Secrecy

by LLY1

Harry comes out of jail to live with Ron and Draco.. This all takes place in Harry's thirties, as mentioned in the intro.(If it doesn't list chapters when you read the intro.. just come back later, it's FFN, the fic has been written out)

2. Secrecy

Harry's ten months were almost up. Ten painfully tedious months locked up in this cell of his, with absolutely nothing to do. They told him it was like a muggle prison. At least muggles had TV and board games. Harry had nothing. All he ever had was Draco's short visits. But even those slowed down a bit.



Ever since he came along.

Richy Rivets, Harry's newest cellmate, and quite possibly the most annoying person Harry had ever encountered in his entire life. Harry would have gladly spent a year in Azkaban prison, instead of another month with this nut.

His hygiene was absolutely revolting, his breath and body always managed to give off this immensely unpleasing odour that made Harry thankful he wound up with this man during his last month here, rather than the beginning of his sentence (God forbid).

He wasn't exactly a lightweight, but he wasn't disgustingly fat. He was just... Heavy set. Yes, those were the words for him. Rich was heavy set.

But, as always, there was something about Richy that made Harry feel bad for him. Whether it was that he felt guilty about being so rude sometimes, due to Rich's clinginess, or that Harry, well, maybe Harry just pitied the man.

Harry never knew why Rich was there, and he was pretty sure that he never wanted to. It didn't matter anyway. He had just two days in this dreadful place and he was done. Which had it's good points, and as always, bad.

For starters, Harry would be able to see Draco a lot more often. The thought of this excited Harry beyond belief. He would be able to touch Draco again. To run his hands into his platinum blond hair again.. To feel Draco's hot breath on him again.. Without the cold metal bars separating them..

But of course, then there was Ron. Harry's best friend, and someone that Harry had a crush on since they were teenagers. Only, Harry would never really call it a crush; it was a lot more than that. Harry was practically in love with Ron.

In love with both of them.

Which, of course, brought us to the bad points. Draco, actually in love with Harry, was married to Ron. Ron was completely in love with Draco, and was his lawfully wedded. And Harry, well, Harry was single. In his own way.

Nearly six years ago, Harry had tricked Draco into sneaking away from Ron's home. Leading Ron to believe his husband was dead. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Keep them separated, make Draco fall in love with you, do the same to Ron. It'll all work out. And neither of them would have a clue.

Not a clue.

Naturally, Draco eventually broke free to visit his son (that no one knew he had at the time) and accidentally ran into both, Ron and Harry.

Push comes a shove, and now Harry's in a cell. And when he comes out he won't even have a job. But that didn't matter, he knew that he would have Draco. They just didn't know what to do about Ron. Ron, Ronald Weasley, definitely not the brightest banana in the bunch. They've kept him in the dark for this long. What's a little more time?

These were just a few things that Harry thought about while he ate his absolutely disgusting food. Either it was him, or they really did give him worse food since Rich arrived. Harry just sat there, absentmindedly poking at his food with his plastic spork.

"You gonna eat that?" Rich said, as he leaned over the table just to merely point at the remainder (which was actually quite a bit) of Harry's chips.

"Be my guest." Harry left his tray at the table and went to the bunk beds. He wedged himself into the bottom bunk, and was in, by far, the most uncomfortable position he could imagine. He shifted around and managed to get himself remotely comfortable. Then he pulled out a pile of papers.

Some of these papers were clean, and some were already written or drawn on. The papers Harry would write on nearly every day. But not a diary, no. Harry would never call it a diary. Nor should it be considered that. These weren't feelings written down on a piece of paper. These were facts.

Mostly facts of the events on the past years, but never feelings. Harry made sure of that. Or if he ever did write any feelings, he would most definitely throw out the paper.

So he pulled out a bottle of ink from under the bed, along with a quill and continued to write. He was almost done. For ten months times, he sure as hell did write a lot.

Not that he ever wanted anyone to read any of this. Although, he sometimes was suspicious of Rich. If Rich could even read. Of course, if he did read any of it, he most likely would never have understood any of it.

Except for the drawings, of course.

The majority of the drawings were, obviously, of Draco. Which made Harry wonder what the hell he actually planned on doing with them before Ron and Draco came together to pick him up. These pictures were too precious to him to throw out. But he sure as hell did not want Ron seeing any of them. So he decided he was just going to take his chances.

Noisily, Rich made his way across the room, behind Harry. "Y'know, Harry, yeh should keep better care of that hair of yours. Yeh don' want it falling into the wrong hands." Harry decided to not comment on the randomness, or weirdness, of that comment; this was Rich. Rich then peered over Harry's shoulder. "What cha doin'? Writin' in your diary again?"

Harry's grip tightened around the quill. "For the last time, Rivets. It is not a diary."

"Oh. Okay then. So ya writin' in your journal?"

Harry tried his hardest to not lose his temper. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, counted to ten. All that other stuff he learned while he was five. "Yes, Rivets. I am writing in my journal. Top secret, you know. So I would appreciate it if you leave me alone for the rest of the night."

"Okay, boss." Rich struggled his way up the rusty ladder to the bunk above Harry's. This brought the mattress above to sink down into Harry's already small space. Harry clenched his eyes shut; hoping to God the creaking will go away and Rich would not come crashing down and squash Harry to death.

Within minutes Rich was sound asleep. Harry was able to tell this by another thing that drove him mad about having a roommate like Rich. The snoring. He impatiently gathered up the papers and shoved everything under the bed, then began to tuck himself in.

I might as well sleep through it, Harry thought as he went to sleep.

The next morning, as always, Harry was awoken by Rich himself. "Harry, it's nearly eight o'clock! Aren't ya 'fraid of yer friend's coming when yer not e'en dressed?"

Okay, now Harry was really pissed. As you know, since I've mentioned this before, Ron and Draco were not coming until the next day. Harry could sleep as late as he wanted. Harry looked up at rich, ready to strangle the man for waking him up. "They are coming tomorrow, Rich."

"Ain't ya heard? They comin' today. Yer being let out a day early."

Harry shot Rich a dirty look. Rich had to have been lying; something he did often. "Rich.. Go back to bed. And if you're not going to, I am." He flopped back onto the bed.

"No! 'Tis true! Come on, ask some one."

This time Harry didn't even look up. "No."

"C'mon."

"For God's sake, Rivets. Give it a rest."

After maybe five minutes of this going back and forth, Harry was definitely wide-awake. He finally gave into Rich, and lazily walked out to the bars and called for the guard. "Hey, guard! I'm leaving tomorrow right?"

"No, you're leaving today, didn't you hear?" the guard asked.

"No. What the fuck? Is this some kind of joke?"

"No, they're probably be here soon. So I'd get dressed if I were you."

Harry grumbled at the guard and walked toward his bed. Now he had to pack and get dressed before Ron and Draco got there. This should be easy, Harry sarcastically thought to himself as he gathered up all his papers.

He managed to pack the suitcase in just about a half of an hour; skilfully hiding all of his papers. Chances were, even if Draco or Ron volunteered to help him unpack, they wouldn't even find them. It would have been a good idea to charm the suitcase somehow. That is what Harry would have done, if they allowed him to even use magic in this place. Another thing to look forward to.

Not that he had anything in particular to do with his magic when he was out. It's just the past ten months he's felt almost crippled not being able to use his magic. They had his wand locked away and was going to give it to him that day, just before he left.

