Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

The Principle of Sympathy	By : heerayni Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 5834 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not Own any part or character from The Harry Potter series, Or The Master of Magics Trilogy, They belong to J.k. Rowling and Lyndon Hardy, i make no money from this.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Author's Note:

First of all, I apologize profusely for the lateness of this chapter. I had a little accident last Tuesday and ended up dislocating my left shoulder, which incidently also has an extra clavicle rib, yes, I have an extra bone in my body for some weird reason. But, never mind, what ever pleases nature, i can't complain. But yes pain is a bitch, and this is the reason that this chapter is a little smaller than my usual fare. Not too much though. And as i am sure most of you have experienced, typing with one hand is Frustrating really. So Apologies.

Thanks again to Lovely AlexKDP, Delia Cerranno and a Distressed Anon reviewer. Here is the update.

@Alex. You are such a sweetheart... now i am sure you are going to love this chapter and the next even more. so keep me aware of your thoughts. i love your reviews and wait for them the most. They are so full of excitement that i feel excited too! thanks!

I may or may not have made a really weird reference to a video game in this chapter... lets see if you can find it..:D

Chapter 12. Confronting a Malfoy

All along the tears may fall like rain from your eyes,

But listen to me my one, always live in love,

Oh Shock of love, don't let me wake…

Don't let my feet, the ground take…(Gulzar)

"So what do you have to say about love?" Cho Chang asked cheerfully which was all too condescending and fake for Harry's taste. And today he was not in mood for someone he once cared deeply for to give his first ever kiss and be second best for looking like Rita Skeeter. For that is how Cho Chang looked and talked like.

"Love?" he asked disinterestedly.

"Yes love."

"Love as in familial? Patriotic? Or the entity itself." Hermione's warning glare decides it for him. This was going to be one hell of an interview that Cho Chang or all sitting in the room would never ever forget. And next time someone came to him for an exclusive, they would think a million times about their questions.

"Oh Harry dear! I mean it as in Romantic love… you know, between a girl and guy? And stuff like that.. but I am intrigued by what you said in the end. Love, The entity itself."

"So do you want me to talk about romantic love or love the entity itself?" He asks cooly

"How about both?" she answers lips twitching a little in impatience. This was so not the girl he asked out to Yule ball all butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

"No, you get to choose one only."

"Okay then, since our readers are more interested in your life than your philosophy I will choose Romantic love." Cho snaps at him. Annoyed and irritated now.

"And that is the saddest thing isn't it Cho? People claim to love me, but the only thing they want to know about regarding me is how my romantic life is, not what I think of or how I really treasure love." He sneers the way he is sure he has only seen Malfoy doing.

"Harry this is an interview for 'Witch's weekly', not 'Wizarding life Extraordinaire'!" He pointedly ignore Hermione.

"And are you of opinion that A witch's life cannot be extraordinary? And all she has to suffice on is Gossip about a person who's biggest accomplishment in anyone's eyes should be being young enough to have a sizzling love-life? Really?"

"You were the one who asked me to pick one?"

"And so you chose gossip over philosophy?"

"I chose what would please my readership Harry."

"And you really think that me liking Romantic walks on the beach and sex in the shower is more important than me thinking that love is the only force of life that has pulled me out of jaws of imminent death more than once. That the love of my parents and the love of my teachers and friends holds less importance or will please your readership less? Really Cho? And I thought you were a Ravenclaw, smartest of the lot."

"Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you insinuate that I do not care about what real love is?"

"I am the guy who fought the war Cho, that is who I am. I am the guy who saw Cedric die, Sirius Drift away, Dumbledore fall and Snape bleed. But yes, I like small intimate dinners, meaningful gifts, and sightseeing. And I believe love is the reason the world keeps revolving. And I have yet to find reason for me to keep on revolving as well."

At that point Cho Chang was once again crying and rushing out of the room, her quick-quote quill suspended mid-air. As Hermione looked on at him sadly. This felt like a Dejavu

I stand just by the weird potted-palm with red leaves that Luna gifted Seamus at the opening. It is a good place to watch all entrances to the restaurant and the reception desk as well. I am waiting for Luna for lunch. Our appointment earlier had to be cancelled because of an urgent meeting with the whole team assigned on the Firenze murder case.

