Hello to everyone who has been reading and following this story. I love you all. Thank you for your comments and reviews, advice and praise. I am so grateful.

Tyler

Thank you so much. You are helping me in every way. I do hope you continue to read this and give me your views.

Samantha

Thank you so. It won't end like that, but It will be angsty.

Dragon's Lover

Thank you ever so much for reading this and putting me on your fav's. That review boosted me along and kept me going. Thank you.

Wyntre de Romanov

Thanks so much for your praise. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Hyperbole

You are right. I did go a little far with the ! marks. I don't know why but I've always had that problem. I have rectified it now. Thanks for telling me of I might not have noticed.

S wing, Miseryslilwench, Demonic Duo, Silver Angel, asaroth69, Neppu, dracophillic, ferretgirl1023, Cherish Chang and Girlofpoison and to everyone else who has reviewed. Thank you all. I wanted to write a message to you all but I would be here forever.

I also hesitatingly thank the Chocolate Obsessed Cousin Anita with the chainsaw, even if she continues to threaten me.

Im so sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. Writers block hit me and I hit it back until it left me alone. I also have been engrossed in Chobit's and Trouble Chocolate. Bloody hilarious. Anyway, what you get is a longish chapter and I hope it is enjoyed. Please review when you have read it. Please!

I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, the movie would have followed the books to the letter! (Not that I don't like the movies.)

DARKNESS OR LIGHT. WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?

Chapter 11 - Harry's Denial And Draco's Stress!

Harry woke to the sensation of warm breath on his neck. He was enclosed in a warm embrace and he felt safe, protected. Moving his head and looking down at himself, he saw that he was naked. He was lying on his bed in the Gryffindor dorm room and the bed covers were around his ankles. It was dark and his curtains were closed around his bed, masking him from the rest of the room. Two arms encircled his waist and hid feet were entwined with another's. Strangely enough, being naked in the arms of God knows who didn't disturb him in the slightest. He felt warm. The presence nestled behind him was so familiar, so gentle. Harry sighed and closed his eyes.

"Harry?" He heard a whisper in his ear. He didn't know the voice but knew that he had heard it somewhere before. "Do you feel better?" He then felt a warm but wet touch circle the shell of his ear and he moaned with pleasure. "I'll take that as a yes." The touch continued and Harry concluded that it was the other person's mouth. This became a known fact when that mouth began to nibble on his earlobe. Hissing, he arched back into the touch, making the other chuckle lightly. "I love the little sounds you make." The arms tightened. "And I love knowing that I'm the only one that can produce them. You are mine Harry Potter. I love you and I will never let you go. Whatever happens, I will always be at your side!"

~~

Harry woke, sitting up and gasping heavily. That dream! He had that dream before but not quite as vividly. Last time, it had only been a voice and a feeling. This time, it was tangible. He had felt the emotions of the moment and also, he now knew that the warm feelings and comfort had come from a male.

"Hey. You awake?" Ron pulled back the curtains around his bed, making him wince in pain at the light shining in his eyes.

"I'm awake." Harry looked at the clock on the wall behind Ron. The hands were pointing on 'should be sleeping.' He then looked at Ron questioningly. "You're not usually up this early. What's going on?"

"That's what I want to know." Ron dropped himself onto the end of Harry's bed and stared at him. "What happened last night that made you come charging into the common room and up the stairs, as if You Know Who and his Death eaters were after you?"

"Nothing." Harry felt himself blush. He was a lousy liar.

"You are a lousy liar Harry" Ron echoed his thoughts. "Now come on, what happened after I left you and Draco?" Harry kept his mouth shut. There was no way he could tell Ron that Draco Malfoy had snogged him. "Not speaking huh?" Ron grinned. "Okay. Guessing game." He bounced gently on the bed, making the springs squeak slightly. "You and Draco decided to race. You both took off, raced once around the pitch like we did, then landed, you first. Am I right so far?"

"Yes." Harry answered. He gripped the bedclothes tightly.

"Let's see." Ron continued. "You and Draco looked at each other and he moved towards you. You, on the other hand, couldn't move and just stared into his eyes."

"Were you spying on us?" Harry mumbled out, mortified. Ron grinned at him and continued.

"I'm guessing that Draco told you about how he felt about you, then kissed you." Ron ignored Harry's gob smacked face and continued. "I also guess that you were too shocked to respond and Draco left you in ignominy. When you came back to yourself, you were horrified. Am I right?" Harry flopped back onto his bed, a hand over his eyes.

"Yes. I don't know how you guessed this though."

"Oh, I knew!"

"What?" Harry sat up again so fast that he fell forward. "What do you mean, you knew?" He stared at Ron in suspicion. Ron wriggled uncomfortably on the bed.

