'I hate smiling,' Draco thought as he bowed to yet another guest Lucius was introducing to his 'family'. This little Malfoy gathering was exactly like every other politically based party that the manor had ever hosted: the food was elegant, the guests were snobbishly reserved, and the proceedings were boring. The only difference was the tension that seemed to surround the entire affair and the number of snooping woman. It was like they expected to look under a vase and find death eaters hiding under it. Draco had even seen a woman stumble out of his own bedroom. The embarrassed lady had insisted she had been looking for the lavatory, but her blush and a few random out-of-place items told the truth.

The only thing that made the ordeal even remotely bearable was Ian and his family. Draco and his mother had left them only a few days before but after only a day Narcissia was commenting on her son's sad face. Even the short separation from Ian had felt almost physically painful and it was all Draco could do to keep himself from latching onto him the moment he arrived. He didn't know what he would do when school started but he wasn't looking forward to it. Luckily, it had been arranging for the Pierces to stay the night.

Draco forced himself to mingle with the rest of the guests. He even managed to focus enough to have a conversation with one man on the collections of books in the Malfoy library, but no matter what, his thoughts always floated back to his plans for later in the evening. That last night before he had left the Pierce residence, he and Ian had crossed a line in their exploration of each other. Draco tried not to fidget as he recalled the feeling of Ian's fingers inside him. Their lovemaking had slowly become more serious over the months and Draco felt he could safely say he had had his mouth on nearly every inch of his lover's body and vice versa but penetration had been something they had avoided until that night.

In the past few days that was all Draco could think about and it had made him seriously look at his feeling for Ian and how committed they were becoming to each other. It had taken what seemed like an enormous amount of energy to come to a very simple and obvious conclusion: he was in love with his best friend. Maybe he was being silly and more romantic than most Malfoy's were given credit for, but it hadn't taken long after that for Draco to decide that he wanted to tell Ian how he felt and show him tonight in the most intimate way possible.

Ian had no idea yet, but Draco had already gotten some lubricant from a discreet shop in Diagon Alley and had made sure there were clean sheets on his bed and scented candles readily at hand. Now all he had to do was wait. Unfortunately, patience had never been one of his virtues.

Draco forced himself back to the here and now and took a sweeping glance of the room. His father was acting the gracious host, his mother and Kate Pierce were chatting with a small group of ladies in the far corner, Holden was talking with a very animated Arthur Weasley, Kayd and Eric were flirting with some slightly older women, and Ian was nearby with Molly Weasley as she declared he was far too skinny. Draco had been surprised when the Weasley's had shown up and glad they had chosen to leave their children at home. Arthur had managed to make his way up in the Ministry since the war and it was actually refreshing to hear him chat on about muggle technology while his wife mothered anyone even five years her junior instead of all the gossip and commentaries on the decorating.

Finally, Draco caught sight of poor Ben who stood at the desert table, sampling items as often as was appropriate. They had all already dined but the fair had been light and limited to items that were quick to impress those interested in signs of wealth, but had done little to satisfy the palette or the stomach of a growing eleven year old boy. Taking pity on him, Draco signaled a house elf. A brief whispered conversation had the elf eagerly heading off to deliver some snacks to the study down the hall. With that, Draco made his way over to Ben and instructed him to slowly make his way out of the party.

"Where are we going?" Ben asked.

"To get some real food," Draco replied. When Ben blushed, realizing his actions had been observed, Draco added, "I'm starving and thought you might want to help me out with a snack."

This got Ben to grin up at him and Draco flashed him the first genuine smile he had given all night. They reached the study and found the snack, which actually looked more like a small meal, already spread out across a table. They both ate, though Draco far more slowly than Ben.

"Are you ready for Hogwarts?" Draco asked absently.

Ben shrugged before swallowing, "I guess as ready as I'll ever be."

"Oh, what's the worry now?"

Slowly, Ben pushed his plate away before replying, "Well, I've heard you talk about house rivalry all the time and I guess I was just wondering what will happen when I get sorted."

