Draco woke up the next morning with only one thought in mind: he would make Harry talk to him today – alone.

He dressed quickly and went down to the kitchen wearing a simple white t-shirt and low-slung jeans. Snape was already there and sitting at the table drinking a mug of coffee.

"Morning, Severus," Draco greeted, smothering a yawn.

"You're up early," Snape observed, glancing up.

Draco shrugged and opened the fridge door. He leaned over to scan the well-stocked shelves and frowned at all the junk food.

"Weasley did the grocery shopping this week," Snape explained with a slight curl to his lip.

"Ugh." Draco slammed the fridge closed and reached for the coffee pot. "Is Julian Price still here?"

"No, which is why I am."

Draco smirked as he joined his ex-professor at the small wooden table. "Don't care for him much, do you?"

"If you had to spend two hours in the company of a couple of old wizards who don't act their age then you would learn to avoid them as well."

"Duly noted." Draco leaned back in his chair and blew on the steaming coffee in his mug before taking a tentative sip. "Any word from Laszlo today?"

"No. I wouldn't be too worried about it, the Dark Lord is keeping a low profile at the moment."

"Yeah, but it's been awhile since he last made contact."

"We'll just have to wait until the next D.E meeting before we find out, we can't risk exposing him. Remember, he contacts us, not the other way around."

"I know, I'm just feeling restless I suppose."

Snape scrutinized him over the rim of his mug. "Would this have anything to do with the return of the headmaster's prodigal son?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Hardly."

"Or maybe it has more to do with the fact that Potter and that twit are sharing a room."

"What?!" Draco choked and set down his mug.

Snape smirked. "I thought you didn't care?"

Draco carefully smoothed his expression. "I don't, I just worry for Potter's safety. What do we really know about this Cody person?"

Snape rose and walked over to place his empty mug in the sink. "We know his parents were both murdered by Voldemort."

Draco blinked in surprise. "They were? Why?"

Snape turned and leaned back against the counter, arms folded in front of him. "His father became and a Death Eater and his mother disapproved, refusing to join, so they killed her. His father was murdered shortly thereafter because he became upset when he found out his wife had been killed."

"So he regretted it in the end," Draco murmured sadly. "How did Cody escape?"

"My guess is that no one knew that there was a baby. They lived in a small cottage just outside of Adelaide in the south of Australia and they were a very private family, no other living relations."

"Did you know his father?"

"No, but I had seen him around a few times. Cody is the spitting image of him."

"Hmm…" Draco mused contemplatively. "His story reminds me a bit of Harry's, no wonder they connected so quickly."

Snape frowned as he re-joined Draco at the table. "There's something going on between those two."

"I know," Draco said bitterly.

"No, it's more than that. I could sense it on the journey over."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I am not completely sure, but I would keep an eye on them."

"Them or him?" Draco asked darkly, suspicious of Cody's seemingly innocent façade.

"It could be nothing," Snape suddenly said dismissively. "It was a long and arduous journey and I was not at my sharpest."

Draco nodded and took another sip of coffee, knowing he would not soon forget what Snape had said.

Suddenly, a strange whirring sound filled the air and began to steadily increase in pitch. A black film spread out over every window in the house, keeping anyone from the outside able to see in.

"What the hell?" Draco clenched his wand tightly as he bolted after Snape towards the front door.

"Specularis." Snape flicked his wand towards the door and the solid brown wood instantly turned transparent, allowing them an outside peek at any intruders without their knowledge.

Draco sighed and lowered his wand.

Ginny Weasley stood on the other side of the door, frantically wringing her hands and biting her lip.

Snape wrenched open the door, glaring ferociously. "Weasley!" he barked.

Ginny winced. "I'm sorry," she shouted over the screech of the alarm. "I came to see Harry and I didn't know the password had been changed…"

"James Marsters," Snape spat the password, glare still intact as Ginny shuffled her feet uncomfortably on the doorstep.

The alarm was instantly silenced and the windows cleared.

Snape turned on his heel and walked back to the kitchen looking like a human storm cloud.

"Sorry," Ginny apologized sheepishly. "I didn't know."

Draco closed the door after she had stepped inside and reinstated the protective wards once more. "It was changed last night," he explained.

Ginny shrugged out of her coat and threw it on the broken coat rack. "Who is James Marser?"

"Marsters," Draco corrected. "I have no idea, I think Dumbledore let Harry choose it."

Ginny smiled. "Where is he? How does he look?"

"Why don't you turn around and see for yourself?" Came a voice from behind them.

Ginny whipped around and squealed in delight. "Harry!"

Harry was standing in the middle of the staircase, clad in boxers and a t-shirt, his wand in hand and his hair still rumpled from sleep.

Ginny danced on the balls of her feet as Harry descended the stairs to greet her properly. She gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "You're so different!" she exclaimed.

"Really? I'm a bit taller, I guess..."

Ginny tilted her head thoughtfully. "I think it's your eyes…"

Harry smiled and shook his head. "I can see that you've sure grown. You look so much older."

Ginny tossed her long red hair over her shoulder with an exaggerated pout, batting her eyelashes. "Well, I am seventeen."

Harry groaned. "God, now I feel old. I still think of you as that little ten year old standing on the platform when I left on my first train ride to Hogwarts."

Ginny giggled. "Jeez, it's a good thing you're gay, Harry, or I'd be one frustrated girl."

Harry looked taken aback for a second then began to laugh along with her.

