Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the story's characters. I also do not own Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Warning: This is a Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter slash (a male/male relationship). IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!

Author's Note: After this chapter, it may seem like a Harry/Cho fic, but it's not!

I Hope You Like It and Please Review!

Oh and thanks to The Ripper, who was my first review!

Chapter 2
The Anguish of Harry Potter

Come to me in my dreams, and then

By day I shall be well again!

For then the night will more than pay

The hopeless longing of the day.

From the sun's position in the sky, Harry Potter could tell that it was about 1:00 in the afternoon. He had been up since 6:00 this morning, and came immediately to this shady spot. He ran his fingers over the green grass on the ground. He could just stay here forever and listen to the sort chirp of the birds. It was always so nice and cool in this spot. He enjoyed sitting beside this tree, and he found that he traveled here more often as the days pasted. The quietness here helped him to organize his scattered thoughts.

He knew that his friends and family were worried about him for running off alone so frequently, but he found that being by himself helped him process his thoughts much easier then being around his happy and noisy friends and family. He realized that it was wrong for him to shy away from them, but he was tired of them constantly watching him as if he were a mystery to be solved. Harry knew, however, that he gave his loved ones plenty to worry about. He barely eats or sleeps, he is often lost in thought, he has become much more reserved, and of course, he runs off everyday to his secret hiding place. Nothing his family did ever seemed to help him through his hopelessness; he was still as moody and snappish as ever, and he knew his eyes often appeared glazed with unshed tears. No one knew besides himself and his great uncle what was bothering him. He was in love.

Come, as thou cam'st a thousand times,

A messenger from radiant climes,

And smile on thy new world, and be

As kind to others as to me!

Cho Chang was the most beautiful and charismatic girl that he had ever laid eyes on. He thought this the minute he looked into her hazel almond shaped eyes. From the moment he saw her, he was incredibly smitten. No other girl had ever got his attention as much as she had. She was the reason he was suffering so greatly.

Many people had told Harry that he was handsome, and although very modest, Harry did have to admit that he was growing into a nice looking man. Over the years it seemed that he would be cursed with his mother's petite appearance, always short and skinny. But, he hit a mighty growth spurt and now he was taller then his father. While many other sons of wealthy men lazed about in their homes, forgoing any manual labor, Harry was quite the opposite because he loved the outdoors and doing something constructive with his time. Because of this, he began to get a beautiful bronze tint to his skin as well as a slight build of muscle. And not only was he good-looking, but he was also one of the most intelligent and popular young wizards in all of Hogwarts!

Or, as thou never cam'st in sooth,

Come now, and let me dream it truth;

And part my hair, and kiss my brow,

And say: My love! why sufferest thou?

And yet, for the life of him, Harry could not convince Cho to give him a chance. Several females found him quite enticing. But he did not care about those other girls; he wanted Cho badly. He spent the day thinking about her. He followed her around like a sick puppy; he bought her flowers, wrote her poems and did other really silly things girls seemed to like, but he could not break through the barriers around her heart.

Come to me in my dreams, and then

By day I shall be well again!

For then the night will more than pay

The hopeless longing of the day (An1)

She had sworn to die a virgin because she had lost her beloved Cedric. Cedric, who had been an acquaintance of Harry's, died in one of the riots between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins. Ever since then, she decided that there would be no one else for her. Harry thought that such a lovely girl living life as a bachelorette was a total waste, but this just made him want her even more. Since Harry found out the reason for her aloofness, he refused to fight along side his fellow Gryffindors against the Snakes, much to his friend Ron's annoyance. Miserably, Harry stood from his spot and decided apparate home before his mother sent out a search party.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

