Draco woke with the feeling of another body pressed against him. It was so unfamiliar that his first urge was to pull away, but as his brain retreated from the haze of sleep, he remembered who was next to him. Potter had actually, willingly spent the night. It was absurd. Draco wouldn't have believed it possible a day ago.

Potter's chest was pressed against his back with an arm draped over Draco's waist. By the sound of his heavy, regular breathing he was still asleep. Draco wasn't sure whether to wake Potter or not. They were in an intimate position and he didn't want to break the tentative peace between them. If he shoved Potter off, he might get offended. If he let Potter stay, it might end up even more awkward. Ultimately, he didn't have to decide.

Potter woke suddenly, pulled his arm away, and turned so they were back to back. Draco waited a few moments, pretending to still be asleep. He let Potter think he hadn't noticed how physically close they'd gotten overnight.

"What time is it?" Draco grumbled feigning just waking up.

"Sun's just up. It's early," Potter whispered and Draco hummed. "Pomfrey will be back soon." Potter righted himself, moving to get out of the bed. "Are you going to class?"

"Not sure. Depends on Pomfrey." Draco rolled over to look at Potter.

"Can I see you later?" Potter said hesitating by the edge of the bed.

"Do you want to?"

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise."

That was oddly comforting. "Fine. We can meet in the room tonight."

Potter grabbed his cloak and with a small smile said, "See you then."

Draco sank back into the bed processing the previous day. The whiplash from thinking Potter hated him to Potter actively wanting to see him was baffling. Draco didn't know exactly where he stood with Potter, he just hoped whatever peaceful terms they landed on would hold. It had felt genuine when Potter stopped by last night.

Pomfrey came by within the hour to offer another pain potion and apply another round of dittany. He slipped on Regulus's ring, knowing he'd want to hear Pomfrey's diagnosis.

She dutifully applied the treatment but sighed unhappily afterward. "It'll keep fading, but I'm afraid it'll permanently scar."

"There won't be any other effects though?"

"No, it's superficial," she said disappointed, but Draco hardly cared about a few scars. He reached for the breakfast that had been brought to him, when Pomfrey said, "Are you feeling alright? Your hands are shaking."

Draco fumbled for an excuse. He hadn't taken the nerve soother since yesterday. "It happens sometimes."

"That's not normal. Let me take a look." She started to reach for his hands.

"No!" Draco tucked his arms in closer, glaring at the woman. She was taken aback, but Draco held firm.

"Well, provided it doesn't get worse…" she said reluctantly.

"Can I go to class?" Draco interrupted, wanting to move on from talking about his hands.

"You and all the other NEWT students are so eager to get to class," Pomfrey tutted. "Fine, but stop by later. I'll give you a salve to keep the scars fading."

Pomfrey left, giving him a moment alone to finish eating and change into his robes. Regulus was still watching him nervously, not fully convinced that he had recovered from the curse.

"How did you sleep?" Regulus asked.

"Fine," Draco said, thinking of waking up with Potter beside him. He didn't know what his face did, but Regulus noticed something in it.

"Did something happen?" He asked mildly concerned.

Draco wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Regulus. They had relatively few secrets between them nowadays, but he had refused to tell Draco what happened while Potter was wearing the ring. Maybe he should keep this as his secret too. Regulus's expression shifted again, and Draco knew he'd taken too long to decide. Regulus would know if he tried to deflect.

"Potter spent the night," Draco said, trying to make it sound casual.

Regulus's jaw dropped. "What? Like in your bed?" He teased, but when Draco didn't dispute it he deadpanned, "You're joking."

"Just drop it," Draco said, refusing to look at Regulus.

"It's not that big of a deal. I used to do it all the time with James. He was always in the infirmary because of quidditch." Draco really didn't want to be reminded of the parallels to Regulus's romantic relationship.

"Drop it," he said again and started for class.

The day passed normally. How no one was spreading rumours about his visit to the infirmary was beyond him, but he was grateful for it. Other than his housemates' confusion about his absence the day before, no one mentioned it.

That evening he skipped dinner, too nervous to eat, and went with Regulus to make a plan for the cabinet now that they had Burke's response. Despite the complaints, Burke's letter contained a wealth of ideas of where to start fixing the remaining problems. It was going to be gruelling charm work, but at least they had a direction. Potter eventually arrived and joined in their efforts.

