Blast from the Past

Draco sat in the empty observation room for longer than he cared to consider. Finally, deciding that he would just have to snap out of it, he got up, still holding Harry's invisibility cloak, and walked out into the hall.

Coming down the last flight of stairs to the main floor of the castle, he finally realized he'd been sitting - brooding - much longer than he thought. It was daylight and the early risers of the school were already in the Great Hall for breakfast. Draco thought he could get back to his room before anyone noticed; very few Slytherins were early risers. What he didn't count on was one particular red-headed Gryffindor.

"Watch where you're going Malfoy," Ron said just in time for the blond to avoid running directly into him.

Draco looked at the floor quickly, realizing that the conflict with Harry last night was bothering him much more than he expected. "Sorry, 'scuse me."

Ron was still looking in the direction of the Slytherin dorms when Harry and Hermione caught up with him 10 minutes later.

"Earth to Ron?"

"Hmm?" he turned at the sound of Harry's voice. "OH... erm, I - uh - morning."

"Ron, are you all right?" Hermione wasn't use to seeing Ron this distracted unless it was because of her.

"Yeah, fine," he said, coming back to reality. "It was just - Malfoy acted *human* for a minute there. Freaked me out."

The three of them laughed as they headed into the Great Hall for breakfast, two of them completely oblivious to the concerned look and the forced sound of the laughter coming from the dark-haired one in the group.

~*_*~

Potions. Double Potions, with the Gryffindors. Potions with Potter, Harry. Two hours in a dungeon with Harry. Draco couldn't seem to put his finger on the precise reason that he was dreading this class. He'd been getting a lot of comments from his housemates ever since he and Harry became friends. Of course, they didn't know he was friends with the Golden Boy, they just knew that Malfoy was a little different and didn't seem to enjoy harassing said Golden Boy anymore.

He was early, as usual. Draco sat, watching as the rest of the class filtered in, Snape pacing around with his robes billowing behind him. Finally, at the back of the crowd, came the Gryffindor Trio. Draco watched in amusement as the three of them realized there were only three seats left in the room, and that one of them was next to Draco Malfoy. Harry whispered something to his friends and nodded toward the empty seats on the other side of the room. At Hermione's questioning look, he nodded again and the Trio split up. Draco took a deep breath and braced himself against the onslaught of emotions as Harry walked toward him.

As Hermione and Ron sat down, Ron mumbled his concern for Harry and Draco, just loud enough for Hermione to think she'd heard him wrong. She didn't get the chance to ask about it, because at that moment, Snape stopped his pacing, faced the classroom and asked Seamus Finnegan what would happen if he added a handful of peppercorns to an infusion of wolfsbane and Hydra blood. Seamus, of course, didn't know and Snape promptly took 10 points from Gryffindor.

As several Slytherins smirked at this, Harry was distracted by the hand brushing his thigh under the table. He was shocked, nervous and a little excited, but couldn't bear to let anyone, especially Draco, realize how much that touch affected him. He'd begun to realize that he was getting too close to Draco.

'Why is it that I can't just use him for his knowledge and not care what happens to him? I just - ahh, there's his hand again. I've got to find a way to get him to stop that.'

Harry reached down and clamped his hand over Draco's, simultaneously turning to land an uncharacteristic sneer on the boy's face. His resolve nearly faltered when he thought he saw a trace of disappointment in the blue-grey eyes, but it was gone before he could be certain. All he could see, upon truly looking, was the familiar fire of cruelty and joy - the sort of joy Dra-no-Malfoy always got when harassing Harry and his friends. As they glared at each other, the blue-grey eyes became silvery and the sparkling emerald eyes became darker, much like the night in the potions classroom.

Draco held Harry's gaze while telling himself that he didn't feel anything unusual and there was nothing special about that smoldering look. After what seemed like quite some time, but was in reality less than a minute, Draco moved his hand slightly, to let Harry recognize that it held a piece of parchment.

