Sugar Quills
It would be their last detention. Harry just realised.
They would still meet up to study potions but this would be their last detention together and that didn’t feel right.
Normally, Harry would be excited to be done with detention. Especially one as tedious as polishing cauldrons. But he somehow had been…enjoying it? Maybe that’s too strong of a word but he didn’t hate it.
It wasn’t like they were hanging out because they were enjoying each other’s company. They were basically forced together. And Harry was actually paying Malfoy to be his tutor.
But Malfoy didn’t need the money, right? That must count for something.
Malfoy wasn’t as annoying as before. It was actually…kinda nice to be around him once Malfoy snapped out of that awful ghostly state he had going on at the beginning of the semester. Besides, Malfoy was looking better since he started hanging out with Harry.
Why would they stop hanging out together?
‘Because people will stare, Potter.’
Malfoy’s words had been running through Harry’s mind the whole dinner time and his free period before detention.
Malfoy didn’t want to walk to the Great Hall with Harry because other people would stare at them.
Not because Malfoy didn’t want to.
Malfoy didn’t say he didn’t want Harry to walk with him to the Great Hall. He said that people would stare at them, that was what stopped him.
And that pissed Harry off so much.
Why couldn’t Harry do something as normal as walking with another person to the Great Hall?
It would have been just two students walking to the Great Hall for Godric’s sake! What’s more fucking normal than that? Other people could do it, and with people from different houses too and nobody stared at them.
But Harry couldn’t walk a few metres next to Malfoy without people staring and judging and talking.
As if it was their business.
The way that people kept getting in Harry’s way, lit something inside him that he had been fighting so hard to put out. It just made him so angry.
He gave up so much for everyone. So fucking much. He gave his life for them.
Harry took a deep breath, rolling his head from side to side to try to loosen up his shoulders. He felt like he was burning up. He lost the robes and sweater, and pressed himself against the cold stone wall. Counting backwards, he breathed in and breathed out slowly, per his Mind Healer instructions. He really ought to visit him again. Harry flexed his fingers, getting the blood flow back.
Why should Harry care about what others think?
Fuck them all. The students, the teachers and the whole Wizarding World.
If he wanted to hang out with Malfoy and if Mayfoy wanted to hang out with him, then fuck what anybody else thinks. Harry would hang out with Malfoy publicly and freely.
Fuck the rest.
Fuck them.
Fu-
“Merlin, Potter. Why is all your shit all over the floor?”
Harry opened his eyes to Malfoy kicking his robe out of the way.
“You need to take better care of your things.”
He glanced at Harry before walking past him to the Potions classroom. Once inside, Harry heard him sigh before Malfoy’s head peaked out of the door.
“Did you spell yourself glued to the floor?”
“No.”
“Then hurry up.”
Harry rolled his eyes and picked up his things fast, walking inside. Malfoy already had everything all set up. His bag was on a table, next to it was his robe, neatly folded. He had a few cauldrons lined up, ready to be polished. Harry just dumped his things next to Malfoy’s and sat down next to him, reaching over him for a cauldron. Malfoy leaned away, scrunching his nose.
“You’re so sweaty.”
Harry raised an eyebrow at him and checked himself, smelling himself in the process.
“It’s not that bad.”
“It’s disgusting.”
Harry rolled his eyes as he sat back down.
“You are so dramatic.”
“And you are so sweaty.”
Harry glanced at Malfoy, who was neatly polishing a cauldron. Of course he looked put together, the git. Without thinking, not an uncommon thing coming from Harry, he reached over and wiped his sweaty hand on Malfoy’s cheek. For a moment, Malfoy stayed still in shock. Then he recovered and threw his rag at Harry before pushing him away. But there wasn’t much force in the push, it almost felt playful. It made Harry laugh.
“You are so fucking disgusting!”
“And you are so fucking dramatic!”
Malfoy grabbed his rag and continued hitting Harry with it, one blow for each word that he bit out.
