Title: Like a Fairytale

Author: Stardrops

Genre: Romance

Rating: PG 13: Some violence and slash, precautions only.

Summary: Faced with difficult decisions about his future, Draco forms some unlikely friendships. A passionate romance is sparked – but is not as secret as he supposed. Someone is stalking Draco at Hogwarts – suddenly, protecting himself and Harry is more complicated than he imagined.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Harry Potter, so I don't have to write any clichéd things here about that. But I should also state that Narnia was not created by me, and that it belongs solely to C.S.Lewis. And I need to acknowledge the assistance of two friends: Mousie again and Caitlyn (or Rigella, as her fanfiction screenname is) both assisted in this chapter. Please thank them!

Chapter Nine: Narnia

Christmas morning dawned – a beautiful sunshine reflecting colours off the white snow carpeting the Hogwarts grounds. Harry stood at the window of his dormitory and surveyed the surroundings. It was the perfect setting for Christmas Day – but he seemed to be the only person in the entire school who was awake.

The other boys who shared his dormitory were fast asleep, Neville's usual snores filling the room. Ron grunted and rolled over on his bed – and promptly fell off the side and landed on the floor with a painful thump.

Harry swallowed a laugh as Ron blearily opened his eyes and murmured, "Ouch. That hurt."

"You all right?" Harry asked, laughter still threatening to break through.

Ron glared at him as though it had somehow been his fault. Dusting off his throbbing shoulder, he asked, "How long have you been up?"

"A while."

Ron caught sight of the usual display of presents at the foot of his bed. "Oh, score!" His exclamation woke the other boys. Ron scrambled around trying to get up from the tangle of blankets in which he was only just visible. This brought amusement to his roommates, who were laughing as they eagerly snatched their presents and began to rip off the paper.

Amidst calls of 'Merry Christmas' from one end of the room to the other and wild ripping of paper and ribbon flying everywhere, Harry found his bed and began to open his own presents. He was much quieter than the others, who were excitedly comparing their new belongings.

There was a large pile at the foot of his bed, but as he hopefully sifted through the pile, his heart fell. There was no card from Draco.

Forcing a smile onto his face, he reached for the parcel Ron had given him. He couldn't expect anything from Draco – he hadn't sent a card to him either. But it wasn't so much the fact that he hadn't gotten anything from him, it was more the absence of any connection between them. Sort of as though receiving something from Draco would assure him that what had happened wasn't a dream, that it was real. He was having serious troubles convincing himself that he hadn't just imagined it.

Ron was watching him. Harry noticed this just in time, and managed to put on a delighted smile as the present he'd received from Ron emerged from the wrapping. Ron had given him a huge box of Chocolate Frogs and a Chess Set with figurines of Quidditch players instead of the usual knights, bishops and so on. It was great – but for some reason Harry had trouble feeling enthusiastic. He shoved this aside though and punched Ron gratefully.

"Thanks man! They're great!"

Ron smiled. "Yeah, thought they'd be more fun than that bloody queen who's always telling you off for moving to bad places. Now you can listen to the Chudley Cannons telling you off instead."

Harry poked his tongue out at Ron playfully and grinned as he watched the picture on the front of the box moving about.

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Late that afternoon, Hermione, Ron and Harry were all sitting in the common room talking and laughing. There were an unusually large number of students staying at Hogwarts for Christmas – the common room was rather full.

Ron and Hermione were playing a game of chess while Harry watched. Hermione was doing rather well – indeed, Harry wondered if Ron might be letting her win. He'd noticed more than ever lately the growing interest each had in the other, shy glances they passed in classes and private jokes they shared. Harry was happy for both of them, and didn't even mind that he was being left out of a considerable amount in their friendship. He had his own love life troubles to worry about.

He got up and walked to the window. Staring out into the swirling snow, he sighed. He'd not seen Draco all day – he wasn't even sure if Draco was still at Hogwarts. For all he knew, Draco might have gone home, or to the house of one of his Slytherin friends.

