Author's Note: It's been sooooo long. I'm so sorry. But I'm back with a new update! yay! BUT if you want updates to keep coming, please review! Reviews make me happy and make me want to write more. REVIEW! Of course, J.K. Rowling is the brains behind everything. She owns it, I don't. I just own this little story I'm writing. Anyway, new chapter is up! Review when you finish reading. ENJOY!

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Harry stared in shock at his red stained hands and watched the blood trail across his hand and send a small drip to the ground. He felt ill and confused, wondering how this happened to Draco and why the blonde never spoke about it. What the hell is going on? This must've been recent if he's still bleeding like this. Thought Harry and he frowned, gazing deeply at his hand, before hiding it behind his back when he noticed Blaise approaching him.

"Harry, what's wrong? You've been standing in a daze for a few minutes. We really need to take a look outside. I'm not exactly sure what happened." Blaise said urgently and Harry considered telling Blaise about the blood—instead he nodded and followed Blaise outside, grabbing a napkin from a wrecked table and running after the other man.

He hung back slightly, wiping his hand on the napkin, but stopped when he looked at where Draco was standing. There was a giant circle about six meters in diameter on the pavement, where everything looked wiped clean and the road was now a gray- white color with patches of red. In the center of the circle stood Draco, examining the area with a frown on his features.

Harry squinted slightly, trying to see if he could see blood on the blonde's arm, but from that distance, he couldn't see anything through the clothing that was covering it. He hurried forward, pocketing the blood stained napkin and stood next to Draco.

"What do you think happened?" Harry said, trying to sound casual, but was actually worried about the other male. He took a quick glance at the other's arm, but quickly looked up when Draco turned towards him.

"I'm not sure. It was obviously something that dealt with magic, but what curse could've caused this?" Draco thought aloud and Harry shrugged.

"It doesn't look like anyone was hurt though." Harry said, looking around at the people were staring and whispering, looking to see if something will happen. Others were walking away and continuing on with their daily lives as if nothing had happened. Typical muggles. Too busy to notice anything. Thought Harry with a scoff and he turned to see Blaise approaching them.

"C'mon, we should head back to the ministry." Blaise said and the trio hurried away to find somewhere private where they could apparate. While walking to an alley, something caught Harry's eye and he looked over to see a dark figure retreating in another direction away from the crime scene. Harry changed his path and began running toward the figure, the other two suddenly noticing that he wasn't behind them.

"Harry!" Blaise yelled and Draco set off after the retreating raven- haired man, Blaise directly behind him. The dark figure must've heard Blaise's voice, for he turned around and saw Harry running toward him, then sprinted off down the street.

Harry had continued running, not paying attention to his labored breathing or his legs straining forward. The figure rounded around a curve and Harry was right behind him, slowly closing the distance between their bodies. The dark figured turned into an alley and Harry followed and suddenly he skidded to a halt. He looked around, but the person he was pursuing was nowhere to be found.

Blaise and Draco had finally caught up to find Harry standing in the hallway looking around, confusedly.

"Where'd he go?" Blaise asked and Harry shrugged.

"I don't know. I was right behind him and he suddenly vanished—just disappeared into thin air." Harry said and he banged his fist on the wall beside him. "Damn it! I was so close to catching him. We could've gotten another clue to this whole thing." Harry said, obviously furious with himself.

"It's not going to help to beat yourself up over it. Come on, let's go." Blaise said and the three apparated, Harry still seething.

-

When they arrived, Blaise departed with the excuse that he had something to take care of and Harry and Draco locked themselves in their office and relaxed for a few minutes. Harry stared at the floor in anger with himself, replaying the whole thing over in his mind. He was so close to taking a step forward, but now it felt like they had gone two steps back. What happened to the person? How is it that they vanished so quickly into thin air? The person couldn't have apparated that fast… or, could he?

Harry cleared his thoughts. The world suddenly felt like there was no trust left in it. Everyone changes and no one will know what kind of turn around he or she will make or who they'll betray.

Harry looked up and stared at Draco who was looking at a stack of papers on his desk.

Except for him. Draco's different. I can trust him more than I can trust most people—and that's funny because we were enemies most of our lives. Harry thought and he chuckled out loud, grabbing Draco's attention.

"What's so amusing?"

"Nothing. Just thinking…" He replied and he suddenly grew serious as he remembered something. "Draco… just now, during the incident, when we were in the restaurant, I touched your arm and when I looked at my hand, there was blood all over it—it was your blood." Harry said and Draco dropped the parchment that was in his hand and he turned around and shook his head.

"You… I don't know what you're talking about." Draco said, turning away from Harry, causing the other man to become frustrated.

"Oh, I think you do. Draco, you can't hide it from me anymore. I don't want to be left in the dark, if I know you are in pain." Harry said standing up and advancing on Draco who was sitting in his chair.

