AN: Hello again! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!

I saw Harry Potter 4 yesterday, and it was awesome. I went with all my friends, and next to the lineup a few of them re-enacted the duelling scene from the 2nd movie where it's like "Scared, Potter?" "You wish." It was funny, we got weird looks hahaha.

Hanyway. This chapter features an adorably confused and rather angry Harry, and a somewhat bewildered Draco.

So here we are, chapter 6.

Finding the Answers

Tuesday, October 17th

Draco woke quite suddenly the next morning. Eyes jerking open, he frowned as he tried to think what could possibly have woken him so suddenly.

He turned his head to the left, and winced at the glowing red numbers of the alarm clock. 5:30. Hmm. Interesting.

Draco reached out and angrily swung the clock around to block out the glow of red, and then rolled over onto his back.

Shifting his legs slightly, he suddenly froze. The sheets in between his legs felt…well, sticky. He cautiously reached down and patted them, then inspected his boxers. Yep. Sticky.

He returned his hand and silently pondered. 5:30 on a school day and he was awake, why?

A mental image appeared suddenly, a leftover from his dream, which now he remembered it, had involved he and Harry partaking in acts of a sexual nature.

"Ah." Draco said out loud. So that's why. He must've woken after his dream had gotten good. Very, very good.

That mental image, actually, had, ah, renewed his interest.

Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do.

Draco smirked, whispered a silencing charm and reached down.

All in all, a brilliant way to start his day.

HPDM

Harry was leaning against the wall at the top of his bed, rocking gently with his hands wrapped firmly around his legs. He didn't know what time it was. He had long ago stopped checking. For once, he was thankful for the Occlumeny lessons. For the past…well, however many hours it had been, he had concentrated on keeping his mind as blank as possible.

He didn't dare sleep. Sleep meant dreams. Bad dreams. And he didn't dare acknowledge his problem from many hours ago. No. He was resisting it all.

He moved his head slightly and took note of the time from the glowing red numbers of his alarm clock. 5:45. OK. He just had to maintain this for about another hour and 15 minutes and then everyone else would wake up and he could pretend he had been asleep too.

He allowed himself to wonder how, and why, he had had a dream like that. About who he did, as well.

'I don't feel like THAT.' Harry argued with himself. 'I don't see him like that, I'm straight. I like girls. I love Ginny. And this is just a trick, a payback, and a nasty practical joke from Malfoy. He probably decided to break the truce and plant the dream in my head somehow.'

Yes. That's all it was, a nasty, immature practical joke. Harry let the familiar anger from years past wash over him, welcoming it like an old friend.

He leaned his head back, sighing, and checked the alarm clock again. 5:50.

Harry allowed his head to thump against the wall, 1, 2, 3 times.

This would take awhile.

HPDM

Draco awoke once again, and after checking in with his friend the alarm clock, learnt it was 7:15. He must've fallen asleep after his last, ah, session.

Hearing the unmistakeable sounds of his housemates stirring, Draco figured he might as well get up now and possibly consider a shower.

He rolled over slightly, and started at the stickiness he felt in his boxers.

Make that definitely consider a shower.

Meanwhile, upstairs in Gryffindor boys dorm, Harry grimaced as he was brought out of his trance-like state by the sounds of 5 alarm clocks, shrieking together in shrill harmony.

He quickly scuttled beneath the covers of his bed and began to over-exaggerate the process of waking up, as his friends around him did the same thing, but genuinely.

Harry got up once he sensed Neville stagger to the bathroom, and moved to Ron's bed. After performing his usual waking-up-Ron routine, he retreated back to his bed and sat.

"M-mo-morning mate." Ron yawned, slowly forcing himself to sit up. "Sleep alright?"

Thankful for the fact it was still dark in the dorm and Ron could not see the bags under Harry's eyes, Harry replied, "Yeah, alright, thanks."

"That's the way." Ron said, grinning tiredly at him as he got up to begin getting ready.

Harry sighed quietly. It was going to be a long day.

HPDM

Hermione was pondering.

This might not seem like that big of news, because Hermione was always pondering something, but on this morning, with Harry looking so tired and disgruntled, and with all those glares he kept shooting over her shoulder at the Slytherins, she was pondering what had happened.

It was obvious to her that something had happened. Harry was by no means a morning person, but he usually managed to scrape together something resembling a pleasant mood in the mornings. Today, he was, to put it simply, looking thunderous. Someone was going to have hell to pay.

