Title: The New Guy

Author: S.Malfoy

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters; I only twist them for my evil pleasure.

This will eventually be a HP/DM slash, so if that bothers anyone, I'm sorry, but don't read if you don't like. You have been duly warned!

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Chapter 7

Friendship formed

Harry stretched his arms towards the sky, his muscles taut with tension and dimly heard a faint crack. He spent a long moment simply watching the heavens, searching for answers to all of his unasked questions. Not that anyone ever wants to tell me what I wish to know, he thought dryly. He could say truthfully that hated being in the dark even more than he hated being stalked by a power crazed lunatic. At least with Voldemort he knew what he was pitted against – but when he had no information, he was left as vulnerable as a newborn child with extreme magical powers.

A ferret giggle attracted his attention towards the ground near the lake. He could feel the air becoming cooler as it neared winter and as the last rays of sun fell below the horizon, a fine mist of dew began to form on the grasses.

Skylar was currently romping happily in the silky wetness, her fur dampening almost instantaneously and he knew he would have to give her a bath later. But he smiled indulgently at her antics and decided to lie upon the prickly grass beside her. He sprawled his ungainly body in a spread eagle position with his hands clasped behind his head comfortably.

"Sky," he sighed contemplatively. She perked up, cocking her small head towards him inquisitively.

"It will never get any easier," he whispered while staring dazedly up at the twinkling stars – they reminded him nauseously of Dumbledore's eyes. "I'll never be 'Just Harry'," he said quietly in the thick silence.

Clambering unsteadily to her feet, she bounced her way over to him and crawled up his body to sit atop his chest. She eyed him quite strangely with her bright blue eyes, her ears lying flat against her head in dismay.

"Ha," he snorted. "So I'm 'Just Harry' to you eh?" he asked wryly.

She simply nodded slowly before she laid her head daintily upon her folded white paws, her body stretched luxuriously along his stomach. He could feel a damp patch already beginning to form from her sodden body, but he decided it didn't matter in the light of things.

He said nothing about the intelligence that must lurk behind those animalistic instincts she held; instead he only extended a hand to pat her on the head gently. He tickled her behind the ears before settling a hand on her rounded rump companionably.

They regarded each other with affection before the camaraderie was abruptly shattered.

"Mr. Potter, I believe you were supposed to meet me thirty minutes ago in my office," came a slightly venomous tone from the impeding darkness.

Harry did not jump in surprise, nor did he clamber to his feet to stutter out the various excuses that the perturbed Potions Master expected.

"Ah, Professor Snape, I should have known you would seek me out when the company was most surely not wanted," Harry said dryly, the moonlight reflection on his glasses hiding the expression in his eyes.

"There are certain things we need to discuss Mr. Potter, that even the Boy-Who-Lived is commanded to hear, strictly by the Headmaster's orders," Snape sneered as he emerged next to the prone form of the sixteen year old at his feet. Skylar hissed angrily at the intrusion, baring her tiny fangs in warning.

"Potter, control your pest immediately...or I shall," Professor Snape demanded threateningly, pointing the end of his wand at the ferret.

He stood suddenly in a smooth motion, unsheathing a wand Snape hadn't even been aware of him possessing, and Harry was in a decidedly aggressive stance. "You will not touch her," he ground out in voice gone whispery in anger. He clutched the damp Skylar to his chest, who had yet to take her eyes off of the Potions Master.

Neither was in the mood to back down from the confrontation, and Severus raised his wand higher in a tense motion. "You will be expelled if you attack me," Snape said with a malicious smirk.

Harry let out a bark of laughter in amusement. "Oh really? And who will be brave enough to kick me out?" Harry questioned bitterly. "Will it be you, Snape? A reformed Death Eater-turned-teacher? There is no one in this world that would not pay for the chance to crucify you before the public eye, so you might want to rethink that angle, dear Severus," Harry sneered, the slurs against his title deliberate.

He ignored Severus' startled expression as it darkened menacingly at his words. "And Dumbledore," he scoffed. "The man may be one of the most powerful wizards alive, but he would not dare lose faith in front of the Light side, and that is his ultimate weakness," Harry said, his voice suddenly losing some of his fervor.

"I am decades older than you Potter, and have seen things that would make you tremble and piss yourself as a young child would," Snape shot back. "Don't even try to use such tactics on me, you arrogant, ignorant fool. You are just like your father and that idiot Black – you think you are invincible, and that will be your downfall," he returned sharply.

