Disclaimer: The usual. This story is based on a series of novels by JK Rowling.

A/N: OMG! I got reviews! Me so happy! Thank you thank you thank you! You know how I LOVE those reviews. I feel inspired by all the wonderful reviews to keep continuing. I have put up a lot of chapters already and hope to keep doing so for the time being… Before the story begins, let me thank my awesome reviewers. They are all the bomb! And I think with this chapter, the story passes the 20,000-word mark! So let's all give ourselves a large pat on the back!

RisuMusume: (giggles happily) The surprises are on the way!

Lady Constance Malfoy: I couldn't agree more! This is an under-represented area for guys…

heart-of-manga: Loved the review!

Silly little 13 year old: Great Review XD!

And for all of you…here's the chapter you've been waiting for! (squeals!)

Chapter 7: The Surprise

But before Harry looked behind him, Harry heard another evil cackle from back there. Then he heard Draco whimper, "Harry…. it's…it's her!" Whoever this "her" chick was, Draco was positively petrified of her. Once more all the color had left his face and eyes were wide, shining with terror. When the third cackle arose from behind Harry, he had finally realized who it was…

Harry turned around and screamed, "BELLATRIX!"

"Well hello Potter," she replied sinisterly, "It's a pleasure to see you too. It would appear as though little bitty Draco asked for your help…"

"STOP!" interrupted Harry, "Stop before you do something you regret!"

"Like what Potter? You mean tell Draco what a coward he is for leaving the Dark Lord? I doubt I'd ever regret that," said Bellatrix, egging Harry on. Draco was still sitting at the table, frozen in fright. He feared for his life…

"That's IT Bellatrix! Petrificus Totalus!" said Harry, pointing his wand towards Bellatrix. But nothing happened! She seemed to have deflected the spell somehow!

"Nice try, Potter. I think you fancy that one too much for your own good, boy! Now it's my turn!" Bellatrix replied. She chanted, "Crucio" with her wand pointed at Harry.

The spell's whirl of red light sped right past Harry's left ear into a pillar in the food court, not giving it a chance to hit any of the muggles. "Is that the best that you can do, Bellatrix?" Harry asked, taking in what had just happened…he paused… now it was his own turn. "Expelliarmus!" Harry bellowed. It didn't work.He tried again. "Impedimenta!" he screamed. It didn't work. Somehow she was able to block them… When had Harry last seen someone who had last blocked his spells…

That night…It reminded him of the night of Dumbledore's death…Snape…Snape had blocked all his spells! But Harry was less concerned with Snape right now. Harry had to think of something to throw Bellatrix off guard… Sure, he hadn't quite yet mastered wordless magic yet…but was there some spell she'd not know how to block?

Bellatrix cackled at Harry… "I think it's time for another try, Potter. Cru…"

But before she could finish, Harry shouted, "Hyphorio!" Bellatrix had not been able to parry this spell, and it hit her dead in the chest. She giggled when the spell had made contact; it was as though the spell had not worked. But then Bellatrix began to look dizzy, stumbling around haphazardly as though she was drunk… She lost the look of triumph on her face and took on a nonsensical demeanor. After a few seconds of this stumbling, she fainted right there on the spot… dropping her wand.

Harry noticed this when she had fallen and a most wonderful idea popped into his head. Just to make sure she couldn't do anything to them anytime soon, Harry called out in glee, "Accio Bellatrix's wand!" and the wand flew into his hand. He turned around to Draco with a smile. Draco may not have been as happy as Harry had been, but he at least took on a less scared face when had seen Bellatrix stumble to the ground. Before Draco could even give Harry a thanks, Harry said, as if nothing happened, "Well, I guess it's time to go… Let's get going Draco…"

Draco responded with a nod and got up from his chair, picking up his bags of clothing and getting ready to leave. Harry and him walked out of the mall, leaving behind some very puzzled and terrified muggles. After all, they had just witnessed a wizarding fight and a loud one at that….

Draco followed Harry back to Grimmauld place. Harry was not speaking outside, however. Instead, he was busying himself with thinking while he jogged back to the house. But Draco was having trouble keeping up the pace of the jog. It wasn't exactly easy for Draco to be running while carrying all the bags of clothes…

To Draco's satisfaction, it was not a very long jog back to the house, but that didn't make it any less hard on Draco. By the time they had arrived, Draco was red in the face and panting like he had completed a long workout. Well, he just had, sort of. Admit it! It is not easy carrying all those bags back from the mall! But he had decided not to ask Harry for any help long before. Harry seemed deep in thought and looked like he didn't want to be interrupted.

Draco couldn't wait any longer; he wanted to ask Harry so many things! Once they got inside, he plopped down the bags in the hallway and showered Harry with questions. "How do you think Bellatrix found us, Harry? And how had she so easily blocked all your spells? And where did you learn that spell? I don't remember learning that at Hogwarts, Harry. I think it's really advance ma…"

"Draco, I'll tell you later," answered as though he was tired. "I think we should wait for Hermione before I start going over these things. She may have some answers herself, for all we know…" Harry had trailed off, lost in thought.

