Love Happens

ACT I

"I'm just saying, every single time something gay appeared on a screen it's for girl's entertainment! It does not work that way for us, there's no happy-ever-after at high school, never." Three teenagers were walking down a sidewalk, all wearing similar uniforms.

"You're being ridiculous Harry."

"Am I Hermione?" Harry asked. The three stopped in the middle of the sideway as a raven-haired teen with green eyes and round glasses turned to his friend. "Can you think of one popular movie or television show that's about gay people and written by an actual gay guy instead of a woman?" he asked.

Hermione frowned as she thought, brushing her long brown hair out of the way of her eyes. Ron, a red-heated lanky teen seemed to pop up a little and said, "Brokeback Mountain?"

Harry shook his head. "No, written by a woman."

"Who!?" Ron demanded.

"Annie Proulx wrote the book," Harry said.

"How do you know that?"

"My mum," Harry said. "She loves that sort of books. Which just backs up my point. Every gay thing made for the mass media is made by and targeted to women!"

"Sounds like you're just an angry gay," Ron muttered. Harry shot him a glare and punched Ron's shoulder lightly. "Ow! You are an angry gay!"

"Stop it you two, we're going to be late," Hermione said. "You know how Professor Dumbledore hates students being late on the first day."

"Fine, come on Harry," Ron groaned as the three continued their walk towards school. "Can't believe summer's over all ready, I didn't do anything!"

"You should have gone to France with me, my parents asked Mrs. Weasley if it was okay," Hermione said, "and she said yeah."

"And what would I have done there? Nothing!" Ron said. Harry shook his head and decided to stay out of their little argument. Like Ron, he did nothing over the summer break, mostly staying home or at the Weasleys' home.

The three went to a rather strange school called Hogwarts. It was more of a castle than a school. The building, having been a castle of some lord long ago, has been renovated into a school long before Harry's parents were born and has quickly became one of the most popular schools in the country. Students from all over went to the school, choosing to dorm in one of its four dormitories, while other students who lived closer to the castle walked to school. There was a group of students already loitering in front of the school, groups of friends and cliques melded together into a hot mess of people, school bags, and gossip. Harry, Ron, and Hermione waved and smiled at the people they knew. Oliver Wood, the captain of Harry's football team, ran up to the three and slapped Harry's back.

"Potter! How was your summer? I spent mine practicing. The House Cup is going to be ours again this year!" he smiled. "Those dirty Slytherins will never know what hit them!"

Harry smiled and nodded as Wood walked away from him. Harry stared at his retreating figure, focusing a bit too much on the curved butt Wood had. Harry can easily admit that he had a small crush on his captain. Ever since he joined the team on his first year at Hogwarts, he couldn't help but stare at the boys around him, it was his third year, at thirteen, that why he kept staring at them made sense.

Harry has always found it strange how Hogwarts had students ranging from ages eleven to eighteen, the school offering eight years of academic learning, but after five years of attending Hogwarts, it started to feel like a second home to him. He couldn't even imagine leaving it. The three just ran into their classmate Neville Longbottom when Harry heard a voice say, "Harry? Harry Potter?"

Harry turned around and found himself face-to-face with a taller boy. He had platinum blonde hair that fell to his ears, silver eyes that were doe-like and a smile that shown a full set of sparkling white teeth. Unlike the other students, who all wore school vests with their House emblem on them, his vest was plain. "Harry! Do you remember me?" the boy said hesitantly, though he was still smiling.

Harry's eyes widen as he stared at the boy. "Draco?"

"Yes! It's been so long!" the blond boy said. He picked Harry up and spun him in the air. "I had no idea you went here!"

"D-Draco? Is that really you?" Harry asked.

"Of course it's me. Don't tell me you forgotten your best friend from ten years ago, Potter," Draco said. He placed Harry back on the ground and continued to beam at him. "I can't believe you go here too."

"I can't believe—Draco, I thought you and your family moved away for good," Harry said.

"We did, but then Father got a better offer here," Draco said. "So we moved back and he got me into this school."

"Uh Harry," Ron interrupted. "Not to spoil this… thing, but who's this?"

"Right, you guys wouldn't know," Harry said. He turned and smiled at Draco. "Draco was my childhood best friend! We did everything together when we were young. We went to the same pre-school and were together everyday until he and his family moved far away."