Draco could tell the boy was really dancing around his real concern and it didn't take but a moment for him to figure out what Ben was actually on about, "Ben, you know I wouldn't be upset if you were sorted into different house, right? And if its Harper you're worried about, there's no reason you can't still be friends if you end up in separate houses. Is that what was bothering you?"

Ben gave him a weak smile and nodded, "I know it was silly, but I couldn't help thinking about it. There is one more thing I wanted to know though..."

"What's that?"

"Is Professor Snape really as horrible as everyone says?"

Draco laughed, "In some ways he is. He demands perfection in the potions classroom and he might seem cold but I think he cares more about students than most think."

"Does he really give a test in the first week?" Ben asked worriedly.

"Sometimes, but for you it will be simple stuff, like common potion bases and ingredients. Draco looked at the time and saw that the party would last for a while yet, "Lets go the lab and I'll quiz you. You'll see, you probably know most of it already."

As they stood up the food remains disappeared and they quickly made there way to the potions lab below the ground floor. The room was completely clean and organized, save for one lone glass bottle sitting on the worktable. The bottle was labeled something Draco had never heard of before but sat empty and with a crack running up the side. Potions containers were spelled not to shatter but cracks could definitely happen and this bottle was now useless. Draco sat the bottle aside to be disposed of later.

Draco told Ben to turn around and he then proceeded to get out several basic ingredients and bases he knew were covered in First year. Carefully he removed lids and stoppers and lined the containers up on display, making sure all the labels were hidden. Some of the dry ingredients he actually laid out on the worktable so they could more easily be seen. Finally, he had Ben turned around and proceeded to have him name the item, list its properties, and give some examples of what potions it could be found in. As each item was completed, Draco would remove the item and put it back into its proper spot. Ben quickly grew more confident in his abilities and it was obvious he hardly had to think to make it through most of the items.

It was as Draco was picking up a correctly identified transfiguration base to replace the cap that Ben suddenly asked, "Draco, how long have you and Ian been having sex." The container began to slip from Draco's fingers as he registered the question but he managed to save it, but not without spilling some on the table and on the last dry ingredient as well as hitting another bottle with his elbow, causing it to slosh out before Ben steadied it.

"What!?"

"I said…"

"I heard you, but why are you even asking?" Draco sputtered out.

"Well you two just seemed a lot closer this summer and well, I wanted to spend some time with you before you left a few days ago and when I went to Ian's room looking for you I heard…noises." Ben trailed off uncertainly.

"Oh Merlin," Draco sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. His little brother had heard him and Ian having sex.

They were quiet for a moment before the awkward silence obviously got to Ben, "I'm sorry, I was just curious. I would have asked Ian but I thought you were more likely to answer. Does this mean you're even more like my brother now since you're dating my brother?"

The horror of realizing how much Ben now knew about his sex life began to pass and Draco looked up at him, "In a way it does, but Ben I want you to know that we aren't having…we aren't together just because we're really good friends. I love Ian and that is the only time you should be with someone like that and…"

"Draco, its ok, I've had the sex-talk before," Ben stopped him, his cheeks a light shade of pink.

Glad that he didn't have to go there, Draco nodded before he got to the big issue, "Ben, you can't tell anyone. No one knows yet and we want to keep it that way for now. Hopefully until I get out of school. That way our parents can't say I'm too young and we won't have to worry about my father. OK?"

Ben nodded before suddenly grinning and launching himself at Draco, giving him a tight hug, "I'm glad you're in love, Draco. I'm glad you're happy."

Draco returned the embrace for a long time before they were suddenly interrupted.

"Do I get a hug too?"

Draco looked up to see Ian coming down the stairs.

"So go give him a hug," Ben whispered to him before pulling away.

Draco grinned and decided that even if he wished Ben had not heard what he had, he was nice that there was at least someone they didn't have to act around anymore. Draco briskly walked up to his lover and put his arms around him before pressing his face into the side Ian's neck and giving him a light kiss there. He felt Ian tense up at the intimate gesture since his brother was in the room, but Draco just held on tighter and whispered, "He knows."

"He knows?" Ian asked, startled as he pulled back, "How?"

Draco just shook his head, "You don't want to know."

