A pearly-gray blanket of clouds floated through the sky, pushed along by a lazy breeze. Sunlight peeked hesitantly through the gaps, falling upon the glittering snow that turned to slush where many students had walked through it. Spring was a long time coming, but red cardinals, blue jays, and brown sparrows soared and sang anyway.

The mild weather had coaxed most students outside - they hung out in tightly-knit groups within the main grounds, a few venturing to the shores of the Black Lake despite the cold air wafting off it.

The Quidditch pitch, however, remained nearly untouched. Its towering vastness was slippery with the earlier morning's mist, wind whistling through its multiple nooks and crannies.

Harry lay down on the bleachers, one leg propped up on a bench. His emerald eyes took in the pale void above, his mind drifting through the emptiness and the silence.

"You're early." Draco's voice accompanied his footsteps on the creaking, wooden bleachers. Harry sat up as the Slytherin made his way over, his short blonde hair fluttering in the wind.

"Is that surprising?"

Draco didn't answer, sliding his hands into his pockets and looking towards the top of the arena. "Let's move up there," He suggested, and began to move up the bleachers without waiting for a reply; nevertheless, Harry followed.

The grounds of Hogwarts unfurled beneath them like a richly patterned quilt, lush with grasses and hills and the slate-gray, shining massiveness of the Black Lake. Shades ranging from white to patchy brown signaled snowy spots left over from bygone storms. Ebony steeds, rising in miniature with leathery flaps, came from their dark, arboreal habitat. The thestrals screeched and swirled in the wintry firmament. And just beyond loomed the castle, prickly and stern with its towers and staring windows.

"This is a nicer date than I expected, Potter," Draco said as his gazed roved across the landscape. "I'm impressed."

"Really? I wasn't sure if just 'hanging out' was your thing." Harry propped his arms upon the fence bordering the arena. "I've always reckoned you to be - you know. The fancy dinner date type."

Draco rolled his eyes, but his frustration wasn't directed at his friend. "I've had too many of those, to be honest. I…do you mind if I ramble a bit?"

"Go on."

"My parents set me up more times than I care to remember. Only rich pureblooded girls, of course." Draco's tone was tinged with bitterness. "We'd go to fancy restaurants like you said, or operas, the theater, typical elitist nonsense. The girls themselves weren't all bad, I suppose. You know Henrietta Carrow, in our year," He assumed, and Harry nodded, picturing the pale, freckled Slytherin, "We went out a couple of times in third year, she was all right. Didn't go on and on like a lot of the others did about the importance of blood. Merlin, they were all obsessed with blood, keeping magic in the old families, and using it to attain money and status." Draco's grey eyes were stormy, and Harry was beginning to regret instigating the discussion. "But I'm like them, too. A pureblooded puppet."

"No way," Harry said fervently. "Maybe you used to be, but that's in the past now."

"Just because it's in the past doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"Hey, you're with me now, aren't you? On a date with a half-blood," Harry pointed out, and Draco started to smile.

Then he faltered. "Did you say half-blood?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, mostly. My mother's parents were Muggles."

"I thought she was a real witch," Draco said confusedly, then he looked startled. "Ah. Muggle-borns can be wizards, I forgot. Sorry," He added, "Old mentality of mine. Didn't mean to offend."

"It's okay." Harry was a little miffed at the accidental slight towards his mother, but he decided to let it slide. "Huh. I thought first date conversation was normally more lighthearted than this."

Draco snorted. "You think any of this is normal? Oh, please. A Death Eater and The Boy Who Lived go on a date. That sounds like the beginning of a joke."

Harry laughed. "It does, actually."

"So, what do you think we should talk about instead?"

"Quidditch?"

"Ah, yes," Draco turned to face Harry and leaned casually on the fence. "Quidditch, and how Slytherin's going to make a comeback and win the Cup."

"I dunno about that. We've practically won already."

"Don't be so sure, Potter. Slytherin has pulled off an upset before, we can do it again."

Harry had never felt this at ease with Draco before - all his nervousness and stress evaporated as they chatted away as any two good friends would. It seemed that Draco felt similarly; Harry was pleased to see that he had started laughing and smiling more around him.

Ron's right, Harry realized, About Draco being nicer than before.

Warmth bloomed in the late afternoon when they made their way back to the castle, walking comfortably in tandem. As luminous beams broke through the cloud cover, Draco's face became bathed in gold, and in the back of his mind, Harry noticed how pretty he looked in the sunlight. Harry's quick heartbeat echoed the earnest steps of a new journey, a new adventure - only this time, the Chosen One was not afraid of what would come next.

