"Promise me," Harry said between peppering light feathery kisses along my jaw, "that we'll do that again?"

I smiled, nuzzling into his side, the length of his naked body against mine warming me with pleasure.

"With each other?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Only with each other." Harry trailed kisses back up to my mouth, his teeth gently tugging at my lower lip. "I don't want to share you with anyone else."

My heart fluttered at his words and my lips tugged helplessly into a smile as I circled my arms around his neck. He kissed me deeply, his soft groans vibrating down my tongue.

Breathless, we broke apart, with Harry resting his forehead against mine.

"Let's sack off classes and just stay here all day."

I closed my eyes. "Mmmm, sounds good. But don't you have enough detentions already?"

Rolling off me, Harry groaned dramatically, the both of us laying side by side staring up at the maroon canopy above the bed. "Don't remind me. The team are fired up at me. We have Ron riding on the final, and I'm not going to lie, he sucks without me."

"Well, you should have thought about that before you tried slaying me!"

"You were going to Crucio me!"

I looked at him. And then we both started laughing, our eyes crinkling at the corners.

"I like hearing you laugh," Harry said once our chuckles subsided. "I don't think I've ever heard it before."

"I've not had much to laugh about recently," I answered honestly, suddenly feeling somber as I glanced down at the ugly skull etched upon my left arm.

Suddenly, arms gathered around me as the Gryffindor pulled me to him, his lips pressing ardently against my brow. "Well if you let me, maybe I can try and cheer you up."

"You already have," I smirked, nuzzling my face into his neck as I blissfully inhaled his scent.

He softly chuckled as he held me a fraction tighter, and we lay there, both lost in our thoughts of each other.

"We should get dressed then, I suppose," Harry muttered dully as the distant sound of the castle's bell tolled for the start of classes.

Reluctantly, we rolled apart and gathered up our clothes. We'd already missed breakfast thanks to our early morning gymnastics, and so promised to meet again at the end of the day after dinner.

I was just about to leave first when Harry grabbed my arm and pulled me down onto his lap, his lips swiftly claiming mine.

"Don't go," he pleaded. "Just stay one more minute."

I ran my fingers through his hair and pressed my lips against his scar. I felt his body relax, the happiness between us rife.

"When we leave this room," I murmured, my lips moving against his brow, "we have to go back to being us, you know?"

"As in I hate you and you hate me?" He tilted up his face, green eyes twinkling into mine as he held me a fraction tighter to his lap. "I think I can work with that."

I smacked his shoulder, smirking. "Just maybe stop following me around under that cloak from now on."

"Only if you promise to stop calling my friend a Mudblood."

I thought about it for a second. "Deal."

Again his lips claimed mine, both of us sighing into the kiss which grew hungrier by the second. I squealed as he fell back against the mattress, pulling me with him.

"Stop!" I gasped as he began to tug at my clothing. "We've got classes, remember?"

"And I don't know how I'm going to keep my hands off you during them," Harry groaned, smiling wryly. "Least of all my thoughts."

"Tonight," I reminded him, placing a light kiss on the end of his nose. "I promise."

******

Harry practically skipped down to the dungeons, very much looking forward to his Potions class.

"Why so keen?" Ron grumbled, throwing his friend a scathing look. "You don't have your book anymore, remember? We're going to suck at Potions."

A loud tut emitted from Hermione. "Well maybe that's not a bad thing," she said stoutly. "That...prince was clearly a bad influence."

Harry was too happy to feel annoyed. Hermione never understood these things, but she had made up the Murtlap Essence for him, even though he had suspected she had known who it was really for.

"We'll be fine," Harry said, cuffing a hand against Ron's shoulder. "Just enjoy it."

His ginger haired friend stopped in his tracks and looked him up and down, eyes narrowed accusingly. "What's gotten into you? And where were you at breakfast? It was kippers on toast - our favourite."

"I wasn't hungry," Harry shrugged, recalling how he had had his own breakfast. "At least not for kippers."

Ron's jaw fell open. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hermione scoffed loudly. "I'm sure Harry found a fish course else where." She shouldered past them, huffing angrily.

Ron stared baffled after her before turning back to Harry. "You'd think she'd be happier now Lav and I have finished."

"C'mon," Harry said, itching to get to class. "Potions awaits."

Draya was already standing outside the classroom when they arrived, and Harry found his heart soaring at the sight of her. He couldn't believe that only hours earlier he was fucking her between the sheets.

Her eyes flicked upwards, meeting his. He meant to look away but he couldn't, too entranced by her grey burning gaze.

Thoughts wayward, he automatically went to step towards her but was stopped by someone stepping quite abruptly in his path.

Pansy.

Her expression was fierce as she jabbed a sharp finger in his chest. "You dare even look at her again and I will fucking end you, Potter."

Startled, Harry blinked down at her, speechless.

"I know your game," Pansy continued, continually poking him. "Following girls into the toilets to attack them. Perverts like you need their balls stringing up, and I'll be continuing to campaign for your expulsion."

Harry glanced up over her shoulder at Draya. He raised his eyebrows but she just turned and smirked as Pansy continued on with her assault.

"What Dumbledore sees in you is mind boggling, and we'd all be better off living safely in a school without you."

