True to your heart

A/N: < ... > Is Draco´s thoughts, and / ... / is Harry´s.

Chapter 15

Harry and Draco´s new lessons proved to be much harder than their other ones, in the couple of weeks that followed Professor Lupin´s arrival they learnt how to do trucks loads of new things. But out of all these things the coolest was definitely when they discovered that they could talk to each other via telepathy, without any hard work at all, and that their magical abilities enabled them to turn into an animal at will, rather like Animagi, except they weren´t limited to a certain animal.

They discovered this completely by accident; they had been swimming in the lake one day when Draco said it´d be cool to be able to spend as long as you wanted under water, then he swam out a bit further and suddenly turned into a dolphin. They had lots of fun that day, trying to turn into different animals like Dolphins, Tigers, Panthers; Draco even managed to turn himself into a Dragon.

Their last class of the day, and the week, was Potions. They were sitting in the same classroom they did all of their lessons in, concentrating on concocting a batch of the Polyjuice potion that didn´t take as long to brew as the one they made in second year. Harry of course was finding brewing this particular potion easy, and he was helping Draco, who kept getting nearly all the ingredients wrong, "It says here," Draco said, looking in the textbook, "that when the potion is ready you need to place a single animal hair in it before drinking. Where are we going to get an animal hair from?" he asked.

"I don´t know, wait did you say animal hair?" Harry asked confused.

Draco nodded, "Yeah, that´s what it says here. Why?"

"Cause it´s not meant to be used with animal hairs," he replied, picking the book up. "Let me see," he quickly skimmed the page then frowned. "Draco, it says a human hair not an animal one."

"What? I´m positive it says animal," he said. Harry shook his head, "No it doesn´t, are you ok? I´m mean you´ve been misreading things all week, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but twenty times means you need your eyes tested."

Draco looked appalled at Harry´s suggestion that he get his eyes tested, "No I don´t," he protested. "My eyesight´s fine, you´re the one who has to wear glasses not me, besides they wouldn´t suit me."

Harry sighed, "How do you know they don´t suit you? Have you ever had glasses?"

"Well... no not exactly, but I just know they won´t suit me," he paused. "Look," he took Harry´s glasses off him and put them on himself. "See they don´t suit me."

Harry took his glasses off Draco and put them back on himself, "Firstly how could I look at you when you had my glasses? Secondly you might not even need glasses, and even if you did, you don´t have to choose ones that look like mine," he told Draco.

"But Harry," he whined, "I don´t want to wear glasses," he complained as he stirred the potion.

Harry shook his head, "You really don´t listen do you? You might not even need them, it can´t hurt to have them tested anyway." Draco pouted, "Please, just get them tested, for me," he asked, looking at Draco with big puppy dog eyes.

Draco sighed in defeat, "Fine, I´ll get them tested if you stop looking at me like that."

"Thank you," Harry said, smiling at Draco. Just then Snape strode back into the room, "The potion should be ready now," he said. "Put a hair in it, then drink it," he instructed.

Draco reached out and pulled a small strand of hair out of Harry´s head before placing it into his goblet, "Ouch," Harry said.

"Sorry," Draco replied smiling. Just as he was about to down the entire potion Harry retaliated by pulling one of Draco´s hairs out as well, "Ow," he yelled. Harry just smiled at him sweetly, "Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all.

They both drank their potions at exactly the same time, as soon as Harry had drunk it he felt the familiar feeling of his insides writhing like a bunch of snakes, and a burning feeling spreading throughout his body. As it had before, everything was pretty much over as soon as it began. Harry straightened himself up and looked at Draco. He rolled his eyes when he realized that all he was seeing was a blurred blob. "I´m blind," Draco said laughing, as Harry handed him the glasses. "That´s better," he said, screwing his nose up. "This is just weird,"

"What is?" Harry asked, realizing just how strange it felt for Draco´s voice to be coming out of his mouth.

"This, I mean, I´m looking at you but all I´m seeing is me," Draco said.

"Well it looks like the potion worked," Snape said. "Do either of you feel strange in anyway way?"

