Note: This was written for the Drarry Secret Santa gift exchange on Tumblr. Hope you enjoy
Draco Malfoy had never been one for sappy romantic gestures, he would normally skip all the tedious pining and just get straight to the snogging. However, Harry Potter never did fit Draco's definition of normal, even less so after the wizarding war when the reason for his slight obsession for the other boy became crystal clear. As much as he hated to admit it, he was in love with the boy who lived.
This story takes place after the beginning of his eighth year being spent avoiding the Gryffindor in hopes of ridding himself of his confusing feelings. He finally decided he needed an outlet for said and proceeded to formulate a plan that he considers very Hufflepuff. This is the tale of Draco Malfoy and the Bloody Love Letters.
...
"I cannot believe you are actually going through with this! I mean it's about time but I've never pegged you for someone to write something so-" The girl paused a moment looking for an appropriate word, "sappy." Draco sighed, he was expecting this kind of reaction from Pansy, considering she was correct.
"I know, I just need get it out of my system." He groaned.
"Are you going to send it?"
After many hours of wracking his brain, he finally came up with the idea to anonymously write the boy about his feelings, though he never planned to send it.
"Are you kidding Pansy? It's a bloody love letter, of course I'm not going to send it!" He replied, "I'm not about to degrade myself like that just because of some stupid fucking crush."
Pansy smirked, "Well, it's too bad you aren't currently in possession of the so-called 'bloody love letter', it'd be a shame if it somehow accidentally found its way to Potter."
"You wouldn't dare-" Draco started, but with a flick of her wand, the letter was placed in an envelope, sealed and given to an owl.
"Oops, my hand slipped." And with that, the owl was off to deliver the letter and Draco was left scowling.
...
Harry Potter, has been feeling out of sorts lately. Everybody can see it and though no one knows why, there have been many speculations, mainly from his two best friends. Ron has a theory that since Voldemort is gone, he is feeling an emptiness due to the lack of conflict. Harry thinks that Ron's theory is bloody insane, sure his eighth year hasn't been as exciting the years prior but there also isn't a sense of impending doom and frankly he'd take boredom over death any day.
Hermione's theory is slightly more plausible, and even has some truth to it. She believes that he is upset because Draco's been ignoring him and she has the crazy idea that he is in love with him. Harry WILL admit that his mood is due to Malfoy ignoring him, but he is definitely not in love with him. He just finds his behaviour a little off putting. The last time Malfoy ceased his taunting, it did not end well for either of them.
"Harry, you haven't even touched your breakfast!" He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Hermione's voice.
"Sorry Hermione." He replied sheepishly. Before he could say anything else, the mail arrived. The regular sounds of excitement from the first years filled the air. 'You'd think they'd be used to it by n-' Harry's thought was interrupted when a letter landed in his breakfast, addressed to him. He carefully opened it and read over the very neat writing,
Harry,
You won't know who I am from this letter but I suppose that's kind of the point isn't it. This is incredibly embarrassing but I just had to do something.
The point of this letter is to inform you of this small crush I seem to have developed, I'm not sure when it came about but all of a sudden when I looked at you time would seem to slow down, all that existed in those moments was you. I never imagined myself writing something this sappy but you cause little else to matter than my feelings and that is reflected in my thoughts and writings. I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm in love with you but I will say, this is the strongest I've ever felt about something and I hate myself for it.
Writing this letter disgusted me because I never knew I could sound so Hufflepuff, especially when it's addressed to a Gryffindor.
Sincerely,
You may never know.
Upon completion, he stared at the letter dumbly. He has gotten many letters from secret admirers but never did they sound so at war with their emotions. They usually went on and on about how brave he was and how he's the chosen one and his defeat of Voldemort. This letter was different. This letter intrigued him, he wanted to know more.
He quickly cast a tracing charm on it but unfortunately this person was probably incredibly smart and included anti-trace charms. 'This should be interesting.' He thought.
...
Draco definitely did not watch the Gryffindor table when the mail came, and he did not notice that the look on a certain Gryffindor's face was not one of disgust like he had expected, but one of curiosity.
And, he was certainly not thinking about the boy in class when he was supposed to be paying attention.
