Double Dare

The next day was even worse than the previous days. I woke up feeling terrible, with a splitting headache and a general feeling of weakness. I pulled my robes on and set off down to the hospital wing. There were a couple of students milling around, having either seriously injured themselves, or complaining of minor ailments in an attempt to get them out of morning lessons. Madame Pomphrey finally got me.

"And what's wrong with you?"

"Migraine, and I feel quite weak."

She eyed me suspiciously before pointing to a bed; "sit there, I'll come back to you."

I nodded and sat down, looking around at everyone who was injured or ill. After she'd dismissed everyone who was faking being ill, Madame Pomphrey came back over to me.

"Now, you say you feel weak?"

I nodded. She held her hand out.

"Squeeze my hand."

I grabbed her hand and squeezed as hard as I could, which wasn't very hard at all. Poppy nodded.

"Yes, ok, and a migraine? Just a minute."

She hurried off to her office. I was rarely at the hospital wing, so was unaware of the etiquette. Luckily however, at that moment, Draco walked past the door and noticed me. He walked over to me.

"What's up?"

I shrugged; "just not feeling great."

Draco nodded; "I guess you're skipping Potions then?"

"I was going to anyway, oh, you didn't hear about last night did you."

His eyes widened; "what happened?"

I looked around; "I'll tell you in a minute."

He nodded. Madame Pomphrey came back over holding a flask of blue-ish liquid.

"Drink this, you should feel better in an hour. It's best if you don't go into lessons this morning."

I nodded and drank the liquid, which tasted like carrots. I looked at the flask suspiciously; Madame Pomphrey took it but paused.

"Is there a problem with you too Mr Malfoy?"

Draco shook his head; "just seeing Lenore."

She nodded and walked off. I slid off the bed and wandered out of the hospital wing.

"So what happened?" Draco asked. I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him outside.

"Well, I'd just left your dorm, and Snape was in the common room. He collared me and made me go to his office with him, and then went on about me owing him an apology, and thinks we're having an affair."

Draco looked at me wide-eyed; "we... As in, me and you?"

I nodded; "yes."

"What the hell?"

"I know!"

Draco was clearly furious; "...I could kill him! I don't want to go into Potions either."

"We can't skip, that'll only make him think it more."

"Let him think it. He's not worth it."

I shrugged and looked at the floor; "I don't know... I mean, on the one hand I see how he comes to these sort of conclusions, but, really? Why you? He's knows we've been friends since forever..."

"I think you got into this too fast... He's not the man you thought he was."

I said nothing. Draco smiled meekly and put his arm round me.

"You're not going to leave him are you?"

I shrugged; "no."

He pulled me into a hug; "I'll try to sort things out for you."

I smiled and hugged him back, resting my head on his shoulder. I'd never noticed before, but Draco smelt amazing. He smelt of aftershave, whereas Snape had a bizarre smell, of whatever Potions he'd been making that day. I took in a deep breath through my nose to get a better smell. Draco laughed and pushed me away slightly.

"Are you sniffing me?"

I smirked; "you smell awesome."

He smirked too; "new aftershave, mother sent it."

"It's amazing! I want it!"

"It's for men."

"So what are you doing with it?"

Draco laughed and pushed me playfully; "I'm more man than you think I am."

"Whatever Draco... Anyway, you'd best head off to Potions before Snape kills you or something."

"Very well, I'll see you later."

He gave me another quick hug and walked back into the castle. I smiled to myself and decided to go for a walk around the grounds, to clear my mind and focus on what I needed to do. I wandered down to the Black Lake and sat under a tree. Despite it being freezing, I wasn't that cold. When I did began to feel a bit cold, I conjured a small controlled fire to keep me warm. It was a nice clear day out. There were no clouds - which made it colder - and the sun was out, but too far away to actually provide any warmth to the Earth. I looked out across the lake, the water was extremely still, aside from the occasional ripple from the Giant Squid down below. I sat playing with my wand, transfiguring rocks into random objects, changing the colour of the fire, and making it snow over a small patch of grass. Whilst entertaining myself, I imagined scenarios involving Draco reprimanding Severus for his behaviour towards me. I couldn't imagine it ending well, either Draco getting a detention or worse for "speaking to him with such insolence", or Severus realising the relationship wasn't working. Either way, Draco was the best friend I'd ever had, and probably the only one at the moment. For him to march up to Snape and scold him for being a bad husband would be one of the bravest and most likely, last things he'd ever do.

