"Oh Harry, dear, could you please tell me what the Room of Requirement is?"

Harry almost choked on the bite of chocolate cake that was in his mouth. "W-what?"

They were in the girl's lavatory on the second floor. Harry thought of it, changing the location and time for this week. Instead of Friday, Thursday marked their calendars, and the sky outside was as black as ink. Clocks around the school rang 4:00 am, but Draco nor Harry paid any attention to the chimes coming from the tower. They'd been there since midnight... at least.

"Pinched a nerve there, Potter?"

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry swallowed, looking up at the ceiling as he readjusted himself, sitting up.

"Oh-ho-ho, really? You do seem to know what I'm talking about," Draco raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side. "Your reaction was quite the opposite of what you're imposing. You won't look me in the eyes and you bloody well know I'm absolutely gorgeous. You're always staring at me about the way of the Great Hall- "

"You cocky bastard-"

"-with longing eyes-"

"Shut up-"

"-thinking, 'Oh, Draco, I want you so much to come over here and kiss me mad-'"

"My voice isn't that high pitched," Harry shot up.

"'Merlin, Draco's so sexy, I can't stand it sometimes with his hair so perfect and-'"

Harry grabbed a small bit of the cake and smeared it on Draco's cheek, cutting him off. Draco 's jaw dropped. "You did not just do that," he growled.

"Maybe I did," Harry smirked, however, couldn't hold it there. It turned into a smile all to quickly.

"You're bloody well lucky there's a good chance we get caught or I swear to Merlin himself that I would take the rest of this cake and shove it down your pants."

"Here," Harry laughed, not the least bit intimidated. He crawled over next to Draco and dragged his tongue along his cheek, lapping up all the icing.

"What the hell, Harry? That's gross!"

"Actually, it's chocolate," he kissed his cheek and then licked it again. Draco shoved him away and wiped the extra saliva with a napkin.

The blonde scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, the Room of Requirement- no, you're not getting out of this one, Mr. I-Failed-My-Herbology-Test-Because-Insead-Of-Studying-I-Insisted-On-Making-Out-With-My-Boyfriend-Then-Lied-About-It-To-Said-Boyfriend-Then-Made-Out-With-Him-Again-To-Distract-Him-From-My-Failure- you've spoken about it before."

"It's not my fault you like making out with me," Harry shrugged.

"Not after you lie to me about failing your Herbology test!"

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, "And no I haven't! I've never mentioned the Room of Requirement before in my life."

"After you kissed the Chang bitch," Draco bit.

"For the last time: I did not kiss her, she kissed me!"

"Whatever lets you sleep at night! Anyway, you said you two were in the Room of Requirement," he cocked his head. "And yet you say you've never mentioned the Room of Requirement. That, and instead of being genuinely confused, you just accepted that there was such a thing as a Room of Requirement, which you wouldn't have if you didn't know about it."

"What, are you Sherlock Holmes or something?"

"Sherlock Holmes?"

"Muggle detective."

"Detective?"

"Muggle Aurors... somewhat."

"Muggles have Aurors?"

"Never mind. Anyway, you remember one thing I said a month and a half later because..."

"To hold it against you in an argument."

"Draco, we aren't arguing," Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "We haven't argued since the Cho Chang incident, and that wasn't really that bad of an argument. We just started making out... again... And then you got really possessive," he bit his lip, eyes dilating, "which was actually rather enjoyable... Would you like to make out?"

Harry leaned in towards Draco's mouth but Draco turned so Harry kissed his cheek instead, and rather than letting go, he moved down to his neck and kissed it lightly.

"Ah ah ah... Not yet. Room of Requirement."

"You know, we really don't fight a lot," Harry thought out loud.

"Stop trying to change the subject!"

"I'm not. It's an observation. I'm just trying to say that we work well together."

Draco paused and smiled. "You're right, we do." He pecked his lips. "Wait, we did have that fight before holiday about how much you hate my father."

"Yes, but it ended with you agreeing with me because you hate your father, too."

Draco bit the inside of his cheek. "Hmm... what else have we fought about?"

"Oh, the Mars Bar!"

"That bollocks is disgusting and shouldn't be called chocolate! Muggle food is gross and vulgar."

