DISCLAIMER: I wish I may, I wish I might, find I own these boys tonight…..Nope. Still no luck.

A/N: Muhahaha I know you all hate me for that last cliffy, but I make up for it in this chapter (I hope). I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying it so far, and I hope this chapter meets your needs! Leave some love!

WARNING: Some kissing and a little more talk of suicide. Nothing too horrible, (or sexy) yet. Sorry loves!

Ch 4.
How Poetic

Harry gasped into the soft lips that had just unexpectedly been forced onto his own. He wasn't sure how exactly he had ended up in this situation, but he was kissing Draco back before he realized just how awkward the kiss was.

Draco was shocked when Harry relaxed and took his bottom lip in between his own. For someone who hadn't been very experienced with kissing, Harry certainly seemed like he knew what he was doing. Draco released the front of Harry's sweater before letting his hand tangle itself in the Gryffindor's shaggy hair.

A loud clap of thunder sounded overhead, breaking both buys out of the strange trance they had fallen into. Harry was the first to pull away from Draco, feeling disorientated and confused. He scooted away from Draco, stumbling over his own feet as he tried to put as much distance between himself and Draco.

Draco was much calmer, though not any less freaked out about what had just happened. He must have lost his mind; he just kissed Harry Potter- willingly.

And he liked it.

"Er…We should go to lunch. It looks like it's going to- " Harry began to say, trying not to look at Draco.

Another loud clap of thunder and a bright flash preceded a sudden down-pour of icy cold rain. Both boys looked up at the angry gray clouds as they were almost instantly soaked through.

Draco stood up first, shaking his soppy blond hair out of his eyes. "Nice prediction, Harry. I guess I'll see you next Sunday then?" he asked as he began to walk towards the exit from the Tower.

Harry was glad of the rain; it hid his blush well. "I guess so. We may want to consider changing where exactly we hang out, however. I have a feeling this won't be the last time we get rained on, or snowed on for that fact," said Harry, thankful that Draco seemed to be ignoring what had just happened as thoroughly as he was.

Draco shrugged. "Sure, we'll discuss it later. See you." He waved as he rushed over to the Tower door and disappeared through it, leaving Harry to stand in the icy rain.

A few minutes later, Harry was stepping off the last step of the spiraling staircase up to the Tower. As he turned the corner, he ran right into Draco, who looked as though he'd been waiting there. "What are you still doing here?" Harry asked, not bothering to apologize for smashing into him.

Draco blushed as he pushed himself away from the wall he had just been unceremoniously slammed in to. "I just wanted to remind you of something. What happens up there stays up there; that goes for everything," Draco said with a look of deep embarrassment.

Harry cocked an eyebrow at the Slytherin but nodded. "There's no question of that, Draco. I think that rule is pretty much law by now; no need to reiterate. Especially this time…"

Draco blushed even deeper but kept his composure. "Good. See you around then." And with that, he quickly made his way as far from Harry as he could possibly get.

Harry walked in the other direction, planning on going to lunch. He vaguely wondered where Draco was going if not to the Great Hall, but didn't think too much about it. As he walked through the corridors, he saw a flash of red hair just ahead of him walking out of a girl's loo; Ginny.

Ginny turned as she heard the sounds of someone walking up behind her. "Oh, hello Harry. Where've you been? It seems like you never eat breakfast on the weekends anymore. Are you alright? You're soaking wet you know," Ginny said with an amused smirk.

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I'm fine. I was- er- outside and it started raining. Heading to lunch?" Harry asked, avoiding the specifics of his whereabouts for that morning.

Ginny looked curious, but didn't otherwise push the matter. "Yeah. Here, let me dry you off since you seem to want to catch your death before you'll do it yourself." Ginny pulled out her wand and twirled it, pointing at Harry's soaked clothing.

A warm sensation spread throughout his body, his clothes now feeling as toasty warm as if they'd come straight from the dryer. "Thanks, Gin," said Harry with a distracted sort of smile.

Ginny had fixed Harry with a calculating stare, but thankfully didn't say anything more until they were almost to the Great Hall. "Harry, wait. Look, I heard you talking to Malfoy the other day about- about meeting him on the Astronomy Tower. I know you guys are- well- friends now, but I think you should be careful. Who's to say he won't just throw you over the side and be done with it, eh?"

