"Honestly, Potter. How many times have you been under my care since you've been here? Now that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone, I thought I wouldn't be seeing you again. Obviously, I was mistaken." Draco could hear Madam Pomfrey admonishing the Man-Who-Lived-Again before handing him a purple vial, which the blonde recognized as a powerful pain reliever. "I will have Professor Snape brew a special Dreamless Sleep, but for now, this will have to do. Otherwise, I DO NOT want to see you in here again, understood?" The brunet nodded vehemently and followed her with his eyes as she scurried off before spotting Draco and tracking him instead. Being well past midnight, Harry was the only person, beside the medi-witch, in the Hospital Wing, so Draco thought he had no need to hide. "Mr. Malfoy, what are you doing here after curfew?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she returned.
"I am a prefect. I was doing rounds."
"I am aware you are a prefect, but that does not explain your presence here."
"Madam," Harry said, interrupting the woman's rant. "Malfoy is the one who found me, I am sure he was just checking on me. Making sure I survived." The woman huffed and made her departure.
"That was much appreciated, Potter."
"No problem, I've been on the receiving end of her tirade."
"So what exactly did I find you- doing?"
"Erm, I passed out on the fifth floor, woke up on the bottom of a staircase on the fourth floor, wasn't pleasant." He rubbed his head for emphasis.
"That explains the pain killer, but what about the Dreamless Sleep?" He was rather curious.
"Lack of sleep." Harry mumbled in return, flushing slightly. Draco's curiosity peaked. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard a couple portraits asking what you had done to land yourself in here again and I needed to talk to you. I figured what time would be better than now? Besides, if I wait any longer it will be too late." The Gryffindor quirked an eyebrow before waving his hand and casting a silent and wandless ward on Poppy Pomfrey's door as an alarm, followed by a silencing charm around his area. Draco was impressed at the significant show of strong magic.
"Continue." Harry said, in a business-type manner.
"I am sure you are aware of the role my father and I played in the war, as such, I am to invite you to the Manor. For dinner. Tomorrow night."
"Malfoy Manor? For dinner?" Draco nodded. "Why? Surely your father has an ulterior motive." He quirked an eyebrow again, in question.
"He always does, but in this case, no. It is I that has the ulterior motive. You see.." cough " I am gay." cough.
"That much is obvious, but what does-"
"I accidentally let father believe you and I were together." Draco said before he could back out.
"Excuse me?"
"When I asked Father to excuse me from the marriage contract, he needed a reason, and being gay wasn't good enough without proof. I told him I was seeing someone. I grabbed a picture off my bedside and spelled it to show him I was with someone. My first mistake was not looking at the picture first. It was of me flying, but you were in the background somehow. Apparently, he believed it, but wants to meet you."
"So the picture became the two of us doing naughty things on brooms? That must have been interesting." Harry laughed.
"Yes, well, Father certainly turned an interesting shade of red." Draco smiled slightly, still nervous. "I know I have no right to ask anything of you after you've done so much, but I was hoping you would help me. I know it's a lot to ask-"
"Dinner? It doesn't sound so bad." Harry's laugh continued, though quieter.
"Well, dinner is to begin with, but if we made it through that, he will invite you to stay at the Manor for the summer. He'll know something is up if you don't agree."
"The whole summer? At your manor?"
"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't-"
"I'll do it." Harry's quick answer confused Draco, but he wasn't one to look a gift-horse in the mouth, as the muggles say.
-"Hey Harry, you mind if we talk?" Draco's voice said from behind him just as he went to take a bite of his breakfast.
"Hey Draco, yeah, just give me a second, I'm almost finished." He smiled at him before taking his last bite. "I got to go, guys, I'll see you in the common room." Harry said, looking to his friends. He knew they wouldn't be happy by the new turn of events and telling them the truth at breakfast wouldn't go over well either, so he decided to wait until later in the day to tell them, when they could be alone. Therefore, when they saw this new camaraderie between the two, it left them sputtering and the unlikely pair were almost out of the Great Hall when Ron's voice started screaming nonsense, echoing throughout the hall. Harry walked back calmly, having expected this, and grabbed his red haired friend, dragging him out of the room before he could say something they all regretted. Hermione lagged behind him slightly, a curious look on her face while Draco, Harry could tell, was holding his hands tightly as to not go for his wand. The things Ron was saying weren't pleasant. When they were safely away, Harry cast another silencing spell for good measure before looking at Ron. "Now you may speak, as long as there are not insults, threats, accusations, or utter nonsense in what you say." Ron sputtered for a minute, leaving Harry with time to explain. "Yes, Draco and I are friends. No, he didn't poison or curse me. Lastly, this is the part you're really going to hate, Ron, I'll be staying at Malfoy Manor for the summer." Ron had been about to speak again when what Harry had said dawned on him.
