This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction, and was beta-ed for me by the lovely X-x-Rhi-x-X

If you don't like slash, don't read, as this is based off key moments in the final two books.

All characters and some lines are copyright of J.K. Rowling, and I do not own them, otherwise the ending would have been better :) Enjoy!
Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring at his enemy's shell.

There was one second of silence, then the room exploded. Woops, cheers and roars of the spectators filled the air. Everyone crowded towards Harry, desperate to congratulate him, to offer their thanks to the hero who had saved him.

But Harry didn't care about that. Right at that moment, there was only one person Harry could think about; Draco Malfoy.

Turning, he saw Draco across the Great Hall, near the doors looking stricken by the people surging past to congratulate their hero, the Chosen One. Meeting his eyes across the room, Draco lingered for a moment, his eyes locked on Harry, before turning and hurrying through the doors to the Entrance Hall.

Harry began to try and push through the crowd, eager to follow Draco. But it was no use. The crowd just pushed back, not knowing that their hero had to leave, to get to the one person he truly wanted.

XOXO

Draco knew he shouldn't have been there. As soon as the Dark Lord fell, people crowded Harry. But as he looked on, he had noticed Harry staring straight at him. Holding his gaze for a second, Draco decided he was better off away from there.

Just one look in those deep emerald eyes brought back memories best left forgotten.

"Hey Potter, going to draw attention to yourself by cooking up more lies with Dumbledore?" Yelled Draco across the empty corridor, swaggering over to Harry, who had stopped at the sound of his voice.

Turning, Harry replied angrily, "If you don't shut it Malfoy, I'm going to hex you within an inch of your life"

"Oh yeah?" retorted Draco, marching over to where Harry was now standing, staring defiantly at the white-blonde haired boy.

"Yeah" replied Harry, drawing his wand from his sleeve.

Draco, mirrored him, also drawing his wand from his sleeve.

Harry, with quick reflexes, yelled "Expelliarmus!" But Draco was too quick, retailating with a quick shield charm.

This duel continued, getting more heated and violent by the minute, until Draco hit Harry in the chest with a well aimed disarming spell. With his wand sent spinning across the flagstone floor, he was knocked off his feet. Draco strode towards him, a smirk on his face.

"No...Stop..." Moaned Harry in pain. Draco stopped in his tracks, his expression changing to one of horror and confusion. Harry lay there, panting, his glasses askew, hair even more unruly than usual. To Draco, he looked... amazing.

Without much concious thought, Draco pulled Harry up by his shirt, pushed him against the nearest wall, and kissed him hard on the lips. He didn't even know what had caused this spontaneous action, but now he knew that he didn't want to stop it.

To Harry, this was a revelation. Even in his hazy state, he vaguely registered that his rival of five years, with whom he had been having a duel with a few minutes earlier, had pushed him up against a wall and was kissing him as though his life depended on it. And to be honest, Harry was enjoying it. Moaning into the kiss, he returned the favour, kissing as hungrily back.

After that, it had escalated. Although they seemed still rivals in the eyes of others, even their friends, some nights they would meet up, expressing their lust for each other, then never speaking about them. Insults and fights hid the true extent of their relationship, which continued until their sixth year.

As they lay together in bed the Room of Requirement, snuggled together for warmth as they lay under the quilt, Draco sighed contentedly into Harry's chest. But Harry's thoughts were on something other than the platinum blonde who had his arms around Harry. Rolling over so he was facing Draco, he looked him straight in the eyes.

"Draco," Harry said quietly, "I really want you to know something."

Looking expectantly into Harry's green eyes, Draco waited for him to speak.

"I want you to know that I love you, and I wondered if these meetings could become more than just at night."

Draco's heart froze. He couldn't see this being anything more than a way of relieving his stress, and a way of being with someone. He could see how the other students would treat him, a Slytherin daring to love their chosen one. The reputation he had spent years building would be destroyed in an instant.

Harry sat there, waiting for Draco to answer. But instead, Draco turned his back on him, climbing out of the bed and beginning to get dressed.

Harry, reaching out his hand, asked in disbelief, "Draco what are you doing?"

"Don't ever speak to me again, Potter." Draco replied with venom in his voice. Turning towards the door, he began to walk out, leaving Harry to silently sit with his heart in a thousand pieces, as he let Draco leave.

