ALWAYS APPRECIATE TO HEAR YOUR OPINION:)*

"So, this thing between the two of you wasn't just a nightmare I had, then." Weasley muttered, gulping on air as if trying to hold down bile.

"Afraid not" Draco confirmed, saccarine. He ran his eyes lazily down Harry's body, making sure it was as obscene and ostentatious as possible. "Your friend here taught me all I know about sex. Took my innocence, really, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

Weasley's ears turned bright red and he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, looking like a kid that had just walked in on his parents. "Harry, honestly…"

Harry, on his part, was too distracted by his snowy owl to notice anything else going around him. The four of them were standing in the little bedroom and Draco was surprised no one had yet been squashed by the heavy cloud of awkwardness that lingered in the air. He could feel it all over his body, making his skin itch. The only one that seemed unaffected was Harry, who was deeply in conversation with his pet, of all things. He was holding a few treats in his open palm, gently trying to persuade the owl to take one. She was a wonderful specimen, Draco thought, regal and graceful. She regarded her human with imperious indifference, but Draco could see her demeanour was starting to crack at Harry's tender persistence.

When it was clear that his friend would not give him the attention he was aiming for, Weasley let his arm drop dramatically and groaned.

"Granger, tell your boyfriend that his behaviour is unbecoming. He had five years to sleep with Potter, so it's no one else's fault if he didn't seize the opportunity and now he is mine."

Granger gave him an unimpressed stare. "First of all, for the majority of these five years, we were literally children. Second of all, he is right. Harry could do so much better."

"I could." Harry hummed, choosing that moment among all to actually listen. "Aww, that's a good girl, Hedwig. Have another one."

Draco glared, annoyed to see that Harry was once more engrossed over his owl instead of cowering under his death-stare.

Weasley smiled, slow and wicked. "Harry, mate, you know who has dumped that tool Davies not even a month into the year? Cho Chang! She was mopey, worried about you I'd bet." Draco had noticed it too, how frantic the Ravenclaw seeker had seemed over her ex-boyfriend's disappearance. If whatever she briefly had with Harry could even be called a relationship. Draco was more inclined towards a "failed couple of dates", at best.

"Ron." Harry replied, regarding his friend with a serious expression. "You know I don't do well with mopey."

"Oh, yeah, right… Well, she wasn't that bad, really. Just worried. We all were…" Weasley backtracked, his grin slipping.

"She is great." Harry amended, petting Hedwig's feathery head with broad, soft strokes. "But it didn't work out the first time, so…"

Draco took the chance to return Weasley's fading smile with his own, just as mocking.

"True, mate. True. But… You have changed, you both had time to… grow?" Weasley insisted, cringing at his own questioning tone. His ears matched the colour of his hair once again, and Draco couldn't help thinking he was a bit of an idiot. His smile upturned at one corner, morphing into a full blown smirk.

"Ron, let it go." Granger said, looking over at Draco disapprovingly.

He tipped his invisible hat in her direction, pitching his voice high and childish. "Yeah, Ronnie, let it go."

For one brief moment he was sure she was about to swear at him for the second time, and he took delight in the anticipation. Her lips pursed, eyes narrowing into slits and Draco felt his own crinkle at the corner. Then, as fast as it came, her expression relaxed and she turned away from him in clear dismissal.

Draco huffed, catching Harry's gaze. There was amusement in the other boy's lovely eyes and his hair was still ruffled from their earlier snogging session. Draco's midriff clenched with an interesting combination of embarrassment and arousal.

Stupid fucking Potter.

"Hey, uhm…" Harry said, when the silence had stretched a bit too long for comfort. "I think I'm ready to try."

Two questioning faces snapped to attention, as if all they had been waiting for was Harry to tell them what came next. Draco didn't need to turn in his direction, finding his focus was already entirely on the other boy, but his confusion matched Weasley and Granger's inquisitive frowns.

"To summon Kreacher, I mean…" Harry trailed off, clearing his scratchy throat.

"Oh, yeah." Granger said, smiling tentatively, a lingering awkwardness that made her look insecure in a way Draco had never witnessed before. "He is you- I mean… He is your elf." She fumbled on the word your, lips twitching downwards. "You should be able to by simply calling his name, I think."

