Captivation: Christmas Romance

by Angelic Candy

A couple months after the events of Lux Hall, Harry and Draco are excited about finally getting a vacation. Only the vacation does not turn out exactly as expected. A familiar face shows up stirring up the past. And things at the resort take a dangerous turn. Considering everything they've already been through, they are determined not to let it ruin their vacation. HxD

Captivation: Christmas Romance

Author's Note: For newcomers, you will be confused if you don't read the series in order. It goes: 1) Captivation; 2) Captivation: Lux Hall; 3) Captivation: Christmas Romance. This will be the end of the Captivation series, I'm afraid. I tried to tie up any and all loose ends and any questions you might have.

Warning: Sexual content.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I'm just using them for fun. :)

SYNOPSIS: Takes place almost month after Captivation: Lux Hall ended. Christmas vacation is coming up and they have reservations at one of the best wizard resorts. However, things get a little bit romantically complicated when jealousy arises due to two unexpected guests.

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~*December 10th*

Harry stood in the shower letting the soap cascade down his body. His muscles relaxed after being overused during an intense Quidditch practice that day. After winning the championships in September, it was only a matter of time before they were going to bigger leagues. They had battled five times in the championship game. It was the show-off championships for the five top teams of the semi-finals to compete for a spot in the Worldwide Championship game. They had plenty of time to practice and prepare. The Final Championships that came at the end of each year were twice as hard. It would be the top ten best Quidditch teams from around the world, including them. So that meant 9 other teams to defeat. They hadn't had much of a break since winning the semifinal championships because they had started practice up again two weeks after they had won.

Their teammates were unaware that they had gotten married. They both wanted to keep it a secret. They didn't want it to somehow get out and leak to the public. It was now December and they were all finally getting a break. The only break they had had was the three days off when they went on their honeymoon in late November. They had been working nonstop since the end of September, a week after the semi-finals. They would have until after New Year's Day off. Harry was excited not just because he felt his body needed a break from the strenuous activity, but also because he, Draco, Ron, Lillian, Hermione and Lucas had all purchased tickets the previous month to go to the Caribbean for a Christmas vacation. Besides his honeymoon with Draco, Harry had not been to a Wizard hotel let alone a resort. He was excited to find out just what they were like.

Also to be able to spend it with Draco, especially now that they were married, along with their friends, was going to be perfect. He still couldn't believe that he and Draco had been married since November 22nd. It hadn't been very long and things weren't really different between them. After the wedding ceremony and then the honeymoon they had come back and started up practice. They were tired most nights but that didn't seem to affect their intimacy. They had had a pretty romantic honeymoon and since that time they hadn't really had energy to explore anything else or for their intimacy to be intense like that. He was hoping, of course, that the vacation would allow them to explore that intensity again.

Harry's thoughts darkened as he remembered Draco closing up on him again, becoming moody and distant all because of a twisted plot Draco's mum had concocted. He wasn't sure how much of it was solely her idea, but Draco had been told during the last year at Hogwarts that he would marry Cliodene Peakes in a Slytherin ritual to keep the strong, influential families who supported Voldemort united. Harry remembered back to the confrontation they had with Lucius Malfoy and how he hadn't believed that Draco would dare disown his family name and willingly be friends with Harry let alone anything more. Harry knew that Lucius was on House Arrest with Narcissa and he hoped that they wouldn't be causing any more harm. Ever since Cliodene, Pansy, Daphne and Astoria had tried to take Draco away from him, he had been more cautious about watching for signs of danger. He was glad that things between him and Draco worked out and that Draco still wanted to be together despite what had happened. It had almost ruined their relationship because Draco had really been afraid.

Harry had a feeling, although Draco might not admit it, that Draco was not only afraid for his life but afraid for Harry's as well. Being since the blond Slytherin hadn't experienced real love growing up, having it with Harry probably made him afraid that he might lose it. After all, Draco had nothing to go back to. He had no family anymore, no ties with his old "friends" or any Slytherins. All of his friends now consisted of his teammates and Harry was grateful for that. He was extremely happy that Draco wasn't like the other Slytherins whose families supported Voldemort and he was nothing like his parents either. Still, Harry wondered if Draco was still afraid of his parents who might one day get off House Arrest and come find them to try and persuade Draco away from Harry again.

Shaking his head, Harry pushed any negative thoughts away. They were finally married and together permanently. There was nothing the Malfoys could do now to ruin that. Instead, Harry remembered Draco saying that he loved him. It was on their honeymoon after all the events had happened and of course after sex, and Draco felt safe confessing it. Harry had been so thrilled about it. They had gotten in the Jacuzzi together and made out intimately. Draco hadn't said it again, but neither had Harry. He didn't want to pressure him again or make him feel obligated to say it all the time. What was important was that he made it clear to Draco that he loved him. And he knew that Draco loved him back.

"Are you going to stay in there forever?"

Harry blinked out of his daze at the sound of Draco's voice. He smiled. "Sorry. I was lost in thought."

He heard Draco snort. "Not surprising. You're always daydreaming. Hurry up so I can take a shower. It's getting late."

"All right. Fine. Give me one minute."

He heard Draco exhale loudly in annoyance and then he shut the door. Harry smiled and finished rinsing off. He glanced at his ring for a second, still marveling at its beauty as it glistened. Each of the dragon scales intertwined in it glistened every time any light touched it, reminding him a bit of mica the way that it shimmered. Then he turned off the water and wrapped a towel around himself.

"I'm done."

Draco opened the door clad only in his boxers and carrying a towel.

"Finally. Thought you had fallen asleep in here or something," Draco grumbled.

Harry grinned and as he was approaching the door just as Draco was walking further inside, he wrapped his arms around Draco's neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss. He felt Draco's lips open beneath his and Harry tilted his head and moved his lips passionately over Draco's. When they broke away he saw the tired look on Draco's face and knew that sex was probably not an option that night. They were leaving for their trip in five days anyway and that would be the perfect time to spend some quality intimate time together, especially since they would be refreshed from not having to go to practice.

"I'm going to go to bed then."

Draco raised an eyebrow and then nodded. "I'll be taking my time anyway, not that you should complain about that."

Harry smirked as Draco set his towel down. "Ha. Ha. Well don't fall asleep in the shower," he said, mimicking Draco's earlier comment.

Draco glanced over his shoulder briefly to send him a glare. Harry turned and walked out of the bathroom and got dressed in this forest green T-shirt and boxers. It was a pajama set Hermione had gotten him for his last birthday and matched perfectly with his eyes. She always had a great eye for style. He still remembered a couple years ago when he first applied for the Quidditch Academy how she had helped him get new clothes.

Suddenly, Harry heard a knock from downstairs. He straightened up instantly. Waving his wand in the air he saw that it was about 10 p.m. It was pretty late for someone to be knocking at the door. He hoped it wasn't some emergency. He had just spoken with Minister Shaklebolt not too long ago and everything was fine. Most death eaters were imprisoned, the Malfoys were on secured House Arrest. The one other great thing that happened the previous year was that Minister Scrimageour's term ended and Kingsley Shaklebolt had stepped up. For once they would have a good Minister.

Slowly, Harry walked down the stairs, keeping his wand in hand just in case. Waving it, he made a peep hole appear just as another knock sounded. He glanced through it and his eyes widened. He must have been imagining things. The person he saw on the other side was not someone he ever expected.

Setting his wand down on a nearby table by the front door, Harry opened it.

"Hey Harry, "Blake said, smiling. "It's been a while."

Harry stared at the sandy-haired boy. His hair was shorter than he remembered, but still able to be pulled back in a pony tail. His eyes were still the same glassy blue. They were paler than Draco's, but Draco's eyes had a hint of silver-gray to them, which was why Harry loved them. Harry recalled what happened at the Quidditch Academy with Blake. He had fallen into a romantic relationship with him. Although, if Harry was honest with himself now, it wasn't just because he had discovered he was gay during that time, but he was pretty sure a part of him wanted to make Draco jealous. He remembered that he had started developing feelings for Draco at the Academy and at the time that Blake was there, Harry wasn't sure what was going on with Draco and just wanted forget the weird feelings he was having. Things hadn't ended the best. Blake had been really upset that Harry broke up with him and had feelings for Draco. Right before Blake graduated early, he had promised Harry he would owl him when he got settled and keep in touch as friends, but that had never happened. Harry figured that Blake was just being polite and that he was still upset that Harry broke things off with him, not just to pursue Draco, but because he had known Blake wasn't someone he wanted to have a full-on relationship with.

"Er, hi," Harry finally replied.

He opened the door to let Blake in. Blake walked in and stood in the kitchen.

"You can sit in the living room if you want," Harry said, feeling rather awkward. "You want some tea?"

"Sure," Blake said. He gave him a small lop-sided smile and went over to one of the plush chairs in the living room.

Walking over to one of the cabinets, Harry pulled out the butterbeer flavored tea that one of his teammate's had gotten Draco for his past birthday. Harry didn't want to think about that time. That was when things were still rocky for him and Draco right before everything with Cleodine Peaks and Pansy and the Malfoys exploded in their face. Shaking his head, Harry grabbed the two cups of tea and handed it to Blake just before he sat down across from him.

"Sorry it's late. I just got in an hour ago. I had trouble finding your new address but the Quidditch Academy had updated their records."

"Oh," Harry said. He knew that it was confidential and safe there, but Niall knew that Blake was Harry's friend so he probably felt it was safe to give it out.

"Yeah. And, look, I'm sorry for not keeping in touch. I know I said I would. Truth is I was trying to still get over you and the only way I could do that was to, kind of, not communicate. And then I was distracted you know with my new job as the assistant captain for the Ireland National Team."

"Yeah, that was a big opportunity. How is that going?"

"Great! I mean, I love the team and I'm almost ready to be a full captain instead of an assistant. The current captain is getting ready to retire but I don't think he will until next year. Still, I'm learning a lot and I love it, so."

"That's great," Harry said, smiling. "Don't worry, Blake, I understand. I'm not mad."

The other boy seemed relieved. He took another sip of his tea.

"So, what brings you back here?" Harry asked.

"Just visiting for the holidays. I know things between us didn't end completely great but we're still friends, right?"

"Of course."

"Got any plans for the holiday?"

"Oh, yeah! Me and Draco are meeting some friends at The Blackthorn Resort. We're leaving in five days and are staying there a week."

Blake blinked and nodded. "Wow. Uh, I've actually never been to that one but I hear it's really nice."

Harry smiled and nodded.

Blake glanced down at his drink and took another sip. "Oh, I heard about your championship win. Congrats!"

"Thanks," Harry said with a grin.

"Well, look, I know I came over unannounced and you were clearly about to go to bed."

Blake gazed and then gestured at his attire and Harry ran a hand through his still damp hair in embarrassment.

"Er, yeah. It's been a long couple of months. We haven't had a break from Quidditch in a while so I'm kind of tired."

Nodding, Blake cocked his head. "So, how's Draco doing?"

"Good, Harry said. He didn't want to go into the drama of what had happened between them and how they almost broke up. He didn't feel comfortable telling Blake everything. They weren't close friends like he was with Lucas.

"Good. Well, sorry for stopping by so late."

"No problem. Sorry we'll be leaving soon. How long are you in town for?"
"Just a couple weeks, but don't worry about it," he added quickly. "We'll see each other before I leave."

Harry nodded as Blake walked to the door. He turned and gave him a small smile. "It was nice to see you again Harry."

"You too."

Blake left and Harry shut the door thinking about how strange it seemed to see him again. Walking back toward the living room Harry picked up the cups of tea. Just then Draco appeared with a towel around his waist and water dripping from his hair.

"Was someone here?"

"Yeah, you would never believe," Harry said, placing the cups in the sink. "It was Blake. He dropped by out of the blue after being MIA for a year."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed. "Blake? Why was he over so late?"

"He apparently just got in, from Ireland. You know he joined the Ireland National Team to be a captain. Right now he's just an assistant but I guess he'll be taking the place of the captain probably next year or something."

Draco was silent for a minute. "What's MIA?"

Harry laughed and went over and kissed him on the cheek. His ignorance to things Harry thought were commonly known was always endearing.

"It means missing in action. It's just something people say."

"By people, you mean muggles."

Rolling his eyes, Harry shook his head. "Whatever. I'm sure there's a wizard equivalent."

"Yeah. VFS."

Harry glanced at him quizzically.

"Vanished from sight."

Draco then vanished and Harry heard him upstairs. Suddenly, he burst into laughter.

"You made that up!" Harry shouted.

He ran up the steps to see a now clothed Draco magically drying his hair. Draco glanced at him and shrugged.

"So, why did Blake stop by?"

"Just wanted to say hi and apologize for not keeping in touch."

"That's it?" Draco asked, turning around as he levitated the towel back to the bathroom. "How long is he here for?"

"A couple weeks. He didn't say much else other than he's just visiting for the holidays. He's probably got lots of people to visit with but he did say he would see me before he leaves." Harry shrugged.

Draco gave a curt nod in response. "How did he find us?"

"Don't worry, our protections are fine. Niall gave him our new address knowing that Blake was a friend."
"Yeah and what if someone had been disguised as him?"

"I know," Harry sighed, realizing that their life was never going to be perfect, not that he expected that. Being the famous Harry Potter would always mean occasional danger. "You're right. I'll send Niall a letter and just let him know it's confidential."

Draco shrugged. "I'm not worried, really, just better to be careful."

"I agree," Harry said, smiling. "So, are you excited about our vacation?"

Curling his lips into a grin, Draco nodded. "Yeah. It will be nice to have a break."

Harry walked softly up behind Draco and wrapped his arms around him. The blond smelled strongly of his shampoo. Placing a kiss right behind Draco's ear, Harry smiled.

"It will be nice to share some quality intimate time together, without being so exhausted."

Draco turned his head and stared at Harry from the corner of his eye and raised his eyebrows. "Why, Potter, what are you insinuating?"

Smiling widely, Harry just shrugged and gave him an innocent look. Draco still called him Potter at times, especially when he was being sarcastic. That would probably never change, but Harry thought it was actually endearing now. Draco was getting much better at using his first name more, but he would have to put up with the Potter thing.

"I guess you'll just have to wait and find out."

Harry then tapped Draco's rear playfully and hopped in bed. Draco snorted in amusement and got in the bed next to him. Harry was tempted to tease Draco some more but didn't realize exactly how exhausted he was until he lay down. He felt he only closed his eyes for a minute but when he opened them it was morning.

Stretching his arms above his head, Harry slowly got up and rubbed at his eyes. When he looked next to him, he saw that Draco was gone. His chest tightened for a split second at first. He didn't know why but he had a sudden flash back of before, during the time before they were married when things were falling apart not too long ago. Draco would always be gone whenever Harry woke up or went to bed. He was always out at the Quidditch field, trying to escape the fear he had felt and the danger that had been threatening them at the time. A minute later, however, Harry remembered that Draco was going to buy a new swimsuit for the vacation since he had forgotten to pick up one before. It was Harry's fault he had to buy a new one. When they had had their falling out months ago and Harry thought that Draco didn't want to be with him and had stood him up again, he got so mad he had destroyed Draco's bureau full of clothes and one of the items that had been burned was his swimsuit.

Harry shook his head of the thoughts. He knew he shouldn't dwell on the past but he was so afraid of it happening again.

"I need to stop worrying about every little thing. I'm being paranoid now," Harry muttered aloud.

Draco's owl hooted in response and Harry jumped. He hadn't realized Draco's semi-new owl had been perched on top of the dresser.

"What are you doing up there Artemis?"

The black brown-speckled owl hooted and then flew down to perch on Harry's shoulder. It had taken some time for Draco's mysterious and shy owl to become comfortable with him but now he could fly around in Harry's presence. After petting the smaller bird, who flew off towards his food bowl in the study room next door on the window sill. They kept that window open so both their owls could go in and out. Hedwig was getting older now, but thankfully wizard owls lived longer than the muggle ones. And Hedwig was exceptionally special since she was able to fully understand the human language and even respond to Harry with looks or nips. After everything Harry had been through though, she seemed to understand and was there to help him. When Harry went to the Quidditch Academy, he had Hedwig stay at Hogwarts. Now that he finally had a place and felt it was safe, she stayed with him again, although she would occasionally stay at Hogwarts if she felt like it. She had apparently made some friends there.

Harry decided to spend some time packing up the rest of his things for the trip. He didn't want to bring too much though in case he bought some things there. He decided not to visit Lucas about his paranoia. After all, he would see him in a few days. Suddenly, Hedwig flew in with a message.

"Hedwig!" Harry said happily.

Hedwig landed on his shoulder and nuzzled his face.

Harry laughed. "I missed you too. You've been at Hogwarts for the past couple nights. Don't worry, stay there whenever you want, I don't mind. I know you're having a great time there."

She stared at him with her big amber eyes, seemingly very happy. She held out her leg and Harry took the message. After an affectionate nip, Hedwig flew back out to return to Hogwarts. Harry smiled and then glanced down at the message. He wondered if it was from Draco. He opened it up.

Harry,

Meet me at the new café in Hogsmeade called The Phoenix Lair.

Ron

Surprised, Harry got dressed and flew out to meet him. He hadn't seen Ron in a while, not since the wedding. When he got there, Harry grinned at the sight of Ron and Hermione sitting there with their drinks. It was just like old times. It gave him a rather nostalgic feeling.

"Hey," Harry said, smiling as he sat down. "What's going on?"

"Just wanted to hang out. The three of us haven't spent quality time together in so long," Hermione said, giving them a sad smile. "I miss it."

"Me too," Ron said, glancing down bashfully. "I mean, not that I miss hunting for Horcruxes or anything."

Hermione and Harry both laughed.

"Yeah, I don't miss that either," Harry said. A menu floated over to him and Harry waved his wand at the mint fizzling tea. "How have you guys been?"

"Great! I'm so excited about vacation!" Hermione exclaimed. "Lucas and I have been so busy!"

"Yeah, me and Lillian have been pretty busy too," Ron said, nodding.

Hermione glanced at him and pursed her lips. "Lillian and I," she corrected.

Ron glared. "Nobody talks like that Hermione."

She rolled her eyes. "Anyway. I've been working on research. You know, that professor took me under her wing. She's an academic expert in sorcery and so we've been studying ancient books she's managed to acquire. Right now I have a job as her assistant but one day I would actually love to have my own research library full of accurate information and ancient spells."

"You just love books," Ron muttered.

Hermione glared at him. "Yes, I do, Ronald. Besides, learning sorcery has its advantages."

Suddenly a sly grin crossed her face. Ron went to take a sip of his drink only the cup started floating away from him.

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed.

Hermione laughed.

"How did you do that without a wand?" Harry asked, staring at her in awe.

"Well, how do you think ancient wizards and witches did it, you know, before Ollivander's and other wand makers came in to invent wands? They used the magic from within. I mean, that's where all magic comes from, is deep within us. The wands just make it easier to release. Wandless magic is really difficult and more exhausting. Right now I can't do much more than simple charms or spells."

"That's still amazing! So what do you ultimately want to do?"

"I'm still considering my options," Hermione said with a smile. "I don't want to travel, since I have Lucas now and everything. I do like research but I'm not sure if teaching is what I want to do. We'll see. How about you both? Well, Harry I know you just got down with the semi-finals. What about you, Ron?"

"I tried working for the Ministry, with my dad, you know, and actually one of the Aurors there heard about my love for Quidditch and that I was on the Hogwarts team. Mind you, as much as I love Quidditch, including playing it, I've realized I love watching it more than playing it. Anyway, apparently his brother works as a Quidditch Announcer! He got me an interview with him so maybe someday I could be the next announcer at a game when Harry plays!"

"That's great, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

"That would be very cool," Harry said grinning. "I can just imagine you sneaking in snide comments against the other teams."

Ron laughed loudly. "Yeah, er, I'll have to work on being neutral or at least pretending to be."

"How's Draco?" Hermione asked.

Ron seemed to get a look of constipation on his face. Harry knew that Ron would probably never be a hundred percent okay with Draco. He had thought at least after the wedding Ron would be used to the idea, but he would probably never be comfortable talking about Draco, or being around him. Harry hoped that the vacation would change things so long as Draco didn't piss Ron off, which was his favorite past time during group get-togethers.

"He's doing good. I think he's looking forward to the break s much as I am. Quiddtich has been strenuous lately."

"But your honeymoon was good, right?" Hermione asked.

Ron choked on his drink. "We don't need to know any details!"

Rolling his eyes, Harry shook his head. "Like I'd ever give you guys those kinds of details. Anyway, it went great. The place was amazing! The bed was so big and floated up to the ceiling. The cake was huge too. Overall, it was nice to have a couple days to relax. Of course the second we got back it was hectic."

"And what about you and Lillian?" Hermione asked.

Ron flushed. "Oh, well, we're doing great. Well, my mum's been kind of breathing down my neck about, you know, proposing and stuff but we've only been together a year now. It just seems too fast. I think my mum's just worried about me. She wants me to be happy and to have a complete life and all, but I don't want to rush anything. Anyway, well, you know because of my mom things have gotten a little tense between me and Lill' so hopefully this vacation will help that."

"I'm sure it will," Hermione said, patting his arm.

