Blind

Author's Note: First of all, I'm so sorry about the lack in updates! Its just been so hectic, I couldn't get any inspiration and then of course, I had to find a new beta or two as my previous one had to back out due to personal problems. But thank you Becca (Half-Tongue) for being a pleasure to talk to and for being my beta for my first chapter. Now onto the actual chapter, you may think where is Draco/Harry? Well this is just a journey towards them returning back to Hogwarts so I promise that in the next update, there will be some Draco/Harry scene's (and I know because I have already wrote it.) and hopefully, chapter's will become longer unless you prefer it to be this length.

A big thanks to my wonderful trio of Beta's who, even though We have only met a few day's ago, have managed to Beta for me in a matter of two days! So thank you to Hayley, Liv and Katt.

And a massive thank you to my wonderful friend Ashlee 'cause without her, this would have never been up, So thank you! 3

Now enjoy the Chapter.

Disclaimer: All these characters belong to JK Rowling. Oh how I am jealous of her.

-Last to Know -

The hallways in the Weasley's house were still echoing with the hateful conversation Harry had with the redheaded girl. It was still ringing around in Harry's mind and he couldn't help think about what had gone wrong.

The day after his 17th birthday, Harry walked into Ginny's bedroom and there she was, reading a book which showed that she was more than just a pretty face. It was just another thing Harry admired about her.

She jumped when Harry let out a nervous "hey."

She jumped straight off the bed and nearly lost her balance. "Hey Harry!" she said, while straightening out her skirt. "What are you doing up here?"

Harry noticed that her eyes were puffy and a fading red colour outlined them.

"I just came up to see how you were," he smiled briefly before adding, "I need to tell you something as well."

Confusion was written across the redheaded girl's face. "Oh, what do you want to tell me?" Harry noticed that she ignored his statement, as her face changed from confusion, to worry. She began to assume that the love of her life was about to tell her something she might not have liked to hear. There was just something about Harry's face that made her realise that something was wrong.

"Well I think you may want to sit down first," said Harry as he gestured to the bed and sat down as well.

Ginny, still worried, followed his lead and sat close to him.

"Mmm, I don't really know how to tell you…" He paused. He wanted to take his time. The last thing he wanted to do was cause Ginny pain.

"But before I tell you, I just want you to know I never intended for it to be this way."

Ginny stared at Harry. He didn't notice because his eyes were staring blankly at the wall in front of him.

"I love you Ginny, but…" Ginny looked down. A 'but', was never good. "But I don't think I love you, the same way as you may love me and I am very sorry for that. I just think, I love you more like a sister rather than my girlfriend or lover." Harry swiftly turned his head towards her. "I'm sorry Ginny, I don't want you to think I was using you because I wasn't, I swear! I just think that my love for you is not the same intensity as your love for me is."

To Harry's surprise, Ginny was not crying. He had expected her to cry, just like when Harry 'rejected' her but she had tried her hardest to hide it then. By now she must have been really good at keeping on a blank mask. Harry saw neither a tear nor sign of a breakdown appearing.

"What? No, no, no. You can't say that!" said Ginny as she reached towards Harry, trying to spread her hands out over Harry's chest. "We were meant to be together! We are made for each other! You know we are." Her lips were trembling.

Harry pushed her hands off him and held them gently.

"I thought we were too but we're just not. I'm sorry," said Harry quietly. Her eyes were staring deeply into his and all he wanted to do was love her back but he could not.

"No! I can change Harry! Please don't leave me. I beg you, please don't leave me! I'll do anything; I'll do anything you want me to do just…don't go!" Ginny's voice started breaking as she pleaded with him. The sound let a tingling of guilt free inside Harry. He knew that she sincerely loved him, with all her heart and soul but with a simple goodbye, he could see in her eyes that he was slowly pulling her heart apart.

Harry gently let go of her hands and the younger girls head glanced down at them as if trying to contain the feeling of Harry's presence on them.

"Please, Ginny, don't make it harder for me! I wish I did love you the same way as you do me but I can't force myself and neither can you."

Ginny took deep, uneven, jagged breaths.

"Harry. Please! Just give me one more chance! I can change. I can change just for you!"

"No you can't. You cannot change. I'm sorry."

Ginny's jagged breathing paused as she whipped her head up to stare at Harry.

"Are you saying there is something wrong with me?" Harry gasped slightly and glanced at her. "Well? Are you?" she harshly demanded.

