Meanwhile, on the other side of the castle…

--

He could almost feel the touch of Draco's hand upon his shoulder, as the blonde-headed boy leant forward to –

"Harry? Harry! Snap out of it!"

Harry was startled out of his reverie by a well-aimed cushion, which hit him smartly on the head.

"Ow!" Harry winced as he rubbed his forehead absentmindedly. "Ron! What was that for?" He scowled at his red-headed friend, who returned the look with an extra measure of exasperation.

Opposite Ron lounged Seamus, semi-naked and grinning broadly. Seamus and Ron were only fifteen minutes into a game of strip chess, and Seamus had already lost his blazer, tie, shirt, belt, both shoes and a sock. Ron had initially opposed the game, but had finally caved in and allowed himself to be challenged by Seamus, reasoning – quite accurately, as it was turning out – that since Seamus was dreadful at chess, he, Ron, would probably have to take off little more than his sweater.

Seamus, however, didn't seem the least bit perturbed by his own advanced state of undress. He had been trying to catch the attention of a group of Gryffindor fifth-year girls ever since he'd removed his shirt five minutes ago, but had received little for his efforts and suggestive gestures than a few eye-rolls and (after a particularly rude comment) an offer to hex him very intimately if he couldn't keep his foul propositions to himself. (Seamus had just grinned roguishly, but wisely held his tongue after that.)

Ron was still staring at Harry in exasperation. "For heaven's sake, Harry, I called you twice already and you didn't respond at all – you were just sitting there, gazing at that idiot," he motioned to Seamus, "with this creepy look on your face. Honestly – what the hell?"

Harry realised that Seamus had turned his Cheshire cat grin on himself. "Well, Harry, I know I'm sexy, but it looks like ye' gonna have to restrain yourself in front of Ron – I think he suspects about us."

Seamus turned around to face a gaggle of fourth-year girls who were staring at him and Harry in amazement. While Harry's faced burned with embarrassment, Seamus said "Now, lassies, you are welcome to stare all ye' like – ow!"

Ginny had just witched the cushion – the same one that had hit Harry a moment ago – to smack Seamus in the back of his head. "Oh, grow up Seamus and leave those poor girls alone – it's hard enough seeing your face, let alone forcing them to witness your skinny pigeon chest!"

"Well, hello Genevieve!" Seamus said, puffing out his chest and striding forward.

"Watch it, Seamus – next time it's going to be this textbook that I bewitch, and I can tell you that it's not going to hit the back of your head!" threatened Ginny, with an dangerously sweet smile.

Seamus merely laughed and turned back to Harry. "Now, as for you, lover boy – "

"Geez, Seamus, will you not say that?" complained Ron.

"Jealous, Ronnykins?" said Seamus, turning to Ron, whose ears were turning dangerously pink. "I know you're just using this chess game as a ruse to get me nekkid – but Ron, if you're that desperate to, aha, 'capture my castle', why don't we take this upstairs?"

Ron was spluttering in indignation. "What the hell, Seamus? Quit fooling around, you stupid sod, and – "

Harry tuned out the rest of Ron's curses. Before he had become lost in thoughts of Draco, Harry had been staring at Seamus to try and work out if he felt any attraction at seeing a naked male torso. Objectively speaking, he could see that Seamus was good-looking (many girls went for his "cute" Irish accent) but he, Harry, could definitively say that he felt no sexual desire for Seamus whatsoever. (Indeed, the thought of getting freaky with him was off-putting in the extreme.)

And it's not like I haven't spent the past seven years in Quidditch changing rooms, surrounded by other guys in various states of undress! Why is it only Draco that I want to –

Harry stopped himself. He'd been about to say "shag", but then his thoughts caught up with his libido. Wait… do I want to shag Malfoy? Frankly, Harry didn't want to think about it. Having sex with women was reasonably straightforward (well…not really…) but… with another guy? How…?

Harry's brain shied away from the thought. Things had been complicated enough with Parvati…

He settled into his armchair, and glanced at his watch. Five minutes past seven o'clock.

