As the months pass, Harry has been working on his plan. It started off as placing an image in Draco's head of them together once every couple of days. But Harry soon grew frustrated with the fact that Draco hadn't caught on yet. So he started placing images in his head a couple of times a day. But still nothing. It was difficult at some points. Like when Draco went home for the holidays. He wanted to stay, but his parents missed him and wouldn't let him. Harry had spent the holidays wandering the castle and reading. A couple more months pass and it was nearing the end of the school year. So as Harry and Draco are lazing around on the couch in front of the fire in the common room, Harry decides that he will give it one last try. He reaches over and places a hand gently on Draco's cheek. He slightly pushes Draco's head so the two boys lock eyes. Harry uses his skills to place an image of the two of them into Draco's mind. Harry watches as Draco's eyes widen slightly and a his cheeks become tinted red.
"I thought I had lost the plot." Draco says, his voice barely a whisper.
"I was about to give up trying." Harry whispers in reply.
"Why didn't you just tell me? We are best friends after all."
"I genuinely didn't know how to."
"Do you maybe want to go for a walk?"
Harry nods and the boys stand up. As they walk out of the common room and through the dungeons, neither of the boys speak a word. Once they leave the castle, Draco takes a deep breath and reaches out for Harry's hand, letting his fingers entwine with the other boys. Harry looks down at their hands in shock before quickly composing himself. The two wander towards the lake and take a seat beneath a weeping willow tree.
"So..." Draco trails off.
"How are we going to go about this?" Harry asks, his voice a little shaky.
"I don't really know. All I know is that I really do like you."
"I like you too. I just don't know. I still have a lot to figure out about Dumbledore. And we are only really young. But it's up to you."
"How about we don't put any labels on us. As you said, you have a lot of work to do when it comes to Dumbledore. I don't want to distract you from that and I want to help as much as I can. And we are only young, we have plenty of time to sort things out between us. How about we just wait a little until we are older. And then if we still feel the same, we can make a decision then? But for now we can just go with whatever happens."
"That sounds perfect. Thank you, Dray."
The two sit there in silence again. Their hands still intertwined as they just stare out at the lake. The wind begins to pick up causing the rippling water of the lake to start causing small waves to lap against the shore. Harry stands up, pulling Draco to his feet, and he leads them back up to the castle and to their couch in front of the fire.
***
"Please tell me you two are finally together!" Blaise whines between mouthfuls of his dinner.
Harry and Draco look at each other, both with small smiles on their faces. The turn back to Blaise and shrug.
"Kinda?" Draco replies, his his answer more like a question than a statement.
Blaise's eyes roll back before he looks at the two again.
"What do you mean 'kinda'?"
"Well, we now know we both feel the same, but Harry's got some stuff going on at the moment and I want to help him with it rather than being a distraction. And we both agreed that we should wait until we're a bit older. So, yeah. Kinda."
Blaise looks between the two of them incredulously.
"I can't believe you two! It's nearly the end of the year and I have had to deal with you both being all cute together but being completely naive about your feelings for each other. And then you finally tell each other how you feel and you don't even get together?! It's not fair on me! How long are you going to wait to actually get together? I want to know how much longer I have to deal with you two being so cutesy together but being so awkward at the time which makes me even feel awkward. Pansy, help me out here."
"Come on guys. You have put everyone in Slytherin, maybe even the whole school, through enough awkwardness this year. Surely you can just get together properly so there isn't any awkwardness surrounding you two anymore!" Pansy chimes in from next to Blaise.
"Come on guys. We are just going to wait and see what happens. You're all just going to have to deal with it for a while." Harry states, putting an end to the conversation.
They all go back to eating their dinner in silence. Dessert appears and the four dig in.
***
"So what are you guys doing over the holidays?" Pansy asks.
"My parents are taking me on a trip to Barcelona. I'm not sure when we are going or how long we will be gone for though." Blaise replies.
"I'm actually not going anywhere for once. Father has work to do so we will just stay at home for the holidays." Draco says, a relieved look on his face.
"I am not actually too sure. I have not spoken to Remus or Sirius about it. I assume we will just stay home though. What about you Pansy?
"France. My parents let me choose a destination this year so I chose France. I can not wait to update my wardrobe with all the French fashions." Pansy states dreamily.
"That sounds like fun!" Blaise exclaims.
"We simply must try our absolute hardest to catch up at some point though! I'm going to miss you all so much. Everyone promise that we will all write to each other all holidays. Oh! And we have to all do our school supply shopping together!"
The three boys laugh at Pansy's rant, stopping automatically when she glares at the three of them.
"Promise me." She states lowly, holding out her pinky finger.
The boys all sigh before looking around the common room to make sure no one is looking. They all link pinky fingers with Pansy.
"Promise." The boys all mumble.
They all quickly drop their hands down. The boys all look around awkwardly, praying no one saw. While Pansy just watches the boys with a smug smile on her face.
