Dream Lover

beta'd by Snookems. :-* Tshirt by knightmare :D
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.


“Harry, mate, you sure this is such a good idea?” Ron asked, tugging on his t-shirt in a nervous gesture. “I mean, there won’t be anyone out there to stop him from hurting you and we really need you next week in that match against Ravenclaw.”

Harry turned and looked at Ron, blinking a bit as he processed what his friend had just said. His lips began to twitch in humour before he replied, “Are you trying to say that you think I can’t handle one ill-intentioned Slytherin? Ron, you’ve never doubted that I can defeat Voldemort, but you think Draco… Malfoy can get the best of me?” He looked wildly at Hermione, who shook her head slightly. Good, he’d covered his near-slip well. Or rather, well enough for his often-clueless best friend to not notice. He’d definitely have to be more careful in the future.

Ron flushed a bright red and ran one hand around the back of his neck. “No, you know I don’t mean it like that, but, well, we can’t afford to have you in the hospital wing or anything…” he trailed off miserably, avoiding Harry’s gaze.

Harry laughed and reassured his friend, “He doesn’t stand a chance, Ron. There won’t be anyone else out there, no stray Bludgers, no Lockhart, no Crabbe and Goyle. Just him, the Snitch, my Firebolt, and me. With those odds, this thing will be over before it even begins, trust me.”

Hermione quirked an eyebrow at him and said, “A bit sure of yourself today, aren’t you?”

Harry rolled his eyes and responded, “He’d never once beaten me to the Snitch. What would make you think he can do it now?”

Hermione just shook her head, hoping his overconfidence wouldn’t get the best of him.

Harry looked up as they descended the steps to the Entrance Hall, surprised to note a steady stream of students going outside, a group of them even dressed alike in black t-shirts with something written in green. He couldn’t tell what it said from this distance, but apparently Hermione could, because her face flamed red and she grabbed his arm, hurrying him from the castle.

He craned his neck to see what was going on, but Hermione was having none of that, and before he knew it they were outside the Quidditch pitch. Ron offered to accompany him to the changing rooms so he could don his Quidditch leathers and the two left Hermione to go find seats for her and Ron to watch the match.

From the sounds floating to him from the stands, it sounded like most of the school had turned out to see him beat Draco. He smirked a bit, thinking of ways to make it up to his dream lover when he caught the Snitch first.

Ron, noticing the smirk, began to feel just a bit better about the whole competition.

Harry left the changing rooms and walked out through the player’s entrance to the field, waving when Ron called, “Good luck, mate! Don’t let him use any Slytherin tricks on you, okay? Ravenclaw next week, remember!”

He strolled across the pitch to where Draco waited with Madam Hooch, who he had sweetly requested to oversee the match. He didn’t expect anything other than some fairly brutal flying, but it was always good to have an unbiased judge so the Slytherins couldn’t call foul when he won. As he approached the duo, he noticed Madam Hooch glaring at Draco’s black tee shirt covered chest. Drawing nearer, he noticed some green lettering on it. Ah! It was one of the shirts Hermione had objected to!

He squinted a bit and made out the words, ‘Tonight, It Will Be a Slytherin Your Seeker Rides!’ His brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what the saying meant.

He raised a brow at Draco, eyes sweeping the lithe, toned body as he asked, “Ready, Malfoy? You’re going to get awful cold up there without leathers on.”

“Warming charm, Potter. You really need to learn how to use your wand, Scar Head.”

Harry’s lips twitched before he rejoined with, “I’ve never had any complaints before about my ability with my…wand.”

Draco smirked and was about to reply, when Hooch cut their bickering off with a whistle blast. “Rules, Gentlemen. The only ball to be let loose will be the Snitch. First one to the Snitch, wins. No other rules have been set forth, but I will give you the standard one minute and thirty seconds to get in position before I blow the whistle for you to begin the hunt. Any questions?”

Harry and Draco, eyes locked on each other, merely shook their heads.

“Shake hands, then. I don’t want to see either of you injured. This will be a clean match, understand.” A barely perceptible nod from them both and then they were touching.

