*Disclaimer - Sadly, I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it* sad face...
It was inspired by the song 'Oh My Stars' by Andrew Belle, another thing that sadly, I do not own.
If you haven't heard it, Youtube's always a good place, and you can just Google the lyrics, which are not included as I tried that before, but it was removed :/
Harry was sat on a branch of his favourite tree. The sky was dark, and dotted with stars, shining like miniature lanterns against a black canvas. He often came here to escape the rush of Hogwarts, to clear his mind of all his problems.
He heard leaves rustle below him. Someone was climbing up, closer and closer to where Harry was sat. Gradually, from below him, appeared the sleek blonde hair and pale pointed face of Draco Malfoy, made visible by the rays of moonlight that permeated the leafy canopy above. Malfoy's grey eyes were watery and red-rimmed, as if the blonde had been crying. He saw Harry and stopped abruptly, looking like a rabbit caught in headlights.
"Sorry, I didn't realise you were here, Potter. I'll just go." sniffed Malfoy as he turned to climb back down.
"Wait! Don't go. Come on, there's enough space on here for both of us."
Malfoy looked confused. "Are you alright, Potter?" he questioned.
"I'm fine, but I can't tell you're not. Now come on, I want to talk to you." Harry replied softly.
Confusion lingered on the blonde's face, before being replaced by suspicion, as if he thought Harry was setting a trap for him. Harry stretched out his hand. "Come on. Please. It's not a trick, I promise. I just want to stop fighting with you." Malfoy smiled slightly before reaching to grasp Harry's hand. Harry wrapped his relatively warm fingers around Malfoy's cold ones, and pulled the blonde up next to him.
"Malfoy, what's the matter?" Harry whispered. He'd only seen the crying boy in such a state once before, in their sixth year, and that encounter had not gone well. Malfoy sat up straight, wiping the tears from his eyes. For a moment, it had seemed he'd regained his composure, but then, he crumbled. His eyes flooded with tears again, and he started crying, heaving wails that sounded ragged and harsh. "What is it? Please. You can trust me." Harry pushed at the matter gently, letting his genuine concern enter his voice.
Harry listened as Malfoy explained everything through choked back tears; how his parents had been lost to the dementors; how his friends had abandoned him; how he felt so alone; how the only memories he now possessed of his mother were a few crumpled up photographs; how he clutched one of them protectively as he cried himself to sleep every night.
"Everyone hates me. I'd be better off dead, I know it," Malfoy sobbed in front of Harry, all appearance forgotten. "You're probably going to go now and tell everyone you saw me crying, and then you can all laugh and make a mockery of me." But Harry did not leave. He simply shuffled closer to the sobbing figure perched on the branch with him, until there were mere millimetres separating them, and then he placed his dry lips on Draco's cold, wet ones. After a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity, Harry pulled back.
"What? Wh-why did you d-do tha-that?" Draco struggled with words as he moved further away from Harry.
"I don't hate you. And I don't think you'd be better off dead." Harry explained simply. "I can hide the parts of me I don't want other to see. I've become so used to it I don't even realise I'm doing it half the time. I suspect you're the same. I know that the stuck up git you are around others isn't the real you. Often I wonder who the real you is. But I don't know. I don't know how to find the hidden parts of you. Open the doors you've closed off from everyone."
Draco moved closer to Harry again. "Oh. I never thought that you would be the person who understood me more than others." Draco cast his -now dry- eyes out to the sky, so the grey irises were darker and specked with white stars.
"The world works in strange ways. You just have to do the best with what it gives you. Tell me, what do you see?" Harry asked. Draco looked at him with an odd expression on his face.
Harry smiled. "Not material things, what does all this symbolise to you?" Draco looked.
"Hope. To a new beginning. Victory. The Dark Lord's gone, his empire crumbled. Peace. After a long time of conflict. Determination. People are determined to make the world a better place now. A sense of getting on with life no matter what happens. So much has been lost, so many hurt. And yet people are still going through their daily lives as if nothing happened. Acceptance of all that was lost. Love. 'Love conquers all', right? That's why you didn't die, that's how you saved us all."
"Wow." Harry had not anticipated such an answer. "You're right though. And if you don't personally feel all of them then you should. You didn't have any choice, no ruling over your own actions. It's not your fault. You can have everything you just said, you can feel it all, you don't have to just look at it. Everything you see is ours.
"It could all be yours if you actually tried. If you were nicer to people. If you stopped being a stuck up git. If you showed the person you really are. You don't have to be scared of your own emotions. I sincerely wish that you could feel better about yourself. I wish now that you might just start realising how beautiful a person you really are, the real you that isn't hidden under a mask of indifference."
"Do you really mean that?" Draco asked incredulously.
"I really do mean that." Harry's green eyes lingered over Draco's grey ones. The grey orbs were so full of emotion, and Harry had to tear his gaze away before he drowned in all the unspoken words expressed in them.
