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Only the Ring Finger Knows	By : aoigensou Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 9411 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chapter
4

When
Hermione and Ron got back from Hogsmeade, Harry immediately told them about the
rumors he�d overheard. To Harry�s
chagrin, their reactions weren�t what he was expecting. Ron nearly fell on the ground with laughter,
while Hermione held him up, grinning about the entire thing. It wasn�t until Harry started marching off
to his dorm that they tried to control themselves and promised to be serious.

The
three of them were up late into the night brainstorming schemes to save Harry�s
reputation. Harry couldn�t wait to
implement the plan that they eventually settled on, but the Christmas holidays
were too close.

But
Harry could wait patiently. It wasn�t
like he�d have anyone to worry about over Christmas.

^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V

�Are
you sure you don�t want to come to the Burrow with us? It�s not too late to change your mind you
know.�

�Yes
Ron, I�m sure. Thanks for the invite,
but I just want to be alone this year.�
Harry shrugged.

�Ron,
stop pestering him! Goodbye Harry, see
you after the holidays!�

�Bye
Ginny� have fun!�

�You
know you can floo if you need anything mate.�
Ron was being dragged forcefully to the train by his sister, but he
endeavored on. �Like, if you get lonely
or anything� I mean, I don�t think anyone else is staying at Hogwarts for the
holidays.�

Harry
nodded. �I know. I was hoping for that. I�ll floo if anything happens. Now go!�
He pushed Ron, who reluctantly turned away.

�Bye
Harry,� Hermione said from behind him.
Harry turned around and hugged her.

�Have
fun!� he admonished with a smile and a hug.
�It�s not every day that you spend the holidays with your boyfriend�s
family.�

Hermione�s
cheeks tinged pink. �Please don�t say
it that way� it sounds so� grown up.
I�m not sure I�m ready to be grown up.�

�That
makes two of us, �Mione.�

�Break
it up you two!� Ron called back to them affectionately. Hermione giggled and Harry let her go.

�I�ll
see you guys after the holidays,� Harry smiled. Hermione nodded, turned, and walked over to the train. Before boarding, she turned and waved. Harry waved back at her, and continued to do
so even as the train started moving and took off toward the horizon. When he could no longer see the train in the
distance, he put his arm down, gathered his winter cloak closer to himself, and
began the trek back to school.

After
the exhilarating walk from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts, Harry went straight to the
Gryffindor dormitories to revel in the silence. Most people would be sad to be alone during the holidays, but
Harry was an exception. After the
Dursley's� and sharing a room with the boys in his year� peace was something
that Harry didn�t see very often. And
he intended on spending every moment he had catching up on his lounging. Some might call him lazy (Hermione came to
Harry�s mind), but considering the sort of life he�d known since Hogwarts and
Voldemort, and even before with his �family,� Harry really couldn�t find any
fault with a little harmless lounging.

Once
inside the common room, Harry stopped, listened, looked around, and
smiled. Alone at last. He spent all afternoon just sitting on the
couch in front of the fire in the common room.
It was warm, he was cozy, and life at that moment was great. For just a second in time he had no
expectations, nothing to live up to, no worries in the world. And it felt lovely.

When
dinnertime rolled around, Harry was still dozing in the common room, and didn�t
make it down to the Great Hall. It
didn�t matter in his mind at all, though.
As far as he knew, he would be alone in the student�s section. He hadn�t heard of anyone else signing up to
stay over the holidays.

What
Harry wanted this break was some alone time.
There hadn�t been a time that he�d been able to remember where he�d been
alone to relax for more than a day or two.
There were those rare times when the Dursleys went on vacation and
couldn�t get Mrs. Figg to watch after him, but they never trusted him to not
burn down the house for more than two days.

Harry�s
dreams were peaceful, almost too peaceful.
He dreamed of whiteness.
Unbroken, pure unadulterated whiteness, like an empty canvas waiting for
paint. It was rather disconcerting for
him to be dreaming of such utter nothing, and he woke with a start.

�That
was kind of weird,� he muttered, stretching his cramped limbs. Ever since Voldemort had been defeated,
Harry�s dreams had gone back to normal, but he�d never had one quite like that
before.

