Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing. :sigh: JKR is the genius.

III. The Damage Done

It was a little over a week before Harry finally realized that something was off. He had been preoccupied and a little stressed. He spent sometime thinking and observing and came to the conclusion that he did, in fact, like boys as well as girls. It was the only way he could explain recent events. He knew he wasn't appalled because Malfoy was a boy, but because Malfoy was Malfoy.

Hermione had merely blinked and told him that nothing had changed and he was still Harry. Then she hugged him and told him she was still always there if he needed someone to talk to.

Ron had sat quietly for a moment, then looked at Harry straight in the eye and asked him if Harry had ever thought of him in "that way." Harry, without breaking eye contact and without pause had said, "Of course not." Ron had seemed to think this over. He then made a joke about how appalled he was that Harry didn't think he was good enough for him and proceeded to kick his arse at wizard's chess.

So he may like boys, but he certainly didn't like Malfoy. He was certain about that. He told himself that every time he reached for the vanilla ice cream during dinner.

He'd taken to sprinkling crushed almonds over it.

Draco got uncontrollably angry every time his eyes so much as grazed strands of untidy hair or a flash of green. Crabbe and Goyle would cough in concern and Draco would ignore them. Blaise would arch a perfect sandy eyebrow; Draco would ignore him. Pansy would roll her eyes; Draco would growl, then ignore her. In fact, he felt that ignoring everyone and everything suited him just fine. Anger was a normal part of Draco's life.

Then he noticed he was getting distracted. Earlier that week in potions, he had been paired with Potter as usual, and he had almost made a mistake. He had earned a rare "look" from Snape and cut himself in the process. He thought he'd imagined Potter looking at him as he'd licked the blood off his hand.

Draco had stalked into the common room. Two first years were sitting in his favorite leather chair by the fire and they froze when they saw him. Draco didn't even notice, instead, he sat in a different chair. All activity in the common room had ground to a halt. It was then that his fellow Slytherins began to actually worry.

"Draco, something is bothering you." Pansy said, taking her seat at the house table.

"Mind your own business, Parkinson."

"Fine." Pansy snorted. "I had the kitchens make this for you. Maybe it'll help."

Draco blinked at the dish in front of him. It was a sundae; coffee ice cream and caramel.

"Now aren't you glad you decided to come?"

"Sure." Harry flashed a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I thought so!" Hermione skipped the rest of the way to Flourish and Blotts.

They had special permission from McGonagall to floo to Diagon Alley so Hermione could purchase some books to help her study for her N.E.W.T.S.

"Uh. Ron, why is Hermione skipping?"

"A shop filled with books cheers her up?" Ron shrugged, "And speaking of cheering up, something's got you down."

"What?" Harry wasn't really listening, "Oh, no. Nothing. Nothing important."

As soon as they reached the front of the shop, Hermione came out, packages in hand.

"You're done already?!" Ron rolled his eyes. "Do you have that shop memorized or something?"

Hermione gave Ron a withering look, "I owled my order ahead. The real reason I organized this trip was so we could get Harry to tell us what's been bothering him."

Harry scowled, "I already told you two, NOTHING is wrong!"

Ron gave Hermione a knowing look.

"Oh no you don't!" Hermione ran behind Harry and began to steer him around. "I can't get any studying done worrying about you. We're not leaving until you tell us what's going on."

Harry found himself standing in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Ah. Mr. Malfoy. It's always a pleasure to see you here."

"You don't have to butter me up, Borgin. I'm not my father. Besides, you mean it's always a pleasure to see my money."

"Of course, of course. You have always been...alert to false sensibilities..."

"I said that's enough." Draco waved his hand lazily. "I came here to spend my money, not to talk."

This immediately shut Mr. Borgin up. He waited patiently for Draco to speak again.

Draco sighed, he was suddenly very tired. "I'm looking for something," he paused for a moment, "For something that can eliminate a connection between two people."

"An emotional connection?" Mr. Borgin asked slyly, "Like desire?"

"I didn't say you could ask questions!" Draco relented, "Yes. An emotional connection."

