Hey! Thanks for the comments/subscribe/favorites.

I thought I was not going to make it, I had a busy week, so I only had time to write this weekend. I thought this chapter was going to be the shortest, but I had quite the inspiration, so it got a lot nicer than my first draft.

Anyway, I hope you like the chapter!

x

The problem with making his secret relationship work was that it took Draco away from his side project and the closer to Christmas it got, the more panic he felt, he would most likely have to tell the Dark Lord something and not having anything done was just not a viable option, he needed something, even if it was just for show so Snape would report that he was doing it. The man had been pestering him with questions and trying to find out what he was up to, Draco didn't think for a second he was really trying to help him.

He was also curious about what side the man was on and how much Dumbledore had shared with him in the belief that Snape was his man. He tried to see if the man would treat him differently, if he would somehow reveal whether or not he knew about the bond. But Snape was a very hard man to read and Draco knew very little about him, in fact the only thing he knew was his parents tragic past, which probably didn't make Snape someone who would defend a muggle. Draco even tried to talk to Slughorn, the man had been Snape's teacher and might know something, but the new professor had a very good talent in avoiding the people he didn't want to talk to, most of them, the sons of Death Eaters.

Draco was frustrated with pretty much everything in his life at the moment and he was sure that without Potter, he would have done something stupid by now.

Their sexual activities were great even if it wasn't evolving in the pace Draco wanted to, Potter might be a strong and determined boy to the world, but he was shy and insecure when they were together and their dynamic as not-boyfriends was expanding, they still challenged each-other and had arguments over their different opinions, but everything was very different then it had been on the past.

The biggest thing was that they were talking. Initially, Draco didn't want to talk, he wanted to keep things casual and avoid getting to know the boy, avoid liking him, mostly, he was trying to avoid the emotional pain the boy could give him (since he knew, there was no avoiding the physical ones). But laying together, tangled up on the couch and talking about everything and anything, was actually quite good.

"What did you do as a kid?" Draco asked

"What do you mean?" Said Potter confused and slightly sleepy.

"I had a lot of marks and pains as a kid, if it all came from you, makes me wonder what got you so messed up as a kid"

"Oh…" said the boy, turning his eyes away from Draco "the Dursleys were never easy and school was just as bad"

"They're muggles, right? What are they like?"

"The Dursleys are… very normal" the boy said quietly.

"Doesn't sound like that is good"

"Well, for them I'm not normal"

"Huummm"

Draco didn't push the subject further, whatever relationship Potter had with his family, didn't seem like a good one and he didn't want to start a fight when they were both so comfortable.

"What did you do as a kid" Potter asked

"Fly, meet my friends, sometimes I went to the Black's country house, sometimes I travelled. France is really nice, but food in Portugal was more interesting"

"The Black's country house?" asked Potter and Draco had to roll his eyes, obviously the Black house was more interesting than France.

"My grandfather's house, the Blacks had two main branches, so they have two main houses in England, but the house in London and the country house could be used by any Black"

"What happened to it?"

"It belongs to Bellatrix now, but mother takes care of it"

"Oh… I own the London house" said Potter a bit thoughtful.

"I know, Sirius left everything for you, Bella was bitching about it"

"I didn't really want it, but I don't want Bellatrix to have it either" the boy said a bit annoyed.

"You can sell it later, mother or Andromeda might buy it from you if you want to sell it. Juliet might want it too, I don't think Rigel care"

"Who?" Potter asked confused.

"Lucretia's children, you probably see them more than me" Draco said dismissively.

"I don't even know who they are" Potter said with humor and Draco was actually surprised.

"They are Molly Weasley's cousins, I thought you would have seen them with the Weasleys"

"I never met them, I might have heard about them, but I wouldn't know really… why would they want Grimmald Place?"

"Lucretia grew up there and she was close to Orion, she probably took her children there"

"Did you know her?"

"Just a little bit, my grandfather was closer to her than my mother. Rigel is a lost case, he will finish dragging the Prewett's name to the ground, but we talk to Juliet every now and then, she is married to Billy Flint, Marcus's uncle"

"Hummm…"

Potter was quiet for a while and Draco thought he was trying to sleep, so he was just about to get comfortable as well when they boy talked again.

