Immortalitas Aestas

The first thing Harry noticed when he awoke, aside from the fact that he was not in his own bed, was that he was freezing. This made him pause for a moment, as it had been a while since he'd even been a bit chilly, before he sat straight up in bed.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, knocking his elbow into something hard, which he noticed through blurry eyes was Draco's head.

"Ouch," Draco mumbled, bringing a hand up to rub the spot where Harry had hit him. "What's got you so excited?" he asked, voice thick with sleep, peering through one eye at Harry, who grinned in response.

"It's cold in here!" Harry said, reaching over Draco to grab his glasses from the nightstand, slipping them on.

Draco sat up then and picked up his wand, muttering, "Lumos," and looking around the room. The light from his wand was bright enough to show their breath, which was creating small puffs of white in the air. "God, it's fucking freezing in here!"

Harry grinned even wider, which was made difficult by the fact that his teeth had started to chatter. Draco rolled out of bed and pulled on his dressing gown, quickly tiptoeing across the room to the fireplace.

"The floor feels like ice," he said, pulling his discarded school robe off the back of the chair and flinging it on the ground to stand on. He quickly threw some logs into the grate and muttered, "Incendio." The logs crackled loudly as they caught fire, popping and snapping in the quiet room.

Harry, meanwhile, had reached down and picked all the blankets up off the floor and was currently huddled under them, trying to get warm. After replacing the fireplace screen, Draco turned from the mantel and ran back to the bed, catching his toe on one of the table legs in the process.

"Ow, fuck!" he yelled, immediately grabbing his injured foot and hopping back to bed, where he collapsed, a string of rather colorful curses falling from his lips.

Harry tried not to laugh, really he did, but the whole situation just seemed so ridiculous that he couldn't help it.

"Oh, shut it Harry," Draco said mournfully, bringing his foot up to get a closer look at it. "I think it's broken. I'll never be able to walk again." He tilted his head back and glared at Harry. "I hate winter."

At this Harry burst into a fresh peal of laughter. "Oh, Draco, don't exaggerate." He leaned forward and kissed the blond on his temple. "Come on, you'll feel better once you've warmed up."

"Look at you, laughing at me, when all I tried to do was make it warmer in here because you were complaining it was cold. I'm under-appreciated, here." Draco kept looking sideways at Harry while he was talking, obviously wanting sympathy, and Harry refrained from reminding him that it was Draco himself who'd complained he was cold.

"Oh, come on now. Just get under the blankets so you can warm up. Thank you for starting the fire, it's already much warmer in here." Harry pulled back the covers and let Draco snuggle in next to him, then yelped as Draco stuck his very cold feet on Harry's shins.

"Draco, your feet are freezing!"

Draco gave him a very smug grin before casting a charm to warm up the sheets, tossing his wand aside. Harry wrapped his arms around him, holding him close. He slid a hand inside Draco's dressing gown, absently running his fingers very lightly across Draco's stomach, who shivered in response.

"Apparently the heat spell is gone," Harry said after a moment.

Draco turned to face him. "It would appear that way. Maybe now things can get back to normal."

Harry started to reply, but was interrupted by a knock on the door, which was so loud in the quietness of the room that he jumped.

"Pansy," Draco said slowly.

Harry felt his eyes widen before he bolted out of bed. Draco threw the covers back and shouted, "Just a moment!" before realizing he'd put a silencing charm on the room and she wouldn't be able to hear him.

"Harry, hide," Draco said unnecessarily, scrambling to pick his wand up off the bedside table. Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak off the floor and had just enough time to get himself covered before Draco ended the spells and opened the door, quickly kicking Harry's shorts out of Pansy's line of vision and behind the door. "Good morning, Pansy."

"Did I wake you?" Pansy asked, taking in his rather harried appearance.

Harry saw Draco take a deep breath before replying, "No. I was just going to take a shower. You knocked right as I was about to get in."

"Oh. Well it appears that the heat spell has been lifted, as I'm sure you've noticed. It's absolutely freezing down here." Pansy paused a moment before continuing. "Your room is a mess. What have you been doing in here?"

Harry bit down on his lip to keep from laughing, and tucked himself closer to Draco's wardrobe. He surveyed the room and noticed that Pansy was right - the room was a disaster. There were clothes everywhere, and the blankets that Draco had thrown off himself were hanging off the bed onto the floor. Harry desperately hoped that Pansy couldn't see the scarlet shirt hanging off the table from where she was standing.

Draco coughed, most likely to get his own laughter back under control before replying "Yes, it is quite a mess, isn't it? I ... was looking for something."

"Did you find it?" Pansy asked, taking a step into the room to get a better look.

Draco smiled smugly. "I certainly did." He surreptitiously turned his body to block her view of the room.

