Thanks yous!!!

To addmoose2004: Thanks so much for you review! Dive right into the H/D fics; has some brilliant stuff!! Enjoy!!

To Slash-Lover: Thanks so much for your review!! Enjoy!!

To Ashes of Stars: ::squeals:: Omgosh, your review was sooooo nice!!! I can't believe you forgot about shopping!! (Impossible in my mind . . .) Hope this chapter measures up to your expectations!!!

To novalights: Thanks so much for your review!! I got the lyrics for "Fever" from LetsSingIt .com, a great site for lyrics. I heard the song on the radio once and immediately fell in love with it. You almost got kicked out of computer class?!? Whoa . . . I've never gone on at school. We get monitored to make sure we aren't going on porn sites or whatever, and I definitely don't want them seeing this type of writing. It's a Catholic school, so they'd probably keel over. ;-D Enjoy, dear!!

To noali: Thanks for reviewing!!! Here are your answers (and you didn't have to say please at all; I always answer m readers' questions): 1. I've never heard of the movie "Striper". I heard the song on the radio one day and fell in love with it, then hen this plot bunny started hopping, I realized it would be the perfect song for chapter 1; 2. I've never seen "A Soldier's Girl", but I think I've heard of it . . .; 3. This is definitely a post-Hogwarts fic. Harry and co. are now teachers at school. Enjoy the new chapter!!

To Alora: Don't worry about not reviewing!! It's nice, but not needed!! Yeah, Draco's had somewhat of a hard time (::Draco stares at her incredulously::) Wipe your tears, life is looking up. He's got a hot man!! ::big grin:: Stuff . . . happens. ::bigger grin:: Enjoy the chapter, m'dear!!!

To hplover: O.O ::falls on the floor, rolling around, laughing her head off:: Omgosh, I do believe that is the first time ever I've been told I should write adult novels . . . ::wipes eyes:: Well, thank you for that. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I'm not sure a 16-year-old adult author would go over too well with the general community . . . Might be worth it, though, just to see the state of collective apoplexy it'd get . . .

To chronoclockvii: Thanks so much for your review; it was so nice!!! Enjoy chapter 8!!!

To DemonRogue13: Thanks so much for your review!! Enjoy the chapter!!

To Hell's Angel-Heaven's Demon: ::grumbles:: Yeah, sorry, I've been massively busy lately. Did you really have me up there for LotR?? Funny how life turns out . . . Anyway, I'm so glad you like the fic so far!! Harry is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. I'll post a longer list of new teachers below. About Draco, he's had a rough few years. Early on, he tried to fight back and defend himself and it just got him a massive beating every time. Eventually he just gave up on fighting back. Now that he's with Harry, however, he should regain some of his lost confidence. Now I have an order for you: NEVER ever say "no offense". I never take offense from a review because it's constructive. The only way I would ever take offense is if someone attacked my stories, saying this is wrong and that is wrong and yada yada yada. And even then I'd probably only get a little peeved . . . Okay, thanks soooo much again for the review and enjoy the chapter!!!

To NiimuraYume: ::big tears:: Yes, yes, poor Draco!! Thanks for the review, though!!! Enjoy chapter 8, m'dear!!!

Harry opened an eye blearily and saw Draco smiling softly at him.

"Good morning," Draco murmured, taking Harry's hand and pulling him onto the bed next to him.

"Is it?" Harry mumbled, lacing his fingers with Draco's.

"Well, that depends on how you look at it," the blonde explained. "We're both safe and relatively healthy –" He reached out and gently poked Harry's black eye.

"Ouch!"

Draco grinned. "– And we have each other. I think that constitutes as a good morning. On the other hand, in two days, these halls will be filled with screaming teenagers, if I remember correctly," he continued. Harry groaned.

"You do," he agreed, burying his face in the crook of Draco's neck. "And you had to remind me." Draco grinned and kissed Harry's cheek.

"Of course I did, love," he replied. As Harry lifted his head and glared at him, Madam Pomfrey walked in.

"Harry Potter, I do not see you sitting on Mr. Malfoy's bed in those dirty clothes!" she barked, furious. Guiltily, Harry scrambled off the bed and into his chair.

"Never, Madam Pomfrey," he replied cheekily, grinning winsomely at her. She frowned at him as she bustled over to Draco, checking on various different things. Finally, she pulled away, retrieved a small vial of blue potion, and handed it to Draco.

"Drink that. It'll prevent any pain or scarring," she told him. The blonde nodded and emptied the vial into his mouth. He sputtered as the foul taste invaded his senses.