"Mr. Malfoy, care to give us the answer?" A voice disturbed him from a particular daydream that was not school appropriate. He glanced at the board and almost sighed in relief, he may not have been paying attention but he was not an idiot. "The answer Mr. Malfoy?"
"It's a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers*." He replied.
"Very good." This time Draco really did sigh in relief, if he had gotten it wrong, Pansy wouldn't have let him hear the end of it. 'I'm really gone for this boy, aren't I?'
...
The rest of the day passed by quickly, Draco continued about as normal, though with slightly gained confidence, began taunting Harry Potter once again. Sadly, he was not the only one to notice this change.
He walked into the Slytherin common room and almost turned around immediately. There sitting on chair in front of the entrance, legs crossed and knowing smirk on her face was none other than Pansy Parkinson, the girl that tormented Draco endlessly.
Proud of his own cleverness, Draco had decided to smirk back and voice this thought, which earned him a punch on the shoulder.
"You twat, you should be nicer to me since obviously I helped you out." Pansy said rolling her eyes.
"Ok, I admit I no longer want to strangle you for sending that letter but that doesn't make me want to be nice to you." He replied.
"Anyways, what do you plan to do from here? Go up to him in the corridor, slam him against a wall and snog him senseless? Shag him on McGonagall's desk?" She quipped. "Or perhaps something more subtle like writing him another letter?"
"Well I do rather like the image of shagging on McGonagall's desk," Pansy scrunched up her nose, "However, I think I'd prefer to stay in Hogwarts so I guess I'll settle for writing more letters."
"Damn you and your annoying wit for putting that godawful image in my head." Pansy stated dramatically, Draco just smirked in reply.
...
Harry was annoyed. It has been a week and he's been getting letters, similar to the first, every day. He didn't want them to stop. Quite the contrary, he found them quite charming actually, he just wanted to know who they were from. He was also growing increasingly upset with Malfoy, of course he just had to start being an annoying git again, right when something interesting was happening.
"Hermione, what do I do? You must have some idea!" He groaned. She has always been the smart one, but they've been thinking about this for three days and she still has no ideas. Ron wasn't helping with his ludicrous suggestions either.
"Well, I've been analyzing the letters you have gotten and I think I can deduce what house they're in. However, I have not been able to learn anything else, as whoever it is, is taking great care not to reveal anything about themselves."
"That's fantastic! You can really narrow it down to a single house? You're bloody brilliant!" Ron mused, pressing a quick kiss to his girlfriend's lips.
"Well, in the first letter they weren't as careful as the subsequent ones. They stated it was very Hufflepuff of them to be writing these things and since this seemed to place a negative connotation on how romantic they were being, it obviously rules out Hufflepuff." She paused looking at the boys' bewildered faces, "The next house we can rule out is Gryffindor for slightly more obvious reasons."
"Because they were addressed me as a Gryffindor?"
"Precisely Harry, so that leaves Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Though they seem to have a negative opinion on both Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors so my money's on Slytherin." She finished, looking quite proud of herself.
"Oh bloody hell, of course it's a Slytherin, that's just your luck Harry." Ron said, though a quick glance at Harry told Ron he didn't care, Harry Potter was absolutely beaming.
"Hermione, you are brilliant!" He said happily, leaning over to give her a hug. "I think I'm going to write them back."
"What?! Mate, are you insane? How do you plan to do that?" Ron asked.
"Well, I'll just write a reply and tell the owl to find who to send it to?" He said unsurely, "Do you think it'll work Hermione?"
"I think it is plausible, write out a response tonight and then when the owl drops off your next letter, you can ask it to bring the letter to whoever it came from." She stated.
"Hey, then Harry can just watch who the owl goes to."
"I don't think so Ron, this person is very clever, they must have given the owl strict instructions to bring any replies to them at a different time." With Hermione's thought in mind, Harry left to the boys' room in order to write his letter.
...
The next day, Draco was surprised when the owl he had been using to write to Harry came to him with a letter addressed to no one. He reluctantly accepted said letter, but before opening it he hesitated. 'What if it's cursed?' he thought, but as he stared down at the sealed envelope his curiosity got the better of him, 'to hell with it!' he thought as he quickly pulled out a letter with atrocious handwriting. He held his breath as he began to read:
Dear random person,
I don't know who you are and my curiosity is eating me from the inside out. But, do not worry, this letter isn't going to be me just begging to know who you are, that's not important right now.
