Hermione swung the door wide open and peered into the musty room.

It was empty.

"Anything there?" Ron asked, trying to look over Hermione's shoulder.

"No, it's just some old junk room."

"This is stupid," Pansy muttered. "I'm leaving."

Pansy turned and walked crisply off down the hallway.

"Wait!" Ron called to her. "We haven't checked upstairs yet."

"There's an upstairs?" Blaise asked, glancing at the cobwebbed ceiling above them.

"Let's go." Hermione closed the door and pushed through them as she led the way to the bottom of the staircase.

Pansy watched them for a moment then rolled her eyes with a sigh as she followed grumpily behind.

"Look!"

They all looked to where Hermione was pointing and saw the footprints in the fine layer of dust covering the stairs. She glanced at Ron as they mounted the old staircase and cautiously started up. Pansy stuck close to Blaise's back as they took up the rear.

"They lead right into that room at the end of the hall," Ron whispered.

The group stopped and stood huddled together at the top of the stairs as they strained to hear any sounds coming from behind the closed door.

"Come on," Hermione whispered.

They carefully tread across the ancient floorboards towards it.

"I think we'd better take out our wands, just in case," Hermione said quietly to the others as she reached into her cloak.

They nodded nervously and removed their own wands from their pockets as they came to a stop in front of the door.

"You know, we're going to feel really silly when we open this door and only find Harry sitting there waiting for us," Ron whispered, trying unsuccessfully to smile through the palpable fear permeating the narrow hallway.

"Yes, we'll all have a good laugh about this later," Blaise whispered back.

"Ready?" Hermione asked intensely, looking down at the rusty doorknob.

"Ready," they answered back in hushed voices, raising their wands.

Hermione grasped the knob and turned it achingly slowly, then pushed it open in one quick motion. The four immediately walked forth into the room, their bodies tensed and their wands at the ready. However, none of them were ready for the sight that greeted them.

Fast asleep, and facing towards them on a large four poster bed were Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. Draco was spooned up behind Harry with his arms around him and clasping Harry's hands to his chest. A white sheet covered them from the waist down, but they could tell that both boys were completely naked beneath it, their clothes littering the floor around the bed.

Hermione's wand slipped from her fingers to the floor as she raised her hands to cover her gaping mouth. Ron paled and suddenly found it difficult to breathe properly. Blaise stood rooted to the spot, his eyes wide and his wand still pointing stupidly towards the centre of the room. Pansy was as pale as Ron but opened her mouth and let out an ear-piercing shriek.

Harry and Draco suddenly jerked awake and sat bolt upright in bed.

"Oh shit...." Draco breathed as he took in the shocked group.

Harry merely swallowed and felt his pulse weaken as his mouth opened and closed nervously.

"What the fuck is going on?" Pansy demanded as soon as she was able to form coherent speech again.

"Pansy, I...." Draco trailed off as he suddenly realized that he had no idea of how to explain away the rather awkward situation.

"Harry?" Ron managed to squeak, sure that this was some elaborate ruse that the Slytherins had thought up to freak them out.

"Ron, I....." Harry found that he was no better off than Draco in trying to explain their new relationship to the expectant group.

Hermione slowly reached down and picked up her wand, then took a deep breath to steady herself again.

"Why don't we wait out in the hall while you two get dressed?" she spoke carefully, looking at the floor. "Then we can talk about....this."

Harry managed a weak nod and the four of them filed out and shut the door.

Draco was out of the bed like a shot and immediately began to wriggle into his discarded clothes.

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked desperately, as he watched Draco's frantic movements.

"It's going to be okay," Draco muttered, more to himself than to Harry.

Harry pushed the sheet off of him and followed Draco's lead by slipping back into his wrinkled clothes. As he was snapping the clasp of his cloak together he looked up and saw Draco glance at him before opening the bedroom door and looking out.

Hermione and Ron both entered again and stood looking at Draco in distrust.

"Where's Pansy and Blaise?" Draco asked.

"They left," Hermione informed him.

Draco swore and took off down the hallway without a backwards glance.

"Draco!" Harry called, as he started after him.

Ron grabbed his arm as he tried to get by and threw him back into the room. "You're not going anywhere until you tell us what the hell is going on," he instructed with an edge to his voice.

Harry looked miserably down the hallway after Draco but nodded and turned to perch on the edge of the bed.

"Harry?" Hermione started gently. "Please tell us."

Harry wrung his hands in his lap and looked away from his best friend's concerned faces. "Well, remember how Draco stayed with me at Hogwarts over the summer?" he began.

"Yes...."

"Well, he and I became friends-"

"It sure looked like a hell of a lot more than just friends when we came in!" Ron interrupted.

"Please just let me explain," Harry pleaded.

Hermione placed a placatory hand on Ron's arm to quiet him.

"He and I started talking. He apologized for a lot of things and he said that he didn't want to be a part of the dark side anymore. He's changed, for the better. He helped me a lot this past summer. You know, it's been a hard year for me, losing Sirius and all, not that I've ever had a good year but you know what I mean. And he helped me, after nightmares or when my scar hurt. He was so gentle and....good. Then we became closer. We helped each other heal and I've never felt so happy in my life, so content. He makes me feel safe and warm, and all those things that I've never experienced before. I need that right now, I need him. I love him."