With a sigh, Harry leant back into his arm-chair by the Gryffindor common-room fire, closing his eyes against the flickering light and the warmth it gave mingling with Draco's hot breath on my cheek, my face burning where he brushes it with his fingertips –

Harry opened his eyes again quickly, silently cursing his brain's proclivity to dredge up last night's memories at the most inconvenient moments. I need to be able to think rationally, Harry thought with mounting frustration. I need to talk to him, not pash him…

Of course, suggested the more hormonally-charged recesses of his brain, it needn't be an either/or situation…

Harry stared moodily into the fire. His thoughts had been racing in circles ever since Draco had left him sitting by the lake, and despite hours spent in contemplation, Harry still had no idea of what he would say to Draco when they met in (Harry glanced nervously at his watch once more) less than an hour's time.

The problem is, thought Harry to himself, I don't understand how I feel and I don't know what I want. When Harry examined his…physical desire…for Draco, he felt somewhat nervous and guilty. He had always been vaguely aware of homosexuality, and had never had a problem with it, but had never expected to have to deal with having feelings for another guy himself. Is this something that I'm going to have to hide away from my friends? Harry wondered. Obviously, he could talk to Angelina, and perhaps to Mie (although, perhaps not – she was almost a complete stranger, really) but Ron – what would he say to Ron?

Nothing, Harry decided, for the moment. There's no point in creating a fuss with Ron by telling him I'm gay, when even I don't know if that's what I really am…

Is Draco gay? Now that Harry came to think of it, he had never seen Draco with a proper girlfriend. Sure, Pansy simpered and fussed over him, but it never seemed to go past flirtation. Draco was probably gratified by the attention – of course he would be, the arrogant git – but nothing had ever suggested (at least to Harry) that Draco and Pansy, or any other girl for that matter, had been involved either physically or romantically. (And besides, rumours spread like wildfire in Hogwarts, and Harry had never heard any rumours about Draco's love life.)

So if this thing with Draco continues, will we be – dating? Harry cringed at the terminology… somehow, "dating" seemed to be entirely the wrong word. "Dating" seemed to imply having slightly awkward conversations over coffee in Madam Puddifoot's horrible little café, and struggling to remember anniversaries.

"Dating" also sounded so…emotional. Dating, to Harry, meant having someone to listen sympathetically to you while you complained about training for the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin, or himself being a shoulder to cry on when her family pet died. Could he imagine Draco crying to him, or going to Draco with his fears and worries?

Yeah, right…and Hagrid's blast-ended skrewts might fly!

Harry looked at his watch again.

7:10. If he didn't hurry, he wouldn't have time to eat before he met Malfoy.

Without a backward glance at Ron and Seamus (both had settled down enough to resume their chess game) Harry headed for the portrait-hole and was half-way out when a familiar voice stopped him.

"Harry?"

He turned around to find Parvati standing just behind him. "Oh… hi Parvati. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing really."

"Oh," Harry replied stupidly, at a loss for what to say. The silence stretched for a moment, until –

"Actually, are you heading down for dinner? Do you mind if I join you?"

Harry was somewhat taken aback, but found himself saying: "Sure, why not?"

Parvati smiled at him and moved towards the portrait hole, causing Harry's heart to speed up as she gently brushed past him. That perfume she used to wear… Harry was seized with an insane desire to reach out and –

He quickly squashed the thought. She broke up with me, he told himself, and I doubt she's interested in resuming the relationship. I'm sure she just wants to chat to me…after all, it has been a while since we broke up, and maybe the time has come when we can talk like regular acquaintances again…

Harry climbed out of the portrait hole after Parvati.

…and if she does want to be more than friends?

Yeah, right…

Still, watching Parvati walking along the corridor in front of him, Harry suddenly felt that everything had become just a little bit more complicated than before…

--

A/N: Thanks especially to everyone who has taken the time to read, and especially to those who have commented – it really makes my day! I'm not sure if I've done the right thing in introducing a Harry/Parvati relationship (I mentioned it briefly in passing a few chapters ago that Parvati and Harry had been involved sometime in the past) and I'd really appreciate your thoughts on this matter…if enough people think that it's a bad idea, I'll probably scrap it…

And to Sparrowhawk – you make my life complicated :-P