IMPORTANT NOTE: For those who have been following this story for a while now, I have added a couple more sentences in the last chapter seeing as how it would flow better with this chapter. So please go back and read the last bit before continuing on.

Previously:
She reluctantly nodded and slowly handed the cup to Harry.

There was nothing but a feeling of tight pressure between his head; squeezing it effortlessly until his ears started ringing and Harry was sure his eyes started watering from the pain. He knew this was what it was like to drink a potion made obviously incorrectly. His insides felt as if they were set on fire and a knife was tearing through his first layer of skin. Maybe this was what it was like to die. It happened so suddenly. The pressure against his ears vanished and the burning sensation within his chest was finally soothed. The suddenness of it all left him feeling light headed and dizzy instead. He could feel his inside churning and he knew he was about to throw up but he couldn't open his mouth. The bile was already up to the base of his throat and the taste of it made him gag and yet his mouth still would not open. His eyes started watering again and the burning sensation came back all at once. This was never going to end…

Harry woke up with a start at the sound of a whistle going off, his heart pounding rhythmically against his chest. The floor shook slightly underneath him. He tried opening his eyes but it was painfully bright. Rubbing his eyes, Harry slowly got up from the floor and stumbled onto a seat after feeling around blindly for his glasses. He softly groaned to himself, and tried once again to open his eyes, finding it easier to see now that he had gained more conscience. Harry looked around the room and realized at once where he was: the Hogwarts Express. He wasn't sure how far he had gone back, but the knowledge of knowing Draco was probably somewhere on the train pushed him to walk out of the compartment in search for him, despite the fact that he could barely walk a straight line.

Several third years eyed him weirdly as he tried walking properly, but his muscles ached painfully, as if he had been running a marathon for days. Much to his dismay, he couldn't seem to find anyone he knew on the train. What if he traveled too far back in time? For the first time since he discovered the potion, Harry felt fear. If this was the wrong time, not even his friends would be there. He stopped walking and cursed softly to himself. How could he have been so stupid? Why didn't he listen more closely to Hermione's warnings? The spell was old and no one knew whether anyone had succeeded in making it. The panic built inside his heart. What he had to do was go straight to Dumbledore at once when the train stopped. He won't wait until the end of the feast. But what if he traveled so far back that Dumbledore had not been hired as a teacher yet?

"Fuck!" Harry said out loud, leaning his head against the wall.

"Harry?" said an unsure voice.

Harry turned around wearily and brightened immediately at the sight of Neville Longbottom. "Neville!"

"Ron and Hermione are looking for you. Where did you run off to?"

"I was in there," Harry pointed to a random compartment as they passed by. "So um, this might sound weird but…what year are we in?"

"Seventh," Neville replied, watching Harry closely. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, just a bit tired is all."

Neville looked doubtful but nodded anyway. He led him to a compartment at the opposite end of the train. Harry felt extremely relieved when he saw Hermione and Ron sitting in there, along with Ginny and Luna.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed and jumped up. "We were looking for you everywhere! You were there one second and the next you were gone!"

"Yeah, we thought you disappeared under that cloak of yours," Ron said.

Harry knew he had to come up with something quick. He couldn't tell them the truth yet, if he did, he knew Hermione would get on his case immediately. He also didn't feel like explaining it to the others either. If this was the beginning of his seventh year, it would mean no one even knew about his sexuality yet, and certainly not about how he feels towards Draco. At the thought of Draco, Harry felt the urge to go through every compartment to look for him.

"—and he tripped me while I was looking for Harry."

Harry sat upright and looked at Neville. "Who did?"

"Malfoy, who else?" Neville said glumly, rubbing his bruised elbow. "Hit my elbow on the candy cart and she scolded me in front of everyone because she thought I ran into it to steal something."

"Well? Where is he?" Harry asked, trying to stop his voice shaking from excitement.

"Thinking about giving him a good fist in the face, are you? I'll join you," Ron bounced up from his seat.

"No!" Harry said it a bit too loud and realized his own mistake when he noticed the strange look Ron was giving him. "I mean, it's just not right since we haven't even got to the castle yet and we're starting trouble." Harry quickly added in. "I'm sure Hermione agrees with me."

Hermione nodded and beamed at Harry. "Finally, you're catching on that you cannot use violence to solve problems. It'll just repeat its cycle and everyone will get rough with each other again."

"It works when you're dealing with You-Know-Who," Ron insisted, glaring at her.

"That is a different case, Ron!"

"African crups are raised to be violent in nature. They feed them fairy dust to get the anger out of them," Luna said, mostly to herself. "Illegal crup fighting is known to be very popular. Too bad it's banned in England."

Ron looked at Harry, almost pleadingly. "Come on, let's go find the prat. He can't go on thinking he can just bully whoever he wants to."

Harry nodded. He couldn't wait until they got to the castle to look for him. He had to see Draco now. Just to make sure this wasn't a dream. That the potion actually did work. He ignored Hermione's disapproving stare and left the compartment with Ron, who was practically bouncing with each step. He half listened to Ron ramble on about a new curse Fred and George taught him over the summer, Harry was too busy concentrating on staying calm and not jump on the blonde at the first sight of him. He couldn't tell him just yet about what happened. He would have to do this the slow way, even if it meant taking it one day at a time. Harry wasn't sure when he was planning to tell him, but he knew he had to be-friend him first in order to not come off as a crazed man under a love potion.

The sound of shrill laughter got increasingly louder as they continued down the hallway. They finally reached the end of the hall. Ron took out his wand excitedly and nodded at Harry.

"I'll curse whoever's on the right, you do the left."

"Hold on. Let's just check who's in there first. We might have the wrong compartment," Harry reasoned, regretting that he agreed to let Ron tag along.

"It's obviously Parkinson laughing in there like a hyena, come on at the count of three. One—"

"Ron! No! Let's just check first."

Ron huffed and crossed his arms. "Fine, have it your way. But once you confirm it is them, I'm sending curses directly into that compartment."

Harry nodded and held the handle between his fingers. This was it. The same bratty Draco he knew back at school would be sitting with his friends. Harry prepared himself to take the insults lightly and to stop Ron from harming him. With that, he turned the handle and the door slid open. Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise looked up mid-laughter and a scowl immediately took place on their faces. Pansy got out her wand at the same time as Blaise while Crabbe and Goyle stood up and looked down at them menacingly, having grown a lot over the summer. It all happened way too fast for Harry to comprehend. Pansy sent a curse his way and Harry dodged it just in time, moving quickly behind the door. Ron was less fortunate as Blaise hit him with a stunning spell and Crabbe body checked him into the wall. Harry slid the door shut and quickly shouted a locking spell, breathing heavily. Draco hadn't been inside after all. Harry felt his heart drop. He would have to see him at the feast then. He mumbled a counter curse and Ron sat up, groaning painfully from the ground.

"Bloody fucks."

"Here," Harry offered a hand to Ron and pulled him up. "You alright?"

"Yeah, let's just go back and not mention any of this to Hermione. She'll go ballistic."

Harry agreed and they both turned around to head back, only to be faced with a very irritated looking blond pointing his wand at Harry.

"And where do you think you're going after what just happened, Potter?" Draco asked, with his right eyebrow quirked.

"Draco," Harry said faintly as stared at him wide-eyed. Harry felt his eyes begin to roll to the back of his head, and everything turned black.