these things with Draco, because he did, more than anything.

What worried him was the thought of Draco seeing him without his clothes on. That Draco would take one look at the cuts on Harry’s arm and decide that he couldn’t handle someone with that kind of baggage.

What Harry was looking for was a strong glamour charm, one that would last longer than the few hours than the one he currently used did.

He hunted through book after book, but his goal proved elusive. He rammed a thick book back onto the shelf with unnecessary force, causing a loud bang to echo through the almost empty library.

“Harry,” a familiar voice sounded in a reproving tone, “You should be gentler, some of these books are really old.”

Harry span round, an angry retort on tip of his tongue, to find Hermione smiling at him almost shyly.

“Hermione, hi!” was all he managed.

“I’m not used to seeing you in here this early in the morning. What are you looking for?”

Harry fought down the urge to tell Hermione to mind her own business. It occurred to him that she was the one person who could help him find what he was looking for; all he had to do was tell her a little white lie.

Once he had told the bushy haired girl what he wanted and explained that it was to hide the scar on his forehead, she was only too happy to slip into the restricted section and retrieve the required book. Harry did feel a little guilty about lying to her, but not enough that he was willing to share the truth with her.

“Here you are,” Hermione dropped a particularly dusty book down on the table in front of him. She flipped it open at a particular page and jabbed at it with her finger.

“This one should do the trick. It’s the strongest one you can use without actually getting into dark magic.”

“Thanks, Hermione,” Harry said with genuine warmth in his tone. He pulled the book towards him and began to read eagerly, “You’re a life saver,” he offered, somewhat distractedly.

Hermione slid into the seat opposite Harry and watched him, a concerned look on her face.

“Are you feeling ok, Harry, you don’t look too well?”

“What?” Harry looked up; running his fingers through his already messy hair and Hermione had to bite back a smile as the action simply made it even wilder.

“You look tired,” Hermione pressed on, “Are you sleeping ok?”

Harry shrugged dismissively at her concerned expression.

“I’m ok,” he answered flatly.

“You seem to be getting on better with Ginny lately, are you two getting back together?”

She had Harry’s full attention with this question. His head snapped up, his eyes wide in surprise.

“What?” he demanded loudly. At Hermione’s disapproving expression, he lowered his voice before continuing.

“Where the bloody hell did you get that idea from?"

Hermione tutted, “There’s no need to swear, Harry, it was a simple question. Ginny was saying that you were friends now and how well you were getting on, I just got the impression that things were getting back on track between you.”

Harry fought at the sneer he could feel curling at his lip as he looked at the defensive girl in front of him.

“There is nothing going on between me and Ginny,” he stated firmly. “She came to me wanting to be friends and I agreed because I felt bad about how things ended. But there is now way on earth that we are getting back together, so you can get that idea out of your head right now.”

“It’s not my head you want to worry about the idea being in,” Hermione retorted. “It’s not very nice of you to lead her on if you don’t feel anything for her.”

Harry slammed his quill down on the table top, his eyes flashing with barely suppressed anger.

“Ginny knows perfectly well that there is nothing between us and that there never will be. Merlin knows I’ve told her enough times. It’s over between us and the sooner you all accept it, the better. Now if you don’t mind...” Harry picked up his quill again and began to write, not trusting himself to speak further.

Realising that she was being dismissed, Hermione bid a quiet farewell and made her way back over to her own pile of books. Harry was so wrapped up in his task that he completely missed the sad look that she cast in his direction.

Harry hurriedly copied the charm onto a spare piece of parchment and tucked it securely into his jeans pocket. Unable to return the book to the restricted section, he took it over to the main desk and handed it over to Madam Pince and hurried off before she could question him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they made their way out of the dungeons, Harry eyed pansy thoughtfully. She seemed quieter than usual and slightly on edge, added to that was the cut on her lip and faint bruise on her cheek, all of which aroused Harry’s suspicions.

“You ok, Pansy?” he enquired as they headed into the entrance hall.

“Huh? Sorry, Harry, what did you say? I was miles away.”

“Anywhere nice?” he teased lightly.

“Not really,” Pansy replied tonelessly and Harry didn’t miss the fain shudder that ran through her body.

Not wanting to press her further when she seemed unwilling to share, Harry changed tack.

“How did you hurt your face?”

