"You want to what?" Draco exclaimed.

"I thought I spoke clearly."

"You spoke like a madman!"

"Didn't you just say I was the craziest man you'd ever met?"

"Why do you want to break into the headmaster's office?"

"Because there's a pensieve."

"Pensieve? Do you even know how to-"

Harry smacked his hand to his forehead. "Nevermind. We don't have to break into the headmaster's office."

"Oh, so now you see reason, after you've realized how moroni-"

"No, I know a different place where we could find one."

"Oh really? And where is that?" Draco asked sharply.

Harry groaned, and sat back further into the loveseat. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"And why not?" Draco demanded.

"Because I still don't know how to use my magic."

"Well, then you better get that fixed." Draco said coolly.

"I have no idea where to start! All I know is that- is that... I have exceptional magic, or whatever that means..."

"Figure it out." Draco said.

Harry glared at the ceiling, and worked on finishing his butterbeer.

"You can't tell anyone."

"I thought I already made it clear that I wouldn't." 

"Huh?"

"I told you I wouldn't, back in the library."

"Oh."

Draco looked at Harry. He saw a hint of the scar on his forehead that took the shape of crackling lightning, spider webbing from hairline to temple, to brow, and with a few fissures that crept to the outside of his eye, and to the bridge of his nose. Harry's emerald eyes stared up while his mind spun. 

Draco had always thought there was a sharpness to Harry. There were times when he had seen Harry laughing with his friends, and he'd seemed softer. Then there were times where he was lost in thought, and the sharpness was there. Like now. Other times though, when Harry got angry, that sharpness made him look dangerous. Not wild, frothing at the mouth, bloody claws dangerous- But Draco could see it, especially in Harry's eyes, a calculating intensity, a silent fury.

When Draco was younger, he'd found it unnerving, to have such an enemy. Now he found it distracting for entirely different reasons.

Harry sighed, and finished the last of his drink, before setting the empty glass down and sitting up. He drew his wand, a weary expression on his face.

"Your wand isn't going to help you, you know."

Harry looked at Draco. "What?"

"Did you miss the part where it said that you'll have a harder time using your wand because your magic has changed?" Draco said.

Harry blinked.

Draco sighed, drew his notes out of his bag, and set them on the coffee table. "Your magic isn't compatible with your wand anymore. Not really. You'll have to figure out how to cast spells without it."

"Without my wand..." Harry frowned.

Draco stood, and began to pace the length of their dorm.

"What's your problem?" Harry asked him.

"I have to come up with a believable lie for Blaise. He knows what I went looking for in the library."

"Just tell him you didn't find anything."

"He won't believe that, Potter," Draco said.

"Then lie better."

Draco gave Harry an incredulous look.

"What?"

"It's just that I never expected the golden boy to tell me to lie better."  Draco smirked.

Harry stood and tackled him, leaving his wand on the coffee table. Draco yelped as they both went down.

"I told you not to call me that." Harry growled as they thrashed about.

"The golden boy of the golden trio." Draco said.

Harry's response was to try to headbut Draco, who just barely managed to avoid it.

Harry had experience in wrestling, thanks to Dudley and his gang, and he knew how to wiggle his way out of their grasp. Draco however, was svelte, rather than the larger, pudgy bodies he was used to escaping. Even though Draco was far lighter than Dudley's gang, he still had several pounds on Harry, most of them being fine muscle likely earned from quidditch. 

Draco eventually pinned Harry down. They were so close together that they could feel each other's breath, and Draco's hair had been roughed up enough that it fell from it's style, and hung to brush against Harry's face.

"Well, we're really lying now." Draco murmured, smirking.

Harry turned his face to the side, so that he couldn't meet Draco's eyes. "Gerroff." He grumbled.

"What was that?"

"Get. Off."

"If you insist." Draco said, and slowly let go of Harry's pinned arms, sat up, and stood.

Harry was on his feet in an instant. Without a word, he grabbed his wand and Draco's notes, stuffed them in his bag, and left the room.

