Ok, here's the new chapter. It may be a bit long, but I had a lot to get through. Don't worry about Harry's boyfriend, this is definately a Harry/Draco fic. Please leave me a review so I know if anyone is still reading. Enjoy!

Thanks to Michelle for helping me through all this, she is a wonderfull beta.

Chapter 8


The Sorting was boring, as usual, and Draco found himself sitting at the end of the Slytherin table away from all of his 'friends'. The short angry looks and death glares he was receiving from his house were starting to get on his nerves. He briefly considered going to his head of house and asking to be moved to a different dorm room.

He thought better of it though. 'I've made my bed, now it's time to lay in it.'

Harry was watching Malfoy's face during the sorting, (with the blonde's new seat it was hard to avoid) and trying to read through his mask. He was worried about his new Slytherin friend.

'Did I just think that entire sentence? Since when was I worried about Malfoy and when did he become a friend?' Harry asked himself as he avoided making eye contact with said friend, but Malfoy had noticed the stare.

'Yes, you thought it, and yes you are worried about him.' Damn that voice, it could not be normal to answer yourself. But if Harry was honest with himself, which he was avoiding at all costs, he was very concerned about Malfoy.

Harry had noticed the glares and barely contained hatred radiating off some of the Slytherins, surprisingly very few, but he had no idea what he could do about the situation. There was no way he was going to ask Malfoy about it.

Harry had been so lost in thought that he almost missed the Headmaster's speech.

"Now that we are all ready for bed, I have a short announcement to make. It has been decided that this year Hogwarts will take on apprentices. For the few of you who have not read Hogwarts, a History, let me tell you that this has not happened in over sixty years.

"Now, some students have already been chosen, due to grades, achievements, desire to excel or one day teach in specific areas. However, at the end of this semester, the staff and I will choose a few more candidates for this program. Please let your head of house know before the end of the semester if you would like to be considered for this grand opportunity."

"For those who have already been chosen, please meet me in my office directly after the feast. Just so everyone knows, those who participate in this program will have extra classes every day of the week and will be moved to separate sleeping chambers for the duration of their education. That is all." Albus sat back in his chair and nodded at Harry after a questioning glance from the Gryffindor; making sure he knew who this semester's apprentices were.

Harry shook his head as he made his way out of the great hall. 'Leave it to Albus to kill more than two birds with one stone.'

On his way out of the great hall Albus joined Harry in the stroll to his office.

"I see your pet has tamed nicely." Harry glanced at his shoulder, making sure Serket was still invisible.

"How did-"

"Ah, the castle lets me in on secrets occasionally. Now, what was my new password?" Albus asked himself as the stepped up to the gargoyle.

"Ah, yes, Ton-Tongue Toffee." Neville snickered behind Harry as the stepped onto the staircase. Surprisingly, there were seven apprentices this year. The summer inhabitants of Grimmauld Place filed quietly into the Headmaster's office; once seated, after everyone declined the lemon drops but Ginny, Albus started speaking with that weird twinkle in his eye.

"I am sure you can all guess the true nature of these arrangements. I am also sure that no one has to be told the importance of secrecy regarding your studies?" Everyone nodded as the Headmaster fixed them with a searching look.

"It is my wish to make sure that only certain students are admitted into this program, therefore, I have arranged your first few weeks to be somewhat difficult. Hopefully, this will dissuade most of the student's eagerness to join. Although, I believe we may still have difficulties with the Ravenclaws, but we will make do." Albus gave a small smile in Luna's direction before continuing.

"Also, In order to insure that students do not become too curious, the staff and I have decided to open up the Prefect corridors to you seven; along with those who will be added next semester." Hermione's eyes got wide in recognition, even Luna seemed mildly interested.

"Sir, what about the meetings?" Harry asked. Neville and Luna had been told about the Order upon arrival at Grimmauld Place but had yet to be initiated.

