(LJ: Maiwiz) {July-August} Sorry for the non-consistent updates, but I'm running on least-possible amount of work right now.

Chapter 2: Mystery (Wo)man

Harry smiled as Draco levitated a flower crown onto his head. It was not girly, mind you, but manly, with orange lilies woven tightly almost in a braid pattern. Honestly, it was too confusing for Harry to wrap his head around it. No pun intended. "You're so cute when you try to convince yourself you're not crafting." He threw at him. Draco let the crown fall mid levitate and it fell onto Harry's head, way heavier than expected. Did flowers really weigh this much?

"It's for the internship, you nitwit." Draco said, rather grumpily to be twinning flowers in the middle of July. He hadn't asked what this was exactly required for, but he liked to think that Draco was making up an excuse to hang out with him. Draco gave up the glaring and smoothed out the flower crown onto Harry's curly hair that was sticking out into all directions. "What's next, future inventor?" Harry asked enthusiastically. Draco hummed as if in deep thought, which Harry knew was a lie as it always took the bastard a second to come up with an answer.

"It seems to require… physical interaction as well." Draco whispered, licking his lips. Harry's throat went dry as he watched. "Uh, what?" He asked nervously. Draco sighed and answered as if it bored him. "A kiss, Harry. I want a kiss." Harry grinned. "Why didn't you just say so?" He leaned in and locked lips, currently not giving a damn if anyone saw them in their secluded spot.

Except, someone might. You see, at that exact moment, two people were also there. It went as follows:

Zacharias: "Quickly now. They won't notice even a bomb going off, trust me."

Wayne: "What are we looking for, exactly?"

Zacharias: "I told you this on the brooms. We're looking for Harry and his little tryst."

Wayne: "Why?" Wayne said stupidly.

Zacharias: "Because I paid you 10 shillings to take a picture. Just do what I say, alrighty?"
Wayne: "That looks like somethin'" Wayne points to two figures, one black haired and standing with his back to the camera, and another crouching slightly and locked in amorous embrace with the other.

Zacharias: "Shit. Shit. We're to the back of them. They may be stupid, but Mr. Auror over there will notice if we try to cross over."

Wayne: "That's a good shot." He said emotionlessly, snapping a picture with Harry in the focus. No one could tell if it was a man or woman.

Zacharias: "Wait. I need one more." Colin took the camera and positioned it so that it would zoom in right to their faces. "Perfect."
Wayne: "Didn't you say to keep things nondescript?"

Zacharias: "The art of journalism is to build things up. First, I leak the first picture to increase tenseness between Draco and Harry, and then I release the second… relationship over. I get the money, and the internship."

Wayne: "Merlin, mate. Aren't you a Hufflepuff?"

Zacharias: "Sure. To my family."

Back to the scene…

Harry pulls away as something clicks two times. "Did you hear that?" Harry asked nervously. He was used to being able to sense things a mile away, but being with Draco always obliterated that skill. He tried to move to the sound but Draco grabbed on tight. "Please don't leave me alone, Harry." He said quietly. Harry looked back and saw Draco was even paler than normal. "It's okay, Draco, there's nothing out there except rabbits and horny teenagers like us." Draco laughed but not by much.

Harry knew it was time to divert. "How about we get out of here and go get frogurt?" Harry asked eagerly. Iced treats were a favorite for the ice prince. "Okay, so what is wrong with the Wizard newspapers these days?" Harry asked awkwardly. Draco huffed and began to explain.

~.~.~.~.

Draco's world was turned upside down once again as a sheltering August morning came. What was it, the 16th? He flipped the calendar of male models that he had got as a joke from Ronald by secretly loved, and squinted at his daily activities that he never seemed to remember. Read Witch Weekly newspaper for mum. Well, seemed doable enough. Harry would probably pop in around 6 with cheap coffee, so until then he might as well read boring tabloids. He cleaned himself with a spell -he was just too busy nowadays to shower- and sauntered down the many steps.

He was probably the most morning person at Hogwarts. He would be up before any of the other Slytherins, chatting loudly until all the others would come up angrily until Draco's endless charm or endless intimidation would set in. But now, all he had was himself and his loneliness. Oh, and Potter.

Potter.

Witch Weekly

This witchly week, we've got a juicy headline! Not only has Harry Potter broken up with our future Quidditch darling Ginevra, but he's already off with a fresh tart! We can't say much for the identification, but resources say the female-or male- is fair in appearances! You've heard that right ladies! The eligible bachelor is off the market!"

It then went on to talk about various accounts who've claimed to see the couple-them-he meant. He didn't know how long he spent looking at it, shaking. He didn't know why it came as such a surprise that they would eventually be outed. But, he thought it would be them against the world. It was an idiotic thing to think. Father would likely be ashamed. Even more than he already was.

It was long enough that Harry came in with the coffees and dropped them by the table to reach around Draco's arms and hold him tight. "What happened?" Harry asked hurriedly. "It's-it's terrible Harry. It's all over the news." Draco cried. Harry stiffened, and wrapped closer around. "Did-did your dad- "

Draco turned around as if snapped and quickly gained back composure. "What? No. We're out. At least, you're out." He handed the letter to him and he read it quickly before dumping it into the trash. "Draco, you're blowing this way out of proportion." Harry leaned his chin on Draco's shoulder. "It's just me kissed who-knows-who. It'll blow over soon enough when they realize I won't talk."

Draco gulped and took a swig of the coffee to cover it up. He couldn't tell him the truth. That he'd dealt with reporters himself, he knew how they worked. And he knew soon enough that whoever tipped them off would have something even bigger to top it off.