A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or put this on alert! Love you all.
Reviewers: NinjaoftheDarkness, DerangedxandxSarcastic, Athenian Grace, Gaara123, unfabulouslyme, Enigmus, njferrel, Torahamutaro-chan, suki53, TYFFN. You all rock. :)

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CHAPTER ONE
Asking for a Favour from a Friend
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Draco Malfoy was sitting anxiously at a table in a café located in Diagon Alley awaiting the arrival of his friend, Harry Potter. They had agreed when school had ended that they would meet here a week into the summer. Now that time had arrived.

Narcissa – much to Lucius's dislike – had asked Draco to invite Harry over for a portion of the summer. Draco had tried to tell her it wasn't a good idea, but she had insisted persistently.

"Draco," Harry grinned, taking the seat opposite the blond. His grin soon faded to a frown as he noticed the anxious look on Draco's face. "What's wrong?"

Draco sighed nervously; he didn't know how Harry would react. "Harry, if I needed a favour, I could ask you, couldn't I?" he whispered so quietly that Harry had to lean forward in his seat to hear properly.

"Of course," Harry nodded, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What is it?"

"Last night," Draco began. "My parents and I were discussing arranging a marriage for me."

"We've only been out of school a week," Harry muttered, shaking his head angrily. "What has a favour got to do with this?"

"I'm getting to that, just don't interrupt." Draco said, sighing.

"Sorry," Harry apologised.

Draco gave Harry a small smile before continuing, "I managed to talk them out of it, but…"

A few moments of silent suspense passed on before Harry finally decided to interrupt, "But what?"

Draco sighed heavily. "The thing I told them to talk them out of it, well…" Draco let out a small, habited and stressed sigh. "It was a lie."

Another moment or two was filled with silent suspense. "What was the lie?" Harry questioned, anxious to find out.

"I… I told them that…" Draco paused to gulp shortly. "I told them that you and I are dating." He finished slowly. He held his breath, nervous on how Harry would react.

Harry quickly blinked a few times before saying, "So what's the favour?"

Draco finally let out the air he was holding on to, only in order to speak – he would of held it until he turned purple if he had his way. "Well… Mother asked me to invite you over to the Manor, so… Well, I wanted to ask, if you could…" He looked down at the table where his long, smooth and pale fingers were laying on the marble surface, creating a nice contrast. "Act my boyfriend?"

Harry's eyes instantly widened at the thought of acting as Draco's… boyfriend. They were friends – at school they spent lunchtime by the lake, making shapes from the clouds; spent endless time playing chess when they should have been studying – and Harry had never thought of Draco in that way.

"Yeah, forget I suggested it, sorry." Draco muttered. He was about to push his chair out to stand, but Harry grabbed his arm. Draco gulped, stopping his actions; he stared into Harry's brilliant emerald green eyes.

"Draco…" Harry sighed. "What will happen, if… if I don't agree to this?" He already knew what would happen, of course, he just needed to hear it from Draco to be more convinced.

"Well," Draco grumbled, "I'd probably be forced into a marriage I don't want, to some Pure-Blooded snob." Acid was dripping from his words, as if he intended to kill someone with this single sentence.

"Wow, I never knew your parents could force you to marry yourself," Harry said, mock-surprise showing on his face; he wanted to lighten the gloomy mood that had made itself welcome in the past minute or so.

Draco glared at Harry, but soon let out a laugh – it sounded silky, elegant and happy; he hadn't laughed a real laugh like this since he had seen Harry last (had it really been a week? It felt like a year to Draco). Harry joined in with the laugh until Draco finished, his face growing serious once again.

"So–?" Draco sighed, he didn't need to finish the question for Harry to know what he was going to say.

"If it means that much to you…" Harry said, smiling sweetly. "I'll do it. But I'll have you know that I can't be around all the time; I have a bunch of stuff I need to do this summer – job interviews, visiting friends, social gatherings, Saturday night dinners at the Weasleys' place. You know, the usual. I'm just that popular."

Draco smiled, shaking his head in amusement. "You're so full of yourself."

