Disclaimer:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Note: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betas Tip and Keikokin!

Chapter 5

Soon after arriving at Hogwarts, things settled in their usual routine.

Well, almost.

Draco was happy to have his own room. Thankfully, after his first week at Hogwarts his radio arrived so he used it when he was in his room. It had taken him a lot of effort to charm the radio thus that it now also worked within the castle. Some of his father's books came in quite handy when he was trying to figure that out. His prefect duties took up what little spare time had left after classes, homework and Quidditch practice. He hung out with Blaise and Pansy a lot, at least until they went into "snog-mode" as he liked to call it.

He was now in his room, listening to the radio and thinking about how the first month of school had been. He'd kept his promise and had been civil and even sometimes friendly towards Potter, Weasley and Granger. He had started some short conversations with them. Sometimes he even surprised himself, and, as it turned out, a lot of other people as well. The reactions were as varied, as he had anticipated: The Gryffindors were curious to know the reason for his change of heart whilst the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws mainly seemed to be rather relieved that the risk of coming upon a certain Slytherin and Gryffindor throwing insults or hexes at each other down random hallways had been seriously reduced. The Slytherins were either completely confused or felt re-assured in their opinion that Draco was completely starkers. (Draco had a suspicion that Snape thought so as well.)

He had to smile at that thought. He'd bet that when his fellow Slytherins found out he was in love with Potter, the only thing his House mates would do for him would be to collect money for a one way ticket to St. Mungo's Psyciatric Ward. Draco still stubbornly called the other boy Potter. Calling him Harry was…well Draco wasn't ready for that; let's just keep it at that for now.

It was at that moment that the blond boy decided that it was time for the next phase of his plan, to get Harry Potter as his boyfriend was about to begin. He searched through his trunk, trying to find the last copy of his magazine. After a lot of muttering and the growth of an increasing pile of clothes and objects beside his trunk, he found what he sought. With a swish and flick of his wand, all of the other items returned to his trunk as he settled himself on his bed. After leafing through the magazine, he found the column.

Learning To Flirt– Some folks think small talk is inane and artificial. Some folks think flirting is archaic or demeaning. Those folks may be right. But they are also lonely. Flirting with an attractive stranger at the laundromat, making small talk at the office Christmas party, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone and gives your heart muscle a workout, can be an enormous boon to your efforts to find your true love. And if you find your true love, who cares what other people think? Learning to flirt doesn't make you silly; it makes you proficient in basic social skills. Getting clever with small talk isn't banal; it's one expression of the fine art of conversation. So get good at it. You might be delighted by what it gets you.

He gasped. He read it again, and again. Learn to flirt, eh? Hmmm, that would be a task indeed, as he was fairly certain that Malfoys didn't do flirting. He couldn't ask his father – or at least he didn't want to do so. And he didn't want to burden his mother with this "problem".

Right.

So he would flirt. But how?

Because he hoped that it would help him to get ideas, he started flipping through the magazine and scanning the articles. In doing so, he stumbled upon an advert:

Do you have a celebration?

Want to tell someone some good news?

Need to ask that special person a question?

Send an Owl-O-Gram!!

Our owls will deliver a singing parchment, which can be customized to your wishes!

He suddenly felt much better. Maybe it wasn't exactly flirting, but it would be a nice, unique way of telling Potter that someone was thinking special thoughts about him.

He turned on his radio to one of his favourite stations, hoping to hear a song with lyrics he could be inspired by. After listening for about 45 minutes, one finally came along that appealed to him because it had the perfect lyrics. It was a declaration but not an invitation, a very important distinction at this point!

He grabbed a bit of parchment and started to write out his order. He also wrote a little note to Granger, asking her if she knew what music Potter liked. He then walked to the owlery to find his owl and gave her instructions. Just when he neared the owlery, though, he saw Potter coming out. A rather happy, satisfied looking Harry Potter, at that.

"Evening, Potter," he managed while fighting to overcome his surprise at running in to the Gryffindor at that precise moment.

"Hello Malfoy," Harry answered still beaming beneath his scattered inky locks.

"Out on stroll?" He asked but immediately wanted to disappear in the lake. Talk about a stupid question!

"Actually, I've just sent Hedwig off." Apparently Potter didn't agree with Draco's self- assessment, talking normally to him. "She had to deliver a letter for me."

"Have an owl-pal now do you?" Draco couldn't keep himself from blurting out what he'd been thinking.

Potter gave him the same look that he had given him when they'd been talking on the train.

"Well, yes, and I have had him for a couple of years now too," Potter answered before saying, "I have to go. Good night Malfoy."

Draco watched Harry walk away. He was a bit awe struck by the fact that they had actually had a conversation without hexing each other! Finally, he snapped out of it and quietly went to find his owl and tell her what to do.