I am sure we discussed a lot of important things in the meeting while Stoltorm stared at me more than was appropriate with those eerie blue eyes. Though I never caught what was being said in the meeting, my mind was still buzzing as thoughts swirled and a bubble of an indescribable feeling stayed trapped in my chest. Only thing that kept me grounded enough to not totally drift off like a Helium balloon was Stoltorm's unrelenting gaze homed in on me. It was intriguing and irritating all at the same times.

He did not say a word to me though. Not until he caught me up in the MLE department corridor an hour later, out of nowhere. All mystery and intrigue and smiling in that strangely chilling way.

"Was he a close friend? The Centaur that was murdered?" he asked me in the soft and husky voice, his words crystal clear without a touch of foreign accent, eyes almost turquoise blue. His longish blond hair tied back. Golden blond with lighter streaks on the top sleek and straight and texture in contrast with Draco's more voluminous and slightly wavy silver hair with a light blonde hue to them than streaks.

Fuck! Stop thinking about Draco Malfoy for one bloody second! I chastised myself.

"Not very close, but a friend enough…" I reply vaguely. I did not know if I should trust him.

"He was your professor at school as well?"

"Yes, but not for one of my favorite subjects…"

"Ah… not interested in Divinity? Future? Prophecies? Fortune-telling?"

"Enforcer Stoltorm, I lost my family and childhood. Met the killing curse twice, was pursued by a mad man through my school years which should have been the recompense for my already disappointing childhood... All because of a Prophecy… What do you think?"

He nodded solemnly.

"I apologize, I thought quite the opposite actually… The way a prophecy lead you to become who you are now in the first place, I would have thought that you would be more interested in Divinity and prophecies than holding resentment."

He made sense actually. Of all the things I should have paid more attention to Prophecies than I have so far. I make a mental note to talk to Hermione about it.

I notice four of the girls from the department coming out of the break-room all laughing at some joke until it all stops abruptly as their eyes settled on my companion.

Yes, I noticed then, that he was exceptionally good-looking, hence the reaction. I remember I used to get that reaction in the beginning. That was before most of these girls ended up on assignments with me at one time or another and the novelty wore off. For which no one could be more thankful than me to be honest. I preferred avoiding friendships and dalliances at work at all costs. It was and remains a cardinal rule and I believe it is the very reason why my life has remained so uncomplicated for past 7 years.

In time his concentration shifts when he sees me distracted and glances at the girls all frozen mid-step.

I saw him smiling boldly at them all before he inclined his head in a sophisticated courtesy. Suave and smooth and charming and all too dangerous. Before he nods at me and takes his leave. I stare after him. What is this guy's story? I make a mental note to get more information on him. It should not be too difficult with that surname of his. Not to forget that he knows Draco too and I should have done that last night after I returned from the Manor.

My mind drifts again. Trying to figure out how I should react to Malfoy when I see him next. If I should owl him? If I should just drop by the manor again. Or just simply stalk him. See what he does? Who he meets?

I can't believe I am seriously thinking about stalking him again.

But why? What I have faced, heard, seen since last night leaves very little to doubt in the situation.

What do I need to confirm by stalking him? There are not enough hours in the day for him to be plotting some grand scheme of taking over the world. Which should be the 'only' reason to stalk him.

This… connection or misjudgment or some strange sort of … Infatuation which possessed me to hurl myself at him like a pathetic damsel in distress, is something to be ashamed of. Not something to pursue.

My control is horrendous when it comes to him as it has been proven time and time again since his return. Stalking him would be a bad idea… Always.

The last time I stalked Malfoy, it did not end well. The results still stay on top of my memory pyre. Memories I can only wish to burn out of my head but sadly can't.

This time?

I might have told myself back then that I had a very legitimate reason to stalk Draco and I might have had them too…

This time I don't have any such legitimate reason. He is totally above the table. Busy with bringing his life back on track, and taking care of his fortune and dating plus looking cozy with that blonde uptight snob Daphne Greegrass under the Canopies that 'I' enchanted, for Finnegan's.

What?

Wait a minute!

What is he doing here? With her?

Silver grey eyes are trained on me. He must have noticed me way before I noticed him.

Shit!

I realize that I can't face him right now.

