Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I'm not getting any money by writing
this.
Author: Princess Bemidia
A/N: This is my first fic I've ever posted. Flames welcome. Umm..
Slash
Harry awoke with a major headache. He clutched his head. "What the hell?" He stood up and walked over to the mirror that hung on the wall. He shook his head. He went to get back into bed and stubbed his toe on the bedpost. "Damn!" He slapped a hand over his mouth as Ron sat up in his bed.
Ron rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Harry? What are you doing up at 6:30?"
Harry shook his head. "Nothin, Ron. I just wanted a drink of water."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Okay." He then realized that today was the first day of winter break. "Let's go downstairs."
Harry shrugged and followed Ron to the common room. They nearly walked in on Ginny and Neville kissing. Ron tried to yell at him, but Harry covered his mouth and shook his head. "Upstairs. Now."
Ron looked pissed but went up the stairs. When they were both back in their dormitory Ron glared at Harry. "Why wouldn't you let me say something?'
Harry sighed and shook his head. "How would you like it if someone walked in on you and Hermione?"
Ron went white. "How do you know about that?"
Harry yawned and pulled off his shirt. "I found out a long time ago. And piece of advice, don't leave love notes lying around where other people can read them."
Ron turned red. "Anyone else know?"
"No." Harry finished changing and looked at Ron. "Are you coming to breakfast?"
Ron nodded and quickly changed. "Let's hope their not kissing anymore." They weren't.
Neville looked up and smiled. "Well, I'm going home today. I'll see you guys in four weeks."
Ron tripped. "Four? Oh, yeah." Dumbledore had given them more time to be with their families.
(A/N: I need more than two weeks to do this.)
Harry pushed Ron towards the portrait hole. "Breakfast remember?"
Ron nodded and walked out. At breakfast there were only two other people, Hermione and Draco Malfoy. "Hi, Hermione!"
Hermione looked up from the book she was reading. "Hi, Ron! Hey, Harry!"
Harry smiled and sat down. "Where is everyone else?"
Hermione looked at him. "They've already left. I hung around so I could say goodbye."
Harry nodded, and started serving himself some food. But then he got a strange feeling someone was watching him. He looked around and found Draco looking at him with a weird look on his face. "Draco."
Draco saw Harry staring at him and he tried to look away, but he could tear his eyes off of the other boy's eyes. "Harry." But then an owl swooped through an open window and landed in front of Ron.
Ron read the letter and tried not to cry. "Oh gods."
Harry looked at Ron. "What's wrong?"
Ron looked from him to Hermione. "My grandma's really sick and Mum wants me to home with the others."
Hermione put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "It's alright."
Harry looked back at Draco thinking he's see a smirk on the other boy's face, but instead he saw a concerned and shocked one. "Hn?"
Draco didn't know what to think. He secretly liked all of them, but he couldn't say so. He was taken completely off guard when Ron read the letter. "God."
Ron stood up. "I guess I should go now." He walked out followed by Hermione.
Harry sat still for a moment, then he stood up and walked over to Draco. "Was it just me or did you really look concerned about Ron's grandma?"
Draco looked up at Harry. "Harry. I don't want to fight."
Harry sat down at the Slytherin table. "Draco, why aren't you always like this?"
Draco looked down. "Because, it's expected of me to act like a jerk. Why am I telling you this?" He sighed.
Harry just looked at him. "Draco." Harry had learned about Draco's nicer side during Thanksgiving when Harry had been attacked by Hagrid's last Blasted-Ended Skrewt. Harry had gone into a coma and had woken up while Draco was there. But what surprised Harry the most was that Draco was running a finger over his scar and cursing his own father for being weak. "Why don't you just stop acting? Why do you have to be a jerk?"
Draco thought for a moment. "I just can't. Not now anyway."
Harry stood up really fast. "Draco get your heaviest cloak. Meet me in the Great Hall in 20 minutes." He took off towards the doors.
Draco stood up and watched Harry go. "Hmm." He left and headed toward the dungeons.
Unknown to Harry and Draco, Dumbledore had come into the room from a secret passage. He watched the two boys leave. He smiled then laughed. "Interesting."
20 minutes later, Harry was pacing in the Great Hall. "Where is he?"
Draco was coming up a flight of steps and was about to step into the Great Hall when he started having second thought about being nice to Harry. But one look at the other boy's face sent all those thoughts out the window. He pulled on his cloak and stepped into the hall. "Hey Harry, where are we going?"
Harry stopped and looked at Draco. "For a walk."
~*~*~*~
Snape stood at the foot of a flight of steps and looked after the two students. He then turned and went up to the second floor. He stood at a window and watched them walk to the lake. He had been standing there for about 5 minutes when he felt someone approach him from behind. "This is just weird."
Dumbledore stood there a moment. He knew what Snape was looking at. "It's none of your buisness, Severus."
Snape looked at Dumbledore. "But if they. You remember what happened 6 years ago."
Dumbledore nodded and as he took Snape's arm and led him away from the window. "If we catch them at anything then we'll help. We can't be sure they're not just friends." As they walked away he watched Snape. "So you don't hate Harry?"
Snape started. "Why would I hate Harry?"
Dumbledore looked at him. "His father?"
Snape shook his head. "I don't hate Harry."
Dumbledore just looked at him then he kept walking.
~*~*~*~Meanwhile~*~*~*~
Harry and Draco were sitting on a beach by the lake when suddenly Draco tossed a snowball at him. "Got ya!"
Harry jumped up about to throw one at Draco, but he was running. "Come back here!"
Draco looked backwards. "Never in a million years!" This resulted in all out snowball war. When it finally stopped Harry tripped backwards. Draco accidentally fell on top of him.
Harry looked up at Draco. He slowly raised his head. "Draco?"