Draco's heart settled uncomfortably. He wondered if he'd taken it a bit too far.

~~~

Harry made a beeline for the Room of Requirement. Why had Malfoy done that? Why had Malfoy done that? Did Malfoy just flirt with him? Harry really hoped he wasn't blushing. He really, really hoped he wasn't.

Whether he was or he wasn't, he kept his head down along the way, taking the less common routes just to avoid passing anyone. But had Malfoy flirted with him? It had to have been, what with the smirk and the voice... Harry was certain he was blushing now. Stop thinking about it, Harry commanded himself, as he remembered the way Draco's  hair had tickled his cheek... Stop it!

He eventually came to the room, and walked past it three times. I need a place to practice my magic. I need a place to think. I need a place to be by myself.

The door formed, and he slipped inside. It looked like a cozier version of the DA room. That suited Harry just fine.

So Harry took a seat on one of the cushions, and tried to figure out where to begin.

~~~

Two hours in, and Harry had already lost his patience. He couldn't figure out how to 'attune' to his magic. It didn't help that a certain blond kept slipping into his thoughts. It didn't help Harry any that the notes were in said blond's handwriting. It was rather nice looking handwriting too...

Harry had begun to pace, partly due to his frustration at his magic, and partly because of Malfoy. Now definitely wasn't the time to get fond of the blond git. Why had Malfoy looked at him like that?

Harry felt his magic roiling within him.

"Do you only do anything when I'm mad?" Harry exclaimed.

His magic didn't have an answer for him. 

"Do I have to make myself feel mad to cast anything at all?" Harry said morosely. 

This time, his magic slipped away, leaving him feeling a bit cold in its absence.

Harry sat down. Really, how hard did this have to be? Why? What was the point?

Harry pulled out his wand, and repeatedly cast lumos. Maybe if he could figure out how he got lumos to work, he could figure out how to do the other ones. Magic. Focus on the magic.

He felt the pressure, what he assumed to be was his wand. He wondered if his wand even recognized his magic anymore.  He felt the way the magic formed the spell...

He spent another half hour doing that, almost meditating on it. Then, with a start, the puzzle piece clicked into place. Could it really be that simple?

Harry set his wand down, and held his hand in front of him. He focused on his magic, and tried to replicate the way lumos had felt. After a couple minutes, he felt a bit of magic coalesce in his palm. A small orb the size of a marble took shape, glowing the same silvery blue hue of lumos.

Harry whooped and threw his hands into the air, standing in a second and laughing in a combination of relief and excitement. The orb was gone when he next glanced at his hand, the magic having lost it's shape when Harry lost his focus. 

