Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or associates; they all belong to JKR. I do not own cliché storylines; they belong to the FF net writers.

Author's note: Thanks all for the reviews! And please review my songfics, Snape's Song, Gryffindor's Song and Voldemort's Song! Those are my favourites! Heh!

I'm sorry for the delay, my account was kinda frozen for a while. Besides, I wasn't getting the reviews quick enough! Humrph. And I seriously think this chapter is crap, just post it up to inform you peeps that I'm still alive and kicking, and still writing. Just that I'm having a bit of a mental block here…


Reviews:

Lita-2003: Yes, I love that line too!

Yana5: In all cliché Veela fics, yes, they get together eventually.

Tseshi-S-chan: Snape's not being nice, cos you do know it's quite troublesome for him to keep making the potion for Draco. And there's another reason I will reveal either in this chapter or the chapters to come.

Heremness: Thanks for the invaluable comments about my writing. Will keep your comments in mind!

And thanks the following for review! SmoothNcreamy , Slash6722, Dreamerswaking, Lucky Dragon Smile, LilBlackNiteCat, Angewmon86, Fleurdefeu


"Oi Potter! Are you sure that's the way to cut the ginger?" Draco questioned as he caught sight of Harry chopping the ginger haphazardly.

"Yes, it's spelt out here clearly on the instructions, dice the ginger," replied Harry. Both were feeling awkward from the new arrangement, hence the surprising lack of insults and hexes from both parties.

"It says dice, not torment or mash," snapped Draco. Being the perfectionist, Draco could not stand seeing someone pay such little attention. "Come, let me do it. Go boil the water." Draco edged towards Harry and reached for the knife. His fingers brushed across Harry's, and Draco swore he felt his heart skip a beat. Harry quickly handed him the knife, seeing that the blonde was red with fury. Or so he thought.

"Man, why's he so obedient? He can tell I'm blushing? Urgh. Ooh, but obedient sounds nice. Argh! Get your mind out of the gutter Draco Malfoy!" Draco rationalised himself infront of a very perturbed Harry.

Xxx

"I always thought he's a just a nasty, evil, impossible git. Now I know! He's constantly constipated and schizophrenic." Harry chipped in to the discussion about Potions. Everyone was complaining how impossible their Slytherin partners were, and each had their own methods of dealing.

"So what did you do to him? I guess Neville did it best, blowing up the cauldron straight into that Bull." Ron guffawed.

"Nah, surprisingly we were amiable, not even an insult or anything. Told you, he's constipated," Harry confessed, poking at his broccoli. At this point, he saw Hermione cast him a concerned look, one that spells "you-know-why". Harry shrugged and returned to his lunch. The participants of discussion all held different reaction; Ron nearly choking in surprise, Neville still blushing from the previous comment, Seamus trying hard to avoid Harry's glance and Dean laughing out loud.

"You mean he didn't even try to be nasty? Man, I don't know what to say. Is he under some spell or something? Or maybe he's in love with you, Harry!" Dean chuckled. The trio- Harry, Ron and Hermione threw each other awkward glances and pretended to be amused too.

"Eh, Hermione, can we go over that spell in Charms? I just couldn't get it right…" Harry made a desperate attempt to switch topics. He just said the first thing that came to his mind, despite today being only the first day of school since sixth year started.

"Harry! We just started school today, what Charms lesson?" Dean berated, giving Harry a friendly punch in his shoulder. Harry cleared his throat, smiling meekly as he mumbled something inaudibly. "Why are you so strung up? Is it Malfoy?" Dean laughed at his own joke, again, in oblivion of the tension among the three.

Xxx

Over at the Slytherin table, Draco stabbed at his broccoli, too, as his Slytherin mates chattered on, like the Gryffindors.

"… I swear I could have hexed that Longbottom right into the Dark Lord's torture chambers…"

"… like I could stand that insufferable know-it-all… her hair itself is crazy!"

As the Slytherins chattered away, Draco kept his eyes from the sole reason of his existence- Harry Potter. Draco indulged in his every movement- him poking his broccoli too, his meek smiles, how he unknowingly ruffles his hair… "Damn! I'm slipping again! I'm not supposed to think about him!" Draco lamented himself, as usual and threw his fork down in frustration.

"Drakee, what's wrong? Are you all right?" Pansy coddled, looking at Draco, fleeting her lashes and tried to look somewhat cute, but was not successful. "Must be hard to have to do Potions with Potter…" Pansy lay her hand on Draco's arm, attempting to conduct what one would like to term as "soothing rub".

"Get away from me!" Draco snarled, standing up and yanking his arm away from Pansy. Tears welled in Pansy's eyes.

"Why? Why are you avoiding me? You were like that too last night…" Pansy turned around and sobbed loudly into Bulstrode's chunky arm, inviting stares from people around them. Draco paid little attention to Pansy's tantrum and left the table. Instead of leaving the Great Hall, Draco walked right across it to the Gryffindor table.

