A/N: Soooo, I'm finally posting this. Yay:waves little red flag: Thank you every one who reviewed, you keep me going, special thanks to Orlandoroxmysox, Len, I couldn't have gotten this far without your lunch table suggestions, and thanks to Marta, my wonderful beta, who catches my mistakes and encourages me on! You all rock, every single one of you!
Disclaimer: I am only borrowing JKR's characters to amuse my sick mind. If I did own them, you know what would be happening in the movies and books……...anyway, they are not mine. If you don't like boy/boy love, please don't tell me I'm sick and wrong. I already know that.
Chapter 3---
"Oh. My. God." Hermione dropped to box of biscuits she'd been holding and backed up until she hit Harry's bedroom door, which swung open loudly. "Oh my God!" she repeated, louder this time. Harry was now fully awake, and he lifted the arm that supported Draco's head, managing to wake him as well. Draco sat up slowly, then saw Hermione's eyes widening at him and Harry, who had cuddled quite close during their sleep.
"Oh dear." He said quietly, trying to detangle his legs from Harry's. "I have a feeling this is not how you wanted to tell her."
"Okay, Hermione," Harry began, lifting his hands as if to calm a wild animal. "This is not, uh, quite exactly what it looks like."
"What is it, then?" she said faintly, stepping forward and crushing a chocolate chip biscuit under her shoe. She didn't seem to notice.
"Well, er, well…" Harry stuttered, "Dra—Draco wants to help the cause." Hermione goggled at them both. "Don't look at me like that, we were sleeping!"
♥♥♥
"Actually, now that I think about it," Hermione began, "It does make sense. I guess I kind of knew. You know, about you being gay and all." Harry nearly choked on the biscuit he was eating. Draco thumped him hard on the back, and his airway cleared.
"What?" said Harry incredulously. "You could tell before I could?" Draco sniggered, and Harry shot him a dirty look.
"It wasn't that hard," said Draco, leaning back in a recliner that looked as if it had been tossed in a cement mixer and resting his hands behind his head, a pale sliver of skin exposed where his shirt rode up. "You never seemed too interested in girls, and everyone heard about your Cho Chang fiasco. Even Longbottom's seeing a girl." Harry looked astounded at the blonde.
"When did that happen?" said Harry sceptically.
"Hannah Abbott, last year." said Hermione with a sly grin. Harry groaned heartily.
"Did everyone really suspect?" he asked, running a hand through his hair distractedly. Hermione nodded.
"Well, all except for Ron. If ever there was a patent case of denial, it was him." Harry groaned even louder and put his head in his hands. "What?"
"I'm going to have to tell him soon, Hermione!" he said, voice slightly muffled. "He'll never speak to me again." Hermione patted his back consolingly. Draco sighed, wondering how they would make it past this obstacle, and, stretching back farther in the recliner, managed to flip himself over the back of it into a bookcase. Draco peeked over the back of chair to see that Harry hadn't even cracked a smile, though Hermione was trying not to giggle.
"So much for cheering him up," the Slytherin muttered, taking a seat on the couch next to Harry. "I'm sure he'll accept you, you'll just have to give him time to adjust." How long that might take, I've no clue.
"But he has to," said Hermione. Draco looked over at her. She was looking at the biscuit box on the table in an odd, unfocused way, and he knew that she wasn't necessarily talking about Harry right then. Then she stood and said briskly, "Well, I'd better be going, I've things to do." She strode to the fireplace, and promptly flooed away, the fire smouldering slightly in the grate. Draco stared after her. Looks like she has secrets of her own, thought Draco, turning back to Harry.
"Well, let's write that letter than, shall we?" said the blonde, trying to be cheerful. When he'd finished, Harry gave it to Hedwig, who took off from her perch and flew away.
No sooner than an hour later, where the two filled in time by playing cards with the battered Muggle deck Harry owned, the headmistress arrived by floo, stepping briskly out of the fireplace and brushing ash off her emerald-green hat. Harry stood quickly, banging his head on the lamp above the dining room table. Draco followed his lead, and the stern woman surveyed both of them, arms crossed with her wand in one hand.
"Is this… him?" she asked, staring down at Draco through her glasses. Harry nodded and she walked over to the Slytherin, briskly rolled up his left sleeve. His skin was unmarred. The woman looked at Draco curiously.
"You don't get the Dark Mark right away," Draco explained, "you have to prove yourself first. I haven't."
She nodded slowly and took a small bottle of what could only be Veritaserum out of her robes. "I think you'll understand that you'll need to agree to Veritaserum before we can trust you." Draco nodded.
"I understand." He drank the potion, and the curiously blank expression crossed his face that Harry had seen before; on the face of Barty Crouch Jr. The headmistress gestured to both of them to sit down. "Do you wish to join the Order of the Phoenix for nefarious reasons in any shape or form?" she said, her eyes boring into Draco's disturbingly blank ones.
"No," he replied, his voice monotone. McGonagall sighed, hand unclenching from her wand.
"I suppose that's good enough. How did you…?" she began, looking at Harry, then shook her head. "Never mind," she said, perhaps deciding she really didn't want to know. She stood, pointing her wand at Draco's forehead. "Draco Malfoy, will you uphold the standards and morals of the Order of the Phoenix, do what is required of you and never harm any of its members?"
"Yes," he said, sounding like the potion was wearing off.
"Then you are now a member of the Order of the Phoenix." The blonde glowed briefly, the air near him seemed to shift and change, then suddenly everything was normal. Draco grasped his right inner arm, pushing up the sleeve to see a lightly coloured tattoo of a feather, shimmering slightly. "It's only seen by other Order members," said McGonagall, answering the blonde's unasked question. She sighed again, and, shooting the both of them another curious look, she walked back over to the fireplace.
"Well, I must go, I have errands to run and cannot stay." Without further comments, she flooed away.
Harry walked away from the table to sit on the couch, leaving Draco in an uneasy silence. Draco joined him at the couch, folding his hands in his lap. The blonde looked up from the floor to the brunette, and a question bubbled up from inside him.
"So…" he began, searching for the right words, "What exactly… is our relationship? What are we to each other?" Harry smiled shyly and scooted over to run his hands up Draco's arms to rest on his shoulders. From there Harry's hands cupped Draco's face gently, looking deep into the Slytherin's eyes.
"Why don't we just see what happens, hmmm?" he breathed. Before Draco could say a word, he and Harry were chest to chest, and the blonde was dizzy from the heat and the sudden increase both of their heartbeats. The brunette leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to the other boy's, and then began to kiss him in earnest. It was much sweeter than the first time they'd kissed, Draco decided, as he ran his tongue across Harry's lower lip, savouring the taste and texture. They pulled each other closer and closer until they were almost breathing unison. The Gryffindor ran his fingers through the hair at the nape of the Slytherin's neck, smiling still through the kiss. During this time, Hedwig returned to her perch, and respectfully turned to the window while the two boys began to truly fall in love.
