Alright. So when I started this one, I knew it was going to be a bit longer, I thought maybe around 10k. Except then I got to 25k and I wasn't done, so I've had to split it into three or four chapters rather than just a oneshot. Haha. I'm also not super happy with how this turned out, Harry kind of...Came out a bit different from what I expected. But, oh well, here we go.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the title, which comes from Nobody Wins by the Veronicas.

Harry Potter pursed his lips together as he glanced across the courtyard. Hermione Granger had her head buried in a book and Ron Weasley was splitting his time between staring toward the field where the cheerleaders were practicing, and digging into the nachoes that he had decided to take a chance on from the cafeteria. Either way, neither of his best friends were paying any attention to him, which meant that he was free to stare across the courtyard to where Draco Malfoy was standing with his friends.

How the hell did the guy never tan?

It was just coming to the end of summer, a brand new school year, and he was still ridiculously pale.

His hair had grown out since Harry had last seen him, since school ended a few months ago, and it kept flopping forward, over his forehead, getting in the way of his eyes, and Harry felt annoyance tug at his stomach at the fact that he wasn't the only one who had noticed.

Pansy Parkinson seemed to be finding any excuse she could to reach out and touch it, tangling her fingers through the floppy strands and pushing it away from his face.

Harry wanted to do that.

Harry wanted to be the one climbing all over him and acting as though he had every right to be touching his face and playing with his hair.

But, no.

No.

Instead, he was on the opposite side of the courtyard, mooning over one of the biggest twats in their school as though the past year hadn't happened.

"Harry," Hermione's voice was quiet and Harry's head snapped to the side, in an attempt to hide the fact that he had just been staring at the blonde. Hermione's expression was gentle and knowing as she reached out a hand to touch his arm. "You can't keep doing this to yourself. It's not fair." Harry sighed, because he knew that she was right, it was just hard to act as though everything was okay. "You don't have to be okay," she continued, as though she knew everything that was going through his head, an uncanny habit of hers. "But you can't torture yourself." Harry managed a small smile and Hermione gave his arm a comforting squeeze.

"What's this about?" Ron asked, twisting his head to look at them, as though only just realizing that they had been talking.

"Nothing, Ron," Hermione sniffed out before going back to her book. Ron sent Harry a quizzical look but then lost interest quickly and went back to staring at Lavender Brown, the captain of the cheerleading squad, who was doing a row of perfect back flips, her long legs flying. "You know you're gross, right?" Hermione snipped at Ron, who didn't even bother looking at her, just pulled the fingers and went right on staring.

It didn't take much to fall back into the normal routine of school, although Harry was very glad that this was going to be their last year. He and Ron had a plan to go on a trip once they graduated, travel around Europe and make their way over to America, work and explore for a year before coming back to go to University. Of course, Hermione was going straight to university, probably to do twelve degrees at the same time. Harry absolutely adored Hermione but she was very intense, always had been, and that had been really good for the past year and for this year in their final years of school, keeping Harry and Ron up to date with their homework and not wasting away their time constantly, but he was looking forward to a break from having to study so hard.

Plus, his Uncle Sirius had said that his parents would have wanted him to take a year off, to have some fun after school and to go out and explore the world, so Harry felt confident in his decision.

And now...He was even more certain, because he was going to need a big distraction to push down all these feelings that he had for Draco.

It was a few months into the school year, just before they were about to break up for the autumn holiday and people were packing up when Cedric Diggory came up to Harry. He was Head Boy, so he was one of the few in the boarding school who got a room to himself, and he also wasn't assigned to Harry's dorm, so it was a bit strange for him to be there.

"Hey, Harry," Cedric said with an adorable half smile. Harry was just one of the many people in the school who had had a crush on Cedric at some point or another, and so him showing up just to see him made his cheeks redden a little.

"Hey, Cedric," Harry gave him a curious smile.

"I was wondering if you were heading back to Chelsea? That's...That's where you live, right?" Cedric asked, looking a little nervous, especially when Harry's eyebrows rose.

"Uh, y-yeah. Yeah, I do. A-and I am," Harry stammered and Cedric grinned, licking his lips quickly before continuing.

"I was wondering if you wanted to sit together on the train there?" Cedric asked and Harry's eyes widened, and he was obviously quiet for a while because Cedric's smile started fading and then there was a pointed cough from behind him, from where Ron was pretending to be packing his bag.

"Y-yes! Yes, that sounds...Fun," Harry managed to get out, and then Cedric's smile returned full force and Harry grinned, although there were butterflies flooding his stomach, feeling a little uncertain but still happy with the turn of events.

"Great, I'll see you there?" Cedric asked and Harry nodded. Cedric waved awkwardly at Ron before smiling once more at Harry and then leaving them. Harry turned around to face his roommate and one of his best friends and gave him a quizzical look.

"I think you just got asked on a date," Ron said with a grin. "You dog." Harry rolled his eyes, but he kind of agreed with Ron—which didn't happen too often. They finished packing their things and then headed downstairs, Ron talking about how he and Lavender had plans to meet up in the first week, which Harry wasn't going to tell Hermione, because that wasn't something he wanted to get in the middle of. There were a couple of buses outside the school to take students to the train station, although there were also some parents there to pick up their children, and there were two long, black stretch limos.

And Draco was in front of one of them.

He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a maroon sweatshirt that clung to his slim figure and his long arms. His hair was even longer and it was catching in the breeze, and Harry swallowed hard as Draco's head tilted to the side as though he could sense someone looking at him. He searched the crowds of students around him, skimming over his group of friends—the 'rich kids' who were heading toward Wiltshire—and then over a bunch of first year students who were all squealing and bouncing, excited about going home, before they met Harry's.

Draco's eyes widened and his lips parted, as though surprised that Harry was watching him. Harry knew that he should look away, that he should distract himself, maybe strike up a conversation with Ron, but he didn't. He just kept on looking at Draco, and even with the distance between them, he could see the way Draco's expression shifted, from the neutral, almost bored expression if had been before, to the softer, almost sad one that it was now.

"Harry?" Cedric's voice was suddenly so close to him, and it jerked Harry's attention away from Draco, his head whipping to the side. "You ready?"

"I'll see you next week, right, Harry?" Ron asked hopefully as he began backing toward his own bus, to take him to a train that would take him to his family home in Devon.

"Yeah, I'll be there on Thursday!" Harry called out so Ron could hear him, and Ron smiled widely and waved before turning around, leaving Harry and Cedric alone. Harry wanted to look over his shoulder, back in the direction of where Draco had been, but he forced himself not to. "Let's go," he said to Cedric with a smile, and Cedric grinned back.

Things with Cedric were...Easy.

They were comfortable. It was kind of like being with Ron and Hermione.