Not with the mood I am in. I would lose it and do something even more appalling than all I have already done.

Sometimes my auror instincts are really pathetic!

His companion touches him to gain back his attention.

And I have never felt more alone in my life. As he turns away from me and smiles at her.

Her slender hand still on his forearm.

It is too much.

'Just find a corner and die Harry why don't you? Swooning over Draco bloody Malfoy like a pathetic fan girl.' Says the voice in my mind that sounds awfully like Snape. It's the voice that always chastises me for indulging in my self-pity parties.

The hatred that rises in me for myself is suffocating enough. And even if my Auror instincts are pathetic at times I am always endlessly thankful for the Auror-reflexes. I am not sure if I can call them Auror reflexes at all since I gained them more or less during the war against Voldemort.

I slip away quietly with stealth. If just stumbling upon him makes me feel this way, I can only imagine all that I will have to face if I was properly stalking him.

If a simple touch of Daphne's hand on his arm makes me want to vomit my guts out, I wonder what witnessing him kissing her would feel like?

I can't even dare to imagine it.

Surely I am going insane. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Two days ago, I was threatening and loathing Draco Malfoy like there was no tomorrow.

And now I am feeling like a jilted lover just because he is having lunch with his girlfriend.

No, that's not right, Daphne can't be his girlfriend. He's not been back for ten days yet. It's too soon.

'Maybe I am assuming too much.' A thought whispers. Immediately cooling my nausea down. As I stride down Diagon Alley, not really thinking about where I am going.

The house-elf said 'a special friend', it could be anyone. Draco could have been in the manor and might have just asked the elf to get rid of me. I did not go there in my official capacity did I?

And maybe he was just having lunch discussing the interview? I mean, they did not look 'that' cozy. He would not have noticed me standing so far away if he was genuinely enthralled by her … boo-…conversation? She was definitely paying attention to him though.

WHY AM I EVEN THINKING ABOUT THIS? I bang my fist fruitlessly on my mahogany desk and notice for the first time that I am actually in my office. How I got here, is not very clear. I know I walked.

A memo whizzes in through my half open door. The silver color of the parchment telling me that its straight from the minister. Taking a deep breath I unfold it. It's the same query. Asking progress on Firenze's case. I wonder why he doesn't send Robards these memos. He is the head of Magical Law enforcement.

I have a feeling that this case is going to be a long and dragged out one. The killers are in mood of playing and with the magic arsenal they seem to have at hand, they would play a long hard game. I just hope we win in the end.

They are trying to get a rise out of me. Using Dumbledore and Draco in one go. Provoking me. But I am not falling for that. I am going to wait calmly. I am not going to give them the satisfaction to see me running around and finding dead ends and humiliating and exhausting myself. The one killed is now gone. The best I can do is ensure that the murderers are caught and for that I will have to be very cold and very steady.

"For an Ex-savior of the wizarding world and poster boy of the Auror department, I must say that your Auror instincts are horrendously pathetic."

The shock of it pushes me to look up so fast at the visitor that the bones in my neck click ominously.

There he stands, leaning carelessly in my door way. Looking like an incarnation of Apollo, all sunlight and artistry.

When in the name of Merlin did Draco Malfoy become so… Beautiful.

His skin is glowing in the afternoon sun. The Peacock blue of his fashionable robes making a perfect contrast with the ivory of his skin and the silver…

Oh Dear Merlin his eyes are too much, like frozen flames as the afternoon light reflects into them. I can't stand to look into them and look away nodding my head in ascent and fixing my eyes on the carved and shining silver buttons of his perfectly fit robes.

"I was just thinking the same thing." I hear a husky and alien voice say before I realize it is mine.

He cocks his head, I only catch the action from my peripheral before he carelessly enters my office space like he owns it. I can see his silver eyes swiveling around and skimming through the little displays of me that my office contains.

Suddenly the office I have always been proud of looks very small and insignificant.

His expression gives away nothing other than curiosity as his eyes skim over the books on the shelves and then to the wall on the left side that has framed pictures of almost all my friends and loved ones and my God children of course.

He settles gracefully on the chair across from me and places a hard paper bag with the Finnegan's logo on my desk, pushing it towards me.

