He had to see it, Draco decided. Suspicion wasn't enough, no matter how sure Draco was. He wanted to see it — Potter looking at him with utter lust, begging Draco to touch him, moaning as Draco kissed him, shuddering as he let Draco do whatever he wished to him. He had to experience it. 

And he had to convince Potter to agree to it.

He could claim that he wanted Potter; say he had a crush on him, too, but he suspected Potter wouldn't believe him. Potter made no such conclusions, even after he had discovered that Draco was aroused. And he was right, of course; Draco wasn't crushing on Potter. The only appeal of all this was making Potter crumble beneath his touch. That wasn't love; that was rivalry.

Though it wasn't hate either, a small voice in his head told him. He didn't want to smash Potter's nose and watch him bleed as he once had — before Potter had reached down, grabbed Draco's sweaty hand and pulled him to safety.

"I want to make a different deal," Draco said quickly even though he made no decisions yet. He wanted to stop his line of thought. It didn't matter why he wanted it; Potter's wish was the important thing. His crush was what Draco wanted to explore.

Potter grimaced. "What sort of deal?"

Draco was thinking furiously. "Well, since we're here and have nothing to do and you're so confused . . ." Draco waited for the logical continuation of the sentence to come to him and, miraculously, it did. "I think we should try to resolve your confusion."

"I'm feeling more and more confused by the second, to be honest," Potter said dryly.

"Fear no more, Potter." Draco grinned. "I'm willing to offer myself as your test subject."

"Pardon?"

"You wanted to know if you're gay or not. Well . . ." Draco indicated himself with his free hand. "Find out."

Potter stared at him.

"It's a perfect opportunity for you," Draco insisted.

"You're . . ." Potter gulped audibly. "You're offering . . . sex?"

"Merlin, no, Potter!" Draco paled. He didn't want to have sex with Potter. Sex meant . . . pushing cocks into places where cocks shouldn't be pushed. Draco shuddered, though, oddly enough, not unpleasantly. Well, if Potter wanted Draco to do that to him . . . "I doubt we'll have to go that far," Draco amended. "You're so obviously gay. I think after a few kisses you'll see it." Draco considered the matter more carefully. "I suppose you can suck me off, if you wish."

Potter finally stopped blushing; Draco had forgotten how Potter looked without a flush decorating his cheeks. Paleness didn't suit him so well.

Potter slowly raised his hand in front of Draco's eyes again.

"How many —?"

"Two!" Draco snapped. "You're holding up two fingers. Please stop it. What does that even mean?"

Potter shrugged and lowered his hand. "You are utterly insane," he said with conviction.

"No, I'm merely bored. And I think that some kissing and a blowjob would cheer me up and amuse me. I'd rather do that than stare at the parchment for the next two hours."

Potter looked petrified. He stopped breathing and he even stopped blinking.

Draco frowned. Perhaps boredom wasn't a valid excuse for sex with your school rival. He had to think of something else. If only he could.

"Well, do you accept? I'm doing you a favor here, Potter."

Potter blinked once. "Out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Naturally."

"What is this?" Potter exclaimed. "Are you hoping to tell everyone that you turned Harry Potter gay? Are you after blackmail material?"

"You're being absurd, Potter. What does it matter what we do here? No one will ever know but us. I can just as easily make something up and claim it's true. It's your word against mine, and we both know which one of us people will believe." 

Potter considered him for a minute. "Then why? Why would you offer . . .? Are you even attracted to men?" Potter's voice turned into a whisper. "Or me?"

"You’re giving this too much importance. I'm attracted to sex. And orgasms. I can withstand quite a bit in order to get them."

It was the wrong thing to say. Potter stopped looking confused. "No need to withstand anything, Malfoy. I refuse," he said coldly. 

Damn. Draco bit his lip. On the bright side, it had taken awhile for Potter to refuse him. That could have meant that he had considered accepting the deal. "Merlin, you're so sensitive," Draco huffed. "Don't be an idiot. This is a perfect chance for you. You can experiment all you wish and no one will ever know. I can even teach you some things."

Potter's eyebrows rose. "You’ve had sex with a man before?" he asked, looking somewhat amused.

"Of course," Draco scoffed, lying through his teeth. "Everything you heard about us perverted Slytherins is absolutely true. Except that part about orgies. Those never turn out well; we gave up on them a long time ago. But we are lovers of carnal pleasures and we have no silly misconceptions about sex like you people. There's no need to compartmentalize pleasure. How limiting." 

