Draco glanced at Pansy, giving her a wink, and then strolled next to Harry, biting his lip, and he took his seat. Draco could feel Harry tense up a bit, knowing that the obscure Slytherin attempted to kiss him, and now would have to sit by him because fate enjoyed to mess with him.

Snape sent everyone to get their supplies from the storage closet and pairs got to work. Ron and Hermione were put together, lucky them. Throughout the class she gave Harry a sympathetic look or a shy smile, while Ron sat there and didn't even look up.

"What are we doing," the blonde asked innocently.

"I wouldn't know, thanks to you. I just got here," Harry spat. He awaited a snarl and a 'You were late anyway,' or a 'Not my problem,' but instead he got something he could have never expected.

"Oh, right...sorry," Draco mumbled.

"Did you just apologize to me," Potter looked up with wrinkled eyebrows, staring at him with wild eyes.

"Y-yeah," Draco stuttered, "I-I think so..." It felt wierd, saying the word sorry; it was something Draco never did before.

"What? Malfoy, you've been acting all weird lately, why? Why on Earth are you apologizing?"

"You wouldn't care."

"If I didn't care I wouldn't have asked," Potter said.

"Right, perfect saint Potter always trying to save the day..."

"I'm not perfect and why won't you make eye contact with me? You always make eye contact with me!" It was something he'd noticed. Draco had always tried to size him up, and that meant eye contact.

There was a long pause and a swallow. After several moments of long thinking, Draco actually thought up a Phase: Phase 3.

"Meet me outside by the lake during dinner," he said closely to his ear so no one else could hear him, and Harry shivered at the closeness of their bodies and the hear of Draco's breath.

"I can't," Harry said after taking a breath of Draco's cologne, "I have to prepare for the tournament. All night, every night, up until the first task." 

Draco pretended- and very damn well might I add- to be dissapointed. "You're sure?"

"Positive. Why?"

"I wanted to tell you something. Something private," Draco whispered.  

At this, Harry's face turned stone cold. He knew exactly what Malfoy had to tell him: he fancied him.

"Listen," Draco said in a rush as Snape got up from his desk to ridcule the works of each student, "don't get hurt and I'll tell you after."

Harry swallowed, now having to worry what the future would bring with the tournament, and now with his biggest rival. He didn't know which one was worse.

The rest of the class was okay, Draco and Harry never talked. The only thing worth discussing was the ingredients that went in the potion.

"One rat tail" Draco would say and Harry would pass it.

"3 fairy wings." At this their hands touched and a feeling went though both of their bodies. A feeling that was the strangest, most bizare, most magnetic and electric feeling either of them could ever comprehend.

"What was that?" The two said simultaneously when they snatched their hands away from another. From that moment forward neither chose to speak.

"Place your potion on my desk and you may go," Snape said in a monotone. The Slytherin and Gryffindor nearly sprinted to get away from each other and left without another word.

"What was that all about," Hermione asked as the raven haired boy caught up to them.

"N-nothing- I don't know, it was a strange class."

"Are you sure? You look a little pale. Maybe you should to go to the hospital wing," she encouraged as Ron walked by.

"No, I'm fine," he sent daggers towards his jealous friend but continued on his way.

He wasn't fine, in fact, he was everything contradicting to fine. He was confused and felt played with. 

"Let's go to the library, we need to research more," Hermione tried to pull Harry from his spot but he wouldn't move. He was in a concussion-like state. Two encounters with Malfoy and a double potions tired out his common sense.

"I feel like I need a nap," he said staring off at a brick on the floor.

"Come on! You only have a few days to prepare and I'm not going to carry you out of the tournament because you were too stupid to find a simple healing charm." She made a point. 

The two headed towards the library, not knowing that Blaise and Pansy had been hiding behind a statue in the main dungeons hallway, listening to their whole conversation.

Looks like Draco was going to study in the library tonight. 

-------------------------------------

The sky had fallen. At this point the stars were shining brightly and the normally dancing grass was at rest. Harry had been sitting in what seemed a throne of books and Hermione had read them all, leaving Harry in the dust.

"I think I'm going to look up more on extreme hexes. You never know what could be out there, right Harry," Hermione suggested. Harry never responded, for he was pondering in a sea of nightmares. What if the worst thing he ever dreamed of appeared in this task? What if Draco really did kiss him? What if- no.

'Harry snap out of it! You need to focus,' he thought before looking up to find Hermione gone. At last some peace and quiet for two seconds. Hermione was a great friend, but sometimes she wouldn't shut up, as if she thought her babbling through the notes would help anyone retain information.

