A/N: I'm surprised at how easily I've fallen back into the swing of this story after having not written for almost a month. It's really nice to be back to posting a chapter every day or two :) I've really missed this story :) I was actually expecting this chapter to both take longer to write and be well...longer. Unfortunately, it's pretty short. Sorry. Enjoy :)

Draco's POV

I could not believe that I had just done that. My lips were still buzzing from the kiss as Harry disappeared into Honeydukes. He had been so close, I hadn't been able to control myself. His intoxicating scent had drawn me in but the kiss, the kiss was all on me.

Madame Rosmerta came out of the Three Broomsticks. "Well, that could have been worse." She said and I forced a smile. "Here's your last paycheck. I want you to keep in touch with me." I took the heavy pouch of money from her.

I couldn't get the kiss off of my mind as I walked back to the castle. Now that I'd had contact with Harry, really enjoyable contact, it was going to be harder to keep away from him. Despite the cold, winter winds, my lips were still warm.

(+)(+)(+)

"Draco, where have you been?" Blaise asked as I stepped into the Slytherin Common Room. "I was worried when I didn't see you on the train."

When I didn't answer him, he followed me back to the dorms. "Where were you?" He persisted. "The last time I saw you was in Diagon Alley at the beginning of the break when I sent you after Harry." He snickered. "Did you two shack up for the rest of break or something?"

I shook my head. "I kissed him Blaise." The words left my mouth before I even realized that I had thought them. "I didn't take the train and I kissed him."

Blaise looked at me like I was speaking Troll. "So you weren't on the train because you were kissing Harry?" He asked slowly.

"No," I collapsed onto my bed and tried to ignore the feelings of want and need that had settled in the pit of my stomach, "I wasn't on the train because I didn't want to be around him. I have a job at the Three Broomsticks and so I just stayed there until I figured it was safe to come back up to the castle, but when I left the pub I could smell him there, in Hogsmeade. He was in an alley and for a while we just stood there and I thought I had enough self control to walk away but then the next thing I know I'm kissing him."

"Was it good?" Blaise asked.

"Good?" I shot off of my bed. "It was amazing. The best thing I've ever experienced." The feelings in the pit of my stomach grew stronger as I remembered how kissing Harry had felt. "I want to kiss him again Blaise." I whined as I sank back down on my bed and pressed my face longingly into my pillow.

"So go kiss him." Blaise said, throwing a ball of parchment at me.

I glared at him. "It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"Because it's just not. He's engaged to be married to Ginny Weasley. What kind of person would I be to come between them? What kind of mate would I be to make him unhappy?"

Blaise and I sat there in silence until Theo came in the room, followed shortly by Crabbe and Goyle. "We're going to head up to the feast." Theo said. "You guys coming?"

I shook my head at the same time that Blaise nodded. "I'm going to take a walk. I'll catch up with you guys later."

My friends nodded hesitantly and left the dormitory. I waited until I was sure that everybody would be at the feast before leaving the Common Room. The empty halls of the castle comforted me and yet they made me feel more alone than I'd ever been.

It happened near the Astronomy Tower. I could smell him before I could see him, but it was too late for me to turn around or hide. Harry came around the corner and froze as soon as he saw me. I took a few steps forward and he moved away. It was clear that he was uneasy with being so close to me after what had happened earlier.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, to break the awkward silence that hung between us, but Harry put up a hand and stopped me. "I don't want to know, Malfoy." He said. "What happened earlier is over and I just want to pretend that it never happened, okay?" I nodded. Harry walked briskly past me. I turned and watched him walk down the hall and then disappear around the corner.

My heart began to break in my chest. I had been rejected by my mate. He didn't know it, but he had caused me more pain than I had ever felt. I ran to the Great Hall, fueled by my pain.

Blaise, Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle were just leaving the Great Hall as I arrived. I tried telling Blaise what had happened, but, between my shallow breaths and the sobs that wracked my body, I couldn't even form words. Blaise told everyone to go on without us and ushered me to the nearest bathroom. A small Hufflepuff first year was in there, but as soon as he saw Blaise he fled as if a hippogriff was chasing him.

"Draco, shh, calm down." He said as he turned on one of the sinks and led me over to it. "What happened?"

I told him all about what had just happened in the hallway. He stood and listened patiently until I had finished. "I don't think he was rejecting you Draco." I started to protest but he cut me off. "You told me earlier that he's engaged to be married to the Weaselette." I nodded. "Well then he's probably confused because he obviously loves her if he's asked her to marry him and then it's more than likely he felt something for you when you kissed him earlier." I was starting to see what he was getting at, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

I pulled myself together. "But Draco," Blaise said as I was about to leave the bathroom, "you're going to have to figure out what you're doing soon. If you're going to stay out of his life and let him live his life without knowing that he's your mate then you can't get this worked up when things like this happen." He smiled at me, but it was a small, sad smile. "And if you're going to go around kissing him, you're going to have to tell him." He passed me and opened the door. Before he stepped out of the bathroom he turned back to me. "If I were you, Draco, I'd hurry up and figure it out. You've already wasted almost six months."

(+)(+)(+)

To avoid going back to the dormitory to join three guys who had seen me break down, I continued my walk around the castle. Even though curfew wasn't for another hour, most students were in their Common Rooms already.

As I was passing the library, I noticed a small, leather bound book lying on the floor. I opened it to see what it was and a folded piece of parchment fell out. It was yellowed with age and felt very fragile under my fingertips as I carefully opened it. The loopy scrawl was hard to make out but it seemed like they were directions.

It took me right up until curfew to decipher and follow just over half of the directions. I found myself standing in front of a tapestry depicting a centaur raising his bow to the sky. I made note of where this tapestry was so that I could come back to it and follow the rest of the directions.

When I got back to my dormitory, Blaise, Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle were all asleep. I hid the book and the parchment at the bottom of my trunk and happily let myself fall into a deep sleep.

A/N: R.E.V.I.E.W. (Raise Each Voice In Echoing...W) ((Yeah, I have no idea what that is either, it's 2:30 in the morning, gimme a break))