Disclaimer: Do not own the characters, they belong to JK Rowling.

By- FawkesSP

Chapter One- Softer Words Spoken

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the Great Hall to find the ceiling a dark swirling gray which meant that the snow was probably still falling. Their Herbology classes, and their Care of Magical Creatures classes, had been canceled for the past two days because of the deep snow. That was okay with Harry, as they were working with a particularly nasty plant that would eject a foul sap that cause painful blisters if it got on your skin in Herbology, and in Care of Magical Creatures, well their teacher after all was Hagrid.

Harry took a seat between Seamus and Ron and started filling his plate with sausages and toast. He happened to glance up and saw Draco Malfoy striding into the Great Hall. Something was different about him, Harry noticed. He was not making fun of anyone or bragging about how much better he is than everyone else. He sat on the side of the Slytherin table, not saying a word. A flutter of owls overhead showed that the morning post was among them once again, dropping flecks of snow over various areas in the Hall, giving parcels and letters to their owners. Harry saw Malfoy's eagle-owl drop him a letter. He ignored it.

"What are you looking at?" Ron asked. "I was just telling you that I think we should do our Defense Against the Dark Arts homework during our free period."

"Oh… yeah sure." Harry said, still looking at Draco.

Ron gave him a puzzled look, which Harry ignored and he started to eat. What was it that was wrong with Malfoy? For as long as he had known him, he would never miss a chance to show off at least once in a crowd. And even more, why does he even care?

He spotted Hedwig amongst the crowd of owls and waited for her to come down to him. She landed, and Harry untied a letter from Hagrid, which was more than likely telling him about his problems with their current magical creature study because of the storm. Just then he saw Malfoy get up, alone, and walk out of the Great Hall. Harry thought for a moment, and decided to follow him.

"Where are you going?" said Ron, looking up at him.

"…bathroom" Harry replied.

That wasn't really a lie, as he saw Malfoy go into the nearest boy's toilet. Harry hesitated for a moment, and walked in after Malfoy. When he walked in, he saw Malfoy standing with his head bowed over the sink. Harry walked over to him.

"Draco…? What's-" Harry said, but was cut off when Draco jumped back.

"Hey! Oh, its you Potter, what do you want?" he said, walking back over to the sink.

What should have he expected from Malfoy, a warm greeting? Of course not..

"Nothing… I was just…er… what's wrong?" Harry said slowly.

Draco didn't look up, just stood there not making any sign as to respond to Harry's question. He was about to walk away when-

"I don't know. I have a lot on my mind, and I am really confused right now. You heard that I had broken up with Pansy, I'm sure? Yeah, that was a total disaster, she just doesn't understand…"

Harry didn't know what to say. It's not that he hadn't heard of Draco and Pansy breaking up, because he had. He was pretty sure the whole school had heard about it by now. Once something is out, it is out, and everyone seems to know it in a matter of minutes, Harry knew only to well. It was the fact that Draco hadn't had a calm conversation with him, ever. He kind of liked it.

"….no. No, I am okay." Draco looked at Harry, and smiled, standing up. "Thanks, though…"

Wow, this was such a shock for Harry, he didn't know how to react to Draco being kind to him. He turned and walked out of the bathroom, Draco going one way, Harry the other. He then met up with Ron and Hermione walking out of the Great Hall, apparently breakfast was over.

"We were thinking of going up the library instead of the common room, its too crowded in there and we need room to do our Defense Against the Dark Arts work, is that okay?" said Hermione looking cheerful at the idea of going to the Library.

"Yeah sure, that's okay." Harry said.

So they set off towards the library, bearing away from their fellow Gryffindors, and following the few students who were using their free period for work also. The thick gray snow was swirling violently outside the glass windows. The corridors were extremely dark that it looked like evening instead of morning, and he saw Filch lighting extra torches. They turned into the large library where Madame Pince was hovering over students making sure they weren't harming her books. Harry, Ron, and Hermione took a table in the far back where the librarian was less likely to bother them. Harry took out his book and opened to where they were studying, and a piece of parchment and looked at Hermione instantly for help on the essay.

"Oh, I see," Hermione said, looking at Harry and Ron's hungry eyes for some information. "well I am not going to tell you what to do, you should know that by now."

So reluctantly, Harry looked into his book and started to read, except he wasn't comprehending what he was reading. He kept wondering back to thoughts of Draco. What was it that he was confused about? Was he just being nice to Harry because there was so much on his mind, or because he wanted to? He looked up and in the far corner, darkened because of no candles, saw Draco himself in the corner, looking right back at him. Harry's heart leapt.

A/N- Okay, I couldn't help but write a Harry/Draco fic, and this story wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. Please review. FawkesSP