The Exchange – Reconciliation

"Come on, Harry! Get out of bed!"

"No! I don't want to! The world hates me! I hate my life!"

Ron rolled his eyes at his friend's dramatics.

It was already Sunday, three days since Harry overheard Blaise and Draco in the corridor. He had since told Ron and Hermione about the incident, including what had happened in potions class. They were surprised, but sorry for their friend. They knew how much Draco had meant to him.

"It's already noon, Harry. I think it's time for you to get up."

"No…" Harry groaned, turning on his side, away from his friend. "He hates me! I should've known from the very beginning! Of course he hates me! He's always hated me…" Harry shut his eyes. "He doesn't want Harry… he wants Haley…" He scoffed at the idea.

"You're beginning to sound like a pathetic lovesick schoolgirl."

Harry sat up only to scowl at his friend. "I do not."

"Would you listen to yourself? 'I hate the world! The world hates me!' Pansy." Ron mocked. At the glare he was receiving, Ron sighed and continued. "Look, I don't know how the inner workings of Malfoy function. But I do know that if he doesn't want to be your friend now just because you're Harry means that he's an arse that doesn't deserve your friendship to begin with."

Harry sighed and collapsed back onto his pillow, draping his right arm over his eyes.

Ron sat on the edge of Harry's bed. "You can't go on like this mate."

"Is he still moping around?"

Ron looked to the door as Seamus entered with Dean. "Hey guys," he greeted.

"Hey Ron. Come on, Harry. You'll have to get out of bed eventually," Dean tried.

"Then I'll move when I'm good and ready." Harry grumbled.

Seamus scoffed. "The way you've been acting sure seems like you're heartbroken. Is that it? Did you meet a pretty girly over in America?" The Irish boy grinned. "It that the ring she gave to you on your departure?"

Harry quickly moved his left hand from his belly to hide it under the covers. "No. Of course not. It's nothing. Leave me alone."

"Awww, poor Harry's lovesick. It all makes sense now!" Seamus laughed.

Harry looked at Ron from under his arm. He looked to him for help. Ron sighed in exasperation.

"Dean! Would you get a hold of your boyfriend? Get him out of here!"

"What're you yelling at me for?" Dean frowned, but still took Seamus' hand. "Come on, you. You're causing enough trouble for one day."

"Don't be mad at me cause I'm right, Harry!" Seamus smiled as he was being led out the door.

"Dean!" Ron growled.

"We're going, we're going!" Dean defended, closing the door behind them.

Again, Ron sighed and looked back to his friend. "I told you you're acting like a schoolgirl."

"Bugger off."

"Harry," Ron tried again, moving the other boy's arm to look him in the eye. "This isn't good. You need to get out of bed and for goodness' sake, eat something. You're wasting away. Haven't you even found the need to use the toilet?"

"I have very good bladder control."

"Gross," the redhead said, face contorting in disgust. "Look, mate. Maybe you just need to look at him separately too. The Malfoy who's your friend is some other guy that you met while you were away. And now you're back here where there's another Malfoy. One that you hate. One that has nothing to do with the bloke you fell in love with. If he finds it easy to forget that you're the same person, then maybe you need to realize that he's not the same person, too."

Harry squinted his eyes in malcontent. "That's stupid. They are the same person. Just like how Haley and I are the same person."

Ron threw up his hands in frustration. "Then I don't know what to tell you, mate. But I do know that I hate seeing you like this. So. Get. Out. Of. Bed." He emphasized each word by poking his friend in the chest.

When Harry's only response was to pull his covers over his head, Ron crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's it. I'm pulling out the big guns now, Potter." Ron stood and walked towards the door. "I'm getting Hermione."

Harry shoved the covers off him and sat up. "Wait, no! Not her!"

---

"Draco? Come on! You've been in there all day!"

"So what? Leave me alone."

"Open your door."

"Go. Away."

"Open, open, open, open, open, open-"

"Piss off!"

"Open, open, open, open, open, open-"

Blaise jumped back as the door flung open. He smiled, but in seeing the disarray of the usually pristine Draco, he instantly frowned. "You look horrible, mate."