“I am not!”
There wasn’t any strength behind his hits. And Harry knew that Malfoy was capable of putting up a fight if he wanted to, that was part of the reason they were there to begin with. It just made Harry laugh harder. Eventually, he managed to catch Malfoy’s wrist and smirked at him, Malfoy glared back at him but there wasn’t any hate in his eyes. Harry could tell that he was fighting off a smile.
“You are gross.”
“I can make it up to you with some Crystallised Pineapple.”
“Oh, fuck off.”
“I will add some fudge.”
“Stop trying to bribe me with candy!”
Malfoy’s face was so expressive. It surprised Harry that he could put on that cold facade all the time. It must have taken his parents or private tutor or whatever the rich pureblood had, a hella long time to teach him how to keep that horrible neutral expression. Harry let go of his wrist and Malfoy sat back down.
“But it works.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“I brought some really good fudge.”
There was a long pause and Harry’s smirk grew.
“What are you waiting for? A written invitation? Go and get it.”
Harry laughed a bit and stood up, he grabbed his bag and sat a little bit closer to Malfoy. He laid out tonight's candies. Some fudge, a few Sugar Quills, he needed to stock up on red ones, some Crystallized Pineapple and some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.
“So…I have been thinking.”
“Don’t tire yourself out.”
Harry shot a glare at Malfoy who smirked at him before biting into the fudge.
“So, I was thinking,” Harry repeated. “You explained to me how different cauldrons affect potions and I’m still thinking about it and since we are in the Potions classroom…” Harry finished unwrapping the Every Flavour Beans Box and looked up, finding Malfoy looking at him.
“And?”
“Can you show me? I mean, we have all this stuff and Slughorn won’t mind if we just use it.” Harry shrugged.
“Maybe he won't mind you using it, but what about me?”
“As long as we put everything back in its place, then nobody has to know.” Harry looked through the Jelly Beans. “If we get caught, I will take the blame.”
Malfoy seemed to be thinking it over. He didn’t seem to notice that he was biting his lower lip a bit.
“Scared, Malfoy?”
He stopped biting his lower lip and all trace of doubt in his face was replaced with a smirk.
“In your dreams, Potter.”
Before Malfoy could change his mind, Harry stood up and went to grab the clean cauldrons but all shelves were locked. Disappointment threatened to drown him. No. Why were they locked? It couldn’t be. He was so excited.
“Are they locked?”
Harry could just nod, still staring at the shelves, starting to feel the muscles in his back tense up, there was a pressure on his chest that would soon start to choke him.
“Maybe Snape’s spells still work. I don’t think Slughorn would take the time to change them.”
When Harry turned around, he found Malfoy behind him.
“But how-”
“I know the spells.”
“Of course you do.” Harry muttered, looking back at the damn shelves.
“But I can’t cast them.”
Now that was odd. Malfoy saying he couldn’t cast a spell? Malfoy missing an opportunity to show off? Harry raised one questioning eyebrow.
“Too out of your skill?”
“How dare you to insinuate that I,” Malfoy stuttered, clearly insulted by the suggestion that he could not do something. Strangely, Harry didn’t find Malfoy’s outburst annoying anymore. “Absolutely not! I used to cast them all the time since First Year, you asshole.” He crossed his arms. “I will have you know that I cannot cast them because I’m not allowed to and not because I lack the skill.”
“Wait, what do you mean not allowed to?”
“Forgot how english works? It means exactly what it means.” Malfoy stopped Harry’s follow-up question with a hand gesture. “You do the spell with your wand.”
“Are they tracking your wand?”
“Do you want to do the potions or not? Time’s running out.”
Harry decided to keep his questions to himself for now but he would revisit the subject later. He pulled out his wand and copied the movements and words that Malfoy made. It took a few tries but eventually, all shelves, cabinets and drawers were unlocked.
