A/N: Why is it you only notice mistakes after you've posted the story? I don't know about this whole Harry POV thing, I'm having trouble writing it. I think I'm going to go over to a third person POV like I usually do. Input anyone?

For this chapter, I'm going to write it in third person, and get opinions. If enough people think my first person Harry POV was cooler, I'll rewrite it in first person, and stick with that, okay? So cast your votes!

Chapter 1

It was a lovely Thursday at the beginning of December, and the Great Hall was filled with students for dinner. There was the ambient chatter that was normally there, making the large room feel warm and welcoming. People were having a pleasant afternoon, with the exception of a few.

Harry Potter was pushing the food on his plate around without purpose, listening to his housemates complain. And about Draco Malfoy, no less. This in itself would not have been uncommon in years past, and was in fact a regular occurrence. Nowadays, however, complaints about Malfoy had lessened to the point of nonexistence, at least among the female population of Hogwarts. The males were a different story.

Malfoy's change in personality had brought the inevitable effect of attracting girls. Every girl from every house (and half the males) had looked at him longingly at least once since the beginning of the school year. Of course, this had happened before; when Malfoy was still the school's number one jerk. It had just happened in secret, the casters of the looks afraid of being made fun of or looked at strangely for desiring the person who could make anyone's life a living hell. The difference now was that there was no need for surreptitiousness, because of the change. Malfoy was now one of the best-liked people in school.

Because of this (it also didn't hurt that he'd been made Head Boy), many of the guys had problems getting and keeping girlfriends. They all were "waiting for Draco Malfoy to notice them." The girlfriendless sector of the school thought that this was ridiculous; Malfoy had shown no intention of becoming anyone's boyfriend, or even dating anyone at all. The guys thought that this was because Malfoy reveled in the attention.

So there Harry was, forced to listen to the gripes of his housemates over his former arch nemesis. Today it was the woes of Neville Longbottom.

"Why? It's not fair! Parvati told me that she liked me, why did she turn me down?" the poor boy bemoaned. The last few years had been kind to Neville, he had grown into his frame and had shot up nearly half a foot in the summer between fifth and sixth year.

"I heard her whispering to her sister in the hall the other day," Seamus leaned in conspiratorially, and everyone within earshot did the same, "but I don't know if I should tell you what I heard."

A collective glare was leveled at the Irishman, who grinned back. "Tell us Seamus."

Grinning, Seamus relented. "She told her that she thinks you're cute and everything, but she saw 'Draco' smiling at her." He said the Slytherin's name with a funny expression plastered on his face, and the entire group burst out in laughter, with the exception of Harry and Neville.

"You're putting me on!" Harry exclaimed indignantly while Neville's mouth hung open. Seamus shook his head.

"Honest to god truth, I swear."

Harry's eyes narrowed slightly. Everyone was being ridiculous about the entire thing. He simply couldn't believe that the entire population of the school was head over heels in love with Malfoy.

"I… I… I wish I could hate him," Neville finally found his voice again after several minutes of being frozen agape, "but he's just so nice this year! He's been tutoring me in potions…"

"He isn't!" Harry couldn't believe his ears. Had everyone gone mad? Were they under Imperious? Did he miss an important meeting somewhere along the way?

Neville nodded. "Yes, and he isn't being rude, or snide, or mean about it at all. It's very helpful… I haven't blown up a cauldron in nearly three weeks!"

Harry had the good grace not to laugh. He settled instead for a neutral look.

"Neville, Malfoy is the reason why you aren't at this moment making eyes at Parvati. Don't you resent him for that? And haven't any of you, for one moment, even considered the fact that Malfoy is putting on the 'nice guy' act? For fuck's sake, he's tormented us for the better part of our school life! How can any of you buy the fact that he suddenly 'saw the light?'"

"Harry, calm down," Hermione admonished. "Don't you think all of us are pretty good judges of character?"

"Well… That doesn't mean that Malfoy isn't faking it. I mean who goes from wannabe evil fucker to perfect angel in less than six months? And he's had his entire life to practice!"

"I really don't think that Malfoy would willingly tutor Neville in potions, and be nice about it, unless he actually did have a change of heart. He didn't give Neville the time of day before, only pushed him around."