Draco looked into Harry's eyes. "Hmm." He slowly lowered his head and touched his lips lightly to Harry's, when he didn't feel any resistance he deepened the kiss.
Dumbledore shouldn't have told Snape off for spying on them, cause he was doing it too. Then he saw them kiss. He raised his eyebrows and shook his head. He sat down and waited for someone to come up. He was right. Within 5 minutes somebody was knocking on his door. Dumbledore sat up in his chair. "Come in."
McGonagall and Snape walked in. McGonagall stepped forward. "Sir. Potter and Malfoy."
Dumbledore held up his hand. "Yes I saw Harry and Draco."
Snape looked exasperated. "I told you this could happen. What are we going to do about it?"
Dumbledore just looked at Snape. "Nothing right now. They have a month to think things over. We'll do nothing."
Snape nodded. "Yes Professor." But an idea was already forming in his head. He nodded a goodbye and left. McGonagall followed without a word.
The weeks passed quickly though Draco and Harry grew closer their problems mounted. For Draco that consisted of his father, his house, his reputation, and his mother and for Harry that meant Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and his house.
On Christmas day, Harry woke up and opened his presents. The last one opened was a small box containing a wizard picture of him and Draco that had been taken in Hogsmeade. Harry smiled and looked in the box again. He found a small box and a note. On the outside of the envelope were directions to put the picture in the box. After doing so the box and the picture went invisible. Opening the envelope he read the note.
Harry,
Merry Christmas! This is an invisible box. Duh. Just so the others don't find the pictures or anything else you don't want them to find. Just remember where you put it. I love you.
Draco
Draco was sitting up in bed opening his presents. He opened a box and pulled out a crystal pendant on the end of a black ribbon. He inspected the pendant closer and dropped it when he saw Harry's face. "Okay." He looking in the box for a note. Finding one he read it aloud:
Draco,
This is an enchanted necklace. You look in it and see whatever you want to see. Hope you like it. Merry Christmas. I love you..
Harry
Christmas passed, Harry and Draco fell back into the rhythm of vacation life again. They made love several times. Almost willing time to stop so they could continue that way forever. But time was against them and the other students returned. Ron's grandma died and Hermione spent all her time trying to cheer him up. Harry and Draco were forced back into pretending to hate each other, sneaking out at night so they could be alone. But it always ended with the rising sun. Then one night they were sneaking out and ran strait into Professor Snape.
Harry stopped dead. "Professor! What are you doing up?!"
Surprisingly Snape didn't scowl. "I should be asking you that. But no time, Dumbledore wants to see you in his office now."
Draco looked confused. "Why now it's 11:00 at night?"
Snape looked at him. "Just go. Now." He turned and started leading the way to Dumbledore's office. He stopped said the password, "Chocolate Frogs" and went up the staircase. After knocking on the door he walked in. "Professor, Harry and Draco."
Dumbledore nodded and the two boys walked in. "Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter may I remind you that it is far too late for you two to be out of bed."
Draco stepped forward and looked down. "We know. Are you going to ask for an explanation?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I realize how hard it must be to carry on a relationship like this."
Harry turned white. "How do you know about that?"
Dumbledore smiled at him. "I've known since the beginning. And I believe Professor Snape has found the answer."
Harry looked at Snape. "What!?"
Snape smiled as he looked down at them. (A/N: Not smirked.) "Yes I have."
Draco took Harry's hand. "What is it?"
Snape looked out the window. "I've made some modifications to the Whomping Willow and the Shrieking Shack."
Harry looked surprised. "What modifications?"
Snape looked at him. "I have fixed it that it is voice activated and only you and Draco can open it."
Draco looked at Harry and raised his eyebrows. "Do we need a password or something?"
Snape nodded. "Yes. You choose a password and just say it to the tree. You can switch the password whenever you feel like it."
Harry smiled, but he still didn't know why Snape cared. "Why didn't you just tell us off and send us to bed?"
Dumbledore stood up. "We tried that about six years ago. The two boys decided to come into the open about it and they were attacked. they were in the infirmary for 6 months. We have decided it would be best if you only told the person you trust most for right now and see how they handle it."
Snape nodded in agreement. "Now. You two can go to bed, because I'm testing you in double Potions tomorrow or. You can pick a password and go see the Shrieking Shack."
Harry smiled and looked at Draco. "Okay."
Dumbledore rested his fingertips on his desk. "I'm amazed at how you do it."
Draco looked at him. "Do what?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Do all your homework, essays, not fall asleep in class, sneak out at night, and still pretend to hate each other."
Draco shrugged. "I don't know. Goodnight Professor."
Harry and Draco made their way down to the willow, choose a silly password and went down. The next few days passed pretty much like they did everyday. Then on Friday Dumbledore stood up at breakfast to make an announcement. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm instituting something new this year. It is something like a game, but this is to see just how much you are alike and different. Starting today at noon you and a randomly selected partner will be handcuffed together one arm. They do not react to any kind of spells, but at the time you enter your bedroom to go to sleep they will come off. The next morning they will attach themselves to you again. Do not try locking them in trunks, closets or anything else. If you are caught out of your bedroom without them you will get a weeks worth of detention. And if you are not with your assigned partner you will have to see me. This will last for the next week and there will be no classes." Everyone was looking around at each other. Draco and Harry looked at each other and shrugged. "Now. Some of the boys will get handcuffed to some of the girls; this gives you no reason to take advantage of anybody. Also for the same reason we have turned the classrooms into bedrooms so the people in different houses could sleep in the same room. The dormitories are off limits. You will return to your dormitories and on your bed should be an envelope containing how you are going to handcuffed to and where your bedroom is. If you do not have one, see Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, or myself. Good Luck."
