An Issue of Consequence

Chapter 3

It was an odd day. Or rather, it was odd how normal the day was, considering the way it'd started. Draco was beginning to think he had imagined the whole thing. Potter didn't even acknowledge his existence afterwards. Draco saw him at lunch, at supper, and at the pitch, but Potter didn't look his way.

As far as Draco could conclude, there were only three possibilities. Potter had tried to pull some kind of prank. Or someone had pulled a prank on Potter and cursed him into thinking he wanted to make out with Draco. Or someone had cursed Draco and given him hallucinations. The latter was the reason why Draco kept quiet and didn't tell Pansy what happened. He really didn't need her accusing him of losing his mind. And this theory was beginning to sound like the most plausible one because Draco had spent the night thinking about Potter's kiss, and that simply wasn't natural.

Well, to be fair, it wasn't the first time his thoughts had strayed in that direction, but strange sexual fantasies during a good, long wank were only to be expected. This, however, was an obsessive, feverish night where Draco kept waking up sweaty, with his heart thundering in his chest, and utterly unsure what was real and what was just a dream.

On Monday morning, he resolved to forget the whole thing and dismiss it as a riddle unworthy of his time and effort. At first, it looked like he'd be allowed to do exactly that. Everything was normal enough during morning Transfiguration lessons, with Potter ignoring him as he usually did, but Draco should have known it wouldn't be that easy. There was a moment during Charms when Draco, quite by accident, looked Potter's way and their eyes met. Potter gave him a small, uncertain smile before looking away.

Draco spent the rest of the class contemplating whether that truly was odd or if he should just ignore it. In the end, he decided he simply couldn't trust his judgement. Not when it came to Potter.

He couldn't wait for the bell to ring. When it finally did, he grabbed Pansy's hand, dragged her into a nearest alcove, and told her everything that had happened yesterday. She listened patiently with an unreadable expression.

"I see," she said at last, staring at his eyes so intently Draco was sure she was checking whether his pupils were dilated or not.

"I'm not crazy!" Draco hurried to add even though he was aware that was exactly what a crazy person would say.

Pansy reached out and took Draco's hand. She gave it a little squeeze. "Of course not! But... Maybe you could go see Madam Pomfrey, anyway?" She smiled. Draco knew that smile. He gave the same one to his mother when she had escorted him to the train station in September and, looking quite serious, said, "Perhaps you could try to befriend Potter this year. He saved your life; I saved his. You have a bond now, and it can only serve you well."

It was a smile one gave to a person who had clearly lost all touch with reality.

Draco freed his hand from Pansy's grip with a scowl. "There's nothing wrong with me. I'm completely rational about this. It's not like I think Potter is secretly in love with me. And I'm not claiming this is Potter's evil plan, either. Someone clearly did something to him. Dared him or hexed him."

"Right. Of course. It's possible. But why not make sure? If we hurry, we might catch Pomfrey before she goes to lunch."