Draco woke up abruptly as he heard a screech come from somewhere close by him. Who dare disturb his sleep! He needed it. His beauty sleep mattered the most out of his day. He looked at his alarm clock on the bedside table. It was sodding midnight. Midnight! He looked around the darkened room of his bedroom in caution. What caused that screech? But it also sounded quite familiar... like an... An owl! But why would there be... Oh right, but it can't be Ulysses?

He got up from his bed and headed over to the window with the black curtains hanging down from the rod. He opened them up but didn't see anything. "Ulysses? Is that you?" he whispered.

Another screech was heard again, this time it was a little louder and it came from somewhere inside the house. Merlin, he hoped Ulysses hadn't somehow entered the house as pets from students, apart from Daisy were not allowed at Alpine Hollows. He walked towards his bedroom door and quietly opened it. There was no owl anywhere to be seen. He heard it again and looked up at Harry's closed bedroom door.

He knocked quietly on Harry's door but heard no answer. "Harry? Can I come in?" he asked quietly, his knuckle lightly touching the white door in front of him. And he hoped nobody in this house had heard the owl either. He didn't want to have to come up with an explanation about the screeching noise to make these muggles who lives under the same roof as him, sod off and go back to bed.

"You may come in, Draco," was heard from the other side of the bedroom door. Draco slowly opened the door and walked into the room. What he saw was quite extraordinary. Harry Potter in bed while a white snowy owl sat on his lap with its eyes closed.

He didn't know what to say right now. Does Harry know he's not allowed pets at Alpine Hollows? Surely, he would have been told. He walked over to Harry's bed and sat down beside the Gryffindor while not taking his eyes of the beautiful snowy owl. "Who's this pretty little thing?" he asked lightly with a smile. He mainly was talking about Harry being the 'pretty little thing'.

"This is Hedwig," Harry said while stroking the owl's wing feathers. He could see the need in Draco's eyes and knew he wanted to touch the owl too. "You can pat him if you'd like."

Draco hesitantly reached over and stroked the snowy white owl on Harry's lap. Its feathers were as soft as snow, but not cold. The owl's feathers were quite warm, room temperature warm. "She's beautiful," he mumbles.

"She is," Harry whispers and smiled when looking into Draco's warm silver eyes. He forced himself to blink and look away at the sudden realization that Draco Malfoy was in his room.

Draco cleared his throat as he watched Harry from the corner of his eye looking at him. His face felt fairly warm and he knew he was blushing a little. How could he not? Having those beautiful eyes and handsome face staring at him was so... It made his heartbeat rapidly against his chest. "Harry, this is a little hard to say but you're not allowed pets at Alpine Hollows," he tells the Gryffindor flatly.

He immediately regretted saying what he just told Harry as a frown appeared on the boy's face. He placed a hand over Harry's and smiled reassuringly. "But it is okay," he added kindly, noticing a tinge of red appearing on Harry's face. "I won't tell anybody. I'll help you look after Hedwig, Harry. I'll even sneak around at night to let Hedwig out for a fly with you, if that's what she needs."

Harry looked at him in disbelief and raised a single eyebrow. "You will actually do this for me?" he asks curiously. "With me, I mean."

Draco nodded. Why wouldn't he? He'd absolutely love to spend more time with Harry even if his sleep pattern would suffer. "Of course, I will, Harry," he says softly, glancing down at Hedwig and could feel Harry's eyes still on him. "You're my best friend." Well, probably not a best friend as it had only been a day. More like... friend.

Harry forced a smile on his lips. Honestly, he could just hug this guy in appreciation. "Thank you, Draco," he drawls, "I really appreciate this."

Draco smiled at him warmly. He's really warming up to this boy a lot. He honestly feels as if they have been friends for years but well, he wished that were true. He's always wondered what it would have been like if Harry had taken his hand in friendship a year ago. "It's not a problem, Harry."

Harry elbowed him lightly in the arm. "Are you sure friends stare at each other for long moments of time?" he asked slowly with an actual smile as he remembered Draco smiling and staring at him in an almost... lover kind of way. He had to admit it was quite...beautiful, sweet and utterly adorable to see. Merlin, he'd never think about calling Draco these compliment names last year.

Draco felt that light blush forming in his cheeks darken to a red as he recalled getting so lost in those beautiful green eyes when staring at the Gryffindor yesterday. "I, um..." he mumbles awkwardly, looked down at his nails and checked them out. "Err... I-," he stuttered with a goofy smile and scratches at his neck. "I-I was a-actually looking b-behind you as I-I saw an r-rabbit." Damn stutter, he thought. Gets him every time.

Harry laughs softly at the stuttering Slytherin. What he adored is seeing Draco checking his nails out. it's the most funniest but cute thing he's seen Draco do. He has seen the Slytherin check out his nails a lot during school too. But he swore Draco was staring at him yesterday evening. He literally locked eyes with the Slytherin.

Hedwig hooted quietly as she could sense the obvious lie coming from the Slytherin. It was like a wave she could feel if someone lied to her or was lying to someone.

Harry smiled down at Hedwig and patted her head down to her tail. "The reason she's here with me is... well, I can't keep her at my relatives because they probably won't feed her," he tells Draco simply, and he sighs at the depressing thought of going back to the Dursley's to find Hedwig dead from starvation. "I'd hate to go back there and find out they starved her to death..." Even the thought of it made tears come to his eyes.

Hedwig nudged her owner in the hand gently for sympathy. She too didn't want that to happen and was glad she had such an amazing owner.

Draco sighed deeply at Harry and squeezed his hand for reassurance. He could see the slight tears in the Gryffindor's eyes and looked at him sympathetically, hoping that by doing so, Harry can talk to him. "It's good you brought her, Harry," he says, removing his hand from over Harry's and he goes back to patting Hedwig's feathery wings. "We'll both look after her in secret. Just... make sure she doesn't wake up anybody in the house otherwise we'll have a lot of explaining to do."

Harry smiled weakly at that thought. They would have to come up with a really good explanation for an owl in this house. Even muggles don't keep owls as pets. Well, some do but it is probably quite rare. "Since I can't let Hedwig out during the day, unless I do it early in the morning, would you actually be willing to come out with me?"

"Most certainly!" Draco says at once. Since Weasel and Granger aren't here, it's his job to be there for Harry through thick and thin. "I'll always be here to help you, Harry. Just like how I'll always be here if you need to talk to me about certain family stuff. I am always here for you."

"Thanks again, Draco," Harry mumbles, missing the feel of Draco's hand back over his own. He has never felt so calm in his life to hold this person's hand ever. Before he ever met Draco, he thought the Slytherin's hand would be all clammy and gross, even covered in slime. How could he have been so blind though? The Slytherin's hands are so soft, so warm, and just by touching the Slytherin, he feels so... warm inside. Like he was meant to hold this boy's hand all along. But that just sounded quite weird, but also quite funny.

"And again, it is my pleasure," Draco replied gently, and he bites his lip when glancing down at Harry's lips. Such pink soft-looking lips. How does he survive this torture?

"So," Harry deadpans, "Want to head out now?"

Draco gave him a nod. He would like to watch the flutter of snowy white feathers fly away into the night even if he would want to go back to sleep. His eyes were just drooping right now, he wouldn't even mind if he fell asleep on Harry's bed.

Harry held his arm out and put his thick brown gloves on over his hands. In a flutter of wings, Hedwig flew onto the gloves and dug her claws into the leathery material so she could stand properly. "Let's go."

