Starts With a Spin

Chapter 14

Monday morning found Draco sitting with Harry at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. He wasn't exactly sure how he'd ended up there actually, because he was pretty sure that it was Harry's turn to sit with him at the Slytherin table. Then again, he also wasn't sure why they were up so bloody early in the first place, and it would have been a bit pointless to sit at Slytherin because, frankly, none of his friends were even there yet. As it was, Hermione was the only one of Harry's friends sitting with them, and she was busy reading over her Transfigurations notes and revising for the test they had later that day.

"Why the hell are we eating breakfast so early again?" Draco asked, or rather, whined petulantly as he prodded absently at his oatmeal. He was bent over the table, elbow propped on top of it and cheek resting on his hand.

"Because," Harry said through gritted teeth as he struggled with a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans that Ron had brought him back from Hogsmeade. It was apparently refusing to open. "I asked you what time you wanted to meet up this morning, and this was the time you gave me. So I dragged myself out of bed and came down with Hermione. S'not my fault you don't know what time breakfast runs 'til after six years of being here." Draco frowned, watching as Harry began pulling the bag in different directions, grunting slightly.

"I'm sure I didn't suggest such an ungodly hour," he said haughtily, chin lifting a bit. "You must have heard me wrong."

"Yeah, of course, that must be what happened," Harry muttered sarcastically. He gave a final tug at the jelly beans, and then tossed them onto the table and glared at them with his arms crossed.

"Are you sure you should be eating those for breakfast, Harry?" Hermione asked, not even looking up from her notes. Harry rolled his eyes, aware that Hermione wouldn't notice, and began tearing at the bag again.

"I'm not eating them for breakfast," he grunted, baring his teeth as he pulled. "I'm eating them with breakfast. Actually, I'm not even eating them at all because this bloody fucking bag won't OPEN!"

"Harry!" Hermione scolded, glancing up at him this time. "Language!" Harry ignored her, tugging yet harder at the bag, and Draco chuckled.

"You look like you're constipated, Potter," he smirked.

"Thanks, Draco, I love you, too," Harry muttered absently, arms falling to his sides as he dropped the jelly beans once more onto the table. Draco's eyes widened slightly as Harry snagged a piece of bacon and obliviously stuffed it into his mouth, and then his eyes went wide as well and he sucked in a breath that instantly had him choking on the bacon. "Er- I...I-I m-m-mean-" he coughed, grabbing his drink and taking a few quick gulps from it. "I mean-...what I meant was-...that wasn't what I meant," he finished lamely, cheeks burning and eyes now concentrating fixatedly at his plate. Draco blinked, feeling his face heat up, and he looked somewhere in the opposite direction.

"I should hope not," he said in a somewhat forced careless tone, glancing back at Harry. Harry's gaze at his plate narrowed slightly as his face tightened, and Draco bit his lip. "I mean...ahh...hmmm." There was an awkward moment of silence that Hermione somehow managed to ignore, and then Draco said quickly, "Pass the kippers, would you?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry answered just as fast. He handed them over, and suddenly the moment was over and Harry went back to trying to open his Bertie Bott's and Draco pushed more food around his plate. Across the table from them, Hermione sighed deeply and closed her notebook. "Finished?" Harry asked.

"No, I'll have to look it over again during lunch," Hermione replied, reaching across the table and grabbing a platter of toast. "I wasn't exactly clear on some of the theory work in chapter eleven." She began spreading marmalade across her toast.