"Potter!"

Harry turned, half expecting to see Pansy before he realized the voice didn't fit. The girl was wearing Slytherin colours but, best guess, she was a fifth or sixth year, with long blond hair rather than Pansy's short black bob.

"Err, yeah?" Harry said nervously.

"My friend Ellidh said she kissed you, is it true?" she demanded.

Harry frowned, "Who-?"

"Ellidh Keegan!" She shouted, her face taking on a red tinge, "She's a sixth year Ravenclaw with brown curly hair and freckles across her nose!"

"Amelia, Ellidh isn't the type to do that and you know it," A tall hufflepuff with spiky black hair said as he walked up causally to join his friend.

"Shut up, Jeremy!" Amelia said sharply, keeping her glare fixed on Harry.

Harry shook his head, "No, I haven't kissed her," he said, trying to edge around them.

Amelia moved with him, continuing to block his way, "But you let her try, didn't you? I've heard people talking-"

"No." Harry said with an exasperated sigh, "I haven't let anyone try. I've been jumped and surround and tricked but I had nothing to do with it. Let me pass, would you?"

Amelia's face grew redder and she snatched the sleeve of his robe to keep him from leaving, "She said-"

"And I said No." Harry cut her off, just barely holding onto his temper and not wrenching his robe away and shoving past her like he wanted to.

"Come on, Amelia," Jeremy said, gently catching her arm, "I know you fancy Ellidh but-"

"I DO NOT!" Amelia shouted on the verge of tears as she let go of Harry's robes and ran down the hall, shoving Jeremy as she went.

Harry heaved a sigh and pushed his hand through his hair.

"So- The kissing thing is totally off the table?" Jeremy asked, "Because I've always thought if I ever were to fancy a bloke you'd-"

"Enough, Mr Zhao," Headmistress McGonagall interrupted tersely.

Jeremy looked past Harry's shoulder, his expression warping with apprehension.

"You must have an assignment you ought to be working on," McGonagall said, "Go on. Before I find you something to better serve your time."

"Yes, Headmistress!" Jeremy said, backing away and then walking down the hall as quickly as one can without breaking into a run.

Harry watched him go the whole way, only turning round when the other boy was out of sight. "You saw that?" he asked.

"Yes. All of it in fact," McGonagall had her hands clasped together in front of herself, mouth pursed in a thin line, "Jumped, surround and tricked. That is what you said, wasn't it?"

Harry winced, "It's nothing really-"

"I beg to differ," McGonagall said smoothly. "Are you headed to class?"

Harry shook his head.

"Come along then," McGonagall nodded down the hall.

Harry fell into step with her, following her down the hall and up the staircase to her office. As soon as they stepped inside a tray with a small tea service appeared on her desk with a faint rattle.

McGonagall filled both cups in quiet silence before taking her seat behind the desk. "Take a seat, Mr Potter, and some tea. I assure you, you are not the one in trouble, at least in this instance," she said with a fond smile.

Harry lowered himself into the chair across from her, putting a splash of milk and sugar before sliding the porcelain cup closer to him, "So-?" he hazarded.

McGonagall sighed as she leaned back in her chair, "Hogwarts does not allow love potions, mind control spells or any other method of coercion that removes a person's ability to consent. The fact of the matter is, regardless of the fact that perhaps no one in this school would be able to kiss you, their attempts to do so against your wishes are assault, and I very specifically announced that it wouldn't be allowed or tolerated." She picked up her teacup, balancing the small cup on its saucer with ease, "So, regardless of your wishes on the matter, I must act."

Harry toyed with the handle of his own teacup, "What are you going to do?"

McGonagall frowned faintly, hiding the expression by taking a sip of tea. "...A great deal of your life has been decided for you and I would prefer to not continue that legacy if possible. That's why I wanted to speak with you about how you would like to proceed. If you have any sort of preference in that matter-?"

"And you can't just pretend you didn't see anything?" Harry asked without much hope.

McGonagall shook her head, "It's not just what happened in the hall today. I have heard rumours about other incidents and they seem to be growing in prevalence. I have been ignoring it, I can no longer do so."

Harry scrubbed his hand through his hair in frustration, "What are my options then?"

"You can provide me with the names of those who have tried to kiss you and they can be punished, lightly of course.-"

Harry grimaced.