"Dumbledore is letting you go?" He asked, casting an apprehensive glance at the blonde.
"He doesn't know yet, but he won't have a choice. I don't even think Albus Dumbledore would deny Lucius Malfoy something. Not after what he did in the war. He knows Lucius would have it in the Daily Prophet so fast, and Dumbledore won't be able to explain himself."
"Why would Dumbledore stop you?" Draco risked bringing the attention back on himself to ask.
"You'd really let him stay at your home so he doesn't have to go back-" Ron asked instead, but was interrupted by Harry.
"He asked a favor and in return, I'll be staying there. End of story." Draco didn't miss Harry's meaningful look at Ron, and neither did Ron, who shut up abruptly.
"If you don't mind me asking, what was the favor?" Hermione asked, speaking for the first time. Harry looked at Draco, unsure what to say.
"Might as well tell them, Father will have it in the papers as soon as he actually believes it." Harry thought to himself for a second before turning back to his friends.
"I'll tell you guys this afternoon at lunch, since I won't be here for dinner."
"Why won't you be here for dinner?" Ron asked, somewhat nervous to why Harry wouldn't answer Hermione's question.
"I'll be at Malfoy Manor. Kind of a trial-run on the summer." Harry said, ignoring the confused and disapproving looks his friends were giving. He waved goodbye and made his way back down the hall, the blonde in tow.
"Why didn't you tell them?" Draco questioned.
"Well, Hermione is smart, she can lie quick, if the occasion arises, but sucks when she's had time to think about it. And Ron, well, he just can't lie." Harry laughed. "I know that sounds mean, but it's the truth, they'd even tell you that. I think we should tell them we actually are together, because your father is sure to want to ask them about us."
"I didn't even think about that." Draco said.
"The pain reliever only did so much, I didn't get any sleep last night. I had time to think about it. And everything it would entail." Draco could tell Harry was leading to something with that last statement.
"Well, what did you come up with?" Draco asked.
"Lots of questions." Harry said simply before looking around. "Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else." He said, nodding to the few students who had already left breakfast. The pair of Ravenclaws and stray Hufflepuff looked after them with fascination. "Room of Requirement?" The brunet suggested. It was a short trek, but they happily collapsed on the comfortable couch that the room created.
"You were saying?" Draco said with a contented sigh. This room had always made him sleepy.
"Your father would expect us to be- couple-like."
"Well, yes." Draco said slowly.
"I figure we'll need a back story. We can't give different answers."
"True, also we should know things, small things, about one another. We've got to seem like we spend time together, like we talk."
"Favorite foods and stuff like that?" Draco nodded. "That makes sense. We should also get used to being- erm- near each other."
"We haven't fought since you killed the Dark Lord, I don't see us starting now."
"That's not what I meant, but now that you bring it up, you're right, we don't fight, but that's not saying we won't this summer. In my constant company, I get sick of me sometimes. Hopefully, if something does happen, we can make your father think it's a lover's tiff." Harry laughed at his own words.
"Good point, but if that's not what you meant, then-" He left the sentence open ended.
"Near each other, like coupe-ly and stuff." Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry's wording, causing the brunet to put his head on the back of the couch and stare at the ceiling. "Merlin, I didn't want to say this aloud. Hold hands, kiss, dare I even say, cuddle." Draco laughed despite himself.