Harry still didn't have a clue what time Ron and Draco were coming. "What time did you say they were coming again?" He asked Rich. It was worth a shot, Rich has been telling the truth so far.

"They comin' at nine."

"But it's a quarter to nine now."

"Yessir, that's what yeh get fer sleepin' late!"

"Yes..." Harry sighed. "That's what I get."

So all Harry did was wait until Ron and Draco got there. They arrived at exactly nine o' clock. Which, Harry assumed was because of Draco. He always was on time.

"We've come to help you escape," Draco joked. "Quick, Ron! Give him the nail file!"

"What....?" Ron was nearly falling asleep standing up. "Oh, yeah."

Harry just laughed at the two and got his suitcase. The guard let him out and they went to the front desk, where Harry would get his wand back.

"It's a nice wand," said the woman who was handing it to him. "Take good care of it!"

"Oh, I will," Harry said as he walked with his two friends out of the door.

He was free. He had his freedom back. It was just too good to be true. Draco turned to Harry as soon as they exited the place. "How 'bout breakfast? On me!"

"You don't have t--"

"I insist!" Draco exclaimed. " Let's go to Kooky Karen's Cooking Pot, they're always open at this hour! And they serve the best stuff."

But Harry tried to not be bought so easily. "I haven't been there in ages."

When they arrived at the Cooking Pot (as they would say), it was empty. As soon as they entered a woman with a nametag labelled "Jenny" approached them. "How many? Three? Come with me." She led them to a booth by the window. Harry sat closest to the window, Draco next to him. Ron sat across from Draco, diagonal to Harry. Stores around them were opening up and just a few people walked into the restaurant. Jenny handed them their menus and went to the new costumers.

The menu had a rainbow of things to choose from. From the classic scrambled eggs to the homemade pecan pie, Harry didn't know which to choose. He finally went to go with the stuffed french toast and a chocolate milk shake.

"Sounds good, I think I'll have that too," Ron said when Harry announced what he would be ordering. "What about you, Draco?"

"I think I'll just have the classic french toast and orange juice.. Two strips of bacon and that's it."

"Okay," the waitress said quietly as she hurried off to the kitchen.

"So, how's it like to get your freedom back, Harry?" Draco said.

"Um.. Great."

"I'm glad you like it, me and Ron have decided that we want you to come live with us... Not permanently, of course. Just until you get back on your feet." Draco and Ron exchanged smiles and then looked at Harry for his reaction.

Harry didn't smile too openly. "You guys, really, I'll be fine on my own. In a year I'll have my job back and everything will be fine."

"You don't really mean that, I insist. Come home with us."

"Oh, alright." Then it hit Harry. Ron must have thought this would give him and Harry time alone and Draco must have thought the same. Harry never realised neither of them knew about each other. And by neither, I mean that Draco had no clue what was with Ron. If Harry actually lived with them one of them would find out for sure and....

"Actually, I don't think I should. I'm sure you guys are always so busy." Harry hoped he sounded convincing.

"No, we insist. Come live with us, Harry." Ron gave Harry a begging look.

"No, really. It's okay." Harry looked at Draco to see his reaction.

"Well.... I have to go the bathroom." Ron announced as he got up.

"That was random," Draco commented.

"Well I just randomly have to go. I won't be long." Ron went into the men's room.

"Why don't you want to come live with us, Harry?" Draco said as he moved closer to Harry. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Harry said weakly. "Nothing is wrong, Draco."

Draco leaned over, leaving only a few inches between the both of their faces. "Then what is it?"

"I just..."

"You just what?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know." With that, Draco looked at Harry and kissed him. He didn't care who was watching, as long as it wasn't Ron. And he was pretty sure he was still in the bathroom. Harry kissed Draco passionately back, not caring as well. He wanted more. More from Draco; he wanted Draco to touch him, too feel him.

But not here, not when Ron was going to walk in any minute now. Which reminded Harry where they were. He broke the kissed and pushed Draco back. "It's just that.."

"What?"

"Ron."

"What?"

"He's right there just walked out. You can stop facing me now."

Draco turned around to sit right, smiled up at Ron, and then spoke to Harry. "Move in with us, Harry."

"Fine."

Ron took his seat and looked around. "Food still isn't here yet?"

"We just ordered, Ron." Draco grinned. "Harry said he'll move in with us."

"Splendid," Ron said plainly.

"Fine, I won't."

"No, I didn't mean it like that Harry. Oh, look, here's our food."

Jenny arrived just then with their food and placed it carefully on the table and left. Harry drooled at this massive amount of food and dug in, the three didn't speak a word until they were nearly full.

"So are you moving in or not?" Draco asked.

"I guess I am."

"Great," Draco beckoned for the waitress, "Can we have a check?" She nodded and in seconds presented him with a check. "Thank you," Draco turned back to Harry. "It'll be great, I promise. Ron and I even have the guest room all ready for you."

"Great."



When they got to Ron and Draco's house they went straight to the guest room. It was decorated for Harry's return, with a couple of balloons and a sign that said "Welcome back, Harry". Harry smiled and turned to thank them both. "Thank you guys so much."

"Was no problem, Harry." Ron laughed, "Besides, it was mostly Draco's idea."

"Both of our ideas," Draco smiled as he put his right arm around Ron and set his hand on Ron's shoulder, sending Harry a weak smile.

This was like a knife in Harry's chest. A reminder of Ron and Draco. He loved Draco more, of course. But he was only less than half sure that Draco loved him more than he loved Ron. Harry could only hope. Harry sent them a smile and opened his suitcase, ready to unpack. Ron and Draco approached, but Harry stopped them immediately.

"You guys don't have to help," he said.

"We want to, Harry."

"No, Draco. . Really, I'm fine. Go do.. Whatever you guys want to do."

"We're helping you unpack." Ron said stubbornly.

Harry hoped they wouldn't find the pictures and reluctantly said, "Fine."

The bag wasn't very full, so it didn't take too long to unpack. So after about fifteen minutes (or less) of unpacking, and Draco poking fun at Harry's tighty whities (which is what Harry claimed to be the only thing they allowed him to wear), they were done. Without discovering anything, and Harry was grateful.

"So now what?" Harry said.

The three stood there quiet for a few seconds until Ron finally broke the silence. "I just remembered that I have to do something.. for work."

Draco looked confused. "What is it?"

Ron ignored him and head for the door, with Harry and Draco following him. "It won't take long, I promise."

They made their way to the front door in the living room. "If you insist, Ron. Come back soon."

"I will." And with that Ron opened the door and left.

So Harry and Draco was left there alone, looking at each other. They were a little unsure of why Ron left them, but neither one of them was complaining. Harry spoke first. "Alone at last." He smiled.

"Yes." Draco grasped Harry tightly, pulling him towards him. Their faces were less than an inch apart. There was nothing between them and that's all Harry ever asked for. To be alone with Draco, and to be able to have nothing between them. No metal bars. No thing. . No one.

Harry looked down at Draco's lips, brushing his own against them gently. "What.. about.. Ron?" He whispered. "How soon do you think he'll be back."

Before answering, Draco gave Harry a little kiss. "He said he was going to work," he answered.

"He said he was."

"Whatever, he isn't here." Draco closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Harry's and held him tight. He never wanted to let go. And Harry didn't want him to. Despite the weakness in Harry's legs, Harry was still standing. Draco walked him backwards to his couch.

