AN: This beginning of this chapter is going to take a step back some. Not anything crucial but for the first half it's going to go back some since it's focused on Severus (and Dumbledore) and a vital part of the story. Sorry for any confusion there may be!

Chapter 12: Suspicions, Wandering thoughts and the Date

Severus Snape was sweeping through the halls black robes billowing around him in his usual style. It was a half hour after dinner and he was on his way to Dumbledore's office where the headmaster had called a meeting to explain to him and McGonagall exactly what had happened that morning. After that morning's incident with Potter Dumbledore had informed them that he would answer the questions they had been asking after dinner.

Severus was very interested to know what was going on. He had seen display's before of a person losing control of their magic when emotional or stressed out but yesterday had been interesting. The power that Potter had showed spoke volumes of how powerful the boy would be but something seemed off about the incident. It would seem as nothing more than a burst of emotion that lashed out in his magic and acted as any normal stressed witches or wizards would. But the magic had felt strained in a sense and he wasn't sure why that was. Something had been off about Potter's magic, he was sure of it. But what had been off was beyond him. He had a few ideas but they were skeptical at best. Arriving at the gargoyle he bit out the password and strolled through and onto the moving stairs. Once at the top he opened the door and strode into the room.

"Severus," Dumbledore greeted with a smile to the potions master. Severus nodded as he took a seat in one of the chairs set in front of the headmaster's desk. "Minerva should be along any minute now. Lemon drop?" he asked holding out a tin of yellow candies.

"No thank you Albus," he declined with a small shake of his head. They waited in silence until McGonagall entered the room and took a seat. She, too, turned down the offer of a lemon drop.

"Alright Albus we're here. Now explain, please, what happened today," McGonagall said, lips pursed, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed.

"Well my dear professors," Dumbledore began in a calm tone. "After the arrival of the…item…from Voldemort today its effect on Harry was expected. His magic lashed out in his highly emotional state. It's common, as you know, for that to happen.

"Yes it is Albus but Potter blacking out wasn't expected. Also," Severus said voice calm and even, not giving anything of his thoughts away. "The magic that could be felt coming off him felt different somehow, almost strained as if it was forcing itself out of him. Why would that be?"

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed so minutely that it would have been missed if Severus wasn't so trained to watch people's actions. Dumbledore tilted his head fractionally to the side as if in thought. "Well Severus, my boy," he began and his voice sounded completely calm and normal. "Harry is coming into his magical maturity and his magic will be trying to level itself. We all knew he would be powerful one day. Obviously all the strain; Voldemort's supposed gift and his magic trying to find the best outlet possible it was all too much for him."

"That makes sense Albus, especially considering last year's events and the lost of his godfather. Poor boy must be under all kinds of stress," McGonagall stated with a small shake of her head for her student.

"Yes, I'm sure Potter's fragile Gryffindor sensibilities have him wrought with guilt," Severus sneered, keeping his thoughts to himself. Somehow he was sure Dumbledore was holding back something, positive of it really. Dumbledore was hiding something about this whole mess.

McGonagall glared at the black haired man beside her. "The boy has been through a lot Severus," she said tersely.

"Yes, he has been but let's hope no more incidents like this occur. Well if there are no more questions?" he looked to both who shook there heads silently. "I think were done for now then. Would either of you like to have tea before you leave?" they both declined politely before standing and leaving the office.

Severus began to stalk in the direction of the dungeons and his rooms. His mind was set on the conversation that just took place and what he thought. He was definitely suspicious of what the headmaster said. While the answers the old man gave were logical he just had a gnawing feeling that something was missing from what Dumbledore had said. The old coot was known to leave out bits of information before so why not now? Maybe a little research was in order.

It was night, well into it really but he couldn't sleep. Or more specifically he didn't want to sleep. So he took to wandering around an unused part of the castle, strolling almost casually through the dusty corridors. It was another one of those nights with no Dreamless Sleep potion and thoughts raging in his mind. Draco didn't know whether to appreciate these nights or not anymore. The corridor was lighted with moonlight that streamed in through the windows that decorated the hall.

The last two weeks had been hectic to say the least. The starting of the month had been a decidedly horrible way for anyone to have it start and Draco felt bad that Harry's month started out the way it did. He always knew from the stories his father had told him and others that had been hearsay that the Dark Lord is harsh and cruel but the 'gift' he had sent Harry on the first of February had, admittedly surprised him. And the Howler was just terrible. As a Slytherin Draco could see the opportunity for the emotional and mental damage that it was, as any good Slytherin would. But as Harry's friend now and knowing Harry better than he had before he couldn't help but feel sorry about the incident that occurred.