“Okay, you get a cauldron of each material and I will get the ingredients.”
They worked well together. Harry brought the cauldrons, Malfoy brought the ingredients. They both prep the ingredients, Harry chopped, crushed, peeled them and Malfoy then fixed it all. First, he berated Harry on his atrocious potions skills and about how it was a wonder that he got that far in school. Once he got that out of his system, with surprising patience, he walked Harry through how to handle each ingredient, how it was the best way to peel them, how to hold the knife and what to keep in mind.
Harry surprised himself by understanding it all.
“Pay attention, Potter. This is important.”
Harry held back a snort. According to Malfoy, everything was crucial information.
Now, Malfoy was explaining to him the importance of the type of water and- Wait, they talked about this!
“Yeah!” Harry said with enthusiasm. “I remember, you told me on our first tutoring session that pure filtered water is the best base because you can control the things.” Harry made a vague gesture to signify the things. “Because it doesn’t have like bits in it that could get in the way like the magic residue does.”
Malfoy stared at him and Harry began to second guess himself because Malfoy did teach him that. Had he got it all wrong? He was pretty sure…
“Yea-yeah.” Malfoy cleared his throat and looked away, reaching for more ingredients. “That’s correct.”
“Cool.” Harry smiled to himself and filled the cauldrons with water and then put them on their respective fires. Malfoy looked over at each cauldron and nodded. He showed Harry how to test if the water was hot enough.
“Look carefully.” Malfoy was holding a thin longish leaf, he waited until Harry’s attention was on the cauldron. “This is how you know that the water is near its boiling point, which is what we want in this case since our ingredients aren’t really that delicate and it’s a quick potion.”
“Why not wait until it’s boiling?”
“Boiling water is too aggressive,” Malfoy looked at Harry in a way that now Harry was very familiar with, it was the look he made when he was about to say something he found very interesting and was forcing himself to not get overly excited.
It was easy to see when Harry had asked a good question because of that. Malfoy did this thing when he was about to talk about something that excited him. He gave Harry the look and then pressed his lips together before smiling a bit, a barely-there-smile you only noticed when you know where to look. “And contrary to one may think, it’s not because of the heat. Not entirely at least, it’s because of the movement.” Malfoy had that gleam in his silver eyes, he looked so alive. “Boiling water bubbles up and that movement can interfere with delicate potions.”
“It annoys the delicate ingredients.”
Malfoy couldn’t hold back the snort, or maybe he didn’t even try.
“Something like that.” Malfoy said while still smiling. “Okay, focus on the leaf.” Harry’s eyes move back to the leaf. Malfoy got the leaf close to the water and began counting, when it reached to five, the leaf curled into itself. “That's how we know it is good.” Malfoy held the leaf proudly and triumphantly in front of Harry. His smile was wider, honest and borderline boyish, it showed a sense of childlike wonder that the war hadn’t beaten out of Malfoy. And apparently it hadn’t beaten it out of Harry either, who, to his own surprise, found himself matching Malfoy’s enthusiasm over a leaf.
“That was so cool!”
“I know right?!” Malfoy seemed to finally let himself show his full enthusiasm over Potions. He was smiling, a full on grin that anybody could see. It softened his face. Malfoy didn’t look so pointy anymore, he had finally grown into his features. “I discovered it in Third Year, over the summer, my parents finally let me have real ingredients to play around with but under the promise that I could not make a mess again.”
Harry leaned back into the table behind them, a smile still on his face. He raised one eyebrow.
“Again?”
“Well,” Malfoy rolled his eyes, but not in a mean way. He hadn’t rolled his eyes mean-ly at Harry in a while. He tested the other two cauldrons. “I was trying to do a potion to help my mother’s roses to maintain their colours a bit longer but I messed it up and I ruined my old nursery room.”
