DM POV

It was rather amusing to see how tired Potter was because of their nightly wandering. It had certainly been a pleasant one. Draco knew he wouldn't expect the boy to be easy or into one night stand but Merlin, the boy was a prude. Draco had truly tried to be patient with him and he knew that f he tried to pressure Potter too much the relationship would end as fast as it began. Draco wasn't used to go this long without having sex and his morning shower was becoming longer and longer each morning.

Suddenly Potter practically jumped up from his seat and ran out the hall. He didn't look upset, in fact quite the opposite. Draco wondered where on earth, the boy could be heading for so early in the morning.

"Malfoy, are you still trying to win?"

Turning his attention back to their table, Draco realized that his friends were all looking at him.

"What?" he almost sneered. Hating to be ganged up on.

"Are you still trying to win the bet?" Goyle tried again. His two minions seemed uncertain of his will.

"Of course." He huffed.

"You just seem a little too interested in Potter these days. Are you perhaps… falling for him?" Theodore teased him. Rather unusual for the quiet boy to make any form of mockery, but none the less, Draco certainly wouldn't let him off the hook by the indication.

"Don't be ridicules." He scowled. "Unlike anything you do Knott, I put anything and everything I got into winning. If that unfortunately means I have to overlook the golden boy, so be it."

Knott didn't retort, but simply raised his eyebrows and smirked, getting back to his breakfast. Hoping the annoying banter was over, Draco was about to continue his own eating.

"Are you sure? I mean, it looks like your parents are already planning the wedding so why not just go with it?" Pansy mocked him in a sweetened voice as the others laughed. Clearly, they had forgotten whom they were speaking too.

Getting up so he basically towered over the chuckling idiots.

"Just so we´re clear," He leaned in over them. "Out of all of us, I am the only one who is actually getting some. So if I were you, I would concentrate on losing my virginity, instead of spending your sad self, wondering about my sex life."

With that, he left the table and refused to look back at the shocked faces. He could practically feel the heating glare from the stuck up girl.

How dare they have the audacity to insinuate he could possibly have any kind of feelings except annoyment for the Gryffindork? He wanted his freedom, nothing less! And certainly, no more from the golden boy. Besides being at least decent to look at from some angles, what did he have to offer him? Draco was already rich, handsome, intelligent and had a great reputation. Not as good, as it used to, but still better than any mudbloods and so many pureblood families.

No, Draco could do better, much better! Whatever did Potter had to offer him? There was surely the money, but the Potters' bank value was still twice as small as the Malfoys'. Okay, Potter was getting rather skilled in kissing, but he was still a prude! And he was rather funny… and nice… cute laugh…

Merlin, was he getting a crush on Potter?

That thought was so scary, Draco stopped up in the middle of the corridor. Some of the third years' almost walked straight into him. Complaining quietly to each other they moved around him and continued towards their next class.

No, this couldn't be happening. Potter was simply a pawn in this chess of life. The Mercutio in his play. As soon as his usefulness had outlived its purpose, he would be disposed. Yes, Draco would have to keep focus on what was important.

HP POV

After Harry had opened the last button on his white shirt, he sat back down in his wooden chair. He had already thrown his sweater and robes on the floor over fifteen minutes ago. He imagined this was how a sauna felt with the sweating, the damp air and the fireplace. Not that Harry had ever tried one. He didn't even bother to waft himself, since the air was so intense it would only feel even hotter against his face.

The egg in the cauldron had still not moved much. Hagrid once again insured the fire was warm enough and turned the egg over. Hagrid was sweating horribly but he looked more refreshed than Harry felt. He imagined the giant-genes in him was able to withstand warmth better than the humans.

"It could still be a while. The little guy isn't moving as much as I would have hoped." Hagrid sat down looking slightly concerned. Cold dread of fear smashed its way into his stomach.

"Nothing is wrong with him right?"

Hagrid gave him a sympatric look. "I don't know, Harry."

"Why, what could happen?"

