Disclaimer: Characters are, of course, owned by J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, but oh yes, I'd so love to borrow Draco indefinitely.

Author's Note : Happy weekend readers. I hope you all had a wonderful week. I'm sorry for the delay in updating. I'd just been caught up with studies and college and stuff. But the next chapter's here. It's full of cute Drarry moments, some more Malfoy/Muggle contraption interactions and a small yet very entertaining Gryffindor reunion. I hope you have as much fun reading it as much I had while writing it. Also, a big surprise awaits in the following chapters. Stick on to find out soon. Please read and leave your reviews fam. Much love, XOXO.

Chapter 6

A SLIGHT INCLINATION

Won't admit what I already know
I've never been the best at letting go
I don't wanna spend the night alone
Guess I need you, and I need to

Make it on my own, but I don't wanna grow up
We can stay forever young

I could give a million reasons why
But you're going, and you know that

All you have to do is stay a minute
Just take your time
The clock is ticking, so stay
All you have to do is wait a second
Your hands on mine
The clock is ticking, so stay.

Stay by Alessia Cara and Zedd

"Hold it, Potter." Draco flinched at his own voice. "That's my wand you're holding, Potter,"

"Not anymore," "Winners, keepers, Malfoy. Who's lent you theirs?" Harry's cold voice ringed in his ears next.

"So how did you get in here?"

"I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year," "I know how to get in."

"No!" "If you wreck the room you might bury this diadem thing!" His own scream filled his eardrums, making them vibrate painfully enough for him to scuffle in his sleep.

"Who cares what you think? I don't take your orders no more, Draco. You an' your dad are finished."

"STOP!" "The Dark Lord wants him alive —"

"Don't kill him! DON'T KILL HIM!" He was sweating profusely now, flinching on his bed like he was under some kind of cruciatus curse, tears rolling down his tightly shut eyes.

"Like it hot, scum?" Crabbe's voice screeched into his mind at an alarming pitch. And his vision was suddenly filled with red and orange flashes of fire.

"RUN!" He nearly shouted through his nightmare, panicking that the hot flames would eat him up alive this time for sure. Draco whimpered in fear and pain, awaiting someone to come and rescue him from his certain death. Each second that passed by felt deadly, he was losing his consciousness, slowly yet surely. His lungs felt heavy and they burned. His arms were wrapped around an unconscious Goyle, holding him tight, steadying them both as he perched on a fragile tower of charred desks. His breath hitched in his throat, skin burning from the radiating heat, tears dripping on his cheeks and trailing down his neck, he waited.

And sure enough someone dived down towards him breaking in through the growing fire flames. Draco saw Harry coming and raised one arm, but even as Harry grasped it he knew at once that it was no good: Goyle was too heavy and his own hand, covered in sweat, slid instantly out of Harry's —

He sniveled onto the pillow beneath his head which was by now soaked with his salty tears and sweat, clutched the soft blankets around his torso into a tight grip as if they weren't blankets but Harry's hands; hands of his protector.

"IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!" roared Ron's voice, and, as a great flaming chimaera bore down upon them, he saw Ron and Hermione drag Goyle onto their broom and rise, rolling and pitching, into the air. And again before he could adjust his eyes back upon anything, he felt Harry's tight grasp pull him up and away from the Fiendfire, he clambered up behind Harry. He gasped in his sleep, his fingers clutching the blankets more firmly.

"The door, get to the door, the door!" he screamed in Harry's ear, and he felt the broom speed up, through the billowing black smoke, he was suffocating now, hardly able to breathe: and all around them the last few objects unburned by the devouring flames were flung into the air, as the creatures of the cursed fire cast them high in celebration. He was screaming frantically and holding Harry so tightly that he thought maybe he might be hurting Harry.

"What are you doing, what are you doing, the door's that way!" he squalled again when he felt Harry detouring from the path that lead to the doors. And in an instant he felt his lungs give up, he struggled for air, fresh air but all his lungs found was smoke and dust and ashes. His vision started blurring again, and he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. With drooping eyelids, palpitating heart, he felt his grip loosening around Harry's waist slowly and slowly. He panicked once again, inhaling a sharp breath, he tried to scream once more but his voice defied him, leaving him mute. His hands were slipping and he was feeling dizzy now. The fire and the room danced around his already drooping eyelids, unsettling giddiness embraced his brain and in no time his hands completely loosened their grip and he was falling. . . falling down into the pit of flames. . .

"NO! NO! HARRY! HELP! SAVE ME!" he was shouting now. Twisting and tossing on his sweat-soaked bed, he knew he was going to die. He could feel the touch of oblivion at the tips of his paralyzed fingers.