Harry suddenly burst into laughter, and it wasn't a pleasant sound. "Who do you think you are talking to, Snape? You are trying to instill fear and modesty in a boy who is to save your weak lot from a fate worse than death," he hissed. "And you want to brag about what you've seen and done?" Harry shook his head in disbelief. "I've been chased by men exactly like you all of my life," he said, lowering his brows dangerously. "You are no worse than any other Death Eater."

Severus hardly knew how to respond. He knew more insults would only drive Potter into a fury, and though he would love to push the boy past his patience, he did not want a reprimand by Dumbledore on the first day of school. He was still slightly startled by the boy's sheer audacity and defiance towards his Head of House, but he had to admit to feeling a flicker of respect fire to life.

He nevertheless spoke gruffly when he said, "There are still things I can teach you, Mr. Potter. Every Wednesday and Friday at 8:00 pm you will meet me in my office."

Without another word or sound, Severus left as quietly as he came.

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"Wow, what a day," Pansy huffed, falling onto the green leather sofa with Ginger and Millicent on either side. They all nodded and glanced at each other in agreement, smiling widely.

"Potion's was a riot today," Ginger said with a smirk.

"I would never have expected Harry to attack Weasley that way," Millicent added. "I wonder why he didn't just use magic..."

"He would have probably killed the fool," Draco said from behind the couch, his distant façade firmly into place.

"Why would you say that, Draco?" Pansy asked sweetly after a moment of tense silence. Draco grinned rakishly and merely raised an eyebrow in answer.

Ginger giggled at his look. "Yes, he is very powerful," she purred, twirling a finger in her chocolate brown hair.

"Wow, I've never felt so loved before," Harry joked, coming into the light from behind Draco. His hair was ruffled from the wind, and pieces of grass could be seen stuck to his robes. Skylar was cradled in her usual place in his arms, her white fur damp and clumped while she snoozed happily. Startled, the girls let out small shrieks while Draco looked over his shoulder with a small grin and beckoned him closer with a finger.

"How's the hemorrhage?" Draco laughed, tapping Harry on the forehead.

"Its fine," Harry smiled. "No lasting damage, luckily."

The girls immediately jumped up and surrounded him, cooing in distress as they clucked around him like mother hens and brushed away the debris littered on his person. He laughed, enduring their attentions for a moment before being dragged to the leather couch located before the fire. Sitting in the middle next to Draco, the girls situated themselves around the boys with smiles of enjoyment.

"So when did Pomfrey let you out of the Infirmary, Harry?" Pansy asked, scratching her nose absently.

"Only an hour ago, actually," Harry admitted. "I was stuck there all day, and Madame Pomfrey wanted to keep me overnight...but I refused," he added as an afterthought.

"Yes, it would not be very dignified to stay there longer than needed – it shows weakness," Draco boasted, throwing his shoulders back.

"Yeah, so undignified," Millicent snorted, "that's why whenever you get hurt playing Quidditch you insist on staying long past the time you've been healed."

With a boisterous laugh from the surrounding people that overheard, Draco deflated with a grumpy frown. Harry couldn't help but grin at his expression and punched him gently in the arm.

"So, that means you'd probably be insisting on your own private room right about now, eh Draco?" Harry chuckled.

Draco rubbed his arm absently, his pale brows lowered in disgruntlement. "No harm in being on the safe side," he muttered.

The painting opened and Harry and Draco looked over instinctively and watched as Crabbe and Goyle lumbered inside. Spotting their two hero's, they immediately stood behind the couch, flanking the two protectively from any attack that might come from behind.

"Hi mates," Harry greeted, his green gaze glancing upward. They grunted in reply, arms folded across their chest and eyes dimly scanning the area. Draco smirked at Harry in a satisfied manner.

"I've got them trained well," Draco murmured in a quiet undertone to Harry.

"Yes, they do seem to do it unconsciously," Harry nodded. He didn't mention he would never need the protection, but it never hurt to be safe than sorry he supposed.

"Oh, about that last comment," Harry suddenly piped up, not looking towards Draco but instead fastening his eyes on the burning fire before him. "I wouldn't have killed him."

"Then why did you attack him physically?" Draco asked curiously, his eyes unreadable.

"There are only two people I have vowed to kill, and hopefully that will be all that is needed," Harry finished, patting Skylar's head soothingly.

Draco did not respond to that, and simply asked his original question again. "Why did you not use magic when attacking Weasley then?"

Harry finally grinned and turned to look at Draco with a bloodthirsty gleam in his eye. "It was so much more fun feeling his jaw crack beneath my fist, of course."