With Hedwig on his arm, Harry and Draco went out of his room. They headed down the stairs and out the back door. They were out the back in the grassy land behind the house, Daisy was sleeping in the lounge room of the house on the grey and pink flowery lounge chair peacefully. Harry held up his arm, while the other arm petted Hedwig's feathers.

Draco smiled at the Gryffindor and his owl. Never in his life he would ever believe he could be this close to Harry Potter. It was like a dream, almost.

Hedwig fluttered her wings, creating a small gust of wind and she took off, flying off into the dark of the night to hunt.

The boys watched her fly away, a little white blob getting smaller and smaller in the sky like a star in the galaxy.

Harry took an unconscious step to the side, not noticing he did so until the back of his hand touched Draco's. There was a slight feeling of warmth and a tingly feeling that spread up Harry's arm. "Sorry," he whispered, and he wrapped his arms around himself as the cold of the night brought chills to his body.

Draco just shook his head, his posture relaxed and upright. He didn't want Harry apologising. His eyes sparkled and he gazed at Harry. "Do you know when Hedwig will be back?" he asks him casually.

"I don't know," Harry replies, his voice low and he shrugged. His eyes travelled to Draco's who was already looking at him, and he felt his face warm over.

Draco looked away with a blush on his face and neck from being caught staring at Harry. With Harry now staring at him, his blush only darkened. He cleared his throat and bit his lip. He looked back up at Harry, hoping his face wasn't as red as it felt. "Should we head back inside?" he asks quickly. "Wouldn't want anybody finding two riding students out of bed and in the dark."

"S'pose so," mutters Harry with a grimace. That actually sounded pretty bad if he and Draco were caught outside in the dark at an ungodly time. Merlin knows how Dave would react if they both were somehow swarmed by wolves, if they even live in these parts of the United Kingdom.

Once they were back inside the warm house of the Silver Sables, they headed back upstairs to their rooms.

Draco paused at Harry's door frame and looked in with a distant gaze at the floor. What he wants to know is how Hedwig will get back and when. "Do you know when exactly Hedwig will be back?" He knows he's asked the question before, but he had to ask.

Harry gave a shrug as he climbed back into bed and pulled the blankets over his legs. "I'll keep the window and her cage door open for her," he drawls. "When she comes back, I'll have to hide her somewhere where Daisy can't sniff her out."

Draco nodded and looked up at him. "How about you hide her in a bathroom?" he suggests, leaning against the door frame. "I don't think it will be wise to hide her in a closet or any tight space for that matter."

"Sure," Harry deadpans with a yawn, which made Draco smile.

"By the way, who introduced you to Daisy?" Draco just had to ask, and he checks his nails out again just to make sure there weren't any chipped ends. Who did introduce Harry to Daisy? He doesn't remember himself doing it. Could it have been Dave?

"Julian," said Harry, and he looks out the window of his bedroom.

Draco felt that jealousy surge through him again and he crossed his arms. Of course, it had to be Julian. Sodding bastard. "So, how is Julian?" he asks flatly. He didn't really care what Harry says about Julian honestly. What he will listen to is Harry talking about anything else. He could listen to him all week nonstop. "I don't really talk to him much anymore."

"Julian's pretty great," Harry says lightly with a small nod, and he slowly looks back at the Slytherin. "He's kind, caring, and I think if he were a wizard, he'd be at least either a Slytherin or a Gryffindor."

Draco snorted. "Yeah..." he mutters while looking at the ground. "A Slytherin." But then he paused, bit his lip and looked up at Harry, his eyes filled with a gleam at an unanswered answer to a question he must ask. "Would you date muggles, Harry?"

Harry looked at him, really looked at him deeply and smiled softly. "Maybe, if they're my type," he answers slowly.

Draco raised a blonde eyebrow, wanting to know of this 'type' of guy Harry's into. "What is your type, Harry?" he asks curiously, and he walks over and sits in front of him on his bed. Who would the Wizarding World's Golden Boy be into? His heart flipped in his chest at how Harry's staring at him without blinking.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "Oh, I don't know," he mumbles, thinking about how to say this. "Someone who's sweet, kind, funny, romantic. Well, I don't know, really. Just someone who gets me and won't just like me for my bloody fame."

Draco nods. He can be pretty romantic. Well, he hasn't done anything that's romantic before. He has made Pansy and Blaise laugh before, so does that count? He can possibly be sweet but that all depends. Most importantly, he doesn't care one bit about Harry's fame and popularity. To him, Harry is just Harry. Not Harry Potter, the boy who lived.

Harry notices Draco just staring at him again which he doesn't mind at all. It's nice, and it just makes his face feel warm and millions of butterflies flutter around in his stomach. He reaches forward and boops Draco on the nose, and Draco jumps a little in surprise and looks down at his nose. Harry laughs quietly and Draco's face reddens a little. He looks to his bedside table at the clock and sees how early it is in the morning. One thirty in the morning. "Well, erm... I think I'm going to head back to bed," he says after some time. "I'm a little tired. I didn't get much sleep because of Hedwig and her hungered screeches."

"Oh, of course," Draco lightly says, and he gets up off Harry's bed. Walking back to Harry's door, he wriggles his fingers as a goodbye and smiles. "Goodnight, Potter. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Draco," Harry says, gets up from his bed and goes towards his bedroom door to close it. He gives Draco a smile as he closes his door, the last thing he sees is Draco's silvery eyes, and he gets back into his bed. The thought of Draco and his eyes never leave his mind as he drifts off into his slumber.

Draco went straight to his bed when he closed his door after seeing Harry's smile disappear from his view. Great, now he had that beautiful smile stuck in his head. It wasn't a bad thing though. It just meant he won't be able to get Harry out of his mind. He didn't mind though. He got under the blankets of his bed and turned on his side, closed his eyes and began to feel himself fall asleep.

*****

Draco wakes bright and early, dressed as casually as he could which was pretty much some Jodphurs and a nice green turtleneck, and headed down to the kitchens to make himself some quick breakfast of strawberry jam on toast. Then with Daisy, he headed to the Barn to see Orion.

Daisy panted by his side as they cross the icy grass under their feet, and Draco looks down at her with a smile as they enter the barn. Daisy barks happily when Draco opens the stable door into Orion's stable. He crouch's down where Orion's sleeping on the floor to pet her. Daisy runs around Orion and Draco, yelping happily.

Orion wakes up with a huff and gets to her feet. She snorts at Daisy, and the little puppy kept running around them. Draco laughs fondly, whips out his wand from his pocket and points it at Daisy as she stops in front of him. "Shhh," he shushes her and presses his wand tip to his lips. "You know my secret. Both of you do." He glances from Daisy to Orion. Daisy sits and tilts her head to the side, making Draco chuckle with adoration. "Even Harry Potter has my same secret. None of these muggles in this riding centre knows of the secret. But you both know of my other secret."

Daisy barked and sniffed Draco's wand. The Slytherin smiles and casts a "Lumos," brightening up the stable with the small ball of light from the tip of his wand. He knows Underage Magic is illegal, but a simple Lumos doesn't count. He has asked his own father about it.

Daisy barks and backs away, then stands up on her little paws and walks towards Draco. Orion neighs and nods her head. Draco smiles at them and stands up from on the floor.

"Draco?"

Draco quickly turns around and hides his wand behind his back, whispering a "Nox." It was Dave. Oh, good Merlin. This was bad. He could see his Lumos turning off but kept his wand behind his back. "Hello, Dave," he says carefully, quickly.

