Masked

(20) Deal

A few days later, Pansy found Draco in the, otherwise empty, common room late at night. "We had a deal, Draco, it's time for you to tell me what you and Harry did in your room the other day."

Draco sighed and closed his book, setting it down on the floor by his armchair. "Fine. We mostly just talked, he told me about living with his aunt and uncle, I told him about my home life. I suggested we stop fighting and perhaps use first names and he agreed."

"You said 'Mostly' just talked... What else did you do?" Pansy couldn't keep the grin off her face.

"Well, uh..." Draco shifted uncomfortably, he didn't really want to tell Pansy all of this. He would much rather it be a moment for him and Harry to share and think back too when they're older. He nearly snorted at his own cheesiness.

"Come on! We made a deal, Draco!"

"I know, I know. We were sitting next to each other on my bed"- Pansy squealed- "and uh our knees touched and we both felt this huge jolt and I just... I felt like I wanted to devour him... Or mark him, claim him as mine... But then we saw what time it was and left."

Pansy's mouth was hanging open, "You could have skipped one meal, you know? I'm pretty sure finally getting together with the person you've been crushing on forever is more important than one meal."

"I think food is very important and skipping meals is not healthy. Besides, I didn't want to rush things, I still have a lot to tell him before we go any further in our relationship and our friendship."

"Like what?"

Draco looked away, "I promised mother I wouldn't tell anyone."

"But you're going to tell Harry!"

"Well, anyone besides him."

"Ugh, fine. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, or Hermione will."

"You're going to tell her everything, aren't you?"

"Yep!" Pansy got up and went to her dorm. If Hermione was still awake, Pansy'll tell her now, if not, tomorrow morning will have to do, but the details will be less accurate... Oh well.

Hermione was, in fact, still awake and Pansy quickly told her everything.

"So? What are you thinking?" Pansy asked once Hermione stopped staring off into space and started walking towards the bookshelf.

"What you said about theirs knees touching, was that exactly as Draco had described it?" Her finger skimming the spines of the books and her eyes quickly following. The professors had been kind enough to offer Hermione a bookshelf for her room which discreetly borrowed and returned books to and from the library according to what she was looking for.

"Yep, word for word!" Pansy said confidently before adding, "I think."

"Harry has been incredibly wary of Draco lately. Every time Ron or I mention him, Harry comes up with some excuse to leave. Or he gets extremely angry and defensive, depends on what we say about Draco."

Pansy took a moment to process this and then spoke up, "Has Ron been mentioning Draco a lot? Ginny told me that he went to talk to her about Harry's behavior lately and they strayed to the topic of Drarry."

"Really? Wow, that actually explains a lot. Ron has been talking about Draco more than usual, he's probably trying to figure out what Harry feels towards Draco." Hermione took a book from the shelf.

"Well they've liked each other for years so that just proves how blind Weasley is."

Hermione gave Pansy a warning look and the other girl moved on to more neutral territory. "What's that book you got there?"

"I'm just following a hunch."

Pansy raised an eyebrow that Hermione clearly understood to mean "please elaborate".

"I think the big secret Draco is keeping, the one his mother won't allow him to share, is going to affect The Drarry Plan."

Pansy paled.