Harry leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips his hands found the smaller boy's hips and rested there. When he pulled back he saw the question in Draco's eyes, "I would like to be your boyfriend."

Draco smiled. "I'm quite glad."

:4 Privet Drive, Saturday:

"What is it?" Draco was lying across a couch, reading the Prophet and humming a long to a Clash song. An owl had just arrived and dropped a thin piece of parchment on the table in front of Ron.

"It's just a scrap," he said and flipped it over, "with some writing...You are gone for a reason. Find your reason, find your ending."

"What?" Draco stood and took it from the red-head. He read it and again, and a third time. "That's odd."

Ron nodded, "go tell Harry, he should know."

"Severus should know too," Draco said and went upstairs.

He opened Harry's door to find him asleep with the covers around his waist and no shirt.

Draco grinned mischievously and climbed into the bed after removing his coat and setting the paper and scrap aside. He straddled the Boy Wonder and rested his hands on Harry's chest. Draco leaned over and trailed his tongue up the center of Harry's chest and to his neck.

Harry let out a moan and shifted beneath him, his hands found their way up Draco's legs to his hips where he was held close. Draco slid his tongue over Harry's pulse and bit it lovingly. Harry gasped and awoke fully, he realized who was on top of him and he smiled. Harry turned his head and caught Draco on the lips for a morning kiss.

"What a way to wake up," he commented.

"I don't mind," Harry grinned and stretched, "what's up?"

"Certain parts of your anatomy," Draco commented and Harry turned scarlet, "I wouldn't mind taking care of that for you."

Harry raised his brows and saw the door shut of its own accord though it was most likely Blaise. "Are we there yet?" Harry asked but Draco rolled his silver eyes.

"Would you rather take a cold shower?"

"Not really," Harry had to let out a grin.

"That's what I thought," Draco kissed him again.

Harry felt Draco's hands trail down his stomach and under the sheets to his fully erect member. He shifted and Draco smirked.

"Oh Merlin," Snape reeled back. Blaise made a strangled noise from where he stood and covered his mouth and nose.

Draco and Harry shrugged but were then hit by a wave of realization. They scrambled to get away.

"I'm not one to comment," Snape said, "But that is disgusting."

Blaise nodded, "Sickening really," he said and clapped his hand back over his mouth.

"Horrific," Snape added.

"Vile."

"Putrid."

"Eye-gougingly painful."

"Yeah," Blaise nodded, "Ew."

"What?" Ron furrowed his brow, "It's for Art class."

They four remained silent.

"I know I'm not much of a painter," he said and turned to look at them all, "But you could have at least one nice thing to say."

"If that were a painting of a shit," Draco commented, "You'd be on par with Van Gogh."

"Except for that weird orange splotch in the centre," Harry pointed.

Ron put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot angrily, "You're not very helpful."

Blaise ventured into the lounge turned art studio, "I think it's got great potential," he said and pecked Ron on the cheek.

"Thank-you," Ron returned it.

"Woah now," Snape stopped them, "First of all; Blaise, don't lie to him, it's complete shit; second off, are you two…?"

Draco and Harry, with an arm around each other's waist, leaned forward to hear this.

Blaise shrugged, "We're chummy now that Dutch is back with whatshisface and Ron's all by his lonesome and so am I."

Snape raised his eyes heavenward, "I put four gay boys in a house together."

"For the record," Ron stated, "Harry and I didn't know we were gay."

Draco nodded, "I didn't know Harry was so cute either."

Harry grinned and pressed his lips to Draco's, "You're nice when you want to be."

"Aww," Blaise made a cute noise and laced his fingers with Ron's.

"Stop that," Snape snapped, "and you; never make that noise again."

"What? You pissed you're not getting shagged?" Blaise asked.

Ron had a pit of a spastic attack at the thought, "Don't say such things." He whispered hoarsely.

"None of your concern Blaise," Snape answered. "I just…don't want anyone breaking up and causing inner-house wars."

The four boys shook their heads, "We won't sir."

"I've also come to talk to you about this…scrap of paper," he retrieved it from his pocket.

"You're gone for a reason. Find your reason, find your ending." Blaise quoted, "It is a little bit weird."

"Tell us," Draco and Harry meandered into the lounge and sat on a couch, legs entwined together, "Why is Hogwarts closed for the year?"

Snape motioned for them all to sit, "The only thing I know is that Dumbledore discovered some sort of major flaw that couldn't be fixed before the year started. Some defensive weakness that he thought the Death Eaters would exploit, he had to make this choice. He worked for three weeks straight to set up the housing arrangements and clear it with the Ministry."

"Couldn't he have spent three weeks fixing the problem?" Draco asked with furrowed brows.

"In theory," Snape said, "He didn't tell anyone what happened. I don't think Minerva knows and she knows everything."

