"Wonderful," Dumbledore said, clasping his hands together. "Another one down. By my calculation, that's three down, four to go."
"Three sir?" Pansy asked.
"Yes. The diary which Harry destroyed in his second year, the ring which I destroyed, and now Slytherin's locket."
"Great," Harry said. "How do we find the others?" He was sitting on the edge of his seat, excitement thrumming through him for the first time that day. Dumbledore chuckled sadly.
"Unfortunately, in order to find the others, we must first determine what they are." Harry sat back in his chair. A sigh escaped his lips before he could stop himself. "Luckily," Dumbledore continued. "We have eight minds to put towards this task."
"Eight, headmaster?" Snape asked.
"Yes, Severus," Dumbledore said. "I expect you to help. After all, you have been working with them on their Occlumency. And," he paused for a moment. "You will be their new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"What?" Both Snape and Ron asked at the same time. Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling.
"Oh yes," he said. "I think it's about time you taught the subject you're best at."
"You mean, there's a subject that he's better at than potions?" Draco asked.
"Indeed, Mr. Malfoy."
"But what is going to happen with our six week project?" Pansy asked.
"Professor Slughorn will be taking over as potions master," Dumbledore said. "However as your project ends on Wednesday, Professor Snape will continue to monitor your potions until then."
"Slughorn?" Snape asked and Dumbledore nodded once. "But-"
"-There will be no buts, Severus. He will come and teach because we have two things that he wants. Safety and Harry Potter."
"Me?" Harry asked.
"Potter's head is big enough without Horace flattering him all the time," Snape sneered. Harry scowled, but he was not going to start anything with the professor in front of Dumbledore, so he let it slide.
"Think that as you may, Severus, we need a potions professor, and he is one of the best." Harry thought he heard Snape mutter,
"But not the best," but he couldn't be sure.
"I have already invited him to the castle and he has graciously accepted my invitation. Between us, I think that brazen attack on the theme park the other day spooked him. He is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and will be brought up to speed on your sixth year project. It will continue on as before and I look forward to hearing about the results. Severus tells me this year's batches look particularly promising." Hermione sat up straighter at this and looked pleased with herself.
"Well then," Dumbledore continued. "I believe we have our work cut out for us. We must turn our thoughts to the remaining four horcruxes. But in the meantime, I think dinner is in order. I will find a time for us to meet again in the near future, but I implore you until then to turn your minds to the problem at hand." He dismissed them all with a wave of his hand.
There was a general scuffle as everyone clambered out of their chairs and rolled up their pieces of parchment. Snape took back the quills and ink that he had lent out and they filed out of Dumbledore's offie. None of them said anything until they were out in the corridor, and then only once they were out of earshot of Snape, who strode off in the direction of the staff room.
"Bloody hell," Ron said, breaking the silence. "That was a lot."
"How does Dumbledore expect us to be able to help?" Pansy asked. "We're students."
"Some of us aren't even legal," Draco added.
"I think the Ministry would probably turn a blind eye if we used magic outside of school to bring down Voldemort," Harry said.
"I suppose."
"I mean, the rules state that we can use magic in dire circumstances," Harry continued. "Like when I saved my cousin from the dementor attack last year."
"Didn't they expel you first though?" Ron asked, unhelpfully.
"They were just trying to paint me as mentally unstable, so that no one would believe me when I said You-Know-Who was back," Harry said. "They can't bloody well deny he's back now, not after Halloween."
"No, they can't," Blaise agreed.
"I wonder why they did that," Hermione said. "It seems awfully brazen, doesn't it?"
"Probably just to show that they could," Draco said. "And to attract more people to the cause."
"Which means we need to stop him sooner rather than later," Harry said firmly. "Before more innocent people suffer."
"Agreed," said Ron.
"I think we should start our own meeting," Hermione said. "And not just wait for Dumbledore to schedule one."
"I wonder if there are any empty classrooms we can use," Harry said.
"Why not the Room of Requirement?" Blaise suggested.
"We can't just use the Room of Requirement for everything," Pansy said.
"Why not?"
"Because," she started to say, but then she couldn't come up with a reason. "Oh fine."
