It had been two weeks since the mentioning of the Yule Ball and Harry was still trying to ask Draco to be his Yule Ball date. Draco was the same, he had two things to ask Harry. His first question was to ask Harry out and the second was to ask Harry to go to the Yule Ball with him. Or the other way around.

Harry was getting tired of most of the girls asking him to be their date for the Yule Ball, but he kindly told them no and that he wasn't interested. So, then a lot of the girls were asking him who he wanted to take, Harry ignored them and told them he didn't know. At times, he just wanted to scream out to the whole school that he was interested in guys more than girls.

Harry woke up on Saturday to the sound of grunting on the other side of his dorm room. He felt a little less depressed since he got about five hours of sleep and he only woke up twice last night. He sat up and placed his glasses on his nose, looking over at an angry Ron. "Ron, what is it?" he asked in a sleepy tone.

Ron was staring at himself in the mirror with what looked like a girl's dress in his arms. "Oh, nothing..." he said with a bitter smile. "It's just that Mum brought me some weird dress robe for the Yule Ball. It literally looks like a dress, no kidding." He turned away from the mirror to face Harry.

Harry was too tired to laugh at the dress robes that looked so Victorian-styled and definitely like a girl's dress. Sometimes he feels so sorry for Ron, but at least he has a family. "Ron, I can just buy you a dress robes."

Ron's eyes widened in surprise, but then he shook his head knowing he shouldn't take money from people, especially his best friend. "No, it's okay," he said with quite a heavy sigh. "I'll just not go, no biggie."

Harry yawned, too tired to deal with stressed teenage boys like himself who are overreacting to what they are going to wear. "No, it's fine Ron," he told him earnestly. He really would go out and buy his best mate a new dress robe. He's got plenty of Galleons in his vault. "I'll just get the cheapest dress robes in store for you, no second-hand clothes for you."

"Okay," Ron said, his forehead wrinkled, and he still sounded a little unsure about this. He doesn't want his best mate buying things for him. He'd feel bad in the end. "If you insist, just please don't tell my mom. You know how furious she'll get."

Harry nodded, knowing how angry Mrs Weasley can get though she never gets angry at him. She only gets upset when people buy her family things that weren't from the Weasley's family Gringotts vault. "Of course, Ron," he assured him and with, of course, a forced smile.

"Do you think we'll have dancing lessons?" Ron asked blankly, still staring at the dress robe with disgust. The thought of dancing didn't seem like a bad thing as he knows many people, including himself, would need the practice. It's just a thing they all had to learn.

Harry shrugged tiredly. He didn't care about the dance even though he knew he needed a lot of practice. Dancing was just work and he didn't want to do it. "Not too sure, I don't mind if we did though," he told him, and his shoulders curled forward as he reached to hug his legs. "I don't even know how to dance."

Ron smiled sheepishly, and the thought of teaching Harry how to dance suddenly popped into his head. He didn't mind it though. "I'd be happy to give you lessons, mate," he said and chucks the dress robe he was given onto his bed, disregarding it as trash. "Even if it meant holding your hand and your waist."

"Uh... yeah..." Harry said and forced a laugh at that, making Ron smile. He then got dressed in a black hoodie with jeans ready for the day. He wasn't hungry, not anymore, not yet. 

Harry walked into the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione, who came down into the common room just as the two boys were about to leave together. The trio sat down next to Fred and George, ignoring what they were plotting as it doesn't involve them. He sat next to Hermione, and they had a good view of the Slytherin table. Ron was sitting across from them.

Harry looked back up at the Slytherin table again and caught Draco staring at him which he gave a small wave and tried to smile at the Slytherin. He watched as Draco gave a smile back at him with familiar and adorable pink tinges to his cheeks.

Ron stuffed his plate with waffles and sprinkled blueberries and maple syrup on them and began eating. He loves his food. Harry just thinks he has a high metabolism while Hermione believes he just eats too much. He believes the metabolism thing unless it's an eating disorder.

Hermione stared at Ron with disgust, wondering how a boy could eat five waffles the size of his hands. "Honestly, Ron!" She said and wrinkled her nose. "How can you eat all that?" It amazed her, actually.

Ron shrugged with a mouth full of waffles, "I 'ust can."

Hermione ignored her hungry friend and dished a bowl up of corn flakes. She swirled her spoon in the cornflakes and began eating her breakfast slowly. She still doesn't know how a boy can eat so much.

"So, who are you guys going to the Yule with?" Harry then asked and he poured himself a glass of orange juice. If he can't eat, then he may as well drink something that will go down into his stomach and stay there. He's better filled with fluids than with chunky foods that can come back up.

Hermione scooped a spoonful of corn flakes into her mouth. She knew she should tell them sometime so now is the chance. "If you must know, I'm going with Viktor Krum," she told them, but it seemed she didn't look very happy about it. In a split second, her mood changed to a somewhat pleased expression.

Ron nearly spat out his waffle, a little surprised about this information she's given him and Harry. He just didn't believe it. He couldn't. "Viktor Krum?" he asked her in disbelief. "As in the Victor Krum?"

"Yes, Ron," said Hermione. "Viktor Krum." She looked down at her breakfast, quietly sighing. "Besides, he only wants to go with me to make someone jealous." Hermione saw the worry in Harry's eyes and shook her head. "I don't mind at all; I understand why he's doing that. I may want to make someone jealous as well."

Harry nodded and took a sip of his orange juice. He heard Fred and George whispering something on the lines of, 'Get ready!' 'This is going to be hilarious!' 'Any minute now!' What the bloody hell are they up to now? He knows they've been planning something and want to find out what.

"Who are you going with, Ron?" Hermione then asked, curious about who he asked or who asked him to the Yule Ball. She sighed as Ron shrugged and continued eating his waffles. She hopes he finds a date to the ball though. She actually wasn't thinking of going at all, that was until Viktor asked her and she accepted it.

Harry heard George and Fred start to countdown from 20, he tried to see what they were looking at but only knew they were staring at the Slytherin table. He leaned closer to the twins and whispered, "What are you guys planning?"

Fred looked down at Harry with a mischievous smile, knowing how much Harry likes the blonde Slytherin since this prank was for him. "We're going to prank Malfoy," he said and clapped Harry on the back. "It's to get back at him for reading the article about our father to the school."

Harry looked over at Draco with worry, trying to figure out what the twins are planning. He would like to at least know so he could try to stop them. He doesn't want anything happening to his favourite Slytherin such as humiliation and embarrassment. God, the last time he was embarrassed was when his forehead went straight into his mashed potatoes. It wasn't great.

George saw the worried expression on Harry's face and gave him a knowing smile. "It's okay, Harry. The prank won't hurt him, it's just for a laugh," he assured him carefully. "No need to worry about your Slytherin prince."

Harry felt a blush rise to his cheeks, so he drowned the rest of his pumpkin juice just to hide his blushing face a little. It didn't work obviously as the twins and Hermione laughed at him. It kind of made him feel a little worse, and his blush deepened in colour.

"So, Harry," Hermione said with a curious and slow smile that builds. She still doesn't know if Harry's going with anyone yet. Her first guess is a certain blonde Slytherin. She doesn't have any other guesses though. Who knows? Harry might surprise her. "Who are you going with?"

"Oh, I'm not sure," Harry said and gave her a little shrug. "I haven't asked anybody." He looked over at Draco with a small smile, and just rested the side of his cheek on his hand as he stared at the blonde Slytherin. He didn't even realize Pansy smirking at him and whispering something into Draco's ear that made the blonde Slytherin look his way. They met eye contact and Harry blinked, looking down at the table while feeling the familiar heat ride up to his cheek.

Hermione gave Harry a knowing smile and continued eating her cereal. Can't the two boys just kiss already and date? It's getting a little annoying when she catches them both looking at each other secretly. Don't they see that they like each other? Goodness. She just thinks their hopeless romantics trying to get together when it's not working at all.

In a matter of minutes, the owls came in, delivering mail to their owners. Harry watched Draco's Eagle owl swooping down and land gracefully on Draco's shoulder. He smiled and wished he were sitting next to Draco so he can talk to him and meet his owl friend. He then saw Hedwig fly down and land on Ron's plate of waffles. He chuckled at Hedwig and her goofy landings.

Ron glared angrily at Hedwig, disliking how there will now be Owl germs all over his food. "Hey!" He looked up at Harry, a little irritably and his lips pursed together. "Harry! Get your bird off my breakfast!"

"Hello, Hedwig," Harry said with a sigh and led Hedwig over to him with pieces of breadcrumbs. It wasn't owl food, but she flew over to Harry and to praise her, he petted Hedwig's feathers. "Oh, that reminds me. I have a note for you to send to someone." He reached into his bookbag and pulled out a piece of paper, his quill and ink.

Hermione found it interesting that Harry wanted to send a letter during breakfast. She's always curious about what her friends get up to though. "Harry, is that to Padfoot?" she asked him and added some yoghurt to her cornflakes.

Harry shook his head and laughed to himself about sending another letter to Sirius when he already sent one to him. "No, It's for someone else." He looked over at the Slytherin table and locked eyes with a certain someone. Those cool silver eyes that looked into his green ones seemed to reflect the sunlight from outside and Harry loved it. He would sacrifice himself with another plate of mash potatoes to his head for Draco. Or a pie with whipped cream. He would take a pie to his face any day for Draco.

Hermione noticed her friend was staring and looked over to where he was looking at. Draco Malfoy. She smiled knowingly at Harry. "So, sending letters to each other?" she asked softly. When Ron was distracted by talking to Ginny further down the table, she continued, "That's adorable, Harry! Are they love letters?"

Harry grabbed Hermione's breakfast and put it out of reach from her for payback. "No!" he told her a little sternly. "Not love letters! We send each other letters to tell where to meet at lunch and after classes."

"Oh," Hermione said and she giggled at this realization. It seems like her best friend isn't telling her the whole story. "So, you plan dates?" She tried to get her food back but failed as Harry put her food behind his back. "And give my food back!"

"No, I won't give your food back," Harry said and gave Hermione a mischievous smile. He could do this all day if he must. He would just to make her say that these together times with Draco aren't dates although the thought really excited him. "And no, they're not dates. We just like to spend time together as friends."

Hermione Accioed her food to her while she wasn't being watched. "Mm-hmm..." she says, raising her eyebrows at him. "As friends, sure." She scooped mouthfuls of corn flakes into her mouth, trying to hide her smile towards him. She's just so pleased to hear about all of this.

Harry sighed at her. He should have known she would Accio her food to her. "He is honestly so amazing; I wish that they were dates but no," he says, a little disappointed. He pretends they are dates though. "He's been helping me improve with Potions."

"That's wonderful, Harry!" Hermione admitted, beaming at this wonderful thought. She wants her friend to get better grades without him copying off her own work. Now Ron needs to find that someone too, so he doesn't bother her with work. "I'm finding it great that he cares about your education. Merlin knows you do need help."

"Heeey!" Harry said with a prolonged the 'e', not liking how right she is about this. He wants to do better, and have Draco to help him. Just not all the time. "I've been doing great this year!" He remembered all the times in classes with Draco, having fun, laughing, enjoying the time they spend together. Such beautiful times of his life, even if he was feeling pretty shit that day.

Hermione nodded with a smile, "I know, Harry," she says earnestly, knowing Harry is trying his best in getting better grades. She's just glad that he is trying to achieve what he wants. "I know."

Harry sighed, he had to tell Hermione a little something he did. A something he gave Draco, actually. It's the most amazing thing that has happened to him. "Hermione?"

Hermione looked up at Harry from her cereal, raising an eyebrow to let him know she was listening to him. "Yes, Harry?" she asked him as she looked over at the Slytherin table, catching sight of a girl with short black hair.

Harry bit his lip, remembering a memory from not long ago. God, he loved that day. He leaned a little closer to her, whispering into her ear, "I kissed him."

Hermione dropped her spoon into her bowl of cereal, dropped her jaw, and tried not to squeal at her friend. "What?!" she gasped and looked at him from beside her. Did she hear right? Or is there something in her ear.

Harry nodded, feeling a blush form on his cheeks and he smiled. The memory was such a fresh one and he will kiss Draco again if he ever has the chance. "I kissed him, Hermione," he repeated it to her in a clear voice. "I kissed Draco."

Hermione replayed the last minute in her head, hoping it's real. The look on Harry's face, the dreamy look, told her that it is real and she's so proud of her best friend. "Oh, golly, Harry!" She cupped her hand over her mouth in surprise and then gave Harry a big side hug. "Tell me everything!"

Harry chuckled at her enthusiasm to hear what he has to say. Of course, he couldn't tell her everything like the secret places in Hogwarts that Draco showed him. "Let's just say that he was asleep, and I couldn't resist the urge," he explained, and his cheeks glowed when beaming about the thought of kissing Draco. "He's so attractive, Hermione. One of god's creations. A fallen angel. A fallen hot angel, if I do say so myself."

