Disclaimer- I do not own any of the rights to Harry Potter nor am I making any money from this fanfiction.

The Secret Keeper

A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews so far I really hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think (please:)). The next one should be up soon. *heart*

Chapter 3-

The least Harry could do was let Ginny spend the night. It would be awkward if he proposed to her and than just sent her on her merry way.

Everyone had been so thrilled, Ron gave him a large bear hug, and went on and on about how there couldn't possibly be a better man for his sister Ginny.

Bill punched him on the arm (rather hard actually) and told him he couldn't wait until he was part of the family.

Hermione boasted of how she knew the Minister's Ball was the perfect plan.

He got hugs all around, and had to take far too many pictures, (a rather bizarre one for Luna, something he couldn't quite explain even if he tried his hardest).

He knew he would wake up tomorrow morning to headlines like 'Hero Takes A Wife' and he wasn't looking forward to it at all. He was, very much in fact regretting his decision.

It was so difficult to be what everyone else wanted him to be. Maybe things would be easier if he just gave up the hero façade.

Harry Potter certainly didn't feel quite like the hero everyone claimed him to be, he didn't feel at all like himself. He felt more like a villain.

To Draco, to Ginny, to himself.

Most of all to Draco.

The fact that Draco had left the minute Harry proposed troubled him very much. He had no idea he'd be hurting the other man, Draco had in fact, basically rejected him in the toilet. He seriously hoped Draco didn't hate him, Harry wanted more than anything to send him an Owl, or a Floo (if he wasn't disconnected from Malfoy Manor's network). He wanted so badly to apologize, but he would have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Now he was standing in his bedroom with Ginny, she was magically cleaning up his bedroom, he was undressing.

"I'm going to take a quick shower," he announced, walking towards the bathroom.

"Okay," said Ginny, finishing up with his clothes. She was placing them neatly into the closet.

Harry stepped into the bathroom and winced when his feet hit the cold tiled floors. He quickly turned on the water, and mist filled the room. Harry liked his water fairly hot, most people would say he liked it extremely hot, but he enjoyed it this way. Harry sometimes felt that if the water wasn't hot enough, he wasn't entirely clean. After tonight, he believed he certainly needed quite a lot of cleaning.

He stepped into the shower and closed the glass door. He was in the shower for several minutes, seriously considering relieving himself of his sexual frustration, when he heard someone enter the bathroom. He looked through the foggy glass, and sighed to himself when he saw Ginny, in a pale pink robe. His sexual frustration instantly left his body.

She slid the glass door open and smiled at him, and began sliding the shoulders of her robe down.

"I'm just about done here, Ginny," said Harry rinsing the soap off of his body.

"No! Stay…" she exclaimed, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I figured…" she stopped.

"I'll see you in bed…don't worry," he removed her hand from his shoulder and stepped out of the shower.

He grabbed his wand off the edge of the sink.

"Accio towel," Harry whispered when he got to the door. His towel flew into his hand and he wrapped it around his body.

By the time Ginny got out of the shower, Harry was dressed and laying in bed. He had decided to take a look at The Quibbler Luna had given him. (He tried reading it upside down, like she often did, but quit when it didn't quite work out).

She stood at the end of the bed and looked at him, her red hair was wet and falling down unto her shoulders. Her eyes were still puffy from when she cried after he proposed. She smiled at him and slid into the bed, crawling up towards him.

She kneeled before him and pulled the magazine down, her freckled nose, nearly touching his. She kissed him softly on the lips, he kissed back but after only a short time, pulled away not feeling nearly as invigorated as he felt when he kissed Draco.

"I…think we should try to get some sleep, Ginny…" Harry said sitting farther up on the bed.

"But…"

"It's been a long night, I'm a bit tired," he took his glasses off and placed them on the bedside table.

She gave a loud exasperated sigh, and collapsed into the bed beside him. She wiggled her way under the sheets looked happily at the ring on her finger, then turned to him and stared.

"Harry…" she breathed hard.

"Hmm?"

"I stay here kind of often, nowadays…I figured by now, that we'd be…well physical." Ginny blushed, and fiddled with her hair. "It's not like I'm a virgin, or anything…"

"I know…" He tried to stop her.

"…It just feels to me, like - like you never want to touch me."

Harry sat up once again and looked at her sternly.

"That is not true, Ginny…" He sighed.

Liar.

"It's just," he continued biting his inner lip. "I think - I think you're special, and I want - I wanted to wait until we're married…"

Liar.

She nodded her head holding back happy tears.

