Authors Note: Sorry for the wait! But I hope this chapter makes up for it. :)

On another note I just want to give you all a big THANK YOU!! This story's gotten almost 400 reviews, 200 favorites, and 419 alerts! O_O Whoa! Thank you guys so much! I'm going to try to reply to all reviews from now on. Thank you so much!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do I have to –"

"Yes."

"But –"

"No buts, lets go."

"Why can't I just –"

"I won't let your friendships be ruined because of me. Now come on lets get this over with."

"But Draco," Harry whined.

"You're such wimp."

"Stop calling me a wimp!" Harry huffed, crossing his arms. (AN- Kyou Kara Maou. Anyone get it? Heh heh :P)

"Well then stop being one! Let's go," Draco answered and not waiting for a reply walked to the door of the Room and Requirements. He pulled the t-shirt he wore over his head and tossed it carelessly on the floor. His hands moved to the waist bands of his pants.

Harry's stomach dropped. They'd been through this routine before, but maybe this time Draco wouldn't make him –

"Turn around," Draco called in a sing song voice, looking over his shoulder with a grin.

Harry sighed heavily, holding down a smile. "Fine." He turned away from Draco, listening to the rustle of fabric as his trousers slid down his legs. He fidgeted with his hands, fighting the unbearable urge to run across the room and savage the boy then and there.

He heard the door swing open then, and new it was safe to turn around. The sleek white panther greeted him. Harry hesitated a few seconds before sighing and following him out the door.

It had been a week since the first day of school, and other than a few quick glances between them during classes, he hadn't had much contact with Ron and Hermione.

He had talked with McGonagall after class one day about everything with Draco, and had sent her a note telling of the vision of Voldemort. She had replied back quickly, telling him she would alert the Order.

Other than that everything had gone on normally; Harry dragging Draco along to classes during the day, eating meals with Seamus, Dean, and Neville, and going to do homework with Draco in the Room in the evening. Well… homework wasn't all they did.

But now that it was Saturday, Draco wouldn't give up on him going to work it out with Ron and Hermione.

"All you do is mope about and talk about how angry you are with them," he'd said in a huff last night before Harry had silenced him with a kiss.

They were on their way down to breakfast now, where Harry was supposed to try and work everything out.

Harry walked confidently into the Great Hall, Draco prowling quietly beside him. He instantly spotted Ron and Hermione, sitting near the end of the Gryffindor table, talking and laughing and eating.

With a deep breath Harry approached them. "Can I sit here?" he asked once he'd reached them. Ron's head twisted around to glare at him, but gave a sharp nod before glancing at Draco and turning back to Hermione. Their conversation stopped.

Harry cleared his throat awkwardly as he sat. "I'm… sorry. For not telling you, that is. I'm not going to apologize for helping him though. And I'm not going to apologize for being – being with him," his voice lowered at the end. "I don't want to lose you guys over this, so I'm sorry."

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, as if confirming what they were going to say, before Ron nodded. "Ok," he said roughly, glancing away again.

Harry didn't know what to say to that. Was that acceptance? Was he just trying to get it over with so Harry would leave? He didn't know. "Uhm… yeah… ok," he said stupidly.

Hermione sighed. "What Ronald means is that we forgive you. And we're sorry too… we kind of over reacted. But I just wish you would have told us."

Harry nodded, looking down only to snap his head back up as Draco gave him a stern look from near his feet. Ron made a non-committable noise in the back of his throat, frowning down at the toast on his plate.

"Come on Ron. I said I was sorry… I didn't mean to make you upset," Harry tried, nudging his side.

"Well you should have told me. Best friends, remember?" Ron mumbled.

"I know. We are! You just have to understand that this was one thing that wasn't up to me to decide who to tell. I would have told you, but Draco was worried. So I kept it a secret. But you know now, so it's ok."

Ron crossed his arms and turned in his seat to look at Harry. Harry felt Draco's muscles tense against his legs. Ron glanced down at him. "So… Malfoy's feelings are that important to you now?" the question sounded more like an accusation.

"Uhm… yes. Yes they are," he replied just as defiantly.

"And you have a boyfriend now," this one wasn't a question at all.