"Was my father related to anyone I know?"

"I don't know your family line that well… but I know Doria Black was married to Charles Potter and they had a kid, but they all died in the sea years ago"

"What happened?"

"I don't know, everyone just said they liked to travel a lot, but apparently the boat one day went down and they with it"

It was always interesting to Draco how little Potter knew about his own family and how much that affected his life, the boy was constantly seeking little details that would lead to his parents and to the family he never knew. Your name is your history, but no one had bothered to tell Harry Potter his own, even though many people knew it and would expect him to know it too. But Potter was surrounded by people that didn't know or didn't care about tradition, Draco wondered, however, if Potter did let others know how much he wanted the information, there was always a fragile and scared look on the boy when he asked those questions and perhaps he had not shared that side of himself with others.

It didn't seem like Potter had many reliable adults in his life and his relationship with his friends was complicated because they had loving families to depend on.

"I would trade all the fame and fortune in the world for my family" Potter said on one occasion when mentioning Weasley's jealousy.

"I know that prejudice against gays is bigger in the muggle world, but I was more scared about Ron's reaction than Hermione's and then he treated it as if I had told him I liked apples"

"You don't like apples?" Draco asked frowning

"I do! But I mean… people won't react when you say that"

"Weasley might be a disgrace, but he's still a pureblood" said Draco shaking his head "also it didn't seem like Fred was hiding he was gay, just who he was with"

Draco always expected that as soon as he and Potter started to talk more instead of just making out, that they would fight and get mad at each other, but what happened instead was that they were comfortable together. If they didn't overthink it or talk about the war, it was almost like having a normal year with a normal relationship, sometimes it didn't even feel like they had been at each-other's throats for so long. They both loved Quidditch and now they could just talk about it and share their thoughts on teams and seekers, they both were good in different subjects and could help each-other study or trade their works to get help from their friends, in fact, Draco wished he could throw Pansy at Granger so they could do all the crazy arithmancy he just didn't have the patience to do.

In a strange and easy way, they worked. It was Draco's other problem that was not working at all.

He was getting nowhere with the stupid cabinet, he had no idea what he was going to tell the Dark Lord when he returned home and he wanted to punch Snape's big nose so the man would leave him alone, at some point, he stopped caring what side the man was on. He thought about writing home many times, he was desperate for some advice, but he could not risk getting his owl intercepted, his mother's letters the entire semester had been very standard, it barely felt like he was communicating with her.

He was so stressed that the only reason Draco was even eating anything these days was because Potter and Daphne had been giving him food.

"You also need to sleep, Draco" Said Daphne after she gave him the dinner's leftovers.

"I still need to do my potion's assignment, I can't let Snape give me detention"

"I will do your work, you sleep" said the girl looking at him with a fierce expression that left no space for debate "I'm not leaving your bed until you are sleeping"

If Draco wasn't so tired, he might have made a joke, but instead he just sat down and watched the girl setting up his school supplies where she sat, at the end of his bed.

"Your boyfriend will be looking for you" he said and she didn't even look at him.

"I don't see you changing into your pijamas"

"You want to watch me change?" he joked and she finally looked at him with a very marked "I'm not amused" face.

Shaking his head, Draco did change and laid down.

"Are you happy, mother?" he said, smirking at her.

"You are still awake, so no" she said.

As expected, in just a few minutes, Draco's bed curtains opened again to reveal a confused and sleepy Theo.

"I thought you were done with your work?" he asked Daphne in a quiet voice, the boy was practically sleeping on his feet.

"I did, I'm doing Draco's so he can sleep" The boy snorted and sat on Draco's bed, but he was almost laying down on Daphne after just five minutes "go to sleep, love, I got it" she whispered, but Theo didn't even move.

"We can leave Theo here and you can pretend it's me sleeping" said Draco amused.

"No deal" she said and went back to the assignment.

At some point Draco did sleep and woke up tangled in bed with his two friends. More than sleeping a full night, feeling loved really did him wonders.

"Don't tell Pansy, she will get jealous" He joked.