The calloused palm sliding so sensuously across his own nearly caused Harry to forget why they were here, forget everything but the driving need within him to claim Draco as his own. He was a raging mass of hormones and was tired of hiding how he felt from the world.

Draco had nearly the same reaction as Harry to the shockingly delicious feeling of bare skin rubbing against bare skin. Sweet Merlin, if it felt this good with just their hands, what would it be like tonight when he was finally able to hold Harry naked in his arms, for real this time?

They finally pulled their joined hands apart when Hooch pointedly cleared her throat. “You have a minute and a half, gentlemen. Good luck.”

Harry smiled a wide, blinding smile at Draco and, straddling his broom, zoomed to a point high above grassy green field. He was mildly surprised to see Draco pulling up next to him, only a split second behind him.

Deciding to satisfy his curiosity while they waited, he gestured to the shirt Draco was wearing and asked, “What’s that all about?”

He watched Draco’s cheeks turn a bright pink as he lowered his lashes and said, “Umm, it has to do with my part of the bet. Everyone was asking me what I was going to get from you and, well…” Draco looked at him and bit his lip. “I’m sorry, Harry, but I want you so much, and it’s the only way I could think of that we could be together and no one would question it.”

Harry’s brow furrowed in confusion and he opened his mouth to get more information when he heard Hooch sound the whistle below them. His Seeker’s instincts took over then and he quickly darted around Draco, eyes scanning the air above the field, looking for a tiny glint of gold.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Draco swooping around, looking for the Snitch at the opposite end of the pitch. He thought about his chances if Draco were to spot it first, and simply resolved to keep one eye out for the Snitch, and one on the white blond hair of his opponent.

Stifling a grin, he went into a dive, pulling Draco perfectly into his feint. Pulling up ten feet from the ground, he let out a laugh, senses on overdrive as the utter perfection of flying enveloped him.

The pure joy in Harry’s laugh went straight to Draco’s gut. His palms became sweaty and his vision blurred a bit as desire twisted inside him. Damn, but he needed to find the Snitch. If he didn’t have Harry, and soon, he was going to explode!

He redoubled his efforts, flying higher and faster in an effort to leave no square inch of the pitch uncovered. The tiny glitter of gold out of the corner of his eye caused him to nearly whoop in delight. Knowing Harry had probably spotted it as well, he immediately went in to a recklessly fast dive, pursuing the Snitch without a moment’s thought to his own safety. If he died trying, he was going to get that ball.

Harry watched Draco dive, knowing by the sheer gracelessness of the movement that Draco had spotted the Snitch. Without another thought, he was in hot pursuit, given a bit of an advantage simply because he’d been flying lower to the ground. He spotted the Snitch at the same time as Draco pulled up next to him.

They were flying neck and neck, both on superior brooms, an elusive little ball their only goal. Harry was unsurprised when he felt Draco bump him, trying to knock him off course. “Not today, love,” he said softly, reaching his hand out, mere inches from the Snitch now.

Draco strained forward with his hand, flying faster than he’d ever flown before in his driving need to be the first to lay hands on the Snitch.

He could barely believe it when he felt the fluttering wings against his palm. Closing his fingers quickly, he raised his hand in the universal symbol for triumph. Expecting to hear the screams of the crowd, he was surprised at the sudden silence.

Looking over, he saw Harry also holding his hand up. What the hell?

Madam Hooch flew over to them, a look of complete shock on her face that both boys seemed to be holding the snitch. “Show me!” she barked.

Draco opened his hand, only now noticing that he was only holding half of the snitch. One wing continued to flutter helplessly against his palm. He looked at Harry who was studying him with an air of confusion.

“Sweet Merlin, I’ve never seen it before,” Hooch was saying. Shaking herself, she cast Sonorus on her throat and pronounced, “It’s a tie!”

Harry’s eyes sought out Ron’s. He’d never heard of such a thing, but Ron knew everything there was to know about Quidditch. The redhead was sitting in his seat, mouth gaping in shock. Well, no help there.

Turning back to Madam Hooch, he asked, “So, what does that mean?”

