The crisp night air nipped at Harry's cheeks, his breath forming a white fog in front of his face as he crossed the rocks. The ground was shimmering beneath the light of a full moon but lacked the slippery nature of ice and merely had the pleasing crunch of a thick frost. When he reached the end of the rocks he withdrew his wand and cast a charm that dispersed some of the frost, leaving the rocks still cold but without the crystalline particles that tended to cling to the thick material of Hogwarts school robes.

He sat down, wincing slightly as the cold seeped through his robes. He quickly pulled his pack of cigarettes from the inside pocket of his robes, slipping his wand back in as he did so. Harry struggled to tug his lighter from his trouser pocket but after a valiant attempt coupled with large amounts of wriggling he pulled it out.

He took a cigarette from the packet, placing it between his cold-chapped lips. A flame emerged from the lighter when he flipped it open and he brought it to his face, taking momentary comfort in the minuscule amount of heat it gave off.

Harry dropped the packet onto the rocks beside him (strategically on the side where Draco didn't sit), placing the lighter on top. He took a long inhalation, expelling the smoke back out slowly as he leant forward to place his elbows on his knees.

He heard the crunch crunch of footsteps coming across the rocks towards him. Draco's pacing was slower than usual and definitely missed the trademark confidence of its steps. Harry frowned as he put the cigarette in his mouth and inhaled again.

Draco lowered himself to the rocks, staring silently across the water of the lake. Harry blew out smoke, purposefully aiming it away from Draco. The blondes hair looked somewhat ethereal in the blue light of the moon. He looked up to the sky, stars reflecting in the silver of his iris'.

Harry turned to Draco, studying his face only to find a desolation in his expression that he had never seen on the normally so composed Slytherin. For one of few times in his life, Harry kept quiet. He turned back to look over the almost glowing water as he flicked some ash onto the rocks. He leant back onto his elbows, taking another drag of tobacco as he looked upwards to the stars.

His eyes roamed across the black sky, searching for what he would always seek when looking at constellations. He exhaled and spotted his target through the smoke. The second star down in Canis Major, brightest star in the sky. Sirius. Harry gave a soft smile, whether it was to the star, himself or Sirius he wasn't sure so he simply wrapped his lips once more around the end of his cigarette.

He flicked off more ash as he puffed out the smoke, watching as greying smoke morphed into his own white breath. Draco ran his hands through his hair, toying with the ends before dropping his head heavily into his hands.

"Do you know what the date is today Harry?" Came the muffled words. Harry's face contorted into an expression of concentration as he counted, tongue sticking out ever so slightly.

"Well yesterday was the Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff match so that was the thirteenth so it would be December fourteenth..." Harry trailed off, realisation dawning on his face. He sat up slowly, tossing his cigarette into the lake before turning to look at Draco.

"Gods Draco, I completely forgot." The blond pulled his face from his hands to look at Harry.

"I wouldn't expect you to remember." Draco gave him a small smile and looked away again.

"How are you?" It was a question normally used in a general context but Draco knew what Harry was meaning. The blond shrugged and began inspecting his nails for dirt.

"I'm okay I suppose. I guess it's just weird to think that a year has gone by since it happened."

"I know, it's weird. So much has happened in the last year that I'm always half expecting Dumbledore to come tell me some other murderous raving lunatic is after my blood." Draco gave out a small snort of laughter and smiled in such a way that Harry noticed didn't quite reach his eyes.

Harry closed the minute distance between the two of them, bringing them thigh to thigh. Draco shifted over as well, pressing them even closer together.

"I can still remember being called into Snape's office ...he had the envelope from the Ministry. Why he got it before I did I'll never know. It was so black, so ominous ...I knew what it was of course, all I needed to find out was which one of them it had been..." Draco's voice wavered and he gave his head a brief shake as if to readjust his mask. It didn't work and Harry could see right through him.

He put his left arm around Draco, pulling a little as if to coax the blondes head down onto Harry's shoulder. If Draco resisted he certainly didn't show it. His forehead pressed against Harry's neck, hot breath ghosting over the skin sending a shiver down his spine.

"It wasn't even like they were loving parents ...you see people had this misconception that they were cold and unfeeling with each other. They loved each other ...so much in fact that neither of them had enough room in their hearts to love me." Draco's voice hitched again.

Harry brought his right arm around Draco as well, pulling him in as close as he could. Draco sighed, snaking a languid hand around Harry's waist. Harry wasn't sure whether he was more surprised by the blonde's reciprocation of the gesture or the fact that he was speaking so candidly about something he was feeling.

Draco had opened up fully on only one other occasion: a conversation had been struck about their childhood's, a discussion that has turned almost competitive to see who had the worst story. Draco had mentioned a night when he was six and had the misfortune of knocking his fathers pensive from a cabinet while Lucius had been in a mood more foul than Draco was used to.

The young Draco had cried in his attempts to apologise only to find himself on the receiving end of a cruciatus. It had, naturally, been a mild curse as Lucius had no intentions of killing his only son and heir. He had merely wanted to shut the child up.

As Draco had told Harry the story he could see the pain, terror and sadness in those silver eyes. Harry had countered with a long tale about the time his uncle had thrown him from one side of the kitchen to the other for burning a slice of toast. Harry had been seven.

"The funeral was weird. Father obviously wasn't there being in Azkaban." Harry gave a quiet snort of laughter and the blondes unwavering talent for dry wit, even when he was on the subject of his dead parents. Draco didn't seem to mind as Harry could feel him smiling against his neck.

"Everyone expected me to be the grieving son, you know weeping over my mothers coffin and what not but the problem was..."

"She would have expected you to stand tall and proud..." Harry finished for him. Draco nodded, his soft hair tickling Harry's neck. Harry's right arm was cramping up so he let it fall, hand resting just above Draco's knee.