Before I knew it, the bell rang and it was break. Towards the end of the break, I noticed someone wandering towards me. They had a messy head of blonde hair and looked more like they were floating than walking. There wasn't a doubt in my mind over who it was. I jumped up and ran over to Tempest, hoping to help out Draco's relationship seeing as he intended to help mine.

"Hey Tempest."

She smiled; "hi... Do you not have lessons?"

I shook my head; "got the morning off, I'm ill."

"Oh all right, I have a free period. What are you doing down here?"

I shrugged; "just enjoying the solitude."

Tempest nodded; "so... Have you uh, heard about Draco and-"

"-I have... Look, I know he can be a real prat sometimes, but he doesn't mean it. He's quite socially retarded, he doesn't know how to act around people. He really didn't mean to offend you with the blood-status stuff, really-"

"-I know he didn't mean to offend me, but, he's just not going to change is he? I don't want him to be ashamed of me."

"He's not ashamed, it's just, his parents, his father in particular are very unforgiving. If he came home with anyone who wasn't pureblood, or a 'blood-traitor', he'd be disowned, probably beaten within an inch of his life... He doesn't think it's worth it. He'd rather have his family than a girlfriend."

Tempst sighed; "I understand, but, if that's the case, is there any point in us being together? If we can't even be together..."

I sighed too; "so is that it?"

She shrugged; "I don't know. For now though, yes."

I nodded; "ok."

We both wandered over to where I was previously sat, and sat in an awkward silence. After a couple of minutes, Tempest finally broke the silence.

"So, how are you and Severus?"

I shrugged; "not so great... We keep arguing, and the other day we had a really bad argument, he even accused me of going behind his back with Draco!"

"Really? But, you and Draco are just-"

"-I know! Well, we only really see each other in lessons, so the distance is ruining us, because he's always so busy doing other stuff, then when he does make time to see me it's just, dull. We don't say anything to each other, we sit on other sides of the room... Not to gross you out or anything, but he hasn't touched me since Christmas."

Tempest nodded, cringing slightly; "really? I know he's busy, but there's no reason why he can't treat you like his girlfriend."

"Exactly."

I sighed and cast a hex at an unsuspecting rock, making it explode. Tempest looked at me worriedly.

"...Are you going to be all right?"

I nodded; "I'll be fine, I just need to release my anger... Only blowing things up and shouting isn't working."

"How do you normally do it?"

"Well, usually Severus was there for me to take my anger out on... But now I think I'll be sent to Azkaban if I took my anger out on him."

Tempest nodded; "oh..."

At dinner, I ran up to the castle to find Draco. He was milling around the dungeons with Blaise, discussing homework. I ran over and jumped on his back; him being unprepared meant we fell to the floor. I laughed and rolled off him.

"Hello Draco."

"Thanks Lenore, I think you've broken me."

"Surely not."

I pulled myself to my feet and helped Draco up.

"Feeling better now then?" he asked, brushing dust off himself. I shrugged.

"A bit..."

Draco looked at Blaise then back at me; "um, I'll tell you later."

I looked at him sceptically before nodding, understanding what he meant. The three of us wandered around the castle, going to the kitchens for food instead of the Great Hall.

"I was with Tempest earlier," I said, suddenly. Draco looked at me.

"Oh?"

"It's not looking hopeful. She thinks you're ashamed of her, and even if you're not, if your parents won't let you be together she doesn't see the point."

Draco nodded; "fine."