Draco rolled his eyes and muttered, “Come on, Potter. Even you cannot be that stupid. A tie is when there is no declared winner because both parties win.” Madam Hooch nodded her confirmation.

Harry rolled his eyes. “I realize that, you git, but what I meant was, what becomes of the bet? Do we have a rematch? Do we forfeit the bet totally?”

Hooch cleared her throat and said, still projecting her voice to the crowd, “Neither party can forfeit due to the nature of a wizard’s bet, which leaves the option for either a rematch or both parties pay their fines, as it were. Gentlemen, would you like a moment to decide?”

Harry nodded and gestured Draco over a few feet from Hooch so they could have some semblance of privacy for this negotiation.

“While I don’t have a problem with a rematch, I’d like this to be over, so we can start being civil to one another in public,” he said, watching Draco for a sign of how he felt about this development.

Draco flushed bright red as he nodded quickly. “Merlin, yes, let’s both just pay our end of the bet. Tonight, Harry. Gods, I don’t know how I’ll last ‘til then.”

Harry’s brow wrinkled as he wondered what Draco was talking about. Tonight? Well, obviously whatever he had to do, it was going to be done tonight. He flew back over to Hooch and told her what they’d decided.

He noticed with a sinking feeling that the Slytherins went wild as soon as Madam Hooch announced that both bets would be paid and no rematch would be forthcoming. He turned to Draco and noticed a suspiciously guilty glint in the dark grey eyes. “Malfoy, is there something you’re not telling me?”

Draco avoided his gaze as he softly said, “Part of the bet was you would do anything I said.”

“One thing!”

Draco nodded. “I decided what I want you to do.” He raised eyes full of promise to Harry’s.

Harry’s mouth went dry. The tee shirt suddenly made sense as he broke out in a lust-induced sweat. ‘Tonight’ took on a whole new meaning.

Madam Hooch commanded them once again to shake hands, and they gripped each other tightly, holding on to what they could while it lasted.

A swarm of students broke them apart and suddenly Hermione and Ron were there, leading him back to the changing rooms. For the first time in his memory, Hermione went in with them.

“Harry, are you all right?”

“Harry, mate, that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. I mean, I’m sorry you have to give that git two thousand Galleons, but I’ll never forget the way you two flew! I didn’t know Malfoy could fly like that, you know?”

Harry’s lips quirked in a small grin as he thought about how he and Draco must have looked on the pitch today. It had been amazing.

“Harry,” Hermione cast a quick glance at Ron who was still rhapsodising over the match, and asked quietly, “Did you know? About the conditions, I mean?”

He shook his head, adding, “Not until it was over. But…” he, too, looked at Ron and cut himself off.

Hermione smiled a touch sadly and asked again, “Are you all right?”

All he could do was nod as images and thoughts of a very naked Draco assaulted his senses. A bit gruffly he said, “I’m fine, Hermione. I’ll just take a shower and meet you two back in the Common Room, okay?”

Hermione patted his arm and led Ron back up to the castle.

Harry groaned and quickly stripped, turning the water on as hot as it would go. He was throbbing now and hoped Hermione hadn’t noticed his obvious arousal. Stepping under the spray, he let the water beat down on him as he soaped up a cloth and dragged it over his body. Once he was clean, he slid down until he was sitting in the bottom of the shower stall.

Spreading his legs out in front of him, he took the sudsy cloth and ran it lightly over his scrotum, hissing at the pleasure that small touch produced. He closed his eyes and imagined it was Draco’s tongue moving over him so softly, the wet caress making him arch his back and clench his teeth against the urge to cry out.

Unable to hold back any longer, he grasped his pulsing length tightly in his soapy hand and began sliding it roughly up and down, twisting a bit on the upstrokes. Within moments he was shouting out his completion to the empty room.

He stood shakily and used the cloth to clean himself up again. Rinsing quickly, he turned off the water and towelled himself dry, movements almost languid as his body recovered from the rush of orgasm. Dressed once again in jeans and a tee shirt, he cleaned up the small mess he had made and walked the short trek back to the castle.

