Hi, it's my first time writing a Draco x Harry fanfiction. I hope that the story is intriguing enough for you to stay and continue reading!
Notes: Post Wizarding War. Sirius, Snape, Dumbledore, Hedwig, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, Lavender etc. are all still alive and well. The only people who died: Bellatrix, Pettigrew and Voldemort.
I just couldn't bear the thought of anyone good dying. :(
"Harry James Potter! Where have you been?" a shrilly Hermione asked, as Harry walked into the Great Hall hurriedly, his hair still unkempt and standing in funny places from tossing and turning in his sleep. "I overslept, 'Mione. Sorry," he said, grimacing as he glanced at the time, then grabbed a treacle tart and started wolfing it down. "Class starts in five minutes and it's the first day of school! I can't be late for class!" she said, flustering over her stack of books that seemed likely to fall over at any given time.
"Chill, mate. She's panicking today because her classes start a period earlier than ours," Ron chortled as he happily ate another slice of bacon. Harry rolled his eyes affectionately and slowed down his eating pace. "Laugh all you want, Ron, but seventh year won't be as easy as you think it is!" Hermione snapped and left with her tower of textbooks.
"She's been in a bad mood all morning – you'd think she's going to fail any of those subjects." Ron rolled his eyes with a mouth full of eggs. Harry just chuckled, knowing that it was impossible for Hermione to fail any subject. As he started on another treacle tart, a flash of silver caught his eye. Across the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables sat Draco Malfoy and his friends. They were all laughing at something, Draco being the loudest – but someone else at that table kept his attention there.
Pansy Parkinson had grown her hair out over the year, leaving it in curls that framed her face very nicely. She was radiating happiness and looked vivacious – the direct opposite of Cho, Harry thought. This caught him by surprise, as he had never compared Cho with anyone before – not that he had any time to, before the war that ravaged Hogwarts. But now...
He thought back to the last time he had seen her. It was in the same Great Hall, where she had tried to convince the rest of the school to give him up to Voldemort. Honestly Harry didn't blame Pansy for suggesting that. He understood her fear, and why she would've given him up to the Dark Lord because if Harry were in her shoes, he'd probably have wanted to do the same.
"Hey mate, what you looking at?" Ron snapped his fingers in front of Harry's face, distracting him from his thoughts. "I dunno Ron… Pansy looks quite pretty this year," Harry said thoughtfully as he had some dandelion juice. Ron frowned and looked across the table at Pansy, before turning back to Harry with a wide-eyed look on his face. "Blimey, you're right. She's gotten prettier, not that I would admit it to anyone else since she's a Slytherin…" Ron mumbled the last part to himself.
Harry sighed and shook those ridiculous thoughts off before setting his goblet down and grabbing his bag. "Let's go for Potions, Ron. Wouldn't do us well to be late for Snape's class," he said, and headed towards the dungeons with Ron in tow.
"Hey Draco, Potter's looking this way," Gregory Goyle said, noticing how the Golden Boy had his eyes directed at the Slytherin table. "Good job, Goyle. I didn't know that you could even be that observant," Draco drawled, polishing his nails against his robe. Goyle puffed up like a proud peacock, not noticing Draco's sarcasm. Pansy laughed, along with Blaise and Crabbe, who laughed only because everyone else was.
Draco watched as Potter looked towards them without hatred or malice. Draco was surprised at the mellow look on Potter's face, and as he looked at where he was focusing, he realized that Potter was staring at Pansy. Also without the burning anger that used to rest in his eyes when he looked at any of the Slytherins. "Hey Pansy, I think Potter's looking at you, not us," Draco said sullenly, feeling unhappy all of a sudden.
"Aw, is my little baby jealous? Don't worry, Draco, the Golden Boy's all yours. Stop being such a Hufflepuff!" Pansy couldn't stop laughing at his pained expression. Blaise rolled his eyes at Draco, knowing that Potter had been the object of his "affections" since the first year. Only recently after the war, knowing that Potter could've died – Draco's feelings had changed to something more… tender and possessive. He watched as Potter tore his eyes away from Pansy, and headed off towards the dungeons with his friend Weasley in tow.
"Alright guys, I think it's time we get going as well. Snape wouldn't like it if we were late, it'd make him look bad, you know," Draco said, his heart feeling a little too heavy for his liking and started walking towards the great wooden doors. There was scrambling behind him as the others tried to follow his hasty departure. Draco smirked at the sound of books falling onto the floor and wooden benches scraping floors. It was nice to at least be in control of something.