Harry smiled. "Yeah. All couples have tension. Just look at what happened between me and Draco not too long ago."

Ron and Hermione both had similar tense expressions. Harry finally told Ron what had happened in an owl after the honeymoon. He gave him the brief version and not every little detail, but Ron knew that Draco had been extremely moody, that they almost broke up, well, actually did break up, and then Draco made up with him. When he told Ron about what Pansy and the Malfoys had planned, Ron actually felt bad for Draco. He was shocked that the Malfoys would do that to him and even more shocked that Draco didn't side with him. He stuck by Harry's side and actually tried to protect him.

While Ron wasn't paranoid Draco was trying to kill him, he still didn't trust him as a boyfriend. Remus had finally come to accept Draco since he had found out the previous Christmas. He and Tonks had been on vacation when the wedding happened but they sent them a beautiful gift – it was a magically clock with a gold rim that had some pictures of him and Draco together. Several of them were shots taken by the previous articles they had to endure but it was cute.

"Yeah, true. I mean, if you and Draco can work things out with his stubbornness then I guess there's hope for me."

Harry smiled at him and nodded. "So, do you guys know what we're in for at the Blackthorn Resort? I didn't want to ask Draco a bunch of questions. He always teases me about not knowing a thing."

"Well, I know that it's one of the largest and most popular resorts. They have so many kinds of activities and restaurants and shops there. It's like having a city in one building," Hermione said, clapping her hands in excitement. "They even have games and activities based on historical events with amazing accuracy."

"Oh yeah because that's the most important thing," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Nobody goes there for the historical accuracy, Hermione. They go there to play awesome games you can't play anywhere else."

"Like what?" Harry asked, leaning forward.

Ron opened his mouth to reply but Hermione nudged him. "Oh, come on, don't spoil the surprise. It will be more exciting not knowing what to expect."

Harry sighed and leaned back but then smiled. "You're right."

"I can't believe we're leaving in four days," Ron said. "Blimey! I've got to pack!"

Just then as a small breeze came, Harry got a tingling sensation on the back of his neck. He turned and looked around. Everyone in the café didn't seem to notice him. There didn't appear to be anyone watching them.

"You okay, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Oh, er, yeah, sorry," Harry said.

They talked for a little while longer, some of which was Quidditch to Hermione's dismay and some of it was about what they would pack for the trip. When Harry got home, Draco was there packing up his things. When he heard Harry come into the bedroom, he turned around quickly. There was a curious but almost nervous expression on his face.

"You okay?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, fine. Where'd you go?"

"Met Ron and Hermione at the new café in Hogsmeade," he replied, sensing that Draco was acting a little odd. He curled his lips playfully. "Where did you go?" he shot back.

Draco's shoulders relaxed. "You know where I was."

"I know. Did you find a nice swimsuit?"

"Yeah, it's nice," Draco said shrugging.

"Aren't you the one who's more conscientious of your appearance?" Harry teased.

Snorting, Draco shot him a look. "Of course. I didn't say I got something cheap and crappy."

Shaking his head, Harry knew he was kidding. Although Draco grew up on wealth, he had handled being poor pretty well at the Quidditch Academy when his family disowned him. Still, it must have been really hard to not only find a way to support himself, which he wasn't used to at all, but also to have no family to lean on even for emotional support. Granted, the Malfoys were not the picture perfect kind of parents, but Draco was used to being spoiled by them and doted on. He couldn't imagine how betrayed he must've felt being disowned just for wanting to make his own decisions.

Thankfully, Draco did break away and even changed his name. Now they were both wealthy. Draco had built up his vault again and he was able to buy expensive things. Harry did notice, however, that Draco was pretty careful with his money. He didn't buy things a lot.

"I can't believe how close it is," Harry said, smiling as he sat on the bed.

Draco glanced at him briefly and nodded. "Yeah."

While Draco finished packing, Harry decided to go downstairs and make some dinner. Wizard recipes were even easier than muggle ones. Instead of just throwing something precooked into the microwave, wizard meals came in compressed packages that when magically unsealed cooked themselves at the same time and were ready to eat by the time the spell was over. It was so easy to become dependent on magic. Harry tried really hard not to rely on magic all the time, and especially the extremely convenient wizard meals. Once in a while didn't hurt though.

Draco must have smelled the food because he came down the stairs. They both sat at the table in a comfortable silence. Harry summoned some butterbeer. As they ate, Harry was reminded, when looking at the table, of the time last year when they had gotten back together after graduating from the academy. It had been so intense. The thought of it was making Harry want to climb across the table onto Draco, but he decided to save it for the vacation. He figured the anticipation would make it that much more enjoyable.

"So has Blake contacted you again?"

Harry glanced up at the sudden question. "Oh, er, no. Haven't heard from him. He's probably visiting other friends or something. Besides, he knows we're leaving in a few days."

Nodding, Draco didn't seem like he was going to continue to the conversation so they fell into another silence. Harry gazed at Draco while he ate. The blond seemed a little odd, like when he asked Harry where he had been. Draco almost seemed…uneasy and Harry wasn't sure where it was coming from. Hopefully Draco was still excited to go on the vacation. Was he having second thoughts?

"Draco, do you remember which room we're in?" Harry asked. Since Draco had booked the resort, being since Harry had never booked one before he wasn't sure about the exact details.

"Yeah, we're on the 50th floor in S3. I figured it would be a great view. Besides the rooms on the top level are usually the best."

"Nice," Harry said, feeling excitement bubble in the pit of his stomach. "Is there one bed?"

"Yes. A king-sized, which I specially requested. These resorts have very strict policies about that sort of stuff. If it's a double room, then two people can stay. If it's a single room, then only one person is allowed to be there. We have a double room so we can both stay together."

"What does the S3 stand for?"

"Each of the floors has different colored doors. S stands for silver and our room number is 3. That way in case you forget which floor you're on if you remember the color you can find it on the map in one of the elevators."

"I find that interesting that you'd pick the silver floor."

"That's just a coincidence, Harry. It has nothing to do with being Slytherin."

Harry smiled. "Sure, okay."

Draco glared. "The first floor is gold, the 25th, or middle floor, is bronze and the top is silver. That's just how they decided it."

Harry laughed. "I'm just giving you a hard time."

Shaking his head, Draco finished up what he was doing.

"So, Hermione doesn't want to tell me what to expect at this resort."

"So let it be a surprise," Draco said, shrugging.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "You too? You're not even going to give me a hint?"

Smirking, Draco gazed at him, and leaned toward him. "Why, Potter? Is it driving you crazy?"

Trying his best not to succumb to Draco's teasing, Harry rolled his eyes. "Surprises are fun. I'm just curious."

"Once we get there they have a list of all their floors and activities so the second we arrive you can look at it. Then you'll know everything."

He grinned in response. "That sounds great! Then we can both look at it and decide what we want to do!"

He watched Draco's mouth curl into a grin. Was there something he was already planning to do? While his curiosity spiked so did his excitement. He just couldn't wait. It was going to be the best vacation!

XXXXXXXXX

~December 15 – Blackthorne Wizard Resort ~

The anticipation over the vacation had finally surged. When the day finally came to go there, Harry was up at the crack of dawn, showering and rushing around to make sure he didn't forget to pack anything important. Draco raised his head groggily at one point and stared at him with amusement. It didn't deter him from going back to sleep for a little while longer, however. Their train left at 9 but Harry was ready by 7. Draco was still fixing his hair at 8:05 and Harry was shaking his leg uncontrollably from where he was sitting.

Draco glanced at him and smirked widely. "Are you always like this before going out and meeting more of your kind?"

Harry glared. "Make fun all you want. I'm just so excited! I can't wait to see what they have there. I remember Hermione's party was pretty fun."

"It isn't even remotely close to that!" Draco snorted. "Compared to Hermione's birthday, this is paradise."

Harry's stomach started to bubble with excitement. "Seriously, I can't take this anymore! Let's just leave now!"

Draco just grinned. "You're very entertaining when you're anxious," he drawled. "And we can't leave before the train, you know, unless you'd rather do that on the train," he said as he gestured to Harry's restless leg.

Harry groaned and plopped backward on the bed. He heard Draco snort but he didn't say anything. While Draco roamed around finishing getting ready Harry thought about the strange appearance of Blake a couple nights ago. It did seem strange that after a year he would all of a sudden stop by as if nothing had happened between them. Blake's reaction to Harry going to the resort with Draco was odd. He wondered what it meant. Maybe Lucas would have some insight. He was really good about things like that and giving advice.

Suddenly there was a hand on his leg. Harry opened his eyes and saw Draco staring down at him. From this angle Harry could see right now his white collared shirt and he attempted to fight his arousal.

"We can leave in five minutes so don't fall asleep."

Smiling, Harry quickly wrapped his arms around Draco's neck and brought him down for a kiss. Their lips touched softly. As Harry wound his arms around him tighter, he pushed their lips together more forcefully. Harry tilted his head to the side as their lips moved languidly together. Slowly, his hand traveled down Draco's back to the end of his shirt where he felt the bare skin. Lifting up the shirt, Harry caressed Draco's bare back. He heard Draco groan in the back of his throat and knew the blond was probably becoming aroused. His stomach gurgled with anticipation, but Harry knew they didn't have any time for intimacy. They would have to save it for when they got to their room. Harry reluctantly broke the kiss. Draco held their gaze for a second before he stood up.

"Time to go."

Harry's eyes brightened. "Yes! Let's go!"

They each levitated their bag outside and apparated to the train station. Hermione and Lucas were already there.

"Hey! Over here!" Hermione exclaimed, waving her hands wildly as she jumped up and down once.

Draco glanced down at the ground and sighed heavily, as if he was embarrassed to acknowledge that he knew her. Harry pulled on his arm and they walked over to them. Harry gave Hermione a big hug and then Lucas. Draco awkwardly patted Hermione's back when she hugged him, and then just shook Lucas' hand as usual.

"Are you guys excited?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Harry said calmly.

Draco rolled his eyes. That was of course an understatement. Harry sent him a wink and Draco just raised an eyebrow in response. They all talked about what they would do, how they could do group activities and even go out to dinner and then go off as couples later on.

"So, there's no curfew or anything?" Harry asked.

"Not at all," Lucas said, pushing his black bangs out of his face. "You can stay up all night long. Wherever you want to go they've got some activity going on every floor."

"And the bedrooms are also on each of the floors?"

"The way it works, for those of you not well accustomed to the wizard world," Draco said, glancing at Harry and then Hermione (who glared in response), "is that bed rooms are on every floor, but they have their own wings. On the opposite side of the long hallways from those wings are the wings for the various activities. Every numbered floor has a different color to indicate the color of the wings and the bedrooms. So our room, silver, would have silver sheets, and silver curtains, and of course a silver door. That's just so that every room on every floor is unique."

"Wow. That's amazing! 50 floors! What in the world could they possibly have on every floor," Harry wondered aloud.

"That's what I'm anxious to find out. I heard that they have an enormous library, with marble floors, a tall ceiling with a chandelier and every kind of book you can imagine, even ancient books that are nearly impossible to find these days," Hermione said, clapping her hands together in excitement.

Draco slowly raised an eyebrow. "Well, while Hermione is studying on this vacation, the rest of us will actually be enjoying our time."

"Draco!" Harry exclaimed, nudging him playfully.

"Tease me if you like, Draco," Hermione huffed, "But it still would be something worth checking out."

"Don't worry, we can check it out together," Lucas said, smiling down at her.

Smiling back, Hermione leaned up for a kiss and Draco rolled his eyes and looked away. Harry glanced at him and when Draco met his eye Harry just raised his eyebrows in question.

"Okay, well, I don't see Ron or Lillian yet, but we have ten minutes before the train leaves. Let's get a compartment," Harry said.

They managed to find an empty compartment somewhere in the middle. Draco was a bit quiet but Lucas managed to get him in conversation. Of course by asking Draco about the upcoming Quidditch World Championships Final Match. Quidditch was one subject that Draco was comfortable talking about and he told Lucas some of the strategies he had been coming up with. As they talked, Harry struck up a conversation with Hermione.

"So how are things going with Lucas?" Harry asked.

Hermione blushed a little and she nodded. "Great, of course! He's amazing, Harry. I don't know what I would've done if you had never set us up to meet."

Harry smiled. "Well you don't have to worry about that."

Hermione glanced over at Draco briefly. "I'm really glad things worked out between you two. I know how much you love him."

Harry scratched the back of his neck while smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, me too."

"I think you've made him a better person, Harry. I think he's so much happier with you and I don't think he'd ever risk giving that up."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, smiling as he glanced at the blond.

"Oh, Harry, there's something I should tell you," Hermione said.

Harry turned to her just as the compartment doors opened. Ron and Lillian walked in looking tired but relieved.

"I thought we were going to miss the train!" Lillian exclaimed.

"Yeah, because she forgot her third suitcase!" Ron exclaimed, shaking his head.

Lillian nudged him. "Oh, you're exaggerating. I only brought two."

Hermione laughed and got up to hug them both. Harry did the same and then Lucas. Draco just gave them both a curt wave.

"Nice to see you again, Draco," Lillian said politely.

Ron just glanced at Draco briefly and nodded.

They all sat down again. When Harry turned back to Hermione to finish their conversation she just waved her hand to signal that it was nothing. Hermione then started up a conversation with Lillian.

"So, Harry, er, how's life?" Ron asked, sitting down across from him.

Harry smiled. "Can't complain, you?"

"Pretty good. Er," he said glancing at Lillian quickly, "my mum's still putting pressure on me to propose. The thing is I do want to, but I don't want it to be too soon, you know. We've only been going out for like 9 months, you know?"

Harry nodded. "I understand. You want to wait at least until the year mark."

Suddenly, Harry realized something. He calculated in his head how long he and Draco had been together. (Harry started the Quidditch Academy in the spring. They didn't start really dating, as in being in a relationship, till around November. And it was only a year program. So they dated for about 5 months in school. Then they split for a month and got back together in May around the time they moved in together. The semi-finals were in mid-September and Draco proposed in November, which was basically their year mark). They had made it a little over a year! He couldn't believe it! He didn't even think to celebrate their year mark since they had had the wedding. Now Harry really wondered something. Did Draco purposefully propose on the day of their real anniversary, the day in November that they started dating? Harry wasn't sure if he would be able to remember the exact date they started going out, but if Draco had proposed on their anniversary, that would make it even more romantic.

"Er, why are you smiling, Harry?"

"Oh, sorry. It's nothing. Just excited about this trip," he said.

The train ride there seemed agonizingly slow, even though it was twice as fast as a muggle train. When they finally arrived and stepped outside, Harry was surprised that it looked like a regular, albeit extremely tall, classy building. However, when they stepped inside Harry could see all the difference. Baggage was floating around to its respective rooms. There were various charms in the air to show where the front desk was and other things. And it was at least three times as big on the inside as it appeared on the outside, no doubt created by an extending charm.

"We need to check in at the front desk," Lucas said.

They all approached the counter to stand in line and immediately Harry saw the flashing sign on the desk where their itinerary was. Harry crept out of line and instantly snatched one up. Draco glanced at him with a knowing grin and Harry crept back into line. He opened up the flashing brochure which immediately expanded and unfolded in front of his eyes to see exactly what the resort had. What he saw made his mouth drop. They obviously had rooms on each of the floor, but every single floor had its own unique events, activities or special things associated with it.

Gold 1 – Dueling floor! Show your skills against some of our best staff members or against other resort members. There are plenty of prizes to be won for champions! Small prizes for winning individual duels and there will be one main duel event each night for a chance at some rare gifts, such as the Hybrid3000 – one of the newest models of broom! Unlike the Firebolt or other well-known brooms, this one has been specially made with the scales of a Peruvian Vipertooth dragon. The scales reflect any simple to mediocre hexes and curses, just as a dragon would be able to protect itself from a wizard. The broom end is also made with the hair Aethonon, a rare species of winged horse that can fly swiftly and sense danger or obstacles. The broom will automatically dodge most things in the way, such as birds, dragons, or even…bludgers! Excellent for any Quidditch players, professional or otherwise!

Rose 2 – Wands Galore!We have our own wand shop with our own very best wand makers. Yes, even as good as Ollivanders! For anyone who needs a new wand to an upgraded wand we have brand new fresh materials, such as Holly, Willow, Oak and more. Remember though, wands will choose their masters. While we have come to realize over the years of study as magic has evolved, the there is thankfully not just one wand per witch or wizard. However, normally if your first wand has a core of veela hair, unicorn hair, dragon heartstring to the very rare phoenix feather, then your core usually stays the same. Whatever your original core, we've got it! And we can make it with the finest material!

Turquoise 3 – Butterbeer Brew. Learn how to brew butterbeer and all the various flavors there are. You can take home samples of our newest creations!

Lavender 4 – Triwizard Tournament. Learn about the intense and suspenseful past Triwizard Tournaments and even compete in one yourself! The champion of the tournament who passes all stages of tests will win a huge prize. It worth the challenge! And if you don't want to participate, be the one in the stands cheering the participants on! Butterbeer and snacks included.

Blue 5 – Herbology Tour! Learn all about the various plants in the world and even take real live tours out into different wilderness to see them up close and in person! Watch out for the Venomous Tentacula! (Note: this is completely safe. No lives will be endangered.)

Fuchsia 6 – Makeup and more! The best beauty supplies such as Vanishing Cream and Blemish-Be-Gone make-up by the best make-up witches! Even win some free make-up kits!

Teal 7 – Practical Jokes! Buy your own jokes and treats here! We have products from the well-known Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, everything from Extendable Ears to even taffies from Jolly Good Times that turn your friends into various things. Get a laugh right here!

Burgundy 8 – Creature Competition. Choose from our various creatures including blast-ended shrewts, Mackled Malaclaw and more! Pit these creatures against each other in races and more and earn prizes!

Yellow 9 – Metamorphmagus and more! If you have the rare talent of a metamorphmagus or you're very good at illusion charms or disguises, this is the place for you! A competition between wizards and witches alike for the best use of disguises.

Ruby 10- Potions, potions, potions!We have a variety of potions for sale! Anything from the Draught of Peace to a Metamorphmagus Disguise. Also we have potions labs for potion-oholics to brew by hand. There are even some fun potion classes taught by professors to aid those who are not so great. And every morning and evening there will be a potion contest and the potion pick of the day will be the professor's choice. It could range in difficulty but you could be the lucky winner of some very rare potions, including anti-detection, invisibility and more!

Green 11 – Be An Auror! Be an Auror for a day and go to various locations to hex and capture Death Eaters, Dementors and various other evil doers and beings. The one who captures the most will get a grand prize!

Orange 12 - Gardening Competition! We have our own annual gardening competition. Those that can grow the most creative magical plant species will get a very sizable purse of money!

Beige 13 – Broom Racing. Join us for some flying competition! There will be first to third place winners! You may even get a chance to win a new broom!

Brown 14 – Holidays. Do you miss the holidays? Come join us for any holiday you desire, whether it be Christmas or Halloween or any of your favorite holidays including Merlin Day!

Black 15– Excellent Quality Tattoos. Now includes muggle tattoos (the non-moving ones). Get temporary day-tattoos with charms that last for 24 hours of anything you want, or semi-permanent tattoos that last until you use the anti-tattoo charm.

Cerulean 16 – Wizard Chess. Be challenged by the best of the best and earn great prizes!

Amethyst 17 – The Great Library. Visit our huge, marble-floored library filled with very old to very new books in all categories and genres. Spend time reading by the fireplace or using a Daydream Charm to be directly absorbed into the book and live it first-hand!

Champagne 18 – Romantic Get-away! Create your own dreamy date or honeymoon by coming to our vacation spot! Anything from laying on the beach together, to sharing a bubble bath for two. Includes musical charms for any romantic music you wish to play and much more. Our most popular has been a moonlit magic car ride under the stars!

Charcoal 19 – Magical devices. Buy the best of the best everything from broomstick servicing kits to anti-detection wards and more!

Orchid 20 – Flying Techniques. Learn valuable flying moves ranging from amateur to expert!

Cobalt 21 – The Terror of You-Know-Who. Learn all about Lord V's reign of terror and what we know about him growing up as a child and going to Hogwarts. Also most recently, thanks to Harry Potter, we now know how The Dark Lord achieved immortality. Learn about this deep dark magic and even see a glimpse of the Dark Lord…if you dare.

Coral 22 – Collectable Famous Wizard Cards, Infamous Wizard Cards, Dragon Cards, and more. Explore this floor where you can duel for a chance for a collectable card, see every kind of card out there rare and otherwise in our secure card vaults, as well as being able to answer trivia to earn cards. For trivia you get three tries a night.

Cream 23 – Animal pets. Stop by to see a range of animal pets from rare Owls to Runespoors and even Phoenixes. You can even buy one to take home with you!

Crimson 24 – Café's! We have a variety of cafés with home-made coffees and teas and even great breakfast and lunch menus, including fried Occamy eggs.

Bronze 25 – Quidditch Floor. Play for your favorite team or make your own team uniform and play any position you want against other players. You can play against other people in the resort or holograms of real professional athletes by using one of the resort's original Quidditch Charms called Creativium. It's a charm that allows you to literally immerse yourselves in any Quidditch play, Quidditch team or even imaginary teams and players you make up, but feels as real as anything else.