"Thank you Harry. That means a lot to me. If you truly meant it, then maybe the stars mean you."
"What?"
"Look. Jupiter is surrounded by the stars. The stars are arranged in the shape of Cupid's bow. That usually means that two people who are destined for love will meet. The fact it's Jupiter means it'll happen sometime after a war and one of them will be more susceptible to emotional torment." Draco explained in a fascinated tone.
During his explanation, Draco had moved closer to Harry, so the two of them were sat side by side, knees knocking as they dangled over the edge of their perch. Harry carefully wrapped his arm around Draco's shoulders, making sure neither of them fell from their branch. They needn't have worried though, for the branch was thick and easily supported their weight, and it also had enough room on for Harry to angle himself closer to the blonde, who was still staring at the stars. "When was the last time you were given a genuine hug, Draco?" Harry asked. Draco snapped out of his reverie and replied with a hollow voice "just before my mother went to Azkaban. She hugged me goodbye for the first time ever." Draco didn't cry when he dwelled upon the memory. Harry felt an arm snake around his waist, holding onto him tightly as though he would disappear at any moment. Harry squeezed Draco's shoulder comfortingly.
"Harry why are you doing this?" Draco looked up into Harry's eyes, a questioning look on his face again.
"Because," started Harry before mumbling something incoherent.
"What?" Draco whispered, his question lingering in the air between them.
"Because IthinkmaybeIloveyou." Harry forced the words out. "Because I saw how upset you were, and I don't like seeing you that way, even if we were never friends. I wanted to help you out of the dark place you were in. I think you called it 'my hero syndrome'." Harry smiled.
"Did you say you loved me?"
"I guess… Yes."
"You do?"
"I do." Harry smiled.
"Because… I… I love you too Harry. I always have. I was always on your side. Not showing it, but I never lost faith in you and your 'hero syndrome'." Draco smirked, but the effect was lost when Harry kissed him.
The kiss was soft and gentle, each taking their time to get used to the feeling. Finally, Draco pulled back slightly and whispered "aren't the stars beautiful tonight?"
"You can have them all. I'll get them for you, if you want. I promise. I'll do anything for you. Everything you see could be ours, if you so wish."
"All I have to do is ask, right?" Draco looked slightly dazed.
"Yes," whispered Harry, kissing Draco's soft lips again. "Just ask."
"I can't. It goes against everything I know." Draco's was stuck in a state of reciprocation. Harry knew what he was thinking: should he go against what he knew and trust Harry, or should he go with what he knew was wiser, but would deny him what he wanted? Finally the Slytherin came to a decision.
"Harry," he began tentatively.
"Draco." Harry smiled.
"If you truly meant everything you've said-"
"Which I have, I swear Draco-"
"Let me finish." Harry closed his mouth and waited patiently for the blonde's reply. "If you truly meant everything you've said… then all I want is one thing. I want us to be the people the stars mean."
Harry smiled, wide and infectious. Soon Draco was grinning as well, eyes shining in the starlight. "Yes. Anything for you, Draco." Said Harry.
The two leaned in close and kissed again, their scents mingling, cinnamon from the raven with green apples from the blonde. They slowly pulled back, neither wanting to be the one who broke their embrace.
"It's late," Noticed Harry. The two had been huddled together on their branch for a while now.
"But I want to stay with you. I want to look at the stars."
"Tomorrow. Come on, or we'll get detention." Harry climbed down from his perch expertly and waited at the bottom for Draco, casting a sneaky look at the blonde's posterior before quickly staring down at the ground as the other's face came into view.
They walked to the castle door, hands entwined, neither wanting to leave. As they entered the corridor leading to different parts of the castle, they stood and turned around, and looked at the stars one last time. Then, they looked at each other, eyes conveying emotion words could not. "Good night Harry." Draco smiled before pulling Harry in for a quick kiss. Then he sauntered off to the Slytherin dungeons, leaving Harry in his wake.
Harry stood, waited for a moment. "Draco!" Harry ran quickly after the blonde, and catching him by the arm, swirled him around and crashed their lips together. They kissed deeply and for a while, before Harry pulled back and said simply: "Good night Draco." He smiled and turned around, heading for the Gryffindor common room.
A/N: I just made up the star constellation... I couldn't find anything on the internet, so...
I hope you liked it :)
Inspired by one of my new favourite songs, I think's the song's amazing!
Reviews are much appreciated, as is con-crit (new term I learnt from Fleetwood Floyd, thank you awesomeness) ;) So yes, please review :)
I was kinda stuck on inspiration for looking back on life, I will update it as soon as I have something worthy of your time... Thank you for reviewing my stories, it brightens my day loads when I hear all the nice things you guys say :)
Anyway, I'll stop rambling and get writing, whilst you keep reading more Drarry fanfic ;) DRARRY FTW!
And so, until my next story, Live Long And Prosper!