Enjoy!

Supposedly the Yule Ball ended around midnight but Harry hadn't stuck around to the end. He had put off packing and without an official date, there was really no point in sticking around. Pansy had figured out that Draco wouldn't be returning and was happy to return to the common room in hopes of chewing him out if he was still awake.

She wasn't in luck. To Harry's surprise, Draco wasn't in the common room or in the dorm that they shared.

The train left the next morning at nine o'clock. The Great Hall was nearly dead as the students returning home for the New Year began to gather for a quick breakfast and wait for the carriages that would take them to the train.

"How was last night?" Tracey asked with a yawn as Harry grabbed a piece of toast off of her plate. Her only response was a small sigh and shake of a head before she frowned and grabbed back her piece of toast.

"Toast for gossip," she said, waving it in front of Harry's face. The boy glared at her before taking the toast back.

"Dinner was awful. I think she took every opportunity she could to talk about me being the Boy-Who-Lived," he said.

Tracey raised an eyebrow. "That bad?"

"She actually asked if I was jealous because Viktor Krum came and took away attention from me."

Tracey couldn't help but snort in laughter. Just the thought of Harry wanting attention was absurd. Harry rolled his eyes before stealing Tracey's entire plate from right in front of her.

"Give that back and get your own!" Tracey snapped, reaching for the plate.

"No," Harry replied, pulling it further out of her grasp. "You laughed at me."

Tracey pouted before continuing to probe for more information.

"What happened after dinner?"

"Went to the bathroom a few minutes after dancing," Harry explained. "When I came back, she was flirting with Viktor Krum. I ended up dealing with Pansy for the rest of the night."

"Granger probably wasn't happy about that," Tracey remarked. "But she must have been able to chase that Beauxbatons girl off. Granger and Krum were still dancing at midnight when I left."

"Good for her," Harry muttered as he finished off the plate of food.

"She was barely recognizable," Tracey said. "A few of the older students couldn't believe that Krum took a fourth year, let alone Granger of all people."

Harry gave her a questioning look. "She's a decent enough person for a Gryffindor."

"I don't doubt that," Tracey said. "But there were a few in our house that had a hard time believing that a Muggleborn managed to catch the eye of Viktor Krum."

"So what if he prefers brains over blood status?" Harry asked. "There are probably more important things to consider."

"Like finding a girl that doesn't care about how famous you are?" Tracey asked wryly. Harry glared at her.

A few hours later, the Hogwarts Express was entering London and Harry and Tracey were getting their things arranged for easy transportation in the station.

"So what are you going to tell Mom and Dad or Sirius if they ask how things are going with that girl?" Tracey asked.

"Probably just that we didn't get on well once we had a few conversations," Harry said with a sigh, ignoring Tracey's mutter of "More like just one conversation."

"I suppose I should thank you eventually for not saying, "I told you so", at least to my face." Harry said. Tracey smirked.

"Why would I need to say it when you already know what I'm thinking. It's too redundant."

Harry rolled his eyes as the train stopped. A quick levitating charm on his and Tracey's trunk and they were leaving the compartment.

"Are we apparating home?" Harry asked. "Or flooing?"

Tracey shook her head. "Dad got a Ministry car to drive us back. I'm not sure why exactly, since it's going to take longer to get home that way."

Harry shrugged. He personally was happy that it was a car, since he still hadn't gotten used to the magical means of transportation.

The platform was a lot emptier than what Harry was used to seeing. Only about a tenth of the students at Hogwarts were returning home for the New Year. The lack of students and families made finding Tracey's parents easier.

"Oh my god," Tracey said as she spotted her parents. "Oh my god!"

Harry blinked and tried to ignore the sudden twist in his gut. "Well I guess that's why we're taking a car," he stated but even to him, his voice sounded weak.

"Surprise," Catherine said as she approached the teenagers. She hugged both of them but the baby bump made it a bit awkward.

"You never said anything!" Tracey said, looking astonished. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"We wanted it to be a surprise," her father replied. "We didn't find out until after you left for Hogwarts and since we knew that you'd be coming back for the holidays, we decided that it would be your Christmas surprise."

"When is it going to be born? Is it a girl or a boy?" Tracey demanded as they left the platform for the Muggle side and began to walk towards the station entrance where the Ministry car was waiting.

Zach and Catherine chuckled at her enthusiasm but Zach took a glance at Harry, who had remained silent for the most part. It was difficult to tell what the boy was thinking but the one thing Zach was able to notice was that the boy was nowhere near as excited about the news as Tracey was.

Well, it was to be expected.

