Then He Opened His Mouth

Rating: PG-13 to start, working to R later
Pairing: HP/DM
Summary: Harry Potter has a "despise-hate" relationship with Draco Malfoy. Slashy goodness will ensue; so if you don\'t like slash, don\'t bother reading.
Disclaimer: I don\'t own them and I don\'t want to. I\'m just borrowing them for a bit, but they will be returned, no harm done
Feedback: Please read and review, but no flames, please!
A/N: Thanks to a wonderful beta and a good (and reassuring) friend, Chark and Laura. Any errors left behind will be mine alone. Thoughts indicated by parenthesis. Slight OotP spoilers.

Chapter Three
Variations of a Theme

My fifth year at Hogwarts had been a real eye opener for me. It had been over the course of that year that my perceptions of people and things began to take a sharp turn from what was safe into territory that was frighteningly new and unknown to me. This had been the year that my thoughts about Draco Malfoy had morphed from sheer, undisguised hatred to an almost grudging respect. Respect. Gods, that was a simpler term for what I\'d begun to really feel. Sitting there on the Hogwarts Express I\'d watched as his blonde head had bent down, a contemplative look playing across his handsome face. His pink lips had curled up into a soft smile, and it had caused my heart to lurch just a bit. How could I ever have thought that this beautiful boy resembled something so ugly as a ferret? What on earth had I been thinking? No, don\'t answer that. I\'m pretty sure that I\'d let outside influences colour my thoughts and feelings, but that day on the train, I\'d made the conscious choice to make my own decisions in the future, as far as Draco was concerned.

In watching him, I\'d begun to go over my past with him to try to find the point in time where my feelings in regard to him had changed. I was aware that what I\'d felt ran a bit deeper than skin level, because I knew that Malfoy was so much more than a pretty face. Certainly he was beautiful, but he was also very smart; one of the smartest people I\'d ever known. He also had a wicked sense of humour, if he\'d ever allow that part of himself to be seen by anyone other than his closest admirers. I\'d hated to admit it, but he was also very loyal as far as those of his house were concerned, and as far as I could tell, his loyalty was returned unwaveringly and without question. This is not to sayt I t I had been blinded to his faults. He was quite possibly one of the most annoying persons I\'d ever had the privilege to know. His tongue was rapier sharp, a weapon that sliced carelessly through anyone or anything that dared to stand in his way, and I\'d often found myself on the receiving end of many of his barbed remarks. Oh yes, Malfoy was beautiful. But he, above all, mos most certainly aware of this and would waste no time in making sure that everyone else was of the same opinion.

I\'d have given almost anything to get inside his head that day to see what made him tick, but I was terrified of what I might actually find there. So I\'d just sat there and watched him in secret, imagining that I\'d seen him glancing over in my direction, yet not daring to hope that he had in fact, been looking at me. Although I know that I\'m not that unattractive, I would only be fooling myself to think that he could eve att attracted to me. I\'d noticed who he\'d been paying attention to in the past, and I wasn\'t sure that I really measured up to that lofty standard. Of course, he also could have been lost in thought about his father, who had recently been taken off to Azkaban because of his Death-Eater activities at the Ministry of Magic. Oh well. It looked like Draco had decided to nap against his window, and my trying to interpret Draco Malfoy\'s thoughts was not going to make the rhomehome go any faster, nor would it make the summer pass by any more quickly. I\'d finally given up on my Draco watching and turned my attention back to my companions, and to the little cottages that dotted the landscape as the train passed through a small village.

~@~

My "Seduction of Harry Potter Plans" were already well underway as the Hogwarts Express made its way to Kings Cross Station in London. I was pretty certain that he would be completely won over by the famous Malfoy Charm™ (naturally) when I\'d gotten the oddest feeling that someone was staring at me. Interesting. I began to wonder if...could it have been? I\'d taken a quick look at all of the other passengers aboard the train, but I‘d been limited to the commentments nearest to me. In the compartment directly next to mine were Potter, Weasel, the Mudblood and Weasel\'s sister. In the one behind me, I\'d noticed Bulstrode, Parkinson, Zabini, and Boot. Just ahead of me were the Parvati twins, Finnegan, Brown and Longbottom. Looking to my left, I saw Potter resting his head against the window with a faraway look on his face as we passed through a small forest. He\'d looked so peaceful, his features softened by the subdued light streaming through the window next to him. \'Mine\', I\'d thought possessively. I couldn\'t help but smile as the thought took up residence inside my head.