His godfather and guardian, Sirius Black—who he just called Uncle Sirius—liked Cedric as well, which was good, because they spent almost every day together Harry left to go to the Weasley's. Some of the time they had hung out at Harry's home, but Cedric had quite a social life, and he took Harry out to a few underground music gigs where they had to use fake ID's to get in—Cedric 'knew a guy' who got one for Harry quickly. He went out to the park with Cedric and a few of their friends, and so Harry decided to introduce Cedric to his tiny place that he and Sirius went to quite often which did incredible milkshakes.

Cedric kissed him on the Tuesday, two days before he left to go to the Weasley's. It was soft and sweet and Harry liked it, but it wasn't...It wasn't fireworks and sparks exploding over his skin like Draco.

But maybe that was a good thing.

Because Draco had just stopped talking to him and acted as though what they had had never happened.

So Harry decided that he wanted to give this a go, with Cedric.

Harry spent almost a week with the Weasley's, and Hermione came out as well for a few days, and there was a party on the Saturday night that they took a train to get to because it was at Seamus Finnigan's place. Cedric was texting him and send him snapchats and Lavender practically bounced on the fact that one of Ron's friends was in a 'relationship' and tried to push that agenda onto him, but it seemed as though Ron's attention was elsewhere.

On Hermione.

Who was looking beautiful—and probably the most clothed person at the party—in a pair of jeans and a flowery top that tied behind her neck and was missing half the back. She was also talking to Viktor Krum, an exchange student from Bulgaria, and laughing and tossing her hair and Harry was honestly happy for her, even if it was Ron that he felt a little bad for now.

The next morning, Harry woke up with a pounding hangover and a bunch of messages on his phone, and he cringed when he saw that he had been drunk texting Cedric.

Nothing bad, thankfully, but it did start getting a little sloppy and dirty near the end and he decided to deal with it later rather than apologize now while he felt as crappy as he did. He dragged himself out of the spare bedroom, where Hermione had shared his bed, and Ron was on the ground with a blanket tangled around his legs and a vivid penis draw on his face, reaching toward his mouth, and got himself down the the bathroom. He splashed water on his face and then went to the kitchen where Seamus, Cho Chang and Ginny Weasley were already crowded, all looking as bad as he did.

Harry got back into London on the Wednesday and Sirius picked him up from the train station. They went out for dinner and Sirius asked about a hundred questions about how things had gone at the Weasley's, even though he probably knew most things anyway, since he and Arthur Weasley worked for the same company, even if they were at different branches, and they were close friends.

Cedric asked to meet up, but Harry was tired from his trip, so he pushed it off until the next day. He fell asleep almost as soon as he got home, not even bothering to unpack. The next morning, he sorted out his clothes, most of them needing to get washed before he just put them back in a suitcase since he would be heading back to Hogwarts on the Sunday morning. Sirius had already left for work when Harry came down, which was normal, and Harry didn't bother eating before he was heading out the door, toward the bus to meet up with Cedric.

They did a lot more than kiss over the next few days, although Harry wasn't quite ready to go all the way with him, since he had only done that with one other person, and that person had been someone that he had strong feelings for. Cedric obviously had no problem with that, which made things easy, and there was some other party on Saturday that was a bit more upper class than the ones that Harry usually went to. It was at Fleur Delacour's parents apartment, apparently they were out of town, so she was throwing a back to school kind of bash.

Harry didn't know many people that were there, they weren't the people he usually hung out with, although Viktor was there, and he came over and talked to Harry for a bit, although he suspected that was just to ask about Hermione. He flicked off a text to her, telling her that Viktor had mentioned her, and that was when he heard a high pitched laugh that grated at his ear drums and was frustrating familiar.

Pansy.

He pursed his lips together as he saw the dark haired girl come into the apartment, already looking pretty drunk, with Blaise Zabini. He had managed to push down all thoughts of Draco pretty effectively over the holiday, although at night they were still there, at the edges of his dreams, but seeing his two best friends just brought things back full force.

So when Cedric asked if he wanted a drink, he took it, and then he took the next one, and the one after that. He played beer bong, paired up with Terry Bott, against Cedric and Viktor, and he got even more drunk, even though he really wasn't a fan of beer. Afterwards, Cedric pulled him into the dark kitchen, and it was clear that he was drunk as well from how flushed his cheeks were, and he sort of ushered Harry into a corner for pressing his lips against his. Harry liked how heavy and loose his body felt, and Cedric was a good kisser, swiping his tongue against the seam of his mouth before Harry parted his lips. Their tongues tangled together and Harry shuffled his feet a little before Cedric's less pressed between his, his thigh against where Harry was hard in his jeans.

Harry let out a moan, and he was panting, and he dropped his hand from where it had been gripping Cedric's shoulder and between their bodies, rubbing Cedric through his jeans. Cedric was making these breathy sounds that Harry liked, but couldn't help but think didn't sound right, they didn't sound like—

"Fucking hell!" There was the sound of shattering glass and a hiss that tore both of the teenagers apart, their wide eyes going to the entrance of the door where the sound had come from.

Draco.

When the hell had he gotten there?

Harry blinked, completely unsure of what to do, and he was glad that Cedric's body was in front of his, mainly sheltering him, and he leaned his weight against the bench as he stared at Draco. Draco's eyes flickered between him and Cedric once before settling completely on Harry, and the expression on his face was unrecognizable.

"Uh, Draco?" Cedric's words were a little stilted, but clear. "You think you could give us some privacy here, mate?" Harry blinked again, still feeling awkward. Draco's lips were parted, and there were shards of broken glass on the ground from the bottle he had dropped, but his attention was still on Harry. Cedric just looked confused, and he raised an eyebrow. "Draco?"

"Right," Draco muttered out, seeming to shake himself out of his awkward haze. "Right." He stood there for another few beats before suddenly whirling around and stalking off. Cedric turned back to Harry, but he seemed to be aware that the mood was broken and he pulled back, asking if he wanted to leave.

Harry did, but not with Cedric. At least, not in the way Cedric was implying.

It felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him, and the next morning as he was getting on the train, saying goodbye to Sirius, he was still trying to figure out what he was feeling.

The next few months at Hogwarts passed uneventfully, which was probably for the best. Things with Cedric were still happening, and even though it seemed as though everyone in the school knew that something was going on between them, there was nothing official. Cedric didn't ask for anything more than what they were doing, and Harry was relieved, because even though he really liked Cedric, he still wasn't certain that he liked Cedric as much as Cedric seemed to like him.

Hermione was very obviously disappointed, because she could see it when they were together, but she didn't say anything.

Ron was oblivious, completely wrapped up in his own world that was now completely focused on Hermione and her new relationship with Viktor.