"Glad to see Pomfrey wasn't too overbearing," Potter chimed in as they were discussing classes that day.

"She's just doing her job," Draco said defensively. He didn't understand Potter's aversion to staying in the infirmary.

"You're telling me you want to be there?"

"I didn't say that. I just trust when medi-witch advises me."

Potter rightfully looked a little guilty. He glanced around.

"Is Regulus here?"

"Yes, he usually is," Draco said, glancing to where Regulus was inspecting the inside of the cabinet.

Potter looked unseeing where Draco was looking."How long have you had the ring?"

"The summer before fifth year."

Potter gaped. "He's been with you that long? Does he go to classes? Has he seen all of our meetings?"

"Pretty much."

"Why?" Potter asked, perplexed. When Draco just glared, he clarified, "That was a bit rude. You don't want privacy?"

"It's better with him around." Draco didn't elaborate on what.

"I'm touched," Regulus said and Draco rolled his eyes. Potter watched him, probably trying to guess what Regulus was saying. He looked uncomfortable about the silent communication but didn't push.

Instead, he asked, "How did you get it?"

"Kreacher. When he was spying for the order, he was smuggling artefacts and dropping them off with me."

"Hold on, Kreacher was a traitor that long?"

"He wasn't really a traitor," Draco clarified in defence of the elf.

"He got Sirius killed. Sounds like a traitor to me," Potter said, annoyed.

Draco could sense the anger rolling on Regulus because of the accusation against Kreacher.

"He was just doing what he was supposed to. If I remember correctly, Kreacher played a relatively small role in all of that."

Potter looked appropriately guilty. "I guess he trusted you more than me. He told you right? That's how you knew it was all a trap?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you try to stop me? We weren't like… this."

He glanced at Regulus unsure. He knew he shouldn't keep as many secrets from Potter, but this was between the both of them. Regulus nodded slowly.

"What? Was it something to do with Regulus?"

"I made a deal with him," Draco said with a small grimace. He had a feeling Potter wasn't going to like the admission.

"What?"

"A deal. He would make me the Black Heir if I helped you."

"You did this because you want to be Heir Black? Is that still why you are doing this?"

"It's complicated." Initially becoming heir had been the primary motivation, but that was something he was a little ashamed of now. Things had changed. Regulus and him rarely referenced their deals anymore and the only new ones were more as a joke than being serious. They hadn't made a deal like that since, mostly because Draco found himself wanting what Regulus did. He wanted to be friends with Potter, regardless of how crazy that sounded.

"No, I get it. It's fine," Potter said, clearly bitter.

"You don't sound fine."

"I just thought you might actually care about another person. Now I know I was wrong."

"Don't put words in my mouth," Draco spat. " I do care, but I can't just do something because I want to. I have to get something out of it." Potter looked at him still annoyed, but confused too. "I couldn't just help you for the sake of it. My father would have punished me for it, so I needed something to make it worth my while."

Understanding slowly crossed Potter's face. "That's horrible."

"It's how I was raised."

"Do you still feel like that now?"

"I don't think so." He had agreed to let Potter spend the night because hewantedPotter there. He agreed to meet today because hewantedit. "You better not go tell your friends this, but I am here because I want to be. Not because of Regulus. Or some deal. I want to."

Potter smiled, and Draco's stomach flipped.

The peace between them held for the next few weeks and life fell into a sort of normalcy. Or at least as normal as it could be considering Draco's circumstances. His deadline for killing Dumbledore was always there, looming, tainting even his best days.

Draco ran out of the nerve soother the week after his infirmary visit. Snape advised him not to take anymore, since the tremors were barely noticeable and didn't impact his ability to write. Draco reluctantly agreed. Naturally, Snape tried to get him to open up more about his project, but Draco stayed tight-lipped, only hinting that he was making progress.

Apparition lessons continued and Draco realised he was truly terrible at it. He was one of the last students not able to do anything. Every time he pictured his destination and felt the tug, he pulled back, convinced his body would light up with pain. He could so clearly imagine the effects of the cruciatus curse coming back in full force. Regulus tried to convince him that he was healed enough, that apparating was perfectly safe now. But Draco couldn't ignore the vivid memory of pain. He could get around just fine with the floo network.

