A/N: As I re-read the last chapter, I realized a silly mistake I'd made. Harry didn't go to the Burrow for Christmas until his 6th year, so I had to re-word the first few paragraphs of the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one!

Interrogations are seldom fun, especially if one has no answers to the questions being asked of them. As they go, the interrogation Harry was subjected to by his three classmates in their dormitory was just as bad as he'd imagined.

"So," Seamus had started, followed by Ron's, "So."

"So what?" Harry answered, though he knew exactly what.

Ron crossed his arms, grinning lopsidedly, "Malfoy."

"In the snow," Seamus added.

"On top of you," Dean finished.

Harry rolled his eyes, "We just fell, obviously."

Ron raised his eyebrows, "It usually doesn't take people five minutes to get up when they… 'Just fall.'"

"And," Dean accompanied, "It seldom includes gazing into each other's eyes."

"No one was gazing into anyone's eyes!" Harry insisted, exasperated.

Another lie. Harry was quite aware that there had been gazing. The thought made him momentarily fidgety; he surely hadn't meant to gaze into Draco's eyes. Obviously there had been nothing… romantic… about any of this. Though he tried to reassure himself, he couldn't forget the way the blond looked just inches away from his face, his boyish laughter glazing over into an expression of curious affection. Harry remembered his heart racing, but couldn't tell whether it was caused by any emotion, or the physical activity of a snow ball fight.

Ron rolled his eyes, "It well looked like it!"

Seamus turned to the other two, "Reckon Malfoy fancies Harry?"

Dean snickered and Ron clapped his hand to his mouth in laughter. "He does not!" Harry protested desperately.

"I bet he does," Ron said once he'd recovered from his attack of laughter, "I bet he's been in love with you the whole time!"

Seamus nodded, "Harry, think about it. You're the chosen one, considered devilishly handsome by every female in school, the complete envy of every girl lover in this entire school, and yet you're too awkward to look at any girl that isn't Hermione. You're a queer's wet dream!"

Harry rolled his eyes, "He isn't –"

"How do you know, Harry?" Seamus insisted.

Harry crossed his arms, "He's one of my best mates, I think I'd know. Look, we just fell. We were laughing about something I said, okay?"

That was, of course, only partially true. No one had to know that the talking and laughing had stopped about a minute before they actually got up.

The others exchanged glances, and Harry knew it was stupid to think they wouldn't continue to tease him and speculate over Draco's sexuality for the rest of his life. He sighed, "It's past midnight, could you stop bullying me and go to bed? We've got to get up for the train, you know."

To his surprise, they agreed, and went to their respective beds.

This was all great, except Harry couldn't sleep. His thoughts kept wandering back to earlier that day when he was lying in the snow, the frigid substance freezing the back of his neck. He remembered Draco's laugh, and the way he'd playfully pinned him down. Feeling a surge of affection, he hugged his torso and rolled over in bed, smiling. He then remembered the strange expression that appeared on Draco's face as he studied Harry. Maybe 'studied' wasn't the correct word; 'gazed' seemed more appropriate. He gritted his teeth at the fact that his friends were right. Draco and Harry had been gazing at each other. The oddest part yet was that Harry hadn't found it uncomfortable at all. It had felt… sweet; maybe even cozy.

Harry repeatedly told himself that it had been nothing but one of Draco's classic moments of thought where his expression glazed over, and that the only reason it was out of the ordinary was their position and close proximity and willed himself to fall asleep.

The next morning after breakfast, Harry, Ron, and Hermione found themselves in a train compartment, already past their inevitable discussion of Harry's snow adventure. Harry had, surprisingly, managed to feel indifferent about it. His only thought now was about the awaiting festivities at the Burrow with Ron and his family. They'd all missed Christmas Day at the Burrow due to the Yule Ball, but since many students liked to go home for Christmas, the break time was changed this year, allowing people to visit home for a week starting two days after Christmas. Harry would have stayed at Hogwarts, but Mrs. Weasley had kindly mentioned in her note to Ron that Harry was welcome to stay at the Burrow. Since they hadn't had a recent Hogsmeade trip allowing the purchasing of Christmas presents, Harry and the Weasleys would go shopping in Diagon Alley to purchase presents for Draco, Hermione, and Dobby. Harry had been meaning to give the kind elf some new clothes for him to wear, since he was now free and dressing to his own liking.