Harry willed his embarrassment away, knowing his face was trying to turn red. "Erm… I guess I do. But I – I – don't hate me for it alright…? I'm not… I'm not gay. It's just him I think… just him… so… I – I –," a hand on his shoulder cut him off.

Ron nodded his head, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Alright," he said, and this time Harry new it was acceptance. In his own way, he was apologizing. Then he looked up. "But just so you know; there's gonna be lots of gay jokes." Ron grinned cheekily at him.

Harry smiled back. "I think I can handle that."

------------------------

Could life be anymore boring?

Pansy Parkinson sat in the dark Slytherin common room watching a few first years fight over something stupid no doubt.

She sighed, leaning back against Blaise; her new play thing for the time being. She missed Draco. They had been together. They had. Draco had always denied it to people, but when they were alone he let her cling to him.

He'd never let her do anything she'd really wanted to do. Every time she almost got there he'd make an excuse to stop.

But now, they couldn't find him. She knew something went on between Voldemort and Draco's parents, and they were killed most likely. No one had seen them. Word was now Draco'd made a run for it and Voldemort was trying to find him.

It wasn't like Draco to run away from problems. She sighed. If only he was here, they could have some real fun messing with Potter and his lovely new pet.

Where did he find such a creature anyway? In that little muggle home he went to over holidays? A sleek white panther with piercing blue-gray eyes. Shame Potter had to get it when Draco decided to go missing…

She sat up, her eyes wide, startling Blaise. Suddenly it made sense.

-------------------------

"Expelliarmus!"

Ron's wand flew out of his hand with a pop and landed on the padded floor of the Room of Requirement. With a huff Ron stooped down and picked it up, got back into ready position, and glared at Harry.

"Redo. I wasn't ready."

Harry grinned and got back in ready position as well.

Draco leaned against the wall on one side of the room smirking at the two while Hermione stood on the other, a smile on her face.

They'd all gone up to the Room of Requirements when Ron had made a comment about being able to beat Harry in a duel. So here they were, in this padded room, ready to duel.

"Ready!" Hermione chirped from her place on the sidelines. "Go!"

"Locomotor-Morits!" Ron yelled, bringing his wand arm down toward Harry with a flourish.

Harry easily blocked the attack and returned one of his own. "Obscuro!"

The bright purple light hit Ron square in the chest, knocking him back a few feet as a blindfold appeared over his eyes. "What the bloody hell?! I'm blind!!" he screeched, yanking with his hands at the piece of cloth wrapped around his eyes, duel forgotten.

Harry sniggered as he crossed the room to where Ron stood, still franticly yanking at the blindfold. "Get it off!" he yelled.

Silently Harry conjured a piece of long rope and snuck up behind Ron. With a battle cry he jumped onto Ron's back, toppling them both over in the process.

Wrestling him down onto his stomach Harry pinned his arms behind his back and used his wand to tie the rope around his wrists in a tight knot.

"Victory!" Harry crowed sitting atop Ron's back.

Draco chuckled and shook his head. He watched with growing amusement as Ron tried to buck Harry off of him, screaming curses the whole time. Harry was roaring with laughter as he fell from Ron's back and watched the red head roll and flop around on the floor.

Finally Ron got himself into a sitting position, and from there he stood. His hair was comically sticking up in all directions as he spun around, his eyes still covered and his hands still tied behind his back.

"Harry? Harry where the bloody hell did you go?" He began stumbling blindly around the room, continuously losing his balance and falling to his knees, only to stand again.

Harry sat in the middle of the floor, his hand clamped over his mouth in an attempt to stifle his laughter so Ron couldn't find him.

Ron sighed and sat heavily back down on the floor. "Come on Harry, please? My nose is starting to itch." As if to prove his point he wrinkled his nose a few times, swishing his head back and forth.

"Oh fine you pansy," Harry laughed as he crawled over to Ron.

"Oh I'm the pansy now? Get your gay arse over here and untie me!"

Harry clucked his tongue and sat back again. "Well that wasn't very nice," he said. "Definitely not the way to get me to do what you want. Oh and I told you I'm not gay."

"Oh of course not. You just like the cock. Now come and bloody untie me!"

Harry smacked Ron on the back of the head as Hermione giggled before undoing the magical ties bonding him.

"It's just because my cock's amazing you know," Draco called across the room to Ron, smirking.