"But can we get dinner first?" Ron asked. "I'm starving." They all agreed to that and so turned their steps towards the Great Hall.
"Oh," Hermione said as they reached the marble staircase. "I forgot to ask Dumbledore about some sort of house neutral common area."
"Why don't you bring it up at the next prefect's meeting?" Blaise suggested.
"I suppose," she said. "I just wanted it to bee sooner rather than later."
"And in the meantime," Pansy said. "There's always the Room of Requirement. Merlin, I might as well just live there."
"It can create beds," Ron said, winking at her.
"Oh, I know."
"Hey, do you want to sit with us at dinner?" he asked on a whim. "I mean, we are dating. I think it would be alright." Pansy's eyes went wide.
"Oh," she said. "I don't know. Blaise, what do you think, should we?" She turned to her fellow Slytherin and looked at him imploringly.
"Let's all sit at the Gryffindor table," Draco said, surprising them all.
"What?" Pansy and Harry asked at the same time.
"Fuck it," Draco said. "Let's all sit at the Gryffindor table."
"Ah yes," Pansy said. "Your epic love story, of 'fuck it'."
"I mean, as long as I'm the it," Harry said. "I'm ok with this."
…
Did they receive some odd looks from the rest of the student body for sitting together? Yes. Did they care? Not in the slightest.
Blaise and Hermione, and Ron and Pansy sat next to each other, while Harry and Draco sat across from each other. Draco spent all of dinner trying to subtly put his foot on Harry's crotch with limited success, given how wide the tables were. Seamus sat next to Draco and egged him on while Neville, who was sitting next to Harry, studiously pretended that nothing was happening.
"Are we going to party tonight?" Seamus asked as the puddings appeared in front of them.
"I hadn't thought," Harry said truthfully.
"You could take me down to the Chamber," the irishman suggested with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"Not tonight, Shame," Harry said. "It's been a long day."
"Where were you all today?" Neville asked. "You weren't in any of your lessons."
"We missed lessons?" Hermione asked.
"I thought you knew."
"Oh no," she cried, a horrified expression on her face.
"Dumbledore probably cleared us," Ron said.
"I mean, we didn't have Potions this morning, so you didn't miss that," Neville said.
"So you were with Dumbledore," Seamus prompted. They nodded. "Eh, you're probably fine then. I mean, he's Dumbledore."
"I hope so," Hermione said, staring down at her plate. Blaise put a comforting hand on her arm.
"It'll be fine," he said and she nodded.
"So are we partying tonight?" Seamus asked again.
"Fuck it," Draco said. "Yes."
…
"This is so frustrating," Harry said to Draco later that night. They were sitting on an outdoor sofa in front of a roaring fireplace courtesy of the Room of Requirement.
"What is?"
"Not being able to kiss you right now," Harry said quietly. He was aware that there were other people around. It was precisely why he couldn't be any more intimate with Draco other than sitting next to him. True, his knee was touching Draco's thigh, and the contact was nice, but he wanted more than that.
"Yes, well," Draco said. "We're top secret, Spaniel."
"Wish we didn't have to be."
"You're only saying that because you're drunk."
"And jealous."
"Of who?"
"Pansy and Ron." The aforementioned pair were snuggled together on another sofa, their faces pressed together.
"Well," Draco said. "Are you ready to come out to the world?"
"No," Harry groused.
"There you are then."
"Also I'm pretty sure that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would be rather pissed that you've gone and started dating his worst enemy and would put you at the top of his shit list and I wouldn't want to risk your safety like that."
"Do you really think you're his number one enemy?" Draco asked. "Not Dumbledore?"
"Chosen One," Harry mumbled. "Remember?"
"Right. That."
"And now it seems we have to destroy all his other souls first." Harry threw his head back dramatically on the sofa cushions, being careful not to spill the scofflaw he was holding.
"Soul fragments," Draco corrected.
"Same difference." Harry picked his head up again. "Either way it's going to be bloody difficult." Draco said nothing. He stared into the flames in the fireplace, nursing his own drink.
"We'll manage," he said after a long moment. "We have to." Harry shifted his knee against Draco's thigh and the blond looked over at him, though it was clear his thoughts were now elsewhere.