As soon as he had gotten out of sight of the room, Draco let his mask slip, silent tears falling down his pale face.

xoxo

Harry didn't care for much after that. He was just numb. Hermione and Ron noticed this, but didn't comment, thinking it was just something to do with Voldemort. He could never tell them that it was actually Draco Malfoy who had broken his heart. He felt as though it had been trampled into a million pieces, but there was still love for the blonde Slytherin left there. But he dismissed it, putting it right to the back of his head. He instead replaced it by thinking about Ginny Weasley, who had been hopelessly in love with him since she had first seen him on platform nine and three quarters when he was eleven. But even this could not fully cover the feelings he had.

Checking the marauder's map as he walked to the Great Hall for dinner, he searched it carefully, illuminating each section of the castle with his wand light, searching for the name he wanted to see. But he couldn't find the small label saying 'Draco Malfoy' anywhere. Sighing, Harry wondered why he even did this. He had tried to obscure his feelings, but they refused to go away. Lifting the parchment again, he quickly scanned over it. As he was about to give up, he saw it. In the boy's bathroom, the dot was situated by the sinks, and was accompanied by a dot labelled 'Moaning Myrtle'. Intrigued, Harry changed direction and began hurrying towards the bathroom.

Upon entering, he saw Draco standing by the sink, head bowed. Myrtle was floating by the side of him, offering comforting words. It was then that Harry noticed that Draco was crying, tears running off his face and down into the sink.

"There, there," whispered Myrtle, "Come, on, you can tell me what wrong. I won't tell a soul."

"He's threatening to kill my family," Draco choked out "He said if I don't finish the task he's set me, he'll kill them as I watch."

As Draco continued, Harry could not believe what he heard next.

"It's not just that though," Draco said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand as more tears fell "It's that damn Potter. I keep thinking about what happened that night and..."

But he didn't continue, as at that moment, he looked up into the mirror and saw Harry standing at the door to the bathroom. His expression changed instantly, his eyes narrowing, and features contorting into a furious glare. He drew his wand and turned, yelling

"Impedimenta!"

Dodging the spell,which hit the lamp behind him, Harry threw himself sideways, thinking 'Levicorpus!'

But Draco blocked this, raising his wand again. Moaning Myrtle, watching this exchange of spells, screeched, "No! No! Stop it! Stop! STOP!"

But the boys seemingly couldn't hear her. Draco was furiously launching curses and hexes at Harry, while in turn Harry was trying to protect himself from this onslaught. A leg-locker jinx that Harry cast rebounded, hitting a cistern behind Draco's ear, causing water to pour everwhere.-Harry slipped as Draco, fresh tears glittering in his silver eyes, cried, "Cruci-"

But Harry, from his position on the flooded floor, cut him off, bellowing, "SECTUMSEMPRA!"

Instantly, cuts appeared on Draco's face and chest, blood gushing from them. Falling to the floor,he landed with a splash on the water-logged floor, his wand falling from his limp hand.

"No-" gasped Harry. Pulling himself up, he staggered over to where Draco lay. Behind him, Myrtle was screaming, "MURDER! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM!"

Grasping Draco's hand, he felt hot tears prickling the sides of his eyes as he stared into the pale haired boy's slightly glazed over silver ones.

"Draco, I'm sorry. I didn't know- I didn't want-" He couldn't go on. Tears were now cascading down his face as he looked at Draco.

Turning his head to face Harry slightly, a small smile tugged at the edges of Draco's mouth.

"Harry," He whispered "I want to tell you that I l-" With that, he began to cough, blood spotting his pale skin. Shuddering, unconciousness claimed him. Staring at him, Harry sat there, not knowing what to do, his tears now drying, leaving trails down his face.

The door banged open, and Snape strode in, his face livid. Pushing Harry aside, he knelt down by Draco, pulled out his wand and murmered a counter curse. As Harry watched, he could see the wounds closing up,and Draco's breathing became noticably easier. Sighing with relief, Harry watched as Snape lifted Draco into a standing position and supported him. Turning to Harry with an ice-cold glare, Snape spat

"You Potter...you wait here for me."

Not needing to be told twice, Harry stayed perfectly still, watching as Snape helped Malfoy out of the bathroom, muttering about dittany and scarring.

When he arrived back, Snape strode purposefully over to Harry, he murmured "Go" to Myrtle, who disappeared down one of the nearby toilets, sobbing hysterically.

Giving an odd look at the tear tracks flowing down harry's cheeks, Snape quietly said,

"Where did you learn that spell?"

Put on the spot, Harry thought quickly, before replying, "In a library book."

