Draco didn't sleep much that night, but what little rest he did get made him better. Sleeping took the edge off the exhaustion that was bearing down on him. The frustration and jealousy didn't feel as overwhelming without the tiredness. Naturally, some of the anger also faded, replaced with unwelcome embarrassment. It was shameful that he ever wanted or expected Potter to return his feelings. The rawness of the night before had lessened, but Draco knew he would probably be in a sour mood for a while.

Regulus didn't know what to say to him. He clearly wanted to say something, if his hovering was any indication, but Draco was finally experiencing something Regulus never had. Regulus had felt the pressure of a pureblood family, became a death eater, and faced conflicting motivations, but the man he loved, James Potter,hadloved him back. Knowing that Regulus wouldn't understand made Draco feel older than he ever had before. The age gap between Regulus and him was narrowing and they were entering into unknown territory for both of them.

The following day was hard. As expected, Draco's mood was irritable. He avoided even glancing Potter's way in caution of how it could trigger a new pang of jealousy. He had no idea if Potter was watching him, or if he had noticed anything different about him.

As usual, they were due to meet in the Room of Requirement. It was supposed to be an important night. Draco had finally succeeded in being able to transfer simple objects without signs of damage, so they were finally onto testing organic material. Draco summoned Kreacher and requested some food from the kitchens.

The elf returned and announced proudly, "Kreacher has brought apples." In his arms was a concerning amount of apples rather precariously stacked. He walked closer and rasped, "Next time pears."

Regulus beamed at him. Draco gave a small smile; he should be happy that Kreacher was responding with enthusiasm, but he didn't share Regulus's love for the elf. "Er, thanks Kreacher."

At that moment, Potter decided to shuffle in. His eyes paused on Kreacher and his arms full of apples, but then he shrugged, walked towards the elf, and grabbed one from the top. He took a bite, oblivious to Draco's bitterness.

"Why did you leave last night?" Potter asked, still chewing.

"Forgive me if I didn't want to watch you shoving your tongue down Weasley's throat," Draco scowled. Honestly, Potter shouldn't have expected anything else of him.

He lowered the apple, eyes wide. "She wasn't there that long. You could've stayed." Potter spoke carefully. He was finally reading Draco's mood.

"I still don't make being a voyeur a habit," Draco responded and Potter blushed. He needed to move on to a safer topic. He had enough of feeling annoyed. "You're just in time for the main event," he said, gesturing between the apples and the cabinet.

"I can't stay," Potter said nervously.

"Why? I have practice tomorrow and then you have detention." At this rate, it would be the end of the week before they could see each other again.

"I know, but something came up. You and Regulus can handle it."

"Off to see your girlfriend?" Draco sneered, hoping Potter would deny it.

"No!"

"Then why?" Draco challenged.

"I can't say." Potter bit his lip.

Draco couldn't stop the thought that maybe Potter had gotten better at lying and was going off to see Weasley after all.

"Whatever," was all Draco said. Potter could do what he wanted. He turned back towards Kreacher and the stack of apples.

"I'll see you Thursday, alright?"

Draco gave a dismissive wave, refusing to look back. Potter shuffled his feet hesitantly and started to leave.

"Master Malfoy deserves better friends," Kreacher grumbled, as Potter disappeared.

Regulus gave a small chuckle, and Draco ignored the comment, grabbing an apple. He placed it carefully inside the vanishing cabinet, with a note asking Burke to judge the condition of the apple on his side before returning it. Then they waited. Burke was usually around in the evenings and checked the cabinet regularly, but it could take an hour or more before they got a response.

"Do you want to work on getting your body back?" Draco asked, feeling restless.

"Do you? You look exhausted."

Draco was exhausted, but the uncertainty of where Potter had disappeared to and the guilt that he wasn't holding up his end of the deal with Regulus made him uneasy. "We haven't done anything about it recently."

Regulus sighed. "We discussed this before. I'm not happy about it, but if you die, there goes my best chance at getting my body back. I'm playing the long game."

Draco nodded. They had discussed it a lot this year. They had no time or resources to test their theories about the ring, and there wasn't any quick and easy research left. They had read the books from the library that they could. Regulus's knowledge of the ring, while extensive, lacked the understanding of why those ruins were chosen over others. Recently, Regulus had started hoping that James had planned for this and had built in a recovery mechanism. Draco just wished he was there to tell them, the speculation was he ever intended the ring to trap a soul?

Draco laid back against a cushioned chaise, enjoying the quiet of the room and trying to soothe his thoughts. When it was time, Draco opened the cabinet. A thoroughly rotten apple appeared with a note, a note not in Burke's handwriting.