Potter started meeting him any evening they were both free. It wasn't all that much more frequent. Between their quidditch practices and Potter's new detentions with Snape their free time was severely limited. Potter had a long-standing twice-a-week detention through the end of the year because of the spell he used on Draco.

Draco found it endearing how Potter tried to include Regulus in their discussions, despite not being able to see him. He never asked to put back on the ring, sensing Draco's possessiveness around it, but he frequently asked questions through Draco. Regulus tried to act nonchalant about it, but Draco knew he enjoyed the attention.

In addition to including Regulus, another change in their meetings was that Potter became increasingly fixated on getting Draco out of the Dark Lord's hold. Whatever Regulus had initially told him had only increased his fervour for finding a solution. He was finally convinced that if he didn't find a way to get Draco and his mother out, either he or Dumbledore was going to end up dead, finally accepting that Draco had never been exaggerating.

Potter started talking to the snake on his arm almost every time they met. Draco refused to look at Potter while he did it in hopes of avoiding anotherincident. Progress was slow. Potter admitted that he didn't even know what he was doing was helping.

"I never really believed it would work," Draco said dismissively, trying not to feel disappointed by the confession.

"Don't say that."

"I'm being realistic."

Potter sighed, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his eyes. "This week has been miserable. I just wanted something good."

"What's made it so miserable?" From Draco's perspective, they had each had a quidditch practice cancelled, meaning that they had met twice more than normal and therefore it was a pretty good week.

"Snape mostly. He's ruined my favourite class and the detentions are getting worse. Something I never thought possible."

"Snape isn't that bad." Potter should be grateful Umbridge was no longer around.

"You never had him for occlumency lessons."

"Occlumency?" Draco hadn't expected that and by the sheepish look on Potter's face he hadn't meant to say it.

"Dumbledore wanted me to learn it last year. I was never in remedial potions."

Draco felt a twinge of annoyance. Because of one of Umbridge's decrees, Snape had made him stop his research project all while actively helping Potter break the decree in an objectively worse way. Draco bit back the snarky remark and asked the question he actually wanted to know. "Why would Dumbledore have you learn occlumency?"

Potter hesitated, and Regulus froze listening intently. "I have a connection with Voldemort through my scar. I see things sometimes, feel what he is feeling. Dumbledore wanted me to shield myself from it."

"Clearly wasn't that effective," Draco snorted thinking of the ministry fiasco.

"Snape wasn't effective," Potter bit back defensively.

"I bet he was better than my teacher." Apparently, it was Draco's turn to say something he should've kept to himself.

"I didn't know you knew occlumency. Who taught you?"

"My aunt." Draco hoped he didn't have to spell it out, but Potter just waited. "Bellatrix Lestrange."

"You know her?!" Potter shouted, anger flushing his face. "She's horrible, she killed Sirius!"

"Calm down. Of course, I know her. It's not like I have much of a choice," Draco said grumpily.

"That's a load of bollocks. There's nothing you can do?"

Draco shook his head. "It's fine, but you should be more grateful about having Snape."

Potter pouted. "He's still ruining my best subject. I wish I could just take the NEWT exam now. I bet I'd pass."

Draco snorted, disbelieving.

"I would! I got an O on my OWL. I could just flash my Patronus again."

To prove his point, Potter flashed it for Draco, demonstrating how easily he could cast it. A beautiful silver stag pranced around them.

Regulus watched it in awe. "James had the same one."

Draco translated to Potter, "Regulus said your father also had a stag patronus."

Potter looked at him surprised. "I keep forgetting he knew my parents."If Potter only knew. "Yeah, he was a stag animagus as well." He glanced at Regulus who was looking smug about that how talented was James Potter?

Draco watched the stag feeling lighter because of the pleasant aura it was giving off. Thinking back to the first time Potter had shown his patronus, Draco asked. "Will you teach me it?"

"Of course! It's tricky, but once you get the hang of it you'll be able to cast it easily," Potter said, lighting up.

Regulus huffed beside him. "I've never cast it regularly. Don't get your hopes up."

