Chapter 10. Decisions.

The talk with Remus wasn't pleasant. The werewolf got a nasty surprise in discovering that Arthur Weasley was one hell of a homophobic. Harry and Hermione were particularly shocked by that revelation. Malfoy wasn't so surprised, after all the Weasleys were one of the oldest pureblooded families. The fact that Mr. Weasley was an admirer of all things muggle didn't mean that he had not learned the proper ways and the traditions of the purebloods. It was clear that Arthur's family had not overlooked giving his son certain views about sexuality. Harry was disappointed and hurt when Mr. Weasley refused to talk about the matter or hear anyone's opinion. The man walked away from the talk with Remus furious, something that Malfoy was sure was a sight to be remembered, and murderously glared at them all while telling them exactly what he thought about homosexuality. Then he immediately flooed away, not giving any of them time to think of a proper answer.

Mrs. Weasley was most upset and mortified. She apologized profusely for his husband's and daughter's attitude and practically ran after Mr. Weasley, promising to talk to him.

The Weasleys were not seen for the remainder of the day, not even Ron. It wasn't until the following day that Mrs. Weasley arrived early at breakfast to give them an explanation of sorts.

Arthur Weasley had been in fact raised in a household that, while open minded about some things like acceptance of muggleborns and magical creatures in general, encouraged homophobia at its worst. Purebloods as a whole just didn't accept homosexuality, based in the fact that a same sex mating could not have children. Most of the pureblooded families cherished children, seeing them as the ones who will continue the line and kept wizarding kind from weakness. Pureblooded families took great pride on their children. Even when the majority of the arranged marriages, which were almost the rule, didn't enjoy the luxury of love, the marriage contract stipulated that the couple must produce at least one heir. The magical contracts were designed to assure the continuity of a family line. It didn't prevent infidelity, but if a bastard child was produced before a true heir of the two bloodlines involved, the marriage automatically was dissolved. Of course, the concept of a surrogate existed; sometimes there were couples incapable to have children for any reason. These couples often required the services of a surrogate, but such solution was not terrible popular and it was considered a scandal by the ancient families. Pureblooded society was too narrow minded concerning family. If a couple couldn't produce children in five years, the marriage contract was null and it was extremely difficult for the ex-couple to find other partners, especially for the women.

On that context, homosexuality was the worst kind of betrayal to both traditions and family. Same gender couples were fairly tolerated in the wizarding world in general, but totally despised and hated by purebloods, which considered such couples the worst of the blood traitors. The old families had gotten the crazy and completely misguided idea that homosexuality was a way to refuse to have children and a normal family. In their eyes, they were condemning the wizarding world to extinction.

Even in modern times things had not changed in that aspect and Arthur Weasley firmly embraced his family's beliefs. Molly had known about a grand-aunt of her husband, Arista, that had ran away with the woman she loved and had been estranged from the family, which had refused to acknowledge to even know her. They never accepted the little girl that Arista had had; saying that having paid a surrogate for assistance was only proof that she didn't respect the family traditions.

Malfoy listened politely to Mrs. Weasley without comment. He had known already all of that and had accepted a long time ago the fact that he was condemned to be a pariah. Potter and Granger on the other side were absolutely appalled. The girl immediately stood and started to rant about the injustice of such a view and how the purebloods had no brains at all and other number of things too fast for Malfoy to follow. Potter was clearly upset and Draco worried about his reaction. The Gryffindor boy was rubbing his hands nervously and his lips were tightly pressed. The blond tentatively reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. The other boy tensed under his touch and Draco narrowed his eyes, cursing the Weasleys for the sole fact that they were almost family to Potter and the boy clearly cared about their opinion.

He retired his hand with hurt but Potter quickly reached over and took it in his. Malfoy looked in question but Harry only squeezed his hand without turning to him and asked shyly what Mrs. Weasley's personal opinion on the matter was. Granger didn't hear her friend's low question, she was still pacing the sitting room and muttering to herself, quite agitated, but Mrs. Weasley had noticed Potter's anguish and hurried to his side to reassure him, telling the boy that not everyone thought that way. There were many wizards a lot more open minded; even some purebloods were slowly accepting the idea that a family doesn't have to be "normal" to function. Her family for example, the Prewetts, had been one of the first pureblooded families to not reject a homosexual member. She appeared to be very proud of the fact that her parents had not estranged her brother Gideon when he had confessed to them his sexual preferences. They had been of course deeply shocked, but had accepted their son's choice and supported him. That seemed to put Harry at ease and he smiled to Mrs. Weasley, giving another tiny squeeze to Malfoy's hand before letting it go.