"I will hold a small meeting here for you five as information is available. I have spoken to Mr. Longbottom and Miss. Lovegood and they will be initiated at the next meeting at headquarters." Neville's face showed nothing but pride, Luna stared thoughtfully at a portrait.

"Now, the portraits will admit only you, no others, please do not try to persuade them otherwise. You will still have access to the common rooms of your houses, but I believe it is in the best interest of everyone if this small group is kept together."

"What exactly is this corridor?" Harry asked and Hermione gave him exasperated look.

"No worries, I will just show you." Albus walked to a large portrait next to his fireplace.

"This is Archimedes; he is the guardian between my office and the corridor." A large man with an owl on his shoulder nodded in recognition.

"If you get lost, call for him and he will find you. I have marked the doors that you are allowed to enter, have a good night."

Everyone stared at the Headmaster for a moment.

"Oh, I almost forgot, the password is 'fuzzy navel'. It is a most interesting Muggle drink." Harry and Hermione snorted and tried to keep from laughing.

The corridor was wide and much larger than any of them had expected from such a small opening. Gasps could be heard as everyone climbed through the portrait hole. The walls were lit with small blue torches and seemed to be lined with a deep yellow fabric.

Harry followed behind Hermione and Draco as they went down two flights of stairs. He briefly wondered which floor this corridor was taking them to when Hermione broke the silence.

"We must be on the third floor by now." Draco nodded in agreement. Everyone seemed to be walking slowly, taking in the few unmarked doors they passed.

"How long has it been since this place was used?" Neville asked.

"It's been over two hundred years. A previous headmaster felt that it was unfair to offer such luxuries to students, no matter how much they excelled. Even the Head Boy and Girl have to stay in their house dorms."

The shock showed on everyone's face when Ron answered the question instead of Hermione.

"That's true." Luna stated softly as she made her way to a door lit by two torches. Harry noticed the mark on the door was made of precious metals; the Hogwarts symbol, lion in gold, eagle in bronze, badger in copper and the serpent in silver.

Harry opened the door to a dark room that slowly lit of its own accord and revealed a long open room with a tall ceiling reflecting the night sky. The room seemed to be divided into three sections.

The first being a dining room of sorts, six tall columns draped with white sheers divided this room from the rest. A long dark wooden table could be seen through the translucent walls, six chairs on each side. The dining area only took up half of the width, so there was ample room to walk through on either side to the sections behind.

Harry turned to face the door they had come through and noticed large individual pictures that covered the entire wall staring back at him. He was reminded of the headmaster's office; there was hardly any wall space in between the frames.

The inhabitants of the portraits watched the seven wandering around the room, not at all shocked to have guests as Harry would have thought.

There were four portraits on the bottom row, two on each side of the door, which immediately caught his eye. Each portrait was the same size as the door but housed one of the school's founders.

"This must be the entrance into the house common rooms." Harry almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the low thoughtful voice of Malfoy so close to his ear.

Harry cleared his throat and blinked hard. "Yes, I suppose it is." Was about all he managed to get out.

The seven slowly made their way past the dining area to a large circular sunk-in area with wide reading chairs and ottomans placed in clock fashion within the space. Each chair was covered in different matching fabrics, all in deep colors, so that no one chair looked the same. Throws and pillows were draped across each chair and Harry wondered how anyone would get anything accomplished in such a place. It felt much too comfortable to do anything but sleep and be lazy.

The back wall was lined with bookshelves from floor to ceiling surrounding a large fireplace; a painting of the forbidden forest rested in the open space above the mantle. A couch and two loveseats in deep maroon faced the fireplace along with a large coffee table in between. The entire room was finely decorated in deep colors of maroon, gold, navy blue, and forest green.

Ron was standing directly behind him taking in the room. "This is amazing." He said quietly as everyone made their way around.

"So this must be how we get to our rooms." Hermione said as she made her way to the wall to the right of the fireplace. Harry just noticed that the entire side walls were lined with doors from the main entrance all the way to the back wall with the fireplace.