Magenta 26 – Boggart Battle. Battle your worst fear and win some prizes! The person also with the strangest fear will earn a reward each day!

Cyan 27 – Tea is everything! Come share simply brunches out on patios with the sun shining and experience delectable teas from around the world. We even have some of our own original brews such as Carmel Abyssinian and Sweet Belladonna Breeze.

Violet 28 – Order of the Phoenix. Learn about this special Order that was active during Voldemort's reign of terror and the secrets that they kept. While still much of this is a mystery, what we do know will shock you! Come and learn all about those Aurors and other brave souls who risked their lives to protect us all from the Dark Ages.

Ebony 29 – Dragon Floor. Get to ride a real life Dragon. From an Opaleye to a Romanian Longhorn. Or just come to look at the various species that live in their own magically expanding room the size of a city with various landscapes such as desert, caves, mountains, rivers and streams, and includes soon-to-be extinct species like the Hebridean Black.

Indigo 30 – Fantastical World. Enter the world of unicorns, fairies, dragons, ancient magic and more! See real-life charmed holograms of ancient wizards and sorcerers like Merlin, Grindelwald, Queen Maeve, Morgana, and more! You can visit the lands were unicorns dwell with many acres of gorgeous land or fly with dragons in the clear skies during a time when wizard and man were not around. Any fantasy you desire will become reality!

Emerald 31 – The Dark Arts. Learn about the dark history of magic from the legend of the Elder Wand to the battle between Dumbledore and Grindlewald. Our newest item is our very own history about Voldemort and the Battle of Hogwarts. Learn all about Harry Potter and how he destroyed Lord Voldemort's immortality. Also learn great protection charms and learn self-defense techniques.

Ivory 32 – Clothes, Robes, and More! Come and see our finest clothes shops from around the world. Everything from school robes to work robes, even fancy sorcerer robes. Anything you want, we've got it!

Jade 33 – The Muggle Way! Learn how muggles do things instead of using magic, such as learning to use the telephone, or cellphone, learning to drive a car or rollerblade, to even watching muggle TV and movies. Also includes learning how to take photographs with muggle technology! You'll be shocked – the pictures don't move!

Copper 34 – The Honeymoon Suite! For after your special day, join us for lavish palaces with food and drinks and dancing. A night of romance!

Jasmine 35 – Dinnertime! The best variety of food you can imagine! Ranging from simple food to fancy restaurants like the Hungarian Inn, with specialty Butterbeer drinks, fried Boggart strips, crisp dragon scale snackers and more! Every restaurant you can imagine all in one place!

Iris 36 – Magical Quills. See our collection of quills and how they've changed over the decades. You can even win the rare Golden Quill that can write in various calligraphy forms all with just a thought, due to the build-in charm!

Olive 37 – Pubs! Get some of the best drinks at any of our pubs! Relax and talk with others or just sit by the fireplace and enjoy!

Mahogany 38 – Weddings! A place for your special day! Have your wedding anywhere and in anything from palaces to castles to underground caverns covered in natural crystals. Your dreams will be reality! Free flower petal charm included for any bride that automatically showers you with any flower petals of your choice with every step you take!

Mauve 39 – Azkaban. Have you always wondered what it's like? You've heard the horror stories about the Dementors that guard it and the horrifying feeling of being trapped. Come inside for a little taste of fear! (And fear not, no real Dementors are used in this simulation)

Amber 40 – Divination! For any or all of you into the fine magic art of tea leaf reading, astrology, and fortune telling, this is your chance to give it a try! We even have a couple of Centaurs that come at night for several hours to teach their own divination – a special and unique treat you won't want to miss! The Centaurs, Blazer and Moonlight will even be able to spend time one on one and provide Dream Interpretations for anyone experiencing unique dreams they can't explain. For anyone who accurately makes a prediction, you will receive blessings from the Centaurs as well as prizes that range from ancient books from Centaurs and other witches and wizards not found anymore to the tea-leaf set of the very famous Cassandra Trelawney. And come join us for mid-night star gazing floating up on the roof tops in a very secure charmed bubble.

Wisteria 41 – Writing and more. If you're a fan of the Daily Prophet or other reporting firms, try your hand at writing and earn prizes for first place, second place and third place.

Plum 42 – Trivia! Think you're smart? Try your hand at our worldwide trivia about everything from dragons to spells and even historical questions. There will be prizes!

Peach 43 – Dark creatures and more! Are you a fan of being scared? Come here and see the darkest, scariest creatures up close! Even take scary adventures – a magical leap into forests and dangerous situations where you have to battle the worst and escape to win the game! If you do, you will earn some good rewards!

Sapphire 44 – The joy of music! Join us for dancing and music by magical instruments an even appearances of Celestina Warbeck, The Weird Sisters, Musidora Barkwith and more! We will have concerts every night starting at 6 p.m. and every night the bands will switch off. For a list of when your favorite bands will play on which nights, please see the clerks at the desk in the lobby.

Scarlet 45 – History. Books and more! Come join us for a signing by Historian Babelyon Hallcoon, one of the most renown travelers, now 130 years old!

Aqua 46 – Travel the world! Be taken by Charms and Spells to various countries and historic places around the world without leaving the comfort of this resort! Anything from train rides to magic car rides wherever you want to go!

Maroon 47 – The Quidditch Cup. If you've missed any Quidditch matches or games, we have them all! You can see them live as if you were really there!

Viridian 48 – Medical Magic! If you love medicine and places like St. Mungo's and Healer Haven then you will love seeing the best medical buildings through the ages. You can even participate and learn how to make healing potions and other healing items.

Auburn 49 – Myths and Legends. Be taken in by all the myths and legends of our world including the one about the Elder Wand and the Deathly Hallows. Even try your hand at fighting Grindelwald with the Elder Wand! Watch the legends come alive!

Silver 50 – Underwater Adventure! Swim the deepest depths of the clearest body of water. As deep as an ocean, but as fresh as the cleanest spring. Be surrounded by underwater plant life and creatures, including Merpeople, Ashwinders, to the newest-found hybrid species the Ramora Lizards, which are tiny dragon-like creatures with long tails, usually with spikes on the end, with legs and with two tiny fins on the back that help them swim underwater. They can live both underwater and out. They have two separate lungs, one to breathe underwater indefinitely and one to breathe on land. The best part – they are no bigger than your fist! They do have snouts and eyes like dragons, but their eyes can change color depending on their mood. Their teeth are sharp but not dangerous and they eat mainly dead scales off of other fish and underwater creatures, as well as eating various plants, such as the Bluebell, which is a blue flower that blooms at midnight and stays open until dawn. It produces pollen that they love to eat. There will also be underwater games such as Escape from the Kappa Demon, and even some treasure hunts. Prizes range from potions, gift cards to clothes shops, such as Madam Malkins and others, to money and even your own dream and memory pensive to store your most memorable moments or your most fascinating dreams!

Harry was in such awe at all the things the resort had to offer that he barely registered when it was their turn to go up. Ron and Lillian had already registered and their baggage had been delivered as well as Lucas and Hermione.

"We're going to go up to our rooms to get settled, but let's meet for lunch on Floor 24 for lunch! We can all meet by the elevator and choose a place from there," Hermione said.

"Sounds fun!" Lillian exclaimed.

"Okay. We'll see you in a little bit," Harry said, waving.

As Draco gave the front clerk their name, Harry was still reading all of the floors. Floor 50 sounded fun – an underwater adventure. There was even a mention of Voldemort and his name as well, which was weird to see. It was the first floor that got his attention the most – the Gold Floor, which was the dueling floor. You could win prizes for dueling including one of the newest brands of broom out there the Hybrid3000. Harry had heard about it. It was a brand new broom company, unlike the Firebolt and Nimbus. Supposedly this broom was amazing. Harry read the info about it from the brochure: Unlike the Firebolt or other well-known brooms, this one has been specially made with the scales of a Peruvian Vipertooth dragon. The scales reflect any simple to mediocre hexes and curses, just as a dragon would be able to protect itself from a wizard. The broom end is also made with the hair Aethonon, a rare species of winged horse that can fly swiftly and sense danger or obstacles. The broom will automatically dodge most things in the way, such as birds, dragons, or even…bludgers! Excellent for any Quidditch players, professional or otherwise!

"What? What do you mean?"

Harry was snapped out of his daze upon hearing Draco's irritated tone.

"I'm so sorry, sir."
Harry stepped up next to him. "What's going on?"

"They say that our room is out of commission right now and the only rooms available on the 50th floor are two single rooms."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. "Why is our room out of commission?"

"There is something wrong with it, that's all that I know. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience. We are obviously trying to get your room fixed but it might take a day or two. In the meantime we will offer complimentary single suites, and we will include all your meals free of charge from anywhere in this resort for the remainder of your stay."

Harry glanced over at Draco who was shaking his head. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were pursed.

"Fine! We'll take it! We obviously have no choice unless we want to sleep on the floor," Draco snapped.

Harry touched his arm gently and Draco wheeled his head around.

"Calm down. They said it's only for a day or two. We're here for a week so we'll still have plenty of time to enjoy our room."

Draco exhaled loudly, but thankfully seemed to calm down. Their baggage was apparated up and they then headed for the magical elevator that would take them right to their floor, no buttons needed just verbal command.

Harry glanced down at his room number S12 while Draco's was S8.

"So, we're a couple doors down from each other?"

"Yeah," Draco muttered. He had his arms crossed as he leaned up against the back of the elevator.

Harry had to admit he was disappointed, but they couldn't let it ruin their vacation. And being upset would only further upset Draco. They both entered the floor and Harry was amazed. The entire carpet was bright silver. They went down the hallway toward the rooms and they stopped at Draco's room first since it was closer.

When they walked in they were greeted by a flashing charm that said: Welcome new guest! Please make yourself at home! If you need anything and want to remain in the comfort of your elegant room, we provide extremely fast and delicious room service! Then the charm vanished. The carpets were again silver. It was a fairly large room for one person. There were a couple small carpeted steps leading up to the left where the elegant queen-sized bed was. The sheets were satin and silver in color and the comforter was black with silver weaving in it. There was a small bureau next to the bed. And straight in front of them was a plush silver couch in front of a fireplace. There was a small table in front of the couch and a small desk in the corner of the room by the window.

"It's very homey," Harry said, trying to lighten the mood. "It won't be so bad, right?"

"We can't exactly sleep together if only one person is allowed to stay in the single rooms," Draco drawled, staring out ahead of him.

It suddenly struck him. They couldn't sleep together. They were looking forward to being intimate, really, truly going all out since they had been so busy with Quidditch recently. Harry attempted not to show his disappointment on his face, and then he remembered.

"Wait! What about this?" Harry said.

Draco turned to him curiously as Harry pulled out the itinerary. He pointed to floor 18, the Romantic Getaway.

"They may offer romantic rides and bubble baths but who knows exactly how private it is. It could be bubble baths in a small room alongside loads of other bubble baths with other couples in it."

"That's true," Harry said, feeling his hopes crash. "Well, they should have our room fixed soon. Don't worry. I promise we will get our chance to go all out," Harry said, approaching him and wrapping his arms around Draco's neck.

Draco's shoulders seemed to relax a bit and Harry smiled. He then leaned forward and kissed him languidly. He pushed their lips farther together and tightened his hold for a minute before breaking away. The sound of their kiss sent tingles up his spine and he tried to ignore it. Harry knew if he didn't get out fast they were probably going to break the rules and get kicked out.

"I'm going to go check out my room and just make sure my bags are there. Er, I can meet you back here in ten minutes so we can go together to meet everyone for lunch."

Draco nodded and proceeded to go take off his long black jacket. He looked so handsome. The second that Harry felt his body become hot, he quickly raced out of the room. He couldn't believe it. Out of all the rooms they had to have singles, and of course it was against the rules to have couples in single rooms because that's what the double rooms were for. He understood that it was their policy so that couples wouldn't purchase single rooms for less and make less room for people coming alone, but still…why did it have to happen to them now?

Sighing heavily, Harry reached his room. It was basically identical to Draco's except his bureau was a different kind of wood. His bag was sitting idly by the bed. Harry took off his jacket as well. He changed into his formal black, fitted pants and his long-sleeved, dark green button-down, collared shirt. The shirt stopped perfectly right at the hem of his pants so he didn't have to awkwardly tuck it in. He rolled up the very ends of the sleeves, as the shirt was designed to do, and then walked out to go meet Draco. He knocked on the door and when Draco appeared it was hard for Harry not to push him into the room and rip his clothes off. Draco was wearing a formal button-down shirt as well. The main part of it was black but the cuffs and the buttons were silver. That was definitely his favorite color and it brought out his silver-gray eyes more boldly. The top part of the collared shirt was open, due to the first couple buttons being undone, exposing his collar bone.

"You look nice," Harry said, swallowing. "You ready?"

Draco nodded, roaming his eyes down Harry's body. "Yeah."

Harry inwardly smiled. At least Draco appreciated what he was wearing too. They headed down together and saw Lucas and Hermione already waiting. Hermione had on a beautiful black dress that flowed out when it hit her knees. She wore a pair of brown heels with it and a shawl for around her shoulders. Lucas had on black pants, similar to Harry's with a dark blue collared shirt and a black formal jacket over it, unbuttoned. Seconds later, Ron and Lillian appeared. Ron had on formal light brown pants and a white button-down shirt, which was quarter-sleeve length. Lillian had on a pretty white thin-strapped dress, which had ruffles on the bottom. It also went to about her knees. She had white heels to match.

"Which restaurant are we going to?" Ron asked grinning.

"Well, there's plenty of them to choose from," Lucas said, pulling out an itinerary for the floor.

"I'm sure anything is good here," Lillian said, pushing her blonde hair behind her ears.

Ron glanced over Lucas' shoulder. "Blimey! They have The Nogtail Nest here!"

"What's that?" Harry asked.

Draco snorted. "How have you never heard of it? Elina won't stop talking about it," he said, mentioning the other Chaser on their team.

"Its specialty is fried Nogtail feet. I've heard they're to die for," Ron said, licking his lips. "Nogtail meat is very popular because it has so much flavor."

"And it's fine because they're not in any danger of going extinct," Hermione added.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her and Hermione just shot him a look. Harry ignored the tension between them and shrugged.

"Sounds good to me," he said. He then glanced at Draco who also shrugged.

"Yes!" Ron exclaimed.

Lillian grinned. "Great! I'm starving."

They all walked together down the hall passing by several other restaurants before they found The Nogtail Nest. There were many plush floating chairs around large wooden tables, and even a large sofa, in front of a very large fireplace, that kept expanding to fit as many as ten people. There was one large chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, which was obviously charmed to send out sparks of light that lit up the entire restaurant. They were all seated at a comfy booth with floating chairs. Ron was having the best time going up and down, to everyone's amusement. Well, everyone except Draco who just stared at him as if he was an idiot.

"What are you going to get?" Harry said, peering over Draco's shoulder (since they were seated next to one another).

Draco pursed his lips. "I think I'm going to get the Nogtail special. It comes with their delicacy, which is the fried Nogtail ears, and comes with a large spiced Butterbeer."

"Spiced?" Harry asked.

Draco smirked. "It has a shot of Firewhiskey in it. Makes it stronger."

"Would you mind if I tried a little?" Harry asked.

"Sure," Draco said as his smirk widened.

Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He finally decided on getting the fried pasta with Nogtail hooves – apparently the hooves, when cooked and carmalized, tasted sweet and crispy. Harry also learned that a Nogtail was a pig-like creature, only with black eyes and long legs, that was classified under a demon/dark creature. It wasn't harmful to humans directly, but normally posed as a piglet to suckle on the pigs on farms causing bad luck. They apparently were very hard to catch, being super fast, which was one of the reasons why they weren't endangered, despite being hunted for their delicious taste.

Once they all ordered their food and drinks, their drinks immediately came. Draco pushed his drink over to Harry who glanced at him for a second before taking a sip. The smooth buttery taste of the butterbeer was still present but the Firewhiskey also burst down his throat. It was a very spicy flavor, which caused Harry to cough several times after swallowing. Ron burst out laughing at him and Draco just smirked in amusement. After blinking a couple times, Harry happily sipped his plain butterbeer.

"Too strong, Harry?" Lucas asked, smiling. "That's okay. I'm not a huge fan of Firewhiskey myself."

Draco took a sip of his drink, not seemingly to be bothered by how strong it was.

"So how do you guys like your room?" Hermione asked.

Harry glanced at Draco who didn't respond. He sighed heavily and proceeded to tell them what happened.

"What? That's ridiculous!" Ron barked.

"I agree," Lucas said. His eyebrows were furrowed. "How can they not tell you what happened? That sounds suspicious."

"Yeah, I know, but they said our room should be ready soon."

"I would complain to the owner," Lillian said. "I think that at least if you can't have that room you should still be able to share a room."

"Yeah," Harry said.

Thankfully Lucas changed the subject to the resort and what sorts of things they would all do. That topic was a lot more fun. Harry could tell by the end of the meal Draco was tipsy and he was feeling pretty content, but not as content as Draco. They all ordered another round of drinks after they finished their meal. Draco thankfully got a non-alcoholic drink. Suddenly, the blond leaned over to him while the others were conversing amongst themselves.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom. Get up in two minutes to join me."

Harry blinked at him curiously but nodded. Draco then excused himself to go to the bathroom and Harry waited, sipping his drink.

"You know, I think I should go too. I've had a lot to drink," Harry said, excusing himself.

When he got to the bathroom, he saw that there was another guy in there. Harry smiled at him awkwardly and entered a stall randomly to pretend to go to the bathroom. When the guy left, Harry then walked out of the stall.

"Draco?"

"In here."

Harry approached the stall at the very end and Draco opened it. He then pulled Harry inside and locked it. Harry didn't even have a chance to react before Draco crushed their lips together and slid his hands up Harry's shirt. Harry groaned and wrapped his arms around Draco while slipping his tongue into the blond's mouth. When they broke apart, Harry inhaled deeply.

"Draco…," he groaned, trying to unbutton the blond's jeans. "What if someone catches us?"

"We don't have a lot of time so we'll have to make this fast."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "You want to have sex in here?"

"Not sex. We don't have enough time and it would be too uncomfortable," Draco said.

Before Harry could ask what he was planning on doing, Draco unbuttoned Harry's jeans as well and pulled them down slightly so his underwear was showing to. Draco then lifted Harry up and forced his legs around his waist. Then Draco pressed his erection against Harry's and even through their underwear they could feel the friction. Harry gasped and closed his eyes in pleasure as Draco rocked his hips against Harry's. They both groaned breathlessly as their erections moved together. Harry wrapped his arms tightly around Draco and soon their lips were attached again in a heated kiss. Draco moaned and thrust his hips against Harry's with more force. Then the blond's hands dipped down and caressed Harry's rear. Slowly, Draco slipped his hand down Harry's underwear and trailed a finger between Harry's cheeks.

"God….Draco," Harry groaned. He moved his hips with more determination as Draco rubbed his finger against his entrance.

Harry trailed his hands down to Draco's rear and started doing the same thing. He dipped even farther down to touch Draco's sensitive sacs, rubbing them. Draco panted loudly. Harry could feel his orgasm coming on. He slipped a finger inside of Draco and the blond arched his back and tilted his head. Harry kissed his way down Draco's neck. He had fingered Draco before, but Harry realized, even after a year of being together, Draco had never let him be on top. Every time that Harry attempted to take control, the blond would eventually flip them over. Not that Harry minded it. He loved it when Draco took control. At the same time, he was ready to experience what it would be like inside Draco. Unfortunately, he would have to wait to test it out until their room was ready.

Draco slipped his finger inside Harry and he groaned into Draco's shoulder, praying that no one entered the bathroom yet. Their hips still moved together and Harry tilted his head back. Draco pushed him harder up against the stall and slipped another finger inside of him. Harry arched his back and cried out as he released his orgasm. Draco thrust against him and Harry reached down and grabbed Draco's sacs, making him moan loudly. Harry felt the blond's body tremble as he reached his orgasm. It took them several minutes to catch their breath. Then they both buttoned up their jeans, after waving their wands to clean themselves up.

"Wait a couple minutes before following me out," Draco said.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Do you really care what they think?"

"It's not really them I'm worried about. I don't want anyone who works here to find out. It's not exactly following the rules."

Harry nodded in understanding. After Draco left, Harry closed the stall and sat on the toilet to catch his breath. He wanted to have sex with his boyfriend so bad. He made up his mind. After lunch he would go to the front desk and ask for an update on the status of the room. He waited another minute and then walked out of the stall and back to the table. No one seemed to notice anything unusual.

"What should we do next?" Hermione asked. "Ooo! We could check out the library."

Draco snorted. "You guys can."

"Come on, Hermione. We should go play some games or something," Ron suggested.

"Oh yeah, I saw on our floor they have this Underwater Adventure game," Harry said. "It sounds really fun."

"We should check it out!" Lillian exclaimed. "I've heard of those! You get to choose the game and you can disguise yourself as anything."