But what happened after that was something that still shocked Draco. The feel of the magic at Hogwarts is always there, never suffocating but always felt. The heaviness of the magic that rolled off Harry that day, that seemed to saturate the air in his rage had been overwhelming, intense. Even at the Slytherin table he had felt it and, as he remembered the brief glance at his housemates, he knew that they had felt it also. And then Harry had fallen to the ground, having blacked out. But Draco hadn't forgotten the magic that had rolled off of Harry. The other boy was going to be powerful there was no doubt about that.

Sighing Draco stopped by a window and stared out onto the grounds of Hogwarts. He had been purposely avoiding thinking about it but with the events of the first of February having happened the thoughts had invaded his mind. Voldemort, the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Whatever you wanted to call the bastard, it didn't matter in the scheme of things. He knew that soon, most likely within the next year if not less that You-Know-Who would be in the stage of recruiting his followers' children. And Draco knew that he was pretty much sure about not wanting to join, having too much knowledge of what being a Death Eater entailed.

He shuddered involuntarily as he thought about it. In fourth year, or the summer after it, when he wasn't busy with things for Voldemort, Lucius had decided to show Draco some of his memories of the Dark Lord's first reign and Death Eater meetings. It was his father's way, he had suspected, of letting Draco know that he would be joining Voldemort and what he should expect. Admittedly, it wasn't what he was expecting and it hadn't done anything for him but put fear in him and started the slow burn of not wanting to join the madman. The memories were placed in a pensieve and he viewed meetings, raids and dark revels. Before the age of fifteen he had seen torture, death and rape and he was sickened by it. Even more sickened that his father seemed to enjoy all that went on. It may have been second-hand, seeing it through someone else's point of view but it didn't make it any better to see.

Shaking his head quickly, he glared harshly out of the window. He couldn't think about that anymore not tonight anyway. He closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, grey eyes intense. Licking his lips he scowled at nothing in particular. It was two days until Harry's date with that Ravenclaw Chang, and for some reason Draco couldn't understand he felt mildly annoyed about it. Ever since Harry had told him about the date he had felt an irrational irritation about it. Harry was going on a date with Cho Chang. Why should he feel annoyed by that?

There were a few reasons he knew why he would feel annoyed by this event and none of them remotely set well with him. One would be that if Harry began spending more time with Chang he would be spending even less time with him and this option made Draco seem childish and needy. He wasn't childish or needy, thank you very much and that choice was preposterous. But the other choice wasn't any better and possibly worse. Draco wasn't a stranger to attractions to the same gender. There were a few stints with a couple of girls; Pansy being the first in fourth year which he found sexually satisfying if nothing else and a string of girls during the summer after fourth year.

Fifth year through all that had been going on had been eye opening to Draco. He had begun admiring other males. At first he had chalked it up to anything but attraction; those good at Quidditch, those most likely to blame things on when he was in trouble, those most probable to use for blackmail purposes, anything but sexual attraction. But soon just looking had turned into dreaming, dreams that had left him sweating, panting and hard and a mix of disgusted with himself and slightly curious. Of course he had had no such intention to act on his sudden interest. How could he without being found out and it being reported back to his father? Merlin knows the man had enough ammunition to beat him for already.

His chance to find out though had come suddenly and without a proper warning. It had been after a Quidditch practice that it had happened.

He had stayed longer than his housemates to shower, having reveled in the chance to be alone and away from everyone. Besides he didn't want to walk back to his room sweaty and dirty. He had been standing under the warm spray slowly stroking his hard cock. He had been taking the time to indulge himself and figured no one would be coming back down. His hand had been gripped firmly around his cock and his hand stroking lazily. He had been oblivious to the world around him and he had stupidly let his guard down. So he had never seen or heard him enter the locker room. Hadn't even known he wasn't alone until a hand was settled firmly on his hip. He had tensed immediately and spun around quickly only to come eye to collarbone with someone. When he had looked up he had looked into the dark blue eyes of Adrian Pucey who was a 7th year Slytherin. He remembered it as if it had been yesterday that it had happened.

