Chapter Four

   A few days (and one serious hangover) later, Harry plopped himself down at one of Llyffant Pwll's library tables, feeling quite proud of himself. Draco looked slowly up from his textbook, displeasure clear on his features. "What?"

"Nothing," said Harry, pulling out his own books. "Partner."

Draco stilled, quill mid-scratch, eyes focused on a knot in the wood above his parchment. "What?" he said, a little breathlessly.

Harry shrugged. "We're partners now."

"In what?" Draco demanded.

"Everything."

That finally made Draco's head snap up. "Potter what did you do?"

"I switched all our classes so we're working together," Harry said, enjoying himself a little bit too much. "You can thank you when you have your patronus."

Draco though ground his teeth. "How does me being lumbered with you get me a patronus exactly?"

"I," said Harry magnanimously. "Am going to stick by your side, and work out what makes you happy." Other than, he added mentally, annoying me, which you will be able to do more of, because I will always be around. He was very proud of his plan either way.

Draco's mouth opened and closed, not sure what he wanted to say. "And our lecturers all agreed to this?"

"Oh yes," said Harry happily, flicking to the same page in the textbook Draco was on. "They thought it was a marvellous idea."

"We'll see," Draco grumbled, but he seemed to realised his battle was lost.

And lost it was. Harry had the upper hand knowing it was a game, so delighted in provoking Draco in as many ways as he could get away with, whether it was asking obviously stupid questions about their assignments or resorting to a good old fashioned prank. To begin with, Draco suffered with silence and dignity, but when Harry woke one day to find all his underwear spelled green and his quill cursed to only write "Potter likes it up the arse" did he finally feel he was getting somewhere.

"Would you two keep it down?" Ron had called angrily one day over the courtyard as they bellowed each other hoarse on the correct emergency procedure for escaped ghouls, and then Hermione had had to (literally) smack their heads together when their liquorice wand eating competition had gotten out of hand.

"Honestly, it's like being back in school," she'd bemoaned, and the two of them had given her black, sticky grins.

Because Harry began to realise, as much as Draco enjoyed ribbing and tormenting him, he liked it just as much back.

"Come on," he whined, back in the practice room as he and Draco danced around each other. "You're much less grumpy these days, there must be something you can try to spark of you patronus!"

"Don't push it Potter," Draco snapped, but it had lost some of the previous weeks' rancour.

"What?" Harry asked innocently. "Like this?"

And he gave Draco just a little prod on the shoulder with his fingertips. "What are you...?" he started, shaking his head in exasperation.

Harry did it again, and Draco's face dropped into a scowl. "Come on," said Harry, waggling her eyebrows. "It's just a little push! That's all you need, I know you know what makes you happy!" And he gave him a push again.

"Potter cut it out!" Draco cried reaching over and shoving him with both hands, and that was all the incentive Harry needed to tackle him to the ground.

They yelped like puppies and Harry maintained his upper hand by diving in to tickle Draco's ribs. "Come on Draco!" he crowed between laughing. "You can do it! Show me, show me what makes you happy!"

"Harry get off!" he responded, using his height to bowl them over and try and pin Harry down. But Harry was fast and lithe and was enjoying it far too much. "You prat – STOP!"

Harry just cackled though, mussing up Draco's hair and grappling his waist between his thighs. "Not until you show me your patronus!" he declared. "Take me to your happy place Draco!"

Suddenly, Draco became still in Harry's arms, his face serious as he panted and fixed Harry with a searing look. "Fine," he rasped.