Hermione opened the door closest to her, first door on the left nearest the bookshelf.

"This one must be mine, my trunk is here." She said as she walked in, Ginny and Luna following. 'Girls on the right, boys on the left.' Harry thought as he looked around the room. The entire floor was made of deep blue marble.

Looking back at the circular space, he noticed Malfoy walking along the side, reading small words written in gold along the steps. Harry listened hard and heard the other boy translating the Latin words, "North, west..." as he continued around the space glancing at the floor and taking in the room.

'His hair is so beautiful. Uh, his? Snap out of it Harry.' He reprimanded himself mentally and walked over to where Ron was opening a door, opposite Hermione's, on the west wing.

"Hey Harry, there's my trunk. This must be my room." Ron said as Harry followed him into the room. A large four poster bed sat against the wall opposite the door and a tall window with a low seat was on the north wall, to the right. The entire room was decorated in rich gold colors.

On his left Harry noticed two doors in the room, one at each end of the wall. Ron had opened the door closest to the bed and started to unload his trunk. Assuming that door was the closet, Harry opened the door closest to himself.

"Wow."

This bathroom was even more extravagant than the prefect's bath he visited in his fourth year. Golden colored marble floors expanded to a large sunk-in tub with red and gold sheer drapes hanging from columns on each side.

To the right were two doors leading to toilets; the left wall was covered in mirrored glass. Two sinks were positioned on the walls opposite each other with the tub in between. Beside each sink was a shower.

"Wow." Neville said from the door across from Harry.

"Is that your room then?" Neville asked, nodding in the direction of Ron's room.

"No, it's Ron's. I guess you two are sharing this bathroom."

"Yeah, have you found your room yet?"

"No. I better go do that." Harry said as he made his way through Neville's deep red bedroom and back out to the common room. He saw Hermione and Ginny following Luna into one of the other rooms on the opposite side of the room, the east wing, and all three were in a sort of daze.

Harry opened the door to the room on the other side of Neville's and walked through to it's bathroom, colors done in deep green and blue, to the adjoining bedroom. Both of the bedrooms were void of any luggage so he made his way back into the common room and down to the end of the wall, next to Salazar's portrait.

Harry glanced sideways at the sleeping portrait and opened the door. This room was a mirrored image of Ron's room only done in deep silver. His trunk was at the foot of the bed and Hedwig's cage was sitting on the desk.

He opened the door to the bathroom, wondering if he would have this bathroom to himself. 'Ron and Neville are at the end, so that leaves.....'

"Oh." Was all he could say. This bathroom was the same as the others structurally, only it had black marble floors and silver fabric. But it wasn't the bathroom he was ogling. It seemed he had spent some time looking through the other guy's rooms.

Through the steam a naked body appeared. Drenched blonde hair sent ripples of water down onto tight muscles covered by gleaming pale flesh.

"At least it's not Longbottom." Malfoy said as he loosely wrapped a towel around his waist. He turned slowly and faced the Golden Boy with a heavy smirk on his face.

"You should be careful Potter; your mouth will stick like that." The blonde said as he grabbed a towel from the shelf and shut the door to his room.

It took Harry a moment to realize he was still staring at the door with his mouth hanging open.

"Harry, are you feeling alright?"

Harry had ignored the pleas coming from Ron, Hermione and even Ginny, wanting him to come out and explore the rooms with them before bed. Truth be told, he was trying to drown himself in his silk pillows. If only he could sleep away the naked images of Malfoy, along with his body's physical reactions to said images, he would be happy.

The next morning served to kick him in the ass where that was concerned. Harry made his way into the bathroom, after assuring there were no naked, wet, sexy blondes to taunt him even further, to take care of his 'problem'.

'Ok, Harry, you are NOT gay. You have a simple appreciation of the human body. A naked, male body, but nevertheless, you are as straight as an arrow.' That's what Harry told himself as he relieved his burden, but when the straight comment came up and he thought about the female anatomy, he didn't seem to have so much of 'burden' anymore.