Blaise shifted, "If he's being so secretive it must be something really important."

"A new Chamber of Secrets?" Harry suggested.

"Maybe," Snape shrugged, "The only other clue is that Dumbledore spent all his extra time in a place called Il Libria Sola."

"The Sun Library," Draco translated, "The old Arcylian place on that island in the Mediterranean?"

Snape nodded.

"There must be a clue there," Harry said, "In what he was reading or researching."

Draco glared at a spot on the floor, "There's a huge section on Dark Magic, that's what the Library is famous for. He may be researching that."

"But Il Libria also has a refutable section on Coraxian Protective Magic," Snape said.

"He's turning to Coraxian methods?" Blaise wrinkled his nose, "They may be good but they're incredibly primitive."

"The founders used Coraxian methods, maybe that's where the flaw is. He's trying to figure out how to fix it and the only way is to go back into the original spell work," Draco offered.

"Pause," Harry held up his hands. "What are the Coraxian methods?"

Snape sighed, "Corax Nize was a great general a century or two before Hogwarts was built. He developed a special type of shield and protective spells, very strong ones that depended on Runes, stones and a central wizard or "drain figure" to power them. That is part of being the Head Master of Hogwarts, you are the drain figure, the one the many protective spells feed from."

"Maybe that's the flaw," Draco's head snapped up, "Dumbledore's not strong enough anymore to supply the shield as much as they need. He's trying to find some loophole so that it can be someone, or something else."

"That would explain how three weeks wouldn't be enough to fix it."

"And his infatuation with Il Libria Sola," Blaise commented.

"Though, it could be that he thinks the warm, sea air will do him good in his old age," Ron offered.

"Nothing short of a reincarnation will do him good," Draco snarled.

"Not a fan?" Harry asked.

"Not since he called me a spoilt pureblood elitist in Third Year," Draco said.

Snape snorted, "He was angry after you called him a washed up old coot with a bad case of toe fungus and halitosis."

"After he told mum she was married to the worst man in the wizarding world, just after Voldemort himself."

"After you told him he couldn't teach dragons to growl and that no one appreciated having a zombie for a head master."

Draco rolled his eyes, "He wasn't invited to the Shyian Ball to begin with."

"The Head Master said all those things to you?"

"We have a volatile relationship, he and I," Draco shrugged.

"Volatile like a Longbottom Potion," Snape muttered, "If this is our working thesis we should to something to verify it."

"Contact Il Libria," Draco said, "I have a good working relationship with them, I'm sure they'd be willing to help. If not we can just take a day trip down and make them cooperate."

"You're not going anywhere," Snape stopped him, "I got a report from a Counselor saying you've been terrorizing some freshman boy."

Draco seemed to think very hard, "Ah yes, his name is David Kilk, Orlando's younger brother and I was not terrorizing him. He approached me and I was my usual charming self."

Harry frowned, "Orlando has a younger brother?"

"Yes, he does," Draco nodded, "He's got black hair and eyes and he's real pale and got a funny shaped nose."

Harry remembered the kid, he was there on their first day when Draco made his grand appearance. He was the kid that looked ready to wet himself.

"Did he know you?"

"He said he met me once before," Draco admitted, "Something about polo game three years ago."

"You don't play polo," Blaise said.

"I know that," Draco answered, "He was following me so I gave him a death glare and a snarl and he ran off."

Snape shook his head, "These are muggles Draco, you can't do that sort of thing, they'll call the police and we'll end up living in Finland at some remote Zabini manor house."

"I hate Finland," Draco pouted.

"I love Finland," Blaise grinned, "So white."

Ron gave the other pureblood an odd look, "White?"

"Finland, Finland, Finland; that's the country for me!" Blaise was singing something.

"Shut up," Snape told him, "This is serious Draco, you cannot and I mean cannot get in any more fights. The Ministry heard about your fight with the muggle girl and they're cracking down. They'll order an inquiry and that'll make things very difficult."

"Traditional fish slapping song," Blaise sang and Draco immediately kicked his shoe into his hands and hucked it at the Italian. It collided with the side of his head and Blaise yelped in surprise. "Merlin, what was that for?"

"You are not to sing show-tunes while we're having a proper discussion."

"I can sing any thing I want any time I want," Blaise retorted

"Back to the point," Snape stopped them, "Draco, do you understand?"

Draco nodded, "I promise I'll avoid fights at any cost to my personal pride." He picked up Vireo as the puppy wandered in. "We won't fight, will we Vi?"

The puppy yipped happy and curled up on his lap to bask in adoration.

Snape seemed appeased, "We'll contact Il Libria in the morning…don't you all have homework?"

The four boys groaned but then Ron remembered he was doing his homework and he pointed this out. Snape observed the painting, "That is not work, that is vomit on canvas."

