Disclaimer: Harry and friends belong to JKR.

Chapter 7

Harry woke up the next morning feeling oddly, like the same person as he was yesterday morning; he paused for a second going over the events of yesterday and last night to make sure it had actually happened. He sighed, partially disappointed that he was still the same old Harry Potter – not that he wanted to be different, he just expected that he would be. Harry had always imagined that after his first sexual encounter he would feel different; older, somehow. He was sitting up in bed frowning about how little difference being sexually active made a person when Ron, who was already dressed and ready to go, pulled back the curtains around his bed.

"You'd better hurry up or you'll miss breakfast!" Ron said as he pointed to his wrist watch.

Harry had slept in again, which isn't all that surprising; he was up late last night. Harry groaned as he thought about having to face another lot of classes, all he wanted to do was snuggle up to Draco and sleep all day.

Harry arrived at breakfast a little disheveled but only 10 minutes late which meant there would still be hot toast left. Hermione was already there and as Harry looked over at her, she looked away from him; he could tell she was trying to give him the cold shoulder to make him feel guilty for being so rude last night. Harry did feel guilty, Hermione had been so good to him over the years and he was being completely selfish right now; expecting her to go along with his choices happily without comment. He did have the right to chose what he wanted for his own life, but friends weren't friends if they happily and enthusiastically agreed to let you do whatever you wanted no matter how potentially dangerous it was. Harry decided to make things right with Hermione before the day was over. He wouldn't give up Draco, but he would agree to be careful and hopefully that would appease her somewhat.

After breakfast, the trio had Charms which, unfortunately for Harry, was with the Ravenclaw sixth years. Harry pouted a little when he remembered he had Care of Magical Creatures with the Hufflepuffs that afternoon and wouldn't be seeing Draco at all that day, with the exception of sideward glances across the Great Hall at meal times.

Charms class went by quickly, Harry managed to master two new spells nearly as quickly as Hermione, certainly quicker than Ron who seemed as though he was deep in thought the whole time. After Charms they had free study time until lunch which Harry decided he would use to talk to Hermione and hopefully sort things out. He whispered to her quietly to meet him in their usual private corner in the library so they could talk. She gave him a quick piercing look before nodding; she was upset, but not so upset she wasn't keen on giving Harry another lecture.

By the time Harry had arrived in the library he had his plan of attack all worked out; he would let Hermione rant for a bit before calmly saying his piece – that he liked Draco, he wasn't going to dump him just because his dad was in with Voldemort but he did agree it was a little reckless so he would be extra, extra careful. That should be enough for her, he thought, after all, it is my life and she does have to respect my decisions.

Hermione was already waiting for him when he arrived, she was sitting quietly with a book and as he approached she glanced up looking at him seriously. She started before he'd even sat down properly.

"Harry, I'm worried about you. This new relationship of yours could have very serious consequences and you seem to be moving incredibly quickly."

Harry waited for her to continue, thinking she couldn't possibly be finished yet. Apparently she was. It seemed Hermione had her own game plan; slow and serious. He guessed that she didn't want to scare him into avoiding her again, or maybe she realized she'd gone a bit too far stalking him in the common room.

"I know it hasn't been that long -" Harry started. But he didn't continue; it seemed that Ron was marching up to them determined not to be left out again. It occurred to Harry then that he hadn't really talked to Ron after Charms, he hadn't made excuses or explanations for not joining him during their free time; careless of him really.

"I have something to say," Ron stated firmly. He had a fixed determined frown on his forehead which Harry assumed meant he'd been thinking about this all morning. He sat down beside Harry and across from Hermione. "I know there's something going on and I'm not part of it. I was sure you would tell me sooner or later, but you haven't and I can't wait any more. I want to know what's going on! Are you two-" Ron paused and looked at the table uncomfortably, "- dating?" He almost choked on that last word.

Harry stared at Ron in shock and Hermione looked at Ron with panicked eyes; Harry knew she was trying to decide how she could furiously deny that she was dating Harry without professing her intense affection for Ron right there in the library.

"No, man. No way!" Harry stared at Ron resolutely. "I would never do that to you. I'm not interested in her that way and she's not interested in me! Isn't that right, Hermione?"

This time Hermione glanced at the table, her cheeks blooming with a deep pink blush. "Yes, that's right. I wouldn't – not with Harry -" Hermione stopped as she flicked her eyes up to look at Ron, before looking away again as her blush spread deeper creeping down her neck.

"Ah, okay," Ron coughed awkwardly. "What's going on then?" He had turned to Harry now, looking hurt but trying to hide it. Harry knew he would have to confess; he didn't realize how obvious it was he and Hermione had a secret that were deliberately keeping from Ron and how much it hurt him not to know.

He must think I don't trust him! Harry thought. It was then he realized that for the last few weeks he hadn't trusted Ron with this secret; Ron hadn't given him any reason not to trust him. Wow, I've been such a prat…

"Well," Harry started, "I'm definitely not dating Hermione, but I am dating someone…"

"You have a girlfriend and you never told me!?" Ron gaped at him.

"No, not a girlfriend as such -" Harry took a deep breath. "God, this is so hard to say. You're gonna hate me or something, I know it."

"What are you talking about?" Ron was thoroughly confused now.

"I'm dating someone, but it's a secret, okay? You can't say anything; it could be dangerous for both of us if you do."

"Jesus, Harry who are you dating!? Snape!?"

"Ah, not quite," Harry looked at Hermione who smiled and nodded at him softly, encouraging him to keep going. "It's Draco Malfoy." Harry was torn between looking at Ron's reaction and hiding behind closed eyelids.

Ron was silent for a moment, studying Harry's body language trying to glimpse some hint of a smile or mischievous eye to let him know Harry was joking. There wasn't one, just uncertainty and anticipation for Ron's next words.

"That's not funny, Harry," Ron replied sternly.

Harry could tell Ron knew it wasn't a joke, but he knew that something this big was going to take Ron some time to get his head around.

"I'm not joking…"

"Malfoy!? Seriously?" Ron said, he was starting to look a little panicked. "But we hate Malfoy? Hermione, did you know about this? I mean he's a total prat! And we hate him. You hate him, Harry!"

Harry tried to sound as calm as possible, but he was starting to wonder if this was the moment his friendship with Ron died.

"We used to hate Malfoy, but at the moment I don't exactly hate him, no…"

"What? You love him now!?"

"No, not love! I mean it's all pretty new."

"But he's a guy!" Ron was still looking at Harry in disbelief, but this time Harry smiled. It was right then that he realized his friendship with Ron would survive this conversation, eventually anyway, even if it took a few days or weeks – hopefully not months. You see it was in those four little words that Harry realized to Ron Draco being a guy was secondary to his being a prat; he wasn't as creeped out about Harry dating another guy as he thought he would be.

"Oh my God!" Ron continued his eyes opening a little wider. "Does this mean – Are you… gay!?" Ron whispered the last word, looking around to make sure no one heard him say it. Harry wondered later whose reputation Ron was trying to protect by doing this; Harry's or his own. Right at that moment, however, the only thought crossing his mind was GAY!? The word floored him; it was not a word Harry had associated with either himself or Draco, but now that Ron had mentioned it he couldn't shake it off – I mean what he was doing with Draco was – well, gay.

"No!" Harry replied, totally shocked. "I mean, I don't think so. It's only been Malfoy, before him it was all girls I swear! Just because I date one guy doesn't make me gay! Does it?"

"Harry, there's nothing wrong with being gay. Even if you were, which I'm not saying you are, it wouldn't matter to us. Would it Ron?" Hermione said; speaking up for the first time since Ron arrived.

Ron looked at Hermione and then turned to Harry. He didn't say anything, but his look made Harry nervous, he looked unsure, confused and a little disappointed which is what hurt Harry the most; he was disappointed.

"Ron…" Harry pleaded him to understand. "I'm the same person I was before and I'm not even sure about anything yet."

"I can't believe you're sitting here telling me you're with Malfoy," Ron shook his head is disbelief. "I can still see the black eye he gave you yesterday…"

"Is that all it is? That I'm dating Malfoy? What if it was someone else, someone you approved of but he was still a guy?"

"I don't know Harry! This is weird, okay?"

"Yeah, I know." Harry looked away from Ron; he was starting to feel nauseous like he was going to faint or throw up. "Lets talk about this later; I think I need some fresh air."

Harry stood up to leave. Hermione looked like she was on the verge of tears, staring at Ron like she couldn't believe he was letting Harry walk away from them like this. Harry was half way to the library doors when Ron called out to him, running to catch up. When he reached Harry, Ron put his left hand on Harry's shoulder squeezing it tightly. He looked at Harry like he wanted to tell him so much more than he could say, but the few words he did say meant more to Harry than he could describe.

"You're my best mate. If he hurts you, I'll kill him."

Harry smiled and nodded; he wanted to hug Ron to show him how glad he was they were still friends, but he thought that might be a bit too much right then. When Ron turned to go back to Hermione, Harry left the library anyway, he didn't feel dizzy anymore but he still felt a little overwhelmed; nothing a good long fly couldn't cure though. He grabbed his broom from Gryffindor Tower and headed down to the Quidditch pitch; the wind sharply stung his face as he flew, but for the next 40 minutes Harry was worry free again.

At lunch, Harry met Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall; he was a little tense wondering what Ron's reaction would be now that he'd had some time to think everything through, but he needn't have worried. The only reason Harry knew Ron's thoughts still lingered on Harry's earlier confession was his unwavering stare that flicked between Harry and Draco, who was sitting at the Slytherin table, throughout their entire meal. Harry gave Ron a little kick under the table to warn him to stop, but it did little to deter him. After lunch the three friends made a move towards Hagrid's hut where they would be having their Care of Magical Creatures; they didn't get far before Draco caught up with them.

"He knows?" Draco asked Harry referring to Ron.

Harry gave Draco a quick nod. Draco's face softened somewhat when his eyes met Harry's, but reverted back to his original hard frown when he turned to address Ron.

"Want to be a bit more obvious, Weasel?" Draco growled. "I think there were at least 2 or 3 students who didn't see you staring at us hard enough!"

Ron flinched; he knew he should have ignored Malfoy at lunch but he was still so flabbergasted about the whole situation he couldn't help himself. Malfoy, even now, still roused ugly feelings inside him and Ron shot a venomous glare in his direction. "What's your problem, Malfoy?"

People were starting to watch their exchange of words. Unfortunately for Harry and Draco, their past encounters with each other were almost as famous as Harry's scar and most students were dying to see one first hand which meant their meetings almost always drew an unusual amount of attention.

"Just getting my daily dose of entertainment, Weasel Breath!" Draco sneered loudly, before knocking Harry's books out of his hands in one sweeping motion. Harry was stunned into speechlessness for just a few seconds, which was just enough time for Draco to turn on his heel and start down the corridor in the opposite direction. Harry stared at Malfoy's retreating form determined to have the last laugh.

"Nice one, Malfoy!" Harry yelled after him. "Really shows just how intelligent you are! I swear I think I actually saw your IQ go up to 50 with that move!"

Hermione helped Harry retrieve his belongings and Harry smiled at Ron and Hermione before heading off, once again, towards Hagrid's hut, as they walked Ron, looking confused, voiced his thoughts to Harry.

"What was that?" he said, "I thought you two were, you know – together?"

"Secretly, Ron, no one knows about it. That's why Draco is so on edge about you staring at us both at lunch. If it became public his father or Voldemort could use Draco to get to me, they could hurt him." Harry cringed at the thought.

"Are you sure that's not the plan, Harry?" Ron said, trying to choose his words carefully. "I mean you and Malfoy – its not exactly, well – probable is it? What if he's trying to get close to you so he can hand you over to You-Know-Who later on?"

"It's not like that! You wouldn't understand. I can tell its real, he's genuine about his feelings for me." Harry's body tensed as he spoke; he was expecting this to come up, but it was still a shock.

"Ron has a point, Harry. I mean it hasn't been that long, how well do you really know Malfoy?" Hermione added, backing up Ron's point and making Harry feel as though he was being ambushed.

"I know him better than either of you do!" As Harry spoke he knew what he said was true, but he also felt an uncomfortable truth in Hermione's words too. How well did he know Draco? The small amount of time they had together certainly wasn't spent talking.

"Just be careful won't you, Harry?" Hermione pleaded, she knew she wasn't going to get Harry to admit there was a chance this was some sort of plot, but she might at least get him to be on his guard.

"I'm always careful," Harry said, ending their conversation. They had arrived at Hagrid's and there were too many people around to keep talking about Harry's new relationship.

Harry didn't get a chance to speak to Draco again for nearly a week; in the end Harry got fed up and sent Draco a carefully and frustratingly vague note asking him to be outside the Slytherin common room at midnight on Wednesday night. Harry made sure he was outside Slytherin House underneath his invisibility cloak at 11.50pm, just in case Draco emerged early. At exactly midnight Draco stepped out into the passage and glanced around, to Harry's amusement Draco jumped when Harry grabbed him and pulled him under the cloak. Harry smiled and grasped Draco's hand to lead him up a nearby staircase; they moved silently, climbing staircase after staircase. When they arrived Draco gave Harry an odd look.

"The Astronomy Tower?" he asked quizzically.

"I thought we could watch the stars for a while, besides there are no classes tonight so we shouldn't be disturbed."

Harry removed his cloak, but kept it close by in case Filch decided to wander up. The two boys settled down on the floor, snuggling into each others warmth. Harry leaned his head on Draco's shoulder sighing in contentment.

"Hey Harry," Draco whispered. "See that star, the bright one over to the left? It's right next to that group of stars that looks like a teapot."

"Yeah, I see it."

"I want you to have it."

"Have what? The star?"

"Yeah." Harry could hear Draco's smile in his voice.

"You can't just give me a star!"

"Why not?"

"Well, it's not yours to give."

"It is. I just discovered it and I'm giving it to you. People will look at it and say 'Look it's Harry Potter!'"

Harry laughed deeply. "People say that anyway! Besides I'm sure someone else has already discovered that particular star and it already has a name."

"What makes you say that? Have you seen it before?"

"No. But I don't often look at the stars."

"Well, I've never seen it before either so at the very least, we are discovering this star for the first time ourselves and as I saw it first I reserve the right to name it and give it to whoever I like."

"Really?"

"Yes and it just so happens that I like you." Draco moved his head to face Harry and kissed him softly. "Do you want it then – my star?"

"Yes, very much," Harry whispered and kissed Draco again.

Harry snuggled back into Draco and they talked quietly in the cool crisp air underneath the stars. Harry was glad, this is what he had wanted, to talk and get to know Draco. Before the night was over Harry had quizzed Draco on various aspects of his life, it didn't go unnoticed by Harry how guarded Draco was about his past, particularly his family and childhood, but Harry let it go for now letting Draco divert the conversation to other superficial, less personal things. Harry knew it would take longer for Draco to be comfortable about being candid about his past; Harry sensed deep shame and regret in Draco's voice when Harry asked about his past.

After a few hours, Harry and Draco left the Astronomy Tower to go back to bed, they could feel winter creeping up in the night air. In 5 weeks winter would have arrived and the school would break up for Christmas holidays; it was during this short time that Harry and Draco would find some proper quality time together – too bad it was still 5 weeks away.

A/N: Sickeningly fluffy I know! spew but I secretly love it…

Review people, let me know how you like it!