Chapter Six – and understand new ways

Friday was a luminously sunny sort of day. Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat together in Transfiguration, sneaking glances at the window while they tried to turn a sheep into an armchair. Each and every chair still kept bleating loudly whenever someone tried to sit on it, and even Hermione was too distracted to get it perfect.

"Class, this is no joke," snapped Professor McGonagall irritably. "I have come to expect this from some of you, but today every one of you is doing badly!"

"She means baaaaaaaadly," quipped Dean quietly, prompting a round of snickering from the surrounding students.

McGonagall sighed. "I can see it's no use trying to teach you in this state. Therefore, I will give you a choice: if you are all willing to come to class early next week, I will let you out now. By a show of hands…"

Every student in the room had at least one hand up, and some of the chairs attempted it.

Hermione was wrapped up in trying to fight her guilt about not wanting to be in class and Ron was busy trying not to skip down the hall, so neither of them noticed when Harry was stopped by Draco. The two boys watched Harry's friends go off down the hall before moving into an empty classroom to talk.

"What's up, Dray?" asked Harry curiously.

"I have something to tell you. Meet me here later tonight… midnight. Meet me here at midnight," whispered Draco, winked saucily, and slipped out the door. When Harry followed, Draco was already gone.

Harry could think of nothing else the rest of the day. What did Draco want to tell him? Why did he want to meet him there? If precedence meant anything… he shivered in anticipation.

"Cold, Harry?" asked Hermione. He blinked confusedly and shook his head.

"No, it's not cold… it's nice out here," he said vaguely, and leaned back against the tree. Hermione grinned knowingly and returned to her book. Harry squinted against the sun and resumed staring at his watch. Only six hours more to wait…

"Harry, what are you sitting around for? Come play Quidditch with us!" He was dragged onto the field against his will.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Finally midnight came near. Harry could take it no longer and set off to wait for Draco, but when he arrived at the room half an hour early, Draco was already there waiting for him.

"You're finally here!" Draco greeted him.

"I'm twenty-seven minutes early," snapped Harry. "What are we here for anyway?" He crossed his arms to keep from wrapping them around Draco, and Draco frowned at him.

"Why are you mad?"

"I'm not," said Harry, and gave in to his instinct. Draco laughed softly, his chest shaking against Harry's with the breath of it, and responded in kind, entwining his hands in Harry's hair.

After a moment they broke apart. "You didn't answer me," reminded Harry, suddenly in a very good mood. "What did you have to tell me?"

"I had to tell you about my house!" said Draco brightly.

"Your… house?" said Harry.

"My house," said Draco. "I just inherited it. And I think I need to make some use of it soon… and you're going to help me. Got your invisibility cloak with you?"

Harry's delight at having a safe place to be with Draco cut off suddenly, and he smacked his hand against his forehead. "No! How did I forget to bring it? I always have it when I sneak out!"

"No matter, we have time to go get it," said Draco.

They saw no one as they made their way to Gryffindor Tower, and took the risk of going hand in hand. Harry snuck Draco into the common room. "Wait here while I grab the cloak from upstairs," Harry whispered. He looked around quickly, and seeing that they were alone, gave Draco a quick kiss – being quick because it was cut off by an unbelieving shriek.

They both whirled towards the stairway and saw Neville standing there, whiter than a ghost.

"Oh, shit," muttered Harry.

Draco put on his most menacing face and strode, looking like Slytherin himself in all his alarming glory, up the stairs to stand before Neville. Harry stood behind Draco and tried to look in agreement as Draco threatened Neville.

"Look here, boy, if you tell anyone – ANYONE – what you just saw, I will make sure that something REALLY BAD happens to you. Got it?" Neville paled even more, if possible, as his imagination got to work. He saw Harry standing there and sent him a pleading look. Harry's stomach sank, but he spoke anyway.

"Listen, Neville, really. Shut up about it. Nobody needs to know." Harry, clearing his throat, pushed past both of them and into his room. Grabbing his invisibility cloak, he went back down the stairs, where Draco was still glaring at Neville, and pulled Draco down the stairs by his arm. They left Neville behind in Gryffindor Tower, standing shellshocked on the stairs.

"He's not going to tell, is he?" asked Draco suspiciously.

"After the ultimatum you gave him, I'd be surprised if he ever spoke again," said Harry.

"Good," said Draco smugly, then, "oh, damn it all!"

"What?" said Harry, alarmed.

"I left my key in my room. Come on, let's hurry up and get it so we can get out of here!"

They hurried down to the Slytherin rooms, hiding themselves under the invisibility cloak this time. Harry was surprised to find that the Slytherins had constructed barriers – temporary but soundproof – between their own areas, so they didn't have to be quiet as they looked for the key. Draco certainly didn't even try. He dug through his belongings haphazardly and threw several things violently at the floor as soon as he saw they weren't keys.

Harry perused a few of the books Draco deposited carelessly on the bed where he was sitting while Draco swore at his clothes. A couple of schoolbooks, nothing interesting… then Harry saw one that had fallen open upon the bed. Its pages were covered in a frantic scrawl. Unable to help himself, he picked it up and read.

"…that he's so much fun to mess with. I feel kind of guilty getting involved with this, but honestly, the boy is so good that this is probably necessary. Right? I have to"

"Found it!" Harry guiltily dropped what he now recognised as Draco's journal as Draco triumphantly held up the key.