"You're gross and vulgar! It's chocolate for Pete's sake!"

"Who's Pete?"

"Muggle expression. Anyway, that's my favorite chocolate, so deal with it!"

"How could you possibly compare that utter shit to the Belgium chocolate that I got you before the holiday?"

"That was too thick, it was more like fudge-"

Draco gasped. "You heathen!"

"Fudge? No no no no! No! Those sweet delicacies are nothing like the rich, tender fudge of New England!"

"Does it matter? It's just chocolate?"

"Does it matter?"

"Okay okay okay, before you blow up, can you please go back to talking about the Room of Requirement? We're not opening up this can of worms again."

"Can of worms? We're not opening a can of worms? Why- who has a can of worms?"

"Muggle expression," Harry tried to keep from laughing at Draco being all naive.

"You have too many of those," Draco rolled his eyes, "bloody muggle expressions. And none of them make sense."

"Neither do wizard expressions!"

"Yes, they do!"

"Anyway," Harry interjected the small argument they were about to have. "How much do you know about the Room of Requirement?"

Draco scoffed. "Not very much. I've looked all throughout the library and there's no book on the Room of Requirement."

"See you still haven't changed your mind. Could always give up the bet and give me my award now," Harry gave a cheeky smile.

"Oh, Merlin no! The bet is still on, Potter! I want my 1000 kisses, and if you don't want to work for it, then you shouldn't have shaken my hand," Draco reached over and grabbed a small piece of the leftover cake on Harry's plate, taking it and popping it in his mouth.

Harry smirked. Not because Draco was challenging him, but because Draco was so cute when he brought up the incident in their first year, even if he didn't know it. Draco's subconscious fascinated Harry.

"What are you smirking at, Scarface?"

"Scarface," he furrowed his brow, "I thought you grew out of that."

He shook his head. "Just because I don't say something for a month or two doesn't mean I grew out of it. You are my Scarface."

"Is 'Harry' not good enough for you?"

"I like Scarface better," Draco shrugged, winking at him, almost sarcastically.

"Okay," Harry put his hands up in the air, "alright then, Ferret."

"Don't you dare bring that up again!" Draco shot up from his cross position and pinned Harry to the floor by his wrists, faces so close their noses were touching.

"Oh, I'll dare. I'll dare five thousand times if I have to," he smirked up at him. "Ferret. Ferret, Ferret, Ferret. Ferret. Ferret. Ferret. Ferret!" Harry cut off Draco's eyes of molten by lifting his head to fill in the gap that vacated their lips. Draco's mouth was hot and wet, tongue equally as delightful, and tasted like chocolate. He melted to him despite being on the cold, stone floor.

After the satisfaction of having each other, Draco rolled off, and they both lay flat staring up at the ceiling, hands connected. For once, they shut their mouths for over two seconds, however, they were thinking the exact same thing. The couple always seemed to do that. Harry turned his head to face Draco, it fits on top of his shoulder.

"Hm?"

"What," Harry asked.

"I can bloody well see your excitement and I'm not even looking at you."

"I'm sorry," Harry smiled brightly anyway, "it's just, I can't believe we've come this far."

Draco grinned back at him, "I know. It's crazy to think about."

"Yeah," he bit his lip. Silence came again.

"I wonder what trouble you're going to get into this year."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "Huh? Where did that come from?"

"I just... everything's been going so well."

"I know it has, and it makes me scared sometimes..."

"Well, let's see. The first year you had that stone-thingy; innocent if you look at it in retrospect. Second, you had the Chamber of Secrets incident, which is also the year you snuck into the Slytherin Common room and accused me of being Salazar Slytherin's descendant," Draco raised an eyebrow, looking him dead in the eye. Harry regretted telling him that.

"Sorry," he bared his teeth. "In my defense, it seemed like a reasonable explanation."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then, third year you had an escaped convict sneak into the school to seek you out-

"I wasn't in control of that."

"Then the tournament..."

"What am I to say? Trouble finds me."

"Pretty much the case constantly. Where is the Chamber of Secrets, anyway," Draco readjusted himself to look in his eyes while Harry subconsciously looked at the sinks to the left of them As he opened his mouth, an idea popped into his head, and with a drawl.

