Guess who's back? Well I'm here with my new story, concerning two of our favourite boys; Draco and Harry. I need to preface this with warnings of smut in later chapters, bad language and very adorable sock monsters. Also, Fred survived the battle of Hogwarts because I can't stand him being dead. Otherwise this follows the books up until the epilogue. Enjoy!

The return of the 'eighth year' students to Hogwarts had been McGonagall's idea. She had stepped forward as Headmistress of Hogwarts at the end of the war and had overseen it's rebuilding, but had made it clear to Kingsley that he would have to find a new Headteacher once the eighth years had left. She was there only because she wanted to see the completion of their education, and once they had obtained their NEWTs she would be retiring. It was an optional year, of course, and many students had opted to go straight into the many opportunities being offered by the Ministry. Others though, the ones who weren't sure what they wanted to do, or who just wanted a year to be children before they had to become men and women in the world of work, had returned.

They shared classes with the seventh years, but the eighth years had their own common room and dormitories- the unused offices near the library having been cleared out and reconstructed for them. There were so few students in each house for the year that the boys all shared one dorm, and the girls another. This was something many of the professors had been apprehensive about considering this meant Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter would be sharing sleeping quarters, but the boys had yet to hex each other too badly- the minor incidents involving hair dye and Weasley Wizard Wheezes' products being used to irritate one another rather than kill or severely injure. That being said, they'd only been back for two weeks.

xoxoxox

"Honestly Harry I don't see how you can't be concerned, Ron is your best friend!"
"I know Hermione."
"He's been acting so weird lately, I mean did you hear his excuse for why he didn't get back to the dorm until three the other morning? He wanted a walk. Since when does he go for secret late night walks?"
"Really Hermione I don't think it's anything to worry about."
"He's seeing Lavender again isn't he? Oh Merlin Harry if he is you have to tell me, I promise I wont be angry with you I just need to know."
Harry groaned as they arrived at the entrance to the common room, barely acknowleding Parvarti as she went scuttling past. "Will you please listen to me Hermione? Ron isn't cheating on you. He isn't seeing Lavender. He's very much in love with you and I promise if I find out he's seeing anyone else I'll hex his balls off myself, but I can honestly tell you that you have NOTHING to worry about!"

"There's no need to raise your voice!" Hermione scowled, crossing her arms and stalking to the girls' dorm, disappearing with a final glare in his direction. Normally Harry would have been frustrated, but he could hardly blame his friend for her quick temper on matters concerning her boyfriend. Ron had been behaving in a very secretive manner recently, but it was because he was working up the nerve to ask Hermione to marry him. It might have seemed soon to most people, but then most people hadn't been friends for as long as those two had, or as in love either. He'd have to remember to give Ron a shout about being extra nice to Hermione though, the last thing he wanted was to get caught in the middle of another blazing row between the two.

"Lovers' tiff Potter?" Malfoy drawled from one of the chairs near the fireplace, causing Harry's upper lip to curl. Since returning to Hogwarts- cleared of all charges thanks to Harry's testimony on Draco and Narcissa's behalf, although Lucius was serving an undefined term in Azkaban- Malfoy had refrained from being alone in the same room as him.
Hermione had explained it as Malfoy feeling like he owed something to Harry for saving himself and his mother from Azkaban, but Harry preferred Ron's decision that it was because ' the bloody ferret doesn't have the balls to say thanks'. Either way, as Harry cast a quick glance around the room to double check, the boys were alone now.

"Piss off Malfoy," Harry snapped, frustrated with himself at his lack of preparation of a comeback.

"Oh yes of course I forgot, Granger's happier with her Weasel. Jealous then," Malfoy smirked. That was one thing Harry had noticed. Since his return, Malfoy had avoided using the term mudblood. Well one change for the good didn't rectify seven years of malice, Harry reminded himself.

"Shouldn't you be having it off with Parkinson in the broom cupboard?"

"Don't you listen to any of the gossip in this place Potter?" Malfoy said with a roll of his eyes, unfolding himself from the chair and sauntering towards the dark-haired Gryffindor with a cocky look Harry was itching to wipe off of his face. "It's been going round for a week now," the blonde continued, his voice lowering as he leant in to murmur in Harry's ear. "She's lacking a certain appendage I happen to be rather fond of."

Harry stood still, processing, watching blankly as Malfoy swept out of the room and into the hall. Once the Slytherin was clear, he all but sprinted to the girl's dormitory and hammered on the door. If anyone knew what was going on, it'd be Lavender. She'd set things straight. Malfoy couldn't be gay, he'd spent fifth year with his tongue shoved down Pansy's thro-oh. But wait. Harry couldn't recall ever seeing the two in any sort of compromising condition. Sure there had been the time Malfoy had had his head in her lap on the train, but he couldn't read anything into that when he frequently fell asleep lying across Hermione, and sometimes Ginny.

He'd discovered his own preference after a frank discussion with Ginny post-war about the lack of spark between them- trust the redhead to realise he was gay before he did- and they had parted on amicable turns. The only downside was that now Ginny and Molly were determined to set him up with Charlie, who was good-looking and funny but not quite Harry's type. Not that he knew what his type was. Being the Saviour of the Wizarding World did tend to make dating a little more difficult, particularly when his sexuality was only known by Ron, Hermione and the other Weasleys. He'd resigned himself to the fact that until he was ready to come out, he wasn't going to have a love life. Right now though, he was going to be engulfed by squealing girls and fed more gossip than his mind would be able to handle.

xoxoxoxox

"So Malfoy's bent?" Ron snorted, flecks of half-eaten food flying out of his mouth and coating Ginny who was rather unfortunately sat opposite her brother.

