February 3 - February 4

Ron, Hermione, Dean and Seamus were seated in the stands of the Quidditch stadium attempting to read up for their next classes or in the case of Ron, trying to complete his assignments without Hermione's help. The air around them was filled with the laughter of the two seekers chasing after the practise snitch above them. Harry and Draco were each trying to one up the other at stunts but it had soon turned into a game of tag before returning to trying to catch the snitch. Ron would sometimes look up at them wistfully, wishing he could join them, but Hermione would glare at him until he got back to work with a sigh. Dean was quite relaxed having a talk with Hermione about Transfiguration theory and what they were expected to read for their next class. Seamus alternated between reading from his Bartenders manual (which was hidden in his Charms book for fear of Hermione yapping at him about studying) and watching the two flying around. He smiled at the antics they pulled and the general air of happiness that surrounded them in the air and the peace that was around him on the ground. Draco finally seemed to be improving and was actually enjoying the flying. It was good to see him looking so carefree as he zipped across the sky with Harry. He couldn't help but think they looked great together.

"Do Harry and I look good together?" he asked suddenly. The others around him stopped what they were doing to look at him curiously.

"Of course mate." Dean answered instantly. Hermione nodded in agreement, not quite understanding why Seamus was asking.

"You two always look happy together." Ron agreed with a nod.

"Ok." Seamus muttered thoughtfully. "Do Draco and I look good together?"

"What?!" They immediately exclaimed and Seamus realised exactly what he had asked and exactly how it would sound to them.

"Never mind forget I asked." Seamus said quickly. Silly him.

"You're right. You did not ask that question. I didn't hear it. You did not ask anything. Did you ask anything? No? Good. Nothing was asked. We did not hear anything and I was working. I. Did. Not. Hear. Anything." Ron said adamantly and quickly turned back to his book while the other two stared at him with their mouths agape. There was no way he was considering what that question meant Seamus had been thinking about.

"Are you barmy?" Dean finally asked. His voice was filled with incredulity.

"What are you thinking Seamus?" Hermione followed up her voice tinted in horror at what she thought that could mean for her best friend.

"He didn't ask anything!" Ron exclaimed in almost hysterical denial.

"I was just thinking that they looked good together up there flying around together then I wondered if me and Harry looked good together. Then do Draco and I look good together? Do all three of us look good together? It was a simple question that was taken a little out of context." Seamus explained for their understanding though it really hadn't been taken out of context at all. Really, it hadn't but he still needed to cover his tracks. He didn't think they were ready for that type of conversation just yet.

"You better hope that's all it is." Ron snapped at him before attempting to bury his face in his books once more.

"I thought you said I didn't ask anything." Seamus stated with a raised brow and a smirk.

"I changed my mind." Ron said folding his arms defensively.

"You do know Nekos can have multiple mates right? Sometimes it's even necessary." Seamus informed them. So much for not having this conversation now. Ron looked appalled, Hermione looked thoughtful and Dean seemed to be caught between appalled at the lack of monogamy and interested in the prospect of threesomes.

"Why would it be necessary?" Hermione asked before Ron could speak to defend Harry's honour. Dean still hadn't decided on a side.

"Really, complex psychological stuff that ends with death. Very bad." Seamus said easily and the other two instant tuned into what he was saying.

"Be more specific." Hermione prompted very interested in this new information about Nekos that wasn't in any of the books that she had read.

"Its really complicated, Hermione. I don't feel like explaining it right now." Seamus said with a sigh. That was one headache he didn't want to get into. It was a horrible fate to think about as well.

"Unless it's a lie." She challenged with a glare.

"Its not." Seamus said with an answering glare. Challenge accepted. "When a Neko chooses their first mate, that's me by the way, they bond with them forever but sometimes they need more mates to stabilise and strengthen the bond. Sometimes there are Nekos other than the first mate that are needed and are a part of the Neko that does the choosing, that's Harry. These are the potential mates. The Neko who chooses is drawn to them by their characteristics, for example their scent."