Harry ran his hand through his wet hair, relieved that she had believed him.

Ginny's eyes widened when she caught sight of a small bruise just behind Harry's ear. It was red and swollen and a small part of it was purplish-blue.

It was a love bite. A hickey, and she certainly hadn't given it to him.

The breath stopped in her chest, and she clenched her fists hard, but didn't say a word. She really couldn't. One, because it hurt so much, and two, because if it was really nothing, she'd look like a jealous fool. Harry's hair fell back into place, and the mark was no longer in sight.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked when he sensed a change in her disposition.

She forced a smile, "Oh…it's nothing…I'm going to go to sleep. I'm suddenly very tired."

She turned over and faced his closet, she couldn't stand looking at him tonight.

xoxoxo

Harry Potter, The Boy Who's Engaged!

-By Rita Skeeter

Around midnight last night, honored guests to the Ministry's Annual Christmas Ball, were treated to a delightfully romantic treat, when Harry Potter, savior of the Wizarding World, asked Ginny Weasley to be his wife. The young wizard fresh The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, gained fame at the age of only two years old, when he became the only person to survive the killing curse. He enhanced his fame when he finally defeated The Dark Lord himself, ending the Second Great Wizarding War. Mr. Potter, made a gorgeously heart felt speech, his eyes, glistening with love for his now fiancé, Ginny Weasley. She ran to the stage shouting, "Yes!" her eyes filled with tears of joy. The young couple shared passionate kisses and looked lovingly into each other eyes, as onlookers stared in awe. (cont. on pg 5...)

The article was written in the shape of a heart, just below it in a smaller heart was a moving image, of Harry dipping Ginny, nearly to the floor, her leg reaching as far up into the heavens as she could throw it, as he placed a kiss on her waiting lips. The image was set to loop, over and over, merely looking at it made Draco Malfoy sick.

The newspaper lay across a large mahogany table, a copy of The Quibbler from the night before, sat beside it. (Draco had no idea why he'd taken the damned thing).

The Malfoy Manor was a truly breathtaking sight. Table's and countertops made of pure marble, knights armor streaking across the halls, luxurious white couches that never stained. The Manor housed more than one-hundred rooms, most of which Draco had never even been in. The whole mansion was a like a heaven that had only ever been touched by the purest of blood. The platinum blond male stood at the center of his foyer, The Daily Prophet was now clutched in his hands.

"Who the bloody hell does he think he is?!" Draco yelled throwing the newspaper into the flames of his fireplace. Astoria looked up from the kitchen table where she sat eating.

"Still upset about what happened last night?" She chuckled. "My darling Draco," she said condescendingly, "Why does it bother you so?"

"Don't call me darling," spat Draco glaring at her. "Didn't I tell you to be out of the Manor before I woke up?"

"Oh don't give me that tough guy act," she waved him off, placing a piece of toast into her mouth, chewing, swallowing and then continuing. "I'm not Parkinson - it takes far more effort to get rid of me. Don't act like a git just because your boyfriend-"

"He's NOT my BOYFRIEND!" Draco raised his voice, she only laughed.

"Clearly," she pointed at the picture of Harry kissing Ginny in her copy of The Daily Prophet.

Draco bit his bottom lip out of anger, he walked through the large room, passed the wall to the kitchen and stood beside her where she sat in front of the kitchen island.

"Now see here…" he began pointing a finger at her.

"You don't have to worry about it," said Astoria cutting him off. A glass of pumpkin juice floated into her hand and she took a sip, "I know you're hurt, but he'll come crawling back, you'll see. You told me how he melted at your touch in the loo. After that little tease, there's no way he could stay away. Not only that, but the whole time he proposed, he was looking at you. Those words were meant for you. Sure he's an idiot, but he can't keep up this charade forever. You'll have your man soon enough."

Draco sighed and snuck a piece of toast off of Astoria's plate, earning a glare.

"I hope you're right Story…"

He tried to steal the last piece of toast, but she snatched it from his hand.

"Of course I am," she smiled before popping it into her mouth.

xoxoxo

The next afternoon, Harry was pacing back in forth in front of his bed. He wanted to apologize, (well more like beg and grovel for forgiveness). But what could he possibly say?

I'm sorry that I started some crazy affair with you, told you I loved you, allowed you to wank me in the loo only to then propose to someone else while you watched not but ten minutes later. But… we can still be friends right?

Yeah…that'll work, thought Harry rolling his eyes.

