A/N: First off, a big thank you to everyone who stuck with me yesterday! I know it was a huge mess and a bit of a disaster, but everything worked out in the end and now next time (chapterthirtythree) we will both be prepared! And, as a special treat, given how wonderful you all were, I've decided to give you some brief hints (not spoilers!) of things coming up. Feel free to skip them, I just couldn't think of any other sort of thank you gift ^^

26: Dates! And fluff!

27: More dates! And even fluffier fluff! Neville fans, this is for you.

28: Ooh, hmm, this is tricky to summarize without spoilers. I'll just leave you with the chapter title: The second room.

29: You are all going to hate me and stop reading but I swear to god, everything works out. Blame Pansy Parkinson. Also, Bludgers.

30: About half of you will stop reading, declaring it unrealistic. I have prepared myself. Fallout from c.29.

31: A little bit of silliness, a little bit of seriousness. Ron is in fine form.

32: Returning to the Ministry. I'll leave you to guess why.

33: Sexy times. Nothin' but.

34: Hallowe'en Feast ahoy!

So, I hope that made up for yesterday, at least a little. In any case, enjoy the chapter, and thanks for sticking it out.

Chapter Twenty-Five:

The beginnings of a potential Camaraderie.

Carus was waiting patiently on the table when Harry and Draco emerged from their shower. Draco nearly ripped the letter in his haste to get it, and they both sat on the couch, which had returned to its normal size.

My dearest Draco,

It should come as no surprise, but the Wizengamot has once again decided not to allow Pensieves as a means of testimony. They state that, since a memory cannot be questioned, it cannot be a proper witness. I had been foolish to get my hopes up, but I have faith that you did not get as ahead of yourself as I.

Instead, we will resume tomorrow with the testimony of physical, living wizards. I believe both Mr. Borgin and Fenrir Greyback are on the books for tomorrow, though what their influence will be I hardly know. It is my hope that Greyback's disdain for us will lend credence to Harry's statement that Lucius was not able to make his own decisions, but perhaps I am wrong.

I hardly think this bears saying, but don't listen to a word from the Prophet.

Harry and Draco, I address my final sentiment to you both: take care of each other. In times of turmoil, we must all come together and offer support wherever and whenever it is needed.

And, on a lighter note, I do believe congratulations are in order. One cannot believe every rumor flying around, especially these days, but I am quite certain that you have finally found each other. Rest assured, I could not be happier for you two.

All my love,

Mum.

Harry was a bright red by the time he finished reading, and Draco was sporting a bit of a silly smile.

"I had hoped to tell her in person," Draco said. "Oh well; it was foolish of me to think it wouldn't get back to her. Anyway, I told you she'd love you, didn't I?"

"Er," Harry said, sounding rather daft. "Well. That's probably good about Greyback, isn't it? He was one of the ones I was talking about, who was using your dad, and if your mum is right, he'll be flaunting it all over the courtroom."

"I suppose so," Draco replied. "Mr. Borgin, though, that can't be good. The business with the Vanishing Cabinet, never mind everything else my father has gotten from him over the years…" Draco let out a sigh. "Well, we won't know until tomorrow, will we? Come on, get dressed, I'm starving. I haven't eaten all day."

"Harry!" Hermione said sharply. He turned to her guiltily.

"Sorry, were you saying something?"

She frowned at him. "No. I was merely wondering why you haven't been able to sit still all dinner. Is there some fantastic event taking place this evening, or are you just terribly excited about your soup?"

Harry flushed. "Er, no, homework all night." His stomach dropped at that. He hadn't realized how much work he had missed until now, and the prospect of catching up was not enjoyable.

"Then what is wrong with you? Are you sitting on a tack or—" She broke off, suddenly turning a bright red. "Er, never mind."

Harry's flush darkened and he kept his eyes on his soup.

"Or what?" Ron asked. "Never mind what?"

"You don't want to know," Hermione said quietly.

Harry spared a quick glance at Draco, who was looking quite pleased with himself. "Stop smirking," he hissed. "The whole house'll have it figured out if you don't get that look off your face."

"I told you, Potter, I haven't a problem with everyone knowing," Draco said. "In fact, I daresay it's downright rude of you to not acknowledge to your friends that you're mine."