Potter motioned for him to stand and continued explaining, "You need to focus on feeling happy. Think of a vivid, happy memory. Immerse yourself in it."

Draco grimly thought that he didn't have any happy memories recently, but he was determined to try. He'd have to go back before he got the mark. He had been thrilled by his OWL results. His mother had praised him. He tried to focus on that feeling.

"When you're ready, castExpexto Patronum."

Draco waited a minute, trying to feel happy, and eventually cast, "Expecto Patronum." Nothing happened.

"That's alright. Focus and try again."

Potter was a good teacher, but Draco was lousy at being happy. He tried all sorts of memories from getting his Hogwarts letter to making the Slytherin quidditch team with nothing more than a few silver wisps. Potter assured him he'd get it someday. Regulus assured him it was normal for people with the mark not to be able to cast it. Uncharacteristically, he hoped Regulus was wrong.

Gryffindor had their match against Hufflepuff in early March. Weasley had gone and landed himself in the infirmary after some splinching incident, so Cormac McLaggen was there as a replacement keeper. Draco sat with his housemates, all of whom were booing at Gryffindor's lead.

Hufflepuff called an early timeout. Draco idly watched Potter gliding towards his team, but the wild swing of a bat caught his eye. McLaggen had taken a beater's bat from one of his teammates and seemed to be demonstrating something and whacked the bludger right into Potter's skull.

"Nice shot!" Nott hollered. Crabbe and Goyle whooped as most of the crowd gasped in horror. Potter fell the remaining few feet to the ground limp. Blood pooled around his head at an alarming rate. Immediately, Hooch was landing next to him and Pomfrey was sprinting across the field.

"Think he's dead?" Pansy asked excitedly.

"One can hope," Nott responded.

Draco felt ill. Deaths were rare in Quidditch but anything involving a head injury was inherently more dangerous. Regulus had jumped to his feet and was staring intently down at the field.

"You alight Malfoy?" Zabini asked. The others were all too excited to notice Draco's distinct lack of excitement.

"Fine," he bit out.

"You look worried," Zabini commented as Pansy turned towards them.

"They are taking him to the castle. Pomfrey looks annoyed more than anything which is a good sign," Regulus tried to assure him.

"Why would Draco be worried? Potter deserves it," Pansy chimed in.

"I'm not worried," Draco ground out, willing them to believe him.

Nott glanced over. "You do look worried. You've been weird this whole year and this is just another thing to add to the list." He paused studying Draco.

Pansy's frown suddenly flipped as something dawned on her. "Oh my, it's because of the Dark Lord right? He wanted to off Potter himself!" She whispered conspiratorially.

"Don't talk about things you don't understand." Draco shot back firmly, but once again his housemates took the lack of denial as confirmation. The match promptly ended, and everyone headed back to the castle. Draco trailed behind his housemates.

"I think he's okay. Injuries like that happen all the time. Pomfrey knows what she's doing," Regulus said as they wandered back. Draco knew he was right, but he couldn't shake the worry. It was the worst quidditch injury of the season and of course, it had to be Potter on the receiving end.

Later that night, Draco was still unable to shake the stress, so he snuck into the infirmary after taking off the ring. Regulus didn't need to know how much Potter's injury bothered him. He used a disillusionment charm until he reached Potter's bedside.

"How are you?" He asked, finding Potter still awake.

Potter gave a dopey grin. "Peachy."

Draco's shoulders sagged. "Why would you ever let that imbecile on the team?"

"McLaggen? He's not a bad keeper."

"And why did he have a beater's bat?"

"Eh, big ego on that one," Potter said, completely unbothered by the risk to his life. "Funny how our positions flipped in the last month."

"I didn't find either situation funny."

"Fair enough," Potter shrugged. "Is Regulus here?"

"No, ring's in my pocket."

Potter glanced around. "Want to spend the night? Only fair, right?"

Draco's teasing remark caught in his throat. That was fair. "Shove over. I'm getting a second blanket. I'm not fighting you for it again." As Draco robbed the adjacent bed, Potter's dopey smile returned. Pomfrey must have him on something good.

