A/N : Written for OWL competition - Herbology (Prompt : Moondew - Write about someone finally realizing something that has been staring them in the face) AU fic.
"Why?" Draco whispered quietly, his arms wrapped around himself while he sat on the cold floor of the Slytherin common room with his knees pulled up to his chest, he was dressed in a pair of simple green pyjamas but his feet remained bare which wasn't the best choice in the dungeons, it was barely a few moments later when Draco could no longer stand the icy chill that enveloped him and he lifted up his trusted wand from the floor beside him, aiming it at the logs which lay silently inside the fireplace "Incendio" Draco muttered weakly, frowning when a small spark erupted from the end of his wand and gently fell to the cold floor, extinguishing itself easily which only infuriated the upset blonde.
"Incendio!" Draco ordered loudly, firmly pointing his trusted wand at the fireplace which caused a much bigger flame to erupt from his wand and bathe the logs in flames before slowly calming down and becoming a gentle, roaring fire, if it wasn't for the safety spell cast on all the fireplaces; to stop the flames from spreading and engulfing the common room, then the common room would have been in trouble within minutes although the young Slytherin probably wouldn't have noticed, except for the fact that his own life would be in danger.
"Draco" A familiar voice filled his ears, he immediately turned his head to scowl at the owner of the voice but found himself staring at the bare, blank dungeon walls "A bit much, don't you think?"
"Show yourself, Potter" Draco demanded impatiently, his grey eyes angrily scanning the room while he patted the cold dungeon floor in search for his wand, if only to hex the annoying, persistent Gryffindor who seemed to always turn up, when he was least wanted "Why do you keep coming down here?" Draco added angrily, pushing himself up onto his cold feet while slowly beginning to circle and cover the open space of the common room.
"You received another?" Harry questioned gently, ignoring Draco's demands and enquiries, his green eyes watching the blonde intently while he continued his search of the room although he could feel his piercing glare when he repeated the same question that he frequently asked, the grey eyes which glared at him were filled with tears but also hurt, rejection and confusion.
"Why do you fucking care?" Draco questioned bitterly, giving up on his search and dropping onto the couch, throwing his pyjama covered arm over his tired eyes which silently signalled his surrender to the Gryffindor who slowly pulled off his invisibility cloak before closing the distance between himself and the blonde, he lowered himself onto the arm of the couch and stared down at Draco who seemed to be staring at the fire as the flames danced across the logs.
"Your father?" Harry prompted lightly while his hands slowly began to play with the soft blonde hairs upon the Slytherin's head, he smiled when he felt him lean into his touch before he closed his fingers around a small piece of parchment which had clearly been screwed up into a ball, burned and torn up then put back together by magic. He used his free hand to flatten the parchment on his left leg, his green eyes scanning the few paragraphs which filled the rectangle "Oh, Dray. I'm so sorry" Harry whispered honestly, slipping down onto the space next to the upset blonde while slipping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close.
"Why'd you come down here?" Draco questioned irritably, squirming slightly before getting comfortable as he settled his head on Harry's chest, he sighed contently although his mind was racing with indecision although he was quite tired and decided to allow himself to enjoy the Gryffindor's comfort.
"You know why" Harry countered swiftly "Why do you always push me away?"
"'Cause it's stupid" Draco muttered in reply, hastily wiping his eyes with his cold hands while he pulled his legs up onto the couch "An' I know that you don' really want to be here, anyway" Draco added defensively, glaring at the Gryffindor when he rolled his eyes and sighed in mock exasperation before he squeaked in surprise when he suddenly felt warm, wet lips press against his own as he pushed back into the couch cushion while Harry's cold hands ran through his hair and rested on the nape of his neck.
"I actually like you, Draco. A lot" Harry revealed, smirking at the Slytherin's wide-eyed expression "Do you really think that venture down to the dungeons at-" Harry paused and glanced up at the grandfather clock at the right side of the common room "3am, simply to console a friend?"
"Dunno" Draco shrugged blushing, his cold fingers slowly reaching up to touch his lips which were still warm "I guess it would call to your 'hero' complex" Draco added sarcastically, returning the Gryffindor's earlier smirk.
"I hope not" Harry replied quickly "I wouldn't want to console Ron or Seamus, like that" Harry added grinning, he was glad that Draco had 'forgotten' about the parchment for the moment and even happier that he had gotten the stubborn Slytherin to see that he truly cared about him, which he had been trying to achieve for quite a while and Draco seemed to be the only one that hadn't caught on.
"So" Draco began awkwardly, which caused a smile to pull at raven-haired boy's lips because it was unusual to see the Malfoy heir flustered and unsure of himself and Harry thought that, it made him look adorable "You like me?"
"No, Draco. I came down here to spend time with the couch cushions" Harry replied sarcastically "Honestly, I-" Harry was silenced mid-sentence when the blonde suddenly wrapped his hands around his neck and pulled him down for a passionate kiss, although Harry could feel Draco's warm tears on his cheeks "D-Draco" Harry stuttered, attempting to pull away from him without accidently hurting his feelings "You're crying" Harry added sadly, wiping away his tears with his fingers.
"Doesn't matter" Draco replied shrugging, although it was clear from his expression and body language that he was still upset over the letter, which was to be expected.
"You are allowed to be upset, Dray" Harry replied in a gentle scolding "It can't be easy for you" Harry added understandingly, repeating the same sentences that he uttered every three weeks or so, it wasn't his favourite way to spend the early hours of the morning but he refused to simply leave Draco upset when he needed him, although the stubborn blonde would never admit it.
The blonde simply sniffed in response and nodded against Harry's chest "No. I'm all alone, again" Draco whispered brokenly, his earlier tears slowly trickling down his cheeks which were flushed from the combination of the cold and his upset.
"You're not alone, baby" Harry argued firmly, pulling away from the Slytherin and tilting his head up until his grey eyed gaze met his own "You will always have me. What do I have to make you believe that?" Harry added in the same firm tone, smiling when the blonde reluctantly nodded and snuggled back into his embrace.
"B-but I won't have him"
"Do we have to go through this, every few weeks?" Harry questioned sighing, he wished that Draco would simply come to him, when he received these letters from his father instead of hiding away and trying to cope with everything himself. Although, he believed that Draco was over-reacting slightly especially since he could sort it within a few minutes but he preferred a docile blonde to an angry, seething blonde, which would no doubt appear if he commented on his 'drama queen' behaviour.
"S'not my fault" Draco argued sadly "W-Will you help me plan the f-funeral?" Draco whispered quietly, looking up at Harry with wide, grey eyes which practically shone with the tears that remained in his eyes.
"Of course" Harry agreed solemnly "We'll get permission from Dumbledore and we can floo over to Malfoy Manor, during lunch or after classes. Is that alright?" Harry offered gently, smiling when he felt Draco nod against his chest although he wasn't sure when the blonde had decided to use him as a pillow, again "You look tired, baby" Harry commented off-handedly, expecting the Slytherin to jump up and rebuke him but was surprised when he felt his breathing begin to even and heard him mutter sleepily "'M gonna miss you, Marvin"
'Marvin' also known as; Stupid Pygmy Puff, number 12 to be buried. He was going to kill whoever introduced Draco to the stupid creatures and convinced him to keep them as a pet, or perhaps he would just convince Lucius to buy another Pygmy Puff to replace the one that 'died' instead of owling him, every time, one had to be flushed down the toilet. Harry glanced down at the slumbering Slytherin, cutely curled up against his chest and smiled contently, maybe it wasn't that bad that Marvin 'passed on'.