This was written for my friend's birthday, and it's my first Drarry fic!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and all characters of the series. It all belongs to J. aka the most brilliant person the world has ever seen.
Warning: one (1) f-bomb and some other minor? swearing. If you're not comfortable with that, please do not proceed. Excessive amounts of fluff, you might get a toothache. Besides that, it's all good!
The first time it happened, Draco didn't think much of it.
He'd always been a bit of a night owl. The way the night called out to him was akin to the way his parents called out to him at the end of the war, stubborn, determined, unrelenting and a little desperate.
Filch had long since given up trying to control the students that had returned to Hogwarts after the war. Mrs. Norris definitely saw him slinking out of his dormitory, but she seemed to realize that Draco wasn't going to get into trouble for this.
Draco found himself on the familiar path to the Astronomy Tower, his feet leading him up the long, winding staircase without him bidding them to. He almost turned around, but something told him that the Astronomy Tower was the place to be that night.
Merlin, Draco thought, I haven't been here since-
That night.
The quick flash of light that had sent Albus Dumbledore's wand flying through the air. He remembered his brief, private chat with the headmaster, remembered the moment when he finally realized that he'd never be able to do it.
Everything was quick after that. Draco didn't remember much of it which was absolutely fine by him. As he gazed at the twinkling stars and the Forbidden Forest, he tried his very best to push the unwelcome thought from his mind.
It took him several long moments to realize that he wasn't alone.
"Fancy seeing you here, Draco," an obnoxious, familiar voice cut into his thoughts, the tranquillity of the tower quickly dissipated. "Never thought you'd show your face here ever again."
He snapped, his temper always quicker around famous Harry Potter, "It's my right as much as it is yours, Potter. What are you doing here at this hour?" he spat the question back at him.
Harry glared at him, green eyes glinting dangerously. It was an expression worn so often around Draco. Ironic, considering that ever since that train journey to Hogwarts all those years ago, Draco only wanted to put a smile on his face.
"None of your business, Malfoy," Harry thrust his hands into the pockets of his robes, agitated. It was crazy that although they were fully grown men, they still acted like those twelve years old with a petty grudge against each other, unaware of the damage they would inflict on each other as the years passed.
"Dorm too small for you, Potter? Thought they'd build a second palace just for you, I bet. Come to blubber about it?" It was so easy. So easy for Draco to fall back onto his usual defense mechanism of weak insults.
"Oh, shove off, Malfoy," Harry said. Then dropping his voice, he whispered, "You're probably here because no one can stand having you around any longer."
Ouch. That hurt. Mostly because Draco desperately hoped that it wasn't true. He inhaled sharply as if to steady himself. Harry's eyes widened with the realization that Draco had heard him. He opened his mouth, probably in apology, but Draco cut him off.
"Don't," he muttered darkly.
He protested, "I was just-"
"Yeah, apologizing like a good boy," he grumbled. " Mr. Fucking Perfect - Harry Potter."
"Well, then I won't next time!"
"Fine," he snarled.
"Fine!"
The same old bickering that had been going on for nearly eight years.
He hated it. Hated arguing constantly with Harry. That, along with the memory of Dumbledore's death was enough to send him back to the common room
...
The second time it happened, it was a coincidence.
History of Magic with Professor Binns was torturous. Nearly bored to death, Draco found himself telling the old ghost that he was ill and that he had to get to the Hospital Wing immediately.
He once again ended up in the Astronomy Tower, and he again found himself staring at the dark green in the defeater of Voldemort's eyes.
"Again?" Harry asked incredulously. He was leaning against the railing, in the midst of reading a rather long letter.
There was a small owl tumbling and fluttering around him. The little thing nicked Harry's finger to get his attention. Harry let out a small 'ow' and gave the owl a fondly exasperated look.
Draco tried not to stare as Harry wrote a letter equal in length to the first, addressed to Mrs. Molly Weasley, tied it to the owl's outstretched leg and sent the owl off with a smile and a farewell, "Bye, Pig."
The owl (Pig?) hooted and took off, fumbling to balance itself and flew father than Draco could see. The sun blazed overhead and Draconian tore his gaze away from the scene just as Harry refocused his attention on Draco.
They both spent the rest of the afternoon there. Owls came every now and then, bearing letters for Harry. He spent a great deal of time petting the owls, reading the letters and sending short, carefully crafted responses back to the owners of the owls.
Sometimes, they would make awkward eye contact which only lasted a few seconds before one of them looked away with an uncomfortable cough.
