Thank you for the reviews everyone. I know its super soppy, but they mean a lot to me, they really make my day. So thank you.

Harry was totally stunned by this. Last time he had watched Draco, he had seemed carefree, casual, even happy. This was...totally different. He had no idea what to do, he was about to reach out a hand to him, when he dashed from the room. Harry didn't follow. He didn't know what to weighed on his mind, and again, he couldn't sleep that night.

He tossed and turned and thought and planned. He wasn't going to send him away, that was as clear as day. If seeing him get a little upset bothered Harry this much, sending him back to a sex filled hell hole would surely kill him. But he couldn't keep doing this, this was insane. He was going to actually have to talk to him. Harry shivered with a

slight revulsion. They had to come to an understanding, and he knew it.

With a sudden resolve, he swung his legs out of bed. It was late, well past three in the morning, but Draco had been awake around this time before. He wouldn't wake him up, Harry resolved, but if he was awake, well...might as well have it all out, right? No time like the present.

He strode silently up the stairs and knocked softly on Draco door.

Inside, Draco froze. He was awake, wide awake in fact. But...surely he'd imagined that? It happened again, he hadn't. He gulped. Quickly, but quietly, he made his way to the door, and, with less flair and more hesitation than he'd hoped, opened it.

It was Harry. Draco tried to school his face into an appropriate expression, but as he didnt know what that was, it was very difficult.

Mercifully, Harry took control. "Hello" he said, breezing past Draco and into his room. Draco stood, shivering. It was late spring and a nice night, so he was only wearing his pajama bottoms. He felt horribly exposed. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, trying to shield himself as best he could.

"Hi" Draco replied.

"I thought we should talk about you being here...your position here."

What did that mean? Was Harry going to throw him out? He thought frantically. Severus did say that Harry had given him a weeks deadline, and that was technically today but… really? He didn't even get the full day? He supposed it made a twisted kind of sense, chuck him out while Severus wasn't there and then Harry could make up his own story about how it all went. Dracos insides churned, but he raised his chin defiantly. He wasn't going to let Harry get away with this, he decided. And he wasn't going to cry again either.

"Okay." Draco said, readying himself for a fight. "I don't think I've done anything wrong."

God, Harry was already finding him insufferable. In his defensiveness, he read arrogance, and he couldn't stand it.

"I think you've done a lot of things wrong- that's why you were convicted and are now a criminal." Harry shot back.

"I didn't mean that, and you know it." Draco glared at him. "I meant here, Potter-"

Harry couldn't resist, it seemed to simply come out of his mouth without his consent "I think you mean 'master'."

It was like being slapped, Draco actually staggered back, rage and hurt bubbling inside of him. But he knew he didn't have any choice.

"Fine. Master." Draco said it was such venom and rage the word itself was mutilated. But it still gave Harry a disgusted thrill. "You've never even given me a chance-" He said, a little louder than he intended.

"I haven't?!" Harry screamed back. "What about now? When I let you live in my house for free, and saved you from some terrible fate, and-"

"I mean after that-"

"How many chances do you think you deserve?!" Harry demanded. God he wanted to hit him.

"I don't, i just think that if you were going to take me in, you should give me a real chance!"

"Your right i should have just left you where you belong." Harry bellowed back.

"That's not-" Draco raged back. He had no idea what he was going to say, honestly. But thankfully, he didn't have to. The door opened again and a particularly furious Severus stalked in.

"What on earth is going on?" He asked.

"We thought we'd have a friendly little chat." Draco supplied, suddenly more confident now he wasn't alone. He felt sure Severus would be on his side.

"At this time of night?"

"It's a rather interesting habit of his." Draco said again, turning on Harry.

Harry blushed, but did not hesitate. "He keeps me awake at night."

"Hardly likely, since i do nothing more than read-"

"My god, will the two of you-" Severus tried to interject, but no one was paying him any attention.

Harry dogged him and rounded on Draco, who stood definitely, proudly not backing down. Harry couldn't stand his arrogance, his haughty pride.

"You are insufferable. You deserve to go back to whatever little filthy hole you crawled out of, I don't care what happened to you-"

"I should, It would be better than being here with you." Draco lied, his chest tight.

