Okay so here we go again! After 6 years without a word from me, I feel like you guys deserve a spell of regular updates! Warnings for literal bucketloads of angst. Special shout-out to those of you who have picked up where we left off all those years ago! You know who you are and you're amazing!

(*)

Forty-five minutes later, Harry hopped through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor Common Room. He walked with a stiff-backed, rigid gait. To his surprise, he saw Ron and Hermione sitting in two of the good armchairs by the fire.

They both started and turned around as he approached.

He nodded curtly to them both and sat down in a chair between them, staring into the flames.

''Harry you…you look awful!'' said Hermione in a tone of surprise, ''what's happened?''

He looked at her unseeingly and then back into the fire, a slight prickling in the corners of his eyes.

''Did…erm..'' said Ron following an encouraging look from Hermione, ''did you and Flint have a row or something?''

Harry sighed and tried to control his emotions. He told them almost everything that had happened since they left the tent, taking in the full story of his conversation with Cedric right up to the point that Flint had stormed away.

He had kept his explanation of the racier moments of the story to a minimum, so as not to embarrass Ron and Hermione, but Ron still looked a little flushed as he turned to Hermione, ''You're better at this kind of thing than me, Hermione.''

She looked at Harry, half concerned, half exasperated. ''Oh Harry'', she said, ''I'm sorry but you were a bit tactless.''

He looked at her with shock and rage eloquent in his face, ''Me? I didn't do anything wrong!''

Hermione heaved a sigh and said, ''Harry. Ron and I both know how you feel about Marcus, but you can't pretend that that wasn't a bit of a stupid time to start talking about yours and Cedric's feelings for each other.''

''But I didn't! It wasn't like that…''

But Hermione held up a hand to silence him, and Harry stopped talking. She continued, ''We both know Marcus doesn't exactly have the most expressive emotional range and, well, he probably felt like you didn't show him loyalty by not pushing Cedric away straight away, and then by waiting so long to tell him what happened.''

''But I did push him away! I don't fancy Cedric!''

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him, ''Come on, Harry. It's obvious you have a thing for Cedric, and now you know he has a thing for you too. I understand why you were tempted to kiss him but…''

Harry stood up looking furious, ''I wasn't tempted!''

''Oh yes you were!'' snapped Hermione, ''don't pretend, Harry, we know you too well for that.''

For a moment, it looked like Harry was going to lose his temper, but he sat back in his armchair and buried his face in his hands.

''What have I done?''

(*)

The next few weeks were torment for Harry. As November moved towards December, the weather became even more icily unbearable, and snow began to fall thick and fast over Hogwarts.

Harry was to be found, on a Saturday afternoon a week before Christmas, sitting by the window in the Common Room, watching the eddies of snow flurry and swirl past the tower window.

It had been a nightmare. He had tried everything he could think of to get Marcus to talk to him; from sending constant notes on their enchanted paper, to trying to catch Flint's eye in the great hall. The problem with this was that the Slytherin had started sitting with his back to the Gryffindor table.

One time, Harry had actually tried to grab Flint and pull him into a deserted classroom after one of Flint's classes, but the Slytherin had merely stared down at Harry for a moment and wrenched his sleeve out of Harry's grip.

He had tried talking to Ron and Hermione about it, but the former seemed too embarrassed to be of any real help, and the latter maintained the approach that Harry needed to do something to 'prove' to Flint how much he cared.

''But how?'' Harry murmured to himself as he watched the snow building up on the windowsill.

He thought about the times he and Marcus had been alone at night. This was when Harry had liked it best; when the world couldn't see them, and they could pretend they were the only two people in existence. All Marcus had ever wanted was to have Harry to himself.

Harry could recall Marcus saying shortly after they had started dating, ''you could have anyone''.

He looked across the Common Room in time to see Fred Weasley asking Angelina Johnson to the Yule Ball with him.

Harry stood up quickly, a plan forming in his mind faster than his comprehension could catch up. He dashed upstairs to the boy's dormitory and wrenched the piece of enchanted parchment out of his bedside cabinet.

Loading his quill with ink, he paused for a moment, keeping it suspended above the parchment. Thinking.

All he needed to do was to get Marcus to agree to meet him once so he could put his plan into action.

Marcus,

Please meet me by the willow tree at Midnight tonight. Just meet me once and I promise I'll never bother you again.

Harry.

He held his breath as he looked down at the words still shining on the page. Then, his heart skipped a beat as two letters appeared on the page before him:

OK

For the first time in weeks, Harry smiled. Stuffing the parchment back into his bedside cabinet, he dived for his trunk and pulled out the invisibility cloak and headed off for the portrait hole.

(*)

Harry stood in the snow, shivering slightly, despite his thick cloak. The more he thought about his plan, the more ridiculous it seemed. He turned around and faced the castle. It was ten past midnight and still no sign of Marcus.

The snow had stopped falling, but a thick blanket of pearly white lay still and untouched on the ground, save for the deep channel made by Harry himself.

''Potter.''

Harry spun to his left. There stood Marcus, looking surly and uninviting in the half-light cast by the full moon.

''M..Marcus!'' he exclaimed in surprise (and through slightly chattering teeth). ''Where did you come from?''

''Went for a walk'', grunted Flint, gesturing vaguely behind him. ''What do you want?''

The question cut Harry like a knife to the throat. It was agony to have Marcus talk to him with such ice in his voice.

''Marcus, before we start, can't we at least try and be civil with eachoth…''

''Just spit it out, Potter.''

Harry bowed his head. He couldn't bare Flint's tone, or his insistence to keep addressing him by his last name as though they weren't even passing acquaintances.

