Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

Millions of thanks to Jamie and Jade! And a Draco dipped in chocolate to my wonderful reviewers: Eternal Spark ();CuriousDreamWeaver (yes, he does!); Serpencencia (!); Hydrangea777 (don't worry about the back story. I'll tell you all you want to know later); LoireLoa (I want a Bill too!); DemonessOfPunishment (inner gay man? Lol! I loved that!); silvertears ();Fantasy101 (I hope you like Draco's reaction in this chapter); silverblueeyes ();Sayra Louise ; Sarah (yeah, Harry's life was really tough. You'll see a little of what he's thinking in this chapter); Mistal: The Poisoned One ( was this soon enough? ); Daphne Pessanha (Harry vai ficar na terra da negação por algum tempo, mas ele vai sair dela rapidinho quando perceber o que realmente sente); Linda (I won't pair Draco with Charlie. Two Weasleys are good enough!); midnightprowler (here is the chapter!).

Chap. 08 – Naked Harry

"No, they don't. They just don't want to give up on me, because all they see is poor little Harry. They want to make it up to me somehow for my fucked-up life. Well, it's too late now. And I don't need a bloody fag to baby-sit me."

The moment the words came out of his mouth, Harry regretted them. But then, it was too late to take them back. He didn't know why he had snapped. Well, he did know, but it was hard to acknowledge his motives. The truth was that Harry was jealous of the way Draco seemed to handle his life so well. Seeing Draco jogging and being admired by everyone was too much for Harry.

He didn't want to be out of his house. He wanted to go back to the comfort of his bed and the warmth of his drink. There, hidden from society, there was no one to judge him, to talk behind his back, to bloody ask for his autograph. He hated to go out when it wasn't necessary. He hated to have so many eyes on him, and worse, eyes that were comparing him to Draco, the son of a Death Eater.

Draco represented everything he hated and wanted to forget.

So Harry had snapped and called Draco a fag. He had never known for sure if Draco was gay or not, but there had been enough gossip flying around Hogwarts to make him believe that Draco was, in fact, gay. At the time, that seemed to be the obvious reason why Lucius had kicked Draco out. Lucius would never allow his son to be a queer. So Lucius had expelled Draco from Malfoy Manor, and the blond had joined the Order just to irritate his father. Or so Harry had thought. He didn't know for sure. He didn't know anything about this new Draco. He just wanted to hurt him.

"You know, all you have to do is tell me to go away," Draco said, staring at Harry with such intensity that Harry averted his gaze.

"I did tell you that. It didn't work," Harry groaned.

"Then ask me again and this time I promise I will leave you alone."

Draco stood up and crossed his arms. He seemed to be very angry. His pale cheeks were slightly pink and his eyes had darkened.

"I can't," Harry muttered, hating himself for looking down instead of staring deeply into Draco's fierce look.

"Because of St. Mungo's? Hey, no problem. I'll tell Hermione that you don't need to go to St. Mungo's. I'll tell her that you aren't as depressed as she thought you were. I mean, you did go out last night, didn't you? You brought a girl home with you. I'll leave out that the girl was probably some stranger who you won't bother to look for ever again, but other than that... You are not depressed. You're just pathetic."

Harry looked up, his blood pressure rising dangerously. "You… You… You are pathetic!" You saw her! You saw me. You saw… us. "So what? What do you care? It's my life! You should be happy. You were right about me. I'm a fucking loser!" Harry stood up so he could be face to face with Draco. "And fuck you! Were you spying on me?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Draco exclaimed, blushing. "I wouldn't do such a thing."

"But you saw the girl that was with me."

"I did, but it was an accident. If you had told me that your hobby is to pick up strange girls and fuck them, I wouldn't have come back to the house last night. I would have stayed in my apartment."

"I didn't know you were coming back. You didn't tell me anything."

"You did! You told me I could stay in your house for a month!"

"I didn't know you would take it so literally."

Draco raised an eyebrow. Harry didn't know which one of them was more confused. "I'm not crazy, Potter. I know what I heard. You told me that you didn't care if I slept in for the month. Those were your exact words."

Harry frowned. "Really? I don't remember saying that."

Draco sighed. "It doesn't matter now. My deal with Hermione is off. She won't take you to St. Mungo's, I promise. We will let you live your own miserable life alone."

Draco started to walk away with his hands in his pockets. People were staring at them again, wondering what their quarrel was about. Harry clenched his fists and walked after Draco.

"Ok. I'm sorry," Harry said between his teeth, not sure of what he was doing. The only thing he knew was that he was sick of everything. He hated Draco, but it didn't mean he had to be cruel to him. Not like that.

Draco stopped abruptly, making Harry bump against his back.

"What exactly are you sorry for?" Draco asked, upset.

"What do you think? I'm sorry for calling you a fag."

Draco shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You're not the first to call me that, and you won't be the last." The blond started walking again.

"Wait. Look, I didn't mean to call you that. It's just that…" Harry's voice died away when Draco turned around and glared at him.

"Don't, Potter. I said it didn't matter. It's true anyway, and I'm sure that you don't want a bloody fag sharing the same roof with you. It was a displeasure to meet you again. Farewell." Draco took a step away, but Harry's voice stopped him.

"So you really are gay."

Draco frowned. "Yes, I am."

Harry sighed and then said, "I don't have a problem with that."

Draco stared at him utterly confused. "You just fucking called me a fag!"