"My father is high up in a certain corporation," Draco said. "We were forced to move to the States as my father's bosses picked him to supervise one of our branches there. However, during the summer, he got another promotion and decided to move back home here."

"That's amazing," Harry smiled.

"Yeah," Draco said. He up at the castle, clearly impressed by it. "And now… we get to have classes together. I think. There's something I don't understand, though. Why do the school uniforms have different emblems on them?"

"Oh that," Harry said. "That'll require some explanation… why don't you come sit with us during Professor Dumbledore's opening speech? I'll try to explain on the way."

"Sure, I'll love that, Harry," Draco smiled. Harry smiled as well and could have sworn he felt his heart beating fast as he stared at Draco.

The little boy he knew grew up. And grew up very well. He was tall, near six-foot Harry reckoned, easily taller than Harry. He was lean, but Harry could see the hints of biceps on Draco's arms, and he had a bit of an hourglass figure. His skin was flawless, pale like fresh snow and his lips were rather pouty. The school uniform, which was just button-down white shirt, tie, black trousers and vest, looked good on Draco, as if it was tailor made for him instead of being one of the hundreds Hogwarts have mass-produced for its students. Harry noticed that as they walked into the castle, eyes followed them, or more precisely they followed Draco. Whispers started around them, and a hint of jealousy started building in Harry, only to be calmed when he saw that Draco wasn't paying attention to any of them, instead he was focusing all his attention on Harry.

"So Harry," he said. "How has your life been since I moved away?"

"Nothing much really," Harry shrugged, relieved to have Draco's attention solely on him for some reason. "Dad's got a couple of promotions, he's working with Shaklebolt now, you remember him? Huge guy who gave us treats whenever he came over? Well they're partners now, Mum's the same, but I did get a new cat. Her name is Hedwig."

"Sounds nice," Draco hummed.

"How about you?" Harry asked. "How was life over there?"

"Awful," Draco groaned. "They're all assholes there, Harry, every single one. One time I was shopping in Manhattan, right, and I was trying to catch the cab to get to the nearest subway station, it's like the Underground here but a lot more expansive, one time I somehow got to this city called Yonkers—anyway, I was trying to catch this cab when this orange prat pushed pass me and get in it! And when I tried to argue, he just gave me the finger and told the driver to drive!"

"No way," Harry gasped.

"Wow, that's rude," Ron said.

"It was," Draco nodded. "But that's just the beginning of it Harry. The schools were so horrible, for some reason nobody wanted to talk with me, I had no friends until I was ten years old."

"What happened when you were ten?" Hermione asked. They stopped in the middle of the entrance hall, near a set of wooden double doors.

"Mother started buying me these brand-name clothes, her friends over there told her that everyone wears them, it's like a show of money, and would you believe it as soon as I started wearing those things, everyone wanted to talk with me," Draco said.

Harry couldn't help but snicker. "No offense, but wasn't your mum always a bit of a snob for clothes?"

"Believe me, she is," Draco chuckled. "The states just seemed to make her worse." Harry laughed and opened the wooden double doors, leading Draco into a huge room with an arching ceiling. The room had four long tables which were being filled with students. The tables were all pointing towards another long table at the end of the hall, where several adults sat. Draco watched as students and faculty move from their tables to a door on the right before coming back moments later with plates filled with food.

"This," Harry said with a flourish, "is the Great Hall! Everyone eats here, so Dumbledore likes to give his speeches here, so everyone can hear them. They serve everything here. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Dinner? For who?"

"The dormers," Harry shrugged. "Though we can have dinner here too if we want. Go through that door"—Harry pointed to the door Draco was just looking at—"to get your food and you sit at the table that corresponds to your House."

Draco turned to Harry, looking utterly confused. "What does that mean, Harry?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, that part," Harry said. "Right… how can I say this?"

"The Student Body is separated into two ways," Hermione jumped in. "Firstly, by what year you are in, which corresponded usually with your age. Basically, it is what grade you are in. There's First Year, Second Year, Third Year, and so on all the way up to Eighth year. The second way students are separated and organized are through which House they are sorted in. Harry, Ron, and myself are in Gryffindor House. There are also Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Usually students are sorted in their First Year as Hogwarts only accept First Year students, however you are definitely an exception to that. Which House you are sorted in used to depend on an interview, in the old days the Professors interviewed the First Years one-on-one, but now there is a simple survey that we take on computers that compares your answers with the answers of the rest of the student body and sort you that way."