"Life cannot get more bizarre I tell you Potter when someone like Finnegan, without any scruples, hands me a bag full of food, meant for Harry Potter." he drawls. I watch the bag that promises food and realize that I am extremely hungry.

"I'll tell you Malfoy, that life is going to get more bizarre when Harry Potter accepts the said food without any scruples and consumes it right in front of you." I pull the bag towards me and open it to find a perfect mini chicken casserole waiting for me, heated and preserved under stasis. I can feel his eyes drilling into me incredulously.

"I would offer to share it with you had I not known that you just had lunch 'and' a show." I say nonchalantly.

I look up at him to see him looking at me with a raised brow. I ignore it. I have already given too much ground.

"Well, that's a very vague statement. I can't tell if you are being jealous or envious." His sharp eyes are settled on me. Relentless. I can feel my collar closing in around my neck under the silver scrutiny.

"Daphne is very pretty… no doubt about that." I answer shrugging. I realize fully well that I am engaged in a confrontation here. He is asking me to reveal my true feelings. He is asking me if what happened in the elevator yesterday was elemental or just reaction.

I want to answer that question. I want to tell him that it was not a reaction. I want to tell him that it has been building up with in me from the moment I laid my eyes on him during Narcissa's funeral. That deny as I have, I cannot 'not' acknowledge my feelings here and that he overwhelms me in such a primal way that I lose sense of everything, surrounding, setting, orientation… I want to tell him that he makes me feel alive in a way I have not been in past seven years. He infuriates and fascinates me just by breathing. Such aching beauty. Such magnetism… and something even more that I can't put my finger on.

But, will it be wise to do what I want? How will he use it? Process it? All these feelings. What if he rejects me? What if he laughs?

You see, being numb does not let you enjoy life to its full, but it saves you from enduring pain also.

"That she is…" he pauses for a moment. The glitter in his eyes fades a bit "… My elf told me that you visited the Manor last night while I was away, so I decided to visit you now to ask how I can be of assistance, if that is what you came for last night?"

I count to ten mentally while I place a fork full of the warm casserole in my mouth. I would have moaned in delight at the taste and warmth and freshness of it, had it been anyone but Draco Malfoy sitting in front of me. I chew thoughtfully and swallow quickly before I answer.

"I just came to apologize and inquire if you were doing all right, because I found my wand smudged with your blood after my really uncalled for threatening in the elevator… So I am sorry… are you okay? And how did you get that injury? And of course the most important question… How do you know Erik Stoltorm?" I count off on my fingers. I know I am being extremely rude here.

But then again, when haven't he and I not been rude. Doesn't matter if I am acting like a bitter jilted lover here. I take a forkful of the chicken casserole once again. And for a moment I realize how bizarre all of this is. A few minute ago I was sitting here nursing my wounded and bleeding heart, feeling nauseous enough that mention of food would have made me retch. And now I am sitting here in front of the person behind all my toils, locked in a confrontation regarding who gives more emotional ground to the other and savoring a Chicken casserole at the same time. This is not leading to a good place.

I glance at him from beneath my lashes to find his eyes fixed on me with a frown marring his perfect face.

"And you don't want to know where and who I was with last night?" The question is so out of the blue that my fork almost slips from my fingers. Game over. I should have remembered that my opponent here was a Slytherin. Harry Potter, you have been

I don't like this! It is like he can tell that I have been agonizing half the night away over that same bloody question. Cursing Daphne Greengrass to the nines. But I know he is now just being cruel. I am now sure that he knows how I feel. I mean I have pretty much laid it out haven't I? So? What to do now Harry? Give in or Give up?

In the end. I am a coward in matters of feelings.

Always have been.

"Doesn't matter, does it? As long as you are not cavorting with someone out to destroy the wizarding world, I don't see how that's my concern..." I answer shrugging.

"But as is my understanding, you were not there in an official capacity." He says sharply.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything…"

"Well, it does, when you decided to drop by my house at any time you please. If you were there in your official capacity, I would have understood this indifference now and asked you to not come next time without an official document from the ministry, BUT, if you weren't there in an official capacity, then I would tell you to stop with this horseshit attitude and Grow up! You come running because I was supposedly bleeding, yet it doesn't matter… If it doesn't matter then learn to respect people's privacy, and if it does matter to you then stop ping-ponging between being a volcano and iceberg lest you have another break down and traumatize someone else in an elevator."

