A/N: I'm just a little late, but at least the chapter is here, right? And it's almost Christmas!!! Merry Christmas everyone!!!! Thank you all for being with me for so long! Thanks a lot for your support!!! A special thanks to Jamie, my beta reader, and to every single reviewer out there!!!! I love you all! Happy New Year! A Year full of Harry Potter slash!!!!!!!!! XD

Chap. 30 – Lover's quarrel

Draco was sure he was having a nightmare and that he would wake up at any moment. When Harry made his way into the coffee shop and stood by his table, his heart was beating so fast he thought it would burst out of his chest. He clenched his shaking hands and ordered himself to stay calm. The situation was too much for him though. He was a nervous wreck and it wasn't just because his lover and his boyfriend were now face to face.

He was nervous because of the consequences of that meeting. For one thing, he could end up all alone with no Harry and no Bill. For another, he had said too much to a very nosy audience. As far as the world was concerned, Harry Potter was their heterosexual hero. He knew very well that most people in the wizarding wouldn't accept Harry so freely if they found out that Harry was gay and sleeping with Draco.

"Coffee, please," Harry asked the waitress.

Draco frowned. He was so disturbed that he didn't even notice that Harry had already sat down at his table. And who was that snotty blond by his side? Draco felt instantly jealous. He threw a murderous look at his rival, who faced up to his silent challenge. The snotty blond smirked at him and Draco smirked back, his insides burning with rage.

"And you are...?" Draco asked the blondie.

"Oh, how rude of me," sneered Jacques. "My name is Jacques. Jacques Delacour. And you must be... Drago... something."

"Draco Malfoy," Draco said through his clenched teeth, holding back the urge to punch the snotty brat. He was a Delacour then. He should have known. That conceited smile and snob posture was so like Fleur. Draco couldn't believe his bad luck. One Delacour wasn't enough to make his life miserable. There had to be another one to steal away not only Bill but Harry too.

Draco had had such a hard time breaking into Harry's shell and making him admit that he desired Draco. Harry had stated so many times that he was straight. How could he show up with another male lover? How dare he? And so bloody fast! Perhaps now that Harry had tasted the forbidden fruit, he would go after different ones until he was satisfied. Perhaps Harry's lust for Draco had nothing to do with Draco himself. Perhaps any man would do for Harry.

Draco breathed hard. He was so caught up in his own dark thoughts that he didn't notice how flushed Bill was. Of course, he couldn't know that under the table Jacques' foot was massaging Bill's crotch and Bill was trying to kick that naughty foot away.

Harry was tangled up in his own dark thoughts. His jealousy was still strong in his heart, but his insecurity was getting the best of him so far. As he came face to face with the oh-so-damn-perfect Bill Weasley, he had become mute. He didn't know what to say or do. One would have thought that such a situation would be a walk in the park for him. Unfortunately, it wasn't. He was very nervous.

He glanced at Bill out of the corner of his eye and his lips curled in a bitter smile. Bill was everything that he wasn't. He was tall, handsome and stylish. Most of all, he was normal. Bill wasn't as complicated as Harry. Bill didn't have issues like Harry did. Harry did nothing but yell at Draco and pick on him while Bill acted like the perfect understanding boyfriend. Harry could bet that Bill would forgive Draco for sleeping with another man. Harry's eyes became dark green at the thought.

Could Harry compete with Bill? Bill also had a noisy loving family supporting him and Draco. Harry was all alone in this world. But then again, Bill hadn't had a lunatic trying to kill him since he was a baby. And Bill wasn't the hero of the wizarding world. 'Ha! Take that, you loser!' Harry thought with a smirk.

Bill frowned at him and Harry cleared his throat.

"It's quite a surprise to see you, Harry. What brings you here?" Bill asked.

"Why? Am I not allowed to come here?" Harry replied acidly.

Bill seemed taken aback for a moment, but then he seemed to remember that they were both fighting for Draco. "Of course you are. It's just that you never leave your house. I was just wondering what could be powerful enough to pull you out of your cocoon," Bill said tartly.

"Bill…" Draco began carefully but was interrupted by Harry.

"I came here to buy something."

"What?" Bill asked, crossing his arms.

"Erm… Food… for Hedwig," Harry said staring at his cup as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Perhaps he would be able to read his gloomy future at the bottom of it.

"I thought your owl was dead," Bill said nonchalantly. Draco was mortified by his boyfriend's indifferent tone. He had never seen Bill behaving like this.