His gaze was drawn to a moving figure in the snow below the window. There was someone standing there, cloaked in black with a green scarf pulled tightly around their throat. Harry's heart lifted as he recognized the silvery blonde hair blowing about in the slight wind. He fought to keep a smile off his face as he watched Draco Malfoy walk slowly by himself through the snow.

As though he sensed someone was watching him, he turned and looked up to the Gryffindor Tower. He was too far to see whom the person standing at the window was, but he could definitely see the outline of someone standing watching him from above. On the slight possibility that it might be Harry, he chanced a small smile at whoever was looking at him. He was sure it was Harry. It couldn't be anyone else – no one would be watching so intently.

Back up in the tower, Harry caught the smile that Draco sent. His hands touched the window pane which was cold from the frost outside, sliding down the glass until they dropped once again to his side.

"Harry?" Ron said, looking at him concernedly. "Are you all right?"

He jumped back from the window, startled. "Oh – yes. Yes, I'm fine." Hermione watched him silently, one eyebrow slightly raised as Harry walked to the door of the common room.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked.

Harry turned for a moment. "Just outside. I'll be back soon." He opened the portrait hole and climbed out before they could ask any more questions of him.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other in bewilderment. "Have you noticed anything slightly...odd about Harry lately?" Ron asked Hermione.

She shrugged. "It's probably just the stress of being Head Boy getting to him. It's not easy to have all these extra duties piled on as well as having to cope with the workload. It's bound to make him a little edgy."

Ron nodded, satisfied with the explanation. He leant over the chessboard, thinking hard. Hermione watched the top of his head with a frown. Her excuses didn't fool her quite as well as they fooled Ron. There was definitely something going on that Harry wasn't telling them.

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Down on the grounds, Draco blinked. The figure was suddenly gone from the window. The tower looked strangely deserted now, more lonely and dark. Firelight spilled out of the window, but it didn't look cheerful to Draco anymore. Sighing, he lifted his feet and trudged along his on little path on the snow. He didn't know where he was going, but he couldn't bear being inside with the Slytherins any longer. He'd spent almost the whole day wondering where Harry was and what he was doing, and he couldn't put up with the Slytherins constantly asking him what he was thinking about.

The crunch of a footstep on snow alerted him to the presence of a stranger behind him. Convinced it was Crabbe, Goyle or Pansy, Draco was torn between deciding to ignore them or turning around and yelling. He was about to continue on his way, pretending he hadn't noticed their presence when the person spoke.

"Merry Christmas."

The voice was soft and low, a sweet tenor pitch ringing out in the deserted white world. Draco turned to see Harry Potter standing completely still before him. Warmth spread through Draco's body, heating him from his toes to his cheeks, which he knew had turned slightly pink.

"Hello, Potter," he replied. Harry smiled.

"What are you doing out here? It's so cold." Harry wrapped his arms tightly around himself. Draco watched him silently for a moment, and then turned to continue on his route.

"Come with me," he said softly. Harry paused for a moment and then quickly stepped up to walk beside Draco.

"Where are we going?" he asked, looking around them. The school was far behind them, and there was nothing around them but trees and bushes covered in snow.

"I've got a surprise for you," Draco replied, a cryptic smile playing about the corners of his mouth. Harry grinned uncertainly.

"A surprise? Out here?" Harry looked around again. They were walking past the entrance to the Forbidden Forest and into a thick cluster of evergreen trees. Not another soul could be seen.

Draco didn't reply, and the pair walked in silence through the trees and into the center of a clearing. There they stopped.

Draco smiled at the puzzled expression on Harry's face. He took one of Harry's bare hands in his own, surprised at just how cold Harry's skin was. "Think of one very happy thought," he instructed Harry.

Harry blinked thrice, racking his brains for a happy thought. His gaze fell on his hand joined with Draco's, and his insides warmed straight away. He smiled at Draco, who was watching him intently. Draco nodded towards the trees behind Harry.

