Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ron and Hermione were having a hushed argument.
"Oh, Ron, just go get them for lunch!" Hermione snapped, pointing at the kitchen door for added emphasis.
"I don't want to go up there! What if they're you-know-what-ing?"
"Don't be ridiculous, they won't be having sex!" Hermione said irritably.
"Yeah? Well why don't you go up, then?"
"Because I made lunch! And I asked you to go get them while I put lunch on the table."
"You know what? I think they'll come down when they're hungry," Ron said sensibly, deciding that he had had enough arguing.
Hermione sighed. "You're probably right. We'll just eat, and they can come down when they're ready."
But, three hours later, when Ron and Hermione had finished eating, and had been back at work for a couple of hours, Harry and Draco had still not gone down to eat.
"'Mione," Ron said, knocking on the door to the library, "they still haven't gone downstairs."
"Maybe they're asleep. Just knock on the door, Ron, it won't kill you." Hermione said, amusedly.
"Why can't you do it?"
"Because, Ron, I'm a heterosexual girl. And as my boyfriend you should be avoiding circumstances where I may come across one or more attractive, nude males."
"Okay, okay," Ron grumbled, turning red at the honesty of her statement. He hadn't even considered that. He slouched down the corridor, barely pausing to breathe before knocking on the door to Harry and Draco's shared room.
There was no answer, so Ron assumed they were asleep and it was therefore safe enough to go in. He opened the door a crack and listened; nothing. Opening the door widely he confidently stepped into the room. And promptly shouted in horror at the scene before him.
Clothes were strewn everywhere and not one of the bedclothes was where it should be. Somehow even the fitted sheet had come loose at the bottom end and was twisting itself up. A naked Harry was sprawled face down on top of an equally naked Draco.
"Oh sweet Merlin!" Ron shouted, causing both Harry and Draco to jerk awake.
Harry looked at Ron, who was looking rather pale. "Hey, Ron. Is it lunch time?"
"Lunch?" Ron repeated, looking dumbstruck.
"Yes. Lunch. The midday meal. I'm actually quite hungry, after all that," Draco commented cheekily. Neither Harry nor Draco were the slightest bit concerned at being barged in on.
Ron continued to gape, but managed a relatively ineloquent snort of disgust.
"So… is it lunch time then?" Harry asked, trying not to smile at Ron's behaviour.
"Lunch was three hours ago. But there's some left over in the fridge," Hermione commented, coming to stand in the doorway. She seemed calm enough, but on close inspection her cheeks were slightly pink and she appeared to be trying to decide whether to look at Harry and Draco or not. She compromised by staring with feigned interest at the clothes strewn on the floor. The sound of Hermione's voice seemed to rouse Ron somewhat; he gained a bit of colour in his face and whirled around to face her.
"What are you doing here? They're naked! Leave now, please," he instructed, shooing Hermione out of the room. He turned back to Harry and Draco when he reached the corridor, opening his mouth to say something, but deciding against it and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Draco started to giggle. Again. Harry wondered absently if Ron or Hermione had surreptitiously placed a cheering charm on Draco at some point during the day. Then he began to wonder if he was coming down with something. Was there any kind of illness where symptoms were preceded by giggling fits?
"Draco, are you feeling alright?" Harry asked, feeling the forehead of the still-giggling Draco.
Draco stopped giggling and looked at Harry oddly. "Yes, I'm fine. Why?"
"You're just… laughing a lot today."
"So? Maybe I'm just happy," Draco said, grinning.
"And why are you so happy today? I haven't seen you this happy for… actually, I don't think I've ever seen you this happy."
"Aren't you happy?"
"Well… generally, no, not really. But right now, and today in general, I'm happy."
"And why is that?"
"Because of you," Harry replied unblushingly.
"Right," Draco said, nodding acceptingly, "and do you think that I might be happy because of you?"
"Oh. Oh, so that's it, then," Harry said, breaking out into a smile.