Draco grimaced and rubbed the knuckles on his right hand absently, as if picturing the feeling of such a blow. The girls gasped and tittered behind the palms of their smooth hands, giggling wildly at Draco's reaction.

"How barbaric," he said wryly with disdainful amusement. Harry shrugged unconcernedly as his attention was again attracted to the portrait entrance.

Anna-Marie walked hesitantly into the Common Room, her hazel eyes swollen with obvious distress. When she saw him, she darted frantically in his direction and he waited patiently for her. When Draco stiffened beside him in insult, he merely shrugged it off and held his arms open as she fell into his lap sobbing, and disrupted a ruffled Skylar.

"O-oh Harry, I tho-o-ought you had been ser-seriously in-j-jured," she cried, her arms wrapped around his neck in a death grip. He patted her back as Skylar mewed in concern for the pitifully wailing girl in his lap, batting at paw at her smooth, silky blonde hair.

"What a cute ferret," she sighed, trying to reign in her embarrassing display of nerves. Skylar seemed to understand the compliment and slithered towards her, sniffing cautiously in the girl's direction.

"There is no need for such tears," Harry said softly as he smoothed the hair back from her wet cheeks.

"Such is a form of weakness," Draco sneered the words once again before he lifted himself away from the couch and stormed to the dormitories. Harry watched his retreating form intently before glancing down with swirling green eyes to the girl huddled in his lap.

"I'm sorry I've caused such problems Harry," she whimpered. "I had gone to the Infirmary to see how you were and Madame Pomfrey told me what had happened to you," she whispered. "I was so afraid after I heard the news that I had had to find you."

Harry smiled gently at her in understanding. "I'm perfectly fine, Anna-Marie," he said. "It was merely a bump on the head."

"A bump on the head!" she cried angrily, standing up to plant her fists on her hips. "He almost made you a vegetable," she shrilled.

Harry winced and glanced around nervously. "Not so loud, please. And he was close to no such thing!" he said indignantly. "He was the one that passed out before me, if you would recall," he added arrogantly.

"And as I recall, you had to be hauled out of the dungeons on a stretcher, you idiot!" she screeched, and this time both Harry and Skylar winced simultaneously.

With an audible huff, she flounced off in the direction of the girls dormitories without another glance backward.

Pansy, Millicent, and Ginger were all quiet for a moment as they watched her retreating back. Then they immediately turned to look at Harry with puzzled glances. "I didn't know you two were that friendly," Pansy started diplomatically.

"Well, she's a nice person," Harry said absently, looking towards the boy's dormitories with an anxious expression. "If you ladies will excuse me," he said quickly, standing from the couch in a smooth motion and exited in the same direction Draco had.

Pansy nodded her head towards a table near the corner where the girls could go relax and gossip in peace.

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"Draco..." Harry ventured and he slipped calmly into the boy's sleeping space.

Draco twisted his back towards the archway where he had been expectantly waiting for Harry to enter. He decided the cold shoulder was an expert answer to Harry's unasked question, and folded his arms resolutely across his chest in disconcertment from where he sat at the opposite end of the room.

"Draco, why are you angry?" Harry asked, bending to release Skylar on the ground before holding his hands up in a soothing manner. Draco missed the motion since he was sitting at a writing table and glaring at the wall.

Draco glanced down to the quill he held in his hand and the half written letter to his father.

Dear Father,

School is

He hand trembled minutely, and he growled low in his throat in restlessness.

"So you're not even going to talk to me Malfoy?" Harry asked coolly, crossing his own arms in displeasure. He scowled darkly at the contemptuous glare Draco turned to throw at him, and strode briskly across the room to the table Draco sat at. Draco never even saw it coming.

With a brief wave of his hand, the lights were dimmed and blacked out, and a sharp cry was heard. When the lights flared up again, Harry was holding Draco against the wall, bracketing Draco's head with his arms and his lower body pressed suggestively against Draco's.

"What are you doing Harry?" Draco spit out partly in anger and partly in embarrassment. He could feel his lower extremities beginning to pool with blood and stir to life, much to his own disgust. Harry only smiled, his face lit with pleasure.

"What we both want," Harry replied. "But first, I want to talk to you."

"So talk," Draco barked out, trying to push himself further against the cold stone in an effort to lose contact with Harry. It only backfired as Harry pressed himself much closer.

"I am yours, Draco," Harry whispered, leaning forward to bury his nose in the silken hair behind the shell of Draco's ear. His lips brushed enticingly across the sensitive skin, eliciting shivers of regretted arousal from his victim.