"That's what makes it a secret isn't it?" Harry turned back to Draco the same time Draco turned to him. Harry fell deep into Draco's mercury eyes, losing himself. He was only wakened by Draco mumbling something that he didn't catch.

"Sorry?"

"It's our one year anni...vers-Harry..." Draco found himself in Harry's green eyes. How he loved those green eyes. It was like diving off the edge of a pool of trees; a forest to his own.

"R-right, yeah."

Slowly this time, the two leaned it, and just as they were about to kiss, a bang startled them. It was Myrtle. Harry hid his face so whoever was coming in couldn't see him. He would go mad after a year of hiding their relationship was ruined by a dead teenaged girl.

"Oh, who are you hanging about the bend with? A boy? You're on a date? Let's see who it is," she seemed scandalized. Harry moved to a fetal position so nothing could be recognizable to any extent.

"Get out Myrtle," Draco shouted, standing up and scaring the girl away, at least for a little while.

"Does she not know she's a ghost? You can't hurt her. Besides, you're not very intimidating."

"I'm intimidating! But she hates Slytherins."

"Too bad that I love them." Harry stood and went up behind him, pressing his chest to the blonds back. He wrapped his arms around his waist, leaving Draco to smile and lean back on him, his head fitting in the crook of his neck.

"Back to our anniversary," Draco's voice went soft.

"Let me take care of it."

"You sure? I kinda wanted to-"

"No, let me do it. I want to surprise you. But no presents."

"What? Why not! I already-"

"Take it back! I don't want it," Harry said sternly and he kissed his shoulder. "I just want you."

"Okay," he said.

"Clear the day on Sunday, okay? The whole day. What time do you want to meet me? Would you like to sleep in?"

"Taking that we're in a bathroom at 4 o' clock in the morning on a Thursday right before an entire day of classes, I really wouldn't mind sleeping in."

"How late," he kissed his shoulder again.

"However late you want."

"I don't want it to be too late, I want the whole day to you. Meet me here at 9 o' clock. That way you can have breakfast. I'll pack a lunch."

"Why meet here?"

"It's a surprise. Remember, no presents!"

"You sure?"

"Yes, you materialistic bastard," Harry kissed Draco on the cheek.

"Hey!"

"May I use that when I insult you tomorrow? We're doing it just after potions?"

"No, you're going to drop an ingredient on my shoes when I walk by, I accuse you of doing it on purpose, remember?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I got our arguments mixed up."

"Come on, Potter, pick up your game. Shall I grab your shirt?"

"I say you do, but don't pull me too close, I'll want to kiss you."

"Got it."

Harry unraveled himself from Draco and kissed his lips, then left without looking back.

Harry arrived in the second floor girls lavatory ten minutes early, however he'd been up since early in the night due to nightmares. That, and he was too excited. One year. One year with someone, a feat he didn't think he would ever accomplish, let alone a year with Draco Malfoy of all people.

For once, he couldn't stop smiling, even as he passed Umbridge in the hall.

When he showed up around five minutes later, the blonde lent in to kiss him from behind, however Harry pulled away. "No, not yet."

"Not fair. It's our anniversary! I want to kiss you."

"Resist the temptation, ferret," Harry laughed.

"Fine, but only if I get my surprise first. What is it?"

"I'm taking you somewhere," he grabbed Draco's hands and played with them.

"Let me guess, the astronomy tower?"

"No, closer to here."

"The broom closet down the hall?"

"Nope."

"The third stall," Draco guessed, however looked at him in disgust.

"No."

"Come on, just tell me!"

"How about I show you instead?"

The blond furrowed his eyebrows.

"Show me?"

Harry grabbed his hand and turned to the sinks as Draco stood confused. "Here, I want you to feel this." He guided Draco to one of the normal sinks.

"Yes?"

"Okay. Now I want you to feel this one."

Instead of the normal metal that he felt on the first sink, something was there, something bumpy that Draco couldn't register. Draco turned to Harry and all he got back was a wink. As Draco turned to investigate the snake on the sink, Harry hissed open in parseltongue, and Draco jumped at the sound of the sinks rattling apart.

