Rivaling Affections

Chapter 10

"Infuriating," Narcissa cried at the report Minerva had given of the boy's daily interactions.

According to the Headmistress, things had cooled considerably since sessions began at the school. "I just don't know what went wrong," Minerva, mused. "I made sure they spent the entire afternoon alone together, sat them beside one another at the feast, Harry even came around fairly quickly to the idea of Teddy in Slytherin, but then something abruptly changed," she reported.

"I saw the flowers, a brilliant idea by the way, Minnie. Harry had them in his hand when they came home, but then he went straight to his room with them. Draco looked furious, maybe even jealous, but all he managed to do was linger outside Harry's bedroom door for several minutes before shutting himself up in his own room," Andromeda offered.

"Draco can be so stubborn," Narcissa sighed.

"He certainly doesn't have the patent on it, trust me, from what I've seen, Harry has his own brand of stubbornness," Minerva offered. "Why, the two have been tap dancing around each other for years, and this week was the worst. I've never seen two people so adept at avoidance."

Andromeda laughed. "You should have seen them this morning. Harry got up, made breakfast, read the Quibbler and went up to his study, and the moment he went upstairs was the very moment Draco came out of his room. It was like he knew exactly where Harry was at all times."

"He might have, Draco's very advanced at tracing charms. He might have cast one on Potter without him even knowing," Narcissa added, sounding very annoyed. "Which makes our job that much harder."

"We'll need something bigger, some way to get them in the same room with one another," Andromeda muttered.

"Well, if the boys enjoy dancing around each other so much, maybe they need a dose of their own medicine," Minerva offered, holding up the poster for the Halloween Ball.

The three women fell into a fit of laughter and began devising their new plan.

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Draco looked across the room at Potter, who he had convinced himself to steer clear of. The Headmistress was ruining all his scheming and if he didn't know any better, he would think she was fully aware of her actions.

The tracking spell he had put on Potter had been working well all week, but what was the use if he were going to have to be forced into sharing a classroom with him.

Harry still avoided his gaze, ever since the welcome feast. Something had changed, cooled between them, and Draco was both thankful and full of loss and regret over it. Harry still refused to look at him, even then, when he was standing directly across from him, surrounded by tiny Gryffindor's.

"As you should all be aware by now, the last Friday evening in October will be the Hogwart's Halloween Ball. As such, I'm giving you students an extra opportunity to learn the art of ballroom dancing as instructed by your heads of house," Minerva said.

There was a mixture of groaning and cheering from the students gathered and Draco sighed. These lessons were supposed to take place once a week until the week of the dance, optional for students, but mandatory for him.

"Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick you'll be working with your students on Wednesday evenings before dinner, and Deputy Headmaster Potter, and Professor Malfoy will be working with their students on Monday's," Minerva continued.

Harry paled considerably, and Draco was fairly sure that if he could get paler he would have. So much for his plan to avoid Harry.

"Professor Malfoy, Professor Potter, if you'll join me here in the front of the room, please," the Headmistress instructed firmly.