Comments: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update! School's been so busy and it's so hard to find time to type out my chapters! But I think this chapter is long enough to make up for it. I know how frustrating it is to read unfinished fics. I feel your pain. Merry Christmas and Happy Christmas to my British readers!

Rating: R

Summary: Harry refuses to talk because of something that happened in his sixth year. Now at their last year at Hogwarts together, Draco becomes attracted to him and is determined to find out what's keeping the Gryffindor quiet, not knowing of the horrors that's keeping Harry from talking. Things become more desperate as they realize that Harry is the only one who knows how to stop Voldemort from stealing other powerful wizards' and witches' powers. And Harry is no closer to talking than Voldemort is to applying for Miss Universe.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters related to it. The wonderful JK Rowling does.

Note: WHOEVER WANTS TO DRAW FOR MY FIC WILL BE LOVED FOREVER!

Butterfly Kisses

Chapter 10: Conference with Granger

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It was a little past four in the afternoon when Draco had decided to go and sit by the lake. He wanted some solitude, even though he hadn't been in anyone's company since he had given Harry a friendly push out his door this morning. He enjoyed having time to himself. He often got it, but ever since he had been with Harry he hadn't had time to be by himself, and he missed it. It was today that he decided to get some privacy since he hadn't seen Harry all day and his classmates were all busy with studying and homework.

As he was nearing the shade of a tree, he heard his name being called. He sighed heavily and turned around. He was most surprised to see Granger walking toward him.

"What is it, Mudblood?" he asked with an impatient look.

She seemed unfazed by the name. But then she hardly ever rose to his baits. "I need to talk to you, Malfoy."

Draco raised his eyebrows and examined her. Her brown hair was still bushy. She wasn't beautiful or ugly. Her face was pleasant enough to look at. She was average size and height. Draco was mildly shocked that she wasn't carrying a pile of books.

"Well, come on then," Draco turned his back to her and began walking away. "I don't want anybody to see me talking to you." He heard her running to catch up to him.

They stopped under the tree and sat on the side that was facing away from Hogwarts. Draco made himself comfortable, displeased with Granger for ruining his alone time. She settled down a foot away from him and stared out at the lake. Silence reigned between them. Tension-filled and full of animosity.

"You know I hate you," she began.

"Really?" Draco feigned surprise. "I thought you had fallen madly in love with me."

She gave him a scathing look. "As I was saying, I hate you and you hate me. I'm only talking to you because of Harry."

"What about him?"

"I had figured out a while before that incident in the Gryffindor Tower that something was going on between the two of you. It wasn't until Harry told Ron and I in the hospital did I know what was truly happening."

Draco yawned. "Get on with it."

Granger continued as if he hadn't said anything. "Of course I was a bit surprised. Ron was furious. He yelled at Harry and told him to never come near him again. Harry was very upset, of course, because Ron's his best friend."

"Really Granger, I didn't think you were one to state the obvious."

She turned to look at him. "What I'm saying, Malfoy, is that Harry gave up Ron for you. I know you hate Ron but he means a lot to Harry. I tried to persuade Harry to break up with you. Obviously he didn't listen to me."

"What's your point?" Draco was glad that the Weasel was no longer Harry's friend. He was better off without him, anyway.

Granger frowned at him. "My point is that if Harry's giving up Ron just for you, you better not hurt him, or you will find yourself turned into a girl."

He prevented himself from rolling his eyes. "I find myself unaffected by your threat."

She stood up angrily, glaring down at him. "I mean it, Malfoy! If you hurt him you better run to You-Know-Who and ask him to give you a merciful death, because you won't be so lucky with me."

He gave her a serene smile. "Then I suppose it's a good thing I have a masochistic streak."

"I'm serious, Malfoy! I swear I'll kill you!" There was a manic gleam in her eyes.

"What is it, Granger?" he drawled. "Will you turn me into a girl or kill me?"

"Whichever curse that enters my mind first," she hissed. "I don't trust you, but I trust Harry's judgment. If he'd risk Ron's friendship for you, perhaps you're worth it." She looked intently at him. "But then maybe you're not. Just watch yourself, Malfoy." She turned and walked away before he could reply.