Dave knows what he saw. But he guessed it was some kind of odd expensive torch thing. "Good morning, Draco," he said, crossing his arms over the stable door and looks down into the stable, seeing Daisy and Orion together. He smiles at the animals. "It's nice seeing you up early like always. And nice torch. One of my students – this is when you go back to your boarding school and I get students who go to normal public or private schools during the weekend – likes to get up at five and lay up in the Hay Loft and read. It's quite nice to know the Hay Loft is being used differently than it usually is."

Draco considered that for a minute. The hayloft is quite a nice quiet place to just relax. Plus there's a nice large window looking out into the paddocks and fields surrounding the Equestrian Centre. "You'll be seeing more of me this early in the morning then," he mutters as he quickly pocketed his wand whilst Dave was distracted by Daisy. He pondered what other students Dave has that attend Alpine Hollows every weekend while he and Harry go back to Hogwarts. Wait... Harry. He forgot to wait until Harry woke up. Now he feels bad, but he knows Harry will get up on his own.

Just then, the sound of feminine voices grew louder and Gloria, Cecelia, and Lillian walked past Dave and Draco. Draco didn't pay attention to them and began stroking Orion's nose. The girls' voices suddenly died down for a moment, until Draco heard Lillian say, "Did you two notice Julian flirting with Harry during breakfast in the lounge room?"

Draco growled quietly and slid his hand across Orion's side, trying to block out the girl's voices talking about how they did hear Julian flirting with Harry which he does not want to hear. How dare the muggle flirt with Harry! But, to his utter sorrow, he knows Harry isn't his. Harry is his own person. But still... how dare Julian!

Dave let Daisy out of Orion's stall when seeing her paw at the stable door. He glances back at Draco and sees that the young male looks pissed. He knows what it's from. Ah. Teenage jealousy. He smiles at the blonde boy and thinks about the times where the guy's he has likes were either taken or just weren't gay. Ah, the most painful times.

Draco just wants to hex these girls for even mentioning something so sickening, then he will hex Julian to the next week. He could do it but he knows he shouldn't. He just got back to distractedly petting Orion's back and sides.

"Did you also hear Harry likes guys?" Gloria tells her best friends as she walks Mist out of her Stable stall and towards Lillian and Cecelia whose horse stalls were next to each others.

"Harry likes guys and girls, Glory," Cecelia says, petting Electra's rose grey mane as she brushes Electra's coat. "I heard him and Julian speak about a few things relating to school too. Apparently, he goes to school with Draco." She knows Draco's behind them in Orion's stall. Same as Dave. "It's what I've heard anyway."

Draco grimaces a little. Of course, he is missing out on interesting topics of conversation with Harry. He could be eavesdropping on Harry and Julian right now and so he's missing out. He tried thinking of other things besides Harry and decides to tack Orion up.

Orion presses her nose into Draco's hand as a gesture of sympathy. He can feel her owner's jealousy as well as his magic.

Draco looks back at her, smiles, and strokes her nose. When Dave moves aside, he exits the stall, closes the door, and heads to the Saddle room. The smell of leather calms him down a little as he grabs his tacking up gear and heads back to Orion's stall.

Thankful that the gossiping girls had left the barn, he tacks Orion up and leads her out to of the barn. He walked Orion to the field where he sees the three chatterbox girls chatting together, and he sees some blue, red, and white obstacle jumps in the middle of the field that Dave probably put down. Oh, how exciting! He gets to jump Orion again, just with the bar at the lowest hold. Looking back over at the houses, he sees Harry and Julian walking together towards the barn. Clenching his teeth and giving Julian a sullen look, he sharply turns away and continued to the field.

He keeps his head high, puts on his riding helmet, and lifts himself up and over Orion until seated on the saddle. He nudged Orion in the side into a walk and just let her walk around the field until class starts. He was hoping for some peace and quiet to just chat with Orion about life in general, but was unlucky when the three most annoying people he most definitely doesn't want to talk to trots up to him on their horses.

"Jealous are we, Draco?" Cecelia asks him mockingly and grins as Draco rolls his eyes with a huff. "Oh, he most certainly is!"

"Jealous that you're not spending your precious time with Harry, hm?" Lillian asks with a chuckle at Draco. She quickly looks around the field. Harry and Julian weren't around yet. "Honestly, Draco... if you're really interested in him then ask him out! It shouldn't be that hard!"

"You try asking the most populist guy in school out," Draco mutters, his gaze down at Orion's mane while he thinks about doing such an impossible task. He keeps getting told to ask Harry such a thing but can he do it? He's not exactly brave enough. "Harry's friends don't exactly like me either."

Lillian was going to open her mouth but was interrupted when Dave called them over to start the lesson.

Draco quickly gazed over at Harry, noticing that he had chosen Garnet for today and that he locked eyes with his emerald green ones. Honestly, Harry looks good on any horse. He quickly looks away, his face heating and he licks his lips, and he looks back at Dave and tells them how they're going to trot a few laps around the field and jump over the obstacles then repeat. It sounds simple enough.

He nudges Orion's side when Dave says they can go, turns her around by the bridal, and she begins trotting around the field. He tries his best to not look over at Harry but he just can't. Harry's just to... distracting. He purses his lips when seeing Julian still with Harry. "They're just friends," he mutters to himself. But he couldn't stop himself from letting the truth in. "Just friends," he says quietly. "Get it together, Draco."

Orion snorts and nodded her head. She agrees with her rider that he needs to get it together and to stop being so jealous.

Draco looks over at Harry again and blushes when he sees Harry looking at him, wriggling his fingers, and winking. Merlin... Draco emits a high-pitched squeak from out of nowhere, and he blushes even more as he keeps his head down, and guides Orion towards the red, blue, and white jumps.

Orion easily jumps the obstacle in the middle of the field, and Draco smiles as he turns Orion around and she then trots around the left side of the field. With a quick glance at Harry – because he really cannot help himself – he notices the Gryffindor looks a little scared when nearing the jumps. Of course, it's Harry's first time jumping. He grins and trots over to Harry on Orion.

Harry bites his lip as he and Garnet trot closer to the obstacle which he really doesn't know how to jump over such a thing on a horse. What if he falls off? What if he gets thrown off? His heart flutters as he hears the most calming voice he has ever known say his name, "Harry." He looks to his side and sees Draco and Orion walking over to him and Julian. Now he feels more nervous because he knows he could mess this up while Draco's watching him. Good Lord.

"Hello, Draco," Julian says politely, and he nudges Cinnamon forward, around Harry and jumps the lone obstacle in front of them.

"Hello," Draco replies weakly to Julian but doesn't even look in his direction and he feels automatically glad Julian had left them be. "So, you have no idea how to jump a horse, Harry?" Harry looks down at Garnet's chestnut mane and nodded his head. "Then I'll teach you, and with some help with Dave, of course." He nodded his chin towards their riding instructor without looking Dave's way. "Come on."

Harry nodded again and followed Draco and Orion over to Dave. He felt embarrassed that he couldn't jump something so small. But he is just a beginner after all.

"Dave, we need to teach Harry how to jump with a horse," Draco says at once as he nears him, and he tugs on Orion's bridal to stop her. Orion steps to the side to let Harry and Garnet in.

"Of course-" Dave quickly backs away from Garnet who Harry can't seem to stop and he jumps the fence. He just laughs and Draco leans over towards Harry and tugs Garnet's rein to stop moving forward.

"Sorry," Harry mumbles, his face colouring with embarrassment. "I'm still learning."

"That's alright," Dave says, hauling his leg over the fence and he decides to just sit there. "When jumping on a horse, you need to keep your balance and most importantly, stay on the horse." He knows he needs a demonstration so he looks at the young blonde. "Draco, can you demonstrate to Harry how to properly jump a horse?"

