DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of it, JK Rowling and associates own all rights, no infringement intended, no money is being made, unfortunately.

WARNING; Pre-slash if you do not like do not read remember you have freedom of choice. Reviews appreciated but no flames those will be ignored.

STORY; as we get older and some of us actually mature you find that what you firmly believed was the truth can suddenly shift into something completely opposite and how you handle that shows what kind of adult you can become. Harry must deal with what he considers to be the weirdest summer of his life. Enemies become allies, friends become enemies, and sometimes there is a very thin line between love and hate, attraction and fighting. Poor Harry, poor Draco

PAIRINGS: HP/DM, SS/RL, GW/OC, RW/HrG, NL/LL

Chapter 10 Conversations and Dreams

Snape turned to glare at him but did not speak. Harry gathered his resolve trying to remember that Remus would not let Snape kill him, "Sir I think we really need to talk" halting forcing Snape to halt as well.

Snape hissed, "No Mr. Potter we don't, we need to get you inside before someone sees me escorting you home instead of to the Dark Lord."

"Sir with you under that glamour no one is going to recognize you. I really need to talk to you and would rather not have this conversation around the Dursley's" Harry insisted.

Snape looked at Potter standing there with his hands in his pocket, his face set in determined lines. Sighing and cursing Gryffindors to hell and back for being so stubborn he moved to the mouth of a nearby ally motioning Potter to follow him.

Harry shifted nervously from one foot to another not sure how to say what he needed to.

"Well Potter stop giving an impersonation of toddler in search of the loo and start talking." Snape smirked at the offended expression on Potter's face.

Harry ground his teeth wondering yet again, what the hell Remus could possibly see in the smirky bastard. "Look I know that we can't stand each other and I don't think that is going to change anytime soon but Remus cares about both of us and he is not going to be too happy if we keep sniping at each other in front of him. Besides he'd probably do something sappy like locking us in a room together until we made nice."

Here Snape winced having no problem imagining this scenario with his lover being so damned stubborn and set on doing the right thing.

"I want to declare a truce. I will hold my tongue if you will."

"You know Potter if I didn't know better I would say you actually just showed some common sense."

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he pointed at his shirt, "I decided that this would be a good motto for certain people."

Snape opened his mouth to say something rude but closed it when he thought about having to face a certain werewolf when he got back to headquarters. "Fine Potter we have a truce but I warn you the first insolent remark from you and all restrictions are off. Incidentally, this truce does not extend to our behaviour in front of the other students. I have a position to uphold and cannot change the way I behave towards you in front of witness."

"I am aware of your position as a spy and I will continue to treat you the same I always have in front of other students. That has nothing to do with the truce so you can't hold any remarks against me." Mentally he added, 'so there.' "However I will treat you with respect when we are alone and with the other members of the order and I expect the same courtesy from you." Harry finished speaking and stared steadily at the Potions Master. This was as good an offer as he could do.

Snape stared back with a looked of icy determination, "this truce applies to those sidekicks of yours as well Potter. It will be up to you to control them. Treat me with the respect I deserve and," here he paused and taking a deep breath spoke through clenched teeth, "I will do the same."

Harry wisely hid his grin at the effort Snape made to say that and held out his hand wondering if Snape would shake it or cut it off for potions ingredients.

Snape glare at the outstretched hand wondering how he could have stooped so low as to making peace with Potter, 'Oh yeah' he remembered 'Remus and that delightfully wicked mouth of his.' Stretching out his hand, he shook once and dropped it immediately as if it were a live fish. "Now may we get this trip over with, unlike some people I do have things to accomplish today?"

Harry gestured for Snape to precede him, all the while carefully hiding his own smirk.

Harry entered the house waving to Dudley who reminded him that they had their defence class the following day. As he got ready for bed, he found himself wondering how Draco was doing, if he was in pain and feeling lonely. Pausing in the middle of pulling off his shirt, he realised that he was worried about Malfoy the Evil Prince of Slytherins. Smacking himself upside the head, he forced his thoughts back to getting ready for bed. After letting Hedwig loose to hunt, he gratefully slipped his tired body into bed. He could nothelp the little smirk when he looked around the room and realised that it resembled his dorm room after all the transfiguration that he had done in the last couple of days.

Placing his hands behind his head, he tried to figure out what had happened to Malfoy. Something attacked him obviously but what was it and more important how did it get close to Malfoy? How did Dumbledore know he could be trusted? What could have happened in a week to make Malfoy go from attacking him to trying to force him to accept Remus and Snape's relationship? What was the debt of honour that he owed to Remus? He continued to mull over the facts not realising when the questions became more personal.

Who knew that Malfoy had muscles under those robes? Malfoy had always held his own when it came to fighting and in Quidditch; that is probably where he developed those strong shoulders and long lean muscles. He was a little taller then Harry was but he did not mind. He wondered if his hair was as soft as it looked especially now that it was short and not slicked back. Harry shifted uncomfortably in the bed trying to ignore the growing heat in groin. He found himself running one hand up and down his chest as if to soothe the tense muscles. He wondered what it would be like to feel Draco's hands on his chest instead of his own. Draco's hands were long and narrow but not delicate, there was a strength to them that was surprisingly erotic, and 'WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING?' he mentally shouted at himself.

Throwing the covers over his head, he ruthlessly turned his mind to his last essay on history of magic to empty his mind so he could sleep. He was not going to think about Malfoy anymore tonight.

Meanwhile back at headquarters….

Draco lay on his stomach in the large four-poster bed. He knew that he should take the potion that Severus had left him but his mind was too confused right now. Staring out the window into the night, he began trying to sort out his mind. So much had happened in the last two days that he was surprised he was still sane. His thoughts flittered to what had happened with his father but he forced those thoughts back, he was not going to think about that yet. Instead, he thought about his truce with Potter, who would have thought that would ever happen, not only a truce but also he would be training Potter in some of the fine points of Dark curses. Sev seemed sure that the Golden boy could defeat the Dark Lord and he intended to do everything in his power to make it work. Even if it meant working with Scarhead one on one, alone, for hours at a time, Draco groaned, Merlin help him he was losing his mind.

'Why was he thinking of Potter again?' Off and on since he had left with Sev to return home, the Boy Wonder would come wandering into his mind. 'Sure Potter was attractive in a kind of offbeat way if you liked silky dark hair, deep emerald eyes that seemed to light up a room, sleek muscles in a tanned body, not to tall either; he figured Harry was just the right height to fit comfortably against him. Merlin that mouth looked soft and pink and inviting and Merlin help him here he went again'. Draco began thumping his head into his pillow, "why (thump) couldn't (thump) Potter (thump) get (thump) out (thump) of (thump) his (thump) head (thump)." 'Maybe', he thought hopefully 'it was a spell, I can tell Sev he can un-hex me, and then I can hex the crap out of Potter. Wait cannot tell Sev or he will flip maybe I should just hex Potter anyway. Oh hell', he thought 'I forgot I need a new wand; maybe I should just take the potion and get some sleep. Tomorrow this will all be a bad dream, just your ordinary bad, hopeless, erotic dream. Ugh, where's the damned potion.'

Soon both boys were asleep dreaming about each other, and even though they would deny this until they were blue in the face, it was the best nights sleep either had in a long time.

Tbc