"I've told them that, you haven't got to broadcast—"

"Oh," Ron broke in suddenly, turning an even brighter red than Hermione. "Er, well then." He turned back to his food, steadfastly refusing eye contact with either Harry or Draco.

"So Harry," Hermione said in an unnaturally high voice. "According to the Prophet, you testified on behalf of Lucius Malfoy this morning."

"Don't want to talk about it," Harry said brusquely.

"Well, Ron and I just wanted to say that we support your decision," Hermione said. "Even if some of us don't agree with it," she added with a pointed look at Ron. "I do wish you had told us sooner, though."

"It was a bit sudden," Harry said. "And, um, Draco didn't want me to. I didn't even know his dad was on trial until Sunday."

"For once, Potter's insisting that everything is my fault is accurate," Draco said. "I did swear him to secrecy. And, if it weren't for the bloody Prophet, you still wouldn't know."

"I don't like all these secrets between us," Hermione said, frowning. "Harry, you used to tell me everything."

"I'm sure you and Ron have got things you keep to yourselves," Harry replied testily. He, too, was upset about all the secrets, but now was hardly the time to talk to Hermione about it, not with Draco sitting next to him.

"Draco, we were—er, Ron and me, and then we told Harry, and he agreed—well, we were hoping that you'd spend more time with us, y'know, the four of us, hanging out," Hermione stammered. "I'm not asking you to share anything you don't want to, but, y'know, Harry's our best friend, and—"

"Why Granger, are you asking me to be your friend?" Draco drawled. "It's almost like asking me out, only more humiliating and childish."

Hermione flushed. "Not if you're going to be like that, we aren't."

Harry took Draco's hand, gently squeezing. "Just give it a go, would you? You said you wanted to play Ron again in chess."

Draco sighed dramatically. "That I do. But, as Harry stated so eloquently, 'homework all night'. I'm afraid our rematch will have to wait for another day."

"Then why not study with us?" Hermione said. "I've always got loads to do, and I know for a fact Ron hasn't done his Herbology essay. Besides we could, y'know, give you notes, on what you missed in class today, at least for what we've got together."

Draco looked at Harry beseechingly. "Must I?"

"I won't force you, no," Harry said. "But it'd be great if you'd try."

Draco let out another dramatic sigh. "Alright, fine. But you—" he said, gesturing at Ron and Hermione, "—will join us, in our room. I won't be seen in Gryffindor Tower again."

"Alright then," Hermione said, looking rather pleased with herself. Ron, however, had stayed silent through the exchange, and was glaring violently at his dinner. She rested a hand on his shoulder. "Ron, you are okay with this, aren't you? Earlier you said—"

"Yes, well you were naked then, weren't you?" Ron burst out, causing Hermione's blush to return. "But fine, I'll make an effort. Once. And then you're not allowed to pester me any more, alright?"

Hermione kissed his cheek. "Whatever you say, dear."

They made a brief stop at Gryffindor Tower so Ron and Hermione could collect their things before returning to the Room of Requirement. For the first time in quite a while it looked significantly different—it had divided itself in two, and the room they walked into was plushy chairs and couches surrounding a large table, a fireplace larger than their old one, and both Gryffindor and Slytherin banners on the walls. The bookcase was still along one wall, though it had doubled in size, apparently collecting any books it might think useful for homework. There was a huge window over the mantle overlooking the grounds, and Harry was extremely pleased with the situation. He was also very interested in examining the other room, where he could just see a corner of their bed through the door, leaving him to wonder what else the Room had given them, especially given their previous activities.

"This is quite lovely," Hermione said, settling into one of the chairs. "I have to say, I'm a bit jealous that you two have a room that changes to suit the situation."

Harry and Draco glanced at each other. "I think we're going to be kicked out soon," Harry said, sitting opposite Hermione. He found the couch to be much more comfortable than the hard chairs in the Great Hall, and no longer needed to constantly reposition himself. "McGonagall heavily implied we would not be allowed to stay here much longer."

"I should think not," Hermione replied. "This room is supposed to be for the whole school to use, not just the two of you."

Draco sat next to Harry, eyeing him carefully.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked. "I've already told you, you can leave if you'd like."