"Something wrong with that?" Seamus scowled, looking pointedly at the arm Dean currently had wrapped around him. "Didn't peg you for a homophobe Ron."

"No no!" Ron yelped, eyes flickering between his friends desperately for back up. "I mean I didn't freak out when I found out about you two, or with Ha-Ow!"

"What he means,"Ginny cut in, retracting her heel from Ron's shin with a sweet smile before he let slip something Harry wasn't ready to have public yet, "Is that he's surprised Malfoy of all people has a liking for cock. Although I don't see why, I mean anyone with hair that shiny, and what according to Pansy is a closet of clothes to rival Padma's, simply can't be straight."

Harry was becoming rather fixated by his left sock, which was peeking out from the gap between his shoe and trouser leg with the curious gaze of an infant. No, really. Theo had been in a bad mood after being woken up by Crookshanks and had decided to entertain himself by turning everyone's socks into animated little creatures with eyes. Everyone else had turned their's back, but Harry hadn't had the heart to transfigure the cute little purple creature back into a lifeless object. Maybe he could adopt it as a replacement Hedwig. Hedwig the Second, the Purple Sock Creature. It had a nice ring to it didn't it?

"Harry James Potter will you listen to me already?" Okay full naming. So he was in trouble. Hesitantly returning his attention to the group, Harry found himself being stared at by not only the original Dean, Seamus, Ron and Ginny, but that they had been joined by Lavender, Parvarti, Padma, Luna, Pansy, Hermione, Theo, Blaise, Draco, Neville, Hannah, Susan, Zacharias and Daphne. So effectively the entire eighth year (plus Ginny and Luna) were currently sat or stood around Harry, all with their gazes very firmly fixed on him. "Um. Hi?"

"You haven't heard a word we've said have you?" Daphne sighed.

"Do you want the truthful no or the long-winded excuse?"

"Okay, just listen this time. Since it's the weekend tomorrow we have decided that tonight we're turning the common room into one large fort and having an eighth year sleepover, although Luna and Ginny actually came up with the idea so they're naturally invited. You're not getting out of it. McGoogly-Eyes has been complaining about house unity so to shut her up we're going to bond, understood?"

Harry somehow didn't think the Slytherin wanted an answer. He'd learned a fair bit about his classmates in the time they'd been back at school, and it turned out Slytherins were actually pretty awesome once you got past the ice-cold exteriors. It was far too easy to forget snakes were people too. For instance, Theo and Ron had somehow formed a bond over their love of chess and could frequently be found huddled over a chessboard while Pansy and Hermione had become friends based on a mutual exchange- Pansy gave Hermione fashion tips, Hermione tutored Pansy in Charms, and somehow this had divulged into a willingness to discuss boys and books. Gradually the eighth years were integrating, so the sleepover didn't sound like a bad idea to secure some of those bonds.

Having taken his silence to mean okay, the majority of gatherers had filtered off, leaving Harry with Luna. Watching the retreating blonde-haired self-proclaimed Prince of Slytherin, Harry flinched when he turned back to Luna to find her examining him with a curious expression. "You seem distracted Harry," she hummed dreamily. "And your sock is escaping. That's an unusual pet, do you need help to capture it?"
"Sure, thanks Luna."

The two were silent for some time as they searched for the sock – barring the odd complaint about how far a sock could possibly have gone from Harry- but they eventually found it curled up around a stair banister on the connecting stairs between the sixth and fifth floor.

"I think it's scared of heights," Luna decided, before promptly vanishing from sight.

"Because that helps me out, thanks Luna," Harry muttered, shaking his head as he sat down beside the sock. "So then, Hedwig the second. Are you going to be letting go of that banister any time soon?" The sock trembled but made no attempt to unfurl itself. "I'll take that as a nope. Well. What do you think? Should I come out to everyone? I don't think anyone here would make anything of it, not after having seen Dean and Seamus making out in the middle of the Great Hall in sixth year. So what's stopping me, hm? Malfoy's done it. If an ex-death eater can come out and not be slaughtered by the press, then why shouldn't I be able to?"

"Harry? That was a good idea, talking to the sock to calm it down," a soft voice praised, making the boy start. "I thought some toast might tempt it down."

Anyone else would have been sceptical of Luna's plan, but Harry had learned to just go with it after all these years. And as it turned out, spending an hour coaxing a purple sock down from a banister with various varieties of toast was a pretty amusing way to spend your morning- as it happens marmite and apricot jam on wholewheat was the sock in question's favourite. It became a whole lot less amusing when, sock safely contained in Harry's pocket, the two had to sprint to Transfiguration and explain exactly why they were ten minutes late.

McGonagall had luckily seemed more amused than anything, merely praising Theo on his spellwork before sending Luna and Harry to their seats.

Hedwig the Second, Harry decided, was a good listener. Now he just needed to work out how to come out to the rest of the school, and perhaps most terrifyingly of all, to Andromeda.