Most people remained seated to finish eating, but some of them got up to see whom they got chained to for the next week. Harry practically ran to the tower. Upon reaching his bed he tore open the envelope and blinked several times.
Mr. Potter,
For the next week you will be chained to Mr. Draco Malfoy, and your new bedroom is the Divination Tower. Dumbledore
Ron looked over at Harry. "Who did you get? Is it a girl?"
Harry looked at Ron. "You first."
Ron smiled. "I'm getting chained to Hermione! Now you."
Harry pretended to look cross. "Great. I'm getting chained to Draco Malfoy."
Ron's mouth dropped open. "What?!"
Harry smiled a sarcastic smile. "Guess where our bedroom is." Ron shrugged. "The Divination Tower."
Ron shook his head. "Oh man do I feel sorry for you."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe I'll get to kill him in his sleep." They went down to common room where Hermione was waiting.
Hermione saw the look on Harry's face. "Who did."
"Malfoy." Harry sat down on a couch and shook his head. The hours flew by like minutes. The next thing they knew they had to head to lunch. Dumbledore started calling out the couples. After half an hour.
"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter... Please come up here.." Dumbledore looked at the paper weird. Snape and McGonagall looked at him and he shrugged. Draco and Harry got up and walked up to Dumbledore. "I can't seem to separate you two."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "I thought you planned this."
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, a muggle machine called a computer picked out the partners and printed the letters. How extraordinary!" McGonagall finished handcuffing their arms and made them go stand along a wall. About 2 hours later everyone was chained to somebody. "Okay. When going to the bathroom the handcuffs will come off of one of you. Don't ask why. The handcuffs will come of at 8:30. From 8:30 to 9:30 you can walk around free. if your handcuffs come off. They pretty much have a mind of their own. Your things have been magically transported to your new bedrooms. For those of you that have to climb ladders to get to your room the have been replaced by retractable stairs. You may want to go see your bedrooms. You will find list of your homework for the next week posted on a wall. I will see you all at dinner."
Harry looked at Draco and tried not to smile. "Guess we should go."
Draco nodded. "Who would have thought this would happen?"
Harry shrugged. They where halfway up the tower when Harry couldn't stand it anymore. He burst out laughing. "This is too weird! They handcuffed us together and gave us a room where we could do anything we wanted!" Draco smiled and tugged on the handcuffs making Harry go slightly off balance. "Hey!"
When they reached the top Draco looked at the trap door. "Okay. how do we get up there?" A flight of stairs suddenly appeared. "This is really. well." They climbed the stairs. There were two beds, one red and one black. As it turns out the divination tower turned into quite a nice bedroom. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Come in!"
Dumbledore pushed up the trap door and stepped into the room. "Well how's the happy couple?"
Harry smiled. "Happier now, but we can't let the rest of the world know that."
Dumbledore smiled as Harry looked at Draco. "Very, very weird. You two have been enemies for so long. I wonder what you're. Never mind."
Harry narrowed his eyes. "So what brings you way up here?"
Dumbledore looked down at the letter he was holding. "Umm. I need to talk to you about Padfoot. But you're handcuffed to someone."
Harry rubbed his head with his free hand. "Great. Why don't we just tell him? It's not like he can tell anyone right now."
Draco looked at Harry. "Who's Padfoot?"
Dumbledore shrugged. "I guess we could always use a memory charm on him later."
Draco tried to cross his arms forgetting he was connected to Harry. "Oh. Sorry. Would someone like to tell me what's going on?"
Harry looked at him. "Padfoot is Sirius Black. I'm still in contact with him. He's innocent so don't go telling everyone."
Draco scratched his head. "He was in Azkaban for killing Peter Pettigrew right?" Harry and Dumbledore nodded. "Hmm. I've seen Pettigrew so I guess Sirius is innocent."
Dumbledore's eyes widened. "You've seen Pettigrew?!"
Draco closed his eyes and nodded. "Umm. Yeah. You do know my dad's a Death Eater, don't you?"
Harry nodded. "I didn't think your father would let you see Voldemort!"
Draco shook his head. "He doesn't. I was wearing his invisibility cloak."
Harry shook his head. "What about Sirius?"
Dumbledore looked at the floor. "He said he had heard some very strange things and thinks Voldemort going to try something soon. So. He's coming back."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "No he's not. He can't come back! If he gets caught."
Dumbledore held up his hand. "It only gets worse. He's already here. And so is Draco's father."
Draco looked confused. "What's he doing here?"
Dumbledore looked anywhere but at Draco. "He's got some bad news. I think you should both come with me."
They nodded and followed him down the stairs. About 10 minutes later, they reached Dumbledore's office. Only Lucius Malfoy was in there and he was some of crying. Draco looked concerned. "Dad. What's wrong?"
Lucius stood up hugged his son. "Your mother.died.yesterday."
Draco went as white as a ghost. "How?"
Lucius hugged him harder. "Voldemort killed her."
Draco started crying. "Mum."
Harry stood there like he was in shock. Then he shook his head, and took hold of Draco's hand. "Draco."
Lucius stopped crying, let go of Draco, and looked at Dumbledore. "I wasn't fond of her, but she was my wife."
Dumbledore nodded. Harry squeezed Draco's hand. "I'm so sorry."
Lucius looked at Harry like he had just realized he was there. Then he saw the handcuffs. "Harry, why are you handcuffed to my son?"
Harry looked at Dumbledore and shrugged. Dumbledore smiled and stood up. "It is an exercise in patience and friendship. Every student in the school is going to be hand cuffed to another student for the next week."
Lucius nodded. Then sat down and held his head in his hands. "Oh gods."
McGonagall knocked and walked in. "Umm. Sir, the dog wouldn't stay still."