Harry also seemed quite shocked at first, but he recovered very fast and replied, "She's dead. But I have another one and I named her after Hedwig."

"I never saw an owl at your house," Bill pointed out.

"You don't come to my house often, do you? How would you know?"

"Good point." Bill made a face. It wasn't like him at all to be so insensitive. He wasn't feeling very well about the whole thing. He hated to feel jealous. Truth be told, the one he really loved was Jacques, but Draco was also very important to him. He needed to make sure that Harry wouldn't break Draco's heart. Besides, his pride as a man was hurt. So he would have fun torturing Harry a little more. "Your owl is only an excuse."

Harry swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"

"Bill!" Draco gripped Bill's arms and sent him a threatening look. "This is not the time…"

"No, let him, Malfoy. What do you mean?" Harry asked, his eyes flaming.

"You obviously came here for Draco, right?"

Draco felt slightly faint. Harry flushed violently.

"I can't believe you like this insipid blond…" Jacques said to Harry.

It was Draco's time to flush, but from anger. "Who the hell are you, little brat, to call me insipid?"

"I'm Bill's real lover, you fake bimbo," stated Jacques bluntly.

There was a choir of 'ooh' all over the coffee shop.

"And the plot thickens," said the man on the left to his wife.

"What?" Draco almost jumped from his chair.

"Jacques!" Bill exclaimed, annoyed. "This isn't any of your business! What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm here to make sure you break up with this inferior species," said Jacques pointing at Draco. Draco grew furious. Jacques turned to Draco and smirked, "Did you know that Bill is only with you because you reminded him of me?"

"JACQUES!" Bill shouted, his patience long gone. "For Merlin's sake, just shut up!"

"He needs to know the truth," Jacques shouted back.

"But not like this!" Bill bit his tongue hard and then he tried to amend, "No, I didn't mean it like that, Draco… I…"

Draco felt a crack in his heart. "He is the one you slept with, not Fleur," Draco muttered. "Do you love him?"

"It isn't that simple," Bill said with a sad expression.

"So your love for me was all a lie?" Draco asked not really listening to Bill.

"It isn't like that, Draco," Bill tried to explain again. "You know that. You're going through the same thing!"

"All those promises…"

"Draco…"

Bill looked at Harry with surprise at how soft Draco's name had been on his lips. Harry instantly shut his mouth, aware that he had let out a lot of his feelings by whispering Draco's name in such way. Draco was so immersed in his own pain that he didn't even notice Harry's slip.

But Harry just couldn't help himself. He couldn't stand to see Draco looking so disappointed and sad. Harry wanted to hug Draco and tell him that if Bill didn't want him, Harry certainly did.

"I… need to be alone," Draco said in a whisper standing on his feet and walking to the exit. He couldn't believe he was being compared to that disgusting kid.

"Draco, please!" Bill caught Draco by the arm and made him turn to face him. "We need to talk in private without all this interference. I need to explain to you…"

"How you lied to me?" Draco asked coldly.

"No. I care about you. But why do you care whether my love for you is real or not? You already love someone else," Bill said in a tone of accusation.

Harry went rigid at that. He had thought that Bill was his only rival. He didn't know there was somebody else he should be worrying about. Draco wasn't worth the headache, was he? The instant he thought that, the image of Draco on top of him made him hot all over. He thought of Draco kissing him, making him moan, and making him feel alive again. 'Dammit. I wonder how many people I'll have to fight before winning Draco,' he thought bitterly. He heard Draco sighed. Harry looked up to gaze at him and pay attention to the rest of the quarrel.

Draco was thankful that Bill had omitted Harry's name. The reality of his situation was a slap on his face. Bill was right. Draco didn't have a right to feel hurt or upset. But the heart didn't work that way. "I know that. But it still hurts," he said honestly, taking Bill and the rest of the crowd by surprise. One look at Draco was enough to know that he didn't voice his feelings easily.

"Then you know how I felt when you left with Harry that night."

Another choir of 'ooh'. Harry reddened at the full attention they were gathering from the other customers. He felt his panic rising.

"Do you love this brat for real?" Draco asked Bill, looking at Jacques with disgust. "He doesn't look like me at all."

Jacques stuck out his tongue and said, "Likewise. I'm definitely more attractive than you."

"You little devil…" Draco clenched his fist and threatened to use it on Jacques' face, but Bill held him.

Bill turned to Jacques and said crossly. "This is why I can't date you, Jacques. You still behave like a child, an immature and spoiled child. Why did you have to make a scene? From now on, be quiet."