"You mean besides the fact that we´re in each others bodies?" Draco asked, while Harry snorted, his dirty mind taking over. "No I feel fine."

Harry nodded, "Me too," he agreed.

"In that case ten points to Gryffindor and Slytherin," Snape replied. "Pack your things away and when you´ve done you´re free to leave," he said, before leaving the room.

They packed up their things and left the classroom, "What do you want to do?" Draco asked. "We haven´t any more classes until Monday, so what do you want to do?"

"Go into Hogsmeade," Harry replied simply, making his way to his dorm.

"Harry, I said I´d get them tested but I didn´t mean right this instant."

"I know, but you might as well get them checked out now," he said, pausing in front of his portrait, "Soul mates," the portrait swung open and Harry walked up the stairs. "And it´s not like we have anything else to do, so we might as well get it over and done with."

Draco sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "Fine," he agreed grudgingly, as he threw his books down on Harry´s bed. "Lets go."

Harry put his books on the desk and followed Draco back out of the dormitory.

Eddie´s Eye care Center was a small store in Hogsmeade, situated between Phyllis´ Pharmacy and Carlos´ Corner Shop. On the outside it appeared to be derelict, the windows were dirty and you could only just make out the `open´ sign on the door. The inside was a huge improvement; there was all the latest in wizarding technology and gadgetry, proving that you really shouldn´t judge a book by its cover.

Harry walked up to the reception desk and rung the bell, seconds later a plump little witch called `Rose´ emerged from behind a pair of swinging doors. "Yes, how can I help you?" she asked, sitting down in her chair.

"Hi, I´d like to make an appointment for as soon as possible please," Harry asked, smiling sweetly as Draco rolled his eyes.

Rose consulted her Compu-Wizard, a combination of Muggle technology and magic. "Let´s see," she mused, "a patient has just cancelled their appointment, so we have an opening today at 4:30."

Harry glanced around for a clock, but couldn´t find one. Draco rolled his eyes and held his arm out in front of Harry, who smiled sheepishly and looked at the time.

"4:30 will do fine thanks," he told Rose, who smiled and nodded.

"What´s the name please?" she asked. Harry stepped aside to let Draco tell her everything she needed to know, "Draco Malfoy."

"Date of Birth?"

"28^th December 1980."

This continued for a few minutes until Rose had all the information she needed, "Thank you Mr. Malfoy," she said, handing Draco a small business card. "This has the time of the appointment on," she told him smiling.

"Thanks," Harry said, as they walked out of the shop. "We have half an hour to kill, we might as well go to the Three Broomsticks and get a drink."

They walked down the street towards the Three Broomsticks pub, once inside Harry ordered their drinks while Draco found a table. He eventually found one that was to his liking, ironically enough one he had walked straight past on his way in, by the window.

"Here sweetie," Harry said, setting the two mugs of hot butter beer down on the table. Draco smiled, "Thanks," he replied taking a sip of his drink and gazing out of the window. Suddenly he saw something that made him spit his drink out all over the table.

Harry frowned and waved his hand over the mess, the spilt liquid drying instantly. Over the past few weeks they had mastered how to perform simple spells like this without a wand. "Draco what´s wrong?" he asked, concerned at Draco distraught look.

"I can´t believe it, what´s that bastard doing here?"

Harry frowned, then realization hit him, "What? He´s here now? Where?" he stammered. Draco shrugged, "I just saw him go past, I´m pretty positive it was him, there´s not that many people out there who look like me are there?"

"No, are you sure you´re safe, he won´t try to hurt you again will he?" Harry asked, now even more concerned. Draco shook his head, "It´s not me I´m worried about Harry, I´m not really a threat to him but you are. We have to go somewhere where he won´t find you."

"The opticians," Harry exclaimed. "Your appointment´s now anyway."

Draco nodded and stood from the table, "Harry when we get out of here, transform into an animal, something inconspicuous, a dog or something, ok?"

" `K," Harry agreed.