Draco nodded, and with a tug of Orion's bridal to the left, Orion turns around and canters over to the obstacle jumps. He waits for Lillian to finish jumping and lines Orion up. When Dave gives him the thumbs up, he nudges Orion's side twice until she's trotting towards the obstacles.

"Harry, watch how Draco positions himself when Orion jumps up, and when Orion's about to land on her hooves," Dave says to Harry, and he strokes Garnet's long snout with a white stripe over her nose.

Harry watches Draco and Orion. Mostly Draco. He notices how Draco leans forward on Orion as she jumps up, and leans back on her as she's about to land on her hooves. Draco made it look so simple. Jesus Christ... How is he supposed to manage that? "Wow..."

"It all takes time and practise, Harry," Dave says lightly, slides down the fence, grabs the ring on Garnet's bridal and turns her around. He's quite proud Draco has become such an excellent student. "I'm going to go grab one of the log jumps for you to practise with." Looking over at his student, he spots his younger brother and cups his mouth to yell, "Julian! You're in charge while I'm gone."

Julian turns his head towards his older brother. He grins at him and nodded his head. Dave nods back and gives him the 'Don't disappoint me' look and leaves the field.

Draco sighs quietly to himself. Julian has been in charge before, but it was before Harry ever went to Alpine Hollows. Julian has never ordered any of the students to do anything stupid. He hopes it stays at that.

Cecelia and her horse Electra walk over to Harry and Garnet. "Don't worry, Harry," she says gently and stands a little to the left of Harry's sight. "You'll be jumping Garnet or Dusk in no time." She then notices something. Harry's just staring off at the middle of the field like he is looking at something truly incredible and gorgeous. Raising an eyebrow, she hesitantly looks behind her where Harry's staring at and only sees Draco who's just letting Orion do her own thing while he strokes her neck. She looks back at Harry with a smile, walks Electra closer towards him, and she snaps her fingers in front of Harry's eyes.

Harry blinks, feeling himself come out of this almost trance state and looks at Cecelia. She giggles, and Harry just realises who he has been staring at for the past two minutes. Feeling himself blush which really didn't help the situation he was in, he asks flatly, "What?"

"I said...don't worry, you'll be jumping Garnet in no time," Cecelia tells him and pokes him on the shoulder. She keeps smiling because whatever Harry and Draco have between them, it is quite powerful and she knows it has to do with love. But the thing is...can't the two see it in each other's eyes that they like each other? She honestly just wants to just grab the two and shove them inside a room to sort everything out, and even better, push Draco into Harry.

"Right," Harry mumbles, and he hopes what she says is true. "I hope so." He looks over at the gates out of the field and saw Dave walking in carrying a little wooden obstacle jump over his shoulder. It looks quite heavy to lift.

Dave places the wooden jump down to the right side of the field and calls Harry over.

Harry sighs. "Wish me luck," he says to Cecelia, and then trots Garnet over to Dave after hearing Cecelia reply back with a Good Luck. He feels nervous as he looks at the small jump. But this should be nothing. He plays Quidditch, the most toughest sport in the world. He lines Garnet up to the jump and looks at Dave.

"Just try to remember what Draco did," Dave tells him as some advice since he can tell Harry looks nervous. "Remember, lean forward when jumping, and lean back when landing and keep your feet in the stirrups."

Harry nods and sighs as he ready's himself for the jump. He nudges his heels into Garnet's belly, and she starts trotting over to the wooden obstacle. Harry grits his teeth, everything seems to slow down for him from his nerves, and the moment Garnet nears the jump, he tightens his hands on the bridle rein. He feels garnet slow down and realises he hasn't jumped yet when he should have. He looks to the side of Garnet's big head and sees the wood jump next to Garnet's hooves.

He groans and lets his head fall to Garnet's mane. "You had one job, Garnet," he mutters to her. "One bloody job. And you ruined it." Garnet snorts and nodded her head. Harry sighs and straightens himself back up, turns her around and heads back to Dave to start all over again.

"Not everyone gets it on their first try, Harry," Draco walks over on Orion, an assuring smile on his handsome young face that makes Harry's stomach do flips. "You'll get it soon though. You're bloody good at Quidditch and won your first ever match against Slytherin when you were eleven. If I can do it, you can."

"Thanks, Draco," Harry smiles affectionately at him, but now that he knows Draco has been watching him, it makes him even more nervous. Bloody Draco Malfoy and his perfect posture and white-blonde hair, stunning silver eyes, charming smile, and handsome face. He can't compete against all that!

Draco nods, his face colouring with red with gratitude. "Well, I will leave you to your jumping," he says after a beat, and he feels himself getting distracted by Harry's gorgeous smile. It has always distracted him ever since he first saw it in his first year. He clears his throat and forces himself to look away. "See you soon."

Harry watches Draco leave and canter over to Miles and Johnathan. He lines Garnet back up to the wooden jump again, nudges her sides, and feels her begin to trot. He feels ready for this jump. It's just one jump after all. Harry grits his teeth as he immediately feels the rush of air hit his body and the gravity pull him down as Garnet jumps over the wooden jump. He tries his best to manage his balance as he leaned down at the right time when Garnet jumped over, and leans back as she lands on her hooves.

Harry blinks and realises he has made it to the other side of the jump. He grins, leans back up turns Garnet around. He sees Dave, Julian, and Draco clapping with smiles after viewing what he has completed. It's one giant step that he's gone up. But that's just one jump.

"Congrats, Harry!" Dave yells from the other side of the field, a proud smile on his face at his newest student. "Now come back and practise some more. You've got to get used to this obstacle before you move up to any higher obstacle jumps."

Harry nodded at him and headed back over to him. It was one lucky jump out of many. He practises with Garnet jumping the same obstacle over and over again, and he gradually glances over at Draco who's talking with Mike and Johnathan from time to time.

Draco's been chatting to Johnathan and Mike for quite some time about school. He's been asking them how their school year has been as he wanted to know what school is like for muggles. He has no idea what maths and humanities are. Not even Rugby, Football, and many other words with the word 'ball' in them. What even is Tiggie and Tag?

He had to make loads of stuff up when talking about his own school. Quidditch he had to tell the two that it's just a large sports day where everyone plays Football and Baseball – which he still doesn't know what they are. He doesn't want to ask because that would just be too sceptical.

Miles looks around at his fellow riders and notices Harry looking over at them. Well, he knows who exactly Harry is looking at. He smiles and waves at him, and Harry quickly looks his way, smiles and waves back. He mouths a, "I caught you," at Harry, and the Gryffindor blushes and looks away. He laughs softly which gathers the attention of Draco and Johnathan.

"What is it you're laughing about, mate?" Johnathan asks him flatly and strokes his Thoroughbred, Trapper's neck.

"I'll tell you later," Mike drawls.

Draco looks at them curiously for a moment, wondering what they're going to talk about and why he isn't included. He wants to eavesdrop on the two during lunch to find out what they'll be talking about but knows it'll be impolite too.

Finally, the hour-long riding lesson had finished, and Draco said his farewells to Mike and Johnathan and made his way with Orion to the exit of the field. On his way, he sees another farmhand who he remembers is Steve on a quad bike leading a bunch of horses to another paddock. He gets off Orion and decides to walk her to one of the grassy paddocks to graze around on.

A familiar yelp of a puppy came from behind Draco and he turned around to find Daisy running up to him, her tongue flapping around from the corner of her mouth as she runs. Draco smiles and crouches down to pet her, but when she nears him, she ends up jumping onto Draco and pushes him down onto the grass. She walks around him and begins licking his neck and chin, and Draco cracks up in loud laughter and squirms as he tries aiming his face away from Daisy's tongue.