As he mounted the stairs to the front doors, he saw a figure leaning against the wall, arms crossed and a smug smile firmly in place. “Zabini,” he greeted coolly.

Blaise chuckled evilly and said, “Draco wanted me to pass you a message, Nancy boy.”

Harry’s eyes flared and his fists clenched in anger at the insult, but now was not the time to start a fight. He didn’t want to end up in the hospital wing tonight instead of Draco’s bed. “Give me your message then, errand boy.”

He watched in satisfaction as Zabini’s nostrils flared in anger. “Draco says to make sure you get a good nap, because he’s going to keep you up all night long reaming your arse, Potter!”

“We’ll see who’s arse gets reamed, Zabini. Now, run along to your little friend, and let him know you were a good pet and delivered his message.” Harry ducked as Zabini’s fist flew at his face, the satisfying crunch of knuckles hitting stone drawing a laugh from him. “Might want to have Madam Pomfrey take a look at that hand, Zabini. And when you see Malfoy, tell him if he can’t keep his end of the bargain, I don’t see any reason to keep mine.”

“What are you talking about, Potter?” Blaise asked through clenched teeth, the pain in his hand making him groan a bit and hold it to his chest.

“The deal was that the Slytherins would leave everyone alone. No hexes, jinxes, or insults to anyone. You certainly haven’t kept up his end very well, have you now?”

Blaise hissed, “Bastard! You can’t hold us all to the bet. It was between you and Draco.”

“Fine, but if he can’t control his house mates then I don’t see any reason to uphold my end of the deal.”

Blaise snarled at him and stomped off toward the dungeons, going to relay his message before having his hand seen to.

Harry sighed tiredly, dragging a hand over his face. He knew he was going to have to be more courteous to the Slytherins as well, now. He had deliberately provoked Zabini and he was supposed to be setting the example. Shaking his head, he climbed wearily up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, wishing for the thousandth time for elevators in the castle. Muggle technology sure beat climbing over five hundred stairs when a person was tired.

Finally reaching the Fat Lady, he gave the password and stepped through into a packed Common Room. He was immediately surrounded by excited Gryffindors and literally had to peel Ginny off of him. Giving her a ‘what the hell did you jump me for’ look, he turned to find Ron and Hermione and motioned with his head for them to meet him in the dorm room.

Flashing a tired smile at everyone else, he promised to answer all their questions after he had a nap, citing a sleepless night as his excuse for being tired. Though the looks on their faces would be priceless if I told them I was tired because I just wanked in the changing rooms. That voice sounded an awful lot like Draco. He shook the stray thoughts from his head before pushing through the mass of bodies and climbing yet more stairs to his dorm room.

When he got inside he shut the door and cast locking and silencing spells on it. He knew that the events of the coming night would not go unnoticed by the rest of the school, especially as the Slytherins were so very open about his obligation to Draco.

He turned to face Ron, dreading telling him the secrets he’d been keeping. Taking a deep breath, he flicked his glance to Hermione who stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm, asking softly, “Do you want me to tell him? I can take him to the Room of Requirement and tell him there, so no one can overhear us.”

He smiled his thanks at her but shook his head. “No, Hermione, he deserves to hear it from me. He’s my best friend, you both are, and I know eventually he’ll get over it. It’s just going to take some time.”

Ron was looking at them curiously, having heard Harry’s end of the conversation. “What? What on earth do you have to tell me that could be so bad?”

Harry gestured for Ron to sit down on his bed, a wild thought echoing in his head that Ron would probably pass out from the shock of it all and wouldn’t it be awful if he fell and hurt himself?

Hermione sat next to Ron, putting her arms around him, holding him back or giving him comfort, Harry didn’t know, but he did appreciate her gesture anyway. “Ron, you’re my best mate. Nothing that I say here will ever change that.” He wiped suddenly sweaty palms on his jeans, noticing in a detached sort of way that his heart was racing and a fine trembling had broken out over all of his body.

Ron noticed as well and felt fear lance through him. What could be so bad that it had Harry so visibly shaken? He had seen him face down sure death at the hands of Voldemort without this level of sheer terror. “You’re my best mate, too, Harry. No matter what.”

