Draco got several stares as he reentered the Great Hall. Draco was aware of the whispers about him and Potter.

Sure, Potter was attractive enough but...never going to happen.

Draco sat down at his place at Slytherin table and had several people looking at him. Blaise was leaning in close, inspecting his neck.

"Blimey, what're you looking for, a hickey?" Draco snapped, knowing full well they were. "I only went to the loo."

Blaise leaned back and regarded Draco suspiciously. He was annoyed by this. Blaise, his best friend, the person he had grown up with and known for 15 years, was suspicious of his relationship with Potter.

Fine, Draco could admit he didn't hate Potter as much as before, but come on!

Blaise should know that considering the amount of time he spent on his hair that he could never shag someone with such an unruly mass on his head.

Draco sighed and finished eating. He stood up with his Housemates. There were a few Slytherins who were in Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid was considered a disgusting mutant with a potential for violence. He was half-giant afterall. Many of the richer, more influential pureblood families had sent plenty of complaints.

Draco disagreed.

Sure, Hagrid was annoying-just like every other Potter-worshipper-and kind of daft but you took one look at him and just knew he would not hurt a fly.

Could he?

Hell yeah, but the man spent his day caring over Glowworms and butterflies.

Besides, Draco had an interest in animals.

Except Hippogriffs.

He fucking hated Hippogriffs.

Draco made his way to where the class was held and sat down, looking at Potter. Potter was usually early for Care of Magical Creatures. Draco opened his book to the assigned page. They were learning about Plimplys today.

As Draco read up on the fish-like creature he felt eyes on him. Not just someone glancing at him, but starring. After several minutes of feeling the prickling of another gaze Draco was fed up with it. "If you stare any longer, you'll burn holes through those new glasses, Potter."

Said Gryffindor flushed a lovely red and looked away.

Draco smirked and turned back to his book. Odd little balls, Plimplys. Webbed feet like a duck but a body like a Pufferfish. However, he was only spared a minute or two of silence to read.

Taking his time, Potter leaned forward and opened his mouth. "Thank you." He whispered, almost like he was nervous. Draco rolled his eyes but did not look up from his book. "For what?" He replied in a sing-song voice.

"Saving my life." "Oh that," Draco smirked. It was amusing, and a little bit adorable, how secretive Potter was being about this. "You're welcome."

Potter did not reply, so Draco turned to look at him. "You know, I had to spend about an hour on the field in order to recatch the Snitch."

"Doesn't count." Potter shot back immediately.

"What doesn't?"

"It doesn't count as you winning the match. I was incapacitated, it wasn't fair win." Draco leaned back and gave a disbelieving laugh. That match had been completely fair! But if Potter didn't see it that way Draco would make him.

"Oh really? You still have doubts about me being the best at everything? Well I'll beat you fair and square next time." Draco informed the Gryffindor.

Potter looked up at him, his eyes a little wide. "Next time?" He asked, and Draco could not tell whether or not he liked the idea.

A moment later class ended. Draco stood up and packed away his book, parchment and quill. "Yes, next time." Draco repeated. He walked away and didn't check for an answer.

As Draco left he cursed himself. Why-oh-why did he keep putting himself in these situations? As the two had spent more time together Draco had realized that Potter was not as annoying as he thought. However, Draco had not gotten a note from his father yet, and with one more incident Draco knew he would.

Yet he still called for his owl, Zuiver.

Zuiver was a very prestigious, purebred and well-trained eagle owl that Draco had been gifted with third year. He simply had to whistle a certain tune and then Zuiver would come.

Draco held out the note he'd written for Potter and Zuiver plucked it from his hand with his beak.

The eagle owl flew away and Draco started forward toward the dungeons.

These conversations with Potter were getting more and more odd. There were a lot less insults. In Care of Magical Creatures they had practically been flirting.

Draco did not know whether he liked it or not.

Harry's PoV

Harry sat in his chair as he watched Malfoy leave, a little smile on his face. He was starting to like these Quidditch matches.

""'Ello, 'Arry!" Came a gruff voice. Harry jumped and blushed, like he was caught doing something wrong.

Harry looked up at the large teacher in front of him and smiled. "Hi, Hagrid!"

Hagrid sat down in a chair, the object squeaking under his weight. "How're you likin' school so far?" He asked. "It's alright. Besides the potion situation I've been okay." Harry replied.

Hagrid gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry you have'ta partner with Malfoy, 'Arry, but Professor McGonagall insisted."

Harry nodded and stood up, his things in his arms. "It's alright, Hagrid...Malfoy isn't too bad." Harry said goodbye to Hagrid and left.

Harry was free for the rest of the day. He knew Ron also had a free period, so he walked around the school and looked for his best mate.