"Huh… that's interesting," Draco said.

"Yeah, so you better get Gryffindor, you hear me?" Harry said. "Come on, I'll introduce you to some of my friends." He grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him towards the rightest table where there were students who all had the same emblem on their vests that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had. The others made room for them and Harry continued to smile as he and Draco sat next to each other. "These are Seamus and Dean, they're in our year and actually dorm here with Neville Longbottom, who is also in our year," Harry said pointing to a brawly, but short, Irish boy and a tall dark-skinned boy. "Guys, this is my best friend when I was little, Draco. He just moved back from the states."

"Hello," both boys said, moving to shake Draco's hand. "So you knew the shrimp when he was little?" Seamus smirked.

"Hey!"

"Yeah," Draco chuckled. "Though believe it or not, he was a lot shorter than…" Harry gave Draco a glare and punched him in his shoulder. "Ow! But just as feisty."

Seamus laughed and smirked at Harry. "Yeah, you should see him on the field! He kick those Slytherin asses every day!"

"Slytherin… that's one of the four Houses, right?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, though from your vest I'm guessing that you still haven't been sorted," Seamus said.

"How are you even here anyways?" Dean asked. "I thought Hogwarts only accept First Years."

"It does," Hermione said.

"My father told me that he pulled some favors," Draco said. "That and he gave the school a generous donation."

"So money to save the day huh?" Dean asked.

"Must be nice being rich," Seamus said.

"It has it's benefits," Draco shrugged. "So when am I going to be sorted?"

"Technically the First Years are being sorted as we speak," Hermione said. "They're brought here an hour early and are brought to the Sorting Room. Since you didn't go there… I guess you'll be going there when they are done."

"So, until then you'll just hang out with us," Harry said. "Are you still allergic to nuts?"

"Yes actually, I am," Draco said.

"Alright, I'll be back," Harry said standing up suddenly.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"To get you food of course," Harry said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You'll have to taste the food here, it's amazing. Coming Ron?"

"Sure, why not?" Ron said as he stood up. The two walked away from the Gryffindor Table, leaving Draco to fend for himself. He looked around the table for a while, trying to deduce what he can about the people around him just by their facial expression.

"So," he said, still looking around, "just like any school there are people to look out for, am I correct? Who is that here?"

"Well the Slytherins naturally, bastards," Seamus said. "They're assholes, the lot of them, but you seem like a good guy."

"More specifically, however? Such as names?" Draco asked.

Dean looked around the room and pointed towards the Slytherin table. "There are Crabbe and Goyle firstly," he said, pointing to two heavyset, thick-looking students. "Dumb as bricks and mean as vipers. Unfortunately they're in our year so we'll be seeing them for quite a bit."

"There's Blaise Zabini," Seamus said, pointing to a very handsome boy with dark olive skin and short hair. He was sitting between a girl with a piggish nose and a small boy with black hair, an arm around both of them. "A regular whore that one. Swears he can charm anyone and everyone he wants into bed. Even tried to get Dean's girl, Ginny once."

"As if I'll even kiss that pig!" a girl's voice yelled out, Draco looked down the table to see a girl with long red fiery hair. "And if he tries, I'll punch him in his snout!"

Dean laughed and smiled at the girl, winking. Draco just stared at her for a minute, thinking about how much her hair looks like Ron's. Hermione voiced his thoughts as she said, "That's Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister. She's the youngest Weasley."

"And she has a hell of a left hook," Dean said.

"Whose are those on Zabini's arms?" Draco asked.

The three looked at the Slytherin Table for a moment before souring. "Pansy Parkinson, and Theodore Nott," Seamus said. "Both prats, but for different reasons."

"Parkinson is shrewd, petty, and just overall awful," Hermione said. "She'll find one characteristic about you and relentlessly tease you about it. Nott on the other hand…"

"He's a really bad name for blokes like Harry," Dean shrugged.

"Blokes like Harry?" Draco asked, confused. "You mean short?"

Seamus and Dean stared at Draco for a moment, a look of utter confusion on their faces. They quickly lost the look and nodded. "Yeah, sure… short," Dean said. "Anyway, he's an insufferable know-it-all who hates that Hermione's cleverer than him."