Harry backed them up, watching Draco rather than the sinks. Harry had the better view. He looked so wondrous with his lips slightly split and eyes wide. Harry adored it.

"Harry," Draco asked as the Chamber opened, revealing a black, empty hole.

"Hm?"

"What the hell was that?"

"Your surprise! Now come on, jump."

"What!?"

"Jump."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," Harry said flatly.

"You're joking," his heart sped.

"Nope."

"Come on, you're missing-"

Instead of delaying their time together, Harry kept it simple. He grabbed Draco by his hips, picked him up, and practically threw him into the pit, just jumping after him. Draco screamed the entire way, but Harry promised to himself to never hold it against him. (He totally would.)

The blond stumbled out of the drain, a pile of old, broken bones softening the landing. Harry, right behind him, had the luxury of anticipation, and was able to slow himself down towards the bottom so for once, he was graceful and Draco was like a troll.

"What the bloody hell was that," Draco coughed with the intake of stale, dusty air.

"You sounded like Ron just then," Harry said despite the voice in his head telling him not to.

"Don't ever say that to me again, Potter, or I swear I'll spell your mouth shut for the rest of your life." Draco rolled on his back and took Harry's extended hand. "Why is this floor so hard?" As Harry pulled him up, the crunch and crackle of bones sounded beneath his feet, causing Draco to look down at it. "What the hell!"

"Yeah, it's not the warmest place in the entire world, but it's an adventure."

"Are those real," asked with wide eyes.

"Good question... I'm not really sure," Harry laughed, sighting that Draco's fancy clothes were covered in dust. He moved to wipe the grim away for him. "Can't have this. Your snobbish head will explode."

Harry brushed off his shoulders and his chest, Draco practically smirking at him. "There's nothing wrong with looking good." He wiped off his own knees and brushed a bit off of Harry's shoulder. "There we go. Now you're half presentable."

"To who? Haha, who am I supposed to be presentable to? The dead basilisk?"

"This is seriously the Chamber of Secrets," Draco asked skeptically.

"You think I'm kidding?"

"I dunno. It seems like sliding down a pipe isn't the type of entrance Salazar Slytherin would have wanted to make." He cocked his head.

"I bloody opened the thing with Parseltongue, what else do you want," Harry groaned.

"To taste your parseled-tongue," Draco stood serious, and Harry, caught of guard, swallowed. His cheeks blushed a ruby.

"A-are you flirting with me?"

Draco winked, "Maybe. Does that make you nervous? Do you have a crush on me?"

"It's just, we never really get to flirt, you know? Not... not like this. Not in the hallway when we want to, not without fear of getting caught. Not..." Harry furrowed his eyebrows in frustration, unable to find the right word.

"Freely without the fear the other will take it the wrong way?"

"Yeah, freely," Harry relaxed at the touch of Draco's knuckles along the back of his hand.

"In the sense that the other will be scared off because our relationship is like practically walking on glass and one step too heavy will break it?"

"Y-yeah," he exhaled deeply, "Exactly that. How is it you always know what to say? It's like you read my mind."

"I dunno... maybe because I feel the same things as you do," Draco suggested.

"Maybe."

Draco smiled at him, then turned to see the structure of the Chamber. Harry kept his eyes on Draco, watching the wonder in it. He came to the conclusion that he very much liked Draco like this. His eyes seemed warm, somehow, despite them being a mock of ice. The way he breathed deeply, taking it in. He had a slight smile on his lips. "This is really it?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yes. Thought it'd be better than just our spot in the forest for a change. Or a broomstick cupboard. You- erm- mentioned it the other day. Its not the cleanest place in the entire world-"

"It's bloody filthy."

"But..."

"It's bloody cool," Draco smiled.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I think this is incredible that you would do this for me."

"You haven't gotten to the best part yet."

"Take me there," Draco held out his hand for Harry to grab. Harry smiled brightly, the brightest he'd done in a while. He took his hand firmly, lacing their fingers together, and pulled him to the right rather the left, bones crunching beneath their feet. "Although this place is brilliant... are these bones are actually very terrifying."

"No, think of them as a welcome mat, per say."