Draco mainly spent his time watching the students of Hogwarts enjoy the springtime and the good weather. Some were practicing Quidditch at the pitch, others milling across the grounds, or relax by the lake, and a precious few went to visit Hagrid's cabin. He was always watching Harry from the corners of his eyes.
Around three o'clock, Harry, engrossed with a letter he was writing to the Daily Prophet, knocked a bottle of ink over. With a lazy flick of his wand, Draco vanished the mess on Harry's robes and then summoned a new bottle of ink for him. Harry took it with sincere gratitude, "Thanks, Draco."
Draco's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.
Later, a large barn owl attacked Draco out of the blue, perhaps finding Draco's blond hair offensive. The owl was yanking his hair so hard, Draco was sure the owl would pull his hair out by its roots.
Harry intervened, gently pulling the owl off Draco and scolding it with no real anger in his voice. The devil creature was all soft hoots and nips of affection for Harry and was unwilling to leave until Draco glared scarily enough that the owl flew away with a shrill shriek of alarm.
Harry yelled at the owl to come back and leave with his letter. After the whole ordeal, Harry apologized for the mishap and things continued in silence until the afternoon drew to a close.
It was nearly dinnertime. The sun was slipping down the sky, fleeing from the night. It took refuge by dipping into the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Just before it completely disappeared, the last of its light shone through the branches of the trees to get its last peek at the castle before it left for the night.
Draco decided to leave for the Great Hall. He wanted to thank Harry for the incident with the owl but just couldn't bring himself to spit the words.
The years of fighting kept Draco from expressing his gratitude. Draco distinctly recalled all the times he antagonized Harry, taunting him, bullying him and opposing him whenever he got the chance.
Just before leaving, Draco whispered a soft 'thank you' but Harry showed no reaction. Draco wanted to make sure Harry heard him, but by that time he had lost his courage.
(After tossing in his bed for a few hours, Draco got up, unable to bear the thought that Harry hadn't heard his 'thank you'. He quickly jotted down a note with those words on it and sent it to Harry with his owl, and then buried himself beneath his sheets and went to sleep before he could regret it.)
(( Harry wasn't pleased to be woken up by a series of taps on his window at midnight. But when he saw that the note wasn't from the Ministry or the Daily Prophet or some radio station asking for an interview and that it was a note from Draco, he inexplicably felt a lot better.))
...
The third time it happened, Draco thought that Harry must be stalking him.
Harry was thinking the same thing.
"Are you stalking me?" Harry asked him. This time, there were no owls, no letters, no quills, and no ink. Just Harry.
Draco's heart did a thing.
He was also taken aback by the fact that Harry's thoughts mirrored his own.
"I think you're stalking me, Potter. Not the other way around. According to your biography, you've stalked me before, so it wouldn't be surprising."
Harry grinned, "So you've read my biography, huh?"
Draco's traitorous little heart did the thing again, and the Slytherin's cheeks were definitely heating up.
"Yeah," he said, trying to keep his cool, "Thought it be great for inspiring re-enactments of some of your greatest fails."
Harry rolled his eyes. Draco went to the railing and looked over the grounds, he fully expected Harry to ignore him, just as had done last time.
What he certainly did not expect was for Harry to come to stand right next to him, hands on the railing, eyes on the pumpkin patch in Hagrid's garden.
"I got your note," Harry said. "You know, I did hear you the first time you said it. You didn't need to send me an owl in the middle of the night."
Draco couldn't think of an intelligent response to that, so he pretended to have a great amount of interest in the engraving on the walls.
Draco looked at Harry, who was staring at the castle grounds. Draco followed his line of vision a day saw what Harry was looking at.
A tomb made of pure marble. Roses grew all around the tomb, their thorns were the final defense of Albus Dumbledore. Even in death, the old wizard seemed to have an air of wisdom surrounding him.
"Sometimes," Harry started, his voice deep and his eyes sad, "it gets a bit much. Ministry wants me there day in and day out. Everyone wants to hear the story from me. Everyone wants me to join the Ministry right away. That's why I did the biography, you know? I thought it would keep them away for a while."
Draco didn't know why Harry was telling him this. He was never good at offering sympathy. So he just listened.
"I feel like Dumbledore would understand if he were here. He would get what it's like, to have everyone clamoring all over you like that. That's why I come here. This is the place where he died, and I guess I feel closer to him here."
Distantly, Draco heard the joyful laughter of the third years who were playing in the water of the lake. The giant squid popped out for a second, to see what the commotion was about, which sent them scurrying away with yelps and shrieks. Draco wondered if he'd ever be that happy again.
