Chapter 13: Denouement

Harry hadn't been able to help himself. He'd looked over at Draco, contemplating asking him directly if they should date in secret, and his heart melted at the sight of him—eyes closed, unconsciously licking his lips with the tip of his tongue. Kissing him wasn't temptation; it was magnetism.

He felt Draco return the kiss, and it was like apologizing and forgiving all in the same instant. Draco's hand cupped his face and jawline, and the intimacy he'd always longed for manifested itself in that simple gesture. It occurred to him that Draco had never done that until now, and he had never touched Draco so gently either.

Harry wondered if such little intimacies before would've changed how things were going now, but decided not to agonize over how things could have been. He was grateful for how it was: They were together, and while no final decision had been made, it was clear that there was a decision worth making.

Harry pulled away first, taking a much deeper breath than he'd realized he needed. He made eye contact with Draco and felt the corners of his mouth tug into a grin. He was excited to be there, and strangely surprised by it, and delighted with Draco's company. Harry could've laughed with the joy of it.

“What's so amusing?” Draco asked, expression quizzical.

Harry relaxed into a smile. “Nothing. I'm just happy, I guess.”

Draco smirked in a pleased sort of way, and watched Harry return to a sitting position next to him.

“We should date secretly,” Harry announced once he was settled, sounding more confident in the idea than he actually felt.

“Why secretly?” Draco asked, a question that surprised Harry -- he was expecting more of a resistance to the dating part of the suggestion.

“Well, we went over why we shouldn't date publicly,” Harry pointed out. “Even developing a public friendship is going to create a mess of rumors. And do you really want it getting back to your mum that you're seeing a boy?”

“I never said I was against the idea of dating secretly,” said Draco. “I just want to know your reasoning for it. You're right, though; Mum wouldn't take well to my having a boyfriend. Less well to which boy I picked.”

Harry tried to contain the swell of pride at hearing Draco say he'd picked him, and very nearly forgetting the rest of the sentence.

“So we date secretly,” Harry reaffirmed.

“I suppose so,” Draco replied, sounding bored with the conversation. “Now, isn't there something more interesting we –”

The two of them froze at the sound of something bumping against the door, and as it began to creak open Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself and Draco. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Draco look at the cloak first in puzzlement and then in realization, and it occurred to Harry that he'd never actually told Draco about the Invisibility Cloak.

Now wasn't the time, though.

Someone's found us, Harry thought, his mind racing as he tried to decide even before the intruder entered the room if it was a teacher or a student or something far, far worse...

“No one's here,” whispered the person at the door, pushing it open fully and entering the room, making way for a companion.

Harry would have rolled his eyes and groaned if he weren't better off staying silent just then. Of all the people in Hogwarts to walk in on this, why Ron and Hermione?! He rested his face on his palm, shaking his head.

“You do realize,” whispered Draco in the tiniest voice he could manage, “That most people only go to the astronomy tower for one reason, this late at night?”

Harry paused to consider what Draco had said, then opened his eyes wide in horrified realization a moment later.

Oh shit.

*

Draco had never been interested in Harry's friends, though it had occurred to him that being close to Harry would mean being close to them, too. Socializing, making nice, not throwing dire insults against lineage and social standing. It wouldn't be easy, but he'd bite his tongue and pull it off. He could handle that.

This, on the other hand, was going entirely too far.

Draco refused to look towards the middle of the room, where the ever-resourceful Hermione had conjured a bed. For a brief moment, Draco wondered, “Who bothers conjuring a bed? Honestly, most people just come up here and go without.” As soon as the thought had made it to the front of his brain, though, he wished it hadn't; he certainly hadn't been the first person or even the first generation to use that tower for such purposes, and considering how old Hogwarts was and how many students had passed through it...

One mortifying thought at a time, he chastised himself, wishing he could apparate himself somewhere far away. He looked over at Harry, whose eyes couldn't seem to find a satisfactory focal point that didn't include the sight of his two best friends undressing each other. Draco took comfort in seeing the embarrassed flush on Harry's face; it made him feel less alone in the awkwardness of the moment.