A few of the other Slytherins cheered at Pansy's words. Harry looked to Ron and Hermione for back up, but they both avoided his eyes, Hermione's expression defiant and Ron's face going a deep shade of red.

He was truly on his own.

Luckily, however, Slughorn chose that moment to appear, obliviously asking the waiting students to get inside the classroom.

They all clambered in, with Harry going to sit in his usual seat next to Ron. But to his dismay, Ron went and sat with Hermione, throwing him a brief apologetic look.

"Come on Harry, my boy," Slughorn loudly announced as he bumbled behind his desk, "take a seat, take a seat."

Harry looked around. Everyone else was ready seated, with the only empty desk left directly behind Draya.

Taking a deep breath, he moved towards it, Draya turning to briefly catch his eye, her face full of amusement.

Being so close to her, he couldn't concentrate, and completely missed all of Slughorn's instructions. When the sound of stools scraped across the ground, he realised that they were all preparing to make a potion.

"Hermione, help," he hissed as he joined her in the queue for the supply cupboard, "what potion are we making?"

She turned smugly to him. "A little lost without your book, are you?"

"Hermione, please," Harry begged. "Just give me a clue."

But she refused, her smug smile widening before turning her back on him.

When Harry reached the front of the queue, he simply stared at the ingredients, completely lost. Suddenly a hand reached out from behind him and picked out a handful of beetle eyes.

"Here," Draya said, her voice barely above a whisper as she dropped them in his own hand. "And I recommend you use two quarts of gold while you're at it. Boil for five minutes, stirring clockwise."

Harry's stomach flipped.

"Thank you," he murmured gratefully, giving her a surreptitious smile before moving back to his cauldron.

Ten minutes later, the class was evacuated after Harry's potion exploded into a volcano of mulch, covering himself from head to toe in a liquid of stinking brown liquid.

*****

"Harry- stop!" I gasped through my laughter as he pinned me down to the mattress and continued to tickle me.

"Not- until- you- say- sorry-!"

His fingers crept up higher as I wriggled beneath him, breathless with laughter.

"I was acting!"

I managed to grab his wrists and restrain him, both of us panting heavily as he looked down into my eyes, his expression amused yet hungry.

"It took me two whole hours to scrub the smell out."

"Well then, you should have listened to Slughorn instead of losing yourself in wanton thoughts about me."

His eyes flashing, he leant down and kissed my neck, his lips nibbling at the sensitive spot below my ear, immediately flaming my desire.

Five minutes later, we were fucking furiously, the sheets a tangled mess beneath our heated, entwined bodies.

"Fuck you, Malfoy," Harry panted afterwards, holding me tightly in his arms as we lay in a sweaty, breathless heap.

"You just did," I murmured, smirking against his shoulder. "And I had no complaints."

It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since we'd first fallen into bed together, and yet here we were, at it again like rabbits.

"You're so bloody distracting, did you know that?"

I looked up at him, his expression filled with warmth as he slowly traced patterns on my arm with his finger.

"Distractions aren't always a bad thing," I said quietly. "Especially when there are things you'd rather not think about."

Harry's finger stilled, his green eyes studying me carefully. "Like what, exactly?"

I wrinkled my nose, regretting saying anything. "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

My stomach gave an unpleasant twist as the cabinet loomed in my mind. It had been wonderful not thinking about it all day, wonderful to just look forward to something else. But it wasn't going to go away, and as long as I using the room to fuck Harry, then I was going to make no progress with my task.

"You can talk to me, you know," Harry murmured softly as he entwined his fingers in mine. "I will listen. I might even understand if you give me the chance."

But he wouldn't. How could he ever understand that I had to kill his favourite teacher?

I glanced at my watch, sighing. It was already gone nine o'clock, past curfew. Ideally, I'd be in this room working on the cabinet by now. And I knew I couldn't keep putting this off.

But my voice had other ideas.

"Won't you stay with me tonight?" I suggested at the exact same time as my mind screamed at me for being so foolish.

Harry's eyes widened, a look of surprise flitting over his face. "You mean sleep here? Together? All night?"

"Well, sleep, fuck, watch television, whatever." I shrugged.

I was quickly regretting asking, especially by the remorseful look on Harry's face.

"I can't," he said, "I've got to go and see Dumbledore tonight."

"But it's gone nine o'clock! And why? What on earth does he want to see you about?"

"Look, I can't tell you. But it is important. If I don't show then he'll very likely come looking for me."

"Well come back here afterwards?"

"And then Ron and Hermione will raise the alarm. They wait up for me, you see."

I rolled my eyes, feeling the familiar stirrings of resentment. Literally no one in my house seemed to raise an eyebrow at my prolonged night time absences, let alone an alarm. And yet here was Potter once again having the world fall at its feet for him.

"Fine," I pouted trying not to show how bothered I was.

"You know I'd rather be here with you," Harry murmured, kissing the top of my shoulder. "I'd always rather be with you."

He trailed a path of kisses up my neck and I found myself shivering in pleasure, the anticipation almost too much as he reached my mouth and kissed me hard, tangling his fingers in my hair.

But just as things got particularly heated, he broke away, regret swimming in his eyes. "I've really got to go. Dumbledore will be waiting."

I narrowed my eyes. That fucking cock blocker just gave me an extra reason to off him.

******