"Something might have happened even before he was sent here. Harry, you must understand, dragons aren't supposed to leave their eggs and even when they leave for hunting they never stay far from it. Probably not more than a few hours tops. We don't know how long his mother had left him in the nest before they rescued him."

"But he is alive; maybe he needs a little help?" Harry tried hopeful. Hagrid shook his head silently.

"Unfortunately, it would do more damage than good. The shell is only as hard as it needs to be for the dragon to come out. If the dragon can't, he won't survive out here."

Harry couldn't imagine the dragon wouldn't make it. He had felt it move under his hand. Plenty of times. Maybe he wasn't strong enough to come out yet but he would fight, Harry knew it. The men sat in silence, constantly watching the cauldron for any kind of change.

It had been almost two hours since Harry had joined and the firth time he had left to get fresh air. Getting back from the firth turn, he almost tripped over the tiny step when he heard a noise, 'pop'. Hagrid suddenly looked up and both men hurried to the fireplace. Another pop, and another, until it sounded like someone was making popcorn. Inside the cauldron the egg twitched around, hitting the sides constantly.

Hagrid quickly picked up his ovenmites and carefully gathered the egg. It was still slightly twitching as he laid it on the table. Stopping it from moving to far, Hagrid kept the mites on. Until the egg stopped completely. For a very long moment all that could be heard was the fire and their hurried breathing. Then the scratching began. A hollow scratch kept knocking against the shell until a single crack opened up.

"Can you see it?" Hagrid asked excitedly.

"No, not so far." Harry bend over the table trying to see inside the crack. The egg was completely dark but slowly a yellow beaming opened up. The color quickly changed, getting used to the light from outside. The eye turned large as it finally connected to Harry's. As if Harry's presence became encouraging, the egg began cracking in several places at once. The shell flicked off and hit both Harry, Hagrid and a couple of pots, until nothing was left except a slimy very bright red dragon looked up. His eyes instantly sought of Harry and the second he noticed him, it tried to walk over the edge of the table. Thankfully, Harry's seeker reflections were up to date and he caught the slimy reptile. The dragon moved even further up against him and tried to climb up his shirt with its tiny claws. Laughing, Hagrid sat down exhausted.

"He likes yer'" he kept chuckling a Harry fought to keep the dragon still.

"Really? It seems like he wants to scratch my eyes out." Harry hurriedly moved his head aside as a clawed foot felt for his face.

"Na, the fellow is rubbing himself on you, making sure you remember his smell, just in case you loose him."

"Loose him?" Harry wondered perplexed.

"Yeah, it's what dragons do to their mothers."

"Mother?!" Harry piped, his voice breaking.

"Yeah he saw you first, I guess." Hagrid looked slightly disappointed but was obviously relieved the dragon had made it. As Harry finally got the dragon to keep his claws in his clothes, it ringed its neck trying to mark itself against his neck and cheeks. The yellow eyes paused at his, as Harry gently moved his hands across the warm scales. A calming, almost sad noise escaped the dragon and Harry could feel its small moving chest and a strong heart pumping beneath it.

"I think he is going to be alright." Harry said with certainty.

"We will have to see over the next few days, but he seems strong, except for the foot." Hagrid mumbled. Wondering what he meant, Harry gathered the small reptile and held him out from himself. Hagrid was right; the left back foot was incredibly smaller than the rest. It twitched slightly as if the nerves weren't really working probably yet.

"It might explain why the mother left him."

"What, why?" Harry asked sadly.

"Dragons are rare creatures Harry, they simply do not have time to take care of egg that has no chance of surviving. If his mother smelled it early that there was something wrong with him, she might have left to get a new egg quicker."

"But he could still make it. He is doing fine now." Harry desperately pleaded to no one. It wasn't as if the mother would come back to gather him, but it still seemed so unfair. The dragon was perfectly fine, even with the leg. In the saddened moment, Harry rocked the dragon back and forth, playing with him by dancing his fingers in front of him. He would make it, Harry was certain.