"I definitely want to be a Noxi demon," Ron said. "They look so bloody awesome!"

"I want to be a Silverfish Mermaid," Lillian said. "They have glittery skin, beautiful long tails and the scales shimmer as well. Plus they always have underwater crystals in their hair and on their body!"

"Sounds beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I heard you can win prizes too," Lucas added.

"It sounds like it could be fun," Draco said. "I'll bet you a purse full of gold Weasley that I can best you in any game of your choosing."

Ron glared at him and clenched his fists. "You're on, Ma—I mean Me - oh whatever your name is!"

"Here I thought you were at least intelligent enough to speak English," Draco drawled. "My mistake."

Harry attempted to stifle a laugh as Ron's face turned bright red with anger. Hermione just sighed in exasperation while Lillian rolled her eyes up to the ceiling.

"Okay. Well, I'll join you guys up there. I'm going to go to the front desk and find out the status of our room," Harry said.

"Good luck, Harry," Hermione said.

Harry nodded and then left to head down to the front desk. He got in line behind a couple people and waited his turn patiently. Only a few minutes passed before the person directly ahead of him started walking away. As the person turned, Harry's eyes suddenly widened.

"Blake?!" Harry exclaimed.

The sandy-blonde boy turned and saw Harry staring at him with a dumbfounded expression. Blake then rubbed the back of his head, almost sheepishly, and then walked up to him.

"Hey Harry."

"What are you doing here? You never mentioned you were coming here when I told you about it."

"Yeah. It was sort of a last minute decision."

Harry blinked. "Are you here with someone?"

"Uh, yeah, some old friends. When you mentioned that you were coming here, I thought that was such a great idea. I mean, I'm only visiting for a couple weeks and I figured if I'm going to be here I might as well go all out. I've never been here before, but like I said I heard it was awesome so I thought I'd come check it out. I hope you don't mind. I mean, I won't intrude on your vacation or anything."

Suddenly, he was feeling rather guilty for reacting so strangely. He just thought it couldn't be a coincidence that Blake was there, but obviously he liked Harry's plan. It was a huge place after all so it's not like he would interfere with his spending time with Draco. Besides, Blake was his friend.

"Oh, er, of course, don't worry about that. I was just surprised that's all," Harry said.

Blake looked relieved.

"Er, hold on one second."

Blake nodded as Harry went up to the front desk before any other customers decided to get in line. The witch there had charmed her hair a bright golden color, which glistened. She had little diamond studs in her hair and a long elegant golden robe. Her eyes were a dark pretty brown. When Harry approached she smiled brightly at him.

"How can I help you, si-Oh my dragonfeathers!" she exclaimed suddenly, recognizing his scar. "I mean, how can I be of service, Mr. Pot—sir?"

Harry raised an eyebrow but chose to ignore her reaction. He was used to it.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to check on the status of my room. I had a double room but they said they needed to fix it. Is it ready?"

"Let me check! What's the room number?"

"S3."

She waved her wand and the strange pearly device on the desk glowed. It was a strange spherical item, similar to the gift Harry had gotten Draco months ago. It almost appeared like a crystal ball only it morphed into a square and writing appeared on the inside, although Harry couldn't read it from his position.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Potter – oops, I mean, sir! It's not ready yet."

Harry felt his stomach drop and then nodded. The girl seemed really disappointed herself that she couldn't be more helpful.

"Thanks anyway."

"Of course. Anytime! My name is Mylina if you need anything! You can ask for me anytime, if I'm not here!"

Harry smiled politely and nodded. "Thanks, Mylina."

The girl blushed and Harry walked over to Blake who was watching with some amusement.

"Do you always have that effect on women?"

"I didn't used to," Harry said. "Anyway, sorry about that."

"No problem. I couldn't help but overhear. What's wrong with your room?"

Harry sighed. "I don't know. They wouldn't tell me when we first came to check in. They just said something's wrong with it and it needs to be fixed."

Blake expression turned pensive. "That's weird."

"Tell me about it. So, how long are you here for?"

"Five days," Blake said. "I bought the tickets on such short notice that they only had the room available for that long. There's apparently a reservation after mine. This place gets booked fast."

"Yeah, that's what I've heard," Harry said, as they walked together down the hall. When they got to the elevator they both got in, and Blake hesitated.

"Well, it was nice to see you again, Harry. Uh, maybe we'll see each other sometime. If not here, then I'm sure we can get some lunch or tea sometime before I leave."

Harry felt the stirrings of guilt again. Blake was his friend and they hadn't seen each other in a year. Not to mention things didn't exactly leave off perfectly between them and Harry wanted to make it right.

"Er, you know, if you're not doing anything with your friends, you could come join us."

Blake glanced at him in surprise.

"We're all going up to the top floor to the Underwater Adventure wing. You're welcome to come and if you want to bring your friends too…"

Blake smiled. "That would be great! I'll meet you there."

Harry smiled and nodded. Blake got off on the 13th floor and Harry continued up to the top. He found his way to the Underwater Adventure wing and was awed as he entered. The walls were charmed to make it appear like beautiful crystal waters shimmering from the sun glistening down. It made it feel like he was already underwater. The floor beneath his feet looked like a normal floor, but felt warm and soft like sand. Harry spotted Draco, Lucas and Hermione over by the main desk. There was a charmed sign reading: Choose your water adventure here! Then there was a list of water games and other activities to do. All they had to do was wave their wand at the one they wanted.

"There you are, Harry! How did it go?" Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head. "Still not ready."

Lucas sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry. Hopefully it will be ready soon, but until then just have fun. Don't let it spoil your vacation."

"I won't," he said with a slight smile. "Oh, uh, by the way, I bumped into a friend while I was there and he and his friends will probably be joining us."

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Uh, Blake. You remember him, right, Lucas? From the Quidditch Academy?"

"Yeah," Lucas said. "I do remember him! Fancy that he's here too!"

Draco had an indifferent look on his face. "Yeah. What a coincidence," he drawled.

Harry glanced at him. He definitely didn't look happy. Harry remembered that Draco and Blake hadn't exactly gotten along. The last time Draco had seen him was when Blake punched him in the face. No doubt Draco didn't like him and didn't want to have anything to do with him. As Hermione and Lucas talked together about the various games, Harry pulled on Draco's arm.

"Hey. Look, I know you don't exactly like Blake. It's not like we have to visit with him one-on-one though. He said he was here with some friends so we don't have to hang out with him the whole time we're here."

"Good. Because I'm not doing that," Draco said, pulling away.

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. "I know you don't like him but could you at least try to have fun. I mean, you don't like Ron but you challenged him to a game."

"That's different, Potter!" Draco exclaimed, though thankfully not very loudly.

Harry was taken aback by his tone and of course the fact he called him Potter again. That either happened when he was being sarcastic and doing it on purpose, or when he was angry. Harry got a chill up his spine. His worries from before about experiencing another rocky phase with Draco after everything that had happened with Cliodyne and the Malfoys, Harry didn't think he could take another round of that. He certainly never imagined Draco would pull away again like he did last time, especially now that they were married. It was his worst fear and he never wanted to experience that again.

Before Harry could pull Draco over to apologize again, Ron and Lillian appeared. They were dripping wet.

"The water's great!" Lillian exclaimed. "Did you guys decide on a game to play?"

"Well, we were thinking Shrake Attack," Hermione said, glancing at Lucas who smiled back.

"What's that one?" Harry asked.

"Shrakes are magically fish with spikes and they often destroy muggle fishing nets," Hermione said. "So in this game half of the players are Shrakes and the other half are whatever else you want to be, muggle, Kelpie, merpeople –"

"Noxi demon," Ron interrupted.

"Yes, any of those. And you each start with a magical bubble of miniature Ramora. Since Ramora fish are endangered they keep them safe here and we can use them in games, which I think is a nice way to protect them. It's not the only place, but they have so much space to swim around and they're powerful enough to anchor ships so they have the ability to be very helpful," Hermione said.

"Anyway, the Shrakes try and burst the bubble. If someone bursts your Ramora bubble you have to swim to the designated spot for the Santuary otherwise you lose. In turn, the others have to try and capture the Shrakes and we can use any charms and spells so long as no hexes are used or anything that could harm someone. And they have great hex protections here. If someone even thinks of using a hex in a game, their hex will backfire and their wands will be rendered temporarily useless until they deal with that person."

"Also depending on what creature you choose to be you can use their special abilities in order to protect your Ramora fish and capture the Shrakes," Lucas said. "There's more than one winner in a group game. It's whichever team wins, the Ramora team or the Shrake team. The Shrakes win if they free every player's Ramora fish from the bubbles, and the Ramora team wins if they prevent all Ramora from being freed. There is obviously a time limit on the game. The Shrakes have to try and release all the Ramora fish in twenty minutes."

"What happens if they release some but not every player's?" Harry asked.

"That's simple," Draco interjected. "Each team will get a lesser prize. If say the Shrake team gets most of the players, they will win the bigger prize, but not the main prize."

"Sounds fun!"

They all turned around to see Blake and two of his friends. Harry didn't recognize them so he wasn't sure if they were from the Quidditch Academy or not. Draco stared at Blake who gazed at him briefly before looking away.

"Who are you?" Ron asked.

"I'm Blake. I met Lucas and Harry at the Quidditch Academy. These are my friends Mikul and Tran."

They all said their introductions and Harry introduced everyone. Draco didn't say a word as everyone said their pleasantries, such as "nice to meet you."

"What are the main prizes?" Ron asked eagerly. "I hope it's a rare potion or a rare Famous Wizard Card! If you get the Merlin card it's worth a fortune!"

"Well, not a fortune, but a lot," Hermione said.

Ron glared. "Just spoil the fun by being accurate, Hermione."

Blake grinned. "I guess we'll have to find out."

He glanced at Harry briefly.

"Okay. Let's get our teams!" Ron exclaimed.

Once they waved their wands over the game, magically they were all designated a side randomly. Harry was the Ramora and Draco ended up being a Shrake. Blake was a Shrake also as well as Hermione, Ron and Mikul. So Harry was teamed with Lucas, Lillian and Tran. They all changed into their swimsuits and Harry smiled when he saw Draco's new one. It was black and went down to just above his knees. It had red flames on each side charmed to flicker every minute. Harry wore simple navy blue ones that went down to an inch before his knee. There were no designs on it, but it was made out of a sturdy yet somewhat shiny material and was completely waterproof so it wouldn't get wet. He assumed everyone was probably wearing waterproof swimsuits so only the rest of their bodies would get wet. Hermione had on a pretty one piece that was dark purple in color and had some glittery design on the back. Lillian wore a two-piece that was light pink. There were charmed flowers that blossomed and then shrank down to buds every couple of minutes on her swimsuit.

"Did you choose what you want to be?" Lucas asked as Harry, Lillian, and Tran all came together.

"Well, we know Ron's going to be a Noxi demon," Harry said with a grin.

"That's what he'll look like but he'll have the spikes on his wrists to show he's a Shrake," Lillian said. "That's what they'll use to break our Ramora bubbles. The good news is that they can only use the various spikes on their bodies to attack us."

"Yeah, but some of them can stun you or paralyze you for up to a minute, which means if they find where you've hidden your Ramora you're toast," Tran said. "I've played this game before so I can give you guys pointers on where to hide them."

They talked quietly together and formed a plan while the Shrake team did the same thing. Harry chose to be Kappa demon. His skin turned green and his eyes turned red. When he jumped in the water he could feel that he could swim faster. Of course, if you chose to be a muggle you could use speed charms in the water, but they only lasted for a minute or two and you were only allowed to use speed charms three times total in a round. Lillian chose to be a Silverfish Mermaid, as she had said earlier. Her skin glittered like diamonds and she grew a long ivory-white tail. Her upper swimsuit piece stayed the same. She also had pearls and a couple amethyst-type crystals weaved in her hair. Lucas chose to be a merman with a long tail. With his dark blue eyes he looked pretty handsome. Harry noticed Hermione couldn't stop staring and neither could Blake. Tran chose to be a Kelpie so he had a long tail like a serpent's to help him swim fast, a fin on his back and beady golden eyes. Ron was a Noxi demon with red skin and black eyes and also a set of sharp teeth. He had fins on his arms legs. Draco chose to be merman as well and with his toned abdomen he was definitely another one to stare at. His fair skin shone underwater because his skin appeared shiny, coated with a similar film as a merman would have. Blake chose to be some sort of creature with gills, fire-red glowing eyes, white hair and strange scaled skin, which was what helped him move swiftly in the water. Mikul chose to be a Kappa demon like Harry, only he had black markings on his skin and black eyes.

The game started and Harry followed Tran's instructions to hide his Ramora out in the open, instead of a cavern, but hidden within some tall wavy white plants on the bottom floor. He wasn't able to use an invisibility charm, since it was against the rules, but he used a camouflage charm to make the fish the same color as the plants. Then Harry swam a good distance away from them so they would hopefully look near him.

Harry suddenly saw Mikul, the other team's Kappa demon, coming straight at him and ready to throw some Shrake spikes. Harry used the Kappa's ability to swim in a circle, faster and faster, eluding Mikul but swimming around him until he created a whirlpool.

"Nice one, Potter!" Mikul exclaimed, laughing as he twirled round and round in the whirlpool.

Harry grinned and then swam off. He saw Lucas dodging an attack by Blake. Lucas struck Blake with his tail and sent him flying backwards. Just then Draco appeared and almost pierced Lucas with one of his Shrake spikes. Blake saw Draco and suddenly charged toward Lucas as well. Harry stepped in to aid his teammate. Blake and Draco both gazed at Harry as he used another Kappa demon ability. His nails suddenly grew long and sharp and he scratched Draco first, which paralyzed him for only a minute. Blake dodged the attack but it gave Harry time to grab Lucas and swim away.

"Thanks, Harry," Lucas said, smiling. "Whew! That was a close one."

"Come on! Let's check on the others."

They swam off to their other teammates only to find Blake and Draco competing again Tran. It didn't seem like Blake and Draco were working together, but racing to see who could get Tran first.

"Stop getting in my way, Draco!" Blake exclaimed. "We're going to lose at this rate!"

"Like hell that's my fault!" Draco snapped.

Blake suddenly wheeled around in Draco's face. Next thing Harry knew the two were in each other's face, looking as though they were going to punch each other.

"You think you're a match for me. Remember what happened last time we fought?" Blake seethed.

"Yes! As I recall, I knocked the wind out of you and won!" Draco bellowed, clenching his fists.

"Hey! Guys! Seriously, stop!" Lucas exclaimed. "You're supposed to be on the same team."

Blake and Draco stared one another down and finally they broke away. Harry didn't realize he was holding his breath until he finally released it. They were able to complete the game but the entire time Harry felt a knot in his stomach. It definitely wasn't a good idea to invite Blake into the game. A part of him felt like maybe it had been better when he and Blake had lost touch, but then the other part of him felt like if he could accept Draco for his stubborn behavior and how he treated Harry a few months ago, then Draco could accept a friend of his that he didn't particularly like.

Both of their teams got prizes. Harry's team almost one but Mikul managed to get Tran's fish freed. After they all got out of the water, Draco stormed away. Harry quickly chased after him, having waved his wand over himself to get clothed.

"Draco, wait, where are you going?"

"To my room," he stated.

"Come on! Don't be this way on our vacation," Harry said.

"If he's going to be around then it's not a vacation!" Draco snapped. "Why the hell is he here anyway? Did you plan this?"

"What?! Of course not! I mean, when he asked if I had plans for the holiday I told him that we were coming here, but I never thought he was coming here! Why would you even say that? I told you that I was planning to say goodbye to him after our vacation."

"Why are you even friends with him? You know he just wants to get back together with you!"

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. So that's what was bothering him. It was jealousy. It was the reminder that Harry had dated Blake first, even though it was very briefly and he never ever slept with Blake. Draco was the only person he had ever been with and the only person he wanted to be with.

"First of all, he knows that we're still together! And second of all, I barely dated him. In fact, I kind of left him for you, in a way. I mean, he was leaving anyway, but still!"

Draco ran his fingers through his hair out of frustration and took a deep breath. "Look, I know that, but that still doesn't mean that Blake doesn't want to get back with you. Maybe he thought things didn't work out with us."

"Well, he can clearly see we're still together. You're just overreacting. I know you don't like him, but he is a friend of mine, okay? Not a close friend, but still a friend. I mean he lives so far away it's not like I see him a lot."

"Yeah, I know that, Potter!" Draco exclaimed. "Look, I just need time to cool off for a little bit. I'll meet you for dinner like we planned."

Harry just watched him disappear down the hall and he sighed heavily.

"Harry?"

He turned to see Blake at the end of the hallway.

"There you are. Sorry, Lucas said you and Draco had taken off so I wasn't sure if you guys were calling it a night or not. I hope you don't mind but I asked them what room you were in because I was going to come find you and ask you – or invite you and Draco to come out with us to one of the pubs."

"Oh, thanks, Blake. Er, we actually have dinner plans."

"That's okay. Maybe tomorrow."

Harry felt the lump in his throat and nodded. "Yeah, er, sure."

Blake stared at him for a minute and cocked his head. "Is it still bothering you about your room being sealed off?"

Harry blinked. "Yeah."

"You know, that girl at the front desk really liked you. I'm sure you could…flirt her up a bit to get some information," Blake said with a sly grin.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea. Thanks."

Blake nodded and then waved before he walked away. Harry went down to the front desk and she was still there.

"Oh hi, Mr. Pott—I mean sir!"

"Hi, Mylina. Just call me Harry," he said, smiling. The girl's eyes widened when she realized he remembered her name. "Look, I was just wondering. Are you sure you can't find out any information about my room?"

The girl blinked and bit her lip. "Oh, well, I'm sorry I don't think I can."

"It's just that this is my first vacation in a long time, and my first time in a wizard resort and I was really looking forward to having that great room we picked out."

She sighed and nodded. "I understand. I mean, I don't really have information, but…" she trailed off looking nervous. "I guess I could tell you the passcode to unlock it so you can see if for yourself."

"That would be so great," Harry exclaimed quietly, but sincerely. "I promise you I won't touch anything and I won't tell anyone about it."

She nodded and gave him a small smile. "Okay. The passcode is flufewinkle."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I know, it's a ridiculous word. It's so that no one can guess the passcode. I hope that helps."

"Thanks so much! You're the best!" Harry exclaimed.

She smiled brightly and Harry hurried away to the elevator. He bit his lip as the doors opened on his floor. He went to room S3 and stood outside of it for a few seconds before he got the courage to use the password. When he whispered the password, the door instantly unlocked and the magical protections on it lowered to let him in. He stepped inside and instantly he saw the problem. The entire room was a disaster. The bed had been hexed so thorns were growing out of it. There was a swamp beneath the bed. Some of the furniture was alive and scampering around. And there were sticky vines along the walls and ceiling. Somebody had done quite a number of hexes and charms to make the place uninhabitable. While the hexes weren't anything horrific (they were certainly nothing fatal, unless one was stupid enough to sleep in a bed full of thorns), it still gave him chills. Who would do such a thing? Was it just a coincidence that it happened to be his room? Or did someone know he was here?

It looked like some spells and charms were performed to attempt to get the place back to normal. Harry couldn't use any of his own magic to try and fix it because the protections that were in place probably would detect him. There was probably some kind of trap set up in case the culprit came back to do more damage. It certainly was a lot of hexes to clean up and some of them were advanced enough that it would probably take a couple of witches or wizards to do the job. There was definitely something going on and he wasn't going to rest until he found out who was behind it.

Harry went back down to the first floor to speak with Mylina. She was helping a couple other people before she was able to help him.

"How did it go?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Well…somebody certainly did a number of interesting hexes on it."

Mylina gasped. "Oh, no! Who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. I was wondering, I mean, those are some pretty nasty hexes and some of the furniture is probably ruined and others of it will take time to reverse. I'm just concerned that the room won't be ready until it's basically time for us to leave. Is there anything they can do? Are there really no other double rooms?"

Sighing, she pushed her hair behind her ears. "Well, normally we get our furniture from a couple sources. Our main source is a very talented wizard who is known for putting together furniture out of basic materials using his own advanced charms and spells. The problem is that he's getting old and he usually makes us furniture in advance when we need it, but otherwise he takes time off. Currently, he's in the muggle world in Japan getting more basic supplies to work on. It's kind of his hobby and, well, he's sort of going to be gone for at least a week.

"And the other source we have has instant delivery, but the problem is that they're backed up with requests. We send them our requests via owl and it's first come first serve so whosever owl gets there first, they make their items first. They can get quite a bit done in a day, but over the holidays they're so booked with requests that it might take a few days before they get to ours. I did find out that they sent a request for a new bed and bureau at least to replace the ones in there. The other problem is that those beds are not just your stand magically crafted beds. They're the top of the line. Some of our rooms, like the one you requested, as you probably know, have specialty furniture made out of very rare wood and also the sheets are made out of Pegasus hair. As you might know finding a Pegasus is really rare, especially these days. Then the other items are soaked in potions that take time to brew to make it so that the furniture can actually understand requests and will summon items in and out of it for your convenience."

Harry's heart sank. "Is there any way to get normal furniture, I mean, furniture that's not a specialty item just for now?"

