Disclaimer : Me no own; You no sue ^.^

A/N: As always, thank you for the reviews. There are going to be a *lot* of chapters to this story and the reviews keep me going when motivation is low.

After the end of the last chapter, here is your gratuitous "happy" chapter, though I wouldn't call it fluff per say. Heh…more like angsty goo…maybe. ALTHOUGH, as it states in the summary, this is angsty slash with fluff thrown in…not fluffy slash with angst thrown in. Our boys are in a complex situation and it's going to be a bumpy ride. I, personally, love the bumps…they keep it interesting…but that could be the masochist in me. I am so very ready to continue the story beyond the film and I am constantly having to fight rushing through the chapters, so I apologize if this one is sub-par. I am trying my best to make them full and not choppy, but as I am still new to this writing thing, I'm not sure if it's working. ANYHOO! On with the beautiful boy love! *drool*. Please R&R.

P.S. I understand that the Malfoy Manor thing is a little far fetched…but, hey, work with me here.

Chapter 6…………….Harry and the hippogriff?

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Harry lurched forward to the ground. This had to be an illusion…a side effect of the wine. He thought he might be sick.

As if on cue, the sky burst open pouring unimaginable amounts of water down on the grounds, and before Pansy or Draco could notice the rain bouncing off of the patent lump in front of them, Pansy let out a girlish squeak and ran for the castle. Harry scrambled to get behind a bush and once this was accomplished, he removed his cloak and stood to look at Draco.

The blonde looked like he hadn't even noticed the rain, sitting on the ground, with his knees bent, his chin resting in between his kneecaps. Harry continued to observe him for a moment, still trying to decipher his thoughts about what he had seen and heard.

Draco merely leaned back a few inches, tilted his head towards the sky, positioned his arms straight out like wings and just sat there.

'Why is he sitting in the rain like this?'

Unable to take it any longer, Harry decided to gather up his now soaking cloak and just go back to his room. At least he could cry out loud there. He began to stalk away as quietly as possible when a quiet voice from behind him stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Harry?"

That was it. Whatever shred of dignity or self-restraint Harry thought he possessed in this situation quickly left him and washed away with the rain. He whipped around on his heels, not bothering with the 'what are you doing heres' and the skirting around whether he'd seen them or not.

"BUSY?!"

"Harry…I…."

"Busy doing what Draco? You lied to me!"

"I didn't lie…."

'Didn't lie? DIDN'T LIE?' Harry was about to lose it. He was tired. So very tired of constantly watching his back and wondering how much everyone knew. He'd all but laid his soul bare to the blonde in front of him and for what? Harry decided right there that he was through with the impersonalities and constant allusions. He was a Gryffindor damnit! Where was his courage now? Before he'd even realized he was going to do it his hand seemingly acted on its own will and gifted Draco's cheek with a slap that, although mediocre, clearly got his point across.

"Don't tell me you didn't lie damnit! You purposefully tried to keep this from me and *that* is still lying, but obviously no one ever cared enough to teach you that."

His words stung. Harry had hit a nerve with Draco and he knew it. Just a few nights before they'd been lying on Harry's bed discussing Draco's father and his upbringing; Harry knew it was a low blow, but didn't particularly care at the moment. Draco tensed and took a deep breath before forcing calm words from his lips.

"That's not fair Harry."

"FAIR? I'll tell you what's not fair you bastard….no….you know what? Just get out of my life…" Harry tried again to leave, but again was stopped by Draco's voice from behind him. Harry might not have stopped if the voice had not sounded almost pleading.

"Don't you see….Harry?"

Without turning to face him, Harry raised his voice so that the Slytherin could hear him over the rain.

"See what?"

"If I go out with Pansy…I mean…if I see her now and again then no one will suspect…no one will know. I haven't spoken two words to her since Ball, I swear!"

"Oh so you're just using her then?"

"Yes…no!..." Draco stammered.

"If she means nothing to you why didn't you just tell me you were seeing her today?"

"If you want the truth…I *wanted* to see her today. I wanted…to feel good about myself. I wanted the rest of them to see me with my pre-arranged pure blood girlfriend."

Now Harry turned around to meet the eyes of grey obscured by the rain.

 "Great…now I know." For the third time he tried to leave…he really did, the hand on his arm would make the task a little difficult though.

Draco was closer to him now, close enough that Harry could make out all the drops of water on his face. He'd like to think that some of them were tears, but told himself not to hope for it when they were most likely just rain.

