A/N: Thank you all very, very much again for the sweet comments and the faves. You don't know how happy you guys are making me (:

Due to his anger (directed both at the Golden Boy and himself) as well as the desperate need to leave this terrible mess his trust had caused, behind, it took Draco barely a minute to get back to the Manor and lock the door behind him. Sliding down the wall he waited for footsteps, one part desperately hoping for them, the other wishing for the ex-Gryffindor to just disappear. Everything had been so much easier without the brunet in his life.

Said boy seemingly disagreed, since only moments later, he could hear him approaching, the pattern of his steps telling the former Death-eater he was running.

'Draco?', he heard his voice call, a little out of breath, 'Just hear me out; you've got this all wrong. I didn't hesitate because I don't-'

Ignoring the burning ache in his chest, he fair-haired boy picked himself up from the floor, telling himself to stop being so pathetic and weak, instead to act like his old self again. The one, who could deal with the Boy Who Lived Twice without getting so ridiculously emotionally attached…or at least without showing it.

What he had wanted Harry-no, Potter, because first names were definitely not appropriate anymore- to say, he didn't know, only that the words he had heard weren't the ones.

Outside, the raven-haired wizard continued knocking until his knuckles were raw, but without ever getting a reaction from the boy inside. Willing himself to calm down, he eventually turned around and left, not without turning around once more, still hoping for a sign.

Draco sighed when he saw the other disapparate. It had taken much too much time; so much, in fact, that once or twice, the ex-Slytherin had almost gone down and opened the door, before stopping himself. He would not, he repeated to himself, forgive the Golden Boy. Turning away from the window, he undid the silencing charm he had used to keep out the sound of the constant knocking.

Really, he should have known better all along.

When Harry arrived back home, he barely made it to his sofa, before even the last bit of strength left him. He slumped back, unknowingly wearing the same expression as the blonde had, after closing the door.

The force of his feelings surprised him; after all the ex-Slytherin hating him again was just going back to how things had been a month ago. Still, somehow everything had changed, since the other wasn't just that bloody, snobbish, arrogant git anymore, with whose hate he'd been more than fine with, suddenly he was Draco, who he had sat next to, and talked and once even laughed with. Suddenly he was a person, and not only that, but someone he cared for, and who he had thought, cared for him, too.

He breathed in deeply, wishing to go back in time and prevent this mess, for now if the other had asked him the same question again, he would've known the answer in an instant.

Yes.

However, it was too late now; he'd gone and ruined his one chance he had with the other wizard, just because he'd been scared. It was a funny thought, though: He had defeated basilisks, Death-eaters and even Voldemort himself, but when it came to admitting he trusted someone, from all things, he hadn't been brave enough.

The next thing he did was something he hadn't done for a long time now: He went to see Ginny.

When he stepped out of the fireplace, however, he almost regretted his decision. Upon seeing him appear, her face changed from carefree to worried as she dropped the kettle of tea she'd been holding to rush over to him, not caring what happened to it.

'Harry! What's wrong?'

Surely, this was only because of the concern, hurt and anger which had to be etched onto his face, but still he couldn't help wish his own girlfriend would not only be interested in his problems.

'It's nothing', he tried, 'I just wanted to see you.'
His efforts were in vain; the redhead just raised an eyebrow, indicating she didn't believe him at all.

And the Golden Boy just didn't have the strength anymore to talk himself out of it again. 'I had a fight', he said, 'With a friend of mine.'

'Oh Merlin, don't tell me you and Ron have been at each other's throat again.'

'What?', for a second he had forgotten that his visits at Malfoy Manor had been a secret, 'No, not Ron. It's someone you don't know… from my days back at the Dursley's.'

He couldn't believe how easy it was, lying to his girlfriend.

'That explains were you've been off to all the time…'

'Ah, sorry for that…I just needed a bit of time with someone who didn't know about the war…him being a Muggle and everything.'

'It's fine', she smiled sweetly, 'Still, why did you fight?'

'I…', Harry searched for the right words, 'I didn't give the right answer when he asked me something very important. You see, we've only met each other again about a month ago, and well, before that we didn't even like each other. Actually, we were something like enemies.'

'Like you and Malfoy?'
Luckily, she did not seem to notice Harry spluttering and blushing just the tiniest bit.

'…You could say that, I suppose. Anyway, I just started to notice that I really enjoy his company and then, I go and ruin everything.'

'It can't be that you've ruined everything by just one false answer, can it?'
'He's not used to having friends, at least not real ones, and now he probably thinks I just pretended all along, too', he told her, instead of giving her a real answer.

She looked at him for a second, unreadable expression on her face, 'But then it's not hard to fix this again.'

'What? …How?'
'You've got to show him that he's wrong. Show him you care. If I can see it, I am sure he can, too.'

Harry kissed her and told her, still so close their lips were brushing, 'You're brilliant.'