Then it struck him -- he was hiding under an Invisibility Cloak with the Boy Who Lived (And Had Just Been Sort Of Declared His Boyfriend). Furthermore, said Living Boy's best friends were in the same room with them and about to have somewhat clumsy sex, and didn't even know they had witnesses.

The only way this would have made proper sense is if they were all drunk. The sobriety of the moment made it even funnier. It was a horrible time to want to laugh, and he knew it. It didn't help that he thought, No one will hear me over the sounds those two are making.

Harry was watching him in mildly panicked alarm, clearly worried Draco would get both of them caught.

"Sorry," Draco whispered as quietly as he could. "It's just so... !" He smothered yet another laugh under his sleeve at the sounds coming from the bed.

There were several very tense minutes while Ron and Hermione finished, and a few more minutes where Draco thought, Please tell me they aren't going to cuddle for the next half-hour... Finally, the pair of them dressed, Hermione vanished the bed, and they left.

Draco had the decency to wait a few moments before bursting out laughing.

"Oh my God, Potter, do you realize what we just witnessed?"

Harry looked, in spite of his mortification, rather amused. "Hermione and Ron losing their virginities..."

"That was their first time?! That makes this whole thing even better!" He fairly howled with laughter, and after a few moments of consideration, Harry began to laugh, too.

"This," stated Draco, "Has been the most bizarre night of my life. Ever. Their virginities! And I witnessed it! I don't even know how to respond to this, it's so ridiculous!"

He took his time calming down. When reality seemed less surreal once again, it occurred to Draco that he hadn't laughed that hard in months. "As awkward as that was, I think I needed that. Not the visual, of course," he added quickly, "but just that instance. It was absurd."

Harry had watched him with a smile on his face while Draco laughed, and now said, "You know, I don't think I've ever seen you laugh like that. It's kind of nice." He leaned towards Draco and knocked him dramatically to the floor. "Kind of makes me want to be right here," he continued, positioning himself over Draco so they could see eye to eye.

"You're going to ruin my clothes on this filthy floor," Draco observed. "These are new school robes, you know; I just got them the other week, and Mum will skin me if I -- Agh, you bit me! Mm..."

*

School had been in session for almost two weeks, and there had been all of two nights when Harry and Draco hadn't seen each other in that time: once when Harry had been up all night to finish a detention (compliments of Snape) and then the day's homework, and again when both of them had a NEWTs introductory lecture with their Head of Houses.

Those two nights had been in succession of each other, and having spent almost two weeks adapting to seeing each other every night, they were both rather desperate to see each other again on the night of the fifteenth.

"Meet me in the sixth-floor corridor in front of the moth tapestry at eleven," Harry scribbled on a piece of paper, then wadded it up and dropped it into Draco's lap when he walked by, apparently in a hurry out of the classroom when Transfiguration let out.

Draco read the note and incendioed the little piece of paper before anyone else could see it. Though he kept his expression unperturbed, inside he was perplexed; where was this moth tapestry?

He puzzled over this during supper, trying not to catch Harry's eye across the Great Hall, though he dearly wished to ask him where this tapestry was. He picked at his food, eating only a few bites of each item on his plate before losing interest.

On the way out of the Great Hall, Harry made very brief eye contact with him. Harry looked away quickly, but couldn't hide a half-smile before going back to a conversation with Ron.

Not three seconds later, the Ravenclaw prefect he'd met on the train was watching him. Her expression was blank except for a raised eyebrow, a question or a comment he didn't know how to read, but immediately Draco thought "She knows."

If she did, though, or if she had caught some suggestion that had passed between Harry and Draco, she didn't approach him about it. This made him more paranoid, and he spent forty-five minutes that could have been directed towards homework obsessing about whether or not she had cottoned on.

"Are you all right, Draco?" Pansy asked him. She was close enough to put a hand on his shoulder in concern, and her brow furrowed over her dark eyes.

"I'm fine," he replied, smiling in hopes of pacifying her. "Just thinking about the assignment a little too hard." After a pause, he continued, "Do you know the name of that Ravenclaw prefect?"

Pansy's expression went from concern to contemplation. "Which one?"