He found Ron sitting on a bench stationed in front of the lake. It was odd that a random stone block and been put on the sandy ground that sat just before the tide, but Harry was sure there were a few others around the area. "Hello." He whispered, eyes on the soft pull of waves. Ron jumped a little, obviously startled, and looked over at him. "Oh, 'lo Harry." The redhead mumbled, scooting to the right to that Harry could sit down.

Sitting down Harry turned and smiled at Ron. "What's up?" "Nothing much. Been skipping rocks. Surprisingly it's boring being alone and without homework." Ron huffed out a small chuckle at his joke, his head craned back to watch the clouds. Harry nodded and looked up as well. They sat in silence, each quietly creating pictures out of the fluffy balls of perspiration. "Hey, whatever happened at breakfast? Did Malfoy really come after you?" Ron eventually asked, moving his attention from the sky to Harry.

Harry moved his gaze to his knees, fiddling with the hem of his robe. "Yeah." "Why?" "Well, he didn't like that I apologized to him. In front of his friends, at least. I am apparently 'ruining his reputation' or something."

Ron rolled his head, as Harry expected him to, and shook his head.

"Malfoy pisses me off," "Like that isn't common knowledge." "Bugger off, Harry. I mean, he really only has the Slytherins on his side. Ravenclaws might like him well enough, he's smart I guess. But the Hufflepuffs are just scared of him, and all the Gryffindors hate him. So why does he think he's popular?" Ron paused, looking to be deep in thought. "At least that's how us guys think. I don't get what all those girls see in him. He's so vain he can't even take an apology. Malfoy would probably ask himself to dance if he could!" Ron let out a snort at his joke, but Harry looked up for a different reason.

"Girls?"

"Oh yeah," Ron continued without a second thought. "Always talking about him, giggling when he walks by. Ridiculous. Thank Merlin Hermione has some sense and isn't following after Malfoy."

Harry nodded and chuckled, his mind elsewhere.

Did Malfoy really get that much of a following with girls? Harry was too busy dealing with his own fans he had never checked if anyone else had some. He could only really remember Malfoy hanging out with Daphne and Pansy. Did he have lots of girlfriends? Malfoy looked well enough for sure but Harry had never noticed Malfoy around any girls in a romantic way. Besides the 4th year ball Harry had never seen Malfoy on any dates. Malfoy probably didn't do dates anyways. He probably just hooked up with random girls at the various Hogsmeade parties and common room activities.

Harry wouldn't know about that. He had only ever been with Cho Chang, one small, short and frankly horrible kiss under his belt. Malfoy's kisses were probably long and heated and passionate- the kisses that literally left one breathless.

Suddenly Ron snapped his fingers and the sound jolted Harry from his thoughts.

"Huh, what?" Harry sputtered, trying not to blush as he realized what he'd been thinking about.

"You've become a lot more distracted lately, Harry. I was talking about how Quidditch is starting up in a few weeks. I plan to try out for Keeper. Anyways, I promised to meet Hermione at the library. We have to study for our Defense Against the Dark Arts project." Ron explained, standing up from the stone bench and brushing off his robes.

Harry nodded and gave him a guilty smile. "Sorry, I drifted off. The presentation is due in two days, yeah? Malfoy and I already finished the parchment." Ron gave him a nod and waved, slowly making his way to the library, obviously dreading it.

Harry streched out on the bench, lying on it and cushioning his head with his arms. He gazed up at the sky once again. The sun was slowly sinking further West, and dimming, so it didn't glint off of Harry's glasses and blind him.

He wasn't sure when he drifted off, but the lull from the light waves in the lake and the sounds of various birds made him sleepy. He was woken, however, by the loud caw of an owl.

When Harry opened his eyes he recognized the big eagle owl that he associated with Malfoy. The owl looked angry, as of he had been stationed on the bench for a very long time. Maybe it had been.

Harry blushed and grabbed the note from the owl's leg.

Harry opened up the envelope, a little hesitant, yet excited. It was definitely from Malfoy, which meant it was probably about Quidditch. The last match had been painful but fun, as Quidditch always was.

"Tomorrow after dinner, 8:00. Also, give Zuiver a treat. -M" The letter said in fancy but readable script. Harry was surprised that Malfoy had signed it, sort of, rather than leave himself a mystery.

The owl cooed again, ruffling its feathers in a restless gesture. Harry sat up a little and dug into his pocket. He always kept a couple treats there for Hedwig. Harry handed one to the eagle owl, Zuiver, who took it immediately.

Suddenly Zuiver reached forward and plucked the note from Harry's hand with his beak. Then without warning, the owl flew off toward to Owlery.

No doubt Zuiver was incredibly well trained. It was Malfoy's owl after all.