"Just like a Malfoy should. In the end I compromised: I stood tall, respectful and crying silently. Gods meeting somewhere in the middle ...and that was before I spent any length of time with the Gryffindor Golden Boy here."

Harry pinched Draco's thigh lightly in retaliation to his comment. The blond squealed quietly and Harry began laughing silently.

"Is squealing another requirement of being a Malfoy?" Draco poked Harry harshly in the ribs, causing the dark haired boy to squirm a little in his grasp.

"No it isn't, I'm afraid that was something I came up with myself." Draco's hand ran up and down Harry's side, leisurely tracing patterns on the material of his robes in an unconscious gesture.

"A couple of months later came the other letter and I was officially orphaned. I couldn't even bring myself to look sad at fathers funeral, in fact at one point I'm sure I was sneering at his coffin as it was lowered into the earth." Draco shifted a little, hand stilling. Harry's thumb stroked soothingly over Draco's knee and the blond sighed into his neck once more, although Harry couldn't quite work out whether it was a sigh of sorrow or of contentment.

"He always told me that he would out live me ...that I was too weak and pathetic to do anything of merit and that he would have been as well having no son at all..." Harry tightened his arm around Draco's shoulder, feeling an upsurge in his already intense hatred to Lucius Malfoy. Dead or not, the man was a bastard in Harry's opinion.

"All I ever tried to do was fulfil his expectations but nothing I did was good enough. He was part of the reason I hated you so much." Harry stiffened a little, as if he had forgotten that he and Draco had indeed once hated each other.

"I was reprimanded because I couldn't beat you at quidditch ...but lets face it, who can?" Harry smiled, tilting his head so it came to rest on top of Draco's.

"I was punished for Granger getting higher grades because how dare a mudblood do better than me."

"Malfoy..." Harry said, a tone of warning in his voice, his thumb stopping its gesture and his head coming up from Draco's a little.

"Sorry Potter, I guess old habits die hard. Then came all the legal stuff." Harry put his head back down onto the blond hair as Draco continued talking.

"Everything about me getting the estate and the money had to be sorted. 'A benefit of being a Malfoy' is what father used to call it, even though he would then tell me I wasn't worthy of the name Malfoy." Draco's hand slipped down Harry's side and onto his thigh. Harry's breathing hitched and he hoped Draco hadn't noticed.

"I don't think I'll go back to the manor ...sure it is my childhood home but well..."

"You don't exactly have fantastic memories of the place." Harry finished his sentence for him for the second time that night. Draco snorted, breath tickling the skin on Harry's neck.

"That's an understatement."

"So where are you going to go after Hogwarts?" Harry asked him.

"I think I'll get a flat in wizarding London ...something big ...two floors and a balcony with big windows, it'll be a nice change from living beneath a lake." Harry chuckled.

"I was thinking the same actually and of course I won't need to work, my parents made sure of that. Then again neither will you." Draco yawned, shoulders shifting under Harry's arm.

"No, I plan to spend my days doing something productive like ...I'm lying, I will probably do nothing: I'll be a man of leisure." Harry rolled his eyes.

"I thought it was only ladies who were people of leisure?" He asked with a smirk. He could practically feel Draco's glare against his neck.

"And what do you plan on doing Potter?" He near spat at him.

"Absolutely nothing at all, I've spent seven years battling evil and nearly dying each time. I want to live." The statement hung in the air as Harry turned his face into Draco's hair. The blondes grip on him tightened.

Harry could smell the sweet fruitiness of Draco's shampoo and it seemed to fit the Slytherin perfectly. They sat silently for a few minutes, the atmosphere around them turning noticeably heavy with a hesitant anticipation.

Harry inhaled the scent of the soft hair again, temptation creeping over him, holding out its hand until he gave in and took it.

He closed his eyes, lips descending gently onto Draco's hair. His thumb continuing with the small, circular strokes that they had earlier ceased. He kept his lips pressed into the blondes hair, feeling Draco's eyelashes brush over his neck as his eyes closed.

Finally Harry pulled his lips away when Draco gave another quiet yawn. The blond brought his head up, bringing him and Harry face to face. Harry watched as those silver eyes flicked briefly to his lips then back up. Draco's tongue came out over his lips as hesitation swam across his expression.

"I'm really tired ...I'm ...going to go..." Harry nodded slowly.

"Sure ..it's not been an easy day for you." Draco nodded as well.

"Right I'll see you tomorrow then." The Slytherin said but made no move to de-tangle himself from Harry.

"Yeah ...you will." They stared at each other a little longer until Draco eventually stood up, brushing particles of rock from his robes.

"Night Harry." The blond said as he stared down at Harry, an unreadable expression on his face.

"See you Draco." Harry looked up at him, so very tempted to stand up with him.

"Right ...bye..." Draco turned in a swish of black robes, his blond hair drifting off his face as he walked away.

Harry turned, eyes focussing on some ripples being made by something just under the surface of the lake. He reached his hand down to his side and picked up the packet of cigarettes. He opened it and took one out but it was only when he went to place it between his lips he realised how visibly his hands were shaking.

He closed his eyes for a second, willing his breathing and heart rate to return to a normal pace. As he did so, he wondered how much longer his self-control could last.

-

note: by request of my dear CS I have to point out the fact that although one Professor Severus Snape is made fun of in this story he is not all bad, I in fact like Snape very much ...but Harry doesn't hence the mocking. Oh yes and he is also (in CS' words) a sexy biatch ...and I apologise if that has made you vomit. Also thanks to every who has been reviewing, your continued support has been fantastic and I also apologise for all the teasing but put it this way: look forward to the next chapter. Kisses.