"You deserve to be used like a whore," Harry spat. "It's all you're good for." So Harry knew all about that. Draco was humiliated, his lip trembled slightly. "Whatever they did to you, it clearly wasn't bad enough. Didn't teach you any manners, did they? You're still an evil little weasel, like always." Harry said, getting ever closer.

Draco knew he was about to cry and he'd be damned if he let Harry see him like that. So, in desperation, he said the only thing guaranteed to make it worse.

"Yeah, well, at least i didn't let all my friends die. You were what, a meter away from Granger and you still didn't do anything-"

That was it, Harry lunged at him. Pushing him down on the floor, one hand grabbing his neck, the other punching him in the face. Blood gushed, Harry didn't know or care where from. He put his whole weight on Draco's neck, Draco reached up, trying to claw Harry's hands off of his throat, his vision already going dark.

Severus intervened quickly. The only one with enough sense to use his wand, He magically yanked Harry off of Draco and threw him outside. He took one frantic look at Dreaco, just to make sure he was alive, before following Harry, locking Draco in his room.

Harry was shaking, his eyes wide, his face more manic than Severus had ever seen him. He felt the waves of anger rolling off of him, he was only a moment away from accidental magic. Severus didn't want to see what that was like, with someone this powerful and this vengeful...it could get really bad.

"Get rid of him" Harry hissed.

Severus had to think fast. "Harry." He said, deliberately calmly. He didn't want to have this conversation right now, he needed to calm Harry down first. "Are you okay?" Harry hesitated, he wasn't expecting that. Severus took a step closer, tentatively reaching out his hand. "I'm worried about you… I know how angry you must be…"

Harry nodded savagely, too angry to even speak.

"Let me make you some tea, let me take care of you." Severus cajolled. Wordlessly, Harry walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. It gave him some time to think. But he hadn't changed his mind.

"He has to go." He said, sitting at the counter, watching Severus make tea the muggle way, the way he liked it. He swore it tasted better. "How dare he say that to me." He said, his whole body so tense he felt like he was about to explode.

"Yes." Severus agreed, "that was awful. Inexcusable."

"Exactly!" Harry roared, grateful to have the man on his side.

"Why were you up there, anyway?" Severus asked.

"I was trying to talk to him. Normally. Rationally. And then he just immediately got...evil." Harry spat. There was no other word for it.

Severus nodded. He could see exactly what happened. Harry, hot headed and impulsive would not have seen how threatening it was to simply appear in Draco's room in the middle of the night. And Draco...well Draco had always had a knack for making things worse.

"I see." He said, handing Harry his mug. "That sounds...laudable."

"Yeah!" Harry said, self righteously. "I wanted to talk to him. I thought maybe…" And here his anger cooled significantly. He ran his hand through his hair and gazed deeply into his cup. "Maybe we could work something out."He laughed bitterly. Severus wisely said nothing, and after a few minutes of calm and silence, Harry said, sheepishly.

"Im surprised you're not angry at me, for...you know. Hitting Him."

"Im...shocked." Severus said delicately. "He cant fight back, you must know that. He has no magic and he's not allowed to hit you. It's...like hitting a child. He's utterly defenseless."

Harry didn't care. "Then he should act like it."

Severus nodded. "He should have certainly behaved better." Severus paused, weighing his words carefully. "Perhaps you can talk about it tomorrow."

Harry looked like Severus had just suggested murdering his own mother.

"What?! You can't seriously expect that. He has to leave. Tonight. Now." He stood up, as if planning to physically chuck Draco into the street, right then and there.

"You promised you'd give him a full week." Severus pointed out. Harry laughed. "That ends tomorrow. Give him the full day. Talk to him. Please? " Severus asked, wincing as he saw Harry's bloody knuckles curl around his cup.

"Why would I do that?" Harry demanded.

"Because...if you do, and...if it doesn't work out, I'll let him go too. And… I won't blame you. And i'll never bring it up again, and...everything will go back to the way it was." He promised. "As long as you give him a real chance."

Harry rubbed his face. God that was all he wanted, just for everything to go back to how it used to be. He, and Severus, in their own home, happy, together…no third wheel haunting their spare bedroom.