Draco then heard a loud whistle over his laughter which made Daisy look up, bark, and run off who knows where. He wipes at his chin and cheeks with his sleeves and sits up, locking eyes with emerald green. He smiles gratefully at Harry for saving him from dying a slobbery death. "Ah, the Gryffindor Golden Boy has saved one more soul from an embarrassing death once again," he drawls, and Harry rolls his eyes.

"You know, I think I saw Daisy lick her arse earlier," Harry tells him, and he laughs on the inside at the lie he told the Slytherin. He never saw Daisy lick herself, but who actually knows if she has licked herself. Draco looked horrified and disgusted at the same time, and he curls his lip. "I'm only joking, Draco."

"You little-" Draco was cut off as Daisy came running back over to him, and he quickly backs away and gets to his feet in time before Daisy can swarm him with puppy dog kisses. Draco backs up against the nearest fence and chuckles when Daisy stands on her hind legs and puts her two front paws on his pants. Draco leans down to pick her up and hold her in his arms. "Did you know that Daisy, the horses, and all the other animals at Alpine Hollows know of our little secret?" he asks Harry and dodges one of Daisy's licks.

"No, I didn't," Harry replies quietly and now wishes he were Daisy so he can just run up to Draco and just kiss him all over his face. Dogs have it easy. "But how do they know were not exactly...err... normal humans? Muggles, to be precise."

"I'm not actually sure," Draco drawls with a shrug. He bobs Daisy in his arms up and down. "I guess they just know. I've heard animals have a sixth sense, so maybe we wizards have a certain smell or aura around us that makes us stand out from all the muggles."

"Maybe," Harry says, voice low and pensive as he looks down at Daisy and thinks about what Draco had said. What would wizards smell like? Then he ponders what kind of aura he would have around him that animals can see. He looks back at Draco into his silver eyes and smiles. The only Aura he sees is how the sun makes Draco's hair look almost golden, and it distracts Harry so much that he nearly loses his balance. "So..." he steps towards the white fence and leans against it, "what do you normally do on weekends here."

"Since there are no riding lessons on the weekend, I would usually either head out into Town with everyone to go shopping or I would stay behind and just spend my time with Orion," Draco says, and he puts Daisy down when she begins to wriggle in his arms. He stands back up and watches the little golden retriever run over to Orion.

Harry's eyes brighten as an idea forms in his head. "Oh, so um..." he blushes as he locks eyes with silver orbs. "Wanna err... go to see a movie on the weekend then?" he asks quickly and smiles brightly.

Draco considers this for a moment. He knows what a movie is, of course. But he has never seen one before. It would be nice to see one, and with Harry, so he nodded. "I would like that," he says lightly. But what he didn't realise was that Harry actually asked him out. He knows nothing of what going to the movies with someone actually means to muggles.

Harry beamed, thinking how easy that was to ask, and he swings his arms energetically back and forth. "Great!" he says happily, his face still red with a blush, and he bites his lip. He wonders what new movies are out in cinemas around now. "So um... yeah. Brilliant!"

Draco smiled fondly at Harry's obvious excitement. He didn't understand why Harry was excited to just see a movie though. But he does have to admit that it is a little exciting to him too as he's going to see his first-ever movie. He forced himself to look away and over at Orion, and he whistles to her. "Let's head back," he says after a beat.

Orion flicks her ears back at the whistle and turns around while Daisy is by her hooves. Orion walks back to her owner while watching the overexcited puppy.

"Yes, we should," Harry replies at once, and he reaches a hand forward when Orion nears them and pets her neck. He raises his other hand to Orion's snout and rubs her long nose.

Draco wraps his hand around Orion's reins and subconsciously places his other hand over Harry's which was on Orion's nose. They look at each other for a second, until Draco, whose cheeks tinged with pink, looks away and down at Daisy rolling around on the grass. Harry looks at Draco's hand over his which was distractedly warm to him and sees the familiar black encrusted ring with an 'M' in the middle. The Malfoy Ring.

He studies Draco's hands for a minute, noting how long, pretty, and elegant each finger is. Draco's fingernails are well taken care of as he can tell, and they're round and have no pointy or sharp ends. He removes his hand from Orion's nose, and immediately misses the warmth and comfort of Draco's hand covering his own. He clears his throat. "Let's go."

They head back to the barn, and when halfway there, Draco asks, "Did you put Garnet away and untack her or did you get a little help when doing so?"

"I took Garnet back to her stall but needed help untacking her so I asked Julian for his assistance," Harry tells him, looking ahead of them at the red Quaker Barn with younger students walking their horses towards the field with Dave.

Draco wrinkles his nose. Of course, it was Julian. "What happened after Julian helped you?" he asks flatly as they walk around a younger boy and his horse into the barn. They continue down the barn and took a left towards Orion's stall.

"He left because he had to talk with Dave about something," Harry says, open's Orion's stall door and lets Orion and Draco walk into the stall first before he closes the door and rests his arms over the top of the door. "I dunno what about though," he added a little quieter. "So, what other things do you do out in town on the weekends?"

"In the town of Wells, I pretty much just go shopping," Draco deadpans, turns Orion around and starts untacking her and starts with the saddle. "Other than that, I just hang around with the other guys, get a coffee, and chat with them."

"I'm guessing these guys include Mike, Johnathan, and Julian?" Harry asks curiously, and he raises an eyebrow as Draco seemed to hesitate and nod. "From what I've heard from Julian, you guys were close."

Draco snorts. "Julian and I were acquaintances, not friends," he tells Harry quickly. He didn't want to continue and say that Mike and Johnathan are more of friends than Julian ever was. He just didn't want to sound rude at all. He decides on a different topic to talk about. "Oh and... Dave might have accidentally seen me use magic."

Harry looks at him, and to Draco's surprise and adoration, Harry lets out a loud, belly-filled laugh. "How in Merlin's name did you manage that?" he asks him once his laughter died down a bit and he was able to speak without cracking up again.

"It was only a Lumos!" Draco speaks at once with a smile as he places Orion's saddle over the stable door, and Harry steps away and leans against the stable wall. "I was just talking with Orion and Daisy this morning in Orion's stall, it was a little dark in the stable so I cast a Lumos, and then Dave made an appearance. It was quite horrifying."

Harry just nodded. He wished he were there to see what happened. He hopes the Ministry doesn't find out that Draco was seen using magic in front of a muggle. If they do find out, he will stick up for Draco though.

"I think Dave just thought my wand was a muggle torch," Draco says flatly, frowning a little at the thought of the Ministry finding out as he took off the bridle from Orion's head and held it under his arm. "So there isn't anything to worry about."

Harry nods again and opens Orion's stable door to let Draco out. Orion walks forward and Harry smiles at her as he closes the wooden stable door so she doesn't try escaping. He reaches over to stroke her long nose, then he grabs the saddle and follows Draco to the saddle room. He bumps shoulders with the Slytherin every so often as they head to the middle of the barn.

They walk into the saddle room, and Draco walks over to his section where he hangs his bridle, takes his saddle and saddle pad from Harry and puts it on its holder. "So, how was your day so far?" the Slytherin asks Harry.

"It's been great," Harry replies, leaning over the saddle cleaning table in the middle of the room and smiled at the Slytherin. "I learnt how to jump with a horse, so that made my day better." But what was best about this day that he doesn't want to admit is asking the Slytherin out.