• • •

It had been almost three weeks since Harry's and Draco's first date, and Harry was pleasantly surprised at how well things had been going since then. It was his first new relationship in a while - and the first one he'd had with a boy. But it was easier, in some ways, than Harry's relationship with Ginny, mostly because the threat of Voldemort no longer loomed in his future. Finally, after five years of being one, he could behave like a normal teenage boy.

Even better, Draco had more or less become part of Harry's tightly-knit friend group. He wasn't around all the time, which tended to make the others antsy, but Harry was infinitely grateful towards Ron and Hermione for accepting him.

The four students sat together in the library one day after school, immersed in their various assignments. Hermione was hard at work on her end-of-year paper, Ron filled out a Herbology worksheet, and both Harry and Draco read their assigned chapters for Potions.

"Ooh, look at you studious eighth-years," Came Ginny's teasing voice; she and Luna took seats next to Hermione.

"Hi, Ginny," The brunette greeted, glancing up from her notes. "Don't tell me you didn't come in here just to talk to us?"

"No, we do have a lot of work to do," Ginny sighed, taking out textbooks from her school bag.

"You have a lot of work to do," Luna corrected. "Procrastinator," She added as a term of endearment.

"I only procrastinate because I know you'll help me," Ginny replied, dramatically batting her eyelashes.

"Of course, I will."

Harry bit down a smile at their interactions, which were nearly as adorable as Ron's and Hermione's. He wondered how he didn't notice Luna and Ginny were dating before; now that he knew, it seemed obvious.

The six companions studied for the better part of an hour, the comfortable silence often punctuated by idle conversation and requests for homework-related advice. Draco finished his Potions reading much faster than Harry did, unsurprisingly. The Slytherin closed his book with a bit too much force, the subsequent puff of air blowing his quill off the table.

Harry, on reflex, bent to pick it up from the floor.

"It's fine, I got it," Draco muttered quickly, leaning down and grabbing the quill. Their fingers brushed, and the butterflies in Harry's stomach started swooping. His expression must have given something away, for Draco smirked knowingly for the briefest moment before sitting up again.

Heat creeping up in his cheeks, Harry gave the four students on the other side of the table a cautious glance, but they appeared to be too busy to notice what had happened.

Draco, his face impassive, began to write with his right hand. His left, slowly and surreptitiously, reached over and took Harry's. The Gryffindor, startled, made an immense effort to keep his eyes firmly on his Potions textbook as Draco interlaced their fingers. He caressed the back of Harry's hand with his thumb, in slow, gentle strokes.

It took a few minutes for Harry to realize that he'd been re-reading the same sentence without taking in any information at all. Draco, however, casually continued to work, his quill looping confidently across the parchment.

Harry thought it completely unlike Draco to perform such a sweet, understated gesture. But as the Gryffindor would slowly discover, his companion had only just begun to surprise him.

• • •

"Are you sure about this?"

One Saturday afternoon, it became clear that the worst of winter had passed. Sunlight glittered warmly off the Black Lake, whose surface was now completely melted. Ginny sat cross-legged on the grass, throwing pieces of toast to the orange-crimson tentacles of the giant squid.

"Positive," The redhead replied, turning towards Harry. "I don't want to hide anymore. Neither of us does."

"How're you feeling?"

"Excited, actually. But scared, too. I don't know how everyone's going to react. What do you think? Would Ron mind?"

Harry shook his head. "I mean, you're his sister, and he loves you. As long as Luna makes you happy, it shouldn't matter to him whether she's a girl or not."

Ginny nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

"Are you two going to come out to the school?"

Ginny put down her toast and wiped the crumbs off on her robes. "We've talked about it a lot, and we decided not to make a big fuss. After telling Ron and Hermione, we'll just start holding hands in public more, kissing when a straight couple would be expected to kiss. If we act like everything's normal, maybe everyone else will, too." She gave him a shaky yet hopeful smile. "We might have stayed in the dark forever if it wasn't for you."

"I outed you without your blessing," Harry said guiltily. "I'm sorry."

Ginny shrugged and gave him a friendly nudge with her shoulder. "All's well that ends well. It turned out for the better, anyway."

"Yeah, but …it's not over yet."

A blue-scarfed girl poked her head between the two friends, startling them both. "Hello, Harry," Luna said, briefly placing an affectionate hand on his shoulder. "Ginny's telling you about our plan, I expect?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, scooting over to let the Ravenclaw sit between them. "It's quite brave of you, really. I hope everything turns out well."