She sighed. "Those would be easier to come by but still it takes a couple days to have them magically sent over because that would require one of our collectors to go to the muggle world or go somewhere else and get it. And due to our reputation we do have certain standards for our furniture and other items. The owner can't unfortunately change the furniture around when that room requires specialty items. It's what customers pay for. With how busy things are there are other requests and other things to do. And all of our double rooms are booked solid."

"So there's nothing? I mean, maybe I could help undo some of the spells."

She smiled sadly. "That would be nice, but it's more than that. If it's as bad as you say then probably a lot of it needs to be completely replaced or de-hexed. And they usually do that by soaking it in anti-hex potions and it takes 3-4 to soak all of the items thoroughly. Some of the bigger items may require being soaked twice. So sadly even that will take time. The owner does realize this situation and they haven't decided to call the Ministry because the hexes are not illegal, technically even though it's against our policy, but when we do find the responsible party they will be forced to pay for repairs and will be kicked out," she said firmly.

Harry nodded. "Okay. Well, thanks anyway. Let me know if anything changes or if you find out anything new."

"I will, Harry," she said, nodding.

It was already approaching five and it was almost time for dinner. Harry figured that everyone would already be on Floor 35 to decide where they wanted to eat. He went up there feeling rather agitated and frustrated. He had to find a way to get their room back. When he arrived on the floor, Harry only had to walk down to the hallway towards the wing full of various restaurants to find Ron, Lillian, Hermione and Lucas huddled together trying to decide where to go.

"Harry! There you are!" Hermione exclaimed. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"No, it's not," Harry said.

"Uh oh," Ron said. "I heard that Draco stormed off. What's up with that?"

"It's a long story. Basically, someone went in and hexed the crap out of our room. There's no way they can de-hex or get new furniture for at least a few days."

"That's horrible!" Hermione exclaimed.

"That's awful!" Lucas exclaimed at about the same time.

"What?!" Ron bellowed.

Lillian just gasped.

"Who did it?" Ron asked.

"They don't know, but I'm determined to find out. We have to keep our eyes open and try and investigate ourselves. Can you help me?"

"Of course, Harry," Hermione said, nodding.

"Absolutely!" Lucas said.

"When we find out who did it…," Ron trailed off.

"And if you guys find out anything, let me know right away. I want to get our room back as soon as possible."

"Is Draco coming?" Hermione asked.

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I think so. He said he would. Have you guys decided where to eat?"

"We were waiting for you," Ron said. "What about The Hungarian Inn? Or Merman Island?"

"Whatever you guys pick is fine," Harry said.

Draco finally showed up ten minutes later. Ron was so close to just leaving him behind to search all the restaurants for them. He looked rather glum so Harry hoped that his mood would get better. Harry decided not to include him in the investigation for fear that he would become obsessed and do something crazy or he would just be moody the whole time until they figured out who was behind it.

They went to the Merman Island restaurant and were surrounded by Merpeople who were swimming on the other side of the transparent walls. There were many delicacies served that thankfully was not made out of Merpeople. That would've been awkward staring at a Merman while eating one. To Harry's relief, Draco's mood seemed to improve as dinner went on. He wasn't sure if that was because Blake wasn't there or not, but he wasn't complaining. When they were leaving the restaurant, Hermione whispered to him that she would try to do some investigating tomorrow.

Harry and Draco went up to their floor in silence. A boy with a round cap looked down at the floor as he slipped by them. Harry hoped that he didn't recognize him. When they finally reached Draco's door, he broke the silence.

"Do you know if our room is ready?" Draco asked.

Harry couldn't stand lying to him so he told him what he discovered hoping that his fears were unjustified. Draco's eyebrows were furrowed in anger by the time Harry finished.

"Somebody did it on purpose? As what, against you or something?"

Sighing, Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I hope not. I mean, I don't see how they would know I was here. It could be a random attack, but it looks like it was done on purpose. I'm going to do some investigating and –"

"There's no reason to investigate! It's obvious who did it!"

Harry stared at him for a second before it clicked.

"Wait, you think Blake did this?! He wouldn't do something like that!"

"You just said it yourself nobody knows you're here – except him! And suddenly he shows up here on our vacation? Don't be blind, Potter!"

"He wouldn't have any reason to do that!"

"Unless he didn't want us rooming together because, as I said earlier, he wants to get back together with you," he snapped.

"No way! Even if he wanted to, which I'm sure he doesn't, he wouldn't do something like that! I mean, he's my friend and he knows if I ever found out…"

"Well he obviously doesn't expect to get caught."

"Look. He was there when I asked about our room and he seemed just as weirded out that they wouldn't tell me why my room was out of commission."

"Obviously he's lying! Do you expect him to just admit it? Like, oh yeah, sorry about that, Harry, it was me!" Draco drawled.

Harry clenched his fists. "Have you forgotten?!"

Draco stared at him in confusion.

"I'm a legimen. I think I'd be able to sense if he was behind it, especially when I was talking with him in close proximity and looking into his eyes!"

They both stared at each other for a couple minutes in tense silence. Finally, Draco crossed his arms. "Fine. Do your investigating but if you find anything suspicious that points to him you better tell me!"

"Of course I will!" he snapped back.

Draco just glanced at him briefly before disappearing inside his room. Harry sighed irritably and walked back to his room with clenched fists. When he rounded the corner, he saw the boy with the cap. His back was turned and he was hurrying down the hallway. Harry hoped he hadn't heard their argument. That would be embarrassing.

When he got back to his room he waved his wand to light the fireplace. Then he sat on the plush silver couch and summoned a butterbeer by saving his wand at the charmed area next to his bed, which was connected to the front desk by a Summoning Charm. The front desk apparated a couple butterbeers to his room. If they had been in the double room, they would've had a charmed fridge that would magically summon anything into it with a simple command without going through the front desk. Harry sighed heavily and sipped his butterbeer in front of the fireplace. The vacation he was looking forward to for so long was not going as planned. Whoever was behind it would pay.

The next morning Harry went straight to Hermione and Lucas' room. When he knocked Lucas opened the door.

"Hey Harry. Come on in. Hermione's just finishing up getting dressed."

"Thanks," Harry said.

He walked in and took a look at their room. Since they were on the second floor everything was rose colored. Their double room looked glorious. The bed was huge and gleaming with a beautifully designed headboard. The living room area was larger. It had one large couch and a floating loveseat. The fireplace was larger too and the mantle was rose colored. If they wanted the fire dimmed all they had to do was ask and the fireplace listened. Anytime they wanted anything it instantly appeared since they had a magical fridge.

"Harry! I'm so glad you're here! I was just going to come find you," Hermione said as she rushed out into the room. "I found something."

Harry instantly walked over to her. She pulled out The Daily Prophet. Harry's eyes immediately widened when he saw the most recent article that Rita Skeeter wrote. It was about the famous Harry Potter traveling to the Blackthorne Resort.

"How did she – oh bloody hell! That's why I felt like someone was watching us in Hogsmeade!" Harry snapped, throwing the paper down.

Lucas walked over and crossed his arms. "Anybody could have read that."

"Exactly! I mean…I have no idea who it could be, but at least this means that Blake isn't the most obvious target. Draco seems convinced it's him."

Hermione bit her lip. "Well, Harry, uh, do you think it's possible that it could be?"

"No, that's just it. I don't think he would do something like that. I mean, even if he wanted to get back together with me, he knows that would backfire. I just – I can't see him being the culprit."

Harry sat down on the couch with a sigh and Hermione joined him. Lucas sat down on the loveseat couch which thankfully he made sure didn't float him away.

"So, how are we going to find out who's behind it? Surely you want proof that it's definitely not Blake."

Leaning up against the couch, Harry nodded. "Yeah. I hate to say it because he's my friend and all, but it would be good to have solid proof it's not him, for my peace of mind and Draco's."

Hermione sighed. "Well, I'm not really sure how to go about doing the investigating now."

They sat in silence for a minute until Harry sat straight up. "It can't be a Death Eater. They would come after my life, not mess up my room."

"Unless they want to make it seem like it's someone who's more harmless," Lucas pointed out. "But still, you're right, I can't very well see Death Eaters coming to such a crowded place to attack you, or anyone wanting revenge against you like that."

"And most Death Eaters are now locked up or dead," Hermione added.

"I guess we'll just have to go about our day as if nothing's wrong. We can't let the culprit know that we're uneasy or they might sense we're after them," Harry said. "We'll just have to keep our eyes open and see if anything suspicious happens. If it does, and it happens in our presence, I can use a tracking charm to try and catch them. I know this place has some hex protections up but that's just to prevent players from cheating. I doubt it prevents against all hexes."

"Just be careful, Harry," Hermione said, patting his arm. "Treat it as if your life is in danger. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Yeah, I know. I will. I don't think this person wants to hurt me like that though. The hexes that they used in the room weren't fatal. They were just damaging. They just want to ruin my vacation."

"And possibly split you and Draco up," Lucas said. "That has to mean it's someone who's interested in either you or Draco. I have to say, Harry, I agree with Draco that Blake is a very strong suspect. You went out with him, even though it was only briefly."

Harry nodded. "I know. Maybe I should talk to Blake again, you know, subtly talk about the room or something and see if I sense anything. I don't want him to know everything obviously or that I'm investigating but I'll just mention enough of it to see if he reacts at all."

"That's a good start. You know, Lucas and I were going to go see the library today. If they have anything useful in there, I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said, reaching out to grasp her hand briefly. "I don't want your vacation to be ruined just because mine is."

"Don't worry. We're still here for 6 more days. We'll figure this out," Lucas said with a small smile. He reached over and patted Harry's knee.

"Thanks. I know Ron and Lillian wanted to check out some more floors. We can decide that at lunch. I'm going to go try to find Blake to talk with him so I'll see you guys at lunch."

Hermione and Lucas both nodded and walked him to the door. He left and decided to find out where Blake's room was. He found out from Mylina that Blake was staying in BE11 which was on the 13th floor. He found the door and stared at it for a minute. He didn't want to make the situation worse but he also needed more proof to find out what was going on.

Taking a slow breath, he finally knocked. A second later Blake was staring at him in surprise. "Harry, it's nice to see you so soon," he said with a smile.

"Er, yeah, I Just wondered if you had time to talk."

Blake's eyebrows raised but he shrugged and nodded. "Oh, sure. I'm still half asleep. You want to go somewhere where they have coffee."

Harry nodded. 'That's fine. I'm not meeting everyone for lunch until 12."

They went to the café floor and picked out a café that served all kinds of teas and coffees. It was a quaint little place. There was even a window to see outside across the beautiful landscape. Harry ordered some coffee alongside Blake. He figured he would need caffeine. It wasn't like he was going to sleep very well until he figured out who was behind it. A part of him was worried it might be Blake. He really hoped Draco was wrong. If he was right, not only would Harry lose a friend but Draco would never let him live it down that he was right and Harry was just oblivious. There was still a stubborn streak when it came to Draco. When they fought a lot of times Harry's instinct was to compete with him about who was right and wrong. Some habits were too hard to break.

After they both had their drinks float out to them, Blake smiled at him. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, just…stuff. I mean, I thought we could use this time to catch up a little. I know we did a little of that when you stopped by, but I just thought now's as good a time as any."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. It really seems like a bad time, actually. I mean, with everything going on with your room and…," he trailed off. Harry was certain he was going to mention Draco.

"Yeah, it's annoying," Harry said, sighing. "So, what else have you been up to in Ireland?"

"Well I've met some good guys on the team and one in particular we've become good friends. It's not so bad when you get used to the change."

"That's good," Harry said. "I hope you don't mind if I ask something personal."

Blake set his cup down and gazed at him. "Sure. I trust you after all," he added with a smile.

Harry licked his lips nervously and then nodded. "That's great that you've met some friends, but have you met – you know – anyone special?"

Blake looked a bit surprised and he glanced down at his coffee. "No, nothing like that. I mean, been on a couple dates and whatnot, but nothing serious."

"Oh, well that's still a start. Any of them seem good?"

Moving his longer sandy hair out of his face, he laughed lightly, seemingly a little embarrassed. "Can't really tell, but I'd say no. So why the sudden interest in my love life?"

Harry knew he was treading on rocky territory. He didn't want Blake to know his true motives.

"Isn't that what friends do? I mean, I complain to Hermione and Lucas any time I need to talk about Draco or pretty much anything. Unless you're uncomfortable," Harry added, gesturing. "I know we didn't know each other for that long."

Blake shook his head. "It's fine, Harry. I was just curious."

"Yeah, well, I just…," Harry trailed off. "Can I be honest?"

"Of course," Blake said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, with the way things happened between us, I just didn't want you to hate me or anything. And I know that you said everything was fine there at the end, but you pretty much left after everything with Draco so…," Harry trailed off and shrugged. "I guess it would make me feel better if you had someone in your life. That way we both would have moved on and I wouldn't have to feel so bad about how everything ended."

He glanced over at the older boy who was staring at him silently. Harry couldn't read a lot from the proximity but he could tell Blake reacted when Harry alluded to them being together. Did that mean Blake still had feelings for him, or was it just nostalgia?

"I appreciate your concern, Harry," Blake said. "And I understand why you feel bad, but honestly it wasn't that bad of a break up. I mean, I've had worse," he said with a lop-sided grin. "But for what it's worth I'm glad that you feel that way; that you want me to be happy."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I mean, we're still friends so of course I'd want that for you."

Blake glanced down at his cup and smiled.

"Yeah, I know. I want you to be happy too."

Harry's legilmancy instantly told him that Blake was hesitant about saying it. His stomach churned anxiously. Could Blake really be capable of trying to sabotage his relationship? Thinking back to when Blake had found out Harry had given Draco a blow job recently after they had broken up, he remembered Blake's reaction. He had punched Draco multiple times and had pushed Harry while yelling at him. Granted he had been intoxicated at the time, but he did have a temper. Maybe it wasn't so far-fetched that he would do something like hexing their room.

Harry was ready to leave and was about to get up from the table when suddenly two drinks appeared. Harry glanced up at Blake.

"Did you order these?"

"No. I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I didn't."

Harry didn't recall him ordering more drinks and he hadn't left the table. He turned and examined the people around them. There was a decent amount of people sitting idly and Harry tried to hone in using his legilmency to no avail. He turned back to Blake who was taking a sip of one of the drinks.

"It's good."

"Blake, if you didn't order it, you shouldn't drink it. You don't know why someone sent us drinks."

"Relax, Harry. No one's out to get you."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. Blake took another sip and Harry watched him carefully. He decided it was best to leave his drink alone.

"You're not going to drink it?"

"No. I –" Harry was cut off when he saw Draco staring at them from the distance. The look on his face made Harry's stomach flip. Blake turned around, noticing the look on Harry's face. He spotted Draco just as the blond turned and stormed out. Harry immediately got up from the table and ran after Draco.

"Draco, stop!"

The blond wheeled around. "I wonder why you think he's so innocent!" Draco spat. "Don't you think that's giving him the wrong impression?"

Draco turned but Harry grabbed his arm roughly. "You are not leaving without hearing me out!"

Draco's eyebrows furrowed and he yanked his arm out of Harry's grasp.

"Look. I am trying to see if Blake is the one behind it," he said quietly. "I made it clear to him even right now that he is just a friend. I'm investigating, Draco."

"Right. If that's true, then why can't we investigate him together?"

"We can! I never said you couldn't help! But you obviously are biased against him. Not to mention Blake's not going to admit anything in front of you."

Harry turned nervously knowing he had to be quiet otherwise everyone in the place, including Blake, would hear him.

Draco crossed his arms. "Well, that's convenient, isn't it?" he drawled.

The tone of his voice suddenly triggered a flashback of what happened with Cliodyne and Harry couldn't stop himself. He exploded.

"Don't you dare!" Harry seethed loudly.

Draco looked taken aback by his tone. "Don't I dare what?"

"Don't even think of accusing me of anything after what you put me through!"

"With what?" Draco shot back, looking confused. "And what about what I'm going through right now?"

"Well, maybe you deserve this!"

Draco's mouth fell open in outrage. "Excuse me, Potter," he snapped. "And why would I deserve this?"

"For how you treated me during the whole Pansy, Cliodyne thing! You yelled at me all the time, told me to butt out and made me think that you hated me!" He exclaimed as Draco's angry expression turned to one of surprise. "I couldn't sleep. I was always worried about you and every time I tried to fix it or figure out why you were upset you pushed me out. I tried everything. And I was the one who helped you in the beginning with your parents and everything!"

"Potter, I never said I hated you," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "You're getting loud."

"I don't care! You need to hear this! You made me feel hated, even though you didn't say it. Shut-up!" he snapped before Draco could get anything out. "You're one to talk about accusing someone of cheating! When I came to the Quidditch field one time in secret to see why you were there all the time, I saw you and Adon going into the changing rooms alone. Don't you think that I got the wrong impression? Just like you get the wrong impression of me and Blake, but nothing happened between you and Adon, right?"

"Of course not!" Draco's eyebrows furrowed again and then unfurrowed as if he remembered the time Harry was referring to. "But that's when I was just asking him for protection potions."

"Yeah, but I obviously didn't know that then, Draco! It looked suspicious, especially with the way you had been acting toward me."

The blond parted his lips and then closed them, not knowing what to say. He seemed to have calmed down but Harry was just getting started.

"I tried so hard to be understanding and patient! You never explained what was going on. You just let me suffer, let me worry and think that it was me making you unhappy!"

Draco attempted to speak but Harry cut him off. By this time they had gotten the attention of everyone in the place.

"You treated me horribly but still I didn't completely blow up at you or leave you or anything! I stuck by you through everything even when the whole thing with your parents happened and you tried to end it. I have always fought to keep our relationship no matter what and you think now, after everything, that I would just up and leave you or cheat on you?! Out of the two of us, the person more likely to think this relationship won't work, or isn't worth it, is you! I have proven I'm trustworthy time and time again but you know what, if you still don't trust me, then maybe this won't work out!"

Draco's expression was now one of shock but Harry turned around on his heel and stormed off. He didn't even care at the moment who witnessed their exchange. He stormed up to his room and attempted to slam the door only the door magically closed gently. He cursed, wishing he was in his own place so he could slam the door properly. He summoned a butterbeer and threw himself on the couch. There was knock at the door and Harry hesitated. He finally decided to answer it after the second knock. Lucas stood outside his door and Harry was relieved it was him and not Draco or Blake.

"Hey, Harry. Me and Hermione – well, we kind of heard some yelling and – well, long story short we overheard the last bit between you and Draco. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Harry muttered. "I'm sure everyone heard it. I had to say how I was feeling. I just couldn't hold back anymore." He closed the door and cast a silencing charm in case Draco or Blake came to the door.

"I've been holding back since everything that happened with Draco months ago. I was burying all that emotion and stress deep down and I don't know why I was so lenient with Draco with everything. I think that I felt since it was so hard for Draco to open up and since he did break away from his family, that I had to be especially patient and understanding in order for it to work out. It's not like we haven't blown up at each other before, but I hadn't told him everything I had felt. If marriage is going to work though, I have to be honest about everything and if Draco really wants to be with me, he'll make it right."

Lucas chuckled. "Well, looks like you don't need my advice for this one. I'm glad you told him how you've been feeling. I saw Blake there. He seemed surprised by the whole outburst as much as Draco."

Harry sighed and then suddenly straightened up. "Maybe this is good. Lucas, I need you to get a message to Draco secretly for me."

Lucas nodded. "Of course, Harry."

He whispered to Lucas what it was and the boy nodded. "I'll make sure no one can hear anything when I tell him."

"Thanks."

"And Harry? I'm sure everything will work out and we will all laugh about it later."

Harry smiled. "Yeah. Thanks."

As soon as Lucas left, Harry sat down to think about his plan. He had to catch the culprit before they got what they wanted. This was probably his best shot.

XXXXXXXX

*Draco's POV *

Cursing under his breath, Draco ran his hand through his hair. He chose to go to a nearby pub where he could get a strong butterbeer with Firewhiskey. Thankfully annoying Blake was still being watched by Lucas and Hermione, per Harry's plan. When Lucas bumped into him on his way to go work things out with Harry, he told him Harry's plan. Draco didn't exactly like it, but he wanted this whole thing to be over.

Draco stared down at his mug and then to his hand where his wedding band shone. HE couldn't even talk to Harry after their blow-out because Harry's plan involved letting everyone, including Ron and Hermione, think they had really broken up. Supposedly it would lure the culprit out of hiding. If it was Blake, Lucas would know because he was secretly watching him. If it wasn't…

Draco snorted. It had to be Blake. He remembered seeing him with Harry at the Quidditch Academy. It still burned in the back of his mind and he felt angry every time he thought of them together. He took a big gulp of his drink. He hadn't realized his feelings for Harry right away back then and even when he started to realize them, he kept trying to deny it. He never imagined being friends with Harry let alone anything more. The truth was that ever since Harry denied wanting to be friends with him back at Hogwarts, Draco always secretly wished they could've been friends. He tried to deal with the rejection and his envy and jealousy of the famous Harry Potter by trying to be better than him, but he was never able to ever be even as good as him.