"Yes, yes, I bet it's amazingly tiny Malfoy," Ron returned, standing and brushing himself off.

Harry sighed. Another one of these. The two constantly bickered about little things, but it wasn't with the cold hatred that all of them had fought before. Deep down Harry suspected this was just their way of getting over their past. Maybe even bonding.

"Hey I could take you on any day Weasley!" Draco sniffed, crossing his arms.

"You really think so?" Ron scoffed, also crossing his arms.

"Yeah. If only I was in my panther form–" Suddenly Draco's form twisted and morphed and he stood back in his place as a panther, his clothes pooled around him.

The big cat blinked in surprise a few times, looking around at the surprised faces of the other three in the room. Then he grinned as he slowly turned back toward Ron.

Ron's eyes widened and his hands came up in front of him in defense. "Hey now, that's not fair!"

Draco took one menacing step toward Ron, sending Ron scrambling around to pick up his wand he'd dropped while his hands were tied. When he finally found it, he turned back. Draco was crouched; his muscles tensed and ready to let him pounce.

And that's exactly what he did.

A high-pitched cry ripped through the air as Draco lunged at Ron, and Ron's girlish shriek added to the noise. Draco landed on Ron, knocking the poor boy to the ground once again, where they rolled and wrestled for a few minutes, Ron grunting with the effort.

Finally Draco pinned Ron to the ground, his jaws stretched wide over the boy's throat.

Ron's eyes were squeezed shut, his breath caught in his throat. Then Draco's rumbling cat-laughter broke the silence in the room as he lightly nipped Ron's neck. Ron rubbed at the spot before pushing Draco's head away.

"A gay cat just kissed me! Bleh!" he exclaimed in false disgust. Draco let out a low growl before nipping Ron's cheek a little harder, eliciting a yelp from the redhead. "A touchy gay cat it seems," Ron added as he scrambled out from beneath Draco.

Harry and Hermione smiled at them from where they stood against the far wall. They were definitely bonding. Harry didn't know whether he should feel happy or jealous, as he felt a little bit of both. As Ron aimed a kick at Draco, only to have him skitter out of the way just in time Harry decided he'd stick with happy.

"Fine, you've proven your point you wiry bastard. You can change yourself back again," Ron grumbled.

With that said, Draco's form morphed again until a very naked Draco sat on the floor in front of Ron. Harry smirked, looking away to keep himself from staring and making Ron, Hermione and Draco uncomfortable.

"Hey, it is tiny!" the red-head crowed, pointing to Draco's groin before bursting into laughter.

Draco let out an embarrassed squeak as he scrambled around for his clothes.

---------------------------

"Here Mr. Potter," a little blonde boy prompted, handing Harry a scroll of sorts. "The Head Mistress asked me to give it to you."

"Thanks," Harry said distractedly as he unrolled the parchment.

The boy hurried away leaving Harry sitting by himself in the library, Draco curled up and snoozing at his feet.

The parchment read, in sharp, small lettering:

Dear Mr. Potter,

I wish to discuss some personal matters with you not to be mentioned in this note. Please come to my office as soon as possible. Lemon Sherbet may be helpful.

~Professor McGonagall

Harry quickly gathered his books from the table, stuffing them in his bag along with the note. He stood quietly from his chair and nudged Draco's side gently with his foot.

The transfigured boy startled awake, jumping to his paws and whipping around towards Harry. Harry dropped to one knee, carding his fingers through the soft fur on Draco's head. The panther purred, leaning his head into Harry's touch.

"Why don't you go head up to the Room, yeah? Wait for me, I'll be there soon."

Draco nodded, leaning forward and swiping his rough tongue across Harry's cheek. Harry smiled as Draco nuzzled his furry head into his neck, whining. "I'll be right there, I promise. Go on," he prodded, shooing Draco with his hands.

Draco gave a half-hearted growl before turning and trotting toward the door, Harry following. He opened the door for him once he'd gotten there, and waited for Draco to disappear up the stairs before heading in the direction of the Head Master's office.

As he walked he fingered his robes nervously, wondering what it was McGonagall had wanted to talk to him about. He'd sent Draco away because he hadn't told him about his vision in the first place, and if that's what McGonagall wanted to talk about, he didn't want Draco to be shoved into it just yet.

