Smokin' Hot

*


“Harry.”

Harry jerked his head off the table and looked around for the source of the hissing that sounded oddly like his name. Glancing to his left, he found Hermione staring at him, occasionally glancing at Mr. Binns to make sure he couldn’t hear.

“Harry!” she hissed again, trying to get his attention.

“What?” he whispered.

She glanced again at Binns then back to him. “Are you okay?”

“What?” he asked again, confused.

She paused for a minute, as if she was trying to make up her mind. After a few seconds of staring at Harry and trying to decide, she turned to the front and raised her hand.

Mr. Binns was once again surprised to find a hand in the air, as it was such a rare occurrence in his classes. “Yes, Ms. Gardener?” he asked, confusing everyone’s name as always.

“Harry’s not feeling well,” she said swiftly and Harry gave her a questioning look. She gave him hard look and he realized.

“Yeah, I have a headache,” he lied.

“Would it be alright if I take him to the nurse?” Hermione asked politely.

“Yes, yes,” Binns said, waving his hand distractedly. “Take Mr. Porter to the office.”

Hermione stood up and grabbed Harry’s arm tightly. He gave her a look, but she didn’t loosen her grip at all. Instead, she pulled him out of the classroom and down a few hallways until they came to a concealed passage where it was unlikely they would be found.

Here, she finally released him, and his hand came to his arm, rubbing the spot. “Ow, Hermione,” he said, glaring at her. “What was that for?”

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked pointedly, ignoring his question.

He stopped rubbing his arm. “Nothing,” he said, dropping his hands to his sides. He really didn’t want to tell her about Draco.

Ever since the day before, Harry had been thinking about Draco and what he had said. He’d made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want a relationship, that he didn’t want Harry.

At first, it had stung Harry, Draco’s rejection, but after thinking about it, he had come to the conclusion that Draco was wrong. That was simply it. He was wrong and Harry had to prove it to him.

Now, looking at Hermione, and knowing that she suspected something, he knew he had to tell her. He hadn’t been planning on it.

“Harry,” she said sternly, “I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”

“Why do you always have to know everything?” he groaned in frustration.

“Because you won’t tell me!” she exclaimed, then remembered where she was and lowered her voice. “What’s been going on with you lately? The other day you skipped class and then yesterday after lunch you hardly said anything. Are you feeling alright?” She raised a hand to his forehead and he scoffed and pushed her away.

“I’m fine,” he said, taking a step back from her. She was giving him a skeptical look and he sighed. “Okay, I’m not fine, but it’s nothing bad.”

“What is it, Harry?” she pushed.

“Well, okay,” he sighed, leaning back against the wall. “The other day when I left Binns’ class I did go to the bathroom, but I… found something else instead.”

“What does that mean?” Hermione asked cautiously.

“Draco Malfoy was there…”

“Ugh, Malfoy,” Hermione scoffed. “I knew he skipped class. Just wait until I tell McGonagall. Maybe he’ll lose his spot as president. I told you he didn’t deserve it, didn’t I, Harry? He just skips class but because Snape loves him, he gets top honors. It’s not fair. I work harder than him and he still gets away with everything.” She paused for a second in her rant, and then seemed to realize what Harry had said. “What did he do to you? Is that why you’ve been acting funny? Did he threaten you? I swear to God, Harry, if he did anything to you, that’s it! I’ll go to Dumbledore and get him expelled!”

“Whoa, Hermione, calm down!” Harry said quickly, starting to fear for Draco. Hermione was always a bit scary when she was angry.

“Well, Harry, what did he do?!” she exclaimed, and Harry could see the anger behind her hazel eyes.

“Nothing!” he said. “Nothing, he didn’t—nothing.”

Hermione looked at him suspiciously for a moment. “Then what happened?”

“Nothing,” Harry said evasively, looking anywhere but in her eyes. He really didn’t want to tell her. He knew she would be mad and not approve of it, even though there really wasn’t anything to approve of.

Hermione fixed him with pointed stare, her hands on her hips. “Tell me what happened, and if you say nothing one more time, Harry James Potter, I will personally go talk to Malfoy and find out exactly what happened.”

“Okay, okay!” he agreed finally, knowing it was useless to try to keep anything from her. “I kind of… sleptwithmalfoy…”

“What?” she asked, not having been able to discern the last mumbled half of Harry’s sentence.

“I kind of… slept with… Malfoy,” Harry said, getting quieter with each word.

“WHAT?!”