…

Harry had spent half the day in the cabin with Hagrid and the new dragon, named Aodhan. It had only taken a few minutes but Harry was infatuated with him. The dragon had tried, clumsily to walk around after him in the cabin, and didn't let his leg hold him back. Hagrid was a bit concerned with the development and when he was about to leave, Harry understood why. As he went for the door and Hagrid held Aodhan back, a wail erupted from the small lungs, leaving both of them very impressed. Nevertheless, the wailing continued and for each step outside Harry took, the more his heart broke.

It was truly incredible, yet disturbing that a creature could have such an influence on him. He had of course always been a fan of animals, such as Hedwig and Buckbeak, but even with those two, he had never felt so awful, leaving.

But another awful feeling was tearing at him as well. Hunger. He hadn't eaten anything all day except for an apple. While Hagrid had politely served him rock cookies and chunks of what-he-assumed was charcoalchicken, Harry hadn't been in the mood to see Madam Pomphrey and getting his teeth repaired.

He was almost at the corridor where the Great Hall was placed, when he heard someone whispering quite hastily. It seemed as though they were arguing and Harry curiosity got the best of him. He carefully approached without seeming to suspicious and looked around the corner of the hallway. Standing a few feet away stood Knott and Zabini, talking. Knott looked rather annoyed while Zabini held the same mask of boredom he always had around the other Slytherins. Harry quickly realized he couldn't hear anything and gave up the snooping. Instead, he approached the pair with normal sounding steps, letting them know someone was coming. It didn't take more than a few steps towards them before they heard him. Feeling slightly nervous around the other Slytherins without Draco or Jason, Harry simply said hello.

"Hey Potter, where have you been most of the day?"

Harry must have looked surprised by the knowledge of his whereabouts since Zabini shrugged and told him Draco had been asking around.

"Right, well I was with Hagrid most of the day."

"The giant?" Knott sniffed with disdain.

"Yes." Harry felt defensively. "He is my friend and I wanted to catch up, problem?"

"No, I guess not." Knott didn't look very impressed but left the matter alone.

Zabini coughed a tad awkwardly. "Potter, have you had dinner or were you heading?"

"Heading." Harry answered shortly.

"Splendid, then let's join the party." Zabini smirked convincible and turned around without another word.

Knott and Harry followed, and they walked in silence. Feeling somewhat off, he thought back to how hard Draco had been trying to become acquainted with his friends and he should have the courtesy to do the same.

Coughing, trying to find his voice, Harry turned to Knott.

"How are your classes going so far?"

"Well, supposedly."

Well that wasn't much to work with, but Harry was very aware of how self-protective the Slytherin could be. They believed any given information, could be used against them somehow.

"Good to hear." He tried to follow up. "Hermione says you are very good in Ancient Runes and you two almost always tie in the pop-quiz." At least that was what she said back in third year. Harry crossed his fingers in desperate hope that Knott was still taking the class.

The boy seemed to be caught quite of guard and he took a moment before he answered;

"Well, yes, I suppose we do. I'm rather surprised Granger would admit to that."

"Yeah, Hermione is usually very honest."

"I see." Knott seemed lost in thoughts before opening up. "While Granger mostly tend to the Scandinavian runes such as stories or myths, I prefer to translate the more graphic and mathematical terms from Greece and Italy-"

Knott talked for the rest of the way until the three teens reached the entrance. Harry didn't try to understand anything of the gibberish language Knott explained but he did his best to seem interested. At last Knott ended his one-wayed conversation and said goodbye before heading for his own table. Zabini waited for Knott to pass him before giving Harry a slight smirk, obviously knowing what he had done. Trying to keep the blush off his face, he waved goodbye and left for his own table.

"Hey Harry! Where have you been all day?" Dean demanded to know.

"Yeah, we almost got convinced by Neville to get Professor McGonagall." Seamus weighed in as Neville sent Harry an apologetic look.

"Sorry guys," Harry took a huge piece of shepherd pie. "I went to Hagrid's and I just lost track of time."

"Lost track of time? You where there for almost ten hours!" Dean challenged.