"Well, yeah, but just because I wanted to piss you off. I mean, look at you. Once you were a total prick and nobody liked you. Now you're high and mighty Draco Malfoy, second best in the Auror's Headquarters, respected by everyone, just too bloody perfect for me to handle right now. You can't just expect me to be nice to you! To be perfectly honest, what bothers me the most isn't the fact that you're gay, but the fact that you are Draco Malfoy. I want to hurt you in so many ways I can't even say it. I'll keep hurting you if you stay. Wasn't that the reason why Hermione chose you to help me? My hate for you makes me feel alive."

Harry could see in Draco's expression that he had disarmed him with his honesty.

"I have gay friends. Fuck. Someone close to me is gay. So I don't give a fuck whether you like boys or girls," Harry said. "As long as you don't come on to me, I really don't care."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Why would I come on to you, Potter? You look horrible. Besides, you're not my type. I like independent, self-resolved red-heads. I don't like losers."

Harry licked his lips. He didn't know why he felt so upset hearing that. He deserved it.

"Ok, then. So you're not homophobic. But that doesn't change anything. You still hate me," Draco pointed out.

"I do. But you already know that. It isn't a secret."

Some indistinct emotion shone in Draco's eyes. Harry would have given anything to know what it was.

"Then I'll leave you alone. Have a happy life, Potter."

Harry sighed deeply. He watched Draco walking away again, torn between going after him and letting him go. He did want to be alone again. He didn't want Draco around. Draco's presence was disturbing. But somehow he needed Draco around him.

Draco had saved him once on one of the Order's missions. Harry had been careless and Draco had saved him from a deadly curse. Since that day, Draco had made him feel strange. He had always felt upset when Draco was around, but his feelings had changed and he didn't know exactly how or what they had become. He was afraid of looking too much into it.

He had always wondered if the reason he felt so confused was because he was bonded to Draco by one of the most powerful spells there was. The same bond had connected Snape with his father even after James' death. Harry owed Draco his life, and he hated that, but he couldn't forget it. Just like Snape.

And if Hermione was right and Harry had come out of his catatonic state because of Draco, then their bond had increased. He wanted to break their bond, but he didn't know how. He wanted to stop thinking so much about Draco. That was the truth, wasn't it? No matter what he did, his mind always drifted to Draco. He wanted to get rid of those strange feelings, and the only way to do it was to keep Draco around. Or was it to keep him away?

Harry didn't know what he wanted, but all of a sudden he saw himself running after Draco. He caught the blond at the entrance of the park. Draco had his head down and a pained expression on his face that disconcerted Harry.

"Malfoy, wait," Harry called out to him. Draco immediately put his mask back on and glared at Harry with distrust.

"What do you want now?" Draco asked, upset.

"I just want to tell you that you're a bloody coward and a bloody sissy." Draco arched his eyebrows and Harry went on, "Are you giving up so easily? What will Hermione say when you come back with your tail between your legs? You always lose to me. Are you going to let me beat you again? What's wrong with you? You know I hate you. You know I like hurting you. I will forever call you names. I don't know why you are so surprised! You used to really hurt me with your nasty comments. Don't you remember? Or do you have a selective memory? You attacked me where it hurt the most. You made fun of my parents' death. You can't expect me not to want to hurt you back." Draco looked down, unable to say anything. Draco's vulnerability took Harry by surprise. "Let's make a new rule. We can attack each other as much as we want, but you'll have to leave my mother and my father out of it, and I'll leave your sexuality alone. How's that?"

Draco frowned. "Does that mean you want me to stay?"

Harry groaned. Did he really need to say it aloud? It was so embarrassing. "Yes, I want you to stay. Not because I like you or anything… But just because… because… You know we have a life and death bond right? I want to break it. So maybe if I let you stay…"

Draco sniggered. "That figures... You're worried about that, huh?"

"Aren't you?"

Draco shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I'm not the one indebted to you…"

Harry felt like punching Draco's arrogant face. "So what's it going to be, Malfoy?"

Draco put his hands inside his jacket pockets and cocked his head. "With such a sweet invitation, how can I not accept? But I have my own conditions."

Harry looked at him with distrust. "Oh. What are they?"

"You don't attack my parents either."

"That's not fair! What's the fun if I can't attack your father?"

"Ok. I'll make an exception with my father, but not my mother."

"Ok."

"And if you break your promise, you'll have to strip for me and run around the block naked."

"WHAT?" Harry's eyes flew open. "No way!"

"To be fair, if I break our deal, then I'll have to do the same."

"How is that fair?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "I'm not a f…" Harry stopped and then amended, "I have no interest in seeing you naked! And I thought you found me unattractive!"

"I do. I'm not doing it to shag you, Potter. I'm doing it for fun," Draco sneered.

"You are a bastard."

Draco smirked. "Oh, but you know that already."

Harry clenched his fists and bit his lower lip. "Ok. We have a deal."

Draco's mischievous smile sent shivers down his spine. "Ok, then…"

There was a long period of silence. Finally, Harry decided to break the ice first.

"I'm hungry. Shouldn't you be cooking breakfast?" he asked Draco.

"I'm not your bloody maid."

Harry smirked. "You could have fooled me. Aren't you here to take care of me?"

"But you don't like me. Why should I cook for you?"

"Don't ask me. Ask Hermione. She was the one who sent you here…"

Draco crossed his arms thoughtfully. "I won't cook for you everyday. I have work, you know? You should call your house-elf back."

"No. That's not an option."

"You liked my cooking that much?" Draco smirked.

"You aren't so bad…" Harry said, blushing slightly. "So? What's it going to be?"

Draco smiled. "What do you think, Potter? Let's eat."

TBC…