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Disclaimer… Please Visit Previous Chapters For The Same Little Speech!

Chapter 7 – I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It

For the rest of the day, Harry and Draco seemed much happier than they had previously. Harry was walking along with an extra bounce in his step, whilst Draco may have been caught smiling. No, not smirking, smiling.According to everyone else, there was no real reason for the sudden change in mood, it just happened.

Harry arrived at dinner with the other two thirds of the Golden Trio at his side. They sat with their usual friends, in their usual spot at the Gryffindor table. It seemed like Harry's performance in Herbology hadn't yet been forgotten as he was still receiving strange looks from those in his year. Usually, he would have taken it too personally and lashed out at someone, even if they were his friend, but he was in too good a mood to be taken down from his cloud. The one thing that kept him calm was a thought permanently embedded in his mind. I'm seeing Draco later.

He had decided that he'd want to get to the Room of Requirement early. He was worried that if he didn't get away half way through dinner (while Ron was pre-occupied with his food), he wouldn't get away at all. Sure, he loved Ron like a brother, but he really was a little clingy at times.

Harry's etiquette, or lack of, when eating his dinner this evening could rival Ron's. He stuffed as much into his mouth as he could in one bite. Once he had finished his plate full, he got up, skipping dessert, and told everyone that he was going to have a little work out. He knew this would get him alone as not one of his friends would even contemplate heavy exercise directly after dinner, and before bed. As he walked out of the hall, he could feel a certain pair of eyes burn through his head. He walked out of the doors of the Great Hall and began to make his way to the 7th floor. Once he'd made his way up the maze of staircases, he made his way along the hallway that housed the Room of Requirement. Walking back and forth in front of the wall, he thought I need somewhere for me and Draco, I need somewhere for me and Draco, I need somewhere for me and Draco. As the door materialised, he grasped the door knob and pushed the door open, to find a King size 4-Poster bed, strawberries and chocolate. Shit! He thought, how can I change this? Um… I need somewhere for me and Draco to talk, I need somewhere for me and Draco to talk, I need somewhere for me and Draco to talk.As he thought this, the bed and snacks disappeared and asofa and two armchairs materialised in their place. The armchairs were each in the boy's house colours and the sofa was a mix of both. Figures, Harry sniggered. In front of them was a large roaring fireplace and a small table, which lay atop of a large Venetian rug.

Harry sat himself in the Gryffindor armchair and waited. He kept fidgeting with himself. Taking his top robes off, putting them back on, adjusting his position on his seat and trying to find something to do with his still-blonde hair. The minutes seemed to pass as his fidgeting continued. He'd been worrying himself for 10 minutes when he heard the door creak open.

"Potter?"

"Hey, Malfoy." Harry replied, turning to face the door.

"Nice room. I was sure a bed would've been conjured, knowing how this room interprets things." Draco smirked, but seeing Harry's mortified look, he added, "A joke, Potter."

"Yeah, I know. Good one, Malfoy." Harry tried to laugh it off but Malfoy could see the look hadn't left Harry's eyes.

"Oh, yeah? If you got my joke," Draco said, taking a seat in the Slytherin coloured chair, "you wouldn't resemble the look you had when you saw that dementor boggart!"

Harry blushed and looked away, willing any evidence of embarrassment to disappear.

"So, how long have you been waiting for me?" Draco said, filling the - not completely awkward – silence.

Oh, not long. About 10-15 minutes."

"Right. We did say 8 o'clock, didn't we?" Harry nodded in reply, "great, because I really hate being late. Not a very 'Malfoy' action, I must say."

"Well, at least you're here."

"I guess. So where we when we had to leave the library? Oh, yeah, Quidditch. How could you support The Catapults?"

"Hey, they're a really good team!" Harry cut in.

"Are we talking about the same team here? The Caerphilly Catapults?"

"Well, if you don't like them, we can't be. The Catapults are third in the league. Unlike the team you follow." Draco scoffed at this comment. "The Pigeons, is it? What's their motto again? Something about giving head?"

"The Falmouth Falcons. And it's Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads."

"I was close enough."

"Yeah, sure. They're a much better team."

"Oh, yeah? Where are they in the league? Was it 10th?"

"Eleventh," Draco mumbled, hiding his face in what he hoped would be seen as mock shame.

"What was that?" Harry laughed.

"Do I have to say it again? You obviously know already. Why torture me like this? I'd rather be crucio'd than this!"

"Fine, fine. But you know their motto is stupid. They're only that low in the table because they over injure the opposition. They get points deducted left, right and centre."

"Okay, okay. But that's what makes them different from every other team. They may be a little forceful but they play really well. At least I'm not a glory hunter."

"I am not a glory hunter." Harry said, attempting to defend himself.

"Yes you are. Admit it. You'd be a Falcon supporter too if they didn't lose all of their well-earned points."

"No, I wouldn't." Upon seeing Draco's doubting look, he added, "really, I wouldn't."

"I bet it's Weasley's influence that made you a Catapult then."

Actually, no. He's a Chudley Cannons fan."

"What a muppet!"

"I know. And see, I made my own decision." Harry said, playing smug.

"Yeah, but not a very good one, I might add. But what can you expect, being raised by filthy muggles."

Harry shrugged, "I guess, but they're not all bad."

"Sure they're not. Awww Potter, defending you family, how Gryffindor."

"Actually, no. I was talking about the people I saw out of my window, or when I was allowed out." Seeing Draco's eyes widen in shock, Harry snapped out of his trance-like situation, got up from his chair and began frantically pacing along the rug. "I don't even know why I'm saying this to you, as if you care."

"Potter. I'm here right now, aren't I?" Neither knew why there was so much sincerity in Draco's voice, but it didn't bother either boys.

"I haven't properly spoken about this to anyone before," Harry said slowing his pacing until he came to a halt.

"Then it's obvious you need to talk to someone, before you burst! I'm here to listen, if you want." Draco said, leaning forward, worry in his eyes.

Harry hesitated at first, wondering why his rival would want to hear about his life, why he'd want to tell said rival anything, and why he'd even brought it up. Harry, a little voice said, he's here right now, isn't he? You've been talking to him fine, haven't you? You obviously need to tell someone, and that person is sitting right in this room.

"You're right, Malfoy." Harry said taking a seat on the sofa.

"When am I not?" Draco mumbled, unfortunately not quiet enough.

"I heard that. Do you want me to tell you or not?" Harry huffed, crossing his arms.

"Okay, okay, I'll be quiet." Draco said as he got up and seated himself at the other end of the sofa.

"Thank you. Well, as you know, my parents were killed by Voldemort," Draco nodded for him to continue; "I was pulled from the rubble of our house and taken to my last living relative. My mum's sister. The Dursleys." Harry spat the last word as if it were venom on his tongue. "Being a year and a half old, I was a bit of a handful."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Draco interrupted.

"Malfoy." Harry glared and the boy muttered his apology. "They were not sure if I'd have the same 'gift' as my mother, but it seems they didn't want to run that risk, so they kept me locked up in the cupboard under the stairs. My aunt would still make me bottles of formula for a while, and I was fed scraps of food. At first, my aunt would try and actually care for me as much as she could, whilst uncle Vernon was at work, but after about 6 months, he was promoted, allowing him to work from home. That was the last time I received a real hug." Harry looked up to Draco and saw that the latter was listening intently with his legs pulled up to his chest.

"Keep going. I'm still listening." Draco reassured.

"Okay. Well, my aunt is terrified of my uncle. I think he used to hit her whenever she tried to help me, so that marked the end of real care. I was left in the cupboard until I was 7, only given a glass of water a day, and any scraps left over from meals. Petunia, my aunt, used to leave as much as she could to give me enough to make up at least one meal a day. I was padlocked in. The only natural light I saw was when the door would open and I'd have something remotely edible thrown at me. Once I was old enough to handle hot food, I was let out at mealtimes, only to cook. Petunia always tried to help me with the extensive menus but one day, Vernon grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her upstairs. I heard a thump and then the footsteps coming back down the stairs. I quickly snapped back into work mode, but still worrying about my aunt. A few minutes later, she came down the stairs with her arm across her chest. I guess Vernon hit her across the stomach, so not to scare their precious 'Dudders' – My cousin. Aunt Petunia never dared to help again, so was working for myself."

"That's awful!" Draco said, hugging his knees closer to himself, obviously imagining what it must've been like.

"One day, I was collecting the post for Vernon, when I saw a funny coloured envelope with green writing. It was addressed to me. I was so shocked to be getting post. What was even weirder was that it was addressed to my cupboard. I handed the post over and began to open my letter, when my uncle noticed what I had. He snatched the letter from my hands. He saw the seal on the back and his hands began to shake. As he turned the letter over, it seemed he noticed the hand writing. He grabbed me by the collar and threw me into the cupboard, locking it. I could hear him shouting to my aunt, 'He's one of those freaks, just like your sister.'"

"Potter, why haven't you ever told anyone?! This is horrible. How could he be so… so… Racist!"

"I don't know, I guess he was more afraid of something different. It took a few weeks until I finally got my letter. Our house was covered in owls, our fire was burning a lot more at night times. He thought he'd got them all, but I guess he was wrong. Our house began overflowing with hundreds of copies of the same letter. This was the breaking point. He moved us all to a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean, with the hopes that no one would find us. That's when Hagrid turned up."

"Wait. That oaf features! What did he do, sit on your family until they gave in?" Draco laughed.

"Not exactly. He turned up, scared the shit out of my family. It was all bent gun, pigs tail, birthday cake. Anyway, once they shut up, he gave me my letter, explained that I was a wizard and took me away from them for the rest of the summer. Once I got back, the summer after, I found a way to threaten him. I lied and told him that I could curse him if he touched me. I demanded to be let out of the cupboard and given a place in Dudley's second bedroom. Just the sight of my wand threatened their 'sparkling reputation' and he gave me what I wanted."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Draco said, his voice beginning to lighten, compared with the look on his face.

"It was. My life wasn't too bad for a few summers. Soon they found out I wasn't allowed to use magic out of school, and I thought I was doomed, then I had a murderous godfather to threaten them with." Harry laughed at the memories he had received from those moments. He had actually enjoyed himself.

"Well, at least there's a bright side, eh?" Draco said, thinking this was the end of the story.

"At the time yes, but this summer it got worse again." Harry hesitated, thinking. Do I really want to bring this up, maybe this is too much.

"Potter, you don't have to carry on if you don't want to. I understand if you want to stop." Harry smiled at this comment, "but looking at the way you are acting right now, I think it may do you some good to tell someone, even if it's not me."

Tears began to well up in Harry's eyes as he though about the events of the summer. He lowered his head and willed them away, just for a moment. Finally, he plucked up the courage to spill his story, although it was barely audible. Draco guessed it must be something bad.

"This summer, I was outside in our front garden doing some weed work for aunt Petunia when I heard some guys laughing. I looked up to see a group of guys our age walking past the houses, they looked like they were having so much fun, I began to imagine what it would be like to know them, to be able to hang out with them. I guess I'd been staring for a while because I was snapped out of my thoughts by Vernon hitting me round the head. The boys were at the end of the road and almost out of sight but I had still been following their route. Before I knew it, I was being dragged upstairs and he locked himself and me in my bedroom." Harry took a deep breath, and Draco nodded to him in assure Harry that it was up to him if he wanted to carry on. "Well, he threw me onto the bed and began shouting at me. Shouting things about me being a faggot and staring at those guys. He said it wasn't safe for Dudley and himself to have me in their house. I was so scared thinking about the possibility of what he would do to me. He… he paced the room for a while, never taking his eyes off of me and then… then he, um, he r… raped me."

This broke the dam. Tears began to flow freely from Harry's eyes. He didn't bother to wipe them away of hide his face, he just let them fall. His whole body was shaking as he choked out months worth of emotion. Suddenly, without even noticing what he was doing, Draco shuffled along the sofa and wrapped his arms around Harry. He just sat there stroking Harry's hair and shh…ing. They sat like that for about 15 minutes. Harry had calmed down moderately, as he realised that it was getting quieter, Draco tried to re-start the conversation.

"There's… there's nothing wrong with being gay though, is there?"

"What? I didn't say I was gay! Are you just assuming that I am because someone else thinks so? Jeez, Malfoy." Harry shouted, prying himself away from Draco's body and standing up.

"No, Harry. I was just making a point of it. Even if you're not. There's nothing wrong with it."

"Right, I guess." Harry said, calming down considerably. He then began talking to himself, as if Draco didn't exist. "Maybe that's when I first showed it. Maybe Uncle was right. I've been gay for a while!" Harry began to laugh hysterically at this revelation.

"What did you say, Harry? I couldn't hear anything at all."

"I'm gay!" Harry laughed. Draco's eyes widened with shock. Shock at Harry's sudden confidence, not the fact that Harry was gay.

"You are?" Draco asked, standing up and walking over to face Harry, who was doubled over with laughter.

"I am what?" Harry laughed. Suddenly, Harry stopped laughing and clapped his hands to his mouth. "Shit" was the muffled sound that made its way through the barrier.

Harry ran over to his first chair, grabbed his belongings and made his way towards the door in blind panic.

Before he knew what he was doing, Draco shouted, "Harry, wait!"

Harry froze, hand gripped around the doorknob, and didn't dare turn around. "Wait for what? For you to rip the shit out of me for confessing I like guys?"

"Actually no, I was thinking, since you shared your darkest story to me, I'd share something with you." Harry still didn't move, "Harry, please?"

Harry slowly turned around and saw that Draco was standing a lot closer than he thought. "You called me Harry."

"Well I figured since I know practically everything about you, I could at least give you the courtesy of calling you by your first name. Now, come and sit down." Draco led Harry over to the sofa and they sat down in the middle, maybe a little close for comfort, considering their present circumstances.

"Well, what did you want to tell me, Draco?"

"Well, I think, since you told me, I can tell you that, erm, I'm gay too."

"You're joking, aren't you?"

"Usually, yes. Right now, no."

"But you're Draco Malfoy, guy who gets around all the girls in years 5 and above. I thought you'd be someone to beat up any gay guys."

"Did you not notice who my best friend is?" Draco smirked as Harry looked into the distance as if showing his thought. "Blaise Zabini. Most notorious gay in Hogwarts! Why would I beat up someone who's Queen is my best friend?!"

"Oh, yeah. I guess I forgot. Well, coming out to you was so much easier than telling Hermione. I nearly died wondering what she'd think about me afterwards."

"You want to know why? You get worried while telling friends because you're worried about what they'll think of you after, telling a complete stranger means they have no previous expectations for you. Telling someone you generally don't get along with means that there are no positive feelings towards you, so only negative ones can be made worse."

"That makes sense. Wow, Malfoy, you're pretty intelligent on this kind of thing"

"Draco, if you please."

"Oh, yeah, sorry Draco. It's so much easier to talk to you. I can just tell you anything and not worry as much. It's nice."

"I agree. I don't really talk to anyone else in Slytherin, and I can't really have a decent debate with Blaise. I'm glad we got talking. Speaking of Slytherin, you're all back to normal Harry. Messy black hair, green eyes."

Throughout their conversation, neither boy had noticed, until now, that their hair and eyes had slowly began to change back to normal.

"Really? Yeah, you're back to blonde haired, grey eyed Draco."

"Thank god! I've missed being me!"

"So… since we've been getting along right now, why did you turn down my friendship 1st year?"

"Well, I had befriended Ron on the train and when you came to talk to us, you insulted my first friend, I didn't like that one bit." Draco smirked at this, remembering what he had said. "After that, Ron had told me that dark wizards came from Slytherin and that it wasn't a very good house to be sorted into. That's why I told the Sorting Hat not to put me in Slytherin."

"Wait, you asked the sorting hat to not put you in Slytherin?"

"Yeah."

"And it listened?!"

"Yeah, that's the only reason I'm in Gryffindor."

Draco looked generally surprised at this comment. Harry could've been in Slytherin. We could've been friends. We, maybe, could be together right now! Oh My God somebody just A.K me now!

"I was just thinking. If I hadn't asked the hat to move me, I may have apologised and asked you to be my friend. Would you have accepted?"

"Hmmm… I don't know. I don't do well with rejection." Draco said, he then added, "Okay, I guess I would have. You would've enjoyed tormenting other students, especially Gryffindors."

Suddenly, Harry looked at his watch and jumped up.

"Shit! It's 11 o'clock! It's well past curfew! I will be in so much shit if I get caught out!"

"Harry calm down." Draco said, grabbing Harry's shoulders to steady him.

"Calm down, Draco? Calm down! How can I calm down. I'm gonna get detention with Filch! I'll probably be cleaning the trophies with my tongue."

"Harry. Firstly, that is disgusting. Secondly, I'm a prefect, if I walk you back to your common room, you'll be okay."

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, I don't want a friend to get into trouble, now, do I?"

"Friend?"

"We are on first name basis, I'd call that friends. Even if it is just the building blocks. That is alright for you isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's cool. I just never thought about it like that."

With that, they left the Room of Requirement and began their way to the Gryffindor common room. They walked in a comfortable silence, each fighting the urge to grab the others hand. Then they made it, they stopped outside the fat lady, ignoring her comments about them being out so late.

"Tonight was… interesting." Draco said, leaning against the wall.

"I'll second that. Thanks, Draco, for listening to me babble on about my life and being so kind when I needed a friend." Harry blushed, why do I have to sound like such a girl!?!

"It was nothing, I enjoyed myself. I'm glad someone else knows too. I can talk to someone without having to worry about slipping up!"

"We definitely have to meet again, but how can we arrange it?"

"Notes. We can just pass notes secretly. Do you know how to charm notes to become animalistic?"

"No, but Hermione can teach me, can't be too hard, can it?"

Draco shrugged, "I don't know, I guess not. Oh, and you have got to meet Blaise, He'd love to actually know you… I'd sat a little obsession is going on there."

Harry laughed at the though of a Harry Potter shrine in the Slytherin dorms.

"Sounds good. Well, I'd better get inside and get to bed. I'll see you tomorrow, maybe?"

"Yeah, sure. Night, Harry."

"Night, Draco."

With that, Harry whispered the password, climbed through the hole and went to bed. As soon as Draco reached the dungeons and his dorm, he was thankful that everyone was asleep, he got straight into bed and closed his eyes.

Both boys went to sleep with smiles on their faces.

We're Friends. He's Gay! I am so happy right now!

Little did they know, this happiness would be short-lived.

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Idina Malfoy!