"All I felt….I was going through the motions…holding her…kissing her. She's a great girl…I've known her all my life….I like her Harry….I really like her."

Harry cursed whatever foreign object that was apparently lodged in his throat making his breathing difficult and his words choppy.

"Do you love her?"

Harry closed his eyes; he didn't know why he asked. The answer didn't matter. Not only was he certain that the answer would be yes, but he saw now. He saw how Pansy fit into Draco's life where he didn't. Her name…her bloodlines…her gender. Harry steeled himself for the blow that no fist could deliver…only words.

"I love *you*, Harry."

He forced his eyes open. What? How? Why? It didn't make any sense. He loved him? Harry couldn't be foolhardy enough to believe it…even if it were true…this obviously wasn't going to work. Not when it was driving him to tear stained and drunken lovers spats in the rain. Slowly closing his eyes again to avoid the grey gaze he could drown in sooner than this insipid rain, Harry had to force the next words to leave his protesting lips.

"It can't work…Draco. You don't mean that."

"I do! I love you!"

"How do I know that?"

"Well if it helps I won't see Pansy anymore."

"Can't you see, that's not enough! *I* want to make you feel good about yourself. Christ Draco! You don't even want people to know we're friends! It's like you're ashamed to even look in my direction when other people are around!"

"I'll do better…please…just give me another chance…I'll prove it…I'll prove I love you…just…please…" Draco hung his head waiting for Harry to decide. Drops of rain dripped from the soaking strands of hair obscuring his eyes, reflecting an ethereal prism, the color playing off of his pale, moonlit skin.

'Why does he have to be so beautiful?' Harry thought, irritated, but strangely full of hope. Draco had that broken doll look about him again, the same one from their first night together, and Harry almost wept at the sight. He wondered briefly if Draco meant to look this way, knowing it would break him, or if it was precisely that he was so unaware of his own beauty that made him so magnificent. With no further thought, he stepped forward and enveloped the surprised boy in an embrace, burying his face in the drenched blonde mass now next to his cheek.

"I'm sorry Harry…so sorry…." The words almost didn't reach him they were so soft.

It was a long moment before either of them spoke again, both afraid to upset the fragile balance they had created. Inevitably though, Harry's curiosity got the better of him.

"Is this why you weren't at breakfast that day?" Harry asked.

Draco's reply was almost a whisper; Harry could feel his words against his neck more than he could hear them.

"Yes, and no. I was with Snape. He knows something's wrong Harry."

Harry winced a bit at the word 'wrong', but let Draco continue without mentioning it.

"He wanted to know where I'd been…he was asking me questions about you…like he knew something but wanted me to say it…maybe he suspects but isn't sure. So I figured I needed to do damage control. I needed to put in an appearance with Pansy to throw them off. I'm sorry…I should have told you…I'm sorry…."

When Draco resumed his weeping, Harry's heart broke. He was split down the middle between cursing his weak will with the boy and extreme happiness that he had not lost his dragon.

"Shh…stop saying that. It's over now. Just….don't lie to me anymore, okay?"

"Okay."

Harry moved Draco's chin to look him in the eyes. In them he saw pain, fear, uncertainty, and love.

'I have a feeling this is going to hurt' was Harry's last thought before closing the space between them for a very steamy, very cliché, mind blowing kiss in the pouring rain.

****************************************

As it was inevitable, Monday soon rolled around, bringing with it classes, lonely nights and what Harry feared would be the same cold shoulder from his secret lover when in the public eye.

After lunch, Harry mindlessly wandered down some random hall, finding his way to his classes out of habit and memory, his mind definitely somewhere else. He just happened to glance up and notice Draco leaning against the wall having some meaningless conversation with another seventh year. Upon further inspection Harry noticed the girl was a Ravenclaw and that the two of them seemed rather enthralled with their conversation. Thinking Draco probably didn't notice him anyways, Harry attempted to scurry past them with his eyes cast downward towards the floor. Seething that those few steps seemed to be the hardest of his life, Harry was surprised to hear his name called from behind him.

"Potter!"

Harry tried to get his grin under control before turning around… he only half succeeded. Knowing his voice would betray him and most likely come out as an indignant squeak, he faced Malfoy expectantly, saying nothing.

"I have some good news; I'll tell you all about it after your quidditch practice later, okay?"

Harry just nodded his head, still at a loss for words and when he sat down at his desk in his next class, he wasn't sure how he'd gotten there. He felt like he'd just floated down the hall and landed there, although the lack of pointing and whispers told him he probably didn't. The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion from classes, all the way through his practice. How he managed to catch the snitch was totally beyond him, but he figured it had to be a good sign that he could catch the thing even when his mind was far away.