"Thanks. I hope so, too," Luna reached over and took Ginny's hand as if it was the most normal thing in the world. If Harry had seen them do that three months ago, he might have felt a stab of jealousy - but now, he was just glad that Ginny was happy. "And you, Harry?" Luna's pale eyes looked towards him with luminous curiosity.

"What about me?"

Luna lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Are you and Draco going to come out, too?"

The breeze coming from the lake seemed to stop in its tracks. "What are you talking about?" Ginny said, utterly perplexed.

How does she know? Harry thought wildly. His palms became sweaty all of a sudden.

"Ah, I completely forgot to mention it to you, petal," Luna said apologetically. "Harry and Draco have been dating for a little while. I realized it just a few days ago."

"They what?" Ginny's eyes widened. "Harry…is that true?"

His heart was beating desperately fast. No. This wasn't supposed to happen; no one was supposed to know. I'm scared of what people will say, what they'll do, not just to me, but to you as well, Draco had said, fear glimmering in his eyes.

"I…" Harry quailed under Ginny's stare, which was growing more outraged by the minute. He nodded.

Ginny let out a short, derisive laugh. "Are you serious? Malfoy?"

"You're not judging him for dating a boy, are you?" Luna said, tilting her head.

"Oh, Luna. That's not the issue here!" Ginny crossed her arms.

"What, you don't think he's good enough for me?" Harry said defensively.

"Well…" Ginny exhaled sharply, apparently struggling to reach an agreement with herself. "If you'd asked me that a year ago, I'd say definitely not. But he has changed, I guess…" She shook her head, frustratedly. "But still. He was a Death Eater!"

"The heart wants what it wants," Luna murmured, staring across the lake.

"I just find it hard to believe…" Ginny trailed off, too vexed to finish her sentence.

"What? That I could love someone like him?"

"You love him?"

"I…no, I don't," Harry said, a little embarrassed that he had phrased it that way. "But I like him. What about you two? I thought Malfoy's your friend as well?"

"It's more complicated than that," Luna said soothingly. "Personally, I think he's quite nicer these days. And I know you think so too, you've told me as much earlier," She addressed Ginny, who nodded in agreement, "But the fact remains that he was a bully. To all of us. And some of those wounds haven't healed; they never can."

Harry understood.

"But it's like I said," Luna continued, "The heart wants what it wants."

Ginny gave her a confused look. "You approve of them being together?"

"It's doesn't matter whether I approve or not," Luna said with a serene shrug. "It's their relationship, why should I interfere?"

Ginny gave Harry a long, scrutinizing look. "Fine. Date whoever you want."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "That's the plan. And, please," He added, "Don't tell anyone about this."

Luna nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry that I brought it up," She said sincerely.

"It's all right. It was bound to get out sometime." Though I didn't think it'd be this soon.

"You have to tell Ron and Hermione," Ginny said firmly. "They're your best friends, they have a right to know."

"Why should they know about my love life?"

"This is Malfoy we're talking about," Ginny said warningly. "They're not going to take it well."

"That's reassuring," Harry remarked sarcastically.

"That's the truth." Ginny stood up, slinging her school bag over her shoulder. "I'm going inside. Good luck, Harry. With everything." She strode back towards the castle, not sparing him a second glance.

Luna plucked at the grass. "I really am sorry, Harry," She said again. "I didn't know you and Draco wanted to keep it a secret."

"Well…I suppose we weren't very sneaky, holding hands in the library."

"Oh, I didn't see anything in the library," Luna said earnestly. Harry gave her a bewildered look.

"Then how'd you find out?"

"It's simply the way you act around each other. Nothing obvious," She reassured him, "But you stand close to him like you're protecting something precious. He lights up when you're around - I've never seen him smile so often before. Not to mention all those times you've been together whenever Ron and Hermione want to be alone."

Harry's face burned. "Nothing obvious" seemed like a bit of an understatement, at least when it came to Luna; he made a mental note to never again be so underestimating of her observational abilities.

Luna seemed to be conscious of Harry's worry, and she patted his shoulder in a heartening sort of way. "Most people around here are too thick to notice anything," She said matter-of-factly. "At least, that's how Ginny puts it sometimes. Your secret's safe with us, I promise."

Harry nodded mutely. Her words hadn't put his mind completely at ease, but he appreciated them all the same. And he felt certain, at least, that Luna was excellent at keeping promises.