Flashback

Draco was looking up into those dark blue eyes extremely aware of his state of nudeness and his arousal. Adrian was smirking down at him with a look Draco wasn't sure he really wanted to classify in his eyes. Adrian was shirtless dressed only in black soft wool trouser and black shoes. Uncomfortable with the situation Draco used the tactic he knew best.

"What do you want Adrian?" he asked as calmly as he could. He shifted imperceptibly from one foot to the other in his uneasiness.

"I think it's what you want Draco," Adrian drawled smoothly reaching pass the frozen blonde with his free hand to turn the water off. He drew his hand back after the water was off and settled it on Draco's other hip.

"What do you mean by that? And remove your hands from me," Draco said coldly, glaring at the other boy. The other Slytherin was very attractive and Draco wasn't blind and with his newfound, though grudging attraction to the same sex he had noticed the other boy. And his sudden close proximity wasn't doing Draco any good.

Adrian's hands tightened briefly on the pale hips before caressing slowly up and down Draco's sides. "Come now Draco," Adrian purred as he leaned forward slowly and licked up Draco's neck. The blonde tried to pull away and the hands now once again on Draco's hips tightened almost painfully. "Your eyes have been wandering lately and don't think I haven't noticed that they have wandered over me more than a few times." He pulled back and smirked at the blonde.

"What makes you think I would use my precious time to give the likes of you a spare glance Pucey?" He asked and when he spoke his voice was a tad more breathy then he would have cared for it to be and his tone not nearly as icy as he would have liked. He glared at the other boy fiercely hoping to intimidate him.

Adrian smirked; his glare wasn't doing anything obviously and the other Slytherin leaned in again. He pressed soft lips against the blonde's ear. "Please Draco I've been noticing that you've been passing glances towards other boys. Oh, don't misunderstand you have been discreet but I watch. You in particular I've watched for little more than a year. You're a very attractive boy Draco, gorgeous really." And then Adrian caught the pale lobe between his teeth and began to nipple gently.

Draco involuntarily moaned at the feeling before biting down on his bottom lip. He brought his hands up and tried to push Adrian away but the other was stronger and bigger than him and grasped his hips tighter in response. "Let me go this instant Pucey or so help me I'll hex you from here to Wales and back!" Draco bit out harshly.

Adrian licked at the shell of Draco's ear, nipped at it once more and pulled back to smirk at Draco who had shivered a bit at the action. "Now, now, now Draco aren't you interested to know what its like to be touched," he said in a low, sultry voice as he stroked his hands up Draco's sides softly. "Kissed," he leaned in and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to the corner of the pink lips that were pursed together. "Fondled," he chuckled throatily as one hand reached down and ran feather-light over the blonde's erection and Draco made a strangled sound in the back of his throat at the action. He leaned in again, lips pressed to the pale ear and whispered hotly, "And sucked by another guy?" before nipping at the pale ear again.

Draco trembled minutely under the ministrations of the other boy and half-heartedly cursed himself for it. He was extremely interested, no matter how much he had protested in his mind. That low male voice whispering in his ears with obvious hints of promises of pleasures of a kind he considered forbidden was making him lose his sensibilities. Pull yourself together! A part of his brain was screaming at him. He made an effort to pull himself together, to think. Pulling in a deep breath he shoved harder at Adrian than he had before and the other stumbled a bit letting go of him before straightening and smiling lasciviously.

Draco was breath just a bit more heavily and he tried to pull himself together and look like the Malfoy he was supposed to be. Standing as straight as possible with his best glare in place he snapped, "Your mad Pucey if you think I'd let you touch me, WILLINGLY, anymore than your filthy hands have already." He was thinking fast trying to figure the best way this little confrontation could go. He wanted to try this, Merlin, but did he want to. The only problem was making sure Pucey kept his mouth shut and didn't mention it because if it got back to his father – break that line of thought now Draco, he thoughtbecause he knew it would only lead to unpleasant thoughts.

"Well," Adrian drawled in that smooth tone of voice again. "I wouldn't take you unwillingly, so if your not willing I can just leave and find someone who is." he shrugged elegantly and turned around walking to the bench his shirt was on and picking it up. Draco saw and watched as he was about to pull his shirt back on, didn't want him to really, knew the other was playing this game to get him to stop him and he despised the other boy and himself for what he did next.

"How do I know you won't use this against me?" he said hating himself for even saying the words. Adrian half turned to look at the blonde, his white button up shirt hanging half on at the crook of his elbows and an eyebrow arched.