It had been around 11:00 when her husband and friends ran off to duel the Slytherins. She had begged James not to go, but the man was as stubborn as a child. Now she and her friends Molly Weasley, Alice Longbottom, and Molly's daughter Ginny were waiting for their families to return home safely. It was very unnerving; Molly couldn't sit still, Alice wouldn't stop biting her nails, and Ginny was thumping her fingers against the table. Lily had enough to worry about. And now, she had to worry if her silly husband got hurt or killed fighting immaturely. She just hoped that her son Harry didn't join the lunacy today. At the thought of her son, Lily Potter stood from her chair and paced around the room. She ran her hand through her long auburn hair and sighed. She could not get Harry to snap out his angsty teenage mood. She remembered what it was like to be 19 years old, so she had some idea of what was wrong with him. When she was Harry's age, she would often hide and cry her eyes out when James made her angry. Harry was probably chasing after some silly girl. While she was in deep thought about her son, a popping sound came from outside her home. She, Molly, Ginny and Alice ran from the room to great their intruders, knowing that it would probably be their families apparating back home.

"Thank Merlin you all are alright!" cried Molly as she ran to her husband and all of her children. If any of them were injured before they surely would be now, especially after Molly crushed all of them with her big bear hug.

Lily ran to her James and hugged him tightly, also thanking Merlin he was safe. She often cursed her fate that she was destined to love such a reckless man. Lily noticed that all those returning from the fight were either bruised, limping or bloodied. Luckily, she restocked her healing potions for this type of occasion. Soon the worried women bustled their family members onto the veranda, where they could tend to their slight wounds. Lily quickly noticed that Harry was still missing. Fearing that he might have actually gone to fight, she decided to get some answers.

"Have you seen Harry today? I hope he was not out there rioting."

Ron, breaking away from his mother's coddling and poking, answered. " No Mrs. Potter, he wasn't at Diagon Alley. This morning Hermione and I saw him taking a walk along the road towards the Leaking Cauldron. We tried to talk to him, but he ignored us and continued on. We figured he wanted some privacy, so we let him alone."

"Everyday he acts like this. He's barely eating or sleeping. He spends his time locked in his room lying in the dark, and he refuses to tell any of us what's wrong," James said sadly. " I am not sure how I can help him if I don't know what it is that is causing him so much trouble."

At that moment, the Gryffindors heard a popping noise signifying another aparrator. A few feet away from them, they saw Harry walking up the road to his home with his head tilted low and his hand raking frustratingly through his black unruly hair.

When Lily saw her son she sighed sadly. There was nothing she could do for her little boy. He had never kept secrets before! She didn't know why the Potter men had to be so insufferable!

Seeing how dejected Lily looked, Hermione spoke trying to raise her spirits. "Mrs. Potter, Ron, Neville and I will try to talk to Harry again, and we'll find out what's troubling him." Ron and Neville nodded in agreement. "I'm sure he'll tell us if we follow him."

James smiled slightly at his son's best friends. "Thanks you three; that would mean a lot to us." He turned to his wife and fellow Gryffindors, "come on, let's leave these three to talk to Harry in private. And some of you still need further curing for your injuries." Soon, the adults left and the three friends began to approach Harry.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Hermione, Neville, and Ron move toward Harry cautiously. They didn't want to scare him away and have him run off, as he was apt to do.

"Good afternoon Harry; how are you today?" asked Neville, who trying to speak cheerfully but was failing miserably. It was hard to appear happy with a swollen black and blue eye!

"I've been better," mumbled Harry. He really didn't feel like dealing with their excessive pestering, so he decided to leave for more quiet time. As Harry began to walk away, he noticed his friends were following him. He groaned to himself when he realized that they weren't going to leave him alone any time soon. He would soon have answer all sorts of their embarrassing and personal questions, and he wasn't in the mood for it. When he finally looked up so that he could see into their faces, he felt the urge to laugh at them. He just rolled him eyes at what he saw;, Hermione had a bruise on her cheek eye, Neville a black eye, and Ron a swollen nose. He knew what they were doing before they started bothering him. He could not understand how anyone would want to fight so idiotically. "I take it, from your state, that there was another scuffle with the Slytherins," Harry said sarcastically. Neville and Hermione had the decency to look a bit sheepish, but Ron looked annoyed. "Honestly mate, they started it. They jinxed poor Seamus while he wasn't even looking!"