He could feel the skin on his back heating, his clothes catching flares of herth . "HELP ME. SAVE ME! HARRY! DON'T LEAVE ME!" he bellowed.

Harry had been asleep in his room when he was awoken by a shrill cry. For a moment he sat on his bed, hand running through his mop of hair, thinking it was his own scream that had woke him because often he had woken up at nights to his own cries when he had his nightmares. Sighing, he was about to flop back onto the bed, still contemplating that in his mind, when he heard another loud cry. He shot his head up this time because he was sure the voice had came from the room beside his; Draco's room. Without another moment's delay, he picked up his glasses from the bedside table and shoved them on, rushing to Draco's room, and yanking the door open. The sight that followed left him horrified. Draco was still asleep but he was bawling. His hands were trembling and his body shaking, as if in pain. Harry noticed Draco's fingers were dug into the bedsheets beside him, gripping them firmly. And his head was turning from side to side crushing the pillow under it, tears streaking down his tightly shut eyes onto his cheeks and down the pillow cases.

Before Harry could understand any further, he heard another loud cry. "NO! NO! HARRY! HELP! SAVE ME!" Harry was beyond shocked when he heard his name coming out from Draco's mouth and he stared at the withering boy ahead of him with bewildered eyes. A second passed by when another agonizing cry filled his ears, "HELP ME. SAVE ME! HARRY! DON'T LEAVE ME! And that was it. He dashed towards Draco's bed side, ruminating every possible way he can wake Draco up from whatever nightmare he was having but his mind didn't seem to accord his thoughts. Draco was still crying and tossing on his sides upon the bed, calling out for Harry. "HARRR- "

"Shh. It's okay. I've got you. I'm here." Harry spoke softly. The sobs grew soft but were still there, on Draco's lips. Tears were still tickling down his pale cheeks and his hand was still gripping the sheets tight; his knuckles almost white.

Harry reached up to the other boy's bedside, and leaned down on the side of the bedpost, whispering, "Draco, I'm here. Don't worry. It's alright." A small moan escaped from Draco's mouth as he turned his face towards the source of that soft voice. For a moment, Harry felt scared. Draco's face was mere inches apart from his own now. And he must be damned if he said he didn't feel the urge to touch that pale skin on the other boy's cheeks and jaw. Another silent tear made it's way down the pale cheek. Harry frowned at the drop of salty water for a second and with one fast heartbeat, he cupped the blonde's face in his hands. A sharp jolt of lightning ran down his spine as his hands touched Draco's face. He was perplexed for a moment. He didn't knew what was happening but his gut was twisting in a very pleasant manner and the jolts of lightning were running along every nerve in his body. He was still speculating the feeling when Draco squirmed beneath his touch. And Harry numbed in horror. But he wasn't awake yet if his calm breathing was anything to go by. Sighing in relief, Harry stared at the blonde in front of him for a minute, talking in every contour on the boy's face and the creamy complexion of his skin. He let the thumbs of his hands rub away the wet spots of tears that'd escaped from those tightly shut eyes. What are you doing? The voice inside him was screaming but he was far too out of his own mind to hear any of it. He could feel the cold, pale skin beneath his hands, and he was too adamant to let go. He was loving this feeling and didn't want to lose it just yet.

Placing his mouth near Draco's ear, he whispered again, "Draco, I won't let go. I won't leave you." That earned him another soft moan from the sleeping blonde which made his heart skip a beat. HARRY POTTER! WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? Harry was silent for a minute, a very long minute. All the while, a thought growing inside his mind, like a seed that'd been planted years ago but has just sprouted and was now growing in steadily, branching out into places deep inside his brain he didn't even knew would've existed before.

His string of thoughts were broken when he felt the blonde stir in his sleep, again. This time more rigorously. Startled by the movement, Harry jerked his hands away from Draco's face and fell back on the floor behind him. Shit. He's awake! Panic rose in Harry's gut as he scrambled himself off the floor and onto his feet, ready to storm out of the room, lest the blonde wakes up and he has to face his wrath for touching him. Hurriedly, he walked away from the bedside, his feet trembling, face flushed as if he'd been caught doing something indecent, and hands tingly from the last touch of pale, creamy, cold skin. Just as he was about to turn the knob on the door open, he heard a faint mumble. "Please don't leave."

Harry pacified his hand on the doorknob, not sure if the voice had even been real. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, shock-still, facing the door but it must have been long enough because another soft whisper hurdled in his ears, "Stay."

