Hey! Guess what? I CONTINUED! You all should be so proud of me, chapter two seems to be the stopping point of so many things I write...

This isn't Hermione's POV, it's Harry's again... I didn't feel like writing her, so I didn't. The back ground'll come in as it comes in, for now, it's just more almost plotless fluff.

Warnings: HPDM Slash and peeping house elves.

Disclaimer: Alas, I STILL don't have enough money for Draco. 5 bucks is alot of money! Damn that JK Rowling...

Reveiw responses at the end of the chapter.

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I tried to avoid one Draco Malfoy for the rest of the holiday break.

It didn't work.

Everywhere I went the blond was either there or showed up not soon after. When I was wondering through the hallways, he would pass by close enough that our shoulders brushed. When I went to meals, somehow he'd end up across the single table they used over break. When I went outside—

I'm sure you get the picture.

What made matters worse, was every time he appeared, he was wearing it. That damned ring I'd bought; that stupid bloody mistake.

I shouldn't have given it to him. He's taunting me with it. He wanted to see me uncomfortable.

I supposed I should be glad the old Malfoy's back. He'd found new and more creative ways to torment me and show me my stupidity. He didn't even have to say anything.

And I knew he's doing it to bug me. There is one other student there besides us! There's no way he could just happen to be going everywhere I was and sit right near me on accident. There were five empty seats when we have full meals!

At least the break was almost over. The rest of the student's would be arriving that night. I was almost giddy, I was so excited. A distraction! It was wonderful not to be thinking about Draco Malfoy twenty-four seven.

It made me seriously wonder why I had chosen to do just that when I was keeping notes.

That morning I got up late and decided I was going to stay in the dorms and out of the main corridors unless absolutely necessary. I had decided the night before that the only reason he could possibly be everywhere I went was because I was being too predictable. Not anymore. I didn't get up early enough to go to breakfast; I wasn't going to go to lunch. I wasn't going to go to the library. I would make one trip to the kitchen, and go to dinner with the rest of the student body where he couldn't sit near me. Fool proof.

The whole 'Malfoy's following me to make my life hell' wasn't aided by the fact I was sure he knew I'd stolen his ring. I didn't realize I'd gotten the ring I gave him in the same size as the one I'd taken until he pointed it out! It was an honest mistake…

I'd seen the ring when he'd first gotten it. The one I stole, that is. He'd shown it off to his friends the year before and I couldn't help but notice it. I wanted to know what was so special about it. He wore it all the time, like it showed some sort of power and it just made me wonder even more when he stopped. If you like it so much, why take it off?

He stopped wearing the ring at the same time he'd quit the Slytherin charade; when his parents died. I thought it could tell me why he was taking it so hard if I could… study it a little.

I'd gotten tired of waiting for it to reappear after about two weeks and used my invisibility cloak to wait outside the Slytherin common room until someone went in ahead of me. Getting into Malfoy's room had been easy, Pansy just waltzed right in and I went behind her. He hadn't been there, but while Pansy was searching the suite (really, a suite. His own bathroom, a changing room. It was ridiculous.) I had the perfect chance to do a little searching. Pansy went around yelling 'Draky, where are you!' while I looked in places I thought a certain stuck up Slytherin Prince might keep things of that nature and got lucky. I pocketed it and followed Pansy when she left.

I'd had it ever since. It was a beautiful piece. I had what I could only assume was his family's crest on it in emeralds, jet, and diamonds. The band itself was sterling silver worked to look almost like a vine.

I could see why he loved it. I had a hunch that it was a gift from one of his parents, and now that they were gone, he wanted to keep it safe.

I'd screwed that up big time.

So, I'd completely embarrassed myself giving my rival a ring for Christmas for no apparent reason, and probably pissed him off royally when he realized I was most likely the one who stole his other ring. To my knowledge, the only way to remedy that situation was to avoid confrontation of any sort. Exactly why I was walking down to the kitchen at ten thirty that morning.

It didn't help that when I wasn't being completely paranoid (basically, when I went to sleep), I thought that just maybe he wanted to be near me like I did on Christmas. I just wanted to hope that there was a snowball's chance in hell he didn't hate me. Some times, when my sanity lapsed, I wanted to stop him in the halls and talk to him, just to make him laugh. He was just so beautiful; I wanted to be close to him again, to hold him again, just to see if I could.

Inner conflict has never been good for the mind, and that's when I walked into the kitchen's entrance. Literally. I shook my head to clear it and tickled the pear. Needless to say, I was shocked when I found Draco sitting at a table inside. I would have left if the house elves hadn't crowded me. I was hungry, too…

I felt those butterflies come back with a vengeance when the blond looked up and regarded me coldly from his seat. I was pushed inside and seated across from him by the house elves while they went to get me a ham sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice. I always asked for the same thing.

