"What is Draco doing?"

"Is he laughing with that mudblood and blood traitor?"

"Why is he following around Potter?"

It was only day one of Draco's truce with Harry and his friends and he was surprisingly holding up to his part of the challenge very well. He had to think of it that way, though or else he would start questioning his sanity. Ron and Hermione, though he was still on last name bases with them, weren't that bad after all and Harry . . . well, Harry was . . .

Draco wasn't sure how to describe how he felt around Harry. Happy? It was very hard to comprehend.

Day one and Draco felt like he had a small taste of this so called friendship thing. Though everywhere Draco went with Harry and his friends, whispers followed them. The cruelest were of course from his own house. Go figure.

"What exactly is going on with you three and Malfoy?" Dean Thomas asked curiously. He and the other Gryffindors were a little taken aback by the current change, but at least they weren't being bratty about it either, like a lot of Slytherin were being.

It was lunchtime in the Great Hall and Harry, Hermione, and Ron were in their normal place at the Gryffindor table, Draco at his own between Crabbe and Goyle. Harry noticed Draco was trying to explain to his house the reason for his recent strange behavior. Harry grinned when their eyes met. He wondered how Slytherins would take the plan Harry and Draco had come up with to explain everything. He knew Draco was good at intimidating his house, so he was curious how this would work.

"We're trying something, a challenge," Hermione said, "as Perfects, Ron, and I suggested everyone try it." She gave Ron a look, kicking him from under the table.

"Oh yeah, as Perfects, Hermione, I, and Draco came up with a challenge. Harry here as our best mate was filled in right away and has agreed to do it. Draco, yes, I said Draco, I guess to prove his spot on the good side has also agreed to go along with the challenge."

Harry chuckled. "It's quite easy once you put your mind to it."

"What exactly?" Neville asked.

"A truce between houses, for a month to start, and then we will go from there," Harry answered, "Of course getting people to go along with it is another thing."

"Malfoy agreed to this?" Seamus asked, shocked.

"Draco," Harry corrected, "and yes, not to mention he's not so bad when he's playing nice."

"We expect Gryffindor to participate in this truce, and set a fine example for everyone," Hermione said, leaving no room for argument.

"WHAT ARE YOU DAFFY!?" Pansy yelled. "This coming from the Malfoy I know and love?" The girl giggled.

"I am not daffy, woman, now it might sound strange, but for God's sake, if anyone goes against this, I swear you will wish you had given it a try after you find I've hexed you to the point you'll never be able to reproduce."

"Just why?" Pansy whined. "It's soooo weird."

"I'm bored," Draco drawled. "Thought, heck let's shake things up a little."

From where he was sitting, Harry was chuckling. He found it very amusing that no professor jumped up and reprimanded Draco for threatening to hex his house. Harry had a feeling Dumbledore wouldn't let them. If the threat of a hex was what it took to get the houses to play nice for a bit, then so be it.

"This means, if you come up to a Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and yes, even a Gryffindor, you will smile, you will say hi, and gasp, you will ask "How ya doing" and if a Hufflepuff is struggling to carry their books, you will offer to help, and you will not taunt, tease, mock, punch," Draco glared at Goyle and Crabbe when he said that, "you will pretend to be friends, even if it kills you inside to do so, because I don't care. This is an experiment, and nothing else, but you better play along."

The blonde smirked at his house. "You may continue to backstab each other all you want, though, so don't feel so bad."

"Right boss!" Crabbe and Goyle said, willing to go along with anything Draco came up with.

"So..." Crabbe questioned, "can we hit our housemates if they don't play along?" The chubby boy grinned gleefully at the idea.

"And can we hit on the Gryffindor's too?" Theodore raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the Gryffindor's table. Draco had told him a little bit about the dream and it figured his dream personality took on a more jerkish tone. Every Slytherin got a bad reputation. He didn't fully blame Harry, though. He didn't like remembering how his dream version had been though.

"I said no punching!" Draco snapped, "but Crabbe and Goyle as a Prefect, I will allow you to knock these baboons around if they decide to go against my wishes."

"I didn't mean that kind of hitting," Theodore snorted.

"Eww grosss!" Pansy screamed.

'Oh great,' Draco thought. 'They're going to go along with this "truce" to get out some forbidden sexual fantasies or something. What's that muggle story called... Romeo and Juliet... that story didn't end well, though.'

"Theodore, dear Theodore don't tell me this silly rivalry has come between a possible romance?" Draco teased. "Which one do you fancy?"

"Neville Longbottom," Theodore grinned. "Hey, he's cute," he added when the others looked at him like he grew two more heads.

"Ah!" Pansy covered her ears, everyone else just snickered. Theodore was a big talker and he loved to flirt, and he was apparently into men.

". . . w-what?" Draco stuttered, shocked. "I mean . . . he's . . . "

'Truce, truce... be nice... but seriously?' Draco told himself. He looked over at the Gryffindor table and then shrugged. Neville wasn't bad looking or anything, it was just shocking to hear Theo might be into him like that.

"Timid, shy, and cute as hell." Theodore was never shy about how he felt.

"Stop it," Pansy begged, "stop it."

"Oh, come off it, Parkinson," Draco finally had to say. "You can't tell me there isn't one person in Gryffindor you don't have the hots for?"

"No way," Pansy denied. "Justin on the other hand . . ."

Draco started to laugh so hard that he nearly toppled out of his seat, Crabbe and Goyle had to put their arms out to catch him.

"Hufflepuff?" Theodore grinned at her.

