Exceptional love

Chapter 7

Draco dragged Harry into his sitting room and thrust the brunet over to the lounge. But instead of sitting with him, Draco went and sat down at his desk and started to read something. Figuring it must have been something important Harry stretched out and closed his eyes, deciding to wait the blond out.

This morning had been... mortifying and thrilling. After he'd drawn up enough nerve, Harry had raised his chin and entered the breakfast room with the purpose of acting as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. But the moment Tom looked at him and sent him one of those perverted grins, Harry's face had flushed scarlet and he avoided the other man's gaze like it was the plague. Tom had then stated he was sure Harry would have skipped out on breakfast. The Dark wizard had practically purred the words.

Harry felt like bolting at first, but since he wasn't looking at Tom and the man hadn't said anymore, eventually he had calmed down. Until he chanced a peak at the other man to find Tom leaning back in his seat, arms up and fingers laced behind his head, grinning in an absurdly endearingly smug manner. Tom had said his embarrassment was a treasure to watch. Harry had snapped at him to shut the hell up.

"You're grinning like a lunatic. You know that right?" Draco drawled, jerking Harry out of thoughts that had been making him grin like crazy. All Harry could do was shrug. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this happy. "Harry, I want to say..." the blond's voice trailed off and it was obvious by the look in his eyes that he didn't want to say what was on his mind, but he was still determined to do so.

"Yeah?" Harry asked, sitting up.

Draco sat down when Harry made room and stared at his hands. "Look, Potter. I know how you feel about him. And strangely this has made you incredibly happy," he murmured, turning his eyes to meet Harry's. "But do you know what you are getting yourself in to? You really should think about this before you agree with the courting."

"You're the last person who I thought would be telling me this," Harry responded softly, his eyes pulling away to stare across the room. Draco sighed when he saw the stubborn set of Harry's jaw. Harry was preparing for a verbal attack.

"I'm saying this against my better judgment. We both know how he is. The Dark Lord loses his temper frequently and when that happens, someone usually dies... He could hurt you, Harry."

Harry shook his head then, a slow smile crossing his face as he dropped his defensive guard. He appreciated Draco's worry. And the fact Draco was going against every Slytherin instinct he had for self preservation because no doubt if Tom knew the blond were trying to keep Harry from agreeing, Tom would punish Draco severely. "No. I don't think he ever will."

"How can you be sure?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Then how can you even chance it?"

They sat face to face, staring at each other. "Because... I want to chance it. I need to. I need him, Drake. I can admit it now."

"Fucking Gryffindor! Fine," Draco paused to take a deep breath and then went on, "but have you thought about other consequences."

"I don't care about the rest of the world. I care about my friends, my life, and me. Besides, Tom will have his way in the end. We both know it."

Draco smirked. "You were always on the losing side."

"Yeah, whatever."

The blond sighed. "At least give it some thought before you agree. Don't be the hasty lion and jump into anything..." his words trailed off as Harry's face erupted in red and his green eyes scanned every inch of space behind the blond. Draco shot to his feet. "You bloody idiot!"