"He even offered to do it, I didn't even have to ask," Neville added.

Harry closed his eyes in frustration. "This has to be some sort of plot." This statement fell on deaf ears, and he couldn't quite believe that his friends and housemates of more than six years could be so accepting of this. 'Temporary insanity, that has to be it. They'll come around, they'll see that this is some elaborate ploy… they have to!'

"Have you noticed how he doesn't seem to notice you any more, Harry?" Hermione mused, chewing on a slice of roast beef.

"Yeah, and that bugs me."

"Why, you miss the attention?" Seamus teased Harry, laughing a little.

"No, I just know what I'm up against with a mocking, snide Malfoy. This new one is completely alien. He's up to something, I'm sure of it!"

"Oh Harry, why can't you accept the fact that people change? They grow up. That's all that Malfoy has done."

"Yeah, mate," Ron piped up, "he's not the same ferret that we all knew and loathed."

"Yeah, right…" Harry's shoulders sagged, and his fork slowed its pushing of his potatoes and beef around his plate.

Neville's huge sigh cut through his thoughts. "I even went and bought matching rings for me and Parvati and everything." He reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a set of gold rings with decorative knotwork engraved, and showed them to his friends.

"You're actually buying in to that fad?" Harry looked over at the rings and nearly shook his head in exasperation. During the last two years, it had become a popular thing to get matching rings with people you liked, much like wedding rings but without the commitment. Friends wore their rings on the right ring finger, and more-than-friends (lovers if you will) wore them on the left ring finger. Harry couldn't believe that the fad was still continuing; he had pegged it to last for a year, tops. It was running on two now, and didn't show signs of letting up. Ron and Hermione even had matching rings, on their left hands of course.

"Well, yeah. I thought that we were going to start, y'know, dating," Neville's answer made Harry chuckle. He was so innocent that it was refreshing.

"What are you going on about, mate? You have a ring yourself." Ron finally decided to join in the conversation, after being on the sidelines before. Harry shrugged.

"This doesn't mean the same thing. This thing," Harry held his hand up so that he could look at his ring, a beautiful silver with a band of gold running around through the center, patterned like a vine, "is just something that has sentimental value. And as far as I know, it's the only one of its kind."

Everyone looked curiously over at Harry's right hand. Harry flushed as he found himself, or rather his ring, the object of scrutiny.

"Oh Harry, where did you get this?" Lavender breathed, clearly awed by the ring and how pretty it was. Harry shrugged.

"Can't remember. It was before the war when I got it, I was wandering Diagon Alley and it just caught my eye. At first I was wary of wearing it. That was about the time when the whole 'matching rings' thing started around here, but after I lost it, it just became special to me."

"Lost it? So you found it again?" Seamus asked.

"Sort of. I was washing my hands and I had taken it off, and I left it by the sink in the bathroom in the potions corridor. By the time I had realized that it was there and had gone back for it, it had disappeared. I looked everywhere for it," Ron and Hermione gave knowing looks at this statement; they'd been recruited to help him find the ring, "but it just didn't turn up. I had given up on ever seeing it again, when a few weeks later, it turned up on my table in Transfiguration. I've treasured it ever since."

"Why have you treasured it?" Hermione asked. She hadn't heard this part of the story.

"Well, when you've given up on finding something important to you, and it comes back, that's something to treasure." The people around Harry nodded.

"Did you ever find out who found it and gave it back?" Lavender asked, still entranced by the ring on Harry's finger. Harry shook his head.

"Nope. Whoever it was, though, I wish I could thank them." Everyone smiled at Harry and his wistful expression. Things seemed to quiet down after that, when suddenly, Lavender's eyes darted up and she squealed unexpectedly.

"Draco Malfoy is looking over here!" she said excitedly. "Maybe he's looking for me!" Harry gave a large, exasperated groan and stood from the table amidst argument over whom Malfoy was looking for, his food having barely been touched and forgotten.

"C'mon Neville, let's get outta here." He grabbed the other boy's hand and hauled him up.

"Where are we going, Harry?" Neville allowed him to drag him along.

"We're going to go find something to drink."

"Oh."