Harry smiled a genuine smile as he studied the look of amused concern on Ginny's face. "Thanks for the concern, Ginny, but I think I'll be fine. Draco hasn't got the bullocks nor the strength to throw me over the side of the Astronomy Tower."

"Careful, Harry; I might just have to prove you wrong," Draco hissed with a smirk as he passed Harry and Ginny to enter the Great Hall. He was perfectly dry and looked crisp and clean as ever. How on earth he had walked so fast as to beat Harry there, he had no idea.

Harry blushed as he watched Draco walk by, feeling slightly excited about Draco's threat. What was wrong with him? "I have lovely timing," Harry deadpanned as he walked with Ginny.

Ginny laughed as they walked into the Great Hall and headed to the Gryffindor table. "It's weird hearing him call you 'Harry' and not 'Potter'. His threat didn't even sound nearly as vindictive as I would have expected. It almost seemed…flirtatious. Hermione is waving you over. I'm going to sit with Neville. See you around, Harry." Ginny smiled at Harry before walking over to sit beside Neville at the Gryffindor table.

Harry wished he knew how to make himself immune to blushing as he walked over to sit down beside Ron and across from Hermione. If excessive blushing would make it stop, he'd be unable to blush ever again by the end of the day.

DHDHDH

"So should I go ahead and throw you over now, or would you like to give me time to grow some bullocks and gather my strength first?"

Harry smirked as he walked over to Draco, who was standing with his back to Harry. "I'll give you some time; I daresay you'll need it," said Harry. He handed over a steaming cup of tea to the Slytherin as he leaned over the ramparts and looked down at the wide expanse that was Hogwarts grounds.

The corners of Draco's mouth curled a little as he gratefully took the hot tea. "Clever, Harry; absolutely brilliant."

Harry noticed that Draco didn't seem too interested in the jibe, like he was distracted. "What's on your mind, Draco?" he asked quietly.

Draco let out a heavy sigh as he glanced quickly at the bold Gryffindor. Leave it to Harry to recognize when Draco wasn't feeling quite himself. "It's been three years to the day since Jacob kissed me and told me how he felt about me. I feel a hundred years old, Harry…third year seems like a lifetime ago," Draco said barely above a whisper. He knew Harry had heard him, however.

Harry turned to look at Draco a little more closely. He could see that the pale blond seemed a bit thinner, and his eyes had a sunken in look to them. He definitely seemed like he felt a hundred years old. "I know what you mean. Third year I found out that I had a godfather who cared for me and wanted to help give me that family I've never had. He's dead now, and I still don't have that family. I feel much older than sixteen years old myself." Harry wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say in his position. He wasn't really one to give cheerful advice to a mourning lover.

Draco ran a hand through his usually pristine and silky locks, which looked lank and tired today. "I know why they call it heart ache when you go through this shit. It really does feel like my heart hurts, like I'm carrying around a lead weight in my chest. It's like a constricting feeling, almost to the point where I'm afraid I'll suffocate because I can't breathe under the pressure of it. How fucking poetic. I really am pathetic, aren't I?"

Harry felt a slight pang in his chest at Draco's words. "You're not pathetic at all. That makes a lot more sense than you'd think. We may be going through two different forms of heartache, but I understand how you feel. It's overwhelming," Harry said with a gentleness to his voice that surprised himself.

"Who knew I'd be commiserating with Harry Potter about my dead ex-boyfriend. Now that I feel like throwing myself over the edge, maybe we should change the subject, eh?"

Harry let out a soft laugh. "You don't have the bullocks to do that either, Malfoy. Slytherins don't believe in self sacrifice."

Draco laughed humorlessly. "It's not exactly self sacrifice. I wouldn't be sacrificing myself for anything but my own misery; doesn't really help anybody else out, does it?"

"Depends on how you think about it, really. It would help me out because I wouldn't have to listen to you bitch anymore."

Draco smirked over at Harry. "Oh, well, in that case- " Draco jump up onto the wall and swung his legs so that they hung over the ledge.