She smiled, 'Thank you, but I'm sure you would have thought of that too…after some time.' And when she laughed, her eyes twinkled in a way that gave her back a bit of her carelessness, reminding him why he had fallen for her in the first place.

'But you do know', she continued, 'You can't really go there now; you should give him time to cool off and apart from that it's too late now anyway. So, how about you spend the night?'

He nodded.

The next morning, the Golden Boy awoke far too early, after a night of restless sleep and nightmares of yesterday's mistake. Not wanting to wake his girlfriend, who was curled up next to him, red hair spread out around her, he carefully untangled their limbs, even casting a silencing charm before leaving the room.

While showering and brushing his teeth, he planned his next steps: He'd go to see Draco immediately after having breakfast, since he knew for a fact that the other boy wasn't blessed with good sleep either. Nightmares, the blonde had told him, of his parents being killed, of the night Snape killed Dumbledore and then, his godfather's funeral.

Also, if he appeared early, the possibility the ex-Slytherin had already left were low. Already feeling better, now he knew what to do (and how to hopefully fix everything), he went into the kitchen to prepare tea, of which he kept one mug for Ginny, putting a spell on it to ensure it'd stay warm. Before leaving, he wrote a note, thanking her once more for her advice and understanding, as well as telling her were he was going.

Love you, he wrote, after a second. It seemed only appropriate.

Then he apparated to Malfoy Manor.

Draco Malfoy didn't wake up that morning, since he hadn't even gone to sleep. Instead he had spent the entire night wandering around the Manor uselessly, trying hard to take his mind off a certain raven-haired wizard.

Needless to say, he had failed miserably. With each thought of the other, his chest tightened to the point on which he was almost unable to breathe; once he had almost started crying, before getting a grip on himself.

A Malfoy did not cry, he told himself, graciously forgetting about the incident in the washing room back in the sixth form…which, of course, reminded him again of Potter, a memory that make his head spin once more.

Hearing a sound, he turned around, ready to shout at any house-elf who was daring to disturb him, before recognizing the noise as the doorbell. This could only mean one thing: He was back.

One part of him, the one he repressed, wanted to storm down, open the door and apologize, while the one he actually allowed himself to have, reminded him again of the Golden Boy's betrayal the day before.

Feeling another surge of breathlessness coming, the former Death-eater put another silencing charm on the door, before sinking down on the next chair, wishing he'd never met Potter at all.

When the door finally opened, after three days of knocking until his knuckles were sore and swollen, his heartbeat sped up and his breathing quickened. He just couldn't believe it, didn't in fact, that finally he'd get the chance to set everything right again. Because he would, even it'd kill him.

'Draco, what happened was nothing more than-', he started, just to be cut off.

'The master wants me to inform you, that your presence here is not only unwanted, but also without use. Your attempts at reconciliation are futile, since he does not ever want to see you again.'

The house-elf bowed politely, before shutting the door again. Tears welled up in Harry's eyes, when his brain started to process what had just happened. Until now, he had believed he could manage, could fix this, but obviously he'd done a lot more damage than he'd thought; so much, in fact, the other wouldn't even look at him anymore.

He does not ever want to see you again… the line repeated itself in his head, growing louder and louder until it drowned every other sound.

He disapparated before the first tear hit the floor.

From above, a fair-haired boy was watching, hand clenched as he held unto the curtains of the window to support him. It hadn't been planned, watching the elf deliver the message, but in the end, he just had had to know how the Golden Boy reacted. To see him smile, when the door opened had reminded Draco of their past encounters and it hurt, knowing he was never going to see that expression again. After all, the brunet couldn't possibly know that the one he expected to see hadn't been downstairs since their last meeting, hadn't dared to be near the door in case Harry might knock. Since, in that case, he wasn't sure he'd stay in control over his actions.

To see that smile falter broke the blonde's heart and he turned away, a second too early to see it being replaced by a mask of shock and devastation when the Boy Who Lived Twice heard the house-elf's announcement.

When he dared to look again, the raven-haired wizard was already gone, and for once in his life, he actually allowed a tear to make its way down his cheek. It still felt as if the other had given him up too easily.

'What happened?', Ginny asked as soon as she arrived to find her boyfriend sitting on his sofa, looking as if he hadn't moved for hours.

'He sent someone else', he replied after a while, voice rasping and hollow, 'To tell me he doesn't want to see me again. Not ever.'

The redhead paled. Whoever this mysterious friend was, he meant a great deal to the boy in front of her, maybe even more than the brunet admitted to himself. And since Harry was one of the most important people in her life, she was not going to let this person hurt him even more.

Sitting down beside him, she took his hand, 'I'm sure if you just give him a bit more time-'

'No, Ginny', he interrupted her, desperation and defeat clear in his voice, 'I've ruined it for good this time.'