Harry's voice cracked a bit as he responded. "Great, let's go," he murmured, his mind still racing with the meaning of what he'd read. So Draco didn't like him after all…

He shouldn't be surprised, he reminded himself as he followed Draco out of the school, his legs moving of their own accord; or maybe he was just letting Draco make him walk, he thought bitterly. He shouldn't be surprised. After all, how many people did he know who really liked him just for him? Ron, Hermione. Dumbledore, maybe. Everybody else liked him because he was Harry Potter, boy wonder. Even when the Slytherins hated him, they hated him because he was Harry Potter. And even Draco only liked him because he could control him.

So that's the way it is, he thought. So this is what it feels like to be heartbroken. Well, I won't let him see he's won. If he's in it for the lust, so am I.

"Ready to fly, Potter?" questioned Draco as they approached the place near the edge of the woods where Draco had stashed their broomsticks.

Harry steeled himself. "I'm ready for whatever you throw at me."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The trip to Draco's house only took ten minutes, but it was ten of the longest minutes of Harry's life. He kept his eyes glued straight ahead, afraid he might lose his nerve and leave Draco right in the air.

They landed in the front yard of a beautiful house and carried their broomsticks onto the porch. Draco, grinning, triumphantly produced the key and opened the door. The inside of the house was just as beautiful.

"Wow," said Harry, forcing a smile, "I always thought the Malfoys were more of a fortress family."

"We have a couple of those too." Draco went into the living room and lit a fire in an enormous fireplace, then flopped onto a plush couch. "Come here, loverboy." Harry sat down stiffly next to him.

"What are you so tense for tonight? What's wrong?" Draco started to massage Harry's shoulders and kissed him on the neck as Harry shook his head.

"Nothing's any different," he said.

"Good," said Draco, and transferred his kisses to full on Harry's mouth. Harry tried to give in and relax his muscles, but they refused to go down without a fight. He had managed to lean halfway back against the couch before his conscience came back in full force. He leapt to his feet.

"What is it?!" said Draco, alarmed and trying to pull Harry back onto the couch. Harry resisted.

"I can't do this," he said.

"Why on earth not?" demanded Draco. "It's not like you haven't before."

"I just… I don't feel right. I know you're just using me. I don't want to be used anymore."

Draco's mouth hung open. "Where do you get this idea?"

Harry snapped at him. "I know it's true. You shouldn't throw your journal so carelessly at the people you write about." He headed for his broomstick on the porch. "I think it's time you find another person to use for your little games. I'm leaving."

"Oh, no, oh, no," mouthed Draco wordlessly, before managing, "wait!" Harry turned slightly just before Draco shouted, "PETRIFICUS TOTALIS!"

Harry felt his limbs stiffen and watched the floor lurch terribly close to his face before Draco caught him with a spell and set him upon the couch before racing out the door. Harry's heart pounded in fear. This was a more terrible betrayal than the one he had thought was taking place. Where was Draco going now? To his father? Oh, no… to Voldemort? He struggled effortlessly to move, knowing suddenly how terrible this must have been for Hermione in their second year.

The twenty minutes until Draco returned seemed like fifty million times what the flight to the house had been. Harry stared resignedly at the door, watching to see who came in after Draco, but no one did. Then he noticed that Draco was carrying the journal.

"If you're going to read a person's private thoughts, Potter, at least read them all before judging them," said Draco, his throat impossibly choked with tears. Harry listened amazedly as Draco began to read from the little book.

"It drives me crazy that I can't help feeling like Harry is so much more… special, more real, more important than I used to think. At the same time I can't help that he's so much fun to mess with. I feel kind of guilty getting involved with this, but honestly, the boy is so good that this is probably necessary. Right? I have to think so. I probably couldn't stop this feeling if I tried, but I don't want to try. I just can't help it that whenever I see him my heart does this strange tattoo. I'm afraid that I'm falling for him."

Draco finally finished, his face flushing red, and released Harry from the spell. "I'm sorry, I couldn't let you leave without knowing," he said, handing to book to Harry. Harry read it all over again.

"Wow," he said, not knowing any other words to describe all the turns his life had just almost taken.

"I know," said Draco. "I'm scared too."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They returned to Hogwarts just before the sun rose, and pretended to climb out of bed at around the same time as the rest of the students. Tired as they were, they each couldn't help but notice the energetic buzzing of the other students as they headed down to breakfast separately.

"What's going on?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.

"I would have thought you'd know," said Ron. "Somebody gave a truth candy to Neville."

Harry stopped walking as he realised the import. Neville would have had to tell what he had seen last night, and everybody would know there was no way it was a lie.

"Cat's out, Harry," said Hermione, shaking her head.

"Well, this will be interesting," said Draco, coming up to Harry. "I guess they all know we're talking anyway, so hi! How are you?"

Close to forty people stopped walking outside the Great Hall and watched them, filling the air with tense anticipation.

Harry looked around and then lifted his chin defiantly. "I'm great, Draco. How are you this morning?"

"Oh, just a bit tired," he said saucily. Somebody in the crowd cheered temporarily before Professor McGonagall testily told them all to get out of the entrance hall.

They made their way eagerly through the doors towards breakfast. "Hey, Malfoy," said Ron suddenly, "want to sit with us?"

Draco looked extremely surprised, and Hermione looked extremely proud of Ron, who started to turn pink. "Sure," said Draco.

They made their way to the Gryffindor table, and sat down with all the school watching to see what would happen next.

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