Under the New Moon

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter 7

Miracle Workers

Harry exhaled and tried to make it through the crowd of giggling girls as he made his way out of his Transfiguration lesson.

"Excuse me," he said to a black jumper in front of him.

"You're excused," answered a petulant voice.

Harry looked up.

Draco raised an eyebrow and nodded with his head to follow him. They made their way through the crowd and managed to get out into a less populated part of the corridor.

Hermione was suddenly with them. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "It's just that you were making progress, so I followed your wake."

"Weren't you with Ron?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked cross. "No, he was being attacked again, so I figured he could catch up to me later if he hasn't replaced me by then."

Harry and Draco exchanged dark looks.

"I'm going to go," Hermione announced, shooting a glare back into the crowd in which they lost Ron. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the library."

She departed with an angry toss of her bushy hair, which showed some minor evidence of a straightening spell.

Harry watched her go through the noisy, bustling hallway then looked back at Draco.

"Hey," he said.

Draco looked amused. "Hey," he returned.

They grinned at each other.

"Viktor invited us out to the Hog's Head for drinks tonight," Draco said at last. "To celebrate our success."

Harry snorted. "Yeah," he said. "Right. Anyway, why the Hog's Head? Have you ever been there?"

Draco gave him a weird look. "Have you ever been there? It got new owners over the summer and the place is really nice now. It's part of the reason the Three Broomsticks is doing so badly."

"Still?" asked Harry. "I thought the show would have been enough to reopen it."

Draco shrugged. "I talked to Pansy this morning and she said they won't know if it's enough until they start redoing the place. It should take a few weeks."

Harry supposed this would be true. "Ok. So tonight, then?"

"Yeah, I know it's Monday, but we don't have to stay all night. I'll meet you in the entrance hall at eight," said Draco. "Tell Weasley. I have to get to class now."

"Right."

They looked at each other as if expecting something. Then Draco gave an odd smile and walked off through the crowd.

***

Remus John Lupin was losing his mind. He awoke Saturday evening sometime after the sun had set to find Sirius asleep in a chair in his living quarters. The events of the day had come crashing back to him and he froze in panic. Thoughts of Obliviating his friend wandered through his mind, but he pushed them firmly aside.

Sirius slept on.

The thoughts came slowly back. It's not like he'd ever know, thought Remus. He would simply think he fell asleep here instead of going to the show.

He pushed the thoughts away again.

Carefully he got out of bed and went to sit in the chair across from Sirius. He looked at him and wondered if he could live without Sirius. He couldn't, he knew, but sometimes he wished he could.

In the years when he thought Sirius betrayed them, Remus hadn't slept much. He was always restless, always moving from one place to another, holding useless Muggle jobs and living in tiny Muggle flats. The world he knew was too painful to live in, not with James and Peter dead and Sirius in Azkaban for killing them. He knew in the back of his mind that James had a son. The Boy Who Lived was never really connected with Harry Potter in his mind. He had no interest in finding him, though. What could he say to this boy? Hi, I knew your parents before they were killed and was hopelessly in love with their killer. Right.

Then Sirius escaped, which he had found out from the Muggle news of all places, and the next day, he got an owl from Dumbledore asking him to teach at Hogwarts. He was never sure why he agreed, but he did, and found out Sirius was innocent after all. But it hurt him when Sirius didn't try to find him after the night he left Hogwarts. Later he found out he had been living in a cave trying to stay close to Harry. To James.

Remus John Lupin was never first. Nothing had changed.

Nothing was ever going to.

So Remus took out his wand and cast an Obliviate under his breath so as not to wake Sirius. Then he watched him for another minute before gently shaking him on the shoulders.

"Hey, Padfoot, wake up."

Sirius blinked and opened his eyes. He smiled warmly up at him. "Hey Moony," he said. "Feel like a drink?"

Remus smiled coldly back. "Not really," he said.

***

Sirius woke up in Remus's quarters. He had swaggered through enough wars to detect an Obliviate when he saw one. He had no memory of getting into the chair or of falling asleep, but he remembered a lot before that. Enough to figure out why his memories were being attacked.

If Remus wanted to pretend like it never happened, he could live with that.

He asked Remus to go get a drink, but he said he was rather tired and wanted to go back to sleep. So Sirius left.

He went down to dinner by himself and made small talk with Minerva. Snape was absent from the meal as usual, but Remus never came. Nor did he come to breakfast the next day, or to any other meal that weekend.

It was now lunch time on Monday and Remus was no where to be seen. Hagrid, who Sirius had always regarded as kind of slow, had even commented on Remus's absence. Sirius had muttered something about NEWTs approaching, even though it was only the middle of March.

A strange idea had occurred to him in class that morning, but he hoped it need not be used except as a last resort.

Until then, he was just going to wait and see. Patience, he reflected, did not become him.

***

Harry sat with Ron and Hermione at dinner Monday evening. Ron was clearly hoping no one was noticing the grin that attacked his face every five minutes or so, and Hermione was pretending to be more interested in her book than she probably was.

Harry, meanwhile, was contemplating another crayon-on-canvas. Grey dawn, he thought.

"-And if you know anything about Saturn's moons, this information comes as quite a shock," Hermione said, startling him out of his creative rumination.

"Oh yeah?" he said, feigning interest.

"This book is just filled with stuff like that," she said excitedly, turning another page of Starlight Starbright. "I've actually just finished chapter ten: Blue Moon. It was riveting."

"I'll bet," Harry said, nodding.

"We have a blue moon in May. Did you know?"

"No, is that supposed to be ... important?"

Hermione gave him a withering look over the top of the book. "Some might say it's a day where anything can happen. It's probably the best day for casting spells or creating something. Personally I'm going to try another protection spell that day. You should consider doing something on that day, too, Harry."

"Because full moons are the most magical?" he asked wearily.

"Exactly," she said with a satisfied smile. "Incidentally, it's also the last day of our NEWTs exams."