Slowly but steadily he turned back to face the source from where those mumbles had originated, keeping his head hung low, eyes squeezed shut. A knot was making it's way into his gut and he could already feel his cheeks heated with all the blood that'd filled beneath his skin and he was sure he was scarlet red now. He was prepared for the anger and shaming that was going to be thrown at him for doing something so stupid as touching Draco Malfoy. He knew the vicious hiss would slaughter his ears any moment now and was prepared. Only that it never happened. When he was sure he'd been standing there for so long and no angry fit had been thrown at him yet, he slowly raised his head and opened his eyes, to scrutinize what had took so long for the malicious humiliation to take place, but the sight that followed held him appalled.

Draco Malfoy was staring right at him through heavy-lidded eyes, still laying down tangled in the sheets and his grey eyes filled with some emotion he couldn't fathom what. When he made no move to walk back, still standing fixed at the spot near the door, Draco snorted; a very Un-Malfoy kind of snort. "Honestly Potter, just a moment ago you were cradling me with your warm touches and now you look at me as if I'm a bloody dementor." He drawled in a mock-hurt way, sitting up straight on the bed and letting his head rest by the headboard.

Harry was still in confusion. He was prepared for the anger and shaming, not the humor and hurt that'd greeted him. What am I supposed to do now? He fumbled with the ends of his shirt which suddenly appeared to be the most interesting thing in the entire planet. He's gonna mock you until you're nothing but a lump of regret for doing whatever you did tonight. You're doomed, Harry Potter. The voice inside his head was growing and he frowned at it, still tugging the ends of his very-interesting shirt.

"Thank You." Another soft whisper greeted his ears which made him shoot up his head. Draco was still sitting on his bed but his head was now hung low, eyes squeezed shut and hands trembling in his own lap; as if imitating Harry's earlier pose. Harry was sure it was Draco's voice that'd spoken and not just his devil mind making up imaginary voices. He felt something inside his stomach churn at the sight in front of him. The Draco Malfoy he knew since he was eleven wasn't one to say humble things like 'Thank you' or 'Sorry' to anyone ever nor was he one to adopt such vulnerable mien. What has happened to him?

Without further thoughts, Harry slowly made his way towards the bed. He wasn't sure what he was going to do next. But he was sure about one thing; The Draco Malfoy, sitting in front of him at this moment was not his arch-enemy anymore.

Reaching the bed, Harry cleared his throat, in order to gain the blonde's attention which also made him realize about the lump that'd formed inside it merlin knows when. Draco was startled by the sudden sound and the warm feeling surrounding him. He opened his eyes and gazed at the raven-haired boy standing up close next to him. The moment when his grey eyes met those bright green, a very warm fluttering feeling bubbled inside his whole body making him feel dizzy and boggly with unknown emotions. They stared at each other for a long moment, as if trying to memorize each turn of the maze that their irises beheld.

It was Harry that looked away first; blush creeping all the way down his face and neck. Draco must have noticed it, he was sure by the way the blonde boy was now looking up at him with mere fascination. Speak something you dumb idiot. He fumbled with the words that were forming inside his throat but never reaching his damned voice box. Finally, he sighed. And tried again, "Err, I, I did-" but was cut short by Draco's sudden interruption.

"Don't you dare voice it, Potter." Draco hissed. Harry flinched by the sound of it but felt vaguely relieved that he didn't need to explain his actions anymore. Before he could frame another coherent sentence in his mind, he saw Draco shifting the wet bed sheets and mutter a simple scourgify to clean up the mess he had made earlier. Once the sheets and pillowcases were clean and dry, he tumbled to the other side of the bed, as if making room for someone beside him. Harry was all but curious now. He stared down at the empty side of the bed and couldn't help but imagine what Draco meant by his latest action. Does this mean he wants me to sleep beside him? Is that why he asked me to stay back?

When he looked up from the bed and towards Draco, ready to shoot all of his questions at the blonde in a single breath, he found the other boy already staring back at him, his eyes still a mixture of emotions Harry couldn't figure out. And again, he was at loss of words.

"Stop gawking at the bed like that Potter. I asked you to stay. And it wouldn't be so nice of me if I made the Savior of the Wizarding world sleep on the floor, now would it be? So then get your confused arse on the bed and drift back to neverland." Draco smirked at the other boy and plopped himself down on the bed, turning his back towards a very-flushed Harry Potter. Harry knew the words weren't laced with bitterness but he had to resist the strong urge to retort back with some snide comment of his sown. That nasty ferret could still get a rise of him even if that's through mock-sneer words.