Hermione tightened her grip on Ron's arm to stop him from blurting out anything right away.

"Does he love you?" she asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Can you trust him?"

"I trust him with my life. We've been alone together so many times and he's never tried anything. If you could just see the way he acts when we're together, you'd know. He's different now."

"But he just left you without saying a word!" Ron spluttered, unable to remain silent any longer.

"I understand his reaction though," Harry said, finally looking up. "If his father ever found out...."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Harry," Hermione said with a doubtful shake of her head.

"I love him," Harry repeated firmly.

"Then I believe you," Hermione said with a small smile. "I trust your judgement. If you can get past Malfoy's previous behaviour and see something more than I trust you."

Harry's eyes filled with tears as he looked into Hermione's earnest face.

"I don't know how to thank you," he said, his voice catching. "It's been so hard to keep this a secret and lie to you guys. To feel so happy and not be able to share it with my best friends....thank you, Hermione."

Hermione felt her own eyes misting over and sat down beside Harry to wrap her arms around him comfortingly.

"Ron?" Harry asked hesitantly, looking over Hermione's head.

Ron sighed and averted his eyes. "I don't know if I can just suddenly trust him, Harry. He's always been so horrible to us and for him to suddenly change.....I just don't know. I know you.....love him, but what if that's blinding you?"

"I'll get him to talk to you guys, he told me that he would apologize to you too once this was all out in the open. I want you to get to know him, the real him."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," Ron said meeting Harry's eyes.

"I won't," Harry promised. "He would never hurt me, he loves me."

"This is so hard to digest," Ron smiled faintly.

"Are you going to be okay with it?" Harry asked, his eyes begging for understanding.

"I'll try," Ron said firmly. "For your sake."

Harry blinked rapidly and managed a choked thank you before he was overwhelmed by tears. Ron smiled and sat on the other side of Harry as the three hugged each other; one of them relieved beyond belief and the other two praying for this to all work out alright.

                        *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *                     


Draco sprinted down the dungeon corridor and breathlessly called out the password to gain access to the Slytherin common room. He ran right into the midst of a gathering of students, staged in the centre of the circle was Pansy and Blaise. They all turned towards him as he entered. He saw a mixture of emotions written on his housemates faces; anger, disbelief, disgust, and in Pansy's case, smugness.

"It's not true is it, Draco?" Crabbe asked with a smile of disbelief.

"I can explain...." Draco started as he walked forward.

"Oh God, it's true isn't it?" the smile disappearing instantly.

"Harry Potter?" Goyle asked, almost as if in reassurance.

"Yes, but-"

"You're sleeping with Harry Potter?" some seventh year male gasped.

"You don't understand-" Draco began again.

"Then please explain it to us, because you're quickly running out of time, Malfoy," Vincent Balkwill stated harshly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You idiots," Draco snarled in frustration. "Do you know who my father is?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Do you think that my father would let me attend school with Harry Potter, the main target of the Dark Lord himself, and pass up the opportunity of being the only one allowed around the boy without maximum protection on him?"

They glanced at each other dubiously, but relaxed their defensive stances.

"So what's the plan? To fuck the boy-wonder and what? Compromise his virginity?" Balkwill asked with a doubtful snort.

"No, you stupid prick. To gain his trust and use it to lead him away from the light side. The Dark Lord doesn't want him dead anymore, he wants to channel his power and use it for his own cause, or is your family not important enough to be let in on the Dark Lord's activities?"

Balkwill looked away in embarrassment and remained quiet. Ethan sat smirking on the couch, taking in the whole situation with hidden glee.

"So you're not dating, Potter?" Crabbe ventured hesitantly.

"No, I'm not dating, Potter, you stupid fuck-wit," Draco answered despairingly.

"Oh, well good," he beamed.

Draco rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Any more questions?" he asked with a hint of a threat.

They all shook their heads and began to make their way back to their previous activities.

"You'd better not breathe a word of this to anyone outside of this house, do you understand?" he ordered loudly.

"A word, Draco?"

Draco felt a light hand on his arm and turned to see Pansy at his side. He nodded and followed her to the sixth year dorm hallway. Once she had checked to see that they were alone she immediately rounded on Draco with an angry storm raging in her icy eyes.

"You may have fooled the rest of these morons, but I don't believe a word of that bullshit that you spouted out there," she hissed. "I saw you with Potter, that wasn't acting, you're not that good."

"Oh please-" Draco sighed.

"No, shut-up," she ground out, her eyes now throwing off sparks. "Listen here, Draco, I don't care what you say, don't you see that it's obvious? You haven't made fun of him or any other Gryffindors, or any other students for that matter, all year. You've changed. Maybe I'm the only one who can see it, but you have and not for the better."

Draco glared and his lips thinned angrily.

