Stuck! - The Elevator Story

\"MOVE! MOVE!\"

\"Ow! Stop kicking me, Malfoy!\"

\"What the hell are you still doing on the floootteotter?\" he yelled.

\"I can\'t find my glasses!\" Harry whined, on his hands and knees, the panic evident in his voice as he felt around the floor for any telltale sign of them.

\"It\'s *right* underneath you, idiot!\" Draco yelled as he hurriedly grabbed the crumpled piece of clothing by his feet and shoved his arms through them.

He could already feel the lift moving upwards slowly to the correct position. He supposed whoever it was outside, knew that they were stuck in-between floors.

And whoever it was, they could *never* suspect that anything happened.

He suddenly realised that he looked really silly with the tie still hanging around his neck.

He yanked it off impatiently and balled it up, shoving it into his jeans pocket along with his wand.

By now, Harry had only just put on his glasses and was getting to his feet.

Draco shook his head in frustration.

*Could this boy BE any slower?!!*

\"For god\'s sake, Potter! Put some clothes on! NOW!\" he barked.

Poor, confused Harry searched the floor for his white shirt, not finding it.

Draco was getting madder and madder.

And for good reason.

The lift had finally stopped moving upwards.

But now the doors were starting to inch apart.

Someone had jammed a long screwdriver in between the gap and was starting to pry the doors apart slowly from there.

\"I can\'t find my shirt!\" Harry wailed balefully, looking up at Draco with some trepidation.

And saw the blonde glaring at him; nimble fingers busy buttoning up something that looked awfully familiar to Harry.

\"Hey!\" Harry exclaimed indignantly and jumped to his feet, thumbing a finger into Draco\'s chest. \"That\'s mine!\"

Draco looked down.

*Oh shit!*

\"Oh shit!\" Draco swore. \"Forget it, there\'s no time, I\'ve already got it on. You -\" he fumbled, \"Just put my sweater on!\" he shouted.

\"Oh all right!\" Harry said irritably and grabbed the sweater; slipping it on easily.

Thankfully, they were almost the same size.

\"And fix your hair!\" Draco yelled.

\"STOP yelling at me!\" Harry shouted back.

\"I\'m sorry!\" Draco shouted, throwing his hands up in the air.

He stopped in surprise.

And looked at Harry silently. The dark-haired boy was still fuming but considerably startled by the unexpected apology.

\"I\'m sorry, \" Draco repeated, \"High tension situation and all that. But it\'ll be okay, right? We can handle this. We just have to stick together and act cool.\" Draco reasoned, sounding a little unconvinced despite what he just said.

Harry nodded meaningfully at him and ran a hurried hand through his unkempt hair.

The second right before the doors were pushed apart he turned and tried to smile reassuringly at the boy next to him, but the smile quickly died on his lips.

His green eyes grew wide in horror as they rested on the very striking remnants of his passionate attention to the boy\'s throat earlier.

What looked like five - no six, angry looking red bruises now covered the expanse of the blonde\'s pale neck.

*Oh boy! I really stepped in it now!* Harry thought in a panic.

Why, oh why didn\'t Draco put on his turtleneck?

There was no way anyone would miss those!

They\'d have to be blind, thought Harry miserably as the doors opened a bit more.

He briefly pondered the extent of Malfoy\'s wrath on him and prayed that he\'d be given a head start at the very least.

\"Uhm, Malfoy...\" he started timidly.

\"Hush, Potter. I\'ll do the talking.\"

L pou poured into the lift, quick bright flashes blinding them momentarily.

*Wait a minute... flashes?* Harry thought in confusion as he took a step out, onto the lift lobby of the fifth floor.

*Oh, NO!* he realised a little too late and gripped Draco\'s hand next to him in panic.

He almost pulled them both back into the lift in horror.

There were at least twenty reporters, journalists and twice as many curious onlookers surrounding them.

Someone standing in the back was holding a cheesy-looking placard with the words - \"I live my life for YOU, Harry Potter!\" declared proudly on it.

Almost immediately, three mikes were shoved rudely under his nose.

And an unseen voice boomed overhead, \"Harry Potter, how does it feel to finally be rescued after hours of being trapped in a Muggle-invented death-trap?\"

\"Err...\"

\"Mr Potter, do you now plan on embarking in a campaign to ban the use of all Muggle-invented devices within the Ministry buildings?\"

\"Wh-What?\"

More flashes went off in his face.

The person holding the placard appeared to be jumping up and down now, he or she had just (very creatively) added brilliant red sparklers to circle the sign.

