Funerals and Weddings

**END OF REPOSTED CHAPTERS (43-45) FROM 8 DECEMBER--THIS IS A NEW CHAPTER**

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For disclaimer, summary, story codes and other information, please see the prologue.

Chapter the Forty-sixth: A Truce?
11 January, a few moments later
Hogwarts Library


After a minute or so had passed, Harry walked out of the stacks and back to the table where Draco was just sitting back down with Blaise.

Harry blushed a little when Blaise gave him a knowing look. “Took you guys long enough. What happened, Potter, did you get ‘sucked’ into a book and lose track of time?”

Harry blushed even harder as he shot a look at Draco that clearly accused: “You told him?!?”

Before Draco could deny that he’d said anything, Blaise burst out laughing. “Bugger me! You did! Don’t bother denying it, Draco, Potter’s face says it all. So, uh, which of you was the ‘book’ and which of you was the ‘reader’ that got so…into…the book?” Blaise’s grin threatened to split his face as he looked first at Harry’s red face, then at Draco’s slightly annoyed one.

Draco finally gave in and a smile flickered before he assumed a superior expression and said, “You’d never know it, but Potter here is quite the ‘reader.’ Must be Granger’s influence that has him with his ‘nose’ buried in a ‘book’ all the time.”

Harry groaned and buried his flaming face in his arms on the table as Blaise laughed in delight. Harry kicked Draco’s leg under the table.

“Ow!” Draco said, reaching under the table to rub his shin. “What was that for, Ha--Potter?”

Harry lifted his head and glared half-heartedly at his boyfriend. “For embarrassing me to death, you git. What do you think?”

“Me!” Draco protested. “Blaise started it! You should be kicking him, not me!”

Blaise slid his chair back to keep his legs out of Harry’s reach and held up his hands for peace. “Ah, ah, ah. Remember, gentlemen, who kept an eye out for you so you could, er, ‘read your book’ in the first place.”

Harry relented and sat up, smiling a bit sheepishly. “You’re right. I guess I should be thanking you, Zabini, for giving me the opportunity to, uh, experience some quality ‘reading’ time with Draco.”

Blaise snickered. “You know, Draco, Potter’s all right. He’s really not the prat we’ve always thought he was. Maybe he just needs better taste in friends.”

Just as Harry opened his mouth to offer up some weak defence of his friends, he felt a hand come down on his shoulder.

“What are you talking about, Zabini? I think Harry’s got excellent taste in friends,” Katie said and moved to sit across from Blaise in the chair next to Harry.

“Hey, Katie,” Harry said. “I take it you know these two snakes?”

“Sure, I know Malfoy from Quidditch,” she replied, nodding a greeting at Draco. Turning to Blaise she said, “And I know you’re Zabini, but we’ve never officially met. I’m Katie Bell.” She stuck out her hand towards Blaise.

Blaise shook her hand, an amused expression on his face. “Blaise Zabini. Charmed.”

“I’m sure,” Katie replied, looking rather amused herself. “Harry, what are you doing here with these two suspicious characters?”

Harry lifted a brow. “We’re, ah, studying, of course. DADA assignment, you know. Just trying to get a head start before the weekend. What are you doing here?”

“Returning an overdue book on magical plants and their eight zillion uses,” she sighed. “Owed four Sickles for it. Bloody late fees.”

Harry felt Draco’s foot nudge him under the table. Therefore he wasn’t surprised when Hermione and Ron walked up beside him.

“Hiya, Harry, Katie,” Ron said. Wrinkling his nose in distaste, he asked, “What are you doing sitting with these gits?”

Blaise rolled his eyes at Ron’s predictability, and Draco frowned and looked as though he might retort, but Harry beat him to it.

“I’m studying, Ron,” Harry replied, his voice just a bit cool. “What does it look like?”

“Why are you studying with Malfoy and Zabini?” Ron wanted to know.