"Fine." He said, draining his drink "He has until 10 o'clock tomorrow evening."

And with that, Harry marched back to bed, downing a sleeping draught. He didn't want to be bothered by anything else.

Severus sighed, making another cup of tea and following Harry upstairs. But he bypassed their room and went all the way to Draco's.

He was right where Severus had left him, curled on the floor, blood running down his face, small spots on his bare chest. He looked up at Severus, defiance in his eyes. But he couldn't hold it under the man's silent gaze. He burst into tears.

He curled his knees to his chest and sobbed into them. It hurt his nose even more, but he didnt care. Severus merely sat next to was quiet for a moment, looking up at the window, out at the inky black sky and the soft lights of london. When he spoke, his voice was dead and hopeless.

"I can't believe you said that."

"I know." Draco sobbed. "I'm so sorry Im sorry Im sorry." His voice high pitched and franic.

Severus nodded slowly. "I thought he was going to kill you."

"I did too." Draco managed in between ragged breaths. "I can't believe that all happened. I'm so sorry." He repeated. And he collapsed into Severus, his head on his shoulder, his body falling into him. He wrapped his arms around the man's neck, and threw his legs over his lap. Severus froze. He had no idea what to do, this was very new to him. Plus, Draco was bleeding into his shirt.

"Im sorry, I've failed you." Draco whimpered. "You helped me so much and i fucked it up so badly." He wanted to scream, but he didn't dare, lest it provoke Harry again. He kept his voice low as a whisper. " I've ruined everything…"

"Let me heal you" Severus said, pulling back as much as he could- Draco was rather clinging to him. He frowned as he looked at the boy. His nose was certainly broken, and his eye was already starting to swell. There were even red marks around his neck where Harry had been strangling him. Severus cured him as Draco sobbed his apologies.

"I presume you've come to take me away then?" He asked finally. He didn't want it to happen, would do anything to delay the inevitable...but it was tortue not knowing.

"No." Severus said simply. "He's giving you another chance."

"You must be joking?" Draco demanded. That was insane, as far as he was concerned, that was certainly the craziest thing that had happened that night. "Why?"

"I made him." Severus said.

"Thank you." Draco gushed immediately. "Thank you so much. And please thank him for me, please tell him how sorry i am. I'll never do anything like that again, i promise. Tell him-"

"You'll have to tell him yourself." Severus said.

"What?" Draco asked, horrified.

"That's the deal. You have until 10 o'clock tomorrow night to convince him to let you stay. And you have to talk with him."

"I cant..."

"You can. Don't tell Harry…" And here, Severus couldn't look Draco in the face, he went back to staring out the window. "But i'll give you some felix felicis."

Draco gaped at him. Liquid luck? That actually could work, he felt, for the first time in so long, a small rush of hope. Severus was quick to squash it.

"It won't fix everything. It will only work for a few hours. But. It should be enough to get you two to come to an agreement."

"Thank you" Deraco breathed for the millionth time.

"This is not a permanent solution." Severus warned ominously.

"I know." Draco said. There was silence, and then a sigh.

"Get into bed." Severus ordered sadly. "You need your sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

And so he did. Harry slept right through till noon, it had been a seriously strong potion he'd taken. Draco spent the morning swinging between anxiety and hope. At long last, Severus swept into the room. "He's awake. Take the potion and meet him downstairs."

Severus handed him a small vial, which seemed to glow a soft gold. "Now. I've diluted this slightly. That means it will last longer, but be slightly less effective. You will still feel your typical emotions. Try to ignore them and just let go. Trust your instincts- it's the potion talking to you."

"Thanks." Draco said, his mouth dry. He downed it in one. He had expected a flood of warmth and happiness. It was more like a drizzle. Severus hadn't been lying, he had diluted it. A lot. But, he was at least suddenly confident. He marched over to his dresser and immediately changed his clothes. He shed his typical, everyday wear for a pair of pale blue jeans that hugged him nicely, and a white button up that highlighted his slight and pale frame. He rolled up the sleeves and turned to Severus.

"Let me use your cologne."

"Oh."