"It's going to be a girl," Catherine told her daughter. "A baby sister. She'll be born in the end of April if she's not like you and insists on barreling into the world earlier than expected."

Harry smirked at the tidbit of information.

The drive didn't take as long as expected. Harry wasn't really paying attention to the driving but he was fairly positive that the Ministry car had some special features that made managing traffic in the city easier.

"Go help your mother set up for lunch," Zach ordered Tracey once they had arrived home. "Harry and I will put away your trunks."

Tracey nodded before following her mother in the kitchen. Harry gave Zach a curious look, realizing that something was up.

"So what are your thoughts about this?" Zach asked once they were away from the living and dining areas. "About the baby coming?"

Harry didn't know how to respond to that question yet so he just shrugged.

"Congratulations?" he said. "It must be exciting for you."

For you. That's what Zach was worried about.

"But it's not exciting for you?" he asked. Harry gaped at him before shrugging again.

Zach clapped Harry on the shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It won't change anything," he told the boy. "You're like a son to Catherine and I and even if the baby coming was a boy, you would still be considered a son to us. You'll always be welcome here."

Harry only nodded, starting to feel overwhelmed. He hadn't expected any of this—not the baby, nor this particular conversation. With the combination of last night's events, it was beginning to be too much for him to handle.

"Catherine and I have been talking," Zach continued. "It might take a while and you might already be of age when things would fall into place, but if you want…we would gladly adopt you."

Harry's jaw dropped open and he was struck speechless. He was spared from trying to answer by Tracey calling across the house to them to inform them that it was time for lunch. Harry began to walk away, mind racing.

Adoption? He had never even considered that the Davis family would want to adopt him. He had always thought that he was just someone that they were willing to take in because they had the extra room and because Professor Snape had requested it.

Professor Snape.

How would he react if Harry was to be adopted by Zach and Catherine Davis? He was Harry's father, even if they didn't have the typical father-son relationship. They didn't live together and the entire matter was surrounded in secrecy—even Harry felt like he didn't know everything about the situation—but Harry still felt he could go to the man if he was having any problems or just needed to talk. He knew that his father would do anything to keep him safe, even if it compromised their relationship together.

Harry rubbed his scar. This was too complicated for him to handle.

The matter preoccupied Harry's thoughts for the rest of the visit. He was amazed that Tracey hadn't seemed to notice anything odd about the way he was acting. If she had, she hadn't said anything.

It could have been because Tracey was acting a bit strangely herself. Ever since the first afternoon home, she had been more on the quiet side and prone to staying in her room instead of with the family.

Zach and Catherine didn't voice their concerns. If they wanted to address the tension in the house, they needed to determine whether it was because they had two teenagers in the house or because of the coming baby. Unfortunately, that determination couldn't be made with only the week that Harry and Tracey were at the house.

Near the end of the week, Harry was eager to return to Hogwarts but when he was on the train, he remembered what had happened shortly before he had left.

Draco.

There was already tension between them that had existed since first year but Harry knew that someone was bound to realize something was up if the tension between them had suddenly grown for no apparent reason. Harry had no intentions of telling anyone about what had happened in the bathroom but he wasn't really confident that he could get around answering direct questions. He still struggled with talking his way out of situations and always seemed to fall into the habit of staying silent when he wasn't sure how to respond.

Well, Harry would just act like nothing had happened and hopefully Draco would do the same. He had a feeling that the blonde would because if news got around the dorm or school, Draco had more to lose than he did.

Draco Malfoy didn't understand Harry Potter. If it had been anyone else, news would have been around the school right now or the information would have been used as blackmail. If Draco had been in Potter's shoes, he would have had no qualms about using the information to his advantage.

But Harry Potter hadn't.

And Draco didn't understand why.

The youngest Malfoy had given it a few days, expecting that Harry was just biding his time and waiting for the opportune moment to talk to Draco alone, but after a few of those moments had passed and nothing had happened, Draco decided to take matters into his own hands. It had been a week of nervous waiting and he was sick of it.

So he cornered Harry in the fourth year boys' dorm when everyone else was at lunch.

"What are you playing at, Potter?"

Harry turned to face Draco, looking confused.

"What are you on about?" he asked. "I'm not playing at anything as far as I know."

"You haven't said anything about what happened at the Yule Ball," Draco said. "Why not?"

Harry shrugged. "Because I don't care," he admitted. "I don't care about what's going on in your head. I have my own problems to worry about."

"So you have no intentions of doing anything with the information? You're not going to tell anyone or threaten to tell anyone?"