"Merlin, I've forgotten how vile your potions are, Madam Pomfrey," Draco told her, still coughing.

"Stop being ridiculous. And call me Poppy. If we're going to be working together, we might as well treat each other as equals." She handed him two more vials and placed her hands on her hips. "Now, take one of these vials before you go to bed tonight and when you wake up in the morning, then come see me. You are free to go, but for Merlin's sake, be careful. I don't want to see you back in here anytime soon unless you're checking on a student, either of you," she instructed them sternly.

"Thank you, Poppy," Harry murmured. Poppy's firm expression melted and she smiled back at him. She turned and disappeared into her office. Harry looked at Draco and smiled. "Ready to leave?"

Draco grinned. "Let's go." Harry pulled him out of bed and into a kiss. He wrapped his arms around the blonde's bare waist and pulled him close. Draco slipped his hands behind Harry's neck and aligned their bodies together, exploring is mouth fully and completely.

"You know, you're a very complicated person," Harry said to him when they broke apart.

"I told you, I come with baggage," Draco whispered, looking away. "You don't have to stay."

"I want to." Harry's firm statement brought Draco's gaze back to his. "I told you already, I want to be with you, despite your past and a raving lunatic trying to kill you. "You've got to remember, I've got a few of those myself."

Draco chuckled wryly and leaned in to capture Harry's lips in a kiss.

"Thank you," the blonde murmured against Harry's lips. The Defense professor grinned and hugged him tightly."

"Why haven't you two left yet? I would have though you'd want to get out of here as soon as possible," Madam Pomfrey asked, bustling into the room and puttering around with her potions cabinet, restocking several different potions.

"We were just getting ready to leave," Harry replied. Poppy smiled at him and turned back to the cabinet. Harry handed Draco his robes and, once the blonde had pulled them on, they headed out of the hospital wing. Somewhere in the castle, a clock gonged, signaling noon.

"Why don't we drop these potions off in our flat and then go down to the Great Hall for lunch?" Harry suggested.

"Yeah, okay," Draco replied. They made the quick detour and set the vials on an end table in the bedroom. They then hurried down to the Great Hall and sat down opposite Ron and Hermione at the High Table.

"Well, hello, you two," she greeted. "How are you feeling, Draco?"

"Better," he replied. "Madam Pomfrey's a miracle worker."

"Harry knows that better than anyone," Ron snickered. His only reply was a roll hitting his forehead.

"Play nicely, children," Hermione cut in calmly.

The rest of lunch passed with playful banter between the four and the other teachers, ending in Dean extending an invitation for a friendly Quidditch match later on in the afternoon. Harry and Draco immediately and enthusiastically agreed. The group then split up to head to their respective classrooms. Harry accompanied Draco to the dungeons.

"Merlin, I always hated this place," the blonde murmured as they paused in the doorway.

"Really? You did?" Harry asked, turning to him in surprise.

"Yeah. I mean, I loved Potions, but I hated this room. Too bloody gloomy," he replied, starting into the room and heading straight for the windows. "Care to give me a hand?" he asked, looking back at him. Harry followed Draco to one of the windows and grabbed one side of the heavy black curtains while Draco took hold of the other and pulled. The black coverings fell away, taking the two professors with them. The curtains landed on top of the two, cutting out all light. Harry reached out, trying to find either Draco or the edge of the curtains.

"Harry?" came the whispered call.

"Right here."

"I can't see anything, you great bloody prick," Draco retorted, his voice growing closer. Harry laughed and reached his hand out. This time he felt soft skin. He grinned to himself and pulled Draco to him, their lips crashing together in a fiery kiss.

Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's neck, their tongues battling for dominion. Harry pushed Draco to the ground and won the battle, ravaging the blonde's mouth, Draco sank into the kiss and welcomed him. Harry pulled back and tugged gently at Draco's lower lip, eliciting a moan. Harry grinned and moved to place light, feathery kisses along his jaw and the underside of his chin. Draco moaned again, a throaty sort of sound, and threaded his fingers through the ex-Gryffindor's hair.

"Harry . . . Harry, wait," Draco panted. Harry immediately pulled away and only by the hot puffs of breath did Draco know Harry was just inches away.

"What's wrong? Am I hurting you?" he asked worriedly. Draco smiled and reached up, placing a warm hand on Harry's cheek.

"No, love," he whispered, punctuating his words with a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth, feeling Harry's lips curve into a smile. "I just don't think that we should be doing this under the curtains that Snape might have . . ."