Pansy’s hand went automatically to her swollen lip, touching it gently. “What? This? It’s nothing really; you should see the other person.” She smiled as she spoke but Harry was a veteran at faking emotions and he easily spotted that it never reached her eyes.

“Pansy,” he began seriously.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry. Some joker just got me with a tripping jinx and I went down with all the grace of a drunken troll.”

Harry sensed that there was more to it but didn’t want to force the girls confidence. He held a deep resentment people who pried into your private business under the guise of concern and he had no desire to join their ranks.

He let it go for the moment but resolved to mention it to Draco later. He figured that, as close as they were, if Pansy would confide in anyone, it would be him.

As they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch, Harry spotted Ginny and Hermione huddled together, whispering furiously. Both girls turned their heads to stare at them and Harry felt Pansy tense briefly at his side. However, she recovered quickly and with a toss of her hair, she slipped her arm through Harry’s and shot a defiant glare in the red heads direction.

Harry took one look at Pansy’s expression and Ginny’s narrowed glare and, unfortunately for all concerned, put two and two together and came up with nothing like four. He mistook Pansy’s actions for that of a girl protecting her best friends boyfriend from the attentions of an ex girlfriend, and completely failed to make the link between this brief standoff and Pansy’s recent injuries.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Harry and Pansy had climbed the countless steps to the top of the Quidditch stands, the Slytherin team were already in the air. They settled themselves down near the front and lapsed into silence as they watched the practice.

For Harry, it was like watching Draco fly for the first time. Previously he had either been flying against the blonde, or watching through eyes biased by hate. But now, as his eyes trailed his boyfriend through the air, Harry realised just how good Draco really was.

Draco wasn’t as quick in the air as Harry but he had a natural grace that made his flying look almost effortless. As he flew near to the stands, Harry was able to see the look of pure joy on the blondes face as he swooped after the snitch. The wind had left his normally pristine hair dishevelled and his pale cheeks pink, almost giving him a post orgasm flush that definitely caught Harry’s interest.

“You know, Harry,” Pansy began conversationally, interrupting his musing. “When the rest of the team found out you were coming to watch practice, they weren’t happy at all. They thought you were coming to spy on them.”

“Really?”” Harry asked an amused smile on his face.

“Yes,” Pansy nodded. “But once Draco explained that you were only coming down cos you liked to stare at his arse in tight Quidditch breeches, they didn’t seem to mind so much.”

Harry’s jaw dropped at this and he felt the familiar hot flush creeping up his cheeks. “Please tell me you’re joking?” he pleaded.

Pansy laughed lightly at this, “You really are too easy to embarrass you know? You’d think hanging around with Slytherin’s would have cured you of that.”

“I can’t believe he said that, he is in so much trouble,” Harry muttered to himself as he turned an outraged glare in the direction of his oblivious boyfriend. However, as he ran his eyes over Draco’s lean form, Harry was forced to admit that there may have been some truth in his boyfriends teasing. Leaning back in his seat with a smile on his face, he spoke so quietly that Pansy almost missed his words.

“He is hot though, isn’t he?”

Pansy giggled wildly at this, “Yes, Harry, he certainly is.” Then, sensing that Harry was fairly relaxed, she leaned over and whispered conspiratorially in his ear

“So, how was last night? Blaise said Draco didn’t get back till gone 5am.”

Harry only grinned and shook his head at her. “Pansy, you know I’m under strict orders from Draco to tell nothing.”

“Since when did you take orders from a Malfoy, Harry? Come on, be a man.”

Harry laughed at this and turned his attention back to the game.

“C’mon Harry,” Pansy whined. “I have to get my kicks vicariously, it’s not like I have a love life of my own.”

“What about you and Theodore? I thought you had a bit of a thing for him?”

Pansy’s eyes widened at this, “Who told you that?”

“No one had to tell me, I have eyes and I’m not as oblivious as everyone seems to think.”

Pansy sat back in her seat looking thoughtful for a moment before speaking again.

“Theo and I are just friends. I’m not really ready for anything else right now. He is cute though.”

Harry smirked at this and gave her a nudge with his elbow, completely missing the brief flash of pain that crossed Pansy’s face as he made contact with her tender ribs.

“You never know, maybe he’ll ask you to the Halloween dance.”