Harry smirked to himself (a trait he had stolen from Draco), standing up, and Draco followed suit. "That's why you love me so much,"

Draco gave a weak smile, following Harry out the door of the café into a busy street of Diagon Alley.

"When did you want me to come over?" Harry asked, smiling as Draco caught up to him.

Draco pondered this question. Sure, he wanted Harry there tonight – but wouldn't that seem a bit too rushed–? His father might just explode from some sort of overload. Pushing his way further through the crowd, he decided on a reasonable answer. "Whenever you're able," he gave Harry a soft smile.

"Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be mentally able to face your father in a situation like… this. But, uh, I can come the night after tomorrow. That'll give me enough time to think of something to tell the Weasleys… because could you imagine Ron's face if I told him what I was really doing? He'd go completely mental, don't you think?" he paused for a moment. "Plus, I'm completely busy tomorrow… and same with the next half of the day after. But I can make it for dinner with–" he hesitated slightly "–with your parents that night."

"Sounds like a plan," Draco smiled nervously, taking all this knowledge in.

With that, the two said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. This is what Draco hated about this after-school life – limited time to do what he wanted to do. With school, you could twist things around and make socializing possible. With this after-school life, it was different; suddenly, everyone was out working or finding work, having to avoid his or her social life just because of it. Maybe it was only Draco who felt that way because he had not been looking for a job – he had been watching everyone else like an outsider. He longed for the possibility to spend more time with Harry. Maybe that would soon come true… maybe his dream would one day become a reality. Maybe, just maybe.

Draco walked into the Manor, his footsteps echoing on the white marble tiles in the large entry room. He let out a habited sigh and climbed the large staircase up to the second floor. That was where he saw his mother, standing in the middle of the hall, looking ghostly with her pale skin and a cream-coloured dress on.

"Draco," she smiled.

"Mother," he nodded, walking past her and continuing down the hall; his room was right on the end of this hall on the left-hand side.

"Wait, Draco, dear." Her silky voice came from behind him.

Draco stopped and turned to face her, only a metre or so apart.

"How is dear Harry?" she smiled warmly, cocking her head to one side as if she were a five-year-old trying to get her way.

"He's well." Draco gave a small half-smile. "He'll be coming the night after tomorrow."

Her smile faded slightly at one side. "Oh, dear. That long?"

Draco gave a disappointed frown. "He has some things he's busy with until then."

Narcissa reached over and took one of Draco's pale hands in one of her own evenly paled hands. "You must miss him terribly." She gave a small, sympathizing smile. "After all, you haven't spent much time together since school."

Draco let out a small sigh – this was conversation he didn't have to act or fake, he really did miss Harry as much as his mother thought, maybe even more. "I'm off to bed. Goodnight, Mother."

"Sweet dreams, dear." She smiled and turned elegantly on her heal and walked down the hall.

Draco let out another sigh and also turned.

Seconds passed like minutes, minutes passed like hours, hours past like days, and somehow, the two days passed like two weeks. Draco was unsure why it was working this way – wasn't time only supposed to go slowly if you were looking forward to something? Draco was certainly not looking forward to when Harry would come. He was dreading it. Sure, he'd be able to see Harry and spend more time with him… but what about the so-called "acting"? Would they have to kiss in the halls? Would they have to be heard making noises during the night? What exactly did they have to do? What did couples do when they meet their in-laws? Or an even harder question, what did couples do when they were faking a relationship and meeting the in-laws?

A/N: I've been busy this week. Actually got this written by, uh, about Sunday (but you know me, I like making people wait).
My sister has moved in to our house with her three hyperactive kids and I've barely had some "quiet writing time"; I've been working shifts with my sister at my mother's shop, looking after kids, packing boxes (I'm moving soon) and whatnot. Might not sound like much, but it really does add up and take away energy.

That explains it if my next chapter is late. Sorry! And I also have exams/tests next week! D:

Thanks again for all the alerts and reviews! You make me happy! By the way, I know this chapter lacks something. Ah well.