Disclaimer: Read chapter 01. We all know the drill…

A/N: Wheee! A new chapter!!! Thanks a million to Jamie and Jade, my beta readers, and to the reviewers. I can't believe this story reached 600 reviews! It's all thanks to you, guys! THANK YOU! I really appreciate your comments! So far there was only one nasty review from a homophobic person – who read 25 chapters and only then told me to go to hell for writing about gay relationships… Yeah, sure… I guess Harry is not the only one who needs a therapist… But to all of you who has supported me so far: THANK YOU! Blanche sends you chocolate Dracos and Harrys!

Chap. 26 – Emotion in Motion

"Draco, did you already write that report on the pixies that were living in the London subway?" Hermione said, consulting her own notes about the subject. There was no response. She arched her eyebrows and looked up at Draco.

Not for the first time that day, Draco's mind was somewhere else. Ever since they had arrived at the office, Draco had been daydreaming and sighing every two minutes. Their boss had already tried to get his attention four times, but nothing seemed to take Draco out of his reverie. Hermione had never seen him like this.

She wondered what exactly had happened between him and Harry after they had left the nightclub together. Actually, she was dying to know, considering that she and Fred had plotted the whole thing. But she knew that Draco wouldn't tell her anything unless he wanted to – and that was very rare. Only occasionally would Draco confide in her about his relationships. Her partner liked to keep his private thoughts and feelings to himself. It was the way he had been raised and Hermione respected that. But that didn't stop her from being curious. She could try to convince Ron to make Harry talk, but she knew Ron would never get anything from Harry, unless Harry was in a good mood – which was also rare. Therefore she would have a better shot than Ron at gleaning information.

By the look on Draco's face, her plan had probably worked. He was glowing. Every now and then she caught a goofy smile on his face. She had never seen him smiling like that. It was so obvious that he was in love. She bit her tongue hard to stop herself from asking him anything, because she knew that if she did he would tell her to mind her own business. But no matter how happy she was for him and Harry, and how much she wanted to know every little dirty detail of their relationship, they still had work to do.

"Draco!" she called again, much louder this time.

Draco blinked and then frowned at her distractedly. "What?"

"Have you finished the report?" He frowned even more and she sighed. "The report… about the pixies… in the subway…" Draco stared at her as if she were speaking another language. She smiled. "Earth to Draco. I'm talking about that report you told me you were going to work on this weekend."

Draco flushed slightly and then shrugged. "Oh. I… erm… I haven't finished it yet."

Hermione bit her lower lip to prevent a wicked smile. "What did you do all Sunday?" she asked with phoney innocence.

Draco's face went extremely red as the memories of the day before flashed through his mind. He and Harry had spent most of the day in bed, discovering each other's bodies and pleasures, only stopping to have something to eat or take a quick shower – that had turned out to be one the most erotic experiences of his life. When night had fallen, they had slept for twelve hours straight, a record for Draco, who was used to sleeping only six hours a day.

Then that same morning Draco had almost lost track of time as Harry had made him breakfast for a change. He was trying to come back to earth, but he was doing a lousy job so far. No wonder he couldn't concentrate on his work. His mind kept drifting to Harry and their amazing moments spent together. He still couldn't believe they had done all that. Not with 'Harry-don't-touch-me-Potter'. He couldn't believe in anything anymore. It was like he was living a dream and he was afraid of waking up to reality. The weekend had been amazingly surreal, to say the least.

"Draco!" Hermione's voice interrupted him again.

He sighed, annoyed. Why couldn't she leave him alone in his dreamland? Who cared about pixies in the London subway anyway? He'd had sex with Harry Potter. Nothing was more important than that. "What?" he asked, knowing fully well that Hermione was dying to ask him about Harry. He was surprised that she hadn't said anything yet. Then again, with Hermione it was always business first, pleasure later.

"Did something happen between you and Harry?" she asked bluntly.

'There you go.' Draco could feel his cheeks getting hot once again. "Why are you asking?" He pretended not to notice her sharp eyes on him.

"I saw you two leaving Scintillation together on Saturday. You seemed to be in a rush," she said with a bit of malice in her voice.

Draco made a face. "Mind your own business, dear partner."