Draco,

How dare you not write to your mother? We have been trying to reach you for weeks. After everything she has done for you! You're an ungrateful son. I will curse you for having been in secret communication with these imbeciles and not the people that really matter. I have been working tirelessly to help get close to Dumbledore and you ignore me? Unexceptable. I will be personally overseeing the progress of the cabinet from here. Respond, and include a letter for your mother.

Auntie Bella

He flipped to the next piece of parchment to find a description of a rotten apple, and Burke's list of suggestions. Notably, it was lacking his usual wit. Regulus read over his shoulder and cursed.

"I guess we got lucky with how long she left you alone."

Draco groaned. He still didn't know what to do. He didn't want Bella at Hogwarts, but he might still need to kill Dumbledore to save himself. Regulus had stopped pushing for more attempts as readily. They both hoped Potter was making progress with the mark, but they had no idea how it was advancing. He reached for his bag and quill readying a reply. He didn't need to push Bella into doing something more drastic by ignoring her.

"Do you think Potter can do it?" He asked Regulus.

"I don't know."

"That's not a no." Regulus had been staunchly against Potter for the better part of the year. This was the first time he stated his uncertainty upfront.

"It's not. I think his plan with the cabinet is a good one. If you can get your mother here, as much as I dislike the man, I do think Dumbledore can get you both into the Order safely. But no one has ever removed the mark."

"No one else is a parselmouth."

"Hence, I don't know."

"Do I keep trying to kill him?" Draco asked, quill hovering over the parchment. He had to decide whether to ask Bella to send him supplies.

"Do you want to?"

The image of Katie Bell floating cursed in the air came unbidden to his mind. Then the feeling of almost dying after Potter cursed him because of the poisoned mead. "No."

"Then don't. If he hasn't made progress soon, we'll talk to him. We can start the attempts again, I still have some tricks," Regulus reassured.

Draco nodded and drafted his reply to both Bella and his mother. Hopefully, he could convince both to be patient.

Potter started officially dating Ginny Weasley later that week. It was the talk of the whole school and it spurred many female students to glare jealously at her. Regulus cringed when anyone brought it up, nervous about Draco's reaction. For his part, Draco tried not to acknowledge or think about them. The sharpness of Potter choosing Weasley faded, but the ache remained. Every time he saw them together his heart twinged, but he forced himself not to dwell on the feeling.

Oblivious to what had changed between them, Potter was still as determined as ever to help, talking to the snake on his arm and assisting with the cabinet. Draco was more reluctant than ever to receive his help. Even if Potter got him out, it wouldn't change anything between them. Potter wasn't going to break up with Weasley just because he got free. Going into hiding, never to see Potter or possibly Hogwarts ever again didn't sound like a compelling future.

His attempts at casting a patronus got even worse. More often than not, he couldn't even produce silver wisps. Potter was discouraged, but as always, refused to give up. He insisted that Draco just needed to find the right memory.

"Easy for you to say, Potter," Draco spat, finding it increasingly more difficult to find happiness in the messed up reality he was facing.

Instead of responding in kind, Potter asked, "Do you call everyone by their last names?" Draco was caught off guard by the sudden shift in conversation.

"Mostly," Draco admitted.

"Why? It's so cold."

Draco snorted. "It's supposed to be. First names are for family only."

"You use Regulus's name."

"He's my cousin."

"And it took a year of seeing each other every day and spilling my darkest secrets," Regulus pointed out. Draco didn't relay that to Potter.

"You call Pansy Parkinson by her name." He hadn't realised Potter noticed that.

"Pansy insists."

"Can I insist?"

"You want me to call you Harry?" The name felt strange on his tongue. He rarely thought of Harry as Potter's real name, let alone say it out loud.

"I could call you Draco." He savoured the way his name sounded, but he knew it was a dangerous proposal. He should be distancing himself from Potter, not asking to get hurt.

"I'm not opposed," Draco said slowly against his better judgement, "but only if you're not being a git."

Potter smiled and Draco hated the warmth that spread through him. He should have said no. Regulus gave him a knowing look, almost pitying.

"You always think I am git."

Draco shrugged. "Tough, Potter."

Potter rolled his eyes, but Draco knew that he would start using Harry if he started using Draco first.

Draco wouldn't come of age until June, so he couldn't attend the extra apparition practice sessions in Hogsmeade. Instead, he was the only student stuck in the castle with remedial apparition lessons because he was the only student still unable to travel any distance. Potter, another summer birthday, ran into him on his way there. They both glanced around the empty corridor, uneasy about public discussions.