I looked at him confoundedly; "fine? I thought-"

"-Nope. I'm giving up on women, I'll be a distinguished bachelor, having women when I please with no attachments."

I laughed; "really Draco? You, distinguished?"

Draco laughed too and hit my arm playfully; "I think you'll find I'm perfect for the job. What do you think Blaise?"

Blaise shrugged; "I think I might join you there."

That evening, after dinner, I joined Draco on a walk through the dungeon corridors, discussing what had happened in Potions.

"He asked where you were, and obviously didn't believe me when I said you were ill... Then after lesson I actually got the balls to tell him off."

I smiled; "what did you say?"

"Um, he needs to man up and face his problems, because isolating you isn't going to make you or them go away. And that, you do love him, he just needs to stop being a dick to you, and needs to actually put time aside to see you and treat you right... He then, went on to tell me to keep my greasy nose out of his business and that it didn't involve me at all. I said it does involve me, you're my best friend and I took a vow to set him straight if he hurt you. And then he sort of flew off the handle. He told me to get out, stop assuming things about you two, and said if you really wanted to sort things out you'd be telling him and not be getting me to do it for you. He also called me your stupid little boyfriend."

I sighed angrily; "seriously? He's sticking to that story?"

Draco nodded and put his arm round my shoulders; "I think you should go knock some sense into him, or just call it a day."

"Later, right now I could happily hang him up by his intestines... I am so, fucking angry!"

Draco laughed nervously; "come here..."

He pulled me into a tight hug, I buried my face into his neck, he still smelt as amazing as he had that morning. He stroked my hair, I began feeling calm instantly.

"I have an idea!" he said, holding me at arms length. I nodded.

"Yes?"

"Let's go for a swim."

"No way! It's freezing outside!"

Draco laughed; "no, I mean in the prefects bathroom."

"Oh, but-"

"-Ignore everything, come on, we haven't done it since fourth year!"

I sighed, pretending the idea was stupid, when really it was the best idea he'd had in a while. We used to go swimming in the prefects bathroom all the time in fourth year, and made so many memories; for example, our first kiss. We'd both kissed when we were toddlers, but that didn't count. The time in the bathroom was when we were discussing our love lives, and neither of us had kissed anyone. The brilliant idea was Draco's, and it was just an experiment.

"Let's go then."

We quickly ran up to both our common rooms to get bathing suits, before going up to the Prefect's bathroom. Whilst we waited for the bath to fill, I made Draco turn around so I could get changed, and made sure I was in the water before he could turn around.

"You know I'm going to see you anyway," he said, unbuttoning his shirt and dropping it to the floor. I shrugged.

"So?"

I turned to face him and was genuinely shocked. He looked back at me questioningly.

"Yes?"

"When the hell did you get buff?"

Draco laughed and stepped out of his trousers, revealing his trunks underneath; "uh, I don't know... I started working out a bit last summer."

"I don't believe you."

"Not the summer just gone, the one before that."

"Oh, right..."

I watched him lower himself into the water, unable to take my eyes off his toned stomach and wondering why Tempest could even consider leaving him. He may have been a prat 90% of the time, but his body certainly made up for everything.

"Will you stop staring?"

I laughed; "sorry, I'm just so used to you being so bloody scrawny!"

"Well, Scrawny Draco is a thing of the past."

"Buff Draco is now in the house! Well, castle"

Draco laughed and began swimming about; "what was it you said earlier about me not being able to be a bachelor?"

"Ok, I take it back, but how was I to know you were hiding that?"

"Your point being? Why didn't you tell me you were hiding that?"

He nodded towards my chest. My jaw dropped and I covered my chest.

"You can fuck right off Malfoy! My chest is none of your concern!"

Draco smirked and lay down, floating on the top of the water; "neither are my abs... Anyway, they've got to be D's at least."

"I'm going to drown you. And I'm going to bloody enjoy it!"