Harry's smile fell away and Draco felt a shudder ripple through him.

"Oh. Oh, no. Oh, we need to get out of here, now," Harry muttered, crawling around. Draco laughed and set off after him. Harry found the edge of the curtains and held it up, enabling Draco to crawl out. Harry pulled him up and into a hug.

"You do realize you've scarred me for life, yeah?" he mumbled into Draco's hair. The blonde laughed and kissed him quickly.

"Well, I'm terribly sorry."

"You know, I'm not sure I can touch these curtains now," Harry stated, looking around the room.

"And that's why we're wizards," Draco replied, flourishing his new wand. Harry grinned and pulled out his own, then looked at it.

"Why didn't we use Lumos to help us find our way from underneath that thing in the first place?" he mused.

"Who knows? Maybe we find crawling around on a dirty floor underneath a disgusting curtain fun," Draco replied absently as he levitated a curtain away from a window.

They set out removing the curtains from the walls and dumping them into a communal pile. They finished their work rather quickly and stepped back to admire the results.

"What . . . has happened to my classroom?" came a sour drawl from the doorway. Harry and Draco pun around and saw Severus Snape standing in the threshold of the room. He was staring around at the sunlight streaming in the thrown-open windows with obvious distaste.

"Wotcher, Severus," Harry greeted, grinning. "I'd like you to meet the new Potions –"

"I know who Mr. Malfoy is, thank you, Mr. Potter," Severus interrupted unpleasantly. "What I'd like to know is what in Merlin's name has happened to my classroom?!"

"Well, you see, Severus, I thought the classroom was much too dark and Harry's been helping me lighten it up," Draco explained cheerily. Severus' eyes darkened angrily and he advanced on the blonde. Harry leapt in front of him and pushed the Potions master back.

"You don't want to be doing that, mate," Harry warned him, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Harry . . ." Draco lightly touched Harry's arm. Harry turned and looked at the blonde. "I think we're finished in here, Severus. We'll see you later." He grabbed Harry's arm and tugged him out of the classroom.

"Draco, he was threatening you!" Harry defended his actions before the blonde has a chance to say a word.

"I wasn't going to say anything!" Draco cried, throwing his hands into the air.

"Oh. Well . . . never mind then." They realized it was nearly time for the Quidditch match Dean had set up and headed down to the locker rooms.

To divide up the teams evenly, they had decided on one team wearing purple and black armbands and the other wearing white and red. They divvied up the "uniforms" and of course Harry and Draco were split up onto different teams – that's the way life at Hogwarts works! They donned their protective gear and everyone set off towards the broom shed in a massive bunch. They could see several of the elder teachers, including Dumbledore and McGonagall, were settling in the stands, eager to watch the faculty match. The teams piled into the broom shed as they retrieved their broom. Draco was astonished to find his old Nimbus 2001 still intact and at the school.

"Madam Hooch had found a bunch of brooms lying around the castle in various states of repose and after conducting tests looking for hexes, jinxes, and curses – and finding none – she added them to the broom collection," Ginny explained to him as he ran a hand across the lettering. "Keep it; it was yours, after all."

He grinned at her in thanks and looked at Harry as the others started out of the shed.

"You look good," Harry murmured, smiling at him.

"Thanks." Harry smiled again and leaned in, his mouth right next to Draco's ear.

"And damn hot in your Quidditch gear, I might add," Harry did add, and in a very growling, throaty voice, too. He tugged at Draco's earlobe and gave him a fierce kiss before leaping onto his broom and flying off. Draco stood, shocked and alone in the broom shed, as he felt his pants tightening, his memory replaying Harry's voice and the kiss. He had known that would make Draco distracted. Draco grumbled as he mounted his broom and kicked off. Bastard.

Author's Notes: Okay, I officially hate myself. This chapter sucked. And it was crazily short!!!! I promise to make it up to you guys in the next chapter. Also, this chapter was unbetaed, as her dad picked her up way early. A betaed version will be posted as soon as I get it from her. Ahhh, so glad to see so many people sign up for my site. A grand total of . . . me. Make me happy, people, and offer your work for my pathetic little site??? Site: www .ladyofthehearts .com; email: twitchyferret11403 yahoo .com (minus all the spaces, of course). Send me stuff!!!!!

And a contest!!! Whoever can give me the title and artist of this song gets a little sneak peek at the next chapter as soon as I have a cookie ready!!!

"He was a major in archaeology; I was diggin' on him, but he wasn't on me . . ."

Happy New Year, my darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!