But despite all the emotional support, he eventually started to panic when December came. Deep down, Draco knew that at this point the best option was to ask his not-boyfriend for help, Granger and Weasley were still fighting and Granger would have no trouble disappearing with him to work on the cabinet or even make a better plan for him, because really, he completely sucked at having good plans. But in a way he didn't want to bring the Dark Lord into his relationship more than was necessary, not-dating Harry Potter was already hard enough some days, when he wanted to cross the hall and kiss him or when he wanted to tell all the girls that they had no chance, when they could not go together to Hogsmead or to a stupid Christmas party. All the little things he thought weren't going to bother him, but it did, initially because Potter really wanted those things and then eventually because he wanted to see the boy stupidly happy. There was something about Potter's smile that just made him feel great, like he had done something incredible.

It was a mix of desperation and the blindness that being slightly infatuated usually causes that he did something really stupid: he cast an imperius on Madam Rosmerta. It wasn't really a plan, but it all came together after he heard Granger on the library talking about Filch not recognising potions, like the love potions the girls were trying to give his not-boyfriend. He bought a few ingredients, asked Theo to buy others and stole some from the greenhouse and, taking out another "lesson" from Granger, he used the haunted bathroom to brew a nice poison. They had one last Hogsmead visit to buy their christmas presents and before he knew it, he had taken control of the woman and made her poison a bottle of mead.

His guilt however didn't let him leave Hogmead without realising her from the spell, apparently not-dating Harry Potter gave you extra moral standards. Draco obliviated Madame Rosmerta so she would not remember his attack or that she had poisoned the mead, but, in the false memories, he added a strong suggestion to give the mead to Professor Slughorn, who was looking for a nice christmas present for Dumbledore.

Draco didn't know if the headmaster would really drink it or just realise it was poisoned and tell Snape about it, but those two options would lead to information reaching Snape, and therefore the Dark Lord, and Draco showing he was working. One of this scenarios might make him a killer, but he was trying to not think about that one and in less than a day, he was already considering tipping Harry off so he would tell Dumbledore to test any mead he drinks, making sure his not-boyfriend never learned exactly the reason why the mead was poisoned.

Draco became so worked up about his murder attempt that he could not even pay enough attention to Potter's drama over Slughorn's christmas party, although he did tell the boy to try and tell something nice about him to Slughorn, he still wanted to be in the man's special list.

"Have you heard? Potter is taking Loony Lovegood to the party tonight!" Said Bulstrode as she came running to the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.

"What a horrible taste" Said Davis "To think half of Hogwarts wanted to go out with him"

"Do you think she is his mysterious girlfriend?" said Bulstrode and Draco finally took notice of the conversation around him.

"Mysterious girlfriend?" He said before he could think.

"That is what they say… I mean… he dumped Chang for someone and then he looks pretty… happy this year" Said Bulstrode, delighted to be the center of attention.

"I still think it's Granger" said Davis "Don't you see how Weasley is always mad? He is obviously jealous"

"So is Granger" said Pansy "I think it's the girl Weasley"

"She is dating" Draco said, it was not like he didn't like a good gossip before Potter, so no one could accuse him of having a strange behavior over the topic..

"Yeah, half of Hogwarts" said Pansy.

"Then you can be best friends" said Bulstrode smirking "didn't you sleep with the other half before you found a new influential boy to substitute our dear Draco?"

Pansy's face flushed in a mix of anger and embarrassment and Draco wanted to say something to defend his friend, but he was not sure of the rules of interrupting girl's arguments and he didn't want Pansy to get mad at him as well.

"It's not her fault you're so ugly that nobody wants you" said Astoria, Daphne's little sister, and several people laughed at it, leaving Bulstrode quite angry.

"And who will want a cursed girl like…"

"Shut up, Bulstrode" came Theo's cold voice, he had finally raised his head from his plate and his face showed a deadly anger "your dirty blood is showing"

Bulstrode still looked like she wanted to retaliate, but she wouldn't, not against Theo, and Draco made sure to look straight at her as well, if she opened her mouth, she would pick a fight with both of them. She stood up to leave taking her plate with her, but Astoria dropped a cup of pumpkin juice on the girl's food. With an angry noise, Bulstrode left the hall, Davis didn't follow her friend and just pretended she was not even there.