"Shut up, Nott, and since we're doing this god awful truce thing, you can't mock me for thinking a Hufflepuff is hot, after all, you want to fuck Neville Longbottom."

"I just realized," Draco said, still laughing, "if you hit on Neville, he will probably die."

"Maybe this truce will work out after all then," Pansy giggled, before giving Draco a shocked look when the blonde had the nerve to kick her under the table. "Malfoy, that's not how to treat a lady!"

"I know that," Draco grinned. "I never treat ladies that way."

"Prat."

"Whore."

"Thank goodness this truce isn't between our own house or the two of you would be hexed until you could no longer reproduce," Theodore chuckled.

Suddenly Dumbledore stood up. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. His eyes twinkled when they met with Harry's and then Draco's.

Oh, Dumbledore remembered the dream all right. "Ladies and gentlemen, it has come to my attention that Gryffindor and Slytherin have agreed to entertain a truce between houses, I would be most pleased if all houses participated. The professors and I put our full support into this unity of houses. Prefects, you will set an example for all. Thank you for coming up with this." With that, he set down, leaving Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff shocked.

"Hello Granger, why you don't look so . . . bushy today," Pansy greeted.

"And you don't look so slutty today," Hermione greeted back. They smiled at each other and went on their ways.

Harry blinked as he ran to catch up with Hermione. "That's nice?"

"For us, I think it's a big improvement."

Meanwhile, Neville Longbottom was blinking up a storm as Theodore of all people offered to carry his books. Not too far from the poor confused boy, Luna Lovegood was trying to befriend Millicent Bulstrode. The Slytherin thought it was friendly to give Luna a very roughheaded noogie before she let the girl go. She then slapped her on the back and said something like, "good day," before leaving poor, bruised Luna.

"This is unusual," McGonagall said, as she watched people from her house and Snape's house playing nice, if not in a mean way sometimes, but at least they were trying. "How in the world did Mr. Malfoy convince them to go along with this?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "I'm sure he has his ways. I'm enjoying the peace for once."

"Draco," Harry walked up to the blonde, reaching out to stop the boy he loved. This whole plan was all for him and Draco, so they could be "together" without anyone questioning them. Why would they, if everyone was doing it? "Draco, how did you get them to go along with this? Thanks for . . . well for . . ." Harry blushed, "Just thanks."

"It was easy with Crabbe and Goyle, well because they're Crabbe and Goyle and they'll do whatever I tell them," Draco tried to ignore the way Harry blushed. He looked . . . well, that didn't matter.

"You don't need to thank me. The peace is . . . welcome. I've had enough hate for a lifetime. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this . . . truce between us is forever, I mean . . . we said a month, but . . . Yeah, my house can be manipulated very well, so yeah . . . Maybe deep down they were looking for excuses to mingle as well."

'For sexual fantasy purposes, maybe?' Draco thought, thinking of Theodore and how he admitted to fancying Neville.

"Well however you did it, I'm impressed. I think I saw Millicent and Luna talking about gardening. That was a major eye-opener." Harry chuckled. "Millicent has a funny way of showing affection, but boy can Luna take it."

"Oh yeah, she is into tough love, meaning a punch on the back, bone crunching hug, and that's her being nice."

"I think she's found a pet then, poor Luna."

"What about Neville and Theodore?" Draco asked with a yawn. Their free time was nearly over, but he didn't feel like he wanted it to end for some reason. Did he actually want to hang out with Harry?

"Oh yeah, how unusual. Of all the people they could have mingled with, I'm surprised. Not that Theodore is a big, meaty, mean looking Slytherin or anything, but he doesn't seem the type to seek out someone like Neville." Harry scratched the back of his neck, giving Theo and Neville a moment in the back of his brain. He knew of Neville in his dream, but in the dream world, he hadn't actually met him. He saw Theodore in the dream world a few times, but the dream version of him hadn't been very nice.

"Oh yeah, but did you read that Romeo and Juliet story?" Draco asked.

"How does a pureblood know about a Muggle story?"

"Shut up," Draco grumbled. "Who claims it is a "muggle" story? Shakespeare could have been a wizard for all we know. Just answer."

"Yeah, it's about two people falling for each other, but they are from different sides of town and their families don't approve . . . Hey, get out! Theodore likes Neville?"

"He talks like a player, and I don't know if he has ever been serious about anyone, but you know something else, I have never seen him offer to carry somebody's books before, either."

"This is the Twilight Zone."

"What?"

"Muggle thing."

"They are from two feuding families that hate each other," Hermione said as she walked up to the two, "and since when has Nott liked Neville?" The girl asked. "This truce thing is good and all, but when it's over, what then? I don't fancy seeing Nevile hurt when . . . well . . . no offense, Draco, but you know what I mean."

"Whatever, and Theodore isn't that bad, he can be loud or flirtty sometimes, but Harry seemed to make him way more of a jerk than he is in the real world."

Harry blushed. "Well, I don't know him!" He said, defending the way he saw Theodore in his dream world.

"And really, Theodore will bang whoever he wants, houses be damned," Draco rolled his eyes when he saw Hermione's shocked look. "I'm kidding, he isn't like that, but he doesn't care what anyone thinks, so if by some chance Mother Nature decides to make him truly like the Neville, then . . . who knows . . ."

Harry grinned. Draco was casually calling other people by their first name, though it was odd he still called most of his housemates by their last name. It struck Harry that he didn't count many of this as his true friend. It was sad.

"Draco, you know what, I haven't told you I love you since before lunch," Harry chuckled when Draco blushed.

"Stop being random Harry, and . . . well, stop."

Hermione chuckled. She didn't think Harry had anything to worry about.