Harry took it, looked down and read ~infuse wb & H-blood, you get empathy potion, add peppercorns, it's a love potion~

Surprised that Draco would be giving him answers, he looked up, suspiciously at the blond Slytherin who had invaded his dreams last night. Harry didn't think he could ever tell anyone that he'd woken up shaking and crying after the dream about Draco's fall from the Astronomy Tower. In Harry's dream, Draco hadn't stopped falling. It was horrid.

Harry was so caught up in the emotions, thoughts, memories, dreams and Draco's note that he didn't hear Snape calling his name.

"MR. POTTER!" Harry jumped, looked at Draco again and then at the very impatient Potions professor with the inky black eyes glaring at him.

'I'm so sick of this.' Harry thought as he gave Snape the same uncharacteristic sneer. He noticed a flicker of questioning in the older man's gaze, but it, too, was gone before he could be certain. "Yes?" He purposely left off the 'sir' simply not being in the mood to indulge Snape's attitude or ego.

"I was asking if you could tell me what happens if you add a handful of peppercorns to an infusion of wolfsbane and Hydra blood. It seems that no one else in your house has been taking the initiative to study, though. Is there any REASON I should expect Harry Potter to know the answer when even his studious friend, Ms. Granger doesn't?"

"What will happen is highly dependant on who is making the potion as well as who drinks the potion and who is around when the potion is taken. As those possibilities are endless I can't see how anyone could answer your question. Were you, however, to ask what the infusion does and how the peppercorns could change that, I would be able to tell you that the infusion of Hydra blood with wolfsbane is an empathy potion, allowing the creator and the drinker to have a temporary emotional connection. The addition of a handful of peppercorns makes it a love potion, which we all know are forbidden due to the total lack of control by the drinker and the complete power held by the object of the inflicted affections."

Snape's eyes widened ever-so-slightly during Harry's response, barely acknowledging his surprise and approval. The other students in the room, however, were doing well to keep their chins out of the empty cauldrons in front of them. Under the table, Harry felt Draco's pinkie finger wrap itself around his own and squeeze, as though silently saying 'Way to go!'

Snape cleared his throat and quietly added 15 points to Gryffindor, causing the aforementioned chins to fall even further. Then, without further comment, he barked out his orders for the empathy potion they would be preparing today, reminding everyone to leave the peppercorns alone.

~*_*~

As they were leaving the classroom, Draco and Harry seemed to take a little longer to put their supplies away, both hesitating in the hopes of talking to each other. Harry went so far as to tell Ron and Hermione he would catch up with them at lunch. Draco glared at Pansy when she tried to hang around waiting for him. Finally, as they left the dungeon classroom, they were the only ones around and Harry took the opportunity to quietly approach Draco about his run-in with Ron that morning.

"What did the Weasel say?"

"Stop calling him that," Harry said. "He didn't say much, just that you nearly ran over him and then you actually apologized to him. We all know you well enough to know that it's not in your normal behavior to apologize to people." This last bit was said with a bit of dry humor but Draco barely noticed it.

"Well, I didn't mean to run over him. I was just, my mind was somewhere else at the time."

"Okay. Oh, and thanks for the help in potions."

"I can't say I was much help. You went into much more detail than I would have expected. Quite a performance you put on there, you sounded like.." he trailed off, not sure he wanted to finish the sentence.

"You?" Harry finished for him. "Listen, can we meet tonight? Maybe 11 or so?"

"Sure, how about the Quidditch stands, that hidden spot near the broom shed?"

"Sounds good, see you then."

~*~*~

Harry walked slowly out to the pitch at 10:45 that evening. He was listening closely, expecting to hear Draco's footsteps or something to let him know when the blond arrived. He hoped Draco would be using the invisibility cloak again, to make sure he wouldn't get into trouble. Of course, as Head Boy, he wouldn't be likely to get in trouble for walking around after hours, but one could never be too safe. Once he got to the designated spot, Harry decided he should be visible, if for no other reason than to avoid Draco's yelling about it again.