"-Or I can request the aurors provide you with a guard during the day which should dissuade further attempts." McGonagall took out her wand, summoning a tin of biscuits. She took a ginger biscuit and held the tin out to him.

Harry waved it away with a frown, "That's it? Those're my choices?"

"Unless you can think of another solution, then yes," McGonagall said.

Harry chewed on his bottom lip, brow furrowed in thought. McGonagall remained quiet, nursing her tea as Harry tried to think.

"Could we- I just get it over with all at once?" Harry said absently, still thinking.

"Get it over with?"

Harry nodded, "In the fairy story, everybody lined up and had a go at kissing the Princess and the school isn't very big, it wouldn't take very long." He picked up his cup, taking a fortifying gulp of tea, "I'm not going to tell on everyone who- I'm not going to do that. And the last thing I want is having an auror follow me around like I can't defend myself from a bunch of kids."

McGonagall sat her cup down on the desk as she sat forward, "That would be highly unusual."

"Yeah but-"

"Mr Potter," McGonagall cut him off by holding up her hand, "Allow me to finish. While unusual, your suggestion is the better one so long as you're willing to put up with the burden of it."

Harry nodded faintly, "I- yeah. It'll only take an hour or two at most and then it'll be done with."

"Then I shall make an announcement tomorrow morning, and the event shall be held that evening. All students shall be allowed to try and kiss you- once and only once. If any of them make further attempts after tomorrow, they will be punished."

"Punished?" Harry repeated.

"A week's detention, I think, and twenty points from their house. That should act as a deterrent," she said firmly.

"I- okay," Harry said, hesitating and then standing up, "Thanks for- for letting me have a say. So-"

"Would you like any more tea?" McGonagall asked.

"No thank you."

She lifted the tin again, "Biscuit?"

"No, I really ought to-" Harry nodded towards the door.

"Oh, go on," McGonagall said with a small teasing smile, "But Harry, if you change your mind before I make the announcement, tell me and we'll find another solution."

Harry grinned and nodded, "Alright, thank you, Professor."

That night Harry lay on his bed, watching the maurders map and Draco's dot as he went from the Slytherin common room, where he spent nearly an hour with Pansy and Blaise, to his room where he spent nearly another hour before getting up and moving around like he was going to go out, around midnight.

Harry hopped off his bed and pulled on his thicker robes for the night chill outside. He dug around in his chest grabbing a brick-sized wooden box from inside and stuffed it into his robes, almost forgetting to drape his invisibility cloak over his shoulders as he hurried out. He was hoping to get there first, entirely for Draco's satisfaction, and felt like a ridiculous sop.

Outside the air was just cold enough to sting on the tips of his ears, smelling damp and sharp in his nose. The castle spilt a faint yellow glow against Harry's back as he made his way across the grounds that faded as he moved farther away, the light becoming a pale grey-white under a clear star-filled sky. Every breath left behind it a faint cloud in the air, fading before he passed through it.

The stands rose up before him silhouetted in darkness. In the centre of the pitch, a ring of moonlight waited like a spotlight. Harry pulled off his invisibility cloak as he reached the middle, turning his heel and finding no one around. Somewhat belatedly he cast a warming charm over himself and a revealing charm to make sure he wouldn't be caught by Hagrid or another professor. Satisfied he was alone, Harry pressed his hands into his pockets and craned his head back, looking up at the sky's glittering blanket of stars.

"Been waiting long?" Draco said, faintly smug.

Harry jumped his heart racing for a split second before he realized who it was. When he turned on his heel towards Draco, he saw a delighted smile dawn across his face.

"I suppose I can see the appeal now, when it comes to sneaking up on people," Draco said still grinning.

Harry huffed, too pleased to see Draco to be properly annoyed, "You would."

Draco narrowed his eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Harry shrugged then amended, "That we're alike."

Draco scoffed, "We're nothing alike, Potter."

"I think we are," Harry said, feeling faintly embarrassed by how soft he said it.

Draco bit his lip briefly and then looked up, "I don't know why I invited you. It's not as if I'll be able to concentrate on the stars at all."

"Because I'm far too fit?" Harry teased.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Too annoying."

"I'm not that bad," Harry protested.

"So you are at least aware of the fact that you're annoying in some capacity." Draco said, "I suppose it's a start."

"Hey!" Harry bumped Draco shoulder making him stumble.

Draco shot Harry a glare as he straightened his robes with a huff.

