CALLING ALL AUTHORS ----- IN THE NEXT CHAPTER I HOPE TO WRITE SOME KIND OF SLASH SCENE BETWEEN HARRY AND DRACO. I CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR HELP. PLEASE REVIEW AND INCLUDE TIPS FOR ME.

There seems to be a great lack of reviewing going on here, so whether you liked it or no, please review.

DISCLAIMER: All together now...I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does. If you feel you need to flame, please do. I find them amusing. Hell, just enjoy!

September drizzled out and October burst into a fiery second summer, which is why Harry could be found one Saturday laying sprawled on the sandy bank of the lake next to a topless Ron and an overheating Hermione, who was frantically fanning herself with that day's edition of the Daily Prophet. Ron had finally stopped growing and begun to fill out, leaving his torso toned and fit. Hermione at least seemed to be unable to keep her eyes off it. There were long brown scars across his collar bones all the way down to his elbows, relics of the memories that had wrapped themselves round him in the Brain Room of the Department of Mysteries.

However far from being ugly, Harry had been told by numerous people that they looked rather artful. Harry didn't think so, every time he saw them he was reminded just how close he had brought his friends to mortal peril. That didn't stop a headstrong Ravenclaw fifth-year asking Ron how he could get the same thing done to him.

'Urgh, Weasley, what are those?' Draco was standing right behind them, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

'What d'you mean?' asked Ron aggressively.

'Those scratches on that thing you call a body.' People were looking round, and the Slytherins among them started to laugh.

'You mean my scars?'

'Yes Weasel, those scratches. Tell me if I'm wrong, but am I right in saying that you got them because Potter loves playing the hero?' Pansy Parkinson, who had come and wrapped herself round Draco, let out a snort of laughter.

'Fuck off, Malfoy.' said Ron.

'Or was it because you wanted a scar like Potter? Thought it'd make you famous? Thought you'd be Dumbledore's new favourite?' Draco continued.

'Just go away, Malfoy.' said Hermione.

'What kind of man needs his girlfriend to stand up for him?' asked Draco.

'What kind of man creeps around in a mask, afraid to show his face?' retorted Ron hotly, referring quite deliberately to Draco's father. Draco ignored this.

'You know Weasel, if that's the kind of girl those scratches attract, you'd be better off without them!' Draco smirked. Pansy shrieked with laughter. Harry couldn't work out what was going on; this wasn't Draco, this was Malfoy. To Harry there was a world of difference.

'At least he's true to himself.' Harry interjected, with a meaningful look at Draco. He swore he got a wink in reply. Then, ignoring Harry's comment, he said to Ron:

'I don't really know how you could bear to have your shirt off when it looks like you've been shat on by a flock of Oujimaflips.' before motioning to the cronies that had gathered round him and stalking off towards the castle.

'Don't listen to him Ron, you look gorgeous.' said Hermione.

'Yeah, cheers 'Mione. What do you think Harry?'

'Hey, don't take my word for it.' said Harry, 'Just look at the amount of people not laughing.'

'Yeah, I suppose so.' said Ron.

'Listen,' said Harry, leaning closer, 'he didn't mean it, he's got to keep up appearances, you know?' then when Ron continued to look sceptical, 'I know I need to talk to you about him, let's have a chat tonight, yeah?'

'Yeah, whatever.' said Ron.

But when that night came, Harry had begun to wish he hadn't said anything. Ron's mood had not improved and Harry doubted if he would believe anything he said about Draco right now. Still, for Draco's sake he had to try.

'Uh, Ron?' he said, approaching a steaming Ron who had just told a group of frightened first-years off for no real reason.

He could see that Ron was resisting the urge to snap a hot reply. He settled for a simple 'What?'

'Do you, er, wanna talk about Draco now?' he asked.

Ron looked daggers at him.

'We don't have to.' Harry added quickly 'You just said you wanted to earlier.'

'Don't talk to me about that cock-muncher.'

'K, whatever Ron, but we need to talk sooner or later.' and with that he left Ron to his fuming.

This was the dungeons of Hogwarts as Harry had never seen it before. He was in a room that lacked the usual damp, cold aura of Snape's classroom. The whole place was lit with candles, a bed stood in the corner, school robes that had been stuffed with pillows hung from the ceiling, and in the middle of the stone floor sat Draco Malfoy. He uncrossed his legs and stood up as Harry entered.

'Glad you could make it Harry.'

'Yeah, right, er...what is this place? It's not like the rest of the dungeons.'

'I think it was the old dungeon keeper's bedroom, I found it. I saw rats going through the wall under my bed so I pulled a few bricks out and found this place. I saw the hole in the ceiling and climbed out to find myself behind the hourglasses in the entrance hall - the same way you came in, Harry.'

'Cool, but why are we here? What's all this about?'

'It's about you becoming a much more powerful wizard, Harry.'

'I don't get it.'