"But Harry!" Draco pleaded with Harry, "I just…"

"Just wait, Draco," said Harry, putting his foot down, "Just wait…"

The afternoon whirled away into a blur. Harry had been reading the book Dumbledore had given him, and Draco had been sleeping because he had little else to do. Before they knew it, they heard a pop outside and the doorbell rang. Harry just sat still, expecting Hermione to walk in. She did. She marched right through the doorway and across the room to the bunk bed.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, "Draco's asleep, should I wake him up?"

"By my guest," replied Harry, " I would not want to be the one who woke him up. He's so grumpy right when he gets up!"

Hermione sighed at Harry making her do the things he didn't want to. 'This may be some fun, actually,' thought Hermione, looking on the bright side of things. She decided upon a shaking approach as opposed to screaming at Draco to try to make him stir from his slumber. It wouldn't have mattered either way.

Draco would have still reacted in the same way. It took Hermione quite a few good shakes just to make Draco's eyes flutter open, but Draco would not rouse. After a few more really hard shakes, Draco's eyes opened wide in fright and he grabbed at his side.

Draco screamed, "Get away from me Bellatrix!" appearing to have mistaken Hermione for Bellatrix. For all Hermione knew, Draco had just been dreaming about being chased by the Lestrange woman… Any who, Draco was not only yelling at Hermione, he was grabbing for his wand. Before Hermione could stop him, he shouted at her, "Wingardium Leviosa!" which sent her flying into the ceiling. But Draco didn't stop there. He started making her bounce off the walls. Poor Hermione…

When Hermione had hit the dresser across the room, she decided that she had had enough. "Harry!" Hermione shrieked, "DO SOMETHING!"

Although Harry he had been laughing at Hermione, he realized she was really frightened. He quickly reacted to the situation. "Draco, snap out of it! You're hurting Hermione! Put Hermione down Draco!" Harry pleaded. It seemed as though Harry's voice had done the trick, snapping Draco out of the trance that his terror had put him into. Immediately, Hermione slowed down and stopped bouncing off the walls. She commenced floating down to the floor and landed right beside the beds.

Draco had computed what he had just done. He had just mistaken Hermione for Bellatrix! He had to apologize! He cried out, "Hermione, I'm so sorry! I mistook you for…"

"Bellatrix. I know. It's okay, Draco, I forgive you. Just do me one favor…" replied Hermione, in a friendly tone.

"Anything!" yelped Draco, anxious to appease Hermione after doing something so mean.

"Don't do that ever again, okay Draco?" Draco nodded his head, laughing at Hermione's reply. "Now give me a hug!" Draco sighed at this remark, but gave into Hermione's demands. He got down from the top bunk and Hermione gave him a tight hug. She kept Draco for much longer than she had in her previous hug. After a minute or two, Draco started to try to wiggle his way out of Hermione's snug hug, but he could not get anywhere. Apparently, Hermione was going to hug Draco for as long as she wanted to, no matter what Draco thought. He sighed.

Hermione finally liberated Draco from her arms after another minute, but only because she felt bad for keeping him so long. She told Draco with glee, "You're just so…huggable!" Draco laughed at Hermione and then sat down on the bottom bunk next to Harry, who was still reading. Sadly, Draco thought he would have a load of hugs in his future after that remark…

Once Hermione was settled down, she asked Draco, "So, Draco, what happened to you today?"

"How did you know something happened to us day, Hermione?" inquired Draco, in disbelief at Hermione's prediction.

"Well, when one gets thrown around the room by someone, I think the have the right to ask…" said Hermione, shining happily.

"Eh…yeah well…" blushed Draco, still embarrassed over throwing Hermione around the room like a child's rag doll, "We ran into Bellatrix at the mall during lunch today after buying me some clothes."

"Oh," said Hermione, mildly interested, "So how are the clothes Draco?"

"Hermione!" squeaked Harry, mad at her for ignoring the tidbit about Bellatrix.

"Fine Harry! We'll get to the clothes later… So, what happened between you and Bellatrix, Draco? I mean, you got out of it alive, so you must have handled it well," said Hermione.

"Well…er…you see…I didn't do much…Harry did…." and after all that stuttering, Draco swiftly pinned on, "and I think he has some explaining to do!" Harry closed his book and sighed at this last remark.

He began to speak, but before starting his story, he asked Hermione how she thought Bellatrix had found Draco.

Hermione thought for a few seconds, then answered, "I'm not completely sure how she would do that… She could just be patrolling the area, Harry…"

Harry sighed; all of them had been confounded by Bellatrix finding him and Draco. If Hermione did not know how Bellatrix had done it, no one would.

