Title: "Mask"

Author: Lyla Hayden

Rating: Mature, "R", "M", whatever. Warnings are; slash, gore, the usual nasties but nothing too graphic.

Pairing: HP/DM, what else?

Summary: When one bears a mask to become someone else, sometimes that mask becomes who you are, despite all your true thoughts and feelings. Such a mask cannot be shed easily and often times it takes another to rip its roots out. Harry's mask has deep roots, but the one who helps him remove them is the one he would least expect.

A/N: (Cough) Look! Another update, like…an hour after the last. Whoo! Yay for me and my bad endings! I'm too tired to write much more, so I won't update again today. But anyway, here's part seven. Enjoy.

"Mask"

Part Seven:

"Lightning"

It took the Slytherin a well-timed breath before he could open the box at last. Harry stepped closer, leaning over to see inside the delicate box. It was a ring. Tiny dolphins leapt across the wiry silver band, their eyes made of shinning sapphire stones.

"It doesn't look like much, but Mother wasn't a very flashy person. She always had favored the simple and small." Draco picked up the ring and admired it with loving eyes. "Father had put a protection spell on it for her. Should the bearer get attacked, the force would be weakened greatly.

"Mother wore it until the day she died," Draco added sadly. Harry placed a hand on the blonde's arm comfortingly. "Yes, well, I want you to wear this." Harry's breath stopped. "If it's too girly, you can use a concealing charm. No, I'm not asking you to marry me. I'm simply asking you to…be my…uh…boyfriend." Draco blushed a bit, having ended up muttering the last part.

Harry stared in silence for a moment. As he opened his mouth to speak, Draco said, "You don't have to answer right away. I know a relationship with people like us should be kept secret and if you can do without the subterfuge, just say so."

Harry grinned and shook his head. "You should know that I'm all for subterfuge, contumacy, and the like. Anyway, that ring doesn't scream 'I came from a Slytherin' and it really doesn't look like something a Malfoy would own."

Draco nodded silently, his heart dropping with each word for he hadn't been given an answer yet. "Heh," Harry ran his hand back through his hair a bit nervously. "I tend to babble when I get nervous. But to get to the point, my answer is 'yes'."

Softly taking the ring from the shock-frozen boy with a soft laugh, Harry slid the ring onto his left hand; the ring-finger to be exact. A happy grin flittered across the face of the son of a Death Eater as he pressed a soft kiss to the lips of the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry didn't bother to hide the ring, but he did toss Mask out the window, at least for the day to show Draco how happy he was. Keen eyes found the ring immediately as Harry sat down to eat dinner that night.

"Oh my god, Harry! Who on earth gave you that?" Hermione asked, grabbing his hand. The Gryffindors around them all snapped to attention, watching as Hermione turned his hand this way and that, admiring the ring.

"No one," Harry said impassively. The ring was beautiful but not too showy, just as Draco had said his mother liked her belongings. It still looks expensive, thought Harry as he ignored the many questions about the ring. He pulled his hand back when food appeared.

After dinner, Draco caught Harry's eye. The blonde slipped a piece of paper into one of his books, acting as if it were his bookmark and making sure Harry saw. The blonde said something to his friends and headed towards the Gryffindor table.

Every eye was on him as he stopped next to Harry. He ignored the rude comments from Ron and locked steel eyes to emerald. "Here's that book I talked to you about before. See ya next session." Without a word of explanation, he walked back to his friends.

"What'd he mean 'session'?" Harry shook his head, looking at the book. It was a the standard textbook for Draco's Arithmancy courses. "You aren't taking that class, are you?" Ron asked, looking at the book.

"No," Harry answered, standing up. "See ya guys back at the common room. I have to go see Remus about something." Minutes of useless talking later and Harry was out of the Great Hall and on his way back to his dorm.

He picked the paper out of the book carefully and turned it over to read it. "Meet me after dinner. You know where." Harry turned it over expecting to find more clarification, but found none. Taking a right instead of a left, the ravenhead wandered towards the Quidditch field.