"What would there be to gain from it? Hmm?" Adrian asked casually.

"My utter humiliation for one," Draco bit out.

"I'll let you in on a little something Draco," Adrian said stepping towards the blonde a bit. "Half of the combined 6th and 7th years, both males and females, have tried something with the same sex. The majority of the time nothing comes from it, we have our fun before we go off and marry the opposite sex and produce heirs, some of the times having lovers on the side. It's the pure-blood curse as you know. Now you do have that odd one percent that tends to disregard the pure-blood tradition and never marry the opposite sex and, well you could imagine what happens then. Unless you come of age and then declare you're not going to marry, or through circumstances you somehow gain control of your inheritance, well, there's nothing that can be done. You have control of what you were to receive by inheritance and that's that. But those rarely ever happen because we all just do as tradition and marry and produce heirs." He shrugged as he continued.

"It's a well known and well accepted part of being a Slytherin, being a PURE-BLOOD which you'll understand next year. It's only held between 6th and 7th years and not all participate no matter that it's accepted in the magical world but it's held between the two years as an unspoken agreement to keep silent. I'm giving you the privilege of knowing before hand. There are a few other 5th years that know but that's because a 7th year approached them. This is our seventh year so were sort of fulfilling our fantasies while we can."

Draco tried to digest all he had been told. It was a lot to take in and he was stunned about this apparent secret of the 6th and 7th year Slytherins. His father and mother never mentioned much of their schooldays and he wondered if this tradition for the higher two years of Slytherins had existed then. He looked at Adrian with a calculating look trying to determine if he was telling the truth.

Adrian moved closer to Draco but refrained from touching him. "Whatever happens remains between us. We may be Slytherins but we do have our own code of…morals I guess you could say or ethics maybe. Either way, Slytherins stick together as you know and we hold secrecy unless it's advantageous to us. It's not like anything will come of it, after this year I leave to do whatever with my life, marry some pure-blood witch and produce an heir. Whatever happens remains between us," he repeated.

Draco thought about it some more before agreeing.

End Flashback

After he had agreed they hadn't done anything more than Adrian giving him a blow job and Draco returning with a hand job that Adrian had said was the best way to start off since he was unsure. He had awkwardly tossed the other off not really sure what to do and Adrian had given him his first blow job by a guy. After that encounter in the shower they had had a few more where during one of last ones Draco had tentatively and unsurely given his first blow job to another guy. Adrian had coached Draco on the best ways to go about it and he had learned under the older Slytherins tutelage. They hadn't gone further than giving each other blow jobs but Draco had learned from Adrian the finer points of being with another male. He had even explained the way of sex to him though they never went that far, Draco just couldn't work himself up to try that yet. And true to his word the fact that he, Draco Malfoy, was having any kind of sexual relations with another male was never brought up.

During the summer after the Aurors searched the manor for Dark Art's objects he and his mother had taken a vacation to France. Without his father around and his mother too busy caught up in herself he was able to have some fun and indulge his recent desire for the male gender. That summer he had had after much consideration and thought decided he wanted to know what it was like to be with another man in that way. So he had, with the careful brew of glamour potions, changed how he looked – the eyes and hair anyway. That summer a wonderful French teen, Jean-Luc, another wizard who he had met and had frequent encounters with was the one he finally sought to drown his curiosity in.

Jean-Luc had been patient with him and had seemed to understand his hesitancy and 'virgin' status when it came to men. The other boy, who had dark hair and eyes and a pale complexion like his own, had been easy to talk too coupled with his own new identity, Destin, a honey brown haired and ocean blue eyed teen. Draco was able to without repercussions let the other know that, no, he hadn't done that before. Jean-Luc had let him top first explaining that he, being the more experienced could coach Draco/Destin. After that first time Draco had asked what it was like to bottom and Jean-Luc had explained that it was a wonderful feeling once you got comfortable with it and explained that as long as you were prepared properly it would be easier. He had said that there would still be a bit of pain, granted but if done right the pleasure would be worth it. And Draco had found after finally getting himself worked up to bottom that Jean-Luc had been right and that, yes, it was worth it.

Shaking him self back to reality Draco looked out the window again and sighed. So he might just be, maybe, a little attracted to his friend who happened to be going out with some girl this weekend. But Harry was obviously straight and his very, very small attraction was easy to ignore. Or so he told himself. Heaving another side Draco turned away from the window and headed back to his room head only slightly more clear than before.

