Here you go, the new chapter as promised :)
This is chapter 6 of 7, so final chapter will be posted tomorrow! Hope you'll enjoy.

Chapter 6 In Need of Air

Fool. Draco Malfoy, you are such a fool, Draco scolded himself. He sighed as he looked at his reflection in the mirror above his bathroom basin. How could he have ever thought Harry would be interested in him? How would…

'Draco! Have you gone and drowned yourself in the loo? Get out here you silly man,' called Theodore Nott's voice from behind the bathroom door.

'Go away,' Draco complained plaintively.

'You invited me here,' Theo reminded him, stifling a laugh.

Draco sighed again.

'Dinner is over. Now go away,' Draco argued sulkily. 'You have your own house, have you not? Go and pester that lovely wife of yours and stop bothering me'.

Silence.

Oops. That might have possibly been a tad rude. Or no, not might have been, it definitely was. It was after all true that he'd invited Theo over. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Harry, thinking about Harry, had been driving Draco spare and he'd felt he needed someone to talk to about his own, very confusing, feelings. Pansy and George were out for obvious reasons. Draco wasn't entirely sure this wasn't some bizarre scheme of theirs, all for a laugh at Draco's expense obviously. That left either Blaise, who spent most of his free time chasing after anything in a skirt, or Theo. Easy choice. And he did need to talk. He really did.

'Theo?' Draco called hesitantly. It had been quiet for quite some time. Had Theo taken his words at face value and left already?

'Yes?' came the pleasant reply.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly opened the door and apologised: 'I'm sorry Theo, that was uncalled for. I didn't mean it, you know that, right?'

Theo smiled patiently and said: 'Don't worry about it Draco. I've known you for over half my life now, I know what you can be like. There's obviously something about this business with Potter that has you rattled, more so than usual I mean… Care to tell me about it?'

After only a moment of hesitation, Draco nodded and followed his friend back to the living area.

'It's like this,' he started, nestling himself on the large white sofa, 'I don't know how he feels about me, and it is driving me crazy. One minute I think he likes me, fancies me even, the next I'm sure he couldn't care less about me'.

Theo furrowed his brow at him quizzically.

'Ok, now I'm confused. Didn't you tell me earlier that you and Potter kissed? And that you were pretty sure both of you enjoyed that just fine?' he asked.

'Well yes,' Draco admitted, 'but as far as I know, he's still involved with that Weasley girl'.

'The Weasley girl? Are you talking about Ginny Weasley-Thomas? As in the wife of Dean Thomas?' Theo enquired.

'Oh… Right… I didn't know that…' Draco admitted sheepishly. 'But still though, he did hit his head just moments before we kissed. He might not have been thinking clearly'.

Theo looked at him with incredulity.

'You think hitting your head would make you kiss someone you didn't really want to kiss? That a known side effect to a concussion now is it?' Theo deadpanned.

Draco glared at the man.

'Fine,' he said. 'But what about the fact that when I met him last weekend he never said a word about the kiss? Not one word Theo. That's plain weird isn't it? Maybe he suffers from memory loss from his concussion? Or you know what, that explosion was caused by one of the Dark Lord's hidden traps. Who knows what Dark spells were at work there?'

Theo shook his head wearily and said: 'A Dark spell from Voldemort that would have the terrible, frightening effect of making you… kiss. Yes, that does sound likely. And your argument about him not mentioning the kiss… Did you mention it?'

'Well no, but…'

'Exactly,' Theo stated, crossing his arms and leaning back with a smug expression on his face.

'That's different,' Draco huffed. 'I'm a Slytherin, of course I'm not going to lay my cards on the table without knowing my feelings are reciprocated at least somewhat. He's supposed to be the Gryffindor in this relationship'.

Theo's eyes widened comically.

'Relationship?' he asked. 'There's a relationship now? Well well, isn't that interesting…'

Draco felt himself flush.

