A big thank you to everyone who likes the story, reads the story, and reviews.  And on with the show!

DISCLAIMER: I am not JK Rowling and the world of Harry Potter does not belong to me. I wish it did, but it doesn't. I am making no money off this trifle of a story.

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Draco tossed and turned in his bed, writhing beneath the green sheets that tangled up in his limbs.  His breathing was shallow, panting, and sweat collected on his brow and his hairline.  Limbs were aching, his head pounding rough in his chest as if any minute it would explode.

Sitting up with a start, Draco awoke from his dream and wrapped his arms around his torso.  The sweaty material of his pajamas stuck to his flesh as if pasted on.  He gasped for air and turned to the clock, checking for how much time until breakfast.  There were still a few hours to go and Draco was aching inside, especially after the dream he just had.

Only a few hours until he and Potter would be face to face in the Great Hall and Draco would be able to voice his opinion on Harry's harbored secret.  Silently cursing Harry for being so anxious about it, Draco climbed out of bed and began looking for a towel to dry his sweat off.  If only Harry had given him the chance to reply, maybe he would be able to get some sleep and not spend half the night dreaming about Potter instead.  Pulling a comb through his hair and finding nothing better to do, Draco headed for the showers.

Stripped of his clothing, Draco stepped under the hot stream and it beat down on his naked body.  Stepping fully under the spray, Draco lathered first his hair, scrubbing at his scalp, and then soaped up his body.  He rinsed free of soap and stepped out onto the cold tile, a large fluffy towel wrapped around his waist.  Toweling off his hair, Draco then brushed his teeth, went to the bathroom, and dried off before dressing.

Once dressed in his Hogwarts uniform and robe, Draco slicked back his hair and stood before a full-length mirror.  He frowned at the reflection, dissatisfied with his less than flattering uniform.  If only he could get away with not wearing the dreadful, uncomfortable thing during classes.  How was he supposed to look good for Potter if he was looking like this?  Draco sighed, silently accepting his condemnation to wearing such a hideous ensemble and he wandered into the common room.

At this time of morning, no one was there yet and Draco took a seat by the fire and stared into the flames.  The crackle of the flames on embers soothed him, turning his writing mind placid just long enough to keep Draco sane.  More than anything, he hoped Harry meant what he said the night before.  Draco had liked Harry in a way he feared he should never feel about another man for some time now.  How they could be together, Draco didn't know.  What he did know was that the complications didn't matter.  Harry made him feel and after feeling empty for so long, he needed someone to fill him.

Hours passed and the Slytherins soon became awoken, the rooms alive with voices as they dressed for another day of classes.  It may have been just another day to anyone else, but to Draco, it was a day of new beginnings.  If Draco had it his way, it would be a new day, the first day of the wildest and most satiating adventure of his life.  As long as Harry would have him, Draco would give himself in full.

Dragging himself from the common room, Draco wandered toward the Great Hall as his stomach twisted in anticipation.  By most standards, he was early and so Draco wasn't surprised or worried at not seeing Harry upon his arrival.  One of them had to show up first and today Draco took it upon himself.  More students began to filter in and Draco tried to eat but his mind was too preoccupied with waiting for Harry.  Even looking at the food had a way of making him feel sick and Draco tried to unglue his eyes from the door as he sat waiting.

Not long after Draco had given upon food and even attempting to eat, Harry walked in with Ron and Hermione.  They sat at the Gryffindor table and Draco's heart fell upon seeing Harry's back facing him.  Standing up, Draco strutted over to the table, moving with a facade of ease.  "Potter," he drawled, trying to sound as calm as possible when he could feel his jaw begging to tremble.  He wouldn't let it betray him and he clenched it into place.  "I need to have a word with you.  Now."