She wrinkled her nose. "How rude! I just want to know what happened. After all…"

"After all, you and Fred are the matchmakers from hell, aren't you?" he sneered. "Don't you two ever get tired of playing with other people's lives?"

She turned her eyes to her paperwork and shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about. We're just trying to help two dumb friends figure out what they really want."

Draco sighed. "You know, sometimes I'm slow to get things, but I do get them eventually. I know that you and Fred plotted for me and Harry to get together. And when I saw the look on Fred's face last night, I knew I was right."

She glanced at him. "I was wondering when you were going to figure out our true intentions… Harry already confronted Fred about it."

Draco almost fell off his chair. "Are you saying that Harry knows about your crazy plan to get us together?" he asked, baffled.

She seemed slightly embarrassed. "Yes, he does."

"He knows?" Draco was completely astonished now.

"Yes." She looked at him with the eyes of someone who had been caught doing something wrong and was now trying to get away with it by playing the victim.

"What did Harry say? How did he react? Why didn't he kick me out? Since when does he know?" Draco asked hastily as millions of questions popped up in his mind.

Hermione bit her lower lip. "Well… He's known about it for a while now… He didn't take it nicely, of course. But then Fred managed to calm him down and made him see the big picture. Fred told me that Harry seemed really lost, but that there was hope for him."

"I'm going to kill Fred," Draco muttered, sulking. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

She just shrugged. "What for? I thought I should give Harry the space he needed to come out of his shell on his own. If I had told you, the whole mood between you two would have changed for the worse. Harry would have gotten even more defensive, because then he would have known that you knew about our plan too. And then he would have been mad at you, and blamed you for playing along with us… And he would have accused you of playing with him. And…"

"Ok, that's enough," Draco said, cutting her off. He hated when she did that. Every time Hermione felt like she was being pressured, she rambled.

"Why does it matter anyway?" she asked. "He didn't throw you out. Besides, Fred made him think seriously about his feelings for you for the first time in his life."

"This is a very dangerous game, you know?" Draco scolded. "A lot of people could get hurt!"

Hermione sank in her chair. "I know. Bill really seems to like you…"

Draco jumped at the mention of Bill. He had completely forgotten about his boyfriend. He went pale and then he felt a little sick. He needed to talk to Bill, but he didn't know what he was supposed to say. It wasn't as if Harry and Draco were in a serious relationship, so it was too soon to break up with Bill. But then again, how could Draco go on with his relationship with Bill after sleeping with Harry, especially now that he knew for sure that his heart belonged to Harry? It wasn't fair to Bill. Draco didn't have a right to play with Bill's heart like that.

He closed his eyes to calm down. He needed fresh air or else he would start hyperventilating. He felt as if the walls were closing in on him. But even though he seemed about to have a nervous breakdown, he still gathered enough courage to ask her about Bill.

"Did you talk to Bill after I left on Saturday?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. You haven't spoken to him either, have you?"

"No," Draco answered feebly.

Hermione felt the consequences of her impulsive actions for the first time. She had wanted to play the matchmaker because she thought Draco and Harry were meant to be. She didn't want anyone to suffer in the process. She thought that Bill and Draco weren't in a serious relationship, because they hadn't told anyone about it. But maybe she was wrong.

"I'm sorry, Draco," she said, knowing that a thousand apologies wouldn't be enough.

Draco waved his hand as if he didn't care, but she knew better. He leaned against his chair thoughtfully. He didn't know what he should say to Bill or even if he should say something about Harry. Bill had given Draco permission to sleep with Harry. The only thing Bill had asked of him was for Draco to come back to him after the month was over.

Draco buried his fingers in his hair tiredly. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now. But he knew one thing for sure; he wasn't ready to give up on Harry just yet.

-----------------------------

"… So now my mother is using emotional blackmail to convince me and Hermione to have a baby. She keeps telling me that she isn't getting any younger, and that she wants to meet her grandchildren before passing away… Isn't that ridiculous? I don't know what to do anymore… It's so bothersome. I'm the only one married, though. It's only natural that she keeps bugging me about these things. But we can't have a baby now. Hermione is doing great in her job, and if you ask me, she works way too much. But that's 'Mione and… Harry? Harry? Are you listening? Harry!"