After an hour or so, a knock was heard on their compartment door. Looking up, they saw Draco looking in through the window. He didn't look nervous, but Harry figured he was. If he weren't nervous, he wouldn't have knocked. Ron snickered and Hermione elbowed him, fighting back her own smile. Ignoring their antics, Harry motioned Draco to come in. Draco opened the door, entering the compartment. As his eyes landed on Harry, he blushed slightly. Harry raised an eyebrow and gave him a friendly smile. He was trying to nonverbally assure Draco that he didn't mind what had happened, but all he did was cause Draco to blush slightly more.

It was funny, actually; he'd never seen Draco embarrassed or flustered like this. He would have to talk to him later. When the snack trolley came by again, they'd both go out and talk.

A little after noon, the trolley did come by, and Harry said he would go get snacks, asking Draco to accompany him. He ignored Ron's wink with a grit of his teeth and asked him and Hermione what they would like from the trolley. Mentally jotting down their orders, he and Draco exited the compartment.

Once they were out of ear-shot of Ron and Hermione, Harry decided to begin the conversation.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Draco nodded, "Of course, Potter. Why wouldn't I be?"

Harry shrugged, trying to seem casual, "You seemed flustered."

"Why would I be flustered?" he inquired, probably trying to hide his panic.

Harry shrugged again, "I dunno. Well, see Ron and the others saw the – erm – fight we had in the snow… and, well, they're teasing me about it… and I was wondering if you, like, feel bad, you know? Or awkward? But I promise you shouldn't; it's okay, really!" He added hastily.

Draco's lips turned up slightly, "Thanks. I was just –"

"Drop it, Draco. It's okay." Harry interrupted.

Draco nodded and changed the subject, "Spending Christmas with the Weasleys?"

"Yeah," Harry answered. For a moment, he considered mentioning how he'd been thinking about spending Christmas with Draco a lot, and how he thought it was unfair to the both of them considering they were best friends and yet Harry couldn't visit. Deciding it was stupid, he didn't pursue the subject.

After a moment of silence, Harry asked, "What do you want for Christmas?"

Draco looked startled for a moment and then said, "Anything sweet and full of carbs. Or Quidditch things. Oh, Quidditch posters, definitely. I'm not allowed to have them because they," he pulled a face, "look plebeian, but I could always put a permanent sticking charm on them. How about yourself?"

Harry smiled, "Surprise me."

Draco smiled back, "I suppose I'll be getting back to the Slytherins. I just wanted to make sure everything was, you know –"

"It is," Harry assured.

"Good," Draco said, "I'll stop by to say goodbye before we get off."

Harry nodded, "Alright, see you."

Draco stuck his tongue out and then turned to leave. Harry had completely forgotten about the trolley until he saw it moving down the hall. He caught up to it and ordered the treats he and his friends wanted, and then made his way back to his own compartment.

"So," Ron started automatically.

Harry groaned, "Ron, not again. He was just asking me what I wanted for Christmas."

"Don't be surprised if your late Christmas present is an engagement ring," he laughed.

"Sod off, Ron," Harry retorted.

Ron put his hands up into the air defensively, "Okay, okay, Jesus."

Harry's lips twitched into a smile, "Thanks."

The rest of the ride went quickly. As Draco had promised, he stopped by their compartment to say goodbye to Harry. As soon as he left, Ron started snickering. He was so predictable.

Harry had always been very welcomed into the Weasley's home, and this time was no different. Mrs. Weasley had prepared a marvelous dinner accompanied by a blueberry tart for desert. Harry ate the home cooking thankfully, and went to bed feeling perfectly content. Luckily, after Ron had told the twins about the snow fiasco, they only teased him for about half an hour, which for the twins was an accomplishment.