"I'm not in pain—there is nothing wrong with me." Draco said angrily and Harry got closer that he was standing right over the blonde prince. Harry grabbed onto Draco's arm and held it tightly, while the other struggled to get free, wriggling until he fell out of the chair and onto the ground with Harry on top of him. Harry managed to pull off the sleeve of Draco's coat and clearly visible through his shirt was a bloodstain in the shape of a line gliding across his arm.

"Tell me, Draco, how did you manage to get that? And don't lie to me—I can see it in your eyes, you are in pain, you're just afraid to say anything. Afraid of what might happen or what others may think." Harry said, keeping a good grip around Draco's wrist, who had stopped struggling and was staring into Harry's green eyes.

"I want to tell you… I want you to know about everything, but certain things are holding me back. Trust me—maybe I'll tell you when the time comes, but for now, don't worry about me. I have to handle it on my own… for the safety of both of us." Draco said and Harry bit his lip, thinking it over until Blaise walked in a stopped short when he noticed the two on the ground.

"Am I interrupting something? I guess you two were having fun while I was gone." Blaise smirked and the other two blushed and Harry got off the blonde boy quickly.

"Fuck off, Blaise." Draco muttered and sat back down at his desk.

"Ooh, aren't we in a bit of a feisty mood?" Blaise mocked and he sat at a chair in front of Harry's desk. "So, Harry, did you see anything about the person you were chasing that could give us some kind of lead?" Blaise asked.

Harry rubbed his temple in a smooth circle and then ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, I saw an odd marking on the person's left wrist. I can't really describe what it was of. If I see it, I'll know." Harry said and Blaise banged his hand on the desk in front of him.

"That's good! We can get somewhere with that." Blaise said and he stood up and headed over to the door. "Just leave it to me." He said, rushing out the door, swinging it shut behind him.

As soon as Blaise was gone, Harry turned back to Draco and stared at Draco's distant expression for a few seconds before speaking.

"You know, I worry about you." Harry said and he stared seriously into Draco's eyes, who turned around startled at the sudden speech.

"You do? Why? Don't burden yourself over me." Draco said and Harry rolled his eyes.

"It's my job to burden myself over you. You look worse everyday—I don't mean on the outside, but on the inside, you're having a struggle that I can't understand, even though I want to." Harry said and Draco caught every word and thought about it.

"I don't understand you, Potter. We were once enemies, always at each other's throats and now you are telling me how much you worry about me. You are definitely a strange one, Potter." Draco said chuckling under his breath and Harry frowned and shook his head.

"I've known you for how many years? Besides, I have a good reason to be worried about you." Harry said and he was serious, with no trace of humor at all.

What would he think if I told him the truth? I'm such an idiot. Hiding it is only hurting both of us, but I know the consequences if I told him, if I told him that… Draco thought and he suddenly stood up abruptly.

"I'm going out for a while. Do you mind?" Draco said, casting a side- glance at Harry who shook his head.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked and Draco shrugged.

"Nowhere special."

-

Harry had only been sitting at his desk for a while until he got bored and got up, leaving a quick note on the desk for Blaise if he were to come back. He sighed and looked at the fake window that was showing beautiful scenery of an afternoon sun before heading out the door. I'm going to find Draco. He thought and he grabbed his coat and put it on while leaving the ministry.

Harry had no idea where Draco lives; only that it wasn't too far away from his own flat. Deciding to check Draco's house first, he apparated to the street his flat was on and walked from there. Let's see… I vaguely remember Draco saying that he lived in a flat. Harry said and he looked around, trying to spot any type of building that Draco might live in.

He walked for a good half hour until he finally spotted a fancy looking building that he had a feeling Draco might live in.

"This is definitely Draco's style." He muttered under his breath when he walked through the front doors and came inside a lobby area with a great chandelier hanging overhead and a desk off to the side with a security guard sitting behind it. The floors were a brilliant gray and black marble, showing Harry's reflection and the entire ceiling was covered with mirrors.

"Sir, can I help you?" Harry nearly jumped as he heard the voice of the guard after standing for a good minute, absorbing his surroundings.

"Um… no, thank you… actually, yes, you can help me," Harry started, striding over to the desk the guard was sitting at. "You see, a good friend of mine lives here and this is actually my first time seeing him in quite a long time. It's sort of a surprise, you know. So, I was wondering if you could give me the number of his room without letting him know I'm here." Harry said, and the guard stared at him for a long moment before looking down at the computer screen in front of him.

"Name?" He asked in a monotone.

"Malfoy. That is, Draco Malfoy." Harry answered, tapping his finger on the counter slightly.

The guard typed on his computer for a few seconds and then stopped, staring at the screen for a moment.