'No! Or I mean, I don't know…' Draco finished off lamely.

Theo looked at him with a shrewd expression.

'But you'd like there to be?' he asked.

Draco took a deep breath and let his shoulders slump.

'I don't know. Yes. Maybe?' he admitted quietly.

Theo nodded his head thoughtfully and then said: 'Alright. Alright. I can work with that… You're meeting Potter again tomorrow, yes?'

Draco groaned.

'You know I am. We still haven't managed to find a symbol for the element air, even after turning pretty much all of Diagon Alley and every other little antique shop I know in the London area upside down,' Draco pouted. 'That's another problem I'm worrying myself over. Pansy's wedding is this weekend for fuck's sake. Tomorrow is our last chance and I have no idea where to look next'.

Theo drummed his fingers on the table thoughtfully. After a moment of silence, he said: 'I think I might have a suggestion. Have you checked out the shops in Hogsmeade? There are a couple of good ones my Mum likes to browse through on occasion. Some in Hogsmeade itself, some just a quick apparition away'.

Draco smiled.

'No, I hadn't really considered Hogsmeade, not having visited it much since our Hogwarts years. That might work actually. Do you think you could ask your Mother to give us a list of suggestions for shops in that area?' Draco asked.

'She's quite protective of her treasured shop list,' Theo said. At Draco's look of disappointment, he quickly added: 'But you know how she feels about you. For you, I'm sure she'll be willing to make an exception'.

'Thanks Theo, that would be great,' Draco answered, smiling gratefully.

'Right,' his fellow former Slytherin said with determination. 'If you'll lend me your owl, I'll send Mum a quick note right this minute. And when that's taken care off, we'll figure out a plan to make Potter like putty in your hands'.

oOoOo

'Harry, hello,' Draco said, smiling warmly.

Harry felt something flutter in his stomach as he gave a goofy grin and muttered a quick response. He'd never seen Draco smile as much as he had recently, and every time the blond smiled at him, Harry felt his insides melt a little. Pathetic Hufflepuff, Harry berated himself silently.

These last two weeks had been excruciatingly confusing to Harry. After their impromptu kiss, he'd been all excited, looking forward to seeing Draco again at the weekend. But then the weekend had come and gone, and had left Harry none the wiser.

Draco had been nothing but nice to him, smiling that lovely soft smile of his, not losing his patience no matter how little success their hunt for the last symbol had had so far. At times, he'd even thought Draco might have been flirting with him. Nothing obvious, just a look here, a casual touch there, standing a little closer than strictly necessary at times… But not a word about the kiss, nor was there even an inkling of a possibility for a much desired, on Harry's part at least, repeat. If Draco had indeed been flirting with him, it was in much too subtle a way for Harry to grasp.

Of course Harry could have raised the topic of the kiss himself. Or he could have just said bugger it all, and smacked another kiss on those perfect, smirking, kissable lips. But the shameful truth of it was, he'd not had the courage. He'd thought about it, thought about little else if truth been known, but he'd been too scared to actually do it. Poor Godric Gryffindor would probably turn in his grave if he'd known about the cowardice of one of the most prominent members of his House. Harry shook his head, eliciting a puzzled look from Draco who'd just been reciting the list of shops they were going to visit today. Right. Time to focus on Pansy and George's wedding now.

'So which one first?' he asked.

Draco motioned toward the end of the street, to a small shop at the corner, right next to the Post Office. It looked a bit run down, the kind of place a pureblood like Mrs Nott wouldn't be caught dead in. But seeing as it was on her list, it must be better than appeared on the outside, right?

Half an hour later, Harry was ready to eat his words. Stepping out of the shop into to the clear, sunny day, he was beating the dust out of his robes and coughing profusely. Draco on the other hand came out looking as pristine as he had when walking into the shop. Harry had no idea how he did it. It was like he'd cast an impervious charm on his person or something. Come to think of it, he probably had at that…

'Well that was a monumental waste of time,' Harry muttered darkly.

