Disclaimer - Okay, so this is the last disclaimer I'm going to write, as this is now going to apply to all chapters I write after this, excusing Author's Notes. I do not own Harry Potter or the Harry Potter universe, I am doing this without the acknowledgement or acceptance of the Harry Potter creator and its affiliates.

Author's Notes - Yay! Harry and Draco have a good ol' heart to heart...sort of...

Chapter seventeen.

Draco walked causally through the dark hallways, deep in thought. As he neared the hospital wing he drew his coat tighter, gearing himself up for the blast of icy wind he knew would come from inside. He opened the door to the expected blast of air, but stopped dead at what he saw. Openly chuckling with the familiar Malfoy smirk on his face, he strolled towards a frigid Harry Potter next to the open window.

"Bloody hell mate, what did you do?" He asked.

Harry glared at him. Well, his face was still frozen in his last position, so Draco just assumed that was what he wanted to do. Still smirking, Draco pulled out his wand and performed the counter charm.

Harry gasped in a deep breath, glad he could move, before turning to the window and vindictively causing it to slam shut and sealing it with a Permanent Sealing charm. He turned back to a smirking Draco, "Come on, lets head back to the dorm," he growled before stalking out of the hospital wing. Draco followed, chuckling slightly behind the incensed Boy-Who-Lived.

Back in their dorm and finally hiding under several layers of jumpers and doonas, all Draco saw of Harry was the unruly black mop he called hair, his eyes and the tips of a very cold nose.

"So Potter, what did you do to cause Al to freeze you?"

He glared at him, "That bloody window."

Draco nodded knowingly, "Yep, I made that same mistake."

Harry snorted, "Bloody OCD Aussie – Wait, what do you mean, 'the same mistake'? And how did you know her name was Alice? And how did you find me? And how did you know the counter cur-"

Draco interrupted, "Slow down Potter! I know Al because she's my cousin. Sort of. Some wizards had to go with the convicts and the settlers to Australia and New Zealand to set up Wizarding towns there for all those muggle borns and such, and some of them were our Great-Grandparents. So when we had family get-togethers she was the only one near my age and if we annoyed each other, we'd try out different hexes...It took me a while to figure out that counter-curse. I found you because, believe it or not, I was going to visit her."

He could just make out the wide eyes of Harry Potter.

"So you two are related?' he nodded and the other scowled, 'figures." He muttered angrily and Draco narrowed his eyes at him.

"What do you mean by that?"

"That it explains why she's just as mean and vindictive and cruel as you!" he exclaimed bitterly.

Draco's nostrils flared. "Don't you dare compare her to me! She is the kindest, sweetest girl I know! She's never done anything remotely to what I've done! She's given up more than you have and she's never let go of her childhood innocence! She's been forced to move to a different country to marry a complete stranger and you expect her to be nice and welcoming? I'm guessing you certainly weren't, so why did you expect her to be? What is your problem Potter?"

Harry just sat there, wrapped in layers and eyed Draco sulkily as he paced the space between their beds.

"I was cold." He said childishly. Draco raised an eyebrow and Harry sighed.

"I've met Alice before too. After the battle in Dover where the Anzacs were fighting the Death Eaters trying to gain control there. Some of the Order had gone up to help them, myself included. She'd gone straight from the battlefield to one the hospital tent as soon as it was over, but not to be healed. To heal. I went in because I was pretty cut up myself, and there she was, worse than me, going around to everyone there, soothing them, giving them pain relief and fixing them up, to help the staff there that had been working around the clock. She came up to me, and smiled such a special smile, fixed me up and moved on. She didn't treat me any different from any other of the people there, but in that brief moment, I selfishly thought she'd treated me with more love. And then I got this huge crush on her, I didn't know her name, where she came from or if I would ever see her again, but that didn't stop that, she seemed too kind to not be loved. And when I saw her again this evening and she was so cold and harsh…" Harry hesitated.

Draco sighed and sat on his bed, "Yeah, Al's like that. You know, she's older than me by a couple of years, but I've always felt that she was the younger one, even though she can do anything she wants and can kick butt, she's so naïve when it comes to certain things that I get protective. Hell, most people who know her get protective! She's so unselfish and so unlike me that's why I blew up when you suggested that she could even sink to my level.' he sighed, 'It's also because she threatens all masculinity, she's one of those people who seem like they should be protected, but she's so damn forceful when it comes to other people's needs that she protects them, not the other way around."

Harry was silent for a moment as he mulled it over. Now that he thought about it, Alice even looked younger, she had an air of innocence that would make one hard to believe that she had ever had an emotionally taxing day in her life, it wasn't hard to believe that people would love her like a little child and feel inadequate when they had to be the one protected by her.

"You know, she's never even heard of me." he stated conversationally.

Draco snorted, lying back and placing his hands behind his head, "Mate, everyone's heard of you. She was probably pulling your leg, waiting for you to ask her if she rode a kangaroo to school or work."

The blankets fell off Harry as he sat up suddenly, "WHAT? So she was just being sarcastic?"

Draco shrugged, "You get used to Australian humour after a bit. Just be wary if they ever tell you about how to ward off drop bears."

"Drop bears?"

"Eh, you'll hear of them soon enough."

Harry leaned back and sighed.

"To be honest, I've still got a crush on her."

"Heh, good luck mate."