"Right." Potter narrowed his eyes. "If you're so open-minded about sex, then why were you ridiculing my supposed attraction to men in front of everyone?" 

Draco was stumped for just a moment. "The whole point was to annoy and embarrass you, Potter. It's not my fault you find these things insulting."

Potter stared at him for a long moment before he turned around demonstratively. "Oh, for fuck's sake, leave me alone. You're so full of it, Malfoy."

Draco rolled his eyes. No reason was good enough for Potter. He had to think of something else. Something more plausible.

An idea formed in his mind. Of course, he should have thought of it sooner. Potter would never believe Draco wanted to have sex with him because Draco wanted to do it, or because Draco would have sex with anyone, or because Draco was just trying to be helpful. Potter thought himself a hero, the favor he understood and accepted would be gratitude. 

"Have it your way, Potter," Draco said offhandedly. "I just thought . . . well, I owe you one. I wanted to pay my debt."

"Owe me?" Potter looked at him sideways. "For what?"

Draco opened his mouth to say it, but the words refused to pass his lips. He promised himself he would never say it; that he would never acknowledge it in Potter's presence, or even to himself. He had no intention of feeding Potter's already humongous ego. 

However, this was all right. He was being devious, not grateful. It was okay to say it if he didn't really mean it. Wasn't it? 

Draco swallowed heavily and whispered, "My life."

Potter, Draco learned, had a strange ability to survive without air for a long time. Draco was sure he stopped breathing for a whole minute. After finally gulping some air, Potter looked away and spoke to his knees. "You don't owe me anything, Malfoy."

Oddly, that hurt. 

"Because you regret saving me?" 

Potter closed his eyes and shook his head. "I didn't mean what I said in the hallway. I don't regret it."

Draco breathed a little easier. He had made that conclusion when he had figured out that Potter was crushing on him, but it felt good to hear it. 

"But you don't owe me anything." Potter laughed, a bit hysterically. "Especially not sex."

"What else can I give you?" Draco asked sharply. "It's unlikely I'll ever save your life. And I'm not giving you gold, Potter."

Potter was still laughing. "I definitely don't want gold!" he cried and then calmed down somewhat. "You could be a little nicer to me?" he suggested tentatively. 

Draco sneered. "Right. What else? Should I kneel and crawl before you?"

"I didn't mean it like that." Potter sighed. "I'd just appreciate it if you didn't insult me at every turn."

Draco bristled. What next? Potter would suggest they should be friends? "You're missing the point, Potter. I want to repay my debt so I can continue hating you and insulting you with a clear conscience." 

Potter snorted. "Actually, I figured that's what you wanted," he said dismally. "I'd rather you continue to hate me and insult me with anunclear conscience. At least you'd be forced to acknowledge you have one."

Draco pursed his lips in a pout. The whole thing wasn't amusing anymore. It should have been hilarious and fun. When did it stop being funny? And why was Potter being so difficult? He should have jumped at the chance to have sex with the person he was crushing on. Unless Draco had been wrong about that. Draco sighed miserably. Or maybe he had insulted Potter too much. Potter did have an ego the size of the Hogwarts lake.

Either way, there was only one thing that seemed to unsettle Potter. Words were useless in this situation.

Draco cleared his throat and edged closer to Potter. "I find you reasonably attractive. Having sex with you wouldn't be . . . torture," he said quietly, deepening his voice. Potter stiffened and Draco quickly sneaked his hand beneath Potter's shirt before the git said something stupid again. He pulled Potter closer into his embrace — something that was extremely easy since he was still forced to hug him close — and trailed his fingertips over the soft skin of Potter's waist.

Potter reached to still Draco's exploring hand. "Malfoy . . ."

Draco was sure that was meant to be a warning, but it sounded suspiciously like a moan. Draco grinned.

"I won't offer again," he whispered into Potter's ear. "Ever. Are you sure you don't want to seize the moment and resolve your —" Draco took Potter's earlobe into his mouth, sucked on it lightly and then released it "— confusion?"

Potter shivered. His face was reddening again. 

"I'll count to three," Draco said. "And then the offer is off the table. One." Draco's index finger toyed with the waistband of Potter's trousers as he pressed a small kiss just below Potter's ear. Potter never even stopped shuddering. "Two." Draco's free hand sneaked toward Potter's crotch; Potter's arm flew to intercept it, but Draco was faster and he managed to wrap his fingers around the hardness beneath the coarse fabric. Potter was rock hard, the warmth of his arousal heated Draco's sweaty palm. "Hmm," Draco hummed, trailing his fingertips over Potter's cock. "T—"

"I accept."