Draco opened the door and stepped out into the street followed by a black Labrador, with bright green eyes. He looked down the street then back up and that was when he saw him again, stood with his back to the road looking into the window of Dervish and Banges. Draco almost groaned out loud when he realized that he would have to walk past that very same shop to get to the eye care center. < Now what do we do? > Draco thought to Harry. / Follow me, / he replied, leading Draco in the opposite direction of Dervish and Banges. Harry stopped in an empty alley way and transformed back into a human, "Harry what are you doing?" Draco asked, looking outraged.

"Don´t look like that," Harry said. "You transform into an animal, and I´ll stay as a human."

Draco grabbed hold of Harry by the shoulders and shook him lightly, "Harry are you even thinking? This is Him we´re talking about, you can´t just waltz past him."

Harry pried himself out of Draco´s grip, "I know, but if I walk past him, he´s less likely to recognize me than he is you. Black hair is pretty common so I´ll blend in with everyone else, but you´ve got platinum blonde hair, not many people have that you know? You´ll stand out more than I will," he told him.

Draco sighed, "I suppose you´re right," he said, kissing Harry lightly on the lips, before transforming into a Golden Retriever. < The first hint of danger, you promise me you´ll turn into a bird or something and get the hell out of here. > Draco pleaded with him.

/ I promise, but I´m not going to leave you, if anything happens I´m taking you with me. /

They walked down the street, past Dervish and Banges and made it to the opticians without any thing going wrong, and Lucius Malfoy never realized that his son had just passed him.

Draco went into the room on his own, after much complaining from him and much persuading on Harry´s part. < Hey this isn´t too bad, > Draco thought to Harry after half an hour. Harry had been sat in the waiting room for the whole time and he was bored, he had read all the magazines and leaflets there were and now he was currently rearranging small items of furniture. / I hate to say I told you so... /

< Then don´t, > Draco replied.

A few minutes later Draco emerged from the examination room scowling. / What´s wrong with you? / This just made Draco scowl more.

"Mr. Malfoy, when you choose the right frames please bring them to the front desk and we´ll fit the lenses," the optician said in a very professional sounding voice.

Draco turned to Harry, "I hate you right now. You do realize that don´t you?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, I can live with that, it was for your own good."

They walked to the back where there were literally hundreds of pairs of glasses. Harry knew that his boyfriend was vain but this was ridiculous, he tried on nearly every single pair of glasses but they were either too geeky or not stylish enough for him. Eventually Draco decided to go with the first pair he tried on, thin frames in a metallic blue colour. They took them to the front desk where the optician fitted them with the correct strength lenses, and they were on their way back to the castle.

Saturday was Halloween and the entire castle was buzzing with excitement.

Harry, Draco, and Hermione were sitting eating breakfast when the mail came. A large barn owl flew into the hall, circled high above the tables, and headed towards the Slytherin table, before changing direction in mid air and heading over to the Gryffindor table. Draco looked up; surprised when the owl landed in front of him and stuck it´s leg out for him to untie the letter.

"Were you expecting something?" Hermione asked. Draco shook his head, "No, anyone who usually owls me is here."

/ Do you think it´s safe to open it? /

< What do you mean, why would it not be? >

"It could be from You-Know-Who," Harry said cautiously.

Draco scrunched up his nose, "Why would Voldemort send me mail?" he asked, ignoring Hermione when she flinched.

"Not him, you dolt, the other You-Know-Who?" Draco´s face remained blank, "Someone whose name begins with L," he explained.

"Why would that bastard send me mail, I´m dead as far as he´s concerned," Draco replied, his voice full of anger at Lucius.

"Well," interrupted Hermione. "You´ll never know who sent it, if you don´t open it."

Draco nodded, and looked at the writing on the front of the envelope to see if he recognized the writing, squinting to see it.

/ Draco, you have to wear them you know? / Harry told him, glaring at him.

"Fine," he sighed. He reached into an inside pocket of his robes and pulled out his new glasses, putting them on. "Satisfied?"

Harry nodded, "Extremely."

Hermione smiled, "Wow Draco, you look really nice in glasses."

Draco seemed to believe her and relaxed, "Thanks Hermione."

