in his cheeks and his hair somehow even more disheveled than usual. Used to seeing him walk complacently
or downright slow, several of the students also in the hall pause to stair as he brushes quickly past them,
unheeding of any half hearted greetings or calls of his name. After all, it wasn’t like a lack of people knew
it... 7th year Quidditch captains couldn’t be called inconspicuous in any right, let alone the ones leading the
undefeated House this year.
He rounded a corner hard, almost sending a towering iron statue to the ground. It expressed its distaste by
narrowing its visor at him as he stalked away, absently checking itself with its gleaming gauntlets for any
dents or nicks. “Humans today”, it thought angrily, slowly reverting to its usual, inert state. “Always in a
rush.”
Round the Library, away from the Astronomy Tower, and right past the stairs that lead to the dungeon.
Harry was headed to the Quidditch field, though he wore neither his playing robes nor held his broom. Not
particularly unusual, as he had grown accustomed to simply going out there to look around, but the anger
flashing in his eyes was something extra he was bringing with him.
The dark green grass on the ground and the almost blindingly bright light came into his vision at the same
time, and he had to blink back from the suns rays before he got a clear look at the field. Sitting in the dead
center of it, staring around lazily, was a crouched over figure... just the crouched over figure Harry was
looking for. He had no idea why he’d assumed that his target would be here, but the oddly inspired guess
had turned out to be right.
The wind was strong today, blowing back both the robes of the sitting boy and Harry’s hair as he advanced,
and the slow whistle caused by the breeze drowned out any sound that was made by Harry’s footsteps on
the soft grass. Thus he caught the boy completely unawares as he swooped around him and turned around,
causing the boy to jerk in surprise for a moment, and then glare at him.
“Was that really necessary?” he asked petulantly, idly fiddling with a few strands of grass in his hands.
“No.” Harry said simply, crossing his arms and leaning back a bit, but not sitting down.
“Well then why the hell did you do it?” Draco’s blue eyes gleamed once in the glare of the sun, either hiding
or creating the illusion of a hint of annoyance.
Harry sighed. “No, not no that,” he explained, “just... no. My answer is no.”
Now it was Draco’s turn to sigh, and instead of staring straight up to catch Harry’s glasses rimmed gaze he
decided to stand to see him. “That’s odd,” he said sarcastically, “I was unaware I had asked you a question.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Harry answered harshly, “You didn’t ask a question, you made a statement.”
“True...” Draco said slowly, a moment of confusion passing over his face, “but I don’t think you’re allowed
to say know.”
“Oh I’m allowed,” Harry said simply, “and my answer is no.”
Draco frowned. “You can’t say no when someone tries to break up with you.”
“Oh I can. And no.”
“What are you trying to-”
Harry glared back at him. “No. The case you gave me was weak and unsupported, so I’m saying no.”
“It doesn’t take two people to break up, Harry.”
“Really?” Harry asked. “Does it take two people to go out?”
Draco thought for a moment. “Unless an animal or vegetable is somehow involved, sure.”
“Then it takes two people to break up.” Harry finished triumphantly.
“Harry...” Draco started, and trailed off. What was this? This was hard enough to do the first time, and all
Harry had done was stare at him stonily, how the hell was he supposed to get through it when his... ex?
Boyfriend? That was the issue they were settling, wasn’t it.... was arguing with him.
“No.” Harry repeated firmly.
“Yes, you’ve said that...” Draco said exasperately. “Harry, I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t take all
you’re bunny slipper friends giving me looks. I can’t take my parent’s trying to pass me subliminal messages
that they want to kill me in my sleep now. I can’t take... just, this.”
“What?” Harry asked angrily, “Having someone there who understands you, listens to you, and cares for
you? Yeah, that sounds like a *real* pain...”
Draco groaned. “You don’t understand...”
“Oh I understand. You have cold feet.”
Draco raised an eyebrows. “We aren’t getting married....”
“I’m aware of this,” Harry retorted, pushing his glasses back in place after they slipped down his nose, “you
have cold feet about the future.”
“Harry...”
“And I’m not going to let you run away because you’re worried that you might just be in love with
someone.”
“Harry...”
“And I’m not going to let you pretend that you haven’t been happy this year than you’ve been, well, ever...”
“Harry!”
“No. We aren’t breaking up. You’re moving in to my flat as soon as school ends. I’m not letting you do
something stupid.”
“What if I say please?”
Harry froze, grabbed Draco’s shoulders, and pulled him closer so their noses were almost touching, and the
only thing between their eyes was a few inches of air and the lens of Harry’s glasses. “Do you want to say
please?”
Draco paused. Opened his mouth, paused again, and closed it. “No...” he said, after a time.
Harry nodded. “Good. That was the correct answer. Lets go inside so you can find out what you’ve won.”
Without waiting for an answer, keeping hold of Draco’s right sleeve, Harry began to walk away. His arm
snapped suddenly as Draco reached out and caught his wrist, freezing him in place. He glanced back in
confusion. “I think a bedroom is necessary to do what we need to do here, Draco...” he said slowly.
A small smile creased Draco’s pale face as he pulled Harry to him and locked him in a kiss. Several minutes
passed before the two slowly sunk to the ground and continued before Draco spoke again. “No...” he said
coyly, “we don’t.”