"Can't, man," Draco said with an apologetic smile. "I'm hanging out with Stori today."

"Oh…" Harry mumbled. Then he shook his head quickly. "That's fine. Sorry. I forgot," he said.

Astoria glanced up from her scattered books absently, stretching the kink out of her neck. She stared right at Draco. She fell out of her chair before scrambling up and running to the windows, flinging it open. "What the heck are you doing?" she asked in a hushed whisper. "Mum and Dad are downstairs! Go away!"

"I came all the way here just for you to throw me out? Not cool, Stori," he said with a smirk.

"What do you want?" she asked, scowling at him.

"Well… I couldn't sleep. So I figured you couldn't sleep either."

"Oh, dear God," Astoria said under her breath.

"Do you like chocolates or do you prefer flowers?" Draco asked.

"Huh?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't have either. I was just wondering," he said.

Astoria huffed in reproach as Draco sidled past her and walked to her bed, sitting down. "Sure, make yourself comfortable," she muttered under her breath.

"Don't mind if I do," he said, grabbing the open book on the nightstand. "Ooh, I know this one. The butler did it."

"Oh, for f-get out!" she snapped.

"I'm in love, Harry," Draco said, sighing like a lovesick girl.

Harry pushed down his jealousy viciously.

Harry tsked, keeping his eyes on the gym doors as he waited for Draco to show up.

"Third time you haven't shown up," Harry muttered, sitting down next to Draco.

"Stop being such a girl," Draco said absently. "That seat's saved for Stori."

Harry bit back his sharp answer, choosing instead to get up angrily and find another seat.

"Hey," Draco said hesitantly, standing in the doorway.

"Go away," Harry muttered, keeping his eyes trained on his notes.

"I'm sorry," Draco said.

"Go away, Malfoy."

"Tomorrow, okay? I swear, I'll be there tomorrow. You can beat me twenty to nothing if you want," Draco said as he walked to Harry and leaned against the desk.

"Whatever."

"Harry. Don't be like that. Please?" Draco groveled.

Harry let out an exasperated breath of air. "Fine. I forgive you. Now go away," he said.

"Friends?" Draco asked with a hopeful smile.

Harry groaned in defeat. "Fine," he said, scowling at Draco.

"Awesome! Thanks," Draco grinned as he ruffled Harry's hair. "And I'll beat your sorry arse tomorrow, just you wait."

"Win that cup for me," Astoria said as she kissed Draco good luck.

"Just for you," Draco laughed.

"You aren't concentrating," Harry huffed, swatting Draco over the head with his notebook.

"Lot on my mind. Sorry," Draco winked.

"I love you," Astoria whispered shyly.

Draco's jaw dropped.

"She loves me!" Draco gushed as he sat down next to Harry in the library.

Harry's chest tightened in response. "I need to study," he mumbled.

"She really loves me, Harry. I'm going out of my mind," Draco laughed breathlessly.

"Draco, please," Harry murmured, trying to keep his voice steady.

"I'm the happiest guy in the world right now, did you know that?" Draco asked. Harry was about to respond in god knows what way when Draco's phone buzzed. He pulled it out quickly, a familiar mushy grin on his face when he read Astoria's name. "I have to go. Bye," he whispered, walking away.

Harry pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes to try and stop the prickling.

"Hey, Mum," Harry said as he pressed the phone to his ear and lay down in bed.

"Hey, sweetheart! What a surprise," Lily answered happily. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Harry said, his words wavering.

"And how's school? Still my little champ?" she asked.

"Mhm."

Lily frowned slightly. "What's wrong, honey?" she asked.

"Nothing," Harry murmured. "Nothing's wrong."

"Harry? Are you crying?" she asked in alarm.

"No," Harry muttered, wiping his tears. "I don't cry."

"Are you alright?" she asked again, feeling helpless.

"I-I just… I miss you, Mum. That's all, okay?"

"Oh," she groaned. "Don't cry, baby. You're fine. Just a few more months, right?"

"Y-yeah," Harry gasped through his sobs. "I love you."

"I love you more. Can you tell me why you're crying?" she asked as delicately as she could.

"I'm just being stupid," Harry sniffed. "I'm being a stupid girl."

"Oh?" Now she was intrigued. "Because…"

"Because guys don't cry," Harry said sullenly, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

Lily laughed at this. "You can be my little girl today, okay. Cry all you want," she said.

Harry smiled miserably. "You're the best, Mum," he said as he hugged a pillow close. "You know that, right?"

"Is something the matter, Harry?" Astoria asked, worried by Harry's pale complexion and tired eyes.

"He's fine," Draco answered before Harry got the chance to. "He's just being kind of emotional lately. Isn't that right, my wittle Potter?"

"Shut up," Harry muttered.

Astoria nodded absently, keeping her eyes on Harry's downturned face.

"What are you so angry about?" Draco asked, stopping Harry from storming away.

"I can't handle this right now," Harry said, shoving Draco back so he could leave.

"Handle what?" Draco asked, utterly perplexed. "What did I do?"

"Nothing!" Harry snapped. "It's not always about you, damn it!"

