Over the next few weeks, Harry's life slipped into a comfortable routine. Helping Ashton with Muggle Studies was a breeze. They were watching different movies so everything was new, and he could also work on homework for other classes if he wanted to. Occasionally, he and Draco would go into the back room to "organize note" or "grade papers" or with some other boring sounding excuse. His classes were challenging, but not exceedingly difficult. He wasn't doing as well as he would have liked in Medical Potions with Draco, but he understood why. Very little studying actually took place in their study sessions.
Most of his free time was spent in the library with Draco, Blaise, Hermione, and Ron. Much to his surprise, though he could hardly claim that he was upset about it, Hermione seemed to have called thing off with Blaise. Their private study sessions were abandoned, replaced with Hermione spending time with Ron. Harry tried to ignore pestering little thoughts that claimed that the girl was not as happy as she used to be. Certainly it was true, but it had to be due to the recent break up. Soon she'd be back to normal and the whole mess with Blaise would be forgotten. He only hoped that it would happen soon.
When he was not in class or at the library, he was usually in his room. It had not taken long to memorize Ron's schedule, Harry and Draco knew exactly how long they would have Harry's dorm room to themselves. They took advantage of that time as best they could, spending hours exploring each other's bodies. They were always able to maintain the image of innocent studying by the time that the redhead returned.
Harry did not have any complaints about his sex life, that part of his relationship with Draco was strong. He worried about other aspects though. Admittedly, they did not talk much anymore. He did not want to bring it up for fear of sounding like a girl, but he missed the connection that he used to have. At times, it seemed like he and Draco did little more than have sex.
Things had been slowly improving between Ron and the two Slytherins. They weren't best friends, but both sides were making efforts to be more friendly.
The one thing that had not changed, and would probably never change, was the quality of the dorm. During the few weeks that he had been living there, the heat had fluctuated wildly. It had was always too hot or too cold, never comfortable. Today though, the heat was completely gone. Icy air outside had rushed through the small cracks in the window, chasing the heat from the room. It did not take long for the temperature to plummet, leaving the inhabitants shivering. Harry swore that if he had looked close enough, he would see tiny icicles forming on the ceiling, matching the larger ones growing outside.
A strong shiver ran through Harry's body as he wrapped his quilt tighter around his body. He had to finish studying. It was too late to go to the library, most other areas would be closed as well. He and Ron were doomed to freeze for at least the rest of the night. He tried not to think about it though, he had to focus on studying. There was a test in magical potions next class and his study session with Draco achieved very little actual studying. He had to memorize this recipe, no questions asked. Maybe, just maybe, focusing on how stupid he was would distract him from how cold he was.
A loud knock on the door made both Ron and Harry jump. Since Ron looked comfortable in his cocoon of blankets, Harry got up to answer the door. His heavy socks slipped on the linoleum and the thick quilt dragged on the floor like a king's cape. He was honestly not surprised to see Draco standing in the doorway. Harry had forgotten some of his notes for another class during the short time that they were actually studying in the library. Harry had hoped that the blonde would bring them back, and how he had. Draco was holding parchment with familiar handwriting scrawled on it.
He stepped into the room, probably going to ask Harry about the potion that they were supposed to be studying, but Harry never discovered the real reason. As soon as he entered, a chill went down Draco's spine. His eyes shifted between two frozen roommates. Both of them continued to shiver under their blankets.
"Are you actually planning to sleep like this?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
Ron and Harry looked at each other, nodding. It wasn't as though they had a choice. They didn't have another room to go to.
"Grab your pillows and blankets," Draco said, turning away and walking out the door.
Harry and Ron, still a little shell shocked, looked at each other for about half a second before they grabbed their pillows and rushed out. All of their blankets were already wrapped around them and soon found themselves in a warm hallway, heading towards Draco's room. Harry couldn't hide some of his excitement, he had never seen Draco's room before. Hopefully Ron would assume that he was just happy about going somewhere warm. Hopefully he wouldn't guess that he was excited about being in Draco's room. He missed the soft scent that clung to all of Draco's possessions, the way that everything seemed precious. He knew that being around Draco's belongings would not fill in the cracks that had begun to form in their relationship, but maybe the familiarity would help Harry remember why and how it had all begun. Hopefully it had not formed just because they spent so much time together.
"We have the beds bunked, so there is plenty of room on the floor," Draco announced as he swung the door open.
