A/N: I'm baaaaaaack - deepest apologies as always for the hiatus. I can't promise frequent or even regular updates but do know that I haven't abandoned this story! Unfortunately finding time to write fanfiction is difficult when you're attempting to become a doctor.

And again, thanks so much for all the reads, reviews, favorites, etc. - they really are incredibly motivating! I was flattered enough that one person enjoyed my story, several hundred is mind boggling.

Disclaimer: HP = JKR, always.

Chapter 17

Hermione swayed distractedly in Ron's arms, not paying the slightest attention to her boyfriend, where her feet were going or what kind of music was playing. She, in typical Hermione Granger fashion, was thinking about something else entirely. Specifically, she was trying to put together the puzzle that was Alexandra Dubois. Initially she had resisted the temptation to snoop, to run to the library and find out all she could about the girl or the girl's family. It wasn't her business. But eventually she had caved. It wasn't in her nature to leave a problem unsolved, particularly when it pertained to her friends. Harry's descriptions of his behavior around Alex sounded so familiar, like something she had read or heard once but couldn't quite place. She'd spent several sessions in the library recently trying to figure it out but without knowing even what type of book she'd read about it in she hadn't made any progress in placing the thought. However, tonight provided another piece of the puzzle as Alex was, well, she was glowing.

Not the type of glowing that you refer to when someone is really happy but actually physically glowing, a soft white light surrounding her. Watching the couple out of the corner of her eye Hermione saw Harry pull Alex in closer and observed the glow growing stronger as they swayed to the slow song.

"…Hermione…"

She supposed it could just be some sort of beauty product that was making her glow like that but… there it was again, in the back of her mind. That niggling thought that she had read about something like this before.

"…Hermione…"

She furrowed her brow, trying to place the thought, a brief line of text floating through her head… emit a silvery-white light when searching for a mate, the strength of which is directly correlated to…

Searching for a mate? That couldn't be right, that sounded like something out of a Care of Magical Creatures textbook so she dismissed the line and kept thinking.

"Hermione!" Ron's voice finally penetrated her thoughts and she stepped back flustered, nearly bumping into another nearby couple.

"Wha..? Oh, Ron, I'm sorry! I completely spaced out there for a moment…"

"Yeah, I'd noticed." He said with a chuckle. "Were you trying to get a head start on this weekend's homework? Is dancing with me really that boring?"

"What, no, nothing like that…" She said, still slightly distracted and watching Harry and Alex, who were swaying in the center of the dance floor, completely oblivious to everyone around them.

"Oh! Oh my…" she exclaimed as Ron let out a low wolf whistle. Alex had her arms twined around Harry's neck and they were kissing deeply in the middle of the dance floor. Most of the couples around them had momentarily stopped dancing and she could see Seamus and Dean applauding on the far side of the dance floor. Hermione even found herself blushing. She was hardly a prude but the intensity of the kiss made her feel like she was intruding on a private moment between the two.

The kiss broke and the two nearly ran out of the Great Hall hand in hand. Hermione briefly debated going out of them… she was technically on patrol duty tonight…

"Don't you dare think about following them," she heard Ron say.

"How did you…?"

"Because I know you. Let Harry have his fun… in fact; let everyone have their fun tonight. Tonight you're not Head Girl, tonight you're just mine," Ron said, pulling her close. Hermione gaped at him.

"Always the look of surprise," he chuckled.

"Well, I can't help it - you aren't normally even remotely romantic,"

"I can be romantic!" Ron protested lightly.

"I know," Hermione said, resting her head against Ron's chest and smiling as they started to circle again to another slow song that had come on.

"Oh, right!" Ron exclaimed, "I completely forgot, I got a letter from Bill today – Fleur's pregnant!"

"What! That's incredible news – oh!" Hermione stopped moving, her brain putting the last few pieces of the puzzle together.

"What?"

"Alex is part veela!" she whispered fiercely. It all fit, the silvery glow, the compulsions Harry described, the textbook lines she remembered. They probably were from a Care of Magical Creatures text… if only she could remember which one she could go back and read a little more…

"Huh, yeah, I reckon you're right," Ron mused. "I guess that explains why I get all fuzzy around her," he said, gesturing vaguely to his head.

"Do you reckon Harry knows?" he asked lightly.

"I don't know…" Hermione responded. Her brow furrowed as she tried to place the line again.