"I thought they would be finished in June," Harry said, mildly interested now.

"OWLs and NEWTs have to be done at different times, and the NEWTs are going first this year," Hermione explained.

"I can't believe our song was banned!" Ron exclaimed suddenly.

Hermione pursed her lips and looked disapproving. "Your lyrics were extremely politically incorrect," she informed him. "I don't believe in censorship, but I don't believe those lyrics were appropriate for school either."

"That Slytherin girl sang about sex too," Ron protested.

Hermione looked exasperated. "It was the mention of the Unforgivable Curses, Ronald. And the description of what they did. People don't want things like that right after a war. Honestly."

"I don't know," said Harry, amused. "The Halogens certainly got popular."

Ron grinned at him. "Jealous?" he asked.

Harry grinned back. "Only a little."

Ron who had surprised Harry in the middle of rehearsals last week when he admitted they had possibly previously misjudged Slytherins, had been enthused by the idea of drinks this evening.

"It was rather irresponsible if you ask me," announced Hermione.

"I see," said Harry, taking a sip of pumpkin juice and surreptitiously checking the time on Ron's watch.

Ron ruined the effort by saying: "Five to, Harry."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Have you somewhere to be?" she asked sternly.

"Yes, actually," Harry admitted, pulling up Ron by the arm as he stood. "We'll see you later, Hermione."

"Bye honey," added Ron.

Hermione frowned into her book as she tried to hide her pleased reaction.

***

Draco and Blaise met Harry and Ron by the front doors. Harry was wearing a plain black leather jacket and dark jeans that made him look like Sex on a Stick and Draco was suddenly grateful that he had gone back downstairs for his long black jacket

Blaise, looking decadent in a plain emerald shirt and probably showing Draco up, greeted them with a genuine smile. "Hey boys," he offered.

"Hi," said Ron looking equally genuine.

Draco frowned at the thought that this could be ruined by the revelation of his and Harry's relationship. Harry had suggested it once in rehearsals and Draco had been looking for signs that this Gryffindor/Slytherin truce wasn't going to be ruined with a little homosexuality. Privately he wished Harry would just tell Ron already and hang the consequences. He understood that the Slytherin in the relationship had to observe subtlety or no one would, but occasionally he would get the irrational urge to snog Harry in the Great Hall and see how that sorted itself out.

Harry smiled at Draco, which he may or may not have returned, but he had things on his mind.

They met Viktor in the pub and ordered a round of drinks called CV Blasters. They tasted of an unfortunate combination of cherry, vanilla, and Firewhiskey, in Draco's opinion. Harry thought so too, so they ordered butterbeers while the other three ordered another round.

"Excuse me... Ron?" asked a voice.

They all looked around. Three girls in Ravenclaw scarves stood next to their table. They looked no older than fourth years.

"Hey," Ron said, grinning.

Harry looked over at him. "Do you know them?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm Samantha," said one of the girls. "I saw you perform in The Halogens." She gave no indication that she recognised the four other men at the table as the other four members.

"You were incredible," gushed one of her friends.

Ron accepted the praise as it was due. "Thanks, ladies, I'm so glad you enjoyed the show."

Draco rolled his eyes and saw a similar look on Blaise's face. They caught each other's eyes. Blaise curled his lip in as dismissive a gesture as it was possible to make.

Viktor sat back against the booth and folded his arms.

"Is that a Y or an I?" Ron was asking, now signing what looked like Potions notes.

Harry leaned over Draco and caught the waiter's arm. "Could we get a double round of Firewhiskey?" he said.

This continued for the next forty five minutes. Somehow word had got out that Ron Weasley, drummer of The Halogens, was in the Hog's Head, and every single female under thirty in the area seemed to be in the pub. Never mind the fact that it was 9:00 on a Monday evening.

The other members of The Halogens were knocking back Firewhiskey shots and considering leaving the group.

"We could start up another group," Harry said.

Blaise snorted. "But where would the publicity come from? Ron would still be here signing autographs."

"It doesn't matter," said Viktor. "The von member group of The Halogens vould still do better than us in popularity. Even though he did not sing."

Draco laughed with Harry and Blaise. Oddly, by the third round of drinks they had all started feeling much happier about it all while Ron was looking a little overwhelmed.

"The Halogens would just be the drummer," Harry said. "He'd be going-" He tapped his finger on the table in a steady beat. "-the whole time."

"And he'd still rake in more fans," Blaise said through his laughter.

Harry and Blaise clinked their shot glasses together and threw back another one. Blaise choked on his laughter and Viktor thumped him on the back, laughing, too.

Draco was enjoying himself, but clearly not as much as the rest of them. Practically being ignored by Harry the whole evening was not exactly his idea of a good time.

"Are you single, Ron?" a Slytherin girl was asking him.

"No he's not," said Blaise, throwing an arm around Ron and raising an eyebrow at the girl.

Viktor and Harry howled with laughter.

The girl widened her eyes. "So, like, are you guys all gay?" she asked, eyes wide with awe.

"Extremely," said Draco, hoping for a reaction from Harry.

Viktor and Blaise laughed, but Harry's smile faded a little and he gave a warning look to Draco.

"I mean," Draco continued, "how could we not be?"

Blaise draped his other arm across Draco's shoulders and leered at the girl. "How lucky am I to be having these two hot Halogens every night?" he said.

"Correction," Draco put in, "I'm having you every night."

"You wish, Malfoy," Blaise said, leaning forward.

Draco wondered what would happen if he kissed him. He could feel Harry's eyes on him.

"You're damn straight, Zabini," he returned, staring at his lips.

Blaise took his arm off Ron and put it on Draco's thigh. "Not at all, actually."

Blaise pulled Draco closer and their lips brushed. Then a bottle on their table shattered.

Everyone jumped.

Draco moved away from Blaise and looked at Harry. He was looking across the room as if nothing had happened.

