Warning: N/A

Chapter 2- Together or Apart

Harry was staring at him. Though for the past few days, Harry had always been staring at him, his green eyes dark and full of some emotion Draco couldn't understand. Every time Draco asked though, Harry had responded with a suspicious 'no' and an unconvincing look in his eyes.

"Shouldn't you be doing homework?" he asked finally, Harry's gaze reaching the point where it was uncomfortable on his skin.

They were in the library, sitting together while they did homework. Or they were supposed to be doing homework; Harry hadn't opened a textbook while he'd been there, choosing instead to flip through a history of Hogwarts while alternating staring at Draco. And even now, he still didn't stop staring at Draco with a raised eyebrow.

Draco wasn't used to being unsettled when someone stared at him, much less when someone he wanted stared at him, but when Harry was looking at him with his green eyes focused and intense, he couldn't help it. He didn't know what Harry wanted. He didn't know what lines were safe to cross and what lines would result in a cold shoulder, and ever since the Astronomy tower, he felt like he was walking on eggshells. Only eggshells that would make him plummet to his death instead of just crack and cut him.

"I've already finished," Harry answered, and Draco blinked at him.

"What? How?"

"As if it was hard," he answered, and there was something about his flippant tone that made Draco narrow his eyes.

"You're pulling my leg, Potter."

"No," Harry answered, raising a single eyebrow at Draco. "It's all horribly boring. Severus taught me most of this a long time ago."

"Ok, time to stop being cryptic now, Harry," Draco told him, and for some reason, this made Harry's lips twitch, which only increased the feeling that Harry was messing with him.

"Severus has been teaching me over the summer since I was eleven. Granted, he's not an expert in everything, but he's still a good enough teacher to get through material faster than most of the teachers here." Draco blinked again, long and slow as he thought it through. He supposed it made sense, even if he didn't like the way Harry had told him.

"I always did wonder how you seemed to be top of the year when you never pay attention in class," Draco said finally, and Harry raised an eyebrow, lips twitching again.

"I pay attention."

"No, you don't."

"I do."

"Really?" Draco said, narrowing his eyes. Why had he agreed to study with Harry again? It wasn't as if either of them were studying now. "What about that time McGonagall had to call on you three times before you even realized she was talking?"

"I had already understood the concept, it's hardly my fault she just continued to drone on," Harry answered, shrugging and running a finger down the edge of a book page. It was a strange relaxed movement that Draco wasn't used to Harry showing. It sent a warm feeling through his chest that he had managed to do that.

"You're insane, Harry."

"Only since I've met you, Draco," Harry answered immediately, and Draco couldn't stop himself from smiling. Harry blinked, and then turned his face away, a red tint creeping along his cheekbones.

A blush that Draco had caused.

"So, Mr. Potter," Draco asked, leaning forward. "I don't suppose you'd like to help me with my homework?" Of course, Harry could never go along with something like that. His nose crinkled up as if he'd smelled something particularly disgusting as he answered.

"Do I look like an encyclopedia?"

No, you look much prettier. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he'd felt like he'd reached a line. A line that he didn't know what would happen is he crossed. Sure, Harry was being friendly now, even playful, but Draco had seen him switch from friendly to defensive in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he was so focused on not saying the words that he didn't think about what actually came out of his mouth.

"A good boyfriend would help me when I asked."

Harry's head whipped around to stare at him, green eyes wide and full of open surprise, and Draco was backtracking before he could stop himself.

"Not that we're… I mean- I'm not saying that we're boyfriends… It's just an expression, you know?"

"Yes," Harry answered. "I know." He blinked, and that open expression was gone, sealed off with that mix of anger and spite that Draco had seen so little of the past three days. And Draco knew he'd made a mistake.

"Harry," he said, but Harry was already standing, shoving the history book in his bag and swinging it over his shoulder, even though Draco was 90% sure he hadn't checked the thing out. "I didn't-."

"See you later, Malfoy," Harry answered, and then his back was turned, and Draco wanted to bang his head against the desk because he should have known better. But he couldn't, he couldn't because if he didn't go after Harry now, he wouldn't get another chance.

"Harry, wait," he said, crossing around the table as fast as he could. He reached out, but the twisted snarl on Harry's lips stopped his hand.