Draco was bemused by the Gryffindors' reactions and strangely grateful to Molly Weasley. Unfortunately, the majority of her children followed their father's lead. Percy and Ginny were the ones most zealous about it. Ron and Bill were a bit more discrete, they could perhaps tolerate the idea that homosexuality existed but were hard pressed to accept it in close proximity. They would rather think that it was some kind of disease that one could cure purely by force of will. Charlie was pressed lipped about it, but apparently he had no problems with acceptance. He had been the only one who hadn't yelled at the twins when the family had discovered that their friend Jordan was gay.

The twins had had many rows with their father, refusing to stop hanging out with their friend and even accusing him of being as prejudiced as the snob purebloods. Molly was actually worried about them, but not because she thought that their friend could "infect" them as Ginny had suggested, but for the fact that they were so stubborn. They may get themselves into a gay relationship just to prove a point to their father and not because that was what they really wanted.

Mrs. Weasley assured them that she had talked with her husband, Ginny and Ron, and they weren't going to cause troubles. Draco didn't believe that, but Harry and Hermione were confident that they could convince Ron to be more accepting. Malfoy knew that the red-haired boy's opinion mattered a great deal to Harry, so he sighed in tiredness and tried to accept the fact that he would have more troubles that he had anticipated in his perusal of Potter.

Malfoy was finishing the brewing of some Pepperup potion. The potions lab was again well supplied and the boy was looking forward some serious brewing. He was a bit nervous. The Order of the Phoenix in full was having a meeting at that moment, regarding the recent reunion with the goblins and minor attacks on the Death Eaters' part. McGonagall had wanted to reveal Draco's presence in the house to the rest of the Order, but Moody had refused. There were several members of the Order that would not be pleased to find Malfoy at headquarters. Besides, they weren't sure anymore about the loyalty of a few members. Things had really gone from bad to worse since Dumbledore's death for the Order.

On a brighter side, Harry and McGonagall had successfully reached an agreement with the goblins. The strict creatures had agreed to help the fight against the dark side, with a few conditions. They had adamantly refused to deal with the Ministry of Magic, being less than impressed about the incompetence of the Aurors at finding the Death Eaters or at least doing something to assure the security of the public. The goblins will help, but the sanctity of the vaults at Gringotts had to be maintained at all costs. Malfoy could feel that the situation was very tense. Everybody was expecting some grand move on the Dark Lord's part, but no one was really doing anything to prevent it.

Draco didn't understand the lack of action on the light's side. It looked like the only ones doing something remotely useful were Harry and his two sidekicks, as they were actually looking for a way to terminate the Dark Lord definitely. He hoped that someone would see fit to help them soon.

For the time being, he was still reduced to confinement in Grimmauld place, but he was taking advantage of it. Especially concerning his attempts to win Potter over and picking the Gryffindor's curiosity.

As it turned out, Draco's worries were unfounded. The Weasley's had actually been of great help to his goal of getting closer to Harry. Mrs. Weasley's talk had helped the boy to understand matters and had readily embarked him in a mission. The Gryffindor had been worried about Mr. Weasley and Ron's convictions, but had been confident that, with a little patience, his best friend would come to see things different. He would have Granger's help with that and they were actually trying to include Malfoy on their activities. So far, the Weasley boy still had to talk a word to the blond. However, Ginny's attitude had proven to be the most useful for Draco's plans.

In the two days that had followed the meeting with Remus, the girl had demonstrated how deeply upset she was by the turn of events and had complained loudly about how her own mother couldn't see the danger that Malfoy represented and how her father was incapable to stand firm before his wife. She had taken every opportunity to remind Harry of all the horrible things that Draco had done at school, even his part in the Death Eater's attack that had ended in Dumbledore's dead and Bill's disfigurement. Draco had had to endure the death glares and the tongue lashing that Ginny sprouted at him as soon as he was in hearing range. But he didn't mind. Ginny's attacks had had the effect of making Harry annoyed and stubborn. The dark-haired Gryffindor had decided that talking with Ginny was useless and so he had taken to stay by Draco's side constantly. Even hugging the blond with one arm while they listened to Ginny's outraged complains. The girl's tiny brain didn't seem to grasp the fact that her words were having the opposite effect to the one she wanted. Harry was set into demonstrate to the entire world that he was not gonna let himself be prejudiced and Ginny's attitude was only succeeding in making him do the very thing she didn't want him to.