"This alvays happens vhen things get too hot," Viktor explained to the girl who was looking as though her every dream had just come true.

Ron was smirking. "It's probably for the best; these things are exclusive to the band members only," he said.

"That... was so hot," the girl said, backing away from their table. "I... need... to go tell everyone I know." She ran out the door.

Blaise, Ron and Viktor burst into laughter and Draco smiled with them. Blaise winked at him and announced that the Slytherins should probably call it a night. Draco vanished the broken glass on the table and agreed. "I like to leave on a high," he said.

Blaise laughed and grabbed his coat. "See you around," he said to the remaining three.

Ron and Viktor said goodbye as well, but Harry was still looking away.

The cold night air bit them as they pushed through the doors and walked out onto the street.

"It's a shame I'm straight, Draco," Blaise said to him. "We could have had some fun."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Hardly, Blaise, I'm out of your league."

"But only because you're not there yet, little one."

He and Blaise often tried to out-snob the other. It was the only ubiquitous aspect of their friendship.

"Bigger than-"

"Draco, Blaise!" Harry yelled behind them, ruining what was shaping up to be a very rude joke.

The boys turned as Harry caught up to them. His breath was coming out in tiny ice crystals.

"Hey," he said.

Blaise hooked his thumbs in his pockets and took a few steps backwards. "I'm meeting some people for poker tonight in Ravenclaw," he said with a knowing look at Draco. "I'll catch up with you boys later."

"Night, Blaise," said Harry.

Draco watched Blaise walk off and then turned back to Harry.

"Sorry about the - you know," he started, feeling he should say something first. "In there."

Harry made a weird expression. "The what?" he asked.

"With Blaise?" Draco said, still trying to make peace. "It was just for fun, you know."

"The shots?" asked Harry, still wearing that quizzical look.

"No - Merlin, Harry, the kiss," Draco said in exasperation.

"Kiss?"

It struck Draco then: Harry wasn't watching. Of course Harry wasn't watching. Harry didn't care. Draco could probably jump into the lake tomorrow and Harry would just draw the sky with the fireworks the other Slytherins set off because of his death. In crayon. And Draco would be killed again by the irony of the whole thing.

"Did you kiss Blaise?" Harry asked. "I had wondered why the bottle broke. It must have been that girl, you think? She seemed pretty into you. That was good. Sirius and Ron will never catch on if they think you were just fooling around with Blaise."

Draco gaped at him.

Harry smiled. "Are you ok?" he asked.

It's not like Harry had ever said it. They had never said it was serious. They had never really said it was anything, really.

Draco was on stage and he could barely hear the crowd over their instruments. Harry was rocking out on the guitar when he looked over at Draco and grinned. Draco couldn't stop the pure laugh that got out of him and he grinned back.

But maybe he just needed to give it some more time. Maybe Harry was just stressed over NEWTs. Yeah, likely.

"I found a spell," he said instead of saying anything he would regret in the morning. He could feel the alcohol in him, and although walking wasn't a problem, talking usually was on the best of circumstances, so he changed the subject.

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. "...Yeah?"

"Remember what I said back in the fall about Weasley?" he continued.

"Er... no," admitted Harry. "What are you talking about?"

"There's a spell that can be modified with another spell, and uses a potion once a month to allow a person sonar vision," Draco told him. "All my notes are in my room so I can explain it later. I just need to do some more research on the second part of the spell."

"Oh. God, for Ginny?" Harry asked, all sorts of realisation occurring on his face simultaneously.

"Yeah."

"I didn't think you were serious about the bat thing."

Draco was surprised Harry remembered, truthfully. He hated that he was touched at this thought.

"I had to help her," he said.

"I know," Harry said, sighing and looking at his feet.

Draco looked at him and they fell into silence.

"I'm cold," Harry said in a small voice, still looking at the ground.

Draco's resolve broke and he reached forward to put his arms around Harry. He leaned into Draco's shoulder and rested his head there. Draco felt oddly protective and liked the feeling.

"Come on," he said, rubbing Harry's arms, "I'll get you back up to the castle and I can show you the spells later."

Harry pulled back slightly and looked Draco in the face. "Will you tuck me in?" he asked playfully. His glasses were flashing in the lights from the buildings.

Draco smiled in spite of himself and raised an eyebrow. "And kill Gryffindor tower with shock?" he asked, and pretended to think about it. "Actually..."

Harry snorted. "Fine, but don't forget you still owe me from the show," he said and took Draco's hand as he headed back towards Hogwarts.

Draco followed, completely unable to do anything else.

***

April Fools' Day, in Sirius's opinion, seemed to be the best time to ask Snape for a favour.

Remus was still hiding from him, and the world in general, it seemed, and Sirius was going to go crazy from trying to make Remus make more than small talk with him.

Wait. That didn't sound right.

He suspected Remus Liked Men. He had a brief relationship with Tonks two years ago, true, but Remus had never openly dated anyone else that Sirius knew of. Their seventh year was crazy, but Sirius had noticed that Ravenclaw bloke hanging around Gryffindor tower on occasion.

James had even suspected it. He remembered one conversation with him while they were studying for their NEWTs, and Remus had stormed through the common room and disapeared into their room for the rest of the night without saying a word to anyone.

"What's got his wand in a knot?" Sirius asked.

James snorted. "Probably the wand he's got stuck up his arse."

Sirius shrugged and leaned back in the squishy armchair. "He gets too nervous about these exams. Remember how he was taking the OWLs?"

James gave him a strange look. "Has he... told you anything?" he asked quietly, leaning forward so the fourth years across the room couldn't hear what they were saying.

Sirius brushed his hair out if his eyes. "Why would be tell me anything? He hardly says a word to anyone these days. Except his friend in Ravenclaw."

"I just figured he might tell you something," James said, looking at him carefully.

"Not a thing, Prongs," replied Sirius.