I'm writing this as an acknowledgement and a thank you. I obviously got your letters (if you haven't figured it out) and frankly, I cannot stop thinking about them. You are beautiful with your wording and I am so incredibly flattered. I have never had someone go into so much detail. I have gotten letters from admirers yes, but those are so much different from your's. You seem to know me quite well as a person while usually people just like me for my status which is bollocks really. I'm amazed and intrigued and really hope one day you'll tell me who you are.
By the way, don't freak out, there is no tracking charm on this or whatever and I just told your owl to bring this to you, I like a bit of mystery and discovering your identity would ruin that for me. I would like to know though, what gender are you? Not that it matters, either gender is ok really, I just think it would be easier to write you back if I knew.
Sincerely,
Harry Potter
Ps. Sorry this rambles on and is awkward to read…I'm not good with my words.
Draco threw down the letter. 'Holy shit, Potter answered, was not expecting that' he thought. 'I need to find Pansy.' He got up from his chair in the library and went to the Slytherin common room, letter in hand.
...
"I don't see what the problem is, this is good isn't it?" Pansy sighed. She was just trying to enjoy her night when Draco came in and ranted to her for about an hour.
"Pansy, I don't think you heard me. He. Wrote. Back."
"And?"
"And, what the hell am I supposed to do now. This is supposed to help me get over this, and I can't bloody well do that when he responds and ignites the fire again!" the boy exclaimed, he was exhausted from trying to explain this to her.
"Look, why don't you just continue writing to him cause I know you Draco and you don't want that fire to go out completely, I can see it in your eyes. You are as curious about him as he is about you!" She yelled finally rendering Draco Malfoy speechless.
"But-"
"Just give it up Draco, besides I like you better when you don't ramble on about Potter this and Potter that. Now how about we get Blaise and have a few drinks."
...
"Hermione! It's a boy!" Harry Potter yelled quietly while walking into potions class.
"Harry, mate, by exclaiming things like that the school's going to think you have a child," Ron said shaking his head.
"Sorry, but I'm excited, I'm slowly narrowing it down!"
"That's fantastic Harry, want me to look at the letter?" Hermione asked. 'She's always so supportive of me-' Harry's thought was interrupted by a loud obnoxious voice.
"Whatcha got there Potter? The weaselette writing you love letters again?" Malfoy teased.
"Sod off Malfoy, I'm in a good mood right now and don't need you to ruin it." Harry replied, noticing that for a split second the Slytherin seemed taken aback. As quickly as the emotion flitted across his face, it was gone and replaced with a small glare before Malfoy turned around.
Something about the reaction irked Harry and he soon found himself saying, "And, for your information Malfoy, Ginny and I broke up a while ago."
Malfoy turned around and gave him a questioning look before very sarcastically saying, "Good to know Potter, I'm oh so glad you feel the need to fill me in on every aspect of your love life."
The look Draco was giving Harry suddenly got very intense and Harry could feel himself yearning. He wasn't sure what exactly caused this but he did know he was slowly giving in to the temptation. As he was about to act on it, Professor Slughorn walked in, breaking the trance.
Both the boys scrambled to sit in their respective seats while the class just looked on confused at what just happened. As Slughorn began to teach, hushed whispers fell across the crowd.
"Harry what was that just now?" Ron asked.
"What do you mean?" Harry feigned innocence.
"You and Malfoy were just standing, staring!"
"I certainly wasn't staring, but if Dr-Malfoy was staring could you blame him? I'm irresistible!" Harry joked.
"Oh yeah mate, I'm sorry you have to find out this way but I'm totally attracted to you." Ron joked.
"I knew it! Hermione I'm sorry but your boyfriend is in love with me!" Harry sighed dramatically.
"Mr. Potter, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Professor Slughorn asked.
"No sir," he replied hastily.
"They were just talking about how Ron is in love with Harry sir." Hermione supplied, the entire class started laughing.
"Sometimes I wonder why I'm dating you," Ron stated with a sigh at her smirk.
...