"I know, I know, okay?" Harry tried to leave it, and even though his friends had been worried and were curious as to what he had been doing for the entire day, Harry kept his mouth shut. If anyone found out Hagrid had kept a dragon – for the second time in seven years – Not even Dumbledore could save him from the schoolboard. In the end, the boys left it alone and spoke about other matters, but Harry noticed Ron and Hermione sitting across each other, and he quickly felt an angered nagging feeling as they gave each other dissatisfied and provoking glances. They didn't seem to believe his story; 'talking' to Hagrid, but unlike his other friends, they never knew when to let go.

After eating so much dinner and squeezing down a bowl of chocolate mousse, the Gryffindor friends headed upstairs. On the way out from the Great Hall, they ran into Draco and his friends. Draco smiled at him as their eyes meet, but Harry felt the smile was forced. About to ask him what was wrong, he was silenced with a passionate kiss. The tingly feeling bubbling up through his stomach and heart stumped him from asking any sort of question before the Slytherins had left out front.

Collecting his thoughts, he heard the sound of muffled snickering and turned to glare at his friends. Watching as Dean was keeping a hand over Seamus mouth as he continued to shake with laughter.

"Ass." Harry mouthed and left the hall without looking back.

The laughter behind him followed and the group continued their journey.

…

Christmas vacation was approaching slowly and the students were getting into the spirit of Father Christmas. The weather was indeed perfect on this Sunday. The blue sky was slightly covered with clouds but the wind was kind and gently swaying the trees.

Normally on a beautiful day such as this, Harry would be outside with the rest of the students but for now, he was stuck inside the library. With the spelled warmth inside the giant room, a sweater was unnecessary, but Harry couldn't help but feel the need for soft sweaters, hot chocolate by the fire and having another snowball fight. Wanting the homework to be over as quickly as possible, the two boys spent every free hour together at the library. It might seem like an easy task but the assignments demanded even more research than last time, and getting together when Slytherin and Gryffindor had a free period wasn't more than once a week.

The pair had been sitting for almost two hours and Jason had barely said a word to him. Beside 'Hello' and 'This book should have the answers".

Harry had been unfocused for the last half hour, rereading the same page over and over again. He couldn't help but wonder if Jason was upset with him. He couldn't imagine a reason why, but remembering how horrible he had handled Cho Chang's grief, he realized it was probably time to ask.

"Jason?" no response. "Jason?"

Okay, now he was getting worried. How could the boy not have heard him, Harry was sitting right next to him. Not wanting to spook him, Harry poked him in the shoulder with his pencil, carefully. Even though he had been careful, Jason was still startled at the contact.

"Merlin's lumpy underpants!" Harry laughed as the Veela honestly jumped into the air. Sitting down gently, so as not to create even more disturbance, Jason held a hand over his heart in a theatrical sense.

"Damn Potter, you scared me there."

Harry smiled apologetic. "Sorry, you seemed completely zoned out. Is everything okay?"

Jason found the place in his book where he lost it and simply nodded.

"You seem… upset."

Jason just mumbled something, but even though he sat right next to him, Harry wasn't able to hear it. Complaining so, Jason sighed.

"I said I'm simply thinking about Christmas."

"Oh." Harry was unsure where to take the conversation from here. Christmas had become one of the greatest holidays in Harry life, well at least when he started at Hogwarts. Obviously seeing the other students return to their families once hurt a great deal, but now it was just another part of Christmas.

"I'm guessing you miss… Australia?" 'Nice going Potter' Harry would have kicked himself in the head if he was able to.

Jason didn't seem to take it personally and if he did, he didn't mention it.

"Yes, I miss it so much. It will be my first Christmas without… away from Australia, and I just don't see why Christmas is worth celebrating anymore."

"I'm really sorry." Harry placed a hand on the warm broad shoulder of his friend. "But I know… your country miss you a whole lot right now and I'm sure he would want you to celebrate."

Jason gave him a saddened smile; "Probably, but I can't get into the spirit."

"Are you going home?"

