A/N: OMG LOOK! IT'S A NEW CHAPTER! Don't worry, you're not delusional, I really am posting new chapters two days in a row. One reason is because this chapter was really frickin' easy to write. Another reason is because I'm doing NaNoWriMo so...don't expect many, if any, updates in November...and I felt bad about that so I'm going to try to get as many chapters up in the next five days as possible. So...yeah, hope you like it :D I'm sorry that it's not really as long as my last few chapters have been. Happy reading :)

Harry's POV

"How was Godric's Hollow?" Ginny asked when I returned to the Burrow. She wrapped her pale arms around my waist and rested her head against my chest.

I ran my fingers through her long hair and kissed the top of her head. "There were two properties for sale. I've looked at the both of them but next time you're just going to have to come with me and decide which one you like best."

Mrs. Weasley came bustling into the kitchen, a bunch of white fabric bunched up in her arms. "Oh! Harry dear, I wasn't expecting you back so soon." She quickly hid the fabric behind her back. "Why don't you go up and talk to Ron? I think he wanted to tell you something."

I nodded and kissed Ginny before taking the stairs two at a time until I reached Ron's room on the top floor. When I opened the door, I saw Ron sitting on his bed flipping through the worn pages of his copy of Quidditch Through the Ages. "Hey mate, your mum said you had something to tell me."

Ron looked up at me with confusion written all over his freckled face. "Uh, no I don't." He put his book down. "I think Mum just wanted you out of the way. She and Ginny have been whispering and planning all week, trying to get you out of the house. I think they expected you to be gone longer." I looked back through the open door, trying to see what was going on down in the kitchen. "If I were you," Ron said, "I'd just stay out of their way. It's not worth it to find out what they're up to."

Agreeing, I sat down on the edge of my bed and picked up Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Quidditch from where I had left it on my pillow. The box that held the Golden Snitch which I was still keeping stashed under it fell to the floor.

"What's that?" Ron asked, picking it up and turning it around in his hands.

I shrugged and reached to take it back. "An anonymous Christmas present."

"Have you opened it yet?" I nodded. "Well what is it?"

For some odd reason, I didn't want Ron to know what it was. It felt like a secret that I should keep between myself and whoever had sent it to me. It felt almost…intimate. "Nothing." I said, snatching it away from him. "Just some Chocolate Frog cards. They're all ones I already have though."

Ron looked at me suspiciously for a few seconds before shrugging. "Whatever. If you don't want to tell me what it is then you don't have to." He crossed the small space between our beds and picked up his book again. "I guess I was wrong in thinking that we were best mates and told each other everything."

Guilt bubbled up inside my chest. "Fine." I sighed and Ron grinned widely. I removed the top of the box and carefully took the Snitch out, making sure only to touch the green silk it was wrapped in.

"Bloody hell!" Ron was standing right in front of me in an instant. "Is that a real Golden Snitch? Do you have any idea how much one of those costs?" I slowly put the Snitch back into the box. "Whoever gave that to you must be as rich as the Malfoys."

I returned the Snitch to the box. My thoughts all scattered and tangled at the mention of the Malfoys. I shoved the box into the pocket of my robes and opened the window. "I'm going out flying for a while." I told Ron as I pulled my wand out. "Accio Firebolt." My broom soared out of the Weasleys' broom shed and right into my outstretched hand.

Out in the open air I could feel the tension leaving my body. Malfoy, the name echoed around in my mind. I shut my eyes against the harsh glare of the sun and let my thoughts wander back to what had happened earlier that day.

I had just finished looking at the two available properties in Godric's Hollow. Both of the houses were really nice and nearby my parents' old house. I hadn't wanted to make the decision without Ginny so I just told that landlord that I'd be back again with her to look at the houses sometime soon.

It hadn't taken as long as I had expected to tour both of the houses so I decided to take a bus to the entrance of Diagon Alley. I tapped the bricks with my wand and they began to shift aside, creating an entrance into the Wizarding World.

Since no one usually leaves Diagon Alley that way, I wasn't watching where I was going and very nearly ran into someone who was just standing there in front of where the brick wall had just been. "Watch it Potter." I instantly recognized the voice as Malfoy. I turned to throw a comeback at him but when my eyes met his, I froze. There was something there, behind that cold surface, something I had never seen before. He almost seemed to be holding something back. His lips were moving too. Not obviously, but it was almost as if he were chanting something to himself.

I found it impossible to find some rude comment to throw at him. It was as if, after six years of hating him, all those negative feelings had just disappeared. My heart fluttered in my chest. I mumbled an apology and headed for Fortescue's as quickly as my feet would carry me. Behind me I heard an odd sound that damn near broke my heart and caused tears to blur my vision.

Suddenly, I remembered hearing that same exact sound at the beginning of the school year. I had been down by the Quidditch Pitch and Malfoy and Zabini had been talking about only Veelas and mates being able to hear it.

Softly, I landed in the Weasley's backyard and sat in the soft snow. I had never really forgotten about the whole mate business. True, I hadn't visited Viola since I had spent the night in that room and I hadn't thought of what Malfoy and Zabini had talked about that afternoon since my engagement to Ginny, but it had always been there, dormant in the back of my mind.

Now that I was thinking about all of that again, I was getting uneasy. Bumping into Malfoy in Diagon Alley didn't help. For the first time in my life I was confused about how I felt. I knew that I loved Ginny, very much, but I wasn't sure how I felt about Malfoy. I had read the Wizarding fairy tale about Veelas and realized now exactly what being Malfoy's mate would be and I couldn't honestly say that I was repulsed by the idea. I mean, Malfoy wasn't bad looking, he was actually quite attractive, and he hadn't been as snotty this year.

"Aren't you cold?" Ginny's voice interrupted my thoughts. She stood at the back door. I motioned for her to sit with me. "What are you doing out here in the snow?" She asked as she let my arms wrap around her.

She was warm against my chest. Her familiar scent wrapped around me like a comforting hug. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed her presence. "I was just thinking." I said when I finally answered her.

"About anything in particular?"

I smiled and kissed the spot where her neck met her shoulder. "About how much I love you." That wasn't exactly a lie. "And how I'll never let anything come between us. " I really hoped that that wasn't a lie.

(+)(+)(+)

That night I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. Sleep seemed impossible. Thoughts and feelings were rushing through my head so fast that I couldn't even tell them apart. I used to lie awake at night and wish that there was a Veela out there somewhere waiting to bond with me. Ginny had said that to me just a few days ago and now it would not stop repeating in my head. Luckily I found something better.

But I was not better. I really wasn't. Not if I was going to end up leaving her for Malfoy. You're not going to, though. I told myself. You love Ginny, not Malfoy. Besides, even if you weren't completely and totally in love with her, you're straight, not gay. Of course, telling myself that didn't help at all. There was more evidence pointing to me being Malfoy's mate than there was proving that I wasn't.

My head felt like it was about to explode as I finally drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Review?