Harry opened a book on protectant charms when the heavy door to the library opened. Harry didn't look up when he heard footsteps stop next to him, however he did stop all movement when he smelled  sharp, heavy cologne. Malfoy's cologne. 

And he stopped all breathing when a nible finger dragged itself across his arm, his eyes following a strutting Malfoy who sat two tables away from him.

Malfoy's features were relaxed with a smirk when he winked at Harry, and the Gryffindor glared at him, ready to speak, but Hermione strolled next to him and slammed her books in the desk. Harry didn't even greet her, but went back to his book, although he didn't even look at the words.

Sometimes, he would look up at Malfoy who was oh-so-calmly studying. Come to think of it, he wasn't a bad looking guy, actually quite handsome- 'Harry you're doing it again!'

He tried to go back to his book, however, his concentration went out the window a long time ago. 

"Harry, really, are you all right? Care to talk?"

"No-nothing I'm... I'm fine." But Hermione wasn't dumb. She could see right through him, "really," he tried to encourage but it ended up making the situation worse. Hermione raised an eyebrow.  

"I'm just tired that's all," Harry put his head in his hands and rubbed his face. 

"You look more frazzled, Harry."

"I'm sure if you were going into a tournament that wasn't even safe for people 3 years senior to you, you'd be a bit 'frazzled' too," Harry snapped.

Hermione melted into an apologetic state. "I'm sorry, Harry! I just keep forgetting and you're just taking it all in and you don't have anyone to support you. Your best friend is acting like a child, and I'm overloading you with studying, it's just I want you to be prepared," She admitted.

Harry felt terrible and gave her a long hug.  

Draco felt terrible as well. How come the mudblood gets a hug from Potter and he doesn't? That wasn't fair!

He was the one creating a plan that may as well get him killed by his father. He was the one pretending to have a crush on him, and all she has to do is slam the books on top of a desk, complain about her girl feelings, and she gets to have Potter's hands wrapped around her.

Oh god, he must be tired. Draco would never- could never say that if he was sleep sober. He put on a painless mask of jealousy, which normally would have taken much more effort as he could conjure up.

Harry could feel the blonde's gaze fixed on him as he failed to read a piece of text from a book on albino cobras.

Draco saw the title of the literature that Harry was reading. This have him an idea. It only had to be put into action when the mudblood left.

Draco grew impatient because the weasel-lover refused to leave, until Harry asked her to get another book on fairies. It was time for the albino cobra to stalk his prey. 

The slytherin stood and strolled, putting his book back in the shelf behind Potter. He saw him tense and his smirk couldn't get any larger. 

Draco kneeled behind Potter and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing the boy to freeze. 

"You know," he said in a dark, heated voice, "what they say about albino cobras, Potter?"

The Gryffindor swallowed.

"The have a hard bite," Draco smirked, his lingering hand rubbing his shoulder before releasing and sauntering to the side of the table to face Potter. The boy looked like he was going to puke, and Draco guessed he would telling by the time it took him to get out of the library.

Draco stood there with a smirk on his face. Hermione came back with at least six more books in hand and dropped them on what was left of the table.

"Where's Harry," she asked with a confused but suspicious face.

"I don't know, but you should go brush your hair, or maybe even shower-"

"Where's Harry? What did you do to him?"

"Well let's just say.... I gave him some factual information. Important things he should know."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What did he do," she clenched.

"Ran off like a two year old. You know he shouldn't be in this tournament to begin with. Can't believe he is so full of himself to enter, but of course the universe is in his favor as always and he gets the pleasure of being able to compete."

"He's not full of himself. He doesn't want any of this! He hates it and he hates you," Hermione said sorting through books. Draco was silent. He only lingered on one phrase: You.

"He hates me?" He didn't realize what he was saying as it rolled off his tongue. He didn't mean to make it sound so hurt. Hermione looked up at this but didn't analyze the tone enough and thankfully for Draco, she didn't recognize how hurt he looked.

"Of course he does. You're nothing but a pest. If I were you, I'd give him a break. Leave him alone, you have no idea what you're getting into."

Draco stood there, shocked at her outburst. It surprised him, Granger standing up for herself.

The mudblood walked away from the library, probably to comfort Potter.

Draco was Even more shocked on what she said. Harry didn't truly hate him did he?

But one statement surrounded his mind. You don't know what you're getting into.

And indeed he didn't.