Chapter Ten

Have you ever been in a situation where you're so sure of something that you're not sure of it at all? Draco was in that sort of situation. He was so sure the parchment writer being Harry that he was actually avoiding him even more. He'd been writing to the parchment again, and it had been two days since he met with Hermione. He was so sure of it, everything pointed to it, and yet he was becoming more and more scared of it.

Draco was certain Harry was on the other side. He was certain Harry liked him. It all seemed so obvious now. Given time to think about it, how often did Harry watch him? How often did Harry fight with him? Yet Harry never hurt him. Harry saved him on more than one occasion. For instance, everyone would have died ten times over if Harry hadn't stopped the Chamber of Secrets or Lord Voldemort... or anything else he'd no doubt done.

Harry was always sending so many vibes and little messages to Draco... it was almost like Harry was some girl. Some love sick girl sending hints to the guy they like, who never gets it until it's shoved in their face. Draco was that kind of guy! He was so blinded by his own interest in Harry, his own feelings, that he'd never noticed all the little signs. And now Harry was getting to the root of the problem, sending his feelings right into Draco's hands.

Draco saw everything now. The little notes Harry had been passing back and forth to Hermione the whole time, it wasn't notes, it was the parchment. He was passing it back and forth between them so no one would become suspicious when a different writing style appeared on the paper. Hermione was his free-all answer, his problem solver. She helped him create the parchment, she helped him keep it secret, she even helped him write on it.

Draco saw everything, and Draco knew everything, and Draco was scared of everything. Harry being the writer meant that he loved Draco the same way Draco loved him. That should be good news, in fact it made Draco happier than receiving his first broomstick, or when he got his first owl, or anything else in the world. He was so happy to hear that Harry liked him too that he even acted like his normal cocky self when around his fellow Slytherins. He couldn't help but show how happy he was. Everyone around figured his father had done something. They had no idea.

Draco wanted to confront Harry, but he was too nervous. Every time Harry came near him, Draco shied away from confrontation. Speaking of which, here he came...

"What are you grinning about, Malfoy?" Harry asked, almost perfectly hiding his curiousness behind a mask of distaste.

"Yea. What new horrible thing has your father done?" Ron asked, not needing to hide any of his dislike.

"Nothing that you're privileged to hear, Weasel-by," Draco replied with a scowl.

He moved past Harry and his friends quickly, followed by Crabbe and Goyle like little lost ducklings. Ron huffed and hurried on down the hall. Hermione glanced at Harry and then went after Ron to calm him down. Harry was watching him, and Draco could feel it now. He hadn't looked at Harry or said anything to him, and that was probably confusing Harry just like all the other times. Oh, but Draco's mind never let it end there...

"Draco?" Harry called out. Draco paused in his walk.

"What?" he asked.

"Why haven't you asked me?" Harry inquired. Neither moved closer to the other.

"I'm afraid," Draco confessed.

"Of what?" Harry asked. Draco turned to look at the golden boy.

"What does it mean? What's going to happen? What if it's all better as a dream and a secret romance? I don't think I'm ready to lose that," Draco said, barely able to breathe but speaking strongly. Then Draco turned back and walked off with Crabbe and Goyle who hadn't even been there just now.

Yes... Draco's mind never let things end with him walking away like some sort of coward and Harry not stopping him like what was happening now. Harry turned away without saying a word and went to his class. Draco shuffled off with his lackeys. What was wrong with them? Why couldn't they talk? Why couldn't they tell each other how they felt in person?

Because, obviously, they had reputations. They were both guys. They were surrounded by people who wouldn't understand. They were both waiting for the other to say something first, and... and Draco was a coward. He was a normal, frightened, little boy under all his talk. He needed Harry to come help him off the sinking mass that was his pride.

As it stood, Draco was sitting, alone, under a tree. His house mates were in the dungeons, doing their homework, or in the library, studying. Draco was under this tree doing neither. He had no homework to do and no tests coming up that he wasn't ready for. So he was here, staring at a book with his parchment open beside him. It was held open by another book, Quidditch Through The Ages, which also kept it from flying away. The books were just for show, of course. He wasn't really reading either of them. After a while, Draco sat upright and pulled the parchment onto his lap, laid on top of his book.

Those familiar scratchy black letters were etching their words into his parchment. Draco looked around him, but he knew Harry could be anywhere and writing this.

'Do you have time to talk or are you studying?' it wrote.

'Studying? Me. Never,' Draco replied. He smiled and leaned back against the tree.

'I've been thinking a lot. I think it's time I started talking about my own problems instead of just listening to yours. I thought it would make me seem more real. Alright?' the lettering wrote out.

Draco understood. He'd accused them of being just a piece of paper, so they were trying to make themselves seem more humanistic. Silly Harry. Then again, this was a good way to learn about Harry.

'Talk as much as you want,' Draco said. He made himself comfortable and took a deep breath as he began to read.

'There was a time in my life when I was seriously fighting my feelings for you. I fought so much to be a normal guy that I let a silly crush cloud my vision. I obsessed over it. In the end, I dated this crush, but I realized she only liked me cause I reminded her of her ex-boyfriend,' Harry wrote. Yes, no more calling it 'them', this was Harry.

'Once I had given up on her, I began to realize more and more how much I liked you. You know, the realization began while I was still with her. I realized I couldn't deny it anymore so I broke it off with her. You have no idea how many problems liking you has caused me, Draco. Honestly, I've need a lot more help with easy homework when it comes to classes you're in,' Harry confessed.

Draco snickered.

'You're an idiot,' he replied.

'Hey! I'm trying to be honest here,' the paper could almost be heard growling.

'No, I just think you could make everything easier on yourself by finding something else to obsess over. I, for instance, obsess over Harry Potter and bettering myself so I can beat him as often as possible,' Draco explained.

'Cause that's so much better,' Harry said sarcastically.. Or.. That's how it sounded to Draco.

'Yes, it is. I like to think of it as how I show my affection,' Draco finished. Then he became curious. He saw a little mark appearing and quickly wrote down his thought. 'How do you show you're affection?'

The little mark paused in being written. Harry must be thinking.

'I hug people,' was the simple response.

Draco was a little surprised. He looked up as he considered if the idea was true or not. Thinking back, Harry did hug his friends a lot... If he did that for friends, think of what he did for girlfriends and boyfriends. Draco looked back down at the paper and found himself even more in shock.

'And you kiss people.'