"The quiet girl, dark hair, kind of sharp-tempered..." Draco recognized the expression creeping across Pansy's face as jealousy, and he amended, "She borrowed one of my books, but she hurried off before I could ask when I'd get it back. She only asked because she recognized me from Prefect meetings."

Pacified by this information, she replied, "I'm pretty sure her name is Ruby, though I don't remember her family name. You should keep better track of your things, Draco."

"Mhm." Draco turned back to his schoolwork, and this time made a stronger effort towards finishing it.

Somehow, he managed to write the thirteen inches Professor Sprout had assigned on the practical application of Monkshood. Later on he could hardly remember what he'd written -- as soon as he was finished, he announced he was going to rest for a bit before going about his Prefect duties and almost immediately forgot all the material. He spent the time toying with the bauble from China, which he'd been keeping under his pillow. It glowed in colors soothingly reminiscent of water reflecting off the lake in the late afternoon, and though he didn't actually sleep, he drowsed in the comfortable atmosphere the sphere created.

Draco left at ten thirty, when several of his classmates -- Pansy included -- had already gone to bed. Those remaining didn't question him, assuming (as he hoped) that he was going out for no reason other than to patrol the halls. He walked with a sense of purpose until he got to the sixth floor, when the insecurity of having no idea what he was looking for set in.

Maybe he meant 'moth-eaten'? Draco thought, trying not to feel nervous behind his Prefect badge. He had every right to be patrolling the halls at this hour -- the badge gave him that responsibility -- but there was a distinct fear of getting caught while meeting his boyfriend (Boyfriend! he jubilated. Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend...) when he was supposed to be looking for students out after hours. Instead, he was looking at the school's artwork, seeing tapestries damaged by rot and insects but none featuring a moth...

Draco nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the click-click-click of shoes on the stone floor, his lumos spell not quite reaching far enough down the corridor to see who was approaching. He recovered quickly, and -- using a meaner voice than he felt -- called, "Who's there?! No students out of their dormitories after ten!"

The steps didn't waver in their regularity, and the sound got closer. A sharp voice replied, "Unless you're a Prefect, which I am. I didn't think you were on duty tonight."

Ruby, Draco recognized, and for a moment he felt relieved it was her and not a professor until he remembered Harry was around somewhere, too. Had she caught him? Had he been sent back to his dormitory by her already?

"Have you seen anyone down that way?" Draco asked, remembering only after the words were out of his mouth that Harry had an Invisibility Cloak; she wouldn't have necessarily seen anyone.

She came into view just in time to shake her head "No" at him. "I thought I saw something," she replied, "But it was just some tapestry. Drafty old castle. When I heard you coming, I ended my light spell thinking it might be a student, but..."

Possibility flickered in Draco's mind. "Which tapestry?"

Ruby indicated with a wave of her hand down the hallway. "It's one down there a ways and around the corner. The picture looks like a moth."

Draco did his best to look as if he were suspicious of this motion she'd perceived. "Could you show me where?"

She nodded, and lead him -- heels clicking; it was a wonder she ever caught students getting into trouble with those shoes -- to the moth tapestry.

Draco wouldn't have immediately recognized it as a moth, for the original creator had taken some artistic license with the appearance. It was a moth, but it looked more like a mountain with oddly shaped clouds over it (these were, in fact, the antennae). The tapestry was as long as Draco was tall, and hung a foot off the floor. He ran his fingertips over the surface, the material surprisingly soft.

The tapestry had more give to it than anything hung against a wall should, and it occurred to him that there wasn't actually a wall beneath it.

"You continue patrolling the rest of the floor," Draco said, addressing Ruby. "I'm going to inspect this hallway a little more."

He looked at her as he expressed his intentions, and met with a scrutinizing, bright blue glare. Draco tried not to look away, which was his first response, but nothing betrayed a guilty conscience better than not being able to meet someone's gaze. It was clear she was suspicious, and he had to do his best not to give himself away.

After a long pause she spoke, her voice low. "It's none of my business who it is you're meeting in secret at odd hours of the night, but you might want to give him a lesson in subtlety."