"How do you decide who choses?" Hermione asked curiously. This was very interesting information.

"Because Harry asked me to go out with him he's the one who chooses. The one who initiates is the one who chooses the other mates. He would be the one to welcome a new mate into the mateship." Seamus explained.

"What about you?" Dean asked suspiciously. This seemed one-sided.

"Harry won't agree to anyone unless we both like them." Seamus said. It was nice to know someone cared to ask about his free will.

"And if you don't take another mate?" Ron asked trying to find a way to save his friend's monogamy.

"Then we will suffer from a missing piece that we will constantly long for and eventually lose our minds and kill someone or many people and eventually die or kill ourselves or kill each other. Whichever comes first." Seamus said just as flatly as he had the last time he said those same words to Harry.

"Wow." Dean commented shocked at the gravity of it.

"Exactly." Seamus agreed.

"I need to do some more research." Hermione said already thinking about what she would have to look for.

"You're not going to find anything in the library." Seamus told her and she turned to him. "They don't carry anything out Nekos except one paragraph that says we're extinct. Your best bet would be asking Harry to borrow his books but I don't think he wanted you guys to know about this yet and I'd rather he not know I told you yet or that I at least get to tell him before you ask."

"Why wouldn't he want to tell us?"

"Because its personal. Because polyamorous relationships aren't something you see every day. Because he's not so sure about this himself. Because he's probably still getting used to this idea," Seamus listed, ticking each point off his fingers. "That's four points already other than the fact that its not an issue yet. So please can we not talk about it anymore."

There was silence for a while until Dean said: "Sooo…. Malfoy…"

Seamus sighed. "Can we please not talk about it?"

"You two are actually kind of cute together." Hermione said and Seamus looked at her with an unimpressed look even though he really wanted to hear what she had to say. "It's cute how you're always feeding him. Even though he eats on his own now you still slip him a few strips of bacon and other stuff here and there. Its adorable."

"I can't believe we're talking about this." Ron groaned burying his head in his hands.

"Can't believe we're talking about what?" Harry asked startling them. He had flown over and was hovering just above them. Draco was about a foot away playing with the snitch in his hands but watching them. They were both smiling and out of breath.

"The Chudley Cannons trying their hand, well feet, at beating West Ham at football." Dean answered with a smile. The others followed his lead. "Of course it'll never happen considering they can't even win at their own sport on a good day."

"I resent that! The Cannons will win! Have faith!" Ron exclaimed pointing at Dean who laughed.

"Give up Weasley their victory days are over." Draco said good naturedly. "Support a real team like the Falcons."

"The Falcons?! Figures you'd support the team of vicious scavengers!" Ron argued loudly.

"They win don't they?" Draco said smirking before barrel rolling away after the newly released snitch and yelling "FALCONS!"

"Puddlemere United for me." Harry laughed watching Draco go. The blond was twisting and spinning all over the stadium. "That boy is barmy."

"I'm with Harry and this one. Wood's on that team isn't he?" Hermione commented and Harry nodded before following Draco's lead yelling: "PUDDLEMERE!"

"The ease with which you lie to him surprises me." Seamus commented watching as Draco and Harry returned to their chase.

"I got your back mate." Dean said nudging him with his foot.

"And I've got yours." Seamus said returning the nudge. "But I better sort that out before it comes out badly."

"Bloody Falcons!" Ron grumbled and they all looked at him as he glared at Draco. "Falcons are a bunch of cheats! Even their motto screams cheat!"

"Really Ron? That's what you're angry about?" Hermione asked and the other two laughed. Leave it to Ron to forget everything else for the sake of Quidditch.

XXXXX

"Hey. How much longer do you think Quidditch practice is?" Draco asked looking up from his Ancient Runes assignment. He and Seamus were in the library working on their assignments together. They were seating at a table to the back of the library.

"Am I that horrible you want Harry to come back already?" Seamus asked aiming a raised brow at Draco. The blond shook his head.

"No. It's just sometimes I don't know what to talk about with you." He answered with an apologetic look.