"And they're both dating Zabini by the looks of it?" Draco asked, pointing to the way both students were leaning against the Italian.

Well… basically?" Dean said questionably. "It's a bit confusing to explain."

"Zabini sleeps around with everyone he can get to," Seamus said. "But those two are the ones he goes to constantly."

"Oh, I think I see now," Draco nodded. "I had a friend in New York who was like that. Once I found out about it, I stopped being his friend. I'm a one-person kind of guy."

"Good on you," Dean smiled.

"So, Draco, before you take the sorting quiz and become a Gryffindor, I have to know, did you date anyone before?" Seamus smirked.

"Did I date anyone?" Draco repeated. What a strange question to ask someone you just met, he thought to himself. Fortunately, he was saved from answering it as Harry and Ron reappeared with three plates full of food. Harry shimmed himself back next to Draco while Ron returned to his seat.

"Here you are," Harry smiled, sliding a plate in front of Draco before starting on his own. Draco picked up a fork and used it to cut a piece off of a sausage. He took a bite and hummed in appreciation. "This is good, Harry," he said.

"Right? The sausage is my favorite," Harry said happily, causing both Dean and Seamus to snicker. Draco rolled his eyes and said, "I'm actually a fan of sausage too. While I lived in New York there was this one place that was literally just sausage meals from around the world."

"Really? Sounds like Harry's heaven," Seamus snickered.

"Stop it, will you," Hermione chastised though Harry was snickering too.

"Anyway, what were you guys talking about?" Harry asked.

"I was just learning about my new classmates," Draco said. "More specifically the Slytherins. There are Crabbe and Goyle… who are thick both body-wise as well as intellectually. And then there is Blaise Zabini, who is a pig as Ginny Weasley called him, and his consistent friends-with-benefit Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott."

"Yeah, that seems about right," Harry hummed. He looked down the table then back at Draco. "Did you meet the twins?" Draco shook his head, his mouth too full of food to speak, and Harry gave him a wicked smile. "Then they're next. You have to meet him."

"Why?" Draco asked after swallowing.

"They're my brothers," Ron said, his mouth half full of food.

"They can have… forceful personalities," Harry smiled. "Think my Uncle Sirius… but ten times worse."

"There are more people more outgoing than Uncle Siri?" Draco chuckled. Harry's cheeks blushed and Draco raised an eyebrow. "You don't call him that anymore?"

"What? What did he call Sirius?" Ron asked.

"Please don't," Harry moaned.

Draco gave a sadistic grin and leaned forward towards Ron and said loudly, "Harry used to call his godfather 'Uncle Siri' because he couldn't say 'Sirius' as a kid. Every time he tried it sounded more like 'See-e-ros.' So to save him the embarrassment, Sirius just told Harry to call him 'Uncle Siri.'"

"See-e-ros? Really?" Seamus laughed. Harry's cheeks were blazing red, as well as his neck. Draco couldn't help but laugh at his embarrassed friend, laughing harder when Harry hit him.

"I was five!" Harry argued.

"Still Sirius was around forever," Draco said. "You could have easily learned his name like I have."

"Shut up," Harry grumbled.

"There, there Potter," Draco said, patting Harry's shoulder. "I'm sure that Uncle Sirius still loves you."

"I'm going to regret you," Harry sighed. Draco laughed again, but all of a sudden all chatter in the Great Hall stopped as the double doors opened again and everyone turned to see a line of First Years, all wearing vests with different emblems on them, being led between the two inner tables by a very old man who was dressed very strangely. He was wearing majestic purple robes and had silver hair and beard that went down to his waist.

Draco stared at the man, thinking how strange he looked and wondered why everyone was treating it as though it was normal. "That is Professor Dumbledore," Harry whispered in Draco's ear.

"What the hell is he wearing?" Draco whispered back.

"A purple robe," Harry answered, as though it was obvious. "He has a very strange sense of clothing choice."

"I can plainly see that," Draco said.

Dumbledore led the line of First Years towards the staff table where he directed them to line up horizontally, so they were all facing the four House tables. Dumbledore smiled at them and extended both hands in the air, "Let us all give a rousing welcome," he said in a booming voice, "to our First-year students!"