Harry went and laid down on the couch, with Draco easing his way on top of him. This is what Harry wanted. The feel of Draco's weight, his smell, his touch, his taste. He wanted it all. He just wanted Draco.

Then Harry was rushed with guilt over Ron. He, in his own way, loved Ron. He tried not to think of him and let himself get absorbed in Draco.

But of course, then there was a knock at the door.

"Guys!" Ron screamed from outside, "I locked myself out! Can one of you open the door?"

Draco hastily got up. "Well that was quick," he said as he made his way to the door, beginning to turn the knob.

"You're telling me," Harry said.

"Thanks," Ron said as he came in. "I didn't miss anything , did I?"

"No," Draco and Harry said at the same time.

"Oh, okay."

"So..."

"Yeah.."

Then Draco came up with an idea. "Hey, how about we go to Diagon Alley, I'm sure Harry hasn't been there in a while."

"No, I haven't." Harry jumped on the idea almost immediately.

"Then it's settled."

Later that night, after a day well spent in Diagon Alley, Harry laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He would have loved to finish his papers. He was going to, but a knock at the door prevented that.

"Who is it?" Harry asked.

"Harry, it's me, Ron," said the voice from the other side.

Harry slowly got up from his bed and opened the door, and locked it behind Ron when he was in the room. "Why the locked door?"

"Just in case." And that was all Ron needed.

"We haven't been alone in a long time, Harry."

"No. No we haven't."

"A very long time." Ron cautiously made his way to Harry.

"I know."

"I've missed you," Ron said. "And not just in that 'I missed you as a friend' way. I missed being with you. Even if it was just a few nights." He got closer.

"Those were two special nights." Harry made his way to Ron.

"Yeah," Ron said as he went to wrap his arms around Harry. Harry let him, and put his arms around Ron and kissed him tenderly. The truth was is that Harry had missed being with Ron, too. Which made things difficult. But Harry tried to forgot about Draco now. The door was locked anyway. "I missed you so much," Ron whispered into Harry's ear.

They kissed again and then the moment was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Damn, I have a feeling it's Draco." Harry turned to the door, speaking loudly, but trying to sound almost as if he was half asleep. "Yeah?"

"Harry, it's me Draco. Open up."

Harry looked at Ron and then turned back to the door. "Draco, I'm tired... Come here tomorrow morning."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

There was no response. Harry turned back to Ron and looked at him. "Just you and me." Harry smiled at Ron, and then kissed him guiding him back to his bed.

Ron eased his way backwards and fell back, letting Harry be on top. They made there way up and Harry began to undo Ron's pants, and Ron undid Harry's. Ron let Harry take it from there.

After they were done, Ron got himself dressed, kissed Harry goodnight and went back to his room, where Draco was already asleep.

Harry, however, got dressed and took the papers from his suitcase and began to write in them. By this time it was nearly three in the morning and Harry was very tired. Harry was getting so comfortable in his bed. He was almost done with his writing until he felt he was done for the night.

But he fell asleep without putting them away.

The next morning, Ron came to wake Harry up. He opened the door slowly and looked in. "Hey," he whispered, "Harry it's almost twelve o' clock." He walked in slowly and quietly. Sure, he wanted to wake Harry up, but he didn't want to give Harry a heart attack in the process.

Then at that moment, he spotted the pile of papers half on and half off of Harry's bed. He contemplated to himself whether or not he was going to read any of them. He looked closer, reached out and took up a few. What he don't know, can't hurt him. Besides, I'm his best friend. What could he be keeping from me? It's no big deal. Ron thought to himself.

He looked at the first paper and began to softly whisper out loud, "When Ron believed him I was so relieved. He came to me the first night and practically apologized about everything. Like it was his fault. It was my fault, if anyone's. My fault, not his." Ron grew pale, but he wasn't going to stop reading. You could get a totally different message if you read one page out of something, or if it's only three paragraphs even more so.

"He kissed me that night. He promised to come as often as he could tell Ron he was at work. And he didn't lie. Draco never lied to me. Ever." Ron couldn't believe this! His eyes weren't playing a trick on him. This was Harry's diary! Which, seemed weird to Ron. Harry wouldn't keep a diary. He said it himself. Ever since their second year in Hogwarts.

But here it was, in black and white.

He read on, "I love him. I really do. And I cannot wait till I get out of here to see him again. See him like I should."

Well, this was enough. Ron put the papers down. He really didn't want to read anymore. He saw something amongst the papers that caught his eye--a picture? No, this was a drawing.

Ron didn't know Harry could draw.

And he didn't want to find out this way.

Ron left Harry to wake on his own.



Harry woke up at two o'clock in the afternoon that day. The first thing he noticed was that the papers were lying around. Immediately, he went white as snow and collected them all, then hid them. Harry searched the house only to find out it was empty.

"That's weird," he said to himself as he went to the kitchen to make himself something. He then noticed that there was a sandwich already freshly made, ham and cheese (his favourite), sitting on the table with a note.

In case you're hungry. I'll be home before three, I promise.

It was in Draco's handwriting, not only that, Harry knew how Draco was famous for writing notes. So Harry had an hour alone, not too bad. Less, maybe. He then wondered where Ron was. He didn't leave a note or anything.

He then heard the door opening, meaning that Draco came home a little earlier than expected. Harry completely forgot the sandwich and went straight to the living room where Draco was.

"I'm glad you're finally up." Draco smiled. "It's about time, too."

"Yeah, no one woke me up."

"I guess no one wanted to disturb you." Draco went up to Harry and put his arms around him.

"I guess."

Without any other words Draco kissed Harry. Now, Harry had completely forgotten about Ron. He reached his hand up to put on Draco's cheek and kissed him back. Draco slowly made Harry back into the wall (almost knocking down a lamp, almost). Harry broke the kiss to catch his breath. "I. . "

"You what?" Draco whispered back as he kissed his way to Harry's neck.

"I. . love being with you," he answered breathlessly. "I love you." Harry brought Draco's face up to his and went to kiss him again.

"I love you more."

"No, I love you more."

And then they repeated what Harry and Ron did the night before. In the same place.

Harry woke up in the middle of the night alone. He sat upright and looked around the room. "Draco?" he whispered, "are you there?" He reached to the table for his glasses and put them on. "Guess not." He got up out of bed and looked around, then walked to the bathroom.

He really didn't know why he was going in the bathroom. He really didn't have to go. But something was making him. His vision, even with his glasses on, was blurry. He could hardly see where he was going. When he finally got to the bathroom he turned on the light, with some difficulty. He closed the door and looked at himself in the mirror.

He has so much hair. So much of it. He just wanted to chop it all off. It was a sort of random feeling, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with it. Harry opened the cabinet and took out the pair of scissors, studying his reflection carefully.

Was he sure he wanted to go through with it? Really sure? After all, he never cut a single persons hair in his whole life, never mind his own. But for some reason he brought the scissors to his hair and just started cutting. Cutting away. Every single strand he had to get off. He really couldn't explain this sensation. The sensation of wanting this hair out of the way. Out of his way.

So he cut and watched the beautiful brown strands fall to the floor, lock by lock. The funny thing was is that he didn't care all that much. He really did not care that all this hair was falling to the floor, his hair. He looked back at himself in the mirror.

And realised what he just had done. The scissors fell to the floor.

And Harry blacked out.

