Harry tugged on the deep red curtains of his four-poster bed and lay back on the pillow, his mind racing.

Malfoy couldn't be mean to him? But why? What was stopping him?

Harry didn't understand, and lay down in confusion. He closed his eyes, hoping to get some peace on his own for a while, but fate turned a blind eye.

The door to the dormitory banged open and Harry jumped. He pulled back the curtains, ready to shout at the newcomer, for making themselves known in such a loud manner.

However when he saw a head of red hair, he turned away in anger. He was livid that Ron hadn't said a word to him yet, and at how immature and childish he was acting.

Harry, always being the one to try and put things right, calmed himself and got up to face Ron, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking at Harry with a mixture of distaste and guilt.

"Ron, look," Harry started, nervous. "I swear I didn't put my name in that cup. Why would I? I'm not stupid!" Harry flung his arms in the air, as if it would help emphasise his point.

"But I need you to listen. The first task is in one week and I'm not prepared. I—"

"And whose fault is that?" Ron cut across him, his tone dangerous, his gaze hard.

"I-I, look, I've just been caught up in a few things okay?" Harry spat out, already knowing it was going to be impossible to make him see sense.

Ron scoffed. "Yeah right! Like what?" He folded his arms and stood up, looking at Harry with a nasty smirk.

Harry stood there speechless. He couldn't tell Ron that all he'd been doing was thinking about Malfoy and how his behaviour was changing towards Harry.

But thankfully Harry didn't have to answer because the door flew open and Dean and Seamus entered, laughing at something Neville had said, the latter following along behind as a few chuckles escaping his own lips.

Harry turned back to Ron, fixing him with a cold, hard stare.

Dean was the last to stop laughing, and looked up to see Ron and Harry giving each other death glares.

No one said anything and Harry swore he could cut a knife clean through the tension between them.

The rest of the boys looked between the two, awkwardly silent. Then Neville coughed and everyone looked at him.

"Uh.. hi, Neville," Harry said through gritted teeth, fixing his green eyes back on Ron. Harry could feel the anger pulsing through his body.

Neville awkwardly lifted a hand in greeting and went to the other side of the room, not wanting to get between the feud.

Ron was looking at Dean and Seamus, and Harry could tell he was becoming increasingly agitated with the two, as they stood there like lost puppies.

Seamus finally reacted, and trying to make conversation, said, "Harry, um, have you er, I mean, are you prepared for the tournament yet?"

Seamus immediately knew he had said the wrong thing as Ron looked triumphant. Harry mentally punched him.

"Um, no, Seamus. Not yet," he replied shortly. "I'm going to bed."

Anger, guilt and embarrassment flooded through Harry as he pulled the curtains once more and laid down.

He could hear the others talking in hushed whispers, but couldn't be bothered to make out what they were saying.

Harry's thoughts left the boys, Ron and the dormitory, and instead wandered to a perticular blonde Slytherin.

Harry thought of his face, the sharp, pointy nose, his platinum-blonde hair, the way it fell over his forehead softly. The way he always pushed it back when it got in the way. His pink, soft lips that sat perfectly on his face.

Wait what? Perfect?! Harry sat up, horrified at his thoughts, and he scrubbed his tongue on his sleeve, even though he had said nothing out loud.

Malfoy was his enemy, his sworn-to-be-forever enemy, that he absolutely hated with his guts.

But Harry couldn't stop his thinking. He thought of the boy's mercury-grey eyes and the way they always...

Harry covered his hand with his mouth. That was an unanswered question he so desperately needed the answer to.

So many questions, so many unanswered. So much pressure, so little time.

Harry's breathing was becoming erratic as his head span with all these thoughts. He lay back and closed his eyes to ease the dizziness.

His last thought before sleep overtook him, were the sparkling grey eyes of Draco Malfoy.
__________________________

Draco lay slumped face down on his bed, his head in his arms, tired and confused. Pansy was sitting beside him, fiddling with his hair, in hopes to be somewhat comforting.

"Draco, don't worry. I don't think anything bad is happening to you... yet." Pansy said the last word under her breath.

No reply. Pansy sighed.

"Draco, you're going to have to talk to me sooner or later. This 'thing' you say is controlling you needs to go away and you're the only one who can make it. Its ruining your life, including mine and Blaise's."

After a while, Draco grunted and flipped onto his back to face her. His eyes were closed and he had a hand on his chest.

"Pansy," he whispered. "It hurts."

"I know, Draco, I know," Pansy cooed, looking down at him sympathetically, a hand on his shoulder. She really had no idea what the boy was on about.

"No," Draco whispered, his eyes still tight shut. "You don't understand."

"Then help me to," Pansy replied, looking at her friend, concerned.

Draco took a deep breath and sat up, finally opening his eyes to reveal his silvery irises. He looked in pain.

"It hurts. Here." Draco pointed to his heart. "I don't know why," he added, lying. Draco squeezed his eyes shut again and held his chest, gasping as pain shot through it. Oh, he knew why.

Pansy was startled. As quickly as the pain had come, it was gone. Draco breathed easier, and opened his eyes to stare into Pansy's deep brown ones.

He hid his head in his hands, knowing exactly what was happening. But he couldn't tell her. She couldn't know. But he wished he could have someone's help. He needed someone to make it better.

Draco looked up when he heard a knock at the door. Blaise opened the door quietly to sit down next to Draco.

Blaise took in his best friend's face. Draco was pale, and looked tired. His usually gelled hair was falling floppily into his eyes.

"Draco, are you okay? You've locked yourself in your room for the whole day, and not spoken to anyone. Do you feel alright?" Blaise asked, worried for his friend.

