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 8

As the mail came right after breakfast, the note and the envelope with the Owl-O-Gram were burning in Harry's pocket all day long. If somebody had come to him and asked which classes he had attended that day he couldn't have answered correctly. It was momentarily wiped from his memory. Because all the space was taken up by the beautiful, meaningful song and the note that came with it.

Harry seemed to be living in a daze. All the professors tried very hard to get his attention and, although he got a lot of warnings, luckily for Gryffindor he didn't receive any detentions. He lost a few points, though. To be honest, not all professors noticed how distracted Harry was. Professor Binns certainly hadn't noticed that Harry was not paying any attention, not even for one minute. But then almost all of his other students were sleeping or whispering to each other and he didn't see that either.

As if he was on auto pilot, Harry got through the day to dinner and left so fast after it that his housemates hadn't seen which direction he had taken. Harry knew he had to get away. He made a stop to get his invisibility cloak and then continued his quest for some peace and quiet. He had to go the Owlery, to Hedwig. Because when in doubt he always could rely on Hedwig. She always tried to find a way to cheer him up and, more importantly, she almost always succeeded.

Harry had secretly hoped that Draco was the culprit behind the Owl-O-Grams and now that he knew for sure, the last note had made Harry's insides do a somersault. If he hadn't already had a crush on Draco before, he sure did now. But what would he say in a note to Draco? He wanted to tell him i so /i much, but Harry couldn't possibly write him a Hermione length parchment. Well, not yet anyway. Harry sighed, realizing he couldn't even ask his owl-pal for advice, since Harry would then have to break the news that he liked another guy.

He walked silently to the Owlery. Hedwig immediately flew from the perch she had been sitting on high in the tower and joined him on the window sill. She hooted softly and gently nipped his earlobe.

"Hi Hedwig. You're looking well." Harry pet his owl while he talked to her. "I had a letter from HIM. Isn't it amazing? You know I've been thinking about him a lot lately. I can't believe he feels the same!"

Hedwig hooted.

"Okay, okay. If you say so. But still, he is i so /i gorgeous and I am so not."

Hedwig hooted again, but louder this time.

"So you think I'm gorgeous too, eh?" Harry softly stroked his owl under her chin. If owls could purr, then Hedwig would have been heard doing that. "Thanks. Anyway, he wrote me…twice, actually. But the first time I didn't really know he was behind it. It was i so /i romantic, Hedwig. Draco sent me this lovely song. In the second letter, he told me it was him, Well, he didn't sign it, but the message was very clear, and it had another song. The lyrics made it more obvious who sent it, but he also asked me to write him back, but now I don't know what to say to him."

Hedwig hooted softly and nipped his fingers.

"Yes I know. That's why I came here. I thought that you could maybe give me a helping hand, erm, talon?"

Hedwig looked at him and puffed through her beak making the feathers on her breast stand out more proudly and while doing so she looked bigger and more important.

Harry smiled at the antics of his familiar. He picked some owl treats out of his pockets and fed them to Hedwig. She devoured them in a flash and, like a kitten, bumped her head under his chin and rubbed a little. Harry felt warm inside. Even if Draco didn't feel the same about him, he always had his owl.

o Meanwhile in Gryffindor Tower o

Hermione and Ron were frantically searching for Harry in Gryffindor Tower. They couldn't find him there and so their quest was expanded to hallways, empty classrooms and such. They were worried because of the strange attitude of their friend throughout the day.

Of course their search caught the attention of a certain blond-haired Slytherin seventh year. That Slytherin was very curious to know what those two Gryffindors were on about, but he didn't want to spoil his fun and so he kept himself hidden in the shadows. But as the search seemingly went on and on, he did start to worry a bit. It became clear that they were looking for Potter, and that Harry wasn't easily found.

Soon other Gryffindors noticed that Ron and Hermione were searching for something, or someone.

"They are probably playing the where-is-our-best-friend-and-saviour-of-the-wizarding-world-Harry-Potter-game, don't you think?" Seamus asked Dean and Neville.

Both nodded. They thought that Seamus' deduction was spot on. They tried to catch the attention of Ron and Hermione because they too wanted to be a part of that game. But Ron and Hermione thought they could do it much better by themselves. So Seamus, Dean and Neville followed the progression from the sidelines with interest.