Harry woke a bit earlier than usual Saturday morning and briefly wondered why before it came to him. Today was Saturday and the day he was supposed to go on a date with Cho Chang. Harry lay back in his bed and stared at the canopy ceiling. He was going on a date with Cho today, they were going to have lunch together and then hang out after that and for some reason he felt a bit uneasy about it. When he had went out with Cho back in fifth year he had felt uneasy then too but today his uneasiness felt a bit different. Then it had been because he really liked Cho had wanted to go out with her and was worried about screwing things up. But he had gotten over his crush on Cho and now basically just found her attractive as he had before. He only agreed really, because he was hoping for something to take his mind of things.

With a heavy sigh he rose from the bed and decided to get ready for the day, pushing his uneasiness to the back of his mind. Once showered and dressed, his dorm mates having woken up while he was showering were also dressed, he and Ron walked down to the common room where Hermione was waiting for them.

"You look very nice today Harry," Hermione said with a smile as she looked at her friend. He was wearing black baggy jeans that hung low on his hips and hugged nicely at his waist and ass and a blue sleeveless shirt that fitted his upper body well. The shirt had a black wolf on the front in a defensive stance as if ready to attack and he was wearing his black combat boots. His hair was as wild and untamed as ever with that 'just out of bed' or 'just shagged' look and his eyebrow had a blue barbell in it that match his shirt. All in all he looked very attractive.

"Thanks Hermione," Harry said with an almost embarrassed sort of grin.

"What about me Hermione, don't I look nice?" Came the whiny question from the redhead who stood beside Hermione. Harry barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes at the jealousy he could hear in Ron's voice.

"You look nice also Ron." Hermione said leaning in to kiss her boyfriend on the lips as he smiled happily at her. Harry did roll his eyes this time as he turned and began heading toward the portrait.

"Now lets go eat!" Ron exclaimed from behind Harry somewhere and together the three walked down to the Great Hall. As Harry walked into the Great Hall he passed a look over to the Ravenclaw table to see if Cho was there. She was there chatting among her friends and looked up as if she felt the stare on her. When she saw it was Harry she gave him a smile that he returned and a small look from under dark lashes before turning back to her friends. Harry sat down across from Ron and Hermione and began to eat his breakfast.

Breakfast passed quickly and then the three friends were on their way to Hogsmeade. The walk there was pleasant enough and for the first time in awhile Harry was not quite as annoyed to be around his friends. They walked around a few of the shops before it was time for Harry's lunch date with Cho. Ron and Hermione were walking with him there before they would separate.

"Now Harry, try to have a good time with Cho today. This might help you out of this bad mood you've been in," Hermione said in that tone Harry was really starting to hate. He sighed; knowing that he may have been a bit snappier than usual and a bit colder but Hermione's statement irked him.

"Hermione," Harry said holding back a long suffering sigh.

"Just try to have a good time, okay Harry?" she said quickly before he could say anything.

Harry rolled his eyes and this time let his long-suffering sigh be heard. "Alright Hermione," was his dry, monotonous reply. He didn't know why his friend was making such a huge deal of this when he barely cared. He felt apathetic about it all. Indifferent, really, not interested nor uninterested just aware of it. They reached the door to the Three Broomsticks and Harry went inside as Ron and Hermione went off someplace else. Looking around he saw Cho sitting at one of the tables and when she saw him she smiled as he walked over to her.

"Hi Cho," he said not really sure what else to say. She gave a small laugh as she gestured him to sit.

"Hi Harry," she said. There was an awkward pause that followed until Madam Rosmerta came up and asked them what they wanted. They each ordered and then sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"So," Harry said after a moment. "How are your classes going?" It was a neutral if lame attempt at conversation but it was the best he could do.

"They've been good, though, Snape's a slave driver with his class. Not anything unexpected just really annoying I guess," she said with a shrug and a roll of her eyes.

"I know what you mean," Harry said glad to at least have the uncomfortable silence gone. Madam Rosmerta came back with their lunch and set it down before walking away. "Sometimes I can't decide whether he hates me more or the fact that I got into his 6th year class but he seems to have some weird thing for making each and every one of my classes complete hell."

"Yeah, I've heard how he treats you in class. It's really horrible," she said touching a hand softly on his arm with a sympathetic smile. He shrugged and returned her smile.