Something about Draco's voice bothered Harry. He seemed nervous somehow, though Harry had no idea why. The way that he said "we" when talking about him and his knew roommate just stuck in Harry's head. They had never had their beds bunked, they had started out with lines on the floor marking out territory and a list of rules more detailed than a national peace treaty. It did hurt to think about how much closer the Draco and his new roommate were. Harry knew that it was stupid, Draco was not living with this man by choice. They were thrown together by a roll of he dice and were making the best of it. What he and Draco had was more than that, he shouldn't feel threatened by this random person. That knowledge did little to change the fact that he did feel threatened.
"Theo, I've got two people here. Their heat isn't working in their room, so they are staying here tonight." Draco announced.
Harry released a deep breath that he did not realize he had been holding. There was a deep seeded segregation in the room, apart from the bed. All of Draco's things were in one area, all of his roommate's things, Theo's things, in a separate area. The bed bunking seemed to have been one only to provide more space for more separation. It was not the cozy little abode that he had feared finding.
"Ok, there's a cot under the bed, but only one," a voice said from the top bunk.
Harry froze for a moment, even though the room was toasty warm. The voice was not overly familiar, but he was certain that he had heard it before. He racked his brain trying to recall where he had heard it. It was not in a class, he knew that much. He didn't think that he had heard the voice more than once, maybe twice. He just could not recognize it until he saw the man peer over the side of the bed, his black hair, still a mess from sleep. His face was not something that Harry would ever forget. He could still picture him, struggling to get his pants on and introducing himself at the same time. This man, Theo, was the one that Draco had slept with the day that Crecentia had visited.
Harry glared at Draco, who seemed to be busying himself to avoid Harry's gaze. He had noticed that Draco had never talked about his roommate, he had just assumed that Draco did not care enough. There were many things that they never talked about, this topic had not seemed any different. Now there were so many other explanations, some of them that Harry just did not want to think about. All of the doubts began to creep into his head. The fact that his boyfriend was living with someone that he used to have sex with was not nearly as worrying as the fact that he had gone out of his way to avoid mentioning it. He doubted that Draco would cheat on him, but there really was not much backing up those beliefs.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry hissed quiet enough that Ron would not hear him.
Draco just looked away from his boyfriend without saying a word. When Harry moved to follow him, Draco let out a deep sigh and turned to address him. "Later tonight, after they go to sleep, we'll talk about it then."
Harry fumed, but he knew that Draco was right. It would be better for them to talk about it after everyone else was asleep. The bad thing about that was that it gave him lots of time to think. He tried to study, but his mind was just absorbed by worries about his relationship. Why would Draco hide such things? If there was nothing going on, then Draco had no reason not to tell him. These thoughts swirled around in his head as the time slowly ticked by.
"Thanks for letting us sleep here," Ron said, finally remembering his manners. Ron was only doing what Harry had asked. He was trying to be nice to Draco, and Harry was certain that the emotion was genuine. At the moment though, Harry just wanted him to shut up and go to sleep, politeness be damned!
"Well, Slytherin dorms were always freezing, so I know how hard it is to sleep in the cold," Draco shrugged, "And you both looked so pathetic wrapped up in your blankets."
"So the Slytherin has a warm heart" Ron rolled his eyes, knowing that Draco would just shrug off the comment.
"And cold blood, don't forget about that."
Ron looked over at Harry, as if to emphasize the fact that the two of them were getting along. Harry smiled back, acting as though he was not just about ready to strangle his friend. If the coming conversation did not go well, there might be no reason for Ron and Draco to try to get along. He hated to think like that, particularly when they were both putting so much effort into it, but there were so many ways that things could go wrong that night and very few ways that things could go right.
See, I didn't abandon this story. Yes, it has gone on the back burner, but I am absolutly swamped with school work. All of my classes this year beleive that I am only taking their class and have nothing else to do all week long except to work on things for their class. I have a graduate level class, two upper level classes in my major, and two gen ed/elective classes that think they are graduate level classes. On top of that I've been having financial problems, roommate problems, and I had swine flu (not as bad as the news makes it sound. I wouldnt reccomend getting it, but it isnt the worst flu I've had). I WILL NOT abandon this story until I have finished it, but there may very well be more gaps in updates like this last one. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, sorry that it is not as long as the other ones, and hopefully my next update will come quicker than this one.