"Come on, 'Mione, you can go to the library tomorrow," Ron said teasingly, pulling Hermione close and beginning to twirl her around again.

"I suppose so," she laughed, grinning as Ron began to dip her and spin her around more enthusiastically, pushing several other couples out of the way. "Ron! Stop, you're going to make me ill."

He grinned but stopped spinning her and she continued to giggle as they slowed down and rocked back and forth in each other's arms. Hermione could hardly believe how sweet Ron had been all night, it was almost completely out of character but she certainly wasn't going to complain. This night had been much better than her last disastrous ball experience. After several minutes she felt him lean in and whisper in her ear.

"So how 'bout we follow Harry and Alex's lead and go find our own alcove to snog in,"

"Ronald!" She admonished, pulling away and slapping him lightly on the chest. He just smiled and raised his eyebrows.

"Well there goes all of the romance…" she sighed, still smiling, however, and secretly thinking of where the best place to sneak off to at the end of the dance might be.

"Well if you're not going to pay any attention to me, I'm just going to find someone who will!" Daphne Greengrass screeched as she stood there staring down at Blaise, almost comical in her rage.

He tried to summon up some sort of response but couldn't find a single drop of motivation to make her stay. Just like he couldn't find the motivation to make himself dance with her or flirt with her or whatever else she had wanted in the hour or so leading up to this spectacular fit she was throwing. In fact, he wasn't sure that he could recall one thing she had said to him all night. So instead of responding he just shrugged and continued to stare off into space as she wheeled around on her heel and stormed off.

Blaise had only ever agreed to come to this stupid ball with Daphne in order to distract himself from the only person that seemed to occupy his thoughts. It had now been several weeks since Blaise had found out about Draco or Alex or whoever she was and he still couldn't quite wrap his head around it. What was worse was that despite the fact that he now knew that Alex was Draco he still found himself thinking about her, the Alex he had been getting to know and like before he found out, all the time. Daphne was part of a long list of things he had been doing to try and get his mind off of Alex... quidditch, school, other girls... but none of it seemed to make any difference. He seemed to see her everywhere he went, every sighting instigating a brand new batch of confused and conflicted feelings. He'd been attempting to avoid her for the past few weeks and he knew she had noticed and had even been keeping her distance, purposely giving him the space to figure it out. Which made him feel guilty on top of everything else he was feeling. This had to be the weirdest thing Draco had ever gone through in his life, and as his mate, well, her mate, Blaise should be there to help her out. But every time he came to that conclusion and resolved to stop avoiding her he remembered their brief kiss and in a flurry of attraction and confusion and arousal he was right back at square one.

He groaned, pressing his palms to his eyes before leaning back in the chair he was lounging in and staring up at the bright starry sky through the ceiling of the Great Hall.

How am I ever going to figure this out? He thought dejectedly.

"Oh wow..."

"Did you see who just came in?"

"She looks incredible,"

The flurry of comments at the next table over broke Blaise's reverie and he looked around, trying to spot the source of the commotion. When he saw Alex standing at the top of the stairs looking over the Great Hall he was standing before his brain even began to process what he was doing.

She was breathtaking, absolutely ethereal and in that moment he didn't care who or what she was, he just wanted to be with her, to stand by her. But someone had beaten him to her…

Potter…? Blaise thought questioningly as he continued to stand and gape awkwardly. He watched as the two linked arms and descended the stairs, chatting and smiling at each other like no one else was around them. He sat down heavily in his chair, staring blankly at the ground as his mind was once again engulfed in confusion and now jealousy.

Pansy said she wasn't coming… but now she's here, and with Potter? He thought incredulously. But that's… that's impossible.

He knew that Alex had been getting along with Potter, but he had given their apparent friendship little thought since finding out the truth about Alex and found himself more confused than he had ever been. Draco Malfoy friends with Harry Potter…?

Just as his thoughts reached to open the Pandora's box that was that question, someone sat down next to him and interrupted his reverie.

"They make a beautiful couple, don't they?" A voice said dreamily from the seat next to him. Blaise wrenched his gaze up for the floor tiles that he had been blankly examining for the past several minutes and up to the dance floor where Alex and Harry were now dancing and even through the haze of conflicting emotions he had to admit that they did indeed make a striking couple. Despite the fact that Harry couldn't seem to manage more than a few steps of the dance without stumbling or messing up they still commanded the attention of the room, a study in contrasts, light and dark, moonlight and shadows, and seeming to fit together perfectly as well, Blaise noted bitterly as the song changed and Potter pulled Alex into his arms.

