Chapter 6 – …And I Can't Wait to See You Again.

Draco Malfoy made his way out of the building that Harry Potter's flat was located in, and into the alleyway out of which they Apparated. It was mere moments later that he found himself back outside the wards of Malfoy Manor. He walked through the grounds and into the house, hoping he could get in without being caught. He did not feel like dealing with either of his parents right now. His mother had caught him last time. Maybe this time he could get by without being noticed. Almost to his room, Draco heard a voice from behind him. He silently groaned. Of course, he should not be so lucky. This time, though, the voice did not belong to his mother.

"Draco, you disappeared without saying anything," his father told him. "Your mother has been worried."

Composing himself quickly and pushing back the dread he felt at being caught by his father, he turned around to face him. "Sorry, father, I thought I said something earlier today." Draco sincerely hoped he would buy it; it was a lot harder lying to his father than it was lying to his mother. His mother would usually believe anything he told her, within reason. His father, on the other hand, was an expert liar due to his many years as a Death Eater. If he was not careful, his father would see right through him.

His father's eyes observed him. "You did not," he told him. "You should be careful, Draco. You shouldn't worry your mother like that."

Draco nodded politely, keeping his face even and composed, though he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "My apologies, Father," he told him. "I will be more careful next time." He was about to turn around and to go into his room, in a hurry to escape his father's gaze. Unfortunately, the older man was not finished with him yet.

"Where were you tonight, Draco?" Lucius asked him. "You were gone for quite some time." His tone was, as it had been for the entire conversation, curious yet accusatory. It was clear that his father suspected something from his unexplained disappearance tonight.

Of course, I was, he thought to himself. I was preoccupied by my gorgeous lover. Draco would drop dead before he ever told his father that. "Diagon and Knockturn Alley." This time, Draco had not visited there, so he hoped that his father took his word for it, and didn't check up on where he had been. If he did, he'd have a lot of explaining to do…

Lucius nodded. "You and your mother spend so much time there sometimes," he told him. "Find anything interesting?" His father did not enjoy shopping as much as he and his mother did, and didn't understand how it could be something else other than a necessity.

Draco shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "A few things, nothing of real interest, though," he told him, not giving away anything that might make his father suspicious. He did not need that. His father would never approve of his relationship with Harry. It was un-Malfoy-like in every way. First, Harry was half-blood, and then he was a guy to make it even worse.

"I see," his father told him. "Well, make sure you say something before you leave next time."

Draco nodded again. "Of course, Father." With that, his father turned and walked back down the stairs; he breathed a sigh of relief before slipping into the comfort of his own room. It was a good thing that they always knocked before coming in. It made him feel safer here, though that was a foolish thought. Safety was relative. The only thing he had to fear here was his parents, and as far as he knew right now, he had nothing to fear from them… yet.

Now that he and Harry had seen each other again, and had actually called themselves lovers, he felt less safe here at home. What if they suspected something? What if they found out somehow? Of course, there was no way for them to find out, and as long as he was careful, they'd have no reason to suspect anything, either. It didn't stop him from being terribly afraid of his father's wrath if they did.

Later on that night, after he was sure both of his parents would be asleep, Draco snuck downstairs. The library was actually on the second floor, but if there was anything like the book he wanted in the house, it would not be with the others. Creeping into a hallway, he walked to the other side of house, into another hallway. Turning left, he walked a little ways into a door that went into their cellar. It was mainly for wine and things like that, but he knew that his father kept books down here that he didn't want anyone else to find. Draco had stumbled upon it once as a child. It was a long shot, but the only shot he had.

It was embarrassing, actually… going to a book for sex advice. What else was he supposed to do? He knew virtually nothing about sex. As much as he was scared to admit it, he wanted to keep whatever he had with Harry going on for as long as possible. Inexperienced as he was, something told him that if he didn't make sure to keep things interesting between them, he would lose Harry. That was something that was bound to happen eventually, but the blond wanted to keep it at bay for as long as possible. Besides, it wasn't as if he could tell anyone…

Shuddering at the repercussion of that, he walked into the cellar, and made his way into his father's secret library. As a Malfoy, he was allowed in. His father had wards on it to prevent anyone who wasn't a Malfoy from coming down here, as he stored dark items down here as well. This library was not as big as the one two floors above, but it held much more fascinating books, in Draco's opinion. The books down here were all old, first editions, dark books, things that had always held his fascination.