Harry had never seen this side of her before. It was completely new to him.

Harry, still in shock, only managed to croak out, "No… Oh... Course not!"

"Well it seemed like you did!" said Ginny. She had a look of hatred in her eyes - something Harry was not prepared for.

"No, I didn't mean that! You know I wouldn't say anything like that about you Ginny. Like I said before, even if I don't love you the same way as you love me, I still love you like a sister!"

"You're lying!" shouted Ginny with hatred clear in her voice. She shifted her body away from him and hid her head in her arms. "Get out!" She said with a croaky voice.

Harry jumped off the bed, knowing that she was crying. Her body shook violently with her heavy breaths.

When Ginny realised that she was still not alone, she shouted once again. "Get out Harry! I HATE YOU!"

Those last words made Harry's stomach churn violently and he hated himself, for not returning the same passion Ginny had for him and for hurting her feelings but it was over and done with now. It was time to move on. Although, he couldn't help thinking of how telling Ginny about his newly developed orientation, would have changed how the conversation ended or if it would have made it worse. He knew that he should have told her instead of letting the redheaded girl think that there was something physically wrong with her, which wasn't true. In fact, Harry admired everything about her, just not in the same way that she admired him.

Harry put his hand in his jet-black locks. His life was a mess and it was not going to improve when he was back at Hogwarts. He guessed that soon, everybody in the wizarding world would be talking among themselves about him being gay – gossiping about him much more that they had ever before. Everyone would be whispering all around him.

The raven-haired boy hadn't talked to his 'best' friend for over a month. Even the redheaded friend hadn't spared one glance at him since they'd had that conversation. Harry was afraid, that he would soon have to confront Ron and try to fix this tension between them.

Harry knew that Ronald was in his bedroom. That was the only place he could be without bumping into Harry. Ron even kicked him out his room so Harry was made to room with the Twins. Harry thought that because the Weasley's felt like his family, they should know about this – about his orientation. The twins were trying their best to make a smile appear on Harry's face, but no matter how hard Harry tried, he could not smile. His previous best friend was acting like he didn't exist, which made him feel much worse then he had in his forth year, when Ron had ignored him because of the Triwizard Tournament. Inside he was weeping but on the outside there was a mask – an ice-cold mask. There was nothing to smile about anyway.

Harry started to climb the wooden stairs that led to Ron's room. When he was in front of the door, he took deep breaths and slowly reached toward the doorknob but as soon as he made contact with metal knob, Harry froze and his heart stopped. He closed his eyes and wished that everything was going to work out fine.

"Please let it go, okay," whispered Harry, and with that, the raven-haired boy slowly opened the wooden door curiously.

He saw that Ronald was already glancing at the space, that was once absent, but was now was where Harry stood. Harry gazed at the boy softly.

"Hi," said Harry, lifting his right hand slightly as to wave at him but he just let it fall back down.

"Hey," mumbled Ron.

"I think we need to talk," said Harry. He strolled towards Ron, who had a soft glint of curiosity in his eyes. The redheaded boy was leaning over the edge of the bed with his elbows situated on his knees.

"If you say so," mumbled Ron once again. To Harry, it seemed like Ron didn't even care a single bit about their friendship.

"Ron! I need you to co-operate if you want this…" Harry moved his hand back and forwards from himself to Ron. "…friendship to work again!"

Anger was spilling out of Harry and his cheeks were blushing red.

"What if I don't want to work this out? What if I don't want to be your friend anymore?" snapped Ron.

This made the raven-haired boy pause. He knew that Ron might not want to be his friend any longer, but to hear those words come from the man himself was pain for Harry.

"You don't want to … be my friend anymore?" said Harry, saying each word slowly – leaving a few seconds between each one.

"Yes exactly!" shouted the redheaded boy. He crossed his arms and tried his best to sound angry but the disgust wasn't present in his tone. In his eyes, he was projecting that he wanted to be Harry's best friend once again.

"Oh." Harry looked down.

"Why did you think I was ignoring you?" questioned Ron.

"I don't know… I thought that maybe you were taking in the …. "Harry stopped.

"News?" said Ron, finishing the sentence.

"Yeah…" whispered Harry.

"Well, I'm not that bothered that you're… Whatever"

Harry sent a questioning glance towards Ron as the redheaded boy turned away from his gaze.