Draco had trouble eating breakfast the next day. He worried over when the Owl-O-Gram would come and also about Granger's reaction to his note.

Then, after what seemed longer than eternity, the owls flew in with the post.

He saw Granger take delivery of her Daily Prophet and then, just as casually as he had instructed his eagle owl to do so, he saw her drop his note in Granger's hands. Curious Gryffindor that she was, she opened it immediately but made certain that the others couldn't read the note. He saw her smile whilst reading and he wondered, not for the first time, what her reaction would be, not too mention, when he'd receive an answer. If he got one, that was. But when he looked back to the Gryffindor table, it was clear that he had missed something.

Weasley was gesturing at the little piece of parchment that she held firmly in her hand. Granger was frowning and talking to Weasley in what looked like an annoyed way. She wore the frown that told Draco that she wasn't happy about something (as he'd spent enough time over the past years putting that look on her face, he was a specialist in recognizing it).

Apparently Weasley had said something that Granger didn't like because she suddenly stood up, still clutching the parchment firmly, gathered her books and almost stalked away.

Weasley was staring after her, a confused look on his face. He turned to Potter, who'd been stitting facing Weasley, and started talking to him. He couldn't see Potter's expression, but he must have been talking back. Weasley's frown grew deeper and he looked as if Potter had taken one Bludger too many to the head. After they finished breakfast they walked from the Great Hall together, Weasley still talking and gesticulating wildly with his hands. Although Draco couldn't decipher what the talk was about, he guessed that the Weasel – oops, no – i Weasley /i was upset about something. All Draco could think about the whole thing was "Interesting!"

The rest of the day nothing all that interesting happened, aside from the fact that Snape seemed to be in a particularly foul mood. That always perked him right up. Too bad it was the last class of the day.

The next morning he kept shifting in his seat at the Slytherin table, waiting for breakfast to be over. On the other hand, he didn't want it to end too soon, because this morning Potter had decided to sit at the other side of the Gryffindor table and Draco had a perfect view of Potter's green eyes and high cheek bones. Draco tried not to stare too openly, but by the way Blaise and Pansy were looking at him he clearly wasn't succeeding.

Finally, breakfast was over and the owls swept over the tables. A familiar owl swooped down and dropped a piece of parchment into Draco's long fingers. He opened it, not able to wait any longer.

Malfoy,

Unfortunately, I don't know what music Harry likes. We don't listen to music at school and the last couple of summer's music wasn't really a topic of conversation. There are reasons for that, but I don't trust you enough yet to give them to you. Do whatever you're planning to do and I'll let you know what his reaction is.

Hermione Granger

It was a bit disappointing. He'd hoped to learn something.

Then another thought entered his mind. Potter's owl-pal! He did have a special sort of smile when talking about him. It was a him. And he still didn't know if Potter was gay or not. On the other hand, Granger would've told him if Potter was straight as a broomstick. Wouldn't she have?

He didn't really want to ask her. That would certainly blow up what he had left of his old Malfoy-self like a cauldron handled by Longbottom. It was the same reason that he didn't want to ask her about Potter's owl-pal.

He groaned. Merlin, he was pathetic! He didn't want to look too needy to Granger or worse, Weasley.

Draco took a deep breath. All he could do now was wait for the Owl-O-Gram to arrive and hope that Granger meant it when she said that she'd let him know what Potter's reaction to the whole thing was.

He got through the next few days in an entirely normal way. He had the Malfoy Mask firmly in place so as to keep up appearances. He did, however, try as well as he could to let the mask slip when talking to or with the three Gryffindors. At first they had looked at him with funny expressions on their overly expressive faces. When he noticed that, he decided to explain the whole thing in the only way he knew how without attracting too much attention to himself. He wrote them a note.

Draco experienced strange sensations in his stomach when he received a third answer. An answer he hadn't expected. He'd burned the other two but he kept this note in a secret compartment of his trunk. After the surprising third note, talking to them had become a bit easier. After a while he even looked forward to running into the three of them...Okay, only two of them: Weasley still looked at Draco as if a second head might appear at any time. Granger was really trying to forget what had happened in the past, and Draco was slowly learning to see her as a smart and powerful witch. She was no longer a mudblood.

And then there was Potter. Of course he was happy when talking to them if Potter was there, even though the darker boy kept mostly rather quiet. He usually just took the situation in, and at some point would add his thoughts to the conversation. For the rest, Potter wasn't showing what was going on inside his mind or heart. He showed neither that he did or did not like Draco. But at least, when Potter did talk to Draco, he did so without a look of contempt. Draco was relieved and slowly allowed a bit of hope to float.