"You have a house elf?" Draco couldn't help blurting. Despite the several mentions of the creature during the last few hours, somehow he hadn't really made the connection.

"Sort of." Harry replied, his nose wrinkling, clearly not pleased by the fact. "He was Sirius', so… Here goes nothing." He stood up from where he was kneeling beside his owl and, in a clear, louder voice, he said "Kreacher?"

It only took moments for a loud pop to reveal an angry looking elf, appearing as if out of nowhere in the middle of the room. Hedwig hooted in annoyance and took flight, leaving the bedpost she was perched on in favour of the wardrobe, from where she glared imperiously down at them all.

None of them paid her any mind, though, as the elf had started snarling insults as soon as his feet had landed on the carpet, seemingly fighting with himself about whom to address first.

"Nasty brat standing there as bold as brass. Harry Potter, the boy who stopped the Dark Lord. Friend of Mudbloods and blood-traitors alike." He spewed, bulging eyes darting from one to the other. "They said he was gone, vanished. They said, but Kreacher knew better. He summoned Kreacher, the new Master, he did. If my poor Mistress only knew the fate of her faithful servant."

Draco watched as he ranted, not sure if he was more shocked or disgusted by the creature's boldness. Weasley looked slightly nauseous, Granger on the verge of tears. Draco didn't understand her pity at all.

Only Harry was unaffected, snapping before the elf could catch a breath and start again. "Enough, Kreacher. That's enough. I'm not fond of this arrangement any more than you are, but I need your help."

"Kreacher's help, the Potter boy says. Kreacher would sooner iron his own fingers…" The elf muttered to himself, loud enough the rest of the room didn't really have to strain an ear to understand each and every word. Harry groaned in frustration, which seemed to snap Kreacher out of his soliloquy. "Of course, whatever Master wants." He repented, dragging the vowels and bowing low, in a way that was so plainly insincere it left Draco astounded. The muttering resumed, if only quieter.

"Oh, for fuck sake Harry, just tell him to shut up!" Draco growled, toying with the grip of his wand in his pocket.

Harry's eyes flashed and Draco licked his dry lips as a reflex, wishing he had kept his goddamn mouth shut. "I will not tell him to shut up." He said, with an inflection of disappointment that Draco didn't miss. Granger tutted disapprovingly, her fingers tapping at the fold where her arms crossed over each other.

"He called you a Mudblood!" Draco cried, refusing to pass as the bad guy in this particular situation.

She sniffed, almost like a snort if it wasn't for the lack of mirth, and raised her eyebrows pointedly. "And haven't you before?"

He spluttered, unable to think of a good comeback, if even there was any. What she said was true, after all. Draco did and had probably been calling her and people like her that same insult for most of his life. He blinked, feeling lost and more than a little stupid. It had sounded repulsive coming from the elf's mouth, but was he really any better?

Before he could fall too deep into this newfound existential crisis, he felt Kreacher's big, watery eyes on himself. Harry had noticed too, and was regarding the elf curiously, as if he had just realised something and was just waiting for confirmation.

Draco blanched at the reverence that he found when he met Kreacher's stare. The elf looked at him as one would look at something precious, and Draco wasn't sure what to do with that.

"Young Master B-Black." Kreacher said, all the previous nastiness gone from his voice. He bowed, the point of his long nose brushing the floor. It was clear the gesture was nothing but genuine this time.

"Malfoy." Draco muttered, embarrassed.

"Yes, Kreacher knows. Mistress Narcissa's son, young Master is. He might have his father's name but his features betray the majestic influence of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black..."

Weasley snorted, a barely contained roar that ringed in Draco's ears. "We get it, Kreacher, young Master Black here gives you a boner. Let's move on, we don't have all day."

Draco's skin prickled with heat and he wished the floor would open and swallow him whole. He couldn't even find the strength to glare.

The elf, on the other hand, had no qualms. He turned furiously towards Weasley, voice squeaky and indignant.

"He dares speak of the most pure lineage, the blood-traitor, when his family has nothing but bratty children. Scum. Kreacher has served the Noble and…"

"Enough, Kreacher!" Harry interrupted, firm. The authority in his tone sent a shiver down Draco's spine, who felt he had no control over the mixed signals his body was sending to his brain. He wasn't sure anymore if what he really wanted was to disappear or to drag Harry along with him in the first available room.