Several things that he could have said rose to the surface of his mind, but they all choked him before he could speak. Later, it occurred to him that it might've been a good start to deny that it was a 'him' he was meeting.

But then, he thought, She must've already known. Not just 'what', but 'who'.

Ruby continued, "I just hope you've considered what you're risking by doing this. It's an awfully big penalty to get caught fraternizing. Whatever you're doing, it'd better mean a lot more than nothing if you're willing to put your status as a Prefect on the line."

Draco watched her eyes as she spoke to him, and realized that she was trying to elicit an opinion from him, some idea of whether or not he was acting out of noble intent or baser instincts.

He smiled at her, an easy and sincere smile that he saved for when he meant it. "I promise you," he said, "It's far more than nothing."

Her blue eyes studied him for a few moments longer, finally accepting that either he was being honest or he was an exceptionally good liar. She took a deep breath and let it out again.

"I'm going to go finish my inspection and go to bed," Ruby announced. "Good night."

"Good night."

Draco waited until the metronomic clicking of her heels had faded from his hearing before pushing the tapestry aside.

Familiar hands shot out of the darkness within and pulled Draco into the space behind the tapestry, causing him to trip a little on the step up. There was a collision and then a collapse, and Draco realized he'd landed on a giant pillow.

"You've been plotting this for a while, haven't you?" Draco remarked. "Pillows already?"

Draco's wand had fallen under one of the pillows, and so with it his lumos spell, so he couldn't see Harry as he leaned forward to kiss him. The feel was unmistakable, though, and he gave into it easily.

"I thought she'd never leave," Harry said a few minutes later. "Who was that, anyway?"

"Just a fellow prefect," Draco replied. He decided to save his concerns over whether or not she knew about them until later. "Hang on..."

He dug around under the pillows -- there were several, he was discovering, all of them quite large -- and pulled out his wand. He cast a silencing charm on the tapestry, then ended his light spell, plunging the space into darkness.

"That's more like it," said Draco. "Now then. Where were we?"

Harry leaned forward and kissed him as a reminder.

It didn't seem to matter that they'd been seeing each other so often for the last couple weeks; two days apart still felt like months of time they had to make up for. Clothes suddenly felt too restrictive, and -- unlike last year -- they had no qualms with undressing each other in the heat of the moment. School robes were undone and cast aside in a desperate fight to feel more skin against skin, and Draco's eyes closed and rolled in a manner that reminded him of being drunk.

This was better. This was the fellow he liked-rather-a-lot, the fellow he might really be in love with even if he wasn't ready to say that much out loud. It was Harry, the surface of Harry's abdomen pressing against Draco's own, Harry's mouth and tongue on his lips, his jaw line, Harry's tongue in the hollow just above his collarbone. He wanted more contact, wanted to feel Harry's skin everywhere at once. It was impossible, but he tried by running his hands over whatever he could touch -- ruffled black hair, shoulder blades, down his spine, arse. Harry moaned when Draco squeezed his rump, almost a purr that breathed out onto his neck and in his ear that made him shiver.

Draco kissed whatever was closest, Harry's face and shoulders, biting gently and making Harry moan again. He shifted his left leg to wrap around the back of Harry's right thigh, grinding up into him and causing both of them to groan. It was pitch black, but he could guess what Harry looked like -- face flushed, sweat shining on his face, black hair matted down in some places and sticking up wildly in others.

They were so naked. With his leg where it was, he could feel Harry's crotch pressing into his own, pubic hair creating a new sensation they hadn't properly explored last year, and were only discovering for the first time now. Being naked and so close felt incredible, and it felt... exposed. Draco felt exposed, and a little scared in a thrilled sort of way.

The scent and feel of sex was in the air. That might've been what scared and thrilled him the most -- they were a shift of a leg and another three inches from intercourse, and Draco wanted it in a way he didn't think was possible.

His breathing had gotten so light that he'd begun to get dizzy, and Harry's hands were running over his skin and making every nerve buzz. It wasn't enough anymore just to have hands and blow-jobs and the occasional foray into fingering. Draco wanted sex, love-making, and he really, sincerely wanted it with Harry.