James watched him for another minute. "Ok, Padfoot," he said easily. "...Want to sneak into the kitchens?"

"Hell yeah."

Later Sirius would think that James suspected Remus of being the traitor, but lately it seemed that James suspected Remus of being gay. Why James would think Remus confided in Sirius worried him, however. Had Remus been interested this whole time, or had James suspected Sirius of being gay? There was no way to know.

And it's not like Sirius was gay. He loved Remus, of course, but not like that. Not usually anyway. Not at all, even.

He passed Harry on his way to the dungeons.

"Harry!"

Harry looked badly startled.

"Sorry," amended Sirius. "Are you ok?"

Harry heaved his bag onto his other shoulder and readjusted the books in his arms. "Yeah, of course," he said and laughed shrilly.

"You... you sure?"

Harry looked around. "I've been studying for NEWTs," he said in a conspiratorial whisper. "Really, I have. It's just that I've also been doing research with - with a friend for this spell that he thought he had worked out, but actually needs a fair bit of work, and Hermione caught me with one of the books that weren't exam related and yelled at me and-"

"Merlin, Harry, you need to calm down," Sirius said, looking worried. "You can't just avoid her in the dungeons forever."

"Oh, that. I've been studying with Draco Malfoy for the spell," said Harry.

Sirius considered this. "You know... I think your friend Draco might be gay," he said eventually.

Harry's eyes widened behind his glasses. "He's not," he said quickly. "There's no way. No, he just isn't, Sirius. Don't worry about it." He laughed weirdly again.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "If you say so, Harry."

"I do," he clarified. "I should get back to the tower. Hermione will be wanting to know where I've been the last hour."

Sirius frowned. "Ok... good luck, Harry."

"Yeah! Thanks," he replied and dashed off down the hallway.

Sirius watched him go, hoping that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. So Harry was homophobic. That probably wasn't entirely unexpected from someone his age, but it might be a problem should Remus ever want to-

He shook his head and headed down to Snape's office.

"Enter!" Snape's voice said, slipping like silk from behind his door.

Sirius pushed it open and stepped into his office.

Snape was sitting at the desk marking papers. He spared Sirius a glance as he walked in.

"Here," Snape said, not looking up again and thrusting an envelope towards Sirius.

Sirius took it wearily. "What is it?" he asked.

"An invitation to my wedding," Snape replied, marking a zero on the parchment in front of him.

Sirius burst into laughter. He continued laughing until it became difficult to breathe, and he collapsed into a chair opposite Snape's desk. Snape had by this time turned to look at him, and was regarding him coolly over steepled fingers.

"Does this mean I can tell Narcissa you won't be coming?" he asked when Sirius had regained his breath.

Sirius's grin faded slightly. "What?" he asked.

Snape looked irritated. "As touched as I am by your laughter at the thought of my wedding, I shall need to know if you will be attending," he said.

Sirius's mouth dropped open. "You - you're marrying Narcissa?" he asked, a cold dawning horror enveloping him slowly.

"The date has been set for the tenth of August and she insisted we invite you. Should you feel like not attending, I can assure you I will only cry but a little."

Sirius managed to close his mouth.

"And please do not bring Lupin as a date," Snape continued. His lip curled as if he was about to say something insulting, but then his face became impassive. "I don't want him there."

"Merlin, Snape," Sirius said, sitting back against the chair.

"I know; we'll be family. I shudder to think of the reunions."

Sirius looked up at him. "If we're going to be family," he said slowly, "then I think we need to establish something."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "I will not lend you money," he said evenly. "Black, when I called a truce, I didn't mean I was going to replace Potter."

Sirius bared his teeth. "Watch it," he said.

Snape worked his jaw. "What do you want, Black?" he spat.

"I want you to fix this with Remus," Sirius told him. "It was an accident and you know it. He has always treated you the best out of all of us, and this is how you repay him?"

"How dare you-"

"How dare you! You want to be a part of my family? Well that means acknowledging all its members. In the middle of a battle like that no one is thinking clearly. Remus never would have attacked you had he known." Sirius neglected to mention the part that Remus said he had received the letter about Snape before the battle. "He made a mistake, but Merlin knows you've made mistakes too, Severus. Do you remember Albus Dumbledore?"

Snape stood up. "Do not speak of things you have no idea of, Black. Dumbledore and I had an agreement. As it happens, if I hadn't killed him, Draco wouldn't still be alive for your - cousin."

"That may be, but-"

"Do you know what I think?" Snape asked rhetorically. "I think he knew. I think Remus Lupin knew exactly what he was doing when he cursed me."

"He never-"

"Oh but he did," Snape said, walking out from behind his desk. He stared down at Sirius who was still seated. "You know it, I know it, he knows it. Come now, Black."

Sirius opened and closed his mouth. "It was an accident," he said lamely.

"He didn't trust me," Snape said. "And he saw me coming towards you, and because he loves you, he cursed me with everything he had." He paused. "Touching, isn't it?"

Sirius said nothing.

"And let's say I'm right," Snape continued. "Let's say he is now wracked with guilt at saving you from me, and you won't even speak to him now... much less give him what he really wants from you, so shouldn't you be the one trying to fix things as you so eloquently put it?"

Sirius opened his mouth, but Snape cut him off again.

"Instead of trying to lay Lupin's misery on my doorstep, that is."

"You - you don't know what you're talking about."

Snape fixed him with his best sneer. "I can assure you I do, Black," he said, walking around back to his chair again, his point clearly made. "You wanted to act like family, so there it is: advice and honesty. Two things you cannot escape with family."

"What does he really want from me?" Sirius asked, not able to help himself.

Snape almost smiled at him. "Why, Black," he said coldly, "are you really so blind?"

Sirius took a shaking breath and stood up. "I must be," he muttered to himself.

As he reached the door, Snape called back to Sirius and he turned.

Snape was reading papers again. "As it happens, your Godson has also been invited to the wedding." He glanced up, his eyes glittering strangely. "My effort to include all the family, you know."

Sirius left quickly, not trusting himself to speak.

***

"Those had better be proper transfiguration books, Harry," Hermione warned.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room studying for their NEWTs which were now officially next month.

"They are, Hermione," Harry said heavily.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. She had caught Harry with non-NEWTs reading material twice now. She didn't know what he and Draco were planning, and Harry felt he shouldn't say anything until they knew for sure if it could be done.

"Good," she said. "I going to bed now. I'm getting up early for a meeting with Professor Flitwick regarding the last assignment tomorrow. Goodnight, boys."

Ron caught her hand as she stood up. She looked down at him, and he kissed her hand.

He smiled. "Goodnight, Hermione."

She blushed. "Goodnight."

Harry kept his smile in check until Hermione had made it up the staircase. "Cute," he commented.

Ron went red. "Well, you know..." he said awkwardly. "I love her."

Harry, who had known this some time before Ron did, was not surprised by this supposed revelation. "Good for you, mate," he said supportively.

"We, er..." Ron looked embarrassed.

Harry gaped at him. "You did?!" he asked.

"No!" Ron said, then looked around to see if anyone had heard. No one looked interested. "That's the thing; we haven't. Is that wrong, Harry?"

This amused Harry to no end, but he felt he shouldn't say this. "Of course not," he said. "Sometimes waiting can help the relationship ... er - so I've heard."

"Have you ever...?" asked Ron, who was truly Mrs. Weasley's son.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Once."

"WHAT?" Ron exclaimed. "Really?"

Harry now looked around. Two fifth years were staring. "Yeah... with Ginny."

"Oh," said Ron. "I thought - wait, Ginny?"

Harry smiled nervously. "Yeah, when we were dating."

Ron gaped. "And you're gay?" he whispered.

"It's not like that, Ron. I mean - she was good, it's-"

"Oh my God," said Ron faintly. "Please do not finish that."

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," he said. "That's why I never told you."

Ron nodded. "So, like... are you seeing any guys?" he ventured.

Harry rolled his head to one side. "...No," he said.

Ron looked at him carefully. "Because you could tell me if you were," he said.

Harry shook his head, feeling guilty. He knew it wasn't the right time. "Thanks, Ron," he said instead.

Ron watched him for another minute. "Ok, Harry," he said easily. "Want to see the book Hermione took out?"

"The conversations Gryffindors have," drawled Draco Malfoy's voice. "Honestly, do you really not discuss anything aside from school?"

Harry and Ron turned to see Draco climbing through the portrait. His hair looked so soft it was almost glowing in the light, and he was wearing a silvery shirt over black jeans.

"How did you get in?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged. "Weasley gave me the password," he said.

Harry looked back at Ron. Ron shrugged.

"I'm going to do to bed now," he said. "Night Harry, Malfoy."

Draco turned to Harry. "He called you Harry Malfoy," he observed. "Did you finally tell him, then?"

Harry smiled. "Almost. I just told him about me and Ginny, actually."

Draco smirked. "You got back together or something?" he drawled.

"No - about us having sex, I meant. Back when we were dating."

Draco went kind of still. "You had sex with her?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah," said Harry casually. "You didn't know?"

Draco smiled brilliantly. "I assumed as much, you sexy motherfucker," he said.

Harry frowned. He had thought Draco knew. "It was just the once," he said by way of explanation.

Draco laughed. "Sad, that. I'm sure she was a tiger in-"

"Don't," Harry warned.

Draco shrugged. "I figured out the rest of the spell," he said. "If you're interested. And the potion will take another week to prepare, which means we'll miss the full moon if we want to show her as soon as it's done, I found something that says it should be done on a waning moon anyway, because it's supposed to help draw her problem - in this case, her blindness - away."

Harry was stunned. "This is really going to work?" he asked.

Draco gave him a tight-lipped smile. "She'll still technically be blind, you know," he said.

Harry breathed out heavily. "Wow... well, do you need help with the potion?" he asked.

"No, I've got it under control," he said. "It's a simple potion anyway. The complex part are the spells." He backed towards the portrait hole. "That's all I came to tell you, actually."

"You don't want to stay?" Harry asked.

"No," Draco said, examining his cufflinks instead of looking at Harry. Who wears cufflinks? thought Harry.

"No, I'll just be going now. Goodnight, Potter," Draco said and disappeared through the portrait hole.

Harry sighed. Men, he thought.

***

Draco returned to the Slytherin common room with a sick, heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hated this feeling; it was the feeling of helplessness that he had become so familiar with over the years. Ironically, this was often because of Harry.

"Draco," called a voice when he entered the room.

He looked over and saw Pansy sitting on the couch with Millicent. They appeared to be knitting a huge blanket.

"What are you doing?" he asked, Harry momentarily forgotten.

"Oh." Pansy motioned to the blanket with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Lost a bet. How are you, Draco? You look ill."

Draco gave a quizzical look to Millicent who simply shrugged and went back to knitting.

"I've been better, Pansy," he said. "I don't really want to talk about it."

Pansy followed him into his empty dormitory.

"You really can't take a hint, can you?" he asked wryly.

"You never talk to me anymore," she accused, folding her arms.

He sighed and sat down on his bed. "How come we never had sex?" he asked her.

She looked at him like he had just grown another ear. "Because you're gay," she exclaimed.

"I wasn't always," he said defiantly. "We used to be dating."

She put her hands on her hips. "For a year," she said. "And you never tried to take things further than kissing, I might add."

Draco rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands feeling tired. The irony of this was not lost on him. "I'm sorry," he said.

Pansy's expression softened. "Don't be," she said. "Blaise told me he suspected back in third year and I sort of started looking for it then. I was fooling myself, too, Draco."

He looked up at her. "Did it help?"

"Did what help?" she asked, looking puzzled.