Ron had tried to talk with his sister. He knew Harry too well to know that Ginny was making things worse as the black-haired boy already considered Malfoy as the victim. But Ginny hadn't understood and had dismissed her brother's advice as rubbish to Ron's despair. The Weasley boy knew that both Potter and Granger didn't approve of any kind of prejudice and for once was using his brain cells and was keeping quiet on the matter. However, he did glare at Malfoy from time to time and it was a bit too obvious that he was doing an effort to tolerate the blonde's proximity, but at least he was trying to maintain peace and Hermione was very proud of him.

Malfoy wasn't complaining. The Weasley girl was making things easier for him and Ronald was not likely to interfere any time soon. With a bit of luck he could have Potter asking for a little "experimentation" soon enough. He just needed one time and, if he manipulated things well enough, maybe he would have the chance to salvage the incipient friendship between them.

Draco had decided to risk it. He was going to press his luck and ask Severus for the potion he had to take to help initiate the change that would enable him to get pregnant. Once his body was ready he would have a month to get laid, or the effect will recede and he'll be forced to wait another two months to try again. This was because the male body was not meant to have extra internal organs and the strain it take to maintain them was too much. Once pregnant however, Sally would cast a special spell to protect his womb and the baby, so he could carry it to term. Malfoy was still more than a bit unsure about the whole procedure, but he was convinced that he had to do it quickly or he would risk loosing Sally for ever and he refused to think too much about the situation or he would have more doubts. He was thinking about how he'd manage to get to the secret chamber that night while he waited for the potion to cool, when Harry entered the lab, a worried frown on his face.

"How was the meeting?"

"Well... I don't know. I have the distinct impression that their plan is to wait until I'm grown up and then let me do the work! It's fucking frustrating! I know what the prophesy says! I know that I have to be the one to finish Voldemort off! But I refuse to do THEIR work!"

Draco remembered in time that he wasn't supposed to know about the prophesy and put on a confused face.

"Prophesy?"

"Err... well, yes. It's what your father was looking for the day he was arrested. In a nutshell, it sets Voldemort and me for one to kill the other. 'No one can live while the other survives' that's part of what it says."

"Well, I think it's rubbish. Why the entire light side are depending on a prophesy to act? And what's that bit about doing their work?"

"Oh, the majority of them had already envisioned my life. I'm to spend a couple of years hiding here or in another safe location and I would be ready to face Voldemort when I'm at least twenty. Then I'll be head auror and finish the remaining Death Eaters that could have escaped, and after that I'm somehow going to put the pureblood society in its place and correct it, and while doing that I'm going to repair the Ministry's international relations and help to make things better with the magical creatures. Finally I'm going to be Minister of magic and make a happy and perfect wizarding world. How's that?"

Draco had an incredulous look on his face.

"As I said before. Complete rubbish."

"Yeah, well that was what McGonagall and Remus said too."

"That would be accounted as having common sense. I don't understand. One would think that the Order would be anxious to finish the Dark Lord."

"Apparently Dumbledore left a whole set of precautions and steps to be taken and the Order is taking them pretty seriously. You know? For someone that was killed, I think that he was pretty much expecting it."

Harry had started to pace back and forth and Malfoy frowned at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, first of all, this place is under fidelius. Dumbledore was the secret keeper, but some days before the Death Eaters attacked he changed places with Moody. You already know he's the only one who can speak of the place freely."

"Yes." Draco had already been told about the fidelius. He was inside the house because Harry had dragged him while unconscious; if he left the house he wouldn't be able to find it again. At least that was what the majority of the Order thought. Draco was forbidden to tell Harry that Moody had already told him the location of Grimmauld Place.

"The Order considered that to be pretty strange. Also there is this whole set of recommendations about what has to be done, and clear instructions to leave me pretty well alone while training. I think he was trying to give me time to find the... umm, to do what is necessary to finish Voldemort without interference."

"And that is strange? The man knew the dangers of a war; he was well prepared for every eventuality."

"Oh, yes. But there is still another thing. Today, before the meeting started, I was sent to find Remus and McGonagall and I caught a piece of conversation..."

"Oh?"

"They were talking about Snape..." Harry had started to bit his lower lip and Malfoy felt the need to reassure him. He approached the boy and took his hand. Lately it seemed that Harry was more at ease when Malfoy touched him. The dark-haired boy relaxed a bit.

"I didn't quite understand everything they were saying... it was something about Snape and a pensieve... and how Dumbledore had been foolish to not have said anything... and that Snape may be needing help but..."

"Yes?" Draco prompted.

"I-I don't understand why we would consider giving help to that...! That...! Murderous bastard!"