"Now listen, this is how it's going to work. You will not see Potter again, except in class and at meals. You will have no contact with him, no talking, letter sending, and absolutely no alone time. You can't even tease him. He doesn't exist anymore for you."

"You can't order me-"

"Oh, can't I?" she asked, her voice rising maniacally. "Maybe I'll just write to your father and praise him for his brilliant plan on getting Potter and what a good job you're doing on it. How you're even sleeping with him...."

"Alright, alright," Draco replied quickly, his face paling.

"Do you swear?" she demanded.

"Don't you think people will wonder why I'm suddenly not being nice to him?"

"Tell them the plan has changed, tell them whatever you want. Just so long as you keep up your separation from Potter."

"Fine."

"Do you swear?" she repeated. "Before you answer, know that I will be informing the entire school body of this little discovery. Soon they will all know that we found you in bed with Potter."

"What!" Draco exclaimed. "Why?"

"Because then everywhere you go people will be watching you. Seeing if you're sneaking off to meet Potter, even watching to see if you so much as glance at him. I'm afraid you're trapped my dear, Draco. Now do you swear?"

"Yes, I swear," he answered, defeated. "Just don't tell my father."

Pansy smiled gaily, her anger evaporating instantly. "I promise he won't find out, now that's a good boy," she patted him on the shoulder and walked off.

Draco turned and ran into his room, locking the door behind him and throwing himself onto his bed.

"Oh, Harry," he choked out into his blankets as he twisted them in his hands. "Please forgive me."


                        *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

        Harry broke away from Hermione and Ron in the Entrance Hall and walked off to the owlery alone. He needed to meet Draco later and didn't want to talk to him publicly yet, just in case he was in trouble with his housemates.

He called Hedwig down from her perch and stroked her fondly for a minute as he chewed on the end of his quill. After a moment of deliberation, he wrote:

Dear Draco,

Meet me in the garden at midnight. Hope your okay.

Love,

Harry

He tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and watched in satisfaction as she soared out of the window. He turned and decided to make his way to the Great Hall, as it was time for dinner. As he made his way through the corridors he felt as if everyone was staring at him. He shook his head and blamed his over-active imagination mixed with the strangeness of the day he was having.

He entered the Hall and instantly knew that he was not imagining things. The tables fell silent upon his entrance then immediately broke out into a storm of whispers. The eyes of the entire room followed him to his seat. He wished Hermione and Ron were there.

Harry looked up and tried to find Draco amongst the Slytherin students but couldn't see him anywhere. Ethan caught Harry's eye and gave a friendly smile as usual.

Harry sighed and smiled back. "Well, it can't be anything too bad if Ethan is still smiling at me," he thought in relief.

Just then, Ron and Hermione entered and quickly rushed over to Harry. They sat themselves on either side of him and glared at the other Gryffindors around them as if in warning.

"What is going on?" Harry whispered into Hermione's ear.

"They know, Harry."

"They.....know?" he asked, realization dawning on him. "Everyone?"

Hermione nodded.

"How?" he asked worriedly, hoping Draco was okay.

"I don't know, but it spread so fast....."

"Oh God...." Harry put his head into his hands and closed his eyes.

"There's Malfoy," Ron whispered into Harry's ear.

Harry snapped his head up and looked over. Draco held his head high as he walked to his seat in a very dignified manner, Pansy right behind him. Harry tried to catch Draco's eye but the blonde didn't once look Harry's way.

Hermione glanced at Harry worriedly.

"It's okay," he assured her. "Draco's just putting on an act. He's meeting me later and we'll talk then."

Hermione smiled and patted his arm. "Good."

The students spent the entire dinner glancing between Harry and Draco, waiting for some kind of reaction, some kind of sign that it was true. But they were invariably disappointed as neither boy even raised their eyes from their own plate for the duration of the meal.

Ron and Hermione quickly surrounded Harry as they made their way back to Gryffindor tower after dinner, shielding him from any nosy students. They collapsed in front of the common room fire and talked quietly amongst themselves, glaring at anyone who approached.

"I don't know what to do," Harry began quietly. "Should I tell anyone about it? It looks like Draco wants to still keep it a secret."

"Don't confirm or deny anything until you speak with Malfoy," Hermione suggested.

"I agree," Ron nodded. "Don't do anything until you know for sure. We'll keep everyone away until then."

"Thanks," Harry smiled gratefully. "Hey, how did you know we were in the Shrieking-"

The sudden appearance of Hedwig interrupted their conversation as she sailed down to drop a letter in Harry's lap. Harry snatched it up, afraid that someone might take it from him. Hedwig gave a soft hoot then took off again out the open window.

"I think I'll read this upstairs," Harry said as he got to his feet.

"Good idea," Hermione said.

"Go on, we'll keep the others away until your done," Ron promised.

Harry smiled then ran off, taking the stairs two at a time as he rushed to the sanctity of his dorm room. He settled down on the window seat and ripped open the white envelope. A small piece of parchment fluttered out onto his lap. He snatched it up and opened it hurriedly. His eyes traced over the two words over and over, not believing what he was seeing.

~ It's over ~