Chapter 34

"Harry, that's the third time you've come up with an empty spoon."

Harry looked up, surprised. He'd forgotten his best friends were there.

It was two PM on Sunday. Ron, Hermione and Ginny had come over for lunch, all hoping for a recap of the couple's one-year anniversary dinner, which Harry had failed to share so far.

"Sorry. Just a bit… distracted." He dropped his spoon. It landed with a splash and clatter in his soup and slowly slid under the surface.

"Did something happen last night?" Ginny asked as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"No," Harry lied, shaking his head. He automatically changed his mind. "Draco was there."

Ron choked on his tea.

"Draco?" Hermione gasped. "Why?"

Harry sighed. "His Quidditch team was there. Celebrating their win. Oliver came over to say hi, and then so did Draco."

"He met Skye?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. Ginny looked shocked. "Well what was I supposed to do? He just came up, I didn't have enough time to escape! And I had to introduce Skye, this relationship'd probably be fucked if I didn't."

They were silent for a moment, the other three thinking of what to say next as Harry fished his spoon out of his soup with the crust of his sandwich.

"He looked so good."

"Harry…" Hermione said warningly, looking scornfully at him.

"I'm just saying," Harry muttered, staring down into his bowl. "But Skye and I had the most amazing night, once we got home. He's so wonderful."

"So you love Skye, right?" Ginny asked.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed as he picked his plate and bowl up and put them in the sink. "Of course I do. Things are so different with him, you know? He's so caring and understanding. There isn't a jealous or evil bone in that man's body."

"But," Ron added.

Harry sighed. "But I don't know if I want things to be so different. Things were difficult with Draco, yeah, but it was just… exciting. Skye is way too sweet sometimes."

"Harry, do you have any idea what you're saying?" Hermione asked. "Most girls would KILL for a guy like that! Do you know how lucky you are?"

"Hell, I'd kill for a guy like that," Ron snorted. Hermione elbowed him, and Harry chuckled.

"I know," Harry said, leaning against the counter. "Never mind. I'm just thinking aloud. It's doesn't mean anything."

"Harry, you and Skye have been going out for a year now," Ron said, his voice firm and serious. "If you aren't serious about him, you shouldn't lead him on like this. It just isn't fair."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I know that, Ron. I AM serious about Skye. I'm not leading him on, okay? I love him."

Ron nodded, and they were silent for a moment more as the rest of them finished eating. Then they all moved into the living room.

"So where's Skye, anyway?" Ginny asked as she sprawled out on the lime green couch.

Harry sat next to her, and she rested her legs in his lap. "He's cleaning out his office," Harry grinned. "He got the new job. He starts next week."

"That's great!" Hermione exclaimed. "How much will he be making now?"

"Around two-hundred fifty thousand."

Ron gagged. "Holy shit."

Harry laughed. "I know! I don't even have to work if I don't want to. I could be like one of those rich trophy wives that spend the whole day spreading rumors about other rich trophy wives."

Ginny laughed. "Oh, I can just see that," she said sarcastically. "You can go to the country club and play croquet with the 'friends' you secretly sabotage behind their backs."

They all laughed at that.

I!I!I!I!I!I!I!I!

"Yeah. Okay. Love you too, Sis. Thanks. Bye."

Skye hung the phone back on the hook on the kitchen wall. He walked over to where Harry sat at the table, eating his breakfast.

It had been a week and a half since the couple had seen Draco at the restaurant, and to Harry's relief, things had gone back to normal. It was as if the incident had never happened.

"Hey," Skye said, sitting down in front of his plate. "You want to go to America, right?"

Harry nodded as he took a bite of his toast. "Yeah. Why?"

"My little sister's getting married, Skye smiled. "She invited you to the wedding."

"Oh, cool!" Harry grinned. "Where? When?"

"Um…. Next month, in New York. I was hoping we could go down there for a few weeks though. So you can spend some time with my family."

Harry took a bite of his eggs. "That'd be great! I've been wanting to meet your parents. When would we leave?"

"I was thinking in two weeks or so. Would you be able to get a month off from training?"

"Probably," Harry smiled. "I can always make up for it over the summer."