The rest of the Hall broke into a thunderous applause. Even Draco joined in as everyone around him clapped. Dumbledore raised his hand again and the clapping slowly died down. He turned to the line of First Years and Draco noticed that he had them already lined by House so the newest Gryffindors were near the Gryffindor Table, the students wearing the yellow emblem of a honey badger were next to them, then there were the students wearing blue eagles, and lastly there were those who had green snakes on their vest. "And now, our new arrivals will join their fellow students in their Houses," he said, and applause broke again as the First years moved nervously away from the staff table and towards their respected Houses.

Draco could not help but wonder when he was going to be sorted when he felt a presence behind him. He turned around to see an elderly woman behind him. "Mr. Malfoy I presume? I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, as well as your Literature teacher," Professor McGonagall said. "You are to report to the Sorting Room in the lower floors of the castle afterwards."

"I can show him where it is, Professor," Harry said quickly.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said. She turned to Draco and said, "I expect to see great things from you, Mr. Malfoy, your acceptance is one that is extraordinarily rare."

"I won't disappoint you, Professor," Draco said.

"Good, and I hope to see you in my House, Mr. Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said. She moved away from them and towards the First Years; Draco could hear her congratulating them into Hogwarts.

"I take it she is the Head of House for Gryffindor," he said.

"That's correct," Harry said. "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be easy for you to get into here."

"Yeah, the last thing I want is to be stuck being Housemates with Crabbe and Goyle," Draco chuckled. Harry laughed and playfully knocked his shoulder into Draco's. "I'll never let that happen," he declared.

Draco smiled at the seriousness Harry seemed to give and took another bite of his breakfast. Dumbledore moved toward a podium and began speaking, but Draco only half listened to him. He was still wheeling over the fact that he was with Harry again. He couldn't be happier to be with his childhood best friend, especially after everything he had to suffer through at the states. He couldn't help but look at his childhood friend. Though he was on the short side, Draco had to admit that Harry did grow up significantly from the small, crying baby he knew years ago.

He looked more mature now, and he filled out nicely. His hair was long and shaggy, his eyes were two emeralds hiding behind a pair of round glasses; a cute nose and mouth finished his face. Draco noticed as they were walking that Harry had powerful legs as well as a very noticeable, a bit too noticeable Draco thought, butt. He'll make any girl proud, Draco thought to himself as he took another bite of his breakfast, trying some of the scrambled eggs Harry got for him.

When Dumbledore finished, the students gave another applause before the sound in the Hall increased sevenfold as everything started to eat and reconnect with their friends.

"So, what else were you talking about before I came back?" Harry asked Draco.

"Nothing much," Draco shrugged. "Are there any clubs here? Or teams?"

"Of course, there are," Harry said. "See over there? The guy with the mousey hair? That's Oliver Wood. He's captain of the football team that I'm in. Not to brag, but ever since I've joined the team, Gryffindor always won the House Cup."

"House Cup?" Draco asked confused.

"It's a competition between the Four Houses," Hermione explained. "Instead of playing against any other school, our sports teams compete against each other. The school is large enough for this to happen, although the school seems to have an… obsession on football. Anyway during our classes we've the opportunity to earn or lose points. At the end of the school year, the House with the most points win the House Cup."

"Fun," Draco said simply. He looked back at Harry and asked, "And Gryffindor has been winning ever since you joined?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Harry shrugged. Draco gave an unconvinced look and rolled his eyes. "So, what other clubs are there?" he asked.

"Well, there's a Literature Club run by a Ravenclaw… what was her name?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Luna Lovegood, but it was founded by Professor McGonagall," Hermione said. "It's… reputable."

"Well, good thing I'm not very imaginative," Draco said. "That was always Harry's thing. Anyway, what clubs are you guys in?" He looked around him.

"We're in rugby," Seamus said, slapping Dean's back. "Good at it too."

"Nothing," Ron shrugged when Draco looked at him. He turned to Hermione who said, "I'm a Prefect so I don't have any time to do any of those things."

"Huh…"

"There's a complete list of all clubs and sports teams on the House bulletin board in our common room," Harry said. "We can look at it after your sorting."

"Sounds nice," Draco said, his mind wandering to all the clubs he could possibly join. When they finished their breakfast, Harry and Draco stood up and stepped off of the bench.