“Shh!” Harry exclaimed, glancing around to make sure they were completely alone.

“What? Why?! Why would you do that?!”

“… Twice.”

“WHAT?!”

“Hermione!”

“Oh my God,” Hermione said quietly, her eyes wide with shock. She was staring at Harry in horrified disbelief. It took her a few moments to compose herself while Harry waited anxiously. This was exactly how he thought she would react. He was glad that it was only her right now and not Ron too.

Finally, Hermione looked at him, as if she was trying to understand. “Why, Harry, why? Why would you do that with him? He’s a selfish, spoiled brat, who does whatever he wants to whomever he chooses. Surely you know that?”

“Well, we don’t really know him, do we? Only you know him and not all that much. Maybe he’s different than you think.”

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione said, shaking her head at his naivety. “It’s not just me. He’s slept with more than his share of people at this school and it’s always the same story. They want him but he doesn’t want them, so they end up with a broken heart. The only guy he’s ever stuck with is Blaise and I’m not completely sure how that relationship works…”

“Well, I’m not in love with him, if that’s what you think,” Harry said stubbornly.

Hermione gave him a disbelieving look, and he was indignant. “I’m not!”

“That’s what they all say, Harry.”

“But I’m not!”

“So then why have you been acting oddly these past few days?”

“I don’t know,” Harry sighed, glancing up at the ceiling. “He told me the other day that it was fun, but nothing else would come of it. I think he was lying.”

Hermione’s look of pity was something Harry didn’t want to see, so he kept his eyes resolutely on the ceiling. “Harry, did you not hear a word I just said?” she asked finally.

“Yes,” he replied slowly, “but I think he’s wrong.”

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione sighed, then laughed pityingly. “He’s not going to want you. You’re not his type.”

“Gee, thanks for the support, Hermione,” he said sarcastically, finally looking at her.

“I’m just trying to tell you the truth,” she said consolingly. “Malfoy doesn’t really date. He… fucks and that’s it.”

“How do you know?” Harry asked defensively. He didn’t want to accept that she was right. He would much rather think that there was a possibility of the latter.

“Harry, you can’t be around these people all the time during NHS and all the other activities and not overhear some conversations. Besides, there are plenty of people who could give you a firsthand account of what Malfoy does.”

“Who?” Harry demanded.

“Well, Seamus for one,” Hermione said casually, watching Harry closely.

“What? When?!”

“Sometime last year. It’s really not important, Harry,” she said dismissively, but still kept a close watch on him.

Harry had felt a strange rush in his stomach when Hermione had talked about Seamus and he didn’t know what it meant. He quickly pushed it down, knowing whatever it was it couldn’t be helpful. “Well, I’m not giving up.”

Hermione sighed and shook her head. “It’s not worth it.”

“How do you know what it’s worth?” Harry shot back angrily.

“Don’t get mad at me, Harry,” she said sternly, fixing him with a glare. “Malfoy’s the one you should be angry at.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Harry apologized. “I just think he was wrong. I think there could be something.”

“I don’t—” Hermione began, but Harry cut her off.

“I know you don’t like him, and Ron probably won’t either if he finds out what’s been going on, but I think I could do it. I think Malfoy doesn’t realize what he wants. I could show it to him.” He could tell from Hermione’s skeptical look that she thought he was insane.

“Alright, Harry, you can try it, but I don’t think it’s going to work,” she said skeptically.

Harry gave her a small smile and pushed himself off the wall. “Always the optimist, aren’t we, Hermione?”

Hermione just rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling slightly. “I’m just practical.”

“Yeah,” Harry said, throwing an arm around her shoulder as they began to walk back to class. They had been gone a long time. Surely by this time, Ron might even have noticed their absence.

When they were a few doors from the classroom, Harry stopped and pulled Hermione to face him. “Listen, can we not tell Ron just yet? I think it’ll be easier if it’s just you and me that know. He’ll find out eventually, but I don’t want to tell anyone until I’m sure.”

Hermione looked apprehensive about keeping a secret from Ron, but in the end, agreed. “Well, alright,” she said, “but you’ll have to tell him eventually and he won’t be happy that you kept it from him.”

“I know,” Harry said. “I think he can handle it, though. You’ve just got to stop bashing Malfoy in front of him. You’re giving him a bad name.” Harry then left Hermione standing next to the lockers as he went back to the classroom.

Hermione frowned. “He gives himself a bad name,” she muttered to herself before following Harry back into class.