His
stomach rumbled loudly, and Harry laughed.
He was not one to skip meals usually, and when he did his body made it
known. He took the hint and got up from
the couch where he�d ended up sleeping, searching out a clock. It read 6:45. Perfect, Harry had just enough time to take a quick shower before
breakfast would be served.

Shortly
after seven, Harry arrived at the Great Hall and made his way directly over to
the Gryffindor table, where there was a table setting for one. As soon as he sat down food appeared, and he
began dishing himself up some of the tasty breakfast fare. Harry was content, planning on having a
nice, leisurely breakfast and then perhaps going for a walk around Hogwarts
grounds. He�d noticed through a window
that it had snowed the night before, creating a new, fresh blanketing over the
previously trampled snow.

�Well,
well, I didn�t know you were capable of functioning this early in the morning,
Potter.� A horribly familiar drawling
voice sounded from behind Harry, and the dark-haired boy was afraid to turn
around and acknowledge it, hoping that it was just a figment of his imagination. �Imagine, if you could do this every day
instead of just on holidays, your grades could have been better.�

�Malfoy,�
Harry groaned in defeat, �what are you doing here?� The fork Harry was holding dropped to the table and his hands
went to cover his eyes.

�Well
I saw you sitting there alone, and I figured I�d come to keep you company. You should be grateful to me.�

�No,
Malfoy. What are you doing at
Hogwarts? Don�t you have a mansion to
be at and Christmas parties to attend?�
The irritation seeped clearly through Harry�s words.

�Yes,
well, I was tired of having to attend all those parties, and since its seventh
year, I thought I�d stay and get some extra studying in. Besides, I don�t have a whole lot to return
to� What�s your excuse? Why aren�t you with Weasley?�

�Because,
Malfoy,� Harry chanced a look behind him through his fingers, �I wanted to be
alone.� Pushing his plate away from
himself, Harry got up from the table, finding that his appetite had been ruined
by Malfoy�s arrival. �Now if you�ll
excuse me,� Harry inclined his head in an imitation of politeness as he began
walking away from the table and out of the Great Hall, leaving a dumbfounded
Draco Malfoy behind.

The
trek to Gryffindor Tower was relatively short, seeing how Harry wanted to get
out of the castle as soon as possible.
He couldn�t believe that he wouldn�t be alone this Christmas after all.

�Well,
we�ll only see each other at mealtimes, if I can manage to keep myself to the
Tower,� he thought resignedly.

Harry
grabbed his winter cloak, gloves and broom from his dormitory and started for
the door, but stopped mid-stride. A
small, playful smile appeared on his face, and he donned his winter clothing
and threw the window of the dorm open.
Climbing up onto the windowsill, he clutched his broom tightly in one
hand. He took a deep breath, and
launched himself into a broom-less dive from the tower window.

The
wind pushing against his face was absolutely exhilarating, and Harry drew out
the sensation, holding off as long as possible on pulling his broom in front of
him and mounting it midair. He most
certainly did not have a death wish, and so he kept tabs on the ground.

About
fifteen feet from the ground, Harry mounted his broom and rode it the rest of
the way down, decelerating quickly. He
pulled up and dismounted, slinging the Firebolt over his shoulder and starting
off toward the lake.

The
snow made a soft, almost wispy noise as he trod
carefully through it, and the grey clouds overhead held the promise of more to
come. The air around him was crisp and
silent, and the absolute stillness was tangible. Harry smiled at the peacefulness, but it was a sad smile.

He
approached the usually gently lapping water of the lake to find it had been
frozen over. The ice didn�t look very
thick, and this was confirmed as Harry ventured a foot out and was met by the
sound of cracking. Harry set his broom
gently down, and pulled his wand out to charm a dry place to sit. The task accomplished, he settled himself
down and tucked his knees under his chin.

Harry
stared out past the frozen lake. He
stared past the scenery, seeing it but not really seeing it. After a few minutes, his vision began
swimming in front of him, and a teardrop fell from his eye. For these two weeks, he was going to bask in
the solitude, but he was also giving himself time to grieve. His emotions had been bottling themselves up
since the end of Harry�s fifth year, and the combined pressure of events
demanded release.