It was a funny picture. A small pointy Third Year Malfoy in the middle of some posh room completely covered in goo. First, Harry pictured Lucious Malfoy yelling at young pointy Draco Malfoy but after seeing him run around, wandless, midbattle looking for him…Harry wanted to think…
“Your parents must have been furious.”
“Worried,” Malfoy corrected him. “And once they assured themselves that I was okay, they were annoyed.” Malfoy was smiling at the memory, he was fond of it, Harry realised. “Snape managed to convince them to give me another chance. Obviously they did.” Malfoy grabbed the crushed tree-something bark. “We add two pinches according to the instructions, while you might think that means that it’s just a random dusting. I have a trick that assures you to get the perfect amount of dusting and avoid any measurement issues.”
“Wait, a dusting has measurements?”
“Not officially but obviously it does. Everything has to be perfect in Potions.”
“Maybe that’s why my potions were shit. My dustings were all wrong.”
Malfoy looked sideways at him, raising one sarcastic eyebrow before looking back at the table for something. And with the most condescending but dare Harry said, almost fond tone of voice, Malfoy commented.
“Sure, it was your dusting that was the problem.”
“Okay,” Harry leaned over to look at the cauldron better. “Tell me your trick, you will see how I will nail all my potions from now on.”
“I do magic, not miracles, Potter.”
“Are you going to show me the trick or not?”
Malfoy laughed to himself a bit, he pressed his lips together. Oh, it must be a good trick then.
“Look, you put the blade against the rim of the cauldron, to know how far into the knife you just follow the thickness of the rim .” Malfoy did that and let the tip get foggy. “And then you press it against the crushed bark, since the knife is damped, some will stick.” He then dusted the bark that got stuck to the steel on one of the cauldrons. “And done! The perfect pinch for each size cauldron.”
“Why haven’t they taught us this?”
Malfoy gave Harry the knife and helped him do the same in the next cauldron. He nodded approvingly when Harry did it alone in the last one.
“Because it’s my trick. I worked a lot with potions, simpler ones, outside of the manor to keep mother’s curtains safe.” Malfoy laughed to himself again, preparing the next ingredient. “While I was allowed to do potions, they wouldn’t let me do complex ones until I was older and with supervision so I just worked on perfecting the potion recipes I was allowed to do.”
“Perfecting them?”
“Of course, Potter.” Malfoy showed him the chopped mint and another mysterious herb, something with a W….Warzone? War… “Now we take the chopped mint and wartizome stem, put it in the mortar to make it into a paste.” Harry moved the heavy stone mortar with one hand and placed it on the table without the cauldrons.
So what if he did it slower to show off the fruits of all that summer training? Nobody would call him out there. And why was he showing off? Hmm, rivalry does take a curious twist when they weren’t punching each other.
“Thank you.” Malfoy began mushing the herbs, stopping mid-movement. “You do it. Let’s see how you fuck it up.”
“Watch me mash these herbs.” Harry pulled his sleeves up with unnecessary flair. Malfoy shook his head.
“You don’t mash them. Make them into a paste, you brute.”
“That’s how you make it into a paste, Malfoy.” Harry took the mortar and enjoyed Malfoy’s hesitant expression as Harry began to mash- no sorry, make into a paste. “Just like this.”
“Circular motions, Potter.”
“I am doing circular motions.”
“Potter. Potter! Look at me.”
Harry found himself working hard to try not to smile and looked over at Malfoy. Who raised an eyebrow at him.
“I don’t know where you learned your shapes, Potter. But this.” He made a circle in the air. “Is a circle. This,” He made just random shapes into the air. “Is what you were doing.”
Harry changed his movements, trying to make perfect circles. It looked like Malfoy was about to object but then made a ‘hmm’ sound and let Harry make the mush. I mean paste, while he worked on the other ingredients.
“Now, a scope in each cauldron.” Malfoy watched Harry do it, giving just minimal advice this time. They worked pretty well together and Harry found himself learning a lot. Malfoy knew a lot. And not only from just reading books but because he liked to experiment with things too.