"Yeah, well, I've been putting up with that since 1st year. You get kind of used to it after a while." He said as he took a bite of his lunch. "That and also showing that I actually know what were learning tends to either throw him off a bit or make him even angrier." He said and passed a look around him. There were a few other students about, some with dates or some with groups of friends. Wonder what Draco's up to, he absently thought wondering what his blonde friend could be doing at this moment while he was here on a date that he was indifferent about.

"…don't you think?" Harry snapped back to attention realizing he had probably been zoning out for a bit.

Giving Cho a sheepish smile Harry said: "Uh, sorry. What was that you said?"

She gave him a rather odd look before shaking her head. "I said that DADA this year is much better with Devington compared to Umbridge. Don't you think so?"

"Oh! Yeah, it is much better but anyone had to be better than Umbridge. I would have been surprised if someone could be worst than her. Devington's done a great job so far this year," Harry replied. They spent a few minutes talking about the DADA classes as they ate their lunches and things began to relax a bit. It seemed a bit easier to talk to her now that she didn't seem to be crying and bringing up horrible events. The rest of their lunch passed with conversations of Quidditch, interests and other such things. Harry found his attention wander a few times wondering what Ron and Hermione were doing, or what Draco may be doing.

"Would you like to head back to the castle with me?" Cho asked when there was a pause in the conversation.

"Yeah, sure I guess," Harry answered with a shrug. He didn't know where Ron and Hermione were and didn't feel like really taking the time to find them.

"Great, let's go!" They rose from the table, Harry paying for the lunch, before they left the Three Broomsticks and began their trek back to the castle. They walked in comfortable silence for a bit, side by side as they walked back to the castle. Halfway there, as they were walking back through the forested part that would lead to the gates of the castle Cho stopped. When Harry realized she did he, too, stopped and looked at her questioningly.

"Cho?" he asked, looking at her a bit puzzled. She was giving him an odd look as she moved closer to him. Harry was vividly reminded of the D.A. meeting before Christmas break and what had happened then. He wondered if Cho was going to kiss him again. He stood there rooted to the spot. Cho stood in front of him and before he could even react soft lips were pressing to his. Shocked, he stood there frozen for a moment before he pressed his lips back to hers. Her arms came up to around his neck as their lips moved lightly against each other. As he slid his arms around her waist, he lightly ran his tongue across her bottom lip. The mouth under his opened and his tongue glided in rubbing lightly against Cho's. Finally the need for air became an issue and Harry pulled back.

They looked at each other for a moment before Cho smiled. Harry returned with a small smile himself.

"That was nice," Cho said, looking up at Harry from under her lashes coyly. Harry 'hmmed' lightly. They shared another kiss before they continued their journey back to the castle.

"Well I guess I'll see you later then?" Harry said as they were about to separate.

"Yeah I guess I'll see you around," she replied with a small smile. They stood their awkwardly for a moment before Harry turned and began walk in the direction of Gryffindor tower. Cho's smile slowly slid into a smirk as she watched the black haired boy leave.

This will be easy, she thought as she turned to head back to Ravenclaw.

Harry left Cho not really knowing what to think of the date. On the one hand he was glad it went so well but on the other he wasn't sure why he felt a bit uneasy about it all. As he went on his way he contemplated about the date. He was so deep in thought he didn't even notice where he was going until he walked into another person.

"Hey! Watch where you're go…Oh!" that was a familiar voice and Harry looked up quickly to see none other than Draco Malfoy who was looking at him from his sprawled position on the stone floor. "Potter," was said with a small sneer. "Why don't you watch where you're going you clumsy oaf?"

Harry picked himself up from the floor and glanced around casually. "Sod off Malfoy its not like I walked into you on purpose," Harry said. Draco looked around the hall before smirking at Harry.

"So how was the date?" he asked and quirked a brow. Harry shook his head and gestured the blonde to follow him. With an odd look Draco followed Harry at a small distance. Harry ducked into an almost unseen alcove and Draco after a moment followed in behind him. The alcove was slightly bigger than a broom closet. "How did you know this was here?"

"I just do," Harry said as he pulled his wand and cast a quick silencing charm. "It was okay I guess. I wasn't really all that excited about it to begin with if you remember. But yeah, I guess it was okay. We ending up kissing," Harry said with a shrug, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes, therefore missing the brief flash of jealousy that momentarily lit stormy grey eyes.

