The most extenuating circumstances often precipitated the most bizarre of plans, and Ron was struck with a brilliantly insane idea as he was walking back to the Gryffindor common room the next day. He had just suffered through sitting next to Harry during Potions, watching Harry glance furtively across the room every couple of minutes; he'd forced himself to grunt in response to Harry's muttered questions like "did Malfoy just glance over at us?" and "do you think he knows?"
Harry had gone to check the Quidditch practice schedule and Hermione was at her Arithmancy class, so Ron was alone in the Gryffindor common room. He waited impatiently for Seamus to show up — it was imperative that he started on his plan as soon as possible, and Seamus was an integral part of it.
A few minutes later, the sandy-haired boy crawled in, hopped out of the portrait hole, and was immediately accosted by Ron, who took him by the arm and firmly dragged him to a far corner of the common room.
"Seamus," Ron said in a low, urgent voice, "about the thing with Harry. I've got an idea, and I need you to help me out."
"Oooh, plans!" Seamus's eyes brightened. "What do you want me to do?"
Ron took a deep breath. "I want you to seduce Draco Malfoy."
Seamus blinked twice and stared at Ron. "You want me to... come again?"
"Seduce Malfoy," Ron repeated. He looked earnestly at Seamus. "Can you do that?"
"Umm," Seamus bit his lower lip. "Well. There may be just a little problem, actually. As in, I can't do that."
"What? Why not?"
Seamus looked unhappy. "It's not... no, I can't do it, Ron, I don't think so."
"Seamus, come on!" Ron raked a hand through his hair in frustration. "You said you'd help —"
Seamus looked aggrieved. "I thought, like, if you wanted me to pass a letter to Harry for you, or —"
"We have owls for that!" Ron said, exasperated. "I don't need you to deliver letters! I need you to seduce Malfoy!"
A few younger Gryffindors turned and gawped at them, which was an understandable response when the words 'seduce' and 'Malfoy' were strung so closely together.
Ron snapped something rude at them and turned back to Seamus. "Please, Seamus," he said, desperation in his voice. "I need you to help me out with this. If Malfoy has the slightest idea that Harry likes him, then everything is over. And I think I'll die if I have to stand by and watch Harry and Malfoy go off into the sunset together." Ron paused and took a deep breath. "I need you to distract Malfoy so he doesn't even have the chance to notice Harry. Just — just make sure that he keeps away from Harry. Far, far away from him."
Seeing the plaintive look on Ron's face made Seamus's resolve weaken; he hated seeing Ron like this and he did want to make Ron feel better. And if this was what it took — after all, did a job get any more fun than seducing Draco Malfoy?
"Are you ever going to tell Harry that you like him?" Seamus asked, looking straight at Ron. "You can't keep running from it forever, you know."
"I know," Ron said; he sat back and closed his eyes. "I'll just have to work up the courage to tell Harry, somehow. Exactly how is another matter altogether, but I'll figure something out... soon enough."
Seamus sighed. "And you want me to keep Malfoy occupied in the meantime."
Ron opened his eyes and looked at Seamus. "Can you do that? Please?" He leaned forward and took Seamus's hand. "You're my only hope, Seamus. Please? For me?"
Seamus took a deep breath and made up his mind; he looked at Ron and nodded. "All right. I'll try. But hey, no promises, okay? I'll see what I can do."
The radiant smile that immediately lit up Ron's face made Seamus believe he'd done the right thing, even though deep down inside he wasn't so sure. But on the other hand, he couldn't imagine how devastated Ron would be if Harry and Malfoy got together. He had to help, whatever way he could.
"You have no idea how much this means to me, Seamus," Ron was saying; he paused, and then gave Seamus an embarrassed sort of smile. "Look, you don't really have to do anything with Malfoy — just flirt with him a bit, you know, you're cute enough to keep anyone entertained."
Seamus didn't know whether to feel flattered or stung by Ron's words; something about them didn't sound very right.
At this point Harry stepped into the common room through the portrait hole and Ron looked up; Seamus could see the flicker in Ron's eyes as he gazed at Harry, who was completely oblivious to the way his best friend was looking at him.
Seamus smiled at Ron and gave him a thumbs-up sign, then slipped away and went up to the dormitory alone. He needed to think about what he'd just promised to do for Ron. He thought about Malfoy, with his arrogance and effortless disdain... yeah. Malfoy was definitely one of the hottest boys in Hogwarts. Other boys were nice-looking, sure — Harry was cute in that boyishly attractive sort of way — but Malfoy. Malfoy was sexy.
Seamus smiled. Maybe his little job would be more of a pleasure than a burden after all.
* * *
Operation: Seduce Malfoy seemed perfectly simple in theory, but Seamus wondered what Malfoy would say if he went up to him and started flirting. Knowing Malfoy, probably a lot of not-very-pleasant things... but then again, Seamus could just shut him up by kissing him. Hmmm.
The next day Seamus lingered outside the changing rooms after the Slytherin team finished Quidditch practice, trying not to look suspicious. He'd been sitting and watching Malfoy practice for half the afternoon; he hadn't actually needed to sit through the entire practice session, but for some reason, he found himself there all the same.