Sirius�
death was horribly depressing, and Harry had spent two days in his bedroom with
no food or light before deciding that him brooding wouldn�t bring his godfather
back. So Harry pushed it to the back of
his mind, as something to deal with later.
He�d made a conscious effort to try and act as he always had, but he was
aware that his smile didn�t quite reach his eyes a lot of the time. No one had brought it up, but he�d noticed
Hermione shooting him worried looks when she thought he wasn�t looking.

That
always brought a genuine smile to Harry�s face; he was grateful that he had
such caring friends. Of course, they
could get a bit annoying with the prying they did, but he understood that they
were concerned for him, so he didn�t hold it against them. And they usually knew when to stop.

They
were who he fought for in the war. He
knew that under the weight of the hopes of the entire wizarding world
alone he would have been crushed. But with his two best friends in his mind,
and only them, he had gone out and done what he�d had to. He saved the world for them.

So
many had been sacrificed in the process, though. Hagrid, for instance.
Voldemort had taken great pleasure in torturing the half-giant in front
of Harry. It had been a way to draw him
out, because Voldemort knew that he�d never leave a friend to face a fate like
that. He�d been right, but it had cost
him his life. Voldemort died there,
next to the fallen body of Hagrid.

Silent
sobs wracked his body as Harry shed a tear for each and every person who had to
suffer throughout Voldemort�s reign of terror.
So caught up in his grief was he, that he didn�t notice the footsteps
approaching him from behind.

The
clouds opened themselves up, and Harry found himself being gently covered in
snowflakes, but he didn�t care, nor did he care that his tears were almost
freezing on his cheeks. All he cared
about was releasing some of the pent up emotions he�d held on to, so that he
could move on.

�Well
if it isn�t an ice statue with the likeness of Harry Potter,� Draco Malfoy�s
voice cut through some of Harry�s grief and awoke the familiar irritation in
him. He, however, chose to ignore the
blond boy and instead refocused on the lake�s shining surface.

�Cat
got your tongue, Potter?� Malfoy moved
to stand next to Harry and crossed his arms over his chest. Harry looked up at him with pain-filled
eyes, and opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it before turning
back.

This
lack of response obviously confused Malfoy, who stood there with his mouth
hanging slightly open and staring at Harry�s tear-streaked face. Harry glanced up when he felt Malfoy�s gaze
on him, and they silently regarded each other.
After what seemed like an eternity, Harry finally broke the silence that
had settled around them.

�That
ring, it looks better on you than it does on me.� His voice was thick from crying.
Malfoy�s eyes looked startled for a moment before his features settled
into a smirk.

�Of
course it does. My hands are nicer.�

Harry
rolled his eyes while simultaneously sniffling and wiping his face off with his
sleeve.

�I
hate you.�

�The
feeling is mutual.� With a swift
movement, Malfoy leaned over and shoved Harry into the snow next to where he
was sitting. Laughter acompanied his
leisurely retreat back to the castle, as Harry lay there in the cold, not
bothering to right himself. His grief
was suddenly forgotten.

�You�re
so dead, Malfoy.�

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

After-chapter
noteage: Well� I�m a little late. Please accept my humble apologies! I just got dragged down by this chapter for some reason. This actually wasn�t what I intended, there
was more, but I figured that the private war between Harry and Draco could wait
for one chapter. I will get that
written as soon as possible, but it may not be posted until I return from my
trip to Chicago.

I
was wondering if anyone was interested in my writing this from Draco�s point of
view after I finish the story? I�ve
been writing it in my head as I write Harry�s side of it, and I think that it
would be fairly enlightening. But I�m
not going to bother if there�s no interest.

Anyway,
please enjoy!!! ^_^ And thank you thank you thank you thank you
thank you to all my wonderful reviewers!!
I can�t believe that I�ve gotten this many� it�s almost surreal, but in
a good way! And many thanks to Hannah,
my beta, who waited patiently for me.
Update 12/3: Well, I've recently lost my desire to write. I blame it on the holidays, and slipping into a funk (probably from lack of employment). Never fear, I'll get out of it, I just need encouragement. So just an advance warning that the next chapter may nto be out for a couple of weeks, rather than end of the week like I planned on. Sorry!

Next
chapter: With the entire castle to themselves, Harry and Draco find ways to
occupy themselves that don�t include studying�
- 4
- 5
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