***

“How ya doin’, Harry?”

“Huh?” Harry asked, jolted out of his thoughts of exactly what he wanted Draco to do to him when he got the chance. He couldn’t tear his mind away from their last encounter and hoped that Hermione was wrong.

He shook his head and realized where he was. He quickly removed his hand from the tank that held the boa constrictor and glance up at Hagrid, who was standing next to him, a bag of feed slung over his shoulder. “Oh, I’m fine,” he answered finally.

Hagrid nodded and shifted the bag. “We jus’ got a new Gambian Giant Pouched Rat. Came in this mornin’. Want to see?” he asked eagerly.

Harry smiled encouragingly and followed Hagrid to the back of the store where there was a rather large rat, at least ten inches long, sitting in a glass aquarium. Harry didn’t quite understand why people wanted these pets, but they got enough business here, so someone must be buying them.

“It’s… interesting,” he said slowly, not sure what to say.

Hagrid beamed and placed a finger to the glass. “Isn’t he beautiful? I already got a buyer for ‘im too.”

“That’s great,” Harry said, grabbing a bag of food that was lying next to the cage. “I’ll go feed the snakes, okay?”

Hagrid nodded, barely noticing, his gaze fixed on the ugly little rat as it scurried around the cage. Harry just shook his head and walked back to the main part of the store.

There was a little display window in the front where a few of the snakes were caged. Further back in the other well-lit areas of the store, there were cages with sugar gliders, hedgehogs, more amphibians and reptiles. Another section of the store held exotic spiders such as tarantulas. Ron always avoided that area when he came to visit Harry at work.

Harry set down the bag on the counter and reached under it for a small tank of live mice that tumbled over each other as they ran around in circles. He dropped a few in each snake’s tank, not bothering to watch the attack and kill of each.

He reached the Boa Constrictor that he’d been daydreaming over earlier. She was about six feet long and a yellow-ish color. Harry reached into the tank and stroked her smooth scales lightly.

“Hey, Rosie,” he greeted the snake quietly. The snake, Rosie, only flicked out her tongue at him, her eyes rising to his. Harry could have sworn she understood him sometimes. “Hungry?” He reached into the tank and selected a few of the biggest mice, dropping them into the tank.

He watched them being consumed, but was only vaguely paying attention. His mind was again wandering to thoughts of Draco. He knew Hermione had a point, and it was probably impossible that Draco would ever change. But Harry wasn’t ready to give up. After all, it had only been a few days.

Harry sighed as he watched the last mouse disappear into Rosie’s mouth. He continued to stroke her head lazily, thinking that if he could only prove to Malfoy that he was worth it, he could get what he wanted.

***

The next day went very slowly for Harry. He had his detention that afternoon and was not looking forward to it. Snape had been so kind to remind him earlier during Chemistry.

Now Harry was sitting in his last class of the day, art with Mr. Flitwick, and dreading what was to come. He didn’t want to have to waste his afternoon sitting in a classroom with other delinquents and doing nothing. He could at least be working and earning more money.

After what seemed like forever, the final bell rang and Harry made his way slowly to his locker, putting away his books and grabbing a notebook so he could at least try to do some homework. He really needed to start his essay for Lupin.

He moved sluggishly to the classroom where the detention was being held and pushed open the door. There were already a few people there, spread out around the room.

In the middle of the desks was Seamus Finnigan, who looked completely at ease as he leaned back in the desk chair and set his feet on the desk. He smiled at Harry when he came in and gestured that he should take the seat next to him.

Harry sat down in the chair, shoving his bag under it, and turned to Seamus. “What’d you do?”

“Nothin’,” Seamus said, grinning mischievously. “You?”

“’Loitering’,” Harry said sarcastically, and Seamus grinned.

“Snape?”

“Yup.”

“Well, don’t worry, Harry. Detention isn’t all bad. It all depends who the teacher is today.”

Harry was about to say he hoped so when the door swung open again and he stopped short.

Draco Malfoy swaggered into the classroom, looking as confident as ever. Harry stared at him as he walked over to the front desk. Beside him, Seamus’ eyes were also on Draco, but they had more of a hungry gleam in them.

“M-Malfoy,” Harry stuttered. “You have detention?”

Draco looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “I’ll be supervising this little detention, Potter, so you better keep quiet and do your work, unless you care to have another detention tomorrow.”


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A/N: Well, you guys sure impressed me with your reviews on ABA. Can we do the same here? :D Please review!