Draco frowned and thought about Harry's dilemma. He had been told what had really happened between Dumbledore and Snape. The old man had been already dying. Salamanca had said that Dumbledore should have died the day his dragon had been slain. So close had been their bond. But the old man had needed to do something to ensure that the portal could be opened again and with fierce determination he had managed to survive, but at great cost on his magic. The fight against the Dark Lord and the effort that took to find and destroy an important artefact that assured part of the Dark Lord's immortality had been fatal to the old wizard. He would have died whether Snape had cast the Avada Kedabra or not. The only difference was that Snape was still one of the few in the Dark Lord's favour and that had allowed him to help Draco. The blonde considered what to tell Harry, who was clearly upset about his mentor's demise.

"I think that there's something that they had not told you. Maybe it's safer to follow Dumbledore's indications. The man should have known what he was doing?"

Harry gave a painful sigh and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Everyone keeps telling me the same, but it's quite difficult when the man is dead."

Malfoy gave Harry's hand a sympathetic squeeze and pulled him towards his work station.

"Stop thinking so much Potter. You're already doing all you can, everything's gonna be fine. Come; help me to get the potion in those vials, would you?"

"What's this?"

"Pepperup potion. I'm going to make some blood-replenishing one next."

They emptied the cauldron and filled the vials. They had just finished when McGonagall and Hermione entered the lab. The older witch revised the potion that Draco had made and offered to help with the blood-replenishing one, while Granger took Harry away to discuss some important matters.

Draco looked worriedly at the vial of pain-killer potion that Snape had given him. It was night and he was completely alone in the big house, well except for the elves, but the creatures hardly counted in this case. There had been some kind of emergency that no one had explained to him and all the adults were far away and had strictly ordered them to not leave the house and to wait patiently for someone to return to tell them what had happened.

The golden trio of course had turn tail as soon as the last adult had left the house. For them this was a great opportunity to go in search of another "item" and they were not about to waste it. Ginny had been confined to the Burrow due to Harry finally getting enough of her nasty comments and pleaded Mrs. Weasley to not let her come until the adults returned. That, Draco had discovered later, was Harry's way of keeping Ginny from discovering they were gone. Harry didn't trust the girl to stay behind quietly and he was not going to take her with them.

It had been only the first day without the trio and Moody had calculated that Draco had at least two nights before they returned. The blond had spent the day preparing all that he needed for the incantation and drunk the required potions. The ritual had been simple enough and now he could already feel the tingle of magic in his body and his very core vibrating, getting ready to start changing. He just had to drink the final vial and he could be asleep for the next thirty hours or so.

Snape had given him two vials, one he had to take immediately and the other when he waked up. The man had warned Draco that the change would not be pleasant and even with the concentrated potion he was giving him he could experiment a bit of pain. That was why it was important that he didn't forget to drink it.

Draco swallowed nervously. He was already past the point of no-return and it'll be foolish not to follow Snape's instructions, so he took the vial and emptied it quickly. Once that was done, he vanished the assortment of empty vials from his room and lay down. Soon he felt a big, scaly body curled up around him and sighed, feeling a bit more protected. Sally will help him. She won't let anything happen to him while he slept. Draco closed his eyes and let the inevitable happen.

The blond Slytherin had a moment of panic when he woke up. He couldn't feel Sally and he was more than a bit disoriented. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself and to reach Sally's mind. There. He could barely feel it. That warm and safe presence inside him, just out of reach. Draco remembered that his dragon had prevented him about the possibility of her going dormant for a while because the drain of magic would exhaust her. Draco groaned and turned on his side. He was worried about Sally. If he didn't succeed in his attempt to get into Harry's pants in a month and they were forced to do the procedure again it could be fatal. Draco bit his lips and tried not to think about that. He could not fail. Even if he had to force things a bit, Potter was going to be in his bed before the month finished.

While he was thinking about that, the room was getting brighter. He had forgotten to close the curtains for the night. He looked at the pain-killer potion on his bedside table and sat up. He wasn't feeling any pain. In fact, he didn't feel different at all. He ran his hands all over his stomach and chest and sighed in relief. Salamanca had assured him that he wouldn't grow breasts but he wasn't sure he trusted her. She had been a bit too happy to know that Draco wanted to do the change so soon. The blond looked again at the potion and considered his body again. His hips felt a bit sore and he was still feeling somewhat disoriented, but there wasn't actual pain. Maybe Snape had been exaggerating, after all no one had done this change thing for many years. Draco frowned at the vial and decided to leave it for an emergency.

"Dobby!"

The elf appeared in a loud "pop" and proceeded to jump excitedly.

"Yes Master Malfoy sir. What Dobby can be doing for you sir?"

"Take this and store it in the potions lab."

Dobby took the vial and sniffed at it.