Draco was irritable, 'How the hell am I supposed to get over that prat when he looks at me like that!' he wondered.
"I don't know!" Pansy exclaimed, exhausted from her best friend's rambling.
"Wh-, what? Wait, did I say that out loud?" Draco asked taken aback.
"Duh!"
"You're right about that look though, it was definitely weird, even for Potter." Blaise spoke up, ignoring Pansy's frustration.
"Why don't you ask him in a letter if you're that concerned?" Pansy groaned.
"Keep it down will you?" Draco hissed. 'The last thing I need is for Potter to hear!" Though as he thought about it, he realized it wasn't a bad idea.
...
On the other side of the great hall, Harry Potter was staring intently. He was just as confused as Draco was about that look earlier and was trying to figure out what it all meant.
"Harry, eat something! You've been staring at the Slytherin table for forty minutes!" Hermione exclaimed.
"No I haven't" Harry replied not taking his eyes off the eighth year Slytherins but shoving a forkful of food in his mouth. Just then, Harry heard a very hushed utterance of 'Potter' in the silver haired boy's voice and his ears perked up.
He didn't hear much of the conversation but assumed it was some sort of agreement as both Parkinson and Zabini were nodding their heads along with Draco. Harry was just about to focus on his food once and for all until he heard the word 'letter'.
Normally, one would not think much of this word but for Harry, everything clicked at once. The notes, the stares, Draco being as annoying as ever, it was all connected.
Throughout the great hall everyone went silent as a very audible gasp could be heard coming from the Gryffindor table, followed by Harry Potter quickly rising from his seat and exiting, Hermione and Ron on his heels.
As Harry practically ran to the Gryffindor tower, Hermione and Ron were firing questions at him rapidly.
"What was that?"
"A gasp."
"Why?"
"I think I know."
"Know what?"
"Who my admirer is!" He replied turning around to face them.
"WHAT?!" Hermione and Ron yelled in unison. "Do tell." Hermione continued.
"Well…"
...
It has been a couple of days since Harry left the great hall quickly. Draco has yet to write the letter demanding an explanation for why Harry and 'Malfoy' shared such a heated look. He had it all planned out to make it sound as though it wasn't him and was finally heading to his room to write it.
As Draco approached the boys' dorm, he got a weird feeling that something wasn't right. His suspicions were confirmed when he opened the door to find a letter on his bed addressed to him. He reluctantly opened it, and the knot in his stomach grew.
Draco,
You are probably wondering why you are currently holding a letter with such atrocious handwriting. Well, I just want to tell you that I know. I know, it's you who wrote me all those beautiful letters, it's you who might not hate me as much as I once thought and it's you who I have fallen for in the past couple of weeks. To tell you the truth I'm not 100% certain I have this right and I don't even care because it feels right.
Meet me at the Quidditch Pitch at midnight, I feel we have a lot to talk about. I'll be waiting
.Harry Potter
Draco stared at the letter and reread it a couple of times. 'This CAN. NOT. Be happening.' He screamed internally. 'This is definitely some cruel joke he's playing on me, there is no way in hell he can feel anything towards me. How the fuck did he even figure it out?' and with the thought that this would ruin his life, Draco just sat down on his bed and cried.
He cried for all the hours wasted writing the letters, he cried for the special precautions he took to not be found out, obviously in vain and he cried for his love for Harry Potter that will clearly never go away and most definitely can never be reciprocated. He doesn't want Harry's pity or to be pranked or made fun of, so he decided he just wouldn't go.
...
ALL NIGHT, that was how long Harry waited outside. He expected this, but he forgot that it would come with him being hopelessly tired the next day. He walked into breakfast twenty minutes late, dark circles under his eyes and hair disheveled. The first thing he noticed was the crowd staring, the second thing however, was a certain blonde very pointedly Not Looking at him. He sighed, and sat beside his friends, intent on just eating and getting to class. Just because he expected Draco to be a no-show, doesn't mean it hurt any less.
...
At the Slytherin table, Draco had heard the crowd go quiet and noticed everyone staring at a point behind him. Knowing the only person to ever gain that much attention is Potter, he kept his back turned.
As he looked on at his awestruck friends, he noticed both Pansy and Blaise acknowledge his decision to not turn around and a moment of understanding crossed both their faces. He could see the light bulb go off in their heads.
