The frosty zephyr whispered down a cold stone hall of Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Tapestries stirred and torches flickered in its wake. The subjects of portraits lining the hall huddled back in their frames, drawing fur robes closer about their ears. The zephyr ignored the protests of icy suits of armour, and breezed on its way down the hall. Swirling about a window alcove, it stirred the white-blonde hair of the solitary figure standing there, before flitting on its way deeper into the castle.

Draco Malfoy shivered lightly and tightened his scarf about his neck as icy fingers of air dipped beneath his collar. With one final glance beyond his reflection in the glass, the seventh year student turned from the window, a small smile lingering about his lips. As he moved down the hall, he let his gaze drift to the scene outside every window he passed. Through the frosted glass, Draco could make out the first snow fall of winter, his favourite time of year. Some would say this was because the cold season so well matched his own demeanour. And they would be right. Or at least they would have been, had they said it two years earlier.

Until the fifth year, Draco Malfoy had been a cold, unfeeling person, and he still appeared to be the same. But appearances can be deceiving. In the last two years, he had changed for the better, and he had one person to thank for that: his cousin, Harry Potter.

Or to be more accurate, his half-cousin. Neither Draco nor Harry had known that they were in any way related to one another until Headmaster Dumbledore had summoned them to his office near the beginning of their fifth year. There, in a meeting with Narcissa Malfoy, Dumbledore revealed the fact that Draco's and Harry's mothers had been half-sisters. Nobody knew this, not even Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. And so, for the sake of the boys' safety, they had been sworn to secrecy.

At first, neither boy had been sure what do with their newfound knowledge. After their initial encounter when they'd spoken of things they'd dare not tell any other, the two had steered well clear of each other. But over time, they had begun to talk. Slowly, a close friendship had developed to the point were Draco felt comfortable confessing close-held secrets to his cousin. And he liked to thing Harry felt the same way. He certainly hadn't been backward in coming forward when it came to telling Draco that he was gay; a fact that, so far as Draco knew, was limited to himself and his cousin's two best friends.

Glancing once more out the final window, Draco started down a flight of stairs into the dungeons. He was on his way to the office of Professor Snape.

Despite popular belief, Draco wasn't the natural at potions he seemed. He had achieved his position as top of the class by dint of hard work - and knowing which questions to ask. He had a question right now, and didn't want to wait until the next class to ask it of his professor.

Draco skipped the last few steps and ran a few paces down the hall. When he slowed back to a sedate walk, one hand drifted to the cold stone of the wall, and he idly dragged it along after him. Humming a disjointed tune, he deliberately took a wrong turn, simply to prolong his solitary meandering.

When, eventually, he reached Professor Snape's office, he paused momentarily to compose himself - it would never do for his Head of House to see him with a particularly gormless expression on his face - before knocking on the door.

No reply. Draco raised his fist and knocked harder. The door slipped its jamb and stood slightly ajar, but again, no reply. Draco peered through the gap into the office. What small part he could see was empty. But Professor Snape never left his office without spell-locking the door. He couldn't be far away. Draco rested a hesitant palm on the rough wood of the door and called through the gap.

'Professor?'

It didn't surprise him when, again, only silence greeted him. In all likelihood, the professor was enthralled in his work to the point of losing track of his surroundings. With an almost furtive glance about the deserted hall, Draco pushed the door further open and slipped inside the empty office. He blinked. The office that had been the same for the past six years had changed. Where there had been before a cold austere room, warmth and comfort reigned.

A hot fire blazed on the hearth. On the bare stone floor before it lay a deep green hearthrug. A couch upholstered in the same colour, stood against the wall opposite the professor's desk; this wall had previously held a rather ghoulish collection of specimens that were now tucked neatly away in a glass-fronted cupboard by the door that led to the Potions Classroom. Bright torches burned in the all the wall sconces, where before only the ones behind the desk were ever lit. In fact, the only constant in the room was the desk itself, and its broad-backed chair.

Draco's eyebrows mounted into his fringe as he stared wide-eyed at the transformed room. When last he'd been in here at the beginning of the year, it had been as it ever was. So when did this happen? And, more importantly, what the hell had gotten into his Professor that he would make such radical changes to his office?

Draco shook his head vigorously and decided that it would better to focus on his own question rather than to try and figure out who had kidnapped his teacher and who the man was that had taken his place. Gingerly, he settled himself on the - surprisingly comfortable - new couch. Despite evidence to the contrary, Snape wouldn't have changed so much as to leave his office unlocked; he had to be near. Keeping an ear out for the sound of returning footsteps, Draco continued to catalogue the changes to the office.