/ I told you that, / Harry said indignantly. / Nice to see you don´t believe me. /

< Yes but you´re my boyfriend, you´re supposed to say nice things like that. I just wanted a second opinion sweetie. Don´t take it personally. >

Harry didn´t reply he just pouted and scowled, < Don´t scowl, it doesn´t become you. >

Draco thought he vaguely recognized the writing on the front, but he couldn´t think where he´d seen it before. He was about to open the envelope when he noticed something written in the corner. Draco, do not show this letter to Harry until you have read it, S.

He frowned slightly, wondering why he couldn´t show Harry the letter. Pulling out the letter and reading it he found out why.

Dear Draco,

You´re probably wondering why I´m sending this letter to you and not Harry. To tell you the truth I don´t really know myself, but it concerns you more than it does Harry.

I have received word from people I know in Hogsmeade, that Lucius has been seen there. I realize this may seem highly insensitive of me, but he may be after you. I don´t think he´s after Harry anymore than normal, but over the summer you gave him a reason to bump you up his to-kill list.

You may not know this, but Myself, Remus and James were in the same year as your father. The Slytherins and Gryffindors only have Potions and Care of Magical Creatures together now, but when we were at school we were stuck with those slimy Slytherins (no offense) for every single class. And as usual the teachers seemed to enjoy torturing us by pairing us up with people from opposite houses. They always paired us off with the same people, Remus with Snape (poor Remus), James with your mother, and myself with Lucius. Anyway while we worked in class your mother took a liking to James, but it was never going to go anywhere because James was practically married to Lily. Your mother and father had been betrothed to each other since birth, so needless to say, when Lucius found out about Narcissa´s fondness of James, he was furious. He forced your mother to marry him as soon as they left school; she never loved him at all (you´re probably wondering how I know this. You see myself and Narcissa are very close friends, though nothing more). When you were born she protected you magically so that you would be safe from Lucius and the death eaters until you found true love. So as you´ve probably guessed you´re currently unprotected, if the prophecy is correct anyway, meaning that Lucius could attack you any second. When you told me what he did to you before you arrived at Privet Drive I immediately knew why he did what he did, I didn´t tell you at the time because I didn´t think you could handle it, but in light of him being near Hogwarts for no reason (as he is no longer a school governor, nor has he any reason to be there to see you), I think you need to know why he reacted like that. It was because Harry is James´ son, he was furious that not only had his wife taken a liken to James all those years ago, but now history was repeating itself with you falling in love with his son, he couldn´t stand it so he overreacted when he found out. In case you haven´t noticed he hated James, Remus, and myself almost as much as Snape did, and that´s saying something.

So you are probably in more danger than Harry is, that´s why I am coming back to the castle. From here I can´t protect anyone, but there I can keep an eye on both of you at the same time. This letter is incredibly personal for you, it´s not Harry´s to read, but if you really want Harry to know about the things I´ve told you in this letter, by all means give it to him to read.

Until I get to the castle, in a day or two, please keep your eyes and ears open and watch your backs.

Sirius.

Draco finished the letter and stared off into space, his mind reeling from what he had just read. His mother liked James? And that was why Lucius beat him up when he found out about his relationship with Harry? Suddenly so much about Lucius made sense, how he always changed the conversation whenever Harry, Remus, Sirius, or James were mentioned, how his mother always seemed quiet and timid when Lucius was around, even though Draco knew she was the complete opposite, it all made sense.

/ Are you all right? / Harry asked, making Draco jump.

< Yeah fine, just a bit shocked. >

"Who was it from?" Harry asked.

"Erm... You-Know-Who."

Harry stared, "Lucius, what did he want?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "Not that You-Know-Who, your You-Know-Who."

Harry´s face remained blank until he realized, "You mean Voldemort?"

Draco groaned and leant forward, and banged his head on the table, "No the other You-Know-Who."

"Huh?" Harry asked dumbly.

"For crying out loud Harry even I know he means Snuffles," Hermione said, sounding extremely exasperated.