"Sorry," Harry said. "I didn't mean to be such a downer."
"It's ok," Draco said. "It's on my mind too. How could it not be? Every day I'm," he stopped himself there. Harry frowned at him.
"Every day you're what?" he asked. Draco shook his head.
"Nothing."
"I don't think it's nothing," Harry said. He nudged Draco with his knee again. Draco pursed his lips.
"Fine," he said. "Every day I'm terrified of losing you." Whatever Harry had been expecting Draco to say, it was not this. This was akin to saying that four letter word without actually saying it. Sort of. But when Harry thought about it, he was terrified of losing Draco too. Just under six weeks ago he would have thought this feeling impossible and yet here they were. And it was all Seamus's fault. Or rather, it was all thanks to Seamus.
"I owe Seamus a beer," Harry said.
"What? That's it? That's all I get in response to my confession?"
"I owe Seamus a beer because he dared me to ask you out in the first place, which led to me being terrified to lose you too." He pressed his knee into Draco's leg, trying to convey how much the other man meant to him without telegraphing their feelings to the rest of the world.
"Oh fuck this," Draco said. "Let's get out of here." He tipped the rest of his drink back and looked expectantly at Harry.
"Where are we going to go?"
"I don't know, but if I can't kiss you senseless in the next five minutes I'm going to be very angry."
"I wonder if the room would oblige," Harry said. He looked around to see if any doors had suddenly popped into existence, but he didn't see anything. He frowned. Perhaps it was inside. He finished his own drink and then stood up. Draco followed him into the main room.
It did not take them long to discover the random door inside the room. It was nestled in the corner, just to the right of the door that led in from the balcony.
"Should we go in one at a time?" Harry asked. He looked around the room. The "party" was very low key tonight. Most people were just sitting around with their friends, drinking and chatting. In the far corner there was a loud drinking game going on which seemed to comprise of most of the Hufflepuffs and Neville. No one was paying them any mind.
"I don't think anyone is going to notice us," Draco said, voicing Harry's thoughts.
"Come on then." He pulled the door open and they darted inside. As soon as the door clicked behind them, Draco was on Harry. He pinned him against the closed door and kissed him with all of the pent up desperation of the evening. Harry kissed him back with equal fervor. They stayed this way for a long moment before Harry pulled away. Draco looked at him in confusion. Harry pulled out his wand and locked the door.
"Right," Draco said. "Yes. Secret." And then he went right back to kissing Harry.
Somehow they made it to the bed. Harry only figured out they had reached it when the back of his knees hit the side of the mattress and he toppled onto it, dragging Draco down on top of him. Their hands scrabbled at each other's clothing until it was all scattered around the bed and there was nothing left between them.
"I want you," Draco whispered, his hand wrapped around Harry's dick. "Inside me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm fucking sure, Potter. I want you to fuck me like you did on Halloween."
"I can do that," Harry said. He flipped Draco onto his back and then hovered above him, arms on either side of Draco's head. "Happily."
"Ah, fuck. Where's my wand?" Draco felt around in the pile of clothes until he found a wand.
"I think that's mine," Harry said. "But you can use it." Draco nodded, his mouth suddenly dry. Using Harry's wand felt almost more intimate than what they were about to do. But he banished the thought from his mind and performed the various spells he had learned from the restricted section books. He put his hand back onto Harry's cock, covering it with lubrication, before guiding him to the right place.
It was easier this time. They both knew what they were doing and what to expect. Though it was still new to him, Harry found it easy to follow through on the scene that had been playing through his head all evening. When he looked down at Draco, his face was flushed and his lips were parted. It was such a beautiful sight that Harry's heart almost hurt from looking at him.
This wasn't supposed to happen, he thought idly as they both lay boneless and happy in each others' arms afterwards. They weren't supposed to fall in love. Or like. Or whatever these feelings were. He had to face Voldemort. How the fuck was he supposed to do that if he was worried about Draco? Or about whether or not he, Harry, might die in taking on Voldemort?
But it had happened nonetheless. And as he gently kissed Draco's sweaty forehead, Harry realized that now, more than ever, he had someone to fight for.