"I kinda guessed that Draco liked you a while ago. That was when we started talking. The same day you and Hermione got together." Harry continued to stare at his best friend, holding his head in his hand.

"Why aren't you bothered? I mean, it seems like you're edging him on. What about Hermione?"

"I just want you to be happy Harry." Ron got up from the bed and made his way over to the door and opened it. "Not pretend happy, like now, but really happy." Ron left the room leaving Harry staring after him.

"Okay." Harry got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, passing the sound asleep Dean and Neville and the snoring lightly Seamus. He didn't know what was going on inside Ron's head anymore. He had gone from completely despising Malfoy, to helping him try to seduce his best friend. He shook his head slightly, then turned on the shower. He thought about the dream while he was soaping himself. It was definitely the same, warm voice that he had heard when he had woken up from his coma. It made him feel safe. The arms around him had felt so right....

"Snap out of it Harry!" He cursed, sticking his head under the shower spray. "I can't believe I'm even thinking about it." He tried to banish the feeling of that breath on his ear, but couldn't, shivering slightly under the hot spray. "Think of class today, with Malfoy." That did it. He felt apprehensive, but it felt more natural than the feeling of lust did.

He was under that train of thought, all the way to the breakfast table, where Ron was already seated. Pansy was sitting next to him, talking animatedly about something. Just recently, she had begun to be a regular at the Gryffindor table and the rest of the house didn't seem to mind, although Hermione always gave her a speculative look. He on the other hand, found that Pansy was a very refreshing person to talk to, just like Blaise was and Malfoy. Without thinking about it, Harry's eyes flicked over to the Slytherin table, looking for a familiar blond head but not seeing it. He wasn't up yet. Harry sighed in relief and went and sat down next to Ron, placing a small bacon roll onto his plate.

"Morning Harry." Pansy chirped from over Ron's shoulder. Harry smiled at her and poured himself his tea.

"Hi Pansy. Where's Blaise and Malfoy? Not up yet?"

"Blaise isn't up. He just rolled over when I tried shaking him and went back to sleep. Draco on the other hand wasn't in his bed. I don't know where he is. I tried speaking to him last night but he just threw me out of the dorm. I have no idea what is wrong with him."

"Oh." Harry took a small bite of his roll, then put it down again and picked up his tea. As usual, he wasn't feeling very hungry and was grateful that Hermione wasn't down yet, practically stuffing food into his mouth. He had to admit that he was getting a little thin but not painfully so, but Hermione seemed to mother him constantly about it. 'Oh God, Hermione.' Harry put the hand that wasn't holding the teacup over his eyes. Last night. The extended make out session.. He couldn't face Hermione this morning either. The feeling that he had used her just to prove his actions lay on him heavily. He stood up suddenly, put his cup down and left the table, ignoring Ron's questioning voice. He raced out of the Great Hall and almost immediately hit a warm mass that made his body tingle!

"Harry?" Harry gulped, then looked up into eyes of silvery blue. Those eyes were lamentable and he nearly winced at the sight. Hands rested on his shoulders gently. "Are you okay?" Once again he felt as if he couldn't move and the memory of the kiss they had shared last night washed over him

"I....I'm fine." Harry stuttered out. The hands on his shoulders tightened and he was sure he heard a muttered yes you are." Anyway, gotta get to class." He still didn't move and Malfoy didn't remove his hands. Harry couldn't believe how much he was shaking. He saw Malfoy step forward and bend down slightly so their faces were a few inches apart.

"Harry." Malfoy said again, a wistful tone in his voice. Harry felt his eyes closing involuntarily. He felt a warm breath on his lips and nearly groaned in expectation.

"Hey Harry. You've forgotten your bag." Ron's voice penetrated the moment and Harry stepped back out of Malfoy's grasp, then ran past him and along the corridor, leaving both Ron and Malfoy where he had left them.

~~

Draco watched as Harry ran from him, disappearing around the corner, then dropped his eyes and sighed. He'd had a terrible time since last night, what with Blaise hounding him with questions until late. He had hardly slept at all and had spent a few hours sitting in the astronomy tower, looking at the stars. While sitting on the cold floor until the early hours of the morning, he had finally made peace with himself about Harry. Ron was right. He was in love with him and no amount of denial would change that fact.

"Draco. I'm sorry." Ron mumbled behind him. "I didn't know you were out here."

"It's okay." Draco replied. "It was my own fault for trying to kiss him in the middle of the corridor." He sighed again, then glanced up at Ron. "I just couldn't stop myself. Are you sure someone hasn't put a spell on me or something?"

"Quite sure. It's pure you! Anyway, it did seem that Harry was almost mirroring you. He did seem quite willing to kiss you just now." Draco's eyes brightened.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I've noticed it twice now, that when you and Harry stare into each other's eyes, he seems to freeze and you get closer to him." Ron pondered for a moment. "It seems kinda mushy and also cliché, but that's what happened."

