Harry stumbled into the new 8th year common room with Ron and Hermione close behind him. All three of them had run from a group of first years with wide eyes and pictures ripped out of the Prophet, begging for autographs.

Ron smiled at Harry, his face flushed from the run, "Well mate, no wonder you didn't want to go to dinner."

Harry gave a weak smile in return, "Yeah, but I don't think we're even allowed to miss the sorting ceremony. Three hours of my life I'll never get back."

Hermione tsk'd and said, "It's important. Besides, the Headmistress gave a beautiful speech on moving past differences and coming together as a student body."  

Ron kissed her cheek, leering, and said, "I'd like to come together as a student body."

"Ugh," Harry said after Hermione smacked Ron and the shoulder, a faint blush on her cheeks. "You two have fun. I'm going to lock myself in my room and avoid the student body." With that, he headed to his dorm.

Harry walked into the room, tugged off his robes, and tossed them on the bed. He pulled out a pair of flannel pants from his trunk and stared down at them. He didn't want Pansy to walk in on him changing clothes, not that he much cared, but he wasn't sure if she cared. He certainly didn't think it was wise to assume anything about what would or would not upset Pansy. Not when she was so willing to point it out.

He grabbed a t-shirt and his bathroom bag as well, deciding a long shower before turning in early would be his best bet for a drama-free evening. When Harry opened the bathroom door he was assaulted with sound that hadn't been there before. Pansy was wrapped up in the arms of Blaise Zabini, who was leaned back against the wall. Taking in the scene, Harry realized that there must have been a silencing charm up.

Harry didn't know what to say. He told himself to leave, but his body didn't move. He couldn't help but think about Ginny. He hadn't been entirely sure how he felt about the Ginny Pansy situation, but he knew he didn't want to see Ginny get hurt. Having walked in on this private moment he was quickly deciding that Pansy shouldn't be anywhere near Ginny.

"Sorry," he said, "I'll just go, then."

At his words, both Slytherins looked up. Zabini looked as though he couldn't be much bothered with Harry. Which was just fine, because Harry wasn't focused on him anyway. When Pansy lifted her face off of Zabini's chest and looked up, Harry could see a bruise blooming on her left cheekbone.

"Pansy," Harry said, his voice sounding far away. "God, are you ok?" His hand gripped the door handle tightly.

"Potter," she said softly, as though she hadn't expected him to be there.

"Who did this to you?" Harry asked, his temper flaring.

Pansy's eyes were bright with tears she was holding back. She pressed her forehead into Zabini's chest and cursed under her breath.

Harry looked to Zabini instead, "Who did this?"

Zabini's arms tightened around the girl as he said, "It was a couple of 5th years. She got ambushed in the hallway. When Draco and I showed up the students ran off."

"Which hallway?" Harry growled.

Pansy didn't lift her head and her words were muffled when she said, "Leave it, Potter. I should have been more careful."

Harry kept his eyes on the other boy, ignoring her request.

Zabini looked at the floor and then sighed, "Sorry Pans, but Draco's still down there." He glanced back to Harry, "In front of the Charms classroom."

Harry dropped the clothes, grabbed his wand, and left the room. He stormed through the common room without speaking. His face must have said plenty though, because Neville quickly caught up with him, wand drawn.

"What's happened?" Neville asked as they rounded another corner.

"Someone hurt Pansy, apparently she and Zabini left Malfoy to deal with It. They are in the Charms classroom."

Neville's only reply was to quicken his step. When they reached the classroom they saw 4 students sitting on the floor. They appeared to be gagged and bound to the teacher's desk. Draco was standing a few feet away with his wand pointed at them.

"Hello Potter," Draco said without looking up. "Would you please get the Headmistress?" his voice was oddly calm.

Harry glanced back at Neville who immediately cast a Patronus and sent it to McGonagall. Harry stepped forward trying to look Draco over for bruises while ignoring the 4 students who were attempting to call out to him through the gags. Harry couldn't even look at them, he knew he wouldn't be able to hold back with the fresh memory of Pansy in his mind.

