Weeks passed. Harry could barely keep his head from spinning on his shoulders. He was trying to catch up in classes, studying harder than he'd ever thought possible. All of his things had finally been moved from the Burrow to Hogwarts, and he was back in his old dorm in Gryffindor tower. That was not something he was happy about. Because, along with the return to normalcy, there was a mysterious and distinct lack of Draco Malfoy. Whenever Harry had a moment to himself, a second to breathe, his heart would ache.

Was Malfoy avoiding him? It wasn't like Harry went out of his way not to see the blonde- quite the opposite in fact. He'd been breaking curfew every night in hopes of seeing him, but had no luck as of yet. He considered just going to the Slytherin common room and asking to see Draco, but then he remembered that nobody was supposed to know that he was Dante. Which was what people like Hermione would figure out if he went around suddenly knowing where another house's common room was.

Dangerous, that.

He found that he still couldn't take the collar off, no matter how many times he tried, no matter how many ways he attempted. He'd even tried Bombarda on it once. The bruise stayed for a week and a half- he wasn't eager to try it again.

Then Dumbledore had pulled him into this Horcrux business, and Harry's head felt like it was going to burst. He couldn't possibly fit anything else in it! It was great being with his friends again, but if he had known that he would have to give up Draco, Harry was unsure as to whether or not he would have ever considered being human again.

One night, while he was checking the Marauder's Map, two footprints labeled Draco Malfoy walked into a bathroom downstairs.

Harry bolted, leaving his invisibility cloak behind without a second thought. His robes were getting in the way, so he peeled them off as he ran across the common room, tossing them over the back of the couch as he went by. He struggled through the portrait hole, nearly tripping over himself as he did so. And then he was running down the hall as fast as his legs would carry him.

Harry had never been so thankful for Dudley in his life.

He skidded to a stop just outside the bathroom where Draco was, putting his ear to the door as force of habit before walking hesitantly inside.

Now that he was here, he had no idea what he was going to say. It had been so long… Draco was probably pissed.

Just the opposite in fact. Harry walked in to the sound of strangled sobbing. He stood there, watching Draco cry as he braced himself against the sink. He felt frozen. He'd never heard Draco cry like that… What could he do? Then Draco looked up, and caught sight of him in the mirror. Harry stiffened, watching emotions flash across the blonde's face in the moonlight.

"Harry." Draco whispered, his voice wrecked. His head dropped back down, and he continued crying. Like he didn't even care that Harry was seeing him like this.

Harry couldn't help himself. Even if Draco was pissed, he couldn't stop himself from stepping forward. He grabbed Draco's shoulders gently, turning him around and pulling him into a hug.

"It's okay to cry, Draco." He whispered, though he had no idea what Draco was crying about. It could have been one of any number of things.

Draco proceeded to sob into Harry's shoulder, clinging to him desperately. Harry rubbed his back, feeling strange having to comfort him. He wasn't used to comforting people. He mumbled nonsense into Draco's ear, hushing him and trying to calm him down. Draco didn't sob wildly, like Harry had seen others do. He didn't shake much, or really move at all. Tears just rolled down his face, and his breaths were loud and uneven.

Harry had to decide that even crying, Draco was beautiful.

By the time Draco's crying had stopped, the two were on the floor, Draco still curled in to Harry, and Harry just holding on.

"Why are you crying, Draco?" Harry asked quietly.

For all the yelling they'd done at each other ages ago, whenever they spoke now it was quiet. Like it was a spell that would break at any moment whenever they had a civil conversation.

"You won't like it." Draco's voice was surprisingly steady. "You'll hate me. Can't tell you."

"I could never hate you, Draco. Not now." Harry reassured. "Tell me."

"…" Draco sighed. "Spostkilldmbldr." He mumbled.

"What?" Harry could barely understand that, let alone make sense of it.

"I'm. Supposed. To kill. Dumbledore." Draco's voice never wavered, as though he'd accepted the fact that this moment would come long ago.