"Pain potion Sir! Master feeling bad sir?"

"No, I'm fine, that's why you're gonna store it in the lab."

"Yes Master Malfoy Sir! Master Harry Potter is back sir! And Master Lupin Sir!"

"Already? Well, I suppose I'll have to get down to breakfast. You can go Dobby."

"Yes sir!"

The elf disappeared and Draco got out of bed to take a bath.

It was close to nine in the morning when Malfoy was climbing down the stairs, feeling dizzy and sorer than he had felt upon waking. However he was able to dismiss his discomfort and get to the kitchen. There was no one in sight yet and Draco walked unsteadily to a chair to wait for them.

As soon as he sat down, a sharp pain ran all over his backside and he stiffened and whimpered in surprise. Suddenly he was a bit more aware of the stress his lower half had gone through. Slowly, as the last of the effects of the potions he had drank disappeared, every bit of his inner anatomy took great care in informing him of their current state. Which was not pleasant at all. Malfoy was feeling his insides twitching in an alarming way. When they had told him that his inner anatomy would have to change in order to allow a pregnancy he had only supposed that he would acquire more internal organs and had not given any thought to what exactly that implied. After all, how much different the inner anatomy of a girl could be to that of a boy? He was discovering the hard way that it wasn't just a matter of growing extra organs. The ones that were already there had to be 'pushed' aside in order to make room for the new additions and the result were very sore entrails that were at the moment screaming to him. Even the bones had changed. Draco was sure that his hipbone had cracked and somehow enlarged before healing again wrongly.

Draco let his head drop to the table and cursed himself for being so stupid! Had life not already taught him to never dismiss Snape's advice? But No! He had gone and do it again! And now he wasn't sure that he could walk upstairs again! The pain was getting worse by the minute. He was sore in places that usually aren't even felt! He could swear that his kidney was rubbing his lungs painfully! He didn't know how he had managed to climb down the stairs and could not phantom why it had seemed a good idea to come to the kitchen for breakfast in the first place! As if anyone would notice that something was wrong with him if he just had decided to stay in bed!

He was considering the possibility to kill himself when the kitchen door opened and someone entered. Just fucking great! Malfoy cringed at the high pitched voice of Granger, saying reprovingly.

"Malfoy! What are you doing? Tables are not to lay on them!"

Draco had a sudden image of his mother berating him and he shuddered, getting instantly upright. He regretted to have come down even more when he looked at the stunned faces of the three Gryffindors. He would have snapped at them but at the moment he didn't have any will to do anything at all but to stare in return.

Harry was grumpy and morosely leading his two friends down to the kitchen. The trip had been long, tiring, dangerous and completely useless. They had found an old place that used to be the winter retirement of Ravenclaw's family, but not a trace of a horcrux. They had been ready to explore another location when Dobby dutifully had warned them that the Weasleys had returned to the Burrow, which meant that whatever crisis had occupied the Order had been dealt with and they had to return in a hurry. With Dobby's help they had managed to be home just before Remus had arrived and checked on them. He had spent a restless night and was not in the mood to listen to Hermione's theories of farther places to look for the missing horcrux. Luckily Malfoy and Remus' presences at breakfast, and quite possibly Molly's arrival, would stop that particular line of conversation.

Harry smiled unconsciously thinking about the blond Slytherin. He had already constructed an easy-going friendship with the boy and he had noticed that he felt completely at ease in Malfoy's presence. He liked the Slytherin. It was good to have someone with whom to relax without worry too much about war problems. Usually Harry could do that pretty well with Ron, but lately all of Ron's worry-free time was spent with Hermione. Harry was looking forward some quiet time in Malfoy's company, he had not checked on the boy last night due to them all arriving past midnight and their own hurry to get in bed before Remus arrived. But he trusted that Malfoy had kept to his word and that he would behave as if nothing had happened in front of Remus.

He was not expecting to find the blond practically collapsed on the kitchen's table and he definitely did not like the look on said blonde's face when he looked up at Hermione's reprimand. Malfoy's face was beyond pale and the dark circles under his eyes suggested that he had not rested well if he had slept at all. He was biting his lip in a painful gesture and Harry's worry grew when the blond failed to answer them.

"Malfoy, are you sick?" said Ron, with the face of someone who could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Potter couldn't stop himself; he hurried to Malfoy's side and put the back of his hand over his forehead. Draco looked at him quizzically.

"What're you...?" the blond started to say, only to be rudely interrupted by Harry.

"Malfoy you should be in bed! I'm surprised that you came down here, usually you're so whinny. You should be whimpering in bed and begging for attention!"