Thankfully the Headmistress arrived quickly with Filch in tow. She grilled into them about their actions, assigned punishment, and instructed Filch and Neville to take the students back to their dormitories. Turning back to Draco she said, "Mr. Malfoy, you did the right thing not hurting them. I'm sure that it wasn't easy to stay calm when your friend had been hurt. I will make sure this incident does not cause problems with the Wizengamot."

Draco's face was impassive as he replied, "Thank you, Headmistress."

"Mr. Potter," she said, and Harry tore his eyes away from Draco to look at her.

"Yes?"

"Is Miss Parkinson in her room?"

"Yes."

"I will send a house elf to check on her," McGonagall said. "I'm sure she doesn't want this public so I won't force her to the infirmary unless necessary."

She then looked from Draco to Harry and back again before saying, "I presume the two of you can be trusted not to antagonize each other? I need to go back to my office and write owls to several parents."

When the door closed behind her an awkward silence fell between the boys. Harry realized he was still holding his wand and slipped it into his back pocket. When he looked back at Draco the boy had a small smile playing at his lips.

Harry cocked his head, his eyebrows drawn down in confusion, "Why are you-" he tried to figure out how to finish that question, but decided to start over. "You don't seem angry, how is that possible?"

Draco smiled broadly, "Because you came to save me but I'd already taken care of it. I stole your hero moment." He looked exceedingly smug. 

Harry felt himself smile back hesitantly, "Even so, you're very… calm," he said.

"I've been through far worse the past few years than those fuckwits," Draco said. He eyed the spot where the other students had been tied up, "I did take a bit of anger out on them. Not physical though, except for what was needed to keep them here. But there was a lot of shouting before you got here." He shrugged one-shouldered.

"It's probably better that I was late then," Harry said, following Draco's gaze to the desk. "I'm not great at showing restraint."

Draco hummed a response and Harry felt the adrenaline coursing through him shift from anger to arousal. His body shook with desire as he realized they were truly alone in the classroom. He looked up at the blonde with a feral smile, "Speaking of," he said, stalking towards him.

Harry grabbed Draco's collar and barely glimpsed the Malfoy smirk before their lips met in a bruising kiss. Every fantasy Harry had had about this moment was shoved aside as second rate when compared to the real thing. For one thing, in Harry's fantasies, they were the same height, but he found he liked that the Slytherin had a few inches on him. Draco's kiss was heated, and passionate but precise. His talented mouth took control of the kiss with perfect pressure of tongue and teeth. When Draco's fingers ran through Harry's hair, Harry took the opportunity to press their bodies together and run his hands along Draco's body touching as much as he could. He moaned into Draco's mouth when his erection made contact with Draco's thigh.

Draco pulled off Harry's lips to suck and bite his sensitive neck, then shifted his hips so his own erection was pressed against Harry's. When Draco started to rut against him Harry lost all notion of control, his hands gripped hard into the blonde's biceps as the pleasure built from his toes and traveled up his body.

"Fuck, Draco," Harry panted the breathless words into the boy's neck. Draco slipped a hand between them. He undid the button of Harry's trousers, then his own, and moved the boxers so that both of their cocks were against each other, skin on skin. Draco's long elegant fingers wrapped around them both and he began to pump his hand. Harry's mouth was captured for another kiss until he felt Draco's cum spill out of him and onto Harry's cock. It took almost nothing for Harry to cum then, his climax bursting forth, sending waves of pleasure through his body.

The two of them leaned on each other catching their breath until Draco pulled back and waved his hand to cast a cleaning charm. Each of them tucked away in silence and then stood looking at each other.

"Hermione specifically told me not to do that," Harry said, rubbing at the back of his neck. "She said we should talk about things first and have a proper date," he said, thinking of the whispered lecture she had given him during dinner when Ron was distracted with Seamus talking about the Chudley Cannons. 

Draco pulled a face, "Your post-coital talk needs work, a lot of work. I can't believe you just brought her up."

Harry chuckled and stepped close to Draco again, "Sorry," he said. "I just don't want to fuck this up before it starts."

Draco huffed a laugh, "You did that already, Potter, when we were eleven." Then he leaned down and kissed him.