Harry felt himself blush at Draco's tone and heard Pansy say, "Well, that's good," with a bit of confusion in her voice. It was then that Harry realized he was standing completely nude, wearing only an Invisibility Cloak, in Draco Malfoy's room. Somehow he was certain that this had not been what Dumbledore had meant when he'd said, "Use it well."

Half-listening to Draco and Pansy's conversation, Harry scanned the room for his clothing. He noticed his boxer shorts lying near the end of Draco's bed and started inching his way over to them. Draco ended his conversation, saying he'd meet Pansy at breakfast in an hour, and closed the door.

"Harry?" he whispered. "Where are you?"

Harry didn't answer, instead leaning down to pick his shorts off the floor and put them on. Draco gave a slight laugh, obviously seeing them disappear into thin air, and paused a moment before launching himself at Harry, knocking them both to the floor.

"Ouch, Draco, get off," Harry said as Draco pulled the cloak off of him. Harry rubbed at his elbow, which had collided with the bedpost. Draco shifted his weight, straddling Harry's hips, and grinned.

"Gotcha," he said, leaning down and giving Harry a kiss, momentarily making him forget the pain in his elbow. "You need to get out of here. I'm sure your fellow Gryffindors will be wondering what happened to their Golden Boy."

Harry made a face. "Don't call me that. It sounds like something out of one of Rita Skeeter's headlines."

Draco smiled at him and climbed off, offering Harry a hand and pulling him to his feet. "That's where I got it from. Anyway, I told Pansy I'd meet her in a bit at breakfast, so let's get you out of here."

Harry nodded and picked up the rest of his clothing from around the room, putting it on, then slipping his cloak back over his head. He followed Draco out the door and up into the common room. It was empty, so Draco simply opened the door into the hallway and let Harry pass through.

"See you at breakfast," he said quietly.

Harry smiled. "See you." He walked slowly down the hall, hearing the Slytherin door slide back shut. It was very cold in the corridor so Harry quickened his step. He could definitely use a hot shower this morning.

Once he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Harry pulled off his cloak. It wouldn't do to have the door to the common room open all by itself, and he was hoping that it was still early enough that no one would be up.

"Oh, where did you come from?" the Fat Lady asked sleepily as Harry appeared in front of her.

Harry smiled at her. "Golden snitch."

"Of course, dear," the Fat Lady said as she swung open and Harry scrambled through, scrunching his cloak up into a ball. He looked around and was happy to see that the common room was empty; at the moment his brain was too muddled to try to figure out an excuse about why he was just returning to the tower.

He climbed the stairs to his dormitory slowly, noticing that it had gotten quite cool in the Tower as well, although it was a much more tolerable temperature than the dungeons had been. He opened the door to his room, and stopped in the doorway as he realized that Ron and Hermione were sitting on Ron's bed, apparently waiting for him.

"Harry!" Hermione said quietly, keeping her voice low so she didn't disturb the others who were still sleeping. "Where have you been?"

Harry looked at her and blinked. "Er...." He trailed off, gesturing around with his hands. "Around?" he finished lamely.

"We've been waiting for you to get back! We wanted to make sure everything went all right," Hermione said. "Is Draco back okay?"

"Um ... yes. He's fine," Harry said, clearing his throat as he thought about just how "fine" Draco was. "Everything went well, obviously, because it's a lot cooler in here now, in case you hadn't noticed." He grinned at her to let her know he was teasing, and she smiled back.

"Well, good. I'm glad that's out of the way, then." Hermione stood up, straightening out her jumper. "It's nice to get back to normal, isn't it? Or rather, as normal as things ever are around here."

Harry saw Ron roll his eyes and hid a grin behind his hand. "Yes, it is." He walked further into the room and put his cloak inside his trunk, before straightening up.

Hermione gathered up her things; she'd apparently been working on some homework while she waited for him to get back. "Are you coming down to breakfast?"

Harry nodded. "I just need to shower first."

Behind him he heard Seamus stirring, and his head appeared between his curtains. "What's going on in here? Why are you all up already? Did I miss breakfast?" Then, after a brief pause he said, "Hey, it's cold in here!"

Harry laughed. "Yeah. The spell's been lifted."

"Hurrah! Dean, get up you lazy sod, it's not hot anymore!"

Dean opened his curtains and peered out, blinking sleep from his eyes. "What?"

"It's not hot in here anymore, you git! The spell's gone!" At this Seamus leapt out of bed and hugged Hermione, spinning her around in a circle. "We should go for a walk outside in the cold to celebrate!"

Harry shook his head, smiling at Seamus' exuberance, and walked over to his wardrobe to pull out some clothes. Ron had settled back on his bed and was reading Quidditch Through the Ages again, a smile on his face as he listened to Seamus and Dean celebrate the return of the cool air. They were so loud that they woke Neville, who was nearly pulled out of bed and onto the floor by a dancing Dean.