“Malfoy’s my partner in DADA, remember? We wanted to get started on the assignment Marchbanks gave us today so we wouldn’t have to spend all weekend on it.” Harry tried his best to keep his voice nonchalant.

“Oh. Right. So I guess Zabini came along to protect Malfoy?” Ron sniggered.

“Ron…” Harry warned, just as Blaise spoke up.

“Nope, Weasley, you’ve got it wrong as usual. I just dropped by to steal Potter’s and Malfoy’s notes so I don’t have to do my own work,” he said sarcastically.

Ron looked as if he wasn’t certain whether or not Blaise was having him on. Taking pity on his friend, Harry rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, shut it, Zabini. He’s just taking the piss, Ron. Zabini just came over a little bit ago to see Malfoy.”

“What are you doing here, Katie?” Hermione, who had been uncharacteristically quiet until this point, finally spoke up.

“Oh, nothing. Happened to see Harry sitting here and thought I’d say hello,” Katie answered, smiling.

“But what are you doing here, in the library, that you just ‘happened’ to see Harry?” Hermione pressed, sounding suspicious.

Harry gave Hermione a look, but Katie answered before he could say anything. “Not that it’s any of your business, really, but I was returning a book. Is that allowed, or was I meant to get your permission first?”

Seeing the look Harry was giving her, and hearing Katie’s stiff reply, Hermione looked a bit abashed. “Sorry, Katie, that didn’t come out the right way. I didn’t mean to imply that you shouldn’t be in the library. I guess I was just surprised to see you sitting here—to see all four of you sitting here together, actually—and, well, you don’t have any books, so I was just wondering…” She trailed off, looking a bit flustered. “Sorry.”

“S’alright,” Katie said. “Don’t worry about it.”

Wanting to change the subject, Harry turned to Ron. “So, were you looking for me for a reason?”

“Oh, yeah, we wanted to see if you were coming to dinner,” Ron said, seeming grateful to have a neutral topic of conversation.

Flicking a glace at Draco, Harry began gathering his things. “Yeah, sure. Uh, Katie, want to join us?”

“All right,” she said, standing. “Nice to meet you, Zabini. See you around, Malfoy.”

“Likewise, Bell,” Blaise replied. “Later, Potter.”

Draco, who had been scribbling something furiously on a piece of parchment throughout the exchange between Hermione and Katie, shuffled some papers, then folded one and handed it to Harry. “Here, Potter, I’ve finished copying the notes you took. When do you want to meet again? I don’t want to put this assignment off to the last minute.”

Harry took the folded paper and casually stuck it in his bag. “I dunno, Sunday? After tea?”

Draco inclined his head. “Fine. See you later, Potter, Bell.” Cutting his eyes in Ron’s direction, he sneered, ”Weasley.”

Ron glared at Draco and muttered, “Ferret,” under his breath as Harry grabbed his arm to hustle him out of the library. Throwing a last look over his shoulder, he jerked his head in a nod at Draco and Blaise. “Uh, see you later.”

When the library door closed behind the Golden Trio, Blaise turned to Draco and punched him in the arm.

“Hey!” Draco complained, rubbing the offended part of his arm. “What was that for?”

“Why didn’t you tell me Potter’s friend was so hot? What kind of friend are you, keeping that a secret from me?”

Draco regarded Blaise with a raised eyebrow. “I suppose I’m a gay kind of friend, seeing as how I’ve never noticed Bell being particularly ‘hot’ before.”

Blaise snorted. “Since when does being gay make you blind? You’ve got eyes, I saw you watching Potter’s arse as he was walking out of here.”

Draco looked smug. “Of course I was. It’s a damn fine arse. But as for Bell—I’ve never really seen her close up without her Quidditch robes on, so I think I should be forgiven for not noticing how ‘hot’ she is.”

“Yeah, all right. Quidditch robes do make everyone look like shapeless lumps,” Blaise agreed. “But without the robes…hmmm, I’m thinking I’m glad that Potter picked Bell to be his ‘know the truth about Draco’ friend.”