He turned, his eyes widening in astonishment. One of the tree's trunks had transformed to form the shape of two doors, like a wardrobe. The golden handles shone against the dark bark of the door, urging Harry to walk forward and open them. He looked to Draco, who released Harry's hand and again nodded towards the door, silently instructing Harry to open them.

Harry took several slow steps towards the doors, his hand tingling from the cold air hitting the skin where another person's warmth had rested only a few seconds before. His other hand closed around a handle and he pulled.

The doors swung open to reveal a wardrobe with fur coats hanging up. Harry turned with a quizzical expression to Draco, who'd walked forward as well to stand beside his companion.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Draco lifted a hand and brushed some snow off the coat closest to him. Pulling the hangers aside so there was space between the thick fur coats, he waited for Harry to walk through. Harry ran his hands over the soft fur, then took a breath and a few steps through the coats, shivering in the dark of the closet.

"Malfoy, there's nothing here," he called out. No reply came, and Harry noticed that the floor of the wardrobe did not seem to be made of wood. There was something crunching beneath his footsteps – but surely no one would have a wardrobe with a snowy floor?

He held out a hand, his fingers expecting to touch the wood of the back wall. But for some reason, the back of the closet did not seem to be there. Ahead of him was a light, and he realized he seemed to be walking along a corridor instead of a wardrobe. He quickened his pace and walked through into the other side of the trees.

His eyes widened and a small sigh escaped him. Draco emerged from the corridor as well and looked at him anxiously.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Harry didn't reply straight away, he was too busy absorbing the sight. It looked exactly like the Hogwarts grounds had, except for one thing.

A single lantern stood a few feet from them, the pole frosted with ice. Light shone in a ring around the lamppost and Harry watched it in wonder before turning his gaze once more to Draco.

"You created Narnia?" he whispered

Draco walked to the bushes and peered over it, motioning for Harry to do the same. He took a deep breath and stood on the very tips of his toes to see what Draco was looking at.

The faun, Tumnus from the tales of Narnia stood with his parcels tucked beneath his arm, perfectly sculpted from ice. A little ice flute was held in his hand. And to the right, there stood a magnificent sledge drawn by reindeer as small as Shetland ponies. Upon the sledge sat a fat dwarf, driving the ponies, and in the sledge sat a beautiful, grand lady, her lovely face carved to perfection in the icy crystals.

Harry gasped as he looked at the scene. How detailed everything was – how much effort Draco had gone to.

"You made this?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

Draco shrugged. "I remembered you saying that this was your favourite story, so...I tried to recreate it." He looked down at his hands. "It's not perfect."

Harry interrupted Draco. "It is. It's brilliant."

Draco looked up with a small smile. "So you like it, then?"

Harry grinned and pulled Draco towards him. "I love it." His arms slipped around Draco's waist and held him close. Draco let out a shaky breath and settled against Harry's firm frame.

"Thank you," whispered Harry.

Draco kissed Harry's cheek. He took one of Harry's hands and pulled him past the reindeer drawing the carriage.

Standing through the trees were more of the animals from the story. The beavers were carved in mid clap, sitting on a log by the bank. Centaurs, unicorns and deer stood in a circle around a large stone table with a huge crack down the center. And right at the head of the table was a huge lion, his mouth open in a roar forever captured in a perfect monument.

"Aslan," Harry breathed. He turned to Draco who was grinning at Harry's obvious delight. "You really did think of everything, didn't you?"

Draco shrugged.

Harry returned his gaze to the scene. He looked into the sky and saw little statues of bird in flight, hanging like beautiful glass figurines, suspended magically from the sky.

"Oh..." Harry said softly. He could even see the details on the birds feathers and faces, though they were so far away. He turned to Draco and smile. "You're so talented at art."

Draco smirked. "Have to be good at something, don't I?"

"Don't be stupid, Malfoy, you already are good at so many things."

Draco shrugged. "Well then, here's one more thing to add to the list."

They wandered around the clearing together for half an hour, Harry occasionally stopping to admire the carefully detailing Draco had done on some of the creatures.

"How long did it take you to do them?" Harry asked.