Ben closed up the rest of the potions ingredients and put them away, leaving only the spills and the now soggy dry ingredients to be cleaned up. "Thanks for the help Draco, but you know how much I was enjoying that party. I better get back," Ben said with a grin, "I'll just get out of your way."

Draco grinned and watched him disappear up the stairs. He and Ian both heard the door at the top shut and the next thing Draco knew there was a pair of hot lips on his and an eager tongue pushing into his mouth. A shiver ran up his spine and he felt his arousal rise in his trousers and Ian's hands moved across his body.

"I missed you so much. I've been wanted to kiss you all day," Ian said before his mouth settled on the skin just beneath his ear. Draco just held on to his lover more tightly in response, only loosening his grip to allow Ian to push his outer robe off his shoulders and onto the floor.

In all the time they had been lovers Draco had never felt such urgent lust and when Ian lifted him up onto the worktable so that they were more the same height, Draco couldn't resist using his legs to pull Ian more tightly to him. Before he knew what was happening, he was laying back on the table with Ian leaning over him, completely unaware that the back of his shirt was now soaked, and trying to figure out why there were so many clothes between them. Ian's shirt was coming off one way or another even if he had to…

"Eric, I am so glad we didn't show up five minutes from now. That would have been downright embarrassing."

"I know what you mean Kayd, seeing two of my best friends go at it like bunnies is definitely on my 'things to avoid' list."

Draco and Ian pulled apart so fast it was all Draco could do to keep from falling off the table. "Shit!" Ian said as it dawned on the two of them how close they had come to having sex where anyone could walk in on them.

Meanwhile, Kayd and Eric were laughing hysterically, "The look on your faces," Kayd managed to sputter out.

It was Eric who managed to sober up first, "Seriously guys, we knew. We grew up together, did you honestly think we wouldn't notice that you two were acting differently? I mean, I bet even Ben suspects something."

"He knows," Ian said, starting to calm down.

"Oh Merlin!" Kayd said in a mix between horror and amusement, "Did he walk in on you too?"

Draco felt his face warm up, "He um, overheard us."

Ian paled at the news.

Eric cleared his throat, "Well as much fun as we're having the reason we came to find you is that Draco, your father's getting a little antsy wondering where you are. He even asked your mom if she knew where you were off too, but she just shrugged him off in front of some officials, saying something about leaving the young people alone."

"It was priceless, Draco. I love your mother!" Kayd giggled.

"But you should probably head back up before Lucius sends a house elf or something," Eric added.

Draco nodded and finally slid of the table. He could feel himself shaking a little from the shock of being so abruptly pulled out of his lusty haze.

"Your shirt," Ian said and Draco realized his shirt was wet from lying on the table.

"Ben and I had a spill but it was nothing dangerous. I'll go change my shirt," Draco explained, not really registering that the wetness on his shirt was far more than what they had spilled.

Ian picked up his robe and helped him put it on to cover his wet shirt before the four of them left the potions lab. The party lasted only a little longer and ended uneventfully. Kayd and Eric headed home with their respective families and the Pierces and the Malfoys all soon made their way toward their beds.

Later that night in his dimly lit bedroom, Draco finally got to say the words he had waited all night for.

"I love you too," Ian replied after a moment. Draco could clearly see the emotion on his face and Ian pulled him closer and kissed him.

"I don't know what I'm going to do when we're apart," Draco said, holding tight to Ian as they lay in bed, only their boxers separating their bodies.

"Don't think about it," Ian squeezed him tighter.

Slowly, Draco pulled away just enough to reach under his pillow to get what he needed. He leaned forward to brush a slow, gentle kiss across Ian's lips before taking his lover's hand and placing the lubricant in his palm. "I want you to make love to me," Draco said, looking right at Ian, even though he wanted to blush and look away.

Ian looked down at the lubricant and then back at his lover. The meaning of the gesture registered on Ian's face. He didn't stop to question it, he just returned Draco's light kiss to show his acceptance and love before letting the kiss build.

Before the night was out, there were sounds of need, sounds of pain, and many, many sounds of pleasure. In the morning there was love, tenderness, and not even a hint of regret.