Amidst a sea of people all seeking out Draco Malfoy's attention, a disgruntled Harry Potter led a bemused Neville Longbottom out of the Great Hall and back up to Gryffindor Tower. Nobody noticed they'd left.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Harry and Neville had a memorable evening, except for the fact that Harry couldn't remember bits and pieces of it. Not long after they had gotten back to the Tower, Harry raided Seamus' stash of alcohol and started generously doling it out to the both of them. Not too long afterward, Harry was stark raving drunk, and Neville wasn't far behind. With his inebriated state, Harry's tongue loosened and his brain wasn't quick enough to stop himself from using it.

"What's so great about Malfoy anyway?" Harry was heard saying sometime near nine o'clock in the evening, after having been joined in the dorm by Ron, Seamus and Dean, who gladly joined their drinking party.

"Well, besides the fact that everyone thinks he's gorgeous… He's smart, he's witty, he's nice," Harry snorted at this point in Seamus' list.

"Like I said, all a big act. Getting people on his side, going to do something to us all… But I'll stop him. Malfoy isn't going to get the best of me, nuh uh."

"Mate, you're not making any sense," Ron muttered into his bottle of butterbeer.

"'Course I am. Malfoy's a git. Gits don't change their attitude and personality unless they're up to something. Ergo Malfoy's up to something."

"Ergo? Harry, you've been hanging around Hermione too much," Dean snickered.

"Whatev." Harry grabbed another shot of firewhiskey and continued his diatribe. "Just because he's being a little nicer to people, why is everyone falling all over him? It just isn't right! He'd been a dick to most of the school forever! How can he be forgiven so quickly?"

"Don't you believe in second chances?"

"Not for Malfoy…" Harry muttered darkly, downing yet another shot of alcohol. "And Ron, why are you so accepting of this? You used to hate him as much as anyone."

"Oh, well he apologized to me at the end of last year. Apologized to Hermione also, said he regretted the way he'd been acting up till then."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Hmm, I wonder…" Seamus said sarcastically, and the entire room burst into giggles, except for Harry, who glared at his friends and reached for the bottle again. Neville pulled it out of his reach.

"I don't think you need any more of this, Harry." He put the cork on the bottle and gave it over to Seamus, who put it back in its place. Harry griped about his drink being taken away and his friends taking his enemy's side against him and that the world hated him before he started drifting off into a drunken stupor. Ron shook his head, and pulled the poor boy up from the floor where he was lounging on to his own bed.

"Sleep'll do you some good, mate."

"Mmmmfnnrgng."

"Good night to you too."

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Saying he had a headache would be a major understatement. To Harry, it felt like someone was pounding on the inside of his head with the wrong end of a hammer. His temples throbbed with his heartbeat, and his eyes felt dry and scratchy. His mouth felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton. His limbs felt heavy and he most definitely did not want to move from his bed anytime soon.

"Kill me…" he groaned as someone threw open the hangings around his bed and light streamed in, hitting him in the face.

"Hangover?" Ron asked cheerily, pulling the covers off of Harry's body, trying to rouse him.

"Major. Go away." Harry tried to reclaim his lost bedding, but found that he didn't have the will to try and fight with Ron this morning. His best friend was grinning like a madman.

"You're going to be late for breakfast if you don't get up soon, you know." Ron finished uncovering Harry and tried to pull him out of bed. Harry struggled feebly.

"Ron. Shhh. Speak in small syllables." The sounds of the voices in the dormitory were echoing in his brain, adding to the hammer already present, and the thought of food wasn't doing anything for Harry whatsoever. He felt nauseous just imagining what was waiting.

"Heh, to think the Boy Who Lived was brought down by a simple hangover. Who woulda thought?"

"Dun call me that…" Harry growled, pushing Ron away and swinging his legs slowly over the edge of the bed.

"Sorry," Ron replied, not looking sorry at all. "Listen, you go take a shower, it'll do wonders for you, and I'll save you something." Harry nodded, slowly working his way toward standing up, still feeling some of the effects of the drinking binge from the night previous.

"Ron… little help here?" Harry pleaded. Ron gave him a half smile and muttered a sobering charm. It helped with the disorientation, but it did nothing for his headache. Harry didn't feel as nauseous, though. "Thanks."