"I'm going to take a shower!" Harry shouted over their voices. "I'll see you at breakfast in a bit!" Hermione nodded at him, then pulled him close.

"Make sure you thank Draco for me," she said directly in his ear so that the others wouldn't overhear. Harry couldn't help the rather wicked smile that spread over his face, which earned him an outraged, "Harry!" from Hermione and a soft smack on his shoulder. "That is not what I meant!" she said sternly, but there was a smile on her face.

Harry shrugged his shoulders, which earned him a pair of eyes rolled skywards, and headed out of the dormitory, ducking to avoid Seamus' excited gesture.

Yes indeed, it was nice to have things back to normal.

***

Draco entered the Great Hall and sat down next to Pansy, who was busy working on a crossword puzzle.

"Was the mail here already?" Draco asked, gesturing towards the puzzle before reaching for the bowl of oatmeal in the center of the table.

"No, this one's left over from yesterday. I still haven't managed to figure out some of the clues," Pansy said, glancing quickly at him. "I usually don't have that much trouble with them but this one is a bit more difficult."

Draco shrugged. "What are you stuck on?"

Pansy shook her head. "Oh, no. I don't want any help. It's more satisfying to do it on my own."

Draco smiled at her. "Yes, it is."

The hall was rather empty, no doubt owing to the early hour on a weekend, but those who had come down to breakfast were back to wearing their normal winter clothing. The drastic change in temperature seemed to be the main topic of conversation; everyone seemed very confused at what had caused things to cool back down but most seemed thankful for the switch.

Pansy folded her crossword up and stuck it in her Transfigurations book, which was sitting next to her plate. "You seem to be a hero, Draco, even if people don't realize it."

"What?" Draco's spoon stalled in midair on the way to his mouth.

"You're a hero. You're the one who ended the heat spell, right? So everyone should be thanking you for making their lives a bit more bearable."

"I didn't end the spell, Pansy. The professors did that. I just got the book with the spell and counter-curse in it."

"What do you mean you 'got the book'? Where did you go last night? And don't shake your head at me, Draco," she said as he did just that. "You told me you'd give me answers and I want those answers now. Where did you go last night?"

Draco sighed, setting his spoon down with a clatter. "I went back to the Manor."

"What? Was that Dumbledore's idea? Or was it Potter's? It was probably Potter's, wasn't it? I told you he always makes others do his job."

"It wasn't Harry's idea, Pansy," he told her with a bit of annoyance in his voice. "Harry didn't want me to go, but I had to. I was the only one who could get in and get the book. So there. That's where I was last night. At the Manor. But as you can see I'm fine so please don't get so upset about it. Everything's fine."

Pansy huffed. "Everything had better be fine, Draco. If it's not, I'll-" She cut off as it became obvious that Draco was ignoring her.

Draco was, in fact, staring across the Great Hall, where a freshly-showered Harry had just entered with Hermione and Weasley. He was wearing one of his usual Weasley jumpers and jeans, and his hair was wet and curled slightly above his ears. Draco felt his mouth go dry, then winced as Pansy kicked him in the leg.

"For heaven's sake, Draco, close your mouth. He's not that gorgeous."

Draco's jaw snapped shut and he turned to face Pansy, eyebrow arching. "Not that gorgeous? Do you have something to tell me?"

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up. I already told you I thought he was good-looking. He's just not good-looking enough to cause my jaw to drop open or to cause me to make a fool out of myself. Which, might I add, is what he does to you."

Draco laughed. "Point taken."

Blaise sat down next to him then, immediately reaching for the bowl of oatmeal and putting some in the bowl in front of him. "Morning. Strange weather we're having, isn't it?" He opened up an old leather-bound blue book and began reading, taking bites of his oatmeal while his eyes scanned the pages.

Draco nodded before returning to his food, occasionally glancing up to once again look at Harry. He was seated between Hermione and Weasley, both of whom seemed to be asking him questions at once. Harry caught his eye and winked and Draco grinned in response. Pansy cleared her throat, and Draco looked at her guiltily.

"Why don't you just go over there and talk to him instead of making eyes at him from across the hall?" She sounded more amused then anything, but Draco scowled at her.

"I was not 'making eyes' at anyone, Pansy."

"Right," she replied, not believing him one bit. "Whatever you say."

Draco reached around her and snatched her Transfigurations book. "Hush. I'm trying to read."

Pansy laughed at that, grabbing her crossword out from between the pages. "Yeah. And I'm auditioning for a play in London tomorrow."

Draco sighed pointedly and opened to chapter sixteen, which they were supposed to have read for class on Monday.

"I've got it!" Blaise suddenly shouted, standing up so quickly he nearly fell over the bench, earning him looks from all around the Great Hall. "I've figured it out!"

Draco looked up at him, as did Pansy, and asked, "What?"

