Disclaimer: The wonderful and talented J.K. Rowling has dibs on the characters and the majority of everything else. I do however own this particular variation so if you'd kindly not steal and claim as your own, I'd be grateful.

As always thank you very much to everyone still reading this. This is the longest chapter I've done yet. Now that Christmas is over and such things at work have started to take over, so not so much time to write as before, and it does mean less time to update also, I'll keep with the Monday schedule for now and see how we go.

So yes, this seems to be where Draco changes around Harry a little, you might think this is him just being him but there is more to it than that. I'm kind of scared that I changed him a bit too much in coming chapters, let me know along the way okay? Not that I can do much about it but never mind, I'll know for next time.

Also, just purely out of curiosity, if anyone has any requests of one shots or ideas that they would like me to write I'd be happy to hear them and consider them, if I get enough time to write them. I'm eager to explore this fandom some more.

Oh and just before I leave, I'd like to know how you would like this to end. I have a few ideas battling around in my head but I'd like to know what you would all like to see.

Part 11

"I just don't get it," Hermione said quietly as the three of them sat down at the Gryffindor table for dinner. She was gazing at the teachers table, scanning each teachers face as if they would show her the answer.

"Now there's something you don't hear everyday," Ron said and Harry sniggered. Hermione shot him a look before turning back to look at the teachers table.

"They must know, they have to, I know they turn a blind eye sometimes but come on, this was serious and no one is doing anything about it," Hermione said shaking her head.

"Hermione, why do you seem to think not getting into trouble is a bad thing? This is a good thing, you shouldn't be worrying about it, plus it wasn't that serious, it was only a Quidditch game," Ron said looking at Harry with a clear 'is she mental?' look as he shovelled food onto his plate, clearly not loosing his appetite over this like Hermione clearly had.

"I just think that the longer they leave it the heavier the punishment is going to be," Hermione said defensively finally looking at them, showing Harry, for he was the only one out of the pair that was paying attention and not stuffing his face, that she was genuinely worried about this.

"The way I see it, it doesn't matter either way. If we get expelled then oh well, there are plenty of people wanting to hire us at the ministry, especially us. If we don't, then we just carry on as we are, no harm done either way." Ron said before Harry could think of anything supportive to say. Hermione's face turned stony and all Harry could do was kick Ron under the table for what he had done.

"Being war heroes isn't everything you know. I don't think the ministry will like the fact that we've been expelled," Hermione hissed harshly. Harry had to calm her somehow before they both got a beat down from her.

"Don't worry. We're not going to get expelled, Hermione. I looked it up, the largest punishment they can give either of you is a detention, Malfoy and I may get suspended as captains but that doesn't matter. This is if we even get pulled up about it, which I doubt." Harry said calmly hoping to calm Hermione at the same time.

Her face did loose it's stony-ness but it only went back to being worried again. There was no pleasing her today, Harry could tell it was just going to be this way until something happened. He just hoped she wouldn't go and confess to anything. Knowing her, that would be the kind of thing that she would have to do.

"Come on, Hermione, eat some dinner, they've got your favourite soup on today," Ron encouraged waving the bowl in front of her in an attempt to calm her down and cheer her up, almost spilling the contents at the same time. Harry smirked and left them to it, helping himself to a roll and spreading butter onto it. Ginny took that moment to flop into the seat next to him.

"You heard anything from any of the teachers yet? Or are they turning a blind eye?" Ginny asked quietly as if she knew that if Hermione heard her it would set her off again.

"Nothing yet but I'm not getting my hopes up I have a feeling something is going to happen, I just don't know what," Harry shrugged, and bit into his roll.

"You sound like Trelawny, only a little less depressing, emphasis on the little." Ginny teased and Harry rolled his eyes but smiled at the same time. "Just don't act the hero alright? We all agreed to that game, we're all in this together yeah?"

"Yeah alright," Harry agreed but didn't actually mean it. There was no way he was dragging anyone else into this. This whole mess was started between him and Malfoy and it would end with them too.

"I mean it Harry, if you take the blame I'll tell everyone about your little routine," Ginny whispered quietly, right next to his ear. Harry, whom had been about to bite into his roll again, froze with the bread half way to his mouth. Was she on about what he thought she was on about?

"What routine?" he asked trying to look casual by carrying on and not looking at her but he knew the damage had already been done.

"You know exactly what I'm on about. Just remember that if it comes down to the choice between taking all the blame or not," Ginny said, quietly into his ear again and with that she stood and left the table. He watched her flounce down between the tables and then quickly looked over at the Slytherin table.

He raised his eyebrows when he found that Malfoy was looking directly at him. Malfoy straightened up, not taking his eyes from Harry and gestured with a nod of his head out into the entrance hall. Harry looked around at Hermione and Ron whom were having a quiet discussion between themselves. He looked back at Malfoy and they both straightened up and stood to leave at the same time.