“Now we wait and you will see how each cauldron will yield a different effect.” Malfoy began cleaning up, putting everything back in order while the potions heated up.
It got humid and steamy, like it always did in the Potions classroom. Harry left his sleeves up after washing the mortar and enjoyed the way Malfoy’s hair was getting slightly curvy at the ends with the steam.
“Potter. Stop staring and come to see the potions. They’re ready.”
Harry walked over and glanced at the three different cauldrons, the iron, silver and gold potions looked all the same.
“Okay, I give up-”
“Didn’t take you for a quitter, Potter.”
Malfoy was smirking at him, a childish self satisfied smirk.
“We’re missing a step.”
“5 points for the Boy Who Remembered the Instructions.” Malfoy swinged a small jar in front of Harry’s face. “Come on, pay close attention.”
“Am I going to be graded?”
“I expect two pieces of parchment with a full description of what we did and analysis of the reactions.”
“For next week?”
“For tomorrow.”
“Uff tough. Be ready for mediocrity.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything more of you.” Malfoy said with a lightness to his tone that made Harry feel…something. It was strange but it didn’t feel like his chest was gonna choke him. “Alright, look.” He dropped a petal on each cauldron. Even though they were all the same exact potions. Harry would not dare to suggest that they made a mistake with any measurements. Anyways, even though they were all the same exact potion, each of them had a vastly different result. The iron one turned pink, the silver one turned a shimmery golden colour and the gold one seemed to not do anything. Harry leaned forward, trying to get a better look and the fucking potion blew foam all over Harry. He could hear Malfoy doubling over with laughter.
“You fucking ass!”
Malfoy tried to say something but it took him sometime to get his shit together. Harry couldn’t see him with all the foam on his glasses but he knew the idiot was close to crying out of laughter.
“You planned this!”
“I didn’t know you would stick your head in it!”
“You knew!”
“Of course I did.”
Once Harry got enough foam off his glasses to see enough of Malfoy, he attacked. He threw him a big glob of foam, which the asshole ducked.
“Your aiming sucks, Potter. You should consider changing your glasses.”
Might have been annoying if Malfoy didn’t break into laughter half way through the sentence. But the jab was effective enough to push Harry into action. He moved forward and grabbed Malfoy before he could slip away, covering him in foam too.
“Potter!”
“Malfoy!” Harry mocked his tone as Malfoy squirmed to get out of his grip but Harry had a good hold on him and was not planning on letting go until Malfoy was equally covered in foam too. Harry managed to free one hand and put some foam on Mayfoy’s face and hair. “Stop trying to elbow me!”
“Don’t touch my hair!”
“But it’s so soft.”
“Unlike you fucking brute. I know how to wash my hair!” Malfoy did a quick move that had them both stumbling over. They were both on the hard ground. Malfoy tried to sound insulted but he could not stop laughing. It was so contagious that it had Harry laughing too. They must look mental. Both, in the middle of the Potions classroom covered in foam laughing their asses off.
It took them a while to catch their breath. Malfoy was the first one to sit up, wiping his cheeks as he let out a deep breath. Harry sat up and threw a careless Scourgify on his glasses. He licked his lips without thinking and found out an interesting surprise.
“It’s sweet.”
Malfoy nodded, licking his lips too.
“It is.”
“But none of the ingredients were sweet.”
“The petals add sweetness.” Malfoy stood. Harry lifted his hand, silently asking for Malfoy to help him up. Malfoy raised one eyebrow at him but did help him up.
“It isn’t sticky.”
“That was difficult to achieve.”
“You made this?”
Malfoy looked around for his wand while running his hands through his surprisingly soft hair.
