We did, in fact, awake to an incontrovertible mess. As soon as consciousness found us, Draco groaned.

"Harry!" He whined. I could only summon a snicker.

"You have no one to blame but yourself," I promised as I yawned. Draco stretched his limbs with a groan, but only thoughts of his face from our dream-sex dominated my thoughts. I've never seen him look so... Vulnerable.

With a groan of my own, I extracted myself from Draco's embrace and the sheets as I stumbled toward the bathroom.

"I need a shower," I commented as my fingers found a familiar stickiness on my stomach.

"Me too," Draco sighed as he sat up in bed. I paused on my way to the shower, glancing behind me with a quirked eyebrow.

"Wanna shower together?"

Draco's suspicion earned another snicker from me.

"What? It's… Practical."

With a roll of his eyes, the blond finally followed me to the bathroom as I set the shower water running. We were already naked, so there was no stripping to do, but we did stand heartily blushing as we waited for the water to warm.

"I… I don't want you to think I still hold any feelings for him, you know. It was only an on-and-off fling, we never-"

"Draco." I placed my hands on either side of his neck and forced him to look at me. "It's okay." The guilt in his expression didn't vanish as I'd hoped it would've, so I continued. "Fuck it, it's even okay if you actually do still have feelings for him. I'm the one here now, aren't I?"

"But I really-"

"Look. I… Might be insecure about how my friends see me, and treat me, but insecure about your exes?" A confident grin stretched my lips. "Never."

"You- mmf-!" My kiss swallowed Draco's response as steam started to rise in the room.

"Come on," I invited him as I stepped into the shower. It was far too hot at first, and I turned the temperature down immediately. Once Draco'd stepped in, cheeks already blazing, the water was tolerable. Shampoo, conditioner, soap, and even a razor had been prepared for us by the room. Huh… I barely put any thought into the bathroom schematics, but some say the Room of Requirement has an intelligence of its own…

For the first several minutes, we showered stoically, cleansing our bodies of the stickiness that clung to us, shampooing and conditioning our hair, sharing the water, until I was watching Draco wash his face with the soap the Room had provided.

He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. FUCK me.

"So…" I cleared my throat. "What're your weekend plans?"

As he washed the last of the soap from his face, he turned back to me, blinking through the water.

"Dunno… If you're going to see Hagrid, I might… I dunno… Visit Hogsmeade?"

"Really? What for?"

Draco shrugged.

"Booze? If anyone will sell me any… Might visit the magical artifacts shop, see if they have anything new."

"Their inventory refreshes so often, I bet there will be."

The extent of my small-talk ended there as my eyes glanced down at his naked body on their own. My cheeks flamed.

Draco reached behind him and shut the water off. We stood there, dripping, for several tense moments.

"By the way…" My eyes were finally drawn up towards his as he spoke. "Where the hell did you learn how to fasten a chest harness?"

He raised an amused eyebrow at me as I flushed.

"I… I didn't. I know it was my dream, but you clearly had something to do with it!"

He smirked down at me, hair still dripping down onto his face, and I swallowed.

"Now THAT'S not fair. You had complete control over that dream, why should you assume I had anything to do with it?"

"Well, for one-" I wouldn't have manifested your letters to Rodolfo, I wanted to say. My teeth shut with a click as I resisted this thought. When Draco saw I wouldn't finish that sentence, he rolled his eyes and left the shower to begin drying himself off.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You think too much."

With a scoff, I joined him, snatching the other towel off the rack and drying myself off.

"Some might say I don't think at all," I mused.

"Yeah, well, those people don't know you like I do," he snorted.

Another flush crept into my cheeks as we both wrapped our towels around our waists and brushed our teeth with the two toothbrushes that'd presented themselves on the sink. Bloody hell, he does know me well…

We arrived to breakfast together, as per usual, but a knot of anxiety had begun to fester in my gut. I was lying before, I have no idea what I'll do with him gone.

"Draco?"

Of course, Harry picked up on my mood. I tried to offer him a nonchalant glance as I asked,

"What?"

"What's wrong?"

I swallowed the mouthful I'd chewed and stared down at my plate. It's hard on me whenever he's absent, but I can't tell him that! I don't want to seem clingy.

"Nothing." I shoved another spoonful of cereal into my mouth, and was relieved to be joined by Ron and Hermione.

"Morning," she commented sleepily as she slid onto the bench beside Harry. His eyes narrowed at me as if to say we're not finished here, but directed his next words at her.

"Morning. Have you two got plans this weekend?"

"Mione wants to go that bookshop in Hogsmeade, so 'spose that's what I'm doing."

"Of course," Harry chided. My musings from earlier this morning rang through my head, maybe I'll go to Hogsmeade. "You can take Draco with you!"

He turned a smug grin back toward my scathing glare.

"Oh, what business did you have in town, Draco?" Hermione asked as she helped herself to some toast. I shoved an elbow into Harry's side.

"I don't. Harry thinks he's being funny."

"He doesn't have any plans, so-"

"You think I need someone to babysit me while you're busy?" I asked incredulously. It came out a bit more biting than I'd meant. Harry only cocked an eyebrow at me, but Hermione, ever-sensitive, interrupted his answer.

"Busy doing what?"

"Well, I was gonna visit Hagrid, but that'll probably be later this afternoon. This morning, I have some questions I need answered, and I… Think I might know where to look."

Research… I wonder if he'll ask Dumbledore about my Mark…

Anxiety clenched my gut.