Draco tilted his head up and flicked his hair carelessly out of his eyes. "Not too long...maybe about a week?" he said disinterestedly, as though it was really nothing.

Harry smiled at the boy. "Well, they're just awesome. But – what's going to happen when we leave?"

"Well – they're magical ice statues, so they'll never melt. And as long as you know where to go, and you remember to think of something very happy, you'll be able to get in here again. No one else will possibly follow us, they wouldn't think to go into the evergreen forest."

Or so he thought.

There was someone there, in fact. Someone was in Narnia with them. Walking so quietly that neither boy could hear. Staying a long distance away, covered by snow covered bushes and low branches that kept them from sight.

Someone was stalking Draco.

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Draco and Harry were walking back towards the wardrobe, as it was getting close to dusk and neither fancied being out in the snow at night.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"This is absolutely beautiful, you know, but – but – I didn't get you anything for Christmas," Harry admitted.

Draco chuckled and shook his head. "I don't need a card or a gift, Potter."

"But you went to all this trouble." Harry looked miserable.

Draco's heart went out to the boy. "Potter, it's not important. I didn't expect anything from you, and I still don't. And the only thing I wanted from you isn't something tangible anyway." As soon as he'd said this, he wished he'd kept his mouth firmly shut. How stupid could he have been? He didn't want to tell Harry how he felt – or did he?

Harry stopped walking and took one of Draco's hands. "What did you want?"

Draco tugged on Harry's hand and tried to keep him moving. "It doesn't matter – the point is that I didn't expect nor want you to get me anything for Christmas." His cheeks were suspiciously pink.

Harry watched him. "Why did you create this for me?"

Draco gave up trying to pull Harry – the boy was obviously just as strong as he was, and didn't seem to want to leave just yet. "Why do you think? It's Christmas, I wanted to do something for you that you'd like, and this came to mind."

The light from the lamppost picked up the different hues of pink surfacing in Draco's cheeks. Harry couldn't help smiling at how little and cute Draco looked when he blushed. He reached out a hand and brushed his fingers along the bones in Draco's cheeks. Draco felt the feather light touch running along his face and tried as hard as he could to keep himself from collapsing. His stomach was fluttering and his head seemed to be getting lighter by the moment.

"What are we?" Harry asked, his low voice wavering slightly.

Draco looked up at Harry through long, pale eyelashes, enviously admiring Harry's own, curly dark lashes fringing clear, vivid green eyes behind the glasses he always wore. This conversation was becoming awfully deep and meaningful – something Draco was not very good at being. He shrugged and tried to look uninterested, though he knew it probably wasn't working. "What do you want us to be?"

"It's going to be weird being friends with all the tension between our houses," Harry noted.

Draco smirked. "It's going to be weird being friends when we've already gone a lot further than most friends do – obviously with the exception of your dear Weasel and Granger."

Harry smiled nervously. "That only happened once though." His head was pounding with the thoughts, 'let it happen again,' running through over and over, desperate to be uttered.

Draco shook back his hair once more and thought for a second before speaking to clarify his thoughts. "So if it happened again, we'd be well across the line between friendship and – well – more than friendship?"

Harry lifted his index finger again and this time traced Draco's jaw. "It could be so much more," he answered softly.

This took Draco completely aback. He'd never expected Harry to be quite so forward ... Harry had always seemed like a rather shy guy when it came to romance.

Little did he know that Harry's heart was pounding incredibly loudly and rapidly at the daring of what he had just said. Usually he shied away from any emotional displays because he wasn't good at any of them except anger. But there was just something about Draco now ... after the gift he'd given Harry ... he just didn't want to let anything dissolve between them now that he had such a good chance to make something of their relationship.

For a moment, there was silence as the two boys digested the seriousness of what they were about to enter. There was so much at stake for both boys – but so much at stake if they didn't take the chance now as well.

Draco took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His gaze rested upon Harry's face, so childlike and innocent beneath the tough exterior, simply wanting what Draco secretly desired as well.

