When Snow Melts

~When Snow Melts~

Summary:
...What does it become? Harry and Draco fight, fight, fight, and find eachother by mistake. Prophesies are uncovered and the line between love and hate is crossed hesitantly.

Pairing(s): Draco/Harry, Ron/Hermione
Rating: NC-17 or so. This is not a lighthearted tale. Sex will be involved, drug use is also involved, if you count potion-taking as a drug. XP Death might be included as well, but not Draco or Harry\'s.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything created by J. K. Rowling.
Warnings: M/M, Slash, Anal, Oral, MPreg implied, Pre-HBP for convenience issues, Drama

AN: For those of you that stuck with me through the confusing times and the boring times, thank you truly. I guess my writing can be misleading, and for that I apologize.

So, without anything further, here goes...


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Chapter Four: Hormones
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\"Wake up, Harry..you\'ve overslept already! Now, get up!\"

The voice of Ron Weasley jerked Harry to a start, sitting upright and blinking wearily. \"Slept in?\" He asked, with a hint of fear in his voice. \"What time is it?\"

Ron looked guilty to be the one to reveal this bit of information, \"Well, you missed breakfast...so...yeah.\"

If Ron were depending on Harry for support, he would have been flung from the bed and onto the floor, what with the sudden, intense movement Harry just revealed. Throwing back his covers and practically leaping out of bed, ignoring the shiver of the morning air against his sleep-warmed body.

\"Why didn\'t you wake me sooner, Ron?\" He accused, tearing off his pajamas and looking for a new set of clothes immediately. Ron was transfixed as he watched his half-naked crush, blushing terribly. \"Uhhh..\"

Harry seemed to have taken notice at once as he spun to look at Ron and prod him to continue past the uhh. \"Ah, s-stop looking!\" Harry stuttered, grabbing the sheets from the nearest bed and tugging them haphazardly around his thin form, blushing as well.

Ron sqeaked at being caught, words stuck in his throat. It did nothing for his flushed face, which just darkened in it\'s crimson hues.

\"R-Ron, we need to talk...\" Harry decided, shakily. Ron could only nod fearfully in agreement.

\"Okay, now that we\'ve got that settled, would you mind turning around so I could change into something appropriate for our chat?\" Ron continued nodding, having not stopped since the last question was uttered from his best mate.

\"Right. Good.\" Harry sighed, watching Ron turn around stiffly toward the window. It was odd, having to make Ron look away while he changed, having changed before him several times before. But he didn\'t think it a good idea to give in to Ron\'s obvious lust and let him watch like that.

Harry didn\'t perform strip shows, afterall.

A few moments later, Harry sighed and tapped Ron on the shoulder to get his attention. His friend jumped and spun around, still blushing, Harry noted, to his dismay. \"I wish you would relax, Ron.\" he muttered, tiredly.

Ron nodded and spoke for the first time in minutes, \"I was trying to wake you before, Harry.\" The boy just nodded his response, urging him to continue and hopefully get this over with.

Ron looked Harry straight in the eyes, taking a deep breath and releasing his words into the sigh, \"I really fancy you, mate.\"

Harry was polite enough to stifle the laughter willing it\'s way up into his throat, or was it bile? Shaking his head to hide the smirk on his face, either way, he placed his hand onto Ron\'s shoulder. \"I know.\" He admitted.

Ron looked surprised, \"You do?! Then...\" He was afraid to continue.

\"You know I like you, too, Ron. You are my best mate afterall, but...\" He had to avert his gaze out the window to avoid Ron\'s contorted expression of grief, \"You do know Hermione cares for you...a lot.\" At the silence, he pressed on, \"Don\'t you?\"

He heard Ron sputter, it sounded like a humourless laugh, or an indignant exclamation. Harry was curious and brought his eyes back to his face, stunned at the expression. Pain. Jealousy. Anger. Sorrow.

\"She feels like that toward a lot of people though, doesn\'t she? Even you.\"

Harry couldn\'t compress the smile that leaked it\'s way onto his face. \"You\'re off your rocker, Ron. She fancies you plenty more than she does me...or anyone else.\"

Ron took that moment to flush from head to toe, he looked like a chameleon, trying to match the color of his hair though, instead of his surroundings. No response came, however, so Harry continued,

\"Yeah, sure she does, I thought it obvious that you and her were an item now. I knew you were both so stubborn, though, so it wasn\'t unnatural that it should take..forever.\" He smiled wider. \"Ron, sometimes you are thick, you know that?\"

The Weasley took a step back, running his fingers through his fiery mane. \"I never realized...\" And after a moment, a smile was shared, \"I \'spose I am rather thick, though.\"

They stood there, smiling at eachother, until Ron looked panic-stricken. \"Harry, you-- no harsh feelings, right? I still do care for you, but..Hermione. Are you sure you\'re not just pulling my leg, mate?\"