Blaise and Pansy also put in a lot of effort. They could be seen talking occasionly with Weasley and Granger, and sometimes they even had fun together. All in all, the first few weeks hadn't been bad and had gone beyond the three Slytherins' expectations in the "make new friends" area.

Then, one morning when, of course, he had stopped thinking about the Owl-O-Gram, it turned up. Potter's owl brought him a letter. Draco thought, when Potter gave a happy smile that it must be from his owl-pal. Draco felt something tug in his stomach but chose not to dwell on that at that particular moment. He'd do that later. Then he saw a strange owl swoop down, carrying a black and gold envelope.

Of course, the minute the envelope was taken by Potter the entire school had noticed and was watching him, waiting for him to open it. He could see Weasley gesturing and he could see Potter turn the envelope round and round in his hands. Draco looked on in amazement for the next 10 minutes or so as Potter just had the envelope unopened before him and was waving his wand above it while clearly muttering something. He did a scarily good impression of Mad-Eye Moody, Draco thought. Finally, when he had finished whatever he was doing, he opened it and a song poured out. First music, then a voice: the same one he'd heard on the radio, started singing.

Baby, it's a dream come true
Walking right alongside of you
Wish I could tell you how much I care
But I only have the nerve to stare

I can feel a new expression on my face
I can feel a glowing sensation taking place
I can hear the guitars playing lovely tunes
Every time that you walk in the room

I close my eyes for a second and pretend it's me you want
Meanwhile I try and act so nonchalant
I see a summer night with a magic moon
Every time that you walk in the room

Baby, it's a dream come true
Walking right alongside of you
Wish I could tell you how much I care
But I only have the nerve to stare
Yeah, yeah

I can hear something pounding in my brain
Every time that someone speaks your name
Trumpets sounding; I hear love in bloom
Every time that you walk in the room

Every time that you walk in the room

Oh yeah
Every time you walk
I feel a brand new way
Oh yes I do
Yeah, baby1

He could see Potter look at the letter in disbelief, and then start to appear worried and then…he started to blush! A huge smile plastered itself on his face. He, Draco Malfoy, had managed to make Harry Potter blush! The-Boy-Who-Lived was now The-Boy-Who-Blushed! It was…cute.

The moment he thought it, he wanted to slap himself. He started to do so, when a hand grabbed his wrist. A snarl ready to lash out, he turned to see which idiot had done it.

It turned out to be Blaise. He was smirking. It took a moment to take that in.

"You don't want to do that, Dray," Blaise said.

"And why not?" Draco asked, haughtily.

"Because he is now reading the note that came with the song and I think you might want to see his face afterwards." Blaise answered calmly. After all, he was used to Draco's haughtiness.

Draco turned to watch Potter open the attached note. He of course knew what it said.

To Harry Potter.

Know that this is how I feel whenever I meet you in the hallways, the Great Hall or outside. I find it hard to tell you this face to face, so I thought I'd use a song to do the talking for me. I really hope you don't mind.

Love,

Your secret out-of-House admirer for a couple of years now

Ok, so the ending was lame. But he'd been out of inspiration, and besides he hadn't wanted to give himself away that easily! Maybe he'd do it again, send a song and then begin to give more clues. Though, of course, he'd probably only do it if Granger told him that Potter liked this one.

Blaise's voice shook him out of his dreamy state. "If you're not careful with how you look today, people are going to start wondering why you're in such a good mood. I'm sure some Ravenclaws will be able to put two and two together." Blaise raised his eyebrow.

Draco merely sighed. "You're right Blaise," he admitted, "It's just that a thought entered my mind that was rather…interesting. It had a bit of an effect on me."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "I don't want to know what the effect on you will be when he says "yes," Dray. We'll have to drag you down from the ceiling, won't we?"

"Uh-huh", was all that Draco could manage, while a certain mental image of Potter saying "yes" nestled itself in his mind.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. All anyone seemed to talk about was the Owl-O-Gram that Potter had received. Harry wasn't talking, but he walked around with a strange look on his face and sometimes would stare at nothing. Draco didn't see this happening, because the bloody Owl-O-Gram had arrived on the one day that Slytherin did not have shared classes with Gryffindor.

He hoped Granger would write him that note soon. Draco kept looking around to see if he saw her. He was hoping that he'd be able to talk to her privately. Also, he started thinking that right about now might be a good time to start spreading the rumour that he was gay. He was going to have to talk to Blaise and Pansy about that. Pansy always knew every piece of gossip, even before it had been out. It had to be out before Potter figured out who'd sent that Owl-O-Gram. Because once that rumour was out, Draco could start giving more specific clues in his next Owl-O-Gram.

Like Draco had said before: he was pathetic...And he wasn't even worried.

1 When you walk in the room – Paul Carrack
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Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat –