Truly Madly Deeply

Chapter Five - The Letter

~ Great Hall ~

Harry unfolded the parchment and smoothed it on the table. He glanced down at the signature.

Padfoot

Sirius, Harry thought with a smile. He looked back up a the top of the page and started reading...

Dear Harry,

Just a quick note to answer to your question - follow your heart. If you truly love him you need to tell him how you feel. I don't think I need to remind you how precious the time we have here on earth is.

Moony and I are both fine. Actually Moony is better than fine, he has a lady friend! Say hi to Ron and Hermione for us.

Padfoot

Harry glanced up from the letter and caught Draco's eye. The blond boy stared back. Harry pushed the letter in his pocket and stood up. He headed towards the Slytherin table as Draco got up and turned to face Harry. Harry framed Draco's face with his hands. His lips touched Draco's. The Great Hall erupted in cheers as the two boys kissed.

"What was that for?" Draco asked breathlessly.

"Do I need a reason to kiss my boyfriend?" Harry asked teasingly.

"No," Draco answered with a smile.

Harry smiled back at him. He wanted to do what Sirius had suggested and tell Draco that his feelings were deeper, that he loved him, but not here, not in front of the whole school. Kissing was one thing, confessing his feelings was another. Especially since he wasn't entirely sure how Draco would react. They had never had a serious conversation about their relationship and their feelings. It would have to wait until tonight.

~ Potions ~

Harry and Draco sat together at one of the back tables as they waited for Snape to appear. Draco slid his hand into his pocket and fingered the letter he had written last night. He hadn't sent it. He didn't know why. Well, he had his suspicions but he didn't want to admit, even to himself, that he was afraid. Malfoy's were never scared. They would have made good Gryffindor's in that respect were it not for the fact that their ambition greatly outweighed their courage.

Draco shook his head, trying to clear the stray thoughts from his mind. Focus, he told himself sternly. Harry shot a questioning look his way and Draco realised he'd been acting strangely. Harry reached out a hand and grasped Draco's wrist.

"Are you okay?" he asked concernedly. Draco pulled his hand out of his pocket and out of Harry's grasp. The letter fell unnoticed to the ground.

"I'm fine. Just distracted," Draco said casually. Harry grinned.

"Distracted by what?"

"You, lover, you are so sexy and I want you right here, right now," Draco drawled as Harry's eyes widened. Draco reached out and pulled Harry to him as their lips met in a fiery kiss.

"Ahem."

The two boys broke apart. Snape was glaring at the two of them.

"When you have quite finished, we have a potion to brew."

"Actually, we're not quite finished yet. Just another minute," Draco said cheekily as he pulled Harry back towards him.

"Kiss him and that will be 50 points from Slytherin."

Snape turned to glare at Pansy as she stuttered something about taking points from Slytherin.

"Yes, from my own house Miss Parkinson."

Draco reluctantly let Harry go and they both sat down. Snape sneered at them and walked back up to the front of the room.

Most people had accepted Draco and Harry together. In fact the students in Slytherin had been surprisingly supportive, although that was mainly due to the fact that at the beginning they'd thought it was part of an elaborate plot to either catch Harry for Voldemort, or to bring Harry over to the dark side. Once they'd learnt the truth (that there was no dastardly plot) they had been so used to the sight of them together that no one minded.

Unfortunately the same could not be said for Professor Snape. Draco had once been his favourite student. That had come to an end the moment he had become aware of Draco and Harry's relationship. Now it was as likely for Slytherin to lose points in Potions as it was for Gryffindor. Strangely enough this had united the seventh year students and the Slytherins and the Gryffindors were becoming friends and as a result working together was no longer a problem. Of course this had annoyed Snape no end because now he couldn't even force the two houses to work together to punish them.

Snape sneered at them all.

"Today we are going to make a very complex potion and you will all need to concentrate and listen carefully to ensure you don't ruin it. The ingredients are..." Snape listed off the ingredients and the students scribbled them down.

Hermione gasped.

Draco's head snapped up and he stared at Ron and Hermione who were sitting in front of Harry and Draco. No one else appeared to have heard her.

Draco glanced over at Ron. The redhead was obviously daydreaming as he drew little hearts around Hermione's name on his parchment. Hermione clearly knew what they were about to concoct. Draco wondered why Snape didn't just tell them what it was like he usually did. Although it wouldn't surprise Draco if Snape was going to spring something nasty on them.

It had been a while since Snape had been able to cause any distress to the students. Usually he was able to do this by pairing the students with someone they did not get along with. Now that they all got along Snape was obviously looking for new ways to antagonise the students. It had come as a surprise to Draco that Snape was actually that vindictive, but since he and Harry had gotten together and Snape now treated him with the same contempt as he treated Harry, Draco had come to realise that there was no rhyme or reason to Snape's behaviour.

A low hum of activity was heard as the class began collecting their ingredients and getting their equipment ready.

"Hermione, what are we making?" Draco asked curiously. Hermione looked cagey.

"You'll find out soon enough," she replied, although she looked a little concerned about the nature of the potion. This does not bode well, thought Draco ominously.

Chapter Five - The Letter