Jacques' lips trembled but he held his chin high. Then he crossed his arms and pouted. "Ok," he said in a thin voice.

Harry hid a smile behind his hands. Jacques was annoying and demanding, but he was also charming when he wanted to be and he did look like Draco. Although Harry would rather be with Draco, there was something about Jacques that made him want to cuddle him. It was probably his Veela blood.

The other customers seemed to think the same thing, because they all began to attack Bill at once and protect Jacques. Bill threw his arms in the air and gave up. It was obvious that it was useless to try to talk things over in that place. Bill felt chills down his spine when one of the teenagers' witches shouted, "Hey, I don't understand what's with the fuss. The redhead likes the cute – and younger – blond and the hot blond named Draco likes Harry Potter. Clearly the cute blond likes the redhead. Now it's up to Harry Potter."

Everybody stared at Harry, who wanted to sink in his chair and disappear. Harry was still too shocked at finding out that Draco liked him. Did he really? How did the girl know? It was probably just a teenager's assumption. Or maybe her "like" had another meaning, one that didn't imply love. Liking someone wasn't the same thing as loving that person. Besides, Harry knew he wanted Draco, but he wasn't ready yet to admit that he loved Draco. He wasn't even gay. All those people around him thought that he was. He wasn't so sure about that. Draco was only an exception. His head began to ache.

He looked up at Draco, who was white as a ghost, and the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "Do you like me?"

"Well, I don't dislike you…" Draco dissembled. "I mean, we're not in Hogwarts anymore… and… There's no reason to dislike you like I did…" Draco's cheeks turned slightly pink as if he was feverish. Harry had never seen him looking so adorable.

"What are you talking about?" asked the other teenager, her sandwich totally forgotten on her plate. "The redhead said that you liked him since you were in school together. Right?" Draco sent her a murderous look but the girl kept talking, "And you admitted that you love him. We all heard you." The other customers nodded. Draco felt like hexing all of them.

Draco had never felt so embarrassed. He couldn't even look at Harry. Harry, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off Draco. He was stunned by the revelation. He would have been astonished enough if he had found out that Draco liked him now. But to know that Draco had been in love with him since Hogwarts was positively shocking. He couldn't believe it. It was so surreal.

"Is it true?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"Yes," Bill answered. Draco opened up his eyes widely. He would kill Bill when he had the chance. "Oh, come on, Draco. This story has been dragging on for too long. Harry is big enough to deal with it."

"So, Harry, is it true that you're gay?" asked the teenager.

"I think you look hot together," said the other one.

"I think it's disgusting," stated the waitress.

"What is this world coming to?" said the old lady thoughtfully.

Harry felt dizzy with all those questions and comments. When he came around, Draco had already left the coffee shop looking rather desperate to escape. Harry stood up immediately, not quite sure what he would do or say. He was very confused about the whole thing and he felt like being alone with his thoughts to process what had just been said. A bigger part of him told him to go after Draco though. He didn't go too far. Bill held him back for a moment.

"What?" Harry exploded, not in the mood for more confrontations.

"Take good care of him. He's very precious, Harry. If you hurt him I won't forgive you," Bill said with a warning look.

Harry held his breath for a second, wondering if Bill expected him to answer to that. His head was in turmoil. He needed to sort things out. But he nodded anyway, because he knew Bill was waiting for him to do just that in order to let him go. When Bill released his arm, Harry dashed to the street unaware of the buzzing around. His eyes scanned the area for Draco and found him almost at the back entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Draco!" he shouted, running towards Draco.

Draco stopped reflexively as if he were in a trance. Harry stopped in front of him and everything around them seemed to disappear. Time froze as their eyes locked into one another. Harry felt like Draco wanted to say so many things, but like himself Draco didn't seem to be able to voice them. Millions of thoughts and questions crossed Harry's mind, like when Draco fell in love with him and why. Harry wanted to say that they should go separate ways to think things over, to sleep on them, because he was too confused. But since Draco looked so breakable and defensive, Harry didn't say anything. Instead, he did something totally unexpected. He stroked Draco's face softly, then closed their distance and sealed it with a tender kiss.

'FLASH!'

A bright light almost blinded him. Harry blinked, confused, and spotted someone close by with a camera in his hands and a grin on his face. Then he groaned and cursed aloud, "Damn you, Colin!"

By tomorrow morning, he and Draco would be front page at the Daily Prophet, and every other newspaper and witch magazine there was around the globe.

TBC…

A/N: I had fun writing this chapter. Tell me what you think. Please, review!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!