"So, what should I do? I just know he is going to try to avoid me." Draco frowned, folding his arms. "I'm never going to get anywhere if he keeps running from me as soon as he sees me."

"We need to plan." Ron tapped his jaw with a forefinger. Draco stayed silent while Ron mused, shuffling his feet every now and then. "Yes definitely."

"Plan?" Draco began, but was cut off.

"Yes. Right, meet me in the Astronomy Tower at dinner and we'll go through it.."

"Go through what?"

"The plan! Geez, I just said that." Ron smacked his hand to his forehead. Draco was confused.

"What plan?"

"The plan to get Harry to figure out his feelings. Man, I thought I had problems grasping the obvious."

"Hey." Draco frowned. "It's not my fault that you can't explain yourself properly Weasley. You were garbling to yourself."

"Well sorry Malfoy. I thought it was rather obvious." Ron frowned back. "Have you finished with the moaning? Shall we go to class today? Or should we just stand here and bitch until lunchtime?"

"Class." Draco sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Sorry, I'm stressed. I haven't had much sleep."

"Perfectly understandable." Ron clapped him on the shoulder and pushed him along the corridor. "Let's go."

Potions class was stressful. When Draco arrived, he discovered that Harry had switched seats with Blaise and was staring at the table. Draco didn't know whether or not to be relieved or annoyed. Controlling himself around Harry was hard enough. Sitting next to him while he was in touching distance was a disaster waiting to happen. On the other hand, Draco wanted to touch him. Last night, when he did sleep, he dreamt of Harry. Holding him and not letting go. The dream had become quite vivid and had woken him up once again, moaning in arousal. History of magic was just as bad. While the class were being taught about the end of the witchunt trials, (The last execution for witchcraft in England was the 20th of February, 1712.) Draco had spent his time scribbling a rough picture of Harry on his notebook, but scribbled over it when he realised what he was doing.

"You look terrible!" Blaise commented at lunchtime. Draco sat, hunched over the table with his head in his hands. "What happened?"

"Oh nothing." He muttered in reply. "Just having a bad morning."

"Yeah I can see that." Blaise ruffled his hair, making Draco swat him away. "Harry doesn't look so good either. Well he does, but he looks occupied."

"Occupied?" Draco raised his head and he immediately latched eyes with Harry. He made to move forward and ended up whacking his knee on the underside of the table. This made him break eye contact while his head nearly collided with his plate of pasta shells.

"What are you doing?" Blaise sounded like he was trying not to laugh. Draco looked up to see practically the whole of the Slytherin table staring at him questioningly. He gave a sharp glare and everyone turned back to his or her meals. "That was bloody hilarious."

"Well, I'm glad you were amused." Draco growled, cursing himself for loosing control yet again and including that, embarrassing himself at the table. He looked up through his fringe at Harry. The aforementioned boy was staring at his plate and was pulling at his hair with a hand. Granger had a hand on his shoulder and was talking to him. As he watched, she took Harry's hand from his hair and entwined it within her own. Draco clenched the glass he was holding, hard enough that his hand began to shake, spraying pumpkin juice across the table. "Let go, let go, let go." He muttered to himself. The urge to jump across the tables and pull Granger away from Harry would have become reality if he hadn't been gripped by the shoulders from behind.

"Steady Draco." He heard Ron's whispered voice. Blaise had also heard it and he looked up at the two of them in curiosity. Ron shrugged in response and then pulled Draco out of his seat to face him. "Get a grip." He hissed. "Do you want everyone to know?"

"No. Of course not." Draco grumbled back. "It was an accident. I couldn't help it. If the table hadn't been there, I would have...." Here he trailed off, a worried look crossing his face.

"If the table hadn't been there, you would have jumped him in front of the whole student body." Ron whispered furiously. "And now Blaise is suspicious. It's hard enough keeping Pansy from figuring it out. You keep nearly making it obvious. If Hermione weren't so focused on Harry, she would have figured it out herself."

"Bloody Granger." Draco clenched his fists at her name. "I will prove that Harry is mine, not hers. Mine!" Ron scratched his head.

"Hence the plan we are going to formulate later. Try and hold yourself together until then." Ron squeezed his shoulder, nodded to Blaise and then walked back over to the Gryffindor table. Draco sat back down and after a few moments of silence, banged his head on the table making all in his vicinity jump back slightly. Blaise gave him a strange look, then went back to his lunch. Draco sighed. There was no way this day could get any worse!

Of course, he was wrong!

Things grew much more intense during Care Of Magical Creatures; Draco's most hated class with his most hated teacher. Well, not most hated teacher perhaps, maybe most feared teacher. Hagrid had a way of making him feel on edge. Had done so since the first time he had seen him, staring through the robe shop window while getting fitted for school robes. Ever since Third Year, it seemed that Hagrid held a grudge against Draco and that lesson, he had proof!