"What's your problem?" Draco asked.

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!" Harry shouted, silencing Draco in an instant. He stormed out of the room before he started screaming some more.

"I don't know what I did," Draco murmured.

"Maybe it's not about you, then," Astoria explained. "Maybe he's stressed about school, that's all."

"He's never shouted at me before. Not like that. I'm the one who blows a fuse at him…"

"He'll work it out, okay? Don't rush him," Astoria said.

"Here."

Harry glanced up to find Astoria standing in front of his desk with a wide grin and a large bag of chips, holding it out for him. "Um... Why?" he asked.

"Because you're being a total downer and these are your favorite," she said firmly. "Eat it."

Harry smiled in defeat. "Stori..."

"After you stuff yourself with that, no more moping."

"Alright, alright," he chuckled, taking the chips off her hands. "Thanks."

"How'd the exam go?" Draco asked Harry.

"Fine, I guess," Harry shrugged. "I should go study."

"Wait," Draco said quickly. "I'll come with you. Just give me a second."

Harry had half a mind to say no, but he couldn't.

"If I asked her to marry me..."

Harry looked up in shock. "Wh-what?" he asked.

Draco smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "I was just... thinking. Do you think she would say yes? I mean, I know we've only been dating for, like, nine months. I just get this feeling."

"What feeling?" Harry asked, his voice ringing hollow in his own head.

Draco dropped his head in his hands with an embarrassed groan. "Like I'm supposed to be with her for my entire life. That sort of feeling," he confessed.

"Oh."

"It's just stupid. Whatever."

"Yeah."

"You know Draco better than anyone else," Astoria observed. "What do you think he thinks of me?"

Harry shook his head, keeping silent.

"It's just that... he gets confusing sometimes, you know?" she murmured, resting her chin on her palm. "I know he cares about me and all, but... I don't know... Something."

Harry glanced up at Astoria's troubled expression. "He's never tried this hard with anyone else," he said quietly. "That says something, right?"

"He's never tried to what?"

Harry shrugged, pulling his eyes down to his food. "He's never acted this way before. He really does love you."

Astoria blushed.

"You haven't really talked to him in months, Harry," Astoria said, twisting the hem of shirt between her fingers.

"Been busy with school, Stori," Harry muttered to himself as he packed his bags. The graduation ceremony had just ended, which meant everyone was going home now. Harry had wasted no time in finishing up with his suitcases.

"He's worried about you," Astoria said, trying to stop Harry from moving around.

"Then tell him I'm fine," Harry said, zipping up his bag. "I have to-"

The door shot open, revealing a breathless Draco. "Y-you-you're leaving?" he stammered.

Harry sighed in exasperation. "It's the end of the year! Everyone's leaving!" he exclaimed.

"But you said-you were-you said you got that internship. We-we're supposed to go together, remember?" Draco said.

Harry tried not to flinch at Draco's hurt tone. "Draco, I-"

"No, you listen to me," Draco interrupted fiercely. "We were supposed to go for that interview, kick arse and end up working together! Or did you forget about that too?"

"I told you I was going home! I told you I was-"

"You never told me you were going to stay there!" Draco exclaimed. "You never told me anything. If you wanted to get rid of me so bad, you should have said that to my face!"

"I didn't-"

"You know what? I'm done with you, Potter. You can-you can just leave me and go… die in a hole for all I care," Draco spat out before striding out of Harry's room.

Harry tried to swallow down his tears. He quickly turned back to his bag, keeping his head down. But his furious blinking didn't go unnoticed. Astoria pressed an uncertain hand on his shoulder. "Hey."

"Sorry," Harry said thickly, closing his eyes and taking in deep breaths. He cleared his throat and tried to gain some composure before straightening up. "He's just stressed out about stuff," he said with a shaky smile.

"Yeah," Astoria murmured.

He looked around the room once. It held a lot of memories of the past year. He would surely miss it. "Stori?"

"Hmm?"

"He's… alright, isn't he?"

Astoria swallowed hard and nodded. "He makes mountains out of molehills, you know that," she said.

"I know," Harry said quietly. He shouldered his bags and snapped the handle up to roll his luggage out. "So… Bye."

"I'll see you later, Harry," Astoria made sure to say.

Harry nodded vaguely. "Yeah. Later." He walked out of the room with his bags but stopped short when he found Draco leaning against the wall with his arms folded against his chest. They stared at each other for a moment.

"What am I supposed to do now, huh?" Draco asked. "I'll fail every single interview test they throw at me."

"So fail," Harry muttered.

Draco pushed off the wall with a tired sigh. "And who will I play ball with?"

"You lose everyday."

"Harry..."

"Go bother Stori now."

Draco wrapped his arms around his best friend. "I'll miss you if you just up and leave," he whispered.

"No, you won't," Harry murmured, pulling away from Draco. "Bye." He glanced back at Astoria, waving goodbye.

"Yeah..."

I think that was the day I realized that perhaps I was the reason they fell apart. Maybe I came between them. Maybe Harry felt as though he had lost his best friend.