"Liar. Go get your bag with all your school books."

Running out of the bathroom, Harry quickly ran to the Gryffindor tower, grabbed his things and ran into Ron on his way back. Quickly asking for Ron's potion book, he then sprinted up to the seventh floor, and into the Room of Requirement when it appeared. Placing his potions book when he knew he could find it later, he ran out, and back down to the boy's bathroom where Snape was waiting.

"So, this is your book is it?" asked Snape, flicking through the pages of Ron's potions book that Harry had just handed him.

"Yes sir."

"Then why does it say the name Roonil Wazlib in the front cover."

Harry's heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out, "Thats my nickname."

"Hmm..." replied Snape, obviously not believing him. Handing back the book, he now looked at Harry's face.

"Why are your eyes so red, Potter?"

"Err...curse hit me in the eye during the fight."

Looking at him thoughtfully, Snape said, "Potter, I think you are a liar, and deserve detention every week with me until the end of term. What do you say to that?"

"Err...I don't agree, sir"

"Well, we shall see how you feel after the detentions. Ten o'clock, my office Saturday morning."

Happy to finally get out of there, Harry agreed, and bolted out the door before Snape could say anything else. As he walked aimlessly along the corridor, covered in water and Draco's blood, he felt like crying again, as what he had done came crashing down on him. He had nearly killed the boy he loved, and it was tearing him up inside.

xoxo

After that, he threw himself into a relationship with Ginny Weasley, even though kissing her was never like kissing Draco. He still saw Draco most days, as he watched him from across the Great Hall at mealtimes. But Draco didn't even look in his direction.

As they neared the end of term, Draco started not turning up for meals, leaving Harry glancing hopefully over at where he was normally seated. After a while, Harry gave up, focusing more on the missions Dumbledore gave him to do with the horcruxes. Then came that night.

Trapped beneath his invisibility cloak by Dumbledore's spell, Harry watched the exchange between Dumbledore and Draco as the mighty headmaster stood, using the wall of the Astronomy Tower to hold him up, as Draco gloated over what he had achieved during that year. Harry was horrified that Draco, the boy he loved, had managed to hide that from everyone for so long, even though he himself had suspected something.

Dumbledore looked weaker with every sentence that Draco said, but even as he was nearing collapse, the Headmaster had a knowing smile.

"You've achieved more than just this scheme this year, haven't you Draco?"

Catching on, Draco spluttered, "I-I don't know what you mean!"a slight blush colouring his usually pale skin.

"I noticed your trips to the Room of Requirement from the start of the year, normally followed by Harry Potter."

Inwardly, Harry gasped. So Dumbledore had known! He didn't find this that great a suprise though, the Headmaster was usually extremely observant.

"What of it? Who cares if Potter followed me to the room! That doesn't mean anything!" Draco yelled, fear evident in his features.

Pushing himself up further slightly, Dumbledore sighed, and looked Draco straight in the eyes. "Draco, before you kill me and complete your task for Lord Voldemort, I have one request of you. I want you to treat Harry well."

Dropping his cover, Draco spat, "I broke up with Potter ages ago. Theres nothing between us anymore." This comment made Harry want to pull off the cloak and proclaim that even if Draco didn't love him, he still loved Draco. But the spell prevented him from doing this, so he just stood there crying it inwardly.

Chuckling, Dumbledore replied, "Oh is there nothing really, Draco?"

Draco looked slightly taken aback by this comment, as though Dumbledore had just yelled one of his biggest secrets to the whole of the school. But he had no time to answer, as the door burst open, and Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters strode in. Harry stood there, just staring at Draco, wondering what had caused that look to grace his pale features.

After Dumbledore's death, and the funeral that followed, Harry didn't see Draco again for a while. He broke up with Ginny, feeling that his relationship with her was meaningless, but didn't have the heart to tell her that. After deciding not to return to Hogwarts the following year, he continued Dumbledore's quest, collecting the horcruxes and destroying them. But even this did not fully drive his thoughts from Draco. At night, as Ron's snores filled the tent, he thought of the pale haired slytherin, remembering the time they had together and wishing they could have had more. Then, fate played a cruel trick on him. They were found by a group of snatchers, and even with the stinging jinx Hermione cast on him, they were recognised. Excitedly, the snatchers took them to the main headquarters of the Death Eaters, Malfoy Manor.

