"He doesn't like me."

"He bloody well does."

"No, he doesn't. If he liked me, he would have asked me out by now. I've given more than enough indication that I like him."

"Really? What indication would that be?"

"I always dress nicely to see him, I talk to him about stuff I'm not interested in, and I kiss him on the cheek when we hug."

"You do the same things to me."

"Look, just go for it. Make a big gesture. Forget all the stupid rules, why don't you just ask him out."

"What if he doesn't like me and I ruin our friendship?"

"He likes you."

"What if he doesn't?"

"Shut up! I don't know why you and everyone else in this bloody place seem to think that I want to hear all this. I love you, but god, how many times do I have to say it? He likes you. You like him. Just go make a move and stop wasting your time and mine. I mean honestly, I don't know why you and everyone else keep coming to me for advice. I'm not in a relationship, I haven't been in a relationship and I don't possess some incredible amount of knowledge about relationships nor can I provide you with one. Stop with the stupid excuses and use the courage this house is known for. I can't listen to anymore of this. I've told you what I think. Now, go do what you want."

With that, Harry scrambled off the bed and all but ran downstairs and out of the common room leaving a shell shocked Ginny behind.

Bloody hell. That is the fourth time this week that I've had to give that talk. First, it had been Hermione. Harry had been expecting that one. Then, Dean had come to talk to him about Seamus. That had been a bit of a shocker. Then, Ron had come to have the weekly talk about Hermione. It always went the same way and Harry had given up on getting upset about that one. Finally, Ginny had come to talk about Neville. He didn't know what was wrong with her. She'd never had this much trouble with a boyfriend before, but then she'd never dated someone with as little self-confidence as Neville either. He had a feeling it was going to rub off a bit before Ginny got back to her normal, fiery self.

I really don't understand why people keep coming to me about their relationship problems. I mean the only relationship I've been in was with Cho and that was a disaster. I guess no one really understands that though. Sure, I've fucked people, but I've never been around them long enough to even mention the word relationship. Hell, I couldn't even tell you the names of a few of them. Those don't even count here. It's not like my friends know about them. They are just desperate. Whatever, I really shouldn't have been so harsh on Ginny. She didn't know. I just wish when people asked for my advice they actually listened to it.

By this time, Harry had walked outside. He thought about going to sit by the lake, but he realized that all the clichés sat there so he kept walking.

The next day, Harry felt like shit. He should have known that going out to walk was a bad idea. It was always a bad idea. So many bad things happened when he went out to walk that he should have given up the habit years ago, but he hadn't. Luckily, last night hadn't been the kind of bad that meant he'd been caught and given detention. It also wasn't the kind of bad where he ran into Voldemort. It wasn't the kind of bad that meant he'd seen something he shouldn't have or heard something that was likely to send him on a wild hunt for information. It was just the normal kind of bad. He was just tired, but that was bad enough. Honestly, he didn't even understand why his body registered tired anymore. It wasn't like he ever had enough sleep. He was either dreaming about one of the many people he'd gotten to see killed or he was having a nice vision with Voldemort if he got to sleep anyway. The way Harry saw it, he should have probably just given up on feeling anything by this point because he had experienced an excess of almost every emotion in his life and he didn't need to feel anything else. Nonetheless, Harry was tired and there was no logic he could use to persuade his body otherwise so he sat down at the breakfast table and performed a nifty little spell to inject some caffeine into his pumpkin juice. He also ignored Hermione's frown as he was used to seeing it. Unfortunately, he had his shields down and wasn't able to ignore her voice as effectively.

"Harry you really shouldn't do that. You know caffeine is bad for you and you're going to become addicted."

"Better this than speed."

