A Second Night to Remember, Part 1

Art by the talented @IshikiRyu

Harry's heart was beating fast as he ran through the hallways of Hogwarts. If he ran any faster, he might as well be Apparating. He knew where he needed to be and he knew he had to be at least part-way presentable when he found her if he was to get what he wanted.

"Down the hallway, down the stairs, down that hallway, up the stairs, down the hall, down the stairs, across the bridge, down the stairs again, then across the hall. She'll be there in the library right about now," he muttered to himself. His hands were clammy and he wiped them on his robes. Repeating the directions for the path he's taken a hundred time to get from the Gryffindor Common Room to the Library didn't seem to calm him down.

"What am I doing? This is insane!" Harry thought. Despite defeating that dragon a few months back and even worse, dancing with her at the Yule Ball, nothing has scared him as much as this. He knew what her answer would be, but Harry thought couldn't stop sweating even if he wasn't running.

Through Hogwarts he ran. He almost took out a few first-years who looked as lost as Harry felt, but as a Seeker he unconsciously dodged right by them. The worst was the Grand Staircase. They never moved fast enough on a normal day (as he and Ron were once again late for Potions class), but today they seemed determined to go as slowly as possible just to make Harry miss his chance. Harry jumped on them before they even stopped and took off up the stairs.

Harry then took a sharp turn down the hall towards Ravenclaw Tower, a shortcut he learned early in his second year. He almost knocked out an absent-minded Ravenclaw girl as she was distracted by something Harry couldn't see as she walked up the stairs.

"Sorry!" Harry yelled out as he descended the stairs, not stopping. She would remember his kindness.

Down he went and across the bridge into the Library Annex, getting ever closer to the one thing he wasn't prepared to do nor would ever be ready for. He thanked his lucky stars that he was sorted into Gryffindor as he rounded the corner and went down the stairs into the hall, because otherwise he'd never have the courage for this.

As Harry reached the bottom of the stairs and started to cross the hall toward the entrance to the library, he slowed down to catch his breath, run his still-clammy hands through his hair to try and tame it (and failed miserably at doing so), and straighten his clothes for her.

Harry reached the door of the library to face his next task as champion, just not of the school. Pausing for a moment, he prepared himself mentally. "Yes. I'm getting a yes. There's no way I'm not getting a yes." Harry thought to himself, standing to the side as a group of Hufflepuff students shuffled past him. He was not convincing himself, but it was worth a shot.

Harry moved to the door, took one last deep breath, then put his hand on the handle. Unfortunately for his nerves, it opened for him by somebody on the other side...

and that somebody, with hair like gold that did not dare to be out of place and two silver eyes that widened the second they met his green ones, was Dracaena Malfoy.

Harry's heart stopped and he suddenly lost the ability to speak. All his plans went out the window, and the Boy Who Lived almost died on the spot.

"Hello, Potter. What are you doing here?" Dracaena spat, with her usual venom Harry came to expect but laced with a faint hint of joy.

"Hi D-" Harry stopped and noticed that his chance was ruined due to a certain Pansy Parkinson standing slightly behind Dracaena, holding books and staring daggers at him.

"Hello, Malfoy," Harry continued, as he was expected to. "I'm, uh, looking for some help with some Transfiguration homework." Somehow, he managed to get it out and his heart started again as he waited with bated breath for her response.

A spark lit behind Dracaena's eyes, a familiar one for Harry after the last month and a half. "Of course you are, Potter. Too busy with thinking about how you'll make a fool of yourself with the next task?"

Harry sighed and pressed his lips together, his face showing annoyance with her comment. She knew him better, though. Both of them have gotten used maintaining this dance that everyone expected from them, but Harry nevertheless had a hard time holding up his side of it. "No, Malfoy. I need some help before class next Tuesday, in chapter 7."

Dracaena's cheeks went pink and she smiled. She was able to hide it before she lost control, but made sure that Harry saw it before she did. The face she wore so well (a mask, as Harry now knew after several years of misunderstanding every single hint and multiple talks with his uncle this past summer) came back on in the blink of an eye, but failed to cover the lingering pinkness in her cheeks. Pansy, none the wiser, rolled her eyed behind Dracaena and groaned at Harry's request.

"Are you sure that Granger can't help you with this? I'm sure she'd be happy to." Dracaena smirked, loving this game and playing her role with the practiced perfection that all good Malfoys were capable of.

Harry sighed again and looked down at his feet, feigning defeat to the best of his ability and hiding his smile from Pansy. His body did quite a good job at complying, but his voice almost gave his ecstatic joy away. "No, not with this. I need your help."

"Hm." Dracaena smirked again, turned up her nose, and walked past Harry, Pansy in tow. She couldn't contain herself any longer and needed to get out of there before she tackled him. "Sure, Potter, I'll deign to help you. I could use a bit more time to torment you."

Harry watched as the two Slytherin girls walked away, staring intensely at the one with the golden hair and grinning like a fool. Just as the girls started up the stairs, Dracaena looked back and smiled briefly at him, a smile just for him. She turned her head after only a second or two and continued walking. Dracaena put her hand behind her back and waved goodbye, twinkling her dainty fingers that Harry spent much time these days thinking about holding once again.

Harry waited until he was sure they were out of ear shot, then cheered, almost silently. He'd done it and she said yes. Now, all he had to do was to figure out a plan for their evening. Surely that would be the easy part compared to this.

Pansy, however, was confused as she walked away with Dracaena. Several things didn't make sense: They didn't have Transfiguration class next Tuesday the 14th, it was February and they were far past chapter 7, and they didn't mention a time to meet. She mentally shrugged and moved on. Those two have been doing this since Christmas. It was probably just Potter being Potter and obviously nothing more.

Obviously.