Harry didn't even think to say goodbye to Ron and Hermione but when he looked around to see if they noticed, it appeared they hadn't. He and Malfoy met at the doors and waited until they were safely outside of the great hall before Malfoy took hold of his arm and pulled him to the side into a shaded area, away from view.

Malfoy was still gripping his upper arm tightly when they turned to face each other and he seemed to realise that as he let go quickly, the pressure was gone in an instant but the warmth lingered on Harry's arm. He'd never really imagined Malfoy as warm in the first place, always cold and harsh, not warm and soft.

"Has McGonagall spoken to you yet?" Malfoy asked. He glanced around them checking to see if there was anyone around listening to their conversation.

"No. Has she spoken to you?" Harry asked, he knew what she would want to speak about if she did, they weren't going to get away with it after all. He felt like a concrete block had been dropped in his stomach.

"Yeah but only to ask me to meet her in ten minutes in her office and to bring you along too," Malfoy said. Harry nodded, not expecting anything less than that and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his robes.

"Right, okay. I guess we could just head up now. I'm finished dinner if you are," Harry said with a shrug, trying to sound as casual as he could about this. He was nervous about what would happen with McGonagall and trying to sound as if he wasn't nervous in front of Malfoy. The whole thing was making him anxious.

"Yeah, don't you have to say goodbye to the Weasel and Granger though?" Malfoy asked as they left the secluded area and headed for the stairs. Harry narrowed his eyes at him to which Malfoy just smirked and carried on ahead of him, leading the way up the stairs.

"How come, you seem to have turned over a new leaf with me, for at least the majority of the time, but still act like the same old Malfoy with everyone else?" Harry asked as soon as the thought occurred to him.

"One step at a time Potter, one step at a time," Malfoy said, his smirk still in place. Harry rolled his eyes and they carried on in silence along the corridor.

His feet seemed to be walking on their own accord however as he hadn't really been thinking about where he was going until he realised he was only one floor away from the headmistress' office. He hadn't been in that office since the end of the war and hadn't even thought about it until now. It hadn't even occurred to him that Professor McGonagall would be in that office. In his eyes it was always Dumbledore's and always would be.

"You're not going to get all Gryffindor on me now are you?" Malfoy sniped, although his voice was actually bordering between curious and concerned.

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked, as he focused on making it up the stairs without tripping and tried to ignore Malfoy's gaze.

"You're clearly not comfortable about going into McGonagall's office. You're not going to start weeping over Dumbledore's portrait are you?"

Harry's fists clenched, automatically and he slowly turned to face Malfoy. "You just can't help it can you? I knew you'd never be able to change, just as cold and insensitive as ever."

Malfoy's smirk fell immediately. "Whoa, I was only joking Potter. I didn't actually mean it,"

"A joke I don't think I am ready to hear. Or that you have the right to make," Harry said as they finally reached the gargoyles outside of McGonagall's office, after what had felt like one of the longest walks ever. "Do you know the password?" Harry snapped.

"What? Oh, yeah she kept with the theme of sweets, 'liquorish snaps'" Malfoy said. He was unusually flushed and disorientated. Harry took pleasure in seeing that he had managed to make him like this, maybe this meant that the authority between them would be shared or equal at some point during this relationship, if that's what you could call whatever this was.

The staircase shuddered in front of them and Malfoy stepped forward first, Harry scowled at the back of his head and followed in his footsteps. He watched the steps as they climbed, his eyes glued to them in fear of staring at something else while they were on their way up. Being right at his eye line would have made it difficult not to look at Malfoy's arse.

They reached the top of the stairs and found professor McGonagall shifting through a pile of parchment on her desk, the door open and welcoming them in. Malfoy knocked on the door, to draw her attention to let her know that they were now there. She turned and nodded at them, pushing away the parchment with a flick of her wand.

"Ah, come in then boys, sit down," she said shuffling around the desk and sitting in her own seat. Harry entered and immediately looked around to notice the changes from Snape's version of the office, and of course Dumbledore's. He expected a big difference but all that he could notice was there was more Tartan and the smell of magic wasn't quite as distinctive.

Harry glanced at Malfoy who just shrugged and carried on into a seat. He didn't seem very fazed by the whole thing, almost as if he expected it and didn't care about the outcome. Although, Harry knew that they didn't really have to worry about much. They couldn't be expelled, or at least it would be pointless to do so as neither of them had to be there that year. He was more worried about having his captaincy taken off of him, not because of the team but because of the perk of using the bathroom. Still, that had never really stopped him before.

"I suppose you both know why you are here?" McGonagall asked, putting on her glasses and shuffling around in her seat, peering at them both.