It scared him to say it, and it scared him to think how things might change as a result. The fear was lost in the dream-like weightlessness of the moment, though, and in a voice that sounded almost unfamiliar it was so laden with sex, Draco said, "Harry, I want you."

He felt Harry's body go tense, and for a moment Draco was worried he'd said it wrong. Then he heard Harry's voice, just as sex-hazed as his own, say "Are you sure? Like... sex?"

"Yeah," Draco replied, his decision startling him again. "Sex."

Harry wrapped his arms around him tightly, and Draco felt Harry's heart beating rapidly. Obviously, it scared him, too.

"You're completely sure," Harry whispered, and Draco wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement. He nodded, and Harry could feel the motion.

"We'll need lubricant."

Draco nodded again. "Hang on."

He fumbled with one hand for his clothes, and Harry leaned back to give him more freedom of motion. Draco found the pocket of his robes that he needed. Because they'd seen so much of each other over the last couple weeks, he'd made it a habit to take a vial of lubricant with him when he went out on his rounds Just In Case they needed some; he was grateful for that now.

Draco shifted his legs further apart, and he felt Harry take a position between his thighs. A shiver of excitement moved in a wave down his spine, and he took a few calming breaths before sitting up to kiss Harry reassuringly.

"Are you sure about this?" Draco asked, one hand on Harry's face. He felt Harry nod enthusiastically.

"Absolutely."

"Give me a minute, then," Draco said. "I'll tell you when I'm ready."

Harry nodded again, and Draco laid back on the pillows. He could feel Harry still sitting between his thighs, waiting with tense patience.

Draco didn't want to start a light spell; it was hard enough to do this without visibility, but having Harry watching him was too much just yet. He pulled the cork out of the vial's opening carefully and set it on his sternum so he could find it again, then poured some of its contents onto his finger tips.

The oil was scented with something heady, and made him feel calmer and hornier all at once -- some sort of aphrodisiac. Draco rubbed it around his entrance first, then poured more onto his fingers and pressed the first up into himself. His breath caught for a moment, and he froze in position until he was able to relax. Once he could thrust the finger back and forth a couple times without tensing up, he inserted a second, then a third.

"Is everything okay?"

Harry's voice sounded concerned.

"Yeah," Draco replied, though his tone was a little forced. "It just takes a little time, that's all." He withdrew his fingers from his groin and corked the vial again, just as he felt a hand touch his stomach. It moved upwards, searching for his neck and face, and when it found what it was looking for Harry leaned down and kissed him.

"It's still okay if you decide you don't want to do this," He murmured.

"I do, though! I promise, I do. I'm a little... scared."

"Me too." Harry kissed him again, and Draco relaxed into it.

"I'm ready," he said quietly.

Harry planted another kiss on Draco's mouth, then on his cheekbone, before lifting one of Draco's legs up towards his shoulder.

Draco felt the pressure of Harry's cock against the tight ring of muscle behind his balls. The aphrodisiac in the oil made it easier to keep himself from tensing up, but he controlled his breathing all the same. Just the feel of it there made his own cock twitch in anticipation.

"Should I just thrust it in?" Harry asked. "I don't know what to do..."

"Just get it in first," Draco replied, his voice strained. The excitement and gravity of what they were about to do were sinking in, and the need was becoming unbearable.

He heard Harry take a breath, as if he were about to dive under water, and then the world became a spinning mess of stars as pain and pleasure fought for dominion in his body.

He gasped and smothered a shout, and Harry made a loud groan, hunching forward and catching himself on the hand that wasn't holding Draco's leg up.

"Does it hurt?" Harry managed.

"Yeah," responded Draco, his voice a hiss in his throat as he tried not to clench his muscles around Harry's dick. It felt huge, bigger than he knew it was.

Breathe, he reminded himself, hearing Harry struggle to do the same. He took a long, deep breath, then let it all the way out, putting his hands on Harry's shoulders as he did so.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh huh. You're really tight."

Draco chuckled as he exhaled another deep breath, inhaling sharply again in surprise as he discovered that laughter affected how tight he was, too. Harry grunted at the feeling.

