Chapter 23

Draco's POV

That night, I was just beginning to get over my cold, and was settling down in my bedroom, Snowflake twisting around my ankles as I pulled on a plain grey t-shirt. When I was finished I flicked off the light and scooped up the white feline, her fur tickling my nose as I climbed into bed, pulling the covers up.

Snowflake wasn't quite ready to settle down, though. She padded down the bed and leaped on to the floor with a soft thump, finding her way across the carpet and into the hallway. I watched as she slipped into Harry's room, obviously attracted to the warm light seeping into the darkness. Feeling the tiniest bit rejected, I shook my head and closed my eyes, deciding to let it go.

That was, until I heard the creaking floorboards in the room across the floor. Harry was standing in my doorway awkwardly, cradling the kitten in his arm. "Do you want her to sleep in your room?"

I nodded. "Sure. I've always kind of liked the idea of a pet that sorta curls up next to you in bed."

He walked towards me and lowered the feline down towards my bed, where she curled up into my side. I grinned up at him. "Goodnight, Harry."

"'Night, Draco."

He left the room, and I shut my eyes once again... until there was the absense of warmth from my side. I squinted into the darkness in time to see a white shape disappear into Harry's room for the second time that night. This time, I rolled out of bed and followed her, not wanting Harry to have to get up again.

I stopped in his doorway. He hadn't noticed Snowflake enter and was seated in a comfortable-looking armchair in the corner, focused on the book in his hand. The light from his lamp washed over him as he smiled at something in the book. The kitten, meanwhile, had found her place on Harry's pillow and was purring contentedly.

"I think she likes your bed better than mine."

He looked up at me. "Huh? Oh. Uh... sorry"

I laughed softly. "No, it's fine. If she likes it better in here, let her stay. I think I just kind of liked the cliché of having a pet sleep at your feet or whatever."

I said goodnight (again) and turned to leave, but after a second Harry was out after me, closing his door just the tiniest bit. "Er, Draco?"

"Yeah?" I asked, confused.

"Uh, if you wanted... you could, um. Stay in here? That way you'd get to have the whole pet thing without her leaving. Uh, nothing sexual or anything. Just sleeping."

"Are you sure?" This was more than I had expected, but it was extremely tempting.

He nodded. "It's all kinda sudden considering we just started dating amd all, so if you don't want to that's fine."

"I'm fine with it if you are." Way more than fine with it, to be honest.

"I suggested it, remember?" he said, but his eyes were lit with happiness. "My bed's big enough, though you might want to get a pillow."

"Good idea." I grinned at him and was back with a pillow seconds later.

And that's how we started sharing a bed. 

Pillow talk with Harry was highly amusing. We would usually start off with stories from Hogwarts, trading stories about practical jokes and talking about how much we both missed our respective houses. Then we would move on to how this arrangement was beneficial for us. It was usually at this point that Harry would start drifting off, but it was obvious he wanted to stay up to talk, and was trying his hardest not to fall asleep. From here it was only a matter of moments until his eyes would fall shut and his breathing would even out. I got used to falling asleep while watching his calm and peaceful expression.

The next week, we had our first official date.

I mean, technically we had been going on dates since we got together, and had been going out for dinner and movies and stuff like that even before Christmas, but this was the first time that we actually acknowleged that this was real, that we were dating.

"We should go on a date." Harry had said abruptly, during supper one Friday. I had set down my fork and and glanced at him, swallowing the food.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"I don't know." He grinned and turned back to his plate.

I had shaken my head at this spontaneous announcement, but it still got my mind working at all the possibilities. The thing was, we had already been to half of the popular date destinations before we made it official, and I wanted it to be something new. And though I had been living in the muggle world for half a year now, I still wasn't totally sure of what kind of places would be good for a date.

So, I resorted to my new friend, Google. Harry had taught me the essentials of a computer a while ago, and the search engine was a tool that I used literally everyday. How to make soup. What decorations were appropriate for Christmas. How to get better at skating. And in this case, 'unique date ideas'.

I scrolled through the options, but most of the 'original' ideas were repeated on different sites. There were only three that I liked: going to a beach, aquarium or fair. After thinking for a while, I realized that not many fairs were going to be open in the middle of winter, so I crossed that one off the list. After that it was just between the two.

Unfortunately, I couldn't choose, so I went to ask Sirius, who, after all, had been close with Harry longer than I had... and he would hopefully have better insight into which he would prefer.

The small chair that we had squeezed into closet wasn't exactly comfortably, but it worked for short periods of time. We hadn't been able to aquire a 'hot painting' for him to be, um, friends with, so Sirius spend most of his time sleeping. He was asleep now.

"Sirius." I whispered, glancing to the door of the closet. Harry had been watching a TV show last time I checked, but I didn't know whether it was going to be over anytime soon.

He slid one eyelid open. "Yes, Malfoy?"

I wrinkled my nose at him. "Haha."

"Touchy." he smirked and stretched, fingertips brushing the frame of his painting. "So what does the Slytherin Prince want with me?"

"I need dating advice."

He actually laughed. "Really?"

I frowned. "Well, you know Harry better than I do and you probably have a better idea about what to do in the muggle world, too. I want to plan a date and the internet doesn't have many suggestions."

He was silent for a moment, and then: "Why the muggle world?"

"Because he can't go back yet." I shook my head. Honestly, why did he think we were living like muggles?

He rolled his eyes. "Sure you can. Is your memory seriously that bad? Hermione and Ron want him to come visit. You don't have to go out in public, just go meet his friends again. He'd appreciate it."

I thought about it. "You're right. He needs to go see them."

"And if you want to do the whole muggle date thing... maybe do that before. And then kind of surprise him with a visit to Ron and Hermione."

I nodded. "Are you sure that Ron's ready to see him again? I mean, he seemed pretty homophobic last time we saw him."

"Draco, it's been a year since they saw each other and they're best friends. I'm sure Ron's missing him too much to still be mad about that."

I grinned. "Great. Uh, so where do you think we should go for that date?"

He shrugged. "Do something that you both like. What are your choices so far?"

"I was thinking either the beach or an aquarium?"

"Good. Neither of them are very busy either... Very relaxing."

"What one do you think Harry would like better?"

"Which one do you like better?" He asked cryptically.

"I like them both, why do you think I can't choose?" I said, frustrated.

He sighed exaggeratedly. "Fine. I seem to remember him once saying that he'd like to go to the beach one day just for fun. I wish I could've taken him once, so he could have more of a proper childhood, but..." Sadness tinged his half-smile as he shrugged.

I didn't know how to comfort him, so I just tried to show my gratitude. "Thanks so much, Sirius."

"No problem."

I left, throwing another grateful smile in his direction, and went back to the computer. I had a date to plan, after all.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait again, guys. :/

Snowflake kinda played matchmaker for them sleeping together... sneaky little kitten. Anyways, hope you guys liked it.

About the sexy scene... I think I'll attempt to write it, but I'll post it in a seperate chapter by itself so anyone who doesn't want to read it can just skip the chapter. Don't worry, there won't be anything in it other then that one scene, so you won't be missing any of the story if you skip it. ;)

-Raven