After three brutally long and painful minutes of silence, the crowd slowly started to get back to being boisterous and loud. A lot of the conversations were on the topic of Potter, which didn't help Draco's mood.
"Draco," Pansy started in a warning tone. He knew what was coming but decided to act naively.
"What?" He asked.
"You know exactly what! You were totally just Not Looking at Potter!"
"I wasn't Not Looking I just was not looking at him, there's a difference." He replied defensively.
"With you there is no difference and you know that!"
"Also, is it just me or does Potter look particularly awful today?" Blaise piped in. Draco couldn't help it, he turned to look at the boy.
He was met with a terrible sight. Potter's hair was even more unkempt than usual, his shirt and tie were not put on properly, he had charcoal black bags under his eyes and those emerald eyes, normally so full of life, looked as dull as those of the house ghosts'. Unable to help himself, Draco slightly gasped in surprise and quickly turned back to his friends.
Cursing himself silently for choosing such observant friends, he braced himself for the questions about to come.
"Explain." Was all that was said, accompanied with a burning stare.
"Not here." Was his reply as he got up and started walking towards the door. Pansy and Blaise quickly got up and followed, giving Potter a look as they passed his table.
...
After the initial flurry of questions from his friends and surprisingly honest answers from him, Harry was ready to just head up to his dorm and go to sleep. As he seriously contemplated this, he heard people leaving the hall in great haste and was surprised to see Draco and company speed walking out the door. His gaze following Draco all the way, he didn't notice the looks his friends were giving him. He was just hopeful that his plan would work.
"Remind me what you're doing again." Ginny wondered.
"I just wrote him another note and I'll send it." Harry replied still looking at the door.
"Also, I think you broke my brother earlier." She added. Finally, Harry turned back around to meet the horrified expression on Ron's face.
"Really Ron? It wasn't all that surprising if you ask me!" Hermione said.
"B-but it's Malfoy!"
"I think we are at the point where we can call him Draco."
"It's Malfoy! He made your life a living hell!"
"Made is past tense Ron, he's fine now." Harry said while yawning.
"Didn't you call him a prat like a few weeks ago?" Ron asked desperate to change his friend's mind.
"Things can change."
"Well… I guess as long as your happy." He said giving in. "But, if Mal- If Draco keeps acting like a git and still refuses to show up, I won't hesitate to punch him."
...
"I don't understand you." Pansy sighed, she was exasperated. "Isn't this a good thing?"
"It would be if it was true, but it's obviously some kind of sick joke." Draco sounded absolutely defeated.
"Whatever, I hope you figure this all out." Blaise said sympathetically, "But, I'm going to class are you guys going to join?"
"I'm not really up for it," Draco admitted slowly starting to tear up but expertly hiding it. Pansy told Blaise just to go without them as she fully planned to stay back with him. No matter how annoying he is in this Potter situation, he is still her best friend.
As they talked about anything and everything in the Slytherin boys' dorm, Draco could feel himself cheering up. They stayed in all day, laughing and drinking and reminiscing. Pansy was doing an effective job at distracting him from the core issue.
They had just decided to skip dinner when a light tapping sounded on the door. Pansy got up to answer it and as soon as she opened it, an owl flew in with a letter for Draco. Draco's breathe hitched in his throat as he pleaded for her to open it for him.
Let's try this again shall we?
Is all the note read. Pansy looked at Draco who was absolutely in shock and uttered one short sentence.
"You should go."
Draco nodded in response and they slowly prepared him for the events about to occur.
...
Harry waited patiently for half an hour before he began to think Draco would not show yet again. He got out his broom and took to the skies flying at different speeds. The night air proved successful in calming his nerves and the stars were terribly relaxing. He felt his previous tiredness disapparating away.
As he flew around, forgetting about his troubles, Draco approached the Qudditch pitch hesitantly. Seeing no one there, his immediate thought was that it was all a trick, but as he turned to leave he could make out a faint whizzing sound in the sky. He looked up and what he saw was absolutely breathtaking.
Harry Potter was flying up above. The wind flew by him, pushing his messy raven black hair hair off his face, exposing his forehead, the scar that started it all and those striking green eyes. He flew both quickly and slowly while performing tricks and laughing to the rhythm of the night. Overall he just simply seemed free.