"Mmm…" was all he could say in response as he dragged his gaze away from the couple and turned to examine whoever it was who had joined him at his lonely table. She had white blond hair that tumbled loosely down around her shoulders and back and was wearing sky blue dress robes and an over large golden butterfly mask that concealed almost her entire face. She looked vaguely familiar but Blaise couldn't quite place her for some reason…

"You look concerned, is something bothering you?" She asked lightly in the same airy voice.

"Its –" Blaise began to retort, instinctually starting to essentially tell her to fuck off but stopped himself. For some reason he felt compelled to talk to this odd, quiet girl who had randomly placed herself next to him.

"I –" he attempted to start again but was distracted by Potter and Alex who were now full on snogging in the center of the dance floor. He couldn't help himself, even he let out a low whistle.

However confusing thinking about himself snogging Alex, or Draco, was, it didn't even begin to compare to how confusing it was to watch Draco Malfoy kiss Harry Potter for the entire school to see. Of course the entire school didn't know that's what was going on but…

Blimey… Blaise thought, I didn't even know that she was in to blokes now. His head was spinning and he was trying to fight the burning jealousy that was laced in with all of the confusion.

"Do you like her? Alex?" The girl next to him asked simply.

"I –" once again Blaise found himself oddly compelled to be truthful to this girl. There was no manipulation in the question, no jealousy, no feelings at all really. It was just a simple question of the facts.

"Yeah… I guess I do." He admitted. "But I shouldn't…"

"Why not?"

"Because…" he trailed off, he couldn't tell her the whole truth, it wasn't his to tell. But maybe he could tell her part of it.

"Because she's my best mate and I know she doesn't feel that way about me at all…"

"I'm sorry." There it was again, that odd, truthful tone that didn't match what Blaise was expecting to hear – there was no pity or self interest, just pure… empathy?

"Um, thanks? I guess," he said, staring at his companion and trying to pick out her expression from the few parts of her face that weren't covered by the mask. "Do we know each other?"

"We know of each other, I believe, but I don't think we've ever been properly introduced,"

"Lets change that, I'm Blaise, Blaise Zabini," he said holding his hand out. She shook it, smiling but didn't answer.

"And you are…?" Blaise prompted, one eyebrow raised as she continued to smile, a little mischievously now.

"You'll have to wait until midnight to find out,"

"Midnight?"

"That's when the masks come off," she said simply. For the first time in weeks, Blaise found himself distracted and intrigued, thinking about something other than Alex. He actually wanted to spend more time with this odd girl and even more, wanted to know who she was.

"So then, what shall we do until midnight?"

Draco was bursting with energy, a sort of bubbling fire that started in the pit of her stomach and seemed to want to rush out of every part of her body. And it only got worse every time she glanced back at the boy following her out of the ballroom. She led him through the crowd on the dance floor and up the stairs, her excitement building until they were finally out of the ballroom and alone. She let out a sigh as the doors to the Great Hall closed behind them and it was silent again – the wide-open space of the entrance an invitation. Draco glanced back at Harry who used the opening to pull her in by their still linked hands for a kiss.

She happily fell into him, relishing the feel of his hand on her waist, their fingers twining together, gasping slightly as he took her lower lip lightly between his teeth before pulling back and breaking the kiss. They grinned a little stupidly at each other, lost in the moment.

"So, what now?"

"Hmmm…" Alex mused, biting her lower lip and smiling slightly as she looked down at where their hands were still entwined at their sides. She felt the warmth of magic flowing through their connection and she realized what the bubbling sensation she had been feeling was… she was feeling playful. Grinnng broadly she let go of his hand and said:

"Catch me!"

Harry just stood there for a moment; his mind a little foggy after two incredible kisses and by the time he came to, Alex was already at the top of the stairs, looking down at him tauntingly.

"What?" he said, a little daftly.

"I said catch me, Potter. What? Don't think you can?" she taunted, smirking down at him, her grey eyes glinting mischievously from behind the silver filigree mask.