'Come here.' said Draco, leading Harry over to where he had hung one of the pillow-stuffed robes in the middle of the room.

'Hit the dummy,' he instructed.

'What?' Harry asked.

'It's very simple, just punch the dummy.' Draco replied. Harry did.

'Okay, now hit it again, with all your strength.' Harry did. Draco moved round to stand behind him, and whispered in his ear.

'Relax, clear your mind. Now, think of me being an arsehole, bullying you and your friends since our first year, think of me trying to get Hagrid sacked, things like that. Think about it all, get worked up, get really pissed off, then hit the dummy again.'

Scenes from the last six years flooded Harry's mind, Draco trying to get Hagrid sacked, Draco quoting every Rita Skeeter article that had ever been published, Draco and the Weasel King song...' Harry let out a yell of frustration as all the things Draco had ever done burst through him, then let fly at the dummy in front of him. The string Draco had used to hang it up broke, and the dummy itself made a soft thud as it hit the opposite wall.

'Good!' exclaimed Draco, looking triumphant.

'What the hell was that all about?' asked Harry.

'You'll see.' said Draco, then he led Harry to a line of dummies hanging on the wall.

'Wand out Harry, send a Reductor curse down the line. Let's see how many you can destroy.'

Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket and shouted as he aimed down the line of dummies 'Reducto!'.

Three dummies burst into clouds of feathers and a fourth poured feathers out of a hole in it's centre.

'Okay,' said Draco, 'come over to this line here and do the same.' Harry crossed the room and aimed at the other line of dummies. This was all very strange.

'Before you send the spell Harry, think of your parents. He robbed you of them forever. He murdered so many people simply because they were good, honest people.' He didn't need to say any more, for a mixture of grief and anger had risen within Harry, and at this very second he had only one channel of venting those emotions.

'REDUCTO!!!'

The spell surged down the line of dummies, obliterating the entire line of them and, with a deafening CRACK, shot a fissure in the solid stone wall at the end of the room.

'Excellent!' cried Draco. He looked even more triumphant than he had two minutes ago.

'Okay Draco, no more games. Why the fuck are you making me do all this?' Harry demanded.

'Oh, Harry! Isn't it obvious?' Draco asked. 'Look at the difference between your first punch and the one when you were pissed off! Look at the difference between your spell on those dummies over there and the line you just destroyed! Can't you see the difference? It comes down to this: Wizards, like all humans, are stronger and generally more powerful when they're angry. Emotions are both humankind's greatest strength and greatest weakness; learn to control them and make them work for you.'

'What d'you mean?' Harry asked, confused.

'If I had attacked you in both states, which would have done you more damage? When you were calm. It roots to the same thing, you're stronger when you're angry.'

'What's your point?'

'My point is, when you fight Him, which would you rather be? Angry right? Here's a fun fact for you. Every time you lose your temper about something you vent the wound and heal from it. Now, what if you kept calm about the situation? When you did finally break, it'd be for the first time and therefore be more volatile. A prime example is me, I've kept calm most of my life, so when I need it, I let just a little go, and am all the more powerful for it. Actually, I'm scared what I would be capable of if I did break. D'you get what I'm on about?'

'Yeah. Yeah I do Draco, why didn't I think of that?'

'Because you just let it all out straight away. Next time I'll start teaching you how to bottle it all up 'till you need it, but for now you need rest, I've talked too much.'

'Whatever.' replied Harry.

'You get off to bed now, I know it's only nine but things like what I've told you tonight need a lot of rest from.'

'K, whatever.' Harry was already too tired to talk a lot, but something was nagging him from the back of his mind, something which needed to happen before he left.

'Umm, Harry?' Draco asked tentatively.

'Yeah?'

'D'you er, want a um, kiss goodnight?'

Harry didn't even reply, he just grabbed the front of Draco's robes and brushed his lips against Draco's. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity, then Harry felt something new – Draco's tongue dancing on his bottom lip. He opened his mouth and Draco continued his exploration. The kiss was probing and eager, but at the same time it wasn't too rough. He had decided that Draco was a good kisser before they even drew apart.

'Wow Dray, you must be able to do better than Pansy Parkinson with a kiss like that.'

'I have now,' Draco replied, 'I've got you.'

'W-What?'

'Go out with me Harry, together we'd be unstoppable.'

Harry couldn't speak, he was in shock. Eventually, he answered the only way he could, he pulled Draco close and kissed him again.

'Together?' asked Draco.

'Welcome,' said Harry, 'to the Draco-Harry era.'

Duh-duh-duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, hell yeah! I dunno about you peeps, but I'm starting to enjoy the fic now. If any, this is the chapter I'm most proud of.

Thank you 'lothmeldo', as always your comments (and praise) are greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, I have no other peeps to thank for the fic as it stands, because NO ONE BOTHERED TO REVIEW!!! Seriously, whether you enjoyed it or not, please review.