Midnight Meetings
Harry woke with a start, his breath heavy, sweat clinging to his body, stinging under the chilly breeze flowing through the window. Sighing he reaches for his glasses, knowing that he won't be able to sleep again after that dream. Taking a shaky breath, he pulls a red quilt over his shoulders trapping in the heat.
It was Harry's 8th year at Hogwarts and dreams tormented him nightly. Shuffling down the corridor he quietly tiptoed his way up to the astronomy tower, the flicker of light from his wand guiding him up the twisted stairs. Memories of the dream come rushing into his head.
Why is it that I only remember bad dreams?
Sighing Harry chose not to dwell on it too much, after dreams like that he just couldn't stand to stay in his dorm, Ron's snoring was too loud, Neville's murmuring put him on edge, Dean's shuffling in bed irked him and Seamus's whistle of a breath bothered him. So, he often found himself wondering up to the astronomy tower, reflecting on what had happened up there only a couple months ago.
Harry realised that was probably a stupid idea considering what went down there. But he found it was the one place nobody visited unless you didn't want to be found. He found comfort in the dead silence of the night.
Turning the corner, he comes to an abrupt stop when he notices a blonde-haired boy in a green sweater nursing a steaming mug in his hands.
"Malfoy? What are you doing here?" Harry asks with surprise in his voice.
Draco glanced up over his mug, his eyes wide, yet dreary. "take a wild guess potter" Malfoy drawled, his eyes falling back in place staring deep into his mug.
Shivering, a sudden desire to have a mug in his hands falls over him, ignoring it he pulls the quilt tighter around him.
Sighing he sits down against the brick wall, Draco a couple meters to his left. Sighing Harry closes his eyes leaning his head back against the wall.
After the war, he and Malfoy made a silent truce, of course, there was still the snarky remark. But after 7 years of being Malfoy's enemy, he realised how much effort was put into staying enemies. By the end, he didn't even really know they were enemies, after a while, it all seemed a bit of a lost cause.
Harry wasn't all that surprised that Malfoy can't sleep, I mean he witnessed Snape, Dumbledore and Voldemort's death, he fought in the battle of Hogwarts and his father was sent to Azkaban prison. Most of the 8th years have nightmares now.
Silently Harry fell into a peaceful lull, forgetting about his dreams, school, friends, and worries.
"potter, if you fall asleep I'm not going to wake you and you'll have to suffer the consequences" Malfoys sharp voice jolts Harry's sense of new-found peace away.
Harry looks over to see a shivering Draco leaning over a steaming mug, his knees pulled up to his chest.
"well if you get hyperthermia Malfoy you don't get to blame it on me" Harry quips back.
Malfoy rolls his eyes "well if you were to share your sodding blanket then I might not get hyperthermia"
"well if you shared your hot drink then I might not fall asleep" Harry responded pulling his legs under his blanket, pulling it tighter.
"how did you get that drink anyway," Harry asked curiously, his bushy brows pulling in.
Malfoy glanced over, a small smirk falling over his lips "Malfoy perks".
"hah, so you admit it" Harry exclaimed, "you do get perks".
Malfoy shrugs taking a sip from the mug "I mean what are you going to say? At midnight when I couldn't sleep I found Draco in the astronomy tower with a mug of hot chocolate and he admitted to having perks"
"of course not" Harry scoffs "I would never say something like that"
Malfoy rolled his eyes "yeah you would, you would jump at the opportunity"
"first of all, I wouldn't call you 'Draco' I would call you Malfoy, second, is The Draco Malfoy drinking hot chocolate for comfort" Harry teases in a sing-song voice.
"as if I don't know that that's your favourite 'blankie' that you never wash and use for comfort" Malfoy snorts.
"of course you would know that" Harry mumbles lazily
"after 7 years of us being enemies, I realise that we know each other better than most people" Malfoy responds as a matter of fact
Rolling his eyes Harry snorted at how ironic it was that after 7 years of trying to kill each other Malfoy was now the only person who knew pretty much everything about him.
It's a side effect of becoming one's enemy, you gotta know them well. Harry realised that he probably knew Malfoy better than Ron and Hermione, and Malfoy probably knew him better than they did.
"anyway potter, I'm going back to my dorm. See you tomorrow night, and if I'm feeling nice I might just bring you a mug of Hot chocolate that I know you want" Malfoy adds with a slight drawl.
"Oh, how generous" harry snorts rolling his eyes "and if I'm feeling nice I might just bring you one of my quilts that I know you love" Harry responds with a smirk on his face.
Rolling his eyes Malfoy walks quietly down the stairs, his voice echoing quietly behind him "don't miss me too much potter".
Harry woke with a start, per usual. Sighing Harry groans quietly, his head falling back onto his pillow.