"A welcome mat?"

"Muggles have them. They say 'welcome' or 'wipe your feet' or 'get out.'"

"Get out?"

"To be funny," Harry insured. "The one at the Dursley's had watermelon. I don't know why. Dudley hated watermelon."

"Muggles are odd."

"Muggles are very odd."

As they walked deeper into the chamber, the bones disappeared leaving nothing but stone flooring and debris. Drops of water could be heard in the distance. Cobb webs freshly made hung low. "I didn't expect it to be like this. Thought it would be more upscale."

"It's not like Salazar slept in here or anything," Harry laughed.

"I know, but-"

"But what? A basilisk lived here."

"Really?"

"No, actually. This is its vacation home from its house in London." Harry's sarcasm inevitably ended with a smack across the back of the head.

"Arsehole," Draco muttered. Harry just laughed, and a sweet silence came as Harry thought of how lucky he was to have Draco.

"You know, you never answered my question," Draco interrupted him.

"Hm?"

"Do you have a crush on me?"

Harry didn't know why, but suddenly his heart started beating faster than it was. "Er-"

"Oh come on, Harry, don't be coy. I won't tell anyone," Draco bumped Harry's shoulder. Harry stroked his thumb.

"W-we've been together for a year."

Draco leaned in to Harry's ear and cupped his mouth so only Harry could hear him whisper. "If it helps, I have a crush on you back, but shhh, don't say anything. I don't want to be embarrassed. If Harry finds out, I swear, I'll die."

Harry chuckled, and he turned his head to kiss his cheek and down to the corner of his mouth. "You're wonderful."

Draco gave him a bright smile, and they continued walking for a long stretch. It wasn't a bit until they met the same coil of snakeskin that Harry and Ron had years ago. Nothing had changed with it, no deterioration, as if it was frozen in time.

"Whoa!"

"I know."

Draco let go of his hand, which was sweaty and warm. Despite it, the blond missed his touch, however, his fingers felt eager to meet the legend. The coiled pile of skin, old and dry, appeared vacant and cold. "That's insane. It's huge! You killed this thing?"

"Yes... but not intentionally... well, yes, intentionally. It was trying to kill me. She had her teeth, I had my sword. It could have gone either way." Draco wanted to kiss his nose, the way he said it, but he refrained from it. "Want me to show you where? It's the best part."

"Yes, I would love to see the place where you were almost murdered."

"Good, because either way, we're going. You're not scared are you?"

Draco smirked at him. "You wish."

Harry bit his lip, his stomach turning over and over. It broke into a smile. "Actually I do because then I could wrap my arms around you and make you feel safe like you do me when I fall asleep on you."

His smirk softened into a smile, "Oh, I would like that very much."

"Would you?" Harry went up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist, burying his face in his neck.

"Mmm," he rubbed Harry's hands.

"You see those rocks over there?"

"Yeah."

"Lockhart did that."

"Really?"

"That's when we found out he was insane... and then he actually went insane."

"Oh yeah, I remember that story," he hummed.

"Alright, come on, I have something waiting for you."

Harry took his hand once more, leading him to the unstable pile of rocks. The Slytherin began to climb when Harry held him back. Instead, he climbed forward instead and got a firm grip, asking Draco for his hand.

"Bloody Gryffindors..." Draco stepped up but suddenly a piece of rock crumbled beneath him causing him to lose footing. If Harry wasn't there, he probably would have fallen.

"Stupid Slytherins..." Harry mimicked his tone. The blonde just rolled his eyes and continued on, pushing past all the rubble and stone, Harry after him. "You okay?"

"Yes, you twat! I can take care of myself just fine."

"I know. But I don't want you to get hurt because then I have to carry your arse all the way back up here and I don't love you enough to carry you all the way out of here."

Draco's mouth dropped. He put his hands flat on Harry's chest and pushed him. "You bloody prick!"

"H-Hey," Harry laughed, and he grabbed Draco's wrists and held them lightly, pulling him close. He couldn't get over how nice Draco smelt. "Relax, I'm only teasing."