Hermione giggled at her lovestruck friend. She absolutely loved to hear this gossip. She loved when friends tell her this kind of information that she can be happy about. "Aww! You really like him, don't you?"

"I really do," Harry says with a little nod, and his face just hurts from smiling so much. "He was asleep, and I kissed him," he began to ramble on and on about Draco's appearance much to Fred and George's annoyance as they could hear him explaining how incredible and amazing Draco was. "My lips touched his, they are so soft. So, inviting, so-"

Hermione cupped her hand over Harry's mouth, making him stop right there with his ranting. "Okay, that's enough," she told him a little sternly. "If I hear one more word from you about how amazing or something he is, I'm going to throw up my breakfast. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded, blushing even redder if possible. The thought of vomit actually made him a little sick since he has a weak stomach but he held it down as he doesn't want to embarrass himself any further than he had done with the mashed potatoes incident.

Hermione smiled and lowered her hand from his mouth. But she was a little wary that he might start up the chatter about Draco. "Alright," she says and pushed the parchment and quill towards Harry more. "I'm going to leave you to write your letter."

Harry smiled as a thank you at her. He looked down at his paper, dipped his quill in his ink and began writing. Want to go flying tomorrow afternoon after supper? Where do we meet though? If you want, we can explore that bedroom more. Harry gave the letter to Hedwig. "Stay with us for a while, Hedwig," he tells her, a little anxious about Draco's safety when the twins obviously are putting together their prank. "I'm afraid the twins are planning some trick on Draco."

George gave Harry an innocent look, "What?" He was grinning mischievously on the inside at how their prank will be like if successful. But of course, all their pranks are successful.

Fred snickered at his twins' acting. He and his twin could probably persuade the Minister to have them over for lunch. "Oh, look! It will happen any second now!"

Harry looked over at the Slytherin table, seeing Draco's favourite breakfast sweets pop out of nowhere. "Red Velvet muffins." Fred and George chuckled and started counting down from 10. Harry could hear the mischief in the laughter of the twins. Harry watched as Draco bit into a Red Velvet muffin and then 'Bang!', Draco turned into a whiteish-blonde ferret. The ferret squeaked madly and began hissing at everyone on the Slytherin table – they were all laughing at him - and he was backing away from them with his tail all fuzzed up.

The ferret bit Crabbe on the finger and played with him like he was a chew toy when he tried picking him up. Harry snickered and thought that Draco as a ferret is so adorable! There was a flash of white light and Draco was back, glaring at the Weasley twins with tinges of red on his cheeks from humiliation. Fred and George wriggled their fingers at Draco and blew kisses at him.

"I will get you for this, Weasels!" Draco yelled and stormed out of the Great Hall. The chatter around the Great Hall increased again and all that the topic seemed to be was ferrets and Draco.

Harry petted Hedwig on the head, feeling the need to go after Draco and make sure he's okay. "Go deliver this letter to Draco Malfoy, please." Hedwig turned her head to look at Harry, her yellow eyes piercing into his green ones with disbelief. "Yes! I mean the Draco just stormed out of the Hall. Please, It's important!" Hedwig blinked and flew after Draco with the letter in her mouth. Harry sighed in relief. Although, he knew that Draco the ferret wouldn't be a bad pet after all.

Hermione poked Harry on the shoulder, knowing that the prank must have had an effect on her best friend. "Harry, Are you okay? Do you wish for me to tell the twins off or something?" Fred and George smirked when hearing that they could get told of by Hermione. She can try, but they never listen.

Harry shook his head, not wanting anybody to get into trouble right now. "Nah, I think Draco should have a say in this actually," he said to her and wondered what punishments Draco could give the twins. The thought was intriguing though. He would like to see the part of Draco that he hasn't seen yet.

Hermione shook her head with a small smile, still wondering in what way this is going to work. "If you think that's wise then sure go ahead and give Draco the power to punish Fred and George," she says and makes it sound like it's a bad idea. It kind of is though. Letting someone have the power to give hell on whoever chosen.

Harry thought about it, but he would rather Draco give Fred and George his worse than Hermione who's a bit more sensual... Oh, now he sees it. Perhaps it is a little bad to let someone punish the twins their own way. "Should I go after him?" he then asked her as the thought of Draco being upset made him a little sad.

Hermione smiled warmly at Harry; glad he chose wisely. "That's your choice to decide, Harry," she says and gives his hand a little pat. "Not mine."

Harry nodded. He didn't know if he should go and find Draco, to comfort him but he knew he could be anywhere. Draco had loads of other secret places that Harry never knew of around Hogwarts, it could possibly take ages to find him. Or he could just be in the Slytherin dormitory and he was thinking too much. But Harry knew that it's better if he does look for him rather than not. "I'll go after him, see you soon Hermione!"

Hermione nodded and gave him a knowing smile, "Alright, Harry," she says and gives a little wave. "See you soon!"

Harry got up and left the Great Hall to go find Draco, he couldn't see him anywhere as he was outside the Great Hall's doorway and Hedwig doesn't shed so he had no way of finding her by tail feather trails. The first place Harry decided to look was under the Willow tree, and he didn't find him there. So, he then went into the library's secret room but there was still no sight of him. Could he be in the yellow bedroom? 

Harry decided to just go there and find him. He entered through the yellow and black door; it was surprisingly still lit up by the 'Lumos Maxima' Draco had cast the other day they went there. He wasn't there so he returned back up to the dormitory and headed back to his common room to finish off homework.

However, as he turned a corner into another corridor, he spotted Draco leaning up against the wall with his hands covering his face, looking a little distressed and humiliated. He had been turned into a ferret, so it would make sense. He felt entirely sorry for Draco, even if it was a funny prank. He would understand how humiliated Draco would be even if he had been turned into an animal.

Harry carefully walked over to Draco but when his footsteps were heard just by the tapping on the stone floor, the Slytherin looked up at him and hesitated. He smiles slowly and just stood there, trying to come up with something to say. "Hey, are you doing okay?"

Draco gives him a slow nod, and a little smile. He was humiliated as hell from the event that happened today and felt like he didn't want to go back into the Great Hall for an entire month. "I'm alright, Harry," he assured him. "I'm just a little... embarrassed, that's all."

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, Draco," Harry said softly and took the last final steps forward until he was at least two feet from Draco. "I have no idea how I am able to help you, but do you at least want a hug?"

Draco's eyes seemed to brighten a little from the offer, and his smile grew. He's not really a big hugger, not even with Ivy, but for Harry he would give him the biggest hugs as the Gryffindor needs them. "Of course, please."

Harry ended the space between them a little hesitantly into a hug, and he snuggled into the hug as it was just so comfy and warm. He loves Draco's hugs and who wouldn't? "I hope this all ends soon, and that you feel a little better."

"I hope so to, Harry," Draco says and gives him a little squeeze in the hug, making Harry chuckle and squeeze back. He leaned away from the hug a little but placed his arms around Harry's elbows. "Why don't we go for a little walk around the castle for the rest of lunch? I'd rather spend time with you than anyone else really. Ivy and Pansy laughed at me when I...changed but I don't care."

Harry nodded at the suggestion to walk around the castle with Draco. Although, he felt guilty because he believes that he also laughed a little at the twin's prank on Draco. God, he felt bad and wanted to just isolate himself again from everyone, but Draco was here. "I'm sorry about them," he said a little solemnly. "And I would love to spend time with you." They smiled at each other and decided to start their walk around the castle together.

Nothing excited happened while they were together. But when they knew students were coming, they'd distance themselves from each other by a few meters. Most students had began to squeak like a ferret at Draco, and Draco snapped at them to shut their mouths and stormed off. Harry ran after him, and when they were finally alone, Harry told Draco that it'll all go away in a few days and that he should ignore the rude students.

*****

Saturdays. Ah, Saturdays. They were Harry's favourite day of the week. No school classes or work, except for the leaning tower of homework that had to be done before the due dates. Dam you, homework tower.

Harry was in the library finishing his Charms, Transfiguration, Defense against the dark arts and Care of Magical Creatures homework in the late morning. He still wondered where Draco was, hoping he was okay wherever he was since the ferret incident earlier yesterday. He probably was with Ivy and Pansy Parkinson in the Slytherin common room talking about whatever. He wished he could be in those conversations so he could spend more time with Draco, but also his friends to get to know them too.

Harry had to use up a whole page to write about certain spells and animals, where they originate from, who founded them, what are their uses and if they're extinct or not. It took Harry a good one hour, but he managed to finish them all. All that was left was Potions homework but he decided to do that in the afternoon so he could have the whole day to himself.

Harry felt like his brain was clogged with unnecessary information, so he headed back to his dorm to get some rest. As he left the library, Professor McGonagall stood outside waiting for Harry. "Mr Potter, would you please come with me?" she asked gently and smiles as she sees the books in her student's arms. It was obvious he has been studying. "This is a Gryffindor meeting you have to attend, and before you say anything yes, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger are already there."

Harry nodded and followed the Gryffindor head of house into what looked like the Great Hall. In the middle of the room was a large gramophone. Seriously though? Why use such an old musical object?

Hermione and Ron waved at Harry who just entered, and Harry gave a shy wave back with a small smile. He walked over to sit beside Ron, not knowing why everyone in Gryffindor house was here and separated into genders. Although, there was an older girl sitting over with the boys. He had no idea there was a Trans Gryffindor student.

Professor McGonagall fiddled with the old gramophone in the center of the room, then turned around to face the students. "As I am aware, you all are puzzled to why you're here," she started, ignoring how bored most of the students looked. "This is for the Yule Ball; we'll be practicing dancing with partners as it is house etiquette."

There were murmurs of disgrace throughout the boys' side of the room and giggles on the girls' side of the room. Not many people found this appealing, especially Ron as he grunted loudly, clearly hating where this was going.

"Mr Weasley! If you'll be so kind as to join me on the dance floor," the professor said with a smile as she heard the boy's rude gesture. She hurriedly gestured him towards her, and Ron rolled his eyes and made his way over to the professor. "That would be quite marvelous!"

George tapped Harry on the shoulder, grinning with his eyes. "Oh, this is going to be fun!"

Harry looked up at them and gave the twins a knowing look. "You're not going to let him forget this, are you?" Fred and George shook their heads with big grins on their lips. Harry looked away from the twins and their mischief. He really felt like the twins were brothers to him, as well as Ron.

"Now, put your hand on my waist," the professor ordered Ron simply.

Ron looked a little awkward at the professor's words, and he looked at Harry for help. He didn't want to dance with his professor. "Your what?" he asked appallingly as Harry shook his head at him and gave him the thumbs up.

"My waist, Mr Weasley," she said sternly. Couldn't he get this one instruction right for once?

Ron nodded a little and held his right hand on the professor's waist and his left hand held the professor's hand. He really didn't like this any more than he liked dancing with his own mother. What made it worse was hearing Fred and George whistling at him. He gave both his older brothers glares but continued to dance with his professor. Bloody Hell, it was embarrassing.

After about a minute of dancing, the professor let go of Ron and walked back into the middle of the room. "Very good, Mr Weasley. Please, take a seat," she told him, and when Ron went back to sit with Harry she continued. "Now, I want you all to grab a partner, you can all swap partners if you'd like. I trust you'll be sensible when dancing with your partners, no funny business!"

Everyone in the stands grabbed a partner except Ron, Harry, and Hermione. They all were just waiting to be asked by someone, but nobody was asking them. So, they just sat there in silence, either watching their fellow Gryffindors dance or just staring at the ground in front of them.

"Well, this is... boring," Ron said first with a long sigh, his arms were holding up his chin which were resting on the palm of his hand. Harry just couldn't have agreed more than to believe this was boring and a waste of time.

Hermione got up and gestured for Ron to take her hand. She just wants to do something instead of doing nothing. "C'mon, I don't want to stand or sit here looking like a fool," she told him quickly with a bit of strictness. "Up you get!"

Ron looked up at her and took her hand, pushing himself off the bench as she pulled him to the dance floor. He looked behind him at his best mate, smiling a little. "See you, Harry. Save a dance for me!"

Harry chuckled at his best mate and watched him dance with Hermione. Ron accidentally stepped on Hermione's toe once every few minutes, this made Harry laugh some more. Harry noticed the twins teaching some girls and boys the macarena and the nut bush. He thought, let's do this, as he pushed himself off the table and headed for the twins. "Fred, George!"

Fred gave Harry a curious look, and Goerge grinned. "Harry!"

"Would one of you like to dance with me?" Harry asked them at once, which surprised him a little as he thought he wouldn't have been able to get that out. He can be shy at times. "I've never danced before."