Harry's heart stopped as he watched Draco suddenly fling himself up onto the wall. He instinctively moved forward and grabbed Draco's arm, prepared to bear all of the Slytherin's weight on his own.

Draco laughed as he was jerked almost backwards off of the wall by Harry's strong hold on his forearm. "Merlin, Potter, who knew you cared so much? Did you honestly think I'd be stupid enough to just throw myself off the Astronomy Tower because it would make you happy? I don't appreciate our friendship quite that much just yet. Typical Gryffindor," Draco said as he kicked his legs back and forth. It was horrifying to sit on the ledge of the highest Tower just to see Harry blush, but that's what he was doing.

Harry felt his heart squirm from his throat all the way to somewhere below his navel. "Jesus Christ, Draco! You scared the shit out of me! Don't fucking do that again, or I'll push you off myself next time. Fucking Slytherin," Harry snapped as he crossed his arms over his chest. He had never been so scared in his life.

Draco cocked an eyebrow at Harry's obvious panic over his careless joke. "Sorry, Harry. I didn't think it would freak you out so much. Forgive me for thinking you wouldn't care if I flung myself from the highest Tower," Draco said with a curious smirk.

"The only person I want flinging themselves off the highest Tower is Voldemort. Regardless of our past animosity towards each other, I would never want you dead, Draco. Isn't that the whole reason we made this deal; because I thought you would be happy to find out I was being tortured last year in my detentions? How can you berate me about that when you think I could possibly want you dead? Who do you think I am?" Harry had officially lost his temper now. Had Draco learnt nothing in all the time they'd spent together so far?

Draco climbed back over the side of the rampart and hopped down beside Harry, now honestly feeling ashamed of what he'd done and said. "Calm down, Harry. I was only joking. Don't get your wand in a knot. I- I don't know who I think you are…I haven't gotten to know you well enough yet. So far everything has been about me, so I guess it's your turn. Tell me about your life, Potter," Draco said, an inviting look of curiosity on his aristocratic features.

Harry clung to his bad mood for a few more minutes before letting his arms drop to his sides. Maybe this wouldn't be that bad after all. "I'm sure you don't want to know all about my life, Draco. Everything you've ever read about me in the Daily Prophet, forget it. None of that is who I am. I'm a sixteen year old Hogwarts student with the same childish worries as everyone else, except I have that extra little annoying thing called Voldemort to worry about."

Draco sighed as he leaned his back against the wall. He knew trying to get to know Harry Potter wasn't going to be an easy feat, but he hadn't expected such resistance from the Gryffindor. True, he had always seen Harry as a generally quiet person, but he always considered it more of an issue of self absorbency than self reflection. Harry was a lot more intelligent than people gave him credit for. "I never believed what the papers said about you. You can't trust the tabloids; even I know that. Why are you avoiding giving me details?"

Harry looked slightly confused as he studied Draco's expression. "What do you mean? I'm not avoiding anything. Do you seriously want to hear about my fucked up childhood? Are you really that interested?" he asked with an incredulous look.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't really interested, git. Come on, I'm waiting here." Draco made himself comfortable, sitting with his legs crossed and his back leaning against the rampart.

Harry sighed and sat down beside Draco, eyeing him suspiciously. "You're going to laugh at anything I tell you, but why the hell not? Speaking of third year,…"

Harry started telling the long winded story of his hellish summer when Aunt Marge stayed over before his third year at Hogwarts. Harry could have talked for hours and hours about how much he hated that woman. When he got to the part about accidentally blowing his Aunt up, Draco was practically rolling on the ground laughing.

"You actually blew her up! The old hag sounded like she indeed deserved it, but I never thought you'd have it in you. How did you not get expelled for that?" Draco asked as he wiped away his tears of mirth.

He was enthralled by Harry's story telling; the way he gave details, used his hands to gesticulate his points, and changed the tone of his voice when he switched between humor and horror. Draco felt himself sympathizing with Harry, getting angry about the things that had been done to him and said to him, and felt the sense of foreboding when Harry described the enormous black dog down the alley way.