The next morning Harry woke up in his bed and almost as an instinct his hands went straight for his head. Hair was all there. . Just a dream, he thought. He felt around a little more (just to be safe) and then realised that a healthy clump of hair was missing.

"What the. . " He looked around and then noticed a pair of scissors on the floor by his bed. The same exact scissors from his dream? He must have sleep walked, that's the only explanation. He sleep walked and cut his hair off, some of it. It was a weird idea, but it was the only one he had. So he went with it, and then got up, put on his glasses and went to the kitchen.

Draco, once again, was the only one who seemed to be in the house. He was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee and wearing his usual green robe. "Good morning," he said as Harry entered the room. He eyed Harry's hair. "What happened?"

"That's what I would like to know," Harry responded as he took a seat right next to Draco. "It's really weird and I can't find the hair anywhere.. By my bed, anyway. And I had a dream I cut my hair off, all of it. It was really odd. I can't explain it. But I had that dream and I woke up like this. It's all too weird."

"You dreamt it and then it came true, eh? That's weird. I actually have a dream book in my room, if you want to look it up. They're supposed to have meanings or something like that. We can look, if you want. Not saying it's reliable or anything. ."

"Sure. It won't hurt."

They both got up and went to Draco and Ron's bedroom. "Where has Ron been lately?" Harry asked.

"No clue," Draco responded. "He comes home late, he leaves early. He's been acting weird these past two days." He walked to the foot of his bed where a thick, blue book was sitting. He picked the book up and showed it to Harry. The cover read: Dreams, Love Spells, and Remedies: The Ultimate Guide. "It's worth a shot."

Draco sat down on the bed and gestured for Harry to join him and he did. "Now," Draco started, "it'll be in the interpretation section, I guess." He flipped through the alphabetical order pages and stopped when he reached the "H"s and worked his way up from the bottom. He read out loud, "Hat, hammer, ham... Here we go, hair. It says it means disillusionment followed by renewed determination."

"That's it?"

"That's it. That was well worth it, huh?" Draco sarcastically asked as he closed the book and put it back.

"Honestly, I haven't got a clue what it could mean."

"Neither do I."

"All I know that I had a dream, cut my hair and that's about it." Harry started up and made his way to the door. "I'm sorry Draco, I think I'm going to sleep for the rest of the day. I'm just not in the mood."

"Alright, good night then?" He smiled.

"Yeah, but let's just hope I don't cut any more of my hair off this time."

"Harry," Draco whispered, "Harry, come on, get up it's nearly five o'clock." Harry turned in his sleep. "Come on sleepy head." Draco kissed Harry's forehead. Harry started to get up and looked up at Draco who was sitting right next to him on his bed. "Welcome back to awake world."

"Hey, thanks for waking me up." Harry reached to make sure his hair was still intact, luckily it was.

"I figured you'd be hungry so I made you some food. Some roast beef and potatoes, I'm sure it won't taste as good as my moms. But I promise you won't not like it." He pushed Harry's leg gently before standing up. "Come on, up you go."

Harry got up, took his glasses and slid them on, they left his room and went to the kitchen.

Harry was completely surprised by what Draco did. He set the table beautifully, decorated with candles and everything. He took out the special silverware, that they only seldom use, and there was a home cooked meal on the table that looked delicious.

"Wow," Harry gaped at the site. "This is amazing, Draco."

"Do, sit down." Draco pulled out a chair for Harry and sat down. He took the seat opposite from Harry. "I hope you enjoy the food." He smiled and then they ate.

Harry loved the food. He had no clue that Draco was able to cook like his, he never really did. During the entire meal, Harry couldn't help but think about how great Draco was. How lucky he was to have someone like Draco. Well, Harry didn't have Draco. Ron did.

Now, Ron. . .Harry now wasn't sure what he felt for Ron anymore, strange enough. Was he truly in love with Ron? At this point, Harry didn't think so. It could have just been the plain presence of Draco, but Harry was sure of one thing; Ron never made him feel this way. Harry stopped and looked at Draco.

He had such great eyes, a brilliant smile, and his jaw line was.. heavenly. Harry then noticed something new around Draco's neck. It was a very fine silver chain and whatever was hanging from it was tucked into Draco's shirt. "Hey, what's that?" He pointed to it.

"What's what? Oh, this?" Draco tugged at the chain and let the pendent that was on it dangle in front of him. The pendent was glass, filled with a dark red liquid maybe, and it was twisted in the shape of a heart with some trimming of gold in it. It was beautiful. "Saw it at Diagon Alley, today. It's supposed to be good luck. Like it?"

"It's lovely," Harry said, admiring it.

Draco tucked it back into his shirt. "Don't like wearing it outside my clothes for some reason, though. So I think I'll just wear it inside."

"Whatever you like."

Draco started to get up. "I'm going to bed.. Care to join me?"

Harry grinned. "Sure."

Draco started to make his way to his room but then Harry stopped him. "What about Ron? Come to my room instead." So they did. That night, they made love like there was no tomorrow.

After a night of fun (shall I say?) Harry woke up on his own at around eleven. He got up out of bed and walked to the living room. There sitting down on the couch, dressed, and looking like he was going somewhere, was Draco. "Where you off to?" Harry asked him.

"I was figuring we could go to Diagon Alley for the day. That is, if you don't mind?"

"Not at all," Harry said. "Just let me get dressed." He turned and went for the door and the realised Ron was no where to be found. He turned back around. "What happened to Ron?"

"No clue, he left early again."

"He's been acting so weird lately."

"Tell me about it." Draco swung his legs up on the couch. "You getting ready or not?"

"I'll be ready in five minutes." With that, Harry went to his room and got dressed.

They spent the day just window shopping (and occasionally going into stores and looking around from there). At around three, they still weren't hungry but figured they'd settle for something small. After some discussion they went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Well," Harry said, "today is productive." He looked over the menu.

"Oh, but you're having fun, admit it."

"That much is true," he smiled.

"I think I'm just going to have a plain hot fudge sundae. . What about you?"

"Same."

They got their ice cream and went outside to eat. "I think that I'm going to go look at some broomsticks when I finish. You want to join me?" Harry said.

"Why wouldn't I?" Draco scooped up some of his ice-cream and smiled.

"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "You've been quiet all day, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing's wrong, Harry. Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean anything's wrong." Draco finished his ice-cream and looked at Harry expectantly. "You done?"

"Almost," Harry said as he finished up his ice-cream. He put the last spoonful into his mouth and got up. "Shall we?" Draco got up with him and put his arm around Harry.

"Let's go," Draco said.



"I haven't played Quidditch in so long," Harry said. "Never mind buy a new broom." They were in the Quidditch store, admiring all the new brooms just in. One of them, which specifically caught Harry's attention, was the Celestial Flight. "Hey, Draco," Harry pointed at the broom, "check that one out."

The Celestial Flight was awesome. It was long, sleek, aerodynamic, a Quidditch player's dream. Harry had never seen a broom so beautiful. The wood had a grey and glittery tint to it. The foot rests were made of real silver, and on the side in fancy lettering it said "Celestial Flight". There was a note by the price (1,323 galleons), that if you asked the owner, they could actually engrave the owner's name on the side.

"Pretty nice," Draco read the price tag, "little pricey, but nice."

"We should get it," Harry blurted out. All day he hadn't suggested buying anything, but this was just too good to resist.

"What?" Draco asked, "And with whose money?"