"No, no, not that," Draco replied. "I'm trying to decide what I can get away with doing to you while those two are here."

Harry flushed. "Nothing, and I'd have you call them by their proper names, thank you."

Ron deposited himself on the chair next to Hermione's and pulled out his Herbology book. "I'm not listening to this conversation," he said. "I've got my Herbology essay to do."

"Quite right," Hermione said. "And I've got that thing for McGonagall." She pulled out a giant stack of books, the one Harry had seen in the library. She picked up the book on Ancient Runes and began flipping through it.

Harry began ticking off his work. Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology. And, if he wanted to get started on the backlog he'd created by missing both his homework and his classes, that would be rather clever of him. Eventually he decided on Herbology first; he and Ron could help each other, and it might make it less dull.

Draco settled against the arm of the couch, stretching out his legs, resting his feet on Harry's lap and taking out his Transfiguration book.

"Oi!" Harry said, trying to shove him off. "How am I supposed to get any work done like this? I can't even reach the table!"

"Not my problem," Draco replied. "I can read just fine like this."

Harry huffed, but managed to arrange his book so it was propped up on Draco's feet, and he set his Transfiguration book on the armrest and his parchment on that. "Right, Ron, what're you writing about?"

"The curative properties of the, uh, I dunno, the thing we were working on Tuesday."

"Ron, you're not even close," Hermione sighed. "It's an essay on the Tentacula and why it's spawned such a thriving black market. Do you ever pay attention?"

"I dunno, it's usually about curative properties with Herbology," Ron grumbled.

That was easy enough, especially since Harry could model his essay after Slughorn's actions sixth year, as long as he kept his name out of it. And Harry found concentrating on his homework much easier with Ron and Hermione in the room, preventing Draco from doing anything too distracting. He got through his Herbology essay in record time, causing Ron to mutter angry, jealous things under his breath.

"Transfigurations, then," Draco said. "We've got it first thing, might as well get it out of the way. Besides, I've been on this same bloody paragraph for at least an hour now, I can't seem to focus." He shifted his feet on Harry's lap, and Harry clenched his hand down on Draco's ankles, preventing him from moving.

"Fine, but don't think you can distract me, too," Harry said. "Come on, then, finish reading the chapter, and then we'll see about the essay."

"It's quite easy," Hermione said, not looking up from her own essay. "As long as you understand the theory behind animal transfiguration, you'll have no problem."

"Er, right."

Draco did sit up eventually, allowing them both to write their essays on the table. Draco stayed at his end of the couch and Harry steadily moved closer until they were nearly snuggling, at which point Ron sat up straight and pointed his quill at them.

"Aha!" he said. "I told you, Harry! I said just wait and see until you've got someone of your own, then you'll understand!"

Harry kept his eyes on his essay and closed the half-inch of space between him and Draco. "Haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about, Ron."

"You yelled at me and 'Mione for being too affectionate all the time, and now, look! You and—and that Malfoy are cuddling!"

"Ron, let them alone," Hermione said neutrally.

"Yeah, but—" Ron sputtered. "They—"

"Ron," Hermione said, dropping her voice. "We've done much worse than that, alright? Like when your mom walked in on—"

"Fine," Ron snapped. "Forget it."

Harry smiled. Draco's hand rested on his lower back, so lightly he could hardly feel it. "How's your essay coming, then?" Harry asked Draco. "Almost done?"

"Nearly," Draco replied. "But then I've got Muggle Studies, History of Magic and Herbology. I keep forgetting, it's never worth putting off a days' worth of work, not when it means I've got to stay up all night. It's terrible for my complexion, you know."

"So I imagine there won't be time for—"

"Oh, no there's always time for that," Draco interrupted with a smirk. "Impressive, actually, that you'd want to go again so soon—"

"That, Draco, is quite enough," Hermione said sternly. "Sit as close to each other as you'd like, but I'll not put up with hearing about your sex life while I'm doing homework, or any other time for that matter."

"Like there are times when you aren't doing homework," Ron muttered grumpily. "There. That's two feet, right?"

Hermione looked at it. "Close enough, I suppose."