"I forbid you to call anyone Mudblood or blood-traitor… or scum, for what it's worth."Harry added, the last warning almost as an afterthought. He stalled for a moment, scratching the back of his neck, gaze flitting between Draco and the elf. When their eyes met, Draco understood what the other boy was silently asking him to do.

"Kreacher." He said, with a gentleness he didn't feel. "We need you to tell us about… Regulus Black. Master Regulus… we need to know if he took something from the D- dark Lord." Harry nodded, a small thankful smile, and Draco exhaled.

And so Kreacher's tale began, his words filled with longing and grief. In the smallest bedroom of Lupin's terraced house, four young hearts drummed in rhythm with the elf's world, as he recounted the horrors of his past.

Fuck, Draco thought when Kreacher stopped talking, too shaken to say anymore. He looked pathetic, his old, worn rugs twisted in his bony fingers. His eyes had started welling as he recalled, in shame, how he had failed to fulfil his Master's last command and now, now the medallion was gone.

"It's not gone." Granger told him, soothingly. "We have it. We found it."

"Yeah. We were hoping you could tell us how to destroy it but… We'll find a way." Harry reassured him. He bit his bottom lips, lost in thoughts for a moment. Then he approached his friend, whispering something in her ear. Granger nodded and left the room, returning a little later with the medallion in her hand.

"This was left in the cave, Kreacher. Remus Lupin found it. It- it was Regulus'".

The elf's pupils widened and he made a half aborted grabby motion as a reflex.

The fake medallion. Draco furrowed his brows, confused. It was a worthless piece of forgery and he couldn't make sense of why Granger hadn't grabbed the real one.

He searched Harry's eyes for answers but Harry wasn't looking at him. Instead he had taken the locket from his friend and was holding it in front of Kreacher, a little awkwardly. "You can have it." He said, dropping it into the elf's welcoming hands.

Draco could pinpoint the exact instant the creature's demeanour shifted, how that simple gesture completely changed his view of Harry. How an easy kindness had done more to ensure Kreacher's loyalty than years of unwilling servitude would have ever achieved. And yet, despite it being true, Draco knew Harry had done it without the prospect of personal gain, but simply because he could.

After the elf had been dismissed, medallion dangling from his wrinkly neck and promises of everlasting gratitude that still sounded foreign coming from his mouth, Harry collapsed on the bed with a sigh. "Well, as shocking as that was, I don't feel like we have made much progress. We still have no clue how to destroy that thing."

His friends hummed, too engrossed in processing the whole exchange to really find words.

Draco, on his part, wasn't really thinking about the horcrux. Try as he might, he could not get Regulus Black out of his head. There had been something in Regulus's story that made him feel significantly less alone, and he wasn't ready to let go of the feeling yet.

"I think he is right." Granger said, frowning. She looked just as incredulous as Draco felt over the fact that they agreed on something.

"But w-why me?" Her boyfriend spluttered, his long arms flailing in the air.

"Because, out of all of us, you are the least likely to be a target." Harry told him, catching up with what Draco was getting at faster than his friend, who was still standing there, blue gaze darting between the other three in bewilderment.

"But- but… what about him?" Weasley retorted, pointing his finger at Draco. "They definitely wouldn't target him." He seemed to ponder over his own words as soon as they left his lips, narrowing his eyes in distrust. "Actually, now that I said that aloud, I can see why that wouldn't be the safest option."

Draco sneered. Harry grabbed his wrist before he could speak, soothingly running his thumb over Draco's pulse point.

"It's not that we can't trust him, Ron…"

"If you think they are not going to fucking murder me as soon as they see me, then you are a fucking idiot." Draco interrupted, snatching his arm away.

"They think we fucking have you prisoner, you wanker! All you need to do is run into their arms and tell them all about the big bad Order of the Phoenix and all the horrible things they did to you."

"Ohhh, great plan Weasley." Draco mocked. "Do you suggest I offer information about Harry, too, so I can get back in their graces faster? You know, betray the guy i told you just yesterday I am in fucking love with, in case you have forgotten? I haven't forgotten because it was fucking humil-" He yelled, not sure of why he was bringing this up in this particular moment. His brain was telling him he had a point, even if his stomach twisted in disagreement.