Harry turned around, looking up at Draco with scared and reluctant eyes.  The inquisitive stares from Ron and Hermione made Draco want to shift in uncomfort but he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of breaking him with a single look.  Harry sighed, rising from the table with a steady grace that Draco wished he possessed.  They walked side by side in silence, both well aware of the many pairs of eyes that followed them.  Stepping out into the entrance hall, Draco continued down the hall and Harry followed until he was seized by his tie and pulled into an empty classroom.  Draco stood from across Harry as the door shut and Harry flinched, waiting for the worst.

"Did you mean it?" Draco asked, his voice quivering and Harry stared at him in surprise.  "You need to tell me if you meant it, Harry."

"What?  That I fancy you?" asked Harry.  "I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have said that.  Maybe I'm hanging around Hagrid too much."

"I'm not going to hate you, Harry," Draco spit out.  "If you really fancy me, you better tell me so."

Sighing, Harry dropped his head and pieces of his messy black hair fell into his face.  "Yes," he said in a whisper so soft he almost didn't hear it himself.  "I fancy you.  I care about you a great deal and not in an only friendship way."

Harry looked up to meet Draco's misting eyes.  "Good," whispered Draco and before Harry had time to prepare for it, Draco's hand was fisted in his hair and theirs mouths were pressed together in a searing kiss.  When they broke apart, Draco looked down to the ground and pulled Harry's hands into his own.  "I have something to confess," said Draco.  "I've fancied you like Ron fancies Hermione since about July."

"Really?" Harry asked and Draco looked up to meet his eyes.

"Really.  But don't think I'm going to ask you to be my boyfriend, Potter.  That's too cheesy for me," Draco said, grinning.  "We aren't twelve."

"That is cheesy," responded Harry, "but I would like it if we could be together.  Maybe we could just say we've always been together.  Can we do that?"

"We can do that," Draco said.  "I'd like for us to be together.  I, however, have a few concerns."

"Shoot," said Harry.

"Well," started Draco, "I'm still a little unsure so maybe we can keep this a secret.  Especially if this got back to my father.  Good things would not happen."

"That works for me," Harry replied.  "Ron and Hermione would go into cardiac arrest if they found out.  What else?"

"I'm not going to change who I am, Harry.  I'm still Draco and I'm still a Malfoy, even if I am dating you."  Draco sighed and he increased his pressure on Harry's hands.  "And since this is a secret, I'm still going to fight with you in public.  Don't expect me to be nice to the mudblood or Weasel either."

"Those are tall orders considering you've only been my boyfriend for a few minutes," replied Harry.

"A few minutes?  We've always been together.  Weren't you paying attention, Potter?"

Harry smiled.  "I forgot.  Look, Draco, I can deal with all of that except for my friends.  I even condone everything but my friends.  You don't have to become their biggest fans and I'm not asking you to be their friend, but at least call them Granger and Weasley.  The mudblood and Weasel thing has to stop."

Nodding, Draco said, "I'm not making any promises, but I'll try."

"That's all I'm asking for," Harry said.  Silence hung in the air as they stood together in the empty classroom.  "So you're my boyfriend," Harry said at last, trying to hide his smile.

"And you're mine," Draco answered.  "I don't think I've ever been so happy before."

"Me either," responded Harry.  "And I could stand with you here all day if I didn't have classes.  I'll see you in Care for Magical Creatures."

"We have that today?" Draco asked and Harry nodded.  "It's going to be so hard to keep my hands off you.  Can we meet up later?"

"Of course.  I want to spend as much time with you as possible."

Draco smiled and he bent forth to cover Harry's mouth with his own before they left the classroom, parted ways, and headed for the first class of the day.

Walking down the hall, Harry gave a backwards glance to Draco's retreating form and he felt his heart flutter in his chest.  His mind was pounding and he had to force his legs to move on the way outside to Herbology.  Draco actually liked him back and not only that, but Draco was his boyfriend now.  His boyfriend.  Harry's mind was spinning so fast that he was losing sight of where he was walking.  It seemed to have happened so fast.  He couldn't believe that he could actually call Draco Malfoy his friend, much less his boyfriend.