"Good luck," Hermione and the others waved as Harry and Draco walked away. Harry noticed that others were staring at him and Draco again, and did his best to ignore it.

Once they were out of the Great Hall, Draco turned to Harry and asked, "Are there any classes today? What's going on?"

"Well technically there are no classes," Harry said. "Today's just for exploring the castle and remembering where everything is. After lunch we have clubs setting up stands on the grounds to get new members. I'm actually thinking of looking around, honestly. Try to see if I can do something else with my football."

"Interesting, thinking of anything in particular?" Draco asked.

"Not really, just want to see what's out there," Harry shrugged. "How about you? Did you gain any particular set of skills over the last ten years?"

"Besides my perfect fashion sense, Potter?" Draco drawled, causing Harry to snicker. "Well… I've actually started playing the violin, no I will not play for you Potter, and… well I'm not exactly a sports person to be honest, though I'll watch some of it. You remember how stuck up my parents were about that stuff—especially my father."

"Yeah, I think I do," Harry chuckled. "Hey! You should come to my house! For dinner!"

"So soon? I thought we've had to go through at least two dates before we play 'meet the parents' Harry," Draco said. Harry's cheeks blushed, and he bit his lip. "I'm kidding! I would love to see your parents and Uncle Sirius again," Draco said.

Harry smiled and knocked his elbow against Draco again, "Brilliant! I'll text them that I'm bringing a guest over and—right… Draco, there's something you need to know."

"What is it? Did something happen to your family?" Draco asked, looking suddenly scared.

"No, no, they're fine. They're all fine," Harry said quickly. "It's more about me… it's just that, well, a lot can change in ten years… you learn stuff about your self and I don't want to give my parents the wrong idea or have them surprise you…" Harry stopped walking and shuffled nervously on his feet. He started to stare at the stone floor as he twiddled with his hands. "I um… I know that we just reunited after ten years, and I don't want to destroy whatever image you have of me… but I don't want to lie to you either. I'm gay, Draco."

"Alright," Draco said immediately.

Harry looked up in shock. "Alright!?"

"Yeah, alright," Draco said. "When I lived in New York it was my gay friends who were the least annoying. Hell, where you think I got my fashion sense from? They were a group of very fashion-focused guys, it's basically eighty percent of their conversation: clothes and ragging on people, which is always good fun."

"Still!" Harry said hotly, his shock now replaced with anger. "Here I am nervous out of my damn mind! Hoping that you would take this in a good way, that you won't immediately spit me out after not seeing each other for ten years—and all you have to say is 'alright?' Draco Malfoy, you are one gigantic prat!"

"And you are one feisty little gay boy," Draco smirked. "Just as I remembered." Harry continued to glare at Draco for a moment then, as if a switch was hit on both of them, they started to laugh. Harry took a step forward and hung onto Draco's shoulders as they laughed. Tears straining his eyes, Harry looked up and said, "God I missed you Draco."

"Missed you too Harry," Draco said. "Come on, let's get myself sorted." He gently hit the back of Harry's shoulder and the two went down a stone staircase that led to the basement, which was filled with twisting and confusing corridors. "It was a dungeon when it was a regular castle," Harry told Draco as they made yet another turn.

Draco was surprised to see Professor Dumbledore was waiting for them outside a doorway. "Ahh, and here they are. I have thought I heard your voices and wondered when you would show yourselves," he smiled.

"Sorry Professor, I was just telling Draco a little about Hogwarts," Harry said.

"It's all right Harry, no harm done," Professor Dumbledore chuckled. "Now, Mr. Malfoy, if you would give any electronics you have to Mr. Potter to hold? We do not allow them in this room."

"Yeah, sure," Draco said. He pulled out an expensive looking smartphone and handed it to Harry, "Put your contact in there while you wait, okay Harry?"

Harry nodded and looked around for a place to sit.

"There is a rather comfortable looking armchair two doors down, Mr. Potter," Professor Dumbledore suggested. "Come along, Mr. Malfoy."

Harry watched as the door closed behind Draco and Professor Dumbledore. He moved down the corridor and looked inside, finding an old-looking armchair with red leather. He lifted it up with surprising ease and pulled it back into the corridor, placing it in front of the Sorting Room. Sitting down, he quickly put his contact information into Draco's phone, along with Ron's and Hermione's. He pocketed it and pulled out his own, deciding to text his mother.