Harry's recently explosion of his confession had left him speechless and, if he was honest, feeling like shit. Of course he knew that it had been rough during the time Draco was overwhelmed by threats from his previous "friends" and the fear of his parents taking revenge too. He knew he had been pulling away and doubting whether it was worth it to be together if people would just try killing them for it. He never realized just how stressful it had been on Harry. He always thought that he was taking most of the burden by keeping Harry in the dark. Now that he thought about it, his excuse was that he figured Harry would just hang out with his friends more. He thought maybe if he gave Harry a reason to leave, he would and it would make it easier for both of them, but he didn't. A part of him had been testing Harry's loyalty. Even with everything they had been through, Draco still had doubts that it would work out between them. They never even got along as friends.

He really had been treating Harry horribly. He never realized it because during that time he hadn't even wanted to think about what was going on; he had wanted to just avoid dealing with the confrontations, both with Harry and his former Slytherin "friends". The worst part was that while Harry had been shouting at him, Draco noticed his green eyes were glimmering because they were becoming moist with tears. He had never seen Harry cry, or even tear up. The thought occurred to him. If Harry was holding back how much pain he was in from that time, how many times had he tears up when Draco wasn't around? What if Harry had been crying in secret and Draco had just continued to avoid him and get defensive whenever he asked questions?

Slowly, Draco raised a hand to his forehead and rested it there. That part got him the most. Harry always seemed like he could handle anything, but maybe that's just because he always broke down in secret, alone. Draco used to do that. Whenever his parents would be overly harsh on him, or berate him for not being as good as Harry Potter, he would shut himself up in his room and feel sorry for himself, sometimes to the point of tearing up.

I have to do something to make it up to him.

"Hey."

Draco turned and saw a boy around his age sit down. It wasn't Harry. He felt his shoulders slump. He nodded to the boy but didn't say anything.

"I don't mean to intrude, but I heard your argument. Is everything okay?"

"If you call breaking up okay," Draco drawled, rehearsing the line he had practiced in his head. Everyone had to believe it. Even strangers.

"Oh. I'm sorry," he said. He paused for a minute. "Well, if you ask me, the way he yelled at you and didn't give you a chance to defend yourself, I don't think he deserves you."

Draco snorted. If only the stranger knew everything they had been through then he would realize it was the other way around. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his arm and he turned to look at the boy. The hazel eyes seemed familiar.

"Do I know you?" Draco asked.

The boy smiled widely, his bright white teeth glimmering in the dim light. "We were in a couple classes together at the Quidditch Academy. I'm Aron."

Draco's eyes widened not because he remembered him from his classes. No, it was much worse. This was the same boy he had overheard saying Harry Potter was going to teach him flying moves at the Academy. It was during the time after they had started dating and after Draco had changed his surname to get away from his family. They had recently gotten into a fight just before it happened. He had known rumors had already spread about him and Harry dating and some students witnessed their tense exchange when Harry had gotten jealous over a girl he saw Draco with. Draco, being defensive and stubborn, didn't explain the situation and just got made because he felt Harry was accusing him of cheating. So after Harry tried to talk to him in the hall, while he was walking next to that girl, Draco had been a bit…unpleasant. Then rumors circulated that they had gotten into a fight. He remembered he had been sitting in class when he overheard the rumor. After class he heard Aron say Harry was teaching him flying moves. He followed Aron and that's when he saw Harry teaching him and then Aron had hugged him. Draco had gotten jealous but Aron – could he be the culprit? He must've thought they had broken up back then and made a move on Harry by hugging him. Maybe he was going to make a move on him again. Suddenly, all his protective instincts kicked in. He had to draw Aron away from Harry and prove it was him.

"Do you remember me?"

"I think so. We had History of Quidditch World Championships together, right?"

"Yes!" Aron exclaimed. "Anyway, I meant what I said. You deserve better."

Draco forced a smile. Obviously, Aron wanted him to think he deserved better so he could move on and Aron could make his move on Harry. That was not happening. Draco would make sure of that. If he could just get him to confess somehow, just to be sure it was him. There was still a small part of him that thought it was Blake. If he was the one who caught the culprit, Harry would hopefully forgive him. It was a start at least.

"Yeah. Maybe," Draco forced himself to say.

Aron smiled. "I know what would cheer you up. Come on."

Draco's instincts were on high alert. It could be a trap, but it was also a public place. Aron didn't seem to want to hurt him but he had no idea what he was planning. He followed Aron to the elevator and they went up to the 18th floor.

"So, Aron, what are you doing here? I mean, are you on vacation with family or friends?"

"No. Just myself."

That was suspicious. Who would come to a huge resort over the holidays by themselves? It was Christmas after all. It took Draco a minute to figure out that they had reached a pair of golden double doors. They opened automatically and he hesitantly followed Aron inside. There was snow falling from the sky but it wasn't cold. The snow glimmered across the landscape in front of them from the sun gleaming down from the blue sky. There were snow-covered mountains and trees around them. A path through the snow was laid out disappearing in the distance. A modern carriage with two white Thestrals were standing in front of them. They were the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen. He had heard about Thestrals and knew they were strange skeleton-like horses with wings, but had never seen one. He heard they helped with the Hogwarts carriages and also heard a rumor that Harry had been able to see them back then. It was pretty much common knowledge that someone could only see them if they had witnessed death. Everyone associated Harry's ability to see them with the death of his parents. Now Draco could see them because his father had forced him into Voldemort's ranks during his 6th year. He shuddered at those memories.

"Where are we?"

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Aron asked, running a hand through his hair. He swished his hair out of his face and then smiled at him. "Get on."

Draco glanced at the carriage. It was beautiful although Aron evaded his question. The carriage itself was large and made out of a burgundy colored wood. It had gold designs weaved through it especially at the back where there was a raised head board. Against his better judgment, Draco got on it and Aron sat next to him.

"I guess I've had warning signs," Draco said, trying to start a conversation that would lead to a confession.

Aron stared at him. "How so?"

"Well during school little things but just on this trip our room – we were told there was something wrong with it so we had to get separate rooms, almost like someone was giving me a sign."

"Yes! Exactly!" Aron exclaimed, reaching out to grasp his hand. "I'm sure of it."

Draco stared at him. "Yeah. I wish…I wish I knew what happened to the room. Then maybe I would understand what the sign was supposed to tell me."

Aron bit his lip and pulled his hand away. Draco kept pushing. "I mean, what if it wasn't a sign? What if there was just…the wrong colored sheets or something? Maybe I'm reading too much into it."
"No! You're not," Aron said, putting a hand on his knee.

Draco shook his head. "I think I am. I mean, maybe it was just the wrong size bed, or maybe they just want to make it better because it's Harry and – "

"That's not it at all!" Aron shouted.

Draco stopped and frowned. He then stared at him. "How would you know?"

"Because…," he trailed off.

Draco leaned forward. "What, Aron? If it's something important, I need to know."

Very slowly, Aron's eyes locked with his. He appeared nervous or uncomfortable but he saw Aron's eyes dart to his hand where Draco had placed his on top of the hand on his knee.

"I know what happened to your room. It was actually destroyed so it wasn't something small. It was like…like a sign of what would happen to you if you stayed with him."

Victory bells were going off in his head and he tried not to shout with joy. Only the culprit could know something like that, unless he worked there.

"How do you know that?"

"I heard the manager talking," Aron said quickly.

He wasn't sure if he believed that or not. He had to find a way to make him confess, if he did do it, or if perhaps he witnessed Blake do it.

"Draco," Aron said, moving his hand now on his arm. "Just forget about Harry. Being famous obviously makes him think he can do what he wants. Look, I've been here a while. I saw Blake here earlier and he was acting…suspicious. I mean before his friends came here. I didn't want to tell you this but I'm pretty sure Blake is in one of the couple suites and for all you know Harry is sneaking into his room at night. Since you two aren't in the same room, there's no way for you to know if he's being faithful."

He was starting to become annoyed. There was something Aron said that bothered him. He said when he saw Blake there earlier. Even Harry told him that Blake didn't know they would be there until he talked to Harry just a few days earlier. There's no way that Blake could have been there earlier to get a room. Aron was clearly lying. The most important question was when Aron had come there. Had he been there before they came and just in the heat of the moment decided to do that, or was it planned? Had he known that they were coming there and made sure to get there around the same time, as Blake had done when he found out, and then planned to sabotage their room so they couldn't be together? While Draco was deep in thought, he didn't notice just how far they had gone in the carriage. They were approaching a large cabin covered in sparkling snow.

"Where are we?"

"It's one of their best floors I feel. Everyone person that comes on this particular floor has a different experience based on the charm that is on the door you walk through. It knows the things you love and one thing I love is a beautiful cabin out in the middle of nature with perfect privacy but a homey feel. I'll be inside is wonderful!" he exclaimed, smiling.

Draco stared out at the cabin. He suddenly had the feeling that he had it all wrong. What if Aron didn't like Harry. What if Aron liked him?

XXXXXXX

Harry was beginning to panic. The plan was to pretend they had broken up and then meet up at the pub to keep an eye on Blake and see if he would make a move on Harry, or if the culprit would show himself. Lucas was still with Blake who hadn't done anything yet, but Draco was nowhere to be found. Harry signaled to Lucas who was watching Blake unnoticed. Blake was now talking with his friends and just hanging out at the pub which was connected to the restaurant they had just been at. It was the restaurant's own private pub with their homemade drinks, all original. Lucas snuck over to him.

"I've looked everywhere I could think to. I can't find Draco anywhere! I have a bad feeling."

Lucas' eyes darkened. "You mean, that Blake isn't the culprit and the real culprit has Draco?"

Harry swallowed and nodded. He couldn't bear it if anything happened to Draco, especially since this was his plan. It must have worked a little too well.

"If the culprit does have Draco, where do you think they could be? I mean, this place is huge."

"We'll all have to split up," Lucas said.

"Maybe Ron should keep an eye on Blake. He's still not fond of Draco and I don't want him searching half-assed."

Lucas nodded. "I'll get Hermione and let her know the plan."

Harry nodded. "I'm going to look at the map of the floors and try to figure out where they'd go."

The second they walked away, Harry could feel his pulse racing. What if he didn't get there in time? Would the culprit hurt Draco? Kill him even? Harry grabbed a map of the floors. He wasn't sure which floor but he figured the culprit would need privacy. Harry's eyes traveled over to floors 17 – The Great Library, 18 – Romantic Getaway, 30 – Fantastical Worlds, 34 – Honeymoon Suite. Obviously 34 was out – that was reserved for honeymooners. The Great Library maybe had some privacy but they couldn't be loud or make much noise. It wasn't just to see the abundance of material and the glorious ceilings and architecture, but it was a place where business meetings were held and such. So it was between the Romantic Getaway floor and the Fantastical Worlds floor. The culprit (he or she) wouldn't want to be surrounded by too many people.

When Hermione arrived with Ron and Lillian, they all huddled together to go over the plan. Harry decided to take the two floors he suspected and they would go for the rest in order. Ron would keep eyes on Blake and alert them if he moved and also follow him wherever he went.

"Wait. Even to the loo?" Ron asked.

Harry gave him a look. "Yes, Ron! Anywhere means anywhere."

Ron groaned. "Just my luck."

Harry decided to start with the first floor, the 18th floor and then go to each floor after that including the 30th floor. Thankfully, he knew a tracking charm that would help. He ran to the lobby to speak with Mylina, who was thankfully on duty (he wondered if she was purposefully trying to work as much as possible).

"Mylina!" Harry exclaimed, running up.

"Harry, what's wrong? Is it about your room? I'm sorry it's not ready yet."

"No, no. Draco's missing, er, my husband." It felt strange saying it but he wasn't embarrassed that they were together.

Mylina looked surprised, and perhaps a bit disappointed, but she then looked concerned. "Missing?"

"We've been doing our own detective work to lure the person who damaged our room out of hiding and I think that they've got Draco."

"Oh my dragonfeathers!" she gasped, covering her mouth. "What should we do?"

"I'm checking the floors, but I need you to alert the manager and have him come to the lobby. I will make sure to find them and when I do we'll bring the culprit here."

Harry waited only several seconds while she waved her wand at a small red button and then scribbled a message on a piece of parchment. The red button then opened and swallowed the parchment.

"Thank you."

She nodded. "Good luck, Harry. If anyone can do it, you can."

Harry nodded in thanks and ran to the elevator. He hoped that Draco was all right.

XXXXXXXX

*Draco's POV*

Aron got down off the carriage. Draco didn't move.

"Why are we here?" he asked. He tried not to show any anxiety.

Aron turned. "We have more privacy here."

"For what?" Draco asked. "Aron, what's going on?"

The brown-haired boy sighed. "Draco, look, there's something I need to tell you, but not here. Inside."

All the warning bells in his head were going off but Draco felt he had to see it through. Aron obviously knew something and he had to find out what. He needed to be smart about it though. He needed to make sure that Harry could find him so that they could corner Aron, if he was the culprit, so he couldn't run away. The only thing that came to mind was buying time for Harry to find him, which meant going into the cabin. In order for Harry to find them, he'd have to leave a sign, something that Harry would recognize.

"You first," Draco said, gesturing.

Aron smiled and turned around to head for the door. Draco snuck his wand out of his pocket and aimed it above the cabin. Aron began to turn and Draco hurried after him so the other boy wouldn't notice what he had done. The inside was breathtaking. There was a fire roaring and a velvet couch in front of it. There was a table in front of it with delicious food laid out nicely. One dish had marshmellows. He had seen them in other resorts before and knew they were charmed to roast themselves and all you had to do was touch one. There were dim, Jasmine scented candles floating above them. The soft, plush white carpet melted beneath their feet and glimmered like the snow. There were stairs leading upstairs and instantly Draco wondered if there was a bedroom. Maybe Harry was right. Maybe they could be intimate there while waiting for room to be fixed. Thinking of Harry made his stomach churn. Harry was probably worried since Draco hadn't appeared at their planned meeting place. Not to mention after their recent blowup Draco wasn't sure how he would make it up to him.

"Draco. Are you going to sit?"

He blinked and saw that Aron was seated on the couch. He looked around, realizing with distain that there was no other place to sit. He slowly moved to the couch but sat as far away as possible.

"What do you want to talk about or what is it you need to tell me?"

Aron scooted closer and Draco eyed him.

"This is extremely hard for me, Draco, but…you need to know." The younger boy took a deep breath. "You deserve someone who appreciates you. Someone who's not so…so famous and more likely to just be with you for your looks. For all you know Harry could be with someone else. He could get anyone so why does he take you but then go off with Blake?"

Draco opened his mouth to defend Harry then stopped. What if Aron got suspicious? He had to be careful.

"You mean, like cheating?"

"Yes! I know what happened at the Academy, Draco. When I heard the rumor that people saw Blake and Harry kissing, I was surprised. And then not too long after that I heard he was with you and that Blake and Harry had broke up. I heard Blake and you got into a fight at a party because Harry was two-timing you both! I was so furious! But I thought: it's okay, Draco's smart, he won't let Harry get away with it. So I thought you'd break up with him but when you graduated I heard you were still together. I don't understand why."

Draco didn't know what to say. Obviously, Aron had his facts wrong. Harry hadn't cheated on anyone. He and Blake had broken up before Harry had made a move on him. It was really the other way around. Harry broke up with Blake in the first place because of his feelings for Draco. He couldn't say anything though or it would blow his cover.

"Don't you think it's a little too convenient that Blake is here while you're here on vacation with Harry?" Aron continued.

Draco pursed his lips. He did have to agree with that. He didn't want to explain to Aron that Blake had actually only learned of the trip because Harry had told him. That would make it worse.

"You just can't see how Harry really is because you're so enamored with him and I was trying to protect you. I knew Harry was no good for you even at the Academy."

Draco was watching him carefully. Perhaps Aron was trying to get Harry, like Blake was, and that he was trying to make it seem like Blake and Harry were cheating so Draco would get away from Harry. At the same time it makes Blake look like the bad guy and he could spin the same lie to Harry, which would cleverly get them both out of the way. Draco couldn't tell anymore. He couldn't read Aron. As much as he wanted to prove to Harry that he could protect him, he was beginning to feel out of his league. Yet at other times Aron acted as though he liked Draco. Was he just being overly friendly to get Draco to trust him?

"There's something else." Aron took another deep breath and turned to him. He looked Draco straight in the eye, after a few attempts. "Draco, I like you."

His heart nearly stopped in his chest. So his fear was right. Aron liked him, not Harry. So he had just completely trapped himself with the boy thinking he was protecting Harry when Harry wasn't the one who needed the protection. He swallowed anxiously. If he could keep the boy talking, and perhaps get a confession out of him as well, it would give Harry time to find them.

"You like me?" Draco asked. "So…were you the one who destroyed my room then? Were you trying to protect me?" he asked boldly.

Aron opened his mouth then closed it. He swallowed and then to Draco's shock and horror, he nodded.

"Yes. I'm sorry. I know what you must think of me, but Draco you're not safe with Harry."

Oh, right, and I'm safe with you after all those hexes you placed on my bed?

"I wasn't' brave enough to tell you my feelings before. I wasn't sure how you felt and plus you were with Harry," he said bitterly. "I want you to know that I always admired you. I noticed you the first time I saw you. You pretty much kept to yourself, but I was trying to find ways to bump into you or let you know how I felt but then Harry came. At first, you two always seemed to be fighting, like you knew each other and then…" he trailed off. His eyebrows furrowed and his fists clenched into balls.

"We knew each other at Hogwarts before the Academy," Draco said. "Look, Aron, what are your intentions exactly?"

"Intentions? I told you. I like you. I want us to be together," he said reaching out to place a hand on his knee.

Draco's mind went into overload. He could pretend to like him back and lure him out to the lobby then alert the manager, but one thing stopped him: Harry. That wasn't the plan and Harry might actually believe he liked Aron. Things were already a mess between them and that would only make it worse. He knew he was probably ruining the whole plan but he just couldn't do it. Not after everything he and Harry had been through and overcame. Especially not after what Harry told him about what he went through when he thought Draco didn't want to do with him anymore. He couldn't put Harry through that again even if it was just temporary. He was afraid that one more thing would make Harry leave him.

"Aron, stop," Draco exclaimed when he realized the boy was leaning in to kiss him.

Aron blinked in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? I just broke up with Harry and now you're suddenly confessing your feelings to me on top of confessing that you ruined my vacation?"

"I can pay for another week here! You and I can be here together in our own private room."

"Is that the kind of person you think I am? That I just jump from person to person?"

Aron shook his head. "Of course not."

"Look. Even if Harry and I have broken up for good, I'm not ready for another relationship! I mean, you're acting like you want to take advantage of my broken heart! You know I'm vulnerable right now and this is the time you choose to confess your feelings for me?"

"I know you're upset and I completely understand. I can wait until you're ready, Draco, really. There's no rush," Aron said, leaning out to touch his arm.

Draco shook his head and then stood up. "Aron, look, I get that you were trying to protect me and I appreciate that, but even if Harry and I were never together, and aren't together anymore, I still…," he paused as Aron stared up at him, his eyes widening as if anticipating what he was going to say. "I don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry."

Aron's expression changed to one of confusion and then hurt. "I don't understand! Then why did you come out here with me?" he asked, raising his voice. "Why did you let me just sit here and confess everything to you? To pour my heart out to you! Only so, what, you could smash it?"

"Don't blame this on me!" Draco snapped. "I thought you were just being friendly because you felt sorry for me after that whole embarrassing blow up! Not to mention when you said we knew each other I thought we were maybe friends or something! How was I supposed to know how you felt?"

"I took you to the Romantic Getaway floor!" Aron exclaimed angrily.

"I wasn't paying attention to that! I have a lot on my mind!" Draco exclaimed, raising his voice. "That's why I asked you where we were, remember?"

Aron looked taken aback. The boy pursed his lips. "So why did you come inside?"

"You said you had something to tell me! I obviously thought it was something important! You're the one trying to manipulate me here! You wanted me to think it was something important so I would come inside."

"It was important!"
"What was? Your confession about doing something illegal, your confession about your feelings, or the lie you blatantly told me about Harry?"

Aron's eyebrows furrowed. "What lie?"

"The lie about Blake having been here much earlier and getting a private room. I know that Blake didn't know about our trip until a few days before we came here! He stopped by our place beforehand and that's when Harry told him about our vacation. I was there, Aron! I knew that Blake knew about the trip and it wasn't in secret."

The boy was looking confused and his face began to turn red. "Okay, so maybe I didn't see Blake myself but I'm sure he and Harry planned it – wait! What do you mean by our place?"

"Me and Harry live together. We have for a while now," he said.

The look on Aron's face actually made him back up. The boy was red and clenching his fists so hard they were turning white. Draco decided it would be in his best interest to not mention that they were also married.

"You have no idea how hard it was for me to confess my feelings," Aron said through clenched teeth. He took a deep breath and Draco began slowly inching his hand to where his wand was.

"Look, I appreciate how you feel and I'm grateful you told me."

Aron glanced up at him. His fists slowly began to unclench.

"I'm sorry that I don't feel about you that way. While I also appreciate that you're trying to look out for me and protect me, you should know that you had it all wrong about Harry."