"Why, of course, Harrykins!" Fred said and reached his hand out to Harry to ask him for his hand to dance. Harry hesitated as he didn't even know how to dance but he wanted to learn if he could. He places his hand over Fred's, smirking. "Just so you know I can't dance."

Fred just smiled at him. This was intriguing to hear. He will do his best to help his non-blooded brother the best he can. "No worries, Harry," he said with a dismissed wave of his hand. "Just place your right hand on my waist and your left hold with my hand."

Harry did what he was instructed to do by Fred and held Fred's waist with one hand and held Fred's hand with the other. That was that. Now what did he have to do? He mainly wanted to know how to dance so he could impress Draco. "Now what?"

"The basic steps," said Fred as he placed his hands where they had to be, on Harry's waist and the other held Harry's hand. "And that is all we will have time to learn are, step step, step hold, step step, step hold. And again, and again."

Harry nodded and tried his best to move his feet in the correct order. He couldn't do it at all. It was hard! He flushed in embarrassment as he nearly tripped over his own feet. "Sorry!" he mumbles and looks down at his feet to make sure they're going in the right direction. How do people do this?

"It's fine," Fred said, and his smile grows. "You have to listen to the beats in the music, you just don't start moving." He tried his hardest to help Harry learn how to dance even if his toes kept getting squashed by Harry. "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and begin...Listen to the music, follow the beat of the music..." Finally, after about fifteen minutes, Harry was starting to get a hold of the dancing.

Fred guided Harry slowly around the dance room, making sure not to knock into others dancing. Hopefully, the students of Hogwarts will see now that he's not really interested in females, only males and one by the name of Draco Malfoy. However, he'll keep his crushes identity a secret because he doesn't exactly know if Draco likes him back. People, mainly Hermione and Pansy, have been saying that he likes him back, but they could only be guessing.

The music recorder changed songs from old classic jazz and played 'Dancing Queen', by Abba. Harry remembers this song from one of Petunia's albums and music collections. She loves her Abba, Fleetwood Mac, and a few other bands like the Beatles. Harry's found so many albums that it's not even funny.

Fred only smiled at Harry then grabbed a hold of his waist and placed Harry's hand on his shoulder. He wanted to take the dancing up a notch a little. What better way is to start waltzing? He then started waltzing with Harry, leading the dance until the very end.

There were whistles coming from the crowd of students watching them, but they didn't care. They glided across the dance floor, waltzing past other people who were slow dancing and doing the Macarena. They waltzed past Seamus and Dean who were slow dancing together. Seamus and Dean were looking into each other's eyes lovingly, they even kissed a few times.

"Where on earth did you learn to dance like this?" Harry asked in between dance moves. He just followed Fred's movements, even if he sucked at waltzing and dancing in general. Practice makes perfect though. He doesn't know where he picked that up from, but it must have been from a movie.

"Oh, George and I had a few dance lessons back when we were kids," Fred told him and looked towards his twin, still dancing the macarena with a few girls and guys. "In fact, maybe you should dance with Georgie sometime. He can definitely Tango pretty well if I do say so myself. He's a legend, that one is."

"I don't know how to Tango," said Harry, breaking eye contact from the twin he was dancing with just to look below him at the floor. He was a little disappointed in himself for not knowing how to dance. It should be easy, right? Just a few dance moves.

Fred noticed how Harry just went from sad to normal in just seconds, he knew he needed to keep an eye on his younger non-blood-related brother. "I wonder if Dumbledore has a whole secret dance squad?" He asked and laughed at the thought. "That's a dance team George and I would even join."

Harry chuckled, knowing the Twins would do a lot of mischief in the dance team if there ever was one. The thought of a Hogwarts dance team was just unbelievable. He knows there are famous dancers in the muggle world but what about the wizarding world? Would the wizarding world have famous dancers too or just singers? "I wonder if Dumbledore was a dancer."

Fred chuckled at that thought. "Dumbledore, a dancer?" he asked in disbelief. Though the man when he was younger could have been a dancer and nobody would have known it. "More like Dumbledance." Harry laughed at the thought.

For the finale of the dance, Fred lifted Harry up into the air and brought him back down to his feet. He then twirled Harry around and ended up dipping him to the floor. Harry and Fred catch their breath from the intimate dancing they've just done and stare into each other's eyes with friendly smiles on their faces.

"You two should kiss!" George yelled from the side of the room. There were a few chuckles heard around the room as well as whispers and gasps. Harry rolled his eyes at his fellow Gryffindors and their weird need to see two guys kissing. However, he understands how it is when he sees two guys kissing. It's adorable and makes him sad at the same time because he doesn't have someone to do the same with. 

Fred helped Harry up from the dance position they were in. George winked at Harry and his twin, just loving seeing them two dance together and enjoy each other's company. "Aww! C'mon, you could have kissed!" he nearly shouted but didn't really care if the entire Gryffindor house heard him. He just likes embarrassing his twin and whoever else he can embarrass. "It would have been a pretty sight."

Fred ignores his twin brother and brings Harry towards him, just knowing his twin would want to dance with Harry as well. He could sense it even if George were a few miles away. It's just their twin connection. They're inseparable.

Harry sighed at these twin brothers who were getting on his nerves a little. He can't blame them though. It's their nature to be annoying and prank people. He decided to give George what he wanted and kissed Fred on the cheek. "There, we kissed..." he said to the other Weasley twin whose name is George. "Happy now?" Fred chuckled and cupped his hand where Harry kissed him, a slight rosiness appeared on his face and there were more gasps and whispers heard from the girls in the room.

George came over and rested his elbow on his twin's shoulder, smirking down at Harry who had just kissed his twin. When will he get a kiss though? "It would have been better if it was a lip kiss, but it'll do," he said and slapped his twin hard on the back and gave Harry a soft smile. "So, when can I dance with Harry?"

"I'm never washing my face again," Fred said in a dreamy tone of voice and cupped his hand over his cheek with a smile. It was all just an act actually. He enjoys making people laugh and that he achieved. He even had Harry laugh at him. "You can dance with Harry anytime I guess..." he said and lowered his hand from his cheek.

George winked at his twin and took a step forward until he was in front of Harry. He held his left arm out as he said, "Would you like to dance, my gentleman?"

Harry rolled his eyes but nodded and let George take his hand and take him to the middle of the dance floor. They slowly danced with each other, whispering hilarious things to each other like when George and his twin pranked Professor Snape and made his whole potions room the colour pink.

Harry chuckled at the thought of Snape, the dark Potion master's face seeing pink everywhere in his classroom. Oh, he knows it would be a nightmare for the Potions professor. Though he would have loved to see the classroom coated in pink which was probably Snape's unfavorite colour. "Should have dyed his robes and hair pink too to match," Harry tells George and the twin laughs out loud but Harry could see a mischievous little twinkle in George's brown eyes. Uh oh. What has he started?

George told Harry how they thought Ron was gay thanks to the Marauders Map because he was always sleeping with some guy named Peter. Harry laughed so hard at that and told George the whole story from Scabbers and everything, even though George knew the rest. However, the thought of Ron being gay did make him wonder if Ron would accept him which he still needs to let out. Yet again he still needs to come out of the closet to Ron.

They were gliding across the floor together, George still whispering mischief that he and Fred had done over the years. "So, I still haven't gotten a kiss from you yet," he said, smirking and fluttering his eyelashes at him. "When will that be?"

Harry chuckled at the Weasley twin and his weird obsession with getting kisses from him. He doesn't mind these questions because they're a little funny. "Not sure, when will you get it?" he asked him a little cheekily with a smirk.

"That's why I'm asking you, Harry-kins," George said and span Harry around in the dance, grinning a little at how well his favourite little non-blooded brother was doing at dancing. It appears his twin has taught Harry well. Maybe he can teach Harry a little something too.

Harry just sighs and smiles, the thought of Draco suddenly popping into his head. He could see himself and Draco dancing like this, together like a couple. He wanted it, he really did but he just couldn't go find Draco and jump into his arms. It would be a little suspicious, wouldn't it? After a while, he said, "Thanks for the dance."

"It's no problem at all, Harry," George said as Harry let go of his waist and shoulder. He then tapped a finger to his cheek, gesturing what he wanted. All he wants is a peck, is all. Anything else is a no-no for him.

Harry rolled his eyes and gave George a quick kiss on the cheek just so not a lot of people see. It was just a quick peck after all, and it was fun doing it. "You guys are weird, you know that right?" he told him earnestly with a little smile.

George nodded and smirked at his non-blooded little brother. He enjoys these types of what he calls compliments because they can be quite a laugh in the end. He's been called weird a lot of times with his twin and that's okay. "Oh, we know that already."

Ron walked over to Harry and his twin brothers, a little hurt that they got to dance with his best mate before he could. "Oi mate!" he called over to them. "I asked for my dance with you way before these two idiots had the chance to ask."

"Now, now Ronny-kins," said George, not liking the tone or words his younger brother was using. What happened with sharing? It's what his family do best. "Sharing is caring, remember?"

Fred walked over from where Lavender, Padma, Hermione, Neville, and Professor McGonagall were learning the Macarena. "And ouch!" he said and gave a slow disbelieving head shake at the word his younger brother called him. "We can take being called weird, but not an idiot."

Ron sighed. He understood this but he had to get his brother's attention somehow. He could have just called their names instead of calling them an idiot though. "Right, sorry," he said and scrubbed his hand over his face, kind of regretting the word he called his older brothers.

"There, there, Ronny-kins," George said softly while stroking his younger brother's hair. The easiest way to get back at him right now is to caress his hair and it always works. He and Fred will come up with a better way to get back at him sooner. "It's okay."

Ron didn't like being petted on the head, so he walked towards Harry, holding out his hand. "Wanna dance?" he suggested with a smirk. The thought of dancing with a guy was a little weird but if it's with his best mate he doesn't really mind.

Harry raised an eyebrow at his best mate, wondering if his best mate was joking around with him. But it didn't seem like a joke. Maybe dancing with him would be the joke. "Uhm... sure," he said and rubbed at his arms, feeling just a little awkward.

"Yay!" Ron said and pumped a fist in the air just to be a little silly. It was only for show though, his excitement. He wouldn't actually feel this hyped up about dancing with his best mate. It's just them having a little bit of fun.

McGonagall walked back into the middle of the room where the gramophone was, a smile on her face as she turned it off. "Alright everyone, that is all," she said loudly so her students could hear her. "You may head to your dormitories for the rest of noon. All I can say is well done; we have all learnt some new dances today. However, I want to see you all as graceful swans at the Yule Ball."

"No!" Ron said sadly, a frown upon his face.

Harry laughed at his friend, finding it funny how he missed out on a dance with his best mate because of McGonagall. "It's okay, Ron," he assured him with a slight smirk on his face. "We can dance at midnight under the stars if you'd like."

Ron curled his lip in disgust, not liking how mushy the thought sounded. "Yeah, no," he told his best mate, shaking his head. It just sounds too weird to him. "Too weird, I wouldn't be caught dead dancing under the stars with someone."

"Yeah, right," said Harry in disbelief, knowing someone would come into Ron's life and make him actually dance under the stars during the night while they twinkle and the crickets chirp. "We will see."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows at his best mate while curiosity got the best of him. Maybe Harry meant the dancing thing? But he really wouldn't like to be dancing in the middle of the bloody night with someone. Earlier would be nice, like at sunset.

"Oh nothing, let's just head to the common room," Harry said with a small grin, got up and walked in the direction of the exit. Ron nodded, jogged up to Harry and felt his stomach rumble. When will lunch be? He's hungry.

In the Slytherin common room, everyone who was under the age of 14 was removed from the common room and ushered to their dormitories by Snape and the Prefects, and he moved all the furniture to the side so there was enough room for the dancing that would be taking place.

Draco stood by Blaise, Ivy, and Pansy, knowing what was happening as his professor had told him earlier today, and it wasn't very hard to guess. But the thing is many Slytherin's knew how to dance as they've had dance lessons as kids. He didn't know if the muggle-born Slytherins, which the Slytherin house does have, knew how to waltz and ball dance. There were only a few though.

"Everyone, if you wish to not appear like a fool at the Yule Ball find a partner," Snape drawled and pointed his wand at the large old gramophone which then turned on the old classic ballroom music.

Ivy and Draco immediately partnered up and went to the front of the group of Slytherins. Together, they were #Teamcousins. Blaise and Pansy didn't mind at all as they just partnered up easily and joined Draco and Ivy.

"How long do you think this will be for?" asked Ivy quietly into her cousins' ear, and Draco shrugged quickly as his professor looked at them with a cold expression. He grimaced a little and straightened his back, knowing the dancing lessons were soon to start.