"No," Harry replied. "Are you going to let me go to lunch now? I'd like to eat before afternoon classes."

Draco sneered at him.

"Why do you have to be so damn ethical?" he demanded. "Anyone else would have tried to use the information to their advantage and I could have handled that. Why did you have to be so different?"

"Because friends don't tell their other friends' secrets," Harry stated. "And because I have plenty of things in my own life that I wouldn't want to be made public."

Harry turned around to pick up his bag but he glanced at Draco when the other boy made no reply. He found the blonde staring at him in disbelief.

"What?" he asked, irritated.

"You think I'm your friend?" Draco asked. Harry sighed.

"I see you every day, both inside and outside of classes. We talk, we eat, we tolerate each other. I think that qualifies you as a friend, even if we don't necessarily like each other all of the time. I don't like Pansy or Blaise all of the time, but I still consider them my friends."

Draco sneered again. "You have low standards of friendship," he remarked.

"Probably because I didn't have any before I came to Hogwarts," Harry stated. "Be thankful, though."

"Why?"

"Because if I didn't have such low standards, who else would be your friend?"

Draco threw a pillow in Harry's direction. "Go to hell."

"I don't know how to get there, so I'm going to lunch instead. Are you coming?"

If Harry thought things were going to get easier once he had talked to Draco, he was sorely mistaken. The conversation with Draco had only been the first of his problems.

Arielle was the second.

Going home after the Yule Ball had saved Harry from having to talk to her about what happened and he had hoped that some time away from Hogwarts and her would end his crush.

Of course, no one bothered to tell him that it wouldn't be that simple.

Arielle must not have known that Harry knew everything that had happened during the Yule Ball, because she seemed to be everywhere Harry turned, still as friendly as ever and trying to make her interest known. Every time Harry was alone or away from her, he was ready to tell her that the interest wasn't reciprocated any longer.

However, those words refused to come out of his mouth. Every time he saw her, Harry's mouth went dry and anything he had planned to say immediately flew out of his mind, to be replaced with thoughts about how pretty she looked and how adorable her smile and laugh were.

And Harry hated himself because of it.

"Is she still hanging around you?" Pansy asked when she spotted Arielle in the library, sitting only a few tables away from where she, Harry, and Daphne Greengrass were studying for Charms. The other Slytherins were still attempting to finish their History of Magic essays that were due the following day.

"Like a moth to a flame," Harry sighed, deliberately keeping his gaze down on the table and his homework. If he looked up, he wouldn't be able to focus until Arielle left.

"Don't try to be so Gryffindorish about this whole thing," Daphne remarked. "Otherwise, you're never going to fix this situation."

"Then what do you suggest I do?" Harry snapped. "I can't just carrying on doing or saying nothing."

"Go out with someone else," Pansy suggested. "That should get the message across plain and clear."

Go out with someone else? Why had that never occurred to Harry?

That's right. Because then he ran the risk of someone getting a crush on him when he didn't return the feeling and having to deal with that.

"It's too complicated," Harry replied.

"It's really not," Daphne stated. "Theo has the same situation all the time and I've helped him out in the past. I'm sure Pansy has done the same."

"No, I haven't," Pansy protested. "And I'm not going to start." She ended her statement with a glare in Harry's direction when he had looked up hopefully. Harry turned his gaze to Daphne, who winked.

"Seven weeks," she said. "That's how long it should take to get rid of her."

Harry nearly groaned. Seven weeks sounded like forever.

"That'll take us through Valentine's Day," he realized.

"Through the second task, to be exact," Daphne corrected.

"Won't anyone say anything about it?"

"Not if you're lucky," Pansy muttered. "No one ever said anything when it was Theo and Daphne. I don't think anyone in the house really noticed, to be honest."

"It's all about timing and location," Daphne said with a smirk. "We never acted differently when we were in the common room, because she was a Hufflepuff and wouldn't be able to see what happened. Though, I'm sure with you being Harry Potter, things will get around a bit more quickly and publicly."

Harry wanted to hang his head at the thought.

"It just means we have less to do to convince people," Daphne said. "Now ask nicely before I officially say yes."

Harry glared at her.

"Would you go out with me?" he asked through gritted teeth. Daphne smirked.

"So sweet," she remarked before gathering up her homework and putting her materials in her bag. Then she leaned over and gave Harry a peck on the cheek.

"We'll talk more about details back in the common room," she whispered in his ear before pulling away. Then, more loudly, she said, "Bye, boyfriend."

Harry's cheeks reddened as Daphne walked away, proudly smirking. He glanced over at Arielle.