"Mine."

"No way, I won't let you. Maybe we'll come back and get it sometime."

"Aw, come on," Harry said as he looked over a few more things in the store.

"No way. Now I'll trust you not to buy anything. . I need to go next store to get new robes. I won't be long." Without another word, Draco was through the door.

That's weird, Harry thought to himself. Why would Draco leave me here alone after I just said I was going to buy something ridiculously expensive. It's just not him. Harry kept his promise (or whatever you would like to call saying nothing to something like that) and didn't buy anything, for a time that was a lot longer than expected.

Draco left the store a little before four o'clock. It was nearly four thirty now. Harry decided to go next store to see what was keeping Draco there. Draco wasn't there either.

Harry almost began to panic, but then thought that maybe Draco was waiting for him at Betsy's Butterbeer Bar. He and Draco usually would meet there if they ever, by chance, loose each other in Diagon Alley.

And Harry had definitely lost Draco.

After waiting at Betsy's for just an hour Harry decided to look around Diagon Alley for Draco, with no luck. At eight he decided to go home and pray that Draco came home.

Harry got home to an empty one. No sign of Ron or Draco. He made himself as comfortable as he possibly could have on the couch and stared at the clock. The room was cold, but Harry didn't care. He wanted to know where Draco was. He didn't care so much about Ron anymore. He wanted Draco, not Ron.

At ten to eleven Ron walked in through the door, looking rather exhausted. "Ron!" Harry exclaimed, "I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?"

Ron looked at Harry as he walked through the room, to the entrance to the hallway. "I'm really sorry, Harry. I'm exhausted. I'll talk to you tomorrow, maybe. Good night." With that, he left.

Harry shrugged this rather odd behaviour off and went back to worrying about Draco. Where could he be? Is he hurt? Oh, I hope he's okay. Twenty minutes later, at eleven eleven, Draco walked in from the hallway. With a broomstick in his hand. A Celestial Flight.

"Harry..."

Harry didn't even notice the broomstick. "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Getting you this?" He held up the broom, "Amongst other things. I had to go to work. . To drop off and pick up a few thing."

Harry's eyes immediately fixed themselves on the broom. "It's.. Draco.. You didn't have to.."

"But I wanted to, it even has your name engraved into it. I bought myself a Quantum Five-Thousand. Want to take them out on the clearing for a ride?"

"I..." Harry's anger towards Draco was completely gone. He couldn't believe Draco actually bought him this. "Sure."



They walked hand in hand to the clearing that wasn't too far from Ron's house, to the middle of the woods. The sky was clear, the stars were out, the weather was nice. It was perfect. "Wow, it's beautiful out tonight," Harry said in awe when they got there.

"Yeah, hey do you want to see the constellation Draco? The one I was named after?"

"Sure!"

"Well, let's see.. It's Autumn so it'll be North... There's Polaris.. Oh, it's right there!" Draco pointed to a chain of about twenty stars lining up, to form the shape a dragon.

"I don't see it," Harry was looking up, squinting, and tried adjusting his glasses. "Oh wait, yeah I do. I wish there was a 'Harry' constellation or something."

"Um.. well, we can call that one Harry." Draco said as he pointed to the Little Dipper.

"Why is that?" Harry looked at Draco.

"Because, it's right next to Draco." At that moment, Draco took his free hand and used it to draw Harry's face to his and kissed him. Harry drew back and smiled.

"I love you so much, you know that?"

"Sure do, but I bet I love you more."

Harry laughed, "Not this again."

"You're right, let's just fly," Draco said as he mounted his broom and Harry did the same. "Last one to the other side is a rotten pumpkin."

"Pumpkin?" Harry laughed, "Draco you're nu--" Draco was off already and Harry went up to catch up with him.

The Celestial Flight flew like a dream, faster than any other broomstick Harry had ever ridden on. He knew that the Quantum Five-Thousand was a good broom, but the Celestial Flight must have been ten times faster. He caught up with Draco in no time. "That's a fast broom there, Harry."

Harry just smiled and sped off ahead of Draco. The sensation was amazing, the feeling of the cold night air flowing through his hair. Harry had completely forgotten that he cut his hair off just the other day. When Harry was with Draco, he didn't care about anything else, anyone else. It was almost like Draco was the only person living, besides Harry. And Harry was pretty sure he would even put Draco before himself sometimes.

Sure enough, the Celestial Flight won Harry his first race in a long while. "Looks like I didn't waste my money, huh?" Draco said, "Yeah, you're happy and that broom works great. . What else could one ask for?"

"Let me guess. . ."

"Rematch."

They raced again, to the other side of the clearing, this time, Draco actually won. Harry actually let him win, and Draco naturally caught on. But that didn't matter. All that mattered is that Harry was with Draco and having fun. They spent the night like this, rematch after rematch. At some point they actually switched brooms.

"Okay," Draco said after about an hour, "I think that's enough."

"Aww come on, just five more minutes," Harry said with a pout, imitating a five-year-old.

"No, really." Draco landed his broom. "Let's go."

Reluctantly Harry followed and they both walked back to the house. As soon as they walked in Draco stopped Harry from moving any further. "Okay, no wait here."

He left Harry for about seconds, and Harry could sense his excitement. Draco was up to something.. again. He came back empty handed, grinning. "Well?" Harry said.

Either Draco planned it out this way, or he was just too excited to hold it in. He whipped out two tickets from his pocket and showed them to Harry. "They're today's Halloween Quidditch match. Chudley Cannons versus The Appleby Arrows. I know the Cannons haven't won in a very long time, but I think we might get lucky and see them win."

Harry couldn't hold himself back. Next thing he knew it his arms were around Draco. "You are wonderful!"

"No, you're the wonderful one that makes me want to do nice things for you." Draco said with a smile as he drew back and kissed Harry deeply. "And I love you."

"I love you too."

And they spent the night in Harry's room, and didn't care who found out.

Naturally Draco woke up first, as he was putting his shirt on he went to wake Harry up. "Hey, Harry come on, we have to be out of here in an hour if we want to be there on time." Harry tossed in his sleep, but didn't get up. Draco laughed and tugged the sheets off of him. "Come on, out of bed."

Harry clawed blindly at the sheets and groaned. "Come on," Draco said as he leaned down and kissed Harry awake. Before he even woke up, Harry kissed Draco back fiercely. "I'm so thrilled you will just kiss back anyone who comes to your bed and kiss you while you're asleep."

"No," Harry said as he got up, "I knew it was you. . I was just. . I could just tell."

"Well you should be getting dressed, if Ron's still around I'll tell him where we're going." Draco left the room, shutting the door behind him.

When Harry finished getting dressed, he walked out to the living room to find Draco and Ron talking. "Good morning, you two," he said trying to sound casual as possible.

"Have fun today, Harry," Ron said. He didn't seem too happy about it, and Harry suspected this was because Ron probably wanted to be going with Draco and not staying home--or whatever he usually did everyday. But Harry didn't say anything and just smiled.

"Thanks," he said and then turned to Draco, "you ready?"

"If you are."

"I am."

With that the two were on the way to The Halloween Match.

Harry was amazed at the great seats that Draco got them. They were sitting in the front row of the center box, in the middle of the field, the view was great. "These seats are amazing, Draco. When did you say you got them?"

"A while ago, actually." He noticed a man selling candy from a cart nearby, "Hey, look that man's selling candy, you want some?"