"There will be no talking," said Snape as he began walking slowly back and forth in front of his Slytherin students. "No whispering, giggling, fraternizing, fondling, or any further form of disgusting behaviour that doesn't involve learning to dance. Any sort of that behaviour and you will be excluded from this practice and made a fool of yourself when the Yule Ball approaches. Are there any questions?" A few people raised their hands, but he chose to ignore them. "No? Good. Boys put a hand on your partner's waist. Girls put a hand on your partner's shoulder and the other holds your partner's hand. For those whose genders are the same within partnering, you decide what comforts you best."

"But professor, haven't you ever been in love?" asked a young girl with golden brown hair, and her arms were around a girl her age but with Strawberry Blonde hair colour. She was leaning her head on her girlfriend's shoulder with a smile.

"Please keep these questions to yourself, Ms Bennet," said Snape coolly in his monotoned voice. "The type of question are not tolerated in this conversation and isn't relevant to dancing at all. Now, who would like to demonstrate the moves of waltzing?" Nobody had put their hands up except for Draco and Ivy, so Snape looked directly at Blaise and Pansy. "Mr Zabini and Ms Parkinson, do step forward and show everyone how to waltz properly."

Draco and Ivy sighed as they wanted to show everyone, but they thought it would be funny to see their friends dancing together. They expected to have a laugh, but Pansy and Blaise danced like their lives depended on it. They were graceful, made no mistakes, and danced perfectly.

Draco watched them with a little pout, wishing he had Harry with him so he could dance with him. He wondered if Harry had his dancing lessons yet, and where he could be right now. Was he chosen to dance in front like Pansy and Blaise? Who did he dance with and was it a boy or girl? He doesn't mind if it was Weasel or Granger, but if it were someone he didn't know personally, oh, he would find out about it and hunt them down.

"Draco...?" asked Ivy quietly and elbowed him lightly, smiling as she knew he was deep in thought and probably thinking of a certain boy who was in Gryffindor house and had dark hair and green eyes.

Draco blinked and looked to his side at her. "Sorry, I was thinking," he whispered back. Ivy elbowed him again but slightly harder, her smile widening, and she let out a soft little giggle which didn't attract any attention at all.

"Thinking about a certain Harry Potter are you, Draco?" she asked and smirked when she saw a blush form on Draco's neck and cheek, and Draco rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath she couldn't quite hear. "Busted! But it's okay. Think about him all you want, Draco. Nobody's going to stop you from loving him." Draco smiled at her and when everyone began to dance minutes later, they started dancing as well.

*****

Harry walked into the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione by his side. He hoped word had gotten out about his sexuality due to the dancing fiasco. Even though it'll bring publicity which he hates, hopefully it'll encourage people to come out of the closet if they're really scared. The trio sat down at their usual seats, Ron gathering up all the food he could on his plate and Hermione looked at him with disgust.

Harry wasn't really feeling that hungry anymore but he did grab a Yorkshire pudding and plop it on his plate as well as some chicken, peas, and potatoes. He only really ate the pudding and some peas; he pushed the rest of his food around his plate.

Hermione looked over at Harry with worry, she knew he wasn't eating much these days as well as his change of behaviour. She only rarely sees him eating but doesn't he know that he must eat to survive the tasks? However, what she didn't know was how long he has been suffering. Ron was too busy stuffing his face with food to recognize his best mates' odd behaviour.

Harry pushed more food around on his plate and looked over at the Slytherin table. Draco, Pansy, and Ivy were having a serious conversation about something, probably the Yule ball and who they would take. Harry wished he could go and join them but knew that was impossible. He heard a familiar hoot coming from beside him, he looked over and spotted Hedwig right next to his goblet of juice. "Hedwig? When did you get here?"

"Harry," Hermione said, a little worriedly. How didn't he know that she has been there for minutes? She keeps wondering what's going through her best friends mind every day, but she knew of one reason: Draco Malfoy. "She's been here for a while now; I can't believe you never noticed her."

Hermione was right, Harry hadn't noticed her. He has been too busy thinking about a certain Slytherin and feeling sick when looking at all the food on the table. "Right," He said torpidly and looked up at Hedwig, noticing she was holding a letter. "Sorry, Hedwig. I've just been thinking lots." He grabbed the letter.

"Don't you mean thinking deeply, Harry?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow. He's either thinking of something bad or thinking of Draco. She hoped the second option as it would hurt to find out Harry's been thinking of dark thoughts. But why would he think that deeply? Doesn't he enjoy life?

Harry ignored Hermione. Well, he just didn't hear her over the loud buzzing inside his head. He read the note and knew it was from Draco. He could recognize the beautiful cursive handwriting from anywhere.

I'd love to go flying tomorrow night, Harry. We should meet under the Willow tree; nobody goes there but me and now you. I'd definitely like to explore more of the room, but we would have to be careful. Let's meet up right after lunch.

Harry looked up at the Slytherin table, meeting eyes with Draco. He nodded and Draco nodded back with a smile. Harry felt a little sick just staring at the food, he decided he just wanted to be alone, so he got up and started walking out of the Great Hall. Draco watched as Harry got up, he'd been watching him and has not seen Harry eat decent amounts of food. He's been really worried for his Gryffindor friend.

"Harry, where are you going?" Hermione yelled towards his direction. The noise in the Great Hall was too loud to recognize Hermione's yelling. Her best friend worried her a lot at times. Especially with this eating thing.

Harry turned around as he was at the doors. He mouthed that he wanted to be alone to her, but it seemed she didn't get what he meant. He sighed and went straight to the boys bathroom to vomit up his food. He always hated this; it was why he never ate. He was fine a few days ago when eating vegetables. Maybe it's the vegies and fruits he should be eating. As soon as he finished emptying his stomach, he repeated the same process of gurgling water, spitting it out and taking a sip of water to wash it all down.

He cleansed his mouth with a spell, then walked into a stall. He rolled up his sleeve, grabbed his blade from deep inside his pocket, and let himself release the overwhelming feelings on his arm. He didn't realize how deep he was going; he even came to the conclusion that he didn't care what happened. He then cleaned himself up from his blood and headed out of the bathroom and into a corridor. He just wanted to go and sit down for a while.

At the Slytherin Table.

Ivy watched Harry leave the Gryffindor table and her cousin Draco did too. She noticed that Harry had the sort of vibe and expression she usually has when she wants to be alone. "Dray, Harry just left the Great Hall," she whispered into his ear, though he already knew as he was staring at him. "This could be a chance to ask him to the Yule Ball or even ask him out."

Draco watched the familiar mop of raven--coloured hair leave the Great Hall and he sighed; he had been very worried about Harry for a while. He hasn't been eating and shows the similar signs of depression just like Ivy does, but he couldn't believe Harry would be depressed. Harry Potter? The Golden Boy. The Boy who Lived couldn't be depressed. "I guess..."

Pansy nearly spat out her strawberry tea. She didn't believe this boy. "You guess?!" she asked and widened her eyes, nearly hissing "No! Dray, you should go get your man before another man does."

Draco sighed and rested his head on his hand over the table, wondering why he was still here being interrogated by his friends. "You girls are so annoying sometimes," he said while fingering his collar. "Can't you just give me a break?"

Ivy shook her head at him, a small smile on her face. "Seriously, Dray. Go and get your Gryffindor Prince," she told him with a squeeze of his shoulder and a serious expression on her face. "It can't be that hard!"

Draco slid down in his seat until his chin was resting on the table. "Fine, fine," He said with a long sigh and started to get up off his seat. He leaned his arms over the table, staring down at his curried eggs. "I'll try. Besides, I don't think I can just say 'Oh Hello Harry, I've been crushing on you for who knows how long, and would you like to go to the Yule ball with me?' I don't want to sound like a fool."

Ivy and Pansy smiled warmly at their best friend and watched him leave the Great Hall after Harry. The excitement rushed through their bodies and they just wanted to get up themselves and follow Draco to wherever he goes thinking they might stumble onto something intriguing.

Ivy turned her head to look at her best friend Pansy and gave her a wide excited grin. "Think he'll make it to Harry in time?" she asked her though the thought seemed possible. She just hoped it was possible for Draco to get to Harry.

Pansy sighed and leaned her head on Ivy's shoulder. "Not too sure, I just hope he does ask Potter," she said, and her eyes gleamed with inner enthusiasm. "I'm so waiting to see them kiss in front of the whole of Hogwarts. It just needs to happen!"

Ivy giggled at the thought of finally seeing her cousin and Harry kissing, and she agreed with Pansy 100%. "It sure does."

Draco walked out of the Great Hall and looked around; he couldn't see Harry anywhere in sight. He quietly cursed to himself and looked back at Ivy and Pansy for reassurance. As soon as they both gave him the thumbs up, he nodded and continued to walk towards where he thought Harry would have gone.

He knew he was going towards Gryffindor Tower, he just continued walking until he saw a figure sitting down beside a large window. He noticed it was who he wanted to see all along, Harry Potter. He hesitantly sat down next to the Gryffindor, not sure if his presence was recognized yet. "Harry?"

Harry just noticed someone sitting next to him and looked up into the silver eyes of Draco Malfoy. His heart did a total flip just then as not just his friend, but his crush had just sat next to him willingly. "Yeah?" He sounded a little numb, but he didn't mind right now. Draco probably wouldn't see any difference.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked softly. He wanted to comfort him with gestures but didn't know if it would make Harry feel uncomfortable. It's what he gets from Ivy too, so he knows how to deal with this and comfort people. He just needed to get Harry to open up to him.

Harry nodded and looked back down at the floor like he had been before the Slytherin came. Of course, the question he's been dreading most of his life. "Yeah," he lied and regretted it so badly. Why must his life be so hard, and full of lies and fake smiles? It's all just so hard, life he means. Life's so hard and he wished at times like now it could be easier.

Draco didn't believe it at all. He can see the signs of depression, but he just doesn't believe that Harry's depressed. Why would he be? Doesn't he have a good family? That's just the question. Who does Harry live with? Obviously, everyone in the Wizarding World knows Harry's parents are dead but who does he live with?

"Harry, I just wanted to tell you, and I mean everything what I'm about to say here... you are loved by so many people," Draco told him in a soothing voice and reached out for Harry's hand. Harry didn't even flinch when he grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze. "I know you don't believe it, and I understand that. I know that Weasley and Granger love you so much because they're your friends and they care so much for you. I might not be their friend, but I know they do. And... I love you."

Harry looked up at Draco in disbelief, into those silver eyes which gleamed with an inner light and an emotion Harry couldn't pick up. His heartbeat picked up speed until it was hammering against his chest. Did Draco really mean that... No, it's just the love of a friend. Not anything else. But he was grateful that Draco was telling him this. It didn't exactly help that much but it kind of gave him hope.

Draco gave a sad smile as their eyes locked. He practically came out to Harry, and then kind of didn't. That's okay though. "Harry, you're a really incredible guy who I love getting to know even more every day," he said and just hoped Harry believed him. It took a very long time for Ivy to believe everything he says, almost an entire year but he got there in the end. Now he knows he needs to help Harry. "Ivy and Pansy are warming up to you too. Your dorm mates all love and care for you. Our professors all do too though it might not feel like it. We all love and care for you. Know that I and all your friends are here for you and we will never leave you. You're the best thing that has happened to us all. You're important to all of us in our own ways."

Harry blinked infrequently at him, really thinking about what Draco had told him. It all was really hard to believe. Do people love him? If they did then how come they haven't seen past his forced smiles?

"Harry, I'm so sorry you're in pain," Draco says just as Harry frowns and looks down at his hands. "I won't ask you to tell me what's wrong and what you go through until you're ready. Do... you want a hug?" Hugs aren't Ivy's favourite thing, but she does enjoy them when she's really down. He just hopes Harry does too.

Harry doesn't need him to ask for a hug. He would accept one any day from this amazing Slytherin. He didn't nod or open his arms up to gesture a hug. Instead, he leaned forward and snaked his arms around Draco's back for a hug, completely ignoring his hammering heart inside his chest. He hoped Draco couldn't feel his heart banging against his chest.

Draco quietly chuckled at Harry and gave him a soft expression while he hugged him back. He let his beating heart do its thing as he enjoyed this little hug. But this hug is for Harry because he needs it more than anything else. "Are you still up for flying this afternoon and exploring more of the room?"

Harry nodded slowly in the hug, scenting that beautiful vanilla smell in Draco's cologne which actually calmed him down a little. Not only was it from the Vanilla, but the citrus too. "Of course, I just need to finish off my Potions homework then I'll be done," he tells him flatly. "It'll only take me about fifteen minutes then I'll meet you under the Willow tree."

Draco sighed in relief; glad Harry could still make it. He's been excited about their evening flight for a while. "Great!" he beamed and nuzzled his nose into Harry's neck, smelling that captivating pine scent. "I- um... I also wanted to ask you something... More like two somethings."