"Sure thing. See you downstairs." Harry nodded and Ron left. Harry gathered up his things slowly, making his way toward the bathroom. Once there he turned the tap on full blast and adjusted the temperature to a soothing degree, undressed himself and stepped in.

"Stupid Malfoy and his stupid changing without warning." Harry quickly lathered himself up and rinsed off, not wanting to miss all of breakfast. His mutterings about Malfoy never ceased as he toweled off and quickly dressed, not bothering to dry his hair as he usually did, instead leaving it wet and heavy, effectively keeping it from sticking out all over the place as it normally was wont to do. He didn't bother looking in the mirror as he left the bathroom to grab his school things and get himself down to the Great Hall.

Harry walked quietly into the Great Hall and dropped his things on the floor next to the seat that Ron had saved next to him. He sat, grabbed a muffin and began eating as everyone around him spoke in soft tones. Harry couldn't quite make out what they were saying, his head was still pounding from the hangover, and he found that he didn't quite care. The normally soothing ambient noise of the breakfasting students was now a dull ache in his skull and he couldn't wait to get away from it as soon as possible.

"…don't you think, Harry?" Apparently he was being addressed, but Harry didn't know by whom.

"Hmm? Oh, sure…" Harry stood, unable to take the noise any more. "I'm going to the bathroom for a bit, I'll be back." He didn't wait for a response as he sped out of the Great Hall and into the corridor, rushing to the nearest bathroom to get some peace and quiet.

Once there, he walked slowly over to the row of sinks and turned the cold-water tap on, letting it run for a few seconds before dipping one hand in as the other took his glasses off and set them aside. He caught sight of the ring on his right middle finger, and decided to take it off, so that it wouldn't get tarnished. He set the ring down next to the tap and leaned over the sink, scooping up some water and tossing it on his face, trying to will his headache away. He ran his wet fingers through his hair, smoothing it down. A few seconds later, he repeated the process, the cold water helping him little by little to relax himself and start forgetting about his headache.

The third time he did this (or was it the fourth? He'd lost count), the door opened and someone walked in. They went to the sink next to him, just as he was splashing the water, and a majority of the excess landed on the new person.

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled.

"Don't worry about it," a soothing voice said, startling Harry with how smooth it was. "Here, take this." The person reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, holding it out to Harry to dry his face off with. A metallic 'ting' sounded directly after, but Harry ignored it. He took the proffered item gratefully, wiped his eyes off, put his glasses on, and looked up so that he could see who he had splashed and apologize properly. His surprise was apparent, and the hand he had placed on the sink nearly slipped off, pushing his ring off the edge and on to the ground. Harry didn't seem to notice at that moment, however.

"M…Malfoy?" Harry couldn't believe his eyes. Draco Malfoy was standing in front of him, and he had actually been civil. The world was going to end. His eyes narrowed into a glare. Malfoy seemed frozen in place for a moment in time, before he regained his composure.

"Potter," he practically spat. Harry felt a thrill run through him. He'd been right! Malfoy was putting on an act!

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. Malfoy shrugged.

"Can't a person go to the bathroom without a grand inquisition?"

"Why this bathroom?" Malfoy looked at Harry as if he were mad.

"It's the closest to the Great Hall you dolt." Harry's cheeks tinged pink as he realized what a stupid question that had been. Instead of admitting that, however, he changed tracks.

"I knew you were bluffing."

"What are you going on about?"

"This whole 'new' you thing. I knew that it would be an act."

"How do you know it isn't?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow.

"You're not being very nice right now." Harry said matter of factly.

"Well maybe I just don't like you, Potter. Did you ever think of that?" Malfoy crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.

"You don't like most of Gryffindor, and yet people say that you're being nice to them."

"You're a special case."

"Oh yeah? You're a basket case."

"Real original, Potter."

"Why don't you drop the 'nice guy' act and go back to being the ferret that we all know and loathe?"

"Why don't you stop acting like a prick and grow up?" Malfoy bent over to pick something up, turned on his heel and walked quickly out of the bathroom. Harry glared after him, belatedly realizing that he still had Malfoy's handkerchief in his hand. He balled it up and nearly threw it against the wall, but decided last moment to keep it as a reminder of the encounter.