"OKAY! Yes, I am bothered about that. But I am more bothered about the fact you didn't tell me, your best friend, about it, and that I, was the last to know. And it didn't help that it looked like you used my baby sister!" Ron said harshly.

Ron shifted his head back to face Harry to find that he was looking at him with an expression of sympathy. Harry never thought about how wrong it looked to Ron and how much it would have angered him that his best friend was going out with his baby sister, when he wasn't even interested in women.

"Oh, I didn't think about it like that! But I swear Ron, that I didn't use Ginny. You know me enough to know that I'm not like that," stated Harry.

"Yeah I suppose so …," said Ron, the end of the sentence mumbled.

Harry sighed. He knew that they wouldn't get much further than this.

"I guess I've wasted your time then. I'm sorry. I suppose I should leave here, it might help the awkwardness and tension between us. I hope the Dursleys will take me back," sighed Harry, shrugging his shoulders.

When he heard Ron give no response, Harry said, "Bye then." He gave a soft smile and turned towards the door but froze when …

"Wait!" said Ron, who was now standing and was looking at Harry with forgiveness.

Harry could not move and could not turn back around to face his fellow friend.

"I don't want you to leave," sighed Ron.

A smile began to grow on Harry's face and when he swiftly turned towards Ron he said, "Really? And why is that Ron?"

"Well, I don't want… this… whatever you call it…"

"Orientation or sexuality Ron," Harry interrupted.

Ron glared over at Harry but continued, "Yes that... break us up because even though you no longer like… girls, you are still my friend mate."

Harry couldn't believe his ears, turned around quickly and embraced Ron in a hug.

"Thank you Ron!" said Harry with a smile on his face. He had gotten his best friend back.

Harry dropped his friend from the hug, as he could sense Ron's body was tensed. But planted on Ron's face was a smile just like Harry's. Ron was just as glad as Harry that they were friends but he knew he still had to talk more to him about his new sexuality, just not now. Harry grinned at his best friend and realised that that was one of the first moments he had ever embraced Ron in hug and made a mental note to change that. Ron gave a slight smile and plopped back down on the bed.

"So, excited to be going back to school? We will be going soon!" Harry asked in a cheery voice.

Ron replied in a different sort of tone, his monotone. "I guess so; I'm sure as hell not looking forwards to all the enormous amounts of homework. But then again, Hermione can help me with all of my work." Harry swore that he heard Ron mumble, "or she will do it all for me!" but he decided to ignore it.

After all this time, Harry thought that Ron must have noticed the way that Hermione moved around him or the way she talked differently towards him, than to Harry. Hermione's love for Ron was blind to him.

Harry sighed. "Well, it is our final year. We are bound to be getting huge amounts of work. It is to help us in life Ron, so I think you should not be relying on Hermione. She will be stressed out enough with the amount of subjects she is taking."

"Aye, I suppose that is true mate, but we need her," chuckled Ron.

Harry laughed with him.

"Of course, where would we be without our wonderful Hermione?"

Harry leaned on the table with his head propped up on one palm. He was glancing over the pages, just skimming; not paying much attention to what was in front of him.

The book was just a distraction from reality, though it simply wasn't working. Lately he was repeating the same thought again and again in his mind, just like a broken record. The thought was about how or why he had come to the realization of this… newly developed orientation. How had he come to be gay? Was he disgusted by the idea of him being with a girl? Or was he completely sure of his orientation? He knew that he had always liked the idea of women. The body of a woman fascinated him so much. The beauty and the gracefulness of a woman stood out to him. He knew that this was what he saw in Ginny. Because of the bullying the Dursleys has lashed out at him, however, he also knew that he had always wanted someone he could look up to; someone who was strong enough to protect him, someone who would care for him, which was why he lusted for a man in his life. However, he also needed someone who was gentle, who would take care of him, and someone who was just peaceful; the qualities of a lady. The consequence of his childhood, which should have been full of love, resulted in his present dilemma. Ginny was beginning to fill the emptiness in his life, but his feelings had changed inside. He had never been so confused before and the whole thing was making his head throb.

It wasn't until he heard a croaky cough that he snapped out of his musing.

"Harry..." smiled Hermione.

"Hey, Hermione," breathed Harry. He gave a small smile back to the girl.

Hermione glanced towards the table and Harry gave a simple nod. She began to walk toward the table, when the redheaded boy stepped into the room just seconds after her.