"I'm not whinny and I don't beg for attention Potter!" said Draco indignantly and immediately groaned and clutched at his stomach.

Harry pulled him out of the chair, intending to drag the blond upstairs, but the movement was too fast for Draco's pained body and he almost fell to the floor. Harry's good reflexes kicked on time and he caught the boy in midair. Draco bit his lip to prevent himself from screaming and grabbed Harry's arms in a death grip. The Gryffindor helped him to regain his feet and thankfully didn't let him go. Draco was seeing stars and breathing with some difficulty. Harry panicked and put his arm around Draco's torso, trying to support him. Ron had just started to move towards them, as Malfoy looked like he would faint at any minute, when the kitchen door opened and Ginny and Molly Weasley entered. The girl stared at the two boys that were still clinging to each other and her eyes narrowed.

"Harry! What are you doing? Make him release you!"

Harry turned to look at her as if she was mad. Mrs. Weasley immediately noticed that the blond boy was shaking and deathly pale and she sprung into motion, helping Harry to sit the boy again and sending Ron to floo Madam Pomfrey while she checked the boy's temperature. Draco was so embarrassed and cursing himself for the thousand time for hadn't drunk the damn potion. What the hell had he been thinking?

Draco felt a gentle rubbing on his back and was faintly aware of hands trying to coax him to get up again. He felt dizzy and his legs were still shaking, but he tried to make the effort to stand on his own. Only to find himself grabbed and hoisted up into Harry's arms. At the first moment of panic he took hold of Harry's shirt and widened his eyes at the Gryffindor.

"Potter! I can bloody walk!"

The black-haired boy ignored him completely and started to walk towards the kitchen door and upstairs directly to Draco's room, followed by Mrs. Weasley. He deposited the blond on his bed and made room for Mrs. Weasley to continue to fuss over him. A second later Lupin joined her, wanting to know what had happened. Draco's expression was of disbelief and a bit of panic, especially when Madam Pomfrey appeared. Despite the pain Malfoy tried to say that he was fine and just hadn't slept well, but the mediwitch will have none of it and started to cast diagnostic spells while Mrs. Weasley and Remus ushered Harry out of the room. Draco was afraid of what could happen if Madam Pomfrey discovered his few changes but, to his relief, Moody appeared too and insisted to be present like everyone else while the mediwitch did her job. He nodded at Malfoy and the blond noticed the wand poking out of one of the wizard's robe sleeves. The boy felt strangely assured by that and, once panic free and still in pain, he stilled himself while the adults fretted over him.

Harry stood outside the room for a while, thinking about what could be wrong with Malfoy. He had been a bit scared when he had seen how awfully pale the boy was. Harry hoped that it wasn't something bad, he'll hate to see Malfoy convalescent. He remembered how the boy used to complain for every minor discomfort to his persona and his lips twitched in alarm. He had been enjoying his interaction with Malfoy and he really didn't want to see if the boy would revert to his old self while being sick. He shook his head and walked towards the stairs to return to the kitchen, thinking of how annoying a sick Malfoy could possible be.

He was imagining all kinds of crazy demands that Malfoy would surely put upon them, when the noise coming out of the kitchen distracted him. It seemed like there was a fight going on. Harry scowled and approached the kitchen. He could hear Ginny's voice shouting in outrage and soon could distinguish what was been said.

"... unbelievable! How could you both let him?"

"Ginny, Malfoy was about to faint! Not even the Slytherin git could be that good an actor!" Said Ron's angry voice, his explanation didn't seem to deter Ginny.

"And if he was so ill why didn't you go to assist him Ron?"

"I was going to help Harry when you and mom showed up and I was sent to floo Pomfrey!"

"Please Ginny." Hermione's voice interceded. "We all were shocked when we arrived at the kitchen. Harry just reacted faster. I don't think that Malfoy was acting, he would have known that we'll call Madam Pomfrey."

"Oh, I bet he provoked himself an illness, just so Harry had pity on him! Or used a charm!"

"And how exactly he did that charm Ginny? He doesn't have a wand!"

Harry had had enough. He was positively fuming. What the hell happened with Ginny? He entered the kitchen and caught the girl prepared to retort to her brother. Instead, she looked towards the black-haired Gryffindor and instantly her angry face changed to one of concern.

"Harry! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Ginny! Is Malfoy the one who almost collapsed!"

Ron and Hermione, seeing Harry's anger guessed that the boy had heard their little fight with Ginny and sighed in frustration when the redheaded girl didn't seem to care.

"Who gives a damn about Malfoy? Harry, you should have let him fend for himself!"