Sitting there was one of the most uncomfortable times of my short life, with the house elves asking if I wanted anything else, me shaking my head, and Draco sitting across from me watching the entire display like performance being put on just for him. I could feel my face flush under his scrutiny and refused to look up, it might have been a show of cowardice, but I wasn't supposed to see him today. It was fool proof!

"What's wrong, Potter? Aren't you happy to see me?" I could almost feel his voice wash over me. It was cold, and smooth, and maybe a little amused. A shiver ran down my spine and my heart decided to go for a jog; my face grew hotter. I could feel him staring at me, than the cocky bastard started to laugh.

It wasn't a real laugh, per-say, but didn't seem as false as when he laughed at the people he was insulting. It was almost cruel. It was official; Draco Malfoy was slowly, but surly, killing me with embarrassment, and he was loving every second of it. That was when I was sure he knew I'd stolen it.

Dobby decided to pop up at my knee at that moment with my sandwich and juice. I felt like I was going to throw up if I so much as touched the stuff, but I picked up the sandwich to nibble on it, anyway. If I was lucky, Malfoy would say something nasty enough to give me an excuse to leave.

It was the first time he'd spoken to me since Christmas, and the thought of him stopping again made me oddly sad.

I continued to chew on my sandwich as the blond grew quiet. He wouldn't stop staring at me! I could feel it. The blush was becoming a permanent fixture to my face, and I just wanted to get out of there for health reasons. You weren't supposed to want to lean across the table and kiss the smirk off your rivals face. You weren't supposed to want go over to him to whisper in his ear for no reason. Hell, guys weren't even supposed to want to do any of that to other guys, but I hadn't even begun to think about any of that. No less than four months ago I had hated the creature sitting across from me with a passion, and now I wanted to make him smile!

Surely, I was going insane.

I'm not sure how much of my thoughts could possibly be seen, but apparently it was enough to keep Draco interested. I didn't notice when he got up and walked around the table to stand behind me. I didn't notice when he stood there for a good five minutes watching me. I most certainly did notice when he leaned on the back of my chair and let his breath sweep over the back of my neck. I tried to suppress a shiver.

"Why?" He murmured. I felt like I was going to melt. His arms were leaning as much on my shoulders as the chair's back and his hair was brushing the back of my neck. My fingers stopped functioning and the sandwich fell to my plate.

"Why w-what?" I failed completely at sounding nonchalant, but I'd probably ruined my chances of pulling off that act when I'd started blushing when I came in. I stared straight ahead at nothing and tried to ignore the sensation of his lips brushing against my ear when he replied.

"Why did you give it to me?" I couldn't have answered if my life depended on it. Maybe he didn't know I'd stolen his other ring. Maybe he'd been trying to talk to me since Christmas. Maybe I was going to die from suffocation if I didn't remember how to breathe soon. There were too many new questions and a lump the size of Paris in my throat, the situation was hopeless.

"Were you offering friendship?" I almost whimpered when he moved away from me. I was drowning in the sound of his voice; it seemed deeper than usual. Probably because he was barely talking above a whisper. "Were you offering more?" He walked over and sat on the table, crossing his legs. He was still staring at me, trying to figure out what I was thinking, or why I wasn't responding. I took a moment to hope he didn't realize how he was making me feel. "Or was it a truce?" His eyes… I could live on his voice and just looking in his eyes… "Or were you messing with my head? My emotions?" I felt my eyes widen with shock; more shock. I'd been in shock since he'd come up behind me. "What are you playing at, Potter?" His voice hardened and bit like a sword.

"Playing?" My brain really wasn't functioning too well at the moment. My face must have been the picture of shock and confusion. His sneer made its first appearance of the day. I felt my heart skip a beat and I was scared.

"Yes, playing, Potter, you know damn well what I'm talking about!" I could only gulp and stand up when he jumped to his feet. My old defensiveness was coming back with the change of situation. At least I knew how to act when he was doing this.

"No, I don't! I just wanted to eat a sandwich, and then you're here wanting to play twenty questions! What does it matter!" I was proud of myself for a brief moment for managing not just one, but three complete sentences after my previous, jell-o type state.

"It matters because I say it matters. And why did you miss breakfast anyway, Potter?" His voice had gone startlingly quiet and cold. He took a step into my personal space and stared straight into my eyes, searching for answers to questions I couldn't begin to fathom. He didn't ask what he wanted to know, not really. He was Draco Malfoy, crafty, smart, and subtle. He didn't ask straight questions, right?