Harry cringed in embarrassment.

Luckily the attention now shifted to Draco.

\"Mr Malfoy, we understand that you are a schoolmate of Harry Potter\'s. Are the two of you close?\"

Draco didn\'t even get a chance to respond to that before the next question was put to him.

\"I expect you were very much *relieved* to be in the presence of The-Boy-Who-Lived when this tragedy happened?\" The witch reporter who had asked this nodded at him.

\"Ex-cuse me?\" Draco fumed beside him.

\"I mean, of *ALL* the people in the world to be stuck with in an elevator for hours, shouldn\'t you thank your lucky stars that it was none other than *Harry Potter*?\" the reporter said again pointedly, a little annoyed at Draco\'s lack of response on the matter.

Quite a few people were already nodding in agreement at her question.

Without thinking Draco tightened his grip on Harry\'s hand, causing the boy to wince a little.

Surprisingly he hadn\'t pulled away since Harry grabbed his hand.

They stood close together, hand-in-hand.

Facing the bevy of onlookers and reporters together.

A few of the journalists noted this but chalked it up to the post-traumatic behaviour of young people.

Sensing that Draco was on the brink of an explosive outburst, Harry cut in quickly.

\"I think *I* was equally lucky to be trapped with Mr. Malfoy. We haven\'t exactly been the best of friends at Hogwarts...\" a few people tittered at this, \"and the time that we had, we used to get a better ... erm- understanding of each other.\"

\"How exactly?\"
\"In what way?\"
\"Are the two of you friends now?\"
\"Does this signal a sea change from centuries of inter-house enmity at Hogwarts?\"
\"What would this mean for -\"

The flurry of questions immediately returned in full force.

But one simple one, asked rather politely, made all the others stop in their tracks.

\"Mr. Malfoy, if we may enquire, what are those marks on your throat?\"

Harry bit back a groan.

Suddenly everyone wquiequiet.

All eyes were now on Draco.

The blonde swallowed audibly and reached up with his free hand to rub at his neck nervously, wondering what the hell it looked like to everyone else.

He certainly didn\'t feel any pain from them. Should love bites hurt?

*Bloody Hell! Why hadn\'t Potter said something before?!?*

He sneaked an accusing glance at Harry; who was deliberately avoiding his gaze. His mouth kept opening and closing like a goldfish.

*Useless.* thought Draco.

\"Er-hem.\" he cleared his throat loudly, \"Not to worry about that. I had developed a bad rash. Nerves and all, you understand.\" he explained and scratched at his throat irritably to prove his point.

\"Oh.\" the reporter said, disappointed.

An uneasy silence passed over the crowd for a few seconds at this, though it seemed like hours to Draco.

Then, someone screamed from the back, \"Harry Potter, Will you marry me?!\"

And all insanity broke out again.

+++++++++++++++++

(Two hours later.)

Finally.

The reporters had all fled back to their offices. Each eager to type up their own most sensational version of this morning\'s events for tomorrow’s paper.

After fending off several admirers and signing quite a few autographs, Harry finally managed to escape to the lavatory.

To find Draco already there, inspecting his marks in a mirror above a sink.

\"Malfoy… You\'re still here?\"

\"Yes, Potter.\" he glared at Harry through the reflection.

\"Look, about that... I - I tried to warn you but -\"

\"Forget it.” He shook his head, fingering a particularly large bruise on the base of his throat, “I managed to save my own neck anyway.\" He said haughtily.

\"Huh.” Harry looked at him in amusement, “Was that a pun, Malfoy?\"

\"Slytherins don\'t use puns, Potter.\" he stated pompously, \"We\'re much too sophisticated and witty to have to resort to such -\" but his words were cut off when Harry came up behind him suddenly and circled his arms around his waist smoothly.

He kissed Draco’s cheek softly.

All of Draco’s reserve and irritation fell to the floor.

Forgotten.

He sighed and leaned his weight back against Harry.

*When did I turn into such a weak-kneed bastard?* he wondered.

Harry\'s hand trailed down his front, and slipped a deft hand into the top of his jeans.

*Oh, right.*

\"So.\" Harry said, looking at him in the mirror’s reflection, fingers untucking the shirt out of Draco\'s jeans.

\"So.\" Draco echoed back. His heart had quickened in his chest and he was finding it hard to breathe suddenly.

He lowered a hand to Harry\'s thigh and wondered if the door had a lock on it.

Harry breathed out softly in his ear, and nuzzled it, causing a shiver to course through him.

\"So Malfoy, can my have my shirt back now?\" Harry asked, peering at him through the mirror, in mock seriousness.

