In rage, Harry ran toward the lavatory, ready to scream at Malfoy and do whatever it took to make him pay. There was seemingly nothing that could stop him. Harry knew that Malfoy had been the one to curse Katie Bell and make her deliver the deadly necklace to Dumbledore.

This must mean that Malfoy was a Death Eater. Why else would he try to kill Dumbledore?

As soon as Harry reached the lavatory that he had seen Malfoy enter a few seconds previously, he whipped his wand out, ready to use the unknown spell written by the Half-Blood Prince in his potions book. Sectusempra Harry repeated the spell in his mind to practice.

But when he saw Malfoy, he put down his wand.

Malfoy was crying. Actually crying. Harry had never seen Malfoy cry before, and it was a strange sight to see. Obviously, Malfoy couldn't see Harry or he would've told him to bugger off.

Harry couldn't help but marvel at the sight before him. Never before had he noticed Malfoy's white-blonde hair looking so…soft. Somehow, he longed to touch it. But he erased the image from his mind and focused on the matter at hand.

Why was Malfoy, of all people, crying?

"Malfoy." Harry said.

"Shove off, Potter." Malfoy snapped, without turning around. He faced the mirror, his back to Harry and bent over the sink.

"What the bloody hell is the matter with you?" Harry asked.

"Like you would care."

Harry sighed. Even though he had previously thought of Malfoy as his enemy, now he wanted to help him. He couldn't resist helping someone in need. Even Malfoy…

"No, really. What's the matter?" He tried again.

"I thought I told you to shove off, Potter!" Malfoy barked, turning to face him this time.

Upon looking at Malfoy's face, Harry was surprised to see that for once it was filled with color. Normally, Malfoy was pale and sick looking with blandly white skin but now his cheeks were tinted with a bright pink color, as were his eyes.

"Malfoy…" Harry sighed.

"What?" Malfoy snapped, crying again, "What do you want?"

Harry watched as Malfoy's face curled into sadness once more. He collapsed to the floor, letting his tears spill, obviously not caring anymore that Harry was watching.

Harry felt a strange sensation pierce his heart. He somehow…hated seeing Malfoy like this. It made him bizarrely upset. Immediately, he ran over to Malfoy and lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, stop it." Malfoy cried, "I don't need a hero."

"Shut up." Harry said calmly.

He let Malfoy cry more. He watched as his dazzling blonde locks fell across his face ever so slightly as he cried. Harry longed to run his hand through them. He couldn't resist. He lifted his hand off Malfoy's shoulder, just to get a feel for the soft head of hair on Malfoy's head. But before he could touch it, Malfoy looked up at him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Nothing…" Harry said, dropping his hand back down to Malfoy's shoulder.

"Why are you even here?"

"Tell me what's the matter." Harry demanded.

Malfoy looked up, seemingly shocked that Harry actually cared enough to ask. Harry was surprised at himself as well, but he kept his hand resting on that bony shoulder.

"Why the bloody hell would I do that?" Malfoy asked.

Harry sighed. Somehow, he felt some sort of odd courage that only Malfoy could bring out of him. Somehow, Ginny was completely erased from his mind at this moment. He no longer wanted her, with her flowing red, typical-Weasley hair. However, he did want Draco's soft blonde locks…

Harry leaned in close to Draco's ear. Draco sat frozen, unaware of what Harry was doing.

"Because you can trust me." Harry whispered.

Draco seemed comforted by this. In fact, as Harry leaned back to look at him, he nearly smiled. The corner of his mouth twitched into a slight, two-second smile.

Now Draco seemed comfortable enough to confide in Harry. He took a deep breath and sat in a more comfortable position, staring at the wall behind Harry.

"I didn't want to do that to Katie…" Draco sighed, looking now at the tile floor.

Harry simply listened.

"I didn't want to hurt Dumbledore…" Draco said softly, looking up at Harry. His gray eyes begged for forgiveness.

"So why did you do it?" Harry asked. He held back his anger over the necklace. If Draco says he didn't want to hurt anyone, then he meant it. Harry trusted Draco…for some reason.

"My family is full of Death Eaters, and so, obviously, I was made one too." Draco said shamefully. He pushed up his sleeve and showed Harry the mark on his arm, signifying that he was, in fact, a Death Eater.

Harry's heart sank. Now he knew it was true, and that upset him. He didn't want Draco to be a Death Eater. He wanted to trust him…

"The Dark Lord told me to do what I did. Apparently, I'm the chosen one. I am the one that has to kill Dumbledore." Draco said.

Anger rose through Harry immediately. He wouldn't let Malfoy get anywhere near Dumbledore.

"But I don't want to do it!" Malfoy screamed in rage.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I hate this! I hate doing the Dark Lord's deed. I hate that I was forced into this! No one asked me if I wanted to be the chosen one! It's ridiculous!"

Now Harry knew that Draco never was his enemy. Although they'd always quarreled in the past, it was only because Draco's family had sort of an influence over him.

In fact, Harry now remembered his first day at Hogwarts, when Draco had even invited Harry to become friends with him. Harry, of course, had declined because of his fondness of Ron and of Draco's apparent bitterness.

Now, Harry felt as if they had become friends after all.

"Draco, I…"

"What did you just call me?" Draco interrupted, appalled.

"I…I called you Draco…" Harry now realized that it was the first time that he had ever used Draco's first name.

Draco sat there, staring at Harry's face for a moment. Harry noticed his eyes searching his face, glancing just for a moment at that lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead.

"You've never called me by my first name…" Draco said, looking at the floor.

"Neither have you." Harry pointed out his hypocrisy.

There were a few seconds of silence as Draco kept staring at the tile floor, picking at his fingernails. Harry watched his face carefully. He fully witnessed it when another tear slid down Draco's pink cheek.

Not knowing what to say, Harry placed a hand on Draco's shoulder once more, but this time, Draco shrugged it away, making Harry dejected.

"I must confess something to you…" Draco said softly.

"What?" Harry could hardly find his voice.

"The reason why I've been so…awful to you since first year…" Draco sighed, not finishing his thought.

"Yes?" Harry persuaded him to continue.

"Of course, back in first year I was just a stupid kid who didn't know any better." Draco continued, "My father had told me that the Potters were the enemy, so obviously I hated you."

Harry said nothing.

"But then, when I grew up, I realized that I don't think I ever really hated you…"

"Is that so." Harry half-laughed sarcastically.

"I never did. In fact, I think all this time…" He sighed. His ghostly gray eyes were swimming in tears again and his cheeks flushed a brilliant red once more. It was so rare to see Draco like this and it made Harry shudder.

"All this time, what?" Harry persisted.

Draco looked up at Harry and did something unexpected. He placed a hand on Harry's face. Harry had always thought that Draco's skin would be cold. He felt as if Draco should be cold-blooded, like a snake, because he was an evil Slytherin, because he was Harry's enemy. However, as Draco touched Harry in this fashion, Harry couldn't help but realize that he'd never actually felt Draco's skin before. It was not cold but, in fact, oddly warm to the touch.

Harry suddenly realized that he liked Draco touching him. He wanted to be touched even more by this boy who Harry had once thought to be just another terrible Slytherin. This boy who had once been Harry's worst enemy, besides Voldemort himself…

Draco leaned in closer to Harry and held him in some sort of soft embrace. Their cheeks touched, and Harry noticed that Draco's face was even warmer than his hand had been. Draco ran a hand through Harry's hair and Harry smiled at the opportunity to do the same. Finally, he was able to touch that soft white blonde hair. It was so soft that it felt like liquid.

Draco then pressed his lips against the skin in front of Harry's ear. He did this so gently that it made Harry nearly collapse.

"I want you." Draco whispered.

Just these three words spoken in Draco Malfoy's voice made thousands of little tiny sparks run through Harry's body. They fell like falling stars in the sky throughout his limbs and up and down his back. Everywhere Draco touched him, he felt another.

This is why Harry did not protest when Draco kissed his ear, and then his neck and collarbone and then his cheek.

Then Draco paused. He let their foreheads touch and closed his eyes. He nuzzled his nose against Harry's.

Harry exhaled slowly, feeling a rush of hot air on his lips as his breath bounced off of Draco's skin and back onto his. They had never been this close before.

Harry no longer cared about any of the other girls he'd ever had feelings for. He no longer cared about Cho, the girl who had given him his first kiss. He no longer felt anything for Ginny, his current love interest. In fact, Harry no longer cared for girls at all. Even Hermione, whom he had felt a little something for at least once in their time at Hogwarts, escaped his mind.

Everything was Draco.

This thought was confirmed when Draco slowly brought his lips to Harry's and kissed him delicately.

Those falling-star sensations under Harry's skin seemed to multiply as they swarmed throughout his body and tickled him from the inside. Harry's heart doubled its pace and his eyes couldn't help but roll back in his head.

They were so close that Harry could actually feel Draco's heart pounding in his chest.

Draco kissed Harry so slowly that he longed for more. It was as if Draco could read his mind, because at that instant he slowly slipped his tongue into Harry's mouth. He sighed deeply.

They played with each other's tongues, as if they were dancing. They let them swirl around each other. Harry grazed the back of Draco's teeth with his. Draco moaned softly as Harry dug his tongue deeper. Just that tiny sound made Harry's eyes roll back again.

They gently fell back onto the tile floor together, Draco on top of Harry. Harry ran his hand through that soft blonde hair once more, savoring the liquid feeling on his fingertips.

But he wanted more of Draco. He wanted to feel him everywhere all the time. He grabbed Draco by the shirt collar and rolled over so that Harry was now on top. He could feel Draco smiling under their kiss.

Harry had found an all new boost of confidence. It was as if Draco was the only one who could bring it out. Harry loved that.

His confidence led him to start kissing Draco's neck gently. He brushed his nose against it slightly at first, and then let his lips touch the snow-white skin of the Slytherin's neck.

Draco moaned once more. "Harry…" he whispered.

It was the first time that Draco had ever said Harry's first name. It made him even weaker than he already was. He shivered, but continued kissing Draco's neck and then tracing his tongue up towards Draco's ear.

Harry pulled Draco back up into a sitting position and grabbed the back of his neck, kissing his lips over and over again.

"Oh, Harry." Draco sighed in between kisses.

"Draco." Harry said back, wanting Draco to feel the sensation of joy as they used each other's first names.

Draco laughed at this and kissed Harry again.

A loud bang and a voice startled Harry suddenly.

"What the bloody hell are you two doing?" It was the monotone, wicked, deep growl of Severus Snape.