Then, gathering up all his courage, he said one of the only meaningful things he has ever said to Harry, "My father is in prison."
"I know," Harry said, "I was at his trial."
"Well, that's all I'm known for these days. All the other kids whose parents were Death Eaters are still better off. My father is in Azkaban. Voldemort recruited me to murder Dumbledore. My father picked the wrong side. I'm a Death Eater myself. That's all anyone talks about around me. Not to my face, but I can always hear them. Pointing and whispering. I can't stand it."
"I get that," Harry consoled.
"I know. I envied you for it. And now I've got what you've had all these years and only now do I get how bloody horrid it is. Everywhere I go, people, I talk to are scared of me. Even if I try to be nice, I can see that they're terrified. I can tell they're thinking that I'm a murderer. It's hell. "
Harry kept listening, waiting for Draco to finish.
"I come here... because it's peaceful. Because no one else comes here, probably. And also because it feels like an apology. I can feel him here, and every day I spend here... I'm closer to redeeming myself."
Harry offered him half a smile, "Those are good thoughts."
Unable to stop himself from grinning, he responded cheekily, "I did think so."
Harry chuckled the fast pace of Draco's heart in time with each breath of Harry's soft laughter.
"I didn't know people said stuff like that," Harry said, eyes on Dumbledore's tomb once again.
"They do," Draco said a bit stiffly.
Harry hummed thoughtfully, "Draco."
"Um...yes?"
Harry fidgeted with the folds of his robes, betraying his nervousness, "I have something of yours. Figured you'd want it back."
Then from his left pocket he withdrew a hawthorn wand. Draco remembered the day he bought that wand. The very same day he met Harry in Madam Malkin's shop.
Unicorn hair, he remembered Ollivander saying, ten inches and reasonably springy.
He took the wand from Harry, their fingers brushing together. Draco withdrew his hand with a jerk and stared at the wand, turning the wand over in his fingers.
He remembered the night Harry won the wand from him in Malfoy Manor. Though he had a new wand now, he had definitely missed the hawthorn wand.
"Thanks," Draco said.
Harry grinned widely, "That's the second time you've thanked me, Draco. But you know, you don't have to thank me. It's your wand."
"Thanks anyway," he said. "You didn't need to give it back. You won it from me, fair and square."
"It still felt a bit like theft, though," Harry responded.
They spent a bit more time up there, chatting about this and that. It was easy to talk to Harry. They may be enemies, but Draco guessed that they were only really enemies when other people were around. But they were finally alone, and Draco couldn't remember the reason he hated Harry so much.
In fact, when Harry left, all Draco felt was disappointment.
...
The next time Draco visited the Astronomy Tower, Harry wasn't there.
At breakfast, a couple of first years had been pointing at him and they had been loudly whispering. Draco heard the whole conversation.
"Draco Malfoy, that is! His father's a Death Eater, you know? He's in Azkaban now."
"No, he isn't!" The other boy shook his head furiously, "He's right in front of us, at Hogwarts!" An idiotic grin crept onto his face, the boy was obviously impressed by his own wit.
"His father is in Azkaban, dimwit!"
The boys chatted away, completely unaware that Draco heard the whole exchange.
Draco knew that he deserved this. He deserved to be pointed at and gossiped about, he deserved to be the butt of the first year's lame jokes. It was cosmic revenge for all the times Harry had been the butt of his mean jokes. What goes around comes around, after all. But that didn't mean that he took it well. He left for the Astronomy Tower, which was quickly becoming a safe haven of his.
On his way up the never-ending steps, Draco thought of Pansy Parkinson, his good friend, and at one point, his girlfriend. They had broken up after only a few weeks of dating after Draco had snapped from the stress of his task of killing Dumbledore.
Pansy never returned to Hogwarts after the war, everyone holding a grudge against her for what she had screamed in the Great Hall on the day of the war. She had gotten so much hate and so many Howlers sending death threats, she didn't dare show her face in Hogwarts ever again. Draco had gotten his own fair share of Howlers after the truth about Dumbledore's death was revealed, but he came to Hogwarts thinking that if he didn't attend school, they would know for sure that he was guilty.
It was truly a beautiful day, Draco had noticed that once he had gotten to the Great Hall for breakfast. He thrust all thoughts of his ex-girlfriend out of his mind, concentrating on the beauty of the castle grounds. The fluffy white clouds stuck out from the rest of the blue sky and the sun was shining high, and Britain didn't see many beautiful days. And Hogwarts especially had windy, rainy or snowy days for the most part.