"Of course I can," Harry said, rising to the challenge, smiling brightly. He started up the stairs and she was off around the corner. He felt so light he couldn't help but laugh out loud as he chased her, sprinting full out as he followed the flashes of white around corners and at the end of hallways. He knew what they were doing was beyond silly but he couldn't remember the last time he had done something just for fun, something so ridiculous just for the sake of enjoying the moment.

Normally the castle was a little creepy at night, the empty corridors filled with shadows and unidentifiable noises, but tonight everything seemed to be shining. He finally caught up with her several minutes later in a broad corridor lined with windows on both sides. She was looking out over the castle grounds, one hand up against the glass and a wistful sort of expression on her face. Alex was bathed in moonlight, just like she had been when she first entered the Great hall and once again her beauty hit Harry like a punch in the gut. He'd met plenty of other girls he'd thought were attractive or pretty but there was something other-worldly about the way Alex looked, particularly tonight, something he had never encountered before.

He approached her slowly; half hoping and half afraid that when she noticed him she'd take off running again, but she didn't. She just turned and smiled at him before returning her gaze to the grounds. Several pieces of hair had fallen out of her updo, softly falling around her face and Harry reached up to tuck them back behind her ear, letting his fingers trail down to her pulse point before pulling it away. They stood there in silence for several moments before she broke it.

"I'd forgotten how beautiful Hogwarts can be," she said softly. And Harry had to agree – the same moonlight that was casting such an enchanting light on Alex and the corridors of Hogwarts was also illuminating the grounds, turning the hills and water and rocks silver. The Black Lake was perfectly still, a bright mirror reflecting the stars and moon. Harry noticed she was shivering slightly and shrugged off the outer layer his dress robes to throw them around her shoulders. She smiled up at him in thanks and Harry leaned in to capture her lips once more.

What would have been a beautiful moment was interrupted, however, by a loud, out of tune trumpet blast as Peeves swooped down the corridor cheeks puffed out and blowing into some sort of horn, cackling in between blasts.

"PEEVES! Get back here and return that horn this instant!" McGonagall screeched, charging down the corridor after the poltergeist. At the sight of the two embracing students, however, she paused mid-stride, Peeves momentarily forgotten. Harry and Alex had frozen at the sound of the first trumpet blast, caught in a, admittedly, relatively intimate position: lips moments away from brushing, one of Harry's arms on Alex's waist and one of hers resting lightly on Harry's chest.

At the sight of the professor Alex tensed and quickly schooled her expression into one of haughty indifference, betrayed only by the deep flush that had crept up her neck and to her cheeks. Harry grinned sheepishly and put on what he hoped was a relatively innocent expression as he looked over at Professor McGonagall, whose expression was oscillating between amusement, disapproval and disbelief.

"Ah, well, eh-hem, Mr. Potter and Ms. Dubois, this is quite, ah, unexpected," she said, obviously flustered. "Might I suggest that the two of you return to the Great Hall for the conclusion of the dance? Curfew will begin precisely when the ball ends."

"Uh, yeah, alright, Professor," Harry said, relieved that they hadn't gotten any more of a scolding than that. There was another loud trumpet blast from further down the corridor where Peeves floated, obviously waiting to be chased again. With one last confused look at the pair of students and a brief nod, McGonagall took off screaming at Peeves once again about stealing from guests of the school.

"Merlin…" Draco sighed as she buried her flaming face in Harry's chest, absolutely mortified. Of course McGonagall, one of the three people in the entire school who knew who she actually was would be the one to walk in on her almost snogging Harry Potter.

"What?" Harry asked laughingly, "That really wasn't that bad…"

"Wasn't that bad? We just got caught snogging by the headmistress," she retorted.

"Technically we weren't snogging, and I think the being caught snogging by anyone ship sort of sailed in the Great Hall," he pointed out.

"I guess you're right," she admitted, her embarrassment persisting as she realized for the first time how many people had probably seen them kiss in the middle of the dance floor. But happily she realized that she didn't regret it. Sure, that was all anyone was probably going to be talking about for the next few days and she wasn't exactly looking forward to the attention but she would do it again.

"So, I guess we should head back…" Harry suggested lightly.

"Hmmm, I think not," Draco retorted, grinning up at him. "I think I'd rather continue what we were doing, but without an audience this time,"

"Continue… what we… were doing…" Harry responded distractedly as Draco leaned in and began to plant kisses up his neck, embarrassment fading as the warm feeling of veela magic began to flow back through her veins. Reaching his jaw line she planted a few more soft kisses before pulling him in by the tie around his neck and cutting off his distracted mumbling with a kiss.