With practice over, he lingered around the stands, eager to hear Draco's good news.

A bit of a distance from the stands, Harry could see Draco approaching with a group of other Slytherins. Steeling himself, Harry doubted that the rest of the group would take kindly to Draco's new 'friend'. He found he didn't have to worry just yet though, as the rest of the group veered in another direction and Harry could see Draco tell Zabini to go on without him, that he would be right there. He also noticed Zabini's glare aimed somewhere between his ear and his scar…but let it go, as he had more important things to deal with at that moment. As Draco drew near to him, he grinned at the other boy.

"So what's this good news?"

"Well…this weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend, correct?"

Harry nodded.

"Everyone will be there, but my parents have a social event to attend to…so the Manor will be empty."

Not entirely sure where this was headed Harry cocked his head slightly.

"….And?"

"AND I can portkey us there. Just us…alone…in the Manor…"

"How, may I ask, can you do that?"

"I'm a genuine spoiled brat, Potter; I would have thought you'd have noticed by now. I have portkeys so I can go home whenever I please."

"What if we get caught?" Harry seemed a bit apprehensive.

"I doubt anyone will even notice we're gone…as long as you can keep the Mud….er…Granger and the Weasel from sniffing around."

Harry just blinked, unsure of what to say, and silence reigned for a long moment before Draco could take it no longer.

"Merlin Potter, are you daft? Would you like to spend the weekend with me at the Manor or not?"

Grinning, Harry decided he liked this idea…in fact, it was one of the best ideas he'd ever heard. He shifted his gaze to Draco and felt his grin twist into a smirk.

"Hmmm….I have to think about it. Ow!" Harry rubbed the now sore spot on his arm. "You pinched me!"

Harry also learned that his smirk was no match for Malfoy's…the master of smirks. He had to admit that said smirk looked very fetching on him nonetheless, especially when accompanied by his trademark drawl.

"You deserved it."

************************************************

Later, just before bedtime, Hermione managed to drag Harry into a corner of the Gryffindor common room and began the third degree. Harry wasn't really in the mood, but before he could protest, the bushy-haired girl began her tirade.

"Harry, is it true? Did Malfoy really talk to you in the halls? In front of everyone?"

Harry beamed. "Yes."

"But I heard he had a date with Parkinson the other day, I take it that was for show then?"

Again, "Yes."

"What's all this business with Ginny? Does she know? Was she covering for you?"

"Yes."

"Does Malfoy know she knows? Does he know *I* know?"

Harry fidgeted, uncomfortably realizing that no, Draco didn't know the two girls knew of their affair, and although Harry was certain he could trust them, he didn't think Draco would appreciate it.

"No."

"How did Ginny find out? What'd she say? I bet she caught you snogging didn't she?"

"Not snogging exactly."

"Has Ron said anything about…well…liking me?"

"No....What?....where did that come from?!"

"Well…he sort of….he kissed me."

Harry was now quite interested in the conversation, not to mention glad that the topic had switched from his love life for once. He grinned excitedly at his friend and decided it was his turn to ask questions.

"Where?"

"By the lake."

"Mione…I…um…I meant….where"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I know what you meant you miserable sod." She shot him a playful glare. "On the cheek."

Harry gave her a hug, he had been feeling bad about neglecting her lately, and although he was truly happy for his two friends for finally getting together, he selfishly enjoyed the fact that this relieved a bit of his guilt.

"I knew he liked you…he never said anything…but I could tell. I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Don't go buying my wedding present just yet! Afterwards he just ran off…mumbled some excuse about Divination homework."

Harry tried to look and sound reassuring. "I'm sure he was just nervous…he really does like you, like I said, I can tell. I can talk to him…if you like."

Hermione's face suddenly lit up. "Would you?"

"Sure, I'll do it right now…I'll fill you in tomorrow."

Harry hugged the girl one last time and set off to find his ginger friend. He didn't have to go far, as Ron was at that very moment, climbing through the portrait hole. The red-haired boy took one look at Hermione, though, and abruptly turned around, his face turning a brilliant red. Harry quickly leapt out after him, stumbling into the hall to catch his best friend.

"Ron!....RON!"

Ron eased around, obviously terrified. His face relaxed a bit, but not entirely, when he realized Harry was alone."

"Yeah, Harry?"

"Come to my room for a bit would you…I haven't been able to really talk to you for a while."