'Really Harry? You mean you didn't find that assortment of magical doilies simply fascinating? I know I did,' Draco said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

'Not particularly, no,' Harry gave back, pulling a face.

It was one of those moments. For a second there, Harry thought he saw irritation flash in those expressive grey eyes. But the moment passed, and it was amusement that won out in the end. Draco's lips quirked up in a smile and before they knew it, they were howling with laughter, reminding each other of the various hideous "treasures" they'd been shown by the over eager shop assistant.

'Gregorovitch's mother-of-pearl moustache comb,' Harry hiccupped.

Draco snorted with laughter.

'That was nothing! How about those "possibly touched by Merlin" knickers!' he countered.

The merriment lasted as long as the visit to no less than five antique shops or in other words about two hours. By that time, after the tedious, unsuccessful browsing through yet another dump of an antique shop, the fun of it had well and truly worn off. Harry was starting to feel tired and irritable, possibly because all the dust in these places had also left him feeling thirsty as hell. His stomach growled. Oh yeah, and hungry too.

Heaving a heavy sigh at the doorstep of the seventh antique shop of the day, Harry turned to Draco and asked: 'Are you sure Mrs Nott wasn't having you on? None of these dumps look anything like the kind of place a pureblood witch would frequent'.

Draco shook his head decisively.

'No, I really don't think so,' he said. 'Mrs Nott is the type of witch that likes a challenge. She'd enjoy finding the one good piece, hiding underneath the piles of rubbish and copious amounts of dust. You've seen those shopkeepers, they 've got their heads up their arses, the whole lot of them. If you're lucky, you'd be able to get a priceless artefact for no more than a couple of Knuts. They have no idea what they're doing'.

Harry eyed him sceptically.

'No seriously,' Draco insisted, 'I've actually seen a couple of good pieces today, you know, like that small bronze sculpture in the third shop? But seeing as it wouldn't work as a symbol for air, I just left it'.

'You mean the one of the Manticore? Yes, I suppose that one was kind of cool,' Harry assented.

'Come on,' Draco said, pulling Harry inside the shop by his hand, 'perhaps this is our lucky shop'.

Harry didn't know about the shop being lucky. Draco seemed engrossed, examining all kinds of weird looking items up close, but Harry was a tad distracted by the fact that Draco had yet to let go of his hand. Harry could have pulled and claimed his hand back that way most probably, but for the moment, he was reluctant to do so. Draco's hand felt quite good, fitting around Harry's nicely. The skin was warm and smooth against his and Harry had to suppress a sigh of disappointment when Draco finally let go of his hand to gingerly pick up a very ugly looking sculpture representing some kind of fairy.

'I don't like it,' Harry said instantly. He wasn't sure what he was referring to, the ugliness of the sculpture or the loss of Draco's hand on his. Either way, he didn't like it.

'No, I suppose I couldn't do that to Pansy. I'm sorely tempted though…' Draco said, smirking wickedly.

Harry opened and closed his mouth ineffectively. Merlin, that smirk had no business shaking Harry the way it did. He could feel his blood rush through his body, first up to flush his cheeks in embarrassment and then further south where Harry could feel his cock stir with interest. Draco's smirk widened into a knowing smile. Fuck… I'm in for it now, Harry thought. Now if only he could decide if that was a bad thing, or a very, very good thing indeed…

Three shops later and Harry was still making his mind up on that one. There had been many more looks, a couple of seemingly innocent touches and a few words that seemed to mean one thing while implying something altogether different. In short, Harry's head was all over the place. And that state of mind was hardly constructive to finding the one symbol they were still lacking.

They'd been apparating to a couple of villages Harry had never even heard of. The villages themselves held little interest for Harry, but the fact that Draco had decided to side-along apparate them to every single one was quite… interesting. Harry didn't mind that part of it at all.