It was a new moon and a cloudy night, which meant there was no natural light out there. Not wanting to worry with lighting his wand, Harry had decided to bring a couple vials of the night vision potion. He and Draco would both be able to see each other and their surroundings without the tell-tale wand-lights they usually relied on.

He decided to sit while waiting for Draco and walked over to the broom shed so he could lean back against it. Much to his surprise, when he sat and scooted back toward the wall, he was met with something much softer than the wall. Something that said "Ooohff," very quietly as it breathed on his neck. Harry had to focus for a moment to get the shivers to stop running up and down his spine, but as the breath continued on his neck and he almost felt the brush of soft lips on the sensitive spot behind his earlobe, he found he had no control over the shivers and the best thing to do would be move.

"Harry" The voice cleared up any doubts as to where he was. He was sitting between Draco's legs and those were Draco's lips on his neck. That was definitely Draco's tongue teasing the soft flesh of his neck and those had to be Draco's arms that were now wrapping themselves around his torso and pulling him closer to what could only be the body of one Draco Malfoy.

"Wha..what.." Harry paused. He couldn't do this. He couldn't allow himself to get close to anyone else. Especially not like this. He took a deep breath, reminded himself of the many people he had lost, the others who were injured, the children who were orphaned, the Dark Lord who was determined to hurt anyone and everyone Harry Potter cared about. These thoughts helped Harry to gather his resolve (though not before Draco gently bit Harry's neck bringing a spontaneous moaning/gasping sound from his throat). He pulled away and turned to face Draco with the coldest look he could manage.

Only when he realized that he could barely make out the shape of the Slytherin in front of him, did he remember that there was no light out there and therefore the look on his face would do him no good at all. He would have to rely on his voice.

"Don't do that, Malfoy. I said I wanted to talk with you, not shag you."

"Who said anything about shagging, Potter? You sat in my lap, what was I supposed to do?" Draco didn't know any other way to react to the raven- haired boy when he was in this mood. It was almost comforting, reminding him of the relationship they'd had for over six years, but something deep inside told him he didn't really want it like this. Not being one for introspection, Draco decided that he liked Potter and their light-hearted quarrels were fun, so he went with it.

"It was an accident. I was just.. nevermind, it really doesn't matter. I did need to talk with you though."

"Okay, what about? Are you going to tell me about your new skills now?"

"Um, sure. Let's see, I can appear and disappear at will, I didn't know I could do anything wandless that strongly, and I'm still sorry I startled you. I'm beginning to catch thoughts sometimes, but only when there's a lot of emotion behind them. And, it appears that I'm a seer. I've told Hermione that, but none of the other stuff. I only told her that because she was pestering me to talk about stuff and I didn't want to."

"Have you tested the wandless magic? I mean, aside from last night?"

"No. I'm not really sure what to test it on."

"Why don't you see if you can summon something without your wand?"

"Um.. Accio firebolt"

Harry's broom came rushing from the broom shed and stopped next to him in mere seconds.

"Care to try something else?" Draco said, sounding less impressed than he truly was. Wandless magic is quite powerful and something that is usually done only in times of duress or by the absolute most powerful of wizards. In fact, his parents and their associates had given him access to the knowledge that not even Voldemort was powerful enough to use wandless magic. "Don't use the spells. Just do it."

Harry looked at Draco, contemplating, then quickly shifted his eyes upward. Before Draco could do anything, he was sitting on the edge of the broom shed's roof. "Well, that was a bit..startling. Would you be so kind as to bring me down now?"

Harry glanced at the ground and Draco was gently set on his feet.

Before Draco could say another word, Harry was intently hissing at the back corner of the broom shed. He walked over and knelt in front of what Draco assumed must be a snake. The parseltongue was interesting to listen to, but a bit disconcerting as well, simply because Draco couldn't make out what was being said.

