Draco was perched on a stool at the kitchen counter with a mug of tea cradled in his hands. He pursed his lips, gently blowing a cool stream of air over the steaming liquid.
He wasn't exactly sure what time it was, all he knew was that it was early enough for the sun to be up, but the light was a crisp pink rather than blue. He was up because he was tired of flopping around in his bed, waiting on the sound of the front door clicking closed.
It never came.
He took a sip of his tea and winced as it scolded his tongue. He pulled one of his pyjama-clad legs up next to him in his seat and sighed, untangling his hands from his mug and lowering his forehead into them instead. The warmth still clinging to his hands was oddly soothing.
The front door swung open and Draco sat up, spinning around in his chair and narrowing his eyes at the sight in front of him. His flatmate, Harry Potter, shuffled in the door, looking like he had been in a rather nasty tussle with a vacuum cleaner and had lost miserably. He closed the door and shut it as quietly as he could.
"And where were you last night?" Draco said, trying to keep his temper in check.
Harry jumped with a gasp, one of his hands flying to his chest. "You…" he panted, then seemed to regain his composure. "I don't see how that's any of your business."
Draco took another sip of his tea and winced again. Still too hot. "It is my business. In case you've forgotten, we share a flat. I didn't know if you were dead somewhere or was dying or…I just didn't know. You could have at least called."
Harry yawned, hooking his index finger through Draco's mug handle and dragging it toward him, picking it up and taking a deep drink. He wrinkled his nose and said, "That's not very good. Do we have any coffee? I want coffee."
Draco rolled his eyes and stood, making his way over to the cabinet and pulling open the door, taking out a bag of coffee with a muttered, "You're an ass. You don't even care that I was worried about you, do you?"
"You? Worried about me?" Harry chuckled, draining the rest of Draco's tea with a grimace. "I highly doubt that."
"Would you leave my bloody tea alone?" Draco snapped, rolling his eyes as he filled the coffee press and put some water on to boil. "You don't even like it but you drink it anyway."
"I drink it because it bothers you," Harry said with a smirk. "I do a lot of what I do because it bothers you."
"You know, I don't have to stay here with you," Draco said as he climbed up on the counter. "I don't have to live here and take care of you. Hell, I don't even have to stay here and play house whilst you bugger around all night with Merlin knows who."
"You can't live anywhere else," Harry said as he picked up the empty mug and dropped it in the sink. "You know you can't live anywhere else. The Ministry seized your money after the trials, and no one wants to give a job to a Malfoy. Face it, you're stuck with me, and I'd say you have it off pretty well here."
"Have it off pretty well?" Draco snarled. "You really think that I can't live anywhere else? You really think that I can't take care of myself? I've survived without you living with me for twenty years, I think I can handle myself."
Harry rolled his eyes, picking up the kettle and pouring the boiling water into the coffee press. "You act like we're fucking or something," he said with a sigh. "Listen to me, alright? This is my flat. You are a guest in my flat. You have no right to ask me where I go or what I do, do you understand?"
Draco grabbed the coffee press between his hands and threw it hard at the ground, shattering it at Harry's feet. "I'm sick of this…I'm moving out. I don't care if I have no place to live, it's better than living with you. I hate you so much. So much."
"Why are you doing this?" Harry said, kicking aside the broken press with a sigh. "I didn't say you had to leave, Draco, I just said…"
"Ah, well, I usually don't do what you say, so I guess that works, doesn't it?" Draco said as he pushed past Harry, making his way to his bedroom. "Fuck off, go back to which ever bird's flat you came from until I can get packed."
"I didn't come from a bird's flat," Harry called as he trailed Draco, "And you aren't going anywhere. I'm sorry, alright? If you want I can see if I can get you a job so you have something to do."
"I can get my own job," Draco snapped, slamming the door in Harry's face. "I don't need your help. Go back to wherever you came from, then."
"Do you want to know where I came from?" Harry called through the door. "Do you really want me to tell you everything, because I will. Fine."
He took a deep breath, pressing his hands against the dark wood of the door. "Last night I went to a gay bar, and yes you heard me right, I said a gay bar, and got completely pissed. I stayed at the bar looking for everyone in the crowd who fit the exact same description. I danced with a few of them, snogged even less, and was cornered by a bloke in the loo where he gave me a blow job. I woke up this morning in that bloke's bed, completely naked and sore in places I didn't know I had. There, are you happy?"
The door flew open and Harry stumbled forward, staring up into the unreadable icy eyes of Draco Malfoy. "Do you think that information would make me happy?"
Harry bit his lip but said nothing. He wasn't sure what to say.
"The same description? What did they look like? Trollops, or do I really want to know?" Draco spat, leaning against his doorframe.
Harry took a deep breath, looking everywhere but at Draco's face. He lowered his head and said, in a tone just short of a whisper, "You."
Draco felt like he had been punched in the stomach. He had never realized…never even thought…
"Wh…why are you telling me this?" Draco stammered, taking a step away from Harry.
"Because I want you," Harry said in a tone Draco had never heard before. "I want you so bad it hurts sometimes."
Draco was, for the first time in his short life, speechless.
He could hear Harry's breathing, hard and uneven. Harry's eyes were trained on his neck when he whispered, "I want to kiss you, I want to embrace you, I want to fuck you," and he took a deep breath before he finished, "but mostly, I want to love you."
'So you go fuck some random guy at a bar?' Draco thought, but he didn't want to fight anymore. He didn't say it, he didn't want say it. He didn't want to see the pain in Harry's eyes. Instead he just nodded, blinking owlishly.
Harry grinned lopsidedly, his eyes sparkling. "I…okay. Then just…alright. I'm…I'm going to go…go shower and…" his voice broke and he looked away, digging his hands deep into his pockets and blushing profusely, "go to work. I'll…we'll…we'll talk later?"
"Later, right," Draco said, brushing past Harry, the brief contact they made making him shiver. "I'm sorry I broke your coffee press. I'll fix it and make you some before you leave."
"Make more of that tea," Harry said softly, refusing to meet his eyes.
"You don't even like that tea," Draco replied with a chuckle. "I'll make you coffee."
Harry shook his head. "No…the tea. It…it reminds me of you."
Draco tried to hide his smile, but wasn't too sure if he succeeded. He hooked his pinkie together with Harry's, warming up to the image of Harry's short, tan finger wrapped around his own thin, pale one. He lifted their entwined hands up, pressing a kiss to Harry's fingertips before saying, "I'll make some tea for myself and some coffee for you, alright?"
Harry grinned, colour rising high on his cheeks. He drew his bottom lip between his teeth and said, as Draco released his hand with a gentle slide of skin on skin, "Okay."