Harry woke up extra early on Sunday and could not get rid of the excitement rushing through his veins. He was going to play with Malfoy again, seeker against seeker. And this time, he was determined to win. He had finished all his schoolwork the day before and was ready to spend an amazing day. He finished getting ready and walked down the stairs. Unsurprisingly, Draco was already in the common room waiting for him.

"You're late, Potter."

He checked his watch. "It's 7:32."

"Proves my point."

Harry rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "Let's go then."

This time, Draco was already in his Quidditch robes, and they started right away. No embarrassing encounter. "No back muscles." Harry could not help but be surprised at his own thoughts. "Not really surprising though, considering I'm... Gay. It's not Malfoy, it's probably just because he's a man." He was slowly realising that he had never thought of Ron's body like that, even though he was a man too, when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey, are you listening?"

"Uh?" Harry shook his head. "No, sorry. I was lost in my thoughts."

Draco sighed. "I was asking you if you're a good keeper. I'd like to try and score a few goals after our little match."

"Er, I'm not the best but it'll do, I think."

"Good."

They arrived at the pitch and started warming up, flying around, for a few minutes. They then freed the Snitch.

"Ready, Malfoy?"

"I always am."

"On three then. One, two... Three!"

They kicked the ground and took off, looking for the golden ball. Harry spot it first and dived towards the centre of the pitch, followed by Draco. At the very last moment, the Snitch escaped towards the goals, and both men had to redress their brooms fast enough not to crash on the ground. Draco was slowly catching up, but Harry's Firebolt was faster.

They kept taking rough turns, hardly following the Golden Snitch. It decided to fly through one of the goals, unlike last time, and Draco did not hesitate to fly through it and get ahead of his rival. Harry, who had to take a detour, was not really happy about it. He pushed his broomstick to his limit and managed to catch back up on the other seeker early enough to notice the nosedive the ball was taking. This time, he was faster than Draco who dived a few seconds too late. It did not take much longer for Harry to turn back, the small ball in his fist and a triumphing smile on the face. Draco was smiling too, and flew towards Harry, offering his hand.

"Well done, Potter."

Harry shook it, "Thanks, Draco."

He almost fell of his broom. "Now this was unexpected."

Harry laughed. "Maybe we should get used to it."

Malfoy scowled him, sighed, then looked at him in the eyes. "If you want it that bad..."

"I do."

"This sounds like we're getting married. Changing names and stuff."

Harry was as red as his robe and Draco could not help but burst out of laughter.

"I'm joking for Merlin's sake!" He took a deep breath. "I'll call you Harry, if it's so important."

Saying that, he felt a big weight being lifted from his shoulder. Pansy was right, maybe they could be friends now. He looked up, and Harry's smile made his stomach do some backflips.

"Go get the Quaffle," said Harry, "we still have an hour."

They spent the whole time they had left playing around. Harry was not the best Keeper, but he was not the worst either and Draco was very satisfied at the end of the session. When they landed, he let out a satisfied sigh.

"I didn't know you liked to play as a Chaser." Tried Harry sheepishly. "What do you think of this position?"

"This sounds a little tricky." Said Draco with a smirk, which slowly turned into a sincere laugh when he noticed Harry's blush. "I'm just teasing you. I love it."

"The position, or teasing me?"

"Both." He answered with a demonic smile.

Harry could not stop the little smile appearing on his lips. They kept teasing each other, rehashing old memories. They headed back to the common room to get changed before eating breakfast, and were so lost in their own little world that they did not notice the curious looks they were getting every time they crossed someone's road. Of course, people had heard rumours about the two making a truce, but nobody could have guessed they were already getting along that well.

They split in the common room, going to their own dorms to change. Harry got dressed in a wine coloured shirt and black pants. He did not bother himself to take a cloak, he would probably not go out again today. They met back down the stairs and Harry was surprised to see Draco wearing an outfit similar to his, except that the pants were grey and the shirt navy. They walked together toward the Great Hall and when they entered, a silence fell. Everybody was looking at them and soon enough, whispers rose from the four corners of the room. To their big surprise, Blaise and Pansy were already sitting at the Gryffindor table with Ron and Hermione.