Harry closed his eyes and released a shaky breath. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Ron. What I’m going to tell you is really going to—“ He cut himself off, realising that the build up wasn’t going to help him in this situation. He went straight to the heart of the matter with a softly uttered, “I’m gay.”

Ron blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, and blinked again. Then he let out a nervous laugh. “That’s it? That’s what you were so scared to tell me? Okay, Harry. I mean, I’m not, so I would appreciate it if you didn’t crawl in bed with me some night, but I’m certainly not going to freak out on you over it.” He laughed again, relieved this time. “Man, you really had me worried there for a second.”

Harry swallowed hard. That had certainly gone over much better than he had planned, but at the same time he knew it was the least of his worries. “There’s more, Ron.”

“I…First of all, you have to understand that everything I tell you here is for your ears only, yours and Hermione’s, okay?” At Ron’s nod, he continued, “Something has been happening lately. I’ve been having very real dreams. In them I’m with someone and we’re…well, you know.” He was tripping over himself, delaying telling Ron everything. His friend was sitting there grinning like a loon. Sucking in a deep breath, he blurted out, “I’mdreaminofMalfoyandhe’sdreamingofme.”

Ron looked at him blankly, obviously not having understood a word.

Hermione looked to Harry for permission before explaining, “I did some research last night after we talked and found out some interesting things. There’s a spell called the Morpheus Charm. It’s basically a charm to show you who your soul mate is.” She paused to let this sink in and turned to Ron to explain further, knowing Harry would follow along. “Someone has altered the spell in such a way that not only is Harry dreaming of his soul mate, but his soul mate is sharing the dreams. Also, the events of the dreams carry over in certain ways to real life. For instance, if Harry pricks himself in the dream--” here she had to stop because Ron had started sniggering at the word ‘prick.’

Glaring at Ron until he stopped laughing, she asked very primly, “If you’re done?” Receiving a short nod, she continued. “If Harry injures himself in a dream, then his body sustains that injury in real life. He’ll wake with a scratch or mark or whatever. The same holds true for Dr—umm, for his soul mate.”

“OK, so you’re having these dreams, with some bloke, and you’ve figured out that they’re sort of real in a way, right?”

Harry nodded. “But that’s not all, Ron. Soul mate, Hermione? Is that as serious as I think it is?” Hermione smiled softly and nodded, watching the knowledge flow over Harry. After absorbing all the implications of the spell, Harry smiled widely and continued to Ron, “We know who my…my soul mate is, and he’s not the one who cast the spell. In fact, he didn’t know until after he landed in the hospital wing last week after a dream we shared. Ron, I need to tell you who it is, but you have to understand that you cannot tell anyone. I cannot stress that strongly enough. If anyone finds out about us, he would be in great danger.”

“Yeah. You’re kind of an unhealthy person to be around sometimes. No offence, mate.”

Harry chuckled a bit at that. “Yeah. I am at that. But it’s worse for him. His family is not exactly on our side in this.”

Ron’s eyes flared wide at that revelation. “He’s a Slytherin?!” His voice cracked a bit as he asked the question, pushing Harry’s nervousness up a notch.

Harry nodded again and said softly, “He’s the Slytherin, Ron.”

Ron’s face drained of all colour. “M-m-m-mal…”

Hermione tightened her arms, worried about his reaction. Harry and she exchanged a look as Ron went completely silent, shock highlighting his features.

The next noise to come from him was a small “eep” sound.

Harry said softly, “I love him, Ron. And he loves me. But we can’t really be together, you know? Not until this thing is done. I know you’re going to hate me now, but I had to tell you because of the bet.”

Hermione flushed again at that reminder. She was extremely upset with Draco for allowing this whole situation to get out of hand, but she also knew the fine line he was walking within his House.