"So when I got to the Leaky Cauldron, Fudge was actually there waiting for me. I was practically shitting myself; I thought I was on my way to a cell in Azkaban. When he told me I'd been pardoned due to 'bigger things going on' I couldn't believe my dumb luck. I spent the rest of third year thinking a deranged mass murderer was after me, finding out in the middle of the year that he was technically my legal guardian as my Godfather." Harry paused as that familiar feeling of dread filled his chest, threatening to engulf him completely.

Draco noticed Harry's hesitancy to continue. "Are you ok?" He wasn't sure what made him ask, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Harry's smile had slipped; his eyes seemed to fill with pain as he averted them. It was amazing how much you could tell about someone by their expression and body language alone.

Harry took a deep breath and nodded, trying to push away the painful stitch in his chest. "I'm fine. The wound is still fresh though, you know? He was like the older brother I never had," Harry said quietly as pulled at a string on his sleeve.

"Yeah, I know what you mean…"

The two boys sat in a strangely comfortable silence for a long time, looking out over the overcast sky or avoiding each other's gaze. Harry let out an exasperated sigh as he became a little restless.

"Why did you kiss me?"

Draco turned to look at Harry, blinking a few times as if he hadn't heard right. "Because I'm madly in love with you, Potter," Draco said with a roll of his eyes.

Harry scoffed and kicked Draco's shin from his own sitting position. "I'm serious, prat."

Draco shrugged, trying to hide the slight blush that had formed on his cheeks. Why had he kissed Harry? To shut him up, he remembered that much; but why kiss him? Maybe he was worked up from talking about Jacob…Or maybe there was something else. "Seemed like the best way of shutting you up at the time. You weren't expecting a marriage proposal, were you?"

Harry blushed, but rolled his eyes. "Of course not. I was just wondering why you would kiss me of all people." He'd been wondering about it for a long time, ever since they both practically ran away from each other last week. Harry would lie awake at night and imagine Draco kissing him again. It was the cause of a fair few not very decent dreams the last couple of nights.

Draco fixed Harry with a curious stare, almost as if he could see straight through to his soul, his very being. "Why not? Who else would I kiss?"

"Just about anyone else in the school, I would think." Harry looked away from Draco, his blush deepening even more. "Was it only to shut me up?"

Draco met Harry's eyes, his expression as serious as he could make it. "Would you want it to be more?" he asked quietly. Did he want it to be anything more?

Harry looked up abruptly at Draco, his expression curious, yet with a slight hint of fear. He wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing; he wasn't going to hide what he'd been feeling for a while now. "Yeah, maybe…" Oh God, what had he just done?

Draco's eyes seemed to brighten as a small smirk played at his lips. "So, Harry Potter really does have a burning crush on me, eh?" Draco tried not to show just how happy this little bit of information actually made him.

Harry let out a relieved sort of laugh. Draco seemed to be ok with the idea, so Harry could be ok with it too. "Yeah, I guess I do. But need I remind you who kissed whom?"

Draco chuckled as he made the split second decision to move forward towards Harry. He had kissed him before; this should be a piece of cake. "No, I remember it pretty vividly, actually. I think it went something like this."

This time, Harry didn't gasp or hesitate like before. He welcomed Draco's soft lips between his own, shivering slightly as Draco laced a hand in his unruly hair. He lifted his hand up to the Slytherin's icy blond hair, finding it delightfully soft and smooth.

Draco was pleased with Harry's reaction. He could get use to doing this; Harry's lips were soft and tasted of the sweet tea he'd been drinking earlier. He felt a boiling heat in the pit of his stomach rush south as Harry involuntarily moaned against his mouth. He flicked his tongue out against the Gryffindor's bottom lip as a plea for entry.

Harry obliged Draco's warm tongue, opening his mouth and meeting the strong muscle with his own. He let out another soft moan as he felt his body starting to react to the heated kiss. He let Draco suck and nibble on his tongue, returning the favor to make sure Draco knew he was just as willing in this kiss. He'd only ever kissed Cho Change before, and even that wasn't much of a kiss. He spent the majority of the time trying to stem the flow of her unabashed tears. This was something completely different; he'd never been so turned on by something as simple as a kiss before.