He looked up again and observed Flint. The Slytherin wasn't looking directly at Harry, but choosing instead to focus his gaze on a spot slightly below Harry's ear.

''Okay,'' said Harry at last, ''I'm sorry, Marcus. I know you think I've betrayed you but it's not what you think. I want to show you something.''

He turned around and waved his wand and muttered 'Incendio'. At once, a large circle of candles burst into life, exposing at the centre a tartan blanket, laden with food. The pinkish light of the candles reflecting on the snow bathed Marcus in their glow as Harry turned around to observe the Slytherin.

Flint looked impassively at Harry, his jaw clenched, ''A picnic? You think a picnic can make this right?''

''No, Marcus. I just wanted to show you what you mean to me. This is our tree, remember? Remember when you brought me down here on our first proper date? We sat under this tree and you held me so tightly and that was the first time I had felt safe in a very long time and…and…''

Harry stopped talking, the lump in his throat was too painful to speak. A single tear fell from his left eye, feeling warm and then instantly freezing cold as it slid down his cheek.

Flint's expression flickered for a fraction of a second before his scowl was firmly fixed back in place, ''That's not the point, Harry'' (Harry registered the use of his first name), ''you betrayed me! Whatever you say, you nearly kissed Diggory! I wouldn't even look at anyone else when we were together! And all along you were in love with him!''

''In love?'' Harry shouted, matching Flint's anger for the first time, ''I wasn't in love with him! How can you say that? I waited a fraction of a second before shoving him away and telling him how much you mean to me!''

Flint's dark eyes flashed dangerously, ''Yeah? Well, it was a fraction of a second too long, Harry!'' He turned and began stomping back towards the castle as the little Gryffindor gaped at him.

He watched Flint marching away and the words burst from him unbidden before he could register them, ''But…I love you''

Marcus stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't turn around, but Harry could see him in profile, the light from the candles dancing up and down his broad back.

Barely five seconds passed, but it felt like an eternity to Harry as he waited with baited breath for the Slytherin to do something….anything.

Marcus turned around slowly. So slowly, in fact, that he barely appeared to be moving at all. Eventually, he was facing Harry. The huge Slytherin's expression was unreadable. Mask-like.

''You…'', croaked Marcus in a barely audible tone, ''You…love me?''

Harry nodded, not taking his eyes off Marcus' stony face.

He could see Marcus' Adam's Apple moving up and down as he swallowed quickly. The dark eyebrows were contracting and uncontracting rapidly, and his jaw seemed to be clenching and unclenching.

Suddenly Flint moved towards Harry. Throwing himself onto his knees before the Gryffindor and his arms around Harry's waist, he pulled Harry towards him and buried his face into Harry's stomach. ''Harry'', he said, his voice muffled against' Harry's cloak. ''I'm so sorry. I'm… I didn't mean…I shouldn't have… I'm sorry''

They remained like that until Harry, who until now had registered nothing but shock at this burst of emotion from Marcus looked down and tilted Flint's face up to look at him. Close to, Harry could see that Flint's eyes were brimming with tears.

''Kiss me''.

Flint stood up and pulled Harry into a searing, desperate embrace. As they kissed, they breathed in each other's familiar scents and Harry signed contentedly against Flint's mouth.

They pulled apart and looked at each other, both out of breath from their desperate kissing. A freezing wind billowed around them, making the lights from the candles sputter and flicker.

''I mean it, Marcus Flint'', whispered Harry. ''I love you.''

Flint took Harry's hands in his own and looked down at the Gryffindor, ''I love you too, Harry''.

Both slightly wet-eyed, they turned in unison to look at the picnic surrounded by candles. Marcus smiled slightly down at Harry, ''Did you plan this just to get me back?''

Harry looked at Flint smile and felt a swoop of pleasure in his stomach. He paused for a moment before answering, taking in the face that until recently had looked at him with such dislike.

''Well'', said Harry, smiling impishly at Marcus. ''There were two reasons for this display''

''Oh?'' said Marcus, raising an eyebrow and scooping Harry off his feet.

Harry wrapped his legs around Marcus' waist and his arms around his neck.

''Well'', repeated Harry, ''the first was to get you back with me, which I think we can both agree worked out well.''

Flint chuckled and began kissing Harry's neck lightly, ''and the second?'', came his muffled response.

''And the second'', said Harry, twining his fingers with Flint's hair and pulling his head upright so they were nose-to-nose, ''was to ask if you would be my partner to the Yule Ball''.

Flint dropped Harry.

Harry, who's legs were quite strong enough to keep him suspended without the assistance of Marcus' strong arms, was nevertheless caught off-guard and fell back into the snow with a dull thud.

''Sorry!'' said Marcus quickly, helping the spluttering Gryffindor to his feet.

''Shall I take that as a yes?'' said Harry, shuddering as s clump of snow slid down the back of his robes.

''I…'', began Marcus. ''Harry, I…I don't know. Can we just enjoy this evening and'' (he gestured to the plates of food Harry had no doubt stolen from the kitchens) ''get through some of this''.

Harry tried and failed not to look crest fallen.

''I'm not saying no!'' said Flint hurriedly, ''it's just I need to think about it, okay?''

Hiding his disappointment, Harry stood on tiptoe to kiss his boyfriend before leading him to the picnic blanket, ''Let me sit on you, I'm freezing!''

Flint chuckled before throwing himself onto the floor and pulling Harry atop his lap.

(*)

I should have been working on my thesis, but I couldn't resist. What do you think guys?! Don't forget to review! x