"That's marvellous," Draco says lavishly, smiling back at him as they walk back out of the saddle room. They head back to the Silver Sable house where they find Camilla putting meat pies, sausage rolls, spring rolls, and other little finger foods on a tray. They feel their stomach's rumbling, knowing lunchtime is pretty soon, and they go and ask if she needs any help.

Camilla only says she needs to do the dishes from this morning, and the boy's immediately got to it even after Camilla insists they don't. Draco doesn't want his hands getting wet and soggy, so Harry does the dishes, and Draco wipes them clean and puts them away while Camilla gets lunch ready.

*****

After lunch, the two headed back to the stables and tacked Orion and Garnet up for their evening trail ride. Draco was feeling slightly annoyed because Julian had been talking with Harry non-stop and had talked over him whenever he was saying something to Harry. He pretty much felt so left out of the conversation. But he did catch Harry looking at him instead of Julian every so often which always put a smile on his face.

"So... how was your day so far?" he asks Harry as they walk out of the barn with Orion and Garnet by their side, being led by the lead rope.

"It was alright," Harry says lightly, his hand slipping further up Garnet's lead rope to his bridal loop.

Draco nods and forces a smile as he elbows Harry in the side and says, "I noticed Julian kept glancing at you every so often." He hated saying that. He just wanted to know what Harry thinks of it though.

Harry snorted. He knew that was true but never really cared about that. "Yeah, because he was talking to me," he replies at once, and Draco rolls his eyes and instinctively bumps shoulders with Harry. "It's what people do when they're talking with someone, and eye contact gives the idea that the other person is interested in the conversation."

"I know that," Draco mutters, and he spots Dave, Julian, and the other riding students his age on their horses by the forest. "Let's go. Don't want to be latecomers again." He suddenly remembers what happened yesterday and feels himself blush. He hopes he won't get distracted again. The embarrassment he felt when Harry told him last night – no... teased him about was mortifying.

"Or get teased for our peculiar eyesight in which we can see apparent magical storms," Harry says, and he waves at Julian and Cecelia who're talking with each other and looking at him. He looks beside him at Draco after Julian had waved back.

"Peculiar eyesight?" Draco drawls and feels a scowl appear on his face. "Must I remind you of how bad your eyesight is compared to mine, Potter?" Harry just rolls his eyes at the familiar insult. "And everyone else for the matter."

"Oh, shut up," Harry mumbles and bites his lip from the smile forming on his lips. Garnet snorts from beside Harry and pushes his snout into Harry's hand which held the lead rope. Harry looks down and smiles at Garnet.

They walk over to the rest of the class, clip on their riding helmets, and mount their horses just as Dave begins to lead the class out of the gates into the bushland.

Harry looks around his surroundings in the bush for any critters scurrying around while he listens to the conversations going on around him. The three girls are talking about shopping which was typical, and Mike, Johnathan, and Julian were chatting about something about a Midnight Trail Ride, whatever that is.

He glances beside him and sees Draco quickly looking away from him. He smiles at the Slytherin and sighs deeply, his cheeks glowing pink as he remembers Draco ogling him yesterday evening. It was quite cute though.

Draco felt a little trapped with love. He can't stop looking at Harry. Why does this always happen to him? He looks ahead at the trail and wonders how Julian does it all. How can he easily get someone's attention, or make someone laugh and smile? He makes it look so easy. "So, how's Hedwig?"

"She's alright," Harry tells him, walking Garnet closer to Orion and Draco subconsciously, though he knows deep down he wants to be closer to the blonde snake physically and romantically. Soon, he hopes it'll happen "She'll probably be sleeping in her cage inside the wardrobe."

Draco nodded. He was thinking of last night, standing beside Harry, and watching Hedwig the snowy white owl flying away into the night sky on a hunt for food. It felt like nobody existed in the world but him, Harry, and Hedwig. He looked back at Harry, and Harry smiled at him and looks ahead of them. That gorgeous smile made his heart flutter, those gorgeous green eyes that are unnaturally bright, and he wished Harry was still looking his way so he can just get lost into pools of emerald green. His sight of Harry was disturbed as Julian and his horse Cinnamon walked in his line of view. Great...just great.

"Hi guys!" said Julian brightly, glancing back and fro from Harry and Draco, but his gaze laid on something he noticed sticking out in Draco's pocket of his coat. "Oh, what's that thing in your pocket, Draco?"

Draco hesitated as he drags his hand from the reins and feels the pocket of his black coat. He feels his wand which is halfway sticking out in the open. Merlin... "Umm... it's m-my torch," he says quickly, pushing his wand deeper into his pocket, and he could hear Harry chuckling beside Julian.

"Ohhhhh," said Julian with a prolonged 'h', and he nods his head at the odd-looking torch he sees still in Draco's pocket. "Can I see your torch, please? I don't think I've seen any kind of torch quite like yours."

"Um," said Draco, his voice filled with uncertainty about giving his wand to a muggle for inspection. "I dunno... It's a very expensive torch. Costs more than three of your houses in one."

"Where did you even get it from?" Julian asked him at once, his eyes still gazing at the torch that Draco's trying to hide in his pocket. "Costco? Target? Kmart?"

"Err... no," said Draco flatly. "I got my torch from..."

"Diagon Alley," Harry spoke over him, and turned his head to glance at Draco sceptically, then to Julian who finally looked away from Draco's wand and at Harry. "It's a popular brand of torches in err...Ireland."

Julian raised an eyebrow. "You know the brands of torches in Ireland?" he asks him in disbelief, and he watches Harry nod and scratches the back of his neck a little nervously. "You must really have an interest in torches if you care about the brands of them."

Harry laughs awkwardly. "Yeah," he mutters.

Draco's thinking to himself why Harry just made this even more so confusing. Torches have brands? What kind of brands? The only torch he knows is a wall torch like the ones in Hogwarts, and the ones in the basement of Malfoy Manor. He listens to Harry and Julian talk about torches, of all things in the world that the two could converse about.

He distracts himself a little by petting Orion's mane, until he concernedly sees Harry handing his wand over to Julian. The dumb git! "Harry!" he hisses, and Harry looks at him and shrugs lamely as Julian examines Harry's wand with one hand.

"This is an interesting torch you have here, Harry," Julian says distractedly, his eyes travelling up and down the holly wand. "You must be just as rich as Draco to have one since it's apparently really expensive. How does it work? I don't see any buttons to turn it on."

"Err..." Harry said and looked to Draco for help, but the Slytherin only smirked and looked ahead of them at the trail. He sighs and bites his lip, thinking about what to say to Julian to change the topic instead of telling him of the spell.

Draco rolls his eyes at Harry's silent thinking and looks at Julian. "A torch won't work out in the sunlight, so even if Harry tells you how it works, you won't be able to see the light unless we wait until tonight," he says matter of factly as he checks his nails out. "And I don't know about you, but I most definitely won't be sneaking out of the nice warm house tonight just to show you how to work a torch."

Julian blinked at him then looks at Harry. "Then I'm sure Harry won't mind showing how the odd torch thing works?" he asks of him kindly with a smile. "Unless you're like this one who cares too much for his precious hair and nails," he adds with a nod of his head towards Draco.

Draco gasps his annoyance and huffs, shoving his head high and looked into the forest with narrowed eyes. Harry laughs at Julian's words, full-on belly laughter that secretly makes Draco smile and feels all fluttery inside.

"I dunno, Julian," Harry finally says after a beat and when his laughter died down so he wasn't gasping for air. "I um... I don't want to waste the batteries in my torch. I used it a little too much when I couldn't sleep."