Harry's heart nearly stopped. Draco? Kill Dumbledore? Why? What on earth would possess him to- Oh. Voldemort, duh. He was surprised at his own thick-headedness at times. His mind instantly began working. There had to be a way around this.

"There isn't. I've got to do this, don't you see?" Draco pleaded. It took Harry a moment to realize that he'd said that last part out loud.

"But if we tell Dumbledore, then surely he'll be able to come up with something." Draco shook his head, trying to get out of Harry's constricting arms.

"Can't. I've got to do this. The Dark Lord said that all my families' mishaps will be forgiven. Even if it's a lie, what other choices do I have?" Draco gave up trying to get away from Harry, slumping against his chest. He wasn't looking Harry in the face, either.

"You have this choice." Harry took Draco's cheeks in his hands, making Draco look at him. "You have me. You have Dumbledore. We can figure something out, where no one has to die. Not even your family."

Draco worried his lip, searching Harry's eyes for something. There was silence for what felt like forever. At last, Draco nodded. Harry half-smiled at him, leaning in and kissing him softly. When they separated, Draco dragged him in for another. And another. Harry began to chuckle at Draco's insatiable need. Draco finally pushed him backwards, straddling him and kissing the life out of him.

Harry managed to get Draco to leave off for a minute so that he could get his breath back.

"Bastard. You have no idea how long I waited for you to just freakin' kiss me." Draco growled. "I am not about to stop now."

"I couldn't find you to snog you, Draco." Harry mock-complained.

"Shut up and snog me, then."

So Harry did.

oooOOOooo

The next day, Harry and Draco were spending time together in the courtyard. Both Gryffindors and Slytherins had a free period, and there were some people from both houses lingering around, watching the two carefully. They pretended not to notice, instead continuing with conversation as normal. Draco sat at the base of a tree that was planted there, while Harry busied himself with climbing to the top.

"If you fall and break your neck, don't say I didn't warn you." Draco called idly, flipping a page in the book he was reading.

"I won't fall." Harry hooked his knees over a branch and let himself hang upside down, stretching down as far as he could, fingers reaching.

No, he needed to be lower. So he straightened up and slipped to a branch farther down.

"That has yet to be seen." Draco glanced up at him, eyebrow raised, eyes sparkling with amusement.

Draco's mood had at last taken a turn for the better, now that he had something solid to cling to. He no longer felt like he was dangling off the edge of a cliff, hanging on only by his fingernails. He absentmindedly turned a page in his book while he thought, not really paying attention to the words on the page. He may not have been paying attention to the book, but he did notice when it was yanked from his hands.

Draco looked up, glaring at Harry. The raven was having a ball, lounging in the tree branches, Draco's book in his hands. He'd obviously just hung upside down to get it from the blonde, and Draco had to wonder how he didn't notice.

"Give that back, Potter!" Draco snarled, standing up and reaching for it.

"You'll have to catch me, Malfoy." Harry taunted, climbing higher.

Draco scowled. He wasn't going to climb the tree just to get a damn book. Malfoys didn't climb trees. But the way Harry was looking at him, just daring him to try…

He would have started climbing, if not for the exclamation of surprise that came from above him. Draco looked up just in time to catch whatever fell.

Which turned out to be a very fluffy black cat, who looked properly ashamed when it looked up at him. A moment later, Draco's book, which had caught on a branch on the way down, fell right on top of Harry's head, obscuring him from view.

"…That's what you get for stealing my book." Draco growled, hoping no one had seen. It didn't appear so, as he wasn't hearing any whispers or hissing behind his back, so he thought it was okay.

Harry, or Dante, rather, grinned at him. Well, grinned as much as a cat could.

"I suppose we now have two things to tell Dumbledore." Draco sighed, shaking his head. Dante meowed.


Hey guys!

The next update may be a little late, as I'll be working on a chapter for another story and I just can't multitask in different fandoms, but I hope that you will all be patient with me in awaiting the next chapter. 8D As always, I appreciate all of your support and wonderful comments. 8D Thank you all from the middle of my heart! X3

Ta ta for now~