"Oh why didn´t you say so?" he asked, at the same time Draco said, "Snuffles?!?"

"It´s a code name, I´ll explain it to you later," Harry told him. "Can I read it, or is it too private?"

Draco nodded, and then pocketed the letter just as Harry was reaching out for it, "But you can read it later, right now you have Quidditch practice don´t you?"

That night the feast was magnificent as ever, with giant pumpkins floating high above their heads, lighting the room, live bats fluttered around just below the roof, flying in and out of the rafters. The food was as delicious as always, and after it had all been devoured, Dumbledore gave his usual Halloween speech before hundreds of extremely full students made their way up to their dormitories and collapsed on their beds.

November 1^st was bright and surprisingly warm, perfect weather for a Quidditch match as important as the Gryffindor Vs. Slytherin was. Harry paced backwards and forwards in the Gryffindor changing rooms, waiting for the match to begin. He had been stressing over this for weeks, today would be the first time since last years final that Harry would be playing against Draco, and he had to keep his mind on the game and not how hot Draco looked in his Quidditch robes. Harry stopped pacing and shook his head, trying to clear it, how the hell am I going to get through this damn match? He thought to himself.

At the other side of the pitch the Slytherin captain had already given his pre-match talk and was feeling very relaxed indeed, unlike his boyfriend, Draco didn´t care who won the match.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle and the crowds erupted in cheers as the Gryffindor team exited their changing rooms, and flew to the center of the pitch. When the Slytherins came out, they received the same welcome as they always did, with three-quarters of the crowd booing ferociously.

Madame Hooch called both team captains over and told them to shake hands, "Good luck." Harry wished Draco, whose face was devoid of any emotion,

"Thanks, you too."

They let go of each other´s hands and waited for Madame Hooch to begin the game.

"Welcome to the second Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor Vs. Slytherin." Christian Richardson, a Gryffindor forth-year, was saying, having taken over from Lee Jordan when he graduated.

Madame Hooch opened the chest that the balls were kept in, releasing the Bludgers and the Snitch. "Madame Hooch has released the Bludgers, followed closely by the Golden Snitch, remember it´s up to the best two seekers in the school to catch it, the seeker who does will indeed end the game."

The snitch fluttered around Harry´s head, then around Draco´s, before flying off and disappearing out of sight. Madame Hooch threw the Quaffle into the air, and the game began.

The Gryffindor team was flying exceptionally well, they had been practicing harder than ever for the past few weeks.

"Gryffindor in possession-" Richardson was saying, "Chaser Finnegan passes the Quaffle to Thomas - Thomas dodges a bludger aimed by Slytherin beater Zabini -"

The match was turning dirty, beaters were hitting the bludgers at anyone, regardless of whether they had the Quaffle or not, and there still hadn´t been any sign of the snitch.

"Thomas passes back to Finnigan, who, wait it´s been intercepted by Slytherin chaser, Erik Gray - Gray passes to Jason Karl - hang on, stolen back by Finnigan - Finnigan passes to Weasley, he has a shot at goal - Yes! No, I don´t believe it, it´s blocked by their keeper." The whole crowd started booing, annoyed that Ron had missed such an easy shot.

Harry was flying about ten feet above Draco, trying to look for the Snitch and watch the game at the same time. "Oh come on," he yelled, "that was such an easy shot; even I could have got that in." Just then Ron flew past him, "Weasley stop farting around, and get your arse in gear and your head in the game." Ron completely ignored him, and kept on going. Things had been tense between the two friends, and they hadn´t spoken more than ten words to each other since Ron had accused Draco of being a Death Eater.

The game was starting to get boring, they had been playing for almost two hours and there had been no sign of the snitch at all. The entire game had been one sided since the start, not that Harry was complaining, the score being 190-30 to Gryffindor, apparently Slytherin´s new keeper wasn´t as good as the previous one had been.

The Gryffindor team was getting tired of playing now, and so was Harry, this was the longest Quidditch match he had played in. He was just thinking whether or not the snitch had flown off of the pitch and was zooming around the forbidden forest somewhere when he saw something gold flash out of the corner of his eye. He spun his broom around and saw it; the snitch, and Draco was already racing after it at top speed.