But above all, Harry was flushed, again. He felt his cheeks were on fire and dreaded that the tint was going to stay there permanently somehow. Without much thought, he flopped himself on the bed, beside the blonde. He had had enough of thinking and rationalizing their actions in his mind for the day and was now aching for a good night's sleep. Although he wasn't sure how he was going to get any sleep while he lay mere inches apart from the boy who evoked strange sensations and feelings inside him. There was a small sound of something clanking from the bedside table opposite from him and after a small swish the room went dark.

As Harry lay there, he could feel the eeriness of the night crawl in. The room was silent except for his own ragged breathing and soft huffs of breaths from the other side of the bed. Harry couldn't help but let his mind go wander. It was still trying assert that the 'Thank You' he'd earned tonight was merely because he had saved Draco from his horrible nightmare and made him feel better but his heart that was pounding vigorously inside his chest seemed to contradict the statement. It seemed as if it knew exactly what the two words had been spoken for. As if it was trying to make Harry realize what he was missing. Those two words of humbleness that he had earned tonight were for saving the said blonde's life from the monstrous fire that night in the room of requirement. Harry could still clearly visualize Draco's panic-sticken and terror-filled face. He could still hear the blonde's shrill cries in his ears as he had clung to Harry on his broom until they'd flew past the flames and were safe again.

He was so deeply engrossed in his thoughts about that fretful night that he almost missed it when Draco whispered something from the other side of the bed.

"Potter, you still awake?" Draco asked again, a little loud this time.

"Huh? Er. Yeah. I'm." Harry replied, startled from his train of thoughts.

"Well, nothing. Just make sure you don't snore at night or you will be woken up abruptly by a rude pillow crushing on to your face." Draco sneered, his voice lacking every ounce of spite he had tried to endow in the sentence.

Harry chuckled in his pillow. "Git." he mumbled.

"Prat." Draco huffed.

Next morning greeted Harry with a swift kick on his arse and stone cold floor.

"Bloody hell." Harry yelped as he picked himself up clumsily from the floor he'd hit, searching for his glasses on the bedside table. Shoving them onto his nose he blinked as his vision cleared out infront of him. And when his eyes flashed over a very familiar shade of platinum blonde hair, he shouted again, "What'd you kick me for? You bastard."

"It's me greeting you Good Morning, Potter." Draco drawled, standing on the other side of the four-poster and frantically searching for something inside his closet, his back at Harry.

"You're an arsehole." Harry howled, pacing down the room, stomping his feet hard on the wooden floor and making his way towards the door. He was yet to turn red, the understanding of their little impromptu night-stay still tucked inside some dark corner of his brain, hiding.

"And you're a terrible sleeper, Potter. Taking beds for roller-coasters, are we now? Draco turned towards him and smirked. His very own 'Draco Malfoy smirk' that'd make almost anyone drool for him.

Although Harry didn't feel like drooling, he felt sick. That realization of the night had dawned upon his dim mind now and he was sure he looked like a ripened cherry. They'd shared a bed for the night. He'd slept with Draco Malfoy, well not quite literally, but they had slept in the same bed and just inches away from each other and that was something.

Instantaneously looking away from Draco, he mumbled, "Insufferable Git." and dashed out of the room. Draco rolled his eyes at his retreating back and chuckled. He stood there for a moment longer, just staring at the door Harry had dashed out seconds ago, a small smile forming on his lips when he heard a loud thud from downstairs and seconds later Harry's voice booming all sorts of curse words. Draco couldn't help but let out a stifle of laughter at the clumsy boy, "Daft twat." He yelled back.

Draco took his time while getting ready. He'd spent almost an hour or so in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to get his messed up hair in a decent row but failed every time. He groaned at his reflection in the mirror with frustration and decided his hair wasn't worth the waste of time today. So he left them dry and loose all over his forehead without sleeking them and rushed downstairs to get himself a cup of hot tea.

There was this thing about Draco's mornings; he wouldn't start his day without his cup of hot tea, no matter what. Tea always made him feel light-headed and energized to go on for the rest of the day. Although for the past few months he'd completely forgotten what a mug of his favorite liquid tasted like, he was pretty sure Sirius would have some stock of the flavor tea he loved, after all he too came from a pure-blood family.

Heading down into the kitchen, he heard a strange sound coming from the living room. Strange and loud and musical? He was sure it must've been some wireless or something. He'd seen his mother listening to some of her favorite songs on that strange device ever since he was a baby. Though that wireless had enticed his interest back then, he'd never tried to touch it; lest it didn't like him and bite him.

He was broken from his trance when the voice became too loud suddenly and that was when he noticed he'd stopped in his tracks. Shaking his head off the thoughts of his mother and her wireless, he detoured towards the living room only to find a very clumsily sprawled Harry on the couch in front of a very very strange rectangular box having a big black mirror that displayed different color pictures that were moving in accord to the blasting music coming somewhere from it's sides. He stopped dead in his track once again, his eyes wide and glued to the booming box in the middle of the hall.