Harry groaned and rubbed his eyes. He wished he hadn't said a word. Now Ron was going to go into detail about what had happened and how all the Slytherins were "complete gits." He loved Ron dearly but sometimes Ron could be too predictable.

Seeing Harry's annoyance and exasperation, Hermione stopped listening to Ron's routine rant and started examining Harry more closely. Hermione had to admit that Harry had grown up and matured massively compared to the other Gryffindor boys. He was no longer the short and bumbling kid he once was. Hermione often found herself staring at him, especially when he smiled. He was just so cute. He had gotten much taller, about as tall as Ron now, and his emerald eyes seem to glitter behind his long black eyelashes. She blushed and stopped staring when Harry caught her ogling at him; he raised his brow questioningly at her. She had often imagined that she and Harry would marry someday; everybody had thought it was a perfect match, except Harry. He only thought of her as his brainy tomboy friend. There was nothing really special about her physical appearance. She had to admit that she was rather plain looking. Her mousy brown hair and her large front teeth were not going to lure Harry to her any time soon. She knew she didn't stand a chance at becoming Mrs. Harold Potter. Besides, lots of the prettier Gryffindor girls, like Lavender Brown and Katie Bell, had their eye on him. As a result, Hermione soon found solace in Neville's clumsy affection. Though Neville was a sweetheart and cared for her dearly, he was not nearly as charming as Harry. She signed; she knew that fantasizing about Harry would make him fall in love with her, so she should just gladly accept his friendship.

" Can you believe that jerk Zabini? I can't believe that he would hex Hermione, a girl, like that!" cried an impassioned Ron.

"What! Hermione are you okay?" asked a worried looking Harry.

"Yes Harry, I'm fine. I should have seen it coming. I just wasn't quick enough."

"Where were you this morning Harry? We could have really used your help today, especially after Flint showed up. You're the only one of us who could have possibly taken him," spoke a quiet Neville.

"Yeah Harry, you should have been there. Where have you been these days mate, we worry about you."

"I just needed some time to think by myself. I have had a lot of things on my mind," Harry answered enigmatically.

"Harry we're your best friends; you know you can tell us anything. We don't want to push you into telling but sometimes it helps to get things off your chest. And, we promise not to tell anyone. Sometimes it feels that you just don't want to be around us anymore," said Hermione pitifully.

Harry knew he had no choice but to tell his friends what was wrong with him especially when Hermione was looking at him with those sad brown eyes. He knew he was hurting her feelings because he had never kept secrets before. That still didn't make him want to tell though. He figured it would be easier to pour out his soul if he had some alcohol in his system. He found that under the influence, he was rather talkative. "Alright guys, I'll tell you what's been on my mind. But first, let's go to the Leaky Cauldron. I'll buy us a round butterbeers and we can have a talk."

"Gee thanks mate!" Ron said eagerly as he ran to the path leading to the Cauldron, as fast as his gangly legs could carry him. He was never one to deny anything given to him for free. He wasn't greedy though; it was no secret in the Gryffindor part of Hogwarts that the Weasleys did not have much money. Neville and Harry just chuckled lightly at Ron's enthusiasm while Hermione scowled disapprovingly at his childlessness. Sometimes she wondered why she spent so much time with immature boys.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The friends soon entered the little pub. It was considered the "hot spot" for the teenagers in Gryffindor. But today, it was almost empty, probably because of what happened at Diagon Alley. The Leaky Cauldron wasn't exactly known for it's aesthetic value. In fact, the place seemed a bit run down. It was always a bit dark and there were lots of ghosts around the place. But, it did have some of the best food in all of Hogwarts. The friends took their usual seats by the window, where they could get the most light and watch the people walk by. Harry got up to order their drinks and when he got back to his seat, his friends were looking pointedly at him, waiting for him to dish his secrets. After taking a few swigs of his butterbeer, he felt ready to talk and alleviate some of the tension at the table. "I suppose I have been acting like a bit of an arse lately." At this, Ron snorted and some of his butterbeer came out through his nose. That seemed to lighten the mood significantly, and the four laughed for a bit. But the laughter didn't last long because Harry started to look off in space, as he often did these days, with a pensive look on his face.

