Chapter 3

Harry woke up the next morning feeling better than he'd felt in months. He grabbed his stuff and practically bounced to the shower, cheerfully calling, "Morning, Ron!" as he passed the still sleeping red head. He let his body shower on autopilot as his mind wandered back to last night.

+++++++flashback+++++++++

"Ok, Harry, I'll let you help me"

Harry's face lit up and his eyes sparkled as he excitedly stammered, "R-Really?"

Draco looked doubtful again for a minute before stiffening his resolve and firmly saying, "Yes. Really."

Harry flew back into the blond's arms, nearly toppling them both. Harry poured his happiness and all the frustration and worry from the last several months into the kiss, trying to make Draco understand everything he was feeling that he couldn't put into words. Harry moaned and rubbed his clothed erection against the blond's hip before coming to his senses and abruptly pulled away, blushing. He looked down sheepishly and stammered, "I-I'm sorry… I didn't think…I mean I don't even know if you…I should have asked?"

Draco gently took ahold of the smaller boy's hips, guided him backwards toward the windowsill and nudged him back onto it. Standing between Harry's legs, Draco wrapped his arms around the Gryffindor's waist and drawled, "It's quite alright," as he leaned in to recapture his lips. The heat was still there, but the urgency was gone.

Harry wrapped his arms around the Slytherin's neck and melted into the kiss. Both boys lazily explored the other's mouth, learning which spots were the most sensitive and which ones made the other moan and sigh in pleasure.

Draco pulled away slowly and said, "But not here. And we really need to talk."

Harry sighed and let his arms fall away from the blond. "Yeah, I know. We don't have time tonight, though, it's almost curfew. Will you meet me tomorrow?"

"Umm, Harry, tomorrow's the Quidditch final—and why are you smiling like that?"

Harry had the goofiest of grins on his face. "You called me Harry!"

Draco just rolled his eyes. "So, tomorrow? You'll be kind of busy?"

"We'll just meet after the game, of course."

"You don't think the other Gryffindorks will notice you missing?"

Harry smirked, "Not if I wait until they're drunk at the after party."

"They'll still see you when you get up to leave!"

"No they won't," he replied with a mischievous grin. "Now stop worrying. Why don't we meet an hour after the game ends, whenever that will be, in the Room of Requirement?"

Draco nodded, "Ok." He stepped back from Harry. "We should be going." Draco was confused when, instead of getting up, Harry pulled a folded parchment from his pocket and touched it with his wand. He was astonished when ink appeared and the parchment began drawing on itself. Harry studied it quietly for a minute; then tapped it again and the ink vanished.

As Harry stowed his Map he said, "Snape is in his office and Filch is near the North Tower, so we shouldn't have any problems getting to our dorms." He jumped up off the windowsill, grabbed Draco's hand and headed for the door.

"What was that, Harry?"

Harry kept silent until they reached the end of the corridor where they needed to split up. He turned to Draco, gave him a brief tender kiss, said "I'll explain tomorrow. Goodnight, Draco," and left for Gryffindor Tower.

+++++++++++++end++++++++++

Harry was startled back to the present when Ron and Dean stumbled into the shower still half asleep. Harry had been daydreaming so long the water had run cold, which he thought was a good thing because it negated the…er…effects of his fantasy before the other boys noticed. He shut off the water, wrapped a towel around his waist, and went back to his room to get dressed.

As Harry sat next to Hermione for breakfast, he greeted his friends, "Morning Mione, Gin, Neville," and started piling food on his plate.

"You're awfully chipper this morning," observed Hermione.

"Why shouldn't I be? Today's the Quidditch final, Mione! And the weather conditions are perfect!"

"If you keep eating like Ron, you won't be able to get off the ground," teased Ginny.

"Oy! Ease up, Gin! I missed dinner last night." Harry knew it was a mistake to bring that up as soon as he said it.

"Which begs the question, where were you, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Erm, I wasn't feeling well. You know that. I didn't go to lunch either."

"Did you not feeling well have anything to do with that mysterious letter?"

"Course not, Mione. How's a letter going to make me not feel well? So Ginny, you ready for the game?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

She seemed to pick up on some of desperation because she answered quickly before Hermione could say anything, "I sure am, Captain! This should be a really good match. Ravenclaw has a good team but we can take them. That is if you can hold it together around Cho," she replied with a mischievous grin. Neville chuckled as Harry choked on his pumpkin juice.

"Oh Ginny, you know Harry doesn't like Cho anymore," chided Hermione.