Draco nodded, looking into Blaise's eyes, setting his face. He could open up to Pansy. She'd seen him with his mask down before. And she was a girl, and for some reason it helped her to understand. But Draco always put his mask up for everyone else. Even Blaise.

"Yes," he said in a small voice. "I-I'm just not well. Please don't worry about me. I'll be fine." He looked up at the two, giving a what he hoped was a convincing smile.

Pansy and Blaise looked at him skeptically. This was definitely not normal Draco behaviour. He had never acted this way before.

Blaise looked into Draco's eyes for a few seconds, registering them, just wondering why they were so...

He looked at Pansy and she seemed to understand what he was silently telling her.

Before the two could say anything else on the matter, however, Draco grabbed his pillow and lay down on it, determinedly shutting his eyes. He hoped to shut his friends out too.

"Guys, just go, I'm fine, just tired. I'll see you in the morning," Draco's muffled voice came from within the pillow. He turned over and faced his back towards them, trying to make it obvious he didn't want to talk.

All was silent for a few minutes, until both Pansy and Blaise seemed to get the message. Draco felt the bed lift up as the two stood, and heard the squeak of the door as they exited the dormitory.

Draco tugged on his green curtains and laid back down. He felt a smidge of guilt for sending his friends away so ubruptly, but as much as he wanted to tell them, he couldn't. They just couldn't know.

But Draco knew deep down that they would find out eventually, weather from him or not.

Draco knew they knew about his eyes. But Draco couldn't stop it from happening. As much as he tried.

He buried his head deeper into the pillow, and let his thoughts stray to a raven-haired boy with round glasses.

Draco thought about his eyes, the forest-green he got so lost in every time Harry looked his way. The way his scar stood out on his forehead, marking him, and the way he played with his lip when he was concentrating on lessons.

The way his dark, silky black hair was always such a mess. How Draco just wanted to run his hands through it.

Draco's eyes snapped open as he realised what he had just thought. Ugh! Potter's hair was a birds' nest! There was no way he was ever going to touch it in his lifetime.

Shaking his head vigorously, as if trying to shake the thoughts from his brain, Draco laid back down.

The last thought he had before sleep consumed him, were that of the shimmering green eyes of Harry Potter.
__________________________

Draco dressed quickly and headed down to breakfast. He arrived at the great hall and looked at the Slytherin table where Pansy and Blaise seemed to be in deep discussion.

Taking a deep breath, he plastered a fake smile onto his face and walked calmly towards his friends.

Sitting down in between the two, he greeted them with his fake smile. Pansy and Blaise both smiled back, thinking Draco had recovered and was back to normal.

Blaise turned and whispered something to Pansy and she giggled, looking towards the Gryffindor table. Draco followed her eyes and saw Harry sitting with his friends, his face red.

Draco looked around him. Most of the school, except for the Gryffindors, a few Hufflepuffs and a couple of Raveclaws were all sporting green badges.

Draco looked closer and saw what the badges read, and his blood turned cold. He turned to back to face Harry, but found he had disappeared. A lot of people around him from the neighbouring tables were laughing, looking towards the hall entrance.

Just spotting a flash of black hair leave the room, a tug on his arm pulled him back round. Pansy was facing him, mischief reflected in her eyes.

"Want one?" she smirked at Draco as she held a box full to the brim with green badges with Harry's face inprinted on them.

Draco felt a sudden anger boil up inside him, an overwhelming sense of protectiveness.

He glared at Pansy who looked startled and backed off, but didn't question it, and started handing out the badges to other Slytherins.

Draco left the hall unnoticed, and combed the corridors of the school, not knowing what he was doing or where he was going. It just felt right to do so.

He pushed past students and teachers, and rounded an empty corridor.

"Oof!" Draco found himself sprawled on top of a body, his head resting on the coldness of the stoned floor.

"Ugh." A groan came from the body underneath him. Draco lifted his head to find himself looking down at the silky, messy hair, and deep green eyes.

"We have got to stop meeting like this," Harry groaned again. "Um, Malfoy, please get off me."

"Wha..? Oh, y-yeah, s-sorry," Malfoy stammered. Why was he so nervous? This was Potter for Merlin's sake!

Scrambling off Harry, Draco held out a hand to the boy on the floor.

Harry looked at it questioningly, before taking it and standing up to face the blonde.

Their hands lingered longer than Draco supposed they should have, and he drew his back quickly. As they disconnected, Draco felt a sharp jab of pain shoot up his arm briefly, before subsiding.

Draco looked at Harry and opened his mouth to speak.

"Potter.. look- the badges.. I'm really sorry." It spilled out of Draco's mouth before he could stop it.

Harry looked taken aback, and hesitated, before nodding slowly.

"It wasn't me. It was Pansy and Blaise. They shouldn't have done it. I didn't know. I-I..." Draco trailed off, flustered.

"Malfoy, calm down, don't worry, it's fine, I promise. It doesn't matter..." Harry said uncertainly. He was utterly confused. Was this some joke Malfoy was playing on him?

Draco sighed, clearly relieved. "Uhm, okay. Good," he said, awkwardly.

Draco stood and just stared at Harry, taking all of him in, his face, his body, his legs, his lips... Draco hadn't realised Harry was so...

'Goddamn sexy' a voice in the back of his head finished his sentence for him.

Harry coughed and Draco snapped his head up to meet his gaze and hastily broke eye contact, his cheeks heating up.

"Well, uh, I have to go," Draco said, still not looking at Harry. "See you later Potter. Sorry about the badges."

And before Harry could say anything else, he was gone, leaving Harry feeling completely and utterly confused.

Draco hurried to the dungeons, making his way to the Slytherin common room. He was flustered and embarrassed, and tried to forget the encounter, but nothing worked.

At least he found out one new thing about Potter; damn, were his hands soft.