"Ugh, what – what is this?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper when he moved close to the couch where Harry had been lounging.

"Oh, hey. Malfoy, here meet Telly. Telly meet Malfoy." Harry announced as he sat up from the couch, making place for Draco to sit.

Draco was suddenly very nervous. He looked at Harry and back at the thing Harry had just introduced to him as telly, gulping. Harry looked at him, amused like he was trying to make fun of the fact that Draco had no idea whatever this Telly thingy was. Draco frowned at him, "Now that Telly and I both know each other, Can you at least tell me what precisely this Telly thingy is?"

"Er. Yeah. Right. Um, how do you describe a Telly?" Harry groaned. "It's for entertainment. It's like a wizarding photograph but with sound, and people in them act out stories." Harry gestured towards the big screen in front of them which surely had many people going about dancing and singing to some odd kind of music. "Or they read the news or play sports. Although we haven't got the sky package installed yet. Sirius said he'd get it done by tomorrow. Then I bet there'll be surely something you'll like watching." Harry added.

Draco frowned again. "Why would I want to watch muggles talking about the sky?"

Harry laughed. "It's, um, it's not something to watch. It's the dish we'll need to get installed so we can see other channels besides the basic ones." Then turning towards the Telly, Harry spoke, "Hey Telly, don't worry, Malfoy here comes from a very pure blood wizarding family so he doesn't know the muggle world much. Hence the silly questions. But I'm sure he'll love you once he sees how amazing you're."

Draco went wide-eyed again. "It's sentient?" he whispered again, afraid that the telly might hear him over it's own voice and come and strangle him.

Harry laughed again. "Not quite. But it is very clever."

Draco nodded and tried to look as if he knew what Harry was talking about. Harry wasn't fooled, and smiled at him indulgently.

"So here, this is the remote. We control the telly by using this." Harry handed him a long, sleek piece of brick.

"Is that some sort of muggle wand?" Draco inquired, examining the remote in his hand.

"Well you can put it that way. The top green button, here, this one, it turns the telly on. And that red one off's it. And these numbers are for shuffling between different channels. Two and seven are the best." Harry supplied.

Draco still didn't really understand but Harry gestured him to press the buttons so he gingerly pushed a button at the top. And the next instant he nearly dropped the remote – the telly was reacting! The dancing people from the screen disappeared and after a split second another group of people occupied their place. There was a guy holding a knife in his hand while another guy was lying in a puddle of blood in front of him, screaming. Draco yelled and threw up an arm to shield his eyes. Next to him he could feel Harry chuckle and pick up the remote from the rug and press something on it and in an instant the screams were gone. Draco split his fingers from his face and peered from between them. The telly now had a girl in it, singing in front of three people seated in odd armchairs. Finally when he is sure that the telly won't show him anything horrible he slipped his hand from his face and relaxed.

"What in merlin's name was that? What kind of horrible things do muggles watch for entertainment?" He sneered.

"It's was just a muggle thriller movie Malfoy. Nothing real, relax." Harry explained.

When Draco seemed to have visibly relaxed a bit, Harry continued, "This is an amazing show though, 'The X Factor'. Here people come and try to sing and impress those three judges. Whoever gets selected gets a chance to sing for famous franchises and brands and stuff. Basically it's a show to find out the best singer in the country"

"Well, it's definitely not this one." Draco commented as the girl singing in front of him in the telly hit a hideously flat note.

"Maybe the next one will be better." Harry added, smiling.

"So, who bought this telly here?" Draco asked once he had settled on the couch beside Harry.

"Sirius and Remus did. They actually bought it three days ago when we were here for a break from the burrow. It got delivered just today morning though. We had been bored over the whole month and thought bringing in a telly would be really good idea. Also, Sirius loves punk rock and telly serves him just that" Harry replied, smiling fondly at the image of his Godfather singing along the lines of his favorite rock band's songs.

"And how exactly does it work here? I mean, muggle contraptions don't work in wizarding households, do they?" Draco was now genuinely interested.

"They don't. But Remus got it done. All these muggle contraptions work on electricity and Remus got few very amazing spells casted on the house that made it friendly with the electricity supply from the neighboring muggle flats. Er, I don't exactly know how this works but that's what he told me." Harry answered.

"Brilliant." Draco exclaimed. "So that's how the Microbar and the chilling box works too then? On the elekctrity?" Draco beemed with excitement at his new found knowledge.

