Author's Note: Hi! So I know I should be updating my other fic, The Way We Almost Weren't, but I honestly feel like writing this one right now instead. So hopefully you can wait just a tad longer for TWWAW (if you're even reading it).

Chapter 3

"So, who votes we go take a look around this brilliant campus?" Harry asked, after they all had finished unpacking their belongings and were lounging around on their bunks.

"Me!"

"Me too!"

"I suppose I, as well."

Harry climbed down from his bed and nodded towards the exit. "Then let's go, guys."

Just as they were all heading out, the door swung open to reveal an excited-looking Ron. "Hey guys!" the redhead chirped, waving around a piece of golden rod parchment. "We've found a list of activities for students! Look—clubs, contests, trips—and they've even got sports! Not Quidditch obviously but there's so many choices like swimming and this one called basketball that Dad mentioned one time—do you remember Harry? You were there—anyway, it's all quite excellent except they don't even have rugby, bloody Americans, I don't get why not, and—"

Harry chuckled and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Breathe between words, Ron. And get to the point."

Ron took a deep breath and nodded. "Right. Basically what I'm trying to say is, we should all go out and explore a bit and maybe sign up for a couple of things."

"We were just on our way out to do that, mate!" Seamus piped up. Ron brightened. "Brilliant! Let me just go get everybody else and we can go."

Malfoy cleared his throat from behind Justin. "Don't you think it'd be a bit odd if we all went together?" Everyone turned and stared at him questioningly. Malfoy puffed up, as if attempting to appear stuck-up, but Harry thought he just looked uneasy. "I mean we don't want to look out of place or anything. We're supposed to be blending in, remember?" he added.

Ron rolled his eyes and agreed begrudgingly. "He's right, unfortunately. I suppose we should split up into groups." He looked around the group. "All right, Seamus can go with—"

"Dean!" Seamus interrupted loudly. Dean stuck his head out from the doorway of his dorm room and shot him a big smile.

"I'll go with them," Justin added, throwing an arm around Seamus's shoulders.

"Me too!" Neville appeared from behind Ron, looking flustered. Harry shook his head. The poor lad probably wanted to escape his Slytherin dorm mates from hell.

A dainty, jingling voice spoke up from behind Neville. "I'd like to go on my own and search for Nargles. Do you suppose they have them here?" Luna asked.

Ron smiled at her. "I don't know. But all right, and then where's Hermione? Oh there you are Hermione—" Hermione waved as she walked up to the group. "Hi. Are we all ready to go?" Harry glanced around at the remaining people, and nodded. "Almost. That leaves Ron, Hermione, Malfoy, and me. We'll go together."

Harry caught Malfoy making a face and Ron shook his head. "No, mate. You know that's not a good idea. Malfoy and I—"

"—would rip each other's balls off," Malfoy finished smoothly.

Ron raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Exactly. So I guess it'll be me and Hermione, and you and Malfoy—"

"Aw come on!" Harry protested. "Why can't we all just get along?" Malfoy snorted. "Yes! Let us all hold hands and skip and bake cakes filled with rainbows and smiles and just eat and be happy muggles!" he said, with exaggerated enthusiasm and a huge fake grin.

Harry shot him a withering look. "Don't be a prat."

Malfoy threw his hands up in mock frustration. "Of course! You're the one complaining about having to spend a bit of time with me, and I'm the prat! That makes perfect sense!"

Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to Ron. "Do you see what I have to deal with here? Please, for the love of Merlin, just let us join you!" Ron laughed. "Don't be so dramatic. Go on then, explore."

Harry glared at him and turned back to Malfoy. "Listen, if you try any stupid ploys to provoke me—"

Malfoy smiled innocently. "You'll do what?"

Harry sighed. "Never mind. Let's just go. And I repeat, don't you dare hex me or anything."

Malfoy smirked. "Scared, Potter?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply when Ron cut him off with an aggravated look. "Harry, if you so much as think about saying 'you wish', I swear to Merlin that I will hex you myself."

Harry clamped his mouth shut. Damn it. That was his only good comeback.

~x~

Draco sighed impatiently and tapped his foot. "Potter, will you come on?" Potter ignored him and continued to watch the game being played on the field. "Potter," Draco complained again, tugging on his sleeve. "Come on."

Potter shook him off. "Stop it, Malfoy. I want to watch this."

Draco rolled his eyes. "What is it, anyway?"

Potter didn't look at him. "Americans call it soccer."

Draco observed the field briefly and furrowed his brow in confusion. "You mean football."

"No, soccer."

Draco frowned and shook his head. "Americans," he muttered. "What the hell is so fascinating about it anyway?"

Potter shrugged. "I don't know, it's different. I like it." His eyes were trained on a medium-sized black and white ball being kicked around by the various players.

Draco tugged on his sleeve again. "Fantastic. Now let's go." Potter gave an exasperated sigh and reluctantly let Draco pull him away from the field. "Damn, you're pushy. Fine, where do you want to go?"

