12

Chapter 13

Lucky Charms

"Walk straight, will you?" Harry hadn't even stepped out of the bar yet and Draco was already being difficult.

"Carry me!" Draco whined, his head drooping right on Harry's shoulder.

Ron gave Harry a sympathizing smile, "We can give you a ride, mate."

Harry shook his head, "No. I need to talk to Dra— Malfoy."

Hermione peered closely at Draco and wrinkled her nose, "Harry… I'm not sure if he can even talk correctly much less think. Vodka is a really strong Muggle drink after all…"

"Yeah, well, people tend to say the truth when they're drunk," Harry said, echoing the busty redhead.

Hermione looked up questioningly, "What truth do you need?"

Harry turned a slight pink. He didn't answer but instead gave them a quick "good-bye and see you tomorrow" and literally dragged Draco out of there.

The duo walked the dark streets alone and by each step, Draco seemed to be getting heavier and heavier as he leaned in against Harry. The blonde whimpered, groaned, and complained about random things such as the invisible leprechauns that were sexually molesting his shoelaces.

"The green little bastards!" Draco kicked at the air. "Get— off— my— shoes! If my laces get pregnant it's your fault!"

"Malfoy… Malfoy! Just walk!" Harry shook him. "See? It's easy. Left, right, left, right, left—"

"Yaaauugghh!" Draco was now shaking an invisible leprechaun off his foot. "Bring it on, bitch! I'll show you hearts, stars, and horseshoes!"

"Malfoy—"

"They're always after me lucky charms!"

"DRACO!"

The blonde looked up at Harry with teary gray eyes, "My shoelaces…"

Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Draco was too busy fending off the evil leprechauns so how was Harry going to get any answers at this rate? He opted for a short rest in a nearby bench so that Draco would be able to collect his thoughts… if he had any at the moment… which was highly and unlikely.

"Pigeons!" Draco screeched with delight. "Look, Potter! Pigeons!" He flapped his arms and ran after the disgruntled birds. The birds merely shuffled away uninterestedly as if they were already used to being chased by drunken men.

Harry's thoughts swirled around in his head like a tornado. What exactly was he going to ask Draco? And how would he phrase the words so that it would not freak him out? But then again, probably nothing would freak Draco out right now since he was out of his mind. Harry watched Draco kneeling down and beckoning to an annoyed pigeon and whispering, "C'mere, little birdy. Come to daddy, you cursed messenger of death…"

Harry stood up, grabbed Draco by the arm, and despite his protests, dragged him away from the very grateful-looking pigeon.

"We have to talk," Harry said firmly.

"Well, I have to talk with the pigeon!" Draco insisted.

"Pigeons can't talk!"

"Oh, yes they can! They talk like this… Crooo… crooo…"

Harry ignored him, "Back at the bar, when you said that you weren't practicing…"

Draco stared straight forward, swaying a bit from the alcohol, but Harry knew he was listening, so he continued…

"… Did you mean it?"

Draco continued to stare out into the distance, his gray eyes looking more silver than ever. He breathed in deep and let it out in one shuddering sigh. But other than that, he remained silent.

Harry felt disappointed at Draco's silence. But he forced on a smile anyway, "Hey, it's all right," he crossed his arms and leaned back against the bench. "It was a stupid question. You don't have to say any—"

"I meant it," Draco snapped suddenly, his voice still slurred from the alcohol. "Stop putting on the dramatics."

Harry felt his body freeze, "Did you, really?"

"Yes, you little girly girl, I did," Draco sniffed and put on a smug grin. "And as if my scorching kisses weren't enough to make it obvious. How dense are you, Potter?" He began to sway again as he held on to the bench to steady himself.

"Are you…" Harry tried to get the word out. "… gay?"

Draco smirked and swayed forward, "D'oh, you wanna know, hmmm? Fine, then Potter, listen to me…" he swayed backwards. "Listen, to me okay? … About this whole fake-gay thing we're doing… listen, just listen! About the fake boyfriends thing…" he paused suddenly as a hazy expression spread across his face.

Harry leaned forward, "Malfoy, are you okay—" Draco doubled over and retched violently as Harry yelped and leapt backwards.

Draco looked up and grinned, "I'm okay…" After that, he went cross-eyed and fell forward.

Harry owed a lot to Ron and Hermione. They had been trailing Draco and Harry just in case something happened (like Draco passing out, for instance).

"At first, Hermione wanted to give you guys some privacy," Ron parked in front of Harry's apartment. "But I insisted that we spy on you."

Harry gave Ron a suspicious look.

"Well, not really spy on you," Ron muttered. "Oh, you know what I mean. We wanted to—"

"Look out for you," Hermione interrupted, just in case Ron became faulty with his words.

They were quiet for a while as they watched two young witches racing each other on mini versions of the Firebolt. A group of young wizards were sitting on the steps of the apartment building as they took turns in feeding a frog strange-looking candy. The frog would change into random objects, such as a refrigerator, a pencil, or a condom. What? A condom!

"Only possible in a wizarding neighborhood," Ron chuckled as Hermione rolled down the window and called out to the two young witches, "Don't fly too high!"

"Honestly, Hermione. Those things barely go five feet from the ground," Ron looked at her and frowned.

"Yes, but…" Hermione rolled her eyes and slumped down in her seat. "You can never be too careful—" she was interrupted by a crash and a loud wail. They all looked up to see the little witch sprawled on the sidewalk sporting a bloody knee. "Oh, honestly!" Hermione threw the car door open and rushed over to the crying girl.

Ron rested his chin against his palm as he watched Hermione tend to the little girl's wounded knee. Harry watched as Ron began to smile a bit and got a glazy look in his eyes.