Harry responded enthusiastically, hands firmly on her waist again as he opened his mouth, allowing her tongue to dart in, matching every small movement with ones of his own. She felt on his hands moving lower and lower and then -

"WHAaaa –" Draco shrieked as the kiss was broken and her feet were swept off the ground. Instinctively she grasped him tightly, throwing her arms around Harry's neck and glaring at him angrily. "Put me down this instant, Potter!"

"Nope," He responded cheerily as he began to make his way down the corridor, gripping her more tightly as she began to wriggle, trying to get back down on the ground. "I want to make sure we aren't interrupted again and I know the perfect place."

She grumbled and struggled a little longer but eventually gave up and settled into Harry's grip, relaxing against his chest as he climbed several flights of stairs.

Who knew Potter was this strong? She mused, blushing slightly as she remembered their encounter in her bed in the Slytherin dorms and how surprisingly tight the muscles of his chest and abdomen had been under the oversized T-shirt. Oh right…

She was tempted to start poking at his body to investigate or at least make some sort of scathing comment about how she would never have expected this from someone so scrawny but refrained, because, well, however much she might have protested she definitely did not not enjoy being quite literally swept off her feet.

Merlin, when did I become such a girl? She thought despairingly before being forced to laugh at herself by the sheer irony of the statement. How many people could precisely identify the moment they became a girl? Her thoughts threatened to that dark night but then she remembered her earlier resolution and quenched the feelings of despair. Tonight she wasn't going to lament what had happened to her or even dwell on being Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. Tonight she was going to enjoy herself, enjoy being herself, enjoy how much she enjoyed feeling Harry's heart beat and enjoy how erratic her own was around him. Besides, whenever all of the uncertainties caught up with her she could just tell herself that she was doing it to survive, right?

Wrong… a small voice in the back of her head thought snarkily but the train of thought was interrupted as Harry set her down and instructed her to wait before starting to pace in front of a blank stretch of wall marked with only one bare tapestry.

A chill ran down her spine and she was frozen to the spot. All of the warm and happy feelings she'd been having vanished, replaced by terror.

No…nonono…no, no, no… GET A GRIP, MALFOY! She screamed at herself. Thankfully, Harry was too absorbed in telling the Room of Requirement what he wanted that he missed the battle waging on her face. Logically, she knew that she wouldn't, couldn't, end up back in the room of lost things, it had been thoroughly destroyed. But that didn't stop her from shaking at the thought of going back to where she'd had so many of her worst memories, where so many of her worst nightmares still occurred.

It was in that room that she'd realized how futile the task that the Dark Lord had set her was, there that she'd realized that she was probably going to die at his hands when she ultimately failed and there, a year later, that she'd nearly lost her life and watched as Crabbe burned alive in the fiendfyre that devoured the room. She fought desperately to get her erratic heartbeat under control, to find some source of calm. It was there that she returned on a regular basis in her dreams to relive some of the Dark Lord's worst punishments.

And it was here and now, as a door appeared on the wall and Harry stopped pacing turning back towards her that she realized, with shocking clarity, she'd reached a turning point. She could turn and run, flee from her old life and her old fears, flee from Harry and the change he represented, the change that was engulfing every part of her life. She could hide behind the emotional walls she was so good at building; hide where she was safe from all of the pain.

Or she could face it. Follow him in and let down her guard for the first time in her life. Do what she wanted to do, not what she thought she should do. She knew that some day, somehow, Harry would find out the truth and that the rejection that accompanied that revelation would be excruciating for both of them, but that moment was not right now. Right now she could choose to be selfish, to not think about the future or the repercussions but instead just enjoy the moment.

Her decision was made but she didn't quite trust her body to follow the instructions of her mind, so she stumbled forward into Harry's arms, cutting off what he was about to say with a kiss, not thinking, just feeling as he took control of the situation and tripped backwards into the door, pushing it open and pulling them both inside. Her fears vanished as soon as the crossed the threshold and she kissed Harry more enthusiastically then she ever had in a clumsy, giddy release of happiness.

Because right now, in his arms, she was happy and that was all that mattered.

