Author's Note: So we finally have had Draco's big realization! I've read your reviews and have taken them into consideration for this chapter, so hopefully you will all enjoy it. Harry's POV.

Chapter 13

Harry was having a surprisingly wonderful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and everybody was getting along. It was... well, honestly, it was bloody fantastic. Dumbledore had permitted visiting in other common rooms, so Harry's Sunday had been spent lounging around in various common rooms with several of his friends—friends of all Houses—chatting and laughing with everybody there. This project was truly bringing them all together. As Harry walked down the corridor, he smiled at a Hufflepuff girl he had met the day before and she shyly returned the gesture. Yes, the inter-house relations were brilliant right now. Who would've guessed?

Harry was turning away from the girl, the smile fading from his face, when he almost nearly ran into Pansy Parkinson. He glanced up at her, surprised. "Watch it, Potter," Pansy said. "Can't you see that we're walking here?" She brushed invisible dust off her robes, but her tone was not unkind. Malfoy was behind her, cradling Rebecca in his arms and watching Harry with a strange expression on his face.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking properly," Harry apologised.

Pansy smiled at him. "Just don't repeat it, or I'll have to take you dancing again."

Harry grinned back. Since the Ball, he had realised that Pansy Parkinson wasn't the female embodiment of Slytherin terror that he'd previously imagined her to be. In fact, she was rather lovely. It seemed to be a trend that he was currently following. "I'd probably just step on your feet again," he joked. "Anyways, where are you two off to?"

Pansy chuckled, and then shrugged. "Nowhere in particular. We were just walking around, having a chat. Right, Draco?"

Malfoy merely made a grunting noise and stared at the floor. Harry frowned. The Slytherin didn't seem to want to meet Harry's eye when Harry was looking directly at him. How odd. Normally, Malfoy never gave up the chance to shoot him some sort of look. And Harry had to admit, Malfoy looks were actually pleasant. He had grown accustomed to them.

"That sounds nice," Harry remarked, after a while. "As it happens, I'm going to meet Ron and Hermione in the library now. Want to come with?"

Pansy snorted. "I'm sure that Weasley would love my company," she said dryly. "I'm going to have to pass on that, however. But by all means, take Draco."

Harry looked at Malfoy again and now Malfoy was gazing back at him. "I wouldn't want to intrude, Potter," Malfoy drawled.

Harry shook his head. "You wouldn't be intruding. I'm inviting you," he replied. Now that he thought about it, Harry liked the idea of Malfoy coming along. Ron and Hermione wouldn't mind (much), and Harry was really enjoying Malfoy's company as of late. In fact, if Harry hadn't known better, he would've thought that the Slytherin had had a complete brain transplant... Apparently, Malfoy had always been a surprisingly witty and entertaining conversationalist. Who knew?

"Go on, Draco," Pansy insisted. "I was thinking of helping Blaise with his homework, anyways. You know that he's hopeless with Arithmancy."

Malfoy frowned. "You're also hopeless with Arithmancy," he pointed out. "I'm good with Arithmancy."

Pansy waved him off. "You're good with everything. So what? That's not the point. Go and have fun."

Malfoy wrinkled his nose and turned away to whisper something in Pansy's ear. Feeling awkward, Harry stood by and glanced around, trying not to eavesdrop on their private matters. He stared off at a distant tapestry and let his mind wander.

Harry had noticed that Malfoy had been really agreeable since the Ball. The Slytherin was actually being... helpful. In fact, Harry had counted approximately thirteen nice things that Malfoy had done for him over the past week. For example, the other day, Malfoy had changed Rebecca's diaper when it had been Harry's turn. Another time, he'd let Harry sleep on the good side of the bed for no reason—he'd even pulled out Harry's chair for him before he sat down at dinner. Harry almost snorted at the prospect. It was almost as if Malfoy was... courting him or something. It was so very old fashioned. Not that he was complaining—Harry loved that Malfoy was warming up to him so much.

Harry absently shifted the Potions book in his arms and glanced about again. If he was lucky, Malfoy would help him with his homework today... even though Hermione was supposed to try and teach him the new lesson, Harry actually liked Malfoy's instruction a bit better, and he was becoming quite fond of their study sessions. Since the first one, Malfoy had helped Harry three more times; they would always study at a surprisingly efficient pace for a couple hours and then slack off and chat after they were finished. For some reason, it just felt natural with Malfoy, as if they'd been doing it their entire lives. Harry couldn't believe that he hadn't ever seen that side of Malfoy before. Malfoy was so smart, and helpful, and—dare he say it?—somewhat amiable. Those were not words that Harry had ever used for the boy before, but for some reason, he had no qualms about using them now. Again, it felt strangely natural.

Maybe it was the novelty of their situation, but Harry didn't think that was the case. Honestly, Malfoy had a distinct way of making Harry feel both special and normal at the same time. The Slytherin laughed at his jokes not because Harry was famous, but because he thought they were funny. He spent time with Harry not to hear glorious war recounts, but because he seemed to genuinely want to. Malfoy made Harry feel special for being himself, not for being the Boy Who Lived, or the Saviour of the Wizarding World, or any of that shit—Just Harry. That's what Harry liked about Malfoy and their new friendship. And also, if he were to be completely honest, he rather fancied the idea of hanging around Malfoy because, well, Malfoy wasn't too hard on the eyes. In fact, he was bloody gorgeous. The thing Harry liked most, maybe, was the colour of Malfoy's blushes: it was a lovely pink tint that spread from his neck and covered his fair skin. It was oddly beautiful. Harry didn't think he'd ever seen Malfoy blush before this year.

"Pansy!"

Harry almost jumped at the sound of Malfoy's indignant voice. The blond Slytherin was currently sporting the exact shade he'd just been dreaming about; Pansy had obviously said something to cause it when Harry had zoned out. He frowned. He wished that he had been paying attention for that.

Pansy was smirking. "What? I was only saying."

Malfoy gave her a death glare, and then glanced at Harry nervously. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

Harry was confused. "Was I supposed to?"

Apparently, it had been the right thing to say. Malfoy immediately looked relieved, then dangerous again as he turned to Pansy. "We'll talk about this later, Parkinson," he muttered, the stain of colour still on his cheeks.

Pansy raised her brows. "Sure we will." She looked at Harry and gave him a winning smile. "I'm off. See you in class later, Potter."

At once, Pansy turned on her heel and flounced down the hall away from them. Harry waved after her, still perplexed but unwilling to question the seething blond about it. "Er, so are you coming with me?" he asked, turning to Malfoy.

"Um, I just remembered that I have things to do right now, actually. Important things," Malfoy remarked, glancing about before handing Rebecca over to Harry. "I reckon I've got to go now. Take care."

He took off in the other direction. Harry looked down at baby Rebecca and shrugged before continuing his route down the corridor towards the library. Honestly, weren't the mood swings supposed to happen before the baby?

~x~

Harry walked into Marriage Sex and Family that afternoon with Rebecca still in his arms. It had been Malfoy's shift with the baby for a few hours now, but Harry had been unable to find him again after bumping into him in the corridor. Harry sat down in his seat and pursed his lips, irritated—it wasn't his responsibility to take care of Rebecca all by himself. The point of the assignment was to care for her together, and contrary to Malfoy's apparent beliefs, Harry did have things to do with his life. What had the other boy been doing that was so important anyways? Harry clenched his jaw as Malfoy dashed in and took his seat just as Snape was arriving at the front.

"Sit."

Stray students scrambled to sit now; nobody wished to face the wrath of Snape today—for some reason, the professor had been even more venomous than usual this week. Harry hadn't even thought that it was possible until the man had made a random Fourth Year break down into sobs at breakfast with just one particularly menacing sneer. Harry felt bad for the poor bloke. With Snape, nothing was ever certain.

"Today, you will work briefly with a partner from a different group and examine your project with them. I will pair you up as usual." Snape announced. "Afterwards, we will get into a large group and collaborate as a class." Harry cringed as he remembered the last time they had group discussion. But from what he was aware of, he and Malfoy didn't have any more incriminating information to spread, so they should be okay. Unless there was something that he didn't know about. In that case, he should remain careful. "This week is also your last living together," Snape continued. "You shall all go back to your respective dorms on Friday."

There was a flutter of whispers and activity throughout the class. Harry frowned a little himself. He'd actually started to like living in Slytherin and had gotten quite comfortable there. Also, what would they do about Rebecca? She needed to sleep between them.

Snape cleared his voice and glared at everybody. "Quiet," he snapped. "Here are your pairs. Mr. Zabini, Mr. Weasley. Miss Parkinson, Mr. Nott. Miss Lovegood, Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Finnigan. Mr. Thomas, Miss Weasley. Mr. Potter, Miss Granger..."

Harry looked over and grinned at Hermione, who gave him an encouraging smile and quick thumbs-up. What great luck! At least he wouldn't have to worry about being paired with someone he didn't like... although, there was hardly anyone left at this point. Harry turned around to say something to Malfoy, but the other boy scowled and looked away before he could say it. Harry frowned. What was Malfoy's issue? Harry had noticed lately that he became strangely tense and curt at the mention of Hermione. Was it the prejudice? Harry shook his head. Malfoy's subtle animosity towards her wasn't helping his argument that Malfoy was not horrible. Ron was still wary of the fact that Harry and Malfoy were getting along really well now, and even Hermione was a bit hesitant about it. It was like trying to talk to a brick wall.

After Snape was finished reading out the names, he left the room with a dramatic swoop, and Harry immediately rushed over to Hermione. He plopped down on her bench, careful to place Rebecca on his lap, and grinned at her. Hermione chuckled and ruffled his hair fondly. "Now this is my kind of class," Harry declared. "Working with my best friend."

Hermione smiled. "Of course," she remarked. "But you do know that we will actually have to talk about our projects. I'm not letting you slack off, Harry."

Harry let his face fall with mock disappointment. He hadn't expected any less from her. "Aw, but why?" he moaned.

Hermione hit his arm playfully. "So tell me about your project," she said. "How is everything going with Malfoy?"

Harry shrugged. "It's fantastic, actually. I think Malfoy and I are really getting a hang of this parenting thing." He tickled Rebecca's cheek and the little doll cooed.

Hermione's eyes widened. She stared at the baby doll as if it were a newly bound book. "Can I… Can I hold her?" she asked, tentatively. Harry tried not to smile as he handed the doll over to Hermione and she giggled. It was a rather surprising sight to see. "Oh—oh!" Hermione cradled Rebecca with care. "Harry, she's wriggling!"

Harry chuckled. "Don't worry, it means that she likes you," he assured her.

Hermione looked slightly dazed, and Harry wondered if she was thinking about the future when she'd have a real baby of her own to cuddle in her arms. The thought prompted a smile from Harry. He couldn't help but think of the same thing for himself. Would the feeling remain? Would the affection grow stronger?

"I can't wait to be a mother," Hermione declared, still gazing at the bundle in her arms with wonder. Her smile confirmed the thought that Harry had earlier. "There are just some things that you can't learn from a book."

Harry grinned. Leave it to Hermione to see it like that. "Well, I reckon you won't have to wait too long," he remarked. "You know how Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have been begging and pleading for grandchildren. Personally, I know that Ron wants at least two kids by the time he's thirty."

Hermione gasped and stared at him. "Harry!" she exclaimed, blushing.

Harry laughed cheekily. "Don't pretend that you don't know it, Hermione," he said. "You and Ron have been dancing around each other for ages."

Hermione looked as if she was going to argue, but after a moment, she just smiled and looked down at the baby again. "Maybe," she mused.

After a few more minutes of that, they began talking about her project with Blaise. It turned out that the Slytherin was starting to warm up to Hermione a bit, and according to her, they had worked together for a full hour without any major fighting or screaming. Hermione was quite proud. Harry was quite proud, too. At least, he was happy that his friends were all getting along better now. He didn't know how much longer he could take the split tension.

"Nursing is actually a fascinating career choice," Hermione was saying. "To work in a hospital, surrounded by constant chaos and urgency and care... I'd like to save lives like that, you know? It would be a nice change from all of this. Zabini thinks so too, with the police work. Wouldn't that be exciting? A bit like being an Auror, I think."

Harry grinned. "An Auror, huh? Blaise would love that."

Hermione smiled as well. "I could see it. Zabini has got that spirit in him... Malfoy, too. I bet they could be quite the pair if they wanted to."

Harry chuckled. He had never thought of either Malfoy or Blaise wanting to be an Auror, but he could see it as well. Although they bickered constantly, Hermione was right; Malfoy and Blaise were dynamic together—sort of like he and Ron were. Perhaps Harry should drop a few hints for Malfoy, see if he wanted to join the squad he and Ron had been surreptitiously creating for the next year? Harry snorted at the thought. He, Malfoy, Ron, and Blaise as a team—now that would be a sight to behold. Speaking of Malfoy… Harry glanced over Hermione's shoulder and searched the room for two blonds (Luna and Malfoy had almost the same colour of hair). To his surprise, the Slytherin was already staring back at him. But as soon as Malfoy saw Harry looking at him, he darted his eyes away, his lip curled in distaste. Harry frowned at him. What was up with that?

Hermione noticed his gaze and turned also, wrinkling her brow when she saw what he'd been looking at. "Are you two okay?" she asked.

Harry shook his head. "I... don't know. He was fine this morning, but he's been acting strange all afternoon. Avoiding me, I mean. But... he's not like that all of the time, Hermione. He's actually a really interesting bloke. If you and Ron would join us, maybe he'd—"

"Get all cold and unresponsive, like he always does when we're around," Hermione cut in, pursing her lips. "Harry, he hasn't tried to befriend us either. It's not just one-sided."

Harry sighed. "I know. I just think... I just think that maybe he's still a bit—"

Hermione tilted her head. "Prejudiced?" she guessed. "If he can get over it for you, I don't think that is the real problem. Maybe you should ask him. And I understand where you're coming from, wanting us to be friends with Malfoy... but I really miss hanging out with just you, Harry. And I know that Ron does too, he just doesn't want to say it in front of you."

Harry furrowed his brows. Hermione was right, the split between Malfoy and Harry's friends was becoming a problem. He missed hanging out with Ron and Hermione too. "I don't want to push his buttons in the wrong way, you know?" Harry explained. "I'm sorry that I don't get to spend as much time with you guys, and I love you both, but… " He let his eyes wander back over to Malfoy. "I like Malfoy now too."

Hermione gave him a small smile. "Harry. You know that we love you too, and we will try our hardest to do this for you, but it won't be easy. Malfoy just doesn't seem to like us..." She hesitated. "Especially me."

Harry looked at her sharply. "You noticed?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You thought I wouldn't?"

"Well, no... I was just hoping that it was all in my head."

Hermione reached forward and squeezed his arm. "It's okay," she said. "I think I understand, anyways."

Harry frowned. "You do?"

She smiled. "Don't I always?"

"Would you like to fill me in?" Harry asked.

Hermione handed Rebecca back to him. "I think you should mull over it yourself," she suggested. "I do have one thing that I want to run by you, however."

Harry stared at her. "What is it?"

"Malfoy is attractive... Yes?"

Harry gave her a pointed look. Well, obviously. It didn't take a genius to see that Malfoy was remarkably handsome. What kind of thing was that? "We both know that he's good-looking, Hermione," he muttered. "I don't see why you're asking me that."

Hermione grinned at him. "But do you find him sexually attractive?"

Harry frowned uncomfortably. "Erm, sexually...?"

Hermione bit her lip in a valiant attempt not to laugh. "As in, would you shag him?"

Harry recoiled. "Ugh, Hermione!" he cried.

She laughed for real now. Harry felt his cheeks heat up. He hadn't really ever thought about it that way, since he rarely felt comfortable exploring his sexual desires in the first place, but he supposed that it was a possibility. Of course, he had assumed that he didn't feel anything different for Malfoy because they were both blokes, but it wasn't like Harry had a problem with that concept. He was actually rather certain that Seamus and Dean had a thing for each other, and he had been friends with a boy down the block from the Dursley's who had said that he was queer. There was nothing wrong with being gay. It was just... Harry wasn't. He'd always fancied girls.

Harry shook his head and turned towards Malfoy again to inspect him. Thick robes covered Malfoy's body, but Harry knew that the boy was fit from sharing the bathroom with him on few occasions. Malfoy's shock of white-blond hair moved in wisps across his forehead as he spoke, somewhat disdainfully, at Luna. Harry observed Malfoy's facial expressions avidly for a moment. All of the angles of his face that Harry had always deemed pointy, were in fact, not so much anymore. The Slytherin actually had a lot going for him. Suddenly, Harry felt heat pooling up somewhere in the pits of his stomach as he watched Malfoy sigh irritably and jerk away. As soon as Malfoy turned, he glanced at Harry, as if he'd realised that Harry had been looking at him. Their gazes locked—grey to green, like a whirlpool of unasked questions and untold answers. Whoa. Harry felt a jolt of shock go through his body, and he suddenly felt as if he was choking from dry heat. Malfoy's cheeks turned a light pink again as he jerked his head away.

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry snapped back to look at her, dazed. "What?"

Hermione wrinkled her brow and leaned closer to him, seeming to inspect his eyes with uncomfortable scrutiny. Harry cringed away. But apparently, she'd already seen what she had wanted to see, and she sat back without argument as well. Her eyes flicked down before catching his again.

"Nothing, no matter," she remarked. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Before Harry could question it, there was a sudden flurry of movement as students began to crowd about. Snape had reentered the room now, and Harry looked at Hermione. "We're doing group discussion now. You should find Malfoy," she whispered, clearly having seen his confusion. She motioned for him to follow as she got up and joined the sea of students forming a circle in the middle of the room. Snape waited a few moments for the noise to die down before clearing his throat and pointing at a random pair.

"Begin," he snapped.

Harry glanced around. Damn it, where had Hermione gone? After a few more moments of searching, he frowned and squeezed himself between Malfoy and Blaise instead. He'd just catch up with her later. As he settled in, Blaise gave him a little bump hello, but Malfoy only tensed up. Seriously, what was his damned problem? Harry stared at the side of his face for a few moments without success. "Malfoy," he whispered to the Slytherin, but the other boy didn't answer. Harry tried to make eye contact again, but had no luck. He grit his teeth.

"Malfoy, look at me."

Malfoy didn't. "Why?" he asked.

"Just fucking look."

Malfoy turned, obviously exasperated. "What do you want?" he sneered.

Harry's temper flared up at the tone, but he tried to keep calm. There would be no point in getting into argument with Malfoy here, of all places. "Why have you been giving me that look all day?" he asked.

Malfoy glared at him. "What look?"

"That one! The one you're doing right now!"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "What, I can't look at you now?"

Harry bristled. "I just want to know what your problem is!"

"Mr. Potter, shut up," Snape announced all of the sudden, interrupting Dean and Seamus during their review. Harry ducked his head and muttered under his breath. Bloody Snape. It wasn't as if Harry had been bothering anybody else.

Malfoy turned his head slightly away from Harry now. "I don't have a problem, Potter," he hissed, keeping his eyes focused on the group. "You're imagining things."

"Am not," Harry whispered.

"Are too," Malfoy responded.

"You are so fucking full of it," Harry grumbled. "I haven't even done anything to you."

"Mr. Potter," Snape bellowed again. Harry cringed at the bite in his voice and tried not to look at the man. Snape was probably burning a hole through his head by now. "Since you are so eager to talk, you and your partner will be sharing next."

Harry rolled his eyes and kept his head down again. Well, damn. If Malfoy wasn't going to tell Harry what was the matter with him, fine. It wasn't as if Harry wasn't used to the heated glares and cool reception already. Only, it sort of hurt now, which was actually fucking irritating. Merlin, Malfoy was a prick sometimes. Couldn't he see that Harry only wanted to help?

As if the blond had heard him, Malfoy bumped him gently. "I'm not angry at you, Potter," he muttered. "I'm a bit ticked off at Pansy right now, that's all."

Harry nodded but didn't look at him. Honestly, did Malfoy have to take it out on everybody? "Why?" he asked.

Malfoy made a small noise. "It's actually both she and Blaise. They're aggravating me."

Harry nudged his arm. "About what?"

"It's no concern of yours, Potter," Malfoy whispered. "You don't have to get involved."

Harry sighed. "You know, you can talk to me," he remarked. "We're friends now, remember?"

Malfoy gave him a strange, indistinguishable look before shaking his head. "I know," he muttered. "It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Mr. Potter, if you and Mr. Malfoy are quite finished whispering sweet nothings to one another, you may begin reviewing the past week of your assignment," Snape snarled suddenly. Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Malfoy, smiling when he saw a matching expression on Malfoy's face. It was uncanny how alike they actually were.

"Um, it's been good," Harry began. "The doll hasn't been giving us any trouble lately. We've been sleeping fine, and all of us in our dorm can testify that it has been a pretty quiet week." Blaise, Malfoy, and Nott all nodded at that. Harry continued. "And well, everybody's getting along for the most part. The doll is happy. It's been excellent."

Malfoy bumped Harry again, signaling that he was taking over. "We have a schedule for who takes care of Rebecca at what time," Malfoy explained. "Potter gets early morning and his first three classes, I have her for the rest of the school day, and he picks her up during dinner. We both take care of her in the evening until bed. It's sort of difficult taking shifts during the school day, but we're making it work." He paused. "Potter's right though—it has been rather excellent."

Harry smiled a little at Malfoy's words. He had been worrying for no reason—apparently, things were going well on both sides of the partnership. It was rather lucky. Harry never would have guessed that he'd enjoy this assignment as much as he was. Malfoy looked at him, noticed his smile, and gave him a tiny half-smile. It wasn't really anything, but Harry's heart fluttered a bit. What?

Snape looked annoyed at them. Obviously, he had expected them to screw up in some way. "Yes. I am certain your marriage is excellent," he spat, appearing as if it pained him to say so. Harry wanted to laugh, but he refrained. He bit his lip and looked at his lap instead.

Blaise leaned closer to Malfoy with a mischievous grin on his face. "Oh yes," he affirmed quietly to his friend, just loud enough for Harry to hear him. "Quite excellent, hm? You two are so excellent together."

Harry gave Blaise a weird look. Obviously, Blaise and Pansy were both pulling at Malfoy's strings for a reason. But why? It wasn't as if Malfoy had done or said something recently to make them act that way. Had he? Harry couldn't recall an incident. They were all friends... weren't they?

Malfoy grit his teeth. "Sure, Zabini," he drawled. Harry raised his eyebrows at the use of surname and unusually icy tone. Malfoy only glanced up and motioned that he was finished talking, and the next group began.

~x~

It was later that night when Harry began heading down the corridor for his weekly questioning with Malfoy. Usually he had Rebecca in his arms, but since Malfoy had neglected his duties during the afternoon, the other boy had her at the moment. Harry swung his arms carelessly, unsure of what to do with the emptiness. Of course, it had only been a few weeks with the doll, but it still felt strange not to be holding her—plus, Harry was eager to get to the classroom and spend more time with Malfoy. After dinner, he'd thought more about what Hermione had asked him, and fine, Harry had decided that he was kind of attracted to Malfoy in a sexual way. So what? He had a right to appreciate beauty when he saw it. It didn't mean that he was gay or anything; he hadn't been gay before and he wasn't now. Right?

Harry arrived at the classroom and pushed open the door. Malfoy was already there, fixing Rebecca's blanket and murmuring to her, and he looked up at Harry's entrance. The Slytherin flushed a little and pursed his lips from being caught acting like that. Harry grinned. When it came to Malfoy, Harry liked these candid moments the most... He bit his lip. Yeah, Malfoy was definitely more attractive than Harry had previously allowed himself to believe.

"Hey," Harry greeted, dropping his bag and sitting down without mentioning what he'd just seen. "Where are the questions?"

Malfoy shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "They weren't here when I came in. Couldn't find Snape, either."

Harry crossed his legs and leaned back in his seat. "We could just sit here and wait, then. There's something that we need to talk about anyways..." He paused. "You know that I'm to move back into Gryffindor next week, right?"

Malfoy's expression was unreadable, but he nodded. "Yeah."

Harry eyed him. "So what are we going to do about Rebecca?" he asked. "She's going to go mental if we separate."

Malfoy scrunched his eyebrows together and peered down at the now-sleeping doll on the desk. "Oh, that's right," he mused. "There's no way that we'd be able to keep her happy if you moved back... We will have to inform Snape about the problem. Perhaps we can sort out a way to keep sleeping together." Harry's eyebrows rose and Malfoy glanced at him sharply. "I mean, for you to continue living in Slytherin. Merlin."

"You tease," Harry joked. "And here I was hoping that we could finally put The Extra Bed to use."

Malfoy gave him a curious look, and then burst out laughing. "You are ridiculous, Potter," he remarked.

"So is that a no?"

"Shut the fuck up, prat," Malfoy said sharply, a faint flush creeping over his face again as he laughed.

Harry grinned and bit his lip again. For a fleeting moment, he wanted to reach over and grab Malfoy's face and—Harry shook his head. He punched Malfoy's shoulder instead. "You know, you're not half bad, Malfoy. I wouldn't mind fucking you," he quipped.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Please, I would be the one fucking you."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

Harry folded his arms across his chest. "I'm a Gryffindor. I always come out on top."

Malfoy smirked. "I'm a Slytherin. I always come out on top."

They studied each other for a few moments. Then Harry broke and laughed.

"Fine, we can switch. Git."

Malfoy pretended to mull it over. "All right. I get to be first though."

"In your dreams, Malfoy!"

~x~

After an hour and a half and no sign of Snape, Harry and Malfoy had decided that the professor wasn't coming and had headed back to the dorm for the night. It was late, almost curfew—they'd get into trouble if they stayed any longer. Harry had expected their friends to be asleep by now, as they typically were, but when they crept into the dorm, Nott and Blaise were sitting on Nott's bed. It looked as if they had been in the middle of a deep conversation of some sort. Harry frowned. Nott and Blaise never had deep conversations together.

"Oh!" Blaise exclaimed, hopping off the bed. "What are you two doing back? You're home early."

"It's not early," Malfoy remarked slowly. "It's after ten."

"Right," Blaise agreed, nodding as if he had just realised that. "Time flies when you're having fun, I suppose. Still, you're earlier than usual."

Nott looked from Harry to Malfoy with an odd expression. "Did Snape let you out?" he asked.

Harry shook his head. "Never showed," he explained. "We didn't do anything but sit there forever, waiting for our questions. We just decided to come back after a while. There was no point in staying anyways, if Snape had happened to return and find us, he would've punished us."

"True," Blaise commented, slapping a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Well, I'm glad that you guys are back now, because I wanted to play a game of chess. Up for it, Draco?" he asked, turning to him.

Malfoy smiled tersely. He seemed a little hesitant to go, and Harry wondered if he was still angry with his friend. Malfoy shrugged, however. "Sure. But don't cry when I beat your sorry loser arse."

Blaise grinned. "Bring it on."

Malfoy rolled his eyes and stalked out of the room, and Blaise quickly followed him out. With that, Harry was left alone with Nott. Harry contemplated twiddling his thumbs and awkwardly leaving the room as well, but he decided against it. It wasn't as if he couldn't handle the Slytherin. Harry looked up, and surprisingly, Nott was looking back at him, gesturing Harry over. Harry complied, walking over and plopping down on the bed. Did Nott expect them to have a real conversation? Harry hadn't had a real conversation with Nott in... well, like, ever. But he didn't mind if Nott tried. No matter how uncomfortable.

Harry shifted around a bit. "What's up, Nott?" he inquired.

The other boy shrugged. "Not much. Can I ask you something though?"

"Sure," Harry encouraged.

Nott looked unusually embarrassed. He squeezed his fists and looked down at his lap. "It's about you and Malfoy."

Harry tried his best not to squirm. "What about me and Malfoy?" he asked, calmly.

"Are you... are you with him? For real, I mean."

Harry blushed now, unable to help it this time. Why would Nott think that? Was that what everybody thought? Harry didn't believe that he and Malfoy were acting any more or less like boyfriends, or lovers, or whatever. Just because they were getting along now didn't mean that there had to be another reason. He shook his head.

"No. We're just friends. Is that so hard to believe?"

Nott frowned. "No, but I mean, you have been spending a lot of time together recently and Blaise says that with Malfoy being gay and all—"

"Wait, Malfoy's gay?" Harry exclaimed.

Nott looked bewildered, as if he had thought Harry had already known that. "Yeah..."

"Since when?" Harry pressed.

"Um… I don't know. I'm pretty certain that it doesn't just happen..."

Harry made an exasperated noise. "That's not what I meant," he said. "Has he ever been with a bloke?"

Nott wrinkled his nose. "How should I know?"

"You're his friend," Harry pointed out.

"So are you!"

Harry took a deep breath. It wasn't as if he and Malfoy sat around talking about their sexualities all day. But really, Malfoy was gay? Harry wouldn't have ever guessed it. Well, maybe he would, but he wouldn't have said it openly. It was just a bit of a shock... And also a bit scary, since Harry had been the one thinking that maybe he was sexually attracted to the Slytherin, and joking about who would top during sex, and now he was finding out that Malfoy was actually gay. What did that mean for Harry?

"We're just friends," Harry repeated. "Malfoy may be... like that, but I'm not."

Nott cracked a smile. "That's not what Blaise says," he remarked slyly.

Harry snorted. "Blaise is a wanker. It's not like he knows me better than I know me."

"Blaise knows better than everybody," Nott insisted.

Harry rolled his eyes.

~x~

Harry lay in bed that night with a million thoughts racing through his mind. Nott thought that Harry and Malfoy were together. Hermione thought that Harry was attracted to Malfoy. Blaise thought that Harry was gay. Malfoy really was gay. Harry rubbed his eyes and groaned, trying to clear his head. What if he was gay? What if he had been looking at this all wrong his entire life? And for Malfoy to be the one for him to realise it... Harry glanced over at the blond, who was sleeping quietly beside him, and sighed. Maybe he was. But if he was... it was only for Malfoy. Only for him.