/massster isss powerful..but boy still haunts/

/draco's my friend now..he's not hurting me/

/he hauntsssss..masssters dreamssss/

/it was just a nightmare..because he fell last night/

/massster doesn't sssseeeee..boy hauntsss..massster dessiresss/

/desire draco? I can't/

/you do..sentee can see/

/you are sentee?/

/yessss..and you desire the boy..massster/

/okay, I do, but he's not hurting me/

/master will call sentee if needed?/

/yess/

Harry turned around to face Draco again, searching for his shape in the darkness.

"So, you do realize that the Dark Arts aren't the only reason you can do this, right?"

'Ah, there he is,' Harry thought. "What do you mean?"

"Magic is neutral. Your ability to be invisible, use wandless magic, even talk to snakes, it's because of the amount and strength of your power, not the lightness or darkness of it."

"I..that doesn't make sense. If I had the power to do this stuff before, then why couldn't I?"

"You didn't try. You never knew it was a possibility until you started studying the Dark Arts," Draco paused, considering. "Why DID you start studying the Dark Arts? Why did you suddenly decide after all these years that you wanted to be my friend?"

"Because, there was something that drew me."

"Drew you to darkness?"

'No, drew me to you.' But Harry wasn't about to say that. He wasn't quite prepared to accept what he had just admitted to Sentee, either. "Yes."

"What?"

"The protection."

Draco laughed. "What protection, haven't you been paying attention? Don't you know what Dark wizards tend to do?"

"Yes, but they never do those things to each other, or the loved ones of other dark wizards."

"Have you never heard of the torture Voldemort puts his Death Eaters through?"

"He rarely kills them. And he doesn't touch their families."

Harry heard a choking sound from Draco, a cross between a laugh and a sob. Finally deciding that he needed to see, and realizing that wand-light still might be noticed from the castle, he pulled out the vials of night vision potion and handed one to Draco.

"Here, night vision. I hate talking to people I can't see."

Both of them quickly drank the potion and Harry placed both empty vials back in his pocket. The stood there, eyes closed, for a few moments, allowing time for the potion to take affect.

HARRY's POV

As soon as I opened my eyes, I realized the night vision potion may not have been my smartest idea. I'd managed (after many bizarre dreams and inappropriate thoughts) to stop thinking about the way Draco looked that day in Potions. Once I saw the shimmer of his hair and the pure liquid diamond eyes gazing at me, I was lost again. The desire that ran through my body was like nothing I'd ever felt before. Of course, I'd never really paid THAT much attention to my attractions, preferring to keep to myself as much as possible. But if Sentee could sense this in me, no wonder she worried about the affects Draco could have on my safety.

DRACO's POV

Now I know why I didn't look at Harry in class that day. I'd already been intrigued by his hands, I would have lost all sense if I'd looked into his eyes after taking that potion. I've never seen anything so bright, it was as if he had two miniature suns inside his head and they were shining through a pair of pure emerald contact lenses. They were captivating. Something made him gasp slightly and when he opened his mouth I could see the tips of his pearly white teeth. I longed to run my tongue across those teeth just to see if they were as smooth as they looked. The upward glow from his white collar cast an odd shadow on his face, but the brilliance of his eyes countered it perfectly. I'd never felt so drawn to anyone in my life. Of course, Pansy couldn't be as captivating and beautiful as Harry, and having never even pretended to date someone else.. did I just call him beautiful? Merlin, I'm in trouble now.

Thankfully, before I could say or do anything that would show my foolishness, Harry said the one thing I'd never expected to hear from him.

"I'd like you to write a letter to your father and have him set up a meeting for me with Voldemort."

~*~*~

DRACO's POV

I felt a dull thud reverberate through my body as my knees gave way and I unceremoniously landed on my butt. I couldn't have heard him right. There's no way I heard him right. It's just not possible that he could be that incredibly dim. Or maybe he's got a death wish. That's it. The fame and power has finally gone to his head and he's decided to end it all. He must figure the Dark Lord will be so anxious to kill him that he won't be tortured first.