Harry blinked a few times and stared at Ron as if he had just realised that Ron was there. "What?"

Ron frowned. He should have been used to Harry's weirdness by now, but Harry was stranger than usual today. For one thing, Harry had been the one to call Ron and invite him to go shopping. Harry had never done that, so Ron had agreed right away, knowing fully well that his coach would be pissed off with him for skipping training. He should have known that something was wrong with his best friend. Harry wasn't listening to a word of what Ron was saying. The brunet had been spacing out from the start. And the strangest thing was that he kept catching dreamy smiles on Harry's face from time to time followed by heavy sighs.

"Come on, spit it out. What's happened to you?" Ron asked. "You seem… enraptured."

Harry smiled at the choice of word. "Enraptured? What are you talking about?"

"Please, Harry! Something very good must have happened to you! It seems as if you had the shag of your life this weekend." Harry's face went scarlet and Ron exclaimed in triumph. "I knew it! There's definitely something different about you today. It's been so long since the last time I saw you smiling like this! So, who was the lucky lady?"

Harry's face went so red he thought steam would come out of his ears. "There was no lady," he muttered, turning his head away to avoid Ron's look of curiosity.

"What?"

"I said," Harry mumbled, "that there was no lady."

"Well, if there was no lady, then…" Ron stared at Harry, confused for a moment, and then he gasped. "No!!! No way!!! Tell me it isn't true, Harry!"

Harry looked at Ron with a mix of embarrassment and amusement. "How can I tell you it isn't true if I don't know what you're thinking?"

"I'm not stupid, you know? No matter what Fred and George say, I get things. You left the nightclub with Malfoy. We both know Fred and Hermione are trying to get you and that prick together. Hermione was thrilled when she saw you leaving with him, but I told her that you would never… not in a million years… because you are straight… and… And yet you did! YOU'VE SLEPT WITH MALFOY, HAVEN'T YOU?"

Some passer-bys stared at them and Harry sent Ron a murderous look. "Would you mind not sharing my private affairs with the whole world? Colin might be around!" Harry looked around apprehensively. The last thing he wanted was his affair with Malfoy on the front page of The Daily Prophet.

Ron scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "Sorry, but can you blame me? I'm shocked! I was surprised enough when I found out about Bill and Malfoy. But now you too… How could you, Harry? What kind of spell does he have? I've heard somewhere he's half-Veela… You were very straight last time I've checked, or so I've thought!"

Harry felt something funny at the bottom of his stomach at the mention of Bill. He didn't want to think about Bill and Draco. Every time he thought about them, he felt sick. There was no way Draco could be in love with Bill after last weekend. And Harry was certain that Bill wasn't in love with Draco either, otherwise he would have fought for Draco. At least Harry would have. And that was what was bothering him the most.

He couldn't stop thinking about Draco. It was as if they were opposite magnets that once put together couldn't stay apart anymore. Physically, one completed the other perfectly. Harry could still feel Draco all over his body. He was feeling drained after spending so much time in bed, but at the same time he felt elated and fulfilled. He couldn't get enough of it. He wanted to feel Draco's touch again. He had never thought it would be that good to just give himself away.

"Fuck, Harry. You aren't listening to a word I'm saying…" Ron made a face. "Are you in love with him?"

Harry wrinkled his forehead. "No, of course not." Wasn't he? How could he tell, really? These emotions were new to him. He could be in love. It wasn't impossible. After all, he was behaving strangely. He wondered if his heart would beat erratically at the sight of Draco just like it was beating now with just the thought of him. In fact, would his heart ever beat normally again?

"Then what is it? Are you just curious?" Ron insisted, making Harry slightly irritated.

Harry bit his lower lip thoughtfully and then shrugged. He had been curious at the beginning, especially after their first kiss. But if it was only out of curiosity that he had slept with Malfoy, one time would have been enough. And to him it was far from being enough. He wanted more of Draco.

"Well, at least Hermione will be happy…" Ron said when it became clear that Harry wouldn't answer him.