"Hey," chirped Ron.

"Hey Ron," replied both Hermione and Harry at the same time.

Hermione placed herself next to Harry, leaving Ron the chair across the table from them.

"How are you, Harry?" said Hermione softly.

"I'm great! You?" replied Harry, glancing towards Ron, giving him a quick grin and he got a cheerful grin in reply.

"I'm fine, just so tired from school work," sighed Hermione.

"Work?" said Ron outrageously.

Harry and Ron both turned their heads to face Hermione, with crazed expressions.

"Hermione, you do know that we haven't gone back to school yet, right?" chuckled Harry.

Hermione frowned.

"Of course Harry! Don't be silly! I just wanted to be prepared! You know, this year will be full of work. Our timetables will be hectic! "

"Sure, sure. You will say that we have to work harder and blah, blah, blah," said Ron as he rolled his eyes.

"Yes Ronald! You do need to work harder this year! And don't think you can come to me when you can't do your homework!" Hermione said louder than before and with annoyance ringing in her voice.

Ron gazed at Hermione, with wide eyes. "Why not?" He asked in disbelief.

"Because I said so, okay!"

Harry just sat there, smiling at the fact there was no longer tension between the trio and that their friendship was back together and not in pieces. The group wasn't just back together; it was back together and stronger than before.

"Enough of it Ronald! I won't talk about it anymore!" snapped Hermione.

She puffed at her hair, which was no longer bushy. Harry had never taken notice of how much his close friend had changed. Her facial features were different, more grown-up, her eyes were full off wisdom, her cheek bones had changed and her hair was now wavy with curls that were just perfect. Her fringe was to the side and matched the shape of her face. It made her face look thinner compared to when she had big bushy hair, back when she was younger. She was very attractive and Harry was confused as hell, to why his other best friend has not confessed his love for her.

Harry shook his head "Come on guys, don't argue!"

Hermione nodded and Ron said, "Yes, Let's not eh, Mione?"

"Yes," said Hermione, looking away from the two boys.

Harry noticed this and, with worry in his eyes, asked, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, It's nothing much, but erm… I was just curious of how you came to the assumption that you are… gay." She merely whispered the last word.

Harry heard Ron sigh, as he began to look at Hermione with wide eyes.

"Oh… I… erm... Well…" stuttered Harry.

This question had shocked him, as he didn't even have an answer for himself. Hermione and Ron were staring at him, making him feel intimidated.

"Yeah, I was kind of wondering that too mate," Ron said awkwardly.

"Oh, erm... To be entirely honest, I don't really know. It's just like this feeling inside of you, you know? Like the feeling that both of you have with each other – deep down inside."

Hermione and Ron both glanced towards each other but when their eyes met each other, they both quickly turned away.

"Oh, I understand" Hermione said, her cheeks blushing pale red. "But you must have an idea of why, Harry."

Harry stared blankly at Hermione as he paused before replying to her. He was afraid, even knowing that the two people who sat before him were his two closest friends, who were the ones who had been through dreadful moments with Harry, that they would not understand why he felt like this.

"… I don't really know to be perfectly honest, Hermione. I guess, it's because my life is so hectic and I guess in other words 'dangerous', I need someone who can protect me, someone who will protect me. Someone who is strong and that someone, in my opinion, cannot be a girl, I suppose," He mumbled the last few words.

Hermione frowned slightly but her eyes projected empathy for the boy and Ron's lips were parted which told Harry he was a bit surprised but there was no anger in his expression. That was a good sign to Harry. The reaction of both his friends was not as bad as they were when he'd broken the news to them. Hermione's reaction was a mirror image off before.

Her frown softened as she asked softly, "Oh Harry, I didn't know you felt that way, but are you sure that you truly feel that way?"

"I don't know. I think I still like the image of a girl though. If you get me?"

"No, I don't get you. So you like the image of a girl but you want to fuck… wait… You want to be with a man?" Ron questioned Harry, saying it loudly.

Harry stared at his friend and answered in a monotone voice, "Yes, I guess in a way."

"I don't get that! How can you think like that?" Ron asked.

"Ronald!" Hermione snapped at him - glaring at him. If glares could kill, Ron would not have been breathing any longer. Hermione swiftly turned her head back towards Harry with soft eyes.

"So do you think that you are … maybe bi-sexual, Harry?" asked Hermione quietly.