"All the times I've interrupted you, you were looking at the stars?" Harry asked.

"What an astute observation," Draco said sarcastically.

Harry sighed and looked up again, "I can see why, they're beautiful."

Draco shifted his weight uneasily beside Harry, stuffing his hands into his robe, "When I can't sleep, it helps- looking at them."

Harry nodded with a faint smile as he traced the path of the milky-way across the sky. He ran his fingers along the edge of the box in his pocket and took a deep breath, plucking up his courage.

"Here," Harry said, pulling the box out and offering it to Draco before he could change his mind.

Draco took it hesitantly, holding it so delicately he looked about to drop it, "A snitch box?" his brow furrowed, "It's far too dark and cold for a seekers game right now."

"Another time then?" Harry asked hopefully. Realizing he was getting off topic he pointed to the box, "Just open it."

Draco carefully flicked open the little latch and opened the lid. The snitch inside was silvery-blue rather than the standard gold.

"It's a snitch," Draco said flatly, raising an eyebrow.

Harry bounced on his toes, "Let it go."

Draco placed his hand over the little quivering ball, "Do you have a retrieval ring? Because if this is just an elaborate hoax to get me to play a seekers game you can retrieve it yourself."

"I modified it to return on a command word," Harry said, gently nudging Draco's arm.

Draco shot him another distrustful glance, "So you broke it."

"Only a little," Harry said with a hesitant smile.

Draco shrugged slightly, taking the snitch from the box. Its wings hummed to life and it quickly rose from the box, flitting a few feet away from them. It glowed in the darkness, every darting movement left a ribbon-like trail of light, flecks of it falling free like drifting embers before slowly fading away.

Harry glanced over at Draco hopeful and nervous.

Draco was watching the snitch intently, his expression unreadable, "It's lovely."

Harry breathed out, "You like it then?"

"I already said, didn't I?" Draco said, tugging his scarf up over his mouth.

"I wasn't sure you would."

"It's very clever charm work," Draco glanced down at his feet then at the box in his hands before offering it over to Harry, "Call it back then."

"I wrote the command words on a bit of parchment inside," Harry said, pointing to the little scrap sticking up from where the snitch had laid, "To call it back and you can increase or decrease its range from the box, it's um- tied to the box as its center. I couldn't think of a better way to do it."

Draco stared at him, his brow twitching together in confusion.

"Oh," Harry said faintly, his cheeks heating up, "It's for you." He glanced at the snitch, "I made it for you."

Draco's eyes widened and his cheeks went red all at once. He quickly turned away, tucking his chin into his scarf to hide his face as he fumbled out the parchment, turning it towards the sky to catch enough light to read the carefully penned words, "conciliatio," he said quietly.

The snitch diverted from its flight path and zipped back into the box, settling itself into the plush velvet. Draco carefully placed the parchment back inside and latched the box shut with a faint click, "Thank you."

"...I- well, I'm glad you liked it," Harry scuffed the toe of his shoe in the grass. He took a deep breath to tell Draco about tomorrow night fiasco.

"I read Pansy's article," Draco held the box tightly in both hands, pulling it close to his chest.

Harry's brow furrowed, "Her article?"

"You would really marry a muggle if you couldn't-?" Draco turned to him, pinning him with eyes the colour of slate, "You'd give up?"

"What?" Harry said, feeling utterly dumbfounded, "It was just- it was something to say. I don't think that-"

"I mean, it's not important," Draco interrupted, sounding a little frantic, "kissing and physical intimacy- If you care about someone you-" his voice caught, "...if you really care about someone."

Harry shook his head, "But at the party-"

"I don't care about the party! The party was a mistake!" Draco snapped, squeezing the box in his hands so tightly his knuckles paled.

Harry twitched backwards as if Draco had slapped him, "A mistake? What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, Potter!?" Draco said, "You chat me up, flirting- You act like you're courting me but-" he stopped abruptly, taking a step back. "I don't understand your intentions. Not when I can't give you what you want."

Harry opened his mouth but nothing came out.

Draco took another step backwards, his jaw clenching.

Harry shook his head, he took a hesitant step forward trying to bridge the distance between them, "I don't-"

But before he could even finish the sentence Draco had turned and ran, disappearing into the shadows of the stands and then truly disappearing under a disillusionment spell.

Harry shivered and pulled his cloak tighter around himself, "I don't understand."