Draco laughed and shook his head as he gathered his things. “Just what we need, another Gryffindor-Slytherin affair. C’mon, let’s go eat.”

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Draco led the way out of the library, thinking about his own Gryffindor-Slytherin affair, and hoping that Harry had gotten his message.

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Harry sat in the Great Hall, trying to enjoy his dinner. His normally healthy appetite, however, was being ruined by the whinging of his two best friends. He’d tried to avoid a discussion about the events in the library by talking to Katie, Seamus and Dean, but Ron and Hermione kept interrupting. He finally gave up trying to have a conversation and attempted to ignore the determined twosome, hoping they’d get the hint, but no such luck. About halfway through the meal, he finally ran out of patience.

Placing his fork carefully on his plate, he closed his eyes and held up a hand to silence Ron. When the redhead fell quiet, Harry opened his eyes and looked evenly at his two tormentors.

“Enough. I don’t want to hear another word about Malfoy or Zabini or Slytherins. I will say this one time and one time only, so please listen carefully.

“Malfoy is my partner for Defence Against the Dark Arts. He was my partner last term and will continue to be so until the end of the year. This is something that you’ve both known since the day Marchbanks put us together. It’s rather puzzling to me that you both seem to have forgotten this fact.

“Being partners, we are naturally required to work together on class assignments. There is no evil plot being hatched by Malfoy or Voldemort to capture me by luring me to the Hogwarts library to do my homework at the same table as a Slytherin,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I am not being mistreated or tortured in any way by Malfoy—and if I was, I would and could handle it myself.”

Seeing Hermione open her mouth to protest, he forestalled her by raising his hand yet again. By this time, most of the Gryffindors around him were listening.

“And if anything were going on that struck me as being suspicious or that I was unable to handle myself, I would of course let you and Dumbledore know right away. I’m not an idiot. What I am, is a legally emancipated adult wizard who is rapidly becoming annoyed with his two best friends for continually assuming that I am incapable of dealing with a fellow student while completing a class assignment with him.

“I am also a Gryffindor who is a little ashamed and more than a little surprised that his two best friends—also Gryffindors—have completely neglected to notice that fact that we did not have any problems with Malfoy last term. He did not insult us, he did not hex us, he did not attempt to make our lives a living hell. Neither, for that matter, did Zabini. Malfoy and I declared a truce and he has honoured it. Seeing as how I’m the one who has to work with him, I think that if I am satisfied with his conduct, then the two of you should at least be willing to consider that there really isn’t a reason any longer to continue this childish ‘war’ with Malfoy.

“I have not forgotten the past, and I am aware that no apologies have been made to either of you for things that have happened previously. However, I feel that we, as Gryffindors, should be willing to take the high road on this one and at least call a halt to the antagonistic comments and behaviour. You don’t have to be friends with Malfoy, but I don’t think that meeting him halfway and taking a ‘neutral’ stance is an unreasonable compromise.

“So that’s all I’m asking for: an end to the sniping, the insulting, the name-calling—all of it. I hope that isn’t too much to ask.”

His speech finished, Harry grabbed a few slices of French bread from the basket on the table and stood. Nodding to the shocked and silent students sitting all around him, he picked up his bag and strode out of the Great Hall.

The silence continued for a minute after he left. Predictably, it was Seamus who irreverently broke the spell:

“Blimey! I don’t think I’ve ever heard Harry say so much in one go! I didn’t know he had it in him!”

Seamus started a bit when a familiar acerbic voice spoke up right behind him.

“It is indeed, Mr. Finnigan, a surprise to hear Mr. Potter speak so…eloquently,” Snape said. “Although I’m loathe to admit it, I must confess that, for once, he makes some very valid points. It wouldn’t do any of you any harm to give serious thought to Mr. Potter’s words and consider honouring his request.”

Then, as if he couldn’t stand not making at least one condescending comment whilst speaking to a group of Gryffindors, he sneered, “If any of you are capable of serious thought, that is.” Smirking, Snape turned on his heel and walked away, robes billowing behind him.