"Yep, that's it," Draco said, leaning in to catch Harry's lips. "Now come on," he said as he pulled away again, "You must be hungry, you left breakfast early."
"I'm not that hungry, maybe we can stay up here for a bit longer?" Harry suggested, trying to kiss Draco again. Just as their lips touched, Harry's stomach gave a very loud growl. They broke apart, both laughing.
"Ok, ok, we'll go get food," Harry said, standing up and heading for the door.
"Ahem," Draco said, looking pointedly at Harry's bareness.
"Right. Clothes."
Draco watched leisurely as Harry pulled on some pants and threw a shirt on, not bothering to do up the buttons. When Harry turned to look at Draco, still lying, with no apparent intention of moving, on the bed, and raised his eyebrows, he shrugged and smiled lazily.
"I'm feeling to self-satisfied to move right now, I'll be down in a minute," Draco said.
Harry grinned and nodded, saying, "I'll see you down there then. Don't wait too long."
Draco nodded, leaning further back on the bed and closing his eyes. He allowed a blissful smile to grace his features as Harry closed the door softly and felt that he was about to doze off, when the peaceful silence was interrupted by some very loud yelling coming from downstairs.
Sighing, he got to his feet and headed towards the source of the noise, intent on berating whoever was creating it. He stopped dead when he heard his name mentioned.
"… Draco! Look, Harry, It's fine if you just want to fool around with him a bit, but what you're talking about… no, I'm sorry, I can't accept it!"
"Ron, I'm not saying anything! I don't understand what's wrong with this. What does it matter to you who I'm in a relationship with!"
Draco pushed the kitchen door open a crack and managed to see the side of Harry's face. From what he could see, Harry had rarely been so angry. He was red in the face, his features contorted with rage. Draco thought this unusual show of anger was surprisingly beautiful. And a huge turn-on.
"I'm just concerned, that's all! I mean, you've hated each other for years, I don't think you're ready for-"
"You're wrong!" Harry interrupted.
Draco heard an exasperated sigh and recognised it as Ron's. When he spoke again it was in a falsely calm voice. "Well, all I'm saying is that when you've hated someone, it's pretty dumb to expect that you can suddenly turn around and-"
"But I have."
"Yes, but don't you think it's a bit to soon to be saying-"
"Saying what, exactly?"
"Saying that you love him?"
Draco caught his breath; surely not. He must have misheard.
"I never said that, Ron. You're making assumptions."
Draco breathed a sigh of what he assumed to be relief, even as his heart clenched painfully and his stomach dropped a few metres.
"Well, I just think-"
"No, I've had enough! I don't need this shit from you, Ron! You're my best mate, for Merlin's sake. You're meant to support me."
"I'm trying to understand-"
"There's nothing to understand! All you need to know is that I want to be with him, and no one else. Indefinitely. I'm not saying anything about love. All I'm saying is that right now, and for the foreseeable future, there is no one other than Draco that I think I could love."
"And all I'm saying is that I don't think you should rush into things when you've hat-"
"Will you stop telling me how much I hated him? You don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, you told me how much you did."
"When? When was the last time you heard me say 'I hate Malfoy'?"
"Sixth year." Draco's stomach clenched and twisted as he heard the words, even though he had expected them.
"I never said it in sixth year."
"Why were you so obsessed with what he was doing, then, if it wasn't to catch him and get him in trouble?"
"Good word choice. Did you hear what you just said? Obsession and hate are two very different things," Harry said quietly.
"Oh, god," Ron said, "You are in love with him, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not. Not yet, at least. But I don't understand why it's such a big deal. Why are you making such a fuss? You were telling me, just yesterday, how much you think Draco's changed and how you think you could grow to really like him. You even said that you were already starting to consider him as a friend."
"Yes, well, that was before I-"
"And Draco told me that you effectively gave him your blessing," Harry added, making Draco cringe. He would pay for that later, when Ron found him.
"That was before I found out your intentions!" Ron said angrily.