James stared at those lines breathlessly.

He never called or wrote. He just left.

Yes, I became your father's friend. Yes, he loved me more than ever. That's why he asked me to marry him. But I was never his best friend, James. I could never be his best friend. If he is still alone, which I am sure he is, he feels alone too. Right now, he needs a best friend more than ever.

I know what I'm about to ask you to do is going to be difficult. But maybe you can help Dad. Maybe you can find Harry again. Think you can do that for me, buddy? I just hate to think of him being sad because of something so silly. Find Harry, okay?

I love you more than anything in the world…

Always yours,

Astoria

James kissed the letter, taking care not to get his tears on it.

"Happy birthday!" Draco announced with added fanfare as he brought in a tray of delicious breakfast. "Look what I made, just for… oh…" He quickly placed the food on the chest of toys before sitting on the bed and hugging James close. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm okay," James sniffed, trying to get out of Draco's hug. "I'm fine, Dad. I just read something sad, that's all."

"Oh…" Draco realized James was talking about Astoria's letter. "It's sad?"

"Yeah," James nodded, wiping his face on his shirt and then collecting the numerous papers that were strewn on his bed. "But it was nice. I like these," he added for his father's benefit.

"Hmm…"

"I'm fine. Really," James said. "Let's eat."

"Yeah," Draco murmured.

That afternoon, James managed to wrangle his grandmother all to himself.

"Do you know Harry, Grandma?" he asked Narcissa.

"Pardon?"

"Harry Potter. Dad's best friend from college."

It took Narcissa a few seconds to recall. "Hmm… Harry… I never met him but… yes, Draco used to talk about him all the time," she remembered. "Why?"

"In Mum's letter, she told me all about Harry Potter," James explained. "She said they had a fight over something and that Dad is still sore about it."

Narcissa could vaguely remember that, but it was all so long ago. "I see."

"Do you think you can help me find him? I bet he's really nice, huh?"

"What? Why?" she asked in disbelief.

"Because Harry was Daddy's best friend," James said patiently. "And you keep saying how Dad's sad. So if I find his best friend, he won't be sad anymore. It all makes sense, Grandma. Stop being so slow."

Narcissa harrumphed in offense.

After a full dinner and a criminally large amount of ice cream cake, James was sitting in front of the TV while Draco and Narcissa cleared up the scraps from their meal. The boy was staring at the flashing screen but not really taking in the cartoons. "Hey, Dad," he said over the sound of the TV.

"Hmm?" Draco asked, stacking the plates.

"I learned a new game. Word association. Wanna play?"

"How does it go?"

"I say a word and you say the first thing that comes to mind," James explained.

"Sounds easy enough," Draco said. "Go on."

James looked up in thought, shuffling through his brain. "Clouds," he said.

"Um…"

"You can't take that long," James interrupted.

"Sorry, sorry," Draco laughed. "Rain. How's that?"

"Good," James said gravely while Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Sexy."

"Grandma," Draco winked and laughed with James

"You two are going to get a good beating from me one of these days," Narcissa huffed, wiping down the table while frowning.

James snickered. "Crazy?" he asked.

"You," Draco said, walking around the couch and sitting down beside James.

"Home?"

"Us," Draco murmured before kissing James lovingly.

"Love?"

"Friendship," Draco shrugged.

"Potter?"

"Harry."

Everyone stilled.

"Harry?" Narcissa asked, turning to her son.

"Who's Harry?" James asked, feigning ignorance.

Draco appeared disoriented. "Nobody," he murmured, blinking rapidly.

"Daddy, it's my birthday!" James whined.

Draco glanced down at his son's pleading expression. "He... He went to the same university as me."

"Oh, yeah?" James asked, wondering how much farther he could push Draco.

"He was my friend," Draco added.

"A friend?"

Draco nodded, lost in thought. "He was my best friend."

"What was he like?" James asked, crawling onto Draco's lap. "Was he awesome?"

Draco hugged James close. "Yeah, he was pretty awesome. He was really smart so he would help me with my homework and everything. He wouldn't look it but he could beat me up and all, you know?"

"Then he was mean?" James asked nervously.

"Gosh," Draco laughed. "Harry and mean wouldn't quite work out. He was always so nerdy and quiet around everyone. Not around friends, though. It was all about school for him. Homework this, assignment that, good grades this, library that…" He trailed off with a soft smile. "He was different."

Narcissa watched her son lose himself in his memories after falling silent. She wondered if James was right. Draco had never been one to make good friends. He had many, of course, but never any close ones. From the sounds of it, Harry had been a rare find. James' mind was working faster than ever, moving through all the scenarios.

After shaking his head quickly to get rid of his thoughts, Draco asked, "Enough or do you want to hear more?"

James turned to face Draco. "Where is he, Dad?"

Draco shrugged. "We lost touch after we graduated," he said vaguely. "I don't know…"

"Oh my God, yes! YES, YES, YES!" Ginny squealed, nearly knocking Harry over with her hug. "I love you so much!"

Harry kissed her softly. "I love you too," he whispered, taking her hand and sliding the ring onto her finger.