"Go on," Harry says, a little curious about these 'two somethings' Draco wants to ask. But then again, anything Draco says is interesting even if it's about Potions. It's just his voice which is so calming and soft and something he really likes hearing every day.

Draco cleared his throat and leaned out of the hug so he could look back into green eyes. Curious green eyes. "So, um..." He didn't think it would be easy nor hard. Here goes nothing. "I've really liked a guy for such a long time and I want to tell him but...it's hard."

Harry nodded slightly. What is he on about? He likes someone... Oh, he wishes that Draco liked him back. It'd be so much easier. He keeps remembering the day he kissed Draco when he was asleep. He looked like he was so happy and at peace. His lips, so soft and pretty... His silvery eyes, so beautiful and bright. "Well... you should just tell him how you feel." It's the advice every guy or girl gets in muggle movies and is the best advice he knows of.

Draco sighed. He knows he should tell Harry since he's right next to him but not if he's going to stutter like an idiot. It's even harder when you're heart's beating like a drum too. "I know... It's just hard to because I either keep messing up my words or I say something stupid."

Harry knew for a fact that he stutters a lot around Draco as he gets easily distracted by the Slytherin's attractiveness. "That sounds like me," he says with a small smile and watches as a strand of Draco's blonde hair falls over his eyes. He just wants to brush it back behind the Slytherin's ears. "Most of the time I stutter whenever I talk to him. Especially if flirting gets involved."

It is you, Draco wanted to say. He was glad he could make Harry smile or laugh. Well, what would you say if it was you who I like? he thought with a dreamy smile. "Yeah, so anyway..." he says but then feels a sudden heat rise up to his cheeks as Harry reaches a hand towards his face and brushes a lock of his hair away from his eyes. Merlin... Harry doesn't know how he makes Draco feel at all. "I was wondering..." He bit his lip. "Would you do me the honour of being my date-"

Hermione came around the corner and sighed in relief. She's been wandering through Howarts looking for him. "Harry! I've been looking everywhere for you!" She then looked towards the person sitting next to her best friend. "Malfoy? What're you doing here?"

Draco was about to say, 'I'd like to ask you the same thing', but he stopped himself and sighed. He looked to Harry, smiled, and placed his hand over Harry's and gave it a little squeeze. "Harry, if I could give you one thing in life, I would give you the ability to see yourself through my eyes. Because only then will you realize how special you are to me." He placed his free hand on Harry's cheek and just caressed it whilst seeing Harry blush from underneath his fingers. He thought about kissing Harry's cheek, but Granger was there and he rather this be a private moment between him and Harry.

He got up, ignoring Granger who seemed to be in tears for whatever reason that was and said to Harry, "Stay strong for me, Harry." Watching Harry's face redden a little more satisfied him, so he turned around and stormed off in the direction of the Slytherin common room. "For Salazar sakes!" he mumbled as he was far enough from the two Gryffindors. "I've been trying so hard to ask him out and all I get is interrupted by one of his friends!"

Hermione stood there, quietly sobbing her heart out from the beautiful moment she saw between Harry and Draco. Oh, she could have interrupted something if she never found Harry! "That was just so sweet!" she sobbed and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper. "He confessed to you, Harry. Anyway... Why was he here?"

"He wanted to ask me a question, but he never got to it," said Harry and the thought of what Draco wanted to tell him if it wasn't for Hermione coming over at the wrong time, flooded his mind. What could he have wanted to ask Harry? The thoughts were endless.

Hermione felt a little guilty that she disturbed Harry and Draco's little moment. But had a knowing smile on her face as she just knew Harry liked Draco a lot and it seemed that Draco likes him back the same way. Oh, if only they could just see it by looking at each other. "Did he say anything else?"

"He only said that he's been liking a guy for a while and that he wants to ask him out but doesn't know how and when to," said Harry and he stroked his neck a little, thinking about Draco and who he could like. He just doesn't believe Draco would like someone like himself who's a freak. "I honestly think he's too nervous."

"Yeah, way too nervous," said Hermione with a shake of her head, disbelieving that Malfoy would be this nervous when around Harry. He seems like he can control his emotions so it should be easy for him. "By the way, why were you here?"

"Oh, I just wanted some alone time," Harry said which actually was true. That was until Draco somehow found him, but he didn't mind at all. He enjoys Draco's company even in his darkest state of mind. He just wished Hermione, even though he loves having her around, didn't disturb the moment as he wanted to know what Draco wanted to ask him. "Let's head to the common room, I need to finish off Potions homework." Hermione nodded and Harry went back to the Gryffindor common room by Harry's side. She had a few things she needed to do as well.

Harry was back up in the Gryffindor common room working on his Potions homework, it took him a good 10 minutes to finish it since all he had to do was state what ingredients were used in the potion which he had his potions book that told him everything he needed to know and what the uses of the ingredients are. After he finished the homework, he rolled up his parchment and set it aside in his bag. He looked up with a yawn and saw Hermione reading a book on the other side of the common room. Harry hadn't read an actual book in ages, he thought it would be relaxing too so he got up and walked over to his best friend. "Hi, Hermione."

Hermione looked up from her book and smiled at her best friend. "Hello, Harry!" She had just finished a chapter of 'The Maze Runner' and was on the next. She just ships Newt and Thomas together so badly! They are her favourite fantasy ship ever! 

Harry fiddled with his fingers, wanting to ask her about a book he could borrow from her. But what would he read? "Uhm... Do you have any books I might be interested in reading?" he asked her and looked down at the book she was reading. The Maze Runner.

Hermione gave her best friend a curious look as she knew Harry didn't like reading. Unless she is wrong but she's never wrong. "I might do," she says with a nod and thinks about the dozens of books in her trunk that are spelled to be bigger on the inside. "What are you interested in reading?"

Harry shrugged and looked out the window beside him to the bright blue sky, seeing little birds fly around in the distance. The blue of the sky reminded him of the slight touch of light blue he saw in Draco's eyes. He likes a good fantasy book, or non-fiction but is adventurous. "I'm not sure, fantasy, adventure, or romance maybe?"

Hermione nodded; she had a lot of those kinds of books to read when she finished her homework early. She loves muggle books more than wizarding ones to be honest even if the magical world is more interesting than the muggle one. It's just the fantasies people come up with like Steven King, Agatha Christi, C. S. Lewis, Suzanne Collins, and James Dashner. She reached to her bookbag that lay at her feed and shoved a hand in there as she said, "I might have a few that you'd like."

Harry was shocked to see Hermione's whole arm disappear inside the book bag; the bag surely wasn't that big on the insideg. But then again, this was a magical school that teaches magic, so anything is possible. Even flying is real. Well, flying brooms and cars. Oh, and flying horses, keys, and pixies.

Hermione sighed as she couldn't reach far enough into her bag and pulled her hand back out. "Accio the Hunger Games book," she said in a clear voice. A book coloured black with a yellow bird logo on the side and front cover jumped out of Hermione's book bag and into her hand. "Ah, here it is," she added and handed him the book. "The Hunger Games. It's a really good book to read, I've read it so many times."

"Thanks, Hermione!" Harry said as he looked at the front cover of the book. It had a perfectly rounded circle with a mockingbird in the middle. He then turned the book over and read the blurb of the book.

"It's no problem, Harry," Hermione said, shaking her head to gesture he didn't need to show gratitude to her. She smiles and dumps her bookbag by her feet again. "If you finished that one, I have the second and third book in the series. Oh, and by the way, Peter and Gale should have totally ended up together!"

"Sure," Harry said with a nod and started making his way back to the seat he was last in, not caring about who she ships right now. He turned back around, remembering something he should tell her. "Hermione? Do you think Dumbledore has or had secret dance groups in Hogwarts?"

Hermione started laughing at the thought of Dumbledore having a dance class in Hogwarts, and Harry smiled at her as it was a funny question. "I'm not actually too sure, Harry," she said and kept her giggles at bay. "There could have been but in Hogwarts: A History there is nothing of the sort about a dance club."

"Do you think the word is going to spread that I'm... you know... into guys?" Harry asked suddenly, wanting to change the subject. He did a quick search of the room for any sign of Ron, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. He just had to make sure. He will tell Ron about his sexuality, but not yet.

Hermione nodded at him, watching carefully for any odd signs in his demeanour but she didn't see anything. "I don't think many people are going to believe it, Harry," she told him in an assuring voice. "People are going to think that since you're the 'Chosen One', you appear as straight. So, if you're worrying, you shouldn't. Only a few people are going to believe the rumours. Well, people who know you and are smart enough to see will see that you're not straight."

Harry sighed in relief; he didn't know if his mental health could deal with people calling him bad words all the time because of who he was and what gender he is into. "Okay," he said and the first thought that pops into his mind is Draco and the flying date they have... Flying, just flying. Not a date. "Thank you for the talk, Hermione."

"It's no problem," Hermione said and smiled at her best friend; glad she could help him. She would like to know what's going on in her best friend's mind every now and then though. "You can talk with me about anything, you know that, right?"

Harry nodded. Of course, anything had its no-go zone. He couldn't talk about his depression to her, not yet at least. He gave his friend a reassuring nod and walked back to the chair he was sitting on to read the book. He then remembered he had to meet with Draco under the Willow tree, he got up and placed the book down on the chair. "Can you ask Ron to put the book on my bed for me? I'm meeting with... Well, you know?"

Hermione giggled at the realization that Harry was meeting up with Malfoy. It totally wasn't for a date though she has a feeling that Harry thinks of these meetings as dates. She nodded and continued reading her book. "Don't forget we're going formal shopping before dinner!" she reminded him without looking up at Harry.

Harry still wondered how she could do that, multitask. It must be just a Hermione thing to do. He rushed out of Gryffindor common room and headed down to the Willow tree to meet with Draco. He passed Peeves trying to drop rocks on 5th year's heads as they exited the library, and he chuckled at the poltergeist's mischief. He passed the three greenhouses and made his way over to the Willow tree.

He pushed the Willow's branches aside and walked on through. He heard a silent humming coming from the other side of the Willow's trunk and quietly walked around the trunk and saw Draco. He was the one humming a tune and was staring blankly at the ground in front of him. Harry just stared at him, admiring his complexion and the song he was humming. He nearly fell over because he wanted to get a better look at the blonde. He decided to just make an appearance, so he sat down beside Draco and looked into his Silver eyes. "Hello, Draco."

Draco startled himself and looked beside him into Harry's emerald green eyes. He's been waiting to see those green eyes for a while even if he saw them just this morning. But he gets so lost when looking into those orbs. "Oh, Hello Harry," he says and smiles at the sight sitting next to him. "Ready to explore more of the secret rooms?"

Harry nodded and gave the Slytherin the biggest smile he could muster, which wasn't very big. It was a small smile, and that's all that mattered. "I sure am." His hand, without him knowing, crawled towards Draco's hand until their pinkie fingers touched. Neither Harry nor Draco minded as they secretly loved physical contact with each other.

Draco returned the smile, but the smile was a more genuine one. He has noticed one thing with Harry though. He seems happier than he was this morning. He wondered why that was, not that he didn't think Harry was happy every day. "You seem more cheerful than this morning, what happened?"

"I'm just glad I'm able to spend time with you," Harry says in a soft tone, earnest too, and he moves his hand over Draco's. The Slytherin gasped a little in surprise and looked down at their hands, Harry doing the same. They slowly looked up into each other's eyes, which sparkled to their delight and their hearts hammered against their chests, and eyes darting from one's eyes, to their lips, and back again. Their noses were only inches away from the others until they heard a loud "Eh-Hem!" and swiftly looked up in front of them.

Professor Sprout was looking down at them with her hands on her hips and a soft look on her face. It both shocked the boys so much to be found that the thought of being so close to one another was erased from their minds. "I'm surprised you two know of this place as it was I and the previous Herbology Professor who planted this Willow tree," said the professor, and she looked to Draco with a smile. She was proud of him for finally coming out to Harry, but that's just what she thought was happening. "I don't mind that you're here, of course, or what you do here, but right now this tree's in its stage of shredding before winter hits. So, if you'll be so kind as to find another spot in Hogwarts it would be lovely."

"Yes, professor," Harry and Draco said together and quickly got up, dusted themselves off, and hurried past their professor, and out from under the Willow tree. They arrived at the blank wall and looked around cautiously for oncoming students. Draco closed his eyes, Harry admired him and remembered how excited he was to go for a fly with Draco tomorrow evening but at the moment he couldn't wait to discover something new inside the room. The door then appeared, opening up for them. They entered the dark tunnel and cast a "Lumos," lighting their wands up to see in front of them. 