He took a seat on the grass and flopped backwards, staring at the sky with a blank mind. This must be the place Draco was talking about, Harry thought. There's no other place that I can think of, at least not one that is still in Hogwarts.

"Harry," a soft voice said. Harry tilted his head back and saw Draco standing there. The blonde paused before sitting next to him. Harry pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked over at the Slytherin. Steel eyes focused on his face after a moment.

"Why'd you want to meet me? Is something wrong?" Harry asked, a bit of concern in his voice and in his eyes.

"Well, maybe." Harry sat up and turned to him. "Do you know who Sebastian James is?" A moment of thought, and Harry shook his head. "He is the fiancé of Crystal Malfoy, and a transfer student from private studies to Slytherin house. Do you know who Crystal is by any chance?"

"No, I don't. What are you getting at?" Harry eyed him curiously, a bit of nervousness creeping in.

"She was one of the girls you turned down at the party. She wanted to dance, and you told her you don't dance, but then…" With a shrug of his shoulders, he stopped talking.

"But then I danced with you, right?" Draco just nodded.

"She told Sebastian about that, and now he's threatening to tell the Prophet." Harry could have sworn he heard his heart stop, his breath catching. "There's nothing I can do to stop him. He has never been one for tradition or family. He doesn't even care about his fiancé's name, which he will be taking after they marry."

Draco turned and looked Harry in the eye. "If you want to call it off now, you can. It might be best if you do. You don't need more publicity, and I really don't care what the wizarding world thinks of me; never have, really."

"No. I've dealt with things like this before. I can handle it. I won't let anything this small make me doing something I don't want." Draco smiled happily, forgetting about the looming threat of Sebastian and the Prophet.

"Now, just tell me this: How I'm supposed to explain these 'sessions' and a Arithmancy book?"

Draco grinned and tackled Harry to the ground, sitting on his stomach. "Study sessions. You are helping me with my school subjects and I am teaching you Arithmancy in return. This will explain why we are together and why we aren't fighting."

"Ah," Harry grunted, pushing Draco off. "That's so elegantly Slytherin of you," he said jokingly, prodding the boy in the stomach. "We should probably try to figure out how to stop that guy from going to the Prophet." Draco sat up and laughed nervously. "What?"

"I told him, 'Go ahead and tell the papers, you insecure pompous, dick-sucking poseur'. I don't think I can talk him out of it after that." Harry bit his cheek to keep from smiling. "We should go inside, though. Don't want rumors to start." Draco winked.

"Funny, Draco. Very funny." But Harry stood up anyway, moments before Draco did. With a silent kiss goodbye, the two headed off to their separate common rooms. Harry was glad to have talked with him, regardless of the topic of conversation.

Questions ran amok about Draco and Harry, rumors having spread like wildfire throughout the hall when Draco had left moments after Harry had. Both boy spent the evening making up answers to the questions, sticking to the idea Draco had mentioned earlier.

Late that night, Harry flew through the halls on his Firebolt, fading into the shadows whenever he felt the tingle of the magical aura of a wandering teacher. Several times, the ravenhead barely got out of sight before he was seen.

He flew out into the open Quidditch field, soaring up into the air. Thick rain fell but Harry ignored it, careful to avoid solid objects. It was a full moon. Remus would be out of commission, at least for tonight.

Lightning struck one of the goalposts causing Harry to fly closer to the ground. Dark lips parted to let the notes of his song ring out around him. Emerald eyes found no Slytherin near as the rain soaked through his clothes. He ignored the ringing in his ears that sang of danger, trying to finish the tune.

Mere seconds from finishing, a flash of white announced Draco's presence. The song caught in his throat as lightning flashed, heading towards the blonde. Like most of nature, lightning could not be predicted. At the last minute, it swerved and struck Harry's chest.

To Be Continued

A/N: x.x Bwaha. I am fast. (Dance) Yeah, I like to leave bad endings. So sue me. Actually, on second thought…please don't…I barely have enough money to pay my bills as it is. Anyway, I would love it if you'd review? Be nice to me, though. n.n