But Draco just left, he knew he didn't need to impress Severus, the potion clearly didn't consider him to be a priority. He walked casually into Severus and Harry's room, flagrantly disregarding the number one rule (don't go in there for any reason) but he knew he wouldn't get caught. A few sprays and he smelt just like Severus, pine and soft spices.

He headed down the stairs. His stomach lurched as he approached the kitchen. He knew that where Harry was, he didn't know how he knew, but he knew.

He walked forward anyway, the potion egging him on. Harry was there, sitting at the counter, his head buried in the newspaper. Draco couldn't help it, he froze. He didn't think he was ready for this. But something overwhelmed him and he found himself saying, surprisingly calmly. "May I make you breakfast, Master?"

Harry barely looked up from the paper. "Okay." He said after a pause. Besides, today was going to be the last day he had a live in chef, might as well make the most of it, right?

Draco scuttled in. "I thought maybe bacon and eggs?" He offered. "Master." He added.

That sounded kind of nice, But Harry didn't want to admit it. "Make me pancakes." He ordered.

Draco did so, thanking his lucky stars that he actually knew how to make them. They didn't take long, and finally he presented the dish to Harry.

"May I get you something to drink, Master?" He heard himself ask.

"Coffee." Harry said, not looking up from his plate.

Inwardly, Draco groaned. He hoped the potion's plan wasn't simply to impress upon Harry how enjoyable to was be to boss Draco around. But then, even that would be better than going back. But Draco did as he was told, and deposited a cup of coffee next to Harry's plate.

Harry said nothing. He wasn't a bad person. He could tell how hard Draco was trying, and he appreciated it. There didn't seem to be an ounce of arrogance in Draco's body, and frankly, Harry was impressed. He didn't think it was possible for the man to breathe without exuding an air of sickening egotism. But for the moment at least, he seemed… tolerable.

Finally, he finished, and he had no excuse not to talk to Draco. For the first time that day, Harry looked at him. He was standing in the middle of the kitchen, his ice blue eyes clearly worried, his pearl white teah worrying his lower lip. He was dressed well, though. He looked like he was going for a job interview, Harry decided. Well. Good, he was in a certain kind of way. It pleased Harry that Draco was developing an affinity for muggle clothes and it pleased him even more to know that Draco was clearly trying to impress him.

Harry, in a quidditch T shirt and beaten up old jeans, leaned back in his seat.

"I just don't like you." He said, honestly.

Draco nodded.

"And I'll never forgive you for what you said last night."

Draco nodded again.

"So I don't see what we have to talk about."

Draco hestated, shifting on his feet. "Well. All Severus said was that he wanted me to talk to you…"

Ah. Yes. Severus. Harry looked at his watch. Only nine more hours and it would be just the two of them, together again. God he couldn't wait. "Yes." Harry said. "It was all his idea."

Draco nodded. There was a long pause. "You know… I never thanked the both of you for taking me in the way you did, Master."

"No you didn't." Harry said, tartly.

"Well, I want you to know how much i appreciate it. Even having a break from that place… even if i have to go back-"

"You do." Harry insisted.

"Well I hope you know it's meant the world to me. I don't think I could have survived much longer there. And It's really incredible to me that you took me in. Its astonishing you gave me another chance today, as well. So. Thank you, Master."

Okay, Harry was getting a little sick of this "Master" thing now. It was incredibly repetitive. But he'd be damned if he gave Draco permission to call him anything else.

"Why did you, if i may ask?" Draco continued.

"Severus." Harry said simply.

"You must really love him."

"I do." Harry said, smiling for the first time. "He's an incredible man." But Harry frowned again, thinking of everything Severus had done for him….Saved his life so many times. Held him together after Hermione passed. Single handedly taught him everything he knew about the Dark Lord, stood by his side even when everything looked so hopeless...

And he couldn't even forgive Draco his presence. How terrible was that? God, he felt like an awful boyfriend. He sighed, running his hands through his hair again.

"I'd do anything for him." Harry said, and looked up again at draco. Even give you a chance, he added to himself.

He sighed. God he was in an impossible position. But he would try for Severus. He'd do anything for Severus.

"Let's go for a walk. We can talk at the park. We can...try."

Draco beamed.