"No! You have to promise me you won't tell her! I don't want to give her that satisfaction! Promise me, Ron!" Harry said in haste. "She had no right to meddle in my life like she did. Besides, there's nothing official going on between Malfoy and me. We are just… fooling around." The moment Harry said that, he felt a pressure in his heart. It didn't sound right at all.

Ron wasn't happy with Hermione's nosy behaviour either. He was even angrier that she had joined forces with Fred of all people. But she was his wife. He hated to keep things from her. Still, he couldn't say no to Harry, especially now that Harry had come to him for support. Harry hadn't done that in a long time. Even if Harry was sleeping with Malfoy, Ron had to show his support.

"Ok," Ron said, resigned. "I promise. It will be really hard, though. You know how Hermione is. She can always tell when I'm hiding something."

"I just don't want Fred and Hermione to meddle in my business more than they already have. Whatever is going on between me and Malfoy, it's between me and Malfoy and nobody else."

"Ok. As long as you don't get hurt, Harry… I still don't like him. I know he has suffered a lot, but–"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, cutting him off immediately. "Do you know what happened to him after our graduation?"

"No, not really. All I know is that he looked really bad when my mother took him in. I guess it was six months after we graduated… My mother went to Diagon Alley and brought Malfoy home with her like he was some stray cat. He resembled nothing of the arrogant Malfoy we once knew. Even though his tongue was still sharp, he looked… beaten. Mom said he had gone through some difficult times and needed some time to think things over. But she never told me what happened to him."

Harry stayed quiet, lost in his thoughts. He knew something big must have happened to make Draco change so much. Harry wanted to know more about the past Draco was hiding. He would be able to understand Draco better. But Draco didn't want to talk to him about his past. He was very secretive about it.

Harry vaguely remembered reading some news about Lucius Malfoy's imprisonment in The Daily Prophet right after Voldemort was killed, but there wasn't much about Draco. Even if he had read something about Draco at the time, he would have just ignored it.

Harry didn't have a right to insist on the matter, because he also didn't want to talk about his own problems. He was facing a dilemma. If he wanted Draco to open up to him, he would have to do it first, and he wasn't ready yet. Besides, it wasn't as if they were in a serious relationship. It was only physical and that was the way things were supposed to be.

But at the same time his mind told him that, his heart screamed something else altogether. He sighed deeply and then turned his head to his right. 'One thing at a time,' he thought. 'Now it's time to shop.'

He turned to look at Ron and said, "Are you disgusted with me?"

Ron frowned. "No, of course not! Your love life concerns only you, Harry. I don't care if you think that Malfoy is the one for you as long as you're happy. And I can see that you are, Harry. It is sort of creepy, but you're my friend."

Harry smiled shyly. He was feeling quite light-headed that day, like he hadn't felt in a long time. And it was all because of Draco. He wasn't sure that Draco was the one for him. The thought was quite scary. But it was enough that he was enjoying spending time with Draco and sharing his bed with him; it didn't matter how surreal it all seemed. So he put his confusion aside and decided to just enjoy life without analysing things too much. He deserved to loosen up a bit.

He grabbed Ron by his sleeve and dragged his friend to the nearest store. Ron looked at him with amusement as Harry chose some clothes to try on.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You are definitely strange, Harry," Ron said with a smile. "So we came here to buy new clothes?"

"Of course! And then I'll buy you some coffee," Harry said, vanishing behind the dressing room with a mountain of shirts and pants in his arms. He bought himself a whole new set of clothes, and later on, when he and Ron were sitting in a nearby cafe, Ron asked him why he was suddenly interested in renewing his wardrobe.

Harry just shrugged, but he felt his cheeks getting hot from embarrassment.

"Please, don't tell me it's because of him…" Ron said rolling his eyes.

"It isn't," Harry stated, lying shamelessly. "I just realised this morning that my wardrobe sucks…"

He couldn't tell Ron that he had felt restless about himself that morning as he had gazed at how perfect Draco looked whilst Harry looked like trash. He had suddenly felt the need to dress up and look good. Bill always wore very classy clothes, and looked as perfect as Draco. Harry didn't like to think that he was seeing Bill as a rival but he was. As he had stared at the mirror that same morning, he had hated his own image. He couldn't tell why Draco was attracted to him at all and why he wanted Harry if he could have Bill. So maybe if Harry bought new clothes, he wouldn't feel so inferior to Bill Weasley - who was not only very handsome, but also dressed really well, cooked superbly and had an excellent job.