'Ok, here's what we are going to do. Find a nice girlfriend, indulge a little, and you'll be as good as new.'

'Really?' A sarcastic inner voice questioned.

'But first, you are going to quit answering yourself.'

Later that morning, Harry made his way into the great hall with Hermione and Ginny. They took the time to wander down the Prefect's Corridor and were delighted to find a door marked Great Hall Chamber, the same chamber from the Tri-wizard participant's announcement.

"Oh, good, now I don't have to worry about a twenty minute walk to get to breakfast. Think of how late we could sleep in." Ginny added with a stretch and yawn. Harry couldn't have agreed more and was glad breakfast was the only meal they had to eat with the rest of the school now. The morning post being the only real reason.

It soon became obvious though, that the purpose of the short cuts were only to lengthen their 'Apprentice classes.' Harry noticed that some of the other students, whom had seemed eager about the opportunity, were not so keen about the idea after witnessing the late hours and extra time the current seven spent in the library.

The first few weeks of this had been for show, as Dumbledore had put it. Just to scare off the students really. By the third week, most of the classes were being held in empty classrooms directly off the Prefect Corridor, while study and research usually happened in the Prefect Common room. They did have their own library now.

By the third week of school Harry had managed to find enough courage to ask out a girl. He had wanted to keep it low-key for a while but it seemed Professor McGonagall was willing to save him the trouble.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, how good of you to join us this Saturday morning. I hope this class has not disturbed your private time in any way?" She added with a frosty glare as Ginny flushed.

"Please take your seats."

'She's been spending too much time with Snape.' Harry thought glumly as he made his way to the empty chair by Ron.

"So, how did it go?"

"What?"

"Don't be daft. What did she say?" It took Harry a minute to catch on to the whispered conversation.

"Oh, uh, she said yes."

"Yes!"

"You know, one would think you would be threatening me with the big brother stuff instead of congratulating me."

"Nah, I trust you mate. You won't do anything to Ginny." Harry mumbled a reply as Professor McGonagall gave them a sharp glare. Harry stared thoughtfully at the girl in question. She was a very pretty girl, curves in all the right places, he supposed. She should be very attractive to him, right? Instead, thirty minutes later, Harry found himself very aroused watching someone else across the room.

Draco felt eyes on him but continued to concentrate on his reading. After a while, when the presence had not went away, he glanced up to find deep green eyes staring at him with an odd sort of expression.

Harry stared into the depths of Malfoy's eyes for a moment and broke the contact before he entered the other's mind. He really didn't want to know what he would find there.

The next few weeks rushed by in a blur. The seven Apprentices were kept maddeningly busy, but Harry even more so. When he wasn't going to regular classes, he was planning his Friday lesson, which had to be turned in by Wednesday.

Monday's were reserved for Occlumency, which now included the entire class and was taught by Snape again. Tuesday and Friday nights were for the Dark Arts class.

Wednesday night was private study, in which Harry went to the Headmaster's office, Hermione and Draco to Snape for Potions, Luna to Madam Pomfrey for Healing, Ron met up with the Unspeakables in Hogsmeade for his appointments and Neville went to Madame Sprout for Herbology.

Saturday mornings were for Animagus training, leaving only Thursday for Quidditch. They were given Saturday night to study and all day Sunday off.

Strangely enough, it was this schedule Harry was thinking of one Thursday night after Quidditch. Practice had ended a while ago but Harry found himself out on the pitch with a crying girlfriend in his arms.

"You never talk to me anymore. Did I do something wrong, am I not attractive to you? You never seem to want to be near me Harry."

It was this accusation that made Harry's brain rummage to come up with an excuse, any excuse. He finally decided he couldn't take it any longer after Ginny looked up at him with red puffy eyes and a pleading look. He would have to tell her the truth.

"Ginny, I have something I need to tell you."

Ginny made a show of wiping her face on her sleeve before replying.

