Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated material is property of J.K. Rowling.

Draco Malfoy and the Chamber of Secret Love Letters
By: Nanaki BH

I'd worked myself into such a big corner. How'd I go and do that anyway, I wondered? More importantly, why had I done that? I didn't want him coming back to the common room! What was I thinking! If any of the others caught me with him...

I had to resist slapping myself across the face for that, too. About then, I had realized that in a matter of minutes, hours, or days even, the entire school would know about the two of us anyway. After my short outburst in that mockery of a tea house, I'd inadvertently invited the entire school to mock me. Cho and all her friends were going to take what I'd given them and run – run for the hills and not look back because they had dirt on Harry Potter.

Oh... God.

I buried my face in my palms for a moment as Draco waltzed up ahead of me. I peeked through the spaces between my fingers to glimpse the way he swayed his rear as he walked but only felt the gaping hole gnawing its way through my stomach grow wider as I did. I, the boy wonder, let myself indulge a little too much. And speaking of indulging, Draco-boy-wonder wanted me to indulge in a little bit of suspicious and delicious foreplay up in the common room.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Harry! Stop forgetting the matters at hand!

Even more would be at stake if I took him up there and I knew that full well. But what was I going to do? Go and tell him, "Oh, sorry, Draco! We can't go back up there because I'm suddenly feeling insecure again." No, that would just make me into a giant, hypocritical jerk who tugged on the heart strings of a boy who was very (did I mention very?) eager and willing to believe and trust everything I said... Which was odd, considering that only a while ago, I had been convinced that he hated my guts.

I sidled up to him and bumped our hips together, grabbing onto his arms like an Aussie critter. "Draco," I purred, mustering up a sickeningly sweet and fake voice. I had no idea still what I wanted to say but I tried anyway. "We might have to detour."

"Detour? Why?"

Brilliant. Just state the obvious or something. "Because they're probably already up there."

"Who's up where?" His grin collapsed like a landslide and his eyebrows narrowed.

"The other Gryffindors. In the common room." With the candle stick. Wait – what am I thinking? I stopped myself from hitting me again.

"So where do you suggest we go then?"

Where indeed... I decided to shrug instead and he hung his head. I watched quietly as he absently chewed at his lip and pounded out an idea. I watched as the ideas flickered through his eyes dimly and nothing went on in my own mind. I'd leave it up to him, even though that made me feel terribly guilty.

What kind of boyfriend was I already? I came out to a group of teenage ghouls and acted all proud and mighty (which is completely unlike me normally, may I add) and now I was back to hiding behind a semi-straight facade that walked the borderline of gay. Who the heck was I fooling if I couldn't even fool myself? I felt so fake... Draco seemed to buy it and that just made me feel even wore, really.

At least I was leading him away from a potentially volatile situation; that was good. Maybe I shouldn't be feeling so guilty after all. It was a good thing for both of us if I steered us away from that, not just me. My own insecurity would inevitably save both of us in the end. The new question became: did Draco even want to be saved? Maybe he was really the most honest person I knew. Everybody else around me, even my friends, tended to mask their true feelings.

Draco just honestly wanted to love me.

I frowned and hoped he didn't notice because I was truly feeling guilty, despite my best efforts to stop myself from that.

He snaked an arm around my back and held my opposite hip as he held onto the little bags of candy with his free hand. He didn't falter in his step but maintained such a look of pure concentration. At last, he rose one eyebrow as to question his own answer before he proposed it:

"You know the lake?"

"Who doesn't?" Honestly, I'd been there all the time. It was an incredibly obvious place to go too, since every couple went down there to make out – but not during the day. I was kind of surprised. Draco had actually dug up a pretty darn good idea! Who in their right mind would go down there in the middle of the day when anybody could see them out in the open? Us, that's who.

I was mocking myself and that was a little disappointing.

"So what do you say?" he asked, teasingly rubbing his hand over the round edge of my hip. I looked directly into his eyes and saw the glistening of something I hadn't seen for a while: Draco. Finally, he sensed that I was back to being Harry and he felt it was okay to fall back into himself. The next time somebody saw us, they would have to question whether or not what Cho told them was true. We would be Harry and Draco, nothing more or less than what we were before and what they knew us to be.

It was a relief, if not still kind of weird because I realized that I was going out with my one true rival. One true love... One true rival... There was a difference now? Since when?

I decided to screw what anybody else would think and threw caution to the wind – this time as myself. I kissed him squarely on the lips and our step never faltered. Never broke. Nobody cared to look because... it just looked that natural.

Author's Notes: I decided to write a chapter after something like three years now. Maybe I wanted to update because the rest didn't sound like how I sound now. My style's changed a lot and just sounds better, if you ask me. Anyway, hopefully you enjoyed this. I originally thought I had edged myself into a corner, but I had Harry get me out.