Harry sulked at the thought. Compared to Bill, he was nothing. "What do you know about Bill and Malfoy's relationship, Ron?" Harry asked, trying to sound indifferent.

Ron arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Jealous already?"

Harry made a face. "I just want to know where I stand."

"I don't know. Bill hadn't introduced Malfoy as his boyfriend yet. All of my brothers know about it, but my parents don't. I don't know what Bill really feels for Malfoy. Fred told me that Bill likes him, but he also told me that Bill loves someone else."

"Who?"

"I have no idea."

Harry took a sip of his coffee and then sighed heavily. "What am I doing, Ron?"

"That was only a rhetorical question, right? You know I'm the worst person for you to ask for advice."

Harry smiled feebly. "I'm really confused, you know? I wonder if I'm losing my mind for good. I never thought I would find myself in this situation. I never thought I would sleep with Malfoy and like it. And he's not even free. He has Bill as a boyfriend, and I really like Bill. But suddenly I don't like Bill that much and that's really upsetting."

Ron looked at him with pity. "I think you're in love, Harry."

Harry felt his heart skipping a beat. "No, I'm not. It's just a crush… I can't be in love with him. Not this fast. A few days ago I was ready to strangle him. He still annoys me."

"Hermione used to annoy me too. Sometimes she still does," Ron said fondly.

"But we were enemies. I hated him and he hated me," Harry pointed out, more to convince himself than Ron.

"I don't understand love either, Harry. I'd never thought about Hermione as anything but a friend, and then one day I started to look at her in a whole new way. And before I knew it, I realised I loved her. She's everything to me. I can't picture myself without her anymore."

"But it's different with you. You and Hermione were friends first."

"I don't think there's a mould for love… And Hermione and I got on each other's nerves a lot... But I understand you, Harry. Malfoy is such a pain in the ass."

Harry nodded absently as he took another sip of his coffee. "Maybe it's all because of our bond…"

"Bond?"

"Malfoy and I share a bond of life and death," Harry explained and then smiled at Ron's horrified expression. "He saved my life once. But don't tell this to Hermione either."

"I won't. Thanks for confiding in me like this, Harry." Harry had changed drastically after Sirius' death. He had become more taciturn and quiet. Only rarely would he confide his feelings to Ron. Ron was touched about the way Harry was so open today. He figured that if Malfoy had that effect on Harry, than he couldn't be that bad. "Do you think the bond has something to do with the fact that you're sleeping with Malfoy?"

"Maybe. I dunno. It could be. I don't know anything about bonds. Do you?"

Ron shook his head. "No. But Hermione…" Harry interrupted him with a grunt and Ron said, "Well, she is the only person I can think of to help you out with this. But maybe what you're feeling right now has nothing to do with this bond. If bonds were really that important, we would have studied them."

Ron did have a point. Harry hadn't heard of bonds anywhere, not even when he was studying to become an Auror. He should stop trying to put the blame on something else other than his heart. His heart was to blame. His heart was too tired to live alone. Harry had wanted to feel something that strong for a long time. He just had been too scared to admit it. Malfoy had touched his heart in a way that no woman had. But what if everything was just an illusion?

"Is it wrong for me to just… surrender myself?" Harry asked, not quite believing he was asking that kind of stuff to Ron, who was as dense as Harry was when it came to emotions.

Ron bit his lower lip thoughtfully. "I don't know. But I can see how different you are. If he can make you feel this way, then how could it be wrong?"

Harry was surprised at Ron's answer. In fact, he was surprised about Ron's reactions to everything. He had thought Ron would freak out and never speak to him again. But he had been thinking about the Ron of the past. This Ron was more mature. This Ron made Harry realise just how much he had lost by staying hidden in his shell for all those years. He didn't know his friends anymore. He felt suddenly sad at how much time he had wasted sulking in his house. He decided it was time to change.

TBC…

A/N: Harry is finally waking up!!! It's about time! Tell me what you think! Review, please!!!