Draco rolled his eyes, however, instead of pushing him away, he kissed his nose because, hell, it was their one year anniversary. Harry just smiled brightly, and those butterflies that made Draco sick 11 months ago fluttered just as fast and just as they had over the epoch.

They reached the door that entered the chamber. Draco didn't speak, however, looked at it in awe.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," Draco bit his lip in excitement

Harry raised an eyebrow before hissing, "Open."

The snake slithers its way along the panel and unlocked, echoing along the halls they'd already past. Harry felt Draco squeeze his hand a little tighter.

The creaked open, leaving the two staring into the chamber itself. Draco's eyes were wide, and Harry wished he had a camera so he could take his picture, so he could remember the breathtaking look on his face when he was coated in wonder. It was beautiful, Harry concluded. It made him want to surprise Draco every second of every day. Still, Harry was grinning from ear to ear. "After you."

"Oh so now you want me to go," Draco snapped. "For all I know, there could be monsters down there."

"Don't worry, I've killed them all," he said cheekily. Draco shoved him again before crawling through and down the ladder, Harry after him. And yes, Draco totally checked out his arse as Harry went down the rungs. But he didn't plan on telling Harry that.

Again, they held hands, walking towards the bend. Draco didn't notice the silhouette of the picnic basket, the record player, or the giant skeleton of a dead snake in the midst of the head of Salazar Slytherin.

It seemed like it would take forever for them to get the edge but before they knew it, they were standing at the edge of a pool of water.

"Harry this is incredible! Is that the basilisk you killed in a 2nd year?" He walked over to it, leaving Harry's hand behind.

"Yeah!"

"That my boyfriend! I wonder if I can- op yes that answers it." Draco pulled a tooth out of the snake's jaw.

"What do you want a souvenir or something?"

"Maybe I do, do you have a problem with that?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I do!" Harry ran over and picked him up from behind, spinning him around. He planted kisses on his neck and ear, turning him around to face him. Harry dived for Draco's mouth, leaving as much passion in a kiss as he possibly could, Draco doing the same. Fireworks went off, mimicking that of the 4th of July. Things got heated but were interrupted by the growling of Draco's stomach.

"Someone's hungry."

"Starving! What time is it?" Harry took out Draco's pocket watch and read 1:47 on the face of it.

"It's almost 2 already? We just got here!"

"Well, it'd be best if we didn't waste it then." Harry sat down, unwrapping the food installed to the picnic basket. They sat on a red and green blanket Harry transfigured to make the colors match. Together they feasted on chicken breast, peas, potatoes, and tiny pieces of bread.

Feeling full, the two scooted next to each other laying down as they did few nights prior.

"I don't want to go back," Draco started, "if I could I would stay with you, down here, forever."

"Down here? Really?" Harry was surprised that such a spoiled brat could ever even step foot in a place like this.

"As long as you're in this place, I'll stay."

"Well, that really isn't an option, considering OWL's are coming up."

"I know, I just wish we didn't have to do them. I wish we weren't a secret and everything was easy for us. Once we go up there, there is no turning back."

"To friends, parents, teachers-"

"Snape."

"You know he's really not that bad... Okay, maybe he is.."

"Occlumency."

"God, what are we gonna do?" It went quiet until Harry finally stood up, holding out a hand to help Draco as well.

"Let's not worry about that now." Harry let go of Draco's hand and turned on the record player. Light, soothing yet danceable music poured out of the tuba- shaped instrument. Harry grabbed Draco's hands loosely and began to move them, along with his hips. Draco stood there, examining what Harry would do until he finally couldn't keep his mask and let himself smile and dance with him. The shifted and twirled and laughed for who knows how long. It was if their bodies were in synch, perfect steps every time. They finally retired, moving their bodies close together. Draco bent his head onto Harry's shoulder as they rocked back and forth to the beat.

"Looks like I finally got that dance after all." Draco knew the remark came from the Yule Ball when he was looking for him to dance. That was a much more complicated yet simpler time if that makes sense. As the record ended the two stopped rocking but continued hugging, letting themselves droop over the other. The only thing heard was drops from the distance, the sound of their feet scratching against the watery floor under them and slow, steady breathing.

"Happy Anniversary, Draco," Harry mumbled in his ear.

"Happy Anniversary, Harry."