But summer was approaching, flowers were blooming in Hagrid's garden and all around the lake. Even the Forbidden Forest didn't look as dark and dangerous as it usually did.
Draco wasn't going to deny that he hoped Harry would show up. He just felt so much better when Harry was around.
Draco couldn't quite wrap his head around the situation. Here he was, acting like a schoolboy with a crush, for Harry Potter. Out of all the people he could've gone for, he went all heart-eyes around his archenemy.
But while the situation made his head spin, Harry made his heart race. Draco was stubborn, but it was impossible to deny this.
Merlin, this couldn't happen to him. When he caught himself glancing at the staircase to check if Harry was coming, for what seemed like the millionth time, he cursed himself in frustration. He cursed Harry too, for making him feel this way.
Why did he have to go and get a crush on someone so unattainable? The whole wizarding world had their eyes on the defeater of Voldemort. And if that weren't enough, Harry probably hated Draco's guts.
Draco lightly banged his head against the wall.
Every argument, every word they couldn't take back rang in his head. He remembered when he first started obsessing over Harry, in their very first year at Hogwarts, he'd complained about him to a pretty second year, trying to impress her a little bit, and she'd ruffled his hair and cooed over how adorable his crush on Harry was.
Draco had never been so red in his entire life.
Draco let his gaze settle on a group of three, two boys and a girl, all chatting and doing their homework under a tree by the lake. Two of them seemed to be bickering, and then the girl kissed the boy on the cheek. He inhaled sharply when he realized who it was- Weasley and Granger.
Ron and Hermione, he corrected himself.
Which meant that the second boy was definitely Harry. When were those three ever apart? As much as he hated to admit it, those two were the best friends Harry could ever ask for.
Admitting it didn't sting as much as he thought it would.
He remembered all the times he's taunted and insulted them, wanting nothing more now than to tell them how sorry he was. Maybe it would get him one step closer to at least being friends with Harry.
He looked away, not wanting to think about Harry any longer.
He immediately focused on Dumbledore's tomb, his eyes drawn to the final resting place of the headmaster.
An overwhelming feeling of guilt made him uneasy. His stomach was cramping and his chest constricted. He thought he was about to cry and tried very hard to will tears away.
Something wet dripped onto his cheek. He wiped it away furiously. Gosh, he was so pathetic, crying over someone he had killed. Sure his wand hasn't taken Dumbledore's life, but it was of his doing. He put the elaborate plan to kill Dumbledore together. If it wasn't for him, Dumbledore would be alive and joyful today. He would smile at the first years and share his wisdom and positivity with the world. It was all Draco's fault.
Thoughts of Dumbledore led to thoughts of Voldemort living in his house, thoughts of Bellatrix bullying him and his parents, thoughts of how his parents had looked so unsettled in their own home, constantly afraid that it was only matter of time before the Dark Lord deemed their presence unnecessary.
He remembered that one year of hell, his sixth year. He remembered how utterly exhausting it was. He remembered being so utterly terrified, living every day like the ghost of his former self. Lost interest in everything in his desperation to save his family. He remembered skipping meals and skipping Quidditch and locking himself up in the Room of Requirement for hours on end. He remembered the day he finally fixed the Vanishing Cabinet, remembered being so happy and so relieved but above all, so so scared. He couldn't even think of the moment he'd come face to face with Dumbledore, couldn't stomach the thought of killing him.
And then he thought about that moment he shared with his father before he was taken to Azkaban. Lucius Malfoy had been given exactly ten minutes alone with every close family member or friend before he was to be taken by the Dementors forever.
His father had looked him right in the eye and said, "Don't make the same mistakes I did, Draco. Treasure your family above all else. Be good son for your mother, and be a good person for me," with a pained smile he finished, "It would be more than I deserve."
Draco thought and thought and thought, remembered and remembered and remembered.
(Draco returned to the Slytherin Common Room at half past nine, hiding his face from all the other Slytherins. He didn't want them to notice his puffy eyes and red, ruined face.
Draco already felt miserable because of the unstoppable memories that had been haunting him all day, but his bad mood was worsened because Harry hadn't stopped by the Tower, although Draco had waited for him all day long. )
((Harry sulked all throughout dinner in the Great Hall. He had a feeling that Draco was at the Tower, and his feeling was confirmed when he spotted a tall, blond boy at the Tower, his head against the wall. He sprinted to the Tower, not wanting to miss the opportunity to see Draco, but was stopped by Tonks' mother's head in a fire, who wanted to discuss the plans for Teddy's first birthday. Harry loved Teddy, but couldn't help be disappointed that he couldn't see Draco.