Crossing the grounds as he headed for Herbology, Harry ran into Ron and Hermione on their way to class.  "What did Malfoy want?" asked Ron.

"What does Malfoy ever want?" replied Harry, shrugging.  His tone came off cool, bitter, but self-assured, not wanting it to betray his words in matters of his new boyfriend.  "He just wanted to be a jerk about yesterday."

"He was actually nice at detention last night," commented Hermione.  "Sure, he was wary of the oberdun but considering it almost took his arm off the last time, he was good about it.  He even seemed to be having fun."

"I know," added Ron.  "Weird.  Its like Malfoy's actually become human."

"Yeah," Harry said, his breath airy.  "Its like he's changed over the summer.  Ever since we got back to school here, Malfoy has been different.  Its like he's trying to be rude to us rather than the way it was before when it seemed to come natural."

Ron and Hermione nodded as they walked into the greenhouses and waited for Professor Sprout to begin the lesson.  Harry was paired up with Justin Finch-Fletchley as they began researching a winter plant called beomors, which they would be planting in the coming weeks before Christmas break.  Harry's mind kept coming back to Draco and how badly Harry missed being by his side.

Never before had Harry been in a real relationship and though this one with Draco was just beginning, Harry could feel that it would last.  The beginning of the relationship made it new and exciting, not even to mention that the prospect of he and Draco as supposedly forbidden.  Draco was the son of a Death Eater, Harry was the Boy-Who-Lived, and the two together made a seemingly impossible relationship.  The trust, however, was already there, both sharing secrets that they had told almost nobody before.

Passing through his morning classes, Harry felt like his body was numb, suspended in water, and he found it hard to keep an attention span that lasted for more than a few seconds.  All he ever found himself thinking were thoughts of Draco and how incredibly much Harry missed him while they were apart.  Without thinking, Harry lifted his index and middle finger, ignoring Professor Brewner discussing werewolves, and began to lightly trace over the soft pink flesh of his lips.

As his fingertips gently caressed across his mouth, Harry's eyelids fluttered, thinking of Draco's mouth covering his own.  He could still taste Draco on his tongue and Harry swished his tongue around in his mouth.  His fingers twitched against his lips as Harry thought of Draco's hand grasping his own, Draco's eyes burning into Harry's.  The heat of Draco's body being so close still warmed Harry's skin through to his bones.  There was so much energy pumping through his veins at such an incredible velocity that his limbs were vibrating, aching for a release.  He could scream, run around, or pass out just to do something with the adrenaline.

Harry paid little attention in Herbology or Defense Against the Dark Arts and he was receiving stares from both Ron and Hermione as they headed for lunch.  Entering the Great Hall, Harry's first instinct was for his eyes to go on a wild search for Draco until he spotted the familiar body.  He sat facing the Slytherin table, cupping his cheek with his open palm as he stared across the room.  Draco stared back and Harry could feel his heart threatening to pound out of his chest and onto the table upon seeing the longing and lust in Draco's eyes.

"Harry?" interrupted Ron and Harry tore his eyes away from Draco.  "What's going on with you?  Hermione and I have been noticing that you've been acting strange, too.  Not in a bad way, but different.  With the chances of You Know Who lurking around being so high, you've been in high spirits."

"You've been so dreamy and off in your own world," added Hermione.  "We thought that maybe you've been fancying someone and you just won't tell us yet."

"And what's up with you and Malfoy?" Ron continued on.  "You've been talking an awful lot and he's been acting strange, too."

"Nothing's going on," responded Harry, forcing himself to keep eye contact with Ron.  "If anything was going on between Malfoy and me, it would be strictly out of our relationship as sworn enemies.  I'm not about to trust Malfoy when Voldemort has risen to power again.  I can look out for myself."

"We know you can," responded Hermione.  "No one is saying that you can't.  All we're saying is that you should remember to be careful.  And Harry, always remember that you can tell us anything, no matter what it is.  Ron and I are your friends and we'll always be here for you."