"I guess he would expect that. Knowing my father, he expects to find one of us sneaking into the other's room at night." Draco's eyes widened. "He will expect us to sneak into the other's room, or he'll just make us share one room, to save himself the trouble. I think my father has a perverted mind." He added the last part more to himself, but it made Harry laugh anyway. They spent the next hour going over their plan, their back-story, and each other's lives. Harry could tell Draco was still bitter about his mother, who had been on Voldemort's side all along and had tried to turn Draco over to him on numerous occasions. As well, Draco could tell Harry was hiding certain parts of his life and he suspected it was about his family. All he would say was that neither Draco nor Lucius would ever meet them, so there wasn't much point on bringing them up. They both knew they had to head down to the Great Hall soon for lunch, if only to let Hermione and Ron in on their 'secret relationship'. It startled both of them that they actually didn't want to leave the solitary of the room.
Still thinking about their conversation on the way to the hall, they were once again startled by the quiet that began when they entered the already full room. Harry leaned over to Draco asking, "Did we miss something?" Whispers began at every table. Draco leaned over to Harry in turn.
"We must have, it's like they- Oh shit!" And he laughed, a good wholesome chuckle. The laughter was infectious and Harry smiles largely, looking at the bright grin lighting up the other's face. "This is actually perfect." Draco finally said as his laughter subsided. "They think we are a couple." Draco whispered close to the brunet's ear. Harry's grin widened.
"We could definitely use this to our advantage. If the whole of Hogwarts believes it, than you father will have to." Harry whispered against the blonde's ear in return.
"Now you don't have to tell Granger and Weasley-"
"Hermione and Ron." Harry corrected. They had already talked about this subject, having to treat his friends well, or everyone would know it wasn't real because Harry always stood up for his friends.
"Yes, Hermione and Ron," He strained on their names a little, but Harry could tell it was just for show. He smiled. "They already know, but Ron doesn't look to happy about it. How come Gra- Hermione looks like she knew all along, even though there was nothing to know?" Draco asked.
"She probably thought that was what was going on since this morning. Since we've gotta do this eventually anyway, want to give them a show?" Harry suggested. Silver eyes grew wide before a smirk settled on the pale face. He reached out and took Harry's hand, pulling him to him and smiled gently before their lips met. They were both stunned by the kiss, even though they knew it was happening. The kiss was sweeter than they thought it would be and a deep feeling of passion passed between their lips until finally they pulled back. They looked each other in the eyes before a thud sound reached their eyes through the once again silent room. Looking toward the location of the sound and saw Draco's godfather, Severus Snape unconscious on the ground. They laughed to themselves with one final look before turning and leaving to their prospective tables. Draco was greeted with a frightening and knowing smirk from his best friend, Blaise Zabini, while Harry met the wide-open mouth of two red heads and an almost equally knowing smirk on the face of Hermione. "So now you know." Harry mumbled to the three close to him. Everyone nearby leaned in closer, hoping to hear some good gossip for later.
"Yes, now we do." Hermione said. "Why didn't you tell us before now?"
"We had decided to keep it a secret, afraid of what his dad might say, but now that he knows, we don't have to hide anymore." Harry glanced over at the blonde to see how he was faring with his friends. They seemed to be laying into him. He had guessed that would happen.
"I knew it!" Blaise said from his side, a glint in his eyes.
"I can't believe it! Drake! After all this time, you never told us! I mean, I had no problem being your gay beard and all, but Potter?" Pansy said from his other side. Draco considered telling them the truth, but he was too wrapped up in the fantasy. Besides, if he were to tell them, the middle of the Great Hall with every ear on him and his supposed boyfriend would not be the best place for the conversation.
"I knew I couldn't tell you." He said simply, grabbing a handful of grapes from the table in front of him.
"And why not?" Pansy screeched.
"Because you" He looked pointedly to Pansy. "are the biggest gossiper in Hogwarts, even above Brown. And you" He switched his gaze to Blaise. "are just a big mouth." He smirked at the silence that followed before the inevitable screaming. He looked across the room as Harry did and their eyes met just as the yelling began again. He half-smirked, half-smiled at the brunet and received a bright upturn of his lips in return.
One thought lingered in both of their heads, 'This is going to be interesting.'
A/N: There is chapter one. I was going to make this a one-shot but I noticed it getting longer and longer. Besides, I think I like knowing if you guys think this is worth continuing. I will be taking requests after each chapter to see what you would like next, so Review and let me know. I will give credit when do but I will not be taking every request or things might get out of control. You can determine plot points, timeline, characters, smut, even random things like the food at the table every meal. You decide. ;) Thanks for reading and reviewing. **CaNDi**