"Too right, Hermione," she said and winked at Harry.

Ron chose that moment to plop down next to him and Harry had never been happier to see him. "Bout time you got down here. Eat up, mate. I'm going to head down to the pitch," Harry said as he stood up. It was a little early but he was desperate to get away from Hermione.

"I'll go with you." Ginny stood and fell into step with Harry. "See you guys in a bit." They weren't even out of the Great Hall before Ginny said, "Ok, Harry, now spill!"

"Shh! Not here, Gin!" As Harry was glancing around the Great Hall, he locked eyes with Draco. Harry blushed fiercely, remembering last night, and Draco let a small smirk cross his face before carefully wiping it blank.

Ginny didn't fail to notice either. She only waited til they got out the front door before she squealed, "Ooh! You were with him last night! Tell me everything!"

"What are you on about? With who?" he tried to deny.

"You're a terrible liar, Harry. So just what did you and Draco do last night to make you blush so brightly?" she asked cheerfully.

The blush he had almost gotten under control started to heat his face again. "Nothing. We just talked."

"Right, just talking. Well I'll let that go for now as long as you didn't jump straight into bed with him."

"Of course not!"

"Right. Ok. So what's this mysterious letter Hermione mentioned?"

"Oh that was from Draco, asking to meet him. It was unexpected and I reacted a bit odd and now Hermione's never going to let it go," he whined.

"We'll tell Hermione that I sent you a naughty picture of myself. Now what did Draco want? Did it have to do with what happened last week?"

Harry was so shocked he stopped walking and gaped at Ginny. He didn't know what was more surprising, what she suggested or that she know what happened last week.

Knowing where his thoughts likely were, she said, "Oh come on Harry, it won't be that hard for her to believe. She already suspects we're secretly dating. Then we come down here together before anyone else. She thinks we're snogging. And no, I don't know what happened between you and Draco, but you've been depressed all week and he's the only one who can affect you like that. So, what did happen?"

As they started walking again Harry decided he really didn't want to comment on the fact that people thought they were snogging, and instead explained, "We fought. Well he tried to hex me and I dodged. Then I kissed him – after practically begging him to let me help him. It was a short kiss. Then he pushed me away and ran."

"Oh you poor thing," she said sympathetically. "Is that why he's been so scarce lately?"

"Yeah. He was avoiding me. So you can see why I was so surprised when Hedwig brought me his note."

"Sure, but it obviously went well," she said. "Come on, tell me the rest!"

"You said you'd let it go!" he accused.

"I lied," she said with a wicked grin. "and if you don't tell me, I'll tell Ron about your naughty photo of me."

Harry groaned, "You're evil, you are! Fine! We met up yesterday after last class and we really did talk. I think I finally got him to trust me or at least start to trust me. And yes, there was snogging and I hope there'll be more. We made plans to meet tonight to talk about…stuff."

"What stuff? And what are you trying to help him with?"

"I'm sorry, Gin, but I really can't tell you that. He's not a bad person, he's just in a terrible situation," he pleaded for understanding.

She nodded, "Ok, Harry. So why don't you seem more excited about tonight?"

Harry chewed on his lip before answering, "What if last night was a fluke? What if he decides he doesn't want me or doesn't want to get involved? What if he doesn't show up?"

"Hmm… I guess I'll have to find him after the game and threaten him with bodily harm if he doesn't."

Harry laughed and threw his arms around her, "Oh, Gin! What would I do without you?"

At this point the rest of the team came into the locker room, led by Ron who barked, "Oy! Hands off my sister!"

Harry and Ginny didn't think he could have said anything more ridiculous and they completely broke down in giggles. When they finally looked back up, the whole team was still standing there looking very confused, which just started them giggling again. Katie rolled her eyes and stepped around the boys to get to her locker and started to change into her Quidditch gear.

"What are you two laughing at?" Ron demanded.

Harry gave a valiant effort to pull himself under control, "Nothing! Don't worry Ron, little sis' virtue is safe with me!" he managed before he and Ginny started snickering again.

"More like safe from you," he heard Katie mutter. That was enough to sober them up a bit. He looked over at her but she wore a soft smile and winked at him. Harry let out the breath he had been holding and returned the smile.

He looked over to where the rest of the team still stood. "Why are you guys just standing there? Come on then! Get changed! We've got a match to win!"

a/n: sorry this would've been up sooner but it turned into a long chapter so I broke it up. As always let me know If you have suggestions!