"Looks like we're drawing attention." Whispered Draco in his ear.

Harry decided to ignore the shiver running down his spine.

"You're finally here!" Exclaimed Ron cheerfully. "Who won?"

They started talking about Quidditch, each one more excited than the other. Harry was right, this was going to be a great day.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy?" Minerva looked surprised, almost worried. "Please sit down."

They sat down in the cosy armchairs in front of her desk.

"What are you two here for? Is everything alright."

"Don't worry Professor, we just have a request to make." Reassured Harry.

"'We' as in the two of you? Together?"

Harry could not suppress a laugh, and Draco's stomach made a backflip again. "Put yourself together! This is not the moment to fantasise about his laugh." He mentally scolded himself.

"Yes Professor. As in the both of us." Responded Harry.

She stayed silent, obviously waiting to hear more.

"Last week," started Draco, "I was at the pitch ready to fly around a little bit to get some fresh air. I was changing myself when Harry," she raised an eyebrow, "arrived. We ended up flying together and decided to abandon our old grudges."

"Since Draco had won." McGonagall raised her other brow, her face showing her evident surprise, "I challenged him for another match, today, which I won."

"It gave us an idea." Pursued Draco.

McGonagall nodded for them to pursue.

"When the training sessions will start over, would it be possible to borrow the pitch one day a week? Only to play around together, other students could join as well..."

They had thought the Headmistress would be against it, as the pitch was strictly reserved for the teams and were not expecting the soft smile forming on her lips.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, I'm very happy you two are getting along. I was afraid you," she was looking at Harry, "had lost your passion for Quidditch. It would have been understandable after the horrors you have been trough... But I'm glad to see that you can still find happiness in this sport. How could I say no?"

The two students' faces lit up; they were showing big grins.

"Who else do you think would play?"

"Both of us, obviously. I know Blaise and Pansy would love it, I think Weasley would be motivated..." He sent a distress glare to Harry.

"Dean and Terry might find it nice too."

She sighed. "It's a shame we can't have an eight year's team... I'll take care of freeing a day of the week for you. Until the trainings start, it's all yours."

Harry did not know what to say, his mouth was still wide open and he could not get his eyes off McGonagall.

"Hello? Harry? Are you still there?" Blurted Draco

Harry slowly nodded.

"I hope your nose doesn't bleed out of shock, I wouldn't want my clothes to be stained."

To anyone who did not know how their friendship was like, this could have sounded rude. But Harry knew all Draco was doing was teasing him. Before he could answer, McGonagall asked:

"I figure Mr. Malfoy is aware of your... Condition?"

Harry nodded.

"How is it progressing?"

"Not very well, I had a theory but it happened to be wrong..."

She sighed, then turned towards Draco. "Keep an eye on our dear boy will you? I know you're very good at figuring things. I'm sure than Ms. Granger and yourself will be able to sort it all out."

Draco nodded, unsure. He did not have even one idea, and Blaise still had not told him about Hermione's theory. 'She says she wants to be sure before spreading the idea and that Potter has to realise it himself first.' He had said on Monday.

"Is that all?" Asked Minerva at last.

They nodded and left her office.

Harry could feel adrenaline rushing through his veins. He was ecstatic, and noticed that he was not the only one. Draco's hands were shaking lightly. Without really realising why, Harry caught one, squeezed it and let it go. Draco turned his head violently, a red blush spreading all over his face.

"What was that for?" He asked, frozen in shock.

"Er... Sorry... You were shaking and..." He tried to answer, sheepish.

"It's okay," snapped Draco, "forget about it."

Under his cold facade, his heart was pounding. "It feels like it's going to burst out of my bloody chest! I hope he can't hear it. He'd think I'm crazy." He shot a short glare at his friend and felt completely lost when he noticed the guilty look on his face. Feeling responsible, Draco caught Harry's hand, squeezed it and let it go. Letting him astonished.

