Never, for the life of him, Harry could have possibly thought that he'd be looking forward to detention.
But now, there he was, waiting outside the Greenhouse five minutes early for his punishment.
When time came, he saw Professor Sprout in the distance. She was humming a tune as she trotted towards her beloved room.
Draco was nowhere to be seen just yet.
"Oh, not late, Potter? I'm impressed!" The teacher chirped contentedly as she approached.
She looked like she was in a very good mood.
It was probably due to the fact that Hufflepuff was in the lead for the House Cup.
Harry had not really done his house mates a favour by earning all those detention slips. But it was still March, he had plenty of time to get back all the points he had lost.
At least Slytherins weren't in the first place.
His rival arrived minutes later, when Harry had already walked into the Greenhouse. He was putting on his gloves when he saw him. His hair has changed, but it hadn't gone back to its natural colour. He had totally used a growth potion on his head, so that now he was sporting his old platinum locks, just that the tips were still blue.
Additionally, his hair was also quite long, almost shoulder length, which increased his resemblance to the muggle rockstars Harry found so hot.
He stared for the whole time that the blonde boy with sky-like tips walked towards his post. The git obviously noticed, so he whipped his hair in response. The green eyed boy couldn't help blushing at that.
Draco didn't look too excited at the idea of spending two full hours tending to misbehaving plants.
"Well," the woman started, assuming a rather reprimanding expression. "For the next couple hours you will have to be very careful with these babies, they do spit a ticklish substance. I will be gone for the whole time - I feel it's more educational if I do. However, if you try to leave these premises, a spell will let me know, so don't bother trying. "
"Don't worry, Professor. We won't move." Said the Gryffindor in a 'I promise' tone.
The Slytherin simply nodded.
Professor Sprout nodded back, then she quickly left the room.
Now the two boys were alone in the Greenhouse. Awkward silence fell on them momentarily.
Thar had never happened before, Draco Malfoy would never miss a chance to greet his enemy in such an annoying manner.
But that was their first time being just the two of them since their almost-kiss accident.
Harry finally broke the silence an excruciating ten minutes later, pointing out the other boy's 'bad Ravenclaw replica hair'.
Draco looked up from the bulb in his hands to face his interlocutor. "At least it stays into place, unlike that bush of yours." He snapped, but his sass far too weak.
The boy he had just tried to talk back at gasped silently. What had happened to the douche's meanest come backs?
"That all you got, Malfoy?" He asked, looking astonished.
Draco merely shot him a death stare in response. It was like he wasn't in the mood for a verbal fight. He looked almost sad.
Harry felt something he had never felt for the other boy up to that point. It was like his guts didn't enjoy the sight of that boy looking and sounding upset, when only minutes before he looked like he was going to mount on his broom and fly away.
Asking him how he was almost came instinctively to him.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked, bluntly.
The other boy surprisingly didn't kill him on the spot for placing that question. He sighed deeply.
"It's just my family. They found out I've been in detention twice in two weeks and sent me a freaking howler."
Draco looked back down, then he placed his vase on the table and started walking towards the boy opposite him.
"It's just, they expect so much of me, it's so frustrating. Being an only child is the worst sometimes. You do one thing out of place and they lash out on you pretty heavily." He added.
Yet another previously unknown feeling for Draco invaded Harry. He had compassion for him because he could relate so much.
"I feel you. I guess parents don't understand how much pressure they're putting on us." He said.
It was unbelievable. The two mortal enemies were having a civil conversation in that moment. Draco had to admit that it felt quite good to finally let out his frustrations regarding his life with the family he had.
"Yeah, right! And, also, why do they want us to hate each other so much? I mean, don't tell me you didn't want to be my friend when we met." He blurted out, just like that. It was the truth, but it still sounded like something he would never say. He felt like he was on Veritaserum, he was slowly letting Harry in, as odd as it felt to him.
The mop haired boy blinked a few times to make sure he was awake.
"Exactly! I actually liked you - I can't believe I'm saying this. Well, at least before you started bullying people around." He stated.
"That is my only way to stand out really. It may come as a shock to you, but I'm the bullied one at home." The other boy spoke.
More and more shocking news perforated Harry's ears. Malfoy was bullied at home? His father wasn't really the kindest man to roam the planet, but he didn't think that a dominant personality like Draco's could ever be outdone by his.
Also, he was opening up to him.
Suddenly Harry was brought back to the the day they'd met, he remembered how excited they had been at the thought of a new friendship, how much they had in common... but it had all been ruined by their families.
For years he'd thought that, maybe, his parents had in point, but in that moment he knew how wrong they had been all along.
Draco was a Malfoy, but he was human, much more than his father.
Somehow, as the minutes passed, the two boys found themselves talking about all of their issues with their families, how suffocating both factions were when imposing themselves on their children.
Harry finally realised that it felt nice to spend time with that Slytherin boy, he was very fun to be around.
He made a joke about one of the very much insufferable plants they were taking care of, which made the Gryffindor laugh out loud.
He didn't care what his parents had to say anymore, he was sixteen and perfectly able to look out for himself, so he said something he'd never thought he'd say.
"You know, you're not so bad, Malfoy." He grinned.
The other boy met his gaze and smiled back at him.
Those pearly eyes were Harry's weakness. They looked even more beautiful when turned to his direction.
"I guess you're somewhat decent too, Potter. I'm surprised you didn't use my personal drama as a way to make fun of me." Draco said, now closer to Harry than ever. "You can be a good listener when you want to."