Dumbledore nodded. "It's okay. Let him in."
As soon as he said that a black dog walked in. Sirius stopped for a moment looked right past Harry at Lucius, ran straight to him, jumped up on his legs, and cocked his head to the side.
Lucius gave the black dog a small half smile. "Hello. Who are you?"
Dumbledore and Harry stared at each other then at Sirius. Then back at each other, Dumbledore shrugged.
Sirius looked at Lucius for a moment then nudged him with his head. Then he sat down on the floor and looked around. Then he transformed back. "Lucius."
Lucius looked up at where the black dog was just sitting. "Sirius?!" He threw his arms around Sirius' neck.
Sirius hugged him back. "Lucius. What's wrong?"
"Narcissa's dead. Voldemort killed her." Lucius said squeezing his eyes shut.
Harry finally found his voice. "Sirius what's going on here?"
Sirius couldn't say anything cause Snape walked in. "Did I ever tell you two remind me of a couple I knew when I was your age?"
Draco froze then looked at Snape. "You mean." He looked at his dad and Sirius. "They went. out?
Lucius let go of Sirius. "Yes and then my dad found out and forced me into marrying Narcissa."
Sirius looked at Snape. "What do you mean 'you two remind'." He looked at Harry. "You're not." He looked at Draco. "Are you?"
Draco and Harry nodded and Lucius burst out laughing. "Well."
Dumbledore sat at his desk and looked at everyone trying to figure out what he missed. "Umm. Okay."
Sirius stood up but Lucius pulled him down on his lap. Sirius smiled at him. "What are you planning on doing now?"
Lucius shrugged. "I don't know. I'm thinking about thinking about hanging around here for a couple days. Get away from. everything. for a little while."
Draco nodded. Harry looked at Sirius. "We can't have a dog sleeping in the bedrooms but." He looked over at Snape who smiled, nodded and left.
Draco smiled at Harry. Sirius and Lucius looked at them. "You'll see."
Draco looked at his watch. "It's almost time for dinner. Sirius go up to the Divination Tower, I'll have Dobby bring you food. Lucius you may join Harry and Draco or Sirius."
Lucius nodded. "I've got some apologies to make. I'll meet you up there in an hour Sirius."
They nodded and went their separate ways. At dinner they were joined by Ron and Hermione, who didn't look happy to see Lucius or Draco.
Ron froze as he saw Lucius. Lucius smiled at them. "Hello Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
Hermione went red. "Hello Mr. Malfoy."
Lucius shook his head. "Please call me Lucius."
Ron and Hermione looked at each other and shrugged. Then they walked into the Dining Hall. "Whoa!"
The four long tables had been replaced by small square tables. Harry and Draco looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. Then Harry looked down at his handcuffs that connected his left hand with Draco's right. "Are you right or left handed?"
Draco smiled. "I'm left handed."
"Good." They sat down at a table farthest away from everyone else.
Dumbledore stood up and smiled a mysterious smile. "Everyone. The entire reason for the handcuffs is to test your patience and see how well you can work with people you hardly know. Well, at least for some of you. But as it turns out my staff and the school ghosts have about as much patience as 2- year-olds, so I'm going to do something different. I have, without them knowing, placed them with other staff members and ghosts. They too will be handcuffed to someone for the next week." So the teachers got paired up. And some of the people who got handcuffed together are: McGonagall- Trelawney, Snape-Moody, Hagrid-Flitwick, Filch-Peeves, The Bloody Baron- Nearly Headless Nick. "Everyone. Tuck in!"
Everyone started eating, but Lucius rubbed his hands together. "Could I say something first?" (A/N: Only to his table.) Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Harry looked at him. "I might as well tell you why I'm here. My wife Narcissa was murdered by Voldemort." Ron and Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. "I'm going to be here for the next couple of days. So I'm going to make my peace with everybody. I was wrong in my thinking that The Dark Lord was going to win. As I have found out muggle born witches are just as good as pureblooded witches and as it turns out Voldemort is a muggle born wizard." Ron and Hermione flinched. Lucius looked at Hermione. "So I would like to apologize for everything I have ever said to you about 'Mudbloods'." Hermione looked shocked and Lucius turned to Ron. "I would like to apologize for everything I have ever said about your family. I realize I hurt a lot of people like that." He then turned to Harry. "I am the most sorry for that." He looked at the scar on Harry's forehead. "If I hadn't of been such a coward you wouldn't have that and your parents would still be alive."
Harry smiled. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault it was Pettigrew's."
Ron shook his head. "Harry why weren't you in your room? Hermione and I came up to see how you were doing and you weren't there."
Harry nodded. "Sirius is back."
Hermione's eyes grew very wide and she turned white. "Harry! Are you crazy?" She looked at Lucius.
Lucius smiled and shook his head. "I already knew. Sirius has shown himself to me."
Ron went white. "Is he crazy?!"
Harry shook his head. "Sirius and Lucius." He looked at Lucius who nodded. "Went out in school."
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Okay." Ron looked at her. "What? My uncle's gay. It doesn't bother me, in fact it's not all that uncommon."
"Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes. "What exactly are the statistics on gay couples these days?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not quite sure. But I know there are at least four gay couples in this school."
Ron looked unconvinced. "And why do we not know about these people?"
Harry and Draco where playing with the food on their plates. Lucius could only smile at them. "The reason you don't hear about them because some people aren't as comfortable with it as Hermione is."
Ron nodded. "That's true. but Fr-. Never mind."
Harry looked at his watch. "We need to hurry. Snuggles is going to try to come find us if we don't." They nodded in agreement, and hurried through the rest of dinner. Then they went up to Harry and Draco's new room.
Sirius barked and then transformed back. "I was beginning to worry."
Harry scowled. "Sirius, what are you doing here?"