Noticing the tension was about to increase again, Hermione decided to speak. " What is causing you such unhappiness Harry?"

Harry looked into Hermione's eyes and sighed. "Not having what would make me happy," he pouted exasperatedly. Harry knew he was avoiding the question, but he really didn't want to say out loud what was bothering him; he was afraid that it would sound silly if he said that he is in love. He was hoping Hermione would figure it out.

"What? That doesn't make any sense mate. Stop talking in riddles!" Ron scrunched his nose up in confusion; sometimes Harry could be as melodramatic as Hermione.

Hermione looked at Harry again. She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by this; it could mean a lot of things. But she had some semblance of an idea. Last week, Hermione had over heard Lisa Turpin, a loudmouth Ravenclaw twit, talking about how Harry Potter had a huge crush on Cho Chang. Of course, Hermione didn't believe it. Harry hadn't said a word to her about that Chang girl, and she figured if he did like Cho he would have told her; Harry had always told Hermione about the girls he liked. But now, Hermione wasn't so sure. For the past few months, Harry had looked as forlorn as she had looked when she realized that Harry hadn't returned her romantic feelings. Hermione figured it would be best to ask him and see before ruling out the Cho factor. "Are you in love?" she asked carefully.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione said what he didn't want to say. Harry shook his head lightly, waiting for Ron to start laughing.

"You're in love? Well, I'm not all that great with feelings Harry, but shouldn't you be happy. I mean, aren't people in love happy."

"I would be happy Ron, if she returned my feelings."

"Well, who is it that you are in love with Harry?" Neville asked curiously.

"Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw girl," Hermione answered a bit bitterly. Hermione was a little miffed that Harry hadn't spoken to her about this before. Of all the females running around, he would want to chase after that superficial Bird!

"Oh, I know who you're talking about mate! Nice choice," Ron agreed, "But why doesn't she return your feelings? I mean, I'm not a girl or anything, but I don't see anything wrong with you."

"Thanks Ron," Harry smiled softly at his best friend, "but she has sworn off all relationships in memory of her deceased fiancé Cedric Diggory. So she won't even give me a chance," Harry said miserably.

"Well Harry, I can give you the best advice for this type of situation: 'Be ruled by me, forget to think of her,' " Ron said. (AN 2)

"And how I am suppose to do that Ron!"

"By finding someone else! Come on Harry, lots of girls fancy you. Just forget about Cho and find another girl." Before Harry could answer, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan walked into the Cauldron. Seeing that the three were coming to sit with Harry and his group, they ended their Cho conversation.

"Hey guys," said Fred and George Weasley in unison.

"You guys look like you've been talking about something serious. Is anything wrong?" asked Lee, as he went to sit beside Neville.

Before anyone could answer, Harry spoke first. "No, everything's fine." He really didn't want these three to know about his situation with Cho, especially the twins. They were good friends, but they could never keep a secret. He really didn't want his nonexistent love life broadcasted throughout Hogwarts.

"Well good. I hope you four aren't busy tonight because we have a plan," said Fred conspiratorially.

"Yeah, it should be fun," George said smirking.

"What kind of plan?" asked Neville suspiciously. The last time he agreed to follow a plan of the twins it left him a bit embarrassed.

" Well, as the three of us were apparating from Diagon Alley today after the dueling incident, we overheard some Slytherins talking about ……"

(AN 1: The Poem Is "Longing" by Matthew Arnold)

(AN 2: Act 1, Scene 1 in Romeo and Juliet)