"Harry and Draco woke that day nearly in each other's arms. It was cold, and they had rolled together (even under their blankets) to be warm. The great black dog (who seemed to be looking less threadbare, at least...) was laying on their shins and feet. The boys woke nearly at the same time, - green eyes meeting gray, and they scrambled to their feet.

"Neither said a thing, simply looked at each other. Then Draco Malfoy ostentatiously stretched (reminding Harry more of a cat than anything...), and Harry simply shrugged and started hauling out the tack for the horses. Draco started a fire, and the crackle of it helped warm the bread. Harry'd have shaken his head at the frivolity of the move, but he was too busy thinking... Something about yesterday - about Draco, yesterday - had seemed to resonate within Harry himself. There... seemed to be a grimness to Draco that Harry was dead certain he hadn't had when Harry first met him.

"In under a half hour, they were both dressed and astride, the early mists making it hard to see even where they were going. Draco Malfoy spoke first, saying, "I remember Dobby putting on puppet plays for me, as a kid."

"What kind of plays?" Harry asked interestedly, trying to hide the wince at the expected (but luckily unmaterialized) appearance of Dobby.

"Oh, all sorts. Lots of slapstick. I really liked seeing Jacq try to poke Franz's eyes out. Oh, and the farting!" Draco muffled a chuckle - but, with that last word, Harry Potter let out a loud guffaw.

"Your parents - they let a house elf put on plays - about people farting?!"

"Yes, a great hit at dinner parties." Draco Malfoy drawled - and then smirked, and possibly for the first time ever, Harry thought he was in on the joke. Because it was simply absurd to think of Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy putting on plays with farting peasants in them!

"You're - you've got to be - " Harry collapsed in mirth, the horse under him sidling away./p

"No, I assure you, it's true." Draco Malfoy said.

"Well, it's good you brought up your house elf, because before second year, he kept on trying to send me increasingly panicked messages."

"He-he did?" Draco said, eyes wide - house elves nearly never did something for people outside their family. "Dobby?"

Harry nodded, saying firmly, "You understand why I can't say his name."

Draco's eyes widened, "oh, so that's why- You're his new-!" Draco blinked awkwardly, "How'd that work with Granger, anyhow?"

"She, erm, hasn't figured it out yet. And I don't think he's exactly normal, for a house elf."

"For anything, really" Draco said, and Harry nodded.

"So, in the middle of my Muggle bedroom, here is this creature that I've never seen before in my life!" Harry says with a great big smile. "He introduces himself, and I introduce myself back - because that's what you do." Draco gave a hesitant nod in response, "And the elf breaks out in tears, and starts gushing about exactly how great I am - " Harry breaks off, and eyes Draco suspiciously, "You didn't have any of those HarryPotter books, did you?"

Draco wryly shook his head, "If I'd even found one, my father'd burn it, you know that. Not the right leanings for that sort of thing."

Harry stilled his mirth and simply nodded. "Anyway, he was going on and on about the danger at Hogwarts-"

Draco interrupted, "Wait - how would he-" And then Harry was treated to the sight of seeing Draco's eyes go wide. "Oh. Nevermind" Draco said, trying for haughty and mostly failing.

"He'd been hiding my mail too, and when I told him I still would go to Hogwarts, well, that's when things took a turn for the worse. " Harry said. Draco merely cocked his head, listening intently. "He upended a desert on the dinner party my relatives were having downstairs (which did NOT put my relatives in a good mood, as they had no explanation for such ... magical skullduggery, and I think Uncle Vernon lost the account...)."

Draco Malfoy had keen ears, and he could hear an undercurrent of what wasn't being said, and it sounded dark and dangerously quiet to him.

"And then the letter arrived - by owl post - citing me for misuse of magic." Harry Potter said.

Draco shook his head understandingly, "When it wasn't even you..."

"So, my relatives, piss and vinegar both, start hollering at me. Man, you thought a howler was awful! Nothing compared to my relatives, I can tell you that!." Harry Potter lied lightly. They were wellpracticed lies, so Harry didn't stammer or stutter, they just flowed out. Powered by the everpresent understanding that no one really cares.

Draco knew, deep inside himself, that the lightness was a ruse - and from the looks of it an abnormally well practiced one. "Blimey, that must have been loud! Those Muggles are awful!" He said, all the while looking at Harry, trying to figure out exactly... well, how bad it was. Because he was behaving like I'vE Got A SeKret, and that was loud and annoying both.

"Pretty sure it's just my relatives, but-" Harry Potter said, breaking off, "I didn't realize, before, well, Hogwarts, that it could be different. Not for me, at any rate."

[a/n: Dobby will only appear if Harry calls him. Leave a review. Sorry about the weird capitalization, that's Draco's fault.]