Skye smiled and kissed Harry on the cheek, then looked at his watch. "Shit! I'm gonna be late!" He stuffed the rest of his toast into his mouth and half ran to his bedroom to get dressed.

Harry took a few more bites of his breakfast before rinsing his plate in the sink. As he loaded his dishes into the dishwasher, he noticed a small yellow post-it note next to the answering machine. He pulled it off of the counter.

Harry,

Draco called, wanted to have dinner. He said you knew the number.

Harry was stunned. This was the one thing he'd hoped wouldn't happen. He had a new life now, a wonderful life. Why couldn't Draco just leave him alone?

He considered just tossing the note out. All he had to do was drop it in the trash bin, and it would be like this whole thing never happened. Skye probably wouldn't remember anyway. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Harry?" Skye called from his bedroom. "Should I wear the red or the blue tie?"

Harry sighed. "What jacket are you wearing?"

"The navy one."

"Wear the blue."

Skye took a few more minutes to finish dressing. As soon as he came out of his bedroom, Harry started in.

"Why didn't you tell me Draco called?" he asked, his arms folded in front of his chest.

Skye shrugged and made a face. "I forgot. Sorry. Besides, that's what the note was for."

Harry rolled his eyes. "How do you possibly forget that my ex-husband called?"

"Just like I forget everything else," Skye smiled as he straightened his tie.

"Oh, quit being cute," Harry grumbled. "I hate it when you do that."

Skye rolled his eyes. "You're still making a big deal out of this whole thing? I told you, Harry, it's no big deal. Quit freaking out over it. If you don't want to have dinner with him, just call him and tell him that."

Harry sighed and sat down on the couch. "Okay."

"But I think you should do it."

"What!" Harry nearly screamed, shocked. "Why!"

"Harry, do you know what every person strives for at the end of a relationship?" Skye asked. Harry shrugged. "Closure, and reconciliation. You're getting a great opportunity here! You get a chance to end this thing with him, once and for all. And, you get a free meal," he added, grinning.

Harry tried his hardest not to smile. "You know, this would be a lot easier if you were like any other normal boyfriend and hated my exes!"

Skye smiled as he leaned over and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek, knowing full-well that he'd won. "Well, if I were like any other normal boyfriend, you wouldn't be interested, would you?"

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He'd pressed those buttons so many times that his fingers fell there naturally. He wasn't even sure if he could dial a different number anymore.

It was Wednesday night, around eleven. Skye had already gone to bed. Harry knew he shouldn't call at this time of night, but he had a feeling that Draco wouldn't mind too much.

He dialed the number again, but hung up before it could ring.

He grumbled and cursed himself under his breath. He just couldn't bring himself to talk to Draco yet.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and slowly dialed again. He held the phone to his ear and braced himself as it rang.

It only took one ring before there was a soft click on the other end of the line. "Hello?" came Draco's voice.

Harry froze. He didn't know what to say. He'd prepared himself for this, but everything just left his mind as soon as Draco spoke.

"Hello? Who is this? Oliver, is that you?"

"Uh…. No, Draco, it's me."

"Oh. Harry. Hi."

"Hi." Harry took a deep breath and sighed. "Uh, I just called to tell you that I…. I'd like to have dinner with you."

"Really?" Draco's voice sounded hopeful. "Okay, great--er, good. Are you busy on Saturday?"

"Uh… no."

"Okay. Um, I have practice until seven, so why don't you come over at seven-thirty?"

"Okay. Sounds good. Would it be okay if Skye came too?"

There was a pause. "Uh--well…. Yeah. I guess." His tone was flat and vacant.

Harry nodded, forgetting that Draco couldn't see him. "Okay. We'll be there. Bye."

"Bye."

I!I!I!I!I!I!I!I!

Author's Notes: Short compared to my last few updates, I know. I had a really hard time with the chapter structure of this and the next two chapters. It doesn't seem to matter how I divide it, it's either too short or just doesn't seem right.

Well, I'm nearly done with the next chapter. We'll see how it goes.

I love my current school schedule, because my fifth period is open so I get to write during that period :P

Okay, gonna go.

TTFN,

Deathdragon4