"What is it?" Harry shifted both of them so they could sit on the grass. Neither should be standing for this conversation.

"I don't think we should see each other any more Ginny, not like this I mean."

Ginny gave him a questioning look as he continued.

"I, uh, after you hear this, you will have every reason to hate me. I just want to say I'm sorry now. I'll understand if you never want to talk to me again."

"Just spit it out already!" Ginny said, trying to take on an irritated tone. Harry was completely confused by her sudden change in emotion, so much so that he mumbled through his next sentence with out much thought.

"I think I might be gay."

"Sweet Merlin! It took you long enough; you almost lost me twenty galleons!"

"Wha-?"

"Oh, come on Harry, you didn't think no one would notice, did you?" Harry just stared at her in bewilderment. 'Somehow this is not how I pictured this talk going.' was all he could think.

"Any man that can keep his hands off me when I'm throwing myself at him has got to be gay. I mean, look at me!" Ginny added with a devilish smirk. She had a point.

"How long have you known?" He asked, rubbing his face in his hands.

"Well, since you asked me out really. I knew you were having problems playing the 'straight game', so I thought I would help."

"Then what was this all this about?"

"It was quite obvious that you probably would have married me some day if it meant you didn't have to fess up, so I did the only thing I knew would work. I pulled a Cho."

"You did this so I would confess?"

"Well, I know how you get when people get too emotional around you. So, I put on a show, and here we are."

"You should have been in Slytherin."

"Why thank you Harry." Ginny grinned at him as they sat in silence for a moment.

"Who are you?" Harry asked the red-haired girl as he stared at her thoughtfully.

"Me? I'm Ginny Weasley, a quiet, innocent girl with too many brothers to annoy than humanly possible."

"No, you're someone else, not the Ginny I used to know."

"You're right. I am just plain Ginny. I like to play mind tricks on people, ones where I always win. I live to manipulate and annoy my brothers and I like my men tall, dark and gay." They spent the next few minutes laughing until their sides hurt. Making their way back to the Prefect Corridor, Harry asked her another question.

"Can this new Ginny keep secrets?"

"I won't tell anyone Harry, I promise. Although, if you ever want to get some, you're going to have to be a brave little Gryffindork and step out of that closet!" Ginny said as she ran for her life towards the school, Harry hot on her heels.

A week had passed since Harry had 'come out' to Ginny and to anyone else it seemed as though everything was going great in their relationship. If anyone were to look close enough at the whispers and looks they might notice that they were more playful and mocking than loving and endearing.

After lunch Harry sat in Advanced Charms trying once again to confirm his sexual orientation. Upon such thought, he soon found himself staring at the ass of Justin Finch-Fletchley for a good five minutes while doing practical lesson, and becoming slightly aroused. Harry thought he might actually get away with it too, until he looked up and saw Justin give him a knowing smile and short wink.

Caught completely off guard, Harry blinked hard for a moment and bolted as the bell sounded for the end of class.

"Ginny, pssssst, Ginny!" After catching the girl's attention at dinner, Harry made a motion for her to hurry and meet him at their portrait. The portrait in question was on the second floor between the bathrooms; they had elected it a safe meeting place just recently.

Harry was in such a hurry to get Ginny into the portrait that he didn't notice Ron and Hermione following them when he grabbed her hips and pushed her through the opening.

"Harry! What's got you so frisky?" Ginny asked seductively, which Harry was oblivious to.

"Justin....I was in charms and, uh...he kind of caught me staring at him. And instead of running away screaming, he, he.....he winked at me and smiled!"

Ginny grinned and hopped around for a moment.

"You know what you have to do right?"

"Huh?"

"Ask him to the Halloween dance!"

"What Halloween dance?"

"Harry," She put on her best Hermione voice for her scolding tone. "If you would pay more attention to in the great hall instead of ogling men across the room you would know these things already."

Harry flushed and mumbled, "Noticed that huh?" Ginny just smirked in response, choosing not to embarrass him further.

"What kind of dance is this?"

"Well, Dumbledore said costumes weren't necessary and neither were school robes. So, I guess it's just a casual thing."

"Oh. So, are you going to help me?"

"Hah! No, no, no, Mr. Potter. You are going to have to grow some balls, find some Gryffindork courage and do this on your own." Harry mock scowled at her insinuations.

"This also means you have to release me as your personal sex slave-slash-cover story so I can have some fun."

"Yeah, I know."

"Or, if you don't want the entire school to know, you could always ask him on a private date." Harry's face brightened at this.

"But, you still have to release me as your prisoner."

"Oh, alright, come on then, we've got Quidditch practice."

"You do know that Hermione and Ron are out their waiting for us, don't you?"

"What?"

"They followed us, but you were too preoccupied to notice."

"Oh, well we will have to put on a good show then." Harry grinned and waggled his eyebrows as he grabbed Ginny's hips again. They emerged from the portrait, Ginny giggling as Harry growled and attempted to bite her neck repeatedly.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a smirk as they made their way to the pitch, Hermione just to study and watch.

"Justin, do you have a minute?" Harry asked the next morning as he strained to catch up to him.

"Hey guys, I'll catch you up!" Justin hollered over his shoulder to a group of sixth years.

"Hey Harry, er, Professor Potter, good lesson today. It's a good thing Krum is away when you teach, you put him to shame." Justin flushed slightly as he delivered his compliment, but not as much as Harry did.

"Yeah, uh, thanks. Listen, would you, uh, that is..........." Harry stammered and looked down at his feet for a moment.

"Are you going to the Halloween dance?" Harry asked, the flush still showing on his cheeks.

"Oh, um, I haven't really thought about it. It's Saturday night, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Harry said, trying to get through his next question.

"It's just, if you're not going, um, I was thinking we could do something."

"What did you have in mind?" Justin asked innocently as Harry looked into his brown eyes. What Harry saw there was not quite innocent though, oh no, nothing short of desire unless he was much mistaken.

"I was thinking a walk and maybe a picnic or something." Harry casually.

"That sounds nice. What time?"

"The Dance starts at eight so, we can meet at the front doors then, give us some privacy."

"Ok, see you then." Justin smiled and walked away. 'Yep, I could be gay.' Harry thought as he went to find Ginny and make her help with the arrangements.

It was at eight thirty on Saturday night that Harry sat on the grass by the lake heavily flirting with a rather cute Hufflepuff. The conversation went well, both laughing at trivial things. It was almost enough to make Harry forget the demands that were laid upon his shoulders.

The flirting continued heavily as the two finished their small dinner. Harry reached out a hand to help Justin up when they decided to take a walk. Justin stumbled a bit and briefly fell into Harry's arms. Harry leaned down the few inches that separated them in height and captured Justin's lips in his own. Justin returned the kiss with full force.

Meanwhile, at the dance, Draco was fighting his way out of a broom closet when Ginny found him.

"What are you-?"

"Shhh, run!" Draco said as he pushed his sister down the hall, looking completely disheveled.

"Draco? Where are you?" Pansy Parkinson's high pitched voice assaulted both their ears as they rounded the corner and stumbled through the portrait to the Corridor.

"Are you hiding from your girlfriend, Draco?"

Draco snorted in response as he slid down the wall to land in a heap in the floor.

"You mean my Fiancé?"

"Your WHAT?" Ginny shrieked.

"You heard, I am engaged to Parkinson and she doesn't seem to want to 'save herself for marriage.'"

"Eeeewww! How can you be engaged to someone like her? You're too young!"

"Not engaged exactly, betrothed." Ginny gasped in horror as those words sunk in.

"How long?"

"Since I was twelve, it's a long story."

"I have all night."

"Where's Potter? Don't tell me the perfect couple is fighting?" Draco asked with a sneer, one Ginny refused to acknowledge.