"Oh, why couldn't you sleep?" asked Julian gently, his brows furrowing.

Harry scratches his neck, unable to tell him that Hedwig's the reason for his sleepless nights. "Um... just nightmares," he answers him at once. "You know... about demons and monsters and odd nightmares of being chased by mummies and zombies. Normal stuff."

Julian nods his head. He understands. Ah, the terrible nightmares. How lovely. He can't judge anyway. He's had a nightmare of a disgusting spaghetti monster chasing after him up a dark staircase. He couldn't eat spaghetti or noodles for a whole month after that.

The trail ride ended as Dave led them around a tree and headed back the way they came to Alpine Hollows. The ride home was silent, the only things on their minds were about their recent nightmares and how there was no way they'd share their nightmares with each other. Not while there are curious ears around.

When back in Alpine Hollows, Draco went his separate way and headed to the barn to untack Orion. He closes Orion's stable door, saddle, bridle, and saddle-pad in his arms, and he heads to the tack room to clean them and then put them away. He exits the room and stares up at the wooden stairway leading up to the Hay Loft.

With a tiny sigh, he walks up the stairs into the Hayloft where hay lay in stacks all around him, and the sun shone through the small arched window down onto the wooden floor creating a ray arch of yellow. He sits on a haystack right under the window, and just as he's about to get all comfy, he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Oh. I didn't know you would be up here."

Draco looked up and saw Julian, of all people, blocking the stairs out of the hayloft. "Well, I am," he replies quickly. "I tend to come up here when I want to think about things. So...where's Harry?"

"Harry's back at the house," Julian tells him, his thumb pointing behind him. "He kinda... fell over his own shoes."

Draco snorts. That's not new to hear. "Ah, typical Harry Potter," he says flatly with a chuckle and runs a hand through his hair while he thinks of the Gryffindor. Julian rolls his eyes, and Draco's features soften and he smiles at the ground. "But he is okay though, right?"

Julian nods his head. "Yes, he's doing just fine," he says lightly and leans against the wall. "No scratches or cuts whatsoever." But what surprised him was hearing Harry say he asked Draco to the movies a short while ago. Why isn't Draco jumping on the balls of his feet in excitement then?

"Oh," Draco deadpans, masking his feelings of guilt away from Julian's eyes. He feels guilty that he wasn't there to help Harry up and to the Silver Sables house. He distracts himself by looking out the window at the bushland on one side of him and green paddocks on the other side.

"So, I've heard from Harry that he asked you to the movies," Julian says, and it gathered Draco's attention just by saying Harry's name. The Slytherin looks his way, and Julian smiles at him, waiting to see his excited reaction but that doesn't happen.

"Yeah, the movies," Draco replies flatly, picking at the hay husk he was seated on as he thinks about going out into town with Harry, getting a drink together, seeing whatever movie is on, and... He smiles at the thought of holding hands with Harry like a couple would do. "I've never seen a movie before. It'll be my first time, and it's with Harry so I just know it'll be wonderful."

"You do realise what he actually asked-" Julian stopped there. Doesn't Draco know that Harry actually asked him out on a date to see a movie? Honestly... He decided to just leave it at that. Draco should find out for himself that it's a date.

Draco raised a blonde eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asks him at once and leaned forward a little, interested in what Julian was about to say. "He actually asked...what?"

"Never mind," said Julian quickly, shaking his head as Draco's brow raises higher ever so slightly. "It's nothing." He walks over to the nearest haystack and climbs on top of it. Then he lies down on his back, tilts his head back and views the world upside down. "You like Harry...don't you?" Silence. He doesn't hear an answer, so he tilts his head to the side to look at Draco who's looking out the window with a smile on his face. He knows his answer now. "Yes, Julian, I do like Harry, would be a nice answer you know."

"Pity you won't get to hear that directly from me," Draco drawls, checking his nails out with a long lame sigh, and Julian snorts. "I'll admit it when I want to, thank you very much."

"Alright," Julian says, sitting up to look at the other male without straining his neck or letting the blood run to his head. "I'm going to head off to brush Cinnamon. See you at dinner, Draco!" He gets up with a smile and waves at the blonde.

"Yeah," said Draco flatly and looks back out the window at the treetops and the blue sky. "See you." Finally, some alone time again. He listens to the sound of Julian's footsteps moving away from him and down the stairs of the hayloft. He closes his eyes, the sun shone down onto his face, creating a yellow hue on his eyelids, and he feels quite peaceful like he could drift off into sleep.

Just as he was about to drift off, he heard a tiny squeak and a scurry of little legs which made him sit up immediately as a reflex and look around at his surroundings. He could still hear the thing running around on its four legs, but he couldn't see it. It wasn't Daisy, he knows what her paws sound like thudding against wood.

He gets to his feet and investigates where the thing might be. Behind a hay block, he sees a long thin tail but it disappears behind more hay as quickly as he had seen it. He shrieks when he sees something small rush past his feet, and he falls backwards onto a haystack.

A loud snort was heard, and Harry's handsome face appears at the last steps of the stairway up into the hayloft, then his entire body and Draco felt his face redden. He was embarrassed with himself. "I-I thought you were resting at the house!"

"Draco, I only tripped over," Harry tells him lightly, an assuring smile on his face as he walks over to the scared blonde. He didn't want to say what he tripped over because he didn't trip over anything except his shoes. "I've got no scrapes or cuts. I dunno what Julian told you, but I'm fine. And why are you getting so worked up because of a harmful little mouse?"

"I-It just scared me!" Draco says at once, crossing his arms over his chest as he regains his straight posture and his hard look. "And it came out of nowhere. The tail first, and then the bloody thing ran across the room and scared the living hell out of me."

"Right," Harry mutters, rolling his eyes and fighting the urge to just laugh at the Slytherin for being so hilariously cute. "It scared you. Sure..." He shakes his head fondly. "You do realise you would have scared it first?"

"Of course, I know-"

"Oi!" Harry and Draco looked to where the loud voice that interrupted them was and saw Julian standing there at the top of the staircase, a bored expression on his face, and he was chewing on a strand of long grass. "Just here to remind you that dinner's ready," he said lamely. "Better hurry or there won't be any left for the both of you."

"Alright," Harry says quickly, and he grabs Draco's wrist and pulls him towards the staircase. He wasn't really hungry but wanted to be alone with Draco for some time. "Thanks for telling us, Julian." He gave the other bloke a smile before heading downstairs back into the stables with Draco trailing behind.

They distantly hear a faint "You're welcome," coming from back up in the hayloft as they walk through the stables past all the horses and out into the evening sun where it shone down on them with a warm orange hue.

Draco couldn't take his eyes off Harry's soft warm hand which gripped his wrist tightly, but he was thinking that he didn't mind one bit if it left a mark. He would mind if it were someone else's hand around his wrist, but not Harry. He realised how odd that was and would sound. He couldn't even concentrate on where they were going as he was too distracted by the feeling of Harry's soft hands around his wrist and the enchanting smile on that handsome face. It was really hard not to look away.

Harry coughed as they reached the dining hall just because he noticed Draco just staring down at his hand on his wrist, and he wanted the Slytherin to look at him and not his hand. He wants to see how the light shines down on Draco's silvery eyes, which makes them beautifully brighter and big, when Draco looks at him and makes his heart flutter wildly in his chest.

He lets go of Draco's wrist and instead, links arms with him and takes him to the seat on the long table closest to the door. Draco didn't seem to mind the change, he actually seemed a little excited and happy about being closer to Harry.

