A Disclaimer Song: I own my face. I own a shoe or two. But I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter, la la ooooooooh!

A/N: Hi all. okay, just a few words. Here it is after a very, very, very long break. I don't even know if anyone wanted me to continue it, but here it is. I will not be recategorizing the story under the characters of Harry and Draco, even though someone requested it. Yes, you have a point, but I don't think this database created the character listings as a pairing-finder, so I'm leaving it. I'm sorry if this distresses you. I still think that Severus has as much right to be the second character listed as Draco. Because he's still a main character wink wink. just as main as Draco... erm... wink wink. COUGH COUGH! WINK! NUDGE! But yet again, I'm very sorry if you are disappointed in the turn, but I'm going with my heart and not what I think will please my readers, because as it turns out, lots of you say you will still be reading. So thanks to those folks. At any rate, I think we'll be seeing more than one pairing, and now I'm done with all the hinting. I hate hinting.

AND NOW THE STORY!

Chapter Eight: Finding Out

"I'm not breaking any rules, Harry," Neville said with his arms crossed. "If we got caught and then my grandmother heard about it..."

Harry was pulling his invisibility cloak out of his trunk. "We won't get caught, Nev."

"I'm tired anyhow," Neville continued. As if to punctuate the statement, he got into bed and pulled up his covers. "So go on, it's alright."

Harry sighed. He'd figured that he wouldn't be able to convince all the guys to go skinny dipping with Slytherins. Dean was also flat out refusing.

"I don't trust Malfoy as far as I could throw a Hungarian Horntail. I don't care how much he hangs out with you, he's still a Slytherin." Dean crossed his arms. "I don't think you should go. It's a set up."

"Look," Ron said. "No one is warier of Malfoy than me, and I'm going. I don't see the big deal. Harry trusts Malfoy... and I trust Harry. Besides I'm not letting him go alone."

Harry smiled. "Thanks Ron."

"I'm going, too."

Harry and Ron turned to look at Seamus.

"Really?" Harry smiled. "Well, great. Then we'd better get going. It's almost midnight."

Seamus and Ron followed Harry out of the room, with a little wave to Dean and Neville.

"Stick in the muds, they are," Seamus said. "Breaking the rules is an integral part of our Hogwarts education."

Several minutes later, Harry, Seamus and Ron were moving along the grounds to the lake. In the distance, they could see Malfoy and Blaise sitting on the grass around the edge of the lake, looking around for the rest of their party. They approached them as silently as possible. When they were right behind the Slytherin pair, they all three yelled as loud as possible.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Draco jumped to his feet and turned around like a madman. His eyes were wide open, but a moment later he glared and reached forward, grabbing the air.

Harry doubled over with laughter, tumbling out of the cloak and onto the ground.

"Very funny, guys," Blaise said. He looked a bit spooked in the moonlight, but was smiling.

"You should have seen the looks on your faces," Ron said, pulling the cloak off and dropping it on the ground. "I will remember that forever."

Draco crossed his arms. "Alright, boys. Tonight is the night you become men. That lake is freezing and the last one in is a Hufflepuff!"

All the boys laughed and started unbuttoning shirts and pulling off shoes. Seamus was the first out of his clothes, followed closely by Malfoy. They started running towards the lake, both intent on being the first in. But at the sight of Draco's naked backside, Harry suddenly didn't feel like taking off his pants, and rather felt like finding a big book to cover his crotch. Ron threw his boxers to the ground and looked over at Harry.

"Come on mate... don't want to be the last in."

Blaise had just jumped in after Seamus and Draco, who were both shaking with the cold.

"Come on, P-Potty and Weasle," Draco yelled. "The water's f-f-f-f-fine!"

"You go on, Ron," Harry said, sitting with his hands over his lap. "My head hurts a bit. I'll just sit for a while, alright?"

Ron looked warily at Harry.

"Is it your scar? I thought it hadn't hurt since-"

"No," Harry said quickly before Ron started a rant. "It's just a headache. I'll, erm, join you in a moment."

Ron gave him a hard look before shrugging and running to the lake. Soon all four boys were laughing and splashing around in the freezing water. Harry sighed as he watched them romp around. As much as he tried not to, he kept looking at Draco's body. He had well defined muscles, but wasn't shaped like a refrigerator. He was the perfect build for a Seeker, slim and lanky. Harry could feel his erection pressing against his pants. Feeling his face get hotter, he forced himself to look down at the ground and no where else. A minute later, he felt someone standing beside him, but he didn't look up.

"This is what I get for throwing a party for you, eh? You sitting by yourself and sulking about who knows what."

Harry shrugged. Without thinking he turned and looked to the side that Draco was standing on, only to get a close up of Draco's manhood. His brain went blank, and he was frozen in place. Draco looked down at Harry looking at his crotch.

"Pretty magnificent, eh? I know I'm rather proud of little Draco-"

"Nice night," Harry said a bit loudly as he snapped his head in the other direction. Draco shrugged, unseen by Harry, and sat down on top of his pile of clothes.

"I suppose. Seriously, what's wrong. Come swimming."

Harry shook his head. "I don't really feel like it."

"Come on, or I'll throw you in."

"It's too cold."

"Poppycock," Draco said, grabbing Harry's arm. Harry blushed furiously at the sound of his friend saying 'cock' even if it wasn't in the right context. With some difficulty, Draco pulled the struggling man to his feet. "Off with those pants, Mr. Potter."

Draco grabbed the waist band of Harry's jeans and unbuttoned the top button while Harry wildly shoved at Draco's hands.

"Stop!"

"What's wrong, Linda? Afraid you don't measure up-"

Draco suddenly let go of Harry's pants, a blush on his face. He had accidently brushed against Harry's errection and now understood the other's desire... to be left alone. One thought entered his mind- the erection was most likely because of him.

"I'm, er... sorry." Draco scratched his head, looking quite embarrassed.

Harry looked away. "It's okay. I- well... the problem's going away now."

Harry could already feel the errection fading with his increased embarrasment. He glanced down to the lake where the other guys were still water fighting. Harry knew he couldn't stay out of the lake for too long before they'd start wondering what was wrong with him, and he definately didn't want anyone to know he was getting stiff while they had their clothes off. More than one person could take it the wrong way.

Draco was still looking off into the distance as he spoke. "So, er..."

"Yeah," Harry agreed to nothing at all. He slowly took off his clothes and walked toward the lake without looking at Draco. Draco, on the other hand, was watching Harry walk away. Without deliberation, he decided that Harry was very nice to look at. He wasn't quite sure what had made him think it, but at the moment, he didn't care. After Harry jumped in, Draco broke into a gallop and splashed after him.

"Shite," shouted Harry with a laugh. "It's f-f-freezing!"

"Colder than McGonnagal's tits," Seamus said, splashing some water at Harry. The boys all laughed and horsed around under the moonlight. After a while longer, just about when they all started to turn blue around the lips, they ran up to their piles of clothes and layed down to air dry.

"I can't believe you do that every year," Ron said to Blaise as he pulled on his boxers. "I always thought Slytherins were nutters."

"Yeah, well now you've done it, too," Blaise replied. "So I suppose you can share in our little treat."

At that, he pushed his book bag into the center and opened it. Inside were easily more than a dozen medium sized bottles.

"What's that, butter beer?" Harry leaned forward and pulled out a bottle. The label said 'Fire Whiskey' in large flaming letters that flickered like a real blaze.

"This ought to warm us up, eh fellas?" Seamus grabbed a bottle and popped it open. "Bottoms up."

The rest of the boys popped open their bottles and started taking swigs of the drink. It burned all the way down their throats, and Ron started coughing, but they each finished their bottle. Blaise, who finished first, started drinking a second one. They began talking about all sorts of things, eventually leading to girls and sex.

"I'm this close to bedding Padma," Blaise said, his words a trifle slurred. "I swear, this close." He held up his thumb and forefinger as Ron shook his head.

"No way, Blaise. She's an ice queen. Both of the Patil twins are. Harry, you remember when we took them to the Yule Ball? Ice queens, definitely."

Harry, who had only had the one fire whiskey, was only feeling slightly buzzed. He leaned lazily on his stomach between Ron and Draco, playing with a strand of his hair. "Yeah, of course I remember," he finally answered. "Except, I don't think they would have given us the cold shoulder if we'd danced with them. Not that I really give a damn about that now."

Seamus frowned. "Sorry, mate. I wasn't thinking about- that."

Harry shrugged. "I don't care. You lot like girls, so you talk about them. Don't worry about me, I'm a big-"

Harry cut off as a loud rumbling inturrupted him. He looked in the direction of the noise to discover that Blaise had drifted into sleep and was now snoring loud enough to wake the dead.

"That," Draco said, "Would be the sign that it's time to leave."

The Gryffindor boys stood up and put on the remainder of their clothing as Draco tried to shake his fellow Slytherin awake, but to no avail. He frowned and scratched his head.

"This could be a problem," Draco said. "I can't leave him here, but I can't sneak back with him passed out."

Harry looked down at his invisibility cloak apprehensively.

"I suppose you could borrow-"

"Hey," Seamus said, "I'm not getting caught."

Draco sighed. "Did you bring your map, Harry?"