But that was fine. Harry had cast a wandless spell. He'd figured it out. Which meant that he could do it again. 

~~~

After he'd spent another hour and a half practicing lumos, he'd gotten tired of the repetition, and decided he was done for the day. But he could now form a little glowing marble quite easily. Harry had found that the more familiar he got with the way the magic felt, the easier he could replicate it. Which made sense.

Harry couldn't keep the grin off his face. He'd done it, he'd figured it out! He couldn't describe the relief he felt. It wasn't just that he'd been worried about failing his classes.

He was making his way to the Slytherin common room when two sets of hands grabbed a hold of his upper arms. Harry jabbed his elbow into the ribs of whoever was on his right, before throwing a punch to the one on the left.

"Blimey Harry, that's one elbow you got there." George said. "Real sharp."

"Not a bad swing, either." Fred said, a hand on his jaw.

"George? Fred?" Harry exclaimed. "Bloody hell, don't grab me like that."

"Noted." The twins chorused.

"What do you want?" Harry asked, his heart still thudding in his chest.

"Well, we heard you got detention with Umbridge." Fred said.

"And we wanted to know what she's like." George concluded.

"Don't get into trouble with her." Harry said. "You need to perfect your line of sweets. We're going to need them."

The twins gained curious, mischievous expressions.

"Well, Harry-" George said.

"Now we see why you didn't get prefect." Fred said.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"We also wanted to check in-"

"-How are you doing in Slytherin? Ronniekins has been pretty grumpy-"

"-And Mione's all cryptic."

"I'm fine." Harry said.

"You're fine in the dungeons?" Fred asked.

"In the icky stinky dungeons?" George asked.

"I'm fine." Harry said. "They aren't that bad. Honestly, I think the worst part down there is that Salazar keeps trying to talk to me when I pass him."

"Salazar?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, Salazar Slytherin. He knows I know parseltongue, so he hisses at me." Harry said. "Makes the other Slytherins uncomfortable though, so maybe it's not that bad."

"You make the Slytherins uncomfortable?" George asked. 

"I mean, I guess. I think it's more Salazar's fault than mine, though."

"Interesting." George said, and gave Fred a look. "So..."

"We noticed you in the corridor earlier." Fred grinned.

"What?" Harry frowned, his heart skipping a beat. What had they seen? Did they know he was an Aevumiter? 

"Walking arm in arm with Draco Malfoy." George grinned wolfishly, mirroring his twin.

"What?" Harry said. Then his eyes widened, and a slight blush tinted his cheeks. "No no no, it's not like that."

As if a mirror had been placed between the twins, they both reached out and pinched at Harry's cheeks. 

"It certainly looks like what it looked like." Fred chimed.

"You're giving yourself away, little Harry." George said.

"It was not like that." Harry said. "I was just, really out of it, and he thought he'd make sure I didn't walk into a wall or something. You know, he's really let that prefect badge get to his head. Thinks it's his job to make sure Slytherin is perfect." Harry pointed to his green tie.

They both raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. 

"Now, Harry," George said, "It looks like the bets on who you fancy-"

"-May have been placed on the wrong lot." Fred said.

Harry thought it would be a very sturdy limb to go out on to assume that he had flushed a shade reminiscent of fuchsia. 

"Oh!" The twins cheered. "We were right!"

"Shush!" Harry said emphatically. The twins went silent, though their faces were not absent of shit-eating grins. "I'm not gay."

The twins shot him an 'oh really?' look.

"I'm bi." Harry said. "Now you know, leave it alone and don't tell anyone. Or I'll have Hermione show Ginny those hexes."

"So you still fancy blokes." George said.

"Sometimes." Harry said.

"Dean?" George raised a brow.

"No."

"Seamus?"

"No."

"Cho?" Fred asked.

"No."

"Hermione?" George asked.

"Oh, no, never-"

"Ginny?" Fred asked.

"No."

"Ron?" George suggested.

"Absolutely not!"

"What about me?" Fred asked, jokingly.

"I don't know..." Harry replied in a similar tone, giving Fred an appraising look. "Maybe."

Fred grinned. "A man of fine tastes, I see."

"What about Malfoy?" George asked, getting to the one both twins had really wanted to suggest.

"Look, it's Malfoy." Harry said. "He's a git."

"You can still fancy a git." George said. "I mean, you just flirted with Fred."

"Oi!" Fred exclaimed.

"I do not fancy Malfoy." Harry said firmly.

"Sure you don't." George said.

"What've you been up to? We miss you on the team." Fred said.

Harry sighed. "Detention and homework, really. I haven't had time for anything else."

"Well, we've been getting into some mischief ourselves." Fred said.

"-But we haven't gotten caught."

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have my own mischief to do. But seriously, Umbridge is going to be awful. Everyone's going to want a way out of class."

"Well, Fred-" George said, grinning.

"-I think we have a calling." Fred said, grinning, and winked. "See you Harry!"

"See you." Harry replied, giving Fred a nod.

"Hex a snake for us, will ya?" George called as they made their way down the hall.

"Oh, go on." Parkinson hissed tauntingly as she passed Harry a moment later. "Hex a snake."

Harry clenched his jaw, but said nothing. How much had she heard?

A/N

(I'd put a lenny face here if I knew how to type one)

As of yesterday, I am officially, legally, done with High School. On to greater things!