Harry nearly laughed, "How old am I Draco?"

"You're never too old for candy."

"Yes you are." Harry laughed. "Okay, no you're not let's go get some." They went off to buy some candy.

They returned to their seats with a serious amount of chocolate frogs and a serious amount of licorice wands. The rest of their section was giving them dirty looks and Draco took note of it. "They're jealous," he said simply as he amusedly opened a chocolate frog.

Harry just laughed and kissed Draco on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Draco asked. Harry just shrugged as if almost saying "I don't know." Draco leaned over to give Harry a kiss--

"Dad!" Shouted a familiar voice from the row behind them. When they turned around they discovered it was Draco's son, Dwayne, and his mother, Pansy Parkinson.

"Dwayne . .Pansy, what are you doing here?" Draco gave them both a nervous smile. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Yes, he is, Draco, but McGonagall okayed this little outing," Pansy replied. She looked at Harry and then back at Draco. "So what are you doing here today with your husbands best friend?"

"Ron couldn't come," Draco lied.

"Oh really?" she raised an eyebrow and took a lock of her dark brown hair back and tucked it behind her ear.

Pansy wasn't a particularly good looking woman, or at least, this is what Harry liked to tell himself. The truth is, she was totally knocked out. Harry silently thanked God that Draco was gay.

"Really," Draco shot her a cold glance, "now, if you don't mind, this is the part where I turn around." He turned around, Dwayne went to say something but Pansy put her hand swiftly over his mouth. Harry turned around then.

"What are the chances?" Harry said as he dug into a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean.

"With Pansy and Dwayne? Very high." He began to focus on the game more.

Which reminded Harry of the game, this entire time he's been practically fixed on Draco and didn't even notice that a game was going on. He couldn't believe how involved he had let himself get with Draco these past few days. It was like nothing he ever experienced before, but he liked it. He checked the scoreboard, Appleby was leading. The score was eighty to twenty.

It seems as if he started to pay attention at the right time, too. The Chudley Cannons Seeker was rocketing in their direction with the Appleby Arrow's Seeker not so far behind. "He's going to do the Wronski Feint," Draco said as they neared closer to them ,"he doesn't see anything at all."

As far as Harry could tell, he didn't see anything at all. As soon as the Seeker was a few feet away from crashing into their section, he took a dive down and the other Seeker followed him. Draco leaned over the railing so fast that his pendent fell out. He gasped and quickly clutched the pendent. Harry didn't really notice this, but he noticed Draco's expression.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked.

"No," Draco said as he tucked it back into his shirt, "I just almost dropped the pendent, that's all."

Harry shrugged. "Well, okay."

An hour later, the Chudley Cannons were winning. The score now was a hundred and fifty to ninety. The Seeker had not yet found the snitch. A funny looking man with a camera around his neck came up to Harry and Draco. "Want me to take a picture of you two as a souvenir?" he asked.

"Sure," Draco said as he put his arm around Harry, posing. "How's this?"

"Perfect," the man took the picture and handed it to Draco. "That'll be five sickles."

"Sure, mind to take another one so the both of us can have one?" Draco handed the man his money.

"Sorry, sir. One per group of people." And the man left.

"Well, that was weird," Harry said.

"Tell me about it." Draco went to hand the picture to Harry, "Something to remember me by."

"No, you paid for it, you keep it."

"No." He tried to force the picture on Harry again.

"Keep it, Draco."

"Fine, but only if you let me kiss you." Harry was just about to answer, but he was interupted by a burst of noise that would have given a deaf man a headache. A team caught the snitch.

"Who did it?" Harry looked at the scoreboard and quickly answered his own question. "The Chudley Cannons won!"

"Terrific," Draco said, eyeing Harry. "Now what about my little offer?"

Without saying anything else, Harry threw himself at Draco, nearly knocking him backwards. But Draco didn't mind.

"Draco! You're son!" Pansy Parkinson shouted from behind them.

Draco gently pushed Harry off of him and look at Pansy, shooting her a cold look. "Let's go out to eat," he said to Harry, "It's Halloween, The Chudley Cannons won, I'm with you. Let's go."

"Let's," Harry said and they left immediately.



Betsy's Butterbeer Bar was even more crowded than usual. Harry assumed this was because it was Halloween and everyone was out (some here) getting drunk. They luckily found two empty seats at the bar and took them immediately. "So what do you feel like having?" Draco asked.

"I'm really not hungry," Harry replied.

Draco laughed, "Well that's good. Let's go out to eat and then not be hungry."

"I guess I just wanted to spend more time with you?" Harry smiled.

"You can spend time with me home too," Draco leaned in and kissed Harry. "You know that."

"Yeah, I do. It's just.. I don't know." Before saying anything else Harry leaned foward, kissing Draco again. Deeper than the first. He was reminded where they were by some random guy shouting at them.

"Hey! Does this look like a gay bar to you!? Get the fuck out of here, no one wants to see that!" said the foul voice. Harry didn't want to be bothered, neither did Draco.

Harry spoke for the both of them, "Let's go home then."



They arrived, as usual, to an empty house. When they reached the middle of the living room, Draco went infront of Harry and faced him. "Okay, now close your eyes," Draco said softly. Harry reluctantly closed his eyes. He heard Draco swiftly leave the room. He trusted Draco too much to just open his eyes and ask what was up, so he stood there with his eyes closed.

Draco finally returned only about a minute or two later. "Okay," he said, "now open them." Harry did. Infront of him was Draco holding a golden dragon paperweight (he assumed) in his hand. The dragons wings were spread and it's tail was wrapped around a rock. "It's for you. It reminds me of something my mother gave me a while ago. Only mine was silver. This here is pure gold. And the bottom is engraved."

"Thank.. you." Harry was speechless. Draco titled the paperweight so Harry could see the bottom.

I love you more.

"It's kind of simple, but I thought that maybe you would like it."

"I wouldn't care if it was an old boot, as long as you're the one giving it to me, I'd love it," Harry said while taking the gift. "And do you know why?"

"No, why?"

Harry took Draco and kissed him. "Because I love you."

"I love you too, Harry Potter," Draco whispered back just before they kissed again.

They then, as usual, spent the night in Harry's room.



The next day ran just like the past few days, Ron was out and Harry and Draco had the house to themselves. It was Harry's idea that they just spent the day home together, and Draco had no objections to this. He was better off this way anyway, he had to go to work at five at night for three hours anyway. They spent the day in their pajamas until four o'clock when Draco told Harry he thought he should start getting ready for you.

"Are you sure you have to go to work?" Harry pouted, "I don't want you to go." He leaned up and kissed Draco playfully.

"Harry, you know I have to work. I haven't been working much lately."

"Yeah, I know. I just like being close to you." Harry let his right hand rest on Draco's cheek.

"We'll have plenty of time later. I'll be back in three hours. I promise." Draco nuzzled Harry's nose.

Harry gave Draco a little peck on the lips. "You promise?"

Draco smiled, "I promise.

"Okay," Harry said, but he wasn't letting go of Draco so easily. Before letting go of him, he brought him to him and kissed him deeply. Then after a moment, reluctantly let go of him. "I'll miss you," he said.

"Harry, I'm getting dressed to go to work. I'm not moving to a different country."

"I know."

Draco smiled as he left the room.