"Calm down, both of you!" Harry said over him, voice raised but not as loud as Draco's. It made Draco stop to take a deep breath. He could feel his cheeks burning in anger and embarrassment for losing his temper so quickly. Harry, on the other hand, looked frustrated rather than mad. It made Draco want to do better.

He took a couple more breaths to steady himself and spoke again, softer. "I'm flattered you think I'm that good of a liar, Weasley… or an Occlumen, shall we call it that? But I am afraid that not even someone as talented as me would be able to hide feelings like these." He blinked, looking at Harry's bare feet on the carpet. " As I said, I'll be dead -or worst, as soon as someone that it's not my mother or father catches sight of me."

"Fine." Weasley muttered sulkily. "But I still… Hermione, you are way smarter than I am. I get why not Harry, but you…"

"Ron," She told him gently, grabbing his hand in both of hers. "I am a Mud- no please, don't interrupt me. I know you hate them and their agenda as much as we do, but they still have reservations over spilling pure blood. Mine, on the other hand, it's worth nothing to them. They kill people like me, children like me, every occasion they get. And, in my case, I doubt that death would be quick and painless. We need to think of the safest protection, if we are going to do this and not involve anyone else."

"But…" Weasely tried to argue, and he looked a little scared.

"It can't be Harry, for obvious reasons, and Malfoy… well, Malfoy has made himself into the worst kind of traitor, so he is right. He would be almost as high as Harry in the hit list."

Draco scoffed at her choice of words, but he knew they were true. Aunt Bellatrix might have taught him well when he came to Occlumency, but he wasn't so conceited to believe he had something on the higher ranks of Death Eaters, let alone the Dark Lord himself. Hell, if his Aunt managed to make it past his mother, she would make sure to be the one breaking his mind, and she'd take pleasure in doing it the most painful way possible. His only ticket back to his former life was if he was willing to betray Harry completely, and Draco might be crazy but he would rather die.

"Look, Ron, I know you are thinking of Sirius and the consequences of making the wrong choice when it comes to something like this but… This is nothing like that, I promise. We just need a place where to do our research and, while this house is great and everything, Merlin only knows what sort of dark books we could find in Grimmauld Place." Harry said with a grimace. He was the one that had suggested they needed access to the house he had inherited and the one wagering that placing a new fidelius on the place would be their safest bet. "I'm not sure how the new spell would override the old one, or even the dynamics of that sort of thing, really… Hermione, you are in charge of that, please."

"Sure." She agreed easily, with a tight-lipped nod. "I'll figure a way that would keep Snape out."

Harry winced at the name. "We are just going to be there during the day, and not every day either. Browse the library, brew some potions… the kind of stuff that we can't do here. I know it's a big responsibility, Ron, but you are just as strong as any of us. Don't doubt it because you think you'll fuck it up somehow, I trust you. We trust you."

When they had brought up the choice of a secret keeper, Draco had immediately stated that Weasley was the only obvious one. He was the least likely to be murdered, albeit not by much, but definitely the least likely to be tortured.

"You are not going to fuck it up, Ron. You are my best friend." Harry said, gaze locking with Weasley's. He blinked slowly, long eyelashes fanning his cheeks. Draco rolled his eyes. Cheeky bastard.

"Okay, okay, you can stop that. I'll do it!" Weasley replied with exaggerated exasperation, a small smile betraying him. He shrugged his shoulders in defeat, snatching one of Harry's biscuits before collapsing on the sofa. "You fucker. Better keep these treats coming, though. Fuck me." He moaned against a mouthful. "Where did you learn to cook like this, mate?"

"I lived by myself for a year." Harry deadpanned, like that answered any doubts his friends might have. Draco thought of Scott and his amazing pancakes with a pang of melancholy and took one of the biscuits for himself, sticky jam melting on his tongue.

"We can leave the horcrux here, if that makes you feel better, Ron." Granger said, clearly not ready to stop talking business. Did that girl's mind ever take a break? "Remus is the secret keeper, so none of us could give its location away."

"Dunno," Harry argued. "he is a bit too involved in the fight, isn't he? I think we should wear it in turns and take it with us."