He was slightly impressed that the bushy-haired girl cared so much for Harry and refused to turn her back on him just because he was dating Draco. He secretly admired her intelligence and her ability to remain sensible regardless of the situation. It was amazing that she was dating a blockhead like Weasley.

Draco gave a heart-felt sigh and leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree. It was the kind of weather Draco liked. It was no more than twenty-one degrees out, and the sky was a clear blue with wisps of white clouds floating lazily across. A slight breeze was blowing, ruffling his hair. The sun shone through the bare branches of the tree, its leaves having fallen off some time in the middle of October.

Draco suddenly felt tired. He laid down in the grass, throwing his arm across his eyes to block out the sunlight. The cool breeze and the sound of birds and the inarticulate talk of the Hogwarts' students lulled him to sleep.

He dreamed that Granger had turned him to a girl. She and Harry had been laughing while Weasley was literally chasing him around Hogwarts professing his love to Draco.

Draco woke up with a start. That could be classified as one of the worst dreams he had had this year. He glanced at the sky and could already see a few stars. He got up and went to the Great Hall, feeling very thirsty. It was dinner time and the Hall was filled with chatter and laughter. Draco ignored it all and went to sit next to Blaise.

"Draco!" Blaise exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since forever! How long has it been? Years? Darling, is that a wrinkle I see?" he lightly touched a corner of Draco's eye.

Draco smacked his hand away. "Shove it, Zabini. I don't have wrinkles."

"Curse my eyes!" Blaise cried in mock horror. "It is a wrinkle!"

Draco growled and grabbed his plate to look at his features. He couldn't find even the tiniest wrinkle. "Liar," he muttered. "I should know better than to trust you. Now shut up. I'm hungry and thirsty."

A brief examination of the Gryffindor table told him that Harry and Weasley were indeed in a fight. Harry was staring down at his food. The Weasel was sitting further down the table with Thomas and Finnigan. Granger was sitting in between, looking irritated.

Draco calculated that it had been four days since Weasley had seen Harry and him kissing. Harry never gave him an even slight indication that he was in a fight with Weasley. Perhaps he had been too busy with the Dark Mark and everything to really pay attention? Was that why Harry had been hanging around Draco so much, because Weasley was avoiding him?

Draco narrowed his eyes at the Gryffindor's lowered head. It was the ultimate insult that Harry should only turn to him when he was in a fight with Weasley. A Malfoy never came in second place.

Harry looked up and jade met stony grey. The smile that had appeared on Harry's face faltered at the icy expression on Draco's face. He felt a shiver go through him when the blond gave him a smile that was neither pleasant nor malicious. It was more of a smile that promised of a consequence for something Harry had done. He had no idea what it was. He just sighed and turned back to picking his food.

After dinner, Draco went to his room to do his homework so he wouldn't have to do it on the weekend. He was reading the most recent issue of the Daily Prophet, which reported another disappearance, when his door opened and closed of what seemed to be of its own accord, but Draco knew better.

"Potter," he said, not glancing up from the paper. He heard a sigh and a rustling of cloth when Harry took off his invisibility cloak. Draco bounced slightly as the Gryffindor flung himself on the bed. Draco gave him an indignant look which was fruitless since Harry had his face pressed into the bed. Draco finished reading the paper forty-five minutes later and was surprised that Harry hadn't tried to crawl into his lap and distract him. He glanced at him and saw that Harry had not moved, except for his head which was turned away from him and toward the fireplace.

"Potter," Draco called softly.

No response.

Draco nudged his still form with his foot. "Potter," he said louder. He crawled over to him when there was still no response. He bent over and saw that Harry was asleep. He groaned. "Merlin, Potter. It's only eleven on a Friday night and you're already asleep." He considered waking him up, but decided against it. The Golden Boy wasn't quite so golden when rudely awoken.

"Hey Draco," Blaise strode into the room and up to the blond's bed. He looked at Harry's sleeping form and broke in to a grin. "I see Potter found out what most of your lovers did."