He settled next to Potter, finding it shockingly comfortable. They didn't talk much and Draco started drifting off to the sound of Potter's breathing. He was almost asleep when they heard footsteps. Draco jerked upwards. He leapt up and recast his disillusionment charm, remaining frozen a few steps from the bed. If he didn't move, whoever it was would have a very hard time seeing him. Potter sat upright and tense.

"Harry?" A soft voice called and pulled back the privacy curtain.

"Ginny," Potter replied, sounding relieved, "what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you." She walked forward and sat on the side of his bed, much too close for Draco's liking. "You really scared me earlier."

"I'm fine. You heard Pomfrey earlier."

"I know, but I was right next to you on the pitch when it happened." She looked right at Potter. "I don't want to lose you."

"I -" Potter cut himself off, uncertain. Draco didn't miss the way his eyes went to her lips.

Without another word, she leaned in and kissed him. When Potter didn't pull back in a few seconds, she reached up a hand to cup his face and deepened it. Draco had seen enough. Using the distraction, he left the infirmary refusing to look back.

He tried to push the thoughts of Harry away but was failing miserably. He was mortified to find himself feeling jealous. Weasley kissing Harry was genuinely upsetting to him, which meant that he wanted to be the one kissing Harry. A thought that he had been shoving away for months, but now that thought wouldn't be quieted. He ran his hand through his hair and walked quickly. He needed to get distance from the infirmary.

His mind kept racing. Potter had made it clear before that he didn't want Draco like that. Potter liked girls and he liked Weasley. Draco hated how that stung worse now, seeing the evidence right in front of him. The conflicting emotions in him were driving him to a panic. He felt bitter, and depressed, and tired, and didn't want to be alone. He went straight to the astronomy tower, hoping to find the stars soothing. He sat facing the sky and put back on Regulus's ring.

"What happened?" Regulus asked after a few seconds orienting himself.

"Harry?" Draco didn't answer, but he couldn't control the way his face twisted. Regulus knew him too well. "I'll take that as a yes."

He took a seat next to Draco. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Alright, I'll just talk to you." Draco pointedly looked further out over the tower.

"I never told anyone I was gay." Draco held back a flinch. Regulus could read him like an open book. "You act like I have some progressive agenda, but I don't and never have. Who knows what my parents would have done if they ever knew the truth. They required an heir, something only a woman could give them. With Sirius going rogue throughout my childhood, I knew that it would fall to me, so I never questioned it. I never told my friends, although they might've guessed it. Slytherin for all its merits is not known for being welcoming.

"When James started to spend time with me of all people, I started to fall for him. I knew it was stupid and my family would never accept it, but I was happy for the first time in a long time. So I let myself be happy and didn't let anyone else ruin it for me. It was our secret."

"I'm not happy around Potter."

"Then let me rephrase. I was happier. You two are different. You've both been through a lot more shit. You're far less naive than James and I were. My point still stands. I let myself do something I wanted, just because I wanted it. I knew it wouldn't work out long term, but it was nice while it lasted and I don't regret it. Being with Harry doesn't have to change your life for the negative. No one else has to know."

So that was Regulus's angle this time. He didn't have to tell anyone that he wanted to date Potter, he could just do it. Too bad Regulus had the situation completely wrong. "Potter doesn't even like me."

"He cares more than you think. Do you think he doesn't realise how dangerous it is to be around you? You could betray him to the Dark Lord at any moment. He wouldn't put himself through that unless he genuinely cared about you."

"He kissed Ginny Weasley."

"Oh," Regulus took a breath and leaned back, "that does change things doesn't it."

"I don't know why I'm upset. He told me he liked her," Draco said, frustrated.

"I'm sorry," Regulus said simply and Draco wanted to throw something at him. After his great monologue about how just admitting to himself, and no one else, that liking Potter would make him feel better, he had no fix for Potter choosing someone else.

"I don't want to like him."

"I know."

"Why do I care?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I couldn't stop it either."

Draco refused to look at Regulus. At least Regulus's feelings were requited, he had no idea how isolated Draco felt. Just when his relationship with Potter seemed to be improving, Draco was rudely reminded that Potter didn't want him. To Potter, they were nothing more than reluctant friends.

He sat still, watching the stars and refusing to cry. He had bigger problems to face. Potter wasn't worth his tears.