"Imperamovio," Harry muttered, directing his wand at the white board in the cramped back room of the Apothecary.

"Oi!" said Draco, sounding angry. "That information was crucial."

"Then you should have it somewhere other than on something that erases so easily."

"I'd call that a fair point if I weren't so mad at you."

"Right. That's what I'm trying to fix." Harry walked over to the board and picked up a black marker. "Now, let's get this straight."

"So to speak."

"Good to know you haven't lost your humor." Harry set to work drawing two columns next to each other, listing his, Hermione's, and Ron's names in one and, opposite those, George's, Draco's, and Oliver's. He drew up a third column and wrote the number 60 next to the bottom two pairs. Next to George's name, he scribbled out a 63, adding "Stupid cowardly git" in parentheses next to the number. Draco, in spite of himself, smirked. Harry went on, adding the dates of the relationships at the top of each column.

"Fan fiction + unlikely pairings = bound for disaster," he wrote below the chart in block letters.

"Each of these relationships lasted for 60 days, which is the life of a story draft on the fan fiction website Hermione unwittingly led us to," said Harry. "These on top are the dates each relationship lasted through. See, they fell apart the same time something disingenuous would."

Draco nodded as Harry went back to writing. He scrawled out his name next to Draco's and put a date above them.

"This is the first time you and Zion showed up at my house," he said. "That's the first time I felt something for you."

"The day you broke up with George?"

"The day I realized that meant nothing but, well, sex." He wrote three question marks next to the date, then, emphatically as one can with a dry erase marker, crossed them out, writing "NEVER" over top of them. "And that's when I'm going to give up on whatever it is I have with you." Harry drew two stick figures then, each holding hands and smiling broadly. He used the red marker to draw a heart above them. "And that's how you make me feel. Look, you've been driving me crazy since we were kids, and I never knew what that meant till after I went through something that wasn't real. This—" He took three steps toward Draco and put his hands on Draco's shoulders. "This is realer than anything I've ever felt for anyone else. And I know you feel it, too. Don't try to deny it, OK? Please, just believe me. And let me kiss you, because right now there's nothing I want more."

Draco paused for just long enough that Harry nearly took his hands off the other boy's shoulders. Then Draco spoke. "One condition."

"What's that?"

"Erase your idiotic charts and stick figures that miraculously showed me just how stupidly in love with me you are and bring back what I had there before."

Harry laughed and pointed his wand at the board, saying "Reconreddo." Draco's immaculate handwriting reappeared.

"Good," said Draco. "You can kiss me now."

"One thing," Harry said. "I'm not in love with you. But I could be."

"I know. I just like melodrama."

"I know." And Harry kissed him.

It wasn't exactly what Harry was expecting, though it was every bit as good and then some. Draco's lips were unexpectedly rough, the inside of his mouth only just big enough for Harry's tongue, which he used liberally and perhaps a touch too enthusiastically as those chapped lips split apart and let Harry in. Harry slung his arms around Draco's neck and felt pressure on either side of his torso; realizing it was Draco's hands, he tightened his grip while kneading Draco's exposed skin with his fingertips. Draco groaned quietly and broke off the kiss.

"Better than I thought you'd be, really," said Draco, licking his lips. "Granted, you're no Theo—"

"Oh, shut up." Harry kissed him again, this time with more force and insistence, and it was even more brilliant than the first.

"Alright, fine, you've bested him." Draco smirked, though with affection, and rubbed his nose against Harry's before stealing another kiss—no, not stealing, generously donating, perhaps, Harry thought as Draco allowed his own tongue to get involved. It got to be nearly too much for Harry rather quickly; his face was flushed, his heart was racing, and everything internal, hell, external, too from the waist on down was reacting remarkably strongly.

"You sure you're not casting a Jelly Legs Jinx on me?"

He felt Draco smile against his lips. "That's just how good I am, Potter." He slipped his arms all the way around Harry's waist and dropped his head onto Harry's shoulder. "You realize I'm on the clock, right?"

"That doesn't seem like a great reason to get closer."

"No," Draco agreed. "I'm going to need you to leave before I start doing unspeakable things to you while I'm at work. Speaking of, shouldn't you be at the Ministry?"

"I told my boss I was taking the day off to plan my trip to the States," said Harry. "Couldn't have come at a worse time, could it? You finally let me kiss you, and I have to—come with me."

"What?" Draco raised his head off Harry's shoulder and gaped at him. "To America?"

"It's a three day trip," Harry said. "We'll stay somewhere ludicrously expensive and you'll lounge around the room and fill up on pastries and sugar filled coffee based drinks that hardly qualify as coffee while I convince Ludo Bagman to come back to England."

"A trip with you," Draco said slowly.

"Think of it as consummating our relationship in a completely nonsexual way," said Harry. "Though we don't have to rule out sex if you don't want to."

"I'd never do something as stupid as that," Draco said. "When do we leave?"

"You'll go?" Harry was fully aware of how ecstatic he sounded, but he couldn't care less. "Brilliant. We don't have to tell Johnson. Or I could and pretend that—"

"You can't lie for shit, Harry," said Draco. "Just leave it out and pay for my Portkey and I'll buy you at least one dinner."

"So generous." Harry rolled his eyes. "And no Portkeying. We're going by plane."

"Plane? That mad Muggle invention that flies without the aid of a broom?" The excitement in Draco's tone was rare, and Harry relished it. He grinned.

"That one. You've never been on a plane before?"

"Have you?"

"No. Guess we'll have to wing it." Harry chuckled and Draco stared at him blankly. "Just a little bit of plane humor there."

"Right. Well. I suppose this is an acceptable way to start a relationship, so long as we're going somewhere warm and beautiful and distinctly American."

"Glad you can see things my way."

"Now, could you kindly untangle yourself from me before my boss gets back and fires me for messing about on the job?"

"Only if you do first," said Harry.

Draco sighed and unhooked his arms from around Harry's waist. Harry leaned in for one more kiss before pulling away reluctantly. "What time are you off?"

"Half past 5," said Draco. "I suppose you want a date tonight."

"I suppose I do."

Draco rolled his eyes. "You'll be addicted before you know it."

"Already am." Harry grinned. "I want to kiss you again, but I'm not going to be able to stop once I start, and you know how these things go."

"I'm not sure, actually," said Draco with a sly smile. "Show me later?"

"Of course. Well, bye, then." Harry paused before asking, "Can I call you my boyfriend?"

Draco kissed him on the forehead. "Not on your life, Potter."