Christmas and New Years came and went and Harry tried to focus on his classes. Chemistry was always his downfall, but Professor McGonagall had a soft spot for him and didn't mind spending extra time with him after class. Hermione was helpful as well, although her way of tutoring really didn't meld with him.

Draco had been the one who had really helped him last year, after they had first started bonding, but that really wasn't an option anymore. So he struggled through, with help from the Professor and from Hermione, and then also from Neville Longbottom, who had a lot more patience than Hermione. His other classes were all doing pretty well, and lacrosse season would be coming up soon, so he and Ron and some of the other guys who had been on the team last year were starting to practice out on the field after classes finished for the day, before the bells rang for dinner.

It was the day after Valentines Day when Cedric presented him with a single rose. It was cheesy but Harry had grinned because it was sweet. They weren't really seeing each other so much anymore, mainly just when they went home for long weekends, they would hang out and sometimes make out and get each other off, but it wasn't as...It wasn't written in stone, like it seemed to be heading last year.

Plus, Harry was pretty sure that Cedric had a thing for Cho, which Harry totally supported, because she was awesome, and if they both really liked each other, then they should go for it.

It was still nice that Cedric was still thinking of him, though.

But the day after that, two days after Valentines Day, there was a bouquet of daffodils—his favourite flowers because they reminded him of his mother, from perfume he had found, tied together with a red and gold ribbon—the Gryffindor house colours. Harry frowned down at them, running his finger up the long stems and had then pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Ron, to know if he knew anyone who had come by their room, but Ron was unhelpful, muttering about how he had followed Viktor and Hermione down to the back of the field.

Which was creepy.

Seriously, Harry was done with the pair of them.

He knew for a fact that Hermione was just fooling around with Viktor to wind up Ron.

She seemed to like him well enough, but not at all in the way Viktor liked her.

Kind of...Like Harry and Cedric, but Harry couldn't dwell on that right now.

The fact that the flowers were in his room, didn't really narrow things down. It wasn't as though their dorms were off limits to other houses or anything, and their rooms themselves were generally left wide open, so anyone in their actual dorm could access their room at any time.

Harry frowned as he picked up the flowers, and then he shrugged, and buried his face in the daffodils, taking in a deep breath of their strong, incredible scent.

The following weekend, they were all in the common room. Seamus had smuggled in some bottles of cheap vodka that his older cousin had brought for him last weekend when he had gone home. Hermione was there—not with Viktor, and Ron was there—not with Lavender, and the pair of them were sitting pretty close to each other. Harry grinned when he saw Hermione flush as Ron's thigh pressed firmly against hers, and he returned his attention to where Seamus was playing pool with Dean Thomas and a couple of the others from the house were watching when Neville looked up from where he had been awkwardly flirting with Luna Lovegood.

"Hey, Harry? Did Draco find you the other day?" He asked. Harry felt his whole body jolt, and even though the question hadn't been asked particularly loud, it had drawn the attention of Ron and Hermione, both who looked over with a frown.

"Uh...No? When?" Harry asked, attempting to keep his voice even. Neville didn't notice anything off, but Luna tilted her head to the side, regarding him curiously.

"Last week, I totally forgot about it. I think...The Thursday or the Friday?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Nah, he didn't," Harry mumbled, shaking his head, and Neville looked at him for a moment longer before shrugging again and then turning back to Luna. He started talking, but Luna kept on looking at him with that usual, gentle but knowing look of hers, for another long minute, before she looked back at Neville, shifting her attention back to the taller boy. Harry frowned down at the plastic cup in his hand, half filled with vodka and some weird grape soda, and then looked over at Hermione and Ron.

"Friday was when the daffodils were left in the your room," Hermione said gently, making sure to keep her voice quiet enough that no one else could hear. "Did you ever tell Draco you liked them?"

He did.

It had been on one of the very few occasions that Draco was in his room, it was over a weekend when most people had gone home, including Ron, and so Draco had come over and they had been making out and almost naked on his bed. Draco had flipped them over, wanting to go on top—which wasn't particularly surprising—and he had knocked a book that had been balancing on the corner of Harry's bedside table onto the ground. It had spilled open and the book mark had fallen out.

A pressed daffodil.

Draco had snorted in surprise as he reached down to pick it up, easing his thighs down so that his ass was pressed right over Harry's erection, and he had raised an eyebrow in question. Harry had tried to brush it off, but Draco had pushed it, teasing that a girl had given it to him.

It had completely ruined the mood for Harry to talk about his dead mother, and how one of the few things he remembered about her was the smell of daffodils, her favourite flower, and she had a perfume that she always wore that smelt like it—a perfume that had been half full when she had died, and he had found in her things when he had gone through them a few years ago. Draco had put the flower down—very gently—on the bedside table and wiggled down onto the bed with Harry, wrapping his arms around him tightly. Harry had been surprised, but relieved, and Draco had kissed his shoulder a few times and they had fallen asleep.

It had definitely been one of the fewer moments between them that soft and sweet.

"I did," Harry breathed out, his breath feeling as though it was physically blocking up his throat. He cleared his throat, threw back the rest of his drink and then got up and left the common room.

Part of him wanted to storm across the grounds to the Slytherin dorms, where he knew Draco was, because he hardly ever went home, except on holidays where the school actually shut down completely. But he stopped himself, because at the end of the day, Draco obviously hadn't wanted to see him. The flowers had been there when he had gotten back from playing a friendly game of lacrosse with some of the boys, which happened every Friday, so when Draco had come by, he had known that Harry wouldn't be there.

Harry really didn't know if finding out that Draco had been the one to leave the flowers made him feel better or worse.

He was pretty sure it was worse.

Because things like that just reminded him how sweet and caring he really could be, when he tried.

Harry went back to his and Ron's room, going straight to bed and turning to face the wall, away from where the bunch of daffodils were in a glass vase that Hermione had leant him on the bedside table.

Harry spent the next week avoiding Draco even more than usual. It wasn't as though he had been searching him out before, but now he made sure that he kept his eyes trained forward, or on his work if he was in a class with Draco, and when they were out lunch break, he would sit with his back to the courtyard or to the field, wherever Draco and his friends were, so that he couldn't watch him. Hermione tried to talk to him about it, but even though her intentions were good, Harry shut the subject down every time she tried to even broach it. Ron didn't try to talk about it, just asked if he wanted him to throw the flowers out, which Harry really didn't want, and so Ron had shrugged and moved on, knowing that this wasn't something that his best friend wanted to discuss.

The two week spring holidays came up, and Harry went home to Sirius. Cedric sat with him on the train back, and so did one of Cedric's friends, and when they got back to London, Cedric told Harry that he was going to ask Cho out on a date when she came into the city next week. Harry just grinned and nudged him with his elbow, because while he was going to miss the kissing and the other stuff that followed, he didn't like Cedric in the way that Cedric deserved to be liked, so he was happy for him.