"Maybe... Gah I don't know!" he shouted, putting his hands through the tangle of black mess he called hair.

Ron sighed as Hermione put her arm on Harry's back.

"I'm sorry Harry! I shouldn't have brought it up. I know that you are only getting used to this new feeling but I was just curious. And you know me, when there are questions there must be an answer," she said gently.

Harry chuckled lightly. "That's true," he said quietly. "But you no need to say sorry Hermione. You were bound to ask sooner or later and I'd rather you'd ask sooner." He looked up and smiled at her.

Ron was sat with his arms crossed. "Mmm, I guess it is going to be awkward… Sharing a room with four other boy's isn't it? Back at Hogwarts."

"Not if no one finds out, it won't. And they are my friends. I don't think of them that way."

Ron sighed. Thank god, he thought. "But what about when people do find out? I mean, everyone will think of you differently." questioned Ron

"Well, I haven't thought that far yet Ron. But I just hope no one tells anyone about this, until I am ready to tell them myself," Harry said with a small smile on his face.

"But won't you feel awkward if you find your self looking at someone and a person notices?" Ron was starting to get on Harry's nerves now and by the sounds of it, on Hermione's as well.

"Ronald! Stop it with the twenty questions. Harry can't help how he feels so deal with it," snapped Hermione.

"Okay Okay!" Ron put up his hands up as a sign of surrender. "I was just curious okay? I mean he is my best friend." He leaned back far on his chair and as a result, he leaned too far back and fell back onto the floor. All they heard from the impact was a big bang and a loud ouch.

Harry burst out laughing and so did Hermione. In fact they laughed in perfect harmony. Ron put his right hand on the edge of the table and peaked from underneath to say, "I meant to do that!" and he fell back down.

"Oh of course you did!" breathed Harry in between each laugh.

"Owww... my stomach!" Hermione laughed.

"Oh shut up you two!" shouted Ron from the floor.

The Manor always sent shivers down Draco's spine. There was something about how most of the rooms had never been used; never had a person's presence in them. Whenever Draco would walk through the house investigating empty rooms, he would feel a cold presence around him that would make the hairs on his neck stand erect. The cold air would blow through his hair whenever he was stood still. You could shout as loud as you could and no one would be able to hear it, if they were on the other side of the manor.

Draco stood in his overly large bedroom, which he thought was not very homely, packing up his black trunk. He would be on his way to his one true home the next day. He had been waiting to go back to Hogwarts since he came back at the end of the school year. But now the time had come to go back, and he was dreading it because he had his 'mission' to do, in exchange for his father to be released in one piece. Draco didn't believe that this would happen but his mother truly believed that Lucius, his father, would be okay and so Draco would do anything if it would please his mother.

He sighed as he saw his broomstick in the corner of the room. He was sure that a cobweb was beginning to grow on. He had rejected it over the summer and he wished he hadn't. He missed the feel of being in the air, the wind moving through his hair, blowing it around. He began to put his books in his suitcase when he heard his mother shout

"Dragon! Where are you?"

"In my bedroom, Mother!" he replied back, annoyed. Recently his mother had been keeping track of where he was or where he was going, like she was afraid someone was going to take him. That someone being Voldemort.

"Come down to the dining hall!" She shouted back. "NOW!"

"Yeah, yeah..." he mumbled. He threw the rest of the books in his trunk and closed it before he walked out of the room slowly. He closed his eyes as he walked down the eerie hallways. He thought back to the other day, when his mother was talking to him about his mission again. It was all she ever talked to him about.

It wasn't until after the talk with his 'loving' mother that he began to think about the responsibility he had since his father's departure. He knew that he was now the man of the house, until his father came back but the question he asked himself was, "Can I be that man?"

He did not know why he had asked himself that. He had no reason to not be the man of the house. He knew that in the near future he would have to carry on the Malfoy name and that his parents did not mind with whom he did so as long as she was a pureblood. He didn't want to be pressured into marrying someone because he had not found someone suitable for himself. So far, it was simply that he had not fallen in love with anyone. Most people would call him 'cold-hearted' because of this, but Draco was nothing like that, nothing like his father.

The blonde-haired boy thought to himself. What if it wasn't a wife? But when he thought that, he became disgusted with himself for having such a thought.

Draco opened his eyes as he came to a halt. He felt sick and he had no idea why.

He ignored the feeling and began to walk once again down the cold, eerie hallway to his mother.

To be Continued