"Lemon Sherbet," he mumbled to the gargoyle blocking the stairs to McGonagall's office – smiling at the fact she was sticking to Dumbledore's password preferences.

When it jumped aside he rushed up the spiraling staircase that it revealed and flew into the office. McGonagall sat upright at her desk; her spectacles perched at the end of her nose as she thumbed through papers that littered her desk.

Harry entered quietly and cleared his throat. "You wanted to see me Professor?" he asked politely.

"Yes. Take a seat, Harry," she said, setting her papers down and waving a hand at the empty seat across from her.

Harry sat in the seat she had indicated and leaned forward, ready to get to the point. Just as McGonagall opened her mouth to begin though, a deeper voice spoke from behind her. "Where's Mr. Malfoy this evening Harry?"

Harry's head snapped up as he took in the portraits of the past head-masters for the first time. Half sat sleeping in their frames, others reading or doing other various things they were painted with, and some sat upright, watching.

Albus Dumbledore sat forward in his frame, hands clasped on his blue-robe clad knees and his eyes twinkled with the interest and curiosity they always contained.

"He's up in the Room of Requirements. I sent him up there, you know, so he doesn't… worry."

"In other words, you haven't told him about Voldemort have you?"

Harry's cheeks flushed. He'd forgotten how Dumbledore could be sometimes. "Uhm… yeah."

With that Dumbledore leaned back in his seat and listened.

"You should probably tell him Mr. Potter. This does majorly involve him," McGonagall advised, leaning forward.

"Yeah I know. I just… look I just didn't want to worry him. Can we get to the real reason you asked me here? Please?" Harry rushed on, not wanting to be interrogated about Draco.

"Yes, ok. Well I've discussed it with Albus and Severus, and they think the best thing for the situation is start with occlumency lessons with Severus again."

Harry groaned aloud and Dumbledore emitted a slight chuckle from his frame.

McGonagall ignored this though, and continued. "We have alerted the Order of the situation and our main efforts now are keeping Voldemort and his followers as far away from Hogwarts as possible. All you have to do now is work on Occlumency and keep yourself and Mr. Malfoy safe."

Harry nodded, and in that simple motion pain erupted in his forehead, he hissed, his hand flying to his head as he slumped out of the chair and onto the ground.

Blackness.

With Potter?! The boy who bloody-well-wont die?! How could this be? Since when were they ever familiar with each other? This means he's probably already leaked information into Dumbledore. God Damnit!

In a fit of blind rage Voldemort flicked his wand at the masked man in front of him who'd delivered the news. The man crumpled to the ground as he began screaming a blood curdling scream. He writhed in pain, his features contorting until Voldemort lifted his cure, kicking the poor man in the ribs.

"Be gone! I have no further use of you!"

He would go get the boy. If it was the last thing he did he'd get him and torture him until he went mad if he had too. He'd drag Potter right a long with him.

Blackness.

"Harry? Harry? Come back now…" Harry was vaguely aware someone was calling his name, and opened his eyes to tell them to go away, he was tired, but when he saw the worried face of Professor McGonagall, it all rushed back to him.

He sat up quickly, wincing at the stab of pain it brought to his head; it felt like a bad hang over.

McGonagall's wand was too his temple immediately, pulling a thin strand of silver away with it. She hurried over to the pensieve which now sat on her desk and dropped the small strand in.

Harry closed his eyes when a small, silvery blue form of Voldemort rose up from its swirling contents along with the man he cursed. There were a few moments of silence before the blood curdling scream filled the room, making Harry jump and squeeze his eyes shut tighter.

"What was that about, Harry? What was he thinking? What had that man done to make him so angry?"

Harry squeezed his eyes tighter against the angry, scared tears that threatened to come. He pushed his fingers against his temples, rocking forward slightly. "He knows we have Draco."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry quickened his pace as he entered the special seventh floor corridor, intent on telling Draco about his visions, and Voldemort's search for him.

As he came down the hall way he thought over and over 'I need to see the room Draco's in.' By the third time he'd paced past the expanse of wall the thick wooden door appeared and Harry burst through, but stopped short when his feet landed on a soft surface, and not the usual hard floor.

He stopped, the panicked and stressful thoughts from before slipping from his mind as he looked around the extremely different room.

