I lay in bed that night staring up at the canopy as I listened to the others settling in around me. Blaise yawned as he passed my bed on the way to his own.

"All settled in for dreams about Harry?" he joked, lowering his voice so no one else would hear. I smiled and shrugged.

"You never know," I replied. He grinned and sat down on his bed, still looking over at me.

"You look like you haven't slept in a week, mate. Things going alright?"

"Fine." I was lying through my teeth, and we'd know each other long enough that Blaise caught it immediately.

"Is it your dad?" he asked, his voice dropping even lower. I sighed and rolled onto my stomach, running a hand through my hair. "You know you can tell me anything, Draco."

"I know," I replied. "It's just…" I sighed deeply and looked up at him. "Harry asked about him today."

Blaise was quiet for a moment, and then asked the seemingly obvious question. "What'd you tell him?"

"That I didn't want to talk about it. It seemed like the right idea at the time, but… I don't know. I guess I feel bad about not talking to him. He's told me nearly everything about his life; he's been so open about it all and I just… I've barely told him anything."

"Maybe you should talk to him about what goes on with you and Lucius."

"Yeah, that'd go over real well."

"Harry knows your dad's a Death Eater, though. Right?"

"Are you kidding? The whole world knows that—they're just too scared to do anything about it."

"But if you he knows already…? I guess I just don't understand the problem."

"My father being a Death Eater, and then him wanting me to do the same… They're just two different subjects."

"But you don't want to be a Death Eater, right?" I shook my head. "Then that's what Harry's gonna hear. That's the part he's going to care about. Look, it's ultimately your decision, mate. But I think it might help you out a bit if you talk to him about this."

I nodded, knowing he was right, and stared down at my pillow in silence for a moment. "Thanks, Blaise," I said quietly. He smiled and nodded.

"Anytime, mate."

I still had a terrible time trying to sleep that night. I'd hoped that being back at school and seeing Harry again might improve my sleeping habits. It didn't seem to make a bit of difference, and I found myself lying awake at odd hours in the morning. I watched the pale strip of light from the moon fade away and the bright light of the morning sun come to take its place.

It wasn't until six that I finally accepted the fact that I wasn't going to get anymore sleep, and I rolled out of bed, gathering clothes and heading for the shower. I had showered, dressed, and made it downstairs with my bag before Blaise and the others had even managed to crawl out of bed.

I was the first person in the common room, which didn't surprise me at all. Pansy was the first to join me. She didn't seem surprised to find me up already.

"Good morning, Draco," she said happily, coming to sit next to me. "Blaise still in bed?"

"He was when I left the dorm," I replied, smiling. I fought the urge to yawn. Pansy would only worry. If she found out I wasn't sleeping. It was the way she'd always been. She looked at me oddly, almost as if she knew anyway. She was just opening her mouth to say something when loud bouts of shouting echoed down the boys' staircase.

The shouting continued for a bit, occasionally rising in volume. Blaise's voice came echoing down, suddenly much louder than the others. The door slammed and Blaise stalked down the stairs, muttering under his breath. Not a sound could be heard from the dorm now.

"Bloody sodding wankers," Blaise mumbled angrily as he crossed the room to join us. "I swear—one more bit of nonsense like that and they're sleeping with the fourth years."

"Vince and Greg again?" Pansy asked. Blaise nodded haughtily. "What was it over this time?"

"Merlin knows what! Probably something stupid, like it always is." He turned to me. "I swear, you're the only one that can control them, Drake." He looked at me, as if suddenly seeing something that alarmed him. "You alright, mate?"

"Yeah," I replied, nodding. "Just had trouble sleeping, that's all." Blaise and Pansy exchanged glances. "It's nothing, really! I've just gotta get used to being back in the dorm is all. It was a lot quieter at the mansion without Crabbe's snoring." Blaise groaned in agreement.

"It was horrible last night, wasn't it?" he exclaimed. "Do you think we could put a silencing charm on him?"

"I don't know that it'd do any good," I said, grinning. It felt good to be joking around with him. Break had been so boring, so lonesome. It felt good to be back in the company of friends…and to be able to see Harry again. Speaking of which….