"That's right, Harry," assured Ron.  "No matter what, you can always come to us.  You're our friend and we'll always support you."

"Thank you," Harry told them.  "I appreciate it more than you realize.  There's nothing wrong right now but I promise that if anything arises, I'll come to you."

"That's all we're asking for," said Ron.  "We're just trying to be good friends."

"You are good friends," replied Harry as they continued lunch.  Harry could feel Draco's eyes on him but he didn't dare turn away fro fear that Ron or Hermione would notice and call him on it.  Conversation drifted from classes to the most recent pranks of Fred and George Weasley, and even to the progress of Ron and Hermione's relationship.  Harry was happy to hear that they were happy together and then he changed the subject to Quidditch, afraid that if the topic continued, Harry might have to talk about who he fancied these days.  Somehow, he didn't think Draco Malfoy would be an appropriated response.

At the end of lunch,  the trio got prepared for Cafe for Magical Creatures with Hagrid and the Slytherins.  While Ron and Hermione worried about the monster Hagrid would have today, Harry worried about being in a class with his new boyfriend when all of his thoughts were centered in on the things he could do to that boyfriend.  These actions, however, didn't strike Harry as proper classroom behavior and he reluctantly pushed them away.  Being so close to Draco without being able to pull him into his arms and claim his mouth with his own was going to be torture.  There was no question about it and Harry feared that he just may go and so childishly lose control of himself.

Crowding around the outside of Hagrid's hut, the trio joined the rest of the class that had already arrived.  Most of the students look apprehensive, apparently as worried about monsters as Hermione and Ron had been.  The first thing Harry noticed was that Draco was not one of them and he looked across the ground, his heart leaping upon Draco's approach.  How odd that Harry felt better when Draco was around when just the mere sight of the Slytherin used to make his stomach queasy and his skin crawl.  Now, it was Draco who lit up his world with a single smile and Harry knew that he wouldn't want to live through life with it any other way.

Draco joined the class with Crabbe and Goyle and before anyone else could get near him, namely Harry, Pansy Parkinson had latched herself to Draco as if she were a severed limb looking for a home.  Harry tried not to groan at her pathetic attempts to win Draco's attention and affection.  He also couldn't help but feel smug when he looked over at them and saw Draco pushing Pansy aside, sneering.  Upon turning in Harry's direction, the scowl vanished and was replaced with the tiny, secret smile.  He had Draco's affection already.  He didn't need to fawn for it.

After consideration, Harry decided that he preferred Draco's small and secretive smiles not only because they were genuine, but also because they were Harry's.  Some of Draco's big, outright grins were genuine too, but they had been shared with anyone in the world fortunate enough to see Draco's beautiful smile.  Those small ones, however, were reserved for Harry and Harry alone.  No one else had ever been on the receiving end of one of those smiles and all it ever did was make Harry feel more special.

His thoughts were interrupted as Hagrid came into view leading a large pack of black animals that looked like dogs.  Harry rubbed his palms against his robes, hoping to rid himself of sweat and the itching sensation running through his hands as they begged for Draco.  Sighing, he was glad to see that Hagrid seemed to know what he was doing with this animal and even Lavender and Parvati seemed to like them so far.  Even Harry had to smile at them when they looked like they were smiling back.

"These are mifflepuffs," explained Hagrid.  "Closely rela'ed to the niffler.  Happy lit'le fellers, ain't they?  Like its cousin, mifflepuffs sniff out things but this 'un looks for sweets ins'ead of gold.  I hid sweets and you can keep wha' yer mifflepuff finds.  Now come and get 'un."

Ron turned to Harry and Hermione, shrugging, and walked over to get a mifflepuff.  He was soon followed by the rest of the class and taking one by its rope, Harry set out on a hunt with his.  They had been searching for barely five minutes before a familiar voice could be heard shouting in a protest and Harry braced himself.  He wondered what kind of mess Draco could possibly get into with a creature as happy and pleasant as the mifflepuff and he turned around to find his boyfriend.