"Fine then." Ron joined Harry and Draco with Transfigurations, even going so far as to—very, very begrudgingly, and through clenched teeth—ask Draco one question, once. And so the night continued, jumping from one subject to the next while Hermione resolutely worked her way through the single essay she had brought with her. Harry was even in high enough spirits to go over the potion he had missed in class without complaining, though that might have been related to how closely Draco situated himself as he explained the finer points of the brew. He and Draco copied Ron's notes from History of Magic despite Hermione telling them they ought to just read the chapter themselves, and took a few moments to practice dueling, though they did listen to Hermione when her patience finally broke and she screamed at them for knocking over her pile of books yet again, all while repeatedly slamming the back of her chair with something, she didn't know what.

"Well I imagine that's that," Harry said, collapsing onto the couch. Draco sat next to him, leaning his head on Harry's shoulder.

"How is it you always finish before everyone else?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes. "Let me see your essays."

"They're just fine, 'Mione," Harry countered. "Look, see Ron's finished with Transfiguration, too. It's just you who's got to spend the whole night writing."

Draco sighed. "And myself, I'm afraid. Still got Herbology and History of Magic."

"I just don't understand how you can't have more to do," Hermione said huffily. "You've missed a day of classes, and if I know you at all, which I do, you weren't studying Tuesday, either. Let me see, you had…" she trailed off, staring into the distance. "Transfiguration, Charms and Herbology Tuesday and tomorrow, and double Potions, History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts today. So where's your Charms essay?"

Harry stared at her. "Blimey, Hermione, you've really got to relax."

She scowled at him. "No, you've got to get your work done on time. I'd think that by your eighth year here you might have figured that out."

Harry let out a sigh. "Alright, fine, I forgot about Charms. As if you've never forgotten anything before."

She sniffed. "Nothing as important as homework."

"Does Her Majesty wish to check my work as well?" Ron asked, leaning back in his seat. "I've actually finished."

"I would, but I've really got to stay focused." She turned back to her essay, just missing Harry rolling his eyes.

"Bloody Charms," he muttered, pulling his book out.

Draco let out a dramatic sigh. "Suppose I ought to get started on Herbology. Weasley, what's the assignment again?"

Ron stared at him, mouth open. "Did—are you asking for my help?"

Draco scowled at him. "Hardly anything that disdainful. I've just misplaced my notes from class, and I haven't got the assignment on me."

"Two feet on the Tentacula black market," Hermione said when Ron failed to answer. "Really, Ronald, that was not a difficult question."

Silence took over again. Ron pulled his chess set out of his bag and began playing himself, muttering to the pieces just loudly enough to distract Harry. It didn't seem to bother anyone else, though, and Draco had moved on to History of Magic before Harry was even halfway through Charms. And then suddenly Draco's lips were against his ear, whispering, "I can distract you much more efficiently than that Weasel can."

Harry elbowed him away. "Stop it," he said quietly. "Finish your own damned homework so we can have some time together tonight." Harry did, of course, eventually finish his Charms homework and began playing chess with Ron, finding himself capturing a good many more pieces than usual.

"Blimey, Harry, what's gotten into you tonight?" Ron asked as his second bishop was dragged off the board.

"Just a bit ticked off at the trials," Harry said lightly. "And the Prophet. And, y'know, Voldemort."

"Fury against Voldemort being taken out on my chess set, brilliant," Ron said. "You know this thing's been in my family for generations, right? If you demolish it, I'll have to kill you."

Draco finished soon after Harry, and took his place at the board once Ron finished winning, despite only having his king and two rooks left. Their instructions to their pieces steadily grew louder and the deaths even more violent than Harry's had been, causing Hermione to have to cast a silencing spell around herself so she could focus. Harry watched on with amusement and, he found, a contentedness he almost hadn't noticed. This was rather brilliant—the four of them had been in the same room together for hours without anything particularly nasty said, and had even managed to finish their homework with time to spare. And after Draco lost yet again to Ron, he and Harry played against Ron together, who didn't complain once. In fact, he rather gloated about winning against the both of them. Eventually Hermione emerged from her soundproof bubble and joined Ron's team, though she didn't contribute more than vague suggestions.

This, Harry thought happily, watching as his knight was shattered, is how it ought to be.