He pouted at the desert which finally made Ron snap, "Oh god, you're screwed, mate. Even treacle tart won't cheer you up?"
"He was there," Harry protested, "He might have been waiting for me and I didn't even show up. He hates me."
Ron and Hermione shared a look.
He's way too far gone for him.
Whipped. ))
...
The fourth time it happened, Draco was relieved.
Harry smiled at him when Draco came to stand next to him. Draco clutched at the railing to make sure he didn't fall over, Harry had a brilliant smile.
"This is becoming a thing, is it?" Harry asked, "Are we finally becoming friends?"
Draco laughed nervously, "I guess we are, Potter."
"Harry," he corrected, "Friends call each other by their first names. Call me Harry."
"Okay, " Draco agreed. "Harry. You know, there's this one thing I've always wanted to ask you."
There was a slight breeze, it was ruffling Harry's hair as if Harry's hair wasn't messy enough. Draco summoned all his courage to reach a hand out to touch it, "Do you not own a comb?"
Harry laughed, nervously trying to fix his hair, but it stood right back up. Harry explained that nothing, not even Mrs. Weasley with a wet comb and hair gel could make his hair stay neat.
"I've got a question for you, too," he said. "Why is your hair always slicked back like a vampire? "
Draco made an affronted face, which made Harry laugh.
They went back and forth like this for a while, asking about everything from favorite colors to favorite flavors of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Harry mostly answered his questions sarcastically, while Draco gave honest answers.
The topic of careers after school came up, after all, graduation was only three months away.
"Well," Draco sighed, "I'd like to stay away from the Ministry. But I'm not sure what else I could do. All my father's wealth has been passed to me, so I don't really need to work a single day in my life, but Merlin, that'd be boring. I'm not really sure."
Harry hmmed to show he was listening, "Potions."
"What?"
"Potions," Harry repeated. "You're brilliant at potions, probably better than Hermione. You'd have topped in our sixth year if, " Harry coughed a bit awkwardly, "well if you hadn't been, umm, distracted that year and if I hadn't been using Snape's book. Would you ever consider being a teacher?"
"I dunno," Draco responded. "I've never been all that good with kids."
"You'd be that one really strict teacher, like Snape or McGonagall," Harry said enthusiastically. "I'm sure you'd be great at it!"
Draco thought it over, but he had his doubts. He ignored it for now, "And you? What will you be doing next year?"
"Ohh, " Harry's shoulders slumped. "Well, the Auror Office already offered most of the D.A. a position to get trained to be an Auror. They've offered Ron, Hermione, Neville and I full-time jobs as Aurors. I'm thinking of taking that. But I dunno, I think have had enough of catching dark wizards to last me a lifetime."
The subject switched to more lighthearted topics afterward, both of them steering away from the topic of the future.
Harry was in the middle of telling Draco a story about his godson, Teddy Lupin and about his plans for his first birthday when Draco realized what time it was.
"What the- Harry, it's past midnight!"
"Oh, really, woah," he responded. "I lost track of time. We'd better get back. Ron probably thinks that Voldemort's ghost is back to kill me. "
Draco smiled at him, "Bye, Harry."
Harry waved at him. Cute, Draco thought. He wanted to scream.
But the night wasn't over.
"Where have you been?" Milicent asked him. "Do you have any idea how worried Greg and I were? Don't ever do that again!" she yelled at him.
"Calm down, Millicent, you'll wake the whole House up. I was... out."
Draco was honestly touched that she was so concerned. He had started to think that even Millicent and Greg were going to give up on him and pick a new, less moody friend to replace him.
Millicent sighed, "Who is it?"
"Who is what?"
Goyle rolled his eyes, "Who have you been sneaking out to see?"
"Come again?"
Draco thought the eye roll was a bit much, coming from Gregory Goyle, who had failed every single test they had taken till date.
But Greg and Millicent were his friends, they were his only friends. They had proved that they cared and they had supported him countless times. Draco relented and finally told them about the miniscule crush he had on Harry since forever, the crush that had recently gotten too big for him to control anymore.
Millicent acted like a bit of a mother about it, and Greg asked way too many questions, but it felt so good to talk about it, he felt ten times better afterward. Sure, they all slept at four in the morning and the next day of classes was absolute torture, but it was worth it.