“The base potion is basically a toy. It’s a simple kids soap and the idea is that it is non-toxic for babies.” Malfoy seemed conflicted on touching his bag with foamy hands. Harry, on the opposite side, did not care one bit on getting his own bag dirty so he reached over for his wand and gestured to Malfoy, who nodded and let Harry do a quick Cleaning Charm on both of them. “Anyways, once I mastered that potion, it got boring so I started experimenting.” Now that he was cleaned, he reached for his bag and looked for his wand. “Played around and created those.”
“You experiment a lot.”
“Well, we all have our hobbi- Oh fuck!” Once he had found his wand, it showed that the alarm he had programmed had been ringing for half an hour. “Shit! Shit. I’m past curfew!”
Harry casted a quick Tempus, 9:15 pm. They were past curfew and Malfoy was freaking out. He was looking around, picking up his things and looked at the Potions classroom with desperation.
“Hey, hey… Malfoy.”
“What am I going to do? I’m in so much trouble now!”
“Malfoy. I-”
“They are going to throw me in a cell in Azkaban and throw away the key!”
This was not working. Harry grabbed Malfoy by the shoulders, stopping his frantic pacing.
“Malfoy! It is going to be alright.”
“Easy for you to say! As if someone who say something to The Boy Who Doesn’t Give A Fuck About Conseque-”
“I can sneak you into the Slytherin Room. Nobody will see us.”
Malfoy was about to comment but stopped himself, narrowing his eyes at Harry, stepping away. He seemed calm enough so Harry let go of his shoulders.
“How? A Disillusionment Charm won’t work.”
Harry hesitated. Showing him the Invisibility Cloak was risky. It was Malfoy after all but he seemed so worried and it was partially Harry’s fault they were past curfew. He might have heard the alarm and just…ignored it. Bit of an asshole move. But he was having so much fun and…and it seemed that Malfoy was having fun too. Of course, Harry didn’t think about the consequences. He kinda owed Malfoy for this. While Malfoy tended to be dramatic, his fear now didn’t seem to be an overreaction.
Oh fuck it. War was over and they really had nothing to hide at this point.
“I have something better.”
Curiosity was clear on Malfoy’s face and it was kinda nice to see it. Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak out of his bag and presented it to a now sceptical Malfoy. Harry couldn’t help the smirk on his face as he put it on and completely disappeared.
“Oh, Merlin.” He heard Malfoy say as he looked at where Harry was standing. He hesitantly reached over and lightly touched the fabric. “So that’s how you did it.”
“Cool, right?”
“This is way more than just cool, Potter. And you know it.”
Harry pulled down the cloak, revealing his face with a cocky smirk on his face. Malfoy still looked amazed, he poked Harry.
“So don’t worry. I can sneak you down to the Slytherin dorms no problem.” He took off the Invisibility Cloak. “You’re good.”
Malfoy did look quite a lot calmer now. He put his bag down.
“Alright. But let's don’t tempt fate. Better clean up and call it a night.”
That might have bumped down Harry a bit. Just a bit. But it was late and he could see why Malfoy wanted to leave soon. However…
“We didn’t finish polishing the cauldrons.”
“We will have to finish tomorrow.” Malfoy sighed as he began putting everything in their place. Harry followed his lead and found that he did not mind it at all. “You’re telling Slughorn though.”
“Sure.”
It didn’t take them long to get everything back into its place and the Potions classroom looked just how it looked when they got there earlier in the evening. They were both ready to leave. Malfoy turned to face Harry.
“Alright, how do we do it?”
Harry hesitated. Yes, he sometimes did that. He did think things over every once in a while. It wasn’t an issue to share the Invisibility Cloak with Ron and Hermione. It did get a bit difficult the older they got, since, you know. You grow up and things get a bit tight. Eh, fuck it. Why think it over?
“Come here.” Harry moved under the Invisibility Cloak and lifted it up for Malfoy to get inside. Malfoy did hesitate for a second but did get closer. Harry let the fabric fall, covering them both. He could feel Malfoy’s body heat with how close they were. Malfoy was looking everywhere but Harry. His hands were holding onto the trap on his bag tightly. And the longer they stood there, the pinker his cheek got.