The room was dark, the ceiling above him charmed as the Great Hall was to look like the outside sky. Tiny dots of stars scattered themselves across the dark expanse of sky, a big white moon shimmered from far above.

The floor was covered in thick, soft green grass which was damp with dew. Trees surrounded him save for a stone path that led a twisting trail into the trees, rose petals littered over them.

Harry smiled softly as he stepped onto the stones and followed them into the trees. As he rounded followed the path around a bend he found himself in a beautiful clearing.

Weeping Willows draped their branches over a small glittering pond in the center of the clearing, and against one of their trunks leaned one Draco Malfoy.

His legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankle clad in his uniform black pants. His bare feet rubbed against the soft grass. His white button down shirt was unbuttoned and the sleeves were rolled to his elbows; revealing his beautiful torso.

Harry's old guitar sat in his lap, Draco's fingers dragged lazily across the strings.

The boy looked up when he heard Harry's footsteps making their way across the grass to him. As he walked he shrugged off his robes and his shoes so he wore a pair of old muggle jeans and a regular black t-shirt.

A breeze whistled through the trees as Harry lowered himself to the ground beside Draco. Draco's hair seemed to glow in the moonlight and his pail skin lit by the stars themselves.

Draco leaned his head to the side slightly, switching the guitar over to Harry's lap.

"Play me something?" he whispered.

Harry smiled softly at the boy as he positioned the guitar in his lap; all talk of Voldemort promptly forgotten. Crickets chirped around them.

Harry's fingers slowly picked out notes softly as he began playing; deciding to go with the mood. Draco turned so he sat facing Harry, his knees drawn up toward his chest.

"You are so beautiful…. To me," Harry sang looking up at Draco with a grin.

The boy smiled, looking down so his bangs fell into his face. He glanced up at Harry through the fringe as he continued playing.

"You are soooo beautiful… to me. Can't you see? You're everything I hoped for… you're… everything I need. You are so beautiful, to me."

Harry's song was brought to a stop as Draco's hand clasped onto Harry's right. He slowly moved it from the guitar to his cheek, holding it in place with his own hand.

Harry gently stroked his thumb back and forth against the silky skin, staring intently into Draco's eyes, trying to read the emotion within. Slowly his hand moved to cup the back of Draco's neck, pulling him forward. Their lips met in a gentle kiss, full of love and passion for the other.

Draco pulled back, lightly pecking him on the lips once more before lying back onto the grass and putting his hands behind his head. "Play me something else?" he asked, staring up into the starry sky above them.

Harry smiled at the amazing boy again. If anyone on this Earth was perfect, it would surely be Draco. In the back of his mind, something was telling him that he should put a stop to this and be serious with Draco, but Harry pushed the feeling away, wanting to bask in the most romantic night of his life.

He nodded and turned back to his guitar strumming a steady rhythm and clearing his throat.

"I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Where every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure

Don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
Cause I'd miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing
Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing

Lying close to you feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes
And thank God we're together
I just want to stay with you in this moment forever
Forever and ever

I don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
Cause I'd miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing
Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing

I don't want to miss one smile
I don't want to miss one kiss
I just want to be with you
Right here with you, just like this
I just want to hold you close
Feel your heart so close to mine
And just stay here in this moment
For all the rest of time

I don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
Cause I'd miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing
Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing

I Don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
Cause I'd miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing
Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing

Don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
And I don't want to miss a thing"

When his song finally ended Harry pushed the guitar from his lap and looked up to see his boy sitting cross-legged in front of him. The fingers of his right hand were curled loosely as he bit nervously on the knuckle of his index finger. His eyes sparkled.

"Is – is that a way of saying you love me?" he asked, a very uncharacteristic plead to his voice that made Harry's heart melt.

"Well, yeah… I guess it is," he stated mater-of-factly, flashing Draco a dazzling smile.

Draco smiled, leaning in close to Harry's face. Just as Harry thought they would kiss Draco stopped and pulled back as Harry leaned forward. "How about a swim?" he whispered, smirking as he stood and stripped quickly to his boxers before taking a running leap into the pond in the center of the room.

Grinning, Harry followed suite; Voldemort completely forgotten in this moment of bliss.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Authors Note:

Just wanted to mention the songs I used in this were two songs everyone knows: You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker, and Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith. Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think?