As the snatchers strode into the foyer of the manor, pulling Harry, Ron and Hermione with them, Harry saw a tall thin woman standing and conversing with the leader of the snatchers. He heard his name mentioned, but his attention was not fully on their conversion until he heard the name Draco.

"Draco is home for the Easter holidays. If that is Harry Potter, he will know."

Harry felt like laughing. 'Yeh' he thought, 'Draco knows me alright.'

The snatcher who was holding Harry – who he identified as Fenrir Greyback – dragged him through a set of doors into what looked like the main room of the manor. He could hear Lucius Malfoy talking excitedly in the background, and out of the corner of his eye, could see a tall pale figure rising from an armchair, who he realised was to not catch Draco's eye, Harry turned away, catching sight of his reflection in a mirror on the other side of the room. His face was swollen and red, his features utterly indistingushable.
From the other side of the room, Bellatrix, who was stood near Draco, grabbed her nephew's arm and dragged him over to where Harry was lying on the floor staring at his own reflection.
"Come on Draco, don't be shy. Tell us if this is Potter or not!"
As Draco crouched down to look closely at his face, Harry could see the recognition in the pale boy's eyes. Looking at Draco pleadingly, he hoped that his former lover wouldn't say anything. One of Draco's slender hands reached slowly up, and he absentmindedly stroked it down Harry's swollen cheek, a look of empathy in his eyes. Draco looked up worriedly to see if anyone had noticed him, but the adults were too deep in conversation at this point to notice.
Behind him, Lucius asked hopefully, "So Draco, is it Potter or not?"
Looking up at his father, Draco replied, "I don't think it is; it looks nothing like him."
Bellatrix stormed up, pushing Draco aside. She yanked Harry's fringe sideways, and looked closely.
"Look, here!" she exclaimed, pulling Draco back towards Harry. "Isn't that his scar?"
Draco stared at the pale mark on Harry's forehead, then replied softly,
"I don't know, I wouldn't think so." He got up, and walked over to the fireplace where his mother was standing.
"We have to be certain: it's no use calling the Dark Lord if it isn't Potter." Lucius remarked.
Bellatrix got up, and strode over to where Hermione was standing.
"What about this Mudblood, then?" she asked, grabbing Hermione by the arm. She looked around, and then, suddenly, she spotted something in one of the snatcher's hand.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Sword."
"Give it to me."
"I found it Missus, I claim it."
A loud bang echoed, and the snatcher fell backwards, stunned. The sword fell with him, clattering onto the floor beside him. The rest of the snatchers roared at this attack, but they all fell by her wand as well. Holding the sword, she walked over to Greyback, who was kneeling on the floor, grimacing in pain.
"Where did you find this?" Bellatrix asked in a cold voice, glaring at him.
"In their tent." he replied.
Bellatrix whipped around, and stormed angrily back over to Hermione. This time grabbing her by the hair, she turned to Greyback, who had slowly climbed up from the floor.
"Greyback, take Potter and the Weasley boy to the cellar. I'll deal with the Mudblood."
Harry was roughly pulled up from the floor, and with Ron, who was screaming at Bellatrix to take him instead, was dragged towards the cellar. As he went, he caught Draco's eye, and sliently thanked him for lying about him. As he was pulled into the cellar, he was sure he could see Draco looking out of the corner of his eye at him too, a slight smirk on his face.
After their escape from the manor, the trio continued their quest, glossing over the torment they had all suffered in Malfoy Manor. They simply wanted to forget all about the ordeal. Finally, they found themselves at Hogwarts looking for the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw. As the final battle ensued, they ended up in the Room of Requirement, where they once again came across a familiar face.
"Don't kill him!" Draco yelled as Crabbe shot another killing curse at Harry. "The Dark Lord wants him alive!"
Ignoring Draco, Crabbe noticed Ron trying to curse him from behind another pile of lost items. He ran towards him, throwing jinxes at him as he went, and leaving Hermione and Harry to fight Draco and Goyle together.
Harry disarmed Goyle easily, and Hermione hit him with a Stunning Spell a few seconds later, as Draco cowered wandless behind a three legged wardrobe.
"We need to find the Horcrux," said Harry to Hermione. "Look for it while I go help R-"
Before he could continue, he was cut off by Hermione's scream: "HARRY!"
Turning, he saw Crabbe and Ron running in their direction, with abnormally huge flames chasing them. The fire was devouring the piles of items with ease.
"RUN!" Harry yelled frantically. Draco grabbed the stunned Goyle and dragged him along, while Crabbe ran ahead of them. Looking back, Harry saw the fire was mutating, creatures forming in it before falling and being replaced by others, all the time lapping up the detritus that had gathered over the centuries. Looking ahead again, he noticed that Draco, Crabbe and Goyle had disappeared, and he felt his stomach drop. What if Draco had been consumed by the flames?
Then Hermione stopped, causing Harry to halt as well. The flames were surrounding them now, leaving them no way out.
"What can we do?" Hermione screamed. "What can we do?"
Then Harry spotted two heavy looking broomsticks lying on a pile next to them. Passing one to Ron, he climbed on as Ron and Hermione clambered onto theirs.
Kicking off the ground, he soared into the air, and as Hermione and Ron flew towards the door, he searched desperately for Draco.
'Draco,' Harry thought desprately, looking around the flame-filled room. 'God, please be alive, Draco. Please.'
Then his heart skipped a beat. He had spotted Draco on top of one of the piles of junk that had not yet been decimated, still clutching an unconcious Goyle. Harry zoomed over to them, and Draco spotting him, a look of relief spreading over his fine-boned face. He lifted up one arm as Harry neared, but as Harry grasped his arm, he knew it was hopeless: Goyle was too heavy and Draco's hand, covered in sweat, slipped instantly out of his hand.
From behind him, he heard Ron shouting:
"IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU HARRY!"
Ron had come speeding towards them, and as he and Hermione pulled Goyle onto their broom, Draco climbed up behind Harry.
"The door, get to the door, the door!" Draco screamed in Harry's ear. Trying not to notice how tightly Draco was holding him around his waist, Harry sped up, but then spotted something glinting on the top of a pile of broken desks. It was an old, discoloured tiara. His heart soared. The lost Diadem!
Changing direction, he forced himself to ignore Draco's terrified shrieks of: "What are you doing, the door's that way!" He swooped and grabbed the tiara, before heading straight for the door. Moments later, clean air filled Harry's lungs, and they collided with the wall in the corridor beyond.
Draco fell off the broom and lay on the floor, coughing and gasping as Harry rolled over and sat up, noticing the door to the Room of Requirement had disappeared. Hermione and Ron were sat on the floor beside Goyle, who was still unconcious.
"C-Crabbe," choked Draco, as soon as he could speak, "Crabbe..."
Ron turned. "He's dead," he said harshly.
There was then a silence, while the battle raged on around them. Harry looked over at Draco, who had sat up now, and was looking around at the others. How Harry wanted to hold Draco, to tell him everything would be fine, and that he still loved him. But with Ron and Hermione there, the battle still ongoing, and his mission left to complete, he knew he would never be able to do that.
While the others were trying to figure out what to do, Harry leaned over to Draco, in pretence of checking that he wasn't hurt, and whispered to him:
"Draco, just in case something happens to me, I want you to know that I still love you."
Getting to his feet, and taking one last look at Draco's stunned face, he walked over to Ron and Hermione, who hadn't noticed him talking to Draco, and walked with them away to meet his destiny.
Draco, just sat there, watching Harry walking away, a small smile on his pale face.