Within the next ten minutes, his room was full of crumbled of pieces of parchment, each had a scribbled note that didn't quite make the cut to be sent to Draco. Not wanting to sound too eager, after several horrifying trials, he decided upon this:

Malfoy,

I hope you don't hate me for what happened last night. I was hoping we could still talk. I don't want to lose you.

-Potter

Harry wanted to be less formal and address Draco by his first name, but he didn't think the blond would care too much for that after what happened.

xoxox

When Hedwig arrived at Draco's balcony he recognized her straight away and scoffed.

Honestly Potter, an owl?

She tapped at the glass with her beak as he contemplated allowing her in. Deciding it wasn't the owl's fault that Harry was such a dingbat, he slid the glass doors open. He fed Hedwig a strawberry as he removed the parchment that was tied unto her leg, he then left a few more for her snack on as she waited.

Draco sat on top of his bed and un-rolled the parchment reading its contents.

"This is the worst apology I've ever received…" He looked up at Hedwig and she tilted he head in confusion. "How dare he assume that I was even bothered by him proposing to that…woman…? He could have at least addressed me by my first name…" Draco frowned as Hedwig give him a pitying look.

"No matter, he shall have my answer."

Draco grabbed a parchment from off of his bedside table, and summoned a quill for the bureau beside his mirror. He slowly and elegantly wrote his response before neatly folding the paper and placing it into an envelope. He walked to Hedwig and fastened it to her leg, before handing her another fruit and sending her on her way.

xoxox

It wasn't too long before Harry had a response, Hedwig was very efficient after all. (Not anything like Errol). He hurried to his window and removed the envelope from Hedwig's leg. It was an elegant little envelope, golden with a soft silk like texture. Harry pulled off the wax that was engraved with the Malfoy seal and unfolded the parchment that was inside. Harry studied the paper which was just as elegant, it's frame was the body of a snake slithering around the corners and on the bottom left hand side in Edwardian script were the letters DM. At the center of the parchment in Draco's elegant cursive handwriting were two words:

Fuck You

Harry let a small chuckle escape from his lips. He should have known Malfoy would give a response like that. The problem was, what could he possibly do to get Draco to talk to him? Sending another letter didn't possibly seem like it would work, he decided he'd give him some time to cool off.

It was three days later, before Harry sent another letter. It had been bugging him inside the whole time, and he wanted nothing more than to just stretch his whole heart out on paper. He was depressed and moody and Ginny kept asking questions. He just wanted Draco to forgive him and for his conscience to be clear. A large part deep down inside of him wanted Draco to never stop wanting him.

xoxox

Dear Draco,

I know you hate me and don't want to be hearing from me, but if I could explain to you why I did what I did then maybe we could both feel better. It would be great if you'd agree to come over some time and talk. Please.

Harry

Make us both feel better? Draco scoffed and looked up at Hedwig, "Is your owner serious?"

Astoria who was magically painting her toenails, looked at Draco as if he'd just swallowed a toad.

"Are you talking to his owl?" Astoria chuckled and looked back at her half painted bright blue toenails.

Draco frowned.

"Let me have a look-see," she said holding out her right hand to Draco. He placed it in her hands and she read it quickly, when her eyes were done scanning the page she laughed wholeheartedly. "What'd I tell you? Crawling back. Pathetic really, how predictable, but who can resist the Malfoy charm? Why if you were straight, I'd be buggering you half way across London by now."

Draco made a disgusted face, "Not with those you wouldn't," he pointed at her large chest, and she threw a pillow at him.

"What are you going to say next? You absolutely must keep playing hard to get Draco!" Astoria wailed as he wrote onto a new piece of parchment, when he was finished he handed the envelope to Hedwig, caressed her feathers and sent her on her way.

xoxox

Get bent.

This response came just as Harry was finished getting ready for the dinner at the Burrow. Harry laughed, apparently Draco had a fancy for two word responses. However funny it was, Draco still hadn't forgiven him and he still wouldn't be able to get the blond off his mind all night. The thought made him frown.

Harry heard a 'whoosh' come from a few rooms down and assumed it was Ginny coming to pick him up. He walked to his living room and greeted her by the fireplace, they both stepped in and shouted, "The Burrow!" very clearly. They disappeared in a flurry of green flames.

He was pushed through the fireplace and came face to face with Luna Lovegood who was sitting on the couch beside one of the twins holding a small tub of pudding, eating happily. She smiled when she saw Harry enter through the fireplace. Ginny frowned, Luna had obviously not been there when Ginny left.