\"What?!\" Draco pushed Harry\'s hands off of him and whirled around angrily to face the boy.

And Harry was laughing at him.

“You should see the look on your face, Malfoy!” he clutched at his stomach, “It’s priceless!”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Potter.” Draco fumed silently and crossed his arms.

Harry was still doubled up, shaking with laughter.

“Are you *quite* done?” Draco asked sarcastically.

Harry nodded and tried to straighten his face.

“I think so.” He said.

Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“I’m being serious, though. You really should put your turtleneck back on.” Harry continued.

“We *might* have just barely fooled those reporters. But trust me, everyone else at Hogwarts will know exactly what happened when they take a look at those.” He looked pointedly at the boy’s neck.

“Bugger!” Draco cursed loudly, “I didn’t even think of that. What am I supposed to do when we’re back at Hogwarts?” he demanded and glared at Harry, as if this was all his fault (which it was).

Harry started to laugh again, “Maybe you can wear a scarf and tell people that you have a cold?”

“That’s not funny.” Draco frowned and started to unbutton the shirt.

He shook the arms off of his shoulders, all the while shooting daggers with his eyes at Harry.

Who was looking at him now with more than just a little appreciation.

His mouth was hanging slightly open and his gaze was a bit unfocused as he looked at the half-naked boy before him.

“Potter!” Draco snapped and shoved the shirt to him.

“What?” Harry broke out of his daze, “Oh, thanks.” He smiled at the boy.

Draco stared at him incredulously.

And waited.

“Did those bright camera flashes addle your slow brain even further, Potter?” Draco asked, “I’m *waiting* for you to give me my sweater back!”

“Oh right!” Harry grinned at him sheepishly. “Sorry, forgot about that.”

Draco was looking at him as if he had lost his mind. How embarrassing.

He pulled the thick sweater up over his head quickly and tossed it to the boy.

“Err, aren’t you going to put it on?” he asked when he saw Draco looking at it hesitantly in his hand.

“I’m feeling a little sticky actually.” He grimaced, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “Would be great if I could take a shower first…”

Harry raised his eyebrows.

That *was* a good idea.

He was feeling rather hot and sticky himself. And better to wash off any evidence of whaey dey did before they headed back to Hogwarts.

Hermione had eyes like a hawk.

“There *could* be one around… Hang on.” Harry started to wander through the rows of empty stalls.

“Yup! There’s one here.” He called out triumphantly after a while.

“Uhm, only one.” He added a little morosely.

“Excellent.” Draco strode purposefully over to the extra-large cubicle at the end, and looked at the shower-head inside approvingly.

He started to unbutton and unzip his jeans. He couldn’t wait to get under that cool water and cleanse himself.

Harry gulped as he saw Drstarstart to kick off his jeans.

He spun around, keeping his back to the boy.

“Uh, I guess I’ll just wait till you’re done, then.” He said lamely, his cheeks reddening

Watching Draco undress, he had suddenly been struck with the thought about how weird this all had been.

Just this morning, he had kissed, made out with and dry-humped Draco Malfoy.

But that was all the craziness that happened within the confines of the elevator.

Now they were out.

In the *real* world.

Where Draco Malfoy was his enemy and constant rival.

Even the air felt different now.

He couldn’t possibly presume that Draco would ever want a repeat performance of what they had done together. If he did dare to make such an assumpt Mal Malfoy would probably shred him to pieces.

And even *if* Malfoy wanted him, which was highly unlikely considering his obsession with maintaining his reputation in school, what would they do?

Sneak around the hallways at night, to meet in some abandoned classroom, far from the prying eyes and ears of everyone else?

Interesting as that would be, it was also out of the question.

He shook his head sadly and tried to console himself with the thought that he would always have the memories to accompany him on those lonely nights.

*That was something.*

*Right?*

“Hey!”

Something hit him in the back of his head and landed with a soft thud on the floor behind him.

He turned around in confusion and looked at what had hit him.

A bar of soap.

What the hell?

He looked up to see Draco leaning against the open door, looking at him expectantly.

Oh, and completely starkers.

Harry gaped at the sight.

“Yeah, yeah. I know – I’m a god.” Draco waved a hand dismissively. “Are you coming? I haven’t got all day.”

Harry closed his mouth and stood still for a moment, letting the weight of that invitation slowly sink in.

Finally he took those few steps forward into the cubicle.

The door closed behind them with a soft click.

Looks like the rest of the school year would be pretty interesting, after all.


++++++++++

~The End~