"Wait for what, Malfoy?"

"I-."

"Harry!" Both their heads turned to look as red-haired Weasley waved to Harry. Then Granger was there, nudging Weasley's shoulder and pointing out Draco. The Weasel frowned, and then they were both heading over, and Draco wondered vaguely if he could get away with cursing them and running. His eyes flicked to the side as Madame Pince thinned her lips at him. Probably not.

"Harry," Granger said, her eyes flicking suspiciously to Draco as she and the Weasel stopped in front of him. "What's going on?"

"I really don't see how that's your business," Harry answered, his lips twisting in a sneer to match any Draco would have thrown at the Mudblood.

"What?" her eyes widened.

"You heard him," Draco answered. "Now run along so I can talk to Harry in private."

"Harry," Weasley's face was red as he stared at Draco, his eyes flashing in a rather unattractive way. "What are you doing with him?" There was a long, tense moment where Weasley waited for an answer, and Harry just looked back at him. His lips were twisted in a sneer, his hands clenched down at his sides, but the light in his eyes was out.

And Draco realized with a start that Harry wasn't angry. He wasn't angry with Granger or Weasley or even Draco, though he'd snapped at them all. Draco saw the depths of the shadows in Harry's eyes and understood for the first time how much the act cost him.

The wave of possessiveness that surged through Draco was so strong he almost gasped. If he hadn't been in front of the weasel and Mudblood, he might have. But looking at Harry, he found he didn't-couldn't step back from this. Not while Harry was standing there looking as if the world was collapsing around him, and he had no choice but to deal with it alone.

"He's with me because he wants to be," Draco said. He hesitated and the allowed his arm to tuck itself around Harry's waste, his hand resting against the small of his back. Harry stiffened, his eyes widening momentary, but he didn't move away. "Now, get lost."

"But…" Granger started.

"Do you need a dictionary for the word 'lost', Granger, or perhaps it's the word 'get' that you're struggling with."

"You little-," Weasley said, but Granger put her hand on his arm, frowning at Harry and Draco with a strange look on her face. Draco had to hold himself back. He had to tell himself it wouldn't help either himself or Harry if he drew his wand and cursed either Weasley or Granger, but he wanted to. He wanted to cross the distance and- He blinked, stopping that train of thought before it could fully manifest.

"Let's just go, Ron," Granger said. Weasley opened his mouth to argue, but she was already shaking her head and pulling him away.

As soon as they were gone, Harry relaxed. It was strange thing to watch. Draco supposed Harry never truly relaxed, but he did exist in degrees of tension, and his degree of tension went down about three clicks once Granger and Weasley were out of sight.

And he still didn't pull away from Draco's grasp.

It was several minutes before either one of them spoke; Draco somehow knew Harry needed to be the first to say something, so he stayed silent. Harry had his face turned away, his jaw clamped tight as Draco continued to watch him. Eventually, Harry sighed, releasing a tense breath Draco hadn't realized he was holding and turning to Draco with dark green eyes.

"They won't let it go."

"I could have figured that out myself," Draco answered. Harry just looked at him, and Draco almost apologized, wondering if he'd done something wrong again. Something stopped him though, some look in the back of Harry's eyes told him that apologizing would just make it worse.

"Are you going to let me go?" Harry asked finally. Draco raised an eyebrow and let his arm drop from around Harry. Before Harry could take off though, he grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together. Harry immediately tensed, his startled green eyes locking on Draco's with a dark look.

"Come with me," Draco answered, tugging against his hand until Harry was following him out of the library. Draco didn't exactly have a plan as to where he was going or even what he was doing; he was just following his gut. Not something he had a lot of experience with, but it seemed natural now to just follow it.

He led Harry across the entry hall and up the stairs, staying away from most of the students. Harry was silent behind him, making no move to disentangle their hands as Draco led him up to the astronomy tower. He pushed the door open and then closed it behind them, his eyes turning reluctantly back to Harry.

"What are we doing here?" Harry asked, too slowly, too carefully for Draco's tastes. He stepped close, ignoring the way Harry's back straightened and his hand tensed around Draco's. If he really had a problem, he would stop him. Draco hoped.