"Don't you think we should be heading to breakfast?" I asked, watching as groups of students left the common room. Pansy and Blaise both nodded, picking up their bags. We headed for the door, a grin crossing my face as a plan formed in my mind.

I ate breakfast quickly, my eyes glued to the Gryffindor table where Harry sat with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. The latter caught sight of me several times, eventually nudging Harry and whispering something in his ear. He turned towards my table, his eyes scanning it as he searched for me. Our eyes locked when he found me, and I found myself drowning in the warm green depths, even at this distance.

Oh, the incredible powers you have over me, Harry Potter, I thought, smiling to myself. I winked at him before turning back to my breakfast. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he grinned and turned back to his own plate.

I waited around for a bit, biding my time until I though he was done. They'd be leaving soon. Time to put my plan into action. I stood from the table, picking my bag up. Blaise and Pansy gave me odd looks.

"I'll see you two in Defense," I said, heading for the door. Neither of them said a word. I think they both knew I was plotting something. They'd both seen me watching Harry, after all.

I slipped out into the entrance hall, and crossed to the broom closet around the corner. I set my bag on the floor, cracking the door open just slightly, giving myself a good view of the hall. I didn't have to wait long. I could hear voices coming closer and soon long red hair came bouncing into view.

It was just the two of them. Ron and Hermione were nowhere in sight. This is gonna be easier than I thought. I opened the door and stepped into the hall. Ginny's cheerful bouncing stopped when she saw me, her face spreading into a wide grin.

"Malfoy," she said, winking. I grinned back.

"Weasley," I replied, returning the wink. Our gazes turned to Harry at the same time. He looked as though he were fighting the urge to pounce on me right there. My smile widened a bit. Better not keep him waiting too much longer. "You don't mind if I borrow Potter for a moment, do you?"

Ginny, if possible, grinned even wider. "Of course not!" she said, giving Harry a playful push in my direction. "I'm sure he'd be glad to have you borrow him."

I grinned and led Harry into the closet, shutting the door behind us. I turned to look at him, a smirk playing across my lips. Harry dropped his bag next to mine. He moved closer to me, smiling in the darkness.

"I was hoping I'd get to see you before class," he said, his hands running up my arms and across my shoulders as he wrapped his arms around my neck.

"Were you?" I asked, my arms moving around his waist. He nodded, reaching up to brush his lips against mine.

"I've missed you," he whispered. Our lips met, and the kiss was stronger this time. I pulled him tight against me, loving the way our tongues moved together as the kiss deepened.

I pushed him slowly back against the wall, bringing one of his hands from my neck and pinning it to the wall as well, our fingers entwining together. He raised his chin, giving me better access to his throat as my lips moved along his jaw and down to his neck.

"I love you," I whispered, pressing a kiss just behind his ear.

"I love you, too," he said, the words coming out as a slight moan when my lips trailed down his neck again. "Is this going to be a regular morning occurrence?" he asked as I pulled back, looking down into his eyes.

"That depends," I replied. "Do you want it to be?" He shrugged.

"I think I could definitely get used to it."

I grinned and kissed him again. A soft knock on the door brought us back to reality.

"I really hate to interrupt," Ginny's voice called from outside, "but the others are all starting to leave the great hall, and we're all going to be late for class if we don't hurry."

Harry and I exchanged glances as he let out a deep sigh. "There goes paradise," he said, picking up his bag from the floor. I smiled and kissed his cheek as I shouldered my own bag.

"This was fun," I said. He grinned.

"Yeah. I'm thinking we might have to make it a regular event."

"Well, we can discuss that later. We've got to head for class."

"McGonagall will kill me if I'm late the first day back." He headed for the door.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"You got your half of Pansy's gift with you?" He nodded. "Keep it close." I gave him a wink. He grinned, coming back over to kiss me.

"I'll talk to you later, then?" he asked. I nodded. "I love you, Dray."

"I love you, too." He smiled and opened the door a crack, checking to see if the coast was clear. I grinned stupidly to myself as I watched him slip out the door. Merlin, that was brilliant.