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking shocked.

"At the Academy. Harry and Blake had already broken up when me and Blake got into that fight. Harry never cheated on anyone. In fact, he broke up with Blake not just because he was leaving, but because he had started to develop feelings for me and he knew it wasn't fair to Blake. Harry's a good person! I'm the one who's not as great as you think I am! I don't even deserve someone like Harry, not the other way around."

At first, Aron looked astonished and then sad. Then he began to approach him. "I know you're upset about what happened. And even if Harry didn't cheat on you, he's still not going to appreciate you like I would. He's used to getting what he wants and he's famous so everyone always loves him and everything, but you…I feel like you're light is so beautiful but it gets overtaken by Harry's shadow. I know you're not over him and I know you were in love with him, but that's why you can't see that Harry is going to take all the glory and you're not going to be able to shine as bright when you're with him."

"Aron, there is nothing I can say to convince you that I am happy with Harry. You don't know anything about our relationship. I don't know anything about you, but if you really do care about me you'll accept that I don't want to be with you that way. I want to be with Harry."

The other boy began to tremble. "So, even after everything he said and even with the uncertainty about Blake being here and Harry going off with him, you still love him?" he asked, raising his voice again. "Why can't you just see? If you could just forget about him…," Aron trailed off and Draco knew it was coming.

The other boy's eyes had lit up. Draco reached for his wand but Aron saw it coming. He summoned vines that wrapped around Draco's body, trapping his hand that was now holding his wand, along with the rest of him.

"Let me go!" Draco shouted, feeling panic flood through him.

"Draco, you just can't see how great we'd be together because you're still hung up on Harry."

"What are you going to do? If you loved me, you wouldn't hurt me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said approaching him. "I'm going to make you forget Harry. Once you forget about him we'll be able to be together."

"No, please," Draco choked out. "You know what that spell does to a person. If you do that to me, I swear I will make sure I won't forget! I'll be a mess and I'll be drooling and babbling and crazy! You know I won't be the same person!"

Aron hesitated and then approached him until they were inches away. He looked down at the ground for a second.

"Draco, I don't want to do this. I just want you to give me a chance."

Aron reached out a hand and caressed his face. He smiled sadly. "I promise you I'll go easy. If I don't say it aloud then the spell shouldn't do much damage. Just to your shorter term memory, so hopefully you won't lose much from the Academy."

"I may not even be the same person you're in love with when that spell is done. Do you really want the take that risk?"

"I don't really have a choice! I've confessed everything to you including what I did, Draco. You're not just going to let this go, or at least Harry won't when he finds out. If you're going to go back to Harry, he will eventually find out and I know Harry has many Ministry contacts. I know what he could do to me."

There were tears that stung his eyes. "Please don't do this."

Draco's eyes were glued to Aron's wand. For a second he felt relief as Aron lowered his wand. Then the younger boy came even closer until their noses were almost touching. He saw the boy's eyes glance down at his lips and he knew what was coming.

Please, Harry! Please get here soon!

Just as Aron's lips brushed against his, the door burst open and actually flew off the hinges. Aron jumped and let out a yelp. Draco's eyes filled with tears of relief when he saw Harry entering with his wand out and when Harry saw Draco tied up and the look on his face, his green eyes sparkled with rage and thankfully they were directed at Aron.

XXXXXXX

A few minutes earlier…

Harry immediately went to the 18th floor. When he walked through the doors he saw the most gorgeous sight. There was green grass everywhere covering acres of land with tall beautiful mountains and valleys in the distance. There was a path that led down through the grass but this path had beautiful flowers on either side. In the distance there was a beautiful castle, as large as the one at Hogwarts. Tears began to well up in his eyes at the thought that he wanted to get a chance to explore these floors with Draco and have romantic-filled days with him.

He wiped at his eyes. How was he supposed to search every floor and find him? He tried to think of a spell that could help but even the best tracking spell wouldn't be able to work in a place the size of the resort. When he turned, however, Harry saw something out of the corner of his eye. He squinted and took a few steps forward. There was something in the distance. Something was glowing up in the sky. Instantly, Harry's eyes widened and he began to run down the hill toward the strange thing in the sky. He used an enchantment spell on his shoes so they began to glide fast down the hill, at though he was ice skating.

As he came closer the symbol in the sky made his heart leap. It was a green lightning bolt hovering there and he knew it was a sign from Draco. When he reached the area there was nothing but a field of flowers. He stared up at the sky and then out into the open space. He narrowed his eyes.

"There has to be something here."

Using a spell that Dumbledore taught to reveal enchantments, he cast it in front of him. Nothing happened. Harry glanced up at the sign again. He used the same spell but this time he grasped the lightning bolt pendant that Draco had given him for Christmas at the Academy. It was something that had been Draco's first so it was associated with him. Using that as the means to be connected to Draco, Harry also used a tracking spell along with the other one. The ground began to shiver and the grass turned stark white. Slowly, the grass and flowers became a blanket of snow before his eyes. What happened next was even more surprising. A carriage appeared in front of him with two beautiful white Thestrals. Behind them was a large cabin. He approached the door hesitantly and that's when he heard it. It was Draco's voice, scared, pleading: "Please don't do this."

His protective instincts kicked in so hard that when he aimed his wand at the door he didn't even have to say a spell aloud. The door just flew off the hinges. Harry stormed inside and immediately caught sight of Draco tied up and Aron who had obviously been attempting to do something to him but had jumped back when he heard the door. Aron stood with his wand in hand with wide, fearful eyes. It was the look on Draco's face that angered him the most. His beloved Draco had tears gleaming in his eyes although they hadn't fallen. Whatever Aron was planning to do wasn't good and the second he thought about Draco getting harmed his eyes fell on Aron. The look on the other boy's face said it all.

"H-Harry!" he stammered. "How –"

"It's over!" Harry exclaimed, pointing his wand at him. Then his eyes widened. He recognized him. "Aron?"

The younger boy looked surprised. "You remember me?"

"Of course I do! What the hell do you think you're doing to Draco?"

Harry's eyes widened even further. So it was Aron. He remembered back at the Academy Draco had been extremely jealous of the fact that Aron hugged him. In fact, he remembered Draco telling him that he was sure Aron liked him more than a friend. It was clear that he was wrong. Aron liked Draco! Now it all made sense. That day at the Quidditch game when they were at the Academy, he remembered Aron sitting there next to him. This had been just after he and Draco had made up after their misunderstanding. Since Draco had thought Aron liked Harry, he had been overly affectionate towards Harry in front of Aron, which normally he didn't really do in public. When Draco had left to get them food, Aron had asked Harry if he loved Draco. Later on when he thought about it, he figured Draco had been right. That Aron had liked Harry and that he was trying to see how serious Harry was with Draco to know if he had a chance, but that was wrong! Aron was trying to see if Harry loved Draco because Aron cared about the blond.

Aron looked torn between wanting to run and thinking about saying a spell. Harry's Legilmency was on full alert and he could see what the other boy was thinking.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," Harry said coldly, gripping his wand more tightly. "I've already alerted the manager so there's no way you can run now."

Aron pointed his wand at Draco in a last desperate attempt. "I'll obliviate him!" he threatened.

Harry's eyes widened in horror. He couldn't lose Draco. He wouldn't. Not after everything. If Draco's cleverly and sadistic parents couldn't get between them, nor his psycho Slytherin "friends", this boy was definitely not going to ruin everything, especially not their vacation. Harry's eyes locked with Draco's and the other boy seemed to know what he was thinking.

"Fine. I'll let you go when I know Draco is safe," Harry said. "Release him."

"Not until you leave! And give me your wand!"

Harry hesitated and glanced at Draco again, narrowing his eyes to signal for him to get ready.

"Fine!" Harry snapped. "I'll toss my wand your way. Ready?"

Aron braced himself and Harry lowered the wand and then just as he pulled his arm back to throw it he thought of a spell and it happened so fast that Aron barely had time to blink. Since he obviously was expecting Harry to say something, he was watching his mouth closely and Harry knew if he opened it, Aron would fire his spell. Harry's wordless spell however caught him off guard and the vines around Draco's body disintegrated. Aron was so shocked he didn't have time to react when Draco disarmed him and summoned vines of his own to wrap tightly around his body. Aron yelped as they squeezed him uncomfortably.

Draco reached down to grab Aron's wand, which was now on the floor, and then he tossed it to Harry.

"It's over, Aron," Draco drawled coolly.

The younger boy stared at Draco with his own tears building in his eyes. He looked heart-broken but Draco had little sympathy for him after what he was planning to do to him. Draco approached Harry and instantly Harry embraced him tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Harry said softly.

Draco wrapped his arms tightly around him in return. Harry heard him sigh heavily on his shoulder. "Me too. I so need a vacation."

Harry released a light laugh. "Yeah, me too."

As they pulled apart, Harry leaned down and captured Draco's lips in a kiss. Part of him wanted Aron to suffer more and watch them, but the other part was just so relieved that Draco hadn't been harmed and that his memories hadn't been erased. They broke apart and Harry leaned his forehead against the blond's. Draco looked like he wanted to say something, but Harry knew they had to finish this.

"Let's get him down to the lobby. The manager should be there by now."

Draco nodded slowly. They both levitated Aron to the carriage and took it back up to the entrance. Aron was crying softly behind them and Harry tried his best to ignore it. He couldn't feel sorry for him. When they finally got him down to the lobby, the manager and Mylina were already there. Mylina's eyes widened when she saw them carrying a tied up Aron. She looked relieved and gestured to the manager who turned around. The older man with the short white beard looked startled.

"This is the culprit, sir. His name's Aron. He used to go to the Quidditch Academy with us. Er, I'm sorry that we've caused you trouble," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck.

The manager smiled softly. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Mr. Potter. I'm just sorry my investigators aren't as talented as you."

Harry felt his face flush. "I didn't do it alone," he said, glancing at Draco who gazed back at him.

"Ah, yes, of course," the manager said with a smile. "My name is Trennen, Mr. Potter and…"

"Draco Merlin," he said shaking his hand.

"Pleasure. Let me take him off your hands," Manager Trennen said, gesturing to Aron who had his head facing the ground. "I will get in touch with the Ministry right away."

Aron's head shot up and fear was written all over his face. Manager Trennen placed Aron in a sealed room and then vanished to get in touch with the Ministry as Harry and Draco went to update the others.

"Who is this Aron?" Ron asked.

"Some jealous kid," Draco said.

Ron glared at him. "I was asking Harry but thank you for your unhelpful answer," he retorted sarcastically.

"It's a long story and we can all talk about it over dinner. Right now I'm going to wait for the Ministry and have a word with them. Plus, I want to talk to Aron."

"What?" Ron and Hermione chorused in disbelief.

"Harry, are you sure that's a good idea?" Lucas asked.

"He's harmless now guys. He's tied up and his wand has been taken. I just need some answers."

"He may not answer your questions," Draco said.

Harry nodded. "I know, but I need to talk to him anyway. I'll meet you guys at dinner. Where are you going?"

"To the Animagus Grill," Ron said.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently the staff there serves things in their Animagus forms. It's all legal, really!"

Harry just shook his head. "Okay. I'll see you guys there."

"Harry," Draco said, reaching out to grab his arm. "Be careful."

He saw the concerned look in his eye and he smiled and nodded. He went down to the private room Aron was in and walked inside. Aron was startled to see him. The younger boy obviously thought it would be the Ministry who would come in next.

"Why did you do it?"

Aron glanced down at the table he was at and stared at it silently.

"You care about him, right? So how could you try to hurt him?"

"I would never hurt him," Aron said quietly. He raised his head and his eyes were red from crying. "I just wanted to be with him but he wouldn't let you go."

Harry approached the table. "So that's why you trashed our room? Just because you wanted him for yourself? That doesn't sound like love to me."

"I do love him! You're the one who doesn't appreciate him!"

Harry's eyebrows furrowed in anger. "That's ridiculous! Of course I do!"

"You could have anyone, anyone Harry, why did you have to take him? I loved him first!"

"You had your chance. You could've made your move on him before I got there. That's not my fault."

Aron clenched his jaw and fell silent. The look on his face said it all. He knew Harry was right. Sighing, Harry sat down across from him.

"Why do you think I don't appreciate him? I love him more than anything."

"Because you cheated on him with Blake! Draco may believe your story that you had broken up but I know the truth!"

"What? No, I didn't! We had broken up."

"Really? Then why was Blake here at the same time as both of you?"

"Why were you here at the same time?" Harry countered. "You read the article in the Daily Prophet, didn't you? That's how you knew we'd be here."

Aron glanced away but Harry could sense he was right.

"You're famous, Harry. Everybody loves you and adores you and you're good at everything you do and you have so much. Draco doesn't have the same luxuries as you do. He has so much to offer but he's always going to be compared to you and never measure up."

"Yeah, well, people are always going to think what they want. I don't care about them," Harry said. "I never would hold him back from anything. Have you seen any of our Quidditch games?"

Aron looked up surprised.

"Draco was amazing in them. Half the time he's the main reason we win them, not me. He gets just as much attention as I do and he gets credit for the things he does."

Aron was silent for a minute. "If you love him so much, why did you break up with him?"

"I didn't. I just was upset and told him that if he couldn't trust me then our relationship wouldn't be able to work. That wasn't breaking up with him. Look, you have no idea what I've been through. Draco can be very stubborn and hide his emotions. I've had to initiate a lot in our relationship but I understand and accept that it's who he is. I would never cheat on him, or anyone, either. The second that I realized my feelings for Draco I broke things off with Blake. Blake is the one who felt betrayed. He felt that I had wronged him for liking Draco. He's the one who felt used, not Draco, but the truth is I did it to be fair to Blake. He was hurt because he felt I broke up with him for Draco, but I had to. I wasn't going to be with someone when I had feelings for another. That's not how I am."

Aron just shook his head. "I could make Draco happy."

"I'm sure you could," Harry said as Aron gazed up at him. "But so can I."

Aron bit his lip out of anger and then stared at him harshly. "Why are you here?"

"Because I wanted to understand why you would do that. And there's something you should know. About me and Draco."

The other boy stared up at him. Harry reached out his hand and showed him his ring. Aron's eyes latched onto it.

"We're married."

Aron's eyes were wide now and his face became pale. He looked at Harry in disbelief.

"Married?" he whispered.

"We have been for almost a month now. We got married on November 22nd so our one month will be in just a few days. This resort was more than a vacation it was also a continued celebration of our union. I mean, we went on a honeymoon after the wedding, but…it's also a celebration of all the obstacles we overcame in order to be with one another. Trust me, I don't think you would've wanted to go through what I went through with his parents and everything. It was a nightmare. People have tried to kill us – and kill me – for just wanting to be together."

Aron's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"His parents are intense. And they were Voldemort supporters."

Aron winced at the mention of the Dark Lord.

"So you see, it's not a walk in the park, but I fought for him the entire time. There were times when he pulled away from me and I had to find the strength to be patient. I'm not saying that if you were with him, you wouldn't be patient, I'm just saying that I don't think there is anybody in this world, including you, who loves Draco more than I do. That's what I'm saying. So I promise you that he is, and will continue to be, happy with me. Just as I am with him, even despite the not-so-good times."

Slowly Aron's shoulders slumped. He could feel the other boy's pain. "I guess I made a mistake. I thought…I thought you weren't trustworthy, that the fame had gone to your head and that you were just using Draco for his looks and Quidditch skills. I guess I judged you too harshly."

"I know. Look, I can talk to the Minister when he gets here and I can work out some sort of deal so you don't get a horrible punishment."

Aron's eyes widened considerably. "What? Really? You'd…do that after everything?"

"Well, I can sense you seem sincerely sorry and you will have to pay for the damages, not to mention you'll probably be put on probation and have your wand taken away while you do some sort of community service, but I'll make sure you don't have to spend any time on House Arrest. Thankfully, the type of hexes you used wouldn't warrant Azkaban anyway and no one got hurt, but you will probably have to go to the Ministry Tower."

Aron swallowed thickly. The Ministry Tower was a like a much nicer version of Azkaban for those who broke the law but were not so horrible that they needed to go to Azkaban. The Ministry Tower was really a place to house those who were on probation and watch them closely while they finished their community service.

"It won't be a long sentence, just enough time to give you to think about what you did."

Aron nodded. "Thanks. I'm sorry for ruining your vacation."

"Honestly, we'll get more vacations. I'm just glad that you didn't obliviate Draco. I would've fought hard to bring his memories back and find a cure, but it would've taken a long time and you probably would've gone to Azkaban for that. Actually, I'm sure I would've made sure of that."

The other boy glanced at him fearfully. "I understand. I promise, I'll get over Draco. I'll move on. I realize he's happy with you and I won't ever do anything like this again. To anyone. I promise."

Harry could sense he was telling the truth and he nodded. "That's all I needed to hear."

He got up from the table and left Aron to his own regrets. The Minister was outside when he came out. He smiled at Minister Shaklebolt, thankful that he was the new Minister. He was much better than Fudge or Scrimageour.

"Harry! So nice to see you," he said, giving him a hug. "I see you're getting into trouble as usual."

Harry laughed. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about the punishment. I know this resort will want him to pay for the damages, which he's willing to do, but I talked with him and he's sincerely sorry about what he did. So I would like to recommend time in the Ministry Tower and wand probation."

Minister Shaklebolt chuckled and gave him a knowing smile. "Very well. Let me have a talk with him."

A little while later everything was discussed and figured out. Aron was taken away and he said his goodbyes to Minister Shaklebolt. He was then called to the lobby by Manager Tennen.

"Mr. Potter, for all your help catching the culprit I want to offer you a complementary five days here on the house. Your room will be ready by tomorrow, I assure you."

Harry smiled brightly. "Oh, thank you so much! Do you think that my friends could have a couple more days too?"

"Absolutely!" he said.

After he thanked the Manager and then gave Mylina a hug, he hurried off to dinner to tell everyone the good news. They were all waiting for him at a table.

"How did it go?" Lucas asked.

"Better than expected," Harry said. He explained the conversation he had with Aron.

"So what was the decision?" Ron asked curiously.

"He will have three months wand probation and do community service while residing at the Ministry Tower during that time."

Draco snorted. "I think that was way too lenient."

"Well, considering he was willing to use the obliviate charm, he will be monitored in secret for another 3 months after his probation, but I really don't think he'll be a problem," Harry said.

"Thank goodness it's over," Hermione said, sighing happily.

"And we all get a complimentary five days for free here."

Ron instantly yelled with glee to Draco's annoyance.

"Plus our room will be ready tomorrow," Harry said, giving Draco a smile.

The blond smiled back wildly. Ron made a choking sound and Harry just laughed. During their dinner, however, Blake appeared.

"Hey, Harry, I heard about what happened. I'm glad you caught the culprit," he said awkwardly in front of them all. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Harry got up from the table and Draco's eyes narrowed as they stayed locked on Blake the entire time. They walked only ten feet away. Just enough to not be heard.

"Look, I get the impression that everyone thought I was behind it."

"I knew you weren't," Harry said. "I guess it was a little suspicious that you showed up here unexpectedly, but I knew I would find out the truth eventually."

"Yeah," Blake said, glancing down briefly, "about that. I have to be honest, I was surprised that you and Draco were still together. I mean, I guess a part of me was hoping that you would still be interested in me."

Harry inhaled slowly. "Blake, I'm sorry things didn't end very well between us. If we can't be friends, I understand. If that's what you need, we can part ways."

"It's not that. I mean, I live far away anyway. It's not like it will be a problem and we can just communicate by owl every now and again. I promise this time I will keep in touch. I know once I find someone I'll be able to completely move on. I'm sorry it's taking me a while, but I'd never jeopardize your relationship with Draco. I'm not that kind of person."

"I know that," Harry said. "Thank you, though, for being honest with me about how you feel."

Blake nodded. "So I was meaning to ask you how long you and Draco have been living together. I was just too nervous before."

"For over a year now. Actually, we're also married," Harry said, showing him his ring.

Blake blinked in surprise and then laughed as he rubbed his forehead awkwardly. "Wow. Okay. I guess I should've looked at your hand first. Maybe I wouldn't have come here."

"It's okay. At least you have your friends and you can have a break too. Besides, it was nice to catch up."

"Yeah," Blake said. "I look forward to really being friends one day."

Harry smiled and nodded. They walked back to the table.

"Nice seeing you all."

"Hey, Blake," Draco drawled just as he was turning to leave. "We're all going to go to the first floor to duel after dinner. Care to join us?"

Blake raised his eyebrows. "Is that a challenge, Draco?"

The blond smirked his usual coy, sexy smirk. "It is."

"Count me in," Blake said with a grin.

Harry smiled at the exchange and then glanced at Ron who was smiling too.

"What, Weasley?" Draco drawled.

"Nothing. This is just going to be a moment I'm going to remember forever."

Lillian giggled. Soon everyone was laughing including Harry. He did admit. It would be funny to see them duel it out. They really needed to get it off their chest anyway.