Harry pointed his wand in front of him. "Lumos Maxima!" he whispered. A bright white ball of light came out of Harry's wand and lighted the dark hallway up, showing the two boys vine carvings on the walls that looked centuries old, actual wall torches but smaller than average and a long midnight blue and starry yellow mat with constellations spread out on the mat from the entrance to the hallway to the door. Only, it was a different colour. It matched the mat. Midnight blue and starry yellow. 

"This is new!" Draco said, his eyes had widened, and he trailed his finger over the carvings. "How marvellous! I can't believe we never tried that when I first showed you this place. We can see everything more clearly now too, instead of a dark scary hallway."

"Unimaginable!" Harry said as he nodded in agreement and looked over at the door. "The door has changed colours! I'd like to see what else has changed." Curious, opened the door with an "Apertio!" 

"Well, then we should find out," Draco said and gave Harry a playful little grin and a wink. He watched as a familiar redness rose up the Gryffindor's cheeks and it made him feel satisfied with himself.

"You know, you're starting to act like a Gryffindor, Draco," Harry admits and gives the Slytherin a little playful poke in the arm. "With this sudden braveness which I do admire. I know quite a few students who wouldn't dare walk into a mysterious hallway and room. Yet, you have." Draco starts laughing and his cheeks pinken with pleasure at what Harry's saying.

"You mean Gryffindork," Draco retaliates back after containing his laughter and crosses his arms over his chest. Even though he's Harry's friend, he likes riling him up because it's just cute watching him get all annoyed or angry because of him. It just always has been the Potter-Malfoy thing in their relationship.

Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head a little ignorantly, "Whatever, Draco," he said and pursed his lips. He rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh, wanting to change the subject to something more relevant. "After you," he gestures to the door he opened with a smile.

"Let's just get this over with," Draco said with a quick wink and headed to the door. He missed the blush that rose up Harry's neck to his cheeks by only a second. He reached a hand beside him where Harry was, as if he was guarding the Gryffindor from something. Harry smiled at the Slytherin protecting him, which he didn't need, and pointed his wand into the room and muttered, "Lumos Maxima!" Draco still stood to the side again, just for precaution and to protect Harry.

Harry stared at the scared Slytherin and chuckled, and Draco glared at Harry and said, "What?!" The Gryffindor looked down at the floor, just loving how Draco was when slightly irritated. It always excited him. Oh, nothing, he thought with a smile and dug his foot into the mat. It's just that I find you adorable when facing apparent danger.

Draco returned the smile that Harry was giving him. He loves it when Harry smiles, it always makes something inside him flutter and his heart beats as fast as a drum. The way Harry makes him feel is incredible! "You should smile more, Harry."

Harry looked directly up at Draco, asking himself if he heard wrong. Did he hear what he thought was a compliment and a very sweet one? Or did he think he heard what he wanted Draco to say? "Pardon?"

Draco blushed and quickly thought of words that rhyme with 'smile'. He had to think of better options than getting away with compliments that shouldn't have come out but are very true. "I said, you have great style."

"Oh!" Harry said with a smile and clears his throat. A compliment came out of that perfect mouth of Draco's, but he wasn't wearing anything casual instead of his normal oversized white top and jeans. It was quite depressing and embarrassing actually. It's the only clothes he has that fit him and it's nothing of the sort that he sees Draco wearing. Draco's always either in dark colours like different shades of blacks, greys, or even some whites and dark greens.

"Thanks, you have great style too," Harry admits but knew Draco was lying as it definitely sounded like he was saying 'You should style more' rather than 'you have great style'. But 'You should style more' sounded a bit odd to Harry. So, what did Draco say?

"Uhm, let's just head in," Draco says, and he is still blushing. He cursed to himself and hoped his lie was enough to fool Harry though lying to this other bloke was painful and something he didn't want to do ever. Harry nodded and entered after Draco.

The room had been lightened up by the 'Lumos Maxima' Harry cast and he stared around the room in wonder, deciding whether he liked this room better than the other one. The walls and roof were painted a cobalt blue, the floor was covered with wooden floorboards, there was a gigantic telescope in the middle of the room pointing directly at the roof and there was a large sky window on the roof directly above the telescope. Dancing across the walls were constellations, but also quidditch posters. There even was a broomstick resting against the telescope.

"What a lovely change of scenery," Draco said with delight and wondered how the room could do that, change colours and furniture. He looked beside him at Harry. "It's incredible."

"Yes, he is," Harry mutters and he smiles at the blonde who gives him a surprised expression and charming smile and he feels the need to say this. "It's true, Draco. I didn't get the chance to say this earlier because you were going to ask me something, I believe. I just think you're incredible, so kind - which is surprising - and a really great friend. I love you too." He felt his cheeks burn.

Draco blushed, crossed his arms over his chest and looked to the floor with a huff, but his eyes looked up at Harry. "Thank you, Harry," he says softly and admires the rosiness on Harry's cheeks. "No need to compliment me when I know how amazing I am." He ran a hand through his hair and grinned at Harry. The Gryffindor snorts and pats his back with a yes, sure expression on on his face and a smirk. "I did want to ask you something, yes, but I'll leave it for later."

Harry nodded. "That's all good, I understand," he replies and he looks away from Draco's captivating gaze, taking in their surroundings again. It was buzzing in his mind what Draco wanted to ask him. He wanted to find out. "Have you ever seen a room this size before, Draco? Outside of Hogwarts."

"Yeah, my bedroom is about this size," Draco says with a nod and Harry looks at him in shock. He chuckled as he walked over to the giant telescope and studied it with his eyes, looking into it and spotting stars as if it was nighttime already.

"Are you kidding me?" Harry asked in disbelief, joining Draco by the telescope. "This room is the size of your bedroom?" His bedroom at the Dursley's isn't even a quarter of this size. How can someone have a bedroom this large? Wouldn't it be too spacious?

Draco shook his head with a smile, knowing how surprised people were to find out about his home. Even Pansy and Blaise when they first came over was a little surprised. Blaise's house has two stories, but all the rooms are mainly downstairs, and they have a giant garden and a hedge maze. Pansy's home is sort of like a tiny castle, but not as big as Hogwarts. It's a manor-sized castle. "Nope. But of course, I have much better furniture than this place."

Harry forgot there was still the rich side of Draco and how could he have forgotten? The bloke's practically wearing a dark grey cashmere sweater, a black trench coat and black jeans. "Right," He said and swiped a finger over the telescope, but there wasn't any dust on it. A self-cleaning room based on ancient magic, if that's what it is. Harry noticed there was one large rectangular enchanted window on the wall in front of the telescope, showing that it was raining outside.

Harry sneezed but didn't know why. It was a little cold in here actually but there wasn't any dust to be found. "This place truly is amazing!" he said as he explored the place but made sure not to touch anything that could be...cursed. But why would there be anything that's cursed in the room? He's just cautious.

Draco chuckled at Harry's sneeze, finding it so adorable. "Bless you, Harry," he says and watches as Harry picks up a few old books, quills, and even some really old candles. He ponders how much this all would be, but he wouldn't sell anything here. It's all history that should stay in its rightful place. "And It sure is."

"Thank you, Draco!" Harry said and turned to look at Draco from a bookshelf on the other side of the room. There were just so many books! Hermione would love this place! Why need these books when she had the library? But these books do look millennials old. "So, unless you'd like to find all the constellations using the telescope, shall we go someplace else? Or would you like to stay here for a bit?"

"Well, we could go," Draco said and turned towards the door out of the bedroom but something black caught his eye. A black door. He didn't see that there at all. Out of curiosity, he walked over to the door like it was luring him to it. "Look at this!"

Harry turned to look at where Draco was and spotted the door. "It could be a bathroom," he suggested simply and walked over to Draco who got his wand out from his Trench Coat's pocket, ready to open the door that apparently leads to the bathroom. He has this sudden urge to reach up and thread his fingers through Draco's hair but pushes that sudden thought away. Seeing his smile, Draco gives him one of his own charming smiles back and secretly it melts Harry's heart.

"Should we try to open this door?" Draco asked him to distract himself from further staring at Harry. "Or do you think there's a giant eagle inside waiting to gobble us up?" He swears that he's heard girls everywhere throughout Hogwarts fangirling over Harry, and even how they have crushes on him. Can they please stop though? Harry is his and his only! Those girls can go drown in a pit of basilisks somewhere so he can have Harry all to himself and rant about to Pansy, Blaise, and Ivy.

Harry laughed at the very possible thought of a giant eagle locked in here waiting for wandering lost students to find their way into its cave, or in this case, bathroom. "Let's open the magical door to wonderland then." He saw the confused look on Draco's face. "Never mind, it's a muggle term."

"Apertio!" said Draco. The door didn't budge. He sighed and tried opening the door by the doorknob and with a 'click' the door opened into darkness. He quickly pointed his wand up at the room's ceiling and whispered, "Lumos Maxima!" The room lit up into what looked like a very old Victorian-styled bathroom.

"Told you so!" Harry said with a smirk. He knows most bedrooms have bathrooms or walk-in wardrobes attached to them. Draco headed inside the bathroom and the first thing he saw was himself looking back in a dusty mirror. He ran a hand through his hair and totally wasn't doing it to impress a certain green-eyed Gryffindor who was down here with him.

Harry smiled at Draco as he poked his head into the bathroom. "Having fun, are you?" he asked, mesmerized at the Slytherin trying to look perfect. To him, Draco didn't need to look perfect as he already is the definition of perfect. 

Draco looked at Harry through the mirror and he couldn't decide on which Harry looked more attractive. Mirror Harry or real Harry but either way they're both stunningly beautiful. "Just... fixing my hair."

"Draco, you don't need to fix your hair," Harry tells him and just as he says that Draco stops with a hand in his hair, making some of his locks stick up. "You're... how do I say this... Draco, you're attractive and beautiful just the way you are." Oh god. That just didn't happen. He watched as a shade of reddish pink appeared on the Slytherin's cheeks. "Let's just head out," he added quickly while feeling his face colour.

Draco looked below the mirror at the drawers and opened one, trying his best to hide the obvious blush on his face but nothing could stop Harry from noticing it. It was just there, on his cheeks, and Harry couldn't stop smiling at him. He just couldn't believe what he heard. Harry finds him... attractive and beautiful. Aw.

"Let's just go," Harry says and grabs Draco by the hand to pull him out of the bathroom. He wanted to watch the rain pour down in the enchanted window but as he began to think of doing that he knew the rain would make him remember his dark memories of being alone and friendless when at the Dursleys.

"Haaarry!" Draco said with a prolonged 'a' but he let Harry take him out of the bathroom because he just loved the softness and warmth of Harry's hands over his own. It felt so right, so natural. "I wanted to see if there were any hair products in the drawers or something." It was a little fib. He just enjoyed seeing Harry's reflection.

"Your hair is beautiful as it is, Draco," Harry said without consciously knowing what he said. Actually, he knew exactly what he was saying but he let his heart and mind control him for that second. "No amount of hair gel will make it less or more stunning." He walked up to the dark blue door. Jesus... these compliments just come out of nowhere.

Draco's cheeks reddened again at the compliment and he licked his lips when seeing the pink flesh of Harry's lips. "Thanks, Harry," he says sweetly and combs his hair with his fingers. Merlin, how does he even do that? Complimenting so easily like he's just being nice to a pet.

"Don't mention it, Draco," Harry says and looks behind him at Draco combing his hair by using his fingers. "Tell me more about yourself, Draco Malfoy. What are your interests? Hobbies. Talents." He wanted to know more about this blonde Slytherin. From the times he has hung out with Draco, he knows he's not that bad at all. He's caring and somewhat friendly.

"Okay," Draco deadpanned with a blush still lingering on his cheeks, a loving smile, and a heart that was continuously hammering against his chest. He would never calm his racing heart at all, even if it's because of Harry who's making him feel this way. "My interests? You."

Harry's lips parted for a second as he recalled what Draco had said, and then he laughed softly. "Same, but you," he replies and he decides to hide his blushing face just by grabbing the broomstick leaning against the telescope.

"Yeah?" Draco says softly, smiling at him. Harry nods and Draco bites his lip. "My other interests..." He didn't want to change the subject but he had questions to answer. "I enjoy garden strolls, High Tea, golf, shopping. My hobbies are ehm... I do quite enjoy writing letters, oh and looking out the windows of my family's Manor as the rain falls down, pitter-patting on the roof and windows, and expecting to see something morbid out in the distance." 

"Spooky," Harry whispers, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck and on his arms rise, giving him goosebumps as he thinks about the scene in his head. In the distance through the rain, he'd imagine seeing a cryptid. Either a banshee, or a zombie, or some wendigo. "You gave me chills."

Draco grins, then pulls the hood of his trench coat over his head and wriggles his fingers at Harry. "Oooooooo," he wails like a ghost. Then muttering in a low, creaky voice, "I'm a scary poltergeist."