Draco couldn't bring himself to interrupt, so he just stood there, watching. After several minutes, Draco couldn't stand just waiting around. He quickly went and retrieved his own broom and took to the air.
Careful not to fly where Harry could see him, Draco flew around, gazing at the stars and thinking of what was to come. How would the conversation with Harry go? He was not prepared to face the truth of his feelings. How would Harry react? As Draco worried about this, he got distracted and flew right into view of the person he had been avoiding.
Harry abruptly stopped flying, eyes widening. 'He actually came!' he thought excitedly as he flew over to the distracted Slytherin.
"Draco!" he softly called out, not wanting to scare the boy away. He wobbled slightly at the mention of his name before steadying his broom.
"Well Potter, I'm here, what do you want?" Draco spat a bit more viciously than intended.
"To talk?"
"Well go ahead and talk, I don't have all night, and I'm sure you don't either."
"Well, under normal circumstances I would disagree but seeing as I'm still tired from staying out waiting all night yesterday, you are right." He admitted. At his words, Draco warmed, 'had Harry really waited all night just for him? No, he must have just gotten distracted flying.'
"Anyways, before I start, it was you who sent the letters right?" Harry asked, breaking Draco out of his trance.
"What's it to you Potter? Looking for a good laugh? Then, yes, yes it was me you wanker!" He could feel his emotions and unease seeping into his words in the form of anger. He had never been able to control his emotions when he was feeling so much. 'Why am I like this?' he wondered as he noticed Potter clench his fist.
They were now barely hovering above the ground on their broomsticks. Not being able to contain his anger at how unreasonable Draco was acting at this moment, in such a sleep deprived state, Harry shoved him.
This quickly turned into a fight with insults and hits being thrown left and right when finally Harry shoved a bit too hard and they both went tumbling down in a tangled mess of limbs. They stared shocked at each other for a moment before both boys burst into a fit of giggles.
"You should've seen your face Potter, it was priceless!"
"Probably not as golden as your's Malfoy, reminds me of the time in first year when we were sent into the forbidden forest! You were so scared!" Harry replied trying (and failing) to hold in his laughter.
"Well it was a nice change to see your face in fear, after all the chaos being met with neutral expressions, I was beginning to think you weren't even human." He had meant it as a joke and Harry knew that but the other boy still answered back sombrely.
"Well, with everything that's happened, I guess I just got desensitized to the small stuff." A silence fell over the two as they just stared at each other. They were still tangled in each other's limbs and were both surprised to find how close their faces had become.
"I meant what I wrote Draco, I really have fallen for you and your love notes." Harry said quietly not breaking contact with the other's eyes.
"Clearly, since you stayed out all night waiting for me like a crazy person." Draco replied, eyes briefly flickering to Harry's lips before recovering eye contact.
"If by crazy you mean constantly thinking about all the things I want to do to you, then I'm definitely crazy."
Draco's breathe hitched for a moment before he boldly stated, "Why don't you." And with that, Harry's lips were on his own. The other boy tasted distinctly of treacle tart and was incredibly talented with his mouth.
...
A month has passed since that night on the Quidditch pitch and neither Harry nor Draco could be any happier. Harry had finally found what had been missing, not only from his eighth year, but his life in general. And Draco had finally found an outlet for his feelings that was much more effective than a few letters.
As the happy couple sat in the Gryffindor common room discussing Draco's friends' love lives, or lack thereof, Ginny entered the room holding a recently opened letter.
"Do either of you know anything about this?" She asked the boys handing them the letter. Draco read on knowing full well who the letter was from but when she asked if they knew, he just smirked.
Ginny,
I noticed recently that Draco Malfoy's technique of writing these letters was rather effective. Despite heavy protest from a certain Slytherin girl that 'doesn't want to deal with this again' I finally grew some balls and decided to write to you. I have liked you for a while and hope these letters will help you see the good in me.
Sincerely,
A Friend
...
Blaise Zabini had never been one for sappy romantic gestures, he would normally skip all the tedious pining and just get straight to the snogging. However, Ginny Weasley never did fit Blaise's definition of normal.