That wasn't what he was down here for. Feeling like an embarrassed bookworm, he searched the shelves. No one was here, but Draco felt as if everyone was watching him. What if by some chance his father caught him down here? Shaking his blond head, he shoved that thought of his mind. Rarely was either of his parents up at this hour, though it was times like this he wished he had his own place. That was unbecoming of a Malfoy, though… Malfoy Manor was big enough to hold many generations, and that was the point. Did he ever envy Harry right now for having a place of his own…

It was then that the book he wanted caught his eye. What is my father doing have a book like this? He held the dusty book in his hands. Not only was it a book on sex – that wouldn't have surprised Draco as much; his father was a married man – but it was a book on homosexual sex specifically – male homosexual sex. It didn't look as if had been touched in many years, if indeed it ever had. It was about twenty years old or so, give or take… Why had his father bought a book on homosexual sex when had still been married to his mother? The thought was confusing, but it was nothing that Draco wanted to dwell on, now or ever.

He knew better than to take it out of this room. His father still came down here, and he was bound to notice a book missing – any book. With that thought, Draco leaned up against the wall, and began to flip through it. Indeed, it looked as if the book had not been touched. Aside from being dusty, it was in prime condition – bought brand new, and then put down here, never to be used. The thought was disturbing to Draco, but as he got to the pictures in the book – drawn pictures to illustrate the different positions – all other thoughts were pushed out of the young man's mind. One section in particular caught his eye. A smirk crossed the blond's lips, and he filed it away. This would definitely come in handy, and he would not forget it.

At that instant, a picture swam through Draco's mind – his father, walking in at this instant, seeing him down here with this particular book. What had he been thinking? Sure, it had given some ideas, but still… it had been reckless and dangerous, not to mention stupid, to come down here without his father's permission. Hastily closing it, the blond rushed over to the bookshelf and quickly tried to put it back. In his haste, though, he accidentally dropped it, falling on the floor spine down, open to an early part of the book. Picking it, a few words caught Draco's eye, and he began to read, slightly shocked at what he discovered:

"There are risks to having sex. It is encouraged to make sure you know about your partner before you have sex with them. There are certain diseases – called sexually transmitted diseases – that are transmitted from person to person. Some have cures, and some do not. It also advised that you test for all such diseases before engaging in sexual intercourse." It listed many diseases, and his grey eyes widened with one. Below those, it listed various spells to test and then one to protect against them. He filed the last one, but did not worry about the others. After all, neither of them had been very experienced. They shouldn't have anything to worry about, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Deciding that he should not test his luck, Draco put the book back. Starting at it for a minute, it looked like it had been touched. That's because it has, he thought to himself. If his father caught it… of course, he would. Using his wand, he tried to disguise the look of the book, so that it looked the same as before. He's not going to buy this. What if he did? Hopefully he would just think it was nothing, curiosity… and not think anything of it. If his father decided to question him about it, after being caught by him, he didn't want to think about it.

Walking back upstairs, Draco slipped quietly back into his room. He pushed all thoughts of his father out of his mind. He would much rather think of the dark-haired lover – yes, they were lovers now, weren't they? – that he would be with in a month's time. It would pass so slowly, and it did… days slowly turned into weeks, and it seemed like an eternity before that day was up, and he was standing outside the flat building that Harry called home, waiting. This time, though, Harry didn't show up after ten minutes. Time ticked by and here he stood, waiting and waiting… Where is he?

Harry laid there in bed for a while after Draco had left the flat. He knew that it had probably only been a few minutes, but it seemed like much longer. This time, it had nothing to do with disbelief or depression, whatever it had been the last time. This time, he knew he hadn't imagined it. Harry didn't think he'd ever forget turning the corner, looking at the front of his flat building, and seeing Draco standing there, waiting for him, just as he said he would. We're lovers, kept bouncing around in his head, part disbelief, and part wonderment. After all, it was Draco Malfoy of all people, but… being with him had brought out feelings he never thought he'd feel again, he'd be damned if he let that go.

The rest of his night went without anything of interest happening. He went to bed, got up and went to work the next day – Auror Training. Outwardly, Harry didn't seem any different. He was still stoic, and didn't pay much attention to what was going on around him unless he needed to. The truth was, he felt much different now than he had before. It wasn't as if he could say anything so people would stop worrying about him. What was he supposed to do, telling them he was shagging an ex-Death Eater? Laughable, that was.

The next month went by without a hitch. That is, until the day of his meeting with Draco. He was on his way out, trying to get there a little sooner this time, but he was already running late, again. He heard a voice from behind him, Ron's, calling out, "Hey, mate, hold up for a minute, will you?"

Sighing, Harry cursed his best friend's time, and turning around, trying not to seem annoyed. "Yes, Ron, do you need something? Hello, Hermione." The short brunette was standing right next to her soon-to-be husband.