The two stumbled back, limbs tangled together, blissfully ignorant to their environment until they were roughly brought back to reality as Harry slipped on the edge of a rug. He felt nearly all the breath leave his lung as he collided with the edge of the bed before sliding down to the floor, smacking his tailbone in the process. Wincing, he looked up at Alex who, by some miracle, or more likely by virtue of being much more graceful than he was, was still on her feet and laughing down at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked, pulling himself back to his feet. There had been something odd about her face the moment before she had essentially launched herself at him, a sort of fear or hesitance that he had come to associate with the moments before she turned and ran away.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" she laughed as he picked himself up and leaned back against the edge of the bed.

"Ha ha," he said, attempting to retain at least a little bit of his dignity. "I mean, just before we came in here you looked… I dunno…"

"Its nothing, don't worry about it…" she said, waving a hand as if to physically dismiss the thought. A slightly awkward silence fell and Harry, unsure what or if he should say anything, just watched Alex. She was looking around the room and smirking slightly.

"So…" she started slowly, "This is the infamous Room of Requirement…"

"Uh, yeah," Harry replied cautiously, trying to interpret her tone, which was very controlled but definitely amused, and he couldn't quite figure out why.

"It seems you didn't require very much," she said coolly, a smile playing around at the edges of her lips. Harry looked around the room for the first time and flushed, trying to recall exactly what he had been thinking as he had paced in front of the tapestry. To be completely honest he didn't think he had thought anything in particular, just a lot of feelings and emotions and desires revolving around one action that somehow the room had managed to interpret. Given the large variety of things he had seen the room come up with before he realized how little there really was. Against one wall there was the very large, comfortable looking bed that he had just fallen against and on the wall across from it there was a hearth with a roaring fire which, along with some candles floating above the bed, lit the room. The wall opposite the door they had entered through had several large windows flanked by heavy scarlet curtains. And that was about it, there was absolutely no other furniture besides the bed, betraying the predominant thought Harry must have been having when trying to get the room to open.

"Well… I, I don't think I was really thinking of anything in particular…" he said, his voice trailing off. He looked back up at Alex, expecting her to be grimacing or annoyed at how straightforward Harry's mind seemed to be but instead she was smiling broadly and laughing.

"Sorry?" He offered sheepishly.

"Nothing to apologize for," she said still smiling, stepping forward and placing her arms on either side of Harry, bringing her face so close that their noses were just brushing but leaving it open for him to make the next move. He brushed his lips briefly across hers before retreating. Then he pushed the dress robes still draped around her shoulders off and traced one hand up and down the length of her arm. Grey eyes met green and Harry reached up, pulling the delicate silver mask off of her face and tossing it down on the bed beside them. She copied his action and there was a brief moment of vulnerability as each took in the others unmasked face for the first time that evening, every emotion completely on display.

Tentatively Alex reached forward to touch his cheek and the brief contact between fingertips and cheekbone was enough the light a fire in Harry, one that could only be quenched by pulling her closer, feeling her everywhere. He crushed her against him, hands bunched up in the fabric of her dress as he planted kisses on every accessible stretch of skin. She moaned softly as his teeth brushed her collarbone and the noise went straight to his groin.

Draco couldn't stop the moan from escaping her lips; there was something intense building up inside her every time Harry found a sensitive spot with his mouth or hands, which were roaming freely along her back and bum. She was grasped by a sudden desire to explore Harry's body as well, to see if she could draw a reaction from him with nothing but the slightest touch, as he seemed to be doing with her right now. Her fingers went to work on the clasps of his vest.

"You're wearing too many bloody layers, Potter," she said breathlessly, finally having released the vest only to encounter the long line of buttons on the dress shirt underneath. He pulled back from where he had been planting kisses up the line of her neck to her ear and laughed.

"Blame whoever designed dress robes," he taunted, loosening and pulling his tie off over his head before starting to help her with the buttons. Two pairs of hands worked much faster than one and it was only moments before the shirt was undone and quickly shrugged off by Harry. Draco took a moment to appreciate Harry's physique before leaning in. Before she could pay it proper attention, however, Harry put one strong hand on her jaw and pulled her in for a deep kiss. Sufficiently distracted she matched him in intensity, each kiss stoking the fire that was burning in the pit of her stomach.

Harry's hand left her jaw and bunched itself in her hair, pushing out whatever clip was holding it in place so that in came cascading down her back. His other hand had made its way back into the crook of her waist, working upwards until it reached the top of her dress where it began to toy with the clasps. He seemed to realize what he was trying to do and stopped kissing her.

"Can I…?" he said hesitantly. She nodded, taking a step back and turning around, pulling her now loose hair out of the way to give Harry full access to the long line of buttons running down her back that were the only thing keeping the dress on. He pushed himself up from where he had been leaning on the edge of the bed and came up behind her. She felt his lips brush the junction where her neck met her shoulder as he undid the first clasp. She felt herself shivering in anticipation as his fingers brushed her skin every time he undid another button, wandering lower and lower down her spine. Finally he reached the last one and the dress slid down, leaving her in nothing but a scanty pair of white knickers.

Suddenly nervous again Draco stepped out of the dress but paused a moment before turning to face Harry again, gathering courage she didn't know she would have needed. As she turned she heard him exhale sharply and brought her gaze up from the ground. Something about the way he was looking at her made her heart constrict, it was far more than just lust. Her mind threatened to spin off in a million different directions, wanting to dissect and analyze Harry's gaze, to figure out how it really made her feel, a small part of her wanted to stop in that moment and tell him the truth because she almost couldn't bear to have him look at her like that without knowing who she really was.

But before she could, Harry's arms were back around her, lifting her off the ground and throwing her down on the bed. The hot rushing feel of veela magic returned, lending urgency to every touch. Harry climbed onto the bed on top of her and began to trace his lips down between her breasts. As he then brushed them lightly over one nipple and then the next all of the muscles below her navel contracted and she arched off of the bed. She felt Harry smiling against her skin as he continued to lavish attention on her breasts. The pressure building below the pit of her stomach was quickly becoming unbearable and ran her hands up Harry's back, attempting to find some sort of purchase as each touch caused her to tense. Harry's hands ran up the inside of her thighs as he simultaneously kissed the sensitive skin right above her panty line.

Sure that she would explode if Harry's lips traced any lower she clumsily grabbed his face and pulled him back up to hers for a desperate kiss, trapping his lower lip between her own. He happily obliged, leaning forward so that their naked chests were pressed together. For the first time Draco felt Harry's arousal pressing through the fabric of his pants against the inside of her thigh and she felt her muscles tighten again, bringing their lower bodies together and relishing the feeling of his hard flesh against hers. This time it was Harry who moaned and the noise just added to her overwhelming desire to move forward.

Releasing his face Draco transferred her hands to his belt buckle, struggling with the contraption and getting frustrated again at how much clothing he seemed to be wearing. Realizing what she was trying to do Harry pulled up onto his knees and took over, quickly doing away with his pants and underwear as well while she followed suit and also removed her last piece of clothing. Without a moments pause they were kissing again, mouths crashing together as they pressed their naked bodies against each other from head to toe, every point of contact burning with mutual desire. She felt Harry shift and suddenly he was there, his tip pressing against her entrance. Part of her was close to screaming she wanted him to be inside her so badly but there was one more thing she had to do before she could completely give in to the sensations that were wracking her body.

"Wait… Harry, I…" she caught his gaze, green eyes still incredibly clear given how overwhelmed and foggy she felt at the moment, "I've never done this before…"

Her heart swelled once again as she watched his reaction. There was no surprise or judgment, just a sweet understanding. He leaned forward and brushed a kiss across her forehead and said:

"Tell me if anything is uncomfortable." She nodded in response and kissed him deeply. He began to thrust and she let out a small gasp of pain as she lost her virginity. Her cry quickly transitioned into a moan once he was completely inside of her. Her hips thrust up in response; inviting him to move again and she dug her fingertips into his back as he began to thrust more, the two finding a rhythm between her movements and his. She felt as if she were on the brink of a cliff as they continued to move together, each small movement pushing her closer to the edge. The pressure in her abdomen kept building until she was sure that it could build no more and she released a long sharp sigh as she felt herself release, waves of pleasure rolling through her entire body so intense she barely noticed as Harry himself finished, pulling out and laying down beside her.

They both lay there for several moments, enjoying the blissful aftermath. Draco felt Harry's fingers reach down between them and entwine with her own. She answered his action with a squeeze and turned her head so that she was facing him, momentarily unable to do anything but just smile. Once she got her wits about her she turned on her side and teasingly smirked down at the young man lying next to her.

"Ten points to Gryffindor, Potter"

A/N: Gah, first time writing that kind of scene - hopefully it was okay! Read & Review and let me know how I did.