"Now we're even." He smirked.

The sigh of relief Harry let out when he realised Draco was not mad did not go unnoticed, but he decided to ignore it. "When did I start paying attention so much? It makes no sense..." A flash of realisation suddenly hit him. "Bloody hell. Why him of all men?" He shot Harry an other glare. A soft smile was floating on his lips, which Draco could hardly stop staring at.

"Is everything okay?"

The intended short glare wasn't short enough.

"Er, yes. Why?"

"I don't know, you were the one staring." Said Harry with a little smirk.

"Looks like someone's in a good mood." Draco bit his lip and could not repress a blush when he noticed Harry's eyes going straight at it. "How could I not look at your beautiful face?" He tried, smirking. He looked confident but there was a knot in his stomach.

Harry laughed. It sounded beautiful. Draco hated himself for how it was making him feel. He needed to talk to Pansy and Blaise. Urgently.

A week had passed since Draco's realisation and he finally had the opportunity to talk to his friends. The trio was shopping in Diagon Alley and Draco was overthinking again. He had not been able to sleep properly for a week, since he could not stop thinking about some raven hair and green eyes and about how he was going to tell his best friends he was slowly but surely falling in love with a certain man. He stayed silent during the whole journey, not even noticing his friends' worried glares. The day was coming to an end when Pansy turned towards him all of a sudden.

"I'm tired of this Draco! Are you going to tell us what's happening or not? You've been weird all week." She hissed.

He sighed and lowered his gaze. "Sorry guys. Let's sit down somewhere."

His friends shared an umpteenth worried glare and nodded. Draco transfigured three rocks into stone stools and they sat down in silence, waiting for him to talk. After a good minute, he cleared his throat.

"Last week, I started to notice more and more things about Harry. I wouldn't understand why, at first, but it all made sense on Sunday, when we were coming back from McGonagall's office. I think..." He hesitated. "I think I'm starting to want more than mere friendship."

Draco was ready for the worst things to happen, he was ready to get hit, to get insulted, to get yelled at, he was ready for his nonsense to be called out, he was ready to be forced to forget Harry. But he was certainly not ready to see Pansy's devilish smile when she turned to Blaise, her palm wide open where he dropped half a dozen of galleons.

"What the..."

"I knew it was going to happen," babbled Pansy, pocketing the money, "so I took advantage of the situation."

Draco shook his head. "How Slytherin of you." He chortled. He then shot a glare at his best friend, waiting for his reaction.

But Blaise did not seem mad, on the contrary, he was smiling.

"Feels good to know that I'm not the only one who has fallen for a Lion." He soothed.

The two men shared a devilish glare. It was now time to squeeze some facts out of Pansy.

"What about your Ravenclaw?" Started Blaise.

"Right, I heard you spoke to her for the first time two weeks ago! And you told her your name, congrats!" Teased Draco.

"How are things going so far?"

"I bet you've been dreaming about her."

"Oh she surely is, a discussion is already too much for her little heart..."

"ENOUGH!" She blurted, a red blush all over her face.

Her two friends bursted out laughing. She was so easily embarrassed. She looked at them fondly, thinking about how stupid they could be. "They're idiots. But they're my idiots."

When they calmed down, she voiced the crucial question.

"Should we set out a plan? The one to become friends with them worked pretty well... I'm not sure love is as easy to organise though."

Blaise shook his head. "The only thing we could do is trying to get information out of them, to see if they could be interested... Or not. But we can't force love."

"The best to do is spending time with them and hope feelings arise." Suggested Draco.

His friends nodded.

"Let's go back to Hogwarts, it's almost supper time already."

"I don't understand!" Whined, Harry, "He's been avoiding me all week!"

The trio was at a desk in their common room, supposedly studying.

"I thought we were on the right track." He pursued.

His two friends shared a glare. It had been ten minutes that Harry was complaining and they were starting to get tired of it.

"You sound like it's the end of the world." Lamented Ron. "And you sound in love."

"I'm not!"

Hermione sighed, "Lean your head back, Harry..."