Torture! I'd nearly forgotten! Those glowing eyes of his distracted me so much that I forgot he's carrying around some altruistic image of Death Eaters in his head. 'He doesn't touch their families' my arse! I can't even count the times I've been put under the Cruciatus curse just so my father would do his bidding. I've heard the stories of other families, Death Eaters trying to bring their children into the fold. Hell, it would seem that some of the students here are already Death Eaters, and my Father's made plenty of comments to suggest that I will become one during the winter holidays.

"Are you sure?"

Of course I'm sure. Hmm, that wasn't my subconscious asking that question was it?

"No, Malfoy, it was me." Harry dropped down to a sitting position in front of me.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you. Are you sure that your father is planning on you becoming a Death Eater?"

"Yes. I thought you said you could only catch random thoughts."

"No, I said that I can catch thoughts sometimes, if there's a lot of emotion behind them. You've been raging with emotions since I came out here."

"Really, like what?"

"Your father used the unforgivables on you?"

"At times." I really didn't feel like talking about it, but I knew I needed to say something to convince Harry that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were not a path for him to choose. "You're wrong, you know. He does hurt family members."

"I'm sorry Draco. Really, I am. I just, I have to do this. I need you to trust me, trust that I know what I'm doing."

"Trust you.." The full weight of the word trust hit me like a ton of bricks. I don't know that I've ever trusted anyone before, well, aside from my father and look how that's turning out.

"You're still a ball of conflicting emotions, Draco."

"Like what kind of emotions?" My mind elsewhere, I simply asked out of courtesy, something to continue the communication between us. I didn't expect the answer that would follow.

"Like anger, shock, fear, desire."

I looked up at the last word, almost relieved that he already knew. It was something I had finally admitted to myself after a few dreams, and I was beginning to hope the feeling was mutual after I found out that he HAD indeed been in my room that night. I think I gasped. Harry Potter is a truly breathtaking beautiful, sensual human specimen. I could tell by the smile that graced his face that he knew exactly what I was thinking. I felt myself moving slowly towards him, unable to break the eye contact. In the space of a few moments, I was diminishing the distance between us, knowing without a doubt that the moment my lips touched his, my life would inevitably change. A sudden horror that it would be a negative change made me want to turn away but I found I couldn't no matter how hard I tried. Our noses were touching, our breaths were mingling together and there were two battling thoughts in my head.

'I've been waiting for this for so long'

'Why can't I turn away?'

Again reading my thoughts, Harry answered me, his lips gently brushing against mine as he spoke. "Me too, and because I don't want you to." Any response I might have had to that was lost in the pure ecstasy of his lips on mine. The heat that spread through my torso was mildly reminiscent of a drink of strong alcohol, but I also felt tingles coursing throughout my body.

~*_*~ The gentle, questioning explorative nature of the kiss quickly turned into a passionate, needful urgency. Harry felt the question on Draco's lips and knew the thoughts that ran through his head. He reached up, placing one hand on the side of Draco's neck, fingers tangling in the pale hair, his thumb gently stroking the smooth skin of Draco's jawbone. He needed to express his desire, needed Draco to recognize and accept it. Harry realized, the moment he said the word desire, the instant their eyes met, that this was exactly what Harry had been needing all year. Contact. He'd been shutting himself off from so much, only finding interest in learning and practicing his new powers. He barely realized that he wasn't experiencing many emotions anymore. It seemed Draco was the only one who could bring emotion to the surface for him.

The two of them broke contact, breathing heavily and staring at each other in wonderment.

"I-uh"

"Me too"

"You said"

"I'm sorry, I guess that was wrong of me, wasn't it?"

"Potter! Would you please stop talking to me before I can finish my sentences? I feel like I'm sleeping through half the bloody conversation!"

"Sorry."