The table was silent for a while until people started to go back to their small talks.

"This was… fun… but I need to get ready for the party" Said Pansy, who kissed Blaise more than was appropriate, and then left the hall with her head high.

"At least we now know everyone is losing it because of this party" Said Blaise trying to bring a bit of humor to the situation.

"Well, I'm not" said Draco also standing up, he had finished his food anyway "I got more important things to worry about"

Draco spent the rest of his day in the room of requirements trying out a few more things and looking around to see if by some miracle something in that room would actually help him. He was exhausted by the time he left, which was probably why he completely overlooked Filch, with the party going on, he didn't think the bastard would be around at all.

If things could get any better, his not-boyfriend obviously knew nothing of being subtle and decided that the best moment to say something nice about Draco was when he had just been caught in the corridor with a bad lie and he had done an awful job of praising Slughorn with some bollocks about his grandfather.

"No need to sell yourself short" Potter said with a little smile "Draco is the best in charms, Flitwick gives him extra advanced lessons"

And obvious, because it was Potter doing it, it worked and Slughorn got immediately excited to talk with his fellow Slytherin. But Draco's insides didn't get any warmer when he realised Potter had called him by his first name, something he's never done before and Snape was right at their side.

He knew that it was his fault for telling Potter to say something, the boy was probably trying to make a better endorsement of him, but they weren't supposed to be friendly, it was supposed to be a random comment that would seem unimportant but that Slughorn would pick up. Now Draco was going to get murdered because he was bothered that some stupid teacher didn't like him.

Snape was fast in dragging him from the party and starting his own interrogation, but as it turned out, in the middle of all the "tell me what you're doing" Snape actually told Draco good news and important information.

"They all refused to tell me what you're doing, but they said it was a good plan and that you needed to work here at Hogwarts for it. So that is exactly what you will do"

"What do you mean?" Draco asked confused.

"That you're not going home this year, you are going to stay and work if you're so determined to do it alone"

"My mother and our Lord…"

"Your mother thinks the idea is very prudent" sure she would, it meant he was nowhere near the Dark Lord and his crazy aunt "And I have convinced the Dark Lord that this is the best plan of action. You better not make me regret it, he expects to hear of results soon and since you are such a clever boy, I'm sure I will have only good things to tell him about you"

So Snape was really reporting his moves and had made his mother, who was very careful with words, some kind of promise with an unbreakable vow. He had to wonder again what Dumbledore had told the man, Draco had no doubt Snape was protecting him, keeping him away from the Dark Lord, but at the same time he was still proclaiming his allegiance to the Death Eaters. The way things were going, if Snape was just playing both sides to please himself and keep his options open, then his act would have to end at the end of the year. The man would have to betray someone and Draco was not looking forward to finding out who.

But at the moment Draco was staying at Hogwarts for christmas, maybe easter too if he understood correctly, so overall he had just received a good christmas present and he was not going to get in any more trouble that would ruin it.

He didn't walk very far before his not-boyfriend showed up, obviously having spied on him and heard all of his conversation with Snape.

"You were right about him" Said Potter

"Yes, but we can't talk here" and Draco looking around, anyone could walk on them in the middle of a corridor "go back to the party and say I was embarrassed which is why I left… but... say something nice too! And don't call me by my first name! Since when is that a thing anyway? Snape was right there!"

Draco's mind was all over the place, part of him still not really believing he was going to be fine for a while longer.

"Sorry… it's just… it's silly to keep being formal with one another when I have my hand inside your pants" Potter said embarrassed and Draco was surprised, but he was sure he was blushing too.

"Yeah… well don't do it in front of them..." and Potter had his shy smile and Draco would have kissed him if they weren't so exposed "you should go back… before Lovegood ruins your reputation and then no one will hear you when you say good things about me"

And Potter laughed, that delighted laugh Draco was starting to think as his, so he went all stupid and gave the boy a peck before walking away as fast as he could, so he wasn't tempted to shove his hands down his boyfriend's pants.