The talk.

'Harry can we talk?'

Harry lifted his eyes from the book he was pretending to read and looked up into the steely grey ones of his newest friend.

No one had been more surprised than Harry about the easy camaraderie that had struck up between the two. Once he had gotten past old hang ups and prejudices Harry had found the dry sarcasm and wit charming and very often hilarious. A biting remark from Draco that had once seemed cruel now had him in fits of laughter. The summer had been so much better than expected. At first, when he had seen Draco living with Teddy he had been scared for the young boy, but, at Andromeda's insistence he had given the Slytherin a chance.

The blond had been his confidant over the summer as his relationship with Ginny had broken down. AS the boy hero he had done what was expected of him and 'got the girl' but that was not what he wanted. He tried to want it, tried to 'conform' but it hadn't worked, the cracks had begun to show and he could see Ginny becoming unhappier by the day. Eventually she had broken down begging him to tell her, 'Who she was?' Harry was confused as Ginny sobbed wanting to know who had won him from her. Harry swore he had no idea what she was talking about, there was no one else, he had been faithful, he promised her that. Ginny had looked at him then, in a way that was almost pitiful, 'Harry, when we're together you're not with me, your mind is elsewhere, with someone else, you spend less and less time with me, whether you even know it or not there is someone else.' Harry had denied the accusations vehemently, all the while racking his brains to figure out what she was talking about, she must be imagining things. But then, in the corner of his mind he saw an eye crinkled with laughter, a smirk, so perfect it was obviously formed from years of practice and a glimmer of the whitest blond hair Harry had even seen. Harry's heart had leapt at the image, starting to beat wildly as though a dozen snitches had taken residence in his rib cage.

Ginny caught the moment, she saw those beautiful emerald eyes widen with realisation, she should have been angry but she couldn't bring herself to be when it was so obvious that Harry had no idea himself. She had reached out and placed a hand on his knee, 'I was right wasn't I?' Harry looked up and, being unable to lie, simply nodded.

Harry lifted his eyes from the book he was pretending to read and looked up into the steely grey ones of his newest friend.

As always, he felt the flutter of snitches as their eyes met, had tried to ignore them, knowing nothing would ever come of it, Draco would never see him that way, and anyway, he had Seamus now.

'Hey Drake,' he said, offering a smile to his friend.

The corner of Draco's mouth lifted at the greeting, 'You know I hate that Harry.'

Harry shrugged, 'I like it, think it suits you, you ok?'

Draco pulled out the chair opposite, flinching as the wood scraped along the stone floor. He sat gracefully of the chair, crossing one long leg over the other. 'Well,' he said with a wink, 'If you think it suits me I think I can live with it.'

Harry could feel the heat rising in his cheeks, he knew there was no way Draco was flirting with him, but still.

Draco watched the pink tinge cross Harry's face with interest. Where on earth had that come from? He must be feeling a bit warm. He shook his head and thought nothing more of it, he had more important things to worry about. He had no idea how Harry was going to gauge the news so decided to test the waters a bit first.

'So you and Finnegan then? I didn't see that coming I must say.' Draco fought hard to keep the bitterness out of his tone. Even the thought of the two of them together made him feel nauseous but he needed to have this conversation.

Once again Harry blushed, he really did not want to have this conversation with Draco. The man who made him realise he liked men, the man he could never have, the man who would never look at him twice.

After the conversation with Ginny, the realisation that he fancied Draco had hit him like a charging Hippogriff. He'd acknowledged the constant need to be around him without really understanding why. Not even thinking twice when he cancelled a date with Ginny to take Teddy to the park with the blond.

After the shock of the realisation came the heartache, the blond Adonis had a wild reputation when it came to the ladies. Tales of Draco's conquests travelled the halls of Hogwarts regularly. A man like that wouldn't even look at any man let alone a speccy short arse with a giant scar on his head.

In his hour of need he had turned to the twins, after listening and accepting as only they could, (lots of alcohol and well-meant gay jokes) they had offered him an interesting piece of advice, 'The only way to get over one man was to get under another.' Harry had laughed with them, deciding not to break the news of his virginity. There is only so much time in the world and fighting a raging psychopath had taken up most of Harry's. Also the realisation that he wasn't actually physically attracted to his girlfriend didn't help matters one bit. But then came Seamus, this bubbly bouncy personality who was decidedly easy on the eye. The Irish man had practically thrown himself at Harry and Harry took the metaphoric bull by the horns and dove right in.

Harry smiled at the man before him, 'Neither did I to be quite honest.' Harry shifted a little in his seat, struggling to meet Draco's eye, something that did not go un noticed by the blond. ' I was out with the twins one night and he was just there, we got talking and well you know the rest.'

Draco nodded, whilst trying to quell the rage building inside him. How anyone could hurt this beautiful, trusting creature before him was well beyond his capabilities of understanding. He would love to forcibly remove Finnegan's head from his body, even if it did violate his rule about getting his hands dirty.

Draco uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the rough table in front of him. 'Harry, 'he said quietly, not wanting to drag this out any longer. Now Harry did meet his eye, surprised by the tone his voice had taken. He waited for Draco to continue.'

'If I knew something, something that would hurt like hell, something that would destroy your trust in two people you considered friends would you want me to tell you? Would you trust in me enough to know that I wasn't making it up?'

Harry had kept eye-contact with the swirling pools of silver and grey, he could see the earnestness with which Draco spoke, he knew, for no reason but that, that he could trust the other man. Without a word he nodded, knowing he wasn't going to like what came next.