The memories surged back to Harry, overwhelming him as he pushed through the crowds around him, as they began to notice that their hero needed to be somewhere else. As they shifted around to let him through, he broke into a sprint, hurtling past confused faces as he ran into the Entrance Hall. He spotted the ethereally pale boy across the Entrance Hall, which was nearly deserted, as everyone had piled into the Great Hall to see the final battle.
"DRACO!" he yelled. The other boy stopped, and Harry slowed down as he reached him.
Looking up at him with pain in his eyes, Draco said: "Potter, I can't be here. This isn't the place for an ex-Death Eater."
Turning once again, he began to walk towards the main doors, but was stopped by a strong hand grasping his wrist.
"No Draco," said Harry, his sadness evident in his voice. "Don't leave me here again."
Turning again, Draco opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by Harry's lips against his own. Surprised, he melted into the kiss. Everything they had both wanted to say was in this kiss, so full of passion and longing.
Breaking the kiss for breath, Harry smiled at Draco, and tried to remain unaware of the crowds of people - including Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy - standing at the door to the Great Hall, staring at the scene in gobsmacked shock. Slowly, he managed to regain the use of his voice.
"So how about we try this one more time?" He asked in a whisper.
Smiling shyly, Draco replied softly: "I was hoping you'd ask that."
Together, they walked out of the castle and into the grounds, forgetting about all that had happened before, finally happy to just be with each other.