When Living Ain\'t Easy

AN: Nothing pertaining to the story, just an apology for the length between updates. My mother had to have emergency oral surgery this past week, and she\'s worse than a toddler with an ear infection when she\'s not feeling well. I hope to make up for the delays by posting two or three chapters at a time today and Thursday/Friday.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my... situation: my beloved computer is ailing -- it\'s old and most of the higher functions are starting to fail. I can open, read and occassionally create .txt or .rtf files, but little else. Definitely no internet *sigh*. So, in order for me to post or suck chapter updates from my favorite stories into text files, I have to use the local library\'s computers. This is both a blessing and a curse. At least they *have* computers with internet access, right? But most of them are in... poor health, to say the least. No matter how proficient I am with typing, spellchecking, proofing, editting, and all that lovely stuff, if I have to type on my favorite #9 \'puter (best file system setup of the dozen available) the chances are really good that you\'re going to get a load of yy\'s, misplaced e\'s, and other typos. And I recently found that the H is starting to do the same. Ah well, at least it\'s still readable, right? I\'m currently proofing the posted chapters at home, but I\'d rather wait till the story is complete before chancing a repost -- with my luck, I\'d kill the whole thing, and wave bye-bye to my reviews.

Okay... that was way wordier than I was expecting, but alot of you probably haven\'t heard about my \'puter probs before so it had to be said. Not begging for forgiveness here, just letting you know for the sake of courtesy *snicker* since we know how volatile certain folks can get about rude behavior.

Enough babbling, on with the show!

~ * ~

Chapter Ten : You Learn Something New Every Day

Leaving the two befuddled wizards behind him, Draco slowly made his way back to the room he shared with the Boy Who Lived.

He didn\'t expend much effort in stiffling his laughter, as his mind kept going back to the expressions on his father\'s face. Even better was the look of horrified astonishment from his Head of House. What did they expect from the Boy Wonder? If Potter could fragment Voldemort\'s soul from his body *as an infant*, then surely his more mature magic could project during fits of emotional upheaval.

Approaching his bed, the Slytherin Prince took note of his roommate\'s belongings. They weren\'t much at all, especially in light of Potter\'s idolized status. A battered trunk with the bare minimum of charms for enlargement, his beloved broomstick, an owl cage, and the standard set of books and student apparel. Where were the trinkets from his childhood? Every one of his fellow Slytherins carried at least a few item r assumption, Draco was far from anti-Muggle. Of course, he had appearences to uphold, else he be victimized by his fellow snakes. But he fully understood how so many of his classmates from non-magical families excelled once the initial culture shock had worn off. In this case, however, he refused to reign in the justifiable derision he felt for his rival\'s relatives. They were just as bad as most Death Eaters in their hatred of anything \'abnormal\' by their standards.

\"Find anything interesting, Malfoy?\"

The blond only just managed to withhold his initial shock from appearing on his face, working hard to maintain a calm facade. Standing in the open doorway, wearing only a towel wrapped loosely across his hips, was the aforementioned Gryffindor. Nothing in his tone of voice announced his current mental state, but the inner fire that had previously blazed in his eyes was dampened to a healthier level.

\"I was simply trying to get to know you a bit better, Potty. After all, this is the most... familiar we\'ve been, outside of our respective circles, since that first meeting at Malkins\' robe shop.\" Smirk firmly in place, Draco watched his classmate carefully for any signs that his teasingly veiled request for information would be rebuffed. Or worse.

A brief flash of emerald flicked across the Slytherin\'s face before falling to search his trunk, apparently satisfied by whatever he had gleaned. \"All you had to do was ask, Ferret-boy. Besides,\" he began, his words muffled by a t-shirt, \"it\'s not like you\'d find out much from my school things.\"

\"Too true. You have an abysmal amount of personal effects, Master Potter,\" the blond\'s voice took on a high pitched whine, reminiscent of certain house elves. \"Surely Master Potter has more to offer this humble serpent than the meager offerings in his luggage, hmm?\"

The brunet giggled as he dragged up his jeans, muttering under his breath, \"Guess I shrank these a bit too much. Oh well, they\'ll just have to do for now.\" Leaning back against the wall, he used both hands to fasten the zip. Harry expelled heavily, then groaned. \"Oh bloody buggering hell! Forgot to put my shoes on first. Sorry blondie, but you\'re just going to have to deal with my naked feet today. I\'m not going through all that effort to get my pants done up again, just to appease your delicate sensibilities.\"

An indelicate snort was his only indication that the Slytherin wouldn\'t mind him going shoe-less.

\"Fine then, you were snooping through my things and didn\'t find whatever you were looking for. Go ahead and ask.\" Although his words were flippant, Harry\'s face had blanked into an expression that Draco had come to label as his \'getting ready for interrogation\' mode.

