An Accidental Alliance

chapter 14

Lunch was uneventful. There was no accidental-on-purpose-to-pass-a-note bumping-into as Harry left. He fidgeted his way through his afternoon classes. Was it just assumed he'd go to Draco's at ten to work on the poster? Draco had been rather insistent about finishing it. Sort of, when they weren't fooling around. But surely Draco would have invited him and not assumed, right? That was a weird thing to assume after only two days.

On the other hand, what if he was sick of Harry? What if he needed a break? What if those extra Galleons for Hogsmeade weren't enough of an incentive to work together? What if he was regretting everything he'd said last night and just wanted to be left alone? Was their date cancelled? They hadn't set a time or made any real plans at all, so if Draco didn't get in touch, then it was definitely off.

Harry had worked himself up so much that by the time they left their last class of the day, Hermione quietly pulled him aside and asked if he was okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said distractedly.

"No, you're not," she said gently. "You're pale, shaky and sweaty and I'd think you were coming down with something if you weren't so jumpy. What's going on?"

"It's nothing, I told you," Harry repeated vaguely. There was a Muggle song he had heard over the summer that was dancing just out of reach. He didn't know why it was in his head, but maybe if he could remember the damned thing, it would make sense.

"You didn't take a single note during class," she pressed.

"It's Muggle Studies, I never do," Harry replied. Goddammit, what was it? It was a color, he thought, but that didn't make sense. Songs weren't colors, they were songs. Bloody hell, this was going to drive him insane. And yes, of course he was obsessing over it to give himself a break from obsessing over Draco, he knew that, but whatever worked. "Come on, I want to get a start on homework with Hogsmeade tomorrow and all."

"All right, I suppose," Hermione said, unconvinced but not so much that she'd turn down studying. "Any plans for the day?"

"I don't know," he replied truthfully.

Ron had hung back during this conversation-apparently Hermione thought she'd have a better chance of coaxing it out of him alone-but he joined them as they walked to the library.

Harry's attention was still focused on the song. A color and-Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia? What? And when had he even been listening to Muggle music in the first place? He'd spent the summer split between Grimmauld Place and the Weasley's. Maybe Mr. Weasley had been messing around with a disc player? That made some amount of sense.

They settled at their customary table and Harry let it go. Homework. Homework was an even better distraction than some stupid song he couldn't remember. Charms first. Which didn't make his stomach clench uncomfortably at the memory of how his last attempt to write the essay had gone. So, since he wasn't distracted by the song or by Draco or by the sound his book had made when it hit the floor after being kicked off the bed, his work would just fly by. No distractions, that was the key.

Halfway through his essay the song came rushing back, along with why he had heard it at all. Mr. Weasley had gotten Ginny a CD player and a few popular Muggle CDs for her birthday, saying it was something she would enjoy while learning about Muggles. For the most part the CDs sat undisturbed, but one had caught on, at least a little, and while Harry had no memory of the artist, there was a song on it called Red, and the first lines, that was what he had been thinking of.