After dinner, they all met Blake and his friends there and they all paired up to duel. Blake and Draco, however, took it a step further and entered the dueling competition. They were not holding back on each other. Draco's spell that turned Blake into a girl made Ron laugh so hard butterbeer came out of his nose, which in turn made Harry laugh until he collapsed off his chair. It turned out to be a lot of fun. To Harry's joy, Draco won the duel eventually against Blake which meant he won the brand new broom as a prize – the Hybrid3000.

"Nice job, Draco," Blake said, holding out his hand.

The blond grinned. "Not bad yourself," he said, shaking his hand.

Blake grinned and then went off to join his friends on another floor. Before he left he waved to Harry in case they didn't see each other again since Blake was leaving the next day. He knew they'd probably see one another before he returned to Ireland anyway. As Ron and Lucas were dueling and Hermione and Lillian decided to go off to the make-up floor, Harry sat watching the dueling. Draco came up to him with his new broom in hand.

"That was a great duel!" Harry exclaimed. "You won an amazing prize too! That could help so much for the Final Championships."

"Yeah," Draco said, glancing down at it. Then he reached out his arms. "I want you to have it."

Harry blinked and stared down at it. "What? Really? Draco, that's…," Harry trailed off, speechless. "That's so sweet, thank you."

"I won it for you," Draco said handing it to him. "Look, I've thought about what you said. You know, when you confessed how you were feeling. I don't know why I never noticed how hard it was on you. I mean, well, you're very strong, Harry. You don't like to show when something hurts you, but I also know you were trying to express to me how you were feeling back then and I shut you out. I can't imagine how horrible that felt," Draco said, glancing down at his hands. "I want you to know that I will never do that to you again, I promise."

Harry smiled warmly. He felt his stomach flip with joy as his heart raced with excitement.

"I'm sorry for what I put you through. I was afraid I might lose you after that and I don't want that to happen."

"It would take more than that to lose me, Draco," Harry said softly, smiling.

Draco bit his lip.

Harry blinked. "What's wrong?"

"Harry, I…I mean, did I ever make you cry?" he asked hesitantly.

His smile diminished and Harry shook his head. "Draco, don't worry—"

"I need to know. If I did, I promise I will make up for it the rest of my life."

Harry's eyes lit up. "Draco," he said, reaching out to grasp his hand. "I may have, you know, teared up."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Look, Harry, you don't have to be embarrassed about it."

Harry inhaled deeply. "Okay. There was – I mean, when we broke up after the whole Pansy thing and you said you couldn't do it anymore, and then I went to Hermione and Lucas' place, I…," Harry trailed off. "I was there by myself a little bit while they were doing things and I did cry. Just once. It wasn't horrible or anything. I just think that it was because I had been so stressed and worried and anxious that whole period of time that when everything was said and done it just all came pouring out."

"Harry, it's completely understandable."

"I know," Harry said, glancing down briefly. "It's just…"

"What?" Draco asked curiously, leaning forward.

"I've never really, you know, cried before."

Draco's eyes widened. "Never?"

"Well, when Sirius died I did cry, but I mean really cried. I just…I don't know if it was because of the way my relatives raised me and I was just used to loneliness and tragedy, but honestly as sensitive as I am, I've never been good to deal with emotions. That's why I could never really work out relationships. I wasn't a normal teenage boy. I hadn't grown up in a normal family environment."

Draco snorted. "Neither did I. I still cried though."

"Really?" Harry asked. "Because of the way your family treated you?"

Draco shrugged. "Yeah, well, other things. When you denied my friendship back in Hogwarts and I tried so hard to get you back for that rejection by competing with you and outshining you, I failed every time. And my family constantly berated me about it and made me feel like I was worthless and I remember going into my room several times throughout those years and crying. I mean, I haven't really cried, like sobbing kind of cry, very much in my life, except for the time you saw me in the bathroom when I was given the impossible task of killing Dumbledore," Draco said bitterly. "And then the other time when I was tortured by the Dark Lord with the Cruciatus Curse for my failure. I managed to hold it back until I got to my room at home, since it happened over the holidays during my 6th year, and cried then but I'm not very good with handling emotions either."

"I guess that's something we'll have to work on together," Harry said with a smile.

Draco gazed at him for a moment and then he grabbed Harry's face and crushed their lips together. Harry wrapped his hands firmly around Draco's back and pushed their lips closer together. They broke apart and Harry trailed his hands up Draco's shirt as they kissed again, over and over, their lips coming together passionately. Harry slipped a tongue into Draco's mouth and the blond groaned in response. Harry realized he was becoming aroused so he broke away before they caused too much attention.

Harry smiled and leaned his forehead up against Draco's. "We'll finally get to have our vacation."

"Yeah," Draco said. "I've been meaning to tell you that the Romantic Getaway floor, I think we do have enough privacy there to, you know."

Harry raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Oh, really? Well that sounds fun. It did seem very beautiful!"

"Yeah, the snow and cabin weren't too bad."

"Actually, that's not what I saw."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed curiously. "What did you see?"

Harry's lips slowly curled into a smile. "I'll show you."

He grabbed Draco's hand and led him out of the room and to the elevator. They both smiled at one another as they approached the 18th floor and walked through the doorway. This time it wasn't a rescue mission, thankfully. As soon as they walked through the doors, Draco saw exactly what Harry had seen. The gorgeous landscape with the smooth, vibrant green grass covering the land, and the pathway with the flowers and beautiful trees. All sorts of phoenixes were flying through the air singing their songs as the beautiful sun shone down upon them. Draco saw the beautifully crafted castle in the distance and he smiled.

"I love your fantasy much better than Aron's."

Harry punched his arm playfully. "I would hope so."

The two of them walked down the beautiful path together to the castle. When they approached the gleaming gates, it opened for them and they were able to walk inside. The entrance hall was gorgeous with golden candles floating near the tall intricate ceiling. And when they approached the stairway it broke off into several paths, moving just like the ones at Hogwarts.

"Well, I think I know what place inspired this fantasy," Draco teased.

Harry laughed. They both explored the castle with all its hidden passageways. They found one room with a gorgeous body of water in it. There was a white marble floor all around and statues of great wizards against the walls. The body of water was deep and large but crystal clear.

"Want to take a swim?"

"Maybe later," Draco said, wrapping his arms around his waist. He kissed Harry's neck.

Instantly, Harry felt his whole body burn as if on fire. He felt his stomach churn with butterflies and he turned around to pull Draco into a deep kiss. The two of them stared deep into each other's eyes and then walked out to find a more appropriate room. They headed to the top floor which turned out to be the roof. They could see the glorious view from the top and even while outside in the fresh air with the warm breeze there was a roof covering their head. To Harry's wonder, a beautifully crafted white bed with gold and silver intricate weavings appeared. It was huge with soft cashmere sheets.

For some reason, Harry was a bit nervous as well as excited. He felt exposed out there in the open air but the second Draco kissed him that nervous feeling vanished and was replaced by the burning desire that never quelled with Draco. The blond began to lift up his shirt and Harry felt his heart pound loudly. Draco tossed his shirt on the floor and then went for his jeans. Their lips clashed harshly and Harry moaned when Draco's fingers brushed across his bare hip as he pulled his boxers down. Harry had also been pulling off Draco's clothing at the same time. He kissed Draco's shoulder and made his way to the blond's neck. The blond sighed contently and leaned down to capture his lips again.

They both moved toward the bed as they kissed and caressed. Draco wound his hands around Harry and turned him around in his embrace. It wasn't until they fell on the bed that Harry realized Draco pulled him on top of him. He slowly pulled his lips away to gaze at Draco lovingly. Harry smiled and Draco grabbed his face roughly to pull him in for another heated kiss. Draco's fingers traveled down Harry's bare back to his rear and he slowly massaged him. Harry broke away gasping and then grabbed both sides of Draco's face before he captured his lips. Their lips moved passionately as their hands touched each other all over.

Harry was waiting for the moment was Draco was ready to go further. As much as he wanted it to last, they also hadn't been intimate in what felt like far too long. To signal that he wanted to go further, Harry reached down and rubbed the tip of Draco's member. The blond moaned and stretched his head back. Harry smiled and leaned in to kiss him heatedly as their naked bodies rubbed against one another.

Then something shocking happened. Draco began to spread his legs apart gradually and slowly wound them around Harry's waist. Harry broke the kiss and groaned, leaning his head by Draco's ear as he felt their erections rub together. His eyes opened as he stared at the sheets, feeling Draco's arms and legs around him. Draco was wrapping his legs around Harry's waist. Did that mean…

Harry's breath caught in his throat. Draco was going to let Harry take him this time. In the year and couple months they had been together, since the Academy (in which they had dated around 6 or so months since it was only a year program), Draco had always been the one to take control even when Harry was on top. They had explored some different positions but he always let Draco take control. Draco always was the one who penetrated him and Harry hadn't minded that at all. Whenever they were together intimately he couldn't think straight enough to ask Draco if he could take him instead. It wasn't that he never thought about it, but he also loved the feeling of Draco being inside him. So he never complained. Plus he knew that Draco liked being in control. This time, however, Draco was signaling for Harry to take control. That was a sign – a sign that Draco truly trusted him. It was all the proof Harry needed of Draco's love.

Feeling his desire explode at the thought of being able to take Draco for the first time, Harry passionately kissed down Draco's neck to his chest. Their eyes met for a brief second before Harry unwound Draco's arms from around his back and grasped their hands together. Then he slowly placed Draco's hands over his head, while keeping his fingers locked with Draco's. He let his lips trail over Draco's forehead and down the side of his face until he reached his lips. Draco was breathing heavily and Harry could feel his arousal growing.

Their lips connected and Harry could sense Draco's emotions. His Legilmency was very strong up close and Draco was completely open. Harry groaned as he felt Draco's legs winding around his hips even tighter. Harry summoned his wand with a whisper and murmured the lubrication spell for Draco. Slowly, Harry moved forward and Draco's body arched as Harry's member touched his entrance. Gradually, Harry moved inside, feeling Draco's fingers grasp his own tightly. The blond leaned his head back and groaned as Harry entered him. The feeling was indescribable. His stomach was fluttering with such excitement as his whole body tingled with pleasure. Harry gasped and moaned as he felt his member enter him and he leaned down to kiss Draco's exposed neck. The blond's eyes were closed and Harry made sure to go slow at first so as not to hurt him.

After a minute, Harry pulled back slightly and moved forward. They both moaned loudly. Harry was panting even after the third thrust, never having felt so good. It wasn't just the sex and the feeling of penetrating Draco, but knowing that the blond truly loved him and truly trusted him unconditionally. Harry's pace began to quicken as the pleasure built up. Harry gripped Draco's fingers tightly as the pleasure kept building.

"Draco!" Harry gasped, thrusting forward.

He felt the blond's legs rub against his own as his hips moved in the same rhythm. Draco moaned loudly unable to say much of anything. Harry felt his orgasm coming and he crushed his lips against Draco's. He thrust his hips forward moving in and out in several deep penetrations before he broke the kiss and cried out as his orgasm swept over him. Draco gasped and then groaned, his legs trembling as his own orgasm overtook him. Harry felt Draco's entrance squeezing his member tightly and he groaned even loudly. He closed his eyes, gasping and rocking his body forward with each pleasurable wave that came.

Harry soon relaxed his body on Draco's. Their fingers unwound but Harry then wound them in Draco's hair at the back of his head as he laid his own head beside Draco's while still on top of him. Draco's hands soon touched his back and caressed his skin. They both breathed heavily relishing in the afterglow. Harry then kissed Draco's cheek and moved his head so they were facing one another. Harry stared into his eyes, seeing the love reflecting in them.

He smiled. "No wonder you like being on top."

Slowly, Draco's lips curled into a smirk. "Don't get used to it."

Harry laughed. "Fine. But you will let me do this again, right?"

Draco smirked wider. "Don't get your hopes up."

"Draco," Harry teased, raising an eyebrow. "You can't just let me eat from the forbidden tree and then take it away from me."

The blond snorted at the reference. "What can I say?" he drawled. Then the blond smiled. "I guess once in a while won't hurt."

Harry grinned and leaned down to kiss him. Just knowing that they would be able to explore more intimacy together now including Harry taking control, it made for a lot of anticipation for what was to come. He knew Draco would still take control more often, but at least Harry would get his share now.

"All right. My turn," Draco said, flipping Harry onto his back.

Harry laughed. "Well that didn't last long."

The blond smirked down at him and Harry moved some of the blond's bangs out of his eyes. They stared at each other quietly for only a minute before Draco leaned down to kiss him passionately. Harry's body was already reacting at the thought of Draco taking him after it had been a while. Draco was definitely not quite as merciful. He slid his tongue into Harry's mouth at the same time that he trailed his hands up Harry's thighs and spread his legs apart. Harry groaned as Draco lifted his hips and began entering him. When the blond was fully inside he thrust deeply and grabbed Harry's rear as he began thrusting with more force. Harry's body shook and his legs were spread widely on either side of Draco. Harry groaned loudly, raking his hands up Draco's back as the blond thrust continuously.

It took some time for the second orgasm to hit but when it did, Harry felt his whole body tremble with excitement. Draco groaned loudly and squeezed Harry rear. He groaned in response moving his hands to Draco's hips as the blond thrust harder and deeper. Harry leaned his head back as his orgasm came and he felt the blond's erupt inside him. When Draco's body fell lax on top of him, Harry wrapped his legs around the blond's. They stayed together like that for several minutes until Draco finally rolled off him. Harry was still breathing deeply and he turned to gaze at him.

"Well, that was worth waiting for."

Draco laughed lightly. "Yeah."

They both lay there in a comfortable silence for some time. Eventually, they got dressed again and decided to go back and join their friends. They had all gone to the lounge room by the lobby on the first floor since they didn't know where Harry and Draco had gone. They were just casually sipping tea and talking when they arrived. They joined in on the conversation and ordered some tea as well.

"So where'd you go?" Ron asked, looking from Harry to Draco.

Draco shrugged. "None of your business, Weasley."

Ron glared and opened his mouth but Lillian elbowed him.

"Draco gave me his broom that he won," Harry said proudly.

"Aww, Draco, that's so sweet," Hermione cooed.

Draco just raised an eyebrow at her and didn't respond. The look on his face showed that he was flattered by their response. Ron and Draco eventually got into an argument about which teams were going to be the hardest to beat the Final Championships and while Lucas went to the bathroom, Hermione gestured for Harry to sit by her.

"It's nice to finally get a nice vacation," Hermione said.

"Yeah, er, Hermione, there was a time a while ago when you wanted to tell me something but then you didn't. Was it something important?"

Hermione blushed. "Well, actually, um….," she leaned in to his ear.

Harry's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"

Ron and Draco glanced over at them but Harry just waved it off.

"Sorry, I – Oh my gosh! Hermione, that's wonderful!" Harry exclaimed in a much quieter tone. "Does Lucas know?"

"Yes. I told him when I found out, which was two days before we left. I was planning on telling you all, but then everything happened and I wanted to wait until the right moment."

"I think now is definitely the right moment!"

"I'm just a little nervous is all. It feels so overwhelming and exciting all at once."

Harry smiled and grasped her hand. "Don't be. You guys are the best couple I have ever seen."

"Oy!"

Harry looked over at Ron who was now staring at him.

"Of course you and Lillian too."

Lillian smiled. "Thanks. Wait, what's going on?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" Ron asked.

Draco sat back in his seat and Lucas appeared from the bathroom.

"Oh, uh, okay, well, everyone," Hermione said, wringing her hands nervously. Lucas reached out to grasp her hands.

"What is it, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Uh, well, you see," she said, looking down.

Hermione cleared her throat and gazed up at them. Draco raised an eyebrow in anticipation.

"I'm pregnant."

"NO WAY!" Lillian screamed, completely making Draco spill his tea at the unexpected outburst.

Ron's mouth fell open and he looked like a fish opening and closing his mouth several times. Lucas' eyes were gleaming and he grinned proudly.

"Oh, Hermione!" Lillian exclaimed. "I can't believe it! It's wonderful! It must be the happiest day of your life!"

"Well, one in many," Harry added.

Lucas grinned at him and Harry went over to hug the both of them. Draco just gave Lucas a thumbs up which made everyone laugh, even Ron. It turned out to be a pretty great vacation after all.

The next days at the resort were blissful. The girls hung out and talked about babies and the guys hung out to talk about babies and Quidditch. Ron mentioned that they all had to keep it a secret from his mum as long as possible because of the look she would give Ron about having grandchildren of her own. On the last day, another surprise happened. Ron proposed to Lillian who squealed so loud Draco's eyes practically bugged out of his head. It was the most hilarious expression Harry had ever seen that he couldn't stop laughing for ten minutes. Every time he tried to congratulate Ron properly he burst into laughter and become a mess. Draco was getting annoyed and that only amused Ron further. They all had one big group hug and even Draco was forced to participate.

They all went to dinner on their last night to celebrate both Hermione and Lucas' news of a baby, and Ron and Lillian's news of their engagement. It was an incredibly happy occasion. Harry and Draco finally got to sleep in their own glorious room, which they had been for several nights now. It was beautiful. They had stars that appeared on their ceiling at night just like looking up at the stars outside. They had a beautiful double king-sized bed, as an added perk for everything they went through, and had homemade as well as other butterbeers and drinks at their disposal in their magical fridge. They had a large plush velvet couch and two floating leather chairs. Their room was double the size of the other one.

They lay in bed exhausted after another night of intimacy. Draco had let Harry take control again and it made him so happy. Harry curled up against Draco's side and wrapped his arm around him.

"Can you believe everything that's happened in such a short time?"

Draco glanced at him and then snorted. "It's pretty crazy that Hermione's pregnant. I can't see her as a mom. Weasley on the other hand I could care less about."

Harry rolled his eyes laid his head on Draco's shoulder. "I guess it makes sense being that today is Christmas. They were waiting for a special day."

"I highly doubt Hermione planned hers."

Harry laughed. "True. It makes sense now because I never saw her drinking a butterbeer. Usually she likes to have at least one on special occasions."

Draco nodded. They fell into silence again and Harry sighed.

"What?"

Harry glanced at him. "Nothing. I was just thinking that we still have some time before going back to practice when we get back."

"Yeah. As nice as it is here, it will be nice to be able to relax for a bit at home before going back."

"I agree."

Draco paused for a moment. "So, are you going to see Blake again?"

Harry shrugged. "Probably. But I can just invite him over to our place if you'd like to keep an eye on him."

Draco snorted. "No. I trust you."

Harry smiled. "I'm glad. I trust you too. This has been one crazy year, hasn't it?"

"Yeah. I still can't believe that we've been together a year and a half."

Harry grinned. "Our two year anniversary will be coming up soon. Are you ready for that?"

"Of course. It will be a better attempt than last time."

Harry nodded. Draco was silent again for a minute before he turned to him. It took him a moment to realize Draco was staring at him but finally Harry locked eyes with him. Draco just stared into his eyes searchingly.

"I still can't believe we're together. I mean, in school I just thought how great it would be to be your friend. I honestly really admired you."

"Really? You were a fan, huh?"

"Shut-up," Draco said, glaring. "When I saw you again at the Academy after Hogwarts and everything that happened, I thought you would hate me. And when you didn't hate me, but you also didn't pay much attention to me, I got annoyed and started really being an ass. You know, when I found out you were gay, that night I had a dream that you asked me to be your boyfriend."

"Really? You never told me that!"

"It was too embarrassing."

Harry laughed. "That's so sweet," he said, kissing his cheek.

Draco tried to pull away but Harry tightened his grip. Draco just glared at him playfully.

"Yeah, I sometimes think that when we were at Hogwarts that we were completely different people. I mean, we would've never been able to date then."

"Oh, no, that would've been more than a disaster."

Harry smiled. "Yeah. I'm glad things worked out though."

Draco turned and gazed at him. His eyes softened. "Me too. And Harry, you know, you don't have to hide from me, you know, if you're upset or anything."

He saw the concern in his eyes and Harry caressed his cheek. "Don't worry. I'm happy, Draco. And I promise, if I'm upset or feel like crying I know I've got your shoulder to lean on."

Draco stared back at him and Harry could see he was content knowing that.

"And if you need a shoulder to cry on," Harry added.

Draco snorted. "That will never happen."

Harry laughed. "You don't know that."

"Well, I suppose when Weasley has kids I'll cry because I feel sorry for them."

"Draco!" Harry exclaimed, slapping his arm playfully. "That's not nice at all. Aren't you and Ron ever going to get along?"

"No."

Harry sighed and leaned back against the pillow. "I guess life can't be perfect, right?"

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"But it's pretty close so I won't complain," Harry said, grinning.

Draco returned his smile and Harry leaned down to kiss him. Their lips touched gently and Harry wrapped his arms around his neck. When they pulled away, Harry touched their noses together.

"I love you."

Draco's eyes glistened. His lips curled into a soft smile. "I love you too."

They leaned in for another kiss and Harry knew that their happiness was only just beginning.

THE END

Author's Note: Waaaaaaahhh! It's so sad that it has to end but it does! Thank you to everyone who stuck with me since the beginning. Hopefully this was good enough to tie up everything. I will attempt to update Luminescence as soon as possible! I've got my exam coming up at the end of January so I can't promise it will be out before February. Thanks again and let me know what you think!

~*Angelic Candy*~