"And what difference does it make to you, pray tell, whether I shag him or shag him and take him out to dinner occasionally?" Despite himself, Draco had to laugh a little at this comment; it was so like Harry to make a funny comment like that without even intending to.
Ron, however, did not seem to find it amusing. "It's just the seriousness of it all. You have to be really sure before you get into this kind of thing, Harry."
"Oh. Right. Like you were? Should I have waited until we'd been friends for six years before I made a move? Like you did?" Harry said, the sarcastic tone in his voice very pronounced.
"Well, obviously six years is quite a long time to-"
'Ron, I may not be around for very long. You of all people should know and acknowledge that. Let me be happy while I have a chance at it," Harry pleaded, and Draco knew, before Ron had even sighed in defeat, that Harry had done it.
"Fine," Ron sighed, "if it really does make you happy, I'll accept it. I just – want you to be careful. Don't get your heart broken."
"I won't," Harry agreed. "I'd better go get Draco… he said he'd be down – maybe he's fallen asleep again…"
Draco had nipped back to the top of the stairs when Harry had started speaking and was pretending to be just coming down when Harry left the kitchen. Harry's scowl immediately brightened into a smile when he caught sight of Draco.
"I thought you might be asleep," Harry said, meeting Draco at the bottom of the stairs and wrapping his arms around his waist.
"With that racket? Are you joking?" Draco asked, grinning to show he wasn't annoyed.
"I'm sorry. Could you hear what we were arguing about?" Harry asked worriedly, fixing Draco with such a piercing look that Draco felt compelled to tell the truth, even if he wanted to lie to make Harry feel better.
"Yeah, I did. Pretty hard to miss, really," Draco added, trying to lighten the mood.
Harry gave a small smile. "I'm sorry you had to hear that," he said seriously, leaning his forehead against Draco's and enjoying the proximity. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
"You should have cast a silencing charm," Draco admonished, laughing when Harry pulled away and fixed him with a glare.
"Prat. You're meant to say 'it's not your fault'."
"But that would be lying," Draco said cheekily, ducking out of Harry's reach as a light slap was aimed at the back of his head.
Dinner that night was a very quiet affair. No one spoke except to ask someone to 'pass the potatoes'. Hermione, of course, had been filled in on the argument by Draco, and was consequently ignoring Ron. Ron was in turn ignoring Hermione, though he and Harry caught each other's gaze and rolled their eyes at each other every so often to Hermione's great annoyance.
After dinner Hermione retired to hers and Ron's shared room, surprising everyone with a 'goodnight', albeit a less-than-cheerful one, before closing the kitchen door behind her.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they listened to her bedroom door closing upstairs.
Draco spoke first. "Sorry, I shouldn't have told her. I didn't realise it would have that effect," he said, glancing up at the ceiling to indicate Hermione.
"I would have told her, anyway," Harry said, "don't beat yourself up about it."
Draco raised his eyebrows at the expression. "No, I don't suppose I will go upstairs and punch myself in the face now that you've mentioned it," he said sarcastically.
"Muggle expression," Ron said in an explanatory tone, "he uses it a lot."
"Ah. Then perhaps you would like to know that the wizarding equivalent is 'don't hex yourself over it'." Draco said, grinning at Ron.
Ron grinned back as Harry considered the phrase. Finally he smiled. "Works for me," he said, rising from the table. "I can't be bothered with clearing the table tonight," and he pointed his fingers at the table as the dishes rose from the table and landed gently in the sink before beginning to wash themselves.
"Man, Harry, you've gotta warn us when you're going to do things like that," Ron said, slightly awed.
Harry said nothing, merely shrugging apologetically at Ron before he walked slowly and provocatively from the table to the door, swaying his hips in a deliberately enticing manner. Draco watched, transfixed, as Harry, having reached the door, turned his head back over his shoulder and gave Draco a smouldering gaze. Ron groaned as Harry disappeared from sight and Draco promptly scurried after him.