"Er, we think so," Harry said when Malfoy remained quiet. He glanced over at him again. He was sat up with a poker straight back, his hands clasped and his blank mask on. Harry wondered if anyone else ever got to see the unmasked, unreserved Malfoy apart from him, and even then that was only recent and only glimpses.

"Do I need to ask who it was that initiated the Quidditch game between the two teams? Or should I just take a guess that neither of you would own up to it?" McGonagall asked. Her tone wasn't as disappointed as Harry imagined it would be. There was a certain glint in her eye also that told him this wasn't going to be that serious.

Harry wasn't normally one to jump to anyone's aid when it came to taking the blame for something that he didn't do, certainly when he got into enough trouble as it was on his own, and certainly not for anyone like Malfoy. But when Malfoy shifted in his seat and said "Yes Professor, I did," Harry couldn't sit back and let him. He just couldn't.

"But Professor I was more than willing to participate at the first mention of the game. And I forced the rest of my team to take part as well," Harry said, vaguely hearing Ginny's threat in the back of his mind but trying to ignore it. She didn't have to find out and if she did he could deal with that later.

"But I was the one that suggested it," Malfoy repeated the accusation and Harry felt his glare on him. Harry frowned and looked back at Malfoy, wondering what on earth he was playing at.

"I thought as much. I must say I expected more from the pair of you. You are both captains and should have set a better example for your teams, especially you Draco, being a prefect as well," McGonagall said, her frown was set deep and she was shaking her head back and forth slightly.

"Yes Professor and I am prepared to accept full responsibility," Malfoy said, his back was still rod straight and he had that Malfoy look of determination on his face, not that it stopped Harry in the slightest.

"What? No! This was my doing as well Professor, this wasn't all Malfoy's fault," Harry insisted, cutting off Professor McGonagall mid way through a nod at Malfoy, causing her to frown.

"What are you talking about Potter? I started it, I suggested it, ransacked your training game and everything, I should be the one to face the repercussions," Malfoy said, his head whipping back to meet Harry's gaze. Harry shook his head again. He felt guilty enough for taunting him after it in the first place, he was not about to let him take all the blame, that just wasn't fair and he couldn't understand why Malfoy was trying to make it that way.

"I still took part, I could have walked away but I didn't. I forced my team mates into playing and Hermione and Justin in taking part, I want to take some of the responsibility," Harry said, almost wanting to stomp his foot to make sure his point was being put across.

"Stop trying to be the hero Potter," Malfoy sneered, properly sneered for the first time in a week at him. Harry was surprised at how much he wanted to get rid of the sneer and get the smile back and he couldn't help the flinch he made and had to turn to face McGonagall.

"I am not trying to be the hero, I'm trying to take responsibilities for my actions, I'm not doing this for you Malfoy, I'm not doing this so you get a lighter punishment, don't flatter yourself," Harry snapped, no longer looking at either of them but determinedly at his hands instead. Something about Malfoy's sneer had angered him and he was fighting back.

"Oh please Potter, we all know that you get off on this sort of thing, being the glory boy. Just cut it out, it doesn't work on me; I thought you'd know that by now." Malfoy snapped back. He was getting under Harry's skin and he knew it. Harry was scowling at him now and his hand was twitching towards his wand, McGonagall or no McGonagall he would jinx him then and there if he pushed hard enough.

"For Merlin's sake Malfoy, when are you going to get around to the idea that I don't do stuff for that. I guess you're just proving you're full of shit. Like fuck you've grown up," Harry snapped, not caring that he was swearing in front of a teacher, the headmistress no less.

"You've got room to talk Potter. You're still the pathe-" Malfoy started but was silenced by the slam of a book on McGonagall's table. Harry noticed that the portraits around the room had started to titter and tut and his eyes immediately gravitated to Dumbledore's, who himself was only peering at him over his glasses, his hands clasped in front of his mouth, long fingers, brushing his lips. Harry shuddered at the remembrance of seeing that in real life.

"I think that's enough from both of you," McGonagall said in sharp, edgy tones. Harry's cheeks tinged pink and he bowed his head.

"Sorry Professor," He and Malfoy said at the same time, which only caused more unexplained anger to bubble up inside of him.

"Since both of you are quite adamant to take the blame on this I will split the punishment. I am taking one-hundred and fifty points from both of you and you will both turn up here for detention every Saturday at nine o'clock sharp, until the end of term-" Malfoy was about to interrupt but McGonagall held up her hand to stop him "-if that happens to disrupt a Quidditch training session then so be it, consider that a suspension from captaincy, count yourself lucky that we are starting the matches after Christmas and that it doesn't disrupt a match," McGonagall said.

Harry looked at Malfoy out the corner of his eye and saw the boy nod and drop his head. He sighed himself and nodded without looking McGonagall in the eye. The thought of Ginny's threat sprang to his mind again and he knew he wouldn't get away with it from her, and there was no way she wouldn't find out.