"Hello Harry Potter," she said with a bright face. She studied him for a bit not bothering to wipe away the tiny spot of chocolate on her bottom lip. "Still having trouble with the dragon?" she asked assuredly. Ginny furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Harry confused.

"Dragon?" Harry asked bewildered, "I haven't got a dragon-"

Just then, Molly came storming in, "There's our future son-in-law!" she held him in a tight hug then squeezed his cheek awkwardly. "Come into the kitchen everyone! Dinners ready!"

They all stammered into the kitchen, it was just as Harry always remembered it, warm and inviting, a broom was sweeping across the floor on it's own, and the pots and pans that dinner was made in were cleaning themselves. He looked at the large Weasley family, (and Luna), and sighed, they were the family he never had, surely he couldn't give them up for something like love.

Why am I even thinking about Draco? Just a few weeks ago, I was fine, It's all because of that bloody Ball, Harry sighed.

The table had been charmed to stretch a bit longer. Harry took his usual seat besides Arthur.

"Our Ginny engaged to Harry Potter," he said smiling wildly once everyone's plates had been filled with food, "I know it's been a few days, but I still can't get over it. So great to see you making an honest woman out of our Ginny."

Harry faked a small smile, just enough to satisfy Arthur.

"Yes, honest," said Fred and George mocking their father.

Ginny glared at their smiling faces.

"Personally…"

"We feel sorry for you."

"You think mum's got a right nasty temper…"

"Wait till you live with our sister."

Ron snickered and Hermione elbowed him, If Ginny had been born part Basilisk, the twins would have both been six feet under. Her glare didn't falter their amusement for one second, their smiles were as bright as ever. Harry didn't laugh throughout the dinner, the very thought of his engagement to Ginny made his stomach hurt.

When dinner was over, Harry and a few other people had re-entered the family room, Ginny and Hermione stayed behind to help Molly clean up a bit and Ron and Charlie sat in the corner playing a game of wizards chess while Bill watched. Percy left early, (he had decided he'd visit them more often, seeing as the war had scared him half to death at the thought of losing any of them, but that didn't mean he'd stay longer than he needed to).

It was then that Harry noticed that Luna was standing across from him staring rather oddly. After a few minutes the twins suddenly apparated at either side of Luna, Harry was taken aback with surprise, Luna however seemed unfazed.

"Oh, hello Fred, George," she said obviously addressing them correctly.

"Hello Luna…" they said simultaneously before skulking away with whispers of, "She's bloody weird, she is," "First one we haven't caught with that," and, "She's impenetrable…"

Harry sat down on their old but comfy couch and Luna sat beside him still staring.

"I know a lot of people think I'm strange…" she finally spoke after several minutes of uncomfortable staring, "That's why I never really had too many friends."

"I'm your friend, Luna," said Harry reassuringly.

"That's nice," she replied. "I'm glad, because I like being strange. I'd much rather be different, and happy, then what people expect me to be and completely miserable," she searched Harry's face for a little while, sensing a bit of understanding creeping up onto his features, "Do you understand, Harry Potter?"

"Umm…yes," Harry answered, "I believe so," he looked around the room nervously and bit his inner lip. "I have to go," he stood up and Luna smiled.

He ran for the front door, and everyone stared up at him awkwardly.

"Oy, Harry! Where are you running off too?!" Ron called from behind.

"It's an emergency Ron, tell Ginny bye for me, yeah? I'll talk to her later, tell her not to worry," he called back before opening a loudly shutting the door.

"What do you think that was about?" said Fred smiling wildly.

"Something about his dragon I suppose…" Luna answered trialing off as the rest of them stared at her awkwardly.

"Harry's got a dragon…?"

xoxox

As soon as he was out of the magical boundaries of the Burrow, Harry stopped in his tracks and composed himself. What had he been thinking proposing to Ginny? How thick could he possibly be? He was still in a very, unsettling phase in his life, but to force himself to submit to what he thought was right? He could smack himself. He needed to do a lot of thinking a lot of talking, he needed to see Draco Malfoy. He pulled his wands from his inside jacket pocket and with a loud 'crack' he was gone from the wheat field.

Harry checked himself over, and ran his hands through his hair. He straightened himself up and fixed the collar of his shirt, and continued his walk down the rest of the way towards Malfoy Manor.

tbc...

A/N- I hope you enjoyed, I know not too much HP/DM in this chapter but it will be creeping up again very soon, you've noticed by now I'll be ignoring quite a few deaths, I think the only two I'll really stay true to are those of Sirius and Dumbledore, depending on how I feel later. xD R/R! please.