"Yeah, actually, we…" He glanced at Hermione, who gave him an encouraging look. What are they up to? Harry thought to himself. "You see, you've been acting differently the past month. You haven't said anything to either of us and we were wondering…" Ron's eyes glanced at Hermione again, who sighed.

"Harry," Hermione said gently. "Are you… meeting people?"

His green eyes blinked. They couldn't be asking what he thought they did, did he? "Am I meeting people?" He repeated, hoping that this conversation wasn't going where he thought it was. Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but Ron beat her to the punch, for once.

"Mate, are you shagging anyone?" Hermione gave another sigh, and Ron looked at her. "Sorry, Hermione, but it's best to get this over with as soon as possible, and he wasn't getting your more… subtle way of broaching the subject." The redhead turned his gaze back towards Harry. "Sorry, Harry, but Hermione's been worried about you, I mean, we all have, and… well, you need to move on. She was my sister, but it's over a year mate, and she… well, we think that it's time you started to look for… someone."

He blinked once more, just to make sure that this was really happening as a pang hit him when he thought of Ginny. Why here? Why now? Oh, I know why, because you knew I'd leave, and you wouldn't see me until tomorrow. You know I don't like surprise visitors, either. It was chilling to think of what would happen if they found out the truth. "Since when have either of you been interested in my sex life?"

"Because you were dating my sister," Ron pointed out matter-of-factly. "I got used to it, you know, but I didn't want to know about anything you were doing with her."

Hermione nodded. "Ginny and I talked, don't get me wrong, but not in any detail, I mean… You're my best friend, Harry," she told him. "It's just that… you've been so upset since Ginny died. It was hard on everyone. I just feel that –"

He held up a hand to silence her, and she obliged. "Listen, I appreciate your concern, but the truth is…" How did he let them know that he was going to be fine without telling them why? "Look, I'm fine, okay, it's just… I have to go, okay? I appreciate your concern, but everything's fine." With that, he turned to leave, but when it had ever been that easy?

"Harry, why are you in such a hurry?" Hermione called out, and he could hear she and Ron following him. She was suspicious, and he could almost feel the glance she was sharing with Ron.

He glanced back. "No reason. I just… have something to do tonight."

"Like what?" Ron asked, equally curious.

"I need to go, I don't want to be late." Harry could have slapped himself right than. Of course, he knew what the next question would be, and froze, waiting for it.

"Late for what, Harry? What's…" Hermione's voice faded off. "Wait, did you… are you… do you have a date tonight?"

"No," Harry said, a blush crossing his cheeks, "it's not a date." The truth was it was a lie, and his voice betrayed him. It was a date, regardless of what else he wanted to call it. Maybe not the kind of date most lovers had, but they were meeting weren't they? Besides, what else were they supposed to do, go out in public?

"Harry –"

"Listen, Hermione, Ron," he said, cutting her off and stopping him from saying anything. "It's nothing. Don't bug me about this, okay?" I'm not telling you for a reason… "Now, I have to go." He left before they had a chance to ask him anything else, and he heard Hermione muttering to Ron that he'd tell him them "when he felt like it". Sure, he thought to himself. You'd never understand… He quickly Apparated back to his Apparition Point as soon as he could. Rounding the corner, there was the blond, waiting for him, and impatiently this time, as it had taken him another ten minutes to get out of the Ministry than it had last time.

"What happened, Harry?" Draco asked his voice full of annoyance. "It's been –"

"Yes, I know, and I'm sorry," he said, apologizing for making him wait before he could go off on a tirade. "Ron and Hermione cornered me, I had to dodge them. It took time, and I got out late again."

They began to make their way up to Harry's flat. "What did you say to get them off your back?" Draco asked.

"I didn't say anything, I tried to just leave, but that didn't work."

"Granger?"

He nodded. "Yes, she figured it out, and no, don't worry, not who." Draco gave a noticeable sigh. "Even she couldn't figure out that one." He gave the blond a look. "She figured that I… well, that I had a date."

"I always think of a date more of as two people out for dinner. That's not what we do."

Harry nodded as the got to his floor. "True, it's not, and that's what I think, too, but it's a meeting with my lover, so if they want to call it a date, that's fine." They reached his flat, and the moment they entered, Harry turned to Draco. "So, I thought that tonight that maybe I could –"

Draco cut him off with a deep, searing kiss. It sent shivers down Harry's spine, and he lost all train of thought. "Tonight, I'm going to show you a few things…" A smirk crossed the blond's lips. Once again, his lover kissed him deeply, and Harry forgot everything, dropping his keys and robe on the floor. "Trust me; you'll be more than satisfied when I'm through with you."

oth couldn't any longer.