The next few days went by perfectly. They slept late, went flying in the cold, came home to hot chocolate, talked and played games until another scrumptious dinner, and went to bed at some ungodly hour. On the third day, they had gone to Diagon Alley to do some quick Christmas shopping where Ron bought Hermione some of the hair potion she had used for the Yule Ball. She had mentioned that she wanted more, but would be unable to purchase it in Hogsmeade or the Muggle world, so Ron and Harry bought her a second vile along with Harry's present, which was a book on Magical civil rights movements. On the same day, their peaceful routine was disrupted by a massive black bird landing on the windowsill of the Ron's bedroom. They were taken aback at first until they realized there was a parcel tied to the bird's leg. Harry then recognized the beast as one of the birds that would sometimes deliver packages to Draco.

"What is that?" Ron asked, wide eyed.

"It's Draco's. I recognize it," Harry answered.

Harry had already prepared a package to send to Draco containing Quidditch posters of various teams he had mentioned liking and some of Mrs. Weasley's very sweet and carb-filled homemade sweets and cakes. He was going to send it with Errol, the Weasley's large, decrepit owl, but decided the gargantuan beast that had just arrived would be far more suitable for the job.

Grabbing his present for Draco from his bed on the way, he stumbled over to the window where the black bird was perched. He untied the package from its leg and attempted to give it some of the owl treats that were in a bag near the window, but the bird promptly refused, taking a bite out of the sugary muffin Harry was holding.

"Hey!" He protested, not keen on eating the rest of it now that it had dino-bird saliva on it. Honestly, even the Malfoy's birds had the same personality as their masters. Sighing, he gave the bird the rest of his muffin (which was incidentally not that much), and put the package to the side. Taking Draco's present, he secured it to the bird's leg and gave it a pat on the head. The bird few off, leaving Harry and Ron alone again.

"Well?" Ron started.

Harry looked at him, "What?"

"Open it!" Ron demanded.

It wasn't a large package, about the size of a small book. Harry began undoing the wrapping, finding a box underneath the papers. It was the type of box one commonly found jewelry in.

"I swear to God, if that's a ring you'll have to owe me money," Ron said breathlessly.

Harry grumbled, "It won't be a ring." Was it a ring? It couldn't be a ring. Why would it be a ring? Was Draco insane?

Brushing the last bits of wrapping off of the box, he gently opened it, finding elegant silver pendant supported on a similarly expensive-looking silver chain. Harry lifted it gingerly from its cushioned box, observing the pendant in his hand. It had a small clip on its bottom side, indicating it would open like a locket.

"Well," Ron croaked, "It's not a ring."

Harry ignored him and proceeded to trying to open the locket unsuccessfully. It seemed to be locked shut somehow. As he was turning it over, he saw an inscription in tiny curved lettering:

True friends will always be together in spirit.

"True friends will always be together in spirit," Harry read in a whisper, tracing his thumb along the engraved lettering.

"Mate…" he heard Ron whisper. He didn't know why they were whispering, but he didn't care. He felt himself smile, but couldn't help wondering why Draco had chosen that inscription. They'd only be apart for a week for Christmas break, so why would he choose such a quote about separation? Harry decided he must have his own Draco-esque reasons, and gently undid the clasp on the chain. He lifted the locket up to his neck, fastening it and letting it hang down onto his chest. It wasn't heavy, he could barely feel it.

When he looked up, Ron was watching him, one eyebrow raised and mouth hanging open.

"Harry…" he said.

Harry expected him to ask questions to which he did not no the answer, so he stated, "I have no idea."

Ron nodded, "That thing looks expensive… and what's with the inscription?"

"Again, no idea," he said, "I like it though."

Ron didn't understand Draco. Draco wasn't the type of person to go around giving heartfelt and meaningful presents to people. He would never spend money or sentimentality on just anyone. Harry felt his heart swell with pride and affection that he and he alone earned his fondness.

Harry had convinced Ron to join him downstairs without many further questions about the locket, insisting that he didn't know anything about it, which was true. Downstairs, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were fixing dinner, and Harry gladly helped as Ron sat at the table complaining and was later joined by Fred and George, who brought up a game of exploding snap.

It was rather peaceful, and Harry decided internally to not question Draco about the inscription, and not to send a letter of thanks, because he would have to thank him personally. Though Ron was left perfectly confused by the locket, Harry was touched.

He couldn't explain the warm and loving feeling he felt, and the butterflies in his stomach, but neither did he object.