Author: Princess Bemidia
A/N: This is my first fic I've ever posted. Flames welcome. Umm..
Slash
Harry awoke with a major headache. He clutched his head. "What the hell?" He stood up and walked over to the mirror that hung on the wall. He shook his head. He went to get back into bed and stubbed his toe on the bedpost. "Damn!" He slapped a hand over his mouth as Ron sat up in his bed.
Ron rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Harry? What are you doing up at 6:30?"
Harry shook his head. "Nothin, Ron. I just wanted a drink of water."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Okay." He then realized that today was the first day of winter break. "Let's go downstairs."
Harry shrugged and followed Ron to the common room. They nearly walked in on Ginny and Neville kissing. Ron tried to yell at him, but Harry covered his mouth and shook his head. "Upstairs. Now."
Ron looked pissed but went up the stairs. When they were both back in their dormitory Ron glared at Harry. "Why wouldn't you let me say something?'
Harry sighed and shook his head. "How would you like it if someone walked in on you and Hermione?"
Ron went white. "How do you know about that?"
Harry yawned and pulled off his shirt. "I found out a long time ago. And piece of advice, don't leave love notes lying around where other people can read them."
Ron turned red. "Anyone else know?"
"No." Harry finished changing and looked at Ron. "Are you coming to breakfast?"
Ron nodded and quickly changed. "Let's hope their not kissing anymore." They weren't.
Neville looked up and smiled. "Well, I'm going home today. I'll see you guys in four weeks."
Ron tripped. "Four? Oh, yeah." Dumbledore had given them more time to be with their families.
(A/N: I need more than two weeks to do this.)
Harry pushed Ron towards the portrait hole. "Breakfast remember?"
Ron nodded and walked out. At breakfast there were only two other people, Hermione and Draco Malfoy. "Hi, Hermione!"
Hermione looked up from the book she was reading. "Hi, Ron! Hey, Harry!"
Harry smiled and sat down. "Where is everyone else?"
Hermione looked at him. "They've already left. I hung around so I could say goodbye."
Harry nodded, and started serving himself some food. But then he got a strange feeling someone was watching him. He looked around and found Draco looking at him with a weird look on his face. "Draco."
Draco saw Harry staring at him and he tried to look away, but he could tear his eyes off of the other boy's eyes. "Harry." But then an owl swooped through an open window and landed in front of Ron.
Ron read the letter and tried not to cry. "Oh gods."
Harry looked at Ron. "What's wrong?"
Ron looked from him to Hermione. "My grandma's really sick and Mum wants me to home with the others."
Hermione put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "It's alright."
Harry looked back at Draco thinking he's see a smirk on the other boy's face, but instead he saw a concerned and shocked one. "Hn?"
Draco didn't know what to think. He secretly liked all of them, but he couldn't say so. He was taken completely off guard when Ron read the letter. "God."
Ron stood up. "I guess I should go now." He walked out followed by Hermione.
Harry sat still for a moment, then he stood up and walked over to Draco. "Was it just me or did you really look concerned about Ron's grandma?"
Draco looked up at Harry. "Harry. I don't want to fight."
Harry sat down at the Slytherin table. "Draco, why aren't you always like this?"
Draco looked down. "Because, it's expected of me to act like a jerk. Why am I telling you this?" He sighed.
Harry just looked at him. "Draco." Harry had learned about Draco's nicer side during Thanksgiving when Harry had been attacked by Hagrid's last Blasted-Ended Skrewt. Harry had gone into a coma and had woken up while Draco was there. But what surprised Harry the most was that Draco was running a finger over his scar and cursing his own father for being weak. "Why don't you just stop acting? Why do you have to be a jerk?"
Draco thought for a moment. "I just can't. Not now anyway."
Harry stood up really fast. "Draco get your heaviest cloak. Meet me in the Great Hall in 20 minutes." He took off towards the doors.
Draco stood up and watched Harry go. "Hmm." He left and headed toward the dungeons.
Unknown to Harry and Draco, Dumbledore had come into the room from a secret passage. He watched the two boys leave. He smiled then laughed. "Interesting."
20 minutes later, Harry was pacing in the Great Hall. "Where is he?"
Draco was coming up a flight of steps and was about to step into the Great Hall when he started having second thought about being nice to Harry. But one look at the other boy's face sent all those thoughts out the window. He pulled on his cloak and stepped into the hall. "Hey Harry, where are we going?"
Harry stopped and looked at Draco. "For a walk."
~*~*~*~
Snape stood at the foot of a flight of steps and looked after the two students. He then turned and went up to the second floor. He stood at a window and watched them walk to the lake. He had been standing there for about 5 minutes when he felt someone approach him from behind. "This is just weird."
Dumbledore stood there a moment. He knew what Snape was looking at. "It's none of your buisness, Severus."
Snape looked at Dumbledore. "But if they. You remember what happened 6 years ago."
Dumbledore nodded and as he took Snape's arm and led him away from the window. "If we catch them at anything then we'll help. We can't be sure they're not just friends." As they walked away he watched Snape. "So you don't hate Harry?"
Snape started. "Why would I hate Harry?"
Dumbledore looked at him. "His father?"
Snape shook his head. "I don't hate Harry."
Dumbledore just looked at him then he kept walking.
~*~*~*~Meanwhile~*~*~*~
Harry and Draco were sitting on a beach by the lake when suddenly Draco tossed a snowball at him. "Got ya!"
Harry jumped up about to throw one at Draco, but he was running. "Come back here!"
Draco looked backwards. "Never in a million years!" This resulted in all out snowball war. When it finally stopped Harry tripped backwards. Draco accidentally fell on top of him.
Harry looked up at Draco. He slowly raised his head. "Draco?"
