Chapter Ten

Harry was bloody nervous. It was like he had never been on a date before, but he had never been on a date with Draco before and that was what mattered. He glared at his reflection in the mirror again, wishing for the hundredth time that his hair would just stand still. It just wasn't happening. He had been in the bathroom for half an hour now, which was twenty-five minutes more than he usually took to get ready for anything.

He reached up and adjusted the collar of the green button-down he was wearing. Hermione had gotten it for him from god know where, stating that it would bring out his eyes. He was willing to do anything that would make him look even slightly better, at this point. He had also foregone his glasses and was wearing the contacts he had bought on a whim during the summer. He had never bothered wearing them before and was surprised to find the change it created. His eyes shown brightly, he had never known they were that green before. Was this the green that Snape had wanted to see before he died?

Shaking his head to dispel the negative direction his thoughts were taking, Harry took one last glance at the mirror and decided that there really wasn't much more that he could do. He pulled on his shirt a little as he walked out of the bathroom, nervously planning what he was going to say to Draco tonight. Although, seeing as Harry had never really planned for anything before, he came up with nothing. He smiled thinly when he saw Hermione waiting for him on Ron's bed.

Seeing the nervousness and fear on Harry's face, Hermione jumped off the bed and came to stand in front of him, smoothening his shirt as she talked,

"Don't worry about anything, okay? Just be calm and act like you always do. Remember, this is Draco, he knows you almost as much as you know him. He's not going to judge you because of stupid things, especially not on how you look."

Harry pouted, "I know that. But it still doesn't stop me from wanting to make a good impression. If you recall, we don't have many of those."

Ron snorted from his bed, "Of course you don't. He spent the first six years of our school life trying to get us killed. It's not like he never poisoned us or anything." He stopped talking and leaned back so that he fell down on his bed. Harry really didn't know what to say in reply to those words. What Ron had said was true. But at the same time, it didn't matter to him anymore. He cared about the Draco of the present, not the git who had fought with them all those years ago. Though, at the same time, he didn't want the boy to lose his essence of being. He glanced at Hermione and saw that, she too, looked slightly troubled.

"Don't worry about me," they heard Ron say from the bed. "I don't really have a problem with him now. It's just that it'll take a while for me to get used to him."

Harry nodded and then, when he realized that Ron couldn't see him, said, "Okay. I really think he feels sorry about the way he acted, though. At least, he regrets his actions."

"That's better than nothing I guess." Harry stood there, hesitating. He didn't want Ron to be unhappy with his decision to date Draco. As much as he had acted unconcerned with Ron's and Hermione's reactions to his relationship with Draco, he knew that, if they were really against it, he would stop seeing the blonde.

Probably sensing the directions of Harry's thoughts, Ron suddenly got up and glared at him, "Look, Harry, if I really didn't like it, you would know. Stop overthinking things and go have fun on your date. I was just thinking out loud"

Harry nodded hesitantly, "Okay. But, if you really have a problem, you should tell me."

Ron rolled his eyes, "If I really had a problem," he said, "I wouldn't have let you take things so far in the first place. So, again, don't worry about it."

Harry smiled softly, "Okay. If you insist."

"I do, all this unhappiness is killing me. Go now, so that I can spend the time recuperating under the watchful care of my girlfriend." With that, Ron glanced at Hermione—what he was planning to do with his girlfriend after Harry left was clear on his face.

Harry laughed and took that as his cue to leave. Tugging nervously on his shirt again, he left the dorm and walked the short distance to the Room of Requirement. He checked his watch and was relieved to see that he still had five minutes left. Turning the corner before the Room, Harry was once again surprised to see that the Slytherin had made it before him. He paused for a second to admire the blonde from afar. He was standing and leaning against the wall, opposite to the Room of Requirement, with his hands in the pockets of his black trousers. He was wearing a black shirt as well and the result was that his pale skin glowed more than it usually did. Looking at his profile, Harry decided, once again, that Draco was beautiful. He had the perfect combination of colors, perfect features, and so what if they were a little pointy—that just completed his image perfectly.