“Okay, just let’s just start walking.”
It was a mess. They didn’t make it out of the Potions classroom before deciding they needed to change tactics. They were both trying to stand side by side but kept bumping into each other, stepping on the others feet and elbowing each other.
“Okay, okay, okay.” Harry stopped. “You stand in front and guide us to the Slytherin dorms.” He manoeuvred Malfoy to stand in front. It was way easier like that. No bumping into each other now. They easily walked out of the Potions classroom and made their way down the empty corridors with ease.
They were just around the corner when Harry heard someone walking their way. He acted fast, pulling Malfoy by the waist and pressing their backs against the wall. He covered Malfoy’s mouth just as two Prefects turned the corner. Malfoy covered Harry’s mouth. With their backs against the wall, facing the corridor both got as close as they could to the wall.
The two Prefects, Ravenclaws, walked by as they were chatting about random school things. They were moving at a glacial pace though. Of course, they decided to stop just a few metres away from them. One of the Prefects pulled out a box of cigarettes and they both got out one each.
Harry heard Malfoy make a small noise and Harry pressed his hand against Malfoy’s mouth tighter. His skin was surprisingly soft. Harry might have moved his thumb a bit, feeling Malfoy’s surprisingly soft skin on his surprisingly sharp cheekbone. Harry pulled Malfoy a bit closer when both Prefects leaned against the wall to smoke.
It felt like they stayed there forever.
Godric, how long does it take to smoke a damn cig.
Malfoy felt tense. Harry tried to calm him down. He squeezed his waist a bit since he still had his left arm wrapped around Malfoy’s waist while the other was covering his mouth. It didn’t help to make Malfoy any less tense. Somehow he felt even more tense. Harry tried with what he hoped were soothing circles on Malfoy’s side. Harry liked when his friends did that on his hair so maybe it would help Malfoy.
Malfoy shot him a preoccupied look, his eyebrows were all scrunched. Harry kept rubbing his side and tried to give him a reassuring look. Eventually, Malfoy felt less tense and Harry nodded at him. He kept rubbing Malfoy’s side, actually enjoying the feeling of the warm, extremely soft and probably extremely expensive shirt. It was probably custom made, the few times Harry had seen Malfoy without the baggy robes, his shirt seemed to always fit him perfectly. Unlike how Harry’s shirt fit him. Maybe he should try tailored shirts.
Harry could feel how Malfoy’s chest expanded as he breathed. Malfoy ran cold, Harry noticed. Unlike Harry who was always hot. Which kinda made being all mushed together under the Invisibility Cloak not completely unbearable. Malfoy smelled nice too. Harry could smell a faint fruity smell, maybe apple, and also kinda citrusy which must be from whatever Malfoy put on his hair. He could also smell his cologne. It was warm, rich, masculine scent but not overpowering at all. Probably ridiculously expensive and imported from like France or whatever. It was kinda pleasant and masked the disgusting cigarette smoke smell.
Harry hated the smell of cigarette smoke. He hated it.
So, logically, Harry moved his head closer to Malfoy, who did not reek of cigarette smoke.
Finally, the two Prefects finished up their smoke break, vanished the cigarette buds and continued walking down the hall. But Harry held Malfoy close a bit longer, just to make sure the Prefects were out of earshot.
Eventually, Malfoy moved away from Harry while still staying under the Invisibility Cloak, so not that far away. Harry felt a bit light headed, maybe because of the cigarette smell. He looked at Malfoy, his face only being lit by a torch nearby. It made his hair look like it was glowing and added some warmth to his eyes who normally look cold as steel. Were his cheeks flushed?
They stared at each other for a second before a smile appeared on Malfoy’s face, he quickly covered his mouth to drown out a laugh. Harry followed suit.
“We almost got caught.” Malfoy half whispered, half laughed. Harry nodded.