"Let's just say we have decided to see other people." Ginny said with a heavy smirk. Draco eyed her with suspicion but didn't press the matter. If there's one thing he had learned from Parkinson, it was that you never really want to know what goes on in a girls mind.

"All right, but you have to promise not to freak out; and you can't say anything to any one, ever. It's bad enough Mum and Dad found out about the bethrothal when we signed the adoption papers."

"Ok, Draco, I promise." Draco sighed and poured out his soul to his sister, hoping the release would help him sort through it all.

Meanwhile, one Harry Potter could be found with his back up against a tree, slacks and boxers pooling around his ankles and his hands clutching a head of light brown hair to his groin.

"Wait....I think I'm-" But the rest of Harry's sentence was cut off by a deep moan as Justin sucked harder on the flesh in his mouth. Harry saw the bright white flashes on the back of his eyelids as he came hard into the other boy's mouth. Soft kisses made their way up Harry's torso as he came down from the shuddering bliss of his first blow job.

Harry smiled as he pulled down the other's boxers, running his hands down to feel the neglected arousal of his partner. 'Yes, I am definitely gay.' Harry said to himself as he teased the slick flesh at the top of Justin's erection.

Justine gasped as the Boy-who-lived took him whole into his warm wet mouth. It was only polite to return the favor, right?

Ginny sat in shock in the floor of the Prefect Corridor.

"Please don't say anything to anyone Ginny; especially not him."

"How have you been doing this? Being around him all the time, knowing....."

Draco shrugged as Ginny ran her hands through the blonde hair in her lap.

"You're not mad are you?" Draco asked, showing genuine concern for another person's feelings.

"Why would I be mad? I told you, we aren't together anymore, not that we ever actually were."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked as he sat up to look at the girl.

"It's not my place to say anything, but trust me; you don't have anything to feel bad about."

"Ok? So what do I do now?"

"Well, you could continue being a complete prick to him; see how far that gets you. Or, you could tell him the truth; that usually seems to help."

"Are you kidding? Not only can I do nothing about the situation because of Parkinson, but there is no way it would ever work, he's not like me."

"How do you know? Have you asked him?"

"He was your boyfriend; I think that makes things pretty obvious, don't you?"

"Not everything is how it seems, Draco. You should tell him and let him make up his own mind before you pin him as something he's not." Ginny gave him a stern look as she made her way to the Prefect common room.

At her bedroom door she turned back to watch her brother throw himself in one of the maroon chairs.

"I'll be here if you want to talk some more."

"Thanks Gin, I just need some time to think." Draco said as he placed an overstuffed pillow over his head in a lame attempt to suffocate himself. Ginny smiled at him, 'If he only knew.' She thought as she shut her bedroom door. 'Things are certainly going to get interesting around here.'

Harry made his way into the second floor corridor after walking with Justin to the Hufflepuff common room entrance. The permanent smile that graced his features slipped as he rounded a corner and heard the unmistakable sounds of people trying to hide while making out.

Harry bit back a chuckle and walked quickly to pass the alcove where the people were undoubtedly hiding, when he heard a familiar voice whisper.

"We should not be doing this here...." Tonks' voice was muffled as the shuffling continued. A grunted reply was all that Harry heard in response and then everything got quiet.

After a few moments of silence, Harry peeked into the alcove to find it empty. 'Strange, I know they were right there.' He thought as he made his way to the Prefect's entrance between the bathrooms.

Harry and Justin had a few more late night encounters as the weeks went on, but with Harry's hectic schedule they both decided it would not be a good idea to try to make a relationship out of it. Both enjoyed the company of each other, but also realized that a certain important spark was definitely missing.

It also worked out that neither was ready to come out to their friends, so Harry didn't have to worry too much about being 'outed' to the entire school. Even if Justin could claim to be screwing around with the famous Boy-Who-Lived, Harry knew he could trust him to keep his secret.

Draco and Hermione spent the weeks up until Christmas break engrossed in their own worlds of study. Neither wanted anything to do with socializing at the moment, so throwing themselves into their work seemed like a good distraction.