"You don't have to talk." Seamus said and Draco looked sceptical. "Ok. I have a question for you. Why aren't you playing anymore?"

"They don't want me there and I'd rather not be where I'm not wanted." Draco answered. There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

"But you like to fly. You love flying." Seamus said and the blond nodded. Seamus reached across and took Draco's hand into his. He gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry about the team then. You can fly with Harry. You both like that stuff and obviously enjoy doing it together if yesterday was any sign."

"Yea." Draco agreed looking a little unsure when Seamus give his hand one more squeeze before releasing it. When he didn't say anymore Seamus went back to his work. He waited a few moments before speaking again. "Um. Have you decided on your future?"

"Yea. Have you?" Seamus asked giving him his attention once more.

"Not yet. I want to be sure about it first." Draco said twirling his quill. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to be a bartender. I'll train for a little maybe work for someone for a while before I open my own place. I haven't thought of the specifics for that yet but it will be open to both muggles and wizards."

"Really?" Draco asked surprised at what he was told. "It sounds like you've pretty much figured it out. It would be the first of its kind too."

"Not at all. It will be the first of it's kind sure but if I open my own place, I'll have to decide on a lot of things." Seamus said putting his quill down so that they could speak without distractions.

"Like?" Draco asked not seeing how it could be hard.

"Like where it would be, what kind of place will it be? Should it be bar, a pub, a club? What kind of bar? What kind of club? How would it be furnished or decorated? Should there be a theme? What kind of theme? What kind of people should I appeal to?" Seamus listed and Draco nodded seeing where this was going. "Lots of questions. I figure I should get some experience and figure out what works best and what I want before I get to owning my own place."

"That's a good plan."

"You'll figure something out. If it helps Harry hasn't decided either." Seamus said helpfully.

"I thought he wanted to be an Auror." Draco said with a frown.

"He's not so sure anymore. He's thinking about other things. You could ask him for help to decide." Seamus suggested

"I couldn't do that." Draco declined.

"Then ask him to let you borrow one of his career books." Seamus offered know Harry wouldn't say no.

"What's he doing with career books?" Draco asked still frowning.

"I gave them to him for Christmas since he couldn't decide." Seamus answered and Draco raised a brow at him questioningly. Seamus didn't elaborate. They weren't hiding their relationship from Draco but they weren't pointing it out either. He watched Draco as he seemed to think about it before shrugging and getting back to work.

Seamus watched him for a moment before turning back to his own books. He wouldn't deny that being around Draco was nice but he was beginning to really like the guy now and he knew Harry felt the same. Draco was more open than they had ever seen him. He didn't hide his emotions and he could be both witty and sweet and he was smart. They didn't talk much during the times when they were alone together but the silence between them was a comfortable silence. The problem now was that when he was around Draco, he just wanted to hug him. To hug him and hold him close and be held. Especially the times when Draco seemed to remember his mother and look so sad Seamus felt like breaking. It made Seamus want to hold him and kiss him until he didn't want to cry anymore. But there in lied the problem. You couldn't do that to a friend. Being Draco's friend wasn't enough for that to be alright. He had to be more and he wanted to be. Harry wanted it too. He could see the happiness when he was flying with Draco or when he got him to talk excitedly about something. He also saw the want that followed it when the blond wasn't looking.

As for Draco, Seamus didn't think Draco realised he could have anything more and so didn't think about it. It was obvious he liked having them around but if he wanted anything else was a different spectrum of thinking. However Seamus saw how he subconsciously leaned a little closer to Harry than he had to, he saw how he seemed to smile more with him, he also noticed how Draco seemed to watch both of them a lot. So perhaps, Draco subconsciously liked them on a deeper level that he just hadn't thought about or looked closely at. Then of course was the fact that neither of them were sure Draco was anywhere near ready for a relationship.

"When Hermione said you guys went to the library I wondered if she was just pulling my leg." Harry's voice brought Seamus out of his thoughts and he looked up. Harry was standing beside the table with a big grin on his face.