That shut Hermione up. Apparently, drug references early in the morning weren't a normal occurrence for her. Harry snickered to himself, though if he had been forced to describe how he felt under truth serum, guilt about the caffeine and talking to Hermione like that would have been a part of the answer. He knew she wasn't a fan of his newfound humor, not that he expected her to be. It wasn't the family fun, G-rated kind of humor. It was a little darker than that. In fact, Harry found himself having to tell people a lot of the time that the things he said were just jokes. It seemed that his straight faced delivery of biting one liners came off as the truth. He supposed it was because he said them so nonchalantly. Either way, fewer and fewer people got his humor these days, but that didn't stop them. They still came to him and talked to him and sucked up to him as usual. He was still Harry Potter and even if he was a bit odd, he was still famous. Anyway, he'd taken to restraining the cynical comedian within him and playing the part of Gryffindor Golden Boy, Harry Potter. He got a lot more peace that way and it wasn't like he didn't mentally laugh at the things he was thinking.

God, he missed Sirius. It was funny in a way. Sirius had been a source of comfort for Harry even though they hadn't spoken much or been around each other that often. Harry had been able to think that somewhere Sirius was there if he needed him. It was like no matter where he was, he had someone who loved him. He missed knowing that there was someone who would give him a hug and know that they couldn't always make it better. He missed the very presence of Sirius in the world.

It was different than Ron and Hermione. He didn't know why. It was just something about Sirius, about him being his godfather and about him breaking out of prison for Harry. It was his voluntary love that had made Harry feel so much better. Somehow, Harry knew that Ron, Hermione and he had become friends out of necessity. It just wasn't the same. He felt like he had to be a certain person to be their friends. He couldn't be whatever he wanted to be with them. There wasn't the same special spark in their relationship. He wanted someone to love him more than they loved everyone else.

"To stand in the corner you have to be all chill and cool," Draco said as he leaned against the wall.

Harry could tell he was being made fun of for not being part of the party.

"Really, I thought this corner was where all the people that felt uncomfortable because they liked the other people at the party, but didn't know how to start talking to them stood. Shove off, Malfoy.

"The famous scar head is uncomfortable. How amusing."

"Bugger off." Harry took out a cigarette and lit it.

"Smoking? The Golden Boy?"

"This is a Slytherin party, isn't it?"

"Yes, which brings up the real issue. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was invited."

"Who would be so stupid as to do that?"

"Blaise."

"What? Why?"

"You'll have to ask him."

"I think I will."

Draco turned to walk off, but something made him turn around.

"Potter!"

"What?"

"You can leave your corner. Chances are if you talk to anyone they won't remember it tomorrow anyway."

"Then what's the point?"

"Practice."

And with that, the blonde walked away.

Harry stood for a few minutes and finished his cigarette. He thought about what Draco had said, but instead he went to find Blaise to see if they'd be fucking tonight or not.

"I saw that you didn't listen to me the other night."

"Malfoy, be quiet. You don't want people to know that you talk to me."

"Fuck off; I'll talk to whomever I want."

"Whatever, I suppose I should thank you for the advice, but I think that by never attending another one of your parties, I'll be thanking you enough."

"Didn't like the taste of Slytherin?"

"Actually, it was delicious, but thanks to my social ineptitude, I spoke to no one, danced with no one and didn't even get what I came for.

"And that was?"

"Come on, Malfoy. I know you aren't naïve. You have to know why Blaise invited me."

"Just wanted to hear you confirm it."

"I, Harry Potter, was there to fuck Blaise. Satisfied?"

"Disgusted, but satisfied."

"Oh goody, a homophobe."

"I'm not afraid of myself so no, just disgusted by the thought of you fucking anyone. "

"Draco Malfoy, a fag?"

"Yeah. And?"

Harry walked over to Malfoy and shoved him against a wall. He stared into the blonde's eyes and then leaned in and kissed his enemy. The response sent the kiss spiraling into a passionate, frenzied battle of tongues that left the participants breathless. Harry broke it off roughly and panting managed one word.

"Disgusting?"

Draco answered quietly.

"No."

Harry backed away and started walking down the hall.

"Potter! What the bloody fuck was that?"

"Just making a point."

Draco touched his lips and suddenly his mood shifted. That ass! Draco was pissed and while he wanted to say it was all Potter's fault, he knew he was angry with himself for liking what had just happened and for being the catalyst to it all. He should have known. Talking to Gryffindors always got you in trouble.