Draco sat with Millicent and Greg the next day and thought, This is okay. This is good. These two I can treasure forever.
It may not be the kind of friendship Harry had with Ron and Hermione, but it was equally as special.
...
The fifth time, it was because they had planned to meet up.
Draco was concentrating on adding just the right amount of Boomslang skin when a paper airplane landed on his desk with his name written on it.
Draco huffed at the interruption, but easily forgot his irritation when he read the note.
I need to get away, it said in a rushed cursive, resembling a scrawl. What time can we meet up?
Draco looked at the Gryffindors, Harry wasn't looking back at him, paying more attention to his own potion than he usually would, Hermione rolled her eyes and Ron smirked at him.
Draco scribbled a time on the note and reassembled the paper airplane, flying it back to Harry before Slughorn caught them.
At the end of class, when Slughorn was checking Ernie's cauldron, to figure out why Ernie's face had suddenly turned a shade of deep purple, the paper airplane landed on his desk once again.
Great. I'll see you at our place.
Our place. Draco was momentarily entranced by this, his heart swelling up like a balloon. Draco thought that it was surely unhealthy to feel this much for a person.
"I'm beginning to think that you're becoming obsessed with me," Draco joked. "Couldn't wait for us to accidentally meet here?"
"Yeah, sure," he countered easily, his sarcasm never abandoning him. Draco did notice that he never denied it.
"I think you mentioned in your biography that you were obsessed with me," Draco pushed it a little more, "I'm flattered."
Harry frowned a little bit but didn't respond. Draco took that as a sign to drop it.
Harry must have realized that Draco was uncomfortable because he immediately picked the conversation right back up.
"Yeah, maybe I'm a little obsessed," when Draco didn't loosen up, he started again, this time with a smirk, "But you're still a thief."
Draco widened his eyes, "What are you on about? I've never stolen anything! Well, besides Neville's Remembrall, but that was-"
"Because you've stolen my heart. "
Draco's mouth was hanging open and Harry burst out laughing. Draco's heart fluttered when he heard a few snorts with Harry's easy laugh.
"Oh ha ha," he said. Then, wanting more cheesy pickup lines from Harry he said, "But keep going, shower me with affection."
Harry calmed himself down to say the next line, with mock seriousness, "Did it hurt?"
Draco rolled his eyes, already knowing where this one was going, "When I fell from heaven?"
"I guess you already knew that one," he said, "Who's been flirting with you, Draco?"
"Everyone loves to chat up the Death Eater, Harry."
Instead of responding, Harry said, "Are you from Tennessee? Because you're the only ten I see."
"We're British. Who even told you that one?"
"Ron gave me this book about witches, and I'm French."
Draco raised an eyebrow.
"Because Eiffel for you."
Draco laughed, "That one's horrid. You really have a horrible sense of humor."
"Why are you laughing then?" he countered. "Draco, tie your shoes."
Draco looked down to check if they were untied. They weren't. Harry must have been pulling out another pick up line.
"I can't have you falling for someone else."
This one made Draco feel some sort of way in his chest. He found himself dreaming about an alternate universe in which he and Harry had never been enemies, and Harry could be saying these things to him seriously, and not as a joke.
"Babe, my love for you is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it back."
This one made Draco laugh and he complained, "Stop this, you're annoying, Potter."
Harry didn't give in that easily, spouting pick up lines about fine print and museums and losing phone numbers (and then having to explain to Draco about what a phone number is).
It was easy and fun, bickering back and forth with Harry, laughing at the terrible pickup lines. At some point, Harry convinced him to use a pickup line of his own.
"Um, you spend so much time in my mind, I should charge you rent."
Harry chucked, completely unaware of the thunderstorm that had just started in his heart. Harry was blissfully ignorant of how true Draco's words were. Draco thought about him all day, all night and even dreamed about him sometimes. He spent every waking moment wondering when he'd see Harry next. Harry was on his mind all the time. For all Draco's boasts about Harry being obsessed with him, it was the other way around. Draco was obsessed with him.
Draco had feelings for him. In second-year terms, Draco like-liked him.
After that, Harry seemed to have finally run out of pick up lines and it was getting dark. They both had to return to their Houses. After bidding Harry farewell, he ran to tell Millicent and Greg about everything.
(Little did he know that Harry was doing the same thing.
"He said that I'm on his mind all the time!" Harry gushed to Ron.
"Just ask him out, Harry."
"Hermione," he turned to the girl who was practicing the new curses they had just learned in their most recent DADA class on a dummy, "Does sharing pick up lines with the person you like count as flirting?"