I just want to sleep
His nightmares have been going on continuously since the night 2 months ago he met Malfoy in the astronomy tower.
Harry closes his eyes, begging for a peaceful sleep to take over him. His mind drifts up to the astronomy tower, and Malfoy.
Furiously rubbing his eyes Harry sits up and pulls his red blanket around him. He remembers Malfoy's long looks towards his quilt. Hesitating he grabs his extra quilt, tucking it under his arm.
Feeling a bit foolish Harry convinces himself that its for him to sit on. Walking quietly up the stairs he begins to wonder whether Malfoy will even be there.
Just because he's been there for the past couple months doesn't mean he'll be there every night Harry scolds himself.
Over the past couple months, he and Malfoy had created a strange friendship.
it doesn't mean anything though Harry convinces himself
it mainly meant that they insulted each other a little less and sometimes talked. However, at night it was a different story. They talked about everything and anything, they laughed about the past and helped each other with homework and assignments. The next day though, Malfoy acts as if it never happened.
So when he turns up each night Harry is never sure that Malfoy will be there.
"what took you so long Potter, 2 pieces of parchment are due today for D.A.D.A and you're the only one who knows the difference between the two damn shields" Malfoy interrupts, immediately causing a smile to spread across Harry's face.
Harry looked at Malfoy confused "I thought you didn't give a damn about D.A.D.A"
Malfoy sighed "well not really, but our new professor is hot" Malfoy added with a sly smile, it quickly dropped as Malfoy realised what he said, he continued his face flushed "no… I want to give my parents a reason to like me" he adds grimly, looking down.
"wait" Harry chokes "are you gay?"
"is that really what you got out of this whole conversation?" Malfoy asks sarcastically "But yeah, I'm gay. That's why I got to give my parents a reason to like me" Malfoy adds quietly.
Sighing Harry sits down next to Malfoy "you know, you being gay isn't really a valid reason for your parents not to like you. When I realised I liked guys, I was in the middle of a war, so I didn't really have time to dwell on it, but I had sorta always known" Harry explained.
Malfoy's head snapped up "wait... you're gay?"
"sorta I guess, I mean I find girls hot too" Harry admits
Malfoy looks over to his brows raised "so you're Bi-sexual"
"I guess" Harry shrugs, pulling the extra quilt from under his arm.
"here," Harry says, handing the quilt over to Malfoy.
Malfoy looks up at Harry, his face slightly flushed "umm…thanks"
Malfoy wrapped the quilt tightly around him, inhaling and sighing quietly.
Reaching beside him he picks up a steaming mug "I got you a mug of Hot Chocolate"
Harry grinned reaching forward, taking the mug in his cold hands "thanks"
Sitting down next to Malfoy his shoulder pressed up against Malfoy's.
"and yes, I put whipped cream in yours" Malfoy added, his eyes rolling.
Harry grinned again taking a sip of the hot drink "thanks… wait how did you know?" Harry asked.
Malfoy rolled his eyes "it's almost as if you forget the years of stalking each other"
Biting back another grin Harry chuckles quietly before pressing back against Malfoy, falling back into an easy silence. Malfoy's occasional scratching of his quill falling peacefully into background noise.
The next day in the great hall during breakfast as the owls dropped their letters off, Harry noticed a letter being dropped in front of Malfoy. Malfoy opened the letter, his face pale. Harry watched as he read it, and as he hastily stood up leaving his cape flapping behind him, and as he quickly left the great hall, and Harry saw as silent tears fell down Malfoys face.
In classes later Harry looked out for Malfoy, and when he didn't turn up he slouched back into his seat, not paying attention to whatever they were learning in class.
It wasn't until Harry's third lesson that Malfoy came in 5 minutes late. He quietly walked to a spare desk in the corner. A couple people glanced up before going back to their work.
Harry frowned taking in Malfoys appearance, he otherwise looked normal. But Harry instantly knew that something was wrong. He wasn't sure what gave it away. Maybe the fast tapping of his foot, or the picking at his nails, or the rushed scratchy writing instead, instead of his neat and measured writing.
Harry glanced around slightly surprised that no one else was noticing Malfoys weird behavior. He quickly realised that no one else would notice these things, it was only Harry that studied and took note of Malfoys little ticks, and his habits.
Sighing Harry realised there was nothing he could do right now. Turning back to the front of his class, he sluggishly started taking notes, occasionally glancing over at Malfoy.
That night Harry barely slept, and if he did it was that sleep that floated around the dream state. After a couple hours of tossing and turning he decided it was late enough to head up to the Astronomy tower. Quickly grabbing two blankets Harry tiptoed out the dorms, slowly climbing up the stairs to the tower. Harry was worried that Malfoy wouldn't turn up, quickly turning the corner Harry sagged in relief when he saw Malfoy.