"Fooling yourself," he clarified. "Did it - were you happy?" He heard how small his voice sounded.

Pansy smiled at him. "In a way," she said softly. "I love you, Draco, and I'm happy being your friend."

Draco exhaled heavily then smiled back. "I guess it worked out all right, then."

***

Sirius was awoken at six in the morning a week after talking to Snape. He infrequently saw six in the morning from this side of sleep, and he was badly disoriented as a result.

"Why pingga?" he asked, his head spinning too fast.

"Sirius!" said a voice.

The world slowed and he managed to open his eyes. "Remus?" he asked.

"Morning," Remus said not exactly unkindly.

Sirius was suddenly very aware that he was naked under the covers. "Not that I'm not glad to see you're speaking to me again," he said, "but is this timing really necessary?" He squinted at the clock which revealed his darkest suspicions to be true.

"Yes," Remus said simply. "Did you talk to Snape?" he asked seriously.

Sirius blinked. "Snape?" he asked.

"Yes, Sirius, Severus Snape," Remus insisted. "Did you threaten him?"

"Did I - what? No, of course not," Sirius said, mildly appalled. "What ever gave you that idea?"

Remus looked taken aback. "I'm sorry, I've just been... He apologised," he said abruptly. "Or, he didn't, exactly, or at all, even. He forgave me, in the sense that he didn't, that is, but-" He let out a breath. "Never mind. I'm sorry for waking you."

Remus turned to go, but Sirius grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the bed. "Wait!" he growled. "You cannot do this, Remus."

Remus fell back and sat on the bed looking annoyed. "Do what?" he asked, and tried to pull away.

Sirius held on. "You've been avoiding me, and now you come and wake me up in the middle of the night to ask me if I've been threatening Snape and now you're leaving again?" He was aware that his voice was cracking, but as it usually did this before noon, he wasn't going to worry himself.

"Sirius, it's almost time for breakfast," said Remus, looking shocked.

"You missed the point entirely," Sirius told him.

"I just have a lot on my mind," he said, not looking at Sirius.

"Dragonshit," he returned. "You've been avoiding me."

Remus's eyes darted to meet Sirius's briefly, but he looked away again. "I'm just not very happy, Sirius," he admitted, and his voice almost broke Sirius's heart.

Sirius sat up and hugged Remus sideways. Remus stiffened and did not return the gesture.

"When... when was the last time you visited Tonks's grave?" Sirius asked tentatively. He heard Remus take a sharp breath.

"Never," he said in a strangled voice. "Andromeda didn't want me at the funeral, so I didn't go. I've just sort of stayed away since then."

Sirius rested his head on Remus's shoulder briefly. "We'll go next weekend, then."

"I don't think-" Remus started.

"I do," Sirius insisted.

There was a pause in which Sirius felt Remus relax against him. He pulled away and grinned at Remus who gave a half smile in return.

Better than nothing, Sirius thought.

"Now that that's settled, I'm going back to sleep," he announced.

Remus looked at him incredulously. "You have to be up in another hour!" he said.

"Exactly," Sirius said.

Remus raised an eyebrow at him, but smiled for real this time. "Fine," he said. "I'll see you at breakfast." And he left.

At breakfast Sirius received an owl that said: Family, then.

***

Draco sat down at the Gryffindor table at dinner that evening. This caused mutters at the Slytherin table, and not so quietly spoken insults from the Gryffindors. Draco seemed not to notice.

"Harry," he said to get his attention.

Harry glanced over and smiled. "Hey," he said with a nod.

"The potion is ready," he said without any preamble.

Harry's eyebrows disappeared into his fringe. "Tonight?"

Draco's smile spread wider. "Yes." He glanced down the table. "Weasley!" he called. There were some more mutters from the Gryffindors, but he ignored them.

Ron looked up. "What's up?" he asked.

Draco shook his head. "Other Weasley!"

Ginny turned her blue sunglasses on him. "Malfoy?" she asked.

"The one. What are you doing tonight?"

Ron's jaw dropped. Harry rolled his eyes.

"What's it to you?" Ginny asked.

"Meet me in the Room of Requirement tonight at ten?" he said. "I promise I'll make it worth your while."

Ron stood up. "Just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

Harry grabbed Draco's arm which he shrugged off.

"What's your problem?" Harry hissed.

Draco ignored him and walked down the table towards Ginny. He slid in beside her. "I have a proposition for you," he said in a low voice in her ear.

"If you're looking for sex," Ginny said bluntly, "you'll have to look elsewhere."

Draco smiled. "I'm looking at you," he told her. "And if you want to like what you see, you'll consider my offer."

Ginny hesitated.

"Come on," he whispered, his fingers trailing down her shoulder. "What I'm offering is better than sex."

Suddenly Draco was pulled off the bench and spun around to meet Hermione Granger's glare.

"Hey there," he said. "You want in too?"

Her eyes narrowed even further and she raised a hand and slapped him hard around the face.

Draco saw stars. He cracked his jaw and turned back to face her. "Jealous, much?" he asked.

Harry and Pansy were suddenly standing with them. Pansy had her wand out and was pointing it at Hermione.

"You want to start something, Granger?" she asked in a dangerous voice.

"Back off Parkinson," Harry growled.

Hermione glared at Pansy. "Outside," she said. "Now."

Harry's mouth dropped open. Pansy whirled around and marched off.

"Don't you dare follow us, Harry," Hermione said and out the doors after Pansy.

Ginny stood up in the silence that followed. "Done," she announced in Draco's direction, and walked out of the hall, her cane clicking sharply in the hushed awe.

Draco turned to smirk at Harry who was not looking at all amused. "Well," he said, "aren't you going to save your Gryffindors from all the nasty Slytherin drama?"

Harry glanced over to the Slytherin table at the murderous glares and then looked back at Draco. "Actually, Malfoy," he said in a voice that made Draco's stomach hurt again, "I don't think the Gryffindors are in the most need of saving. But I'll help you if you ask nicely."