Draco didn't know when or how, but he had ended up in Harry's lap, straddling the raven haired boy as he hungrily kissed him. Every time he heard Harry moan his arousal reached a whole new level. Whatever may have happened between them in the past, Draco had never wanted to kiss anyone else so desperately before. He pulled away slightly to catch his breath before attacking Harry's red and kiss-swollen lips again, nibbling lightly on his bottom lip in a teasing gesture.

"Oh God…"

"No, just Draco…"

The two boys chuckled lightly into the kiss, relaxing dramatically and creating a whole new enthusiasm for the each other. If either had thought it would be awkward to kiss their former arch enemy with no restraints, they were sorely mistaken.

The next week was the longest week Harry had ever lived through in his entire life. In the Great Hall, in classes, in the corridors; Draco always seemed to be right there, but still just out of reach. He caught the Slytherin glancing or staring at him with the same hungry look in his eyes that Harry knew must be present in his own. He couldn't help but be instantly distracted by that blazing gray gaze whenever he caught Draco's eye.

"…Harry? HARRY!"

"Wha- ?"

"I've been trying to talk to you for the last ten minutes. What are you staring at anyways?" Hermione asked as she sat down beside Harry in the library on Wednesday night. She tried to follow his line of vision, but lost it as Harry turned back to his books, blushing something furious. She couldn't imagine who he'd been looking at; the only students in the direction he was looking were Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson.

"Sorry, must have been day dreaming. What were you saying?" Harry asked, trying to distract Hermione from staring at Draco. He'd need to be more careful about staring shamelessly at his- whatever he was.

Hermione looked skeptical about Harry's excuse, but didn't pry any more. "I was trying to ask you if you've thought about reconsidering Snape's offer yet. I really think you should, Harry. It's a really good opportunity and Snape wouldn't offer unless he really thought you were capable of- "

"Hermione, please! Stop badgering me about it. I'm thinking about it, I really am, but I need more time. Something just doesn't feel right about it, ok? I'm just…not sure yet. I promise you'll be the first to know when I make up my kind," Harry said with an apologetic smile. He really hadn't meant to shout at Hermione, but she asked him about it almost every day.

Hermione let out a reluctant sigh but nodded nonetheless. "Ok, I won't ask again. Sorry, Harry," she said quietly as she opened her potions book and began on her essay.

Harry felt even more guilty as Hermione fell into her silent study mode. Though Hermione and Ron almost never caused Harry's stress, they always seemed to find themselves at the end of Harry's frustrated wrath. He tried not to take it out on his friends, but it was so hard when they were such ready and convenient outlets. Harry was startled out of his train of thought by an origami dove landing in front of him atop his Defense book. He quickly snatched it up, thankful that Hermione was too engrossed in her essay to notice it. Slowly unfolding it behind his book, he chanced a glance over at Draco, who was smirking in his direction.

'Meet me in the Room of Requirement in fifteen minutes.

Don't keep me waiting.

-D '

Harry could feel his cheeks burning as he finished the note. He quickly closed his book on the parchment dove, looking back up and finding that Draco had already left the library. He could feel his hands shaking slightly as he began to pack his things way, trying not to seem as though he was in a rush.

"Where are you off to so early? I know you didn't finish that Defense essay and you haven't even looked at potions yet," Hermione said in a disapproving tone.

Harry smiled at his friend but continued to stow away his belongings. "I can't think straight right now. I think I'm going to go have a bath and think about Snape's offer. I'll see you later in the common room." Harry blatantly used the one lie he knew would get Hermione off his back. He hated lying to his friends, but sometimes Hermione was too difficult not to lie to at least a little.

Hermione beamed as she turned back to her almost complete essay. "Good idea, Harry. Take a good long bath and think about it. I'll help you with your essays tomorrow," she said with an air of triumph that was ill hidden.

Harry tried not to sound too amused. "Thanks, Hermione. You're a life saver." In his giddy haste to leave, he placed a quick kiss on the top of Hermione's head among her luscious brown curls. He didn't even blush as Hermione turned to watch him leave with a shocked blush on her cheeks.

A/N: HAHAHA! Another cliffy, kind of. I'm so evil. But I must go to sleep or else I'll be dead for class in the morning. Please leave some reviews for me to read during my five hour long lunch break! Ciao!