I\'d twisted my head slightly to look back to see if it could have been Parkinson who had been burning holes in the back of my head. I\'d dismissed that thought straight away, noting that she was fast asleep with her head resting on Boot\'s shoulder. Gods, she was disgusting! She was drooling from the side of her mouth, her spit making a wet spot on Boot\'s shirt. No, it wasn\'t Slobberchops, thank goodness. I\'d let my eyes take mor more pass around the train and hadn\'t come any closer to figuring out who my mystery watcher was, so I decided to rest my head against the window. The last thing I remember floating into my consciousness was the vision of Potter\'s beatific face, surrounded by the golden glow of late afternoon sunlight. Content, I\'d dropped off into a dream-filled sleep.

~@~

The Hogwarts Express pulled up at Platform 9 ¾ about an hour later. The excited voices of young people filled the air, as they made their way from their compartments into the centre walkway. Harry, Ron and Hermione slowly rose in their compartment and stretched their weary muscles after the long ride home. Ron turned to his friends and grinned.

\"I hope you two can make it to the Burrow again later this summer.\" His eyes lingered on Hermione ever so briefly as he gathered up his things from the overhead storage space. \"Maybe we can get in some Quidditch practice. What do ya say, mate?\" He looked expectantly toward Harry, who gave him a reassuring smile.

\"Sure, Ron. My aunt and uncle shouldn\'t have a problem with letting me come round later this summer. Just as long as you keep the Terrible Twosome away from their Duddikins, it should be okay.\"

\"Hey! I resent that!\" Fred Weasley pulled a face at Harry as he and his brother passed him on their way out the door.

\"Besides, it\'s not like the porker wasn\'t gagging for some sweets, Harry!\" George laughed. The twins had decided to take the train in from Hogsmeade so they could join the rest of their family at the Burrow for a few weeks during the summer.

Harry laughed with the twins at the memory of Dudley and the infamous Ton-Tongue Toffee. "You\'d think he would have learnt his lesson about putting unknown things into his mouth, but he hasn\'t. So you lot need to steer well clear of him! It doesn\'t take much for him to make my life a living hell." Harry just shook his head and began gathering up his belongings.

Ron and Ginny stepped out into the aisle to join Fred and George. It was like a Weasley family get-together, right there in the middle of the walkway.

\"Oi! You lot get a move on!\" A very impatient Blaise Zabini was in the aisle behind Ron, anxious to make his way out of the train. \"I can see my mum and dad waiting for me on the platform, let\'s go!\"

Fred, George, Ron and Ginny rolled their eyes and began moving down the aisle. "I\'ll owl you later this month, Harry so we can make plans. Laters!" Ron pressed forward, he and his siblings spilling out onto the platform. Harry smiled and waved at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were waving at him and Hermione as they all began to make their way towards the students\' trunks.

The rest of the students began to file off the train, until the only ones left were Hermione, Harry and Draco Malfoy. Harry cocked his head to the side and watched as Malfoy sinuously made his way up the aisle in their direction. He paused momentarily in front of them, grey eyes briefly locking with Harry\'s. Draco nodded slightly at Harry, then turned and did the same to Hermione before quietly exiting the train.

\"Well, Harry. It looks like mum and dad are here waiting for me. I\'ll owl you later this week to make sure that you\'re getting enough study time in over the summer break, okay?\" Harry rolled his eyes mockingly at his friend. Some things never changed. The bushy-haired girl grinned at him and made her way to the exit, leaving Harry to follow close behind her.

Once on the platform, Harry was greeted by the sight of Remus Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, and Tonks admonishing his relatives to make sure he was well taken care of. He stifled a laugh at Uncle Vernon\'s purple face, which was quaking with resentment. He was still not used to the "freaks" who were telling him what to do with his own nephew, and Harry thought that the acceptance of his relatives in regard to his magical abilities was still a long way off. \'Oh well, one thing at a time,\' he thought. Harry thanked his protectors, then headed off toward Privet Drive with the Dursley\'s.

~@~

Wow, I can\'t believe he actually looked at me on his way out of the train. It was almost like he\'d known I\'d been watching him. And you know what? I think that progress was made this evening and there might be hope for me yet. He hadn\'t once called me a Mudblood the entire trip. Yes, things were definitely looking up.

TBC