Over his initial shock, he started to notice lesser differences as well; the small things that made the room seem lived in, rather than simply used. The books lining the shelves were no longer simply potions texts; interspersed among them now was the occasional novel. There were two quills on the desk; one propped neatly in its stand, the other lying carelessly at one end of the desk, dripping green ink over what looked to be a seventh- year potions text. Over the back of a wingback armchair, tucked into one corner, was a throw embroidered with the Slytherin snake.

Draco suppressed a small shudder at the thought of what all these changes might herald. When a sound issued forth from beyond the classroom door, Draco leapt to his feet, relieved at the distraction. He hurried across the room. Pulling the door open, he stepped into the classroom, expecting to find the Potions Master enthralled in his work.

Unlike the office behind him, the classroom was only dimly lit and it took Draco a moment to locate the professor. Movement on the far side of the room attracted his eye. Professor Snape was there bent over a desk. And on the desk..

Draco blanched.

Well, the professor was certainly enthralled, but one wouldn't exactly call what he was doing work.

Draco's mind slowed and the world slipped into surreality. On the desk before Professor Snape sat a shirtless young man, his legs propped up on stools and the professor standing between those legs. As Draco reluctantly watched, the young man leant forward, placing his lips on Snape's neck. Snape moaned, tilting his head back before turning suddenly and capturing those lips in a fierce kiss. It was the turn of the young man to moan as Snape nipped and sucked at his lips.

Unable to tear his eyes away, Draco was forced to witness as Snape laid his young partner back onto the desk and followed him down. The young man's legs came up and twined about Snape's hips, pulling him closer as he turned his attention to the bare chest beneath him. Moans echoed in Draco's ears as Snape teased his lover with his lips, teeth and tongue.

His eyes still glued to the pair before him, Draco started to back towards the office. All he wanted to do was get away without being noticed. Unfortunately, either luck was not with him tonight, or the gods felt like a good old laugh at his expense. He backed into a stack of glass beakers.

In fear of discovery, Draco finally found the strength to tear his gaze away from Snape and his partner. In a vain attempt to prevent the inevitable, Draco dove after the beakers as they toppled. Falling well short, Draco watched with horrified eyes as the glass beakers hit the hard flagstones with a god-awful racket. He tried to swallow against a suddenly dry throat. He just *knew* he was dead.

When Draco had summoned the courage to look up, Snape was halfway across the room towards him, a thunderous expression clouding his face. Draco scrambled to his feet, and quaked in his shoes when the Potions Master spoke.

'Malfoy,' danger dripped from the professor's voice, 'What are you doing here?'

'Pro-Profes.. umm, Sir. I was.. I was just.. leaving! Yeah, that's it! I was just leaving.' Turning on one heel, Draco darted back towards the open door of the office. He was halted midstep when the cold, harsh voice sounded behind him again.

'Malfoy.' Draco reluctantly turned back to his Head of House, 'You will not leave until *I* *say* you may.'

Draco did his best not to cower as his mind informed him of its intention to shutdown at any further provocation. Snape took a menacing step towards the student and slipped one hand into his robes, withdrawing his wand. Draco closed his eyes tightly as Snape raised the wand and pointed it directly at him.

Moments later, Draco cracked one eye open when the expected curse failed to hit. Snape's wand had been stayed by a hand on his wrist. The professor was glaring down at it. As Draco chanced opening both eyes, the owner of the hand stepped forward into full view. Draco's gaze traced up the arm to the body. Snape's young lover was back in his shirt, and the customary glasses were perched on his nose.

Draco choked. His mouth went dry, doing a credible impression the Sahara Desert, and his face could have reviled Nearly Headless Nick's for paleness.

'Har-RY?' Draco's voice broke and his mind made good on its earlier threat and shutdown, and Draco did a very unMalfoy-like thing; he fainted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco couldn't remember anything beyond walking down the dungeon hallway when he woke up. He had no idea what had happened or how he'd gotten here, wherever 'here' was. And his head ached. He cautiously slitted his eyes open. Well, he was still in the dungeons, so he couldn't have been out of it too long. Draco shifted slightly and realised he was lying on something soft. He stilled. There was nothing soft in, or about Snape's office. Slowly, he turned his head and was confronted with dark green fabric. ~ Oh. ~

Suddenly, Draco distinctly remembered entering a much-changed Potions Master's office. Closing his eyes again, Draco strained to recall what had happened next. ~ Let's see. I made it to Snape's office all right. The door was open. And what the hell? What's gotten into Snape that he changed his office? I mean, the room stays *exactly* the same for over six years, then suddenly - ~ Draco cut short this line of thought, deciding instead to concentrate on remembering what happened. ~ Okay, so after that.. I went into the classroom and.. and saw.. ~ Suddenly images of Harry and Snape all over each other assaulted Draco's vision. His eyes flashed open and he stared blankly at the ceiling.

~ Nope. Must have hit my head *before* that, cuz there's no way in *hell* that was for real. ~ Having convinced himself the images were the result of a concussion, Draco relaxed back into the couch.

