Someday You Will Be Loved.
Draco watched from afar. It's what he did, what he had always done. He watched him move. The way he walked, talked, laughed, ate, flew, him just being him. He watched everyday. He loved him. He hated him. He wanted him.
Harry Potter, The Chosen One, Golden Boy, The-Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Freaking-Die, The-Boy-He-Loved. He had loved him since third year. It had hit suddenly, scaring him. Every fight since had been pure agony. Every word was a lie, how could anyone think such horrible things about that boy?
No, man. He was seventeen and so different from the small scrawny kid on the train in first year. He was tall, his hair more tamable, he had filled out since then too. But his eyes, the amazing emeralds, they were still jaded.
The pain in them seemed to grow every year. He knew things about Harry, just from watching him. Like the abuse he went through in the summer. He would watch Harry get on the train, quickly, head down, and never touching anyone. Ever. He could see the gentle shimmer of magic from the glamor against his disturbingly pale skin. He watched as Harry rebuilt the ability to eat a full meal slowly.
It killed him. Knowing this about the boy - no, he was a man now - that he loved. He wanted to be there to take all the pain away and make him smile. Draco wanted to heal him, be the shoulder he cried on. Draco just wanted to show Harry someone cared.
So that morning, well before any sane person should get up, he made his way to the owlery. He had a note in his hand. Simple parchment in emerald ink reading,
'Someday, you will be loved.
M'
Draco picked a nondescript school owl and tied the knot to it's outstretched leg.
"To Harry Potter, girl." With that he left, leaving the owl to deliver it's message.
That same morning Draco sat at the Slytherin table, talking quietly with Theo, as the morning mail came in. The small brown owl he had chosen only hours before flew through the Great Hall, landing gently on Harry's shoulder. He watched Harry remove the note, feed the bird and look down to read.
Harry looked confused, then happy, then even more depressed. The owl still perched on his shoulder nuzzled his neck as he pulled out a quill and wrote on the back before sending it off with the owl and leaving the Great Hall. Weasley and Granger left to wonder what had happened to their hero.
Draco didn't have time to ponder what had caused the departure of his crush before the same small owl from earlier came toward him with the note on its leg.
Draco untied it letting the owl fly off to the owlery. Harry's note read:
'No one will love me. Me as Harry, who I am, not me as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. No one wants someone who's broken.'
Casting a wordless spell to disintegrate the parchment Draco got up leaving a confused Theodore Nott to sit alone in the midst of his sentence.
Draco ran. He couldn't remember ever running that fast for something. He'd never had a reason to run that fast. He stopped at the Entrance Hall, wondering if Harry would have gone outside despite the chilly weather. Deciding that he'd rather check now then later, Draco went out the large double doors.
He walked for a few minutes before he could see the small figure of Harry looking out at the Black Lake. He walked quietly up beside him, trying not to startle the smaller boy.
"You're wrong, you know. You are loved for being you. For being broken and abused. There are people who would do anything to make you smile, hold you when you cry, lay with you to keep away the nightmares." Draco whispered, just loud enough for Harry to hear.
"And how would you know, Malfoy? Shouldn't you be out here laughing at me? Or is this part of the joke? No one wants me for me. They all just see the perfect hero." Draco didn't have to look at the other boy to hear the tears in his voice, but he did turn to look anyway. Harry's eyes were so dull. Full of tears, a dull jaded green.
"I care, Harry. Remember that. Someday you will be loved. If you won't find that in me then you'll find it with someone else. I love you. I'll be around if you need me." With that Draco left. Not wanting to push anymore for one day.
"Wait!" Harry ran after Draco grabbing his arm. "Thank you." And before Draco could respond he had Harry's lips on his own. It was soft, sweet, loving, and most of all it was a promise of hope.