"Harry, we love you, but if you do not ask him to be your boyfriend by the end of this school year, I'll be practicing these new curses on you!"
"He doesn't like me like that," Harry insisted, "He hardly likes me at all." But seeing the vicious glares both Ron and Hermione were sending his way, he rushed on, "But I'll ask him to meet me tomorrow!"
"You better," Ron and Hermione grumbled in unison.)
And just like that, it became a routine.
It was increasingly common for Draco to approach Harry in the Great Hall to ask whether he had time to meet up. Harry was spotted standing outside Draco's classes on a regular basis. Sometimes, they'd leave the Astronomy Tower and roam the grounds, talking about anything and everything. They'd eat dinner with the Slytherin's, or hang out in the Gryffindor common room. They were quickly becoming inseparable.
Ron and Hermione only rolled their eyes when Harry ditched them to hang out with Draco. Millicent and Greg winked at Draco whenever he said that he was going to be busy later. Some sixth years even asked Draco if the two of them were dating.
This new closeness between them only made Draco's crush grow bigger. Now that Harry was a constant in his life, his feelings intensified to the point where Draco couldn't stand it anymore. They'd be playfully flirting with each other until Harry said something that made Draco blush a little too hard and Draco would panic, thinking that Harry definitely knew about his crush now.
And as for Harry, well, it was only a matter of time for Harry to confess his feelings. Every moment with Draco felt like a breath of fresh air, like a reliever from his everyday life. With Draco, Harry could be Harry, not the savior of Britain. With Draco, Harry was secure and comfortable because Draco was one of the few people who hated Harry's fame as much as Harry did.
It was an overdone cliché and most people would frown at how easily they'd gone from enemies to friends.
However, Harry had never a people pleaser, and he knew that it would only make people frown more if they went from enemies to lovers.
...
The nth time it happened, Draco was most definitely not ready for what was in store for him.
The N.E.W.T. Astronomy students had finished writing their Astronomy exam at midnight the previous night. The term was drawing to a close, their time at Hogwarts was nearly over. Still, they were luckier than most, getting to spend eight years at Hogwarts rather than the usual seven.
The Tower was still cluttered up with desks and star charts from the exam. Professor Sinistra had probably been evaluating the final star charts as Harry and Draco spoke.
They were together in their usual spot, this time sitting down. Harry sat on the chair, while Draco sat on a desk, legs crossed.
Draco practiced simple spells with his hawthorn wand, but in vain. The Alohomora charm made the desk turn orange and the levitation spell made a leftover quill burst into flames. Harry snickered at him, and Draco forced a smile, although he was frustrated. He had learned those spells with that wand, recited charms like Lumos and Reparo on a daily basis with the hawthorn wand but he now struggled even with those. But, the wand had been won from him by Harry, the wand would never work for him again. The hawthorn wand belonged to the green-eyed hero of their world, and at this point, Draco didn't resent him for it. After all, Draco's heart belonged to Harry as well.
They talked a bit about their exams, which had finished the previous day. Harry ranted a bit about the Charms final and Draco complained about Slughorn assigning him a tough potion for his exam.
"I'm sure Slughorn only gave you the toughest one because he knows you're the best at potions," Harry reassured. "Speaking of which, have you thought about what I suggested?"
Draco sighed, "I have but..."
"But what?" Harry urged.
"But... I can't," Draco said. "I can't do it, the kids... well, I mean..."
"Yes?" Harry pressed, smiling encouragingly.
"Well, they won't want to learn from me once their parents tell them that I'm a murderer."
Silence settled between them and the smile dropped off of Harry's face, "You can't still think that. "
"Harry-"
"Draco, no, " Harry cut him off, anger evident in his tone. "You can't keep punishing yourself for this. You made mistakes, so what? We've all made mistakes. You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened with Dumbledore. Dumbledore wouldn't want you to ruin yourself over this. It's not all your fault."
"It is," Draco insisted, "If it wasn't for me-"
"What?" he challenged, "Would Dumbledore still be alive? You underestimate Voldemort, Draco, you think Voldemort would let him live any longer? Dumbledore was dying anyway! I thought you read my biography! "
"That's not an excuse-"
"Maybe it isn't," Harry wouldn't let Draco get a word in edgewise. "But you're making up for it, you are. I've seen you helping the first years out, I've seen you going an extra mile to help Millicent and Greg. I've seen you apologize to every single person you've hurt over the years."