Another stunned silence had fallen upon the table, but it was Ron who spoke first this time:

“Am I crazy, or did Snape just say something nice about Harry?”

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Striding from the Great Hall, Harry kept his anger and annoyance in check until he was safely clear of the front doors and standing on the lawn. Then he let loose.

“Argh!!!! This is impossible! It’s insane! Why the bloody fuck does my life have to be so damn complicated?!?”

Needing to give vent to his frustration, he focused his inner magic and concentrated on wandlessly blasting holes through the snow-laden shrubbery. After a few minutes of decimating innocent plantlife, Harry finally felt calm enough to go back inside and face his housemates. Picking up his bag, which he had dropped on the steps on his way out, he suddenly remembered the note Draco had passed him just before he left the library. Ignoring the cold, he eagerly unfolded it and scanned the lines written in Draco’s elegant script:

H-

Seeing how it looks as though your ‘friends’ are going to prevent us from discussing any plans for this weekend, I’m going to take the liberty of making some for us. Hope you don’t mind.

Meet me tomorrow in the Room (you know which one) after lunch—let’s say one pm. You can bring your books, but I wouldn’t plan on getting too much studying done. I have…other ideas for how we can spend the afternoon. Unless, of course, you prefer to study…

Send me a note with your owl if this isn’t agreeable. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume that this plan is to your liking and that I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some sleep tonight—you’ll be doing quite a bit of ‘reading’ tomorrow.

-D

Grinning foolishly, Harry re-read the note, then folded it back up and stored it safely in his bag. Happily anticipating whatever Draco had planned for tomorrow, Harry ducked back inside the castle, no longer concerned about what his housemates might be waiting to say to him. With images of a naked Draco to occupy his thoughts, he found that he really didn’t care about anything else.

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As Harry climbed through the portrait hole, a dead silence fell over the Gryffindor common room. Sighing, he lifted his head to face the room. At least a dozen pairs of eyes stared back at him.

The silence continued for a moment, and when no one moved to say anything, Harry shrugged a shoulder and moved towards the stairway. That was when Hermione found her voice.

“Harry, wait,” she said, sounding a bit nervous. “Do you have a moment to…talk?”

Turning back around, he let his gaze travel over the others before lighting on Hermione and nodding. “All right.”

All the chairs were taken, so Harry sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, his arms braced behind him. He waited expectantly for someone to begin.

“Harry, um, about what you said at dinner…” Hermione started. “We, uh, well…we were a bit surprised by it, to tell the truth.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“Why?” Ron countered, looking incredulous. “How about because you were defending Malfoy, that’s why! You have to admit, it’s a bit odd.”

Harry ran his barbell over his lips and thought of Draco. Naked.

“Yes, I’d admit that my defending Malfoy would likely seem strange,” he paused as Ron’s expression turned smug. “That is, I would if I had been defending Malfoy—but I wasn’t. Not really. I was simply trying to point out the fact that it seems rather ridiculous of us to continue going at each other for no good reason—especially if Malfoy isn’t starting anything.”

“But why the sudden change Harry?” Hermione wanted to know.

Draco. Naked. Naked Draco. This became Harry’s mantra.

“It’s not sudden. Don’t you remember talking about how ‘un-Malfoy’ Malfoy’s behaviour was last term? Ron, you agreed that he hadn’t been insulting your family or Hermione. And Hermione, you commented on how quiet he was last term.”

“He’s right, you know,” Ginny said. “I remember the four of us talking about it over Christmas. We’ve all noticed that Malfoy hasn’t been his usual arsehole self in the past few months. I think Harry’s right. I think if Malfoy’s willing to make the effort to stop fighting, and Harry’s willing to make the effort, then we should as well.”

Katie spoke up next. “I agree. Granted, Malfoy’s never given me that much grief, so perhaps it’s not as hard for me to see Harry’s point, but I think we should try to get along. I mean, both Malfoy and Zabini were perfectly pleasant to me—and Harry—today in the library. Neither of them said anything nasty at all.”