Draco brought his free hand up, skimming it across Harry's cheekbone before resting it on his shoulder and staring. Harry looked back on him, his eyebrows furrowed as if he truly couldn't understand what Draco was doing. He sighed. He should have known better than to try to be subtle.

He shuffled his feet even closer, ducking his head until his lips were an inch away. Harry inhaled sharply, and Draco could feel the air that sucked against his lips. It was almost painful to stay still. And then, Harry was leaning forward, bringing their lips into contact.

Harry's lips were closed, and his body was stiff, carefully not touching his, but that didn't stop the shock of heat that shot through Draco. It traveled through his skin and made him hot with a desire to strong he was sure he'd never felt the like of it before. He had to consciously remind himself to hold still, to not shove his tongue into Harry's mouth and demand more than he was ready to give. But he shoved the heat down and reminded himself of what Harry needed right then.

He pulled the hand holding Harry's up, setting it in his hair and releasing Harry's fingers to tangle in his hair while he let his other hand slip off Harry's shoulder, sliding up until it was cupping the back of his head. If it was possible for someone to tense anymore, Harry did. His lips were still against Draco, one hand hanging awkwardly by his side and the other clenched so hard in Draco's hair, it almost hurt.

Draco checked his sigh. You always knew he wouldn't be easy, he told himself as he kissed Harry softly, insistently. And when Harry pulled away, Draco let him go without saying anything.

"Why?" Harry asked, stepping away. Red stained his cheekbones, working its way down his throat in a delicate blush that took Draco by surprise. He would never have taken Harry for a blusher.

"I'm not allowed to want to kiss you?" he answered, and Harry's blush darkened. Draco almost smiled, but he stopped himself at the last second. It felt good to be able to get a reaction from Harry, to be the only one to get that reaction from him.

"How would I know? You're the one that said we weren't-," he broke off, his face coloring again as he cleared his throat, looking resolutely away.

"Yes, and I think this was me doing a fairly decent job of admitting how idiotic that was," Draco answered, crossing until he could lean against a wall to stare. Harry just blinked, and Draco decided to take pity on him.

"Why don't you like them?" he asked, and Harry's expression immediately turned guarded, turning to Draco with a raise eyebrow and unreadable eyes.

"Who?"

"Granger and Weasley?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Because I'm curious. Why can't you just answer the question?"

"I don't like them because I don't."

"Alright," Draco sighed. "Don't tell me." Harry tilted his head, casting Draco a curious look.

"You don't really want to know," he said, moving slowly over to where Draco was leaning.

"Why would I ask if I didn't want to know?" Draco answered, feeling the frustration creeping over him, and Harry was just looking back at him, his green eyes narrowed and thoughtful. "Are you going to tell me now that you've established I have no ulterior motive?" he asked, and when Harry shook his head, he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He heard Harry shuffle beside him and reached out, clasping Harry's hand in his before he could run off.

"You drive me crazy," Draco said, to which he received no answer to either.

They didn't stay there much longer; it was getting too close to lunch, and Draco's stomach started growling embarrassingly. Harry didn't exactly say anything; he just pulled his hand away and pushed off the wall before telling Draco he should eat and disappearing. Somehow, Draco knew he wouldn't see Harry for the rest of the day. He had a way of disappearing and so far, Draco hadn't been able to find him when he didn't want to be found.

He climbed down from the Astronomy tower slowly, already feeling the ache for Harry start in stomach as he moved down the steps. He almost didn't notice the glare that was directed at him, and when he did, he thick coil of anger climbed inside him. Somewhere deep down, he knew it was irrational, but that didn't stop him from being annoyed that his plans of moping about after Harry's disappearance had been interrupted.

Draco returned Theodore's sneer easily, watching as he and Pansy glared back at him. It was just his luck that on a day like this, they would be the only students inside.

"Draco Malfoy," Theodore said, stalking up to him, and all Draco saw for a moment was red. "What? No Potter to protect you?"

"I don't need Harry to protect me from you."

"Ooh," Pansy answered. "Harry, is it?" Draco scowled at her sickly tone, his hand slipping into his pocket to wrap around his wand.