Draco weakly protested but Harry blew ahead, "You think that you're trash and that no one cares about you! I see that self-depreciation in your eyes all the goddamn time. People do care. Your parents, your friends, Millicent and Greg and-" he hesitated and then suddenly looking determined, as if he'd made up his mind about something, "And me. I care. Merlin, Draco, I like you."
That, above everything else Harry said that day, shocked him the most. His eyes widened to saucers and he spluttered, "W-What?"
"I like you," he confessed earnestly. "I have feelings for you, and it's fine if you don't return my feelings, I just thought-"
"No!" Draco interrupted, "I mean, I-I like... I like, like-like you," he blanched at his use of the term 'like-like', "I mean..."
Harry was grinning at him, his smile stretching from ear to ear, his eyes bright and Draco couldn't help but think that the sun and stars were suddenly rendered jobless.
"This isn't a joke, right?" he asked for clarification. "Because it's not funny. "
"Draco, you know I have a shitty sense of humor, why would I joke about this?" he asked, taking Draco's hands into his own, "I like you, I'm- I'm falling in love with you. "
"Oh," he breathed quietly. "I think I'm falling for you too."
That was all Harry needed before he was suddenly bringing his own face closer to Draco's. Before Draco could process what was happening, Harry's lips were pressing against his own, gone as quickly as they had come, a simple peck, really. It was enough for Draco to start blushing to the shade of a fire hydrant.
Harry was all smiles when he pulled away, "Ron and Hermione told me that if I came back to the dorm without confessing, they wouldn't let me inside for the rest of the term."
"Greg had been teasing me about my crush on you for weeks," Draco told him, "And Millicent says that if we ever get together, you need to have a private talk with her so she can make sure you're good enough for me."
Harry chuckled and pressed a kiss on Draco's temple, "We're dumb. "
Draco abandoned his chair to get up and land a kiss of his own on Harry's forehead, "We are."
They spent the rest of the day talking about their feelings. Harry relentlessly teased him when Draco revealed that he'd always had a bit of crush on him. ("You were being that mean for my attention?"). And Draco surely got a kick out of Harry's story about how Ron had once caught him saying Draco's name in his sleep.
They entered the Great Hall holding hands. The whole school's eyes were on them as they plopped down next to Ron and Hermione, hands still entwined.
When Draco laughed at a sarcastic comment of Harry's and gave him a peck on the nose, all four tables erupted with noise, gossip, and exclamations of surprise coming from everywhere all at once.
It was utterly chaotic. Harry and Draco kept eating their mashed potatoes.
"You two are together now?" Ron asked casually.
"Yeah," Draco responded.
"Cool," he said.
"Draco!" Millicent's voice sounded in his right ear. "You need to tell us everything!"
Even the teachers seemed to have noticed the development. Hagrid winked at Draco from the staff table.
The talk about them went on for weeks. The end of term approached and people still couldn't believe it. The gossip about their relationship mostly drowned out the talk about Draco and his father.
It was the last day of the term, their last day at Hogwarts. Harry and Draco walked to the train hand in hand.
"I can't believe we're leaving," Harry said. "I mean, this place was my first real home."
"Will we have a home one day?" Draco couldn't keep the question to himself any longer. Would they last after Hogwarts? Or would they drift apart like most couples once they left Hogwarts?
"Of course we will," Harry said. "I very much intend on this being a forever thing."
Draco smiled as they kissed. They were certainly big on PDA.
"Get a room!" came Hermione's holler, as she boarded the train with Ron.
Harry helped Draco with his trunk and Draco noticed the tears glistening in his eyes.
"Sorry," Harry apologized, wiped his eyes furiously. That did nothing, his tears only escaped his eyes quicker. "But I'm not just leaving Hogwarts, I'm leaving Dumbledore too. Leaving Hogwarts is leaving Dumbledore."
"You're not leaving Dumbledore, " Draco said. He pointed at Harry's heart, "Dumbledore is in here, not there."
It was cheesy, but it was needed to be said. Draco hated seeing the tears on his face, so he kissed them away, Millicent and Greg, who had joined them at some point, groaned. Ron and Hermione only rolled their eyes and hid their smiles.
No one thought they'd happen, the universe opposed their relationship in every single way.
But, then again, it was Harry and Draco, and neither of them had ever given a shit about what the universe thought.
Draco wrapped his arms around Harry, whispering, "Thank Merlin for the Astronomy Tower. I can finally be with you."
Harry laughed, "Thank Merlin, indeed."
They're so cute! Awww
-Always One Reader