It was six thirty and Harry was bored out of his mind. It seemed like all he could really think about these few days was Draco. He was amazed by how much has changed since he came to live with Draco and Ron. It didn't even feel like he was living with Ron. After all, he hardly ever saw him. Which made Harry wonder what Ron could possibly be up to? But he didn't really dwell on this.

It was like Harry was living with Draco, just Draco. He hadn't realised much until just now how much the house had changed since it was just Ron living there. But Harry wasn't surprised. Draco was always better at decorating things. The living room was dominantly black leather again, unlike the tacky colour combination that made Harry shudder to even think about it. Draco was better at everything, wasn't he?

Harry was definitely over Ron. He didn't know why. He couldn't explain it even if he tried. But Hary was truly, deeply in love with Draco. And this was probably the reason why he had been spending the past hour and a half staring at the clock waiting for Draco to walk through that door.

At around seven, he heard the door begin to unlock and he heart pounded. He even fixed himself clumsily for Draco. He was so happy that Draco came home early for him. The door opened and it wasn't Draco.

It was Ron.

"Ron, I wasn't expecting you home at this normal hour," Harry said, with a tone of surprise in his voice.

"Harry!" Ron said excitedly, "Just the person I wanted to see!" Ron hurried his way to the couch where Harry was sitting at, and sat down next to Harry. He reminded Harry of a girl with a nice big hunk of juicy gossip. He inwardly giggled at this thought.

"Well," Harry asked, "what is it?"

"You're not going to believe it!" Ron was about to burst.

Harry would have to admit that he was becoming more curious by the minute. "Spit it out, Ron!"

Ron just sat there with an excited look on his face, like a child on Christmas morning. Almost exactly like that. "Oh wait till you hear.."

Harry gave Ron a playful shove. "Out with it!"

Ron didn't respond to the shove whatsoever. "Oh, you're going to be so happy!"

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, "Ron I'm right here! Spit it out already!"

Ron spoke quickly and he was still so excited and pleased with himself that Harry was barely about to understand him. "I got you your job back!"

"You . . Get out!" Harry shoved Ron back again. There's no way Ron could have. .

"No! You see, Harry! That's where I've been this whole time-- Getting your job back!"

It was Harry's turn not to respond. He couldn't believe it. Sure, Ron wasn't around lately, he was acting weird. But Harry would never, not in a million years, actually think that this whole entire time Ron had been trying to win his job back for him. It was mind boggling.

"And let me tell ya, it was not easy. I had to pull a lot of strings. Percy had a lot to do with it to. And you know how hard it would have been to get him to do something like this. But he did. You can start working at Hogwarts again in a week, Harry!"

"Ron.. I.. Thanks so much!" Harry gave Ron the tightest hug he ever did. Ron made a few choking noises, but didn't really complain; he was happy for his friend.

Completely forgetting Draco was at work, Harry then ran off to Draco's room to tell him this good news. When he arrived in Draco's room, he was reminded of this fact. But he walked over to the large bed in the middle of the room and took a seat, making himself comfortable. Draco will be there soon anyway.

Harry's eyes scanned the room out of curiosity. Sure, he's been here a few times, but he never got a good look at the place. It was sort of nice, actually. Maybe even nicer than Harry's own bedroom. There was was few pictures of Ron and Draco together... But Harry ignored them.

He looked around a little more until his eyes finally came to meet the blue book at the bottom of the bed. Harry read the title: Dreams, Love Spells, Remedies: The Ultimate Guide. He picked up the book and set it on his lap.

The truth was is that the dream Harry had only a few days ago still bothered him. He couldn't put his finger on it. . .But something was wrong somewhere. He flipped open the book and turned to the index. He looked up the word "hair" and found quite a few things.

Until something caught his eye. "The Hair Binding Love Charm?" Harry read out loud. Before he knew it, Harry was turning the pages to see what this was all about. He had a strong feeling he found out what he was looking for, and also had a feeling that he wasn't sure if he wanted to go on.

But he did anyway. On the top of the page, just below the title, was a quote. "Hair holds the psychic energy of its owner. To have a lock of someone's hair is to have a supernatural link with that person." Now Harry wasn't sure if he really wanted to go on. But he just pushed himself further.

He suddenly remembered what Richy said to him less than a week ago. "Y'know, Harry, yeh should keep better care of that hair of yours. Yeh don' want it falling into the wrong hands." The voice and those words haunted him now. He couldn't believe that Rich was some-what right about something. Rich never was, and that was how Harry took it.

He read the list of ingredients. It was a pretty simple spell, actually. It just required a single red rose, cologne of the object of the persons affection. . And a single lock of that persons hair. Of course, there was more to the spell than just that, but this was the part of the list that Harry stopped reading. He really didn't know what to do or think at this second, so as soon as he stopped reading, he went back again.

So basically, from what Harry gathered, what the spell-caster had to do was make a simple potion, really, and put it in some sort of charm. The witch or wizard would crush the rose petals into this potion and pour it into some amulet or something. A pendent. That's far as Harry had gotten on the page.

He suddenly felt very weak, and if he hadn't been sitting down already, he might have fainted. "I... I don't believe it," he quietly whispered to himself. "Draco wouldn't.. He just.." Out of curiousity, Harry flipped to the next page. And just when things felt like they could never get worse.. They did.

"Dream Manipulation Spell?" Harry read as he turned pale. He couldn't believe it.

The memory of the morning that Draco told Harry what the "dream" meant rushed back to him. "Hair. It says it means disillusionment followed by renewed determination." Harry wondered if this was entirely coincidental, or if Draco was trying to send him some kind of a hint. He thought about it for a second, and then considered it as a complete coincidence.

Draco had betrayed him. But should Harry really be all that surprised? After all, whatever goes around, comes around. But Draco played with his head tremendously. He made Harry think that Harry was truly in love with him. So was Harry? And did Harry truly still love Ron? And did Draco even love Harry to begin with? Probably not, Harry thought gloomily to himself.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. Harry really hoped it was Ron. Draco was the last person he wanted to see right this moment. Harry kept his eyes on the Hair Binding page. "Harry? What are you doing in here?" Draco asked softly.

"What is this, Draco?!" Harry shouted angrily while holding the book up in the air. Draco didn't answer, he just sat there in shock. "What is this?!" Harry repeated the question.

Draco obviously didn't know what to say, but he sure as hell didn't want a book thrown at him. "You.. found out.. didn't you?"

"Like hell I did!" Harry threw the book at Draco. He missed, and hit the door, slamming it shut.

"Look.. I'm sorry, okay?" Draco knew this wasn't okay, and it showed.

"Well, sorry isn't good enough." Harry stomped right up to him, grabbed the chain violently and ripped it clear off Draco's neck.

Harry never really how strong he really was. And neither did Draco, judging by the look on his face. Draco lifted his right hand to the back of his neck, pulling it away to the sight of blood on his palm. Harry ripped the chain so hard it cut the back of his neck. Draco just stood there, speechless, staring at his hand. He couldn't believe it, and neither could Harry. But there was nothing Harry could do about what Draco had done already.

Harry stared at the pendent in his hand, looking close. There it was, a lock of his hair intertwined with the twist and turns of the glass. He couldn't believe his eyes. "What am I waiting for?" he blurted as he threw the pendent at the wall with all his might. But the pendent didn't break.

But it was just thin glass. "That won't do it, Harry. You need pure gold," Draco said hopelessly.