"I've figured it out, Draco! The spell! I've figured out how to do it!" He pulled Draco to his feet. "I can't believe it took me so long! This is so simple!" He was waving his blue book around wildly and Draco ducked to avoid being hit in the face.

"How can we do it?" someone asked from behind Draco, and Draco spun around to see Harry standing there. "How can we make it work?"

"Our rings!" Blaise said, shoving his hand under Harry's nose. "See? We all have them. And Tracey and I figured out ages ago that we just needed an object to use to center the spell. So we can use our rings! That way it's an object that we all have that's always with us!"

Harry tilted his head and looked at Blaise's ring, which was still in front of his face. "I like it," he announced, and Blaise jumped around happily. "Let's call an emergency Adversarius meeting today. Is three o'clock all right? That will give you and Tracey enough time to test it out to make sure it works."

"Three o'clock, that's great Potter. I've got to go wake Tracey up; she's probably still sleeping. Oh, and whatever you did to make the heat go away is bloody fantastic. I thought I'd never be cool again." Blaise rushed by them and out of the Great Hall without waiting for Harry's response; Draco heard his feet hitting the floor before the doors closed.

Harry blinked. "Well. Seems like things are progressing nicely, wouldn't you say?"

Draco had been staring after Blaise but snapped his attention back to Harry at that, and sure enough, Harry was smirking slightly. "Yes," Draco finally said after a moment. "They are. In all regards."

Harry grinned at him. "Right. Do you have time before the meeting this afternoon? I have some things to go over with you about your potion."

Draco, knowing that Harry did not have any questions about his potion, was surprised with how easily the lie came out of Harry's mouth, but hid it, saying instead, "Of course. I'm free right now, actually."

"You are not," Pansy interjected. "You haven't eaten breakfast yet. You can't run off without eating something more than your one bite of oatmeal."

Draco looked down at her. She was staring at him with a rather stern expression on her face and Draco decided that if he wanted any time alone with Harry today he'd better do as she asked; she obviously hadn't yet forgiven him for not telling her about his trip to the Manor.

"Yes, mother," he finally said, and she tsked in annoyance before pointing to the bench. Draco sat, much to Harry's amusement, who couldn't help the laugh that escaped before he coughed to try to cover it up.

"Okay, well, I'll see you after breakfast, then. Does the library sound all right?"

Draco nodded, ignoring the bowl that Pansy purposely shoved into his hand. "That's fine. See you in a bit."

Harry smiled again, and nodded at Pansy. "See you later as well, Pansy."

"Potter," she replied, handing Draco his spoon before returning to her crossword once again.

"What was that all about?" Draco murmured, obligingly taking a bite of his oatmeal after reheating it with a quick spell.

"You need to stop rushing off with him like that. People are starting to get suspicious. Like me." She pinned him with her gaze. "Just what is going on between you two?"

Rather than answering Draco shoved a huge bite of oatmeal in his mouth, using the time it took to chew and swallow to think of a suitable answer. Even then nothing that sounded good had come to mind, so he simply stared at her.

"Draco, I know you care about him. That much is very obvious. And I'm pretty sure that he likes you as well. But you're spending nearly every waking minute with him, which makes me think that whatever it is between the two of you is rather serious, and I just want to know if that's true. I don't like being left in the dark."

Draco opened his mouth to respond, then shut it. Well. Leave it to Pansy to get right to the point.

"We're ... we're, well...." Draco stopped. He and Harry were what? Boyfriends? He winced at the sound of that. He supposed he could simply say they were shagging, but even that wasn't quite true. Together? Yes, he supposed they were together, but then Pansy would want to know what that entailed and he wasn't sure he was ready to tell her. His and Harry's relationship, for that's really what it was, was supposed to be something Draco could keep to himself for a while, something he didn't really want to share with everyone. But he supposed that Pansy had really been patient with him to this point and he did owe her something. He just wasn't sure exactly what to say.

At his indecision Pansy seemed to come to a realization and held up her hand to stop him from speaking. "Nevermind," she said quietly. "You'll tell me when you're ready, like you always do. I didn't mean to push. I just ... are you happy? Really happy? Because that's all I really want, is for you to be happy in whatever you're doing."

Draco sighed and closed his eyes. "Yes. I'm happy. At least as happy as I can be, I think." He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "I'm lucky to have you, you know."

Pansy nodded once. "Yes, you really are. And don't forget it. Now eat your breakfast."

Draco laughed but did as she asked. Yes indeed, he was lucky to have her, and was lucky that she cared so much about him that she was worried about the things he did, even if it was a bit overwhelming or irritating at times.

"Aha!" Pansy exclaimed. "I figured out the clue. It's 'friendship'. Rather fitting, actually, wouldn't you say?"

Draco could do nothing but nod in response, and pulled her in for a hug.