Chapter Eight - The Slug Club

Disclaimer; All rights belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter and all credit is completely hers.

It had to have been at least a month that Harry and Draco hadn't spoken to each other. Ever since that night in the library, things grew much, much too awkward.

Today was Hogsmeade, and the golden trio couldn't of been more excited. Snow was coming in on them from every direction as they trudged through the cold.

"Anyone up for a butterbeer?" Harry asked his two best friends. They simply nodded in delight as the three of them entered Hogsmeade.

The town seemed usual as it always was. It was filled with delighted chatter, occasional playful screams, and the sweetest smell that could ever enter anyone's nostrils; butterbeer.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the warmth of their favorite place, The Three Broomsticks, and took a seat at one of the tables.

Except when Harry looked up, he could've sworn he saw a glimpse of blonde hair slip into the bathroom. But it was the girls bathroom.. It couldn't of been Draco. He was just seeing things since the kiss..

God, the kiss. Harry couldn't get it off his mind the entire week. When he heard Hogsmeade was over the weekend, that was the only thing that could get his mind off it.

He would have to forget it now.

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Draco slipped into the girls bathroom, the securely wrapped and packaged curse necklace bundle in his coat.

It was time for his second task, and yet his second attempt to kill Dumbledore. The first one really didn't go as well as he had thought it would, especially since Ron was the one ending up as the victim.

Hiding in one of the empty stalls, he waited until he heard the door swing open. Stepping out, he immediately pointed his wand at the unknown subject, the one he would use to carry the necklace. Of all the girls, it was Katie Bell, a rather short girl with thick black hair.

After using a curse on Katie to control her, Draco immediately explained to her the directions she needed.

"Don't open it. Don't give it to anybody but Dumbldore himself. And don't open it. " Draco hissed at her.

Her lifeless, cursed mind nodded and she took the necklace from Draco, easily making her way out of the bathroom and out of the Three Broomsticks unnoticed.

When Draco slipped out of the bathroom, he saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron speaking to the potions teacher. Deciding to leave before anything else would happen, he secretly left the small pub and made his way back to the castle.

"Oh, Harry, I appreciate it! I'll be looking forward to seeing you and Ms. Granger at my party. " Slughorn said with a dozy grin, waddling his way back over to the group of adults.

"He's drunk. " Ron commented with a murmur.

Once they finished their butterbeer, Harry paid for his friends and they stood up. He left two galleons as a tip on the table, too.

"God, it's freezing. " Hermione mumbled as she squeezed in the middle of her two best friends, throwing an arm around the both of them.

But then they stopped. Someone had screamed, and when the three of them looked over, Katie Bell lay lifeless on the snow, the cursed necklace open for almost anyone to touch.

And suddenly, she flew up into the air. Never had Hermione or Ron seen something so horrifying, and Harry had the look of pure shock plastered on his face.

As she fell back into the snow, Harry slowly edged towards the necklace.

"Only touch the cloth, " Hagrid said as he came with Professor Flitwick to see what was going on.

As Harry removed the wrapping, his eyes scanned the object. It seemed to be an emerald green object, the shining of it glistening against the snowy air.

Hagrid lifted up Katie Bell, and soon they were all on their way back to the Hogwarts Castle.

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"Why is it always you three?" Professor Mcgonagall asked as she pursed her lips.

"Trust me, Professor, I've been asking myself the same question for six years. " Ron murmured, looking awkwardly down at his hands.

"Do you three have any idea of who it might've been? Did you see anything?" Snape asked in his usual cold tone.

The three grew quiet.

But inside Harry's head, it certainly wasn't quiet. So many voices of his own conscience were running through memories of what happened in the past hour;

Then he stopped himself from his thoughts.

He had seen Draco slip into the girl's bathroom, or so he thought..

And he couldn't sworn he saw Katie Bell use the bathroom at least once.

Could it have been-..?

"It was - " Harry went to say, but immediately shut himself up. Lord, how he wished he hadn't done that.

"Who?" Snape asked and raised an eyebrow.

"It was-- no, it was.. It was cold outside today - " Harry went to say himself, but was cut off by Snape.

"I don't care for a weather report, Potter."

"You didn't let me finish," Harry snapped, but regained his attitude almost immediately. Snape raised his other eyebrow, giving him the 'go on' look.

"It.. Well - as I was saying.. It was cold out today, but there had to be at least more than five hundred kids outside in Hogsmeade, right? But.. But what if it wasn't a student? "

"I didn't mention anything about adult, or child. I just wanted to know if you knew. " Snape said, straightening his posture.

Harry simply shook his head. He decided now to just keep his mouth shut and let the scene unfold himself.

He had almost sold Draco out to the entire school, but then again, he didn't even know if Draco did it or not. He couldn't done it, but then again, he was a Slytherin. Slytherins always had to turn out as bad people.

"Go. " Snape murmured to them. The three of them left the room probably as fast as they could.

"Who did you think it was? " Hermione whispered sharply.

"I already said what I had to say, I wasn't lying.. " Harry murmured, and they made their way towards the Great Hall.

As soon as Harry walked into the Great Hall, his eyes darted over to the Slytherin table. He spotted Slughorn talking to Draco, and immediately knew he was inviting him to his party at his office tonight.

He was lost in thought, staring at Draco until Hermione tugged in his sleeve. He immediately snapped out of it, and made his way over to the Gryffindor table and plopped down in a seat.

Simultaneously, the kiss pulled back into his head. God, how he loved the soft feeling of Draco's lips against his. As crazy as it seemed, he wanted it again.

