Jade Green Eyes

Chapter 1

Draco nodded, starting to enjoy this surreal event. "Of course I have," he agreed. "Times too numerous to mention in fact."

"Really, Mr. Malfoy, trying to get your son in trouble like that," she shook her head. "Come on, Drake, you can buy me an ice cream and I'll tell you what's been going on this summer." With that the witch, or was it a wizard? grabbed the still bewildered boy by the arm and dragged him off into the depths of Diagon Alley.

Draco waited until they were sitting at an out of theout-of-the-wayh their ice cream concoctions before he struck. "So, Har..." A glare from his companion made him hastily close his mouth before he started again. "So, *Jade*, I didn't realize my turning you down would have such an impact. Really, turning into a girl just because I happen to prefer them wasn't necessary."

Harry's husky laughter turned heads all over the store. Draco's glare turned them all back to their busins. "Really, Drake," Harry shook his head in exasperation. "Not everything has to do with you or with magic, you know. I didn't *turn* myself into a girl, I'm just dressing like one. As for dating you, only in your dreams. Now your father..." Harry let his voice trail off and put an exaggerated moonstruck look on his face. Not that he *didn't* think about Lucius Malfoy like that. The older man was gorgeous, sexy, powerful, and dange,rous; all good things as far as he was concerned. There was no way most of the boys his age were interesting enough for him, beyond their age and school, they had nothing in common with him. They didn't understand the pain he'd gone through. They never would.

Lucius Malfoy, on the other hand, did have the capacity to understand him and empathize with his life. He knew the darkness intimately, yet it hadn't truly tainted him as it had others, such as Voldemort. Draco might have been a good boyfriend if he hadn't been straight, but the other boys at Hogwarts... forget it. Of course, Harry also had to admit that he just preferred older men, though he refused to even think about it as a daddy complex; boys were just too immature for him.

Draco glared at him. "I am not calling you Mom."

Harry laughed again. "Don't worry, son. I don't think it's very likely."

"Now I didn't say that," Draco grinned. "The only reason Father and Mother married was to get an heir; you're much more his type than she was. I've known about his male lovers for years."

Harry's eyes darkened. "Oh, really?" he purred.

Draco found himself shifting in his chair. He might *know* that Harry was a guy, but he was *looking* at a girl and with that voice... He shook his head to clear his mind. He *wasn't* going to go there. "You never did explain why you're dressed as a girl, *Jade*. Not to mention how you're pulling it off so well."

Harry finished the last of his ice cream and settled back in his chair. "What do you notice?" he asked, pointing to the people around him.

Draco ostentatiously took a look around. "Guys think you're hot? But I didn't think you were *that* hard up for dates."

Harry glared. "Do you, by any chance, remember the last time I was in Hogsmeade?"

Draco lowered his eyes to the table. He did. Everyone did. If he thought his fame was a little difficult to handle sometimes, it was nothing, absolutely *nothing* compared to that of The-Boy-Who-Lived-to-Kill-Voldemort. The last time Harry had dared to show his face in the wizarding world, there had been a riot. Everyone wanted to see him, talk to him, *touch* him. A

number of people had gotten trampled in the rush, and Harry himself had been sent to the hospital with numerous bruises and scratches.

Draco looked at the boy dressed as a girl sitting across from him and understood. He had seen the devastation in Harry's eyes after that incident, the knowledge that he would never be left alone by the world he had saved, that others would *still* be getting hurt because of him. It had come very close to breaking him. Now, however, the eyes looking back at him were different. Bright, happy. He'd found a way to hide, without having to isolate himself from a world he loved. Draco smiled. "I understand."