A/N: I suppose people have been waiting for this long enough. *hides* I didn't even realise I hadn't updated this since nearly Christmas. Stupid time going too fast -_-. I'm really sorry for the wait. I've had half of this chapter written for months, but then I got writer's block. Draco is so out of character it's not funny but live with it I think he has a justified reason for it. A tiny bit of proper slash at the end of the chapter ^_^ *listens as everyone cries 'at last!'*

Chapter Three

Don't let your head rule your heart
Don't let the world be torn apart
Don't keep it all to yourself
Just let all your emotions run free
With someone like me
That's the way it should be
Someone like me
Atomic Kitten – Someone like me

Harry noticed the candle that stood on the centre of the table in front of him was flickering madly, as if someone was softly blowing on it. He'd been staring at the candle for the last half an hour, saying nothing to Draco, who still had Harry's head on his shoulder.

Harry sighed softly. "I don't feel like going back to Gryffindor."

Draco didn't say anything, but glanced down at the raven haired boy briefly.

"Hermione knows…" Harry carried on quietly.

"About…" Draco didn't finish his train of thoughts, since he knew exactly what Harry was talking about and Harry didn't exactly need reminding.

"Yeah, just before I met you. I ran off before she could question me about it." Harry lifted his head up and laid it on the back of the chair so he was looking at the ceiling. "If I know her, she'll still be up waiting for me to come back."

"You're worried she'll ask you why?" Draco questioned.

"I don't think she'd understand," Harry said in a whisper loud enough for Draco to hear. "Neither would Ron."

"You don't know if you don't try."

"I know them well enough to know they would probably send me to Pomfrey and that's the one place I don't want to be."

"Fair enough," Draco replied.

Harry gave the blonde a strange look. "Since when did you change so much?" he asked.

Draco gave a faint shrug. "Guess I grew up," he replied weakly.

The raven haired Gryffindor looked like he didn't buy that as a reason, but kept his mouth shut. He just gave a short nod in reply. Harry pried himself off the chair and stood up on slightly shaky feet. He took a quick glance at Draco and then at the door. "I'd better be going."

"Even though you don't want to?" Draco asked.

"I do a lot of things I don't want to. It's part of life," Harry responded.

Draco glanced at the floor. "Don't you ever wish you didn't have to do things you didn't want to?"

"All the time." With that, Harry left the room.

As he predicted, Hermione was still sat in the Gryffindor common room when Harry entered through the portrait. She gave him an uneasy glance then returned to looking at the book she had on her lap.

Harry tried to see if ignoring her and going up to his dorm would work. He had only put his foot on the first stair when she called for him.

"Where have you been?" she asked quietly. Since the common room was completely quiet she didn't have to raise her voice for Harry to hear her.

"Out," Harry replied shortly. He so wanted to tell her how he felt, but he didn't want her pity. He knew it was exactly what he would get if he told her. Being mean was so much easier than dealing with pity. At least Harry thought that.

"Harry-"

"Does it really matter where I've been?" Harry asked cutting her off.

Hermione frowned and slammed her book shut. "Well sorry for being worried about my best friend's welfare." She stood up from the sofa and stormed off up the stairs towards her room.

Harry cursed. He didn't want to make her mad, but in the end it was easier than telling the truth. He sighed and went to his dorm.

He didn't fall asleep until several hours later, only to fall into a world full of Voldemort's tortures in his dreams and wake up shaking only minutes later.

The next morning wasn't any better. Hermione was going out her way to ignore Harry and Ron seemed oblivious to the whole thing. To top it all off, Harry didn't sleep a wink of decent sleep the night before so when Ron tried talking to him, he snapped at the redhead.

When Ron held his hands up in defence and returned to eating his breakfast, Harry groaned.

"I take it you didn't sleep well?" Ron asked after seeing his friend's groan.

"Try not at all," Harry mumbled, buttering a piece of toast.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind."

Ron finally noticed Hermione wasn't there so asked Harry if he knew where she was.

"No idea," Harry mumbled.

"You've argued with her then?" Ron asked knowingly.

"How…"

"I always say that when I've argued with her."

Harry shook his head with a small smile playing on his lips. "It'll blow over soon enough," Harry replied, but he wasn't so sure.

The day's lessons dragged by slower than a snail. The first hour seemed to last for eternity and a day. Hermione was giving him glares every time she was sure Harry wasn't looking at her. He couldn't see her glaring, but he could feel it. Harry heard Ron let out a sigh from next to him.

"What the bloody hell did you do to piss her off like that?" the redhead asked.

"You don't want to know," Harry said.

"I wouldn't have-"

"I'd rather not tell you," Harry cut Ron off.

It was only then that Harry noticed who was sitting at the other side of Hermione; Draco. Harry watched as the blonde Slytherin leaned over and whispered something in Hermione's ear. Harry watched as the girl's face tensed then relaxed and softened. She risked taking a glance at Harry, so the raven haired Gryffindor looked away before she could catch him. When it came to the end of the lesson, Harry saw Hermione give him a softer glare than before and then left the room. Ron decided to go after her to see what was wrong, leaving Harry in the classroom with only Draco left.

"What did you say to her?" Harry asked as he took a step closer to the blonde.

"I just told her that she shouldn't be so hard on you and that you'd tell her when you were ready," Draco replied.

"What if I'm never ready?" Harry asked.

"I guess you'll never tell her," Draco said with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"Thank you," Harry said quietly and then left the room.

The war was slowly getting worse by the day. Whole families were being eradicated on a daily basis. Owls would drop the dredged Ministry letters on people's breakfast plates each morning and each morning students would run out of the Great Hall with tears in their eyes.