Harry barely suppressed his laughter at how Draco had pronounced the word electricity. They were both seated on the same couch, next to each other, close. Well the couch isn't very big and spacy exactly Harry had reasoned within his head. He had scooted an inch closer when Draco had been busy shuffling the channels and expressing his delight at the telly. "Yes, that's how." He replied softly.

Both Harry and Draco spent the next hour or so watching random shows on the telly. Draco had been excited the whole time. He'd muse over the music videos, commented his own opinions about how those ladies were unfaithful towards their spouses in some American movie, spat silly curse words as the boxing championship had enticed his interest. "It's brutal but so interesti- Ow no, don't! Fuck, is he dead?" He'd comment every time someone would get knocked out.

Harry had been watching him the entire time. Though the telly was an interesting thing, he'd found Draco's stupid comments and his balmy face expressions much more interesting to watch. He'd skirt his eyes towards the blonde every two seconds. At first he did that voluntarily, coaxed by the way Draco made faces and stuck out his tongue whenever the barmy housewife failed in her missions of catching her husband red-handed in the movie. But as the hour proceeded, his actions had become involuntary. He had scooted further close to Draco so that their shoulders touched every time Draco moved a even little (which he did every five seconds, that bastard). And he'd stare back at the blonde for times more than he should. And somehow Draco seemed oblivious of it all. Harry wasn't sure if he really didn't notice all of that or was purposefully ignoring the fact. Nonetheless, Harry was loving this and he hoped Draco would too. There was something in the way Harry felt when he was so close to Draco. Like little sparks of lightning running inside his veins, rocking and jolting him in ways he couldn't even describe. His skin felt on fire every time it brushed to the blonde's. It was just like he felt last night when he had touched Draco. He wasn't sure if Draco felt that way too. If he could feel the spark between them whenever they'd touch (accidentally, Harry added). He didn't quite understand what those feelings were but he knew one thing for sure now, this Draco Malfoy wasn't his enemy now, he was something else, something more.

It was almost noon when Draco looked away from the big screen in front of him and squirmed a little. Harry adjusted his weight away from the blonde and sat up straight now. He wasn't even sure when he'd laid himself upon the boy beside him. "Hungry?" he asked, standing up from the couch and walking towards the kitchen.

"You can cook?" Draco stared at him incredulously.

"Nope. But Remus left us some takeaways from the restaurant before going. I guess I can just warm those and it'd suffice." Harry was sure he saw a hint of disbelief in those grey eyes. Maybe he doesn't know what a takeaway is!

If Draco was surprised, he didn't let it show. Instead, "Where have they gone anyway?" he asked, standing up from the couch and nervously pressing the red button on the muggle wand still in his hand. Thankfully the telly went black in an instant and he sighed in relief. What were you thinking? That it'd jump and knock you down? That earned his subconscious a major eye roll.

Making his way towards the kitchen, he picked up his skateboard from beside the huge umbrella stand. Who keeps such giant umbrella stands in the way?

"To Hogwarts." Harry said softly. He didn't know how Draco would take the piece of information. He knew Draco had his share of hardships in the school. He knew how the mention of it's name would be enough to bring back terrible memories, he knew because he'd experienced it too. Every time someone would mention something about that place, a cold shiver would run down his spine. He loved the place, of course he did. It was his home. But the fact that he'd experienced so much hurt and pain and loss at the same place over the last two years made him feel sick. He'd seen people crying in pain from unforgivable curses, he'd seen many of his friends and their families and other unknown people die at a war that was supposed to be solely his own. He'd seen the school burn and fall into crumbles in front of his eye. And he too had died there. And though he'd come back to life, he'd never forget the feeling of being dead. Though Voldemort's gone, his wrong doing to his home still stay. And somehow Harry knew Draco had suffered even more than he had. He'd lost his parents. . . He shook his head at the mental images and let go of the thoughts. He didn't need to think about all these at the moment, not at least when the aforementioned boy was now standing right in front of him, staring at him, his face schooled for calm and cold composure, but Harry knew better. He was terrified.

"What for?" Draco asked, his voice calm. As if the mention of that place didn't bother him at all. As if he wasn't terrified on the inside upon the images that were swarming inside his head at the moment. As if he was over the shrill cries of his mother lying in his lap when she'd been hit with the green jets of –

"Dumbledore owled this morning. He said he needed to talk about something important regarding the school and the eight year plans. Maybe it's because pads and moony are in the head auror department and so he might have called them, though even they had no idea what it was for as Dumbledore hadn't exactly mentioned the reason." Harry spoke fast, trying to make the other boy break from his series of cognition.