"And what would that be?" Draco asked, sitting back on his haunches.

"That your libido would put even the man who overdosed himself on pepper-up potion to exhaustion."

Draco just snorted.

Blaise's grin grew. "Well, a bunch of us are sneaking to Hogsmeade. You coming?"

Draco shrugged. "Why the hell not? I'm not going to get much action tonight, anyway," he indicated Harry and proceeded to strip himself down to his boxers. He threw on his black trousers and black sweater. He put on his shoes and grabbed his cloak and closed the bed curtains around Harry before following Blaise out to the Common Room. A group of ten or so seventh year Slytherins were waiting for them.

Draco took out his wand and tapped six times on the sixth stone to the right of the fireplace. The stones shifted and some disappeared to reveal a black hole. He waited until everyone climbed through before doing so himself. He heard the wall closing as he slid down the tunnel. It was pitch black and there were some sharp turns. He could hear far off distant noises, but wasn't worried. He relaxed. After awhile he saw the dim light that signified the underground path he would land on. Draco prepared himself and landed gracefully on his feet. Blaise was the only one waiting for him.

"You're always making me late," Blaise whined. He turned and began walking, his head almost brushing the dirt ceiling.

Draco refrained from telling him that if it wasn't for him, Blaise would be an hour late instead of the usual half to all his appointments.

Their way was guided by a lit candle encased in a crystal ball that floated beside them. It had been Draco's idea to charm it when they had been first told of the secret passage by the seventh years when they were in their sixth year. So whenever someone came to the passage, the candle would immediately light up and follow the person or persons.

Fifteen minutes later they came to a stairway leading up. They climbed it and pushed open the trap door. The candle went out and floated back down to the passageway to wait until they came back.

They were behind a tree near the edge of Hosmeade. Draco let the trap door slam shut. Once it was shut you couldn't tell it was there since grass covered it. Both Slytherins began walking to the Three Broomsticks. The night was cool and the stars shone brightly in the midnight sky. Most shops were closed save for the bars. No one was outside. A cat turned its glowing eyes to them before dashing off.

The Three Broomsticks was noisy like it was every Friday night. There were all kinds of witches and wizards there to celebrate the end of a busy week. Draco and Blaise went and sat at a large table with their friends. A pretty girl that looked to be no older than twenty-three came to take their drinks. She was obviously a new girl seeing as she kept getting their orders mixed up and blushing furiously under the gazes of the males. She told them her name was Adela when asked. She left and came back with their drinks. She gave Draco an appraising look before rushing off.

It was close to two when Draco decided to go back to Hogwarts. The other Slytherins were too drunk to notice Draco leaving. He felt a little fuzzy, but not too much. He had sipped his Mandrake Mix unlike his friends who had downed theirs in one gulp.

The night was growing colder. Just as he was about to close the trap door, someone called his name. Draco saw that it was Blaise and waited for him. He sighed impatiently when the darker-haired boy tripped and fell. Blaise laughed and got up. Draco cast a sobering charm on him.

"Aww, Draco!" Blaise said, climbing into the passage after him. "Why'd you do that for?"

"Because, Zabini, when you're drunk you're loud enough to wake the dead."

They arrived at the Common Room twenty minutes later. It took five minutes more than usual thanks to Blaise's antics. Draco was so tired he felt like dropping on the floor and sleeping.

"Shhh," Draco said as they entered their dorm room.

"Sorry," Blaise whispered. "I forgot lover boy was sleeping."

Draco threw his cloak over his trunk and took off his shoes, using his toes to pry them off. He decided to sleep in his clothes, since he found that he had no energy to take them off let alone change.

Blaise had already fallen asleep on his bed and was snoring. He hadn't even bothered to take off his own shoes.

Draco heard movement behind the bed curtains and smiled. Maybe Harry was awake and he would be up to a little romp before they went to sleep. He opened the curtains so that the firelight could show him Harry. A horrified gasp escaped his lips at what he saw.

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I hate cliffhangers, but I love writing them! Sorry this took forever to post. Chapter 11 will be out way sooner than this was. super-sailor-saturn39