Draco caught Harry just after he left breakfast the next morning. Harry had been meaning to talk to him and tell him that he was going to accept Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy's invitation. When he saw Draco, he realized with a jolt that he'd hardly even talked to the other boy in… days. Longer than he'd gone without seeing Draco in months.

"Harry," Draco began nervously. "I've… I've been meaning to talk to you… about… Oh god, look Harry: I'm sorry I asked you not to talk about Ron. I just thought you should know… why my parents hate the Weasleys so much. And I would appreciate it if you'd, you know, try not to mention him, but I don't really care. I just want you to talk to me again and please not be mad at you."

Harry blinked. "Oh… Okay… I wasn't really mad at you."

"Then why were you avoiding me?"

"I didn't realize I was. I guess I was just… sort of distracted."

"About what?"

Harry sighed. "Well, Ron mostly," he admitted. "He… isn't exactly thrilled with… you know… us."

"Oh… you know you don't have to come to my house for Christmas. I'm sure my parents would understand."

Harry shook his head. "No, I want to go. But Ron's my friend, and I'm not going to forget about him just because I'm dating you." But Harry wondered as he said it if he really wasn't sacrificing Ron for Draco. It seemed like he couldn't focus on one of them without neglecting the other. When he was with Draco, the rest of the universe seemed to fade out of existence. And when he was thinking about Ron, all he could think about was how much he needed the boy as a friend, despite his relationship with Draco. Draco himself seemed to fade out in much the same way the rest of the world did when he was with Draco.

"Okay, I'll tell my parents you're coming," Draco said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Harry smiled at Draco. "I have to go to class," he said, giving Draco a quick kiss before running off to divination.


At first, Draco was relieved to find that Harry wasn't angry with him. But as he thought about it, it occurred to him that the fact that Harry had just spent the last several days avoiding him without even noticing it wasn't a very good sign. Especially since Draco couldn't go for more than about three seconds without thinking about Harry. No, now that he thought about it, it most defiantly wasn't a good sign.

By lunchtime, he had decided that it would probably have been better if Harry had been angry with him. At least that would have meant that Harry was thinking about him. But no, Harry hadn't even noticed.

And the thought that Harry hadn't even noticed was actually a truly frightening one. What if it meant that Harry didn't love him anymore? What Harry never really had in the first place? Draco had realized, though not consciously, that his feelings for Harry went far beyond mere infatuation and lust almost from the first time they'd kissed in the potions classroom. He had simply taken for granted that Harry's feelings mirrored his own. But what if they didn't?

That scared Draco even more than the realization that he couldn't be away from Harry for more than two minutes without going crazy had. Because not only did he need – not want, need – Harry in his life, but this meant that Harry could leave. And Draco was fairly certain that if Harry ever left him, he'd have two choices – become Harry's stalker or kill himself. Because a life without Harry wouldn't be worth living.

Suddenly, Draco wanted Harry with him. He desperately wanted to be able to hold Harry close and never let him leave. Which, of course, was impossible since they were in the middle of lunch.

Draco glanced over at Harry to find that he was watching him. Harry smiled when he caught Draco's eye and Draco smiled back. He glanced at the remainder of his meal, deciding that he wasn't really hungry, and got up to leave.

Harry followed him out into the Entrance Hall, falling in step beside him.

"Hey."

Draco smiled at him. "How's Ron?"

Harry shrugged. "He'll come around eventually. I just don't know why he's making such a big deal out of things."

"He hates my family? He hates my guts because my family ruined his?"

"But why can't he just get over it?"

"I don't know. Maybe he feels like you're betraying him. Siding with the wealthy, powerful family over his shit-poor one. You're dad left you some money, didn't he? Maybe he's afraid that you'll decide he's not good enough for you."

Harry stared at him. "But I won't. His family's been wonderful to me – he's been wonderful to me. I need him – as a friend."

Draco shrugged. "It was just a thought."

Harry smiled at him, slipping his arm around Draco's waist and resting his head on the boy's shoulder. "We have Defense Against the Dark Arts next, right?"

Draco nodded. "Yeah…"

"What time is it?"

"Do I look like a clock to you?"

"Right…" Harry dragged him into an empty classroom so he could look at the clock. Seeing that they still had twenty minutes before class, Harry shut and locked the door. He cast a diversion spell and turned to face Draco. "To make up for the past few days…"

Draco would have laughed, accept that Harry's lips were now pressed hotly against his and he suddenly had much better things to do with his mouth.

A/N: Kashiaga: And I don't think Ron's going to come around any time soon... Makai Dragon: Yeah... Thanks :D Stars-n-moons91: I'll have to fix that... Thanks. I'm from the US, but I like using 'Philosopher's stone' better for some reason. As for V/D - I think I have a slightly different image of them than most people. And I want to write one, but most of the plots I come up with are more complicated than I feel like starting just now and involve Dumbledore being the bad guy in some way (which is actually how I see him). Orange: They're fun to joke about