He was partnered with Granger!

"Kneazle's" Hagrid gestured towards the boxes inside a large fenced area. A couple of the boxes shook and several students backed away in apprehension. "Can any of you tell me what a Kneazle is and what it can do?"

As usual, Grangers hand shot up, her fingers nearly swiping Draco's face making him back away slightly. He scowled and waited for Hagrid to call on her.

"Parkinson?" Draco swerved his head to see her, standing next to Harry, her hand in the air.

"Kneazle's look kind of like a cat with large ears and a lion like tail. Intelligent and can be aggressive. It can detect suspicious people and makes a great guide." Parkinson said all this with a wide smile.

"Excellent. Ten points to Slytherin." Draco heard Granger mutter to herself and he heard colourful language describing Parkinson that he didn't need to hear.

"Nice Granger. Good to see that your skills with the English language are as brushed as ever." He smirked at her."

"Shut up Malfoy." She didn't even look at him and kept her eyes in the direction of Hagrid. Malfoy sniggered.

"Oh, great comeback." Granger ignored him and walked into the fenced area, towards one of the shaking boxes holding a Kneazle.

"Right everyone, I want the male to open the box and the female to lift it out. They respond better to girls and you need to calm it."

"Oh, joy." Draco muttered and pulled off the lid of the box. Inside was a little black with silver flecks bundle of fur, which was shaking in one corner. It's yellow eyes looked up at him and it meowed quietly.

"How adorable." Granger picked it up and held it gently in her hands. It stared at her for a few moment's, that began wriggling, trying to escape her hands. "Hey now, calm down." Granger gripped it tighter and it hissed and bit down on her hand. Granger yelped, flinging the kitten upwards and gripped her hand, which was bleeding. Draco caught the flying Kneazle in his arms and then glared at Granger.

"What are you trying to do? Kill it?" The Kneazle kitten purred and settled down in his arms, much to his surprise. Granger glared back at him.

"It bit me Malfoy, or didn't you notice. Well obviously not, since the little Demon is happy with you, you must have done something to it. There isn't a more suspicious character than you!"

"I haven't done a thing to it." Draco was becoming really pissed. "Just because it didn't like you, doesn't automatically mean that I did something."

"Of course it does." Granger began to shout. Why, Draco didn't know but she was beginning to go red and her eyes were narrowed with hate. "You are a Malfoy. You are pureblood scum! I hate everything you stand for and I always will..." Her ranting had disturbed some of the class and Draco looked over at Ron to see him staring back questioningly. He shrugged his shoulders, then turned back to Granger and tuned back into her babbling again. "....pathetic father, and your mother, what a miserable cow..." That was it. Draco's temper snapped and he took a step towards Granger, an evil glint in his eye.

"Don't you dare say things about my mother, you pathetic Mudblood. You are nothing. To me or to any of Wizarding kind. I honestly don't know why Harry is wasting his time with you. Is it because he loves you, or does he just see you as a good and easy lay?"

Smack!

The slap around the cheek made him stumble back slightly, staring at Granger with pure hatred. She returned the look but with tears in her eyes. Draco placed a hand to his cheek and felt heat. She had slapped him quite hard. She stood there, staring at him for a few moments more, then turned and fled away from the lesson, back towards the castle. Draco sighed and sat down on the grass, absently petting the Kneazle in his arms. It had been growling the entire time that Granger had been ranting but now it was quite docile, snuggled in his arms.

"Hey. You okay?" Ron's voice came from above him. Draco nodded his head, still staring at the ground.

"Yeah. Sorry about that Ron. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"I know. I heard it all." Ron sat down next to him and reached out to pet the kitten in Draco's arms. The Kneazle let him stroke it, arching its head into his fingertips. "I don't know what is wrong with Hermione this afternoon. She's been tetchy all day. I should have warned you not to tease her."

"Good point." Draco raised his head and grinned. Ron opened his mouth to mutter a protest but Draco continued. "Still, I did promise to stop the teasing. It seems like I actually started it." He looked around the class. He saw Lavender Brown, who was Harry's partner, holding a ribbon over a playful Kneazle, but no Harry. "Hey Ron, where's Harry?"

"He ran after Hermione." Ron began. Draco looked down again.

"Oh. Okay."

"He ran after her," Ron continued, "after hesitating to come over to see if you were okay. I told him to go after Hermione. We have to plan, remember?"

"Yeah. Plan." Draco said absently.

In his arms, the Kneazle slept on.

End chapter! I really hope you enjoyed it. The plan is next. What evil scheme has Ronald cooked up? What is eating at Hermione? Will Draco ever get a decent snog from his man? Be good and review and you just might find out. (That is what you call a big hint!)

See ya

Rie

xx