He was too far behind Draco; he was never going to catch up with in. He leant closer to the handle of his Firebolt, urging it to go faster, he wasn´t going to let Draco catch that snitch. He had only ever failed to catch it once, when the Dementors had turned up back in his third year, and he wasn´t about to have a repeat of that match.

He was slowly getting closer to Draco, but he was still too far away from the snitch. He leant even further forward; he was so close to the handle he was almost parallel to it. He was gaining on Draco, who was four feet in front of him, and pretty soon he was flying next to him, both of them traveling at breakneck speed.

"The Snitch has finally been sighted," Harry could hear Richardson shouting excitedly, out of the corner of his eye he could see that the whole of the match seemed to have stopped playing, "Malfoy´s leading, but Potter is gaining on him,"

The snitch took a dive and both Harry and Draco followed it downwards, Harry was trailing again but he was slowly inching his way closer to Draco. The tiny golden ball paused, hovering just above the ground, at this point both Harry and Draco were flying parallel to each other, so close that their knees kept hitting each other. Harry stretched out his arm, trying to grab the snitch, but he missed by a few millimeters. "Shit." He swore under his breath, as he reached out again to try get it again. But this time all he managed to grab was thin air. Harry pulled his broom to a stop and looked around for the snitch, which seemed to have disappeared again. He looked back at Draco who had stopped a bit before Harry had, and frowned. Draco was sat holding his fist out in front of him, a stunned look upon his face. Harry was just wondering why he was looking like this when he opened his fist and Harry saw that the snitch was resting on his open palm.

"Hang on a minute, what´s this?" the commentator was saying, "Slytherin seeker Draco Malfoy has caught the snitch, which brings the final scores up to 190-180 to Gryffindor, well ladies and gentleman this is quiet a turn up for the books."

The players all landed their broomsticks, just as people came down from the stands to congratulate Gryffindor on their victory, even if they didn´t win by Harry catching the snitch.

Just before people surrounded Harry, a voice from behind him said, "Congratulations Harry." Harry turned around and saw Draco stood behind him smiling. However Harry didn´t smile back, instead he turned his back on Draco and walked back to the Gryffindor changing rooms, leaving him stood next to an equally astonished Hermione.

Hermione had told Draco that Harry was a bit peeved off about not catching the snitch, she advised him to let Harry cool off for a bit before going to talk to him. At eight o´clock Draco decided that Harry should have cooled down enough to talk to him. He made his way to his dorm, hoping that he hadn´t changed the password, otherwise he´d be screwed, and thankfully he hadn´t. He made his way up the stairs and silently opened the door, sticking his head into the room. Harry was lying on the couch, facing the ceiling with his eyes closed. Draco silently closed the door and slowly walked over to where Harry was. He took his Denim jacket off and placed it on the chair, before standing over where Harry was on the couch. Harry still hadn´t acknowledged Draco´s presence so he assumed he didn´t know he was there. He sat down on top of Harry, so he was straddling his hips. Now Harry opened his eyes with a start and tried to sit up, but he couldn´t, nearly knocking Draco off.

"Oh it´s you," he remarked, as he rested his head back on the cushions.

"Well I love you too," Draco replied sarcastically. "What´s wrong?"

Harry closed his eyes again, "Nothing, just go away."

Draco´s eyes widened, "Are you still annoyed that I caught the snitch?"

"No actually I´m pissed off that you caught the damn snitch," Harry corrected him before fidgeting. "Will you be so kind as to get off me?"

Draco was shocked that Harry could be so cold towards him, but he didn´t say anything he just got off Harry and stood up, "Is that why you´re annoyed, `cause I caught the damn snitch?" he repeated, stunned.

"Yes I am," he replied coldly, "I´m supposed to be the better seeker, but yet I couldn´t catch it, could I?"

"Harry you´re the best seeker, in the school, I know it, you know it and so does everyone else. Not catching it once isn´t that big a deal, beside Gryffindor still won didn´t they?" he asked, trying to keep his voice down and not let his temper get the best of him.