"Are you going to the remedial apparition lesson?" Potter asked quietly.

"Yes, I haven't been able to do it yet," Draco said bitterly.

"Like at all?" Potter asked, shocked, but changed his tone at Draco's scowl. "Sorry."

"It's fine. The floo exists for a reason."

"But apparition is so bloody useful."

"I know it's useful, that's not my problem." If only it was that easy. Potter waited for him to expand further. "You aren't supposed to apparate after being under the cruciatus curse."

"Does it still hurt?" Potter asked, alarmed, looking at his hands.

Draco shoved both hands into his robes self-consciously. "Not anymore. I just can't get the feeling out of my head."

"Oh, I get that." Draco looked at him sceptically. "You know I've been through some stuff. I've had to learn to deal with it."

"Enlighten me then."

"My aunt used to not feed me very often." Draco's eyes widened. He had expected Potter to talk about his encounter with the Dark Lord, not his unfortunate childhood. "Don't worry, it's better now. But I used to be terrified of eating when I got to Hogwarts. I was convinced I would vomit because it would be too much, but then I figured - what's the worst that could happen? Vomiting? I hate it, but I've lived through it before."

"You've faced the Dark Lord and you're scared to vomit?"

"I'm scared of Voldemort too, but it's not like we run into him everyday. You might be expected to apparate every day."

It was dumb and borderline condescending, but Draco found himself listening to the advice anyway.

"Anyway, good luck. I've got to meet with Slughorn."

"Slughorn?"

"Yeah, I have, uh, potion questions for him." Potter was lying, he was sure of it.

"Wait - "

"Bye, Draco!" Potter scurried away with a wave before he could finish questioning it. He felt a twinge of guilt at how easily Potter had shifted to using Draco while he couldn't get Harry to even stick in his head.

"That was weird. If you weren't so shit at apparition I would say you should follow him."

"Shut it."

"You need to learn it, Draco. We might need to get to places this summer that don't have a floo. Shockingly, the cave I died in isn't part of the network." Regulus looked at him seriously, "It won't hurt."

Draco gritted his teeth. He knew it wouldn't hurt, but he didn't feel that way. His body was still tense with the anticipation of pain. He went into the Great Hall with the instructor. He focused on knowing that the worst thing that could happen was pain, and he had lived through that. Just like Potter - Harry, said, he could live through it again.

He made it the twenty paces without splinching. His heart was hammering and his skin itched, but there wasn't any pain. He could apparate and he would be fine when he did.

Regulus gave a rare grin. "Finally."

Draco knew Harry was hiding something and it wasn't just secret meetings with his girlfriend. He and Weasley were quite public with each other, leaning on each other during meals, and giving each other cheeky grins and pecks in the corridors. Draco was convinced that the real secret had something to do with Slughorn. The professor was suddenly evading Harry. His favourite student had been demoted despite Harry making a very obvious effort to suck up each class.

He kept pushing Harry about it whenever they met, but he always ignored or evaded or flipped the question back onto Draco. And Draco would shut up. He hadn't told Harry the extent of Bella's plans yet. He hadn't told him what he knew about horcruxes. He hadn't said anything about Sirius not being dead. He wasn't going to be the first to spill his secrets.

But Draco's mood kept worsening day by day. Despite liking Harry, he despised Harry for dating Weasley and now he despised him for not trusting him with whatever was going on with Slughorn.

After days of Draco sulking, Harry finally challenged him, "What's your problem? I am here trying to save your arse and all you do is sulk."

He wasn't about to admit how jealous he was of Weasley, so he defaulted to his regular complaint.

"You're keeping secrets. What is going on between you and Slughorn?"

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

No, but Draco wanted to deflect from what was really bothering him. "Yes."

Harry met his eye, judging his sincerity. "Fine. I'll tell you if it'll make you less of a prick. Dumbledore wants me to get some information from him."

"Dumbledore? Why?"

"I meet with Dumbledore every now and then." Harry shrugged, trying to make it sound like that was a completely normal thing to say.

"Excuse me, but you have private lessons with Dumbledore? What about?"

"It's a secret."

"I've told you plenty of mine."

"I can't."

"Let me guess."

"You won't be able to," Harry said certainly.

"It's about your scar. More occlumency?"

"No."

"That would have been too obvious, but does it have to do with the Dark Lord?"

"You can call him Voldemort," Harry said deflecting.