"My apologies, I'm merely matching the buyer to their desired artifact." He disappeared behind the counter. "I think I have what you are looking for." He placed a small box, made of dark cherry wood on the counter, it had an ornate silver clasp with a tiny emerald on each side. "It is, of course, very expensive-"

"You know perfectly well money has never been a problem." Draco eyed the box. "It looks harmless, though I admit it's rather beautiful. What does it do?"

Mr. Borgin opened the box, inside lying side by side on a pillow of black velvet were two small silver charms. The silver so bright and flawless, they seemed almost liquid.

"There is a story, of a wizard, who believed certain...emotions were a weakness, a flaw. He wished to maintain his hardness and his control. His power. However, despite this, he still had needs." Mr. Borgin leered.

Draco ignored him, "Continue."

"Of course. As I was saying, he had needs, but he did not want the possibility of ever being caught off guard, to ever be weak. So he fashioned these, the one on the left is for the one who wishes to be protected, the one on the right is for whom you wish to be protected from. Every time the wizard would take a lover, he would present the one on the right as a gift."

Draco picked up the charm on the left. It glowed briefly, then it began to let loose a fine silver chain, no thicker than three braided hairs.

"The wizard would wear the charm around his neck, so fine and weightless he could barely tell it was there, until the moment came when he felt like he was losing control. At that moment it would burn like fire as a warning. At that point, or soon after, he could make his decision. If he took the charm in his hands and pulled against the fine chain hard enough to break it, then the connection would also break. It will be as if nothing happened. The," he paused searching for a word, "The history between the wizard and his lover would disappear, known only to the wizard himself. The charms would then reappear in the box, ready for when they would be needed again."

Draco fingered the fine chain, nearly invisible against his pale fingers. "Why choose? Why didn't he just make it so the connection broke at that precise moment?"

"You forget, young Malfoy, what the wizard treasured most was control. Even though the magic was his own making, he wanted to have the option to negate it if he wished."

"That would also explain why he would want to remember. Where's the control if you can't keep history from repeating itself..." Draco mused.

Draco thought for a moment longer. He placed the charm back in the box and watched the fine chain retract. He pulled a sachet from his pocket and placed it on the counter where it clinked softly. "I'm sure that will be more than enough." He moved to pick up the box.

"Wait, there is something else." Mr. Borgin started.

"Yes?" Draco hissed impatiently.

Mr. Borgin eyed the sachet Draco had placed on the counter. "I just wanted to inquire if you wanted me to wrap it. Something discreet perhaps, so as not to warrant attention?"

"No, this is fine." Draco slipped the box into his pocket.

"Look, I already told you a million times that there is nothing wrong." Harry sat down reluctantly.

"You've been distracted and mopey and-" Hermione stopped suddenly, her eyes wide.

Ron, who had been eating his ice cream happily, noticed the silence. "Uh, guys? Hermione?"

"You like someone, don't you Harry? You've met someone and you fancy them and," Hermione paused, "and it's a BOY."

"He what?!" Ron turned towards Harry, "You what?!" He eyed his friend carefully.

Harry was suddenly very interested in his ice cream. Ron grinned.

"So who is it? Is it Seamus? No wait, it's Dean right? No. Wait, Merlin's beard, it's me. You've changed your mind and realized what a great catch I am." Ron teased, then laughed nervously.

Hermione snorted.

Harry was starting to get very irritated. "Stop being ridiculous! There isn't anyone, anywhere. Got that? No one!"

Hermione and Ron went silent.

Harry sighed, "Look, you're my best friends. You know I'll tell you when I'm ready to tell you. Honestly, I don't now what's wrong myself, but when I figure it out, you'll be the first two I tell."

They nodded, looking a little guilt-stricken.

"Oh great, look what the troll dragged in." Ron shot a menacing look towards the door.

Draco paused, he hadn't expected to see any other students in Diagon Alley, least of all the dynamic trio. It was too late to turn back now, they'd already seen him.

"Malfoy, what the hell are you doing here? You have to have special permission to-"

"That's none of your business, Weasley." Draco sneered, "If you must know, I do have permission to be here. Perhaps you'd like to let Professor Snape know how you like to undermine his judgment?"

Ron was red with anger but didn't say a word.

"What's wrong Weasel? Cat got your tongue? Wait, can you even afford a cat?"