Shrugging off the hostile looks the Slytherin players gave him as they filed out of the changing room; Seamus ignored them and stepped inside. He immediately spotted Malfoy on the benches by the lockers. His blond hair glistened wet and golden instead of its usual silvery tint. Draco had on only a pair of trousers — with the buckle still undone — and god did he have a nice body. It gave his somewhat delicate features a hard, firm edge.
"You looking for someone, Finnigan, or just looking?"
Malfoy's voice was sharp; he looked at Seamus, and Seamus felt his heart skip a beat, and then a few more in quick succession. Okay, Finnigan, he told himself. You know the moves. They were the only ones inside the changing room; Seamus cleared his throat and offered his most charming smile.
"I just wanted to talk to you, Draco." He spoke Malfoy's first name clearly, and he saw Malfoy arch his eyebrow. Seamus boldly moved forward until he stood only a few feet away from Malfoy.
Seamus caught a flitter of emotion cross Malfoy's face. A moment passed, and then Malfoy got to his feet and took a steps forward; and now they were close enough that Seamus could reach out his hand and touch Malfoy if he wanted. But he didn't, of course. That was for later.
"So what do you want to talk about, Finnigan?" Malfoy's voice was still cool and detached, although there was a knowing tone. "I saw you sitting in the stands just now, watching us practice. Did Potter send you to spy on us?"
Seamus levelled Malfoy's gaze. "No," he said. "Actually, I came to watch you fly. I really like your broomstick." He paused meaningfully and looked directly at Draco. "Maybe you could let me get on it sometime. With you, of course."
"And this is what you came to tell me?" Draco eyed Seamus critically. That you want to... ride my broomstick?"
Seamus leaned in, closing the short distance that separated them; he tilted his head and gave Draco a lazy smile.
"Yes," he said, and then kissed Malfoy on the mouth.
He felt Malfoy tense at first — but the next thing Seamus knew Malfoy was kissing him back, his hands moving up to hold Seamus's shoulders, and then Seamus found himself being roughly shoved up against the lockers, held in place by Malfoy's body pressing hard against his own.
Malfoy's mouth tasted warm and fresh, like dew and summer rain; his tongue flickered out, prying Seamus's lips apart and running slowly over his lower lip, outlining the ridge of his teeth. Seamus shivered and moaned against Malfoy's mouth.
He felt Malfoy smile and laugh low in his throat. "You like this, don't you Finnigan?"
A warm tingle ran up Seamus's spine; he nodded and pulled Malfoy even closer as Malfoy's mouth left his and began to trail kisses along Seamus's jaw, his tongue flickering down his neck. Seamus gasped and tilted his head backward, exposing more of his neck to Malfoy's mouth. Malfoy's hand slid inside Seamus's robes, stroking across his chest, his fingernails just lightly scraping across his skin — by this time Seamus's breathing was fast and shallow and he was dizzy with the sensation of Malfoy's mouth on his skin, the way Malfoy's hand was —
Malfoy suddenly pulled away and took a step backward, breaking physical contact. Seamus's eyes flashed open and he stared at Malfoy, confused. "Draco?"
"Is this what you had in mind when you came looking for me?" Malfoy demanded. "Is this what you wanted?"
Seamus bit his lip; he tried to compose himself, but his mind was still a haze of arousal. He looked at Malfoy and was met with dark grey eyes, mutely questioning; then he slowly stepped around Malfoy, never once breaking eye contact, gracefully manoeuvring both of them such that their positions were now reversed, with Draco leaning back against the lockers. He lifted his hand and let it trail over Malfoy's chest; he heard Malfoy inhale sharply.
"I came because I want you," Seamus said, and he was surprised by the intensity in his own voice. He saw a flicker of emotion in Malfoy's eyes; he took the chance to move forward. He lowered his head and let his mouth brush against Malfoy's neck, and he tasted the mild saltiness of perspiration on Draco's just-showered body and the apple-fresh scent of his soap.
Malfoy let out a soft hiss and bit back a groan as Seamus licked a wet trail down his chest; his hands tangled in Seamus's hair, and Seamus could feel Malfoy's heart beating faster than it should, sending quickened pulses vibrating through Malfoy's chest. And making out with Draco Malfoy was really nothing like Seamus had expected: Draco seemed experienced enough, but he still let Seamus do most of the teasing, letting him kiss and nibble and lick as he wanted; he felt Draco's mouth lowering to meet his, and he wrapped his arms around Draco's neck and kissed him deeply. Draco's hands ran down his sides and held their bodies firmly together.
Seamus slowly sank to his knees — he wasn't quite sure if it was a conscious action on his part, or if his legs had gone so weak they just wouldn't hold him up any longer. His hands were shaking as he reached up to undo the front of Draco's trousers, and Seamus was appalled at himself; why the hell was he so nervous? He was just about to reach his fingers inside the open fly when Draco suddenly reached down and caught his wrists, halting his movement. Seamus looked up in questioning surprise; Draco wordlessly shook his head once. and then pulled Seamus up to his feet so that they could kiss again, their teeth clinking against each other's as they kissed hard, feverishly.
Seamus was momentarily surprised that Draco hadn't wanted something more from him, not even when he'd made it clear he was willing to do it. He closed his eyes and let himself relax in Draco's arms, Draco's hands sliding over his body, and he pushed aside the real reason he came here because this, this was what he wanted.