"Mr. Malfoy is in the penthouse suite on the top floor." He said.

"Figures, the bastard…" Harry mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing! Just… talking to myself." Harry said, laughing nervously and turning to walk away with the guard staring at the back of his head. "Arse." Harry muttered under his breath, feeling in a very anxious mood as he tapped the button to call the lift down. When he heard it come rattling down, he stepped inside and pressed the button for floor eight. Leaning against the wall, he sighed to himself, waiting for the lift to reach the top, though it felt like it was moving slower than usual just to mock him.

Upon reaching the top, Harry hurried out of the lift and came face to face with a wall. He raised an eyebrow for a minute and looked to his left where a small hallway led down to another wall. Down to the right was a long corridor and he began hurrying down it, skidding to a halt on the blue carpet when he came face to face with a door that read "Penthouse Suite".

Harry stood still for a moment and raised his fist to knock, but paused when a sound behind the door reached his ears. It was a loud crashing of glass and Harry stared startled for a minute before he began hearing voices muffled by the door. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door wondering who was inside the room and what the crash was about.

"Draco?" Harry asked loudly and he began knocking again, this time a little harder than before. He heard someone yell from inside and he began banging his fist harder on the door.

"Draco!" He yelled. "Open the door! It's me, Harry!" He yelled and he jiggled the handle of the door before pulling out his wand and performing the unlocking charm. When it didn't work, he cursed under his breath and put away his wand. Apparating inside of Draco's room he hurried forward, looking around frantically.

"Draco? Draco, where are you?" He called over and over.

After searching the room, he sighed and fell on Draco's black leather sofa and presumed the suite to be empty.

"Damn it. Then what was that noise?" He asked himself quietly and he looked around the room, just taking in all the tiny details of Draco's home. It was definitely his style with the furniture consisting of mostly black, white and silver. Even though there was only a bit of color here and there, it was very beautifully decorated and Harry found himself feeling more and more comfortable. He stood up to leave when he noticed a forgotten, moving photograph of Draco, Blaise and himself. Harry picked up the photo, holding it in his hands, a smile forming on his features, and then he frowned and flipped over the picture and noticed a little symbol drawn on the back. He stared at it for a moment, feeling as though he had seen it before, then it clicked and an image of him running flashed through his head. It was the same mark that he had seen on the person's wrist earlier that day.

"What the…?" Harry stared shocked and confused. This is the same mark. But why does Draco have a drawing of it? Harry thought to himself and after shoving the picture in his pocket, he apparated outside of Draco's door and began making his way toward the lift, jabbing the button with his finger until it came up. He hoped that he might see Draco inside the lift, but when it came up empty, he sighed and made his way down towards the lobby. Leaving the lift, he practically ran through the lobby, the guard noticing him and looking at him oddly. Once he was out of the building, he hurried off to an area and apparated back to the Ministry of Magic, stepping forward and nearly runningintoBlaise.

"Harry! Now that you're back, I—."

"Blaise, have you seen Draco?" Harry cut in and Blaise jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

"Yeah, he just came back. He's in your office." He said and Harry muttered a quick thanks and hurried off to his office. Running a hand through his hair, he pushed open the door and walked inside seeing Draco reading through a stack of papers.

"Draco, you're back." Harry said, trying to keep himself from bursting out several questions that he wanted answers to you.

"Yeah. Where were you?" Draco asked, not looking up from the papers in his hand.

"I went looking for you. Where were you?" Harry shot back and Draco looked up, frowning slightly.

"Looking for me? I told you I was going out." Draco said, setting down the stack of papers on his desk.

"Where?"

"No where special. It's not important."

"If it was no where special, why won't you tell me?" Harry asked.

"I told you it wasn't important, so why does it matter to you?" Draco asked and they fell into silence and the blonde sighed. "Look, I just went home for a while, that's all. Satisfied?" Draco asked, striding over to his chair and sitting down, looking at the papers at his desk.

"No, actually, I'm not. I was just there. I thought you were home when I heard noise coming from inside. But I knocked and no one answered and when I went inside, the house was empty." Harry explained, pacing in front of Draco's desk.

"You went into my house?" Draco asked confused.

"Yes, and look what I found." He said and he pulled out the picture and held it out for Draco to see.

"So what? It's just a picture of us." Draco said and Harry flipped over the picture and slammed it on the desk, the dark symbol facing up for both of them to see.

"That's the same drawing I saw on that person's wrist I chased earlier. Now, answer me this, Draco, how is that you know what it looks like when I was the only one who saw it earlier?" Harry asked seriously, staring straight at Draco. "Explain that to me, Malfoy." He said.

"I didn't draw that, Potter." Draco said not even looking at the drawing anymore.

"Then who did?"

"My father…"

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