Malfoy was pacing around the tower, his hand rubbing his head before running through his hair. As Malfoy saw Harry, his shoulder sagged as he slid against the wall onto the ground.
"are you alright?" Harry asked hesitantly
Malfoy snapped up, glaring "yeah, I'm fantastic. Fucking whimsical. Now piss off".
Malfoy stopped, his face filling with regret, instantly letting Harry know that he didn't mean it.
"I'm a fuck up Harry, a fuck up" Malfoy whispered, his voice thick with emotion, tears brimming his eyes.
Harry quickly sat down next to Malfoy "you're not a fuck up, I promise" Malfoy sniffled quietly "w…what happened?" Harry asked quietly
Malfoy sniffled quietly, his breathing fast "my parents found out I'm gay" Malfoy paused, swallowing loudly "I ... I don't know what to do"
Malfoys breathing increased his heart beat fast "why can't I just be normal? Why does there always have to be something wrong with me?" angry tears were falling fast down his face.
Gripping Malfoy's shoulder tight Harry turned Malfoy towards him "listen to me. There is nothing wrong with you. Nothing."
"why does it matter anyway" Malfoy sulks "no one would want one would want to be with me anyway. What does it matter that I prefer guys if no one will ever want to date me" Malfoy muttered grumpily
Harry rolled his eyes "why are you so pessimistic"
Malfoy frowned crossing his arms shivering "I have a naturally grumpy disposition"
"Yeah, I noticed" Harry snorted glancing over noticing Malfoys trembling figure.
"I'm cold" Malfoy whined pouting slightly
"oh, right. Here's your blanket" Harry muttered pulling it out from under his arm.
"I don't want your stupid blanket you git" Malfoy scoffed.
Harry looked up confused, his bushy eyebrows pushing towards each other. Sighing Malfoy pushed Harry's arms apart, pushing himself into Harry's chest, his cheek resting on his heart. Harry immediately catching on wrapping his arms tight around him. The warmth of Harry immediately engulfed Malfoy, shivering he wrapped his arms around Harry's torso, the warmth slowly building up catching under the blanket.
Harry leaned back resting on the brick wall, closing his eyes "somebody will want to date you, you know that right?" he said softly "someone will look past just your name, and see that you're a funny, smart and kind-hearted git, who doesn't take shit from anyone".
Malfoy sighed "yeah but no one will ever give me the chance to show that I'm more than my name".
Harry looked down at him in realisation "hey, do you not like it when I call you 'Malfoy' because if you don't like it, I'll call you Draco".
Malfoy paused, hiding his flushed face in Harry's chest "I… I would like it if you called me 'Draco'" his voice quiet and muffled in Harry's shirt.
"ok Draco" Harry responded, a small smile falling on his face.
"I just want you to know" Harry continued "that if no one can manage to look past your name and your past, then they're not worth your time. And tell them that you don't need to be friends with them anyway because you've got the chosen one, and he's better than all of you" Harry sated a grin now taking over his face.
Draco snorted "only you Potter"
"call me Harry"
Draco paused hesitating, turning around and grabbing Harry's shoulder "don't make me regret this" he mumbled. Before quickly pressing his lips hard against Harry's.
Draco quickly pulled back sitting up, the blanket dropping from his shoulder "um.. sorry… I'm going" he muttered his face pointed angry and red. Draco already shivering feeling the loss of warmth.
Harry reached forward quickly, pulling Draco back into his chest "where do you think you going"
Draco looked away "the hospital, my dignity is on life support, and you're pulling the plug" his voice snarky, yet vulnerable.
Harry rolled his eyes "for fuck's sake, always the drama queen". Harry leaned forward grabbing Draco's cheeks pulling him into another kiss.
Draco gasped, whimpering slightly. His face flushed red, angry at himself for reacting so pathetically. Draco pushed forwards responding to the kiss. Sitting on Harry's lap, his legs straddling his hips.
They pulled away panting slightly, Harry grinned at Draco, his lips red and his hair messier than usual due to Draco's hands running through it "Draco's dignity, time of death 1.47 am," Harry frowned in confusion his eyebrows pushing in " wait, how do you know about muggle life support machines" Harry questioned looking at Draco curiously.
Draco shrugged "muggle studies," continuing Draco explained, "we had to choose a muggle show to watch, I chose 'Grey's Anatomy'".
Harry snickered quietly "you just couldn't get enough of Dereck and Merideth huh?" Harry smiled bumping Draco's shoulder.
Draco whined pushing on Harry' shoulders "I hate you"
"I think we both know that you don't" Harry responded a smirk covering his lips.
Grumbling, Draco pulled Harry forward, his lips hovering over Harry's. Brushing them slightly, Draco smirked "fucking poof", before slamming his lips against Harry's.