Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to J.K. Rowling.
After the war, some students from various houses came back for their seventh –which they now called eight– year and Harry, deciding to be the mature one, had called a truce with Malfoy, who agreed. When they started being civil tilting to friendly, people started suspecting that Draco had hexed Harry; Ron went as far as to plead McGonagall to check Harry. Wanting to avoid all the trouble, they came to the conclusion that it was wiser for them to meet in private so they could properly get to know each other; which was what they were doing before Harry stormed out.
Harry could hear Draco calling after him, probably running by the sound of his steps, but ignored him. He kept walking towards the lake, trying to put as much distance between him and Draco. "You bloody prat!" Draco spat as he catches up with Harry and turned him around. "Mind telling me what was that about?"
"I wasn't feeling fine," he said lamely. If Harry was honest with himself, he didn't even know why he had stormed out like that. Draco being betrothed to some pure blood girl was something he, and everyone else in Hogwarts, had expected yet it made him feel empty and enraged.
"Nearly three months, Harry! Three months and you still think I don't know when you're lying. Need I remind you you're like an open book?" His tone, a mix of teasing and amused, was annoying Harry to no end and it probably showed on his face for Draco sighed and combed a hand through his hair, a habit he had adopted from Harry. "Just tell me, will you? Or I will use verisaterum."
Harry avoided his gaze and said, "Do you even feel anything for Astoria?" He cringed slightly at the tinge of hurt that sounded on his voice and tried to cover it quickly. "I mean, do you love her enough to marry her?"
"It doesn't matter what I feel for her, the arrangement is settled. Besides, I've known her since before Hogwarts and we are very compatible."
"You've also known Parkinson that long and I don't see you going over ring catalogues!"
"I'm going to assume the latter is some muggle thing," he said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "And I'm sorry to disappoint you, but if you prefer me marrying Pansy you should discuss it with my parents, not me."
"So you're going to ignore what your heart wants and just go on and obey your parents like the perfect Malfoy heir?"
"Unlike you, I keep my inner Hufflepuff in check and perform my duties and my duty is to continue the Malfoy line and ensure it's still pure." Harry senses Draco was getting angry, if his tight voice and expression was anything to go by. Not wanting to endanger their newfound friendship, he raised his arms defensively and turned around to walk away. "I'm tired of following you!" Draco called after him.
"Then don't!" Harry answered, not looking back and hoping against hope that Draco turned around and returned to the castle. Unfortunately, Draco did the opposite and followed Harry, mumbling Merlin knew what under his breath. They walked like that for a few minutes before Harry gave up and turned around. "What do I have to do for you to stop following me?"
"You have to stop sulking and tell me the real reason as to why you stormed away," he said folding his arms across his chest.
I doubt that once he knows he will do anything worse than what he did when we were younger, he thought sighing. "Look, you don't – I mean, I-"
"Would you stop babbling already?"
"I don't want you to marry Astoria!" he yelled, deciding to end it quickly but couldn't stop from blurting out everything in his mind. "In fact, I don't want you to marry anyone else. I—I don't know why but I can't help this feeling in my chest whenever I think of you married to someone. To be honest, I think I like you. Before I used to think that you were easy on the eyes but you were such a pain in the arse that your looks matter little. Now, after getting to know you, I've fell for you."
Harry was now looking at the floor, his cheeks flushed and his eyes prickly. Draco's laughter took him by surprise and he knew he made a mistake by telling him what he felt. He was proved wrong when Draco gently cupped his face, forced him to look at him and said, "Why did it take you so long?" before crashing their lips together. Harry, after a moment of hesitation, deepened the kiss and placed his arms around Draco's waist while Draco placed them in the back of Harry's neck. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, devouring each other's lips and exploring the other's mouth with their tongues.
Only when air was much needed did they break away, panting and with dazzled eyed. "Do you have that handy cloak with you?" Draco asked once he had recovered his breath. When Harry looked at him quizzically, Draco got closer and purred in his ear, "I would like to show you in my room how much I like you back and it would be better if you entered the dungeons under the cloak."
The End
A/N: I've had this idea fluttering around my head for a while and it feels so good to finally get it out of my system! Please review I would love to know what you think about it.