"Are you ready to try to thrust again?" asked Draco, trying to sound controlled but instead sounding breathy.

"Maybe." Harry held very still for a moment. "I don't know how long I can do this. It feels so good, I don't think I'll last very long."

"Me too," Draco said. He could already feel his fingers tingle, and he had to try very hard not to buck his hips against his lover. "Just start slow, and..."

He didn't know how to finish the sentence, but Harry seemed to pick up on what he was thinking. He braced himself, bending forward and hooking his hand over Draco's shoulder. Then he withdrew as far as he could without coming out completely and pushed back in as gently as he could. Both of them moaned into it, but this time Harry didn't stop, easing himself out, then thrusting forward again. The thrusting became more regular, and Draco found he could move with it and still keep his breath.

It felt incredible. It didn't end his need to feel Harry's skin on his, but the rhythm and the tentative feel of Harry's hand shifting from his shoulder to his chest added a new focus, something to distract both of them from coming just yet. Harry tweaked a nipple, sending a jolt through Draco's body, then slid lower, leaving finger trails in the sweat beading on his stomach. Draco felt the tension in his abdomen tighten as Harry's hand found his cock, fingertips just teasing at the shaft and making Draco whine in the back of his throat for more.

Harry's hips thrust faster, and in the black of their hiding place Draco could hardly tell which way was up anymore, much less whether or not his eyes were open. He could feel Harry's breath, hear Harry grunting from exertion and pleasure, smell the sweat and hormones mingling in the air. Above all he could feel Harry's cock thrusting rhythmically into him, the rhythm itself stunning and exciting him and making him want more.

"Oh God," Draco's own voice called, and he wasn't sure if it was a cry or a murmur. "Harder, do it harder!"

Harry complied, and Draco could feel his lover's body shaking from the effort and the excitement. The furious pounding of Harry's dick inside him felt like he was begging and demanding and taking all at once. With it, the shake that had started in Harry transferred to Draco's body and caused him to tremble.

All the motion knocked something out of a pocket in Draco's robes, and it rolled down from the pillow it had been on and bumped his skin. The room was suddenly filled with spinning lights in colors and explosions Draco couldn't describe.

So that's what an orgasm looks like, he thought, and at that moment his breathing became harder and each exhale was accompanied with a cry. He could see Harry bent over him, the colors from the bauble -- for that's what it was that had fallen from his pocket -- whirling over Harry's face. As Draco came, he admired how gorgeous Harry looked when he was fucking him.

To Draco's immense surprise, he realized he was crying with the force of it all.

Harry buried his manhood into Draco as deeply as he could, his hips bucking forward still but having nowhere further to go. Draco felt Harry's dick throb with each ejaculation, and made a faint mewing sound with each throb. In spite of the mess of seed on Draco's stomach, Harry collapsed on top of him and tried to catch his breath. It felt sticky, but Draco didn't really mind; he wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders, hissing a little as Harry withdrew himself.

It felt strangely empty without Harry's cock in his arse, and his muscles took their time contracting.

For several minutes, they laid there in silence. When Draco felt he'd returned to himself enough, he said, "I can't believe I started crying."

Harry chuckled into his shoulder, his voice becoming clearer as he lifted his head up.

"That's the first time I've ever seen you cry," he said. "You're beautiful then, too."

Draco smiled, ignoring the more cynical voice in him that wanted to point out just how corny the pair of them were being.

"What is that, anyway?" Harry asked, looking over at the bauble. Neither of them had touched it, so it still glowed with the incredible light produced by their intimacy.

"Just some decoration," said Draco, looking over at the sphere as well. "You can change its colors just by touching it. I got it in China when I was on vacation. I must've put it in my pocket without realizing it before I left the dorm." He looked at Harry again, leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Get off, you're getting heavy."

Harry sat up and found his wand, then cleaned up the mess on his and Draco's bodies. Draco picked up the bauble, and its colors changed to a smoky blue.

Then he stood and moved closer to the entrance, where there were no pillows on the stone floor, and dropped it from head-height. It cracked in half.

"What'd you do?!" Harry cried, stunned.