“But Harry,” Ron started, only to be interrupted by Neville.

“Do you know that Malfoy hasn’t said a single nasty thing to me all year?” he asked. “We’re looking at, well, a war possibly happening soon. But isn’t what we want peace? Isn’t that why we all want to defeat You-Know-Who? So we can live in peace? If Malfoy’s willing to give me some peace now, I’m all for it.”

Hearing his friends give their support to a truce with Draco, Harry felt a warm glow inside. Perhaps it wasn’t impossible after all. Now if only Hermione and Ron would agree…

Ron looked uncertain. “Well…”

Harry decided to press his point a little. “Ron, what did Malfoy call you today in the library? When we were leaving? Do you remember?”

Ron looked blank, then said, “He called me ‘Weasel,’ like he always does.”

“No, he called you Weasley.” Katie said.

Harry nodded. “She’s right, Ron. He didn’t call you Weasel.”

Ron looked surprised. “Really? I just assumed…huh.” He looked thoughtful.

“Are you forgetting that he’s likely going to join the Death Eaters, if he hasn’t already?” Hermione asked, looking impatient. “Are you forgetting who his father was?”

‘Naked Draco. Naked Draco. Naked Draco,’ Harry chanted mentally.

“No, of course not. But his father’s dead (“Hallelujah!” Seamus interjected, sounding like the half-Muggle he was.) and Malfoy isn’t his father. And I…” Harry struggled against the spell keeping him from revealing anything Draco had told him in DADA class. “I seriously doubt that any student is a Death Eater now—I’m sure Dumbledore would know and it would be too risky to have a marked student at the school. And we can’t know for certain that Malfoy will join the Death Eaters later. There’s still a chance he won’t. And I for one think that the fact that’s he being…well, less ‘Malfoy’ than usual stacks the deck in favour of Malfoy not becoming a Death Eater.”

Dean took the opportunity to speak up. “That’s true. I’m willing to call a truce, if Harry and the rest of you are. It would be nice not having to think up new insults all the time.”

“Hear, hear!” Seamus agreed.

“So…are you all willing to, well, declare a truce with Malfoy?” Harry asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. “Ron? Hermione?”

Ron looked at his girlfriend and shrugged. “What do you think, ‘Mione?”

Hermione didn’t look thrilled but she nodded. “Well, it looks as though most of you want to try the truce. I doubt that it will work, but I’m willing to say that if Malfoy doesn’t start anything, then we won’t either. But if he does—if he starts insulting us again—then the truce is off.”

“I’m with Hermione. I don’t know that it will work, but I’ll play nice if Malfoy does. So. Right then. No more insulting the Ferret—er, I mean, Malfoy,” Ron hastily corrected himself when Harry rolled his eyes. “But the first time he calls Hermione a Mudblood…” he trailed off, but his meaning was clear.

Harry smiled. “Good. Great! Thanks—you have no idea how much easier this will make my life—and I’m sure yours as well!”

“Yeah, maybe Snape will surprise us again and start treating us decently in Potions!” Seamus laughed.

Harry looked confused. “Snape? What does he have to do with anything?”

Neville leaned forward. “You won’t believe this, Harry, but after you left the Great Hall, Snape said something nice about you!”

At Harry’s disbelieving look, everyone laughed.

“It’s true, mate,” Ron said and he told Harry what Snape had said.

Harry blinked. “Wow. Did anyone see any pigs flying as well?”

After the general laughter at Harry’s comment died down, Katie caught Harry’s attention.

“Hey, Harry,” she said. “Does the truce apply to Zabini as well?”

Harry lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, I guess. Why not? He’s never been that bad, really.”

A slightly wicked grin lit up Katie’s face. “Oh good.”

Seamus looked at her. “Why is that good Katie?”

“Because I just noticed today that Blaise Zabini is one very nice-looking bloke,” she said, still grinning.