Ron stuck out his tongue after Snape turned to leave, "Next time you do that Mr. Weasley I'll cut your tongue off." Ron closed his mouth immediately and turned back to his painting.

Snape left the boys alone and wandered back downstairs. He paused in the hallway as he heard the voices of the two adults.

"I hate them all," Vernon snarled from his easy chair.

Petunia nodded, "They're so troublesome," she added. She was standing at the sink washing dishes.

"And the neighbors will start asking questions about all these ruddy owls and where we have room for five boys to live in the house."

"And why are they living here and who is that creepy fellow who keeps coming around."

"And all that," Vernon stopped her ramblings, "I don't like it one bit."

Petunia nodded, "You know Mrs. Usher from Number Seven asked about them the other day while I was watering the hydrangea? She asked who those three new boys were and where they came from. What was I supposed to say?"

"What did you say?" Vernon asked tightly.

"I told her they were foreign exchange students and we were reaching out to show underprivileged boys how nice life could be."

Vernon nodded, "Good."

Snape rolled his eyes.

"She walked of to talk to Mrs. Carter from Number Nine, I just know they were talking about us," Petunia began scrubbing a dish extra hard.

"We must do something to stop all this gossip," Vernon set his newspaper aside.

Petunia stopped cleaning and turned to her husband, "What were you thinking dear?"

"I haven't a clue," he admitted, "Doesn't the Carter girl…Natalie, go to Stonewall?"

Petunia nodded, "She's a Junior this year, just like them."

Vernon frowned, "Hmm, I can't imagine she knows or likes them."

"Who could like those little freaks?"

Snape snarled and left the house, making sure to slam the door as he went. Petunia and Vernon looked up at the door leading from the kitchen to the hallway. They both filled with dread as they heard the Porsche purr to life.

Severus left the house just in time to see a silver and magenta haired girl leap from a second story window into a crushed looking lavender bush. He nearly smiled at the image and drove away.

His place was no more than five minutes from Number Four, it was over on Elm Shire Road, a private road with smaller, cottage style homes. The lawn was a dark green, kept alive by an automatic watering spell. The rose bushes beneath the front window and the creeping ivy up the walls were watered the same way. They were kept trimmed and tidy and the windows were usually covered by the dark green drapes. Inside it was no fancier than on the outside, mostly dark woods with green.

Snape pulled into the driveway, got out and pulled the paper from under the front tire. He straightened up, examined the front page through the plastic wrap and then waved to the neighbor standing on his lawn with a warm mug of coffee.

"Morning Alan," he nodded.

"Morning Severus," the balding man smiled, "A woman came by earlier looking for you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Alan walked to the short fence that parted the properties, "Said her name was Nymph Tonks, she was quite the nymph if you know what I mean," he grinned.

"Ah," Snape nodded and forced a chuckle, as any muggle male would, "Yes, she's quite the woman. Did she say what she what she wanted?"

Alan thought, "Well, she was standing there screaming at your door for a good five minutes before I came out to see what the racket was, Greg and Mike came out too. She muttered something about 'bleeding old coots and their cauldrons' before she said anything about her name. She said that when you came back you ought to ring her."

Snape nodded, eyes scanning the paper after he removed it from the bag, "Thanks Alan."

"Any time Severus," he smiled and raised his mug in a good-bye and walked back to stand in the middle of his yard.

Severus went to the door and unlocked it. Inside he could smell burnt toast and tea.

"Hello Tonks," he said without even looking up.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Alan told me you came by," he explained and raised his head to see her sitting in the arm chair by the fire.

"Oh," she sipped her tea, "Where were you?"

"With the boys," he answered, "They got a message and we were brainstorming ideas about what it meant."

"What did it say?"

"There's a reason you're gone. Find your reason, find your ending." He repeated.

"Hermione wrote me to say she got one too."

"The same message?"

Tonks nodded, "She wanted to write to Dumbledore but the owl came back, couldn't find him."

Snape nodded, "It's been that way for three or four days now. I tried to floo to Hogwarts yesterday but something blocked it. Apparation to the gates is blocked too, I found myself in the middle of Hogsmeade and the castle was shielded from view."

Tonks sipped her tea, "I'm really worried."

Snape sat down and sighed, "We came up with a few ideas about what's going on."

She set her tea aside and picked up a roll of parchment and a quill, "I'll take notes."

OH MY GOD! I feel so horrible for putting this story on hold for so long. This is happening and I feel so bad about it. I like this story, I do, I hit a massive block and I finally worked through it and I hope you like it and you don't hate me too much. I may hit another one, I may not, it IS Friday so I have the weekend to work on another chapter and maybe I'll get that up.

If you still like this story, please review it!

It helps me generate ideas.

LOVE
FireStorm
AGAIN, I'm SOOOOO sorry, I love you and...yeah...sorry.