A Forbidden Love

Chapter 29: Professor Lupin

"Code Red! Code Red!" I whisper aggressively to Potter, Weasley, Granger, and Goyle. "My parents are on the platform."

"Crap!" Goyle says. "Keep walking. Just keep walking. Guys, fall in around him. Don't let them see him."

They fall into place around me, one person at each of my flanks. I duck down to hide the top of my head. Not that I'm not shorter than all of them, but my hair has got to be recognizable. We're almost at the train and nothing has happened. I silently thank whoever is up there or granting me with luck. All too soon, though.

"Draco! Oh, Draco!" I hear my mothers voice.

"Keep walking," I mutter, more to myself than the others. "I'm fine. Just keep walking."

I seemed to forget that they don't like being ignored. I should've known. It's not like I lived with them for eleven years. When it's apparent that I'm ignoring them, they use what they can to get me to acknowledge them. Of course, they had to decide on that.

"Oh little gay one! Don't ignore me!" Lucius yells across the platform. "I am your father! You do not ignore me!"

I am furious. This isn't fair! No one should be that much of a jerk, not even my father. I can't believe he did that.

"You are not my father anymore, Lucius!" I yell back. "Especially not after outing me to the whole world. That is not your right! I don't ever want to see you again!"

I am practically in tears now. Harry is guiding me onto the train. My head is buried in his shoulder. You can hear my short, raspy breaths. I could break down any minute now. Imagine how weak I would look. I can't do that to myself. I've had enough humiliation for one day.

Once we get on the train, Harry sets me down in my usual compartment. He tells me to stay there while he gets my stuff. He's so sweet! I like him so much.

When he comes back, he cuddles up next to me. He holds my head when I put it back in his shoulder to cry some more. I already hated my parents and knew they hated me liking guys, but this too it too far.

With my face hurried in his shoulder, I calmed myself down. When I was composed enough I sat up. After a few minutes, I realized that even though I don't like to appear weak, he is definitely the stronger male in this relationship. He also always makes the first move. He has always been there to comfort me, but never have I had to comfort him. He asked to come over first, I didn't invited him. He referred to me as his boyfriend before I felt safe referring to him as mine. It would seem that he is more dedicated to the relationship than I am. That's not true, though, and I'm going to prove it. I'm going to prove it right now, even if it ruins what we have. Hopefully, it does not.

"Harry," I say, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Hm?"

"I... I love you."

He stalls. I think I did something wrong. I ruined it.

"I'm sorry! Was that too soon?" Now I'm kind of freaking out.

"No! Of course not!" his voice is soothing. "I love you too, I do, Draco."

That puts a smile on my face. I relax, leaving my head on his shoulder, and he puts his head on mine. It probably didn't look that comfortable, but Harry's shoulder is the most comfortable thing ever. I close my eyes, and, eventually, I fall asleep.

I awake to Harry gently tapping my forehead. "Hey, babe. We're almost at Hogwarts. We have to get our robes on."

I mumble something that even I couldn't understand and sit up. Harry stretches and stands when I move my head. I look him over before I stand up. Damn, is he hot. Not even sleeping can ruin his looks. There should not be someone this perfect. It's just not possible. But, since there is, I'm glad he's mine.

Only after I'm gone do I notice there to be one more passenger in the room than when I fell asleep. He looked too old to be a student. He might be a professor. He's looking at me grimly, like something just bad happened.

"Something wrong... er, Professor?" I say.

"Hi, I'm Professor Lupin, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Nice to meet you," he responds.

"Yes. I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy."

"I see. Well, Draco, nothings wrong, just a small mishap occured while you slept. I'll let your... um... boyfriend?" I nod. "I shall let your boyfriend explain it to you then."

"That doesn't bother you?" I ask

"What doesn't bother me?" He seems genuinely confused by my question.

"Me, a male, having a boyfriend," I explain.

"Why no. How closed minded do I look? In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret." He motions for me to lean in. I do. "I had one myself when I went to school here. We were ready to get married until... well... something happened."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I like to believe that fate has a way of working itself out."

"I like that."

"Yeah." He seems to fade away in thought.

"Well it was nice talking to you. I should really get my robes on."

"Yes, yes, of course. Go get ready."

At that, I grab my robes and walk out of the room. What an interesting man, that Lupin fellow. He seemed to be very nice and very intelligent. Sort of like me, just less Slytherin. I think we should get along just fine.

When I come back to the compartment, Lupin is gone. It's just Harry's group and my group. I don't wonder for too long. I figure he had teacher business to attend to.

The train finally arrives at Hogwarts. We unload our things and ride up to the school in our own carriage, our last bit of alone time before the official start of school. When we pull up to the school, before we open the doors, I land one last kiss on his lips. We climb out and unpack our things. We're barely inside and McGonagall is already on top of us. She requests to see Harry. I let go of his hand, which I must have grabbed unconsciously, and he goes with McGonagall.

I fall back with my group as we walk into the Great Hall. Everything seems normal. Everyone is laughing and talking just the way they always do. Still, I can't shake the feeling that something is different.