Title: It was you
Author: Aoife Malfoy
Pairing: H/D
Rating: G
Word count: 1685
Disclaimer: Not mine but you already knew that right?
Pairing: HP/GW, HP/DM
Beta: Thanks for the speedy beta job, Sami!
Summary: This is why it's called falling in love, because when you fall, you don't have a choice.

It was an ordinary day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lunch was fully underway. Gryffindors were happily munching away on their food whilst entertaining each other with tales of their day so far. The Hufflepuffs were engaged in their gossiping as they too, ate with much gusto. Ravenclaws were the second quietest House during these times because most people brought their books to the table, not being ones to waste even a second when finishing advanced chapter readings for their classes. Lastly, the Slytherins were there whispering softly amongst each other while casting furtive glances around. Standard behavior, really.

That is why no one noticed Harry Potter arriving late and disheveled in the Great Hall. No one except, smiling hazel eyes that were shining with a bit of relief and much adoration.

"Harry! There you are! Where have you been? Lunch is almost over." Ginny Weasley greeted her boyfriend with a smile and a quick kiss as she elbowed Lavender Brown to make room for her absent boyfriend.

Harry fidgeted nervously from where he remained standing. He was dreading this confrontation all day long and now that he had finally mustered enough courage to actually go through with it, he was having second thoughts. Maybe it could wait. I don't have to do it now. I can do it later or maybe not at all. I don't want to ruin our friendship and surely what she doesn't know can't hurt her. He thought cheekily but quickly grimaced as he berated himself. No! Don't be such a coward! You can't keep doing this to her! A voice inside himself chided as he beat his inner Slytherin into submission. With a sigh, he bolstered up his inner lion even more and said, "Sorry about that, Ginny, but I've been busy all morning. Actually I need to talk to you outside the Hall. Are you still eating?"

Completely missing the agitated manner that her boyfriend was showing, Ginny gave Harry a sunny smile that made him feel like dirt for what he was about to do. She then excused herself from the table and took Harry's hand in hers, still smiling that smile the entire time as she led him out into the Hall. She was so happy to be with him for the first time that day that she was oblivious of the way Harry was dragging his feet as he begrudgingly followed her.

Shifting his weight, Harry stared down at his scuffed up shoes as he tried to collect enough wits to form a coherent sentence. Finally feeling that he better say something lest Ginny thought he was losing his mind for ushering her out of the Great Hall only to watch him stare at his shoes, he began, "Ginny, I think you're really great. You're smart, beautiful and a completely lovely person. I also know you love me and I truly appreciate that." He paused as he took a quick peek at his girlfriend and almost blanched at the sweetly pleased look she had on her face.

Hating himself for undoubtedly wiping that look off her face, he went on, "You probably wake up each morning with a silly grin on your face knowing that even if the worst things imaginable happen to you today, it would be okay because you're with the person you love and he loves you back. You possibly walk around with this dazed look on your face because you can't imagine how someone so wonderful, so amazing and just so perfect could exist and the fact that he actually wants to be with you and only you is mind blowing in a way you can't describe. You might find that every moment is clearer, every breath you take is sweeter and the things around you are just worth so much more because he's there."

Harry smiled sadly at the smitten girl in front of him who had been nodding along to everything he had just described. A lone tear made its way out of the corner of his eye as he struggled to get out the words he was going to say next, wanting badly to leave her in ignorance but knowing that doing so would be a greater disservice.

"You see, Ginny, I know how you feel because I feel it too. For the first time in my life, I fell deeply and incurably in love." He whispered softly and another tear joined the first as he saw the elated look on her face and the wild hope shining in her eyes.

"But it wasn't you." He said haltingly as he forced the harsh truth out of his tense lips. "I felt all those things but it wasn't for you."

A shocked gasp, followed by a heart breaking sob cut through the eerie silence in the Hall.

"Who?" Ginny whispered softly but steadily, steel hardening in her voice as hurt tears still coursed violently down her reddened face.

"I am so sorry, Ginny." Harry wept in regret for the heart he had just broken.

"I asked who, damn it!" Ginny shrieked, lashing out in the only way she knew how.