Sirius had taken a few days off work to spend with him, and then surprised him with a trip to West Sussex, to the beach. One of the perks that came with his uncle's job was that there were holiday homes owned by the company that he could book in, and he had managed to get one out in West Wittering for three nights. The water wasn't warm enough for swimming, but they still spent a lot of time out on the beach, and Sirius asked him about school and Ron and Hermione, and then told him about work. Apparently his department had a big meeting coming up with one of the CEO's. There were lots of lay offs happening, and so they were all working twice as hard as usual.

Harry asked if Sirius had anything to worry about, and Sirius had just given him an easy smile, ruffling his hair like he had been doing since he was a little kid, and told him that even if things went in the worst way, they would be okay. Sirius and Harry's families were both filled with money, they just didn't show it off like so many did, and so financially they would be okay if Sirius lost his job. But Sirius liked his job and he liked working, which was more what Harry was meaning.

They didn't talk about it again, but Sirius truly didn't seem too worried, so Harry wasn't either.

Ron came into the city the day after they got back from the beach, and Harry got him a fake ID from the same guy that he had gotten his from with Cedric, and they went to a few bars in town. They got drunk and played pool and got back to Grimmauld Place stinking of beer. Sirius had rolled his eyes and muttered that at least they had the good sense to come back in an uber, and had made sure they both drank water and took painkillers before they went to sleep.

It turned out that Ron had drunk dialed Hermione while they were out, to Harry's amusement when his best friend had realized the next day. But it all turned out for the best, because it seemed as though Ron had admitted his love for her, and Hermione called him that afternoon to see if he had been telling the truth or if he had just been drunk.

Ron was bright red as he said that he did love her.

Harry was happy for him.

Ron stayed for another few nights, and then both of them packed up and took the train to the Weasley's. Harry was staying there until the holidays were over, and Hermione was going to be coming for the last weekend as well. Molly Weasley fussed over Harry when they got there, just like she always did, smoothing back his unruly hair and giving him a kiss on the forehead and then ushering him into the kitchen where she was baking her third lot of cookies. Ginny was helping her out, and she gave Harry a shy smile as he came over to give her a tight hug. Other than Ginny and Ron, the only other children still living at home were Fred and George Weasley, but they were working full time and weren't home until after dinner.

Arthur got home later that evening, looking tired but still giving his family a big, joyful smile when he saw them all around the table, giving them each a hug and a kiss, including Harry. He helped himself to dinner and joined the boisterous conversation around the table. It was later on that evening, when Harry was on the pull out stretch from underneath Rons bed, that Ron mentioned his dad had a lot going on at work.

It turned out the lay offs were affecting Arthur's branch as well, at work, and unlike the Black and the Potter families, they didn't come from family money, and Arthur's job was one that was definitely needed. Ron was clearly worried, and Harry felt bad for his friend. They were just about to go to sleep when Ron spoke again.

"Fucking Malfoy," he muttered. Harry frowned into the darkness of the bedroom.

"What's Draco got to do with this?" He asked, hating the way his stomach jumped when he said the boys name out loud.

"Draco?" Ron sounded confused. "No, Lucius, his father. He's one of the CEO's of the company. He's the one that's deciding that outsourcing jobs is cheaper and better than keeping it all local. That's the reason that there's so many lay offs happening." Harry's whole body stiffened at that news. "You...You didn't know?" Ron asked and Harry shook his head. Ron wouldn't have been able to see the gesture in the dark, but he must have surmised from the silence that he hadn't. "Yeah..." Ron mumbled. "He's my dad—and your uncles—boss."

Harry thought about a lot over the last few days of their holidays.

And it was good that he had a lot on his mind, or he probably would have spent most of the time disgusted at how much making out Ron and Hermione did. They had years to make up for, so he could give them that, but it still wasn't something that he wanted to be around. Ginny hung out with them a lot, and she was funny, so she also helped to distract Harry, but most of the time, he thought about Draco.

It fucked him off how much he thought about Draco.

He had been trying to get over Draco for almost a year now, and it just wasn't working.

The first time that they had hooked up had been after gym class. He and Draco had never really hung out, their social circles just weren't the same. When they had first started at the school, Draco had made a few moves, as though he was trying to be friends with Harry, but the guy was an arrogant twot, and Harry just hadn't been interested. They didn't have a bad relationship or anything, they just didn't have one at all. It had been weird, the way Draco had started looking at him recently—ever since seeing Harry and Oliver Wood making out one weekend—and Harry couldn't shake the prickling that skittered over his skin as Draco's silver eyes tracked his movements to the shower.

Draco had been blunt about it, when Harry had come out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, and he had asked Harry if he was gay. Harry had been jolted by the question, but it wasn't something he tried to hide about himself, it just wasn't something he screamed from the rooftops. So he had nodded. Draco had bitten at his lower lips and had then stepped forward, almost nervous, which was something that Draco had never looked before. Then he had kissed Harry, urgent and hard.

At first, Harry had gone along with it, then he had pulled back and raised an eyebrow, stating just because he was gay, didn't mean he was attracted to Draco—didn't mean he was attracted to every male. It didn't work like that. Draco had rolled his eyes and mumbled that he knew that, but...He was hoping that Harry was attracted to him.

It sucked that he was.

All of this angst and heart break would have been avoidable if he wasn't.

But even though they had never really gotten on, Harry couldn't help but check Draco out a couple of times, especially when they were in gym class, and sometimes when they were just in the classroom, and it was obvious how intelligent Draco was, even if he didn't try all that hard.

So Harry had gone along with it.

And then it had kind of just evolved from there.

They had been making out every now and then, which had then graduated to exchanging phones numbers. They had been tentative about texting at first, but then texts turned to snapchats and phone calls. And that was when they started planning their meet ups, rather than just awkwardly gesturing at each other when they happened to end up in the same place at the same time. Draco had never been with any other male, only girls, but for what he lacked in finesse, he made up in enthusiasm, and he loved going down on Harry, and had a thing for Harry coming on his face. Harry had no problem being the one that Draco experimented things on—even if he didn't have all that much more experience that Draco himself—and the more time they spent together, the more he realized that he wasn't just physically attracted to the blonde, it was more than that as well.

The pair of them weren't dating, they were never a thing like that. But they studied together a couple times a week in the library, or out the back of the school, and they would hang out at the occasional party that both of their social circles were at. Ron and Hermione knew what was going on between them, and Blaise, who was Draco's roommate, knew what was happening as well, but it was still something that Draco wanted to keep quiet.