Draco smiled despite himself, it was good to see Harry so relaxed and comfortable again. He hadn't realized how accustomed he'd become to the tense and frightened boy from the last time he'd seen him.

His smile faded as Cody walked downstairs.

"I someone going to introduce me?" Cody asked, smiling at Ginny.

"Ginny, this is Cody Melnyck, my training partner while I was away. Cody, this is Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister."

"G'day." Cody smiled in greeting. "You're Ron's sister? Wow, a family of red-heads. I've always had a thing for red-heads."

Ginny giggled, her eyes lighting up with interest as she took in the sexy accent and cute dimples.

Harry poked Cody hard in the ribs.

"Ah, sorry. Brunettes are gorgeous, too," he immediately amended.

A flash of disappointment crossed Ginny's face and quickly turned to amusement at Cody's apologetic expression.

Harry smiled and rolled his eyes. "Are you hungry?" he asked, turning towards Ginny. "We were just about to have breakfast."

"Sure, and I'm really sorry about waking you up so early."

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. Dumbledore asked me to give him a new password last night. Come on." Harry motioned for her to follow him down the hall to the kitchen. "I think it's a great idea to only use Muggle terms for the password."

"Dumbledore's idea, of course." Ginny smiled as she walked beside him. "So why did you choose that one?"

"James Marsters? He's a Muggle actor who was on this TV show that I got absolutely addicted to while I was in Ireland. He's incredibly good looking."

Cody shook his head as the two disappeared into the kitchen.

Draco was about to follow them when it suddenly dawned on him that Harry hadn't once looked his way that whole time.

Cody looked at Draco, his bright eyes filled with sympathy.

Draco lifted his chin and ignored him as he headed determinedly towards the kitchen.

Cody shrugged and turned to climbed the stairs back to his room to get dressed.

Harry was sitting on the edge of the counter when Draco walked in, talking animatedly to Ginny about his favourite new TV show.

"…and then he just started singing! It was hilarious! He can really sing, too, he's even in a Muggle rock band. I bet he's really a wizard, no man can have cheekbones that perfect."

"So the show is a musical?" Ginny asked, removing a carton of eggs from the fridge.

"No, just that one episode. There was a singing curse on the town-"

"Harry?" Draco interrupted.

Harry glanced up, his expression closed. "What?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I'm helping Ginny at the moment, can't it wait?"

"No."

"Go on," Ginny urged. "I'm fine."

Harry hopped off of the counter with a sigh and followed Draco to the sitting room just off of the main hallway.

Draco held the door open for him as he passed through.

Harry froze mid-stride, his eyes wide and staring.

"Harry?" Draco questioned. He followed Harry's gaze and saw that the sleeve of his t-shirt had ridden up as held the door ajar and the stark black of his Dark Mark tattoo was clearly visible on the pale skin of his arm.

Harry blinked and backed away.

Draco took a step towards him in concern. "Harry-"

"Um, I need to, er…go get dressed," Harry said evasively. "I should go." He turned and practically sprinted away up the stairs.

"Shit," Draco swore in frustration. First Harry ignores him and now he's scared of him - what next?

"Language, Mr Malfoy."

"Oh, hello, sir," Draco said half-heartedly to the headmaster. "I didn't see you come in."

"Obviously not."

Draco turned his back on Dumbledore and walked back into the kitchen dejectedly. He dropped down into one of the chairs and stared at the table top, one hand absently rubbing the Mark hidden beneath his sleeve.

"Good morning, Severus," Dumbledore chirped upon entering the kitchen.

Snape grunted in reply and continued to look over the folder of documents in his hand.

"Ah, Miss Weasley." Dumbledore smiled pleasantly, watching as Ginny flipped over some bacon crackling in a large pan on the stove. "I see you were anxious to welcome Harry home."

"I was." She grinned, wiping her hands on the pale blue apron tied around her waist. "I hope you're staying for breakfast, I made extra."

"Don't mind if I do. It smells delicious, you must take after your mother."

Draco ignored the goings on around him, remaining seated at the table, deep in thought, until some ten minutes later when Harry returned – fully dressed and with Cody by his side.

Draco scowled and shot Cody a venomous look.

"Do you need some help, Ginny?" Cody asked quickly, walking over to escape Draco's threatening glare.

Harry stood by uncomfortably, clearly trying to avoid looking at either Draco or his arm. He finally decided to sit down at the table, staring hard at his hands.

Draco dropped his forehead into his hand and closed his eyes. "This is ridiculous," he thought wearily.

"Oh, Harry, before I forget," Dumbledore suddenly spoke up, unknowingly breaking the awkward silence. "Julian asked for the pleasure of your company this afternoon for some practice time. He doesn't want you to get rusty."

"Oh…sure," Harry replied vaguely.

"The school grounds will be ideal right now since it is still summer break."

Harry's head shot up. "Hogwarts?"

"Yes, that is where Julian is staying. It only makes sense-"

"Actually," Harry stood up, face slightly pale. "I'm not feeling that well, I don't think I can go after all."

Draco opened his eyes and glanced up at Harry through the long strands of his blond fringe.

"Oh…" Dumbledore said in surprise. "That's alright, I guess. Cody can go today. You should get some rest."

Harry nodded and quickly left the room.

Draco bit his lip and thought about going after him. Just what was going through that brunette's head? He glanced over at Cody and saw that the tall Aussie was laughing at something Ginny was doing with the food, he hadn't even noticed the scene going on behind him. "Doesn't he care?" Draco thought angrily.

He glanced over to Snape and saw the man giving Cody a carefully guarded look.