"Oh, you kissed?" Draco said in an even tone with a raised eyebrow. Harry opened his eyes and stared at the blonde for a moment.

"Yeah we kissed, twice, no big deal really." Harry said carelessly.

"Was it any good? I remember you told me about a kiss with her before. How did you describe it? Ah, yes, I believe you said it was "wet and a little disturbing, nothing at all like you expected" or something along those lines." Draco said tone still even. He knew his jealousy was fueling this and he should stop because, really, it could only end badly.

"That was how it was the first time around, last year. This time was better considering she wasn't crying. What they hell is wrong with you though?" Harry asked looking at the blonde with an expression between confusion and mild irritation. Draco's expression was shuttered, unreadable, something Harry hadn't seen since they made the transition from truce to friendship and it bothered him. Dug under his skin and irritated him like a rash.

"Nothing is wrong with me," Draco bit out calmly. "I was just politely asking about your date with Chang, is all."

"Then why are you being so, I don't know, annoying about it, more annoying than usual anyway?" Harry snapped glaring at his friend. He had straightened up form the wall and was now standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm not being annoying, just curious as to how your date went," Draco said much more calmly and without the earlier bite.

"Huh, could've fooled me Draco, you seem a bit irritated." Harry replied.

"Well I'm not Harry," Draco snapped back and then rolled his eyes. "I'm glad you had such a nice time with Chang. Now if you excuse me I'm going to my room."

"You can be such a prat sometimes," Harry muttered under his breath. "Check the hall before just step out, people should be coming back from Hogsmeade now." Harry said louder looking at the blonde's back as he was about to leave. He got no reply but a quick backward glance and nod before Draco left the alcove. Breathing a heavy sigh Harry wondered what the hell just happened as he too left the alcove. Luckily there were no students around but Harry could hear them in the distance. With a quick look around he hurried off to Gryffindor tower. He met Ron and Hermione on the steps leading to the tower.

"Hey Harry," Ron said as he saw his friend approaching.

"How was you date?" Hermione asked with a smile on her face.

"Hey, guys and it was fine," he said. Ron and Hermione gave him expectant looks and he sighed realizes they probably wanted to know what happened on the date. They entered the portrait and sat together in a somewhat secluded part of the common room. Once seated Harry recanted the date for his friends down to the kiss. When asked again how it was, was it better than before – what was with that question today anyway? He thought – he gave them the same answer as he had Draco. When their curiosity was satisfied enough Ron ventured a game of Exploding Snap and Harry accepted. Hermione sighed and pulled out a book to read. Things almost seemed normal between the three again.

Draco stalked to his room after leaving the alcove, bit out the password and threw himself into a chair. That had gone in a spectacularly fucked up way, Draco realized with a grimace. His stupid jealousy just had to rear its ugly head at that moment. He didn't mean to sound so much like a complete prat for once. But seeing Harry looking very nice in what he was wearing and knowing that it was for his date with that stupid Chang bint had just made him want to hex Cho Chang with something very nasty and unpleasant. And then to hear that they had kissed, twice, was just a twisting to the metaphorical knife.

Deep breath Draco, he thought and did so taking a nice long and deep breath in and exhaling it slowly through his nose. He should have expected something like this, honestly he should have. It was a date, and people tend to kiss on dates. It didn't help Draco that he was attracted to Harry. It was a crush that's all, Draco reasoned with himself calmly. And crush aside he knew he liked spending time with the black haired boy. They had many things in common and Draco found it easy to talk to Harry and he was sure Harry found the same thing with him. Harry was someone who could understand and Draco was glad for that.

He sighed again and put his head in his hands. He didn't want to think about this anymore, about how he let his jealousy rule him for that brief moment. Deciding dinner wasn't all that appealing he went to his room removing his clothes as he went. Maybe a bit of a lie down was in order.

AN: I know, I know! This took awhile to put up. If you read The End or the Beginning (TETB) then you know why. If you don't (and you should: Shameless promoting) then I've been having problems with my computer and couldn't actually post. But it's here now. YAY! Anyway for those wondering Harry/Draco will be happening in about three or four chapters. I wanted to build up there friendship first and show some aspects of it before I began on them in a relationship. Once again sorry for the delays readers!

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HPBeatles, Wykked As Syn, The-Angels-Miracle, Aura, draco8448, butterfly-soul and CSIGregSandersFan : Thanks for the reivews!