"Some of us actually do our assignments before they're due." Draco said but he was smiling all the same.

"Practise is finished already?" Seamus asked and the other two looked at him curiously.

"It's been hours Seamus." Harry said obviously not sure whether to be amused or worried.

"Time flies when you lost in thought." Seamus commented.

"What were you thinking about?" Harry asked as he slipped into a free seat at their table.

"Us. All of us." Seamus answered looking directly at Harry. He knew the brunette understood what he meant by the narrowing of his eyes. Seamus looked to Draco a have him a playful punch. "Good times."

"I don't know why you put up with me." Draco said with slightly lost look.

"You mean other than the fact that you're intelligent, extremely gifted and insanely attractive?" Seamus asked matter-of-factly causing Harry to freeze in shock at the blatant flattery. Draco blushed crimson with his eyes wide. "We like you obviously. A lot. Otherwise we wouldn't bother."

Draco was silent for a moment. He was stewing in the compliment with blushing red embarrassment. It had been some time since anyone had commented on anything positive about him. "Um. Thank you."

"No problem. Is it dinner time yet? I'm hungry." Harry said trying to pull the attention away from what was just said.

"In a few minutes." Seamus said bringing it back to normal conversation to let Draco calm down. "Will you help us pack up?"

"Sure." Harry agreed helping them pack the reference books in one pile as they each packed their own books into their bags. When they were finished they left the library to go down to dinner.

Dinner passed by with no incident and Seamus behaved himself since Harry kept shooting him looks over Draco's head. Draco's ears also turned a little red when Seamus slipped him an extra piece of chicken. Surprisingly, no one noticed anything odd. It was only later in the evening when they had separated from Draco and were warded away in Harry's bed that they had the conversation that Seamus had known was coming the moment Harry had frozen up in the library.

"What was that earlier?" Harry asked obviously trying to keep a lid on his temper.

"Come on, you can't deny that he's insanely attractive." Seamus said instead. They were sitting cross legged facing each other.

"But you can't tell him that! You can't just flirt with him like that." Harry exclaimed but Seamus knew he agreed with what he had said. Even if he wouldn't admit it now, he did agree.

"Honey, if I was flirting, you would know about it. That was just flattery to get him at least think about the possibility of this or even just get him to think about it. Even if it's only a subconscious thing." Seamus said with a smile. Harry frowned at him. Seamus took Harry's hand and kissed it. "It's like conditioning but not really. Or maybe it is conditioning. He needs to know what we think about him and also realise how great he is. He does need an ego boost. He's doing better but he still needs it."

"I guess so." Harry agreed. "I don't like the thought of conditioning him though."

"I understand." Seamus stated shuffling closer to Harry. "I think we should make a move now. We should let him know how we feel."

"We can't. It's only been two weeks since he's begun opening up." Harry protested and Seamus frowned.

"How much longer then?" Seamus asked and Harry looked thoughtful for a moment.

"At least a few more weeks, maybe a month." he answered and Seamus stared at him.

"Do you want him to friend zone you?!" Seamus exclaimed and Harry winced. "If he hasn't friend zoned us already he definitely would by then."

"We can't do it yet Seamus." Harry said seriously.

"Did you see his blush? Adorable." Seamus pushed and Harry reluctantly nodded. "Do you want him to friend zone us so that that blush can belong to someone else?"

"No but we can't do it yet." Harry said not moving from his point. "We'll give him a few weeks. Three weeks and that's it."

Seamus looked at him silently for a moment. "You know that I don't agree with you."

"Yes. Three weeks. That's it." Harry said pleadingly. Seamus sighed and crawled up the bed towards him. Harry unfolded his legs and a relaxed so that Seamus could manoeuvre them under the sheets and curl up against him. His head rested on Harry's shoulder and his arm was slung around him. Harry's hand found its way to his hair.

"I will try but if I see an opportunity I will take it." Seamus warned him. Harry nodded before verbally agreeing with him. It was at least a compromise from telling him instantly. He could live with that.