"W-what do you mean?" Draco asked, inwardly cringing at the slight stutter in his speech.

"I am your friend, Draco. If I could be more to you, I would," Harry said, his tongue flickering out to touch the tip of Draco's ear. Harry's breath was a warm puff into his ear, and in a frantic motion to evade the torture, Draco tried to bend his neck away from the boy.

"I know you're my friend Harry, you don't have to tell me like this," Draco said desperately.

Harry frowned, before moving to cup Draco's face into stillness with his hands. "You don't understand Draco; there is no reason for you to get jealous every time I talk to someone else. I am yours."

Draco went silent, raising his eyes to the boy. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully before asking, "What do you mean 'yours'?"

Harry smiled in triumph and leaned closer, his lips barely brushing Draco's as he spoke. "I rarely make friends Draco; you should have already guessed that. But when I have decided a person is worthy enough for my friendship, they are given everything of me. They get my love and my protection, but they are also a part of my dangers. If you choose to be my friend Draco, you must realize that I would never take betrayal lightly."

Draco shuddered, unconsciously swaying closer to those pale, tempting, scarlet lips. "I...I don't know what you mean," he said, only dimly hearing his own answer.

Harry gave him a gentle nudge away from himself for a moment. "This is very important that you understand this Draco. If you choose to be my friend or my lover, if you betray me to Voldemort, I will kill you."

Draco raised startled gray eyes to meet softly glowing green. "You would kill me even if we were friends for a long time?" he asked, only slightly surprised now.

"I would make it my top priority, Draco," he whispered before leaning in and finally giving into both of their urges.

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Without knowing quite how it happened, Draco found himself squashed almost sinfully against the wall, with Harry's lips sizzling on top of his own in hot arousal. There was no slow, gentle opening – it was almost as if Draco had arrived in the middle of a heavy snogging session, but he wasn't sure that he really minded. He parted his heavily tingling lips, and with a muffled groan Harry took the invitation.

With an obscene thrust, Harry's tongue found itself inside, dueling with Draco's in a dance of passion. Draco groaned, forcing himself away from that plundering mouth and gasping for air as he leaned his head back against the cold stone. Harry, waiting politely for Draco to get his breath back, immediately attacked Draco's neck displayed by his tilted head. Draco could only shake dizzily as that hot mouth began sucking and nipping viciously on his Adam's apple, on his ear lobes, on the soft underside of his chin...

Whatever the boy was doing, Draco had no intention of stopping him. He had never felt his nerves so alive, nor so painfully sensitized.

"Harry," Draco gasped, his tongue feeling thick with pulsing blood.

Instead of answering, Harry took the initiative and returned to the warm cavern of Draco's mouth. Just feeling Harry's warm tongue teasing his own was almost enough to make him come inside his pants like a teenager – which he was – but to prevent such an occurrence he began scrabbling frantically for a hold on Harry's robes.

"Yesss," Harry hissed, sounding so familiar to the sibilant speech of a snake that Draco was frozen in surprise. Harry took advantage of his pause to begin to undue the robes twisted around Draco's body, and Draco was brought crashing back to reality.

"Wait," he muttered, though he lifted his hips as if pleading for friction. Harry, as though he heard the silent command, cupped a palm over Draco's hardness.

"Yes?" he repeated, though in the form of a question this time.

"I don't know if we should be doing this, I mean, I don't even think I'm gay," Draco began feverishly. Harry chuckled softly, and pressed harder with his palm against the soft cloth covering Draco's erection.

"Do you like this?" Harry asked. Receiving Draco's acquiescent nod, he continued, "Who do you think of?" When Draco only stared at Harry, Harry let out a bark of laughter. "Then I think we both know who you swing for," he said mockingly.

"I'm not gay," Draco gritted out. "I'm only thinking of you since you're the one with your hand fondling my cock," he scowled.

Harry harrumphed disapprovingly. "Such language," he said sarcastically before laughing. "I'm impressed."

Draco blanched and arched away from Harry's wandering hands. "Besides," he said, resuming the previous conversation, "I still want to talk to you about that little death threat you gave me earlier."

Harry shook his head and admitted defeat. Thrusting his hands into his unruly hair, he stepped away from Draco, unconcerned that Draco's molten silver eyes followed his movement and latched onto the flouting erection he sported.

"So what do you need clarified then?" Harry asked, walking away from the blonde to flop onto his own bed. Skylar shifted on his pillow, but otherwise made no move to accommodate him. He gave her a brief scowl before shrugging philosophically and stacked his hands behind his head in the same form as he had earlier outside.