"Harry, you've seem so outcasted from the world. " Hermione mumbled.

Harry's eyes darted back over to her, his face going slightly red.

A smile spread across her face now, "You met someone. A girl. I knew it, who is it?" She asked excitedly, but in a hushed whisper. Before Harry could protest, her mouth dropped open. "It's Pansy, isn't it?"

Harry opened his mouth, but closed it again. "Maybe. " Harry said simply. He figured if he made it look like it was Pansy, they would stop guessing.

Hermione gasped, but Ron just murmured 'gross.'

"I knew it! " Hermione said, growing shakily excited.

"It's not even anything official yet. We had one kiss. It will most likely turn into nothing." Harry mumbled, fumbling with his fingers.

"It's not nothing! It's amazing. Harry, - you like someone! This is so exciting. Now you can tell me everything what happens between you two, and I can give you advice and stuff, and -" Hermione went to say, but was cut off by Ron.

"If you haven't noticed, Hermione, Harry isn't a girl. " Ron muttered through a mouthful of baked beans.

Hermione's face turned red, and she just smiled sheepishly. "Right, Harry. Sorry.. " she murmured.

Harry went to take a bite to eat, but dropped his fork when he saw Draco stand up.

"I'll be right back, " Harry said and stood up, though he probably wouldn't come back to lunch.

Harry ran out into the empty hall, but stopping when he saw Draco take a turn. He followed Draco secretly throughout the entire castle, watching as Draco stopped at the Room of Requirement.

Harry easily slipped in after the boy, hiding behind an old bookshelf and peering out by the corner.

Draco seemed to have a green apple in his hand, tossing it up and down as he edged what Harry noticed was a tall object covered in an old tablecloth. He went to take a step back, but felt himself bump into a table. A glass vial fell and smashed to the ground, and Harry shut his eyes to the sound of the crash.

"Who's there?" Draco asked, pulling out his wand. That's when Harry very slowly appeared from the bookshelf.

"Potter?" Draco asked and narrowed his eyes, lowering his eyes. His face was a tint of red. "I- wh - what are you doing here?" The blonde asked, biting his lip.

"I , uhm, well, I don't know. " Harry muttered, stepping back a bit. "I should, u- uhm, leave, yeah, I should leave. " Harry muttered and swung around, but he felt a hand around his wrist. He felt himself being pulled and suddenly, Harry's lips met with Draco's.

"You going to Slughorn's Party tonight? " Draco asked calmly against Harry's lips. Harry pulled away just a few inches, and nodded.

"Draco.. Draco, what are we?" Harry asked , pulling away completely now to look at him.

"I really don't know.. " The blonde mumbled, "But you are kind of fun to kiss. That's something. " Draco muttered.

Harry smiled at that, biting his lip and looking down.

Draco took a deep breath, and finally spit it out.

"Willyougoonadatewithme?"

"What?" Harry asked and tilted his head slightly. He could barely make out what the blonde said.

Draco sighed, rolling his eyes. "Never mind. You should go. I have to do some stuff today and speak with my father. I'll see you at Slughorn's Party. " Draco muttered and let go of Harry's wrist, sighing softly.

Harry just nodded. His thoughts drifted back to why Draco was in the Room of Requirement, but he decided to keep his mouth shut for now.

Walking out, he turned the corridor and went straight to the Gryffindor dormitories.

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"Are you sure there isn't anything else that happened between you and Pansy?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Nothing happened. " Harry murmured, but Hermione didn't seem convinced.

The two of them were on their way to Slughorn's Party now, and Harry was more nervous than ever.

Entering the large room, they got a warm welcome from Professor Slughorn. Hermione took a seat, and Harry's eyes darted around the table. The only seat left was next to Draco.

Very awkwardly taking a seat, he didn't dare turn his head to look at Draco.

The party didn't seem as fun as it was supposed to be. All Slughorn spoke about was Hermione's parents, and what they did for a living.

But then he felt a hand on his knee. Realizing it was coming from his right side, Draco must've been playing with him. God, he hoped he didn't do anything stupid.

But Harry was wrong. Draco was poking Harry's leg, and at one point, he jabbed Harry's side which caused him to jump because of the ticklish feeling. The table slightly shifted, and all eyes darted towards him.

"Erh-.. Sorry about that. There was a bug on me. " Harry muttered, and everyone went back to eating their treats awkwardly again.

After a while, Slughorn got up to get something to show the students in the other room. The whole table broke out into chatter, and Harry felt that now was his chance. He looked over at Draco, jaw clenched slightly.

"What was that for?" Harry hissed quietly.

"Don't know what you mean. " Draco said with a soft smirk.

Harry just sighed and shook his head, staring back down at his ice cream.

Slughorn came back into the room soon enough, but he had a frown on his face. "Oh, kids, it's been fun, but I think you should all head off to bed. It's getting dastardly late. " he said. One by one, students began leaving the room. Harry was the last to leave.

He felt that now would maybe be a good chance to speak to Slughorn and connect with him, but he didn't exactly strike up the best conversation.

Walking out of his office after saying goodnight, Harry turned a corridor, but bumped into the last person he wanted to see;

Pansy Parkinson.

A smirk came across her face, and she crossed her arms loosely across her chest.

"Well, hello Harry. You know, I was just on my way to bed, but, you can join me, if you'd like.. " She said.

Harry just scoffed and shook his head, giving her shoulder a rough shove with his, and made his way back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Girls.. " he muttered quietly.