They went to get the food they wanted from the two tables at the front of the room and went to take their seats at the back. Just as they began eating, Julian walked in but they didn't pay attention to him and just chat and ate their dinner together until they felt full and walked over to the Silver Sables house for the night.

Draco followed Harry through into the lounge room, and Harry sat down on the couch, grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned the TV on. Draco watched Harry click a few buttons on the remote which changed the channel and showed what he believes are muggles sitting behind a white desk, a few cups of coffee sitting on top of the desk with a few sheets of paper in front of the muggles. They were talking about the weather, which Draco now believes they are Weather Seers if they can somehow predict the Weather.

Then the topic discussed with the Weather Seers got a little horrific as they talked about a man in London who killed his wife and tried killing his three sons but wasn't successful in doing so. The sons escaped the house and ran to their neighbours, the oldest only injured by a slash in the arm from a knife, and the father had killed himself just so he doesn't have to pay for his crime in jail. How horrendous! How can someone do that to their own family?

"Are you going to sit down?" Harry asks him, distracted by what's on the TV and the blonde-haired Slytherin standing in the middle of the room facing the TV.

Draco blinked his eyes at the TV screen and then looked at Harry. He nodded his head and sat at the end of the couch, not too close to Harry, but he had the thought of crawling over to the Gryffindor just to be closer to him but he didn't want to make Harry feel uncomfortable.

Harry changed the channel again, hoping it's less depressing than the NEWS. After a few flicks over different channels, he finally finds an interesting channel playing some teenage fiction series called Supernatural. It sounded interesting, and as they watched the episode, they realised that it is such an intriguing show.

Harry was thinking how Castiel The Angel really should confess his feelings for Dean because it was so obvious he liked him, and he could tell Dean liked him back too. It's just the way they look at each other. It was beautiful... but he admits it's not as beautiful as the boy he's sitting next to. He glances at Draco for a quick second to check him out from head to toe, and he quickly looks back at the TV when Draco looks his way. He feels his cheeks burning red, and he hoped they weren't too red and noticeable for Draco to see.

The episode of Supernatural ends, and Doctor Who comes on and Harry immediately gets excited as he remembers watching one of the episodes of season two last year while the Dursley's were out for the night.

Draco smiles fondly as he notices the excitement on Harry's face. He knows it's obviously from the TV show that was just put on. He wonders how the muggles get the pictures to move and talk on the TV like a Wizarding Portrait, but he realised he can't talk back to them and they can't talk to him and Harry. Muggles are quite smart...

"Hello boys," came the gentle voice of Camilla, and she leaned down on the chair's back. "What are you watching?" She glanced from the TV and to the two boys seated on the couch. "And Draco, I'm quite surprised. I've never seen you actually watching TV before. I must have walked into a parallel universe."

Draco laughs softly. "Yeah err... I just wanted to watch something with Harry," he tells her at once, though he really didn't know why he was here. He only followed Harry here because he couldn't take his eyes off him and he felt something pull at him to follow Harry into this room. It was like a magnetic pull.

"We're watching Doctor Who on the BBC," Harry says flatly, eyes still on the TV as he watches the Episode about a face-stealing television AI lady. "Very nice show..."

Camilla nods. "Well, I hope you two enjoy the show," she says, looking back at the TV where she sees a lady's face talking in the TV directly to the viewers. What an odd show... "I'm going to have a chat with my son for a while. Good night, boys."

Son? Harry thought. He didn't know Camilla had a son. When she left the room, he turned to Draco to ask about Camilla's son. "Camilla has a son?" he says quietly to the blonde. "I didn't know."

"It's Julian," Draco says, getting so lost in the depths of Harry's emerald green eyes that he feels as if he's inside a huge hedge maze. "He's her son. Dave too."

"Oh," said Harry thoughtfully, his eyes widening a little at the new info he was told. "But if she's the owner of this place, then why is she working as err...a maid in Silver Sables instead of well, I dunno, something else?"

Draco shrugs tiredly. "Not sure," he drawls and stretches his arms forward with a happy sigh, his fingers laced together until he brings them back to rest on his lap. "I guess she likes the maiden job. She's not just a maid though. I've seen her riding before, and she's really good."

"How cool," said Harry with a smile. "Has Alpine Hollows been in the Patterson family for a while?"

"From what I heard from Julian a year ago, and from the photographs I've seen at the reception building, I would say since the sixties," Draco tells him, looks down at the Gryffindor's smile and lips and he licks his own lips. Harry looks at him in disbelief. "Yeah... Alpine Hollows has been here for a while. If you wanted to know more, you would have to go talk to Julian."

Harry nods. Since the sixties? He was quite amazed. He looks back at the TV showing the Doctor Who episode and sighs, thinking about how the Dursley's probably won't let him come back to Alpine Hollows next year. He wants the rest of his Holidays to be the best six weeks that he can have.

"What's the matter?" Draco asks at once as he notices the sadness in Harry's sigh. He moves across the couch towards Harry a little and was subconsciously reaching for Harry's hand to place his own over.

"Oh, it's nothing," Harry says, ignoring the tingly feeling Draco's hand gave his skin, and he gets up from the couch which left a frown on Draco's face. He lied a little about him being okay when he really wasn't. He doesn't feel like doing anything right now except taking a nice warm shower and then sleeping. "Anyway, I think I'm going to have an early night. It's been another exhausting day."

"Alright," Draco says lightly, missing the warmth of Harry's hand touching his own though he doesn't remember placing his hand over Harry's at all. "I was thinking of heading to bed too for my slumber."

"You mean your beauty sleep?" Harry asks him flatly but with a cheeky smile that made Draco's face colour a little.

Draco rolled his eyes but gave Harry a little nod, his cheeks still tinged red with a blush. He couldn't be angry at Harry when that gorgeous smile's directed at him as well as those shiny green eyes. He looks away as he knows he would have gotten distracted by those green eyes, and he gets up from the couch and grabs the remote.

He presses the off button on it and watches the screen turn black, then puts the remote back down on the coffee table. When he looks back up, Harry gives him a nod and turns to walk out of the room. He sighs, collapses back onto the couch and mumbles into the floral pillow, "Harry James Potter, I have a bloody huge crush on you and it really pisses me off."

"Oh, I know you do."

Horrified, Draco swiftly looks behind him, worried that Harry heard him admit his true feelings but sighs in relief when he sees Julian. But after Julian, in came Cecelia, Gloria, and Lillian.

"Afternoon boys," says Cecelia brightly. "What's going on in here?"

"Just talking with Draco about his not so obvious crush on Harry," Julian tells them, and he ignores the glare Draco's giving him and just walks on over to the couch Draco's on and sits beside him. "Yes, we all know. You might as well admit it to us to let the weight off your shoulders."

Lilian squealed her delight at the news she wanted to hear, and Gloria giggles and bounces on her feet in excitement, her light brown high ponytail bouncing along. "Oh! How delightful!"

"Yes, you must admit it to us!" said Cecelia at once, her smile wide and excited.

Draco groans and gets to his feet. He doesn't want to deal with this. Not now, not ever. Without a glance back, he rushed out of the room filled with giggling girls and headed upstairs to his room. He walked past Harry's bedroom door which was closed and was probably locked, so he proceeded to his bedroom, closed the door, and got ready for his shower. After a refreshing shower, he gets into bed and reads his Potions book from last year until he fell asleep.

Harry's by his open bedroom window, watching Hedwig fly off into the night sky, and he sighs deeply as he thinks about this holiday and spending it with Draco. What he's excited about is the date with him on Saturday. Only two days left. As that brought his spirits up, he walked to bed and got some shut eye.