"Oh, so we should have let him pass out on the kitchen table and have breakfast while we waited for him to wake up?"

"Yes, you should Harry! You know that he would have done that very thing to you! Being the bastard he is!"

Even Ron looked open mouthed at his sister, while Harry answered.

"And what if that's what he'd do? I'm not him Ginny! And I'm not like that!"

"I know Harry! And he knows that too! That's why he's pulling all this, to get to you! And you're making it easy for him!"

"Look Ginny, I don't know what's gotten into you, but Malfoy is not pulling some strange act together!"

"How can you be so sure? He's a Slytherin! It's the kind of thing he would do to ensure his survival!"

"And what exactly do you think he's planning Ginny? We already are providing him a safe place and keeping him away from harm!"

"Oh yes, but his safety is still not fully guaranteed! There are plenty of people in our side that would want a piece of Malfoy. What better way to deter their attacks than to be seen with the boy who lived? Even better if he is believed to be something more than friends! Seeing as you don't care about that particular abnormality!"

"You are still with that idea Ginny?"

"He is trying to seduce you Harry! You're so naïve you didn't realize it!"

The girl suddenly turned to face the other girl in the room.

"I'm surprised at you Hermione! You're supposed to be smart! How come you're letting Harry walk into that bastard's manipulation?"

Hermione went red and spluttered indignantly at what the red-head had implied. But before she could regain her wits and made a coherent answer to Ginny, the door opened again and the adults entered. Mrs. Weasley looked at her daughter disapprovingly; evidently she had overheard the end of the youngsters' conversation. She didn't have time to say anything before Harry questioned them.

"How's Malfoy? I hope it's nothing serious."

"Well not really, or rather, it shouldn't be." Madam Pomfrey promptly started to explain. She bit her lips worriedly before going on. "There's nothing actually wrong with him..."

"Ha! I knew it!" interrupted Ginny. "He's faking it, doesn't he?"

"Ginny! Be more considerate!"

"But mom...!"

"And let Madam Pomfrey finish explaining!"

That was said with finality and the red-headed girl pressed her lips in annoyance. Madam Pomfrey continued.

"As I was saying, Mr. Malfoy is apparently well, but his magic is doing strange things." She looked at Moody and Remus with disapproval, and Harry frowned at that, but the mediwitch didn't stop talking. "It seems that someone has been messing with that boy's magic, among other things, and it's trying to reassert itself. Also he could have been more damaged than we first suspected."

Harry's worry increased. He immediately supposed Malfoy in some kind of danger.

"But, he's gonna be all right?"

"Yes, he's gonna be fine. However, I highly recommend for him to practice some spells. That would help for his magic to settle down."

Ginny immediately sprung to life, not liking that recommendation at all.

"Madam Pomfrey you can't be serious! We can't let him have a wand!"

The mediwitch frowned reprovingly to the girl.

"I'm not suggesting that you give him a wand to have at all times. With a few minutes of practice a day would do, even if he cast only simple spells."

"We'll see to it Madam Pomfrey." Said Harry, ignoring the furious glare that Ginny shot him.

"I'm happy to hear that Harry. For now he only needs to rest and he'll be up and about for dinner. I'll be leaving now, try not to injure yourselves young boys."

The mediwitch was gone and Mrs. Weasley started to prepare breakfast while she reprehended a sulking Ginny. They all ate breakfast quietly and then Remus and Moody went out for the rest of the day.

Malfoy sat on one of the couches at the library. After the adults had left his room he had immediately called for Dobby to bring him the potion Snape had given him. Now that the pain was gone he felt infinitely better and relaxed. He was still a bit tired but he was fed of the bed and wanted to see if he could forget about his problems reading a bit, problems which now included a reprimand on Mad eye's part for being so careless. Apart from that, he was strangely content, even when he must be feeling unsettled by the drop on his magic, he was enjoying the fact that he didn't need to block strange outside awareness of things around him. The world felt for once as it had always felt. Draco got himself comfortable on the couch with a huge book of spell theory and started to read.

It had passed only a couple of minutes when Harry entered the library and stopped for a moment, seeing the blond.

"Malfoy, what're you doing here? You're supposed to be resting!"

Draco raised his head to look at the Gryffindor boy and shrugged noncommittally.

"I was tired of the bed Potter; besides, I'm not some weakling who needs to be sleeping all day."

The black-haired boy shook his head and went to sit down besides the blond, frowning at the book that was on his hands.

"You could at least have picked up something lighter to read Malfoy. You and Hermione are very alike on that aspect."