After another one of those side-along apparitions, Harry found himself leaning into Draco a bit more than was perhaps necessary. He quickly righted himself, stepping back while coughing self-consciously. It took him a while to find his bearings, but once he had, he jerked with surprise.

'Hey, we're back in Hogsmeade!' he exclaimed.

'You don't say,' Draco said dryly with another one of those knee-buckling smirks. Harry was pretty sure Draco knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on him. Bastard.

'Yes… well…' Harry tried to recover himself. 'Erm… What are we doing here though? I thought we'd tried all the shops in Hogsmeade already?'

'We have,' Draco confirmed. 'I don't know about you, but I can't possibly face another one of those dingy, overcrowded shops before I get something to eat and drink inside me. I'm parched'.

'Oh thank Merlin for that,' Harry sighed. 'I was about to faint with hunger and thirst'.

They entered The Three Broomsticks and chose a table in the back. Madam Rosmerta, obviously noticing their dire need, brought over pitchers of water and pumpkin juice before taking their order.

'Bless you Rosy,' Draco said, gulping down some water and chasing it down with some ice-cold pumpkin juice.

'You're welcome Draco dear,' Madam Rosmerta answered fondly before heading back to the bar.

Harry raised an eyebrow in surprise.

'Rosy?' he asked incredulously.

Draco shrugged and said: 'I had something to make up for after the war, didn't I. So I came here right after the trials and apologised. She was very nice about it, I have to say. I've not been to The Three Broomsticks very often since, but I've seen her down in Diagon Alley a couple of times. We get on quite well now'.

Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that. Madam Rosmerta might be quite a bit older than he and Draco, but she was still a very attractive, very flirty, woman. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He would have to keep an eye on the two of them.

When the sandwiches arrived, all talk was suspended in favour of wolfing down the food. Even Draco, with his usually impeccable table manners, ate with quick, hungry bites, licking his fingers when he was done. Harry almost moaned at the sight. He would swear Draco was tormenting him on purpose, sucking his fingers into his mouth one by one, all the while looking at Harry intently. Bastard, Harry thought again. He was forced to adjust himself in his seat, parting his legs slightly under cover of the table to give his groin some much needed room. His by now full erection was straining painfully against the inside seam of his trousers, and Harry wasn't sure how much more he'd be able to take. Harry was sorely tempted to throw caution to the wind and just kiss the bastard right here, right now. He shivered as he saw a flicker of pink tongue peeking out as Draco sucked on the last finger before releasing it with a pop.

'That was excellent,' Draco stated with a satisfied sigh.

'Hm hm,' Harry managed to squeak his reply.

The silver grey eyes twinkled at him with wicked amusement before Draco smoothed his features to a more neutral expression.

'Thank you for putting up with me these last couple of weeks,' Draco said earnestly. 'I know we've, well, not always got on shall we say? I'm glad we've managed to put all that behind us for the sake of our friends'.

He grasped Harry's hand and squeezed it, as if emphasising his words. Harry smiled and squeezed back and said: 'I think we're doing alright'.

Draco just looked at him for long moments. Harry hadn't realised he was holding his breath until the moment his lungs seemed to almost explode with the need of oxygen. He took a deep gulp of air and tried to steady himself.

'You know,' Draco started conversationally, 'you have very nice hands'.

'Er… thank you?' Harry said, because he didn't know what else to say.

Draco then went on to go over the few shops on the list they hadn't explored yet. Harry lost track of the conversation very rapidly though, as Draco seemed to thoughtlessly flip Harry's hand in his, while the fingers of his other hand busied themselves with tracing circles in the palm of Harry's now upturned hand. Was Draco not aware of what he was doing? Harry somehow found that hard to believe. Draco was still very much a Slytherin at heart after all.

