Thrill (Drarry)

4. The Boyfriend Lie

It was a Hogsmeade weekend and Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the Three Broomsticks. Harry had hoped to meet Hagrid somewhere but the half-giant had not left his hut since the article about him was published.

The three friends ordered a butterbeer each. Harry was thinking about the egg clue he still had to solve. He had told Hermione that it was solved already, which was a lie. The only thing he knew was that it was wailing. And then there was Cedric Diggory's hint about him taking the egg to the prefects bathroom, but it was quite a stupid hint. Now though, this egg thing was starting to stress him out so he seriously considered taking Cedric's advice.

His thoughts were interrupted by Hermione, who whispered, "Does he ever go into the office?" She was pointing at Ludo Bagman, the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports in the Ministry. He was also a judge in the Triwizard Tournament. However, he could not be considered as particularly responsible.

Bagman seemed to feel the trio looking at him because he turned to them, smiled, and started to come over. "Harry, how are you?" But Bagman did not wait for an answer. "Been hoping to run into you! Everything going all right? Listen, I was wondering if I could have a quick private word?"

"Err..." Harry looked at his friends who just shrugged. "Sure." He stood up and followed Bagman to a less crowded corner of the bar.

#

Upon returning Ron and Hermione were already shooting him questioning looks. "What did he want?" Ron asked.

"He offered me help with the second task." Harry frowned. "You know, figuring out the golden egg clue."

"Harry, that's illegal." Hermione hissed.

"I know!" Harry said. "That's why I declined."

"How noble of you, Potter." A familiar voice piped up. Harry closed his eyes and cursed himself for speaking so loudly about this. Then, he opened his eyes and turned to the source. Malfoy was leaning against a wooden pole that was holding up the roof. Even though he was alone for once, he looked fairly confident, probably feeling secure with all the people crowding the bar. A smirk was on his lips and his arms were crossed casually.

"Malfoy." Harry glared. It was infuriating how the other boy was just smirking back.

"Uhh, Harry?"

Harry turned to Ron, who was looking back and fourth between Malfoy and him. Apparently, they had been staring at each other for too long.

"Oh, look who's coming over there." Malfoy looked at the door nonchalantly.

"Rita Skeeter." Hermione said darkly. Out of the three of them, she carried the most contempt for the horrible reporter. 

"I wonder what she would say if someone told her," Malfoy said faux-pensively. "About a cheating minister-"

"Malfoy!" Harry tried to interrupt him, but Malfoy acted like he heard nothing.

"...and his favourite Champion... who's getting help-"

Harry started to panic. He felt like this pub was suddenly much quieter, and listening to Malfoy's accusations. Without thinking, Harry jumped up from his seat and went into Malfoy's space, putting a hand over the blonde's mouth.

Harry cursed his impulsive action. There were times when this impulsive acting had saved his life, but this was a time when it was more likely to kill him.

Trying to overcome the overwhelming thrill that Harry got from being in such close proximity to Malfoy, staring into his startled eyes, Harry hissed. "We could get in serious trouble for this."