“It was so close.”
“I honestly thought we would get caught.”
“Told you it would be okay.”
Malfoy rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Let’s get moving.”
Malfoy turned his back to Harry and began walking. They were in front of the Slytherin dorms in no time. They checked around before removing the Invisibility Cloak.
“I’m not saying the password with you nearby.”
“Aw, come on.”
“I won’t, Potter.”
“Come on. Isn’t it customary to wait until you are inside before I leave.”
“This isn’t-” Malfoy stuttered a bit before recovering. “Was this a trick to get the Slytherin’s common room password?” Malfoy’s tone sounded a bit too serious to be a joke.
Harry leaned against the wall, the Invisibility Cloak carelessly thrown over his shoulder. He smiled at Malfoy which seemed to get Malfoy to feel less on edge.
“A bit too elaborate to get just a password.”
“Mmm. You’re right. You aren’t that clever.”
“Ouch.”
Malfoy smiled a bit and crossed his arms, popping his hip to the side a bit.
“Good bye, Potter.”
“Potions classroom after Potions?” Oh shit, no he had training. There was a Quidditch match on Saturday. “Sorry, no. Potions classroom at 7:30? After dinner? We will have plenty of time before curfew.”
Before Malfoy could suggest to just go in separate times to finish up the cauldrons. Harry added.
“I promise I will get you here at a respectable hour, before curfew.”
“Potter-”
“I promise.”
Malfoy seemed to be mulling it over, chewing his lower lip slightly. He sighed and with a careless tone answered.
“Alright then. Don’t keep me waiting.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
They stood there for a sec. Harry took a good look at Malfoy. His hair was still a bit fluffy from the steam. He wasn’t wearing his robe, it was hanging off his bag. His shirt was slightly wrinkled and half untucked. And he was raising one eyebrow at Harry.
“Good night, Potter.”
“Good night, Malfoy.”
Malfoy gave him an exasperated look when Harry didn’t make a move to leave.
“Potter. I won’t say the password in front of you.”
“Because it’s me or because I’m a Gryffindor.”
“Both. Leave. And leave your head out of the Invisibility Cloak. Don’t be sneaking back to hear the password.”
“I don’t care about that password enough to go sneaking back here.”
“Then why are you still here?”
“Can’t a guy just casually stand in a corridor, chilling?”
“Potter, I got an early class. I need to go to bed.”
“Arithmancy, boring.”
“How do you kn-” Malfoy stopped mid sentence, rolling his eyes. “Not boring, difficult. Go.”
“I will see you tomorrow?”
“Yes. 7:30 pm. Potion classroom. Now go.”
Harry winked at Malfoy and slowly walked away, their eyes locked on the others until Harry turned around the corner. He threw on the Invisibility Cloak but did not sneak back to hear the password. Harry waited until he heard the wall closed up.
He didn’t head back to the Gryffindor common room right away. Harry still felt a little bit light headed. The castle was so peaceful at night, it still wasn’t cold enough and there was a pleasant draft. The Invisibility Cloak still smelled like Malfoy. Eventually, he knew he had to get going. His friends would probably get worried if he got there past midnight. He still needed to write the conclusion of the Potion homework.
And he was also painfully hard and really wanted to take care of that.
How did that happen? Maybe the thrill of sneaking around and almost getting caught. The adrenaline of it all.
He took one last deep breath before rushing back to his common room. Explained why he ran late. Decided that he would finish the Potion homework the next day. Got ready for bed in record time.
And once he was settled in his bed, all curtains drawn up and a bunch of Privacy and Silencing spells on, he wanked himself raw.
After having one last mindblowing orgasm, he laid there in the dark catching his breath. As his mind got a bit clearer, Harry considered for about one nanosecond to think about what got him in such a mood. But honestly, he couldn’t be bothered.
After a quick Scourgify, he snuggled up and fell into one of the best sleeps he’d had in a while.