Not even the first years were innocent anymore. They'd all seen and heard too much, more than even a veteran Auror should have seen in a lifetime.

Harry Potter certainly didn't expect to see a black envelope land on his plate one morning a few weeks after Halloween. He didn't see Ron gulp nor Hermione give a slightly concerned look, (she still wasn't really talking to him properly, only the occasional sentence now and then).

Harry picked up the letter and crumbled it up in his fist before stuffing it in his pocket and walking out the Great Hall.

He had a feeling he knew what it said.

Not that he cared; they had never been much of a family to him anyway.

Harry sighed, sat himself down on the floor next to the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy and opened the crumpled up letter anyway.

'Dear Mr Potter (it read)

We are sorry to inform you that your relatives, Mrs. Petunia Dursley and Mr Vernon Dursley were found murdered in their home at 5.30 this morning.

The Ministry offers it condolences to you after this tragic event. It is necessary…'

Harry stopped reading after that. He shoved the letter back in the envelope, screwed it back up again and threw it lightly on the floor in front of him.

He could just imagine the Dark Mark hovering over Four Privet Drive, all the neighbours looking out behind their net curtains with horrifying fascination.

"What was the letter about?" a voice beside him asked. Harry didn't need to look up to see who it was.

"Willing to take a guess?" Harry asked, glancing up at the blonde Slytherin slightly.

"Well, it's a black envelope, so I'm going to say it's not an invitation to the Minister's birthday party."

Harry nearly laughed. "That's a pretty safe deduction," the black haired Gryffindor replied.

Draco bent down and retrieved the letter from the floor and soothed it out over his knee. He pulled the letter out the envelope a little, took a quick look at the first sentence then screwed it up again.

"I suppose it won't mean anything if I say 'I'm sorry', right?" the blonde asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not really. I hated them they hated me."

"But…"

Harry let out a bitter laugh. "You sensed the 'but' then?"

Draco tapped his hand on his knee. "I'm gonna guess that you feel guilty for not wanting to mourn your only family."

Harry gave a slight nod.

"I felt like that when my Mother died."

Harry looked up in shock. "Your Mother?"

Draco waved a hand dismissingly. "Don't worry about it. She never showed me any love, she was just there. I assume it's what your Aunt was like?"

"Along with the insult remarks, just about," Harry answered. "It's just as well that it's seventh year. Dudley would probably start raging about how it's my fault." Which it is, Harry thought silently.

Draco seemed to catch on to what the raven haired Gryffindor was thinking. "It's not your fault."

Harry looked up at the boy who only weeks ago was his enemy. He saw a look of anger pass Draco's pale features. It was gone in an instant. Harry blinked and asked, "What the hell happened to you over the summer?"

Draco seemed to stiffen for a split second. "Nothing."

"Don't give me that," Harry began. "You don't renounce everything you've believed in since your were small because of nothing."

Draco cocked an eyebrow. "Believed in?"

Harry nodded. "I've done a hell of a lot of thinking over the years. Correct me if I'm wrong but Slytherins only follow Voldemort because it's what they've been brought up to believe in. Most of them wouldn't dare or want to question their families beliefs so instead follow Voldemort anyway, without really knowing what really happens once you're a Deatheater."

"You're more perceptive than I ever thought you were," Draco said after with few seconds of stunned silence.

"Appearance can be deceiving, you know," Harry mumbled.

"Suppose they are."

"What happened then?"

Draco sighed, glanced at the door behind him, which had just appeared and walked to open it. Harry pushed himself up off the floor and followed.

As the door closed behind them both, Draco spoke. "It's not a long story; I just didn't want to start telling it in the middle of the corridor."

Harry nodded and waited for the blonde to speak again.

"During sixth year, I decided that I wanted to know what being a Deatheater was really about. My Father always used to tell me the greatness of it all. Once, just for a split second, I thought that maybe it wasn't what it was cracked up to be. I followed my Father to a meeting one day during the summer. He didn't know I was there, or a least I don't think he did. I wasn't there for longer than ten minutes because I just couldn't stand it anymore.

"I couldn't stand how they bowed to him, how they called him 'Master'. It was just like a bunch of House-elves, willing to do their master's bidding without question. I decided then I didn't want to be one. When my Father asked if I wanted the Dark Mark I said I'd think about it, but I'm not thinking about it because I don't want it. I just want to stall him."

"So that's what you were going on about on Halloween?" Harry asked and Draco gave a nod. "Isn't Blaise taking the Mark either?"

"No," Draco answered, "He never wanted to be and his parents aren't Deatheaters anyway. It's easier for him."

"Voldemort will die, you know," Harry said firmly.

"Harry-" Draco started but was cut off.

"He'll die even if I have to die with him."

Draco looked up at Harry sharply and took a few steps so he was stood only a few inches away. He looked him straight in the eyes. "Don't say that. Don't ever say that."

"Why?" Harry questioned. "The world would be a better place without me anyway."

Before Draco knew what he was doing, he placed a hand at each side of Harry's face. "No it wouldn't," he said softly.

"Yes it would," Harry said in no more than a whisper.

Draco couldn't help but wonder what Harry would do if he leaned in just them few inches and kissed him. The blonde didn't realise he was unconsciously doing just that until his lips touched Harry's.

To say Harry was shocked was an understatement, but the shock lasted for no long than a few seconds when he realised that he didn't mind the fact Draco was kissing him, so he responded.

The kiss grew from the soft, barely touching pecks to a more passionate, air stealing one. The pair of them took a few steps backwards until Harry's back hit the wall. The kiss carried for a few more minutes until Harry decided he needed to breathe. He pushed Draco back slightly and looked up at him.

"Maybe it wouldn't," Harry said softly before he reclaimed Draco's slightly bruised lips.