Ron contemplated turning Harry down, knowing somehow that his bespectacled friend was going to ask him about Hermione, but when weighing talking to Harry against actually having to face Hermione, Harry won out.

"Okay."

Once the duo made it inside Harry's room, Harry inwardly cursed himself for not thinking the invitation through…he had no idea if any of Draco's things were lying about, so he looked around hurriedly and used his seeker reflexes to snatch up odd bits here and there and shove them under the bed.

"So…" Harry began, "how've you been? What've you been up to? What's…oh hell…so you kissed Mione?"

Ron muttered something under his breath that sounded to Harry like "Cupid squirrels always smell everything." But Harry knew that probably wasn't correct.

"What?"

"I said stupid girls always tell everything."

"Oh…well, she just told me, Ron…she was concerned about-"

Ron cut him off. "I know! I know okay…and I'm sorry!"

Harry was mildly confused with Ron's sudden apology. "Sorry for what, Ron?"

Ron scrambled over to Harry's side and gave him a pleading look. "I couldn't help it…we were studying and she was being her usual bossy self and then the sun hit her hair and she looked so pretty and I couldn't help it…I'm sorry!"

"Whoa…slow down mate…what exactly are you sorry for?"

"I *kissed* Hermione, Harry…I *kissed* her…she'll have my bullocks for earrings!"

Harry chuckled a bit at the visual before trying to reassure his friend. "She's not mad, Ron."

"I know! Tell her I'm….what?"

"She's happy you kissed her…she is a bit upset that you ran away though."

"Really?"

"Really. So what took you so long anyways?"

"Well I thought maybe you two had something going on and didn't want me to know yet…seeing as how you were always together and laughing like you knew something I didn't."

Harry winced a bit at how close to home Ron's comment actually hit, although he tried not to let Ron notice.

"Well obviously we don't have 'something going on', but what made you change your mind?"

"I first started thinking about it a few weeks ago when you two were together less often. I got to see her more, but I thought maybe you guys just had a row or something and were cooling off…but then the thing with Ginny…"

"Oh…er…right….that."

"So since you're off the market now, I couldn't help it." Ron was grinning ear to ear. "Oh it'll be so great, Harry, the four of us…we'll have loads of fun!"

Harry removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration; he really did hate keeping Ron in the dark, but still could not find the courage to tell him the truth. Placing his glasses on his bedside table, as he'd be going to bed soon anyways, he gave Ron a pat on the shoulder before speaking.

"Right, well, I suggest you find Mione and tell her all of this before bed, or else you'll have a very disgruntled witch on your case in the morning."

"Yeah…I'll do that. I'll see you at breakfast…and Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks."

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As the week passed the news that 2/3rds of the golden trio were romantically involved spread through the school like wildfire. Harry thought the gossip both a blessing and an annoyance. He thought it a blessing because it took attention away from him, which he always welcomed, but it perturbed him that around every corner the little groups of gossip mongers would abruptly stop and scurry away when they noticed him. This kind of behavior made him paranoid, but alas, being marked for death from infancy tends to make one permanently jumpy.

 Draco spoke to him whenever they passed each other in the halls, which made Harry happy, although the Slytherin never sought him out for public conversation. Ginny seemed to thoroughly enjoy acting as his girlfriend, and when he asked her about it she simply replied to him "Damnit Harry…you crushed my dream, the least you can do is let me enjoy the charade for now!" And so he let her. After all, she could be so much like her mother at times, and Harry found that not just a little bit scary. Despite all of the new developments and gossip, Harry found this particular week to be one of the best in recent memory.

So when the weekend came around Harry was so excited about spending it in domestic bliss with Draco that he quite literally could not stop smiling. He felt the familiar tug behind his navel and the next thing he knew, he was looking around the most magnificent house he'd ever seen.

He no sooner got to his feet than he launched himself at Draco, locking the blonde boy in a tight embrace and blazing kiss. Draco returned his affections, but pulled away after only a moment with a genuinely bright smile on his face.

"Eager are we?" he drawled.

Harry only grinned and made to pounce again, but Draco stopped him.

"C'mon Harry, we've two days…I want to show you around."

Harry reluctantly agreed. After a grueling two hour tour of the massive mansion, Draco suggested they eat lunch and before Harry could protest and offer up snogging as a substitute, his stomach answered for him with a rather loud grumble. After shoving food into his mouth at record speeds, Harry prepared to attack again and was *again* thwarted by Draco who insisted he needed to run upstairs and get something. A few minutes later he returned with a bottle of what looked like a lotion of some sort. Harry fidgeted in his seat before managing a lusty "So…what's the lotion for?"