She remembered his weird behaviour the night before regarding Ginny. Actually, he had been acting weird for some time now. And he looked nothing short of dreadful with those bags under his eyes.

"Harry?" she questioned tentatively. "Did you sleep OK? You have bags under your eyes."

Harry absentmindedly felt them, trying to ignore the burning anger inside. He didn't want to lose control of himself and his magic here, at the table.

"Yeah, I slept alright. I just didn't get much sleep, that's all." Hermione noted his voice was shaking slightly.

"Are you OK, Harry? I'm worried about you." She stated.

Harry took a deep breath, having just made eye contact with the cause of his current state. It was getting too much. He had to get out of there.

"I'm fine, Hermione, really. I think I'll head for Potions early." He said quickly, grabbing his bag and getting the hell out of there, not noticing the cool grey gaze watching every move he made.

HPDM

Draco frowned as Harry left the Hall in a hurry. He was unnerved, every time he had casually glanced over to look at Harry, he had found green eyes burning into him murderously. And quite frankly, he didn't have the slightest clue why.

Deciding he would leave it be for now, Draco asked himself what class he had next. Immediately, he answered himself with Potions, with the Gryffindors.

With a soft sigh, he got to his feet and collected his bag, directing his steps back to where he came from, down to the dungeons for Potions.

Harry was sitting next to the door to the Potions classroom, taking deep breaths and trying to ignore the multiple voices in his head shouting different things at him. Briefly, he wondered if he was going insane. It certainly seemed like it.

He heard footsteps, and turning his head, saw Malfoy approaching. His eyes flashed with anger.

Draco walked towards the classroom, hands in pockets, watching the floor as he went past. He was reliving the glares he had received that morning, wondering if it was still worth trying to become friends with Harry first.

And then, a foot appeared in his line of vision, followed by a leg and he stopped short. The leg was attached to…er, hips, and a torso, a neck, tanned skin, soft lips…ending with bright emeralds which were currently staring at him.

Draco sucked in his breath. Yep, it was definitely still worth trying.

"Er…" Draco began awkwardly, and then stopped, realising he had no idea what to say. He gulped, and looking close, was slightly frightened to see those green eyes were currently glaring at him, with nothing short of pure hatred.

"Hello, Potter." Draco tried, smiling a very unsure smile.

Harry glared at Malfoy, letting only one voice come through in his mind – the one telling him he absolutely hated Malfoy, that Malfoy was bewitching him, the one that controlled his anger. And Harry was letting it take over his whole self.

"Malfoy." Harry spat with venom.

Draco blinked in bewilderment at the tone Harry used. He had to admit he was hurt by that response. Well OK, not hurt, more like crippled. With all body limbs broken.

Both boys started at the sound of other students approaching, and Draco moved swiftly away from Harry. Over the next few minutes, the rest of the class arrived, allowing Draco to pretend to be interested in Blaise's conversation, and Harry to stand quietly with his friends. He noted with interest that Hermione was peculiarly quiet. She was clearly thinking hard about something.

The door opened, and there stood Snape.

"Enter." He sneered, and the class silently filed in and took their seats.

He swept over to the desk, and stopped, gazing around at them all.

"As I have a headache," he said, "I want this to go as quickly as possible. I have run out of headache curing potion, and I have decided to pass this task to you all to make me some. I will however assign partners, because I can."

He began reading out a list of names, pairing Gryffindors with Slytherins smoothly. There was various muttering and complaining as people engaged in silent battles of being determined not to be the one in their respective pairs to move.

'Honestly.' Draco thought with a roll of his eyes. 'Sev's become too predictable.'

"Potter." Snape added an extra sneer. "You're with Malfoy."

Having already expected this, Harry resignedly began to gather his things, not even looking at Malfoy, and moved over to his desk down the front.

Draco inclined his head, trying to control himself. Harry was so close, right there next to him, if he moved his leg their knees would be touching, if he moved his hand 10 or 15 centimetres his hand would be covering Harry's…

Harry, meanwhile, wasn't thinking about that, but was instead trying to resist the urge to hex the prick beside him to hell and back. Somehow, in his head, he had convinced himself his behaviour from the past few days was because of an enchantment, a bewitchment, and that was all he would let himself think about.