"Wha-" He had just opened his mouth when he felt a thick liquid flowing out of his nose. "Bloody hell," he thought, "how did she know?"

"Gillyweed." Said a distant voice.

"Hell, that's Draco's voice. I'll have to ask her about it later." Harry promised himself.

He was taking a sip of potion when Pansy sat next to him. "Your nose was bleeding wasn't it? How do you feel?"

"Okay." He answered, and she pat him on the shoulder.

He shot a sad glance at Draco, who sat next to her. His skin was even paler than usually and there were huge dark circles under his eyes.

"Have you been sleeping lately, Draco?" He had not been able to stop himself from asking. His complexion was too worrying.

Pansy kicked her best friend's foot under the table and mouthed. "Be nice."

"Ouch! Okay." He whispered, before turning to Harry. "It's okay I just couldn't sleep last night." He tried a smile that did not convince Harry, but the latter did not have the time to ask another question.

Draco got up, explaining he was tired and leant towards Harry before leaving. "I have something for you, meet me in my dorm at 1AM." Harry did his best to ignore his goosebumps and acquiesced.

Once his friend had left, he looked around for a moment, procrastinating getting back to his book. He smiled when he noticed Hermione laughing with Blaise, who was standing behind her, gently squeezing her shoulders.

They had been busy with their Transfiguration project until late, Hermione had just gotten to her dormitory and it was almost 11PM. She had trouble keeping her eyes open, and decided to go straight to bed. But as soon as she was under the covers, an owl knocked on her window with his beak.

"Parvati?" She whined.

Her roommate, who was still awake and reading a book at her desk lift her head.

"Could you please get that letter for me?"

Parvati chuckled. "Of course sweetheart."

Hermione sighed, relieved. A few seconds later, she was next to her bed, the small owl perched on her left finger and a letter in her other hand.

"Here you go." She murmured, giving her the paper. "The sender isn't mentioned so you might want to be careful when you open it."

Hermione mumbled thanks and gestured to the owl to come and perch on her bedhead instead.

"I'm going back to my book," added Parvati, "goodnight."

"'Night."

Hermione closed the posters of her bed and looked at the envelope. Her name was written on it in cursive, but as her friend had noted, nothing was on the back. She frowned and opened it carefully after she had casted a few inspection spells to be sure she would not be hexed. She let out a relieved sigh when she finally recognised the writing style. Blaise's.

"Hermione,

I hope I didn't wake you up, I started writing this letter as soon as I left the common room for it not to arrive too late. Introducing you to my owl, his name's Scrabble (just like the muggle game, I love it, maybe we should play some time...) and he loves treats. Don't hesitate to pet him, he's very friendly. Anyway I'm digressing.

I'm going to be honest since I know you like it better when I take off this stupid facade I still wear sometimes. I̷ ̷h̷o̷p̷e̷ ̷y̷o̷u̷ ̷w̷o̷n̷'̷t̷ ̷f̷r̷e̷a̷k̷ ̷o̷u̷t̷

I can't get you out of my head lately. No matter what I'm doing or where I am, everything always brings me to you. It's starting to drive me crazy. It's weird to say but I̷'̷m̷ ̷c̷r̷a̷v̷i̷n̷g̷ ̷y̷o̷u̷r̷ ̷p̷r̷e̷s̷e̷n̷c̷e̷ I miss you every time you're not next to me. Do I sound crazy? I really don't want to scare you away. H̷e̷r̷e̷ ̷I̷ ̷a̷m̷ ̷s̷o̷u̷n̷d̷i̷n̷g̷ ̷e̷v̷e̷n̷ ̷m̷o̷r̷e̷ ̷l̷i̷k̷e̷ ̷a̷ ̷s̷o̷c̷i̷o̷p̷a̷t̷h̷

Let me start over: I keep thinking about you and would love it if we could spend more time together. Is that conceivable for you? If it is, lets sit together in Potions so that I can ask you on a proper date, face to face.

Love,

Blaise."