Harry sat down at his usual table with Ron and waited for Snape's arrival. On cue, the door behind them slammed open and even after all these years, Harry still jumped in his seat. Snape swept past them, his cloak billowing behind him. Harry had never managed to figure out how he managed to do that billowing effect every time. "Blowers?" Ron offered, back when Harry first posed the question to him.
"Put those wands away, you doddering fools. Haven't you learnt anything after seven years? Turn to page five hundred and sixty. Today we will be making Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world. You will be paired with someone else of the opposite sex today, and if your potion fails… be prepared to have an upset stomach the entire day," Snape said, flicking his wand so that the potion cabinets were now open.
Titters started to grow louder in the classroom as excitement and fear permeated the air. Snape seemed to notice this, because he continued on. "The potion will last for only five minutes as you are only taking a little bit. Now go!"
Harry heard Neville whimper in fear and shook his head. It was comforting to know that even after all this time, there were some things that would never change. Feeling happier with that thought, he headed to the potion cabinets and started gathering the ingredients. Just then, the Slytherins walked in, proud as peacocks as they sauntered to their seats, knowing that there would be no punishment for them. Snape was known to be partial to his House, and no one dared make a comment about it for fear of their own House having points deducted.
"Ah, Miss Parkinson. Change seats with Weasley, you'll be doing your potion with Potter instead," Harry heard Snape call out from behind him. Harry's heartbeat sped up a little, knowing that Pansy was going to be his partner today. He couldn't even dredge up the usual glare he had for Snape when he tried to do something to him in class. He finished gathering everything and returned to his seat, where Pansy was already heating up the cauldron.
"Hello Harry," Pansy said, smiling at him as he approached with all of the ingredients cradled in his gloved hands. Taken aback by the sudden kindness, Harry barely had time to react and smile back at her.
"I just... wanted to apologize for what I did at the Great Hall during the war, where I – I tried to suggest giving you up to V-V-Voldemort," she stuttered nervously at the name.
Harry continued smiling at her, a little brighter now. "It's fine, Pansy. I didn't really hold it against you, and I understood where you came from anyway. If I were you, I would've done the same as well I guess," Harry shrugged, and started putting the Belladonna petals into the cauldron. Snape scowled at the peacefulness between Pansy and Harry. Pansy smiled, relieved that Harry didn't hold it against her.
From across the room, Draco glowered at the two as they happily chatted over the cauldron's supposed ingredients. He was so engrossed in watching them that he didn't notice the extra rose thorn that he had dropped in, and the cauldron spat out a gush of half complete Amortentia that got onto Astoria Greengrass, his supposed partner. She squealed in pain as the concoction started giving her blisters.
"Draco! It's not like you to be this distracted, focus!" Snape said angrily, already striding towards their table to look at Astoria's hand. "Go to the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey will have something for your hand. And you, Draco, better finish this potion correctly or else," Snape snarled at him in annoyance.
Petulantly, Draco corrected his mistake by adding an extra pinch of peppermint, while still keeping an eye on Potter and Pansy. Draco dismissed the bitter feeling on his tongue as guilt over injuring Astoria, but honestly it was because of the way Potter had smiled at Pansy. And that meant that Potter was really interested in her. Draco had the utmost temptation to spit on the floor.
Potions ended with Neville absolutely smitten over a cringing Lavender, and Pansy cooing over how Harry's raven locks were sexy as hell. Pinching his nose in exasperation, Snape requested for a three thousand word essay on the uses and history of Amortentia due the next lesson, at which Harry heard Ron's groan come from behind him. As they left the class, Harry stole one last glance at Pansy, and waved goodbye to her before leaving for History of Magic. Pansy waved back happily with a stupid grin on her face.
A scowling Draco Malfoy swept out of the classroom with Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind him, afraid of the dark look on his face. Pansy caught up with them as they made their way to Divination classes. "What's wrong, my dragon?" Pansy asked, a little confused because of the potion wearing off and at the pissed off look on Draco's face.
"You know full well why, Pansy Amelia Parkinson!" Draco growled, though less angrier than he had been before. He could never stay mad at Pansy for long – she was like the sister he never had, so their fights had never lasted beyond an hour. Pansy snorted with amusement as she realized he was jealous.
"Relax, Draco. I would never take Potter away from you. Which part of that don't you understand?" she asked, patting his cheek gently before climbing up the ladder into the classroom. Professor Trelawney was already in front of the class, ready to start. Draco settled down in front of his crystal ball, and found himself dozing off to the heavy perfumes of Trelawney's room as she went on about death and its omens. He last remembered seeing Harry Potter's face behind his drooping eyelids, his green eyes burning with... something that Draco couldn't identify. Then darkness found him as he drifted into a restless sleep.