\"Nothing in particular, Potter, so don\'t go defensive on me.\" Stretching out on his bed, Draco leaned against the wall, sprawled lazily in the least aggressive position he could imagine. \"You Gryffies probably get to know each other by asking all sorts of innane questions, taking months to accumulate information about each other. We Slytherins tend to do all our... research through sneakier means.\"

\"Uh huh. I can\'t see Neville ransacking my trunk after lights out,\" Harry snickered, then flounced across his own bed on his stomach with a soft grunt. \"Note to self: these pants have got to be enlarged before wearing them again.\"

It was the blond\'s turn to snicker, barely able to speak through his amusement. \"Ha! If you want to keep Snape and my father off-balanced, you should wear them every day.\"

This suggestion confused Harry for all of ten seconds, then his blush lit the room. \"Oh come on, your dad\'s gotta be straight! Otherwise how\'d he have you? And Snape? That\'s just... weird!\" He didn\'t miss Draco\'s eyes rolling dramatically.

\"Potter, it\'s times like this when your Muggle upbringing is most obvious.\" The Slytherin\'s tone changed from amused to serious as he sat up straighter against the wall. \"Forget what your relatives taught you about the rights and wrongs of sexuality. In our world, you love whomever you love. If you\'re lucky enough to find that one -- or maybe two -- person who completes you, whose magic blends perfectly with yours, who you can love with everything you\'ve got, what does it matter if their plumbing is inside or out? It\'s a bit more difficult to have children with same sex couples, but that also accounts for our lower birthrate compared to non-magicals.\"

Harry crossed his arms into a pillow, lowering his head against them. His next question was barely heard and rather shaky. \"So it\'s... not... *abnormal* to like guys as well as girls?\"

In all the years of their mutual rivalry, never had Harry been so relieved to hear his classmate\'s derisive snort. \"It\'s as normal as anything else. As long as you don\'t harbor some attraction to hippogriffs or hinkypunks, most people won\'t think twice about your preferences..And if you *do* get off on hippogriffs, I want first rights to the photos.\"

And that was just so undeniably Draco Malfoy. Harry let out a long sigh he hadn\'t realized he\'d been holding, burrowed his face deeper into his arms, and allowed himself to really relax for a moment. Finally, he lifted up to meet the watching grey eyes. \"Alright then, if I ever form a romantic attachment to one of Hagrid\'s pets, I\'ll make sure you\'re notified for the photo shoot.\"

While the Gryffindor let out his tension in a short bark of laughter, Draco simply raised one elegant eyebrow and upped his smirk a notch. \"Deal.\"

\"So, on to more serious topics. Sort of.\" Chewing his bottom lip as he worked out how to ask what he really wanted to know, especially in light of this new revelation about magical relationships, Harry peeked through his tangled bangs at his classmate. \"How long have your dad and Snape been... together? Unless I\'m totally off and it\'s just years of knowing each other and-\"

Draco held up a hand to halt the insuing babble. \"Relax, Potter, you\'re making a spectacle of yourself. As far as I know, they\'ve been \'friends with benefits\' since their last year together at Hogwarts. That would be Severus\' fifth year, as Father was two classes above him.\"

\"Ah.\"

\"Is that all? \'Ah\'?\"

\"Well, what more do you expect? I\'m over here trying to process, system rapidly approaching overload. Not only is it ok for me to like... anyone human-ish... but my least favorite professor and my least favorite classmate\'s father have this *thing*... And now I\'m having to work really hard at *not* getting all these mental pictures of the two of them togther-together.\"

\"What are you, twelve? And I must tell you, Boy Wonder, that they make a rather impressive picture. All that contrast, black and blond hair twined together...\" Draco\'s voice trailed off into memories, his eyes unfocussing as he thought back to just two days ago when he walked in on the older wizards locked in a very passionate embrace. \"Personally, I prefer the softer curves of the female form, but it would take a straighter man than I to not be effected by the chemistry between those two.\"

Eventually, his eyes would uncross. Harry felt sure that if he could just erase the images of ebony and silver, naturally laid out over emerald satin pillows, he might soon be able to will away the heat of arousal low in his stomach. Think about Ginny! She\'s soft and curvy and all that lovely red hair, and she always smells so good. You\'ve got a great girl there, Potter, so no more fantasizing about a pair of wizards twice your age!

The Slytherin Prince could practically hear those traitorous thoughts running rampant through Harry\'s head. He wasn\'t sure whether to cackle maniacally, or to hoard the information for future use. Or maybe he could give the clueless Gryffie a little shove in the right direction. Obviously, the Boy Who Lived was more interested than he\'d like to be. Draco let his classmate slowly simmer in embarassment as he considered his next move.

A soft whisper broke his train of thought. \"Hey Draco... I\'ve got a girlfriend. For now, at least. Don\'t... could you not say anything to anyone for awhile? At least til I figure out what... everything. Y\'know?\"

Against his every natural inclination, the blond tilted his head forward. \"For now, your secret\'s safe with me. After all, Potter, it\'s not like you have to make a decision on your orientation today. Or at all.\"