Draco tentatively moved forward and sat stiffly on his own bed beside Harry's. "Well," he began awkwardly, "what do you define as betrayal?"

Harry sighed and looked up at his now blank bed ceiling. With almost unconscious thought, he grabbed his wand from his sleeve and whispered the words for the vision from last night to be revealed. "Pateo scrupulosa visum," he murmured, flicking his wand in two figure eights and a sharp jab, and the full moon from last night appeared, but no clouds were shrouding the moon tonight. He wanted clarity for this conversation, and it was enhanced in his spell.

"If you even think of handing me over to the Dark Lord because of a petty rivalry that you have with your father, or a schoolmate, I will kill you. If you think you are doing the right thing and even have a plan mapped out that you don't tell me about, and hand me over to Voldemort, I will kill you. Do not ever try to do something to me without my expressed permission – there have been too many people that have meddled in my life, and I will no longer stand for it," he said coldly, turning a glare onto the moon. It suddenly morphed and became blood red, expressing his raging emotions.

Draco shuddered and felt the urge to back away from the boy. But he stood firm, no quiver in his muscle to give him away. "I would never do that to a friend," he said directly.

"I shall have to see that for myself, but otherwise...I will be yours," he said, losing some of the edge in his voice.

"Just so you know, it will be the same terms for you Potter," Draco drawled suddenly. "If I find out you have gone behind my back, or betrayed me, I will have you destroyed."

Harry finally grinned and twisted to look at Draco's serious face. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Draco."

Draco nodded slowly before standing, and extended his hand in an exact pantomime of the first day they had met. Harry stood as well, and extended his own hand and shook the proffered palm firmly in agreement.

"Hello...my friend," Draco said, smiling widely.

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Later that night in the boy's dorms, as everyone was getting ready for bed – with the notable absence of Blaise Zabini – Harry sat at the writing table with a quill in his hand and was writing furiously.

Dear Sirius,

Everything is going well here at Hogwarts. I have already been into a fight, as I'm sure the Headmaster has informed you – I am sure that tomorrow he will be calling me into his office for a meeting. But, in my defense, the Gryffindor had it coming.

And that brings me onto another subject. I have been sorted into Slytherin, and am proud to be under Professor Snape, our Head of House. Though he is a grim man, he will be fair to me. Do not write back griping about him; I will not read a letter if it begins that way. I am sorry if this news upsets you, as I'm sure it does, but please remember I am not my father, or you for that matter. I have grown up into a man as no other has before, with death hanging over my shoulder from my very birth, waiting for an opportunity to strike me as a snake would. It is only natural I be placed into a House with them.

I hope for a letter back, but if you are too infuriated, I will wait two weeks before writing again.

Your faithful godson,

Harry

The next letter he wrote was far more formal and much shorter.

Dear Professor Lupin,

I wish to make an appointment to greet you properly as a friend of my godfather's. If this acceptable, send word of a time and place.

Yours,

Harry Potter

Aware that everyone was watching him covertly, he took up his wand into his hand and tapped the quill four times. "Pluma vigoro," he whispered and in the quills stead a snowy owl stood proudly.

"Ah, Hedwig, I haven't seen you in a long time. Have you been well?" he asked brightly, ignoring the gasps from behind him. He could feel the incredulous stares boring into his back, but refused to turn around.

She hooted softly in reply before glancing at the two letters in his hand. "As for these – well, the first one is for a professor here," he said quietly. "Please take this one to Professor Lupin," he ordered, holding up the parchment in question before tying it to her left leg. "This on is for Sirius," he said, taping the other and tying it to her right leg.

With a delightful murmur, she flew out of the dorm via the common room. Because she was an owl, she had pathways already opening for her that no other animal in the school commanded.

He sighed and stretched his arms above his head, shaking the hair out of his eyes tiredly. Yawning hugely, he stumbled towards his bed blearily. With all the events that had taken place during the day, he was exhausted both mentally and physically.

"Goodnight everyone," he whispered huskily before he slumped into his bed. There were muttered replies that he didn't care to decipher, and with a wave of his hand had a shield erected around his bed. Pulling the curtains closed around his bed, he snuggled into the comfortable mattress with Skylar huddled close to his head for warmth.

"You're getting a bath tomorrow, you know that Sky," he muttered. He ignored her disgusted mewl before he fell asleep within seconds.

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visum : vision, view, sight.

scrupulosa : intricate,

pateo : to be open, be exposed

pluma : feather /featherbed /pen.

vigoro : to animate

TBC