'Oh that blew up nicely in your face Potter didn't it?' says Professor Snape-like voice in my head.

You fucking traumatized him yesterday. No wonder he ran out of there like there was devil on his heels.

You are such a dysfunctional person really. Can't feel anything, can't talk to anyone, collect glass marbles like a fucking psycho, Ping-Pong emotionally between volcano and ice-berg. You are the perfect grown-up version of that scared pathetic boy under the stairs, still friendly with the spiders, sexually harassing people in elevators. Contemplating stalking people. Can't even reach orgasm without your own hand, your life is so sad, it's actually funny. And this is what so many people died for? To keep your sorry self alive?

I wonder what I should say to him. A genuine apology perhaps, for traumatizing him yesterday and then just barging into his home without an invitation. We are not friends and not even enemies anymore, though that could have held me together some more.

I delicately place the fork back into the mini casserole dish and how shameful is it that my hands are trembling. Please God! Keep me together for a little longer. I clear my throat and feel an egg-size lump lodged in there.

"I...apologize." I say finally gathering strength to look up at his face. He is frowning and about to say something else and opens his mouth but then he closes it again. How awkward I have made it all. I have misjudged things from the beginning. I forgot that you can't take anyone for granted. Not your friends and not your enemies.

"I misjudged the whole situation from the beginning. I intruded on your privacy and I harassed you, in more than one ways and insulted you more than once. I failed to understand that the dynamics of our once non-relationship have changed and I most probably abused my authority as an auror as well, I apologize for it all. You won't have to face any of that again. Call it chemical imbalance if you would…" I chuckle at that, making light of it

"… it's been a hectic week or two, but no more of that and though I might still need your assistance with the Firenze murder case, I am sure it can be easily managed through owls. You can rest assured that I won't be harassing you especially not in elevators or anywhere else, I might even go for some professional help with that ping-pong, volcano-iceberg situation."

"Potter…" he starts speaking but is cut off when Ron suddenly pokes his head through the door jamb

"Harry! The meeting with curse-breakers is starting come on! Oh, Malfoy…"

"Weasley." He answers curtly. There is reserve but no scorn.

And I thank merlin for such huge favors. I could not have listened to sympathy or pity coming from Draco as I am sure that is what would have come out from those beautiful lips and I might have just hit the lowest I ever have, had Ron not come just now.

I stand up gathering myself and my emotions and packing them tightly into a box made out of numbness. Draco stands gracefully as well. His expression tense and eyes shining with an inexplicable light. Trained on me. I smile at him politely.

"I am sorry Lord Malfoy, but I would have to cut this short and perhaps ask you another time how you came to find out about ping-pong." I can tell he sees the storm inside the bottle. Is he regretting confronting me like that? I hope not. He was kind enough to not lead me on and had slapped me in the face before things got out of control. Though my heart is shattering, I am grateful. Better to have your pride blown in private than in public.

Sad little Harry Potter.

"Sure." He says sternly before he turns and is stepping out of my office as I follow him out. Warding the office silently. Once we are out in the corridor, he turns towards me again, about to say something when I blurt out the most bizarre thing I could have said.

"This blue really suits you, brings out the grey in your eyes." I say.

He gapes at me for a few seconds and I can tell he is taken completely off-guard.

"Thanks" he says at last in a strange tone.

"Good Bye." I say swiftly before I walk towards the office at the end of the corridor. Senses closing down. At times like these I can almost bow to Robards who is a master of making you desperately agitated and extremely bored at the same time. I find that is exactly what I need right now.

I lay awake in bed. Again.

Sleep deprived and disappointed.

I tried to push what happened with Malfoy today at the back of my mind. First with meetings and then when I got back home, with researching on a few things I had mental notes to research.

But now, in confines of my bed, it comes back to haunt me. I want to look at it all as a joke. I mean hypothetically from a neutral point of view, it must be a major brain scramble, the way I have started to feel about Malfoy.

But I can't. If the ache in my chest and the lump in my throat is any indication, this is not a joke or a brain scramble. I really feel something deep for him. Something extreme and for the first time I am realizing that it might not be hate.

It is fierce and smoldering but it is not hate. But is it love?