Draco wasn't out because he didn't really know what he was. He said quietly at one stage that he might be bisexual, because he definitely liked girls, but then he really liked Harry, who was a guy. Harry tried telling him that it was okay, that he didn't need to have a label, but he seemed to have a hang up on them. Harry was pretty sure it was more that Draco just hadn't fully accepted that about himself yet, and he was still worried about coming out to his friends, and especially his family, how they would react.

Harry could understand that.

He couldn't relate to it, because he had always known that Sirius would love him, no matter what, and he had been best friends with Hermione and Ron since he was a kid, and they were the ones that helped him realize that he was gay.

But he could still understand it, and so he never pushed it.

Even when their fooling around turned to something more, like the study dates, and the going into town together in the weekends, and getting together to talk and laugh rather than to make out or have sex, Harry didn't push anything, because it wasn't his place to move along Draco's timeline. As he much as he wanted what they were doing to be more public, to be able to hold Draco's hand in public or kiss him in front of their friends, he still didn't even know if Draco wanted a relationship or if he thought that they had just...Become friendly in among all the making out.

Harry really hoped not.

Because he was falling in love with Draco.

It was a month before the school broke up for the year, just before their exams were due to start, that Draco had gone home to Wiltshire to see his parents. He didn't talk about his parents much, but from small things he had said, Harry had surmised that he adored his mother, and had a very tumultuous relationship with his father. He didn't usually go home, other than holidays where he had to, but when Harry asked if there was a particular reason why he was going back for the weekend, Draco had just shrugged, not really answering his question.

And then when he got back, it was like the past six months just hadn't happened.

He stopped replying to Harry's texts while he was away, and he continued ignoring them once he got back. Harry tried ringing him at one point, and that was when he realized that Draco had actually blocked his number.

When that had settled over him, it had felt like a kick to the chest.

He had no idea what happened.

Harry had tried to talk to him in the lockers rooms after they had finished in gym class, and then when they were leaving classes that they had together, and he had gone over to the Slytherin dorm rooms and had gone up to Harry's room, but Blaise had opened the door and given him an awkward look and said Draco wasn't there, even though the kid who had let him into the dorm rooms had said that they were upstairs. He had kept on trying, which had distracted him from his studies and the upcoming exams, which Hermione had said no person was worth, because this was his future, and so he had tried to let it go, but then once exams were over, school was over, and they were all heading home for the summer holidays and they weren't going to see each other until school went back.

Harry tried to send him messages on Facebook, since they were still friends on there, but three days after he had, he had gone back to look online and Draco's account had disappeared from his messenger app, which meant that he was blocked on there as well.

He hated how much that hurt.

His chest ached and his head spun and he was so confused and sad and poor Hermione had ended up listening to a whole lot more about her best friend and Draco than she probably needed to hear, but she didn't complain.

Hermione was a complete godsend over the holiday break, and she had let him stretch out on her bed with his head on her lap and had stroked her fingers through his hair as he whined and occasionally cried over Draco and let him get it all out. She didn't stop him for nearly two weeks, and then she arranged for Ron to come and stay without telling him, and they staged an intervention.

Harry knew they were right when they told him that he had to move on, he had to focus on something else other than Draco because Draco had made it clear that things were done, things were over between them.

He felt completely pathetic that he had to be told that he needed to move on from someone who hadn't even been his boyfriend.

Hermione and Ron kept on telling him that he wasn't pathetic, that it was understandable, although Ron definitely looked a little out of his depth as he tried to comfort Harry, leaving most of the talking to Hermione.

They had a good holiday, at least, as much as Harry could, even though most of the time Draco was still at the forefront of his thoughts. Sirius had obviously known something was up as well, but he hadn't pushed Harry about it, which he had appreciated.

And now, Harry was just...He was done.

It had been months—almost a whole year now, since they were nearly through February now.

So he was going to forget about the flowers.

He had more important things to focus on.

Exams were fast approaching, and even though Harry wasn't planning on going to university after the summer ended, he still knew he had to do well, because after he and Ron had gotten back from their overseas trip, he was planning on going then. He didn't know what he was going to study, exactly, but he knew that he needed to keep his options open, so he had to do well on his exams so that whatever he chose to do, he had a shot at it.

Although, the whole overseas trip thing was starting to be called into question.

Not the fact that Harry was going, because he definitely was.

But with Ron and Hermione together now, Harry was beginning to wonder if Ron was still going to be happy going away for so long when Hermione was definitely going to be staying in the country to go to university. Ron hadn't actually said anything to Harry about it, and whenever it came up, it still sounded as though he was enthusiastic to go, but Harry was just waiting for an awkward conversation to come. He had spoken to Sirius about it as well, and Sirius had asked him if it would affect his decision to go, and his uncle had been pleased when Harry had said no, he would still go, and said that he would still have a life changing experience, even if it was by himself, and that he would meet a lot of people along the way.

It was late on a Thursday when Harry went to the library to study.

They'd had lacrosse practice this afternoon and he was tired, but because of the practice, he had missed the chemistry study group that afternoon that was usually on a Wednesday, but had switched to a Thursday this week, which was frustrating. Harry knew that he really should have gone to the study group, since chemistry was one of his worst subjects, but he was captain of the lacrosse team, and he would have felt as though he was letting everyone down if he hadn't gone.

It was almost nine o'clock, and Harry was beginning to think that he should just give up for the day, get up early in the morning and beg Hermione to help him even if she wasn't his number one tutor option. He rubbed a hand over his face, and then through his hair, which was now dry from the shower he had taken after lacrosse, and was about to close his books when he heard someone clear their throat behind them.

"Sorry, Ms Pince," Harry muttered, assuming that it was the older librarian coming to tell him to get out of the library, but when he turned around in his seat, any words he was about to say left as he he saw it wasn't the librarian there.

It was Draco.

Draco.

Harry clicked his teeth together and blinked, as though checking that it was really Draco standing there. But after closing his eyes a few times, the blonde was still standing there, looking nervous and sheepish and he was chewing down on his bottom lip. Harry scratched the side of his face before slowly turning back around to face his books, his whole body tense as he heard movement behind him and knew that Draco was getting closer. A moment later, Draco was putting down books on the opposite side of him, opening them up to the same page that Harry was on.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked in a low voice, still torn between being happy that Draco was finally acknowledging him, and furious that he was so happy at Draco for finally acknowledging him.

"McGonagall said that your Chemistry scores have gone all the way down again this year," Draco mumbled. "She said Granger and Longbottom had nothing on my tutoring skills." Harry jerked his head back at that and arched an eyebrow at Draco, who had uttered the last word in the same quiet voice, but Harry knew for the fact it was a lie.

"McGonagall would never say that," he shot back and Draco shrugged, as though he didn't care.

"She implied it," he replied.

"And what are you doing talking to McGonagall about my scores in the first place? She wouldn't just tell you that," Harry frowned. Draco's neck stiffened as he stared down at his books, and the rapped his fingers against the corner of the pages, fidgeting in a way that he did whenever he was nervous.

"I asked," he admitted quietly. Harry didn't know how to reply to that, so he didn't. He just looked back down at his books. The text and the formulas on the page didn't make any sense, even though he was fully aware that he should know all of these right now, but he didn't. They were so close to graduating, and he just needed to scrape by on this, and then he would get his school certificate and he could get out of there and not worry about any more studying for at least a year.

Hopefully longer.

"Did you want some help?" Draco finally asked and Harry ground his back teeth together and tightened his fingers around his pen as he thought about his response. Draco didn't move and he didn't say anything, and even though Harry had his eyes fixed purposefully on his book in front of him, he could feel Draco's eyes on him. The silence was uncomfortable and stretched and there was prickling over the back of Harry's neck.

"What are you doing here?" Harry finally blurted out and Draco's eyebrows raised. He actually had the audacity to look surprised, as though it hadn't been almost a year since they had last had a proper conversation. "Why are you here?" Draco's face paled a little, although it was hard to tell with how pale he was anyway, and he twisted his mouth.

"I...I told you," he began quietly. "McGonagall said that you needed—"

"No," Harry cut him off, not even caring that he sounded harsh. "I've been failing at Chemistry all year and you didn't show any interest then." At least he had the decency to look down now, looking a little ashamed. "Why are you here?" Harry repeated. "Draco, I—"

"Shit, I missed you, okay?" Draco cut him off, and he actually looked annoyed as he said it, although Harry wasn't sure if he was annoyed with Harry, or just with himself. "I miss you, and I know that you were always shit at Chemistry, so I figured that maybe you could actually stand being in the same room as me if I offered to help." Harry didn't know what to say—again. On one hand, hadn't he been waiting for Draco to say that he missed him? On the other hand, it had been a year, and Draco was coming to him, saying all of this shit, even though school broke up in just a couple of weeks time and then they would likely never see each other, unless they went out of their way too.

"Draco," Harry clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, searching for something to say. Draco was looking at him expectantly—almost hopeful—and Harry was about to say his name again, to just fill the space while he found what else to say, when they were interrupted.

"The library is closing," Ms Pince stated abruptly. "You two need to leave, go back to your dorms." Harry sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, slumping back in his seat and looking down at his books.

He was screwed.

He was never going to pass the Chemistry exams.

Which means he would have to ace everything else, which he only had a slim chance at doing. There was an accounting paper that he was relatively certain he was going to fail.

"We could come back tomorrow?" Draco suggested as Harry made a move to gather up his books. "I could help?" Harry felt a rush of annoyance, even though Draco helping him was potentially the only chance he had at passing. But he had no idea why this had been prompted, why Draco suddenly decided that talking to him was something he could do now.

"No," Harry suddenly snapped out. Draco blinked and jerked back as though he had been punched in the face. "No, I don't want your help, okay?!" Harry got to his feet, not caring that his notes weren't in order as he grabbed them and piled them together. "Shit, you can't just—you fucking cut me off without any explanation and then show up a year later and act as though nothing has happened and you can just—can just—"

"Help you?" Draco offered, cutting off Harry's spluttering and Harry glared at him. Draco offered a small, hesitant smile, trying to ease the tension between them but Harry just shook his head, scooping up all of his books and papers in his arms and storming off, not even stopping when a pen went flying and skittered across the floor. Draco watched him go, his shoulders drooping, chewing on the corner of his lower lip.

Harry barely got any sleep that night.

He was glad that the classes were all just revision and studying the next day, because there was no way that he could have learnt anything new. He was barely retaining anything that he learnt through the year as it was, and now with Draco bouncing around in his head—completely refreshed, everything all new again, the wounds suddenly feeling like they had just been seared opened again—he had absolutely no chance of studying like he should be.

Even Hermione noticed, despite how deep she was buried in her studies.

"What's going on, Harry?" Hermione asked as she sat down next to where Harry was sitting at one of the picnic tables on the field. There were people kicking a soccer ball around, one of them was Cedric, and he grinned and waved over at the pair of them. Harry waved back, but it was half-hearted, and afterwards, he dropped his head into his hands, his elbows on the edge of the picnic table.

"Draco talked to me last night," Harry stated, groaning into his arms. Hermione had been multi-tasking, trying to find out what was wrong with Harry while also skimming through a Physics text book, but at the words, she jerked her head up and looked at him with wide eyes.

"What?" Hermione hissed out.

"He just...He just showed up, in the library," Harry muttered, his voice still a little muffled from where he was talking against his arms. "He...Said that he had been talking to McGonagall and knew that I needed help with Chemistry for my exams."

"And he just—he just started talking to you?!" Hermione's eyebrows were pulled together and her eyes were narrow. She put down her book and crossed her arms over her chest tightly. "The fucking nerve of him!" Harry let out a heavy sigh, not sure what else to say, his shoulders heaving before slumping back down. The pair of them were quiet as they thought things over, and Hermione's attention was shifted as she noticed Ron walking over to them. He had a class that ran later than theirs, and usually they couldn't have lunch together on Fridays, but given classes were running long and short and they were mainly just for revision, he must have gotten out early today.

"Hey, Mione," Ron said, leaning down to give her a kiss and then raising an eyebrow at Harry's slumped figure. "What's going on here?"

"Draco talked to him yesterday," Hermione wrinkled her nose distastefully. "Just came up to him and started talking."

"What did he want?!" Ran asked, his words a lot sharper than they had been before.

"To help me with Chemistry," Harry finally lifted his head up and turned his head to one side, and then the other, his neck cricking.

"Fucking hell, just acting as though everything was okay?" Ron made a face. "Acting as though the last year hasn't happened and he didn't just fucking blow you off and act like a total prick?!" Ron clenched his fists at his side and let out an angry, heavy breath. "Typical Malfoy." Harry took in a deep breath and then got up from the table, picking up his books from where they were in a tidy pile on the wooden table top.

"I'm heading to the library," Harry told his friends. "I'll catch up with you guys later, okay?"

"Okay, Harry," Hermione gave him a small smile.

"Alright, mate," Ron slapped his hand down on Harry's shoulder and gave it a brief squeeze. Harry gave them a tight smile before heading back toward the buildings of their school. Usually people would be excited for the weekends, since a lot of them would head home, and even the ones who would stay at the school would leave to spend most of their time in the nearby towns. But because of the time of year that it was—and especially for the people that Harry spent most of his time with—they were pretty much in lock down, getting ready for their exams.

All that Harry really had time for was the lacrosse finals that were coming up this weekend and his exams.

But instead, he was now worrying about Draco.

Again.

After he had finally managed to get himself to move on.