Harry laughs, admiring the blonde for a moment before he pulls the hood off Draco's head. "Yeah, no, I don't want nightmares," he says with a chuckle and a half smile, leaning half his weight on the broom. He reached up to Draco's face and pushed a strand of his blonde hair away from his silvery-grey eyes. 

Draco wrapped his hand around Harry's wrist and pulled him closer to him until their noses touched. "Boo! Goes the poltergeist," he says in a low voice, smiling at the way Harry was looking at him. He did notice the slight twitch in Harry's eyebrow as if he was trying to hide pain. He instantly let go of Harry's wrist. "Sorry."

Harry shook his head, taking a step back. "It's quite alright," he assures the blonde. It did hurt a little, Draco's hand wrapped around his wrist but he dealt with it. He is certain Draco didn't notice anything.

"Let's go," Draco said, taking the broomstick from Harry's grasp and throwing it away from them. "Why don't you tell me your hobbies and interests while we get out of here." He nodded at the door out of the room. 

"Alright," Harry said at the suggestion. He wanted to distract his mind from the uncomfortably tingly pain anyway. What better way to do that than to tell Draco about himself? The two boys exited the blue room and continued down the hallway, Harry telling Draco as much as he could about his interests and hobbies. There wasn't much to tell other than he likes long walks, Quidditch, Treacle Tart (Draco knew that already somehow), and a bit of reading. 

"Wait," Harry says as they're back out in the Astronomy ward and the door disappears behind them; he now realises something. He wanted to mention it earlier but the sudden spooky topic intrigued him. "You like Golf? That's a Muggle sport!"

"Your thick head just realised that I golf?" Draco drawls with a humoured chuckle. Harry rolls his eyes at the insult and snorts. "I know it's a Muggle Sport, you daft idiot. The Wizarding World does have Golf Courses. Even Mini Golf."

"I did not know that," Harry says in surprise, picturing Draco playing golf somewhere on a lush green field. "I thought we only had Quidditch? Posh Moron." If Draco wanted to start name-calling then he would do it back. It's fun.

"Now you know," Draco says rather quickly, as if annoyed. But he wasn't. He only scoffed at Harry's rude remark. "You're welcome, dumbarse."

"Dickhead," Harry retaliated back. Draco looked at him curiously and Harry realised the blonde had no idea what the word he called him meant. "Sorry. It's a muggle term. A Muggle swear word."

Draco Tsked him three times. "That's highly unfair!" he said at once, smiling with playfulness. "You have an advantage with your weird Muggle Curse words. Apology not accepted!"

Harry smiled at the blonde and pulled him into a hug. Draco awed quietly, giggled and hugged him back tightly. "Now, I wish I didn't have to leave you here after the most fun I've had in ages with you, but I have to go meet with Hermione and Ron to go shopping," he informs him and has sudden thoughts about the dress robe he could get to impress Draco. He also ponders what Ron would get too since he'll be buying his dress robes for him.

"Shopping?" Draco leaned out of the hug a bit to look at Harry, a little curious about shopping and what Harry needed. Unless it's a Christmas present since it is coming up quite fast. Soon it will be over, and the new year will begin. "What for, if I may ask?"

"The Yule Ball," Harry says and he notices the confused look on Draco's face. It was cute, the face the Slytherin made. "I know it's a bit early but earlier is better." He had a sudden thought of doing something he should have done earlier today when he had the chance. "So, do we meet under the willow tree tomorrow night?"

"Yes," said Draco, giving him a short nod. The question he's been wanting to ask about this flying night makes him wonder how they won't get caught by the Hogwarts caretaker or professors. "But how will we not get caught? I'm sure Filch will be wandering around somewhere."

Harry smirked at him, knowing the perfect plan for this. "Just leave that to me."

Draco raised an eyebrow, wondering what Harry had planned. Merlin... he nearly gets aroused whenever Harry's up to mischief or is just being so damned secretive like he is right now. It's that smirk and his mischievous smiles. But he also knows to blame these thoughts and feelings on Edwardo Bollen who was asked to leave Hogwarts this year. Thank god! "Alright. So, the Willow tree."

Harry took a step back, smiling a little. "I should get going," he says quickly, although he rather spends the day with Draco. Yule Ball shopping is important too. He can get whatever he wants before the stores run out of dress robes all because of the damn Yule Ball. "Thank you for today, Draco. I had a brilliant time! I hope we can do this again." He bit his lip and looked down at the ground, thinking about the day when he kissed Draco when he was sleeping. It gave him nervous butterflies in his stomach. 

Looking back up into the eyes of his crush, he conjures all the courage to do what he is about to do. He'd hate himself even more if Draco pulled away but he had a feeling that the blonde wouldn't. He just knew. He leaned forward, his heart skipping a beat as he kissed Draco on the cheek and quickly took a few steps back. His face felt like it was burning as he chuckled nervously. Screw you, blush! "S-see you tomorrow night!" he stutters.

"Y-yes, of course, tomorrow night!" said Draco in a bubbly tone, his cheek tingling where Harry had kissed him. He could skip his way down to the Slytherin Dungeons because of how light and happy he was! He would tell Blaise but Pansy and Ivy can wait. Blushing from his cheeks to his ears, he watched Harry give him a small wave as the Gryffindor continued walking backwards and he waved back shyly. "See you then!" He kept his eyes on Harry who was leaving and he sighed happily, wishing he could spend more time with that amazing young man. He would probably get another kiss too.

*****

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were down in Hogsmeade buying their outfits for the Yule Ball. They knew it was a little early to shop for the Yule Ball as it was weeks away but knew that shopping earlier was better than later because they would get the best outfits first. Harry has gotten out about 50 galleons for shopping for his robes, the last 25 were for Ron if he wanted something he liked.

Harry was scrolling through the racks of dress robes in Twilfit and Tattings, mind filled with Draco and the way he looked at him after he had kissed the blonde's soft cheek, and he had 3 outfits that he liked but couldn't decide on which one to get. He looked over the racks, trying to find a familiar sight of red hair. "Ron?!" he yelled quietly. He didn't see Ron anywhere, but he saw a lady at the back of the store with blonde hair. She was dressed very elegantly in a long dark green dress with long sleeves and a black robe. Her blonde hair and light blue eyes reminded him of someone at school.

Ron poked his head above a rack section with a yellow fedora on his head. He had a delighted smile on his face and was fiddling with the fedora, trying to find a place on his head that suited him. "What?" he yelled back.

Harry tried to hold back a laugh; his best mate looked quite stylish in a fedora and not even silly at all. It suited him very well. "Found anything you want?"

"Actually yes, a midnight blue dress robe with a fedora," said Ron with a nod and placed the yellow fedora back on its rack with the other fedoras and weird beanies and hats that looked too expensive. He made sure to get a cheap robe that was not too expensive. It only cost about twenty Galleons. "Can I have it?"

Harry nodded, he'd do and buy anything for his best mate. He didn't want Ron to feel left out or even look silly in front of everyone. "Of course, you can," he said in a bubbly tone. "That is why I'm buying you a new dress robe."

Ron walked his way up to Harry with a dress robe formally presented in its bag as well as a dark blue fedora. "I'm really thankful for what you're doing for me, Harry," he said in a quiet voice as he knew the woman on the other side of the store. He didn't really want anything to do with her even if she seemed nice. "However, can I pay you back?"

Harry grabbed the second dress robe he had his eyes on and walked with Ron up to the checkout to pay for their outfits. "It's no problem, Ron," he whispered back and paid for his and Ron's dress robes. He didn't know why they were whispering all of a sudden. "What are friends for? By the way, why are we whispering?"

"That's Malfoy's mother at the back of the store," said Ron and put his dress robe and fedora into a bag the store owner gave them. He seemed a little uneasy even when saying the Malfoy name. "I just don't want her to overhear us. Who knows what she's like?"

Harry looked over to the woman who was browsing through some jewellery. So that's Draco's mother? That's the woman who gave birth to Draco, his friend and the most attractive guy in the entire universe to Harry. He suddenly straightened his back and gave Ron a smile. He didn't want to look unimpressive in front of Draco's mother. He wanted her to know he was a good friend to Draco.

Ron and Harry walked out of the dress robe shop and started making their way back up to the castle. "But seriously mate, how can I ever repay you?" Ron suddenly asked as they were out in the open sunshine and with other people who passed by them.

"I'll let you know when I want something," said Harry as he didn't want Ron to get him anything. He doesn't want Ron using his money to buy things for him or to give him any favours like doing his homework and such. He doesn't want that. 

Ron nodded slowly, hoping he could give Harry what he wanted in the future. He knows Harry wouldn't make him spend anything for him which was a giant relief. "Okay, mate," he said and patted him on the shoulder.

Hermione came out of a dress shop, looking all excited and carrying her own dress bag containing the dress she brought. "Hello!" she beamed and quickly hugged them both, her bags slipping down her arms to her wrists. "Got what you wanted?"

"Yes, we've got our dress robes," said Ron with a quick nod and a smile in the hug. He was the one who leaned out of the hug first, but Hermione came in between them and placed both arms around their necks.

"Let's then head back up to the castle and drop our outfits off in our room," Hermione said, excitedly, carrying a large bag with a light blue fluffy dress in it. The trio then walked back up to the castle, dropped their outfits off in their dormitories inside their trunks and headed to dinner.

Hours later when Harry was falling asleep, he dreamt of Draco, and a scene in which he and Draco are under the Willow tree and are leaning towards each other. Harry smiled in his sleep as he knew they were going to kiss and kiss they did. He watched himself and Draco, his hands in Draco's soft blonde hair, and Draco's hands cupping his face as they kissed in a loving manner. What a beautiful dream.

Down in the Slytherin dungeons in the boy's dormitory, Draco Malfoy was dreaming somewhat the same. He dreams of the cheek kiss Harry gave him, and then Harry's hands in his hair, and his own hands holding Harry's beautiful face as he kissed him passionately. Over on the bed beside him, Blaise looked over at his best friend's bed and saw a smile on Draco's face. He just knew Draco was dreaming of Harry Potter. Draco always smiles in his sleep when dreaming of the green-eyed Gryffindor.

Suddenly, a large farting noise came from the other side of the room and Blaise snorted, glancing over in the direction of Crabbe's bed. Disgusting little twerp. If only he could sound record that and use it as a device to wake his dormmates up on the weekend just to be annoying. He sighs and gets back to reading about the newest fashion styles for men in Witch Weekly.

*****

As Harry woke up Sunday morning dragons filled his first thoughts. He rubbed his hands hard over his eyes as if scraping the visions of the claws, fire, and dragon scales from them. He had dreamed of dragons, snitches and Draco all muddled together. Dragons had never been one of the hundreds of possibilities he had imagined ever since his name was drawn from the goblet, he had been trying to imagine what the first challenge could be.

Sirius had an idea of what to use in the battle against the dragons, but Ron had disrupted the fire call. Harry was looking up at the canopy. He wanted to concentrate on how to survive the dragons. He needed Hermione. She would know where to start to find a way that would allow him to survive.

Harry waited until it was sunset on Sunday afternoon and then got ready to meet Draco after a long day of Wizards Chess with Ron and reading The Hunger Games book Hermione let him borrow. He felt nervous. What if Draco started hating him after he kissed him? He wouldn't be able to live with himself. Now he knew he was most likely overthinking. He does that a lot. Oh well, he'll find out his fate with Draco when he sees him very soon. He grabbed his invisibility cloak, a practice snitch, and his broomstick and headed down to the Willow tree. Before he could exit the common room, Hermione gave him a curious look.

"Where are you going, Harry?" Hermione asked him as she knew it was a little late and Harry looked like he was going out to play Quidditch. He had his broom and everything. She was sitting on one of the maroon armchairs with 'The Maze Runner' in her hands.

"Meeting someone, can't talk now," Harry said quickly and walked over to the portrait. He heard Hermione giggle; she knew who he was meeting soon. "See you in the morning!" He then pulled his invisibility cloak on over himself and made his way down to the Herbology area. He stepped out into the chilly November night and made his way past the three greenhouses and to the Willow tree. He pushed his way through the elongated raining branches of the tree and came face to face with Draco. Except, Draco looked horrified. Harry knew what this was about. He chuckled at the frightened Slytherin and removed the cloak from himself.

Draco's heart fluttered as Harry appeared from under the cloak, the memory of Harry kissing him still fresh in his mind. The memory gave him good chills throughout his body. "Harry?!" He looked Harry up and down in surprise and blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "What- you have an invisibility cloak?"

Harry nodded at him, smiling at the surprised look on Draco's face. It was cute. At least Draco didn't look like he was mad at him. "It was a gift at Christmas in our first year," He said and looked to the ground a little sadly. He pictured what it would be like to have his mom and dad in his life and grew up with them by his side. "It was my father's."