Harry grinned and walked forward to meet with his boyfriend. He was rewarded with a smile as soon as he reached Draco's line of vision. Harry nodded to him silently and went about getting a room for them. He pictured the same room as before and after three passes, opened the door and gestured for Draco to lead them into the room. Harry followed him in and was pleasantly surprised to see that the room had added candles to the small coffee table in front of the sofa. He saw Draco raise his eyebrows when he noticed the candles but, since the blonde didn't comment, he refrained from explaining.

The both headed to the sofa in silent agreement and sat down, this time a lot closer than they had started with the previous night. Once they were settled, with Harry turned around so that he could see Draco clearly, the Gryffindor opened his mouth to speak, but the Slytherin beat him to it,

"I've never had a boyfriend before."

Harry nodded slowly, "You told me before. But, neither have I."

The blonde rolled his eyes, "I know that-" but was interrupted from what he was about to say by Harry,

"You mean you like girls? I mean- do you not like guys? I mean- uhh, do you have a problem with me being a guy?"

Draco stopped him from going on by placing a hand on his arm, "Harry, if I had a problem with you being a guy, I would never have kissed you. Or liked it so much-" Harry blushed as he remembered their kiss in the corridor.

"So, no, I do not have a problem. All I meant to say is that, I've never had a proper relationship before and I might not be very good at it."

"Oh," Harry blushed again, "that isn't a big deal. We'll figure it out as we move on. I don't care that you don't have any experience." In face, Harry was distinctly happy that the blonde hadn't been in a relationship before.

Draco swallowed, an action Harry found very distracting, "Harry, I never said I didn't have experience, I said that I had never been in a relationship before."

Harry frowned, "Then how would—oh! Yeah, I get that. I mean experience as in 'relationship' experience. You said in the hallway that you had experimented."

They fell into silence again as Harry contemplated what he had just learnt, "How far have you gone, then?" he asked finally.

"Not all the way, but pretty close to it." The blonde answered.

"Oh. With a guy?"

Draco nodded silently. Well, at least this answered why Draco had no problem with what they had done. Enjoyed it, even, like he said. Harry asked after a while, taking Draco's hand in his as he did "Will it be stupid of me to ask who it was?

Draco snorted before replying, "No. I don't have a problem. It was mostly Theo. Blaise now and then."

Harry frowned at that, "Wait, you're telling me that three-fifths of the Slytherin boys are gay?"

Draco rolled his eyes at that, "If you're really particular about it, I would say that we were two-fifths gay, one-fifths bisexual and two-fifths food-sexual. Theo swung both ways."

Harry chuckled, "Yeah, I always wondered whom Crabbe and Goyle would end up with. Most of the dorm thought they would shack up with each other in the end."

Draco snorted at that, but didn't reply. Harry wondered why for a second before realizing suddenly why this might not be something Draco wanted to talk about. Crabbe. He tried to think of something to say to change the topic and finally blurted out,

"How many gay people do you think there are in our year?"

Draco leaned back as he thought about it, pulling Harry's hand with him. He interlocked their fingers and stared at them before replying, "Well, Blaise and I for sure, Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff as well. I'm not sure about Ravenclaw and in Gryffindor, Finnigan. You and Theo are both bi. At least, I think you are, since you dated Weasley the girl, before."

Harry laughed when he heard Draco say 'Weasley the girl,' "She has a name, you know."

Draco nodded seriously, "I know. Girl Weasley."

Harry laughed again but didn't say anything. He liked that Draco was coming out of his shell slowly. He thought about what Draco had said, there were quite a few of them, Justin, Blaise, Seamus—wait, Seamus?

"Seamus is gay?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah. I just said that."

"But he's never told us!" Damn, how could he not have realized? Of course, Seamus had never given any indication of it.

"Does it matter?" Draco asked.

"No. It's just a surprise, that's all." And what a surprise it was!

"Oh." Draco was quiet for a few moments as Harry tried to remember if he had ever seen Seamus with a boy. Nope, it was only ever Dean. Finally, the blonde said, "So, are you, you know, bisexual?"

Harry snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Draco. The blonde was gently worrying his lips, his gaze trained on their hands. "No, I think I don't really have a preference. It depends on the characteristics of the person, the way they make me feel."

"How do I make you feel?" Draco asked.

"You make me feel … like I want to know more about you. Something about you makes me want to get close to you," Harry said slowly, "To hold you, touch you, protect you, to give to you everything that I am and take everything that you are, and, mostly, to cherish you."