Draco quirked an eyebrow. "Its sun block, you walking hard on. In case you haven't noticed…I have quite a fair complexion."

Harry rolled his eyes, Draco wasn't girly in any way, but he could be quite high maintenance at times. "Why do you need sun block?"

"I just told you Boy-Who-Obviously-Can't-Hear…I burn easily!"

Harry punched him lightly in the arm for his smart remark. "I *heard* that part…what are we doing that requires sun block?"

Draco quirked his eyebrow again. "We're going swimming."

****************************************************************************

Meanwhile, at Hogsmeade, Hermione and Ron were leisurely wandering about when Ron noticed Ginny cozying up to a flushed Colin Creevy. Ron snorted and turned to Hermione.

"She finally gets Harry and look at her, I guess she can't help it if she doesn't know how to act sometimes…she grew up with all of us after all."

Hermione giggled a bit. "I simply cannot imagine having to be the only girl with you lot." And she poked Ron playfully in the ribs.

Ron rubbed his sore middle. "Yeah, but she wouldn't even be over there if Harry would act like a proper boyfriend. Where is he anyway?"

Hermione began to squirm a bit before replying. "I'm sure he's around."

"No, I haven't seen him all day…he's always running off on weekends, I know, but we should have seen him somewhere by now. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Ron, I'm sure he's fine."

"Think about it Mione, if everything were alright, Harry would be here with us, or with Gin…but he's nowhere to be found…I think we should talk to Dumbledore."

"NO!" Hermione grabbed Ron's arm to keep him from running off.

"Jeez, Hermione what's gotten into…" Ron was cut off by Hermione fiercely kissing him in the middle of the street. She ignored the whistles passersby were giving them. This seemed to distract Ron, but eventually, he pulled out of the kiss and stared at his girlfriend inquisitively.

"O…kay. Mione, what was that for?"

She flashed him a brilliant smile. "I need an excuse to kiss you now?"

"No but….wait a second…you're hiding something! You know where Harry is!"

"No I don't" she lied.

"I was guessing before, but now I know…you've always been miserable at lying! Where is he?"

Hermione suddenly found the ground very interesting. 'Damn you Harry Potter!' seemed to be the only thought running through her head.

"I…I can't tell you."

"What?! Bloody Hell! My girlfriend and my best friend keeping secrets from me? What've I ever done for you two not to trust me?"

"I keep telling Harry to tell you, but I *can't*! It's not my place!"

Ron's eyes suddenly flashed back to the Harry-less Ginny across the street. Immediately his face turned scarlet and he fought to keep himself from yelling.

"He's with another girl isn't he!? I'll kill him!"

"NO! Ron I assure you Harry is *not* with another girl!"

Ron was still incensed. "Not with another girl? What's he with then? A hippogriff?"

Hermione darted her eyes around to make sure they weren't drawing attention. "Yes Ron…now you know…Harry's run off with Buckbeak."

"That's not funny Hermione; if he's not with another girl, then….oh…god..." Ron's face paled and his hands hung limply at his sides.

Hermione quickly went into her damage control mode and she made haste to find out what Ron thought he knew.

"Oh god what, Ron?"

He stood perfectly still, looking about three inches to left of Hermione's head, staring blankly into space.

"He's with a boy." It was not a question.

The head girl let out a deep breath…this was not going to be pretty. If she denied it, she'd be outright lying, and Ron was more than just her friend now…but Harry trusted her to keep his secret. In the end, she figured it best to just tell Ron at least a tiny bit of what was going on to alleviate his sense of betrayal. After all…Harry James Potter got himself into this mess in the first place, and she wasn't about to lie down with him in this hole he had been digging.

"I know he wanted to tell you Ron…he's just…scared."

Ron sat down with a plop right in the middle of the street, finding his knees suddenly very weak. Hermione knelt down beside him albeit with more grace.

"I didn't want to keep it from you…it's just that it's not my secret. Please don't hate me."

"I could never hate you, Mione…it's just…I don't understand…how could I not know…he's my best mate…why wouldn't he tell me he's…that he's….?"

Hermione simply hugged Ron, hoping to ease some of the shock from him. They were silent for a long moment before Ron spoke up, although muffled by his girlfriend's hair.

"Mione?"

"Yes?"

"Where's Malfoy?"

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TBC

Whew! Long chapter (for me anyways)….but it's done. Please review. I need the morale.

Love and Kisses,

Reika