Draco looked into Harry's eyes. "Hmm." He slowly lowered his head and touched his lips lightly to Harry's, when he didn't feel any resistance he deepened the kiss.
Dumbledore shouldn't have told Snape off for spying on them, cause he was doing it too. Then he saw them kiss. He raised his eyebrows and shook his head. He sat down and waited for someone to come up. He was right. Within 5 minutes somebody was knocking on his door. Dumbledore sat up in his chair. "Come in."
McGonagall and Snape walked in. McGonagall stepped forward. "Sir. Potter and Malfoy."
Dumbledore held up his hand. "Yes I saw Harry and Draco."
Snape looked exasperated. "I told you this could happen. What are we going to do about it?"
Dumbledore just looked at Snape. "Nothing right now. They have a month to think things over. We'll do nothing."
Snape nodded. "Yes Professor." But an idea was already forming in his head. He nodded a goodbye and left. McGonagall followed without a word.
The weeks passed quickly though Draco and Harry grew closer their problems mounted. For Draco that consisted of his father, his house, his reputation, and his mother and for Harry that meant Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and his house.
On Christmas day, Harry woke up and opened his presents. The last one opened was a small box containing a wizard picture of him and Draco that had been taken in Hogsmeade. Harry smiled and looked in the box again. He found a small box and a note. On the outside of the envelope were directions to put the picture in the box. After doing so the box and the picture went invisible. Opening the envelope he read the note.
Harry,
Merry Christmas! This is an invisible box. Duh. Just so the others don't find the pictures or anything else you don't want them to find. Just remember where you put it. I love you.
Draco
Draco was sitting up in bed opening his presents. He opened a box and pulled out a crystal pendant on the end of a black ribbon. He inspected the pendant closer and dropped it when he saw Harry's face. "Okay." He looking in the box for a note. Finding one he read it aloud:
Draco,
This is an enchanted necklace. You look in it and see whatever you want to see. Hope you like it. Merry Christmas. I love you..
Harry
Christmas passed, Harry and Draco fell back into the rhythm of vacation life again. They made love several times. Almost willing time to stop so they could continue that way forever. But time was against them and the other students returned. Ron's grandma died and Hermione spent all her time trying to cheer him up. Harry and Draco were forced back into pretending to hate each other, sneaking out at night so they could be alone. But it always ended with the rising sun. Then one night they were sneaking out and ran strait into Professor Snape.
Harry stopped dead. "Professor! What are you doing up?!"
Surprisingly Snape didn't scowl. "I should be asking you that. But no time, Dumbledore wants to see you in his office now."
Draco looked confused. "Why now it's 11:00 at night?"
Snape looked at him. "Just go. Now." He turned and started leading the way to Dumbledore's office. He stopped said the password, "Chocolate Frogs" and went up the staircase. After knocking on the door he walked in. "Professor, Harry and Draco."
Dumbledore nodded and the two boys walked in. "Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter may I remind you that it is far too late for you two to be out of bed."
Draco stepped forward and looked down. "We know. Are you going to ask for an explanation?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I realize how hard it must be to carry on a relationship like this."
Harry turned white. "How do you know about that?"
Dumbledore smiled at him. "I've known since the beginning. And I believe Professor Snape has found the answer."
Harry looked at Snape. "What!?"
Snape smiled as he looked down at them. (A/N: Not smirked.) "Yes I have."
Draco took Harry's hand. "What is it?"
Snape looked out the window. "I've made some modifications to the Whomping Willow and the Shrieking Shack."
Harry looked surprised. "What modifications?"
Snape looked at him. "I have fixed it that it is voice activated and only you and Draco can open it."
Draco looked at Harry and raised his eyebrows. "Do we need a password or something?"
Snape nodded. "Yes. You choose a password and just say it to the tree. You can switch the password whenever you feel like it."
Harry smiled, but he still didn't know why Snape cared. "Why didn't you just tell us off and send us to bed?"
Dumbledore stood up. "We tried that about six years ago. The two boys decided to come into the open about it and they were attacked. they were in the infirmary for 6 months. We have decided it would be best if you only told the person you trust most for right now and see how they handle it."
Snape nodded in agreement. "Now. You two can go to bed, because I'm testing you in double Potions tomorrow or. You can pick a password and go see the Shrieking Shack."
Harry smiled and looked at Draco. "Okay."
Dumbledore rested his fingertips on his desk. "I'm amazed at how you do it."
Draco looked at him. "Do what?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Do all your homework, essays, not fall asleep in class, sneak out at night, and still pretend to hate each other."
Draco shrugged. "I don't know. Goodnight Professor."
Harry and Draco made their way down to the willow, choose a silly password and went down. The next few days passed pretty much like they did everyday. Then on Friday Dumbledore stood up at breakfast to make an announcement. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm instituting something new this year. It is something like a game, but this is to see just how much you are alike and different. Starting today at noon you and a randomly selected partner will be handcuffed together one arm. They do not react to any kind of spells, but at the time you enter your bedroom to go to sleep they will come off. The next morning they will attach themselves to you again. Do not try locking them in trunks, closets or anything else. If you are caught out of your bedroom without them you will get a weeks worth of detention. And if you are not with your assigned partner you will have to see me. This will last for the next week and there will be no classes." Everyone was looking around at each other. Draco and Harry looked at each other and shrugged. "Now. Some of the boys will get handcuffed to some of the girls; this gives you no reason to take advantage of anybody. Also for the same reason we have turned the classrooms into bedrooms so the people in different houses could sleep in the same room. The dormitories are off limits. You will return to your dormitories and on your bed should be an envelope containing how you are going to handcuffed to and where your bedroom is. If you do not have one, see Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, or myself. Good Luck."