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Parkinson, Mr. Nott," someone said, and Draco tensed, not daring to turn his head and look. "Anything the matter?" Lupin asked, stepping up close to them. He looked innocent enough, smiling at them as his hands rested in his robe pockets, but Draco had to shove the urge to lunge and tear his face off down as far as it would go.

"Nothing," Pansy answered, her lips twisting in an ugly sneer. "Sir."

"Hmm," Lupin smiled easily at her. "Then I suggest you all get to lunch; I'd hate for you to miss it."

"Of course," Pansy said, and they both moved past, brushing around Draco.

"Enjoy your next trip to the woods," Theodore hissed when he passed, his lips so close to Draco's ear, he knew Lupin and Pansy couldn't have heard. Draco's back straightened as he stared after Theodore. He couldn't know, only The Order knew. He couldn't possibly know

"How are you?" Lupin said, making Draco's eyes snap back to him.

"I see you're back," Draco sneered.

"Yes, I'll be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts for a while," Lupin sighed.

"Remind me to skip that class," Draco muttered.

"Draco, please, I can help you."

"I don't need your help," he answered.

"How do you know? How do you know anything about being a werewolf? I can explain some of things you're feeling."

"I'm not feeling anything unusual."

"No?" Lupin's eyebrows rose absurdly high. "No strange desires? No aggression that strikes you suddenly? No unusual instincts that you didn't have before?" Lupin asked, and Draco bared his teeth, which didn't exactly refute Lupin's claims.

But he was wrong. Draco was normal. The desire he felt toward Harry, to always be around him, to touch, to have him open up to Draco. It wasn't driven by any strange werewolf inside him. And wanting to tear Lupin's throat out, or even Weasleys—well, it wasn't as if Draco had never wanted to do that before. And so what if Draco was following his gut more. The point was, he was normal; there was no wolfy instinct controlling him. At all.

"Just leave me alone," Draco answered, turning his back on Lupin. Lupin sighed but made no move to stop him.

"Just know I'm here when you do need the help," he called, and Draco had to shove the urge to turn around and lunge down.

"I won't ever need it," he insisted.

"Did you see the way he was looking at him?" Ron asked, shivering with something close to disgust. Hermione nodded though she didn't say anything. She wondered if Ron was more appalled that Harry was with Malfoy or that Harry was with a boy.

"I wonder how long they've been together," she said, though the real question hung heavy in the air, I wonder if Malfoy was the one who turned him against us.

"Probably since second year," Ron answered. "You know he was never the same when he came back," Ron scowled. "I bet he and Malfoy bonded about be Parsletongues or something."

"Maybe," Hermione sighed. "Regardless, Malfoy's a bad influence on Harry; Can you imagine what Dumbledore would do if he knew about the two of them? In fact, that's probably why they've kept it a secret for so long."

"Probably."

"We can't let them keep seeing each other," Hermione insisted. "What if Malfoy turns him to Voldemort's side or convinces him not to fight at all."

"Yeah," Ron frowned as if he hadn't thought of that. "Yeah, you're right. We have to do something."

"Harry's our friend. We need to help him, even if he doesn't want our help."

"I couldn't agree more," someone said. Hermione jumped, and Ron scowled, his face coloring red as he stood.

"What do you want, Zabini?" Ron asked.

"So rude," Blaise Zabini answered, his lips curling in a mocking smile. "Maybe I want the same thing you do?"

"Why would you care if Harry is around Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

"I don't care about Potter, I care about Draco. More importantly, I care about his staining Slytherin's image by dating The Golden Boy. Really, it's bad for business," Zabini said, and Hermione looked over at Ron, exchanging a long look. She didn't trust him, but she didn't trust what he would do if they said no. And besides, it never hurt to have someone clever in the planning. Zabini must have sensed that he won, because he stepped forward with a large grin.

"That's the spirit, Gryffindors."

So, I'm not entirely sure what the canon version of werewolf behavior is, and I don't really care. I went with what would be convenient to the story line. There will obviously be some conflict as Draco comes to terms with his werewolf side.

Also there will be some bashing on Hermione and Ron, but not too much. They should stay pretty in character.

I'm really only putting this in here because I realized I didn't put it in the initial Author's Note.