Draco looked over, from where he was sitting, to the boy lying naked on his bed. "You weren't listening at all, were you?" he asked, disgusted. He had finally come up with a foolproof idea that would allow him to fulfil one of his most cherished dreams. Beating Potter.

The green eyes in front of him came into focus and Blaise looked up from his reverie. "No." He was lying with his hands on his chin and his legs out behind him. Draco had thought that it was a pose that suggested focussed attention. On him. He was the one talking and Blaise hadn't taken his eyes off him. Was he losing his air of command?

"What are you thinking about?" Draco glared over at Blaise. What could be more important than this? He knows how long I've been after Harry. He knows that neither Crabbe nor Goyle have the slightest ability to carry out subterfuge this brilliant. I need him for this to work properly. Blaise is one of the best students in our year.

"You." Well that's good.

He watched as Blaise rose up from his position on the bed and sat up. Even though Blaise had never played a game of Quidditch in his life, he didn't have an ounce of extra weight on his body. Blaise always said that it was because he spent too much time reading to have time to eat.

"What about me?" He cocked an eyebrow. He was enjoying the display of his lover's body in front of him. One of the benefits of his friendship with Crabbe and Goyle was his ability to dismiss them for hours at a time. He and Blaise always made the most of their time together.

"Just you." Draco smiled and moved over to the bed. He brought his arms around Blaise's waist and pulled him so that they were sitting entangled in each other. He rested his head on the shoulder in front of him and traced figure eight shapes on the thigh wrapped over his.

"Well, now that we've established *that* particular fact. Even though you weren't listening, would you like to accept my proposition?" Blaise's skin felt soft and silky under his fingers. Tanned, even though he spent so little time in the sun. It came from his Mediterranean heritage.

"Are you daring me, or just plain serious?" Blaise's expression was thoughtful.

"Whichever you want. It's a win-win situation for both of us." He needed Blaise to help with the research and while he was the best student at Potions, Blaise was much better at Charms and Transfiguration. And he knew he could organise access to the Restricted Section. Blaise had been wanting to get his hands on one of the tomes as part of a personal research project all year. And never let it be said that Draco would do something for nothing. He couldn't be that un-Slytherin even with someone he cared for as much as Blaise. Anyway, Blaise would look for all of the catches in anything offered for free. Thus: Win-Win.

"My, my, I didn't think you could bear to let me win anything at all!" Blaise laughed and turned to face him. Draco was pushed onto his back and Blaise fell on top reaching out with one hand to hold his wrists above his head. The other hand came down to Draco's sides and began to tickle him. He wriggled and broke Blaise's grip. His hands came down and held Blaise's wrists as he flipped his lover and pinned him to the bed. All his Quidditch practise made him stronger, even if he was smaller.

"Well, even if I *do* win everything -" Draco replied. Blaise had gotten his hands free and brought them up around the back of Draco's neck. Simultaneously they came into a kiss. Lips and mouths sucking and licking in a pattern that they had perfected over the many months they had been together. Draco immersed himself in the kiss, the moment of pure joy they shared when it just became them and their bodies and their tongues. He could feel Blaise's enjoyment and he whimpered as Blaise brought his hands down from his neck slowly towards his sides and...

"Jerk." He said as he broke from the kiss and wriggled under Blaise's ministrations. He grabbed at the tickling hands and held them as he sat up and glared. If Blaise wasn't going to play, then he'd get a serious answer out of him. "Look, I *need* to get rid of this situation. Just work with me this once!"

"Alright. I accept. But I want it done *my* way." Blaise looked at him seriously from his position on his lap.

"It was my idea, why on earth would we do it in your way?" Draco asked curiously. He thought that he had all of the angles covered. That there was no way that this could fail. He didn't want to end up a laughing stock after yet another plan for revenge went awry.

"Because, lovely, you asked me to help you. The only way I'm going to help you is by doing this my way. Trust me." Blaise placed his hands on Draco's chest and stared deeply into his eyes.

"Trust you?" Suddenly the question was more than just about The Plan. Suddenly it was about them. On some levels Draco didn't understand the how and why of him and Blaise. Even though they both came from Pureblood families, they were so different. Blaise wasn't into Quidditch in the same way, and while he could accept Draco's obsession with beating Potter, he wasn't anywhere near as competitive. Blaise was driven by a thirst for knowing that Draco would never hope to have. And yet...

"Trust me." Other times he knew why they were together. Afternoons like this, skin against skin. The look in Blaise's eyes after watching a Quidditch match. Studying together, because neither of them would let anything unworthy beat them, exams or other people. Their hands on each other's legs under the table in the Great Hall. The soft spot on the back of Blaise's knee and the line of bone on his hips which was perfect to bite.

"Trust you." Draco murmured and pulled Blaise closer. He brought their lips together and with his eyes open, daring his lover to look into his soul, they kissed.

...

On their way back to the common room, to let Crabbe and Goyle know they could use the bedroom to get changed before dinner, Draco reached out and put his hand in Blaise's. It was a nice feeling. He hadn't really touched Blaise affectionately outside of their room. It was usually one of those things they kept between themselves. Blaise looked up at him questioningly.

"Okay. I'll trust you just this once." They both smiled. Potter didn't stand a chance.