When Draco's fingers started to stray up to gently caress Harry's wrist in those same, maddening circles, Harry gave up all pretence of listening. He let his eyes droop briefly and bit his bottom lip. He was fairly sure Draco was doing this on purpose, was flirting with him quite blatantly. Harry was just contemplating screwing all decorum, diving over the table and smashing his lips on Draco's in an all devouring kiss, when Draco's words drifted through his foggy brain and caught his attention.

'How did you get those calluses anyway? Do you still ride your Firebolt on weekends or something?'

As much as Harry wanted to ignore the question and continue with his amorous planning, something had caught his attention.

'Firebolt… Broom… A broom flies…' he mumbled, trying to snap himself out of his daze. He knew this was important somehow, so he shook his head to clear his foggy brain.

'Brooms fly? Why yes Harry, I do believe that's true. Excellent observational skills,' Draco said, smirking one of those devilish smirks of his. Merlin how Harry wanted to kiss that smirk right off those beautiful, perfect lips. But first things first.

'No, I mean brooms fly… in the air. Like those three broomsticks over there perched on the wall?' Harry clarified, pointing at the three broomsticks that had given the Inn their name.

Harry watched as realisation dawned in those beautiful silver eyes. He looked at Draco's lips, noticing that the genuine smile forming on them shook him up just as much as all those smirks had. Fuck it, he wanted to kiss those lips right now. He was reaching over the small table and grabbing a fistful of Draco's shirt before fully realising what he was doing. Draco's eyes widened and his mouth opened in a surprised gasp. Perfect, Harry thought, quickly covering the Draco's mouth with his.

Perfect was just about right, Harry decided. He moaned as he felt Draco's tongue eagerly meet his and moaned again as slender, nimble fingers crept up to rake through his hair. He shivered as blunt nails scraped over his scalp gently, Merlin but that felt good. Blindly trying to pull the Draco closer, he tugged at the shirt he was still clasping in his fist, only to be brutally interrupted by loud crashing sounds.

They pulled back in shock and Harry immediately mourned the loss of those deliciously warm and soft lips on his. He blinked dazedly and it took him a while to make sense of the carnage of shattered glass, dishes and scattered cutlery around them. It seemed that in his haste to pretty much pull Draco into his lap, he'd sort of forgot about the table with the remnants of their lunch between them. Oh yeah...

Draco coughed. Merlin he looked fetching like that, all flustered and with his usually perfectly groomed hair in a bit of a mess. Very nice, Harry thought appreciatively.

Draco looked up at Madam Rosmerta who had approached their table, undoubtedly alarmed by all the noise.

'Sorry Rosy. We erm… sort of forgot ourselves there. I'll pay for the damages of course,' he said, smiling apologetically.

Madam Rosmerta chuckled and replied: 'Don't worry love. I quite enjoyed the show'.

She vanished the mess with a quick wave of her wand, gave them both a big wink and went back behind the bar.

They laughed and Harry grabbed hold of Draco's hand again. Draco's laughter died quickly, being replaced by a pleased smile. Then his face turned thoughtful as he said: 'You know what, that could work, a broom I mean as a symbol for the element air. But how are brooms, or these brooms, significant for George and Pansy though?' Draco wondered aloud.

Now it was Harry's turn to smirk.

'You mean the broomsticks perched on the very wall of the very Inn where George and Pansy had their first ever official date? The broomsticks on the wall of the Inn in fact, where George got down on one knee and asked Pansy to marry him? I'd say they were plenty significant for the two of them, wouldn't you?'

'I had no idea,' Draco gasped. 'Excellent news Harry, I think we've just completed our quest!'

Harry looked a bit worried and said: 'That's if Madam Rosmerta will let us borrow one at least'.

Draco beamed at him, clasped Harry's hand with both his own and squeezed it.

'I wouldn't worry about that Harry, it's as good as taken care of,' he said, before turning his head toward the bar and calling out: 'Oh Rosy darling! Mind doing me a teeny tiny bit of a favour sweetheart?'