"No, my aunt thinks it will be too hard for both of us and she has arranged to come here and pick me up in London. I don't know her very well yet but it just isn't the Christmas I was hoping for. Ever. I don't even think she wants to come, she just doesn't want to seem selfish."

"I'm sure she wants to spend Christmas with you. Who wouldn't?" Jason laughed in embarrassment, but Harry continued.

"No, seriously, of course she will, I would." He goofily smiled, before a brilliant idea hit him. It was almost so perfect, he imagined a lightbulb would pop up any moment and explode.

"Why don't you stay?"

"What?" Jason grinned in delusion

"Stay at Hogwarts!"

"SHH!" Madam Pince hissed at them as she walked by with her cart of returned books. Waiting for her to pass them far enough, Harry lowered his voice.

"Stay here with me. Really, it would be so much fun and you could also spend some time with, you know." Harry didn't wish to say the name out loud in case anyone was snooping around the shelves.

"I don't know…." Jason didn't look as happy as Harry had imagined he would. "Things between us are pretty tense right now. We haven't really talked since the day we got caught in the Quidditch pitch. And even then, we were just yelling."

"Oh. Well, I know he would be happy to see you." Harry tried to sound confident.

"How?"

"Jason, I'm not sure how much of his past Snape had been willing to tell you, but he hasn't lived an easy life. I think no matter what he says, you are very important to him. I think you are his only family, at least probably, the only one he talks to."

"He never seems to have time to just talk… every time I have been in his personal quarters was to… feed and get yelled at. I just don't think we have a lot in common."

"And I say bullshit." Harry argued. "You haven't known each other long enough to even say that. I can't imagine it being easy, this situation, especially not with Snape in it, but I really think you should try."

"How many more times?" Jason snorted.

"As many times as it takes, Jason." Harry looked him straight in the eyes. "I wish I would have gotten to know either of my parents, and you still have that chance. Don't waste it."

For a whole minute, Harry thought Jason was going to leave him right there, but thankfully his natural even temper stopped him and in the end, he gave in.

"Fine, I will try. But if he says no…"

"Then you can spend it with me and Professor Lupin."

"Huh?"

Harry waved his hand; "Long story, will tell you later."

"Okay, I will do it another day, but right now we should probably focus."

Harry got the underlined message for letting it go and he nodded in agreement before picking up his history book once again. The comfortable silence continued for almost an hour, and by the time they wanted a break, Jason was in a much better mood. His commenting-on-everything mood. Harry appreciated this mood so much more.

"So, how are you and Malfoy doing?"

Blushing slightly at the mention of Draco, he tried not to smile like an idiot. "Good. It's… really great. The other day we were sitting outside and just talking. Nothing else and I couldn't believe I liked it as much as I love kissing him. I honestly thought it would be the more 'normal' part of a relationship."

Laughing at his expense, Jason agreed. "Yes, it is weird how the smallest- or most common things can suddenly shine a whole new light when you are with the one you love."

He must have noticed the crackled grin on Harry face, because he quickly enquired about his feelings for Draco.

"I don't think I love him yet. It still feels too soon. We were childhood enemies for so long. There is so much history we have to discuss and process."

"But…" Jason digged.

"But I guess," Harry smiled goofily. "IF I should say it, I don't think it would be very far from now."

"I'm happy for you." Jason said with such honesty, no longer laughing. Harry wasn't sure what to say, so he simply changed the topic.

"How about you and Zabini?"

"Great. At least, I think so. He is always quite difficult to read but he barely put up a fight when I asked him to go out on a date next Hogsmead trip."

"Oh right, we have one coming up right before the vacation begins." Harry had completely forgotten.

"Yeah, so I would say things are going well."

"I'm glad." Harry smiled before turning quiet. The boys agreed their break had lasted long enough and went back to work.

This was a short chapter with a lot of change of scenery. But I really loved writing this one. I'm almost giggling with glee, knowing the dragon has hatched. I'm guessing we are going to see him a lot more from now one, but who knows? I shouldn't but I always change my mind when I'm writing.

See yeh'

Kisses and hugs from here.