Harry: Hey Mum, I've met an old friend at Hogwarts and invited him for dinner, is that okay?

Lily: Perfectly fine with me. Did you tell your father?

Harry: No, I decided to text you first.

Lily: Good man. I taught you right. So, who is it?

Harry couldn't help as he wrote out his next text.

Harry: Not telling. It's a surprise. All I'm saying is that we haven't seen him for a long time.

Lily: Is it that Cedric kid? He was always sweet on you.

Harry: No mum, it's not Cedric. Please don't talk about him. Ever.

Lily: Of course sweetie. Should I tell Sirius and Remus about our guest or will you? You do remember that they are coming tonight, right?

Harry: I'll tell them after I tell dad, but I'm not going to tell them who's coming. We want to keep it a surprise.

Lily: Very well. Are you staying at school the entire day or are you coming home for lunch?

Harry: I'm staying. We want to see what clubs there are this year. And I'm sure Oliver wants to talk to me about practice again.

Lily: Just remember schoolwork comes before football! I don't care how fast you can shoot a goal, if we get any calls about your grades I'm pulling you off the team myself.

Harry: Don't worry Mum, I'll be fine. I'm going to text Dad and Uncle Sirius now.

Lily: Okay, love you Harry!

Harry sighed and relaxed deeper into the armchair. Dumbledore was right, this was one very comfortable chair. He quickly texted his father and Uncle Sirius that Draco was coming for dinner without telling them that it was Draco, then started to play some games on his phone to pass the time.

Twenty minutes of sitting in the comfortable armchair, Harry's concentration on his game was interrupted when he heard a coy, warm voice purring, "Sitting alone Harry?"

Harry jumped slightly and looked up to see Blaise Zabini smiling down on him. "You seem to have taken a personal interest in the new kid, pet. Makes a man a bit jealous…"

"We're childhood friends, of course I took a personal interest," Harry shrugged. "What do you want Blaise?"

"Just wanted to see how you were doing, pet, is that such a bad thing?" Blaise chuckled.

"I told you, I'm not your pet. Why don't you go have sex with Parkinson or Nott? I'm sure they're more than loose for you," Harry drawled, looking away from Blaise and back to his game.

"There's the thing, pet, they're not fun anymore," Blaise said. "And they keep… bickering against each other, arguing about who did what with me. It can be a little annoying." Blaise chuckled and sat down on the arm of Harry's chair. "Come on Harry… I just want to talk with you, I can promise you my motives are completely honorable. Please? If you don't want to talk now… can I at least have your number?"

"Why would I want to give my number to the man-whore of Slytherin?" Harry asked.

Blaise frowned. "That's a very mean thing to say Harry. I'm doing my best to change, to shed myself of that nickname and become a better version of myself. If you're worried about what the others will think… then do not worry. It will be our little secret until I prove to you how much I've changed."

Harry looked up to see that Blaise was giving him an honest, sincere smile. His eyes hesitated, shifting towards his phone for a moment before looking at Blaise, staring at his lips which smiled so easily. "Okay," he said.

Blaise's smile widened. "You won't regret this, pet, I swear," he said.

"Yeah... well just don't make me do that," Harry said as he handed Blaise his phone. Blaise quickly placed his contacts and said, "I've sent a text to myself, so I have yours now. I'll see you later, Harry." The Italian handed Harry back his phone, their hands meeting for only a moment before Harry quickly pulled away. Blaise smiled at their interaction and winked.

He watched Blaise walk away and looked at his phone. He barely had any time to contemplate on what he has done as the doors to the Sorting Room opened, Dumbledore walking out looking as merry as ever while Draco, surprisingly, dragged behind him.

"Draco! Well, what House did you get?" Harry asked excitedly, jumping off of his chair.

Draco looked up at Harry and gave a loud, defeated breath. "Now it's my turn to say, 'please don't hate me,'" he said.

"Draco?" Harry asked.

Draco looked up into Harry's eyes and said, "I'm not in Gryffindor Harry. The others are going to hate me, I think. I'm in Slytherin."

A/N: A pet project of mine, seeing if I can write a story under 40k words. I did it and I will be updating the six acts of this story daily until completion. I hope you enjoy all the twists and turns.