Draco's upper lip curled. "I am anything but nice, Potter. And you can take your pity and choke on it for all I care."

He turned and smiled at the rest of the room. How easy it was to slip back into their old communication habits. He could almost believe he enjoyed it.

"Thank you," he called to the room. "I'll be here all week!"

He tossed another condescending sneer Harry's way, and strode purposefully out of the room.

***

Hermione turned to face Pansy Parkinson in an empty corridor on the first floor.

"What was Malfoy doing?" she demanded.

"What were you doing?" Pansy returned.

"Trying to keep the peace," she said defensively.

"It certainly looked like that," Pansy said coldly.

"He was attacking Ginny who is blind, I might add, and Ron was going to kill him in a few seconds anyway." Hermione took a breath.

Pansy glared. "Your Gryffindor saviour is treating him like shit, you know," she said accusingly.

Hermione lifted her nose. "There's nothing I can do about that," she said evenly. "From where I'm sitting, Harry's behaving just fine."

"Oh yes," Pansy said sarcastically, "the paintings and the songs and the not acting like a normal person. Has he stopped the chocolate frogs thing? I remember that's all he was eating back in the fall."

Hermione hesitated. "He's just trying to cope with things. He's had to fight evil his whole life, remember? - Or didn't you take history? - And now he's just dealing with living an ordinary life."

"Coping?" said Pansy incredulously, her eyebrows raised. "Fabulous coping, that. Have you even seen him mildly upset since the war finished? He's walking around in a daze. Obviously you have more chance to observe him than I do, but what they're saying in The Prophet is that he is blind to the world and is living in some fantasy where nothing ever goes wrong, and colouring pictures of blue all day is acceptable behaviour."

"So it's wrong that Harry's happy?" Hermione shot back.

Pansy ignored the question. "Is he even gay?"

"That is none of your-" Hermione leveled her shoulders. "This conversation is over," she said.

"Great," Pansy muttered. "This is all going to end so well. I'm glad you have Potter's best interests at heart."

"I take care of my friends," Hermione said walking backwards through the hall. "Maybe you should look after yours."

***

Harry arrived early to the Room of Requirement that night in the hopes of catching Draco there early. He was not disappointed. Draco sat with his back to the door stirring the potion. He glanced Harry's way when he came in, but ignored him.

"Do I even want to know why you're so crazy?" Harry asked.

Draco visibly stiffened, but said nothing.

Harry found a pebble on the floor and threw it at him. Draco turned.

"I'm sorry, Potter," he said coldly. "I didn't realise a bit of harmless flirting was going to get me attacked by one of your minions."

"You were being an arse, Draco."

"So what?" Draco asked petulantly.

"So you don't have a lot of friends in this school at the moment, in case you haven't noticed," Harry said walking around the cauldron to face Draco. "Even the Slytherins broke your old broom."

"Thanks for reminding me," Draco muttered.

Harry sighed. "Just chill," he said. "We'll be out of school in less than three months, and then people will forget all of this."

Draco looked up at him. "Even you?" he asked seriously.

"What?"

"Will you forget this?"

"Forget what? You?" Harry asked. "What's gotten into you?"

Draco's stare held him. "Are you even gay?"

Harry laughed out loud; he couldn't help it. "Of course I am," he said. "Do you know the last time I was remotely attracted to a woman? It was McGonagall three years ago."

Draco wasn't laughing. "What about ... Weasley?" he asked, and dropped his gaze.

"I'm not sure who you're talking about, but I am not attracted to any Weasleys at the moment," Harry assured him. "Though I'm not sure you could say the same thing."

Draco shrugged. "I was just having some fun with her. You all didn't have to get so upset."

"Maybe next time just ... make your fun a little less public?" Harry suggested.

Draco looked up at him again with a hint of his better humour. "But where's the fun in that?" he asked.

Harry grinned suggestively. "I don't know," he said. "I can think of all sorts of things that can be done ... out of public."

Draco rolled his eyes. "All talk, Mr. Potter."

"Yeah?"

Harry leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed him slowly, wanting Draco to remember it. Draco kissed back at first, but pulled away and looked at Harry.

"What?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head and leaned forward to kiss Harry again. Harry smiled into the kiss and put his hands on Draco's waist.

The door opened and Ginny entered.

"We'll talk later, then," Harry murmured softly.

Draco gave him a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Is that you, Harry?" Ginny asked. "Is Malfoy here too?"

"Yeah, hey, Gin," Harry said. "It's just me and Draco."

Ginny walked slowly into the room with her cane leading her. "What is this all about?" she asked.

Harry and Draco exchanged glances. They hadn't discussed how they were going to put this. Harry hoped fervently that Draco had some sort of plan to phrase things properly.

"Harry?" Draco prompted.

Sod that, then.

"We - well, Draco had an idea to help your ... to help you see," he said, completely aware his words were lacking elegance.

Ginny laughed harshly. "That's nice, Harry, but it can't be done," she said. "The Healers have told me my eyes were cursed so no sight will come of them again."

"No, but listen-" Harry started.

Ginny clapped her hands suddenly. "You listen, Harry. It can't be done." She found the door handle with her hand. "It's a pity, too," she said, "you always had the loveliest smile."

Harry mouthed soundlessly at Ginny who, for obvious reasons, did not see him.

Draco made a noise next to him and the door snapped closed before Ginny could leave. "I told you my offer would be worth your time, Weasley, and leaving now seems almost ... anticlimactic."

Ginny pulled out her wand and pointed it in Draco's direction. It surprised Harry how accurate her aim was.

"Let me leave," she said.

"No," drawled Draco.

"Why?" she screamed suddenly.

Harry was taken aback; he hadn't known Ginny to become irrationally furious. Fiery, sure, but her previous grace with temper seemed to be gone.