It was bad enough to know that Harry was seeing someone behind her back but for him to actually have real feelings for the slut when he was evidently incapable of having any for her was unbearable. Enraged, beyond hurt and broken, she slapped the cheating bastard hard. "Who was she, Harry? I deserve to know!"

Unable to deny her this justified request, he voiced his answer, knowing that doing so might not only lose him a good friend but quite possibly his best friend in the whole world as well.

"Draco."

And with that whispered word, things would never ever be the same.

Years later…

Harry gripped his wild hair in frustration as Draco continued to rant about Merlin knows what. Coming home from a bad day at work to find his boyfriend ready to bitch at him for his slovenly behavior with the bathroom sink was not how he wanted to spend the rest of his evening at all. Trying to block out the sound of Draco's shrill voice which was proceeding to the "list all of Harry's faults" portion of the tirade, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he desperately tried to think of other things to keep from strangling the infuriating blonde. It was times like these when Ron's taunts of "It will never last" and Hermione's misgiving comments of "Compatibility is what makes relationships work, Harry. You two have none!" plagued his mind.

But then, just then when Draco's face was tinting with red spots as he discovered that Harry was unresponsive and not even listening to him, Harry would remember. Remember that awful day when he finally confessed to Ginny Weasley that he loved Draco Malfoy and not her all along. And suddenly he knew it would be okay. That no matter how many fights he had with Draco or how long Ron held out on his forgiveness or how many wheedling questions Hermione doled out, it would always be alright. Because what he said then, on that horrid broken afternoon, still remained true to this day.

"I love you." Harry blurted out, suddenly overwhelmed by the remembrance of this fact.

"Oh really? Is that why you don't listen when I tell you to clean up after yourself? Or why you don't even hear me when I tell you off for not listening in the first place? Is that love? You know how important it is to me, Harry. It might be ridiculous to you but it upsets me and I'm tired of having the same one-sided conversation with myself!" Draco yelled in fury as he resisted the strong urge to smack his lover upside the head.

Alarmed, Harry stood up quickly and began to approach the blonde, sensing something deeper was troubling Draco for his rants have never gone on for this long or had been this serious. "What are you saying?" He asked in apprehension.

"I am saying, Potter, that I am tired of the fighting. That maybe it is true that we just aren't right for each other. Maybe we're just too different. And that maybe you should have stayed with her." Draco said haltingly as he voiced the suspicions that were lurking deeply in his heart ever since Harry had gone to lunch with his ex-girlfriend who was visiting from her Ministry post in Romania.

Harry shook his head in disbelief. Had he been neglecting Draco that badly? Did he not know? "You're a crazy bastard, you know that, Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked indignantly as he grabbed the Slytherin by the shirt front. "It has never been about how I feel about you. It's what I don't feel for anyone but you! I know we're not the most compatible people in the world, so what? Not most people are and anyone else would be boring." Harry loosened his grip on Draco as he continued on, looking into stunned silver eyes, "But you are perfect for me in every way that matters and that's enough. That's enough for me for the rest of my life."

Draco made an undignified choking sound in the back of his throat before he pounced on his lover with a heart melting kiss. He knew there was a reason he loved this stubborn and unbelievably sappy Gryffindor!

"Marry me." He asked amidst soul searing kisses and clinging hands. It was not the way he wanted to ask, he didn't even have a ring but oddly enough he couldn't think of a more perfect moment to do so.

"What?" Harry let out a shocked gasped and then let out a more affirmative response of "Yes! Of course!"

Draco grinned madly and proceeded to pull his new fiancé into another snog before he was stopped by a dazed Harry, "Why me?" the silly prat asked with an astonished ear-to-ear grin.

"Because, Harry," Draco said with a soft smile as he placed a loving kiss on the future Mr. Potter-Malfoy,

"For me, it's always been you."

Finite.

Author's Note: Cringes Is it too sappy? Tell me! I'm a bit out of my element since this is a baby step away from the angsty fics I usually write! So please comment me if you think I should just quit handling fluff and stick to my material snorts Please don't kill me for not updating HPDLKN!