"Thank you. Now, what was wrong of you?"

"Drawing you in. I mean, I guess it was unfair. I just - wanted to."

"What are you talking about?"

"You were wondering why you couldn't turn away before we kissed. You were just about to ask why I said 'because I don't want you to'. I'm explaining. You couldn't turn away because I was drawing you in."

"Did you put a curse on me?"

"My gods, am I THAT bad a kisser?"

"What? No, I mean - aarrgh. I am trying to get you to explain what you meant by drawing me in. Were you controlling me?"

"Yes." He said it so bluntly, so matter-of-fact, like it wasn't a big deal. Like every witch and wizard from the Weasleys up to Dumbledore wouldn't be furious to know that he was using power to control people. Draco simply stared, disbelieving. How could Harry have gotten so strong and not realized it?

"What do you mean? How strong am I?"

'Merlin, he's completely oblivious!'

"I am not."

"Please, Potter, stop reading my mind."

"On one condition. Stop calling me Potter. You haven't called me that in months, at least not when we're alone. I would think after we kissed isn't a good time to start that again."

"Had that kiss been of my own free will, I might agree with you, but I hardly had a choice in the matter. What is it, some silent Imperius curse?"

"No, it's not that strong. It's just, well, I don't know what it is to tell you the truth. I was just thinking that I wanted to kiss you, and I wanted you to kiss me back. I didn't want you to turn away, so I focused on that. And you didn't turn away." Harry was slowly leaning closer to Draco as he said this. The blond simply sat there, staring at the ground, wondering how much truth was in this statement. Once he flicked his eyes upward diamonds and emeralds clicked together and he found himself leaning in for another kiss. Just as their lips brushed each other, Draco leaned back, somewhat startled by the involuntary disappointed whimper from the Gryffindor in front of him.

"Are you still controlling me?"

"No."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Do you trust me?"

Trust, there was that word again. Mere moments ago, Draco had been certain that he could never trust anyone, not after dealing with his father. Looking into Harry's eyes, Draco realized now that his father couldn't possibly touch him the way Harry had. The depth and reality of his feelings settled into his soul with a certainty like nothing he'd ever felt before. He knew it would be some time before he'd reveal it all to the young man in front of him, but for now, it was enough that he recognized it himself.

Draco looked at the other boy in amazement. "You honestly have to ask that? You think I would have any reason not to trust you after the events of the last few days? If you truly wanted to hurt me, you wouldn't have saved my life when I fell."

Harry's eyes darkened noticeably at the mention of Draco's fall. To Draco, vision still affected by the potion, it seemed as though the emeralds had been replaced by something much darker, barely allowing the light to shine through, emotion swirling in the depths of those eyes and suddenly, without warning, a shimmering gem slid down the young man's cheek. Draco reached up, tentatively, and touched the gem. It was wet. He moved to his knees and pressed his lips against the glowing path of the tear, and against the next few tears that followed it. Realizing that he couldn't kiss away every tear, and that he had no idea why Harry was crying in the first place, he simply wrapped his arms around his companion and held him close.

"What's this for?" Draco asked after a few moments.

"I..it was - I had a dream."

"Voldemort?"

"No, it was that night, after I left the tower. I dreamt that you fell. That I couldn't stop you. It was horrible. And I couldn't figure out what to do, I couldn't explain, I didn't even think you'd want to talk to me again because you were mad at me."

"I was?"

"Weren't you? About me sneaking in your room. About me kissing you that night?"

"You silly git." Draco caught Harry's lips in another passionate, yearning kiss, twisting his hands through the messy dark hair, reveling in the sensations caused by the hands that were gently roaming his torso. Pulling back in need of oxygen, he was pleased to see that green eyes were bright and twinkling again. "Do you really think I would have been mad about you kissing me that night, considering that I've been wanting it for ages?"

"Well, I didn't know you wanted it. You thought you were dreaming. I didn't think you would react the same way if you knew it was real, and especially if you knew it was me."