Harry spoke up, "Ron?"

The redhead continued to stare.

"Ron?"

"…"

"RON!"

"What!" Ron whipped his head around and looked at Harry. "Did someone die?"

"No…"

"Then why'd you yell?"

Harry shook his head and grinned as Hermione got back inside the car, "Honestly, kids these days just don't know how to control themselves." She turned around and looked at Draco who was peacefully slumbering on Harry's shoulder, "Look at him, he's wiped out. Harry, you should get him inside."

Harry nudged Draco's arm, "Wake up. Wake up, you lazy arse."

Draco didn't budge.

"Dammit, you stupid lazy idio—"

"Harry! Harry…" Hermione interrupted and shook her head. "You and I both know very well that those words aren't... magic to the vain ears."

Harry took a deep breath and muttered, "Wake up, you gorgeous creature. Wake up, you beautiful angel, you."

Draco's eyes fluttered open, "Hmm? Did you say something? Did you call me?"

Harry rolled his eyes and opened the car door, dragging Draco out with him. He thanked Ron and Hermione and bid them good-bye.

"Come on, Malfoy," Harry urged. "Just a couple more steps, okay? It's not that hard— excuse me gentlemen." Harry smiled at the young wizards who were playing on the front steps. They all stepped to the side to make way, "Thank you—," he paused and looked down just in time to see a condom croaking up at him.

"No…" Draco groaned and shook his head vigorously. "I refuse… I absolutely refuse…"

"It's not like I'm asking you to give me a lap dance," Harry was losing his temper. "All I'm asking is for you to go to sleep!"

Draco stood up and ripped his shirt off, "I'll give you a lap dance— I… I don't wanna go to sleep— here look—" he threw himself on Harry and began jiggling and shaking in a very horrid manner. "Do you like it?" he asked eagerly. "Do you like it?"

Harry grimaced and pushed Draco off, "Get your drunk ass to bed!"

Draco growled menacingly and grabbed a pillow from his bed, "I— hate— YOU!" he slammed the pillow against Harry's face. With that, Draco scurried away, giggling madly.

As the pillow fell, Harry's glasses went askew and he was quite surprised. He honestly didn't expect the pillow-attack. He heard Draco giggling like a child in the other room and dashing around wildly while chanting, "Catch me, catch me, Pothead can't catch me!"

Harry felt a headache coming on. It was like dealing with a child. "Malfoy, please don't make things so difficult…" he walked into his own room and didn't see Draco there. He searched the kitchen and the living room, but the blonde was nowhere to be found. His apartment was eerily quiet so it gave him quite a jolt when the telephone rang.

Harry picked up the receiver, "Hello?"

"Guess where I am!" came Draco's giggling voice.

Harry looked around and saw a pair of feet wiggling excitedly behind the sofa.

"Guess where I am, Potter, guess where I am," Draco continued to snigger madly.

With a quick move, Harry leapt behind the sofa and landed on top of Draco, "I found you, now get to bed!"

Draco wriggled and thrashed, "You cheated! You cheater-poo-poo!" he stood up to make a run for it, but Harry had a firm grip on his right leg. He wrapped both his arms and legs around Draco's right leg to keep him from moving further.

"You— get— to— bed— NOW, young man!" Harry scolded from below. Draco dragged his leg and Harry around the room as he whined and moaned about not being the least bit tired.

"And I'm not drunk either!" he blatantly lied. "I'm as sober as a… llama!" Which made no sense whatsoever.

It was an amusing sight that took place in the Potter/Malfoy household: Harry tightly clamped on Draco's leg, as the blonde dragged him around whilst spouting obscenities.

"Please go to bed!"

"No—" Draco grumbled, giving another heave at his nagging burden. "I'm a big boy— I'll stay up as late as I want!" It was very late and Draco was apparently tired. So he hauled Harry back into his room and flopped into bed.

Harry unclasped himself and wiped the sweat off his brow, "You give up now, Malfoy?"

Draco grunted, which meant yes.

Harry sighed with relief, but as he proceeded to stand up and walk to his room, a hand reached out and tightly clamped around his wrist. He looked down to see Draco peeking up at him through his golden strands which fell across his eyes.

"I'm tired, Malfoy," Harry mumbled. "No more games tonight."

"There won't be any more games," Draco said softly.

"Good, then let me go."

"You will stay with me tonight," Draco didn't say it as a request. It was an order. He didn't even give Harry time to answer as he pulled the stunned boy down to the bed next to him. The brunette was about to open his mouth to protest, but Draco silenced him by pressing his mouth sloppily against Harry's. Draco slowly pulled away just to lean over Harry to turn off the lights. Afterwards, he settled back in, wrapping an arm around Harry's waist.

Harry was frozen but soon found that Draco's steady breathing against his neck was quite comforting. He turned to lie on his side, facing Draco. Their faces were so close that the tips of their noses were touching.

Moments later, Draco opened his eyes. The silver color almost made Harry freeze again. Draco didn't speak as he just locked that emerald gaze in his own. The silence passed when he gently tightened his hold around Harry's waist.

"I think I can fall in love with you…" Draco whispered. By the sharp smell of vodka, Harry knew that the alcohol was still clouding Draco's judgment. But for some reason, he didn't care.

Harry leaned a bit forward, touching his forehead against Draco's as he whispered back, "I think I can fall in love with you too."

Draco smiled sleepily and shut his eyes. Harry, feeling nothing but ease and contentment, allowed slumber to take over him as he drifted into sleep, nestled comfortably in the arms of his rival.