"What do you want?" Draco growled. He was still in his pajamas and his hair was wild.

"You've been in there all day. And you were there all day yesterday. It's about time you get out."

"No. There's nothing out there for me. He hates me."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "He does not hate you." He pushed his way into the head boy's room.

Draco closed the door and crawled back under the covers of his bed. "Yes he does. He said he's happier without me in his life. He hates me."

Blaise hopped onto the bed and sat next the heap that was Draco. "I can guarantee, mate, that Harry does not hate you."

"Did he say so?"

"Of course! He said he loved you!"

Draco scoffed. "That's what he said when he was her. But now, now that he's back to being him and back to remembering what it was life before he was she, he hates me!"

Blaise tried to wrap his brain around what his friend had just said. He shook his head. "Nonsense. He's just as miserable as you are!"

At this, Draco looked out from under the covers. "Really? How do you know?"

"I talked to Granger and Weasley just yesterday. Apparently, Harry refused to come out of his dorm room as well."

"Really?" Draco asked again, sounding a little hopeful. "You're not just making that up to make me move?"

"Would I lie?"

"Yes."

"About this?"

"Yes."

"Ugh." Blaise scoffed. "I'll prove it to you. Meet me over by the potions classroom at three and you'll see for yourself.

"Why? What's going to happen?"

"Are you going to go?"

"…Maybe."

"Then you'll just have to wait and see. And for God's sake, man, take a bath. You seriously look revolting. With that, Blaise hopped off the bed and left the room. Closing the door, he smiled mischievously. 'I hope those two were right…'

---

'Okay. Okay. I can do this. I will get over Draco. I'll just stop thinking about him. Ron kicked me out of my bed for a reason. I need to stretch my legs. That's all. I'm walking around the school to stretch my legs. And I won't think about Draco. In fact, I'm not even going to call him Draco in my head anymore, you got that brain? It's Malfoy from now on, just like it should be. Okay? Malfoy. He has no first name. It's just Malfoy. Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy. Okay that's not helping. I need to stop thinking about him. Oh look! What's that? It's a suit of armor! A knight! Knights are good. They protect people. Just like how Draco protects me. Oh wait! No! Bad brain! Let's look over here… there's Pavarti and Lavender. Smile and wave at the girls. Good. Is that a dragon pendant around Lavender's neck? Draco means dragon. No! Not again! Okay, okay. Umm… look outside! Yes. The sky is covered in clouds. Fluffy grey clouds. Grey… just like Draco's eyes. No! …Hey look! It's Dobby! …Dammit!'

"Argh!" Harry growled rather loudly.

The people who passed him in the corridor just stared in bewilderment before hurrying along away from the disheveled golden boy.

"This isn't working…" Harry frowned to himself. "Everything I think about just leads me back to Draco…" Harry sighed and hopped onto the ledge of the window and stared out into the frost-covered school grounds.

'Look at me… I'm a mess. Ron's right. I've been acting like a fool. Wallowing in self-loathing? Really? That's not me at all. I'm Harry Potter. I've got to get myself together. I can do this. If Draco finds it easy to forget that we were friends, then I should do the same. I don't need him. I've got other friends who like me for me. I don't need Draco.' Though it sounded good in his head, he didn't feel all too convinced.

Harry took a deep breath and hopped down from his sitting place. 'Oh look. It's Draco.'

The Gryffindor did a double take towards the figure at the end of the hall. 'Oh shit! It's Draco!'

Harry's first instinct was to run. His adrenaline was already pumping through his veins and he was ready for lift-off at any moment. However, his feet were planted to the spot.

Draco, having spotted the other boy, headed down the hall towards Harry. Anyone who might've noticed the Gryffindor would have been able to see the inner battle waging within his head. Harry rocked back and forth trying to decide whether or not to face the blonde or flee from him, all the while Draco continued to get closer and closer.

'What is he doing? Why is he coming this way? Is he going to talk to me? What is he going to talk about? What should I do? Should I talk to him? Should I go? I don't want to face him right now! What do I do?' Harry's mind was racing with each step Draco took.

When the blonde was only a few meters away, Harry panicked. 'Maybe he didn't see me?' This was clearly not the case as he felt Draco's gaze bore into him. However, reason wasn't really on Harry's side at the moment. So when Draco was only a few paces away, Harry finally regained control of his legs and bolted from the spot.

"Potter! Get back here!" Draco growled after a moment of surprise at Harry's sudden departure. He sounded angry in Harry's ears.

He didn't have to look back to know that Draco was following him. Harry ran as fast as he could from the boy. He didn't know why exactly he felt like running, but all he could comprehend was that Draco was getting closer and Harry needed to be farther.

"Dammit Potter!"

Harry knew that Draco was getting angrier, but he didn't care. He sped down a flight of stairs jumping the last fours steps.

"Petrificus Totalis!" Draco tried.

"Protego!"

The two spells clashed, nullifying the other. Harry turned to speed down another set of stairs, leading to the entrance of the school.

"Glisseo!"

The steps underneath Harry transformed into a ramp, making the boy lose his footing to tumble down the rest of the way.

"Ah!" Harry yelped, landing hard on his rear.

Draco slid down the steps with ease, and having finally caught up to the Gryffindor, yanked Harry up to his feet by the collar of his shirt. "You…" he growled through gritted teeth, trying to collect himself after the extensive chase.

"Let go!" Harry complained. He suddenly relaxed and looked beyond Draco. "Oh. Professor Snape."

"What?" Draco turned his head and looked behind him.

Harry took the opportunity to flee from the other boy's grasp.

Realizing the trick he had fallen for, Draco huffed. "Dammit Potter! Get back here!"

By then, Harry was long gone.

Draco stared at where Harry had disappeared. He exhaled deeply and felt his heart sink. 'Why…?'

Harry rounded the next few corridors as if he had sipped some of the Celeritas potion and once he felt like his legs were going to fall off, he slowed down, making sure that Draco hadn't followed. He came to a stop and bent over, resting his hands on his knees. 'That was close… he did not look happy… and I just can't deal with him right now. It hurts too much to see him. I should just go back to my bed…' He glanced at his watch. It was almost three. 'No… Hermione told me to meet her by the potions class at three. I better go now else she guilt me into doing something else.'

So, defeated, Harry trekked over to the potions class.

"Ah! There you are! Good," Ron smiled, getting up from where he sat on the floor. "Good to see you out of bed, mate." The redhead threw an arm around Harry shoulders and gave him a light squeeze.

"I was afraid of what she was going to do if I didn't show up," he motioned to Hermione who was still seated on the floor. She grinned triumphantly at Harry's word. "So why did you want me to come here."

"You'll see. It shouldn't be too long, now," Hermione said. She stood and grabbed Harry's wrist to look at his watch. "Yeah… any moment now."

"Come on! Don't dillydally!"

In hearing the voice, Ron subtly readjusted his hold on Harry to get a better grip. Hermione, with her magic, managed to ease Harry's wand out of the unsuspecting boy's pocket. She quickly hid the wand up her sleeve, making sure Harry didn't see a thing.

"Is that… Blaise?" Harry wondered aloud.

Ron braced himself.

Blaise appeared around the corner with Ethan and Pansy. They glanced up at the other three down the hall, and smirked. The two boys reached behind them and shoved a fourth person forward.

"What? Hey!" Draco snarled, not appreciating being tossed around like a doll. He stumbled forward, glaring at the three behind him.

"What is he doing here?" Harry asked rather loudly.

Draco's head snapped in the direction of the boy. "…What?" He looked between the trio behind him to the trio in front of him.

Realization settled into the pit of Harry's stomach before he tried to pull away from the redhead. Unfortunately, by now, Ron had a pretty good grip on his friend.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!" Harry yelled, trying twist his way out of Ron's grasp.

"Sorry, mate. Not this time." Ron smiled apologetically. "Stupefy."

Harry instantly went limp in the taller boy's arms. Hermione maneuvered around the two Gryffindors and opened the door to the classroom. Ron shoved the other boy through the door, none too lightly.

"What are you doing?!" Draco cried, running past them into the room. He pulled out his wand cradled Harry. "Rennervate."

Distracted as Harry's eyes fluttered open, Pansy hurried to the doorway and pointed her own wand at Draco. "Expelliarmus!" She caught her friend's wand in her hand with smile.

"What are you doing?!" Draco demanded, yet again. However, none of the people standing outside cared to answer.

Harry jumped up and hurried to the door. He locked eyes with Hermione as she mouthed to him "I'm sorry" before shutting the door in his face. "No! Hey! Let us out!" He pounded on the door.

"No way! You two need to work things out, for all our sakes." It was Blaise who spoke.

"That's right. We're not opening this door until you work things out. All these dramatics are ridiculous!" This time it was Ron.

"No, you're being ridiculous! Now let me out!" Harry bellowed.

This time, he got no response.

"I know you can hear me!"

"Just stop it, Potter."

Harry spun around, almost having forgot that Draco was there with him. The blonde had his eyes shut as he massaged his left temple. He was seated behind one of the desks. Harry frowned. "What? You'd rather be locked up in here?"

"Well, no-"

"It was probably you who put them up to this, isn't it?"

Draco instantly sneered. "Of course not! I would never stoop to such trickery."

"Ugh… whatever…" Harry groped his pockets, trying to find his wand. "Hey… my wand…"

"They probably took it from you. They took mine, too."

The Gryffindor groaned. "Great…" He ran a hand through his hair. 'I can't stay here. I don't want to be trapped here like this with him. I have to get out of here.' Harry looked around the room. He half-hoped to spot any leftover Transpartium potion, but he had no such luck. And the door to Snape's ingredients room was securely locked so there was no chance in trying to brew the stuff. Instead, he set his sights on a row of small windows near the ceiling of the class. "Aha!"

Draco followed Harry's gaze as the other boy hurried over to the window. He leapt, but came up painfully short. Harry looked around the room again and spotted the stools the students sit on during session. He grabbed one and set it just under the window.

"Does the idea of being stuck here with me really make you that desperate to get out?"

"It has nothing to do with you, Malfoy." Harry replied, not looking the other boy in the eye. He climbed up the chair. "I'm just not fond of being trapped, period." At least it was half-true.

The Gryffindor stretched as far as he could to unlatch the window. He smiled in success. Pulling the window toward him, he was instantly doused with blanket of snow. In hearing Draco's sniggers, he glared at the other boy before returning his attention back to the window. Wiping himself of the snow, he pulled the window back again and tried to pull himself up to get through it. However, Harry just wasn't high enough. He looked around again for a higher stool, but this time he came up short. His eyes landed on Draco who was watching him curiously.

"Come here." Harry ordered.

"Why?"

"Help me through."

"Why? So you can leave me here?"

"No, you fool. I'll help you out once I'm outside, but I just can't reach by myself. And you are currently the tallest object in this room."

"I don't think I'm fond of being a tool, Potter."

"Just come here already!"

Draco groaned, but did what he was told. He stood in front of the stool and looked up at the raven-haired boy. "What do you want?"

"Give me a boost."

The sneer immediately returned to his face. "Are you suggesting I let you step on me?"

"Just do it! Don't you want to get back at them for tricking you?"

The thought was tempting. "Oh all right." Draco braced himself against the wall and held his hands up. "Okay, go."

Using Draco's hands as a makeshift step, Harry climbed up and squeezed through the window, shoving aside all the snow in his way. He was free. It was cold, yes, but anything was better than being trapped. He surveyed the area. It looked like he was near the back of the school, opposite the side of the lake. It would be pretty harsh getting to the front entrance without his jacket or even his robe, but if he hurried enough, he might not freeze his fingers off.

Harry mumbled to himself, thinking out loud. "If we're on this side… then the gardens-"

"Potter!"

Harry brushed himself off. "Yeah, I'm still here. Hang on." Harry cleared the area of snow. He got back on his stomach and reached back in through the window. "Come on. I'll pull you up."

It never really occurred to Harry that he'd be holding Draco's hands until the head boy grabbed his own. He fought the blush and focused on the task. Hanging onto Harry, Draco half-walked, half-climbed up the wall. When he was high enough, he released them and squeezed through the window. Both boys stood, brushing themselves off.

"Ugh…" Draco frowned as the cold swept through him.

"Come on. Let's hurry." Harry led the way.

Wordlessly, Draco followed.

They trudged through the snow, the only sound being the crunch underneath their feet. Not long after, they came to a stone wall. Harry frowned. "I was afraid of that…"

"What?" The Slytherin looked around the boy and mirrored the expression. "That would mean that these are the gardens…" He looked around. "I'm sure there's a door…"

"Yeah, but it's back that way. And we're already this far." Harry supplied. "It's not that high up. We can just jump it." He did just that. With a running start, Harry used the side of the castle as leap off point to hop up high enough to grab with top of the wall. With much skill and expertise, he hopped over to the other side.

Draco copied Harry's actions, but dropping down to the other side proved painful as the blonde slipped and fell on his backside.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked, holding out his hand to help the boy up.

Draco was massaging the abused area. "Brilliant. Just brilliant." He smacked away the hand and picked himself up. "I'm fine." He barked.

Harry sighed in defeat and began walking again.

"Besides," Draco continued as he followed the brunette. "Not everyone has the finesse of Harry Potter."

Harry just rolled his eyes and kept moving.

"Is that why you don't want to be my friend anymore? Because you don't need me?" Draco spat out, bitterly. "As Haley, you were entering a den of snakes. Thought it best to befriend one. But now that you're back in familiar territory, you can just discard me and wipe you hands of me? Is that it?"

Harry turned around, exasperated. "What are you on about?"

"Look, I know okay? I know that you were Haley. You can stop pretending."

"Well, surprise, surprise. I knew that you knew."

"Wait, you knew and yet you still chose to leave me? Was I just some tool to use at your disposal? A friendship was convenient for you at the time, but completely unnecessary now, right? Is that why you don't want me around anymore?"

"No, Malfoy. The only reason why I can't be your friend now is because, if you haven't noticed, I'm no longer Haley!" He threw his hands up in the air as if it were so simple. Finally looking at Draco, Harry felt loneliness and betrayal engulf him. He broke the eye contact to hide the tears that had surfaced. "Look, I don't want to talk about it anymore. What happened, happened. Let's just move on." With that, Harry continued walking.

At first, he didn't hear Draco following, but then braced himself when he heard the crunching of the snow quickly approaching.

"So that's it then?" Draco said, trying to catch Harry's gaze. "You're going to pretend that nothing happened between us?"

"You're the one pretending, Malfoy," Harry spat, still refusing to look at the other boy.

"What?"

Harry abruptly stopped and glared at Draco. "You're the one that's so bothered about me being Harry. Was it not you who said 'I want my friend back! He should just transform back so I can be with her again!'"

Draco blinked. "You heard that?"

"Yes! And I'm sorry, Draco, but I can't live my life as Haley just to be your friend." Harry walked away again, but Draco quickly followed.

"I never asked that of you!"

"Yes you did! 'Come back to me! Just come back to me!' The whole time you just wanted Haley, but I'm sorry." He stopped, throwing his hands in the air. "I can't be her for you. I'm Harry. I like being me and if you can't handle that then there's nothing I can or want to do about it." He shook his head, dejectedly.

"You idiot!" Draco scooped up some snow and threw it firmly at Harry.

"Hey!"

"While you were clearly eavesdropping, did you happen to listen to that whole conversation?"

"No. But I heard enough."

"No! No you didn't! Clearly you didn't." Fed up, Draco closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms firmly around Harry's waist.

"Malfoy, what are you-"

"It's Draco, you fool, and it's cold. Keep me warm."

"Draco…" Harry breathed, but his arms remained at his side.

"Harry… I asked you to come back to me, not as Haley, but as my friend. I was asking for my friend back. I was trying to let you know that even though you're going back to being Harry, it was okay for us to remain friends."

Harry frowned. He shoved the other boy away. "Well why didn't you just say that?!"

"Because! I wasn't supposed to know, was I? You kept pretending to be someone else, so I just went along with it! I thought you'd realize I was talking to you the whole time, not who you were on the outside!"

Harry scooped up some snow and threw is at the other boy. "Dammit Draco! How the hell am I supposed to know what's going on in your head? I thought you hated me!"

Draco frowned, but moved forward and recaptured Harry in his arms. "I could never hate you. You're my best friend."

And again, Harry pulled away. "But before! Before all that- before I was Haley. You hated me. And now that I'm back-"

And again, Draco took him back in his arms, resting his forehead against Harry's. "Before you were Haley, I didn't hate you. And now that you're back, I still don't hate you. I might've been jealous of you, but I never really hated you."

"But you said it yourself. We're supposed to be enemies. I thought you didn't want to be my friend as Harry because of that… You hated me…"

Draco exhaled and pulled away from the other boy. "Harry, will you listen? I don't hate you. That whole thing about us being enemies is what everyone else thinks, not me. And sure, it didn't help that I terrorized you a few times, but I never did it out of hate. Why? Did you hate me?"

Harry thought about it. "I suppose… there were a few moments… but I never fully…" He sighed, knowing Draco understood. "So… are we okay? Can we be friends again?"

Draco scoffed. "Are you mad? I hate you." Though he said this, a smirk played upon his lips.

Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Come on. Let's go. It's freezing out here." He led the way back to the front of the school.

"So what now?" Draco asked as he walked alongside his friend.

"What do you mean 'what now'?"

"I mean, are you going to stop avoiding me now? Like that whole stunt earlier today. You just took off when I was clearly trying to talk to you. What was that about anyway?"

"I don't know… I guess I just panicked…"

"Over what? It's not like I was going to jinx you or anything."

"I spent the last few days thinking you hated me and at that moment I just wanted to forget you. And then suddenly you were there. Maybe part of me thought you were going to force me to change back."

Draco scoffed. "Even if that were my intention, I'm not so desperate for a friend that I would do that to you, Potter. I just wanted to talk to you. When you said what you did in potions, I thought you didn't want me around anymore. I thought you realized how much you really hated me and decided to move on without me."

"But I didn't hate you. You should've known that after all we went through."

"I could say the same to you."

He didn't respond, letting everything settle in his heart. Harry looked over at Draco and smiled. Draco smiled in return. "That's nice." Harry thought out loud.

The blonde cocked an eyebrow. "What is?"

"Your smile. For a while now, I didn't think I would ever get to see it again." Draco's smile was slowly turning into a mischievous grin and Harry could practically see the tease forming on the boy's lips. But before he could get it out, Harry quickly turned on his heel and walked away. "I still think you're an arrogant prat."

Anything Draco was about to say quickly flew out the window. Instead, he scoffed. "Yeah, sure. I'm supposed to believe that after you confessed your undying love for me?"

Harry frowned. "I didn't say that. Besides, I told you. I was mental."

"And then, you kissed me."

Harry sputtered. "Well- Then- you kissed me!"

"Did you like it?"

Harry almost tripped in surprise at the question, but Draco was there to stabilize him. "W-what?!"

Draco smiled, slyly. "Potter, you're blushing."

Harry smacked Draco's hands away and continued walking. "It's cold out here."

"Mm-hm." The blonde smirked.

"It was all female hormones. But I'm back now so I know better. Loving you was a temporary thing." He lied.

Draco didn't buy it. He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, as I was saying, Blaise told me how miserable you were without me so I-"

"I was not miserable."

"So I," Draco continued, choosing to ignore the lie, "wanted to know for myself how you really felt. And then when I saw you, you just bolted."

Harry had to chuckle. "I can't believe you fell for the 'look who's behind you' trick."

"Well I'm sorry, but I'm not fond of the idea of getting another detention. Housework is beneath me."

Again, Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "I guess… now that you're okay with me being me, I guess there's no need to run from you anymore."

"Good," Draco nodded, content.

"So… how did you figure it out?"

"What? That you were really Harry?"

"Yeah."

"It wasn't that hard. Haley seemed very familiar to me, especially in the beginning when you were so cruel," Draco mocked despair, only to earn a playful shove from his friend. "It wasn't until that day that I saw you kissing Blaise that I really figured it out."

"What? That's odd. Why would that make you put two and two together?"

"Let's just say some feelings came up that have only ever been sparked by you before."

"Really? Like what?"

"Some. Feelings."

Harry rolled his eyes. He knew he wasn't going to get much more than that. "Okay. So you say you don't hate me, but then what about this darker side of you that people keep telling me about. Like when you found out that I was coming back for the Quidditch match, you were less than favorable company then."

Draco inwardly growled. "What are they doing talking to you about all this? Darker side? Honestly…" He scoffed. He glanced at Harry who was still waiting for an answer. "That was nothing. I realized that if you were coming back, that meant whatever spell or potion you were under was nearing its end. You were going to leave me to go back to being Potter and I didn't know how that would turn out."

"Okay, but they said that even before all this happened, whenever I was around as Harry, you were different."

This time Draco frowned. "I'll kill them…"

Although this slightly amused him, it wasn't the answer Harry was looking for. Draco knew this.

"They're… exaggerating. You're Harry Potter. You rejected my offer of friendship when we were pathetic little first years and things were never light between us since then. Of course I was darker when you were around. I never forgave you for that."

"Really? You're still bitter about that?"

"It was quite traumatizing. No one says 'no' to a Malfoy."

"Well I'm sorry I hurt you, but you have to admit, you were acting like a brat when that happened."

This time, Draco didn't respond, although a sneer did flash across his face.

Harry smiled to himself. "I'm glad I got this second chance though. Now I know that you're not a complete arse."

"Ha. Ha," Draco replied, dryly. "Says the boy who over this past week has been miserable without me."

"I wasn't miserable."

"Please. When I saw you in the hall earlier, your eyes were sunken as if you hadn't slept from all the crying you've been doing."

Harry frowned. "Well if that's the case, then you must've caught a glimpse of yourself before you looked at me. Your eyes are the sunken ones."

"Just admit it, Potter. You missed me."

The Gryffindor furrowed his eyebrows and was silent for a moment. "…So what if I did? I told you, you were my best friend. Changing back meant leaving my best friend, so yes, I missed you. Ugh…" He rolled his eyes. "If you had just talked to me, we wouldn't have had to go through all of this. I wouldn't have had to miss you."

"Look who's talking? If you had told me that you were actually Harry from the beginning, maybe you would have realized that I was becoming friends with you, and not who you were on the outside."

"Oh please. If I had told you that I was really Harry from the beginning, you would have mocked me endlessly."

"…Okay. There's a very good possibility of that too."

"Whatever. That was that. We're good now. Right?"

"Right."

"Good."

"Besides. We need to come up with a way to get back at them. They clearly set this up."

"But… I guess that was a good thing. Otherwise, we never would've settled things."

"Well, yes, but I still don't appreciate the way they went about it."

"But if some good came out of it-"

"Oh, you Gryffindors and your high and mighty-"

"Better than a Slytherin and their vindictive attitudes."

"You're honestly willing to let them off for having locked us in that room together?"

"Well look where it got us! If they hadn't locked us up, we wouldn't have worked through all of this."

"And my hands would still have feeling in them."

"What?" Harry whipped around and looked at Draco who had wrapped his arms around himself to shield him from the cold. He took hold of the boy's wrists and looked at the stark white hands. "Geez…" He covered them in his own hands and blew on all four to warm them up.

He looked up at Draco whose had turned his head to the side. His eyes were staring at the ground as a light flush came over his cheeks. Harry smirked. "Well that's why your hands are so cold. All your blood has gone to your cheeks."

Draco instantly glared at the other boy, snatching his hands away. "I seem to remember your cheeks were the same shade when you kissed me."

"Female. Hormones." Harry said through gritted teeth. He began walking towards the entrance of the school again. "Don't worry. That won't happen again now that I'm back to being me."

"Oh really?" Draco said, following the brunette. "No more cuddling for Draco and Harry?"

"No." He refused to turn around and show the blush on his cheeks.

"How unfortunate. You're a comfy pillow."

"Well, now that I'm back to being a boy, you'll have to find yourself a new plaything."

"Is that what you think? You really do think of me as some womanizer, don't you?"

"Because you are."

"I am nothing of the sort."

The two had finally reached the front entrance of the school. They were both grateful for the warmth that engulfed them when they opened the doors.

"I mean," Draco continued. "It'd be quite easy for me to become one, considering my staggering good looks and irresistible charm, but then there's the whole morning after scenario and I'd rather not deal with such trifles."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Let's just go get our wands back."

"I'm serious," Draco said, following Harry towards the potions classroom. "I'm no womanizer."

"Yes, yes. I'm all too aware of that. Your heart is set on your one special somebody. We've already been through this."

"Yes, but I still don't think you understa-"

"I do. I get it. I know that even after you told me, I was still hanging all over you as Haley, but that won't happen anymore. Don't worry. I'm back to being me. You're a boy. I'm a boy. All that hugging and stuff doesn't make sense anymore. You don't have to worry about that. Plus, I told you. Hormones made me do it."

"Harry-"

"Uh-oh."

The two boys turned at the intruding voice. Standing behind them was Pansy carrying an armload of snacks. Suddenly, she squeezed past the pair and ran down the hall where the others were waiting.

"Hey!" Draco called. He was about to chase after her, but then looked to Harry. "Wait here."

"What? Why?" Harry frowned.

"Just, wait here. I'll get your wand for you, but just stay put." Without waiting for an answer, Draco jogged down the rest of the way to where the others were.

Pansy had clearly warned them of his pending arrival as they were all standing from where they were seated a few moments before. He stomped the rest of the way to the group, wearing a sneer that did anything but put them at ease.

Pansy chuckled awkwardly once he was standing next to them. She shifted the snacks that were still in her arms. "Draco… How did you-"

"Wand. Now." He ordered, holding out his hand to the girl.

"But you're supposed to be in there with Harry," Blaise frowned.

"Obviously, we escaped," the Head boy said.

"But how?" Hermione asked. "We were here the whole time…"

"The window." Draco supplied.

"See! I knew we should've picked the Astronomy tower!" Ron shook his head.

Draco was growing annoyed. "Wand," he growled. Pansy quickly handed him the instrument. "And Harry's too," he looked to Hermione.

"But where-" she stammered.

"Give it here." He held out his hand for the wand.

She hesitated a moment more before doing as she was told.

Draco placed the wands in his pocket and sighed. "All right. I'm only going to say this once so listen up." He looked each of them in the eye, making sure that he had their attention. He cleared his throat. "Thank you," he said with a little nod. "If it weren't for that little stunt, Harry and I… well let's just say your little plan worked." His expression suddenly grew dark. "But if you try to pull something like that again, I will curse each one of you so you won't be able to sit the proper way for weeks, got it?"

They all nodded, faces slightly pale.

"Good," Draco smirked. He turned on his heel, but stopped at turned back. He snatched a small box from Pansy's arms and peeked inside. Whatever was in it seemed to satisfy him as he spun back around and left them to go join Harry down the hall.

Author's Notes/Disclaimer: All Harry Potter related materials belong to J.K. Rowling, if that hasn't been made clear by now…

I was seriously two seconds away from naming this Truth and Reconciliation (HALO :3), but no. It would be too random. Haha. And it's kind of an awkward place to cut this, but the chapter was getting way too long, longer than I intended. In fact, I actually wanted this to be the last chapter, but there's just a lot of stuff to smooth out. I got most of them, but there are still a few things up in the air and it will get resolved soon (like in the next chapter). Thanks for sticking with me! You're all oh so very awesome.

P.S. I thought you should know that I wasn't going to post anything until I finished the story. But you've all been so patient and you deserve something, yeah? I'll try my best to get the next one out sooner and not months later. Heh. Sounds good, yeah? Yes.