Without thinking Harry yelled at him, "And just where the fuck do you expect me to get pure gold, Draco? Pull it out of my ass? This is all your fault! And to think that I thought that I actually loved you!"

"You have to."

"I just think I do! And it's all because of this bloody thing!" Harry didn't give up on the pendent and started to stomp on it.

"The only way the spell works is if the person it's placed on loved the person casting it, Harry."

"So?" Harry said as he jumped on the pendent, with no success.

"It means that you love me," Draco said as he daringly went and grabbed the pendent before Harry could get another blow at it. "So stop trying to destroy this when it won't even work." Harry didn't say anything. "Good.. Now that I've got your attention..."

Harry wasn't looking at Draco now, he was looking behind him. He turned around to face Ron. "Ron," he said.

"I heard noise.. So I decided to check up on you two. By the looks of things, they don't look too good."

"Ron, I'll talk to you in a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay," Ron left and closed the door behind him.

"Now, give me the pendent, Draco. So I can destroy it."

"Just hear me out, okay?" Harry glared at him. "The spell isn't to make someone fall in love with you. It's to make someone's love stronger. That's why it isn't out-lawed like most love spells; it really isn't one."

Harry was listening, so Draco continued. "Look, I never meant to hurt you, Harry. It's just that.. I found these papers in your room a few days ago. And.. I read about your little thing with Ron and.. I got scared."

"So you decided to put a spell on me?" Harry snapped.

"I told you, I got scared, Harry," Draco rubbed his neck that was still bleeding. "I didn't know what to do. I remembed reading this spell and it just seemed right. And these past few days since just have been.."

"A fraud? A lie? A forgery? A crock of shit? Oh, wait I have a better one, let's try a disillusionment?" Draco was confused. "Don't act like you don't know what I mean, Draco. You did that on purpose didn't you?"

"Did what?"

"I've had enough! Give me the pendent so I can destroy it!"

"With what?" Draco asked.

"With the pure gold dragon you gave me."

"Fine," Draco took Harry's hand gently, blood stained and some blood rubbing off on Harry's hand. "Take it." He pressed the pendent softly into Harry's palm, looked deep into Harry's eyes. "But I still love you."

"If you say so. I know once this thing is destroy, I'll hate you more than ever."

With that, Harry left and slammed the door behind him. Leaving Draco alone.

Harry's room was dark, but Harry didn't have to bother turning on the light. He knew exactly where the paper weight was and he wasn't wasting any time. He went to his nightstand, grabbed the solid gold dragon, and placed the pendent on the table.

Harry raised the golden thing over his head and brought it down blindly to the thing that, in his view, brought him this pain. The thing Draco started, that Harry will end. With a thud from the gold hitting the table and the sound of glass shattering, the pendent was destroyed. The spell was broken.

But Harry still loved Draco.

"Hey," came a whisper from Harry's doorway, "Harry, it's me, Ron."

"Yeah?" Harry retorted as he spun around to face his friend.

"I'm sorry about Draco."

"What?" Harry really didn't know what was going on that minute. "How do you..."

"I read the papers. . The ones you have in your room. I'm sorry, Harry. Before that.. I didn't even know."

Harry was speechless. His best friend knew everything, and yet, he still went out and got Harry's job back for him. He never even confronted Harry and Draco. "Wow. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I guess I didn't want to get between you two."

"But, you love Draco so much, Ron."

"I know," Ron said. "I do love him, but I took a potion for it.. It doesn't matter now.. I heard that your old cellmate, Richy Rivets was released." Ron took a seat on Harry's bed, and Harry followed.

Harry's expression quickly changed. "What?" He thought he ears were deceiving him.

"Yeah, it turns out that he didn't belong there."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Ron said. "Didn't you know why he was there?"

"No. . ."

"They accused him of kidnapping Cornelius' wife. Richy told them she just wanted a break or whatever his story was and left herself. They didn't believe him, thought it was weird to have a guy like Richy know that. They thought he did something and locked him up. He's an easy-going guy, never put up a fight. He didn't even tell him how he knew it."

"How did he?"

"He's seemingly psychic, he just told them yesterday. . the day after Cornelius' wife returned safe from her vacation."

Harry shrugged. "I always thought that man was crazy or something."

Harry then remembered what Richy said to him the night before he left, "Y'know, Harry, yeh should keep better care of that hair of yours. Yeh don' want it falling into the wrong hands." Well that explained a lot. Harry wished that Rich told him sooner, maybe none of this mess would have happened.

"Look, Ron," Harry began. "I think I'm going to my own home tonight. I just can't stay here, I'm sorry."

"I understand," Ron replied.

"I'll be done packing up and out of here in fifteen minutes."

Ron started to get up, "Take care of yourself, Harry." He walked to the door and as he opened it he turned around. "I'm sorry that it had to turn out this way." He closed the door behind him.

"So am I," Harry whispered to himself, softly.

Draco's self-loathing was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Draco, open up, it's me, Ron."

"Shit," Draco muttered under his breath. Right now, Ron might have just been the last person on Draco's list of people to see. Draco got up and opened the door anyway. "Hey, Ron."

"Look, Draco, I'm sorry for everything that's happened between you and Harry." Ron made his way into the room and took a seat that was right next to their bookshelf. "He's leaving as we speak."

"I think I might move out too, Ron. I'm sorry."



"It's okay," Ron said quietly.

"No, it really isn't though, Ron," Draco said. "You didn't deserve any of this, but that's what you got anyway. I'm sorry. I'm going to move to a house right by my old one. It's owned by my family, so it shouldn't be a problem. But unlike Harry, I don't think I can pack up and go in just one night. I'll be leaving within two days, I can promise you that."

But Ron didn't look happy at this news, but Draco didn't look to happy about giving it. He didn't give him a chance to speak. He got up and walked to the door. "I'll sleep on the couch tonight." He opened and closed the door behind him.

Ron sat there, alone in the room. Had he done the right thing? He wasn't too sure. It seemed like the right thing to do, to keep out of it, to not get involved. But was this how he wanted it to turn out? He had no idea that Draco would do this to Harry. He didn't want it to be like this. He just wanted to see Draco happy, even if that didn't include him.

Even if it included his best friend, just as long as Draco was happy. Ron's feelings didn't matter.

But now no one was happy, not Draco, not Ron, not Harry.

Harry opened the door to his apartment and took a look around. The air was cold, clammy and thick. He could barely remember the last time he was here. He took a good look around and put his luggage down, unpacking the thing he wanted to get rid of the most.

That bloody golden dragon.

He looked at the bottom, at the engraving in it. I love you more. "Like hell you do," he said. Harry couldn't find it in him to throw it out. So, with caution, the paperweight in his hand, the Celestial Flight in another, he walked to the room where he kept all the Draco things, the room Draco stayed in when he was there.

Harry didn't waste any extra time in the room. It reminded him too much of Draco. He just quickly walked in, put the broom in the corner, the paperweight on the desk, and walked out. He slammed the door behind him and walked to the living room and took a seat in his old couch.

Harry looked up at the ceiling. This all didn't make sense and was far too painful. The pendent was destroyed. The one that bound Harry to Draco. The spell was broken, Harry was free. But Harry could never tell.

The moment that pendent was broken, Harry didn't feel anything. No change, nothing, nada, zilch. He just felt betrayed by the man he loved. And it wasn't fair.

If the pendent is what kept Harry bound to Draco.

Why was Harry still in love with Draco?