Draco nodded and placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder. He and so many people felt sad that Harry didn't have his parents to watch him grow up and have friends over. "I'm sure your father was an amazing man, Harry," he says with honesty. "The same goes with your mother. I bet she was sweet just like you."

"Yeah," Harry said, smiling and rubbing his arms as he felt that all so familiar warmth rise up from his neck to his face, and with it came a noticeable blush. "I'm sure Mom and Dad were. Thank you."

"The invisibility cloak explains a lot too," said Draco and smiled at Harry's rosy cheeks. So attractive... "No wonder you've never been caught wandering around the castle at night. Except for the time in the first year... Wait... The barmy shrieking shack! You little... That snowball hurt you know!"

Harry laughed at the Slytherin and gave him a small playful shove and a mischievous smile. "Sorry about that," he said in a light tone, putting the cloak over his shoulder. "I've forgotten about that day, but you deserved it for following us around like you did."

"I guess I did deserve it," Draco said and lowered his gaze a little, so he was looking at Harry's lips. Merlin... He ought to stop doing that. Then he corrected himself with a little head tilt. "To some extent." 

Harry folded his invisibility cloak up and placed it beside the willow tree. He hoped Professor Sprout wouldn't find it... Maybe he should stuff it in his pocket. No, it might fall out. He stood back up and looked at Draco. "Anyway, let's fly before someone sees us."

Draco nodded and grabbed his Nimbus 2001 which was leaning against the trunk of the tree. He wondered what they were going to do in the air for however long they would be out for. "So, are we just going to fly around or is there some game we could play in the air, besides Quidditch, of course."

Harry grabbed the practice snitch out of his pocket and showed it to him. "I know it would be better to use a practice snitch," he said and threw the practice snitch at Draco, who caught it easily with a hand. "Don't want to be out all night trying to catch a real one."

"Is that your own?" Draco asks and studies the practice snitch in his hands, seeing as it's just an inch or two larger than the real ones are. He gave it a little tap with his fingers, and the wings popped out and fluttered a little.

Harry nods and finds it amusing watching Draco play with the snitch like that. He doesn't know why just the tiniest gesture from Draco is mesmerizing. It's Draco who's mesmerizing all along. "I ordered it by owl the other day."

"You really planned ahead," said Draco and smiled at the golden ball which fluttered its wings again. He throws it up in the air and catches it with his other hand. "Do you miss flying that much?"

"Flying, yes," said Harry with a nod. Draco's such a distraction to him that he could just stare at him all day in a loving way and hopefully not be called a weirdo. "I can't do it that much over the holidays though. Muggles. If I go to the Weasleys I can fly there, but it's mostly the second or last week of summer so...."

"There are wizard areas all over England with Quidditch pitches," said Draco and threw the practice snitch back to Harry, which then tucked its wings back inside as Harry caught it. "Why don't you just go to the closest one to fly in the summer?"

Harry laughed at the thought of the Dursleys driving him anywhere, let alone to go on holiday to play Quidditch. He'd probably get punished for even asking and suggesting going out to play Quidditch. "That would be difficult considering I'm usually locked in my room," he told him.

Draco looked up at him, a little curious but also quite concerned for Harry. "Who locks you in your room?" he asks while thinking of his cousin and how she gets locked in her room during the holidays at her Manor. It's why he has tried staying over at her place as much as he can because it means she doesn't get locked in her room when he's over. 

"Oh, erm, my uncle," said Harry, his head looking down as his eyes looked up at Draco. He cursed to himself, he hadn't intended to tell Draco that or even about the punishment he'd get. "Forget I said anything."

Draco nodded and saw the familiar emptiness in Harry's eyes. He wasn't going to forget anything Harry's told him though because everything worries him. He wants to know what goes through that beautiful mind of Harry's. "Okay, Harry," he said while trying not to sound worried and mounted his Nimbus 2001. "If you ever need to talk about anything I'm here for you." He watched as Harry nods. "The last one to the Quidditch Pitch is a rotten Flobberworm!"

Harry mounted his Firebolt easily with a challenging smile and he kicked off shouting, "Not if I get there first!" and soared straight towards the Quidditch Pitch in the distance. He felt the familiar weightlessness thrill taking control of him. Nothing could beat flying. Draco scowled at the cold, sped off on his broom and raced Harry to the Quidditch Pitch.

Harry looked down and saw Draco close behind him. He quickly twisted into a spiralling barrel roll and pushed the Firebolt to its maximum speed towards the Quidditch Pitch, ignoring the icy wind on his cheeks. He stopped fast as he neared the Quidditch Pitch and watched as Draco raced past him. When Draco had doubled back and hovered next to him, Harry pulled the snitch out of his pocket, "Ready?" Draco nodded and Harry murmured "Lumos," the snitch glowed gold and flew into the air.

Harry forgot about everything except chasing the snitch. He and Draco both fought to catch the elusive winged sphere. It was easier to spot the golden light against the dark of the Pitch but not easier to catch. They flew in a tight pattern, each trying twisting moves to lose the other. It was a far different game playing one-on-one with Draco. When they competed together there were always the bludgers and other players to look out for. Without those distractions, they both were able to push themselves to do more and more daring tricks. They were challenging each other to keep up.

Skimming around the Quidditch Pitch Harry stretched forward, his fingertips reaching for the snitch when he felt Draco shove him aside. The Firebolt wobbled and he fought to keep from crashing into one of the house towers. Draco gave a shout of triumph and grabbed the snitch. Harry slowed down and watched as Draco held up the snitch triumphantly. He pulled up and waited for Draco to come back around.

"You call that fair?" Harry asked, glaring at Draco. Though he couldn't stay pissed at Draco for long as he notices that there are these beautiful stars in those silver eyes that glimmer so brightly which makes his heartbeat like a mini drum. He could have gotten knocked out and broken a few bones only minutes ago if he hadn't taken that sharp cut upwards. "I almost crashed into one of the Hufflepuff towers!"

"Yeah, and you almost got the snitch, but I got it instead," Draco said proudly with his chest thrust out, holding the snitch up with a smirk. "We never said what we were playing for anyway."

Harry smiled as he recognized that the real Draco was back. The challenging Draco who he quite enjoys versing in Quidditch. "How about the winner gets the snitch until the next game," he suggested. "And next game, I'll be winning it back."

"I never knew there would be a next game, and sure, good luck with that!" Draco said and flew closer to Harry. He nudged him on the arm with his elbow, "Assuming you don't meet a terrible death in the Triwizard Tournament."

"Gee, thanks," Harry said and looked down, frowning at the word 'death'. Ever since staying at the Dursleys that's all he has been thinking of. But now, he has Draco. And oh, how Draco makes him feel a lot better every now and then. Just one smile or a wink would make him smile. He looked up at the night sky, at the shimmering stars. He didn't need to do a Tempus to know that they had already stayed out too late. "It's late, we'd better head in...." Draco nodded.

They didn't say another word to each other until they were back at the Willow tree, they dismounted their brooms. Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak, linked arms with Draco and pulled the cloak over himself and Draco. He smiled at Draco's surprised expression, noticing a slightly pink tinge to his cheeks, "I can walk you to the dungeons if you want?"

Draco returned the smile and felt a little closer to Harry just because their arms were linked. Harry just makes him feel so special. "Thanks, I'd like that," he replies.

Harry nodded and walked arm in arm with Draco under the invisibility cloak and made their way down to the dungeons. He made sure they couldn't be seen as if the cloak slipped up and showed one of their feet. Before they were even halfway to the dungeons, Draco stopped and faced the library. "Actually, could we stop in the library's secret place? I'd like to store my broom there."

"Sure thing, Draco," Harry said with a nod and headed up towards the library with Draco. They entered through the library, walked past the many bookshelves, took a left in the middle of the library to come to the familiar vertical bookshelves with the old wooden bookshelf on the very end of the aisle. Harry took a peek around the library, seeing nobody except Draco and pulled the trigger for the bookshelf to open. They walked into the tunnel, the familiar torches lighting up the path towards the door at the end. They emerged into the secret room and took off the invisibility cloak, Harry placed it on the couch's back.

Draco pointed his wand at the fireplace and immediately warmth started filling the space as the flames flared into life. He leaned his Nimbus 2001 on the side of the architecture bookshelf and sat down on one of the armchairs.

"Oh, I forgot," Harry suddenly said and walked over to the fire and started warming his frozen hands. "Thanks, that was a good match." He would actually do it again if he could. It was exciting, nerving, and challenging all in one.

Draco hesitated and then nodded, "It was different, wasn't it?" he asked and had the sudden urge to be close to Harry again. But he let that thought slip and he contained the urge in a mental bottle which he stored in his mind. "Going one on one."

Harry smiled, glad that Draco had sensed it too. "No one watching," he said and when his hands were warmed up enough, he walked to the couch and joined Draco. Secretly, it was exactly what Draco wanted. "No distractions."

"No distractions other than the freezing cold and complete darkness," said Draco and brought his legs up onto the couch, facing a little towards Harry. He rests his elbow on the back of the couch and leans his hand on his cheek as he looks at Harry.

Harry chuckled at the Slytherin and how utterly right he was. "Well, if you are going to be particular about things..." He smiled, subconsciously moved a little closer to Draco and hesitated. "Anyway, want me to walk you to the dungeons now?"

Draco nodded and smiled at him. It wasn't exactly spooky during the night at Hogwarts, but you could easily get spooked. Peeves could pop up anywhere and scare you, same with the Bloody Baren. "Sure, and thank you, Harry."

Harry returned the smile and grabbed his invisibility cloak, covering himself and Draco with it and walked out of the secret place in the library to the dungeons. It was a nice short walk as they enjoyed nothing else but each other's company. As they entered through to the dungeons, they heard a meow. They looked down and saw Ms Norris staring wide-eyed back up at them. They both exchanged worried looks but proceeded to the entrance to the Slytherin dungeons, even if Ms Norris was following them.

"Well, this is me," Draco said and looked at the blank wall where the Slytherin common room was behind. He then looked back at Harry. "Um... You mind?" He asked softly, gave an apologetic look to Harry and pointed his head at the wall.

"Oh!" Harry looked at the familiar wall that he went through back in the second year. He understands that Draco still wants the password to be a secret. "Sorry, not at all!" Before leaving, he quickly gave Draco a hug and left with a big smile on his face.

Draco melted into the hug before Harry took off and was left alone. It was no fake hug nor an accidental hug. It was a real hug. A kind, squishy, comfortable hug. He sighed with a smile, said the password, and entered the Slytherin common room.

"Good Afternoon," said a tired female voice. Draco looked over to one of the Slytherin common room chairs and saw Ivy, his cousin. How long exactly has she been up for? And has she waited for him all this time?

Ivy sighed at him, waiting to get a 'Hello, Ivy' but nothing came out of his mouth. Rude little ferret. She still couldn't get the twins prank on her cousin out of her head. "Hello to you too, Draco, and where've you been at this late of an hour?"

Draco bit his lip, trying to come up with a new excuse. Seems like he's running out of them now. Ivy rolled her eyes; she knew that look. "You were with Harry, weren't you?" Draco nodded and she smiled knowingly. "So, what were you doing with him?" she asked, intrigued at the thought of what the two oblivious lovebirds together. "Snogging? Asking him out? Sha-"

"-Flying, Ivy," Draco said, interrupting her before she could say something else. Merlin... she had a funny mind at times. "We were flying and playing a small round of 'catch the Snitch in the dark'. Harry Lumosed the snitch so we could easily see it flying around."

Ivy nodded at him. But why would they be out during the night playing Quidditch this late? It's nearly ten thirty and way past curfew. Even for her. "So, you're heading to bed now? I hope."

"Yes, I was heading to my dormitory before I was interrupted by you," Draco said, and Ivy smirked at him. He still wanted to know why she was up late and not in bed. "By the way, why are you up so late? You couldn't have wanted to wait until I got back, did you?"

"Couldn't sleep," Ivy said and let out a yawn which she covered with her hand. "A girl that you don't know. Millie Rickson. She was having dreams about her boyfriend again. She started moaning and making kissing noises in her sleep, so I had to get out."

"Merlin's Beard!" Draco said in complete disgust, wrinkling his nose. "Ew! Thanks a lot, Ivy," he sneered. "I won't be able to sleep tonight unless you obliviate me from the last two minutes that we talked."

Ivy laughed amusingly, and another yawn escaped her mouth. "Anyway," she says tiredly, and then her smirk comes back. "I can't wait until you tell me about you and Harry's sex life. The topic's the hottest between Pansy, Blaise, and I."

Draco just shook his head and didn't believe her at all. He pointed a finger at her and said, "No!" Then he stormed out of the common room towards his dormitory. That girl can be a mental pain at times and that time is now.

Ivy grinned mischievously and whispered to herself, "Oh, but you will."

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