Satisfied with his version of events, Draco turned his head towards the rest of the room. He needed to reassure himself that he was indeed in Professor Snape's office, despite the transformation. Sure enough, there was the desk untouched by whatever had wrecked havoc with the rest of the room. Snape was even firmly implanted in his customary place on the other side of it. And on the arm of his chair..

~ Oh dear. ~

On the arm of Snape's chair, one arm stretched across the back was none other than Harry Potter. Once again, Draco found it impossible to tear his gaze from the tableau. As he watched, Harry leant in and kissed Snape's jaw, just below his ear.

Draco's mind was shutting down again and the only coherent thought he could piece together was ~ I wonder if they'd mind if I fainted again? ~

Draco was trying to convince himself that fainting again probably wasn't a good idea when Snape turned his head and captured Harry's lips in a passionate kiss. Confronted with this new incongruity, Draco decided to do so anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Draco came to again, Harry and Snape were standing by the couch, evidently discussing him.

'It would really be simplest if I preformed a basic memory charm,' Snape's acerbic voice was saying, but Harry's lighter tones broke in urgently.

'No! Sev! He's my friend. Just let me talk to him. Please?'

A noise of disagreement. The sound of lips meeting. Harry's voice again.

'How about this. You let me talk to him first, then -' again the noise of dissent '- *then* if he doesn't agree, you can use your memory charm.'

Silence. A light growl. The sound of one set of footsteps moving away. Suddenly an acrid scent was stinging Draco's nostrils and his eyes were watering. Opening them wide, he swatted at the wand under his nose. Harry was standing over him, his glasses slipping off the end of his nose, grinning at Draco's expression. Draco glared at him. Harry's grin widened.

'Welcome back to the world of the living, sleeping beauty.'

Not being familiar with muggle fairytales, Draco settled for the always- useful 'Huh?'

Harry nudged Draco's hip. When Draco sat up, he claimed a seat on the couch beside him, 'You fainted.'

Draco snorted, 'You would have too, if you'd walked in on what I did.'

Harry's cheeks flamed red-hot, and he quickly looked away. Draco grinned. Pushing himself further upright, Draco opened his mouth to further his small revenge. A dark voice stopped him from saying anything.

'Mr Malfoy,' Snape was back in his chair, staring blackly over steepled fingers at Draco, 'I agreed to let Harry talk to you before I did things my way. If you do not watch yourself, I will do as I wished, and obliviate your memory regardless.'

Harry snapped his head back at Snape's words and glared at him. Snape simply quirked a brow at him and Harry sighed. Snape smirked and turned his disconcerting gaze back to Draco. Draco swallowed weakly and diverted his own gaze towards Harry. Harry was looking at him again and the colour in his cheeks had subsided slightly.

The cousins stared at each other for a long moment, neither saying a word. Draco could still feel the professor's sharp gaze on the side of his face, but Snape didn't say anything either. Suddenly, Harry's gaze sharpened and Draco found his eyes locked to his cousin's.

'Draco, you can't tell anyone what you saw.' Draco blinked at the seriousness in Harry's tone. Harry said no more, and Draco did not immediately reply. Silence reigned in the office again. Harry still stared intently at Draco, and Draco stared right back. Behind his eyes, Draco was quickly re-evaluating everything he knew of Harry, Snape and their interaction with one another. Considering the two involved, Draco knew there had to be more to the relationship then what he had seen. Draco chose his words with care, his eyes never leaving Harry's face.

'What, exactly, *did* I see?'

All three men knew the question went beyond the obvious, even though Harry flushed again at the inadvertent innuendo. Disjointedly, Draco noted that Harry was easily embarrassed. Harry darted a quick glance at the dark man behind the desk. Whatever message was conveyed in that brief look seemed to reassure Harry; he was composed again when he faced Draco once more.

'As cliché as it may sound, you saw two people in love.' Curiously, Harry showed no hint of embarrassment at this announcement. Draco stared at him, measuring the levelness of his gaze. When he looked at Snape, he found the black eyes just as level as Harry's. Draco nodded shortly, accepting Harry's words, and settled back comfortably, waiting for him to continue.

'There are things I know about both of you that I would like to reveal, but first I need your permission?' Harry glanced from his cousin to his lover and back again. 'You know the things I mean. Dumbledore can kill me later, but I'm sick of keeping secrets from everybody. I'd just like to have at least a few people who know everything I do.'

Snape unlaced his fingers and placed his hands on his desk, leaning forward over them, 'Harry, I don't think -'

Harry interrupted, 'It's okay Sev, really it is.'

Earnestly, he turned to Draco, 'He'll only believe me if I can tell him. And of course you won't let me tell him until I tell *you*, will you?'

Draco grimly shook his head and Harry sighed.