Draco gave a wry smile at that, "Sure, leave it upon Dumbledore to give you pieces of the information and lay back and muse over your wrecked brain as it tries to make the full picture of it."

Harry didn't know if that was supposed to be a joke, so he did the only thing he did best at times like this, gave his charming 'I'm Harry bloody Potter' smile. Draco didn't look up at him though, he slid past the kitchen table and hopped on his skateboard, sliding past the room.

"Merlin, don't skate in the kitchen Malfoy! You'd knock everything down." Harry shouted from behind him.

"Then you can just reparo everything, You're a wizard, you silly scarhead." Draco shouted back, already zooming past the hallway now.

"Nasty ferret." Harry mumbled, smiling, again.

After their lunch, Harry spent an entire hour cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, thanks to the bloody ferret and his stupid skateboard, When he was finished, he felt nothing but tired. Cleaning up the broken pieces of cauldrons and glass cups with a broom and not his wand was his idea, because he still loved his muggle life no matter how hard it might have been. However that didn't earn him anything other than random comments from a very irritating slimey git, who preferred Harry used his daft head and magic to clean the mess up in an instant. He didn't bother helping though, that bastard. Harry had to use his magic finally, if only to silencio that idiot. Looking back to the cleaned kitchen, he heaved a sigh of relief and galloped to his room. He had a meeting with Ron, Hermione and Ginny today at the Leaky Cauldron and he was already late.

Few minutes later when he scurried down the hall, hastily pulling down his hoody over his head, he saw Draco lying down on the couch, his eyes glued to the telly. Harry couldn't help but resist his chuckle. Of all the things, he'd never imagined Draco Malfoy, the purest pure blood of the wizarding world, glued to a piece of muggle contraption like that.

"What are you chuckling at Potter?" Draco drawled, his attention shifted towards Harry now.

"Er. Nothing. Never thought you'd love muggles this much." Harry sniggered, making his way down the hall and towards the fireplace.

"I DO NOT love muggles. This is just a clever invention and I'm appreciating those baffoon's work by sparing my valuable time and energy upon it."

"Yeah. Right." Harry chortled.

"Whatever. So where is the Golden boy headed to now?"

"Don't call me that." Harry glared back at him and continued, "And to The Leaky. Ron, Mione and Ginny are meeting me there."

Draco rolled his eyes, "So it's a Gryffindork party, is it?" Harry frowned at the blonde.

"Whatever Malfoy. I'll be back by the evening. Until then refrain your arse from burning this house down. And mind you, DO NOT TAKE YOUR BLOODY SKATEBOARD ANYWHERE NEAR THE KITCHEN OR I'LL HEX THE SHIT OUTTA YOU." With that he stepped into the fireplace and chanted 'The Leaky Cauldron' and flooed away.

"Oi, over here mate." Ron's voice boomed from across the room as Harry stepped out from the pub's fireplace, dusting the powder from his jumper and jeans.

As he made his way towards the little group, he noticed the supposedly trio wasn't alone. Along them sat Neville and Luna, both seemingly excited to meet Harry after one long month. Harry felt the same happiness seeing his best friends after long and went straight to hug them both. After the hugs and lovely greetings, they ordered their drinks. Ron and to Harry's surprise, Neville, went for Firewhiskey while he and the girls stuck to their Butterbeers. An hour or so passed by as they sat there and chatted about almost nothing and everything. Harry was more than happy now that they'd no bad news to discuss about and no strategies to plan. He loved how free he felt at the moment, just sitting there and talking about random stuffs about their friends, their family and their love interests.

"Speaking of affairs, what's going on between the two of you these days?" Ron eyed Neville and Luna from the rim of his cup.

"Yeah. Cummon tell us Looney, have you two proposed each other yet?" Ginny chirped in, making Luna go red from her cheeks to her coller bone while Neville nervously fidgeted in his seat. The table rolled in laughter at their visible shyness and suddenly the conversation shifted towards Harry.

"Harry, I've heard you share the house with Draco these days, don't you?" Luna asked, gleefully. It was Harry's turn to squirm in his seat now.

"Er, yeah. I do." Harry replied, gulping down his butterbeer. Merlin, not this conversation. Not now.

"I bet it's fun. With him, Draco." Luna still sounded delighted.

"Oh yes I bet Harry has a lot of wrackspurts swarming around his head these days, doesn't he Looney? After all that ferret is bound to make his head go fussy." Ron chuckled, earning a smack on his ribs from Hermione. "Ow, what mione?" he growled.

"I'm sure Harry's having a good time there. Malfoy doesn't seem so vicious now. I don't think he's gonna do anything to make Harry's life harder." Hermione asserted, glaring down at her boyfriend. Luna nodded in approval while Ron sulked down in his seat. Harry passed a thankful smile towards Hermione though he didn't know why he felt so good that at least some of his friends were trying to accept Draco as a part of his life now.