Harry shook his head, chuckling softly and feeling relieved to have persuaded Ron to leave him alone romantically. \"I\'m positive.\" He shoved at Ron\'s shoulder playfully, \"And no harsh feelings, but I still think I want to take my clothes off while you\'re not watching.\" They both laughed softly and Harry smirked, \"You\'ve liked her for a while now, haven\'t you?\"

\"Yeah..\" Ron blushed, \"But I thought for sure she didn\'t like me the same way...y\'know?\"

Harry looked accusingly, \"So you thought maybe you liked me...typical of your hormones. But you know I\'m not gay.\" At this, Ron looked surprised and muttered, \"You\'re not?\"

Harry looked offended, \"Of course not! I dated Cho, didn\'t I? I mean, I really liked her and all, I also think other girls are...nice looking.\" Ron smiled knowingly. \"You...Y-You believe me, don\'t you?\"

\"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?\"

Harry\'s jaw dropped.

\"Well, best get going, mate. We\'re going to be late for our first class as it is.\"

Harry just nodded weakly and followed his best friend out, pondering everything cautiously.


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That evening, in the Great Hall, Harry noticed how Ron sat further from Hermione than usual, but closer to himself in the process. Hermione, however, looked emotionally upset. Harry nudged Ron from under the table and the red-head glared at his friend, blushing wildly. It appeared he was still rather stubborn.

Harry sighed and took another bite, looking away from the pitiful display that was his moping friends. Eyes wandering across the hall, they came to land on a pair of eyes that seemed to be returning the look openly. Harry suddenly choked on his food, leaning forward and pounding his chest.

This broke Hermione and Ron\'s silent treatments and they immediately began fussing over their mutual friend. Harry was embarrassed and pushed at their hands, trying to get them to return to their seats. Already, it felt like half of the Great Hall was looking at him and he didn\'t want anymore attention than what was absolutely required. \"I\'m fine,\" Harry coughed.

Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances, but returned to their seats either way. Harry\'s eyes were watering and he took a big drink of his pumpkin juice, trying not to look back at Malfoy, who had been the person sharing his glance when the fiasco started. He was sure the blonde would be making rude, mocking gestures or laughing. The mere thought made his blood boil.

\"You need to chew more carefully,\" came Hermione\'s scolding tones. \"\'Mione, lay off, it\'s shameful enough as it is with everyone watching you choke on a roll!\"

Harry didn\'t feel any better listening to his friends\' conversation. He quietly excused himself from the table, Ron grabbing Hermione\'s arm as she tried to go after him.

At Hermione\'s assent, Ron flushed, noticing his hand wrapped about her arm. He pulled back as if burned as his face heated up to further show his embarrassment.

Hermione, ever the clever, raised her brows at Ron\'s actions but said nothing. Surely she had mistaken the look on his face and the twitch of shy fingers against her arm before he pulled back so suddenly. She decided to remain silent about it, wanting to study this for herself.

A conversation between them, needless to say, was started up by Hermione soonafter as she seemed to be feeling much better than before.


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Harry walked briskly down the hall, feeling embarrassed beyond reason. He didn\'t want to go to detention with Malfoy tonight. He didn\'t want to face him again.

Turning a corner, he ran into the one person he most definitely did not want to see. \"Malfoy.\" He uttered in horror, to which said boy smirked wickedly,

\"I thought we were on a first name basis, Harry.\"

Harry flushed, with anger or not, he was unsure, before pushing past him and heading off toward Gryffindor tower. \"Where do you think you\'re going?\" Malfoy called after him. Harry spun around, glaring. \"To my dormitory, what\'s it matter to you?\"

\"I think it should matter a great deal to me. Afterall, detention starts at seven o\' clock. Did you expect to be late? Shame, shame.\" Draco scolded in a mischievous way, causing Harry to turn towards him and stalk back.

\"You never said anything about making my detention with you earlier!\" he spat in a harsh whisper, embarrassing moment in the great hall momentarily forgotten.

Draco raised his brows, \"I\'m sure if I were to inform Snape that it took us five hours last night and I indeed require more sleep than what was obtained, then he would allow me to raise detention by one measley hour.\"

Harry\'s expression darkened and he looked about ready to strike at Malfoy.

\"Meet me in half an hour.\" He stated smoothly, before brushing past Harry to make his way to the dungeons. \"Probably to prepare for class...\" Harry figured briefly, before heading to Gryffindor tower to have a bit of free time before having to join Draco in the Potion\'s classroom.

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To Be Continued...
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AN: Hm. Short chapter. I had starting writing this before I was interrupted by certain issues, so I had to cut the chapter short. Perhaps later I will, instead of writing more for chapter 5, add on to this one, so check back if you\'re interested.

Also, sorry for taking so long to update. I know I mentioned having another one up same-dayish. Gah.