"We can help you, Ginny," Harry pleaded. "Please listen to us."

"Fuck you, Potter!" Ginny spat and raised her wand.

"Petrificus Totalus," Draco said quickly, and her body went ridged. Harry dashed forward to catch her before she fell.

"Please listen, Gin," Harry said, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"Weasley, I'm going to release you on the condition that you do not attempt to attack either one of us again," Draco said coldly, kneeling down next to them. "As you cannot nod, speak or blink I cannot actually hold you to your end of the agreement. However, I am going to remind you that there are two of us, and we both have our sight. Also, that the next time you raise your wand at one of us, the body-bind will not be the one used."

He removed the spell and Ginny pushed herself away from both of them. "What do you want?"

"Your cooperation," Draco said pragmatically. "We're not going to try this without your consent."

"Please, Gin," Harry said softly.

"Oh fine," she said, pushing herself to her feet. "What's the worst that can happen anyway?"

"Please sit here, Weasley," Draco said, and Harry was absurdly glad that Draco was taking matters into his own hands.

Ginny sat in the chair Draco pulled up for her and crossed her arms.

"This spell does not allow you to see," Draco explained, "but rather, to hear. Also," he added, "this process is actually two spells, and a potion."

"Great," said Ginny sarcastically.

"The first spell," Draco continued, "helps you channel sound from the environment around you. There must be sound in the room where you are or you will be able to see nothing. Ideally, the sound is coming from you, so if you want to see more than just the general shapes around you, be speaking."

"This is the easy one," Harry put in. "We can do that now if you'd like."

Draco shook his head. "No, her senses would overload and she wouldn't know what was happening."

Ginny made a noise of impatience.

Draco's lip curled a fraction. "We're going to have to do that anyway, but we'll explain the second spell now, so you're not disoriented when we tell you."

"And the potion?" Ginny asked sounding bored.

"It comes later," Harry said, feeling useful. "It just helps you hear better and you don't actually need it, but it will help the process."

"Fascinating."

Draco rolled his eyes. "The second spell will translate the sound in your head into images. Like a bat," he added with some amusement. "Bats can do it naturally but we can't, so this will essentially help you read the echoes around you. The process has some disadvantages: you will not be able to see things far away, so if you're outside, you might not know what's in the distance. Also, you won't be able to see colours or behind glass."

Ginny was silent. Harry became slightly apprehensive.

"Do you understand?" Draco asked.

"Yes," she answered, her voice betraying nothing.

"I'm going to cast the first spell, and then Harry is going to do the second, because he seemed to have figured it out." Draco met Harry's eyes. "After the first one, things may get... weird, but we'll do the second one quickly to help you make sense of the images."

Ginny nodded.

Harry watched carefully as Draco took out his wand and cleared his throat. He said the spell and uttered the incantation. There was a soft burst of light and then nothing. The boys watched for her reaction in silence.

Ginny tilted her head. "What - ohh!" She cried out and clutched her head as she fell to the ground.

"It's the sound," Draco said urgently. "Do it now."

Harry pointed his wand at Ginny and closed his eyes. Concentrating hard, he muttered the incantation three times like their research said was required. There was another burst of light, brighter this time. Harry shielded his eyes.

Draco tugged his sleeve and he opened his eyes. They looked at Ginny who had gone very still.

"Hello?" she said and gasped. She raised three fingers to her mouth. Draco shot a worried look at Harry.

Harry knelt directly in front of her.

"Gin?" he asked tentatively. "Do you want the potion now?"

She shook her head. Harry wished he could see her eyes, but he reminded himself that the spell wouldn't change her eyes.

"Did it work?" he asked.

After a moment she laughed softly. "Harry," she said.

"Yes?" he asked, staring at her intently.

"Harry," she said again. "Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry."

"Gin?"

She suddenly burst into delighted laughter. "Harry!" she cried. "Take off your glasses."

He did. He could see her clearly from this distance anyway.

"Harry," she said and smiled. A single tear ran down her face from under her sunglasses.

All Harry could see was his own reflection in her mirrored glasses so he reached up. "Take off yours," he said and slowly, removed them.

Ginny was there, smiling up at him. Her eyes were filled with tears, and behind the water, Harry could believe that her eyes were staring up at him.

He choked back a sob of his own and covered it with a laugh.

Her smile widened and she started crying harder.

He reached forward and patted her hair.

"Gin?" he asked. "Ginny?"

"Harry," she said, and shook her head, indicating that she couldn't speak further.

He smiled, but gave her a minute. "What can you see?" he asked eventually.

She looked up at him again. "Harry," she said and paused, tears flowed steadily down her face now.

He watched her carefully, and finally she took a shaking breath.

"I can see you smile."

Harry felt tears on his own face now, but he laughed instead of cried. He looked down, shaking his head, and then back up at Ginny who was beaming at him.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah," she breathed.

The sound of a door closing was heard, but neither of them turned.

Harry took her hand and helped her stand. "Do you want the potion?" he asked her. "It's supposed to help you see better."

She shook her head and pulled him into a hug. Extremely pleased, Harry hugged her in return.

Then Ginny pulled away and kissed his lips. Harry was too startled to respond, and too startled to pull away. The kiss was brief and Ginny laughed again when it finished.

"I think I need to go celebrate tonight," Ginny said. "Care to help me wake up a few people?"

Harry grinned. "I might be up for that," he said in a would be casual tone.

She grinned back. "Thank you, Harry."

"Anytime, Gin," he said.

***

That night, as the Gryffindors partied loudly into the small hours of the morning, Draco Malfoy sat in the hall just outside the entrance to the Slytherin common room, unable to go in, and cried himself to sleep.

~

There's another world inside of me

That you may never see

There're secrets in this life

That I can't hide

Somewhere in this darkness

There's a light that I can't find

Maybe it's too far away...

Maybe I'm just blind...

Maybe I'm just blind...