“Oooh, yes!” Lavender squealed. “He is, isn’t he? Parvati and I have always said it was too bad that he and Malfoy were Slytherins, because they are definitely two of the hottest boys at Hogwarts!”

Harry smiled to himself as he remembered the day last summer when he’d used Blaise and Draco as mental fashion models. He should tell Draco that story some time.

Parvati nodded her agreement to Lavender’s assertion. “Definitely! So does the truce mean that the two of them are fair game?”

When they looked at him, Harry just shrugged. “Don’t look at me. That’s up to you lot. I’m not your mum—you’re free to flirt with whomever you please.”

‘Except Draco, that is,’ he added silently to himself. ‘But I guess I really don’t have to worry about any competition from them!’

“Are you sure they’re straight?” Seamus asked out of nowhere.

Everyone looked at him, startled. He shrugged. “I mean, the two of them are always together, aren’t they? And Malfoy definitely seems like he could play for the other team.”

Harry blinked at this announcement, then sat up when he realised everyone was looking at him. “What?”

Lavender rolled her eyes. “Well, Harry, you’re gay. You should be able to tell us if they’re gay or not. Don’t all gay men have gaydar?”

“Um, er…well…” Harry faltered, not sure how to answer that question. “I mean, yeah, I guess, to an extent. But I…”

Ironically it was Hermione who rescued him. “What Harry means is that he’s never looked at Malfoy, or Zabini, that way, so he hasn’t paid attention to whatever ‘signals’ they might be giving out. Isn’t that right, Harry?”

“Um, yeah,” Harry said, not quite meeting Hermione’s eyes. Unfortunately he met Katie’s eyes instead and nearly burst out laughing at the look of unholy amusement he saw there.

“Oh, come on, Harry! Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed what a great arse Malfoy has! And Zabini has the most beautiful eyes. Don’t you think?” she batted her eyelashes playfully at him.

Vowing revenge, Harry shot her a dark look. “I wouldn’t know what Zabini’s eyes look like, Katie, seeing as they were locked on you the whole time in the library today.” Harry was rather proud of himself for the way he’d managed to avoid having to comment on Draco’s bum.

Lavender and Parvati giggled as Katie blushed. “Oooh, Katie, fancy yourself a snog with a Slytherin?” Lavender leered.

“Maybe,” Katie said, grinning.

“Not if Lavender or I snog him first,” Parvati grinned back at the older girl.

“Or me!” Ginny added, laughing.

“Oy, Harry! Now look what you’ve started!” Ron groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Me! I suggested a truce, not a Slytherin shag-fest!” Harry protested laughing. “Don’t blame me if they’ve been secretly lusting after Zabini all this time!”

“Yeah, Ron, just because some of us have someone to snog regularly doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t wish we did!” Ginny teased her brother and Hermione.

Hermione’s cheeks pinked a little, but Ron looked rather self-satisfied. For once, he had something that other people wanted.

Just then, Seamus, who’d had his head together with Dean in a whispered conversation, stood up and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, if I could have your attention please?”

When everyone was looking at him, he continued in a dramatic fashion.

“As the universally acknowledged betting master of Hogwarts,” here he bowed, “I would like to announce that bets may now be placed on our newest burning question: who will be the first Gryffindor to snog a Slytherin?”

All of the girls in the room except Hermione started giggling and Harry about swallowed his tongue. It seemed almost dishonest to let people place bets on a contest he’d already won! Sneaking a glance at Katie, he saw her smiling and couldn’t help but grin back at her.

Gathering up his things, Harry headed up the stairs to his dormitory just as Seamus announced: “Let the games begin!”

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A/N: Ah-ha! A truce…hopefully…and the potential for more than one Gryffindor-Slytherin relationship! And what does Draco have up his sleeve for his Saturday date with Harry? Stay tuned to find out! : ) Let me know what you think!!! Thanks to all who read this and even more thanks to those who review!

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