I can't answer that question yet. Especially not with the way things went today.

I give up and let the events of the day run through my mind again.

And then I notice it for the first time.

I quickly get up from the bed grabbing the wand from under my pillow and stride down to the library.

I pull out the Pensieve I found in the Black vault in Gringotts. The liquid swirling serenely, beckoning me.

I put the tip of my wand against my temple and bring the memory of the afternoon to the forefront before I cleanly extract it. The silver sliver of a memory squirms at the tip of my wand before I drop it in to The Pensieve. I swirls as I lean down into it and then the familiar sensation of falling washes all over me.

I watch Malfoy closely throughout the exchange.

By the time I am out of the Pensieve my mind is running at full speed.

'…if you weren't there in an official capacity, then I would tell you to stop with this horseshit and grow up! You come running because I was supposedly bleeding, yet it doesn't matter… If it doesn't matter then learn to respect people's privacy, and if it does matter to you then stop ping-ponging between being a volcano and iceberg lest you have another break down and traumatize someone else in an elevator.'

I kept turning those words over and over again in my mind. It was seeming to me more and more with every passing second that I had misunderstood his point altogether. How did I not notice his frustration at my supposed indifference? How did I not notice him grabbing for twigs? He had lost his temperament because I refused to come out and tell him something he obviously believed was there between him and I. Of all the things I had said to him "it doesn't matter" had gotten to him the most, which means that to Draco it matters… a lot.

My heart skipped a beat at the thought. Is he going through the same confusion and frustration that I am going through? Does he feel something for me too, just the way I am starting to feel for him?

You are getting ahead of yourself again. Do not assume too much.

But I need answers to these questions. And there is only one way to find out.

'A full-blown confession? The thing that Malfoy keeps asking?'

No. That is not happening. Why should I be the one to lay my heart out like that? If he feels something as well, he should tell all before asking me to do so.

'Err… you haven't been exactly friendly all along have you? Since his return?'

Ah, yes there is that.

But there is a solution to that problem as well.

"A subtle courtship." I end up speaking out loud and sound of my own voice startles me.

Sometimes this home becomes a house. All lonely and empty.

I decide to put my best foot forward. There is still hope. And it would be a crime to give up so easily on such initial stages. I have done my due for the most part. Been the noble wizard, the nice guy, I think I deserve a little bit of happiness. Even if it does not side with Malfoy, I shall endeavor for it.

No matter how much I have wanted to have a cookie cutter future for myself, I was never made for it? When has my life ever been normal? And cliché as the statement seem to be…What exactly is normal really?

It has kind of a poetic justice to it does it not? That I should fall for a MALE, and on top of that not just any Male but Draco Malfoy, the cherry on the top of the poisonous cake called Slytherin.

I mean, at Hogwarts, sometimes my hatred and annoyance with Draco Malfoy was even more than what I had for Voldemort.

And now…

Well, now I am going to try and woo him. I am sure that I am going to fall flat on my face because,

A. Malfoy might be straight, and I am a naturally ungifted when it comes to read signals.

B. I am a Moron.

C. My competition is Daphne Greengrass, who is pretty enough to turn a gay man straight, which Draco might be in the first place. Hell even I am not sure if I am gay and on urging of friends and family I have tested and the result still remains convoluted. Which my friends declared as Bisexual.

D. I am a moron

E. I am not charming enough, and have no experience with courtship.

F. I am a Moron!

G. The notion of me courting Malfoy is so atrocious that I am sure I can ask no one for any kind of help here.

H. I am a Moron.

Yes, it's a lost cause. And even if that thought alone is heart-breaking, I have never been one to be discouraged by dead-ends. And even if there is 0.001% possibility of things going in my favor, well… I'll take it.

Even if in the end we turn out to be as opposite as an Iceberg is to a Volcano.

Prepare Draco Malfoy to be wooed and courted and Harried!

I snicker sinisterly in the flickering light of the candles. My head set on a mission.

Daily Prophet annual charity Gala will not know what hit it when Lord Potter-Black makes an appearance.

Oh shit! Now I sound like Teenage Cinderella or something.

With a light feeling in my heart, still snickering at the visualization, I finally make it upstairs to the bed again.