Harry began to explain what happened to him at the mall, and he answered the rest of Draco's questions along the way. "Well, I had heard these evil laughs erupting from somewhere behind me," started Harry, his eyes glazed in a reminiscent sort of way. He continued, "I saw Draco looking at me in fright from across the table, but I still didn't know what was happening. So, I put two and two together and soon figured out it was Bellatrix. And after some formalities, I tried using Petrificus Totalus on her, but she somehow managed to block it… Then she tried using crucio on me, but it missed me. It went right by my head, hitting something nearby. I tried using expelliarmus and impedimenta, but she blocked those too…"

"Harry," interrupted Hermione, "Those aren't very easy to block, you know. A simple protego charm won't work. She must have been able to block them some other way… Harry, she must have known what you are thinking!"

"No," said Harry, "She just knew I'd use those spells, she was probably thinking on her feet. I mean I always use them, so she could have been prepared. At least that's what I thought. That's why I tried using one of the spells from Dumbledore's book. I knew she would not be expecting one of them."

"Oh," said Draco, nodding his head.

"Which one, Harry?" asked Hermione, eagerly.

"Ah… the hyphorio charm, Hermione," said Harry.

Hermione grabbed Dumbledore's book off the bed and began paging through it, looking desperately for the spell. While she was browsing, Harry continued. "This time, the spell hit her directly in the chest. After a little bit of stumbling, she fainted…"

"Harry! It's not meant to do that. It says here that is just for lowering the mental the capacity of the victim, giving the appearance of the drunkard…"

"Well, it did do that at first, Hermione. Then all of the sudden she passed out…"

"Oh Harry, here's something 'This spell sometimes will cause the victim to faint. This is not a common effect of the spell, but when used by a powerful wizard…' Harry! Dumbledore called you powerful!" While Hermione finished reading the excerpt, Harry's mind drifted…

He thought about this for a moment. Maybe Dumbledore had actually meant to write that. Maybe he gave this book to Harry not only as something to protect him, but also as remembrance of him, a gift of love… Harry was overjoyed that Dumbledore,… Dumbledore had left something like this to him

But this was not the only surprise of the night for Harry…

After finishing telling Hermione the rest of the story, Harry sighed. "I guess we're not going out much anymore, are we?"

"You still have to look for the horcruxes, Harry, but other then that… I don't think it'd be safe to leave the house…" responded Hermione, feeling badly. She knew how much Harry did not like staying pent up inside. But that was not the worst part. "Harry, I'm also afraid the Weasleys will be moving back here. Mrs. Weasley has been pestering Mr. Weasley about it for who knows how long…and now that she hears you just faced a Death Eater… I think her maternal instinct will kick in and she'll come running here. Just a heads up."

"It isn't a bad thing having Mrs. Weasley here, is it Hermione?" replied Harry.

"Yeah," added on Draco, "I mean I could use some of her food…"

"I'm also afraid that she has been extremely over-protective and stressed. And it's not that pleasant to spend time around her. It's sort of rubbing off on the rest of them. The stress, I mean. I'm a little stressed, myself…"

"Oh well," sighed Harry, who was searching to change the subject. A few seconds into thought, he spoke out, asking Hermione, "Seen anything about the Horcruxes, Hermione?"

"No, Harry. I haven't gotten any chance to do research…"

"It's okay. I guess when you get back to school?" asked Harry.

"Definitely. Well, as much as I liked to stick around, I think I have to go back. I think Ron may already be missing me. I'll come back tomorrow morning to talk more…"

"Goodbye Hermione," sang Draco, who was now sitting on his bed.

"Bye you guys," said Hermione, leaving the room. A few seconds later a door closed and there was a distant pop.

The two were now alone…giving Harry time to approach Draco….

While Draco went into the shower, Harry just sat on his bed reading, thinking about what he would do and how he would do it. But before he had really thought about it, Draco walked into the room in his green boxers and a tight tee shirt. 'It's now or never,' thought Harry as he looked at the handsome Draco.

Harry said, before Draco could sit down, "I think it's time I told you something, Draco…" but before Harry could finish what he was saying, Draco said something.

"I do too, Harry," replied Draco softly, self-conscious about what he was about to do.

'Wait a minute,' thought Harry, 'that sounds like the sort of tone I just asked him in… you don't think…actually, yes I do think…' Harry smiled…. He had to admit: this surprised him. Although it only seemed that Draco liked him, Harry was fairly sure that his intuition was right…

A/N: Okay! That's the end! Yes I ended it right before they admitted it, but I think the real question is whether they will admit how they feel…. Maybe they'll back out at the last minute…. DUN DUN DUN! Find out tonight! Okay, Okay, I'm sorry I stopped right then, but I felt like I had too. Now you must read the next chapter. And REVIEW! Maybe if you're nice enough to me I'll put Draco and Harry together…maybe… Hoped you enjoyed the story! The Next Chapter title…. Past Romance…

Yes, hehehehehe poor Harry is going to have to see…someone…