"Since they won't let us search, I suggest we make ourselves useful in another way." Seamus said.

"How?" Neville wanted to know, who by now was getting a bit dizzy from watching Hermione run through the Common Room.

"Why don't we help them by keeping score of where they've searched already?" Dean said, a smile on his face.

"Very good love!" Seamus said, beaming at him. Dean looked down, sure that his blush was visible to those who sat at the other end of the room.

With a swish of his wand, Seamus conjured up a flip-chart and some feltpens. When Hermione came by, Neville decided that now was as good a time as any.

"Hermione, where have you just been?"

She was in such a rush, that he barely caught her saying "-nomy Tower." He looked expectantly at Seamus. Who nodded.

"Very good, Nev. Astronomy Tower is on." They shared a smile and decided that this way of playing the game wasn't so bad.

Meanwhile Ron and Hermione were going through the castle like they had a colony of Billiwigs on their tail and were desperately trying to stay ahead.

They discovered Seamus, Dean and Neville's help and would check in from time to time to tell them where they'd been and to ask for suggestions of where else to look. Dean and Seamus had decided that a good show deserved something to nibble on and had conjured a large bowl of popcorn, which they generously shared with Neville. They were quite enjoying the show, despite their own worries about Harry's whereabouts.

o Meanwhile in the Owlery o

Harry had finally written a note to Draco, though, of course, he didn't refer to him by name in the note. It had been difficult, hence the assortment of crumpled pieces of parchment scattered around him. He had had much help from Hedwig, but thought it was a pity that he couldn't use Hedwig to deliver it. She would be recognized immediately and he didn't want to risk that yet. So he explained it to her and although she looked a bit put out, she did make sure to get across that she understood his reasons.

He read the note one more time, to be sure that it finally had everything in it he wanted to say to the blond Slytherin at the moment.

I Malfoy,

So it was you who sent me the Owl-O-Grams and the notes. I've heard the rumours about you, too. Is it true that you started them? Whatever for? I think maybe we need to talk about all of this.

How about Thursday night at eight o'clock in the Astronomy Tower? Or if you have a better place in mind, please let me know. If I don't hear from you I'll assume you agree.

Harry

PS Is it true that Professor Snape fainted after hearing about the rumours? /I

Yes, he thought, that's it. Now I can send it. He knew that Malfoy had mentioned that he could use Hermione as a possible messenger, but he thought a school owl to be much safer. It was one thing to talk with Draco but to talk with the friends who had forgotten about him all summer was an entirely different matter.

With the help of Hedwig, he chose a nice brown owl who was sitting on a perch with a bronze plaque attached to it that said "Hector". Harry asked Hector to deliver the note in Draco's room in the Slytherin part of the Castle. The owl nipped his finger in confirmation and flew to its destination.

After the owl had flown off, he finished his conversation with Hedwig. He left the Owlery feeling much, much better. When he came round the bend of the path that would lead to the Quiddtich pitch, he saw Ron there, looking under seats, obviously searching for something. Or someone, he thought. He slipped his invisibility cloak on and walked carefully to the pitch. He managed to find a seat at a safe distance from Ron, but near enough to hear him muttering to himself.

"Can't imagine where else he could've gotten to,…he usually comes here to think…well, he did last year…could he have a different spot now…I haven't talked to him all that much yet…"

Harry tried not to make a sound and he felt a bit smug. So they hadn't found out about the Owlery. He once again silently thanked Dumbledore for passing his father's cloak on to him, and waited for Ron to start walking towards the castle. Harry followed him, trying to determine where he would go next. As Ron neared the steps leading up to the main entrance, Harry saw Hermione dashing out.

"Ron! There you are," she said, breathless from all the running she'd been doing. "Where have you been?"

"Quidditch pitch," Ron said, defeat sounding in his voice. "Between us we must have been through the castle twice, and still no sign of him. It's like he's avoiding us, 'Mione."

You have no idea, Harry thought to himself.

"What makes you think that?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, let's look at the past couple of weeks, okay? How often have we actually talked to him? How much time has he spent time in the Common Room? An easy answer, Hermione. Not as often as other years. Something's wrong." Ron crossed his armes over his chest, certain that he had it right.

"Nonsense!" Hermione refused to admit defeat. "He's probably just wandering through the castle." Ron looked at her like he hoped that the answer to Harry's whereabouts would just drop from the air. Hermione's face lit up. "Maybe he's visiting with Dobby!"