"Why does that matter!" I could never get the hang of the whole 'cold anger' thing. Yelling was so much easier.

"You were avoiding me. You've been avoiding me all week." He took another step closer. I decided it was high time to retreat and started to back slowly towards the portrait. The house elves had been watching the entire display with great interest, but neither of us noticed. "Why would you be avoiding me, Potter, unless you regret giving this to me?" He kept coming closer to me and I kept backing up as he held his hand up to show me the ring. "Or, maybe, you're trying to hide something. What would you be trying to hide?" He almost seemed to be talking to himself as I continued my seemingly vain retreat. Who cares if I'm taller and probably stronger, he was going to back me into a corner, and I didn't want to think about the consequences.

I gasped when my back hit the portrait and he just stuck with his advance. I couldn't remember for the life of me how to get the damn painting to swing open. He stopped less than a foot away from me. My mouth had long since gone dry and my breathing was irregular; my heartbeat too fast and my mind too foggy. I was on the verge of panicking, if I wasn't already.

"What would you be trying to hide?" He whispered, again, this time with the words brushing my lips fleetingly before making their way to my ears. I stood stock still pressed against the portrait's back, just staring at him. Alright, gazing would be a more appropriate word. I don't think staring comes with the thoughts that ran rampant through my dizzy mind. I kept noticing thing; seemingly stupid things, how his eyes were flashing because of his anger, how jaw muscles flexed as he clenched his jaw, just how pale he really was, how fucking kissable his thin lips looked when he pursed them together like that, how hot he was when he wanted to kill me (even if I wasn't sure why anymore), how that one strand of hair was falling in front of his eye…

I let my hand brush against his cheek as I placed that strand behind his ear. It was his turn to stop breathing. My hand stayed there, against his cheek, my thumbs gently stroking his smooth skin. I smiled slightly when his eyes fluttered shut. With out thinking, I tilted his head and slowly brought my lips down onto his.

The most shocking sensation shot through my body when I kissed him. Seriously, like electricity running down my spine and back up. It was even more amazing when he kissed me back. My other hand came up from where it was frozen at my side to wrap gently around his waist, possessively. I felt one of his hand come up and hold my arm and the other run up the back of my neck.

It was a chaste kiss, for all the dramatics. Just lips on lips; no tongue to speak of. When I pulled away from him to breathe and opened my eyes (when had I closed them?) I looked at him with an adoration I didn't understand at the time. I smiled when he opened his eyes.

It was right about then I remembered just who exactly I'd been kissing.

I pulled back like I'd been burned and grabbed the door handle; stumbled backwards out of the kitchen and ran like the hounds of hell were on my heels.

HPHPHPHPHP

How was that?

I don't know if it matters, but I've done slight revisions on chapters one and two; nothing big, but I tried to make a few sentences that bugged me flow better and cut down on my use of the word 'as.' I used 'while' instead in a few places. You probably can't even really tell they've been revised, the only thing really different is I took out the second sentence in chapter two. It didn't fit.

Onto the reveiws!

Zan Artemis - O.o... If I didn't know you so well, I'd suggest asylum. You were right about the title, I just needed to think through the plot a little more. Thanks! I need to resume my quest to read all your stories I've been missing... Love ya!

Celeste Jacobs - Thanks!

Aseret Kitsune - Sorry it took so long... I'm lazy as hell.

JJMel - Thanks. Not a bubbly kind of cute... I like that.

Ridley Jack - Sorry if I scared you when I emailed you. I couldn't help myself! Draco doesn't seem to have a problem with Harry's feelings for him at all... He just like making things harder for himself. I'm gonna stick with 'A Gift.' It'llfit with the ending I've got planned. You're a bit of a smart ass. I like that. And I don't get offended at cussing, if you haven't noticed...

Silverone3 - Didn't break the record. but that's okay. I think Draco was more surprised then Harry, myself...

sincerity and faith - Thanks!

mars explorer - Thank you!

Caiden - uhh.. Thanks! (I have trouble with responding to short reveiws... I always want to say more than two words back)

Rocki - Thanks. I like you're name. (If you read this earlier, for real too... I screwed up and printed 'selection' and part of your name wasn't there so I spelled it wrong... >. Mind, if you didn't see that, ignore this ramble)

Thanks so much, all of you! I love getting reveiws! I'm still going for more than 14 in a chapter, but just having someone comment on my work makes me forget my goals. You guys are absolutly awesome.

Also, thanks to everyone who reads and doesn't reveiw. I know that you can't always comment. My computer won't let me, so I rarely ever get to reveiw anything.

Now, if you would, could you press the pretty little butten and leave a comment? I'll find a way to repay you... Another chapter maybe!

Thanks!

Later

Averon