"So… Who are you taking to the Charity Gala on Saturday? I heard Luna is going with Rolfe." I looked up to see my best friend looking at me with a curious expression.

"Erm… it's sort of a surprise…" I say turning back to the Quidditch quarterly that I am skimming through as we have lunch at Finnegan's. For past three days I have been planning meticulously and spying subtly all facets and aspects of my possible courtship of Draco Malfoy and how the opening act is going to be staged at the Charity gala. On top of that I have been avoiding Malfoy at all costs and have been on the verge of severing my writing hand off to stop myself from owling him. The urge is unnaturally over-whelming.

Now only one stumbling block remains.

My scheduled visit to Helga's bode to see Teddy and Andromeda, and somehow, my Auror instinct which is rubbish, is worrying itself to death with the notion that Malfoy is going to be there. I do not want to confront him before I start courting him. No, that has not come out of any of the relationship and dating books Hermione bought me over the year. This plan of action is all my own. I want to do everything my way, no falsifications. All Harry Potter. Take it or leave it.

"That's new… And so is this restless twitching and avoidance Harry…What is the matter?" I knew Hermione would figure out that I was up to something.

"Nothing! Nothing is the matter…what makes you think something is?" I ask defensively, only to see her eyes narrow even more.

"Don't tell me you are planning to ditch the whole event! You are one of the reasons they make so much money every year Harry! You can't just give up on a good cause because you are shy! Think of the…"

"… YES, the orphans and the destitutes and the unicorn reservation and the Dumbledore Scholarship and the Dragon reservation. No Hermione I am not skipping the Gala, I promised the people from these charities that I will be there. I even signed up for the Bachelor Auction this year…"

"You…What?" this time its Ron who almost chokes mid-bite.

"But you loathe the Bachelor Auction! And I have been trying to get you in for years now. In fact I started this conversation for that purpose itself!"

"Saved you breath then didn't I?" I shrug indifferently.

"You are up to something aren't you? I know you Harry Potter… and I know when you are doing something behind our backs because you think we won't approve of it. Just like I knew in 6th year!"

For a moment I blank out at that statement. 6th year? Does she suspect then? Does she know? Because, during past few days I have been reviewing all my memories of stalking Draco in 6th year in the Pensieve. And a lot of things I did back then and the way I acted, now suggest to me that my obsession with Draco is neither something new nor normal.

"Know what in sixth year?" I try to keep my query calm.

"About the Potions Harry! I knew you were cheating, I knew you could never be that good in Potions without help and what do you know, it was Snape's potions book in your hand, the book of one the best potioneers in Potions history and also one of the darkest spell writers of his age. And in the end, you almost killed Draco because of that darn book!"

"Aww! Come on Mione! Now you are getting too extreme, what does Harry's surprise date to the Gala has anything to do with Half-blood prince's book? Really sweetheart! Sometimes you start to sound barmy… really!"

Sometimes I can almost kiss Ron for his impeccable timing in coming to rescue me.

But in light of my new inclinations, it sort of makes my stomach turn.

"This is the problem with both of you! You just don't take care before you do something wrong, and then once it goes wrong, you come running to me for help…" she has turned on Ron and pretty soon I am sure the main point of this discussion will be forgotten entirely.

"And that my love, is only one of the million reasons why you alone reign my heart and will keep on doing until the day it stops beating." Ron says putting a hand on his chest and unaware of the pasta sauce smudged at the side of his lips.

He looks ridiculous, but I can see Hermione's eyes shining at him though her nose is still turned up in an expression of fake annoyance and now they are staring at each other in that love-struck way they always do and I take that as my cue to leave.

On the way back to office, I wonder about that. The kind of romance Ron and Hermione still have. I wonder if I will have something like that someday. It is nothing short of amazing how polar opposites like Ron and Hermione or Molly and Arthur or Bill and Fleur can have such a perfect romance and such a wonderful marriage. This sort of makes me hope, though I don't dare to do so, that if, and it's a BIG IF, Draco and I end up together, perhaps we would also have something like that, being polar opposites as we are, not to mention my absolutely clean slate when it comes to relationships, and a relationship with another male?

It's daunting.

But then so was finding Horcruxes and killing Voldemort.

It can't be more daunting than that? Can it?

Thanks for reading, Do not forget to review!
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The Principle of Sympathy