Another shared glance and they ran off, undoubtedly in search of Dobby. When they were well of out of range, Harry snickered and entered the castle. When he had found a secluded hallway, he took off the cloak and used a shrinking spell so that he could stuff it in his pocket. He then made his way casually to the portrait. Before he could give the password, the Fat Lady said to him "Finally! There you are! Those friends of yours have been making me almost crazy today! Going in and out! Haven't had time to have a decent cup of tea!"

"I'm sorry," Harry said and smiled at her. "I didn't know that they were looking for me, you see. Can I go in now, please?"

Now she smiled at him. "Such a polite boy you are! Password?"

"Chuckling Chimaera," he said with a chuckle of his own.

The portrait opened and when he stepped through, he was welcomed by a sight he had never seen before, not even when Fred and George had still attended Hogwarts.

The Common Room had been subjected to a transformation. Most of the furniture had been placed in a u-shape, all facing Seamus' flip-chart. Harry was almost run over when a third-year fell through the portrait-hole and yelled at Dean "No show at the broom shed!". He stayed where he was, on the ground, trying to catch his breath. Dean scribbled the information on the chart and looked at Seamus.

"Right!" Seamus said, sounding excited, "Anybody have any other ideas of where he might be?"

"Doesn't Harry still train with Snape?" A sixth-year asked.

Before Seamus, Dean or Neville could answer, two fourth-year students ran out of the room, clearly heading for Snape's classroom in the Dungeons, ignorant of the fact that they hadn't been using the classroom for that anymore. Harry decided that for now, his spot in one of the shadowed corners was a very nice place to be. He heard the portrait open again, and asked himself who would enter this time.

Ginny Weasley stepped in and almost walked into him. She stopped right on time and was now shielding Harry from the rest of the room. Harry had been spending some time with her, but because Ron and Hermione would almost always show up, he'd been careful with that. He was sorry about it, too. He and Ginny had always gotten along well, but it had been even better when she'd started to secretly date Justin Finch-Fletchly and Harry'd helped her out with the cloak a few times, so that Ron wouldn't notice.

It didn't come as a surprise that Neville spotted her right away. "Ginny, any news?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No, but-" She was interrupted when the portrait opened again.

This time Ron and Hermione fell through.

"And?" Dean asked them.

They shook their heads.

"Where were you?" Seamus asked them.

"We were talking to Dobby." Ron explained. "We thought Harry might've gone to talk to him, but Dobby said that he hasn't seen him all day."

Neville decided that Ginny should finish her sentence. "Ginny?" All eyes were now on him. "Ginny, what were you saying before Ron and Hermione came in?"

"Oh, well. I wanted to say that maybe we've been missing some spots that would be too obvious to us, to think that he might be there."

"Like…?" Ron prompted.

They all looked so lost that Harry decided that he wanted some fun as well.

"Like the Common Room?" He said, raising his voice to make sure everyone heard him.

Ginny screamed at hearing his voice right behind her and swayed on her feet.

"Hi!" He said and smiled, deciding that playing innocent was always a good start. Although the looks of some of his peers told him that they saw right through that act and that he still had a lot of explaining to do.

Meanwhile, Hector, the owl Harry had sent off with his note, was on his way to Draco Malfoy's room. He had been given simple instructions, and was happy to have gotten the job. Hector had liked the wizard who'd asked him to deliver this letter. The owl had very much liked the way that the boy had treated Hedwig, and the way wizards and witches treat their familiars told a lot about that person. Well, that was what one of the older owls had told him, when he'd been taken on as a school owl at Hogwarts. So he did his best to deliver the message as fast as he could, even though the wizard hadn't asked him to.

When Hector neared the room, a lot of sound came from it. It scared him a bit, but he decided that if he wanted to be good at his job, he'd have to learn to ignore it. He entered the room and saw that it was occupied by three people: two wizards and one witch. Hector was very thankful for the wizard who had gone on and on to Hedwig about this Draco Malfoy and his beautiful platinum blond hair. That way he knew who to approach. Hector landed near him on a desk and held out his talon so that the wizard could reach the letter easily. He secretly rejoiced when he was given some owl treats and was even offered some water. As he flew out, he decided to tell Hedwig about it, because then she could tell her wizard.

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Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat –