Note: Whoa! Boy has it been a while since I updated this story! My sincere apologies. Anywhoo, here's the next chapter, which funnily enough, was mostly written ages ago. Again, super sorry for the MAJOR long delay. But I promise, I'm quite determined to finish this story, so I will press on!
Also, I just went back and read through my story to make sure I wasn't contradicting anything in my new chapters and boy do I have a lot of typos! In my defense, I write my stories out by hand and then type them up really fast late at night. At some point I will go back and edit, but for now, I'm more concerned with getting this story finished. If that bugs you, yell at me in the reviews =p

"What a git!" Ron exclaimed loud enough for the crowd of students around to hear. "How dare he accuse you of cheating like that!"

The game had not been over more than twenty minutes when Ron caught up with Harry outside the locker rooms. Harry had changed fast in hopes of catching Draco, but the mass of celebrating Gryffindors around him made finding the Slytherin seeker impossible.

"Huh?" Harry asked as he stood on his toes to see over the crowd.

"Malfoy! Some boyfriend he is," Ron grumbled.

"Ron!" Harry and Hermione scolded in unison, afraid someone around might have heard.

"I'm just saying, it was a low thing to do," Ron defended himself.

"He did not accuse me of cheating!" Harry explained, exasperated, as he began to push through the crowd to get back to the castle. "I accidentally fell on him and he pushed me off. That's all. I guess Pomfrey thought we were fighting over who caught the snitch."

"Well, it wasn't very nice of him to shove you off like that. You looked hurt!" Hermione added.

Harry shrugged as he pushed past a group of excited first-years. "I doubt I was doing him much good crushing him. Besides, it must have looked odd to have the two of us lying on each other."

"You see too much good in him, Harry," Hermione shook her head.

"And you don't see enough," he countered.

"Because there's none there!" Ron argued.

"Will you two just leave it? I've made up my mind on this. You're wasting your time trying to convince me out of this."

Harry stopped when they reached the entrance to the castle and turned to his friends. "You two go on ahead. I'm going to wait here for Draco."

"Draco," Ron repeated, incredulous. "I suppose next you will be on a first name basis with Snape and You-Know-Who will be 'Uncle Voldemort.'"

Hermione swatted Ron's arm and pulled him away to leave Harry alone. It was a while before Harry saw the familiar blonde hair appear on the path below him. As he expected, Draco was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle who were followed by a slew of other Slytherins from the Quidditch teach. Harry waited until Draco was close enough to see him before he tried to make eye contact. When they did, Harry tilted his head just slightly to the side then headed off in the direction of their typical spot by the lake.

"I'll catch you lot later. I left something in my locker," Harry heard Draco say. A moment later he heard footsteps behind him.

"Are you mad?" Draco asked, sounding nervous, once he had caught up to Harry.

"Mad? What for?"

"For shoving you off like that and leaving you just lying there," Draco looked at the ground as they walked. "I felt like such a git. I was just being stupid."

"No you weren't," Harry smiled and took Draco's hand in his own. "Besides, I got you back with that amazing win I pulled off! You're no match for the great Harry Potter!" He winked at the boy next to him and laughed at the serious face Draco was trying to keep.

"Is it really worth continuing to hide this? It's bound to come out sometime," Draco asked.

"I think so," Harry replied, and sat down under their typical tree, still holding the other boy's hand. "I want you to hold on to what you still have for as long as possible."

"What if I don't want to hide it anymore?"

"Draco, everything will change. Don't you remember what Snape said? You might not be safe your own dorms, for merlin's sake! And your friends…do you think they'll stick around once they know the truth? Are you ready for that?"

"No," Draco sighed and lay backwards onto the grass. "I don't think I will ever be ready for that."

"Then let's leave that for the future. You're worth the wait."

Draco snorted at the compliment, but curled up close to Harry when he lay down next to him.

"I'm just glad that Quidditch match is over with. I'm exhausted," Draco yawned.

Harry hummed in agreement and within seconds the two were fast asleep, curled up into each other.

Draco had been right to think he would never be ready to face his world turned upside-down. It had all happened so fast he didn't know how to respond. If Harry hadn't been there…

The scene played like a horror movie in his head as he sat cold and shaking in Snape's dark office. –

It had happened between classes. They had become careless, he and Harry. They had kept their relationship a secret so long that they felt invincible. They hadn't been caught so they kept pushing their luck further and further.

Harry, in passing down the corridor, had tried to slip a note into Draco's hand. It had almost worked, if only Draco's fingers hadn't fumbled! He had to stop and pick the note up off the floor.

"What's that?" Crabbe asked stupidly.

"Nothing just a … NO!"

Theodore Nott had plucked the folded parchment out of Draco's fingers.

"If it's nothing than you won't mind me reading it, will you?" Nott laughed as he held the note away from the frantic Draco and unfolded it. "Let's see what we have here…"

Draco tried his best to steal the note back, but it was no use. The thief was a great deal taller than he and Crabbe, in his stupid ways, was holding him back in jest. Draco knew it was too late when Nott's face filled with disgust.

"What the hell is this?" he spat.

Draco tried to stay calm. "Well, seeing as you won't let me read it, I don't know."

Nott began to read aloud and Draco felt his legs begin to give out underneath him. They had always been so careful, he and Harry! Why were they now so careless?!

"'Draco my love,'" Nott's voice dripped with disgust. "'I want to see you tonight. Meet meat our spot near the lake after dinner. It's been too long since I've gotten to properly snot you. Being secret lovers isn't all it's cut out to be.'"

"Ooo, secret lovers!" Goyle laughed, trying to dispel the growing tension he could not understand.

"Signed 'Harry P.'" Nott finished with emphasis and Goyle stopped laughing. "Do you want to explain to me why exactly Harry Potter had been snogging you?"

"None of your fucking business," Draco responded in what he hoped was a firm voice, though he couldn't be sure with his ears pounding with the sound of rushing blood. He felt faint.

"Maybe it's a joke?" Goyle tried to help, half-heartedly.

"Traitor," Crabbe growled.

"What the fuck do you care who I snog?" Draco yelled, fear overtaking him. A crowd had begun to gather around the group of Slytherins.

Crabbe responded by punching Malfoy square in the gut, causing him to double over in pain and collapse onto his knees.

"Pansy had told me there was something strange in the way you rejected her, but I never thought a Malfoy could sink so low," Not had his wand out now and pointed it down at Draco. "And Harry Potter of all people!"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled the spell as he ran down the corridor toward them, finding a gap in the growing crowd to disarm Nott. He had heard the yelling as he left class and had recognized the scared voice.

Nott's wand flew out of his hand, but he didn't let this stop him. He lurched forward and kicked Draco hard, knocking the boy completely to the floor with a yell of pain.

"No, stop!" Hermione yelled out frantically as she pushed through the crowd ahead of Harry.

"Oh, how wonderful! And the mudblood, too! You're sick, Malfoy. You know that?" Nott spat on the figure curled up below him on the cold stone floor. Harry finally made it through the crowd and knelt in front of the whimpering Draco to shield him from Nott, but he was not fast enough to block a well-aimed kick from Crabbe.

"You're dead, Malfoy. Once they found out, you're dead." Nott sneered and turned on his heel to leave. Crabbe followed, but Goyle hesitated. He looked from his retreating friends to Malfoy shaking on the floor.

"Should I…?" He began to ask, but Draco cut him off in a low voice Goyle could hardly hear.

"Go or they will turn on you, too."

Goyle opened his mouth as if to reply, but stayed silent. He paused for a half second longer and then followed the fading figures of Nott and Crabbe down the corridor.

"Draco, how bad are you hurt? Can you sit up?" Harry asked as he frantically scanned the other boy for injuries. The crowd around them had grown and he knew a professor would come soon.

"Leave me alone," Draco whimpered.

"What? Come on, I'll take you to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey…"

"Leave me alone!" Draco yelled this time.

And suddenly everything was too much. Draco saw the world around him lurch and the ground beneath him fall away. Everything went black and he collapsed in a faint in to Harry's worried arms. –

And now here he sat in Snape's cold, unwelcoming office, shaking and crying as he half-listened to Harry and Severus yelling at each other in the next-door classroom.

Note: Geez, this chapter took me ages to work out. I played around with every idea on the sun for how to get the word accidentally out about Draco and Harry, but nothing seemed realistic. This note idea just randomly popped into my head as I was going to bed tonight, and I couldn't wait to finish up the chapter! So here ya go =) It's spring break for me, so I wouldn't be surprised if a few more chapters show up this week. Again, so sorry for the delay! Review please, if you don't mind ^^ Did the dropping the note idea work? Did it seem plausible, too far-fetched, rubbish? Let me know! ~TJ