"Oh, but I DID know it was you. I know the sound of your breath, Harry." Draco stopped, suddenly realizing he was getting a bit mushy and that this, er, CONVERSATION (and its accompanying activities) had completely distracted him from the real issue at hand. "You simply CAN'T meet with him. Are you DAFT?"

"What?"

"Voldemort. You can't honestly ask me to set up a meeting. He'd kill you!"

"Well, since we're changing the subject, what about you? You're planning to be a Death Eater by the end of next month!"

"I never said that!"

"You didn't have to, remember?"

"I was thinking about my FATHER. HE wants me to become a Death Eater. It's quite different."

"And what do you want, Draco?" Harry's voice had begun to get that demanding, closed off tone in it again. The same tone that had mildly excited Draco on many occasions, starting with that night in the potions classroom, the night they finally shook hands. The same tone that now excited him and mildly disturbed him simultaneously. Unbidden thoughts and images of EXACTLY what Draco wanted began flashing through his head. His heart started racing, his breath came slightly faster, his pants began to get just a little tighter.

"Draco!" Harry's voice interrupted a very strong train of thought. "I meant," he said slowly, "what do you want to do about your father's wishes? Are you looking forward to becoming a Death Eater?"

"It's not truly something one looks forward to, Harry. He places his potentials under the Cruciatus curse until he's satisfied with the volume of their screams, then he puts them under Imperius and makes them fulfill whatever twisted desires he can come up with at the time. There's a test for loyalty, usually involving the torture and/or murder of some Muggles, then finally, once he's determined they're worthy, he paralyzes them so they can't twitch or move or squirm with the pain of the Dark Mark being branded onto their arm. Now tell me, Harry, if you want to meet him so badly, if YOU are thinking about becoming a Death Eater, is that something YOU would look forward to?"

"I never said I was planning to become a Death Eater. I just.."

"You never really answered me, either. Why is it that you've suddenly decided after all this time that you wanted to learn the Dark Arts. This isn't just about defending yourself against them, is it?"

"I told you," Harry's voice was quiet again. "Protection."

"I'll protect you," Draco's voice was just as quiet.

"It's not me I'm worried about."

"You're never going to tell me what's really going on in that gorgeous head of yours, are you?"

"You really think I'm gorgeous?"

"Stop changing the subject, Potter. You can be so frustrating sometimes."

"I thought we'd agreed that you wouldn't call me Potter anymore."

"Sorry, but will you?"

"Will I what?" Harry smirked, teasing the blond in the hopes that he would drop the uncomfortable topic so they could get back to the enjoyable activities they'd recently discovered together. He reached one hand up, caressing Draco's cheek and rubbing his thumb over the still kiss-swollen lips.

"Will you stop that and pay attention to me. I'm asking you to tell me what you're up to. What kind of kooky plan do you have and how do you expect Voldemort to help you?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Because, the less you know, the safer you'll be," Harry was beginning to get quite emotional.

"My father is Lucius Malfoy, my safety has already been determined."

"You know that he'll keep you safe?"

"No. But I know that if he doesn't want me safe, or his Lord doesn't want me safe, then I won't be."

"You know that if anyone find out about us, you won't be safe, right?"

"I know."

"We should go in, get some sleep. It's got to be getting late."

"Right. You're right." They both stood, stretching out the cramped legs that had been folded underneath them. Harry intertwined his fingers with Draco's, pulling him close and meeting his lips once again. The kiss was sweet, lingering and slightly passionate.

Once they finally broke apart, green and gray eyes met each other, staring, seeking answers to unasked questions. Draco took a deep breath, gathered his nerve, and finally asked, "So, what are we?"

"I don't know, Draco. We're..different."

That seemed to be the best answer either of them could comprehend at the time. The smiled at each other once more, then Draco donned the invisibility cloak, Harry made himself invisible and they silently walked back to the castle and attempted to get some sleep.