Instead of walking around, sniffing the ground and wagging its stubby tail when it found sweets like the other mifflepuffs, Draco's mifflepuff was rounding him and sniffing at his legs.  "I don't have anything," Draco kept saying in protest, trying to back away from the animal but it kept following him.  All the commotion had caught the attention of the entire class who was now watching Draco intently as they followed their mifflepuffs around, laughter on the tip of all tongues.

"Always Malfoy," said Hermione as she walked up next to Harry, nodding.

Reaching down and about to try and shove the mifflepuff away, Draco paused, arm suspended in midair before he retracted it ever so slowly into his body.  Harry had to force himself not to laugh when he realized the arm Draco was cradling and had been reaching toward the mifflepuff with was the same arm that both Buckbeak and Ichabod the oberdun had done numbers on.  Draco tried to back away from the mifflepuff again but it only followed him further and Draco sighed in discouragement and exasperation.

"Hagrid," he called, searching for him and as he looked, he caught Harry staring at him with a small smirk of amusement on his face.  In reply, Draco offered an embarrassed smile and he recommenced on the visual hunt for Hagrid.  "Hagrid," he called again, louder this time than the last.  He took a few small steps backward, hoping to rid himself of the mifflepuff but it followed again.

"What is it?" asked Hagrid, coming into sight and clearly not trying to laugh at the spectacle.  "Chester must think yer sweet," he joked.  Draco scowled in reply.

"I only want to know if I can touch the thing without risking the chance of losing my arm or endangering my life.  After multiple attacks it tends to get weak and vulnerable.  I don't know how much more of my carelessness and stupidity my arm is going to be able to take."

"Mifflepuffs are harmless," Hagrid informed him.  "You can touch 'im.  He won't 'urt yeh."

Taking this as the greenlight, Draco reached down and began trying to push the animal away from his.  His hands covered the mifflepuffs face, putting most of his energy into pushing Chester away.  By this point, most of the class had dismissed Draco as a helpless case and went back to their hunt for the hidden sweets.  Beside wanting to watch Draco for the obvious reason, like the fact he was his boyfriend, a fact that disturbed him watching Draco battle the mifflepuff, the show Draco put on was too funny not to watch.  It just kept at him, stupid smile plastered across his face as it sniffed at Draco legs and Harry was pretty sure that the permanent grin it wore was only irritating Draco more, spiting him.

By the time Hagrid actually got Chester the mifflepuff away from its trek around Draco's legs, class was over and Harry was wandering back to the castle.  He had just about reached the doors when Draco slammed into him from behind, knocking Harry and everything he was carrying over in the process.  As he gathered up his things with Ron and Hermione's assistance, he noticed a folded piece of parchment lying in the grass.  Slipping it into his robes, Harry returned to Gryffindor tower with his friends.

Upon reaching the dormitory, Harry checked for privacy then slipped the parchment out of his ropes and unfolded it.

Sorry about knocking you over but I didn't know how else to get this to you.  Meet me at the astronomy tower after dinner.  Bring the cloak.

D.M.

Harry smiled at Draco's handwriting and the promise of meeting tonight.  He wandered back to the common room and spent the remainder of time before dinner finishing any homework he needed done for the next day.  He had Potions again tomorrow and he could only hope Draco wouldn't burn another hole through the cauldrons.

Dinner seemed to drag on forever but once Harry had finally gotten enough food in his stomach and spent time laughing and talking with his friends, Harry was able to slip away.  He even went as far as to ask Angelina about Quidditch practice, which she promised would recommence three times a week once the Christmas holidays were over.  Harry sighed as he walked to the astronomy tower, anxious to get there after seeing Draco slip out ten minutes ago all while thinking of another Christmas at Hogwarts.  Ron would be staying again this year but Hermione would be heading home for the holiday season.  His stomach dropped as the thought that Draco would be gone for the holidays but he tried to force the thought away.

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