"Shit, class!" Harry panicked that he was going to be late and started rushing out of the bathroom, before remembering that he had taken his ring off and hadn't put it back on yet. He wasn't about to lose his ring again. Kneeling, he reached under the sink where his ring had presumably fallen and groped around until he felt the reassuring cold metal. He didn't even bother slipping it back on before dashing out and into the corridor, racing to his first class of the day. His headache was all but forgotten.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

It had been a day for the books. Not the worst in Harry's recent memory, but still one to remember. Potions had been horrible, as usual, but he had been prepared for that. What he hadn't been prepared for was his cauldron melting and losing all of the points for the assignment and getting assigned a week's detention with Snape for carelessness.

That was enough to ruin his month, really. That, coupled with the Malfoy issue was just really getting to him. Not to mention the fact that suddenly, his ring stopped fitting his finger mysteriously.

He had discovered this while listening to Snape lecture before they got started on the potion du jour. Harry tried to put it on his right middle finger, where it had always gone and always fit, and for some unknown reason it refused to fit. It was as if someone had shrunk the ring, but that was improbable. The only finger that his ring would fit now was his left ring finger, a place that Harry would never wear it.

'Well, never is a bit harsh… but as of now I wouldn't dream of putting my ring there,' he thought wryly to himself.

Harry had put the ring away, determined to figure out what was wrong just as soon as potions was over and he could think, perhaps at lunch. Alas, he didn't actually get the chance to do that at all, because something unexpected happened before Transfiguration that floored Harry.

He had just settled into his seat and was waiting for Professor McGonagall to arrive and start the class. Ron was sitting next to him, Hermione directly in front of him, seated next to Neville. They were having a pleasant conversation, that is until the door to the classroom burst open and one Draco Malfoy was seen standing in the doorway. Harry groaned and put his head on the desk, hoping that Malfoy would just go away. That wasn't to be.

"Potter, where are you?" Malfoy demanded, searching the classroom with his gaze. Spotting the groaning boy with his hair sticking out all over the place (his hair having dried naturally a while ago), he sauntered over and stood next to the desk. Harry looked up, an unhappy expression on his face.

"What is it, Malfoy?"

"Hold out your hand."

"What? Why?"

"I have something of yours, that's why. Now do it." Malfoy sounded impatient. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Fine, whatever." Harry did as he was told. Malfoy smirked.

"That was rather trusting of you, don't you think?" Harry glared.

"Just do what you came to do and leave." Malfoy shrugged one shoulder elegantly and dropped something into Harry's outstretched hand. Harry brought it up to his face and examined it. What he saw made his eyes widen and his mouth hang open. He was holding his ring.

"Wait, that's impossible. I have my ring right here…" Harry reached into a pocket of his robe and brought out an exact replica of the ring that Malfoy had just given him.

"That one's mine. See, the one I had doesn't fit any of my fingers, except my left ring finger strangely. They must have gotten switched in the bathroom this morning."

"Wha… when… why do you have a ring that matches mine??" Harry was truly flabbergasted.

"Don't ask me, Wonder Boy, just give me my ring back." He stretched his hand out in the same manner that Harry had, palm upward, waiting for something to be dropped into it. Harry reluctantly complied, still not believing his eyes. Draco took the ring between his thumb and forefinger, looked it over, and once satisfied, slipped it onto his right middle finger. "Thanks," he simply said, and walked out of the classroom as if he had no worry in the world. Harry stared after him, his ring clutched in his hand, his mind whirling at the thought of sharing rings with Draco Malfoy.

Why was his life so complicated?

After-chapter noteage: Well that was the quickest chapter I've ever written. And all because of the lovely reviews that I've received! I can't thank you all enough for your support! I hope you'll continue to do so… And for the next chapter… let's shoot for twenty reviews before the next one! (I'm hoping that'll give me a tad bit more time to write) I don't know if the rest of the chapters will be quite this long, but I needed to get the plot rolling. I'm just lucky that I had a few spare moments at work every now and then when I could jot down a paragraph or two…

Now I need you all to vote. First person POV or third person POV? Will Lizzie be rewriting a chapter? Only time and votes will tell!

Oh yeah! I'm also looking for a beta reader. Not someone to check for grammar and spelling, I'm pretty good about that, but more for checking the flow and organization of it all. If interested, check out my profile for contact info!