Harry had almost made it to the library, taking the back way past the assembly hall and walking between the science labs, when he heard a laugh that had a way of annoyingly bothering most of the people in the school.

Pansy.

Harry quickened his step and hoped that he would be able to duck under the railing to the ramp that lead to the side entrance of the library before they made awkward eye contact, but then she looked up from where she was standing close to Blaise—the pair of them were leaning against the wall, half hidden by a tree—and she looked directly at him. Her eyes narrowed for a moment, and then they flickered downward, to his feet, as though she was thinking about something. When she looked back up, her lips lifted, in a strange, tentative...Smile?

Harry couldn't help but let out a disbelieving snort, not returning the smile at all as he slipped under the metal railing and pulled open the door to the library, walking inside. It was full—really the only time of year that it was—but he managed to find a seat in the back, at a desk that was facing the wall, behind several rows of shelves with dusty books that were probably never used.

He started with History, which was one of his stronger subjects and probably didn't need the most revision, but he figured if he was going to completely bomb Chemistry, he should try and ace the other ones. He was halfway through one of the revision tests that was tucked into the back of his book when there was movement behind him that then settled, rather than walking away and Harry frowned as he turned around.

When he saw it was Draco, his eyes widened and he couldn't help but throw his hands upward.

"What are you doing here?!" He cried out, completely confused and a little. Even though they were relatively closed off from the rest of the library and they couldn't actually see anyone else, they still definitely heard at least four different people shushing them. Harry pressed his lips together and flexed his fingers. "Seriously, what's going on? Twice in two days? You made it perfectly clear that we weren't going to talk, and now you're acting like things are normal?!" Draco clicked his teeth together a couple of times and twisted his lips.

"Can we talk?" He asked, running his fingers through his blonde hair, which was getting even longer and was flopping forward over his left eye. "Somewhere else?" Harry really wasn't sure if he was going to recover from an actual, full-blown conversation from Draco, muchless before next period, but he had to know what it was that had all of a sudden changed.

"Yeah," Harry muttered. He piled all his things back together and then tucked them in one of the shelves underneath the desk to pick up later. His pen would probably get stolen, they tended to go missing around here if they weren't kept close, but he had a hundred more back in his dorm room.

Draco and Harry walked out of the library, and then Harry slowed down so that he was half a step behind the blonde, letting him lead the way. He really wasn't sure where they were heading or what the plan was, but he had far too many questions to give up an opportunity to get answers. Draco began walking toward the field, which Harry wasn't too happy about, because he would rather not see his friends and their expressions when they saw them together, but then Draco veered off, toward the gym. There were a few benches behind the gym that were mainly used by people who wanted to make out without teachers catching them or smoking, and at this point in the school year, teachers didn't even bother to come around and check who was there.

"Okay," Draco took in a deep breath as he sat down, straddling one of the benches and splaying out his hands in front of him. He was staring down at his hands, although Harry was trying not to, because when he looked down at Draco's long, slim fingers, his mind went somewhere that he really didn't want to go right now. "I need to say—can you sit down?" Draco arched an eyebrow, his eyes flicking up at the brunette and nodded at the other side of the bench. There was a slight tinge of impatience to his voice that made him sound more like himself than he had in the past few days.

"Fine," Harry jerked his head in a nod and sat down on the bench, knees pressed together and his hands clenched together. Draco glanced at him, at how far away Harry was sitting, and he sighed but he didn't say anything about it.

"I need to say I'm sorry," Draco began, and his voice sounded controlled and his words came out slow, as though he had been rehearsing them. Which made sense, because Harry had never Draco apologize—to anyone. "I'm..." he took in a deep breath and then he looked up again, but this time, he kept his eyes locked on Harry, not dropping his gaze, and Harry found he couldn't look away. "I'm really, really sorry." Harry felt his heart squeeze and he couldn't stop his lips from parting in surprise at the absolute sincerity in Draco's voice, and he felt pressure behind his eyes that completely took him off guard. He had felt angry just a few minutes ago, and now that had completely deflated. "I have an...An explanation, and I don't want you to think that it's an excuse, because it's not—I know that I was an asshole and I could have dealt with it better and that I could—"

"Draco," Harry cut him off, because he was starting to flounder, and it was obvious from the way that his pale features were shifting, that he was distressed. "Draco, just...Tell me what happened." Draco looked relieved at being interrupted and he nodded.

"You know my parents didn't know that I...Liked guys as well as girls," Draco was speaking purposefully and slowly, and once again, it was clear that this was had been practiced. "I hadn't even really put it all together until, you know, we started...Hanging out." Harry nodded, not verbally interrupting Draco again. "Look, I...I wanted to tell my parents." Harry's eyebrows lifted at that. "Mainly my mum, but I couldn't just tell her, had to tell my father as well." Harry nodded again. "And...And my father..." Draco huffed out a breath through his nose. "I don't know what part he was more pissed about, to be honest. The fact I came home and told them that there was a guy that I wanted to ask to be my boyfriend, or the the fact that your parents weren't owners of, like, a law firm or a fortune five hundred company," he attempted a smile and Harry felt as though he needed to smile back, to encourage Draco to keep going, so he tried, but he knew that it was more just a twist of his lips upward. Draco swallowed hard. "And then I told him who your uncle is—or I told mum, when she asked, and then they were asking where your uncle works and then—"

"Wait," Harry's head jerked, realization blanketing over him. "Is this to do with the fact that your father is my uncles boss?" Draco winced.

"Kind of," he admitted quietly.

"So you didn't want to make things...I don't know—official between us because your father is my uncles boss?!" Harry's nose was wrinkling in confusion and Draco's eyes suddenly widened and he shook his head.

"No!" He cried out. "No—I, fuck," Draco curled his fingers into fists and wrapped his knuckles down hard on the wooden bench between his legs. "There were a bunch of lay offs happening and..." he licked his lower lip nervously. "He said that he would make sure your uncle was a part of that if I stayed with you." Harry blinked at him. "I think—look, I don't know, okay? I just know that your uncle is the only family you have, and I've heard you talk about him, and I know that—I mean, it's not like you guys have heaps of money or anything, right?! He needs his job! And I couldn't be the one—"

"Draco," Harry cut him off before rubbing his hand over his face and tugging at his fringe. "Why didn't you tell me?" Draco sighed.

"I don't—if I told you, then I knew that you would come up with some way around it, and then you would talk me out of it, and then my father would go through with it because he always did, and it would be my fault, and then we would always have to live with that shit!" Draco exclaimed. Harry took in everything that Draco said, and even though there was a lot that he was processing from their short discussion, he couldn't help but go back to the fact that Draco had gone home to tell his parents about Harry, and it had been because he wanted to ask him to be his boyfriend.