The French brunette was staring after Daphne with a stunned expression. Harry glanced down at his homework once again before Arielle looked his way.

"Well, she's gone," Pansy said a few minutes later. "Looking stunned and horrified."

Harry didn't reply to that statement. Instead, he proposed an idea to Pansy.

"You should go out with Draco."

Pansy sat back in her chair, crossing her arms. An eyebrow rose and nearly disappeared into her bangs.

"Oh? Why?"

This was the tricky part. Harry hadn't thought this through all the way—he had seen an opportunity and taken it—and he would have to find a way to let Pansy to come to her own conclusions without saying anything outright.

"Let's just say that it would be beneficial for both of you," Harry began. "I'm sure neither of your families would mind and it would give Draco some peace of mind."

Pansy snorted. "What does he need peace of mind for? He doesn't need to be worried about anything."

"Except what people think of him and his family," Harry reminded her. "If he started dating you, he wouldn't be subject to certain…insults."

"Insults," Pansy said dryly. "What sort of—" Her eyes widened and Harry shrugged, hoping that she had caught on.

"Potter, are you implying…" she growled. Harry shook his head.

"I'm not implying or saying anything," he said. Pansy rolled her eyes.

"I'm not desperate," she stated. "Though, I wouldn't mind a guarantee of being with someone that doesn't want to do anything. If Draco really wants this peace of mind—as you put it—he'll have to ask me himself. Good luck convincing him to do that."

Harry glared at Pansy, who smirked. She knew that Draco wouldn't react well to that, especially when the blonde had no idea that Harry was even suggesting this idea in the first place.

Harry was fairly sure that Draco was going to kill him.

The dark-haired Slytherin waited until he and Draco ended up alone in the dormitory once again, while everyone was at breakfast. It was the only guarantee that they were truly alone, since all the dormitory rooms had been warded against eavesdroppers years ago. The corridors were too risky, since anyone could be hiding around a corner or behind a statue or wall hanging.

"I know I promised I wouldn't say anything and I haven't," Harry began, quickly drawing Draco's attention. "But have you ever considered dating someone and just letting everyone make their own assumptions?"

"The very idea is appalling," Draco replied. "And it would be a waste of time since a girl would start complaining about nothing happening. That would be even more damaging than not going out with anyone in the first place."

"Not all girls would complain," Harry pointed out. "Pansy wouldn't."

Draco dropped his bag to the floor. "And how the bloody hell would you know that?" he demanded.

"It came up when we were doing homework," Harry said. He had spent the night trying to figure out what he was going to say. "Daphne was offering to help me out of a situation and she mentioned that she wouldn't mind having a guarantee that nothing would happen."

Draco's gray eyes gazed into Harry's green ones, trying to determine if the truth was being told.

"I don't believe you," he finally said. Harry wasn't surprised.

"You don't have to," Harry replied. "Just keep in mind that if you start dating someone who wouldn't expect anything to happen—like Pansy—no one would ever consider that you might be gay."

Green eyes widened as a curse came flying at him.

"Don't use that word," Draco said in a stone cold voice. "Never use that word around me."

Harry watched the blonde carefully as Draco stormed out of the room. The conversation hadn't been as long as he planned it to be but Harry knew better than to push things now. Hopefully he had gotten his point across.

For the next few days, Draco pointedly gave Harry the cold shoulder. The only times that the blonde remained in the same room as Harry were during classes, meals, and when they were sleeping. At any other time, Draco ensured that they weren't in the same corridor, let alone the same room.

It didn't bother Harry too much. If Draco wanted to be mad at him, there wasn't anything that he could do to prevent it.

A few days later, Daphne plopped down on Harry's lap when he was studying in the library, watching a group of Beauxbatons' girls out of the corner of her eye.

"We should go on a double date during the next Hogsmeade weekend," she informed him.

"With who?" Harry asked absentmindedly. He was trying to figure out a way to write neatly without telling Daphne to move.

"Pansy and Draco," Daphne announced. Harry's hand jerked at the news and he sighed as a black line of ink crossed his entire sheet of parchment. He glanced up at Daphne, who didn't look sorry or sympathetic for causing the mistake.

"Well?" she asked. "What do you think?"

"Fine," Harry muttered as he tried to fix his piece of parchment without having to scrap the whole essay and start over. "Whatever you want."

"Fantastic," Daphne said. "I'm sure Pansy and Draco will be happy to hear that."

Preview for next time:

Albus sighed. He had one professor accusing another of still being a Death Eater and a traitor and the other professor was accusing the first of stealing. It was a situation where there would be no winners.

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