"You don´t get it do you?" Harry yelled, "I´m The-Boy-Who-Lived, I´m supposed to be better at things."

"Don´t start all this Boy-Who-Lived-Crap with me," Draco yelled back. "If winning is more important to you then I suppose I can´t really do anything can I?"

"Don´t you yell at me."

Draco snorted, "Excuse me, you started it. So don´t you start screaming at me, it wasn´t my fault I caught it and you didn´t."

"Of course it´s not your fault, nothing ever is, is it?" Harry yelled back.

"That´s right," Draco retorted, and turned his back on Harry.

"Get out." Harry said; his voice calmed down somewhat and but still shaking with anger.

Draco turned around and looked at Harry, "What?"

"You heard me." Harry shouted, yelling again.

"Fine!" Draco screamed back, he walked over to the chair grabbed his denim jacket and stormed out of the door, slamming it so hard it nearly fell off it´s hinges.

Draco stormed into the library, the one place he knew Hermione would be, grabbed a book off the shelf to pretend to read. "I can´t believe him," he yelled, slamming the book down on the table. Hermione jumped out of her skin and looked up at him, "I take it your little talk didn´t go too well?"

"Ding, ding, ding. You got it in one, congratulations," he remarked, as he took his glasses out, put them on and opened the book, pretending to flick through it.

"What happened?"

"I went to his room to try and talk to him," he began, "but we got into this huge argument, and he started laying all this Boy-Who-Lived crap on me. Then he started screaming at me, and told me to leave, which I did."

"That doesn´t sound like him," she replied.

"Tell me about it, I think that all of what´s happened with Voldemort has finally gotten to him," he told her, sighing. "I mean he´s my boy- I mean best friend and he just blew me off just because of a stupid Quidditch match. I wish I could turn back time and stop myself from catching that fucking thing."

Hermione reached out and patted his arm sympathetically, "It´s ok Draco, just give him a bit more time, I´m sure he´ll come around." She looked at her watch, "I have to go, I promised Ginny we´d go down to Hogsmeade on a girls night out, are you going to be ok?"

Draco smiled, "I´ll be fine," he assured her. "You go have fun, don´t get too drunk."

"Don´t worry I won´t," she replied with a small smile, before leaving the library.

Draco spent the rest of the night in the library reading a Muggle fiction book he found in the Muggle studies section, `Dracula´ by Bram Stoker. He was sat curled up in a squashy armchair when Madame Pince came and shooed him out. He wasn´t tired and didn´t want to go back to his dormitory, so he decided to go for a walk around the castle grounds.

He only spent ten minutes out there, before he decided he might as well go to sleep and get an early night.

He was walking past the forbidden forest when he heard something rustling in the bushes; he jumped and looked at the bushes, then cursed himself for being so jumpy. `It´s probably just a squirrel or something,´ he scolded himself, < Get a grip of yourself Malfoy, >

/ Aw, is ickle Malfoy scared of a squirrel? / Harry´s telepathic voice mocked.

< Piss off, no one said you could come into my head, > Draco replied coldly.

There was silence after this, which suited Draco perfectly; he was still annoyed with Harry anyway.

He walked a bit further on, and he heard the bushes rustling again, "What was that?" he asked himself. He inched a bit closer to the bush, when something, or rather someone, jumped out at him.

Draco let out a startled yelp, "What the fuck do you want?" he asked, thinking that this person was a student playing a joke.

The tall person had black robes on that were billowing out around him, making whoever it was seem the size of a whale.

This person didn´t utter a single word to Draco, who just realized that it wasn´t a trick after all, < Shit, Harry help. > He pleaded.

/ Do you really think I´m that stupid? /

< Look I´m serious, there´s this guy here and I don´t know who he is. >

Whoever it was stepped forwards and raised his hand high above his head. Draco could see the moonlight reflecting off something, a dagger. < Fuck he´s got a dagger! >

The person brought it down, and just before it plunged into Draco, he got a glimpse of blonde hair, before everything went black.