Malfoy thought that he would never cease to be surprised that Harry's behaviour towards him hadn't changed. He felt strangely happy to see that Potter was not seeing him as a freak despite all the things that had recently happened. He quickly got over his surprise to take advantage of the situation.

"What's wrong with my choice of reading Potter? Only because you seem to prefer gory material, we normal people are not forced to like that."

He was talking of course about the newspapers full of the Death Eaters' misdoings. Harry huffed indignantly and answered.

"As if you're one to talk Malfoy. I'm sure you have read plenty of Dark Art's books that are even more gorish than the news."

"The fact that I had read some questionable books doesn't mean that I had enjoyed them."

Harry smiled at the now pouting blond and sniggered.

"You know Malfoy; I'm starting to think that you would have been a lost cause as a Death Eater."

Draco made a disgusted face and Harry laughed heartily.

Hermione stood in the shadows of the library, protected by a Disillusionment Charm. She had been there when Malfoy had arrived and had debated for a while whether she should go and talk to the boy, who evidently hadn't notice her. She decided to remain out of sight so she could observe him a bit. She had put the charm when she had seen Harry approaching and sat in the same couch as the blond.

Hermione groaned inwardly at the openness with which Harry talked to Malfoy. She was not blind and, unlike Ginny had suggested, she had noticed the change in Malfoy's attitude towards Harry, but she had also noticed the way Harry had responded to the blond. She knew that Harry wasn't doing it on purpose, and that much of it was Ginny's fault, but he had been acting as if he was too flirting with the other boy. Hermione hadn't said anything because she had believed that Malfoy was not really interested in Harry, besides, unlike Ginny she knew the black-haired Gryffindor enough to know that whatever she said against Malfoy at the moment would likely made her friend search the blond further.

Hermione looked attentively at the exchange between the boys and grimaced when Malfoy tentatively brushed a hand against Harry's tight and, encouraged by the lack of response on the black-haired boy's part, rested it over Harry's knee. Hermione pressed her lips together when all Harry did was smile, commenting on how tiring the tidy up of the house was, and proceeding to talk about Quidditch and some spells Lupin was teaching them. The girl noticed that Malfoy looked surprised at Harry's reaction, and frankly she completely shared the sentiment. The blond boy went along with the conversation and after a while he removed his hand from Harry's knee, after giving a light squeeze to it.

Hermione spied them for a few more minutes, waiting for Harry to do something to stop Malfoy from tracing patterns on his arm with his finger, but her friend was doing nothing to discourage the blonde's advances. The girl despaired when Malfoy looked intently at Harry's face and licked his lips in a very purposeful manner. Harry blushed, but his eyes were fixated on Malfoy and then he licked his lips too and almost leaned towards the blond! Hermione looked in shocked alarm as her best friend seemed to get lost looking into Malfoy's eyes. Thankfully, Mrs. Weasley's amplified voice reached them, announcing that dinner was ready. Harry regained his senses and was a bit flustered, but when he stood up he automatically took hold of the blonde's hand and pulled him to his feet.

They left the library together and Hermione lifted the Disillusionment Charm. She stood where she was for a moment, not quite knowing what to think. She had never thought that Harry liked men for an instance, but he was clearly proving her wrong. She couldn't blame Harry's behaviour on a spell on Malfoy's part, because the blond had no wand. A potion was unlikely the culprit, Malfoy had only brewed Pepperup and Blood-replenishing potions so far, and McGonagall herself had aided him and had scanned the potions' lab after they had finished and had not found anything amiss.

She couldn't say that Harry didn't realize what Malfoy was doing. The blond wasn't being very subtle. His intentions were clear; no one could be so naïve to misunderstand it! Right?

Hermione suddenly thought about Ron and how it took ages to make him understand certain things... And how Ginny had to go out with Dean for Harry to figure out that he had some feelings for her... Ok, maybe there was a tiny chance of Harry misunderstanding the signs that Malfoy was very clearly sending him. That could be a thousand times worse. Hermione decided that she had to confront her friend before something nasty happened.

Ginny entered the kitchen quietly. It was too early in the morning for anyone to be awake, but one could never be sure with the house-elves. She couldn't resist anymore. Malfoy was going too far! He was clearly trying to seduce her Harry and no one seemed to want to stop him! Well, she wasn't going to stay by and watch as someone tried to snatch Harry from her! She had a plan to make Harry stay with her and she was going to implement it as soon as possible.

She approached an empty cabinet that no one had found use of and opened it. She put in the bottle of firewhiskey she was carrying, then closed the door and put a looking spell in place. She turned around satisfied and returned to the parlour to floo home. Once she walked away, two little figures appeared beside the old cabinet, narrowing their eyes at the gone witch.