Ron and Hermione were slowly getting back to the way things were before the summer. A heart to heart conversation in November confirmed that neither of them was holding grudges and that both just wanted to be friends again.

Harry was very happy to have his best friends back on speaking terms, but was not yet ready to reveal any of his secrets. He still confided in Ginny every chance he got about the small things; who was checking him out, his grades, the spontaneous encounters with Justin. You know; trivial stuff.

Individual study with Albus was becoming strained, and Harry wondered how long he would have before the need to find his soul mate was extreme. They mostly concentrated on wandless magic, legilimency, and empathy theory. There was only so much one could do with these skills un-bonded, as Albus had put it, and Harry could tell they were getting to the bottom of the barrel.

But one night in Albus' office, the weight of the world came crashing back on his shoulders and he wondered how much better he would feel if he were to lean on his friends a little more.

"We have received intelligence that Voldemort is planning an attack on Surrey during the Christmas break."

Harry sat in the headmaster's office as the dull shocks of those words were delivered to him.

"He thinks I will be there." It was more a statement than a question.

"So it would seem, Mr. Potter." Snape's hard voice sounded from the shadows of the office as he stepped into the light.

"Professor Snape has proven his loyalties to the Dark Lord in order to gather this information." Harry grimaced at the thought of what Snape had to endure to get such a privilege.

"Do we have an exact date?" Harry asked as he forced his thoughts away from images of Voldemort's idea of loyalty confirmation.

"No, but I believe it will be on or near Christmas day." Snape said as he sat in the chair next to Harry.

"I will contact your family members and ask them to go into hiding." Dumbledore said and Harry snorted.

"No offence Albus, but the Dursley's would sooner face Voldemort than hide in our world."

"I do have a contact in the Muggle government that would be willing to place them in their care. Do you think they would agree to that?"

"No, but it would be worth a try. If my aunt and uncle won't agree, can we do something about Dudley? Kidnap him for his own safety or something?"

Snape gave him a sharp frown as Dumbledore leaned back in his chair.

"I would not think you would care too much about what could happen to people whom have treated you so poorly, Mr. Potter." Snape said with a raised eyebrow.

"I may not like the Dursley's, but I won't let them condemn a sixteen year old to death because they're too stupid to realize the danger they are in." Harry said with a raised voice.

"All right Harry, I will see what I can do. We will have to stage a death of some sort to ensure Voldemort won't try this again."

"Sir, is the house not still protected?" Harry asked as the thought crossed his mind.

"No Harry, it is only fully protected when you are there."

"Maybe I should go home for the break then."

"No Mr. Potter. Thanks to the ceremony in which the Dark Lord was resurrected, he has found a way to override the protection on Privet Drive." Snape stated.

"Oh, so that's why I was taken to Grimmauld Place this summer." Dumbledore nodded his affirmation.

"The Order feels that it would be safer for the seven of you to stay at Grimmauld Place over the Christmas break. I have made arrangements for the other's families to come back to Hogwarts for Christmas Day." Harry nodded, concerned about his friends reaction to giving up their holiday.

"I have arranged a portkey to take the seven of you directly to the Black House. Make sure everyone is here by nine o'clock tomorrow morning. There will be a meeting tomorrow night for the initiations. Perhaps you should speak to Mr. Longbottom and Miss Lovegood about the marks before hand."

Harry took that as his queue to leave and made his way through Archimedes' portrait into the corridor. He had been feeling bad about keeping so many things from his two best friends; on the whole, he had actually been spending as little time with them as possible in order to ignore the nagging feeling. But now, he was faced with rooming with one again, not to mention a certain blonde, and without class or study to preoccupy him, he was sure he would explode from guilt before the two weeks were up.

That night after everyone had went to bed he made a promise to himself to have a talk with Remus and then with Ron and Hermione. It was time he relied on his friends for support in every way possible. Voldemort was getting impatient.