He felt himself give up his attempt at blanking his face. It was somewhat of a relief; acting completely unconcerned with the world and what was happening was beginning to be quite an effort, and allowing himself to show something of what he felt was a rather large step. His voice was quiet and yet full of suppressed emotion. "Then let it be."

Harry's other hand met Draco's cheek and rested there for a moment. Draco's eyes met Harry's and they watched each other in wonder as their faces neared. His eyes closed as he felt Harry's breath on his lips.

"Merry Christmas," Harry whispered. Closing his own eyes, he gently touched his lips to Draco's. It was like the touch of velvet upon velvet as they closed their arms around each other and stood together in bliss.

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Not too far away, someone was watching them in astonishment. Sneaking off back through the wardrobe, they took one last look at the happy pair before disappearing from sight.

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Draco pulled away from Harry. He smiled, looking upon the blushing and still beautiful face of Harry Potter. "This is the best Christmas present I've ever gotten," he whispered to Harry, brushing back the long messy hair that surrounded Harry's face and reached almost to his neck.

Harry smiled tenderly at Draco. Lifting his hands, he cupped Draco's face and kissed the blonde's forehead. Trailing the kisses down the side of Draco's head, Harry reached the cheek and stopped for a second.

"Can you hear that?" he asked, hesitating. There was the sound of wings, mixed with the sound of twittering.

Draco and Harry looked around. All about them, the forest was coming to life. The statues still stood proud and beautiful in the light, but they were no longer in a silent world of white and glass. Birds all around them were chirping and flittering from tree to tree; squirrels were bounding up and down. There were real deer staring in confusion at their crystal look- alikes.

Harry laughed. "Is this your doing as well?" he asked.

Draco's usual scowling or sneering expression was completely gone. In its place was a boy seeing the beauty of nature, and loving it. Harry watched the transformation and smiled.

"I didn't do this part," Draco told Harry. "This is nature."

"And it's still beautiful," Harry replied, looking once more to where a cheeky squirrel was nibbling at Aslan's ear.

Over their heads, they heard fluttering, and looked up. A red robin was flying slowly over them, holding a sprig of mistletoe in its beak. Harry looked at it and then smiled at Draco.

Draco shrugged. "Well, you can't break tradition." He leaned forward and caught Harry in another kiss that blew every other thought straight out of his mind.

Snow was falling around them, floating to rest on their black winter cloaks, but neither boy minded at all. Their bodies were pressed together, exchanging body heat and conserving warmth. Their fingers were warmed as their hands joined, their fingers lacing and tightly holding each other close. And as they kissed in the white snow-covered world, there was nothing that could bring either of them down from their fairytale.

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TBC

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A/N: Well – there we go. sniffle Wasn't that cute? I know it's probably the shortest chapter yet, but I figured I might as well put it up anyway, so review and tell me what you thought. Please? Give any ideas for what you want to happen, because later there might not be the chance to put forward your ideas when the story gets more focused. Any suggestions will be taken into account, especially yours, HpAzn!

Thank you so so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, you're all angels. I love you all so much.

kazillon: yay! i heart you back! well, im really glad to have made your heart flutter! :P now i consider that a compliment! hope this chapter kept you pumping!

JWGrey: Thank you for your reviews! aren't they adorable?! And it was your comment that made me work so hard and get other people to help with this chapter just for you - i hope since it wasn't rushed its not crap. review and let me know!

december jewel: well, you know Ron! we fanfic people loooooooove messing with him. its so much fun! thank you for your review, im really glad you're enjoying the 'sweetness'! :)

Angel-Wings6: Thanks! Here's your next chapter - hope you like it!

Rigella: Well, now you need to clap yourself for helping! Thanks for all the help, and especially for your compliments! :P love you gal!

yamimoukin: well thank you! hope you enjoy the update!

Angel: Thanks! I wrote more, here you go! I hope you continue to like my stories!

Piper13: I think you are my favourite reviewer on ! You always boost my ego and i love getting your comments in hotmail. Thanks again!

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