Most people remained seated to finish eating, but some of them got up to see whom they got chained to for the next week. Harry practically ran to the tower. Upon reaching his bed he tore open the envelope and blinked several times.
Mr. Potter,
For the next week you will be chained to Mr. Draco Malfoy, and your new bedroom is the Divination Tower. Dumbledore
Ron looked over at Harry. "Who did you get? Is it a girl?"
Harry looked at Ron. "You first."
Ron smiled. "I'm getting chained to Hermione! Now you."
Harry pretended to look cross. "Great. I'm getting chained to Draco Malfoy."
Ron's mouth dropped open. "What?!"
Harry smiled a sarcastic smile. "Guess where our bedroom is." Ron shrugged. "The Divination Tower."
Ron shook his head. "Oh man do I feel sorry for you."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe I'll get to kill him in his sleep." They went down to common room where Hermione was waiting.
Hermione saw the look on Harry's face. "Who did."
"Malfoy." Harry sat down on a couch and shook his head. The hours flew by like minutes. The next thing they knew they had to head to lunch. Dumbledore started calling out the couples. After half an hour.
"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter... Please come up here.." Dumbledore looked at the paper weird. Snape and McGonagall looked at him and he shrugged. Draco and Harry got up and walked up to Dumbledore. "I can't seem to separate you two."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "I thought you planned this."
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, a muggle machine called a computer picked out the partners and printed the letters. How extraordinary!" McGonagall finished handcuffing their arms and made them go stand along a wall. About 2 hours later everyone was chained to somebody. "Okay. When going to the bathroom the handcuffs will come off of one of you. Don't ask why. The handcuffs will come of at 8:30. From 8:30 to 9:30 you can walk around free. if your handcuffs come off. They pretty much have a mind of their own. Your things have been magically transported to your new bedrooms. For those of you that have to climb ladders to get to your room the have been replaced by retractable stairs. You may want to go see your bedrooms. You will find list of your homework for the next week posted on a wall. I will see you all at dinner."
Harry looked at Draco and tried not to smile. "Guess we should go."
Draco nodded. "Who would have thought this would happen?"
Harry shrugged. They where halfway up the tower when Harry couldn't stand it anymore. He burst out laughing. "This is too weird! They handcuffed us together and gave us a room where we could do anything we wanted!" Draco smiled and tugged on the handcuffs making Harry go slightly off balance. "Hey!"
When they reached the top Draco looked at the trap door. "Okay. how do we get up there?" A flight of stairs suddenly appeared. "This is really. well." They climbed the stairs. There were two beds, one red and one black. As it turns out the divination tower turned into quite a nice bedroom. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Come in!"
Dumbledore pushed up the trap door and stepped into the room. "Well how's the happy couple?"
Harry smiled. "Happier now, but we can't let the rest of the world know that."
Dumbledore smiled as Harry looked at Draco. "Very, very weird. You two have been enemies for so long. I wonder what you're. Never mind."
Harry narrowed his eyes. "So what brings you way up here?"
Dumbledore looked down at the letter he was holding. "Umm. I need to talk to you about Padfoot. But you're handcuffed to someone."
Harry rubbed his head with his free hand. "Great. Why don't we just tell him? It's not like he can tell anyone right now."
Draco looked at Harry. "Who's Padfoot?"
Dumbledore shrugged. "I guess we could always use a memory charm on him later."
Draco tried to cross his arms forgetting he was connected to Harry. "Oh. Sorry. Would someone like to tell me what's going on?"
Harry looked at him. "Padfoot is Sirius Black. I'm still in contact with him. He's innocent so don't go telling everyone."
Draco scratched his head. "He was in Azkaban for killing Peter Pettigrew right?" Harry and Dumbledore nodded. "Hmm. I've seen Pettigrew so I guess Sirius is innocent."
Dumbledore's eyes widened. "You've seen Pettigrew?!"
Draco closed his eyes and nodded. "Umm. Yeah. You do know my dad's a Death Eater, don't you?"
Harry nodded. "I didn't think your father would let you see Voldemort!"
Draco shook his head. "He doesn't. I was wearing his invisibility cloak."
Harry shook his head. "What about Sirius?"
Dumbledore looked at the floor. "He said he had heard some very strange things and thinks Voldemort going to try something soon. So. He's coming back."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "No he's not. He can't come back! If he gets caught."
Dumbledore held up his hand. "It only gets worse. He's already here. And so is Draco's father."
Draco looked confused. "What's he doing here?"
Dumbledore looked anywhere but at Draco. "He's got some bad news. I think you should both come with me."
They nodded and followed him down the stairs. About 10 minutes later, they reached Dumbledore's office. Only Lucius Malfoy was in there and he was some of crying. Draco looked concerned. "Dad. What's wrong?"
Lucius stood up hugged his son. "Your mother.died.yesterday."
Draco went as white as a ghost. "How?"
Lucius hugged him harder. "Voldemort killed her."
Draco started crying. "Mum."
Harry stood there like he was in shock. Then he shook his head, and took hold of Draco's hand. "Draco."
Lucius stopped crying, let go of Draco, and looked at Dumbledore. "I wasn't fond of her, but she was my wife."
Dumbledore nodded. Harry squeezed Draco's hand. "I'm so sorry."
Lucius looked at Harry like he had just realized he was there. Then he saw the handcuffs. "Harry, why are you handcuffed to my son?"
Harry looked at Dumbledore and shrugged. Dumbledore smiled and stood up. "It is an exercise in patience and friendship. Every student in the school is going to be hand cuffed to another student for the next week."
Lucius nodded. Then sat down and held his head in his hands. "Oh gods."
McGonagall knocked and walked in. "Umm. Sir, the dog wouldn't stay still."
Dumbledore nodded. "It's okay. Let him in."