Ron stood up and his chair hit the floor with a loud bang. Harry stood as well and put his hand on his shoulder. "It's not worth it Ron. Besides, we don't want to make a mess in here." Harry still remembered how nice Mr. Fortescue had been to him his third year.

"Come on," Hermione said, "I want to pick up some tonic for Crookshanks." Ron headed towards the exit with Hermione. "Harry?" she asked.

"I'll meet up with you two," he gestured to the table, "We still have to pay for these, I'll take care of them."

Hermione eyed Draco warily and nodded to Harry.

Draco had settled at a far table in the back corner during the exchange. Harry paid for the sundaes and took what was left of his and headed towards Draco and sat across from him.

"I don't recall inviting you, Potter."

"I don't recall invitations ever being mandatory," Harry shot back.

Draco snorted.

"Uh, Malfoy, I wanted to...I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry." Harry said lamely.

"You Gryffindors." Draco muttered. "Didn't I tell you I wasn't interested in anything you had to say? About that...incident."

"Damnit Malfoy, what's your problem?! I'm apologizing here and I don't even know why because it's not like I'm entirely to blame!"

"What is THAT supposed to mean?" Draco hissed.

"Don't play dumb. I wasn't groping myself outside the locker rooms two weeks ago. I don't understand-"

"That's right," Draco whispered angrily, "You DON'T understand. I knew, I knew exactly what was going on in your clouded mind that day. Sure, I toyed with it, with you, we're enemies after all. But in the end, I respected our rivalry, our enmity enough to draw a line."

Harry sat stunned, he didn't know what to say.

"Despite what simple thoughts you have filling your brain, you know perfectly well that this...this thing we have is not a game." Draco couldn't stop himself. "Our hate keeps us both sane!" He'd said too much.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"You do realize that if you tell anyone I apologized to you, I'll have to kill you."

"Potter, you know I'll kill you first." Draco quirked.

I just shared a joke with Malfoy, the world is ending, Harry thought. Other thoughts were clouding his mind as well. "Don't go anywhere." Harry said, standing up.

Draco just rolled his eyes and took a bite of his ice cream.

"I mean it." He said before heading for the restroom.

Something was definitely wrong, he was having trouble focusing again. He looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes seemed unnaturally bright. He shook his head, and looked again.

Great, now I'm starting to see things, he growled. Since Malfoy and himself seemed to be on civil speaking terms at the moment, maybe he could take this opportunity to straighten things out once and for all. He gritted his teeth, determined.

Yes, he wanted things to return to normal.

When he exited, Draco was gone. Harry sat at the table and cursed. His sundae was now a melted sea of white with floating almonds. A silver glint caught his eye, he looked at the glass sundae bowl more closely.

A small silver charm was dangling from the edge.

He picked it up and examined it. It was exquisitely done; two small intertwining snakes in flawless silver, their eyes were tiny dark green emeralds. If he moved it under the light, the snakes almost looked liquid and moving. It was obviously from Malfoy. Harry was sure that it was expensive, and snakes? He was confused all over again.

Did Malfoy just give him a gift?

"Harry! We waited forever, what are you still doing here?"

Harry immediately pocketed the charm. "Sorry Hermione, I was just leaving." He stood up.

"Harry?" Ron had a very serious expression on his face.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Tell me one thing. Tell me that whatever you've got on your mind, whatever's bothering you, has nothing to do with Malfoy."

Ron gestured to the table, where a sea of melted brown sat across from his sea of melted white.

Draco watched the delicate silver chain grow from the silver snakes in his palm. He held the charm between his fingers and watched it flicker in the firelight. The emeralds glowing brightly reminded him of Harry. He swore.

They sat almost as friends today. Shared a joke even.

After Harry left, he noticed - vanilla and almonds. Then he'd had the strangest feeling in the pit of his stomach and his thoughts clouded. It was then that he made a decision. He didn't want to lose control. The only person that he had ever been able to rely on unflinchingly was himself, this fact kept him anchored. Things were starting to get confusing. Complex.

Draco stood and placed the delicate silver strand over his head. He looked at his reflection; the chain was invisible against him, only obvious if it caught the light. The twin snakes seemed to slither minutely before they settled against the paleness of his skin.