"I don't want to see the pair of you in here again unless it's for something good, do you hear me?" McGonagall asked and Harry and Malfoy nodded again. "Right, you're both free to go,"

Malfoy stood first and apologised again to McGonagall, making Harry feel as if he should also. She gave them both small smiles and turned back to her piles of parchment. Harry trailed behind Malfoy out the door and down the steps, neither of them saying anything else, and Harry had an idea that that would be it and they would just go their separate ways when they got into the corridor.

Malfoy however, stopped once he stepped off the staircase and turned to Harry with his arms crossed. "I hope you're happy with yourself Potter," he snapped, his guard still safely in place and his eyes stormy, prepared for a fight.

"What are you talking about Malfoy? I got you out with only half a punishment, would you rather have had three-hundred points taken off you?" Harry snapped. The anger he'd felt in McGonagall's office was still bubbling under the surface, ready for a proper explosion rather than the mini one that took place only minutes ago.

"You just had to step in and try and be the hero didn't you? Not content enough with beating me in that game you had to take half the credit for starting it as well," Malfoy snarled and Harry realised that they were standing closer together than normal. He could feel Malfoy's deep breaths, briefly brush over his face and he had to grit his teeth to keep his mind on the argument at hand and not the stirring in his groin.

"Are you kidding me Malfoy? Do you really think that's why I did that? So that I'd have half the glory? You're unbelievable. You can spread that you started an illegal Quidditch game all you want, it doesn't change the fact that I still took part. I was only telling her the truth. This isn't about credit for me, this is about telling the truth," Harry snarled and his eyes searched Malfoy's face which was growing noticeably angrier the more they argued.

"Telling the truth my arse, you want everyone to know that you can still break the rules even when there isn't a Dark Lord to fight and use as an excuse," Malfoy said.

"What are you talking about Malfoy? People aren't going to think I'm doing this to break the rules and be the rebel! Who the fuck wants to purposely get into trouble to prove themse-?" Harry froze mid sentence and narrowed his eyes at Malfoy, "Unless that's exactly what you wanted to do, to prove that you still have a Death Eaters rebellion in you,"

"Fuck off Potter," Malfoy snapped and his teeth were grinding in his mouth and his top lip was quirked. Harry had never realised just how attractive he found that look until he seen it on Malfoy. His teeth were straight and white and his lips were thin, his hair was flopped into his face and- well, there was more than just stirring in his groin now. He hated being a teenager, this wouldn't be happening if he had more control on his emotions.

"What's the matter Malfoy? Struck a nerve did I?" no matter what was going on in his nether regions he couldn't stop himself from arguing and prodding Malfoy into a fight. It was in his instinct. He just had to. "I knew you hadn't changed. You're still the same jumped up, jealous, vicious git that you have always been, you're growing up to be just like your father huh?" Harry said, with more venom than he had expected.

The next thing he knew however, his back was pressed up against the cold stone wall beside the entrance of McGonagall's office. Malfoy's hand was clenched into the front of his t-shirt, his knuckles pressing into his chest and his face dangerous and stormy, directly in front of him. Harry gulped and he realised he shouldn't have prodded so much, even if getting a reaction out of Malfoy meant that he was secretly jumping up and down inside.

"Don't even try it Potter or I swear I'll-" Malfoy started to snarl and just as Harry was about to try and reach for his wand in his jean pocket, a startled higher pitched voice joined in.

"Harry! What are you doing?" Hermione asked and he and Malfoy turned their heads to the right to look down the other end of the corridor. She and Ron were hurtling up it, which in turn made Malfoy let go of Harry and take one step back, still not far enough.

"What do you think you're playing at, prick?" Ron spat a Malfoy, his wand out and pointed at him. Hermione looked Harry up and down, obviously to check he was still in one piece. He shrugged off her hands that reached to straighten up his t-shirt and scowled at them both. He was managing just fine before they turned up. He didn't need them to come to his rescue, thank you very much.

"Watch your mouth Weasley, or I'll seal it shut for you," Malfoy spat back and looked over at Harry, not even blinking an eyelid at the wand pointed at his chest. "Don't worry, I left your precious hero in one piece," he said and Harry noticed his eyes linger on his groin for a second and cursed that he wasn't wearing robes today. As if just looking wasn't enough, Malfoy smirked, tucked his hands into his pockets and turned and stalked his way down the corridor.

Harry hadn't speech left in him to shout back a scathing remark, so all he could do was watch Malfoy down the corridor until he turned and was out of sight. He looked at Ron and Hermione, whom were watching him with concern and sighed before turning in the opposite direction and made for the common room. He was not having this discussion here. Plus the walk would give him time to get rid of the erection straining in his jeans and of course the anger still running through his veins.