“Malfoy?! Have you lost your flippin’ mind, Harry?? Does Dumbledore know? We have to tell Dumbledore. He’ll know what to do to fix this, Harry, I know he will. Whatever spell you’re under, he’ll cancel it for you. You’re not really in love with Malfoy, it’s just someone controlling you again. Probably Voldemort. Yeah, I bet Voldemort got Malfoy to do something to you, maybe slipped something in your food. That bloody bastard. I’ll show him! I’ll get him for you, Harry, don’t you worry about it.” By this time, Ron was yelling, gesticulating wildly, and nearly hyperventilating. “Oh yeah, little Junior Death Eater extraordinaire! I’ll mash his bloody face in and break every bone in his body for this, just you wait. Don’t worry, Harry. I’ll get him for you—“ The dull thud of flesh on flesh cut him off and he went over heavily, knocked out.

“Harry!” Hermione shouted, sounding shocked.

“What, Hermione?” He answered.

“Did you have to knock him out like that? You couldn’t have used a spell?”

Harry smiled grimly. “It wouldn’t have felt as good. Did you hear him Hermione? Break every bone in his body, indeed.”

Hermione rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything as she levitated her boyfriend back into his bed. She had known Ron would take it hard, but even she hadn’t thought he would go completely insane over it. The way he had been going on, with that crazy look in his eyes, had scared her just a little bit.

Just then Ron started moaning, coming back to consciousness. “Bloody hell, Harry, that hurt! Did you have to hit me so hard?”

Harry growled low in his throat. “You’re my best mate, Ron, but don’t ever threaten Draco again. I won’t have it. Do you understand?”

Ron set his jaw, his anger once again washing over him. “It’s Malfoy, Harry, and you don’t seem to care about that at all. What about everything he’s done, eh? And not just to you but to Hermione and Justin and Neville, hell, to all our friends? You just going to say, oh, it’s okay, he’s a great fuck, and let it go at that?”

Hermione drew in a sharp breath and it was her hand meeting Ron’s jaw this time, only in an open handed slap.

“Bloody hell, Hermione! What was that for?”

“Harry is our friend, Ron! Don’t you ever talk to him that way again! I think he knows as well as anyone who and what Draco is. If you can’t see beyond your prejudices, I’ll be happy to Obliviate you myself, and save Harry the trouble. And while I’m at it, I might just remove from your memory the fact that I’m your girlfriend!”

“Ron,” Harry cut in, knowing Hermione was only getting started. “If you don’t think you can handle this knowledge, I really will Obliviate you. I wanted you to know because you’re my friend, and there’s going to be things going on in the castle that you might object to. But I won’t let you put Draco and everyone he’s protecting in danger because you can’t keep your mouth shut, do you understand me?”

Ron shook his head. “No, I really can’t say as I do understand you, Harry, but I’m sure as certain not going to say anything. Merlin, but you have shoddy taste in men. Why couldn’t you have chosen someone better, like Neville or Seamus or Dean?”

“Besides the fact that they’re all straight, you mean?” Harry asked, a small smile coming over his face as his friend worked through his bluster.

“Yeah, right, I forgot about that,” Ron said quietly, avoiding Harry’s gaze now.

“Boys,” Hermione broke in, still visibly upset, “I need to go take care of some things. Will you be all right in here alone?”

They both nodded silently and she left, Harry making sure to reset the wards on the door when it closed behind her.

“Look, Ron, I’m really tired right now. I’m going to take a nap, and we’ll talk more later, all right?”

Ron sat back on his comforter; staring up at the ceiling as he processed everything he’d learned that day. “Yeah, later. We’ll talk later. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Harry turned to go to his bed, the myriad emotions he’d been through today completely draining him of all energy. As he crawled between the bed hangings, he heard a faint, “Why Malfoy?” come out of Ron.

With a small, sad smile, he drifted off to sleep.

~*~

Hermione, realising the boys needed privacy to sort everything out, left the Tower and walked quickly toward her destination. She was on a mission, and her stride was purposeful. As she found the place she was looking for, she pounded on the door. Opening it after she heard a familiar voice call, “Enter!” she walked inside the office and slammed the door behind her.

Confronting her Professor, she crossed her arms and looked him straight in the eye before saying coldly, “I simply need to ask you why you would think you and Harry shagging in his dreams is a good idea?”

She watched with smug satisfaction as the normally sallow face turned a startling shade of purple.

TBC