Draco thought for a moment. "Let's go check out the little village." Potter looked over and nodded. "All right. Let go of my sleeve."

"Huh? Oh," Draco didn't realize he was still holding on to the other boy. He let his grip go and began walking towards the town area. "Come on. I want to see if there are any good shops. I mean, if I must act as a muggle, I might as well be a well-dressed one."

Potter groaned. "Shopping?"

Draco ignored him and observed the stores. He caught sight of a posh, flashy-looking shop and smiled. This was his forte. "Potter," he said, gesturing. "Let's go in."

Potter eyed the store warily. "I don't know. Looks expensive."

Draco gave him an incredulous look. "Do you even know who I am? Honestly."

Potter rolled his eyes. "All right. You better not take forever though. It's almost dinnertime."

"Of course I'm going to take forever, Potter. And we can just get dinner at one of the restaurants, it's no big deal," Draco answered absently, as they walked into the store. Potter raised his eyebrows. "You'd be willing to spend time that you don't have to be spending with me?"

Draco shrugged. The afternoon hadn't been all that horrible, as he might've imagined. They'd just meandered around the campus, peering into buildings and watching various school activities, without any serious argument. Well, Draco preferred an afternoon with Potter than one with the Golden Trio in its entirety. One Gryffindor was enough; he didn't feel like dealing with all of them at the same time thank you very much.

Potter smiled a bit. "Okay," he said, glancing around. "Um, what do you do now?"

Draco laughed. "You don't know how to shop? That's a bit pathetic, Potter."

"I haven't ever had the time. You know, between school and defeating Voldemort and all."

Draco scoffed. "No need to be humble," he said sarcastically, while thumbing through a pile of sweaters.

Potter rolled his eyes and watched him. "So what is the appeal of this?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Draco gave him a disdainful once-over. "Not having to look like that," he commented. Potter frowned and looked down at himself. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" he asked defensively.

"Everything," Draco snorted. He stopped going through clothes and looked at Potter again. Maybe if he just gave him a few fashion tips, he wouldn't appear so dismal… Draco shook his head. What was he thinking? They weren't friends. Draco wasn't obligated to give Potter anything. He turned back and started going through the stack of denims. The thought continued to nag at him. He could give the other boy a few hints. That wasn't particularly friendly. It would be for the benefit of society, really, so they didn't have to look at Potter's atrocious style. Yes. That was the perfect reason.

"Potter, try these on," he said, shoving a pair of dark denims and a forest green tartan army button up.

Potter looked bewildered, but took them anyway. "Why?"

Draco sighed. "Because school is starting in a couple of days and I'm trying to rid society of the unbearable fashion faux pas you've got going on a daily basis. Please, just try them on."

Potter smiled a bit. "Well, since you asked so nicely," he teased.

Draco rolled his eyes.

~x~

Harry glanced at himself in the mirror and ran a hand through his hair, his forehead crinkling delicately as he frowned. The green plaid button up and dark denims Malfoy had picked out complemented and hugged him in ways clothing never had for him before. He sighed as he turned this way and that, trying to decide whether he liked it or not. He had to admit that it was an improvement from his old, baggy hand-me-downs, but it was still strange.

"Malfoy?" he called out cautiously. "Malfoy, you out there?"

"I'm in the next dressing room, Potter," the familiar voice floated over from stall beside him. "What do you want?"

"Erm, can you come in here? I need an opinion." Harry felt uncomfortable asking Malfoy for help, but he didn't want to go around his new school looking like an idiot, either.

"Ugh, fine," Malfoy said, and a few seconds later the curtain was drawn back sharply and Malfoy entered the tiny dressing room. When he caught a glimpse of Harry, he just stood there and stared at him with an unreadable expression.

"Um, Malfoy? Is this… is this okay?" Harry asked nervously, glancing back at himself in the mirror. Malfoy just blinked at him, his mouth open but no words coming out. Harry bit his lip. "I didn't think it was that bad, but I could be wrong—"

Malfoy interrupted him. "Bad? You look excellent!" his pale cheeks flushed a deep scarlet as he stuttered. "...Er, I mean, you look acceptable. Quite acceptable."

Harry brightened. "Really? It looks good?"

Malfoy sniffed proudly. "Of course it does. I picked it out. Now do you see the appeal?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to, I suppose. I guess I just never liked shopping because I've never done it properly before."

Malfoy scoffed. "Clearly. I've got my items. Are you ready?"

Harry shrugged and looked at himself again. "I don't know..." Malfoy sighed in irritation. "If you don't buy that Potter, I will buy it and force you to wear it even if I have to rip off those godforsaken oversized rags you insist on torturing me with every day. Got it?"

Harry smiled sweetly at him. "Aw, Malfoy. That was kind of nice in a bizarrely twisted way."