"Something I certainly didn't learn from my father." The Potter boy replied, sighing.
"I think not learning things from our fathers is the best thing. I mean, what have you ever done to me that I should hate you for? I say fuck it! Let's start again and be friends!" Said the blondish guy, extending his hand for the boy next to him to hold.
Harry spent a few seconds staring at it, incredulous.
Moments later, he shook that hand slowly, feeling fervent inside.
"Besides, they don't need to know." Said Draco, shrugging.
For the weeks that followed, the two boys kept their newfound friendship a secret.
They would meet in hidden places to develop the bond that was growing between them or they would make it so they'd end up in detention together.
When in public, they would ignore each other.
Ron and Hermione, were starting to notice that something was up with their friend.
Harry was very evasive, wouldn't speak to them that much.
But, what they found the oddest was that he and Draco would always find ways to be punished at the same time.
Hermione had already raised the issue, but she'd brushed it off in the past.
Now, she was convinced that it was staged.
So, one morning, as the trio made their way to Potions, she voiced her concerns to her friend.
"So, I noticed that you made your detentions with Malfoy a legacy... care to explain?" as she said that, all three friends stopped walking.
Ron gave his best friend a questioning look. He was dying to know more about his mysterious rebellious behaviour.
Harry froze. His cheeks began to take on a bright shade of pink.
He thought of what a passable excuse might be. He had already said that he wanted some kind of revenge with him, but that had failed to explain why he would want to be in detention as well.
He couldn't tell them that he was actually becoming friends with him, also because he would have had to let them in on a dirty little secret- the fact that he was attracted to that Slytherin boy and was hoping that their relationship would be brought to the next level.
"I simply try to get him in trouble but I'm not sly enough so I get dragged into it as well."He said, shrugging. He wouldn't look them in the eyes, though.
His friends didn't look too convinced, but they probably didn't think he was lying.
It all finished with Hermione scolding him for his bad behaviour, telling him that he was contributing to Gryffindor being close to losing the house cup.
That same day, a Friday, they would be going to Hogsmeade.
However, Harry wasn't planning to spend it with his two best friends.
At some point during the day, when the three friends were enjoying a butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks, he excused himself and told them that he had to rush to the bathroom.
What he ended up doing, though, was sneaking to another bar in Hogsmeade, Madam Puddifoot's, where Draco was waiting for him.
The now fully blond boy smiled when he saw the other boy walking towards the table.
Harry thought that what had initially made him feel attracted to was only the blue, rockish hair- but he had been wrong.
He liked him anyway, even with his natural hair.
Once again, he was blushing.
Draco rose to his feet to greet him with a hand shake, which lasted longer than they'd predicted.
Not that they minded.
That turned out to feel a lot like a date. Both boys chatted and laughed, feeling utterly carefree and excited.
They didn't even give their drinks, which were two exceedingly sweet butterbeers, much attention- they were too busy contemplating and admiring the other, basking in each other's presence.
Something like twenty minutes late silence fell among them, but it wasn't awkward, this time. They both felt their breath caught up in their throats as they stared at each other, waiting for someone to make a move.
Harry felt a sudden urge to place his hand on top of the other boy's, so he did.
He'd expected Draco to swiftly remove his hand from his hold, but he didn't do that.
He simply gave him a bashful smile. They felt very comfortable in that moment, almost at home.
Harry wondered why it had taken them six years to realise such thing.
He didn't even know if Draco was actually gay or whatever, but he didn't really care. Maybe he had been for his whole life but he had never known because they had never talked to each other that much, except for when it came to taunting.
"Well," Draco's voice broke the silence. That made Harry snap out of his trance. "I need to use the loo." he announced in a rather suggestive tone, accompanied by a wink.
Harry nodded, then he let go of the Slytherin's hand so that he could get up.
He watched as the other boy sped to the the restroom, almost in awe.
He spent minutes wondering if he should follow him. After all, he had basically asked him to go after him. Not explicitly, but his voice and facial expression had given it away with ease.
He took a deep breath and thought of what a true Gryffindor would do.
People from his House were brave and adventurous and always ready to discover new things, but most of all they took their chances when they came to them.
Therefore, had he been a real Gryffindor, worthy of being called one, he would have done what he wanted to do more than anything in his life for the time being.
So, without further due, he stood up and made his way to the Men's toilet.
When he swung the door open he saw Draco washing his hands.
The Slytherin boy greeted him with a wide grin. "Ah, took you long enough!" He said while drying his hands with a spell.
Harry said nothing, he only walked closer to the boy in front of him and did what he had been dreaming to do for a while. He grabbed Draco's face in his hands and stood up on his tips to reach the other boy's height, then he kissed him.
He involuntarily raised a leg in the air as he did so.
Draco wasn't too surprised that he would do that. He had been expecting him to kiss him.
He had invited him to go to the toilet with him. It had taken him longer than he'd hoped but he had done it, so he couldn't feel happier.
At last, the voice in his head said.
He let that kiss take over him, he felt so good and the touch of the black haired boy's lips on his released a number of sparks of pleasure that pervaded his body whole.
That was his first real kiss, and it couldn't have been better.
He, too, took hold of the green eyed boy's face and caressed it as their kiss became more passionate.
Harry had never kissed a boy before, he mentally slapped himself for not doing that earlier.
It was so much better than doing it with a girl and it made him feel something other than merely physical pleasure.
When they parted nothing was said, only heavy breaths were audible.
Both boys were smiling uncontrollably, feeling ecstatic for their exploration of something new and exciting.