"I wish that you had told me this," Harry murmured, stroking his fingers through his hair before letting both hands drop to his knees. "I would have talked to my uncle, and he would have talked to some of the other bosses. Your father can't just do that."

"He could," Draco argued. "Fuck, he might not be the only CEO of the company, but the others listen to him, he has so many in his pocket, and he's got all sorts of connections to other businesses and companies. Look—I couldn't risk it. That's why I didn't tell you."

"So why are you telling me now?" Harry asked with a shrug of his shoulder. "Why did you come to me yesterday?" His eyebrows pulled together and he tilted his head to the side. "And you're the one who gave me the daffodils after Valentines Day, right?" Draco's cheeks went a little red and he shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I...Things have been shit this year, okay? Not having you to talk to and, just, hang out with. Pansy kept telling me to talk to you, to tell you. At least," Draco snorted softly and shook his head. "That was after she realized how much I liked you. She knew that I had been seeing someone, but she didn't know who it was, but she knew that there was someone, and she thought that getting back with her would help me get over you—whoever I was with before. Although, I have told her now, coz I know we're exes and everything, but she's also one of my best mates." Harry blinked at him. "And you looked like things were going pretty shitty with you as well, and that kind of made me feel good, to be honest—sorry," he added, making a face. "But then you looked better when you were with Cedric, and it was shit, but also kind of good, because I knew that I should be happy that you were happy, but I wanted you to know that I was still thinking about you, even though it was me that had totally frozen you out and blown you off and shit—"

"Draco," Harry interrupted him again, because he felt as though they were just going around in circles and not really moving forward, and there was a couple of people who were looking over at them curiously.

"I miss you and fuck what my father thinks," Draco bluntly said, getting right to the point now.

Harry blinked.

"I miss you so fucking much and school is almost over and I just need you to know that it was because I was trying to do the right thing," Draco continued.

Harry blinked again.

And then the bell rang shrilly and both of them jerked at the sudden sound.

"Okay," Harry breathed out, rolling his shoulders and tipping his head from side to side. "Okay," he repeated and started nodding, probably a few too many times before he forced himself to stand up. Draco remained sitting down, knocking his knuckles down on the bench in a quick beat. "Thank you for telling me," Harry managed to get out. Draco's eyebrows pulled together.

"Um...You're welcome?" Draco replied slowly. Harry stared at him for a few beats, chewing down on his bottom lip before taking a few steps back. Draco nodded, as though to tell him that he was okay with Harry going to class. So Harry nodded back and then turned around, joining the groups of students heading back toward their classes.

Hermione had a lot to say about it.

So did Ron.

So did Neville, as well, who turned out to be studying behind the couch in the Gryffindor common room when the trio had thought it was empty and Harry had spilled everything to his best friends. Hermione looked as though she was ready to storm out of their dorms and demand further answers from Draco. Ron looked confused as hell. Neville seemed to be taking it the best—probably because he was involved the least—and he was all for Harry and Draco just getting back together. Especially since this completely explained why the flowers were dropped off, although Neville had of course suspected that something was going on between them after that incident.

Hermione kept going from one opinion to another, which was unusual for her, since she was usually very solid on where she stood.

Harry didn't usually make the train ride home for impromptu weekends, especially now, when he was meant to be studying. But he had to talk to his uncle face-to-face, and he just needed to get away from Hogwarts. He studied on the train, and he dragged pretty much all his books back to London even though it was a hassle, so that he could study the Saturday night he was there.

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed as he opened the door and saw Harry sitting at the kitchen table, the space completely covered in books and scraps of paper, his laptop also open. "You should have told me that you were planning coming back and I would have said no to working this morning!"

"I didn't really know until last night I was coming back—actually, it was more like one o'clock this morning when Hermione booked my train ticket. She's the one that decided I should come and see you," Harry admitted.

"Hermione sent you to me? This is a problem that even she couldn't solve, so she sent you my way?" Sirius grinned but when Harry didn't return it, his expression changed and he came around to sit down on the same side of the table as Harry. Harry hated telling Sirius the whole story—editing out details about his and Draco's relationship that he was definitely never going to tell anyone but his best friends—because he felt as though he had betrayed Sirius in a way. He knew he hadn't, he knew it wasn't him, and he also knew it wasn't Draco, it was Mr Malfoy, but he still hated telling Sirius all of this.

He knew he had to, though.

Halfway through, Sirius draped his arm around Harry's shoulder to give him a light squeeze, and once he had finished, Sirius gave him a proper hug, nearly pulling him off his chair.

"I don't want you to worry about this," Sirius said quietly, speaking into Harry's hair. "This is not something you need to spend your time concerned about." Harry pulled back and frowned up at his uncle. Sirius gave him a soothing smile and smoothed his hands over Harry's hair, pushing it back from his forehead. "It took a lot for this boy to say something to you, and I saw how you were over the summer..." Sirius wrinkled his nose. "You were a complete mess."

"Thanks," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes.

"You were," Sirius insisted with a wry smile, and Harry couldn't help but grin, feeling the tension beginning to leave his shoulders. "I didn't want to push you, and then you seemed to be feeling better this year, so I thought that things must have worked themselves out. I thought it might have been Cedric that had gotten you so twisted up last year, since he suddenly showed up."

"Oh, Cedric," Harry shrugged. "Nah, he's...He is great, but it was never really anything serious between us." Sirius nodded, looking completely understanding.

"Like I said, I think that you should give this boy another chance. It's clear he still has feelings for you," Sirius gave him a nudge. "And as for Lucius Malfoy..." Sirius' expression darkened. "He is one of the CEO for now, however there's been a lot of investigation going into him at the moment. There have been a lot of fraudulent reports that have been circulating and some of the big investors have been lied to, and they believe that it loops back to Lucius, which wouldn't be surprising at all. But even if that wasn't the case, this is my job and this is my problem to worry about."

"But—"

"I want you to focus on your exams, and I want you to focus on this trip that you and Ron have been planning on for so long, and I want you to tell that boy you accept his apology," Sirius continued, giving him a pointed look. "What he did wasn't the best approach to the situation, but he did it because he cared." Harry nodded, not really knowing what to say. "Alright," Sirius glanced up at the clock on the wall. "How about you keep studying for the next few hours and then we'll go out for dinner?"

When Harry returned to Hogwarts on Sunday night, he had a plan to seek out Draco. That plan was derailed when he realized Hermione and Ron were waiting for him and he stopped to talk to them. That lead to him going with them back to their dorm and taking his bags and books up to his room, and by the time he had done that, the courage that he had been up over the past day with his uncle and the train ride back had dissipated.

Harry tried to give himself a pep talk in his head, tried to force himself to leave his dorm room to go and seek out Draco, but he just couldn't force himself to.

So he went to bed, and spent almost the whole night awake, staring up at the ceiling.

Let me know what you think x