"No I can't. If the wrong person hears it…" He repressed a shiver at what his father would've done if he heard Draco say it.

"Dumbledore says it just increases the fear people have."

"People should be afraid of him."

"But not to the point of being afraid to challenge him. He's just a man."

Draco grimaced, he wasn'tjust a manand that was the problem. Harry gave him an odd look. "You don't so?"

"I think he's much harder to kill than a normal man."

"Harder doesn't mean impossible."

No harder in this case meant practically impossible. "You don't know anything."

"I know more than you," Harry said firmly.

"I doubt that," Draco responded with just as much certainty.

They stared, evaluating each other and Draco's doubts grew. If anyone knew about the Dark Lord's secret other than Regulus, it would be Dumbledore. "What do you know about destroying the Dark Lord?"

Harry's eyes widened. So it was what he was doing with Dumbledore. "I can't say."

"But that's what Dumbledore is teaching you."

Harry didn't answer, but that was confirmation in and of itself. Draco figured he might as well test it, Harry was already on the Dark Lord's kill list. Knowing this little bit of information wouldn't put him at any higher risk. "Does the word horcrux mean anything to you?"

Harry's eyes practically bulged out of his head. "How do you know what that is?"

"You first. What is Dumbledore teaching you?"

Harry was still reluctant to say anything. "I'm not supposed to say anything."

"I already know," Draco said.

So Harry told him. Dumbledore had been pulling him aside for lessons about the Dark Lord's past, including his research into horcruxes. Regulus intently and silently listened to every word out of Harry's mouth.

"How did you know? Who told you?" Harry asked.

"Regulus found one."

"He what?"

"It's what got him killed in the first place," Draco said bitterly. He wanted Harry to understand how dangerous this information was.

"Let me talk to him," Regulus said.

Draco glanced nervously between them. He still didn't like the idea of others talking to Regulus, especially without him being able to hear, but Regulus looked insistent. He slowly removed the ring and passed it to Harry.

Once it was on, Harry said an annoyingly little amount. He wondered if Regulus had told him not to speak to not tip Draco off to what they were talking about.

After a few seconds, Harry paled. "I won't," he said and paused. Then he passed the ring back to Draco.

Regulus appeared beside him again. "I told him vaguely what happened. He won't tell anyone." Draco knew that wasn't all that they discussed.

"So Slughorn knows something about it?" Draco asked, still confused how this all came about.

"I think he's the one who initially told Voldemort about horcruxes. He tampered with the memory, but Dumbledore needs to see the full thing."

"So that's what removed from Slughorn's graces?"

Harry grimaced. "Yeah, he won't even talk to me anymore."

"What else have you tried?"

"Uh, nothing. There isn't much else is there?"

"He's really bad at scheming, isn't he?" Regulus said, and Draco agreed with the sentiment.

Draco sighed, rubbing his face. There were several obvious options, but he voiced the one Harry would likely find the least offensive. "Use your Felix Felisis."

"Huh?"

"Your very rare potion that you were gifted at the beginning of the year? Take a swig. Focus on getting the memory from Slughorn. It'll give you the one in a million chance to get it from him."

Harry paused, soaking that in. "That's a good idea."

"I know," Draco said bluntly.

"Let's do it," Harry stood and started to weave his way to the exit.

"Right now?"

"Why not?" Harry waited for Draco to follow.

Draco wore the invisibility cloak, neither wanted to be seen together. Harry walked swiftly to the Gryffindor common room, whispered the password so Draco couldn't hear, and gestured for Draco to wait. He returned a minute later with something clasped in his hand.

After glancing around, he started heading for the dungeons where Slughorn's office was.

"How much do I take?" he whispered, guessing where Draco was.

"Just a mouthful," Draco replied.

Harry did, using up about half of the tiny vial. "Oh, that's a strange feeling." His face settled into a relaxed grin. "Sorry Draco, but I need the cloak back."

"Why?" Draco asked he want them getting caught?

"Don't know, it just feels right. I think I might be out late tonight."

Draco supposed he wouldn't question Harry in this state, so he reluctantly passed it over, feeling exposed. Harry reached for it, but paused, staring at Draco's now visible face. His grin dropped slightly. He stood unmoving.

"What?" Draco asked, concerned.

"I just had a weird urge to kiss you," Harry said, taking the cloak from Draco, "but I think I should go visit Hagrid now. See you later!"

He gave a cheery smile, flung his invisibility cloak over his shoulders, and disappeared. Draco was stunned, annoyed at being left alone, and wondering if he had really just heard what he thought he did.