Pansy only shrugged and turned her face away, but not before Harry spotted her sad expression.

Harry turned back to watch the practice session and realised that it was ending. Draco was shouting his last few directions to his team in an authoritative manner, which Harry found quite a turn on, before sending them off to the showers.

Harry and Pansy made their way back down from the stands but when they came out on the pitch, Harry couldn’t spot Draco’s blonde head amongst his team mates. They both stood straining to catch a glimpse of him, when a hand shot out and dragged Harry under the stands.

Pansy grinned wildly at the sight of Draco dragging Harry off and stood guard so they weren’t disturbed.

Before he knew where he was, Harry found himself pressed up against the canvas wall, strong arms tight around his waist. Draco’s lips captured Harry’s in a forceful, almost bruising kiss that caused the Gryffindor to moan in pleasure.

Harry surrendered totally to the embrace, the feel of Draco’s body pressed hard against him, their clothed erections brushing together in a way that caused delicious flutters of pleasure to run through both their bodies.

Draco’s knee nudged between Harry’s legs, pushing them further apart, allowing the blond to settle between them. He reached down and placed a hand under each of Harry’s knees, and before the Gryffindor knew what was happening, his legs were locked round Draco’s waist, their erections pressed closer than ever.

“That’s better,” Draco purred as he thrust harder.

“Draco,” Harry managed to gasp, “We can’t do this here, someone will see.”

Draco simply silenced Harry’s protests with his lips, his tongue plundering the dark haired boy’s mouth. Harry completely gave over to the sensations that were coursing through his body; he locked his arms around Draco’s neck and kissed back with a passion he didn’t know he contained.

Their tongues duelled furiously, teeth biting, fingers digging harshly into each other’s bodies. Harry ground himself rhythmically against Draco, getting more frantic with each burst of pleasure that shot though him.

Harry lowered his head to the crook of Draco’s neck and muffled his groans as he came hard. Draco grabbed hold of Harry’s arse, pulling him tight against him. He gave several hard thrusts and had to bite down hard on his lip to keep from crying out Harry’s name as he came.

Harry slid bonelessly to the floor and would have fallen to the ground if it wasn’t for Draco’s arm holding him around the waist. The two boys stood, leaning against each other, only the sound of their steadying breathing.

After a moment Harry looked up at Draco, his lips swollen and cheeks flushed. He opened his mouth to speak but found he didn’t know quite what to say. Draco grinned down at him and kissed his cheek lightly.

“If only all Quidditch practices ended like that! Come on, Harry; let’s get you back up to the school.” He led Harry over to the entrance, his arm still tight round smaller boy’s waist.

“Think you can stay upright now?” Draco grinned.

Harry nodded and failed to suppress a yawn. Draco looked at him in concern, noticing the faint shadows under his eyes.

“Harry, you look knackered. Come back to my dorm and you can take a nap, don’t want you falling asleep on me tonight, do we?” Draco finished up with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

Harry nodded weakly, feeling the ache of his head begin to return now that he was no longer so distracted.

As they exited the stands, Pansy took one look at their dishevelled appearance and promptly burst out laughing.

“Not a word, Parkinson,” Draco growled.

“Sorry, Draco,” Pansy said in between chuckles. “It’s just that Harry looks so dazed, whatever did you do to him?”

“Nothing he didn’t enjoy, now come on and stop yakking.”

By the time Draco got out of the shower half an hour later, he found Harry curled up in his bed snoring softly. The blonde stood for a few minutes just watching his boyfriend sleep, marvelling, not for the first time, that Harry had chosen him, a Malfoy.

He leant down and brushed his lips against Harry’s forehead and ruffled his messy hair. He then tucked the sheets in snug around the sleeping boy’s body, before heading back into the common room where he threatened both his roommates with certain death if they, in anyway, disturbed Harry’s sleep.

Draco caught sight of Pansy smirking at him, “What,” he asked, irritated.

Pansy grinned at him in reply. She leant in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and leaned back to enjoy the flush that spread across his face.

“What the bloody hell was that for, Parkinson?”

“I couldn’t help it, you’re just adorable.”

Before Draco had time to react with his usual ‘Malfoy’s are not adorable’ rant, Pansy turned on her heel and fled in the direction of the girl’s dormitory, giggling madly.

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