Draco laughed and went back to standing it the water; "bring it on! I'm now too strong for you to be able to take on! Unless you plan on knocking me out with those or-"

I dived over to where he was, nearly reaching him, but the force of the water held me back. Draco laughed again and began wading away from me, I chased after. We both went round the edge of the bath three times before calling it a draw.

"Thanks for this Draco, you've really taken my mind of such silly things."

Draco smiled; "good... I needed this too."

"I thought you were over Tempest?"

"Yeah, I'm not that heartless."

"Oh..."

I watched him; his smile said he was happy, but his eyes said he was sad.

"You know... She was the first girl I properly liked, and then my stupid family mess it up... I suppose it's better it ended now than later, it'd hurt more in the future."

I nodded; "at least you didn't have to marry her to find out it wouldn't work!"

Draco smiled; "that's not your fault though, that's his for being a massive cock. He fights so hard to keep you, then the moment he wins he decides he doesn't want you any more. He's a spoilt child, he wants what he can't have."

I nodded; "now he has me, I'm boring."

"Only you're not. You're nice, and fun, and have huge-"

"-Stop there before I kill you."

Draco grinned and splashed me; "stop being miserable then. We came here to forget everything and everyone beyond those doors."

I nodded; "yes, now, what shall we do?"

Draco shrugged; "who can hold their breath longest?"

I smirked; "me, I always win."

"Ah, but I've been working out."

"Bring it on!"

We both took a deep breath and submerged ourselves under the water. After a few seconds of being underwater, I felt the water pressure change around me. Suddenly hand began tickling me underneath my armpit, making me shout out; however, being underwater it also meant I took in a breath of water. I shot to the surface, choking. Draco emerged too, laughing.

"Are you trying to drown me?"

Draco smirked; "sorry, I didn't know you'd die!"

I glared at him, waiting until I'd gotten all the water out of my lungs before going after him. We both chased around the bath again a couple of times, before Draco gave up and let me dunk his head under the water.

"We're even now," he said, wiping the water from his face. I smirked and punched his shoulder.

"For now."

"Well, that's killed a bit of time."

I laughed and rest against the side of the bath, catching my breath. Draco, meanwhile, went swimming about again. Despite him being my oldest friend, I couldn't take my eyes off him. The same thoughts repeated in the back of my head; "he's single, I may as well be single, and he's suddenly very good looking". I ducked under the water and swam underneath him, grabbing his leg and pulling him under with me. We both began play fighting, trying to pull each other to the very bottom and putting each other into headlocks. Draco was the first to need to catch his breath. We both swam up to the surface, taking in deep breaths the moment we hit the air. We both laughed, unsure why.

"Told you I could my breath longer!" I gloated. Draco rolled his eyes.

"You were prepared! I was yanked under without the chance to get a breath! I think I did quite well!"

"You'd have thought snogging Tempest would have prepared you to hold your breath."

I laughed at the bewildered look on Draco's face.

"How do you snog people? You can breathe out of your nose you know."

"I know. And I'm pretty damn good at kissing, actually."

"Sure, if you say so."

I went to hit him but he ducked under the water. I rolled my eyes and waited for him to surface. Suddenly, he grabbed my legs and pulled me underwater. We began fighting again like we were before. Draco got me in a headlock, but needed air. We both resurfaced and took in another deep breath.

"You suck at holding your breath!" I laughed, pulling out of his headlock, but leaving his arm over my shoulder. Draco shrugged. He took his arm back from round me to push his hair back out of his face and wipe the water off his face. Before I could tell myself no, I jumped onto him, pressing my lips to his, and tangling my fingers into his hair. It dawned on me what I was doing, and I was going to pull away when Draco's arms snaked around my waist, pulling me closer. Our lips disconnected for less than a second whilst we took in a breath before coming back together, full of passion. He started pulling away slightly, gently biting my bottom lip and pulling my mouth open so he could slip his tongue in. I took my hand from the back of his neck and pressed it against his chest, feeling his muscles tense. He began pushing me towards the edge of the bath, pinning me against it when we got there.