"It's okay," Draco said, picking up the halves and holding one out to Harry. It had already taken on a spherical shape -- both had.

"I discovered on accident that it's unbreakable," he explained. "Or at least that you can break it and put it back together again. I want you to have part of it."

Harry reached out and gingerly lifted the sphere from Draco's palm, and almost immediately it turned bright red. The result was incredible -- the light from each of the spheres created patches of red and blue and purple on their still-naked bodies and on the stone walls.

"Whoa," Harry said, also awed by the effect.

Draco sat down on a pillow again, changing his bauble's color pattern to something that looked more like fireflies blinking on the walls. Harry sat next to him and turned the light from his bauble into a dark green and blue, a field for the fireflies to weave in and out of.

A draft reminded Draco to put his clothes on, and he set his sphere down so he could find his trousers. Harry followed his example, but changed his bauble's colors first -- now, the fireflies danced in the fiery reds of sunset.

Draco pulled his trousers on and fastened them before touching his bauble, changing the fireflies to blue faerie lights. As he pulled his robes on -- not bothering to fasten them up the front -- Harry changed the background to a deep indigo. With a quick touch of a finger, Draco changed shifting faerie lights to small pinpoints of stars, then pinned Harry to the pillow he was on before he could change his bauble's light performance again. He kissed him deeply, eyes closed, cupping his face, and he felt Harry's hands plant themselves between his shoulder blades.

They'd have to go back to their dormitories soon (it wouldn't do to fall asleep in a lesser-known part of the castle and risk missing class the next day), but neither was feeling pressured to leave just yet. This was warm, and safe, and everything they had been missing; sleep could wait.

Draco buried his face into the crook of Harry's neck, mind wandering behind closed eyes, and he smirked and chuckled to himself as a thought occurred to him.

"What?" asked Harry.

Draco smiled, and after a pause he said, "You know how we thought of it --whatever it was we had last year -- as a game?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah."

"...I won."

"Oh, sod off, Malfoy!"

Draco laughed as Harry playfully tried to shove him away, succeeding in wrestling him onto his back and biting his neck instead. A poke in the right spot on his ribs revealed a ticklish weakness, and Harry used this to his advantage, causing Draco to laugh uncontrollably.

This went on for the several minutes until the tapestry that blocked them from the hall shifted, and a dread-inducing familiar figure stuck his head in.

"Bloody hell..."

Both Harry and Draco jumped in surprise.

"Ron?" Harry managed, startled. "This... uhm."

"Harry, what..." Ron swallowed, trying to manage the shock. "What are you doing?"

There was a long pause as Harry tried to collect his thoughts. Draco couldn't blame either of them for looking as stunned as they did -- this was a hard situation to defend, what with the obviously rumpled clothes and doubtlessly numerous love bites.

Harry's response came as a bit of a surprise.

"You remember what you and Hermione were doing the first night back at school?" Harry said, confidence suddenly filling his tone.

Ron's brow furrowed for a moment, then the sparse color left in his face drained.

"Er... Yeah."

"We're doing something a bit like that."

"Oh." Silence. "Right. Well. I'll uhm... talk to you back in the dormitory, then?" His voice rose in pitch at the end of the sentence, almost cracking with the effort.

"Yeah, back at the dormitory."

Ron nodded, glanced back and forth between them, then let the tapestry drop back into place again.

For a few moments, Draco and Harry stared at where Ron's head had been a moment earlier, then looked at each other.

"Well that could've gone much worse," Draco said.

Harry chuckled, but it was a chuckle filled with the knowledge of much retribution to come. "Oh, it's not over yet." Then he rested his head against Draco's chest. "He's going to kill me."

"No he won't. And if he tries, I'll make sure he suffers for it. Though I doubt he'll ever be able to get it up again, now that he knows you know what he and Hermione did," Draco said, sing-songing the last few words. "Or after seeing the two of us together. Unless he's secretly in love with you. Or was surprised to be turned on by seeing the two of us together. Or was imagining --"

Harry kissed him, breaking it briefly to say "Shut up". Draco snickered only a little before sinking back into enjoying the taste of his boyfriend's mouth.