The other shook his head. "No, I suppose I've gotten lazy about sneaking around lately."

Draco rubbed his eyes and flopped down with frustration. "Shite. Wake up, you dumb oaf."

Blaise only groaned as Draco gave him a shove.

"Alright," Harry said, finally. "I'll take Seamus and Ron back to Gryffindor tower under the cloak and then come back for you and Blaise. We can carry him between us."

Draco looked up to Harry. "Really? Thanks, mate. You aren't so bad after all."

Harry gave him a curt nod as a reply. Even with Blaise between them, he knew that he and Draco would be awfully close under the cloak. With that, the Gryffindor's set off for their tower, leaving Draco and Blaise by the lake. While they were gone, Draco forced on the rest of Blaises clothing and pondered the evening. What had he felt earlier when he'd looked at Harry? Harry was attractive, any man, straight or gay, could see that. But was he attracted to Harry, or just making an objective observation? At any rate, the thought of being attracted to another man was a new one. In the middle of Draco's thoughts, Harry suddenly appeared out of thin air, and he jumped.

"Sorry," Harry said, a smile playing on his lips. "Let's go."

He helped Draco pull Blaise up from the grass and, after a muttered levicorpus, draped the cloak over them with some help from the other.

"Thank again, Harry," Draco said, looking at Harry around Blaise's gaping mouth. It was funny how the man still looked graceful even while passed out. "I didn't fancy being caught, especially with this drunkard. Snape may favour me, but he'd still have a lot to say about this."

"He'd probably have more to say about you hanging out with golden boy in the middle of the night," Harry mused. They chuckled as they moved up toward the school. Harry had a firm grip on his wand, which was pointed at Blaise, and Draco kept a hold on the cloak to make sure it didn't blow off of them. Moving in this manner, they eventually made it to the dungeons and the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

"Thanks, mate," Draco said as he pulled the cloak away. "Er, you could come in for a bit, if you wanted."

"I- " Harry started.

"You could help me get him into bed. I mean, put him in bed."

Harry shifted his weight from foot to foot for a moment. Draco was looking at him... expectantly? hopefully? It was hard to tell.

"Er, alright then," Harry finally said. Draco gave the password ("asphyxiation") and the two walked inside with Blaise floating in before them. Soon, they had him tucked into bed and they returned to the common room. The clock above the fireplace put the time at three in the morning.

"Harry," said Draco, as the other was heading for the exit. "I wanted to know- out of curiousity sake -what was it like when you first, you know, realized you liked blokes."

Harry stopped dead in his tracks. Against his better judgement, he was starting to hope... No. He shouldn't. He turned around and perused Draco's face. He looked serious. With a sigh, he returned and sat down on the couch. With a small smirk, Draco lit the fire and sat next to him.

"Why," asked Harry suspiciously. Draco shrugged.

"One wonders these things, sometimes. It's perfectly natural, you know." He was starting to sound defensive.

"Yes, well, I suppose," Harry replied. "At any rate, I've gotten this question from a few other guys. Seamus asked me once. Doubt he ever made any use of the information."

Draco snorted. Seamus had dated as many girls as he could get his hands on.

"Okay," he said, "Get to it."

Harry sighed again. "Well, I suppose it started with looking. I liked to look at other guys; I found them attractive. But at first, because it's always made out to be the normal thing, I still tried to think of girls sexually. But in the back of my mind, I was always adding men into the picture. I tried to stop thinking about blokes, but the more I tried not to, the more I thought of them. After a while I just gave in to the fantasies. It was then that I finally allowed myself to crush on a guy. Blaise was one of my first crushes. I would try to imagine what it would be like to kiss another guy, and that really... well... turned me on, you know?"

"No," said Draco with an eyebrow raised. "I don't."

Harry laughed, trying to hide his disappointment. Disappointment I shouldn't be feeling. "I suppose not," was what he said out loud.

Draco leaned back against the couch's arm and stared hard at Harry. Who said that it was much different kissing another man, anyway? Why not? Wait- what? He cleared his throat loudly and looked into the fire instead. Harry stretched his legs awkwardly, wondering whether or not he should just go. He was about to stand when Draco asked him another question.

"How did you know it wasn't just- curiousity? Haven't you ever wondered something so much that it just nagged at you until you had to try it?"

Harry considered this. "I guess I know what you mean. I don't know. I think I just knew deep down. And besides, after having Blaise's tongue in my mouth for the first time, I was pretty sure about what my body was doing."

"So, you're saying that you just have to find out, then?"

"Well, not really," Harry said, his brow furrowed. He turned to face Draco. "I meant more that-"

Was it just him, or was Draco's face getting closer to his? His heart began to pound a little quicker.

"What are you d-"

"Finding out."