"Besides, I think our Harry is far more brave than we all credit him for. He would know if Malfoy would try to do any wrong and will take him down that instant. Isn't it Harry?" Neville piped in, passing a warm smile towards Harry. Harry didn't know if he felt honored or deflated at the comment. Still he tried to put on his best smile and replied, "I will Nev." Would Draco do him any wrong? And would he have the courage enough to take him down should he tried?

Harry was still in his thoughts when Ginny's loud voice boomed from the other side of the table. "Oi, shutup you tossers. Harry doesn't need fighting advices. He needs love lessons right now." She was looking at Harry with an amused smirk plastered on her face and wriggled her eyebrows at him deviously when he glared at her.

At that the whole table broke into a frenzy of questions. And before Harry had the time to assimilate what precisely Ginny had meant by love lessons and why were they even needed, he was assaulted with legions of questions.

"What? Mate you never told me you found someone!" Ron glared at him.

"Harry, are you seeing someone?" Neville asked, with a glint of surprise in his eyes.

"Ron! Of course Harry's not found anyone yet. He'd have told us very first if he had. Isn't it Harry?" Hermione interjected.

"But- but I thought he liked Draco now." Luna mumbled in a dejected tone. So many things happened in the same instant that Harry didn't even get the time to fully grasp her words. Ron choked on his drink and started coughing vigorously while Neville spat his own firewhiskey all across the table. Ginny had rolled down the floor laughing and Hermione had to silencio their table in order to stop the attention they had been gaining in the past few minutes. Luna still looked crestfallen and was sipping at her butterbeer, her face sullen. Harry looked frantically at his friends, still oblivious of what had caused the sudden chaos. It wasn't until a few seconds later that his mind started to pick up pace and he realized what Luna had said. And now it was his turn to spill his butterbeer on the table. "Wha - what? No." he squealed. "I do not like Dra - Malfoy, Luna." He honestly couldn't believe Luna had said that. He could never like Draco in that way, could he?

"I'm sorry Harry. I just meant. Oh nevermind. I do hope you'll realize it soon." Luna exclaimed, dreamily.

"Realize what Luna?" Ron grumbled, still recovering from his coughing fit.

"That Harry is falling for Draco." Luna mused, beaming in delectation at Harry.

"Merlin's shaggy tits Luna. Are you insane? Harry would never shag that slimey gi- Ow" Ron yelped with pain as Hermione, one again, hit him in the shin under the table.

The conversation went on for another half an hour but Harry wasn't a part of it anymore. Though the person in topic was still obviously him, he'd lost his interest moments ago and was now deeply immersed in his own thoughts. Did he really fancy Draco? Of course not. But then Draco wasn't his enemy anymore, he was something more to him! A friend. Maybe something more? More? Well you do love to spend time with that prat. And don't you dare deny that you love the way he makes your gut twist by the way he looks at you. Maybe you even love the sparks of lightning that you feel whenever your skins touch, don't you? You like the way he smiles, the wide, charming, honest smiles. You like the way he makes a mess of the situations by his witty remarks. You like his smart mouth and his challenges. And you also cannot deny the fact that you loved sharing his bed last night even though only because it kept your own nightmares away, didn't you? Bed, night, nightmares, sharing. . .

Coming to his senses, Harry looked around the pub and outside from the little window to see the sky already turning black. He suddenly bolted up from his seat. All the other five people seated across him casted worried glances at him as he rushed to grab his wand from the table and tuck it in the back pocket of his jeans. "I've got to go guys. I'll see you around this weekend. And Ron, thanks for the drink mate." He spoke hurriedly as he made his way back to the fireplace.

"But where are you going, mate?" Ron yelled behind him in time as Hermione took off the silencing charm.

"Home." Harry shouted back without casting a backward glance towards his worried friends.

As he grabbed a fistful of the floo powder from the bucket by the side of the fireplace and chanted, 'Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place', he saw his friends staring towards him with different looks in their eyes. While Ron looked honestly worried, Hermione was eyeing him with a calculative gaze. Ginny had an amused smile playing on her lips. Neville too shared Ron's expressions but he did look like he understood something where as Luna was waving back at him mouthing something Harry perceived as, 'Good Luck'. He shrugged and smiled back at them, as if to say 'don't worry, I know what I'm doing'. He would apologize to them later, he promised himself. But right now he had somewhere to be. He had someone waiting for him back at home. A warm, fluttery feeling enveloped him as the green flames came to life and flooed him home.