'Ah, the proverbial paradox. Neither of you will let me tell the other without first knowing what it is I know. All I can say is neither of you is in any danger from the other.'

Both Slytherins looked at Harry as though he was crazy. Simultaneously, they opened their mouths and said in a cautioning tone of voice, 'Harry-'

They broke off and glared suspiciously at one another. Harry laughed.

'You should see your expressions.'

His face settled into a sober mien, 'But you're both being stupid.'

He turned first to his cousin.

'Draco, I'm the Boy Who Lived. Do you really think I would take up with a known Death Eater if I didn't trust him completely?'

Draco shook his head reluctantly, never taking his eyes from Snape's face. Harry snorted and turned to his lover.

'And Sev, you know me better than that. Draco is not his father. I trust him just as I trust you. Did you think for a moment I'd *ever* consider putting you in danger?'

Snape just as reluctantly shook his head, all the while glaring at his Slytherin student.

'Good.' Harry grinned widely, unnoticed by either of the other men, 'So, do you both trust me as much as I trust you?'

The two men nodded, gazes still locked together.

'Wonderful,' Harry proclaimed. Then, loudly enough to ensure that they would both hear, but no one else could, he said, 'Sev, Draco is my cousin and had absolutely no desire to be a Death Eater. Draco, Severus is only a Death Eater for the purposes of spying for Dumbledore.'

Pleased with himself, Harry settled back on the couch and awaited the inevitable reactions. He wasn't disappointed.

The heads of Draco and Severus snapped around when he started speaking, identical expression of shock mixed with fear on their faces.

'Harry -!' they both started to protest, but stopped when all of what he'd said sank in. Their eyes widened and they turned back to each other.

Harry grinned, 'See? I told you you weren't in any danger from each other. Now aren't you glad you trusted me?'

Snape sighed and rubbed his eyes, 'Harry, you're crazy.'

Harry smirked, a typically Snape expression. 'I know, but you still love me.'

Snape smirked back at him, 'Yes, I do. Although I've yet to figure out why.'

Draco watched this by-play between the two unusual lovers with a bemused expression. He'd never seen Professor Snape act like this. Hell, he hadn't even seen much of this side of Harry. It was.. different, to say the least. He rubbed his closed fist over cool fabric of couch's arm. Suddenly he realised something.

'Ha! Its you! You're responsible for this!' Draco bounced to his feet, pointing an accusing finger at Harry, who sat before him, a shocked expression on his face. A sharp clatter behind him had Draco glancing over his shoulder. Snape had risen suddenly from the desk, sending the chair crashing to the floor. One hand was clenched around his wand and his eyes were slightly wild, but he'd realised Draco was not going to harm Harry.

It occurred to Draco that this was an instinctive reaction to a supposed threat to Harry. If the threat had been real - Draco gulped.

'Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you,' he said in a small voice and gingerly reclaimed his seat on the couch. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Snape righted his seat and sat again. He was distracted when Harry spoke to him.

'What am I responsible for?' he said, drawing Draco's eyes back to him.

'This,' Draco made a gesture that encompassed the entire room, 'you changed it all.'

An amused look entered Harry's eyes as he followed Draco's gesture about the room, 'Well, only partially. I convinced Sev to change a couple of things, but he chose the décor. All that green is just too Slytherin for me.'

Harry grinned slyly then, 'Of course, I specifically requested a few pieces. The couch and hearthrug, for instance. I'm sure you don't want to know why.'

Draco felt his face flush as he picked up on Harry's implied meaning. Harry smirked evilly and Snape laughed, actually laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later, Draco emerged from Professor Snape's office, thoughts swirling about his head. Barely three hours earlier, he had entered this corridor with firm ideas about Harry Potter and Professor Severus Snape. And in less time then it took to brew a good veritaserum, they had been effectively turned on their head.

To think that his reclusive, taciturn Potions Professor and his outgoing, golden cousin were lovers. Draco's worldview required some major adjustment to accept this new truth. Draco had been shown a side of Severus Snape he had never suspected actually existed.

As the door drifted shut behind him, Draco cast one last look over his shoulder. Through the narrowing gap, he could see his cousin and potions professor standing in the middle of the room. Harry was watching the door swing closed, and Professor Snape was standing behind his shoulder. As the door slowly eclipsed the view, Draco saw Severus wrap one long arm about Harry's waist and pull his young lover back against him. Harry covered the hand at his hip with his own and turned from the door to meet the fond gaze staring down at him. Slow, sweet and tender smiles spread across both faces.

More than anything Draco had seen throughout the night, this simple act brought home to him just how serious these two men were about each other. The door clicked shut and Draco turned down the hall. A soft sigh slipped from his lips. If had nothing else in this life, he hoped he would someday have a love like that.

As he made his way back to the Slytherin common room, Draco realised he had forgotten to ask Professor Snape his question.