Malfoy just scowled at him and marched out. Harry sniggered to himself and changed back. When he came out of the dressing room, he saw Malfoy was already at the register, paying for his enormous pile of clothes. He smiled and walked over. "Are you sure you've bought everything you need, Malfoy? That seems like such an awfully limited amount of clothing there," he joked.

Malfoy gave him a look. "Ha ha. Very funny Potter."

Harry grinned. "I know." When it was his turn to pay at the register, he put his hand in his pocket and realized that he hadn't gotten any muggle American money when they had gone to bank earlier, like Malfoy had. He hadn't assumed that he would need it for the rest of the day. Sheepishly, he turned to look at Malfoy. Before he could say anything, the blonde boy sighed.

"Yeah, I know. I'll pay for you, "he said indifferently.

Harry smiled. "Thanks. I'll pay you back of course."

Malfoy shook his head and handed the cashier lady his platinum card. "No need for that."

The lady at the cashier smiled at the two of them. "You're exchange students, aren't you? I can tell by your accents." Both Harry and Malfoy nodded and she looked at Malfoy. "That's very nice of you to pay for his things," she remarked, handing him back the card after swiping it.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "I'm not a typically nice person, ma'am. But thank you."

She laughed and murmured, "sign here," to Malfoy, and then turned to Harry. "You're lucky you've got him around."

Harry nodded in agreement. "I am." He turned to Malfoy. "Let's stop by the bank after this. I'm going to buy you dinner."

Malfoy chuckled a little. "Whoa whoa, slow down. We haven't even had our first date yet," he teased.

Harry laughed good-naturedly. "What if this was our first date?" he countered.

Malfoy just smiled as he signed the receipt and handed Harry his items. "Thank you," he said to the cashier.

She smiled. "You boys are just the cutest couple. Have a nice day, now."

Harry widened his eyes and tried to sputter a negative response, but Malfoy just smiled back at her politely. "Thank you ma'am," he said sweetly. He turned to Harry. "Let's go have our date, babe," he slapped Harry's bum to get him moving, then grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the store.

Once they were outside, Harry stared at him. "Why'd you do that?"

Malfoy shrugged. "Why not? Just having a bit of fun," he replied casually.

Harry rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Oh. Well… Right," he said lamely.

"Bank then dinner, then?" Malfoy asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered. Just as they turned to walk towards the campus bank, Harry spotted Ron and Hermione coming towards them, with Seamus, Dean, and Neville not far behind.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted, running towards him looking thoroughly animated. As she got closer though, her air of enthusiasm lessened and she just seemed enormously confused. "Harry?" she repeated questioningly. The others stared at him with perplexity as well. Ron even looked a bit angry.

"What?" Harry asked nervously, suddenly feeling immensely self-conscious.

"Harry…" Ron began slowly, clearly trying to control his infamous temper. "Why the hell are you holding hands with Malfoy?"

Harry started in surprise and looked down to find that he and Malfoy were still linking hands from the little game in the clothing store. He blushed and whipped his hand away. "Er, we were just fooling around," he said weakly. Ron's face turned crimson at his sentence, and Harry cringed in anticipation for the Weasley explosion that was plainly inevitable by now.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Relax, Weasel. It was a joke."

Ron's face didn't reduce in color. "A joke for who, Malfoy?" he asked menacingly.

Malfoy didn't bat an eye. "Some cashier in a store. And why would it even matter if we were actually holding hands anyway, Weasley? Are you homophobic?"

Ron eyes narrowed dangerously. "No, I'm not! Besides, I know Harry's not gay."

Malfoy smirked in challenge. "Do you really know that?"

Hermione interrupted. "All right guys, calm down. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah," Neville piped up. "And even if you were gay, Harry, we'd all support you," he offered. Harry smiled at him. "Thanks Neville," he said.

Ron grumbled. "Fine. Come on, Harry. We're going to go eat at the dining hall."

Harry bit his lip and shifted around uneasily. "Actually Ron, I've got other plans."

Ron looked confused for a moment, then glanced at a smirking Malfoy and groaned. "Really, Harry?"

Harry shrugged sheepishly. "He paid for me, I'm paying for him. It's only fair."

Malfoy grinned tauntingly at Ron. "He's taking me out on a date, Weasel. How do you feel about that?"

Harry groaned as Ron rolled his eyes. "That's extremely heterosexual of you, Harry," he mumbled, before giving him a look and turning away. Hermione and the others gave him apologetic looks and rushed away with him.

Harry sighed. "Thanks for making that a million times more awkward, Malfoy," he complained.

Malfoy just inspected his fingernails. "You're welcome."

Harry gave him a dirty look and started walking towards the bank again. Malfoy followed.

"Is he really that mad over it?" Malfoy asked after a few moments of silence.

Harry shook his head. "No. He just doesn't like you, is all."

"Neither do you," Malfoy pointed out helpfully.

Harry snorted. "Apparently not," he agreed.

(Another) Author's Note: This chapter is mostly just a bunch of dialogue... But did you catch any references?