Hermione's heart was pounding in her chest, and her lips were forming a soft smile. 'Love' he had signed. And he said he wanted to ask her on a date! Suddenly, she was not tired anymore. She pulled out a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill and started writing.

"Blaise,

You're right, I like sincerity, and it makes me happy to see that even you can be clumsy sometimes. I don't think you're crazy: honestly, I've been thinking about you a lot too. And I'd love to spend more time with you.

See you tomorrow in Potions,

Hermione."

She carefully tied her letter to the owl's leg and got up to open the window. Her tiredness gone, she decided to take out a book and read a little, under the curious eye of her roommate.

At 1AM, a curious soul got up, doing his best not to wake up his best friend snoring a couple of meters away. He got out of his dorm and walked towards the end of the corridor. There were four men dormitories and he believed that Draco's was the last one. He checked the name tags on the door and sighed in relief. It was the right one. He knocked. After a few seconds, the door opened on a Slytherin themed room, and two Slytherins.

"Come in." Invited Draco in a whisper

And so did Harry do. He looked around. The room looked very much like his, except for the colours. He shot a confused glare at Blaise, who was reading a small letter again and again in his bed, but decided not to comment on it.

Draco invited him to sit on a bottle green couch, right next to him. Harry could see that his friend was nervous, and not a little bit.

"Is everything okay?" He murmured.

"I... I wanted to apologise for being so, er... Distant, this week. I had some things on my mind that I needed to sort out with myself. I really don't want us to loose the friendship we've built."

Harry felt a weigh being lifted off his shoulders. "It's okay," he murmured, "I really don't want to give up on our friendship."

Draco looked around, visibly hesitating. "I have a present for you, I thought, maybe you'd like some change after four years with the same one... Here."

He took out a long package from behind the couch, and its shape was obvious enough for Harry to guess what was hidden under the wrapping paper.

"Don't tell me... No. I can't accept."

"Don't lie to me," chuckled Draco, "your excitement is showing. I know you want to open it. Come on."

Harry took a deep breath and with shaking hands, started unwrapping the broomstick. He was shivering, and his jaw dropped when he discovered the gift.

"It's a Firebolt supreme," explained Draco softly.

He was frozen in shock, a happy tear rolled on his cheek. Draco wiped it with his thumb.

"Are you okay?"

"You really shouldn't have bought this for... Me."

Draco put a finger on Harry's lips.

"I wanted to. Accept it. Please?"

A hoarse "Thank you." was the only thing he could voice.

The next morning, Hermione got ready as fast as she possibly could and ran to her best friends' dorm.

"Guys get up! I need to tell you something!"

Her friends started grumbling but got up anyway, and Hermione sat in an armchair, waiting for them to get out of the bathroom fully clothed and ready for the day.

"So, what's the matter?" Asked Ron while packing his books.

"Blaise sent me a letter yesterday night saying he keeps thinking about me, and that he wants us to spend more time together. He asked me to sit next to him in potions so that he could ask me on a date! He even signed with 'love'!"

"I knew he was interested in you! It was so obvious last week, at the Three Broomsticks. He wouldn't stop looking at you." Answered Harry excitedly, looking at her through the mirror where he was taking care of his hair.

"And did you see he had his hands on her shoulders yesterday? He also wouldn't stop staring at her at dinner!" Added Ron with a big smile.

Hermione's face was displaying a pure look of betrayal. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't ours to do." He shrugged.

She sighed in agreement, and since they were all ready they headed to the Great Hall.

"By the way Hermione," started Harry, "you have to tell me how you knew I was going to bleed out of my nose yesterday."

She was livid. "What are you talking about?"

"Yesterday evening, in the common room. You told me to lean my head back. How did you know?"

She stayed silent.

"'Mione, if you know what's happening with Harry why didn't you tell us?" Added Ron softly.

She sat at the Gryffindor table. "Fine, I'll tell you. I just figured out it might have been better for Harry to find out himself." She sighed. "And even if I know why your nose bleeds, I still haven't found out about the curse."

"What is it then?" Asked Harry with trembling hands.