The Quidditch game had been quite spectacular with Slytherin only beating Ravenclaw because Malfoy had caught the snitch. Harry had been impressed with the manoeuvre the Slytherin Seeker had pulled off, even if he didn't really want to be. He waited for the cheering supporters to let their team head off the pitch and then Harry stepped into the path of the whole group of players as they headed for the locker room.

"Nice catch," he said and fixed Malfoy with a firm gaze.

One thing Harry did not want Malfoy to feel was threatened, and hence, he had decided to make sure his approach could not be misconstrued. Malfoy appeared slightly surprised and not very pleased to see him.

"Come to admire the team who is going to beat you this year, Potter?" the blond Slytherin asked acidly.

"Actually, Malfoy, I need to speak to you privately," Harry said bluntly, "and I didn't want you thinking I was trying to corner you, so I decided to ask in front of your friends."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at that.

"You could never corner me, Potter," the object of his fixation said coldly with a sneer and Harry had to mentally kick himself for thinking that the boy was attractive.

What he did not need now was a reason to step into la-la land and do something stupid. Malfoy had a very unsettling effect on Harry's psyche, and he did not trust himself at all.

"Malfoy," he said firmly, "would I be here if this wasn't more important than our happy little feud? Can we forget the insults for five minutes?"

Baiting Harry was a favourite game amongst the Slytherins, and up until the previous week it had always worked rather well, now he was focused on other things.

"But insults are what we do best," Malfoy said snidely, less than willing to acquiesce.

Both Goyle and Crabbe stepped round from behind their glorious leader with their beater bats in hand. Malfoy did not look as if he was about to stop them. From the look in his eye Harry thought Malfoy was more interested in seeing what he would do than talking about anything.

Harry not high on hormones would have thrown his hands in the air and gone back to Poppy for her assistance, but then the problem would have been moot and he wouldn't have been having this conversation anyway. As it was his displaying instincts kicked in and he watched the two beaters approach with contempt.

Harry's wing nubs itched as his defence mechanisms stirred, but he did at least have the presence of mind not to let them loose. He was faster and stronger than either of the Slytherins with his enhanced Seraphim physique and he did not need any of his magical defences. Both Goyle and Crabbe appeared surprised when Harry stood his ground as they approached. Clearly, they had expected him to retreat.

"Call off the dogs, Malfoy," Harry said pointedly, at least a little of his common sense coming through.

"Why?" Malfoy asked and crossed his arms across his chest in a very final move.

That appeared to bolster the two Slytherins' confidences and they moved forwards faster.

"Fine," Harry said and accepted that he couldn't avoid the confrontation, at which point Crabbe swung his bat at him.

Rather than back away and avoid the blow as he suspected he was supposed to do, he caught the bat on its way down with one hand and yanked it out of the other boy's grasp. A swift hook with his foot on the back of Crabbe's knee sent the Slytherin sprawling to the ground, at which point Harry brought up the bat he was now holding to block the blow coming from Goyle. A sharp left hook under their arched arms sent the other Slytherin onto the grass as well.

A scrabbling noise announced that Crabbe was attempting to regain his feet and Harry simply turned towards the hulk of a youth and snarled, "Stay!"

With an almost terror-struck gape the boy sat still. When he looked back at Malfoy, for a second Harry saw reluctant admiration, but it was rapidly wiped away by the familiar sneer.

"Malfoy, this is important," Harry said steadily. "Now I can work my way through the rest of your bloody house if you like, but sooner or later you are going to have to talk to me."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow, but did not immediately dismiss the affirmation.

"One hour," Malfoy said shortly, "by the jetty."

At last! Harry nodded and dropped the bat he was holding next to Crabbe. He then fixed Goyle with a glare as the boy nursed a bloody nose, and finally turned and walked back towards the school. That had not quite gone how he had expected it to, but at least Harry had achieved his aim. He shook his head in resignation as he realised what he had just done. Taking on Crabbe and Goyle, alone, when they were armed with bats had to be the stupidest thing yet.

~*~

The water was dark and murky, reflecting the sky. There was going to be a storm, Harry was sure of it, which rather suited his impending doom as he sat on one of the jetty posts waiting for Malfoy to arrive.

His adversary was late, and Harry was becoming cold even though he was wrapped in a thick cloak. This was going to be difficult enough as it was without freezing his arse off first.

"Potter," Malfoy greeted in a surprisingly polite manner when he finally did arrive.

"Malfoy," Harry replied in kind, suddenly forgetting that he should have been annoyed at his school nemesis for being late.

He looked into the other boy's strangely calm grey eyes before glancing out over the lake again.

"No escort?" Harry asked as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"You went to a lot of trouble for a private meeting," Malfoy replied in a neutral tone, "I decided not to ruin it for you."

He sat down on another of the wooden posts as Harry watched him from the corner of his eye. When Malfoy was settled, Harry finally turned to face his archrival-come-object-of-desire.

"Malfoy," he began, really unsure how the news would be recieved, "I suspect it has failed to escape your notice that I've been acting somewhat oddly just recently."

He paused and looked Malfoy in the face to gauge the other wizard's response. Malfoy did not appear to be reacting at all.

"Well, it's, um ... you see," Harry found that all his words were deserting him.

He expected mockery from his companion, but none came.

"You're displaying for me," the words out of Malfoy's mouth froze Harry in place and he couldn't help himself; he stared.

"You know?" he didn't quite believe it.

"Potter," Malfoy replied and rolled his eyes, "remember who you're talking to. I'm a Slytherin and in some circles there is a higher price on my head than on yours. When someone starts to act strangely around me, even if it is the boy wonder himself, I check up on things."

Voldemort was dead, but several of his Death Eaters were not and it was still a dangerous world even though the war was over. Malfoy's reasoning made perfect sense to Harry.

"How did you figure it out?" he asked eventually.

"Once I realised you weren't under a spell, I dug deeper," Malfoy replied in a surprisingly calm tone. "The information about your family is not difficult to find and I went about it the same way Granger found out about my family."

Harry looked at him questioningly.

"I saw her in the library," Malfoy provided evenly, "and I assume you know about the Veela."

Harry nodded, he was not about to deny it.

"As soon as I knew about the Seraphim it was obvious," Malfoy continued and an amused quality entered his voice. "You are not subtle, Potter: my god if you had wings, you'd be stood on the top of the Astronomy tower displaying like a magpie."

Harry groaned and put his face in his hands.

"Not quite, but it's been close," he mumbled and wondered just how many of the other Slytherin's knew what was going on.

There was silence from Malfoy for a moment and Harry was sure the other wizard had heard him.

"Potter, are you trying to tell me you do have wings?"

Harry nodded. Malfoy needed to know just how far the transformation went if he was going to understand the extent to which Harry was affected. He looked up reluctantly.

"And nails like steel; and enhanced senses; and strength and just about everything," he said plainly. "The only thing I have to be thankful for is that I'm not suddenly androgynous, I'm still male."

"You're sure about that?" Malfoy actually sounded shocked.

"Very sure," Harry replied shortly.

Silence fell again.