"Potter!" Draco slammed his fist on the table and stared at Harry. Taken aback, Harry widened his eyes and remained silent. "Oh, those green eyes… man this boy sure knows how to get me interested… No! You're not supposed to be interested! Urgh!"

The rest of the table observed the silence that followed Draco's confrontation. Everyone froze, though a few were fighting the urge to laugh at Draco's expression. They all had the same thought in their heads- this guy sure is constipated.

"Potter," snarled the blonde. "Duel. Outside. Now." Keeping a straight face, Draco spat in a staccato manner, hoping to invoke some fear in Harry. At that point, Draco did not know why he wanted to duel with Potter, for he just felt the need to spend time with Harry, away from the crowd.

Harry raised one eyebrow and gave Draco a look that clearly says "are you sure?" Noticing Harry's hesitation, Draco scowled and stormed towards the exit. Harry gave a shrug and followed Draco unwillingly. If he knows I'm his mate, why would he want to spar me, and try to hurt me deliberately? Unless… Harry ran the thought through his mind and suddenly stopped in his tracks. He feared that Draco had an ulterior motive, a very sinister one. Harry wanted to pull back, but going cold turkey under the watching eyes of the whole school was worse. Pulling out his wand, Harry edged towards the exit, all ready to handle any aggression from the Slytherin.

Xxx

Outside, Draco drew his wand too, meanwhile lamenting himself for the thousandth time that day for letting his emotions get him in trouble. In his mind, his Draco side fought his Malfoy side- each not willing to stop.

Just as the mental battle took place, the door creaked open and out came a strangely terrified Harry. Draco gasped as he noted the slight fear in Harry's emerald eyes.

"What do you want?" Harry spat, his voice almost quivering.

"Fight me," grinded Draco, "the muggle way."

"What?" Harry shouted, unsure if he had heard the correct thing. Malfoy wanting to fight the muggle way?

"Yes," mouthed Draco. So that I have a legitimate reason to stand close to you, to touch your rippling muscles, to fondle you… Argh! No Draco! You are not supposed to lust after him!

Harry kept his wand and stared at Malfoy. What on earth is he thinking?

Time seemed to have frozen over for the next minute or so, the two just stood rooted to the ground and stared at each other. Green met grey, and initial fury and scepticism gradually melted to confusion then to somewhat… adoration. The veela side of Draco frantically attempted to send seductive messages across, resulting in flitting of lashes and a certain shine in his silver grey orbs.

Just as the moment was right for the two to come into an embrace, the doors flew open and Ron Weaseley flew out.

"Harry! Are you all right?" Ron asked, seeing Harry stationary in his pose. "Did the ferret petrify you?"

"Shut up Weasel!" Draco scowled. Clearly, the moment was broken and lost. Both Harry and Draco could themselves blushing, and each took off in a different direction, leaving Ron Weaseley standing at the door, not knowing what to do.

Xxx

Why? Why? Harry chanted in his mind as he fled to his dormitory. He did not understand what he had seen from Malfoy's eyes; the anger, the confusion, the yearning, the endearment… Harry ran into the common room and slump down onto the armchair. His heart palpitated, and Harry did not know if it was from the running or from the previous episode, where he himself had let slip some of his darkest emotions; his feeling of being at lost, his need to feel loved, just as he had felt so on the train.

At the dungeons, the sounds of someone ramming himself against the walls and shouts of expletives could be heard. Draco lashed about the Slytherin common room, for he could not stand the pain in his heart- the pain caused by his conflicting emotions. He wanted to love and hate Potter, he wanted to hold and fight him all at the same time.

"Damn Weasel for spoiling the moment…" Draco lashed as he slammed his foot hard into the big green velvet couch. A louder exclamation came next as his toes came into contact with the mahogany feet of the couch. Cursing loud at the couch for having feet, Draco sunk into the nonetheless welcoming seat of the furniture. As he fell into the soft cushion of the couch, he broke into tears; not knowing if it was from the pain or from his emotional turmoil. No, Malfoys do not cry! At that thought, Draco fought hard to stop the sniffling but failed. Evidently, his Veela side was taking over.

"What is happening to me?" Draco bawled, crying bitterly into his palms. He felt as though he had lost control over his life, and he hated such feelings. "Why is my life so screwed up?"

Xxx

"Ron, is Harry ok?" Hermione whispered, as they lagged behind Harry on the way to class. Harry took large strides, moving to the transfiguration classroom quickly.

"I don't know, haven't spoken to him since just now," replied Ron. Since the incident outside the Great Hall, Harry had remained silent and distant from the rest. He was obviously still preoccupied with the previous episode with Malfoy, and something in his heart began to stir. Something that has been unmoved since Sirius' death.


I know you must be thinking that this chapter is utter crap, but as I said, this is more to remind you of my existence… give me some more time to nurse my writer's block ok? Throw me some ideas if you have… love you all reviewers! Please R&R!