"Fuck no! I'm not wearing that!" Weasley said, disgusted. "Just by touching it, it gives off a creepy vibe…it's like being courted by a dementor."

"We could hide it somewhere here." Granger suggested, looking like she would rather skin herself than put the thing around her neck. "You can't summon it, I tried."

"I bet Vol- he could." Harry said, correcting his slip just in time.

Weasley, who had seemed extremely relieved by his girlfriend's suggestions, was quick to shut him down. "Yeah, like the chances the man himself ever ventures in this God forsaken corner of Wales and right into this very house are that high. Come on, Harry, be real. He rarely does anything himself these days… and he doesn't even know we know about his- stuff."

"That reminds me, Harry, that you should really start practising your Occlumency again." Granger chimed in.

"Okay, okay. We'll talk about it." Harry said, cornered, raising his hands in front of him. "We don't have to decide now."

"You know," Granger said, after a short pause. "that year abroad has changed you, you are way less prone to…"

"Lose your shit." Weasley completed with a grin. "We honestly thought you would murder Remus."

"Well, I haven't… yet." Harry mumbled, colouring slightly.

"We missed you." She told him, squeezing his knee.

Draco watched as the three of them exchanged sappy looks and sighed. Letting his body go limp in the gaudy armchair he had claimed, he closed his eyes and allowed his exhaustion to take over.

"I'm going out to make a call." Harry declared around 8 that evening, just after the sun had disappeared completely below the horizon.

"A- what?" Weasley asked, head popping out of the kitchen entrance, where he was on dishwashing duty after Harry had cooked dinner. His wand arm flopped down beside his body and they heard a crash coming from inside the room.

"Fuck, nevermind. You can tell me later. Take the invisibility-" He stopped, eyeing Draco suspiciously. "Take him with you, I guess."

Draco raised his eyes from the book about curses Granger had all but thrown into his lap earlier and just then noticed that Harry was all geared up to go outside.

"You can't go outside on your own." He said in a rush, getting up.

"I'm a big boy." Harry rolled his eyes, tugging a beanie down over his hair and forehead, his curls now brushing the top of his eyelashes.

"He is right." Granger agreed, for the second but not less surprising time in one day. She didn't even lift her gaze from her own, humongous book, that laid spread in front of her. The two of them might even come to tolerate each other by the end of this, Draco reflected idly.

"I'm just going down the road to find a phone box."

"Yeah, okay." Draco said, deciding to feign ignorance of Harry's true intentions and reaching for the light jumper he had left on a chair that morning. "Don't wear your glasses, your contacts make you look less… you. Go, come on… I just need my shoes and then I'm ready." He said, gesturing towards the stairs impatiently.

Harry mumbled something that didn't exactly sound like a word of endearment but that Draco was going to pretend it was, and left. He came back a few minutes later, blinking furiously to adjust the contact in his right eye, and grabbed Draco's wrist, dragging him out of the house without a word.

"Man, it's chilly. Thought it was supposed to be summer." Draco said, when they had made it to the end of the road. He ran his hands over his biceps, shivering ostentatiously. It wasn't really that cold, but still enough he was glad he had taken his jumper with him.

"Small talk, really?" Harry replied, side-eyeing him. He looked around, trying to locate one of the red boxes he had told Draco about. "This way."

Draco laughed, not sure of why. It was good to be outside. "Reckon once we have reached that phone thing I can kiss that sarcasm out of you, without fear of a ginger twat interrupting us, or is that too kinky for you, Potter."

"That phone-thing has windows on every side, so I'd reckon… no."

"You are no fun." Draco pouted.

"You are fun." He amended, a minute later, when Harry told him to stay still and cover him while he used magic to duplicate the muggle coin he had fished from his pocket into a handful. "Didn't know you were a criminal, Henry. I have to say, I kinda like it."

"Shut up." Harry said, kissing him quickly and then biting him reasonably hard on the bottom lip. "And if you behave I'm even going to-"

Draco sucked in a breath.

"Let you speak to Scott."

"Thought you were gonna say something else there, for a minute… not gonna lie." Draco told him. To his horror, his voice came out sounding like he had just run a mile.

Harry raised half a brown in that ridiculous way of his, but the smirk on his lips couldn't really pass for innocent.

Draco couldn't help shutting his mouth, feeling like it might just be worth it.