As soon as he said that a black dog walked in. Sirius stopped for a moment looked right past Harry at Lucius, ran straight to him, jumped up on his legs, and cocked his head to the side.
Lucius gave the black dog a small half smile. "Hello. Who are you?"
Dumbledore and Harry stared at each other then at Sirius. Then back at each other, Dumbledore shrugged.
Sirius looked at Lucius for a moment then nudged him with his head. Then he sat down on the floor and looked around. Then he transformed back. "Lucius."
Lucius looked up at where the black dog was just sitting. "Sirius?!" He threw his arms around Sirius' neck.
Sirius hugged him back. "Lucius. What's wrong?"
"Narcissa's dead. Voldemort killed her." Lucius said squeezing his eyes shut.
Harry finally found his voice. "Sirius what's going on here?"
Sirius couldn't say anything cause Snape walked in. "Did I ever tell you two remind me of a couple I knew when I was your age?"
Draco froze then looked at Snape. "You mean." He looked at his dad and Sirius. "They went. out?
Lucius let go of Sirius. "Yes and then my dad found out and forced me into marrying Narcissa."
Sirius looked at Snape. "What do you mean 'you two remind'." He looked at Harry. "You're not." He looked at Draco. "Are you?"
Draco and Harry nodded and Lucius burst out laughing. "Well."
Dumbledore sat at his desk and looked at everyone trying to figure out what he missed. "Umm. Okay."
Sirius stood up but Lucius pulled him down on his lap. Sirius smiled at him. "What are you planning on doing now?"
Lucius shrugged. "I don't know. I'm thinking about thinking about hanging around here for a couple days. Get away from. everything. for a little while."
Draco nodded. Harry looked at Sirius. "We can't have a dog sleeping in the bedrooms but." He looked over at Snape who smiled, nodded and left.
Draco smiled at Harry. Sirius and Lucius looked at them. "You'll see."
Draco looked at his watch. "It's almost time for dinner. Sirius go up to the Divination Tower, I'll have Dobby bring you food. Lucius you may join Harry and Draco or Sirius."
Lucius nodded. "I've got some apologies to make. I'll meet you up there in an hour Sirius."
They nodded and went their separate ways. At dinner they were joined by Ron and Hermione, who didn't look happy to see Lucius or Draco.
Ron froze as he saw Lucius. Lucius smiled at them. "Hello Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
Hermione went red. "Hello Mr. Malfoy."
Lucius shook his head. "Please call me Lucius."
Ron and Hermione looked at each other and shrugged. Then they walked into the Dining Hall. "Whoa!"
The four long tables had been replaced by small square tables. Harry and Draco looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. Then Harry looked down at his handcuffs that connected his left hand with Draco's right. "Are you right or left handed?"
Draco smiled. "I'm left handed."
"Good." They sat down at a table farthest away from everyone else.
Dumbledore stood up and smiled a mysterious smile. "Everyone. The entire reason for the handcuffs is to test your patience and see how well you can work with people you hardly know. Well, at least for some of you. But as it turns out my staff and the school ghosts have about as much patience as 2- year-olds, so I'm going to do something different. I have, without them knowing, placed them with other staff members and ghosts. They too will be handcuffed to someone for the next week." So the teachers got paired up. And some of the people who got handcuffed together are: McGonagall- Trelawney, Snape-Moody, Hagrid-Flitwick, Filch-Peeves, The Bloody Baron- Nearly Headless Nick. "Everyone. Tuck in!"
Everyone started eating, but Lucius rubbed his hands together. "Could I say something first?" (A/N: Only to his table.) Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Harry looked at him. "I might as well tell you why I'm here. My wife Narcissa was murdered by Voldemort." Ron and Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. "I'm going to be here for the next couple of days. So I'm going to make my peace with everybody. I was wrong in my thinking that The Dark Lord was going to win. As I have found out muggle born witches are just as good as pureblooded witches and as it turns out Voldemort is a muggle born wizard." Ron and Hermione flinched. Lucius looked at Hermione. "So I would like to apologize for everything I have ever said to you about 'Mudbloods'." Hermione looked shocked and Lucius turned to Ron. "I would like to apologize for everything I have ever said about your family. I realize I hurt a lot of people like that." He then turned to Harry. "I am the most sorry for that." He looked at the scar on Harry's forehead. "If I hadn't of been such a coward you wouldn't have that and your parents would still be alive."
Harry smiled. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault it was Pettigrew's."
Ron shook his head. "Harry why weren't you in your room? Hermione and I came up to see how you were doing and you weren't there."
Harry nodded. "Sirius is back."
Hermione's eyes grew very wide and she turned white. "Harry! Are you crazy?" She looked at Lucius.
Lucius smiled and shook his head. "I already knew. Sirius has shown himself to me."
Ron went white. "Is he crazy?!"
Harry shook his head. "Sirius and Lucius." He looked at Lucius who nodded. "Went out in school."
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Okay." Ron looked at her. "What? My uncle's gay. It doesn't bother me, in fact it's not all that uncommon."
"Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes. "What exactly are the statistics on gay couples these days?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not quite sure. But I know there are at least four gay couples in this school."
Ron looked unconvinced. "And why do we not know about these people?"
Harry and Draco where playing with the food on their plates. Lucius could only smile at them. "The reason you don't hear about them because some people aren't as comfortable with it as Hermione is."
Ron nodded. "That's true. but Fr-. Never mind."
Harry looked at his watch. "We need to hurry. Snuggles is going to try to come find us if we don't." They nodded in agreement, and hurried through the rest of dinner. Then they went up to Harry and Draco's new room.
Sirius barked and then transformed back. "I was beginning to worry."
Harry scowled. "Sirius, what are you doing here?"