A/N: I really hope you all enjoy this chapter, took me long enough to type up, but I hope it was worth the wait. ; )

Abig big thanks to EVERYONE who has reviewed. : jump around happily : I love each and everyone of you, and if I could I would personally hug you all. But that would be near enough impossible as I have no money to get there, and that would just be plain weird. O.o This chapter will have to do instead, plus its a tad longer than any of the others:: The next chapter WILL be better so look out for it! ; ) :

Warning: I would seriously advise that if you love the pairing of two men, Harry/Draco, then read on. ; ) If not, then I would suggest a heterosexual pairing if it offends you in anyway! Like Ginny and Harry perhaps. :shudder:

Note: This is now the beta version!

Days before you came

It was later that night that Harry returned to his cabin, only aided by the small lights that hung on the outside of ship still glowing brightly through the circular windows. His hair and clothes were damp from the rain that fell from the sky only moments after Draco left, and as he had a long walk to his small room he hugged his body to try and retain some of the body heat he refused to lose.

He pondered whether Ron would be already back, and if so would he tell him where he was? He knew he had nothing to hide from his best friend, but he rarely felt so confused yet fascinated by someone - he felt as if this was the one thing he didn't have to share with anyone. The mere thought of the blonde haired boy smiling at him made his head spin with anxiety, yet it was strange because he had only just met him. But he also knew that he could not wait for tomorrow evening when he would meet up with Draco.

The only question was, would he come because the mysterious blond hasn't been entirely truthful, which could suggest he is just trying to drag him out into the cold when he has no intention of turning up. Harry chewed his bottom lip, a habit he obtained when he was deeply thinking or worried about something. He just hoped that he would turn up, and maybe open up to him a bit more. Though, Harry thought to himself as he leaned into the sofa he curled up onto, what right did he have to know everything about the man he only just met a few hours ago? So he didn't tell him his last name, its not that important.

- I can't believe I am getting worked up over this, Harry berated himself as he opened up his mouth and sighed, letting go of his pink lip which stung from the pressure of his teeth nervously biting it.

It has been so long since I have been on a date. Christ! I don't even know if this is a date! Harry thought, once again biting his bottom lip out of habit. Yeah he said it was, but then he didn't say it was 'exactly' as if he meant it as a date date; Just a date to meet up. He groaned. He was confusing himself and he hated it when he was confused. Even if it isn't a date, he sure as hell would not let that stop him from enjoying himself…and if it turned out to be - Well, he would just see how things turned out.

Instead of thinking about 'Draco the Blond' any longer, which did sound very tempting, it was nearly venturing one in the morning. And if his personal alarm, a.k.a Ron Weasley, had anything to say about it, he would have to be up in seven hours, not nearly enough time to get his well needed beauty sleep and confuse himself any more about the possibilities of the day to come.

Clambering out of the seat he was curled up on he stretched his arms above his head and stifled a yawn with the palm of his hand. His back creaked unpleasantly as he had to drag himself into the bathroom and splash cold water on to his face and brush his teeth. He glanced in the mirror, only seeing a fuzzy image of himself without his glasses on, and rubbed his eyes that where aching from the lack sleep. With another yawn, he walked back into the small living space, wearing his unflattering chequered pyjama bottoms and top, stretching his arms above his head and walked into the bedroom which he shared with three other boys.

Luckily, or not so luckily he thought, they where already asleep and snoring; or in Ron's case he was snorting weirdly in his sleep.

Groaning, Harry clambered into his bed and sighed head first into the pillow. The sudden ache on the ridge of his nose reminding him that he needed to take his glasses of if he was to be comfy. Rolling onto his back he groped in the dark until he felt the smooth cabinet next to his bed and carefully placed his glasses on it.

He couldn't see his watch in the dark, but he could tell, as his eyes stung from exhaustion and his limbs ached, that it was getting late. He willed his thoughts to leave him, but it seemed he had no such luck. The questions left unanswered annoyed him to no end, and it seemed he could not wait for his encounter with the mysterious blond the following day.

"Harry! Come on mate." Harry grumbled something unintelligibly as he pulled the covers over his face. "Get up!" Harry recognised the voice to belong to his dear friend Ronald Weasley; and as he thought against the boy pulling the covers off him he somehow ended up rolling onto the floor with a yelp.

Rubbing the back of his head Harry peeked out of the covers scowling at Ron; whom standing triumphantly above him with a lopsided grin muttered: "Oops!"

Harry threw his pillow at his smug friend, smacking him in the face.

"Harry! I'm offended," Ron grabbed his heart as if in pain, and just as swiftly grabbed two pillows off his bed and threw them at the ebony haired boy - who promptly fell back onto the floor with a shriek once again.

Laughing, they continued their playful banter, as if they where their younger selves once more, hitting each other with the pillows in the boys dormitory until they could stand no more. The only difference was there were now less people to jump into their mock fight and have a full blown war, which surprisingly enough Ron always ended up winning from years of playing chess and football.

Out of breath, and glasses askew, (the tell tale sign that Harry had once again lost) he stumbled into the living room and fell onto the sofa getting curious gazes from two boys sipping their coffee. Dean and Seamus stared at him amusedly, eyeing a feather which was stuck in his messy black hair and offered him a cup of coffee they just brewed for themselves.

Ron followed shortly afterwards once he was washed, and curiously smelled of Davidoff for men, which his older brothers had insisted he take to impress the ladies. Harry smiled at Ron as he busied himself with making a bowl of cereals, as he knew the reason why he smelt so good, but he wanted the pleasure of tormenting his friend about it first.

"What?" Ron mumbled mouth full of cereals as he gracefully, in his normal morning way, jumped onto the sofa spilling most of his milk down his t-shirt.

"So…" Harry answered with a slight grin creeping across his face, "How was your date last night with Hermione?" Ron sputtered on his cereals.

"Date?" He squeaked his ears and nose changing a shade pinker.

"You know, that's what two people tend to do when they dance, chat and snog," Harry smirked at Ron, but he couldn't help letting his thoughts drift back to Draco. Was it a date then, or was it just a friendly chat? Somehow he doubted the latter, and tried to concentrate on taking each day as it came, living the day in the moment, and… well basically have a conversation without thinking about the blond, which was proving to be harder than he thought.

"From what I heard, you did a lot more than that." Ron's blush deepened and he turned around to scowl at the Irish boy sitting at the breakfast bar.

"Well your wrong. We didn't." He turned back around and let his gaze fall on a patch of carpet, with an unusual brown stain on.

"Oh… but you wanted to," Harry said with a knowing glint in his eyes. Ron didn't answer for a while, and the colour of his cheeks faded slightly. Inhaling deeply he nodded.

"She's different though, you know," he said glancing at his brunette friend, "I haven't felt like this since... well heck I've never felt like this about anyone. There's just something about her that's different from all the other girls, no women that I dated before." Harry smiled at his friend. How long has it been since he saw him so happy? He loved his friend a lot, like a brother, but that couldn't compare to the love of a beautiful women who made Ron so nervous yet excited at the same time. "Harry she is so perfect, and I… well, I can barely afford to take her out anywhere."

"Ron, I'm sure that what ever you do she will love it!" Harry said, slinging an arm around his friends shoulder, and squeezing it gently.

"Thanks mate," Ron mumbled, thankful that he will always have a loyal friend to lean on for support.

"That's what friends are for." They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, slurping on their cereals and sipping their coffees. The time came to leave, sooner than they had planned, when they heard stifled moans coming from the bedroom.

"What on Earth?" It didn't take Ron long to realise why and where the noises where coming from, and his eyes widened considerably. His mouth made a small 'o' shape, and he stood up following a laughing boy out of the room.

In another part of the ship a tall man with a long white beard cleared his throat to gather the attention of everyone accumulated in the place of worship. Holding the holiest book in his hands carefully, he read aloud a passage from the bible. He was wearing white robes which fell gracefully to the floor, and half moon shaped glasses which settled on the edge off his nose, as he recited the words. Everyone was listening to the priest, more commonly known as Father Dumbledore, with their head bowed in respect.

"Now, if you all could stand up, and recite the Lord's Prayer…"

Copying what every one else did, Draco stood up, groaning silently as his eyes turned to the front of the church room to the priest repeating the prayer for them to say. Draco eyed the man's long beard and odd taste in glasses, but none the less he repeated the same words like a robot, without any interest at what he was saying.

Even though he was not a Christian, it was expected of him to go to church every morning. Why oh why there was one on a ship he could only guess, but at the least it gave him some time to think, something he was grateful for. Though he loved his friend dearly, she just didn't know when to shut up. And his father…well he was just glad he was not able to order him to do stuff like a puppet on strings.

He looked down at his watch and sighed. Just eleven more hours until he met up with Harry, who surprisingly enough, he had not managed to stop thinking about since he saw him the day he boarded. It was not like him to be so obsessed with someone, it unnerved him slightly. But this was different. Harry was different. He was different...now at the least. Ever since he found out he was terminally ill, something inside him changed. He was no longer the spoilt little brat he once was; he no longer held the same kind of respect for his father, who used his illness against him as a means to get his own way. The things he once took for granted, like being able to have a lay in on a lazy Sunday or booze up with his friends, seemed to be a waste of his time.

But now, as he followed everyone out of the 'holy' room, he had something to live for. He had a supporting friend by his side that followed him in a comfortable silence to his room and a doting mother on the other side of the world. A small smile graced his face, something that didn't go unnoticed by Pansy. And soon in only, he looked down at his watch once more, ten and 'a bit' hours he would be meeting up with a one Harry Potter, and he could not wait.

…to be continued…

Don't flame! Lol. I know, I know they haven't said or done anything yet, as this chapter was like a progression of their feelings and what not. I did intend for the 'date' scene to be in this chapter though, but I wrote more than expected and I figured it could give me more time to actually plan. It. Out. Heh.

Well the sooner I shut the hell up, the quicker I get the next chapter written. So till next time, and peace out dudes O.o

Shady Gurl

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