"Begin." Snape said, and settled himself behind his desk with a grimace. The class began to organise their cauldrons, fetch ingredients and in some cases, sit there arguing about who would do what.

Draco decided to take a stab at semi-friendly conversation. "OK, I'll go get the ingredients if you can start preparing the cauldron. Is that alright?"

Harry nodded shortly, keeping his eyes averted from Malfoy's face. Draco sighed inwardly, and headed off to collect the required ingredients.

They had been working quietly for a quarter of an hour. Draco snuck sideways glances at Harry, who was working steadily, putting all concentration into what he was doing, which currently involved slicing up a Mibulus Mimbletonia and gathering the oil-like substance it excreted.

Draco noted that beneath the brilliant emeralds, there were dark, shadowed circles. And despite himself, he had to ask. He just had to.

"Hey Potter, why have you got circles under your eyes?"

Harry's hand slipped, the knife catching his thumb and causing a small cut. Draco was astounded to see a warm pink tinge was spreading across Harry's face…he was blushing.

"Ow." Was all Harry said, very quietly, putting his thumb in his mouth and sucking the wound lightly.

Draco watched with slightly glazed eyes, noting the Potions classroom had certainly seemed so heated before.

Not noticing the reactions of the boy beside him, Harry removed his thumb and inspected. After finding the cut to be in a good enough condition, he stated quietly, "It's none of your damn business, Malfoy."

Harry picked his knife back up and went right back to steadily slicing and gathering the liquid.

Draco blinked, and then shook himself. Right. They were in class. Potions. With Sev in close proximity. OK. Back to work, Draco.

Another silent 5 minutes passed. Harry was thinking hard. He had to ask Malfoy if he was bewitching him. But not be that obvious about it. Hmmm.

"Hey Malfoy?"

"Yeah?" Draco answered quickly.

"You know how we called that truce?"

"Yes."

"And the terms of the truce were to not needlessly attack and insult each other, etc?"

"Yes."

"You haven't by any chance done something to me anyway, despite the truce, have you?"

Harry winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Honestly, how much of an idiot did he want to be?

Draco's brain was going through a list of things he would like to do to Harry, which really wasn't helping the situation at all. Gathering himself, he answered.

"I don't understand what you mean, Potter. Are you asking if I've secretly executed another attack on you, despite the truce we called?"

"Yes."

"Why? What happened to make you think I've pulled a prank or something on you?"

To Harry's mortification, he was blushing again as, unbidden, images from the dream appeared in his mind's eye.

"Um, er, ah…well I won't go into detail, but lately I've just been acting…I mean, things have just been…it's like…last night I just…"

Draco waited patiently for Harry to form a comprehensible sentence.

"Look, last night I had a dream, the kind of which I have never had before on my own, and I suspected you had somehow played a part in it. You know, to throw me off, make me distracted, or possibly just out of pure malice."

Draco had a suspicion about exactly what kind of dream Harry was talking about, but he decided to spare him the embarrassment.

"Potter, I assure you, since the truce I have not done anything that could be considered an attack on you or any of your friends, so whatever's been happening to you is not my fault."

Harry searched Malfoy's cool grey eyes, looking for any sign of a lie. He found none.

Shit.

"Oh. Um. Okay. Never mind, then. Forget I said anything." Harry fell silent.

The two completed the lesson in silence, Draco trying to conceal his glee about the thought of what Harry did actually dream about, Harry trying desperately to think of any other reason why he had been acting and feeling like he had.

They handed in their potion, and as the bell rang, Draco turned to Harry and said softly, "See you round, Potter." He left the dungeons quickly.

Harry considered. He had woken up confused beyond his brain, then became unbelievably pissed off, and was now back to where he had started: confused beyond his brain.

His friends approached him, Hermione among them, who he couldn't help noticing was watching him beadily.

"Hey Harry, how was it with the ferret?" Ron asked.

Harry eyed the door, through which moments ago a headful of silky blonde hair had disappeared.

Turning back to Ron, he tried to smile. "It was alright, I guess."

Another image from the dream appeared. Pools of grey surrounded by soft blonde. He swallowed. "It was alright." He repeated softly.

TBC

AN: There we go! Chapter 6.

Thank you for reading, and please review, I want to get to 50 reviews.

(Holds up a sign saying 'NO UPDATES UNTIL 50' and points sternly to it) You heard the sign.

bleedingxheart